Author Note – Oh My Gosh! I have passed my ultimate goal of five reviews and got 6 reviews! Wow! OK, I am now content. Good work guys :) PS before you start complaining at me, I KNOW! Animagus's clothes change with them. Cheshire has already told me this. But it seemed funny at the time without clothes. Yes, my sense of humour is sick and twisted :D what's new? Happy reading :) Review.

Hermione stormed back to Hogwarts as if her life depended on it.

She was so angry it was frightening!

How had Draco managed to do that to her?

Why wasn't she able to leave?

The questions were buzzing around her mind like angry bees and giving her an aching head.

Slowing down slightly, Hermione sighed and looked up at the sky.

She was bound to have lost Draco by now...

At the pace she was going at, no one would be able to catch her on foot.

Only the wind could catch her...

And the things that rode on the wind.

Like birds.

Hermione frowned at the sun as a black shape swooped over her, so close to her that it obscured the weak sunlight.

Hermione noted it was a pheasant and continued walking until she realized something.

It was the same pheasant that had been in Hogsmeade, watching her as she waited for Neville to come back with her drink.

She stopped and glared at it as it landed on a tree beside the road she was walking on.

"What do you want?" She snapped.

Of course, it didn't answer and she went to keep walking until another bird flew down and landed on the opposite side of the road from it.

A pigeon.

Hermione frowned again.

Was that the same pigeon that had also been watching her?

Unnerved, she went to keep walking.

The pigeon let out a strange hiss and she stopped in her tracks.

"Do you just hiss at me?" Hermione gasped in shock.

Animals usually liked her.

So what had she done to upset this pigeon?

Shaking her head, Hermione went to walk, ignoring the pigeon and the pheasant as they both let out what sounded like squawks of anger.

She quickened her pace only to have the pheasant fly at her in a whirl of feathers, its claws outstretched and pointing at her face.

Hermione spun round trying to protect her face, only to have the pigeon latch onto her hand, its beak biting deeply into her skin.

She screamed in pain as the pheasant flew at her again.

Her other hand went up to protect her face, enabling her from reaching her wand as the two birds continued to attack her from different directions.

A scream went up and the tiny squirrels ears perked up.

It was definitely Hermione. Draco could sense it.

With a snort of disbelief, he started running again, making his tiny red legs move faster than ever before.

Crabbe and Goyle... What idiots! I said to delay her! Not attack her! Draco snarled, ducking under a fence and running through a field of cows to get to Hermione faster.

What the hell was he going to do?

His clothes were still in the field beside Hogsmeade where he'd left them after turning into his Animagus form so he couldn't help her in human form...

But he didn't want her hurt either.

He quickly exited the field and turned another corner in the road.

Hermione was there, struggling to stay upright and hold the two birds off as they made it impossible for her to reach her wand.

She stumbled and Draco realized she was about to fall.

In one swift movement, he was back in human form and running.

He wasn't going to reach her on time...

Was he?

The birds retreated for a moment before swooping back on two different sides, both aiming for her face.

With an odd squeak, Hermione fell.

Time seemed to slow as Draco ran towards her.

She was falling slowly but steadily and Draco's legs were so heavy and wouldn't move fast enough.

Just as he thought Hermione was going to hit the ground, he caught her.

He almost missed her and she sank down in his arms so her head was resting on his bare lower abdomen.

Draco sighed in relief before making a rude gesture at the two birds.

Bloody idiots...



Hermione's eyes flickered open in surprise when she didn't hit the ground.

Something was wrong.

Why hadn't she hit the ground?

It was then that she felt the warmth around her.

She was leaning against something that was really hot. Roasting hot.

And two pairs of pale, slender fingered hands were around her shoulders.

Slowly she sat up, pulling away from the hands that fought to hold her there.

Hermione brushed her bushy hair away from one side of her face and slowly turned her head.

And there was Draco, standing there in all his naked glory.

Well, what do you know, Hermione couldn't help but muse, The rumour about finger size matching penis size is kind of true... Well, in his case anyway.

