Hermione awoke with a start. She looked around her and upon seeing Madame Pomfrey bustling about, she realised that she was lying in the school infirmary. Her heart beating furiously in her chest, Hermione called out,

"Draco!? Where is he? Is he alright?"

She struggled fearfully, but stopped when a gentle hand came to rest on hers. It was only then, that Hermione noticed Ginny sitting beside her. Hermione cautiously reached up to her throat sincerely hoping any marks were gone.

"Oh Hermione I'm so glad you're okay. Don't worry about Draco. He had a few fractured ribs but Madame Pomfrey mended him in a jiffy. He's just resting now. You need to rest as well."

Hermione stared at Ginny for long moments before finally conceding.

"What happened out there, Hermione? Ron said he found you and Draco just lying on the street. He thought you were dead."

When Hermione continued to lay on the bed, silent and stare at the wall in front of her stonily, Ginny pushed on.

"Was it Draco? Did Malfoy do this to you?" she fretted.

Hermione turned to Ginny about to explode, when she saw the sincere look of concern on her face. Determinedly she swallowed her fury and patted Ginny's hand.

"It wasn't Malf-." Suddenly the image of a furious Lucius Malfoy loomed in front of her, and her heart constricted. Shaking her head at the bone-deep fear she felt, Hermione drew in a deep breath. "It wasn't Draco. He wouldn't do something like this…Let's not talk about this anymore…So, um…Where's Harry, Ron and Grace?" Hermione stuttered.

The look of concern still lingering on her face, Ginny smiled tentatively.

"Oh you just missed the boys. They've been hanging around since you were brought in but they had to go to quidditch practice. I had to swear I'd stay here just in case you woke up, for them to go."

Hermione returned Ginny's smile and reached over to the bedside table to pour herself a glass of water.

"What about Grace?" she asked expectantly.

Ginny suddenly froze looking uncomfortable.

"Um…The thing is - Well - It's just that…um…Grace hasn't – What I mean to say is."

"Come on, Ginny spit it out!" Hermione laughed as she sipped from her glass, then placed it back on the bedside table.

"Well I haven't really seen much of Grace lately."

"What was so hard about that?"

Ginny shifted uncomfortable before taking in a deep breath.

"Well actually I've been meaning to talk to you about something that's kind of been troubling me a bit over the past few days."

Hermione was puzzled by Ginny's odd behaviour, but smiled encouragingly.

"Sure go ahead."

"It's about Grace, actually. I've noticed that Grace has been acting a little out of sorts lately. Actually I can kind of pinpoint it to the day you and Draco started going out." Ginny spoke tentatively.

"What are you trying to say?" Hermione didn't like the direction this conversation was headed.

"Listen, I know she's your friend. She's mine as well and I'm just worried about her. Ever since you and Draco started going out, she's really changed. She's been rude and surly and hanging around a bunch of Slytherin prats."

"There's nothing wrong with Slytherins." Hermione said crossly.

Cocking her head to the side and raising her eyebrow, Ginny uttered.

"Hermione…You and I both know that, Draco being the exception, Slytherins are all evil gits."

Hermione crossed her arms in front of her, refusing to dignify that statement with a response.

"Hermione! I know you don't want to hear this, but it's not just the people she's hanging around with. Face it, Hermione. When was the last time you've seen her in class? When was the last time she said anything nice to you?...Ok fine. I can see I'm not getting anything through to you. I just wanted to warn you that the next time you see Grace, she won't be the cheerful, smiling person we once knew. She's changed."  Ginny said darkly.

Staring at Ginny in disbelief, Hermione vehemently shook her head.

"Oh come on Ginny, this is Grace we're talking about. And besides how much can a person really change in a couple of weeks?" Hermione sighed.

"You'd be surprised." Ginny warned, then hurriedly changed the topic.

As she blathered on about the most recent round of school gossip, Ginny's accusations circled in Hermione's mind.

