Author's Notes

Thing ONe: Oh God. SIRIUS!!!! *sobs, holding onto her now deflated 'I LOVE PADFOOT' balloon* You messed everything up! The entire continuity!

Thing TWo: It's all right, really, I mean, he's only a fictional character, who's not real and probably would look really good shirtless-OH GOD, WHY'D HE DIE? *starts sobbing with Thing ONe* I mean, this is THE CHAPTER we put him in, the FIRST CHAPTER. And now he's GONE! FOREVER! DAMN YOU ROWLING! Damn you for messing up the flow of our story that was totally realistic until now! Anyway, this story is all pre-OotP. Nothing from that book will be seen in here.

 

            Disclaimer: Give Back Yourself is recorded by the Gufs. Donna & Blitzen is by Badly Drawn Boy, as is the segment from the song Minor Incidents ( we guessed a bit on that second verse, couldn't find lyrics anywhere!). Hermione's lines "There's so much to work through" to "Can you just be kissing me now?" are from Tara's speech to Willow in Buffy the Vampire -WHY'D YOU KILL HIM NOW, ROWLING, WHY?!?!?!?!

            "Huh?" Harry said, trying his hardest not to believe that Hermione had said what he thought she had said.

            "I told Draco I'd go out with him on Christmas Eve." She repeated quietly. "Oh Harry, I was so mad when I said so, I didn't want to, I just wanted to get back at you."

            "I understand." Harry said. He didn't really. This was new territory for him. He was very unsure about what to say and what to do. It was obvious Hermione was sorry, but a small voice in the back of his head reminded him of how rude Hermione had been to him, so he proceeded with caution.

            "Did he say yes?"

            Hermione nodded, "And I can't break it off. If I do, then we won't get along, and the play will be ruined." She got up and started pacing around the room. "And all I want to do is get back together with you, but I know it's going to be hard. We never even really worked through our relationship before; it was just a lot of kissing. For all we know it may never have worked. There's so much to work through. Trust has to build again, on both sides, you have to learn if you're even the same people you were, if you can fit in each other's lives, it's a long and important process and can we just skip it? Can you just be kissing me now?"

            So Harry did just that.

            Rehearsals were after classes the next day. Lauren was on edge. "It's over." She said to herself. "It's all over. It's all bloody fu-" Then she saw Harry, Hermione, and Ron coming in, all laughing cheerily and looking like they were all friends. "It's not over!" she screamed in her head.

            Apparently she had screamed it out loud too, because everyone turned to look at her. "Director's thing, chant, mantra." She told them. "It's nothing." She got up and approached the Trio. "Guys, we're doing a few sound checks today. Harry, Hermione, I'm going to need you two to sing together when we test you're charms."

            "All right." They said together.

            Lauren was happy. Harry and Hermione weren't fighting. And all was right in the world.

            Everyone tested out their charms, a chanteon spell, which would project their voices all over the theater when they sang (for just speaking parts, everyone used a general sonorous charm). It worked perfectly, except for one problem: it had to specialized for everyone. So that meant anyone who was singing had to go up and get the spell fine-tuned before each dress rehearsal and performance. This was the first time that they had tried out the charm, and would be the only time until March when they started up on their last rehearsals.

            It took awhile. Prof. Flitwick had come to do it. He claimed that after a few castings, it wouldn't need to be perfected by him, but for the first few, he would be on hand to do them. That meant everyone had to go on and sing a few bars over and over until the perfect balance was found.

            Forty-five minutes later, they finally got to Harry and Hermione. They had to go separately first, and then together to do a special duet charm.

            "All right guys, sing something together. Anything." Lauren told them.

            Hermione leaned over and whispered something in Harry's ear and he nodded. They cleared their throats and sang a few chords.

Go on living

Always keep on living

Every time I'm dreaming

You give back yourself

Go on living

Always keep believing

In my thoughts and memories

You give back yourself

            "Perfect!" Flitwick squeaked. "That was easier than expected. All right, Monroe, you may continue with your rehearsal. May I stay so I can hear the acoustics?"

            "Of course!" Lauren said. "All right company, we're going to try to do the entire thing through today. If we have to much trouble with the dances, then we'll skip those, but I want to try to get as much of the play done as possible."

            So rehearsals started. They got through it in almost one piece, though they had to take a break in the middle so everyone could stop laughing after Justin had done a spectacular barrel roll down the stairs.

            "Rehearsal tomorrow!" Lauren called after them as they left. "Be here at 7:00 on the dot!" She took it on faith that everyone had heard what she had yelled and was just about to leave when a voice startled her.

