A/N: LALLALALA SHE'S BACK!!

And yes I'm talking about me and no I'm not back for long. I no I have no excuses left but…im SOOO busy. trust me. work is hell: don't bother trying to make money. Plus im just falling for this new guy and the following is a re cap of what has happened so far with me and him (cept its Hermione and Draco and Hermione is insanely beautiful and I am…special) Well enough about me, lets talk about this story! It sucks. Even though ive been working on it all the beginning of the summer it still sucks major ass. Sorry for the language but its true and this is R for a reason (laungauge and the lemons, but well get to that in ohh 2 chapters?). Yes. It. Sucks. Don't. Expect. This. Chapter. To. Be. Good. I'm. Still. Pissed. At. It. And. It's. Done. Okey that was fun.

now onto reviewers WHOM I LOVE TO DEATH:

The award for reviewer of the insert shorter amount of time than it takes me to update here is SLYTHERIN SPIRIT. why? because she has fluffed my ego so much that I could have a pillow fight with it. AND WIN. and cuz I love her with the might of a thousand suns and I love her story and yes, dear spirit, you are number one in my book.

now to my other equally cool reviewers:

Luthein: oh luthein. how can words respond to such a magnificent message!! the poem was breath taking (especially the rhyme pissed and twist, im in aw of your rhymey-ness. thank you so much for READING. I love you like a fat kid misses cake!!!!! xooxoxox

Slytherin Spirit: oh how do I love thee? let me count the ways. YOU CATCH EVERY LITTLE THING I TOSS IN THERE! ahh I so was so worried no one would like my reflection thingy. But thank god for you cuz me fears have on subsided. and yes. please no its your turn to write. I did my updating, you do yours. lol I got over ym insane writers block, YOUR TURN. xooxoxox TONS OF LOVE

Lynx16: ahh you caught the line too! your so best friend material. keep reading lol LOVE YA

quiet-mg: yeah I don't know what it is, but I am totally obsessed with the Hermione/Draco thing. do you know why it is just soo appealing? well ive always wanted that to happen to me in real life lol. don't worry, they aren't going to kill each other or themselves, the romeo and Juliet thing is from the song by LMNT, I just love it. lol thanks for reading!!!

My other super awesome reviewers: La belle rose, Butterfly-Ash, Carrie9Softball, Kichiko (I checked out your stories, nice work!), ali-exis (sorry I kept you waiting, I do try to work on my emotions, thanks!) Blue-Kool-Aid, chocl8chps, and ..::Ms. Mi::..

thanks for reading! I love you guys!

Disclaimer: in the immortal words of daffy duck: my story is "suffering succotash" (wasn't that daffy?...oh well. just go to the sotry)

AND NOW I AM PROUD TO PRESENT:

Of Love and War

In the darkness of early morning, as the world slept in oblivious peace, a solitary witch was alone with her thoughts. She sat on the windowsill watching the drops of water slip down the panes of the glass, acting as prisms to the faint light that attempted to shine through the heavy clouds. The slightly distorted glass of the grand, tall windows shuttered in harsh winter winds. It seemed to be a warm summer squall with its intense colors falling between the sheets of translucent mist. But the students of Hogwarts knew better then to step outside in the midst of such a storm. The playful winds would sooner toss you into the lake then warm your face. Hermione leaned close to the panes and placed her fingers on the freezing glass. The window fogged under her breath.

She shivered and clenched the blanket in her lap. The faint rainbow of colors of the storm fell onto the opened mahogany box that now took the place in her lap of the ball arrangements, which lay in forgotten disarray on the floor. She ran her fingers over the contents of the box: a small red ball, sidewalk chalk, a few motionless photos, and a journal. She picked up the chalks and scribbled in the air. It left powdered marks on some invisible surface.

