Ok, I'm all better now, and it's Labor Day so I figured I would post a chapter for y'all. The next post might be next weekend, or the weekend after, depends on when I update my other story. Talk about confuzing. Anyway, I'll shut up and type. Enjoy! Oh, and this chapter has a bit more swearing than normal. If that offends you, sorry, it just fit the plot line and everyone's crappy mood.

Chapter 18

Complaining

Draco's POV

I had woken up early after three hours of nightmare-ridden dreams. They had been getting worse lately. The lack of sleep wasn't helping my usual 'cheery' temperament either. I stormed down the halls, sending first years darting from my path. Even the Wonder Twins avoided me. I need coffee in the worst way, but breakfast was over. Damn Flitwick and his bloody essays. I continued storming down the hall and swept into Charms. The room fell silent. Pansy, usually very dimwitted, sat on the other side of the room, and Crabbe and Goyle gave me a very wide berth. I spent the better part of the lesson glaring at Flitwick, causing him to fall off his book pile more than once. He was so flustered by the end of the lesson he forgot to assign another essay. Blaise shot me a questioning look, but I ignored her and continued on to potions. Snape saw the look on my face and avoided me the entire lesson. Instead, he ridiculed the Gryffindors endlessly. I scowled and sent occasional glares across the room at Longbottom, who quailed in fright and screwed up his potion worse than normal. I skipped lunch and went out onto the grounds. The air was crisp and cool. Reminded me of the first bite of a fresh apple. Delicious and sweet, and just a tiny bit bitter. In other words, a perfect day for flying.

Higher up, the breeze was cool and smelled of the cooler days ahead. Winter, my season, was drawing closer. It was cold and unforgiving. A bit like my own life and personality. Granger struck me as a fall person, and I was beginning to see there was more to her than met the eye. Her outburst from a few nights before echoed in my mind.

~**~**~

"…Muggle clubs with-" she dropped off, an 'Oh-shit' look on her face. I smiled devilishly.

"What? Perfect Granger in a night club?" she blushed and wouldn't look me in the face. "Wow, not something I'd expect, at least not from you." She glared at me.

"What? Am I supposed to live my life in a book? Never having fun or experiencing life? She stood up, furious. "I'm not just a know-it-all, Malfoy, but it seems no one here understands that." A single tear dripped onto her cheek. She turned and left. Without thinking, I followed her. "What do you want? Another study session with the know-it-all so you can pass? The homework? Is that all I'm good for?" she didn't look at me, just opened her door.

"No." she turned to look at me, eyes blazing but full of tears.

"Then what?"

"Something I can't have."

~**~**~

I wasn't sure what had prompted me to say that. She had been so angry, but I knew she was right. Everyone saw her as the know-it-all. The person to go to if you need help with schoolwork. Hell, I had done it myself. Potter, Weasley, and Longbottom were her permanent tutorees. She was probably the smartest witch at Hogwarts. Everyone already knew she would be Head Girl next year, and Father had already 'insured' me as Head Boy. I hated him. The evil bastard had forced this existence on me. I would have been happy enough to grow up normal, though normal was hard to establish. I pulled myself out of my thoughts and concentrated on my flying. Classes could wait.

*~*~*

Hermione's POV

I woke up the next morning, the memory of the evening before fresh on my mind. Malfoy had laughed with me, and smiled. His smile was beautiful, full of light. I suppose that was odd, everything about him classified him as a dark element. But he had let go, dropped his guard. It confused me. He never showed emotion, much less laughed until he cried. It wasn't his style. I supposed I could sit here and over-analyze everything, but Dr-Malfoy wasn't easy to analyze, so I wouldn't. I sat up and was surprised to see my crutches standing by the door. Glancing at my clock, I saw I was halfway through my first class, but I could be on time for second. Smiling brightly, I pulled on some jeans instead of my usual skirt. I doubted the teachers would mind, and it was never a good idea to mix crutches and skirts.

Stairs proved to be a problem. I hadn't used my crutches in a while, so I managed to fall down them into the common room, earning myself a few new bruises. Cursing, I pulled myself up and readjusted my bag. Only four more flights to the dungeons.

At the bottom of the second stairwell, and my second tumble, I gave up and headed for the library. Madame Pince gave me a look, then went back to whatever she had been doing before I came in. I headed for my back corner. Sinking into my specially charmed chair, I let out a small sigh. I spent the rest of the morning catching up on my homework.

*~*~*

Draco's POV

Four hours later, I dragged myself into the Slytherin locker rooms, dog-tired. Even so, I lifted weights for another hour. Exhaustion might help me sleep. After, I took a long, luke-warm shower, then left for my room.

*~*~*

Hermione's POV

I heard noise in the halls and realized it was lunchtime. I wasn't hungry, but I wondered if Harry and Ron would find me. They had promised to visit during lunch today. Twenty minutes later, they both showed up, followed by Ginny. Ron dropped a sandwich on the table for me.

"Hey Mione. When did your crutches get here?" Harry gave me a smile and asked his usual questions.

"Sometime last night."

"How come you weren't in class?" Ron sounded confused.

"Because I fell down two flights of stairs and decided two more would result in more bruises and Snape would understand."

"Oh, ok."

"Give her a break, you two. She did break her ankle. Mione, have you gotten your costume yet?" Ginny was all smiles.

