A/N: This is my first real fanfic (still figuring things out…)  It makes me really happy to read your reviews! Thank you guys so much!

That morning he woke up in a better mood than he had been in… ever. She was still asleep, her eyelashes fluttering lightly in her sleep. He smiled; her mouth was slightly open, a small trail of drool leaking onto her pillow. He kissed her cheek and got up; stretched, felt his hand to make sure it was okay. It was about 5:30 in the morning—he was early. He ran to the bathroom, washed his face, pulled on some fresh robes, then left. He ran down the stairs quickly, down the six flights of stairs to the dungeon. His footsteps echoed in the stone hallway; he was completely alone. He walked up to Snape's large wooden doors when they opened.

"Malfoy… Please, come in…"

He sat down in the barrel-like chair. His headmaster sat across from him at his desk, his arms folded. The room was lit by a single gas lantern in the corner; from this angle he could see every blemish and wrinkle on Snape's face.

"You have been here a week, Malfoy. Have you been following the plan?"

"Yes, sir." Draco said, leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs.

"Now tell me; do you have the girl's trust?"

Draco reflected over the last night… From what he could tell, she trusted him… a lot… "Yes," he said with a smirk.

"And you're not getting attached." Draco had to think. Last night he had thought he couldn't kill her; it turns out this morning was no different.

"Not at all. She's a filthy mudblood!" He had to swallow a taste of hatred for that word; if he wanted to be with her for any reason, he couldn't let on to Snape that he had any sort of feeling for her.

"Are you sure?" Snape asked with a small frown. "Greater wizards than you have lost everything due to…" He trailed off. In reality Snape was thinking of Lily Evans and how he had given everything up for her. "…Distractions." He finished.

"Absolutely." Malfoy said, swallowing quickly. Why was Snape asking so many questions?

"Very well then," Snape took out a piece of rolled up parchment. "I must tell you to keep this an absolute secret," Snape said.

"What is it?" Draco asked, leaning forward.

"Your father's will," Snape said, unrolling the parchment. "Fortunately it came straight to me, not the Dark Lord… He still does not know of this piece of paper." Snape curled up the sides of his mouth in what looked like a grimace. Draco knew it was supposed to be a smile. "I would like to keep it out of the Dark Lord's knowledge."

"Of course," Draco said.

"If you have understood this, then I have a few things to give you…."

******************************************

"Ron, we have to go to class," Harry said, nudging his roommate in the back.

"You go without me," Ron said, curled up in his scarlet bedclothes.

"Why are you acting this way? Is it because of Malfoy?"

"No," Ron said.

"Look; I don't know what's going on between him and Hermione, but you moping around in here isn't going to change anything."

"I'm not moping," Ron mumbled.

"Listen, Ron." Harry said with a sigh. "My parents are dead. My godfather, Sirius, is dead. My mentor, Dumbledore, is dead too. Yet I can get out of bed in the morning. You know why? Because I know that today someone might need my help. Today I might make a difference; I might find a clue to where the next horcrux is, or I might just get to spend another moment with Ginny. Either way, I know that every breath I take is a breath against him. Every step I take is a reminder that I am alive. Every laugh is a joke that he can't take away from me." Harry grabbed his book bag and turned toward the door. "So if you're going to let this get in your way of living, well…" he shrugged even though Ron couldn't see him. "You might as well give up."

He then left the room. This might seem like a speech that Ron might take to heart. You might be expecting him to get up, run after Harry and yell, "You're right! I'm sorry your life sucks!" But Ron's head is much too thick for that. Instead of getting up and shaking his head clear of things, he pulled his covers over his head and fell asleep.

*****************************************

He left the dungeon with the items in his pocket. He could see light peeking in through the wide windows, making his shadow stretch along the walls. He climbed the flights of stairs slowly, his head full of clouds. He couldn't tell if he were happy or… what he was. He reached his room and blew a kiss to the woman in the tight red dress, who giggled and allowed him access to his room. He emptied his pockets; a small brass key to a vault in Gringott's, a silver ring, a bigger key (to what, he did not know), and everything found on his father's body. He opened a drawer and tossed everything in there; for some reason he felt like he couldn't deal with them being out in the open.

He checked the time. It was about 7 in the morning. He could hear Hermione in the bathroom, the sink running. He waited until she was done before entering her room. She was brushing her hair when she noticed him.

"Draco!" she exclaimed, dropped her brush, and jumped in his arms. He was taken by surprised, but laughed anyways and stroked her hair. "Where were you?"

"I had to…" He couldn't think of any way to finish the sentence, so he changed the subject. "Let's look for it today."

"Look for what?" She asked.

