Disclaimer: Ms Rowling's plots are really well thought-out right from the beginning when she was on that fateful train ride that spawned the concept of Harry Potter. I however, have a very messy way of planning, which I hope can only go well... hence this fanfic, while originally from me, has its concept hailing from that well thought out concept of Ms Rowling's.

A/N: Answers galore, and more questions again! It'll have to be that way till there are less puzzles to solve! I hope it's not too complicated as usual ;) Hope you guys enjoy this one (:

Hermione opened her mouth, but Harry shook his head. "No, this time I do the planning. You just do what I say, Hermione. I don't know what's going on between you and Malfoy, but this time it's not just about his life. It's about Hogwarts. Dumbledore is getting weaker by the day after drinking the poisoned water, Snape's joined the Death Eaters again, and it seems that Voldemort is starting to penetrate our walls. I'm not going to sit here and watch people disappear one by one."

Hermione knew better than to tell Harry about Snape, so she nodded frantically. There were many thoughts in her head now, revolving around various scenarios in which Draco had been dragged back to Voldemort, to confess his sins. He could be tortured, killed, so many things... She could feel everything before her eyes blurring, if not for Harry reaching out to grab her shoulder in a firm grip.

"Not now, Hermione! We need you to calm down!"

And she tried her best to. Alongside fear and pain, there was a huge ball of guilt once again – but this time towards her friends. No questions, nothing. No more interrogations as to why she and Malfoy appeared to have made up. All they were concerned about was the plan, and they knew better to question her. She couldn't be more grateful, and at the same time, guilty that they were so understanding.

Harry refused to tell Dumbledore anything, because he wanted to get all the facts right first before he alerted the ailing Headmaster. Hermione was itching to ask Dumbledore about the secret keepers, and the possibility that weakening him had been part of a Death Eater ploy, but the defiant look on Harry's face kept her from doing anything. At the same time, Ron was not happy that Harry was asking Hermione to do something again alone, but he decided that it was probably the best option they had. Nobody else would be able to get anything out of Daphne Greengrass.

So as it was, Hermione made her way towards the Slytherin common-room under Harry's Invisibility Cloak. She and Draco had been replaced by another duo for their patrol duties given their earlier absence, and so Hermione did not really have much reason wandering around the corridors at this hour. Slipping past a couple of prefects, she headed towards the staircase that spiralled downwards to the Slytherin quarters. It was unnerving; as though she were about to enter a room full of evil. Not that she was too far from that though.

Calm down; I could face a dragon, a powerful disfigured ex-Death Eater, an eighth of a soul of Voldemort, and a current mad Death Eater... and I can't face a bunch of Slytherins?

But she had faced those obstacles with Draco Malfoy.

Oh right, he was an obstacle too, wasn't he? The boy who was supposed to succeed his father to become the next recruit in the ranks of the Dark.

Gritting her teeth, she walked on. When she came to the staircase, she wasn't very sure what to do. Harry had said to try to accost a Slytherin nearby, but there weren't any Slytherins in sight. Going all the way down to the dungeons would be highly inappropriate as well.

Sighing, she pulled out her wand. Then she whispered a spell.

A jet of light shot out from her wand, and ricocheted off the staircase downwards. As it ricocheted, there were rather audible 'ping!' sounds that echoed along. Thankfully, it didn't seem very loud on ground level, although Hermione winced with every sound she heard.

Within minutes, there was a rather scrawny first-year with a suspicious expression who crawled up the staircase, wand in hand. He surveyed left and right, and then with furrowed eyebrows, appeared to want to retreat back down the stairway.

Hermione quickly cast the Silencing Charm over the boy as she grabbed him by the robe collar. Screaming without any sound, the boy kicked and tussled, but she threw the Cloak over him and placed her lighted wand over his face as she knocked him to the ground. For some reason, she felt a little triumphant seeing the boy's horrified face as he realised who had grabbed him and doubled him over.

"G..Granger?" he gasped incredulously, once Hermione had muttered the counter-spell.

"Yes, Jeremy Farthings. And it would do some respect to get your hands off my wrists."

"Talk about yourself!" Jeremy gasped, wrenching her hands away from him, but still lying on the floor breathing heavily. "What the hell are you doing!" He stared around him. "Is this... is this a..."

Hermione took a deep breath. I've handled Draco Malfoy. Jeremy Farthings is nothing. "That's none of your concern. I need your help."

Jeremy's eyes snapped back to her, and he snorted derisively. "Harry Potter's best friend, asking a lowly first-year Slytherin for help? Have you gone batty? Everybody knows you're such an insufferable know-it-all!" Hermione cringed to hear Snape's exact words to her in third year being used against her once again. "So how could you possibly need help from me?"

