Draco felt a surge of momentary hatred for the girl standing in front of him. How dare she try to goad him into telling her anything? "Not that it’s any of your business, Granger, but I had something in my eye."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "You’re lying and you’re hiding something," she challenged him quietly.

"Just shut up, mudblood!" he yelled and leapt to his feet. His ankle gave out and, with a hiss of pain, he fell to his knees.

Hermione stepped back, watching him for a moment. He was so arrogant and cruel and he made her so angry. Breathing hard, he closed his eyes tightly and shakily got up on his good leg, turning to collapse on the sofa again. He lay back, still panting.

She went over to a bucket of water and turned it to ice using a spell. She grabbed an ice pick that she found thrown in amongst the dishes and proceeded to pick away at the ice, secretly wishing she could pick away at Malfoy the same way. She wrapped the ice in a cloth and brought it over to the sofa. He lay there quietly with his arm flung across his eyes.

She had started to untie his shoelace, when he sat up with a gasp. "What are you doing?"

"Putting ice on your ankle, unless of course you want to stay here indefinitely," she said matter of factly, her tone daring him to stop her.

His eyes glared at her. "Just be…" He hesitated.

"Gentle?" She smiled sweetly. "Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you."

"Just be careful. I don’t want your mudblood hands all over me."

"Unless you want my mudblood hand connecting to your pureblood face again, I’d shut up if I were you!" Her eyes flashed.

For a split second, his anger abated and he had to suppress the urge to smile. She certainly was a feisty little mudblood.

"Ooooo, I’m scared." He smirked. Her hand came up, but he easily caught it, as she knew he would.

He narrowed his eyes then let go of her. He leaned against the back of the sofa as he watched her take of his shoe and sock. He couldn’t suppress the groan when she first applied the ice to his swollen ankle.

"You’ll need to go to the hospital wing when we get back. Madam Pomfrey will be able to heal this quickly."

"No! Thanks to Potter, I’ve spent more than enough time there," he said angrily.

"So you’d rather walk around in pain? That’s not very smart."

His gray eyes turned icy. "Well, I guess we can’t all be as smart as you, Granger." He lay back down, ignoring her.

Hermione propped some pillows up under his foot and left the ice resting on his ankle. She got up and went over to the window. The fog was so heavy now she couldn’t see a foot past the window. Harry would be so worried about her; she had to get back.

Draco sat up again. He could see that the fog had gotten even thicker. Snape would be furious if he knew what had happened. He was finally starting to get a little warmer; he didn’t relish the prospect of having to go out into the dampness again. With the blanket wrapped around him, he put his good foot down and gingerly tested his bad ankle. The ice had helped numb the pain somewhat. With one hand gripping the sofa, he propped himself up and took a step.

A stabbing pain shot up his leg and he yelped as his ankle twisted again. Hermione got to him just in time to catch his arm and push him back on the sofa. She lost her balance and fell against him. His arms went around her gently. Hermione froze for a moment. Draco froze as well, and for a split second he wanted nothing more than to have her, or anyone’s, arms around him telling him everything would be okay. He shivered involuntarily and Hermione felt the shiver. Later when she thought about it, she didn’t know what made her do it. She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. His head dropped to her shoulder and he stayed still for a moment, his breathing ragged from the pain still shooting up his leg.

The door opened. "Hermione?"

Malfoy pushed her away so fast she almost fell off the sofa. They both looked at the door to find Hagrid, Crabbe, and Goyle standing there.

"I’ve been out check’n on the pumpkins fer Halloween. And I found these two looking for Malfoy."

"Well you found him. I was out for a walk in the fog and he had fallen and hurt his ankle. We got lost on the way back and ended up here. I just tripped and accidentally fell on the sofa." The words came out of Hermione’s mouth in a fast gush, and she was almost breathless at the end.

Hagrid raised his bushy eyebrows. Crabbe and Goyle stared at Malfoy, prompting Draco to put on his most arrogant sneer. "What are two looking at? Help me up and back to the castle!" He would have to be sure to tell them how much he detested the time he had had to spend with the mudblood.

He looked back at her one more time just before they headed out the door. It was an odd look, one she was not used to seeing on his face. There was no sneer or coldness or arrogance. For a brief moment, the thought crossed Hermione’s mind that Malfoy was always so nasty to her and Ron and Harry because he was jealous of their friendship. She almost laughed out loud at that absurd thought, yet despite all his nastiness there had been something different about him.

Hagrid and Fang brought her back to the castle. She thanked him and he patted her shoulder. "Say ‘Hi’ to the boys fer me."

