***Disclamer: ;) I don't own these characters J but I did try and make up the plot :P so don't steal it :O J JK Rowling owns Harry Potter characters and setting :D She's a genius!!

A/N!!!!! I would like to thank all who have written me reviews :D!! if I could I would hug you :P :D silly…but really J it means a lot to me since this is my first try at a fic :O!

And a special thanks to:

Lover of Angry Beavers

Angela Malfoy

Prantis – Queen of Hearts

Spirtofthewolves112

I want to thank the four of you for adding me to your favorite authors list!!!! It was so nice of you!! I hope you will keep enjoying my story!!!

Thanks also to: Dark-Princess-Kristine ( who tried to tell me in her review that I should probably allow un-logged in users to sign my reviews!), Lil' Eowyn, White Boomerany, gum-addict, MysticalStormz, Dawn Bridges, Jaded, to whom it may concearn, I-LOVE-DRACO, Waterdemon900, toxic-orange, The Charmed One, Madame Plot Bunnie, Silver Masamune, buGspooky, Draco's Girl, Garnet- Scorpion, tma, and Ivy Crane!!! They all have written reviews to me!!! :D I thank all of you dearly…it makes me want to write more!!

So PLEASE!!! Keep on Reading( and hopefully enjoy that ;) )and REVIEWING!! :D Thanks Bunches!!!

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Cradle the Enemy Chapter 5—The Cradle…What!? But I don't wanna

"Miss Granger, we need to ask you to do another favor…"

This is so confusing, Hermione thought to herself. I really wasn't told why I needed to do this.

"Miss Granger, we need to ask you to do another favor. You see, one of your fellow students is having a rough time. We thought it was would be wise if we made some special arrangements for that person." Dumbledore had pulled her aside that afternoon right after her lunch. It was déjà vu. All way too familiar…

Yet, there she was, following orders, and doing what was asked. They hadn't been orders, it was more like an urgent request. But still. She only just got here, back to Hogwarts. I just unpacked everything!!! UGHhhhh!!

"Professor, may I ask what kind of favor this might be?" Yes! Of course Hermione was worried. Her last favor got her lost in the dungeons! This time she wanted to know what type of favor it would be, before saying yes.

Laughter twinkled in the headmaster's eyes. "Ah yes, Miss Granger, you are very wise indeed. Not to worry. We picked you only because we know your perfect for this particular favor. If you weren't right for the job, we wouldn't bother you. Yet you are the person we want…and it would be sorrowful that this classmate of yours did not have the perfect companion."

Hermione began to look desperate. I wonder who "they" are, she thought. Perfect!! He called me perfect! A grin spread across her face. Whoever this "we" is, thought I was perfect for a job, and obviously the headmaster is part of this group! That could only mean…

"Headmaster! I didn't say I didn't want to help you…I was just wondering what type of favor you were asking me for. I would love to help out Hogwarts in anyway I can." Her eyes flashed in a desperate plea at first, and later brightened with courage.

"Then Miss Granger, first of all I will need you to pack up your things." WHAT!?! "And no Miss Granger, you're not in trouble." A sigh of relief could be heard. "Afterwards, I would like you and your things to meet me on the second floor, second corridor, outside second door two to the right. Remember Miss Granger, bring all of your belongings and meet me there please, in no later than an hour. Your new friend will be waiting there with me."

Ten minutes left and Hermione made her way with all her stuff down the second corridor on the second floor. I still don't really understand what's going on. Dumbledore really has something up his sleeve this time. Hermione trudged slowly with her lead heavy suitcase.

Soon enough she could see the Headmaster, and someone was with him, but she couldn't tell who yet. They wore a large dark green cloak with a hood that was covering their face. The person was sitting down against the wall on the floor. Their head lay on their knees, resting there, waiting for her she guessed.

She got close to them, but still wasn't able to see the person's face. Oh well.

"Ah, Miss Granger, you're here. I would like to welcome you to your new home," Dumbledore greeted Hermione with his hands pointing to the door in front of him. On the door was a lovely, detailed painting of a woman in a bedroom with a baby's crib near by. The woman sat a rocking chair, rocking to and fro, with a kind and gentle smile on her face. She wasn't looking at her new guests, or what you might call new occupants. Her full attention was directed to what was cradled in her arms. A little bundle of joy. There lay a baby boy in her lap, with the happiest of grins on his face as he giggled while his mother watched him, and rocked him.

