Apparently holding Granger's hand had become an incredible distraction to Draco. He was sure it was because her thumb was gently rubbing the back of his hand as they took notices in Arithmancy, but he didn't want to tell her to stop. It only meant that his notes were sloppy and not at all cohesive, but he could deal with that later. It wasn't worth it in his mind; Draco had started to realize that he really liked being in contact with her. She usually made him feel more comfortable if they were just sitting in class or in the common room, though if anything happened between them in front of others he always felt uncomfortable. It wasn't because it was happening with Granger, it was because the people who saw were always judging them and he absolutely despised that.

The door to the Arithmancy class opened slowly and Draco turned around, hearing the sound of at least ten other quills stopping with him. Granger, true to herself, continued taking her notes. There was a rather somber looking Professor McGonagall standing in the door, and her eyes were glued to Granger's back. Draco was sure his stomach sank in that moment, as something bad had to have happened for McGonagall to come in and look like that. "Professor Vector," McGonagall said quietly. "May I speak to Miss Granger for a moment?"

Vector frowned, as she hated losing students in class, but she nodded anyway. "Of course,"

It was only then that Granger looked up from her notes, a worried look on her face. "Professor?"

"Come along, Miss Granger,"

She left her chair without another word, her back straight and her head high. For a few seconds the room was near silent; the only sound was Vector telling them all to get back to work and everyone ignored that. But then there was a loud, heartbroken sounding sob that made Draco's heart begin to pound. It had to have been Granger who made that sound, though he didn't know why she would. There were confused looks from everyone in the room and whispering started up, but all Draco could do was fight the urge to stand up and run out to the corridor. He wanted to make sure that everything was all right and that Granger was fine and he definitely wanted to know why she'd made that noise.

Granger didn't come back to class, and by the time it ended people were running out of the classroom. Draco was sure they were all going to spread rumors about what had happened and why she'd just disappeared. He grabbed her bag from beside the desk, bringing both back to the common room. He knocked on her door, wondering if she'd gone in there instead of back to class, but there was no answer. He would have felt weird about just opening the door and setting things in there, so he set the bag in front of her door, knowing that no one would touch it. He went to his next class then, though he couldn't focus well enough on what was being taught. His mind just kept slipping back to her, which was rather annoying. Draco didn't want to think about her or about the fact that he was worried for her, as he knew that would mean something he didn't want to think about.

She wasn't at dinner that night either. Draco sat at the Slytherin table, food on his plate, but he didn't touch a single bite. Instead he spent the majority of his time staring at the Gryffindor table and ignoring the first years that insisted on sitting by him. The first years just wouldn't stop coming after him; for some reason they kept thinking he needed his company. All he'd done was go up to the kids who'd been hexing them and making it very clear that he expected no more of that behavior. The kids, who'd looked at him like he was scum, seemed afraid enough of his retaliation that there hadn't been any further problems. The first years were fine and they were going to be fine, now all Draco had to deal with was the whispers of Death Eater and the likes in the corridors. And that he could handle; he'd dealt with it enough when he'd gone to Diagon Alley that he could handle it.

Granger was all Boot and Abbott could talk about as they sat in the common room after dinner, which got very annoying very quickly. He didn't want to leave the common room though, because if Granger came in he didn't want to miss her. For all he knew she'd want to talk to him; sometimes she would talk to him if she was upset about something. She usually went to Potter, though Draco knew he couldn't be the least bit upset about that. Potter was her best friend, of course she would go to him if something upset her. It was midnight when they finally went to their rooms, after ignoring him the entire time, and Draco was thankful. He was sure that Granger's name was going to be forever echoing in his mind after listening them talk to each other, which only irritated him.

It was two in the morning before he fell asleep, in a rather uncomfortable position as he was still sitting in his chair. That continued on until Friday, as at that point it had been five days since she'd just disappeared and he wasn't going to accept her being gone anymore.

Friday, as most were running into the great hall for lunch, Draco stood outside the large doors with his arms folded across his chest and a positively savage expression on his face. He was angry, confused, and more than anything he really wanted to know what was going on with Granger. There were two people in Hogwarts that Draco was sure would know, and seeing as one was a professor he thought it best not to go after her. Potter, however, was another story and Draco was sure that he would know. Despite the fact that he'd grown close to Granger over the course of the year, McGonagall would choose to tell Potter about her whereabouts over him any day. Potter was easy enough to corner, in fact he'd just come walking toward the great hall, and before Draco could fully run the consequences of his actions through his head for the hundredth time, he was walking over to Potter and gripping his wand tightly into his hand. He'd get his information one way or another and he wasn't above using magic when he was worried. The fact that he was worried about Granger bothered him every so slightly, as it made certain things seem more real, but he couldn't think about that in the moment.

