It wasn't that difficult for Hermione to hold Pansy Parkinson upright because most of her weight was on Malfoy, she even had her face buried in his chest which quieted her cries, and Hermione's heart ached at that sight – she didn't know why. They reached the hospital wing agonizing ten minutes later, and when they came in, there was no one there.

Hermione released Parkinson, calling out, "Hello? Is anyone here?" while Malfoy helped his friend on one of the beds.

No answer.

Hermione felt her panic rise, trying to think of what to do next and ignore the raw skin on Parkinson's hands that was getting more and more inflated now that the potion Malfoy put on them, apparently, was no longer effective.

She was about to run out the door to look for Madam Pomfrey god knows where when Cho's head popped up right there.

"Oh, hey, Hermione, what are you doing here, did something…" she saw Parkinson and Malfoy behind Hermione, "…happen? Oh."

Cho passed Hermione, going straight to the girl on the bed. "What happened?" she repeated, this time more seriously and urgently.

"Potter spilled his imbecilically made potion on her hands," Malfoy gritted through his teeth, touching Parkinson's head softly – the girl was still leaning into him as if he were her only pillar of support.

"It was Potions accident," Hermione rushed to say.

"May I see?" Cho asked Parkinson softly.

Parkinson reached out her hands that were shaking uncontrollably, and Hermione had to look away.

"Where's Madam Pomfrey?" she asked Cho.

"She's on her lunch break. I'm helping her out on my free time – it's a part of my professional healer internship." She started speaking healing charms, then spared Malfoy and Hermione a glance. "One of you could go and fetch, she's in the room at the end of the corridor while I do the first aid."

"I'll fetch her," Hermione volunteered, wanting something to distract herself with.

She was already out in the corridor, but still could hear the snippets of Cho and Malfoy's conversation.

"Someone's already done the first aid. Was it you?"

Malfoy, "I used a potion I found in Slughorn's cabinets and a few basic healing charms."

Cho, "Brilliant reaction."

Malfoy, "Not the first time I've been forced to use—"

And that's all she managed to hear.

She found Madam Pomfrey in the middle of her meal which was left abandoned when Hermione told her the grave news.

Madam Pomfrey rushed down the corridor to the hospital wing, grasping her skirts in her hands, so fast that Hermione had to quicken her pace to catch up.

"Great Merlin, third student this week," Madam Pomfrey exclaimed, walking to Parkinson and looking at the injuries. "I told professor Slughorn not to give students assignments to make potions that could be harmful if not made right. I said, it doesn't matter if they're seventh year or eighth year, they're still children and are bound to fail a lot, but it shouldn't cost them their health…" Madam Pomfrey took Parkinson's hands with incredible softness and that was the first time she leaned away from Malfoy. "I can treat your injuries, but it will hurt."

"Do it," Parkinson sniffled. "I'm used to it.

Madam Pomfrey turn to address Malfoy and Hermione, "Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, I will make sure your friend is taken care of. Now, off you go, back to class."

Hermione turned to leave, and Malfoy was about to follow her, although reluctantly, when Parkinson grabbed his hand, forcing it out of Madam Pomfrey's grasp. Her eyes were big, wide, her voice so tender Hermione never heard it like that.

"Don't go."

Malfoy nodded solemnly. Then turned to Hermione, urging her to go without him.

After cleaning up their workspace in the Potions classroom and finishing doing the patrol rounds, Hermione did not expect to find the Gryffindor room empty. Empty of everyone save for Harry.

It seemed he was waiting for her. He sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace – their usual spot – but instead of casually chilling he had his hands in his hair with a hauntingly exasperated expression on his face.

"Hey, Harry," Hermione greeted him softly, sitting down beside him.

He turned to her, his eyes wide with guilt. "I truly didn't want this to happen. I didn't do it on purpose. It just spilled—"

"I know. I know, but… You did say how much you hate her, Harry. And not only to me. To Neville, to Parvati, you even wrote it to Ron… It's not a good look."

"Well of course I didn't mean it, and you know it! I was just kidding, of course I wasn't planning for my plant fertilizer potion to turn acidic and burn the skin off her sodding hands, Hermione! Do you think I'm that cruel and uncaring?"

"No. I don't."

Harry sighed. "Is it very bad?"

Hermione stared at the fire. "The injuries are quite harsh, but Madam Pomfrey promised it won't even scar once she's done healing. Cho said she might need to stay in the hospital wing until the weekend."

"And what am I supposed to do now…" he mumbled, almost to himself.

