To the End of the Earth and Back [[Hr/D romance]]

Chapter Seven

Hermione had believed that the days until the next time that she was going to patrol with Draco were going to creep by at a snail's pace but, much to her surprise, they seemed to fly by. She had spent so much time and effort into her studies already that she didn't even really notice that an entire week had passed. The two only shared two classes together and whenever they were in them, they tried not to pay any attention to one another. Hermione already found it hard enough to concentrate on the classes that they did not share due to her constant thoughts about him.

Harry and Ron had noticed quite a change in Hermione. Now that they were back in school and back to thinking about normal things, not constantly dwelling on Sirius's death like they had been all summer, they were finally able to see that Hermione was acting rather peculiar. She had distanced herself from most of her friends more than they had ever thought was possible. There was no rhyme or reason to this distance that they could think of. They would try to ask her what it was that was going on but either she just did not respond or she would change the topic. Hermione Granger was hiding something from her best friends and for once in their lives, they were unable to really crack her open. Normally, after a few days, maybe a few weeks, Hermione would open up and tell them what it was that was going on in her head but she was not saying anything. She wasn't budging. This summer had damaged her, they knew that, and they were finally beginning to feel as if they were to blame for this new change in their friend.

Draco Malfoy noticed the change as well but that was more or less because he kept a close eye on her. Even though he was supposed to be preparing for the biggest order that he was ever going to have to follow in his life, his attention was on the muggle-born that still taunted and tempted him every night in his dreams. He noticed that the girl in his dreams was different from the girl that was physically walking around the castle who was different from the girl from the year before. Hermione was almost like a mirage. Just when you thought you knew that she was solid, she was gone. But that didn't stop him from wanting to know more about her. He wanted to know more about her change. He knew that it went much deeper than how her outbursts that girl night made it seem. Maybe, he would get the chance to get her to open up more once they were alone and patrolling the school again at night.

"I don't like that Hermione keeps getting paired up with Malfoy," Ron told Harry one of the many moments that day that Hermione was avoiding her friends. She was upstairs in the girls' dormitories while the boys were in the Common Room, staring down at the pieces of parchment that they had laid out in front of them for one of their assignments. "I feel like I should see if he'll trade shifts with me or if she'll trade off with someone. I just have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach every time I think about them roaming the halls together, alone, at night."

Harry nodded his head in agreement. Ron's worry made complete sense. Draco Malfoy was not someone that any of them could trust. He was up to something; Harry was sure of it. He feared that he was going to use her in some sort of scheme but Harry knew that telling Ron that was far from a good idea. That was one of those ideas that would send Ron into a frenzy. "Doesn't McGonagall make the assignments though?"

"Of course she does!" Ron exclaimed as he measured out the length of the parchment. He couldn't believe that it was the end of the first week of school and they already had to write a foot-long paper for Professor Flitwick. "It just seems weird that she would keep pairing them up together. I know that since it comes from her, it has some logical explanation behind it but it still makes my stomach churn. He's going to do something to her. I can feel it."

Harry shrugged his shoulders as he, too, measured out the parchment. He knew that Ron had every right to feel as concerned as he did. Hermione was already acting differently enough as it was. Adding trouble from Malfoy into the mix could make everything even more terrible than it was already. He felt like maybe he should try talking to Malfoy alone but thought better of that. There was no way that he was going to be able to get Malfoy to even talk to him for a moment let alone by themselves. He knew that Malfoy would not feel safe without his friends around to make sure that Harry didn't try to do something to him that would harm him in any way possible.