Chapter 5

The trees whipped by her furiously, yet somehow continued to pop up in front of her, causing her to change her course yet again to avoid crashing into one. Her leg muscles were burning and her chest was hurting, but she continued to pump her legs faster and faster. She could hear her breath coming out in harsh pants and knew that she wouldn't be able to continue running for much longer, but she absolutely couldn't afford to stop.

Faster and faster she ran, trying to put more distance between herself and her pursuers, but it was no use. She could feel them getting closer, no matter how many times she changed her direction. All around her the forest seemed to be caving in, making her feel claustrophobic on top of terrified. Still, she pushed her aching body on.

Behind her, she could hear them laughing. This was just a game for them, toying with their prey. Praying for a miracle, she zigzagged left, hoping another direction change would throw them off her trail. It didn't.

She could feel them closing in on her. It wouldn't be long now until they snatched her and apparated away. She knew what would happen then. The Manor. Bellatrix. Torture.

She couldn't go through that again! Summoning up some extra energy from somewhere deep inside herself, she propelled herself faster on through the woods. Up ahead, she could see the edge of the forest. If she got away from the trees and into an open field, she could apparate and get away. Daring to feel just a little bit of hope, she pushed herself on, but just as she was coming upon the field, a hand grabbed her by the shoulder with enough force to send her tumbling to the ground. She could feel their sickening breath on her neck as they grabbed her by her hair and dragged her into a standing position. All around her she could hear their laughing, but it was quickly drowned out by a mad cackle she'd prayed to never hear again.

Suddenly, she was laying on the drawing room floor again, as the maniacal woman stood over her, all the while still laughing. With a mad glint in her eye, she pointed her wand at Hermione as she tensed up for the excruciating pain she knew was coming.

"CRUCIO!" Bellatrix screeched.

"NOOOOO" Hermione screamed, waking up to find herself covered in sweat and panting harshly. She could feel the panic attack coming on, but at this point there was no way she could stop it. The claustrophobia she felt from her nightmare remained with her as she struggled for breath and started shaking. Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on getting air into her lungs but the panic attack was already in full swing. As she continued to shake, she put the images from her dream and awful memories from the year before out of her mind and focused on happier things. Over and over she kept telling herself that she was safe and at Hogwarts, and that Bellatrix was dead and could never get to her again. She continued to think of things like her friends that made it out of the war, her relationship with Ron, and being Head Girl. Finally, after what felt like hours, her breathing returned to normal and the shaking stopped.

Once she was able to get her bearings back, Hermione looked around and was surprised to find herself on the floor beside her bed, and her sheets tangled around her legs. That would certainly explain the claustrophobic issue she'd been having. Untangling herself and putting her covers back on the bed, she glanced over at her bedside table clock and saw that she was up an hour before her alarm would normally go off. Knowing there was no possible way she could go back to sleep after that nightmare, she decided to just go ahead and get an early start on the day.

After showering and doing her normal routine, she sat in the common room of her private quarters and started drawing up ideas for the Yule Ball she would have to put on this year. Technically, it was still a couple of months away, but Hermione always got a head start on projects. And knowing that Ernie would be absolutely useless, she figured she'd need all the time to put it together that she could get.

She spent a good thirty minutes working on ideas, but the more she sat still, the more restless and antsy she became. This was a common side effect of her panic attacks, and she knew she wouldn't be able to just sit for much longer, especially since she had a full day of classes ahead of her. So, she decided to go to the Hospital Wing and see about getting a calming draught from Madame Pomfrey, then head on to breakfast. While she was there, she'd inquire about a dreamless sleeping draught as well.

Picking up her book bag and putting it over her shoulder, she left her Head Girl Quarters and headed in the direction of the Hospital Wing on the second floor. Mentally, she made a check list of what all needed to be done today. On top of all her work for classes today, she needed to set up a meeting with the prefects, as well as make sure she was in her quarters between the hours of four and six. It had been brought to her attention that some of the prefects were shirking their duties and not performing their rounds. She'd even overheard that Ron was supposedly one of them. But that just couldn't be true! Ron would never do that. She was sure it was some of the younger prefects, and she'd make sure to address these issues at the meeting this afternoon. Afterwards, she'd be on her conference hours in her quarters. Three times a week, she had an open door policy where she would permit any student wishing to report a problem to her, and she would see to it that she could help in any way that she could. In the last couple of weeks, the first and second year Slytherins had been lining up outside her door with stories of being bullied or their things being stolen. Many of them even told her that the other students were demanding money from them, but the harassment still continued whether they paid or not. She'd been doing her best to try and catch the perpetrators on her rounds, but she wasn't always successful. It was another issue she'd bring up at the prefect meeting, and possibly McGonagall as well.

