"He's a good man, he's a good man, he's a good man." Hermione repeated over and over, hoping to rid herself of the feeling.

It was almost as if she'd used a Time-Turner and gone back to second year. She was just mudblood to him again. She concentrated on the fact that Malfoy was acting under another influence, but the words cut her just the same. What if the potion had somehow altered him? Making him turn back to the way he was? The way he had been…cold, cruel, uncaring…not the Draco she loved today.

"The ropes are gonna have to be a lot tighter than that, Harry." Ron said, pointed to the bindings on Malfoy's wrist. They'd taken his wand but he was still dangerous.

"Love makes you do curious things, don't it?" Fred threw a meaningful gaze at Hermione.

"It does," she agreed quietly, returning to her tiresome task of staring out the window. Ginny approached her.

"It's for the best, you know. It was really brave of you to stupefy him like that."

"It'll have just made him angrier. Being attacked by mudblood Granger must be somewhere up there with running over your own mother to the Malfoy's."

"He's not really a Malfoy anymore though is he? I doubt his father would be happy to hear of his feelings."

"I don't care. I just want him to be back. A Love Potion isn't fair. Only true love is."

"We're ready," said Harry from across the room. "Innervate."

Malfoy woke up, looking viciously around.

"I'll kill her! Teach her to curse me, bloody Granger!" He spotted her. "Get your mudblood self over here and pay for what you've done."

Hermione began crying silently.

"Filthy tears won't save you now!"

"Funny, I thought you were the one all tied up," said Ron, defending Hermione. She gave him a nod of gratitude.

"Where's Pansy?"

The question broke Hermione's heart.

"We're going to mention something," whispered Fred to Hermione. "Unicorn hair is pure. As soon as Draco swallows it, all his feelings are going to be pure."

"He's going to be pure," George offered.

"Meaning, if he's purely a git, then that's what you'll get."

"Do you want to be around for this?" George asked, nearing seriousness.

"You mean…if he's not meant to be with me…I'll find that out?"

"He's not going to remember what he said. He won't remember anything from the time it touches his tongue to the moment he wakes up again. It's damn powerful, unicorn hair." Fred said.

"So I'll know how he truly feels? When he wakes up, or after he eats it?"

"After." George looked down.

"Hermione," Fred rushed, seeing Harry and Goyle approaching Malfoy. "You have to decide to leave now. He's gonna start spurting off everything. It's worse than Veritaserum. Do. You. Want. To. Know."

"Get away from me, Scar head!" Malfoy shouted. "Goyle! Get him! What are you doing? Let go of me! Let go of my head! Listen to me," Malfoy became more scared than angry. "Please! Please don't make me! I don't want to! Don't! Pansy! Please, help me."

Goyle held open his mouth. Harry dropped the hair. Goyle closed his mouth, forcing him to swallow.

Hermione ran.

Malfoy coughed and sputtered until the hair dissolved on his tongue.

"What did you do!" he demanded. "WHAT DID YOU DO?"

Ginny clasped Harry's hand in her own small one. Draco's eyes took on their normal silver sheen.

"Hermione," he said dreamily. "I gotta find her. Blaise!" He spotted Blaise loitering near the door. "Get her! After her, I gotta…wait..I…gotta…Blaise..."

He began losing focus. The blood drained from his head. His tongue was too big for his mouth. Was this dying?

"She's, she'll…Hermione…she…" His head fell sideways. "Please don't hate me."

No one spoke. Allegiances were broken. A once-proud Slytherin lay broken. Crabbe sat in the corner, next to Fred and George, all three had their hands folded solemnly in front of them. Blaise held a crying Ravenclaw. Ginny watched quietly as both Ron and Harry shook hands with Goyle. Once firm lines were shattered by love. The love the broken boy had for his Gryffindor princess. But she wasn't there to hear his love, so pure. She had taken the easy road. It's more difficult to wait for bad news than to listen to good. So she had run.

She hadn't gotten far when she ran straight into Dumbledore.

"Sorry," she said, turning around.

"Erm, Miss Granger?" he asked politely. "May I have a word?"

She followed slightly behind him.

"I will not pretend to know everything. But as I have witnessed you running through my school on multiple occasions, I would like to know the cause of your excitement."

"Just a…thing."

"A thing? Hmm, does this have anything to do with a certain Draco Malfoy?"

Hermione tripped.

"No, why?" she asked standing up, hoping he hadn't noticed.

"I won't pretend to be surprised. It was only a matter of time before he realized his tormenting of you was more than fun. Mr. Malfoy is not unique in this regard. Boys always tease the girl they fancy," he trailed off as McGonagall approached. "Nice hat, professor," he said, his eyes glinting.

Hermione rolled her own.

"I just hope, in your case anyway, you have the decency to return his feelings." He said, a bit loudly.

"Why would that be, sir?"

"The war is coming, Miss Granger. Draco does not wish to follow his father, nor do any of the boys that have so graciously helped you. They are not followers. You thought Mr. Goyle and Mr. Crabbe were just pawns of Draco's. But now you see, you see that there is a light in the dark. Do not, Miss Granger, ignore the light."

He turned to walk away, but tripped over a walking stick on the ground. Hermione recognized it as McGonagall's.

She ran back to the school room.

It was empty.

She found all of them helping Blaise, Goyle and Crabbe sneaking Malfoy back to his own bed. Fred and George saw her approach and left after a quick goodnight. Luna wandered off and Blaise, after realizing this, tore off after her. Harry and Ginny gave a quick goodnight and went towards Gryffindor Tower, Ron followed soon after. Hermione was left with Crabbe, Goyle and a sleeping Malfoy.

"I want to thank you both," Hermione said quietly. "For everything, I mean. Understanding too."

"Understanding?"

"Malfoy, I mean. Understanding his feelings for me." She clarified.

"We're never going to pretend to understand that. We've known the kid forever; he's never fallen this hard. We know you're angry about everything, but don't hit him again. I think enough of his prides been hurt."

They put Malfoy on his bed.

"Hey, Granger," said Goyle, waiting by the door as Crabbe wandered to his own room.

"Yeah?" She looked up.

"You're alright," he said.

"Thanks, Gregory."

"Well, you've made a right mess of things, haven't you?" Hermione asked, brushing a lock of silver hair out of Draco's eyes. He quieted under her touch. "What are you going to do, Draco? Will you stand and fight, or follow? I want to know. I want to know now, not wait until the sirens of war ring out. You teased and tortured me for years. I realize now, maybe it was more of a warning than a threat."

She broke off as she began crying.

"You called me a mudblood, warning me that I was an enemy of the heir. That worked out in my favor. Even when you jinxed my teeth, they came in straight. I'd like to pretend you weren't really a fowl, evil git…but what if I'm wrong?

"What if they're all lying? I think this might be a ploy to get me to trust you, so you can just hand Harry and everyone right over to Voldemort. But then you look at me, with your beautiful eyes. And I think that you really care."

She leaned close, placing a soft kiss on his lips.

"I will find out someday, Draco. But until then, I'll just have to wonder what could have been."