Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ For You I Will.... ❯ Chapter 1

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The sun was out but it was an unusually cold day for September. The Hogwarts Express was speeding through the countryside taking no notice to the endless fields outside. The leaves on the few trees they passed were blowing in an intricate dance. As Hermione looked out the window she noticed that the world seemed at peace even after what had happened last year. A chill ran down her spine as she recalled the events of her fifth year at Hogwarts.

Suddenly the compartment door flew open as her two best friends walked in. Ron came and sat next to her and Harry sat across from her. Each was carrying an armful of treats from the food trolley.

“Hi, Hermione,” said Harry. He offered her a pumpkin pastry as he shoved a whole one in his mouth. She rolled her eyes and refused.

“Where have you two been?”

“Wer des it luk like, Hermeonay?” replied Ron with a mouthful of chocolate frogs while trying to open a box of Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. She ignored him and looked out the window.

The boys started to talk about Quidditch when Ginny walked in. She sat on Hermione’s other side and they talked about their summers. As the sky grew darker and they neared school, they noticed their ever growing hunger. The talk soon died down and they changed into their robes.

Hermione stepped off the train followed by Ron and Harry and they heard a familiar voice.

“Firs’ yers, this way!”

They all turned and waved at Hagrid and then made their way to the carriages. Ron turned to both of them and said, smiling, “A year free from Fred and George.”

“You’ll soon miss them when you get hit in the head with a bludger your first Quidditch match!” joked Hermione. Ron suddenly looked horrified.

They arrived at Hogwarts and made their way through the Entrance Hall.

“Hermione!”

Hearing Ginny’s voice Hermione turned around but smashed into Malfoy.

“ Watch where you’re going, you stupid Mudblood.”

“Malfoy, she may be a Mudblood but she will always be better at magic than you… you… you slug!” Ron secretly cursed himself for not thinking up a better comeback. Malfoy just laughed.

“Thanks, Ron,” Spat Hermione sarcastically. Then Ron realized that he had called her a Mudblood in his rage.

“Sorry, Hermione.”

Hermione shoved the laughing Malfoy aside as she, Ron, and Harry made their way to the Great Hall. Ginny came running up.

“You left me, Hermione.”

“Sorry, Ginny.”

“Is something wrong?”

“One word – Malfoy.”

“Oh.”

“I hate him,” snapped Ron.

“Don’t we all,” replied Harry.

Hermione kept quiet. One of these days she was going to do more than just slap Malfoy.

They all sat down at the Gryffindor table and the hall soon filled. Dumbledore stood up and everyone quieted. “Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. I have some announcements to tell you but as I know that you are all hungry and cross, I will talk after the feast. Let the Sorting begin.

Professor McGonagall brought the first years forward and the Sorting Hat immediately broke into song as it always did. The old and tattered hat described the four houses and their founders and the first , very frightened, child stepped forward to be sorted. There was an exceptionally small amount of first years this year. Gryffindor only gained twelve people. Hufflepuffs gained eight, Ravenclaw only five and Slytherin gained eleven.

After the sorting , to everyone’s relief, the gold plates in front of them filled with food. The hall exploded with laughter and talk. Malfoy could be heard telling the Slytherins about Ron’s fantastic comeback and the whole table roared with laughter.

“So, Ron,” Hermione said trying to distract him. “How are your parents?”



“Fine,” he replied angrily.

“Have you heard from Fred and George yet?”

“Yeah.”

“And?”

“Fine.”

“Okay, well good. I’m glad everything is working out for them.”

“Sure.”

They ate the rest of their meals in silence. After everyone had finished, Dumbledore stood up.

“Now, I have a few announcements before bed. First I would like to introduce your new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Calais Windmere,” a tall, bulky man stood up. He had dark brown hair and beady eyes. His face was expressionless. The crowd applauded politely.

Snape had been searching the sea of students but as he heard that name he snapped his head to look at him. He thought he had heard that name before but let it go when he didn’t recognize the face.

“Now, I will be announcing your prefects. Please leave all applause and cheers until the end. First, Draco Malfoy, representing Slytherin,” Draco walked to the front and accepted his badge.

“Oh, joy!” Whispered Ron to Harry.

“Hannah Abbott, representing Hufflepuff,” she went to the front to join Malfoy.

“Terry Boot, representing Ravenclaw and Hermione Gran-,” the Gryffindor table exploded with cheers as Hermione went to join Hannah, Terry, and Malfoy.

“I appreciate everyone holding their applause and cheers until the end,” he eyed the Gryffindor table but had a twinkle in his eyes and a slight smile on. “Your Head Boy will be Owen Cauldwell from Hufflepuff and your Head Girl will be Katie Bell from Gryffindor. If the two of you will please come to the front. Now, all will remember to stay away from the Forbidden Forest as it is off limits. The rest of you, your Heads of Houses will show you to your common rooms. Good Night.” The hall emptied quickly.

“Now,” said Dumbledore making his way out of the hall. “I have a surprise for all of you. This year we have decided to encourage interhouse relationships. So we have also decided to give you six your own common room and living quarters. You all will have to be examples. So look around at your new roommates.” Draco made a very audible groan but Dumbledore decided to ignore it He brought them to a portrait of a man and woman sitting in a gondola. The couple looked at all of them and smiled and waved. Dumbledore spoke “ Pink shoe laces,” and the portrait swung open. They all walked through the door into an elegant room.

There was a huge fireplace in the wall to their right with a fire roaring. On either side, two windows reached the top of the vaulted ceiling. In front of the fireplace were three very comfortable looking couches. On the opposite wall were two stairs cases, one leading to Hermione, Katie, and Hannah’s dorm. The other to Draco, Terry, and Owen’s. On the wall with the door in it were hundreds of books along with three desks. They had their very own little kitchen equipped with a mini fridge, espresso machine, and snack bar. “Those constantly refill themselves,” Dumbledore explained but no one was listening. They had their own Wizard Chess set made of marble. On the fourth wall were the bathrooms along with the four founders portraits. Dumbledore left them to explore.

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“Well, Granger, Potter and the Weasel can’t protect you here,” Draco spat after the others had gone to bed and Hermione was still searching their private library.



Hermione spun around to face him. “ Draco, I am very capable of dealing with your wisecracks, which by the way aren’t that wise.” She returned to searching the library. She heard him walk up the stairs muttering “ Mudblood,” which she had to admit did hurt a little. She decided to go to bed as the first day of school was tomorrow and she wanted to be fresh.

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Hermione woke the next morning with Katie shaking her. “Hermione, classed start in ten minutes. Get up!” she said hurriedly.

Hermione jumped out of bed, swore softly, and ran to her closet. She pulled a robe over her pajamas, brushed her hair and ran downstairs. She grabbed a pumpkin pastry from the snack bar and then her bag. She raced through the portrait hole and then to the Transfiguration room. She sat next to Harry and Ron out of breath.

“Running late, Hermione?” Asked Ron with a smirk on his face.



She slowly turned to him with a deadly glare and said “Shut – up!” in between breaths.

Just then Professor McGonagall walked in and to the front of the class. "Good morning, class. Because of our attempt to have interhouse relationships, all of your Professors will be assigning you partners," at this Hermione looked around the room and realized that they were with the Slytherins. As McGonagall ran down the list Hermione wondered what little piece of heaven she would be stuck with. Harry was placed with Pansy Parkinson and Ron was partnered with Goyle . Then....

"Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy," Hermione’s heart sank, not that there was anyone better though. She looked back at him in the very back of the classroom.

“Well, I’m not coming to you, Granger!”

“Yes you are. I am very comfortable where I am. Thank you!”

“No you’re not!”

“How would you know if I’m comfortable or not?”

“Mr. Malfoy, will you please come up and join Miss Granger,” Hermione smirked at him and he scowled back at her.“Okay class, today we will be turning your books into flower pots and then back again....,” for the rest of the class both were quiet, not ever saying a word.

Next Hermione had Herbology with the Hufflepuffs and thankfully she was partnered with Hannah. Then they had Potions with the Slytherins and she was now placed with Pansy and Harry got Malfoy. She actually thought, no she knew, that Professor Snape did that on purpose to Harry. She then left Harry and Ron to go to Arithmacy and they went to Divination. In this class there was an odd number of students so she was matched with Neville. Her last class for the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts. She was matched with Terry here.

An hour later Hermione, Harry and Ron were making their way to the Great Hall for dinner .

“Is this year going to be as bad as I think it is?” Harry ask them.

“Worse!” Hermione and Ron replied together. They all walked into the noisy hall and sat down. Harry and Ron talked excitedly about their first Quidditch practice the next day, as the stars overhead shown brightly. I t had warmed up a little but not much, and the sun always seemed to be shining.

“Hermione, are you going to come watch us tomorrow?” asked Ron.

“Yeah, I can’t wait to watch you make a fool of yourself,” Harry burst out laughing as Hermione said this. Ron turned a slight pink and she wasn’t sure if he was angry or embarrassed. “Who are the new beaters anyways?”

“Tom Merrimac, he’s a fourth year and Mackenzie Woodruff, she’s a fifth year,” answered Harry.

After dinner Hermione went to the Gryffindor common room to do her homework. After she had finished Ron tricked her into playing a game of Wizard’s Chess with him. When she had beaten him royally she returned to the Prefects quarters. Draco was the only one still up and she walked quickly past him. As she walked up the stairs though she could feel his eyes burning through her back. She got a feeling to look behind her, but Malfoy was still in front of the fire reading. She turned and went to bed.

The next morning the sun was shining and it was perfect Quidditch weather. The morning was like any other. A barn owl brought Hermione her Daily Prophet but it was the same old news. Harry and Ron were again talking about Quidditch and Draco was still tormenting Ron about what Ron liked to call “the incident.” Hermione ate her breakfast quietly listening to Harry and Ron, nodding her head politely every once in a while just to make them happy.

After breakfast they made their way to the Transfiguration room. Draco and half the other students were already in there seats. She went and sat down next to him. He looked at her but didn’t say anything.

“Do you have a problem, Draco?”

“Yeah, your sitting there.”

“This is my seat!”

“I know. It bothers me!”

“To damn bad! I don’t like sitting next to you either.”

The tabby cat observing the class from her desk transfigured into their Professor at that moment.“Good morning, class.”

“Good morning, Professor McGonagall.”

With that the class started. Professor McGonagall told them that they would be starting a project in which they would have to work with their partners. Hermione and Draco looked at each other and scowled. Hermione knew that this was one of their attempts to bring the houses closer, but having to do a project with Malfoy was like trying to fit a cube into a circular hole. She knew that it wouldn’t work.

“This is a big project. It will be on Animagi. You will have two months to complete it. Here I have a list of things that you need to include. You must pick a famous Animagi and write a biography on them. You will need to include things like the date of their registration, why they chose their animal, also what got them put into a history book and why being an animal helped them do so. It will have to be about four feet long in length. You and your partner will also have to find some kind of visual. This is worth half of your semester grade. I suggest that you work together with your partner. I will also be giving you these quills that record how much you have written, so that we can see that both persons did an equal amount of work.It will be due a the beginning of November. Good luck.” With that she went and sat behind her desk. Two months with Malfoy. The biggest project ever to be placed in front of her and Draco was responsible for half of HER grade. She thought she might die!

She turned to him. “So, when do you want to get started?”

“Never.”

“Malfoy, do you really thin-“

” Look, Granger, I said I never wanted to get started. When do we need to get started? That’s a different question. Don’t go off on a tangent.”

“ Fine. Then when do we need to get started?”

“Soon.”

“Okay, then lets met in the library tonight and just look for our person.”

“You’re right Granger, I don’t think that I could spend much more time with you then that. Seven ‘o’ clock then?”

“Fine.” Hermione got out her book and started to see if there was anyone in there so that she wouldn’t have to be alone with Malfoy in the library. She spent the last twenty minutes of class looking but found no one..

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“No. I have Neville as a partner. Don’t get me wrong he’s nice and all but he stinks at writing papers.” complained Hannah after Hermione had just explained that project to her.

“At least you don’t have to work with Malfoy!”

“I agree with you there. I don’t know how this interhouse thing is going to work. We are the school’s examples and we’re not very good ones.

“Well, Hannah, I guess that we’ll have to bring that up at the Prefects meeting tomorrow.”

“I guess you’re right, but if they wanted us to have interhouse relationships than why put us into houses? Maybe we can at least get Malfoy to be civil.”

“That’s wishful thinking, Hannah.”

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Hermione, Harry and Ron quickly ate dinner and went to the Quidditch pitch. Hermione went to find a seat as they changed into their robes. They were the first people there and the boys played a few games of chicken before the rest of the team arrived.

Hermione had just finished her Defense Against the Dark Arts essay and Ron had just unsuccessfully blocked the quaffle for the seventh time tonight when she realized that it was ten to seven. Hermione waved good bye to the boys distracting Ron so he missed his eighth quaffle. He scowled and she made her way quickly to the library not wanting to be hit with a bludger!

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Draco had been there ever since dinner hoping to find something but didn’t. He looked at his watch a saw that it was seven and thought about a leaving.

“No, she’d kill me!”

“Kill you for being you?” asked Hermione as she walked in.

“Shut up, Granger.”

“Have you found anything?”

“No.”

She grabbed a book from the shelf that she thought might contain something and sat three chairs down from Draco.

She didn’t know how long she had been there or how many books she had searched through. All she knew was that at some point Draco had left without saying a word which told her that he hadn’t found anything either. She was frustrated that she hadn’t found anything and then looked at her watch. It was half past ten and she realized that she still had Potions, Herbology and Arithmacy homework. This frustrated her more and she ran from the library thinking that she would be up forever.

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Draco had left the library at a quarter till nine. He had given up and started to think that the project was impossible. He also couldn’t stay in that library anymore with that Gryffindor. With her sighs when she finished a book and hadn’t found anything. With her constant glances at him as if asking “Found anything yet?” He had to leave. He thought that he would look in their library. When he got back Terry and Owen were deep into a game of chess. Hannah cautiously walked over to Terry.

“Terry, how long do our Potion essays have to be?”

“Shut up, woman. Go away.” he said never even looking up from the board.

“Fine.” she said and went to grab her bag.

Draco made a mental note not to bother Terry when he was playing chess.

“Good Night Owen, Draco.”

Had she just called him Draco? “Night,” He replied in shock.

“Night, Hannah,” came Terry’s voice.

“Go to hell, Terry.” came Hannah’s voice from the staircase. Draco also made a mental note to ALWAYS answer Hannah’s homework questions. If he had to live with them he wanted to make this as easy as possible.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Hermione ran out of the library and to the Prefects common room. When she got there everyone was in bed except Draco. He was on the floor asleep in front of the fireplace. He had a book open under his head and was surrounded by half the library. She walked towards him and noticed that he was drooling on the pages of what looked like a very old book.

“Wow, he actually looks human!” She whispered to herself. She thought about going to wake him up and made a step forward but decided against it. She went to her dorm and Katie and Hannah were sitting on Katie’s bed talking.

“Hey, Hermione. Where have you been?” asked Katie.

“In the library for our Transfiguration project.”

“Did you find anything?”

“No. That’s why Draco is down there surrounded by books.”

“He’s your partner? You poor child.”

“It’s okay because we never say a word to each other! He didn’t even tell me that he was leaving the library. I have a bunch of homework to do though. I’ll just get my bag and leave you girls to talking.”

“Do you want us to come with you?” asked Hannah.

“No, thanks though,” and she made her way back down stairs. She first went over to the espresso machine and turned it on thinking that she might need it. Then she went and sat on the couch directly in front of the fire. It took her a minute to find her way through the maze of books. She took out her Arithmacy charts and started to do those. When she finished she started on her Potions homework. It was half past midnight when she was halfway through it. She thought that it would be okay to just take a little nap. She let her head rest on the arm of the couch and closed her eyes.

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Draco woke the next morning with his face stuck to the book he had been drooling on and a very bad pain in his neck. He slowly rose from the floor and looked around the room. He saw Hermione on the couch. She woke up as he tripped over some books on the way to the bathroom.

She giggled as he rose from the floor.

“What’s so funny Gran-,”

“Malfoy did you happen to find anything?” she cut him off before he could finish. She liked getting a rise out of him. It was like payback for all the other times he had been a jerk.

“Does it look like I did?”

“Well, this creates a problem. I wonder if anyone else have found there person.” This ended the conversation as Draco had walked into the bathroom. Hermione went up stairs to get some clean clothes and a robe and made her way to the girls bathroom. After showering she made her way down to the Great Hall. When she got there she sat between Harry and Ron.

“Have you two found someone for your Transfiguration project?”

“No,” said Harry.

“Yeah,” said Ron.

Hermione turned to him. “Where?”

“I wrote Dad and he gave me the name of some witch who could transfigure into a Fire Crab and saved a whole town from a Yeti, as yeti’s fear fire.” (a/n. See Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.)

“Oh,” said Hermione. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t find anything.”

“Me too. Pansy Parkinson refuses to even enter the library, so I am doing this on my own,” said Harry.

“Have you tried to work with Goyle? He can’t tell a quill from a hippograff!” Ron replied.

“He’s right, Harry. I feel worse for Ron. Well we better go.” They made their way to Transfiguration and the day was pretty normal. In Potions Neville had knocked over his cauldron and his wart treatment potion went all over, but that was nothing out of the ordinary. After dinner the three of them went to Gryffindor common room and did homework until Hermione remembered that she had a Prefects meeting tonight. She said good bye to the boys and made her way back to her common room.

“Good, Hermione, you’re here,” came Dumbledore’s voice.

“Yes sir.”

“Now this year we have decided to hold several events in order to try and get the four houses closer, but tonight we will just stick with the one nearest in time. On Halloween we have decided to have a haunted house out on the grounds. We were thinking that you shall have to make your way through it and once in the middle there will be a dance. We have also decided to let you six be creative and do the planning on your own. If you need anything just let me know,” and with that he left the room.

“A haunted house sounds cool,” said Owen.

“How big do you think we should make it?” asked Hannah.

“Well, I think that if we have to fit all of the students inside it will need to be big. We could have the haunted house be like a maze around the outside of it. It would be cool if it were in the shape of a circle,” replied Hermione.

“We should set people in charge of different things. How about two people to organize the musical entertainment along with the food an decorations for the dance.” suggested Katie.

“I can do that,” said Hannah.

“I’ll do it wi-,” came Hermione’s voice but she was cut off.

“I’ll help you Hannah.” came Terry’s voice over hers.

“You’re just trying to get back on my good side after what happened last night aren’t you?” asked Hannah.



“Yeah, so?”

“Fine. Terry and I will be in charge of that.”

“Okay then. We should also have two people to advertise. I know that students will know about it but I think that we should have some sort of order to it. We should probably only let a certain amount of people in at a time, so that it won’t get too crowded in there. We could hand out tickets that say what time you will be allowed in. But before that we will have to find out who wants to go with who so they can enter together, so we should have those two people also find that out. I can handle that,” said Katie.

“I’ll help y-,” but Hermione was cut off again.

“I’ll do that with you Katie,” said Owen.

“Okay, then that leaves the two of you to decide what the maze will consist of. We will need to decide on events and obstacles that people will have to get through. We should also talk to the Professors about supervision for animals and things. This is going to be so much fun.”

“Sure,” came Hermione and Draco together. Hermione liked her job. It sounded fun but she already had to spend enough time with Draco on their project and know she had to work with him on this. She might as well join them together at the hips.

“I think that we should talk to Professor Hagrid and see if his brother, who is a giant, will be apart of it. I think that it would be cool. He can be very frightening but Hagrid would have to stay with Grawp, because he’s not the brightest crayon in the box.”

“What’s a crayon?” asked Malfoy

“Nothing, never mind. So anyway-,”

“If we’re going to work together you’re going to have to tell me things.”

“It’s a muggle coloring item.”

“Thank you.”

“Which brings me to my next point. Thanks Hermione and Draco. We have to be the examples for Dumbledore’s interhouse relationships, which means that we have to get along,”

explained Katie.

“Even in public?” came Draco’s cold voice.



“Especially in public Draco. We all have to get along. So far this isn’t working. We need to be friends. Which means Draco that you will have to at least be civil to us.”

“Why is this directed towards me?”

“Because we all get along,” said Hannah.

“Fine. I will agree to be civil but I refuse to be friends.”

“Okay but that means no bashing us in public. You will either have to keep your mouth shut about us or make it at least seem that we’re are friends,” said Hermione.

Draco looked at her with a glare. Be friends with mudblood, this was going to be hard. But he always liked a challenge. “If I have to.”

“Draco you’re doing this for the good of the school and our future,” said Katie.

“I already agreed to it,” said Draco getting up. “And stop calling me Draco, it freaks me out!” He then went up to his room.

“Katie, do you think that this will work?” asked Hermione.

“It has to,” said Katie looking after Draco.

“There’s no way in hell that I am going to let you put FIRECRABS in the Haunted House!” Hermione screamed at Draco.

“Granger, come on. Wouldn’t you like to see people running for their lives?”

“No, Draco. I just want to give people a little Halloween fright. I don’t want to send them to the hospital wing.”

“You won’t put firecrabs in there but you will put blast-ended skrewts in there?”

“Yes, because most of the students here have worked with them. We have never studied firecrabs.”

“Fine, but I still think that we should put a dragon in there.”

“NO!”

Hermione and Draco had been arguing like this for hours and they had only decided to put three things in the haunted house so far. Peeve’s, Grawp, and blast-ended skrewts. They were in the library taking a break from their project. They thought that while they were there they might as well kill two birds with one stone.

“How about a hippogriff?” asked Hermione.

“NO. Do you remember what happened to me when we studied those?”

“You faked that.”

“How can I fake a bleeding arm with the bone showing?”

“You deserved it! I am putting a hippogriff in there.”

“You can’t do that.”

“Yes, I can.”

“Fine. How about Augurey’s? There not dangerous but they’re pretty scary!”

“Yeah.” Hermione wondered why she hadn’t thought of that. “ I think that we should get beck to looking for our person.”

“There’s nothing here. We’ve looked through every book here at least twice.”

“Well, what do you want me to do? Let’s look in Hogsmeade this weekend,” suggested Hermione.

“Together?”

“Yes, Draco.”

“If I have to.”

“Good, well I have to get to Defense Against the Dark Arts so I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Whatever.”

Hermione left the library and made her way to Professor Windmere’s classroom. He was an odd man. He was quiet but stern. He was intelligent and intimidating but you couldn’t help but trust him. As she walked into the classroom Harry and Ron were waiting for her.

“You weren’t at lunch. Why?” asked Ron.

“Is this the third degree?” she replied.

“What?”

“Never mind Ron, it’s a muggle term. So where were you?” said Harry.

“I was in the library. Malfoy and I were looking for a person for our project.”

“Oh, I see Malfoy is more important than us?” spat Ron.

“Let’s see get a good grade or listen to you and Harry talk about Quidditch? Hmm. That’s a tough decision.”

“Ha ha, very funny. Fine, let’s just sit down,” and with that there went to there seats. Hermione sat down next to Terry and they talked for a minute before Professor Windmere walked in.

“Today we will be learning about mind controlling spells. As most of you know, the Imperius Curse is a mind controlling spell but we will not be looking at this. The spells that we will be talking about alter your mind in one way or another so that your feelings about a certain topic change. This happens slowly over periods of time so you may not know that you are under one. There are several spells like this and today we will be looking at the different ones and their specific effects as each one differs slightly.”

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“That was an interesting lesson,” exclaimed Hermione.

“If you say so,” said Ron stifling a yawn. They were making there way to the Great Hall for dinner. They were all having fun and joking with each other while eating when a few owls came in and dropped letters off to some of the Slytherins and a few others.

“That’s strange,” said Ron. “I’ve never seen owls deliver mail here at night.”

Hermione was looking around the hall and trying to figure out what the letters were when she noticed that Draco had gotten up and was walking out of the alone with his letter unopened. This just made her more curious and was going to get up and follow him when Ron turned to her.

“Do you think that it has something to do with You-Know-Who?”

“You think everything has to do with Voldemort,” Ron cringed as she said this. “You think if your dinner roll has been moved that Voldemort has taken it and put something in it and then replaced it.”

“I do not!” With that everything was forgotten. Harry had started to pick on Ron and Hermione just watched and laughed.

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Hermione and the other prefects, with the exception of Draco, were walking through the portrait hole. When they got there the boys went to play chess and Katie continued to tell Hannah about some new Quidditch moves that she had made up and how she had to tell Angelina. Hannah didn’t look all that interested. Hermione looked around the room looking for Draco as she had just remembered the letter and curiosity struck her. She saw him sitting in front of the fire and was just starring at it. She slowly walked over to him because she didn’t want him to explode on her. She sat down next to him and saw the letter in his lap.

“Why did you leave dinner?” She was trying to skirt around the topic. He didn’t say anything he just handed her the letter. She opened it surprised that he had done this.

Draco,

I am pleased to tell you that the Dark Lord has offered you the privilege of being one of his most loyal followers. There will be a ceremony to initiate you and for you to get your mark on Saturday, September 7th. I will meet you in Hogsmeade at seven ‘o’ clock and we shall arrive together. Father and son. I am so proud of you, Draco.

Sincerely,

Lucius Malfoy.

Hermione just sat there quiet trying to take it all in. “This upsets you?” she said after a few moments.

“YES.” Everyone looked over at them. Then quietly going back to work when they saw that nothing was going on. Just the two of them sitting quietly. They didn’t even look up at the others.

“Can I ask you why? I thought that you wanted to be a deatheater.”

“I never wanted to be one of his followers.”

“Draco, I’m just trying to take this all in. You always call me a Mudblood and are always so mean yet you don’t want to be a Deatheater?”

“Do you really think that I am going to be all nice to you and all of the other mudb- muggleborns when I live and associate with everyone that would give anything to be a follower of the Dark Lord? No. I have to put on a show, but don’t get me wrong, some part of me does find you annoying.”

“Thanks Draco. I just don’t understand why you are telling me all this.”

“It’s easier to talk to people who don’t care.” Hermione was a bit taken aback by this. She did care… or did she? Yes, she did. She didn’t know what to say. The only words that she could get out were in a whisper.

“How can you think I don’t care, Draco? Would I still be here if I didn’t care?”

“Look, Granger, I appreciate the sympathy but there’s nothing that I can do. I have been accepted and now there’s no turning back. And I told you not to call me Draco.” He didn’t really mind it though. He got up to leave and went to his bedroom.

Hermione sat there not knowing what to think. So every one of those letters meant that their recipients were going to become deatheaters? There weren’t that many but still. She felt the urge to do something but what? She thought she better go to Dumbledore. She ran out of the common room and made her was to the gargoyle that was the secret staircase to his office. When she got there she was out of breath. She was sure that he had told the prefects the password but she couldn’t remember. She just started yelling out random candies between breathes and it finally opened on Milk Duds. She wondered how he had ever heard of those. When she got to the top she knocked on the door and heard Dumbledore say, “Come in.” She walked in and towards his desk.

“Miss Granger, can I help you?”

”It’s Draco Malfoy. He received a letter from his father today telling him that he will become a deatheater this Saturday but he doesn’t want to be.”

“Oh.”



“Yeah, major shock, right?”

“Miss Granger, I think that you should go back to your common room and leave this to me.”



“But Professor I want to-,” but she was cut off.

“I promise that I will take care of it.” He gave a smile and she saw twinkle in his eye and she turned to leave.

“But Professor he said that I didn’t care!” she said turning back around.

“And do you?”

“Yes.”



“Miss Granger I know that you would like to help but I can’t think of anything that you can do except being his friend and being there for him now. He has no one else. I promise that I will take care of this. Now go to bed.” She turned and left his office.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

The next morning Draco awoke with the same dreading feelings that were in him the night before. He didn’t understand why he felt this way. He should be honored to become a deatheater but he didn’t want to be like his Father. He didn’t like who his Father was. He dreaded going home at Christmas and in the summer and he only did it to see his Mother. He made his way to his closet and then walked down stairs.

He went to Transfiguration and Hermione didn’t say anything, which he was glad about. She just kept looking over at him but this bugged him more than her saying something. She was the only one that knew that he didn’t want to become a Deatheater though and he liked that. It felt like if he needed it, which he wouldn’t, he had a sanctuary. The day went by slowly and at the end of Potions, Professor Snape asked him to stay behind. Hermione heard Snape say this and picked up her ingredients slowly to overhear.

“Mr. Malfoy, I would like to talk to you tonight after dinner if you could come to my office. It is of a somewhat urgent matter.”

“Yes, Professor,” but it didn’t really seem that he was listening.

“Good, so tonight, after dinner in my office.”

“Yes,” and with that he left and Hermione followed.

“Are you okay, Draco?” Hermione asked in the hallway catching up to him.

“What do you think?”



“You know, Draco, I do care and I am here if you want to talk.”

“Thanks, Granger, but I’m a big boy and I can handle this on my own. Hermione stopped in her tracks as he kept walking. She felt hurt. All she wanted to do was help.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

That night, after dinner, Draco was making his way to Professor Snape’s office like he was asked. He wondered what he wanted to talk to him about. Then it hit him, it was like something had been blocking his understanding of this meeting. But how did he know? What was he thinking, it was Snape and he was a deatheater. He thought about leaving but something pushed him to walk in.

“Mr. Malfoy, please sit down,” came Snape’s voice. Draco walked over to the chair in front of Snape’s desk. He looked at Snape and then he spoke again.

“I have heard that you do not want to follow in your Father’s footsteps.” Draco just looked at him and then after a moment had passed he realized that Dumbledore wanted him to talk.

“No, Professor, I do,” he lied.

“Draco, you can’t lie to me,” Snape spoke in a stern and intimidating voice. Draco couldn’t tell a Deatheater that he didn’t want to become one or he would die.

“Yes, Professor, fine. I don’t want to become a deatheater. Just kill me now and get it over with,” he yelled out just wanting to breakdown but knew better to.

“Draco, I am not going to kill you.”

“Why? I just told you that I didn’t want to follow your Lord’s will and you don’t want to kill me?”

“Draco, I know your Father very personally and I know why you would not want to be like him. I know what you deal with at home. Draco, I am a Deatheater but I am also a spy.”

“I don’t understand, Professor.”

“Maybe, I can help,” came Dumbledore’s voice from the dark corner behind Snape. Dumbledore stepped forward and looked at Draco. “Mr. Malfoy, Professor Snape is a spy for our side. Voldemort thinks that Snape is loyal to him, yet he is not.” Draco just sat there with his mouth open. “Now Draco I have a very serious topic to bring up with you. You do not want to become a Deatheater but I think that you should. We need someone of your age to be a spy. We have Snape to be among the adults but we have no one for the students here and other deatheaters your age. It is very serious and very dangerous but we need you. With your help we can put a stop to Voldemort’s plans. Now you have a few choices that you can make here. You can become a deatheater and lead a life that you don’t want to lead. You can refuse to become a follower and surely die or you can join with us and help to put an end to this madness. Are you willing to help us?”

Draco sat there in shock. Was this really happening? He was trying to comprehend all of this and the Professors didn’t hurry him. After about fifteen minutes of silence and contemplation Draco looked up into Dumbledore’s eyes. “If they find out then I will die?”

“Yes, but Snape has been a spy for years and Voldemort still is clueless. As long as you are very careful and sneaky. Which you are Draco, don’t think that I don’t know everything that you have done here.” Draco turned red as he said this.

“I would have to keep this from everyone. I wouldn’t be able to talk to anyone.”

“You will still be able to talk to the Slytherins as they will think that you are one of them. You can also talk to Hermione, Harry and Ron.”

“Hermione, Harry and Ron? Are they in The Order?” asked Draco.

“No but they do know about it.”

Draco thought for about another ten minutes, muttering to himself.“I’ll do it.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Headmaster.”

“Good, now I think that you should hear about The Order. It is a group of people working against Voldemort. A group to put a final end to the reigning darkness. Now you will have to put a spell on you that will let any other member of The Order will know if you are in trouble and come to your aid. We do not ask questions about who is in The Order for only I truly know them all. You cannot talk to anyone else about this except Me, Snape, Hermione, Harry and Ron.So if you will please stand so that I can put the spell on you.” Draco hesitated for a moment but then stood up. Dumbledore slowly rose his wand to Draco’s eye level and spoke “Adjuratio Dimicellus,” and with that Draco felt a very strange feeling. He felt like he was spinning and then it stopped. He then felt differently, protected, which he guessed was how he was supposed to feel. He felt dizzy and sat down again.

“Now, Draco, if anyone finds out about this it will surely lead to your death. You will go and be initiated and you will observe. You will mostly listen and act like that is what you want to be doing. You will report back to me and if anything seems suspicious you will tell me. Correct?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good, now you may go to bed and be prepared for your intiation, for you will have the dark mark put on you. Snape will talk to you later about that, but now go to sleep.” With that Draco left the room, trying to still comprehend what had just happened.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

“Dumbledore, do you really think this wise?” asked Snape after Draco had left.

“Yes, Severus, I do. I will need you to watch him though. If he shows any signs of betrayal we will have to put a memory charm on him.”

“Yes, Albus.”

“Now I am going to get a glass of hot milk and my wollen socks and I am going to sleep. Good Night, Severus.”

“Good Night, Albus.”

It was Friday and not a moment too late. This week had been the longest week that Hermione had remembered at Hogwarts. She was glad that tomorrow was a Hogsmeade weekend, but with that came Draco’s initiation.

Hermione and Draco were in Transfiguration and she noticed that his mood had changed since the night before, yet it was not in a good way. She kept glancing at him during the lesson and she noticed that he looked nervous. He wasn’t paying attention to their Professor and every time she made the slightest move he jumped. He looked like he hadn’t slept at all last night. His eye’s were bloodshot and he had big bags underneath them. When Professor McGonagall gave them time to do their work, Hermione turned to him.

“Are you okay?”

“What?!? Oh... yeah.”

“Are you lying?”

“Yup,” he said with a blank stare.

“Are you going tomorrow night?” and with that he got up and left the classroom. She took that as a yes.

Professor McGonagall looked up from her desk and called after him. “Mr. Malfoy?” but he just kept walking.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Draco walked out of the classroom and down the hallway. He thought this would be much easier if she didn’t care, but the fact that she kept giving him concerned looks and the ‘Are you okay’s’ made him want to scream. He was nervous. Actually, he was scared and he didn’t want to go.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” he said aloud. The bell rang and the hall filled with people. Hannah came out of the classroom on his right.

“Draco, you know that there’s a Prefect meeting today, right?”

“Yeah,” he said. He and Hermione were supposed to have the list of scary amusements for the Haunted House and they didn’t. They would have to work on that today. He made a mental note to go to her during lunch and then left for his next class.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Hermione and Draco were making their way to the library to look for more attractions. They had come in during lunch, as the meeting was after classes ended. They sat down and started to discuss things.

“How about Red Caps?” ask Hermione.

“Sure,” he said this, once again, with a blank stare. His mind wasn’t with her.

“Draco, don’t go!” she almost shouted.

“What?”

“Don’t go. I won’t let you.”

“I don’t have a choice.”

“Yes, you do. Please, Draco?”

“Hermione, just drop it,” she noticed that he had just called her Hermione and she was a little taken aback.

“I - I - can’t let you.” she said almost in a whisper.

“Why do you care?” he asked leaning towards her and staring her in the eyes.

“I don’t know. I don’t want you to throw your life away. I like to think that we’re frie-,” she stopped in the middle of her sentence. Did she think they were friends? She was confused with herself. He just looked at her.

“Hermione, just let it go. You can’t change my mind,” he said. For some odd reason he didn’t want to tell her about being a spy. He was searching for this reason but he couldn’t find one. He thought maybe he wanted to protect her but why?

“I don’t understand. You hate him and you don’t want to join him but you are!”

“You know he’ll kill me if I don’t. Now what else can we put in the Haunted House?” he said trying to change the subject.

She let the topic go but not willingly. They started to brainstorm and by the end of lunch they had a pretty good list and were ready for the meeting.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Hermione and the others were in their common room waiting for Draco. He was a half an hour late and Hermione was starting to get worried. He walked through the portrait hole and Katie exclaimed,

“Finally, we’ve been waiting for you.”

“Oh, sorry.”

“Okay so lets talk about the Haunted House. How are the preparations coming along concerning the entertainment?”

“Well,” said Hannah, “we have decided to get a DJ who will play muggle music along with very minimal wizard music. I decided that if I had to listen to The Weird Sisters for one more dance, I would scream. So, he is a wizard, so we don’t have to worry about any memory charms or questions.”

“Good and how about the decorations and the like?”

“We were going to talk to Dumbledore about real bats and other creatures but we haven’t seen him yet. We were also going to get some things at Hogsmeade this weekend.”

“Okay, that sounds good. Dumbledore told us that we had to announce the dance. So, I was thinking of announcing it tonight at dinner so that Owen and I can get a start on the list of who is going with who.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” said Terry.

“How about you two?” she said looking at Hermione and Draco.

“Well, we have our list put together. We just have to get an okay from Dumbledore and then we have to talk to the teachers because we will need them to watch over certain attractions. We also need to talk to Hagrid so that when Dumbledore okay’s the list he can acquire some of these creatures.”

“Okay, well since we all know what we need to do then we can end this meeting. So is everyone agreed that we will tell the students at dinner?”

“Yes,” the other five said in unison.

“Good, so then we will let Hermione and Draco talk about the attractions. Owen and I can tell them about the list that we will need and then Terry and Hannah can talk about the maze and the entertainments. That’s it then.”

They all went their own separate ways and Hermione went to get started on her homework. She decided that she would let Draco try and relax. She didn’t think that she should pester him anymore.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

When dinner was approaching Hermione went to the Gryffindor common room to get Harry and Ron.

“So how was your day Hermione? We didn’t see you at lunch,” said Harry.

“Oh, my day was fine and I went with Dra- Malfoy to the library during lunch.”

“Did you just call him Draco, Hermione?” asked Ron shocked.

“No and we were working on something that is going to be announced at dinner, ” she said quickly trying to cover it up.

“And what’s that?” asked Harry.

“You’ll have to wait and find out, but it’s exciting.”

When they got there they all sat down and ate their normal meal. Harry and Ron kept asking Hermione what was so exciting, but she wouldn’t tell them. After dinner Dumbledore stood up and addressed the Hall.

“We have decided that to create interhouse relationships we need more times where you all can interact. So we have decided to hold a Halloween Ball,” the whole Hall filled with excited whispers. “Now, if your Prefects would come up here and tell you all about it.”

Harry and Ron started to talk excitedly as well.

“See, I told you you would like it,” said Hermione as she got up. The six of them went to Head table.

“Well, as Dumbledore told you, we will be having a Halloween Ball this year,” repeated Katie.

“It will not be like an ordinary dance. It will be in the middle of a Haunted House. For those of you who don’t know what this is, it is a house filled with scary events and obstacles that you will have to get through in order to get to the dance. The house will be a maze and then in the middle of the maze will be a dance hall. This will be located out on the grounds,” explained Hannah.

“These events will be watched by the teachers as some of them are dangerous, but no one will get hurt if you follow precautions and just have fun. Malfoy and I have put together a list of things that you will all have to overcome, but we decided not to tell you what they are so that you can get a good scare,” said Hermione.

“We have also decided that we should not allow everyone in at the same time as it will get crowded and that could cause problems. So we have decided to let you in, in groups of four. Katie and I will be collecting a list of who is going with who so that we can let you in together. As we get this list we will give you tickets that have a specific time on them. At that time you will be allowed into the maze. It will be first come first serve. We also strongly encourage dates to be from different houses,” said Owen.

“That is all of the information that we have for you right now. So remember to come to me or Owen when you have your group of four and try to pick people from different houses as this is an interhouse dance,” said Katie.

“Thank you Prefects. Now you all may go back to your house common rooms,” said Dumbledore. The Hall roared with laughter and excited talking as the students made their way out.

Hermione turned around to talk to Dumbledore. “Professor, we have our list but we need you to approve of it before we officially put these obstacles in the house,” she handed to list to Dumbledore.

“Thank you, Miss Granger.”

“Yes sir,” and then she made her way with the rest back to the common room.

When they got there Hermione talked with Hannah and Katie, and Draco actually went to play a game of Wizard’s Chess with Terry. This was the first time Draco had actually interacted with the group without *having* to do so. It seemed to distract him of what was to come tomorrow and he seemed to be having fun. Hermione kept looking at him and she was glad that they were getting along, although she did wonder why it mattered to her.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Hermione woke the next morning excited to go to Hogsmeade. She decided that she needed a butter beer. She got dressed and made her way to the Gryffindor common room to meet Harry and Ron. They went down and ate breakfast and then made their way to Hogsmeade.

“I need to get some chocolate frogs,” said Ron.

“I need to get some more broom polish,” said Harry. “I need to get some more exciting friends,” said Hermione.

“Fine, we don’t need you,” exclaimed Ron.

“You do if you want to graduate,” she replied.

“That’s true,” Harry said to Ron very seriously.

They decided to walk around a little while before going to the Three Broomsticks. They were making their way towards Honeydukes when Hermione spotted a store that she had never seen before. She told the boys to go on and that she would meet them later. It was a book store called ‘Malanno Libro Campeggio’. She didn’t know it was a book store by the name but as she looked through the dark window she saw that the walls were covered in books.

She walked in the door and looked around the empty room. She was the only one there and it smelled of mold and it was very dusty. She walked around the shelves just looking. She came across a book called Animagi Transformers: Who They Are and How They Affected Us. She thought that this was too perfect and opened the book. It was filled with famous Animagi and what they did to make themselves famous. She turned to book over and realized that it was too perfect. It was 500 galleons. It looked so old and tattered that she thought she might be able to get a discount. She walked over to the counter and rang the bell that was sitting there.

An old man came out of a door in the back. “What do you want?” He had a deep, crackled voice, like he was always yelling and it had gone permanently hoarse.

“I was wondering how much this book cost.”

“What does it say?”

“500 Galleons, but I don’t have that much,” he limped over to the counter.

He looked at the book. “How much do you have?” He said leaning close to her face.

“Thirty,” she said stepping back.

“Fine just take it and get out of my face,” she handed him the money and ran from the store. When she got outside she looked at the book. Why would he have given it up for such a difference in cost? She forgot about it and went to Honeydukes knowing that the boys would still be there.

On the way she say Draco standing outside of Honeydukes alone and she walked over to him.

“Draco, look what I found,” she said handing him the book.

“Cool,” he said looking at it and handing it back.

“Are you okay?”

“YES, damn it, just leave me alone, Granger,” she was hurt by this. She knew that he was stressed and she just wanted to help.

“Draco, talk to me.”

“I can’t! You do care, remember?” He said walking away. She watched him until he entered a dark alley and disappeared from sight. She made her way towards the boys with his words still on her mind.

When she arrived at Honeydukes they were walking out of it . They both had a huge bag filled with wizard candy.

“Can we go to The Three Broomsticks now?” Hermione asked.

“Yeah. Are you okay?” Asked Ron concerned

“Yeah, let’s just go.”

“Okay,” said Harry and Ron together. All throughout their Butter Beers she kept thinking about Draco. She just couldn’t get him to leave her mind.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Draco made his way down the alley. He wanted to tell her. How he wanted to tell he so bad, but it was hard to talk to people who cared. He didn’t want to end up hurting her. But why should that matter? He didn’t like her, they weren’t really friends, so why did he care so much? Why would telling her that he was a spy hurt her? Then he realized that she wouldn’t let him do it. He let it all slip from his mind as he exited the alley. He needed to concentrate and pay attention. He needed to be careful and not be distracted. When he got to the end of te alley his Father was standing there waiting for him. Draco looked him in the eyes. He saw the same cold look he always did.

“Are you ready?” asked his Father in a cold, deep voice.

“Yes Sir,” said Draco with a bit of panic in his voice. His Father didn’t notice, though.

“Good, let’s move,” spat Lucius. Without another word they made their way down a dark, deserted, dirt road. Draco had never been anywhere like it. On either side there was no grass, no trees, no animals, no sign of any civilization. There were very few houses and the ones that there were, were boarded up and broken shudders lined the windows. Holes in the roofs and doors that opened and closed with a creak and a slam from the wind.

A cool breeze blew across Draco’s face and a chill ran down his spine. The dirt on the road blew away in brown clouds. The pair walked for what seemed like hours of silence. Draco found the silence unpleasant.



“Where are we going?” he asked.

“I cannot tell you,” replied Lucius never even glancing at his son.

“Why not? If I am to become a follower of the Dark Lord won’t I need to know where to meet him?”

“You will get this information when you have proved your loyalty to the Dark Lord. There are certain precautions that he likes to take.” They walked on without saying another word.

About an hour after their conversation, Draco started to wonder if they were actually going anywhere. Then they came upon a house that looked much worse than the rest. It was painted a dark gray, at least that what he thought. The paint was so old and chipped that he couldn’t really tell. The windows were all boarded up and the ones that weren’t had broken glass in them if any at all. The front door was hanging off its hinges and the trees in the front yard were all dead and gray. The porch had holes in it and was rotting. Draco wondered what the house had

looked like before it had come to its doom. The world outside was getting dark. The sun had set and the world seemed tense. Draco knew that it was nearing towards seven ‘o’clock.

They made their way up the front path and then walked around to the back of that house. When they got there, Draco saw a storm shelter. His Father bent down and opened the rotting, wooden doors and opened them. When you looked inside all you could see was darkness. Lucius went in first and assumed that his son had followed but, Draco hesitated a minute. Looking into that darkness felt like staring into his worst nightmare. After a moment he followed his Father into the, what seemed like, endless darkness.

They made their down a long, damp tunnel that seemed to slope down. It was lit by a few torches, but not many. You could smell the mold and rottenness of the old decaying house. About fifteen minutes later they reached a door with the Dark Mark on it. Lucius muttered something in Latin that Draco couldn’t quite hear and the door opened. Draco followed his Father through the door and came to a large circular room. There were about a hundred deatheaters already conversing.

Draco saw some of his schoolmates but not many. Pansy Parkinson was there and so were Crabbe and Goyle. He was surprised see Stewart Ackerly, a Hufflepuff there as well. Pansy ran up to Draco upon seeing him.

“Draco! Isn’t this exciting?”

“Yeah,” he replied trying to look excited and sound enthusiastic. Draco looked around the room again and noticed that on the other side of it there was just one single chair. It was made of wood that was stained a cherry color. It had red padding covering the seat and back of it. There was a small table next to it and on was a glass of water and a pitcher. He noticed that the walls were made of stone and there were several torches that lined that wall and gave the room an eery glow. The floor was cobblestone and had dark brown stains here and there Draco couldn’t figure out what they were. There was one door in the room and that was where they had come in.

After checking out the layout of the room and taking it all in he went on to examine the people. Most he didn’t know and were older, his Father’s age. Some were younger, maybe in their twenties or early thirties. Then there were about fifteen or so that were about his age that were about the be initiated.