She tore up the stairs, breathlessly blurted out the password, and headed for Harry’s room. She was about to knock when the door opened and Harry stood there all dressed with his cloak on.

"What are you doing? You shouldn’t be dressed and out of bed."

He looked at her, stunned, and then with a big sigh of relief threw his arms around her and held her tightly. "Hermione, I was so worried about you. I’ve been going crazy up here."

"It’s okay, I’m fine. We were in Hagrid’s cabin."

"We? You mean you and Malfoy?"

She nodded, "You are right – there is something going on with him, but he wouldn’t tell me. He had twisted his ankle and I was helping him try to get back to Hogwarts, but the fog was so thick and we ended up at Hagrid’s cabin. He was his usual, nasty self. Well, for the most part." She paused. "Then Hagrid and…"

"Hang on, what did you mean by ‘for the most part?’"

She smiled at him. "I don’t know… he just seemed really distracted at times, and he looked sad, I think. But most of the time we just fought." She smiled embarrassedly. "I’m afraid I slapped him again."

Harry grinned. "Well, I’m sure that put him in a good mood."

She laughed. "Not exactly. Enough about Malfoy, how are you feeling?"

A tortured look crossed his face.

"Harry?" She followed him back to the bed and sat down beside him.

"I start detention with Snape tomorrow."

"Oh! Well I’m sure it will be fine. He actually seemed really worried about you, and the one time when Ron and I snuck in to see you, when he had actually forbidden it, he didn’t give us a detention or even take off any points."

Harry smiled wryly. Hermione put her arm around his shoulder. "When it’s over, we’ll be waiting for you. Don’t worry."

Harry stared at the wall. Hermione didn’t know what Snape was going to try to make happen.

Draco hobbled towards his room with Crabbe and Goyle flanking him. He had to lean heavily on them as the pain shooting through his ankle prevented him from putting any weight on it.

Suddenly Crabbe and Goyle came to a halt. "Why are you sto..." Draco stopped in mid sentence as he looked up to see Professor Snape standing in front of them.

"What happened here?" Snape asked, his dark eyes sweeping over Draco.

"I'm fine. I just twisted my ankle."

Snape's gaze went to Crabbe and Goyle. "You're going the wrong way. Do take him to the hospital wing."

"No!" Draco responded angrily.

A flicker of anger sparked in Snape's eyes, but his voice remained calm. "Yes! Madam Pomfrey is going to look at it and heal it."

Draco shook his head. "I don't want to go back there – I just got out."

"It won't take long. Come on."

Crabbe and Goyle, fearful of incurring Snape’s wrath, dragged him along, leaving Draco little room to argue.

"Good heavens, Mr. Malfoy, back so soon?" Madam Pomfrey looked startled.

He shifted his icy glare from Snape to the witch.

"Here, put him down on this bed. What happened?"

Draco, full of resentment, lay back and silently stared at the ceiling.

"Apparently Mr. Malfoy has sprained his ankle." Snape then looked at Crabbe and Goyle. "You two better get to class."

Madam Pomfrey examined his ankle, turning it to and fro. A soft hiss of pain came from Malfoy. Snape left and returned a short while later with a glass.

"Here, drink this down; it will take away the pain."

Draco downed it while Madam Pomfrey, as gently as she could, rubbed a healing balm on his ankle. Draco's eyelids grew very heavy and, before he could register that Snape had added something to the pain remedy, he fell asleep.

"I added a small amount of calming potion to the painkiller. He's rather upset that I forced him to come here. He should wake up in about an hour."

"Thank you, Severus. I'm sure he'll be happy to be healed, and the additional rest will certainly do him good." Poppy smiled.

It was almost midnight, when Snape went into the hospital wing again. He sat by Draco's bed watching him sleep. He hadn't awoken all those hours ago as expected. Snape wondered if he had given him too much potion or if Draco was just exhausted. He knew he hadn't been eating well since he got out of the wing and he just missed two meals again. Draco rolled over on his side and a small smile formed on his face. Snape smiled – at least he was dreaming something pleasant.

Draco felt warm and, for a second, he felt like someone cared, even if it was Granger. He opened his eyes, but instead of being in Granger's hug he found himself in the hospital wing.

"Draco?"

He looked up at Professor Snape.

"How are you feeling? I was worried when you didn't wake up this afternoon."

Draco glanced towards the windows and realized it was dark outside. "What time is it?"

"It's just after midnight now."

Draco blinked; after all that sleep he still felt tired.

"Are you hungry?" Snape sat down beside him.

He nodded. "A bit."

