CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Draco Confronts Harry

After staying up late with Mystyk the night before, Draco formulated a plan that will alter everything he has worked very hard on since his first year here at Hogwarts.

He has to be Mr. Nice to a certain Gryffindor.

Draco knows he doesn't have to, but after hearing Mystyk talk about Harry the night before and how she really enjoyed his company, he knew without doubt that he has to do something to get those two together! Mystyk told him about the dream she had the last time Hogwarts students were allowed to go to Hogsmeade for the weekend.

"It was just a dream, Mystyk." he insisted telling her for the umpteenth time after she relayed word-for-word what exactly happened in her dream.

"It isn't just a dream, Draco." she denied profusely. "Haven't you been listening to what I just told you? I'm a psychic, Draco. I can foresee the future. And mostly I can predict what will happen through my dreams."

He pulled a face that resembles a frown. "Don't tell me you believe that rubbish, Mystyk. That's insane! And why will you kill Harry if you care for him so much?" he questioned.

"That's what I want to find out."

And that's the reason why he's waiting for Potter outside the Great Hall right now. He needs to talk to him, to explain to him what Mystyk just told him about that weird dream--premonition as she liked to call it--about the inevitable event that will change both their lives.

Finally he saw the dark, unruly hair of the boy he sought to speak to. He waited until it was just Potter, Weasley and the Mudblood, Granger, were alone before calling out to Harry from his hiding place.

Harry stopped walking as soon as he heard his name being whispered. He looked here and there in search of the voice's owner, but he couldn't find it.

"Harry, are you alright?" Ron asked when he noticed that his friend stopped walking.

"Did you hear that?" Harry whispered, his eyes scanning the place and his ears perked up and listening carefully to the invisible caller.

"Hear what?" Hermione frowned, sticking her ears as well and listened to whatever Harry was hearing.

"I don't hear anything." Ron shrugged, "C'mon guys, it's time we go back to our dormitory and get cracking on those assignments."

Hermione raised an eyebrow and looked bewildered at her other best friend, "Ronald Weasley, since when did you get too antsy to get started on doing assignments?" she questioned with an authorative voice.

"Since I realized that I need to get good grades on my OWLs, that's when."

"Oh really, Ron, you never gave a damn before." Hermione rolled her eyes heavenwards and strained her ears to listen to what Harry was listening for, then suddenly she heard somebody calling him hidden from the shadows of the stairs. "I heard it!" she exclaimed gleefully and grabbed Harry's hand to the direction where she heard the voice.

"Hermione!" Harry hissed when he was dragged towards the stairs, "Where are you taking me?" he demands irately.

"I'm taking you to where I think I heard the voice." she replied smugly and took out her wand, "Lumos!" she command and the tip of her wand lit-up, waving it back and forth into the dark corner of the stairs. "Hello? Anybody there?" she called, her eyes straining to see at least a figure of the person calling Harry.

"Yeah." Draco showed himself, alone to the trio's surprise, from his hiding place. His usual smirk in tact. "No need for you to use light, Granger."

"And why the hell shouldn't I?" she demanded heatedly.

"Because I think the Entrance Hall's already well lit for us, that's why." he mocked.

Hermione raised an eyebrow but did what he asked. She put out the light from the tip of her wand and stuffed it in her robe.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"I want to talk to you, Potter." Draco replied simply.

"Oh really?" Ron mocked, "Whatever the hell for?"

Draco shot him a piercing glare, making Ron cower beside Hermione in no time.

"I called Potter here in peace--I don't want to start a fight. But if you keep on pressing your luck, Weasley, I think I might just have to whoop your ass." he sneered menacingly at him.

"Oh shut up, Malfoy and get on with it!" Hermione shut him down with an irritated air about her, surprising Draco and Ron. She never usually stands up to Draco, nor does she even bother answering him back since she usually cowers away from him too, but today somehow she has mustered some sort of self-confidence to stand up against him. "What are you staring at? You called Harry to come here. Now that he's here might as well say your piece so we could go back to our dorms."

It took Draco a few seconds to pull himself together once again. He likes this Hermione standing before him. She has guts and a spine to match. A far cry from the Hermione Granger he has known during his first four years at Hogwarts.

"Well?" she prodded, looking and sounding extremely bored at his stalling.

Draco cleared his throat and moved his gaze from the suddenly alluring Hermione Granger to settle it on the face of a confused Harry Potter.

"Look, I need to talk to you about Mystyk." he began.

"There's nothing going on between Mystyk and myself, Malfoy." Harry quickly denied.

"I know that, you git." Draco hissed, "She told me that you two are just friends who enjoyed hanging out together."

Harry didn't look the least bit surprised at his announcement. He already have a gut-feeling that Draco would do something like spy on him and Mystyk after seeing them together at the library.

