A/N: Third chapter, guys! It was this or write some inane essay for my comp class. Clearly, this won out! Hope you like it!

Chapter Three
For the Reasons You Think

To Hermione's great dismay, Madam Pomfrey had confined her to the hospital wing for the foreseeable future. Not that she terribly minded the stubborn old witch, but she did hate to miss her studies. And of course, she couldn't rely on Harry or Ron to think she would actually want them to bring her the work she was missing. So, there she lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling, unable to move without feeling the fierce sting of the thousands of cuts across her body.

Pomfrey smiled sympathetically at her as she rushed past, her robes rippling in her wake. If only she had Hogwarts: A History. Then she could at least-

An awkward cough interrupted her train of thought. Her eyes flew to its owner.

Draco Malfoy shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another, eyes trained on the floor, hands clasped behind his back. She couldn't contain her surprise. "M-Malfoy?"

"As smart as you claim to be, surely you know my name by now," he snapped, his lip curling in distaste.

She was hardly affronted by his demeanor. "Oh, believe me, I am unfortunately all too aware of who you are. My surprise was merely for the fact that you're here. By my bed."

"Brilliant observation, Granger. Astounding, really."

She rolled her eyes, wincing as she tried to sit up. She collapsed back down, unable to stomach sitting up. She missed the flash of pity in her unexpected companion's eyes. "Listen, Malfoy," she sighed, exhaustion setting in, "As much as I hate admitting weakness, I'm really in no shape to argue with you today. So, just tell me why you're here, will you?"

He tried not to shrink under her gaze, unaware until that moment of how her honey brown eyes seemed to gaze right through him. Though they were struggling to remain open, her eyes were expectant. Shaken, he stepped forward and placed the work she had missed on the table beside her. Those sleepy brown eyes widened.

"McGonagall told me to bring this to you. Figured an insufferable know it all wouldn't be able to resist doing all her homework," Draco informed in a bored voice. He gave her no time to respond, instead spinning on his heel and briskly exiting the room. He only hoped she wouldn't ask her favorite teacher for confirmation. The last thing he needed was her to know that he'd taken it upon himself to collect all her missing work.

Merlin, what had happened to him?

"Draco," Pansy loudly whined in his ear. The boy jumped, not expecting the nasally voice in such a close proximity. Hand over his hammering heart, Draco whirled to glare at the girl. She ignored his peeved expression and sent him an innocent smile. He groaned internally. "You never spend time with me anymore!"

"Pansy," he sighed, slumping into his favorite arm chair. She gracefully sat herself on the loveseat across from him. She made a face when he propped his feet up on the coffee table between them. As much as he harped about pureblood society, he always acted like a mannerless git whenever it was just the two of them.

"Don't 'Pansy' me. I'm your best friend and you've hardly spent any time with me lately. I mean, you were supposed to meet up with me just last night! And you never showed!" she admonished. He bit his lip and shrugged absently, his mind elsewhere. He didn't see her lean over the coffee table to smack him upside the head.

"Hey!" he cried indignantly, rubbing his ear. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"You stood me up last night and now you're not even paying attention!"

He frowned. "I was, er, held up last night."

"By what?" she questioned, not believing him.

Draco debated making up a lie but decided telling Pansy wouldn't hurt. "You heard that Granger's in the hospital wing?"

His friend gasped. "Draco! You didn't!"

"Hey, wait just one minute! Why did you automatically assume that I was the one that put her there?" Pansy blushed at his offended outburst. "I'll have you know that I was actually the one who found her. I brought her to Pomfrey last night. And then she called down Snape and McGonagall to deal with the situation. I didn't get back here until about 1:30."

"My hero," she sighed dreamily. She let out a happy bark of laughter at his unimpressed scowl. Ignoring the resentment in his steel grey eyes, she pinched his cheeks before he could slap her hands away. "Who knew Drakey would be Hermione Granger's knight in shining armor?" Pansy cooed in a baby voice.

The girl fell back as Draco shot out of his seat. Her giggles died away as she took in his tensed shoulders. "Draco?"

