"Oh, heavens, Ginny, what was I thinking?" Hermione moaned. "The guys will never understand!"

Ginny grimaced, but strides determinedly up the stairs to the Fat Lady's portrait. "They need to know now, or they'll never forgive us for keeping it from them. Acromantula," she mumbled to the awaiting woman, who was examining herself in a handheld mirror.

"Yes, yes," she said distractedly, swinging forward.

The girls clambered through the portrait hole, and found a mostly deserted common room. Hermione swallowed painfully as she saw Harry and Ron sitting in the corner, engaged in a game of wizard's chess. Ginny gave her a pointed look before walking over to them.

Harry looked up, cast Ginny a quick glance, and noticed Hermione a few feet behind her. "Hey! We haven't seen you all day! Where have you been?"

Hermione attempted to shrug nonchalantly. "McGonagall asked me to watch out for Dr-Malfoy while he was in the Hospital Wing."

Ron frowned from behind Harry and returned his focus to the chessboard, while Harry reacted impassively. "So he really was in the Hospital Wing. I'd heard some Fifth Years talking about it. What did he do?"

Hermione felt her anger bristling at his assumption that Draco was in the wrong. She took a deep breath. "Actually, he didn't do anything. He was attacked without provocation by some Ravenclaws who were out for some misplaced revenge."

Ron snorted. "Did they get a good hit in?"

Ginny smacked him on the head. "How could you say that?! He almost died!"

Ron brushed off her arm. "Well how was I supposed to know that?" he grumbled.

Harry meanwhile, was staring at the chessboard, concentrating, Hermione thought, on the game. "Malfoy not provoking someone doesn't sound like him at all, especially having gotten almost killed." He turned to Hermione, obviously thinking hard. "You said it was revenge. Revenge for what?"

She grimaced. "Well, the guy's father worked for the Ministry in a rather high position in the Department of Mysteries, or so Professor McGongall told me. When he was hesitant about working under Pius Thicknesse and what was obviously Voldemort's regime, a couple of Death Eaters led by Rodolphus Lestrange kidnapped his youngest daughter in an attempt to get him to cooperate. But they went against orders and did truly horrible things to her...and, well, she died. I can see why her brother is mad and upset, I mean, she was only 9 years old, but..." She trailed off, unsure if she wanted to voice her thoughts.

Luckily, the unique and almost psychic friendship that her and Harry had decided to voice it for her. "If it was Rodolphus, then her murder had nothing to do with Malfoy." He looked up at her with understanding. "I guess he was just furious to see an ex-Death Eater, especially one so close to the Lestranges, but I get it, he shouldn't have gone after Malfoy."

Ginny nodded in agreement. "Especially with Sectumsempra."

Harry paled. "He had it used on him?"

Hermione heard the unspoken 'again' behind Harry's words and knew he was thinking of their Sixth Year when he himself used it on Draco. "Yes, though it wasn't a very well-executed curse, so the damage wasn't as bad as it could've been. But he'll probably have some scarring on his arms, and a little on his face."

Harry looked troubled by the news, while Ron just scowled. "It's just a scar. After everything he's done he can handle a couple flaws on his scrawny ferret face. Mate, it's your move."

Harry stiffened slightly. "No scar is just a scar."

The three others fell silent and Ron's ears turned red. "Well, I didn't mean anything by that. I just meant-"

"I know what you meant," Harry said as he bent over the board. Hermione felt she knew what was going through Harry's mind in that moment. A scar was a constant reminder of an event, one that you couldn't hide from judging eyes. Harry's scar had always branded him as the mystifying lucky one, the savior of the wizarding world. He, of course, could understand best that Draco's scars would forever remind him of his connections to Death Eaters and what they did to the innocent. There was no hiding from that now.

In the awkward silence, Ginny began to mouth to Hermione over Ron's head. 'Tell them!' Hermione took a deep breath.

