A/N: I hope you guys enjoy this one, I hope this one helps to satiate some Dramione appetite X) Thank you so much, my dear reviewers, it's been such a pleasure to know that you guys are enjoying it, and definitely bouquets to the constructive feedback. Would really appreciate them coming in every chapter! Without further ado, here's the next one!

Hermione ran back to the start of the passageway and stopped right in front of the door.

She tried to wrench it open again.

To her surprise, it opened effortlessly.

She stared in amazement out of the open door, for the spiral staircase was right there.

Hermione stepped out of the passageway and stared back at the door in disbelief.

"Why would I be locked in here to face a Dementor?" She wondered aloud. "And where did it go to?"

A sudden image of the Dementor sucking up the soul of Draco came to mind.

That very thought startled Hermione, and she sprang into action again. She ran up the staircase with all the effort she could muster. Hermione Granger was not athletic by nature, and the air was still rather musty. Still, she managed to clamber all the way – till where the steps ended.

The steps led to another passageway, but without a door this time. Groaning, Hermione sped down the passageway, wand in hand. Please don't let me meet another Dementor!

It was then that it suddenly occurred to her that there was something that had been banging against her hip all along. She hadn't really thought about it, but now it seemed to be more prominent than ever, she wasn't sure why. Dipping her hand into her robe pocket as she ran down the staircase, she felt a round object.

It was the DA coin! The one she had performed a Protean charm on!

She could have kicked herself for being so dense as to forget that she had such a coin. It was such a critical survival option!

But she couldn't have let Draco know that she had it. She couldn't let him know that she was going to try communicating with her friends back at Hogwarts. He wouldn't want them to know about him, and what he was doing. He wouldn't have wanted...

Then again, where was Draco?

She tried to calm herself down.

Quickly, she pressed hard on the coin, and muttered a string of words as she pulled out her wand with her other hand and tapped on the coin. Then she released her thumb, praying fervently that her magical skills didn't fail her at this critical moment.

It was not long before she came to another dead end, a stone slab right in front of her. This time there were so many carvings adorning the slab. Although Hermione never felt so relieved in her life that she had to solve a puzzle of carvings rather than stare at a blank wall.

Squinting hard as the light of her wand shone at the slab, she noticed that the carvings were in Ancient Runes. Feeling rather thankful that she had persevered to stay in that class, she tried to make out what letters each carved symbol represented.

"S...A...N...T – no, G,...hmm. Is this a V?"

She stared hard. No, it's a U.

"Okay...S – A – N – G – U – and an E. Sangue. Sangue?"

The word rolled off her tongue rather awkwardly. She frowned at it. "Blood?"

What did it mean by 'blood'?

She thought for a moment, then took out the basilisk fang from the pouch at her side and pressed the bloody tip against the side of the carvings. No response.

The ensuing thought didn't really please her. Frowning deeper, she raised her wand at her own hand. Then she winced as she drew blood from her own hand. The pain scorched her palm as she placed it against the side of the carvings.

To her surprise, the stone slab began to rumble ever so slightly. Then it began to move.

Hermione was startled, and she nearly fell back. The pain in her palm forgotten, she quickly squeezed through the gap as it slowly opened, half-scared that it would slam back shut any moment.

Then right in front, was another stone slab, but this time, it was smaller. Hermione groaned inwardly.

However, this time – there were no carvings.

She placed her bloodied palm on it.

Slowly, before her eyes, a little ring appeared before her. She placed her wand near it, and noted that it was a gilded ring with an emerald stone set in it.

"Ring of truth?" She wondered, fingering it. But when she tried to tug it out, it didn't budge. Neither did any spell succeed in getting it out. It was too deeply embedded into the slab.

Then Hermione tried to tug it to the right.

To her utter amazement, there seemed to be some movement.

She used all her might to tug the ring to the right, and slowly, the stone slab budged, sliding to the right without making a sound. There was a glimmer of light by the side. She had to bend in order to fit through the exit it was blocking, and her position was extremely uncomfortable. She thought she could hear voices, and her other hand immediately gripped her wand tightly.

