As I entered the Gryffindor common room, I saw Ginny Weasley sitting alone in front of the fireplace, staring absently into the flames. She looked confused about something, and I was trying to make up my mind whether it was my business to ask or not when she tore her eyes from the fire and looked at me.

I smiled at her, but she didn't return it.

"I saw you and Draco Malfoy in the hall just now. After what he did to Ron in the Great Hall at lunch and all!"

I felt my smile fade. I exhaled slowly and took a seat next to Ginny.

"There are some things, Ginny, that you can't control and Malfoy and I were just talking..."

"Talking?" Ginny interrupted. "You weren't just talking! I saw you!"

This left me dumbfounded. I stared at her.

"What do you mean?"

She rolled her eyes theatrically and glared at me.

"Well, let's just say you were lying on the floor, he was practically on top of you, and I could see your hands were on his shoulders! What do you mean 'talking'? That didn't look much like talking to me!"

I cringed as she stormed past me and up into her room. As the door slammed, I dropped my head into my hands and took a few deep breaths to calm myself. Then I stood up and followed her to the dormitory door.

"Ginny? Please open the door Ginny I can explain..."

"No you can't! He's a filthy, insulting, disgusting Slytherin, Hermione! I thought you were Harry and Ron's best friend!"

I thumped hopelessly on the door and shouted;

"I am! You're not letting me explain all of this!"

"Not letting you explain all of what?"

I spun around to see Harry and Ron standing next to the portrait hole. My brain started spinning, How long had they been standing there?

"Hermione? What is going on?" Ron tapped his foot impatiently.

"Nothing, Ron."

Ginny opened the door to our dorm and stared at me. Her eyes were dangerous, but she said nothing. She just glared at me and slammed the door again. I heaved a sigh of relief, she hadn't told Harry and Ron what she had seen. Harry blinked at the closed door.

"Whats up with her?" He asked. I shook my head.

"I'll tell you later."

---

After my close shave in the common room, I decided it was best if I didn't talk to Malfoy anymore. Even though now I had no doubt in my mind that I was going to try to help him, that didn't mean I was going to forgive him for all the insults from over the years.

What Ginny had said had rattled me. I hadn't even really noticed my close proximity to Malfoy when I had woken up from my dream, but now I was wondering stupidly if he had noticed it, too. Probably not.

I decided that I was actually going to try and eat a proper meal at dinner that night, and was in the process of shoveling food in my mouth when Ron interrupted me.

"Wow. Somebody got their appetite back."

I gave him a sarcastic look. To tell the truth, the food was making me sick. But I had a feeling another dream was in store that night, and I was going to need all the energy I could get.

Ron smiled at me. His expression changed suddenly as his eyes swept the table. He frowned.

"Where's Ginny?"

I stopped eating, leaving my fork hovering inches from my open mouth. I glanced around the table and confirmed that Ginny really wasn't there. Dropping my fork suddenly, I excused myself and left to the common room.

---

I knocked lightly on the door to the girls' dorm.

"Ginny? Are you in there? It's Hermione."

"Are you alone?"

"Yes."

I heard footsteps inside the room, and the door opened slightly, just enough for me to slip inside.

"Well?" Ginny had her hands on her hips. "You said you wanted to explain yourself. Go ahead."

I sighed heavily and sat down on my bed.

"I've been having dreams, Ginny. Really scary ones, about You-Know-Who. The rising. All of that. And Malfoy ... well, he's in them. Some really scary stuff is happening to him, and I find it hard to just, well, just sit and watch stuff happen."

"So? You've been having some nightmares. What's that got to do with ..."

"They're not just nightmares! I'm dreaming things that have actually happened to this guy."

A silence spread between us. Ginny was smart enough not to question how I knew my dreams were real. This sort of thing had happened at Hogwarts before.

"So you have nightmares about Malfoy's life. Then you start snogging him in the hallways?"

I felt my jaw drop.

"Ginny! I was not snogging him!"

"Then what were you doing?"

"I had one of my dreams while I was talking to him. I fell on the floor out cold, and he ran over to see if I was okay! That's all!"

I looked at my friend, pleadingly. I could tell she didn't fully believe me.

"Since when did Malfoy care if you were okay?"

I opened my mouth, and then closed it again. Truthfully, I didn't know. He had told me himself that the cause was hopeless, so why did he care?

"I don't know."