ATTENTION, ATTENTION. I'VE ADDED A HUGE PART TO LAST CHAPTER. IT'S AT THE VERY END, AND YOU'LL DEFINITELY NEED TO READ IT TO UNDERSTAND SOME OF THIS CHAPTER. IT'S WHEN HERMIONE AND DRACO ARE KISSING, AND YOU NEED TO CHECK IT OUT BEFORE READING THIS CHAPTER. Sorry for the inconvenience. Hee hee.
A/N- Sorry about the long wait. There were many complications along the way. Such as, me spraining my ankle and being on the couch for a week, the Microsoft Works program breaking down for a week. I really am sorry, and hope this chapter was worth the wait. Hope ya'll liked my cliffie at the end of last chapter! Haha
~Recap
I looked at Hermione and Draco on the dance floor, snogging their minds out. But it was much more than that. Oh yeah, much more. Just by looking at them you could tell they were in love. Hermione was caught up in him, and he was caught up in her. Nothing could break the bond they were creating right now. Nothing except, "Aaaaaaahhhhh!" I screamed. My head had all of a sudden exploded with pain. I wasn't expecting that to happen at all, and the shock caused me to fall onto the floor, right into blackness.
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Draco and I broke apart at once. I looked around wildly, and spotted Harry lying on the floor, surrounded by people. "Harry!" I screamed, and rushed over. "Harry, Harry. Get up, get up Harry!" I said to his unconscious self.
"Somebody get Dumbledore!" I heard Draco yell.
"Harry," Dumbledore said, peering at him through his half-moon spectacles.
"What's wrong with him Professor? Is he dead?" Colin Creevy asked.
"Unconscious," Dumbledore murmured, and magicked a stretcher to put Harry on. "He'll need to spend the night in the hospital wing, and we'll see how he's feeling in the morning. Did anyone see what happened?" he asked.
"I did," Ginny said. "He was watching Hermione and Draco, and all of a sudden, he screamed, put his hands to his scar, and fell onto the floor," she stated, her voice shaky. "It all happened so quickly," she said, silent tears flowing down her cheeks.
"Now, now Miss Weasley. You'll have Harry back in the morning. In the meantime, I suggest you all have enjoy the rest of the dance. There isn't much left to it!" Dumbledore, a cheerful expression on his face.
"He's right, Gin. Harry'll be all right. Worse things have happened," I told her.
"I guess so," Ginny said, a solemn expression on her face.
"Well, I'm a bit thirsty from all the dancing, and um, other stuff," Draco said, grinning at me. "I'll go get us two drinks, OK Hermione?"
"All right," I said, trying to comfort Ginny.
*Draco's POV*
I went over to the table where the empty goblets sat. I filled up two with pumpkin juice, marking mine by taking a long sip. I then realized my shoe had become untied. 'That's weird,' I thought. 'I thought I doubled-knotted those,' I said, bending down to tie them. At that point, I heard the swishing of a cloak. I looked up, startled, and then hit myself on the head. "Of course there's cloaks. This is a wizarding school," I said out loud to myself, took the drinks, and walked back over to Hermione and Ginny.
*Hermione's POV*
"Thanks, Draco," I said, taking a large sip. "I needed that." "Ginny, are you sure you'll be all right?" I asked her.
"Yeah, fine. I'm just going to go back up to the dormitories and sleep. I'm a bit tired," she said with a fake yawn.
"OK, sleepy," I said sarcastically, and rolled my eyes. "You all done with your drink, Draco?" I asked him.
"Yeah, nearly there. You ready to back out onto the dance floor?" Draco asked me.
"Yes, I'll meet you out there," I said, and headed out to Ron and Padma.
"Ron, where were you? Harry just got sent up to the hospital wing," I told him.
"I know, I was there. I just came back here before you did," he told me.
"Oh, OK. Have fun," I said, smirking at him, and he, once again, wiggled his eyebrows when Padma wasn't looking. I laughed, and looked for Draco.
"Let's dance," Draco said, and lead me away from Padma and Ron.
"That's really odd about Harry, don't you think?" I asked Draco, as we were dancing close together.
"Yeah, something's up," he said.
"I hope Voldemort's not near," I said shuddering at the thought of Voldemort being close to me. I had met him, but was still scared of him all the same.
"Me too, Hermione, me too" he said pulling me closer.
We danced like that for 10 minutes, when he pulled away. "What's wrong? I asked him.
"Get away from me, mudblood," he said, pushing me away. His eyes glittered with malice and bitterness.
"Wh- what do you mean, Draco?" I said, looking at him, unbelievingly.
"I said, get away from me you filthy, foul mudblood! And don't you ever call me by my first name again. I don't need dirt like you using it," he said, backing farther and farther away from me.
"But, but you just told me you loved me less than an hour ago! I nearly yelled, attempting to blink the tears back.
"I would never love a mudblood," he said harshly, and swept off to Pansy, leaving me standing there, tears pouring down my face. I watched him whisk Pansy into his arms, and twirl her around, before planting a kiss on her lips.
At that, I completely lost control. I broke down, and fell onto my knees. I was sobbing very loudly, and people came rushing over.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Ron said, looking me over.
"What happened?" Lavender asked.
"What's going on?"
"Why is she crying?"
"Where's Draco?" many people were asking. They found him on the dance floor, Pansy wrapped up in his arms.
"Oh my God, Hermione. Come on, we're going upstairs," Ron said, half carrying me through the crowd of people, trying to get a look at me. I held my face in my hands, and weeped.
"Draco and Pansy are going into the rosebushes!" someone yelled across the room.
Half blinded by tears, half blinded by rage. I tried to make my way towards Draco and Pansy, but it was difficult because Ron was holding me back. I wanted to make Draco pay, I wanted revenge. I grabbed Ron, and walked right over to Draco and Pansy. I kissed Ron hard on the lips, watching Draco out of the corner of my eye. I thought I saw something like sorrow in his eyes, but it was gone so quick I told myself I'd imagined it. Draco and Pansy made no movement at all, and if they even noticed Ron and me, I wouldn't have known.
"God!" I screamed, and grabbed Draco by the collar. "You tell me what the hell is your problem right now, Draco Lucius Malfoy, or I'll slap you so hard, you'll wake up in the hospital wing," I yelled, gathering some onlookers.
"Get your revolting hands off me Granger," he said with his old, drawling voice.
I stared at him, and fainted to the grass, into darkness.
============
"Hermione, Hermione," I heard someone whisper above me.
"Shh, can't you see she's asleep?" I heard Ginny hiss at her brother.
"No, it's OK. I'm up," I said, sitting up in bed. I looked around, and recognized the white, linen sheets, and blue-and-white striped pajamas of the hospital wing. I blinked my eyes a few times, taking everything that had happened the previous night in.
"You were unconscious for 7 hours!" Ron exclaimed. "That must've been one heck of a fall," he said.