Who is up there? There's more than one person – what are they talking about? She poised herself by the little opening. A little ray of white light burst into her eyes, and she winced, pulling back.

Bracing herself, she pulled as hard as she could on the ring, hoping that it was a gamble she could work out.

-.-.-.-.-.-

Tom Riddle was really about to raise his wand, when the chuckle of Augustus Rookwood broke through the silence once again. "Oh, Master, you didn't think that was the best way of torturing him, did you? What is it that he values dearly? What is it that he really wants? This boy has a body of steel, for he won't melt till you touch the weak point." Rookwood smiled coldly at Draco, whose eyes widened with horror.

"Oh, his father, you mean?" Tom smirked, waving his wand about idly. "Poor Draco, mourning after his father. Did it ever occur to you that you are now following in your father's footsteps? Augustus has told me how and why the real part of me murdered Lucius. Caring too much for people, Draco? Not a trademark of the Death Eaters, you know..."

Draco knew that at some point in time, Tom Riddle's words would touch a raw nerve, and he would spring at him like a jack-in-a-box. He concentrated on thinking elsewhere, instead of the verbosity issuing from the spectre in front of him. Despite the chilling fact that he was going to be murdered, just like his father (oh the irony! To think he had been seeking revenge), there was something that really bothered him. It wasn't just the curling lip Augustus Rookwood was sporting now. It was the gleam in his eyes that was really niggling. Rookwood was enjoying all of this immensely, but at the same time, he seemed to be very attentive to Tom Riddle's words. Something else Tom Riddle had mentioned made him uneasy too.

Augustus has told me how and why the real part of me murdered Lucius.

And when Tom's voice came back to his ears, the uneasy sensation just buzzed even more.

" ...after my Horcruxes. You are a naive, foolish little boy. You may not be tricked by the innocent facade of a diary, which I have heard has been destroyed. You may be able to track one all the way here even in the depths of Ukraine, thanks to a meddlesome sick minion. You may even know how many there are in total so far. But you know nothing else. And I won't let you get any further."

Privately, Draco wondered if this soul fragment was the second Horcrux that the Dark Lord had created. Surely the Dark Lord had planned from the time he was in Hogwarts when he was asking Slughorn about it – how many Horcruxes he had wanted to create. Seven, just like Hermione said, represented the apex of power in the wizarding world. Judging by the look of this soul fragment, he couldn't have been much older than twenty, and yet still a lot more mature-looking than the sixteen-year-old that Hermione said had materialised from the diary.

The version of Tom Riddle in front of him was not wearing the Hogwarts robes. He had already graduated from the wizarding school.

He boldly advanced down the steps a little, and upon closer look, saw the words "HELGA HUFFLEPUFF" engraved on the cup. Tom let out a low whistle as he watched Draco stare at the cup.

Suddenly, instead of the uneasy feeling, Draco had an inspirational feeling rise up in him. The cogwheels in his mind began to turn fast. He could feel his body trembling.

The Dark Lord has a taste for grand things...

"Do you know something else, Draco Malfoy?" Rookwood suddenly asked, a little too sweetly. "You seem to be dying to say something."

The cup... it's not the second one after all. It's the third Horcrux.

Draco felt like he had to say it , even if it proved inconsequential. And looking at Rookwood, it could prove to be a gamble after all.

"I know what the other Horcrux is." He looked Tom straight in the eye. "Apart from the diary. And this cup. I know the location of Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem."

He prayed hard that he had gotten that right.

With a glance to the side, he noted that Rookwood's eyes were filled with an insane look.

When he looked back at Tom Riddle, he could have sworn he saw a twitch on the young man's face, which sent a thrill through him. But then it was gone in an instant, and replaced by the trademark smirk Draco had seen too often in his own reflection.

"A diadem, you say? How very charming, Draco Malfoy. You have incredible imagination." Tom Riddle's wand was now raised threateningly at Draco's eye level.

Draco stifled a gasp.

The insane look on Rookwood's face had completely engulfed his entire body; he was shaking so hard with what seemed like excitement.

But Draco's heart fell when all the man did was to stand stock still and gaze crazily at him. Rookwood did not move an inch.

