Second Chapter! Thank you fo those who read and reviewed, will be careful this time to check it all through, for any errors, but please read on! I will try and update more regularly, but have been caught up with school and exams recently!

Disclaimer: I of course do not own Harry Potter, much to my disappointment.

Draco

My heart was pounding in my chest as I paced in the stone cold, empty corridor. I could feel a bead of sweat on my brow, and the warm, midnight summer breeze on my face. My hands were balled up tightly in fists and eyebrows furrowed together in concentration, and above all, worry. I cursed under my breath when I walked into a wall, stubbing my toe, wincing slightly at the sudden, infuriating pain. It was frustrating that something so small, so ordinary, could possibly be quite so annoying.

"Mr Malfoy?" I heard the soft voice call out from behind me, the girl obviously scared by my current state of mind. I turned swiftly on my heel to face the girl in training to become a healer.
"What? What did I miss?" I snarled, even though I knew it was not the girls fault, but I was just in desperate to blame somebody for what had happened.
"I-" She faltered, "She's been showing positive signs of recovery, however, her mind is still in turmoil, you must understand that before you enter the room." She regained her composure, her voice steadying as she continued to explain to me the conditions of the girl lying in the room behind her. "It is not what we expected, but it is treatable. She will be fine, but only in time. I assure you that she is in perfectly good hands."

She took a deep breath after getting everything out, and looked up into my eyes. She was considerably smaller than me, but she stood in a way that lifted her above where I stood, with confidence and strength that I could never possess. I blinked, in attempt to loose the thoughts that were circling around in my mind, but to no avail. I nodded, processing what she had just told me.
"Okay. Can I see her?" I lowered my voice, softening it, so I wouldn't come off so as the hard man I did earlier. I noticed the slight movement of head, which I took as yes, so I strode past her, and up to the door that would lead me to the injured girl. Every so carefully, I turned the handle, and pushed the door open.

The sight that was in front of me, was truly saddening. I felt the young healer bustle past me, rushing over to the girls side, tending to her, before shooting me a look, and hurrying off into medicine, potion room. I stepped forward, towards the young girl who was laid and tucked up in the hospital bed. The covers were pulled right up to her chin, only her delicate face and curly hair were visible. Through the sheets, I could make her frail, broken body, and even though her eyes were closed, I could still remember the beauty that was beneath her heavy lids.

Her skin was glowing, even in her weakening state, but her face was as pale as the sheets she was beneath. Her hair was curly and wild, spread over the pillow like a fan spraying out in all directions. I walked towards her, noticing the different tubes that floated around her, feeding in different potions that the girl next door had mixed. I grabbed a chair, and set it down at her bedside, before taking the girls skeletal hand in my own, and sitting down next to her. Her emaciated face was once so full of life, it was upsetting to see her in such a broken down way. I could hear her breathing in the empty Healing Room, unsteadily and irregularly, but nevertheless, frighteningly quickly.

I heard the footsteps behind me, and I turned my head slightly so I could watch the girl walk towards me, holding another potion to feed into one of the tubes that fed into the sleeping girl. When she reached the bed, she stopped in front of the mess of tubes that were hovering all around,
"What potion is that?" I asked, eyeing up the potion she held in her left hand. " Will it wake her?" I was genuinely concerned and interested.
"No, actually." She tutted, wagging her finger at me. "You wouldn't have heard of it." She laughed softly under her breath, and took her wand from her pocket, as I watched intently. "Accio." She whispered, and a particular tube flew towards her. She glanced at me as she poured the potion into the tube.
"What is it then?" I sighed, sitting back in my chair, but still clutching the girls hand.
"It is one that I have mixed myself. It does not have a given name," She looked at her feet. "It has been proved to work very effectively, though." She faced me once again. "I promise...Now, if she jerks, or splutters, that is entirely normal. If anything else happens, well, I will be next door." With that she made to leave, but I caught her by the arm, preventing her from moving forwards.
"What is your name?" I frowned, "Why haven't I seen you before?"
"Charlotte, Charlotte Allison." She smiled and removed my hand from where it clasped her wrist. "And I wouldn't know, Mr. Malfoy." She turned, and marched off to the offices, next door. I would remember her name - Charlotte Allison. I was sure of it.

I looked back to the girl who was now quivering, and shaking, an effect of the potion. I could feel her cool, hard skin heating up, and see her eyelids flickering as her body began to jerk violently, as it reacted with the potion. My heart raced as I wondered what could happen to the young, dainty girl. With my thumb, I soothingly rubbed her hand, trying to calm the girl who was still trembling.
"Sshhh..." I whispered, bringing her hand to my cheek, holding it there, before lightly kissing it. She was my everything now, and I'd never forgive myself for letting this happen to her.