            "Well, well, if it isn't the junior Auror herself."

            Lauren whipped around "Sirius!" she squealed.

            "Alive and kicking. How you doing Monroe?" He asked, coming over to hug her. "I came in the back way, heard the last few minutes. You've done a good job here."

            Lauren smiled broadly. "Thanks. I was going to owl you, but things have been so busy here that I couldn't. Does Harry know you're here?"

            "No," Sirius said, "I was thinking on dropping in on him later. Do you know if he's going to be in Hogsmeade tonight?"

            "I'm not sure." Lauren said, "Minerva has all the schedules for the trips."

            "Ah well, we can go anyway." Sirius told her. "We've got catching up to do."

            "All right." Lauren said, blushing slightly. Sirius had always had the affect on her. "Just let me clean up here. I only need to put up the sets." She took her wand and flicked it at the sets. They moved themselves out of the way and quietly into the wings. The curtain came down and the candles blew out, save for the few that were overhead. "All right, I'm ready to go."

            Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting in the Three Broomsticks each with a large Butterbeer apiece.

            "Perfect end to the end of term. Well, almost end of term, still have one day." Ron said cheerfully. "Christmas is in just five days!"

            "I know." Hermione said, "Can you believe that we've only got four months left of rehearsal until the play?"

            "I can." Harry said. "Bet Lauren's counting down the days on a calendar. She's been doing a good job with us though. She's a good director."

            "Speak of the devil!" Ron said, pointing to the door. "Here she is. Hi Laur-" he stopped mid greeting. "Is that Sirius?"

            It was. Lauren was arm in arm with Harry's godfather and they were talking amicably. "Should we say hi?" Hermione asked quietly.

            "No, this should be fun to watch for a few minutes." Harry said. "I don't want to jump all over Sirius, he can't have been here long."

            They sat there for a few more minutes, watching Lauren and Sirius talk. Sirius said something and Lauren laughed gaily, the sound carrying across the room. After a few more minutes, Hermione quietly asked, "Are they…flirting?"

            "I think so," Ron said uncertainly, "Harry?"

            Harry's eyes were wide. "This is like a train wreck." He said in an unbelieving voice. "It's like when your mum was going wild over Gilderoy Lockhart."
            Sirius and Lauren, totally unaware of the three teenagers staring at them, continued with their talking. Unbeknownst to them, they were flirting with each other. They weren't intentionally, mind you, it was this sort of natural reflex thing. They'd always done it in school, though they had never dated.

            "It's really good to see you again." Lauren said. "I'd really missed you."

            "I missed you too." Sirius replied. "I kept on reminding myself to owl you, but it always got way-sided by one thing or another."

            "I know exactly what you mean." Lauren told him. "You were number three on my things to do list, but now that you showed up, I can scratch it off."

            "Oh, and I heard something from Minerva that caught my interest." Sirius said. "She told me that the staff was betting on Harry's love life."

            "Well," Lauren said, not realizing that this would be a problem, "We are, but it's-"

            "I think that it's horrible, inconsiderate, disrespectful, rude, and are only teachers allowed to place bets?" Sirius finished, starting to laugh.

            Harry, Ron, and Hermione had slipped past their table by now. Once outside, Harry took a deep breath. "That was bracing."

            "It isn't that bad, Harry." Hermione assured him. "Don't you want Sirius to be happy?"

            "Yes, but why does he need to do it with our teacher?" Harry asked. He looked close to a meltdown. Hermione was worried. Harry had a tendency to do this when under a lot of stress; turn little things into very big deals. "I mean, it's just…"

            "Calm down." Ron said. "Besides, you can talk to Sirius about it later, he's bound to come visit you."

            But Sirius did not come visit Harry, which made Harry more freaked out than he already was. And when Lauren was not in class the next day, he went almost insane.

            "It's all right Harry." Hermione told him. "Lauren asked me to sub for her. Fleur is working on dance preparations. She's just going to talk with the owners of the theatre."

            Harry wasn't convinced, but let Hermione teach without interruption. Not that you could really call it teaching. She was just checking to be sure that everyone was doing the bookwork and answering any questions that they had (Hermione had done the work the week before in some spare time she had during class). Class was halfway through when there was a knock on the door. Hermione went to answer it, and found Fleur standing there, holding and armload of papers.

            "Salut, Hermione!" Fleur said. "I just stopped by to see how the class was doing."

            "Oh fine." Hermione said. "No interruptions. Not like I'm actually teaching them anything."