“Malfoy, are we aloud to show our marks to people at school?” asked a very confused looking Crabbe.

“Are you really that stupid, Crabbe? No, of course not, unless you feel like dying. I have a feeling that the two of you will be a disgrace to the Dark Lord. Why were you accepted again?” replied Draco trying to sound normal.

“Yeah, Crabbe, why were we?” asked a dumbfounded Goyle.

“Beats me,” said Crabbe. Draco scowled and turned around to scan the room. As he looked around he saw that Snape was talking to his Father. Wanting to feel at least somewhat safe he walked over.

“I think that the best way for the Dark Lord to do that would be to–“ Lucius stopped in the middle of his sentence as Draco approached. “Ah, Draco, why aren’t you with your friends?”

“I wanted to come say hello to Professor Snape and I felt like I need to be with people that had an IQ level of above a blast-ended skrewt. Good evening, Professor,” added Draco.

“Good evening, Mr. Malfoy,” replied Snape in a cold voice. He looked somewhat angry with him and then Draco realized that he was getting some good information out of Lucius and wanted him to leave. Why they couldn’t talk about it in front of him he did not know. “Draco don’t you think that your friends will have some pleasant, more interesting things to say, than your Father and I?”

“No,” he said calmly and nonchalant. When he said this Snape’s angry stare turned into a death gaze.

“Draco, leave,” spat his Father. He was furious with his Father but he went back to his group of “friends” and he realized that two new people had joined the group. He had never seen them before and when he got to the group, the two new boys just starred at him.

“Do you need something?” he asked them when they kept starring.

“Who are you?” one of them asked very rudely.

“Why does it matter?” replied Draco.

“Just curious,” the other one replied. “I’m Scelus Sceleris and you are?” he asked politely.

“Draco Malfoy.”

“Where are you from?”

“I am afraid that I am not permitted to give that information,” replied Draco in a mock tone of the polite boy’s. None of the group said anything until Pansy decided to change the subject.

“So what do you think that the Dark Lord will have us do to prove our loyalty?”

“I think that it will have something to do with watching Potter. I think that he might want us to watch his every move and see what his daily patterns are. Then see where we might be able to attack,” said Draco.

“You’re so smart Draco. I love that about you,” and as she said this she put an arm around him. At that moment though a thin man walked through the door with four others around him. He had wide scarlet eyes and slits for nostrils. He made his way across the room and sat down in the chair. Everyone quieted and formed a circle around him. Lucius summoned Draco to stand next to him.

“Welcome Death Eaters. I am glad to say that we will be receiving twelve others tonight, as they pledge their loyalty to me here, in front of you all. Twelve more lives that will help me and rise again to power and forever be in my debt. Now shall we get on with the ceremony?”

“Yes Master,” came the cold, unison voices of the deatheaters.

“Let’s see, shall we have Mr, Crabbe step forward.” Draco saw him slowly step forward with pride. He knelt down in front of the Master and bowed his head. “ Do you swear to perform all tasks given to you with pride and unwavering loyalty?”

“Yes, Master,” replied Crabbe.

“Do you swear to serve no other Master or if you do you are willing to suffer for it?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Do you accept the Dark Mark on you arm as a sign of loyalty and faith in me?”

“Yes, Master.”

“Then stand and receive it,” Crabbe stood up and looked his Master in the eyes. “Roll up your left sleeve.” Crabbe did so and extended his arm. Voldemort took it in his hand and reached for his wand. He placed it on Crabbe’s skin and started to engrave the Dark Mark. Draco saw Crabbe’s face scrunch up in pain and it looked like he was trying to refrain himself from screaming. Voldemort continued to sketch without even looking at Crabbe’s face. He concentrated on his arm and had a smile from ear to ear on. When he had finished he looked Crabbe in the face. Crabbe let out a breathe and was red in the face and Draco thought thought the he was going to pass out.

“Welcome, friend, join our circle with pride,” said Voldemort and Crabbe made his way back to stand next to his father. Draco looked around the circle wondering who would go next and he spotted Pansy. She was as white as a ghost. He wondered how scared she was and if it came close to matching how scared he was. Not so much for the pain that would be inflected on him but having to answer ‘Do you swear to serve no other Master or if you do you are willing to suffer for it?’ He wondered if he could make the answers to these questions sound real.

“Ms. Falco,” was who he called next and she walked forward as white as Pansy. She went through the same questions and the same procedures as Crabbe had. Voldemort went down the line of newcomers. It had been fifteen minutes and he watched seven people go through so much pain before it was Draco’s turn.

“Mr. Malfoy,” came the cold, dark voice of Voldemort. It sounded far away and muffled but Draco stepped forward towards him. He stood in front of him and looked into the fiery red eyes. Then he knelt down and bowed his head, just as the seven others had done.

“ Do you swear to preform all tasks given to you with pride and unwavering loyalty?”

Draco breathed deep and swallowed. “Yes, Master,” he said surprisingly very calmly.

“Do you swear to serve no other Master or if you do you are willing to suffer for it?”

“Yes, Master,” that came with ease as well. He was no longer scared, he felt that this was right.

“Do you accept the Dark Mark on you arm as a sign of loyalty and faith in me?”

“Yes, Master,” he replied but he felt as though he was pledging his allegiance to Dumbledore rather than Voldemort, in a weird sort of way. He wondered if this was how he was supposed to feel.

“Then stand and receive it,” and Draco slowly stood up. He felt the same dreading felling in him that he had gotten when Voldemort had called his name.

“Roll up your left sleeve,” Draco did so and extended his arm as all the others had. Voldemort extended his wand and Draco took a deep breath. Then all of a sudden there was this excruciating, blinding pain in his arm. He felt as though the wand was burning right through his skin. He closed his eyes and tried to breath but couldn’t inhale. He stood there trying to not cry out but that was all he wanted to do. He wanted to pull his arm away and run, but he didn’t, he had to do this. He agreed to this. It seemed like it was never going to end and he felt like he was going to faint from no oxygen. He felt the wand pull away from his skin but still felt a very distinct burning. He opened his eyes and took a deep breath. The room was spinning and he couldn’t feel his arm anymore. He looked at it and saw a very red Dark Mark on his arm. His skin looked raw.



“Welcome, friend, join our circle with pride,” Draco slowly made his way back to his Father trying not to stumble. When he got there, Lucius put his arm around him like he was trying to show off that he was his son. But Draco was glad that he did so because he thought that he might fall over without it. Draco realized that this was the first time the Lucius had ever done that. He also wanted to throw it off him because he hated it being there. Like Lucius was only ever proud of his son when he joined the Dark Lord. Like his life was only important because of this. Draco closed his eyes again. He stood there dazed as he heard the next person called up which was Pansy. He heard her answer Voldemort’s questions and then he heard her stand and whimper. He finally opened his eyes and looked around the room as the last person was called up. The pain had gone away and he felt close to normal again.

“Now, Death Eaters, old and new alike, go with pride in you hearts. We will meet again soon but I am tired from all of this work. You all may go.”

“He was tired,” thought Draco. He turned to his Father.

“I am so proud, Draco.”

“You would be,” said Draco in a soft inaudible whisper. “ Can we leave now?” he said louder.

“Yes, son, as I assume that you are tired and we have a long walk back. Let me say good bye to Severus.” Draco went with his Father. “Severus!” he called. Snape turned around to face him.

“Ah, Lucius. Draco, congratulations!”

“Thank you, Sir,” he replied softly.

“Severus, you will watch out for my son won’t you? Make sure he stays in line?”

“Of course, Lucius.”

“Then we will finish our talk later about the... the... well you know.”

“Yes, Lucius.”

“Good Evening, Severus.”

“Good Evening, Lucius. Congratulations, Draco, again. I will see you tomorrow then?”

“Yes, Sir,” he replied. Lucius led to way out and the pair walked out onto the dark street.

Lucius lite his wand and the two made their way home. They walked for hours without talking and then when they got to Hogsmeade Lucius turned to his son.

“I am so proud of you,” he said and for the first time gave his son a hug. Draco wanted to punch him. He felt all of his rage come up and his father hugged him. How he hated him.

“Yeah, Dad, you said that about ten times.”

“I just want you to know that I am.”

“I do. Now can I go to bed?”

“Yes, I will see you soon,” Draco turned and left without saying another word to his Father. He made his way up to the castle. As he did he wondered what Hermione was thinking about this. She had to have noticed that he was missing at dinner. She would have been watching for him. He looked at his arm and it had started to darken. He could still feel a slight burning.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

He walked up to the portrait of the couple in the gondola and whispered “Beetle Eyes ,” and the door opened. It was well passed midnight yet Hermione was still sitting in a chair in front of the fireplace, waiting for him. She got up and walked over to the portrait hole as she heard it open. The fire was nearly out and Draco hadn’t seen her when he walked in.

“You went,” she said, scaring him half to death.

“Why are you still up?”

“You went,” she said again in a cold voice. “Why?”



“I had to.”

“NO, for the millionth time you didn’t.”

“Stop yelling, you’ll wake everyone up.”

“Why, Draco?”

“It’s not what you think.”

“It’s not. Then tell me what it is,” she spat at him. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t want to tell her, but he felt that he was stuck. If he didn’t she would think that he was a real deatheater and bug him his whole life.

“I’m a spy, Hermione,” he said a very soft whisper.

“What?” she said in a soft voice.

“I’m a –.”

“I heard you!” There was an awkward silence for a couple of minutes. And then Hermione wrapped her arms around him. This took him by surprise.

“Hermione, what are you doing?” he asked as he pulled away. She didn’t say anything. She just stood there stunned that she had done that.

“I thought that you went to really become a death eater. Does Dumbledore or Snape know?”

“Of course they know seeing that Dumbledore is head of the Order and convinced me to become a spy.”

“I forgot,” she said still stunned by both the hug and the spy thing. “Do you think this is smart?”

“Of course I do. This is so much better than becoming someone that I don’t want to be,” he said stepping forward and grabbing her arms.

“I’m glad you’re happy then,” she said pulling away and walking up the stairs to her dorm. Draco stood there in wonder. He had just grabbed Hermione and it wasn’t to hurt her. Was something wrong with him? He blamed it on them becoming friends thing. He looked down at his left arm and saw that the Dark Mark had now turned black. He stared at it wondering if he was happy with what he had done. After thinking about it he decided that he really was even if it meant that he would have to protect Harry Potter.

Hermione woke the next morning wondering what she had been thinking about before she fell asleep. It was important. Oh yeah, she had hugged Draco. Why, oh, why had she done that? She pulled her drapes around her bed open and saw that sunlight was flooding the room. She wondered what time it was. She looked at the clock on her bedside table and saw that it was twelve thirty. She got out of bed, got dressed and made her way down to the common room. When she got there she noticed that everyone was there except Draco, which was surprising as it was such a nice day out. They should have all been outside.

“Well, good morning. We thought that you would never get up. Why are you so tired?” asked Owen.

“Oh, I stayed up really late last night doing homework,” she lied.

“On a Saturday night?” asked Katie.

“Yeah, I had a lot to do. Has anyone seen Draco?”

“I thought that I saw him leave when I came down this morning. He looked like he had been up all night,” replied Hannah. Hermione wouldn’t have been surprised if he had. He had a lot to think about now.

“Oh, I see.”

“Why does it matter?” asked Terry in a teasing voice as if implying that she liked him.

“We need to work on our project, Terry. Oh yes, I’m deeply in love with him and I need to see him,” Hermione said in a very sarcastic, lovey dovey voice.

“Okay, no need to be mean about it,” said Terry.

“I wasn’t being mean. I was expressing my true feelings,” she said again sarcastically. “I’m just going to grab something from the snack bar and go and find my love. Maybe he’s in the library.” She walked over to the snack bar and grabbed an apple then left through the portrait to go look for him.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Draco had in fact left when Hannah had come downstairs this morning. He didn’t want to talk to anyone right now. He walked around the school just thinking. He thought that he should be thinking about the death eater situation but he was thinking about Hermione and the hug. He hadn’t really wanted to pull away but was in such shock, that he did. He did want to put his arms around her which he hadn’t. He was surprised that he was thinking and feeling these things and wondered where they were coming from. Maybe it was because she was the only one who really seemed to care about what happened to him. Maybe it was because she was the only one who understands. He walked around thinking up all possibilities trying to push the one that he might like her aside.

After he had been walking for awhile and the sun had started to seep in through the curtains he decided to go and talk to Snape. He reached his classroom and walked over to his chamber door. He knocked softly and Snape answered in bunny slippers. Draco paused for a moment and then spoke.

“Nice slippers, Professor.”

“What, oh,” he said flinging them to the side. “Is there something that you want Mr. Malfoy?” he asked coldly.

“I was wondering if we could talk.”

“Oh, yes, come in.” Draco walked in and sat down at his desk. “Malfoy, if anyone finds out about the slippers I will personally take you off the Quidditch team for the rest of your Hogwarts career and take 100 points from my own house. Is that clear?” he said in a stern voice.

“Yes, Sir,” said Draco trying to stifle a laugh.

“Now, what is it that you want to talk about?”

Draco looked down at his lap. What did he want to talk about? He wasn’t really sure where to start. He wanted to understand everything, which he knew he couldn’t because he needed to “show his loyalty first.” He racked his brain for something that he might get an answer to. “What were you and my Father talking about?”

“I can’t tell you Draco.” It was a good try but he still didn’t get an answer.

“Why?”

“I’m sorry, Draco, but some things you are not old enough, smart enough, or loyal enough yet to know.”

“Fine, then can you tell me how I will know when I am needed?”

“That I can. You’ll feel a burning on your arm where your Dark Mark is.”

“Burning like I experienced last night?” he asked in a panic voice. “No, Draco, it will be a slight burning.”

“What will I have to do before He thinks that I am loyal enough to talk about the important things?”

“You will be given a task. It might be difficult or it might not. You will most likely do it with your schoolmates who are also death eaters yet you all might get separate ones.”

“What do you think it will be?”

“Well, since you are here with Mr. Potter I expect that it will have something to do with him or his friends. Not serious though as Voldemort wants have his revenge but something that will help him achieve it later on.”

“His friends? Why?”

“They are closet to him. He will retaliate if something happens to Ms. Granger or Mr. Weasley. It will most likely have something to do with Ms. Granger as you share living quarters with her.”

“I can’t really do it though. How am I supposed to make it seem like I have completed the task without really hurting her or putting her in danger? That seems like something that we would do when to time came to start this war,” he said.

“Mr. Malfoy, it might be a simple task dealing with her. She may not even leave the school. We will deal with that when the time comes. I am here to help with these things.”

“But what if he asks me to bring her to him?”

“He won’t.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Why do you care so much?”

Why did he care so much? He was acting like they were best friends of even– NO.

“I don’t, I just–.” He tried to think of something, anything as Snape was eyeing him. “I am just wondering how I am going to make this look like I am loyal, while I am not harming anyone. This seems very hard.”

“It is Draco. Did you expect this to be easy? It you were it would be like asking a dragon to breath ice. No one said this was going to be easy. It is going to be very hard.”

“I don’t know if I can do it though.” “You don’t have a choice now.”

“I know that. I need time to take it all in.”

“Not too much time.”

“Okay, I think that I’m going to leave now. I know that Hermione wanted to work on our Transfiguration project today.”

“When is it due?”

“The beginning of November. I don’t know the exact date.”

“So I can give my project out mid-November.”

“Are we going to a project in all the classes?”

“Yes, but the teachers agreed at different time so that you all don’t get ‘stressed.’ I give out the second project and I believe that Windmere gives out the third.”

“*Man*, I’m going to go now,” he said as he rose from his chair.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Hermione was walking towards the library, thinking about what Terry had implied, when she realized that she didn’t have any parchment, quills, or the book she had bought. She turned around and made her way back to the common room. When she got to the hallway with the portrait in it, she saw Draco walking towards it.

“Draco!” He turned to see who had called his name and looked at her. She ran up to him. “Do you want to go work on the project?” She asked.

“Yeah, sure, I have to get my things, though,” he replied, not really thinking about it.

“I have to get mine too,” she replied. They continued to walk towards the portrait together, without talking. When they got there Hermione spoke the password and they walked in together.

“Hey, look who it is,” shouted Katie, who winked at Hermione. Hermione didn’t understand this.

“Good morning to you too, Katie,” said Draco.

“Draco and I are going to work on our project in the library.”

“Oh, *really*,” said Owen.

“I’m going to go get my stuff,” said Draco before walking upstairs.

“What are you guys doing?” Asked Hermione. “Why, do you keep implying that we like each other?”

“Do you think that you might?” Asked Hannah with a smile on her face. Hermione gave her a dirty look.

“Hermione we’re just joking. It’s just that the Halloween dance is coming closer and Owen and I were planning on going together and Hannah has a crush on Terry (“KATIE!”) so that leaves you and Draco to go together. We just want you two to at least be on good terms,” said Katie.

“So, Hannah,” said Terry, in a manly voice. Hannah turned to him and glared.

“So, wait, did Dumbledore say that we had do go with each other?” Asked Hermione.

“Yeah, because we have to be examples, remember?” Said Owen. At that point Draco came back down the steps, so that conversation was over.

“Are you ready?” He asked Hermione.

“Yeah,”she said. They both turned and walked out of the portrait hole.

“Bye, you two,” they heard Hannah shout after them.

“What was that all about?”

“Oh, they think that we like each other. Why, I have no idea,” Hermione told him. Draco looked at her.

“Don’t you think that to do our project you will need your books?” He asked when they had almost reached the end of the hallway.

“Crap,” Hermione shouted as she ran back to the common room. Draco stood there and waited for her.

“Why would they think that?” he said quietly. “Maybe, I’m showing signs that I like– I DON’T LIKE HER.” What was he thinking? Did he like her? Why, though, if he did. Hermione came running back. “Do you have everything?” he asked trying to act normal.

“Yes, I think so,” she replied. With that they made they’re way to the library.

“So where did you find this book?” He asked her.

“In a shop, in Hogsmeade. It gave me the creeps though.”

“What was it called?”

“I think it was Malanno Libro Campeggio, or something like that.” Draco thought that, that name sounded familiar. He let it go though as they came upon the library. They walked in and picked a table near the back. It was empty due to the fact that everyone was outside enjoying the nice day. Draco looked out the window and wished that he could go ride him broom. Hermione sat down and Draco sat next to her. She pulled the book out of her bag and opened to a random page.

“I can’t see when you’re all the way over there,” said Draco as he pulled her chair so close to him that they’re arms were touching. “Better,” he said. Hermione thought this was odd. She felt a little uncomfortable being this close to him but at the same time she didn’t.

“Okay, where do you think that we should start? Do you think that we should make note of all the ones that are interesting and then pick one later?” She asked Draco.

“Yeah, sounds good to me.”

“Let’s start at the beginning, shall we.”

“Why, yes I think we should!” He said copying her formal tone. They sat there and discussed each one and took notes of the ones they liked. Hermione was talking about some witch who saved a town from a herd of attacking Chimaera’s, when he noticed how her hair shined as the sunlight shone on it. He looked at her and thought to himself how pretty she looked when she called his name.

“Draco,” which brought him out of his trance. “Do you think we should put her down?”

“Yeah,” he said thinking about what he had previously been thinking and cursing himself for it. She’s a mudblood! But, I shouldn’t care about that anymore, he wanted to be nothing like his father. They continued to work until Hermione said that she needed a break.

“I think that I’m going to go talk to Harry and Ron.”

“I think that I’m going to go flying.”

“I’ll talk to you later then.” Hermione left the library and went out on the grounds to search for Harry and Ron. When she got outside she found them sitting by the lake, watching that squid do tricks.

“Hey, Hermione,” Ron said as she walked over to them. “Hermione, long time, no see,” said Harry, who was lying on his back.

“Be quiet! So what’s new with you guys?”

“Nothing. So where were you this morning at breakfast?”

“I was sleeping.”

“Why?” asked Ron.

“I was tired. Did you ever think of that Ron? Sometimes you just need to *open up that little mind of yours and think,*” she said in a baby voice.

“She really has become mean, Harry,” Ron said sarcastically.

“I know, Ron.”

“What were you doing now?”

“Draco and I were working on our project.”

“You did not just call him Draco, again.”

“What’s wrong with that?” She asked.

“It’s just wrong, right Harry?”

“Yeah, Ron,” he replied really paying no attention to him.

“Were you two alone in the library?”

“Yes,” she replied.

“What is wrong with you, Hermione?”

“Nothing. It’s not a big deal. Ron, the reason that we hang out is so that people like you will see that it *is* possible that Slytherins and Gryffindor’s can be friends.”

“You’re friends with him?”

“Yes, Ron, I am.” Just then Draco walked by with his broom and Hermione shouted a hello.

“Hi, Draco. Will you tell these boys that we are becoming the best of friends,” She winked at him to tell him that she was trying to get a rise out of Ron. “Oh, yes, the best!”

“Thanks, have fun flying and be careful.”

“I will, thanks, Hermione!” Ron scowled at Hermione and she just smirked at him.

“Ron, we are trying to unite the school for what is going to happen when this war starts. We can’t be fighting with each other when Voldemort comes.”

“You don’t think that he is on his side, Hermione? Come on be sensible. He is probably trying to become friends with you so that you will willingly go with him to Voldemort.”

“Ron, he is not a death eater. I didn’t want to have to tell you but he became initiated last night and–,”

“Ha.”

“No, Ron, he became initiated but he is a spy. He is a member of the Order now.”

“How do you know?” asked Harry.

“He told me.”

“Do you really think that he was telling the truth, Hermione?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Don’t you think that you should talk to Dumbledore? Just as a precaution?”

“I guess I could, but I would feel like I was betraying him.”

“Who cares?” replied Ron.

“I do, I am like his only true friend now,” Ron just looked at her.

“Look, let’s just forget about it. Harry, have you found an animagi yet?”

“Yeah, but it took forever.”

“How is your paper coming, Ron?” He didn’t reply. He was too busy glaring at her. “So you’re not going to talk to me?” He still didn’t reply. He turned to Harry.

“Harry, I’m going to go upstairs and do some work.”

“Okay, Ron, I’ll be there in a little while.” Ron left without saying anything to Hermione. “Why is he mad at me?”

“You know Ron, he’s just weird,” they laughed at this.

“How long do you think he’ll be mad at me?”

“A few hours,” they laughed again at this. “I miss this Hermione.”

“You miss what?”

“Hanging out with you and joking around.”

“Harry, we’ve only been here a week and there’s a lot of work to be done. I have to plan the Halloween Dance and other things. I don’t purposely not hang out with you and Ron.”

“I know. Anyways, who do you want to go to the dance with?”

“I have to go with Draco,” she said hesitantly.

“Why?” asked Harry, surprisingly, very calm.

“The whole interhouse thing. Hannah likes Terry and Katie and Owen are going together so that leaves me and Draco.”

“Do prefects have to go together?”

“Yeah, we have to be examples.”

“Oh. Well, I have to go or else Ron will be mad at me.”

“Okay, I’ll walk you back.”

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Monday came around all to quickly. Classes were as normal and people weren’t getting any closer with the other houses as they had hoped. When Hermione had gotten to Defense Against the Dark Arts she saw Neville standing outside that classroom.

“Hey, Neville, why aren’t you going inside?”

“Hey, Hermione, because I think that Professor Windmere hates me.”

“Why?”

“Nevermind, let’s just go in.” Hermione thought this was weird. She walked in and took her seat still thinking about it. Professor Windmere entered from his office.

“Good day, class. Today we will be continuing with mind changing spells. Today we will be looking at the Confundus Spell.” Hermione thought that this sounded familiar and then realized that Snape had accused Sirius Black of putting Harry, Hermione and Ron under it in the third year. Hermione continued to take notes as the Professor talked. After class she exited into the hallway and ran in to Professor Dumbledore.

“Sorry, Professor.”

“It’s alright, Ms. Granger. I just wanted to give you back this. I approve all the species on the list and I appreciate you taking the students safety into account, as some others would not have.”

“Of course, Professor,” she said taking the note and putting it into her pocket. She made a mental note to go and visit Hagrid.

“Good day, Ms. Granger.”

“Thank you, Professor. Oh, wait, Sir. Can I come and talk to you tonight for a moment?” Hermione had decided that she would talk to Dumbledore, just a precaution

“Yes, Ms. Granger, may I ask about what?”

“I can’t say here.”

“Okay, how about seven ‘o’clock?”

“Yes, thank you, Sir.”

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

After classes had ended she made her way back to the common room. Draco was sitting at a table and she walked over.

“Hey, Dumbledore, approves of all the animals on the list. We should go and talk to Hagrid later.”

“If we must,” Draco replied.

Hermione sat at the desk next to him and started to do her homework. She wanted to ask Draco if he was lying about the spy thing but she thought that if he really was a spy that he would get touchy about it. So she just waited until seven to go see Dumbledore. She knocked at his office door. She heard a “Come in” and entered. He was sitting behind his desk reading. She walked over to the desk and sat in the chair in front of it. “What is it that you want to talk about, Ms. Granger?”

“Well, I was wondering if Draco was a spy for the Order?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about Ms. Granger,” with that Hermione froze. “I’m just joking, I just had ten of what you would call Pixie Sticks, so I am very sugared up.” Hermione laughed at his phrase “sugared up” but soon turned back to the subject at hand.

“So is he?”

“Yes, Draco is a spy for the Order.” Hermione felt relieved.

“Do you think that he will be loyal? Is it safe to talk to him?”

“Yes, Ms. Granger. I not only put a spell on him to protect him but it also will let me know if he is being disloyal. I will know immediately. Snape is also with him, remember?”

“Thank you, Sir, that is all I needed to know.” She got up to leave.

“Good night, Ms. Granger.”

“Good night, Professor,” and he went back to his reading. She had her hand on the door knob when Dumbledore burst out laughing. “Professor?” she asked.

“Comics,” was all he said. Hermione left and laughed all the way up to her common room.

Hermione woke up on Tuesday morning with the sun shining in her face, as she had forgotten to close her curtains. She had fallen asleep reading Animagi Transformers: Who They Are and How They Effected Us. She and Draco still hadn’t decided on a person yet. She walked over to her dresser to gather some clean robes before heading down stairs.

In the boys’ dormitory , Draco was still quietly sleeping because he, unlike Hermione, had remembered to close his curtains. He got up a few minutes later due to his alarm clock going off. He also got up and grabbed some clean clothes before heading down to the bathroom.

Hermione came down the girls staircase as Draco came down the boys’. Hannah was sitting on the couch in front of the fire finishing up some homework. “Good morning, Hermione, Draco.” Hermione turned to look at Draco, to see if he was there because she had not heard him come down.

“Good morning, Katie. Good morning, Hermione,” he said in a cheerful tone.

“Good morning, Draco,” replied Hermione, confused about why he was so happy. “Oh, you and I have to go and talk to Hagrid today about him getting the animals.”

“Okay,” he said and started to walk towards the bathroom.

“You are going to be nice, aren’t you?” Hermione said, making him stop and turn to face her. “You’re not going to call him names or anything, right?”

“Yeah, Hermione, he’s not all *that* bad.”

There was a pause throughout the room. Hannah and Hermione looked at each other very confused. “Are you sick or something?” Hermione asked.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Okay, I’m going to take a shower now.”

“Me too,” he said and they both made their ways to separate bathroom.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

After classes, Hermione met up with Draco and they went to put their bags up in the common room before going to see Hagrid. They got out on the grounds and walked toward Hagrid’s house. When they got there, Hermione knocked on the door and Fang started to bark.

“Come back ‘ere,” they heard him shout from the garden. Hermione and Draco made their way around the back of the house. When they arrived there, they saw huge pumpkins, it looked like Hagrid was trying to make them bigger than ever before. They were as big right now, as Crabbe was round.

“Hi, Hagrid. These are coming along nicely,” Hermione said.

“Yeah, they’re great, Professor,” Hermione turned to Draco in udder shock. Hagrid whipped around and looked him in the face. It looked as though Draco had been serious.

“Anyway, Hagrid, can you do us a favor?” Hermione said, changing the topic before Hagrid hurt Draco out of confusion.

“Sure, wha’ do yer need?”

“Well, as you know, we are going to be having a Halloween ball and to get inside you have to go through a maze. We were going to have obstacles for the students to get though, so we need you to order us some animals,” said Hermione.

“Wha’ kind o’ animals?”

“We had them okayed by Professor Dumbledore,” said Draco. Hagrid just glared at him.

“Do yer have a lis’?”

“Yes,” said Draco, handing him the list to him.

“Okay, I’ll look ‘round.”

“Thanks, Hagrid. Can you send me a letter when they come?” said Hermione.

“Yeh, sure Harmione,” he said still looking at the list.

Hermione and Draco started to walk up towards the castle. “What was that about?” Hermione asked.

“What was what about?”

“‘Yeah, they’re great, Professor,’ what was that about?” she asked in a deep tone to imitate him.

“He is our Professor.”

“Draco, I don’t know when to trust you. You are acting so differently then you usually do.”

“I’ve changed.”

“This is a BIG change.”

“So?”

“I guess. Oh I wanted to talk to you about the best friends comment I made on Sunday.”

“What?”

“When I was talking to Ron. I was just trying to get a rise out of him. I hope I didn’t embarrass you.”



“Why would you have embarrassed me? Hermione, what if I want to be friends?”

“See, this is one of the times when I can’t tell if you’re serious or sarcastic.”

He stopped and grabbed her arm to stop her. “I’m serious. Hermione, I’ve never really had true friends. You seem to understand how hard this is for me. I want to be your friend.”

“What will your so called ‘friends’ say about that?”

“I don’t care anymore. They are a part of a life I don’t want to live,” Hermione looked at him amazed, but in a good way.

“What about Harry and Ron?”

“I don’t care about them either. Even though I do have to protect Harry!”

“That’s quite funny. You have to protect the one person you hate.”

“There are lots of people that I hate. Harry isn’t really on my hit list though.”

“I’m glad about this change that you’ve made, but if I don’t trust eveything you say, don’t blame me. I just have to readjust.”

“Okay, so, friends?” asked Draco.

“Yes,” with that said they started to walk up to the castle.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Three weeks went by and Hermione started to trust Draco a little more. Hermione and Ron still weren’t talking and Hermione and Draco still hadn’t decided on an animagi yet. It was on Tuesday, October 1st when Hermione received a letter from Hagrid telling her that some of the animals had arrived and welcoming her to come and see them. She thought that she would take Harry and Ron with her. She wanted them to see the animals before they entered the Haunted house. Plus she thought that spending more time with them would make Ron stop giving her evil glares all day.

After school Hermione and Draco decided to go to the library and finally decide on a person for their project, but Draco didn’t want to.

“Draco, we have to pick now, we are going to be so busy with the Haunted House. We shouldn’t have put it off.”

“Fine, Granger, lets go pick one then.”



“You did not just call me Granger?”

“So what if I did?”

“I might have to hurt you.”

“A month ago you would have killed me for calling you Hermione and now you’re going to kill me for calling you Granger? That’s weird!”

“Shut up and just pick.”

“No, I want to know what this is about,” he said in a pestering way. He just wanted to get her excited.

“PICK!”

“I don’t want to,” he said calmly and turned his back to her.

“Draco Malfoy, you better -.”

“I didn’t give you permission to call me Draco Malfoy, now did I?”

“You can be such a jerk!”

“I know.”

“Fine, I’ll pick one myself,” she took out her piece of parchment that had all of the people that they were interested on it. After about twenty minutes of playful debating between the two, they finally decided to write their paper on the woman who had saved a town from the Chimaeras. Once they had decided Hermione left to go find Harry and Ron. She went to the Gryffindor common room.

“Harry, Ron,” she shouted as she walked through the portrait hole. They both turned to look at her but Ron turned away once he had seen who had called her. “Do you guys want to go see some of the animals for the Haunted House?” she asked in a whisper.

“Hermione, can we do it tomorrow?” asked Harry.

“Yeah, that’s fine.”

“I just have a lot of home work,” said Harry as he got up and walked her to the portrait hole. He grabbed her arm and whispered in her ear. “Plus Ron is still a little upset and I kind of am too. He is my arch rival, but I can’t control you. I’m working on Ron and I think by tomorrow I may have cracked him.”

“Harry, I need you two understand that you guys will have to become friends with him eventually. He has changed and he’s a spy,” she said as she lowered her voice even more.

“I know, Hermione, just let us get used to the idea. Right now, I think it best that you leave before Ron makes a scene.

“Fine, I’ll see you later,” she left a little upset. They didn’t understand that hey have to become friends with people in the other houses too, including Slytherin students.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

The next day came and went and the trio never went to go see the animals. Then before Hermione knew it, it was Friday. She was feeling depressed that her two best friends didn’t want to talk to her. Well, one best friend, as Harry was still talking to her. He hadn’t gotten Ron to crack and Hermione was getting very upset. All she wanted to do was blow up in his face. He was being so stubborn.

She walked in to the common room after classes to find Hannah and Katie giggling on the couch.

“What’s so funny?” she asked.

“Nothing, we were just planning on having a girls night in our dormitory. Since you share the room with us you don’t have a choice in whether you are coming or not,” said Hannah.

“Fine, but I refuse to do make overs or paint nails.”

“Agreed,” Hannah and Katie started to giggle again leaving Hermione in the dark as to what was so funny. She had a feeling that they were plotting something though.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

“Draco,” called Terry. “Owen and I were going to have an Exploding Snap contest tonight. Do you want to join us?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, then I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.”

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Hermione went to dinner that night feeling that she was going to dread it. She stopped by the Gryffindor common room to pick up Harry and Ron. The three walked down to the Great Hall together, with only Harry and Hermione carrying on a conversation. When they got there they all sat down. Dinner was served and they started to eat with Ron still not talking. Finally Hermione had had enough.

“Harry, will you, please, tell Ron that he is acting childish?”

“Ron, Hermione thinks yo-.”

“I heard her. Will you tell her that what she did is unforgivable?”

“Hermione, Ron say-.”

“I heard him. Harry, will you tell Ron that I didn’t do anything unforgivable as it is Dumbldore’s goal to unite ALL of his students. Slytherins and Gryffindors too.”

“Ron, Hermio-.”

“I heard her. Harry, will you please-.”

“Tell her yourself Ron,” Harry spat getting very annoyed.

“Hermione you need to realize that-.”

“NO, Ron, you need to realize that Voldemort is coming soon and we can’t be fighting each other while fighting him. Until you can realize that and become friends with Draco, yeah, that’s right, I called him Draco, then this friedship is over. GROW UP!” She left the table without another word. As the whole Hall quieted and turned to look at the commotion.

“Can you believe her?”

“Yeah, Ron I can,” said Harry, very seriously.

“I can’t believe you.”

“Ron, don’t make me chose between my two best friends, but I agree with her. The more people on my side the better.”

“Fine.”

“Fine what?” asked Harry hopefully.

“I don’t know.”

“That’s good!” Harry said sarcastically

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Hermione walked around for a little while trying to calm down. She thought that she heard someone calling her name and then Draco came running down the hall. She stopped and waited for him.

“What- was- that- about?” he asked through breaths.

“Nothing.”

“It didn’t seem like nothing.”

“Never mind I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Then can I just walk with you?”

“Sure,” they walked around the school for a little while and then started to make their way to the common room. When they reached it, everyone was already there.

“Hermione, are you okay? You got pretty heated,” asked Owen.

“Yeah, lets just go upstairs you guys.”

“Okay, let’s go,” said Hannah.

“Night, girls,” called Terry.

“Night,” they all cried in unison.

“Sweet dreams, Hannah,” he said in a teasing, manly voice.

“SHUT UP, TERRY!” shouted Hannah from upstairs.

“Why do you bug her, Terry? Do you even like her?” asked Owen.

“Yeah.”

Draco had watched Hermione walk up the steps and was starring at the place where she had disappeared, when Owen stepped in front of him breaking his concentration.

“What do you want, Owen?”

“To talk.”

“Can’t we just play Exploding Snap?”

“Yeah but for every game you lose you have to answer one of our questions.”

“What?”

“That’s right! Let’s play upstairs so the girls don’t burst in on us.”

“I don’t like the sound of this,” the three of them then went up to their dormitory.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

When the girls got upstairs they all changed into their pajamas. Then Katie and Hannah both turned to Hermione and sat her down on her bed. They then sat next to her.

“So, Hermione,” said Katie.

“So, what, Katie?”

“We have a theory,” exclaimed Hannah.

“Do you?” asked Hermione, now realizing that this was what they had been plotting.

“Yes.”

“Okay, what is this theory?”

“We think that you like Draco?”

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

*After one game of Exploding Snap*

“Draco, you lose. Too bad. So, first question,” said Terry.

“I don’t like this.”

“What do you think of Hermione?”

“What?”

“Answer the question,” said Owen.

“I think she’s nice.”

“Okay, next game, shall we?”

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

“What? You think I like Draco?”

“Yes,” the girls said in unison.

“You two sound way too confident.”

“We are very confident.”

“Okay, and IF I do, then what? And that’s a BIG if!”

“Then, we set you two up!”

“No, you girls have gone too far.”

“I don’t think so, do you Hannah?”

“Why no, Katie, I don’t.”

“Girls, no,” Hermione shouted.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

*After two games of Exploding Snap.*

“Okay, Draco, so. Would you like to take Hermione to the Halloween Ball?” asked Owen.

“I wouldn’t be closed to the idea.”

“Well, too bad, you have to go with her.”

“Why?”

“Because, Katie and I are going together and Hannah has a crush on Terry, so that leaves you two.”

“Okay, I’m fine with that.”

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

“I like him as a friend, you guys.”

“You like him more than that and you know it,” Hannah said.

“Hermione just admit it,” said Katie.

“You want to go to the Halloween Ball with him and you know it!”

“Hermione, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

“Yes it would. It would most likely mean the end of the relationships that I have with Harry and Ron.

“Hermione if they were really your best friends they would understand. Just admit that you like him. Just get it off your chest,” said Katie.

“FINE, I like Draco Malfoy.”

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

*After 3 games of Exploding Snap*

“Man, Draco, you suck at this game. Now, do you like Hermione Granger?”

“What?”

“You heard Owen!” said Terry.

“I don’t have to tell you guys.”

“Would it help to know that we think she likes you?” asked Owen.

“Does she?” Draco asked excitedly, which just gave Terry and Owen their answer.

“You like her!” Terry shouted.

“Keep it down. So maybe I do. Don’t tell her, just let me take care of it.”

“Okay, but you like Hermione Granger,” Terry shouted excitedly.

Hermione received a second letter from Hagrid a week later, telling her that the rest of the animals had arrived. Hermione decided that she was going to take Harry and Ron to go see the animals whether they liked it or not. She also had a little surprise for them.

It was Saturday morning and she decided to take them after lunch. After half an hour of trying to convince Ron of going with Hermione, they were finally making their way down the Hagrid’s house.



The sun was shining and there was a slight breeze. The trees on the grounds were starting to turn reds, browns, yellows and oranges. Some were even scattering the grounds.

When they got to Hagrid’s, Draco was standing outside, waiting. This was Hermione’s surprise. When Ron spotted him, he turned right around and made his way back up to the castle. Hermione grabbed his arm.

“Ron, please, for me?” she asked pleading with him. “Please, if he really bothers you, you can leave. Please, just try?”

“Argh,” he said but didn’t move.

“Please?” she looked to Harry for help, but he just stood there. He wasn’t too happy about this either, but he was willing to try if everything Hermione said about him was true. “Ron, you have the chance to be the bigger person. *Please*?”

“Fine.”

“Thank you,” she said with a sigh. They continued to walk towards Hagrid’s.

“Hi, Hermione,” said Draco as she approached.

“Hi, Draco,” said Hermione and Ron made a noise that sounded very much like a groan.

“Hi, Potter. Hey, Weasley.”

“Malfoy,” spat Ron.

“Hi,” mumbled Harry.

“Let’s go see the animals. Hagrid is already back there,” around back Hagrid was leaning over an open crate of blast-ended-skrewts.

“Not those again,” Ron said with a moan. Hermione just looked at him as if saying ‘Shut up!’ She then turned to Hagrid.

“Hello, Hagrid.”

“‘Ello, I see ya brought ‘Arry and Ron. ‘Ello, ya two.”

“Hello, Hagrid,” the boys said in unison.

“I’m gonna go get some food fer these ‘ittle guys,” he then disappeared into the house.

“Harry, Ron, what do you think?” asked Hermione.

“Blast-ended-skrewts?” said Harry. Hermione nodded her head and turned to Draco, a little annoyed with the two’s lack of enthusiasm. She started to talk to Draco about the animals. They went from crate to crate, checking that every last animal was there.

Harry and Ron were talking about Quidditch when Draco saw a stray skrewt climb out of it’s crate. It was facing towards Ron and looked about ready to blow. Draco made his way over to Ron, leaving Hermione to talk to herself.

“Weasley, move,” he shouted. Ron turned to face him. Hermione looked up to see what was going on.

“What?” said Ron.

“MOVE!” Draco had then leaped at Ron and tackled him as sparks shot out of the end on the blast-ended-skrewt.

“What the hell was that for?” asked Ron, lifting himself from the ground and pushing Draco off him. Hermione ran over.

“Are you two okay?” Ron looked around at the situation and then realized what had just happened. He stood up, leaving Draco on the ground and stormed up to the castle. Harry held out a hand for Draco, only after Hermione had glared at him and then she ran after Ron. She closed in on him, grabbed his shoulder and spun him around so that he was facing her,

“What is your problem? He just saved you from some very painful injuries,” there was a very long pause. So long that Hermione turned around and started to leave but then Ron spoke.

“I know. Now I have to be nice to him,” he said angrily. Hermione’s face went from a glare to a smile.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

The next morning, the group of six got up and went into a prefects meeting straight away. The ball was only in two weeks and they still had plenty of things to do.

“We should talk to Dumbledore about getting this thing built. I’m sure that he can just get it up with one wave of his wand,” said Owen.

“Hannah and I can talk to Dumbledore, since we’re in charge of decorations,” said Terry



“As soon as it’s up Draco and I can do our part. We can talk to the teachers though about supervising,” said Hermione.

“Good,” said Katie. “Owen and I have already started to distribute that tickets. We decided to start letting people in at five ‘o’ clock. Now, we have to be at the front doors checking tickets. After everyone is inside you can either go through the maze or go in through the exit hallway. We need an exit hallway so that people won’t have to do the maze twice. I think that’s all that we need to talk about right now. So we have all day to get a lot of things done.”

“Terry and I will go talk to Dumbledore now,” said Hannah.

“Hermione and I will go talk to the Professors,” added Draco as Owen winked at him. Draco scolded him silently.

“Okay, then, Owen and I will go and give out the other tickets,” with that they all left the room and went in different directions.

Hermione and Draco had their list of Professors that they wanted to supervise and the first one on the list was McGonagall. They went to her classroom and she was sitting behind her desk.

“Professor McGonagall, do you want to help supervise for the Haunted house?” asked Draco.

“Sure, what would you like me to do?”

“We were hoping that you could watch over the Augurey’s and make sure that nothing happens to the students,” said Hermione.

“That sounds fine to me.”

“Thank you Professor. We will need you down at the Haunted House at four thirty on Halloween.”

“Great,”she said. Hermione and Draco said one last ‘Thank you’ and left to go talk to Professor Snape.

They reached the dungeons and walked into his classroom. He wasn’t there so they walked over to his office and knocked on the door. When Snape answered he wasn’t wearing his bunny slippers. He must have remembered to take them off. Draco spoke.

“Professor, will you be willing to watch some of the animals for the Haunted House?”

“Why?”

“Because we don’t want any students to get hurt,” said Hermione.

“Fine,” he said and then mumbled something about not caring what happened to the students.

“We were hoping that you would watch the Graphorns, as you are much more skilled than any of the other teachers,” said Draco trying to butter him up.

“Graphorns, huh?”

“Yes, Professor,” said Hermione.

“Sure.”

“Please be down at the Haunted House at four thirty on Halloween,” they left without another word, scared that this early time would bring up another disagreement..

By lunch time they had gotten all of the teachers to agree. Flitwick had agreed to watch over the Imps, Hagrid had agreed to watch over the Blast-ended-skrewts, Sinistra said she would keep an eye on the Pixies, Sprout was willing to watch over the Jarveys, Vector agreed to watch over the pogrebins and Windmere agreed to watch over the boggart.

By the end of the day Dumbledore had conjured up a maze on the front grounds. He had put many charms on it so that no one could wonder inside. Katie and Owen had gotten almost all of the tickets out and Hannah and Terry had gotten permission to make a special trip to Hogsmeade to get the rest of the decorations. The Haunted House was well on its way.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Hermione woke on Monday morning to hear shouting from the common room. She quickly got dressed and ran downstairs. When she got there she saw that Katie and Draco seemed to be fighting, over what, Hermione couldn’t tell. They were yelling in each other’s face but everything they said, she couldn’t understand. Terry and Owen were standing to the side laughing. Hermione walked over to them.

“What is going on?” she had to raise her voice to be heard. Terry pointed to the bulletin board behind him. Hermione walked over and read the newly posted piece of parchment. It was announcing the first Quidditch match between Slytherin and Gryffindor. Hermione made her way back to the boys and shouted over the noise.

“Why would that make them fight?”

“They’re not really fighting. They’re arguing about Harry,” said Owen.

“Harry?”

“Yeah, as to who is going to win. Let me tell you Katie has a lot of house spirit,” as he said this, Hermione walked over to Katie and Draco. She pushed Katie into a chair that was behind her and turned around to Draco with a death gaze. He looked at her shocked.

“Shut up! You two are giving me a headache!” Katie looked at her amazed. She looked around Hermione at Draco.

“We will finish this later,” she said. She then walked out of the room. All three of the boys started to laugh. Terry was laughing so hard that he fell to the ground.

“What is so funny?” demanded Hermione.

“Draco joking made a comment about Harry being a really bad seeker. Then he made a comment about Slytherin winning and Katie went off on a tangent. She started yelling and screaming at him,” explained Owen.

“I then started to yell back at her to see what would happen and-,” he stopped when Hermione turned on him with a look of utter annoyance. Hermione left the room to go look for Katie. She knew that Katie had a lot of house spirit and she also knew how she could get. She probably didn’t know that it was joke and was off planning Draco’s death. Hermione stopped walking. Slytherin versus Gryffindor? She couldn’t cheer both Harry and Draco on.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

It was Wednesday and Hermione and Ginny were making their way towards the Quidditch pitch along with the rest of the school. Ginny was talking to Hermione about some cute boy she had just seen but Hermione wasn’t paying attention due to the fact that her mind was on Harry and Draco. They got seats and waited for the match to start. About ten minutes later the Slytherin team had marched out on to the field. Hermione didn’t cheer though. She didn’t want to be tackled or something. Then The Gryffindor team entered. Three-quarters of the stadium exploded with cheers. Hannah came running over to Hermione and Ginny.

