Disclaimer: You all know this by now, but I'll just remind everyone anyway, I do not own Harry Potter!

A/N: A big thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! You guys make me sooo happy, and make me want to write even more!! J Thanks everyone!

Zuvalupa – Why thank you very much! And yes, the journal is back!
sad-soulz – sniff? I hope that means that although the story is kinda sad you still like it!
shadow-n-the-dark – That's a very good question, but Lucius is not trusting enough to believe anyone's word without seeing proof.
ydole3343 – Thank you very much! I'm mso glad you like it so much, and don't worry, not too much more with Pansy cause you're right, it is sickening!
me – Here's the update, hope it was fast enough!
HarryPotterFan670 – Glad you like it! And I would tell you if they're gonna get back together, but that would ruin the story!
Phoebe Telumetar – Thank you!! I hope the update came quick enough!
angelchic4ver – Thanks, and to answer your question . . . . . yes.
NeVeRmInD2 – Thanks so much for the review! Hope you keep enjoying it!
roundrockrules – you're welcome, and thanks for the review!
theloudone – thank you, glad you like the tension!
LadyBard1978 – I'm writing as fast as I can! lol thanks for the review, and in answer to your question, yes. Ron is so hot – thanks hope you like this chapter!!
twistedtwin – Thank you, I'm glad you like it, and yes, the wait is all part of the suspense. J
Jessie – Thank you, I hope I updated fast enough for you!
Kara Black – Thank you. I'm glad that you like it all even though it's not all happy because I think that makes it more realistic, cause in real life not everything's happy, so I'm glad it's still good even if it's not happy. Hope you like this chapter!
Benji Girl – lol glad to see you so excited J Thanks for the review!
elektra30 – thank you, glad you like the personalities and connections. I hope you continue enjoying it!!

Now, on the the next chapter!!

Chapter 21: The Potion's Complete

Over the next couple of weeks, the Slytherins finally got seemed to tire of taunting Hermione, so she was able to return to her usual routine of going to class, studying and talking with her friends. Most of the time she was okay, but she always felt as though a part of her was missing, and it didn't take her long to figure out who had stolen that piece of her heart. She still thought about him often, remembering the way he used to smile at her, or how she loved to feel his touch.

She checked their potion daily, and surprisingly enough, though Draco checked it as well, they never ran into each other. She was beginning to wonder if perhaps Draco had been wrong about what was supposed to happen to the tears until one night at dinner. She was listening to Harry, Ron, and Ginny discuss the finer points of quidditch, and was frankly not paying attention at all when an eagle owl swooped down in front of her. For a moment Hermione stared at the owl in confusion, "Aries?"

"What Hermione," asked Ginny, then spotting Aries asked, "oh who's the letter from?"

"Draco," whispered Hermione, "this is his owl." As soon as she untied the letter, Aries took off and flew away. She unrolled the parchment and read:

It's ready

"Oh!" Hermione gasped.

"What is it?" asked Ron with concern. She handed them the note and jumped out of her seat, heading to the door.

"Wait, Hermione! What's ready?" shouted Harry after her. "Hermione!"

"He better not be messing with her again," said Ginny after Hermione raced out of the Great Hall.

"I'm following her" announced Ron; I'm not going to let him make her cry again. "Are you guys coming?" Without waiting for a response, Ron led the way to the library, Ginny and Harry jogging to keep up.

Hermione made it to the library very quickly, and found Draco staring into the fire pensively. Hermione looked into the griffin egg, and sure enough, it was filled with a thick golden liquid. Hermione smiled at Draco, but he didn't seem to notice her, she cleared her throat to see what happened.

He continued to stare into the fire, but finally spoke, "Is there something you want to say Granger?"

"Oh," Hermione paused uncomfortably, "Umm, Mal . . . .Draco thanks for telling me the tears were ready. I really appreciate it."

"Yeah well, I thought about telling you in person, but I your pathetic excuses for friends would have killed me before I got one word out, so I opted to send an owl instead."

"I see, so are we going to do this?" ventured Hermione.

Draco, looked at her for the first time all night, then lifted the egg, and poured the tears into the potion. It sizzled and steamed; "now it just needs to sit for a week, by the end of which the potion will turn blue, indicating that it's complete."

"Fine then, I guess we'll meet here next week after dinner."

"Fine," Draco swept out of the room without another word.