Just as she was going over what she was going to say if it came down to that, a hand shot out from nowhere and grabbed Hermione's wrist. Before she had time to scream, another hand quickly covered her mouth and the next thing she knew, she was being dragged into a nearby alcove. Her nightmare from earlier flashed into her mind as she felt terror flooding through her veins. She felt a broad chest behind her back and a masculine scent of spicy cologne and somewhat of a zesty lemon. Had she not been so scared, she would have tried to get a better whiff. Seeming to snap out of her panic, she brought her free hand up to claw at the one around her mouth at the same time she bit down on it.

With a yelp and a deep cry of "Fuck!" Hermione felt the hand around her mouth fall away, and she whipped around furiously to see just who her would be kidnapper was with a wand pointed in their direction. Upon seeing the platinum blonde hair and Slytherin robes, she instantly felt her terror replace itself with anger.

"Malfoy?" she questioned in disbelief.

"Fucking hell Granger!" he snarled at her, bringing his hand up close to his face and examining the prominent teeth marks on one side, and the scratches on the back. "Did you have to bite and claw my hand like some kind of animal?"

"Oh, well excuse me!" she snapped sarcastically at him. "Next time some creep slinks out of the shadows and grabs me, I'll be sure to not fight him! You idiot! What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Calm down Granger, don't get your knickers in a twist" he replied snarkily, turning to glare at her. "We need to talk."

"So rather than knocking on my door like a normal human being, you decide to pull me into a dark corner after scaring me half to death?" she snorted.

Draco's glare only intensified. Gods, Granger infuriated him! "Yeah, because you would have invited me in for a civil conversation over tea and biscuits. Tell me, would Weaselbee be joining us? Since you and Ginger Boy are attached at the hip now, I'm sure he stops by every morning. How would he feel about the big bad Death Eater getting cozy in his know it all girlfriend's private room?"

Hermione bristled at his smarmy demeanor and stupid nicknames for her boyfriend. Rather than rising to his bait and having an explosive argument however, she figured she would save herself a lot of time, energy, and one big headache if she just got to the bottom of why he'd sought her out. "What do you want Malfoy?"

"I want to know what last night was all about" he answered, all sarcasticness dropped as he took a step closer to her.

"What do you mean?" she asked confused.

"I mean with Pansy" he said condescendingly, as though he were speaking to a child. "Why were you with her last night? Did you say anything to her?"

"What? No, of course not!" Hermione defended herself. "I found her crying in a girl's bathroom and tried to comfort her. Afterwards, I just wanted to make sure she got back to the common room without any instances."

Malfoy seemed surprised by her answer for a few seconds, before he put his indifferent mask back into place. "I'm sure. Always so noble, aren't you Granger?"

"What happened to her" Hermione asked, once again ignoring his attitude. "Why won't she talk?"

Malfoy glared down at her once more. "Mind your own business" he spat, pushing past her and into the hallway.

Not one to be deterred, Hermione caught up to him and grabbed his arm, bringing his attention back to her. He had a look of annoyance on his face, but she couldn't have cared less. "Malfoy, clearly something is very wrong with her. She hasn't spoken one word since term started, she stares at the ground or in space for hours on end, and she's thin as a rail. She's my partner in Arithmancy and not only does she not help with the paired up assignments, but she hasn't turned anything in all year! She's got to be failing miserably at this point!"

"Yes, because nothing is more horrific than not turning assignments in on time" Draco said derogatorily.

"I'm serious!" Hermione all but yelled at him. "This isn't a matter that should be brushed off so easily. We need to help her! Don't you care about her at all? You-"

"DON'T TELL ME I DON'T CARE ABOUT HER!" Draco roared, causing Hermione to instantly shut up and take a step back as he took a step forward. She was back up against the wall and he was looming over her, waves of anger practically rolling off him as he stared witheringly at her.

"You want to know what's wrong with her" Draco hissed, mercurial eyes glaring intensely into amber ones. "She's been through fucking hell and back, then forced to come back to this shithole against her will. On top of that she's dealing with the all the bloody arseholes at this pitiful excuse for a school treating her like crap, and that's including the staff and all your bloody Gryffindorks!"

Hermione sat watching him with her mouth agape. Never, in all the years she'd known Draco Malfoy, had she ever seen him so worked up about something, or so…so passionate. Intrigued, she hung on to every word that fell from his lips.