That was when I saw her eyes open, revealing the shocking green that lay underneath her thick, black lashes. When she saw me next to her, clutching her hand like there was nothing else left in the world, I saw the corners of her lips turn up. I smiled as she lifted her head slightly so she was staring into my eyes so deeply. Her eyes were so green, so pure, so innocent. She then relaxed her neck, being so tired from the happening, and leaned back into the pillow, closing her eyes again, but the brief smile still lingered on her lips.

She was like a younger sister to me, the only person I truly, and honestly trusted. The situation she was in was similar to one that had happened only a few years ago.

To the girl that I loved.

Only there was no happy ending.

Hermione

I quickly grabbed my hairbrush, and desperately tried to comb through the tangled mess of knots and curls. I yanked it through, over and over, but the knots would not untangle. I sighed, and set down the hairbrush on my dressing table, and stared into the mirror in front of me. My hair was so wild, it just couldn't be tamed, it had been that way longer than I could remember. I picked up a hair scrunchy, and pulled my hair back into a pony tail, using hair pins to hold back the loose strands that fell forward into my eyes.

I was now twenty - one years old, and I still had the same hair as I did when I was ten years old. My eyes were a heavy almond color, dark and bleary in the early morning, but my eyelashes were thick and black, so I never wore mascara or eyeliner. My skin was now pale, almost an ivory color, compared to the tanned, browned color it always used to be. There were a few freckles dotted over my cheeks, a result of the warm weather that had been recently. I looked out of the window that was still open from last night, and remembered the stars that had glowed so brightly. I glanced at my reflection once more as I stood up, grabbing a Vaseline lip balm and shoving it quickly into my bag.

I walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, setting my bag down on the counter, and taking a slice of bread to put in the toaster. I grabbed a plate, and the butter from the fridge and waited for my toast to pop up. Impatiently, I crossed my arms, and tapped my foot, annoyed that it was taking so long for the toast to pop up.

Suddenly, I felt hands on my waist, breath on my neck. I smiled, leaning back into the figure behind me, resting my head in the crook of his neck. I could hear the music drifting through from the living room, and I swayed to the gentle melody. I could hear him chuckling into my ear, laughing at my terrible rhythm, and I twirled in his arms, so I was facing him.
"Alex..." I tutted, shaking my head and raising my eyebrows. I put my hands on his neck, pulling his face down so it was straight in front of mine. I grabbed the back of his hair and yanked him forward, so our noses were almost touching. His eyes were full of shock and his lips slightly parted. I leaned in, closing my eyes, until I heard a loud,

"PING!"

We broke apart, and I turned around to remove my golden toast from the toaster. I quickly buttered my toast, grabbed my leather, work bag, and took a bite of the toast as I walked through to the living room. I saw Alex sitting on our expensive, leather couch, so I sat down beside him. He was writing in a notepad, his eyebrows furrowed together in concentration, his head bent low.

"Alex?" I whispered into his ear.
"Yeah?" He looked up at me, setting the notepad on the side table next to him. "Whats wrong, Min?" I winced at the sound of, ''Min', I always hated when he called me that.
"Well," I started, taking another bite of my toast. "I had another dream last night." He looked at me with an almost bored expression in his eyes.
"I know." He laughed lazily, "You mentioned it at three in the morning, or whatever time you woke up." He yawned, indicating how tired he was. "So what happened this time?"
"It was similar to the others, but it was longer." I glanced at my watch, and in seeing it, I jumped up, off the sofa, dropping my toast. "I'm late, again!" I was exasperated, this had already happened twice this week. "Ms. Field is going to kill me!" I ran to the door, Alex watching as I hurriedly grabbed my keys, and pulled on my coat. "Look, I need to run, I'll call you later, 'kay?" He nodded and turned back around so he was facing away from me as I left, not even kissing me goodbye. I didn't allow my mind to linger on this thought, though, so I opened the door and slammed it shut behind me, before sprinting down the corridor.

When I reached the lift, I pounded the 'down' button, stood back, and checked my bag for all the essential files I would need today. I took out my phone and started to dial the number to work, to explain that I was running late, yet again, when the lift arrived. There was a man in the lift, with hair that was redder than a tomato, and blue eyes that sparkled like sapphires, even in the dim lift lighting. I smiled at him as I stepped into the lift, and put the phone to my ear. I could hear the ringing, followed by my best friends voice at the other end of the phone.

