To say Harry was surprised when he received a letter from Draco Malfoy would have been an understatement. Although Harry had spoken up in Malfoy's defence when he sought them out, the two had not had any further contact. Despite this, an owl was waiting for him when he arrived home from work. Ginny shrugged her shoulders when he asked whose owl it was.

"I've no idea," she said, "but it bit me when I tried to take the parchment so clearly it's meant just for you" she held her finger up which, as Ginny had said, bore the owl's bite marks.

Harry pulled a confused face and gingerly made to remove the parchment from the owl, which hooted dutifully and flew off as soon as Harry started to read the letter.

Potter,

I'm worried about Granger. She hasn't been to class today and I can't find her.

Malfoy

P.S. Ron's an arse

"Gin, was Hermione in class today?"

Ginny chewed the end of her quill and shook her head, still half focused on her work.

"Draco's worried about her."

That got his wife's attention. She spluttered as she breathed in some quill feathers and blinked in amazement at him. "Draco? But they never talk!"

Harry shrugged, unable to explain it himself. He re-read the letter, as if it would give him some answers. "Why is Ron an arse?" He muttered, wondering if he'd done something that had upset Hermione again, something that had gone to far.

From beside him Ginny snorted "why isn't Ron an arse?" She retorted, plucking the parchment from Harry's hand "they haven't done any more fighting than normal, and she set his hair on fire a few weeks ago but nothing out of the ordinary. What do you think we should do?"

Harry frowned and hunted around his desk for a new piece of parchment "let me write to her, maybe she's just sick?"

He quickly penned her a note and sent his owl out with it. In theory it wouldn't be that long until they received a reply given they were so close, so Harry sat down next to Ginny and was about to ask her about her work when his owl returned, its feathers singed.

"Well that's not normal" Ginny remarked, taking in the steaming owl. "Is that your letter or a reply?" She asked as Harry unwrapped the parchment. He held it out to her and she saw it was the original. She pursed her lips, worry beginning to settle, "perhaps we should head up there" she said, "Floo should be quicker. Shall I see if McGonagall is able to let us in?"

Harry nodded absentmindedly as he tried to think when the last time he'd actually spoken to Hermione was. To his shame he couldn't remember.

Ginny rushed back in "we have to be quick as she's about to have a meeting," she paused when she saw Harry's face "whatever it is, you can't blame yourself" she scolded him, reminding him fleetingly of Mrs Weasley.

"We've hardly spoken since she went back to Hogwarts, perhaps if we had I would've noticed something and not had to be warned by Malfoy of all people."

Ginny said nothing, knowing the quicker they got to Hogwarts and found out what was going on the quicker Harry would stop blaming himself. She simply sighed and followed him into the flames.

At Hogwarts they spoke briefly to McGonagall, who told them to send a ghost with a message if they needed her, before heading to Hermione's bedroom. Harry wished Ron didn't have the map. He'd had it in his possession at the final battle and had never given it back. It would have been a lot easier if he'd know if Hermione was in her bedroom or not, otherwise they might have to search the entire castle.

Up ahead they could hear someone shouting and a loud banging as they pounded a door. As Harry and Ginny got closer they saw it was Draco, and he appeared to be outside Hermione's bedroom.

"Dammit Granger, open the bloody door!"

He levelled a frustrated kick at the door and stepped back, running a hand through his hair and sighing. He looked up as he heard Harry and Ginny's approaching footsteps.

"Potters" he said, inclining his head in greeting.

Harry nodded back before gesturing to the door "what's she saying?"

"She's not saying anything, that's the bloody problem" Draco replied, banging on the door again "she's got some kind of enchantment on here so nothing will open it."

Ginny frowned, that was unusual for Hermione. Normally she would at least make it accessible so people wouldn't worry about her.

Draco looked at them and Ginny was surprised to see how concerned he looked. "She didn't show up for lessons today, she didn't show up for our meeting today either which she has never done before today. I've been here an hour and she hasn't said anything."

Harry and Ginny exchanged a look at the thought of Draco and Hermione having daily meetings. Draco caught the look and scoffed.

"Get your minds out of the gutter Potters, she puts cream onto my back to help the scars heal decently. It's a product from St Mungos that they're giving me but keeping quiet."

Harry stepped forward and banged on the door "Hermione, it's Harry. Ginny's here too. Will you open the door?"

Silence.

"Maybe she put a password on it?" Ginny suggested, "shall we try something and see if it works?"

Harry sighed and shrugged "we might as well" he said, knocking on the door again "S.P.E.W.?"

The door stayed shut.

"What on earth is SPEW?" Draco asked, looking completely bewildered.

Ginny was about to reply when the door clicked and creaked open. They all rushed in and surveyed the room. Paper was littered all over the floor from torn books, which were also scattered around, and the glass dresser was smashed.

In the middle of the room was Hermione, lying face down with her hair spread out around her like a blanket for her head. The trio stared at her for a moment, relief filling all of them as they watched the steady rise and fall of her back.

"Perhaps one of us should go and get McGonagall or Remus" Ginny suggested.

At her words Hermione shifted and groaned languidly "No"

Harry knelt down beside her and pushed back some of his hair so he could see her "what do you want us to do Hermione? We were worried about you."

She sighed irritably "go away. I want to be left alone."

Harry stepped back, obviously wounded that he couldn't do anything to help his friend. Ginny rubbed his arm comfortingly.

"Tough Granger" Draco spat, bending down and rolling her over so she had to look at him, "I thought you were dead. I have been outside your room for an hour attempting to break into here and you want me to go away? No way."

Her eyes flicked over to where he crouched beside her and she slowly blinked, as if trying to take him in, "Draco?" She whispered hoarsely.

"What?" He said, obviously still irritated.

"Shush" she said, patting him on the head and closing her eyes again.

Ginny bit her lip so she didn't laugh at Draco's expression.

"I will not shush Granger" he ground out "you had me scared halfway to Azkaban."

Her eyes opened again and she stared at him for a while "only halfway?" She finally said.

"You were breathing, halfway was plenty" he replied.

Harry and Ginny watched this exchange with bemused expressions. While Ginny was in classes with Draco and so saw how he was outside of his father's domain, Harry had yet to experience it fully. He was pleasantly surprised by the way he treated Hermione, and the fact that he had bothered enough to write to them.

Ginny sat Hermione up and brought her some water while Harry tidied up her room with a few quick spells he'd learnt to avoid tidying up the muggle way. Draco stayed where he was and waited until everything had quietened down before asking the question that had been bothering him the most.

"Hermione, what on earth is SPEW?"