Chapter 15-

AN Hello all. Hows life? Well, mine is good and all that, but I am sure that you don't really care and just want to read the story…so, here it is….

Last Time…

"I think that she has been having such repetitive, bad dreams that she can no longer tell the difference from them and reality. She thinks all the things that just happened were a dream. This is not good, Mr. Malfoy. Not good at all."

"I'll go find her and make sure that she gets back to her room okay." Draco said before turning and leaving.

"I fear that that is all that can be done." the nurse said to herself before going to the fireplace and sticking her head inside.

Draco followed Hermione back to their room and watched her climb into bed. 'What am I going to do now?' he thought as he walked down to the Common Room and curled up on the couch.

Hermione awoke the next morning with a growling stomach. "Man, I am starving." she said as she stood and walked to the bathroom. On the way, she saw Draco sleeping on the couch. 'Wonder what he is doing down there.' she thought, but soon decided that she didn't care and continued on her way.

After taking a shower and getting dressed she began heading towards the Great Hall. When she got there, it was deserted. 'Hmm, I wonder what time it is.' she thought as she took a seat in the middle of the Gryffindor table. Hot, fresh food appeared in front of her and she began eating. For some strage reason she was eating like there was no tomorrow and she would never get another chance.

Soon, her plate was empty, but she was still starving. She then piled more and more helpings of food and inhaled it. After three more plates of food, Hermione thought that she was going to explode. She dropped her fork and looked down at the plate in front of her. "Oh, God." she said as a rush of nausea swept over her. She stood and began running towards her room. 'I'm not gonna make it…I'm not gonna make it…' she kept repeating as she ran through the halls. Finally, she appeared in front of her portrait. She yelled the password, ran inside, and headed straight for the bathroom.

Draco was sleeping soundly when he heard the portrait swing open. He jumped up just in time to see Hermione run into the bathroom clutching her stomach. He quickly followed her and walked in to see her leaning over the toilet and vomiting.

He watched for a few seconds and noticed that she was having a lot of trouble keeping the hair out of the way. Without thinking, he walked over to her and held her hair back. Soon, she stopped vomiting, so he picked her up and carried her into the common room. He sat down on the couch with her in his lap and held her.

After a few minutes of him rocking her, she seemed to realize that it was him. "Draco? Why are you doing this?" she asked in a scratchy, hoarse voice.

Draco didn't know what to say. 'Why am I doing this?' he wondered for a few seconds before he looked her in the eyes and said, "Because nobody should be alone when they are hurting."

Hermione searced his eyes for a minute before giving him a half smile. Then it turned to a frown and said, "But you hurt me."

This caught Draco off guard. "I…I know I did, but…but…" he started.

"You what?"

"Well…I know I hurt you, but I…You hurt me too!"

"How?" she said defensively.

"You said that there was nothing between us!! You told that Weasel that you hated me!!" he yelled angrily.

"Well, you called me worthless and a MUDBLOOD!!" she yelled, making her voice squeak and tears run down her face.

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but Hermione cut him off. "You threw me away like trash when I needed you the most!" By now, tears were coming from her eyes like waterfalls cascading down mountains.

Draco froze. 'She needed me? Noone has ever needed me for anything. The only person that ever wanted me was Pansy and all she wanted was my money…' he thought as he watched her yell at him. "What if I needed you too." he whispered so quietly that she could barely hear.

"What?" she asked just as quietly.

Draco looked up and met her eyes. They stood there staring at each other for a few seconds before Draco said, "When I was to the point of dying, you took care of me. You gave me a place to live when I had nowhere to go. You paid for food and clothes for me when I needed it…Why did you do these things?" he paused but continued before she could answer. "You did these things even though you hated me, even though it would ruin your friendships, even though I constantly belittled you and made fun of you. Why?"

"…I couldn't just let you die…" was all that she could come up with. This whole conversation came as a total shock.

'Draco? What are you saying!! This is Hermione Granger you are talking to!! You sound like a pussy Hufflepuff!!' The voice inside of Draco's head yelled. 'You act like you are in love with her or something.'

I most certainly am NOT! he yelled back at the voice.

'You are too!! You fell in love with a filthy, little Mudblood.' the voice taunted.

I can't fall in love with Granger! I can't fall in love with anybody!

'Well, you did. Admit it!'

No.

'You're being childish! Just admit it.'

I can't…I refuse…

'Admit it!'

Fine! I am in love with Hermione Granger!

'Told you so.'

Oh shut it! And with that, Draco snapped back to reality and looked at Hermione's speechless form. She was looking at him cautiously as if he was going insane.

"Look, Hermione, I'm s-s-…I'm Sorry!" he said with a little trouble.

Hermione's eyes widened ever more (if that was possible) and her jaw dropped to the floor.