"Hello, this is Emily Roberts, how can I help you?" Her voice was smooth and sounded so professional over the phone, it was such a contradiction to her personality.
"Em, its me." I whispered as I peeked at the tall man standing next to me.
"Hermione! Gosh, you should be here by now!" Her voice was panicked, and worried.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry," I apologized. "I'll be there in ten minutes, I swear. Please, cover for me?" I heard her sigh through the phone.
"Fine, but hurry up, 'cause Ms. Field is holding a meeting in fifteen you numpty. See you in a few!" With that she hung up, and I slipped my phone back into my bag.

I took a deep breath as I waited for the lift to come to a stop on the ground floor. The lift in our building had always been known for being notoriously slow, but it hadn't really bothered me until now. I could feel the eyes of the man with the red hair on me, but I was determined to not to look back at him. I felt the lift shudder, indicating the lift doors were about to open, so I stepped forward, ready to leave the lift.

The doors slid open, and I stepped through them, into the entrance hall, or lobby of the building, ready to run to work, I peeped one last time at the man I had shared the lift with, who was slightly behind me now, hovering by the first desk. I turned my head to walk on, but not before I noticed him wink at me. Ignoring this, I started to walk on.

Suddenly I felt the ground be pulled out from beneath me. My head was spinning and everything I was holding fell and clattered on the floor. I felt somebody catch me before my head it the ground but my mind was already somewhere else.

I heard his voice before I saw the tuft of red hair through the hoards of people.
"And then, yeah? Then he ran, he ran all the way up to him!" He was animatedly telling a story to his best friend. "It was wicked, you should have been there Harry!" I ran up to them wrapping my arms around the both of them.
"Harry!" I exclaimed, looking at the boy with the raven colored hair, and round famed glasses. "How are you? How is your scar? Has it been hurting?" I asked all at once.
"I'm fine." He chuckled and gave me another hug. I hugged him back tightly, before turning to face ,my other best friend.
"And you, Ronald Billius Weasley." I stepped closer to him, crossing my arms. "You didn't reply to my owls." I scowled at him as he blushed and attempted to apologize. I rolled my eyes at the boy and embraced him tightly and whispered in his ear. "At least you're okay, Ron."

I stepped back and looked at my two best friends, smiling at the two who looked so gangly in their school uniform.
"Come on," I beamed, linking arms with the boys and leading them to the huge train that awaited us. "We have so much to talk about."

I opened my eyes to see a man peering down at me. I frowned, I was lying on a sofa in the hall, my head resting on a velvet pillow. The man moved away, and I sat up, and scratched my head, rubbed my eyes.
"What happened?" My voice was trembling, as were my hands.
"I'm not sure." The man answered, his eyes full of genuine concern and worry. He was the man from the lift. "You were just walking, when you just collapsed, so I ran to catch you, but you were wrapping your arms around yourself, and rocking back and forth. I lifted you onto the sofa and you suddenly just ceased to move and just laid still, so I leaned over you, to see if anything was wrong, then you opened your eyes." He explained, looking down into his hands which were splayed open.
"Oh." I had had another of my dreams. Although, it had been different to the one I had been having over and over again for weeks now.

The man looked up, at exactly the same time as I did. He looked so familiar, he sounded so familiar. Everything about him was familiar, but I just couldn't decide how.
"I'm really sorry, you really didn't have to do that." I sighed, still trying to place where I knew him from. There was something about him, I just knew I could trust him. "I'm Hermione by the way, Hermione Granger." I smiled at him, but saw that he was looking at me like wanted to burst into tears. I dropped the smile and bit my lip. "Are you okay?" He nodded and held out his hand. "Ron Weasley. Pleasure to meet you Hermione." I took his hand nervously, recognizing his name, but I didn't know where from.

"You too." I smiled at him, and glanced at the clock that hung on the wall to my right. Half past nine, I had missed the meeting, and had been out of consciousness for longer than I had thought. I sighed letting my shoulders drop, and shook my head in dismay.
"What is it?" The man asked me, "Are you going to fall to the floor again, like a damsel in distress?" He winked, and cheeky grin playing on his lips.
"It's nothing..." I trailed off, knowing I shouldn't be telling everything to a complete stranger...only, he didn't feel like a stranger. "I'm late for work again, I've missed my meeting, a major meeting." I took a deep breath as he nodded. "Look," I was struck suddenly with an idea. "Do you want to go for coffee? I'm late for work anyway, and well, if you were gong to work today you'd be there by now, right?" I asked, a hint of uneasiness coming into my voice.
"I'd love to, I really would -" I cut him off.
"But...?" He chuckled, his eyes crinkling at the sides as the corners of his lips turned up.
"How'd you know there would be a but?" I shrugged, at his question.
"Female intuition, I guess." I laughed with him, the ring to his laugh so relaxed, and again, familiar.
"Yes, that must be it." His expression was soft and natural. "I have to get to work now, I am late much like you, but how'd you like to meet up for dinner?"