"I thought she was going to die, Pans." She let him speak without interrupting, hearing in his voice the need to think out loud. "There was so much blood…"

"But she's okay, right?" she wondered, suddenly worried for her friend's favorite target. The concern that suddenly fell upon her gave her a headache.

"It was red."

"What was?"

Draco finally turned to face her. Now, Pansy had known him since birth. She could read all his seemingly nonexistent facial expression. It was an art and she was a master of it. But she couldn't quite read the confused eyes, the bit lip, the wrinkled brows.

"Her blood."

Without another word, he whirled away and out the portrait.

888888888

"You're back."

Hermione eyed the blonde warily. He almost tried to duck back out the door at the last minute, but she spoke up before he could sneak away. Draco nodded stiffly and stepped forward. She couldn't get over how formal he looked for such a young boy. Despite the uncertainty in his eyes, he had his shoulders back, his chin up, his feet set squarely apart, his hands once again clasped behind his back. Such rigid formality in a 14 year old boy seemed wrong, but she couldn't say that it didn't make him look regal.

"It seems I am."

"Why?"

She was curious about his presence. He had saved her and brought her books to her when her own friends hadn't. Why would he subject himself to her presence? "I mean, I admit, it's nice to have some company, but I guess I never dreamed it would be you," she said honestly.

Draco frowned. "What about Scarhead and Weasel? Surely they've been in to see you." Anything to deflect the conversation off him.

The corners of her lips fell and she sighed, turning her head away from him. "I'm afraid not. They're rather busy at the moment."

"Busy!" he exclaimed without thinking, his formal air momentarily forgotten, "If you were Pansy, I'd refuse to leave your side! What the hell could they be so busy with?"

She merely blinked at his unexpected outburst. She knew that Pansy was always hovering around Draco, but she never gave much thought to the depth of their relationship. Weren't all Slytherins out for themselves? It was hard for her to gather her thoughts but she strung together a few words. "Well, they're just figuring some things out right now."

The brunette witch shrunk under his skeptical gaze. "What you mean to say is that ever since Potter got involved with the tournament, Weasel's been acting like a jealous fool, I think."

"Well," she began, thinking of how to defend her friends before sighing in defeat. "Yes. Yes, that's exactly right."

"Weasley's always an idiot, but everyone has noticed how much worse he's gotten since the tournament started. They shouldn't let that stop them from visiting you," he stated simply.

What was a girl to think about that? "Um, well, that's, er, nice of you to say, Malfoy?"

He shrugged it off, his gaze on the floor.

"So…you're still here."

He seemed startled, as if surprised by that fact. She hid a smile with her hand at how unexpectedly kind his surprise made him look. Much more approachable. "Why, yes, I am."

"Are you going to tell me why?" she pushed, fighting another smile. "Malfoy, I would almost say you're being shy."

"I am not shy, Granger," he sneered. She rolled her eyes. Boys. "Well, if you insist on not explaining your presence and standing there awkwardly, you may as well sit down. Sitting up has gotten me tired again, so if I'm about to get comfy, you might do as well," she suggested innocently.

He watched in reserved fascination as she pulled her blanket up to her chin and curled into a ball. With a contented hum, she snuggled into her pillow. It struck him then. How human she was. Who was he to degrade the girl?

He took the seat beside her bed. If she was surprised to suddenly be staring at the Slytherin tie across from her she didn't show it.

"Why did you come to see me, Malfoy?" she wondered quietly. Her voice was somewhat muffled by the blanket.

"I-I don't rightly know, honestly. I mean, I know you're alright now, or that you will be. But…" he admitted with an honestly she could tell he was surprised by. He shook his head, troubled. "Shit, Granger. I thought you were going to die. I thought you were already dead."

Her brown eyes were thoughtful. "I-I thought I was going to, you know," she murmured, her voice distant. "When I realized what happened, before I passed out. I was so scared…"

He hated how her voice cracked. He hated that he wanted to comfort her. He hated her. Didn't he?

"Why did you save me?"

Her voice cut through his thoughts like a knife. "What?"

"Why did you save me? You always talk about me dying or something killing me. Why save me?" She tried to hide the hurt in her voice, but even in the dim candle light she could it make him squirm.