"Why are you naked?" Hermione frowned.

"That's a long story..."

Hermione averted her eyes from him before realizing where her head had been resting.

Her eyes whipped back to Draco so she could glare at him.

"You... My hair..." She started to growl.

"What's wrong?" Draco frowned in concern.

"You... Y-your penis... W-was in my hair," Hermione stuttered.

"Oh shit..."

With a strange whimper Hermione stood up and turned away from him before starting to walk again.

"Hermione...? Where are you going?" Draco demanded, "I just saved you from those birds. Aren't you going to thank me?"

"I'm going to go wash my hair," Hermione murmured quietly, still walking on.

"Hermione!" Draco called after her.

"What?"

"At least do one thing for me..."

"What do you want, Draco?"

"Where the necklace I gave you," Draco pleaded, "Please. That's all I ask."

With a sigh, Hermione turned back to him.

He'd just saved her life.

"Fine," Hermione sighed, turning back slightly so she could see him out of the corner of her eye but not see all of him.

She owed him enough to wear his stupid necklace.

Draco smiled and took wandlessly Accio-ed it back to him.

It came quickly and he caught it and handed it to her.

"There," He smiled triumphantly, "Do you want me to fasten it for you?"

"No. I can do it myself," Hermione insisted, putting it around her neck again.

"Thanks," Draco smiled.

Hermione didn't answer and started walking off again.

"Bye, Draco."

She managed a few steps before she found herself wanting to turn back.

She managed to stop herself from spinning around and running back to his naked embrace, which was what she really wanted for some unknown reason, and settled for turning her head to look back at him.

But he wasn't there.

On the path, lay a single red hair.

Hermione got back to the castle and went straight up to the dorm to wash her hair before changing into a different outfit that was more socially acceptable in wizarding community and going down to dinner.

She sat between Ron and Harry who beamed at her as she spooned some pasta and meat with sauce onto her plate and started eating.

"So... How was your date with Neville?" Harry grinned.

"You really want to know, Harry? It was... Absolutely. Horrible," Hermione scowled.

"Why? What happened?"

"WHAT HAPPENED? I was on a date with Neville! That's what happened! How could you possibly think it would go OK?" Hermione shrieked at him, "And you two! Encouraging him to ask me out! How could you?"

"Well you kind of owe him... He did save your life," Ron said slowly.

"Shut up, Ronald!" Hermione snarled, "The only thing I owe him is a strawberry milkshake! And if you ever, ever encourage him again... I will personally go to You-Know-Who and get him to kill you!"

"Don't say that, Hermione!" Harry gasped in shock, "That's horrible!"

"Horrible?" Hermione scoffed, "You know what was horrible? Having to sit in Madam Puddifoot's with Neville as he touched my hand! That's what was horrible!"

The two boys went quite.

They'd learned fast that touching Hermione without her permission was not a good idea.

Well, unless you wanted to suffer a horrible death.

"See?" Hermione was continuing.

"Calm down, Hermione..." Ron frowned after a moments pause, "What's wrong with you today?"

"What's wrong with me?" Hermione repeated, "At the moment... Everyone seems determined to ruin my life."

With a sigh, she pushed her plate forward and rushed towards the exit.

She hadn't touched her pasta but Ron and Harry had successfully put her off her dinner.

Draco strolled into the Great Hall with Crabbe and Goyle at his side only to walk straight into Hermione.

She ran into him before slowly raising her head to look at him and squeaking in surprise.

Something was roaring inside her. Anger.

Because of Ron and Harry.

But then... When she saw Draco.

Everything was good.

All the hatred slowly sunk out of her body, leaving her light and airy as happiness ran through her.

Along with lust.

"Hi, Hermione," Draco smiled at her.

She didn't reply and simply stared up into his icy blue-grey eyes that swirled around, looking like a storm. The perfect storm.

"Hermione?"

"Hi... Draco," Hermione said slowly, tearing her gaze away from his.

"You OK?"

"Yeah... I... I was just going," Hermione stuttered, turning and striding away.

