AN: So so so so sorry this has taken forever. My muse was gone but is finally back with a vengeance. This chapter is shorter, because it was a perfect ending spot and I promise the update won't be far behind.
Thank you for continuing to read this story and bear with me as I had a personal problems and writer's block. You guys are the best. Tons of love to you. Enjoy the chapter.

During breakfast, Hermione told Draco and Goyle what had happened in the forest after she had shown Umbridge out. The horrified look on their faces was priceless.

"Bloody hell!" Goyle exclaimed, "How did you guys get away with so much?"

"Perks of being friends of the chosen one. Everyone turns a blind eye." Draco said winking at Hermione who laughed.

Once their items were all packed away they started back on their journey. They had walked quite a distance before Draco put his arm out to stop Hermione and the others. Pointing his finger to his mouth, he pointed at a clearing in the woods. The work of a creature. Everyone was instantly on high alert. Being vigilant, Hermione started looking around for clues on what kind of creature they could expect.

"Psst, Granger!" Goyle whispered calling Hermione over, "What are these markings?"

Hermione walked over to where Goyle was and loudly gasped dropping her bag to the ground to feel the marking. Leaning down she pulled out her journal and quill to draw the symbol. As she walked around the tree she glanced at a nearby tree and saw a similar type of symbol. Ginny called over to her to point out another. After locating about half a dozen, Hermione sat on the ground pondering them.

"It's clearly a message, but I've never seen these type of Runes before," Draco said as he sat next to Hermione and looked at the markings on her page. Goyle and Ginny were looking around for more clues or form of life.

"It's a mix of two types. Making it hard to decipher. I'm afraid I won't be able to solve this today and we have to start heading back if we want to get to the castle before dark. We'll have to come back next week." Hermione said sadly.

"Well, that gives us time to translate it. I'll help." Draco reassured Hermione. "Don't worry, we'll find her."

Nodding. Hermione took one last glance, closed the book and stood. They all gathered, did one last look around and went back the way they came to the castle, each deep in thought.

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"The sword mudblood! Where did you get it?"
Tears were flooding her eyes as she started screaming from pain as a knife stabbed her arm.
"I'm going to ask you again! Where did you get this sword? Where?"
"We found it! We found it! PLEASE! Screaming again as the pain seared through her forearm once more.
You're lying, filthy mudblood, and I know it! You've been inside my vault at Gringotts! Tell the truth, tell the truth!" Carving more letters into Hermione's arm she screamed again. Eyes so blurry full of tears she couldn't see. She couldn't breathe. "What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell me the truth, or I swear, I shall run you through with this knife!"
Carving into her arm once again Hermione couldn't think. She could only focus on the pain that was searing through her arm. Pain from her fingers to her shoulder. Pain she'd never felt before.
"What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!" Not giving Hermione a chance to speak she used an unforgivable curse. Hermione's blood-curdling scream echoed in the walls of Malfoy Manor.
Lavender stood over her body, blood dripping from her neck. "You're never going to find me, are you? Going to leave me in the woods forever? I should have never trusted you. Now I'll never see my Won- Won and it's all your fault mudblood!"

Hermione woke up covered in sweat and panting. The vision of Lavender making her dizzy. The viciousness in Lavender's voice echoing in her head. She'd had the same dream since Sunday night. It was Thursday and she was no closer to figuring out what the symbols mean. Checking the time she saw it was half-past four in the morning. Ginny was still fast asleep. Thank Merlin I didn't wake her. She thought. Hermione had forced Draco to sleep in his own dorm with her dreamless sleep potions. Laying in bed she imagined each of the symbols one by one trying to find a connection. When the time was just after six, she sighed and got up to shower. Trying to take the frustration of the puzzle out on her hair.

Draco was standing against the wall at the entrance of the Great Hall looking healthier than he had in months. When he saw Hermione he pushed off to greet her.

"Hey, you alright?" He asked.

"No. I had another nightmare with Lavender in it. I just don't get it."

"Well, I'm feeling much better, so why don't we meet with Estella together today and then tonight take your potion?"

