The notes of a Mozart sonata echoed throughout the Room of Requirement. The size of the room changed from day to day, depending on my mood; sometimes it was as vast as a theatre, other times hardly larger than a broom cupboard. Today it was a magnificent performance hall, complete with a gorgeous grand piano. When I had had a tough day, I liked to come here and pretend I was playing in front of a huge, adoring audience who was hanging on my every note. Sometimes I played for so long I would fall asleep on the piano.

In the midst if the piece I felt the gold coin I kept in my pocket growing warm, then hot. I ignored it for as long as I could before the heat became unbearable. Regretfully I let the music fade, staying seated until the echo of the last chord had died.

The coin was a signal: its heat meant that Harry needed us. Lately t had been burning more and more frequently as the war with Cair Paravel worsened.

I made my way up to Dumbledore's old office, the meeting room for the heads of our army. Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Luna were already there; only Neville and Draco were missing. Harry looked up as I entered and waved me to a seat beside Ginny. "Have you seen the others?" he asked.

"Draco and Neville?" No. I don't know where they are," I said, sitting down.

Harry glanced at his watch. "I guess we can wait a few more minutes." We sat in silence. It was sad; at one time, we all would have been laughing and talking, but the war had left us all drained.

Finally Harry sighed and said, "We'll just have to start without them. Someone can get them caught up later. There's nothing urgent to discuss, anyways. I just wanted to exchange information with everyone. Alright then—Ginny, why don't you go first?"

Finny had just opened her mouth to begin her report when the door burst open and Draco staggered in, covered in dirt and blood. We all began to rise from our seats, but he waved us down.

"Hermione," he gasped, "can you—"

"Of course, "I said, hurrying over to him. I had been appointed Hogwarts' unofficial healer ages ago, as I knew the most healing magic.

Luckily most of Draco's injuries were minor. I was able to fix almost all of them by the time he had finished his story.

"They got Neville," he said, once he had caught his breath.

No one said anything for a moment. Then Luna posed the question we were all afraid to ask. "Is he dead?"

Draco shook his head, wincing as I examined his bruises and scrapes. "Captured," he said. "I think they're keeping him as a prisoner."

"Damn," Harry swore. "We need Neville. I suppose we'll have to arrange a trade—Neville for that fawn we captured three days ago, what was his name?"

"Tumnus," Ginny supplied.

He nodded. "Right. He didn't give away much when we questioned him, but I gathered he was quite important. Do you think they'll go for that?" Harry asked Draco.

"Probably," Draco replied. "I think that might have been the point of the attack, actually."

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Ron glaring at me as I cupped Draco's face in my hands. "Hold still," I instructed, ignoring Ron. I stared intently into his eyes for a moment. One of his pupils was slightly larger than the other. I let my hands drop. "I thought so. You've got a minor concussion."

"What? No! I'm fine!" Draco protested.

"No, you're not. You can't even stand up straight. At least sit down."

Draco dropped into the seat beside me, earning another glare from Ron.

"If you two are quite finished, then may be get on?" Ron asked waspishly.

"Oh, do forgive me," I snapped. "I'll just let the next person drop dead, shall I? So as not to waste any of your precious time."

"Guys," Harry said warningly, "cut it out.

Both Ron and I fell silent, although we continued to glare at the other across the table.

"We need to send a part to negotiate," said Harry. "Agreed?" We all nodded. "Right then. Who shall we send? I suggest four people, since they have four main leaders."

"I don't think the youngest sister has much to do with it, actually," Ginny pointed out.

Harry shrugged. "It doesn't matter. It's the symbolism that counts. Four kings and queens, four wizards and witches."

"So who's going to go, then?" asked Luna. "There are six of us, not counting Neville."

"Well Harry, obviously," said Ginny.

"And Ron," Harry added.

"Then Hermione should go, too. That leaves us with one more person."

Draco started to volunteer himself, but I cut him off.

