Disclaimer: I honestly own nothing but the plot…

Author's Notes: Because it's fun and it's also much easier to read, I'll be adding pretty big spaces between paragraphs. But if you find yourself doing too much extraneous scrolling (heehee) just tell me and I'll lessen the spaces between the paragraphs :) Thanks for the reviews! I'm actually planning on wrapping up this story pretty soon, as I had originally planned, it will be twenty chapters ( I hope! Twenty is such a round, pretty number to stop it at) but I don't want it to end *wail* which probably means I'll make a sequel if you guys want. So enjoy the story ~*

Oh, and by the way, for all you anime fans out there, if you're ever out or online looking at anime, look for the Mars anime ad that reads, "A bad boy can change a good girl forever" because I think that that quote and that picture just completely epitomizes my fic so please look for it! Okay, enough blabbering…

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"You know I won't let them take you to Azkaban," whispered Hermione, face pale. Draco sighed sadly.

"It's too much, it's unfair. Why, Professor Snape?" cried Hermione. "Why can't I be the alibi?" Snape rubbed his temples.

"I told you already, Hermione. If you say that you and Draco were in Hogsmeade together, that would only make matters worse. Supporters of your father will be in powerful positions at court and they would only find a way to turn the situation around to their advantage. They would say that Draco was fraternizing with a family enemy and would say that Lucius had forbidden you two to meet again, giving Draco now another motive for killing Lucius."

"But it's not fair," Hermione still said, stubbornly.

"A lot of things aren't," agreed Snape. "Too many things but we really can't change that."

"Then what can I do?" asked Draco. "It's hopeless trying to fight for my defense and if I don't, the Ministry will track me down. I'm completely trapped." Snape tapped a finger to his temple.

"Not completely," he said. "I must think some things over with Professor Dumbledore. You are dismissed but stay aware and I'll contact you both immediately." Draco and Hermione walked out.

"So," said Draco. "Are you still meeting Dean?"

"You can you even be thinking about that?" gasped Hermione. "What's wrong with you?" Draco chuckled.

"I've learned to just try not to over worry these things, especially when I can't do anything to change things right now."

"We can try and get a Time-turner," said Hermione. "Then we could have stayed at school and then you wouldn't even be suspected."

"Time-turners were made illegal, remember?" asked Draco. "Too many good wizards and witches killed themselves using it." Hermione sighed again.

"Hermione? You're not going to go all depressed on me, are you?" Hermione grinned cheerfully although inside she felt like she was collapsing.

"Of course not!" she said, a little too loudly. "Things will turn out for the best. Just watch." Draco saw the tear that fell down Hermione's cheek. Draco sighed.

"Oh Hermione." He pulled her close and let Hermione cry into his sweater. "Do you think you're going to be okay?"

"I don't know," said Hermione. "I really don't." Draco put an arm around Hermione and pulled her tight and starting to walk her to class when they bumped into something that was about as tall as their knees.

"What the-" Draco started. Hermione nudged him in the ribs to keep him from swearing. It was a house elf. Dobby in fact. Hermione kneeled down to look at Dobby in the face.

"Dobby? What's wrong?" Dobby was sniffling and crying. This was strange, house elves usually were never around Hogwarts halls, usually in kitchens cooking.

"One of we is dead, miss!" Dobby wailed. "One of we is dead!"

"What? How? Kitchen accident?" asked Hermione, anxiously. Her love of house elves never really did go away.

"No!" cried Dobby. "Twinkle be murdered!"

"What?" Draco leaned down too and looked at Dobby. "Twinkle? Was Twinkle employed here?"

"No sir," said Dobby, sniffling. "Twinkle lived with a very rich family. They were none other than my former employers. She took my job after good Harry Potter freed me." Hermione and Draco exchanged a glance.

"I'm sorry Dobby," whispered Hermione. Dobby sobbed.

"She was like family! All house elves are like family!"

"This just explains too much," said Draco, angrily. "It wasn't Lucius' body they found. It was Twinkle's."

"What?" asked Hermione, eyes wide.

"It's obvious, Lucius made Twinkle take the Polyjuice potion with his own hairs on it."

"But the Polyjuice potion is temporary, it has to be taken once every hour."

"Hermione, have you ever heard of the Fles Yititned spell?" Hermione shook her head no.

"It's a difficult spell that needs a flesh sacrifice in order to complete it. It is when a long time drinker of the Polyjuice potion can completely change into the person they want to be. But the person that they are wishing to be must also agree to this and must give the Polyjuice drinker themselves. I won't be every surprised if I found Lucius walking around the place missing an arm or something. He wanted to destroy my life so much he was willing to sacrifice himself."

"But he didn't sacrifice himself completely," said Hermione, dazedly. "He sacrificed Twinkle instead." Dobby burst into tears.

"But we cannot prove any of this," said Draco. "We're still in the same position we were in before, maybe even worse. If I'm not mistaken, I'm sure Lucius, or "father" will be skulking around, making sure to do me in, soon too."