"Wait," I said, realization dawning on me. "How's Harry? Where's Dra- Malfoy?" I asked.
"Harry's fine," Ginny said. "Madam Pomfrey said he should be waking in a few hours."
"And Malfoy?" I asked.
"He's got detention for snogging Pansy in the bushes. And," Ron paused, a smile dawning on his face. "100 points from Slytherin."
"Are you serious?" I cried out. I mean, literally cried out. I burst into tears, yet again.
"Shouldn't you be happy about this, Mione? I mean, there's no way they can get back that many points," Ginny said. "Why are so upset?"
"I'm not up-up-upset about Slytherin losing points. It's just the way they lost those points," I said, wailing.
"What's going on in here?" Madam Pomfrey demanded.
"Nothing, Madam Pomfrey, nothing. Everything's OK. We were just worried about Harry," Ginny said, as Hermione hastily wiped the tears from her face.
"OK, but stop making such a racket, you'll wake him up," she said, drawing the curtains around Ron, Ginny and me.
"Hermione, are you going to be all right?" Ron asked tensely.
"Yeah, I think I'll be fine," I replied, lying completely.
"You better not be lying."
"I'm not, now go check on Harry and see how he is," I told them, wanting to be alone.
"Are you sure?" Ginny asked.
"Positive, now go check on Harry," I said sternly. I laid down on my back, and fell back asleep.
*Harry's POV*
(A/N- I can't make words italicized, so please bear with me, and coming up right now is a dream)
The wind was howling outside, beating down on the room. Three people stood together, looking into a glass orb.
"He's weak," one said. "He won't be able to fight this for a long time."
"Now, now Lucius. We must not get too ahead of ourselves. This may take awhile, for this boy is not weak. He is very strong. The love he has may make it easier for him to fight this," a cold, chilling voice said.
"I think we can call ourselves successful already," Wormtail said. "Look at him, he doesn't show any signs of resistance."
"Not yet, Wormtail. But the time will come, and we'll have to make sure our little tool is ready," the cold voice said, who was now recognized as Voldemort.
"It will be easy work," Lucius said, and stared into the orb.
"Harry?" he heard somebody ask. "Harry, are you awake?" she asked again.
"Ugh," I groaned, sitting up and reaching for my glasses. "I'm awake. Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital wing. Do you remember what happened?" Ron asked.
"Not very clearly, but," I said, looking around. "Where's Hermione?"
"Er...it's a long story," Ron said.
"Well, she's my best friend. I want to hear it," I said, everything entirely in focus now.
"It may take awhile," Ginny said, looking as if she were playing the night's previous events in her head.
"Tell me where she is," I said in a tone so cross, they both began saying things at once.
"She's in the hospital wing."
"-Malfoy's fault."
"He hooked up with Pansy-."
"-Left her in the middle of a dance."
"Mudblood-." they both were saying.
"Wait!" I yelled. "Tell me what happened, from the moment I fainted, to the moment she ended up in here."
"Well, after you fainted, Malfoy went and got some juice for the both of them. Hermione finished hers before him, and came to talk to me. Then Malfoy came and they went somewhere to dance," Ron said.
He looked at Ginny, and she urged him to go on. "They were dancing for about 15 minutes, and then he just pushed her away. He called her a mudblood, and told her never to go near him again. She said something about how he'd told her he loved her, but he denied it by saying 'I would never love a mudblood'," Ron said, not daring to look me in the eyes. Fury was raging through every bit of my body.
"That little b-," I started, but was cut off by Ron.
"That's not all. He then strode off to Pansy, took her in his arms, and twirled her in the air, then kissed her," he said, and a shudder ran through his body. "That's when she broke down. She fell to the floor, bawling very loudly. I went rushing over, and helped her up. I told her we were going upstairs, and, half carrying her, we made our way through the crowd," he paused, recollecting every bit of information he could. "Then someone yelled 'Pansy and Draco are going into the rosebushes!' and she stood upright. She grabbed my arm, pulling me to Pansy and Draco, where she kissed me firmly in the lips, and when Malfoy made no notice of her, she screamed at him, took him by the collar, and threatened him. He said 'Get your revolting hands off me Granger' and then she fainted.
"Wow," was all I could say. "That's really peculiar, something is obviously going on," I said.
"We agree," Ron said.
"Wait a minute, Ginny, were you there?" I asked her. Ron hadn't mentioned her, and she didn't tell any part of the story.
"No, I came up here when you fainted," she responded, blushing a little bit.
I smiled at her and then turned to Ron. "So, Malfoy is scum again?"
"Looks that way. I can't believe he'd do something like that. He had just told Hermione he loved her, too! At least that's what it sounded like when she implied it," Ron said.
Ginny just stared straight ahead, apparently in shock. "I just, he never, he couldn't of," she stuttered. "I know something was wrong. He wouldn't just do that to her. Even during the daytime, it was showing. Remember how they got into the mini-fight? Maybe his behavior last night had something to do with that," she said.
"Maybe, but hasn't he been caught with Pansy before? Like that one time, in the prefect's bathroom? And we can't forget the obvious one, when they were up in the Astronomy Tower. I think Hermione might've mentioned another one. He also promised Pansy a dance tonight. Do you think he was starting to fancy Pansy?" Ginny asked.
"I doubt it, but it's a possibility. Malfoy and Pansy have been caught many times in risky situations. Let's just pray that's not the reason," I said, taking my glasses partly off, and wiping my eyes from underneath them. They were somehow sore.
"I don't think we should pray, we need to find out what is going on. I'm not going sit around on my arse and watch Hermione be miserable again. And if you two care about her, you'll help me. Maybe we can convince Hermione to help us too. We won't be able to do this without her," she snapped.
"Of course we care about her! We love her so much, and I know I'll do anything for her. What about you Ron?" I asked.
Ron was muttering obscenities under his breath, words and phrases that wouldn't have made Mrs. Weasley very happy. "I'm going to kill that son of a..."
"Ron? Did you here me?" I said.
"Yeah, I'd be thrilled to kill Malfoy with you," he said, a far-away grin on his face.
"Ron, Harry asked you if you'd help Hermione figure out what's wrong with Malfoy," Ginny said.
"Why? The answers obvious! He's still that horrible Slytherin that we knew for four years. Maybe he had on a mask for two years, but I know he's still the Slytherin underneath," Ron finished, and went on. "I for one, don't think we should trust him. But if it'll make Hermione feel better, I'll do it for her. Not Malfoy though," he said with a determined look on his face.
"All right, first we need to talk to Hermione," I said.
"No need to, I'm up," came her shaky voice from behind the curtain.
Ginny looked startled, but the relaxed. "Are you OK, Hermione?"
"Fine, I'm OK," she said, but you could tell she'd been crying, and still was a little bit. Ginny got up and pulled the curtain back, revealing a very sad Hermione.