"There is no way you can go, Draco. As I believe I pointed out earlier, you can hardly stand up straight, let alone escort a prisoner to Cair Paravel."

"She's right, you know," said Harry. "She usually is." He grinned at me, and I smiled back, and for a moment things felt like they had before the war.

"So who else are you taking then?" Draco asked.

"Not Luna," Harry decided. "None of the Narnians have seen her before, as far as we know. That could give us an advantage, and we shouldn't waste it. We'll take Ginny instead.

"Right. I'll meet you three in the Great Hall in" -he checked his watch—"half an hour. Oh, and we'll need something white, a banner or a flag."

"I'll deal with that," I said.

Everyone stood up to leave. I grabbed Draco by the arm before he could sneak off. "Not so fast. I'm taking you to the hospital wing and you are going to rest. And no, there's no use arguing."

He protested a little, but looked a bit pleased. Ginny's eyes flicked between the two of us, but all she said was, "I'll see you in the common room, Hermione."

Draco and I walked to the hospital wing in silence, him leaning on me slightly just in case. In the corridor before the infirmary he stopped and turned to face me.

"Hermione—" he began.

"Don't'," I said. "Draco, you've told me how you feel about me, but my feelings haven't changed. You're a great friend, but that's all. I'm sorry." I hated doing this to him, but it would have felt even worse to lie.

He looked a little sad, but he said, "I know. You would have told me. It's just…I—just be careful, okay? I don't want anything to happen to you."

I gave him a hug. "It's only a negotiation, Draco, not a full out battle. I'll be fine. Now, off the infirmary, before you topple over."

Ginny was sitting by the fire in the common room when I got back. "So?" she asked.

I sighed and sat down beside her. "Nothing happened, Ginny."

"Do you wish it had?" she asked shrewdly.

"No!" I protested. "I mean—well, yes, in a way, I suppose. I just…"

"You wish you could like him the way he likes you."

I nodded miserably. "He's such a great guy. Smart, funny, cute, nice…why can't I like him? Sometimes I try to make myself like him, but I just can't."

"And he knows that, so don't beat yourself up about it. You guys are still friends," Ginny pointed out. "We had better get going if we're going to meet the boys on time. Come on."

I quickly Summoned a bedsheet to use as a white flag, then followed Ginny through the portrait hole and down the stairs. Harry and Ron were already waiting for us when we got to the Great Hall.

We walked in silence towards Cair Paravel, Ginny and I using our wands the keep the white sheet aloft. As I had told Draco, it was not a very dangerous mission; our flag was large enough to be seen from quite a distance away, and although they were our enemies, I knew the Narnians had a strong sense of honour. Even with so little chance of an attack, I still felt nervous for some reason.

At the gates to the castle we were stopped by the two fauns acting as guards. "We wish to speak with the Kings and Queens," said Harry.

The one on the left nodded and said," Wait here." He ducked inside the gate fir a moment to give an order to someone I couldn't see before resuming his position. We waited, still not talking until a large mouse pushed its way through the gate and gestured for us to follow it. The mouse led us through the castle to a large room. At the end of the room were four thrones, but they were unoccupied; instead, a cluster of people sat at the head of the table that had been placed in the centre of the room. A figure I recognized immediately sat at the head of the table; Peter Pevensie, the high king and leader of the Narnians. On his right sat Susan Pevensie. As the oldest sister, she would be Peter's second-in-command. To Peter's left was a younger girl. I hadn't seen her before, but from her similarity to Peter and Susan I judged her to be Lucy Pevensie, the youngest of the four siblings. Also sitting around the table was an assortment of fauns, dryads, centaurs, animals, and other creatures who were obviously part of Peter's council.

Peter bowed slightly to the four of us. Harry nodded curtly in response. "Take a seat," Peter invited, gesturing to the empty seats at the end of the table. Once we were settled he asked, "I see you bear a white flag. Have you come to surrender?"

"When hell freezes over!" spat Ron, jumping to his feet.

