Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, not me!

A/N: I am terribly sorry for not updating for so long, but I was away in London for three weeks (which was awesome), but I didn't have time to upload any chapters. But I'm back now, so as long as I get lots of reviews, the updates will come really fast! Hope you enjoy!!

Chapter 6: Hogsmeade

With three days left until the Hogsmeade weekend, Hermione and Draco were beginning to panic because they still hadn't figured out what the last ingredient was. After potions class, professor Snape called them to his desk. "Do you have an ingredient list?"

Hermione pulled the list they had complied out of her bag, "we seem to still be missing one ingredient professor, but it's not listed in any of the books," she handed the list to Snape.

Snape looked over the list, "Yes, you are still missing the key ingredient, however, that is available here at Hogwarts, so you are all set for Hogsmeade. Here is a note to give to the apothecary owner so you do not need to pay for the ingredients," Snape handed Hermione a slip of parchment and Hermione pocketed it. With that, Snape swept out of the room into his office.

The two students stood silent and alone in the potions classroom, Hermione was the first to speak, "I suppose we should arrange a time to meet at the apothecary then," she suggested.

"Yeah, how about 2:00, because I have a meeting with my father at 12:00, we can get the ingredients and have them delivered to us here by owl" suggested Draco.

"OK, 2:00 at the apothecary," agreed Hermione.

Draco opened his mouth as if to say something, but then just nodded and walked out of the room. He had been about to say 'it's a date' but he had stopped himself just in time. He wouldn't let himself admit it, but if he were honest with himself, he had rather enjoyed spending time with Hermione, she was much smarter and more relaxing to hang out with than any of his housemates, that was a fact he had only shared with his journal, and he refused to let anyone else know.

After Draco left, Hermione put away the ingredient list picked up her bag and walked to the Gryffindor common room. She gave the Fat Lady the password and as soon as she stepped into the room, she was met by Harry Ron and Ginny, "Where have you been?" asked Ron.

"I had to stay after in potions to talk about my project. Malfoy and I have to meet at the apothecary when we go to Hogsmeade."

"You have to waste Hogsmeade time with Malfoy?!" cried Harry, "that's torture!"

"It' won't be torture, it will be fine, we're just picking up potion ingredients," countered Hermione.

"If you say so," Harry sighed doubtfully, "wanna come to dinner?"

"Sure, let me just drop off my bag," Hermione said, as she turned to go up the stairs, she noticed Ginny was giving her a questioning look, but she dismissed it as a figment of her imagination.

That Saturday, Hermione, Ginny, Ron and Harry made their way to Hogsmeade right after breakfast for a day of fun. They spent the morning shopping in Zonko's and Honeydukes, and then had lunch at a small restaurant in the corner of town. They had a blast talking and unwinding from school, and for once, none of them not even Hermione was thinking about work.

Draco on the other hand, got up late for breakfast and arrived alone in Hogsmeade just in time for his 12:00 appointment with Lucius. He slowly made his way to the Hogs Head where Lucius was waiting. "Twelve o'clock on the dot," remarked Lucius when Draco entered. He led his son to a secluded room where lunch was set for them and he locked the door behind them with a powerful spell. "So how are you son, is school going well?" he asked with a drawl.

"Cut the crap Lucius, what do you want?" Draco retorted.

"Is that any way for a son to speak to his father?" questioned Lucius with a tone of false innocence. When Draco didn't reply, Lucius continued, "Congratulations to you, the Dark Lord has accepted our request for you to join his ranks at the end of this year."

"No thanks," stated Draco.

Lucius smiled a cruel and dangerous smile, "Why, I do not believe you have a choice in the matter Draco, you will join the Death Eaters at the end of this year, is that understood?"

"No" repeated Draco.

Lucius' smile turned into an angry frown "I will not allow my own son to turn his back on his breeding. You are a pureblood Draco! Where is your pureblood pride?"

"I am not turning my back on my 'breeding'" Draco spat back, "but I refuse to show my pride by becoming a lowly servant someone else!"

Rage flashed across Lucius' face and he took out his wand, "we shall see about that, crucio!"

White hot needles of pain engulfed Draco's body. He felt as if ever single nerve in his body were being ripped out and set on fire. He writhed in pain on the floor, but he made no sound. He refused to give Lucius the satisfaction of knowing how much pain he was in. Plus, Draco was used to this sort of punishment, and after a couple minutes, it was over and Draco was left twitching on the ground with Lucius standing over him.

"Now," began Lucius, "you will join the Death Eaters the day after school ends this year, and you shall be presented to the Dark Lord with honor."

Draco made no reply, he just remained on the floor breathing heavily and not looking at Lucius.

