A/N: hey guys! Thanks sooo much to all who reviewed. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. But between visiting family and scraping up the last of my summer vacation I barely had time. Hope you enjoy this chapter and please r/r! oh, and by the way, I own nothing.

CHAPTER 6

"Will his eyes reveal to me

Promises or lies?

But he can't conceal from me

The love in his eyes"

"Wha...What are you doing here?" Hermione asked looking into Draco's pale blue eyes. The eyes that didn't seem quite the same today...

"Merry Christmas," he said kissing her again. Now Ginny was awake and Mrs. Weasley still stood at the door. Hermione felt her cheeks flush as she heard the giggle emitted from the other bed in the room.

"We'll just leave you to it," Ginny said jumping from her bed and pulling Mrs. Weasley from the hallway, "C'mon mum, let's see about some of your famous biscuits for breakfast..."

"You don't seem happy to see me," Draco smiled.

"You just surprised me, that's all," Hermione answered, tucking a stray lock of curls from her face.

"I have something for you," Draco said as he pulled Hermione from her cot, "a Christmas present."

"Oh, Draco you really shouldn't have," she said nervously. Only minutes earlier she had been lying in bed thinking about Ron, and now Draco was here. It was almost too much to handle. She felt a sudden pang of guilt as he took her hand in his own. Hermione knew he had no clue about the night before, and yet there was something different about him today. She couldn't quite put her foot on it. Draco was simply... different.

"But I did," He beamed down at her, "Now get dressed, I want to leave as soon as possible."

"Leave?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Well it wouldn't be proper for me to just give it to you would it? I want it to be," He paused as he thought, "...romantic."

"Romantic?" Hermione sighed.

"Romantic," Draco continued, "I'll wait for you downstairs." He gave her one last kiss on the forehead before opening the door. But it was blocked by a certain redhead fumbling a small box in his hand.

"Malfoy," Ron grumbled as soon as he saw him, "what are you doing in my house?"

"Spending Christmas with my girlfriend," Draco retorted, before turning to Hermione, kissing her again square on the lips, as if just to spite him, and giving Ron one last defeating look before making his way down the winding staircase.

Ron was fuming. He was so mad, he had forgotten why he had come to see Hermione in the first place.

"What's that?" Hermione asked gently, pointing to the box in his hands.

"Oh, this? It's umm... Well, I just thought I'd, you know, it is Christmas and all... And I'd thought you'd like it..." Ron was still pink, only now from embarrassment. Hermione couldn't help but smile.

"You got me a Christmas present?" she asked. Ron didn't answer. He simply pushed the box into her hands. Hermione sat down on the bed and began to carefully undo the ribbon tied around a light pink box while Ron moved nervously from one foot to another. She opened the box to reveal a silver chain with a heart shaped locket. Running her fingers over the smooth silver heart, she gently undid the clasp and opened it up. On one side a photograph of her and Ron in Hogsmeade waved brightly at her. She remembered the day Harry had taken that picture, only a few months ago, in fact, on the first Hogsmeade trip of the term. She smiled as she watched Ron drape an arm over her shoulders, while she could swear she saw the Hermione in the picture blush slightly. A glittering message was engraved on the other side. It read:

"To Hermione

Love,

Ron"

"If... If you don't like it-" Ron stuttered nervously.

"It beautiful," Hermione smiled - a real, true smile. But then she realized what this gift from Ron meant, and she furrowed her brow as she held the locket out to him. "I can't take this Ron."

"No... I mean yes," Ron said, suddenly forceful, "You can take it, and you must."

"Ron..."

"Hermione," Ron nearly cried as he closed her fingers over the silver heart, "I want you to have it." She did not object any more as he took the locket and clasped it around her neck, then leaned back to examine her. Hermione could have sworn she heard him mumble something that sounded an awful lot like "...Perfect." She blushed slightly and turned away to look in the mirror. It did fit her perfectly, the heart draping gracefully on her collar bone. But as soon as Hermione looked back, Ron was gone; out the door and down the stairs. No sooner had he left did she hear Draco's voice calling her.

