The ground was cold and hard as she sat there on the floor, her back facing the unconscious Malfoy. She was in an altered state of mind that left her half asleep, leaning against the couch, yet at the same time very much so awake and aware of her surroundings. It had become impossible to sleep after fixing up the Slytherin boys. Hermione found that Draco woke up frequently, screaming and clawing at himself in terror. The screaming was fixed by a quick Silencio. Or so she thought it was, until his next episode, in which she realized that nothing she did would last. Each time he screamed- Each time he dug his nails into his own flesh and thrashed about as if he was being attacked, she repeated the same spells. Silencio. Petrificus Totalus. Hermione couldn't quite understand why the spells weren't holding, but she knew it had to do with his magic. It was a horrifying sight to witness. It was horrifying to even feel it. Being around Draco during his night terrors brought chills down her spine. Hermione even shuddered at the thought of them. Never before had she felt so much power from a person. Magic seemed to expel from him each time his terrors occurred, and it caused a wave of nausea and fear to settle in her stomach. The magic she used to petrify him seemed to vanish, and it made her wonder just how powerful Draco Malfoy was.

But even when she disregarded Draco, there were the other two boys to worry about. Blaise, despite how calm he seemed to be, shook violently in his sleep and mumbled incoherent pleas for help. Every so often, he let out a loud groan of pain, then whimpered like a wounded animal. Hermione did her best to placate him by murmuring soothing words of comfort, and wrapping him in a blanket that she took from Draco's room. Theo was unlike the others. He slept soundlessly without so much as a breath being heard from his direction. Hermione found herself watching for the slight rise and fall of his chest, just to make sure that he was indeed still breathing. Every now and then, his face pinched up in pain, then relaxed again.

Hermione stared at the wand in her hand. It was Malfoy's. The wand itself was quite simple. There were no intricate designs or flourish that give it a unique characteristic. But there was magic that hummed from it, and Hermione felt compelled to find out more about just how much power Draco had been hiding this whole time.

Briefly, Hermione glanced at the portrait door. It wouldn't have been hard to take off running, especially if she took all of the boys' wands. She already took down Draco's barrier that kept her locked in the dorm. The thought of leaving crossed her mind many times, but she felt indebted to Blaise and Theo.

"They wanted us to kill you and your parents. They had plans to string your corpses in Diagon Alley for the whole Wizarding World to see," Blaise said. His face contorted into a grimace. "The things they wanted to do..." He shuddered. "At first, they wanted you alive. That way they could have their fun with you before-"

"That's enough," Hermione said, feeling sick at his words.

"Our thoughts exactly," Theo sighed. He chuckled darkly and shook his head slightly. "After the first few times we failed, they said they wanted you and your parents dead or alive." He laughed, and the sound felt cold. "Do you know how many deaths we've seen? How many murders that took place just a few meters away while we stood and watched?" He pulled up his left sleeve to reveal an unblemished forearm. "The night before Blaise and I were to be inducted, we found you. You were with your parents in the muggle world, and it was late at night. Dolohov was with us. He went to hex you and-" Theo broke out coughing. Blood splattered out of his mouth. "Fuck," he swore. Closing his eyes, he counted to ten before opening them again. As if nothing had happened, he continued his story. "I hexed him first. Blaise and I took off that night. We tried hiding from the others, but we knew we needed some things first, so we went to find Draco."

"He lent us money and told us to stay at one of his homes in Greece. We stayed there for a week or so before Bellatrix showed up," Blaise said. "We were on the run ever since. Every now and then we had some help from Draco to throw her off our tail."

"Now look at him," Theo said. He looked at his friend with remorse. "They punished him after finding out he knew of our location. You-Know-Who had Dolohov and Greyback play with him till he nearly died. They left him in the woods and said if he lived, they'd forgive him. He was out there for hours before we found him. By then we finally got away from Mulciber and Avery-"

"Because they thought we were dead. They still think we're dead," Blaise added. "If they find out Draco got help from us-" he shuddered and failed to finish his sentence.

Hermione stared at Draco. She still felt a simmering anger when she looked at him, but now, there was a small shred of respect that was held. He risked his life for his friends. At least now she knew he wasn't a complete git.

"Leave her alone," Blaise murmured. "Stop."

Hermione stood, feeling the aches in her muscles and joints. "Zabini, shh," she shushed softly. She walked over to him and placed her hand on his cheek lightly. He made a small noise, but then became silent. "You're okay."

She collapsed on the floor by his feet suddenly. Her legs giving way to her sleep deprivation and poor health. Her eyes fluttered close at their own accord before she felt herself being drawn towards the feeling of nothingness.

When Hermione woke up, she found herself wrapped up in a blanket and laying in her bed. However upon opening her eyes she realized two things: the blanket was Draco's, and Theo was right beside her.

He was asleep, and by no means inappropriately close to her, but still he was close enough. Seeing him reminded her of the previous night's events and she itched to touch the healing wounds on his face to confirm that he was real. Pushing the blanket off, she placed it gently on Theo before getting up. On the floor beside her was Draco's wand, which she took gratefully. She walked out of her room to see any sign of the others, and found Draco sleeping on the couch. His wounds looked better, though they were still considerably horrible. Hermione had no doubt that they felt worse than they looked.

