[A/N: Sorry about this first chapter being so cliche, with the whole Hermione filling out/Draco visiting compartment/Head Boy, Head Girl deal. I promise it won't be this boring as the story moves on.]

"Harry!"

Hermione Granger, a seventh year Gryffindor student, nudged her way through the crowds of people at King's Cross to envelope Harry Potter in a friendly hug. Having not seen the tall, raven-haired teenager for the entire summer, the following words came out in a rush.

"How was your summer? Did your aunt and uncle give you too much trouble? Where's Ron?"

Harry laughed, pushing his glasses up his nose. His green eyes sparkled as he held out a hand, signaling for Hermione to slow down. "My summer was boring, the Dursleys were a bunch of morons like usual, and I haven't seen Ron yet."

Hermione grinned sheepishly. Every summer, she looked forward to seeing her two best friends at the beginning of school more than anything. Seeing as this was their last year at Hogwarts, she wanted to make the best of it, and figured that a good start would ensure a good school year.

"Hey guys," a low voice interrupted from behind Hermione. She whirled around and issued a squeal of delight when she saw her gangly redheaded friend standing there with a grin on his face.

"RON! How have you been?"

"Pretty good...nice to see you too, Hermione. And Harry."

"Yeah, same," Harry replied, grinning back at his best friend.

Just then, a loud voice came up over the speakers at the train station. "10:55 AM. Trains at platforms 1, 4, 5, and 8 will now be leaving."

"10:55!" gasped Hermione, double-checking her watch to make sure. "We have five minutes to catch the Hogwarts Express! Come on, let’s go!"

Without waiting for the two boys, she grabbed her trolley and started pushing her way down to platform 9. Upon arriving there, Harry and Ron pulled up behind her, panting for breath. The three of them went one after another through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, hurrying to climb aboard the train after making it through to the other side.

"Mum's gonna be mad at me for not saying good-bye," Ron said, rolling his eyes once they had gotten onto the train. Hermione smiled inwardly. Still the same old protective Mrs. Weasley.

Surprisingly enough, the three students quickly found an empty compartment and settled themselves in it for the long trip to their beloved school.

"So, Hermione...how have you been?" Harry asked.

"Oh...I've been great," she answered brightly.

"You look...different."

Hermione blushed. Over the summer, she had changed - her aunt had come to visit and convinced her that she was old enough to start concentrating on her looks as well as education. That morning, she had straightened her hair and even put on some makeup. Her eyes shined with a light that was unfamiliar to Harry, and matched her shiny "Head Girl" badge.

"Yeah. My aunt came this summer; she told me I had to start working on my appearance more."

Ron raised an eyebrow at this and laughed. Hermione would still be the same pretty but plain bookworm he had known since first year.

"You two have changed too," Hermione added, sticking her tongue out.

It was true. Harry and Ron had both grown a good few inches taller, and their bodies had become more manly than boyish over the summer. Hermione knew perfectly well that many girls would be chasing after the two of them this year, and was prepared to jokingly defend her friends from them.

Before Ron could make a smart-aleck response to this, the compartment door slid open and Draco Malfoy stepped in with a look of contempt on his face. "Well then; looks like the famous trio is having a little meeting."

"What's this? Without your buddies, Malfoy? What a shame...who's going to defend you now?" Ron shot back.

Draco remained unfazed, and simply raised an eyebrow coolly at the other student. He looked around, and his slate-grey gaze fell on Hermione. His eyebrow, if possible, raised even higher until it was but a thin line centimetres away from his hairline.

With a smirk, he said, "Back again, Granger?" Then he paused, and added, "Oh look, you're even Head Girl. How...sweet."

"Yes, I am, Malfoy," Hermione responded composedly. "Don't be jealous, I'm sure Dumbledore would have made you Head Boy if you had some brains."

"Actually," the Slytherin responded, "I AM Head Boy. So I wouldn't open that little mudblood mouth of yours until you know for sure what you're talking about."

Draco was rewarded with the looks of shock on all three of the Gryffindors' faces. Ron's reaction in particular was quite satisfying; his face had turned bright red and his mouth was hanging open.

"Now, now, Weasley, you might want to compose myself before I take points away for being disrespectful," Draco said with a icy smile on his face. With that, he turned around and walked out the door, sliding it closed with a thunk behind him.

"I can't believe...he...oh the NERVE," Hermione said, fuming. "How could Dumbledore make such a prat Head Boy?"

"Obviously he can," Ron mumbled, crossing his arms and sliding down in his seat.

Harry shook his head in disbelief. "Merlin...he's going to be torturing those first years."

Nodding her agreement, Hermione sighed. She reached into her bag and pulled out her summer reading, a book called Advanced Student Charms and Potions. With that, she turned away from her friends and began to read.

The rest of the train ride passed by in silence. Hermione was engrossed in her reading, and Ron and Harry occupied themselves with quiet games of gobstones.

At last, they reached the Hogwarts grounds. Hermione stepped off of the train before her two friends, and immediately began looking around for Hagrid. She spotted him a few feet away, yelling at the first years to follow him.

"Hagrid!" she called out, hurrying over to the half-giant.

"'Lo there, Hermione!" he said, smiling down at her. "'Ow was yer summer?"

"Pretty good, you?"

"Ah, I've got no time to talk right now, I've gotta go deal with these firs' years. I'll see yeh in the castle later."

"Okay, bye!" As she said these words, Harry and Ron came up behind her just in time to wave to Hagrid.

"Lets go find some carriages and get inside already, I'm freezing," Harry said.

His two companions nodded, and hurried over to the line of carriages and (now visible after the summer before's happenings) thestrals awaiting them. Most of them were full by now, so Hermione was forced to go find her own due to the fact that there was no more room left in the one Harry and Ron had climbed into.

After searching for non-full carriages without any luck, she finally reached the second to last one in the line. This one was empty save for one person - Draco Malfoy. Biting her lip, Hermione stood for a few seconds contemplating her choices. Either get in and suffer five minutes alone with the monster, or have to spend more time in the rain and cold looking for another carriage. She chose the first choice, and climbed in.

As she stepped in, Draco looked up. His face twisted into a look of disgust. "What are you doing in here, Granger?" he asked viciously.

"There weren't any carriages left," she answered matter-of-factly.

"So you think you can just get into mine?"

"Stop being selfish, Malfoy, I'm not going to wait outside until Hagrid can come get me."

Rolling his eyes, Draco moved as far away from Hermione as possible, and resumed his staring out the window.

Hermione sighed and settled into the seat, resting her head on the window nearest to her. As she did so, she spotted something shiny on the floor of the carriage. "What's that?" she asked aloud.

"What's what?" Draco said lazily, not bothering to turn around.

"That...shiny thing on the ground."

This caught the other boy's interest, and he turned to look in the direction she was pointing in. Reaching down, he picked it up and examined it in the dim light of the rising moon.

"Looks like a chocolate frog wrapper," he said, throwing it back on the ground carelessly.

Something about it caused Hermione to pick it up again, and on closer inspection, she noticed that there were words written on the backside of it. She pointed this out to Draco, and was answered with a bored shrug.

"It says... 'Ostendo Posterus'. Do you know what that means?" She expected no response from the Slytherin, and was right as he continued to ignore her.

Rolling her eyes at his back, she took out her wand and uttered the words, tapping the wrapper. She shrieked when it began to shimmer and melt into a pool of what appeared to be water...water which didn't wet her hands, and did not spread. It simply slid out of her hands and onto the seat between her and Draco.

Whipping around at her sudden scream, Draco's eyes widened at the sight. "What the bloody hell did you do?!" he asked her frantically. "What in the world is THIS?"

"I-I-I don't know," Hermione stuttered. "I said the spell on the wrapper and then this thing appeared."

Then, to her shock, the pool of liquid began to twist and whirl around, until an image was formed on the turbulent puddle. This time, it was not only Hermione who screamed; Draco also uttered a yell of surprise.

"Oh my GOD!"


[A/N: Ahhh, sorry about the cliffie :) Don't worry, I won't be long in updating]

As the ripples in the puddle continued to swirl around the image that had been formed, the two head students stared at each other in complete and utter shock. Eyes progressively widening, they both looked down, then back up at each other in synch.

"That can't be...what the..." Hermione said shakily.

The pool of shimmering liquid was very much like a pensieve; an image could be seen on the surface, and it was certainly not what either of the students had been expecting. The two of them watched with bated breath, their hate for each other seemingly forgotten in the moment, as a scene began to play out in front of them...

A middle-aged Hermione walked into view. She carried a baby boy, and was apparently trying to calm his crying. Then, a just-as-old Draco walked into the room, and leaned down and kissed Hermione. He said in a faint, distant-sounding voice, "Is Nathan asleep yet, love?"

"He's still crying," Hermione replied in an equally far off voice. She smiled wearily up at Draco. "The poor tyke...the nanny forgot to feed him tonight, and he wants attention as well as food."

"You should go to sleep," he commented, placing a hand lightly on Hermione's arm and smiling gently down at her. "You haven't gotten much rest these past few days...what with Voldemort roaming around, you will need your full strength to fight him if the time comes."

"I know..." Hermione responded, her voice trailing off. "It's just that...oh, I'm so worried about our family, Draco. You know perfectly well that they will come after you first; you were the one that betrayed them and ruined their plans. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Nothing will, darling," he said in a soothing voice. "After all," he added, "I couldn't leave you and Nathan alone now could I?" His attempt to lighten up the conversation apparently failed as Hermione turned to look at him, her lip quivering.

"I'm serious, Draco. I'm so scared...if anything were to happen to us, where would Nath-"

She was cut off by the loud sound of shattering glass as a window behind them exploded. Whipping around, Draco and Hermione found themselves face-to-face with two tall men dressed in coarse, black cloaks.

"What do you want?" Draco said in a cold, hard voice, stepping slightly over to the left as if to shield Hermione from their view. "If you want me, take me."

"We have to reason to bother with you," the first cloaked figure responded in a low, gravelly voice. "However, we have been sent here on orders from Him to get rid of you. We cannot have you meddling with our plans again. You have done far too much damage already, Draco Malfoy."

With that, the second cloaked figure raised his right arm and pointed his wand at Draco. Opening his mouth, he....

The image disappeared in a splash as Draco's hand flew into it, destroying the puddle. Hermione, who was pale with fright, looked at the other wizard and saw that his mouth was set into a deep frown, and he was shaking.

"That's enough," he said sharply and icily, although his voice quavered slightly.

After several attempts to try and find her voice, Hermione finallly said in a whisper, "What was that, Malfoy?"

"That wasn't funny, mudblood," replied Draco as he glared at the Gryffindor.

"I didn't do that."

"I refuse to believe that."

"I'm serious. Can you please just try to be civil? What do you think that was?" Hermione asked, her eyes begging Draco to listen to her.

"I don't know. But whatever it was, it was bull," he replied.

"Were we...were we married?"

"This is some sick trick," Draco said, more to himself than to his companion.

"It's not. I think this is some kind of device that allows us to see the future. Please just listen to me...I think this is for real. This is our future."

Before Draco could respond, their conversation was brought to an abrupt halt as their carriage came to a stop in front of the Hogwarts castle. Without another word or glance back, he climbed out of the carriage and headed inside, alone.

Hermione slowly followed him in getting out of the carriage. Upon reaching the main entrance, she met up with Harry and Ron, who had been waiting for her there.

"Hey guys," she said quietly.

"Hey Hermione," they chorused. "Is anything wrong?" Harry added with a worried look at Hermione. He knew his best friend, and could tell right off the hook that something was bothering her.

"I'll tell you guys when we get inside," Hermione muttered. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Lavender Brown was standing off to the side, trying to listen in on their conversation, and she'd rather that no one else heard about what she and Draco had seen.

As the trio passed through the main doors and into the Great Hall, Hermione's heart warmed at the familiar surroundings. After what she had experienced on her ride to Hogwarts, she was more than welcome to anything that she could depend on to always remain the same, and the Great Hall fitted that perfectly.

The ceiling, enchanted to show the sky, was a a turmoil of rain, wind, and clouds. Kind of reflects my thoughts right now, Hermione thought wryly as she seated herself at the Gryffindor table.

Looking to the front of the room, she saw the regular teachers, as well as a new one - a kind-looking man in his mid-fourties. He wore his robes casually, and had what looked like a golden mist hovering above his head. Everytime he moved, the mist followed him. Obviously, this was the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

Hermione averted her gaze from the staff table, and without thinking, let it drift towards the Slytherin table. There, it came to rest on Draco. As if he could feel her eyes on her, Draco lifted his face up and looked around. He saw Hermione looking at him, and gave her a sneer. Although they sat on opposite sides of the huge room, she could still tell that it wasn't as heartfelt and cold as usual. There was something behind it - could it be worry?

Shrugging, she turned back to her book and resumed her reading. Soon, the low buzz of students chatting and catching up with their friends after the summer break died down as Dumbledore stood up.

"Welcome, students, to another year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

Hearty applause and whistles followed this statement.

"I trust that you all have had a safe and exciting summer break, and are prepared to take on a near year of classes. Before we begin, however, there are a few things I must let everyone know of. First, allow me to introduce you to Professor Haymen. He will be filling in the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

Polite applause resonated within the Great Hall, and the teacher whom Dumbledore had acknowledged stood up and nodded his head with a slight smile on his face.

Dumbledore continued his speech with the basic rules of the school, and at last, finished with an update on how many new items had been added to the banned items list. With one last smile at the silent students before him, the sorting began. As Hermione watched "Anderson, Hailey" being sorted into Ravenclaw, her mind fell back to trying to figure out what had happened with the wrapper.

I know for sure that I have seen something like that in a book before, she thought with some frusteration. I suppose I'll go check the library tomorrow. I must find out what that was.

With this decision made, she settled back in her chair to watch the rest of the sortings.

Later that night, Hermione gave Harry, Ron, and Ron's sister Ginny each a hug as they prepared to go their separate ways - Harry, Ron, and Ginny to the Gryffindor common room and Hermione to the Head Boy/Girl dormitory.

"I'll see you three tomorrow morning," she said to them, smiling.

"Yeah...good luck surviving the night with Malfoy," Ron replied, cringing slightly. "Tell us if he does anything during the night. We'll curse him for you."

Hermione laughed, and punched the tall redhead playfully. "He wouldn't dare."

"Give us all the details!" Ginny piped up, brushing her long auburn hair back.

"I will," replied Hermione. With that, she turned away and began the long walk to the place where she would be spending the rest of her school year with a boy who hated her as much, if not more, as she hated him.

When she finally reached the portrait that hung over the entrance to the room after climbing up two flights of spiraling staircases, she halted. What if he's in there? she thought to herself nervously. I really don't want to face him right now...

She was just about to turn around and go ask her friends if she could stay with them in their common room, when someone behind her coughed. Hermione jumped and spun around.

"Oh...its you," she said, her momentary fright disappearing. "You know, you don't have to scare me like that."

"Whatever. Are you going to go in or not?" Draco Malfoy replied. He was leaning against the marble wall across from her, and was surveying her lightly.

She shrugged, and said the password ("Acromantula"). The portrait, which was of a young boy holding a little girl's hand, swung open. Hermione gasped as she crawled through the circular gap that was left in place of the painting. The dormitory in which they were staying in was beautiful. The room she had walked into appeared to be the lounge, and was furnished with Gryffindor and Slytherin colours. The walls were painted a vivid crimson colour, and had intricate gold designs etched into it. All of the furniture was either silver or hunter green, and a round oak table lay in the middle room. Straight ahead of her was a door, which read "Bathroom" on it. A painting of a lion's head with a snake curled up on it hung there. To the left was an arched door with Gryffindor's lion symbol painted onto it, and to the right was a similar-looking door with Slytherin's snake on it. Underneath each of the pictures, the name of the occupant was written in elegant white script.

Hermione let out a sigh of happiness, and ran to the nearest couch, upon which she settled herself comfortably. "I love this place," she murmured to herself.

"It's rather bland," Draco's voice interrupted from behind her. She inwardly groaned. The fact that she would be sharing it with Draco brought a downfall to her happiness as she flipped herself around to face the Slytherin.

"Yeah? I suppose the Slytherin common room must be so much better than this, huh?"

"Actually, it's not. But my room at home was better."

"Well good for your room," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. Not being in the mood to argue with him, she got off the couch and walked into her room. In it lay a large, four-poster bed with gold hangings. A small desk sat in one corner, and in the other corner, a highly-polished oak dresser.

As she lay down on her bed, she yawned. It was late and she was tired. Not bothering to undress and change into something more comfortable, she promptly got snuggly under the covers and fell asleep. I suppose I can always deal with him tomorrow morning.... were her last thoughts before she drifted off. She did not, however, notice a tall, blonde Slytherin standing in the doorway, gazing at her with what - for the first time ever - was not a look of contempt, but rather a gentle and caring look...much like that of which they had witnessed the older Draco give his wife.

------------------

Early next morning found Hermione quietly heading towards the Hogwarts library. She had not been able to sleep the previous night; the thought of the wrapper and what she and Draco had witnessed had lingered on her mind and kept her awake.

When she had gotten up, the dormitory was quiet. As she smoothed out her clothes and applied touches of makeup, she had noticed the door to Draco's room open. Her curiosity overtook her, and she walked over to it quietly. Looking in, she had seen him in a state that was unfamiliar to her - he looked like an angel, rather than a beautiful marble carving. His face had been calm and peaceful, and his hair, instead of being gelled, fluttered gently around his face every time he exhaled.

Hermione found herself smiling as she recalled this, and immediately frowned. What's wrong with me, she thought. Maybe I'm thinking about that whole wrapper deal too much...

Nevertheless, she continued on her trip to the library. Once she reached it and found a book called Magical Items and Their Properties, she sat down at a table and began to read.