"I don't WANT to take the potion right now Draco. I feel like I'm missing something. Something obvious." Hermione frowned. "I'll see you later in class." Walking into the Great Hall, she grabbed two slices of toast and left for her first class not seeing the concerned look on Draco's face.

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Hermione walked to her appointment with Estella after successfully avoiding Draco and Ginny for the day.
"Ms. Granger, how have you been this week?" Estella started.

"I haven't taken my sleeping potion all week. It is literally killing me and driving a wedge between Draco and me, but I feel like I'm missing something in my dream. It's an old classmate, and she's standing over me. Bleeding. It's a horrifying sight."

"I see. How did she die?"

"Well, that's the thing. I think she's very much alive. But I don't know how to prove it."

"Well, Ms. Granger. Our dreams do typically have something they wish to share with us. How do you feel when you see her in your dreams?"

"Nightmares. She always shows up at the end of the Bellatrix nightmare." Hermione said before a soft knock interrupted them. "It's probably Draco. He suggested we come together today. He can come in."

Estella nodded and opened the door to let Draco in who took a seat next to Hermione.

"Did you want to continue where you left off Ms. Granger or should we start something different? This is the first time you both are here together."

"No it's fine. He knows of my nightmares. So she always shows up right at the end of the Bellatrix nightmare. Bleeding over me, telling me I'm a failure." Hermione took a deep breath before continuing. Draco grabbed her hand and interlocked her fingers with his as she found the courage to keep going explaining the details of her nightmare.

"It's very interesting that she had popped into this specific nightmare. It is clear you are under emotional distress. One way children are able to overcome their nightmares is to draw out their fear. What about drawing out your nightmare? Take a look at it from a different perspective. Similar to how we see through pensieves. It gives you a different look on it. That may help you figure out what you're missing with Lavender being in your dream. Unfortunately, I don't think it will stop your nightmare all together which is why I haven't mentioned it before now. Mr. Malfoy, it may also be beneficial for Ms. Granger to see the view from your perspective as well."

Leaving they went to the room of requirement and started to work on their drawings. When they were done, Hermione grabbed both of the pictures. In hers, Lavender was standing in front of Bellatrix while Hermione was laying on the floor. Blood dripping from the mudblood carving and from the neck of Lavender. Off in the distance the pained looks of Mrs. Malfoy and Draco.

Looking at Draco's drawing, she gasped. She was there laying on the ground as she was in her picture, but Draco had drawn a beauty in which she didn't see herself. She saw the crazy look in Bellatrix eyes that weren't in her drawing. The distance held Greyback and the snatchers that caught her, Harry and Ron. The picture would have been beautiful if not for the meaning behind it. Taking another look, the answer she'd been looking for hit her like a ton of bricks.

"DRACO! Werewolf!" She yelled as she ran out of the Room of Requirement and to the library. Draco catching up quickly with his long legs. Panting as he arrived at the library doors, opening the door for Hermione who walked in briskly smiling at Madam Pince.

Walking as fast as she could without running, Hermione went straight for the rune section seeking out a book. Thumbing each one, she finally found the one she had been looking for. Grabbing her wand she levitated the book down from the top shelf and walked over to the table dropping it with a loud bang.

As soon as she got her hands on it she started flipping through the pages furiously but careful. "Found it!" Hermione looked up to Draco and smiled. "Some of these are wolf markings. Lavender was bitten by Fenrir. Werewolves would communicate by markings in between moons to let each other know if there was another pack in a certain area as they often fought while in their werewolf form if they were of another pack. They had taken this from the vampires as that was how they contacted each other about hunting grounds. They each had distinctive markings that changed what the rune said to another species but something that they could decipher. It is still largely practiced. Which is why they look different to us. But if we were to separate the rune from the wolf marking we might be able to decipher it. This most certainly has to be from Lavender!"

"If those are Lavenders, then whose are these? These look like those." Draco questioned pointing at the page before it.