Draco stared at him, and then back at Tom Riddle's wand.

He walked back and forth in front of the wall, muttering anxiously. Clutched tightly in his hand, were two long trinklets, their gold edges peeking out a little through the gaps between his fingers. Muttering harder and pacing faster, he suddenly felt a slight rumbling to his side. He spun around, and there it was, the door that was growing and growing – larger than he had seen it the year before, when it held the DA. It looked a lot more rickety as well, and his hand trembled as he pressed against the door.

There were so many things in this room, he could hardly identify anything – the ladder beside him looked like it was about to collapse on him, while there was a wavering tower of old, dusty books by its side. If Draco so much as nudged the column with his toe, everything would crash to pieces like a game of Muggle dominoes. Probably best not to agitate anything.

He walked through some more, marvelling as he saw a rusty old globe that seemed to shimmer when he spun it, then his itchy fingers tinkled through a few silver poles hanging from a ledge. There were a few suspicious items lurking around, like a rather dark armchair that seemed to emanate evil from it, so Draco thought it wise to keep a distance from it, lest it chomped him up if he tried to settle into it.

Finally, he saw a rather large mass of cut pipes in the corner of the room. There were random insects crawling out of the pipes, and a foul smell was coming from it. He screwed up his face as he approached it, then aimed carefully. With a hurl, both pendants flew through the air and into the entrance of a pipe that was partially obscured by a few others. Satisfied, he turned around.

Something rather odd caught his eye on the left. Squinting hard, he walked towards a mass of golden and maroon robes. Old Gryffindor Quidditch jerseys. He snorted at the pathetic quality of the robes, which seemed to be unravelling and becoming mouldy. Clearly, this was why they were abandoned. But something else was rather odd. The jerseys were piled on top of something. Something that had a rather pointy nose.

Shoving the jerseys away, he saw a rather clean-looking bust of a woman's head and her shoulders. He was a little taken aback as to how polished the bust looked despite being covered with the dusty and mouldy jerseys, as well as the mustiness of the air in this room. Then he realised, she was made of marble. A very beautiful type of marble, that seemed like plain ugly stone at first glance, but yet as he turned his head, little bits of stone sparkled beautifully. He almost swore that the eyes of the woman suddenly gleamed, but he blinked and all he saw next, was that there was a little squiggle at the bottom of the bust. He knelt down and saw small golden letters carved there: ROWENA RAVENCLAW.

So this was the bust of one of the four founders of Hogwarts.

But what was most dazzling of all was the diadem that set upon her head. Even though it was covered with dust such that the entire crown was now grey, Draco could glimpse sparkles of sapphire blue beneath.

He stared at it in awe, his fingers almost reaching out to touch the diadem.

But there was no time to explore; he had to hurry off to classes before Blaise started to get suspicious.

Sighing, he tossed the pile of old jerseys over the bust and diadem again and strode out of the room.

It was strange how he never thought about it again despite how oddly-placed the diadem had been. Maybe it was because he had assumed it was part of the bust. He remembered how Hermione had told him about the best place to hide the Greengrasses' pendants. A place where no one would find them, and yet still allow him to find them back again should he need to retrieve them.

The thought of Hermione Granger made him feel queasy. Was she still trapped in that room? What was she doing? And then to his utmost horror, he could imagine Rookwood march up to her and hurl a Killing Curse at her. And then there was Snape. They would go after him too. He'd be tortured for information about the Order, or brutally murdered just like Lucius was.

At least I die knowing one more Horcrux. In all, I know four out of seven. Five, if you consider the ring that I have yet to find. That's more than all the four Secret-Keepers put together. At least I die knowing that I could have destroyed him. That's a nice thought.

With one last smirk at Tom Riddle and Rookwood, he closed his eyes, preparing to accept his fate.

It's just not nice to know she is going to share this fate, and I didn't stop it from being changed...

