Draco sat at the Slytherin table in the great hall, staring at the letter in his hands. His mother had sent him two letters since the beginning of the school year, not counting the number of letters they'd exchanged while he was looking for better potions for Granger, and it was already the first week of November. And she'd only sent the letters because he'd written her first. But now he sat, staring at the letter in his hands and wondering whether or not he should open it. Draco was sure if she was sending him a letter then something had to have gone wrong, and Draco didn't want to know what that was. He definitely didn't want to know that things were messed up in the morning; it could wait until that evening. He didn't need to go through classes and look even angrier than usual; someone could notice and on the off chance he was asked about it, he didn't feel like snapping at anyone.

The letter weighed heavily on his mind as he went through his first class though, and by the time he got to Potions it was all he could do not to tear it out of his bag and read it that instant. But Weasley was busy walking into the class, looking as moody as he normally did, and Potter looked around the classroom before nodding slightly at him. Draco almost blanched; he had no idea why Potter would do that but after a few words to Weasley, Potter was walking toward him. "I'm supposed to be yelling at you or something, so look angry or annoying as you usually do, okay?"

"What are you-Don't tell me what to do Potter," Draco said, frowning instead of looking as surprised as he felt.

"Good, that's, uh, good or whatever Malfoy. Listen, I have something to say-Don't look like that, it's about Hermione,"

"What on earth do you have to say to me about Granger?" Potter scowled; it was quite obvious that he didn't want to be standing in front of Draco's table. "You might want to hurry, she'll be coming in any second,"

Potter glanced toward the door and then to Weasley, who raised an eyebrow at him and mouthed hurry up. "Ron wants me to tell you to stay away from her, and as much as I want to agree with him-"

"Get on with it Potter, I really don't want to listen to you all day,"

"Just don't upset her or anything, got it? If you're going to be friends-"

"We're not-"

"If you're going to be friends," Potter repeated, frowning. "then you can't hurt her. She's like my sister, Malfoy, and even though I haven't been acting like it she is. So just don't be your usual self and turn into an ass, okay?"

"Potter I-"

"Just promise me, Malfoy. Don't upset her. You can do that, can't you? You've made plenty of other promises,"

"Whatever, Potter. Just go away, will you?"

Potter finally walked away, which almost made Draco smile. He was glad to be rid of him, though he couldn't help but think about what Potter had wanted. Why he couldn't just act like that around Granger and then everything would be fine? It was obvious that he did want her to be okay, contrary to what Draco had started to believe, but if he kept acting so bloody stupid with her then nothing would ever get better between him and Granger. And speaking of Granger, where the hell was she? She was usually in class by now and while he didn't actually know where she would be sitting, as they hadn't had Potions since she'd stopped her relationship with Weasley, that didn't mean she just didn't get to come to class. If he'd been willing to admit it, he could have been worried about her, but he wasn't entirely sure what that would mean. The only time he'd been worried about someone was when Voldemort had threatened his mother, though it was hard to focus on worry then. Maybe he'd once been worried about his father, but that time was so long ago he couldn't remember it.

Granger didn't come into Potions that day and it didn't seem that many noticed her absense. Potter did, Draco could tell because he kept looking at the door. Draco had definitely noticed it, though he managed to focus on brewing the proper potion. It was good, but it wasn't the best in the class so he didn't get one of Slughorn's approving smiles or nods. He didn't really care about that though; what would the nod get him? Glares from everyone else, probably.

He went through his day, wondering where Granger was when he didn't see her at lunch and barely thinking about the letter he'd received that morning. It was probably nonsense, that what he had to convince himself of, if he was apparently going to spend a large portion of his day wondering where Granger was. He reminded himself multiple times as he went through his classes that he didn't care about her too much and that she was probably off reading in the library, she loved those stupid books so much. He managed to get his focus back after getting snapped at by Flitwick, something that almost made him turn pink because he absolutely hated having attention brought to him now. And he didn't think about Granger for a few hours, instead he went back to the common room and started working on his homework. If he could get half of his Potions essay written then he wouldn't have a problem with getting the rest done when he was up early in the morning. Sometimes he thought better and clearer then, which he found odd as he'd expected to be bleary at two in the morning. Most people would be, he knew, and Granger definitely was but she seemed bleary most of the time now. He was back to her very quickly after that, though dinner soon came and he went down alone. The entire time he was in the great hall he didn't see Granger.

It was rather boring, Draco realized, to sit in the common room and listen to Boot and Abbott mumble about things he didn't care about. He didn't want to work on any more homework because then he would have nothing to do when he was up later that night with Granger. If she ever decided to show her face again. Draco didn't know where she was and there was always a chance she'd come back to her room while he'd been in the great hall for dinner, but he doubted it. She would sit with Longbottom or by herself at meals, something that made Draco scowl though he knew that was because he wasn't a huge fan of Longbottom. He wasn't a huge fan of anyone, really, so that didn't surprise him.

Draco had only just decided to pull out the letter he'd received that morning when the door to the common room opened and McGonagall walked in. She didn't look irritated, so Draco knew she wasn't about to yell at one or them, and she didn't look worried either so he knew nothing bad had happened. Boot was the first one to stand up as McGonagall walked past them and he looked at her curiously. Abbott followed him almost immediately but it took Draco a few moments to put his things down and stand up with them, his arms folded across his chest. "Professor?" Boot asked curiously, but she ignored him and walked straight into Granger's bedroom.

