This was fully written tonight in one sitting, just so I could get it done. I was going to wait till the week mark, whenever that was, but I didn't care enough to wait. Lol, I'm sure you don't mind. All mistakes are my own. If you're interested, I listened to a song throughout this chapter and it was Right Here by Ashes Remain. It's always set my mood for this story.

"I'll be right here now to hold you when the sky falls down. I will always be the one that took your place."

Knowing he was avoiding her stung, but Hermione slid out of bed each morning as she tried not to think about it. As she told herself there was no changing it, and it had been bound to happen given her close they had grown over the weeks of summer. Clearly, she thought bitterly, there was nothing there as she'd thought.

Her pride had taken the blow; after all, Hermione unfortunately vividly remembered leaning over and kissing him. She recalled the feel of his lips below hers, his movements frenzied as his hands found her hips and she was yanked into his lap. Sometimes, she would unconsciously raise her hand to her mouth, her fingertips brushing against her lips as she sank into a memory.

It wasn't fair that she'd never been kissed like that. He was haunting her, and it was as simple as that. Four days since what she was referring to as 'the incident' and he hardly breathed in her direction. Irritating as it was, Hermione kept her anger tightly sealed away, choosing to clench her fists under the table and let her nails bite into the skin of her palm.

It was only a matter of time before Lisa cornered her.

"Morning," Henry said. He stood right before her, his hands held behind his back as he grinned up at her.

The smile reminded her briefly of Fred, and her heart twisted. Forcing a smile, Hermione said, "Good morning."

He didn't move, and when Hermione attempted to step around him, Henry's hand shot out to grab her sleeve. "I was wondering if you would help me with something."

"Of course. What is it?" Her stomach rumbled. "Er, sorry. Might this wait until after breakfast?"

He bobbed his head. "Perfect! Shouldn't be done on an empty stomach anyway." Henry walked away, a slight skip in his step as he joined Olivia and Isobel.

Hermione arched an eyebrow, carefully watching the trio as they were joined by Adelaide. Of course, Isobel had been part of their group for some time now, but Olivia came as a shock. It was a breath of fresh air to see the divide between houses slowly closing, but it was immediately followed by a worry that their friendships would be destroyed after the beginning of the term.

She sat next to Lisa, helping herself to the breakfast her friend had already grabbed for her. "What's that look on your face for?" Hermione asked.

Lisa bit into her bacon, shaking her head. "Nothing, just overheard something interesting is all. How did you sleep?"

Not well. Rodolphus' threats still lingered in her mind when she laid down, and the image of him hovering over her in the dead of night was seared into her brain. Hermione swallowed her pumpkin juice. "The same as every night."

As Padma sat down, there was a scowl on her face, and she took one look at the two of them before letting them have it. Not that they had done anything to deserve it, but from the looks of it, Padma was on the warpath. "Do you know what the fuck is wrong with Draco?"

Hermione choked, which wouldn't help her when she blatantly lied. The question was meant for her. Of course it was; it was no secret to anyone that she and Draco had grown quite close. The reminder made her chest deflate. "I have no idea."

Padma didn't believe her, but she didn't press the matter either. "He's acting like a total twat this morning."

He hadn't showed for breakfast either.

"Twat?" Henry echoed from down the table, and Padma snorted. "Who's a twat?"

"No one," Hermione giggled. "Eat your breakfast and mind your business."

Padma had covered her mouth to muffle what was sure to be obnoxious laughter. "He says nothing is wrong, but he's a terrible liar."

"Is he?" Hermione asked.

The girl spoke around her food. "Alright, so he's not a terrible liar, but he can't lie to me. I see right through it. Something is wrong, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it by the end of the week." Then there was a muttered, "Or I'll go mental and hex it out of him."

A pale hand reached over Hermione's head, and there was the warmth of a body pressing against her back as they leaned over her. She looked up, her heart coming to a sudden, breath stealing stop in her chest. Draco nicked her last ration of bacon, as well as the last of her pumpkin drink. There were dark circles beneath his eyes.

She wanted to ask if he'd been sleeping, if there was anything she could do to help, but Hermione bit the inside of her cheek, hard.

"I'm quicker with a wand than you are," He said. "Let me know whenever you'd like me to prove that. I'm sure I can slot you in before the end of tomorrow if you prefer."

Lisa burst into laughter, her knee knocking against the underside of the table. "I'd pay to see that duelling session. Maybe you're faster, but I think you're underestimating Padma over here."

"Sure," Draco scoffed.

They were interrupted by Henry. "Miss Granger?"

"You can call me Hermione, Henry." Hermione sighed, rubbing her temples. So many voices going at once and her head was already pounding. "What is it?"

"Well, what I wanted you to help me with, you probably won't like."

"Stunning endorsement," Draco said, and she tried her best not to focus on him.

He still wasn't speaking to her, but this was the closest they'd come in four days. It didn't help that he was still inches away from her, and she wondered if he was attempting to fluster her on purpose.

"Isobel wants to learn to fly." Henry continued. "But she's too scared to get on a broom. I was wondering if you would...go with us? Maybe get on a broom so you can show her it's not so bad."