She had noticed a bit of a change in Grace's attitude lately, but that didn't really mean anything. Did it? And this change in attitude couldn't possibly have been brought on by her relationship with Draco. Could it? No! Grace had given them her blessing.

Hermione shook her head against her thoughts.

Grace was probably just going through a phase. Yeah! Trying to find new friends. Probably just a phase…

~*~

The next few weeks flew by in a blur. Draco and Hermione silently agreed to never speak of the incident again. Strangely enough the horrific episode gave them an emotional bond that brought the two so much closer together. In fact, Draco and Hermione became so close that they tended to spend most of their free time in each other's company. Hermione was beginning to feel a tad guilty about neglecting her friends. She was particularly worried about Grace, and Ginny's words continued to plague her.

"I'm getting a bit worried about Grace. She's been staying out late and I haven't seen much of her lately. It's kind of like she's avoiding me." Hermione said as she and Draco walked down the corridor to their next class. Hermione had one arm heavily laden with textbooks and her free hand enveloped in Draco's. Draco, being the gentleman that he was, had previously offered to carry her books for her, but Hermione was a little protective when it came to her books.

"Maybe she's got a secret lover she doesn't want you to know about. Maybe she's busy plotting to take over the Ministry of Magic. Maybe she's secretly practicing to become a rock star. Whatever it is, I'm sure she's not avoiding you… But then again, maybe she is." Draco declared.

Hermione turned and stared at him in disbelief.

"How is that any help, you nutter?" she demanded.

"Jeez Hermione, I'm not your bloody counsellor. I'm just your sex toy." Draco paused with a grin at Hermione's vivid blush. "Don't worry, I've resigned myself to a lifetime of fulfilling your every sexual fantasy with my masculine attributes."

Draco had to duck quickly as Hermione whipped her hand out of his hold and threw a punch at him.

"Don't get me started on your so-called masculine attributes, you horny idiot."

"You want me bad, baby!" he laughed as Hermione shook her fist at him. Then, quick as a flash Draco hurtled towards Hermione and threw her over his shoulders, like a sack of potatoes. As she was hurled over Draco's shoulder, Hermione clutched her books as if her life depended on it.

"Oh my God! Draco!" she screeched

"Yes, my wanton mistress."

For that comment, Draco got a firm whack on the head with what he suspected was Hermione's 1001 Magical Herbs and Fungi book. Hermione was screeching so loudly that, practically the whole corridor, turned to see the commotion.

"Draco Malfoy if you don't put me down this instant – So help me God! I'll…I will…Ok I don't know what I'll do but you can bet your little tushy that it will be excruciatingly painful…Dra-."

Draco roared with laughter as Hermione's screeching stopped suddenly. It seemed she had only just realised that her backside was in mid-air and if she continued to struggle wildly, then all the curious bystanders of the corridor would get a lovely view of her new undies. Instead of thrashing about, she began pounding her books across Draco's bum. But before she was able to inflict too much damage, Draco flipped her off his shoulder and set her on her feet once more.

Before she could reprimand him for his actions, Draco wrapped his arms around her and placed a gentle kiss on her lips.

"Don't worry about Grace. I'm sure it's nothing." He said seriously as he looked deep into her eyes. He then kissed her once more, gave her a gentle pat on the butt, then sauntered off to his own class.

Holding her books tighter to her chest, Hermione shook her head at Draco.

"He always knows how to cheer me up when I'm feeling down, the horny bugger…pfft…masculine attributes…ha!" she thought with a smile as she headed outside to the greenhouses.

~*~

"Hey Grace!" Hermione greeted the figure entering the room. "I haven't seen you around lately."

"Well maybe if you weren't constantly down Draco's throat all the time you would see me more." Grace muttered darkly.

Hermione's mouth dropped in shock. Surely she had misheard what Grace had just said. Yet, there was no mistaking the hostile vibes being shot in her direction.

"Is there something wrong, Grace?" Hermione asked as she looked at her friend intently. And in a flash, she saw just how furious Grace really was. But a second later, Grace shuttered her gaze and her expression adopted her usual brightness.

