Fact 1: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling.

Fact 2: I am not her.

Conclusion: It isn't mine.

The funny thing about dreading something is that eventually you start wishing it would happen just so you don't have to sit around waiting on it anymore. By Saturday, I almost considered sending Lucius Malfoy a written invitation to Hogwarts just on the off chance that the black cloud of dread would lift off of me a little.

Thursday and Friday, thoughts of them occupied my mind entirely- why they were coming, what they were going to do, how Dumbledore and the professors would act, if I would be able to stay with Draco. I thought of absolutely nothing else, and people started to notice.

Thursday afternoon Professor Snape had taken great pleasure in deducting twenty points from Gryffindor because my potion turned a sickly green color instead of acid yellow. And Friday morning, Professor McGonagall had kept me after class to ask if I was feeling ill or if I needed help with anything. I felt like all I did lately was make excuses for my behavior, try to keep myself from busting into tears at the drop of a hat, or push bad thoughts out of my mind.

So, it really shouldn't have been a surprise when I woke up Saturday with a pounding headache. I looked at my watch and saw that it was almost eleven. I closed my eyes, trying to clear my head, and looked again. How could I have possibly slept so late? I sat up and tried to stretch, but my entire body felt stiff like I had slept in the exact same position all night.

By the time I took a shower and got dressed, my muscles had started to loosen up, but my head still felt like it was filled with cement. I sat back down on my bed, and rested my head against the head board. I had told myself I was going to finish up all of my homework and spend time with my friends today... but my head just hurt so bad. I squeezed my eyes shut and begged the pounding to stop. I sat there for a few minutes, going over my options in my head. I could go to the library and try to study. I could stay here and finish my arithmacy homework, I could try to find Harry and Ron, or I could sit right where I was and do absolutely nothing. The trouble was, none of them sounded particularly appealing. Spending time with my friends had gotten so hard- I had to think about everything I said, while also trying to keep my face arranged in what felt like a happy expression. It was exhausting. But, I felt so anxious when I was alone, like Voldermort himself would drop in on me at any given moment.

I was trying to decide which was the lesser of the two evils when a tiny little voice in my head offered another option "You could go to the hospital wing"

I didn't even think about where I was going as I climbed through the common room door and took a left in the corridor. I vaguely noticed people passing by me, but I didn't register that I should smile or wave at them until it was too late. Oh well, at least if people thought I was rude no one would try to talk to me, right?

It wasn't until I got to the hospital wing door that I started thinking I had made the wrong choice. It was just a headache, Madam Pomfrey would surely laugh at me. But the thought of having the blinding ache behind my eyes stop was too enticing, and I walked through the heavy white door.

Luckily, it was empty. At least someone who was really sick, or hurt wouldn't see me being a baby about a simple headache. I had never actually been in here when Madam Pomfrey wasn't already treating someone, or expecting me, so I wasn't sure what to do. I didn't have to wonder about it long. I hadn't been inside the hospital wing a full minute when I heard footsteps coming down the small staircase in the far corner of the room.

"Hello dear. What can I do for you?" Madam Pomfrey greeted me, smiling. I had never seen her so calm... or so friendly. Briefly, I wondered why, and then I realized that I had rarely seen her when she wasn't in the midst of an emergency.

I gave her my best effort at a smile before answering, feeling slightly embarrassed about why I was there.

"I feel kind of silly even coming. It's just that, I woke up today with the worst headache. My entire head just feels... wrong, heavy somehow. And behind my eyes I keep having shooting pains." I said, trying my best to convey to her how bad my head hurt.

"Sounds like a migraine. Here, sit down." She said, motioning towards the closest bed.

"Does anything else hurt? Any nausea?" She asked, as she looked through a shelf of vials.

"No nausea, I haven't eaten anything, though. And nothing else hurts.. well, my neck does hurt, but I think I just slept wrong."

She came back, holding a small rectangular vial with an amber colored liquid in it.

"Definitely sounds like a migraine. Probably stress induced... you shouldn't worry so much." She said kindly, smiling at me again.

"Take this. It doesn't taste very good but its important that you drink it all. It will probably make you a little sleepy, so go straight to your common room when you leave. It should have you feeling better pretty quickly, but if you have any problems- side effects of any kind, or if it doesn't go away, come back immediately."

I nodded and took the vial from her, swallowing the contents in one drink. The thick liquid seemed to take forever to go down, and left a terrible bitter taste in my mouth. I winced, and shook my head before standing to go.

I turned towards the door, when she stopped me.

"Miss Granger?"

"Yes?"

"Never hesitate to come, no mater how minor your ailment seems. Not everyone only needs my help when someone is dying or unconscious."