Hermione Malfoy

She cringed at the name and smiled. That was possibly the most revolting name she had ever read. Placing the chalk back in the box, she glanced over at Draco's form on the coach to make sure he was still sleeping where she had left him. It was foolish to encourage herself the way she was. She and Draco could never really be together the way she wanted them to. The whole world wanted to see them hating each other, loathing the very breaths the other took. No matter how right it felt, no matter how perfectly she fit underneath his chin when they fell asleep together; no matter how much he made her laugh or how often he made her smile: it wasn't that she didn't love him. He was the very thing that kept her alive. But he was who he was born to be and he would somehow break her heart without meaning to. It was in his blood. They were so different . . . yet so alike.

She nudged the chalk back into its place on the velvet lining, which she had charmed long ago to stay clean, and pick up the pictures. One was of her family, frozen in time. The other was her sister and her playing on the swing behind their house. Her sister's smooth brown hair was flipped out around them as she glided through the air. Her smile was contagious, spreading across her face and lighting up her eyes. She had just jumped up behind Hermione and was hugging her around the neck, laughing like crazy. She ran her finger over their happy faces and smiled at the memory.

The box and all its contents had been her sister's, Victoria. From the chalk to the red ball, they were all simply the toys of a young girl, but they meant the world to Hermione. Her parents had shipped the box to her a few weeks before, but since they had attempted to send it to her by post (not owl) it took her a long time to get it. She picked up the tattered rouge journal and flipped through its pages. The last page read in a familiar child's scrawl:

"Tomarrow is my berthday. Mimi is going to take me and mommy and daddy to a wizerd place to see their pointy hats and I get to open my presents and then we'll go to dinner at a big resteraunt and get to eat a big chakolate cake. I'm glad Mimi is home. . ."

Hermione shut the journal and bit her lip hard, staring out the window without blinking and wiping her eye with one hand determinedly. She put the book back into its place in the lined box. She had cried far too many useless tears over the loss of her sister. It was time for her to grow up. She closed the box and slipped it under the windowsill into a compartment shed found, lying back against the frame and looking, once again, out at the rain which continued to fall.

"Morning sunshine," yawned Draco, rolling over on the couch. Hermione jumped, having almost forgotten of his presence. She whipped her wand through the air vaporizing the remaining chalk dust that still spelt out her name. "What woke you up so early?" He finished lazily.

"You snore." She said with mock annoyance.

"You bite." He retorted idly and stuck out his tongue.

"I don't bite," she stood from the window, wrapping the blanket around her shoulders, and walked over to him. Leaning down to kiss his forehead she added, "hard. . ."

He laughed and stole her lips for a second before she pulled away. She looked into his swollen, tired eyes as they laughed back at her and she straightened up.

"Is it too early to get breakfast?" She said looking around the room slowly and placing a hand on her empty stomach. Neither of them had eaten much recently, they had been too busy stealing glances at each other during meals.

"Hungry?" He raised his eyebrows and sat up in a half stretch/half yawn.

"Famished," She breathed, trying not to stare at his bare abs and chest, which, she made a mental note, were not as pale as you would think from such a fair complexion.

"I'll make us something," he said and walked towards their small kitchen that was in front of their bathroom.

"You cook?" Hermione said with disbelief.

"Something like that." He said as he left the room. She followed him into the small kitchen to see him already pouring dough onto the stove top (where he got the dough, we may never know) and leaned against in the doorframe, crossed her arms and shot him a skeptical look.

"Don't you have slaves for that, Draco Malfoy?"

He turned and looked at her coldly. "Oh, I'm sorry, bookworm," he snapped back sarcastically. He picked up a spoon of the dough and flicked it at her from across the room, splattering her hair and face.

"Ah! You snob!" She jumped on him pushing him into the wall. He caught her and just laughed as her flung punches at his chest, having no affect on him other than to make him laugh more.

"Nerd!" He said tickling her madly as he held her up by the waist so that their faces were level. She kicked at him and giggled, squirming frantically.

After many frantic yelps of "put my down or I'll curse your balls to the moon," he lowered her to the floor. Smiling at her disheveled appearance, he pulled her up in his arms, kissing her forehead.

"I will marry you someday, filthy mudblood." He laughed, smiling down at her. Hermione looked up into his eyes, still swollen and tired from their late night before. Their smiles faded as the impossibility of that statement settled between them.