"And it's not like we aren't trying to help her" he continued in a fine fury, running a frustrated hand through his already tousled hair. "We're doing everything we possibly can, but every time we turn around we're getting in trouble for something we didn't do. All the name calling, hexes, and pranks are getting really old! So you want to help her out Granger? How about you tell your imbecilic boyfriend and his fucking dogs to leave us the hell alone?!" he finished, panting heavily.

At the mention of her boyfriend, Hermione snapped out of her trance. "Ron? What has Ron got to do with any of this?"

"That bastard is the whole reason Pansy had an episode last night" Draco growled lowly. "Along with Thomas and Finnigan. The three stood right outside our common room and taunted her to the point of tears."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock. Surely he must be joking. How could Ron have had anything to do with Pansy's panic attack? He was on patrol last night for the fourth and fifth corridors. He was nowhere near the Slytherin Dungeons! And he knew that while he was on patrol, his friends couldn't be out after curfew either. Otherwise, they would be breaking the rules and as a prefect, Ron would have to take points from Gryffindor to be fair. He wouldn't do anything to jeopardize their house's chances, considering he was so competitive, so it couldn't be true.

"No" Hermione said, shaking her head. "You're mistaken. Ron wouldn't do that."

"I saw him with my own fucking eyes Granger" Draco insisted. "So did Blaise."

"You're wrong" she replied, shaking her head again. "Ron would never do something like that. He's a prefect! He-"

"Just because you're a fucking goody-goody who gets off on following the rules, doesn't mean all your friends are" Draco yelled in frustration as he stared at her in disbelief. "Come on Granger, you're the fucking Head Girl! You're supposed to fix shit like this when someone reports it!"

"You're lying! You're just trying to-"

"Lying?!" Draco scoffed. "Of course you don't want to believe the truth when it's right in front of your eyes! You're to in love with that pathetic Weasel, you won't believe anything about him that paints him in a negative light! You know as well as I do that fucking tosser hates us! He'd do anything to get us expelled and shipped off to Azkaban! And they say you're supposed to be smart! Weasley is nothing but a lowlife, poor, sodding son of a bitch with-"

"Twenty points from Slytherin" Hermione said authoritatively, cutting Draco off. "Ten for foul language, and ten for lying to the Head Girl. And if you say one more word about Ron- ONE. More. Word." She reiterated when Draco tried to further argue, "I'll give you a detention as well."

The two stood glaring at each other for a few more seconds, blood boiling beneath their skins, before Draco sneered at her. "You think I really care about house points and detentions at this point? Well, I don't." He made a big show of brushing off his robes where she'd touched him earlier, and turned on his heel. "Stay away from Pansy" he said in parting, the warning clear in his voice as he stalked away from her and disappeared behind a corner.

Hermione stood in the same spot for a few minutes after, replaying their conversation in her head. While she knew that Ron didn't like the Slytherins, there was no way he could stoop so low as to bullying. Could he? No, no he wouldn't. Malfoy was just trying to cause trouble as usual. Yet as she continued on her way to the Hospital Wing, she could feel the first stirrings of doubt settling in the pit of her stomach.

All day, she thought about her talk with Malfoy that morning. Even in classes when she tried to give the professors her undivided attention, her mind would wander to their encounter. Malfoy had to be lying about Ron's involvement with Pansy last night! He just had to! So why was it still bothering her?

In some classes, she would find herself looking at Malfoy. He was always surrounded by his Slytherin clique, but there was something different about him this year. Typically, the Slytherins would be causing issues by talking throughout the lesson or picking on the other houses. They'd walk through the corridors like they owned the place, or laugh rambunctiously at meal times. And Malfoy always made it a point to call her a mudblood at least once a week, or start a fight with the Gryffindors between classes. Usually those involved his Slytherin friends joining in and an all-out spell war between the two houses until a professor came to break it up.

But this year, there was a drastic change not just in Malfoy, but in all the Slytherins. While they still all hung together, they kept to themselves and were much quieter in classes and at mealtimes. In fact, they didn't cause problems in any way and as far as Hermione could tell, they were just trying to lay low. And she never saw any of the eighth years walking alone. They were always in a group, sometimes even with the younger Greengrass sister.

Because she was watching them so much that day, she noticed other things too. Like how the other houses seemed to detest them. Though she never could see the caster, all day she watched jinxes and hexes hit the Slytherins. Not just the eighth years, but the younger ones as well. They were constantly tripping and falling, having their faces break out in acne, and things from their book bags disappearing.

