Needless to say, Hermione did not get much sleep that night. She tossed and turned underneath the covers, unable to get Malfoy's battered image out of her mind. It was well after three when she had finally made it back to her room and she was surprised when she was wide awake at half past eight in the morning. There was no point in trying to fight getting up any longer.

She tried to go about her morning routine as normally as possible and while she was rushing she still managed to shower, do her hair and get dressed before heading down to breakfast. By the time she made it down to the great hall most everyone had headed off to their classes. There were a few older students with free periods still lingering around the room, wasting time until their next class.

Unfortunately, none of her friends were amongst those lingering and she had no need to delay heading to the hospital wing any longer. She grabbed a couple of apples from one of the fruit dishes on the Gryffindor table before turning and heading for the hospital wing.

It took only moments for her to reach the large wooden doors that led into the wing. Once again she stood there, taking a deep breath before pushing the doors open. Why did she feel nervous? She was going to chalk it up to how terrible Malfoy looked last night.

Her eyes did not take long to find the bed that Malfoy was occupying, still in the same spot as the night before. A small smile crossed her lips as she walked towards his bed. The look on his face said it all, he clearly was not expecting her but he did not seem too upset that she was there.

"How are you feeling?" she asked softly, taking a seat next to him. Thankfully he looked much better this morning, not that she ever doubted Madame Pomphrey would get him fixed up.

"Better than last night," he managed with a small smirk.

"Clearly," Hermione grinned back at him, "you look better than last night." This got Malfoy's attention.

"You were here last night?" he finally said after a brief pause. "You- you weren't the one who found me, were you?"

"I came looking for you when you weren't in class last night, but I didn't find you. You were already here, getting patched up, and fast asleep by the time I found you," Hermione said softly. He seemed shaken, understandably so, but she did not like it. There was something about him looking so vulnerable.

"Thanks," he said sincerely. "Next time I'm walking to class with you!" His smile was back; thankfully his sense of humor had not been damaged.

"Oh, you need a girl to protect you now?" she mocked sarcastically. There was no way she could pass that one up.

"No! But, isn't it always better to travel in groups?" he retorted smugly.

"I suppose so," she replied pausing briefly, "although I really wouldn't call two people a group."

"I guess it would really be more of a pair than a group, but semantics."

Hermione rolled her eyes, shaking her head, a grin planted firmly on her lips. Malfoy could really be a smart ass, but that was not necessarily bad. The more they talked the more she enjoyed it, not that she would admit it. He was different since the end of the war, since coming back to Hogwarts, a good different.

"Oh yea before I forget," she said rummaging through her bag. "A treat," she tossed one of the green apples she had grabbed in the great hall to him. His smile said it all.

"Thanks, Granger," he said before taking a bite.

"Mister Malfoy, Miss Granger."

Both of them turned, slightly startled to see Professor McGonagall standing at the foot of the bed.

"Good morning Professor," Hermione said cheerfully.

"Professor," Malfoy added.

"Good Morning Miss Granger," McGonagall replied, "I hate to break up the fun but I really must speak to Mister Malfoy; if you could please excuse us, Miss Granger."

"Yes Professor," Hermione nodded as she got to her feet. "I'll see you later," she added looking down at Malfoy.

"Yea, later Granger," he added as she turned and headed out of the Hospital Wing.

With the rest of her day free she headed up to the library, she might as well get some reading done. In fact, she was having a hard time wrapping her head around how much free time she had this year. She spent several hours in the library, looking for interesting titles that she had not read yet. Not that there was too much in there that she had not read. Finally, she ended up leaving with several titles, including a potions book from the restricted section. Post-war perk.

Hours flew by as she sat curled up in the large window in her room, cuddled up under a maroon fleece blanket, Crookshanks at her feet. Deeply enthralled by the potions book she had checked out she had not noticed how late it was getting. The sun was quickly sinking when she heard a soft tap at the door.

Her eyes quickly jumped from her book up to the door, the sound quickly snapping her back to reality. Hermione's brow furrowed slightly as she looked at the door, there were only three people who could be outside it. She hesitated before she finally stood up, wrapping herself up in the blanket as she walked to the door. Opening it to find Malfoy standing there, looking much better than the last time she saw him.