"Thank you, Madam Pomfrey." I said, making another effort at a smile, but judging from the slight look of pity on her face, I doubt she was fooled.

I wasn't even back to the common room when I started yawning. Once I got there, I was surprised to see that the common room was completely empty. But then I realized it was probably a beautiful day outside, and normal people were enjoying it. I trudged to my room, barely making it to my bed before I was fast asleep.

When I finally woke up, I felt like I had slept for days... the deep, heavy sleep that only comes from cold medicine, or in my case- a headache cure. The feeling of cement in my head was gone, and I could open my eyes fully without wanting to squeeze them back shut. I stretched my arms above my head, and smiled when I realized even my neck had stopped hurting. My mood suddenly lifted and I hopped off my bed and made my way into the common room. Maybe spending some time with my friends wouldn't be so bad, now that I felt human.

But, my friends weren't there. Worse... no one was there. Suddenly, my heart dropped to me feet. Had something happened? Had IT happened and I slept right through it? Oh God, my friends could be in trouble... Draco would be wondering where I was, and I was taking a nap. I looked at my watch- trying to get a grip on anything, even something as small as the time- and my shoulders fell with relief. It was almost supper time. Everyone was in the Great Hall... getting ready to eat. At the thought of food, my stomach lurched and I remembered that I hadn't eaten anything all day.

You haven't done anything all day, I reminded myself, You slept away an entire day... what a waste.

I almost felt bad, and then I realized that no... it wasn't a waste. My headache was gone, and that was definitely worth missing studying or small talk.

When I walked through the doors of the Great Hall, I couldn't help but notice how loud it was...much louder than the usual buzz of conversation. Reflexively, I turned towards the source of the noise, only to find that it was coming from the Gryffindor table. They seemed to be in the middle of a celebration of some kind, but I couldn't imagine what could have happened in one day.

"Hey Harry, Ron. What's going on?"

"Oh... hey, Hermione." Harry answered distractedly, barely even looking away from the crowd of Gryffindors (mainly females) who seemed to be hanging on his every word.

Oh, okay. So Harry's done something miraculous again.

"What did I miss? Did something happen?" I asked, carefully.

Ron looked at me blankly for a minute, and then his expression changed to one of pure annoyance before he rolled his eyes at me.

"I know you've been pretty absent, Hermione, but surely even you can be a little bit happy for us." He said, his tone harsh and biting.

I wasn't sure what to say. I knew he was angry at me for not being around much, but now that I was trying to talk to him did he have to be so mean? Of course I would be happy for them, as soon as they told me what they had done... what had happened, what made today so... and then it hit me.

I glanced around the table and saw all the "Slaughter Slytherin" buttons looking back at me. The Gryffindor/Slytherin quidditch match. Ron was right.. even I should have remembered that, its all anyone had talked about for weeks. Even in my near-zombie state I had heard people talking about it, looking forward to it, placing bets, and making predictions. So how had I forgotten? How had it not even factored into my thoughts?

But... of course I wouldn't have thought about it, because I had barely talked to anyone lately... except Malfoy. But wait, Malfoy was Slytherin's seeker. Why hadn't he mentioned it? Without thinking, I glanced over at his table and saw that the Slytherins looked even more irritable than usual. Just as I was about to turn back and tell Harry and Ron I was sorry for being such an idiot, and that of course I was excited for their obvious win, a pair of deep grey eyes looked up and caught mine. Draco smiled at me briefly... a sad smile, that didn't reach his eyes, before turning back to his friends.

"Earth to Hermione..." Harry said, looking at me quizzically.

"No wonder you have no idea what's going on. You act like you are sleep walking half the time." Ron chimed in, still sounding annoyed.

I didn't want to argue with him, and part of me knew that he had every right to be angry at me, so I just smiled and apologized.

"I know I've been kind of... out of it lately... and I'm sorry. I just haven't been feeling right and I have a lot of things on my mind. I just wasn't thinking, I guess, but of course I am happy for you. I knew you guys would win, though... why does everyone seem so surprised?"

I was hoping that I could just play along and pretend that I had been at the game... rather than hiding under my covers all day. Silly of me to think that the universe might give me even the tiniest of breaks...

"You weren't there? Damn, Hermione, you really don't care about anything anymore, do you?" Ron asked, hurt and anger touching every word.

Harry stayed silent, but I could tell from the look on his face that he was disappointed, too.

"I'm really sorry, guys. I know you are tired of my excuses. Trust me... I'm tired of giving them, but I really couldn't come today. I didn't do anything... not even homework. I slept late and then went to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey gave me something that pretty much knocked me out, and I just woke up."

I smiled apologetically, hoping it sounded at least a little less pathetic to their ears than it did to mine.