"The horcrux," he whispered. Crookshanks, who had been hiding under the bed for most of the time Hermione had stayed in the room, rocketed out from under the bed and meowed loudly, as if trying to cover up his words.

"But I missed classes yesterday, I really can't today--"

"You missed class yesterday?" Draco asked.

"I was worried about you," she said shyly.

"You missed class for me?" He asked, touched.

"Not only that… I was really tired…" She said. He smiled.

"You don't have to feel bad about that," he said and took her hands. He realized then he didn't know what to do with her hands, and dropped them awkwardly. "Thank you."

She smiled shyly, then put her hands on his chest. Ever since they had become closer, she had felt like there was a fire burning in the pit of her stomach, flaring up when she least expected it. At these times she felt daring; dangerous. When she touched his chest the fire burned bright, filling her with thoughts of him. "Let's find the horcrux." She said. "What's one day of classes?" Wow, she really was becoming reckless. She couldn't recognize herself anymore.

He smiled and laughed at the irony. Here he was with Hermione Granger, teacher's pet, best friend of Harry Potter, his sworn enemy, and she just told him she'd rather spend time with him than go to class. What a strange reality.

Later that morning, after everyone had left for breakfast, he and Hermione snuck out of the castle. They ran down the steps leading to Hagrid's castle when Draco stopped.

"Hang on, Hermione. There's something I've always wanted to do." He looked around and figured, hey, his life had changed so much in one week. What's another change if no one's around to see it?

He took a step off the path onto the big grassy hill and smiled. Hermione was looking at him strangely. He laughed, shook his head, and lay down. Tentatively he rocked back and forth before pushing off and tumbling down the hill. He rolled around and around, the turf cushioning him as he descended. He landed with a laugh, then peered up at Hermione, who was staring at him like he had lost his head. Maybe he had. "Come on, it's more fun than it looks!" He yelled. She sat down hesitantly, then shut her eyes. This was so stupid.

"What are you waiting for?" She heard him yell. She had watched the look of joy on his face when he sat up, waiting for her to join him. This was such a different person than she knew. Before yesterday she had never skipped a class on purpose, and here she was today, rolling down hills. She shook her head and let out a laugh that said "I've come this far, why not?" She lay down and pushed off, a feeling of ecstasy filling her head as she let out an involuntary laugh. Her heart was pumping blood so fast into her brain she felt high, and the tumble down the big hill seemed to take forever. His laughter was filling her head, his smile, the look in his eyes…

And suddenly she was next to him, both of them lying there, laughing, out of breath. "See? It was fun," he said, and leaned over her. They both stopped laughing for a moment, the world standing still. She saw how clear his grey eyes were, how sparkling and full of emotion they were. She reached up suddenly, her fire burning. She pulled him on top of her, kissing him hungrily. He responded by kissing her back, pushing her to the ground and cradling her body like it was a life raft.

She entwined her fingers in his beautiful blond hair, pulling him as close as he possibly could be, when a slam jerked them out of their state of entanglement. Draco sprung up as Hagrid emerged out of his cabin, his bloodhound Fang following close behind.

Feeling her heart beat with a different kind of rhythm, Hermione scrambled up. They were lucky he hadn't seen them; being caught like that was the last thing she needed. "What should we do?" She asked, still breathing hard.

"On the count of three, run that way," he whispered, taking her hand. "One… Two… Three!" They both sprinted parallel to the cabin, seeing Hagrid lean over some kind of cage. She saw Fang raise his head to stare at them, and stared into the dog's eyes pleading that he wouldn't make a noise. He didn't, and Draco pulled her into the forest.

They didn't stop running for a quarter of a mile, after which Draco let out a clap of laughter and hugged her tight. "We did it!" He said.

He obviously hadn't run from anybody before, Hermione observed. She had run further and faster from far worthier opponents than Hagrid, the big hearted half giant, and hadn't felt the amount of success that Draco did. She smiled anyways, in a way glad he hadn't had to run. And then she remembered that Voldemort was at his house; where could he possibly run to?

"What did he do to you?" She asked suddenly.

Draco stopped hugging her, confused. "That big oaf back there?"

"No." She sighed. "What did… Voldemort… do to you?" Draco took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair.

"I…" He said, shaking his head. Why did she have to ruin a perfectly good moment?

She instantly regretted her question. "It's okay. I don't have to know," she said, taking his hand and squeezing it. "I'm sorry." He nodded but didn't smile.

"Come on," he said, and pulled her deeper into the forest.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"You'll see," he said. He actually had no idea where they were going, or why he had made up this stupid lie in the first place.

"Okay." She said. "I trust you."

That didn't exactly make him feel any better.