Potter was a few inches shorter than him, which Draco found helpful from an intimidation standpoint. Of course he didn't intimidate Potter but maybe it would help others back off, as someone was sure to come to his rescue even though he'd be fine. It's not like Draco was going to hurt him or do anything serious, he just wanted to know about Granger. Potter's surprised face barely registered in Draco's mind before he growled out, "Where is she?"

"Where is-Malfoy why the hell are you standing so close to me?"

He blinked, as that definitely wasn't the response he'd expected, and he surprised himself by taking a small step backwards. "Granger, Potter. Where's Granger?"

"Hermione?"

"Because there's another Granger in this school," he muttered, rolling his eyes.

Potter's eyes narrowed slightly at his comment but he didn't reply to it. "I don't know where she is. I was thinking about asking you, actually,"

"Don't lie to me-"

"Why would I lie to you?"

"I know you don't-I mean I-Just-Damn it Potter just tell me where she is!"

"I already told you, Malfoy, I don't know,"

Draco wanted to punch him, very badly, but he knew that wasn't an option. "Potter I swear if you don't tell me what's happened to her-"

"Are you concerned?"

"I-What?"

"About Hermione. That's why you're asking me where she is, right?"

"No I'm not bloody concerned about her!" he denied quickly, his eyes widening slightly at how easily Potter had seen through him. Of course he was concerned about her, but he didn't want everyone to know that and they were already starting to attract a crowd. It was Potter's fault, Draco decided silently; he always had a crowd of people following him. "I'm just curious,"

"Curious doesn't make you come after me in front of a bunch of people with your wand in your hand, Malfoy. That's concern,"

"No it's not!"

"If you admit it, I'll tell you what I know,"

Draco scowled immediately, running his options through his mind and trying to figure out which one he wanted to go with. The obvious choice was to turn and walk away so he wouldn't have to admit anything and Draco was leaning heavily toward that option until he remembered that finding out about Granger was the alternative. And as much as he cared about people not finding out exactly how he felt about her, he cared a hell of a lot more about how she was. "I'm concerned about her," he mumbled finally, glaring at Potter with all the hate he could muster.

"Thought so," Potter said, grinning triumphantly. "Must be a lot if you're giving up so easily. I never expected that, really-"

"Just tell me where she is!" he demanded loudly. He could very clearly hear whispers from the people that were watching him, though for once he didn't give a damn about what they were saying. "Potter, I need to know,"

"As I said earlier, Malfoy, I don't know. If you would have listened to me earlier then maybe you could have spent your time asking someone else who actually knows. And when you find out, tell me, yeah?"

To his surprise, he nodded stiffly. "There's a meeting tonight, for us. If she isn't there I'll ask McGonagall. I guess I could tell you tomorrow if you really want to know,"

"Of course I do," Potter said, narrowing his eyes slightly. "I may not have...but she's still my best friend, Malfoy,"

"I know,"

With that Draco turned and walked away, shoving his wand into his robes and going back to the common room instead of to lunch. He was sure there would be plenty of questions as to what had happened from other students and he definitely didn't want to deal with that. The bloody first years he'd helped would be all over him, asking him what was going on with him and Granger. The irritating girl, Elizabeth, would no doubt ask if they were in love because every time she was around love was mentioned at least three times. He didn't know how anyone could stand to be around her for so long and he wasn't quite sure how he managed it himself, but somehow it happened. At least it seemed she'd found decent friends, she'd need those as other people began to realize that she could be irritating.

Somehow he managed to go through the rest of his day without breaking down and running to McGonagall to demand information about Granger, which he was actually slightly proud of. It seemed that even if he couldn't keep his head in most matters involving Granger, he could keep his head in this. He waited impatiently through dinner with the first years around him, chatting easily about their classes from the day and to Draco's relief they didn't mention him cornering Potter. Draco knew that was a topic of conversation in the great hall, as he could hear other people talking about it, but for once the first years were actually doing something that he appreciated. He would have to be slightly nicer to them so they knew he liked them not mentioning Granger to him, which they did every now and then, and hopefully it would stop happening.