-.-.-.-.-.-

Hermione dragged the slab to her right with all the energy she had left. Silently, she crept out of the hole, and into a rather sinister-looking chamber. There were a few snake heads on the wall staring lifelessly at her, and Hermione gulped. But before she could take in more of her surroundings, the sounds in the background became more prominent, and then there was a voice speaking in a very mocking tone,

"...you have incredible imagination."

Hermione realised that she was exiting from a rather tall stone column sprouting out from the ground. But before she tried to peer around the column to see who was talking, a dark shadow suddenly zoomed out from behind her, and over her head – and there it was, a Dementor in front of her, attempting to plow straight into her one more time.

"Dementor!" There was a different voice, letting out an audible gasp.

Hermione uttered the Patronus Charm once again, and just as her otter sprang out of her wand, the stone slab entrance started to move. She quickly rolled out before she was smashed by its weight, with her wand still pointed at the floating Dementor. The Dementor swerved away from Hermione's Patronus, and swooped away and about. There was a terrified cry issuing from the back, and then the mocking voice spoke again, this time more thunderous.

"What is it?"

Suddenly, there was a hissing sound, and Hermione was horrified to see an apparition swoop in front of her. It was an apparition of a rather familiar face, and to her horror, she realised that she knew who he was. The memory of Slughorn's meeting with Tom Riddle came to mind, and she felt immobilised upon seeing him.

"Now, who do we have here?"

"That is the girl who helps Harry Potter, my lord. Hermione Granger!"

Hermione was too flabbergasted to even respond, let alone find out who it was who knew her name, but before she could even blink, the apparition of Tom Riddle was looking away from her and behind the column; there was a terrified gasp, and then a very familiar voice spoke incredulously,

"H-Hermione?"

"Draco!" Hermione couldn't help bursting out.

Immediately, there was a yell of pain. Hermione instantly forgot her fear and stood up, only to watch in horror as Draco was thrown backwards onto the huge flight of steps. On the other side, stood a rather portly man with an insane look in his eyes, his wand outstretched. So this was the man who knew her name. But how...?

"STUPE-" But Hermione never got to finish her spell, for her wand flew out of her hand, and Rookwood caught it, his eyes intoxicated with insane delight. Tom Riddle floated over, laughing. As her eyes followed Riddle, she saw the beautifully jewelled cup placed on top of the column she had crawled out of. The words "HELGA HUFFLEPUFF" were engraved at the bottom.

Draco coughed and hacked violently, sputtering blood as he stood up to face the mad Augustus Rookwood, and the arrogant Tom Riddle. And Hermione Granger – she... she had just burst out of nowhere. Nowhere! With that sodding Dementor! And it was still lurking in the background.

And Hermione was now without her wand.

Then suddenly, he began to cry out,

"THE CUP! THE CUP!"

Hermione stared in bewilderment as Draco, lying helplessly on the steps – obviously heavily injured by the blow the portly man had dealt him – screamed those words repeatedly. Suddenly, Tom Riddle had his wand pulled out, and Rookwood was directing both his own and Hermione's wands at Draco and Hermione respectively. In a split second, Hermione figured out what Draco was saying. The reason why Tom Riddle's apparition was here – or rather, his soul fragment, had to be because there was a Horcrux in this room. And there was no doubt as to what the Horcrux was.

With a swift movement, her fingers dove into the pouch at her side, and she brought the basilisk fang within centimetres of the bejewelled cup.

"NOOOO... GET HER!" Tom Riddle's thunderous voice boomed, and the wands in Rookwood's hands fired simultaneously. Draco screamed again, and Hermione, who was not tall enough to smash the fang into the cup, had ended up knocking the cup over to the ground. However, the impact of both wands shooting out magic completely disorientated Rookwood, and he fell backwards clumsily.

Riddle gave a roar of fury, and he shot a green jet of light straight towards Hermione as she appeared from behind the column to aim for the cup. Instantly, Hermione ducked behind the column, and the stone blocks above exploded into bits and pieces, rocking the whole place with violent tremors.

"HERMIONE!" Draco cried, and he heaved himself up with all the strength that he had. He raised his wand towards Tom Riddle, but suddenly he found himself being shot backwards again, against the wall. He yelled with the pain the impact had brought to his head and back, as he fell hard on the staircase, and began to roll down – thump, thump, thump!

