BACK IN THE Slytherin Common Room, Draco Malfoy was storming through the passageway with an irritated look on his angular face. As he approached the leather couch in which Pansy was sitting on, he crossed his arms and gave her a pointed look, fuming.

"Just what do you think you're playing at, Pansy?" He snapped, and the short-haired girl only stared at him. She held a textbook open on her lap, an entire book on house elves and their history — some 'light reading' as Hermione would call it.

"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about, Draco. Please do try to be more specific." She closed the book, keeping her manicured thumb in the crease so as to hold its page. Her dark eyes remained on his steadily: impassive, never blinking.

"You assaulted a Ravenclaw today, Pansy! For Hermione Granger!" He was nearly screaming now, drawing the attention of random students scattered around the room. He paid these people no mind however. He was pink in the face, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Merlin, Pansy. We could've lost house points because of this."

"He was bullying an underclassman, Draco." The black-haired girl argued her case, remembering the young boy she'd learned to be named Henry and how he'd been kicked and shoved, and how Madam Pomfrey had declared him to have a cracked rib as well as bruised sidings. Truthfully, Pansy had wanted to further hurt the elder Ravenclaw for his crimes. No-one deserved to be bullied — sexuality-inspired or not.

"And why does that concern you? We bully people all the time." The blond raised an eyebrow.

Pansy was frustrated herself now, and she stood to be level-eyed with him. Boys, she thought, stupid, clueless boys. "He was being bullied for being gay, Draco."

Her eyes bore into his own, begging him to understand without actually having to come out and say it. Blaise, who'd been standing off to the side, noticed Pansy's fragile state, how she was deflating in confidence more every second. He knew she would surely cry any second. He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, drawing his attention so Pansy could wipe her eyes without Draco's scrutinizing gaze.

"C'mon, Malfoy. Lay off her a bit, will you?" The dark-skinned boy's voice was steady, and the blond sighed. His shoulders grew less tense, and then his silver eyes landed on Pansy again.

"Listen, Pans, I'm sorry. Just- please don't make our house look bad. Granger's not worth losing house points over." He said.

Yes she is. "Our house would've looked worse if I would've stood by and let him kill him." She stood up, grabbed her book, and slid passed him and towards the girls' dormitories.

————— ↯ —————

Daphne Greengrass was lying on her stomach when Pansy entered the dormitory, inspecting her nails disinterestedly. When the blonde noticed her dorm mate enter, she sat up and eyed her expectantly. The dark-haired girl frowned and placed her book on her bed. "What?"

"I heard what you did today."

She sighed. "Just like I told Draco, our house would've looked worse if I would've let him get bullied."

"I'm not talking about the Third Year and the Sixth Year, Pansy. I'm talking about Granger. You cast 'Depulso' and 'Immobulus' to protect her. Why?"

"He was going to put her in a Body Binding charm." The Slytherin argued, taking a seat on the edge of her bed. She began to rummage through the trunk at the base of her bed, searching for her pajamas.

"So you thought to blast and paralyze him so he couldn't do the same to her?" Daphne's blue eyes followed her curiously.

"It's more than that," Pansy sighed, finding her top and shorts. "Granger was trying to protect the Third Year and so was I."

"He wasn't going for the Third Year when you cast those spells though. He was going for Granger."

"You don't understand," Pansy claimed. She pulled on her pajamas and crawled beneath her duvet. "You weren't there. You didn't see the horrible things he was doing to that boy..."

"I would've let Granger get hit. That's where you and I are different." Daphne announced, once again focusing on her nails. Then, she crawled under her own covers and the lights went out. Good to know that that's what makes us different.

————— ↯ —————

Fay Dunbar had the biggest grin on her face as Hermione walked into the dormitory. The Gryffindor eyed her dorm-mate and her frustration towards the Weasley twins and Lee Jordan vanished. "Thank you, Hermione."

"What for?" She was confused.

"Henry. You and Pansy saved his life... I'm forever indebted to you. Both of you." The girl continued, and Hermione's confusion only grew.

"I-"

"Henry's my cousin. Terribly smart, but incredibly weak. He's only just come to terms with his sexuality and everyone's been giving him a hard time about it. You two, besides myself, were the first people to actually show kindness towards him. I can't thank you enough!" Fay leaped from her bed suddenly and wrapped her arms around the girl.

"Please, Fay, don't thank me. It wasn't anything heroic that was done. He's a human being: no human being deserves to be treated like that."

"Still, I owe you my life. Whatever you need... whatever you want... I'll get it for you! I'll do your homework, I'll-"

"Seriously, Fay. Please. You want to do something for me? Please stop bringing up what's happened. I don't deserve all of this... attention. I'd do it for anyone." Hermione interjected, placing her hands steadily on the emotional teenager.

