A/N This was longer than I expected, just to warn you. But it's totally worth it, trust me.

The next day, the bandages around Hermione's head were off, and she felt much better. She had had to stay the night in the hospital wing, but had only put up minimal fuss about it. That morning, Madam Pomfrey had tried to convince her to stay one more night, but Hermione had insisted that she felt fine.

In the Great Hall that day, Ron was pestering Hermione with questions.

"Are you okay? Oh, I guess Madam Pomfrey can heal anything, but still."

"I'm fine, Ron."

"What was Malfoy doing?"

Hermione decided to play dumb. "Malfoy? What do you mean?"

"He was carrying you," Ron sounded disgusted.

"I'm sure he was just being nice. I was knocked out, you know." Too late, Hermione realized what she had said.

"Malfoy? Nice? Ha. Ha. Ha. Funny, Hermione."

"That's not what I- "

"Come on." Harry slid out of his seat nearby. "We've got a lot of work to do."

In the common room, Harry and Ron grudgingly got out their books, but Hermione fidgeted.

"You know? I think I'll go to the library. It'll be quieter," she said.

"Okay," Ron replied. "We'll come with you."

"No, that's okay, Ron. It won't be a lot of fun."

"Really," he insisted. "Harry and I want to come." So, they all headed off to the library, Hermione still protesting feebly that they didn't need to be there.

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Ron trailed Hermione for three days. Finally, she got so impatient that she shook him off after lunch with a lie about needing to use the bathroom. While he waited outside the door, she slipped out the back door of the bathroom and ran to the empty classroom.

Draco's back was to her.

"Before you ask," she panted, trying to catch her breath, "I did not blow you off. You have no idea how clingy some people can be."

She heard a tiny smile in his voice. "I'm assuming you're talking about the Weasel."

"He's really not that bad. He's just worried about me. He's my friend."

"What about me?" he asked softly, still facing away.

Hermione froze. "What?"

"What am I?"

"My friend," she replied, only a little hesitant.

He nodded slowly. "Friend," he whispered. "Time to go. Doesn't do to be late."

She caught a glimpse of his face as he left. It was surprised, and happy.

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The next day, Hermione managed to slip away again. Ron would be really angry with her for ditching hem two days in a row, but she thought it was worth it. This time, when she got to the classroom, Draco was facing her. His face relaxed as she walked in.

She grinned. "Hey."

He smiled, too. "Hello."

Hermione dropped her deadly heavy bag and rolled her aching shoulder. "God, I'm exhausted," she yawned. "Getting a concussion really takes it out of you."

Draco laughed. "Well, what did you expect?"

"Good point." She walked over and sat next to him on the desk he was on. He blinked, but looked pleased and made room for her.

Hermione closed her eyes and leaned her head on his shoulder. Now Draco looked positively shocked, but he didn't move away.

"This is new," he said, sounding almost nervous, but trying not to.

"Mmm-hmmm." Hermione yawned again. Then, to her astonishment, Draco wrapped his arms around her and put his chin on her head. Her eyes opened and she looked up at him. He looked so content. She closed her eyes again. She could fall asleep here, so warm and comfortable in his arms…

The door burst open with a bang. "Her- HERMIONE!?!" Ron bellowed. Behind him were Harry, Cho, and Ginny. Hermione reacted instinctively. She tore away from Draco and raced to the door, shoving past them, leaving her bag behind. She darted down the corridor, away from everyone. Where could she go? Not the library; that was too obvious. Not the hospital wing, or Hagrid's hut. So she just ran. Sooner or later, she found herself at the portrait of the fat lady guarding Gryffindor tower. She gasped the password and scrambled in, dashing up the staircase to the girl's dormitory. Maybe they wouldn't think she would be stupid enough to come here. The boys couldn't come up the girl's staircase, and neither could Cho, since she wasn't in Gryffindor, but Hermione couldn't escape Ginny for long.

She was right. Not ten minutes later, Ginny climbed up the stairs and dropped Hermione's bag on the floor.

"And if she is there," Ron yelled from the common room, "tell her that if she ever comes down, I'll jinx her from here to America!"

"Yeah, Ron. Sure," Ginny called back. "I'll tell her." She turned to Hermione. "I guess you heard that. But he's right, you know. You have some explaining to do."

Hermione could barely hold it in. She was tempted to burst into tears. "Nobody gets it," she snapped harshly. " Nobody even tries to understand. They just see it and judge. They're so bloody prejudiced!"

"Whoa, calm down, Hermione," Ginny soothed. "It's okay. I'm not judging." She held out her hands in a peace offering. "Not judging. Now, start from the beginning. Tell me." So Hermione did. She told Ginny about breaking up with Ron, and Draco's break up with Pansy. She talked about going to the classroom, and 'blowing off' Draco, and how pissed he'd been. She told her about falling and hitting her head and how Ron had been so clingy, and Draco had seemed so relieved that she was okay. She talked and talked and talked. She told Ginny everything. "Draco's not bad," she finished. "He's my friend."

"I have to say," Ginny replied dryly, "that that in the classroom looked like more than just friendship."

Hermione went scarlet. "That was just… I mean… what happened was…"

Ginny cut her off. "It's okay. I understand now. I don't know if it makes me like Malfoy any more, but I do get it."

"Thanks. But what about them?" Hermione pointed in the direction of the common room. "I don't think they care about why I did what I did. They just care that Draco is in Slytherin."

"I don't know. Cho will probably hear you out. She'd probably understand as well. And Harry would listen to Cho if she said that Snape is really a cool guy and the actual enemy is Professor Flitwick." Hermione smiled. "If you convince Cho, and I'm pretty sure you can, you convince Harry. I'm not so sure about Ron, though. If there is one thing I've learned about him by being his sister, it's that he only listens to people of they say what he wants to hear. I hat to say it, but I'm afraid you'll be fighting a long battle with that one," Ginny said.

Hermione sighed. "You're right. But I'm afraid to go down. I think Ron meant what he said about the jinx."

"You could always put up a shield charm as a precaution," Ginny told her. "I'll go down first and tell Ron that if he does any thing to you, I'll do my bat- bogey hex, and he'll be sorry."

She nodded, and Ginny went down, Hermione following. She heard Ginny talking softly to Ron, and then her name. She walked out and turned to Cho.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked the Ravenclaw girl. Cho seemed a bit taken aback, but nodded. Ron was looking daggers at Hermione, as was Harry.

Hermione climbed out of the portrait hole and stood next to Cho in the corridor. And she talked. She told her everything she had told Ginny. And Cho did understand.

"I felt sort of the same way when I started going out with Harry," she said. "Everyone in my house thought I was crazy. I know that it isn't really the same, but I'll talk to Harry, okay?"

"Thanks, Cho," Hermione said gratefully.

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A/N I need more reviews! I've only gotten about 4, and that's less than one per chapter! Come on, people! I'm sorry I had to spoil such a perfect Hermione/Draco moment! I actually stopped typing for about ten minutes because I wanted it to just go on and on. But don't worry! There are more coming up! The next chapter will be coming up soon, with another trip to the hospital. Review!