A/N Hello! Enjoy this chapter! (it's the longest so far) Thanks to my Beta for checking my work even when it's this long! ~ the shattered star

Disclaimer: (sorry I forgot to put one up last time, so here it is for both of the chapters!) None of this belongs to me NONE. It all belongs to JK Rowling, except for The Phantom of the Opera, Welcome to the Monkey House, Twilight, Sherlock Holmes and The Lord of the Rings which belong to Gaston Leroux, Kurt Vonnegut, Stephanie Meyer, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and JRR Tolkien (respectively). Oh yeah and Draco Malfoy, who insists that he owns himself?

Chapter 3: Hogwarts

To my surprise, and my delight
I saw sunrise, I saw sunlight
I am nothing in the dark
And the clouds burst to show daylight
Ooh and the sun will shine
Yeah on this heart of mine
Ooh and I realise
Who cannot live without
Ooh come apart without
It

-- Daylight, Coldplay

Hermione was ecstatic. By this time tomorrow, she would be on the Hogwarts express! It had been six days since she'd been to Diagon Alley. She thought back to that night, remembering what she'd thought. Draco Malfoy…Dashing? That doesn't make a lot of sense! I must've just been really tired. Yes, that's it. I was just exhausted, she thought.

She felt a twinge of regret though because Harry and Ron wouldn't be there.

Hermione called Ron to help her down the stairs so that she could get to lunch. Today there were just sandwiches because Mr. Weasley and Charlie had both gone to the ministry to see if they could get any leads that would help Harry and Ron. So far they had been unsuccessful.

Hermione grabbed a tuna sandwich with mayonnaise and lettuce. She then sat down between Ron and Harry.

"So do you guys have a plan about where you're going to go first?" Hermione inquired.

"Well, we were planning to wait until dad came home and if he's got any info, we'll figure it out from there." Ron stated calmly.

"So Hermione, excited much?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"You know I feel bad about it but yeah, I really am! I know you guys won't be with me so I'm slightly worried about that. On the other hand, I can't wait for my classes!"

"Typical Hermione. Excited about classes! Listen Hermione, I know we won't be there, but that shouldn't stop you from having at least a little bit of a good time! I don't want you to stress about us too much. Don't worry; we'll be fine. You'll have enough worrying about. I mean think about it, grades, your leg, spying. Promise me you won't worry Hermione. We'll be absolutely fine, you know that." Harry said comfortingly.

"Plus we have the Galleons, so you know we'll contact you if anything good or bad happens!" Ron pointed out.

"I know you guys, I just worry, you know that." Hermione said with a soft smile.

Harry gathered her and Ron in for a hug.

"You know, you guys'll always be my best friends right?" Hermione asked.

"Of course Hermione." Ron said smiling.

Harry released both of them smiling.

"Bet on it Hermione." he said.

The three of them finished their sandwiches in silence.Hermione broke the silence by asking Harry if she could borrow Hedwig for a few days. Harry was hesitant but Hermione assured him that she would have him back in two days max. He agreed, but said that if that was the case he would be using the Galleon a lot so she should be prepared for lots of burned pockets. She laughed and said that was fine. The silence started again.

After they were all done, Hermione asked Harry to escort her to her room so that she could write one last letter to her parents before she left for Hogwarts. Hermione reached her room, sat down at her desk then took out a quill, parchment and ink. She dipped the eagle feathered quill into the bottle and tapped the quill against the bottle getting rid of the excess ink. She placed the quill on the paper and began writing.

When she was finished writing the letter read:

Dear Mum and Dad,

Thanks for your understanding about the fact that I couldn't tell you about Hogwarts earlier! I'm leaving tomorrow! I know I still can't believe I'm going back! I hope you guys are doing well. Have you been enjoying the cool weather? I certainly have! Harry, Ron and Charlie have been able to play Quidditch, so they're happy! So I was just writing to let you know that I'm leaving tomorrow, so I will send a different owl to you guys after you return this one in case you want to contact me. Lots of love from your ecstatic daughter, Hermione.

Hermione slowly tied the letter to Hedwig's leg and sent the letter off. She felt horrible. It was bad enough having to lie to her parents, but doing it day after day was just awful.

"I'm going to take a bath!" Hermione shouted out.