            "I really wish I could've taken over the class, but I have dance preparations, and some papers to grade from a month ago!" Fleur said. "Lauren's been so stressed with the play, I think it was good of her to take a day off, go see an old friend."

            "Friend?" Hermione asked.  "I thought she was seeing the owners of the theatre."

            Fleur's brain froze. Lauren had confided in her that she was seeing Sirius. Lauren didn't want Fleur telling that to anyone because, well, think of this school's rumor mill for a second. "Of course." Fleur said quickly. "She knows one of the owners from her school days. They were going to get lunch afterwards."

            Hermione knew Fleur was lying, but decided not to pursue it. "How's the dance stuff going?"

            "Oh, tres bien, mais c'est barbant." Fleur told her, slipping into French as she always did when she was nervous. "You know, it's all going very well, but how many times do I have to double check the lists to make sure their right? Ah well, I should get back on it. A tout l'heure."

            Finally, it was Christmas. Some people had gone home for Christmas, but, with the prospect of the ball, most stayed at Hogwarts. All of the boys in Ron and Harry's dorm were going home for Christmas. Lavender was upset about this, and ended up shouting at Seamus in the dorm as he was packing. Seamus had done the smart thing and ignored her, which only infuriated Lavender more.

            The 24th was spent doing the homework that had piled up, and one final rehearsal that ended up being more of a Christmas party than anything else. It's hard to act a scene when the person you're having a dialogue with is eating chips during their lines. Lauren let them wander the village for a while afterwards, making them all promise to be in by nine o'clock.

            "Where should we go, then?" Harry asked.

            "Why don't we go see Fred and George?" Ron asked. "It's been awhile."

            Fred and George had a joke shop in Hogsmeade. They had found a nice, old house to work and sell in, but they weren't sure they'd be able to at first. After many meetings with the head of Zonko's Joke Shop, in which Fred and George promised not to sell any of the things that Zonko's did, they were allowed to set up shop. And they'd been doing quite a booming business, too, as was evident when they walked in that night. The small shop was crowded, mostly with people from the play, and a few embarrassed looking adults. Fred was ringing up purchases, looking tired.

            Ron got in the back of the line and yelled "Hey, can we get some service here?"

            Fred looked up, seriously annoyed at first until he saw whom it was. "Oh shut up," he yelled back "Ickle Ronnikens."

            George heard the yelling and came up to the trio. "Happy Christmas." He greeted, giving Hermione a quick hug. "How's that play going? You realize all the Weasley's are going to be there, and we expect a spectacle."

            "I'm sure you'll get one." Harry assured him. "Sorry we haven't been by in a while. It's been busy."

            "How can you be busy, it's your last year?" George asked incredulously. "And Dumbledore cancelled all Quidditch, since the field's getting revamped. There's hardly any homework, except the occasional essay. What are you guys doing?"

            "Well, for one, we've got rehearsals all the time." Hermione said. "And also, we're taking the N.E.W.T's. That adds a bit of extra studying."

            "And we're actually finishing out the year." Harry added.

            "Valid points." George said. "Hey, we're closing up soon, do you want to see what we've been working on? I won't test anything on you!" He added in response to the expressions on their faces.

            Thirty minutes later, after being shown Fred and George's new inventions (including candy that could change your style of hair after eating it) they headed out and back up to the castle.

            "There hasn't been any snow yet this year." Hermione mused. "Normally we get a dusting by now."

            "Not that we've had a lack of cold weather, though." Ron said. They were all covered in thick cloaks, scarves, hats, and earmuffs. "Still, Christmas tomorrow. I'm expecting gifts."

            "Ron…" Hermione said, "Christmas means more than that you know." She caught the looks on Harry and Ron's faces. "All right, so I really don't care about the religious aspects of it either. But you could at least pretend. Anyway, do either of you have dates for the ball?"

            "No," Harry said. He and Hermione had not talked about it before, and she was obviously going with Malfoy now. "Do you Ron?"

            "No." Ron replied. "I haven't really thought about it. They won't kill us if we come alone, will they?" He asked uncertainly.

            "I doubt it." Hermione answered. She'd told Ron about going to the dance with Malfoy the day before, and he'd taken it surprisingly well. True, she'd heard some mild cussing and a fist hitting a wall afterwards, but he was refraining from open hostility.

            They'd reached Head Girl rooms sooner than they'd thought. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow morning." Hermione told them. "Happy Christmas."

            "Happy Christmas" they echoed.

            Harry woke on Christmas Day to long rays of sunlight in his face and Hermione sitting on his bed, talking with Ron.

            "Took you a while to get up." Ron said. "We've been holding off on opening up presents because of you."

