Author's note – I'm so glad at the positive feedback from the last chapter! I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I have big plans for this fic, so that means it'll go on for a while. Anyway I hope this is up to par! It's my goal to hit 100 reviews… but Shh you didn't hear it from me.

Disclaimer – don't own, blah. I reckon you've got the point by now.

"Neville, Luna, I need to talk to you both right now!" Ginny hissed after dinner one week. The Great Hall was packed as usual but there was no sign of Hermione. In fact it seemed like she barely ate with the school anymore. It had been a whole week since Hermione had rushed into the Great Hall with her song and dance about the Sorting Hat exploding before her very eyes. A claim that Ginny doubted to no end.

"Are you alright?" Neville asked, genuinely worried about his friend.

"Oh I'm quite fine thank you." Luna replied dreamily and at this Neville blushed and mumbled something they didn't quite catch.

"Listen this is important! We have to go somewhere they won't hear us." Ginny insisted and shortly after they were all on the way down to the room of requirement. Neville had to struggle to keep up with Ginny who was stomping away furiously fast and Luna who was skipping ahead of them all anyway.

"Oh hello Hermione!" Luna smiled and waved as the girl in question looked over at them with surprise. She was walking back from the library.

"Luna! Ginny! Neville! It's so good to see you!" Hermione beamed.

"Oh yeah, I bet it is." Ginny replied bitingly

"What?" Hermione questioned but Luna interrupted before anyone could start yelling.

"Would you like to come to The Room of Requirement with us Hermione?" she offered kindly.

"Oh, well I was going to…" Hermione said hesitantly when Ginny cut her off again.

"Meet up with all your Slytherin pals?" she said with a distinctive mocking tone, one that she rarely used when she used to get angry – this was a different Ginny than Hermione used to know.

"What was that?" Hermione challenged her to say it again.

"Oh you know exactly what I just said!" Ginny replied angrily.

"I think maybe we should all just calm down…" Neville tried desperately to stop the fighting then went beet red as both girls glared him down.

"I'll calm down when Ginny stops accusing me of such ridiculous claims!"

"I'm just saying what's already true!" Ginny snapped back then stomped away calling back "I'll be in the Gryffindor common room, you should go back to your evil little lackeys Hermione, wouldn't want to keep them waiting!" she yelled then ran away.

"Hermione, we don't feel that way about you… just so you know." Neville said sheepishly and Luna smiled knowingly at him.

"Thanks Neville." She replied miserably.

"If you want we could all go to the Quidditch game this Saturday?" Luna offered and then reached into her pocket and pulled out a box that couldn't have been bigger than five centimeters.

"I might just take you up on that… though I'm not so sure Ginny would like that idea." She gave them a worried look.

"That's alright, you'll be among friends." Luna beamed then took Neville's hand in her own "shall we go then?" she asked and Neville (who was still red) looked at Hermione.

"It's alright, you two go on, I was going to quickly get some dinner." She lied then waved them off as the hurried towards the Room. Quickly pushing her spat with Ginny to the back of her mind she too hurried back to her common room.

"Miss Granger?" McGonagall's nasal voice croaked from behind her and she turned around quickly, in the middle of the hallway around the corner from her common room.

"Yes Professor?" she asked then noticed that she wasn't alone; Draco was standing behind McGonagall with his hands in his pockets.

"Follow me please." She said and Hermione cast a confused glance at Draco who just shrugged and the two followed after the teacher.

---

Half an hour later Hermione and Draco were back in the common room talking about what they had just been told.

"We could make a run for it?" Draco said with the barest hint of humor in his voice. He was sitting on the couch with his feet up on the coffee table in front of them while Hermione was sitting on the arm of the couch with her arms wrapped around her legs.

"No we can't do that." She shook her messy curls.

"Could we hide?" he questioned and she rolled her eyes.

"You'll just have to grin and bear it." She laughed and he glared at her.

"This is hardly a laughing matter Granger." He watched her as she regained controlled her breathing – she seemed to find the upcoming event much funnier than Malfoy did.

"Okay, whatever you say Draco." She replied and they both fell silent as a hooting could be heard from both of their rooms.

"Er – I'll just go and…" she said motioning to her room.

"Yeah – I'll just be…" he said at the exact same time and with an awkward last look at each other they both hurried up their stairs. Draco's letter was from his mother this time. He opened it with an air on confusion – what could his mother possibly have to say to him anyway?

My dear son,

I can't go into details of why and I have limited time to write this. You must not come home during the coming holidays nor can you stay at Hogwarts. Forgive me but it's far too risky, I hope you are well and please do not reply to this letter. Just find somewhere safe to be as soon as the holidays begin.

Love always, your mother.

P.S – I've heard Hermione Granger is Head Girl? I can already see this will be an interesting year for you – just remember though, some opportunities only come once.

He put down the note with even more confusion than when he'd opened it. He had to admit that it had given him some small hope that his mother was looking out for him even though they hadn't spoken in a month since he'd returned to school. But a bigger part of him knew there was a different, larger hope already in him. A hope that had been painstakingly built by Hermione herself. She unlike the other half-wit girls at Hogwarts didn't chase him around like a headless chicken. She treated him like she would any other but she also made him feel like a human. And that was something he'd forgotten to feel a long time ago.

