Memo: Now I know what you're going to say in the review. Use Bold/Italics instead of caps but I couldn't help it. When I see capital letters I imagine screaming at the top of my lungs, thus the use below. Secondly you're probably wondering why it took me so long to update. I just haven't had the time. My computers crashed and now it takes me 20 minutes to load a page, so I've been stuck reading manga. But I have thought up some ideas for a future story: My own version of the 7th book. Maybe. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter and the other 6 I'm putting up today. Just so you know I will tell you what's wrong with Hermione in the following chapters.

When Hermione woke the next morning, Draco was snoring gently. She smiled at his sleeping figure. She thought about how awkward it would be if he woke up and had a change of heart and began to call her a filthy mud blood, and she frowned. With a heavy sigh she removed herself from his enticing hold and slipped out of bed.
She dressed quietly, watching him sleep. He laid on his stomach now, his face buried in the pillow. So she walked over beside him and sat down on the side of the bed. She stroked his back gently and watched him breathe deeply.
He fingers traced along the scar on his back. It was a nasty welt/scar that laced between his shoulder blades. She shuddered and felt tears prick her eyes at the thought of anyone hurting Draco.

She backed away slowly and rushed from his bedroom and then out of the Common Room. She would go and eat with Ron, Harry, and Ginny. She might even tell them. Who knows?
So she descended down the Grand Staircase, saying hello to the few people who waved.
She reached the Great Hall and looked around. It was filled with students slowly wandering in for a hearty breakfast before attending classes. Her eyes scanned the crowds, and she saw that Ron, Harry, and Ginny were all whispering quietly to one another at the Gryffindor table.
She rushed over to them, a mildly faltering smile on her face.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully and snatched a piece of toast, spreading jam over it quietly. "I trust you all had a good weekend," she added. They sighed and looked at her strangely. They were hiding something. She could tell by the looks in their eyes. She lowered her head and concentrated on her toast.

"How was your weekend?" Ginny asked hopefully. Hermione looked up at her and gave her a small smile.

"It was alright," she shrugged and began to nibble on the corner of her toast. Harry sighed loudly. Ron was looking at her strangely. His face was all scrunched up and his face was a light shade of pink. His eyes were focusing on her with some sort of strange amount of affection. She didn't understand.

"Ron, are you alright?" she asked him. She saw the tears forming in his eyes.

"No, Hermione. I'm not all right. Not all right in the least," he said through clenched teeth in a high-pitched voice. Hermione frowned. She placed a hand gently on his.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You took… Malfoy with you to St. Mungo's… and now… you're lying… again," he said gruffly, not looking her in the eyes. Hermione went pale once again and she began to bite on her lip. Tears filled her eyes and she looked away for a moment. Her three so-called friends just started at her in silence.

"How do you know?" she asked in a whisper of a voice.

"BECASE WE WERE BLOODY THERE!" Ron shouted at her. Hermione's eyes darted towards Harry and Ginny.

"Leave me out of this," Ginny grumbled and stood, stalking angrily away from the table. Harry sat there, staring at his food, unable to meet Hermione's glare.

"So, you purposely went against my wishes, followed me, invaded my privacy, and did something so immoral that I'm in utter disbelief, just because I wasn't telling you every single thing that goes on in my life?" Hermione asked him, her voice steadily rising. Other people were beginning to lose interest in their conversations and pay attention to the heating argument.

"Well Hermione, it's not like it's some silly secret that concerns who you think is cute and whatnot! Bloody hell, Hermione! We're talking about your LIFE!" he shouted at her. Hermione's eyes darted around the silent Great Hall, everyone turning and staring at the two yelling at each other.
She grabbed his arm and stalked with him out of the Great Hall and in front of the Grand Staircase.

"Ronald Weasley, you are acting like an immature hooligan!" Hermione snapped at him. "We are talking about my life! MY LIFE! Not yours, not Harry's, mine!"

"YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND, HERMIONE!" Ron screamed reason at her. Hermione snarled at him, stepping towards him, her frail figure actually intimidating him.