"You should apologize," Hermione advised. "Apologized honestly, like you truly mean it, not half-heartedly."

Harry snorted. "You think a Slytherin like her will accept an apology from me? She'd rather send me off to hell."

"An apology is better than pretending it didn't happen or that it wasn't your fault. Because it was. Even if you didn't mean it, Harry."

She saw him think for a moment. Then he stood up, ready to get on his merry way.

"Wait, where do you think you're going she?" she asked.

Harry blinked. "What do you mean, where? To the hospital wing. To apologize to Parkinson."

"Harry, it's half past ten at night. Way past curfew. You can visit her in the morning. You can also bring her some flowers. As a nice gesture."

"Where will I get flowers?"

"There are wild ones growing right by Herbology greenhouses."

"But aren't they… flowers… that just grow… on grass? Isn't that lame?"

"No, Harry, it isn't. I'm sure Parkinson will appreciate any flowers you bring her. Any girl would."

Harry frowned but listened. It worked out as well as he was expecting, but at least he did the right thing, and that's all Hermione could hope for.

It was the last warm Friday of the fall, and it came with the sun so high and the wind so sweet it reminded of summer. It was a great day for another lesson of Magical Creatures outside, and Hermione was almost regretful that it was going to be cut short, because there was nothing about the dragon eggs that would require them to talk about it for four hours. Keyword: almost. She did want to spend more time outside, especially after what happened in the past week, but she also wanted to get most of the studying out of the way that day since Saturday was supposed to be girls' night with Parvati, Luna, and Cho to celebrate Hermione's birthday, although her festive mood was definitely tainted by Parkinson's accident on the real day.

Malfoy, who she had to hand over the egg to, was in especially grim mood, though it wasn't surprising. Hermione greeted him but he only hummed something.

"How is Parkinson?" she inquired while passing the egg over and into his hands.

"She'll be fine, but she's still healing," he said calmly. His demeanor showed him angry, but his voice at least deterred that he wasn't angry with her.

"That's good news. I was thinking of paying her a visit, but I don't think I'm the one she'd like to see," she admitted honestly.

Malfoy seemed surprised by her confession. "I don't think that's necessary," he told her finally after a single moment of stunned silence. "There's always one of us with her – either me, Blaise, or Theo – so she's never that bored."

"It's nice that you guys care about her so much."

Malfoy stared at her. "We do."

She stared back at him. Their eyes clashed in what could be called a wave of magnetic field. It was hard for Hermione to look away.

"Listen, I know you must be mad at Harry, but you must understand he didn't mean to do it. They both worked on the potion, and it didn't turn out as it was supposed to. The spill was a complete accident."

"Potter is famous for his accidents," Malfoy grinded, his gaze darkening. "I know it first-hand."

Hermione knew what he was referring to – the Sectumsempra curse.

She held his gaze. "Well, this time I can vouch for him – it was an accident. If my word means anything to you."

She could see from the way his eyes softened that it did.

When Hagrid began the lesson, he whispered to her. "Happy birthday. Late birthday. I was going to say it, but… well."

She smiled at him. "Thank you. And I know."

On Saturday, Hermione came from the library just on time because Parvati already had Luna in the Gryffindor common room and couldn't contain her excitement.

"There you are!" she jumped up. "I was ready to celebrate three hours ago! Can't wait to see what your room looks like," with that, she grabbed Hermione's hand and practically started dragging her to her own room.

"Shouldn't we wait for Cho?" Hermione asked.

"She'll be late," Luna explained. "She's helping Madam Pomfrey at the hospital. More and more students come with injuries from Potions."

Parvati rolled her eyes. "Fine, we'll wait. Someone will have to get her through Fat Lady anyway."

So they waited.

Parvati rose to open the door to the common room half an hour later after they heard noises outside. Safe to say, it was Cho who came in, smiling somewhat shyly at them. But she wasn't alone.

"What is Parkinson doing here?" Parvati asked, her mouth agape.

Cho's eyebrows shot up in embarrassment. "I couldn't just leave her in the hospital for the whole weekend…"

"And you decided to bring her here?" Parvati couldn't contain her disgust.

Parkinson looked at the three of them as if annoyed, checking out her nails where the dark green nail polish was completely chipped. "Whatever, I don't even want to be here anyways."

"You said you don't want to spend another night at the hospital," Cho told her. "This is an alternative."

Parkinson rolled her eyes. "You know what, Chang, I changed my mind. I'd rather sleep on the crusty hospital mattress than listen to your friends' insults."

