"Dead?" Hermione replied, shocked. "He isn't well but he certainly isn't dead."

"Yes, yes he is," Draco insisted. "Gregory Goyle died 3 years and 8 months ago."

"What makes you think that?" Hermione asked. "Who told you he was dead?"

"The Dark Lord did," Draco shouted at her. "The Dark Lord told me that Goyle was dead. Killed by a bloody member from your precious Order when he was out scouting."

"Malfoy," Hermione said carefully. "The Order only killed in battle. If we had found Goyle, we would have captured him and taken him as a prisoner. We wouldn't have killed him."

"That's a bunch of bloody rubbish and you know it," Draco replied coldly. "Your side murdered my friend and now you've gone and set up this entire chart to what? Help me recover Granger? Heal me? I AM NOT SICK."

"YOUR FRIEND ISN'T DEAD," Hermione shouted, finally losing her temper. "YOUR FRIEND IS ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THIS DOOR, VERY MUCH ALIVE, BUT VERY, VERY SICK."

Hermione and Draco stared at each other for a moment, both breathing heavily. "He isn't dead Malfoy," Hermione said more quietly. "Voldemort lied to you."

"You're lying," he said accusingly. "This is all part of your sick, twisted plan to 'treat' me."

"I'm not lying, think about it," Hermione implored. "I have no reason to lie to you, Voldemort had every reason to."

"Show me," Draco replied menacingly. "If he's alive, I want to see him."

"You have to calm down first," Hermione told him. "And you have to promise to remain calm the entire time you are in his room. His episodes are easily set off and it takes him weeks to recover from them."

"Just let me see the man you claim to be my friend, Granger," Draco answered. "Let me in."

"Not until you calm down," she repeated. "He can't see you like this."

"There isn't anyone on the other side of this door so it doesn't bloody matter," Draco told her, putting his hand on the doorknob. "I'm going in."

Draco moved his hand to turn the doorknob but Hermione had him flat against the wall across the hallway in an instant.

"What the fuck?" he shouted, kicking his dangling legs. "Granger, enough of this, put me down."

"Listen to me," Hermione said quietly, lowering Draco but keeping him firmly against the wall.

She stared into his eyes as she spoke and he found he couldn't help but stare back.

"Calm. Down," she repeated. "Once you are calm, I'll let you go and I'll let you into the room. Do you understand?"

Draco opened his mouth to speak but Hermione merely shook her head. They stared at one another, neither moving nor speaking, as Draco allowed the anger to ebb from his body. There was fear there too, Hermione realized, as she look at Draco, watching fascinated as he fought to maintain control of his features. Fear that his friend was alive, fear that everything he'd been told was a lie. Draco's voice broke her thoughts.

"Let me down, Granger," he said wearily. "Let me see if what you've said is true."

Hermione looked at him hard and, satisfied that he seemed at least calm enough, led him into the room.

Goyle's room was the same as the others with the exception of a small table next to the bed with a silver plate next to it. Goyle was laying on the bed with his eyes shut.

"Greg?" Hermione said, loudly, moving next to his bed. "It's Hermione."

Goyle's eyes flew open and rested on Hermione. He gave her a small smile.

"Hello, Hermione," Goyle said. "I'd get up but I'm afraid the pain is too much today."

Draco's mouth dropped at the sound of his friend's voice and his use of Hermione's first name.

"I want you to tell me about your day, Greg, what's happened today?"

"Today has been just pain, all day," he told her, gasping as another wave of pain hit him. "It feels like I'm back there."

"Okay," Hermione said soothingly. "Has the potion been helping?"

"It dulls the pain but it doesn't take it away," Goyle responded. "It doesn't work as well as it used to."

"That's quite alright," Hermione told him cheerfully. "I'm already working on a new batch for you."

Draco watched their exchange in shock. His friend was alive. His friend was treating Granger as if she was an equal. He wasn't dead. He was alive. And the Dark Lord had lied. What else had he lied about? Draco began to think but his thoughts were interrupted by a scream.

He watched in horror as Goyle writhed in pain on the bed. Hermione looked at her watch and, seeing that it was 5:59 pm, watched the silver tray.

"Aren't you going to do anything?" Draco hissed at her.

"One minute," Hermione hissed back. "Greg, just hold on one minute, just one more minute."

A minute later a dark blue vial appeared on the plate. Hermione quickly uncapped it and helped feed it to Goyle. After a few minutes, Goyle stopped moving and lay completely still.