She turned the tap on the bathtub, waiting for the water to warm up. When it did, she plugged the drain and went out to her closet to pick out her second to last set of clothes remaining. She had underclothes, a light gray knee length skirt and a blue cotton short sleeve shirt. She put the clothes at the foot of the tub, wriggled out of her clothes and sunk into the bath. Her leg felt almost immediately relieved; she sighed with pleasure. She put in almost the entire bottle of coconut scented bubbles. She put her head under the water. She did feel like dying, but she wasn't quite ready for extremes yet. What type of a daughter am I? she asked herself. My parents don't know anything about me. They don't live in my world! They are totally oblivious to the fact that I fought in a war last year; instead, they think I holidayed in Australia with them! They don't even know about my leg! I'm closer to my friends than I am with my parents. What is wrong with me?! It was at this point Hermione had to come up for air. She took a big breath, then, sank back into the water's crystalline depths. I wish I could hate my parents. Not care about them. Then I wouldn't have to be thinking these guilt ridden thoughts. Damn it! Why can't I just tell them? But Hermione knew she couldn't tell her parents that she was going back to Hogwarts not for her studies, but to spy on Slytherins. She was going to study and take classes, it was just that she knew that spying would always have to come first. She could probably get the password for the Slytherin's common room if she asked. Hermione came back up for air. She sunk back down into the warmth of the water. Well there's nothing I can do about my parents. As much as I hate to admit it, there's nothing I can do. Well I might as well start planning out how I'm going to spy on the Slytherins. It's not like I can just go up to one of them and ask if one of their parents have taken over for Lord Voldemort! At this point, Hermione forgot she was under water and she chuckled. She came out of the water spluttering and coughing rather loudly.

At that moment, Harry barged into the tiny bathroom.

"Hermione, Hermione!! Are you all ri—oh." He said spotting her laughing in the tub. Fortunately she was covered with bubbles.

"I-I-I'm f-fine Harry!" she spluttered through her tears of laughter.

"Oh. All right. I'll just leave now." Harry said backing uncomfortably away from the tub, exiting through the door. Hermione saw him break into a run after he thought he she couldn't see him anymore.

With one last chuckle, Hermione put her head back under the water, thinking herself extremely lucky for the bubbles.

After Hermione had finished her bath, she came out of her room and limped into Ron.

"Ha-ha! I heard about the incident!" he said laughing.

"Very funny Ronald. I merely swallowed some water and Harry simply overreacted. It's no big deal; really, there were plenty of bubbles in the tub! STOP LAUGHING! Thank you. Now pray tell, where's Harry?"

"In his room." was the sulky reply.

Hermione limped off towards Harry's room, running into him as well.

"Listen, Hermione, I'm so sorry! I never would've but I thought—"

"It's quite all right. You were worried, so I forgive you. Let's just pretend that that never happened OK?"

"Yeah. Thanks Hermione."

"No problem Harry." Hermione said smiling. "We really should always stick together, especially now."

"Agreed."

"So, I'll be in my room reading if you guys need me, OK?"

"Sure." Harry and Ron said simultaneously.

Hermione took out the book she was currently reading, Welcome to the Monkey House, and started reading…

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Draco had just finished his lunch of escargot and pasta primavera, when he started reading Welcome to the Monkey House. He was about half way through it when, all of a sudden, he remembered that he was going to Hogwarts tomorrow. He was suddenly very happy and decided to listen to the wireless. He found a station playing some heavy French rock and settled down to listen to it for a while.

After listening for a bit, Draco decided to go to Platform 9¾ alone by Floo. He was sure that even if he asked his father to come with him, he wouldn't. Oh well. He was just going to a platform. What was so special about that? I'll tell you what's so special about it; I'm leaving to go to school, not voluntarily mind you, and I won't see you for about four months! Oh and if know-it-all Granger decides to stay for Christmas, eight months. So you don't have to come and see me off, of course not!! Draco ranted silently. Of course, he still liked his father, but he just wished his father could give him just a little bit more time.

Still listening to the wireless, Draco started to read his book again. It was 5:00 when next he checked his watch. Damn. Five hours. Draco couldn't wait until school started. He was so bored with reading and listening to his wireless. His days could be summed up as such: Get up, take a bath, eat breakfast, read or listen to the wireless, eat lunch, read or listen to the wireless, eat dinner, read a bit more or listen to the wireless, get ready for bed, sleep, repeat. Draco was desperate for anything. He would even be thankful for homework! Insulting mudbloods, or even Potty or King Weasel.

