[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.