"Welcome to your own common room. This place is known as the Cradle. It's your home for the rest of your time at Hogwarts." Dumbledore smiled at her. Whoa! She hadn't realized that this change would be permanent! Everything was moving a bit too quickly for her.

From beside her could be heard a light sniffle, and she watched as the person in the dark green cloak rubbed at their face a bit.

"Ah, and a couple additional things. You two will need a password, which you both will need to agree on, and please make sure you are able to remember it very easily. It won't be very good if the two of you can't excess your rooms. Additionally, you two will share a common room together, one bathroom, a kitchen that has small things since the Dinning Hall is far away, and two separate rooms, but they do connect at the bathroom. And yes, your rooms are decorated in your appropriate house colors, yet your common room is a mixture of the two," Dumbledore's last words began to sink into Hermione.

"Two? Professor? What do you mean by that…I don't understand?" She questioned.

"Well, Miss Granger, your new companion isn't from the same house as you and—"

"ehh… HieShooo! Sniff!"

"Bless you," Hermione told the person in the green cloak kindly.

"Yes, god bless you, Mister Malfoy," Dumbledore's eyes shot with a shooting star.

"WHAT!?!?!?!"

"Ughhh… Granger…please don't yell."

"Don't yell! I just found out I have to live with you not just for a short time! But I have to live with you for the rest of the time I am at this school."

"Yes, Granger. That's only because its our seventh year, so that would make a bit of sense," He chuckled. Hermione looked around, and found that for some reason Dumbledore seemed to have left them to themselves.

"But…But…I don't wanna…"

"Oh, don't whine like a bloody baby, Granger. Can we pick a password…I would like to sit down for a bit and rest. I have Quidittch practice this evening," Draco asked her impatiently.

"If you're so smart—tell me what should we pick as our password," she asked him defiantly.

"Um…I don't know. How bout…maybe…" By this point Draco had taken off his hood of his cloak, and Hermione could see him. Although, for some reason he kept his head bowed towards the ground. He mumbled an idea that was barely audible to Hermione's ears, "how about…dragon's treasure…sniff?"

"What?" She really didn't ask to be annoying, she actually hadn't heard what he said, but he had the idea that she was trying to annoy him.

"Granger, I said, how about dragon's treasure?" he sneered.

"Good idea, Malfoy," she gave him a smile. She liked the sound of it; it had a nice ring to it… "Dragon's treasure." She was positive that would be extremely easy to remember. All she would really have to do was think about—

"Ehh…Ehhh …HieSHhooo! Et…ehhh HeiiSHooo! Sniff!" Draco frowned and rubbed at his nose, which had released two powerful sneezes, it seemed to keep on bothering him. He then for the first time brought his attention to the painting on their door that Granger had been oddly fascinated with. The lady was watching him now intently just as he was she.

There was something about her that looked all too familiar; it gave him a funny feeling in his stomach. She laughed and smiled at him, and then said, "Bless you."

"Bless you, Malfoy," Hemione also said.

This made the lady laugh even more, and Draco began to feel heat rising to his cheeks. He took a big sniffle and proceeded to say, "Let's go inside, I need to get everything unpacked."

"Good idea, Dragon's Treasure," Hemione addressed the nice lady in the painting. She smiled and continued rocking her baby to sleep.

The large wooden door swung open to show them a magnificent looking common room. The two Hogwarts students stood in wonderment at the awe inspiring walls which had swirls of green and sliver, which merged with their opposing Gryffindor colors, also in swirls of red and gold. The two sets of house colors seemed to combined in the living room, right above a cozy looking dark red and brown-bricked fireplace. At the top of the fireplace a snake and a lion were painted facing one another, and in-between the two animals, was the spectacular swirl of the two house colors. There was a snug looking couch near it, with pillows of the two houses' colors with cute little house animals sewn into the soft fabric and shiny fringes that sparkled in the light. There were also two loveseats; both made of black leather, with blankets over them. Each blanket had either Gryffindor or Slytherin colors.

They were both quite amused at the accommodating colors used to make them both feel at home. Draco personally thought it a bit over done, but deep down, he liked how it was homely, even though he never really liked the dark, damp dungeons all that much.

Hermione on the other hand, was in complete heaven, her attention was quickly taken to the next room. It was all just so wonderful. When she saw Malfoy at the door, she thought this would be the end. Now, seeing The Cradle, things might not be all that bad….maybe…

"Hieshh! Ishhh! Sniff…" Draco quietly tried to stifle his sneezes as they moved on to admire the next section of their new home.