All of a sudden, Draco had a terrible thought. What if, since his father was considered a threat, people treated him like they did in Diagon Alley?! He dismissed the thought quickly. He would always have his Slytherin cronies and that was all that mattered. Technically, Draco had never had a friend. His Slytherin cronies definitely didn't count. If Draco had just one friend, maybe things would be different.

Draco read and listened to the wireless until 7:00 when he had dinner. He went down to the kitchens and ordered a house elf to make him shepard's pie and chocolate ice cream for dessert.

He ate his dinner slowly, stalling for as long as he could. It wasn't that his book wasn't good; it was just that he was so bored of reading!

Eventually Draco had to go back to his book. The time now was 8:30, so Draco only had to read for an hour before he could start getting ready for bed. The clock finally said 9:30. Draco was relived. He folded the page he was on, threw the book in his trunk and rushed off to the bathroom. Draco brushed his flawless teeth, striped save his boxers, used the toilet and finally laid out his clothes for the next day. He had black pants, a silver shirt quite like the green one that clung to his chest, his black cloak and his pointy black leather boots. He had to look nice for his first day back at Hogwarts.

Draco jumped into bed eagerly and pulled his silver sheets around him. He tried to keep his mind clear, so as to fall asleep faster and he succeeded. There was just one thought that popped up unbidden into his head. Would the mudblood be there tomorrow?

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Draco woke quite suddenly. Today was the day he was finally going back to Hogwarts! He jumped out of bed and looked at the time. It was 8:00. Good. He was early. He was so happy! Today was the day he had been waiting for!

Draco pranced over to the bathroom and turned on the water. He picked up his clothes he had laid out the night before and put them on the sink's counter. He took off his boxers and sunk into the tub. He didn't stay in it for long though. Draco washed as quickly as he could, trying to get clean as fast as he could. He scrubbed with the soap vigorously, then got out, dried himself off with a fluffy white towel and got his clothes on.

After admiring himself in the mirror for a while, Draco got his Head Boy badge and pinned it on his chest. He thought it kind of destroyed his whole "look" but oh well.

Draco went down to the kitchen and asked for some oatmeal. He ate it heartily, greatly enjoying the little clumps of raisins a house elf had put in it. Draco finished and went back upstairs to put his hair gel on. He usually didn't do this, but today, he cared about what other people thought.

After he had slicked his hair back, Draco checked the time. It was 10:00. Perfect! he thought. If I leave by Floo powder now I'll be there just in time. Part of Draco wanted to wait for a bit and see if his father would come, but he knew that his father probably had something more important to do than to see his only son off to school.

Draco went back to his room, picked up his trunk, his broom and Vicus's cage and walked over to the fireplace. Incendio! he thought, taking out his wand. The hearth burst with flames. Draco took a handful of powder, threw it in the fire and watched the flames turn green. He stepped into the pleasant warmth of the flames and shouted "Platform nine and three quarters!"

Off he went, spinning and spinning until he reached the grate for Platform 9¾. Draco walked out of the grate, brushed himself off and looked around. He was in an alley. Excellent! Draco made his way out of the alley and looked around until he saw King's Cross. The station looked old and dusty. Draco wondered if anyone ever cleaned the station, and if they did, how much they got paid. At the same time, Draco was thinking about how happy he was to see the decrepit old building. Draco got himself a trolley while ignoring all the stares being shot at him by unsuspecting Muggles. He wondered how they would look at him if they knew he used to be in league with the most powerful dark wizard of all times. Somehow he got the idea that the looks would be a little different. Draco shot sneers back at the stares. Eww. Muggles were such disgusting creatures.

Draco wheeled his trolley in front of the wall between Platform 9 and Platform 10. He looked around to make sure no Muggles were watching and he walked leisurely towards the wall. He pretended to be looking at a map while leaning against the wall. Quickly, Draco leaned into the wall and without a noise, he went through the wall. Just before he crossed the great divide, he heard a small muggle child shriek "Mum! That bloke just went right through a wall!" Draco heard his mother say "Don't be ridiculous Michael! People can't go through walls!" Draco smirked. Sure, not people, but wizards can! he thought with a superior air.

Draco looked at his surroundings, about to burst with happiness. There were so many people there! He didn't spot Potty, King Weasel or the mudblood, which was a good sign.