"Tell me what you feel," Hermione requested.

"I can feel the potion moving through my body," Goyle said. "The pain is easing up."

"Good, good," Hermione said. "Do you feel anything else? Nausea? Tingling?"

"Tingling," Goyle told her. "I can feel the potion working. That's all."

"Great, Greg, thank you," Hermione replied. "I've brought someone with me to see you. He's going to be helping me for the next few months. Do you remember Draco Malfoy?"

She gestured for Malfoy to come stand next to her and he complied. Goyle looked up at Malfoy.

"I heard you were in Azkaban," Goyle said, giving Malfoy a once over.

"They let me out," was Malfoy's reply. "I heard you were dead."

"I wish I was," Goyle answered without hesitation.

Goyle's words hung in the air between them.

"I'll leave you two to talk," Hermione said, breaking the awkward silence. "I'll finish my rounds and come back for you, Malfoy, when I'm done. Greg, hang in there, we're getting closer, I can feel it."

With that, Hermione walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Draco and Goyle stared at one another for several minutes before Goyle spoke.

"She always says that to me, you know?"

"Says what?"

"She always tells me to hang in there, that we're getting closer, she can feel it." Goyle told him. "She's been saying it to me every day since I got here."

"Well, Granger seems to be a disgusting optimist," Draco replied. "What is she doing to you? Do I need to get you out of here?"

Goyle laughed, then winced from the pain. "Sit down mate," he said. "Let me tell you about the last four years."

Draco listened in silence as Goyle recounted everything, pausing only when the pain made it too difficult to talk. He told Draco how Voldemort had killed his parents right in front of him then tortured him for hours. He told him about the Order finding him and how, instead of killing all of the prisoners, they brought them to St. Mungo's to be healed. He then told him about Hermione, and everything she'd done from setting up her program to her research to what she'd done for him.

"But she's a Mudblood," Draco reminded his friend. "They're beneath us, they aren't worthy of their magic. That's what we were taught."

"That's rubbish," Goyle replied, gripping the sheets of his bed as a fresh wave of pain went through him. "If anyone is worthy of their magic, it's Hermione Granger. I don't believe in any of that pureblood supremacy shit anymore Draco. You shouldn't either."

"But it's what's right," Draco insisted. "It's what we fought for."

"And look at what we lost as a result," Goyle said angrily. "My parents are dead because some lunatic we followed decided they should be. Your dad will be in Azkaban for the rest of his life. How's your mum, Draco? Because last I saw her, she was being Crucioed right next to me for refusing to fuck Voldemort."

"DON'T YOU SPEAK ABOUT MY MOTHER," Draco shouted, enraged. "Just because you've lost your beliefs, doesn't mean I have to lose mine."

"Your beliefs are wrong, Draco," Goyle told him. "Look at Granger, look at what happened to everyone who believed what we did, look at ME. Without Granger's potions, without Granger's help, I would have killed myself ages ago."

Draco glared at Goyle but could feel the doubt that had been floating around, seeping deeper into his system.

"She stays here some nights, you know?" Goyle said, breaking into Draco's thoughts. "When it's bad, she stays here with me. She's done it with some of the others of us too. After everything we did to her in school, after everything our side did to hers during the war, she is helping us, she's trying to heal us."

"So Granger is a bleeding heart Gryffindor," Malfoy said. "Everyone knows that."

"You just don't see it mate," Goyle replied, shaking his head. "The war is over, our side lost, but we lost long before the war ended."

"When did you become so philosophical?" Draco said with a snort.

"When I stopped blindly following orders and started thinking for myself," Goyle answered.

Just then the door opened and Hermione walked in.

"I've finished my rounds, Malfoy," she said. "Time to go back to the lab."

Draco nodded and held out his hand to Goyle. "See you soon, mate," he said.

Draco moved towing the door and Hermione leaned down next to Goyle's bed. "1-10, how bad is it?" she asked.

"5," Goyle replied. "But it's just the pain, none of the rest. I'm fine."

"I have to check on another patient later," Hermione told him. "I'll poke my head in after and see how you are."

"Thank you, Hermione," Goyle said, looking past her at Draco. "Thank you for everything you've done for all of us."

"You're welcome," Hermione said looking puzzled. "I'll see you later."

She stood and walked out of the room with Draco close behind.

A/N: As promised :)