So this one's fairly short, I just wanted to build up some more of the actual Dramione stuff instead of the background. I think I might do something else with this story when I'm done with it, but I'm not entire sure where I want it to go. But, anyway. Enjoy!

Allie

P.S. Sorry about the cliffhanger, I usually hate those. But the next one's gonna be good and I didn't want to condense it!

Hermione woke slowly. Little flashes of consciousness wound their way into her dark mind. The months of barely sleeping and hardly eating had taken their toll physically and mentally on her.

She was aware of someone holding her hand, of the bright white penetrating her eyelids, and of the low murmurs of worried voices surrounding her.

"Hasn't been eating…"

"Losing weight… she's asked to have her uniforms taken in twice already."

"Hasn't been patrolling with the Prefects…"

Hermione groaned. "Shhh. She's waking up." She peeled open her eyelids, squinting against the harsh glare of white. A pleasantly familiar mess of black hair accompanied a worried look floating above her head. Ginny's joined Harry almost instantly.

"How are you feeling, 'Mione?" She asked, kindly.

"Just fine, thank you. What happened?" She tried to sit up, but Harry put a hand on her shoulder. "Apparently you collapsed in one of the fourth floor corridors. It must have been Peeves, because you were soaked through and blue with cold."

Hermione put a hand to her head, frowning. She remembered being cold, and not being able to move, but there was something else. Something didn't quite make sense. She tried to recall, but all she got were flashes of immense gray, and then streaks of white.

At that exact moment, Madame Pomfrey bustled in, "Ah, good. You're awake. How are you feeling? Here, drink this. Out you two, she needs her rest." She handed Hermione some foul-smelling liquid that looked like troll boogies. Harry looked like he was going to resist, but with his track record in the hospital wing, it was better for him not to argue, and he allowed himself to be pulled out by Ginny.

"I feel fine, thank you. I really should be going, I have to-" Hermione started.

"Nonsense, young lady. You've been unconscious for almost two whole days. One more won't hurt. Drink up, drink up."

With a grimace, Hermione drank the nasty concoction. Instantly she began to feel drowsy, and was glad she was already lying down.

For the second time in as many days, she sank into the black abyss.

When she woke again, it was dark. The hospital wing was very dimly lit by the sliver of moonlight filtering through the windows.

Hermione lay there for a few moments, struggling to break through the fog that seemed to coat her mind.

A slight noise alerted her to a presence to her left. Her head darted and her arms pushed against the sheets in attempt to lift her into a more suitable position. Ghostly white hands shot out and grasped her by the shoulders.

"Please, don't. You're still very weak." His voice was quiet, almost amused, and she recognized it instantly, causing her own breath to catch.

"Malfoy, what are you doing here?"She allowed him to lower her back onto the bed, she was really quite exhausted.

He gave her a weak smile, "Just checking up on things, I'll be leaving now." He started to turn away. Her hand shot out as if it had a mind of its own, "No! Wait… please." She trailed off, embarrassed. There was something, though, something that she just couldn't remember. But what was it?

He looked shocked for a moment, before the mask slid back into place. He pulled out his wand and with a swish conjured a comfortable-looking chair.

They sat there in uncomfortable silence for a few moments before Hermione realized that she was still holding onto his arm, "Oh! Sorry…" she blushed furiously, releasing him from her tight grip. He just sat there, not moving, not saying anything.

"So, um, what are you doing here?" She asked after a few more silent moments. He switched his gaze from the window to her, and in that moment, she saw his grey eyes illuminated by the moonlight, and she was granted sudden insight. "Oh! It was you! In my dream! But wait, no that's not possible. You're not a wolf, unless you're an…"

There was a beat of hesitation. "Oh," she said softly, "You're an animagus. The wolf was real, not a metaphor..." This was almost too much to process for her nutrient and sleep-deprived brain, she struggled to put the pieces together.

"So that means… that wasn't a dream, was it? I almost died… but you saved me?" Hermione's mind was spinning in circles, and Malfoy had yet to say a word, he just sat there quietly.

Finally, he began to speak. "I don't know how you got out of the castle; I was only gone for a few minutes. You weren't there when I got back to the Head's dorm, and it was only by dumb luck that I walked by the upstairs window at the exact moment you decided to go swimming in the lake." He shook his head. "What were you doing down there, Granger? Were you actually trying to die?!" He looked angry, but she couldn't understand why. "You didn't even take your wand!" He produced it out of his robes, and she grabbed it eagerly. She felt like she had been missing a part of her own self without it.

"Well?!" He really did look angry.

"I wasn't trying to kill myself. I'm not suicidal," Hermione scoffed. "I just… thought it was a dream."

He looked at her incredulously. "A dream, Granger? What kind of dreams are you having? Have they gotten this bad?"

She didn't say anything, Hermione wasn't about to confess all her problems to Draco Malfoy, even if he did save her life.

He seemed to read this in her eyes. "Fine, then." He scoffed. "Don't tell me." She just shook her head, mute. He sighed and softened a little bit. "It's really alright; you don't have to tell me. I understand." He reached out, as if to touch her hair splayed out on her pillow, but drew back, recovering himself.

Hermione watched as Malfoy seemed to draw in on himself, retreating from her back to behind his marble mask. "As Head Boy, it gladdens me to see the Head Girl is doing better, and I hope to see her on her feet soon." He made a polite smile, and continued, "Well, it is getting late, and I should make my rounds, I'll see to it that you have your homework brought to you in the morning." Stiff and formal, and Malfoy to the end.

He made the chair disappear with a flourish of his wand and swept out of the room gracefully. She watched him go, and began crying as soon as the door had closed softly.

Across the wing, Luna watched the entire exchange with a knowing smile.

Hermione was released the next day with a sleeping draught and a promise that Madame Pomfrey would be watching her at mealtimes.

Malfoy had held true to his word, her homework had been dropped off on the table in the Head's dorm common room. Luckily, she had been far enough ahead that she wouldn't be struggling to make it up.

She didn't see him that day until dinner, and only then from across the Great Hall.

But that night, everything changed.