Hey everyone! Thank you all so much for the feedback that this story has recieved! This is my longest chapter yet and I hope to keep them at this length!

Draco awoke with a cold sweat. He had been having a nightmare… a nightmare involving Granger. That was odd. Why would he be dreaming about her? She was being tortured by Voldemort. He was using the Cruciatus Curse on her. It all looked so real. She was on the floor in his home. His home. Granger was crying out in pain and he was standing with his mother and father to the side. Draco wanted to save her. He wanted to save her like she was trying to save him now. Voldemort walked towards her and lifted his wand. He then shouted out the Killing Curse. Draco didn't hear the last syllable in "Kedavra". He was sitting up in bed, trying to calm himself down. It hurt him to see her in so much pain. Why was that? He didn't even care about Granger! But he did need her help. Draco hoped to get her alone sometime today. He needed to.

Hermione was sitting next to Harry during lunch the next day in the Great Hall. She wasn't listening to what Harry was saying to her. Her mind was too preoccupied with plans on how to get Malfoy alone again. Lucky for her, her plan wasn't needed at all. Hermione had left the Great Hall early to finish some last minute homework. As she walked past the staircase heading down to the kitchens and the Hufflepuff common room, she was once again yanked into a small alcove. Her head immediately shot up to look at her captor. Chocolate brown met silver.

"Malfoy, I thought I was meant to leave you alone? Why are you talking to me now?" She questioned.

"I've changed my mind, Granger. I need your help," Draco replied.

"W-What? Did I hear you correctly? You're actually asking for my help?"

"Yes. Will you help me or not, Granger?"

This was it. She could save him now. At least, that's the "help" she thought he was asking for. Hermione really hoped that that was what he was asking for.

"I… I need to know what the task is, Malfoy. I can't help you unless I know everything."

"Bloody hell, Granger. Fine. I'll tell you everything, but we need to go somewhere more… private," with that, Draco glanced to his left. Hermione glanced in that direction and noticed people starting to leave the Great Hall. It was a Saturday so there were no classes.

"Alright, where?"

"Meet me in the Room of Requirement in 10 minutes."

Draco walked away from her again. Hermione repeated their conversation in her head a few times before leaving the alcove. Only five minutes had passed since he had left. She figured she might as well head up to the Room of Requirement now.

Draco left her standing in the alcove. Was he really doing this? Yes. Draco was going to tell Granger everything. He made his way towards the Room of Requirement. Pacing back and forth three times, he wished for the room with the cabinet. The doors appeared and Draco went into the room. He only had to wait a minute before he saw the doors opening. He then saw Granger walking toward him.

"Okay, I'm here, Malfoy. Explain."

"Alright, well… where do I begin?"

"Just tell me when it all started."

"It was during summer holiday. As you know, Saint Potter got my father sent to Azkaban. The Dark Lord was not very pleased with this. He gave me a task to do. The task was to… um… well…"

She couldn't believe he was actually telling her. And besides that, he was losing his composure. Hermione thought she'd never see the day that happened.

"What's the task, Draco?"

Draco. She had called him by his first name. This was a first. Draco didn't know why, but he loved the way his name sounded when she said it.

"I have to kill Dumbledore. If I don't, then Voldemort will kill my mother… and me."

Hermione was absolutely speechless. What was she supposed to say to that? She felt so sorry for him. He was still just a kid, they all were. He shouldn't be in this situation.

"Wow. I… I don't know what to say."

"You said you wanted to help me. Will you or not? Because if you won't, I'll need to modify your memory."

"H-how do you want me to help?"

"I need you to help me with the cabinet."

"And how do you expect me to do that?"

"I can't seem to get it working properly. I think maybe you can help."

"What is the cabinet going to be used for?"

"Well, there are two cabinets. Put something in one, say the incantation and it'll turn up in the other one. It should be easy."

"You haven't told me what needs to go through the cabinet."

"I… you won't help me if you know."

"Then I shouldn't be wasting my time here." Hermione started to walk away, until Draco grabbed her arm. Not roughly, surprisingly. She turned to look at him and was shocked at what she saw. He looked so lost. He was desperate. He really needed her. Merlin, this was mental. She shouldn't help him. From what he had just said, Hermione figured that whatever needed to pass through the cabinet would not be good.

"Fine. I'll help you," Hermione said. Was she really going to do this? The need she felt to help people made her do this. Hermione liked to believe that there was good in everyone and that everyone deserved a chance. She was going to give that chance to Malfoy now.

"T-thank you. Thank you, Granger." Draco couldn't believe it. Granger was actually going to help him. This worked out better than he had originally planned.

"I say we start tomorrow, meet me in here at eight o'clock tomorrow night."

"Alright. Make sure no one follows you, Granger."

