Disclaimer: I own no part of the Harry Potter franchise; all characters and ideas belong to J.K. Rowling.

Hermione awoke with a start when someone jabbed her in the side. She looked up quickly, worried that someone might've seen her sleeping. Oh, wait. It was History of Magic, the dullest class at Hogwarts. Everyone slept through it. Everyone except me. Hermione felt a little put out with herself, but knew that with the lack of sleep she'd been getting lately, it was a wonder she wasn't falling asleep in all her classes. Still, it was bad enough that she'd been late to class because Snape had made her stay after. On top of that, she hadn't completed her potion and was going to get a poor score for the day. That's when he'd had the gall to tell her she might be required to miss part of the feast preparations because of her detention. That just about tore it, really, but what could she have done? Dumped him in his own oubliette. The thought made her smile a little and she looked over to Harry, who'd poked her.

"What is it?" she asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily.

Harry smiled back at her fondly and gestured to the classroom. "Class is over. Everyone's gone, probably to dinner."

"What?" Hermione looked about herself more clearly and realized he was right. Even Professor Binns had gone. She looked at Harry again and smacked his arm. "Why didn't you wake me?"

Harry watched her as she looked about for her books and book bag. When she couldn't find them, he held the bag up in front of her. She gaped at him in amazement. He shrugged.

"You were asleep. I know you've not gotten a lot lately, what with…well, you know. Thought you might could use the rest for a bit. I packed your things for you while you napped." When she started to sniffle and drew him into a tight hug, he felt his face flush a bit. "There didn't seem a point in waking you," he murmured around a mouthful of her hair. He felt her laugh against him and pull away.

"Thanks, Harry," she said, almost shyly. She reached for her bag, but Harry took it, his own already on his shoulders.

"No, I'll carry it, Hermione," he said. He gestured towards the door and after a moment's hesitation she stood up.

On her way out the door, Harry behind her, she paused and turned to him. "Harry," she began, "you never carry my bag. What's going on?"

He shifted from foot to foot nervously under her questioning gaze. She was always so honest and, well, right about everything she did that he didn't know how to say what he meant without seeming like a coward.

Her gaze never faltered and he looked at her once more. He decided to be direct. "I feel bad. About everything." He saw her open her mouth as though to speak and rushed forward with his words. "I know that carrying your bag once and sitting next to you at every meal and pounding Ron won't ever really make up for the way I mistrusted you, the way I treated you the last two months. But if it means I have to carry your bag every day until we graduate, I will. I know you haven't really forgiven me yet and that's okay. And I know you're hurt and confused at how people are treating you now, after yesterday." He paused and Hermione broke in.

"Harry, I have forgiven you!" Hermione protested, but he shook his head.

"You haven't," he said, a sad smile on his face. "But I'm pretty sure that you will someday. I just have to prove that I'm a real friend. The way you've been my real friend all this time."

Hermione didn't know quite what to say. It was true, she hadn't really forgiven any of them yet. Still, Harry's behavior now was enough to make her cry again. She still didn't know what had made him change his mind, but she was willing to give him a chance. No matter what he did, no matter how angry he made her, when he said he was sorry he meant it. She sighed, knowing that she'd always have a soft spot for the git.

"Oh, Harry," she said softly, brushing her sleeve across her face. He gave her a small, goofy grin and stuck out his arm.

"To dinner. Shall we, milady?" He asked in a somewhat strangled voice.

Hermione laughed and nodded. Placing her hands on his arm, they walked from the now darkened room together and headed for the great hall.

Draco didn't eat much for dinner that evening; he hadn't been very hungry. Somehow the feeling in his stomach had stuck with him through the rest of his classes and had just grown, if it was even possible, worse. In fact, his body was responding in ways he didn't know how to easily combat. Right now, Pansy was shoveling more food on his plate. She certainly hadn't been shoveling it on her own plate, he'd noticed.

"Here, maybe you'd like some of this, Draco. Come on, just try a little, please?"

He looked down at his plate and gagged. He didn't know what the house elves were preparing for the feast tomorrow, but it had better be good. Tonight's dinner looked like a repeat performance of yesterday's lunch. He perked up a bit at that thought. It would be fun if Potter got in another fight tonight. Draco looked over his shoulder at the Gryffindor table and spotted Ron, whose face was bruised. He was sitting alone at the table, receiving the treatment he'd been dolling out the last several weeks. Draco snickered and turned back around. He hadn't seen Granger or Potter. The little Weasel had been seated with some of her friends, many seats down from her brother. She'd been making nice to a different boy this time. Hope Potter's not too disappointed, thought Draco. Although he hadn't looked that happy the last time she'd been sweet talking him, either.

Pansy continued to push food at him. "Look, Draco, there's some fresh fruit, at least. I know you like oranges, can I slice one for you?"

He nodded absentmindedly and she busily went to work. Draco hadn't been paying as much attention to her the last couple of days and while she wasn't worried, she did want to keep his affection alive. Although he had waved to her in Potions today, right after that embarrassing display of temper. She giggled a little at the thought and placed the finished product on a new plate, waving his old one away.

