Author's Note: Ok, ok. Those of you who reviewed continuously to tell me to update…. Well I had a couple of laughs (especially the one who told me she was gonna pull out her hair, and there was another who said she'd hurt me, and another who kept checking every day) but it did get annoying after a while. I told you I had a Yahoo group. I do use it! I posted two messages telling you guys why I hadn't updated, so I am not going to apologise. But if you want to know, go read it.

Ok, This chapter has been beta'd, but the next two have been sent and are hopefully going to be beta'd soon, but he's quite busy and tired and… well we'll see.

Without further ado….

….Previous Chapter….

They turned Hermione over, and all gasped in shock. Her robe was drenched in blood. Pomfrey summoned a knife, and cut open the hospital gown Hermione was wearing. She cast another spell to clear the wound of blood and dirt, and to stem the flow of blood.

What they saw made Pomfrey faint, and the others gasp in shock and anger.

Her back had the words 'Mudblood Whore' carved into it.

Empty World

A day…

Two days…

A week…

Two weeks…

And still Hermione hadn't returned from her own little world of nothingness. Most of the people around her could understand what was going on. Draco certainly knew what it was like, he had been through it, but his experience had only lasted a week or so. It took a large event to break him away, his father's distant voice telling him that he was leaving and that there was a Weasley in the Manor…

Harry could also sympathise with her… he understood the feeling of wanting to run away from everything and everyone.

Ginny was back from St Mungo's. Again, she knew what Hermione was going through.

All three, along with Ron, stayed with her the entire time. They only left to eat. They hadn't gone to lessons, and Dumbledore told them that he hadn't expected them to.

After two weeks, they were starting to worry… they all thought she should have at least moved. But there was no signs of life at all, she simply lay, unblinking and unfocused, her eyes void of all emotion. Her body had healed… they had all thought that once she had be fully healed he would have woken but there was still nothing.

Her self inflicted scars were the same as before; un-healable. But what was even more infuriating, were the cuts she had on her back. They were healable, but left bright white scars. They'd serve as a reminder for the rest of her life, as there was no way to hide them. Not even a concealment charm would work.

Draco began to try and think of what might bring Hermione out of her reverie. But he didn't know her well enough to know what might work. Of course Harry and Ron could think of nothing, voicing the fact that they didn't even seem to know her that well themselves.

So, he had to think from her point of view, thinking about the pain she had been in, the life she had had… and what she had done to run away. Like the time she had run out to the lake to watch the sun set…

Then it hit home. The sunset… he wasn't quite sure what it was about a sunset… but there was some beauty about it. Heck, it was worth a try… right?

"I have an idea. Ginny, could you get her dressed, something warm, preferably?" he asked. The other three in the room looked at him in confusion, but he ignored it and gave them a look that said 'don't ask'.

Ginny nodded and the three boys left.

"Draco, what…" but Harry was cut off.

"Don't ask. I'm not even sure if it will work yet." He said impatiently.

Ginny came out two minutes later, telling them that she had dressed Hermione and that Hermione had made no protests at all. This slightly unnerved them, but none of them voiced their thoughts.

Draco walked into the wing, and stood next to her bed. It was around 7pm so students would be around, but he would just have to ignore them. Trying to think of a place to take her other than the astronomy tower, he turned to the others.

"I need a place that will be void of any students, preferably somewhere high up."

"You could take her to Gryffindor tower?" said Ginny.

They all looked at her in disbelief.

"I'm serious! All of the rooms have large windows… if that is what you want. And they are high up… you could cast a locking spell, and us three could wait outside to make sure no one enters?"

"That's not a bad idea…"

So he picked Hermione up, wrapping her legs around his torso and carried her out of the hospital wing. He looked around, it was still light so they would almost definitely catch sunset.

Students were staring… it wasn't everyday the pure blooded Draco Malfoy carried the muggle born Hermione Granger through the corridors of Hogwarts, her three best friends on his tail. Not only that… but Hermione was crying. This, of course, was a good sign. It meant she was starting to feel again.

He just hoped the sunset would bring her out fully.

Hermione

And feel she could. The pain started ebbing its way back. Hermione was vaguely aware that Draco was carrying her somewhere, and that students were staring, but she couldn't really care less.

3rd Person

It seemed like hours later they had gotten to the portrait leading to their common room. Draco muttered the password, and they all walked in together. Everyone in the common room turned to stare at them, their mouths open in shock.