The sun rose high in the sky as Hermione read on. It cast its glow on her, causing her light brown hair to shine like copper. A pair of watching eyes saw this, and the heart that came with these eyes melted - just a little bit. The person shuffled slightly, causing their robes to rustle. Hermione looked up sharply. "Ron?" she asked quietly. Silence answered her.

"Who's there," she asked out loud, looking around.

"Me," a low voice responded. Draco stepped out from behind the bookshelf with a sneer fixed on his face. "I was passing by and saw you in here, and came to see what in Merlin's name you could be studying when classes hasn't even started yet."

"What's with you and hiding in the shadows?" Hermione asked with a slight frown. "You always surprise me like that."

"I guess it's just a special talent," Draco replied with a smirk.

Shrugging, she looked back down and resumed her reading. After a few minutes of silence, she looked back up again. She noticed him looking at her with a penetrating gaze, and squirmed uncomfortably.

"What do you want?" she asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"I'm waiting for you to find something on that wrapper," he replied matter-of-factly.

Hermione sighed. "Why don't you help me look then, Malfoy?"

"Because," he said lazily, "Malfoys don't do work. We let dirty little Mudbloods like you do it for us."

Gritting her teeth at this remark, Hermione responded angrily, "Well you're out of luck, sir Malfoy. I'm not going to do anything for you if you don't help me." With that said, she shot him a glare, grabbed her book, and stalked out of the library. Madam Pince, the librarian, gave a quiet tut-tut at this, and looked over at Draco.

"Sorry," he said, rolling his eyes.

What's her goddamn problem, he thought to himself as he followed her trail out of the library. Maybe you should have been a little bit nicer to her. Perhaps helped her look too? a tiny voice argued back. Go away, he angrily thought to the voice.

With this, Draco sighed and began walking towards the Great Hall

[A/N: This chapter = action-filled :P Take note of what is said at the beginning of the chapter, it foreshadows what will happen at the end of this chapter ;)]


"...and then this morning, I woke up and he...and he was still sleeping. So then I went straight to the library to find out about that wrapper." Hermione had just finished telling her friends about what she had witnessed during the carriage ride, and her night staying in the same dormitory as Draco. She had told them everything, except for how she had felt when she stood gazing at him earlier that morning.

Ron's ears were bright red, as were his cheeks. "You...you KISSED Malfoy?!"

"Ron, I don't think that's the major issue at hand," Harry said seriously. "Do you think it was for real, Hermione?"

"Yes, it was. While I was at the library, I got out this book-" she held up the book she had carried out with her "-and I read a lot of interesting stuff about this kind of magical item." She reached into her pocket and took out the wrapper (she had taken it after the droplets of the puddle had rearranged themselves back together and turned into the wrapper once again), putting it on the table. Then, she pulled the book out of her bag and began to read from a bookmarked page.

“Allievrae is an incredibly rare form of liquid silver which has the ability to show its holder a glimpse of their future. It can only been found by the most powerful of wizards with a series of charms and spells. In nature, it takes on the form of anything shiny. The spell to reveal the hidden properties of allievrae is "Ostendo Posterus". An odd thing about allievrae is that when made to show an image from the future, it often shows the scene in which the holder is the happiest, yet also the most miserable. Allievrae never lies about the future, and therefore can be a very powerful and destructive tool if put into the wrong hands.”

She then proceeded to close the book with a thud and take a sip of pumpkin juice.

"How can you be so calm about something like this, Hermione?" Ginny near-shrieked. "Do you know what this means??"

"Yeah...that Malfoy and I are going to be married in the near future?"

"What's gotten into you?" Harry asked, looking at Hermione with concern. "The Hermione we know would be freaking out right now."

She shrugged. "Well, as Dumbledore once said, you can't alter your future. There's nothing I can do about it."

"At least Malfoy is going to die!" Ron piped up happily.

Hermione turned to glare at him. "Ron! He's my husband. I don't want him to die." Even though she was mad at him at the moment, she remembered the look on her face when she talked to Draco in the image, and knew that she would come to love him very much. Then, as if she was just waking up from a dream, the realization of everything hit her. "Wait...this means they killed me too. Oh Merlin, what's going to happen to our son?"

"I can't believe Malfoy turned good," Harry simply said with a shocked look on his face.

"Me neither," Ginny agreed quietly.

"So what's the famous trio talking about now?" Draco interrupted, walking up to them. He crossed his arms and looked down at them coolly.

"None of your business, Malfoy," Hermione snapped. She had quickly regained her composure upon the arrival of the head boy, and stood up as she said these words. "What are you doing at the Gryffindor table anyway? Did the Slytherins realize they didn't want filth like you at their table?"

Draco recoiled with a surprised look on his face. He had certainly not expected boring, quiet Hermione to stand up to him like this. Raising an eyebrow, he replied, "Now now, down Mudblood down. I came over to see if you'd found out anything about the wrapper yet."

"I haven't," she answered defiantly. Her brown eyes shot invisible lightning bolts at the Slytherin, who towered by at least 5 inches over her. Draco couldn't help but notice how beautifully fierce she looked at the moment, with her hair tied loosely in a ponytail and her fists clenched.

"Except for the part where you have," he responded with a calm laugh as he gestured at the bookmarked book. "Open it up and tell me what it says."

Ron stood up and came to stand next to Hermione. "Leave her alone," he said angrily. "And get the hell away from our table."

"Oh, are you defending your girlfriend, Weasley?" Malfoy asked, pretending to be shocked. "How cute. Just make Granger tell me what she read, and I'll let you two get back to your lovefest."

"Don't make me curse you," Ron said, his voice dangerously low. His hand was already at his back pocket, and Hermione knew that nothing would stop him from carrying out his threat if Draco taunted him anymore.

She tugged on Ron's robes and muttered, "Stop it Ron, I'm fine." To Draco, she angrily said, "Yeah well I was right. It was the real future. Now sod off, you miserable ferret." With that, she sat back down and took another sip of pumpkin juice as if nothing had happened.

In very an un-Malfoylike fashion, Draco headed back to the Slytherin table without another word, although he did shoot Hermione a look as he walked by her. Everyone there was whispering to each other and shooting cautious looks at him every once in a while. The whole Great Hall had witnessed the scene between Draco, Hermione, and Ron, and the hundreds of eyes were now fixed on the blonde Slytherin as he grabbed his book bag and stomped out of the room.

As Hermione followed his retreating form, she felt a twinge of guilt in her gut. I can't believe I just did that, she thought to herself. I'm turning into...him. She nodded and smiled half-heartedly as everyone came up to her and congratulated her for standing up to Draco, but inside she was dwelling on the look he had given her. It was one of hurt, which was something completely new to her - after all, Malfoys didn't hurt, did they?

The more she thought about it, the worse she felt about her actions. Finally, Hermione decided she would go up to their dormitory and try to find him and apologize. She stood up, grabbed her bag, then with a "I'm going to the library, I'll be back later" to her friends, she hurried out of the Great Hall doors.

Once she had reached the top of the spiraling staircase, she said the password then crawled through the portrait hole and into their dormitory. Everything was silent as she looked around for signs of Draco. She saw his room door open, and walked over to it to investigate.

He lay on his back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling calmly. Upon hearing Hermione's approach, he sat up quickly. "What do you want, Granger," he said coldly.

"I just came to apologize," she started.

"I don't want your apologies," replied Draco sharply. "Now if you would kindly leave me alone..." Following these words, he stood up and advanced towards her, making to shut the door.

"Wait," Hermione said, holding out a hand. "The wrapper....I read that it's something called allievrae. It's supposed to be some kind of liquid silver that can show the future. According to the book, it's always correct."

A slight frown appeared on Draco's face. "You'd better not be joking about this," he said quietly.

"I-I'm not," she stuttered.

His face seemed to fall at her words. "So you mean...I do turn good in the end," he said as he took his hand off of the doorknob. "And...and they kill me. Because of it."

"I guess," Hermione answered awkwardly, not sure how to respond in this situation. She was shocked at his behaviour; she had never seen him act like this. He didn't say a single rude thing to her, or give her glares. He was actually acting human.

"I dreamt about this," he murmured. "I dreamt that...that they were going to kill me. I've been having these dreams for months."

"Now that we know we can prevent it though, can't we?" she asked somewhat frantically.

"You can't change the future," he said, echoing her earlier words. "And you don't know my father, Granger. He will stop at nothing to get what he wants."

"I'm sorry," she said softly. Caught up in the moment, she did something she would never have done - Hermione reached out a hand and laid it gently on Draco's arm. Although she felt his muscles tense, he did nothing about it. This surprised her even more than her own actions.

Suddenly, everything happened. A tear - was that a tear? It couldn't be, Malfoys didn't cry, did they? - edged out of the corner of one of Draco's eyes and traveled down his cheek. Without thinking, Hermione stood on her tiptoes and kissed it away. Then, suddenly his lips were upon hers and everything became a whirlwind of sounds, fireworks, and emotions. As Draco deepened the kiss, he traced her delicate jaw line with his thumb, stopping just behind her ear and going on to rest his hand lightly on the nape of her neck. The two of them were aware of nothing except for how delicious the other tasted as the kiss continued. His hands moved down to her waist, her hands were tangled in his hair - it felt so natural, so good, so...perfect. And then, it ended.

Draco was the first one to step away. He did this roughly, pushing Hermione away as he stumbled back. "What in God's name..." he muttered, his eyes wide with horror. "I have to go. I'll...bye." Then he brushed past her like she had done to him earlier that morning, and strode out of their dormitory. The portrait slammed shut after him, and all was silent once again.

The next day, Hermione woke up bright and early. Classes start today! she thought to herself excitedly. Then she remembered the incident that had occurred the previous night, and her heart sunk a little bit. She got up quietly, and cautiously poked her head out the door to see if Draco was there. The door to his room was open once again, and she could see into it - no one was there. The bed had not been slept in the previous night, and everything was neat and untouched.

Wondering where he had went, she dressed in a simple t-shirt and muggle jeans and put on her school robes. Then with a dab of lipgloss, she grabbed her bookbag and hurried out of the door to the Great Hall for breakfast. When she arrived there, Ginny was sitting at their usual spot, but the boys were nowhere to be found.

"Did they sleep in again?" Hermione asked with a chuckle as she seated herself by the younger girl.

"Most likely," replied Ginny with a grin.

The two chatted about their schedules and their teachers this year as they ate. About halfway through their meal, Harry and Ron rushed in with their hair sticking out in all directions and their robes wrinkled.

"Slept in, eh?" Hermione said without bothering to look up. Every year they did; it was nothing new to her or Ginny.

"Yeah," Ron said breathlessly as he sat down across from Hermione. Harry sat down next to him, and the two of them promptly began to stuff their faces with scrambled eggs and bacon.

"Hey, look guys, we have Defense Against the Dark Arts together this afternoon," said Hermione as she scanned over her schedule. "The new teacher seems nice, doesn't he?"

"Sure," Harry mumbled over his mouthful of food.

A few minutes later, Hermione put down her fork and announced that she was going to the library to catch up on some reading before their first class, which was Transfiguration. She kissed each of them on the cheek goodbye, and then ran out the door.

"She's always going to the library, that one," grumbled Ron as he piled more sausages on his plate.

Hermione felt a twinge of guilt as she hurriedly walked to her dormitory. Lately, it seemed, she had been lying more often than not to her friends, and usually it was to see Draco. She put an end to her musings as a fourth year walked by with a fanged Frisbee not-so-cleverly hidden in his back pocket. She took off 20 points from his house, then continued on her way.

She said the password and immediately gasped in horror. The room looked as if someone had spread Erumpent fluid over everything and left it there. The couches, tables, and walls were all ripped and had burn marks all over them, as if a battle had just gone on. The lamp on the windowsill across from her was weakly flickering, and the window behind it had been shattered.

Treading carefully amid all the broken pieces of wood and glass, she reached Draco's room and carefully pushed the door open. Everything in it was neat and just like it had been earlier than morning. Noting this with surprise, she turned around and opened her own room's door. She shrieked loudly and stumbled backwards at the sight that greeted her.

Draco was leaning against the wall while standing on trembling knees and holding onto Hermione's bed to steady himself. His cheeks had long gashes on them, which were bleeding openly. One of his bruised hands held a shirt over his right eye, and his hair was clotted with blood. His robes were torn to the point of no recognition and were dotted with holes and scorch marks.

Hearing Hermione open the door, he groaned, cringing as pain shot up his chest. Why does the Mudblood always have to come at the worst goddamn moments, he thought with frustration. Out loud, he croaked, "What do you want, Granger?"

"What the hell happened here?!" she screamed, rushing over to Draco.

"Nothing," he said as his knees gave out and he was forced to fall to the ground.

"You call this nothing? What happened??"

Draco moaned in pain, then proceeded to say, "Get away from me, Mudblood, I don't need your help. I'm perfectly fine."

"No you're not," Hermione replied as she kneeled beside him. "Please, I'm trying to help. We have to get you to Dumbledore and you have to tell him what happened."

"I'm not," said Draco, pausing to cough violently, "going to anyone. He'll...he'll kill me." With these last words, he turned limp as he fell into a state of unconsciousness.

"Oh Merlin," Hermione said in agitation. "What do I DO?" She knew that she had to get Draco to Dumbledore, or at least Madam Pomfrey. Muttering the word ”mobilicorpus”, she waved her wand at Draco. His body floated into the air in front of her, and, as she headed out of their destroyed dormitory, did so as well.

Luckily, the hallways were empty as Hermione walked towards Dumbledore's office. Everyone's first class had begun, and no one was occupying the corridors other than the ghosts and mice. The portraits watched her in shock and whispered to each other as she passed. Finally, she reached the two gargoyles, and said the password: "Candy apples."

The gargoyles slid apart with a rumble to reveal a slowly ascending spiral staircase. She stepped onto it with Draco's body still floating in front of her, and let it carry her upwards towards the headmaster's office.

Once she reached the top, she stepped off and knocked politely on the large oak door. "Come in," a voice said from behind it. She carefully turned the knob, and pushed open the door.

Dumbledore's eyebrows rose in surprise when he saw Draco's bruised and bloody form. "What happened?" he said with concern, turning his light blue eyes to Hermione.

"I-I-I don't know," she stuttered. "I went to our dormitory after breakfast to try to talk to him, and I found him in this state."

The headmaster stood up and walked over to her to examine Draco's unconscious body. "It looks like he has been in a duel," he murmured to himself. "Trinduy," he said sharply to a portrait as he turned around, "Go call Madam Pomfrey. Tell her she has a patient to look after immediately.

A painting of a short, fat man with dark hair nodded importantly, and hurried off. The other former headmasters in the paintings awakened at the sound of their friend's name, and all began talking at once.

"Miss Granger, you may go back to class."

"I want to stay here though, Professor."

"Very well then. Can you describe the state of your dormitory when you entered it?"

"Well...all the furniture was torn up and burned. The window had been shattered, as if someone had aimed a good few stunning spells at it, and everything was just a mess."

"And where did you find him?" asked Dumbledore with a thoughtful look on his face.

"This is actually the weird part...I found him in my room rather than his. His room was perfectly normal as if no one had been in it since the day before."

The old wizard's mouth tightened slightly. "So he tried to come after you first," he said softly.

"W-wh-what do you mean?" she asked.

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Madam Pomfrey, the Hogwarts nurse. "What is it, headmaster?"

Dumbledore pointed at Draco, who was still hovering a few inches above the ground. "Take care of him. He has been attacked."

Madam Pomfrey nodded, and waved her wand, causing Draco's body to follow her as she headed back downstairs to the care ward. Now, Hermione and Dumbledore were left alone.

"Miss Granger, I would explain this too you, but I think it would be better for you to hear it from Mr. Malfoy when the time comes. Do you still have the allievrae?"

She opened her mouth to ask him how he knew about that, then remembered that he could see everything that happened on the grounds. She closed her mouth, and nodded.

"Give it to me."

Hermione reached into her pocket and pulled it out. "Is this linked to what happened?" she asked in a whisper.

"No, but it is best that you don't keep something so powerful where...anyone can reach it," Dumbledore answered, his eyes piercing into hers. "Now, go back to class. I will have new temporary quarters arranged for you and Mr. Malfoy."

She gulped, and nodded again. "Good day, Professor," she said as she turned to go out the door.

"Good day to you too, Miss Granger. And good luck this school year," he said quietly. As he watched her retreating form, he thought to himself with a little smile, Brightest Hogwarts witch ever indeed...

Later that day, as Hermione made her way through the crowd of chattering students who had just been let out of their classes, she was stopped by the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

"Hello Hermione," he said as he pulled her aside.

"Hi Professor Haymen," she said with a strained smile. "I'm sorry but this isn't the best time..."

"Oh, I know. I heard about what happened to Mr. Malfoy, and felt that I should stop by and offer my sincerest apologies and best wishes."

"Er..thanks, I suppose..." she said, wincing when she realized how rude she sounded.

He didn't seem to notice though, and continued to say, "Professor Dumbledore also requested that I do something. Once Mr Malfoy gets better, he wants me to teach you two how to shield and protect yourselves from any other...attackers that may get in."

Hermione blinked, and looked back at him in confusion. "Okay," she said slowly.

"Madam Pomfrey should have him mended up by Friday. Bring yourself and Mr Malfoy to my office - third floor, room across from the statue of the troll holding a Fwooper - no later than 7 PM." With that, he nodded at her, then disappeared back into the rush of students.

Frowning at the odd conversation she had just engaged in with the new teacher, Hermione continued back on her way to the hospital ward.

When she reached the ward, which was, although the school year has just started, already bustling with activity. She quickly located Draco, and asked Madam Pomfrey if she may have a few moments with him. Sighing as if she were doing Hermione a great favour, the head nurse retreated to take care of another patient, leaving the Head Girl and Boy alone.

Hermione settled herself on a wooden stool beside Draco's bed. Much to her happiness, she saw, as she looked down at his sleeping form, that most of his cuts and bruises were healing nicely. She felt a smile start to grow on her face as she noted the peacefulness that seemed to surround him as he slept on. It was another one of those rare moments in which she was able to catch the side of Draco no one ever saw.