There were first years that looked ecstatic to be finally going to Hogwarts. There were people on the train who were waving good-bye to their parents and just for a split second, Draco envied them. His thoughts strayed back to his mother who surely would've come with him here if he asked her to. Unfortunately, Draco couldn't dwell on this thought very much as right then, he saw Millicent Bulstrode walking towards him and he decided to make a run for it. He jogged up to the Prefect's carriage, put his belongings in the compartment under the carriage and ran up the stairs into it. He almost slammed the door shut when he remembered that other people had to get on the train too. He left the door as it was and looked up…straight into the eyes of Professor McGonagall.

"Oh…Hello Professor," Draco said.

"Good day Mister Malfoy. Let me get straight to business. I have decided that you will get a special task, but before I tell you about it, I must inform you of the duties you and the prefects will carry out. I have already informed Miss Patil here of them so if you have any questions ask her.

You, Miss Patil and the prefects will have to patrol the hallways every night after curfew to make sure no one is up and about when they shouldn't be. You and Miss Patil will split up the duties as soon as the other prefects arrive. As to the special task, I think I would like to inform you of it in private. Miss Patil do you mind?"

"Of course not Professor." Patil said heading out the door to chat with her friend Lavender.

"So what is this task Professor?" asked Draco formally, although inside he was trembling.

"Well Mister Malfoy, I believe you are acquainted with a one Miss Granger yes?" McGonagall went on after Draco gulped then nodded. "Well it appears that after the final battle, she injured her leg quite leg quite badly. You have been assigned the task of escorting her around the castle as she has trouble getting up and down stairs. After you and Miss Patil finish up in here, you may go tell her."

"Professor McGonagall, are you sure that I should be the one to tell her? I mean—"

"I know you and Miss Granger are not on the best terms, but nonetheless, I want you to go tell her. I will fetch Miss Patil and you two may begin informing the prefects as to what to do. Oh yes, and the password to your room is 'crepusculum'. Remember that you must help Miss Granger to her room before you go to yours. Good day Mister Malfoy."

McGonagall walked away, leaving a very scared looking and shocked Draco. If he had to do this for the entire year, he would without a doubt be dead by the end of August. He wasn't sure if by his blade or the mudblood's.

He wasn't really aware of what was happening, so he just sat down on a seat. Patil was speaking, but Draco wasn't quite sure of what she was saying.

"MALFOY! You bloody piece of scum! Are you listening to anything I'm saying?" she asked.

"Miss Patil. Let's get one thing clear. I'll not be rude to you if you'll not be rude to me. Agreed?" Draco asked curtly.

It was not like Draco t make truces, normally he would've just insulted her back, but at the mo' he had too much to think about. Like what Potty and King Weasel would say when they found out that he had to actually make physical contact with their mudblood friend. Ugh! He was really dreading this year. Thanks to McGonagall, what could've been the best day of his life, quickly turned into the worst. Well, except for the day his mother died. That would have to be the worst day of his life.

"Fine." said Patil, a bit shocked that Draco Malfoy could be civil.

Draco was still thinking when all the rest of the prefects trooped into the carriage.

Patil began to talk, but Draco wasn't paying any attention whatsoever. He was still thinking about what he was going to do about the mudblood.

"Malfoy!" Patil shrieked.

"Yes?" Malfoy responded testily.

"We haven't gotten any volunteers to do patrol tonight."

"I'll do it." Draco said immediately.

"All right. Now we're getting somewhere." Patil said in a surprised voice.

They split up the rest of the patrols and then they were dismissed by Patil. Draco didn't think he should've let her take over like that, but he had a lot on his mind. Now he had to go and hunt down the mudblood. Great.

Almost as soon as Draco came out into the hallway, Millicent found him.

"Drakey!" she crooned. "I missed you so much! We have a compartment right over there." she said pointing.

"All right. I'll join you guys in a second OK? I just have to go to the bathroom."

"All right Drakey!" Millicent said flashing him a flirtatious smile which Draco ignored. He was rather oblivious to the art of flirting. He only knew she wanted to go out with him because Zabini had told him so.

Because Draco had told Millicent he was going to the bathroom, he headed towards it. He figured the mudblood could be in a compartment on the way anyways.

Draco peered through the glass of each compartment, looking for her. He breathed a sigh of relief each time he didn't see her bushy brown mane of hair. Unfortunately, one's luck can only last for so long. He finally spotted her. He was completely unsure of what to do. In the end, he just decided to open the door and blurt it out. It didn't quite work out that way.