"What – what happened to Hermione?" asked Neville, who seemed to be the only one with the nerve to ask.

"She's stuck inside herself. Could everyone stay out the 6th year boys dorm please?" said Draco, walking towards the stairs.

They could all see she was crying, not moving in the slightest, but none of them had any idea what he was talking about. The shock of seeing the four of them, plus Hermione, in the common room was enough. They hadn't seen any of the four in the common room for at least two weeks.

"What do you mean, she's stuck inside herself?"

"Neville… I don't think you need to know what is wrong, but she's run away to get away from everything - we need to bring her back. Please don't ask any more questions, and if… when she comes down, please don't stare," said Ginny, softly.

He nodded, and the three followed Draco up to their dorm room.

He walked in, carrying her to the window that would give them a clear view of the sunset. He sat on the window so his back, and Hermione's face, was facing the sunset. It was already starting to go down, resulting in a vibrant mix of yellow, orange, red and pink protruding from the sun across the sky and lake.

He could feel the situation overwhelming him… the emotions threatening to over power. It was all getting too much.

There he sat, waiting, watching the sunlight dancing off of any shiny objects in the room, watching the shadows. She hadn't moved in the slightest, and Draco began to lose hope.

"Please, Mya. Come back, I need you." He cried into her hair, the tears running down his cheeks evident in his tone. He sat there for what felt like hours, rocking her, crying into her hair.

Once the sun had gone down, they were in darkness, the only light coming from the blinking stars in the sky.

"Please. Mya, please, just come back. For me, I love you, we all do. We need you. Please!" he cried again.

Hermione

As soon as he had sat down, Hermione had moved her eyes to watch the sunset. She was so comfortable in Draco's arms, she didn't want to move. Her mind was still not fully awake, so she couldn't have if she had tried.

She sat around for an hour watching the sunset, only slightly aware of Draco crying. The sunset was so beautiful. It held no pain, no anger, just beauty. Once it had gone, she was faintly disappointed. It was so beautiful and peaceful which made a change from the ugly, hectic and painful life she was living. She could feel Draco rocking her and she realised her body was starting to feel again.

Soon, she was bathed in darkness. The only light was from the sky, so she watched the stars. There was no moon. "Please. Mya, please, just come back. For me, I love you, we all do. We need you. Please!" cried Draco, hugging her tighter. She was the fully aware of where she was, whom she was with, what she watching. Where she had been… what had happened. She tried to push it all to the back of her mind. It felt as if the two weeks, which had only vaguely been aware of, had let her mind heal in the slightest, for the emotions were not so raw and therefore, she succeeded in pushing them back.

This didn't stop the feeling of pain, and sorrow deep inside her stomach, her heart. She could feel her eyes starting to sting, so she grabbed onto Draco tighter, hugging him with all her might. She moved to bury her head in his chest.

"Mya? Thank Merlin!" cried Draco. He pushed Hermione away from her, holding her at arms length, looking deep into her watery eyes. "I'm here for you, along with Harry, Ron and Ginny. We always will be. Never forget that," he said, tears running fresh down his cheeks. She nodded numbly. He smiled and brought her close to him again. "How are you feeling?"

She shrugged. She couldn't bring herself to talk. It was almost as if she held so many emotions that she couldn't speak, for fear of letting them all go.

"Come on, we need to get back to the hospital wing." She shook her head. She didn't want to go back there. "… Ok, but we need to go tell Pomfrey you're ok. You don't have to stay, we can come back here."

She wanted to stay here, with him, all night, but she knew he was right. She looked up at him, trying to seek to him through her eyes. She wanted to come back here, nowhere else. She didn't want to be alone in her dorm room. He nodded. "We can come back here," he said.

She smiled. He helped her up. Dizziness over came her for a while, and she clung to Draco. It slowly evaporated and she could walk. He took her hand and walked towards the door.

Feeling extremely vulnerable, she kept as close to, but behind, Draco as possible. When he opened the door she was greeted with her three best friends.

"Hermione!!" exclaimed Ginny, and immediately jumped and hugged Hermione. Hermione did notice how close she was to Harry, but that though had evaporated once Ginny had touched her. It wasn't just a flinch; it was a full on jump out of fright and fear. Ginny knew immediately what she had done. "I'm sorry. It's so good have you back, Mya." She said, looking pointedly at Draco when she said her name.