Cho groaned, talking to the three of them now, "Come on, guys. What happened to forgiveness and people can change, blah blah? Luna?"

Luna smiled dreamily and extended her hand to Parkinson who regarded it skeptically. "Pansy, it is very good to see you."

"Er, okay?" Parkinson mumbled.

Cho now looked at Hermione who literally did not know what to say or do.

"Ehm, you know what, I think it would be great if Parkinson, uhm, joined us. The more, the merrier, right?"

Parkinson's lips were set in a tight line. "I don't need your pity, Granger."

"Trust me, Parkinson, I don't pity you. But if you feel tired or sleepy, my mattress if definitely not crusty. However, my room is at the very top of the tower."

She started leading the four girls to her bedroom.

"She has a queen-sized bed," Luna whispered to Parkinson who frowned at that.

However, when she saw the room, even the Slytherin princess could not contain her awe.

"Whoah, and you live here?"

Hermione grinned at her. "And I have no roommates."

"How is that possible?"

"Head Girl privileges."

The five of them lounged on the carpet on the floor next to the bed. The dragon egg was being protected by Crookshanks nearby.

Parvati took out the three bottles she was talking about on Wednesday and conjured five wine glasses out of thin air. "I was dreaming of drinking all week," she said.

Hermione stared at the alcohol, guilt gnawing at her gut. "You know, I think I'll refrain to drinking only one glass. I'm Head Girl, after all, and it would be terrible if word spread out that I'm drinking inside the castle…"

"Oh, Granger, relax, it's Saturday night, and you're of age, no one is going to judge you for getting drunk once every full moon," Parkinson said, taking the glass Parvati had filled with one of her bandaged hands.

"I know, but I still need to be careful…"

"We'll be careful for you," Cho assured her.

The first to drink was Parvati, the Parkinson, followed by Luna and Cho. Hermione was the last. The wine tasted sublime, like ambrosia, and she could feel her body instantly relax.

"Gee, Patil, how much did you spend on this? It's really good," Parkinson praised.

Parvati waved a hand dismissively. "Not much, not much at all… Hermione deserves the best of drinks…"

"It's delicious," she admitted. She took another sip and turned to Parkinson. "How are your hands?"

Parkinson looked down at her hands as if only seeing them now. "Better. Pomfrey really knows what she's doing. Chang here is apparently her young prodigy, and I must agree," she smiled and Cho who answered that smile, blushing.

"Don't blame Harry," Hermione said. "He feels terribly guilty for what happened."

Parkinson rolled her eyes. "I've heard this song plenty of times now. You know that he visited me yesterday morning? And he brought flowers. Like we're sixteen."

Hermione made a pained expression. "I was the one who offered him to get your flowers… I said all girls like them…"

Parkinson rose her eyebrows. "You? Granger, they were flowers from the literal field… The cheapest thing you can find on the whole castle grounds."

"But they were still nice at least?" Hermione inquired.

"Yeah, no shit. He'll have to try harder if he wants to get my forgiveness. He'll have to get on my knees before him." Parkinson's words seemed harsh, but her voice sounded almost amused, so Hermione calmed down. "But whatever, I yelled at him, watched the way his face paled, and it made my day. That hospital sucks."

After emptying her first glass and getting another filled, Cho began, "

"You know, Pansy, you're one of the very few patients who had visitors literally all the time."

Parkinson cocked one eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

"Yup. There was Nott, and there was Malfoy, and Zabini… They made it their mission to watch over you…"

"Blaise was very worried," Luna told Parkinson. "He cares about you a lot."

"Yeah… Wait, how do you know that about Blaise?" Parkinson asked suspiciously.

Everyone's eyes turned to Luna who, perhaps for the first time in her life, reddened like a poppy.

"Well, him and I are dating actually…"

Parvati almost spat out her wine. "You what?"

Even Hermione couldn't hold back. "Since when?"

"How did it happen?" Cho exclaimed.

"We started dating only last week. I wanted to tell you sooner but I was scared of how you were going to react. Blaise is a really nice guy, and I like him very much."

The girls were silent as one for a long minute.

"Luna, you didn't need to be scared to tell us," Hermione said. "It's not like we're going to judge you."

"I think it's nice that you're dating," Cho added good-heartedly.

Parkinson was still staring at Luna. Hermione readied herself for mocking or insults.

"You're definitely Blaise's type," she said finally.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Parvati demanded.

"Blaise deserves someone… kind. He's been through a lot," Parkinson said quietly.

