Draco opened his eyes as the sunlight poured across his room. How odd. He usually made an effort to make sure he closed his curtains to avoid this very occurrance. His head was throbbing--perhaps he was hung over? "That made sense," he thought, "in his drunken stupor I managed to fall asleep without taking precautions against the dawn. Either that, or someone is in my room." He didn't remember taking anyone in last night and no one but he knew the password to his Head Boy chambers. "I must be hung over," he muttered. Draco heard the shower turn on. "Wait a minute," he thought. "How could the shower turn on if I'm alone? What if someone has broken into my room?" He sat up quickly, and instantly wished he hadn't. His head was spinning and his vision blurred. Every muscle in his body hurt. He reached over to his bedside stand and picked up his wand. He slowly dragged himself out of his bed and stumbled over to the bathroom door. He could hear singing. A voice he knew but didn't recognize. The water turned off, and Draco remained standing there, trying to steady himself as he prepared to curse whoever it was who had broken in. Whoever was in the bathroom was moving around, now coming towards the door. Draco moved to the side and readied himself for an attack. The door opened, and Hermione Granger emerged. Draco did nothing except to stare at her in wonder. "How did--how--why--how are you here?!" he finally demanded. She didn't speak, but simply walked over to him, lowered his wand arm and gave him a hug. He stood there, stunned for a few moments while she moved around his room getting dressed. Then he came to his senses, his Malfoy-senses.
"Granger, what did you put in my coffee last night to seduce me? You'll pay for this you filthy mudblood--"
"--Shut it, Draco." He couldn't believe that Granger had just interrupted him! And called him by his given name! It was an outrage! But for some reason he felt compelled to listen to what she was about to say. "I didn't seduce you, you git. Perhaps you've forgottten but last night Voldemort attacked here at Hogwarts and you helped fight against him. I would imagine you are a bit sore today, you endured a bit of the Cruciatius Curse. He's gone...for good this time. You needed looking after, and seeing as how I am Head Girl I was able to convince Professor Dumbledore to give me the password to your suite to take care of you, as the hospital wing was full."
"You left my curtains open, you know."
"Wow, you're very welcome, Draco, for pulling out of the battle after you'd passed out. You're very welcome for staying up all night trying to look after you."
"Granger, why in the hell weren't you off helping Potty and the Weasel?" He'd regretted asking this almost as soon as he'd finished. She didn't answer him, she only began to cry. Through the tears she managed to tell him that they had both been killed. He watched, unsure of what to do as she fell to her knees trying to regain control through heaving sobs. He wanted her to stop crying. He would spend weeks convincing himself that he had only hugged her to shut her up, but eventually he'd come to admit that he actually had cared for her, even then. He even accompanied her to their funerals. He was in danger of becoming friends with her...liking her, maybe even loving her. Although, he supposed after some time, that really wasn't all that dangerous as his entire family had been killed, along with half of the Slytherins. The Death Eaters that had survived to see the fall of their master were so distraught that it had, apparently, been quite easy to destroy them as well. Draco felt like he had been given a second chance. He would try not to waste it this time.