There was something about him now.

He wasn't the annoying Draco he once was... He was different.

And Hermione didn't want to get too close in case she did something she regretted.

It took everything Draco had not to curse her dead on the spot.

Lucius, Draco's father, had pulled out all the stops to stop Draco from going to Azkaban after he attacked Hermione in public.

Thankfully, he had a lot of "friends" in the Ministry who had a lot of power but it hadn't been easy.

Draco had been warned.

"Don't attack the girl again!" Lucius had raged when Draco had apparated to see him, "Your life was on the line! If you were given to the Dementors, your mother would blame herself!"

"But-"

"NO BUT'S, DRACO!" Lucius roared, "Just don't do it again!"

"Yes, father."

If he attacked someone again, he would definitely rot in Azkaban... But it would be worth it.

Another filthy muggle would be dead and Potter wouldn't be as protected.

And Draco wouldn't have to hang around with that gullible, idiotic Granger for much longer.

Yes, it would be worth it indeed.

Ginny strolled into the library with a smile on her face.

She'd got full marks on her Defence Against the Dark Arts exam and everything was going great.

Harry had really taught her well.

No thanks to the teachers though.

Her smile faded as she thought of all the DADA teachers who had left the school one way or another as she started looking for books on Patronuses.

Harry had recently confided in Ginny that if he didn't make it as an Auror, he wanted to be a DADA teacher. At Hogwarts.

But... What if the job really was cursed?

Would Harry be the next to die? To lose his mind? To be ridiculed?

Sometimes, it was too much for Ginny to cope with.

But Harry loved DADA and she just wanted him to be happy.

With a sniff, she wiped away a lone tear that had escaped her eye.

She didn't want Harry to die.

She wanted... She wanted him to be happy and content... With her.

That probably wouldn't happen though... Harry had only started showing interest in her at the start of the year and Ginny thought it wasn't going to last.

It was true what they said... All good things had to come to an end. Ginny knew that -

A sound disturbed her thoughts and she whipped around.

No one was in the isle of the library she was in.

The sound came again and, listening carefully, Ginny started to make her way towards it with her wand outstretched.

Hogswarts was supposed to be the safest place in the world but you could never be too careful. Especially with all the mini Death Eaters running around, boasting about being in Slytherin's and being Purebloods.

It made Ginny sick.

With a roar, Ginny burst around the corner of the isle only to see a snivelling Neville sitting in the corner of the room, on the floor, crying into a tissue.

With a gasp, Ginny put her wand away and strode over to him.

He seemed so... Small. Broken.

Someone had obviously really upset him...

And Ginny was going to find out who and punish them.

She hated seeing people upset. Especially Neville.

All he ever did was try to be nice and friendly. Even if it sometimes got him into all kinds of trouble.

"You OK, Neville?" Ginny said softly, sliding down the wall to sit beside him.

Neville didn't answer and tried to wipe his eyes with the sleeve of his robes.

"What's wrong?" Ginny demanded.

He really was in a bad state.

Neville was a proud guy yet he was still sobbing, his eyes puffy and red as he gasped for breath.

"Neville," Ginny said firmly, "Tell me what's wrong."

He snivelled again as she placed her arm around him and pulled him towards her so he could rest his head on her shoulder.

A shoulder to cry on was a saying Ginny took very seriously.

"I... I was o-out in Ho-Hogsmea-" Neville started, stuttering over the words as his eyes continued to water and his nose run.

"Yes... You were out in Hogsmeade... And?" Ginny prompted.

"I was w-with He-Hermione... In Madam P-Puddifoot's," Neville sniffed.

That made Ginny start.

Hermione never went out unless she was with Harry and Ron...

Well, apart from last year when she'd went out with Victor Krum.

"And... S-she l-left-" Neville broke down in fresh tears, leaving Ginny to figure the rest out for herself.

She left him? Ginny frowned to herself.

That wasn't like Hermione.

She'd feel guilty and stay until the other person left.

Something must have happened to her.