Throwing them from their thoughts, there was a sharp knock from outside the stone sculpture. Hermione went to open the statue when she suddenly froze. She raised her palm to her face and stared at the marking on her palm.

"Draco. . ." she breathed. The slight twinge of pain she remembered from the mark had become a searing burn that encased every inch of her skin. It seized her like a rough hand at her throat and stabbed threw her like a thousand knives. She grabbed her hand, collapsing helplessly to the ground, allowing a weak scream to escape her lips, faint from the blinding pain.

He was halfway to the statue when he looked back and saw Hermione's eyes roll back into her head. He ran and caught her before she fell to the floor. Her eyes fluttered listlessly and her arms were limp at her sides, her skin growing paler by the second. Her entire hand glowed an eerie green that casted shadows across the room.

"Mi? What is it?" he asked searching her face. Draco glanced around the room for help, hearing another sharp rap at from behind the wall. With a pop, Dumbledore had swept into the room.

"It's time," he said, his wise eyes fixed on Hermione. "She has been called. I should have been here sooner." Draco pulled the rest of the dough from her hair and tried to sit her up.

"Will it always be like . . . this?" Hermione questioned inebriety as her eyes slowly unfocused, drifting into the unknown.

"No, think of it as a rite of passage." Dumbledore said soothingly. And then added softly to himself, "but I can promise you that you will be more hurt in your life than you are now."

Draco lifted her from the floor, cradling her gently in his strong arms and brushing stray hairs from her vague gaze. "How long will the pain last?" He said, studying Hermione's dazed expression, his face contorted with worry.

"That depends . . . on her. I was too late to warn her, and now her true test begins," He said quietly to Draco, his voice trailing off as he saw Hermione begin to tremble. He remarked for them both to hear: "Come. The others will be at my office by now. There is no time." With less than a blink of his eye, Dumbledore, Draco and Hermione were flashed to his office as the sun broke the horizon.

Somewhat used to this form of travel by now, Draco simply flicked his wand upon his arrival to provide a couch for Hermione. He knelt next to the couch, still holding Hermione in his arms vigilantly, and placed her on the cushions. He ran his finger down soft her cheek, concern flooding his face. It was only a short minute of solitude before he noticed any other people in the crowded room. A good number of the professors, including McGonagall and Snape, were among the wizards he had seen a few nights before. They spoke in hushed whispers, staring at the barely conscious girl next to him. He held her hand protectively and glared back.

"Just imagine it the pain. . ." Tonks said in a hushed whisper. The witch cringed at the thought, ". . . so much worse than the Cruciatus Curse." Nearby, Lupin nodded while biting his thumbnail, his gaze unreadable. Draco sat helplessly, his sanity at the mercy of the pain Hermione now endured. He knew all to well the wicked infliction of the Cruciatus Curse, and to imagine the one he cared about the most feeling something worse . . . was unbearable to him.

"When will it end?" He turned to the people that filled the circular room as they swarmed around vulnerably. "How can I make it stop?" You promised her she wouldn't hurt again. His thoughts mocked him.

"It won't end," a voice responded from within the crowd, who were still muttering amongst themselves though their eyes were fixed on Draco's face with empathetic pity. Snape pushed his way through them and loomed above the nearly lifeless, quivering figure that was Hermione, "Unless she answers the call."

You said, "Never again. . ."

The room fell silent and watch the professor as he turned towards Draco.

"Daeva will sense her. Not truly know her, but feel her very spirit. If She is impressed, Hermione will come back to us. If not, you will see her life vanish into darkness. Hermione must answer the call, they will see through her lies if she is not strong." Snape's forehead was creased with a network of deep wrinkles as he glanced down at her with equal concern.

And now there's nothing you can do . . . All whom you love will suffer, you will break her. . .

Draco buried his face in his icy hands and sat, frozen in time, as the crowd began to thin. At first it was just anonymous members of the Order who left, then a few professors. Snape rose last because classes were about to begin. Upon exiting, he clapped a hand down on the boy's shoulder.

"I'll excuse you from class this morning," he muttered hoarsely, as if excusing him from class was a very kind thing to do at the moment, and stalked out of the room. Draco didn't blink. If he noticed anything around him other than Hermione, he didn't let on.