"I'd love to." I beamed at him, pushing all the thoughts of Alex to the back of my head. "Look, here's my number, call me, with what time, and where to meet you, 'kay?" I reached into my bag, and pulled out a clean, white business card, which had my name and all my details on it. I handed it over to Ron, who took it, his eyes narrowing as he read the numbers on the card. He looked up at me confused, his face screwed up in a way that made him look like he was attempting to 'gurn'. I leaned over and pointed at each of the numbers. "This is my work number, this is my home number, and that's my mobile. Call me on my work if you call before half past eleven, but any time after, you can reach me on my mobile. Oh, and don't even think about calling my home number. Got it?" His face just looked more confused. "Anyway, you'll work it out."

He nodded slowly, and stood up, tucking the card into an inside pocket of his suit jacket. He towered over me, his red hair slightly falling into his face as he stared down at me. He held his hands out, which I took, and pulled myself up, off the sofa so he was no longer such a giant to me. I let go of his hands reluctantly, his touch soothing, and reminded me of something I had forgotten.

I pulled my bag onto my shoulder, and walked towards the door with Ron, laughing and chatting to him side by side, our hands brushing against each other. Subconsciously, I tucked my hand under my opposite arm, so I wouldn't be touching the man walking in such close proximity to. We stepped out of the doors, onto the busy road, black cabs whizzing past, tourists squeezing past on the pavements. We were still in the doorway of the apartments, and I turned to face Ron.

"So this is where we part." I uncrossed my arms, and pulled my bag back onto my shoulder where it had fallen when my arms had unfolded.
"So it seems, Hermione." He smiled down at me, and put his arms on either side of mine. He leaned down and kissed my cheek before pulling me into a huge, gigantic, warm hug. My arms were rigid at me sides, after all, I barely knew the man who had his arms tightly wrapped around me. I stepped away, wriggling away from his firm grasp. I looked down towards my feet, then back up to Ron, who looked as if he were waging a war with himself in his face.

I coughed and he met my steady gaze.
"Uh - sorry 'bout that." He flushed a bright tomato red, almost matching the vibrancy in his hair.
"That's, um, okay. Well I have to shoot off," I turned my heads over my shoulder, indicating which way I would be going, before turning back to his sapphire blue eyes. I was going to continue speaking, but I found myself lost in the swirling pools of crystal clear blue ocean, that were his eyes. I blinked and stepped backwards, watching my footing, so I wouldn't trip again in front of Ron, embarrassing myself as always.
"Good bye Hermione, I'll use these numbers you gave me." He patted his jacket pocket, where the card was. I smiled and scurried down the street, but turned around to see Ron watching me, his stare intense. I gave him a feeble wave and turned back around to walk down the streets of London to work, thinking all the way about the man with flaming red hair.

Draco

I had had to leave her side as the Ministry had called me in for an unknown reason. I was sat at my desk, waiting for whatever, and whoever was going to tell me what happened. I fiddled with my wand, toying with it in my fingers, twirling it, flicking it. My chair was hovering in the middle of the office, suspended in mid air, as result of my flicking of the wand.

Just then I heard a slam of the door, and my chair crashed to the floor, as a result of the air being shaken, and stillness disrupted. I quickly cast a cushioning charm as I fell, and I landed on a soft, pillow like cushion of air. I stood up, to see Ron standing in the doorway, panting like a dog. I glared at him in disgust and dusted my hands and knees off. He was doubled over, his right arm was clutching his stomach, and the other was supporting his whole body, steadying himself in by clutching the door frame.
What is it Ron." I muttered, I was feeling so low, that I could not even find the heart to argue, or insult the red Weasel. He lifted his head and met my deadening gaze.

"I found her."

I know this chapter was abit weird and not quite as long as the first one, but I have some good ideas for the next one! and also, don't think this is becoming a Ron / Hermione story, I just need to set it all up, and stuff. I am not a Hermione & Ron fan! Oh well, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please read on, and pleeaase reveiw!