Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Harry Potter. All of those wonderful characters belong to the equally wonderful JK Rowling. However, I'm still crossing my fingers that she'll let me borrow Draco. I mean she is finished with the fifth book and she won't need him again until the sixth…

Chapter 4

That's What Friends Are For

At first, Hermione didn't notice Madame Pince standing next to the table. She had been up in the library for only a half-hour and was too busy trying to remember how Professor Binns said the first Minister of Magic got the position. It had something to do with the defeat of some troll, or was it giants? It had to be somewhere in her notes. She wouldn't have forgotten to write that down.

"Miss Granger…" a rather stern voice said, finally breaking through to her.

"Huh?" Hermione asked looking up, finally noticing Madame Pince.

"Professor Dumbledore wishes to speak with you in his office."

"Oh. Thank you," Quickly Hermione shoved her notes into her backpack and left for Dumbledore's office. Suddenly she was struck by memories of the last night. He probably needed to ask her some questions regarding Nutricius' demise. She wasn't sure she could talk about it without breaking down into tears; not that Dumbledore would mind.

Before reaching Dumbledore's office, she realized that Professor Snape and Draco were standing next to the stone gargoyle. They were apparently waiting for someone, or something.

While she approached them she noticed that Draco's hair was wet. He had apparently just finished a shower, yet for some reason was shivering and his lips looked a tad bit blue. Vaguely she wondered if he was coming down with something.

"Nice to see Miss Granger decided to finally grace us with her presence. Thought it would be pleasant to make myself and Mister Malfoy wait while she spent her time idly wandering the halls?" Snape asked, eyeing her with something akin to disgust.

Hermione was sure he hadn't been waiting long. He had probably just arrived, but none-the-less she apologized. "I'm terribly sorry Professor. I had no idea anyone was waiting for me. Otherwise I would have made sure I hurried."

"Yes, well hopefully you will learn some manners before you leave this school. That will be five points from Gryffindor," Snape said as he turned to the gargoyle and mutter "Acid Pops." Immediately the statue shifted back and the spiral staircase began moving up to the office. All three stepped on a stair as the door closed behind them.

'What the fuck? How was I supposed to know anyone was going to be waiting for me? Besides I didn't take that long to get here anyway. As soon as Madame Pince told me to go down to Dumbledore's office I left the Library. I doubt he was even waiting for long,' Hermione thought to herself as she scowled at the back of Snape's greasy head.

After reaching the top of the stairs, Snape directed the two students into the spacious office. When they had entered the room, he abruptly turned around and exited, without a word to the curious pair.

"So, Granger, what do you suppose our dear Head Master could want with the two of us…" Draco asked, glancing at Hermione and taking a seat in one of the chairs.

She noticed that he was still shivering slightly, although his lips had returned to their normal color.

"Madame Pince just told me Professor Dumbledore wanted to see me. She didn't say anything else."

"Snape didn't tell me anything either. I had just stepped out of the shower when Elladora told me Snape was waiting outside in the hall. He just told me I was to go see Dumbledore," Hermione could have sworn that he blushed slightly when he mentioned his shower. "But, you really have no idea?"

"No. I honestly don't know why he asked the two of us here. Although I would have figured that you being Mr. Omnipotent would know that, Malfoy," Hermione said sarcastically. She had thought Dumbledore wanted to speak to her about Nutricius. But if Malfoy was there, it had to be about something different.

"Oh, I see. So you don't know everything. Never thought I'd see the day," Draco smirked. "What is the world coming to?"

"Oh? But perhaps I do know, but just don't wish to share. Maybe you're here because of me. Maybe I told Professor Dumbledore that you've been walking around our common room in the nude. Possibly he just wants to confront you with your problem, and feels that I should be here to explain the situation."

'Did I just say that? What was I thinking?' Hermione was thoroughly shocked with herself.

"Well, if you did tell him that, I would just have to explain that I was 'walking around in the nude,' as you put it, after making love to you all night long," The smirk on Draco's face only grew larger.

"I'm afraid that is not why I've called the two of you here today," As if on cue, Dumbledore walked into his office.

Hermione turned a deep color of scarlet. She could not believe Dumbledore had just heard their exchange. Draco on the other hand did not appear to be in the least bit flustered. Rather just amused.