The only two that remained were Dumbledore and Draco after Snape had left. Neither of them had moved from where they were when they first entered the room. Dumbledore sat at his desk quietly going over texts and parchment rolls that were probably older than Daeva herself. Draco still knelt at Hermione's side, watching her breaths: weak, but steady. She had stopped trembling and now looked as though she caught in a placid sleep.

Draco looked out at the sky through the large windows above his head. It was mid morning; the sun had shattered the storm clouds that had encased the early morning. He looked down at Hermione once more, in hopes that she might be looking back at him. He was not greeted with her sweet smile, but a strange unearthly glow that rivaled the stars. She seemed to be the sun itself, glowing in a brilliant white light from every inch of her skin. The sight was blinding. Draco fell back onto the floor in shock and shielded his eyes.

"Professor!" He yelled. But Dumbledore was already by his side, smiling. He pulled Draco to his feet.

"She passed their test," he said softly as they watched Hermione's body grow limp and the white light fade. "I must go retrieve something from her bag. I'll return in a moment." The color had returned to her skin and a peaceful smile encased her lips. Draco stepped up to her side and put his hand on her cheek feeling a comfortable warmth at his fingertips.

"Baby?" He whispered in her ear. She moved her head around slowly and opened her eyes with effort.

"Draco?" She blinked up at him, her clouded eyes focusing back on earth.

"Mi. . .I thought I lost you," he breathed in relief, staring into her bright eyes. "Don't scare me like that again."

She laughed weakly. "I'll try." He lifted her up and wrapped his arms around her, dropping his chin onto her shoulder and holding her tightly.

After a long pause, he released his grasp around her and lay her back on the pillows. She smiled at him as though nothing had happened. "So what's for breakfast?"

He smiled at her like you would a foolish child. "Mi. First you tell me what happened. Then I'll finish your pancakes. Okay?"

"It wasn't too bad," she lied. "All I had to do was pretend that my soul was yours and that I truly was evil and solely desired mass destruction of the world and the murder of Harry." She paused, and smiled jadedly, "Oh and --"

"Miss Granger? How are you feeling?" Dumbledore interrupted as he swooped into the room. The both looked up and Draco pulled his hands away from Hermione's.

"Just fine," she said as he handed her a piece of chocolate, which she ate greedily.

"I assume they want a personal visit, then?"

"Yes," she replied and glanced at quickly Draco with a hint of fear in her eyes. She turned her head back towards the professor and all the fear melted into bravery. "She said 'as soon as is possible'. And they gave me this." She drew a heavy silver chain from around her throat. Hanging from the chain was a very unusual charm. The detail was incredible: an emerald fairy holding a silver dagger to her own neck. She dropped the charm so that it lay on the collar of her shirt. "It's a portkey or something…"

"Praemitto," corrected Dumbledore. "They are very rare, Miss Granger. They were a tool invented by the Fairies, whose myths tell us that they were the first to walk our earth. Use instead of flight for their little jokes they played on each other until they were adopted for dark magic. I haven't heard use of a Praemitto since the year 1134 when most of the fairies were thrown out of this land."

Hermione looked down at the pendant on her chest and crinkled her nose in disgust. "So fairies touched this?" Draco snorted with laughter.

Ignoring her response, Dumbledore continued. "I'll expect you in my office at 9 o' clock sharp." Hermione nodded slowly, "Keep that around your neck, it must be near to the Facinoris at all times, or we could all be in grave danger. Now, I believe you have some potions to make."

Slightly disheartened that they still had to go to class, Draco helped Hermione off the couch and they left the room without a word. Off to the most dreaded class of one, and the favorite of the other.

"It's not that I'm scared!" Hermione hissed through her teeth. The tension between them had been mounting intensely with ever minute that had passed since they had left Dumbledore's office. They had hardly made it through their first class.

"No, you're right." Draco whispered, keeping his eyes glued to Snape in the front of the room. "You're terrified." They were in their normal seats in the back of the classroom. Harry and Ron sat obliviously to Hermione's right and Crabbe and Goyle sat stupidly to Draco's left.