"She left you?" Ginny repeated, "Without saying goodbye?"

Neville nodded and slowly got to his feet, taking Ginny with him.

"I... I better go b-back to the Common R-room," He said simply before turning and shuffling away.

Poor Neville... Ginny thought to herself, He looked so sad... But he needn't for long. She'd have to have a word with Hermione.

With fresh determination in her step, Ginny abandoned her search for books on Patronuses and set off in search of Hermione.

Hermione sighed and started writing her letter home.

She sent a letter to her parents every week with the school owls and seeing as she was alone, Hermione thought it was the perfect time to start it.

With a small wry smile, Hermione dipped her quill into her ink before bringing it to the parchment.

Dear Mum and Dad,
I miss you. Again. I don't know what it is this year but I seem to be longing home more and more... Maybe I'm just being silly.
But apart from being a bit homesick, Crookshanks and I are fine. Well, Crookshanks is a bit grumpy but I suppose he's a bit fed up being stuck in my room during classes. Being part Kneazle, he wants out.
Dad, how's your tooth ache? I hope you got it sorted. You should have. What would the other dentists say if you were off ill with a tooth ache? It would be preposterous!
Anyway, I hope to be home for the Easter holidays. I'll be looking forward to my Easter Egg. I'm kidding, of course. Why would a pair of dentists allow their daughter to eat chocolate? I think that's one of the reasons I'm feeling home sick. On weekends, when I go to Hogsmeade, I always buy lots of chocolate and despite the fact I know you won't, I always hope that you'll be standing beside me, scowling and telling me to put the chocolate and sweets back on the shelf and get out of that sugar filled shop before my teeth rot because of the sugar infested air that I'm breathing in. Oh, what I would give for that. I _

"HERMIONE!" Ginny roared, opening the dorm door with a force that would have broken someone's arm.

The quill in Hermione's hand slipped, leaving a dark line at the end of her unfinished letter.

"What do you want, Ginny?" Hermione scowled.

She still hadn't gotten over what had happened earlier.

Boyfriend thief indeed.

The news of Ginny's outburst had probably spread like wildfire through the school.

"What do I want?" Ginny repeated in disbelief, "What do I WANT?"

Hermione didn't reply and continue to glare at her, before slowly rising from where she'd been sitting.

"I want-" Ginny started angrily.

"Here for another go then?" Hermione snapped furiously, "What is it this time? Let me guess... Oh, I know! I'm going to kill Ron! That's it, isn't it? Or maybe, I'm going to possess your mother! It could be anything with you, Ginny! It could be anything, with you pointing the finger, Ginny!"

Ginny frowned and opened her mouth to speak but Hermione was still going on.

"What could it be next? I'm working for Voldemort maybe? Or am I planning to release Grindlewald from prison?"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Ginny roared over her, making Hermione glare at her even more.

"Don't play dumb with me, Ginny," She snarled.

"Then don't play mad!" Ginny retorted.

"You're one to talk!" Hermione laughed, "Why are you even here anyway?"

"To get you to apologize to Neville!"

"Apologize to Neville...? Earlier you were saying what a woe it is that someone was going out with him! What's with the sudden change, Ginny?" Hermione demanded, "Did you hear Harry's views and decide to change your beliefs?"

"What?"

"Just get out, Ginny," Hermione snarled, "Just go."

"But-"

"GET OUT! GET OUT!" Hermione shouted, "YOU CAN'T JUST WALTZ IN HERE LIKE YOU HAVEN'T DONE ANYTHING! JUST GET OUT! GET OUT, GINNY!"

Ginny stepped backwards as Hermione started advancing towards her.

And that was all it took.

Hermione launched herself forwards and pushed Ginny on the shoulders.

With a yelp, Ginny toppled backwards, out of the door, hitting her head on the cold stone floor with a loud crack.

Ginny went still as her eyes slowly started to fill with tears of pain but Hermione wasn't looking. She slammed the dorm door closed, her letter and quill in hand and stormed past her angrily.

Ginny could go die.

Bloody bitch