"Malfoy, what's up?" she said sounding slightly surprised at his appearance outside her door.

"I, um, I was just wondering if you were going to go down for dinner tonight," he asked his normal arrogance faltering. It was clear he was shaken by what had happened, even if he was trying to hide it.

"I actually hadn't thought about it, but yeah I suppose I do need to eat something today. You coming down?"

"Yea sure, I guess I could." There it was.

"Just let me grab a jumper," she said smiling.

Her maroon blanket was tossed at the end of her bed as she picked up the jumper Mrs. Weasley knitted her for Christmas last year. Not that she had been around for Christmas last year, but that never stopped Mrs. Weasley from knitting them all jumpers and hanging on to them until they came back. This one was a soft light blue with a darker blue H on the front.

Malfoy's eyes said it all and watching him trying not to comment was practically priceless. She smiled at him as she walked out of her room, closing the door behind her and heading towards the stairs; Malfoy following behind her.

It did not take them long to reach the great hall, Hermione heading straight for the Gryffindor table where Ginny would be sitting. That's when she noticed Malfoy lingering. It was hard seeing him so absolutely alone, even if he might have deserved it a little. Either way, he did not deserve it for the reasons why it was happening. Malfoy's family had been instrumental in the capture of former Death Eaters and now their families were not happy. It was sad really.

"Are you coming?" she asked sweetly, not missing a beat.

"I… uh… yea sure," he said as he poorly hid his surprise.

She smiled brightly as she found Ginny sitting with a few of the guys from the Quidditch team, sitting down next to her. Malfoy awkwardly took a seat next to her, the looks on everyone's faces said it all. This only made her grin a little wider as she started piling food on her plate. She had completely forgotten to tell Ginny what had happened to Malfoy but she had a feeling that news had already made its way through the school.

"Hi Malfoy," Ginny said finally breaking the silence that had lingered over their spot at the table.

"Weasley," Malfoy replied a little awkwardly.

The guys from the Quidditch team nodded at Malfoy, taking their lead from Ginny. Malfoy nodding back. Now she knew she was enjoying this too much.

"Is Harry meeting you in Hogsmeade tomorrow?" she asked Ginny casually.

"Yea I think so, as long as nothing comes up between now and then," Ginny replied with a smile. She always lit up when she talked about Harry. It had been ages since they had been able to see each other.

"Good, I'm glad you guys are finally going to get to see each other," she said sweetly.

"So have you found a date for the dance yet?" Ginny asked slyly. The look of surprise was evident on her face which only made Ginny smile more.

"No," she finally said sharply, "Not that I need a date."

Ginny just looked at her, raising an eyebrow in silent disapproval.

"So Malfoy, what about you? Find a date yet?" Ginny asked turning her attention away from Hermione.

This clearly took Malfoy by surprise, the look on his face was pretty amazing.

"I'm not sure that I'm going to go, it's probably going to be naff," he finally managed to find that slightly arrogant tone that made him sound like himself.

"Whatever Malfoy, it's going to be fun, you should really go." Ginny retorted as a devilish look crossed her face. "In fact, you two should go together," she added with a devilish smile.

Hermione just about spit out her pumpkin juice, and by the look on Ginny's face, Malfoy must have had a similar expression. She was going to kill her for this.

"Come on, I'm sure you'll have fun together." Ginny insisted smiling at them, taking a sip from her pumpkin juice before she started talking about Saturday's practice with the guys.

Hermione sat there for few moments, an awkward silence hanging in the air between her and Malfoy.

"Sorry about that. Ginny can get a little carried away sometimes. You don't have to go with me if you don't want to." Hermione said apologetically.

"It's fine, we might as well, if you don't mind going with me," Malfoy said casually enough. Not what she expected.

"I guess I could go with you," she replied nonchalantly.

"Then it's settled. Hope you can keep up with me," he said with a smug little smile.

"Oh really?" she retorted sarcastically, "I'll try my hardest."