            Hermione smiled apologetically at him. "Well, he's up now, so we can open them. How should we do this?"

            An order was decided, in which they would go in a circle and open one present at a time. Sadly, this took them about five minutes to decide.

            There were sweaters for each of them from Mrs. Weasley. Hermione had gotten Ron a book on magical creatures. Ron didn't like it at first, but once he looked inside it, he was hooked.

            "Wow, Hermione!" He said, awed. "This is amazing." It was. The book's pictures were like that in a pop-up book; next to the description of the animal, a picture of it sort of hopped off the page and flew, walked, or hopped around in mid air.

            "Thanks Mione." Harry said, opening his gift. It was also a book, on Auror training and history (All of the Auror-in-training candidates had been given one; Hermione asked for an extra one from Lauren)

            Ron had gotten Hermione two bottles of her favorite perfume, White Gardenia. Hermione immediately sprayed on a liberal amount, filling the room with the sweet scent.

            On his seventeenth birthday, Harry had been sent a large box from Gringotts, containing things his parents had put in their safe. It was mostly photos and papers, but he'd found a necklace that had belonged to his mother, and decided to give it to Hermione for Christmas.

            "Wow, Harry." Hermione whispered, looking at the small diamond star with a gold heart in the middle on a silver chain. "This is beautiful." She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "It's wonderful. Thank you."

            "How come I didn't get a kiss?" Ron asked grumpily.

            "Oh, all right," Hermione giggled. She went over and gave Ron a huge, sloppy kiss on the lips. "That better?"

            "Much." Ron said, and fell over in a dead faint.

            By seven o'clock, everyone had gravitated downstairs for the dance. Hermione was standing with Ron and Harry. "I got a note from Draco telling me to meet him after we dance a bit at the entrance hall at around nine. And he's allowing me to dance with you two."

            "What a prince." Ron said curtly. "I'm getting bad feelings about this thing." He whispered to Harry.

            "So am I." Harry whispered back. "I may keep watch on them, just in case. Not that Draco's really a bad guy anymore, but still, just because he's not a Death Eater doesn't mean-"

            "He's not something else." Ron finished, "I know."

            The doors opened, and everyone paraded into the Great Hall, which was set up much the way it had been when they had the Yule Ball three years before. A singer was standing up on the stage, setting up an old-looking microphone (you know, the big circular ones from the '20's).

            "Is this thing working?" She asked. There was a pang of loud feedback that made everyone cringe. "Apparently so. Hi everyone, I'm Amelie Morlant,"

            "Ooh." Harry heard Lavender say. "I've heard of her, she's supposed to be really good. I wonder how Dumbledore got her to sing here?"

            "This is your Winter Ball, and it starts…now!" She launched into a song that Harry didn't recognize as everyone around him started to dance.

            "Let's grab a table!" Hermione said, pulling Harry to one of the many small tables in the corner, with Ron following closely behind.

            "Shouldn't you be with your date?" Ron asked, though he didn't look at all upset that Hermione wasn't dashing off to fall into Malfoy's waiting arms.

            "I suppose I should find him…" Hermione said, making little effort to search the crowd.

            "Why are you doing this again?" Harry asked, already knowing, but needing to hear the explanation again. The more often she told him, the better he felt about the situation. Not that he felt wonderful, but he at least knew that Hermione wasn't planning on leaving him for Malfoy.

            "I'm only going with him because if I said 'no', then he would get upset, we wouldn't be able to work together, the whole group dynamic would be off and we'd be this huge crater hurtling towards earth…" Hermione stopped seeing Harry and Ron's looks. "And afterwards I'll just politely tell him that we don't work out. I'm hoping he'll break it off with me though, because I'm planning on being as boring as toast throughout the entire thing."

            "Good plan." Harry said. "Do you want to dance with me before your knight in platinum blond armor comes?"

            "All right." Hermione said, taking Harry's hand out onto the dance floor. The song that was playing wasn't one that you could really dance to, it was a faster one.

            "We should learn how to swing dance." Hermione said absentmindedly, "We should take it next year, when we're in London together." Long (okay, about two months) before they had gotten together, Harry and Hermione had already started to make arrangements to live together in London, since they both knew that they would be working around there. Now, the living conditions seemed more convenient, since they had planned to reveal to the world that they were together by then.

            "Swing dance?" Harry asked.

            "Oh, just thinking." Hermione said, "the music made me think of it, and my mind wandered, one thing lead to another, and voila, swing dance."

            "Hello you two." A voice from behind said.