"Unfortunately, you have both been called in here for unpleasant news. Miss Granger already knows, but this is going to come as quite a shock for you Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore's eyes did not hold their normal twinkle and his face appeared very grave. It was obvious that whatever the news, it was indeed unpleasant.

Both Hermione and Draco looked at each other with bewildered expressions on their faces. Neither one knew what he was talking about, but supposedly Hermione already knew.

"I think you'll have to explain yourself a bit more. Both myself and Malfoy are a bit confused," Hermione said, prompting Dumbledore to continue.

"It's about Nutricius…" Dumbledore said quietly yet with purpose.

Hermione looked at Draco quickly. 'What would a future Death Eater know about Nutricius, and why would Dumbledore be talking about him,' She thought as she began to cry against her own will.

Draco looked at Hermione wondering what she could possibly know about Nutricius, only to see her eyes fill up with tears that began spilling down her cheeks. Draco's gaze returned to Dumbledore. "What about Nutricius?"

"Last night, Nutricius was murdered by a Death Eater, Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore looked even more grave having said this.

"What?! How?!" Draco never expected this. He knew something terrible must have happened, but he was hoping for something a little less grievous.

Hermione had begun to sob outright into her hands. Her entire body shook with every breath she managed to swallow in between her tears. Slowly she was able to regain her composure, and wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her robe. Her eyes were still full of tears, but she knew she had to have control over herself. She had managed much of the day without tears. Surely she could do it now.

"I see I have a lot to explain to both of you," Dumbledore started, looking at the two students sitting before him. "I guess I should start by telling you that you were both working with Nutricius. You both asked me to help with the Ministry's efforts against Voldemort. Being young students still at school, there were only a few options open. But then Nutricius decided to join our forces. Being a centaur, there were certain things in the wizarding world that he didn't fully understand. He was going to need someone to help clarify things, prepare the reports for the Ministry and to do needed research. This would be a lot to ask of one person who also had schoolwork to manage. However, it would be perfect to split the work between two persons. We decided that you would each alternate nights meeting him—"

"But why weren't we told about each other?" Draco asked, interrupting Dumbledore. Logically he couldn't see why. If they had known about each other, they could have worked together, and the work would have been done even faster

"To be honest, we really just wanted as few people as possible to know about all of this," Dumbledore responded, looking a bit sad for having to say it. "The Ministry has been having a heck of a dilemma with spies getting information back to Voldemort.. Which was why both of you were told to keep your work a secret, and why we issued you both invisibility cloaks. The honest truth is that we can't even trust the teachers here at Hogwarts."

Dumbledore paused for a moment, as though unsure how to continue. "As I understand, the last thing Nutricius was working on was a plant that could possible destroy Voldemort once and for all," Dumbledore proceeded, looking at Draco and Hermione for confirmation.

"Yes, he actually came across Wormtail talking to himself in one of the forests. He was complaining about a mission Voldemort had just sent him on. He was supposed to find a plant that if ingested would essentially vaporize the person and destroy it. But before Nutricius could apprehend him, Wormtail apparated," Hermione answered. She had stopped crying altogether now, but looked as though she might begin again any moment.

"Yes, I—we, just haven't discovered what it is yet," Draco supplied, glancing at Hermione for confirmation. "Nutricius asked me, although I assume Granger as well to look at all of the books in the library to discover anything about the plant. We've been working on it for almost a month. For the last few weeks he's been asking forest creatures about the plant. He figured one of the creatures would at least know something about it."

Draco couldn't help looking at Hermione. She appeared so fragile, yet at the same time incredibly strong. He would have given anything to comfort her then, but knew that was out of the question. She would probably freak out.

"Well, I believe that someone, or something tipped off Voldemort. He was on his way to speak to Miss Granger when he was struck in the back by this knife," Dumbledore held up the dagger for Draco to see.

There was no mistaking this weapon for anything other than an instrument belonging to one of Voldemort's many Death Eaters. The ruby eyes seemed to glow menacingly in the candle-lit office. The snake in the skull's mouth was just as disturbing in the day as it had been the night before.

"I don't understand. Why would they use a dagger to kill Nutricius? Why not a spell?" Draco asked, eyeing the knife with both revulsion and curiosity.