“Hey Hermione,” she said eyeing her. Hermione glared at her to tell her that she was distraught. They turned their eyes back to the game to see the players kick off. The whistle blew and they were off.

“Katie Bell starts out with the quaffle. She moving toward the Slytherin goal posts. GO, KATIE, GO!” shouted the commentator. Lee Jordan had left last year and it was some new Hufflepuff, very much like Lee. “She scores!”

Hermione looked up to watch Harry and Draco. Harry was flying around looking for the snitch and Draco was on the other side of the field doing the same. Fifteen minutes went by and no snitch. Hermione was starting to get anxious. The score was Gryffindor 50 and Slytherin 70. Hermione kept watching the boys. Another ten minutes went by and the score stayed the same. Angelina had been hit by a bludger though and her left eye was swollen shut but she refused to forfeit the game. Which Hermione was secretly hoping that she would do so that she would have to chose.

Hermione again turned her eyes to the sky and saw that Harry had started to go into a dive and so had Draco. Draco was coming from the right side of the field and Harry from the left. They were both diving towards the snitch. Hermione grabbed Hannah’s hand very tightly.

“Hermione, uh, Hermione?”

“What?” said Hermione never taking her eyes off the boys.

“You’re hurting me!” shouted Hannah as she flung her hand away from Hermione’s and rubbed it. They were going to collide. They both outstretched their arms and the whole stadium started to cheer and yell. Fifteen feet away, ten feet, five feet, and then Harry rose from his dive and rose his hand into the air to show that he had the snitch. Everyone was cheering. Hermione cheered as well but she couldn’t stop from feeling bad for Draco. Everyone ran down to the field and Hermione stood where she was. The Gryffindor team made their way back to their common room to, no doubt, have a party. The Slytherin team left the field yelling at each other. The stadium soon emptied and Hermione still stood where she was. She was so distraught between her best friend and the guy she liked. She made her way down the stadium to go back to the Gryffindor common room to congratulate Harry when she spotted one lonely Slytherin still on the field. She made her was towards him.

Draco stood there. He was upset but not just because he had lost, because he wanted to beat Harry to show off to Hermione. He knew that it was stupid to think of that but that was how he felt. He wanted to impress her. He heard footsteps behind him and turned around to see Hermione walking towards him. He stood and just looked at her. The breeze was blowing her soft, shining hair about. The breeze also made her robes stick to her, showing off her figure. He watched her mesmerized by her beauty. She stopped in front of him.

“Are you okay?” she asked in a soft whisper. He walked up to her and hugged her. She hugged him back thinking that he couldn’t be this upset over a game and then he pulled away with his arms still around her waist. He had a bright smile on his face. Hermione smiled back wondering what he was thinking. She went to ask him this question when he kissed her. She had the instinct to pull away just because for six years she had hated him, but she didn’t pull away. She let herself fall into his body. His lips were soft and smooth against hers. She let him make his kiss deeper, then pulled herself away.

She looked into his gray eyes and didn’t see the cold that she usually did. She thought they were bright and warm. She wrapped her arms around his neck and didn’t let go for a long time. As the sun started to sink behind the trees they let go of each other. They didn’t say a word to each other but made their way up to the castle.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

The next morning Draco woke up feeling very happy. Hermione the same way. But Draco soon lost his happiness. Draco woke up not by his alarm clock or by Owen shaking him telling him he was late as he so often did, but to a pecking on the window. He was the only one still in the dormitory. He walked over to the window to let the owl in. He untied that letter that was attached to it’s leg and opened it. He read through it quickly and then ran out of the dormitory.

He ran all the way to Professor Snape’s office. He didn’t even bother knocking as he entered.

“Draco?” asked a confused Snape as Draco stood there panting.

“Task-,” was all he said.

“What? What is it?” asked Snape.

“Hermione-,” he had just managed to get out through breaths.

“They want me to preform a sort of Confundus charm on her. They want me to make her become a deatheater. They want me to take her to Voldemort. He says that she is a very powerful witch and they want her on their side,” Draco said all this very fast and very panicky.

“Draco, calm down. It’s not as bad as it seems,” said Snape.

“Yes, it is. Once she trusts them they want to use her against Potter. They want to kill her!” He said throwing the letter at Snape, who then took a moment to read it.

“Draco, we can use this to our advantage.”

“I won’t put her in danger!” The room was quiet for a few moments while Snape let Draco cool down. Draco plopped into a chair in front of Snape’s desk.

“Draco, why is it that you won’t put her in danger?” asked Snape quizzically.

Draco didn’t reply. He wasn’t about to tell Snape that he liked her. “She’s just the only one that understands me. She’s my only true friend.”

“She’s not more than that?” said Snape thinking that there was in fact something going on. He was a little disgusted that the student he liked the most did like a Gryffindor.

Draco hesitated once more.

“Oh, I see, Mr. Malfoy. Then we will have to do all to protect her, won’t we?” Draco looked up at his Professor shocked. Snape was being completely serious. “Draco, if you will just listen. This is a very good task that he has assigned you. We can use this to our advantage.”

“How?” asked Draco, seeing no good side to this.

“Draco, we don’t even have to put her under a spell. We will talk to Ms. Granger and she will just have to do a little acting role. She may even be made a spy. We will have to do a little research as to the spell he wants you to put on her and look at the symptoms. When the time comes that He wants to ‘use her’ we will deal with it, but for now we will leave it.”

“I can’t convince Hermione to become a deatheater. I don’t want her to go through what I did. I especially won’t be able to watch her go through it.”

“Draco, why don’t you go get ready for classes and then afterwards we can talk to Ms. Granger and Dumbledore. Go get dressed and do not speak of this to anyone,” Draco got out of his chair and left, very pissed off.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

In Transfiguration, they had the class hour to work on their projects. Hermione noticed that Draco was acting very weird.

“Draco, did I do something?”

“No, Hermione.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Will you come with me after school?”

“Sure, where?”

“I will tell you later.”

“Draco, what is going on?”

“Will you just trust me?” he asked a little annoyed.

“Draco, I do trust you,” said Hermione. She finally felt like she did trust him.

For the rest of the day Draco was out of it. In Potions he had even accidently knocked a potion to cure the hiccups on Harry, which gave Harry an uncontrollable case of the hiccups. At dinner he was still in the hospital wing, hiccuping to no end.

After, dinner Draco led Hermione to Dumbledore’s office. When they reached the gargoyle statue, Hermione stopped.

“Wait. You’ve been acting weird all day and now you’re bringing me to Dumbledore? Something is very wrong,” Draco gave Hermione a small peck on the cheek but didn’t say a word. He said the password that Snape had given him and they made their way to the top.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Dumbledore heard a knock on his door outside as he was sitting at his desk just about ready to go down to supper. “Come in,” he said. Snape walked into the room.

“Dumbledore, Mr. Malfoy received his task today.”

“Oh?! Did he now. I assume that you are here to tell me what it is.”

“He is supposed to put a mind changing charm on Ms. Granger, so that she will become a deatheater. Voldemort wants her on their side, as she is a very smart witch. He will use her and then when the time comes he will kill her and hopefully make Harry come to him, instead of having to look for Harry,” Snape drew a deep breath as he finished his sentence.

“And I am sure that you have come up with a solution.”

“I was hoping that we could have Ms. Granger act as though she were under the charm and be a spy for the Order. I think that this is the only safe way for it to look as though he has completed his task. Under the Order she will be protected. When Draco learns the plans for her death we shall deal with it then.”

“I think that you are correct, Severus.”

“Good, because I have the two of them coming down here for a meeting after dinner.”

“You knew I would say yes?”

“I hoped, Sir,” the two then made their way down to dinner.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Draco knocked on Professor Dumbledore’s door. He heard the polite “Come in,” and the two entered. Snape was sitting in front of the fire place staring into the flames. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk reading and from what Hermione could see nothing really seemed wrong, but how wrong she was.

“Please sit down, you two,” said Dumbledore as he pointed to the two seats in front of his desk. “Mr. Malfoy, have you told her anything?”

“Told me what?”

“No, Sir,” he said looking down at his lap. Hermione looked from Dumbledore to Draco to Snape, very confused.

“What *is* going on?” she asked.

“Ms. Granger as you know, Draco has become a spy for the Order. In doing so he had to become a deatheater. He, as a new member needs to perform a task to prove his loyalty. He received his task this morning,” explained Dumbledore.

“What does this have to do with me?”

“Everything,” said Draco, still looking at his lap as if he were ashamed.

“Ms. Granger, his task was to put a charm on you that will make you want to become a deatheater. Then Voldemort thinks with you on his side that he will have an advantage. You being such an intelligent and power witch. He wants to use you to the full extent and then use you as bait to get to Mr. Potter,” as Dumbledore said this her face completely went void of color.

“Ms. Granger, he plans to kill you to get Potter so that he will come to him instead of him coming to Harry.”

Hermione was in shock. She had to look away from Dumbledore to stop herself from crying. She looked at Draco who still had his head down. She couldn’t think of words to say.

“Hermione, we have a solution, though,” said Dumbledore but Hermione didn’t see how there could be one. She finally mustered up some words.

“I don’t see anything that we can do.”

“Ah, Ms. Granger, you are a very smart girl but you disappoint me tonight. I would have thought that it would have occurred to you. I think that you are letting your emotions get the best of you,” Hermione looked at her Headmaster in surprise. “Ms. Granger, we would like you to become a deatheater,” Hermione looked around at the three of them in shock. “As a spy, like Mr. Malfoy. You will act as though you are under a spell but you will be spying for us.”

“Yeah, but what happens when He wants to kill me?”

“We will come up with something by then. We have to see where it all leads. Draco will be informed of the plans to kill you and he will probably be the one assigned to it,” Hermione turned her gaze to Draco who had lifted his head at this point.

“I will have to do it?” Draco asked very nervous.

“Most likely, Mr. Malfoy,” said Dumbldore. He then turned his gaze back to Hermione. “Hermione, think about it.”

She sat there for a moment contemplating. “I will, but I can’t guarantee anything.”

“It would be in your best interest,” Snape finally spoke. Hermione turned her gaze to him.

“Shall we talk tomorrow? You have taken in a lot and there is still more to talk about. Let us go to bed,” said Dumbledore. Hermione and Draco both rose from their chairs slowly and then exited the room. Upon arriving in the hallway Hermione burst into tears. Draco wrapped his arms around her and let her cry.

“Draco, what am I to do?” He didn’t reply. This was all his fault.

“Hermione, I promise, I won’t let anything happen to you,” Hermione lifted her head from his shoulder. For the moment she felt safe. She trusted him.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Hermione and Draco walked back to their common room with his arm around her waist. Hermione hadn’t spoken a word and when they got there she went straight to her room without saying anything to Draco.

Hermione fell onto her bed. What was she going to do? In order for her to protect herself she would have to become a deatheater. It was the only safe way to scoot around this problem, but how would she explain that to Harry and Ron. Other students would know and say things. They would suspect things. She would have to deal with the wraiths of the Slytherins. She didn’t know if she wanted to deal with all this. She would be putting all of her loved ones in danger by doing this. Hermione closed her eyes and tried to think of other things for a moment as she felt her head was about to explode.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Draco was in his room pacing. This was all his fault. If he didn’t care about Hermione so much, it would be easier to say ‘Yeah, go ahead, do it!’ but he did care. He knew that he would have to be there when she got initiated and he didn’t want to put her through that pain, he didn’t want to watch her get hurt. And the fact that he would be the one assigned to kill her was overwhelming. Why had all of this happened? He continued to pace his room well into the night.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Hermione woke the next morning still very confused. She had fallen asleep soon after she had closed her eyes. She slowly got out of bed. She and Draco were supposed to set up the Haunted House today after school, as Halloween was approaching very quickly.

After showering, Hermione made her way to the Gryffindor common room. It was still early, before classes would start, and she hoped that Harry and Ron were up, no doubt doing homework that they were too lazy to finish last night.

When she got into the common room, they were in fact sitting at a table doing what looked like Divination homework.

“Good morning,” said Harry, a little surprised that she was there this early.



“Morning,” she replied, very gloomily.

“You sound happy,” said Ron. Hermione looked up at him in surprise and then realized that he was talking to her again.

“Yeah.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay, so where were you after the match?” asked Harry. She had forgotten to come and congratulate them.

“Sorry, I had something to take care of. Ron you did some wonderful blocking and Harry that catch was amazing. It was like reliving the Quidditch World Cup.”

“Thanks,” they both muttered with huge smiles on their faces. Hermione waited for the boys and then made their way down to breakfast.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Draco woke up and the first thought on his mind was Hermione. He wanted to know if she was okay. He quickly got dressed and went down to the common room. When he saw that it was empty he ran up the girls staircase and knocked on the door. Hannah answered still in her pajama’s and her hair all about her face.

“What?” she asked. Draco guessed that he had just woken her from a very peaceful sleep.

“Is Hermione in there?” Hannah turned around to see Hermione’s bed empty.

“No.”

“Thanks,” Draco then ran back down the stairs to the girls bathroom. He knocked on the door and no one answered so he guessed that she wasn’t in there.

He made his way down to breakfast and saw that she was sitting at the Gryffindor table deep in conversation with Harry and Ron. He made his way over to the Slytherin table a little annoyed that she hadn’t come to him to talk.

Hermione hadn’t told the boys anything because she knew that they would get mad a Draco and that was not what she needed.

Draco and Hermione didn’t say a word throughout Transfiguration as he was now slightly mad at her and she was just thinking. During Potions though he was getting even more annoyed not knowing what she was thinking. He walked over to Hermione and her cauldron.

“Hey,” he said, very softly as Pansy was very close.

“Hi,” replied Hermione.

“What do you say we go for a walk before we go work on the Haunted House?” he said even softer.

“Sure,” she replied and then went back to working on her potion. Leaving Draco very confused.

After classes Draco ran back to the common room to put his stuff down. He waited there for Hermione, who arrived about fifteen minutes later. She was in no hurry.

“Are you ready to go?” he asked now very anxious.

“Yeah,” she said. He let her leave to common room first. They made their way out to the grounds.

They were halfway around the lake when Draco decided to break the silence. “Hermione, are you upset with me?”

“No, Draco, don’t think that I am mad at you. It wasn’t your fault, it’s no one’s fault. I’m just confused as to what I am going to do.”

“Hermione, do it. Please, I and Snape will be there to protect you. Dumbledore will also put a spell on you where if anything happens to you all of the Order is informed immediately and they all will come to your aid,” Hermione didn’t say anything. Draco stopped walking an forced her to stop too. He made her face him. “Hermione, I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Hermione looked up from the ground and into his eyes. They looked scared but Hermione couldn’t tell why. “Why are you scared?” she asked wondering what he was thinking.

“I don’t want you to say no,” Hermione thought about this statement for a minute.

“I don’t know, Draco.”

“Hermione, I feel that it is the only way to protect you. This could be our one tool to get to Voldemort. Hermione we need you,” Hermione thought about this for a few minutes. She started to walk again and Draco followed. They walked around the lake one more time before Hermione stopped suddenly. She turned to Draco.



“I’ll do it,” she said with not very much confidence.

“Are you sure?” Draco asked surprised.

“Yes,” she said. Draco wrapped his arms around her so tight that she couldn’t breath and had to punch him in the stomach to get him to let go. He bent over clutching his stomach and Hermione took a step towards him. She lifted up his head and kissed him softly on the lips. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to hit you that hard,” she said slightly chuckling. Draco got upset at this.

“That’s okay, but know this,” he paused for a moment. He put his face close to hers and looked into her eyes. “Payback, is a bitch!” he said. Hermione moved to make a comment but his lips prevented her from doing so. She wrapped his arm around his neck. They soon made their way over to the huge maze that was in front of the castle.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”



Little did the pair know that a certain Slytherin was in the library looking out the window when she spotted the two and watched them. She quickly ran to the owlery to send a letter.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Hermione and Draco hadn’t finished putting the animals in the Haunted House until well after dinner. After two burned hands (Hermione’s) and a kick in the pants from a gnome (Draco), the two had finished. They made their way back to the common room and sat down with the rest of the group who was in front of the fire talking.

“Hermione are we going to Hogsmeade this weekend?” asked Katie.

“To look for dress robes?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, because we have to get some because the dance is on Saturday.”

“Halloween is that close?” asked Terry.

“Yeah,” said Hannah. The girls went to talk about what kind of robes they wanted when an eagle owl came pecking on the window. Terry let the owl in and the group gasped as they saw that it had a red envelope in its mouth. Terry took the letter.

“Draco, it’s for you,” Draco looked around quizzically at Hermione and then ran towards Terry grabbed the letter and then up the stairs. He shut the door of his bedroom and put a silencing charm on the room before slowly opening the letter.


“WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM! ASSOCIATING WITH A MUDBLOOD! MS. PARKINSON WROTE ME A LETTER THIS MORNING EXPLAINING THAT SHE SAW YOU TWO DOWN BY THE LAKE KISSING! DRACO, I DID NOT BRING YOU UP LIKE THAT. YOU BETTER GIVE ME AN EXPLANATION SOON OR I WILL PERSONALLY PUT YOU UNDER THE CRUTIATUS CURSE. YOU WILL WISH YOU HAD NEVER BEEN BORN! THAT MUDBLOOD WILL WISH SHE HAD NEVER BEEN BORN AS WELL,” The letter then tore itself up before falling to the floor. Draco caught his breath as he had been holding it all this time.

“Oh, shit,” he said slowly. He took the silencing charm off of his room. He walked over to the door and opened it. He stuck his head out the door. “Hermione, come here,” he shouted before walking back into his room and shutting the door again.

Hermione looked around at the rest of them. Terry smirked at her and gave her a wink. “Terry, this is not the time! Is that all you think about?” she spat at him as she ran up the stairs to the boys dormitory. She knocked on the door and Draco opened it, pulled her in quickly in and slammed the door shut again. He put a silencing charm on the room so that no curious prefects could overhear.

“What’s wrong?” asked Hermione.

“My father knows about us. Pansy saw us at the lake and sent him an owl.”

“What did he say?” asked Hermione.

“That he would basically make my life a living hell. He said that I would wish that I had never been born and believe me he will,” he just happened to leave the part out about him making Hermione’s life a living hell too.

“Draco, just tell him that it’s part of your task. You have to get me to trust you. The more I trust you, the better it will work,” she said very calmly.

Draco paused. “Why is it that I never think of these things? I think of the best insults for Potter and the Weasel but never anything to save my life! What would I do without you?”

“You couldn’t do anything without me and that Weasel it my best friend. I thought you three were getting along?”

“You could say that, but I wouldn’t completely agree.”

“Draco, come on. This is ridiculous.”

“It’s not my fault. You need to talk to Weasley.”

“Fine. I’ll do it now!” with that she walked out of the room with her head held high and walked down the stairs with Draco at her heels. She walked out of the portrait hole with Draco still following. Only when she came to the Gryffindor common room did she notice that he was following her.

“You can’t come with me!”

“I want to watch this!” he said with a bit of excitement in his voice.

“Go!”

“You can’t talk to me like that,” he said sarcastically.

“Go!” she repeated now giving him a look he had never seen before, but it scared him. So he turned around and left. She whispered the password and walked into the room in search of Harry and Ron.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Draco went back to his room to reply to his Father and explain himself. He wrote a quick letter explaining his task and the situation that Pansy had written him about. He sent the eagle owl on its way and then went to go search for Pansy, as he needed to sort this out with her. He went down to the Slytherin common room in search of her.

He found her surrounded by her group of friends, sitting near the fire. “PANSY!” he shouted. She turned around to see who had called her name and on seeing who it was she turned right back around and finished her conversation. Draco walked over to her.

“Pansy, I need to talk to you,” she ignored him. “Now!” She looked around at him and then rose from her seat.

“Fine,” she said. Draco led her away from her pack of friends.

“You have no right writing to my Father.”

“I do when you are making out with a Mudblood!”

“I was not making out with her. It was one kiss and it is part of my task,” he said very annoyed.

“You got yours?”

“Yes, didn’t you?”

“No,” she replied. Draco thought that this was weird but Voldemort might not give them out all at the same time.

“I have to get Herm-.... Granger to trust me. I need her to trust me in order to do my task.”

“Oh,” she said.

“Yeah, ‘oh’, now my Father wants to skin me alive.”

“Sorry,” she said.

“Whatever, I got to go,” he said this and turned to leave.

“Draco,” she called after him. Her turned to face her. “Do you want to go to the dance with me?”

“I have to go with Granger,” at this Pansy got a disgusting look on her face. “All the prefects have to go together. Because of Dumbledore’s interhouse relationship thing.”

“I wish that he would just give up on that,” she spat.

“Yeah, me too,” he lied and quickly left.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

“Harry, Ron,” Hermione called from across the room when she had spotted them. They were playing a game of chess. “Are two and Draco still fighting? Ron I thought you ‘had’ to be nice to him?”

“I do, but it doesn’t mean that I have to go looking for him.”

“Boys!” she said. “Well, you two better be nice on Saturday.”

“Wait we have to hang out with him there?” asked Harry.

“If you want to hang out with me you do.”

“Hermione is there something going on between the two of you?” asked Harry. Hermione realized that she had said too much. If they were just friends then why would they hang out the whole time?

“No, we... we just have to stay together because of the interhouse relationships,” she lied.

“Hermione, do you realize that when you lie your bottom lip does this weird curl?” said Ron.

“I’m not lying so how would you know?”

“Yeah, you are lying,” added Harry who noticed this too. Hermione stood there and then realized that she had curled her bottom lip. She never noticed it before. She quickly turned around and left the room.

“Do you really think that something is going on between them?” Ron asked Harry as they watched her walk away.

“Not a doubt in my mind.”

“That pisses me off! It wouldn’t piss me off so much if she hadn’t lied about it though.”

“Do you realize that when you lie your left ear twitches? You would still be pissed at her, Ron.”

“My left ear does not twitch!” Ron objected. He then put his hand on his ear. “We hang out way too much!” he said as he walked up to his room, leaving Harry sitting at the table laughing.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

It was Friday, the day before the dance. Everyone was so excited. The school day was planned to end early so that the students would have time to go to Hogsmeade. After classes Hermione met Hannah and Katie in the common room. They hurried down so that they could get there before all of the good dress robes were taken.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Draco didn’t go with Terry and Owen to Hogsmeade because he had dress robes and he and Hermione still had to finish their paper. They were almost done but it needed to be checked. Draco told Hermione that he would do it so that she could get a robe.

About three hours later when the others had returned, they made their way down to the Haunted House to check on everything and make sure that it was all in place. Tomorrow all of their hard work would pay off and it would all be over. Seeing that everything was in place they all went to back up to the castle with Draco’s arm around Hermione’s waist, Terry still taunting Hannah about her liking him, and Katie and Owen deep in conversation. Everything seemed at right in the world.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Saturday morning arrived and the whole school was buzzing with excitement. Hermione woke up early thinking that it was later than it actually was and realized that she still had eight hours to go before they had to be down there. She walked over to her wardrobe and got dressed. Hannah and Katie were still asleep. Hermione went down to the common room to find that the boys were still asleep too. She grabbed a random book off the book shelf and sat down. She started to read but couldn’t concentrate. She walked over to the snack bar and made an espresso. She went and sat down on the couch. She drank it slowly and when she had finished she closed her eyes. She thought that she might try to get some more sleep before her busy day started.

She woke up to being tickled by Draco. She jolted awake and started screaming. She rolled off the couch onto the floor. “Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!” she kept shouting. She heard Hannah standing there laughing and shouted for her help as she continued to try and get Draco off of her, but Hannah stood where she was and just laughed. Hermione finally gave up because Draco was too strong for her. He finally stopped and looked her straight in the eyes with a huge smile on his face.

“I told you pay back was a bitch,” he said softly. Hermione jumped up off the floor and had the strong urge to punch him again but before she could do anything he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

By the time he had let her go, all of the others were ready to go down to breakfast and they all left, talking excitedly.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

At two thirty, two hours before they all had to be down at the Haunted House, the girls went to go get ready.

“You need two hours?” said Terry looking up from his chess game with Draco.

“Yeah, we probably should have started to get ready and hour ago, but since you made us watch your game we didn’t,” said Hannah as the girls made their way upstairs. Draco and Terry looked at each other.



“Girls,” they said in unison.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Two hours later the girls came out of the bathroom. The boys had already gotten dressed and were sitting on the couch waiting.

Hannah came out of the bathroom first. Terry stood as she did so. She was wearing a light purple robe with her hair up in a bun and lilacs stuck in it. The robe, she had gotten fitted so that it showed off her curves. Terry looked at her and his mouth dropped.

“You... you...you...,” he tried to say ‘You look very nice’ but couldn’t get the words out.

Next came Katie. She was wearing a robe similar to Hannah’s but her’s was a light yellow. Almost a champagne color. She had white daisies in her hair which was also in a bun. Owen stood up and he managed to get words out but just barely.

“You look really pretty, Katie,” he said.

Now what Draco had been waiting for. He saw the bathroom door open and he stood up. He walked in front of the door. Hermione came out wearing a deep red robe, also similar to the other two. It showed off her curves more though. Draco stared at her. He looked her up and down and realized that she had red roses in her hair which was up in a bun with curls hanging down. Draco leaned against the couch as his thought he might fall to the floor. Hermione smiled as him and he felt his cheeks smile back.

“You look gorgeous,” he said.

“Thank you.”

“I want to trade,” said Terry. “Draco you take Hannah, I want Hermione,” everyone looked at him. Hannah hit him on the arm. He turned to her realized what he had said.

“I was just joking, Hannah. You’re prettier than her,” all of them glared at him. “I mean- what I meant to say-....”

“Terry just shut up before you say something else!” said Draco.

“It’s a theme, see?” said Katie. “We have matching robes, but different colors and we all have flowers in our hair. It was Hermione’s idea,” Draco took Hermione’s hand and they all left for the Haunted House.

When they got there Dumbledore was waiting, along with most of the other teachers. There was a table set up for the six of them with all that they would need for tickets. The list of people and the groups and quills and ink.

“Ah, here they are,” said Dumbledore. “Maybe Hermione and Draco will show all of the teachers to their rooms and get them settled, hmm?”

“Yes, Sir,” said Hermione. She and Draco left with all of the other teachers while Hannah and Terry went once more to check on food and decorations. Katie and Owen looked over the list and got themselves situated.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”



Half and hour later, when the sun started to sink behind the trees, the first group of people came from the castle. The six were all out at the front again. After making sure that the group had their wands (safety precaution), they let them in. Dumbledore and some of the other teachers were in the dance hall.

At five thirty Pansy Parkinson and her group came down. She was wearing a gray dress that showed off her somewhat porky figure. The group of four (Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and Blaise Zabini), entered the House. Why Pansy was going with Crabbe and Goyle was beyond anyone.

At about seven, everyone had gone in, Hannah, Terry, Owen and Katie went in. Hermione and Draco decided to wait a little before going in. Plus they were only allowed in groups of four. They said a short ‘Good bye’ and the group entered into the darkness.

When they were alone Draco, grabbed Hermione around the waist and pulled her close before kissing her. She pulled away from him only shortly after. She looked up into his eyes. He was smiling at her.

“Draco, what is this?” she said.

“What do you mean?” he asked confused.

“What are we? What is going on?”

He hesitated wondering what to say. They had never really made what ever they were official. “What do you want it to be?” he asked.



“Draco, what do you consider it?”

“Well, how would you feel if I said that I want you to be mine and only mine?”

“Are you mine and only mine?” she asked smiling at him.

“Definitely.”

“Then, are we official going out? Boyfriend-Girlfriend type thing?”

“Definitely,” he said this softly and leaned in for another kiss but Hermione wouldn’t let him. She wriggled out of his arms.

“It’s time to go in,” she said.

“That was mean,” he said, referring to her not letting him kiss her. She walked into the door and he followed.

They walked down a dark hallway and it turned right so the followed it. They came across a room that was lite only by electric blue Pixies flying around. They walked into the room to be bombarded by them. They were pulling on their robes and trying to pick up Draco. The two ran across the room as fast as they could to find Professor Sinistra in the corner.

“I did not sign up for this!” she shouted.

“Yes, you did!” shouted Draco back at her. “Hermione that wasn’t scary that was just annoying. Why did we put them in here?”

“No idea,” They continued to walk down a dark hallway. They came to a fork and decided to turn to the left only to find that they had spent five minutes walking into a dead end. So they went back. Finally they heard loud blasts and figured that they were coming upon the room with the Blase-ended-skrewts. They walked through the door to see Hagrid nursing a singed hand. One of them turned on Draco looking ready to blow and he jumped out of the way just in time. Hermione was making her way across the room when she tripped on one. It got very upset and made a move to sting Hermione with it’s stinger. Hagrid picked her up and set her on the other side of the room by the door. Draco ran over jumping over two more.

“Thanks, Hagrid,” shouted Hermione as the two ran out of the room.

“What were we thinking?” asked Draco, out of breath.

“No idea,” repeated Hermione trying to catch her breath too. After two more wrong turns they made it to a room the was dark and it looked like it had a bunch of rocks on the floor.

“These are the Porgrebins. Just run and they won’t bother us,” said Hermione.

“This is a long room Hermione, remember?” Porgrebins were animals that followed humans. They stayed in their shadow until the person turned around where it would crouch down and looked like a rock. After a while the human starts to feel helpless and starts to go crazy. The reasoning for the room being so long.

“Just try, Draco,” it took them two minutes to run across the room. They tried to sprint but ran out of breath and got too tired. When they finally reached the hallway it was dark again. This time they didn’t make any wrong turns but came to a room full of Graphorns.

They entered and one immediately came running at Hermione with its horn extended and pointing at her. Draco dove at her and threw her to the ground. He shot a stunning spell at it.

“We must be out of our minds,” he said.

“I’d say so,” came a cold voice from the corner. Snape didn’t move though. He remained in the shadows.

“Come on, Draco,” said Hermione pulling on his robes wanting to leave.

Next came the Imps. They walked into a room that had marshy plants all over it.

“These are the Imps,” Draco said in Hermione’s ear.

“I figured,” she replied sarcastically. “Just watch your step,” as she said this Draco took one step forward and fell flat on his face. An Imp ran away laughing. Draco pulled himself up from the ground.

“I told you to watch your step,” she said laughing at him. He scowled at her and she smiled.

The next room, the last room, contained the boggart. They walked into the room and Professor Windmere was standing there, ready to open the trunk that confined the boggart. He opened it and out came Lucius Malfoy. Instead of heading for Draco, it went towards Hermione. He looked at her and Hermione froze. She felt a chill run down her spine and she backed up. Before Hermione could do anything, he had turned toward Draco and rose his wand.

“Avada Keda-!”

“No!” Shouted Hermione.

“Riddikulus!” Shouted Draco and the boggart went back to it’s trunk where Windmere closed it. Hermione stood frozen. Draco led her from the room where they entered the dance hall. It was lit by candles, floating in mid-air, along with Jack-o-lanterns. The candles and pumpkins still only gave off an eerie glow. There were live bats flying around. Round tables were set up everywhere and in the middle was a dance floor, where more than half the school was dancing. There was a wizard DJ-ing and playing muggle music.

Draco led Hermione over to the Prefect table, which was empty at the moment. “Do you need water?” he asked her.

“No.”

“When did that become your worst fear?” he asked startled, but flattered at the same time.

“Yesterday, when you received you letter,” she said. Draco just looked at her.

“What were we thinking putting those animals in here?” he said changing the subject.

“No idea,” she repeated again.

“Come on, lets dance,” he said taking her by the hand and pulling her out onto the dance floor. She had spotted Harry and Ron who were also dancing which was strange. Harry had come with Ginny (Her and Neville had broken up in mid-September) and Ron had come with Lavender Brown. They hadn’t taken her advice to invite people from another house. She saw Owen and Katie but didn’t see Terry and Hannah. She did spot Pansy Parkinson sitting at a table with the bottom of her dress scorched, probably be a Blast-ended-skrewt and her hair, which was up in a bun was now hanging down and all about her face. She was wearing a smug look on her face and She had her arms and legs crossed.

After about twenty minutes, after all of the teachers had abandoned their posts, dinner was served. Hannah and Terry had finally decided to show up and the group sat down.

“Where have you two been?” asked Owen.

“Nowhere,” Terry replied.

“What were you doing?” said Owen in a teasing voice.

“Nothing.”

“Then, what’s that all over your face, Terry? Because to me it looks like the color of Hannah’s lipgloss,” said Draco. Hannah went pink. When neither of them said anything, the group laughed and let the subject go.

“So do you guys think that it’s going well?” asked Katie.

“People still didn’t invite people from other houses. I saw some Hufflepuffs with Ravenclaws and I saw one Gryffindor with a Hufflepuff,” said Hermione.

“It will probably take some time,” Katie replied. At this point dinner showed up on their plates and the group started to eat.

After dinner, there was some more dancing. Hermione told the DJ to announce a dance where only couples of different houses could dance. Only the prefects and the people that Hermione had seen danced. Harry had asked Cho for one dance, but that was really it.

At about midnight the DJ stopped playing and the students left to back up to the castle, probably going to have their own parties.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

The group arrived at their common room and they all fell onto the couches. Each with his own girl. Draco wrapped his arm around Hermione and she leaned her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes. She was ready for bed. He was too but liked where he was so he didn’t move.

Terry had his arm around Hannah and the group soon guessed that they were now a couple. Katie and Owen were just sitting next to each other. She knew that Katie had a crush on one of the other Gryffindors, but she didn’t know who Owen liked. She had a feeling that he liked Katie though.

The six of them woke up on Sunday morning, most of them with back or neck pains. The group had fallen asleep talking in the common room last night. Terry and Hannah were on one couch. Terry was sitting up asleep and Hannah was lying down with her head in his lap. Owen had somehow tangled himself up so much with Katie that you couldn’t whose arm was whose. Draco and Hermione had somehow in the night moved from his arm around her shoulder, the two of the sitting up, to lying down side by side with his arm around her waist, to hold her from falling off the couch. She was the first to awake as Draco’s arm was unsuccessful in completing his task. She woke up as she fell off the couch and hit her head hard on the floor. She moaned in pain as the rest of the group got up.

“What was that?” asked Terry drowsily, standing up straight leaving Hannah to fall on the floor as well. She awoke when she hit the floor.

“Terry!” she exclaimed. She slowly rose from the floor and Terry helped her up.

“Sorry,” he said stifling a yawn. Hermione got off the floor herself to see Katie awake with Owen’s foot on her face. He had somehow got on top of her with his head at her feet. She moved his hand and then shoved him off her as he awake with a start.

“What did you do that for?” he asked grumpily.

“You were cutting off the circulation of my legs,” she said. Hermione looked around at the group and couldn’t help but laugh. She sat on the floor just laughing for about a minute until Owen interrupted.

“And what is so funny?”

“You should see your hair, Katie! You too, Hannah! You boys just look stupid. Do you always look like this in the morning?” she said trying to refrain from laughing.

“Oh, yeah, well you should see you hair. It’s all bushy and all over,” Katie replied.

“Like it isn’t like that everyday anyways?” Hermione said. The group laughed until they heard a very loud snore coming from behind Hermione. Hermione jumped as she heard it and turned around to see Draco fast asleep. Hermione was going to lean in and kiss him to wake him, but realized only too soon, that he was drooling. His hair was no longer slicked back. It was all over the place and most of it was covering his face. Hermione poked him and he just snorted and rolled over.

“Yeah, Hermione, he’s all yours!” said Hannah laughing.

“As least my boyfriend didn’t throw me across the room,” she replied with a smirk.. Hermione poked him again.

“No, mummy, I don’t want to go out with you. I want to go to the toy store,” he said in a baby voice. Hermione looked around at the group who started to laugh uncontrollably. Hermione fell to the floor again and Draco woke with a start. “ What?” he asked confused and dazed.

“Do you want to go to the toy store, little Dracky?” asked Terry in a baby voice as well. Draco gave him a death glare and no one moved. Draco rose from the couch, walked over to Terry and got right in his face.

“Do you want me to tell them what you say in your sleep, Terry? You forget that we sleep in the same room. ‘Mommy, I think I wet my pants!’” Draco said, mocking Terry. The room exploded with laughter.

“Okay, okay. You win! Just don’t say anything else!”

“I won’t, but wait what is it that your mum calls you? Terry Beary?” Draco looked at him with a smirk as the room again exploded with laughter. The group died down and then went to change.

They were on there way down to breakfast when Professor Snape came down the hall.

“Malfoy, Granger, come with me,” he said.

“We’ll see you guys later,” Hermione said to the group as the two followed Snape down the hall. They followed him into his dungeons and into his office where he put a silencing charm on the room and locked the door with several different spells.

“Professor, what’s wrong?” asked Hermione.

“I have just received a letter from Voldemort about the two of you. He told me of the spell that he wants you to use on Miss Granger -,”

“But why would he contact you?” asked Draco.

“If you will let me finish,” he said very annoyed. “ You have not yet learned the spell that he wants you to use. I, being the only deatheater here, have been asked to teach it to you.”

“But I won’t have to use it so why do I need to learn it?”

“You will need to learn it in case he asks any sort of questions or as time goes on when he sees Hermione he might ask you to do something with it.”

“But I won’t actually be under it, will I?” asked Hermione

“No, Miss Granger, but he still needs to learn it. While he is learning it, you will be researching the spell. Look up it’s symptoms and other such things. Anything that will be of use in front of Him. Draco, this is a very difficult spell, it will take time. So while Hermione is researching, you and I will practice. It is a very rare spell as well so I do not know how much information there will be on it,” Hermione and Draco looked at him dumbstruck. “Dumbledore felt that we need to be well protected while doing this so he has given us a room where Hermione can research and you and I can practice. I will show you were that is now.”

The group made there way out of the dungeons and up to the fifth floor. They walked down a hallway that was dimly lit and didn’t really have anything on the walls. No tapestries, no suits of armor, no nothing. They passed several doors and hallways that branched off. They came to the last hallway on the right and took it. At the end to that hallway was a small statue of what had to be one of the earlier Headmasters.

“Patefacio,” Snape whispered into the statue’s left ear and the wall opened. It slid to the left, leaving a gaping hole in the wall. Upon walking through, they saw that each wall was covered with books, with names that Hermione had never even heard of. Most of them looked like Dark Art books. She started to walk around the room reading the names on the bindings. Draco stood in th middle of the room turning on his heal taking in his surroundings.. It wasn’t a big room and the ceiling was only about eight feet high. There was one desk to the right of Draco and there was a fireplace with two chairs in front of it. Snape went and stood by the fire and let the pair look around. There were no windows and only the fire and a few small candles on the table lit the room. There was enough room though to teach Draco what he needed to learn.

“Professor Dumbledore, started to comprise his personal library soon after he suspected that Tom Riddle was the Heir of Slytherin. Dumbledore always knew that that boy was trouble. He comprised all of the books that he thought ever might be useful. When Riddle turned into Voldemort, Dumbledore was very glad he had made this.”

“This is Dumbledore’s personal library?” Hermione asked stunned.

“Yes.”

“I have never heard of any of these.”

“I doubt that you would. Most of them are books of dark magic. Some of these books there was only one copy ever made,” Hermione looked at him shocked and then returned to looking at the books. “We will be meeting here Tuesday and Thursday, Mr. Malfoy. You and Miss Granger can come in here anytime you want to research. Just make sure that no one is following you, no one finds out the password and don’t come at night.”

“Why not at night, Professor?” Hermione asked.

“Dumbledore, reads down here at night, most of the time in his gown and night cap.”

“Oh,” Hermione and Draco replied together.

“Mr. Malfoy, our first lesson will be on Tuesday at seven ‘o’clock. Your lessons will take place at seven always unless told other wise. Dumbledore has given up his reading on these to nights so that we may work,” said Snape. “ This room is also very well protected. It is monitored as well, now that we are going to be in here. Remember the password in ‘Patefacio,’” the two nodded their heads to show that they understood and with one last look around the room, they all made their way toward the door.

Draco stopped. “ Professor, what spell has he asked me to put on her?”

“Esprit Luttez.”

“What?” Draco asked shocked.

“Yes, you heard correctly, Mr. Malfoy. Now move along,” replied Snape with a look of slight compassion on his face. They left and Snape closed the door. After leaving Snape and returning to the common room Hermione turned to Draco.

“What is the ‘Esprit Luttez’ spell, Draco?”

“It is a very powerful spell. It should be up there with the Unforgivables.”

“That makes me feel good.”

“I don’t know how Snape is planning to get around this one.”

“I feel *so* confident,” Hermione said sarcastically. Draco had started to pace the room and wasn’t really paying attention to her. “Draco, stop, you’re making me nervous.”

“Sorry,” he said as he came out of his trance. “Let’s go get something to eat.”

“Breakfast is over now,” she said. “But there is the snack bar,” they ate breakfast from the snack bar and were soon joined by the others.

“What was that about?” asked Katie referring to Snape.

“Nothing, never mind,” said Hermione. Katie and Hannah started on some left over homework and Terry and Owen involved themselves in a game of chess. Hermione and Draco told them that they were going to finish on their paper from Transfiguration, but the group didn’t really believe them as they left without their bags.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

In fact, their paper was finished. They just wanted to walk around. They made their way down hallways that were for the most part empty. They walked down the hallway holding each other’s hand. Draco was lost in thought and Hermione was looking at him. She wanted to know what was so bad about this spell. She wanted to go to Dumbledore’s library right now and research it. Draco obviously knew something about it, yet he wasn’t telling. Hermione was starting to get frustrated.

“Draco, what is going on?” she asked. He didn’t say anything for about a moment and Hermione let go of his hand in frustration. Only then did he look at her.

“Fine,” he said with attitude. “My father used to use that curse on my mother, if you most know. I had to witness it day by day. She didn’t know originally that my Father was a deatheater. It was only after I was born did he tell her. She despised the Dark Arts. My Father used to be different before they got married. He didn’t really become a supported until after they were married. She found out and told him that she would leave and take me with if he didn’t leave Voldemort. He didn’t want to leave, so she started to pack her things but he realized that she would tell someone if he let her leave. He first put her under the Imperius Curse. Then when she started to fight back he went to Voldemort for advice and he told him to use ‘Esprit Luttez.’ It is a very powerful curse. I watched her do things that I never thought possible. She slowly started to support my Father and his decision to be a deatheater. I watched her listen to everything he said, even if it involved hurting herself. One time when I was seven he just came home all pissed off and she said just one thing to him and he went crazy for no reason. He didn’t touch her but she cut her wrists to punish herself under his will. She liked it though. He made her think that this was a good thing to do. Another time I hadn’t listened to what he told me and he told her to take me out back. She beat me until I had bruises and cuts all over,” as he said this, Hermione paled. She felt as though all of the blood had rushed from her face. She started to feel tears fall from her eyes.



“Draco,” she said quietly.

“I don’t want Him to make you do anything like that. I don’t want you to have to suffer what my mother did and still does. She doesn’t realize it. The one time when he hadn’t kept her under control was after she had beaten me. She cried for hours with me in her arms. I hated her and I hated him. He realized what had happened and immediately put her back under it before she could do anything. I hate him so much,” he said trying to hold back his own tears as Hermione’s started to flow.

“Draco, I didn’t know,” was all she could get herself to say. She wrapped her arms around him very tightly and he hugged her back. They stood there like that for what seemed like hours. When he finally pulled away to face her, Hermione had stopped crying. She kissed him. She didn’t want to ever leave him to go through that alone and leaving his lips felt like she was doing that. She let him make his kiss deeper and just stood there kissing him for a minute. He pulled away and she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly again. “I’ll never let you deal with that alone, ever again,” she whispered.

“I know. I don’t want him to find out about what is really going on and make you do anything.”

“Draco, we won’t let that happen,” she said. He forced a smile and so did she. They stood there for a little while longer before returning to the common room.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Hermione was left to think about what Draco had told her as they sat in front of the fire quietly. She knew that he hated his Father and now she understood why. She would hate her father if he ever hurt his mother. She never knew how hard it had been growing up for him. She wished that she could make it alright but she would have to take back those years, which she knew she couldn’t.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

After a little while Draco had fallen asleep. Hermione just sat there with his head on her shoulder. Hermione was sitting there thinking when she heard a tapping on the window. Katie went to let the owl in as she was closest to the window.

“Hermione, it’s for Draco,” she said. Hermione wondered what it could be this time.

“Draco,” she said before kissing his head. He woke with a start. “There’s a letter for you.”

“What now?” he said frustrated. Hermione secretly laughed at how they had thought the same thing. He opened the letter and read it. After he had finished his face went pale.

“What is it, Draco?” she asked

“It’s my Mother.”


“What?” Hermione said confused.

Draco looked around the room at the others who looked sympathetic and worried. He didn’t want to discuss it in front of them. In fact he couldn’t, literally.

“She’s ill. I have to go send an owl to my Father,” he said trying to get away from the others, knowing that Hermione would follow. He walked out of the portrait hole with Hermione at his heels. When they got out of hearing distance she turned to him.

“Draco, what’s the matter?” she asked as they continued to walk.

“My Father sent me this letter telling me that my mother is dead.”

“Draco, are you sure?”

“Yes and he killed her,” he said punching the wall and stopping.

“Draco, just calm down.”

“Hermione I know that he did it. I think that he got pissed off at her and then took it out on her. The longer that you under the curse the easier and faster you can be controlled. He probably made her kill herself.”

“Draco, I think that you might be jumping to conclusions.”

“Conclusions? You think that I am jumping to conclusions? You heard me talking about what he has done to her. Are you trying to protect him? You know that he is capable. I think that I know my family a lot better than you do. I know that he did something,” he said glaring at Hermione. Hermione looked back at him with tears in her eyes.

“I am not protecting him. All I want to do is help, Draco.”

“Then don’t tell me that I am jumping to conclusions and don’t defend my Father,” he said, now yelling in her face.

“You were the one that told me about your past. I didn’t ask, Malfoy,” she said getting very upset. Draco cringed as she called him ‘Malfoy.’

“What did you call me?” he asked almost in a whisper. That hurt him.

“Malfoy.”

“What did I do to deserve that?” he asked now very upset as well.

“A LOT. Just because you are mad at your Father doesn’t mean that you have to take it out on me. All I wanted to do was help and you just stand there and yell at me like this is all my fault,” she said. She stood there glaring at him. He was not her favorite person right now. “If you don’t need me or want my help than I’m leaving.”

“Hermione, I just found out that my mother is dead. How do you want me to react?”

“Reasonably. It’s okay to be upset. It’s okay to be mad at your Father. It’s not okay to yell at your girlfriend, who cares for you and just wants to help you get through this,” she said, with tears falling down her face.

“Hermione,” he said in a very soft whisper. He went to put his arms around her but she backed away. “Hermione!” he said very shocked. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she said coldly. She didn’t want to be near him right now. She knew that he was sorry but she just didn’t feel like hugging or kissing him. She started to walk back to the common room when Draco called out to her.