"Granger, I-there was-I couldn't, okay? I couldn't not save you," he sighed. He absently tapped his fingers against his leg as he sought the right words. "I am spoiled, Granger. And I repeat everything my father does and says. But I never once wanted you dead. Not for any reason. I may be a foul, loathsome, little cockroach, but I would never want you dead."

His words were heavy. "Oh. But at the World Cup, you were so mean, telling me to-"

"Hide so they wouldn't find or hurt you?" Draco cut in coldly. Hermione paused, thinking about it. "If I had warned you in any other way you lot would never have believed it."

"Well, I guess you are right about that," she admitted softly.

She used the silence that engulfed them to take him in from a new perspective. He was draped carelessly across the chair, back slouched, one hand dangling off the chair's arm, the other still tapping, his legs stretched out before him, ankles crossed carelessly. It was such a different picture from just moments before that she had a hard time reconciling the two boys as the same person.

"Malfoy, I'm afraid I might ruin this weird little thing we have going on, but there's something that I have to ask you about."

The blonde sat up a little straighter, eyes cautious as he nodded for her to go on. She fiddled with the blanket in her fingers to distract herself from the charcoal eyes gazing at her. "Madam Pomfrey told me that you were the one who brought me here. That was surprising enough. But it was something about how she said it that really threw me. She, well, she said that you carried me." Hermione risked a glance over at Draco to find that his eyes were locked firmly on her. Cheeks flaming red, even in the near darkness, she questioned, "I just-you carried me. Not levitated or anything but carried me. I was bleeding so badly, and it must have been everywhere. You've made your beliefs very clear. What I can't wrap my head around is that you willing touched me. Me, the bleeding Mudblood! I mean, what possessed you to do that?"

If she thought it had been silent before, it was nothing compared to the absence of sound that followed her questions. He was so still she feared even breathing to loudly would frighten him off. She hadn't a clue what made herself ask such a ridiculous question. This was going to be a disaster, she just knew it. The witch's cheeks burned as she buried her embarrassed face in her pillow.

"Would you believe me, Granger," his low voice was nearly her undoing, "If I said I don't actually hate you? At least not for the reasons you might think?"

She braved pulling her face out of the pillow and towards him. The girl jumped back a little, not prepared to find him so close. He had leaned forward, his arms braced on his legs, grey eyes but inches from hers.

"W-what?"

"I hated you, Granger, from nearly the moment I saw you. It wasn't, of course, clear why until I was informed that you were a Mu-of your blood status. It was only natural. But then, you defied every stereotype of a Mud-Muggleborn that my father ingrained in my head. You're smarter than all of us, you're always the first to figure out the spells, the teachers love you, the bloody Boy-Who-Lived is your best friend. You took my beliefs and you poked holes in them. And I took it out on you in the worst ways. All those vile words, Granger, were just my anger that you weren't what I had always been told you'd be. I suddenly doubted my father and I hated that. So I hated you for it instead. And last year, with that stupid bloody bird, I knew I was wrong. But I am a prideful boy, so I didn't care. Until, that is, you made me feel so damn guilty. That punch woke me up, and I hated you for that, too."

He fell silent for a moment and she wasn't about to break it. He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face. She was mesmerized when he ran his fingers through his hair, mussing it up. No one had ever seen a disheveled Malfoy, and it was a sight to behold.

"And that night. That night I found you was hell for me. It never crossed my mind not to save you, but I took my time doing it. But when I found that note, Granger…and to think that someone did that to you because of something like your blood. It just-It destroyed me. Granger, your blood is as red as the rest of ours. So I carried you. You're no different from us after all. And for that, for making everything I ever believed in a complete farce, I hate you."

Clearly, what she had been expecting in response to her question hadn't been so earth shattering. So dumbfounded, all she managed to spit out was, "Jesus, Malfoy, I've never heard you string more than two sentences together."

At that, he smiled.

He smiled.

"Ew, Malfoy, you actually smile?"

"Harry!"

A/N: I hope it was realistic enough for you! I have no idea where Pansy came from, but I'm so tired of reading stories where she's this whiny, clingy idiot. I'd like to think that there were real friendships amongst the Slytherins, so I thought I'd show it. Let me know if you like it please! :)