It had been a rather rotten morning to begin with, honestly. Malfoy had been incredibly silent in the early hours before he'd fallen asleep around three in the morning, so he hadn't provided some of his usual distraction with a small debate on something or another. Hermione had thought to ask if everything was okay but her relationship with Malfoy was fragile enough and she didn't know exactly what would set him off. Her only entertainment had been her book, which she'd read a few weeks earlier. She'd gotten ready around six that morning and somehow managed to wake Malfoy up as she was coming back from her shower, but he didn't say anything. So maybe that hadn't been too bad, it was kind of similar to other mornings, but it got worse.

Hermione had gone down to breakfast that morning to see Neville sitting with Ron and Harry and Ginny, which definitely disappointed her but Hermione couldn't be frustrated about that. Neville was friends with Harry, Ron, and Ginny and he had a right to sit with him in the mornings. But since she'd ended her relationship with Ron she'd sat with him most of the time. She'd reminded herself that she was fine with sitting by herself and she pulled an essay out of her bag to finish it while she picked at a piece of toast. Again it wasn't too awful, though occasionally she would glance at Malfoy and he would be staring at something in his lap; Hermione wasn't sure what but going over and asking was another way that she could possibly upset him.

She'd gone to Charms then, prepared to sit by Ernie MacMillan and listen to him complain about everything under the sun. Ernie really wasn't that bad but he'd gone a bit bitter after the battle which didn't surprise Hermione at all. Charms was when everything turned horrible. She'd only meant to close her eyes for a moment, just a blink really, and then she was going to open her textbook and start reading to pass the few minutes before class started. It hadn't really worked out that way. When Hermione opened her eyes again she hadn't been sitting in the Charms classroom, she'd been kneeling over the dead body of a faceless person. It had freaked her out, as she was sure it would do to anyone, and she felt sick when she looked over and saw who had his wand out and pointed at the person beside her. Surely Malfoy hadn't actually killed anyone, right? That was something she hadn't even thought about. One little scream as others were walking into class, falling out of her chair, and a bit of hyperventilating made Professor Flitwick believe that she needed to go to the hospital wing.

Ernie had been the one to take her down, actually, which made Hermione scowl as she'd hoped that she'd be able to go down alone and just avoid going all together. Ernie, ever the head boy he was, had made it his personal duty to escort her straight to Madam Pomfrey and demand that she be given a Calming Draught, which she didn't need as the hyperventilating was already getting better by the time she'd gotten down to the hospital wing. It didn't look like Madam Pomfrey wanted to give her the potion either, though after looking at her for a few moments she'd decided that Hermione could do well with a sleeping potion. That was when she lost it.

Arguments spilled out of her mouth faster than they ever had before, and quite a few curse words too that turned her cheeks a warm color. Apparently she'd needed the Calming Draught then, because the hyperventilating started back up and she'd backed herself into a wall, trying to keep Madam Pomfrey and her stupid potions away from her. Hermione knew what the damn potion would get her and there was no way she was going to let it happen again, not even if Malfoy came in and gave her that look he usually did when he wanted her to do something. For a second she paused and caught her breath, closing her eyes and trying to figure out if it would help if Malfoy came down. Surely he would be able to create a better lie than her as to why she didn't need the sleeping potion, though if he would help her more than he already had, she didn't know.

The sound of a footstep made her eyes fly open and she wasn't breathing properly anymore. Multiple times she told herself to stop, to just calmly explain the situation to Madam Pomfrey, but that would mean telling someone other than Malfoy and she didn't want to do that. She noted, dimly, as she stared at Madam Pomfrey and shook her head quickly, that her hands were trembling again, so she hid them behind her back. It took shouts of, "It's just to calm you down, Miss Granger, please!" before she finally let the nurse approach her and pour a potion down her throat. It did calm her down, considerably, which she was thankful for, though Madam Pomfrey was quickly putting a vial in Hermione's hands and telling her to drink it. Hermione had, very upset by the action but not really able to mention it as the first potion was already starting to work. Not long after she'd fallen asleep, and the nightmares began.