Harry gave Ron a warning look, and Ron sat down again, glowering. "No," said Harry. "We've come to negotiate."

"Yes?" said Peter.

"I believe you recently captured one of our men, Neville Longbottom."

Peter nodded. "That's correct."

"We propose a trade—Neville for the faun Tumnus."

Lucy made a small sound, like a stifled gasp, and covered her mouth with her hand. Peter glanced at her quickly before looking at Harry again. "We're willing to discuss terms," he said.

I lost interest around this point. I knew Harry and Ron could handle it fine on their own, besides, I knew from experience that they preferred me and Ginny not to "interfere". Instead I looked around the hall. It really was quite magnificent, all white marble with gold ornamentation.

A boy slipped into the room and went to stand behind. As everyone else was intent on the debate, I seemed to be the only one who noticed him. I spared him a quick glance, although I was pretty sure I knew who he was: Edmund Pevensie, the youngest brother in the family.

And suddenly I found I couldn't stop looking at him. Everything else seemed to disappear into the background, and I started to have trouble breathing. He was about my age, tall and pale with dark hair and dark eyes. Not as broad as Peter, but lean and wiry instead.

I could have stopped it there. I could have torn my eyes away and feigned interest in what was being discussed. But I didn't. I just kept looking at him, and then he looked up. Our eyes locked.

I lost track of time after that; I've no idea how long the meeting lasted. It wasn't long enough for me, though, because as soon as an agreement had been reached and we had left the castle, I wanted to go back. It didn't matter if I talked to him. All I wanted to do was see him, just for a few more minutes.

So, when we were back at Hogwarts and Harry asked for volunteers to escort Tumnus to the designated meeting place, I immediately raised my hand. He looked a bit surprised, because I usually tried to stay clear of this sort of thing, but he picked me anyways. I knew it was crazy—what were the chances of Edmund would be escorting Neville?—but I was desperate to see him again. Even a tiny chance was better than no chance at all.

Two hours later, I later standing in the Entrance Hall with Ernie Macmillan, Blaise Zabini, and of course Mr. Tumnus. We walked towards the Stone Table, a site approximately halfway between Hogwarts and Cair Paravel and the place we had arranged to meet the Narnians. As we approached, my heart began to pound. I tried to remind myself that he probably wouldn't even be there, but reasoning was overruled by desire.

The first person I saw was Lucy Pevensie, standing on the stone table. We were still far enough away that although we could see her, she couldn't see us through the trees, and she was craning her neck anxiously to try and spot us.

"They sent her?" Blaise said in surprise. "She can't be more than twelve!"

"Harry was twelve when he took on the basilisk," Ernie pointed out. "Beside, I heard they all grew up the first time they were in Narnia, but just went back to their original ages when they came back. So she's sort of—hey, slow down, Hermione."

Without noticing I had quickened my pace. "Sorry," I said.

He was there. He had back to us at first, and was talking to the minotaur who completed their escort, but he turned around as soon as he heard us approaching. Lucy leapt down from the table and ran over to Tumnus, but I hardly noticed. Just like that morning, everything else seemed to fade away once I saw Edmund. He looked at me with those dark eyes of his, and all I wanted to do was—

Was what? said the sensible part of my brain. You know nothing about this boy, except that he's good-looking. And he's on the wrong side of a war—are you willing to risk the friends you have now for a boy who might be horrible?

Suddenly the happy fog I had been in since the morning evaporated, and I was thrust back into cold, harsh reality. I was right, of course; it would be foolish to throw my life away for someone I didn't even know. With effort I dragged my eyes away from him. Throughout the exchange of hostages, I tried not to look at him more than was strictly necessary.

And there it could have ended. Although I was strongly attracted to Edmund, I certainly wasn't in love with him after only two impersonal encounters. I could easily have gone back to the castle and forgotten about him after a few days. Maybe I would have caved eventually and ended up with Draco.

I would have done it,, but Edmund didn't let me.