Author's Note: I think you'll like this chapter, or, I hope. This was a hard chapter for me to write. I had multiple ideas.

At some point in time, later, I may post an alternate ending for this chapter if I feel like it. I may not.

I think this really shows the struggle in Draco... even though it's through Hermoine's point of view.

Anyway, enjoy, and Review! It means so much! 3

Chapter 7

Hermoine

I sighed, and watched as Malfoy left the room. The one time I actually felt like he was a human being, when he actually showed some emotion other than arrogance, he ruined it. He's just a person who struggled with emotions. Always.

He'd been so cruel to me during school, and couldn't possibly feel bad about it now. He'd hated me even during the battle at Hogwarts, and seemed to have hated me in previous run-ins. I'd always hated him, too. Perhaps I despised him less, but I still hated him nonetheless. I could never forgive him for everything he'd done to myself and my friends. Never.

He may have changed, but he'd still always be Malfoy. He'd always be a right foul git.

"Oh, Luna! Please wait." I said quickly, and much quieter than I intended.

"Yes?" she said, whirling around.

"Is Ron okay?" I asked, louder.

"Oh, I don't know. He should be fine. They are very good here. I'll tell you right away!" she giggled.

"How… how can you be so cheerful in such a horrible place?" I breathed anxiously.

"Oh, being happy is much better than being sad. I prefer it, in fact. And I find that a little bit of happy makes up for all the sad here!" she said smartly.

"Oh… I see. It's just, some people may find it… inappropriate." I dropped my voice to a whisper.

"Well those are the people who need it the most!" she cheered. With that, Luna waved goodbye, and danced out of the room.

I looked down, and shook my head. Luna was always an odd one. She was a lovely friend and a joy to be around, but sometimes, her babbling made no sense and could get quite tiresome.

I stood up, and crossed the room, sitting down beside Ginny's sleeping self. I closed my eyes. I was rather tired.

I willed myself to go to sleep, but I wasn't listening to myself. My mind was somewhere else, wondering what had possessed Malfoy to be semi civil, and wondering how Ron was. I also thought back to when Ginny awoke me. I didn't know why she couldn't just bring them herself. I suppose she wanted me to be there with Ron, but it would have been a smarter idea to bring them as fast as possible.

And what about Ron's wand? She could've used his. Come to think of it, I didn't see his wand.

They were hiding something. I just had to find out what.


"Hermoine!" an airy voice awoke me from my restless sleep.

I blinked my eyes opened. "Oh, hello Luna."

"Come on! Ron's awake." She said, grabbing my hand and pulling me to my feet. As I stood, I lost my balance, and collapsed on top of Ginny, who was still asleep. Not anymore. I heard her grunt beneath me, and then felt her arms pushing me up.

"Hermoine…" she mumbled sleepily. "Get… up."

I stumbled up, having better balance now that I was more awake. I looked over to see Luna giggling, and I couldn't help but narrow my eyes at her. How could she be laughing?

Before I could say anything, Luna was dragging both Ginny and I through the doors of the waiting room and into the hallway.

"Slow down!" Ginny whined, stomping her foot in an effort to slow Luna down.

"Don't you want to see Harry?" she asked, not stopping.

"Of course I do, but I just woke up! Now slow down!" Ginny demanded. I heard Luna giggle.

"Luna." I said firmly.

She stopped, inside the elevator.

"I was going to let you go." She said, smiling wickedly. I sighed.

"Ginny, it's okay. Calm down." I whispered, putting a hand gently on Ginny's shoulder.

"I am calm." Ginny replied through bared teeth.

"Ginny." I said again.

She inhaled deeply. "Fine. I'm calm. Now where's Harry?" she asked, turning to Luna.

"On the sixth floor. We're here!" she said excitedly, grabbing our hands again as the doors opened.

I shared a glance with Ginny as we were dragged down another bright white hallway. Ginny did walk along with Luna this time, but she barely masked her eyes, which were shooting daggers at Luna's back. I don't think Luna noticed.

Suddenly, Luna stopped, and Ginny and I both slammed into her back. Luna giggled.

"Well, here we are! Harry's in this room, and Ron's in the next one down." She said, pointing to room F103 in front of us and F104 as Ron's room.

"Well, thank you Luna. We can take it from here." I said calmly, holding my hand up in front of Ginny, trying to keep her quiet.

"Okay. I'll be sending their lunches up soon." She replied airily. Then Luna danced off down the hallway, her long, blonde ponytail swinging behind her.

I sighed, and looked at Ginny.

"You could try to be nicer. She's just trying to help us." I said.

"I'm sorry, she woke me up by shoving you into my lap! Then she drags us into the elevator, doesn't say where we're going, and drags us down the hallway past over one hundred doors!" Ginny hissed.

I took a deep breath. "She's just doing her job."

"Well she could do her job a little less enthusiastically…" I heard Ginny mutter as she opened Harry's door.

"Do you want me to go with you?" I asked.

"No." she replied quickly. "I mean, you should go see Ron."

I looked down. "Yeah…" I mumbled.

I turned slowly, and walked down the hallway to Ron's room. I reached out, and sighed. Then I opened the door.

I closed my eyes, and then looked up. I blinked. Ron wasn't there. Instead, sitting in the bed, was a platinum blonde-haired woman. Beside her, in a chair, was a platinum blonde-haired boy. I gasped.

Draco Malfoy was sitting next to his mother's bed, his figure shaking with tears. I gasped. Malfoy turned around, and his eyes widened. Quickly, he stood up, and grabbed my arm. He opened the door, and dragged me into the hallway.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he hissed angrily.

I blinked again. He had tears dripping down his face.

"Answer me!" he growled, pushing me against the far wall.

"I-I'm sorry!" I said weakly.

"Why?" he asked angrily.

"I… Luna. She gave me the wrong room!" I whispered, in a daze.

"You. You shouldn't be in there. You should… go." He said, not moving. I was still pinned to the wall.

Malfoy closed his eyes, and another tear fell down his cheek. I couldn't help myself. I reached out, and wiped it away with my thumb.

Malfoy grabbed my hand.

"Don't… touch me." He said quietly.

"Malfoy, I'm sorry I-" I began.

"Don't touch me, you filthy mudblood." He said louder. I gasped angrily, and closed my eyes. A tear dribbled down my cheek.

"I don't understand you. You…" I whispered. I was unable to get my thoughts together. I realized my hand was still grasped in his, him holding my hand tightly. He noticed, too. He dropped my hand quickly, and turned around. He walked down the hallway, and sped up as he got closer to the elevator. Then he stopped.

I watched as he stood there, his figure again shaking with silent tears.

The elevator doors opened, and he walked inside. He flicked his wand, and the doors closed. As he turned around, I could have sworn I saw his lips forming words.

I'm sorry.


Author's Note: Hey! I hope you liked it.

Remember, review!

The alternate ending, well, I wasn't going to have Draco talk to Hermoine, just have her leave the room. But I liked this idea better, so I chose this!

This may be a kind of short chapter, but so far, it was the hardest for me to write. This took a good two or three hours. I wanted to get it just right.

I apologize for any spelling or grammatical errors, I was just so excited about it, I had to post it right away!

Review! 333