DISCLAIMER: I don't own Harry Potter, nor am I affiliated in any way with J.K. Rowling.

The same night, Draco lay in his bed, frustrated at his inability to get to sleep and frustrated even more by the girl preventing him from doing so. He hadn't expected Hermione to try and talk to him again after what he'd said to her, but he was a little disappointed that she hadn't made more of an effort or put up a bit of a fight. Still, he caught her glancing at him from time to time across a room or when they were both outside. He tried so hard not to look back, he really did, but he couldn't help but watch her. The way she moved, talked and laughed…although she hadn't been doing much of the last one recently. If Draco was one for self-loathing then he'd have a very bad case of it on his hands right now. Luckily he wasn't, so he didn't. He did, however, feel guilty for not having more faith and trust in the girl. Maybe if he'd told her what Trayton had confided in him, she'd understand. Or maybe she'd hate him forever and never speak to him again. Having a feeling that it was the latter option that would happen, he had just kept silent and chosen to protect her from the truth.

Although, thinking about it, that was absolute rubbish.

In truth, it had been himself he'd been trying to protect. In Hermione he'd found everything he'd been complaining about not having in the Slytherins: humour, intelligence and wit. He'd even found things he hadn't been looking for, like kindness and understanding. This alone shouldn't worry him, except…well, once he had initially began to pick out her few redeeming qualities to make spending time with her more bearable, he found that, even weeks later, he hadn't been able to stop naming the things he liked about her. His concentration had gone to hell, he was constantly struggling with himself not to speak to her and feelings of guilt were gnawing him up. All in all, he was being completely pathetic and it really unnerved him. He had been brought up with parents (well, a father) who worshipped the single most evil wizard that ever lived…strong affection of any type wasn't really condoned in the Malfoy household.

So were his growing feelings just an act of rebellion? No, they felt real somehow. Not that he had much (okay, any) experience to draw from but he just knew. Now the question was what he was supposed to do about it. He wasn't one of these strong types who suffered in silence about forbidden love. He was more the 'I like her so I'll go for it' type.

Making his decision to talk to her again in the morning, he turned over in his bed and fell asleep.

Little did he know that, several floors above him, the object of his affections was quietly crying her heart out over him…and not in the way he would've wanted.

Hermione lay awake until the sun began its slow climb over the grounds. As the first rays struggled through the window, she sniffed slightly and rubbed at her eyes. Each tear that had fallen that night felt as though it had scarred her skin and that everyone would be able to tell she was upset. But Lavender and Parvati did nothing but glance at her as they got ready and grace her with a few moments of conversation.

"Didn't you sleep at all last night?" Lavender asked as she dragged a brush through her hair.

Hermione shook her head, not quite able to get out of bed just yet. Her mind kept going back to one specific thing. She didn't know for sure that Draco knew about who had killed Zella, so there really was no reason to be upset, right? Right. Only, the feeling in the pit of Hermione's stomach told her that Draco knew. He knew and he had kept it from her.

"I can lend you some makeup if you want," Lavender continued. "I mean, you can use magic but sometimes it's just nice to make the effort with makeup." She and Parvati exchanged a sly look. "Especially if you want to impress a certain someone."

"I'm not in love with Harry or Ron," Hermione said, for what she felt must have been the hundredth time ever since she had met the girls.

"We're not saying that you are," Parvati giggled. "We've been seeing you in the library a lot recently with…" she trailed off as she and Lavender smirked triumphantly at the potential scandal that the gossip they had could cause.

"It's nothing," Hermione muttered, slumping back onto her pillows.

"We're just saying, it's weird," Parvati said with a shrug, turning to her mirror and fixing her hair. "I mean, you and Dra-"

"It's nothing," Hermione repeated in a hiss. "He had a problem that I tried to help him with and now we-"

"There's a 'we'?" Lavender interrupted, pouncing on the potential information.

"No," Hermione sighed wearily. "And there never was. So before you go around telling Harry, Ron and whoever else-"

"You mean they don't know?!" Parvati asked, scandalized.

