A/N: Sorry it has taken forever to update this story. My life went haywire and I finally got back to the site after what... a year? This story may contain mature content, if you are easily upset you should probably not read this story. Disclaimer: I don't own anything having to do with Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling does... I love her I hope you all enjoy and don't forget to rate and review!!!

Back To School

Chapter 5 Queen of the Tower

I awoke some time later to recognize that the sun had sunk past the horizon and the stars had come out. I hadn't realized that I had fallen asleep, but I did notice that my finger tips burned like fire. I looked down to see that the ends of them had bled where I had grasped the stone so hard and the blood had dried leaving them looking nasty.

I didn't want to return to the land of the living, but I knew that someone, though who I don't know, would be missing me. As I descended the stairs I thought I heard rustling near the bottom. I slowed my steps so they were quieter and slid around the edge of the spiral staircase to find Malfoy sitting on the last three steps shuffling his feet around. He certainly is a fidgety bastard.

"Why are you there?" I asked plainly, I was too tired and to upset to even bother with subtleties. I had to stifle a smirk though because he jumped about a foot from the stairs when I spoke.

"Christ's sakes, Weasley, are you trying to kill me by heart attack because it almost worked that time!" he glared as he stood to face me. Even standing on the floor while I was on the third step he was a little taller than me. "I was here to make sure you hadn't thrown yourself off that tower or at least didn't sleep up there."

"Why would you do that?" I asked as I brushed past him to the hallway, I couldn't stay in one place for fear of falling asleep on my feet. Also, I was avoiding answering the question truthfully with this tactic because, in real life… I had wanted to take the fast way down instead of the stairs.

"Because I saw you leave the infirmary, you were really upset, and from what happened the other night; I know you're kind of fragile right now." He almost sounded like he cared. I couldn't let down my guard though, I pushed forward down the hall as if I were walking through molasses and never looked Malfoy in the eye.

"Well, you don't have to worry about me," I replied darkly, "I'm not that stupid." At least not for now, I thought. I had finally arrived at the Gryffindor tower with Malfoy following me the whole way, raining down questions. "Goodnight, see ya, whatever." I muttered ducking under the portrait before he had a chance to utter another noise.

I snuck quietly into the girls' dorm room and into my bed. As if somehow sensing my anxiety, Mikoo curled into my arms almost hugging me with her soft tiny body. My cat is my only best friend in the world… is that sad or what? The night flew by but I didn't sleep a wink. I was awake thinking about so many different things, about Malfoy and his sudden concern, about Isla and how we hadn't spoken in so long, about my brother and how worried I was about him. What could I possibly do to fix my troublesome thoughts and aching head.

As the other girls began to stir, I feigned sleep. No one would try to wake me because they all were afraid of my "strange" behavior. As they filed out to class, I got up and took a shower; it felt like it had been days since I had had one. I stood under the hot water an let it wash away my tension. I sat down on the shower floor with the water still running and cried, now I didn't even know what I was crying about but I did, and I cried hard and long.

Once out of the shower, I whistled at Mikoo and we walked out of the common room, I was skipping classes, they were no longer important. I went up to my new favorite hiding spot, the astronomy tower, and was amazed to find that I wasn't alone. There was another girl up there, obviously a Slytherin, as she turned to see who was intruding on her privacy, and then I realized it was Pansy Parkinson. Of course why should I be able to have peace and quiet on such a rough day? I went to turn down the stairs and I heard her voice.

"Weasley?" she almost whispered. It wasn't a disgusted tone either; it was more like a desperate squeak. She moved quickly to the doorway and grabbed my wrist. It was strange, such a pitiful whiny girl but she had a rather strong grip.

I wrenched my hand away and turned to her, my eyes sharp and fading to a deep green. I was on pins and needles as it was, but keeping me from getting away from her was just digging her own grave. "What do you want, Stick?" I snapped a little more than I was prepared to.

Pansy had really gotten on my nerves since the moment I saw her my first year here. Her little chubby pug face, and her ugly black bobbed hair, her high pitched whiny voice, and the way she dressed had always grated my nerves. She had changed since then, her hair wasn't so dorky, and she had slimmed down, and dressed like a real person instead of one of those creepy dolls who don't wear enough clothes. But the voice hadn't changed much, and God only knows what she wanted at this moment.

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