Blaise was no where to be seen. Hermione walked back towards her room, wondering if he was perhaps in Draco's. Though as she rubbed away sleep from her eyes, she saw the dried blood smears on the walls, leading to the bathroom door. It was left ajar, and slowly Hermione pushed it open to reveal Blaise laying on the floor. Dried blood covered his mouth and hands. A large new bump was on his forehead, indicating that he fell on his head. Hermione ran to his side and fell to her knees beside him before slowly moving his body to lay him on his back. She murmured all the spells she knew that could help him, hoping that she wasn't too late. By the time she managed to clean the blood from his body, his eyes slowly fluttered open.

Blaise groaned in pain and moved to curl himself into a fetal position.

"Fuck, Granger. It hurts."

"What does?" she asked. "Where does it hurt?"

"Everything," he moaned. "My head. My chest," he tried to specify. "I kept coughing and there was just so much blood..."

Hermione's fingers probed his body, feeling for any physical wounds. Her warm touch brought brief consolation to him. For the first time in awhile, Blaise found comfort, despite how much pain he was in. There was something about Hermione that washed him in warmth. Perhaps it was her kind soul, which allowed her to overlook the horrors that he used to partake in. Blaise allowed her to help him, and tried his best to listen to her orders as she began speak. Over the dull throbbing in his head, he managed to hear her tell him to stand. He did his best, and allowed her to drape his arm around her shoulder as she tried to lead him to her room. They stumbled slowly to her bed, where she laid him down and murmured soft comforting words.

"Ever think of becoming a mediwitch, Granger?" he croaked out.

Hermione's lips tugged up for a fraction of a second. "Once upon a time," she revealed. "Stay here. I'll try to get you something to eat."

She left, walking out of the room and towards the portrait door to leave the dorm. She glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room, seeing that classes had already started. Knowing what she had to do, Hermione made herself look presentable, tucked Draco's wand hidden in her robes, and held her own in her hand. She left the dorm, throwing a glance at the sleeping blonde on the couch just as she walked out.

Hermione kept her steps quick and light, careful to avoid any teachers. She had to make it to the kitchens. Her long strides took much effort, and drained her of her energy. Merlin, I am out of shape, Hermione thought as she began to huff and puff. She took it as a sign that she had been too isolated from the world, and made a silent promise to change that.

When she saw the bowl of fruit, she nearly laughed with relief. Tickling the pear, she watched as it turned into a door knob, and she entered the hidden large room with brightened eyes.

"Dobby?" she called out, praying that the green-eyed creature was there. "Dobby?"

"Yes, Missus?"

Hermione jumped in alarm and spun around to see the small creature standing behind her, wearing numerous hats and scarves that decorated his body.

"Missus is friend of Harry Potter!" Dobby said in realization. "Is Harry Potter okay?" Dobby looked up at her with his large eyes, briefly reminding her of a scared puppy.

"Yes," she said, feeling guilty for lying to him. "But I need your help."

"Anything! Dobby can do anything, Missus." He smiled proudly and held his head high.

Hermione paused for a moment and looked around and saw the busily working elves. She spotted another who looked familiar. Kreacher, who's face was still stuck in a perpetual grimace, was cleaning dishes with some of the other elves. He didn't talk to or every look at anyone else. She concluded that neither he, nor the others, would be listening in on her conversation with Dobby, and crouched down to be at eye level with the elf.

"I have some people that are very hurt right now. It's a secret and no one can know that they're in the Head Dormitory. So Dobby, do you think, by chance, could you bring some food there, and perhaps..." Hermione paused again. She knew what she had to ask of him, but felt sickened by her own request. "I need you to take some things from the Hospital Wing, and bring it there as well."

Dobby slowly nodded taking in all of this information. "Dobby can do that Missus."

Hermione smiled. "Thank you, Dobby. Remember, this is a secret. No one can know. It's a life or death matter."

Dobby was possibly Hermione's favorite person at Hogwarts at the moment. He followed her orders clearly, and brought everything she asked him to. As payment, Hermione offered socks she had taken from Draco's room. Dobby was more than happy to take them, and felt a sense of pride to be taking clothing from his previous master.

"Master Malfoy looks ill," he pointed out as he placed a tray of assorted foods on the coffee table. He looked at Hermione apprehensively. "Missus is friends with Master Malfoy?"

"No," she said quickly. "Not friends. But we have an understanding," she tried to explain. "Thank you again, Dobby. If there's anything you ever need help with..."

"Missus is friends with Harry Potter. A friend of Harry Potter is a friend of Dobby."

When he left, Hermione felt a bit...content. Being around Dobby was refreshing, and reminded her that not everyone was worried about the war. Dobby seemed to be living day by day, only focusing on his given tasks.

"I thought he'd never leave."

Hermione gasped in alarm.