Snape got up and left. Draco assumed he was getting him something to eat. He sat up and cautiously flexed his ankle. It was still a little sore, but no more pains came shooting up his leg.

Snape came back with a tray full of sandwiches and Draco offered him a quiet thank you.

"We haven't talked in awhile. Is there anything you want to tell me?"

Draco grabbed a couple of sandwiches. He wanted to tell him about the letter from his father, but he knew Snape would talk him out of meeting with him. He hadn't decided what to do yet, but he needed to make the decision alone.

He shook his head.

"Eat up and then get some more sleep. Your ankle should be almost back to normal; you'll likely still limp a bit for another day. Draco, I want you to remember that you can come to me if there is anything you want to talk about anytime."

Draco nodded. He knew Snape cared about him, but he had seen how he was with Potter when he was sick. As usual, he came in second to Saint Potter. After Snape left, he crept under the warm covers again and fell asleep shortly after.

The next time he awoke, he was startled to find Granger sitting by the bed.

"What are you doing in my room!" He sat up quickly.

She laughed. "I know you've spent some time here lately, but since when is the hospital wing your room?

He looked around, realizing she was right. He had forgotten he was here. He glared at her. "What do you want?"

"Nothing from you. I just wondered how your ankle was and, when you weren't at breakfast, I figured you would be here."

"My ankle is fine." Then with a sneer, "Don't tell me you came because you were worried."

She frowned at him for a moment, then with a slight shrug of her shoulders responded, "Apparently I was. Someone must have slipped some insanity potion into my pumpkin juice." With that she got up and walked away, leaving Draco looking after her with a puzzled expression.

The day flew by quickly, Harry attended only about half of his classes, due to Madam Pomfrey's strict orders. He was well rested by the time 6:30 came around. With a heavy heart, he knocked on Snape's door.

"Come in, Potter," came Snape's voice.

He walked in and came to a halt in front of Snape.

"Potter, stop looking like a lamb about to be slaughtered. You are here for detention. I want you to scrub out all those vials over there on the table and after you are done with that, start sweeping between the tables."

Snape went and sat behind his desk and began working on some papers.

Harry stood there stunned for a moment.

"Potter? Are you waiting for mold to grow?" Snape asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry shook his head and went over to the vials. He had worked for about 30 minutes when Snape spoke again.

"I have noticed that you are doing a very thorough job. Are you required to help with the cleaning at your aunt's house?"

Harry snorted. "Yes, they give me endless chores. Since they don't want me there, they pretty much use me as their hired help."

"So you don't have a close relationship with them?"

Harry laughed. "They would be thrilled if Voldemort…" He stopped and corrected himself. "If He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named killed me."

"Perhaps she's not good at showing it, but don't you think your aunt has some measure of affection for you? You are, after all, her only nephew, her only sister’s child, not to mention the fact that she raised you."

Harry shook his head. "She doesn't love me."

"How do you know?" came Snape’s soft reply.

"Because I ended up having to spend the first 11 years of my life in the broom closet under the stairs. Does that sound like love?" he responded bitterly. The conversation had started so slowly and so innocently that Harry hadn't consciously realized that Snape had tricked him into talking.

"What about your uncle and your cousin?"

Harry just glared at him resentfully.

"Potter, please tell me about them." Snape's request came politely but with a quiet, dangerous tone.

"Why should I? I'm supposed to talk about things I'd rather not talk about while you and Dumbledore get to keep huge secrets from me! And those are secrets that are about me!" Harry yelled at Snape, his breathing speeding up and his hands shaking.

"The headmaster has told you everything. There are no more secrets."

Harry laughed bitterly again, "I'm supposed to believe that after what I learned last year? I can't trust anyone."

Potter was visibly paling and getting upset. "Calm down. Take a deep breath." Snape waited until he did. "We better stop here for tonight, but you have to realize that there are many people you can trust. If you had come to me after your nightmare about the Dark Lord torturing your godfather, I would have helped. You may not care for me, but I assure you that you can trust me."

Harry didn't say anything. His green eyes were still blazing in anger.

Snape knew that getting Potter to open up was going to be difficult, considering the extremes he went through to avoid Occlumency. He wasn't about to spill all his feelings to anyone, especially himself. He needed to build the trust slowly and he feared it would be as hard for Potter as it was for him.

He added softly, "Before you go to sleep tonight, I want you to clear your thoughts. Relax and take deep breaths. Don't sit in bed thinking about things. Block it all out. Make your mind go blank."

Potter nodded wordlessly and left, leaving Snape wondering if this would ever work.