Draco tried to catch up to Hermione, but when he didn't see her in any of the hallways right outside of the Great Hall, he realized that she must have broken into a run after she left the room. She could be anywhere now. He was about to turn back and finish his meal when he heard a light scream coming from just around one of the hallway corners. He ran to the turn in the corridor and looked around it to see Lavender Brown, who had a hold of none other than Hermione by her long, curly hair. He stood by and watched.

"I'm warning you, Granger!" Hermione grunted in pain, as Lavender had pulled a bit harder on her hair when she yelled, but Lavender continued. "Do not get near Ron. He doesn't need you anymore! He's got me now." Lavender held Hermione's hair even tighter in her hands if that was possible, causing Hermione to let out another yelp and being to cry. "Did you hear me?"

Draco took a step around the corner and made his presence known. Lavender flinched as she realized who had walked out from behind the wall. His eyes were covered by his light blond bangs, making him look even more intimidating. He began to walked towards the two girls.

"I think she heard your pig squeals," Draco said as he took his hands out of his pants pockets. "So let her go."

Lavender just stood there, quaking in fear. Everyone was scared of Draco Malfoy, except Hermione, Harry, and Ron of course. While she needed to make sure Hermione stayed away from Ron, crossing Malfoy was not worth it. She let go of Hermione's hair and pushed her to the ground. Lavender then backed away and ran in the opposite direction. Hermione pushed herself into a sitting position and rubbed her sore head. She was crying very hard and her eyes once again looked bloodshot like they had the night before when Draco had found her outside of his common room. Draco looked down at her, realizing and contemplating what he had just done. Hermione tried to calm herself. She looked up to see that Draco was no longer there. She stood up with her hands still on her head.

"Draco…" she whispered.

Draco was running back to the Great Hall, trying not to look back. Why did he do that? Save a Mudblood...?

Draco, lost in thought, he hit someone as he ran and fell to the ground. Draco looked up to see who had blocked his path, and was beyond mad. "Watch yourself Potter!" he screamed as he gave an effort to stand back up. Ron was helping Harry up, both giving Draco angry and threatening faces. Draco scoffed at Ron's attentiveness to one of his friends, while his other had just been attacked by his new girlfriend.

"You watch out for Harry but not for Granger?" he asked abruptly. Harry looked at Ron, both boys very confused. Draco sighed and walked away, not wanting to stay with the two idiots any longer than he had to.

"What did he mean by that Ron?" Harry asked as he watched Malfoy leave, now very curious.

"How should I know?" Ron began. "He's an arse and you know it. Ignore him is all I've got to…" Ron trailed off and both boys stopped walking as the turned around the corner and saw Hermione, who was still sitting on the floor crying. "say…"

Harry and Ron ran quickly to her aid. Ron knelt down next to her as Harry scanned her over to look for any injuries before he too sank down onto the cold floor next to his two friends.

"Hermione, are you alright?" Harry said as he moved her bangs away from her eyes. Hermione looked up at her two best friends next to her. She gave a light smile.

"I'm alright," she said. She tried to get up but Harry didn't let her. "I'm really OK Harry, don't worry."

"Hermione…what happened?" Harry started again, holding her hands. "You can tell us. Why were you crying?" Harry quickly looked over to Ron who had not said a word since they had found their friend. He made a face at him, insisting for Ron to say something.

"It was Malfoy wasn't it?" Ron said with an angry tone. Hermione looked over at him. Both of his hands where clenched into fists and his expression had changed from concerned to angry in the few moments since he had slid down onto the floor next to her. Ron continued.

"He was coming from this way," Ron pointed to the corridor they sat in. "He did this didn't he? What did he do to you?" Ron's voice was slowly getting agitated, his volume rising.

Hermione didn't say anything. She couldn't seem to come up with an excuse fast enough. If she told Ron that it was Lavender and not Draco who had attacked her, he would not believe her. She pictured it in her head. Ron would stand up and shout at her saying:

"Hermione, you're mad! Lavender would never do that!" and their friendship would be over. She knew how it all worked. The guy always picked his girlfriend before his friends…

Hermione turned to Harry, who was still holding her as Ron prattled on. She put her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

Hermione heard Harry whisper to Ron, "Calm down." But Ron was back on his feet, pacing back and forth.

"It was him Harry," Ron said. "He did something to her and-"

"Alright, we'll look for him Ron. But right now, Hermione needs us." Harry pulled her hair back from her face to see that she had fallen asleep. "Help me get her to the common room."

Ron grabbed Hermione's two legs and Harry held her head and shoulders. Slowly, they carried her back to Gryffindor Tower.

"Password?" asked the Fat Lady in a very loud and very bored tone. She was lounging around inside of her portrait and she was holding a glass in her right hand.

"Shhhh!" said Ron and Harry, looking down at Hermione to make sure that she was still asleep. Ron stepped forward and whispered, "Hocus Pocus."

The Fat Lady nodded and swung open to allow the three access to the common room. Both carried Hermione inside and laid her on the couch. As if she had been alerted to their entrance, Ginny suddenly appeared at the bottom of the stairs that led to the girls' common room.

"I thought I heard you two come in," she said as she stepped down the stairs and saw Harry and Ron."Hey guys. Where's Hermione?" But when she got closer to the boys, she finally saw Hermione, sprawled out on the couch fast asleep. Ginny went and sat beside her.

"What happened?" Ginny asked with a worried tone.

"We don't know…" Harry began.

"It was Malfoy." Ron cut off Harry. "I've got to go find him…" He was clenching his hands into fists again, and he was turning towards the door. "Malfoy…he'll pay."