"Nothing's wrong." She said, quietly watching Hermione. "Oh…you dropped this on the floor. I thought you might want it back." Throwing a little black book towards Hermione, she fled the room.

Hermione sat stunned. There had been a terrifying meanness about Grace that Hermione had never seen before. Surely a person couldn't change so rapidly and dramatically. For the Grace, she had just confronted was not the happy girl she had come to know, but someone completely different. Hermione shivered to think that she had never known the real Grace.

With a deep sigh, Hermione looked down at the book in her hand and frowned. It was her diary. Grace had said that she'd found it on the floor, but Hermione was positive that she had locked it away safely in her bedside drawer after the last entry…

~*~

Stalking her prey steadily, Hermione watched Grace as she  broke away from a group of burly seventh year Slytherins. As Grace made her way down an almost deserted corridor, Hermione decided it was time to pounce. In a quick movement Hermione walked up to Grace's side, slung her arm around Grace's shoulders and guided her firmly into a room she knew would be empty. Thankfully Grace didn't struggle in any way.

Once inside the room, Hermione quietly shut the door and faced Grace.

"Uh…Grace…We need to talk." Hermione said nervously.

"Sure what's up?" Grace chirped with a bright smile on her face.

Hermione was filled with confusion. Grace's attitude had undergone a complete overhaul from the night before. Suddenly Hermione had no idea why she had dragged Grace into the room.

"Um…I – Hey! You've changed your hair colour." Hermione stuttered, noticing Grace's significantly darker hair, for the first time.

"Oh Yeah. Just felt like a change from bimbo blonde. Now what was it you wanted to talk about?" Grace said sharply.

Shaking her head to settle her whirling thoughts, Hermione took a few seconds before replying.

"It's about Draco Malfoy."

A glimmer of pulsating anger appeared on Grace's face, once more but was quickly covered with an obviously fake smile.

"I realize that you seem to have a problem with my relationship with Draco. And if we are to remain friends, I think we need to discuss the issue." Hermione said in a serious tone.

"Alright…How's this for a discussion. I think you're a dirty great whore who thinks she knows everything." Grace snapped viciously and practically spat in Hermione's stricken face. It seemed she could no longer contain her fury.

Before Hermione could utter a word, Grace's eyes began to fill with tears. Soon she was shaking, her body racked with sobs. Hermione didn't know how to react. As her friend, Hermione wished to just reach and comfort Grace. But she couldn't shake the feeling that these tears were another part of Grace's twisted charade. Grace had really meant what she had just spat at Hermione, nothing could make her doubt that. Hermione felt saddened as she finally admitted to herself that there were no longer any feelings of friendship between Grace and herself. She just wished she knew what Grace was trying to accomplish.

"Hermione…" Grace sobbed. "I need to tell you something…Oh I'm so ashamed!"

Drawing in a deep breath, Grace grasped Hermione's hand in her own.

"I'm sorry about the way I've been acting…It's just- I just don't know where to start…Hermione, Draco attacked me. He attacked me and I believe that he meant to rape me, but I got away." She cried.

Then, as if it all became too hard for her, Grace began to sob even louder and fled the room.

Hermione didn't move as she watched Grace flee. Her face was completely void of colour. The room seemed to spin around her and the air that filled the area was too thick to breathe in. Her whole world was crumbling around her.

Meanwhile, just outside the room, Grace absentmindedly wiped her tears away. An evil grin spread across her face and a tinkle of laughter burst forth as she sauntered down the corridor. She didn't stop laughing until she pushed through the door leading to the grounds.

"Soon Draco… Soon we will be rid of her. Then we will be united… As it should be."

~*~

Thanks so much for the great response to my last chapter. It was amazing. Special thanks to Claire, your little critique was helpful. Shanks everyone.

I also wanted to ask everyone you sent me a review saying they were glad Grace isn't Mary sue….Who's Mary Sue??? Anyways… Hope you like this chapter… Sorry it's a bit jumpy. I needed to get stuff out…