A/N: Here is the next chapter, I hope you will like it. Have fun reading. (Cats and balloons are a funny combination)

Hermione's POV

I woke up in the hospital wing. Right, Draco and I had a little fight. I longed to see Harry and in their Huffelpuf robes. Somehow they all were more capable of being in Huffelpuf than to gather knowledge like the Ravenclaws do. The only knew things I had learned were ways to irritate Draco. That didn't help. I sat up and looked at Draco's unconscious form. His blond hair was a mess and the blue of his new robes made him look pale. I knew he would sneer at me if he knew I was looking at him. I remembered what Dumbledore had said, being friends with that evil prat was the only way to get things back to normal. Draco's eyes, grey and full of hate stared into mine whenever I thought of his face. I wanted to hate him, I did hate him, but I wanted my friends back more than anything. He had to miss his friends, right? Could he live without them like he said he would? Was Draco really that cold? I didn't want that to be an option, it scared me too much. If Draco didn't care about his friends, I would never see mine again. That thought alone was too much to bear. I felt something wet move down my cheek. I was crying. I missed Harry and Ron. I supposed they missed me too but I wanted to contact them, talk to them, see Ron's face as I pulled him into a hug. I wanted to see Harry and Ginny together. I wanted my old life back. I was going to try harder to be friends with Draco. How hard could it be? Draco was, after all, only a evil, loathsome, prejudice, dorky, rich idiot whose blood I could drink. Right, no big deal at all. I would be back together with my real friends in no time at all. Even I did not believe myself. The silent tears that messed my face up turned into sobs. Can I break to pieces for a little while? Can Draco stay asleep while I do so? I asked the ceiling in my mind. I tried to hide my tears and keep myself from waking Draco up but the tears kept streaming on my face. In the end I stop caring for a while and let the tears run. The noise I made let me into the strange but comfortable belief Draco was in a coma. Where were my friends? The absence of them was everywhere. It felt like a huge hole had been punched through me. I have lost my only real friends. Now it seems I have to start again. I cried some more and in the end I ran out of my bed and to the window. A little stream of fresh air came in through a crack. It dried my tears and calmed me down. I closed my eyes and went back to the past, my happy place. A place where Harry and Ron were still there. I don't know how long I sat there, half awake, half asleep until Madame Pomfrey send me to the common room. I was released. I looked at Draco one last time before I bolted. I managed to get into the common room without crying. I ran up the stairs, fighting my tears. I reached my dorms with the first new tears making their way across my face. When I fell upon my bed, all the tears and the grief was back. I felt a hand on my back, comforting me. I didn't look to see who it was. All my new roommates tended to avoid me, they were so close already. "It's alright, everything is going to be fine." The girl said. She stayed with me until I was comforted.

"I really do hope you're feeling better. Did Malfoy do something to you?"

"No, it isn't Malfoy. It's the punishment. I don't like being separated from Ron and Harry. It hurts so much. More than I would have expected."

"Oh, it's alright. Malfoy will come through sooner or later. He just needs time to realize he misses his friends."

"He doesn't miss them. He just wants to keep us apart. Why do you think he is fighting me?"

"He is prejudice but he has a heart."

I snorted at that comment. Draco didn't have a heart.

"Harry and Ron are having trouble too, you know. Harry cut Crabbe's arm open with a knife at breakfast yesterday and Ron and Goyle are trying to ignore each other. I think you are doing just fine."

"Harry did what?" I asked, my mouth falling open.

"It was an accident of course. Harry had his knife in his hand when he grabbed a sandwich and Crabbe tried to take it from him. Harry moved his wrist and cut Crabbe open. He was bleeding quite a lot. I don't believe Harry meant to move though. Must be one of the Humbrings."

"Humbrings?" I asked confused. I might have expected it from Luna though.

"Yes, they give you little shock to make you twitch. I thought I saw one sitting on Harry's plate." I smiled. Luna was the friend I needed now. "Do you think you can give Harry and Ron a message from me?"

"I am afraid I can't. Dumbledore made sure that the only mediums to the other world were the ones stuck in it. Only your enemies can help you talk to your friends."

"I might have expected it."

"Dumbledore is really a clever man. Much too nice for Draco. I don't think you deserve this. Draco will come around though. He has only been raised to be prejudice after all."

"Draco will never change."

"Draco will miss his friends and turn to you to get them back. It might take him a few months but he will turn eventually."

"A few decades is more like it."

"The spell will be broken when you graduate anyway so I won't worry too much."

"How do you know all this?"

"Dumbledore thought you could use a friend." I smiled. Dumbledore wasn't as cruel as he seemed.

"How about Harry and Ron?"

"They have Justin and Cedric."

"How about the other ones?" I didn't want to mention their names.

"They all have their appointed friends. Even Draco does. Roger Davies doesn't like it though. He would have loved to be your friend. I think Dumbledore knows that. Perhaps he hopes Roger's feelings will effect Draco but I doubt it. Draco has tunnel vision. He doesn't see pretty girl, not even when they dance before his very eyes with nothing but revealing lingerie."

"Please don't make me picture that." I said, trying very hard not to think of anybody dancing with that much clothing missing from their bodies. I tried to remember what Roger Davies looked like but I couldn't think of it. If Draco wanted to play rough, I would do just the same. Stealing his only friend might be a good start.