It was early the next morning when she woke again. There was no sunlight coming in through the windows in the infirmary and Hermione let out a soft cry. For once she didn't understand why Madam Pomfrey hadn't listened to her when she quite obviously hadn't wanted the potion, though now there was nothing she could do about it. Hermione had no desire to keep her eyes closed as she was sure the nightmares would just replay, but looking around the empty infirmary made her feel almost as bad as the dreams. She refused to cry this time though, as she felt she'd done that enough and Hermione was positive a few tears had leaked out yesterday. And so she just looked around, wondering if she would be able to sneak out of the hospital wing even though her legs felt weak and she was sick to her stomach over what she'd seen. Why was Malfoy suddenly invading her dreams? She didn't need to see him inflicting pain on others, his Dark Mark as clear as day on his pale arm as he held out his wand. Maybe it was became she was speaking to him now; maybe if she put a stop to that she would stop dreaming and seeing terrible things about him. Because surely Malfoy hadn't hurt anyone too badly, had he? It hadn't seemed, during the actual battle, that he'd wanted to be there very much and she couldn't imagine him purposefully killing someone even if he was an ass most of the time. It took a special kind of evil to be able to do that, and she didn't see that evil in him.

Madam Pomfrey came out a few minutes after Hermione woke up, carrying yet another vial that made her start to tremble again. What if it was another sleeping potion? Hermione wouldn't take it; she would refuse. She would smash it into the ground and do the same with every other potion the woman tried to give her. "Mr. Malfoy said you might need this," Madam Pomfrey said quietly, even though there was no one else in the infirmary. "I see he was right,"

"What?" Hermione asked, rather stupidly in her opinion, but what else could she do? Why would Malfoy even know that she was in the hospital wing, unless Ernie had started telling the entire school and the story found him. Of course Ernie would tell; he'd seen Hermione lose herself for a moment and what better story was there at the time?

"When he came last night, I imagine he wanted to see you but your friends were here so he came to me instead, telling me that he thought you would need another Calming Draught for when you woke up. You're still shaking, take it," she commanded, her eyes narrowed slightly but also a bit confused.

Hermione took it, knowing that Madam Pomfrey wouldn't really lie to her. "What do you mean my friends were here?" she asked carefully. Her friends hadn't really taken sides after everything with Ron, though Hermione had been spending less time with them so Ron would be around them more. He needed their support more than she did; he was going through more than she was. It did surprise her though that they came once they heard. And had Ron been with them? Would he have wanted to make up so that she, Harry, and himself could go back to being the friends they once were?

"Yes, Mr. Potter, Miss Weasley, Miss Lovegood, and Mr. Longbottom all came. Mr. Potter stayed right up until the last minute; I had to send him away. He swore he'd come back in the morning though, so I expect we'll be seeing him shortly,"

Hermione nodded slightly; of course Ron hadn't come. He was probably still angry with her, and she could understand that. She'd hurt him and he'd need time to get over whatever he was feeling. Time was something Hermione was willing to give. Madam Pomfrey talked to her for a few more minutes, explaining that she would be given the notes from her classes the previous day and that there was a fresh pair of robes waiting for her when she decided to get ready. To be honest she had absolutely no idea how she'd gotten into a pair of the hospital wing's pajamas, but she had a feeling that Ginny and Luna would have had something to do with it, as would Madam Pomfrey herself.

The nurse left and Hermione continued to sit on her bed for a moment, feeling the effects of the Calming Draught and forgetting most of what she'd dreamed the previous night. The potion was rather useful; if only she could have one around at all times then she wouldn't be stuck in this situation again. She was just getting ready to climb to the end of her bed when the door to the hospital wing opened. She turned, expecting to see Harry and have what she thought would be a rather awkward conversation, but it wasn't Harry who was walking slowly toward her.

