A/N: Thanks again for reading, and if you read please review, this is my first story and I want to know what you think! Suggestions are also welcome! Thanks...
III.
Hermione's mind flashed back to the night she had sat with Draco during the Final Battle. Draco had fainted after being saved by Ron and Ron had to carry him to a safe place. Hermione had been taking care of other injured witches and wizards in a cave, and he took Draco there. Hermione had cried out, terrified that the limp body in Ron's arms was Harry, but she was even more concerned in realizing that it was Draco. Draco's position had only been revealed to the highest ranking in the Order, and Hermione had not been one of them. Ron had told her they would be coming after him and she needed to take him and flee somewhere they couldn't find her. She had taken Draco and apparated far away from the battle grounds and into the muggle realm. Hermione had tended his wounds, and listened to his life poured out in the screams in his nightmares. She had shuddered and feared for him. It had amazed her that when he woke he was silent, almost as if he knew what he had spoken in his sleep.
Hermione snapped back to the present when she realized that tears were running down her cheeks. She turned abruptly and wiped them away, hoping he hadn't seen. Draco knew though, he knew exactly what she had been remembering. I shouldn't have come to her for this, I knew it would be too much, he said in his head. Draco got up to leave, "I'm sorry Hermione, I shouldn't have come to you," he turned his face to the ground and brushed past her to reach for the door. Hermione jerked her head up and reached around to touch his shoulder. It was the first time he had felt her touch him since that night. He reveled in the warmth of her touch on his cold skin. "Draco, no, don't go. I'll help you, I just, I'm not sure exactly what you want me to do," she managed to get out. Their eyes were locked, her warm brown eyes, and his cool blue eyes. "I need your help researching dreams and how to make these nightmares go away, and if there are no spells, then I want you to take the memories away," his words were cold, but true. Hermione was a bit puzzled, "You want me to take out your memories? You mean, you just want to forget all of that? Draco, I don't know if I could do tha..." He interrupted her, "I need to forget, I need to be free from them." There were tears in his cool eyes, she could tell he was fighting them, but one slowly slipped down his cheek. Before he could react she reached up and cupped the side of his face and wiped the tear away, "I'll help you, I'll do whatever it takes. I promise..."
He nodded silently and nothing else was said. There was nothing else to say, but she could see the gratitude in his eyes. Draco left silently and Hermione sank slowly onto her bed. She leaned back onto the pillows and drifted off to sleep without ever realizing.
BANG, BANG, BANG..."Hermione!! Classes start in 15 minutes, I hope you're up. Your crazy friends wouldn't leave me alone at breakfast," she rubbed her eyes as Charlie yelled through the door. "Yea, I'm awake," she managed to get out. As soon as what he said had sunk in she jumped out of her bed. She rushed to put her robes on and she hurried down to the dungeons. Double Potions first thing in the morning, someone must really not like me...I swear I just can't stand listening for that long...she thought as she ran down the stairs. She almost ran over Neville as she shot past him. "Sorry Neville," she yelled as she kept running. Hermione reached the door to Snape's classroom just as he was about to shut the door. "Well, Ms. Granger, I'm glad you could join us, you're not late, but next time I will take points from your house," he said. She blushed and rushed to the nearest open seat. She just happened to sit down next to Ron. Harry had been paired with Draco. Harry waved at her as if to say "Good morning" and she smiled at him. Ron squeezed her leg underneath the desk and she smiled softly at him. Across the room Draco watched the two and felt a twinge in his gut. He couldn't believe that he was jealous of Ron Weasely. Ron had saved his life, but he still was wary of being too friendly with any of them. He had wanted more than anything to thank him, but he knew that there were still followers of Voldemort looking for an excuse to kill him. Why can't I just get over my fear of them, the people here will protect me. Hermione had been the only person to ever really reach out to him, and he was grateful to her for that. At the same time he knew that he could never thank her enough.
Hermione found herself not paying attention as usual, and she had been staring at the board where Snape was writing, but she wasn't really absorbing any of the material. Somehow she had managed to keep up with the notes but she didn't really understand any of it. She was thinking about how she could begin to help Draco. Draco wasn't the only person that noticed she wasn't paying attention. Both Ron and Harry were watching as Hermione wandered through her thoughts...