"Harry, is everything Ok?"

Harry refused to answer Hermoine and Ron's questions. He had though coming back to his old common room would help him to forget what was essentially the most humiliating and confusing day of his life. Surely this room of red and gold heroism would make his drama seem unthinkable. Months before he sat in this very chair, almost sinking into its soft fabric as if the room where an over eager house elf trying to make everything perfect, and his mind had been blank. His emotions had been blurred around the edges in the comfort. Nothing was overly important and yet boredom wasn't really an issue. He had been happy here. Now the glaring red walls and golden couches seemed to smother him. The couch refused to let him sit up straight in the manner that Draco insisted he sit, the cushion sucking him into the feathery centre. There was no leverage for his back to straighten, no hard surface to strain his back side into, so trying to accomplish any kind of posture was more pain then it was worth. This served only to make him feel like a guilty child sneaking candy. Draco would rush in here any moment and scold him for slouching like a common criminal.

He found it difficult to think straight, the glaring walls seemed to move and his eyes where constantly drawn to the glowing rectangles of light caused by open windows. Every few seconds the door opened and closed as a army of students stormed in and out. Harry could swear they where simply walking in and out again to annoy him. He tried to calculate the average time a person would spend doing something once leaving the room and dividing it by the amount of times the door opened as if collecting evidence that these enemies where simply walking to the end of the corridor and coming back.. But he couldn't focus on anything for that long.

"Harry! Are you listening to me at all?"

At the indignant tone in her voice Harry turned his head to Hermoine and stared blankly at her. She had once been the most important female in his life. He smiled slightly at the thought that Ron used to be the most important male in his life and both positions had been taken up by the multi-sexual being now locked away in the infirmary. Cory and Draco.

"This isn't funny! This is the first time you've come to spend any time with us in weeks and all you can do stair at the portrait hole as if you want to rip it out. . . or maybe cave it in, but that's not the point!"

"What is the point?" Harry asked her, suddenly wondering if she even knew.

"The point, Harry, is that Ron and I have missed you. And we've asked you if Cory's all right, despite the fact that we hate her, because it's the polite thing to do! And you haven't even answered a single question!"

She was almost puffing with exertion now. The harsh whisper/yell seemed to have taken a lot of her energy and a few strands of hair had broken free from her ponytail in a fluffy mess. She looked like a ruffled hen, certainly a look Draco would never even have to worry about. It was as if her hairs where wired to her emotional well being and any heightening of the latter would be met by wiry strands.

Ron had yet to contribute anything to this conversation but stood proud, slightly behind the girl with a look he surely inherited from his mother.

"I'm sorry," Harry told them, "everything's just a little confusing right now."

A slight light of sympathy shone through the red faced fury and Hermoine asked in what was meant to be a pacifying tone "Why don't you talk about it then. What happened to Dr. . . Cory?"

"I can't tell you that."

Hermoine huffed slightly but nodded her head muttering something about patient confidentiality. Despite that particular answer being the most annoying of things in her world, the conformity to rules and regulations seemed to quell any mounting anger. Instead she asked, "Will she be OK?"

"Physically, yes." Harry turned his eyes to the ground. He should have simply said yes, but the centre of at least part of his confusion was Dracos position on the lost child. Did she want children as much as he or was the secretly happy the alien form within her stomach was now gone?

"What does that mean?" Ron finally asked, his voice seemed strange to Harrys ears. How long had it been since he's talked in a normal conversation with his best friend and not been yelled at over a field?

"I can't tell you that either" Clearly he was not answering these questions in the correct manner. Hermoine erupted, "Well for Christs sake, Harry, what can you tell me!?! Why are you so upset if she's going to be fine?"

"I don't want to talk about it" Harry muttered with an almost apologetic look. He couldn't tell her that Draco had miscarried their child, she would almost defiantly sold him in some horrible way. Either screaming about the irresponsibility's of men when it comes to conception and how very stupid he clearly was or, even worse, the idiocy of almost wasting his procreative abilities on an evil slytherin and an even worse Malfoy. His aborted proposal was too humiliating as well. He strained his brain for something he could tell her but she had broken in before anything came to mind.

"Harry James Potter! We're your best friends! Just because you've got some. . . some. . . trollop doesn't mean we wont understand you! Although, god knows, I don't understand your obsession with her. It can't be her personality and quite frankly I think she's lacking character . . . she's like a barby doll! All well and good in theory, but in reality she's just. . ."

"What do you mean it can't be her personality?" Harry broke in furiously. He gripped her arm and moved away form the other people in the room to whisper harshly. The image of Draco covered in blood being dragged away still fresh in his mind with the knowledge that the blood had been remains of his Childs corpse. "There is nothing wrong with her personality! Just because she's not some ugly book worm spouting quotes from hundred year old tomes (as if that shows actual life experience!) doesn't mean she's not interesting! Or nice and funny! And fun! Which is something I'm sure you know nothing about! Would you just stop insulting her all the time? Please? You sound like a jealous girlfriend! If you really have to know I'm upset because I proposed and she turned me down! No doubt she thinks I have the same opinion of her as you do!"

This was clearly the time to leave.

Ashamed and doubly embarrassed for having insulted Hermoine so easily, Harry fled out of the portrait hole. When he opened the door another student tried to scamper in and they collided. Mumbling about the idiots who can stop moving around now that he is no longer there to annoy Harry made his way back to the infirmary. Draco would surely be released soon. Maybe they could talk. Maybe she would like time to consider her proposal before turning him away. . .maybe.