They fell into a silence once more, this time thinking over each other's words.

"Isn't it boring to be friends with only guys?" Cho asked Parkinson. "All they ever talked to you about was boring boyish stuff, as if any girl would be interested in that… Quidditch, I like Quidditch, but I could tell from your face you don't care for it… And that's all Nott and Zabini talked about!"

Parkinson shrugged, as if a little uncomfortable by such inquisitions.

"I don't know. I never had it any other way."

"You should," Luna said. "I always found it strange how Hermione only hung out with boys. Harry is nice, I suppose, but Ron can be really mean sometimes."

Hermione could now understand why Parkinson was feeling uncomfortable.

"Ron is nice," she rushed to save her friend. "He's just misunderstood quite often."

"Weasel? Misunderstood? More like he has a stick up his butt," Pansy laughed. "And Potter's been fan of the Weasels, from what I can tell. By the way, where is his ginger girlfriend, the littlest Weasel?"

"Ginny and Harry broke up," Hermione said. "She wanted to pursue her Quidditch career, and Harry, well… he didn't see a future with her. Same with me and Ron actually."

"Oh, so you both broke up?" Parkinson asked. Hermione nodded. "Damn, must be a hard year for you."

"Actually, I feel so much better now. Ron is doing his own thing, Harry, mostly, also and I… I feel free to do what I want. It feels that I had battled the greatest thing in my life and now I can just live…"

"You did battle, Hermione," Luna told her tenderly. "And you won. You deserve to be free."

"So has everyone broken up or is somebody dating someone, besides Luna?" Parvati asked.

"I'm not dating," Cho was the first to respond. "I'm focusing on my career. And on winning Quidditch cup this year. We won against Hufflepuff last week, we will win against Gryffindor next month too," she added confidently.

"Me neither. I'm focusing on… doing better at school. Gee, if I knew that Head Girls get such great chambers, I would've tried harder to become one too. I would've studied like crazy if only I could live alone. What a blessing."

All the girls laughed. They had begun to slur their words. The alcohol that they were sipping was slowly getting to all of them.

"I'm not dating," Hermione said. "That's it."

"And you haven't got anyone that caught your attention?" Cho inquired, her eyes blinking.

"Nope. Nobody," she answered.

"Reaaaalllyyy..."

"Yup."

"Really reaallyy?"

"Chang, if you have something to say, just spit it out," Parkinson demanded.

"What about Malfoy?" Cho shot.

"What about him?" Hermione asked, trying not to blush, unsuccessfully.

"You're trying to say you don't have a crush on him?" Cho beamed.

"No, I don't. Where is this coming from?"

"Well, if you didn't talk so much about him, maybe I wouldn't believe it so much," Cho said.

"I don't talk about him at all," Hermione fumed.

"You do use his name a lot in conversation," Luna added.

Parkinson had an approving look on her face. "I can totally see it happening."

"What? No!"

"And you're blushing," Parvati giggled.

Hermione touched her flaming cheeks and closed her eyes in embarrassment.

"You're raising a dragon together, that's basically co-parenting. See? Even Luna and Zabini got together," Cho said.

"It's not even a dragon, yet, just a dragon egg!" Hermione was now shouting, all warning of being quiet gone.

"Yet," Luna said. "It will hatch soon."

"It's okay, we won't tell anyone," Parvati assured her. Then whispered," But we'll be expecting it."

The girls giggled, laughing more and more with every word they spoke. Embarrassment passed, and Hermione laughed too.

It was three in the morning when they decided to go their own ways, Parvati to her own room, Cho and Luna to the Ravenclaw tower and Parkinson to…

"That sodding hospital," she mumbled.

Hermione yawned, feeling warm and fuzzy and cosy. "You know, you can spend the night in my room, here," she offered.

Parkinson looked at her as if she was mad, but her cheeks were also flushed from wine.

"It's not like you're gonna get to the hospital wing without getting caught. My bed is big, we'll both fit, and I live here alone, so you don't have to worry..." Hermione began her attack of persuasion.

"You don't have to do it for me, Granger," Parkinson mumbled.

"I'm doing it for me. Someone needs to make sure the egg is alright throughout the night because I'm very very drunk and you're handling alcohol better than me."

Hermione was surprised that she didn't need to pressure more – Parkinson agreed.

Quarter of an hour later, the two girls were lying in Hermione's queen-sized bed. Hermione was almost asleep when she heard Pansy say, "You know, when Draco said that he will have to raise a dragon with you, my first thought was that it's destiny… I believe it is now…"