DISCLAIMER: Harry Potter does not belong to me… Harry Potter does not belong to me… zzz…

Author notes: Hello fellow fanfic lovers!

I want to thank everyone that took some time to read and review to this. I loved all of them and they really do help me become a better writer. Oh, and thanks for your nice wishes, Liz.

Again, this is a transition chapter. The chapters after this are a lot more eventful, but in order to get there I have to sort of walk you through it. I hope you like it!

Chapter 10: Sleeping Arrangements

"What the… Potter!" shouted Draco, looking at the room with a quizzical look on his face.

"Harry" called Hermione almost immediately after Draco.

"What is going on?" muttered Harry, walking out of his room.

"What is up with these sleeping arrangements? Surely you do not intend for me and Malfoy to share a room, do you?" said Hermione sounding deeply annoyed at Harry.

"Uh, no…" he stammered awkwardly, looking into the room.

"Then what's the big idea?" demanded Draco.

The truth was, when they'd set out that morning they had been only four. Inside his head Harry pictured himself and Ginny sleeping in the same room (though he knew it was just wishful thinking) and Hermione and Ron in the other room. The tent was big enough for six, each of the rooms with three beds. He didn't think it was that big a deal. Now with the addition of Draco Malfoy he knew the arrangements had to change.

"Well…" he began carefully. "Ron, Malfoy and I should sleep in one room and Hermione and Ginny on the other".

"That makes sense!" Hermione exclaimed.

"However… Ron and Ginny are fast asleep and it would be kind of rude to wake them. Do you think… maybe for the one night…?"

Draco's light grey eyes opened wide. He turned and faced Hermione, who bore an expression very similar to his. She locked eyes with him, her mouth agape.

"Are you serious?" she asked.

"Just one night… I promise!" said Harry earnestly, yawning.

Hermione took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She licked her lips and waited for Draco to say something. He looked deep in thought, as if trying to determine whether he would agree to the sleeping arrangements or hex Harry.

"Ok! Fine, just for this night!" he agreed, grabbing his own backpack and walking inside the small, but comfortable room. "But I get the bigger bed".

"Huh? You idiot! They are all the same size!" said Hermione, exasperated as she walked after Draco into the room.

Harry shook his head as he heard the two bickering and suddenly realized he was not all that tired. He wondered for a minute about what he should do. He reached into his pocket and took out the parchment and fake locked he carried with him everywhere. After sitting down comfortably in one of the chairs, he started to ponder over all the information he had learned in resent months.

The locket, the ring, the diary, the snake, and the cup, something from Gryffindor or Ravenclaw and… Voldemort

Harry kept repeating the same thing in his mind. He had done so almost every day since Dumbledore was murdered. His heart was full of sorrow and despair now that he had finally set out on the quest he knew he would have to undertake since that fateful night after Sirius's death.

Carefully, almost fearfully, he opened the parchment once more and re-read the information written in it. According to what Professor Dumbledore said, Voldemort liked collecting trophies. However, he now knew the things he was collecting had a lot more value and meaning than stealing a little kid's toy. Marvolo's ring, Merupe's locket, his own diary… everything seemed to fit in some kind of plan he couldn't come to understand.

Obviously, the three Horcruxes that had been destroyed belonged directly to him and his family. It was extremely likely that Hufflepuff's cup had been turned into a Horcrux, seeing that the old lady who owned it had been murdered and the cup vanished.

But… what else could he have stolen that meant enough to conceal a piece of his soul? Would he really risk making a snake a hourcrux? And if the night of his parents murder he didn't succeed... what happened then to that piece of soul? Where they really seven? What if they were only six? And who the heck was RAB?

Harry sat on his chair for what seemed hours, searching his brains for answers. He wished over and over again that he could somehow just speak to Dumbledore…

Suddenly, it hit him.

"Of course…"

Draco opened the door to the room and looked around. He noticed that Hermione was right; the beds were exactly the same size. He sighed dejectedly and threw himself in the middle bed.

"I am sleeping here!" he announced.

Hermione stared at him, still unable to believe that she had to share a room with a guy… and not just any guy… Draco Malfoy. She bit her bottom lip and walked to the bed located to her right, throwing her things on top of it and searching for a hairbrush. Draco watched her intently.

"What are you looking at?" she asked as she sat down at the edge of her bed and began to brush her still damp hair.

Draco didn't reply right away. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

"Hmm… I am not looking at anything! What's there to look at?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. In the back of her mind she could still remember their civilized conversation of a few hours earlier. Draco, however, seemed to be trying with all his might to pretend it never happened. She didn't exactly feel disappointed… in fact; she just didn't know how to feel.

"Actually, you look nice like that" he said suddenly, sitting up.

"Nice, how?" she asked, unable to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

"With your mouth shut," he smirked and lay back down. "It seems like every time I've seen you, you are just going on and on about something you read in some lame book… or just trying to insult me".

She opened her eyes wide, staring at him in disbelief. She styled her hair in a messy bun and walked to him.

"First of all, I am not always talking about something I read and stuff. Besides, it's not my fault I know more than you!" she scoffed and continued. "And if I am always insulting you it's because you always deserved it! After all, you and your family have been the only ones to call me 'mudblood' to my face!"

Draco shrugged and stared straight into her eyes.

"I hope you don't expect me to apologize just yet. I don't think I could handle living with you and apologizing all on one night!"

Hermione's eyes narrowed. She wasn't sure she'd heard him right. He said she shouldn't expect him to apologize just yet. What did he mean by that? Was he actually thinking of apologizing to her someday?

She shook her head and walked towards her bed.

"Where's the john?" he asked, standing up.

Hermione pointed him towards the general direction that led to the bathroom and waited for him to leave before removing her robe, revealing her light green short pants and shirt pajamas. She quickly got into bed and pulled the covers over her body, wanting to shield herself from his stare. She wasn't sure what was happening to Draco Malfoy. She wasn't sure what to expect from him anymore. She closed her eyes, hoping to fall asleep before Draco returned.

Suddenly, she heard Harry's voice calling her urgently.

"Hermione!"

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