The girls separated, Fay heading back towards her bed and Hermione climbing into her own. As the girls fell asleep, dreams began to swim within the brown-haired girl's head:

They were on the castle grounds, leaning back and embracing the sunshine as June made itself present across the Scottish Highlands. Hermione sat beside Pansy, Harry on her left and Blaise Zabini seated across from them. They were laughing: Harry had won the Triwizard Cup and the end of the school year was quickly approaching. It was peaceful.

And then Pansy grabbed her hand, and surprised, Hermione stared at her. The Slytherin's dark eyes were focused on her and her alone, lips moving but words unspoken. She was entranced, and found herself leaning closer towards the girl...

She awoke with a start, body damp with sweat. The lights in the dormitory were out, and she could hear the faint sounds of Lavender Brown snoring in the bed beside hers. She thought about her dream. It had almost been like she was going to kiss Pansy, but that couldn't be right. She wasn't- this probably had to do with Henry; she hadn't been able to stop thinking about the thirteen-year-old being gay since she'd found out.

Having a sexuality other than being heterosexual was an extremely difficult thing to have. Sure, the rest of the world was beginning to grow more accepting towards these kinds of things, but in the wizarding world, things were far more different. There were ancient families: families that dated back all the way to the first wizards, and those traditions from back then were still very much in play — just look at the Malfoy family.

Being of muggle-born descent, Hermione Granger herself had no problem accepting that young boy for being gay, but she knew that couldn't be the case for everyone. It broke her heart. Nobody deserved to feel outcasted just because of who they preferred to date. Nobody.

She thought about Pansy again: of their first encounter at the Yule Ball and how the Fourth Year had sat beside her as she cried over Ronald. How she'd called her an enigma in the library. Her persistence in becoming her friend, even though she appeared mostly impassive on the matter. Her eagerness to join S.P.E.W., a club that completely went against the strict house elf rules she'd known her whole life. Her mouth opened in shock. All this time, she'd believed the girl was just developing into something other than the stereotype that all other Slytherins fit. But could it be possible that there was an ulterior motive? That there was a reason Pansy had sought out Hermione for her chance at redemption?

Her eyes fell closed again.

Henry was in the Clocktower Courtyard again, holding hands with a boy. They too were laughing. Everything was apparently so funny in these dreams. Then, Henry leaned in and kissed the other boy, and the students nearby cheered. The Sixth Year approached them, maliciousness gone and instead a genuine smile graced his face, approval clear in his once gold gray eyes. He looked so much more attractive with a smile.

A new dream.

Ronald and Lavender were seated together in the Gryffindor Common Room, her blonde curls falling along his shoulder. The fire rose in front of them cheerily, and Hermione took notice of their sweaters: Weasley sweaters – Mrs Weasley's famous Weasley sweaters, and Lavender had one of her own. It was obvious the two had been dating for quite some time now.

"Oh, Won-Won." Lavender claimed, grasping his freckled hand in her own. "My Won-Won." Her icy eyes were focused on Hermione, and the brown-haired girl found her chest tightening. Jealousy. Why was she jealous? She didn't even like Ronald like that... but she still couldn't stand the thought of him with someone else. And then they too were kissing.

There was so much kissing in these dreams. Hermione used everything in her power to make her dreams shift.

She was in the Clocktower Courtyard again, and it was dark outside. After hours. She sat on a low wall, watching the stars high above her head twinkle in and out of view. She tried to name the constellations she knew: find where they started and ended and map them out, then she heard the crunching of school shoes against the gravel.

With a glance up, she saw Daphne Greengrass eyeing her, approaching her predatorily. The blonde had a feral look in her blue eyes. Her teeth were bared though they weren't human-like at all. They ended in points: sharpened to readily rip the throat of her prey, and Hermione firmly believed that the victim was meant to be herself.

"Daphne, please... You don't have to do this..."

The girl lunged. "Daphne!"

————— ↯ —————

"Hermione!"

The girl awoke with a start: Fay Dunbar, Lavender Brown, and Parvati Patil all stationed around her with worried looks on their faces. Fay reached forward and touched the girl's forehead.

"Hermione, you're burning up."

She felt her own forehead. "How- how long have I been asleep?"

"You were screaming," Lavender claimed, avoiding her question. "For Ron... for me... hell, you were even screaming for someone named Henry. Who's Henry?"

"My cousin." Fay claimed simply, then her worried expression covered her face again. "C'mon Hermione, we have to get you to the Hospital Wing. You look positively terrible."

"No," Hermione groaned, falling back onto her sweat-soaked sheets. She'd been trying to balance on her elbows but her body felt ridiculously weak. "No, I can't be sick. Harry's task is in a week and I have to help him prepare. I don't have time to be sick." She sneezed.

"It's all this stress," Parvati claimed. "You've been overworking yourself too much, Hermione. Why do you think Lavender and I have been trying to get you out so much? All this stress isn't good for your health."

"You'll have gray hair by the time you're twenty!" Lavender agreed. Hermione forced herself into a sitting position, grabbing the end of her duvet and brushing it against her face so as to wipe the excess sweat. It was gross, but she didn't care.

"I swear, I'm fine." She insisted. She fell unconscious again.