Hermione looked at the page Draco pointed out, comparing them to the runes she made. There was no denying, they were the same. In the end, she decided they would work on one at a time. Starting with the wolf symbols. Hermione and Draco worked through dinner when Ginny and Goyle had joined them with the food they smuggled past Madam Pince.

They explained the breakthrough they made and what they had translated so far. So far they had translated; help, forest, life, henge, blood. Ginny and Goyle went in search of a map of the forbidden forest. When they came up empty-handed, Hermione suggested a trip to Hagrid's.

After classes Friday, Hermione and Ginny went down to Hagrid's. Draco and Goyle opting to stay behind to catch up on work. Hagrid welcomed them and offered them tea. Hermione asked for his help in drawing a detailed map of the forbidden forest, at least what he knew of it. Together the three got to work on creating as much as they knew. The area in which they found the markings, Hagrid had claimed it to be a previous vampire location before Voldemort.

"Hmm. Hagrid, have you ever seen these before?" Hermione asked, pulling out her notebook with the runes on it.

"Those look awfully close to vampire markings, but it seems like they are mixed with another?"

"I thought these were werewolf markings."

"Blimey! Are there two packs running out there? That will end badly for one side. Werewolves and Vampires don't work well together and if both packs are trying to claim that area, well it will end in bloodshed."

"I was afraid you'd say that. Well, thank you, Hagrid. We should head up for dinner. But this map is extremely helpful."

"You'd better be careful Hermione. And you Gin. Wouldn't want you getting involved with that lot. Could get yourselves killed, you could."

Nodding, Hermione and Ginny made their way to the Great Hall. Hermione sat down and instantly looked for Draco at the Slytherin table. She caught eyes with Goyle who shook his head no and shrugged his shoulders. Instantly filling with worry, she tried to swallow it down. She grabbed a few bites of food, before standing. Ginny grabbed her hand with a look of You will sit and eat more or so help me I'll shove it down your throat. Hermione grabbed a napkin and put a few items into it and put it into her bag hoping to placate Ginny. When Ginny glared at her but effectively let go, Hermione practically jogged out of the Great Hall. Something in her gut said something was wrong. Very very wrong.

She originally planned to look for him in the usual places, but rather than go on a scavenger hunt that could have her missing him, she went straight to the Gryffindor tower and pulled out the Marauder's Map. Scouring his normal places, she didn't see him anywhere. Slowly Hermione checked each place one by one, finally landing on him in the least likely spot. The Astronomy Tower. Taking a deep breath, she closed to map and ran, a tightness in her chest forming. Her mind filled with many possible reasons he would be up there.

When she got to the bottom of the stairs, she took a few breaths before sprinting up the stairs. As she got to the top, she listened to the door to hear anything. She heard a sound that sounded desperate and hallow. A sob. Slowly opening the door, she stepped inside quietly. Everything was turned over or broken, not a single item was saved. Looking up, she saw Draco standing on the ledge, arms open wide, tears streaming down his face, his broom leaning against the side. The tightness in Hermione's chest increased exponentially. She felt sick.

"Draco, what are you doing?" Hermione whispered so not to spook him.

He slowly turned around, looking manic. Jumping down, he charged at her. For half a second Hermione felt fear, but the crazed, desperate look in his eye had her curious. She wanted to be here for him. He reached her and harshly grabbed her face in his hands and kissed her hard. Walking her back until her back hit the wall, she gasped and he shoved his tongue into her mouth. She was torn between enjoying it and worried so she let him continue to assault her mouth a bit longer. She could feel the anger and tension rolling off of him. Until he moved her hands lower and squeezed her breasts until she cried out in pain.

"Draco, stop. Tell me what's wrong?" Hermione pleaded. It was like a splash of cold water had been thrown on him and his eyes grew wide, his full-blown black pupils coming back to the grey she loved.

"Oh, Merlin! Hermione I -" Draco started, but the look of panic in his eyes started to moisten and he ran back towards the ledge, grabbing his broom and diving off the balcony.

"DRACO!" Hermione screamed as she ran to the ledge to see his broom level out, flying away, never once turning back.