Harry and Ron had been walking through the corridors with one destination in mind: the library. They'd searched for her at the head's tower, but only found silence as no one had opened up at the portrait and Sir Cadogan had only called them names and refused to give up any information as to whether or not he'd seen the head girl.
They were both troubled by their friend's reaction when Ron had told her that he couldn't return the feelings that she had towards him, and while Harry knew that Ron desperately wanted to, he knew Ron was doing it for the sake of him, which made Harry feel the worst of the three. He hated to be the means of suffering for anyone, especially his friends. They were only a short ways away from the library when Peeves had begun to give them trouble. The mischievous ghost had picked up a vase and chucked it at them, which they were able to duck, but they weren't prepared for what had happened.
The vase had hit Hermione, square in the head, and she'd been knocked unconscious.
"The know-it-all doesn't know it all," the ghost mocked as he flew over the heads of the boys and disappeared through a wall.
"That no good ghost, I'd strangle him if I could," Ron grumbled angrily as the knelt down beside the unconscious body of Hermione.
Harry only sighed. "Come on," he said to Ron. "We'd better get her to the hospital wing."
Madame Pomfrey ushered them in, had them set the limp body of Hermione on a bed, and then ushered them out again, telling them that they needed to "prepare for classes since they begin tomorrow." Defeated, they had left, with plans to come in and visit her that night after dinner.
Hermione had awoken to an empty hospital wing. Her head pulsated and when she tried to sit up, it felt as if it were going to split open and she had no choice but to fall back on the downy, feather-filled pillow that cradled her head. She let out a groan and touched her head, discovering a bandage that rested above her right eyebrow. She fingered the bandage gingerly, tracing it, trying to remember what it was that would have caused her to need a bandage and to wake up in the hospital wing. It hit her then, that she'd gone off to look for Harry and Ron, and that something had come into contact with her head, after that, everything was blank.
Madame Pomfrey walked into the room, and upon seeing an awake Hermione, went to her side and immediately started administering medicine for her aching head.
"You know dear, you really ought to learn to stay out of the hospital wing. I'm beginning to think that you, Ron, and Harry have taken far too much of a liking with it."
Hermione couldn't help but smile. It was a sad but true fact that each of them had spent time in the hospital wing since their first year at Hogwarts.
"Madame Pomfrey," she wanted to know how she'd ended up in the hospital wing. "How did I get here?"
"While the rest of the dynamic trio brought you to my care. The boys had been heading toward the library when they had a bit of a run in with Peeves. That ghost, I don't know how our dear Headmaster handles his antics!"
"Peeves? What happened with Peeves?"
"Well, you know Peeves, his consideration of entertainment almost always seems like someone else's pain. He'd picked up a vase near the spot, and thrown it at Ron and Harry. What they didn't know when they ducked was that you'd been coming around the corner as well, so you took the vase square in the head. Now sit up dear, and take this."
Hermione sat up and winced in pain. She took a small medicinal cup from Madame Pomfrey and drank the medicine that it contained. The brown liquid was tart and bitter, and the only flavor that she'd been able to detect tasted much like lemon. It only took a few minutes before she felt better again and Madame Pomfrey allowed her to leave.
Despite her grumbling stomach's protests, she decided that she ought to just go to sleep. She had classes the next day, and she'd had much more excitement than she wanted for the first two days back at Hogwarts. Walking up the stairs to get to the head's dorms, she recounted the events of the day in her mind. Once again, she wondered about Draco, becoming caught up in their little debate about themselves.
She supposed that because they were head boy and head girl that they should form a truce and attempt to be civil to each other. Hermione wondered how she could possibly propose something like that to him, considering they both pretty much hated each other. It wouldn't have been so bad if he were only a bit more accepting. When she'd first come to Hogwarts, all she wanted was to have friends. Enemies definitely weren't within her agenda.
On the train, everyone had seemed at least partially friendly. Hermione's bossy nature made her appear demanding, and so her quest for friends was almost immediately closed off. People turned her away, and she'd ended up only making friends at first because of Neville. He'd been showing her his toad, Trevor, when it jumped out of his lap, onto the floor of the train, and down the corridor. Due to his fast friendship, she headed after it, determined to find it for him. She'd met Harry and Ron that day during her search.