"Well, not you per se." Hermione rolled her eyes. "I want to speak to Daphne Greengrass. Get... get down there and call her up for me."

Jeremy stared at her incredulously, then quickly made to get up, but Hermione pinned him down again with her wand. His eyes grew suspicious again. "What do you need her for at this hour?"

"Are you questioning me?" Hermione glared at him. "Do you want me to dock points off Slytherin?"

"You can't be serious!" Jeremy seethed with anger.

"Do I look like I'm not?" Hermione replied, coolly.

Cursing, Jeremy pushed aside Hermione's wand and stormed down the stairway. Hermione wondered if he was really going to listen to her, or that he might send a whole army of Slytherins up to kidnap her as well. The thought of that made her shudder, but she didn't have to worry much, for the familiar brown tresses of Daphne Greengrass appeared at the bottom of the staircase.

Hermione opened the Cloak a little to reveal her face. "Greengrass, can we talk?"

"Do I have anything to say to you, except that you're a bitch?" Daphne sneered. "Maybe if you tell me where my sister is, I could consider being on friendly terms with you?"

Hermione's patience with Slytherins was wearing thin. "I have nothing to do with your sister's disappearance, and I just want to find out from you more so that I can try to help!"

"Help? You and Malfoy are one kind!" Daphne hissed. "Pretending to be a martyr, aren't you two? Giving my grandmother away..." She looked around carefully before she continued. "And then making her give you secrets, and then my sister gets all edgy, and then snap of a finger! She's gone! Such a beautiful plan!" She moved up one step. "I don't know what's going on between the two of you – one of whom's a Death Eater, and one of whom's Harry Potter's best friend. You two are nemeses, and you two ganged up to steal our pendants and hurt our family. You had just better scram before I get the rest of the Slytherins to come upon you, mark my words!"

That was one of Daphne Greengrass' longest speeches, and the exhaustion on her face showed.

"Can you come up?" Hermione suddenly felt very tired, not to mention hurting from the mention of Draco's name. "Malfoy's missing."

That totally caught Daphne's attention. Her jaw dropped. "What?"

Hermione had expected Daphne to laugh at her, so she was a little surprised at her genuine shock. "He's missing. He's supposed to... can you please just come up? I'm afraid somebody will hear."

She could hardly believe she was saying all this to a Slytherin. But when Daphne did come up, albeit reluctantly and warily, she whipped the Cloak over Daphne as well, and they both headed towards a very quiet corner of Hogwarts.

When they were safely in the shadows of the corner, Hermione pulled the Cloak away and sat down. Daphne stared at her, then followed suit, her suspicious gaze never leaving Hermione.

"What is going on?"

"I thought you were going to dismiss my words," Hermione replied, frankly. "But I suspect somebody in your house has also got wind of the pendants, and wanted to blackmail Malfoy for it. At the same time, somebody has – sort of kidnapped Malfoy... I just have my sources."

Daphne was silent for a while, before she asked. "What is going on with you and Malfoy?"

Hermione didn't know whether to reveal anything to Daphne, so she hesitated before saying, "What has D... Malfoy been telling you?"

Daphne looked away. "He's always been the way he is – scheming, cold, sly, dangerous."

"Then why are you so surprised that he's missing?"

The Slytherin girl was not happy to be interrogated, and it showed in her flashing eyes. "He's been asking me about my sister's disappearance. I accused him of taking her away... but..." She paused. "It – doesn't seem like it anymore."

"Why not?"

Daphne refused to answer; her mouth was set in a firm line.

"Have you told anyone about the pendants?"

"No," came the curt reply. But Hermione persisted.

"Has anyone asked you about the pendants?"

This time, Daphne went rigid.

"Daphne." Hermione decided to switch to a first-name basis in order to show that she wasn't being hostile. "I really need to know who that is."

There was still no answer.

"Malfoy and I..." Hermione steadied herself. "Have a deal to help him find out how his father was killed. I was trying to get close to him for Harry's sake, but he hadn't any idea, he thought he could use my brains. Your grandmother's half-brother knew about the story, and hence we needed to get to him. That's why I had to get Malfoy to steal your pendants in order to lure your grandmother out. That is all I can say for now. But at present, it seems that somebody has found out about all these, and wants to frame Malfoy. This person wants to make Malfoy seem like a traitor to the Death Eaters, and is kidnapping your sister to do that. For the sake of your sister, you should really co-operate."

"And why do you care whether Malfoy is a traitor or not?" Daphne shot back, coldly.