"'Mione darling, are you ready?" 'Mione? Draco never called her 'Mione. Ron had given her that nickname and was the only one who used it...

"I'll be right there," she called down the steps.

Draco led her into the forest behind the burrow, twisting and turning off the trail and through the powdered covered trees until Hermione had long lost track of directions. After what felt like hours of trudging through increasingly thick snow, they finally reached a clearing. It was pretty, Hermione thought, but no more than it would have been right outside the burrow – which would have required much less of an effort to get there. The sun had been blocked out long ago by many large grey clouds, threatening to burst at any minute, and Hermione shivered. She had not expected to go so far, and be out here so long. Draco turned to face her and took both hands in his.

"It's been great Hermione," He said – that should have been the first clue. 'It's been great?' Draco had always been an eloquent speaker. "And I really really like you," What was he, like 4? What happened to the undying love that he had been professing to her over and over again in the last month? "I just don't think this is working out very well for me." He finished.

Hermione felt her anger rise, and did not even attempt to control it. "Wait just one moment," she fumed, "this is your big Christmas present? You brought me all the way out here just to dump me? How dare you."

"Really," Draco said, apparently unnerved, "it's not you, it's me." Now Hermione knew something was wrong. She squinted into his eyes.

"Draco? Are you alright?" Blank. That's all she saw. His eyes were completely blank. Suddenly, it all clicked. She reached into her robes.

"Expelliarmus!" a cold voice said behind her as her wand flew through the air into the outstretched hand of Lucius Malfoy.

"You," Hermione said, "I should have known. It was all so obvious... a trap. It was all a trap."

"That's another A for you Miss Granger," said Lucius mockingly, "However a few points have been taken for tardiness. I would have thought a witch as clever as yourself would have put the pieces together long ago."

Hermione, for once, was lost as to what to do. She searched Draco's eyes pleadingly. "Draco, Draco please wake up! This isn't you!" she cried.

"There's no use," Lucius laughed, "Intelligent he may be, but not strong enough to break the Imperius. Now hold still Miss Granger. I think a simple stunning spell is all you need."

Two days. Two miserably long days since Hermione had left the burrow with Malfoy. The Weasleys had alerted the Ministry and even Dumbledore hours after she had not returned. Explanations were being offered everywhere – more for comfort than for true possibilities. "Maybe they got lost," Mrs. Weasley had said at dinner that evening, "Or perhaps they took a vacation and forgot to get in touch with us." A vacation? Possible – yes. Probable – no. Everyone knew what had most likely become of Hermione, but no one dared to say it out loud. She had been kidnapped, of course, being held as bait for Harry to come and save her. And he had tried, several times. But the Weasleys had kept him locked with Ron in his room. It was bad enough to loose Hermione, but they were not going to allow Harry to give Vold-- He-Who-Must-No-Be-Named exactly what he wanted. Harry had spent the last few days pacing about the room; hitting things in anger frequently, and trying to come up with a way to escape, while Ron sat on his bed in stony silence. A team of Aurors had been sent to find Hermione. 'That was the safest way,' they had been told. But everyone knew that he would most likely be untraceable. He would only let the people he wanted to find him figure out the way to his hiding spot. Everyone knew that Harry and Ron were the only people that could save Hermione, but no one was willing to risk it. Except, of course, for Harry and Ron.