He murmured something in his sleep, then shifted his position slightly. Frowning, Hermione leaned down to hear what he was saying. It sounded something like, "Get away from her".

"Malfoy?" she whispered quietly, touching his arm gently.

Draco awoke with a start and looked wildly around him. His frantic searching stopped when his eyes fell upon Hermione. "What're you doing here, Granger?" he said.

Shrugging, she replied, "I dunno. I just came to check up on you."

"Like I said earlier, I don't need your help."

"Oh really now?" she shot back. "I suppose you would have been fine lying in my room unconciously all day?"

Not being able to find a good comeback to this, he simply rolled his eyes and turned his face away.

"Tell me what happened," Hermione said softly.

"It's nothing you would understand."

"Try me."

"Granger, you've never had parents who are dark wizards," he replied icily.

"What do your parents being dark wizards have anything to do with this?" she said with a gesture at his bandaged left arm.

"Like I said, you wouldn't understand," he answered.

"I want to help you. Can you please tell me what happened...Draco?"

It seemed to be more the use of his first name than anything else that caused him to turn his face back to his companion and look her in the eye. "My father...my father knows everything. He has spies set up around Hogwarts to watch me constantly. I have to keep up the Malfoy image. You know that he is a proud pureblood wizard, and one who would not even think twice about killing his own son if he was found even being friendly with a Mudblood. He saw -" here, Draco's voice faltered as if he were struggling to force the next words to come out "- us kissing and sent someone to let me know that he didn't approve. That obviously resulted in this." He ended with a wave at his own bruised form and a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

Tears had welled up in Hermione's throughout his speech, and now she wiped these away as she said, "I'm so sorry. I had no idea..."

"Didn't I tell you that you wouldn't? Malfoys are always right."

Hermione smiled half-heartedly at this. How can he joke when he's talking about something like this? she thought in wonder to herself. He's so...strong. I never would have thought that he went through all of that and...and how can a father send someone to attack their own son? As this thought came to her, anger and disgust welled up inside her.

"So what happened?" she finally said.

"One of his 'friends', McCarthy, took me by surprise this morning. I spent last night walking around outside and didn't return until after you had left. When I walked into your room to see if you were there, he stepped out from behind your bed and charmed the door shut. Then he attacked me and left me." Draco said this rather carelessly, as if it happened to him everyday.

"But you have to tell someone!" she insisted.

"I'm not going to tell anyone, and you'd better not either," he said in a low, hard voice. "If anyone, and I mean anyone, finds out that I even let it slip to one person, then I'm as good as dead."

"You can't just let this happen though," she argued back. "If you told someone he could go to Azkaban and everything would be solved."

"Lord, Granger, I thought you were the smartest witch in the year. 'And everything would be solved'...hah! -" he said this with a snort of laughter "- Yeah right, like his friends wouldn't just gather together and kill me. There is nothing I can do to escape this. And there is nothing you can do about it."

Before Hermione could respond, Madam Pomfrey walked up to them and said in a stern voice, "Your time limit is up, Miss Granger. Mr Malfoy needs his rest...shoo! Go back to your dormitory!"

"Sorry," she said politely, although she did roll her eyes behind the nurse's back, "I'll go now." Hermione stood up and grabbed her bag. "Draco...I'll come back tomorrow." She was not used to calling him by his first name and had trouble getting it out, but it was worth it to see his expression soften - just a little bit - when she did.

"Good-bye Hermione," he answered.

Later that night, Hermione sat in hers and Draco's room (the mess had been cleaned up and Dumbledore had not had to reasssign them sleeping quarters), studying arithmancy. She looked up when she heard the door swing open and saw to her delight Draco climbing in.

"You're free to go?" she asked with a wide smile, meeting him half way.

"Yeah," he muttered. Although he didn't exactly greet her in the most friendly way possible, she could tell that he was beginning to relent on his cold attitude towards her.

"Oh...I forgot to tell you. Professor Haymen wants us to meet with him in his office Friday night at 7 PM."

"Haymen? Who's that?"

"The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He told me that Dumbledore wants him to teach us how to protect ourselves from any other intruders."

"I don't need -" Draco began hotly, but was cut off when Hermione frowned at him.

"Don't give me that," she said in a motherly tone. "Dumbledore just wants to protect you."

"Like I said, Granger, there's nothing anyone can do about this. Not even Dumbledore. If my father finds out that I even told anyone, then..." Draco made an attempt to step around her, but she moved to the side to block his path.

"No," said Hermione firmly. "I'm not letting you go until you agree to come with me."

"I'd appreciate it if you could get of my way."

"Come with me."

"No."

"Then I won't get out of your way," she answered with her arms crossed.

"Fine," he growled, "I'll go with you to your little meeting. Now move."

Smiling to herself, Hermione moved aside and went back to her homework. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Draco head to the bathroom and shut the door behind him. Once she heard the water running, she put the quill down and sighed.

An image lingered in her mind - the picture of him as he looked down at her and tried to get her to move out of his way. His bruises and cuts had all been healed, and although the glint in his eyes had been anything but pleasant, she couldn't help but remember the way his stone-cold gaze had softened as he looked at her.

For the second time in the past few days, Hermione scolded herself for bringing back the picture of Draco. Why is he having such an effect on me? she thought with a frusterated sigh as she picked up her book again. Although she held it up, her eyes merely skimmed over the blur of words on the page - she was too occupied with thoughts of Draco to register anything.

Before she knew it, the door to their bathroom opened again and the Slytherin himself walked out with a towel around his waist. He frowned when he saw Hermione still lying on the couch. "Shouldn't you have gone to bed by now, Granger?"

Back to last names I see, she thought. Okay then, two can play at that game...

"Perhaps, Malfoy," she answered casually. Moments passed and she made no move to get up.

Draco raised an eyebrow at her response. Before he had entered the shower, Hermione had acted as if she cared about him and wanted him to be safe; now she seemed determined to return his not-so-friendly attitude. "Whatever," he mumbled in reply. "Good night."

With that, Draco stepped into his room and closed the door, leaving Hermione to her thoughts alone.

----------------

Hermione woke up with a start when she heard soft footsteps outside her bedroom. Her eyes widening in fright, she quietly got out of bed and treaded over to the door. Looking out, she saw the shadow of a tall figure brush by her room and head towards the exit.

Her curiousity overtaking her sense, Hermione leaned further out and saw to her surprise that as the moon cast its pale glow on the prowler, Draco's striking features became clear. Wondering what he was doing up this late, she waited until he had left the dormitory then followed him out and began trailing after him.

Taking care to hide in the shadows, Hermione softly made her way after Draco - down the staircase, past the Hufflepuff common room, through a series of winding corridors, and finally, past the entrance hall doors and onto the Hogwarts grounds.

As if he had done this every night - which, Hermione realized, he probably did - Draco began walking towards the lake without hesitation. When he reached it, he sat down on the shore with his knees up to his chest and his chin resting on them. He seemed to be staring at an invisible point on the horizon.

Hours, it seemed, passed as Hermione continued to stand in the shadows of a tall tree and watch gaze at Draco's silhouette. Everything seemed so picture perfect; she was afraid to even breathe, not wanting to risk shattering the stillness.

Then as if it had never existed, the moment was broken by a jet of red light shooting towards Draco from the edge of the forbidden forest. Almost mechanically, as if he had been expecting it, the tall blonde whipped around and muttered a spell which dissolved the beam of light as it shot towards him.

"Who's there?" he yelled into the quiet of the night.

There was no answer. Hermione shook in fright. Her mind told her that she should run to Draco's aid, but her feet were planted onto the ground.

"Come out, you coward," Draco repeated. The tip of his wand was lit up, and in its dim light, Hermione could see Draco surveying the dark forest with narrowed eyes.

A quiet rustle came from a bush a few feet to Hermione's left and she watched with bated breath as a short, stout figure clothed in a tattered brown cloak stepped out.

"Mr Malfoy," he said in a shaky voice. "I see you are alone?"

"Yes," Draco replied tensely, moving towards the stranger and closer to where Hermione stood hidden. "Who are you?"

Hermione watched as the man paused and bent down to pick up a box. He straightened up with the parcel in his hands, and gave it to Draco.

"Open it."

With a suspicious glare at his companion, Draco cautiously untied the rough pieces of string that held the box together. His eyes widened and he jumped back in surprise when the contents became evident - no less than four crimson scorpion-like creatures crawled out and latched themselves to his pale hands.

"Your father sends his best wishes," said the cloaked stranger with a chilling laugh as he stepped back into the shadows. In the blink of an eye, he was gone.

The moment the shadow of the figure was gone, Hermione rushed out from her hiding spot to Draco. He now kneeled on the ground, his fists clenched and his teeth gritted in pain. The creatures had disappeared, but his hands and upper-arms were now covered in angry red scratches. The skin around the wounds was turning a sickly green, and it was clear to Hermione that the animals had been poisonous - perhaps even fatal.

Draco barely noticed Hermione as she knelt before him, trying to keep calm.

"Draco, can you hear me?" she whispered urgently.

"Get me...get me to the hospital wing," he groaned. Blood was now streaming out of his cuts, and he was so pale that it was obvious he was going to pass out soon.

Without hestitating, Hermione took his arm and swung it over her shoulders to help him steady himself. Leaving the half-opened box behind, the two students made their way clumsily back to the dark castle, as the moon continued to shine brightly above them.

When the two reached the hospital ward, Hermione pounded on the heavy oak door. "Madame Pomfrey!" she called. "Madame Pomfrey, please wake up!"

After 5 long minutes, the door slowly edged open and the sleepy, grouchy face of the Hogwarts head nurse appeared. "What do you what?" she mumbled with a yawn.

"Please, Madame Pomfrey, Draco was attacked by some creatures and I think they might be poisonous."

Immediately, the nurse's face jumped to attention and all traces of sleep left her. "Come in," she said hurriedly as she reached over and switched on the light. Sleeping forms on the hospital beds murmured and turned in their sleep, some complaining about the disruptance.

Ignoring them, Madame Pomfrey led Hermione and Draco to a bed in the back of the ward. "Sit down," she said to Draco as she bustled around, gathering bottles of liquids and bandages. Draco's face had turned a sickly yellowish colour, and he was apparently in too much pain to even be his usual self, because he sat down without a word.

"What was he attacked by?" asked the nurse to Hermione as she started applying a dark green liquid to Draco's injuries.

"I-I don't know," stuttered Hermione. "They looked like scorpions with really really long legs and they were bright red and..."

"Mithions," murmured Madam Pomfrey to herself. "This is bad. He must be taken to St. Mungo's."

"What?!" exclaimed Hermione, hardly daring to believe her ears.

"Get the headmaster," the nurse snapped. "Tell him that this student must be brought to St. Mungo's immediately, and that he has been attacked by Mithions."

"What are Mithions?"

"GO!"

Hermione gave up, and did what the nurse told her. She ran as fast as she could to Dumbledore's office, ignoring the curious looks the portraits gave her as she hurried past them. When she reached the gargoyles that guarded his office, she said the password, ran up the spiraling staircase, and knocked loudly on the wooden door.

Moments later, Dumbledore's serene face was gazing down at her with a grave expression as she told her tale to him in a breathless voice. Before she had even finished relaying what Madame Pomfrey had told her to tell Dumbledore, he was gone. "Stay here until I return," were his final words as he brushed by her.

Gulping, Hermione tentatively walked into the headmaster's office. She sat down apprehensively on a soft, midnight blue armchair. Exhaling deeply, she tried to calm her thoughts, but they continued to race through her mind at the speed of light. Who was that man? What are those creatures? How could Draco's father know about all of this? Why does Draco have to be taken to St. Mungo's? Is he going to...is he going to die? As the last of these questions spun into her head, her throat tightened and tears formed behind her eyelids. Was it possible that he could die?

"No, I can't think like that," she said out loud to herself, trying to withold the tears. "He can't die. Dumbledore wouldn't let him."

"He most certainly would not," came a voice from beside Dumbledore's desk. Looking up in surprise, she saw the portrait of an old woman with a long nose smiling at her. The elderly witch wore a nightcap and a long, purple robe decorated with silver stars.

"Who are you?" asked Hermione, standing up and walking up to the portrait.

"I was the headmistress of this school three hundred years ago. Name's Penelope Thyle. Pleased to meet you, Miss Granger."

"How do you know my name?" Hermione inquired, surprised.

"Oh I know a lot of things," answered the portrait with a sly grin. "Look down, dear."

Hermione did so, and saw to her surprise that the allievrae lay spread out on Dumbledore's desk. Her curiousity overtook her and she kneeled down to stare into the pool of shimmering colours.

The image formed in the whirling liquid this time was different from the first one she had seen. Hermione leaned closer to it until her nose was nearly touching the substance, then watched with bated breath as the scene unfolded in front of her...

Hermione and Draco stood in their graduation robes by the lake. Fireworks exploded and other students cheered in the background, but the two of them appeared to be completely unaware of anything in their surroundings.

"Where was it you said you were going to?" Hermione asked.

"I'm going to London to work for the Ministry of Magic. Hopefully as far away from my father as possible," Draco responded.

"How are you going to manage that? Won't he be watching everything you do?"

"Possibly, but don't worry, I can deal with him." He said this with a smile - how alike Hermione it was to worry about him in everything he did.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Draco. I...I don't know what I'll do without you. I feel like I'm losing a part of me." Tears glimmered on Hermione's cheeks as she said this in a choked whisper.

"Maybe..." Draco started to say, but was cut off by one of his friends approaching and tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Malfoy, come on they're going to set off the final firework. You've gotta see this one."

"Yeah, one sec," he replied. "I'm busy here, Jayl." His friend took the hint, and ran off. Draco chuckled as he turned back to Hermione. "Sorry about that," he said.

"It's okay," she answered, smiling at him. "What were you going to say?"

"Hermione...I've been thinking about this for a few months now. You know that I love you more than anything."

In the background, the chant of voices could be heard, counting down to the set-off of the last firework. "Three!" they screamed.

"I know, Draco. It's how I feel about you too."

"I wouldn't be able to stand not being with you either. So I've come up with a way for us to be together after today..."

"Two!"

"What is it?" Hermione asked, her voice barely audible. She looked up at Draco, and the expression on her face showed that she knew what he was about to say next.

"Hermione Granger," said Draco as he got down on one knee, "Will you marry me?"

"ONE!!!"

Fireworks exploded in the distance, forming the Hogwarts crest in brilliant, sparkling lights. Hermione fell onto the ground in front of Draco and started weeping into his shoulder. "Yes," she said, her voice trembling with happiness. "Yes I will."

Hermione pulled away as the scene dissolved into nothing, and the pool of liquid once again took on the wrapper form. As she reached up to tuck her hair behind her ears, she found to her surprise that her cheeks were wet. After a moment of confusion, she realized it was because she had been crying as she watched the future play out before her eyes.

"Was that really the future?" she whispered to herself.

"It was indeed," said a voice from behind her. Hermione jumped, but then remembered that the portrait was still there.

"But I thought..."

"That it was supposed to show your happiest yet most heartbreaking moment from the future?" finished Penelope for her with a chuckle. However, her expression grew serious as she continued. "Yes, dear, it does that the first time. But the next time you look into the allievrae, you will see a flash of something that will happen in your near future, whether it be happy or sad. From that point on, everytime you look into it, the scenes you see will be from the increasingly nearer future, until you begin to see things that will happen mere hours or days later. Most wizards choose to throw away the allievrae once they realize what is happening, Miss Granger, and those who don't often turn insane. They begin to see things that will happen in other parts of the world ahead of time, disasterly events, and they can do nothing about it. Eventually they lose their mind."

Although the former headmistress's speech had shocked Hermione, she managed to say, "But how come I only see scenes that deal with me and Draco together then?"

Giving the younger wizard a thoughtful look, the portrait said, "I do believe you and Mr Malfoy are a special case. Because you both found and looked into the allievrae at the same time, then it will only show you events that happen to both of you."

"Then Draco will be okay. He'll live," said Hermione out loud in relief. Then another realization hit her - "So it's true. We are going to get married..." she murmured softly, looking down at the wrapper that lay on the table. "How can it be possible? I don't love him..."

"Are you quite sure of that, Miss Granger?"

Turning around, Hermione looked into the portrait's eyes. They stared back at her kindly and knowingly.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice quivering.

"I cannot tell you what you need to discover on your own. However, keep this in mind...never lie to yourself. Your heart will always tell you what you need to know. Look deeper, and you will see..."

The next day found Hermione bundled up and on her way to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries via the knight bus. After a long ride during which she was jostled and thrown around by the turbulent motion of the purple bus, she managed to keep in any traces of sickness that might have arised, and got off (only somewhat shakily) on both legs once it arrived at the hospital.

"Thank yo-" she began to say once she had taken her bag from Stan, but the bus had already speeded off. Shaking her head, Hermione turned to look at the building she had been dropped off at.

Her initial reaction was to turn back in dismay; this grungy store hardly looked like a place where the best healers in the wizarding world worked. However, she then remembered back to her 5th year when she had visited Mr Weasley in St Mungo's. Tonks had taken her and her friends to this very building, and had done something to enter the hospital, which had been enchanted to prevent muggles from finding it...what was it she had said...

"I'm er...here to see Draco Malfoy," Hermione muttered at the very ugly mannequin which stared down at her from behind the dirty glass display window. She looked around furtively, afraid that someone would notice the dummy nodding and tilting its head, but the passers by paid no attention to her. Relieved, she stepped through the glass and into the reception room.

Once Hermione was inside the hospital, it took her a few moments to adjust to the lighting. The weather outside was dark and stormy, and the bright glare of the hospital's visitor's room's lights immediately took her by surprise. When she had gotten used to it, she weaved through the bustling crowd of hexed, sick, and frantic people to the reception desk. There, she waited patiently in line.

