A/n: hi ppl! Sorry if I tuk ages updatin, but I had 'writers block' and tons of coursework to hand in, but getting on.thank yous @ the bottom! O, by the way, '*' means, see the bottom, and theres a lil note 4 y'all explainin!

CHAPTER 7

Hermione woke up to Draco the next morning. They were sharing beds now, as it felt safer. She looked down at him with mixed emotions; she really liked him, and thought it really unfair that he had to go through this just because his father was a puppet to the most evil control freak ever. She went out to get coffee, but sat down on the couch, and started pummelling the cushions, wishing it were Lucius's head.

10 minutes later, Draco emerged, his silvery blonde hair tousled and his eyes barely open. He sat down next to Hermione and then remembered what happened last night. She looked up and took his hand. With his other arm, he held her close. Eventually, he decided to break the silence.

'So.Good morning..' he said.

'Draco, about last night.' Hermione started, but he really didn't want to have this conversation right now, I mean, it was 7:30 on a Saturday morning, and he had just found out that the most powerful, evil wizard of all time and his 'shit-for-brains' dog of a father were practically stalking him, wanting him to join them, because their twisted idea of humour was watching a few people die slowly and painfully. *

'Hermione,' he sighed, 'can we talk later.I'm really not in the mood right now, thanks.' And with that, he got up, kissed her on the forehead and left her there, feeling very helpless indeed.

***********************************************

It was now after lunch, and Hermione had not seen Draco all day, and was getting quite worried. She returned to their common room. He wasn't there, or his room, or the bathroom, and now she was really scared. She sat in her room, and although she was tired, she tried to think where he could be, trying to ignore the fact that Voldemort and Lucius could have taken him. Eventually, after hours of thinking, she couldn't fight her tiredness any longer, and fell asleep.

Next morning, Hermione woke up, and then remembered about Draco, and ran into his room. His bed was made, and he was not there; he hadn't been there all night. She got dressed and hurried out to breakfast. She sat down, and scanned the Slytherin table for a head of blonde hair that could only be Draco's. She didn't find anything, but then thought, 'he could just be in his Slytherin dorm, and lost track of time.' She kept thinking this, hoping it was true, as it didn't involve the word, 'Voldemort,' 'Lucius,' 'Death- Eater,' or 'murder.'

Third lesson was Transfiguration, and she knew Malfoy would never miss this class in particular, as one third of his final grade depended on it (a/n: convenient, eh??). She suddenly felt sick with worry. She looked over to where the other Slytherins normally sat; all were present except Pansy. This made Hermione even more uncomfortable, as there were rumours circulating about her involvement with Voldemort (a/n: again, very convenient!). All lesson, she sat worrying about Draco and where he could be. One long hour later, she hurried out, shouting to a confused Ron and Harry, 'I'll be down at lunch! Don't bother waiting!'

She ran down to a large statue of a griffin, which marked the entrance to Dumbledore's office. She quickly tried to think of the password, which everybody knew usually involved some kind of sweet. 'Cockroach cluster? Bertie Bott's every flavour beans, Chocolate frogs? Fizzing Whizbees?' she shouted desperately. After 5 minutes, she had gone through every sweet she could think of that would be present in Honeyduke's, before coming across 'Jelly Slugs'. As soon as she said this, the griffin started to rotate, revealing a spiral staircase. She sprinted up them, 2 at a time, before reaching a scarlet, circular room. A long mahogany desk was situated at the other side of the room, with a tall chair behind it. At the moment, the chair was facing away from her, and she was not sure he knew she was there, or was even in, but then... 'Good afternoon Miss Granger! And what can I do for you?'

15 minutes passed** and Dumbledore finally raised from his chair, having listened to everything that Hermione had said. He has an extremely worried look on his face, which was not comforting her at all. 'What's wrong Professor?' she asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

'Well,' he said, and seemed reluctant to tell her, but then decided against it, 'My Dark Detectors have been picking up some quite strong signals over the past two days. In fact, it seems that they have been busy ever since Mr. Malfoy's disappearance...which is quite disturbing.'

Hermione looked up. A thousand and one accidents, which could have happened to him, raced through her mind, but she tried to shut them out.

'What are we going to do Professor?' she asked quietly.

'We? I don't think there is anything you can do Miss Granger, except keep an eye out and tell me if anything happens. I am very sorry.' He looked away, but then turned to face her quickly again, as if suddenly very interested about something.

'Miss Granger, if you don't mind me asking, why are you so concerned about Mr Malfoy? I thought you hated him, and wouldn't give a second glance if Voldemort took him?'

Hermione shifted uneasily at his words, and replied in a quiet voice, 'Well, I needed him to help me with some prefect duties, and then didn't see him around, so I thought.well, anyway..I'll tell you if anything happens. Thank you Professor.'

'Miss Granger, before you go, there is something I feel I must tell you,' he said. She turned around, puzzled.

'I said my Dark Detectors had been busy, well, they have been picking up extremely strong signals around the school, and they are so strong, they could easily be detecting any of the 3 Unforgivable Curses. If anything has happened to Mr Malfoy.well, I just hope we find him soon.'

Hermione stood, shocked, turned and walked quickly out, determined to find Draco. She walked through the corridors, looking in every corner, and finally reached the dungeons. She went around a corner, and saw a flash of blonde against the dark. 'Draco!' she breathed, and ran nearer, but when she got there, a sight met her eyes that she could not bear to take in, as she filled with tears.



A/n: right, heres what the lil stars mean:

* = sorry bout that, bad day, had 2 let it all out ** = cudnt b bothered explainin!!! Sorry, but u already know everything.

Thanks to:

Malusha - thank u!!! luv ya!!! lil_blue_chimp - cheers! Glad uv updated, and no it wasn't rubbish!!! silverangel - id like 2 thank u in particular! Have u got an account yet? keep emailing! Slytherin lover - thank u!!! ill try 2 write them longer, but I don't want 2 talk shit! Roswell4ever - thank you!!! Glad sum1 likes it!! Lol Wajma Raja - if ur out there, thanks 4 the email! Merry Xmas and a happy new year 2 u 2!!! (I'm assuming ur potter stalker!) E M McCaff - special thanks!! I luv ur review! I felt so damn good!!! Keep reviewing!! Luv ya!

AND A HAPPY HOLIDAYS/MERRY XMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!! (