Draco slid open the door to the compartment. Everyone in the compartment went quiet and looked at him.

"What do you want Malfoy?" the mudblood asked threateningly.

"I have something I have to say to you. In private." The words spilled out of Draco's mouth. Damn why did I say that? he thought, giving himself a mental slap.

"I think you can tell me from where you're standing." was the frosty reply.

"No, really. It's about your leg."

"OK." the mudblood said hesitantly. She wondered what the hell this was about.

She got up and limped towards Draco. Conveniently, she happened to trip over a girl's leg. Draco didn't know what came over him, didn't know what happened in that moment. All he knew was that the next moment the mudblood was in his arms. What the hell!? What just happened?! Draco thought, repulsed with himself. He immediately dropped her.

What had actually happened was just that Hermione had tripped, which was normal as her leg wasn't at its best, and, as a reflex, Draco had caught her. Hermione knew this, but Draco didn't. He was disgusted. This was officially the worst day of his life. He had found out he had to help a mudblood to her classes, Millicent was going to be at Hogwarts and he had just caught that mudblood in his arms. Eww.

At this point, Hermione had gained her composure and gotten up.

"After you Malfoy," she said curtly.

Malfoy strutted out of the compartment into the hallway.

"What?" the mudblood demanded.

"McGonagall just informed me of a task I'm designated to do. Do you know what it is?"

"No. Why would I? And why do I care?" she inquired coldly.

"You do care because it concerns you. I have been assigned the task of being your constant companion. I have to help you around the school, up and down staircases apparently. Does that make any sense to you?"

"YOU?! You're what they meant by taking care of my wound!!?" Hermione shrieked. Several people passing down the hallway stopped to shush her. No I will not shush! she thought. The person I hate most in this world has to accompany me EVERYWHERE! This is terrible! I can't very well tell him "no thank you" as, as much as I hate to admit it, I need someone's help. I'll go talk to McGonagall first thing tomorrow morning—no! Tonight!

"Believe me mudblood; I don't want this any more than you do!" Draco exclaimed, watching her wince at the word.

"Oh don't worry; I intend to talk to McGonagall about this as soon as possible." Hermione stated turning her back to Malfoy and limping as regally as possible back into her compartment, shutting the door, while thinking I hope you rot in hell Malfoy! as loudly as she could.

Just before Malfoy had barged into their compartment, Hermione had been telling everyone about her mission to spy on the Slytherins. Sitting in the compartment was Luna, Ginny, Neville and herself, so Hermione thought she was company she could trust with this information.

As soon as she walked in, everyone demanded she tell them what happened. She relayed the facts to everyone and was happy to hear the shocked intakes of breath from Ginny and Neville. Luna merely said "Poor you Hermione!" and went back to the magazine she was holding: The Quibbler.

Earlier on, Hermione had been rather disappointed that she didn't get the Head Girl badge, but as Malfoy was Head Boy, she was now counting herself lucky. He is such a little bastard! she thought. Why's he here?! I should probably owl Harry and Ron about this. Hermione couldn't wait until the train arrived.

After another couple hours, much to Hermione's pleasure, the train did arrive. She was ecstatic when she got off. She followed the crowds of people towards the carriages that would take them to the castle. This year, as she had expected, Hermione could see the beasts that pulled the carriages.

"You're even more beautiful than I imagined." she crooned to a threstral. She had gotten a little cut on the train when she had fallen. She let the transparent horse lick her finger clean of blood. Normally Hermione would never let an animal lick a wound of hers, but she knew threstrals had healing powers to a certain extent, so she enjoyed the feeling of the threstral's tongue on her thumb. She let everyone else rush past her, feeling like she and the threstral were the only things left on Earth. She liked this feeling. The feeling that she could just let everyone else do whatever the hell they wanted to do, while she stood here with this threstral.

Eugh! That's horrible! She's letting that creature lick her hand! Filthy little mudblood! Draco thought. He hated seeing the creatures. It was disgusting the way you could see their internal organs, the way you could see them pant every breath, the way you could see their hearts beating. Disgusting. Sure, some people might find it fascinating, but not Draco. He thought they were almost as revolting as mudbloods were. Almost.

Draco got into a carriage while Hermione got into another one. The threstrals pranced off towards the castle, Hermione stroking hers. They rode through the main gates of Hogwarts, Draco smiling with pleasure at being back at Hogwarts, even if it was with the mudblood.

