(TFG: Hey! I finally was in the mood to write this sad stuff again.... *sniff* Okay, well, here goes!

BraveSpiritGryffindor-I know... I'm sorry!

DolceEspressivo-Thanks!

JoeBob1379-I know... it's those sick (well, not all of them, only the ones I made up) Slytherins.

plastic-Yep... it was supposed to be freaky... but not as much as it turned out to be.

Athena-Yeah, that's why I did that. 'Cause I want to get better at different genres. Thanks! Yeah, I think I did spell that wrong. There is a 'd' in randsom, I think.

Clare-I know... but I LOOOOOVE cliffies!!! :D

SilverDragonGoddess-oh... yeah, I don't always get creeped out, but sometimes I do really easily... it kinda depends.

SnapeGirl-Yup! I LOOOOOVE cliffhangers! Almost as much as Draco! ... no, wait... I love Draco waaaaaay more, but I still love both! heheh!

PinkPanther-Thanks! And Happy Belated Birthday!!!

avri-yup... at least it's not Draco, but still...)

Discoveries-26-Nobody Cares

Hermione jumped about a foot in the air. 'Fore what had fallen on top of her, was none other than the corpse of her friend Craig. Then she heard footsteps, and they sounded really big. She looked up and relaxed visibly as soon as she saw it was only Hagrid and Fang. "Hermione-? What's wrong? I heard yeh-" Hagrid began, but stopped, as soon as he saw what was on the ground right before them.

"I know, it's awful, Hagrid! I lost you and then I called out to you and then he just.... fell. It was that tree. I showed you the wrong one!" Hermione said, still shaken up by what happened.

He went over to her, and hugged her. "It's okay, Hermione. Yeh'll be alrigh'. I'll make sure o' it."

"But what about Craig?"

"I suppose we should go now and bring him up ter the castle. Dumbledore'll know what ter do," Hagrid suggested.

"Alright."

Hagrid lifted Craig off the ground, and carried him towards Hogwarts. Hermione and Fang followed closely behind. They reached Dumbledore's office soon enough, and Hermione explained, with detail, about the nights events. It was terrible to relive the horror of it all, but she had to tell him. Hopefully she wouldn't have to tell anyone else for a while. Although she knew that wasn't true. People would bug her, because they'd see how she'd act differently, and they'd know something was wrong. Especially Draco. She wondered what he'd say after she told him. He'd probably feel like she did. Or at least sort of. He knew her feelings for Craig were strong, and how he'd helped them get back together by convincing Hermione of her true feelings about Draco. And she'd never forget that.

How could horrible things like this happen to the best people? Why couldn't something like this have happened to her?

"Hermione?" Dumbledore asked.

"Huh?" she said, snapping out of it. "Sorry, did you say something, professor?"

"Yes. I was just saying you should go back to your dormitory now, and get some rest. You'll need it."

"Will you tell me when....?" she couldn't finish.

"When the funeral is?" She nodded. "Yes, I will. Don't worry. Now get some sleep, and try not to worry about it."

She knew he was just trying to be nice to her, and make her feel better, but honestly... how was she supposed to NOT worry about it? It was impossible! (TFG: like a plain flying pumpkin, and a prince to join in marriage! Impossible!!! lol! j/k! I probably got the words wrong anyways but... who cares? Just sort of random that the Cinderella song got in my head, but... oh, well!)

~*~*~

"Where've you been-?" Draco started, but quit when he saw the look on Hermione's face. He rushed over to her. "What's wrong? What happened?"

She raised her head to look at him, and burst into tears. She flung her arms around him, and buried her face in his chest. "It's okay," he said, soothingly. "Everything'll be alright."

How could he say that? He didn't even know what happened! But then, she reasoned, he was only doing what boyfriends do, and she appreciated it. But she really should tell him.

She slowly pulled him over to the couch, and sat down. "It's.... It's C- Craig......" She sniffled. "He... he's.........." She couldn't bring herself to say it. She didn't want to admit it was true. "Gone! And it's all my fault!"

"What? How's it your fault? What exactly happened?"

She explained it to him, like she had to Professor Dumbledore, and he listened patiently the whole time. The only thing he did was make facial expressions. When she finished he said, "Wow." Then, "I'm SO sorry, Mione. I really am." Then he just held her for a while. There wasn't really anything to say.

She was just glad he was there to hold her, and let her cry on his shoulder. And she did just that.

~*~*~

The words 'death', 'hung', and 'murder' floated through the school the next day, and Hermione, frankly, was tired of hearing it. She'd been confronted only a few times, but she'd just walked away, and pretended she'd never heard them ask.

"Ooh, poor little mudblood... now you only have ONE boyfriend... I suppose just ONE boyfriend... or Draco... isn't good enough for you, eh?" Pansy Parkinson said, as Hermione neared the potions classroom, where Pansy and her friends were waiting outside. "So you just had to go and cheat on him, and then the boy... if you can call him that, went and DIED. How TERRIBLE! You know, Draco is a good man. You shouldn't have done that. Now he'll NEVER take you back!"

Hermione looked at Pansy with pure hatred. She tried not to let the tears fall, but as she closed her eyes to hold them back, all that did was make it worse, and they spilled down her face. She could hear the laughter coming from the other Slytherins standing there, and she wished it would stop. Evil laughter. It was scary. She stood there, willing herself to just go into the classroom, and stay, but her heart said otherwise.

She turned around and ran straight back to her common room, shared with Draco. She knew he wouldn't be there, but she just needed time alone anyway.

(TFG: REVIEW, please!)