Draco's voice was rough over her head. "I'm not sure that's a good idea. She's challenged with anything that involves being off the ground."

Not that he was wrong, but it rubbed her the wrong way. "I rode a dragon out of Gringotts, thank you." Hermione sneered.

When his eyes met hers, cold for reasons she didn't know, she wanted to run in the opposite direction. "You were scared shiteless too. You told me."

And she had, in the middle of the afternoon when she woke in his bed following the attack. "Language." She muttered. This would make the second time she'd been pressured onto a broom by children, but she couldn't say no, not when Henry was looking at her as he was. "Yes, of course."

Henry lit up. "Wicked! Can Draco come too? He's already saved you plenty—"

"It was twice," Hermione said sourly.

"And you can just be on the broom together. Simple." Henry continued, his voice growing louder, and capturing everyone's attention.

Hermione shook her head. "I don't need Malfoy to keep me from falling off a broom."

Draco snorted. "Are you sure about that? And since when am I Malfoy and not Draco?"

She rolled her eyes. Hermione faced him, mouthing, "Since you started acting like a prick."

"You can't teach them either. Someone else is going to have to go with you. If you teach them, all Isobel will be learning is how much it hurts to hit the ground." Draco said.

Padma cleared her throat. "Hold on. Michael!" She screamed, motioning for him to come closer.

"What?" His hair was sticking in any direction, and he scratched the back of his head.

"Isobel wants to learn to fly and Hermione is getting on a broom so she won't be scared. Will you go with them?"

Draco's hand bumped against Hermione's back, and she felt him stiffen behind her.

Michael looked from Hermione to over her shoulder. "Yeah, right now?"

"Maybe run a brush through your hair first." Hermione suggested, and the mood lightened barely at all.

She missed the panicked look Henry gave Isobel.

Strangely, her broom was jinxed. As a result, she ended up hovering in the air with Michael. "Don't take off suddenly," Hermione hissed.

He wore a lopsided grin. "Where's the fun in that? Flying can be enjoyable."

"I think you'll find that multiple bad experiences tends to ruin the experience."

Isobel didn't seem to be scared at all as she flew faster than Henry, rolling over as she did so. Hermione imagined the moment was where the young girl would have squealed with delight, but no sound left her. Still, there was a wide grin plastered across her face as Henry cried out for her to slow down.

Michael swallowed. "Would you give it a try at least?"

She looked at him over her shoulder. "Why is that every quidditch player I know wants to force me to like flying? I don't force you to enjoy reading."

He snorted. "Well, I actually enjoy reading."

"I was referring to Ron."

"Of course."

Below them, she spotted Padma and Lisa. Draco was being dragged along by Padma, who appeared to not be letting for of him anytime soon. Hermione was about to ask to land when the broom took off suddenly.

Her back met Michael's chest and she was suddenly aware of just how high they were. "I told you not to take off!" Hermione shrieked.

"I didn't." The broom was wildly out of control below them, and Hermione's eyes widened.

Every fucking time she got on a broom, something happened. "I don't care what child wants me on a broom, I'm never getting on one again!" She yelled. "Can you get us down?"

Michael managed to get them lower, but it was still too far for Hermione to jump from the broom like she was considering.

She was a witch with access to St Mungos. Healing a broken leg or arm would take no time at all.

The broom tipped. Both of Michael's arms locked around her waist, and she fumbled with her wand. Using a cushioning charm, it broke their fall considerably, and it was better than making a hard impact with the ground that could have broken his entire back.

Hermione pulled herself up off the ground, breathing heavily as she glared at the offending broomstick. "I'm going to find whoever jinxed that broom, and I'm going to—I don't know what I'm going to do, but I promise you it won't be pleasant." She offered Michael her hand, pulling him to his feet. "You're okay?"

He nodded. "You're fine?"

"Just rattled."

She caught Draco's glare, only she was surprised to find it wasn't toward her at all. He was glaring at Michael, and everything about him was tense. From his shoulders to the way his hands were tucked into his pockets. He met her eyes. "You're sure you're fine? I have more pain potion from when you were hit by that bludger."

Hermione shook her head. "I'm fine."

He was laying in bed at half past six, tossing a familiar snitch from a game during one their many matches during Hogwarts, when Padma kicked his door open. Draco blinked, his fingers closing into a fist around the snitch. "I know I make fun of you for not having manners, but have you really never been told you should knock before—"

She pointed her wand at him, her lips set into a thin line. "What happened with Hermione. Don't feed me any bullshite—"

"Now that's an image,"

"—that nothing happened. It's pretty clear after this morning. First you're angry she's going to be on a broom with Michael,"

True enough. Padma having been the one to suggest it, despite knowing how much he unfortunately cared for the curly headed swot, was just another thorn in his side. "Because every time she's on a broom, she gets hurt. Granger shouldn't be on a fucking broom."

"And then when she fell, you were livid. Don't lie to me because I will find a way to to get Veritaserum and send you straight to Granger."

His eyes narrowed. "First of all, fuck you for even saying that; low blow."