Realizing that she had made him feel like this angered him, but at the same time it calmed him. It was as though they were walking a very thin wire, which would snap if they were too hasty. But Draco Malfoy was impatient by nature and he wasn't going to wait around forever – no Draco Malfoy was a doer. It was time for him to take action, and he already knew what he was going to do. The only question that hovered around his mind was if she would let him.

---

Ginny couldn't sit down any longer, she had to get up and do something. She decided she'd try the library – something she never did. But she figured that maybe she could find out what books Hermione had borrowed last – it could give her some keen insight into what on earth had happened to her friend. Marching away she left the common room and walked past Pansy Parkinson who glowered at her as usual.

"Weaslette."

"Pugsy." Ginny replied and received a very Slytherin snarl in return. It was then that she realized something she hadn't yet noticed. She wasn't yet out of choices – she had a sure-fire way of stopping Hermione becoming a Death Eater.

As soon as she got into the library she picked out the most secluded area she could and whipped out her quill. She sucked on the end for a moment then began scrawling away.

Dear Harry,

Here's something you might be interested to know. According to a large number of Slytherins, Hermione is going to become a Death Eater. Oh and the person who'll be assisting with this chore is none other than Ferret. Can I hex him now?

Love Ginny.

"Hex whom?" Blaise Zabini asked, peering over her shoulder where he had silently been reading over her shoulder for about two minutes.

"You!" Ginny gasped then tore the letter away from his eyes "Do you just go around reading private letters or something?" she snapped.

"No. I just happened to be going around and noticed you writing one." He replied smartly and she glared at him.

"I'll just be going then." Ginny said then attempted to walk past him. He blocked her path quickly with an amused grin on his face and a twinkling in his eyes.

"But I just got here." He complained.

"Do you piss me off for fun? Or is this totally unplanned?" she asked angrily.

"Yes." He said with a hint of a laugh.

"Yes to what?"

"What to what?" he asked innocently

"What?"

"What, what?"

"Ugh!" Ginny exclaimed then pushed past him then froze and pulled out her wand.

"Oh and Blaise?" she turned around with a scarily calm smile and pushed her bright red hair behind her shoulders.

"Yes Ginny Weasley?" he answered like a butler would answer to a formal guest.

"If you ever read my letters again, or come near me in any way I'll not hesitate to hex you all the way the North Pole and back again." She warned and Blaise watched her walk away with an eyebrow raised in amusement.

"Gryffindor girls are weird." He stated out loud not noticing the offended look from Lavender who was busy reading 101 Ways to Charm Your Way Through Life.

---

After the usual letter from Ron and Harry (who seemed to have gotten more sleep but had no further luck with Horcrux's) Hermione had fallen asleep in front of the fire. She had drifted off into a peaceful slumber that was soon another dream.

It was a sunny day, probably a weekend considering all the students walking about the corridors. All of a sudden running at her was Ron and Harry.

"We've missed you so much!" Ron beamed and the three of them exchanged hugs, Ron leaning down twice to hug Hermione with a goofy grin on his face.

"Oh Hermione, if it hadn't been for you, we surely wouldn't be here right now." Harry said resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Did you hear that?" Hermione called back from behind her shoulder.

"How could I not have, love?" A dreadfully familiar chuckle came from the illogically darkened corridors and Draco stepped out wearing a black dress shirt and looking very well cleaned up.

"Oh go on then!" Harry said encouragingly.

"Yeah go on!" Ron agreed and then they stepped back and out of nowhere they were both standing directly in the middle of a stage. Draco walked very slowly for Hermione who in turn walked towards him for what seemed like the longest time in history. The crackling of flames could be heard roaring in background somewhere when suddenly Draco's head dipped and Hermione's titled upwards. They locked eyes for a brief moment and he cupped her face with his pale, rather warm hands and she gripped his shirt with a longing that couldn't be described.

"Draco…" she breathed as their lips slowly grazed against each other's with a feather light electricity, breaking the moment was an explosion of green fire which caused Hermione to wake up with a jolt.

"Oh!" she gasped as she shot up from the couch and someone jumped from the armchair next to her. It was Draco and he looked absolutely startled at her sudden, very frightening way of waking up.

"What?" he questioned, wondering if he'd missed something scary.

"Huh?" she slowly took in her surroundings then unwillingly remembered a rather prominent scene from her dream and blushed madly "It's nothing!" she said far too quickly for him to believe it.

"Sure… anyway I have a question for you." He said quickly getting to the point and he put down the book that was resting on his lap.

"You do?" her voice rose to a slightly panicky tone and he looked at her with minor concern "ask away." She added nervously.

"Are you going to Quidditch on Saturday?" he asked, looking very defensive.

"Is that it? Of course I am, though cheering for Slytherin is sure to be a terrifying experience all on its own." She shuddered just thinking about it.

"Good." he replied when he started walking towards his room.

"Draco." Hermione said quickly before he could disappear anywhere. He turned around with deliberate slowness.

"Yeah?" he asked, waiting impatiently for her to gather her thoughts.

"Did you hear anything I was saying before… when I was asleep?" she wondered sheepishly.

With a smirk he simply replied, "How could I not have?" and then returned to his room leaving Hermione to sit and blush alone in front of the roaring fire.

---

A/n – ooh foreshadowing! I'd love to hear any comments or ideas you guys have from this chapter – I can tell you there are a lot of hints in this story to a much later plot branch. Here's a few word hints for what to look forward to next chapter – Quidditch, dates and drama. However you interpret that is up to you!