Malfoy had his hands shoved deeply into the pockets of his trousers, his hair wasn't perfectly slicked back as normal, he wore a rather uncomfortable expression, and it didn't look like he'd slept well last night. Hermione stared at him as he walked over to her; apparently he'd come last night but a follow up in the morning? It definitely hadn't been expected. "I see you're all right then," he said smoothly, though the way he was staring at a spot above her head told her that he really didn't want to look at her. "I just wanted to make sure. I'll be going now,"

He turned on his heel and began to walk away then, making Hermione raise an eyebrow. "Malfoy what-" she began, feeling at a loss for words. It didn't happen often and she hated it when it did. "I mean, why are you here this early? It can only be-"

"It's about six, Granger, in case you were curious. No different from other mornings, really,"

"Fine then, the time's not important. Why are you here?"

"I told you. I wanted to make sure you were all right,"

"But-"

"Granger just accept it and move on, will you?" He sounded angry, though Hermione couldn't tell if he was actually angry with her.

He turned away from her again, and Hermione frowned. "Malfoy did you really come last night? How did you hear?"

"McGonagall told us as she was getting your robes," he said stiffly, a frown that matched hers as he looked at her. "When she mentioned the sleeping potion I-Well I figured it would be wise to have something so you wouldn't get into the state you were last time. I'm guessing that worked,"

"It did, thank you,"

"It doesn't matter,"

"It does to me,"

Malfoy rolled his eyes. "Don't go thinking it meant anything, Granger, I-"

"I'll be sadly mistaken, I know. We've been through this before,"

He turned around again and walked away without another word. For a moment Hermione sat and watched the door, half hoping he would come back for some reason, but she shook her head to get rid of the thought and decided to change into her robes. It was about time, she decided, that she get back to her daily routine so she left the hospital wing without asking. Madam Pomfrey would not be happy with her when she came back out, as Hermione hadn't been told that she could leave, though there wasn't anything else that Hermione needed so she thought it would probably be fine. And there was always the possibility that Madam Pomfrey would try and get Hermione to discuss what had happened and that definitely wasn't something she planned on doing.

Hermione went back to the common room first and saw Terry coming out of his room and walking into the bathroom, though he gave her a small smile as he saw her. Hannah, Hermione realized, must not be awake yet but that was probably good; if Professor McGonagall had told the other delegates about what had happened then Hannah would be the one to try and talk to her about it, and that was another thing Hermione didn't want to do. She hurried into her room and picked up her bag before going back out to the common room and waiting for Terry to get done so she could freshen up. Once that was done, she walked to the great hall for breakfast.

She sat at the Gryffindor table by herself for a few minutes, eating in peace and wondering how she could be okay now when the previous morning she felt as if she was stuck in her own personal hell. It was a curious thing to think about, and Hermione barely noticed Harry sit down beside her. Not until he knocked his shoulder into hers and smiled slightly. "You look a bit better, I guess,"

Hermione stared at him for a few seconds before she nodded. "Thanks, Harry. I think,"

For once it seemed that Harry had planned exactly what he wanted to say to her, and he didn't waste much time getting them out. "I'm sorry," he said quickly, making Hermione raise an eyebrow. "I shouldn't have-"

"I heard you came yesterday," she interrupted.

"What? I mean, yeah I did once I heard,"

"To be honest I was surprised when I heard that,"

"You were-Well I suppose you would be. I've been awful, haven't I?"

"A bit, yes," she agreed, offering him a small smile. He was her best friend and even though things had been rocky, she'd forgiven him a long time ago. "But you were there for Ron, I wasn't, and I think that was very good of you,"

"But I should have-"

"I told you I would get over it, didn't I? Well, I have. It's okay, Harry,"

"It's not, not really,"

"You came, Harry, didn't you? When you thought I'd really need you, you came,"

"And?"

"And I'm thankful for that. So it's fine. Let's get past it, okay?"

"All right. I'll make it up to you though, I promise,"

"I know you will," she smiled, turning back to her breakfast and beginning to eat again.