"Are you going to help us?" Ron asked. There was no point pretending she hadn't heard everything we'd been saying.
She took a deep breath, and said, "Yes. Yes, I'll help. But I'm not doing it for Malfoy either," she said, sputtering out Malfoy's name. You could tell she was struggling calling him by his surname because she had been calling him Draco for the past two years.
"Let's all help each other by KEEPING IT DOWN!" Madam Pomfrey shouted. "I've dealt with you for the past 30 minutes, but it's getting to be annoying! And just for the record, you better not break any school rules when you're finding out what's Mr. Malfoy's problem. And 10 points from Gryffindor for those swear words Mr. Weasley."
Ron opened his mouth to complain, but then shut it, knowing Pomfrey was right. "Now out you Mr. and Miss Weasley. These two need their rest ," she said, pointing at Hermione and me.
"OK, we're going. When can they leave?" Ron asked Pomfrey.
"We'll see how they're feeling at dinner," she said, and pointed to the door.
"See you then," Ginny said, shrugging, and followed her brother out the door.
"Mr. Potter, and Miss Granger, would you like some Dreamless Sleep potion?' Pomfrey asked.
"Please," said Hermione.
"Yes," I said. I didn't want another dream like the one I had just had. She handed us each a goblet full, and we drank it, falling into a deep sleep.
==========
"So Pomfrey finally let you out!" Ron said when we had come down to dinner.
"Yeah, but it took a lot of persuading," I said. "Right Hermione?"
"Um...yeah, lots of persuading," she said, her eyes darting around like flies. She was obviously looking for Malfoy. Her gaze then settled on the Slytherin table. I followed it, and saw Malfoy, with his arm around Pansy, feeding her food. Hermione looked away, her eyes filling with tears.
Ron saw us looking at Malfoy, and snorted in disgust. "You're better off without him," he said. It was the wrong thing to say.
"I hope nothing happens to him," she said softly. "I'm incredibly mad at him, and I'll never forgive him for this, but I still wouldn't want anything to hurt him."
"Hurt him? Shut up Hermione, look at all the pain he's putting you through. Hurt him? You've gone off your rocket this time, Hermione," Ron said, and I privately agreed.
"Ron, something's wrong. I think it is at least. It has something to do with Harry's scar hurting. I can feel it," she said.
All eyes were then on me. "Well, I think it meant danger's coming. Danger usually comes when my scar hurts. It also always has something to do with Voldemort," I said, with nobody tensing as they used to. Hermione, Ginny and Ron had all met him, so they were calling him by his proper name.
"I hope it doesn't endanger Malfoy," Hermione said quietly.
"I do," Ron muttered.
Hermione stared at him, with her eyes wide. Then, abruptly, she turned and ran out of the hall. "Smart move," Ginny uttered, and then ran after her.
Ron looked guilty for a second, but then said, "Dig in!" when we go to the food.
"Ron!" I nearly yelled. He looked at me with his face stuffed. "Now she's going to barricade herself in her room, and never come out!" he rolled his eyes, and continued eating.
"She'll get over it," he said, and held up a plate of chicken, offering me some.
"OK, but after dinner we're going to talk to her. Deal?" I told Ron.
"Deal."
*Hermione's POV*
"I can't handle this! I want to leave. Ginny, let me perform some dark magic on you. Then I'll trigger the alarm, and I'll be expelled," I said in hysterics.
"You're crazy Hermione. Ron didn't mean what he said. He'd be upset if anything happened to Malfoy, no matter what he says," she said, trying to calm me down.
"I don't care what Ron said! I- I just need to get out of here!" I yelled.
"Why?"
"Because!" I answered.
"Because why?"
"I can't stand being in the same room as Draco! I'm still in love with the git, and I hate it," I said, slumping down onto the bed, burying my face in the pillow.
"You still love him? You need to get over him," she said.
"Get over him? GET OVER HIM? Ginny, I'm in love with him. It'll take an awful long time for me to get over him. What if Harry did that to you? You wouldn't get over it in one night!" I raged.
"Yes, you're right Hermione. I'm sorry," she said.
"I know something is up. I'm not going to sleep well at night until I find out. You can help me or not. I'll do it on my own if I have too."
"Hermione, I'll do anything you want me to do," she replied.
"I knew something was going on, I knew it. The way he was acting during the day. Either he likes Pansy now and I'm old news, or somebody's doing something to screw with his emotions. Most likely Pansy."
"I doubt he likes Pansy, though, as we said before, it's very possible," Ginny said, bringing the hurtful truth to my head. Or heart.
"I don't even want to think about that," I moaned.
"Me either," said Ginny. "So what are we going to do?"
"What do you think we should do?" I asked her back.
"Be devious, deceitful, sly, foxy detectives," she replied, a satisfied look on her face.
"Stooping to Pansy's level I guess. Works for me!" I said, smiling for the first time in 24 hours.
"What goes around, comes around, eh Pansy?" Ginny said, speaking to the wall.
At that point, Harry and Ron came up from the Great Hall, Ron carrying a plate of food for me and Ginny. "Listen Hermione, I'm sorry. I had no right to say that to you," he said.
"You're right. You shouldn't have said that, but I do forgive you," I told him. He sighed, relieved and looked at Harry. Harry gave him a look that said I-told-you-so.
"Now that we're all getting along," Ginny said, glancing at us, "can we think of some way to help Malfoy?"
"Do we want to help him?" Ron said.
"Ron!" we all yelled simultaneously.
"I mean it. Do you think he' worth it?" he questioned, pushing it.
"Of course! Ron, this is the person I'm in love with. He's worth anything. Just because he's being a stupid, horrible, nasty, spiteful, cruel, selfi--"
"Hermione! Get on with it," Harry interrupted.
"Sorry, got a little carried away, selfish git, doesn't mean we should help him. Something must be wrong," I said quietly. 'I hope something's wrong' I prayed to myself.
"OK, on to what we're going to do for him. I think we need to spy on him. Anyone up for the job?" Harry inquired.
Everyone looked at me. "Me?" I whined.
"You know him best! You know what he likes, where his room is, what all his classes are," Ron said.
"She knows him better than that," Ginny murmured.
"Ginny! Shut up!" I yelled.
"You know I couldn't help it," she said, a grin on her face.
"Too much information. Lets focus on how to help Malfoy, now how well Hermione knows him," Ron said.
"OK, I'll agree to secretly watch Malfoy. He can't get suspicious though," I said.
"I think you'll be able to work something out," Harry said. "You're not the cleverest witch in our year for nothing."
I felt a slight blush creeping up my cheeks, but said, "I know."
"Little vain?" Ron sarcastically asked.
"At least I'm not obsessed with a certain witch," I retorted.
Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Harry cut him off. "You guys are impossible! We need to work together, that's the only was we'll get something done."