When Hermione finally reached the tall, marble desk, she said politely to the blonde witch behind it, "Could you tell me which ward Draco Malfoy is currently in?"

"What's his problem?" was the lazy reply.

"He attacked by Mithions."

"Creature-Induced Injuries. First floor, ward eighteen. He's a handsome one isn't he?" the witch said with a slight smirk.

"Er...I suppose..."

"How long for you two?"

"How long?" Hermione repeated, confused.

"How long have you been dating him?" the plump blonde said, shooting a "where have you been?" look at Hermione.

"Oh no! We're not...y'know...together," was Hermione's hurried reply as a blush rose in her cheeks. "I...er...we're just friends...thanks." Without bothering to wait for the witch to reply, she turned around and began heading to the stairs. *

Hermione let out a small sigh as she climbed the wooden staircase. Although the allievrae had shown her that Draco would live through this, she couldn't help but worry. Dumbledore had allowed her to take a day off of her classes so that she could go visit Draco, and she was grateful to the old headmaster for it.

When Hermione found Draco's ward, she knocked on the door, fidgeting with her hair as she waited for a reply. When no one answered, she hesitantly pushed the door open and took a look inside. To her delight, Draco sat on the bed at the other end of the room. His hands were wrapped in bandages and he was still pale, but seeing as he was scribbling on a piece of parchment, he appeared to be fine.

"Draco?" she said softly.

He looked up, startled. The initial shock faded from his face when he saw who it was, to be replaced with a slight frown. As Hermione approached, he quickly shoved the letter he had been writing under his pillow and pulled his sheets up.

"Hey Granger," he said quietly.

"How are you doing?" she asked as she sat down on a hard stool beside his head.

Turning away, Draco mumbled into his covers, "I'm fine. What are you doing here?"

Hermione couldn't help but feel a sense of deja vu as the memory of the visit she had paid Draco in the school hospital ward came back to her. "I came to see you. Dumbledore gave me permission to take the day off of school."

Her ears picked up a sigh coming from the other side of the bed. It was followed by silence, and then, "Weren't you supposed to meet that DADA teacher today?"

"Yes, but I'd rather not go without you. I already let him know that we can't make it later this afternoon, and he said he would reschedule our meeting to next Thursday."

More silence.

Hermione watched the second hand on the clock atop Draco's bedside table slowly make one full rotation, then another, and another. Finally, she said, "What was it you were writing."

"Nothing," he responded sharply, his back still turned towards her.

"Then why did you hide it from me when I came in?" she argued back.

With another sigh, Draco turned around to face her. "I was writing a letter to you, okay?" he said defiantly, his stormy eyes avoiding hers. His mouth was set determinedly, as if daring Hermione to say something sarcastic or degrading.

Hermione felt a blush creep up her cheeks. "To...me?"

"That's what I said. Do mudbloods have a hard time hearing too?"

"What were you writing to me?" she asked, ignoring his rude comment.

"None of your business."

"Well if it's to me, then it is."

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

"I'm going back to sleep," Draco said abruptly, ending the pointless argument.

"You know that I'll just steal the letter from underneath your pillow while you're sleeping," Hermione said matter-of-factly. She smiled smugly, knowing she had won.

"Not unless the nurse kicks you out, Granger. She listens to me."

Hermione's mouth dropped open slightly, and she gave Draco a disbelieving look. Seconds later, she began laugh.

"What's so funny?" he asked in annoyance.

"Do you really think EVERYONE obeys you, Malfoy?" she asked with amusement between her giggles.

"Yes, because they do," he replied, rolling his eyes. "I'm good looking, intelligent, pure-blooded, rich, powerful...they have nothing to lose and everything to gain by taking my orders."

Hermione shook her head. "You are so arrogant, you know? I've honestly never met anyone with a head as big as yours."

"Or as handsome?"

The corners of Draco's mouth were now twitching, as if he were trying to hold in a smile. Hermione now realized that he was joking about all of this; nonetheless, she started laughing again. She couldn't stop laughing. As she took her hand off of the beside table to cover her mouth, she lost her balance and fell forward onto Draco's bed.

Her giggles stopped abruptly when she realized what had happened. She was now in such a position that her face was about a foot away from his, and she was staring directly down into his eyes.

Draco sat up slowly, using his elbows as a crutch to steady himself. His eyes were now level with Hermione's, and they gazed at her with an emotion she couldn't read in them. "I..." he began to say. He was moving closer to her without even realizing it.

Hermione was distinctly aware of the diminishing distance between them. "Please..." she said in a barely-audible whisper. His face was 5 inches away from hers...2 inches...she could feel his breath tickling her cheek...less than an inch...and then, everything around her stopped. The quiet ticking of the clock, the rustling of the leaves outside the window, the distant voices of nurses...all sounds and movements ceased to exist in her mind.

She was drowning in his kiss. Electricity was travelling at the speed of light between her lips and his, and her whole body felt numb. She instinctively raised her hand and placed it on his broad shoulder; he held her small, delicate hand in his. And then, before she could even begin to enjoy the sensation of being in a state of absolute perfection, he pulled away.

Hermione's eyes opened, and she looked at Draco in confusion. "Why did you..."

"No, don't say anything," he said, averting his gaze. "I shouldn't have done that. They'll find out."

"But Draco," she pleaded, "they can't find you here."

"We can't do this."

"Why not? I don't know if..."

"It's not right.

"Please, just listen to me. I...like you. A lot. I know you feel the same way about me, you can't deny it any longer. Don't do this."

"Hermione," he said firmly, employing the use of her first name again, "just leave. Before anything else which shouldn't happen does."

She bit her lip, willing the tears that were threatening to fall to go away. "Fine," she whispered. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

With her last few words said, Hermione turned around and walked out. When the door had shut completely behind her, Draco let out a frustrated groan. Reaching under his pillow, he pulled out the parchment he had been writing on earlier. Dipping his quill in a bottle of ink resting on the table beside him, he scribbled a few more lines, then ended it with three last words before signing the letter with a flourish:

"I love you."

I wonder when this class is over, pondered Hermione as her eyes drifted over to the clock hanging above the blackboard. A smile appeared on face when she saw that there were 2 minutes left in the class. Finally!

Usually, Hermione loved her classes. The lecture Professor Haymen was giving her DADA class was actually interesting; however, she was just too distracted to pay attention today. Draco had returned that morning, but no words had been exchanged between them. Perhaps it was simply because after the incident in the hospital, things were too awkward. Whatever it was, she wished he would have at least acknowledged her presence earlier that afternoon when they nearly collided in the hallways.

Hermione was jolted out of her thoughts by the ringing of the bell. Picking up her books, she walked over to Harry and Ron. The trio began to head out of the classroom, but Professor Haymen stopped them. "Miss Granger, may I have a word?" he asked.

"Of course," she replied. Looking over at her two friends who stood waiting for her, she said, "I'll see you guys in potions."

They nodded and said good-bye to her. Once they had left the room, Hermione moved over to her teacher's desk.

"One moment." Turning around, Professor Haymen tapped the top of the lamp on his desk, and a black box appeared. Picking it up, the teacher said clearly into it, "Please bring Mr Draco Malfoy to my room. Also, let Professor Snape know that he and Miss Hermione Granger will not be attending their potions class next period." He then proceeded to place the box back down on the lamp, where it disappeared with a tiny pop.

"Please, sit down," he said as he turned back to Hermione and gestured at the row of desks before him. She nodded, and sat down in one directly across from him. "I'm going to conduct our meeting right now, seeing as both you and Mr Malfoy are able to make it."

"Oh...okay," she said. "What are you going to teach us, Professor?"

"Like I said a few days ago, the headmaster wanted you two to learn how to protect yourselves from curses."

Just then, the door swung open and Draco walked in. His eyebrows raised in surprise when he saw Hermione. "What am I doing here?" he asked the teacher with a frown.

"Sit down."

Draco shrugged and did so, seating himself in the desk next to Hermione. She resisted the urge to turn to look at him, and instead fixed her gaze on Professor Haymen.

"I am going to teach you a spell which is very similar to the shield charm. To perform it, utter these words: protego maximus, then draw your wand in a circle above you. It will create an invisible shroud-like shield which will brush against your skin to alert you when evil is nearby."

"Sounds easy enough," commented Hermione.

"It is not as simple as it seems, Miss Granger. It is a difficult spell, so difficult that it's not even taught at Hogwarts. I have been informed, however, that both you and Mr Malfoy are the two brightest students in your year, so I have faith that you will be able to master this tonight."

Hermione finally turned over to look at Draco. He seemed to be a little more interested in what Professor Haymen was saying, and was watching the teacher intently. Nevertheless, he glanced at Hermione when she turned around, as if he could feel her eyes on him. His pulse raced as he held her confused gaze, but he was careful not to show any signs of her having an effect on him. He turned away.

"So can we get started now?" Draco asked loudly.

"Since you seem so eager, you may start us off. Wand out, please."

Draco obeyed, and pulled out his wand from his robe pocket. Turning away from Hermione, he muttered, "Protego maximus" and traced a circle in the air. A faint, ring-shaped glow appeared where he had drawn the circle, but other than that, nothing happened.

"Try again," said Professor Haymen encouragingly.

Draco did so, and once again, failed. However, he now seemed thoroughly determined to successfully produce a shield before Hermione. With his eyebrows furrowed in concentratio, he repeated in a clear voice, "Protego maximus". This time, as he drew his wand in the air, a thin, silver beam followed it to form a glowing ring. It slipped around him, tightened, then all of a sudden, disappeared.

"Excellent!" exclaimed the teacher, a broad smile on his face. "Very good job. Hermione, your turn."

Hermione followed Draco's procedure, and got the spell to work on her second try.

"Congratulations, both of you. You did excellent. From now on, I want you both to practice that spell every night, then perform it before you go to bed. It will last 24 hours. Do not forget - it is crucial that you have the shield around you at all times. Now, I have a class to get to. Good day, and good luck." With those final words, Professor Haymen left the room with a sweep of his robes.

The two students were now left alone in the same room. After a few moments of silence, Hermione coughed lightly, and finally said, "Um...Draco?"

"What?" he answered. Hermione turned to look at him. He stood with his back to her, staring fixedly out the window. As she watched, he placed an elbow on the windowsill and rested his chin on it.

"Are you okay?"

"What do you mean?" he asked sharply, turning to face her.

"I meant the Mithion injuries..."

"Oh. They're fine."

Silence fell between them again.

Hermione let out a small sigh as a bell toll came from the distance, signaling noon. Looking up, she was surprised to see Draco standing before her with a twisted look of internal pain written on his face.

"Hermione...I'm sorry. I...it's just...you bring out a side of me I barely even know. When I'm around you, I actually have to struggle to keep up my trademark personality. I want to make you happy, to make you smile, to be GOOD when I'm around you. I'll admit that it scares me, and I was just trying to save myself by pushing you away."

Her eyes softened at what he had just said. She knew that it had taken him more courage to say that to her than anything else. "I don't know what to say," she whispered.

"I want to be with you," he continued. "But...I just can't." Draco sat on top of the desk next to her as he said these words, and took her hands in his.

Hermione's heart thumped fiercely in her chest at the contact; it shocked her that such a tiny action could make her feel this way. She swallowed, and looked down at their joined hands. As she started to raise her head again, something caught her eye.

She held his arm up, and slowly pushed the sleeve of his robes back up. Numbness and disbelief overcame her at the sight that greeted her eyes. "Draco..."

It felt as though a stone had been dropped into his throat as the realization that she had seen hit him. Trying to speak around it, he managed to choke out, "I...I didn't mean for you to see that..."

Hermione's eyes filled with tears, and she looked up at him. His stormy grey eyes were filled with a sorrow so great that it touched her heart...sorrow and something else...regret. "Why?" was all she managed to say.

Draco shook his head, trying to hold back his own tears. He closed his eyes and ran his pale fingers along the black skull that had been burned onto his left forearm long ago. So long ago he could barely remember it. Just barely...

"Father, where are we going?" whined a 12-year old Draco.

"Silence, Draco. You will know when we get there," replied Lucius Malfoy in a cold, hard voice.

Although Draco still had many questions, he shut his mouth. After all, his main goal was to please his father, even if it meant getting yelled at for no reason. His mother rarely had time to be with him; she was always out with her friends at their little cocktail parties. The only parent that Draco ever saw was his father, and he was always busy. The few times they actually went out together, Draco tried desperately to get Lucius to be proud of him, but it never happened.

At last, father and son arrived at a clearing in the forest behind Malfoy Manor. Draco tried to contain his fear as he looked around at the dark, looming trees surrounding them. "What are we doing here?" he asked.

"Avery!" exclaimed Lucius, ignoring his son and stepping forward to greet a hooded figure instead. "Is he here yet?"

"Yes," the man replied. As if on cue, a tall, skeletal figure stepped out from behind Avery, who faded back into the shadows behind him.

Draco, Lucius, and the man were now left alone in the clearing. "Hello, Lucius. Is that your son?" The man pointed a long, thin finger at Draco. The young boy gulped, and nodded his head timidly.

Lucius bowed deeply. "Yes, my lord."

The other wizard began to circle Draco stealthily, as if inspecting him. Draco felt as if he was a piece of meat at the grocery store in Knockturn Alley his father often went to. Finally, the man said, "He will do."

Draco's father smiled, then grabbed onto his son's shoulders. "Draco, don't struggle," he whispered icily into his ear.

Draco couldn't help but whimper as the tall man approached him, his scarlet eyes glinting beneath the hood of his cloak. Then, with a sweep of the pale hand, a red-hot skull appeared on Draco's forearm. He yelped in pain, and clutched at his arm. Tears sprung to his eyes as the mark burned into his skin, imprinting him with something that would never leave him. He wrenched himself out of Lucius's grip, his eyes narrowed in hate towards his father. He had done this to him. It was he who had caused so much pain, so much hate, that young Draco had to endure. Little did Draco know that as he cradled his disfigured left arm, this gruesome mark, which had now cooled off and turned as black as the night around him, was sealing a life much like the one he lived into his fate forever.

Draco's eyes flew open, and a shudder travelled through his body. The memory had brought back pain which he had long since stored away in the back of his mind. He had nearly forgotten about Hermione's presence, but as he looked down at the mark which had destroyed his life up till this point and would continue to do so, he saw her small hand still being clutched in his.

"He's been watching me through it all this time," he said, trying to compose himself. It almost came easily to him now - it was like a second nature for Draco to conceal his true feelings and wear a cold, emotionless mask every minute of every day.

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione, her voice etched with pity.

"He can sense my actions and my whereabouts through the dark mark," Draco answered, spitting the last two words out bitterly. "It's how he is able to know when we're together."

Understanding dawned on Hermione. She pulled her hand out of Draco's, and stood up. "I guess I should leave now," she said, looking away.

"No...I mean...I have something for you."

She turned to look at him in surprise. "What is it?"

Draco began to raise a hand to his breast pocket, but then stopped. It seemed as if he were fighting an internal battle over whether or not he should give it to her. At last, he let out a sigh of defeat, and pulled a neatly folded letter out. He held it for a few seconds, looking down at it sadly. Then, he gave it to Hermione.

"Is this..." she began to say softly.

"Yes it is," he interrupted. "I have to go now." Draco stood up and began to walk to the door. When he passed Hermione, he stopped. Tentatively, he reached out a hand and tilted her chin up with it. Looking down at her innocent, tear-streaked face, he thought angrily, It's because of me. It's my fault that tears dare to marr her beauty right now. "I'm sorry," he said softly, before he turned away.

Then, he was gone.

When the echoes of Draco's footsteps on the stone floor outside of the room had died away, Hermione wiped away the tears on her cheeks and held up the letter he had given her. It was folded into quarters, and on the front side, her name was written in silver cursive.

She decided to go up to her room, where she could have more privacy, to read the letter. As she stepped out of the classroom, she nearly bumped into a lanky, dark-haired student passing by.

"Hey Harry," she said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to the common room," he replied pointedly. "Potions over, and you missed it...again."

Hermione frowned at the less-than-friendly tone in his voice. "I'm sorry..." she began to say.

"Hermione," intervened a second voice. Ron stepped out from behind of Harry. He also wore a frown, and didn't look very pleased with her. "You haven't been to Potions for three days in a row. I know Snape is a prat and everything, but what's with you and skipping classes lately?"

"I'm not skipping classes," she answered, beginning to get upset. Why were her friends turning against her? "Look, I'm sorry I haven't spent a lot of time with you two these past few days. I've just been really busy..."

"Busy with Malfoy?" Harry said sharply. "Since when have you cared about him more than us?"

"I don't!" Hermione half-cried. She looked desperately to Ron for help, but got nothing in response.

"We never see you anymore," continued Harry. "Being head girl is a pretty crummy excuse to stop talking to your friends, in my opinion."

Hermione was beginning to grow annoyed. "Stop being so immature," she snapped. "I've had to deal with more than you can imagine."

Harry gave her a look of pure disbelief, and said, "More than I can imagine? I don't think you had to face Voldemort yesterday. I don't think you had to deal with the death of your parents and your godfather the day before. What the hell is wrong with you, Hermione?"

Hermione's mouth dropped open. Harry's words had hit her like a slap in the face, and she was more than sorry that she had spoken now. "I...I didn't mean that," she said, tears springing to her eyes once again.

"Forget it," he answered coldly, his green eyes glaring at her. "Have fun with Malfoy."

As Harry turned away, Hermione's gaze met Ron's. "Ron..." she started to say, making to grab his arm.

"Bye Hermione," he said, ignoring her attempt to reason with him and following Harry instead. In the blink of an eye, the two of them had disappeared into the crowd of students.

Biting her lip until the coppery taste of blood filled her mouth, Hermione leaned against the wall behind her. Why can't I do anything right? she thought as she buried her face in her hands. First I can't have Draco, now my two best friends hate me.

"Are you okay?" came a voice to Hermione's right. She opened her eyes, and saw Lavender Brown standing there and looking at her with concern.

