A/N: I kind of toyed with this idea and sort of added another storyline. And to clear it out, this is supposed to be in the middle of Year Six! Thanks for the reviews, they really inspire me!

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"You look awfully tired," Ginny observed, concerned. "Are you alright, Hermione?"

Hermione nodded subconsciously. "I was up pretty late last night," she sighed. She rubbed her eyes wearily, feeling Ginny purposely nudge her in the shoulder. Ginny smiled, and Hermione rolled her eyes. She knew what was about to come.

"Who was it?" Ginny asked curiously, grabbing onto Hermione's arm.

She halted to a stop. "Nobody." When Ginny opened her mouth to speak again, Hermione instantly raised a hand to stop her. "And nothing happened."

Ginny pouted. "You may be an amazingly intelligent witch, Hermione, but I don't think you fully understand the whole concept of lying."

Hermione had to grin at that, making Ginny laugh. She watched as Hermione's smile slowly began to fade away, causing her to arch an eyebrow quizzically. In the background she could hear Draco's sneering voice. Ginny glanced up at her, seeing her eyes fixed on something behind her shoulders. Ginny turned around and spotted Draco with some other Slytherins walking by. Everything seemed normal, except for something that she hadcaught.

Draco was looking right back at Hermione, a sly little smirk planted on his face.

She turned back to Hermione. "Why was he staring at you?"

Hermione quickly turned her attention back to her. "What?"

"Draco Malfoy?" Ginny replied. "Why was he staring at you like that?"

Hermione began to continue walking, shrugging with annoyance at the thought of Draco. "He wasn't staring. And plus, he's probably just mad that I beat his test score in our potions class earlier today."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "That's so typical of him to do that. Why doesn't he just give up already?"

Hermione shook her head angrily. "And plus, what would he possibly want with me, anyway? I'm too much of a dirty Mudblood."

Ginny gasped. "Hermione, don't say that!" She began to go on about something to do with Slytherins and their attitudes in general, but Hermione was too distracted to listen. She felt hands grab at her shoulders and force her sideways so that she was hidden behind a decoration on the hallway walls.

Hermione turned around, her eyes narrowed with annoyance. "Who do you think-?"

"Keep it down, Granger," Malfoy hushed, frowning. "It's embarrassing enough that I'm talking to you, above all people here."

Hermione, deeply offended, just shot him a glare and walked by, bumping into his shoulder.

"And where exactly do you think you're going off to?" Draco asked, quickly walking at her side.

Hermione shook her head, not even bothering to look over at him as he spoke. She glanced around for any sign of Ginny as she walked. "Malfoy, what do you want? If you're so afraid about your reputation being destroyed by talking to a Mudblood, go back to talking to your Slytherin friends."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Draco scoffed. "I actually think people seeing us talk will leave a mark for you once you leave this place."

Hermione could only retort, "Yes, they'll think about me, Hermione Granger, and how the only positive thing that happened to her at Hogwarts was having the one chance to talk to Draco Malfoy."

"Yes, that pretty much hits the spot," Draco smirked.

Hermione finally stopped, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Malfoy, just spit it out already."

"It's about last night," he replied huskily, under his breath.

Hermione's heart skipped a beat as she froze. She glanced around, not wanting anyone to hear about her sneaking out. She figured her and Draco talking in a crowded hallway was bad enough. "What…about last night?" she asked slowly.

Draco smiled, and Hermione knew at once that she wasn't going to like what was about to come next. "It's been pretty hard to not tell Dumbledore about this one," he smirked.

Hermione's face fell. "You. Better. Not." She pointed a finger of accusation at him as she spoke, cornering him back into a wall.

Draco frowned, slightly taken aback. "I don't see what's so useful about keeping it a secret. If I tell, you'd be gone and I'd have nothing to lose. I mean, Dumbledore would never expel me."

"Oh, and he'd expel me?" Hermione scoffed.

Draco quickly eyed her up and down, as if disapprovingly. "Of course, Granger. You're just a Mudblood. After all, you've been saying so yourself. You've got nothing going for you except your brains, which only the professors are interested in. It's a pity, really. I don't see how Potter and Weasly can keep up with you. Actually, I don't see how they can stand you."

"Hermione, there you are!"