“Hermione, please. I need you right now. You’re the only one that understands. That cares,” he said this almost in tears as well. Hermione turned to face him and saw this. She couldn’t leave him now. Not when he had just lost his mother. She started to walk towards him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he rested his chin on her shoulder, wrapping his arms very tightly around her as well. After a minute he pulled away and looked in her eyes. He brushed his lips against hers and then rested his forehead on hers.

“I have to go send a letter to my Father.”

“Do you want me to come with you?”

“No, I think that I need to do this on my own,” he said. He left her in the hall and she watched him make his way up to the Owlry. She turned to make her way back and saw that he had dropped letter on the floor. She picked it up and walked back towards the common room. She was struck with the urge to read it but thought it wrong. That was his personal business, if he wanted to tell her what was in the letter, he would. She continued to walk and then she decided that it would hurt to have a little peek. She skimmed through the letter quickly and gasped as one, two word phrase caught her eye.

””””””””””””

Hermione was running as fast as she could toward the Owlry. She had to talk to Draco about this. When she got there he was sitting on the floor with his head in his hands.

“Draco, what is this?” she asked with a confused and scared look on her face. He looked up and saw that she was holding the letter. He then got a petrified look on his face.

“Did you read it?”

“Of course, I read it!” she said, regretting it as she said it.

“Shit.”

“Shit what?”

“I didn’t really want you to know about that part of my life, yet.”

“What that your Mother cheated on your Father? That you have brother?”

“That is news to me. I didn’t know that! I thought that he was my actual brother.”

“Draco, you have to explain before I freak out,” she said. He paused before saying anything.

“Fine. I have a brother. His name is Velius. He’s six and he’s a squib. He has lived at home with my parents forever. My Father was ashamed of him and he didn’t want anyone to know about him. So he kept him locked in the house. She must have had Velius with someone who is not a wizard. I can’t see any other way that he wouldn’t have magical powers. But she wouldn’t do that,” he added quizzically.

“Draco, you have a brother?” she asked still very confused. He ignored her and continued to talk to himself.

“He probably found out about Velius not being his and got mad at her. Who knows what he’ll do to Velius. Oh god, I have to go to Dumbledore. I have to get him out of there, quick,” as he said this he quickly got off the floor and ran out of the Owlry.

“Draco, wait!” she said right on his heels.

””””””””””””

Draco reached the stone gargoyle and didn’t remember the password. He started yelling and kicking it which didn’t help. Draco was too fast for Hermione and she reached the statue only after he had kicked the stone statue and was now limping around cursing at the top of his lungs. Hermione ran to the gargoyle and said the password. When Draco saw that it was open he pushed Hermione out of the way and ran to the door and entered without even knocking.

“Professor,” he said out of breath.

“Mr. Malfoy?” Dumbledore asked quizzically.

“I need to get my brother out to the school now!” At this point Hermione had entered the room.

“What? You have a brother?”

“That’s what I said!” Hermione exclaimed.

“I don’t have time to explain. You need to go to my house and get my brother, Velius.”

“Draco, I can’t just go without you explaining. You have a brother?”

“By the time I am finished he will be dead.”

“Fine, calm down. What do I tell your Father and Mother?”

“I don’t have a Mother anymore. My Father killed her and he’s about to kill Velius!”

“What?”

“Please, Professor, just go and get my brother,” he now said, pleading.

“I won’t be more than half an hour. Stay here. Both of you,” he said before running out of the door. Hermione sat down in one of the chairs in front of the fire and so did Draco. He put his head in his hands and his elbows on his knees. Hermione put her hand on his back and he jumped a little. She knelt down in front of him on the floor and put her hands on his knees.

“Draco, everything will be alright!” she said.

“Hermione, you don’t understand.”

“Tell me what I don’t understand.”

“ I now have no Mother. I now have brother that I will have to explain to the world as no one knows that he exists. I will have to take care of him, I can’t let my Father near him. My Father will find me to be a trader to him and want me dead. He will tell Voldemort, he will find out that I am a spy and then I am screwed!”

“Draco, you just need to calm down. It will all work out. Dumbledore will think of something,” she said. After a few moments of silence she tried to change the subject. “How old is your brother anyways?”

“He’s six. I told you this,” he said coldly with his head still in his hands.

“Draco, I’m really sorry that all of this has been put upon you. I’m sorry that your Mother has died but please don’t be mad at me. I don’t know what you want me to do,” she said with tears forming in her eyes. Draco looked up at her.

“Hermione, please don’t cry. I’m sorry.”

“I’m upset because you’re upset,” she said now crying. “I hate to see you like this. I don’t like to see you frustrated and scared.”

“Hermione, please, I need you to be strong right now, for me. I need you to help me.”

“I am here to help you, but you don’t seem to want it.” she said. He lifted up her head by her chin and looked into her eyes. He knelt down on the floor next to her and kissed her. He wrapped his arms around her and didn’t want to let go. He just kissed her.

””””””””””””

That was how Dumbledore found them half an hour later, still knelling and kissing. They had just come up for air again when he opened the door. Draco whipped around the see him and a very scared looking Velius walk into the room. Draco stood up and pulled Hermione with him. Velius saw him and almost immediately ran towards him. He wrapped his arms around his big brother’s legs and didn’t seem to want to let go.

“We need to talk,” Dumbledore said after a moment. Hermione stood there and watched the two and tears started to form in her eyes for the fourth time today. The three sat down again but this time in front of Dumbledore’s desk and he sat behind it. He leaned back in his chair and put his hands together. They all looked at each other and said nothing. Draco took the hint that Dumbledore wanted him to explain, so Draco went into the whole account about what had happened as Velius sat next to him crying. Hermione went to sit next to Velius and put her arms around him. He jumped and started to cry even harder until Draco told him that it was okay and that she was nice.

“Well, let’s think about this,” Dumbledore said. “I think that your Father was most likely upset and did kill her. He loved you Mother very much, evil as he may be. I do think that he will come after the two of you though. I do also think that he will contact Voldemort and you will be figured out. So I think it best to not have you go back to them.”

“Professor, no. I have to go. If I don’t preform my task, someone else will have to and then Hermione might really die!” Draco said this very fast in a shaky voice. Dumbledore thought for a few more minutes before speaking again.

“I think that we shall have Snape go and talk to Lucius. I think that Snape will be able to persuade him to calm down. He will be able to get him to leave Velius alone and maybe he doesn’t have to know that he is here. We can tell him that he was taking to a muggle orphanage. We will then not have to deal with Voldemort. I will have to make you and Velius a separate room though. I will have it connected to Snape’s quarters so that if anything goes wrong he will be easy to access.”

“Will we still be in the Prefects common room?” asked Draco.

“If you want.”

“I would like to stay there.”

“We will have to put some protective charms on the room just in case. We will have to think of something to tell the school about your brother, but we can do that later. Let’s go get you two a bedroom and then you can get settled in,” he said. They all rose and followed Dumbledore out of his office. Draco was carrying Velius, and Hermione was walking next to him. Velius continually cried into Draco’s shoulder, but if you had seen your mother kill yourself you would cry too.

””””””””””””

As soon as they had a room Draco carried a now sleeping Velius and put him in his bed. The room was right next to Hermione’s, hidden behind a portrait. It had two beds in it. One that was just like Draco’s old one and a smaller one for Velius. They had a bathroom connected to the room, as little kids have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Just like Dumbledore had said, it was connected to Snape’s quarters. Somehow all of Velius’ toys had been moved up into one corner of the room. There was a fireplace with a green couch in front of it. Draco looked around the room and turned to Dumbledore.

“What am I supposed to do with him? I have homework, the Order, Prefect duty, I mean I can’t be with him all the time,” he said with a worried look on his face.

“Other teachers and students will be able to watch over him,” Dumbledore reassured him. “Everything will work out. I just need to think a little while. Now go to bed, you all have school tomorrow,” he said and then left the room.

“Draco, how do you know that he is a squib? He is only six. Some children don’t show power until later,” she said looking at the sleeping child.

“We just assumed that when he became two and nothing showed up, that he must be a squib.”

“I think that he might still show some power, but we need to go to bed now. We have school tomorrow and it’s really late,” she leaned in to kiss him. “I’m sorry about all of this,” she said before turning to go back to the girls dormitory. Draco looked around at his brother who was fast asleep.

“Hermione, will you stay with me tonight? I just don’t feel like being alone.”

“You know, sometimes I think you’re a girl,” she said before climbing into bed with him. She turned on her side and he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. Hermione soon fell asleep but Draco couldn’t. He watched his little brother and wondered how he was going to take care of him. Velius would want to spend time with him and he barely had time for Hermione. He was thinking about this as he fell asleep.

Draco woke the next morning with Hermione in his arms and Velius must have gotten up in the middle of the night and was now lying on the other side of Draco. Hermione started to stir, but Velius continued to sleep. She turned to him.

“Good morning,” she said rather sleepily.

“Good morning,” he said leaning in to kiss her.

“How are you?” she asked sympathetically.

“I’ve been better.”

“What do you plan on doing with Velius today?”

“I don’t know. I was hoping to talk to Dumbledore about it but he left so quickly last night. I can’t just bring him with me to my classes. A lot of questions would be raised.”

“Maybe, since we have Transfiguration first we can talk to McGonagall. We can go down early and see if she look after him,” she suggested.

“I guess. I just wish that I could have talked to Dumbledore,” he said. As he said this, Velius started to stir.

“Morning,” Draco said, as Velius opened his eyes.

“Moning,” he said sleepily.

“Velius, you have to get dressed and then we can go get breakfast. After we eat, I have to go to school. You will have to stay with someone while I am at school. After school I can come and get you. Is that okay?”

“Okay,” he said with a sad expression on his face. “I want be wit you.”

“I know, but you can’t. I have to go to school. We can play later though, okay? And Hermione can play with us.”

“Yeah, Velius, maybe Draco can take us for a walk around the lake and we can go see the big squid!” she said trying to cheer him up. He looked at her like he didn’t quiet trust her yet, but she understood why. After a minute of thinking this idea over he said okay and Hermione left to go get dressed.

Draco found a second dresser with all of Velius’ clothes in them and he picked out an outfit for him. They both got dressed and then went down to the common room. Hermione had set up breakfast for them from the snack bar.

“I thought that maybe there would be a lot of questions if we all ate in the Hall. I wasn’t exactly sure that he would be safe there, either,” Hermione said.

“This is fine,” Draco said smiling at her. They all sat down and ate their breakfast. The others had already gone down to eat and didn’t yet know about Velius. Hermione didn’t tell them because she thought that Draco should be the one to tell them.

They all walked quickly down to Transfiguration before any other students had gotten there. When they walked into the room Dumbledore and McGonagall were talking.

“Ah, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger, and Velius, just the ones we were looking for,” said Dumbledore. Velius hid behind his big brother when the old man called his name. Dumbledore was very cheerful this morning. “I was just talking to Professor McGonagall here about the, um, little situation and she said that she would gladly watch after Velius today until we make more permanent plans.”

“Thank you, Professor,” said Draco trying to pry Velius’ hands off of his legs. When he finally did he pulled Velius in front of him.

“Hello, Velius,” said McGonagall. Velius just looked at her.

“Say hi, Velius,” commanded Draco. He still didn’t say anything. Draco knelt down in front of him so that their eyes were level. “Velius,” he said in a whisper, “Professor McGonagall in very nice and I promise that I will come a get after school is over. I am even going to be in this room for the first hour, but I can’t take you with me. You will have fun. You know all of those things that Daddy used to do, changing one thing into another, well you get to watch that all day here. It will be fun and I am sure that she will give you candy,” he said louder so that McGonagall could hear.

“I love to give out candy,” she said smiling. Velius got a grin on his face and Draco stood up.

“Thank you, Professor,” Draco said. “Velius, I have to go get my school things but I will be back in a little while. You stay here with Professor McGonagall and play,” he said. Then he turned to McGonagall. “Professor, do you think that you will have time to watch him? You have to teach too.”

“I will be teaching you a quick spell today, Mr. Malfoy and then I will leave the rest of the class time for all of you to practice. He can sit and play at my desk until I am done and then we can play together. It won’t be a problem.”

“Thank you so much, Professor. I’ll see you in a little while, Velius.”

“Bye bye, Velius,” Hermione said as she followed Draco out of the room.

“Bye Hermininny, bye bye, Draco,” he said as they left. Hermione turned around to look at him, but Draco pulled her out of the classroom. When they were in the hallway she turned to Draco.

“He talked to me! He call me Hermione!” she exclaimed.

“Actually he called you Hermininny, but it’s close enough,” he said.

“I thought that he didn’t like me. He kept giving me glares yesterday.”

“He likes you as much as I do,” he said before leaning in to kiss her.

“I don’t know if I want your brother to like me that much, in that way,” she said after she had pulled away.

“You sound very confident about how much I like you.”

“How much do you like me?” she asked with a smirk on her face.



“Not too much,” he said before kissing her again. She pulled away.

“Well if you don’t like me that much then why should I let you kiss me?” she said before walking away from him.

“What so now I can’t kiss you?” he asked in a joking matter.

“Hey, if you don’t like me then you don’t get to kiss me. It’s a privilege that only people who like me get,” she said. He grabbed her arm and whipped her around before kissing her again.

She pulled away once more and he tightened his grip around her waist. She ducked and pulled out of his grip and continued to walk.

“I don’t think so,” she said jokingly. “You’re in trouble.”

“So, I don’t get to kiss my girlfriend? For real?”

“For real,” she said. He just stood and looked at her. She had a grin on her face, but she was serious.

“Fine,” he said and they went to go get their things.

Though out the day Draco tried to catch her off guard and kiss her, when no one was looking of course, but she never let him. She was too quick and she would always turn her head or back away.



Just as Snape had promised, he gave out the second project. They were supposed to brew a potion that helps vampires to control their cravings.

“It should take about a month to brew and I will be collecting it on the 20th of December. I will be testing it and you will receive your grades at the beginning of the next semester. I am also expecting you to write a paper on your observations and turn it in with your potions,” Snape told them. He then wrote the ingredients on the board for them.

After class, Draco walked up to Snape. He beckoned Hermione to come with him.

“Professor?” he said.

“Yes, Mr. Malfoy?”

“I was wondering if Pansy and I could switch partners.”

“Who is Pansy’s partner? Oh, Miss Granger,” he said, realizing who her partner was.

“You see, I am just scared that she might pull something with Hermione if they have to work outside of class. This way we can work together, I can say that it has to do with my task and she will be safe.”

“I see. I guess but Draco you will have to explain to Ms. Parkinson and Miss Granger, you will have to talk to Mr. Potter.”

“We will,” they said together.

“Okay then.”

“Thank you, Professor,” they both said and walked to their next class.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

After classes had ended, Hermione met Draco and they walked together to go get Velius. When they reached the Transfiguration classroom, Velius was sitting on Professor McGonagall’s lap, coloring at the desk. He had a lollipop in his mouth and what looked like remnants of it all over his face. Draco stopped walking when he saw the pair.

“What did you do to him?” he asked. Hermione walked up to him. Velius jumped off of McGonagall’s lap and ran to Hermione. He wrapped his arms around her legs and then ran to Draco. He jumped into Draco’s arms. “How much candy did you give him?”

“Not too much,” she said. “Only about seventeen lollipops, he had a few chocolate frogs. We tried the Every Flavored Beans but he found a brussel sprout one and then didn’t try anymore.”

“Good thing,” Draco stated as Velius jumped out of his arms and ran back to McGonagall.

“Velius, do you want to go for our walk around the lake now?” Hermione asked.

“More like a run!” Draco said.

“Yeah!” Velius screamed and ran out of the room with Hermione at his heels.

“Thanks, Professor, now he’ll be up all night!” he shouted over his shoulder as he chased after him.

“You sound like a Father!” she called after him.

“I basically am one!”

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

They didn’t stop running until they had reached the lake. Velius took off his shoes and put his feet into it.

“Vel-i-us,” Draco tried to get out in between breaths. He bent over holding on to his side and Hermione did the same. She slowly got up and sat next to Velius and Draco soon followed and sat down on Velius’ other side,

“He is hyper,” Hermione said.

“Yeah, and it probably doesn’t help that he’s never been able to do any of this so he’s excited,” Draco replied.

“He’s never gotten to put his feet in a lake?” she asked surprised.

“Not really, I told you, my Father kept him locked up.”

“I hate Daddy!” said Velius. Draco and Hermione turned their heads to him, surprised.

“Me too, Velius.”

“Do you really want to teach him that hating is good, especially his elders?” Hermione asked Draco.

“Hey, he has reason to hate him. He had to watch him kill my mother.”

“Draco to him, it probably looked like she killed herself. He doesn’t understand the curse. He probably hates him for other reasons.”

“Can we talk about this later?”

“Sure.”

“Velius, do you want to race around the lake?”

“Yeah! I get a head start though,” he said before taking off.

“That’s fine with me,” he said to Hermione. “Maybe we can burn off some of that energy!”

“Hey, Draco?”

“Yeah?”

“What are we going to tell the others? Do you really want them to know why he’s here?”

“I don’t know. I guess I don’t really have a choice. I gotta go though or else he’ll think I let him win!”

“But you will let him win,” she said confused.

“He doesn’t know that!” he said before dashing after Velius. Hermione stayed where she was and watched the two. Draco quickly caught up to Velius. He then slowed down and let Velius pass. Hermione watched Draco grab onto Velius’ shirt and pretend to hold him back. Velius was laughing and acting like nothing had happened. He seemed so happy.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

After playing outside and wearing off some of that energy, the trio decided to eat dinner in the common room. Professor Dumbledore had some food sent up for them. They hadn’t seen the other four yet.

“I suppose that we can tell them tonight. We can’t hide him forever,” Draco said while Velius was finishing his dinner.

“I think that’s a good idea,” Hermione replied. Draco leaned into kiss her and Hermione rose from her seat and brought the empty dishes over to the fireplace.

“Oh, come on,” Draco complained.

“You’re still being punished,” she said. Just then the portrait hole opened and in walked their friends, laughing. They stopped when they spotted Velius.

“What is the little boy from McGonagall’s class doing here?” asked Terry.

“Why don’t we all sit down and I’ll explain,” Draco said. Hermione picked up Velius and sat down on a couch with him in her lap. The others also sat with Hannah and Terry in a similar position to Hermione and Velius. Draco stood in front of them.

“This is my little brother,” he let that sink in before going on. “His name is Velius and he is going to be living with us from now on. My Mother passed away yesterday and since my Father is an asshole-,”

“DRACO!” Hermione said.

“He is going to be staying with us. Velius and I have our own room and right now the school doesn’t know. We are waiting for Dumbledore, so please don’t say anything.”

“Okay,” Katie said. “Well that’s fine. We can deal with it.”

“You don’t really have a choice,” Hermione spat, a little annoyed at Katie’s tone.

“Well, Velius had a big day and I think that it’s time for him to go to bed,” Draco said.

Velius looked at him and yawned. Draco took him and brought him upstairs leaving the others.

Hermione turned on them.

“Listen, that child had to watch his mother kill herself, so you better be nice to him. He is so sweet and I don’t want any lip. Is that clear?” she said. They all shook their heads. “Good. Good night,” she said before going where Draco had gone up the stairs.

"Hermione, I didn't mean what I said. I feel so bad," Katie said as she and Hannah walked into the dorm. Hermione was sitting on her bed with the covers pulled up to her waist, reading.

"It's fine," Hermione replied coldly, over Hogwarts: A History.

"You know I didn't mean it the way it came out. I would never say something like that. I chose the wrong words."

"It's fine, Katie. I don't care," she said before closing her book, putting it on the bedside table and closing the curtains around her bed. Hannah and Katie looked at where she had been sitting before looking at each other. Katie had a worried expression on her face and silently pleaded with Hannah to say something, but Hannah just shrugged her shoulders and turned to go to bed. Katie sighed and then did the same.

After Hermione had made sure the girls were asleep, she climbed out of bed. She opened and closed the door quietly and tip-toed over to the portrait in front of Draco's room. She stopped and looked at it. For the first time, she noticed the picture. Going into the room last night, she had been too distracted to notice it. It was a picture of two very, old looking wizards, playing, what looked like, Exploding Snap. They both turned and smiled at her. She smiled back and whispered the password, and then entered.

At first, she saw the small child sleeping on his side, holding a green stuffed dragon. He looked so peaceful and yet his life was such a mess. She watched his tiny chest rise and fall. She thought of how much she loved him already. He was hard not to love. She was thinking about this when she was interrupted by a very, loud snore. She looked at Draco and wondered how Terry and Owen had dealt with that, but then realized that they probably snored as well.

She walked over and sat down on the bed. He was on his stomach, sprawled out all over the bed with his mouth open. She had planned on kissing him to wake him. She hadn't let him kiss her since the "argument" and she thought that it would be funny to kiss him while he was asleep. He would miss the kiss and then be upset when he woke up. She was about to kiss him when she saw that he was drooling, again, and decided against it, again. She closed his mouth and then pinched his nose shut. About five seconds later he jumped up and yelled.

"What!?!" he yelled looking around the room with his eyes closed. Hermione "shushed" him and looked over a Velius to make sure he was still asleep.

"Hi," she said casually.

"You woke me up to -," he said a little too loudly in a sleepily and annoyed voice, but was cut off.

"Shhhh."

"Sorry, you woke me up to say ‘hi'?" he asked, now in a whisper.

"No," she said in the same casual voice.

"Then what did yo-."

"I wanted to talk."

"You. Wanted. To. Talk?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"You."

"Me?"

"You."

"Why me?"

"Because."

"Because why? Wait, Hermione, this could go on forever."

"So?"

"So what?"

"Why does it matter?" she asked smiling.

"Because."

"Because why?"

"This is so annoying," said Draco.

"So?"

"So what? Wait HERMIONE!" he said now very agitated.

"Shhhh. Sorry," she said laughing out loud. "I wanted to talk about you and Velius."

"Why?"

"Because of what Katie said."

"Hermione, as much I love my little brother, he is something that we now do have to get used to."

"I just thought it was wrong of her to say that and in front of him. His life sucks right now and I didn't want that to make it worse."

"Hermione, I don't think that he really minded."

"What about you?"

"The comment did bother me a little, but it's the truth. Don't worry about it," he said leaning into kiss her. He glared at her when she pulled away. "Still?"

"Still."

"Can you at least lay with me?"

"I guess!" she said lying down next to him and climbing under the covers. They soon fell asleep in each others arms.

~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~& quot;~"

The next morning Dumbledore was making his way towards Draco's room to discuss the arrangements for Velius. He opened the door to find the two still asleep in each others arms.

"Mr. Malfoy! Ms. Granger!" he shouted. They both awoke with a start and bumped heads.

"Professor," Draco said, bewildered and rubbing his head

"It isn't what it looks like, Professor," Hermione said, very quickly and also rubbing her head.

"Then tell me what it is, Ms. Granger."

"I helped Draco put Velius to sleep last night and then he was upset so I stayed and talked with him and I guess that we must have fallen asleep," she made up quickly.

"Then tell me why both of you are in your pajamas?" said Dumbledore.

"He came and got me after I had already changed. Velius had been crying and he didn't know what to do, so he came and got me," she said thinking on the spot.

"Fine, but don't do it again," Dumbledore said after thinking about her explanation for a minute.

"Yes, sir," the two said in unison. Velius started to stir as they said this.

"I wanted to talk to you, Mr. Malfoy, about Velius. We have decided that the teachers will trade off days taking care of him. Professor Snape is going to take him today."

"Professor Snape? Do you really trust him with kids?" Hermione said.

"Professor Snape will be fine, he will not be mean if that is what you are worried about."

"Thank you, Professor," Draco said. Dumbledore turned and left the room. Draco turned to Hermione. "I am so glad that you are smart!"

"I know you are," she said as he leaned into kiss her. Draco had expected her to pull away, but she didn't. She thought that he had been punished long enough. They stood there kissing until Velius came over tugging on Draco's shirt asking if he could have Chocolate Frogs for breakfast.

~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~& quot;~"

Classes went very well and when the two got to Potions, Snape had a little cauldron out that Velius was playing with. Snape seemed to be very nice with him. Hermione guessed it was because it was Draco's little brother. Draco was Snape's favorite student.

"Professor? What is my little brother playing with?" he asked, as he looked into a cauldron of red, smoking liquid.

"It's just water that I put a spell on. It won't hurt him."

"Uncle Snape? I need some pider wegz, "Velius said looking up at Snape.

"Spider legs?"

"Yeah!" said Velius taking what looked like broken up twigs from Snape and throwing them into the pot.

"Wait, he did not just call you Uncle Snape?" Hermione said, walking towards them.

"Why does it matter to you, Granger?" Hermione turned around to see Blaise Zabini scowling at her.

"Blaise, leave her alone," Draco said absentmindedly.

"Excuse me? Are you standing up for her?" Draco stood still. He hadn't really realized what he was doing when he said that. He decided that they better just get it out now. Tell people that they were together. He was sure that Pansy had told all of the death eaters that it was part of his task, with the big mouth she had.

Hermione looked at him in horror. If people found out, they would have to go through hell. They couldn't tell everyone that it was part of his task or he would be killed. Harry and Ron still didn't know. They would have a fit. They were in the back of the room staring at Hermione and Draco, waiting to see what would happen.

"Yes, I am. You can't talk to my *girlfriend* like that," Draco said. Some people gasped and others just stared. Harry and Ron's mouths dropped to the floor.

"Alright, get to your seats," Snape said in his usual voice. "Is it okay if we stop the soap opera to start class. Potter, Weasley, close you mouths and sit down," Snape said.

~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~& quot;~"

After the lesson Draco walked over and took her hand. They walked out of the classroom like this with everyone watching. After away from everyone, Hermione turned to him.

"Draco, that was stupid! You should have not said anything."

"Hermione, it was bound to come out sometime. They'll get used to it."

"No, Draco, they won't. The Slytherins are going to now hate you, I probably just lost the two best friends that I have ever had and I will now be a target not only for deatheaters but all Slytherins."

"Hermione, I won't let them do anything to you."

"You're a target too. Draco it was just stupid!" She let go of his hand. "I have to go find Harry and Ron."

"Hermione, wait."

"I'll catch up with you later," she said over her shoulder. She ran to the Gryffindor common room. She climbed through the portrait hole and looked around the room. She saw them both sitting in front of the fire, staring at it.

"Harry, Ron," she said panting. They looked up at her, but didn't say anything. "I am so sorry."

"We were fine with the two of you being friends, I was even starting to not hate him so much, but I can't deal with you going out with him," Ron said. Harry just sat there.

"Please, you guys, don't you want me to be happy?"

"Can't you be happy with someone else? Or with your best friends? Why do you need him?"

"I love him," was what slipped out of her mouth. She froze. Was that how she really felt? Did she really love him?

"You what?" said Harry rising to his feet.

"I don't know."

"No, what did you say?"

"I said, I love him."

"Do you?" he said almost yelling.

"I don't know. It just slipped out."

"I'm out of here," said Ron, heading for the staircase.

"Ron," Hermione called almost in tears.

"Hermione, you should have told us. That wasn't the way that we wanted to find out."

"I was going to tell you. I didn't want you to find out that way either. I was waiting for the right time."

"Hermione, I think that you should leave."

"What?" she said, now crying.

"I, we, need some time to think about this."

"Harry?"

"He is my worst enemy, Hermione."

"You two were becoming friends. Don't say that."

"I need to think about this Hermione."

"You're willing to throw our friendship away because of who my boyfriend is. You should be happy because I am happy."

"You don't seem to happy to me," he said as she cried.

"That's because of you, not because of Draco. You and Ron are my best friends. I don't want to lose you, but I don't want to lose him, either."

"I have to think about this," he said once again, very sternly.

"You shouldn't have to. If you two were my best friends you wouldn't care!" she yelled before running out of the room.

~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~& quot;~"

Draco was in the common room pacing. He shouldn't have said anything. Hermione was right. Now she was mad at him. He didn't want Hermione to be upset because of Harry and Ron. He had to make things right.

~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~& quot;~"

Hermione was making her way toward Divination, when she ran into Neville.

"Hermione?"

"Hello, Neville," she said wiping away her tears.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes. Wait, why are you talking to me? You should be made at me too."

"Hermione, I don't care, well I do, but you're my friend. If you're happy, I'm happy."

"You should talk to Harry and Ron."

"Why?"

"They hate me," she said as they walked up the stairs to go to the next floor..

"Oh," Neville said. They walked in silence until Hermione skipped a trick step and Neville forgot to. "OUCH!"

"Neville, you always forget that one," she said laughing. Neville pulled himself out as Hermione gathered up some papers he had dropped. She glanced at them, not meaning to. "Neville, what are these? We didn't get Potions homework," she said glancing at a list of ingredients.

"Oh," he said, grabbing them out of her hands. "Snape gave me some because I did so bad today."

"Oh," she said. The bell rang. "We better hurry," she said as they ran off towards Divination.

~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~& quot;~"

Draco had one last class today and Hermione got off early, so she went to pick of Velius. She took him down to the kitchens to see the house elves. They were greeted with pleasure and Velius was given an ice cream cone. They two sat there while he ate it.

"Herminniny? Do you wuv my bruder?" He asked, his face covered in chocolate ice cream. She smiled down at him.

"I do, Velius."

"Are you gonna marry him?" he asked in a sing song voice.

"I don't know," she smiling again.

"I would like dat."

"Yeah?" she said.

"Yes," he said jumping up and giving her a hug. She hugged him very tightly.

"I think that Draco's out of class now. We can go find him and use him as a jungle gym if you want."

"YEAH!" he said, running out of the kitchen. Hermione thanked the elves and followed him.

~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~& quot;~"

Draco ran up to the Gryffindor common room and tried to remember what the password was that Hermione had said when she went to talk to them about being friends with him. He tried to remember but couldn't. So he just started to say random things. He was still standing there when Dean Thomas came by.

"Malfoy?"

"Yeah."

"What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to Potter and Weasley, but I don't know the password."

"Don't think that I'm going to give it to you. What do you want with them?"

"They're mad at Granger and I want to tell them to still be friends with her and if they are going to be mad at anyone it should be me."

"Slytherins aren't supposed to be in any other common rooms."

"Thomas, I am a prefect. NOW LET ME IN!"

"Fine, keep your pants on, especially with Hermione."

"Don't even start, Thomas," he said as Dean said the password and the portrait opened. When Draco got in there he looked around for the boys. He didn't see them. "Where are they?" he asked to Dean.

"Probably upstairs," he said and Draco made his way up to the boys dormitory. He didn't bother knocking on the door and just walked in. Ron was sitting on his bed and Harry was on his and they were talking about Hermione.

"What the hell is your problem?" he asked almost shouting.

"Malfoy?"

"Why must you be such assholes?"

"Hey, don't talk to us like that," said Ron.

"Do you want detention, Weasley?" He spat at him and Ron shut his mouth. "You two are Hermione's best friends and you shouldn't treat her like that!"

"How do you know what we treated her like? You weren't there," said Harry.

"I have known you for six years, Potter, I know you well enough to know how you treat your friends. You can't treat her the way you did. She loves both of you and would do anything for you and yet you are such idiots."

"It's none of you business of how we treat our friends," said Ron.

"It is when it involves *my girlfriend's* well being. Shut you mouth Weasley," he said as Ron opened his mouth to say something. "What ever feelings you have for me, you need to put them aside. Go make up with her. It is her choice to be with me and you need to support her in everything that she does. If she doesn't want to be with me, that is her choice."

"I was fine with you being friends but I can't handle to know that your are feeling up my best friend up-."

"Weasley, I respect her too much to ‘feel her up.' Don't lose your best friend because of me."

"You see, Draco, you are now a big part of her life and if we want to be friends with her, we have to be friends with you," said Harry.

"No you don't. We can be civil and I saved your life," he said pointing to Ron. "You owe me. You have to go make up with her."

"If I do so does he," Ron said pointing to Harry.

"Fine, but let me tell you, if you hurt her-," Harry started to say.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just go find her," Draco said. Then Harry and Ron ran out of the room.

~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~"~& quot;~"

After Draco's last class, Herbology, he ran to go find Hermione and Velius. He went to the Prefect common room first. Velius was sitting on Hermione's lap and she was reading him a story. They both looked up when Draco entered.

"Draco!" screamed Velius as he got off of Hermione's lap and ran towards his brother. He wrapped his arms around Draco's legs, making him stumble.

"Hi, Velius," Draco said.

"Herminniny said I could use you as a jwungle gin. Can I? Can I?"

"Did she now?" he said, playfully, glaring at her. She just smiled and shrugged her shoulders.

"No, Velius, I have a lot of homework and so does Hermione. We can play tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," he said letting go of Draco's legs and looking down at the ground. Draco knew that this would happen. His little brother would want to play with him and he wouldn't be able to. Now Velius would be upset. Just then Owen walked in.

"Hey, Owen, do you have any homework?" Hermione asked getting up from the couch and picking up Velius.

"Not a lot, why?" he said putting down his book bag.

"Do you want to play with Velius for us?"

"Sure," he said walking over to them.

"Velius, this is Owen, can you say ‘hi'?

"Hi," he said shyly before hiding his face in Hermione's shoulder.

"Hey dude, do you want to go outside and play with the giant squid?"

"What's a giant squid?"

"Let me tell you while we walk outside," Owen said taking Velius from Hermione. She smiled at them as the walked out of the portrait hole.

"Be careful with my brother!" Draco shouted after him.

"Draco, tonight you have your first lesson and I have to go do some research while you're there," Hermione said.

"What? Oh, yeah. Okay," he said kissing her softly on the lips.

"We also have to work on our Potions project."

"Oh, yeah," he said kissing her again. "I'm glad that you are letting me kiss you again!"

"So how much do you like me now?" she asked jokingly.

"I'm scared to joke with you, so I guess I have to answer truthfully. I like you more than my Father," he said.

"I would hope! That's it," she said pulling out of his grip. "That's another week of no kissing for you."

"I wasn't lying!"

"You hate your Father."

"I know and I said I liked you more than him."

"Meaning that you only like me a little more than him."

"Hermione, if I didn't like you do you think I would do this?" He said grabbing her arm and wrapping his around hers, so that there was no way for her to escape. He looked her in the eyes and then kissed her, deeply.

“Hermione,” Draco called quietly. She was sleeping on the couch in front of the fire. She had taken a nap while Velius was out playing with Owen. It was time to leave to go to their first lesson with Snape.

He knelt on the floor next to her and lightly brushed his lips across hers. She didn’t drool. “Hermione,” he said kissing her again. This time she woke up and slapped him.

“What was that for?” Draco asked shocked and annoyed.

“I said no kisses!” she said glaring at him.

“It was just a peck!”

“I. Don’t. Care. Is it time to go?” she said, looking around the room for a clock. “Ah, yes. Let’s go,” she said. She got up off the couch and gestured for Draco to get up off the floor but he didn’t move. He just knelt there, glaring at her. “ Fine, I’ll go without you,” she said walking towards the door.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

The pair were making their way down the hall on the fifth floor.

“What statue was it? They all look the same,” said Draco looking at all of the heads of previous headmasters.

“It was this one,” Hermione said pointing to on of them. “Patefacio,” she said, as the wall moved aside to let her and Draco through. Snape was already there sitting in a chair next to the fire.

“You’re late,” he growled.

“We are not. We’re on right on time,” said Draco looking at his watch.

“Seven ‘o’clock, Mr. Malfoy. Not Seven thirty. I would have expected Ms. Granger to remember, but for once she has slipped up!”

“You are supposed to be helping us, not insulting us,” Hermione spat.

“How can I help you if you are not here on time?” Snape asked.



“We miss understood. Can we just get on with this,” Draco said as Hermione opened her mouth to retaliate. Snape glared at her. Draco looked from him to her and thought that this was going to be a long lesson. Snape wasn’t usually like this to them.

“You start looking in those books for something on Esprit Luttez,” he said to Hermione. “You, put away your wand,” he said to Draco. Draco, who was reaching into his pocket looked confused.

“Sir?”

“You heard me. Put it away.”

Hermione looked at Snape, quizzically.

“Get to work,” he growled to her. She returned to searching for a book. “First you will need to learn how to pronounce the incantation right,” he said to Draco.

“Sir, I already-.”

“We will work on that and then your wand motion. Next week we will start with the mind part of this. You need sincere concentration,” he said.

So on they went. Hermione searched and didn’t find much. Draco said the incantation over and over until Snape was satisfied. By the time they started on wand motion it was already nine and Snape let them leave.

Upon arriving at the common room, they found Velius asleep on the couch with his head in Katie’s lap. Draco picked him up and brought him to bed.

Hermione went up to bed as well. On the way into her room, Draco caught her. He had just walked out of his room.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked wrapping his arms around her waist.

“To bed.”

“Without saying good night?” he asked leaning in to kiss her.

“Good night,” she said before turning around and walking straight into her room, leaving Draco dumbstruck.

“What?”

“You heard me. Go to bed,” she called through the door. Draco stood staring at her door before angrily stomping off to his room.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

Hermione hadn’t been lying when she said no kissing for a week. She really wasn’t letting him kiss her, again. You would have thought that Draco would have learned from the first time, but he didn’t and he was now getting upset. In Potions, the next day he walked over to her.

“That is it. I want a kiss and now, or... or... or I’ll break up with you!” he said.

“Okay,” Hermione said casually and continued adding ingredients to her potion. She knew that Draco wasn’t serious. He glared at her and walked back to his table.

“Potter, your friend over there is stubborn!” he said to Harry when he arrived back to help with their potion.

“I know, that’s what I like about her when it comes to you! She can protect herself.”

“Shut up, she doesn’t need to protect herself. I would never hurt her.”

“I never said you would hurt her, just..... take away her innocence.”

“HARRY!” Hermione shouted from across the room.

“YOU TELL HIM, HARRY!” Ron shouted from the other side. Harry smirked over at him.

“SHUT UP! Why is there yelling in my classroom? Potter, Weasley, and Granger, one more time and it will be a detention!” Snape said with a smirk on his face. He was enjoying this all too much.

After class, Draco grabbed Hermione around the waist and they made their way down the hall. They were going to lunch.

“Oh, Hermione, don’t forget that we have a Prefect meeting today,” Draco reminded her.

“Oh, yeah,” she said as they walked through the great oak doors. “Are you sure that you want to sit over there? I’m sure that everyone would be fine if you came and sat with us.”

“No, they wouldn’t and I’ll be fine. I’m strong, I can handle myself.”

“Then what are Crabbe and Goyle for?” she said smirking at him. He pondered this, but he couldn’t think of anything to say.

“Shut up!” he said jokingly.



“I’ll see you after school,” she said walking away.

Draco went to sit down at the table between Crabbe and Goyle. Between school, Prefect duty and everything else he never saw them anymore, which he was thankful for. He thought that he might go and sit with them so that they wouldn’t get suspicious.

“Hey, guys,” he said sitting down.

“Hey, Draco,” they both mumbled through mouthfuls of food.

“How’s the task coming?” asked Crabbe.

“Shut up, you idiots! Your not supposed to say anything. Why the Dark Lord wanted you I will never know. You two are going to be the ones that screw it up for him,” Draco said acting like he belonged. Upon saying this he realized that having them as Death Eaters was a good thing for the Order. They were bound to do something stupid that would help It.

“How’s Granger? Did you get any?” Goyle asked hopefully.

“Watch what you say abo–....Yeah, she really puts out,” he added, quickly thinking that he wasn’t supposed to really like her.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

“Hermione!” Ginny shouted as she approached. Hermione sat between Ron and Ginny with Harry sitting across from her. “Long time, no see!” said Ginny.

“Hi, Ginny,” Hermione said. “How are you?”

“Good. What were you doing with Malfoy?”

“Oh, didn’t you hear? They’re going out!” Ron spat.

“I thought you were okay with it,” Hermione said. They had come to talk to Hermione after Draco had yelled at them.

“I apologized. I never said that I was okay with it.”

“Why would you apologize if you weren’t okay with it?”

“I don’t have to agree with it!”

“Fine!”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

“Fine.”

“Stop with the ‘fine’s,’ okay?” Ginny said. “Hermione, when did this happen?”

“Around Halloween.”

“You’ve been going out with him since Halloween?” Ron said, giving her a disgusted look. Harry stayed quiet and was apparently very interested in his chicken.

“That’s not that long, Ron,” she said. Ron opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off. “You know what, Ron? I have had enough. If you weren’t okay with it then don’t act like you are. I am sick of fighting. Be my best friend and be happy for me or don’t talk to me at all!” Ron looked at her with a scared expression on his face. He quickly turned to his lunch and didn’t say anything else.

“What do you see in him?” said Ginny looking over her shoulder at him.

“Not you too,” Hermione said under her breath.

“I’m not going to yell at you and I am happy that you’re happy but...... why him?”

“Because he’s sweet and nice and funny and intelligent and caring and–,”

“Are we talking about the same Malfoy, Hermione? The one who always called you a Mudblood and made your teeth so big that you were in the hospital for a day?”

“He’s changed,” she said and Ron gave a cough. “Shut up, you!”

“I have to admit he is a little more bearable than he used to be,” interrupted Harry. Ginny, Ron and Hermione looked at him in shock. “Don’t look at me like that.”

“What did you say? Your worst enemy? Bearable?” Ron asked.

“Yes. Ron, deal with it. He’s right and so is Hermione. If she is happy than we should be happy for her and he isn’t as bad as he used to be.”

“How would you know?”

“I *am* his partner in Potions, Ron.”

“Oh and so now you’re best friends?”



“I didn’t say that, Ron. Don’t be thick headed. I still don’t like him but he is bearable.”

“Ron, you can really be an ass sometimes. I thought that you were mean to me because I was your sister, but you really are an ass!” said Ginny. “I’ll see you later Hermione. Good luck with him!” she added gesturing towards Ron. She rose from her seat and left.

“You can’t talk to me like that!” Ron shouted after her.

“Ron, she’s right. Get. A. Grip!” Hermione said.

“I can’t win with you people.”

“Ron, please, I beg you, be happy for me!?!”

“Whatever.”

“Thanks, I have to go to a Prefects meeting but I’ll talk to you later,” she said rising from her seat.

~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”~”

“Okay, Christmas is approaching and we have yet another dance to plan. So does anyone have any ideas?” Katie asked.

“I have been thinking and I think that instead of having a dance floor, we should have an ice rink,” suggested Hermione.

“Good one,” added Hannah.

“What’s an ice rink?” Owen asked.

“I thought that, that question would come out of Draco’s mouth not yours, Owen,” said Hermione.

“Hey,” Draco and Owen said at the same time.

“An ice rink is a,......a,......a rink of ice,” said Hannah.

“That helps,” said Owen.

“It’s ice that you skate on. You wear skates and you glide around on it. It’s fun and it’s a big thing in the Muggle world. They have ice skating championships,” said Hermione.

“Well, that’s a good idea, Hermione. We can have it in the Great Hall,” said Katie.



“We can have snowflakes falling from the sky,” said Hannah excitedly.

“I think that people should wear muggle clothes. I think that it will be easiest to skate in.”

“That sounds good,” said Hermione.

“Okay, Terry and Hannah can be in charge of the decorations again and –,” Katie was interrupted.

“That is a bad idea. I caught them in a broom closet when they were supposed to be in Potions. They will never get any work done together. Split them up,” said Draco. The two glared at him. “What? It’s true!”

“Fine, Hermione and Hannah can work on the decorations. Draco and Terry can talk to Dumbledore about the ice rink and get that started and you can also publicize. Owen and I can work on organizing dinner and things like that,” said Katie.

“Sounds good,” said Hermione.

“Great,” said Terry and Hannah sarcastically, in an irritated tone.

“This meeting is over then,” said Katie.

“Hey anybody seen, Velius? I didn’t see him after dinner. Who was supposed to be watching him?” asked Draco.

“I saw him with Flitwick today. Maybe you should go check with him,” suggested Terry. Hermione and Draco both rose from their seats and ran towards the Charms classroom.

When they arrived Flitwick had Velius floating in the air above a bunch of cushions and Velius was laughing hysterically. Flitwick was chuckling.

“Professor, if you wouldn’t mind putting my brother down,” said Draco. Hermione looked horrified as she stared at the boy in the air.

“Mr. Malfoy, how nice of you to show up! In the future I expect you to be a little more responsible. I was glad to watch him but he is your brother and I had expected you to pick him up after classes,” said Flitwick, bringing the boy down safely. He ran to Hermione who picked him up and hugged him.

“Thank you, sir,” said Draco.

“You’re welcome,” he said. “Now, get him to bed.”

“Yes, sir.”

Hermione and Draco walked back to the common room and put Velius to sleep together. When he was asleep Hermione got up to leave.

“Wait,” Draco called after her.

“Yes?” she said, but when she turned around to face him, he wrapped his hands around her waist and kissed her. Hermione didn’t leave for another five minutes.

Hermione was waiting in Dumbledore’s office for him. She needed to talk to him. It wasn’t that important but she was sure that she couldn’t keep it hidden any longer.

She heard the door behind her open and close with a click of the lock.

“Ms. Granger, how may I help you?”

“Um... I was just...... Well, you see I was wondering if I could tell Harry and Ron?” she asked nervously. She wanted to tell them but wasn’t sure if she would be able to.

“About Draco being a death eater and his task?”

“Yes and about me joining the Order as well.”

Dumbledore thought about this for a minute. He put his fingers together and rested his chin on them with his eyes closed. He was thinking. After a few minutes he spoke.

“You may, but there a certain circumstances. I think that you should tell them with Draco and I would like you to either do it in my office, Professor Snape’s or Professor McGonagall’s office. I don’t want you to be over heard. There are death eaters in all of the four houses here at Hogwarts.”

“Yes, sir,” she said, staring at him. He realized that she was concentrated very hard on his words. She was still looking at him as if waiting for him to say something else.

“You may go, or was there anything else?”

“Oh, no,” she said breaking her concentration. “Thank you, Professor,” she rose from her chair and went to go to her next class she had come in on a break.

””””””””””””

Hermione’s day had been going great. Draco was frustrated that she wouldn’t kiss him again (She had let him have his treat), Ron was talking to her, Draco was frustrated that she wouldn’t kiss him, she got to see Velius during Arithmacy, Draco was frustrated that she wouldn’t kiss him, she was going to get to tell the truth to Ron and Harry, and Draco was upset that she wouldn’t kiss him. She loved torturing him.

She was making her way towards History of Magic when she overheard two people talking in an empty classroom.

“Tonight in here again,” she overheard Professor Windmere say in a whisper.

“Fine,” she heard Neville replied slightly angry. She was kind of shocked to hear Neville and in the tone that he was talking to a teacher. She stopped and put her ear to the half closed door.