"I'm fine," Hermione mumbled, although her sniffling proved otherwise. "Thanks. I, uh, have to go now."

Without saying good-bye, she hurried away, leaving Lavender to stare after her with a rather offended expression on her face. As Hermione squeezed her way between groups of chattering students, her grip tightened on the letter. Right now, the only thing she really wanted to do was get away from everyone else and read what Draco had written to her.

When she finally entered the dormitory, she immediately walked over to her room and sat down on her bed. Carelessly brushing her hair away from her face, Hermione placed the letter on her desk and smoothed it out. She smiled when she saw her name. For some reason, just knowing that Draco had written it with his own hands brought an unexplainable happiness to her.

Taking one last deep breath, Hermione unfolded the letter and began to read.

Dear Hermione,

I have wanted to write this letter to you for so long, but I never have because I was afraid to. Afraid that if you ever saw it, you'd be repulsed. But now I'm writing this on the first day of school because this is our final year at Hogwarts, and I'm afraid that after it I may never get the chance to let you know how I feel.

I think it started at the beginning of 6th year. After the previous year's happenings, I wondered about your condition all summer. When I saw you again on the first day of school, you were still the same Hermione that I had known for so long. Yet something was different. I didn't feel the same contempt and dislike whenever my eyes fell upon your lovely face. The feeling...it was beyond words. I wanted to run to you, to kiss you, to hold you, and erase that hint of sadness in your beautiful brown eyes. But I held back, just like I have up until now.

Today I saw you in the library. I watched you from the shadows, while you glowed in the sunlight - I guess that's the way things will always be between us. The world which I'm bound to can only be described by words like 'darkness' and 'misery'. I find no pleasure in the activities in which I engage, but my father forces me into them nonetheless. My attempts to please him were abandoned long ago; now, I only hate him with a hate you would never experience. I know this, because not even evil would dare to corrupt your sweet innocence.

I understand that innocence is not all you are - you're friends with Harry Potter, the boy who has been through it all. I'm aware that you've gone through nearly everything he's gone through since you became friends with him in first year. But I hold that untainted image of you in place of perfection through my darkest moments, and it will most likely remain that way forever.

Although I would never admit this to anyone, sometimes I envy Potter. He experiences near-death, and he has you beside him to comfort him. Me...well, I have nothing. Not even my heart, because you, Hermione, unknowingly hold that.

I am now writing this in my hospital ward at St Mungo's. We...kissed a few nights ago. When I think back on it, I smile and realize that's the closest I'll ever get to heaven. If anything should happen to me, I would die happily just knowing my lips touched yours.

As I write this, I wonder when the eyes appear in my dreams will read this. I don't want to give this to you, not yet. Not until the time is right. But will the time ever be right? Will I ever be ready to let go of my now-familiar job of wanting you from afar? Because as much as I yearn to take you in my arms whenever I see you, I know I'm already blessed enough to just hold your gaze with mine. Yet somehow, even the sight of you can't overcome this longing and heartache that plagues me just knowing that you don't belong to me.

Oh, you just walked in. I will pause here in my writing for now.

I once again return to this letter, this time with the burden of contradicting emotions and thoughts weighing heavily on me. My heart is light with happiness, yet breaking at the same time. Telling you what I just said - hopefully you will remember as you read this letter - was, and will be, the hardest thing I have ever done. I hope you understand now that I did it to save you. Save you from myself. Hermione, please forgive me for hurting you. This letter is my apology.

I love you.

Forever yours, Draco

Putting down the letter, Hermione collapsed numbly onto her bed. She closed her eyes, allowing her mind to explode with questions. He loves me. He...loves me. How can this be possible? He's never shown it...he...it can't...

And then, she reached into her heart. Shutting out all attempts to reason with the situation, she let herself focus in on the one thing that mattered - her feelings. The kind portrait's words came back to her in a rush, and as Hermione silently begged her heart to show her the way, bits and pieces of memories came back to her...images of him...strutting up to the sorting hat knowing he would be placed in Slytherin for sure...leaning against a tree, surrounded by the darkness of the forest while the chaos the death eaters had created erupted around him...wand raised and eyebrows knitted in concentration as he attempted to trace a shining ring in the air above him. Each time, she saw the sharp jawline, white-blonde hair, and finally, the pale grey, almost silver, eyes which held such unfulfillable longing, hidden behind the steely shield of distrust.

"I love him," she said out loud in a choked whisper. "I love the one I can't have."



[A/N: Ahh I know it's cheesy and cliche, but hey, give me a break...there aren't a lot of choices when it comes to D/Hr fics anyway :P Sorry if I disappointed anyone with that. Don't stop reading yet though, things will get better. Also, I got the idea for that "watched you from the shadows while you glowed in the sunlight" thing from Cyrano de Bergerac...good play and movie :)]

Hours later, Hermione's eyelids fluttered open. Confused as to where she was, she remained in her position for a few moments. Then she remembered the letter, and slowly forced herself into a sitting position. Her eyes were itchy and swollen from crying so much earlier, and her muscles felt stiff from falling asleep in an uncomfortable position.

As Hermione looked around for the letter, her eyes fell on the something shiny lying on the ground by the desk. She slowly climbed off of the bed, and leaned down and picked the object up. Her eyes widened when she realized what it was - it was the allievrae.

"What in the world..." she murmured to herself. Putting it down beside her on the bed, she searched the area near where she had found it for some clue to how the magical item had gotten back into her dormitory, and found a piece of parchment. Taking it, she placed it on the desk underneath the light of the lamp - it was dark outside - and read what had been written on it:

"Miss Granger: Now that you know what the allievrae can do, I feel that you have enough responsibility to handle the burden of having it. Put it to good use."

Hermione smiled. "Thanks Dumbledore," she whispered.

She took the allievrae, and put it on the desk beside Dumbledore's note. Taking out her wand, she tapped it and said, "Ostendo Posterus."

Hermione waited until the silver plastic melted into a puddle; then, when the swirling colours had slowed down, she looked into it apprehensively.

At first, she saw nothing but the faint ripples on the surface of the pool. Then an image shivered into view.

Draco was strolling down the shore of the lake. It was apparently a warm night, because he had removed his school robes. He wore a half-unbuttoned shirt with the sleeves rolled up casually and light khaki pants, and looked as if he was deep in thought.

As he stopped and turned to face the lake, a stout man stepped out from the forest. Apparently Draco's shield was not up, because he took no notice of the stranger.

The man's eyes were fixed on Draco, and when he realized that his target had not noticed his presence, a wide smile spread on his scarred face. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his wand and pointed it at Draco. His lips moved, forming the word "Stupefy", and a beam of scarlet light shot out from the tip of his wand.

Draco whipped around a second too late, and the spell hit him squarely on his chest. His eyes widened in fear and surprise a split second before he flew into the air and landed on the ground a few feet away from the lake.

Looking around furtively, the man scurried towards Draco with his wand held out. He examined the limp form carefully, and when he saw no signs of conciousness, he clicked his tongue appreciatively. Muttering "Ferula", he moved his wand in a straight line, and Draco's entire body was immediately wrapped in clean, white bandages.

The man shot one last nervous glance at the castle, then picked up the mummy-like figure which lay at his feet and retreated back into the forest.

Hermione gasped as the pool once again began to swirl violently, washing away the image. I have to warn Draco, she thought frantically. Without bothering to pick up the allievrae, which had by now morphed back into its wrapper state, Hermione slipped on her robes and ran out of her dormitory.

When she walked out the entrance doors, the warm, humid night air engulfed her. She gulped as she recalled the scene. What if...what if that was tonight? she thought, her heart sinking. She began to walk a little faster in search of Draco. He must be out here; he always is.

After coming to the conclusion that he wasn't near the lake, Hermione turned back and began heading towards Hagrid's hut. As she reached it, she glanced behind her shoulder and saw a lone figure walking out of the castle doors. She could just see the glint of pale blonde hair in the light of the crescent moon.

It's him.

Hermione immediately began racing up the hill to try to reach Draco. She knew he was heading towards the lake, and her gut was telling her that what she had seen in the allievrae would happen tonight. "Draco!" she called out, desperately trying to get him to notice her.

He didn't hear her, and continued walking on.

Groaning inwardly, Hermione continued to make her way up the crudely-carved stone steps in the hill as fast as she could. At last, she reached the top and started running towards the lake where she could just see Draco's silhouette. As she neared it, she opened her mouth to call out his name again. Suddenly, in the corner of her eye, she saw a stocky form holding a raised wand move out of the forest behind Draco.

"Expelliarmus!" she cried instead. Her spell knocked the man's wand out of his hand, and he stood staring at her, stunned for a minute.

At the sound of her voice, Draco had spun around. When he saw her, he stepped back in shock. "What are you..." he began to say. Then, his eyes fell on the stranger.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here, Defarge?" he asked angrily. "My father sent you, didn't he?"

"No, sir, he didn't," mumbled the man, edging backwards.

"TELL ME!" bellowed Draco, brandishing his wand and pointing it at the man he had referred to as Defarge. "Tell me now," he added in a calmer voice, "or my father will be getting your remains rather than mine."

Defarge cringed at Draco's words, stumbling over a tree root behind him in the process of trying to retreat. "He didn't send me..." he tried to say weakly. The expression on his face was much like that of a rat cornered by a very hungry cat.

Draco's eyes narrowed dangerously, and suddenly Hermione had a feeling what he was going to do next as she saw the lines around his mouth tighten. "No!" she shouted, running over to him and grabbing his wand arm.

He looked down at her furiously. "Hermione, get away."

"Don't do it."

"The piece of scum deserves it."

Hermione looked in the direction of Defarge, and saw to her surprise that he had disappeared, taking his wand with him. "You have to truly want to cause the pain to make it work, anyway," she said softly, reciting the words Bellatrix had screeched to Harry in the Department of Mysteries. "I know you don't."

He tore his arm out of her hold and looked away. "How did you find me?"

"The allievrae."

"The allievrae?" he repeated.

"Dumbledore gave it back to us. I forgot to tell you; the night you were moved to St Mungo's, I had a talk with a portrait in his office..." She then followed to relay everything Penelope Thyle had told her about the allievrae.

"So is this supposed to foresee attacks on me or something? Because that sure is useful," he commented sarcastically.

"It saved you this time."

"I don't need saving. I can save myself."

Hermione's mind immediately jumped back to the letter. What Draco had just said had reminded her of the words he had written so beautifully to her in it.

"Don't lie to me, Draco. I don't want you to protect yourself from me. I read your letter; now all I want is for you to let me in."

He turned to look at her. "I can't."

"Is it because of your father?"

"No."

"You don't want me to see another side of you?"

"No," he repeated quietly, his eyes piercing into hers.

"Then why can't you?" she asked, having run out of ideas.

"It's because..."

"Because?" she prompted.

"Nevermind."

She clenched her teeth. "You're lying again. Please tell me why."

"It's because I love you, Hermione."

Hermione's heart twisted. It was the first time she had ever heard the words from his mouth in person, and it felt unnatural hearing Draco Malfoy say the word "love". Not only that, but the tenderness with which he said her name left her speechless. She finally overcame her initial loss of words, and said slowly, "How is that a problem?"

"Because...it's not possible. There's no way I can love you, and I can't let you in," he replied, his eyes still fixed on hers.

She shook her head, utterly confused. "I don't understand. Why can't you love me?"

"I've forgotten how to..."



[A/N: A few things I wanna say about this chapter: 1. In case you were wondering, the sentence "The expression on his face was much like that of a rat cornered by a very hungry cat" was indeed a reference to Wormtail. 2. As you may have noticed, the allievrae didn't show the true future because Hermione interfered with it. So keep in mind that it doesn't ALWAYS tell the truth...if someone steps in, then they can change it. ]

[A/N: Sorry I've been so long in updating (at least relative to the amount of time it usually takes me to submit a new chapter), my computer was momentarily taken away. Also, this is the last pre-written chapter I have so I'll have to start writing again, meaning it will take me a little longer than usual to post new chapters from now on.]


2 months later

Hermione watched a single, golden leaf drift gracefully towards the lake, her eyes following its every movement. It fell lightly upon the clear surface of the water, and tiny ripples formed around it, spreading out until they were no more.

It was December, and the last of the autumn leaves had just fallen off of the maple tree beside the lake. Hermione was leaning against this tree, bundled in cloaks and scarves to counter the icy cold winter gusts of wind.

Since her conversation with Draco near this very spot 2 months ago, the two of them had remained friends, but nothing more. The allievrae still lay on the desk in Hermione's room, untouched since the last time it had shown the future to her.

In the distance, Hermione heard Hagrid calling out, "All students goin' home fer the break, over here!"

Draco is getting into one of those carriages right now to leave for 3 weeks, she thought miserably. She had not had the chance to say good-bye to him before he left, and now she wished more than anything she could have.

"Oh well," she sighed. "I might as well go back inside; Harry and Ron will be wondering where I went." She had also amended her friendships with her two friends since their argument, and, they although they still didn't approve of it, had at last accepted the fact that Hermione was friends - or something more - with one of their least favourite people.

Hermione stood up and brushed the leaves off of her cloak. She stretched, shivering when a blast of wind hit her, then turned around and started walking back to the castle.

As she did, thoughts of Draco drifted into her mind. This was nothing new; lately, whenever she was alone, she tended to think about him. Funny how we're just friends when we both know we love each other, she thought, the irony of it making her smile bitterly. I guess it's times like these I wish I never met him, wish I never fell in love with him...what changed between us? Was it just me, or him as well? A year ago, I never would have imagined that I would feel so strongly about Draco Malfoy. But he's stolen my heart and now I can't have it back...

With a start, she realized that she had been standing in front of the entrance doors for a few minutes now, lost in her thoughts. Opening the door, she walked in and was immediately greeted with a bright, colourful banner hanging from the ceiling a few feet in front of her. The words, "Join us for Hogwarts' 1st ever Winter Masquerade! Date: January 2nd. Time: 8:00PM-12AM. Attire: This will be a chance for the school to experience a non-wizarding ball, so please dress in Muggle clothes such as ball gowns and tuxedos." were painted upon it in light blue paint.

Hermione looked around in surprise. No wonder why there are so many people staying for the break, she realized. The hallway was bustling with activity; it almost looked like a regular school day. With the idea of a masked party coming up, she smiled and began heading towards the Gryffindor common room.

When she reached the Fat Lady, she said the password (being the Head Girl did have its perks, after all; she had access to all the passwords in Hogwarts), and climbed inside. To her delight, Harry, Ron, and their two friends, Seamus and Dean, were sitting in the common room and looking at a small, round object.

"What is that?" she asked curiously as she approached the four of them.

They all jumped in surprise, but recovered quickly when they saw Hermione standing behind them.

"It's a mood detector," Harry said with a grin. "Seamus got it from his aunt."

"Yeah, and it works pretty well too!" the other boy added. "Try it, Hermione. If it turns purple, it means you're angry, blue means you're sad, yellow means you're holding something you want to say back, green means you hate someone at the moment, red means you're in lust, and pink means you're in love."

A year ago, Hermione would have confiscated the item immediately and taken it to McGonagall. As it was, her experience with the allievrae made her intrigued by the idea of discovering another object with magical properties.

"How about you try it first, Ron?" she said, turning to her friend.

He shrugged, and picked up the metal ball. The other four students leaned forward in anticipation. The mood detector began to shimmer, then it turned a bright scarlet. Everyone started cracking up, and Ron's ears soon matched the lovely shade of the ball he held in his hand.

"This is bull. I don't think it works, Seamus," he quickly said, throwing it down and crossing his arms. His bright red cheeks gave him away though, and his friends began pestering him about who the lucky lady was.

"Oh c'mon mate, just give us a hint," said Dean with a chuckle.

"It's no one," Ron replied angrily.

"We all know it's Parvati," Hermione said with a sly smile. She gestured at Harry, Seamus, and Dean to keep quiet and let her trick play out.

"Why in the world would it be Parvati? I mean, Lavender is so much better looking and -" He stopped mid-sentence with a mortified expression on his face.

The other four burst out laughing again. "I knew it!" cried Harry gleefully. "It's so obvious."

"Don't tell her," mumbled Ron with his face buried in his hands.

"We won't, no need to worry," Dean replied.

"May I try now?" Hermione asked after everyone had calmed down.

Seamus nodded, and said, "Go ahead."

Hermione thanked him, and picked up the mood detector. It was heavy, and as she tightened her grip on it, it began to shimmer and warm up. Suddenly, it turned a light pink. For a moment, she struggled to remember what the pink meant; then, it came back to her - she was in love.

Her heart skipped a beat as she stared down at the small object in her hand. She could feel the eyes of the four boys on her, and she tried to think of something to say. "I...uh..."

"Who is it?" Dean asked in surprise.

"It's...no one you know," she replied.

Harry frowned, and said, "I think I know who he is. It's Malfoy, isn't it?"

Both Seamus's and Dean's mouths dropped open, but Ron just looked hurt. "Is he right, Hermione? You're in love with Malfoy?"

"No!" she protested weakly. "Why would I be in love with him?"

"I think you're lying," said Harry.

"And I think I'm not," she answered defiantly.

"Oh yeah? Then who is it?" he shot back.

Hermione looked desperately around for some support, but the other three looked like they didn't want to meddle with the argument that was brewing. After a moment of silence during which Hermione refused to answer Harry's question, Ron said, "Harry...maybe we should let the topic drop..."

She smiled gratefully at Ron, surprised that he had been mature enough to step in. She was used to him being the one who argued about petty issues; now it seemed like Harry had taken on that role.

"Fine," Harry spat out. "But if Hermione is in love with Malfoy..."

"Don't worry, she can't be. He's a foul little rat and she can do better than him. Right, Hermione?" Ron said, looking at Hermione with uncertainty.

"He...sure," she said through clenched teeth. "I'm going to go to my dormitory now. I'll see you guys later."