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Hermione thought she could hear Ginny calling her name. She completely ignored it and stared right at Draco, her eyes becoming watery by the second. That blow was totally uncalled for, and it hit her in a deep and fragile spot. Draco's smirk had faded already by then, and they were now staring right at each other, their expressions saying everything.

Hermione slowly began to raise her hand, extremely tempted to slap Draco across the face. Instead, she quickly controlled herself and ran around the corner, running to a tree in the middle of a deserted field. She collapsed behind its trunk, unable to control her sobs. She wrapped her arms around her legs and wiped at her tears.

He's nothing but an insensitive jerk¸ she thought to herself. Just trying to get the best fun he can out of me. Hermione wanted so badly to go right to Dumbledore's office and tell him what happened. She didn't care about the consequences anymore.

Hermione slowly began to stand, straightening out her uniform, and swayed a little to the right. She winced, resting a hand on her head as she was overcome with dizziness. She thought she could hear somebody's voice in the distance, but didn't get a second chance to listen as she blacked out.

Draco, baffled, quickly caught her in his arms.

"Granger?" he asked, frozen in surprise. "Granger, what's the matter with you? Wake up!"

When Hermione didn't respond, Draco cursed under his breath. He quickly swept his other arm under her legs and made his way to the Hospital Wing, ordering people to move out of his way. Idiots! Can't they see I'm in a hurry here? He ignored the whispers and fingers being pointed at him as he passed through the hallway, especially the gasps of Gryfinddor students.

"Malfoy, what have you done?" Harry cried, running up to his side.

"For your information, Potter, I haven't done a thing to her," Draco sneered, quickening his pace.

"Oh my God, Hermione!" Ron gasped, staring at her in disbelief. He looked up at Draco with anger, taking his wand out from his pocket. "I swear, Malfoy, you better bloody explain yourself!"

"Well, would you rather me talk to you or save Granger's life?" Draco snapped impatiently.

"She's cold as ice," Harry said worriedly, feeling Hermione's forehead with the back of his hand. He followed Draco into the hospital wing, where he gently lay her down on an empty bed.

"What happened to her?" a nurse asked, feeling Hermione's head for her temperature.

"I followed her behind a tree and she just sort of collapsed," Draco replied quickly.

"You were following her? What the hell did you think you were doing?" Ron asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Granger had completely stepped out on our conversation!" Draco cried defensively. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Excuse me, boys!" the nurse said impatiently. "There is no need for this noise in the Hospital Wing. Please hush down or wait outside. I'll be sure to tell you of Miss Granger's status in a few minutes if you remain quiet."

Draco muttered something under his breath as he left the room, leaving a worried Harry and an even more nervous Ron inside.

Ginny was right outside the door, having seen what had happened and heard the entire conversation. "Was that Hermione?" she asked, gasping.

"Yes, that's Granger in there," Draco replied, frowning. "Why? Do you plan on attacking me with insults as well?"

"No, of course not," Ginny said, her eyebrows raised. "I saw what happened. I mean, I saw why Hermione, erm, collapsed."

Draco raised a brow intently. "Oh, really?"

Ginny nodded. "Yes."

Draco stared at her expectantly. "Well? I haven't all day."

"It was…" She looked around nervously. "It was Parkinson. I mean, it was Pansy. She saw you and Hermione talking, and I saw her pointing her wand at Hermione. I think she said something like-"

Draco sighed, exasperated, and barged back into the Wing, taking his wand out. He knew the one and only spell that Pansy Parkinson had always wanted to use on Granger.

"What do you think you're doing?" Ron asked, noticing Draco's wand.

Before Harry and Ron could do anything about it, Draco pointed his wand at Hermione and said, "Rennervate!"

Hermione slowly opened her eyes, and Ginny ran into the room, gasping.

"No, wait, it wasn't stupefy!" she said quickly. Draco, at the side of the bed, looked up at her in surprise. Ginny continued to explain, "It was a cross between an entrancing enchantment and Confundo…Parkinson mispronounced the word. It came out as a spell that, well…makes the victim fall in love with the first person they see."

Draco wanted very badly to move from where he was, but it was too late. He looked down at Hermione, who was staring back up at him.

Draco was almost going to ask for a bed for himself to lie down in. Parkinson will definitely have to pay for this one.