“Now, what does attitude get you?” Windmere asked in a sweet voice. Neville glared at him.

“It gets me put under the–,” Neville started to say in a routine voice.

“Don’t say it! What if someone can hear us?” spat their Professor.

“I’ll see you tonight,” Neville said grabbing his bag. Hermione heard him make his way towards that door and she started to walk again. She didn’t want him to see that she had been listening.

””””””””””””

After classes, Hermione and Draco went to pick up Velius. After picking him up they again went to the kitchens to get ice cream.

“I think, tonight, I’m going to spend some time with Harry and Ron,” Hermione said as Velius decided that he didn’t need a spoon and dug his hands into the bowl of ice cream.

“Okay,” Draco said watching his brother with a smirk on his face. “Why?”

“I just haven’t spent much time with them lately,” she lied. She hadn’t spent much time with them, but she was really going to see what Neville was up to, while hanging out with them.

“Okay, but we also need to get started on our Potions project,” he said. She started to go on about how she had completely forgotten, when an idea hit him. He turned to her with big puppy eyes.

“I’ll miss you, Hermione,” he said, leaning in for a kiss.

“Aw, I’ll miss you too,” she said patting him on the head before getting up. “Velius, we have to clean you up,” she said. He had now covered himself in ice cream. Hermione wondered if he had even gotten any in his mouth.

””””””””””””

Hermione didn’t know what time Neville was going to be meeting Professor Windmere, but she assumed that it would be after dinner. So she ate dinner with Harry, Ron, Neville, Ginny and Dean. Afterwards she followed the five to the Gryffindor common room, while keeping an eye on Neville.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Neville sat down at a table and they started to do their homework and Ginny and Dean went to snuggle on the couch.

It felt weird for Hermione. She hadn’t been here in so long and it just felt strange to be sitting there doing her homework like nothing had changed, when it most definitely had. She was going out with Draco and last year she would have killed herself before she did that. She was a prefect and away from Ron and Harry and that made her want to cry sometimes. She had felt like their friendship had changed and she didn’t want it to.

Hermione was thinking about all of this when she noticed that Neville kept glancing at the clock.

“Neville, are you waiting for something?” she asked.

“What?” he said looking at her and not really hearing what she had said.

“Are you waiting for something?”

“No, why?” he asked in a slightly panicked voice.

“You just keep glancing at the clock.”

“Oh, no,” he said and got back to his homework.

“Hey, Hermione, why did you and I switch partners for the Potions project?” Harry asked, looking up from his Charms homework.

“Oh, umm, I’ll have to talk to you and Ron about it later,” she said. She was watching Neville.

“I have to go....umm....to the library,” Neville said.

“What? Weren’t you just there this afternoon?” Ron asked.

“Yeah, but I forgot.....uh.... my.....Potion’s essay in there,” he said packing up his things.

“We don’t have a Potions essay, Neville.”

“Oh, it was my Herbology homework. I needed a book to do it and I think I must have left it in there. I’ll see you guys later,” he said walking out of the common room.

“Neville gets top grades in Herbology without even trying! Why would he need a book to do his homework?” Ron asked Harry and Hermione, who both weren’t paying attention. Harry was concentrating working on his homework and Hermione was thinking about Neville.

“Hey, you guys, can we go somewhere and talk?” she asked them still looking at the portrait hole.

“Yeah, but what about?” Harry asked looking up.

“I’ll tell you when we get there. We need to go get Draco though,” she said finally turning to face them.

“Do we really?” asked Ron with a disgusted look on his face.

“Yes,” Hermione said getting up and running to the portrait hole. “Come on, we have to hurry.”

“Hermione, what’s up?” Harry asked.

Even though Hermione was intended on telling them about Draco’s task and everything her mind was more on Neville. Which classroom is closer to Windmere’s? She asked herself. She thought about it and realized that McGonagall’s was closer.

They ran all the way to the Prefect common room. Hermione told the boys to stay and she went and got Draco. After she quickly explained to Draco, in a whisper, that they were going to go talk to Harry and Ron about the situation, they got up and left. She hadn’t told any of them about Neville because she didn’t want to make a big deal out of nothing. If it was nothing.

The four of them walked down the halls towards McGonagall’s office. They walked passed that door of Professor Windmere’s classroom and Hermione listened very intently. She didn’t hear anything.

Hermione opened that door to Professor McGonagall’s office and peeked in. Their Professor was sitting at her desk, apparently grading essays.

“Professor?” Hermione asked and Professor McGonagall looked up.

“Ms. Granger, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, what can I do for the four of you?” she asked as she glanced around and saw who had come in.

“We,” she said gesturing to her and Draco, “need to talk to Harry and Ron. I assume that you know what the topic is that we need to talk to them about?” she added seeing the look on her face. A look of Oh, yes, yes, I understand.

“I shall leave you and put a silencing charm on the room as a I leave. Would you like me to lock the door also?” she asked glancing from Hermione to Draco.

“Yes, thank you, Professor,” Hermione said. McGonagall did as she said she would and the four were left in the room. Hermione had come down here to keep an eye on Neville but now she had to concentrate on what she had to tell Harry and Ron.

“Hermione, what is all of this about?” Harry asked looking very confused.

“Well, before we get into this, I have to ask you to remain seated and remain calm.”

“We’re not seated –.”

“So sit down, Weasley,” Draco said. Ron glared at him but sat down.

“And now that you have asked us to remain calm, I don’t think that I will be able too.”

“What is going on?” Harry asked again as he sat down.

“Okay,” she said but paused. What was she going to do? How would she explain this without making them explode?

“We switched partners because Draco needs to protect me. Draco is in the Order and he is a spy like Snape,” was all she managed to get out.

“What?” Harry and Ron asked together, tilting their heads in confusion.

“It amazing how alike you two are,” She said suppressing a nervous giggle.

“What?” they asked again. This time Draco spoke.

“I have become a member of the Order of the Phoenix. I am a spy for them. I was initiated as a death eater about two months ago. As a new member of Voldemort’s allegiance I am required to preform a task to show my loyalty,” he waited to let this sink in.

“Wait,” Ron said after a minute. “You are a death eater?”

“Yes, but –.”

“Ha, I knew it! Hermione come on, we’re leaving!” he said rising from his chair. Harry stayed seated and Hermione stood where she was, next to Draco.

“Ron, you are not getting this. He may be a death eater but his allegiance is with Dumbledore. He is a spy for the Order,” Hermione said. “Please sit down,” she said. Harry grabbed Ron’s arm and pulled him back down into the chair and he just stared wide eyed at Hermione. “He is required to do a task to show his loyalty. His task was to–,” she stopped. She felt like saying it aloud would make it final. Up until now it felt like it had all been a bad dream that she was going to wake up from. Yeah, she had thought about it and it’s consequences but she didn’t really understand them until now. Telling Harry and Ron had made her realize. She started to have second thoughts.

“Hermione, are you okay?” Draco asked, grabbing her hand. She had paled a little and was staring off into space.

“Yeah, what was I saying? Oh, yeah, and umm..... his task is to put a mind controlling charm on me and try to get me to join Voldemort’s side. He says that he wants my intelligence on his side and the only way that he can do that is to put a mind changing charm on me, like we have been discussing in class. The easiest way to do this was through Draco since him and I are close.”

“Hermione, what the hell!” Harry said, standing up. Ron sat in his chair this time and just stared.

“Harry, we have a plan. Everything is going to work out. I just hated keeping the secret from you!” She said, Everything is going to work out more trying to convince herself than the two of them.

“This is your fault!” Harry shouted at Draco. Draco took a step back, scared that Harry might pounce.

“No, Harry it’s not! Even if we weren’t together he would have gotten the task. They need me to be close to you. They are hoping that they can have me and then use me to get to you,” Hermione said.

“So you’re saying it’s my fault?”

“No, it just so happened that I was smart and friends with you! I am not blaming you. Harry I am going to join the Order too. I will be initiated into the group of death eaters. I am not really going to be put under the curse. I am going to act like I am under the curse. I will be able to get inside information, even more than Draco because I am directly related to you, so I will get detailed plans. This is a good thing,” she said this once again trying to convince herself again. No one moved. Harry stared at Hermione, Ron looked out the window at the dark sky. Draco looked at Hermione and squeezed her hand and Hermione glanced back and forth between all three.

“Look, let’s just all go to bed and talk about this more when we’ve calmed down,” she suggested.

“You expect me to sleep after this?” Ron spat finally looking at her.

“Ditto!” Harry said.

“You think that I can sleep every night knowing what I have to do! Do you think that I can sleep every night knowing that I might have to go through this alone! Harry I can’t! I don’t want to do it! I have to! To save my life and yours!” Hermione was starting to get angry. Everything was always about them.

“Hermione, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“You never care enough to ask! Harry, you’re not the only one with problems! You’re not the only one He’s after!”

“I think that we should all go to bed. We can talk more tomorrow,” Draco said.

“Oh, and we have Mr. Rational over here,” Hermione said letting go of his hand and crossing her arms.

“I think we’ll leave,” Harry said, grabbing Ron’s arm and exiting the room. Draco turned to Hermione and started to say something but she interrupted him.

“Can you just leave me alone for a little while?” she said in a soft voice.

“Sure, I’ll meet you at the common room,” he said and left.

This SUCKED! Telling them really made her realize what she got herself into and quite frankly, she was scared shitless! Everything seemed like it had been turned upside down. She just needed to walk. She left the room and started down the hall. She remembered about Neville as she came across Windmere’s classroom. She thought that she heard shouting and as she got closer, she was sure that it was shouting.

She knelt next to the door to listen.

“I don’t want to do it! They are my friends! You can’t make me!” she heard Neville shout.

She heard Windmere mutter what sounded like an incantation and Neville went quiet. She listened hard to hear what he was muttering but couldn’t understand what he was saying. He stopped.

“Never talk back to you Father!” she heard Windmere say.

As soon as Hermione was out of seeing distance she slowed to a walk. What was that about? Hermione thought that Neville's parents were in St. Mungo's. How could his father be here? She pondered this as she walked back to the common room. She tried to think of anything to explain it. Maybe Windmere was his god-father or maybe his Dad had gotten better, but these reasons seemed kind of far fetched. He lived with his Grandmother so she would be the sole guardian and it was highly unlikely that his dad had gotten better. And what about their names: Longbottom and Windmere? They didn't fit. There was something strange was going on and Hermione was now regretting that she had left and not been able to listen for longer.

She walked into the common room and sat down on the couch on the left of the fire. She stared into space still trying to decipher what she had heard.

"Hermione? Are you okay?" Hannah asked as she looked up from her homework. After Hannah had said this Draco looked up from his game of chess with Owen. He hadn't seen or heard her come in. When Hermione didn't reply he went over and sat next to her.

"Hermione?" he said as she still looked off into space.

"What?" she replied almost annoyed.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking," she said. She couldn't tell him. She would have to watch Neville some more. Ask Harry and Ron about his behaviors.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Hermione spent half the night up, still thinking about what she had heard. She was very glad that the next day was Saturday because by the time she fell asleep, it was three in the morning and rain started to pound against her window at four and kept her up for the rest of the night.

Draco on the other hand slept like a baby. Velius had climbed into his bed when it started to thunder and Draco sleepily wrapped his arms around so that he wouldn't be scared.

A thunderstorm in November was not uncommon but very rarely happened. This was the third thought that entered his mind that morning. His first thought was of Hermione, the second of the sleeping boy in his arms and the third of the storm. He had been hoping that the trio could spend to day outside in the leaves but it was too muggy after the downpour. He figured now they could sit by the fire, drink hot cocoa and tell stories or something like that. He couldn't wait for the next Hogsmeade weekend so that he could take her on a date alone. He could get one of the others to watch Velius.

Hermione had other plans for the day though. She was thankful that it had rained and that it wasn't too great of a day outside. This way everyone would stay inside and she could interrogate Neville and the boys, without them knowing why, of course. She didn't want this to be released just yet incase it was nothing.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;

Draco and Velius had been down in the common room for two hours before Hermione's sleepy body came down the stairs.

"What's wrong with you?" Terry asked as though she were disgusting.

"Terry, NOT A GOOD TIME!" she spat at him. For some odd reason she was really cranky today and she couldn't explain it. She knew part of it was because of the little sleep she got, but something else was bothering her subconsciously.

"Hermione, I was thinking that the three of us could–," Draco started to tell her what he had planned but she cut him off.

"I can't do anything today, Draco. I have to go talk to Harry and Ron."

"Oh,..... okay."

"I have to go change," she said, walking back up the stairs to her bedroom.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Hermione walked through the portrait of the Fat Lady and found Harry, Ron, Neville and Dean sitting in front of the fire. She walked over to them and sat down.

"Good morning," Ron said.

"Whatever," Hermione mumbled back to him.

"What's you're problem?" Ron asked as everyone looked at her.

"I don't know, okay?"

"Okay," all four of the boys said together looking away from her.

"So, Neville, how did your biology homework come along?" Hermione asked.

"What? Oh, yeah. Fine, thanks for asking, Hermione," he said.

"Did I see you come out of Professor Windmere's office last night?" she asked. I was walking back from talking with Draco and I thought that I saw you leave. Are you having trouble? I could help you if you want," she said trying to get at least something out of him.

"Neville, why do you need help with Defense Against the Dark Arts? You did fine last year," Harry said, referring to the end of their fifth year.

"I, uh, did need help and I didn't do that great of a job against the Dark Lord last year," he said. Hermione froze as he said it. What had he just said? "The Dark Lord?" Had he just called Voldemort, "the Dark Lord?" She made a mental note of this. Harry, Ron and Dean hadn't seemed to notice.

Neville looked down at the table. After a few minutes of Hermione watching and him looking at the table, he got up.

"I'm going to go talk to Seamus," he said before leaving the table.

"Bye, Neville," Harry muttered.

"See ya," Ron said.

"Bye," Dean yelled after him. Hermione watched him walk past Seamus, who was flirting with Lavender, and out of the portrait hole. She made to get up and follow him when Harry spoke to her.

"Hermione, how far are you on your potions project?"

"What?" she said glancing at Neville's back longingly and then to Harry's face.

"The potions project."

"What about it?" she glanced at the portrait and it had closed.

"How far are you? It's due in like three weeks."

"Three weeks?" she asked exasperated. " How long does it take to make the potion?"

"It depends. It could take two weeks to a month."

"WHAT? I gotta go!" She said running from the room and forgetting about Neville.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

"DRACO!" she screamed as she ran into the common room.

"What? Are you okay? What's wrong?" he said as he came running down the stairs.

"Our Potions project! We haven't started yet!"

"That's it? That's what you are screaming about?"

"YES!"

"Hermione, I started it like two day's ago. You were with Harry and Ron and I didn't have anything to do, so I started it," he barely finished saying this when Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him so hard on the lips that he pulled away in pain.

"I love you!" she said.

"I know," he said with a smirk on his face. She hit him on the shoulder before kissing him again.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Velius had fallen asleep shortly after dinner and Hermione and Draco decided that they would go work on the paper part of their project while he was asleep. The others were in the common room and would watch him.

They made their way down to library holding hands. Hermione had finally decided that he had, had enough torture and was letting him kiss her. To be quite honest, she was getting a little sick of it too. She wanted to kiss her boyfriend. So all down the halls, every few feet, he would stop her and kiss her softly on the lips. They would smile at each other and move on and on and on it went until they reached the library.

They started their research on vampire potions. They found a lot of books and got a lot done. It was about nine when Velius came running into the library with Terry running after him out of breath.

"You left me!" He shouted to Draco as he ran towards him. "You left me!"

"What, Velius? I didn't leave you. I'm right here," Draco said rising from his chair to meet him. He knelt down and Velius ran into his arms.

"You knew I gets bad dweams and you left me," he said tears running down his cheeks.

"I didn't mean to Velius. I'm sorry," Draco said as he tightened his grip around his little brother. Hermione rose from her chair and went to talk to the panting Terry.

"Terry, what happened?" she asked softly while she watched the boys.

"He came down stairs.... and was screaming..... he said that he was scared and couldn't find Draco.... we told him that he was here.... and he sprinted out of.... the common room," he said through gasps. Hermione turned her attention back to the boys. Why was he having bad dreams and what were they about?

"Hermione, I'm going to take him back to bed," Draco said, picking up his brother in his arms.

"Okay, I'll pack up and meet you up there," she said and Draco and Velius left the library.

"Do you need any help?" Terry asked gaining back some breath.

"Sure, thanks."

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Draco carried Velius back to their bedroom and laid him down in his bed.

"Prawmise you won't leave me?" he asked looking up at Draco with tears forming in his eyes.

"I promise, Velius," Draco replied. Velius rolled over and Draco went to go get ready for bed. Within a few minutes Velius was fast asleep. Draco knew about the dreams. It was basically the same one over and over again. Velius would dream that their father was coming to kill Draco and to take Velius. Draco didn't know what to do or how to stop them. He wanted to because he hated seeing his little brother like this, but yet he could never stop thinking about the dreams and if they might come true.

He tried to keep the dreams off his mind. They involved Lucius and every time he thought of him he thought about his mother. When he thought about his mother his stomach turned into a knot and his heart burned with rage. He would get angry and then upset. Once she was on his mind he couldn't get her off. He sat down on the floor with his back against the bed frame. He had his knees to his chest and his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. He didn't want to think about. He didn't want to mourn. He had to be strong for Velius, but despite all this, he started to cry.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Hermione and Terry returned to the common room and when she didn't see Draco she went to check in his bedroom. She knocked lightly on the door in case Velius was asleep. When she didn't get an answer, she slowly opened the door.

"Draco?" She asked when she saw him. "Draco, are you okay?" He looked up at her and she saw that he was crying. She went and sat down next to him. She wrapped her arms around him and let him cry into her shoulder.

"I just don't know what to do," he sobbed.

"Draco, there's nothing that you can do," she said tears forming in her eyes. She didn't want to see him upset.

"I have to be strong for Velius and I don't know how much longer I can do it."

"Draco, Velius wasn't the only one who lost a loved one. You two lost one together and you two will help each other get through this. No one said that it would be easy. It's not. It's going to be very hard. A seventeen year old was not meant to raise a six year old, but I am here to help you get through this and so is Velius. We aren't going to leave you," she said lifting up his head.

"You won't?"

"Draco, I love you. Why would I leave you?"

"You love me?"

"Of course I do. It's hard not to," she said, a smile stretching across her face.

"I love you too, Hermione," he said leaning in for a kiss. There lips met and it was like a new sensation, unlike any kiss they had ever had. Hermione slept in his room that night with his arms wrapped around her. He needed her and she wasn't about to leave him.

Draco woke with Hermione in his arms and Velius was asleep in Hermione’s arms. It was still pretty dark outside. The sun was just starting to creep above the trees of the Forbidden Forest when Draco opened his eyes. He knew that it was early and tried to go back to sleep, but couldn’t. So he got out of bed and made sure not to wake Hermione as he yanked his arm our from under her.

He walked over to the wardrobe and pulled on a clean shirt. He was just about to put his robes on when he heard a pecking at the window. He turned to see a small grey owl hovering by the window. He walked over to the window and opened it. He wasn’t expecting a letter and wondered if Hermione was.

The owl flew in and landed on his bedside table. He untied the letter and the owl flew out the window. Draco looked at the letter. There was nothing on it and it didn’t say who it was addressed to, so he opened it.

Mr. Draco Malfoy,

I want you to bring the girl in three weeks. Ms. Parkinson has been telling us how close you two are. I assume that the spell is in full swing then. Three weeks!

Draco read and reread the letter. Three weeks? He couldn’t possible have her there in three weeks. They had waited too long to get started and now they were screwed. He had to go talk to Snape. He was walking out of the door when he heard more tapping at the window. He walked over and let the owl in and this time he recognized the owl.

Draco,

I will be picking you and the girl up in Hogsmeade, in the same place as the last time, and I will take you to the meeting. It is in a different location. On the 25th of November and sundown. Don’t be late!

Sincerely,

Lucius Malfoy

What? Did his father even know that he had Velius? Shouldn’t he be upset with him? He

had to go and talk to Snape.

-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“

Snape was in his quarters. He was in his own private kitchen making a pot of tea and fixing himself breakfast, fruit salad! He brought his cup of tea and his fruit salad over to the couch in front of the fire and put his bunny slippered feet up on the coffee table. With a swish of his wand classical music filled the room. This was the life!

He was just about to unroll his news paper when Draco came running in. He had been taking and sip of and spilt it all down the front of his plaid pajamas.

“PROFESSOR!” Draco yelled as he ran in and looked around. Snape jumped up and looked at him.

“What.....who.....how......how did you get in here?” Snape finally spat out.

“Professor! I have a problem?”

“How did you get in here?” Snape said looking out the open door that Draco had come through.

“He wants Hermione in three weeks,” Draco said looking at Snape’s back. Snape slowly turned, no longer entranced by how Draco had gotten into his hidden, private, HIDDEN quarters.

“What?” Snape said looking at him.

“That’s what I said! What? He wants her there in three weeks completely under the charm!”

“That’s not possible!” Snape said putting a finger to his chin and looking out the window.

“He obviously thinks that it is!” Draco said staring at him.

“What would make him think that the spell is now almost complete?”

“What makes you think that I know?” Draco said staring at him.

“Let me see that letter,” Snape said holding out his hand.

“Which one?” Draco said showing him two letters.

“Two?”

“Yeah, ones from my Dad saying that he’s going to pick us up in Hogsmeade. I thought that he knew that I had Velius and hated it. I thought that he wanted to kill me!”

“He does know that you have Velius. Why would he be picking you up?”

“I’m asking you!”

“I have to go talk to Dumbledore,” Snape said, as he walked into his bedroom to change.

“And what do I do?” Draco said looking at the door.

“Go get ready for school!”

“FINE!” Draco said leaving. Snape had answered none of his questions. He had only brought up more. If his Dad knew then why would he want to pick him up? Why would he even want to see him?

-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“

Hermione woke up as the sun was just peeking through the curtains of Draco’s bed. Velius was still asleep in her arms. She turned to see if Draco was still asleep to find that he wasn’t there. She was getting out of bed to go look for him when he walked into the room. He didn’t even notice that she was awake and started to pace back and forth with his finger to his lip and staring at the ground.

Hermione stood and watched him for a minute before tried to interrupt his train of thought.

“Draco?” she asked quietly, not to wake Velius or startle Draco, but it didn’t woke.

“What?” he screamed, as he turned to look at her and his scream woke up Velius.

“Good Morning, Velius,” Hermione said as he rubbed his eyes.

“Good Moning.”

“Draco, are you okay?” Hermione asked quietly as she walked over to him.

“We need to talk.”

“Okay, those are the universal break up words. What is going on?”

“I am not breaking up with you, don’t be a blast-ended-skrewt. We just need to talk.”

“Velius, why don’t you go and see if Katie and Hannah are you,” Hermione turned to him as he climbed out of bed. He wasn’t tall enough to reach the floor so he scooted himself off with his stomach down on the bed and going backwards. His feet were hanging over the edge of the bed. Hermione walked over to help him down.

“Okay,” he said running from the room.

“What is it, Draco?” Hermione said closing the door behind him.

“I got a letter from You-Know-Who this morning.”

“What? About what?”

“He wants me to bring you to him in three weeks.”

“Draco, three weeks? That isn’t enough time. I don’t even know the symptoms yet. What if something goes wrong? You don’t even know how to preform the spell yet. Does that mean that the battle is coming? How are we going to be on his side and Dumbledore’s during the battle? Or act like we’re on his side but be on Dumbledore’s? Three weeks?”

“Hermione, you need to calm down.”

“I can’t calm down!” Draco came over and wrapped his arms around her. He hugged her and rested his head on her shoulder and she did the same.“Draco, what did I get myself into? I’m so scared.”

“Me too,” he said.

“What about Velius and you Father? Won’t he be there?”

“He’s picking us up.”

“WHAT?” Hermione said pulling out of the hug.

“Hermione, please, I am just as scared as you are and I can’t deal with you all emotional right now!”

“You shouldn’t have told me then!”

“Oh, so I’m just going to be like ‘Hey Hermione, we have to go meet Voldemort now!’ the day of? What did you expect me to do? I had to tell you!”

“Then you can deal with me being emotional. My life is on the line!”

“Mine is too!”

“Yeah, but He doesn’t plan on killing you!”

“He won’t kill you in three weeks. He needs you!”

“I don’t know if I can do this!”

“You don’t have a choice!” The was a long silence. Hermione started to pace and Draco watched her. He was scared too and he wanted to be there for her but she needed to be there for him too.

“Hermione,” he said as he walked over to hug her.

“I have to go get ready for school,” she said, walking out the door and looking at him.

“This isn’t my fault!” he shouted after her. It wasn’t! She had agreed to this too. Why was she mad at him? She had no place to do so. That made him mad!

-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“

”Professor, what do you expect that we do about this?” Snape asked Professor Dumbledore in his office.

“I don’t know, Severus. I have to think about this.”

“Well, it’s obvious that we have to increase their lessons. I think three times a week. I don’t think it wise for Lucius to pick them up though,” said Snape.

“I agree. I think that you should take them.”

“What? Because Lucius would go for that!” Snape said sarcastically.

“Don’t you take that tone with me, Severus Snape! You will take them. It is the only other way or you can at least go with them and Lucius. I don’t want him to be alone with them.”

“Fine, I will walk with them down to Hogsmeade, but don’t you think that Lucius will be suspicious?”

“I don’t know. That is what worries me,” Dumbledore said sitting down.

-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“

Hermione was in her room getting ready for school. It was more like pacing from her wardrobe to her bed. She knew that this wasn’t Draco’s fault. He was right she had agreed to it. Just........ three weeks? It was only November and He wanted to start the battle now? They didn’t have anything planned. They haven’t learned anything from Him yet. This was just so screwed up!

“But, wait,” she said to herself. He had wanted to use her. He wouldn’t start the battle now. There was no reason for him to. He wanted to use her to get to Harry. That was one less thing to worry about.

-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“

Hermione and Draco walked to Potions together. They hadn’t talked since the morning but Draco guessed that they were okay, because she had ran up tp him and hugged him when she saw him and grabbed his hand before they started down the halls, getting dirty looks from the Slytherins and disgusted looks from some of the Gryffindors. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs didn’t really notice.

They walked into the classroom and sat down in their seats. They were now seated together because they had switched partners. Harry and Ron came over and sat down in front of them to talk.

“Hey,” Harry said.

“What’s up?” Ron said, but it sounded forced more than casual.

“Nothing, what about you guys?” Hermione said.

“Nothing really,” Harry said. “So there’s a Hogsmeade weekend coming up and we wanted to know if you two wanted to go with us?” Ron grunted but very quietly and Draco coughed. Hermione and Harry both looked from Ron to Draco and then at each other. Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m fine with him coming, Hermione,” he said to her.”It’s this brute that isn’t!”

“Yeah, sure. We’ll meet you in the Entrance Hall in the morning,” Hermione said. Draco squeezed her hand underneath the table.

“Cool,” Harry said before walking away. Ron looked at Hermione and Draco and then left.

“I think that he’s warming up to me!” Draco said after Ron had left.

“He’ll get over it. I’m surprised that Harry is okay with you. You two were worst enemies and now he’s okay with you? It’s a little weird.”

“I guess that he’s not one to hold grudges.”

“I guess, or he’s just a really good friend!” Hermione said looking at him laughing with Ron at his table. Snape walked in then and Ron ran to his seat.

-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“

”Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy, a word?” Snape called after the bell had rung. Hermione and Draco walked to the front of the room where Snape waited. “We are now going to up our lessons to three times a week. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I will also be taking you two down to Hogsmeade,” He said and lowered his voice. “He feels that you will need protection.”

“I agree!” said Draco.

“I will see you tonight in Dumbledore’s library at 7 ‘o’clock.”

“Yes, Sir,” Hermione said and then the pair left.

-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“

After leaving Velius with Hannah and Katie, Hermione and Draco made their way down to Dumbledore’s library. Draco and Hermione walked down the halls holding hands and when they reached the statue, Draco whispered the password. They walked inside.

“You sit and get to work,” Snape spat at Hermione. “You, come here and let’s go,”he said to Draco. That was it. For the next two hours Hermione studied and got a lot done. She now new the beginning symptoms but Voldemort would expect her to be further along. She thought that all of this looked familiar though. The symptoms rang a bell but she couldn’t place where from. Draco had gotten the spell down pretty close. He had been practicing on a kneazle. He could make the kneazle do lots of little things, but if he were asked to use it on Hermione, he wouldn’t be able to do a very good job.

“Miss Granger, I fear that, probably by next week, we will have to start to use the spell on you for practice. It is reversible and I will take whatever he puts on you off, but will need to practice on you if the Dark Lord askes him too. You two also need to get into the habit of calling him the Dark Lord. Voldemort is not accceptable and neither is He-who-must-not-be-named or You-know-who,” Snape explained to them just before they were ready to leave.

“Yes, sir,” they replied together. Snape gestured them out the door and they left.

“Draco, you better not make me do anything stupid next week!” she said to him as they walked down the halls.

“Ha ha! I hadn’t thought of that but now that you say it, that’s a good idea!”

“Draco Lepidus Malfoy, I will hurt you so bad-.”

“How do you know my middle name?” He asked as he stopped walking to look at her.

“You shouldn’t leave things around your room that you don’t want read if you don’t want them read!”

“What?”

“When Velius was brought here, so was all of his things, right?”

“Right.”

“Well, along with his birth certificate, your’s came!”

“What?”

“It’s not that big a deal.”

“I hate it though! If anyone ever found out-.”

“Oh, oh, oh! So if you do anything to humiliate me with Snape, then I can tell the world your middle name!”

“No you can’t.”

“I’d like to see you stop me!” She said laughing.

“Hermione.......something Granger!” He said, trying to get her to stop laughing but this just made it worse. She had to hold on to him to keep herself up.

“Well, then you better not make a fool of me!”

“Fine! I had something good planned to!” With that Hermione and Draco started to walk back to their common room.

-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“

”Dwaco! Herminniny!” Velius said as he ran up to them. He wrapped his arms around Draco’s legs and Draco had to hold on to the door to keep from falling.

“Why are you still up?” He said looking around at his four friends sitting on the couch looking exhausted.

“Well, you see, Terry had the bright idea of giving him about twenty chocolate frogs about half an hour ago,” Hannah said.

“TERRY!”

“What? I didn’t do it on purpose!” Terry said cowering.

“How can you give twenty chocolate frogs to a little kid not on purpose?” Draco asked, looking very angry. Hermione just looked from one to the other smiling. While Draco was saying this, Velius had started to run around the room in circles.

“I don’t know!” Terry said.

“Fine! You did this, so you can stay up with him!” Draco said. With that, Hannah, Katie, Hermione, Owen and Draco made their way up the stairs leaving the very hyper Velius to run in circles and Terry to stay up with him.


"Okay, so have you and Terry talked to Dumbledore about the ice rink yet?" Katie asked Draco during the Prefects meeting. Hermione had convinced Draco to let Harry and Ron look after Velius. Draco hadn't taken this all too well and sat in a half daze. "Draco?" Katie asked again when he didn't answer.

"What?" he asked annoyed, glancing out the window to where the three were supposed to be outside. Hermione was sitting on the couch next to him with his arm around her. Hannah and Terry were snogging on another couch and Katie and Owen were just sitting next to each other on the last couch.

"Have you and Terry-," Katie started but was cut off.

"No."

"Okay then. Well, how about you two?" she said looking to Hannah and Hermione.

"Well, we haven't started on the decorations and things but we were going to do that tomorrow and what, today is Wednesday!?! Isn't there a Hogsmeade trip this weekend?" Hermione asked.

"Yes," replied Katie.

"Then we can search for what we need this weekend in Hogsmeade."

"Okay, Owen and I have decided on ham instead of turkey for din-."

"She decided on ham instead of turkey. I said both," interjected Owen.

"I think that we should have both because some people don't like ham and some people don't like turkey," said Hannah when she came up from a breath.

"I agree," said Hermione and Draco together.

"Fine, we'll do ham and turkey," Katie said looking a little upset that she had been over ruled and wrote something down on the clipboard she had in front of her. "Then since we won't need to bring everyone in groups this time we can just put up posters and things around the school for advertisement," she added.

"Do we have to design them?" Terry asked.

"Seeing that everyone else has other things to do and you two are in charge of advertisement...............yes!" Katie said, snootily.

"What else needs to be done?" Hermione asked, trying to change the subject.

"I think that's it," Katie said looking at the clipboard once more.

"Okay, so I am going to pick up Velius," Draco said rising from the couch and running for the portrait hole.

"Bye," Hermione said to the others as she chased after him.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

"Velius, I don't think that Draco would like if you went swimming in the lake. It's freezing, you'll die from the cold," Harry said. Ron sat under a leafless tree, holding his robe around himself.

"Can we go in? It's freezing," Ron said. Harry was watching Velius to make sure that he didn't go anywhere near the lake.

"Ron, you try and bring him inside," Harry said, grabbing Velius' arm as he made a dash for the lake. "No, Velius."

"What are you doing with me brother, Potter?"

"Trying to stop him from jumping in the lake," Harry said, trying with all his might to stop Velius from running away, but not doing a very good job. Velius was dragging him along the wet grass and Harry thought that his arms would be ripped out of their sockets.

"Velius," Hermione called, as she reached Draco's side. Velius heard her voice and came running.

"Herminniny!" He shouted as he made his way into her arms.

"You can thank them for watching your brother, Draco," Hermione said, looking at her boyfriend.

"Thanks," Draco mumbled.

"I don't think you meant that," Ron said getting up from the ground.

"Don't start with me, Weasley."

"So, you guys, this weekend we were going to go to Hogsmeade with you, right?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," they replied together, but Harry sounded a little excited and Ron looked like he was dreading it.

"Okay, well Hannah Abbot and I have to get some things for the Christmas Ball, so-."

"We're having a Christmas Ball?" Harry and Ron asked together.

"Oh, yeah, you guys don't know yet!"

"Obviously," Ron said.

"Well, we are having a Christmas Ball and Hannah and I will have to go in search of some decorations," Hermione explained.

"Okay, so we can meet up later. We can go for a butterbeer or something," Harry said.

"Sounds good. Oh, will you two be able to watch Velius tonight?" she asked.

"What?" Draco said, shocked. His head snapped to look at her after she had said it. "He's my brother and you seem to have taken over."

"Well, he does seem to like me better," Hermione said looking at the child in her arms, who smiled at her and hugged her.

"Shut up," Draco said scowling at her.

"Ron and I have to work on some homework tonight. Sorry," Harry said.

"We can see if Flitwick will do it," Draco suggested.

"Flitwick? I don't know. Do you remember what he did last time he watched Velius?" Hermione said, a little hesitantly.

"Hermione, he's not your kid. Why do you care?" Ron asked.

"Because I am the only mother figure he has now and I love him!" she said squeezing him tight.

"How can you love the hyper, little monst-," Ron started to say, but was cut off when Harry put his hand over Ron's mouth.

"We'll see you guys later," Harry said, dragging Ron towards the castle.

"I think that we should go inside and warm up before we leave. Maybe we can go down to the kitchen and get some hot cocoa and then go to see Flitwick," Hermione suggested. She knew that Ron was right, she was just his brother's girlfriend and it wasn't her right to say what Draco did with him.

"Okay," Draco said. Hermione put Velius down on the ground and he walked in between them. He grabbed Hermione's hand with his right and Draco's with his left. They walked into the castle and down to the picture of the fruit bowl. Hermione tickled the pear and Draco tickled Velius and they walked in and were quickly surrounded by house elves offering them all sorts of foods.

"We'll just have three hot cocoas, "Hermione almost had to shout it over the noise. Three hot cups of cocoa were brought over to them in a flash. They were asked if they needed anything else and then were left to drink their drinks, but not for too long.

"Miss, Miss," came a familiar voice and Hermione turned to see Dobby running towards her.

"Hello, Dobby," She said as he came to a halt in front of them.

"Miss, how is Harry Potter, sir?" he asked hurriedly.

"He's fine, Dobby. Why?"

"Dobby, is hearing things in the castle, Miss," he said looking around the room and lowering his voice to a whisper.

"What kind of things, Dobby?" Hermione asked, now a little worried.

"Dobby, was cleaning Proffessor McGonagall's office and he is heard yelling, Miss, a few nights ago."

"From where? A classroom? What Classroom?" She asked hurriedly.

"Hermione, what's going on?" Draco asked looking from her to the house elf that was formerly his.

"Dobby heard it from Professor Windmere's classroom, but Dobby shouldn't be telling you this. He is one of Dobby's masters," Dobby tried to hit his head against the table but Hermione held him back. He had obviously not forgotten his old masters standards.

"DOBBY, STOP!" Hermione said trying to hold him back. "Look at what you did to him!" Hermione spat at Draco, she was frustrated that she wasn't getting anything out of Dobby and took it out on Draco.

"I didn't do this!" He shouted back to her.

"He was your house elf and he was ordered to hurt himself if he did something wrong. DOBBY!"

"I didn't order him, my Father did! Are you saying that I am like my Father?" He spat back at her.

"Draco, I wasn't saying that you are like your Father. You are far from it! DOBBY!" Dobby stopped trying and fell to the floor, exhausted. "Dobby, I need you to tell me what they were saying and what you saw, if you saw anything," she said to the elf on the floor.

"Dobby can't. Dobby is only wanting to make sure that Harry Potter is safe," he said sitting up.

"Dobby, if you tell me what you heard I can keep him much safer. Dumbledore said that you could talk about him badly. Why can't you talk about Windmere?" Hermione said in a soothing voice as not to scare him.

"He is one of old master's friends! Bad man he is!"

"What? Draco?" she said looking at him.

"He used to come and see Velius a lot."

"Do you think that he's a death eater?"

"If he was a friend of my Father's then I have no doubt that he is," he said looking from Hermione to Dobby. "Hermione, what is going on?"

"Do you think that Dumbledore knows?"

"How should I know? Hermione, what is going on?" Hermione ignored him.

"Dobby, what did you hear?"

"Professor Windmere is taking his boy to You-Know-Who," he said quietly and his voice trembling.

"What?"

"What is going on?" Draco asked again.

"Are you sure? Why is he taking him to Voldemort?" Dobby started shaking at the sound of Voldemort's name.

"Dobby can't say!" He said before running away. Velius had climbed into Draco's lap now, obviously scared from the shrieking and yelling.

"We have to go," Hermione said.

"Hermione, what is go-."

"I'll tell you after we drop Velius off," she said as they walked out of the portrait hole and into the hall where they set off at a brisk pace towards Flitwicks classroom. Hermione burst in making the little wizard jump.

"Miss Granger! Do please be more careful," He said as she walked towards his desk. He noticed her flushed face and the expression that she had pasted on it. "What is wrong, Miss Granger?" He said looking up at Velius and Draco as they walked into the room.

"Nothing," she said curtly. "Will you watch Velius for us- I mean Draco? We have to go and meet with Professor Snape."

"Sure," he said looking past her and at the pair of boys.

"Thank you, Sir," she said and then turned to Velius. "Okay, Velius, Draco and I will be by to pick you up in a few hours. Are you going to have fun?"

"YEAH," he said looking at the person who was watching him. Professor Flitwick smiled.

"Okay," she said and then turned towards her professor. "Don't float him in the air this time!" she said before grabbing Draco's hand and leading him out of the room and didn't look back.

"Bye," Draco shouted from the door.

"Bye," she heard Velius and Professor Flitwick shout back together. They made their way quickly down the hallway towards Dumbledore's library. She muttered the password and walked in to see the room completely empty.

"Hermione, it's only six. Professor Snape won't be here for another hour. Let's go get some dinner-."

"No, I have to wait for him," she said sitting down in front of the empty fireplace. She sat down in a chair as if vowing to not move until Snape got there.She took out her wand and lite a fire. The fire place lite up with colors of red and blue and flames licked to walls. It looked like the fire had been roaring for hours.

"Hermione, what is going on? What was Dobby talking about?"

"Fine," she said and then she started to tell him what she had overheard on the night that they had told Harry and Ron about their little situation with Voldemort.

"What!?! Windmere is Longbottom's Father? I thought that his parents were in St. Mungo's."

"Me too!" Hermione said as she started to pace the room. This didn't make sense. She had to figure this out.

"Hermione, this doesn't make sense."

"You don't have to tell me that!" she spat. "Maybe it's his stepfather," she threw out there.

"I don't think so," Draco said.

"Ah, I am so frustrated! I can't figure this out."

"Hermione it's okay-."

"No, it's not! My best friend's life is on the line and someone that interacts with him everyday could hurt him. Harry is so easily accessible to Windmere."

"Hermione, you need to calm do-."

"I can't calm down!"

"Well you need to!" he practically yelled at her. She continued to pace and grabbed her arm. He wrapped his arms around her waist,tight, so that she wouldn't get away. "Breath," he whispered before brushing his lips across hers. He pulled away but Hermione pulled his body against hers and made their kiss deeper. His hot tongue parted her mouth and Hermione whimpered. She felt weak at the knees every time he kissed her. She let her weight fall on to him and he held her with ease. When they finally parted, Hermione had calmed down.

"Dumbledore doesn't know about this! He wouldn't have hired him!" She whispered to his ear. "Why doesn't Snape know about it? Snape should know about this! He should have told Dumbledore! Unless he's helping Windmere!" she said pulling away from Draco's embrace and started to pace the room again. Draco groaned and fell into a chair, a little upset that the kiss had ended.

"Hermione, be reasonable!" Draco said, rolling his eyes at her comment.

"Snape could be!"

"I could be what?" Snape said as he walked into the room. Hermione turned around and froze at the sight of him. "Well?"

"Nothing, Professor, but we need to speak to Dumbledore!"

"He is very busy, Miss Granger. You can talk to me," he said glancing over at Draco, who was sitting quietly in front of the fire.

"I overheard something about a week ago and a house elf came to me today and said something very interesting and I have reason to believe that Professor Windmere is a death eater," she said all this very fast and never took her eyes from his.

"That is a very serious accusation, Miss Granger. Are you sure that you want to make it? There are many consequences if you accuse and are wro–."

"I know the consequences and yes, I still want to make the accusation. I think that he was preforming an Unforgivable on a student and one of the house elves said that he used to be a friend of Lucius Malfoy's," she left out the part about bringing Neville to Voldemort but this was what really comfirmed her accusation.

"Are you sure?" Snape asked, very seriously.

"Yes," she said. Snape looked at Draco again. Draco stood up and came to Hermione's side.

"I feel the same, Sir," he said looking Snape in the eye.

"Well then, let's go," he said leading them out of the library.

"Uh, where are we going, Professor?" Hermione asked a little sheepishly.

"To the Headmaster."

"I thought that he wa–."

"This can interrupt him," he said. This was the last of the conversation until they reached the Headmaster's door. Snape knocked and a faint 'Come in' was heard. Snape opened the door and the trio walked in.

"Severus? What is going on?" Professor Dumbledore said standing up and walking around to the front of his desk as he surveyed Hermione and Draco. "Is something wrong?"

"Miss Granger has something that she wishes to tell you."

"Miss Granger?" He said in a concerned voice. Hermione looked from him to Snape to Draco, who grabbed her hand for reassurance.

"I think that Professor Windmere is a death eater," she let this sink in.

"Hermione that is a very serious accus–."

"I know, Sir. I still want to make it," she said and then she went on to tell the story of what she had heard on the night that her and Draco had talked to Harry and Ron and then what Dobby had told them.

"There is little that I don't know about and how this could have slipped past me is a miracle. I must be losing my touch," Dumbledore said after she had finished and went to sit in his chair behind his desk. He gestured for the three to sit down too.

"You believe me, Sir?" she asked a little shocked.

"Yes, Miss Granger. I do. Now, what to do," he stated this more as a statement than a question.

"Professor, I have never seen Windmere at a meeting. I have no reason to believe that he is a death eater. I would know about it," Snape said. Hermione looked at him shocked. How could he say that after what she had just said?

"Is it true, Severus, that no one death eater knows all of his fellow death eaters?"

"Yes, Sir, but I am keeping all options open. I don't want Miss Granger to end up in Azkaban for an accusation that was not true. We need her!" This statement sunk into Hermione. She never thought that those words would come out of Snape's mouth.

"I understand your concern, Severus, but I full well believe her and have no doubt in my mind that Windmere is a death eater."

"Yes, Sir," Snape said looking down at his feet. Hermione glanced from him to her Headmaster.

"Miss Granger, I need to know more about Mr. Longbottom. I will need you to do some spy work now. If Windmere is planning on bringing him to Voldemort it is for good reason."

"Professor, a few weeks ago I was walking with Neville and he tripped and out came a bunch of papers from his bag. They were ingredients to a Potion. He said that Professor Snape had given him extra homework," she said hoping that that could mean something. Dumbledore looked at Snape with a curious eye.

"I haven't given him any lately. He has been doing very well for him lately," Snape said.

"If it wasn't for Potions class than what was it for?" Dumebledore said. "I will have to think about this. I think that you all need to go to bed now."

"But, Professor we didn't even have our session tonight," Draco stated.

"You will have to do it tomorrow, Mr. Malfoy. This has been a trying day and you two need your rest. No one say anything and you two should come and see me tomorrow during your break. Hopefully I will have figured this out by then," he said this and motioned for them to leave.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Hermione and Draco didn't talk as they made their way towards Professor Flitwick's classroom to pick up Velius. They walked in the door and Hermione froze. Chills ran down her spine and her heart stopped beating. Every breath was sharp and cold.

"Good Evening, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger," his voice shot through her like a shockwave. Draco had frozen too. Velius didn't mind anything. This man used to come to the house and see him all the time. He had no idea that he was a death eater.

"Good Evening, Professor Windmere. Where is Professor Flitwick?" Draco asked in a monotone.

"Oh, he had to go and see Professor McGonagall and I was walking past and he asked me to take over. You two are back early," he said politely.

"Yeah," Draco said.

"I thought that it would be a good idea to catch up with my little buddy," he said picking Velius up and putting him on his shoulders with a little trouble from his back. "Why is he here anyways, Draco?" He had noticed him here but hadn't had time to ask Draco about it.

Draco hesitated. He was still friends with his Father and he had to know. What was he trying to do?

"I haven't talked to your Dad in awhile. How is he?"

"Um, my Mum died and Velius came here. My Dad had a hard time dealing with it and needed a break," Draco lied quickly. He then turned to Hermione. "Professor Windmere is an old family friend," Hermione looked him in the eyes and he saw the fear. He thought that she might be about to cry.

"Oh, I am very sorry for your lose. I think that I should go and write him."

"Thank you, Sir. I don't think that writing him is necessary," Draco said.

"I hate Daddy!" Velius said. Hermione looked up at the child in a such a way that Velius knew that he had done something very wrong.

"What!?!" Professor Windmere asked looking up at the boy on his shoulders.