"Why are you being like this, Draco?" She scratched her quill across the parchment on her desk. "Sure I'm scared. But I'm not scared for myself." She paused and stole a look at him. "I'm scared for you."

Draco grinned. Maybe she likes you back, pansy. "Don't worry about me. This will be like a family reunion."

Harry leaned across the row and tapped Hermione in her arm.

"Is this oily piece of lettuce bothering you, Mione?" He said quietly, pointing his quill in Draco's direction. "Because I could dispose of his lowness if you so wish it."

"Yeah?" Draco said, his eyes still locked on the front of the room. "You and what army? That silent waste of air to your right?" Ron opened his mouth to refute that statement but was quickly cut off by Harry.

"I'd take you down anytime, you good for nothing rich boy. Your daddy can't protect you now, can he?" Harry mumbled as an afterthought and scoffed. Ron, again, opened his mouth to add on, but quickly closed it again when he saw Draco stiffen in his chair.

Draco turned his head slowly away from the obviously thrilling lecture on the uses of a Gibbons' Hair and shot a menacing look in their direction. "Bring it on Potter. I'll drop you like 3rd period Charms."

"Stop!" Hermione said a little too loudly. And added in a low hiss: "Malfoy, can you stop insulting everyone for just a minute?" Draco stopped short from throwing out another insult and glanced at Hermione. His jaw locked and he stared blankly at this girl before him.

"Fine, Granger. But keep your little pet in line. You wouldn't want to lose him." He paused and added loudly. "Potter, your lover is feeling neglected." Ron turned a red that would rival the fires of hell and glared up at his retreating nemesis. He picked up his books and waved in the vague direction of Snape, who immediately excused him with a nod, and stomped out of the room. I can't believe she said that.

Hermione snapped her mouth shut as soon as that word had forced its way through her lips. She watched as the old Draco, the cold, hating, cruel Draco, take the place of the one she cared so much about. I can't believe I said that.

His eyes glazed over, all emotion left his face. The light joy that she had just met this year was gone in less than a second. "Fine, Granger. But keep your little pet in line. You wouldn't want to lose him. Potter, your lover is feeling neglected." And then he left. She heard the slamming door and Snape continuing with the lecture but the space in front of her was blank.

"Mione. Pssst. Hermione!" Harry whispered, shaking her form her thoughts. "Is there something going on?" She stared back at him blankly for a second before grabbing her bag and walking out of the room.

When she was out in the dungeon hallway, she didn't know which way to turn. This was a stupid idea. I bet he's long gone by now. She picked a direction and headed towards the stairs.

"So. You're skipping class. What now, you rebellious badass?" Draco said from behind her. Hermione stop in her tracks and smiled. She knew he couldn't really be mad. I mean really it was just a name. She would turn around, he would smirk and they would go get something to eat together.

"I was just go --" She turned around and shut her mouth as quickly as she opened it. Draco's cold eyes burned through hers like the memories she knew all too well. It was like they had never spoken a kind word to each other. Like he didn't care at all. "Draco?"

"You're looking at him," he replied, crossing his arms and falling back against the wall.

"I, uh, was just coming to apologize . . ." she said, approaching him slowly.

"No need. You are who you are and I am who I am, right?" He said.

"Please, Draco," she reached out for his hand desperately.

"Don't 'please' me," he said vociferously, yanking his hand from her grasp. "I think it took me a while, but I just caught your games. When it's useful for you, you're the only girl I care about and when its not you're just Potty's sidekick, right?"

"Draco we can --"

"I know, I know. 'We can't.' Fine. I don't care. I'll find some other girl to fall in l . . ." He cut himself off and started again. "I don't need you."

Tears began to spill down Hermione's cheeks. "But Draco, I --" she tried feebly.

"But nothing, Granger," he said staring her hard in the eyes. "You really are nothing but a filthy mudblood." He pushed his way passed her.

"Draco!" She yelled down the hall as he turned a corner. "I need you. Don't do this."

But he was gone. And it didn't look like he was coming back.