Spinning around on her heel, Hermione walked stiffly out of their common room. Once she had climbed out of the portrait and landed on the marble floor of the hallway outside, she immediately began stomping her way to her dormitory.

I was right, she thought furiously, ignoring Peeves, who was throwing SPEW badges at her. It ISN'T anyone they know. They don't know the real Draco. I'm the only one who does.

When Hermione was back in the Heads dormitory, she went into her room and sat down on her bed with a sigh. Now that she had calmed down slightly, she realized she had overreacted with Harry. I always blow up at people these days, she thought with frustration. What's wrong with me?

She let her eyes and thoughts wander as she curled up on her bed and let out a deep sigh. These days, nothing seemed to be right - she wasn't the calm, collected, and responsible Hermione anymore. She regularily got into fights with her friends and slacked off on her homework. All of this, she had realized, was because of Draco's constant presence in her mind.

Suddenly, she saw a glint of light on her desk. The allievrae! she thought in excitement. It had been a long time since she'd last looked into it, and she was curious as to what she would see now.

Sitting up abruptly, Hermione took the allievrae and put it on her bed. "Ostendo Posterus," she whispered, tapping the wrapper. She waited for the now-familiar morphing from wrapper to whirlpool to finish, then looked into it with bated breath.

At first, all she saw were the ripples on the surface of the puddle. Then, an image shimmered into view.

Draco lay on his bed in Malfoy Manor, alone. He had his arms stretched out behind his head, and looked as if he were in deep thought.

"Draco," came a voice from behind him. He looked up in surprise to see his father standing in the doorway. "I've just now received news of a little exchange between you and the Granger girl while you were at St. Mungo's."

Draco sat up and glared at his father coldly. "So I guess your little slaves are a bit behind when it comes to spying," he said, his voice flat and emotionless.

"Apparently," replied Lucius. "I believe we need to discuss your recent...activities. Allow me to make it clear that I will not accept you romping around with some mudblood. You're one of us, Draco, and you need to show it."

"I'm not one of you," Draco said in a trembling voice. "Nor will I ever be."

"Lift up your sleeve, child. Tell me what you see," answered Lucius in a dangerously soft voice. "The mark is there to remind you in times of doubt. You cannot escape what has already been set in stone."

"What was that you once said about Malfoys, father? Malfoys don't give up. And you can bet your damn mark that I won't give up on Hermione." Draco was now on his feet, and he stood with his arms crossed in front of Lucius. His eyes dared his father to try to stop him.

"Then I suppose there's nothing we can do about you," said Lucius, sighing disappointedly. "You're a hopeless case." He turned around to leave, but Draco apparently wasn't done yet. The younger wizard suddenly grabbed his father's arm, spun him around, and punched him squarely in the jaw.

"Oh yeah?" said Draco furiously. "Well not hopeless enough to give you what you deserve."

In one swift movement, Lucius stepped forward and grabbed Draco by the neck. His piercing blue eyes stared down into his son's grey ones menancingly as he spoke. "You've forgotten your place. Answer me this, child: What happened to you? What brought about this foolish and rebellious attitude?"

"Hermione happened," Draco said, his voice somewhat choked because of his father's hold on his throat, although his eyes still burned with hatred. "I love her, and it's something you'll never understand."

Lucius's grip visibly tightened, and Draco winced in pain. "So you love her," he said, his voice nearly a whisper now. "Is there anything else you'd like to tell me? Anything more that -"

The scene ended there as Hermione gasped and splashed the image away with one sweep of her hand. Draco is in trouble, was all her mind could tell her as she watched the droplets move back together and take on the wrapper form again. Her whole body was shaking because of what she had seen. "I have to go save him," she said out loud.

Grabbing the allievrae, she ran out of the dormitory and to Dumbledore's office. She hurriedly muttered the password to the gargoyles, then climbed up the staircase that appeared behind them, not bothering to wait for it to bring her to the top. She began knocking on the headmaster's door the moment she stepped off of the last step. "Professor Dumbledore!" she called, continuing to pound on the door. "Please, it's important."

There was no answer, and just as Hermione's fists began to hurt from slamming them against the heavy wooden door, it opened. "Finally!" she exclaimed, before she saw that it was not Dumbledore's kind face looking at her, but McGonagall's stern one. "Professor McGonagall," she said, stepping back in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I believe the better question is, what are YOU doing here, Miss Granger?" replied McGonagall with raised eyebrows.

"I'm here to see the headmaster," explained Hermione, nervously fidgeting with her hair.

Professor McGonagall frowned and replied, "I'm sorry, but he's not here at the moment. A cousin of his is sick, and he went to visit her in Alsterdad."

Hermione's heart sank. "Then you have to help me," she pleaded. "Draco is going to be attacked at his home sometime soon; I NEED to get there before he is."

The deputy headmistress shook her head. "I'm afraid that's not possible, Miss Granger. Besides, I highly doubt that Mr Malfoy will be attacked at his very own home. Perhaps the pressure of being Head Girl is getting to you? You might want to get some rest."

Hermione groaned. "Nevermind," she mumbled as she turned away. It was obvious that McGonagall was not going to help if she thought Hermione was dillusional. "Sorry for wasting your time, Professor."

As Hermione descended the stairs, another person came to mind - Professor Haymen. That's it! Professor Haymen can help me! Her pace picked up with this new revelation, and soon she had reached the DADA teacher's office.

She rapped on the door, and seconds later, Professor Haymen opened it. "Ah, Hermione!" he said, looking pleasantly surprised. "What brings you here?" he added as he opened the door a little wider to let her in.

"Professor, Draco is in trouble. The allievrae...it showed him being attacked by his father in his room." The words came out of her mouth in a rush as she desperately grabbed the sleeve of his robes. "I need to get there and help him."

He looked down at her and sighed. "Are you sure that's what you saw?"

"Yes, I'm absolutely sure it was. Please, I need you to help me find a way there."

"Sometimes your eyes may deceive you. You can't always trust everything you see, not even the allievrae," he replied quietly.

Confused, Hermione asked, "What do you mean?"

The teacher shook his head slightly, then responded. "I apologize. My mind drifted off. Hermione, you know perfectly well that I can't allow you to leave the school grounds. I am a professor, and it's my job to ensure that you stay safe within the castle."

"But Professor!" Hermione exclaimed. "He's going to be ATTACKED!"

"I'm sorry, but that's my final word. I'm sure Draco can manage on his own...if he does get attacked. He has the shield, and I trust in his ability to defend himself." Professor Haymen gave Hermione's shoulder a pat as he said these words, then added, "I know it's not like you to do so, Hermione, but don't make any rash decisions. Remember the consequences of Harry's decision to save his godfather in fifth year." The last sentence he emphasized, and was accompanied with a knowing look.

"But..." she said, but the door had already been shut, and Hermione was once again alone in the corridor.

Fifth year...Harry's decision to save his godfather... Professor Haymen's last words echoed in her head as she tried to decipher his statement. Then, it hit her. The thestrals! That's it, I'll use the thestrals to get there!

With her mind made up, Hermione immediately began heading towards the forbidden forest. Along the way, she tried to remember what it was that the thestrals were drawn to. In her fifth year, they had been attracted by the scent of blood on Harry's robes. She also vaguely recalled Hagrid luring a few with fresh meat.

As Hermione approached Hagrid's hut, she stepped up to the door and called out, "Hagrid, are you there?"

The door swung open, and Hagrid's bushy beard and smiling face appeared. "Hermione! Great to see yeh! I'm jus' cookin' up some dinner fer me n' Fang. Aye, come in."

"I'm really sorry, Hagrid, but I can't right now. I was just wondering if you had any..." her voice trailed off when she saw the large hunk of raw meat Hagrid held in his right hand. Her eyes lit up, and she pointed to the meat as she said, "Can I borrow that?"

"Fer what?" he asked in a confused voice, but Hermione had already snatched it out of his hand and begun running towards the forest.

"I'll tell you later! Thanks, Hagrid!" she called back.

When she reached the edge of the dark forest, she leaned against a tree, panting. Dropping the huge piece of meat on the ground beside her feet, she slid down to wait.

Time seemed to slow down as she settled down and scoured the trees that surrounded her. After 40 minutes of waiting, a pair of gleaming yellow eyes appeared, followed by a skeletal, horse-like form. It was followed by another one. Perfect, Hermione thought happily as the first thestral began to tear off chunks of meat.

She waved her wand, and a magical rope flew out from its tip, arranging itself into a crude lasso and falling loosely over the second thestral's head. The thestral let out a neigh that sounded more like a screech than anything else, but otherwise did not seem to object to being tied up.

"Sorry guys," Hermione muttered as she swung unto the first thestral's back and entwined her fingers in its silky mane, "but snack time is over. Let's go." She slapped its rump lightly, and immediately, it took off into the air.

Hermione had just enough time to grab the end of the rope which was looped around the other thestral's neck before the rush of wind met her head-on. She gasped for breath, and instinctively leaned forward to maintain a firmer grip on her thestral's neck. Her spirits lifted as she soared through the sky. She was on her way to save Draco.



[A/N: Ahhh I know, cheesy way to end the fic. This chapter and the one or two that follow won't have *a lot* of romance, but don't give up yet; starting from the end of chapter 16 it will get sappy again :)]

As she flew on, Hermione whispered into her thestral's ear, "Erm...Malfoy Manor, if you can."

In response, it tossed its head back and picked up speed. Hermione's eyes watered as she watched the ground beneath her flash by. The many lights of the cities below were a blur to her as she thought, The British countryside is so beautiful at night.

Suddenly, her thestral began flying towards the ground. Hermione let out a gasp of surprise and fell forward, barely managing to maintain a hold on her ride. Her heart pounded fiercely as she tugged the rope she held to signal the other thestral to also begin descending. She heard it let out a shrill neigh behind her, but felt it follow her downwards in response.

Too soon, it seemed, was Hermione jolted half out of her seat as her thestral landed on the ground somewhat clumsily. When it had slowed down to a walk, she slid off its back, wincing and rubbing her back.

"Thanks," she said awkwardly, patting the thestral on the shoulder. It nudged her, and she smiled. She was about to walk away when she remembered something.

"Sorry guys, but I'm gonna have to tie you up," Hermione murmured as she created another rope which she looped over her thestral's neck and tied around a fence post. She tied the other one up as well, then turned around to look at the house she had been dropped off at.

Malfoy Manor spread out before her in all its glory. It was certainly one of the largest residences Hermione had ever seen. The carved, stone walls loomed above her, surrounded by tall trees. The windows curved into graceful arches, and a magnificent fountain stood proudly in the center of the neatly-kept front yard. Giant iron gates stood before her, preventing any unwanted visitors from entering. The place had a cold, forboding air around it, and Hermione shivered with unease as she looked around for a way to get past the tall fence that stood between her and the mansion.

A few metres off, she saw the fence end and rows of bushes start. I might be able to squeeze between two of those, she thought as she scrutinized the distance between two of the large plants. Might as well give it a try.

Hermione dropped down on her knees and crawled over to the bushes. Peering through a small gap, she let out a tiny sigh of relief when she saw no one around. Cautiously, she began to creep through the narrow space.

At last, she squeezed out from between the bushes. Brushing leaves and dry twigs off her robes, she hid in the shadows until she was absolutely certain that no one was around. When this had been confirmed, Hermione quickly dashed across the neatly-kept lawn and behind the house.

Not far from the back of the mansion spread a forest of tall, evergreen trees. Hermione walked along the edge of it, feeling slightly nervous, as she tried to pick out which of the many arched windows could be Draco's. As she did so, she spotted vines of ivy sneaking their way up the wall. A daring idea came to her.

If I could just climb up those, I could look into the windows... Without stopping to think (which was something so uncharacteristic of Hermione that it even startled herself), she ran over to the wall and latched her hand onto a vine above her. Taking a deep breath, she grabbed another one and began making her way up the cold slabs of stone.

Her entire body trembled as she slowly climbed; however, it was not from fear, but from adrenaline. I can't believe I'm doing this, she thought as she looked over her shoulder at the ground. The ground certainly seems a lot further away from up here...

As the thoughts ran through her head, Hermione's hand hit a marble ledge. Grasping it firmly, she pulled herself up a few inches and looked into the window above her.

The walls, ceiling, and floor of the room she saw were all completely covered in finely woven tapestries. They each seemed to depict an important wizarding battle or war from the past, and Hermione recognized a few of them. Tempted to go examine spectacular room at a closer distance, she started to squirm through the window.

Just then, a strong gust of wind slammed into her. Hermione's feet slipped off of the vine they had been precariously resting on, and for a few heart-stopping seconds, she swung from the window ledge in mid-air.

Resisting the urge to scream in fright, she took a deep breath and forced herself to step back onto the vine. After a few clumsy attempts to regain her footing, she finally managed to maintain a steadier stance - for the moment. I can't let myself get distracted, she scolded herself as she tried to catch her breath. Come on, Hermione, it's not like you to get sidetracked by pretty things.

With this thought implanted in her mind, she once again began making her way along the wall, this time to her right. Once she reached the nearest window, she looked in again, this time making sure she was firmly secured against the wall before doing so. Immediately, she recognized the room - it was Draco's room, the one the allievrae had shown her. But...where was he?

Frowning, Hermione carefully climbed through the window. When she had landed on her feet lightly on the carpeted floor of his bedroom, she looked around. "Draco?" she whispered tentatively.

Suddenly, she felt the floor beneath her move as if someone had stepped on it behind her. Whirling around, she came face-to-face with three men, one of which she was familiar with - Lucius Malfoy.

Before she could utter a sound, one of them grabbed her and muttered, "Silencio!"

"Well, well, well," sneered Lucius as he stepped back. "If it isn't the mudblood herself. Now what in the world could you be doing here, mudblood?"

Because she couldn't speak at the moment, Hermione settled for glaring at him furiously. She made sure not to let her fear show; he couldn't be given the advantage of knowing her weakness.

"Ah...how would your kind say it; 'cat got your tongue?'" When Lucius was awarded the satisfaction of watching her anger intensify, he continued on. "I suppose you're here looking for my son. I'm afraid Draco is not...available at the present time."

Cold, hard realization hit Hermione. Her eyes widened and all of the fury coursing through her seemed to halt momentarily.

"No, he is not dead," said Lucius softly as he surveyed Hermione with some level of curiousity. "You foolish girl, did you really believe what the allievrae showed you was true? If Arthur were here, I'm sure he would give you his 'Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain' speech." He spat on the ground in disgust after mentioning Mr Weasley. "Obviously you're not as brilliant as they all say."

Lucius began to casually pace back and forth before her. "The Dark Lord is very powerful. He has ways of intercepting nearly...everything. The night you ran out to save my son, you were insolent enough to leave the allievrae behind unguarded. I'm surprised you didn't even suspect anything."

Dismay came over Hermione. How could I not have known, she thought numbly. Voldemort did that fifth year to Harry...how could I not have even thought for a moment that he can send me false messages through the allievrae too?

"Gothalhugh," Lucius suddenly barked. "Unsilence her."

Nodding, the man who had placed the silencing charm on Hermione said the counter-curse. Immediately, she said in as calm of a voice as she could manage, "Where is Draco?"

Instead of answering her question, he said, "He is unaware of your arrival here, and that is all you need to know."

"You foul, evil, dir-"

"Kinely," Lucius interrupted sharply. "Show her what happens when a mudblood opens her mouth in my household."

"Of course!" exclaimed the other man holding Hermione.

"It was unwise of you to come here in the first place, my dear child," he whispered into her ear. His breath tickled her neck, and she recoiled in disgust. Drawing away, he bellowed, "Crucio!"

Hermione screamed out loud as pain beyond anything she had ever known, ever heard of, drilled itself deep down into her very core. She felt as though knives were being twisted into every inch of her body; she felt as though her body were splitting in two. There was not a single part of her that didn't burn with pain so intense that tears couldn't even make their way to her eyes. The only thought that ran through her throbbing mind as she collapsed onto the floor was that she had to escape herself somehow, escape the agony and torture...

----------------

Draco ran a hand through his hair and looked up at Malfoy Manor. He had just spent the past four hours strolling through the forest behind his home, and did not particularly want to re-enter the house. Being away from its confinement had helped clear his mind, something he had not been able to do since he returned.

A light breeze blew by, and he sighed. Stepping inside, he closed the heavy, iron door behind him. Time to go face him, he thought with a grimace. Draco walked slowly up the stairs, dreading seeing his father more with each passing step. He gritted his teeth and restrained the urge to turn back as he arrived at his bedroom door.

In one rapid, sweeping motion, he flung open the door. To his surprise, his father was not inside. Draco frowned as he looked around, as if expecting Lucius to jump out from behind the desk. Although his father didn't appear, he did notice one oddity - the window was open. That definitely wasn't open when I left... He crossed the room, making to shut it. As he did, he noticed something on the ground.

He knelt down and picked it up. When he recognized it, he nearly dropped it in surprise. "Who brought the allievrae here," he murmured to himself out loud.

Pulling his wand out from his pocket, he read the spell off of the back of the wrapper, then tapped it. Immediately, it melted into a pool of liquid and slid out of his hand. The moment it landed on the ground, an image appeared on its surface.

The room was small, circular, and poorly kept. Sharp slabs of rock jutted out from the earthen walls, and water dripped listlessly from the ceiling to form tiny puddles on the stone floor. Two single torches lit up only the immediate vicinity, leaving the rest of the room in darkness.

Four figures stood in the center of the dungeon-like area. One of the three men roughly restrained a slender girl from escaping. The flickering light of one of the torches briefly illuminated her face - it was Hermione. Anger filled her eyes, and she was desperately struggling against the man who held her.

One of the other men removed his hood and took a step closer to Hermione. Lucius's ice-blue eyes glinted dangerously as he said, "Give up, child. Even if he were to release his hold on you, you'd have nowhere to run. Not a soul knows the location of this dungeon, much less the fact that you're here."