"Oh what a valuable lesson, thanks Barney," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Who's Barney?" Ginny and Ron asked at the same time.
"Never mind," Harry and I said.
"OK, so we've got Hermione tagging Malfoy. Who's going to check out Pansy?" Ginny asked.
"Why do we need to do that?" both boys whined.
"She obviously knows something we don't, and she isn't exactly trustworthy. She'll do anything for Malfoy, and that's no secret," Ginny said. "We someone to come on to her."
This time, all eyes were on Ron. "Are you kidding?" he blurted out. "That's the most revolting thing I've ever heard. Come on to Pansy? Why me?" he asked.
"You don't have a girlfriend, and you're good-looking. Everyone knows Harry and Ginny are an item. It needs to be believable. She's not stupid," I said.
"But I don't wanna," he complained.
"Do it," I said warningly.
"Aye, aye Captain," he said, raising his hand to his forehead, and saluting me.
Again I rolled my eyes. "You are such a twelve year old."
"Thank you," he said, smiling brightly.
"All right! I'm sick of you two! Let's get down to business, or I'm out!" Ginny announced.
"OK, I promise I won't argue, or make fun of Ron," I said. "At least not today," I muttered to myself, smirking.
"I promise too," he said.
"Good, it's settled. Ron, you're going to have to put the moves on Pansy, and once you get on her good side, stay there. I mean it, don't blow it on something little," Harry said.
"Ugh," Ron replied.
"You also have to act like you're mad at us. Or you don't like us or something. Tell her you want to be evil," Ginny said.
"This is getting worse and worse each time one of you opens your mouth. Me, evil? Never," he declared, bringing himself up proudly.
"That's great, but don't let Pansy know that," Harry said, barley paying attention. "So we've got Malfoy, and Pansy, who else should we keep an eye out for?"
"Voldemort," I said. Everyone looked at me, shocked. "What?"
"Voldemort? You actually think this has something to do with Voldemort?" Ron challenged.
"You never know, and Malfoy said he's planning on acting soon," I said, and everyone looked stunned. "I'm serious, he said we're in danger. Malfoy, Harry, and I especially."
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Harry asked, his eyes wide.
"I don't know, I just forgot."
"You forgot? YOU FORGOT OUR LIVES WERE IN DANGER?" Harry shouted.
"You're forgetting, our lives are always in danger genius," I told him.
"Yeah, but they're in more danger now!" Harry responded.
"This is irrelevant! We're supposed to be figuring out how to help Malfoy!" I raged.
"Irrelevant? Irrelevant?! Hermione, it's our freaking lives! You know, the thing that makes us live. Get it? Live, lives? They both are spelled the same, they just sound different!" Harry screamed.
"We're not in English class anymore, Harry! We have magic powers, we can turn things into toads! Come on, grow up!" I hollered.
"Grow up? I should grow up? I'm not the one putting my friends' lives in danger for a Slytherin!"
"Harry," Ginny said quietly. "Stop you two, we need to work together," she said in a whisper.
I stared at Harry. He had touched a nerve, and it killed me. "I'm sorry, Harry. I should've told you right away, and not put your lives at risk. I was way out of line," I said.
"I shouldn't have said that about Malfoy. As much as I hate him right now, he's worth helping. I guess I got carried away, and I'm very sorry," Harry apologized to me.
"Now we can all kiss and make up, and get on with what we started with," Ron said.
"Right. Harry can kind of keep an eye on Voldemort, so that'll be his job. So we've got Ron and Pansy, Malfoy and I, and Harry and Voldemort. Ginny, I have a job for you too," I told her.
"So what is it?" she inquired.
"You need to be tutored by Malfoy," I said simply.
"What, like pretend I'm dumber than him?" she asked.
"Er...something like that. His best subject is--,"
"Let me guess, Potions?"
"Oh, how'd you guess? Now, do you do well in Potions?" I asked her.
She pointed to her hair, freckles and Ron. "I'm a Weasley, how well do you think I do?"
"Good point. Here's what you need to do. Ask Snape if Malfoy can tutor you. Snape will automatically agree. Malfoy's still his favorite student, and he knows I was Malfoy's girlfriend. He'll say yes because you're my friend, and he want's what's best for Malfoy. Malfoy will never know," I said, a triumphant smile on my face.
"Great thinking. I'll ask him at breakfast tomorrow morning. It's too late now. Speaking of late, I'm going to go to bed. Night all," she said, as Harry gave her a kiss on the cheek and she left.
"Ron, next time you see Pansy, work your magic. I'd tell Padma what you're doing as soon as possible. Don't want her getting mad at you because of Malfoy," I said, and his eyes widened.
"I'm going to go owl her and tell her to meet me somewhere soon so I can explain it to her," he said, and departed, muttering, "now where did I leave my quill?" as he walked out the door.
"Harry, you have the easiest job."
"I know, wait until my scar hurts, then tell you," he replied dully.
"No, you know your dreams you have? Don't they show the present sometimes? Like, what Voldemort was doing at that very moment?" I questioned. I remembered him telling us them before.
"Yes, and speaking of them, I had one in the infirmary," he said as plainly as possible.
"Really? What happened?"
"Lucius Malfoy, Wormtail, and Voldemort were all staring into an orb. They could obviously see someone in it, because they kept talking about him. I don't know who it was, but they kept telling about how he's weak, and won't be able to fight something. They said the love he had was strong enough to fight what ever it was, but when it diminished enough, they had to make sure their tool was ready," he said, screwing up his face to recall the dream.
"Their tool? What could that be?" I wondered aloud.
"I have no idea, but I'll try to figure it out," he said, stifling a yawn.
"I think it's time for bed," I said, noticing Harry's yawn.
"Good idea," he said, and got off the bed, gave a little wave, and left.
I changed into my night gown, and got under the covers. "God I hope this works," I mumbled tiredly, and closed my eyes.
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A/N- I tried to get this up earlier, but my ff.net wasn't working. I think you might've been able to tell that I had a bit of a writers block nearing the end. I hope ya'll re-read the end of chapter 19, because what I added was vital. I'm thinking of writing another story, and I want to have some of it done before I begin posting, so I don't know how long before the next update. I'll try for Tuesday, because I'm going on vacation wed-mon. Hope you liekd this chapter!
Thank you...
Felicity- Thank you so much! I love reviews like that! Sorry for keeping you in suspense for a long time.
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A/N- Sorry about the long wait. There were many complications along the way. Such as, me spraining my ankle and being on the couch for a week, the Microsoft Works program breaking down for a week. I really am sorry, and hope this chapter was worth the wait. Hope ya'll liked my cliffie at the end of last chapter! Haha
~Recap
I looked at Hermione and Draco on the dance floor, snogging their minds out. But it was much more than that. Oh yeah, much more. Just by looking at them you could tell they were in love. Hermione was caught up in him, and he was caught up in her. Nothing could break the bond they were creating right now. Nothing except, "Aaaaaaahhhhh!" I screamed. My head had all of a sudden exploded with pain. I wasn't expecting that to happen at all, and the shock caused me to fall onto the floor, right into blackness.