Draco took this opportunity to continue. "I'll understand if you don't want to forgive me, but you are the only real f-f-friend that I have ever had…"

'Oh Merlin, I am going mushy…' he thought, but he continued.

"Can we forget what happened when that arse hole came??" he asked.

Hermione was finally recovering from her state of utter shock and nodded. "We can try. I'm sorry too. I didn't mean what I said, I was just drowned in so many emotions that I didn't know what I was saying."

Draco smiled weakly.

"Oh, and thanks for taking care of me in there." she said, pointing to the bathroom.

"Yeah, no problem."

"So, yeah…"

"Are you….feeling better?" Draco asked awkwardly. He just doesn't know how to act towards a 'friend' seeing as how he's never had a real one before.

"Oh yeah. I just ate to much and got sick."

"Oh, okay."

"Well, I think that I am going to go write a letter to my…um… my mum. Yeah, my mum." Hermione lied, as she was really going to write to a certain Green Knight.

"Hey, good idea! I think that I will write to mine as well." Draco also lied seeing as he was writing to Scarlet Cat.

Hermione and Draco both immediately ran to their rooms to begin their letters.

Green Dragon,

You will never believe what just happened! The one, the one that I told you I am in love with. Well, he and I made up. We are now friends again! I don't know exactly how it happened, but I am so happy! I wish that you were here to celebrate with me!

Well, I got to go. How is the girl that you like? Will she talk to you? Have you apologized?

Love, Scarlet Cat

Hermione sealed the note and sat it on the desk. She couldn't send the note to him until she got a reply because her owl was the only one who knows who he is. Just then a tapping sound was made at the window and she saw Triton. She went and opened it and immediately took off his reply.

Scarlet Cat,

I am sorry everything is going so badly for you. I wish that I could be there to give you that needed hug. I would definitely like to meet you. I go to Hogwarts, do you know where that is? Where do you go? Where can we meet? Do you still want to meet? I might not be who you think I am…

Well, write back as soon as you can. Don't do anything drastic… I am your friend and even if you don't have anyone else in the world, I am here for you.

Write back…Green Dragon

'Meet? I had totally forgotten about that. Do I still want to meet? Yes. I want to know who this guy is. I can't believe he goes to Hogwarts. No wonder the letters have been arriving so quickly…' Hermione thought. 'Well, it will be easier to meet that way.' she thought before writing a reply and attaching it to the owls leg, totally forgetting about the other letter.

Scarlet Cat,

I don't know what happened exactly, but do you remember that girl that I told you about? Well, we sort of made up and we are going to be friends. I want to be more with her, but I don't know if I should rush things. I think that I need to learn to be a good friend before I will be able to be anything more…

Well, I got to go. Classes start today and I haven't taken a shower yet.

Write Back, Green Dragon

Just as Draco was signing his pen name, an owl flew in through his open window. "Triton, just who I was looking for!" he said as he went and took the note off of the owls leg.

Green Dragon,

You go to Hogwarts? So do I! That is crazy. Well anyway, I would still like to meet. Meet me in the Entrance Hall at midnight tonight. I will be there waiting…

Scarlet Cat

'Meet? I had totally forgotten about meeting her. But I guess I still want to…' Draco thought as he wrote 'okay' on the back of her letter and sent it, totally forgetting about his other letter.

Draco and Hermione hadn't talked all day. They were both to busy getting ready to meet their 'secret' pen pal. By eleven o'clock, Hermione was already dressed and ready to go. She planned on saying that she was patrolling the halls if she got caught. Hermione had chose to wear a pair of cut off, low rider jeans and a semi-tight blue t-shirt. She was going for the casual look.

When she was out in the halls, she decided that since she was an hour early that she might as well actually patrol the halls a little… As she was walking towards the Gryffindor Common Room, she heard noises. She turned and looked down a dark corridor to her left. She could see something moving, but it was too dark to know what it was. She took out her wand and lit it. She then gave a little yelp when she saw Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley making out.

When they heard her, they jumped apart. "Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Potter." She replied in a dry voice. "Twenty points from Gryffindor! Go back to your room, curfew was a long time ago!" She demanded.

"Why should we! You are out past curfew too." Ginny retorted.

"That's what's nice about being a Senior Prefect. I have no curfew." Hermione said before watching them scowl at her and scurry off to the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione laughed to herself before taking a glance at her watch. Eleven Forty-Five. She needed to start to make her way towards the Entrance Hall or she would be late.

When Hermione got to the Hall, she only had to wait a few minutes before a cloaked figure appeared at the top of the stairs. He startled her at first, but she made herself calm down as she waited for him to come to her…

AN- Till next time, folks!!! Bye…Read and Review, PLEASE!!!!