"There," she said, and watched happily as he looked down, patted her hand in thanks and began to eat the pieces.

"Thanks, Pansy," he muttered around a slice and was rewarded with a brilliant smile. Well, as brilliant as Pansy's smile can be.In reality, she wasn't bad looking. She was nice, well, to him at least, and relatively intelligent. Okay, comparatively intelligent, say, to Crabbe. She listens to me, feeds me, looks out for my best interests…and her own. Draco wasn't sure what it was that kept him from really loving her. He wasn't even sure if he believed in love. There was a time when he was a boy, when he heard fairytales and believed in princes and princesses, that he might've pretended to know what love was. But now? He looked at Pansy from the corner of his eye and watched as she chatted with her friends. Even now, after all this time with her, thinking about her, caring for her, he still couldn't bring himself to feel deeply for her. I wonder if she knows, he thought. I wonder if that's good enough for her. I wonder if that's good enough for me.

Finishing the orange, he pushed his plate back and looked about himself once more. It looked as though the fruit might be the extent of his meal that evening. Shrugging, he picked up his book pack and stood up. Pansy looked up at him from her seat on the bench.

"Are you finished?" she asked. She looked a little hurt that he'd want to leave her so soon.

He managed a small smile. He really ought to treat her better. He leant over and landed a small peck on the top of her head. "Not really hungry. I'm going back to get started on my work. See you there?"

She nodded, mollified, and he started for the door. Once his back was turned she picked up some cheese and bread and began to carefully scrape the mystery bits from them. Pansy smiled to herself in relief. She'd thought he'd never leave and she'd been getting very hungry. If he didn't want her to eat moldy cheese when it was the only thing available, then she wouldn't. Around him.Smiling again, she started to eat.

Just as Draco was reaching the doors from inside the great hall, Harry and Hermione were reaching them from outside.

Draco opened a door and found himself staring right at Granger and Potter. He wanted to turn and run the other way, the feeling inside him was so strong now. It was so overpowering that when she went to brush past him he almost reached out to grab her arm. If Potter hadn't been there…

Harry saw the way Malfoy twitched when Hermione walked past him. If he didn't know any better, he could've sworn the look on his face was one of…well, he didn't want to think about it. The Slytherin began to move very quickly from the scene and he decided to ignore it. He started to follow Hermione inside when a body worked its way past Hermione's and came crashing into him, grabbing his hand and pulling him back outside. His heart sunk low into his chest, so low it felt as if it were sitting in his stomach. He blanched a little, but tried to maintain a neutral face. It was Ginny. Looking over the top of her head, he spotted Hermione coming back out of the hall. She paused just outside the door and looked at the two figures.

Ginny tugged on Harry's sleeve. "Harry, you haven't talked to me in almost two days! I want to know what's wrong. Please," she asked, eyes big and brown, red hair swept back from her face appealingly. "Please tell me what's wrong."

Harry knew he shouldn't say anything, knew he should maintain the secrecy Hermione so clearly wanted. But this was Ginny. The girl he thought he cared for. His best friend- ex best friend's little sister. Ginny. He looked down at her and felt the words in his throat before he said them.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? How dare you ask me that, Ginny Weasley!" Harry knew his temper had snapped again for the second time in two days and did his best to control himself. He couldn't get into another public fight, especially not with a girl. He shook his head and tried to walk past her.

Ginny stopped him again, her hand on his arm. "Harry, what is it? What have I done?" She could feel a wail building up inside her. It wasn't possible. There was no way he knew! No, no, no!

Harry looked down at the hand on his arm and shook it off angrily. "Yes," he said quietly, "Just what is it you have done, Ginny? And when were you going to tell me about it?"

Ginny stepped back from him and shook her head. He knew! He knew! Oh, gods. Her eyes glanced about wildly, looking for purchase, finding Hermione. She went dreadfully still for a moment and then flew towards the girl. "You!" she shrieked. Hermione's eyes went wide and she shook her head, hands in front of her, trying to ward off Ginny's hateful scratches and slaps.

"You bitch!" Ginny yelled. "I can't believe you told him!"

"Bitch?" Hermione gasped, disbelieving. "After all this time keeping your secret, putting up with the lies and taunts and physical abuse, you think I'd break my promise now?" Even as she was battling Ginny off, her face was white with rage. "If anyone is a bitch here, Ginny, it's you!"

Ginny gasped this time and started in on Hermione with renewed strength. Nothing, it seemed, was above a Weasley when faced with total defamation of character. Or not getting what they want, Hermione couldn't figure out which it was. Probably both. She tried to run away, but the girl had her cornered and was doing a pretty good job of hurting her. Hermione couldn't get to her wand because she was trying to shield her face. Ginny, however, quickly had hers out and trained on Hermione.

"It had to be you, Hermione, no one else knew!"

"It wasn't me, Ginny! I don't know what you're talking about! It wasn't me," she sobbed, trying desperately to retreat from Ginny's angry advance.

Harry whipped out his wand and pointed at Ginny, ready to hex her if need be. He was seconds too late. Another voice from down the hall shouted, "Petrificus Totalus!" He heard running footsteps and turned to find Malfoy running back down the hall towards them, wand out.