Ron sat on his bed now, thinking, simply thinking. The last time he saw Hermione was only minutes before she stepped outside with that creep Malfoy. He had given her his Christmas present, and she had loved it. He could still remember the look in her eyes as she opened the silver heart, or the way she smiled when she saw the picture inside, or the heat of her skin as he placed the chain around her neck, brushing it ever so subtly. It was Ron's way of saying goodbye to her. The night before he had gone to heaven and back, but she had made it clear that it was not what she wanted. And so Ron had given her one last thing to remember him by. He had savored every last moment that he touched her hand, or her neck, or looked into those beautiful chocolate eyes. He knew that he would never be able to look into those eyes like that again, and so he had memorized them, glued them in his mind. And there they stayed, at this very moment. He had been saying goodbye to Hermione that morning. But he had not even considered that he was really saying goodbye. He knew that he would still have the chance to hear her laugh, or see her furrow her brow. He knew that he could still watch Hermione from afar, when she was lost in one of her books or frustrating him with one of her witty retorts. And he had taken that for granted. Now he wanted nothing more than to see her again, and his heart ached when he thought that he may not for a long, long time. But he would not let that happen. No, danger of loosing life and limb had never stopped him before. So what was stopping him now? ...Damn detainment charm.

"Mum says you can come down if you promise not to run away," Ginny said as she poked her head into Ron's bright orange room, "She's made Gingersnaps Ron, your favorite."

Neither Harry nor Ron moved a muscle. Somehow Gingersnaps did not feel that appetizing. But after much coaxing on Ginny's side, they agreed to come downstairs for 'a nice change of scenery' as she had put it. Ron sat down at the kitchen table as Mrs. Weasley stuffed cookie after cookie into his mouth. Harry, on the other hand, decided to sit by the fire in the living room. Ginny followed him in, half wanting to make sure he didn't make a break for it, the other half just wanting to be with him, and sat beside him on the coach. She watched him for a while, staring blankly into the fireplace. He seemed like a statue – features rigid and barely blinking. So understandably Ginny was taken by surprised when he began to talk.

"What do you suppose they are doing to her?" he asked, still staring unbreakably into the fire.

"I'd rather not think about it," Ginny gulped, then added, "would you like me to get you a Gingersnap? They are quite good." Harry did not respond for several minutes, and she took that as a negative.

"Ginny, I've been thinking," he said suddenly, turning to look her in the eye, "it could have been any one. It could have been Ron, or Lupin, or you."

"I know," she responded softly.

"Hermione is my best friend..." Harry trailed off.

"I suppose she is mine too." Harry looked at her. In all his anger, it had never occurred to him that Ginny was just as close to Hermione as he was, and missed her just the same. And yet here she was, strong enough for the both of them, a stoic expression on her face. She had changed a lot since the first time they met at Kings Cross station. She was no longer that dopey little girl with her elbow in a butter dish, she was now a woman. A most extraordinary young woman.

"Ginny," Harry started, but then he realized that he didn't know what to say. He knew what he was trying to say, but had no clue how to bring it across in words. So he did the only thing he knew to do – he kissed her.

"Not you too," moaned George from behind them. He stood there unsteadily with a bottle of Firewisky in his hand. It seemed he had not stopped drinking since the Christmas party. "Is George the only man alone in this world!" He screamed drunkenly before heading into the kitchen muttering something about Gingersnaps. Harry exchanged looks with Ginny, and for the first time in two days, he remembered how to smile.

Deep in the forest, inside a dimly lit cave, Draco Malfoy sat, or rather, watched himself sit. He was under the Imperius Curse. He had seen the whole thing happen. And yet, he was completely helpless. Now his cursed self sat alone in a dark room, awaiting his next orders from his father. Draco cringed as he thought of what they might be. Somewhere, through the maze of this cold, wet cave, lay a stunned Hermione. Draco knew that he, alone, could not save her. But he did know two people, that with his help, just might be able to. Slowly, a plan started unhatching in his mind. Now if only he could break this curse. He concentrated, hard, on what he wanted to do, on what it felt like to be in his own body again. He did this for hours, willing himself to break the curse. And then suddenly, he felt a tingling in his fingers and toes, an electric buzz that continued through his hands and feet, up his arms and legs, into his chest. He was free.

A/N: please review!