Their living room opened into a miniature kitchen with a refrigerator, and there was also a small wooden table with two chairs near by. There were counter tops with marble colored granite tops, which seemed to sparkle and shine their new room. In the middle of the counter top space was a silver sink for them to wash their hands and dishes in.

Behind the refrigerator was one of those neat trashcans that Hermione always thought were silly, those kinds when you put your foot down on the peddle. Then…Pop! It opened. She laughed at her recollection of the time Ron had watch her fiddle with one in a Muggle shop in the wizardry world. He had given her an odd glance, but Harry had chuckled. Although…That was a while ago…about fifth year. The two of them no longer paid her any attention. Too busy being the Boy Who Lived and His Side Kick. Any way… what kind of super hero has two side kicks?…she just wasn't needed there.

Draco had recovered from his couple stifles to watch as Granger went to admire the kitchen. She had looked at their new faucet, refrigerator and what seemed to be some sort of odd looking muggle version of a trashcan. He watched as the Mudblood looked at intently, her face brightened for a quick moment, but then fell. Draco wondered what she was thinking, what had caught her attention, and how she was able to show so many emotions. Draco quickly pushed his thoughts aside.

Draco decided to move on to the next spot and it seemed that Granger had heard his footsteps. She too followed his lead to move on. He made his way back over through the living room. Opposite of the entrance door to the Cradle was what he guessed was the bathroom and on either side of it were their rooms.

Hermione looked to the right of what must have been their shared bathroom. Oh…GREAT!!! SHE HAD TO SHARE A BATHROOM!! With….MALFOY!!

He must have read her mind, because he turned to face her and rubbed his left wrist under his nose and then grinned, although, for some reason…there was something different there. It wasn't a smirk… he hadn't looked evil or mean. He just had looked, like a joking little boy. She was about to study his grin further when he went back to rubbing at his nose but now a little rougher.

She gave him a gentle smile and walked to the right where the red and gold swirls trailed towards the words Hemione painted over her door in elegant script. Draco did the same with his silver and green. As he strolled into his room, he sniffled and continued to rub at his tickling nose.

Inside Draco's room was his wardrobe, made of mahogany wood that was very well polished and in wonderful condition. He found his bed had a green comforter with a silver dragon embroidered around the edges. When he opened up his wardrobe he found that Dumbledore had magically placed their belongings into their rooms.

Hermione excitedly opened the door to her brand new room, and she was dazzled by the sight of her large cherry wood wardrobe and her ruby red comforter, which had baby embroidery and baby blue sheets. Wow, she thought. Everything was much more fancy than her old things.

She began to make her way towards the bathroom.

Draco opened the door, and saw Hermione, no… Granger… She was looking into the cabinets for things. But that wasn't what was really on Draco's mind. He was in need of something. Desperate need that was. "Uhhh..umm…ehhh," Stupid Granger was in the way. "Granger…ehhh Ihh…I," But Draco could barely speak, "Granger..ihh …ehhh." Each time he tried to talk he almost lost it. Each time his voice raised in pitch and he was going to bet that his nostrils flared wildly. "movehhh…I ihh…gonna."

Hermione had no idea what was going on whatsoever. She continued to look into the cabinet until she heard him say move, which was a demand. She didn't want him to boss her around so she quickly turned to face him.

Draco barely managed "I neehh need a tissueehh ehh…" before the entivable happened. Draco's cute nose, twitched and the sneezes that had persistently tried to escape his masculine nostrils finally won out.

Hermione had by now figured out what was going on and immediately turned around to see the box of tissues situated behind her. She pulled out a few as it got to be too much for Draco

He felt a warm hand touch his own hand, and the tissues that he had desired being placed in his large hand as well. "Ehh ..EHH! HIEShoooo! HiiISHhooo! Hummppshh! Eishhh! Sniff…Hieshh! SNIFF!" after the harsh sneezing attack, Draco tried to sniffle away his stuffy nose. Without being able to stop it, he felt the warmth rise to his cheeks. He was looking at the tiled floor still rubbing the used tissue against his slowly turning pink nose. He knew for sure she was watching him.

"Bless you a lot, Draco," she kept up her sweet and gentle smile, and his head popped up, eyes wide in shock, immediately after he heard his first name. Hermione remembered him lying on the dungeon floor and quickly put two and two together: he was ill…

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TBC!!!!!!

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(A/N)HEY!!! Don't leave yet :P Please if you liked it!! Write me a review!!! And tell me whatcha like about it or something :D Thank you soooooo much!!!