"-you want to tell, just remember that there's nothing to actually tell," Hermione finished, putting a palm over her closed eyes to negate the effects of the headache she could feel coming on.

"That's a shame," Lavender began slowly and in a way that instantly made Hermione suspicious.

"Yeah," Parvati agreed in the exact same tone.

"What?" Hermione asked, sitting up and glaring at the girls.

"Nothing," Parvati shrugged but she glanced at Lavender to finish off their apparently shared train of thought.

"Just that…well, forbidden love is the best love of all," Lavender finished with a sort of contented sigh.

Hermione flopped back onto the bed with a groan.

"So romantic," Parvati agreed. "Sworn enemies falling in love…striving to hide their relationship from their loved ones whilst maintaining the spark that drove them together in the first place."

"Definitely," Lavender agreed.

"Have you been reading Muggle romance books again?" Hermione asked, pressing her hand firmly down on her now pounding head.

"Well, yes, but-"

"Don't make me regret turning you both onto reading," Hermione warned. "And for the love of Merlin, don't go spreading around your theories."

"The Slytherins would probably band together and kill you for going out with one of their own or something," Lavender laughed.

"I can actually see them doing that," Parvati giggled. "Well, we should be getting down to breakfast. Don't leave it too late, Hermione, or else all the good food will be gone."

They left, leaving Hermione close to tears as their words brought back the awful memory of the horrific dream.

"Where's Hermione this morning?" Ron asked as soon as Lavender and Parvati walked, giggling about something, down the staircase from the girl's dormitory. "She's usually here by now."

"She didn't sleep last night," Parvati told him. "Pining for a man she can't have."

"Pining for a who she can't what?"

"Nothing," Lavender trilled, exiting the room with Parvati in tow.

"Those girls…" Ron sighed, shaking his head at them. "Seriously, they should have been institutionalized a long time ago."

"You think that of all girls," Harry pointed out, standing next to Ron as they both waited for Hermione.

"It's true for most girls," Ron answered.

"Just the ones we seem to know."

"Yeah."

Moments passed in silence.

"Right, I'm bored, what's taking her so long?" Ron grumbled.

"Bored or hungry?"

"Both."

"I just don't get why we can't go up there," Harry sighed. "Well, I mean, I do, obviously, but it's really annoying at times like this."

"Well I'm not going to potions on an empty stomach," Ron declared, folding his arms stubbornly. "Hey," he added suddenly to a petrified first year girl. "Can you go up there and get Hermione Granger for us? She's got bushy hair and probably looks really scary as it's first thing in the morning. Thanks."

The girl gave a nod and scampered out of sight.

"Probably looks really scary?" Harry repeated, raising his eyebrows. "Hermione would kill you if she heard you say that."

"I can't be held accountable for anything I say before I've had breakfast."

Harry laughed and comfortable silence fell again as they waited for Hermione.

"She's on her way down," the first year informed them nervously before almost falling over herself to get away from the boys.

"Is she scared of us because we're older, because we're boys or because you're Harry Potter?" Ron asked, shaking his head.

"All of the above, I'm betting," Harry sighed. There was a noise in front of them and he smiled. "Hey Hermi…oh."

"That bad, huh?" Hermione asked with a weak laugh.

It really was. She was shaking, pale and her eyes were heavy and only just starting to lose their red tinge. Her robes seemed to hang off her, but this was only due to the way she was holding herself.

"Hermione, what…?" Ron began, his eyes wide with concern and all thoughts of food forgotten.

"I really don't want to talk about it," she said in a voice that strained just above a murmur. "Can we go to breakfast?"

"Sure," Harry replied uncertainly.

He could tell that Ron was just as unsure as he was as to whether they should prop Hermione up in case she fell over, which she looked very likely to do. She seemed to wobble with every step she took so they walked slowly to breakfast. Ron didn't complain once. Well, not audibly.

"Blimey, Hermione, you okay?" several Gryffindors, including Ginny, Dead and Seamus asked as Ron and Harry all but guided her into her seat.