"He's tired and my Dad hit him one time after my Mum died. My Dad was just upset and got a little worked up. Velius just doesn't understand yet," Draco lied again.

"I see," said Windmere glancing around at the three of them with a questioning eye.

"Well, I think that we better get him off to bed," Draco said as he hurried over to pick up his brother. Hermione walked up to him and took Velius from him.

"Good night, Professor," Draco called back.

"Good night, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger. Bye bye, Velius."

"Bye!" Velius called.

The pair of teenagers didn't notice the glare that they received as they left. Little did they know that Windmere had been in touch with Draco's Father. Little did they know many things that went on this night and little did they know that he was the man that Narcissa had cheated on Lucius with.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

If you all read carefully in chapter 12 then you should know that Narcissa did cheat on Lucius but I never told you with who! So here's your answer. If you forgot, then here is that part of the chapter. It was just after Draco got the letter about his Mother dying.

"Did you read it?" Draco asked.

"Of course, I read it!" she said, regretting it as she said it.

"Shit."

"Shit what?"

"I didn't really want you to know about that part of my life, yet."

"What that your Mother cheated on your Father? That you have brother?"

"That is news to me. I didn't know that! I thought that he was my actual brother."

"Draco, you have to explain before I freak out," she said. He paused before saying anything.

Calais Windmere was pacing his office, waiting for his son to arrive. In three weeks he would be presenting his son to his Master. Neville would become one of the tools to get to Harry Potter. Without instruction though, it was hard to get any work done. While waiting for Draco Malfoy to entrance Hermione Granger, all Windmere and Longbottom could do, was wait.

Calais looked at the clock on the wall. It was a quarter past seven. He's late, he thought. He continued to pace the room as his thoughts traveled to his other son, Velius. Lucius had never known about the little love affair that Narcissa and him had had on the side. Calais' first wife and mother of Neville had long since been dead. She died in child birth. When Calais had learned that Narcissa was pregnant he knew that he was the father.

He had gone to Narcissa and she decided that she would tell Lucius that it was his son, depriving Calais of one. He loved Narcissa and he knew that she loved him, but she also loved Lucius and they had already started a life together. He could not blame her for wanted to keep it, but in the end the mistake of not telling Lucius the truth took her life.

Lucius and Calais had been friends since they were kids. They had traveled the halls of Hogwarts together. They had joined the Dark Lord together. They had fallen in love with Narcissa together, but Lucius had not known that.

When Velius had been born, Calais was at the hospital. He had held his son for a brief moment before Lucius had taken him. Calais was one of the few people that knew that they had two children, because of Lucius' disgrace of Velius, due to the fact that he had shown no magical powers up to this point. Calais would visit the house and see his son, but Velius would and could never know who his true father was. Lucius was another story.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

"Good evening, Lucius," Calais said, as he stepped out of the rain and into the front hall of the Malfoy Manor. He took off his drenched cloak and Lucius took it and put it on the coat rack to the right of the door. Lucius smiled and shook his quest's hand.

"Calais," Narcissa said as she came into the hall. She hurried to him and kissed him on each cheek. "I hope that you are hungry," she said.

"Starving," he said, staring into her eyes.

"How are you, Calais?" Lucius said, breaking Calais concentration.

"Good, and yourself, Lucius?" he said in reply as Lucius led him to the dining room.

"Good," Lucius said sitting down. He motioned for Calais to do the same. Narcissa came and sat down across from him and Lucius sat at the head of the table.

"Where is Velius?" Lucius asked her.

"Where you always keep him," Narcissa replied, looking at him with a gleam in her eyes that revealed that the two did not share the same feelings about her son. She cared for him deeply.

"Would you go and get him, Narcissa?" Lucius asked.

"Sure," she said, walking out of the room mumbling something.

"So," Lucius said. "Did you hear that the Dark Lord wants the Granger girl?"

"Yes, is it true that it is to be your son who will bring her to the Dark Lord?" Calais said.

"Yes," Lucius said with pride.

"How does the Dark Lord plan on accomplishing this task?" Calais said with a concerned look.

"Draco has become a prefect and is now becoming friends with her. Then he will put her under Esprit Luttez."

"Esprit Luttez!?!" Calais cut him off.

"Yes."

"That is very advanced magic," Calais exclaimed.

"He has seen me use it for years. He will be fine. So, he's supposed-."

"Who has he seen you use it on?" Calais looked at his friend in shock.

"I have had to use it on Narcissa several times," he said, slightly annoyed that he had been cut off again.

"What!?!"

"How do you think I got her to stay with me all these years? You remember how she was so anti-dark arts. Did you really think that she would just change her mind?"

"Yeah," he said still shocked.

"You astound me with how thick headed you can be sometimes, Calais," Lucius said as the house elves started to bring out the food. Calais looked around the room in shock. He had never known and was secretly kicking himself for not realizing it. He did remember how she had been in Slytherin and came from a pure blood family but despised the dark arts.

The elves had finished setting out the food and Velius poked his head through the door as if he were surveying the situation. He glanced at Lucius with a look of dread and then spotted Calais. His eyes lit up and he ran to him.

"Velius," Calais said as the child jumped into his lap.

"Velius, sit down," Lucius commanded with a look of disgust on his face. Narcissa came and sat down in her spot again.

"Velius, come and sit next to Mummy," she said and the little boy obeyed her.

"We will finish our conversation later," Lucius said as he started to dish himself some food.

"So, Calais, what have you been up to?" Narcissa asked as she too began to fill her plate and Velius'.

"I have taken the Defense Against the Dark Arts job at Hogwarts, which is good because I can over see all of the new death eaters and also the obvious, Harry Potter. Lucius was just telling me about the Granger girl and your son," Calais replied.

"Yes, we are very proud. Were you there the night that he was initiated?"

"No, which I regret. I had to look after my idiot of a son," Calais said. The Malfoy's were the only people that knew that he had a son and even that he had been married for a short time. Lucius had been his best man at his wedding and Narcissa and Lucius had been married for about a month at the time. Calais had loved his wife very much but he had never let his feelings go for Narcissa either. After his wife's death he had felt free again to pursue her and the result of that was sitting across from him, next to his mother.

"I always thought that you giving him to your brother 'for safe keeping' was a stupid idea," Lucius said. "I knew that your brother was too pure and I thought that he would pull something like he did and yet you didn't listen to me."

"Yes, another regret, Lucius," he said through gritted teeth.

"What have you been doing with Neville since he found out that you were his real Father?"

"Getting him ready for his initiation."

"Yeah, but what did he say to the news?"

"I took him aside on the night that we got to the school and told him that I was his Father and that his 'dad' was my brother. I used a little spell that made him believe me. I haven't told him details yet."

"Well, I suggest that you tell him," said Lucius.

"I plan on it, Lucius."

"So, then what is your part in this whole plan, Calais? What is it that Neville has to do?"

"We don't know yet. We are waiting for your son to do his job on the girl."

"Give him time."

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Calais stopped pacing his office. Lucius had been right. He had to tell Neville the truth in order for him to truly understand. He may be a death eater but he wanted a family just the same and Neville had been distant with him so far. Maybe if I tell him the whole truth he will be more receptive with me.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Dinner had been a simple one, filled with talk of the life in the Malfoy Manor. After dinner Calais and Lucius went to the study. It was filled with books on every wall. Calais knew that they were all Dark Art books. He had borrowed many. There were two windows on three of the walls that went from ceiling to floor. There was a desk and a set of chairs in the middle of the room and another set of chairs by the windows in the back of the room.

Calais sat in a chair by window and watched to storm rage outside. Lightning flashed before his eyes and stretched across the horizon and thunder shock the windows.

Lucius walked in with two cups of fire whiskey and sat in the chair opposite him. They sat in silence for a minute before Calais broke it.

"So the reason that Narcissa has been staying with you is because you put a spell on her?"

"Yeah, look at her, she's beautiful, who would want to let her go?" Lucius replied still looking out the window. "She just doesn't like the Dark Arts. That is the only thing that I have modified. Well I have had to stop her from leaving me a few times, so I just modify how much she loves me on occasion."

"You are a slick one, Lucius," Calais said. His temper was rising. He could have had her all along and the bastard sitting next to him had been stopping it.

"Lucius," Narcissa called. She poked her head in the door. "I am going to go put Velius to bed."

"I'll come with. I want to say good bye," Calais said rising from his chair.

"I'll stay. I have some work to do really quick. I'll wait for you," Lucius said talking to Calais.

Calais walked with Narcissa and Velius. Narcissa changed Velius and put him to bed. She kissed him on the forehead and said good night. Calais did the same with a promise to come and play with him soon.

They entered the hall and Narcissa closed the door. Calais looked up and down the hall before grabbing her and kissing her deeply. She didn't pull away, but fell into his body frame. She wrapped her arms around him and he did the same to her. They parted lips and he kissed her forehead and then rested his chin on the top of her head.

"Narcissa, you and Velius have to leave here," he whispered in her ear.

"Calais, we have had this talk before," she said letting go of him and turning away from him. She put her hand to her mouth as if stopping herself from saying something that she would regret.

"Narcissa, he has been putting Esprit Luttez on you, stopping you from leaving him," he said.

"What?" She said turning to face him again.

"Yes, he just told me. You two need to leave in the middle of the night, when he can't stop you. I can put you both up in a nice house where you will both be safe. I just want you and our son to be happy."

"I love him, Calais," she said almost in shame.

"Under his control!" he almost shouted. He waited a minute to gather himself. "Don't you love me?"

"Yes, but we already have a life started together!" she said, implying her and Lucius.

"So do we! Please, Narcissa! I don't like the way that he treats Velius! Who knows what he'll do in a rage. You will feel responsible when he kills our son," he said. She paced up and down the hall for a long time..

"Fine," she said.

"You'll leave?" Calais said excitedly.

"Yes," she said. Calais grabbed her and kissed her again and this is where he made his first mistake. He hadn't checked to see if anyone was watching. Lucius had come to see where his friend had gone.

Lucius stopped in his tracks as he saw the pair. "What the hell is going on?" He shouted when he had regained his voice. Calais and Narcissa parted lips and froze.

"Lucius, it's not what you think-," she started to say, getting out of Calais' grip and walking towards her husband.

"What!?!" Both Lucius and Calais said.

"Narcissa, I thought that you said you were going to leave him and now you're telling him that it's not what it looks like as if your trying to save what you have with him?" He said this in rage and forgot that her running away was secret. This was where he made his second mistake.

"What?" Lucius said dumbfounded. Narcissa didn't look either of them in the eye, but at the ground. Lucius reached for his wand and pointed it at Calais. Calais froze. "You bastard! I'll kill you! Avada Ked-," his voice was drowned out by Narcissa's scream. She jumped in front of Calais as he reached for his wand, but she hit the ground before he had it out of his robes.

"No!" Both Calais and Lucius screamed. Calais picked her up in his arms and Lucius came running at them. Calais pulled out his wand.

"Don't!" he shouted and this time Lucius froze. Calais looked at Narcissa and with his wand still pointed at Lucius checked for a pulse.

"Is she dead?" Lucius asked. Calais fell to his knees and put his face in his hand.

"Lucius, you are going to pay for th-."

"I am going to pay for this? You are my best friend and here you are kissing my wife? Now my wife is dead!"

"She didn't love you!" He screamed at him. Velius opened his bedroom door.

"What is gonon? He asked sleepily.

"Velius, GO TO BED!" Lucius screamed and Velius shut the door quickly.

"DON'T TALK TO MY SON LIKE THAT!" Calais screamed and this is where he made his third mistake.

"Excuse me?" Lucius said.

"He is my son, not yours!"

"Oh, you weren't just kissing her, YOU WERE FUCKING HER!"

"Yes!"

"I'm going to kill him!" Lucius said making his way towards the door.

"Claudo!" shouted Calais. It was an ancient spell from his family that locked doors permanently and only the caster could undo it. Lucius knew of it.

"Open it!" Lucius shouted.

"No!" Calais shouted. Lucius pointed his wand at him.

"Avada -," Lucius started but Calais had apparated before he could finish and with Narcissa's body. Lucius punched the wall before going to write Draco.

Calais had apparated to his house. He looked at Narcissa and kissed her lips. They were already cold. He carried her to his bedroom and put her on the bed. He looked at her. He didn't have time to mourn. He had to go and get his son, but what to do with him. He sat on the bed, trying to think, while back at Hogwarts, Draco was running to the Head Master.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

"Sorry, I was stopped by Peeves," Neville blurted out as he threw his bag on the floor. "So, any word?" Calais had been shaken from his day dreaming.

"No," he said. He had gotten over Narcissa's death quickly. He may be a death eater but he still had feelings, but he had had to get over it quickly because his Master needed him.

Calais paced the room and his son watched. He had never seen his Father in this state. All in Calais' head he kept hearing Lucius saying 'I suggest that you tell him.' It was time that he tell Neville the truth. He paced the room once again and waited a minute before speaking.

"Dad?" Neville said as he followed his Dad across the room like a tennis ball in play.

"Neville, when you were born and your mother died, I had given you to my brother to look after you. I had to keep myself hidden as the Dark Lord was going to use me for some secret work later in the year. Your mother was going to look after you and I would just visit, but since she died we had to change plans. My brother had just gotten married and it wouldn't look suspicious if they had a child. He used to be with the Dark Lord but I had my doubts about his loyalty. So at the first sign that he was going to switch sides, the Dark Lord ordered his disposal. So now your pare-, the Longbottom's are in St. Mungo's. I had to change my name because of what happened. So then you went to our mother, your grandmother. She did not know that either of us was working for the Dark Lord and I had to let her to what she would with you. I had change my plan again and try to change your mind when the time was right."

"Dad, what is this about?" Neville asked.

"I thought that you should know the truth," Calais looked around the room.

"For a death eater you are a real softy. So when is my initiation?" Neville said. Calais was shocked at how uninterested he was in this conversation.

"There is a meeting later this month and I think that you are to be initiated then."

"So since there's nothing to be done, can I go?"

"Yes."

"Night," Neville said picking up his bag. He made his way for the door and as he turned the handle he glanced back at his dad. Calais had sat down behind his desk and had put his head in his hands.

"Dad, are you okay?" Neville stood at the door for a moment while his Father collected his thoughts.

"Yeah, just dwelling on old memories," he said and Neville walked out the door.

It was Saturday and Hermione couldn't decide if that was good or bad. She was excited because she was spending the day with three of the four people she cared about the most, Harry, Ron and Draco. Velius was spending the day with Professor McGonagall while the four of them were at Hogsmeade. She was depressed because it was only seven days until her initiation, and she still hadn't found any symptoms and Draco had been having trouble casting the spell on her. The had already had two lessons attempting to place it on her and had been unsuccessful both times. Tonight would be the third attempt.

It was a beautiful fall day out. It was chilly but the sun was shining as the four of them made their way towards the village. Hermione was not surprised that they were talking about Quidditch.

"The Chudley Cannons, I think, have the best three chasers in the whole league. I'm surprised that they didn't make it to the World Cup last year," Ron said, as they walked down the path.

"See, Weasley, it's not the chasers that get you to the top, it's the seeker. Without a good seeker, you're in deep shit," Draco replied, proudly. "It all has to do with timing, which the seeker controls."

"I think that it is how well you work as a team that gets you to the top," Hermione said, tired of hearing them debate. Draco and Ron shook their heads at her.

"How much you have to learn, love," Draco said, wrapping his arm around her waist. Harry had decided to remain silent over the ordeal.

The group was going to go to shopping and then head over to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer before they split and Hermione went with Hannah to look for things for the dance. First on the list of places to go, was Honeydukes. They had gotten a new shipment of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Draco spent about half an hour looking at the new creations.

"Look at this!" Harry called out picking up a piece of candy shaped like a hexagon and the color of a toad. Harry read the sign above the barrel. "Watch your teachers be amazed as you preform every charm and spell perfectly, brew every potion accurately and write every essay with out a flaw. Introducing The Teacher Deceptor."

"Cool!" Ron said grabbing a bunch. Hermione looked below the description to find the tiniest writing she had ever seen. She had to squint to read it.

"Ron," Hermione said, "you need to learn to read the small print," she said pointing to the writing.

Results last about ten minutes. Can cause forgetfulness.

"You'd have to buy ten of these just to get through one class period," but Ron didn't hear her, nor did he see the writing. He was already at the check out counter. Hermione shook her head at him. "Can you believe him?" she asked Harry.

"Yeah," Harry replied. She later saw Harry sneak a couple onto the checkout counter and then into his bag before they left. She just giggled and shook her head.

Next on the list was Zonko's, where the boys restocked on the usual things to annoy Filch. It surprised Hermione how well the boys were getting along. They were joking and laughing, thinking up the next trick to play on Filch. They were acting like nothing had ever happened between them. Hermione ever thought that she had heard Ron call Draco by his first name.

The four of them then made their way over to the Three Broomsticks. They found a table near the back and Rosmerta took their order, four butterbeers. After Rosmerta had brought them over Harry started the conversation.

"So, tell us more about the Christmas Ball," he said.

"Well, there is going to be an ice rink instead of a dance floor –," Hermione wanted to continue but was cut off.

"What's an ice rink?" Ron asked, taking a sip of his butterbeer.

"Are you ever going to take Muggle Studies, Ron?" Hermione spat at him. She was sick of him always interrupting her, making her answer these simple questions.

"Why do I need to when I have you to answer all of my questions?" Ron asked, smiling and then taking another sip of butterbeer. Hermione glared at him.

"I've never been ice skating before," Harry said, sensing an explosion on Hermione's part brewing and he wanted to prevent it.

"Really, Harry? Never?" she asked, taking a sip of butterbeer herself. As she said this her voice became smooth and gentle.

"Nope, the Dursleys have taken Dudley a couple of times but each time I was told to sit on the bench and watch.

"That is so cruel. That is just so sad. It's really fun. I'll teach you."

"I've never been ice skating!" Ron and Draco both exclaimed.

"But you haven't known that it existed your whole life and been told to sit and watch while other people enjoyed it," Hermione said.

"Exactly, we have been deprived of everything. We didn't even know that it existed. We were lied to. We should get sympathy too!" Ron said, putting a lot of emphasis on the 'lied.' Hermione just looked at him.

"Anyways, "she said, finishing off her butterbeer and rising from her chair. "I have to go see Hannah so that we can get some stuff for the dance." She kissed Draco, Harry and Ron groaned and after telling them "to get over it," she walked out of the pub back into the nippy air. Hermione now noticed that the sun had hidden behind some clouds and made the air seem colder than it was.

Hannah had told Hermione to meet her at some type of party store that she had never heard of. It was down the same way as Malanno Libro Campeggio, the book store she had found during her and Draco's Transfiguration project.

"Hermione!" Hannah called, waving Hermione over when she came into view.

"Hi, Hannah," Hermione said, as she walked up to her.

"You ready?"

"Yeah, let's go," she replied walking into the store.

Inside they found 'Instant Snowmen,' they looked like little statues and with one wave of a wand they were full size and talking. Like Frosty the Snowman and his magic hat, Hermione thought. They also found penguins that were similar. That was pretty much all they could find. There were the trees and other decorations already at the school.

They left the store and started down the street back towards the Three Broomsticks.

"So, how's Terry? How are you guys doing?" Hermione asked, through chattering teeth. It was the middle of November but it felt like the middle of December. It had to be like Thirty degrees out.

"We're great! How about you and Draco? Oh, wait, I don't even have to ask! You're always all over each other or missing, off doing God knows what!" she said smiling, her cheeks red from the wind.

"Speak for yourself! At least Draco and I have the decency to get a room, where you two just make out in the common room, anywhere really and don't care who see's! EVEN innocent child, a.k.a Velius!" Hermione said.

"Yeah ,whatever!" Hannah said, blushing, at least Hermione thought that she was blushing. She couldn't really tell because her cheeks were so red already.

"Uh huh."

"So, do you guys want to do something tonight? We haven't really hung out in a while," Hannah said.

"Sorry, Draco and I have to work on our Potions project," she lied. Hermione was looking forward to a night of researching! NOT!

She stopped walking as they passed Malanno Libro Campeggio. She stared at the dark window display of one book. Hannah didn't realize that Hermione had stopped until she was twenty feet ahead of her. Hermione stood their contemplating whether she should go in and try her luck.

"Hermione, you okay?"

"What?" Hermione said, the wind rushing in her ears. "Oh, yeah, you go ahead and I'll meet up with you in a little while. I'm going to stop in here."

"Okay, meet at the Three Broomsticks?"

"Yeah," she said before disappearing into the store, leaving Hannah alone on the street, except for the few students who were brave enough to venture out into the cold. Hannah couldn't help but wonder why Hermione was going into Quidditch supplies store.

Hermione thought that there might be something in here that might help her with Esprit Luttez. It had helped with Transfiguration, so why not give it a try. The old man that had 'helped' her last time was, once again, not behind the counter. Not knowing where to begin, she just went to the wall to her left, and started to read the titles on the bindings. She soon came across a book where the letters had worn off where the title had been, leaving it slightly discolored. She picked it up off the shelf and opened it. She let the pages slip through her fingers. The pages were yellow from age and ware. There were smears on the pages that she couldn't figure out what they were. She had a feeling it was blood. She looked for a title page but there wasn't one. So she opened to the table of contents and there it was.

Chapter 8 : Esprit Luttez................................................ Pg. 231

Hermione quickly opened to page 231. There it was. Just what she needed. It gave a complete discription of the spell and the symptoms of different stages. She closed to book and walked up to the counter. She rang the bell and waited for the old man to come, but the guy that came out of the back room was young, not much older than her.

"How may I help you?" he asked, smiling at her. He was cute. He had short dirty dishwater blonde hair and blue eyes. A slightly crooked nose, like it had been broken once or twice, but overall very handsome.

"Um.....," Hermione just looked at him, thinking about how cute he was. After realizing that she had a boyfriend and closing her mouth she held up the book. "How much?"

"Fifteen galleons."

"Fifteen?"

"Yep," as he said this, Hermione wondered if it was worth it. She could just sit here and copy down the symptoms, but it might come in handy later though. "I can let you have it for ten though," the guy said, seeing her hesitate.

"Okay, I'll take it," she said. Ten was more reasonable. She handed the guy ten galleons and he put it in a bag. She thanked him and practically ran towards the Three Broomsticks, excited to tell Draco. She burst through the doors and immediately felt the warm air surround her. She went to the table to find that Draco wasn't there.

"Hermione!" Harry called, half laughing.

"Hello!" shouted Ron. Hannah, Terry, Ginny, Neville and Dean, were all laughing and she assumed that someone had just finished telling a joke.

"Hey guys. Where's Draco?" she asked.

"He went back to the school," Harry answered.

"Oh, well, I have to talk to him, so, I'll see you guys later," she said, before turning and running out the door back into the cold. She wrapped her cloak tighter around herself as she ran up the path to the castle. She ran to the common room to find Owen sitting on the couch reading.

"You're back too? I thought today was going to be a quiet day, where I could just sit and read and now everyone keeps bursting in me!"

"Where's Draco?" she asked trying to regain her breath.

"He just came back, grabbed his broom and left without saying a word to me," Owen said, looking offended.

"Thanks!" she shouted over her shoulder, running out of the portrait hole.

"Bye!"

She ran outside, once more, into the bitter cold. It was getting late and the sun was starting to fall behind the trees of the Forbidden Forest, in rays of orange and pink. The ground was getting wet from the accumulating dew and made the bottom of her robe damp. As she got closer towards the stadium the grass started to crunch under her feet, while the dew turned to frost.

Once inside the Quidditch pitch, she slowed to a walk. Draco was doing laps on his broom with the occasional loop. She climbed the stands and sat down about half way up and watched him. It only took a few moments before he saw her and flew over. She got up to greet him and as he hopped of his broom, he wrapped his arms so tightly around her, she had to gasp for air.

"Draco, are you okay?" she asked with what little air she had. He didn't answer. She waited a moment and held on to him. "Draco, look at me," she demanded and he let go of her. He looked her in the eyes. "What's wrong?," she asked resting her hands on his forearms. "I thought you were going to wait for me at the Three Broomsticks."

"It was just to overwhelming! I had to get out of there!"

"What was overwhelming?" she asked a little taken aback.

"Potter made a comment about the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Quidditch match on Saturday, the 25th," he said. So far Hermione was not following. "And it got me thinking that Saturday is the day that I present you to The Bastard, my new name for him, and we have nothing really done. I got worried. I don't want to lose someone else I love," he said tears welling in his eyes. This alone made Hermione want to start crying. "What did I get you into?" he asked in a whisper, looking at the ground.

"We got into this together, Draco, and we'll get through it together. I am not about to leave you. I promise," she said pulling him into a hug, silent tears running down her cheek.

"Don't' make promises you can't keep. My mother used to do that!" Hermione didn't know what to say to this. There they stood, in each others arms, until Hermione remembered the book.

"Draco, look what I found!" she said remembering her excitement. She pulled out the book and opened it to page 231 and handed it to Draco. He quickly skimmed through it and his eyes widened as he read it.

"Where did you get this?" he asked in shock.

"The same place I got the Transfiguration book!" she said. Draco grabbed Hermione's neck and pulled her towards him. He kissed her so hard, she pulled away with her lips numb.

"Do you know how great this is?" he asked, laughing.

"Yeah!" she said, smiling at his excitement. He kissed her again and then picked her up and twirled her around.

"We have to find Snape!" he said putting her down.

"Draco we can tell him at our lesson, after dinner! Let's calm down a little."

"Hermione," he said before pausing. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her body to his. He looked right in her eyes. "I love you!"

"I love you too, Draco!" she managed to get out before Draco kissed her again.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

After dinner the pair made their way towards Dumbledore's private library, a little quicker than usual. They came to the statue of the old headmaster, whispered the password in his ear and walked in to find Snape waiting for them. Draco decided to just cut to the chase.

"Professor, Hermione found a book that describes the spell and lists the symptoms of Esprit Luttez," he said, handing the book over so Snape could look at it. Snape took the book from him and skimmed through the contents.

"Where did you find this?" Snape asked, with the same look of shock Draco had had.

"In a shop at Hogsmeade called Malanno Libro Campeggio," Hermione said, with a look of triumph on her face.

"Ah, I know that place well," was all he said for a moment. "You read up and Draco and I can practice on this gnome until we attempt it on you again."

Hermione took her seat at her desk and started to read. She had only been reading a short time when she found what she was looking for.

"Here, listen," she said. "Like all complicated spells, Esprit Luttez has side effects. Victims have been known to had periods of forgetfulness. They will not remember what they did for a certain amount of time, lasting from one minute to a day. Fainting is also common when just put under the spell. Fatigue is prompted by the lose of memory, not remembering what happened for a certain amount of time, gives the illusion that the person was sleeping. This in turn, makes them think they can stay awake for hours. Mood changes are also common. A person could go from being extremely happy to being extremely depressed, in a matter of seconds."

"Well," was all Draco could get out. "That solves that problem.

"Doesn't seem too bad," Hermione said, looking at Snape.

"No it doesn't," Snape said. He paused and stared into the fire, thinking.

"Something wrong, Professor?"

"No," he said looking back at them. "Why don't you come over here now and we'll try again."

"I still don't get why if Draco isn't really going to put the spell on me, he has to actually be able to do it."

"Because, Ms. Granger, if you happen to 'freak out' and he is asked to make you do something, then he will really have to make you do it."

"But –."

"No but's, Ms. Granger, just get over here," he said. So, Hermione rose from the chair and stood in between Snape and Draco.

"Alright, Draco, concentrate hard on what you want to make her do," Snape said. Draco gave Hermione a smirk and she glared back. Draco hesitated before casting the spell.

"Esprit, Luttez!" he said. Hermione fainted on the spot and Snape caught her and gently laid her on the ground. "Oh, my God! I killed! I killed her!" Draco shouted, as he ran towards her limp body. He knelt down.

Snape bent over her, checking for a pulse when Hermione started to laugh. She opened her eyes to look into Draco's. He wasn't laughing, neither was Snape. She sat up right, resting her weight on her hands.

"Good acting, huh?" she said smiling.

"Not funny, Hermione!" Draco shouted.

"Hey, if I fooled you, I can fool Voldemort, sorry, Professor, the Dark Lord."

"Good, but let's try this again without acting," Snape said, pulling Hermione to her feet.

So they all took their places again. Draco took a moment to gather his thoughts and then looked up at Hermione and smiled. "I have told you before, love, payback is a bitch! Esprit Luttez!" And this time Draco nailed it. Hermione got a look of confusion on her face and it slowly turned to seduction. Hermione turned around to face her Professor and Draco kept his wand pointed at her back. Hermione wrapped her arms around Snape's neck and then kissed him. Snape tried to push her off but she was strong. Draco stood there, laughing. Snape grabbed her arms and threw them off of him and yelled at Draco to stop. Hermione's face went back to confusion and she fell to the floor feeling weak. Hermione couldn't really remember what she had just done but she felt like she liked Snape a little more. Like he wasn't so annoying. Draco was rolling on the floor laughing. After a moment Hermione realized what had happened.

"Professor, I thought this spell was supposed to change your mind SLOWLY, over time. Why did I just kiss you when you piss me off so much, or ..... or you used to?" Hermione asked putting her hands on her head and closing her eyes. She started to rub her temples.

"Ms. Granger, there is an initial rush, if you will, where the feeling or thought is complete, it is in full swing and then it stops. Then the feeling comes slowly, over time. This explains why you like me a little more than you used to. Mr. Malfoy," he said turning to face Draco and his tone changing with his body. "You will serve one weeks detention for the little stunt," Draco just kept on laughing

"It was totally worth it! You should have seen your face," he said, pointing to Snape and imitating his look of shock and terror, continuing to laugh.

At this point, Dumbledore walked in. "What is going on?" he asked, surveying the situation.

"Draco made me kiss Snape!" Hermione said, now finally realizing what had really happened and wiping her mouth.

"Excuse me?"

"With Esprit Luttez, Headmaster," Snape informed him.

"So, he mastered the spell?" Dumbledore said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes, Sir," Draco replied, trying his hardest to stop laughing.

"He still needs practice," Snape said, glaring at him. "Get up!"

"Not on me, he doesn't!" Hermione said. Draco did as he was told and he then helped Hermione to her feet. She pushed his hand away and got up herself.

"Ah, so is Ms. Granger ready?" Dumbledore asked turning to face her.

"Ready for what?" She asked looking at each of them in turn, a nervous feeling conquering her stomach.

"Relax. I am just going to put a spell on you. It's just a spell to protect you. If you are ever in danger, all the members of the Order will be informed, immediately and come to your aid," Dumbledore explained.

"Oh, okay," she said the nervous feeling not entirely leaving her stomach.

"Stand there, and it's best if you close your eyes. You will get dizzy."

"Great!" she said sarcastically, as she closed her eyes. Dumbledore raised his wand to her eye level.

"Adjuratio Dimicellus!" Hermione felt like she was spinning and her head began to hurt. She closed her eyes tight waiting for it to stop. It all stopped abruptly and she stumbled and Draco grabbed on to her, giving her balance. "Mr. Malfoy, help her back to bed will you?"

"Yes, Sir," Draco said leading her to the door. She tried to shake him off but tripped and had to grab onto the door frame. He grabbed her arm again.

"See you all tomorrow."

"Good night, Professors," they said together and left the room.

They didn't speak most of the way to the common room. When they turned down the final hallway, Draco looked at Hermione, one hand on the small of her back and the other on her arm. "You okay, love?"

"Yeah," she said casually. Little did her know what she had in store for him. They walked into the common room, where Katie, Hannah, Owen, Terry and Velius, Terry had picked him up from Professor McGonagall, were sitting on the couches, talking. Velius was in Hannah's lap. Hermione and Draco sat down and they all talked for a little while before Hermione decided to go to bed.

"Night guys!" she said, getting up.

"Night, Hermione!" they all chimed.

"Night, Herminniny!" Velius said.

"Night, baby," she said kissing him on the head. She turned to Draco and he stood up. She put her arms on his shoulders and said, "Good night, Draco LEPIDUS Malfoy!"

"HERMIONE!" He shouted. She turned and started to climb the stairs.

"Your middle name is Lepidus?" Terry asked a smirk forming on his face.

"Lepitatus! Lepitatus!" Velius shouted laughing.

"You said you wouldn't tell anyone!" Draco shouted to Hermione.

"IF you didn't pull anything to make me look stupid, which you DID!" The four others looked at each other in confusion.

"Your middle name is Lepidus?" Terry said laughing now, along with the others.

"See what you did, Hermione?" he shouted up the stairs.

"Lepidus! That is great!" Terry said, rolling on the ground, tears streaming down his face. "That is great! GREAT!"

"In the words of Draco Lepidus Malfoy," Hermione shouted over the balcony, "Payback is a bitch!"

"HERMIONE!"

"In the words of Hermione Anne Granger," Hermione continued..

"Oh, Anne, that's a sweet middle name and it fits so well!" Hannah said. Draco gave her a death glare. She froze.

"Revenge, sure is sweet!" She said turning and going to bed.

Hermione sat in the common room in one of the big comfy arm chairs by the window. She was watching all the snowflakes, so soft and peaceful, falling to the ground. She thought about how each snowflake was different, special, with its own design.. She thought that each one resembled a different person, special in their own way as well. Each one fell at its own rate and time, ending on the ground, dissolving in an endless abyss. Hermione felt that her snowflake was falling fast, only to be lost forever.

It was the day before Hermione was to be initiated and even though everything was working out as planned, she was still scared. She still had a feeling of hopelessness in her stomach. She still played the 'What If?' game in her head.

Draco took to pacing. He had a feeling of hopelessness in his stomach. He didn't know how to make Hermione feel better when he, himself, was feeling terrible, too. All they could do was wait it out.

It was after ten and Velius had already gone to bed. Hannah and Katie were at the snack bar, looking for something to eat and Terry and Owen were, once again, playing chess. Draco came over and sat next to Hermione.

"You want to go for a walk?" he asked her softly.

"Not really," she said, staring out the window.

"You want to go down to the kitchen and get some coffee?"

"Not really."

"Then what do you want to do?"

"Nothing really," she said. Draco hated to see her just sitting there. He needed, to keep his sanity, for her to get up and do something. It was killing him knowing that she was thinking about what might happen.

"Okay, come on," he said, grabbing her arm and lifting her up from the chair. "We're going for a walk."

"No," she said in a whiny voice, trying to get away from him. He was too strong for her, though. He pulled her towards the door.

"We'll see you guys in a little while," Draco said.

"Draco, let go."

"Bye," Owen called after them.

"What is wrong with them?" Terry asked.

"I don't know," Katie said, with a worried look on her face.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

"Draco, I just want to go to bed!" Hermione said, as he dragged her towards the kitchen.

"Hermione, if you go to bed, you know that you won't sleep. All you'll do is think and then I won't be able to sleep because I'll know that that is what you are doing and I can't stand to see, or even think about you being worried. I want you to go to bed feeling confident," Draco said, pulling her down the hall.

"Yeah, well, that's not going to happen," she said, finally giving up the struggle and just walking with him.

"Let's just go get some coffee, okay?" he said.

"Coffee is a stimulant, Draco. It will only keep me awake longer!"

"So, let's get some tea."

"Tea is a stimulant too."

"Hot cocoa!" he said. She didn't say anything so he knew that he had stumped her. They came to the kitchen and Draco tickled the pear. They walked in and were soon surrounded by house elves. They sat at a table and their hot cocoa's were brought to them.

"So," Draco said, "What's wrong?" Hermione just looked at him. That was a stupid question, he knew what was wrong. "Hermione, I don't know what you want me to do! I want to make this as easy as possible for you but I can't do that unless you tell me how!"

"Draco, I don't know how! I'm worried! I'm scared!"

"Of what?"

"Losing you! Losing Harry and Ron! Losing Velius! Disappointing Dumbledore and Harry and you! I'm scared for my life!"

"I'm scared too, Hermione! Of the same things, well except for losing Harry and Ron, but you know," he said, smiling and she cracked a small smile too. "I'm not going anywhere, though!"

"How do you know that?"

"Because I am not going to leave you, I never will! I will always protect you! I am not about to let anything happen to you OR Velius! You are my family now!"

"How can you be sure though?"

"I'm not. We have to live life, thinking that the end is just around the corner.. We have to make the best of the time we are given! We can't keep playing the 'What If ?' game. We have to take it one moment at a time. You have to be strong though. I need you to be strong. Harry, Velius and Dumbledore need you to be strong."

"I'm trying. I'm just so scared," she said after staring into the fire for a moment.

"Don't be! I will be there! Snape will be there and you have the spell on you! Everyone will come running if anything happens to you! I need you to trust me!"

"I do trust you!" she snapped at him.

"Then believe me when I say that I will not let anything happen to you."

"But–."

"No but's. Trust me!" He said, leaning into kiss her. Hermione kissed him back. He was right. She had to just go through this thinking the best would happen. Everything was going to be fine.

"Fine," she said, pulling away.

"Okay," Draco went into smug mode. "So since we're living like this is our last night together then we should make the best of it, right?" Draco said, smirking.

"Yeah?" Hermione said skeptically.

"So, your bedroom or mine?" Draco said, a huge smile on his face now.

"DRACO!" She said, rising from the chair, but she couldn't help but smile too. She hid that from him though.

"Well, there's always a broom closet, but that wouldn't be too comfortable, don't you think?" He said, following Hermione towards the door.

"You are a bad person!" "Hey, I don't want to die a virgin!"

"You're not going to die a virgin!" She said, walking out of the kitchen, Draco on her heels.

"What if I die tomorrow?"

"You're not going to die tomorrow!"

"You're no fun!"

"Thank you!" she said, her nose in the air. Draco grabbed her hand and whipped her round. He pulled her body towards his. He placed his hands on her hips and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He kissed her softly on the lips and she was the one that made their kiss deeper. Hermione never felt more close to him than in that moment. She wanted to stay there forever. Draco pulled away from her and kissed her forehead.

"Let's go back," he said.

"Do we have to?" she said ,kissing his lips again.

"Yes, you don't want rumors started do you?" he said, smiling.

"You're right," she said. "You better not start any of your own!" she said glaring at him.

"Now why would I do that?" he said, a sarcastic shocked look on his face.

"You tell me!" she said, skeptically.

"I don't know!" he said, a smirk on his face.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Draco woke on Saturday morning with a feeling of dread. His stomach was in knots and his head was spinning. His legs felt weak and he couldn't stop fidgeting. He had taken to pacing a lot lately. He got dressed and sat on his bed.

"Everything will be fine. Nothing will go wrong. It will all work out just like it's supposed to," he said to himself.

Velius turned in his bed. Draco felt a pang of fatherly emotions. He wanted to do everything he could to keep his little brother safe. He loved him with all his heart and would have killed himself if anything ever happened to him. He also didn't want Velius to be left alone in this world. He had to do everything possible to keep himself alive, so that he could protect his brother. This is what got him out of bed in the morning and got him to eat at meals. This is what got him to do good in school so that he could provide his brother with a good life with a loving family. All of this he had learned from Hermione.

Hermione, in the next room started to stir in her bed, as well. She had felt like her body had gone numd, yetshe felt her heart in her throat, beating a shallow, rapid pulse. Just thinking about the night to come made her want to faint. She got dressed too, and gave herself a similar pep talk as Draco had. She snuck out of the bedroom, making sure not to wake the girls, and went to Draco's room.

She quietly entered his room to find Draco pacing and Velius fast asleep, hanging over the side of his bed. Hermione looked at Draco and then at Velius, doing a double take. She went over to Velius and put him back up on his bed. She tucked the blankets around so that they were snug.She then walked over to Draco and stepped in his line of pacing. He stopped and looked at her. He searched her face for an emotion, but he didn't find worry and frustration. He didn't know what he saw but it confused him.

Hermione looked into his eyes and saw that he was scared and worried. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him towards her. She put her hands to his face and kissed him softly. More teasingly than to ease his worry. She pulled away and looked him in the eye again.

"Draco, everything will be fine," she whispered in his ear. "We can do this."

"We can. You're right," he said trying to convince himself.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-

Hermione was sitting on the couch in front of the fire. Everyone else had already gone down to the village. She was waiting for Draco to come back from dropping Velius off with Professor Dumbledore. Draco wanted to keep an extra close eye on him today.

Hermione decided to stay in the room while Draco dropped him off. She needed a little peace and quiet. The three of them had spent the morning and early afternoon playing in the snow. She needed a little time now to get her mind in the right mode, to compose herself. She sat there with her eyes closed, humming a lullaby her mother used to sing to her when she was little. She focused on the words, playing in her head.

Sleep, sleep, my child

Let the worries and pains of day pass,

Sleep, sleep, my child

Tomorrow we start anew

Hermione hummed this verse over and over. She was on her fourth time through we she felt soft lips, touch hers. She opened her eyes to find herself staring at her boyfriend.

"Time to go, love," Draco whispered.

"Okay," she replied. She rose from the couch and wrapped a cloak around her body. Draco grabbed her hand and together they made their way down to the village, without saying a word. The pair had planned on going to get a butterbeer before going to meet Snape but neither felt that they could stomach it, so they went immediately to meet their Professor.

Snape stood at the entrance to the alley. On the other side of the alleyway, Draco knew that his Father waited. He hadn't seen or heard from him since the night that his Mother had died and Velius had been brought to him. He didn't know what his Father's emotions toward the topic would be, or if he even knew that Draco had Velius.

"Good evening," Snape said in his usual stern voice. Hermione thought that he was trying to make it seem like nothing was different. That everything was normal, even though they all knew that it wasn't.

"Good evening, Professor," Hermione mumbled. Draco didn't say anything. He just stared down the dark alley, focusing on what lay ahead.

"Are you both ready?"

"No, Sir," Hermione said.

"Well, you best be ready by the time we get there," Snape said, before turning and walking down the alley. The dark had surrounded him before either of the two moved a muscle.

"Come on," Draco prompted her. She didn't move though. "Hermione?"

"Yeah?" she said as she stared at the spot where Snape had disappeared, never taking her eyes off it.

"We have to go, love," said Draco, as he stepped into her line of vision.

"I know," she said. Draco gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as he pulled her into the darkness.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

As Hermione and Draco came out of the alleyway, they saw their Professor and Lucius Malfoy shaking hands. Lucius had a confused look on his face.

"Tell me, Severus, why are you here?" Lucius asked, staring from his son to his companion.

"Well, for the safety of the children. I thought that it might be best if I came with them through Hogsmeade," Snape replied.

"Ah," Lucius replied, with a suspicious look on his face. "Draco, you have done well!" he said looking at his son and referring to the situation with Hermione. "Miss Granger, delighted to see you have decided to join the victorious side," he said extending a hand. Hermione froze. Draco squeezed her hand and let go of it so that she could shake his Father's hand. She extended her hand and the two met. She immediately felt the blood in her veins freeze, her heart stopped beating and her mind went blank. The two parted and Hermione felt normal again. Draco quickly grabbed a hold of her hand.

"Shall we be on then?" Snape said.

"Yes, we shall," Lucius said, smirking at Hermione.

"Yes, Sir," Draco replied. Hermione didn't say anything. She wanted to run. She couldn't do this. Lucius Malfoy would know that something was up if she didn't say something soon and yet her vocal chords refused to move, make a sound.

Draco looked at her face. She looked scared and he knew that his Father would pick up on it quickly.

"Let's go then," Snape persisted. So on they went down a new road. This road was empty much like the one Draco had traveled down to his initiation, but not deserted. There were shops and cafes but few or no people wandered the streets. These shops and cafes were not like the ones of Hogsmeade. They were dark and many didn't even have signs depicting what each store was. You could tell though by the objects in the window. All dark stores.

Lucius and Snape discussed many topics and Draco and Hermione stayed back a little. After about half an hour of walking, Draco stopped her and watched as his Professor and Father walked on.

"Hermione, don't be afraid. I need you to act normal, this whole thing could go to hell!" he whispered.

"I know! I'm sorry! I'm just so scared. I can't get words out. They freeze in my throat," she said, looking at the ground, too ashamed to look him in the face.

"Love, I am here, so is Professor Snape. I am not about to let anything happen to you, neither is he! Don't worry!" he said leaning in to kiss her. He kissed her deeply and pulled her body towards his. He wanted to make her assured that he was not going to let anything to happen to her.

"Okay," she said, pulling away.

"Draco!" Lucius called. He and Snape had stopped to see where the two had gone. "We don't have all day!" he snapped.

"Coming," Draco shouted. He grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled her along the road, while the other two waited for them to catch up. Hermione wished they wouldn't have. She didn't like being around Lucius. She wondered what it would be like being around fifty death eaters instead of just one.

Now the road turned more deserted. Trees started to grow and get thicker, and the shops and buildings started to get fewer.

"Coming," he said, as the two started down the path again. The gravel road they traveled down soon turned into dead, brown grass with the occasional patch of gravel, yet was still easy to follow. It looked as it had been traveled often. Trees started to surround them. They got thicker the farther they walked. They were free of leaves now and covered in icicles. Snow started to cover the path.

Hermione breathed deep and smelt the winter air. It was crisp and made her lungs freeze as it came into her chest. She caught the occasional smell of burning timber. She would have given anything to be in front of the fire in the common room right now. She wrapped the cloak around her body closer and shivered. Her feet were starting to feel numb and her hands already were. She had forgotten her gloves.

This walk was much shorter than the one Draco had made. Draco's heart was pounding in his chest, trying to break free. He was sweating, even though his body was frozen. He was wishing that he could jump in a hot shower, when Snape spoke.

"We have arrived," he said. Hermione and Draco looked around for a house, a building, something, but didn't see anything.

"Where?" Draco asked.

"Don't ask stupid questions, Draco," Lucius said. Hermione didn't think that it was very stupid, as they were stranded in the middle of a forest with nothing around. No death eaters, no Voldemort and most importantly, no facility to hold a meeting. The only thing Hermione saw was an old broken tree saw next to some rotting tree trunks. Then it hit her.

"A port key," she said.

"Good, Ms. Granger," Lucius said. "At least we know we chose the right witch," he continued sarcastically. He seemed to be in a very touchy mood at the moment and Hermione didn't want anything to do with him, not that she would if he were in any other mood.

"Let's go, it's time," Snape said, leading them to the saw. Snape picked it up and held it out to the other three. They all took a hold and within seconds were spinning through the air. Hermione closed her eyes hoping that it would make her stomach stop doing somersaults, and soon realized that it didn't help. Draco closed his eyes as well, but this was only to stop him from getting dizzy. It all stopped as suddenly as it began. Their feet touched ground and Hermione was thankful.

When she opened her eyes she was in a dark hallway. There was a man standing there in a black cloak and his face covered. The man took the port key from them and they started down the dimly lit hallway.

