Draco ran.

He ran through the corridors, down the stairs, across the entrance hall and out into the evening. He slowed down then, walking at a steady pace. His arms drawn tightly across his chest and head slightly bent- a defence against the cold September winds that whipped around him as though trying to force Draco back into the castle.

He wasn't going back though.

Not to get hurt again.

Not to be interrogated by the people he had thought he could trust.

Draco started to jog again, spurred on by images of his father, merging with that of Severus until Draco was completely confused and utterly terrified. Mind whirling with strangeness, Draco sat down heavily by the lake, then changed his mind and lay down entirely instead, looking up at the sky.

"Mars is bright tonight." He thought to himself dully as the little white lines came back for a visit. Draco smiled bemusedly and closed his eyes.

The little lines danced before him, twinkling, and changed to pink…then green…then red. And Draco knew then that everything wou;d be okay. Just so long as the lines kept on changing.

'Yes.' Draco thought, as he pulled out a small vial from the pocket of his robe, uncorked it and tipped the contents down his throat, 'Yes. When things change, they can be made better'.

Hermione walked briskly through the Hogwarts grounds. McGonagall had told her to keep an eye on Malfoy and now, according to Snape, he'd run off again. Hermione shivered and pulled her cloak tighter. Why did it have to be so bloody cold? They didn't even tell her why he'd run away! Noo! They just expected her to bring him back, ignoring the obvious fact that Malfoy hated the sight of her and probably wouldn't even come near her even if she did manage to find her.

As Hermione wallowed in her own coldness and self-pity, she lost all sense of direction and suddenly, she tripped over something small and random lying in the grass, causing her to trip and fall unceremoniously to the ground.

Swearing heavily, she sat up and looked around for the thing that had made her fall. At first, she could nothing through the dim light of the evening, but then a movement caught her eye. A small figure was lying in the ground a few feet away in the grass, clearly either asleep or unconscious.

Cautiously, Hermione crept closer. A child, wearing a miniature set of Slytherin robes was curled up in a tight ball, shivering slightly in the cold. Slowly and very carefully, Hermione turned the child over so that she could see it's face.

Male, blonde…

"Oh my god!" Hermione squeaked, "Draco Malfoy's been turned into a kid!" Head spinning, Hermione picked up the sleeping boy, "He's so small and light and…dare I say it? Innocent." She whispered to no one in particular, who agreed with her completely. At the sound of her voice, Draco's eyes flickered and opened. When he say her, he let out a surprised cry and fell out of her arms. Shakily, he picked himself up, eyeing her wearily,

"Qui sont vous?" He demanded. Hermione frowned,

"Why are you speaking French?"

"Je ne vous comprends pas. Parlez s'il vous plaît dans le Français." Hermione sorted through her limited French to try and talk to the confused boy before her,

"Err… Mon nom est Hermione Granger et vous êtes à l'école Hogwarts." But instead of reconciling him, Draco jumped back, grey eyes huge,

" Non! Non! Non! Je suis censé être à la maison! Je ne devrais pas être ici! J'entrerai dans le problème!" He sat down heavily and began rocking back and forth. Hermione knelt down besides him, full of sympathy,

"Draco…" He looked up quickly, "Comment saviez-vous mon nom ?" He whispered. Hemione shook her head,

"I'm sorry, umm… Je ne comprendre pas. J'ai parler l'anglais et Je ne vous comprends pas. I," She pointed to herself, "Will go to get someone up at the castle." She pointed then to the school, dark and ominous in the dim light, "Then come back. Ok?" Draco licked his lips hesitantly, then nodded,

"Bien, mais la promesse vous reviandrez!"

"Oui! Je promesse!" Draco smiled,

"Thanking you, Her-my-oh-nee."

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A/n: Heh heh heh! Hope you can read french. >:-) I read this fic a few months ago where Draco only spoke latin when he was younger, so thanx to the author of that for inspiration!

I know this chapter's short, but my translator was down so there will be more in a few days!

Big thankies, plushies and a big hug from Draco (or Hermione) to- Tobiashawk13, Aglaina, Leanne, 13blackangels, demonchildassister and HPFreakout. I LOVE YOU GUYS! KEEP ON REVIEWING! Lilyxxxxxxxx

BTW-GOF WAS SOOOO GOOOD! Even if they did miss out nearly the whole of the first 6 chapters, and they missed out Cissy and Winky and turned my poor baby into a ferret and stuffed him down Crabbe's pants! but the DE's hats were soo coool! POINTY:-)