The commotion had started almost as soon as he'd left the door. He'd gotten barely ten yards away when he'd heard someone shouting, then the sound of a scuffle and then Granger had begun yelling too. Draco had turned around then and started to run back. He'd reached them in time to see the Weaselette turn her wand on Granger and, without thinking, his own wand was out and he was setting a spell on Ginny. After the girl had hit the floor he'd started towards Granger, but Potter got there first. He expected to see a tearful hug, but instead was rewarded with another fight.

Harry reached a hand out to Hermione only to have her bat it away.

"Hermione, are you hurt?" he asked. Hermione laughed at him dully.

"I should have known," she muttered.

"What?"

Her head shot up and she glared at him. He backed away. "I said I should have known. I should have known that the only reason you'd start being nice to me again was if you found out the truth. You couldn't just believe me, trust me for my sake, because we're friends! No, you only came back because you found out that precious Ginny Weasley is a lying whore!"

Harry decided not to stand for that. He'd take almost every kind of abuse from her at this point, but it was really too much.

"Hermione, that's not true. I was already planning on telling Ron off when I heard you and Ginny talking. It's just that the truth made it easier…" he trailed off, realizing how lame he sounded.

"Easier? Easier? Since when has any of this situation been easy?" she shrieked at him. "Why was the truth so important to you? Why was it more important than our friendship?!"

Harry looked up at her again. Setting his jaw, he walked back to her and took her by the arms. She tried to get away, but he held her tightly. It reminded her of the last two nights of her life. She would've given anything to have it be Malfoy rather than Harry. It was always easier to fight with someone she didn't really care about. Harry gave her a small shake.

"Look at me, Hermione. Look at me."

She raised her eyes to his face.

"No, it hasn't been easy for you, Hermione, and I'm sorry for that. But if I doubted you, doubted your strength of character, then you did the same thing to me and…Ron." She started to protest, but Harry gave her another shake. "No! It's your turn to listen to me! Sure, I should have trusted you to know you would never do anything like that, but you should have trusted me with the truth as well. I wouldn't have spread a rumor, or told your secret, or ridiculed Ginny. You know me, Hermione. I may not have been happy about the truth, but you could have trusted me. Why didn't you?"

Hermione gulped back a snide remark and Harry let her go.

"Now, do you need to see the nurse?" Hermione shook her head at him mutely. She looked like she was about to cry again and Harry folded her into a hug.

"Hermione, I might be a little upset, but I'm more angry at Ginny than anything else. Now, what do you think we should do with her?" He nudged the body on the ground a little, sending it spinning around slowly on its back. Hermione let out a small giggle and Harry looked to her, smiling sadly himself.

"It'll wear off in a minute or so," drawled a voice to their right.

Hermione looked over and saw Malfoy leaning against the wall. Her eyes narrowed and he smirked.

"If you're wondering, yes, I overheard everything."

Hermione frowned and turned away from him. If Malfoy was going to be a giant prat as usual, there was no reason to pay any attention…gods, it was bad enough he'd witnessed all of that on top of what he already knew. She'd never hear the end of it from him. She shuddered to think what he'd do with Harry's words to her. Of course, when she considered it, Harry was completely right. But hearing him talking about doing the right thing now, after everything, truly rankled. She heard him speak.

"Erm, thanks for that, Malfoy."

Hermione's head whipped back around. "Thanks?" she asked, hissing.

"Well, yeah. It was Malfoy who, you know. That." He nudged the body once more. It was starting to soften up.

Malfoy shrugged and stayed in place. "It was nothing, Potter. Been wanting to do that to a Weasel for a long time. Rather refreshing."

"Yeah, well, see that it doesn't happen again, prefect." Hermione snapped at him. To her dismay, he frowned and walked over to her. Harry's arm about her shoulders drew tighter, more protective. She shrugged it off and met Malfoy nose to nose.

"I'm not the prefect that's sent the whole school in a tizzy over a misplaced sense of loyalty, mudblood."

Ooo! That boy! Hermione felt her hand draw back as though to slap him, but he danced out of her way just as Harry grabbed her wrist to prevent it..

"As much as I enjoy having your hands on me, Granger, I think I'd better get going. See you in detention tomorrow!" he yelled as he sauntered off down the hall. There was almost a slight spring in his step. Knowing how ridiculous he looked, Draco stopped himself and kept walking coolly back to Slytherin. Still, he felt like whistling, he was so pleased. Maybe princes do exist after all. Maybe I'm one. His face broke into a smile he quickly damped down to a smirk. Till tomorrow.

Hermione turned back to the body on the floor and Harry returned her arm. "Remember, Hermione, you've always told us it isn't worth it."

She sighed and nodded. She was just about to gesture to Ginny when she and Harry realized the body was stirring. Harry looked at her and mouthed, dinner? Hermione grabbed his hand in response and they walked into the great hall, leaving a dazed Ginny outside in the hallway.

Author's Note: I know, I'm making you all wait an awfully long time for some things. Trust me, it's better this way.