"The hospital wing? What for? "

"Are you sick? Hurt?"

"What happened?"

Harry's and Ron's words came out in a rush, making it difficult for me to understand who was asking what, and they both suddenly seemed very interested in looking me up and down the best they could around the table.

"I'm fine... I'm actually good now. I just had a headache... felt like my head was going to explode. Madam Pomfrey said it sounded like a migraine, probably caused from stress. But, I took the medicine and fell asleep... and now I feel pretty good. I'm just starved."

The fact that I was hungry seemed to relax them a little, and they turned their focus back to their own food. As I was loading my plate up, I noticed that since Harry had turned his attention to me, and away from his admiring fans, the table had quieted down a lot. And then I remembered that I never did find out what great thing I had missed.

"So, Harry..." I managed to get out between bites of chicken. "What is it exactly that we're so happy about?"

"Arry nopped Alfof is droom" Ron mumbled excitedly, not seeming to care that his mouth was full of food.

"Swallow your food, Ronald." I said irritably "I couldn't understand a word you just said."

"Sorry" Ron said, sheepishly, after swallowing noisily.

"Don't apologize, just tell me what happened."

"Harry knocked Malfoy off his broom."

Ron and Harry were beaming at me, and somewhere.. deep in the back of my mind, I recognized that I should be excited with them. That's what they wanted from me... the reaction they expected from me. But, all of those thoughts were kept in the darkest corner of my mind because all I could think was Is he okay? Was he hurt? I shouldn't have gone to sleep...

Before I could stop myself, I turned towards the Slytherin table, desperately hoping that he would notice me looking and catch my eye. I just needed to look at him, to see his face... to know that he was okay.

"Hermione, what's up with you?"

I heard Harry and Ron trying to get my attention. I knew I should turn around and at least pretend I wasn't worried or upset- it was the least I could do if I couldn't muster up false excitement. Still, even as I knew that... no matter how much my mind was screaming at me to turn around and just have a nice supper with my friends... I couldn't turn back around. My eyes were glued on the blonde head of Draco Malfoy. I watched him lean around Trena Lentz, listening to whatever the tall, dark guy on the other side of her was saying.

I bit my lip, mentally begging him to turn and notice me. I was about to give up and turn around when someone on the other end of the table called his name, and he turned his head... looking right past me. But, before he answered whoever was calling him, he glanced back towards me. His eyes caught mine, and I could see the question behind them. He studied my face for a second, examining my expression, trying to decode the worry that was crossing my features- furrowing my brows, and wrinkling my fore head.

I shifted my eyes to my left, making sure Harry wasn't watching me anymore. I could only see his back, and I heard Ron's sputtering laughter across the table. They must have given up and started talking about something else.

I looked back to the other table, only to find Malfoy looking at me with a looking of pure impatience. Slowly, trying to exaggerate the movement my mouth would make with each sound, I mouthed at him "Are you okay?"

He looked confused for half a second, and then a cocky smirk played across his lips just before he rolled his eyes and nodded.

I smiled at him - a real smile, not the kind I had to force for Madam Pomfrey or Harry and Ron - and turned back to my food.

Several minutes later, we were all listening to Ginny talk about the time her dad decided to live like a muggle and refused to do any magic. Ron was piping in every few minutes - reminding Ginny of things she forgot, and each crazy situation Mr. Weasley had gotten into seemed to be funnier than the last. My jaw was aching from laughing, a problem I hadn't had in what seemed like ages.

Suddenly, the huge hanging lights in the Great Hall flickered once, and then went out completely. Everyone jumped, and several first years - and maybe a few of the older students, too - screamed. I wanted to scream. I wanted to jump. I wanted to run like hell out of the Great Hall and lock myself in a closet somewhere, but I couldn't move. I could barely breathe. I knew, instinctively- the way you know someone is looking at you, or that a day is going to go all wrong before you even get out of bed - that this was it. I instantly hated myself for wishing this would hurry and come so I wouldn't have to worry about it anymore. I would take all the dread and worry in the world over the feeling of shear panic that was building up in my chest... burning through my stomach.

So many things were going on around me, that it took me a minute to get a grasp on what I should do. I could hear the heavy doors to the Great Hall being thrown open and swinging shut as people, professors, I assumed, left. I could hear people talking in hushed whispers, and others practically screaming. My mind was so muddled with all the sounds that at first I didn't realize that I couldn't see anything. Without the lights on, the large room was pitch-black, just like the starless, moonless sky outside. I could barely even see the people beside me, let alone make out what the professors were doing. I couldn't figure out why Dumbledore hadn't done something already.. why he hadn't said anything. He was here wasn't he? I had been so confused when I came in that I hadn't noticed if he was at the professors table or not. If Dumbledore wasn't here... I shook my head, forcing the thought out of my mind.

