Author's Note: Eh, I am such a procrastinator, I'm sorry. I recently had a freakishly huge test worth half my grade, and a research paper that made me almost die. I'll try to have another chapter up soon, too. -nodnod- Whoot. Anyway, big thanks to those who suggested ideas, they were great! And also too those who cheer me on even though I'm a big fat loser! Love ya'll!

debarie: Thanks so much for the private messages. And your idea for this story isn't too cliché, seeing as mine would've been even more predictable. So, I'm using yours!

.devioustricks.: Thank you for the correction, but I like making paragraphs almost identical in size. xD It's fun. But I'll keep that thought in mind.

Chapter Ten: Changes

The next day, Hermione refused to acknowledge his existence anymore. She passed by him as if he was nothing but air, and didn't seem to know whenever he was standing near her. For weeks they went on like this, and somehow Draco did not seem to care. He returned to his usual, bratty self, tormenting Harry, Ron, Hermione, and everyone else as often as he could. He now regularly brought Pansy to the Heads' quarters and locked themselves in his room for hours at a time. They didn't even control themselves, and often you could hear shouts and screams and moans coming from the room.

As for Hermione's diary, it lay in a corner of her closet, gathering dust and isolated from her other things. If only she knew that there were new entries in it every day, every hour, even perhaps every minute at times. These entries were of great importance, and if she didn't find out about them soon... Let's just say that trouble would rear its hideous head.

One Saturday morning, Hermione woke early. She had trouble sleeping. She had these ghastly nightmares of Draco being imprisoned in his own manor. He was writing in his diary, desperately trying to contact her. In her nightmare, he was sitting trapped in his room, scribbling every few seconds, refusing to look away from his book. A frustrated look permanently etched on his face, he often raised the book over his head as if he were going to fling it across the room, but always lowered it slowly, almost painfully. He looked to be half-starved. He barely ate or slept, having spent most of his time with his black diary.

Lying on her bed, Hermione contemplated what the nightmare had been. Well, it wasn't exactly much of a nightmare, but it pained her to see Draco so helpless and unhappy... Wait. Why should she care about him anymore? He was just using her and she had seen him with Pansy with her very own eyes! She let out a muffled scream in her pillow and threw it at the door leading to the Heads' common room.

Sighing, she laid still for a few seconds before rising and walking to the door. She left the pillow on the floor and opened the door. It just so happened the misfortune decided to fall upon her, and Draco was already awake. He was sitting near the fire, and looked up when she opened the door, his emotionless grey eyes piercing through her like a spear would a fish. She paused and returned the stare. Something about him seemed different... Before she could linger on this thought any longer, she was interrupted.

"What the hell are you staring at, filthy Mudblood?" He sneered, raising his chin a bit higher and giving her a look that made it clear that he thought himself much more superior than she. He tossed her the usual smirk that he had returned so recently. How pleasant, right?

Hermione just made a face at him and slammed her door back shut. Damn it! Why did that prat have to always be there, making her feel lower than any life form on the planet? She sighed and clenched her hands tightly, fighting the urge to throw something. Or break something. Anything to release her anger. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply through her nostrils. Then exhaled through her mouth. In, out. In, out. She returned to her usual composure and approached her closet. After opening it and searching through different outfits to wear, she finally picked out a pair of dark jeans. While looking for a suitable top, something in the corner caught her eye.

Leaning down, she picked up the book lying on the floor. There was a thin sheet of dust lying on it, and she had to brush it off. She sneezed. After rubbing her nose, she brought it back to her bed, completely forgetting what she had originally looked in her closet for. There, in gold, was the inscription, 'Diary'. Tears brimmed her eyes as she reminisced everything that had been accomplished from it. And everything lost. In a moment of lament, she wiped her eyes and sat down.

Suddenly, flashes of Hermione's nightmares flashed through her mind and she quickly flipped open the cover. Strangely enough, there was an entire page of writing that she hadn't remembered seeing before. And they were in Draco's writing. She quickly flipped to the next pages. Both were filled completely as well. She turned the page again and again and got the same results.

The first entry consisted of, "Hermione! Please answer! Lucius has locked me in my room and has taken my place at Hogwarts using a Polyjuice potions! He plans to break your heart and will kill you on the final day of January! Please read this, Hermione!"

Hermione sat cross-legged on her bed, gaping at what the pages contained. Disbelief rushed through her mind, but she knew that what he had written was true. Her heart ached, and she felt horrible for blaming Draco for things his father had done. Now she knew that her dream had actually been reality. Or at least close to it. Although she felt like crap, she urged herself not to break down into sobs. She had no time to lose. What was she to do about this situation?

But first thing was first. Flipping to an empty page, she wrote quickly and a bit messily, with a shaky hand. "Draco," she recited aloud, "I'm so sorry for not answering. I'm been just so angry with you. I mean your father, who is impersonating you. Thank you for warning me, and I'm terribly sorry for doubting that you'd ever stop caring. I will send for help to bring you back, and don't worry. I'll be extra careful of Lucius."