When she came back out nearly two minutes later, she was holding a set of robes that made Draco raise an eyebrow. What was she doing with Granger's clothes? "Um, Professor?" Abbott asked, looking confused. "What are you doing with those?"

"Miss Granger will need something to change into," she said stiffly, pausing to look at the three people in the room with her.

"She'll change here though, why are you taking them?" Draco rolled his eyes; Boot had to be a bit stupid if he couldn't understand that something was going on.

"Miss Granger's in the hospital wing," McGonagall explained, sighing quietly and walking toward the door. She was about to open it when Draco decided it would be a fantastic idea to speak.

"Why?"

"Excuse me, Mr. Malfoy?"

"I want to know why, Professor," he said, trying to keep his voice polite so he would have a better chance at getting an answer.

"Something happened this morning," McGonagall said, regarding him carefully. "She was taken to the hospital wing and given a Calming Draught and a sleeping potion-" He very quickly stopped listening as a long list of curse words ran through his mind. Granger would have fought to not have to take that potion but obviously no one listened to her, just as he hadn't. Draco didn't know what had happened to make her need the potions in the first place but after a moment he realized it didn't matter. What mattered was that he was sure she would be stuck in those bloody nightmares again, and there wasn't anything he could do about it. In a few more seconds Draco was walking out the door to the common room, his letter completely forgotten as he walked down to the hospital wing. He had to at least make sure there was another Calming Draught prepared for when she woke, as he was sure she would need it then too. Maybe he'd leave a note explaining that if she needed to speak with someone about her nightmares then he was available, but that would sound like he cared too much so he quickly decided against it. "Mr. Malfoy, what on earth do you think you're doing?" Professor McGonagall asked, catching up with him rather quickly.

"No idea," he muttered, continuing to walk down a flight of stairs. Even going down to the hospital wing implied a level of caring that Draco wasn't comfortable with, but he didn't have much of a choice. To his absolute surprise though, Professor McGonagall didn't say anything to him as she walked briskly by his side. Thankfully the hospital wing wasn't too far from his common room so he got down quickly and walked in quickly without thinking very quickly, only to see Granger in a bed three down from the door with friends by her side. Potter, Weasley's sister, Lovegood, and Longbottom were all with her, talking in quite tones.

It was Lovegood who first noticed that he'd walked in. "Oh, hello," she said, her voice as dreamy as ever. "Are you here for Hermione too?"

Granger's other friends looked at him then and Weasley scowled at him. Longbottom only sighed quietly before whispering something to Lovegood. Potter had a surprising reaction in Draco's opinion; he nodded at him again. "I-No, I'm not Lovegood," he said, walking past the group and trying not to look at Granger. From what little he'd seen she hadn't looked like her sleep was going well. He burst into Madam Pomfrey's office then as McGonagall walked over by Granger, and the witch looked at him in surprise.

"What are you doing here?"

It was his turn to scowl then, not Weasley's, as he glanced toward the door. "Have another Calming Draught ready for when she wakes up,"

"Excuse me?"

"She'll need it, that's all; sleeping potions don't work well with her, we've tried-"

"What do you mean you've tried?"

Draco rolled his eyes and slipped his hands into his pockets, wanting to get out of the room and the hospital wing as quickly as possible. It had been a mistake coming down anyway, as it was only going to lead to rumors. Weasley, as far as he knew, couldn't keep her mouth shut. "It's pretty self-explanatory," he muttered, watching Madam Pomfrey's irritated expression before walking quickly out of her office. She would do what he told her to, he was sure, so it was definitely time to go.

He could hear McGonagall speaking quietly to Granger's friends as he passed and he glanced at Granger one more time; she looked just as tired as ever and she was sleeping. He sighed quietly and quickened his pace as he walked out of the infirmary and back toward the common room. When he arrived again Boot and Abbott were staring at him quite oddly but he picked up his things and ignored them as he went to his bedroom. Draco got ready to climb into bed rather quickly before pulling the letter out of one of his textbooks, frowning as he saw his mother's handwriting. He almost didn't want to read it as he was afraid of what he would find. But he tore it open anyway, and sat down on his bed as he began to read.

Most of it was nonsense, apologizing for not writing more letters but giving the excuse of being busy. It wasn't until he got to the last paragraph that he realized why his mother had even sent the letter. They've decided to put him to trial, Draco, just after Christmas. I know you don't want to, but you must come home to spend one more Christmas with him and me. His mother knew it too; if his father was going to be sent to trial-and it had never been an if, simply a when-then he would be found guilty for all he had done during the war. It was a surprise the Ministry was only just getting to his father after all he'd done.

With a sigh Draco tossed the letter into the fire; of course he would go home if it would be the last Christmas he had with a complete family. As much as he wasn't a fan of his parents at the moment, he would still try and please them. The part that had caught him off guard though was the and me. Draco had a feeling he knew what that meant, but actually thinking the words would make it seem more real. So with that thought and Granger's face in his mind's eye, he laid down and attempted to fall asleep. Even though he knew it was pointless.