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Wow, you've gotten to the fifth chapter. You deserve a cookie! Lets review what we've learned:

Last 4 chapters: It's the crew's 7th year. Draco lures girls into his bed. One of his one-night-stands was a muggle. She (a Ravenclaw) kills herself. Hermione is broken apart about this because her best friend, who also killed herself, looks almost exactly like the girl. Draco keeps an album of all his conquests, the last page left for the dead Ravenclaw girl. Hermione keeps an album of all the good times she and her best friend had, the last page reserved for pictures of her death. Draco takes the album and decides to use it for blackmail. He cleverly deducts that Hermione believes it's her fault her friend died. Voldemort is lurking somewhere near the school. Draco is about to become a Death Eater.

This Chapter: Who's that having sex in the Gryffindor Tower? Tsk Tsk! And who's that sneaking into the Forbidden Forest and why's he dragging Hermione alone with him?

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Draco lounged around for the rest of the afternoon. He had skipped his transfiguration class with Professor McGonagall. He didn't take to kindly to her nagging ways. She had a way of telling him everything he did was wrong without saying a word. This reminded him of many things his father did.

"Draco, you insolent fool! How can I even call you my son? Letting a stupid mudblood score higher than you on everything!"

"Dear God, Draco! You can't do anything right! What? Must I have your mother mark down what I say for letters?"

"Draco, how many times have I dared open my mouth to tell you not to enter my office without knocking! No wonder your grades aren't up to par, you can't follow my damn directions!"

"I refuse to believe that a stupid child such as you is from my flesh and blood!"

Gray eyes closed, remembering things his father had said to him on many occasions. One hand touched his right cheek, fingers sliding down the tiniest of scars. His father, very angry with him, had hit him with his cane. The snakehead on the top of the cane had cut his face. An apology for the action never left his father's lips and probably never crossed his mind. Draco hated his father for the way he was treated. He was 17 now; an adult, and he could take whatever his father threw at him.
Draco stood up and closed the curtains. The thick black cloth cut out all the light entering from the window. With a flick of his wand, the fire in the mantel was put out. Using his sense of touch, Draco found his favorite armchair and sat down. He slunk down deep into the seat, resting his arms and closing his eyes. The darkness made him feel at ease.

Hermione had no food in her stomach, no urge to read a book, no will to do anything. She too lounged around, skipping her Ancient Runes class to waste away on the couch in the Gryffindor common room. Draco had given her very specific instructions to be on the look out for a certain Slytherin: Blaise Zabini. But Hermione couldn't understand how Zabini would get into the common room. After all, no Gryffindor was stupid enough to even think about letting a rival student into their most secret area.

Hermione heard a loud bang, like something being dropped. The sound came from the boys' dormitories. Ron, who was lounging around next to Hermione heard it as well. He canted his head toward the sound and then looked at Hermione. Hermione's big brown eyes blinked unemotionally back at him. Ron blushed.

"Should I go see what that was?"

"I don't care, Ron. Do whatever you want."

Hermione opened up her Art of Advanced Transfiguration by Ruth Changeling and pretended that she was very interested in changing fish into purses. Ron raised a brow and stood up slowly. He circled around Hermione like vulture over prey. He then rested his arms behind her head, his lips just close enough to her ear to whisper lightly.

"Hermione, something's bothering you. I just wish you'd figure out that I'm always here for you."

With that, he touched his lips to her cheek in a subtle kiss. Hermione's face turned a deep crimson, but she covered it well. Ron straightened himself up and walked up the stairs to see what the ruckus was. Hermione wasn't listening too carefully, but she did hear Ron knock and open a creaky door, a pause, a door slamming, and Ron running back down the stairs.

"Hermione! There's a Gryffindor boy shagging a Slytherin girl up there!"

Hermione's head jerked up. She looked at Ron quite disapprovingly.

"Ron Weasley, that's hardly something to joke about!"