            "Hello Sirius." Harry and Hermione chorused. "Hi Lauren." Harry's godfather and their director were dancing together, and had sashayed over to where they were.

            "Having a nice time?" Sirius asked. "Sorry I didn't come by sooner, I got waylaid."

            "I can imagine." Harry said. He was no longer overreacting to the fact that his godfather could have a social life. In fact, Harry felt almost good about it, because he was now not the only person with a secret relationship.

            "Nice necklace Hermione." Lauren said, looking at the one that Harry had given her. Lauren knew where that was from, almost. It was itching in her head. 'I've seen that before' she thought. 'Just where?'

            "Thanks," Hermione smiled. "Harry gave it to me."

            Sirius looked at Lauren strangely. "Well, we best be off, I need to talk with Dumbledore about some things. We'll see you later."

            "See you." Harry said, and then he turned back to look at Hermione "Do you promise not to have fun tonight?" He asked anxiously. "Cause, if you left me for Malfoy, I'm not sure I could take it. I'd go and join Voldemort."

            "I promise to be bored and count the hours until my return," Hermione said dramatically.

            "Better start with the counting, here comes your dream lover." Harry told her, looking above her head.

            "May I cut in?" Draco asked, already pushing Harry aside.

            "Of course." Harry said through gritted teeth. "Bye Mione."

            "Bye," Hermione said despondently.

            Harry went back over to sit with Ron. "She's off to the ball." He said.

            "Oh fun." Ron said darkly. "I really hate him. Not just really, but really, really hate him. And it's not because he was evil, just because he's a bastard."

            "Cheers." Harry said, tipping his glass to Ron.

            "Well, even with the downfall of my father, the Malfoy family is still prosperous." Draco droned on for what felt like to Hermione five hours. All he talked about was himself. "And women are naturally drawn to me, it's a power I have, I suppose."

            "Draco." Hermione interjected. "I hate to interrupt, but I just remembered, I need to go ask Ron something. I just totally blanked out about…" Think of an excuse quick! "When his brother Charlie's wedding is and if I don't ask him now, it'll bug me all night. See you at nine!" Without waiting to hear if Draco was going to let her go or not, she walked swiftly off over to the table where Ron and Harry were sitting.

            "You escaped, then?" Ron asked.

            "Just for the next hour." Hermione said sadly. "What've I missed?"

            Harry and Ron looked at each other. "Nothing." Harry said. "We've been trying to guess if Lauren and Sirius are a couple or not, but that's really about it."

            "Better than what I had to go through." Hermione said darkly. "I listened to Draco talk about how great he was for an entire hour."

            "Well, how about listening to me talk about myself." Ron offered, flashing a charming smile at Hermione. "Wanna dance with a stud like me?"

            "Of course." Hermione said. She smiled at Harry and whispered 'later'.

            Sirius and Lauren had taken a break from talking to the other teachers and went out into the hall for a second. "I need to tell you something," Sirius whispered.

            When they were out in the hall, Lauren turned to him and said "I think I know what this is about. The necklace Harry gave Hermione is the one-"      

            "James gave to Lily, a year before they were engaged." Sirius finished. "I know." He sat down next to Lauren on one of the steps. "If Hermione only had red hair and they were at each other's throats, I'd have sworn I saw Lily and James dancing."

            "That's what I go through everyday." Lauren said sadly. "And Hermione will have red hair, come April. She's having it dyed for the part. I don't know how I'm going to be able to stand it then; watching them pretend to be in love, knowing none of it's real. That's one of the reasons I've been trying to get them together; to see some of Lily and James in them. And I was bored during auditions."

            "I'll talk to Harry." Sirius assured her. "I've been meaning to, anyway. I'm not sure if he knew the history behind that necklace, and it's a story I've been thinking about a lot lately."

            "Thank you." Lauren said. "I used to be such a great match-maker, you know? And here I am, with an entire cast of characters helping me and I can't get those two together. Maybe you can talk some sense into him."

            Sirius bowed. "I'll be off doing that, then. I'll see you soon."

            Harry was left alone at the table, feeling a mixture of good and sad. He was glad that Hermione didn't have any plans to elope with Malfoy, but right now, he wished that he could just forget their bet, forget the danger, and admit to everyone that Hermione was his girlfriend.

            But he couldn't. He'd recently had a talk with Dumbledore, who informed him that the closer someone was to Harry, the more danger they were in. From what he said, Harry realized that if it was known fact that Hermione was more than his best friend, the Death Eaters would be lining up to kidnap her. Harry loved Hermione, he would die for her, if it came to that. This wasn't something he'd only felt for since they'd started dating, it was something he'd known since his third year. When Hermione had fainted next to him when the Dementors were praying down, he knew he'd do anything just so they could get out safely, because if Hermione was safe, everything would be right in the world.

