As they neared the willows by the lake, Hermione saw the blonde head of Draco Malfoy resting against the trunk of one of the trees. She sighed softly to herself, "This is where he went to…" Looking further ahead, she saw the familiar bird's nest of Harry's head and the fiery red of Ron's head. They seemed to be heading in her direction and she slowed down, signalling to Ginny to slow down as well. Unexpectedly, they stopped by the blonde head of Draco Malfoy. Throwing a questioning glance at each other, the two girls made their way over to see what was going on.

Hermione's steps hastened as she heard Ron's angry shouting. She couldn't make out exactly what he was saying, but she knew that he would be able to find a reason to lash out at Draco. She had spent fruitless afternoons trying to convince Ron that Draco wasn't a 'spoilt, rich, bloody Death Eater'. It had never worked out and Ron had stubbornly held his beliefs about Draco. She could never understand why Ron refused to accept Draco's change of character. It was blindingly obvious to her and Harry seemed to have stopped hating him but Ron just refused to say one nice word about Draco. As she hurried to the willows, she could guarantee that Ron was shouting at Draco for being a Malfoy…

Another fist came hurtling at Draco's face and Draco didn't try to stop it. He let it collide with his bruised face once more and the taste of blood spread inside his mouth. He knew that he could easily stop Weasley's punches but he saw no point. Blocking him would probably further infuriate the little prick and Draco wasn't in the mood for a full out fight. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Potter, trying to stuff some sense into his thick friend and restraining him from lashing out at Draco. He grimaced as he felt the pain from the blows finally registering. By the pain in his nose, he guessed it to be broken and he could taste the blood from his lips. As he turned his head, his eyes met the hazel gaze of Hermione Granger. A sudden blush came over his bruised cheeks and he quickly snapped his head the other way, hoping to prevent the girl seeing his injuries. He knew it was too late when she let out an audible gasp and screamed at Weasley. A small smile crept over his lips as she started chiding Weasley for being a 'stupid, idiotic, troll who doesn't know how to use a brain.'

Parting the willow branches, she stepped towards the three boys. Draco's head turned around and their eyes met. A look of horror must have passed across her face, causing Draco to quickly turn his head back to its original position. Hermione suddenly felt a huge wave of anger come crashing over her. She whipped around to her two friends, Harry and Ron. She watched as Harry struggled to restrain a steaming Ron and instantly pieced together the events. Clearing her throat, she motioned for Harry to let Ron go. Ron dusted his arms off and stood in front of her, glaring out of the side of his eyes at Draco. This only fuelled her anger and she burst out at him, "How can you be so rude? What has he ever done to you? You are such a stupid, idiotic, troll who doesn't know how to use a brain. I don't even know why you can't get over it like everyone else has done!" She put as much venom into those last words and shoved the ginger hard in the shoulder. He didn't budge from his spot but his eyes showed the damage Hermione had caused. Tears threatened to spill over and Hermione rushed up towards the castle before anyone could see.

Watching from his position, Draco saw a look of hurt flash across Weasley's eyes as Hermione stormed off. Casting a hate-filled look at Draco, he had marched off with Potter trailing behind. Draco gingerly stood up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. It came away bloodied and he silently cursed the Weasley. With a deep sigh, he trudged off towards the castle, not sure of where he was going but wanting to find somewhere quiet to think.

Draco let his thoughts wander as his feet carried him up the worn stone steps. In his mind, he kept replaying the scene in his head…he could still see the way Hermione had looked as she stormed away, tears glistening in her eyes. He had felt a weird urge to wipe the tears away and tell her that it was going to be alright. He had wanted to hold her close and tell her that he would keep her safe…but he knew that he couldn't possibly do that to her. She obviously had feelings for Weasley and Draco would just be getting in the way. With a heavy heart, he continued up towards the towers.

She reached the Astronomy tower and collapsed on the stone steps. She let the tears fall as she hugged herself. She had tried to make everything better after the war, trying to get people to see that Draco Malfoy had changed for the better. Harry was fine but Ron just refused to accept the new Draco. It pained her to see her friends fighting and hurting each other. Why couldn't they just accept each other and stop giving her headaches?

Sighing, she fiddled with the sliver bracelet in her wrist. It was the only thing left from her parents. During the war, she had hidden her parents, away from the Dark Lord's reach. As a result, they didn't know about Hermione and lived blissfully unaware of the wizard world. Now, the only thing Hermione had left were her friends. She didn't want them to be separated among themselves. Trying to turn off her clustered mind, she closed her tired eyes and dozed off on the lonely steps.

He wondered up towards the Astronomy tower. Hopefully, no one was up there and Draco would be able to think about what happened. A shape on the steps made him pause. Peering closer, he realised with a jolt that it was Hermione. She looked so peaceful, sleeping with her head resting against her pulled-up knees. He considered waking her up, seeing that it was almost time for dinner, but her tranquil expression and her slow breathing stopped him right in his tracks. Instead, he summoned a blanket from the Head Room and wrapped it around the sleeping Hermione. With that, he left the Astronomy tower, fighting the urge to stay by her side.

At the dining hall, he sat alone at the Slytherin table. He preferred thing to sitting with the other, younger Slyterins. He could feel the glare of Weasley from across the dining hall, burning into his back. He didn't understand the hatred that Weasley seemed to have for him. Nothing explained it.