"I'm not joking Hermione. I doubt even Fred and George would joke about having a Slytherin in Gryffindor Tower."

Ron slid away from the boys' dorms entrance. There was some loud thumps and what sounded like running. Down the stairs, having hastily dressed, came Blaise Zabini. Brown hair was tussled about. She was red in the face and she was trying to keep a calm composure. She glared at Ron and Hermione as she went through the common room.

"Don't you dare tell anyone you saw me here. You'll regret it if you do."

She pushed the fat lady portrait open and disappeared through the hole.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other.

Hermione sighed, "Well, that just ruined my day."

Ron tilted his head a little.

"Why would something like that ruin your day? Its not any of your business…or mine for that matter."

"I promised Draco I'd tell him if I saw Blaise in the Gryffindor tower."
Ron moved so swiftly that Hermione hadn't blinked and he was right in front of her. His nose was nearly touching hers.

"Where do you come off promising Malfoy anything? And since when have you and he been on a first name basis."

Hermione's hand touched her mouth. She had called him Draco! She grinned sheepishly, trying to cover up.

"Er…he and Blaise, you know they were out and about. He was upset and I promised to help him."

"Hermione, I'm not stupid. Malfoy would never take your help because you're muggle born."

"Well he is!"

Hermione couldn't help getting mad. It was the only defense she had. So, she stood up and slammed her books down on a nearby coffee table. She left in a huff. Crookshanks followed behind, casting a glance over his shoulder at Ron before he scurried off.

Night settled fast on Hogwarts. The days were becoming shorter as winter settled in. Rain and wind had torn up the ground. Mud took over the main sections of the Quidditch pitch and the front grounds were ankle deep mud. It had rained the night before.

Draco snuck out into the Forbidden Forest. There was a special meeting there arranged just for him that he couldn't miss. His master was going to give him a special mark upon his arm.

When he reached the meeting spot there was a small group in a circle. They all wore black robes and masks. Draco knew one of them was his father. In the center of the circle was a tall form. Its face was well hid by a black hood. Draco approached the figure and knelt down. He touched his lips to the form's robes.

"Draco Malfoy, Son of Lucius Malfoy," a high cold voice came from the depths of that black robe. "You've come here to become a follower, a Death Eater. You claim you want power and seek it in the Dark Arts. Are you ready to take your vows?"
Draco kissed his robes again before he spoke.

"My Master, I was ready the day I was born. I shall never be more ready."

He could hear his father breathe a sigh of relief. Had he thought that Draco would say no? Draco's eyes narrowed, but he didn't look up at his Lord and Master.

"Draco Malfoy, do you swear to fight against muggles and those in conjunction with them, to destroy them and their will at every chance?"

"I swear it, my Lord."

"Do you swear to follow my every bidding, to heed to my call and to bend to my will?"

"I swear it, my Lord."

"What do you swear it on, Draco Malfoy? What is most precious to you?"

"I swear it on my fathers death and my own, my Lord."

Draco wondered what he father would think about that. He didn't have time to think long.

"Stand up, Draco Malfoy."

Draco kissed Voldemort's robes once more and then stood. He gazed up into the dark robes of his master. He grinned very evilly.

Voldemort took his left arm and touched his wand to it. There was a burning sensation. Green sparked burnt and tainted his skin, leaving behind a very distinct marking: a skull and snake. This was the mark of a Death Eater.

The next day Draco planned to follow through with his toying of Hermione. He had pinned Blaise up against a wall that morning. He hadn't hit her, but he had threatened her well.

"Where is the Gryffindor common room Blaise? Tell me before I hex you so bad you'll only wish you were dead."

Blaise squirmed, trying to get loose. She cried, she begged him to let her go, she promised him things. He didn't want any of it.

Finally she broke down.

"Take the marble staircase up. Go through the doorway hidden behind the sliding panels on the 3rd floor and through the door behind the tapestries right after that. Go up 2 cases and you'll see a portrait of a very fast woman in a pink dress. The password is 'slippery git.'"
Draco released her and she slid down into a crumpled heap on the floor. Her hands found her throat and she coughed and coughed. Her face had been a pale white and now the color was flooding back into it. Malfoy smirked and leaned over.

