As Draco dozed he thought about Hermione. Was it so strange for him to fall in love with her? He still felt a strong dislike for Gryfindors, Harry and Ron especially, but now that'd he'd gotten a chance to really know Hermione, he didn't think she was that bad. Right away he'd classed her under Gryfindor and mudblood. Two bad things in one yet did that really matter. He'd always thought Gryfindors were arrogant and foolish, diving into things with out thinking. Hufflepuffs were just kind of there; Draco had never thought much of them, until Cedric Diggory. He proved that Hufflepuffs were the hard workers, steady, and not necessarily brave, but strong-willed. Ravenclaws were just the imaginative people who really used their brains a lot. Slytherins though, they were the ones who would reach fame, cunning, smart, they knew how to reach goals. He took that phrase very seriously. Now he was re-thinking his definition of Gryfindor just as he'd re-thought his definition of Hufflepuff based on Cedric.

Feeling thirsty Draco opened his eyes and looked over to where Hermione slept. He felt his heart pound a little quicker seeing her and he felt as though he could watch her sleep forever. Gods, he wanted her to get out of here. He would find a way to get out of here, if not for himself, then for her.

Before getting a drink he glanced up at the roof of the cell. He hadn't seen real daylight for months at least. He could barely remember what trees looked like, what it felt to have a breeze blowing his hair around, and the smell of pine trees in the woods. Draco refused to die down here away from everything he knew.

Draco crawled over to the water bucket and drank then looked around for any bread, but saw none. Sighing he leaned back against the wall wondering if they'd be able to combine the spells and "blow up the whole damned place." He hoped so. Gods, he couldn't wait to get out of this place.

Draco looked at Hermione again and smiled, he'd never felt quite this way before. A little bubble of hope kind of rose in his chest every time he looked at her. There was no point in denying it really; the only question was: did she like him? Well, he knew that she didn't hate him, they could be considered friends, but did she like him in the same way?

Draco shrugged and stared blankly at the wall. Boredom, the word chanted itself over and over again. He wondered if Hermione was going to wake up soon, then at least he'd have someone to talk to. He never thought he'd be looking forward to talking to Hermione.

***

Hermione opened her eyes and yawned then glanced over at Draco. He was looking at her in a strange way.

"What?" she asked.

Draco looked away immediately and said, "Nothing."

Hermione shrugged then got a drink of water, "Do you want to try escaping again today, or wait a while?"

Draco shrugged, "I'd like to escape as soon as possible, but I don't know if that's entirely safe. Whatever you want."

"Lets try today," she said hopefully, "I'm sure this will work. Once we set off the explosion everyone will be confused, and during the muddle we can get away."

"What about the other prisoners?" Draco asked her. Hermione bit her lip, she hadn't thought of that. It surprised her that Draco even thought of that at all; at first she'd thought he'd only wanted to get out to save his own skin. She'd been wrong, and proven wrong more than once now.

"If we have time," she told him, "I don't know how much we'll have."

Draco nodded, "Just as long as one of us gets away to warn someone, tell someone where this is and that it is here."

Hermione nodded also agreeing, "At least one of us."

She felt strange saying that, she felt sure that both of them could get away. Draco had defiantly changed, he was almost like a Gryfindor.

"You know Draco," she said, "I think you've changed. You're like a Gryfindor almost."

Draco's expression immediately changed; maybe she shouldn't have said that.

"A Gryfindor?" he said angrily, "I used to think Gryfindors were foolish and arrogant, getting to know you down here made me start to think different, but you know now I think they really are. Since when were Slytherins defined as mean? You've leapt to conclusions just as I had. I think you need to think before you speak."

Hermione looked away stung, but Draco was right. What had the sorting hat defined Slytherins as? They were cunning, using any means to reach their goals; that didn't mean that they were mean.

***

Harry sighed frustrated as he tried to do his potions homework. He looked over at Ron who looked like he was having even less luck at concentrating than Harry.

"Ron?" he asked. Ron looked up, "Do you get the feeling that the ministry isn't doing much to find Hermione?"

"Yes," Ron looked rather disgusted, "At least they now know that You-Know-Who is really back."
"Malfoy has been missing all year too," Harry said and Ron nodded.

"We have to go to the common room," Ron said, "8:00 curfew."

Harry nodded and they stood up gathering their books, given the chance Harry would have gone into the forest to look for Hermione himself, but Dumbledore had strictly told them they were not to go looking for her. Harry felt a little better knowing that Dumbledore at least was going to be helping the Ministry in their search for Voldemort and all the missing muggles and wizards.

Harry and Ron hurried through the hallways to the painting of the Fat Lady. He mumbled the password and the painting swung away to reveal the hole into the common room. He and Ron climbed through then sat down in the large red chairs to finish the homework.

"Four months, she's been missing for nearly four months now," Ron said angrily.

"Lots of people are missing," Harry said, "Not only Hermione."

"You-Know-Who is probably planning a mass murder," Ron said sarcastically.

"We've got to find a way to help," Harry said fiercely, "We're almost full wizards!"

"They think You-Know-Who has a underground lair," Ron said, "The Daily Prophet said that."

"Daily Prophet," Harry scoffed, "I wouldn't trust them with my life. We've got to get out of here!"

"We can't though," Ron pointed out, "Anyone who goes in the forbidden forest gets banned to their common rooms, they're not even aloud to leave for quidditch. Plus we all have to be inside Hogwarts an hour before sunset then we're not aloud to leave the common rooms after eight."

"Yes, I know! I know!" Harry yelled startling a group of studying first years. Harry chewed on his lip thoughtfully, "If only, if only there was a way."

"We can always go ask Dumbledore, again," Ron said, but Harry shook his head.

"He's probably tired of me and you bugging him for information and what they've found. This spring break we can get away. Tell your mother you're staying here and tell Dumbledore your going there and I'm coming."

Ron nodded, "It's a good plan, but that's nearly two months away."

"Maybe if," Harry started then shook his head, "Its no good. I wish, never mind."

"I hate waiting," Ron said miserably.

A/N: I can't believe I have almost a hundred reviews! I feel so special; I've never had a story this good! Am I keeping the characters pretty much ic?

Snowbear- Sorry this chapter had no romance; there'll be more in chapter sixteen, hopefully.

Ella Palladino- I'm trying to keep it good, ack, I feel like this story is over my head.

Muffin Shoes- I'm glad you didn't explode, heh heh, that's nearly happened to me a couple of times. Did this chapter come soon enough?

Anime-Writer- Thanks for reviewing. I always thought my sister was the better writer… Her pen name is Snowbear.

AlL rOaDs LeAd To HeLl- Don't worry, it's more complicated than you think, hopefully; still several chapters to come. I can promise you there will be chapters where they are at Hogwarts.

Miyukisetsu- I think this is my longest chapter so far. I haven't read it, but I will, *goes to look at it*.

Marrisa03- I'm glad you think its good! Hopefully there'll be more between Draco and Hermione in future chapters, its hard to put everything you want in a chapter with out messing it up.