Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters you recognize from the Harry Potter books.

AN: It may start out slow, but Draco and Hermione will get together. I promise.

Chapter One

"Draco... Draco... Draco..." Lord Voldemort drawled. "Was I not specific enough when I said you were the one who was supposed to kill Dumbledore?"

"You were specific enough my Lord," Draco quivered.

"Why is it then, that Severus was the one to do it? Why, have you failed? Did you not know the consequences?"

Draco did not know what to say, so he remained quiet. He knew it would only make matters worse, if he tried to answer any of those questions.

"Crucio!" Voldemort yelled. Draco withered on the ground in pain, tears falling down his checks. "I asked you three questions, none of which have been answered. I am assuming this means that you chickened out at the last minute." Voldemort stopped the curse, and continued talking, "Killing Dumbledore was like your final induction, and you failed. The consequence still stands. However, your father is still of some use to me, so he will remain alive. Your mother, unfortunately, is not as lucky."

"No, please no. She has nothing to do with this," Draco cried.

"Is that so? I strongly disagree. She has always been a part of this. She was the one who was going to die if you did not complete your job. Well, your job was completed, but not by you. So…" Voldemort turned to his left, where two Death Eaters brought out a woman.

"No, don't. I can make it up to you. You don't have to do this!" Draco yelled, though he knew the Dark Lord would not change his mind.

"I know you will make it up to me, and this has to be done, just to make sure that you will follow through with your next assignment, for you are the only one who can do it." Voldemort pointed his wand at Draco's mother and shouted, "Crucio!"

Narcissa shrieked, and fell to the ground thrashing. All Draco could do was watch. If he did anything, Voldemort would just kill him too, and he knew he couldn't let that happen.

No one was paying attention to the youngest Malfoy. They were all yelling and cheering. If they had seen Draco, they would have noticed that he was no longer crying. He did not even look like he was in pain. He looked happy, and at peace.

Two minutes later, Voldemort became bored, and ended it. "Avada Kedavra." He then turned to Draco, who had tears running down his face. "Fail this time and that will be you, only I won't kill you as fast." He paused a moment to let it sink in. "Now, it is time for your next task."

………………………………………………………

"Are you really that daft?"

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked. "And, who are you?"

"I'm talking about you, and your decision not to go back to Hogwarts. I mean honestly. Only a fool would decide not to go back to the only place where he is safe enough to learn and practice magic. After you're done finding these horcruxes, do you really think you will be ready to face Lord Voldemort?

"It is possible to find them all, and still go to Hogwarts. Just talk to Professor McGonagall. You don't have to tell her what you are doing. You just need to tell her that you need permission to leave school grounds whenever you want to. Tell her that you and your two friends are finishing the task that you and Professor Dumbledore started. It will take a lot to convince her, but you can do it."

Again Harry asked, "Who are you? And how do you know about all of this?"

"Those are my secretes. I will them to you in time, but right now I just need you to give me your word, that you will return to Hogwarts to complete your training. Restart the D.A. and you all can advance your fighting skills. What do you say?"

"I say you make a lot of sense, but how do I know that I can trust you?" Harry asked skeptically.

"Trust your instinct, and your trust in me will follow. I will play a key part in this war. Now, please give me your word."

Harry looked at her thoughtfully. "If I say yes, what will happen from there? I mean with you?"

"I will give you a big smile, say. 'Thank you. You are making the right decision. Be safe,' and I would leave, until I had information to give you."

"What kind of information?"

"The kind you would need to win the war."

Harry thought a moment, and then said, "Okay. I will go back to Hogwarts, if you tell me your name."

She gave him a big smile. "My name is Amber." Her eyes lit up and her smile grew even bigger. "See you at school then." She disappeared, as Harry woke up.

…………………………………………………………

This is so exciting, Hermione thought, as she looked out the window. I finally get to see what Harry's house looks like. "Eeek!" Hermione's parents turned around to look at her.

She smiled, "Sorry, I'm just so excited. Harry said we're going back to school." At the moment, her father was driving her to Harry's house. Her and Ron were going to be staying there this summer, because Dumbledore had told Harry to stay there till he turned seventeen, but they were going to stay there till they went to Diagon Alley.

Harry's aunt and uncle were beside themselves. They hated this idea, but they did not have a choice in the matter.

As soon as they had pulled up to the house, Hermione jumped out of the car and rang the doorbell. Her parents followed her up, her dad had her luggage.

Harry answered the door and ushered them inside. "Hey Hermione. It's good to see you. Ron has just arrived. He and the rest of the Weasleys are in the living room." He laughed, "They decided they would come by flew powder again, and it didn't turn out too well. Uncle Vernon has stopped yelling, but he definitely is not happy." He turned to Mr. Granger, "You can set that on the floor right there, sir." He then motioned for the three of them to follow him.