"I don't think that's the crux of the matter." Of course, Hermione did care about anything related to Draco Malfoy, but she couldn't possibly tell that to Daphne. "The point is that your sister has been kidnapped by someone who is definitely related to the Death Eaters. Which means that there is another one of them lurking in the walls of Hogwarts, and has the ability to wreak havoc. Malfoy can't even try to be funny because everyone knew for sure that he will become one. Do you get my point?"

The thought of another Death Eater in the Slytherin common-room made Daphne look terribly pale and frightened, all suspicion (and colour) on her face ebbing away. It was clear that now she was beginning to envision her sister being in terrible danger, and worse, herself being the next target.

Then to Hermione's alarm, the Slytherin girl began to burst into sobs.

"Greengrass..." She began awkwardly, but Daphne sobbed harder.

"Greengrass! Stop crying!" Hermione was beginning to despair. "Who is it who knows?"

It would have to take a long while more before she could extract anything out of the sobbing girl.

-.-.-.-.-.-

"I still don't understand how Rookwood could have got to you," whispered Draco, through his teeth, as he found himself shoved to a corner of what seemed to be a cell, still partially immobilised. "You're not even a Death Eater!"

Pansy simply leant against the wall at the other corner, surveying him with a stony expression.

"And I don't understand why you have to kidnap Astoria. She's not involved in all this!"

Pansy raised one eyebrow. "You mean she is?"

"She's not!" repeated Draco, angrily.

"Then Granger is?"

"NO! Of course n..."

"Of course she is."

Draco didn't even have to turn his head to see who it was. "Rookwood!"

"Oh, Draco, you can't expect me not to come chasing after what you so nicely placed into my hands, can you?" Rookwood laughed sinisterly, his eyes glinting with manic delight. "Pansy, my dear, will you?"

He gestured towards a pouch half-concealed by Pansy's robes. She untied the pouch and when she held it up, the shape of the diadem was unmistakeable.

"NO!" Draco roared, but he only succeeded in twisting his neck a little by the force of his yell, and it made him yell louder in pain.

Pansy cast one look at Draco, then suddenly, the sinister look on her face dissipated. Instead, she lowered the pouch and stared coldly at Rookwood.

"How do I know you'll keep part of your deal?"

Draco shut his mouth and stared.

"Pansy." Rookwood's smile remained. "Surely up to this point, when you've already got Draco here, you can't possibly be questioning my integrity?"

"You have none to speak of." Pansy's eyes narrowed. "If you want to prove it, you have to tell me why this diadem is so important to You-Know-Who, and what you want with it."

"If I have to explain everything to you, Miss Parkinson," Rookwood's face had hardened, "then you can be assured that your boyfriend will be well and truly implicated."

For one moment, Draco thought Rookwood had linked Pansy and him together, but Pansy's angry retort soon enlightened him. "You crook! Don't treat me like a fool. You've an ulterior motive behind all this, and I don't think it's anything to do with You-Know-Who! My request is paltry compared to what you are planning to achieve! You think I don't know how important this crown is to You-Know-Who? You think I don't know I could die by doing this?" She cast a quick glance at Draco when she said that, before glaring back at Rookwood. "I am sacrificing my life, while all you have to do is just slip in a few words about how Blaise won't be suitable for becoming a Death Eater!"

So that was it. Pansy was doing this for Blaise. She didn't want Blaise to join the Death Eaters, when both she and Draco knew all along that Blaise did have an inclination towards the Dark side, even more than Draco ever had, but he was too young to join their ranks. If anything, it was likely possible that the Dark Lord would recruit one more just to ensure that if Draco failed, there was someone else to carry on the work.

If he could laugh, Draco was sure it would be extremely bitter-sounding. To think he hardly knew anything about both Pansy and Blaise when he hung out with them all day in the past.

In the past.

But what was Pansy thinking?

"I must give you more credit then, Pansy," replied Rookwood, smirking. "Why, I have yet to thank you for listening to me, allowing me to intrude your fireplace, placing the Portkey in a secluded area of your Slytherin dungeons, and luring Draco here for me. And of course, retrieving the diadem. It is a job well done. But you must also bear in mind who I am, and what I am capable of doing. You either take my word as it is, or you die. It is very simple."

"Don't you kill her!" Draco suddenly shouted, furious with Rookwood for manipulating Pansy.

Pansy turned to look at him in mild surprise, before she turned back a fierce gaze to Rookwood. "Fine, you win! But you had better keep your word, or I'll swear I'll get you even if I die!"

"Pansy, no!" The Partial Immobilisation charm had suddenly worn off, and just as Pansy was about to throw the pouch towards the ground, Draco leapt up and grabbed the pouch from her before either Pansy or Rookwood could react.