"So? What do you want?" Harry sounded disinterested at whatever Draco has to say to him.

"I need to talk to you about what's been bothering Mystyk lately. And it has a whole lot to do with you, Potter." he said before Harry could even protest.

"What do you mean?" Harry and Ron asked in unison.

Draco and Hermione both rolled their eyes skywards and shook their heads. Leave it those two to speak up at the same time.

"We can't discuss it here. Too many people could hear us." Draco looked on either side of him to be certain that nobody else was watching. "Meet me by the lake later tonight and we'll talk then." he said before turning on his heel and headed back to the Slytherin dungeon.

"What does he mean?" Ron asked his best friend while his eyes were fixed on Draco's departing back.

"Please don't tell me you trust Malfoy, Harry. For all you know he could be trying to trap you." Hermione warned.

"Strangely enough, Hermione, I have this gut-feeling that for once Draco Malfoy isn't up to no good." Harry said as he too watched Draco's departing back.

~*~

Harry, Ron, and Hermione snuck out using the Invisibility Cloak later that night. The three of them made their way downstairs to the Entrance Hall and quietly opened the heavy doors. They carefully descended the stairs and once they were away from front steps of the school's main entrance they each made a mad dash towards the lake where Draco was already sitting perched on his broomstick waiting for them to appear.

"Finally you three made it!" he sneered, "I thought I'd have to freeze my behind waiting for you to show up."

"Serves you right to freeze your arse off, Draco." Hermione snorted as she shrugged out of the Invisibility Cloak. "Besides, you don't seem too surprised to find us with Harry."

"I know you two won't let your precious Potter to meet me alone. You don't trust me enough to take my word for it that all I want is to discuss with Harry what has been bothering one of my housemates." Draco let his silver-grey eyes travel up and down Hermione's neatly pressed robe. Somehow he seem to have overlooked the fact that Hermione Granger has changed considerably from an ugly-duckling back in their first year at Hogwarts to a pretty and petite beauty. He should have paid more attention to last year's Yule Ball when she escorted Viktor Krum.

"Ten points for Mr. Malfoy for being very intuitive." Hermione mocked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Ron and Harry stood back and marveled at Hermione and Draco battling it on against each other. Honestly they have never seen this side of Hermione before when it comes to dealing with Draco Malfoy. It is both impressive and oddly scary.

"Why thank you Ms. Granger. Too bad your ten points wouldn't be beneficiary to Slytherin winning the House-Cup this year." Draco mocked back.

"As if your house will win the Cup this year." Hermione snorted.

"Why you--" Draco didn't get to finish what he has to say when Harry jumped between them.

"Hey!" Harry held up his hand to stop Draco and Hermione from going down each other's throats. "Will you two stop arguing like an old married couple?" he eyed his best friend and his mortal nemesis carefully, then he turned to face Draco, "Now that we're here, what is it that you want to tell me about?"

Draco and Hermione glared at each other over Harry's shoulder, neither one breaking contact until finally he has had enough and turned his attention to Harry.

"Mystyk had a premonition of her killing you, Potter." he dropped the bomb carelessly, grinning at the startled expression on both Ron and Hermione's face after they heard. Harry, on the other hand, didn't seem the least bit perturbed about the news.

"She saw it too?"

Three pairs of eyes stared at him in utter disbelief.

"You knew?" Draco's jaw almost fell. And here he thought he was going to be doing him a favor by telling him what has been bothering Mystyk the last few days and already he knew about it!

Harry met Draco's eyes, ignoring his question as he asked, "When did she have this premonition?"

"She said the day we all went to Hogsmeade. She went to take an afternoon snooze and ended up having a very disturbing dream." Draco answered.

"That weekend at Hogsmeade..." Hermione's voice trailed off as she remembered what happened that weekend at Hogsmeade when she accompanied Harry to buy his Christmas present for Mystyk. "Harry! Your scar burned that day too, didn't it?" she clutched her best friend's arm and yanked it, "Isn't that a coincidence or what?"

"A coincidence indeed." Harry muttered.

So it wasn't only him who saw Mystyk killing him. She saw it too.

But how? And why?

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~*~ gosh, this chappie got a bit longer than i expected! anyway, i've decided to open up some certain possibilities of a certain attraction between 2 more Hogwarts students--and i kinda enjoyed writing about Draco & Hermione snapping at each other. it's very un-Hermione and un-Draco like for the two of them to get on to some head-to-head combat with each other. as always i'll be looking forward to read your reviews. and to those who have reviewed my first few chapters, thank you all so much! i do hope you enjoy reading the rest of the fic...i am doing my best to unravel as much as i can and try and finish this fic before it gets too long, but i seem to be enjoying writing it too much (either that OR i am suffering from some writer's block) to want to end it so soon. ~*~