"So, Ginny and I have some news, after today." The boys looked up. "Well...we were in the Hospital Wing when Malfoy woke up. We talked to him for a while, and went back to the Heads dorm and had dinner with him, too. And we've both decided that after seeing some more of him and getting a chance to talk to him, we want to try and be friends with him."

No one moved for a moment, though Ron slowly became the color of the Gryffindor-themed armchair he was sitting in. "You want to be Malfoy's...friend?" he finally croaked out.

Ginny set her jaw. "Yes, we do. And we're not telling you to ask for permission or anything ridiculous like that. We've just decided that you should know why we might be seen talking to him or spending time with him around the school. He really seems to have changed."

Ron sputtered, but failed to find any words under Ginny's threatening gaze. Hermione glanced at Harry, who was staring into the fire. "Harry?...what do you think?"

He blinked, then turned back to the chessboard. After a moment, he mumbled a command to a piece, then turned back to the girls. "I think it's what Dumbledore would have wanted. Malfoy seems to be different, though I can't put my finger on why yet. If you want to give him a second chance, I won't say anything about it. I'll be civil...but I can't say I'll be his friend. I just...I don't think I'm ready for that."

Hermione looked shocked, while Ginny seemed to look like she had expected such an answer. Ron, however, had finally found his voice again.

"Harry, are you mental?! He's been nothing but a git to us for years! He doesn't deserve anything from us, ESPECIALLY SECOND CHANCES!"

Harry pushed his glasses up, looking annoyed but generally calm. "Look, the same could have been said for Professor Snape. I trust Hermione and Ginny on this one." Hermione threw him a grateful glance, which he returned with a quick smile. "Besides, we have to start moving forward somewhere. I might not be ready to talk to Malfoy just yet, but I hope I eventually can. I want to put all this division behind us. It's the only way to make sure a war as treacherous as what we went through doesn't happen when the next generation comes to Hogwarts."

Ron looked livid, and turned to each of them in rage, but they all held a firm look in their eyes. "You're mental. You're all absolutely mental. He was a Death Eater! And Death Eaters killed people! They killed families and kids..." His eyes hardened into ice as he saw that none of his words had an effect on them. He stood up, knocking over the armchair. "They KILLED my BROTHER, and you want to try and get along with them, with HIM?! WELL I WON'T!" The few others in the common room fell silent as they watched Ron storm up the stairs.

As the common room began to return to its previous activities, the three sat quietly. Finally Harry spoke up. "Gin?"

Hermione jerked her head up to see Ginny's eyes brimming with tears and her hands shaking. Harry got up and placed a hand on her shoulder. He looked as if someone had punched him in the gut, and seemed to be wrestling between moving closer and jerking his hand away. "Gin, I'm sorry."

She brought up a hand to wipe at her eyes furiously. "I'm fine, he's just being a git. He's hiding behind Fred to stay angry and he forgets he's not the only one who lost-" her voice broke and she leaned into Harry's arm, crying silently. He allowed her to stay like that for a few moments, before gently guiding her into a more upright position. She stiffened as he moved away.

"Ginny, maybe you should go upstairs-"

"Yeah, I got it," she said stiffly, cutting him off. Hermione squirmed awkwardly, feeling like she shouldn't be witnessing their interaction. Watching them act so distantly was almost foreign, and she knew both of them were only unhappy the longer it went on.

Harry grimaced, and made a movement as if to comfort Ginny again, but thought better of it. "I'll see you later," he mumbled to the pair, as he rose and quickly made his way to the portrait hole. When it shut behind him, Hermione grabbed the redhead girl's hand, who was still crying. She led her quietly up the stairs to Ginny's bed, where she sat down and let her friend's head rest in her lap as she proceeded to dissolve into shaking sobs. With one hand stroking her hair, Hermione leaned against the headboard and prayed, not for the first time, that Harry and Ginny could find a way to find each other again, and soon.

AN: I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've updated, but I've been a tad busy again. This chapter didn't turn out anywhere near what I was planning, but it ended up writing itself. Sometimes you just have to follow where the words take you, I guess.

Please review!

~Princess Leah