She bit her lip, and stared at the page, hoping that it was true that Draco didn't stop looking at the diary. Relief flooded throughout her body when she got a reply seconds later.

Thank Merlin, you finally looked! I've missed you so much! You don't know how much happier I am, right now! And it doesn't matter. I just want you to be safe. Lucius could've fooled anyone. But don't send anyone to take me back. It's too dangerous and I'm sure no one would want to help me.

I miss you, too, Draco! I wish I could see you. I need to help, though! I can't bear to see you suffer, and I know that you aren't eating! You look a mess!

How do you know?

This may sound stupid, but I had a dream about you. More like a nightmare, actually... That's how I got to look in here.

It's not stupid. At least it made you look here, or you could be dead soon.

I know! The 31st is coming up soon, and I probably wouldn't have found out until it was too late...

Hey, I have to go. Father insists that Greyback comes and checks on me every hour. He thinks that I'll somehow escape or something. As if. He took away my wand and put enchantments all over my room. Talk to you at 3:00. Afternoon, of course.

Bye.

Hermione sighed deeply and closed her eyes. She sat there in a meditating sort of position for a minute before turning to the second door that was now visible on her wall. She smiled a little and stuck her diary under her pillow before leaving her bed and opening the door. Few heads turned as she walked into the Gryffindor common room. They had gotten used to her coming in and out of here now. She looked around and saw Harry and Ron sitting by themselves at a table, apparently trying to do their homework.

"Hey!" She put on her cheeriest smile as she walked up to them. Harry glanced at Ron and smiled back at Hermione, but said nothing. Ron continued with his homework, as if Hermione hadn't just come up to them. "I don't think that's right." She commented, pointing to the second problem on Ron's Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. "I don't think that Diranto is a spell that blocks hexes, let alone a spell at all." She stifled a little giggle.

"Bug off, will you, Hermione?" Ron snapped, turning for a mere second to glare at her. "Harry and I don't need you breathing down our backs just because we got one or two questions wrong on our homework! For once, will you just stop being such a know-it-all?"

Hermione crossed her arms, and returned his glare. "I'm just trying to help, Ronald! I came here, to ask if you guys could help me, but right now, I don't think you're going to!" Her voice rose enough so that everyone in the common room turned to stare and listen. "Ever since that stupid ball, you've been ignoring me and if you talk to me at all, it's just to tell me something that'll either hurt my feelings or make me wish you were dead! Whether you like it or not," She lowered her voice so that only the two boys could hear her, "I like— Yes, maybe love, Draco Malfoy. Now if you have a problem with that, you're not my friend at all, and I deserve an apology from you!" She growled, and pivoted so that her body was facing away from them. Tilting her chin in a defiant pose, she stalked out through the portrait hole of the room with Ron looking bewildered and Harry looking uneasy.

She did not regret shouting at Ron in the least, for she believed that it served him right. It actually felt a bit good to let out some steam, but it was just too bad that Harry had to go through her yelling as well. She would make an apology to him later. After Ron apologized to her. Now, she would start her search for Ginny. The youngest Weasley was her last and only hope now, to help her take Draco from his father's clutches. It didn't take her long to find her having an animated conversation with one of her fellow sixth years.

Hermione approached Ginny and her friend in a corridor near the Ravenclaw common room. They seemed to be discussing how difficult their classes were, especially after the break. "Ginny, may I please speak to you?" Hermione asked politely, smiling at her and the other girl. "This is really, really, important."

"Um.. Sure, Hermione. I'll talk to you later, Melissa." Ginny waved as her friend walked off, looking back at them once before turning the corner. "What's up, Hermione?" She turned back to Hermione and waited expectantly for Hermione to start talking. By the looks of her face, this was honestly very important. At least to the older girl.

Hermione sighed, not knowing where to begin. She looked around to make sure that no one was around, and for good measure dragged Ginny to the nearest classroom. She took a deep breath and began, "Well, you know how I think that Draco's cheating on me?" She paused. "Well, it turns out that during the break, his dad switched places with him, and locked him up in his room! You've got to help me break him out, Gin! Ron won't even treat me right, and Harry probably won't want to get involved with him, either! I mean, he and Draco have hated each other since first year! And Lucius is going to try and kill me in a week!" She looked extremely upset now.

Ginny just stared at Hermione, wide-eyed, for a long time after she had finished talking. "Wow. Of course I'll help you, Hermione! But we can't do it alone. I promise I'll convince Harry and stupid-head Ron to help. Don't mind Ron. He's just a hard-headed git. But truthfully, I think he likes you, Hermione." She confessed, "I mean, I've seen him look at you, and he's always going on about how great you are. Until that ball, anyway. Now he's all depressed. He's probably just jealous because you don't like him back..."

Author's Note: Eh, it's corny, I know... I'm sorry for the corniness. It's not my fault I was cursed with this unfortunate gift of insanely retarded writing skills. D: Don't hurt me. -cower-

Review, and I'll update sooner! Upon getting sixteen reviews, I'll start the next chapter right away and I'll have it updated in a week of that time!