"I believe that whoever killed Nutricius wanted his death to serve as a warning to others. This knife would certainly serve as a deterrent to others, since it's enchanted to never miss its mark. As soon as the dagger left the owner's hand, Nutricius didn't stand a chance. I doubt the killer even bothered to stick around to watch Nutricius die, which is a good thing. If he had stuck around, I believe he would have discovered our Miss Granger," Dumbledore's eyes landed on the doleful girl before him.

Draco heard Hermione's quick intake of breath and saw the fear flash across her eyes. The idea of her murder disturbed Draco immensely. He was surprised that it scared him so much to think of her as dead. 'If I didn't know better, I'd swear I was in love with the girl.'

"Miss Granger, did Nutricius say anything before he died?" Dumbledore asked, interrupting her wandering thoughts about her possible murder.

"Lacrimosus. The only thing he said was 'find Lacrimosus'," Hermione answered. She was still as confused by the word as she had been the night before.

"I don't remember ever hearing the word 'Lacrimosus' before. It might have something to do with the plant he was looking for. He might have managed to discover something just before his death," Dumbledore said after pondering the strange word for a while.

Looking at Hermione, Draco said, "We could continue looking into it. If we were to work together, I'm sure it would go a lot faster than before, especially if we have a word to go off of. If there is anything in the library mentioning 'Lacrimosus', we should be able to find it."

"I think it would be a great idea for you both to continue your work together. I believe the information will likely be found in the Restricted Section. Of course, Madame Pince knows you are allowed in there already. I don't think I need to remind you to keep this all a secret. Voldemort's spies are everywhere," Dumbledore sat at his desk, apparently deep in thought.

Together, Hermione and Draco stood up to leave.

"Granger and I will get on it right away, Professor," Draco said as he made his way to the exit.

Hermione followed close behind, her thoughts still with Nutricius. He had died trying to destroy Voldemort. There was no way she would fail him. Filled with fresh resolve she continued heading towards the exit. 'If the library has anything about that damned plant, I'm going to find it.'

"Oh, just as a matter of thought. If the two of you are going to be working so closely together, I would suggest that you begin using each other's first names. You should be on friendly enough terms for that don't you think?" The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes having returned.

Draco and Hermione looked at each other for a moment. There really was no reason to use last names. "Yes, of course Professor," they both responded as they left the office and headed down the stairs.

* ~ * ~ *

"So Gra–Hermione, do you want to get started right away, and go to the library, or would you rather start on that later," Draco asked when they stood in the hall.

"Huh? What?" Hermione asked. She had been so absorbed in her thoughts she hadn't really heard him say anything.

"Never mind. You obviously could use a good rest. We'll start working on it later." Draco said walking towards their dorm.

"I thought we were going to the library," Hermione said confused, trying to catch up with his long strides.

"I think it would be better if we started tomorrow. You're obviously very tired. I doubt you would really even be able to do research," Draco said turning around to look at her. She was incredibly pale, and her tears had stained her cheeks. Her eyes were rather bloodshot and looked as though she might start crying any moment.

Hermione stared at him. "What makes you think I'm so tired? Don't pretend you know how I'm feeling and what would be best for me. And even if I am tired, that would never mean I couldn't do any research. I happen to be very good at researching, even when tired."

Hermione was clearly offended by what he had just said, but Draco knew she needed to sleep. She had been up very early that morning, and had doubtlessly gone to bed late. Combined with the emotional toll of Nutricius' death, she was probably ready to collapse.

"Okay, fine. If you're not tired, I am. I'm sorry. I just assumed you were tired too. Would you mind if we waited to work on this until tomorrow?" Draco said complacently. He didn't want her infuriated with him, forcing herself to work when she really didn't feel up to it. Obviously, her pride was not something to tackle with.

"Fine. We can work on it tomorrow then," Hermione said as she began walking towards their rooms again.

Draco followed close behind, trying not to smile at her. 'She could certainly be stubborn, and easily offended. She's still angry that I even insinuated that she was tired. He thought as he watched her practically run down the hall. She was walking so quickly she didn't even hear Nearly-Headless-Nick call out a greeting to her.

Reaching the painting, Hermione said the password, and walked into the common room without even looking behind her to see if Draco had even followed. She walked directly across the hard wood floor to her door.