"I'm scared Draco," whispered Hermione.

"I am too," admitted Draco. "But we have to stick to this. Snape and Dumbledore will know what to do."

"I sure hope so too," said Hermione with a sigh.

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Hermione was so anxious to see Draco again that she didn't even see Dean trying to talk to her. In the end, Professor McGonagal noticed and took five points each from Gryffindor and gave them after class detention.

"What?" cried Hermione. "Professor, you have to believe me, I didn't do anything!" Professor McGonagal merely looked at her from above her glasses.

"Lately it seems," said Professor McGonagall, fixing such a steely gaze on Hermione that she cringed slightly. "That your word cannot be trusted. Stay after class with Dean and that's that." She instructed a moody Hermione and an indifferent Dean to wash the tops of the desks and make sure students didn't leave anything around. Hermione was on her knees, looking for any Zonka's chewing gum underneath a desk while Dean washed the top of it.

"You sure wanted to get out of this detention," said Dean.

"What?" Hermione got up so quickly that she bumped her head. "Ow." Dean appeared next to her.

"It's nothing like that, Dean," said Hermione, hastily. "It's just that I had to meet a friend after class."

"During break?" said Dean, unbelieving.

"To er- give back the textbook they needed for their next class that I was using," said Hermione. It was a lame excuse but Dean seemed to buy it.

"Sure," he said, smiling. "That happens to me all the time. Now does your head hurt?"

"What?"

"You are so spacey, Hermione," said Dean, laughing. He touched her forehead where she hit it hard. Hermione bit her lip. She didn't like where this was turning. She got up abruptly.

"Let's look at the next desk," she suggested.

"Wait, Hermione," said Dean. Hermione turned around, only to be grabbed by the shoulders and kissed.

"What?!" She tried to yell but it was kind of hard when another guy's mouth was attached to hers. I mean, ick. Just like barf me back to the stone age* (a/n: HAHAHAHAHAHA! *falls off chair*). There was the sound of a door opening.

"What the hell Dean?" said Draco. He pulled Dean away from Hermione. Hermione stood there looking angry.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" asked Dean, flushed and angry.

"I was looking for her," he said, indicating Hermione. Dean moved in front of Hermione, as if to protect her but Hermione sidestepped and walked next to Draco. Dean's eyes narrowed.

"It's all planned out," said Draco, softly. Hermione looked at him, eyes wide.

"Wait," said Dean. "I'd like to know what the bloody hell is going on here."

"Don't be angry Dean," said Hermione.

"Like hell I'm not going to be angry," said Dean, crossly. Draco gave him a look.

"Look Hermione," said Draco. "We should tell him, it won't matter after this anyway."

"Dean," said Hermione, and took a big breath. "You're a great guy but when I said I'd go out with you, that was only because I needed to make sure people didn't know that Draco and I were going out." Dean looked at them incredulously.

"Is this some kind of joke?" he asked, disbelieving.

"I wish," said Draco, blowing the hair out of his eyes. "No joke though."

"You wish you weren't going out with me?" teased Hermione.

"No," said Draco. He smiled but his eyes were still serious. "I meant I wish I didn't have to go through with what they're making me do."

"Dean, I have to leave, we have a bit of a crisis on our hands," said Hermione. She pulled Draco's hand and they left Dean alone, with a confused but angry look on his face.

"So what are they making you do?" asked Hermione.

"They're thinking of performing a sort of lesser version of the Deatheater's kiss."

"What?" whispered Hermione.

"It's when they remove your soul from your body, temporarily, and can store it safely so I'll just be a shell. Professor Dumbledore and Snape will claim that I had a Quidditch accident and now I lost all sense of myself and I'll be off the hook. The minute that happens they'll give it back to me."

"That doesn't sound that bad," said Hermione.

"But when my soul reenters my body, it might mess something up," said Draco. "The spell is rare because sometimes the body forgets how to function without the soul and I might lose pieces of my soul, so I might not remember…"

"You might forget all about me," finished Hermione.

"It's likely too," said Draco, sighing. "There has never been a successful time using this spell. Something always goes awry."

"But are you going to do it?" asked Hermione, fearfully.

"No."

"No?" echoed Hermione. "I don't understand, isn't this the only way?"

"It may seem like it but I won't go through with it," said Draco.

"I'm glad to hear that," said Hermione. "I wouldn't know what to do if I remembered you but you didn't remember me." They sat against the wall and Hermoine leaned her head against Draco's shoulder.

"So what are you going to do then?" She felt Draco's shoulders rise in a shrug.

"I really don't know," he said, sounding lost. Hermione closed her eyes and they sat there like that.

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*that lovely little saying is courtesy of my piano teacher who said I was a valley girl and asked me if I ever said, "barf me back to the stone age" or "grody to the max." Thankfully, I've never said neither before…until now, MUAHAHAHA!

A/N: Yup, it seems like I'll definitely be wrapping up the story by next chapter and maybe writing an epilogue and a sequel if you all would like it :) Please R&R on your way out!