She remembered how they hadn't gotten along at first, Ron disliking her most of all because of her bossy, know-it-all attitude. But they'd gotten past all that. When the troll attacked Hogwarts because of Professor Quirrel's schemes to get philospher's stone that year, she'd taken the blame for them because they'd saved her life. They'd been practically inseperable after that, and she loved them dearly, Harry as if he were a brother, and well.. Ron..
She arrived at the portrait of Sir Cadogan feeling exhausted. She muttered the password to the obnoxious knight and entered the common room, collapsing on the couch and falling asleep.
"If you're really that tired, Granger, I suggest you sleep in your quarters."
"Oh!" She awoke nearly immediately to the sound of Draco's voice. She sat up groggily, and rubbed at her eyes. "What time is it?"
"Half after seven, you've missed dinner, but I suppose anyone who had been hit in the head with a vase would want to sleep."
"How did you-"
"Gryffindorks. Can't let a matter sit even if it sat on them. Your friends Potty and Weasel and the littlest Weaslette tried to follow me up here, but I told them to shove off before I took fifty points from each of them."
"Oh." They'd been looking for her. Ron had been looking for her. Her heart skipped a beat and she smiled.
Draco turned to go into his room.
"Malfoy?"
"What is it?" He turned to face her, his face showing irritablity and impatience.
"I've been thinking and-"
"Must hurt."
"What?"
"Thinking. It must hurt you." He smirked at her.
"Fine, then, forget it." Already she felt angrier than she had earlier.
He let out a sigh then, obviously growing tired of the things that were happening between them. "If you can't take a joke, than you're much more of a party killer than I thought."
"You? Joke?" She scoffed. "Just because you think something is funny, doesn't mean it isn't hurtful or offensive to someone else."
"All right, out with it, what is it you wanted to say to me? Or was it your plan to mock my intelligence and beliefs once again?"
Hermione opened her mouth to retort then closed it again.
"I'm sorry." She couldn't believe she was apologising to him. "I wanted to say that I think we need to attempt to be more civil. Not just to each other, but everyone. We're head boy and head girl, our peers and younger students here at Hogwarts look up to us, we can't display constant violence and vulgarity..."
He was smirking again. Hearing her apologise to him had made him do it without even knowing. "Is that all?"
She sighed. "Yes, that was all."
He stood there staring at her, seeing her finally in a new light. Never before had he had a conversation with this girl, and while in previous years he'd have wretched at her, he couldn't help but feel a bit of a connection with her. He'd gotten her to think a bit more cautiously, and she was already working at molding his behavioral patterns. He couldn't help but feel curious about what she'd have him feeling and doing next.
"So?" Her voice was curious and impatient.
"Hm? Oh. I'll think about it." And with that, he turned on his heel and walked down his hall and into his room.
She stared after him, at his closed door. There was something different going on, something strange in the air, a new sort of attitude that she wasn't sure she was ready for. It was better not to dwell on it, she decided, and she too, went into her own room to sleep.
Ending Notes and Comments for Chapter Five
A/N: I'm not J. K. Rowling. I don't own any of the characters, if I did, I'd have a totally awesome laptop with all the hook ups.
More conversation going on, I hope it's left you feeling a bit more intrigued.
mysticallove: I hope you have a fantastic time at Prom! I had a blast at my own. We performed Thriller in the middle of it. My friends (there were about six of us) and I got the dj to play the song and we were able to give Prom a bit of a highlight. I was so tired when I got home, but it was worth it. Malfoy has a few sparks flying in front of his eyes, he's just failed to really become awakened by them. We'll see if he'll get any great feelings in the next chapter. This could or couldn't be a hint. wink
notDavidtalbotP: I'm glad you enjoy the story!
r-k-bubblez: I'm glad that you like the story. Share! Share! I love getting reviews and reading what everyone has to say, and if your friends are into stories like this, well then I hope I don't disappoint.
CoolChick0506: I'm hoping that I'm not being to evil with cliff hangers and the like. Feel free to throw vegetables and such at me if I am. Hope you liked this chapter as well!