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Draco and I broke apart at once. I looked around wildly, and spotted Harry lying on the floor, surrounded by people. "Harry!" I screamed, and rushed over. "Harry, Harry. Get up, get up Harry!" I said to his unconscious self.
"Somebody get Dumbledore!" I heard Draco yell.
"Harry," Dumbledore said, peering at him through his half-moon spectacles.
"What's wrong with him Professor? Is he dead?" Colin Creevy asked.
"Unconscious," Dumbledore murmured, and magicked a stretcher to put Harry on. "He'll need to spend the night in the hospital wing, and we'll see how he's feeling in the morning. Did anyone see what happened?" he asked.
"I did," Ginny said. "He was watching Hermione and Draco, and all of a sudden, he screamed, put his hands to his scar, and fell onto the floor," she stated, her voice shaky. "It all happened so quickly," she said, silent tears flowing down her cheeks.
"Now, now Miss Weasley. You'll have Harry back in the morning. In the meantime, I suggest you all have enjoy the rest of the dance. There isn't much left to it!" Dumbledore, a cheerful expression on his face.
"He's right, Gin. Harry'll be all right. Worse things have happened," I told her.
"I guess so," Ginny said, a solemn expression on her face.
"Well, I'm a bit thirsty from all the dancing, and um, other stuff," Draco said, grinning at me. "I'll go get us two drinks, OK Hermione?"
"All right," I said, trying to comfort Ginny.
*Draco's POV*
I went over to the table where the empty goblets sat. I filled up two with pumpkin juice, marking mine by taking a long sip. I then realized my shoe had become untied. 'That's weird,' I thought. 'I thought I doubled-knotted those,' I said, bending down to tie them. At that point, I heard the swishing of a cloak. I looked up, startled, and then hit myself on the head. "Of course there's cloaks. This is a wizarding school," I said out loud to myself, took the drinks, and walked back over to Hermione and Ginny.
*Hermione's POV*
"Thanks, Draco," I said, taking a large sip. "I needed that." "Ginny, are you sure you'll be all right?" I asked her.
"Yeah, fine. I'm just going to go back up to the dormitories and sleep. I'm a bit tired," she said with a fake yawn.
"OK, sleepy," I said sarcastically, and rolled my eyes. "You all done with your drink, Draco?" I asked him.
"Yeah, nearly there. You ready to back out onto the dance floor?" Draco asked me.
"Yes, I'll meet you out there," I said, and headed out to Ron and Padma.
"Ron, where were you? Harry just got sent up to the hospital wing," I told him.
"I know, I was there. I just came back here before you did," he told me.
"Oh, OK. Have fun," I said, smirking at him, and he, once again, wiggled his eyebrows when Padma wasn't looking. I laughed, and looked for Draco.
"Let's dance," Draco said, and lead me away from Padma and Ron.
"That's really odd about Harry, don't you think?" I asked Draco, as we were dancing close together.
"Yeah, something's up," he said.
"I hope Voldemort's not near," I said shuddering at the thought of Voldemort being close to me. I had met him, but was still scared of him all the same.
"Me too, Hermione, me too" he said pulling me closer.
We danced like that for 10 minutes, when he pulled away. "What's wrong? I asked him.
"Get away from me, mudblood," he said, pushing me away. His eyes glittered with malice and bitterness.
"Wh- what do you mean, Draco?" I said, looking at him, unbelievingly.
"I said, get away from me you filthy, foul mudblood! And don't you ever call me by my first name again. I don't need dirt like you using it," he said, backing farther and farther away from me.
"But, but you just told me you loved me less than an hour ago! I nearly yelled, attempting to blink the tears back.
"I would never love a mudblood," he said harshly, and swept off to Pansy, leaving me standing there, tears pouring down my face. I watched him whisk Pansy into his arms, and twirl her around, before planting a kiss on her lips.
At that, I completely lost control. I broke down, and fell onto my knees. I was sobbing very loudly, and people came rushing over.
"Hermione, what's wrong?" Ron said, looking me over.
"What happened?" Lavender asked.
"What's going on?"
"Why is she crying?"
"Where's Draco?" many people were asking. They found him on the dance floor, Pansy wrapped up in his arms.
"Oh my God, Hermione. Come on, we're going upstairs," Ron said, half carrying me through the crowd of people, trying to get a look at me. I held my face in my hands, and weeped.
"Draco and Pansy are going into the rosebushes!" someone yelled across the room.
Half blinded by tears, half blinded by rage. I tried to make my way towards Draco and Pansy, but it was difficult because Ron was holding me back. I wanted to make Draco pay, I wanted revenge. I grabbed Ron, and walked right over to Draco and Pansy. I kissed Ron hard on the lips, watching Draco out of the corner of my eye. I thought I saw something like sorrow in his eyes, but it was gone so quick I told myself I'd imagined it. Draco and Pansy made no movement at all, and if they even noticed Ron and me, I wouldn't have known.
"God!" I screamed, and grabbed Draco by the collar. "You tell me what the hell is your problem right now, Draco Lucius Malfoy, or I'll slap you so hard, you'll wake up in the hospital wing," I yelled, gathering some onlookers.
"Get your revolting hands off me Granger," he said with his old, drawling voice.
I stared at him, and fainted to the grass, into darkness.
============
"Hermione, Hermione," I heard someone whisper above me.
"Shh, can't you see she's asleep?" I heard Ginny hiss at her brother.
"No, it's OK. I'm up," I said, sitting up in bed. I looked around, and recognized the white, linen sheets, and blue-and-white striped pajamas of the hospital wing. I blinked my eyes a few times, taking everything that had happened the previous night in.
"You were unconscious for 7 hours!" Ron exclaimed. "That must've been one heck of a fall," he said.
"Wait," I said, realization dawning on me. "How's Harry? Where's Dra- Malfoy?" I asked.
"Harry's fine," Ginny said. "Madam Pomfrey said he should be waking in a few hours."
"And Malfoy?" I asked.
"He's got detention for snogging Pansy in the bushes. And," Ron paused, a smile dawning on his face. "100 points from Slytherin."
"Are you serious?" I cried out. I mean, literally cried out. I burst into tears, yet again.
"Shouldn't you be happy about this, Mione? I mean, there's no way they can get back that many points," Ginny said. "Why are so upset?"
"I'm not up-up-upset about Slytherin losing points. It's just the way they lost those points," I said, wailing.
"What's going on in here?" Madam Pomfrey demanded.
"Nothing, Madam Pomfrey, nothing. Everything's OK. We were just worried about Harry," Ginny said, as Hermione hastily wiped the tears from her face.