Suddenly, I felt a hand rest lightly on my shoulder. I jumped, and felt my breath catch in my throat. I spun around quickly, not sure if I should expect to see Harry and Ron standing there, or Voldermort himself. Instead, it was Malfoy's voice that whispered in my ear, his words forcing some reason into my rattled brain.

"Just remember, stay near me." I turned towards his voice, and was startled to see that he was close enough for me to make out the shape of his face in the darkness. I swallowed hard, and nodded, realizing too late that he might not be able to see the gesture. And then, just as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone.

So that settled it, Malfoy had just confirmed that this was what I thought it was. His father and a number of other Death Eaters were somewhere in the castle... doing whatever it was they had to do. The only thought that offered me comfort was that I wasn't expected to do anything. This wasn't where I came in. My only job was to stay where Malfoy could see me. I almost laughed at the thought... Draco couldn't see anything. None of us could.

Why is it still dark in here? We are witches and wizards... for the love of God, why hasn't someone done something about the--

I was pulled out of my thoughts by the sound of "Lumos" being yelled from the professor's table. Taking their lead, several students also reached for their wands and cast the spell. It took me a second, but I eventually focused myself enough to light my own wand.

Somehow, the room being lit by hundreds of wands almost made it creepier than when it had been completely dark. I could now see the scared expressions on my classmates faces, and that made my own fear seem more real. I had been hiding inside my own head for so long, that I was startled at the realization that this was about much more than just me. Just because I was the one who had been thrown head first into this mess long before anyone else even knew there was a problem, didn't mean it didn't effect every single one of us.

I could tell that Dumbledore was faltering through his plea for us to remain calm and stay seated. Whatever was going on had obviously caught him completely off guard, and that alone was enough to make everyone anything but calm.

"We will be returning to the common rooms soon enough, but for the time being, prefects, please make every effort to keep your houses under control."

I stood up and felt my legs waver beneath me. I turned towards Ron, hoping he wasn't as shaken as me. I had no doubts that if someone from Gryffindor tried to cause a problem, I wouldn't even know how to attempt to stop them. I was relieved to see that he only looked a little anxious. He smiled at me, and we walked toward the head of the table.

I looked over at the table closest to us and saw Malfoy standing watch over his own house. His expression was calculated, but not exactly nervous and that made me feel slightly better. I followed his gaze, to the front of the Great Hall at the professors table. Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were the only ones left... apparently everyone else was out looking for whatever the problem was. For the first time, I wondered what had actually happened. The lights had gone out, but surely that alone wasn't enough to get Dumbledore so rattled. Something must have happened that we weren't aware of.

"Right crazy, huh Hermione?" Ron said quietly, leaning towards me slightly as he spoke.

"Definitely." I didn't trust myself to say much more, it was too difficult judging what I should know, and what I should be thinking.

I felt extremely awkward standing up in front of everyone like that. The anxiety in the room had suddenly channeled itself into silence; everyone seemed to be avoiding so much as breathing hard.

The doors to the great hall suddenly swung open and Professor Snape came rushing through, his black robes billowing behind him as he walked. Every head turned and followed him as he walked to Professor Dumbledore and spoke in rushed whispers, glancing around the room once as he spoke.

As soon as Snape was done talking, Professor Dumbledore turned to face his anxious students.

"While I am still confident there is no eminent danger, we have made the decision that, for now, it is best that you do not return to your common rooms. It is much easier for us to know where everyone is and that everyone is safe if you are all here together. It also allows for us to keep watch on the entire castle, if the Heads of Houses are not forced to stay with you all in the common rooms."

A quite buzz spread over the tables, students expressions ranging from terrified to excited.

I, personally felt immensely relieved. For days I had been so focused on Draco telling me I needed to stay near him, that I had built it up in my head to be something difficult to achieve. I had ran scenarios through my mind over and over, thinking up excuses for why I wasn't where I was supposed to be. And now, here Dumbledore was, giving me exactly what I hadn't even dared to hope for. Logically, I knew that if something was going to happen to me... if someone wanted to hurt me, Draco wouldn't be able to stop them. But that didn't stop me from feeling like at least something was going my way.

Lost in my thoughts, I missed everything else Dumbledore said, so I was surprised when everyone started standing up. Almost instantly, the long tables disappeared and were replaced with a shiny navy blue blanket that appeared beneath our feet covering the entire floor of the Great Hall, and hundreds of pale gold pillows were thrown in rows across the room.

I was instantly reminded of the room that had become my favorite place to spend time lately, and a small smile crossed my lips. I instinctively turned toward where Draco was standing just in time to see him turn his gaze quickly away from me.