By the time the meeting came around Draco was absolutely restless. He couldn't stop his fingers from tapping his knees and he couldn't stop his leg from bouncing. He could tell that his impatience was noticed by everyone else in the room but at least they weren't commenting on it. He was slightly embarrassed by his actions, though not enough to change them. Boot and Abbott both talked about ideas they'd had to get people from different houses to interact more with each other, though Draco didn't focus much on what they were saying. He was too busy thinking about what he would say to McGonagall to get her to actually tell him where his current favorite person was.

Draco frowned a bit at the thought. Was Granger his favorite person? He shook his head slightly; of course she was. She was the only one who didn't fully hate him and he liked that. He liked her. Which was really shitty, because he didn't know how he expected to actually tell her that without her making a big deal out of it.

"Mr. Malfoy? Is there any reason why you're still sitting in my office five minutes after the meeting's ended?"

"I-Five minutes?"

"Yes, five minutes. Mr. Boot and Miss Abbott left a few minutes ago. I thought you'd leave after them but you're still sitting here. I wonder if there's anything you need?"

"Well, I-I mean yes, there is. And I fully expect an answer,"

"I'll do my best, Mr. Malfoy,"

"I want to know where Granger is,"

"That's not any of your business, Mr. Malfoy,"

"I think it is,"

"Miss Granger's personal life isn't something that you need to be aware of at every moment,"

"When she disappears for days at a time I think I do need to be aware. You can't just take her out of the middle of class and let everyone hear that bloody scream and expect me not to want to figure out where she's gone,"

"You're very insistent on the matter, Mr. Malfoy,"

"Well she's-"

"You never would have cared about her disappearance in the past. In fact I believe you would have been overjoyed,"

"Well I'm-"

"If you could explain the change of heart to me, Mr. Malfoy, I may consider telling you what you'd like to know,"

"Why the hell do you stupid Gryffindors keep giving me ultimatums?" he yelled suddenly, his frustration boiling over. He just wanted to know where she was, he didn't want to keep being forced to tell things he didn't want people to know.

McGonagall's mouth formed a thin line, though she seemed rather proud of herself. "You'll find it's an easy way to get what you want,"

"I don't know!"

"You don't know what?"

"I don't know why everything's changing. I don't know, okay? Maybe it's because she was so bloody nice at the beginning of the year and then I couldn't stay away from her and then I started to actually give a damn about what was going on in her life and then I-"

"You what, Mr. Malfoy?"

"You're reminding me a hell of a lot of Dumbledore right now,"

She smiled faintly. "He did teach me many things; perhaps his behavior rubbed off on me and shows through every now and then. Now answer the question,"

But he didn't want to. He really didn't want to, because even the simple conversation with McGonagall was making a few things clearer to him. Things that he'd never wanted to even think about, and it was stupid McGonagall's fault that he was thinking them. "I don't know-I don't know!" he repeated, his heart beginning to race as he started to panic. He couldn't think straight and he jumped out of his chair, walking toward the door.

McGonagall's eyes had gone wide almost immediately and she quickly stood too, looking at him with concern. "Mr. Malfoy-"

"No!"

"Mr. Malfoy!"

"I don't know, I don't want to know!"

"Mr. Malfoy, please calm down-you don't have to share anything,"

"I-"

Draco was sure that something was wrong, as his hands started shaking and his eyes went wide as he stared at McGonagall. She was approaching him cautiously, her hands outstretched and a concerned expression still on her face. "Miss Granger is returning in the morning, Mr. Malfoy," she said calmly, carefully resting a hand on his shoulder.

"I don't know-"

"Mr. Malfoy how can I help you?"

"I don't know what to do,"

"About what?"

"I can't tell her," he said, his mind stuck on Granger and the things he never wanted to think about.

He didn't remember much else from that point on, as he'd been too busy panicking about what he was going to do about Granger to realize that Madam Pomfrey had appeared in the office and was suddenly fussing over him in a way she'd never done before. McGonagall still looked concerned and she spoke in quiet tones to Madam Pomfrey, who kept insisting that he needed some kind of potion he didn't care enough about to know the name of. Because all he could think of was the now solidified fact in his mind, about the feelings he had for Granger. They weren't feelings that led to hate, which he was thankful for, but they weren't exactly feelings that led to friendship either. And that was the reason for his panic as he stood in McGonagall's office on a Friday night, when he was sure he should have been sitting in the common room waiting for Granger to get back.