Harry and Ron stormed over to where Hermione and Draco stood, fire blazing in their eyes. Both of them were clenching their fists. Hermione was facing away from them, but Draco saw them. "Wait.." he started but was cut short by Ron's fist slamming into his chin. Hermione screamed.

"No! Stop it!"

Her two best friends turned towards her, shocked at her reaction. They had expected some sort of thanks, but certainly not this.

Harry turned towards her. "Mione," he said. "What happened?" His face was contorted in pain. Tears were threatening to pour out of his eyes. Hermione turned away from him, the tears falling down her face steadily now. She didn't answer him.

After several moments, Harry tried again, "Mione?"

That was the last thing she heard before she passed out.

Hermione POV

She sat up, quickly. Her head was killing her. She was dizzy and nauseated. And scared. Harry and Ron knew. Hermione didn't like showing weakness, and this only proved once more that poor little Hermione couldn't take care of herself.

She looked around the hospital wing. A few beds over, Malfoy was laying, unconscious. Apparently Harry and Ron had given him a beating. Hermione felt a pang of hurt, she had passed out and instead of rushing to her, they had taken the time to beat him up?

Madame Pomfrey hustled into the room. "Oh good, you're up," she stated. "Miss Granger, you have substantial injuries that can not possibly have resulted only from fainting. Misters Potter and Weasley have stated that you were attacked by Mister Malfoy, but I'm going to need you to tell me exactly what happened, or else we won't be able to punish him."

Hermione sat deep in thought. She didn't want any more people to know, and Malfoy had seemed genuinely sorry. "Harry and Ron were mistaken Madame Pomfrey. A spell backfired on me, it wasn't Malfoy. You know how they are. They saw me with him and automatically assumed he must have hit me or something," she said. She added a laugh in for good measure. Madame Pomfrey smiled understandingly.

"Now, as for the week of lessons you've missed..."

"Wait, a week? How long have I been out?"

"Oh, almost six days, dear. You hit your head pretty hard when you fell. Mister Potter ran in here, you unconscious in his arms. Mister Weasley was not far behind. Mister Malfoy over there came in the day after you. Someone gave him a pretty nasty beating, but we can't know who until he wakes up. Anyway dear, your clothes are over here and you should see your Head of House for your assignments..."

Hermione entered the common room quietly, hoping to just go to her room and rest. No such luck. Harry and Ron were waiting for her. "Hermione!" they shouted in unison.

"Hi guys," she said weakly. She walked over and sat down on the couch. Harry and Ron sat on either side of her. She sighed. They were going to be extra protective of her from now on. 'Goodbye privacy' she thought.

"Did you tell them about Malfoy? Is he going to be arrested?"

She sighed. "No guys, I didn't. He made a mistake and he seems genuinely sorry. I don't want the rest of his life ruined, no matter how much he may deserve it."

The boys just stared at her disbelievingly.

Six months later

"So, how do you think you did on the Transfiguration exam Harry?" Hermione asked.

"Fine, I mean, it was just a regular exam. It wasn't like a N.E.W.T. or O.W.L. or anything, Mione. Chill, we're done with exams. We just want to relax," he said.

Hermione yawned and leaned her head on his shoulder. She was tired. Although they were less frequent, she still had nightmares a lot. But, she was healing and Harry and Ron were there for her. Truthfully, sometimes she felt suffocated. They were always with her. She knew they were just trying to keep her safe, but she needed space.

The last day of school came too soon. They boarded the train and began searching for a compartment. They opened one and came face to face with Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. "Oh!" Hermione squeaked. She had barely seen Malfoy the rest of the year. He had avoided her, and she him. "Um...we'll go find another compartment." He nodded solemnly. Ron and Harry glared at him and cracked their knuckles for good measure.

They finally found an empty compartment a few minutes later. They were joined by Ginny, Luna, and Neville. The ride was peaceful and they waited until the last minute to say goodbye. Hermione hugged Ginny, Luna, and Neville first, waiting as long as she could to have to say goodbye to Harry and Ron. Finally, she knew she had to tell them goodbye. She threw her arms around Ron first. "Take care of yourself," he told her. She turned to Harry who picked her up in a tight embrace. "I love you Mione," he whispered. "Don't ever forget that. I'll miss you."

