Chapter 16

Hermione woke up the next morning and was greeted with a rather abnormal sight. Astoria was laying fast asleep in Pavarti's bed while Ginny was snoring from the depths of her own covers. The brunette chuckled to herself as she noticed the blonde boy uncomfortably positioned in the small chair over by the bathroom door. Hermione frowned.

"I could've sworn he was laying on the floor last night." She mumbled to herself as she carefully clambered out of bed and left the room

***

It was cold down in the Common Room that morning, Hermione shivered as she wandered over to one of the windows and stared out at the grounds of the School.

Everything was covered in a thin layer of frost, that was only just beginning to melt away. Hermione smiled to herself as she went to the nearest shelf and selecting a book, before returning to the window and sitting down.

Roughly half an hour after beginning to read, the brunette heard someone come trudging down the stairs and into the Common Room.

"Hermione?" The familiar voice belonging to Harry Potter questioned from the bottom of the stairs.

"Good morning Harry!" She beamed, not looking up from the book she was reading.

There was a small amount of shuffling as Harry made his way over to his curly haired friend. He took the book from her hands and set it on the small table beside him.

"Come on, 'Mione." He yawned as he pulled Hermione away from the window and dragged her towards the stairs. "Back to bed."

"But I need to go to the library!" The girl argued, not fully understanding her friend's reason for dragging her upstairs. "I have school tomorrow."

"No you don't." Came Astoria's small voice from the top of the stairs.

"None of us do." Came Ginny's voice as they made their way down the stairs.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Hermione, you're ill." Harry huffed from beside the confused witch. "There'll be no school for you."

"But I'm not..."

"Me and Ginny found you laying on the floor upstairs." Astoria said softly.

"You we're out like a light." Ginny chuckled.

"I was asleep? On the floor? Upstairs?" Hermione repeated as she thought it over. "Makes no sense!"

"First off, you better sit down." Blaise's tired voice suggested as he appeared from upstairs. "It's kind of a long story."

***

"So I have the flu?" Hermione repeated for the third time since hearing the end of the explanation.

"For the last time, 'Mione." Harry chuckled, knowing how much this was bothering the brunette. "Yes, you have the flu!"

Hermione opened her mouth to ask another question, but Ginny quickly cut her off.

"And that means no school for the whole week." The redhead chuckled as she draped her arm round Hermione's shoulders. "But don't worry, you'll have all of us here to keep you company."

"Draco included." Blaise grins, causing Astoria to begin smiling.

"Why's that funny?" Hermione questioned. "Me and Draco are..."

"I heard my name." Came a groggy voice from behind the five of them.

"We were just telling, Little Miss. Infection, about her flu diagnosis." Blaise and Harry laughed as the Draco took a seat on the arm of one of the chairs.

"Did you tell her about the whole 'finding her unconscious' thing?" The blonde boy yawned as he ran a hand through his messy hair.

"Yeah. It was the first thing we told her this morning." Harry nodded as turned his attention towards the fireplace.

The brunette frowned. Something was wrong. Extremely wrong! Not only had they been in the same room for longer than two seconds without screaming at each other; both Harry and Draco we're being abnormally polite to each other. Hermione placed her head in her hands as she attempted to think of a logical explanation, but failed due to the small amount of aching in her head.

"Someone please explain this to me." The curly haired witch asked causing everyone else to become confused.

"Explain what, 'Mione?" Ginny asked as she and Astoria exchanged uncertain glances.

"This." Hermione pointed at Harry and then at Draco, trying to make her point more evident to the people around her.

Blaise was the first person to figure out what the brunette meant and began laughing at how stupid they were all being. "Harry and Draco have called a truce!"

"A truce?" Hermione repeated, her mouth hanging agape.

"Oh yeah!" Harry exclaimed, clapping his hands in excitement. "I forgot to say."

"You forgot to say?" Hermione repeated again, trying her best to comprehend the new information she was receiving.

"Isn't it great?" Astoria chuckled in delight as she stood up and hugged the brunette.

"When did all this happen?"

"Last night." Draco confirmed with a small grin.

"Last night?" Hermione sat in disbelief, not sure how to react.

"When you were sleeping." Harry concluded, his happiness evident in his voice.

Everyone fell silent as Hermione continued to process the thought of Draco and Harry being friends. Actual friends! After several minutes, the brunette stood up off the sofa and headed towards the stairs.

"Hermione?" Ginny called after her best friend.

"I'm off to get my book." Was the brunette's response as she disappeared upstairs.

Ginny turned back to face the other four, with a look of concern on her face. Astoria and Blaise both frowned in confusion at the redhead, but Harry and Draco understood what that look meant.

"Gin, what's wrong?" Harry asked as the red-haired girl wandered over to the window Hermione had been sitting at earlier.

"Hermione said she was going to get her book from upstairs." Ginny stated as she picked something up off the small table.

"So?" Draco questioned, not sure why this was a problem. "She's always reading."

"But her book is down here!" Ginny held up the hard-back copy of Romeo and Juliette. "So why would she go upstairs to get it?"

"Perhaps she went to get another one?" Blaise suggested with a small shrug.

Draco shook his head. "No, mate. 'Mione only ever reads one book at once."

"Perhaps she wasn't reading that book?" Blaise insisted.

"She was." Harry said, deep in thought. "I saw her reading it when I came down this morning."

There was a moment of silence before anyone spoke up again - and this time, whatever was said answered Ginny's question.

"She wouldn't." Astoria gasped as realisation hit her like a bludger to the head.

"Precisely." Ginny let out a sigh of relief. "At least someone understands what I'm saying!"

"Okay, so it's a little bit odd." Harry agreed after a moment of consideration.

"A little bit?" Ginny scoffed sarcastically, causing Draco to chuckle. "Harry, something is wrong!"

"With you or Hermione?" Blaise sniggered as Draco tried to suppress his laughter.

"With Hermione, you Air-head!" Astoria exclaimed, causing Blaise to shut up.

Ginny put the book back on the table and began heading for the stairs. "I'll go talk to her."

The other four got off their seats and gathered at the bottom of the steps, watching as the redhead began to climb.

"I'll go with you, Gin." Harry offered as he began to follow her.

"Harry James Potter." Was all that left Ginny's mouth, but it was enough to make him descend the stairs and return to the others. "The only person who will be following me is Astoria."

"That's not fair!" Harry whined causing Astoria to giggle.

"I am a girl, Harry!" The dark-haired witch shrugged as she and Ginny stood at the top of the steps. "It kind of makes sense."

And without another word, both girls disappeared into the dormatry in search of answers.