"I'm fine," she answered although her voice and movements showed differently.

Her friends kept a wary eye on her throughout the meal. Something had deeply unsettled her and they - Harry and Ron in particular - were determined to find out what it was. The boys were sure that Hermione's sudden change had something to do with Zella. After all, what else could happen so drastically over night?

"So…we have any essays to do for Snape?" Ron asked, trying to break the silence that had settled around them.

"He almost forced me to re-do that Fountain of Youth essay," Harry grumbled, glad of a new topic. "I still can't believe we all got different marks for that."

"It was worthy of a high grade," Ron commented with a nod. "I make sure I only plagiarize the very best."

He and Harry smiled encouragingly at Hermione, who kept her head down and was frowning sadly into her bowl of porridge, stirring it listlessly with a spoon.

"You…you should probably eat something," Harry said, exchanging a worried glance with Ron. "You know, get your strength up for potions today."

"Yeah," Ron agreed with a forced laugh, "I don't care that you're getting along with Malfoy, he's still a pain to be in the same class as."

Hermione blinked once and a tear slid down her cheek. Keeping her head down, she pressed her lips together and squeezed her eyes tightly shut. The last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of all these people…even of the majority of them weren't paying her any attention. She felt a hand on her shoulder and all of a sudden Harry was murmuring in her ear and Ron was shifting himself to allow them to pass.

"Should we go back to the common room?" Harry suggested quietly. "Do you want that?"

Feeling like a child, Hermione nodded wordlessly and, keeping her eyes averted from everyone, she and her friends swept out of breakfast.

Luckily no one really noticed, except for Draco.

He ignored Pansy who was trying to attract his attention and instead watched Hermione leave. She was obviously upset over something but pride prevented her from crying in public. That was something Draco definitely respected. He was glad that her idiot friends had accompanied her, although it irritated him that they had taken so long to acknowledge that she was close to tears. He just wished that he had been the one to comfort her.

"I will kill him," Ron hissed to Harry as Hermione sat sobbing near the fire.

"We need to find out what he did," Harry said, barely managing to keep his quiet voice level.

"Harry, if he so much as touched her-"

"I know," Harry nodded, looking over to Hermione. She was staring desolately at a spot on the carpet, her knees hunched up to her chest. "If he did then he's already dead."

They knew Hermione well enough not to ask her what was wrong; she'd tell them in her own time. They were surprised, though, when she managed to compose herself and heaved herself up.

"Whoa whoa whoa, where do you think you're going?" Ron demanded, quickly standing up with her.

"Potions," Hermione answered, smoothing down her robes and wiping her eyes delicately.

She started towards the portrait hole, leaving Harry and Ron bewildered.

"But, Hermione, you-"

"You were crying and-"

"You're really upset and I don't think seeing…him…will make it any better!"

Hermione turned around, a smile fixed determinedly onto her face.

"I'm a little emotional right now but that's no reason to miss a lesson," she said, sounding like her old self and someone completely new at the same time. "Especially one as important as potions. We may not like the teacher but that doesn't mean that the subject doesn't have valuable aspects that we can definitely use in later life."

"Well…if you're sure," Harry said uncertainly.

"Of course I am," Hermione said with that unnatural smile. "Come on or we'll be late."

They weren't late, although it was a close call. Which was actually a good thing, as Harry and Ron didn't get the chance to murder Malfoy as they passed him briefly in the dungeon. Instead they sat in the furthest place away from him that they possibly could and set Hermione protectively between them. The boys were giving off such 'mess with her and die' vibes that even Snape didn't seem to pick on them as much that lesson. Of course, he still aimed snide remarks their way occasionally, particularly when Ron's cauldron turned itself into a tangerine. Ron stared at it for a moment before sighing in defeat.

"I don't even know how that happened."

At least it got a giggle from Hermione, albeit a quiet one.

"I mean, I wasn't even making a potion to transform things," Ron continued, gesturing to it disparagingly. "And even if I was, it shouldn't have affected the cauldron."

