Chapter 1

A Woman's Instinct

As his body lay there completely still she became fixed on his unmoving chest until he started convulsing from the spell Harry had just thrown at him. Pain must have over taken him as he uttered foul profanity. Blood spots from the hidden sores on his chest covered his stark white long sleeve button up. As odd and crazy as it seemed Hermione Granger's life changed in that instant. For better or worse she was unsure but she was aware of the change because she felt in beneath her skin. Her heart was pulling in her chest, it was a hurt she hadn't felt in a long while. Even the pain she felt as she watched Lavender attack Ron's lips with hers was insignificant compared to this. She could feel the blood draining from her heart which made it entirely too heavy to hold.

Here she was gaping at a wounded Draco Malfoy and she wasn't rejoicing. She was horrified for more reasons than one. Never had she felt this strongly about Draco Malfoy. If she had it certainly wasn't in this context. For the first time she had fully taken the boy in. Suddenly boy didn't seem like the correct term, he was more defined and to her he was definitely a man. Which was yet again another shock because all Hermione Granger ever saw Draco Malfoy as was nothing more than scum, and mold infested scum at that. Here and now in this moment she saw Draco Malfoy as a man in pain. Isn't it a woman's instinct to help and comfort a man in pain? If it wasn't a woman's instinct than it surely was Hermione's.

As Harry fled Hermione did the opposite, she slowly made her way towards him step by step. When she finally reached him his shirt had become a crimson mess. His breathing became awfully shallow which caused Hermione's heart to race faster and faster so she could hear the blood pumping in her ears. Her emotions were all over the place. The only ones she could make out were fear and sorrow, the rest were so new and confusing it would take everything out of her just to distinguish them.

Before she knew what she was doing she had her wand in hand, on her knees next to a very weak Malfoy she could barely breathe herself. She was healing him slowly, not easily but she had found the right spell and the blood was slowly fading from his shirt. He was regaining a steady breathing rythmn which relaxed Hermione's tense muscles. Draco lifted his head up just enough to see who was healing him. When his eyes met hers his head dropped and he passed out.

Running on pure adrenaline and luck she was able to lift Malfoy's body halfway up before he came to. He was groggy and Hermione guessed it was from the pain but he did do his best to help her help himself. By some miracle they made it to the hospital wing in silence. She let him go as soon as she reached the nearest cot. She collapsed in the chair to her right. She was too weak to stay awake and passed out right there next to Malfoy. The last thing she heard was Draco Malfoy's cracked voice calling her last name.

"What happened?" a familiar voice inquired.

Hermione could hear a hushed conversation happening close to her but her eyelids were too heavy to open. She felt like she was trapped in a body that didn't work. All her energy had been drained so she just listened.

"Potter is what happened." another familiar male voice exclaimed. That voice she automatically knew as Draco Malfoy's. Then a new feeling swept over her. The air around her became charged, like just before a lightening storm. She could feel the molecules touching her skin. She felt alive. More alive than she had ever felt and she couldn't do anything about it. She was too weak to move but completely alive. She just had to wait until she gained composure.

"Explain." This time she knew that the other male in the room was Severus Snape. Atleast that much made sense.

"Potter followed me into the bloody loo and started accusing me of putting a spell on that girl so I did what I knew how to, I threw hexes at him. It went from there. He got me in the chest with one I've never heard before..... then, she showed up."

Hermione couldn't help but hear the confusion in his voice when he got to the last part. Not angry, just confused. She was positive that she knew how he was feeling because she was feeling it too. Whatever possessed her to save Malfoy's life was completely beyond her.

"What happened to her? She's too level headed to get in between the two of you throwing hexes at each other. Why is she unconscience?" Snape sounded a little too happy to ask that last question.

"She.... brought me here."

"Oh?" Snape was unconvinced. How could a small little thing like Hermione Granger get Draco Malfoy to the hospital wing.

"No, really she did. Don't ask me I'm still trying to process it."

"Well then don't you go and let that girl get too close. She just might be trying to get close to you in order to betray you."

WHAT?!! That hurt. I'm not that type of girl.

"Oh come on!" Draco protested.

"She did punch you in the face your third year or had you forgotten?" Snape hissed.

"No, but its... Granger"

Hermione took the mention of her name as a good time to start stirring. They would stop talking about her and leave. Which they did. She opened her eyes and saw an all white cubicle with all white curtain walls. No Snape and certainly no Malfoy. She had regained her strength enough to sit up. A nurse came in and gave her a glass of a smelly orangish red mixture and told her to drink it. It tasted like gym socks and tomato juice but by the time she had downed the whole thing she was feeling much better. Almost brand new.

She was discharged and sent back to her dorm. It was close to midnight when she finally got into bed. She told herself that today was just a fluke, that Draco Malfoy held no influence over her at all and that its what any human being would do.