"What are you going to do to me?" Hermione asked, her voice shaking.

"Nothing, of course."

"Then why are you keeping me here?" she demanded.

"Because," Lucius drawled, "we need you for reasons that will remain undisclosed."

"If this has anything to do with Draco, he won't come. He'll know it's a trap; he's clever enough."

Lucius smiled calmly, and replied, "We'll see."

"You're despicable," Hermione spat out.

"Watch your dirty little mouth, mudblood," he said, his voice dangerously low. "I'm sure you are aware that I would not hesitate to kill you if I felt the need to."

"You wouldn't dare. As you said, you need me; therefore, you wouldn't kill me. So stop with the empty threats, Malfoy," she retorted. A slight smirk settled on her face, and her struggles ceased.

Lucius advanced towards her with his wand pointed directly at her throat. "Enough. Your insolence is getting tiresome. I suppose -" he pressed the tip of his wand against her collarbone lightly "- I will just have to silence you myself."

The final image of Hermione's face, eyes wide with terror now, faded away. Without pausing to think, Draco furiously grabbed the now-wrapper allievrae and stuffed it into his pocket. His father had been wrong in the scene; he knew exactly where Hermione was. Storming out of his room, he began to head down to the secret dungeon in Malfoy Manor. His own safety never crossed his mind.

I have to save her...

[A/N: Don't worry, Draco didn't fall for the allievrae trick...what it showed him was real :P]

Behind Closed Doors


A series of coughs racked Hermione's weak frame as she attempted to sit up on the cold, stone floor she had just been lying on moments ago. Where am I... she wondered, looking around at her unfamiliar surroundings.

The room she was in was small and circular. The air was cold, and the two torches that had been placed on the walls gave no off warmth nor light. She reached down to grab her wand, only to find that it had been taken away. With a gasp, everything that had happened before she fainted came rushing back at her.

As if the memory were painful to recall, she winced and rubbed the back of her neck. So that's what real pain feels like, she thought grimly. Now that she had struggled into a sitting position, she tried to clear her mind of the remnants of her experience with one of the unforgiveable curses and focus on finding a way out.

There were no windows and no doors. But there must be, she thought with confusion. How did I get in here? Taking a deep breath, she got to her feet and began to shakily walk around the room, running her hands along the walls. There must be some kind of trigger...a protruding rock or root or something...

Ten minutes later, she gave up. Having not found anything, she decided that the room must be locked by a charm. Without her wand, she could do nothing.

Hermione sighed and slumped back down against the wall. How could I have been so stupid? I should have listened to Professor Haymen; I should have realized that Voldemort could have sent me a false scene somehow. But why would he? What does he want with me? Questions plagued her mind as she let her head drop onto her arms in despair and frustration.

Just then, she heard a rumbling noise above her. Looking up in surprise, she saw a rock shift over a few feet above her head, and soon after, it was followed by a head of pale blonde hair. As Hermione watched, completely dumbfounded, Draco eased his head and shoulders out of the opening.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered. "You have to leave, they're going to find you."

"I'm saving you," he replied, disregarding her last sentence. "Come on, grab my hand, and hurry."

As Hermione stood on her tiptoes and extended her arm as far as she could, the sound of approaching voices drifted by her ears. "They're coming!" she gasped.

"Take...my hand..." Draco muttered, his teeth gritted. Edging himself out as far as he could without losing his balance, he was finally able to grasp her hand tightly. Using all his strength, he pulled her up to the point where she could scramble through after him. "Quick, close it," he said tensely.

Obeying his words, Hermione lugged the large block of stone back into place just as a door slowly crept open on the other side. As the two students began to creep through the narrow, earthen tunnel that lay behind the rock, Lucius's yell of rage came from behind them.

Without a word to each other, Hermione and Draco pressed on. After what seemed like hours crawling through the damp passageway, light began to creep into their vision. Not long afterwards, they reached an exit which led directly to a spot just outside of the gates.

Luckily, it wasn't far from the ground. Draco easily jumped out and straightened himself, then reached up to help Hermione out. When both of them were safely on the ground, Hermione let out a huge sigh of relief.

"How did you know I was there?" she asked him as he pulled her under the cover of a tall maple tree.

"You dropped something in my room," he replied simply. He pulled out the allievrae and handed it to her. "I think the better question is what were YOU doing here?"

"I...I'll tell you when we get back."

"Back?"

"Back to Hogwarts."

"And how do you propose we do that? We can't exactly fly," Draco replied, still as sarcastic as ever.

"We can't," agreed Hermione, "but they can." Pointing over to the two thestrals that were tied to a fence post not far away, she grinned slyly at him. "You're not the only clever one here."

"Wow," he said, looking impressed. "I never thought I would say it, but you're brilliant."

The two students hurried over to the horse-like creatures that were currently chewing leaves off the bushes that had been planted around Malfoy Manor.

"Draco," said Hermione as she swung herself onto her thestral and untied the ropes that bound it to the ground. "When did you start seeing them?"

He stopped unknotting the rope that held back his thestral, and looked up at Hermione. His gaze seemed to drift off to a point in space as he said, "Sixth year after my mother died."

"Your mother died?" repeated Hermione, her voice filled with sympathy.

"My father killed her. Like me, she was tired of living with him, and she tried to run away. He caught her and assumed that she was betraying him. He...he tortured her to death, and I came in just in time to see her die. I'll never forget the look on her face before she died, Hermione. Unlike Lucius, she loved me. It was her that sparked my hatred for him."

Tears filled Hermione's eyes as she listened to him relay the memory in a distant voice. She hadn't known that Narcissa was murdered the previous year; she'd always just assumed that Draco's mother was just like his father.

"He wanted to keep it a secret, and he had no idea that I saw," Draco added in a hard voice as if he could read Hermione's thoughts. Then he shook his head, as if he were clearing his thoughts. "Sorry. Lets just go."

Hermione nodded without a word, and slapped her thestral's rump. It took off into the air, and behind her, she heard Draco's follow.

The ride to back Hogwarts was even more brief than the first. Within seconds, it seemed, they arrived at the grounds. The thestrals deposited the two of them at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, then silently galloped off. "Thank you!" Hermione called as she watched them disappear.

Turning around, she faced Draco. "What do we do now?"

He shrugged. "Oh wait, I have something for you." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a long, thin object. "Your wand," he added with a grin.

"Merlin, I forgot they took that! How did you find it?" Hermione asked in awe after she had thanked him and taken her wand from him.

"They dropped it on their way down to the dungeon. Anyway, now that I've done you the favour of picking it up, you can do me a favour - tell me why you were at my house."

She looked away. "I was trying to save you..."

"Save me?" he retorted. "Well, that sure turned out well."

"The allievrae showed me an image of your father about to kill you. I...I didn't think. All I knew was that I had to get to you before he did."

His tone softened as he said, "Then how did they find you?"

"Voldemort sent that scene. It wasn't real. I was so stupid to think it was."

"The Dark Lord?"

Hermione paused and knitted her eyebrows together. "Why do you refer to him as that? I've only heard death eaters call him 'The Dark Lord'."

"I'm bound by the mark to always speak of him so. I have no choice."

"Oh..."

"Do you have any idea why he'd want to lure you in?"

"I think it's because of you," she whispered. "They're using me as bait to get to you."

"But why would they..." Draco started to say, frowning. His eyes widened suddenly, and he nodded slowly, momentarily oblivious to the fact that Hermione still stood before him. "So he does know..."

"What?" asked Hermione frantically. "What does he know?"

"Lucius knows that I saw him kill my mother. He knows that if I were to extract the memory and place it in a pensieve, then show the Ministry, he would be sentenced to Azkaban. The Dark Lord...he can't have his best death eater locked away. So that's why they've been attacking me all along," Draco speculated, more to himself than to Hermione. "They want to kill me before I can tell anyone."

"Draco," Hermione suddenly said. "Won't he be notified of everything you just said?"

"Yes," he answered quietly. "I don't care anymore. Now that I know that they're not after me because of you, I have no need to hide. Hermione...when I saw the scene in the allievrae and realized you were in danger, I felt..."

She looked at him inquisitively, not sure what he was going to say next.

He closed his eyes, as if it pained him to say the next words. "For the first time in my life, I actually felt scared."

Hermione smiled and took a step toward him, taking both of his hands in hers. "So there's human in you after all," she said softly.

"Not for me," he continued, opening his eyes and looking down into hers. "For you. I was so scared that I was going to lose you."

She felt her heart begin to race wildly in her chest. "You won't ever lose me. I'll be with you until the end, Draco. I promise."

In response, he leaned down and kissed her sweetly on the lips. As he pulled away, Hermione felt a drop of water hit her cheek. Seconds later, the clouds above them opened up and it began to pour. Draco and Hermione made no move to get to shelter. Instead, she leaned into him and kissed him again, this time with more intensity. His arms encircled her waist as he returned the kiss passionately.

And though the clouds above continued to weep, not even the sheets of rain that drenched the two of them could contain the flames that burned within.

The weeks leading up to January 2nd were a blur of excitement. Everywhere Hermione went, the topic of discussion was the masquerade.

The afternoon before the day of the dance, Hermione and Ginny, along with Draco and Ginny's boyfriend, David Connerton, sat in the library. The two girls were talking about who they would go with to the ball, while Draco and David sat on the other side of the table, pretending to study.

"Oh let me take a wild guess who you're going with," Hermione said, pretending to think on it. "I think I have it! Could it be...that you're going with David?"

Ginny laughed. "Actually...no. He hasn't asked me yet." She coughed lightly and shot a glare at her boyfriend, who looked up sheepishly from his book.

"I'll get right on that," he responded.

"You'd better," she said jokingly. "I think this one Ravenclaw has his eye on me. I might consider going to the ball with him if my boyfriend doesn't ask me."

Meanwhile, Hermione was watching Draco for any signs that he was listening into the conversation. She smirked when she noticed something.

"Draco, dear, you must be very skilled to read that book upside-down."

When he realized that he was holding the book the wrong way, he looked up at her and flushed. She smiled sweetly. "Tell me what's on your mind."

"Nothing," he mumbled.

"You seem distracted," she pointed out. Inside, she was hoping that he would mention taking her to the masquerade.

"I'm not. I just have to read this book for Transfiguration," he replied smoothly.

Hermione arched an eyebrow, but shrugged and diverted her attention nonetheless.

"Hey Hermione, we're gonna leave now," Ginny spoke up. "I'll see you two later."

"Bye Ginny, David," Hermione replied, somewhat grateful that they were leaving. She wanted to be alone with Draco at the moment.

The couple said bye, then left.

Silence settled between the two remaining students. After a few minutes, Hermione cleared her throat. "So..." she said awkwardly.

Draco nodded, and put his book down. "There's, er, something I've been meaning to ask you..."

"Oh really? What's that?"

"Well...the Christmas Masquerade is coming up..."

"So I've heard."

He blushed again, and said, "I was wondering if you, erm..."

"Yes?" she prompted, though she knew perfectly well what he was going to ask.

"If you wanted to go to the ball with me," he blurted out.

She smiled. "Of course!"

"Really?" he said hopefully. "I mean...yeah, but don't make a big deal out of it or anything. Consider yourself lucky to be going with me, Granger."

Hermione rolled her eyes at his attempts to save himself. "Okay well if it's that much trouble for you to be taking lowly me to the ball, I suppose I'll go ask Harry if he wants to go with me."

"No! Fine, I admit defeat," he finally said, laughing.

"I know you too well, Malfoy," she replied, giggling as well. Leaning over she pecked him on the cheek then stood up. "I'm going to go now. I'll see you tomorrow night." With a final wink, she walked away, leaving an extremely elated Draco sitting alone.

----------------

Closing the door, Hermione conjured up a full-length mirror. The masquerade was in an hour, and she had not yet begun to get ready. Standing in front of the mirror, she stripped down to her undergarments, then looked thoughtfully at her reflection.

She reached into her trunk and extracted a neatly folded, silk dress. Performing an unwrinkling charm on it, she shook it out and smiled at it. Her parents had sent her the dress a few days ago when she'd informed them of the upcoming dance. It had been imported from India, and was made of the softest and most expensive material that could be found in the Muggle world.

Hermione slipped on the flowing, strapless dress. She buttoned the two large, silver buttons on both sides, and smoothed the folds in the elegant skirt. Once she had laced up the strings in the back, she looked at her reflection again. A smile of satisfaction spread across her face - the gown was made for her. It hugged the curves of her body perfectly, not too tight but not too loose, and did her justice like no other garment of clothing could. The pure white fabric glowed, and the chocolate-coloured roses that had been stitched onto the neckline and hemline brought out the rich shade of her hair and eyes. She pulled on the elbow-length gloves that accompanied the gown, then twirled around, giggling like a little girl. I feel like a princess.

Once she had applied some eyeliner and mascara, she moved onto her hair. Sighing, she got to work. When she had tamed her locks to the best of her ability, she twisted them into a complicated knot - something her aunt had taught her when she was younger - at the top of her head, letting a few loose tendrils frame her face.

The last step was to put on the mask. She rummaged around in her trunk, trying to find it. Finally, she pulled it out. As she looked at it in the light, she couldn't help but think to herself how beautiful it was. It covered only the eyes, and was the exact shade of brown as the roses on her dress. White sparkles created intricate designs along the edges of it, glinting as she charmed it to magically stay over her eyes.

There, she thought happily as she looked into the mirror.

"Draco, are you ready?" she called out through her door.

"Yeah, one second," he grunted back. Moments later, he opened the door. Upon laying his eyes on his date, he let out an audible gasp.

"What is it?" Hermione asked worriedly. She looked down at herself, afraid that there was something along the lines of a tear or stain on her dress.

"No, there's nothing wrong," Draco quickly added. "It's just that...you look stunning."

Hermione blushed. "Thanks," she murmured. "Muggle clothes suit you," she added with a grin.

Although Draco looked uncomfortable in his dark green tuxedo, Hermione thought he looked incredibly handsome. His hair, for once, was loose around his face, and it suited him. The mask he wore was black, and like Hermione's, covered only the top half of his face. It was simple and had no designs on it, but gave him an air of mystery and passion that made Hermione's heartbeat quicken.

He rolled his eyes. "Enough of the teasing, Granger." Standing up, he approached her, holding an arm out as he did. "May I walk the fair lady to the Great Hall?" he asked with an exaggerated accent.

"But of course," she replied, taking his offered arm.

The two students strolled down to the Great Hall, or, for the night, the ball room, in silence. The moment they entered, Hermione gasped. The decorations that had been put up for the night were incredible.

In the center of the Great Hall-turned-Winter Wonderland stood a giant ice sculpture of a mask. Delicate, paper snowflakes drifted down from the ceiling; upon landing on the ground, these turned into real snow which, Hermione found as she leaned down to touch it, was not cold nor wet. Bells tinkled merrily in the distance, and the walls were covered in ice which gleamed in the faint light of a single chandelier.

Couples danced in the center of the room. All of them wore masks, some which covered half of the face and some which covered all of it. Each student looked different from the next, and it intrigued Hermione, who was used to seeing everyone dressed in the exact same school robes.

"This room looks wonderful," she said dreamily.

"It's okay," drawled Draco from beside her.

She slapped him gently on the shoulder. "Oh shut up, you know you love it."

Just then, Harry and Lavender, Ron and his date, Ana, and Ginny and David walked by. Both Harry and Ron brushed past Hermione without saying a word. As Ginny and her date passed by, she gave her older friend an apologetic shrug and said, "I'll talk to them later."

Hermione smiled gratefully before complimenting Ginny on her dress and saying she would see her later.

"Come on, lets dance," Draco said from beside her. Taking her gloved hand in his, he pulled her onto the dance floor. The began to dance to the slow song that was playing. Soon, the majority of the other couples stopped to watch the Head Girl and Head Boy dance. Whispers of curiousity spread around the room; everyone was shocked to see two people who were supposed to be arch-rivals dancing with each other.

On the other hand, Hermione and Draco were both oblivious to the attention they had drawn. They were each getting lost in the other's arms, moving across the ball room as if the only two things that mattered at the moment were each other and the music. With his hands placed gently on her waist and her arms around his neck, they let themselves surrender to the soothing melody. In their minds, only their ears could hear it.

Completely forgetting that she was surrounded by hundreds of students, Hermione allowed herself to melt into Draco's arms. She lifted her face, locking his gaze with hers. The stormy grey eyes penetrated into hers, drilling down into her very soul. They were filled with love and desire, a look she had grown to claim as one that belonged to only herself. She felt her heart start beating fiercely against her chest as everything around them became a whirlwind of colours and shades.

Suddenly, Draco leaned down and murmured into her ear, "Lets go outside." She nodded breathlessly as he slowed the pace of their dancing so that he could gracefully take her hand and lead her out to the garden.

Once they had stepped into the chilly night air, the pair sat down on a stone bench behind a rose bush. The moon shone brightly above them, unmarred by clouds, and gave the night a feeling of serenity.

At first, neither of them said anything. Hermione's head was still reeling from her experience on the dance floor, and Draco was examining the white roses on the bush behind him with great interest.

Gently, he plucked one off, careful to avoid the thorns. "You know, Hermione," he said softly as he ran his finger along one of the soft petals. "This rose is so much like you."

She looked at him in surprise. "What do you mean?"

"On first glance, it's breathtakingly beautiful. However, you have to watch out because it's not as innocent and pure as you believe it to be. It can hurt you easily if you misplace one finger. On the other hand, you can also crush it just as easily -" he pulled a petal off "- with one tug."

"Did I ever hurt you?" she asked tentatively.

"More than you'll ever know or understand."

"How?"

"It doesn't matter," he said, breaking off the stem of the rose. "It's over and done with, and not even the pain can overcome the beauty."

Tears glimmered in Hermione's eyes as she asked, "What can I do to make it up?"

"You've already done all you can do," Draco said quietly. "You've helped me remember how to love, and how to open my heart again." Carefully, he laid the rose on the palm of her hand, making sure not to harm it in any way. "And for that, I'll never crush you."