Hermione sat for a moment random thoughts racing through her mind. She was excited that their potion was nearly complete. She was also confused by Draco, he had not spoken to her at all since their meeting with Dumbledore, and he definitely didn't have to tell her that the tears were ready. He certainly could have added them to the potion on his own. It was almost as if he had cared that she had felt left out not knowing about the griffin egg. So did he still care, or not, was he just playing mind games with her to make her suffer more? Thinking about him made her sad again and gave her a headache, neither of which she wanted, so she was very thankful when Ron, Harry and Ginny charged into the room looking for her.

"Where is he?" Ron ordered.

Hermione laughed, "He already left Ron, "so you won't be able to hit him today."

"We thought he might be tormenting you again, so we wanted to make sure you were alright," confessed Ron, hanging his head slightly as his ears turned pink.

Hermione got up and smiled, "thank you guys. I don't know what I would have done this year without all of you." She walked over to her friends and gave them all a big hug.

- - - - - - - - - -

A week later Hermione could hardly sit still at dinner, she was so excited about the potion being complete that she couldn't think about anything else. She glanced over at the Slytherin table a lot as she ate, but she never once saw Draco. Finally, when she could take the anticipation no longer, she stood up.

"Hermione, where are you going?" asked Ginny.

"Oh, to the library, the potion I've been working on with Malfoy is supposed to be complete, so we're meeting there to bottle it and give it to professor Dumbledore."

"Ah, okay then, we'll see you in the common room in a bit then."

"Alright," agreed Hermione, "it should only take like twenty minutes."

Hermione smiled at her friends, and scampered off to the library, but was surprised to find that Draco was not there. A stab of annoyance hit her, "lazy jerk, he probably forgot about it and after all our hard work too!" But even as she voiced her thoughts she knew something was wrong. In all the turmoil over the year, she had been the one to forget about the potion, not him. It made no sense that he would forget about it now when it was finally finished.

Too impatient to wait for him any longer, Hermione pulled a large glass bottle off of one of the shelves to pour the potion into. Extremely carefully she poured the contents of the cauldron, which were a beautiful royal blue, into the bottle. "Perfect," she commented aloud, "now to deliver it to Dumbledore."

Hermione paused before leaving, deciding to leave a note to Draco telling him what she had done, no doubt he would be furious with her for not waiting, but at the moment she didn't care. She looked around for a spare bit of parchment, and found one inside a black leather bound book tossed half hazardly on the floor. "Huh, Draco's not usually this sloppy," she said aloud, her curiosity about where Draco was increased as she picked up the book. She made to put it on the table, but then she recognized the book. It was the same book she had caught him writing in several times throughout the year. Her curious side getting the better of her, she opened it.

She flipped through the pages, skimming them briefly. She read various lines and realized that the book was a journal. She closed it and quickly put it down for fear of what Draco would do to her if he caught her reading his journal. But then it occurred to her that he probably had written everything about her and their relationship, or whatever it had been to him. She picked the book up again and immediately began searching for the date she had caught him with Pansy, she was dying to know what was going through his head on that day. Once she found it, she began to read, and what she saw was not what she had expected at all,

Well, it's done. Seeing the hurt in her eyes was by far the hardest and most painful thing that I've ever experienced. The worst part was earlier today she told me she loved me again, I wanted to shout at her. How could she say that when I was about to hurt her so much?! But I kept my mouth shut, I wanted so much to tell her how much I love her, I wanted to tell her everything. I wish I could tell her why I did what I did. But it's all for the best, that's what I have to keep telling myself, this is best for her. Pansy still has it in her head that we're actually dating, the moron. The thought of dating anyone else after being with Hermione is just laughable and the thought of dating Pansy is just sickening. But no, I can't have her; I cannot put her in danger no matter how much I want to be with her. I don't know how I'm going to get through tomorrow, but I know it's going to be Hell.

The entry continued for pages, but Hermione did not read any further. She could not believe her eyes, he did love her, but then why did he break up with her? She was about to continue reading in hopes of finding a further explanation but when she turned the page, a slip of parchment fell out of the book onto her lap. She lifted it and read,

Draco,
I believe it is time for a little check-up, to make sure you are back on the correct path. You will meet me tonight at six-o-clock at the Hog's Head. I hope that you have been telling me the truth in your letters, because I will know if you are lying, and I will not tolerate any more of your little screw-ups.
Lucius

Hermione's eyes widened with sudden understanding when she read the letter. Lucius, she would have bet absolutely anything that everything Draco had done had something to do with Lucius. She thought back to all the other times Draco had met with his father, she couldn't let him go through that torture again. So with only the thought of helping Draco in her mind, she charged out of the library determined to get to Hogsmeade before he got hurt.

I know this chapter was a bit short, but I promise the next one will be longer. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed it and are eager to find out what happens in Hogsmeade!! Please send a review and let me know what you think, thank you! J