Everyone got off their carriages and made their way to the Great Hall. Hermione limped in between Luna and Ginny, chatting to them about she was so very happy to be back in these halls. They both agreed ecstatically. Finally, the three of them reached the Great Hall. They sat down at their respective tables, Hermione next to Ginny. They waited for everyone to settle down and then they saw Professor McGonagall get up.

"It is very pleasant to see you all here, but the time for speechmaking isn't now. Eat."

Food, as usual, appeared in front of everyone's eyes. Yes! thought Draco. He crammed his plate full of stuff, steak and kidney pie, drum sticks, salad, potatoes, gravy and, for some strange reason, tortillas stuffed full of cheese, sour cream and ground beef. He dug in enthusiastically. Then he remembered who he was sitting next to. He was squished between Goyle and Millicent; almost his two least favorite people. Then again, these days, these days, most people were his least favorite people. Even so, Draco thought they shouldn't stop me from eating how I want to! Draco resumed his digging in. He had just finished his salad, when, he saw the mudblood staring at him with a disgusted look.

"What?" he mouthed at her. She quickly averted her gaze. He was the one who should be disgusted, not her! As far as Draco was concerned, she was staring at the hottest guy within a 100 kilometer radius!

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Hermione was disgusted when she saw Draco eat. He ate like a starving person, while he was probably among the top ten richest people in the world! He caught her staring and mouthed "what?" Hermione quickly looked elsewhere. Damn McGonagall! This was a historic moment. It wasn't often you heard Hermione Granger curse a teacher! Hermione was sure that this had something to do with spying. She was going to go to McGonagall straight after this was over and tell her that she was fine by herself.

It was time for the dessert course. Hermione smiled internally; she loved the desserts at Hogwarts. She looked over at the different types of foods and tried to choose three she would eat. She ended up choosing the tiramisu, the strawberry ice cream and the bread pudding. She placed all three on her plate, deciding to eat the ice cream first, when she remembered that McGonagall was going to make a speech. She wondered briefly, what McGonagall was going to talk about. No doubt the war last year, but she wondered what else. She hoped she didn't have to listen to all that House Unity crap. The day she and Draco became friends was going to be the day hell froze over.

Suddenly, all the plates cleared themselves. Damn it! Hermione thought. She hadn't been able to finish her tiramisu. Oh well; she assumed she could go down to the kitchen and ask the house elves to give her some. She felt so bad for them; doomed to a life to serve.

Then McGonagall started to speak.

"Recently, we have been faced with horrible atrocities. As we had a war last year, Hogwarts is allowing those who feel they need to, to have counseling with Professor Portsmouth here." she said pointing to a young, blond professor who gave a smile and waved.

"Now, those of you who have read the Daily Prophet, know that there recently have been multiple attack on Muggles. Rest assured, these attacks have not been preformed by a one Lord Voldemort. Currently, he is resting peacefully in the ground, next to his father's grave. We do not know who has been causing these attacks, but, we are in the process of finding out."

Harry and Ron, thought Hermione. I wonder how they're doing. I'll send them a message by Galleon tonight.

"I have nothing else to say, except that I hope you all have a nice night." finished McGonagall.

Hermione felt everyone around her leave the table. After a while, she got up to join them. She looked up and saw a most peculiar pair of gray eyes staring at her.

"Mudblood," he greeted silkily.

"Arrogant git," she replied.

"I'm assuming I have to help you to McGonagall's office." Malfoy stated.

"Only if you don't want to be leading me around the school," Hermione answered curtly.

"Let's go. Do I have to help you up and down stairs only, or do I have to help you walk too?" he asked sarcastically.

Hermione got up and limped quickly towards the exit of the Great Hall. Right then, she tripped and was about to meet the floor headfirst, when a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her stomach and pulled her up.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Hermione started walking again, but this time, slower, while Malfoy followed close behind her. She kept walking/limping until she came to a very long flight of stairs.

"OK. You have to help me down these. Just put your arms under my arms like this," she said, placing them under her arms, "And just let me lean on you OK? Believe me, I don't like this little arrangement any more than you do."

"Are you sure about that?" Malfoy muttered sullenly.

They took the stairs very slowly. So slowly that, in fact, Draco considered just picking her up to get the ordeal over with. But, of course, he didn't. He knew that that would enrage her, and she was already mad enough having to walk next to him.