"That's what you get for buying cut-price cauldrons, Weasley," Snape commented coldly as he passed by. "At least your friends' potions are somewhat adequate, perhaps you should look to them for inspiration."

"Perhaps you should shut up," Ron muttered as Snape walked away.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and don't let me catch you saying that ever again," Snape called back almost lazily, as though bored of continually stripping Gryffindor of their points.

"Want me to get you a spare cauldron?" Hermione asked sympathetically as Ron poked his own mutated cauldron with his wand.

"Please," Ron answered with a frown of pure concentration. "Now, if I just…"

Hermione got up and made her way to the supplies cabinet. A few moments later there was a large squelch as Ron exploded the tangerine.

"Damn it!" he shouted, earning further point reductions.

Hermione smiled as she gathered up another set of ingredients and placed them carefully inside the precariously balanced cauldron that was in danger of tipping from the shelf…

"Need any help with that?"

The cauldron tumbled to the ground with a thunk and rolled there for a few moments. Everyone in the class glanced towards her before turning back to their own word.

"Not from you," Hermione spat, kneeling down to gather the ingredients back up.

Unfortunately, Draco ignored her and tried to help anyway, kneeling next to her.

"What's up with you?" he asked indignantly as she slapped his hand away the moment it touched hers.

Hermione froze for a moment. Did she really want to confront him here? Making up her mind, she glanced up at him, her eyes shining and her mouth trembling.

"I found out who killed Zella," she whispered slowly.

Immediately Draco's hard mask of a face softened. His eyes flashed with alarm although he tried to hide it. Hermione, determined to keep eye contact, looked at him. How much had their relationship changed in the past few weeks? So much and yet not enough. Did he know that he occupied her thoughts? Did he care? So many questions, and yet they could all be answered by his reply to her next question.

"I'll only ask this once," she began, her voice wobbling slightly, "and, please, I need the truth." She searched his eyes one last time. "Did you know Trayton killed Zella?"

Holding her gaze, Draco was silent for a moment. Then he blinked, just once, and looked down at the ground. That was all Hermione needed.

"I knew it," she spat, although the tears in her eyes diluted the venom in her tone.

"Hermione-"

"I trusted you," she reminded him, her voice cracking.

"You still can," Draco implored, sounding too much like he was begging but not managing to care. All dignity and pride had been thrown aside now that his and Hermione's friendship (or whatever it was they had) was in real jeopardy.

Hermione shook her head, tears streaming. She opened and closed her mouth but, not able to find any words, pushed herself off the ground and half-ran from the room.

Draco cursed and made to go after her. He hadn't told her because she'd hate him, didn't she see that? He didn't like staying away from her, it had been for the best! He reached the door when Potter and Weasley appeared, snarling and with their wands at his throat.

"Move," he snapped, any patience he may have had with them quickly vanishing.

"What did you do to her?" Weasley demanded, blocking the door.

"Nothing!" Draco protested.

"Don't lie," Potter snarled, his eyes narrowing behind the frames of his glasses. "She's been a wreck recently and all we know is that it has something to do with you and this mess you got her mixed up in."

"She was helping me!"

"And you treated her like she was worthless!"

Finally, Snape noticed what was going on and strode towards them.

"Wands away," he ordered sharply. When the Gryffindors didn't comply, he scowled. "Wands away," he repeated with more force.

Glaring all the while, Potter and Weasley reluctantly pocketed their wands.

"You're not good for her," Weasley told him harshly. "Whatever delusion you've got going on, give it up. It won't happen. It didn't happen with Zella and Trayton and it won't happen with you and Hermione. Nothing's changed."

They went back to their seats, muttering as they went. Draco watched them go. Weasley was wrong. Everything had changed. He just had to make Hermione see that.

A/N:

Hey everyone, very tired so I'll make this quick. Thank you so much for your reviews and for getting Echo to over the 100 mark! Why Trayton killed Zella will become clear in the coming chapters, so patience is required for anyone who wants a reason now (:

Have a great week everyone!

- Momo