Every few feet along the wall hung a torch held in a bracket that was shaped like a snake. The walls were made of stone, looked like marble. With every step they took along the cobblestone floor, the hall filled with noise and echoed along with them. They walked for a while and soon came to a door, much like the one Draco had seen last time. Engraved on it was the Dark Mark. Lucius whispered a password in Latin and the door opened to show another circular room.

They walked in to see people, but Hermione did not know many of them. The only people Hermione recognized were Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy and...................Neville?!

"Draco," she said sternly pulling on his arm and making him stop walking. Snape and Lucius quickly went over to a group of older death eaters, leaving the pair alone.

"What?" he asked.

"Is that Neville?" she said, pointing.

"Longbottom?" he asked, confused and then followed her finger. "Merlin!"

"I knew it!" she whispered.

"You knew?" Draco asked even more confused. He looked around to make sure that no one was listening. He saw that his Father and Snape were off talking to Mr. Goyle.

"I suspected," she said. "He must be being initiated too." At this point Neville spotted them and had started to walk towards them.

"Hermione? I didn't know that you were joining. I never would have guessed with you being so close to Potter," he said.

"I should say the same about you, Neville," she said.

"What made you turn?"

"Oh, Draco here opened my eyes," she said grabbing his hand, more for support than for show. "What about you?"

"My father."

"Your father, I thought your parents were in St. Mungo's," Hermione said. Hermione now had no doubt that he was a trader, but he was just acting the part like her. She wanted to yell and kick the shit out of him. How could he do this?

"Yeah, well they aren't my real parents. Long story to be told another time, but my real father is Professor Windmere," he said casually. Draco jumped from shock.

"What?" he asked. Thoughts started racing through his head. Windmere has another son? The father of my brother, has another son? Draco's mind was going crazy. Hermione sensed this and tried to get away from Neville so that he could calm down.

"Neville, um, we are going to go talk to Crabbe and Goyle, we'll be back in a little while," Hermione said. She pulled Draco to the side. He stared off into space with a confused look on his face.

"Draco?" she asked trying to bring him back to earth. "Draco?" she said a little louder this time.

"What?"

"Are you okay?"

"Do you think that I'm okay?" he asked sternly.

"Draco, I know that this is shocking news but can we please deal with it later, we have bigger problems right now."

"You knew?" he said, staring at her now. She was a little taken aback by this question.

"I had a suspicion."

"And you didn't come to me? You didn't tell me that the father of my brother had another son? So close to him that he could have caused Velius harm. How many times have Neville and Velius been in the same room together? How many times could Neville have caused him harm?" Draco's rage was boiling over the surface. It was Hermione who had shown him the light. Who had taught him that above all things he should protect his brother, and yet here she was letting someone who could do great harm to him in the same room? This didn't make sense.

"Draco, I didn't think about it! I didn't think that it would matter. I wanted to be sure before I told anyon–."

"Hermione, we are supposed to tell each other everything. That is a relationship and I would have guessed that being in the situation that we are in, you would have come to me right away. We are in this together."

"I know, Draco."

"Then, why? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know!" There was a moments silence. Neither said a word. Hermione knew that Draco was pissed and he was right. She should have told. She made a mistake and she should have taken Velius into account but hadn't. She wanted to tell him this but then a door on the other side of the room opened and in walked Voldemort. Hermione froze.

Draco looked across the room as he heard the door open and the room quieted. He wanted to finish this, but couldn't. He grabbed Hermione's arm, a little harder than usual and dragged her over to Snape and his Father. They were forming the circle.

Hermione wanted to run. She wanted to run from the room screaming at the top of her lungs. She felt so alone right now. She knew that Draco was mad at her and that did not comfort her. She needed him right now. She wanted to start crying, her bottom lip started to tremble.

Draco looked in her face and for the moment decided to forget his anger. He placed his hand on the small of her back and whispered in her ear.

"Don't worry. I'm here," was all he said. Hermione felt slightly more comforted knowing that he was at least still with her, but she still wanted to start crying like a baby.

"Good evening," Voldemort said as he sat down in the only chair on the other side of the room.

"Tonight, is a hurdle crossed towards our victory. Tonight we gain the power needed to get to Harry Potter," at this moment every one started to mutter under their breath, obviously learning of this for the first time and wondering what this power was. Only Draco, Hermione, Snape and Lucius stayed quiet.

"Let the initiations begin," He said. "Tonight we will only gain two more, but these two are of great significance. Let's start with Neville Longbottom," Voldemort said. At this point Hermione watched Neville step forward and kneel in front of the Dark Lord and bow his head.

"Do you swear to perform all tasks given to you with pride and unwavering loyalty?" Voldemort said routinely.

"Yes, Master," she heard Neville reply. His voice was strong and unwavering.

"Do you swear to serve no other Master or if you do you are willing to suffer for it?"

"Yes, Master."

"Do you accept the Dark Mark on you arm as a sign of loyalty and faith in me?"

"Yes, Master." "Then stand and receive it," Neville stood up and looked his Master in the eyes. "Roll up your left sleeve," Neville did so and extended his arm. Voldemort took out his wand and grabbed Neville's hand. He placed the wand on his arm and started to engrave the Dark Mark. Draco stood and watched, used to it now, but still remembered the pain. The searing pain in his arm. He felt sorry for Hermione and her undeniable fate. He would have given anything to take it for her but knew that he couldn't. He hated that fact that all he could do was stand by and watch.

Neville's face scrunched up and Draco knew that he wanted to scream but couldn't. Hermione watched in horror as Neville tried to stay still and run at the same time. His face went red and the vein in his head was pounding on his skin as if trying to escape. Voldemort continued to sketch with a smile on his small, pale, malicious face. All of a sudden it stopped. Neville exhaled and inhaled very quickly.

"Welcome, friend, join our circle with pride," Voldemort said and Neville went back to stand with his father. Hermione started to breath very quickly. She was next. Her heart started pounding and her legs went numb.

"Now, for the addition to change our fate forever," Voldemort said. "Miss Hermione Granger," he called. Everyone started to mutter excitedly again. Hermione didn't move. Draco pushed on her back but she wouldn't budge.

"Hermione," he whispered through the side of his mouth, "GO!"

"I can't, Draco. I can't do it," she said closing her eyes.

"Miss Granger," Voldemort called again. Snape looked at her. He knew that this was going down hill and was trying desperately to think of something.

"Hermione, you need to go or we will die!" Draco said, softly.

"MR. MALFOY!" Voldemort called.

"Yes, Master?" Draco said, looking him in the eye.

"Is your task completed or not?" he said getting angry.

"Yes, Sir," Draco said.

"Then why is she not up here?"

"She will be, Sir," Draco said and turned back to Hermione. "Don't make me use it Hermione," he said pleading in a whisper. "Please don't make me use it!" She looked him in the eye. She had to go. She knew she had to. She forced herself to take one step. Then another. She heard Draco give a sigh of relief. She heard Snape give one too. She made her way towards the man she detested so much. She knelt on the floor and bowed her head. She knew she was trembling and thought that this was over anyway. Someone would notice and they would be revealed. They would die. She told herself to stop.

" Do you swear to perform all tasks given to you with pride and unwavering loyalty?" It took a moment for Hermione to get up the strength to answer.

"Yes, Master," she said and surprisingly her voice was firm.

"Do you swear to serve no other Master or if you do you are willing to suffer for it?"

"Yes, Master," she said again, this time easier than the first. She felt as if she was swearing loyalty to Dumbledore rather than Voldemort and she felt safe.

"Do you accept the Dark Mark on you arm as a sign of loyalty and faith in me?"

"Yes, Master," Hermione felt brave now, like everything was going to be okay. This would work.

"Then stand and receive it," He said. Whatever feelings of bravery Hermione had, washed away with these words. She slowly rose from the ground and stared the man in the face. His red eyes bore into her soul. Hermione thought that he would read her true feelings and that would be the end. "Roll up your left sleeve," Hermione did so and extended her arm. Voldemort took a firm grip of it and took out his wand.

Hermione inhaled deeply and before she knew it her arm was on fire. Searing pain that flowed through her entire body. Her head started pounding, focusing on the pain. Her heart beat twice as fast and felt like it was going to explode. Her lungs felt like they were clogged. No air went in or out. She became dizzy from the lack of oxygen and wanted to just fall down in the ground. Hermione felt tears strolling down her face and she concentrated on not screaming.

Draco had to look away. He couldn't watch her in so much pain, pain that he had put her in. It was his fault. He was pissed at her, but he loved her and he had caused her this pain.

Voldemort stopped drawing and lowered his wand. He let go of her hand and she grabbed it with her other hand. The Dark Mark was red on her arm.. It still burned and she thought that the pain would never go away.

"Welcome, friend, join our circle with pride," he said and she looked him in the face one last time. How she loathed him. She started back towards her boyfriend.

"This is all for tonight," Voldemort said. "I am tired, as are they," he said gesturing towards Hermione and Neville. "We shall meet again soon," and with that he rose from his chair and left the room, leaving the death eaters.

That's it? Hermione asked herself. So simple and short?

"Are you okay?" Draco asked.

"No," she said flatly.

"Congratulations, Miss Granger," Lucius said. He shook her hand.

"Thank you, Sir," she said, gritting her teeth.

"I'm very proud of you," Snape said softly to her.

"Thank you, Professor," she said back.

"Hermione!" Pansy Parkinson came running up. "Congratulations!" she said hugging her.

"Thank... you?" Hermione said. This was weird.

"I think that we should be getting you back to the school," Snape said, pushing them towards the door. Lucius followed. Grabbe and Goyle came and said a quick hello, congratulations and then a good bye. The four started up the hallway and didn't say anything. Draco couldn't look Hermione in the face.

They came to the man with the port keys and went back to the path in the woods. They started back towards the school and still no one spoke. After a little while, Lucius stopped.

"I am going to be heading this way, now," he said, pointing down a different path that Hermione hadn't even noticed. "Snape is with you so I will take this way back. It's shorter. Congratulations again, Miss Granger. Good bye, Son and Severus, keep a good eye on him," he said. Draco and Hermione didn't say anything and Severus shook Lucius' hand and said good bye, and then they were taking their separate roads.

The cold soon got to Hermione and she was thankful. Her arm was on fire and there was no way of putting it out but the cold at least helped. She looked at her arm and it had started to turn black. It just reminded her of how she had failed. They shouldn't be proud of her they should be disappointed, yet Draco had his arm around her and Snape occasionally put a comforting hand on her shoulder. When he did this for the fourth time, she exploded.

"STOP!" she screamed. Draco and Snape both backed away in shock.

"Hermione?" Draco asked confused.

"No, stop, just stop!" she said kneeling on the ground crying now. Draco and Snape looked at each other confused and then Draco knelt down next to her.

"Hermione, what's wrong?" he asked softly.

"Why are you so proud? What did I do that made you proud of me? I failed! I was scared and I chickened out. I could have gotten us all killed and you're proud? I betrayed Harry and you're proud?" she said sobbing.

"Hermione, you didn't betray Harry, your helping him. You didn't chicken out and you did it. That is why we are proud of you. You did what others couldn't. You are a strong person and I am proud of you."

"But–," she started.

"No but, okay? I am proud of you no matter what," he said. He took her in his arms and hugged her tightly. He kissed her lips softly. "Okay?" he asked reassuringly.

"Okay," she said softly, after a few moments of contemplation. She lifter herself off the ground and they continued to walk. Snape just stared at the teenage girl. Hormones!

Everyone stayed quiet for the rest of the cold, dark walk home. In the Entrance Hall Hermione and Draco left Snape as he made his way down to the dungeons. They entered the common room to find Hannah and Terry on one couch, doing what they usually do, making out. They found Katie on another couch asleep with Velius in her lap, his head resting on her shoulder, she must have picked him up for Dumbledore for them and Owen was no where in site.

"You two could get a room," Draco said and they stopped making out and looked at him.

"Fine," Terry said, leading Hannah upstairs.

"Okay," Hermione said as she plopped down on the couch that Hannah and Terry had vacated just seconds ago. Katie woke up then.

"Hello," she said with Velius still asleep in her lap. "Where have you been?"

"Hi, would you do me a favor and put Velius to bed?" Draco asked, avoiding the question.

"Yeah, but I don't know the password to your room."

"Lucius," Draco said.

"Okay, after that I am going to bed," she said, picking up the sleeping child and carrying him upstairs.

"Lucius?" Hermione asked.

"Had to pick something that wasn't obvious," Draco said. "Now I have to change it."

"I am so tired."

"I can't believe that you didn't tell me, Hermione," Draco said, referring to the Neville/Windmere problem.

"Draco, please, not right now," she said getting up from the couch, ready to walk up the stairs.

"Hermione, stop," Draco said. She turned to face her boyfriend. She waited for him to speak. "Just promise me that you will tell me these things in the future. I tell you everything. I want to know every suspicion, every worry, I have a right to know."

"I'm sorry, Draco. I didn't think that it was that big of a deal. It didn't occur to me."

"I don't care, just promise me."

"I promise," she said. Draco looked in her straight in the eyes and Hermione knew that he was evaluating her, seeing if she was telling the truth. "Good night, Draco," she said turning to walk up the stairs.

"Stop."

"I am so tired. What do you want –," she was cut off when his lips locked with hers. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close.

"Did you really think that you were getting away that easily?" he whispered in her ear before kissing her neck.

"A girl can try," she said trying not to giggle as he tickled her ear with his lips. Hermione grabbed his face with one hand on each cheek and kissed him deeply before saying good night.

"Why do you always do that?" he asked annoyed. He wanted more and she always teased and then left.

"Because it's fun to watch you squirm," she called down the stairs before closing her bedroom door.

Draco made his way upstairs and changed his password quickly before walking into his room. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Terry and Hannah making out on his bed.

"I SAID GET A ROOM, NOT MY ROOM!" he shouted at them as they ran out the door.


Hermione sat in the library starring at her history book. She must have read the same paragraph fifty times and still didn't know what it said. Her mind was on Harry. She hadn't really seen or talked to him for at least two weeks, since before her initiation. She hadn't had time to talk to him in their classes and she couldn't talk to him in the common room because they no longer shared one. Then, what spare time she had aside from doing homework, she was with Draco and Velius. She hadn't really talked to him about her being initiated either and she felt a pang of guilt from not really asking his opinion. All of the "what ifs" were rolling around in her head.

She rolled up her sleeve and looked at the black skull that now took a permanent residence on her arm. She pulled her sleeve back down and glanced around the deserted library. It was Saturday morning, exactly two weeks after her initiation. The sun had started to rise about half an hour ago and Hermione had already been there for two or three hours. She was having a lot of trouble sleeping these days. Most of her time was occupied with thoughts of Harry, Ron, Draco, Velius and Voldemort. Five men that were so much a part of her life, even if she didn't want them to be. Well, if she didn't want one to be.

She wondered what it was she was supposed to do now. She had no instructions and she felt lost. What did Dumbledore want her to do? What did Voldemort want her to do? Everything was just so confusing. She placed her head down on the desk and closed her eyes. She felt so open and exposed.

Draco came up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She jumped out of her chair and wheeled around with her wand at the ready. Draco stepped back about ten feet and held up his hands.

"It's just me!"

"You scared the shit out of me!" she said, trying to control her breathing that had become very fast and shallow. She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands and stiffled a yawn.

"How long have you been here?" Draco asked, walking towards her.

"About three or four hours," she replied, sitting back down. Draco sat next to her.

"Why would you do something like that? On a Saturday? I mean I know that you're a school maniac but come on, Hermione!"

"I couldn't sleep, okay?" she snapped at him.

"What's bothering you?" he asked, seeing the frustrated expression on her face. It was a moment before she spoke.

"Harry."

"I KNEW IT!" he shouted rising to his feet. "I knew he liked you! He's been bothering you? That's it, I'm going to kick his ass! Him and Ron, I've known all alo-," he was cut off.

"Draco, Harry hasn't been harrassing me. He doesn't like me. Ron, maybe. He just won't get out of my mind."

"What?" he said sitting down again, confused.

"I just can't stop thinking about him."

"WHAT!?!"

"Not like that! How many cups of coffee did you have this morning?" she said looking at him with her brow raised.

"About seven."

"You can tell," she said, critically, then turning her tone serious. "I just never really asked Harry what he thought about this whole situation. I don't know how he feels and I'm scared that he'll be mad at me!"

"Why would he be mad at you?"

"Because."

"Great answer!" he said, scowling at her. She scowled back.

"Because, if he didn't want me to do it, then he'll be mad that I did! Plain and simple! Either he's mad or he's not."

"To be or not to be? That is the question," he said, in a very Shakesperian acsent.

"When did you learn muggle writing?" she asked shocked and yet couldn't help but laugh at how stupid he looked.

"Duh, library!"

"Oh, sorry!"

"My bet is that he is! Mad at you, I mean," Draco said, smirking.

"Not helping!" she almost shouted.

"Hermione, just go talk to him. It can't be that bad. Just tell him that you did it on Dumbledores orders. It's the truth and if he is mad, he'll learn to accept it. He might even be really happy in the long run," Draco said running his fingers through her hair. He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.

"You're right!" she said. "I just have to tell him."

"Okay, well, I'm hungry and I want food and Velius has to be up by now, so, are you going to come to breakfast?" he asked rising from his chair.

"No, I want to get this finished and then I'm going to go talk to Harry," she said pointing to her history book.

"You are such a loser," he said, after realizing that she was serious and looking from the book to her.

"Yeah, but you're the one dating the loser, which is worse!" she smirked back at him. He kissed her again on the lips and then left the library. Hermione watched him walk out of the big oak doors and she realized more than ever how much she loved him. What would she do without him?

With her mind at ease for the moment she went back to doing her history homework.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Hermione made her way towards the Gryffindor common room. She whispered the password and walked in, ignoring the Fat Lady's singing as she went. The room was deserted and then she remembered that everyone was at breakfast. She decided that she would wait for him.

As students started to come back and fill the common room, Harry didn't appear. She went over to the window to find that him, Ron, Neville, Dean, Seamus, Ginny and Parvati were having a snowball fight. Hermione smirked as she watched them and then raced down to try and catch Harry.

She walked outside and wrapped her robe around her. She searched the grounds for them and when she spotted the group she yelled out to Harry.

"HARRY!"

WHAM! A snowball hit her right in the side of the face. She turned to see who had thrown it and was not shocked to see that it had been Ron. He threw another at her apparently trying to get her to join in on the fun. The second snowball hit her right in the stomach and she couldn't help but wince when it hit. Another hit her in the back and she turned to find that Harry had hit her that time.

"HEY!" she shouted. Another came flying at her and hit her head again. She looked in the direction that it came from. "GINNY!" she shouted shocked. They were all laughing at her. "THAT'S IT! YOU'RE ALL GOING DOWN!" She picked up a bunch of snow and threw it at Ron, it hit him square in the chest. She threw another atHarry that hit his shoulder. She chucked one at Ginny and hit her in stomach. Then, theyall threw snowballs at Hermione at the same time, causing her to fall to the ground.

"I SURRENDER!" she shouted and Ron ran over to help her up.

"You okay?" he asked, trying his hardest not to laugh.

"Yeah," she said, laughing as well. The other six came over to greet her. They were laughing too.

"Sorry about that, Hermione," Harry said.

"Yeah, what's with ganging up on me?" she said, sarcastically glaring at all of them in turn.

"It was just funny to see the look of shock on your face," Ron said laughing, hysterically. Hermions threw a snowball right at the middle of his face. He immediately stopped laughing and looked like his best friend had just shot him. Hermionefell to the groundlaughing. So did Harry. Ginny grabbed onto Dean to stop herself from falling. Neville and Seamus kept their balance but couldn't stop laughing.

"Now, that was funny!" Hermione managed to say through breathes. Ron whipped the snow off his face.

"That was so not funny!" He said. "Now it's payback time!" With that the snowball fight started up again and turned into every man for himself.

When they were all finally cold and wet, they decided to go inside and warm up. They made their way to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione went to go tell Draco were she was and to change. She entered the common room to hear screaming.

"Terry, I can't believe you!" Hannah shouted. They were standing on opposite sides of the room.

"I didn't do anything! You're over reacting! LIKE YOU ALWAYS DO!"

"Oh, I'm over reacting, am I? I DON'T THINK SO!"

"What is going on?" Hermione asked.

"TERRY WAS HUGGING PADMA PATIL!"

"Her grandfather passed away. I was conforting her!" Terry half shouted at Hannah and half explained to Hermione.

"Why can't her sister comfort her? Hmm?" Hannah snapped back at him.

"I was there! If Draco was the only one there when something like that happened to you, I'm sure that you would want him to comfort you! IT MEANT NOTHING!"

"PROVE IT!" Hannah shouted.

"I LOVE YOU!"

"What?" Hannah said shocked.

"I love you, Hannah," Terry said, walking to her and grabbing her around the hips.

"Are you serious?"

"I better be or my mind is screwing with me!"

"Good, well since everything is fixed here, I'm going to find my boyfriend," Hermione said making her way up the stairs to the dorms. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? She said the password and entered his room. He was sitting on the bed playing Wizard Chess with Velius. She went and sat next to him.

"Hi," Draco said. "Why are you all wet?"

"We had a snowball fight!" Hermione said, smiling.

"I see," Draco said.

"Does Velius even know how to play this?" She whispered in his ear. Velius was staring at the board intently, his hand on his chin, as if he was thinking. Hermione smiled at how cute he was.

"No, I just go with the flow and let him win," Draco whispered back. Hermione giggled.

"Well, do you mind if I go and spend the day with Harry and the others? I want to tell him about Neville and see what's going on between us?"

"Nothing I hope!" Draco said, looking at her.

"Not like that you, dumbas-, dumbhead!" Shesaid, rememberingthat Velius was in the room.

"Yeah, have fun!" He said, kissing her on the lips.

"Eww!" Velius said.

"Oh, you want one too, Velius?" she said, moving towards him.

"NOOOO!" He said getting up from the bed and running around the room. She chased him and finally caught him by the door. She picked him up in her arms and proceded to kiss his entire face. He objected the whole time, but giggled. Draco laughed too. She finally set him down and he ran back to the bed.

"I'll come and see you guys before bed!" She said.

"Okay, say hi to everyone for me," Draco said.

"What? You're not going to play with us?" Velius said, giving her puppy eyes. Her heart melted at the look of sadness on his face.

"No, I'm going to play with you guys tomorrow. We're going to make a snowman!" She said.

"Really?"

"Really!"

"YEAH!"

Hermione kissed Draco one last time and kissed Velius on the head and then went to go changed out of her wet clothes. She walked downstairs to find Terry and Hannah making out on the couch. She decided to run past that and then went to Gryffindor Tower.

She found the bunch in the good chairs in front of the fire. They were drinking hot cocoa. Ginny handed her a cup as she sat down.

"So, how's Draco?" Ginny asked.

"Do we really have to talk about him?" Ron asked.

"He's fine," Hermione said, ignoring him. "He says 'Hi' to all!"

"He could have come," Ginny said.

"No, he couldn't have," Ron said.

"Oh, he has Velius and he knows that I just need to spend some time with my friends right now,"Hermione said, again ignoring Ron.

"So what have you been up to, Hermione?" Ginny asked.

"Oh, nothing really, school, prefect duty and some other things that just take up so much time. How about you guys?"

"School, um lets see, school and what else, oh yeah, school!" Harry said.

"Sounds fun!" Hermione said.

"Oh, yeah real fun! Especially watching you freak everytime a teacher gives a project. You should have seen your face in Potions when Snape gave us our project. It was great!" Ron said, laughing. With that everything seemed back to normal. They talked until dinner and then after Ron and Harry started a game of chess, Dean, Neville and Seamus played Exploding Snap and Ginny, Parvati and Hermione sat an talked some more on the couch. As the night went on and people started going to bed, Hermione started to worry about what she was going to say to Harry. When it was just her, Harry and Ron left in the common room, her stomach started doing backflips. Everything had seemed fine during the day, but could he be putting on an act? Ron stiffled a yawn.

"I'm going to bed," he said, starting for the stairs. When would she tell Ron? Would Harry?

"Night, Ron," Hermione said. Ron stopped in his tracks and walked back towards her. He pulled her off the couch and gave her a huge hug. Hermione had to admit that she was surprised by this, but she was happy about it.

"Good night, Hermione."

"Night, Ron," she said again, still a little taken aback.

"I miss you," he said, pulling out of the hug.

"I miss you, too. I promise that from now on I'll come and hang out with you guys more. I should have a little more time now."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Night, Hermione," he said, heading for the stairs.

"Night."

"I'll be there in a little while, Ron," Harry said. After they had heard the boys door closed, Hermione turned to Harry.

"What was that?" She asked.

"He just misses you. We all do."

"I know, Harry and I'm doing the best that I can. I just have so much to do!"

"Like what? All of the other prefects have time for their friends. Katie is in here at least three times a week, if not more!"

"Yeah, well she doesn't have a boyfriend and a child to look after and she isn't out trying to help you!" Hermione said, getting frustrated. She found herself not looking him in the eyes.

"What do you mean?" he asked a little sceptic. Hermione didn't move for a moment. Then she slowly rolled up her left sleeve, revealing the Dark Mark. Harry looked shocked.

"When?" Was all he could get out.

"Two weeks ago."

"Why?"

"I have always wanted to help you, Harry and I feel that this is the only way of-."

"No, why didn't you come to me before hand?"

"I did! Draco and I told both you and Ron what the plan was and I know that we never really specified a lot of things but there was no time. It was a now or never thing! Please don't be mad!" Harry didn't speak for a few moments.

"Are you safe?" he asked after his long silence.

"Very."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"And you want to do this?"

"Very much so."

"If something happened to you, Hermione-." he choked up. Hermione was taken aback by this too. She went and sat next to him on the couch.

"It won't," she said placing her hand on his.

Harry stared into her eyes, checking to see if she was sincere, she didn't look away. He hugged her and she hugged him back.

"Hermione, you and Ron are my family-," she cut him off.

"I know, and your a part of mine too, and family protect each other. I have to do this. I want to do this," she said. He was quiet for another moment.

"Okay," he said.

"I have your blessing?" she asked excitedly.

"Yes," he said.

"Thank you! I was so worried that you would be mad! Just don't tell Ron, yet. I want to tell him, but I need you there so that he doesn't kill me!"

"Okay," he said smiling at her.

"But, there is one thing that you need to know."

"What's that?" he asked. Hermione lowered her voice.

"Neville is a death eater."

"He's in the Order too!?! Why am I not in it?" he said, almost shouting.

"No, Harry. Neville is a real death eater. I don't want to talk about it here. We can go to Dumbledore's office tomorrow and talk."

"Wait. What?"

"You heard me! We can't talk about it here. I shouldn't have told you now. Just be careful what you do and say around him, okay?"

"Okay, but you're telling me all about it tomorrow."

"Fine. I should get back though," she said as the clock tower struck midnight.

"Yeah, do you want me to walk you back?"

"No, I'll be fine," she said, raising from the couch.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, it's just a couple of halls away, Harry."

"I know. I just worry."

"Harry, Dumbledore wouldn't have let me do this if it wasn't safe and we're at Hogwarts, the safest place in the whole wizarding community. I think I'll be okay."

"Okay, good night," he said going towards the stairs. He stopped and turned around. "Hermione?"

"Yeah?" she said, turning to face him again.

"I love you," he stopped there. "As a friend, I mean, like family."

"I love you too, Harry, as family."

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Hermione's heart was soaring. Harry wasn't mad!She wanted to skip down the hall, singing. She was recollecting about what a great time she had that day when she turned a corner and ran into someone. Assuming it was Snape, she mumbled an apology and was coming up with excuses for being out so late, when she looked into the man's face.

"Good evening, Miss Granger."

"Good evening, Professor Windmere," she replied, frozen to the spot. Maybe Harry should have walked her back. Her heart stopped beating and she couldn't breath. She was alone with a man that could only cause harm.

"Might I ask what you are doing out past midnight?"

"I was on my way back to my dorm. I spent the evening in the Gryffindor common room, attending to the prefect needs of my students." The prefect needs of my students?

"Well, hurry along, you don't want Snape or Filch to find you out in the corridors at this time of night," he said, giving her a smile.

"Oh, yes, good night, Sir," she said. She turned and started to breath, but he called back to her.

"Miss Granger?"

"Yes, Professor?" she asked spinning around, trying to hide the fear in her voice.

"Congratulations."

"For what?" she asked, confused.

"Why, your initiation. We are all very pleased to see you have made the right decision."

"Thank you, Sir and congratulations to you too."

"About?" he said, looking even more confused than she had been.

"Well, Neville and his initiation. I am sure that you are very proud of your son."

"Oh, I didn't know that you knew he was my son," he said. OH SHIT! She tought of how she could know that he was his son. She shouldn't have said that!

"Well, he was next to you a the initiation ceremony and I just assumed," she said, making a quick recovery.

"Well, you assumed correct, Miss Granger. Keep that up and we'll be in good shape. Keep a sharp eye."

"I will, Sir," she said and then turned to leave for bed. She did't see the look that her Professor was giving her. A look of suspicion. He would need to watch her.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

"Where have you been?" Draco asked as she walked into the common room. He was sitting on the couch in front of the fire.

"I told you I was with Harry and everyone today," she said sitting next to him.

"I know, but I didn't think that you would be ALL day," he said wrapping his arm around her shoulder and kissing her neck.

"Yeah, well, if you can stop sucking my neck for a minute I have something to tell you," she said pulling away and facing him.

"What's up?" he asked looking a little worried.

"I ran into Professor Windmere on the way back tonight?"

"So?"

"Draco, he said 'congratulations', I said 'congratulations', he said 'why?', I said 'Neville', then secretly said 'Oh shit!'"

"Oh shit!" he said, looking into the fire.

"Yeah! He doesn't know that we know that Nevill is his son. I said that I figured that he was because they were standing next to each other a initiation, but what if he doesn't believe me?"

"Don't worry, we'll tell Dumbledore in the morning and keep an eye on him."

"You're right, there's nothing we can do now! I'm going to bed though. I'm really tired," she said getting up from the couch. Draco grabbed her wrist.

"I don't think so. I haven't seen you all day and that is the good night you give me?" He pulled her back down to the couch and leaned over her. He kissed her deeply. She pulled him closer and they laid next to each other. Draco wrapped his arms around her waist and half held her from falling off the couch and half because he didn't want to let go. He kissed her neck.

"Okay, maybe I'll stay down here for a few minutes."

Hermione and Draco were making their way to Dumbledore's office. The sun was shining through the tall windows and when you looked out you were blinded from the light reflecting off the four feet of snow they had gotten that night. They walked down the hallway hand in hand and only let go when they came to the top of the stairs that led to Dumbledore's office. Hermione tapped three times. It was only a moment before Dumbledore came to the door.

"Good Morning, Miss Granger, Mister Malfoy," he said, cheerfully. "Come in, would you like some tea?"

"No, thank you, Sir," Draco said sitting down in one of the chairs in front of Dumbledore's desk. Dumbledore was on the other side pouring himself a cup.

"I will, thank you," Hermione said, as she sat down.

"Fine, if everyone is going to have one, then I guess I will too," Draco said, rolling his eyes. Hermione and Dumbledore both looked at him quizzically.

"Okay," Dumbledore said and he poured a third cup of tea. He handed them to the pair. "So, what brings you to me on this glorious December morning?"

"Well, Sir," Hermione started.

"I love the snow! "Dumbledore cut her off. He walked over to the window. "Don't you?" He added turning to look at them.

"Well, yes, but we have important things to tell you, Professor," Hermione said. She did love the snow though!

"Ah, yes, only business could have kept you from enjoying this weather," Dumbledore said, sitting down behind his desk.

"Are you alright, Professor?"

"Yes, I just love the snow!" He took a sip of his tea. "And I tried those Pop Rock candies you muggles have."

"Ah, that explains it!"

"Yes, so, what is it you need to tell me?"

"Well, you see, Professor I had spent the day in the Gryffindor tower yesterday and didn't leave until about midnight. As I was walking back I ran into Professor Windmere and I accidentally acknowledged that I knew that Neville was his son. He gave me a weird response and I don't ever remember him or Neville telling me that he was his son. I said that from initiation, I just kind of assumed."

"Ah, I knew that bringing him here was a bad idea. I shouldn't have listened to Snape," Dumbledore said putting his cup down.

"What? It was Snape's idea to bring him here? Why would he do that? How do we know that he is trustworthy?" Draco said, very fast, sitting up straight in his chair.

"Mister Malfoy, there are many things that I know that you don't about Severus Snape and hear you me, I know that he is trustworthy. I would trust him with my life," Dumbledore said in a firm voice, one Hermione had heard only a few times.

"Professor, what are you saying?"

"Professor Snape and I thought that it might be a good idea to have someone here that Voldemort trusted and would think is getting inside information, when Snape was really giving him false information. Snape was getting the information that we needed, real information, but we never thought that we would have students getting involved and we never knew that Mister Longbottom was in any way related to Calais Windmere. That is one of the many unexpected twists that hasbeen dropped on us."

"So now what?" Draco asked.

"Everything has a way of working to our advantage Mister Malfoy."

"What about this time? Windmere could suspect Hermione of something?"

"He could, but that is why we have Snape. It's just like chess, Mister Malfoy, you have to think five moves ahead. Snape will reinforce the fact that Miss Granger is on their side. Then we can say that Hermione was told by Neville in passing-," Draco cut him off.

"Hermione!"

"What?" She said, jumping about a foot in the air.

"Didn't hemention it at initiation?"

"Oh, Merlin! He did! He said that it was a long story to be told at another time! You're right!" she said, standing upin her excitement.

"You see, there is nothing to worry about," Dumbledore said, smiling. "This also will work for Voldemort, or that is what he will think. With you so good friends with Harry and then with Neville, it is very easy to get to him, or so he thinks."

"Professor, why would you let a Death Eater into the school with Harry?" Hermione asked, a little angry that he would even consider such a thing.

"Miss Granger, I know that you loveMr. Potterand I know that you don't want anything to happen to him, but I assure you that he is protected in more ways than even he knows. You have nothing to worry about." Hermione couldn't help but believe him, with his twinkling eyes and his ear to ear smile.

"Sir, might we be able to bring Harry and Ron here and talk to them about all of this? Harry doesn't really know about Windmere and Neville yet and we want to tell them as soon as possible."

"Yes, come by, the door should be unlocked and if I am not here, just tell Harry to call to Fawks."

"Thank you, Sir," they said at the same time and then headed for the door. When they were halfway Dumbledore yelled.

"OH!" He had disappearedunder his desk and then popped back up. Hermione and Draco turned to see what he was doing.

"Professor?" Hermione asked.

"I found another one!"

"Another what?" she said, fearing that she shouldn't have.

"Pop Rocks!" He said holding up another package. Hermione giggled and Draco just rolled his eyes. They both walked out the door and left the old wizard to his fun.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

"So, where are we going again?" Ron asked as the four walked towards Dumbledore's office.

"Dumbledore's office, Ron for the thousandth time!" Hermione said. Her stomach was doing back flips and her nerves felt like they were on fire. What would Ron say? They reached the stair case and Hermione whispered the password, which had just been changed to Pop Rocks. They walked up the stairs and knocked. When no one answered, Hermione told Harry to call out to Fawks. The door soon swung open and they saw Fawks fly back to her stand.

"So, what's going on?" Ron asked as he sat down.

"Well," Hermione started, "we have some things to tell you."

"Like?" Ron asked. Hermione slowly rolled up her left sleeve, revealing her Dark Mark. "MERLIN!"

"Ron, keep quiet!"

"What the bloody hell did you do? I thought you were joking!"

"Well, I wasn't! Now, sit!" He sat. Harry was looking intently at her. "Ron, and Harry, I did this to help us all. I wanted to take action, I'm very safe and this can only help Harry and all of us in the end."

"Hermione, why?"

"Because I wanted to! Ron, Harry and I have already talked about this and I have his blessing and I only hope that you will give me yours! That's all I want. That is what will give me the strength for the tasks that I have to do. Knowing that you are behind me is the best kind of protection I can ask for," Hermione started to tear up and Draco wrapped his arm around her waist.

"Hermione, I will support but I can't lose you!" Ron said, barely able to get it out. Hermione thought that this was very uncharacteristic of him.

"You won't! I promise!"

"Hermione, you never make promises that you can't keep, don't start now."

"I can keep this one," she said. Ron looked her in the eyes and then slowly rose from his chair. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and gave her a tight hug. Hermione hugged him back, her arms wrapped around his skinny chest. She let go and he sat back down, then so did she and Draco.

"So tell me about Neville," Harry said.

"What about Neville?" Ron asked, looking from Harry to Hermione to Draco.

"Neville's a death eater too," Draco said.

"Wait, Neville gets to be in the Order but Harry and I don't? How out of place is that?"

"Ron, Neville isn't in the Order," Hermione said.

"Well, he can't be a real death eater! That's absurd!"

"Not as absurd as you think because he is! I know that you and Harry don't really say anything to him about Voldemort and everything but you really need to be careful about what you say. You need to be cautious and always make sure that he can't overhear you!"

"This is too weird. Are you sure?"

"Ron, I watched him get initiated and Dumbledore didn't know about it until we told him! I watched him pledge his allegiance and not the way I did! Not to Dumbledore and Harry but to Voldemort, himself!"

"Okay, okay, no need to go all crazy on me!"

"You also need to watch out for Professor Windmere," Draco said.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Windmere, he's Neville's father and a death eater as well. He's been a family 'friend' of ours since before I was born."

"Hermione?" Harry said, looking to her for confirmation.

"It's true, he was there the night that wewere initiated, Neville confirmed that Windmere is his father and Dumbledore didn't know anything about it. For once the man doesn't know everything."

"Shocker!" Ron said.

"Tell me about!" Hermione replied.

"But, I thought that Neville's parents were in St. Mungo's," Harry said, looking confused.

"Yeah, we have yet to learn about that. I was hoping to come in contact with Neville this week and get the 'long story.' I'll inform you both when we know what really happened, but Windmere is his biological father, that's what we know for sure."

"So, just don't do or say anything in front of Windmere or Neville," Draco warned.

"You never really know people, do you?" Ron said, casually.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;

It was December 24th and Hermione still hadn't talked to Neville. Time was slipping through her fingers. She hadn't recieved any word from Voldemort either. This made her a little unsettled, but she promised herself that she wouldn't worry about that today. It was Christmas Eve and she was going to have fun with her friends and loved ones.She and Draco were the only two prefects that had stayed behind. Harry stayed, like always, so did Ron, Ginny and Neville, which they all knew was coming. Why Neville pass up a chance to be so close to Harry?

Hermione kept thinking that this would be the perfect time to attack, if she were Voldemort. Few people in the castle andfive of which are his 'followers.' This made Hermione very frustrated that she hadn't heard anything. Had Windmere said something? Was something wrong?

Draco, Hermione, Velius, Harry, Ron Ginny and Neville were on their way to go play in the snow. Hermione had promised Velius that they would make a snowman and she always kept a promise. The front doors opened and light flooded the Entrance Hall. Velius immediatly ran into the snow, as if he had never seen it before, and was soon followed by Harry and Ron. They started a game of Snowball Freeze Tag. If you hit someone with a snowball they had to freeze in place until one of their other team members came and tagged them. Then they were free to take aim again. Neville didn't really feel like playing so he sat on the side. It was Harry, Ron and Ginny against Hermione, Draco and Velius.

Ginny threw one at Hermione and barely missed her left shoulder. Hermione threw one back and hit her in the leg. Ginny froze and called out to her brother to come and save her.

Velius had huge mittens on and couldn't really pack the snow together, so he just kept throwing clouds of snow at Harry. Harry tried to run but Velius was fast and hit him in the back of the head with a bunch of snow. He froze and Velius screamed joyfully, proclaiming, "I gots him! I gots him!"

Velius then proceded to run past Harry but Harry grabbed him by the hood of his cloak and pulled him back. They wrestled to the ground until Velius was sitting on Harry's chest, both laughing. Ron ran over and tagged Harry. Harry got up and left Velius to Ginny. She was chasing him around a tree by the time Harry had gotten off the ground. Harry and Ron then turned to Hermione. She screamed and ran.

"NO ONE GOES AFTER MY BROTHER AND MY GIRLFRIEND WITHOUT GOING THROUGH ME!" Draco shouted at Harry and Ron, tossing a snowball up and down in the air.They stopped in their tracks and then turned to Draco. They ran at him and Draco ran at Hermione and hid behind her back using her as a shield.

"Draco, what are you doing?" Hermione yelled, as she got pelted with snowballs. He had her by the arms and kept ducking her behind her back. "Draco, be a man!" she said, laughing. He was laughing too.

"I dont' want to!" He yelled, as Harry ran behind Hermione and threw one at him, just missing him. Draco ran and Ron sprinted after him. Ron threw one and it hit him square in the back, but he didn't stop running.

"Hey, I got you!" Ron shouted. Ron ran after Draco and dove at him. He grabbed Draco's legs and tackled him to the ground. Hermione looked on in shock and couldn't help but laugh.

"YEAH, RON, YEAH!" Harry yelled.

"DWACO!" Velius yelled when he saw them on the ground. He ran over and jumped on Ron's back. Draco squeezed out of Ron's grasp and got up. Velius refused to move from Ron's back. Hermione had to go and pick him up off of him.

"I think it's time that we build our snowman," she said.

"SNOWMAN! SNOWMAN!" Velius screamed, loudly. Draco started a ball and they were soon building Velius' first snowman.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Windmere was in his office watching the children on the grounds. He noticed his son sitting on the side. Good decision, my boy, observe, find their weaknesses.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

After they were all soaked and the sun had set, they went in. After changing into pajamas, everyone went to the Prefects Common Room. They had hot cocoa and sat in front of the fire.

"So, what do you guys want to do now?" Ginny asked.

"Has anyone ever heard 'The Night Before Christmas?'" Hermione asked. Velius was sitting in her lap, Draco next to her with his arm around her shoulder.

"I have," Harry said.

"We haven't," Ron exclaimed.

"Do you all want to hear it?" She asked.

"Yeah," they all said in unison."

"Tell me, tell me," Velius said excitedly.

"Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there," Hermione had heard this story every Christmas Eve as a child and made a point to remember it word for word. They all sat quiet and stared at her intently, smiles on their faces.

"The children were nestled all snug in their beds, while visions of sugarplums dance in their heads."

"Yum, sugarplums!" Ron said. Hermione continuted to tell the story, until Velius had fallen asleep in her arms and Harry was dozing with his mouth open. Ginny, Ron, Neville and Draco were the only ones awake to hear the end.

"He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle, and away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, 'Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

"Wow! That was awesome!" Neville said.

"Glad you all liked it!" Hermione said. "I'm going to go put Velius to bed, you guys."

"We're going to go put him to bed too," Ron said, gesturing to Harry.

"You can stay, I'll be down in a minute."

"No, it's fine, we're all tired," Ron said, poking Harry. Ginny pulled herself off the couch. Harry woke up slowly.

"Wha?" he said.

"Let's go," Ron said. "Night all, Happy Christmas!"

"You too," Hermione and Draco said together. Hermione was holding Velius in her arms and was half way up the stairs.

"Neville?" Hermione shouted.

"Yeah?" He asked, turning to face her.

"Maybe you can tell me that story tomorrow?" She said.

"What story?" he asked, looking confused.

"The long one," she gestured toward her left arm.

"Oh, yeah, sure," he said and then they all left.

Hermione put Velius in his bed and tucked him in. She kissed him on the head and he rolled over, clinging to his stuffed dragon. Draco kissed him too and then sat on the bed. Hermione laid down next to him.

"Can I give you your present now?" Draco asked.

"Ohhh! Of course!" Hermione said, sitting up. "But you don't get your's till the morning!"

"That's fine, I just can't wait any longer," he said. He went over to hisnightstand and pulled out a little box. He sat next to Hermione. She gasped when she saw that it was a ring box. He took her left hand in his and she held her breath.

"It's not what you think," Draco said. "Well, it kind of is, but just listen," he took a deep breath. "Hermione, you have changed my life in so many ways. You opened my eyes and took my hand when no one else would. You led me down a path that I never thought I could go down and I love you with all of my heart. I don't know what I would do without you."

Hermione started to tear up. Draco stopped to take another breath.

"I don't want to spend that rest of my life without, and I don't think that I could. I don't expect you to feel the same as I do. We've only really known each other for a couple of months, but I can't keep these feelings inside anymore."

He opened the box, to reveal a gold ring. In the center of it was a diamond that was one karat. On one side was an emerald that was half a karat and on the other side of the diamond was a ruby that was also half a karat.

"Draco," Hermione whispered, barely audible.

"Now, it's not an engagement ring. It's a promise ring. I promise to you, by giving it to you that I will love no one else and by you wearing, you promise the same to me, but I am not asking you to marry me, just to wait for me."

"Draco," she said again. Draco slid the ring onto her lift hand ring finger. She looked at the ring and played with it with her right hand. She looked him in the eyes. "I don't know what to say."

"The diamond is supposed to tie the ruby and emerald together. It's supposed to signify you and me."

"I don't know what to say!"

"I love you," Draco said.

"I love you too, Draco," she said before leaning in and kissing him deeply. She leaned back. "So does this mean that we're official, official?" she said, smiling at him.

"I thought we were already official, official."

"Oh,shit, I better break things off with Ron, then. Oh, and I should talk to Owen too."

"Shut up, you little brat," he said before kissing her again.

"Hey guys! Thanks for all the great reviews! Sorry that this chapter took a little longer to get up then the last one! Hope you enjoy"-

Draco awoke on Christmas morning with his girlfriend in one arm and his little brother in the other. Hermione slept peacefully, while Veliusstarted jumping on the bed trying to get Draco and her up.

"Christmas! Come on! I want presents" Velius said jumping up and down.

"Shhhh" Draco said, putting a finger to his lips. "Let's wait until Hermione get's up, okay"

"No. Now" Velius said, crossing his arms across his chest. Draco sensed a tantrum brewing and went to get out of bed when Hermione awoke.

"It's okay," she said. "We can open them now." She rolled onto her back and Draco leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.

"Ewwww" Velius proclaimed. Hermione made towards him and he ran to his bed and got under the covers. She tickled him until he had tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Let's go and see what Santa brought you," she said. Hermione and Draco had been very worried about what they were going to do about presents for him. Neither of them had much money but they didn't want to ruin Velius' Christmas. They both had put in as much as they could but still were only able to get him a few things. Yet, when they got down stairs, the tree was surrounded with presents.

"Santa came! Santa came," Velius screamed as he ran down the stairs. Draco looked at Hermione in confusion and she looked at him with the same look on her face. "Come on, Dwaco! Herminniny"

They went and sat on the couch as Velius began to throw wrapping paper everywhere. Hermione and Draco watched in amazement as he unwrapped a toy broomstick, a toy wand, endless amounts of Honeydukes candy, some books and a new stuffed dragon.