            Looking back on that feeling (and the other times he'd felt that), Harry realized it was probably some extension of his romantic love for Hermione that he hadn't noticed yet. And if giving up doing things like dancing with her and kissing her in public kept her safe (at least until he fought Voldemort, which would inevitably be at the end of the year), then Harry was willing to do it.

            He still wished he could tell somebody besides Justin.

            As if on cue, Sirius sat down next to him. "Hey Harry. How's everything going?"

            Of course! He could tell Sirius. Why hadn't he thought of it before? "Okay." Harry answered. "Actually, there's something I need to tell you."

            "There's something I need to tell you too." Sirius said. "But you can go first."

            "Thanks." Harry said. It's now or never Potter, just say it. "I've been secretly dating Hermione." He said quickly and quietly.

            Sirius blinked and then stared at Harry. "I wasn't expecting that." He muttered. "All right, that's…news."

            "I have a good reason for not letting anyone else know." Harry said quickly.

            "I can understand." Sirius assured him. "Voldemort, right?" Harry nodded. "When did it happen? How long has this been going on? Does Ron know?"

            "After rehearsal. About two and a half months ago. No, but Justin Finch-Fletchley knows, he caught us kissing." Harry answered. "And the only reason I'm telling you is because I know you won't go and blab it to everyone in the school. You won't, will you?"

            "Of course not." Sirius said. As soon as he said it, he knew he wouldn't tell anyone. Not Lauren, not Dumbledore, and most definitely not the Associated Press.

            "There's something else though." Harry added. "We got into a fight and broke up for two days. During those two days, Hermione took up Draco Malfoy's earlier offer to go out with him tonight." Sirius winced. "I know. Well, she's still going, just because she doesn't want to make him mad and mess up the play. She swears she won't have fun, but I still can't help but be worried."

            "Well, one can't say you don't have an interesting relationship." Sirius said. "And about that thing I needed to tell you, it has to do with your news. Do you know anything about the necklace that you gave Hermione?"

            "It belonged to my mum." Harry said. "It was in that huge stack of stuff they gave me this summer."

            "Your dad gave your mum that necklace for her eighteenth birthday." Sirius told him. "It's actually a funny story, really."

            "What happened?" Harry asked suspiciously.

            "Well, your dad had dragged me into London to order it from this really nice jewelry shop." Sirius said. "He found a pretty heart shaped necklace and decided to get that. Well, then he dragged me and Moony back out there to pick it up. I still have no idea why. Well, I do, he was so happy about dating your mum and I think he wanted to prove to us skeptics that they were happy together and would stay together. Remus and I were never to sure that it would last, they were always about to kill each other, and that's when they were together. You should've seen what it was like when they hated each other.

            "Anyway, when we got there, James opened up the box with the necklace and it was the wrong one. It was a diamond star instead. The guy at the counter kept on telling him that this was what he had asked for and that they didn't even make the golden heart thing anymore. So your dad was upset, and tried to use magic to change the necklace instead. Didn't work. First it got bigger, then it disappeared, then he got it back, then it turned to all silver, until finally he got it to be a heart. But it wasn't exactly what he wanted."

            "So that's why there's the golden heart in the center." Harry said. "I thought it was weird design."

            "Lily ended up loving it anyway, so I suppose it doesn't matter, but that was so funny to watch him try to enchant a necklace." Sirius laughed. "We went crazy and made fun of him for it for about the next three years."

            "Hey Sirius. Sorry I didn't come over sooner, got waylaid by Lavender." Ron said, sitting between them. "Hermione's off on her lovely adventure with Malfoy."

            "She is?" Harry asked, checking the clock. It was 9:00. "Oh great."

            "I know the feeling." Ron said. "He looked like he was going to repossess her when he came up to her. He really gives me the wiggins. Do you think one of us should follow her?"

            Harry looked at Sirius. "No, Hermione can easily take care of herself." Harry said.

            "I agree with Harry." Sirius said. "She's been through enough battle training she could probably take on anything."

            But one thing Hermione could not take on was full-on boredom. When she and Draco went outside and towards the lake, she was praying that she could make a quick run for it. 'Make sure everyone gets along in the play my arse' she thought 'What had I been thinking?'

            Draco led her over to a tree by the lake. He kept looking over his shoulder, which made Hermione nervous. "Where are we going."

            "Just over to the lake." Draco said, distracted.