"Oh my goodness, Draco!" Hermione had peeked out from the other side, and gasped in horror to see him tumbling down the flight of stairs.

Fortunately, Draco managed to break his fall by extending his limbs out to get a grip on the staircase. But before he could steady himself, Rookwood's wand was at his throat, and he saw the Death-Eater smiling down at him. That unnervingly amiable smile.

"You can't go anywhere."

But those words didn't come from Rookwood; they were from Tom Riddle, whose wand was aiming at the last stone block where Hermione was.

"I don't even have to protect my Horcrux," Tom Riddle laughed, mirthlessly. "You are a worthless creature. Why are you here with Draco Malfoy?"

Hermione shuddered and closed her eyes tightly, refusing to speak.

Something in what Tom Riddle had said really made Draco stare at Rookwood.

"You're really after the Horcruxes, aren't you?"

Tom Riddle was about to open his mouth again due to Hermione's silence, but Draco's voice made him close his mouth again. Rookwood merely sported a nonchalant smile as he pressed his wand deeper into Draco's throat, causing the boy to choke a little.

"The – the Dark Lord didn't send you after me," Draco rasped, staring hard at Rookwood. "If he did, he would have gotten rid of me before I came here. He – he couldn't have known that I'd make it this far!"

"You're uttering complete nonsense, Draco!" Rookwood glared back at him, all traces of smiles gone. His wand pulled back a little. "He knew once you stepped in here!"

"This is the soul fragment of the Dark Lord, encased in this cup when he was merely a youth!" spat Draco. "This soul fragment has separate memories from the Dark Lord, memories only from his youth! He sure didn't know who I was, and what I was here for. But he knows about my father. He knows how my father was murdered. So who has been feeding him this information? Who else but the Secret-Keeper of this Horcrux? You couldn't have been telling him all this the moment I walked in till the moment I discovered you, that is too short a time period. You've been here all this while, Rookwood."

"The Dark Lord is not stupid; he knows who enters and who doesn't!" Rookwood hissed, wand jabbing hard at Draco's throat again. At the corner of his eyes, Draco could see that Tom Riddle was distracted by their conversation, even though his wand was still pointed at the column, where Hermione was still hiding behind.

"I don't know how you did it then," Draco said in a low voice. "But you led me here. It was you who placed the cauldron there, and carved the instructions on how to use the spell to evoke the Dark Mark onto the base, didn't you? You are the new Secret-Keeper of this place after my father; you knew Wentervale had found it. Let me guess, you used that as an excuse to come here regularly, didn't you? You probably told the Dark Lord that you wanted to hunt Wentervale down, but actually you wanted to search for clues leading to the other Horcruxes as well!"

The light in Rookwood's eyes had darkened; he was now seething with insane rage.

"Then you found out that Hermione and I have come. You are aware of her, but this soul of Tom Riddle is not. So you have fed him the story of Harry Potter; if not, how would he have known who she was just by the fact that you mentioned she is Potter's friend?" Draco was gaining confidence with every accusation he made. "You led me here to bring the soul of Tom Riddle out of that Horcrux, because you couldn't talk to him about where he had kept his other Horcruxes on your own without arousing suspicion. You knew that this was not the first Horcrux, don't you?"

In an instant, Hermione deduced that all the runes that had been carved into the stone slab earlier on must have been plotted by Rookwood as well, to lead her here. It was incredibly intricate planning on Rookwood's part; when he was stalking both of them, he must have figured out that Hermione knew more than enough to aid him to find the other Horcruxes.

"And the Dark Lord actually trusted you to hunt for Wentervale, and he must be pleased to hear that Wentervale is now dead." Draco's eyes narrowed. "How can he suspect you, Augustus Rookwood? How can he?"

Rookwood was now shaking with fury; his mouth began to open – but Hermione was faster. She took advantage of the fact that Tom Riddle had now swung his body to face Rookwood, with an enraged expression on his ghostly face – and she dove towards Helga Hufflepuff's cup. With one swift motion, she stabbed down on the cup with the fang.