She then noticed her other two friends behind her, staring at her, with the biggest grins they had ever worn before. The slight pang of fear spread through her again, but she tried her hardest to push it back. They weren't going to hurt her; she knew that… so why did she feel so scared around them?

Damn Death Eaters.

"Er… right. We should get down to the hospital wing," said Draco.

So, they did. Hermione was still holding onto Draco's hand, and her grip was getting tighter with every move they made towards the common room. Her other three friends following behind them quietly. The noise from all the people in it was overwhelming, and she felt a wave of dizziness over come her. She stumbled, and fell towards the banister, grabbing hold of it to support her. Draco got hold of her, and started rubbing small soothing circles into her wrists to calm her, which, surprisingly, worked.

"Just breathe."

"What's wrong with her?" asked Ron.

"She's been in complete silence for two weeks… it must be the noise of from the common room," replied Ginny. "Maybe you should carry her, Draco," she added as an after thought.

All Hermione could do was melt into Draco, and nod to tell him that Ginny was right.

He laughed a little. "Want a chiggy-back?" he said, humourlessly.

"Chiggy-back? Isn't that a muggle saying?" said Harry. Draco just shrugged. Hermione nodded, and Draco helped her up. She jumped onto his back, smiling slightly as he hobbled his way down the stairs.

When they came into the common room, eyes slowly started turning towards them. Hermione tried her hardest to ignore them, but their stares brought a fresh wave of nausea. She hugged Draco around the neck tighter, and closed her eyes, trying to rid herself of their prying eyes. It reminded her of the Death Eaters, staring at her with lustful, almost serial killer-like looks in their eyes.

She shook her head, to rid herself of those memories and images.

"'S ok now, we're out of there," said Draco in a mere whisper. She opened her eyes and looked around, the corridors were almost empty, she was free of prying faces.

Still feeling vulnerable, she jumped off his back and grasped his hand tightly again. They then proceeded to the Infirmary.

"There you are! You had me so worried!" cried Pomfrey as they entered.

"Er… yeah, sorry 'bout that. Malfoy got an idea… looks like it worked," said Ron.

"So it did. It's good to have you back Miss Granger," replied Pomfrey. Hermione smiled. Pomfrey looked at her, as if sizing something up. "How are you feeling Miss Granger?" she asked, curiously, still looking at Hermione as if she was trying to figure something out.

Hermione just shrugged.

"Ah… stage two. Well, I guess that's a good sign…"

"What do you mean stage two?" asked Draco.

"I managed to figure out what was wrong with her. It has a name, and is extremely similar to the muggle term of depression. However, in the wizarding world, witches and wizards act differently to depression… where Muggles may act similar, we cannot diagnose a witch with a muggle illness. Therefore, I did some research and found out that Hermione has 'Casaus Terram'. It's Latin; it means 'Empty World'.

"The first stage is what we have already witnessed… the soul running from the body. Stage two is refusing to speak."

"Are there any more stages?" asked Draco.

"Oh yes… but none are so severe as the first two. Witches tend to get repercussions of what put them in that state in the first place… dizziness, nausea and most importantly, they feel disinclined to eat…"

"Why did you not tell us about her not talking, Draco? If you went through it yourself," asked Ron.

"I didn't go through stage two… I'm still going through the rest though… I guess I didn't have time to worry about not talking…" and they all nodded.

Hermione, however, was confused as hell. 'Casaus Terram?' And why did Draco not have time to go through stage two? And why was it an illness? Surely it was just an effect from being under the Reliving curse? But she had read about that illness, and it wasn't pleasant…

"Anyway, is it ok if Mya stays in our dorms tonight?" asked Draco. "She seems to be obtaining a certain hate stroke fear to this wing." He added, looking around.

This was true… she hated the hospital wing.

Madam Pomfrey looked Hermione over, and once she had been given the all clear, grudgingly let Hermione go.

But, they'd be damned if they got very far. Dumbledore seemed to know exactly where they were at any given time and exactly where they were headed.

He caught up with them just before they were making their way towards Gryffindor tower.

"I'm glad to see you are awake, Miss Granger. I have fully excused you… and your friends from lessons for the rest of the week. I understand you will be staying in the Gryffindor dormitories tonight?" She nodded. "Very well… just make sure you keep all of your clothes on…" And he walked off chuckling to himself, humming some muggle song that sounded strangely familiar to her.