"I know. I'll see you, Malfoy."

Ah, she was back to calling him by his surname. Wait. Why did that suddenly bother him so much? He wanted her to call him Draco. Strange.

"Goodbye, Granger."

Before Hermione left, she realized Draco's hand was still around her wrist. She looked at him quizzically, and then he realized what he was doing. Draco immediately let go of her and turned away before she could see the redness forming on his face. Little did he know, his face was already bright red.

Hermione left the Room of Requirement and went to the library. She decided that she wanted to do as much research as possible about vanishing cabinets. She wanted to know how they worked and how they were used. If she was going to help Malfoy, she wanted to be prepared for it. This is how Harry found Hermione, sitting by herself surrounded by ten-book high piles.

"There you are! Where did you disappear to after lunch?" Harry asked.

"Oh, um, I just came here. I wanted to get some studying done," Hermione lied. She couldn't believe she was lying to her best friend.

"What are you studying? It's Saturday, Hermione," Harry tried to grab one of her books to see what she was reading. Hermione quickly snatched it out of his hands.

"It's nothing, Harry! Just some Ancient Runes stuff. Nothing important."

That was a close one. Harry had almost seen what she was reading! He couldn't know. He already thought Malfoy was up to something, he didn't need this to fuel the fire. Harry sat down across from her at the table. Hermione couldn't bring herself to tell him that she wanted to be alone.

"Do you want to go down to the lake?" Hermione asked, but before they could leave, Professor Slughorn had found them.

"Ah, Mr. Potter, Miss Granger, what a great surprise! Listen, I need a word with you two," Professor Slughorn said a bit too loudly.

"SHH!" Madam Pince, the librarian, said.

"Right, right. My apologies. I have a proposition for the both of you. How about you join me for dinner in my office tonight? I'm holding a little get together for a few of my students and I would be very happy if you would attend."

Hermione was about to protest, but Harry cut her off.

"Of course, Professor! Thank you!" Harry beamed at him. Hermione figured that Harry's courtesy towards their new professor was on Dumbledore's orders.

"Very good! I shall see you both tonight then!" Professor Slughorn then walked off to chat with Blaise Zabini, who was a couple of tables away from them. Hermione could hear the professor asking Blaise to the dinner as well.

"This should be interesting. Right, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"I suppose so. I wonder who else he invited." Hermione replied.

"I guess we'll have to wait and see."

Draco was still in the Room of Requirement trying to fix the cabinet. The bloody thing was just so difficult. Perhaps his mind just wasn't in it tonight. He was too focused on the way his hand felt against the skin of Granger's wrist. Her skin was soft. The look in her eyes when she had seen that he was still holding onto her wrist was confusing. She looked confused… and pleased? No, no he must have imagined that. He was very confused, himself. Why were all of these sudden emotions attacking him about Granger? He didn't like her. He didn't care about her. Or did he? Of course not! This was just a single, fleeting thought. Draco didn't have feeling for Granger. There was no way that he could. It was impossible. Or so he thought.

The night came all too quickly for Hermione. Her and Harry left the common room at six o'clock to go to Professor Slughorn's office down in the dungeons. On their way down, they passed Malfoy in the hall. He looked at her for a split second before he looked away. She noticed this and tried to hide the heat rising in her cheeks. Why had she started to blush whenever Malfoy looked at her? It was bloody Malfoy! She shouldn't be thinking of him like that.

Harry knocked on the door to Slughorn's office and the professor opened it with a wide smile on his face.

"Harry, my boy! And Miss Granger! Come in, come in! Welcome to the Slug Club!"

Hermione looked around the room. The others there were Blaise, Ginny, Neville, Cormac McLaggen, the Carrow twins, Melinda Bobbin, and Marcus Belby. What a strange group of people to put together. Hermione didn't miss the look in Harry's eyes when he saw Ginny. She wished Harry would tell Ginny how he felt.

The night was awkward, to Hermione at least. Harry spent most of the time goggling at Ginny so he barely even talked to her. She talked to Neville some, but Slughorn kept interrupting. She also noticed Cormac wouldn't stop eyeing her up. That made her feel extremely uncomfortable. When it was all finally over, Hermione, Harry and the rest of the Gryffindors at the party went back to the common room. Once their, Hermione and Ginny bid goodnight to the boys and went up the girls dormitories. Ginny went to her room while Hermione continued up the stairs to her's. She finally got into bed at midnight. Sleep was about to take her over. Just as her eyes were fluttering closed, her mind went back to thoughts of Draco, and the way his hand had felt on her skin.

So what did you guys think! The story is going to start picking up a little bit of speed from here. Once again, thank you so much for all the feedback! I'll update soon!

-kiwilynn13