"NOOOOOO!" The wrenching cry burst into everyone's eardrums. Rookwood stumbled backwards in horror, falling over the steps as he did, the wand in his right hand clattering to the ground. Draco stared, aghast, at the monstrosity before him – holes were appearing in the apparition of Tom Riddle, just like the patches on Wentervale's skin, blotting out his body, and the eyeballs were bulging out of their sockets, his head flung back...

"YOUUUU TRAITORRRRR...!" the ghostly figure screamed, finger pointing at Rookwood, who was shaking uncontrollably with a mixture of pure terror and delight on his face. "AND YOUUUUUU..." The figure made to lunge towards Hermione.

"Hermione, look out!" screamed Draco.

Hermione reached out and stabbed once more, with all her might. There was another cry of rage and helplessness ringing in the air, before the apparition of Tom Riddle burst out with a bang of bright white light, receded into a small speck, and finally, it was gone.

Rookwood stared, completely glued to the steps, as Draco immediately leapt up, and pointed his own wand at Rookwood. Hermione scrambled over and grabbed her wand from the floor where Rookwood had dropped it, and she too, aimed the wand at Rookwood. Her hair was bushier than ever, and her eyes were frenzied.

The familiar smile appeared on Rookwood's face. "Surely you cannot think of killing me, my children? Should I express my gratitude as well?"

"We are not children, much less your children!" Draco's eyes burned with hatred.

"You know you cannot kill me, Draco." Rookwood smirked. "And that I will carry tales."

A sudden movement; Hermione gasped.

"The Dementor's gone!"

Rookwood's eyes widened.

"You are dead meat, Rookwood," said Draco, coldly. "The Dementor will be the one carrying tales before you try any tricks. The Dark Lord knows of your betrayal. It turns out that you think too highly of yourself. The Dark Lord trusts no one, or else he wouldn't have sent the Dementor. The only reason why he has Secret-Keepers is not because he trusts them, but because he needs protection for his Horcruxes."

And it tried to stop me from reaching Draco, thought Hermione, wryly.

"You are no better!" Rookwood roared. "He will destroy you, just like he did your father!"

Draco made to move towards him, but Hermione's wand pressed against Draco's hand. He glared at her, enraged, but she shook her head slightly.

"You won't last long," she said quietly, turning to Rookwood. "But we are both on the same route, and you know it."

"We are not on the same route." Draco curled his lip. "This man is doing it for self-glorification – he wants to be the next Dark Lord!"

At that, Rookwood chuckled, and with a snap of his fingers, he had disappeared.

Draco was trembling with rage; he knew that Rookwood's next target would be to penetrate Hogwarts. But at the same time, even though Rookwood's aim was to destroy the Horcrux, he would do anything in the process to get to it. Which meant that Hogwarts was in danger.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake tremendously. With a violent shudder, huge rock boulders began to tumble down towards the entrance Draco had come in from. More rocks began to shower around them, rolling down the steps.

"MOVE!" Draco yelled, and both of them scurried down the steps.

"The column!" screamed Hermione, shoving the basilisk fang in her hand into her pouch, and quickly, she dove behind the column, desperately banging around it. "Open up! OPEN!"

"How did you get out from here?" Draco shouted, amidst the tumbling rocks. Then he spotted the golden cup of Helga Hufflepuff's, and ran towards it.

"Draco, careful!" And he ducked just in time to avoid a rock sailing over his head.

How did she get out?

Sangue.

Immediately, she drew blood from her palm with her wand, trying to dodge the showers of debris that the tumbling rocks were bringing with them. Slapping her palm against the rock, the same emerald ring appeared again.

"Draco, I need your help!" Hermione tried her best to tug at the ring, but it only moved a little.

Draco ran back, the cup tucked under his arm, and he lunged at the ring, dragging it as far as he could. The slab slowly moved aside.

"Watch out!" He whipped out his wand and deflected a stone that was bounding towards Hermione.

Swiftly, Hermione squeezed through the opening and into the darkness beyond. Draco gritted his teeth and pulled harder, before jumping into the opening, just narrowly avoiding a rock that was about to hit him. The slab then slammed shut behind him.