"OK, but stop making such a racket, you'll wake him up," she said, drawing the curtains around Ron, Ginny and me.
"Hermione, are you going to be all right?" Ron asked tensely.
"Yeah, I think I'll be fine," I replied, lying completely.
"You better not be lying."
"I'm not, now go check on Harry and see how he is," I told them, wanting to be alone.
"Are you sure?" Ginny asked.
"Positive, now go check on Harry," I said sternly. I laid down on my back, and fell back asleep.
*Harry's POV*
(A/N- I can't make words italicized, so please bear with me, and coming up right now is a dream)
The wind was howling outside, beating down on the room. Three people stood together, looking into a glass orb.
"He's weak," one said. "He won't be able to fight this for a long time."
"Now, now Lucius. We must not get too ahead of ourselves. This may take awhile, for this boy is not weak. He is very strong. The love he has may make it easier for him to fight this," a cold, chilling voice said.
"I think we can call ourselves successful already," Wormtail said. "Look at him, he doesn't show any signs of resistance."
"Not yet, Wormtail. But the time will come, and we'll have to make sure our little tool is ready," the cold voice said, who was now recognized as Voldemort.
"It will be easy work," Lucius said, and stared into the orb.
"Harry?" he heard somebody ask. "Harry, are you awake?" she asked again.
"Ugh," I groaned, sitting up and reaching for my glasses. "I'm awake. Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital wing. Do you remember what happened?" Ron asked.
"Not very clearly, but," I said, looking around. "Where's Hermione?"
"Er...it's a long story," Ron said.
"Well, she's my best friend. I want to hear it," I said, everything entirely in focus now.
"It may take awhile," Ginny said, looking as if she were playing the night's previous events in her head.
"Tell me where she is," I said in a tone so cross, they both began saying things at once.
"She's in the hospital wing."
"-Malfoy's fault."
"He hooked up with Pansy-."
"-Left her in the middle of a dance."
"Mudblood-." they both were saying.
"Wait!" I yelled. "Tell me what happened, from the moment I fainted, to the moment she ended up in here."
"Well, after you fainted, Malfoy went and got some juice for the both of them. Hermione finished hers before him, and came to talk to me. Then Malfoy came and they went somewhere to dance," Ron said.
He looked at Ginny, and she urged him to go on. "They were dancing for about 15 minutes, and then he just pushed her away. He called her a mudblood, and told her never to go near him again. She said something about how he'd told her he loved her, but he denied it by saying 'I would never love a mudblood'," Ron said, not daring to look me in the eyes. Fury was raging through every bit of my body.
"That little b-," I started, but was cut off by Ron.
"That's not all. He then strode off to Pansy, took her in his arms, and twirled her in the air, then kissed her," he said, and a shudder ran through his body. "That's when she broke down. She fell to the floor, bawling very loudly. I went rushing over, and helped her up. I told her we were going upstairs, and, half carrying her, we made our way through the crowd," he paused, recollecting every bit of information he could. "Then someone yelled 'Pansy and Draco are going into the rosebushes!' and she stood upright. She grabbed my arm, pulling me to Pansy and Draco, where she kissed me firmly in the lips, and when Malfoy made no notice of her, she screamed at him, took him by the collar, and threatened him. He said 'Get your revolting hands off me Granger' and then she fainted.
"Wow," was all I could say. "That's really peculiar, something is obviously going on," I said.
"We agree," Ron said.
"Wait a minute, Ginny, were you there?" I asked her. Ron hadn't mentioned her, and she didn't tell any part of the story.
"No, I came up here when you fainted," she responded, blushing a little bit.
I smiled at her and then turned to Ron. "So, Malfoy is scum again?"
"Looks that way. I can't believe he'd do something like that. He had just told Hermione he loved her, too! At least that's what it sounded like when she implied it," Ron said.
Ginny just stared straight ahead, apparently in shock. "I just, he never, he couldn't of," she stuttered. "I know something was wrong. He wouldn't just do that to her. Even during the daytime, it was showing. Remember how they got into the mini-fight? Maybe his behavior last night had something to do with that," she said.
"Maybe, but hasn't he been caught with Pansy before? Like that one time, in the prefect's bathroom? And we can't forget the obvious one, when they were up in the Astronomy Tower. I think Hermione might've mentioned another one. He also promised Pansy a dance tonight. Do you think he was starting to fancy Pansy?" Ginny asked.
"I doubt it, but it's a possibility. Malfoy and Pansy have been caught many times in risky situations. Let's just pray that's not the reason," I said, taking my glasses partly off, and wiping my eyes from underneath them. They were somehow sore.
"I don't think we should pray, we need to find out what is going on. I'm not going sit around on my arse and watch Hermione be miserable again. And if you two care about her, you'll help me. Maybe we can convince Hermione to help us too. We won't be able to do this without her," she snapped.
"Of course we care about her! We love her so much, and I know I'll do anything for her. What about you Ron?" I asked.
Ron was muttering obscenities under his breath, words and phrases that wouldn't have made Mrs. Weasley very happy. "I'm going to kill that son of a..."
"Ron? Did you here me?" I said.
"Yeah, I'd be thrilled to kill Malfoy with you," he said, a far-away grin on his face.
"Ron, Harry asked you if you'd help Hermione figure out what's wrong with Malfoy," Ginny said.
"Why? The answers obvious! He's still that horrible Slytherin that we knew for four years. Maybe he had on a mask for two years, but I know he's still the Slytherin underneath," Ron finished, and went on. "I for one, don't think we should trust him. But if it'll make Hermione feel better, I'll do it for her. Not Malfoy though," he said with a determined look on his face.
"All right, first we need to talk to Hermione," I said.
"No need to, I'm up," came her shaky voice from behind the curtain.
Ginny looked startled, but the relaxed. "Are you OK, Hermione?"
"Fine, I'm OK," she said, but you could tell she'd been crying, and still was a little bit. Ginny got up and pulled the curtain back, revealing a very sad Hermione.
"Are you going to help us?" Ron asked. There was no point pretending she hadn't heard everything we'd been saying.
She took a deep breath, and said, "Yes. Yes, I'll help. But I'm not doing it for Malfoy either," she said, sputtering out Malfoy's name. You could tell she was struggling calling him by his surname because she had been calling him Draco for the past two years.
"Let's all help each other by KEEPING IT DOWN!" Madam Pomfrey shouted. "I've dealt with you for the past 30 minutes, but it's getting to be annoying! And just for the record, you better not break any school rules when you're finding out what's Mr. Malfoy's problem. And 10 points from Gryffindor for those swear words Mr. Weasley."
Ron opened his mouth to complain, but then shut it, knowing Pomfrey was right. "Now out you Mr. and Miss Weasley. These two need their rest ," she said, pointing at Hermione and me.
"OK, we're going. When can they leave?" Ron asked Pomfrey.