Turning around, she looked at Draco who had just entered the portrait hole. "Well then, I hope you manage to get that rest that you seem so in need of," She said with a combination of sarcasm and lingering anger.

Entering her room, Hermione sat on the chair at her desk, debating about what she should do. She had finished all of her homework for the weekend, including the transfiguration essay due on Thursday. She could read, but truthfully didn't feel like it.

'Well, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to take a quick nap before dinner,' She thought as she slipped out of her robes and into her pajamas.

Taking a quick look outside her window before closing the curtains she saw it had begun snowing again. The Forbidden Forest looked especially frightening. The snow had collected on most of the evergreens, but the leafless limbs of the other trees seemed to be reaching out like bone-thin arms.

Turning from the window, she padded across the room and slid between the covers. Sighing with comfort, she turned on her side and promptly fell asleep. But her sleep wasn't to be as relaxing as she may have hoped. Once again her dreams were haunted by visions from the past. Images she just couldn't escape or help.

* ~ * ~ *

Draco watched Hermione enter her room and close the door behind her. 'She'll be asleep in minutes,' He told himself as he took a seat in one of the leather chairs and gazed at the orange flames in the fireplace.

'I can't believe he's dead. It really doesn't seem like reality. I would be meeting him tonight,' Draco glanced at Hermione's door. 'I can't believe she had to see that. It must have been horrible.'

Lost in his thoughts Draco remained sitting in the chair until he heard the tower clock strike five. He hadn't realized he had been sitting in that chair for so long. Taking a quick glance at Hermione's bedroom door, he stood up and left the common room. After saying good-bye to Elladora, he headed towards the Great Hall for dinner.

Both he and Hermione had missed lunch while they were in Dumbledore's office. He was famished and couldn't wait to eat. He hoped that Hermione would wake up in time to eat, but he felt guilty waking her from her much needed sleep.

'Well, if she doesn't come down in time, I'll just grab a plate of food from the house elves for her,' He thought as he sat down at the Slytherin table next to Crabbe and Goyle, both of which merely grunted as he took a seat.

* ~ * ~ *

Hermione wandered around the forest, searching for something, but she didn't know what. She kept turning around in circles, trying to see among the trees, but the moonless night offered no illumination.

She reached into her robes trying to find her wand, but it wasn't there. Where could it possibly be? Surely she would never leave it anywhere. She couldn't help herself from panicking. She was outside in a forest, at night, alone, and without her wand.

Suddenly she could hear someone laughing. A cruel horrible laugh resounded in the deserted forest causing her to stop her frenzied searching and to stand as perfectly still as possible.

"Poor, poor, little Hermione. Your wand isn't with you, m'dear. I fear you managed to drop it along the way."

Frantically she tried to locate the source of the voice, but could see nothing in the darkened forest. She was so close to tears, but they would solve nothing.

She began running. Not knowing where, or in what direction. She just kept running, dodging trees that seemed to loom up out of nowhere. She stumbled on the underbrush, but kept going. Somehow she knew that if she stopped she was going to die.

Looking behind her, she would have sworn she saw something flying at her, but it seemed to disappear between the trees. She continued in her mad dash, branches ripping at her hair and clothing; but she didn't care. All around her, the terrifying laugh echoed in the cold night air.

Tripping over something, she fell to her knees onto the forest floor. Turning around, she saw she had tripped over a body. She had landed in a red puddle, splashing the liquid over her entire body. She was dripping in blood. Looking at the body she saw that it was Nutricius. Maggots had begun eating his flesh, and his eye sockets were empty. A large snake began slithering out of the mouth, hissing at her.

She managed to stifle her scream as she quickly scrambled away from the grotesque corpse, and began running again. She kept running until she nearly ran head on into a cloaked figure, just standing in the middle of the forest, unmoving. Backing away, she tried to run around the form, but every way she moved it was standing in front of her again.

Finally she gave up and just fell to her knees and began crying. The figure raised its hand and she could see a glinting knife in its hand. She didn't have time to react before it was released and came flying directly towards her.

* ~ * ~ *

Hermione awoke with a scream. Panting, she sat up in her bed and looked around at her surroundings, trying to figure out where she was.

Realizing she was safely in her room, she let out a sigh of relief and laid back down on her pillows. Looking to her side she realized it was five thirty. Her stomach let out a growl as she remembered she hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. Quickly she threw her robes back on and ran down to the Great Hall and sat next to Ginny.