When the four of them walked into the next room, they were greeted warmly by everyone, except the Dursleys.

"Hermione, how are you?" Ron asked.

"Much better now that we are going back to school," she smiled, and then laughed when she saw the look on Ron's face.

"You have got to be the only person excited about that. You're mad," Ron stated. She just shook her head and laughed some more.

After dinner, the two families said their good-byes. The trio headed up to Harry's room.

"You aunt and uncle were very quiet all evening," Hermione commented. They set their things down in Harry's room.

"It's better that way, I assure you."

"So, Harry, tell us about this dream of yours," Hermione said, as soon as she found a comfortable spot on the bed. Harry then proceeded to tell them everything about his dream.

"She sounds like an odd character," Ron stated. "Who, in their right mind, besides Hermione of course, would want to go back to school?"

"And you say you've never seen her at school before?" Hermione asked.

Harry shook his head, "No, and there is no way she is a first year either."

"Is it possible that she is a teacher?" Ron asked.

"I don't think so. She looked to be about our age, and teachers are much older. Maybe she is like a teacher in training, or maybe she has an invisibility cloak, and she was hiding under it the whole time," Harry suggested.

"Oh, don't be silly, Harry. There are easier ways to be invisible," said Hermione. "I guess we won't know until school starts. Speaking of school, I never did ask, why are we going back?"

"I told you," stated Harry, "I changed my mind."

"Because of the dream?"

"She was very convincing."

"Harry, I get the feeling you are hiding something from us. I thought you weren't going to do that anymore," Hermione said.

"No worries."

The rest of the summer went by fairly quickly. They stopped by the Weasley's for Bill and Fleur's wedding. Then the three were off to Diagon Alley, to go shopping for their new school items. They stayed at the Leaky Cauldron for two days, and then they were off to the Hogwarts Express.

………………………………………………….

"Well, at least this year, we won't have to leave you alone in our compartment," Hermione said. "Although, I am surprised that you did not make head boy. I thought for sure it would be you."

"I don't really care; I just think it's cool that I get to be a Prefect," Harry grinned. "What were they thinking?" They all laughed, as they headed into the Head's and Prefect's Compartment.

"I just want to know who made Head Boy," Ron said, as he took a seat next to Harry. This compartment was bigger than the others. It could hold up to twenty five people.

"Well, everyone is here," said Hermione. "That is, everyone except the Head Boy."

"Well, you can't expect all of us to show up early, now can you?" said a very snide and cocky voice.

Everyone except Harry gasped. Harry jumped up, pulling out his wand, "What are you doing here Malfoy?"

"I am here for the meeting. Didn't you know? I'm the new Head Boy," he strode in and took a seat next to Hermione, who jumped up, and moved away, causing him to laugh.

"What? That's impossible! Professor McGonagall would never have made you Head Boy, nonetheless invited you back. You are the one responsible for Dumbledore's death. It was foolish of you to come back here," Harry said dangerously.

"I think," said Malfoy, "that Professor McGonagall knew what she was doing when she invited me back as the new Head Boy."

"Right, and-" Harry was cut off by Professor McGonagall.

"Please everyone, take your seats. We will begin this meeting."

"But-"

"No buts Mr. Potter. We have a schedule to keep."

Cautiously, Hermione took her seat next to Draco.

…………………………………………….

"I cannot believe this. I have to share my duties with him. I cannot believe he's back at school. I cannot believe he is even alive," Hermione complained as they took their seats in their compartment.

"She doesn't believe in much now does she?" Ron whispered to Harry.

"Apparently not," Harry whispered back, as they continued to listen to her rant on about what she couldn't believe.

"I cannot believe I have to share a dorm with that prat. I cannot-"

"Wait, what?" Ron interrupted. "You have to share a dorm with him? Since when?"

"Since we both became Heads. Heads have always had a separate room from everyone else."

"You can't do it Hermione," said Harry. "How are we suppose to protect you?"

"I do not think you'll have to," Hermione replied. "You said yourself that Malfoy would not have killed Dumbledore. He never wanted to hurt anyone, but he didn't really have a choice, now did he?"

"Are you defending him?" Ron asked. "I can't believe you're defending him."

"I am not defending him. He is still a dreadful person, but I do not believe he is a murderer."

"Well, as long as he is not a murderer, then we have nothing to worry about. There aren't other things he could do. Why, he could just be-"

"Oh, don't be stupid Ronald. I did not say there was nothing to worry about. I just meant that I think we have been looking at this all wrong," she replied.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"You'll see," she pulled out a book, and ignored the two boys as they asked her question after question. Soon they gave up, and started talking to each other, as Hermione read her textbook.

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