"We'll see how they're feeling at dinner," she said, and pointed to the door.
"See you then," Ginny said, shrugging, and followed her brother out the door.
"Mr. Potter, and Miss Granger, would you like some Dreamless Sleep potion?' Pomfrey asked.
"Please," said Hermione.
"Yes," I said. I didn't want another dream like the one I had just had. She handed us each a goblet full, and we drank it, falling into a deep sleep.
==========
"So Pomfrey finally let you out!" Ron said when we had come down to dinner.
"Yeah, but it took a lot of persuading," I said. "Right Hermione?"
"Um...yeah, lots of persuading," she said, her eyes darting around like flies. She was obviously looking for Malfoy. Her gaze then settled on the Slytherin table. I followed it, and saw Malfoy, with his arm around Pansy, feeding her food. Hermione looked away, her eyes filling with tears.
Ron saw us looking at Malfoy, and snorted in disgust. "You're better off without him," he said. It was the wrong thing to say.
"I hope nothing happens to him," she said softly. "I'm incredibly mad at him, and I'll never forgive him for this, but I still wouldn't want anything to hurt him."
"Hurt him? Shut up Hermione, look at all the pain he's putting you through. Hurt him? You've gone off your rocket this time, Hermione," Ron said, and I privately agreed.
"Ron, something's wrong. I think it is at least. It has something to do with Harry's scar hurting. I can feel it," she said.
All eyes were then on me. "Well, I think it meant danger's coming. Danger usually comes when my scar hurts. It also always has something to do with Voldemort," I said, with nobody tensing as they used to. Hermione, Ginny and Ron had all met him, so they were calling him by his proper name.
"I hope it doesn't endanger Malfoy," Hermione said quietly.
"I do," Ron muttered.
Hermione stared at him, with her eyes wide. Then, abruptly, she turned and ran out of the hall. "Smart move," Ginny uttered, and then ran after her.
Ron looked guilty for a second, but then said, "Dig in!" when we go to the food.
"Ron!" I nearly yelled. He looked at me with his face stuffed. "Now she's going to barricade herself in her room, and never come out!" he rolled his eyes, and continued eating.
"She'll get over it," he said, and held up a plate of chicken, offering me some.
"OK, but after dinner we're going to talk to her. Deal?" I told Ron.
"Deal."
*Hermione's POV*
"I can't handle this! I want to leave. Ginny, let me perform some dark magic on you. Then I'll trigger the alarm, and I'll be expelled," I said in hysterics.
"You're crazy Hermione. Ron didn't mean what he said. He'd be upset if anything happened to Malfoy, no matter what he says," she said, trying to calm me down.
"I don't care what Ron said! I- I just need to get out of here!" I yelled.
"Why?"
"Because!" I answered.
"Because why?"
"I can't stand being in the same room as Draco! I'm still in love with the git, and I hate it," I said, slumping down onto the bed, burying my face in the pillow.
"You still love him? You need to get over him," she said.
"Get over him? GET OVER HIM? Ginny, I'm in love with him. It'll take an awful long time for me to get over him. What if Harry did that to you? You wouldn't get over it in one night!" I raged.
"Yes, you're right Hermione. I'm sorry," she said.
"I know something is up. I'm not going to sleep well at night until I find out. You can help me or not. I'll do it on my own if I have too."
"Hermione, I'll do anything you want me to do," she replied.
"I knew something was going on, I knew it. The way he was acting during the day. Either he likes Pansy now and I'm old news, or somebody's doing something to screw with his emotions. Most likely Pansy."
"I doubt he likes Pansy, though, as we said before, it's very possible," Ginny said, bringing the hurtful truth to my head. Or heart.
"I don't even want to think about that," I moaned.
"Me either," said Ginny. "So what are we going to do?"
"What do you think we should do?" I asked her back.
"Be devious, deceitful, sly, foxy detectives," she replied, a satisfied look on her face.
"Stooping to Pansy's level I guess. Works for me!" I said, smiling for the first time in 24 hours.
"What goes around, comes around, eh Pansy?" Ginny said, speaking to the wall.
At that point, Harry and Ron came up from the Great Hall, Ron carrying a plate of food for me and Ginny. "Listen Hermione, I'm sorry. I had no right to say that to you," he said.
"You're right. You shouldn't have said that, but I do forgive you," I told him. He sighed, relieved and looked at Harry. Harry gave him a look that said I-told-you-so.
"Now that we're all getting along," Ginny said, glancing at us, "can we think of some way to help Malfoy?"
"Do we want to help him?" Ron said.
"Ron!" we all yelled simultaneously.
"I mean it. Do you think he' worth it?" he questioned, pushing it.
"Of course! Ron, this is the person I'm in love with. He's worth anything. Just because he's being a stupid, horrible, nasty, spiteful, cruel, selfi--"
"Hermione! Get on with it," Harry interrupted.
"Sorry, got a little carried away, selfish git, doesn't mean we should help him. Something must be wrong," I said quietly. 'I hope something's wrong' I prayed to myself.
"OK, on to what we're going to do for him. I think we need to spy on him. Anyone up for the job?" Harry inquired.
Everyone looked at me. "Me?" I whined.
"You know him best! You know what he likes, where his room is, what all his classes are," Ron said.
"She knows him better than that," Ginny murmured.
"Ginny! Shut up!" I yelled.
"You know I couldn't help it," she said, a grin on her face.
"Too much information. Lets focus on how to help Malfoy, now how well Hermione knows him," Ron said.
"OK, I'll agree to secretly watch Malfoy. He can't get suspicious though," I said.
"I think you'll be able to work something out," Harry said. "You're not the cleverest witch in our year for nothing."
I felt a slight blush creeping up my cheeks, but said, "I know."
"Little vain?" Ron sarcastically asked.
"At least I'm not obsessed with a certain witch," I retorted.
Ron opened his mouth to say something, but Harry cut him off. "You guys are impossible! We need to work together, that's the only was we'll get something done."
"Oh what a valuable lesson, thanks Barney," I said, rolling my eyes.
"Who's Barney?" Ginny and Ron asked at the same time.
"Never mind," Harry and I said.
"OK, so we've got Hermione tagging Malfoy. Who's going to check out Pansy?" Ginny asked.
"Why do we need to do that?" both boys whined.
"She obviously knows something we don't, and she isn't exactly trustworthy. She'll do anything for Malfoy, and that's no secret," Ginny said. "We someone to come on to her."
This time, all eyes were on Ron. "Are you kidding?" he blurted out. "That's the most revolting thing I've ever heard. Come on to Pansy? Why me?" he asked.
"You don't have a girlfriend, and you're good-looking. Everyone knows Harry and Ginny are an item. It needs to be believable. She's not stupid," I said.
"But I don't wanna," he complained.
"Do it," I said warningly.
"Aye, aye Captain," he said, raising his hand to his forehead, and saluting me.