"Actually, yes."

"Well, Dumbledore announced an impromtu Hogsmeade trip tomorrow for the rest of us to get costumes, do you think you'll be able to come with me to find one?" I nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be able to handle it if Harry or Ron escorts me down the stairs before I break my leg." Ginny smiled and gave me a hug.

"Thanks, Mione."

"What time are we leaving?"

"Around nine."

"Alright, I'll meet you three in the Great Hall for breakfast at eight, ok?"

"Sounds good." Ron spoke up. "Now, I hate to say it, but we actually have to go to class. We'll see you tomorrow, Mione."

"Bye, Mione." Harry called, and they were gone. I worked for anther few hours, then headed for my room.

*~*~*

Draco's POV

I had never actually realized how far it was from the Quidditch locker rooms to the Head and Prefect tower. We're talking five flights of stairs and several very long hallways. It was about eight-thirty by now and most were in their respective dorms so the halls were close to empty, which was a good thing considering the state I was in. a strong gust of wind could have blown me over. Instead, it was Hermione Granger on our staircase.

After giving the password, I figured I was home free. One more flight of stairs to bed.

"Bloody hell! Damn these damn bloody crutches." Granger was ahead of me on the stairs. I cursed softly. She was halfway up and very precariously balanced.

"Granger, could you speed it up? Some of us are exhausted." I had climbed to a few stairs behind her.

"Shut up, Malfoy." She made it to the next stair. "It's not my bloody fault this damn staircase is so bloody narrow. You'd think Dumbledore had bloody well planned this."

"Even if the muggle lover had, it's not my bloody fault." I was out of energy, and it was starting to wear on me. "Will you bloody well hurry up? I don't have all night!"

"If you don't have all night, then why don't you do your normal and deposit me on the top step?"

"Because I'm too bloody tired! I barely have the strength to move! Hurry up!" we were three steps from the top. She half turned to glare at me.

"Shut the hell up, Malfoy! I'm doing my bloody best!"

"Well, Mudblood, it's not good enough, now is it?" her eyes narrowed and she turned back around and swung her crutch up to the next stair, but missed and it went backward into my chest. Instinctively, I grabbed it when I lost my balance, pulling us both back down the stairs. She landed on top of me, and I spent a few agonizing seconds trying to catch my breath. She started cursing.

"Bloody fucking hell! Why did you grab my bloody crutch, Malfoy!? I didn't mean to bloody hit you! I'll never make it back up that damn bloody staircase now!" she hoisted herself to her feet and off me and hobbled over to the scarlet couch and threw herself on it, still cursing softly. I carefully got to my feet and collapsed onto my deep green couch, ignoring her glares. She gave me a funny look, opened her mouth, then shut it again.

"What?" I was too tired to move, much less form an insult.

"It doesn't matter, I'm a mudblood, remember?"

"Just say it!"

"Fine! I was wondering if you were alright, you're very flushed."

"I'm fine."

"No, there's too much color in your cheeks."

"I flew for four hours, then lifted for another. I'm exhausted, stressed, I haven't slept properly in months and you're asking me stupid bloody questions. Is that enough for you?" I was babbling. It wasn't a good thing, but my tongue wouldn't stop. "I'm bloody exhausted, but I can't sleep because of my bloody father and all his damn late night owls." Her eyes were a little wide, but my mouth kept going. "Want to talk about stress? He's dragged me to every conceivable Death Eater meeting he could in the past few years. I don't want to be a Death Eater, not anymore. There's no glory in it. Only death and destruction. I've seen things that would make you wish you were dead only to rid yourself of the memories that haunt your dreams." I shivered involuntarily. "But right now it seems I'm to be forced into becoming a Death Eater. Hell, my Father made that choice for me a long time ago and has been training me for it for years." My mouth finally stopped, and we sat there in silence for a few minutes before she spoke.

"I-I never knew." Her voice was soft.

"No one knew, except perhaps a few choice Slytherins who have the same problem, though not to my extent." She looked a little confused. I caught her eyes, locking them. "Breathe one words of this to the Wonder Twins and I'll make you wish you had never been born." She shivered and nodded. I smirked. "Glad you understand." She returned the smirk.

"You know, that threat is pretty hollow right about now, considering you can't move."

"I'll be up tomorrow." She laughed.

"Whatever. Night, Malfoy." She pulled her blanket off the back of her couch. I did the same.

"Night, Granger."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Wow, that was kinda long. Hmmmm. Anyway, here are my thank you's.

Meg (hehe, reading your review, I had to ransack my cough syrup fuzzy brain. Lol. I laughed writing it. Thankz for the review!), Kosetsuno Tenshi (I'm with you on that one. I figured it would spice it up a bit.) Klee (Glad you liked it. I'm figuring it out.) Sexysaxist (Thank you. I'm trying to keep him in line, but he's just waay to stubborn.) hPfAnFoLyFe ( =) Atiannala (I'm getting there…) Haley Malfoy (I have a note here saying great idea, but I can't remember what it is, I never wrote it down, but it must have been good, I have quite a few exclamation points attached to it. Thank you!) Kat Davi, Writer Girl 03 (The faithful one!) ms Malfoy, fantasy mei-aqua (I like little kids! There wicked cool!) and Fire Guardian.

Thank you all!

~K~