Disclaimer: I own nothing except the story line; no characters, no charms or potions, just me; that's about it!

A/N: Although I didn't get a ton of reviews, I thought I'd release this chapter before tonite when BOOK SIX COMES OUT! Keep the reviews coming and the chapters will be pumped out faster. Reviews make me write faster, you'd be surprised. :D I do want to add that my friend's not doing any better and it's only making me worse, so if for some reason I'm not on here for a week or so, I'm sorry, I just have a lot around here outside of the internet to deal with. Plus, I'll be reading the new book! Again, WARNING… this has in-depth mention of eating disorders, so for those suffering, it might trigger, and it may upset others. Please read with your own digression. And review :D

Previously: Slowly, she walked out into the other room and un-transfigured all the equipment in the room. Not even the Room of Requirement was able to make muggle equipment, which is why she researched how to transfigure them herself. Unfortunately, she had blacked out right as she stood to leave, knocking over a stack of books, so she ran from the library right before Ron walked in, obviously looking for the brunette. Waiting a few more minutes before daring to walk out of the room, she sat on the floor and dozed off a bit.

Nightmares once again overtook her sleep. She tossed and turned for a few minuets before, like every other night, she woke up screaming. Sweat pouring from her face, she shook her head, trying to shake away the dreams. Soon, her surroundings began to make sense and she walked from the room, grabbing her bag of books, and hurrying to her next class, Potions. She sighed and tried to walk faster, which seemed nearly impossible for the small Gryffindor. Her legs tried to give out on her twice, head waning from the present to an alternate reality, and she stopped outside the room to catch her breath before walking in.

Opening the doors slowly, she was met with the gaze of both Gryffindors and Slytherins alike. Snape quickly walked to the back of the room, cape billowing behind him, and grabbed the girl's arm harshly. Both winced at the same time – she from the pain and him from the realization how skinny she really was. Walking her towards the front of the room, he let his grip rest, and he thrust her, albeit gently, into the seat nearest the front of the room. "Might I ask where you've been?" He asked, his tone just daring her to argue with him, but gentle at the same time. He found himself slightly worrying about the girl's present state. Even with the charms, she was very underweight and her eyes were lined with puffy, black bags. That, along with her tardiness, made him a bit more concerned than usual.

"I'm really sorry Professor," she began, "I was…"

"Save the effort," Snape began. "You can explain all you want tonight when you join me in detention," a few Slytherins laughed aloud, "or after class when you stay to make up everything you missed, when you decided to skip out on the beginning of my class."

"But Sir," she began slowly, trying to avoid his poisonous glare, "I have Head duties."

Snape looked around for a second. "Oh, I'm sorry my girl. You've mistaken me for someone who actually cares. Mister Draco is more than able to do his Head duties alone, and you can join him after your detention. And now to continue on with the lesson you so rudely interrupted." Although he was becoming more worried about her by the moment, he had to keep up pretenses or people would think he was, shudder, becoming weak. Snape went on to teach the rest of class but Hermione couldn't pay attention. First she worried about what people would say about the Head Girl getting detention, but then she slowly began to drift into a daydream, which gave way to a nightmare.

Meanwhile, two more people were apprehensively worried about the girl. One being the redhead who seemed to have given up on her, at least to her face. The other was watching her carefully, like he did every night in the common room and during their patrolling. One wanted to tell himself that he couldn't waste his time caring for someone he barely knew, and the other tried to tell himself that she was his world, and yet, the one who didn't want to did and the other couldn't bring himself to truly care for someone who did such horrible things to themselves. Draco couldn't stop worrying about the girl and it angered him because he shouldn't care about someone he barely knew. Yet, he realized, he probably knew the new Hermione better than anyone else who called themselves her friend.

Both boys were pulled from thought when, all of a sudden, the dungeon was filled with a blood curdling scream from the front of the room and Snape demanded that everyone leave the room immediately as the brunette Gryffindor started thrashing and fell from the stool, worry increasing. "I said everyone get out. That means you two also; just because you are the golden trio outside of class doesn't mean you get to stay. Shoo. Wait, Draco, since you're Head Boy. The rest of you, OUT!" With the sharp point of a finger, the rest of the class got out swiftly.

"It's okay Professor. She'll be fine in a few minutes. It's just a nightmare," Draco explained, trying to calm the girl and the professor at the same time.

"Is this a common thing? For her to scream about in a haphazard manner?" Snape demanded, prodding Draco for all that he knew. Both Slytherins knew something was not right about her current condition but neither were brave enough to say it.

"She's been doing it every night since we got to school. She thinks that by putting a silencing charm on her room that I can't hear, but I do. She'll be okay though, nightmares can't hurt you, at least not physically," Draco sighed and looked away. "I'll take her back to the room, if you don't mind Professor," Draco said, knowing that the girl would kill him when she awoke.

"No, stupid boy, she needs to be placed in the infirmary immediately. If she can't stay awake in my class than she isn't healthy. Even stupid Gryffindors know not to sleep in my class." Snape went down to pick her up but Draco stopped him.

"Please Professor. I promise, she's fine, she just needs a bit more sleep. I'll take her back to our chambers and put her to bed. I can handle Head Duties tonight alone. She just needs the night off. Please, I promise she's fine." He didn't know why he was trying so hard to protect her secret, but he knew, somewhere inside, that he should do this for her.

Snape caught on to his kindness too, and pointed it out. "Taking a liking for a stupid Gryffindor, are we?" He smiled slightly, knowing he had caught the boy.

"Of course not, Professor. I just know that if she's sent to the infirmary, I'll have more than one night that I have to patrol alone and I hate doing other's work for them. This way, after tonight, she's back to patrolling, like the Head Girl is supposed to do," he tried to convince Snape AND himself, but neither believed it.

After looking the girl over, making sure nothing was broken in the fall, and thus could be blamed on him, the professor let the boy carry the girl from the room. He made a mental note how easy it was for the boy to carry her. Snape knew Draco was strong, but he picked her up like she weighed nothing. She doesn't look that small, but what if… Draco looked at his professor, thinking the same thing. He sighed and carried her from the room.

Laying her on the couch in the common room, he sighed again and called for Dobby. "Bring me a bowl of apple sauce, a glass of milk, and a head of cheese, please Dobby." Dobby, who had stayed across the room, was hiding behind a chair. He popped away, and then reappeared quickly, a tray of food in his arms. "Thank you, Dobby," Draco smiled slightly. 'Hermione would be proud of me,' he thought, laughing.

He looked back at the small girl, who was still sleeping, although nightmareless. "That's weird," he thought, but soon realized she wasn't sleeping, and instead had blacked out. He sighed again, and pulled out a piece of paper to write his mother while waiting for the girl to awake.

Dear Mother,

I got your letter yesterday. I hope that everything's going okay. I want you to be happy. Please don't hurt yourself, it tears me up. I have enough to deal with here; please don't make me worry about you, too. I love you and miss you so much.

With Love,

Your Son Draco

Draco put down the pen, wrapped up the letter and attached it to his owl. He thought about how weird it was that purebloods and muggleborns could be suffering from the same symptoms; could even be possibly afflicted with the same things. He laid his head in his hands and once again waited for the girl to awake.

A/N: Thank you again for all the nice reviews. I promise to have the next chapter up within the next few days. Like this one, the next chapter is almost finished, so the faster I get reviews the faster it comes out :D I hope this chapter explains a little more? I know I said I'd make the chapters go faster, but I like the pace I'm at. I can explain more of what's going on, ya know? Again, I offer, if there are any ideas, questions or comments out there, leave it in the review, or you can email me, too, at Barbiegurl676 at aol dot com. Thank you!