Even more shocking was that the Professors could be just as bad. In Charms, she saw a Ravenclaw walk by Daphne Greengrass' desk and purposely spill a bottle of ink all over her homework that she had sitting on her desk. When Daphne tried to explain this to Professor Flitwick, he coldly told her that she should have been more careful and gave her a zero for the assignment.

The only Professor who seemed to treat them as normal students was Professor Slughorn. He didn't show so much favoritism to them as Snape had, but he at least treated them with respect and dignity as he would most students, even those that weren't in his Slug Club. However, she did notice that as he walked by the table where she and Ron were working, he gave Ron a very dirty look and her boyfriend avoided his gaze the entire class.

By the time Hermione was making her way to one of the old classrooms for the prefect meeting, she was really starting to feel bad for the Slytherins. While it was true that they'd brought some of it on themselves with the way they'd acted in previous years, no one deserved the hatefulness that everyone was showing them. She was going to have to put a stop to it one way or another, and hopefully this meeting would be the beginning. With a determined look on her face, she made her way to the old Transfiguration classroom where they'd be holding the meeting.

Once everyone had arrived that was supposed to be there, she brought up the issues she wanted to discuss. She made it very clear that being a prefect was a privilege and that if anyone did not do the duties that were assigned to them, that privilege would be taken away. She also told them how she was having a lot of complaints from the Slytherin house and that as a prefect, they were not to discriminate against any house no matter their personal feelings. At this, she heard a few snorts and saw a some eye rolls, letting her know that not everyone agreed. Well, it didn't matter whether or not they agreed. They would be professional or lose their titles.

Once the meeting was over, Hermione caught up to Ron and greeted him with a kiss.

"How was your day" she asked with a smile.

"Good" Ron responded with a smile of his own. "Classes were a bit of a bore, but that's nothing new."

"Well, I do hope you paid attention" she said with a pointed look. "NEWTs are only seven months away, and you really can't afford to slack off with-"

"Alright, alright" Ron caught her off with a look of annoyance on his face. "Seriously 'Mione, no need for the lecture. Their months away. I'll have plenty of time to study for them. But I intend to enjoy this last year. Maybe you should do the same."

Hermione wanted to tell him that he could enjoy his last year and still study for NEWTs, but she knew Ron didn't share in her beliefs on that subject. To him, academics didn't hold nearly as much importance as things such as quidditch.

Brushing off her thoughts, she gave Ron another smile. "Of course I want you to enjoy your last year." Looking up at the clock on the wall, she saw that it was nearly four and she had to go. "I've got to get back to my room. I'm sure there are a lot of young Slytherins that have incidences to report."

A scowl came over Ron's face. "You sure you don't want to just come with me out to the quidditch pitch? Seamus, Dean, and I are going to throw the quaffle around. Gin will probably join in too. Wouldn't you rather come hang out with us?"

"Ron, you know it's part of my Head Girl duties" Hermione told him, baffled that he'd even ask her to consider shirking them.

"Well, yeah, but come on Mione! It's the Slytherins. Their probably lying about all that stuff anyway" Ron said.

"Ron!" Hermione chided, putting her hands on her hips. "First of all, they aren't lying. I've seen some of it with my own eyes and have given out a few detentions because of it. Secondly, the fact that they're Slytherins doesn't mean anything! I won't tolerate bullying of any kind. Weren't you listening at all during the meeting?"

"Yeah, yeah" Ron said offhandedly, waving his hand at her. "I just don't think you should worry yourself over them too much. You're not their mother, and they've got to learn to fend for themselves."

Hermione studied him for a minute, deciding she needed to get something off her chest. "Ron…I-I had heard something…were you, Dean, and Seamus down by the Slytherin Dungeons last night on your patrol?"

"What? No! Why would you ask that?" Ron asked, scratching his neck and laughing awkwardly.

"You didn't take Dean and Seamus on your patrol…did you" she pressed.

"No, no it was just me. Really Hermione, what's with this interrogation?" He asked, moving away from her towards the door. "Anyway babe, I'd like to stick around but I've really got to head down to the field and you need to be getting back to your room. Duty calls!" With an odd salute, Ron was out the door before she could question him further.

Hermione stared after him for a few minutes, her emotions warring within her. Why had he been acting so strange? And didn't he just say that he wanted her to go with him to the quidditch field rather than her quarters? Heading in the direction of her room, she thought over her whole day from the incident with Malfoy that morning to her talk with Ron just now, the doubt in the pit of her stomach only growing.

AN: Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday! Please review!