Hermione was so moved by his words that she was left speechless. At last, she gave the rose back to Draco. "Then you can have me." Tilting her head up, she kissed him softly. "I love you."

He smiled sadly, and replied, "I love you too."

[A/N: Since so many people asked me in the reviews how Hermione hurt him, here's my answer: go read over chapter 11, the one where Hermione reads the letter he wrote to her. Near the end of it, Draco mentions why. And he smiled sadly because when she said, "Then you can have me," he knew that he was putting her life in danger by bringing her into his. Hopefully that'll clear some things up. If anyone else has questions, feel free to ask them and I'll answer them here.]

5 months later

"Ginny! Ginny, where's my graduation robe?!"

Hermione was running frenziedly up the stairs to the Gryffindor girl's dormitory. She had arrived at her old common room a few hours ago to help Lavender and Parvati get ready for graduation, and had brought her robe along to show the other girls. Because she was head girl, hers was particularly exquisite. At the moment, however, she couldn't find it, and there were only 2 hours left until the big ceremony.

"I don't know, Hermione," came Ginny's answering call as she struggled to pin Parvati's thick, black hair up. "Parvati," she declared to the other girl, "your hair is impossible!"

"Lavender, have you seen it?" Hermione asked her friend as she rushed into the common room and nearly bumped into Kathryn, another 7th year Gryffindor who was straightening her robes as she ran out the door. "Sorry," Hermione apologized as she stepped back.

"Hermione, it's right here on my bed where you left it," Lavender answered, playfully rolling her eyes. "Help me with this mascara, it keeps running. Oh why couldn't I have remembered the self-applying makeup spell..."

Laughing at her own foolishness, Hermione grabbed her robe, slung it over one arm, then re-applied Lavender's mascara for her. "There, you look gorgeous," she said, stepping back to admire her work when she was done.

"Hey, Hermione, shouldn't you be going?" Parvati asked from across the room.

Hermione looked down at her watch and gasped. She had one hour before the ceremony began. Time certainly flies by when you have so many things to do, she thought wryly. "I'll see you two later at the ceremony!"

"I'll walk with you to your dormitory," Ginny said, stepping away from Parvati's hair (which was now twisted into an extravagent up-do).

"Good luck with your speech," Lavender and Parvati chorused.

"Thanks, I'll need it," said Hermione with a smile. She hugged her two friends, then followed Ginny out of the common room.

As the two girls hurried down the winding corridors to the Heads' Dormitory, Hermione chattered nervously about the upcoming ceremony.

"...and then I have to present a 10-minute long speech in front of EVERYONE," she exclaimed.

"You'll do fine, Hermione. Don't get flustered, it's not like you."

Hermione laughed nervously. I haven't exactly been "me" for a while, she thought to herself.

When they had reached the top of the spiraling staircase and stopped before the portrait that led to the dormitory, Hermione hugged Ginny. "Thanks so much for helping me with everything," she said with a smile. "Hopefully I'll see you after the ceremony."

Ginny hugged her best friend back. "You'll do fine," she repeated, then turned around and left.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione said the password ("Love is in the air") and climbed through the opening. The moment she got inside, the strong scent of cologne greeted her. Scrunching up her nose, she called out, "Draco?"

He poked his head out from his room. "Yes?"

"What in Merlin's name are you doing?" she asked, slightly amused.

"I...uh...well, a Ravenclaw gave me this cologne stuff."

"You do realize that cologne is what Muggles use."

His face immediately contorted in disgust. "Gah! The git, he didn't warn me," Draco mumbled. "Scourgify," he added, pointing at himself. Immediately, the smell disappeared.

Laughing, Hermione shook her head. He's changed too, she realized. As much as he tries to keep up his old attitude, this isn't the same Draco I knew a year ago.

"I'm going to go change now," she called to him as she stepped into her room.

"Fine with me."

She shut the door and looked into the mirror above her desk. "Where to start..." she murmured out loud.

Brandishing her wand, she performed a series of hair smoothing charms. Finally, her chestnut locks settled gracefully on her shoulders, shining with a glow that others rarely associated with Hermione's hair.

Makeup came next: eyeliner, mascara, lip gloss, and a few dabs of blush. Muggle makeup always looks far better than magically applied makeup, she thought as she happily gazed at her reflection in the mirror. I look like a completely different person.

The entire process took 45 minutes, and at last, Hermione was at the last step - her graduation robe. Picking it up, she smiled affectionately at it. The robe had no decorations other than a small Hogwarts crest on the back, but was beautiful nonetheless. It was made of a soft, gold material which symbolized her house, Gryffindor's, colours.

As Hermione slipped this on over her regular clothes, she looked into the mirror and noted to her surprise that she barely recognized the mature witch smiling back at her. I've grown so much since I first arrived here, she thought sadly. All of the people I've met, everything I've experienced, has changed me and made me a better person. The attacks, as nerve-wracking as they are, aren't too bad...we have the shield, we have the knowledge of counter-hexes, and we've managed to pull through all of them so far. They've slowed down too, at least since the adventure at Draco's house. Yep, I'd say that my life is just about as good as it can get at this point in time.

She was snapped out of her thoughts by Draco calling her name. Opening her door, she stepped out and replied, "Is it time to go?"

Draco was lounging on the couch, and when he saw her enter, his mouth dropped open in shock. "Hermione...you look beautiful," he sputtered.

She grinned. "Wow...beautiful enough to leave the Malfoy speechless. You're not looking half-bad yourself."

And indeed he did look particularly good-looking at the moment. His hair was combed neatly back (Thank God it's ungelled!), and the silver graduation robe he wore complimented his grey eyes. As he stood up, a smile grew on his handsome face, and Hermione couldn't help but restrain a swoon.

The pair headed out of their dormitory and down the empty hallways of Hogwarts. Everyone was already gathered for the ceremony, both graduating and remaining students. The ceremony would start in 15 minutes, and Draco and Hermione were to enter 5 minutes into it.

When they reached a side door, they stopped. "I have to enter from the other side, so I guess I'll go around. Good luck," Draco said. He kissed her hand, not wanting to mess up her makeup.

"You too," she said softly.

He walked off. As his echoing footsteps died out, Hermione took a deep breath, trying to relax. You'll do fine, she told herself, and Draco will be beside you the entire time. This last thought calmed her nerves more than anything, and when the clock read 6:05, she entered the Great Hall with a radiant smile on her face.

As the Head Girl and Head Boy walked in from both sides of the room, applause erupted. Whispers of, "Hermione looks amazing!!" and "Oh my God, Malfoy is so delectable," could be heard from the crowd. Even the Slytherins clapped, although it was done rather grudgingly.

As planned, Hermione and Draco both arrived at the center of the stage simultaneously. Draco was the first to speak. "Welcome, everyone, to the Hogwarts graduation ceremony of 1997," he announced, his voice magically magnified.

"Throughout all of our seven years at Hogwarts, every one of us -" Hermione gestured at the group of students that silently stood behind her as she said these words "- has worked hard in our studies. Because of the dedication of our wonderful professors, we're all set to enter this world as skilled witches and wizards."

"Although we're all equal to one another, the differences between the four houses, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin, have split many of us apart. Nonetheless, we've all made lasting friendships with students from our own houses, as well as students from other houses."

"It wasn't easy for many of us. Some didn't accept others because of their blood or family name. Some didn't accept others simply because they were told to hate them. I myself have had friends who didn't approve of my friendship with a Slytherin." Hermione looked slightly over to Draco and smiled.

He returned her smile. "In the end, we all came together as one group. Standing behind us are the 157 graduating students of 1997. For the first time ever, each student is surrounded by members of each different house. For the first time in our 7 years at Hogwarts, they will see the person next to them for who they are, not what they are."

"And so," Hermione concluded, "end our years at Hogwarts. We will always remember every memory from our time here: the sorting hat, quidditch games, the house cups, the tri-wizard tournament. As a class, we've also been through many heart-breaking events: the opening of the Chamber of Secrets, Cedric Diggory's death, the return of Voldemort, Professor Umbridge." A few chuckles arose from the crowd at the last part of this, although everyone quickly grew somber as they reflected on the other parts of the sentence. "These experiences, however, have only pulled all of us through to stand here today as one. Thank you to Hogwarts for making all of this possible, and congratulations to the class of 1997."

Cheering, whistling, and yelling exploded from the crowd as the graduating students tossed their school hats high up into the air. With one last smile at the sea of faces before them, Draco and Hermione retreated to go stand amongst their fellow students.

[A/N: Sorry this chapter was so boring. It was even boring to write :P The next chapter will be good though, but it's going to be a real tearjerker so be warned.]

[A/N: It'll start out slow, and somewhere in the middle of it, it's sort of weak. I was going through a really bad writer's block at that time :P This is the last chapter though, so milk it for all it's worth.]

This chapter is dedicated to all my reviewers. I love all of you!


Hermione and Draco stood in their graduation robes by the lake. Fireworks exploded and other students cheered in the background, but the two of them were completely unaware of anything in their surroundings.

"Where was it you said you were going to?" Hermione asked.

"I'm going to London to work for the Ministry of Magic. Hopefully as far away from my father as possible," Draco responded.

"How are you going to manage that? Won't he be watching everything you do?"

"Possibly, but don't worry, I can deal with him." He said this with a smile - how alike Hermione it was to worry about him in everything he did.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Draco. I...I don't know what I'll do without you. I feel like I'm losing a part of me." Tears glimmered on Hermione's cheeks as she said this in a choked whisper.

"Maybe..." Draco started to say, but was cut off by one of his friends approaching and tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Malfoy, come on they're going to set off the final firework. You've gotta see this one."

"Yeah, one sec," he replied. "I'm busy here, Jayl." His friend took the hint, and ran off. Draco chuckled as he turned back to Hermione. "Sorry about that," he said.

"It's okay," she answered, smiling at him. "What were you going to say?"

"Hermione...I've been thinking about this for a few months now. You know that I love you more than anything."

In the background, the chant of voices could be heard, counting down to the set-off of the last firework. "Three!" they screamed.

"I know, Draco. It's how I feel about you too."

"I wouldn't be able to stand not being with you either. So I've come up with a way for us to be together after today..."

"Two!"

"What is it?" Hermione asked, her voice barely audible. She looked up at Draco, and the expression on her face showed that she knew what he was about to say next.

"Hermione Granger," said Draco as he got down on one knee, "Will you marry me?"

"ONE!!!"

Fireworks exploded in the distance, forming the Hogwarts crest in brilliant, sparkling lights. Hermione fell onto the ground in front of Draco and started weeping into his shoulder. "Yes," she said, her voice trembling with happiness. "Yes I will."

Her heart filled with love as she looked up at him and saw that tears were glimmering in his eyes too. Looking around, she tried to engrave everything from this moment into her soul forever: every image, every sound, every emotion. It was all so perfect, and she never wanted to forget it. Ever.

"What will your father say?" she asked as the fireworks finally died down.

"It doesn't matter, Hermione. He can't affect me anymore. Nothing can. What will your parents say, though?"

Hermione shrugged. "I don't think they'll be too happy about me going into such a commitment so early in my life, but they'll..." she swallowed, knowing the next words might touch a nerve of Draco's, "...support me nonetheless."

She saw a streak of wistfulness flit across his face at her response, but it was gone in a split second. He smiled at her in a rather forced way, and said, "That's good." Then, as if not wanting to carry the conversation on, he added, "Come on, lets go inside and get our stuff."

Hermione nodded, also glad for the excuse to stop discussing it. This was their moment and she didn't want a stupid comment of her's to ruin it. She quietly slipped her hand into Draco's, and the two of them walked back to the castle and to their dormitory in silence.

An hour later, all of their belongings were gathered and packed into two suitcases which now lay by the portrait, ready to go. "I don't want to leave," Hermione said, looking around at her room. She would miss Hogwarts more than anything; it had been her home for 7 years and she couldn't imagine a life without it.

Draco walked over to where she stood by her bed. "I know," he said quietly. "It was the place I came to escape from my father."

Hermione sighed and turned to him. "I think it was everyone's sanctuary. Everyone had something they wanted to leave behind, and Hogwarts gave them the comfort and protection they craved. It was great, but there's another more dominant reason why I'll miss it so much."

"What's that?" he asked.

"It's where I first met you. I've spent some of the best moments of my life here with you. Becase of that, Hogwarts will always have a special place in my heart."

He smiled down at her and kissed her. "Me too."

Moving closer to him, Hermione pressed her lips against his again. The passion and intensity of their kiss mounted as Draco ran his tongue along Hermione's bottom lip, silently begging for entrance to her mouth. She complied, and parted her lips slightly. He ran his hands down her sides and firmly brought her down onto the bed beside him, holding the kiss the entire time.

Eventually, the kiss faded into tiny, loving pecks every few seconds. At last, Hermione mustered up the willpower to pull away She scooted back and curled up on the bed, then gestured for Draco to lie down next to her. He complied by lying down and wrapping his arms loosely around her. Smiling sleepily, Hermione let the comfort and feeling of protection she got from being held by Draco, combined with fatigue from the day's events, take over her and carry her to the land of dreams.

Draco smiled slightly when he felt heard Hermione's breathing become deeper and more rhythmic. He quietly pulled himself up, resting his weight on one elbow, and looked down at her sleeping face. She's so perfect, he thought as he gently brushed a strand of hair away from her cheek. My beautiful white rose.

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The next morning, Hermione woke up to the glare of the sun on her face. Before opening her eyes, she searched her mind, trying to remember what had happened the previous night. A faint rustling beside her brought the memories back to her, and she opened her eyes at last. Shifting her position so that she was facing Draco, a smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. Something about the serenity of his facial expression brought back the memory of the time she had stood in his doorway, gazing at his sleeping form. He had looked like an angel, just as he did now - her angel.

"Hermione?" came his sleepy voice, interrupting her thoughts.

"Good morning," she whispered, snuggling against him and resting her cheek against his chest.

He nodded, and yawned. Sitting up, he smiled down at her. "Thanks for staying here with me last night," he murmured.

"You too," she responded. Her eyes twinkled as she looked up at him. "You might want to fix your robes."

Raising an eyebrow in confusion, Draco looked down at himself and blushed. His robes were wrinkled and tangled around his body from sleeping the whole night through in them, as were his school tie and blouse. "Oh the shame," he said playfully, trying to readjust and smooth out his garments as best as he could. "Take one good look, Granger, this is the only time you'll see me like this."

Hermione laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "We'll see about that, Malfoy."

"Anyway, we should probably be going now," he remarked, making no move to get out of bed. "The train is leaving this afternoon and we have to say good-bye to everyone."

"Probably," Hermione said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "But I suppose we can stay here a few minutes longer..."

"Of course," he agreed. Lying back down on the bed, he pulled Hermione close to him and breathed in the scent of her hair. "I think I can get used to waking up beside you every morning."

Two months later, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy were married by the shore of the lake.

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On June 19, 2001, four years after graduation, Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy were murdered by two death eaters. It was because Malfoy - no, Draco - told the truth about his father: how he had killed his own wife, and threatened his son with death. The Ministry immediately sentenced Lucius Malfoy to life in Azkaban. Not long after, word of the imprisonment reached Voldemort, and he immediately sent two of his followers to kill Draco and Hermione.

They were found dead in their living room, lying side by side on the ground. Surprisingly enough, their faces weren't even marked with terror - only by calmness and serenity, as if they had known what was coming. Hermione's hand lay over her breast where a letter written to her by Draco in their 7th year was found. Knowing her, she probably carried that around next to her heart the entire four years of their marriage.

Even five years after their death, the world still mourns for them. Draco sacrificed his very life, and that of his wife, in an attempt to alert everyone of the evil that lay among us. It was their deaths that sparked the beginning of the second war. Enraged by the murders of two innocent people, the Ministry finally realized that the only way to end this was if they rose up against the dark powers. I fought alongside them for good, yes; but mainly, I fought for Hermione and Draco. After ten long months of war, I finally killed Voldemort, and it was for Hermione and Draco.

My biggest regret is that I never got to apologize to either of them before they were attacked. The last time I ever talked to her was that night in 7th year when we were in the Gryffindor common room - I didn't even look at her at the masquerade ball or our graduation ceremony. I guess it was just jealousy. I was jealous of Draco for taking her away from Ron and I. And I never got the chance to tell her that I cared for her and to thank her for giving me so much support through my toughest years. Not only that, I never told Draco that I was sorry for all those years we bickered like little kids. When I reflect back on all that I lost because of my stupidity and boyish stubborness, tears come to my eyes - and I'm hardly one to cry.

Everyone says I was the hero of the second war. Only those who truly knew of the love Hermione and Draco had would disagree. Unfortunately, no one ever did. The divisions in our houses prevented everyone from accepting their relationship. The truth is, we all admired it, although we would never admit it. They went against everything that had been set in stone about Gryffindor and Slytherin, two opposing houses. Their love was tried to the limit, and even then, they still held onto it and each other. I knew; everytime I saw Hermione with him back in our last year at Hogwarts, I saw only the purest devotion in her eyes.

Their only son, Nathan Malfoy, is now in my care. He is the only reminder the world has of the strongest love it has ever known. Someday, little Nathan will live my life - never knowing just how amazing his parents were, never truly understanding the history behind his fame, and never receiving the love he can only get from his birth parents. I'm determined to make a difference, though. I will give him all that I can to ensure him the life his father never had. And hopefully someday when he grows up, he will have all the glory his parents never achieved in life.

Once, a reporter asked me to summarize the relationship Hermione and Draco had in three words. I told her they were meant to be. - Harry Potter, June 23, 2006

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[A/N: I can't end this without a few last words of thanks to my reviewers. I love you guys soo much and each of your reviews inspired me to keep writing and posting. Reading your comments always made my day. Once again, thank you all for reading, and make sure to check out my other fics every once in a while :)]