"Oh, I love you too, Harry," she sighed. "Keep in touch." And with that, they departed.

Three months later

"Harry! Ron! Over here," Hermione yelled at the two. She hadn't seen them all summer, and seeing them now flooded her heart with emotion. She hugged them both. "Oh, I've missed you guys so much! Now," she said seriously. "Which one of you's been made Head Boy. I want to know who I'm going to be sharing a common room with."

"Mione, neither of us is Head Boy. It must be someone else."

"Well, who..."

Just then she saw Draco Malfoy walking with Blaise Zabini. Pinned on his shoulder was a shiny, gold Head Boy badge. Hermione's throat swelled and her heart stopped. She lost her footing, but Harry caught her before she hit the ground. "Mione what-," he stopped mid-sentence, seeing Draco and his badge. "No," he whispered.

He dragged her onto the train, but they were stopped by Professor McGonagall. "Miss Granger, you are needed in the head compartment. I doubt you will see Mister Potter or Mister Weasley again until the feast. I need to talk to you and Mister Malfoy and then you will need to meet with the prefects."

Hermione nodded and started to follow her professor. "Wait Professor!" Harry called. McGonagall turned to him. "Mister Potter, I did not give you permission to speak. Now, I need Miss Granger to come with me and that is final! Not one more word out of you."

Neither Hermione nor Draco said a word to each other until after the feast, when they both followed Dumbledore to the common room they would share, on the second floor behind the portrait of an old witch with a rather large mole above her lip.

"Your password is 'unity' and I expect you to be civil to one anther, no matter what house you are from," Dumbledore told them, smiling.

Draco let Hermione enter first. She gasped. The room was beautiful. Decorated with green and gold. There was a large common room with fluffy white carpet and a plump green couch. There were two big chairs, creme colored with a gold swirling pattern. The kitchen was right next to the living room. It had hardwood floors and everything they would ever need should they choose to cook in. There was a large bathroom that they would share. The walls were pale blue and there was a large bathtub in the middle, that looked like a hot tub. It had many spouts for bubbles and perfumes and such.

Hermione made her way to the room with a scarlet lion on the door. She opened the door and was shocked at how perfectly the room fit her. The walls were black, and her bedspread was teal and lime green. All the furniture was white and there was a purple rug under the bed. All of her clothes were in the wardrobe already, and there were a few of her stuffed animals on the bed and pictures of her, her parents, various members of her extended family, Harry, Ron, Ginny, the Weasleys, and some Order members.

Meanwhile, Draco entered his room. The walls were dark green and all the furniture was dark mahogany wood. There was no carpet and the bed spread was a lighter shade of green. There were pictures of him, his mother, his father, Snape, and Blaise Zabini on the walls. He noticed that there were none of Pansy. He lied down on the bed, not even bothering to take off his clothes or get under the covers and fell into a restless sleep.

The next morning, Hermione woke first. There was a note on the counter in the kitchen from Professor Dumbledore. It told her to go wake Draco and that they should have breakfast together and get to know each other. It warned her that he had ways of knowing if they did, though he wouldn't know what they talked about. Although she would rather eat a skrewt than talk to him, she was never one to defy a direct order, so she stood outside his room and cast a charm that made an alarm go off very loudly in his room.

She heard him scream and laughed a little, despite herself. He ran out of the room, still in his clothes from the night before. She blushed, realizing that she was wearing a skimpy silky red tank top and matching shorts. "Um...Dumbledore left a note...we have to eat breakfast together...have to talk to each other...spell that'll make us...," she stammered.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Right."

They sat down at the kitchen table. There was a variety of foods, including eggs, sausage, bacon, biscuits, biscuits, fresh fruit, bagles, muffins, waffles, pancakes, cereal, milk, orange juice, pumpkin juice, tea, coffee, and anything else you could think of. They both fixed their plates and as soon as each of them had taken a bite a note appeared out of thin air in the middle of the table. Hermione recognized Dumbledore's handwriting.

To my head boy and girl,

Surprise! In order to make sure you truly get to know each other, a few drops of Veritaserum have been added to the first bites of your food. Don't worry, the rest is poison free. Remember, I have ways of checking that you really got to know each other! Well, tuck in!

Albus Dumbledore

Hermione gasped, as did Draco. Suddenly, Hermione was scared for how this morning may turn out.