            "Why don't we go back inside. It's really cold out, and there doesn't seem to be anyone else out here." Hermione said nervously.

            "That's the point."

            Now Hermione was really freaked out. "Draco, let's go back inside."

            "No."

            "Yes, let's go back in now!" Hermione said forcefully. She made to go back in, but Draco grabbed her wrist.

            "You're really important to Harry, aren't you?" He asked in a low voice, holding her back. "If something were to happen to you, say a kidnapping, he'd come to where we took you, wouldn't he?"

            "Let me go!" Hermione yelled.

            "He'd try and rescue you, wouldn't he?" Draco asked again. "That's what he does best. That's why he's Harry Potter."

            Hermione struggled to get at her wand, but since Draco had both of her wrists held back, she was having a lot of trouble.

            "If we left a ransom note that maybe had a splash of your blood on it, he'd do whatever it said, right?" Draco asked in a sinister voice.

            Everything that Hermione had been warned about, all the danger of being best friends with The Harry Potter, were coming true. Everything that she worried about late at night was happening to her. A voice in her head couldn't help yelling 'No! This is all wrong! This is supposed to happen to Ron! Not me!'

            Hermione tried to get away, but Draco just held onto her tighter. She opened her mouth to scream-a long shot, but it was worth trying- but he put his hand over her mouth and whispered "Do that and I'll just kill you now. And it'll hurt a lot more than what'll happen if you cooperate."

            Hermione tried in vain to get her wand, but it was no use. She was going to die. She refused to believe they wouldn't just kill her and bring her body along. She felt a tear escape from her cheek as Draco started to drag her away. Hermione tried fighting once more, but it wouldn't work. He started to tell her how she'd die. Knives, fire, rape, torture, and then death. "Oh God." She said quietly. This wasn't the way she was supposed to go.

            Just as Draco was about to carry her off to…somewhere, she felt him spasm slightly. "Hermione." He said. She noticed that his voice had seemed to change some, but was more distracted by what he said next. "Run. I can't fight it for long. Run!"

            Hermione didn't need to be told twice. Not even thinking about what had happened, she ran as fast as she could. She heard an aggravated yell behind her. Draco was running after her. She grabbed her wand and stunned him. She saw him fall to the ground with a thud. She kept on running. That was all that mattered.

            "I think we should check on her." Harry said suddenly.

            "Huh?" Ron asked, looking up from the brownie he was eating. "I thought you said that she would be okay?"

            "I did," Harry said, "But I've got this bad feeling. Humor me." Ron nodded and followed Harry out of the crowd of dancers and to the hall.

            Hermione ran up the hill to the castle and swung open the doors. She didn't know where she was going, but as she ran, she slammed into something.

            "Hermione!" She heard two voices say. She'd ran into Harry.

            "Oh, Harry," she said, falling into him, crying. "He tried to kidnap me, for Voldemort, he said that they were going to-" She shuddered violently and stopped talking, just cried into Harry.

            "I'll get Dumbledore." Ron said, running back into the Great Hall.

            Harry stood there with Hermione as she cried, smoothing back her hair and saying the only comforting words he could think of. "I love you, don't worry, it's all right, I love you."

            He looked up only when he heard footsteps from his right. Dumbledore, Lauren, Sirius, and Ron had all come back out. "To my office." Dumbledore said, leading the way. Harry and Ron both had their arms tightly around Hermione, which, though it mad walking harder, made them all feel a bit better.

            "Where's Malfoy?" Lauren asked Hermione gently.

            "I stunned him, he's outside somewhere." Hermione said, still visibly shaken, although she had managed to stop crying.

            "I'll go find him." Sirius said.

            Dumbledore summoned a squishy comfy chair for her to sit in while Harry and Ron stood on either side of the chair. "Hermione, what happened?" Dumbledore asked in a gentle way.

            Hermione took a deep breath. She remembered what Harry had said, about telling it sooner was better than keeping it in until later. "Draco took me outside. I said that I wanted to go back in, but he said no. He kept on asking what Harry would do if I was kidnapped. Would he come find me? Would he rescue me? He kept on asking this over and over. He said they'd leave a note about where to find me with my blood on it. When I tried to yell for help, he told me to be quiet or I'd die now." Hermione took another deep breath, not breaking eye contact with Dumbledore. "He started to drag me away and talked about how I was going to die in excruciating detail. He has a really good imagination, unfortunately. He kept on saying this, and then all of a sudden, he told me to run, so I did, and I made sure to stun him in the process."

            "Good girl." Ron said quietly.

            "It sounds like he's working for Voldemort again." Lauren said. "But Albus, I thought we had checked him out to make sure he was safe? How could this slip through?"