"Precious Blaise, you've always been a wonderful source of information. If you weren't such a slut I wouldn't know where to go. Thank you."

He gave her a swift kick in the side before he turned and left.

Blaise was left to cough up blood. No one saw her lying in the shadows.

Around midnight, Draco followed her directions. He covered himself in his 17th birthday gift, an invisibility cloak. When he reached the Fat Lady he woke up sternly by tapping on the canvas.

"Slippery git."

She swung open, muttering about how rude he was.

Draco looked around the Gryffindor common room. It was warm and inviting. Red squashy armchairs littered the well-lit room. There were a few couches. But he had no time to test them, to see if he might want to take one. Instead he was faced with a decision. Which door led to the girls' dormitories? He chose the left one and went up a spiral staircase. Along the way he opened doors and looked at the names on the trucks. Everyone was asleep. He had cast a silencing spell on his shoes to keep them from tapping on the ground. Finally he reached her room.

He drew the curtains around her bed back. She looked nothing like that Ravenclaw mudblood looked when she slept. Her brown hair was thrown about as if she had just been strangled. She was curled up too fight, murmuring, possibly drooling in her sleep. Draco slipped one hand over her mouth and prodded her with his wand.

Hermione tried to scream, but he whispered sharply in his ear, "If you wake anyone I'll kill him or her. Understand me?"
Hermione nodded. She was so scared she was shaking. Draco peeled his hand from her mouth and whispered to her to stand. He took her back to the Slytherin dungeon.

Back in his private room he ordered her to sit on his bed. She did as she was told, folding her hands in her lap. Draco sat in his armchair and took out her photo album. He began to flip through it as he spoke.

"This girl, Samantha was her name?"
Hermione nodded nervously.

"A rare beauty. Too bad she was a mudblood."

"She wasn't."
Draco looked up at Hermione. Fingers that had been touching the black haired girl in the pictures curled.

"She wasn't?"

"She went to Beauxbatons. She would have been a 4th year this year."

Draco smiled.

"Well, no difference. Explain, Granger, why you killed this girl."
Hermione looked away. She didn't know how to begin. Everything had happened so fast. She went off to a stuttering start.

"Sam... Sam was really involved with a boy name Thomas. He told her he loved her. She believed him and they had sex. Thomas broke up with her the next day, calling her a slut. Samantha believed him. When she came to me for moral support I was shocked. I…I told her there was nothing I could do. I told her there was nothing she could do. Everything had been lost and she couldn't gain back any of it. I told her she was lost. She believed me. She asked me how she could find herself again. I didn't know."

"And she killed herself?"

"And she killed herself."

Draco nodded. This could be used to his advantage.

"Yes, mudblood, it is your fault."

Hermione could feel the tears welling up in her eyes even before Draco had said that. But as soon as the words left his mouth the floodgates opened and the tears began to stream down her face uncontrollably.

Draco moved onto the bed. He touched her shoulder and she obliged by lying down.

"Now now, mudblood don't cry. You might wake someone and then I'd have to kill you."

Without moving he pulled the curtains around his bed, blocking out the light.

Outside the stars were gazing through the window.

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I know I promised a longer chapter, but this one IS longer than the last. I couldn't write anymore because I didn't want to give away what's going to happen. Here's a secret about next chapter: someone's going to die.

I'm going to make a suggestion to everyone. (Other than to R/R!) There's a Russian band called Tatu or Tatoo. They are a REALLY good band. Look them up on mp3.com and play their song "I lost my mind." You can also find it in English. They have a lot of really good songs. (Sings loudly, "When they stop and stare don't worry bout me, cause I'm feeling for her what she's feeling for me. I can try to pretend, I can try to forget, but its driving me mad, going out of my head!")