Rookwood reached out for his wand, but Draco was equally fast by pulling out the wand that was in Pansy's hand – his wand. In her shock, she had let go, and he was able to wield it at Rookwood. Both of them were now pointing wands at each other, with Pansy staring in horror right in the middle of them both.

"Pansy, back off!" snarled Draco, but Pansy could hardly move with Rookwood's wand just an inch away from her neck.

"Try moving," purred the older Death Eater. "And the deal will be worse than being called off."

"I'm sorry, Draco," whispered Pansy, the scheming mask completely torn down, with tears trickling down her cheeks as she turned slightly to face him. "I'm really sorry I did this."

"Shut up, Pansy, it's not your fault!" Draco glared directly at Rookwood when he said that.

"Oh, Draco, really." Augustus Rookwood sounded almost sorrowful. "You should stop deluding young girls with all that sweet talk of yours. First it was Hermione Granger, then it's Pansy Parkinson?"

Draco's eyes flashed at the mention of Hermione Granger. "You're the one who's deluding young girls to make deals with them that you won't keep! Tell me where Astoria Greengrass is!"

There was a flicker of confusion in Rookwood's eyes. "Who?"

"Don't try to be funny with me, you..."

"Draco, you've got it wrong," whispered Pansy, her head tilting back with Rookwood's wand pointing closer. "He's not Astoria's kidnapper."

Draco's eyes did not leave Rookwood, but he was definitely confused now, too. "What?"

"A kidnapping?" Rookwood mused. "This is interesting. There are many games in Hogwarts now I see!"

"I thought Daphne would have told you I suspected Millicent Bulstrode."

"I thought it was a lie!"

"SILENCE!" Rookwood bellowed, and the two Slytherins shot him repulsive looks.

"Patience wearing thin, Rookwood?" Draco snickered, even though he was not as courageous as he hoped he sounded. "I know you're not going to kill me, because you want me to help you find out the other secrets, don't you?"

"What are these secrets..." Pansy began, but was silenced when Rookwood eyed her coldly for a split second.

"Trust me, Pansy, you're better off not knowing," Draco muttered.

"Yes, you are right, Mr Malfoy." Rookwood managed a twisted smile. "I do need you alive for that reason. Let me see... there are about three more, are there not? With every one I claim for myself, I can absorb the strength of the soul for myself..." And Draco's eyes widened in horror. "Which is how I will claim the position for myself eventually."

It didn't have to take a genius to figure out what Rookwood was planning; even Pansy looked positively horrified.

"Absorb?"

"Unfortunately, you don't have the power nor skill to perform such a spell, Draco," said Rookwood, smirking. "Otherwise maybe your meddlesome Mudblood friend might have been able to kill me the last time we met. Speaking of which..."

Draco's eyes narrowed into slits.

"Why does he keep mentioning Granger?" whispered Pansy.

"Pansy, not now."

"I can disarm you anytime, Draco." Rookwood's smile grew wider. "I'm skilled at wordless spells, you know that. You're no match for me."

That was true. And it was an irritating fact.

"The two of you are going to stay here. Quietly. Put that wand down." Rookwood gave a twisted, menacing glare to Draco, who snarled as he lowered his wand. "Very good, now..." He cocked his head to one side. "Maybe I should really find your meddlesome Mudblood friend to keep you company too..."

"YOU LEAVE HER ALONE!" Draco exploded, startling even Pansy.

"Oho!" Rookwood smirked. "I see!"

"See WHAT?" Draco wished he knew wordless spells well enough to toss Rookwood up and down like a ragdoll.

"Well, maybe you might want to crack your brains a bit. If you tell me the locations of the other Horcruxes, I might consider sparing that Mudblood's life. Pansy?"

Pansy didn't have much choice; Rookwood simply reached out to nick the pouch she was holding. Draco made to grab, but Rookwood's wand forced him backwards.

"Damn you..." Pansy gritted her teeth, her eyes shining furiously.

With that, Rookwood turned and walked out of the cell, the door slamming behind him as he left.

"COME BACK, YOU BASTARD! COME BACK!" Draco yelled as he ran forward, only to have the door slam on him. He clung onto the bars of the door, shaking it hard till the clanging of the metal reverberated around the whole place. "AUGUSTUS ROOKWOOD, YOU..."

"Draco, stop it!" Pansy pulled him back. "It's no use!"

"Bloody hell!" Draco slammed his fists against the bars, perspiration dripping down his forehead. He could hardly imagine what Augustus Rookwood would do in order to capture Hermione... and what he would do to make her tell him everything that she knew... and the diadem – he could feel the curved shape of the fang pressing against him in the pouch that hung by his waist – it would be destroyed by Rookwood and he would gain power. Killing one Dark Lord only to make another didn't sound like a good plan at all.

