A/N: I'm just going to apologise in advance, Draco isn't even in this chapter, and it might even seen Romione in some ways. This is a plot filler to be honest, and shows the relationship between Hermione and the rest of the golden trio, because they are still the golden trio and there's still a war. It may seem like Hermione is turning against Draco again but then, they are on two separate sides of a war. Anyway, next chapter will completely make up for it, it's the big finale-ish chapter. It isn't the end but it's where all the action is.

"What are you talking about, Harry?"
Being dragged through the empty corridors in the early hours of the morning in the first clothes she could find and throw on by her best friend wasn't how Hermione expected her Sunday morning to progress.
"Tell me where we're going, RIGHT NOW!"
"You'll see, there's no time to waste."
"HARRY!" she shrieked, wrenching her arm from his tight grasp. He stopped and turned around, his features troubled by a sleepless night. "Harry, what's happened?"
"It's Ron...the hospital wing."

In a blind panic Hermione started to run. Ron was hurt. It was something serious. Other students, although there were very few out of bed, stared as the girl with the wild hair and an even wilder look in her eye sprinted through the castle followed by Harry Potter, the chosen one.
"Hermione! Wait up!"
She didn't wait. She couldn't. Her mind was working over-time with thoughts of Ron lying in a hospital bed, helpless. She didn't even slow her pace until she had reached the large double doors leading to the hospital wing. She took a deep breath and pushed the doors open gently. Inside the room it was calm, almost silent, as she walked in a few paces. She saw Ron almost instantly and it felt like all the breath had left her body. He was lying in a bed at the far end of the room, and even from this distance she could see how his pale skin almost blended with the white of the blanket placed over him.

"Oh, Ron." she whispered, walking slowly towards his bed. When she was stood over him, watching him sleep through a restless dream haunted by what looked like a fever and a cold sweat, she felt too weak and dizzy to go any further and sat in the chair beside his bed. She barely noticed Harry stood behind her, or the hand he placed lightly on her shoulder. She placed her hand tentatively over Ron's and sighed.
"He was poisoned..."
"What?" she could barely believe Ron was lying here in this state, never mind that someone could have done this on purpose. "It wasn't meant for him. I think it was meant for-"

The doors opened again, gaining the attention of both Harry and Hermione.
"Miss Granger, Mr Potter." Dumbledore nodded at them in greeting, followed by Mcgonagall and Slughorn.
"Should they leave, Albus? Surely they have been through enough." McGonagall spoke, glancing worriedly at the children.
"No, I think they would like to find out why this has happened as much as we do."
"Very well then. Mr Potter, if you could tell us what happened last night that lead to...these events." She seemed to be taking what happened hard too.

"I-err- I got back to the dormitory at around 11..."
"But Harry, curfew is 10?" Hermione interupted.
"I was...I was in the common room before...anyway, I went upstairs to the dormitory when Ron told me he was in love. I thought he meant Lavender, sir, but then-"
Hermione started to tune out and turned back to Ron. She squeezed his hand but there was no response. Please be better soon... she pleaded silently, looking down at his empty face.
"Then we had some mead...Slughorn gave us a tiny bit each in, err, celebration."
Slughorn looked down at the floor sheepishly.
"That's when he started to...to froth at the mouth and...he was on the floor. It looked like he was having some kind of fit..."

Hermione couldn't take it and blocked out the rest of the explanation. She was snapped back to reality by a high pitched squeal.
"Oh won-won, my poor ickle won-won, what did they do to him?"
The sound of tottering footsteps clicked on the polished floor and Hermione looked up to see a very flushed Lavender Brown stood at the end of the bed staring at Ron.
"What's ishe/i doing here?"
"I could ask the same about you."
"I happen to be his igirl friend/i."
"Well, I happen to be his...friend." Hermione replied hesitantly. What was she to Ron now? Since her obsession with Malfoy and his obsession with snogging his girlfriend 24/7, they had barely spoken.

"Her..." Ron started to stir and Hermione and Lavender both stared expectantly at him.
"Ron...can you hear me?"
"Won-won! Are. You. Awake?"
"Her-my-knee." he slurred.
"What did he just say?" Lavender asked her.
"I don't know."
"Her-my-knee?" he muttered louder this time.

It looked like Lavender had been slapped across the face, and Hermione turned to her with a slightly smug smile playing on her lips. Suddenly, she let out a sob and fled from the room.
"So...so it was meant for you, Albus?"
Hermione's attention was suddenly snapped back to the conversation the adults were having a few metres away.
"Seems so. It was another rather feeble attempt, but dangerous none the less."

Hermione felt like she was spinning, Ron had almost died because of Malfoy...but she'd promised...no, she's promised so long as nobody else got hurt. But someone had been hurt, and if she didn't tell someone right now, someone else could get hurt too. By the time she had arranged her thoughts to make any sense the professors were leaving the room. There was no time to think it over, she ran straight from the room and followed Dumbledore as fast as she could down the stairs.
"Professor Dumbledore, sir!" She kept running. "There's something I need to tell you!"

She got to the bottom of the stairs and he was stood a little way off, waiting for her.
"Sir, I need to tel you something about the attacks."
She clutched her side and paused to get her breath back.
"Of course. Come to my office."
She nodded, unable to reply in any other way. Following the wizard along the corridor towards his office, she caught sight of Draco, staring at her wide eyed and pale as his own hair. She looked straight at the ground. He knew. He knew and she hadn't even told Dumbledore yet. Risking another glance at him, she saw he was still staring at her, like a deer caught in the headlights, and in that moment Hermione felt like turning back. Like leaving Dumbledore to wonder what it was she wanted to tell him. Then she thought back to Ron lying in the hospital wing, he'd almost died. She couldn't let that happen again so she carried on after the rapidly disappearing headmaster and caught up with him in time to jump onto the rotating staircase that lead to his office.

"So, what is it you wished to tell me, Miss Granger?"
"It's...well I...I know who's trying to kill you." she finally blurted out after piecing the sentence together in her head.
"Ah, I see. And who may that be?" He leaned forward, placing his elbows on the desk sat between him and Hermione on the other side.
"Draco Malfoy, sir."
"And who told you this?"
"He did, sir. Draco told me he was trying to kill you, he gave Katie the cursed necklace. He gave Slughorn the poisoned mead."
He leant back in his chair and clasped his hands together very calmly. "I see."

"Did you not hear me, sir? I said Draco Malfoy...Malfoy is trying to kill you."
"I know." He held out a bowl to her. "Mint Humbug?"
In her confusion she ended up reaching out and taking one.
"I'm sorry, sir, what do you mean you know?"
He took a humbug himself and started to suck on it. "I know that Mister Malfoy is attempting to take my life, and rather feebly too don't you think?"
"Well, yes, but...why don't you tell the ministry? Why don't you kick him out of school? He's an attempted murderer...I don't understand."
"His heart is not in it. If it were I would have been dead already. Why did he tell you about it all those weeks ago, do you think? Why does he continue to try to kill me from afar, why is it a smart boy like himself continues to fail when I am a clear target so often?"

"You think he can't do it?"
"Ah, I think he won't do it. He has the ability, but not the will power."
He stood up and walked over to the other side of the desk and Hermione stood up and looked up at him.
"He is savable yet, Miss Granger. Don't ever lose sight of that."

A/N: I hope all that Romione didn't stop any of you from liking the story, I'll have to make up for it in the next chapter and make the Dramione snog scene extra-long ;) Let me know if you like the story so far, etc, etc, and any suggestions for how to improve this chapter, or any of the chapters so far, are welcome too.