"Don't you start with me, Ronald! Best friends DO NOT do the things you have done! BEST FRIENDS DO NOT stalk, sneak around, and poke their noses into the other's PRIVATE and PERSONAL lives!" she shouted at him. He was slowly turning red, the color spreading up his neck and into his ears.

"Hermione, you think you know everything! Obviously you DON'T KNOW what it means to be a BEST FRIEND!" he shouted back at her.
Hermione felt a wave of dizziness come over her. Her vision went out of focus for a moment and she could not see Ron. She felt as if she had become trapped in thick fog. Her mind scrambled about and she took a deep steadying breath and everything slowed down and came into focus.

"Obviously you don't either," she said quietly, not having the strength to raise her voice any louder.

"IN THE NAME OF MERLIN, HERMIONE!" Ron screamed at her, his saliva flying in her face. Anger boiled inside of her. Rage was pumping through her veins.

"DON'T SCREAM AT ME RONALD WEASLEY! DON'T EVEN THINK THAT YOU CAN GET AWAY WITH TALKING TO ME LIKE THIS!"

"I CAN TALK TO YOU ANY WAY I WANT, YOU TRAITOR! HERMIONE, IT'S DRACO MALFOY!" Ron screamed at her, his eyes bulging from his head.
Hermione pursed her lips tightly, her entire face scrunching up.

"SO THAT'S WHAT THIS IS ALL ABOUT? THIS ISN'T ABOUT MY HEALTH! THIS IS ABOUT YOUR JEALOUSY! YOU'RE JEALOUS THAT I CHOSE TO GO WITH DRACO MALFOY INSTEAD OF YOU! THE NERVE YOU HAVE… I PICKED HIM BECAUSE HE'S BEEN A BETTER FRIEND TO ME IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS THAN YOU HAVE IN THIS ENTIRE RELATIONSHIP!" she screamed at him. Ron turned completely beat red.

"I AM BETTER THAN THAT FOUL LITTLE FERRET! YOU JUST DON'T SEE IT BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO OCCUPIED WALLOWING IN SELF-PITY THAT YOU'RE COMPLETELY FORGETTING ABOUT ME AND HARRY!"

"THAT'S NOT FAIR, RONALD!"

"YES IT IS, HERMIONE! AND IF YOU PREFER MALFOY'S COMPANY SO MUCH THEN WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO TO HIM!" he screamed at her.
Hermione felt the tears rush over her cheeks and she turned and began to run up the Grand Staircase.
Something happened… something clicked inside of her…

She remembered Malfoy's kiss…

Ron picking her up…

The polka dot boxers…

The laughter…

The pain…

The medicine…

The guilt…

The doctors…

The healers…

Losing friendships…

Loving Malfoy…

Ron turned to shout at Hermione again, but he saw her swaying halfway up the first set of stairs. Her grip on the railing was loosening. Her legs were trembling… she looked as if she were about to fall…

"Hermione!" he called out to her.

Hermione barely heard his cry. She was lost, trapped in a rush of memories both painful and beautiful. A final tear slipped from her eye as her consciousness slipped into complete black…

Ron watched in helpless horror as Hermione fell backwards on the stairs. He watched, frozen to the floor, as she seemed to float in air because she seemed to be falling so slowly…

It was the sound of the back of her head cracking against the marble stair that made Ron start to scream. She toppled down the stairs and Ron was screaming at the top of his lungs as her limp body tumbled down step after step…

She rolled to a stop on the floor, her face hidden beneath her hair. He rushed to her side. He lifted her into his lap and cradled her head in his hand. He felt it was warm and sticky, and he heard the dripping… the dripping… the dripping of her blood…

"Oh my god!" someone screamed from the Grand Staircase.

"Get help!" Ron sobbed hysterically.

He pulled the hair from her eyes. He saw her half open stare, the blood dripping from her nose and from between her lips… he could feel the faint pulse in her neck… it had already begun…

Hermione was dying in his arms.