The redhead smiled as Hermione settled herself on the bench and began piling her plate full of food.

"Hey Hermione. Are you feeling any better?" Ginny asked looking at Hermione sympathetically.

"Yeah. Just having an off day I guess. I had gone to see Harry earlier and was kind of upset," Hermione said, looking at her best friend.

"I know what that's like," Ginny responded.

Hermione happened to glance at the Slytherin table and noticed that Draco was looking at her. Vaguely she wondered if he was feeling any better having slept that afternoon when she realized he hadn't needed the rest he claimed he did.

'You are such an idiot Hermione. He told you that just so you would lie down for a while. You got so defensive when he suggested that you might be tired. I can't believe that you did that. Here he was being so considerate and you acted like such a bitch.'

Quickly she looked away from him and at her plate in front of her.

"Do you want me to come over and sleep with you tonight?" Ginny asked, breaking Hermione out of her self-reprimanding reverie.

"Would you mind?" Hermione asked. "This afternoon when I had a nap, I had such a terrible nightmare. It would be so wonderful if you would be there."

Ginny smiled at Hermione. "Of course I'll be there for you. I'll go grab my stuff right after dinner and I'll meet you at your dorm, Okay."

"Thank-you so much. I don't know what I'd do without you," Hermione said, returning to her meal.

Ginny smiled, glad to see her friend in better spirits. "That's what friends are for."

* ~ * ~ *

Author's Note: Well, that was chapter 4. I do hope you liked it. I told you Draco would talk in this one. I tried to make him still seem like the cocky self-assured Draco we've all come to know and love. I hope you don't all think he's too out of character. I promise when he's around other character's he'll be more in character. So please review, even if they are flames. I don't care, I just want to know what people think of my story.

I do want to say thank-you to everyone that reviewed. I really appreciated every one of them. I like to know that people are actually reading my story, and like it.

michelline, Thanks for reviewing again. It's nice to know that you still like it enough to keep reading.

Shining Star, I hope you liked Draco in this chapter. I promise we're going to be seeing a lot more of him.

Crystalline Lily, Well, we aren't going to really find out who/what Lacrimosus is until much later. All we know right now is the word has something to do with Voldemort.

HarryPotterWanter, I hope you enjoyed the Draco/Hermione action. There will be much more of it in the later chapters. I can promise you that. I also learned of Elladora from the wizard cards. I just thought she sounded like a cool person, and so I made her a portrait.

tigerbrat88, I'm going to try really hard not to make it incredibly sappy, and I will try to draw it out for a while. They aren't going to just jump into each other's beds in the near future. Although that might disappoint some of the readers.

harrypotter4ever, I promise this story is not going to remain so sad. I guess her dream in this chapter was rather sad, but after this it gets much happier.

Sailor Moon Rose, No you don't have to do or say anything to get me to update the next chapter. When I'm finished with it I'll post it. Even if everybody hates it, I'll still post it.

Dreaming One, Draco's my favorite character too, and I promise I'm going to try and not rush the romance. However, if you think that I am, feel free to tell me and I'll try to slow it down.

Sex & Diamonds, It would have been hilarious if Draco had jerked off, but I thought the cold shower was equally funny. That also let Hermione see what he had just done, although she's a bit too dense to figure it out.

catherine, I hope you still like the story after this chapter. Your review made me feel so special.

Rhapsody, Every one that I emailed I found their names under "Playing With a Dragon's Fire. Ron's still in the story, but any romance occurring between him and Hermione is out of the question. This is after all a Hermione/Draco fic.

Brianna, As I'm sure you were able to deduce from this chapter, Draco did not kill Nutricius, and I promise the story is not going to remain this sad anymore.

tainted black, Yeah, Hermione used the Mobilicorpus charm to carry Nutricius up to the castle. He would be a bit heavy for her. Ron's just dense and doesn't realize how much Hermione misses Harry too. Unfortunately that means he pushes her away, and Hermione has a hard time seeing him as a friend anymore.

Starlit Night, Yes the name is pronounced like nutritious, except with an 's' sound instead of a 'sh' sound. The name Nutricius basically means mentor or guide, which he was to Hermione and Draco.