"Where did it all come from?" Hermione whispered in Draco's ear, while they watched Velius stare in amazement at his new stuffed dragon.. Draco just shrugged his shoulder.

Hermione glanced at the tree and noticed an envelope hanging from one of the branches. She went to pick it up and found that it was addressed to her and Draco. She opened it to find a simple note written in curly handwriting.

Merry Christmas!

Your favorite Head Master

Hermione smiled as she read it. So Dumbledore was the one behind all this. She handed it to Draco and he smiled too. Velius had picked up his toy broom and was flying three feet off the ground all around the room. Draco placed the note on the table and walked over to Hermione. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Merry Christmas, love."

"Merry Christmas" she said kissing him on the lips again.

"So" Draco said, "Where's my present?"

"You are so greedy," She said freeing herself from him and walking towards the tree to get his present.

"You got your's last night," he shot back in defense.

"I didn't ask for it," She replied throwing a small box at him. He looked disappointed.

"This is it?" he asked looking up at her. He smirked as she threw a pillow from the couch at him. "I'm joking," He said, sitting down on the couch to open it. Hermione sat next to him. He opened the box to find a titanium band. "A ring?"

"Don't sound so excited! Look at the inside of it," He took the ring out of it's box and he looked on the inside of the ring. Engraved there was HG loves DM.

"Hermione," He said.

"Now we both have promise rings. Do you like it?" She asked.

"I love it," he said kissing her on the cheek. He put it on his left hand ring finger.

"Good," Hermione said, before leaning in and kissing him on the lips. Draco got up off the couch and lifted Hermione after him.

"Velius, let's go get some breakfast," Draco said. Velius hopped off the broom and ran towards the door. Draco wrapped his arm around Hermione's waist and kissed her on the lips softly. They then proceded to the Great Hall.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

After dropping Velius off with Harry and Ron, to Draco's dismay, they started to work on the final preparations for the Winter Dance.

"I can't believe that all four of them left this for us to deal with," Hermione said as they walked around the Great Hall to figure what portion could be used as an ice rink. The students hadn't come back yet from break. They were due back tomorrow and the dance was the night after that..

"Well, they asked us before they left if we could handle it," Draco said, writing something on the clipboard that he carried.

"If I had known that this is how it was going to be like, I would have said no."

"Well, anyways, it looks like we're done for the day. We can't do anything until tomorrow" he said, putting his arm around Hermione's waist and leading her out of the empty Hall.

"We will have to go to Dumbledore in the morning and get some of the teachers to help us," Hermione said. She exhaled loudly and rubbered her temples as they walked.

"What is bothering you so much, Hermione?" Draco asked, stopping her and looking into her eyes. He saw dispair and fear in her eyes.

"I am just so overwhelmed," she looked to the floor.

"There is something else, I see it in your eyes, Hermione," he said. She looked into his eyes in shock. She then looked back to the floor. They left the Great Hall and were making their way back to the common room.

"I'm worried about my task. Why hasn't it come yet? Do you think that they are on to me?"

"Hermione, you are acting crazy! They are not on to you and they just don't have anything for you to do yet," Draco said.

"Draco it has been a month since my initiation! You got yours two weeks after."

"Don't fret, love," She made to say something but was prevented by his lips. He pulled her close and kissed her deeply. He placed his hands on her neck and refused to let her pull away. He didn't do so himself until they were both out of breath. He pulled her into a hug.

"I love you," she said. "No matter what, you always ease my pain and make my life better. You amaze me" she added, looking into his eyes.

"I know," he said, smirking. She stared open mouthed at him.

"You are so cocky," she said, breaking free from his arms and continuing her way down the hall.

"But you love me anyways," he said chasing after her.

"That's what you think."

"Hermione," he said, grabbing her arm and looking into her eyes. "You are my life and I couldn't survive without you."

"Now that's better," she said, leaning into kiss him. She was about to make her kiss deeper when she heard someone clear their throat. They both turned to see who it was.

"Professor Windmere," Hermione said. "How are you today?" she asked, nervously.

"I have a letter for you," he said.

"A letter? Why did it come to you?" she said, freeing herself from Draco's arms and walking towards her Professor.

"Safe keeping. Didn't want anyone else to find it," he said holding it out to her. She took and began to open it. "Not now, child!"

Hermione knew that it was her task. Why else would there be such procautions? She turned the letter over to see the wax seal of the Dark Mark holding it closed. "Yes, sir."

"Go to your quarters and let no others see it," Windmere said, as he rounded the corner and left. Hermione stood and looked at the letter for a moment.

"Well, no shit, Sherlock," Draco said, as he walked over to his girlfriend and put his hand in hers. "He is so stupid! Like father, like son," But Hermione was paying attention to him. She didn't notice him kiss her softly on the cheek. She didn't hear his words of encouragement to her. She didn't even notice that her feet were carrying her towards their common room. All that she noticed was the seal of that envelope. The very mark that resounded on her arm. How she loathed that mark.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

"No, I think that it will look better over there," Katie continued to critize the arrangements Draco and Hermione had made for the dance. The train back from break had arrived that morning.

"Katie, if you had been here and not left this huge assignment on us, then you could possibly have some say in what is going on right now, but since you weren't, shut up!" Hermione spat. They had been running around all morning trying to get everything in place. Dumbledore had set up the ice rink, the teachers had set up the twelve trees and the tables had been set. There was snow falling from a silver-gray sky.

"I think that it looks great," Hannah said.

"Shut up, Hannah," Hermione and Katie both said at the same time. Hermione just was not in the mood for anything or anyone at the moment. She had been drained of all energy trying to set the Hall up and she didn't care to hear everyone's complaining. Hannah looked shocked and walked over to where Terry, Owen and Draco were talking.

"What did you do to her while we were gone to make her a real bitch," Hannah spat at Draco.

"I HEARD THAT!" Hermione shouted from across the hall. When it was empty, everything echoed.

"Oh, no, you can't blame...that... on me!" Draco responded, pointing to his girlfriend. "You were the ones that left this for us to handle and she's right! You did nothing to help and so you have no say."

"You both are mean," Hannah said, running out of the Hall. They all looked at Terry quizzically.

"It's that time of the month," he said, before chasing after her.

"Oh" Draco and Owen said together, expressing their understanding.

"I think maybe it's the same for Hermione too," Draco continued.

"I HEARD THAT!"

"I fear for you, man," Owen said.

"I fear for me too."

"Hermione, I didn't mean it like that," Katie was shouting after Hermione, as she ran out of the Hall. Draco watched Hermione run past and then turned to Katie.

"What did you say to her?"

"I just told her that I thought the table clothes were a little too deep a red and she just flipped out! What did you do to her?" She snapped at him.

"What the hell do you mean?"

"She was fine when we all left!"

"I didn't do anything! We were fine until you all came back."

"Yeah, well you better figure out what's up before I kill her," Katie said. Draco looked at her and glared before he ran after Hermione.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Hermione was in her room sitting on her bed. In her hand she held the note that contained her task. At first she had wanted Draco there with her to open it, but then she felt that she had to do it on her own and would not let him even be in the same room when she had done it. She didn't know why, that's just how it had happened. It had been a week since she first had opened it and she had not told anyone. Not even Snape and Dumbledore knew that she had gotten it. Draco kept bugging her about it and telling her that she needed to go to Dumbledore but she couldn't drag herself to do it.

She didn't want anything to do with any of it and she thought that maybe ignoring it would make it disappear, but she knew that it wouldn't. She needed time to come to terms with it. It wasn't even a bad task. She was just having second thoughts and she constantly scolded herself for that. She had felt so confident coming into this and now she didn't know what her feelings were.

She held the letter in her hand and stared at the words that were written across the paper. It was a wordy letter that basically explained that she was to find every secret passage into the castle, where they entered and if they were easily accessable from the outside. She knew that this would be simple with the Maurader's Map, but she wanted to know all of the plans before she did anything. She wanted to know what this information would be used for. She knew that they would use it to get into the castle but then what? She wanted to know every little detail but she knew that wasn't possible.

"Hermione, where are you going?" Hannah asked as she walked towards the portrait hole from her dorm. Draco looked up from the book he was reading to Velius infront of the fire. Katie and Owen were studing at one of the tables and Terry was sitting next to Hannah on the couch.

"Oh, I'm going to go and visit Harry and Ron," she lied. She was going to see Dumbledore, but she didn't want Draco to come with her. She needed to feel independent. She needed to be able to deal with these things. What if something happened to Draco? She needed to be able do these alone and be able to deal with losing him. The easiest way to do that, was to start now.

"Oh, tell them we all say 'hi,'" Katie called, looking back to her paper. Hermione looked at Draco and she saw the look in his eyes. Do you want me to go with? Was what they were saying. He knew where she was really going without her even telling him. She smiled at him and Velius, as Velius started to poke him in the chest, wanting him to finish the story, Hansel and Gretel.

"I will," Hermione said, as she walked out of the door.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Hermione knocked on Professor Dumbledore's door. There was no answer. She knocked again and this time she heard a mumbled reply. She slowly opened the door to find her headmaster with his head in his hands with his elbows on the desk. The penseive sat on the desk next to him.

"Professor?" she said, softly as not to startle him.

"Yes, Ms. Granger," he said, without even looking up.

"I need to talk to you."

"You have needed to talk to me for two weeks and yet you waited until now to come to me?" he said, still without looking up. She looked shocked but she knew that she shouldn't be because he knew everything that happened at this school. Surely he knew that she had gotten her task.

"Yes, sir and I -."

"Ms. Granger, may I advise that you not do that next time. Know that I am disappointed in you," at this point he looked up at her. She just stared at him.

"I am sorry, sir."

"What if it had been something serious, Ms. Granger. I need to know that I can trust you and I know that I can, but you have not shown that to me lately. I was beginning to worry that a spell had been cast over you. It was not until I had Professor Snape check on you that I was completely certain."

"You had Snape check up on me? How?"

"That is not for you to know."

"How did you know that I had gotten my task?"

"Mr. Malfoy came to me and I am glad that he did."

"That bastard!"

"Excuse me?" Dumbledore almost shouted.

"I'm sorry, Professor, but he gave me his word that he would let me do it on my own time. Wait, ho did he even know what my task was?"

"He was imclined to search your dorm for it, on my orders. Ms. Granger, you will learn that there is no such thing as your own time in the game of war! I thought that you were smarter then that! You are being selfish, something that I have never seen in you and quite frankly, I never want to see it again! You gave your word to protect our world and hesitation has no part in our cause. Never hesitate again. Hesitation kills."

"Yes, sir, but why would you betray me like that?"

"Why would you betray me by not telling me about your task, Ms. Granger?" he let that sink in. She felt ashamed and looked at the floor, but all the time anger was accumulating inside of her stomach. "Now, you may go."

"But Professor, what about my task?"

"It is being taken care of. I don't feel like talking anymore. Now go back to your dorm," he said, putting his head back down. She had never seen her Professor like this and it scared her. Something was really bothering him. She was pissed that she was been yelled at and she was even more pissed that Draco had broken his word to her and even worse, searched her dorm! She stormed back to the Prefect common room with anger she had never known.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Hermione walked into the common room to find everyone in their same places except for Draco and Velius. When she asked where they were, Katie said that they were up in their dorm. Hermione stormed up the stairs causing the group to look at each other confused. She threw open the door and found Velius asleep in his bed and Draco putting some toys away.

"We need to talk, she said," in an angered whisper.

"Okay," Draco replied, looking confused. He ushered her out of the dorm and told the others to keep an eye on his little brother and that they would be back in a little while. When they entered the hallway, Draco reached for her hand, but she pulled it back. "What's wrong? Did everything go okay?"

"Oh, yeah, everything went okay since Dumbledore already knew what it was," she spat at him. He looked shocked, scared even. "Draco, you gave me your word! I am having a hard time with this and I am trying to deal with it all and I don't need you going behind my back! You searched my room?How do you expect me to trust you now?"

"Hermione, something had to be said. I couldn't just let this go unnoticed."

"I got yelled at by Dumbledore, okay? Not really the greatest thing to have happen to you! Draco, this is hard for me okay! I will deal with it in my own way and time! I don't need you meddling around behind my back! I thought that we established that there would be no secrets, no lies. What was this?" He just looked at her.

"A secret and a lie" he said in a whisper.

"Well, I am glad that you are at least mature enough to admit that"

"I'm sorry, Hermione, but for the good of everything, I felt that I had to do what I did and I wouldn't have had to lie if you hadn't have lied to me first!" Hermione could not explain it but she felt very violated.

"How did I lie to you?"

"By not telling me what your task was!" He yelled. She was pissed and she felt like nothing was her own, which prompted her to say,

"I think that it's best if we see a little less of each other."

"What?"

"I need my space right now, Draco. I feel suffocated and like nothing is my own anymore. I need time to myself."

Draco looked at her shocked and he wasn't sure if he was really hearing this. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"Yes-no-yes-maybe," she didn't know what she wanted, except that she wanted time.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite understand that," Now he was getting furious. This was rediculous.

"Draco, I love you with all of my heart, but I just need a little time alone. Can we just try this and see what happens?" Hermione knew that she had pushed him over the edge when he just turned and walked away. He stepped through the portrait hole and she followed him. He stormed up the stairs and then slammed his door. She stood in the middle of the room as the other four looked at her.

"What just happened?" Owen asked her.

"I think that Draco is a little mad right now."

"No shit!" Terry said.

"Hermione, what happened out there?" Hannah asked.

"Draco and I may or may not have broken up."

"WHAT!" All four asked in unison.

"Hermione," Katie said.

"I don't want to talk about it," Hermione said as she too stormed up the stairs to her room.

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Draco paced his room. He was beyond furious. He didn't even understand what had just happened. What had made her act this way? Why would she want to end things? He didn't know what he was feeling right now. He wanted to cry, scream, punch something. This was bullshit! He felt so confused. What was to happen now? Had they really broken up or was she just saying things? Did she still even love him? She had said that she did but that might have been letting him down easy. Things had been perfect, what the hell happened?

-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-& quot;-"

Hermione lay flat on her bed, looking up at the ceiling. She felt relieved to have a little time to herself and not have to worry about something. But as she lay there she did start to worry about something. Had she just ruined the one good thing in her life?

Hermione woke the next morning with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Her heart ached and her mind was a mess of thoughts and emotions that she couldn't explain or control. She had spent half the night crying, screaming into her pillow and then throwing it at her dresser. She felt lost and alone, and to be honest, she was happy about it. This is what she wanted. This is what she needed. She knew that it would only be worse later.

"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-&q uot;-"

Draco spent the night doing pretty much the same thing. He had cried, yelled and punched his bedpost, which had left his hand swollen and blue. He was pissed and confused. What the hell was her problem? He knew that there was something more behind this then her just needing space and feeling overwhelmed. He knew that he shouldn't have gone behind her back and betrayed her the way that he had, but what could he have done? He knew though that that was not the only reason behind this ordeal. Something more was bothering her and he was going to find out what it was if it was the last thing he did.

"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-&q uot;-"

Hannah, Terry, Katie, Owen, Hermione and Draco, were making their way down to the Great Hall to make the finishing touches for the dance that night. The three girls were walking together ahead of the boys. Katie and Hannah were talking excitedly while Hermione pretended to be paying attention. She would give one or two word answers to any questions she was asked. She laughed occasionally and smiled but Katie and Hannah knew that she was unhappy. They avoided to topic though because they knew that if she wanted to talk, she would.

The guys on the other hand were pestering Draco about every detail.

"I don't know, guys," Draco said, as Terry made to ask another question. Hermione laughed aloud in front of them and Draco glared at her. "How can she be so up beat? That pisses me off, it's like she doesn't even care."

“Well, you can’t let something stupid like this ruin you guys! You have to get her
back!” Terry exclaimed.

“I can’t make her change her mind! She said that she needed space and she
is probably just really overwhelmed and doesn’t need the added stress of a
boyfriend,” Draco said softly. He didn’t want to be here.

“Bullshit! You guys are perfect together and I have never seen either of
you stress the other out,” Owen said.

“Guys, just drop it, okay?” He asked almost pleading. Hermione laughed loudly ahead of them. “Merlin, she pisses me off! How can she act like nothing happened? How come she isn’t
upset about this?” He growled as she laughed again. “It’s like she doesn’t
even care!”

"I think it's that she does care and she knows that she made a mistake and is just trying to hide her true feelings," Owen said.

"I think she's trying to make you jealous," Terry said, calmly, looking at a picture on the wall as they passed it.

"What!" Owen and Draco said together. They stopped and looked at him, but Terry kept walking for a moment and then realized that they weren't with him and turned around.

"Well, listen," Terry said. "We all know that she loves you, I think that she is testing you, trying to make you jealous and see what you do. I think she wants to know that you won't let something stupid ruin you two. I think that she's trying to get you to chase after her."

"You are so stupid, Terry!" Owen said, as they all started walking again. The girls were way down the hall now, about to turn the corner. Draco stared ahead at Hermione and didn't say anything.

"What?" Terry asked.

"I swear Terry, what Hannah sees in you I will never know, because you're not smart, you're not good looking, and you sure as hell aren't charming!"

"I swear I'm going to punch you in the face soon," Terry said.

"Why would you say shit like that to him? Especially if it's not true?" Owen asked.

"It could be true!"

"Shut up, Terry!"

"Well, if that's the game she's going to play, I think I'll play too. She wants to fuck with me, I think that I'll have a little fun!" Draco said, not paying attention to the others.

"What!" Owen said, grabbing Draco's arm. "You don't really believe him, do you?"

"What else could it be?" Draco said, looking at him.

"You're as stupid as he is!" Owen said, before walking off around the corner as well.

"I'll hold him, you can punch!" Terry said.

"That's okay, you go ahead and I'll meet you guys there," Draco said.

"Okay," Terry said, walking around the corner. At that moment, as if planned Pansy Parkinson came out of a classroom next to him.

"Hey, Draco," she said. Draco looked at her as an idea started brewing in his head.

"Hi, Pansy," he said.

"How are you?"

"Well, Hermione and I are having a little bit of a rough spot," he said.

"Oh, that's too bad," she said, with a smirk on her face.

"So, Pansy, do you want to go to the winter dance with me?" She just looked at him for a moment, smiling the whole time. Two could play at this game, Hermione.

"I would love to."

"Good, I'll pick you up at seven thirty."

"Great," she said. Draco started to walk towards the Great Hall.

"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-&q uot;-"

"So Hermione, are you and Draco still going to the dance together?" Hannah asked. Hermione cringed as that was said. She really didn't know. She knew that he was really upset with her, but she figured that they would still go.

"I don't know," she said. Draco had just walked into the Great Hall.

"Draco, come here, we're setting up seating," Katie called across the Hall. Draco walked over, with a smirk on his face.

"Why are you so happy?" Owen asked.

"Nothing," Draco said.

"Okay, so this will be easy," Katie said. She held a list of people that were going together in front of her. "This is our table. I am thinking, me, Owen, Terry, Hannah, Hermione, Draco," she said pointing to each chair as she said a name.

"Um, we need to add an extra seat," Draco said.

"Why?" Katie asked, looking at him in confusion.

"Because I would like to sit with my date."

"You are."

"No, I am not going with either Hermione or you," Draco said to her.

"Who are you going with?" Hermione asked, frustration in her voice.

"Pansy Parkinson."

"WHAT?" Owen yelled.

"I am going with Pansy, seeing as Hermione and me are no longer together, I see it unfit for us to go together," He said, still smirking. Hermione's heart was tearing into two. Everyone just looked at him. Hermione was on the verge of tears.

"Draco, prefects have to go together, we are the examples. If you remember, we have to try and desegregate our school. I can't allow you to go with another Slytherin," Katie said.

"Well, I think that everything will be fine and you can't tell me who I can and can not date. Just add one more seat," Hermione's temper was rising. Why was he so calm about this? She looked him in the face and he looked at her back, smiling. He was purposely trying to hurt her. She just turned around and walked right out the Great Hall, letting the tears fall from her eyes. Hannah ran after her.

"What the hell if your problem?" Owen yelled at him.

"Don't worry, I have this under control," Draco said, waving him off.

"Draco, you are such a DUMBASS! I hope that she doesn't take you back because you really are and asshole!" Owen said before chasing after her too. Katie just glared at him and then left as well. Terry walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Good job, man, well done!" He said, smiling.

"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-&q uot;-"

Hermione spent the rest of the day in her room crying. She didn't really want their relationship to end. This was a test on her part and on his. She just couldn't tell him her reasoning behind it because then they would never get through it because they would both know that it wasn't really over.

Katie and Hannah had spent hours trying to cheer her up. Finally it was time to call in the best friend patrol.

"Hermione?" Harry asked as he opened her bedroom door, followed by Ron. Hannah had gone to get them. Katie, who had been sitting with her, left the room. Hermione sat up on the bed and pulled her knees to her chest. Her cries were loud and uncontrolled. She was sobbing. Harry and Ron came and sat on either side of her. Ron put his arm around her and pulled her close.

"Hi, hon," Harry said.

"Hi," she said, softly, not looking him in the eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M OKAY?"

"Breath, Hermione. Take a deep breath," Ron said. She slowly inhaled and then exhaled even slower. She closed her eyes and tried to stop her tears. This is what she wanted. But not foerever!

"Tell us what happened," Harry said, putting a hand on her knee.

"I kind of broke up with Draco."

"If you broke up with him then why are you so upset?" Ron asked, making sure to keep his voice down.

"He pissed me off. He gave me his word and then broke it, I understand where he is coming from but he still broke it. That is reason number one. There is another reason but I don't want to tell you guys. The thing is that...," she started to sob again.

"Breath," Ron said. She inhaled and exhaled.

"The thing is that, I don't really want this to end, but to prepare for the future we both needed this. We are too close," she said.

"What is going to happen in the future?" Harry asked.

"Well, nothing for sure, but who knows!"

"Hermione, you're not making sense. You broke up with him for something that may or may not happen in the future?"

"I knew that you wouldn't understand!" she said starting to cry again. Ron tightened his grip around her and she cried into his shoulder.

"Shhh," he said into her ear.

"He is purposely trying to hurt me though."

"Hermione, I love you, but I think that this is really stupid! I don't get why you would do this," Harry said.

"He asked Pansy to the dance."

"And that is why you are so upset?"

"Yes, because to me it's not over, but to him it is! We obviously never meant anything to him!" She started bawling.

"Hermione, did you ever think that he is trying to make you jealous?"

"What?" She said, looking up.

"He's mad that you broke up with him and we all know that he loves you. He is probably trying to make you jealous so that you come running back to him," Harry explained. Hermione was quiet for a moment. She then got off the bed and threw a pillow at her dresser again.

"That bastard!"

"Breath," Ron said.

"STOP SAYING THAT!"

"Sorry."

"I can't believe him," she said, now pacing the room. "Well, two can play at this game."

"Hermione, not a good idea, just go to him and tell him what is really going on," Ron said.

"Oh no, he is going to pay. Ron, you and I are going to the dance together."

"What?" Harry and Ron both asked at the same time.

"You heard me, now go get ready!"

"Hermione, don't do this!" Harry said.

"Yeah, Hermione, I don't want to be a toy in your little game," Ron said.

"You don't have a choice," she said, smirking.

"Bullshit, I don't! I refuse to go with you!"

"Hermione if you don't go to him, I will. As much as I don't like the guy, I like him more than I did, and I don't want to see either of you hurt more than you already are!" Harry said.

"You will keep your mouth shut," she said, pointing to Harry. "And you will pick me up at seven thirty!" she said, pointing to Ron.

"No!" They both said.

"Yes!"

"Hermione, you are acting crazy!" Ron said.

"GO!" With that Harry and Ron walked out of the dorm. After they had shut the door, Harry turned to Ron.

"Should we go see Draco?"

"Are you kidding? She'd kill us!"

"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-&q uot;-"

At seven-fifteen, Hermione walked down the stairs and entered the common room. She was wearing jeans, a red sweater with a red, white, gold and blue striped scarf around her neck. She had on matching gloves. Her hair was in distinct curls and was half up, with a red ribbon in it. Her skates were hanging over her shoulder.

Hannah turned to look at her from the couch. "Oh, you look so cute, Hermione!"

Draco, turned to look at her too. Him and Velius were at the snack bar. Velius was hungry. Draco noticed that he was holding his breath but he didn't say anything to her. She smirked when she saw the look on his face.

"Thanks," she said sitting down next to Hannah.

"So, we're just waiting on Katie then?" Terry asked.

"Well, you guys can go but my date is picking me up here," she said. At this Draco looked at her.

"Oh, who are you going with?" he asked.

"Ron."

"What?" he said, trying not to laugh.

"Ron Weasley."

"I heard you the first time, but wow, I didn't think you were that desperate," he said looking back down at the peanut butter and jelly sandwich he was making Velius. Hermione rose and walked over to the snack bar.

"Yeah, and Pansy Parkinson is so much better," she said, leaning in towards him. He just looked at her. He handed Velius the sandwich, who immediately shoved it in his mouth, covering his face in jelly.

"Well, we have to go pick her up anyways," He said, grabbing Velius' free hand and leading him towards the door.

"Wat? Herminniny no come wit us?" He asked.

"Oh, Velius," she said, bending down and holding out her hands, gesturing for him to come to her. "I'll still see you there and you and I can skate together, but you're going to go with Draco and another girl."

"Why you no come wit us?" He said, tears starting to form in his eyes. Hermione didn't know what to say. What do you tell a child in a situation like that? Oh, your brother is an ass and doesn't want to go with me?

"Don't worry, I promise that I will see you there and we are going to have so much fun!"

"But I want you to come wit now," he said.

"Velius, this other girl is really nice too and we are going to have fun with her," Draco said, coming over and grabbing his hand.

"But, I no want go wit other girl!" He said, now crying. Hermione just glared at Draco as if saying, 'Look what you did!' Draco just picked Velius up and walked out the door as Velius held out his hand for Hermione, crying. It was all Hermione could do to stop from crying herself. Her heart was breaking and there was nothing that she could do about.

"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-"-&q uot;-"

Ron came right at seven thirty. Harry and Ginny were with him. They were now a couple and were hot and heavy. Ron didn't know that they had already been, um, intimate. Ginny had let that slip one day at lunch. Hermione had promised to keep her secret. Hermione still couldn't believe it though.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," Ron said. "Ready?"

"Yep."

"Are you okay?" Ginny asked, looking at her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. "Let's go."

The group made their way down to the Great Hall. When they arrived McGonagall and Dumbledore were at the door letting people in.

"Good Evening," Dumbledore said.

"Good Evening, Professors," the four of them said together, as they walked past them and into the Great Hall.

"Have fun!" McGonagall called after them.

The group walked into the Great Hall to find three levels of tables at the back of the Hall by the great, oak doors. Each table was covered in a beautiful silky, white table cloth. In the center of them was a large arrangement of red,white and pink poinsettias. The normal gold plates and utensils were set atop them.The tables took up the first half of the Hall.

The second half of the Hall was taken up by the huge ice rink that Dumbledore had put in. Around the rink stood the normal twelve trees, decorated in all their glory. There were snowflakes falling from the ceiling, which was purple with the stars shining brightly. Christmas carols were being played from somewhere and their were little penquins flopping around on the ice. There were snow drifts everywhere there wasn't tables or ice.

Harry and Ginny went to go sit at their table and Hermione led Ron over to the Prefect table, a seat had been added for him as well. Katie and Owen sat there talking.

"Hey guys," Hermione said as she sat down.

"Hi," they both said, looking at her.

"Hi, Ron," Katie added.

"Hello," he replied. Hermione glanced around the Hall and saw Draco and Pansy skating with Velius. Each had one of his hands, Draco the left and Pansy the right. She cringed as she saw Velius laughing and Draco and Pansy smiling at each other.

"Where are Terry and Hannah?" She asked.

"Well, I think they snuck behind the third tree on this side, but it might have been the fourth," Owen said.

"Ah," Hermione said. Harry and Ginny walked over at that moment.

"You guys gonna come skate?" Harry asked, his hand in Ginny's. Hermione looked at Ron who shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know how," he said.

"I'll teach you, it's easy," Hermione said, standing up and grabbing his hand. The four of them walked to the edge of the rink and sat down to put on their skates. Hermione quickly tied hers with ease and stood up. She had been ice skating on countless occasions and to be honest it was one of her passions in the muggle world.

She looked down at Ron who was extremely confused by the long strings and hooks. He had the laces tied in numerous knots and some around his fingers. He had a look of concentration on his face and was biting his tongue. Hermione couldn't help but laugh out loud. As she did Harry and Ginny looked up from their laces to see what was so funny and noticed Ron. They started to laugh too.

"What are you doing?" Ginny asked. Ron scowled at her. Harry just sat there laughing his head off. Ron reached over and grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at him. It hit him square in the face and he stopped laughing.

"Here," Hermione said, bending down to help him. It took a minute to figure out what Ron had done to the laces but she soon had him laced up too.

"Gee, Weasley, you can't even do a simple task as tying up your own laces?" Draco asked, as he skated to a halt in front of them.

"Draco, what is your problem?" Hermione growled at him.

"I don't have one. What's yours?" He said, as he skated back to Velius and Pansy who were in the middle of the ice, spinning.

"He's just trying to piss you off, Hermione," Harry said.

"Yeah, great boyfriend! Oh, he really loves me!" She said, pulling Ron to his feet.

"Hermione, he does love you, he's just hurt and confused right now."

"Yeah, Hermione, don't listen to what he says," Ron added.

"Ron, he just insulted you and you're protecting the jerk?"

"He is just using me to get to you. I'll have a talk with him later, after this whole thing is over."

"If it is over! If he keeps acting like this, he can shove whatever we had up his ass!"

"Let's go skate!" Ginny said, pulling Hermione onto the ice. The boys followed and Ginny took Harry's hand. Hermione grabbed Ron's hand as he tried to stay up right. Ginny and Harry were soon making their way around the rink, while Hermione tried to keep her footing, Ron was pulling her down with him.

"Ron, just glide, like this," she showed him. He looked on with wide eyes.

"You make it look so easy!"

"It is, here," she said. She turned so that she was facing him and skating backwards. She grabbed his hands and pulled him along. She smiled at him and he smiled back at her. "See? It's not that bad."

"Yeah, then when you let go and I fall flat on my ass, we'll see how easy it is!" He said and Hermione burst out laughing.

She didn't see Draco watching from the middle of the rink. Could it really be that she didn't want to be with him? She looked happier then he'd seen her in a while and she wasn't with him. Maybe she had fallen out of love with him.

"Ready?" Hermione asked Ron.

"For?" He said, looking at her with fear in his eyes.

"This!" She said, letting go of him hands and gliding away from him.

"Hermione!" He said, as he lost his balance. Hermione came back around tried to grab him around the waist before he his the ice but she was taken down with him. She landed on top of him and hit her elbow on the ice. Ron lay flat on his stomach. They both groaned and Hermione burst out laughing as the people around them turned to look at the heap on the floor. A few laughed and some asked if they were okay.

"Are you okay?" she asked him, while trying to catch her breath.

"Never do that again!" He said as he tried to get to his feet, only to fall again. Hermione stood up and helped him get to his feet. After that Hermione never let go of his hand and they had fun skating around. Ron even became bold enough to try skating backwards with Hermione's help.

At about nine 'o'clock, Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny were sitting on a bench talking on the edge of the rink when Velius came skating up with Draco at his wrist.

"Kate now, Hermininny?"

"I have been waiting for you to ask all night, goofball!" She said, getting up and taking his hand. He smiled the biggest smile she had ever seen and they were off. Draco watched as they skated in figure eights and circles. Hermione spinned him around and Velius justlaughed. Pansy came up and grabbedDraco's hand and they started skating around the rink, but Draco couldn't take his eyes off the woman that he loved and his little brother.

"Draco, so I was thinking that we could go to Hogsmeade together next visit," Pansy said. Draco half heard her. Velius was laughing extremely hard as Hermione pulled him through her legs.

"Sure," Draco said.

"Really?" She asked.

"Um," Draco was trying to think of what he had just agreed to. "Yeah," he said, remembering. Draco couldn't take his eyes off Hermione.

At that moment Terry and Hannah skated over to Hermione. They had planned to take Velius up to bed at nine thirty and then they could have their own fun. They told everyone that they were going to study but the other four knew what they were going to do. They were extremely bad liars.

Draco grabbed Pansy's hand and dragged her over to Hermione. Velius was throwing a fit.

"But I no want ta go!"

"Velius, we'll see you tomorrow and then we can play some more," Hermione tried coaxing him as she picked him up.

"No!" He cried.

"Velius, we agreed to this earlier. You have to go to bed now," Draco said.

"No!"

Terry reached for the child and took him in his arms. "Come on, Velius we have fun stuff to do upstairs," he said skating away. Hannah followed.

"Hermininny!"

"Terry, wait!" She called to him. He stopped and turned. She skated over to him. She kissed Velius on the forehead.

"I love you and I'll come say good night later, okay?" She said, running her fingers through his hair. He stopped crying.

"Otay," he said. Then the three of them left. Draco just couldn't get over how much the two of them loved each other and he realized that he really didn't want to lose Hermione to whatever this was. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

Hermione skated back over to Ron. Draco turned to Pansy.

"Pansy, I can't go with you to Hogsmeade. I really do love Hermione and I don't want to jeopardize what we have," he said. She just looked at him and then skated off. He looked back at her and knew that he had hurt her feelings but what was he supposed to do. Owen had been right, he made a mistake. He skated over the where Harry, Ginny, Ron and Hermione were sitting.

"Hermione can we talk?" he asked. She had been speaking with Ginny. She turned to look at him.

"Why?"

"Because I want to." She just looked at him. He held out his hand. She looked at Harry, who nodded to go with him. Then she looked at Ron who did the same.

"Fine," she said, grabbing his hand and rising. He tried to keep a hold of her hand after they had started skating but she let go.

"Hermione, what is going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Um, you dumped me!"

"I said that I wanted to go on a break, I didn't dump you."

"That is the same as dumping!"

"Draco, I shouldn't even be talking to you, okay?" She said, turning around to leave. He grabbed her hand and she stumbled for her footing.

"What do you mean?" He said looking into her eyes.

"I shouldn't even be interacting with you, okay?"

"No, not okay! Tell me what the hell is going on?" At this point the people around started to stare. Hermione felt the tears well up in her eyes.

"Just let me go," she whispered as tears started to roll down her face. Draco didn't know what to do, so he let go of her hand and she skated away and then ran out of the hall. Harry came skating up.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I don't know! She's crazy, she said that she shouldn't be interacting with me! What the hell does that mean?"

"Draco, if you love her, go after her!"

"Yeah," he said before, racing out of the hall. He ran past the table where his Professors had been standing and looked around. Would she go straight to her dorm? He didn't know where he was going, he just ran. He ended up at the common room and found Terry and Hannah on the couch making out.

"Where... is...Hermione?" he asked while trying to catch his breath.

"She ran upstairs, but Draco maybe you should just leave her be for now," Hannah said, but he was already up the stairs. He threw open the door of her bedroom and found her lying on the bed, face in her pillow, crying.

"What the hell is going on?" He shouted, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Draco, get out!"

"NO! I want to know what is going on in that fucked up head of yours! I know that you love me and that you want to be with me and yet you aren't! I am sorry that I told about your task. I felt that it needed to be done, for both of our safety!"

"Draco, it's not about the task!"

"Then what? I don't get it!"

"Just leave!" She said, a new wave of tears falling down her face. Draco didn't move towards the door though. He went and sat on the bed. She pushed him away but he moved back.

"Hermione, look at me," he commanded. She put her face in the pillow. He rolled her over so that she was on her back and pulled her arms so that she was sitting up. She had her eyes closed. "Hermione, look at me," she didn't open her eyes. He put his hands around her neck and pulled her towards him. He kissed her softly on the lips as she cried. She kissed him back, but then pushed him away from her and he fell to the floor.

"DON'T!" She said.

"Hermione! I ask again, what the hell is -."

"I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU, OKAY?" she shouted.

"What! Hermione, you broke up with me because you are scared of losing me?"

"Yes," she said in a whisper.

"THAT IS THE STUPIDEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD!"

"Not losing you as my boyfriend, losing you forever. I want to know that if something happens to either of us, we'll be able to live without the other. I want to know that if you die, I'll be able to handle it. Same for you, we both need to prepare for losing one another."

"Hermione, I'm not planning on dying anytime soon, so-."

"I'm not planning on dying either, but Draco look at what we are doing. We are going behind enemy lines, as spies. If we are found out, we will be killed."

"You really are psycho!"

"Draco!"

"Hermione, let me get this. You broke up with me so that you could prepare yourself for me dying?"

"Yes," she said, seriously. Draco burst out laughing so hard that he fell to the floor. Hermione glared at him. After he had composed himself, he went and sat back on the bed.

"Hermione, I love you! If you died, I wouldn't want to live without you."

"See, that's the thing though. Draco, I know that Velius is your brother but to me he feels like a son. I love him so much and I want to know that if something happens to you I will be able to protect and take care of him and not be overcome with grief. I want to beprepared."

"This is the stupidest thing that I have ever heard. I want you to completely forget about it and never mention it again. Hermione, you are so strong, which is one of the reasons why I love you. I know that if something happened to me, you would take care of Velius. Hermione there are other ways to prepare for something like that, that doesn't involve you not speaking to me. We'll figure it out later."

"But, Draco -."

"No, but's! We are now officially back together and if you don't mind I want to make out with my girlfriend!" Hermione smiled at him. He moved so that he was lying next to her. He kissed her deeply and she kissed him back. He nibbled on her ear and she groaned. She kissed him on the lips again and wrapped her arms around him, never wanting to let go. Draco looked her in the eyes.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too."

Hermione awoke the next morning with a very stiff neck. She rolled over to look at the clock on her bedside table. It read 10:37 a.m. She rolled to her other side to be elbowed in the face.

“Draco!” She said, annoyed and sleepily.

“Wah?” he said as he rolled around trying to get comfortable, still half asleep.

“Move over,” she said, pushing his arm away from her face.

“What!” he shouted, sitting straight up, eyes wide. Hermione was startled and sat up herself.

“What is your problem?” she said, her heart pounding.

“Nothing,” he said, rubbing his eyes and stifling a yawn.

“If this is how I am going to have to wake up to every morning when we’re married and share a bed all the time, I don’t want to! I might lose an eye or something!”

“Oh, you think we’re gonna get married,” Draco said in a baby voice, pinching her cheek. She glared at him. “Sorry,” he said, becoming serious and kissing her cheek. She smiled at this. I so have him whipped!

“Let’s go get Velius, he’s probably having a fit trying to find up,” she said. Draco had stayed with Hermione in her dorm that night after a heavy make out session.

“Yeah,” he said, getting off the bed. She got off the bed too and started to walk towards the door. “But, I don’t want to go just yet,” Draco said, and ran at Hermione. He grabbed her about the knees and flipped her back on to the bed and landed on top of her.

“Draco,” she shrieked, “Get off of me! We have to go!”

“Well, we don’t have to-.”

“Yes, we have to!” She said, pushing him off of her. She made to get off the bed and he grabbed her arm.

“Not, until you kiss me!” He said, pulling her close.

“Eww! Gross!” she said imitating Velius. Draco kissed her on the lips. She kissed him back, but quickly got up.

“Where are you going?” Draco asked, as she walked towards the door.

“To get Velius and I’m hungry!”

“Fine! Be that way!”

"Fine, I will!"

The two made their way down the stairs to find the other four and Velius sitting around the fire. Hermione grabbed Draco’s hand and they went to go sit on the couch that Velius was sitting on. He had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in his hand and all over his face, which was the reason why he was not throwing a tantrum looking her and Draco.

“Did you two make up?” Katie asked, after taking a sip of tea.

“No, we’re just holding hands for no apparent reason,” Draco said, sitting down and pulling Hermione close to him.

“Herminniny,” Velius shouted, as he plopped down into her lap.

“How cute, the family’s back together,” Hannah said.

“So everything is okay then?” Owen asked.

“Yes, we are fine,” Hermione said, kissing Draco on the lips.

“Ewww!” Velius proclaimed.

“THANK MERLIN! You two were driving me CRAZY with your schemes and stupidity!” Owen said.

“Thanks, Owen,” Hermione and Draco said together, sarcastically with their eyebrows raised at him.

“So now that everyone is up and back together, can we please go get breakfast?” Terry said.

“Good idea, I am starving. Why don’t we all go get dressed and then we can all go down to the Great Hall together,” Hermione said.

“Sounds like a plan!” Terry said, running towards the bathroom.

“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-

After everyone had showered and gotten dressed, they all made their way down to the Great Hall. Everyone went to their own House tables except for Draco and Velius, who came with Hermione to the Gryffindor table, as usual, seeing as how most Slytherins hated Draco now.

Hermione sat down opposite Harry and Ron. Velius sat down next to her and Draco sat on his other side.

“Good Morning,” Ron said.

“Monin,” Velius said.

“So are you two back together?” Harry asked.

“Now Harry, what would give you that idea? That’s preposterous!” Hermione said.

“What!” Harry said.

“What would make you think that we are back together? Do you have any idea Draco?” she said, looking at her boyfriend, who shrugged his shoulders.

“What! After you two played your little jealousy games and drove me crazy and now you sit together and you aren’t dat-,” Harry paused. “Oh, I see, you can play your little games Hermione, but don’t come crying to me when this happens again!” Harry said.

“I love how you have so much faith in us!” Draco said.

“Not the two of you, justher! She’s crazy!” Harry said, focusing on his plate now.

“Thanks, best friend!” Hermione said. “All joking aside, Harry, I have to talk to you. Do you think we can take a walk around the lake later?”

“Hermione, it’s freezing outside.”

“Wait, why can’t I come?” Ron said.

“You can if you want, it’s of no importance that you can’t hear. You’ll hear it sooner or later anyways.”

“Why can’t we talk inside, where it’s warm?” Harry asked.

“I fear that we may be overheard in the castle.”

“Why can’t I come?” Draco asked.

“Now, come on, you two are acting like children, you can come too, even though you already know what it’s about, if it will make you feel important like poor Ron over here!”

“Fine, I don’t want to come!” Ron said.

“Me either!” Draco said.

“Fine,” Hermione said.

“No, no, I want to come,” both Ron and Draco said. Harry burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny to you?” Hermione asked.

“Oh, nothing, they’re just acting like school girls!” Harry said. Ron and Draco glared at him and Hermione couldn’t hide the smirk that crept over her lips.

“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“

Hermione and Draco were making their way towards Dumbledore’s office. Before talking to Harry, they had to make sure that everything was in order and that they actually had a plan of action.

“Good afternoon, Miss Granger, Mister Malfoy,” Dumbledore said as the two entered.

“Good afternoon, Professor,” they replied in unison.

“I suspect that you are here to discuss the retrieval of the Marauders Map?”

“Yes, Sir, I don’t think that Harry will be willing to give it up, especially if we have no plan,” Hermione said. “And I don’t want to just hand the castle’s secrets over the Voldemort, myself either.”

“Ah, Miss Granger, but we do have a plan that it forming. We can’t have one ourselves until they have one, now can we?”

“No, Sir, I guess not.”

“You can tell Mister Potter, that he will know of the situation when it best suits him. That we are confident of his safety for now and it would be for the wellness of everyone that he give you that Map. I don’t think that you will have any trouble retrieving it and if you do, send him to me.”

“Sir, but what is your plan?” Draco asked.

“Mister Malfoy, for now we don’t really know, all of our plans revolve around theirs. We know that Voldemort is trying to get into the castle and later when we know the exact time and place, we will have a better plan. As for right now, all we know is that our best idea is to set a trap where Harry will be able to kill him and yet have no harm done to him. All we can do for now is wait and see.”

“We have to go meet Harry and Ron now,” Hermione said. “Thank you, Sir.”

“I will be here if you need me.”

“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“

The four of them were making their way out of the castle, just as the clock struck three. Velius was with Katie in the common room, reading.

“ So, what is it that you had to drag me out here to tell me?” Harry said, when they were a good distance from the castle. Hermione pulled her cloak tighter around her body. she thenlooked around the grounds and didn’t see anyone in hearing distance but she still kept her voice low, almost a whisper.

“I have received my task from Voldemort, Harry.”

“And?” He said, looking at her intently.

“I am to find all possible ways into the castle. In order to do that I need the Marauder’s Map,” she let that sink in.

“Wait, so let me get this. You want me to give you the Marauders Map so that Voldemort knows every entrance to the castle and can easily come and kill me?”

“Harry, you seem to forget that we know every entrance to the castle too and will know when and where he is going to strike. You will be in no danger what so ever!”

“Hermione, you are talking crazy talk! I would be insane to give him the Map, I would be commiting suicide!”

“He’s right, Hermione,” Ron said.

“Ron, shut it!” Hermione said. Ron opened his mouth to say something.

“Harry, we aren’t giving him the Map. We are just going to copy down all of the passages and then give him a different map,” Draco interrupted the fight before it had a chance to start.

“That makes it so much better,” Harry said.

“It does. He won’t be able to see everyone moving around and what their doin-. Oh Merlin!"She stoppedmid-sentence and turned to Draco."Draco, what if we gave Voldemort a false Marauders Map?” Hermione said.

“What?” Draco said.

“Draco, what if we gave Voldemort a map that shows people moving around and where they are but it’s not where they really are?”

“That is genius, Hermione! We have to talk to Dumbledore!”

“Harry, we have a plan in formation that you will know of when it best suits you. Dumbledore and the Order are insuring your safety for the time. I am one of your best friends and love you like a brother, do you really think that I would do anything to put you in any kind of danger?” Hermione said.

“I guess not,” Harry said after a moment.

“Please, give me the Map,” Hermione said.

“It’s in my chest,” Harry said. “Let’s go get it!”

“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“-“

Hermione kept the Map in her robe pocket as her and Draco made their way back to Dumbledore’s office. They knocked lightly and then entered.

“Any trouble?” Dumbledore asked.

“He put up a little of a fight but he gave it willingly in the end. Sir, we had an idea,” Hermione said.

“Yes?”

“Well, we were thinking that we could give Voldemort a sort of fake Marauders Map. One that acted just like the real one, but showed people not where they really were, but where we wanted Voldemort to go, a way to draw him where we needed him.”

“That is a great idea, Miss Granger.”

“I think that we could come up with a way where we can control what it says from here.”

“I have never been more impressed with you. I expect you to start it’s creation tomorrow. Show it to me before you send it. I would write to Him though, so that he does not become suspicious. Let him know of what you are doing. As for now, I have things to do and people to see, so come to me when you are near finished, but don’t delay.”

“Thank you, Sir,” Hermione said. She and Draco walked toward the door. Draco smiled at her and kissed her on the cheek to show that he was proud of her and yet Hermione couldn’t feel excited over her idea, for she couldn’t help but feel that they were being rushed out of the Headmaster’s office, but for what reason?