The two of them finally reached the bottom of the stairs. Malfoy quickly took his hand out from under her arms and began brushing them off of his black robes. The mudblood glared at him with a look of utmost disgust. Oh well. The feeling was mutual, so no biggie there.

The mudblood began limping again and Draco had to jog to catch up to her. They walked (or in Hermione's case limped) towards the gargoyle that guarded the Headmistress's office. Hermione limped up to it and said clearly "Albus Dumbledore." The gargoyle turned to let them pass immediately. It closed so quickly, it almost ripped part of Draco's cloak off.

"Maybe it knows you were almost his murderer." she spat at him.

"Mudblood!" Draco shouted. "You know nothing about it, so just shut up!"

"Whatever," Hermione said moodily.

Draco pushed her to the floor and put his face right above her, nearly lying on top of her.

"You have no idea what happened up there! You don't know what I was going through that entire year, so stuff it! You know nothing, NOTHING about me." he snarled.

He let Hermione up, but not before seeing the wound on her thigh. Bloody hell! What did the Dark Lord do to her?! Serves her right, bloody moron, he thought.

After he let her up, Hermione stared at him while he stared at her. She finally tore her glance away.

"Let's go." she said in a hollow voice.

They walked into the professor's office.

"Ah." said Professor McGonagall. "I've been expecting you two. Please, do sit down." She pointed out to chair which were directly across from her.

The two of them sat down.

"I assume the two of you are unhappy with the arrangement I have made to accommodate Miss Granger's leg?"

"Yes professor. I was wondering…well can't someone else do it?" Hermione asked tentatively.

"I am very sorry Miss Granger and Mister Malfoy, but my mind has been made up. Mister Malfoy here will be escorting you around Hogwarts until your leg gets better. Now off you two go to sleep. Ah yes, and Miss Granger? The password to the Gryffindor tower is 'Twilight'. Good night you two."

"'Night professor," Draco and Hermione said simultaneously.

Hermione went out the exit, all the while plotting how she would sneak into the library tonight to get some information on how to cure her leg. She decided to cast a spell that would render her invisible when she was in the dark, but, when she was in direct light, people would be able to see her. Damn. It was so much easier to do this when she had had access to the invisibility cloak!

It was just then that she turned to look at Draco and she noticed the badge pinned on his chest.

"You're Head Boy?!" she shrieked astonished.

"Yes." Malfoy said simply but carefully.

"What was McGonagall thinking? Did she have an aneurism or something over the summer?" Hermione said humouredly.

Draco decided to ignore that, as he was already fed up with the mudblood. He knew that if he just didn't react, she would eventually shut up. And she did.

After helping her up two flights of stairs, Draco and Hermione finally reached the Portrait Hole.

"Twilight," the mudblood said while muttering "That was the worst book I've ever read."

They got to the Gryffindor Common room, and just as he turned to go Draco heard:

"Wait!"

"What." was the cold response.

"You still have one flight of stairs to help me up! Remember? The girls' dormitory?"

"Damn. Yeah. Let's go." Draco could've sworn the mudblood was enjoying this. "Wait! I thought I wasn't allowed up those stairs?"

"You aren't. Unless, you're with a girl."

"Great." Draco helped her up the stairs, then left to hear her snickering softly. Stupid mudblood, he thought.

Draco jogged back to his room. He muttered "crepusculum" under his breath and entered his room. He was astonished. His room was simply enormous! His bed was queen sized and the room looked like it could accommodate at least ten people. Draco checked out the bathroom and was pleased to see that he could probably do laps in his bathtub. Maybe Hogwarts wouldn't be so bad!

Draco was about to get ready for bed, but then he remembered that he had to patrol the corridors. He ran out of the room and headed towards the library, as that was where most people were when they were out of bounds…

On a hill top, on a sky-rise
Like a first born child
At full tilt, and in full flight
Defeat darkness, breaking daylight
Ooh and the sun will shine
Yeah on this heart of mine
Ooh and I realise
Who cannot live without
Ooh come apart without
Daylight

-- Daylight, Coldplay

A/N Reviews please! Hope you enjoyed this long 15 paged chapter! Thank you so much to MissMirandaCullen for adding me to her favorites! It's nice to know that more than one person read my story! Now if you would only just review… In addition to this, Daylight does not belong to me. It belongs exclusively to Coldplay. ~ the shattered star