Draco's POV

I was walking on the beach with a beautiful girl but I did not know her name. I noticed she was laughing and her smile was beautiful. Her brown hair was waving in the wind. "What is your name?"I asked her. She looked away and when she looked back, there were tears in her eyes. "Don't cry!" I said, wiping the tears away. She started sobbing. I looked around, trying to find a way out. There was a house nearby. I took her hand and tried to get her to the house. She started sobbing even more and louder. I ran to the house to find help. I opened the door and I woke up. The sobbing didn't stop. I peeked through my eyelashes. Hermione sat on her bed, her arms around her knees, sobbing. Darn, did she have to ruin my dream like that? I wanted to yawn or tell her to shut up but I couldn't get the energy to start. I looked at her again. She was hiding her face. This is really not useful. I thought to myself as she kept crying. I guess she misses her friends. I imagine she feels alone. I understand all that but does she have to be crying? Crying definitively doesn't help. I didn't even admit to myself that I could be the cause of the pain. The cursing felt good to me and kept her away from me and her friends. My plan was working. I wanted to drown her sobs out though. It reminded me of the dream she had woken me from. She was the reason the beautiful girl had started crying. I heard it get silent and after a while I sat up a little. Hermione was sitting next to the window staring into the sky outside. The tears had dried on her cheeks and for one moment I saw her as she was. Just another girl. The moment the thought formed in my head I wanted to hit myself. She wasn't just another girl, she was a mudblood. The best friend of Harry Potter but that was about to change. I laid down and closed my eyes, not trying to fight the sleep anymore. I heard Madame Pomfrey come down the stairs and pretended to sleep. I heard her talk to Hermione and Hermione walked away. I could feel her eyes burning on my skin before she left the hospital wing. After that I fell asleep again.

I was on the same beach again but the beautiful girl wasn't here. I looked around for any sign this was the same beach, the same dream. I found a small shoe and heard a road nearby. I ran to the road and looked around to see the girl. I walked towards the town in the distance and saw something lying on the road. Horror took me as I ran closer to the shape on the road. I held the shoe tighter and ran as fast as I could. I saw the shape clearer now, it was the girl. I noticed she had lost one shoe, the one I held in my hand. I put it on her feet and kissed her forehead. My hands brushed her soft brown hair. She was beautiful. I looked closer, her clothes were soaked in blood coming from a wound in her chest. I could nearly see her heart beating. Her arm was broken yet she was still beautiful, despite every injury she had. I didn't look at her mutilated body while the tears streamed down my face. The fell on her face and I heard her heart stop. I took one last look at her. The injuries had disappeared. She was beautiful again, like she had been in life. If I could give her one thing back, it would be her life, even if that would mean giving up my claim on her. We both knew that giving up my claim meant giving up my life yet I would force her to make that choice. I would let her go and perish so that she could live. I turned and walked away. The beautiful girl woke and went her way.

My eyes flew open. The picture of the girl faded from my mind. I knew I had dreamed something that I should remember but I couldn't remember what it was. I felt a shiver run down my back. "Just lie still Mister Malfoy." I heard Madame Pomfrey say. "You can go in a few minutes."

"Why can't I go now?" I complained.

"Because you have been appointed a supervisor to make sure this does not became your most frequently visited place."

"Who is it?" I asked, bored and not impressed.

"Roger Davies. If I find him in here, the headmaster might consider expelling you. Your behavior is worse than ever before."

"I know, where is the guy staying?"

"He will be here any moment now."

I stared at the door and paid no attention to Madame Pomfrey when she asked anything. "Just go! I'm fine!" I snapped at her and she went away muttering something about 'youth nowadays'. When I saw Roger Davies walking into the hospital wing wearing his Quidditch uniform my mood got a little better. If he had brains we could get along. "Hello Draco!" He greeted me. I nodded at him, showing him I noticed his existence. "What happened to you? Did Granger do this?"

"Yes, Granger did this. I am allowed to go now. Could you keep your mouth shut about this?"

"The entire school knows already but if it bothers you…"

"It bothers me. Now get my bag. I want to have breakfast."

"I am not your servant. You should carry your own bags or stay in here a little longer. I am sure the school will be delighted to hear how Mr. Malfoy got hexed into the hospital wing for a long time by Miss. Granger."

"You've got bones Davies. I think I might like you." I got my bag and joined him for breakfast. "What's new? Anything I missed while I was out?"

"Just the assignments of so called friends to the punished. Did you know your friends are hanging around with Huffelpuffs a lot these days?"

"I can't see them." I admitted, showing how little I cared. "They have no brains. They are merely a convenience."

"I hope you don't see me as such."

"Not really. As I said, you have bones. Those two idiots might be big but they are made of jelly. Scared silly at the idea of me leaving them."

"You don't see this as punishment do you?"

"The not being in Slytherin bothers me. Granger bothers me."

"There is nothing wrong with Hermione." Roger said with his teeth clenched.

"I meant no offence. Why are you being so defensive? Who is her friend?"

"Luna Lovegood."

"You didn't answer my first question."

"I like her." Roger murmured. Laughed and slapped him on the back. "I think we will get along just fine. You are… entertaining." I told him. Despite the half insult, he smiled. "I am not sure I like you yet." He sounded smug and we laughed. It wasn't that hard to be friends with somebody who only got in Ravenclaw because he was obsessed with learning. Apart from that strong feature, we were very much alike. This was going to be fun after all.

A/N: I hope you liked it! Please review and see you later!(*bang* Oke, maybe the balloon wasn't such a good idea after all...)