Draco's eyes slowly opened, and he groaned. "Why the bloody hell was that elf here?" He struggled to sit before giving up and settling for rolling onto his side. His eyes landed on the food and juice laid out. Hermione could have sworn that his pupils dilated at the sight.

"'That elf' is about ten times more useful than you are now," Hermione huffed. She walked over to Draco and stood in front of him with crossed arms. "You sniveling foul incompetent prat!" she suddenly exclaimed. "Do you have any idea what kind of stress you managed to put me through while you were half dead?"

"I didn't know you cared about me so much-"

Hermione pulled out his wand and pointed it at his throat. "I had to fix your bloodied body while worrying about Theo and Blaise while they were all but ready to pass out-"

"Theo? Blaise? Where are they?" Draco looked around for his friends. His quicksilver eyes searched for them with no avail.

"In my room," Hermione said.

Draco tried to stand, throwing his leg off the end of the couch while allowing his body to slowly slip off. Hermione quickly stopped him from falling off completely and moved him back to laying down.

"I did not stay up all night to watch you kill yourself. Lay down and don't move. Your body has been through enough."

At her words, Draco looked down at himself. His shirt was unbuttoned and left wide open to display his marred chest. There were healing gashes scattered about, causing him to look like butchered meat. Draco's face twisted up, and he gave a sound of annoyance before running his hand through his hair and closing his eyes. He didn't seem to be surprised by the extent of his wounds. When Draco opened his eyes again, he smirked at Hermione and pointed at the food.

Hermione grabbed a bowl of porridge and handed it out to him, but Draco laid there with a lazy smirk on his face, despite the pain he must have been feeling.

"You aren't going to feed it to me? I'm wounded, Granger. The least you could do is-"

Hermione shoved the bowl into his hands. "I've had enough of you," she snapped. She picked up the rest of the food tray and walked to her room, hoping Blaise and Theo were feeling better.

They were both asleep when she walked in. Hermione placed the tray on the floor and walked over to them, checking to see if they were alright. The bump on Blaise's forehead had gone down, however, the slash on the side of his face was still there and slowly turning into a scab. He woke up as she gingerly touched his ribs, and winced in pain. Hermione mumbled an apology, but Blaise wasn't paying attention. His dark eyes became fixated on the tray of food almost immediately. He opened his mouth to say something, but Hermione cut him off.

"Shh," she said. "I'll bring you some food and medicine," she reassured him. She allowed him to pick from the tray as she found the potion vials that Dobby had swiped from the Hospital Wing. Inspecting the labels, she found the one she was looking for. "Don't eat too much," she advised Blaise."Actually, don't eat at all yet." She gave Blaise a potion bottle that he seemed to recognize with horror.

"Skele-Grow?" he whispered.

"Your ribs are broken," she said. "Drink up, Zabini. And don't waste a drop."

Blaise hesitated before opening it. He sniffed it and gagged, shoving it towards Hermione. She sighed and took it from him, only to shove it towards his mouth. She tilted the bottle down his forcibly parted lips. Eventually Blaise took the bottle from her, but still drank it despite how vile it was. He fought the urge to throw it up. The potion burned his throat on the way down and tasted like acid.

"Blood hell," he coughed once he was done.

"Now you can eat," Hermione said.

Blaise made an uninterested sound, no longer in the mood for eating. Hermione sent him a pointed look, like a mother who was dealing with a petulant child. After a moment or two, Blaise reached for a piece of toast and began to eat, filling his empty stomach with some substance.

Hermione smiled in approval then turned to the sleeping boy beside them. Walking over to Theo, she noticed that he was trembling and sweating profusely. Pressing the back of her hand against his forehead, she inhaled sharply.

"What's wrong?" Blaise asked, concerned.

Hermione didn't respond. Instead, she gently tapped on Theo's cheek and whispered his name, urging him to wake. When he failed to respond, Hermione cursed aloud.

"Granger, what's wrong with him?"

"I think he has the flu," Hermione said. She called Theo's name once more, and shook his shoulder lightly.

Theo stirred slightly and moaned, but his eyes did not open.

"Theo, how do you feel? What hurts?" Hermione asked.

He stirred again. "Hot," he murmured. He kicked away the blanket on him and Hermione had to stop him from moving further. Blood from reopened wounds stained his body and the bedsheets. Blaise visibly cringed at the sight and nearly gagged. Hermione muttered a spell to clean his wounds, then asked Blaise to hand her one of the blue potion bottles.

"Theo, you need to drink this, okay?"

He didn't respond, but she took it as a yes. Hermione poured the potion down his throat and watched as the wounds began to slowly form into scabs.

Suddenly he sat up and doubled over, throwing up on himself and nearly getting Hermione. She stood abruptly and cleaned the mess with a wave of Draco's wand. This was a disaster. Theo was sick as hell. Blaise was bedridden until his ribs were fixed. Draco was... It was hard to tell how he was considering how much he tried to play off his true feelings. Though Hermione assumed that he was in a lot of pain. And now she was taking care of all of them, making sure they didn't die on her watch.

Hermione sighed and ran her hand through her hair. "I need help."