            "I supposed we should ask him." Sirius said, coming in with Malfoy's floating body behind him. Sirius let him drop unceremoniously to the floor. Sirius revived him and helped him up. "Get up, into that chair. Now."

            Malfoy plopped into another chair that was in front of Dumbledore's desk. "I'm not saying anything, if that's what you want. She was going to get what she deserved."

            Both Harry and Ron moved forward threateningly, but Dumbledore stopped them with a look. "Some Vertisarum, I think." Dumbledore took some out of a drawer and handed it to Sirius, who in turn force-fed it to Malfoy.

            "Can you hear me?" Dumbledore asked.

            "Yes." Draco said in a flat monotone

            "What is your name?"

            "Draco Leviticus Borgia Malfoy" Ron smirked.

            "Have you been in league with the Dark Lord?"

            "Yes."

            "Under your own free will?"

            "No."

            "Have you been under the Imperious Curse?"

            "Yes, but I have been able to fight it off at times."

            'Well, that explains that,' Hermione thought, thinking of his earlier mood change.

            "Why were you put under the curse?"

            "I was forced to have it put on me last summer. I was ordered to try to get closer to Harry Potter and his friends. When I saw that there was a play and that the others were auditioning for it, I too went to audition, under orders. Later in the year, the Dark Lord formed a plan. I was to ask Hermione out and then kidnap her. That would lead Harry to Voldemort, where he would find her dead body and the Dark Lord waiting for him. Could you please tell Hermione that I didn't want to do it, I tried my hardest to fight it off, but that I wasn't strong enough. Please tell her that I hope she forgives me."

            Harry looked down at Hermione, but her eyes were clamped shut.

            Dumbledore noticed this too. "I think that is all that I will need you three for. Hermione I will talk to you tomorrow. You may leave." The trio left, followed closely by Lauren.

            "I think one of you should stay with her tonight." She said quietly.

            "I will." Harry offered. Lauren smiled warmly at him, and went back in to Dumbledore's office.

            Ron turned to Hermione. He pulled her into a gentle hug and murmured, "I love you Hermione. It'll get better. Don't worry." He squeezed Harry's shoulder as he passed and muttered, "Take care of her" as he left.

            Harry helped get her up to her room and into her bed. She didn't say anything, just laid there looking out her window. Harry laid down next to her. "Please say something, do something, or move. You're scaring me." When she still didn't do anything, he put his face close to hers and started singing softly in her ear, "There's nothing I could say to try to make you feel okay. And nothing you could do to stop me feeling the way I do. And if the chance should happen that I never see you again, just remember that I'll always love you."

            He felt Hermione wrap her arms around his waist and start to cry softly, but he kept on singing. "I'd be a better person on the other side I'm sure. You'd find a way to help yourself, and find a little more. To shrug of minor incidents that make us both feel proud, I just wish I could be there to see you through."

            Back in the Great Hall, the dance was finishing up.

            "I have one more song to play for you tonight." Ms. Morlant said. "And here it goes. Merry Christmas. Huh."

Pay for the light
But you may still slide
Baby it's not your sleigh ride
But this year is ours

            Everyone danced slowly back in the Hall, totally unaware of what was going on. As new loves were formed and old ones were broken, they all danced to the song, full of hope, something none of them had seen in a while.


Maybe tomorrow
We're gonna see
Things we'd never believe
I'll make you want me you'll see

            "Is every dance this eventful?" Sirius joked as he walked with Lauren up to her room.

            "No." Lauren said, "And you shouldn't say that, this is serious, Sirius!"

            "Sorry." He said sheepishly. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

            "I hope so." Lauren said.


The initial warning is free
But only two reindeer
Oh what a sight as they take their first flight
Oh darling it's all in time

            And then, as they leaned forward, as all the other students were dancing and involved in themselves, as all their combined history rushed together in that one moment, they kissed and the world shook, though they were too busy to notice.


And I will, I will, I will...
I will.....wait their return
Or make to the sky
Oh what a sight beautiful
And I will

            Harry sat on the edge of Hermione's bed as she cried herself to sleep, the moonlight hitting both of them, as outside, it began to snow.


I will, I will, I will...
I will sleep tonight
I will sleep tonight

A.N: That was our longest chapter yet. 15 pages. And we typed up about seven of them today.

            Also, if you would like to be on a mailing list informing you when new chapters are out, please leave your e-mail address in your review (if you already get e-mails from us, no need to put your name down)

            Now that you've read, you really should review and another chapter will be written by Thing ONe and TWo.