"Maybe if you would stop deciding things with your pride, and you would just tell her before someone else notices her—"

"I may not have to. She's next door, you realise, and you're shrieking like a banshee."

She shot him an obscene gesture. "Who do you think I am? I silenced the cabin before I ever came in."

"And second of all, did you consider that I was angry because she was thrown off a broom again? She attracts danger no matter where she goes, no matter what she does." His chest rose and fell with sharp breaths as he sat up.

Padma swallowed, sitting at the edge of his bed. "If you know that she gets into trouble everywhere she goes, then you already know that you're not going to cause anything worse to happen to her."

If it were possible to crush the snitch in his hand, he would have. "Don't."

She shook her head. "No, you need to hear it. Whatever has happened, and something has happened, you can let it happen. You and Hermione are the absolute worse when it comes to being honest with your feelings. If you're not avoiding them, you're spending your time making up excuses as to why it can't work."

He pinched the bridge of his nose. "It can't work, and even if it could, I'm not going to try."

"She cries, you know."

Draco froze, staring at her.

"She thinks we don't notice, or maybe she believes that I just don't care because I'm always on your side. I don't know what you did, but you hurt her. I mean, Hermione has been through how much? Sure, I was there in the Final Battle. I watched a werewolf rip my sister apart, but Hermione was running for a year."

The snitch was starting to cut into his palm.

"But she never cries about it. Lisa told me how she has nightmares, that sometimes she'll get this feeling and she'll check on Hermione in the middle of the night. Hermione keeps a vase over the door at night, one that's been broken and mended many times now so she'll know if someone comes in. I suppose that's not important, but Lisa said she never cries, not even when she's asking Bellatrix to stop carving into her."

"I didn't mean… I didn't think I would upset her. I thought—"

"That she would get over it?" Padma asked. "You are not a throwaway, Draco. You are not the person that she gets close to and then moves on from. Whatever happened, you need to fix."

He couldn't. It came back to the same things, the fact that redeemed or not, there was a blemish on his arm that would define him no matter where he went. "There's no fixing it. She'll get over it within a few weeks."

His head turned to the side when she slapped him. "Sure, Draco. She can get over you because that's a witch that can do anything." Padma stood while he cradled his still red cheek. "But all she wants to do is be with you, so maybe you should think about that."

"Okay, so that didn't work," Henry muttered. The four of them sat around a crackling fire, having the camp to themselves. "What do we do now?"

Olivia rubbed her eyes. "Merlin, I don't know. They're both so thick that maybe we need to think harder."

"Why do you think I asked what we should do now?"

Shut up, Oliver. Isobel wrote with a smile. Draco was jealous when Michael was holding her. Did you see?

Adelaide nodded. "I don't think I've ever seen him so angry."

The soil was hard below them, and Henry pulled stray weeds from the ground. "Well, maybe when Corner caused that bludger to hit her. I thought he was going to k—hex him."

The sat in silence, attempting to think of anything at all.

"All we can do is push them together." Olivia sighed. "We can't force them to work it out. I say we manage to trap them together, and see what happens."

If it goes badly, they'll destroy whatever building we trap them in.

Henry nodded. "Maybe that cabin where they were stuck in for the storm. Think that would work?"

"What are all of you talking about?" All four of them whirled around to see Padma staring at them, her hands on her hips. "Who are you going to trap in a cabin?" She arched an eyebrow, and what was even worse was that Lisa was behind her.

Lisa stared at them for a long moment before laughing. "I'd bet anything they're talking about Draco and Hermione."

Despite the warning looks all three girls gave him, Henry spoke anyway. "You know about them?" He asked.

"You mean how they can't get over themselves and snog so we can get over with?" Lisa sniggered. "Yeah, we know."

Henry looked to his confidants before staring at the two adults before him. "They did snog," he said slowly. "So they didn't say anything?"

Lisa and Padma exchanged a look. "Well, we thought it might be something like that." Padma said. "If they haven't told us, how do you lot know?"

Henry flushed at the memory. It was gross. Draco was as good as his older brother. "Four days ago, after Hermione got hit by the bludger, they were down at the lake. Hermione snogged him."

Draco pulled her into his lap, and then shoved her away.

"They fought," Adelaide went on to explain. "Draco said that she should care he was a Death Eater."

"Which is ridiculous," Olivia snorted. "Even my dad, and he's an Auror, was glad Draco was here the night the Lestranges attacked. Maybe he doesn't like the means, but he said it was hard to say he hated Draco after he kept us safe."

"Hermione more or less said she didn't care." Henry finished. "And he left her there. She cried for a long time after he left, and we decided that we should fix it for them. They've already done so much for us…"

Padma grinned, knocking shoulders with Lisa. "This is perfect. Count us in."

Henry blinked.

"Definitely," Lisa said smoothly. "They both deserve a little bit of happiness, I think."

Isobel cleared her throat. So, are we locking them in the cabin?

Isobel is kind of my favorite. Please leave your thoughts if you have time/don't mind. I'll see you with the next update. With the way it's going, I may finish this by the end of May. Fingers crossed!