"Perhaps you need another reminder of why I will not accept 'no' from you Draco," suggested Lucius. For the second time, the cruciatus curse was placed upon Draco, this time even worse than the last, the pain was hotter and longer than before, and Draco could hardly move when the curse was finally lifted from him. When it was done, Draco looked at Lucius with a look beyond hatred. Lucius sensed Draco's anger, and was rather surprised by his continued defiance, Draco had never ventured to defy Lucius before, and Lucius was not about to let him start now. Lucius smiled sinisterly as a new thought entered his mind, "Or perhaps you need a longer lasting reminder of the power of the Dark Lord and his followers, so you do not deviate from the plan."

Lucius then pulled a small bottle out of the pocket of his robes; it contained a blood red liquid. Draco saw the bottle and his eyes widened in fear, "No, please no!" he pleaded. But Lucius was not to be stopped; before Draco could back away, Lucius grabbed his face and tipped a few drops of the liquid into his mouth, then forced Draco to swallow it.

The potion burned like lava as it slowly made its way down Draco's throat. He felt as if his body were burning on the inside, he began convulsing wildly. All the while, Lucius watched with a cruel satisfaction, "so we have a deal then. You will join us and become head boy next year."

Tears were streaming down Draco's face uncontrollably form all the pain, he nodded his head dejectedly. "Excellent!" cheered Lucius in triumph. He then grabbed Draco's robes at the neck and dragged him outside into an alleyway just visible from the main street in Hogsmeade "Don't disappoint me." Lucius ordered before he dissaparated, leaving Draco alone and in more pain than he could bear.

At 1:55 Hermione bid good-bye to her friends, agreeing to meet them at the Three Broomsticks for a quick butterbeer at 2:30 before they were to head back to school. When 2:00 came, she looked all around for Draco, but he was no where to be seen, she glanced around the apothecary, and up and down the streets but she couldn't find him. She waited until 2:15 then gave up hope of him showing up 'stupid git,' she thought 'he expects me to do everything for him!' Hermione ordered the ingredients, and had them sent to her at school, and then she went off toward Three Broomsticks to find Harry Ron and Ginny. She was walking past the edge of town when she heard a strange moan coming from somewhere nearby. She turned toward the sound, and saw a body lying on the ground, a body with the shocking platinum blonde hair that unmistakably belonged to Draco Malfoy.

She couldn't believe her eyes; she ran toward him and fell to her knees at his side. She didn't know what to do, he seemed badly hurt, but she couldn't see any blood or sign of injury. She used all her strength to flip him over so he was lying on his back rather than his stomach. She stared at him her eyes filled with worry; she grabbed his shoulders and tried to shake him awake, "Malfoy, Malfoy wake up! Come on Malfoy!" He showed know sign of response other than a slightly deeper intake of breath. Maybe he's been stunned, she thought desperately. She took out her wand and shouted "ennervate!", then spell hit Draco square in the chest, yet he did not come to. "Oh come on!" She said desperately. After a moments indecision where she thought about going for help, she returned to shaking him, "Malfoy, please come, on! Draco! Wake up!" She was about to give up and go look for help when Draco's eyes fluttered open. He moaned again and kept his eyes opened, but they were severely out of focus, and he didn't appear to know where he was.

"Granger?" he whispered with difficulty after a moment of looking around.

"Malfoy!" she breathed with relief, "what happened to you?"

Draco didn't appear to be listening to her, he got up with great difficulty until he was in a sitting position. He held his head and closed his eyes again, every part of his body ached and he was so dizzy he could barely see straight.

"Are you ok?" Hermione asked.

Draco didn't answer; he just used every ounce of his strength to get up. She stood up with him, watching him carefully; afraid he was going to collapse at any second. Sure enough, no sooner had he been upright than he fell back down, Hermione caught him, but was almost dragged down herself due to his weight. "Come on," she breathed, struggling to hold him up, "we have to get you to the hospital wing." Draco didn't respond or argue he just let her lead him slowly down the road leading back to Hogwarts.

The journey took a considerable amount of time and neither spoke the entire way. Gradually, as he got more used to walking, Draco felt some of his strength return so that by the time they reached the school, he was able to support himself without Hermione's aid. They reached the hospital wing and Madame Pomfrey admitted Draco no questions asked. She fed him some pepper-up potion and gave him a bar of Honeydukes chocolate. Soon he felt almost back to normal, his body no longer ached, and he was only slightly dizzy.

Hermione remained by his bed unspeaking while he recovered; she still looked worried, although the color had returned to her face now that he seemed to be getting better. When she could no longer keep the burning question inside, she asked him "Malfoy, what happened to you?"

Draco's first instinct was to come back with a smart retort, but then he remembered how worried she had looked when she found him and the fact that she had helped him get back to school and stayed with him while he recovered. He couldn't bring himself to be mean to her at the moment, and as he looked at her patient, concerned face, he forced himself to answer, "Trust me Granger, you're better off not knowing."

"Was it a student that did this to you?"