Draco knew better than to ask questions, so he hurriedly ran behind Hermione as they raced down the narrow passageway. Hermione led the way, although she couldn't think of any possible exit that the spiral staircase ahead would bring. But with the rumbling behind them, perhaps it was just best that they went down all the way.

They reached the staircase and descended it as quickly as they could, the rumbling sound thundering all the way through the walls.

As they ran, Hermione dimly remembered passing by two passageways – the one with the door that had locked on her, and the other which she had mysteriously transported to after dipping the basilisk fang into the cauldron. Finally, when they reached the base of the staircase, Hermione stopped suddenly, and Draco nearly plowed straight into her, letting out a swear word as he did.

Hermione just stared ahead. This was a new passageway altogether. It seemed like a very long one to boot.

"Where does this lead to?" demanded Draco, who was hardly panting compared to the heaving Hermione had to endure given her lack of stamina.

"I – don't – know..." Hermione panted. There were reverberations all around them, and she could imagine all the tumbling rocks piling up in that chamber.

Then she noticed the cup Draco was holding. She backed into the wall behind her, breathing heavily, but kept her gaze trained on the bejewelled item.

Draco leaned against the wall opposite her, trying to steady his breath as well. Then he looked at Hermione. He was startled by how bright her eyes were as she stared at the cup, as if trying to figure out how it ever contained the soul of Tom Riddle. Then he realised that he should tell her about the diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw!

However, when he saw how she was staring at the cup, a huge barrage of emotions suddenly overcame him and completely enveloped his mind.

He was staring at her – Hermione Granger, in the flesh.

She was here, really here.

He took a step forward unconsciously, his eyes never leaving her.

She wasn't going to be killed by Augustus Rookwood – well, at least not for now, he hoped. She had come to save him as well. She had stuck to him all this while, and it was she who had given him inspiration for the things he had done to come this far. It was her brains that led them here, her courage that inspired him to fight on, her rationality that kept them safe... and her care that kept him strong when the soul fragment of Tom Riddle had brandished his wand – in the face of death.

Hermione suddenly felt a tingle run through her; she lifted up her head and found that Draco was staring at her.

That completely knocked the breath out of her. She felt compelled to look back into his gray eyes – they were now so soft, and so weary-looking that her heart ached once again. The blood that was on the edge of his lips; she was fighting not to reach out to wipe it off.

This was who he was – the boy behind all those masks that he put on in school, in front of everyone. The Death Eater who wasn't; how he sank to the snow-covered ground after the Quidditch match, shaking like a small, helpless boy. All the fits of rage that slowly simmered into gruff consent, the tingling feeling of his touch on her cheek as he gazed wearily into her eyes, the way he had gasped her first name out when she was being threatened by Tom Riddle... he had said her first name.

"H-Hermione?"

Then the emotion of how she had nearly lost him engulfed her all at once. She had thought she was all alone without him anymore, and the only thing in her mind was to find him again. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words refused to come out. Instead, she could feel the tears prick her eyes again as she stepped forward, closer to him.

He'll say you're a crybaby again, stop crying!

Draco saw the parted lips, and the emotions were just too much for him to handle.

In an instant, he had her in his arms, his lips pressed against hers. The cup in his hand clattered to the ground. He sensed that she was startled as she struggled against him, but he refused to let go . He had his eyes shut tightly, as if to hold onto this moment for as long as he could. There was nothing else in his mind, except that he wanted to feel that she was here, real and alive.

And she was.

Now he could feel her hands relaxing against his chest instead of trying to push him away. Then gradually, her arms slid up his neck to hook around, and her taut lips became softer as they responded to his kiss. He opened his eyes slightly to see her shut ones, and then closed them once again, cradling her waist as he tasted the strawberry scent on her lips.

In his mind, he couldn't help being amused. After running so much and being so worn out, she actually still had hints of lip gloss. Hints that reminded him of the times when he was at a distance and all that Hermione Granger did was to awaken his senses with that infuriating scent.

Except that it wasn't so infuriating anymore.