Again I rolled my eyes. "You are such a twelve year old."
"Thank you," he said, smiling brightly.
"All right! I'm sick of you two! Let's get down to business, or I'm out!" Ginny announced.
"OK, I promise I won't argue, or make fun of Ron," I said. "At least not today," I muttered to myself, smirking.
"I promise too," he said.
"Good, it's settled. Ron, you're going to have to put the moves on Pansy, and once you get on her good side, stay there. I mean it, don't blow it on something little," Harry said.
"Ugh," Ron replied.
"You also have to act like you're mad at us. Or you don't like us or something. Tell her you want to be evil," Ginny said.
"This is getting worse and worse each time one of you opens your mouth. Me, evil? Never," he declared, bringing himself up proudly.
"That's great, but don't let Pansy know that," Harry said, barley paying attention. "So we've got Malfoy, and Pansy, who else should we keep an eye out for?"
"Voldemort," I said. Everyone looked at me, shocked. "What?"
"Voldemort? You actually think this has something to do with Voldemort?" Ron challenged.
"You never know, and Malfoy said he's planning on acting soon," I said, and everyone looked stunned. "I'm serious, he said we're in danger. Malfoy, Harry, and I especially."
"Why didn't you tell me this before?" Harry asked, his eyes wide.
"I don't know, I just forgot."
"You forgot? YOU FORGOT OUR LIVES WERE IN DANGER?" Harry shouted.
"You're forgetting, our lives are always in danger genius," I told him.
"Yeah, but they're in more danger now!" Harry responded.
"This is irrelevant! We're supposed to be figuring out how to help Malfoy!" I raged.
"Irrelevant? Irrelevant?! Hermione, it's our freaking lives! You know, the thing that makes us live. Get it? Live, lives? They both are spelled the same, they just sound different!" Harry screamed.
"We're not in English class anymore, Harry! We have magic powers, we can turn things into toads! Come on, grow up!" I hollered.
"Grow up? I should grow up? I'm not the one putting my friends' lives in danger for a Slytherin!"
"Harry," Ginny said quietly. "Stop you two, we need to work together," she said in a whisper.
I stared at Harry. He had touched a nerve, and it killed me. "I'm sorry, Harry. I should've told you right away, and not put your lives at risk. I was way out of line," I said.
"I shouldn't have said that about Malfoy. As much as I hate him right now, he's worth helping. I guess I got carried away, and I'm very sorry," Harry apologized to me.
"Now we can all kiss and make up, and get on with what we started with," Ron said.
"Right. Harry can kind of keep an eye on Voldemort, so that'll be his job. So we've got Ron and Pansy, Malfoy and I, and Harry and Voldemort. Ginny, I have a job for you too," I told her.
"So what is it?" she inquired.
"You need to be tutored by Malfoy," I said simply.
"What, like pretend I'm dumber than him?" she asked.
"Er...something like that. His best subject is--,"
"Let me guess, Potions?"
"Oh, how'd you guess? Now, do you do well in Potions?" I asked her.
She pointed to her hair, freckles and Ron. "I'm a Weasley, how well do you think I do?"
"Good point. Here's what you need to do. Ask Snape if Malfoy can tutor you. Snape will automatically agree. Malfoy's still his favorite student, and he knows I was Malfoy's girlfriend. He'll say yes because you're my friend, and he want's what's best for Malfoy. Malfoy will never know," I said, a triumphant smile on my face.
"Great thinking. I'll ask him at breakfast tomorrow morning. It's too late now. Speaking of late, I'm going to go to bed. Night all," she said, as Harry gave her a kiss on the cheek and she left.
"Ron, next time you see Pansy, work your magic. I'd tell Padma what you're doing as soon as possible. Don't want her getting mad at you because of Malfoy," I said, and his eyes widened.
"I'm going to go owl her and tell her to meet me somewhere soon so I can explain it to her," he said, and departed, muttering, "now where did I leave my quill?" as he walked out the door.
"Harry, you have the easiest job."
"I know, wait until my scar hurts, then tell you," he replied dully.
"No, you know your dreams you have? Don't they show the present sometimes? Like, what Voldemort was doing at that very moment?" I questioned. I remembered him telling us them before.
"Yes, and speaking of them, I had one in the infirmary," he said as plainly as possible.
"Really? What happened?"
"Lucius Malfoy, Wormtail, and Voldemort were all staring into an orb. They could obviously see someone in it, because they kept talking about him. I don't know who it was, but they kept telling about how he's weak, and won't be able to fight something. They said the love he had was strong enough to fight what ever it was, but when it diminished enough, they had to make sure their tool was ready," he said, screwing up his face to recall the dream.
"Their tool? What could that be?" I wondered aloud.
"I have no idea, but I'll try to figure it out," he said, stifling a yawn.
"I think it's time for bed," I said, noticing Harry's yawn.
"Good idea," he said, and got off the bed, gave a little wave, and left.
I changed into my night gown, and got under the covers. "God I hope this works," I mumbled tiredly, and closed my eyes.
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A/N- I tried to get this up earlier, but my ff.net wasn't working. I think you might've been able to tell that I had a bit of a writers block nearing the end. I hope ya'll re-read the end of chapter 19, because what I added was vital. I'm thinking of writing another story, and I want to have some of it done before I begin posting, so I don't know how long before the next update. I'll try for Tuesday, because I'm going on vacation wed-mon. Hope you liekd this chapter!
Thank you...
Felicity- Thank you so much! I love reviews like that! Sorry for keeping you in suspense for a long time.
Cyropi- At least you reviewed! I don't care how long it takes you, believe me. I don't know what the place under your knee is called. My sister says it's a kneepit, but she she's 11. So who knows? And yes, not much fluff in this chapter. Not much at all. But thats good. I was also so excited writing this. I love bad-boy Draco more than anything! Hurry up and update Snape Summer, and get your D/Hr story up too! Otherwise you'll be answering to my T-Rex...
gorgous- I know you haven't gotton this far, otherwise you would've seen my chapters are longer. Hee hee
Melissa Potter- I am evil, aren't I? I love it too. I hope this chapter was worth the wiat, though!
Sandra- Thank you so much! I hope you got the e-mail saying I posted this chapter! I always sneak online at night to read, and I'm honored that someone would sneak online for my story!
Sabrina- Thank you so very much for the compliments! The follow the kisses thing is romantic, and that's why I put it in there! Hope you liked this chapter, and take care also.
Beau Coeur- Kelly, you're such a poo. You might want to clarify that she was joking. Cause I didn't know that. I wish Tom got my tongue...lol jk! BTW- I did say ooooo yea! Great job on yours, and thank for the compliments on mine.
Thank you SweetBabyGurl, YSM, Yvaellis, and Carly Moore. It was so nice of you to review, and compliment the story!
You see that purple button? If you click it and write stuff, you will be thanked personally!