Draco knocked on the door to Professor McGonagall's study at 7:00. She opened the door, looking shocked that anyone besides a teacher would call on her this early in the morning.

"To what do I owe this very early pleasure, Mr. Malfoy?" Professor McGonagall inquired after ushering Draco inside.

"I don't think Hermione will be able to attend classes today, Professor. She got word last night that her parents died…" Draco trailed off into silence, feeling very awkward that he, a Slytherin, was informing the Head of Gryffindor that one of her students could not attend classes today, and that student was Hermione Granger nonetheless.

"Thank you for informing me, Mr. Malfoy. You are exempted from today's classes as well. Do try to keep up in your studies, however." Professor McGonagall stated.

"Professor…" Draco started, but McGonagall held up a hand for silence.

"You were with her when she received the news, were you not? She will need you the most. No doubt Potter and the Weasleys will be up to see her later, though. I wouldn't try to start anything, or consequences will be given. Understand?" Professor McGonagall turned to look out onto the sunlit grounds of Hogwarts.

"Yes, thank you, Professor." Draco departed from McGonagall's study, trying to avoid anyone that might have seen him come out. Seeing nobody, he began to go up to the Head's Dorms.

"Draco! Hey, Draco!" a voice called down the hallway toward him. He turned around to see Pansy Parkinson doing her running shuffle toward him. "I looked everywhere for you! Where are you going?"

"Dorm. I need to go now, Pansy. I'm kinda busy…" Malfoy began walking up a flight of stairs.

"Fine, I'll see you later, Draco!" Pansy called out in a sickly sweet voice that made Malfoy run into a group of Third Year Ravenclaws while trying to get away from the echo.

"Chinese Fireball!" Draco said when reaching the statue that guarded the entrance to the Head's Dorm. He ran up to Hermione's room to see her asleep, fitfully tossing around.

Draco grabbed Hermione's CD player, placing the headphones on his ears while flipping to the song 'Everyday', his favorite.

"I used to be the kind of guy

who'd never let you see inside,

I'd smile when I was crying…"

Hermione was living her parent's death. Five people in Death Eater's robes were coming at them, wands raised. Hermione had her wand out, trying to cast spells. She attempted three times, but each time no sound would come from her mouth. Finally she began to rush at the killers when she heard singing and the dream froze.

"I used to be the kind of guy

who'd never let you see inside,

I'd smile when I was crying…"

Hermione's eyes flitted open for a second and saw Draco sitting in her crimson armchair, singing along with the CD player.

"...I had nothing but a lot to lose

thought I had a lot to prove…"

Just then, Draco's eyes strayed over to the bed and saw Hermione with her eyes open. He threw off the headphones and rushed over to her.

"Hermione! Are you okay?" Draco sat on the bed next to her, his silver-blue eyes full of concern.

Hermione's eyes darted around the room, but she didn't speak. They suddenly welled up with tears and Hermione dove into Draco's arms again, silently sobbing.

"You can't speak…"Draco stated, comforting her.

"Hermione!" A voice called from the Common Room.

"Up here, Potter." Draco called down the stairs. He sat Hermione up just as Harry, Ron, and Ginny barged in. Ginny ran over to Hermione and gave her an understanding hug, while Ron and Harry stood in front of them.

"What are you doing in here, Malfoy?" Ron questioned. Harry did not voice this, because he had actually been listening when Hermione said that they were on civil terms.

"Just leaving, Weasel." Draco moved to get up, but Hermione grabbed his arm and wouldn't let go.

"Hermione, I'm just going to go into the Common Room. You need to visit your friends for a while." Hermione let go of his arm and Draco began to drag Harry and Ron over to the stairs.

"What the hell, Malfoy?" Harry yelled. "I thought you were going to leave!"

Malfoy began whispering hurriedly to them. "You know that her parents were killed by the Dark Lord. But, now she won't talk and is excused from all her classes. Get me when you're ready to leave, I don't want to leave her alone." Draco began walking down the stairs to the Common Room.

"Aren't you going to go to classes?" Ron yelled down the stairs after him.

"Mind your own business, Weasley. I'm excused as well." Draco vanished into the Common Room and left them to try and get Hermione to talk again.

Draco dove into his school bag and grabbed a two-way sheet of parchment. This was special paper that glowed faint-green when someone sent you a message. He reached for his scroll and began scribbling on it.

Hey, Zabini, you there?

I'm not going to be in classes today, have to take care of the Mudblood.

Visit later, the password's Chinese Fireball.

Malfoy

"Send." Draco tapped the paper with his wand, and the words disappeared in a faint-green glow. He ran up to his room and grabbed a book of Slytherin Quidditch Team moves and returned to the Common Room to wait for Blaise's reply. While flipping through a description of the Team Move from 1596 (The Serpent Twister), he saw the parchment glow green. He snatched it up to read it.

Yeah, Malfoy, I'm here.

You're lucky you don't have to listen to Pansy whine. "Draco, Draco, oh,

my Draco isn't here…" Can she ever shut it? I'll visit after dinner. Have

fun with the Gryffindorks.

Zabini

Malfoy smirked at Zabini's comment, then went back to reading his book.