He sank to the ground, breathing heavily, a disgusted expression on his face.

"What are those secrets?" demanded Pansy, who slowly sat down. "And what's that Mudblood got to do with that?"

Draco ran his hand through his straggly blond hair and closed his eyes. "Everything. Everything..."

-.-.-.-.-.-

By the time Hermione had gotten back to the Gryffindor common-room, it was in the wee hours of the morning. The others, who had stayed up to wait for her, were now lying in a heap near the fireplace, sound asleep. However, Corrinne awoke when Hermione came closer, and startled the rest of them awake as well.

"I'm glad those Slytherins didn't do anything funny," was Ron's first sentence, and Hermione sighed inwardly at his concern, wishing wholeheartedly that she didn't have to make him angry in the first place.

"So how did it go?" urged Ginny, in a low voice.

Hermione looked a bit uncomfortable recalling Daphne Greengrass' breakdown. "She... she said that there was someone in Slytherin who asked her what was going on between her sister and Malfoy. It seems the person picked out that there was some conflict going on between them."

Harry raised his eyebrows.

"I don't know how, really." Hermione threw up her hands. "Astoria Greengrass must have been really angry with Malfoy. Daphne said she didn't want to tell, but then apparently he had heard about something going missing and... she immediately thought that he knew about the pendants. So she didn't exactly tell him, but clearly, he got a lot more out of her than I think she thought he knew."

"Who is... he?" asked Harry, slowly.

Hermione bit her lip. "Blaise Zabini."

There was a pregnant pause.

"Zabini?" Corrinne frowned. "He was never close with the Greengrasses. How'd he know about anything?"

"Isn't he Malfoy's best mate?" Neville asked sensibly, and everyone looked at him thoughtfully.

"Zabini..." A light seemed to go off in Harry.

"Might I add," said Hermione, remembering earlier on in the evening. "Zabini was looking for somebody last night in the corridors. I don't know who, or why, but that definitely looked like what he was doing. And he looked at me like – I don't know, he looked at me in a really weird way."

"He knows there's something going on between you and Malfoy," muttered Ron.

"I would think so," mumbled Hermione, feeling the antagonistic edge of Ron's voice once again.

"Was Zabini looking for Malfoy then?" asked Neville.

Hermione hadn't the faintest idea. Right now she was just feeling terribly guilty and miserable and worried sick. She wished she hadn't let Draco gone on the mission alone; she should have followed him! She should have made sure that he was safe. Now he was missing and she hadn't a clue where he might be. She couldn't possibly just go up to Zabini and confront him, demanding where Draco and Astoria might be.

"There's something about Zabini that I want to say... but I can't exactly remember what it is..." Harry scratched his head. "It was on the edge of my tongue and then suddenly, I can't remember!"

Hermione stared at him. "Harry..."

"Don't force him!" Ginny's voice came out a little fiercer than she had intended it to be. "Let him think!"

"Harry, bring out your Marauder's Map!" Ron suddenly broke in, excitedly. "We could see if we could find Malfoy or Greengrass or Zabini!"

"Why didn't I think of that earlier?" Harry broke out of his reverie and dashed up to the dormitory. Within a minute, he was back down with the map. Quickly, they gathered around him as he tapped his wand against the parchment.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," whispered Harry, and the familiar patterns began to appear on the yellowed parchment. Hermione held her breath, fervently praying that some sign would lead them towards the missing people.

There were no signs of Astoria and Draco. Hermione anxiously scanned the Slytherin common-room. Strangely enough, Zabini was not there in the mass of Slytherin names that were popping up.

Corrinne's sharp eyes had spotted him. Her finger jabbed at the spot.

He was walking.

In the middle of the night.

And he was walking towards the staff quarters.

"Can't any of the staff – even Dumbledore – notice that there's someone lurking around there?" demanded Ron.

"The last time we could meet McGonagall, we didn't seem to have any problems." Harry reminded him.

"We had your Cloak, Harry!"

"Disillusionment Charm," Hermione said quietly.

"That's Advanced Charms!" Corrinne gasped.

"If Zabini is a Death Eater as well, he would know it." Hermione suddenly felt as though she'd give anything to feel that familiar wet feeling trickle down her skin, if only that it meant Draco Malfoy was nearby charming her invisible. "Malfoy knew it."

Ron threw her another suspicious look, but she avoided it.

"Who's he looking for?" asked Ginny.

They watched as the Zabini marker hesitated. Then he stepped towards one of the rooms.

"Professor Slughorn?"