"No," answered Draco, he shook his head and looked at her with an anger that did not extend to his eyes. His eyes still looked worried as if he were pleading with her not to pursue the subject. "What happened is none of your business Granger," his voice was icy and angry.

"None of my business! Malfoy, you looked practically dead when I found you! I think I have a right to know what happened!" She paused filled with rage, until an idea came to her, "either you tell me what happened, or I'm telling Dumbledore!"

Draco's eyes flashed and he grabbed her arms, he looked dangerous, and she was frightened, "You will not tell Dumbledore anything!"

His voice was firm, and Hermione didn't dare argue, instead, she looked at him pleadingly and whispered, "then just tell me what happened, and I promise I won't tell a soul."

As he looked into her eyes indecision flooded him. He did not want to confess what happened to her, yet he was sure that she would not hesitate a second to run and tell Dumbledore what she had seen. He could tell that she truly cared about what had happened, and he even more strangely, he felt a strong desire to tell her, but he knew that he could not. With one last look into her eyes, he turned and lay down on his bed.

Hermione knew that he wasn't going to tell her anything, "Fine then," she said, her voice filled with frustration. "I'm going to dinner." With that she moved to the door.

Draco watched her walking away, the desire to tell her everything burning in him, but he couldn't. When she reached the door he called to her "Hey!" he paused until she turned to look at him, "thanks."

Hermione was shocked; she had never heard Malfoy thank anyone for anything, especially her. She looked at him, her frustration melting away and she smiled, "You're welcome." The two viewed each other and for one moment they seemed to be almost friends rather than enemies. Hermione looked into his eyes one last time, they now bore no resemblance to the hate filled eyes she had known for five years, these eyes we calm, warm, and strangely inviting. She could feel herself beginning to blush, and before he could notice, she turned away.

She was lost in thought as she slowly made her way to the Great Hall. Not only was she concerned about what had happened to Draco, but she was also experiencing a definite flutter in her stomach that hadn't ceased since he thanked her. 'Could they possibly be friends?' She wondered to herself. She continued walking with a curious expression on her face until she opened the doors to the Great Hall and made her way down the Gryffindor table.

"Hermione!" two voices cried snapping Hermione out of her thoughts. Harry, Ron and Ginny rushed to her.

"What the hell happened to you?" Ron asked, "we were worried sick!"

"We couldn't find you anywhere!" added Harry.

Hermione was wide-eyed, she had been so worried about Draco that she completely forgot she had agreed to meet with them at Tree Broomsticks, "Oh, well, I guess I just got distracted thinking about the potions project," she lied.

"My God Hermione! Don't you ever take a day off from thinking about school?!" cried Ron with exasperation.

Hermione shrugged and looked at her friends, from the looks on their faces, Harry and Ron seemed annoyed that she had forgotten, but they accepted her excuse without question, Ginny on the other hand was still giving Hermione a quizzical look, but made no comment. "Let's have some dinner shall we? I'm starving!" So the four sat down to an enjoyable dinner, but Hermione's mind was not completely on the food or their conversation, every minute or so, she would glance to the door. It took her a little while to realize she was looking for Draco, she wanted to know if he was ok, and she had a mad desire to leave dinner to go check on him. Frightened by her very own thoughts, she forced her mind to return to the Great Hall, and refused to allow her eyes to wander over to the door. Not before Ginny had noticed her various glances towards the doors though. Ginny resolved to find out what was going on before the night was over, once they were back inside the Gryffindor common room and they coulod talk alone.

"Hermione?" Ginny called when they were settled in the Gryffindor common room, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure Ginny" answered Hermione, "what's up?"

Ginny hesitated, she didn't know how to start, "Well I just wanted to make sure you were ok because you seem rather distracted today."

"What do you mean?" questioned Hermione wondering if Ginny had seen her helping Draco.

"Well, like you not meeting us at Three Broomsticks, I know you care about schoolwork and everything, but it's just not like you to miss an engagement like that. Then when you came into the Great Hall you looked like your mind was off somewhere else, and during dinner you kept glancing at the door," Ginny reasoned.

Hermione didn't know what to say, she didn't like lying to Ginny, but couldn't tell Ginny what had really happened. The she stopped to think, had anything really happened? Hermione felt like she had done something forbidden by helping Draco and being friendly with him, but they hadn't actually done anything, she had just helped a fellow student, any Gryffindor would have done the same, right? Hermione tried to convince herself, but the thought of the butterflies she got in her stomach when he looked at her let her know she was lying to herself. Hermione decided that she wasn't going to confide anything to anyone until she worked out what she was thinking first, "you're really making too much of this Ginny, the truth is Malfoy never showed up, so I was frustrated and annoyed when I went to get the potions, and I just completely forgot about everything."

Ginny looked at Hermione sympathetically "that snake, he just expects you to do everything doesn't he?"

"Yeah" agreed Hermione quickly, thankful that Ginny had accepted her story.

Hope you liked this chapter! Please review!! Thanks!