Hermione could feel a blush rising on her cheeks, and she turned to look at her friends. Harry and Ron seemed somewhat mad, Draco seemed embarrassed and Ginny was stifling laughter. She watched as Ginny looked at their faces, and her slight chuckle turned into full-out laughter. Hermione smiled at her friend, and then continued her way up to Gryffindor tower.

Hermione stopped at the portrait; after all, she wasn't speaking… and she didn't know the password. Draco was only a step or two behind her, not able to be more because she was holding his hand.

He opened his mouth to say the password, but Hermione stopped him with a tug at his arm. She was unsure about re-entering the common room. He turned to her with a questioning look. Again, she tried to speak with her eyes.

Realisation hit… it was quite amusing to watch and made her giggle slightly. It was strange how he could make her laugh when she felt so horrible. It was slightly reassuring too… like when Ginny had laughed and Hermione had smiled. It had given her the strength to walk ahead of her friends.

"You don't want another chiggy-back, do you?" he asked, amusement in his voice and on his face.

Thinking about it, she didn't really need to be carried, but it was quite nice being carried by him… sort of like a dad would their daughter. Oh… realising that was partially the reason, she was now feeling confused. It was funny watching him carry me, and being carried by me… but… she shook herself out of her thoughts and looked up at him… what the hell and she nodded.

He groaned. "Ok… jump on." So she did…

She ignored everyone as they went through the common room and Draco made straight for the stairs. But before he could walk up… he stumbled. She jumped off him and realised it wasn't because he had fell, but because there was something wrong. He was leaning against the wall next to the staircase taking deep breaths.

"Shit!" said Ron.

"What? What's going on?" asked Hermione.

"Remember what he told us about the Reliving curse?" She nodded. "It's made up of tens of your worst memories and fears." Again, she nodded. "He's been having repercussions. Every now and then one of those memories hits him." She could literally feel herself pale, but before she could dwell on the oh-shit-this-can't-be-good thoughts, Draco fell to the floor, unmoving.

She moved to touch him, but was stopped by Harry. "You can't touch him. If you do, you'll be drawn into the memory making it even more painful for him." She backed away slightly.

People were starting to gather around the five friends, some looking scared, others looking concerned.

After around a minute and a half, he started moving. She jumped forward, but he flinched and jumped back. Shit! She thought to herself. Moving more slowly, she made to pick him up.

He was shaking, but obeyed. All she could do was hug him until he got his bearings. He had stiffened, was trembling and breathing unevenly. Noticing the prying faces round, she felt a wave of anger flare up inside her. She let go of Draco, who promptly fell against the wall, and glared at everyone around them.

"What are you all staring at? What do you think this is? Some kind of freak show?! We aren't here for your entertainment you know! You staring like that makes everything worse!" she yelled. Nobody moved. "I'm fuckin' serious! You all think we are here for your amusement! That you can get some kind of kick out of our pain! We're not animals! We all have feelings! Tell me, how would you lot like it? Having the entire Gryffindor house staring at you whilst you…" she trailed off, unable to finish, tears streaming down her face.

She abruptly turned to Draco, to see tears running down his cheeks to. She shook her head in sorrow and ran up the stairs, away from everyone.

She was fuming… but the anger was quickly being replaced with pain and hurt. She honestly hadn't meant anything she had said. It wasn't that they got a kick out of their pain. It was the Death Eaters that got a kick out of her pain.

Under the circumstances, she wasn't surprised she had over reacted.

After around a minute of pacing, cursing and throwing things, she abruptly fell to the floor in tears. This was so unlike her. She had been changed. Changed by all she had seen. She didn't notice her four friends staring at her in shock with looks of sympathy on their faces.

The first to move, and startle Hermione, was Draco. He slowly moved towards her, still crying, and sat down besides her. Putting a hand on her shoulder, he looked into her watery eyes. "You spoke!" To her, this seemed irrelevant, but she could understand why it was a big deal to them. Stage two was supposed to last longer; she'd read about it.

She turned her head and cried onto his shoulder. After a while, he pulled her onto his lap, and they both cried into each other's shoulders. After what felt like hours, she plucked up the courage –

"What did you see?"

He stiffened immediately.

"Death Eater attack on me before my father cast the reliving curse…" he trailed off, but she didn't need to know any more, she just hugged him tighter.

And they stayed like that until they fell asleep, completely oblivious of anyone coming in and out, and stayed there all night.

Review please :)