This chapter is in dedication to my lovely betas otakuannie and Laurie :) Thank you girls.
Hermione pulled her blankets back violently and crawled into bed. She couldn't remember a time when she was more mad at one of the twins than that moment. She felt violated. Anything Malfoy had written about her would be out in the open now. Fred may have been her boyfriend, but that doesn't give him a right to know every detail about her previous relationship before she felt comfortable telling him. She was beginning to calm down when she heard a soft knock at the door. She got out of bed and opened the door. One look at Fred and she went to close it again, but he put his hand on the door to stop her.
"It's important." he said quietly. She looked over at Ginny who was sleeping.
"One minute." she told him. She went over to her bed and threw on a robe over her sweatpants and tank top, then followed Fred downstairs to the common room.
"All right, so let me guess you wanted to apologize?" she remarked.
"No... wait yes, I was being a prat and I'm sorry." he replied, unconvincingly.
"Now can I go back to bed? I have that apparation test this afternoon."
"No, listen we need to talk." he led her over to the couch and sat her down.
"I can't be with you." he said softly.
"You're breaking up with me?"
"After reading the last entries, I've decided you're better off with... Malfoy." he told her, cringing at his name.
"I don't want to be with Malfoy."
"You don't want to be with me either."
"Yes I do!"
"You do?"
"Yes! I wouldn't have said yes if I didn't want to be with you, what kind of sense would that make?" she looked at him confused.
"No, you can't be with me Hermione. I mean school starts in less than a week. George and I will be going back to Diagon Alley. We'll never see each other. In fact we probably won't see each other until the Winter Holiday. What kind of relationship is that?"
"Why are you doing this?" she was beyond confused now.
"Trying to be realistic?" he asked more than said.
"Why are you really doing this? What is it that you read?"
"Malfoy is going to kill Harry. He believes he has no reason not to follow his destiny. He stated that he's been trying to talk with you about it. He hoped you would have another answer for him. You know to give him a reason to stay, but you won't talk to him. Now he knows about us, there's no way he's going to stay. He's going to go back to Voldemort. He said that he was leaving tonight. You have to talk to him. Give him a reason not to go Hermione, or else Harry will die." he answered.
Hermione sat there horror struck. It was all happening sooner than she expected. She wasn't ready to make this decision. She looked at Fred and decided to tell him about what she saw in the Vanishing Cabinet. She slowly explained everything that had happened, about Pansy and how if she goes back to Draco she will be the one to aid in Harry's demise. She told him about how she saw them together with a child, but the shop would be in danger and Malfoy would still find a way to kill Harry by tricking him into thinking that Ginny was in trouble.
"So you see, either way Malfoy is going to murder Harry." she ended.
"Maybe what you saw wasn't real. Maybe it's... maybe it's like a boggart. You know showing you the things you fear most. I don't know enough about Vanishing Cabinets to know for sure. We can research it I suppose."
"Fred, you heard the prophecy too. Malfoy is the weapon that Voldemort needs in order to destroy Harry. When I had the vision I saw exactly what Pansy had shown me. He's going to be cut open with a knife in the Malfoy Mansion."
"Quite a predicament you're in." he commented absent-mindedly.
"Thank you, Fred, for stating the obvious."
"Maybe you shouldn't be with either of us?"
"I thought that too, but I don't know. I'm trying to figure out how this will work. If I go back to Malfoy like you suggest in order to keep him from going back to Voldemort, we already know he'll be offered something in the future that he won't be able to resist. Harry, Ron and everyone is going to end up hating me for going back to him, and I'm going to be dragged into his plan."
"Well I won't hate you, I understand now. I'm sure the others will too. Destiny can be changed."
"If I don't go back to Malfoy to keep myself from becoming involved, he'll go back to Voldemort any way. I guess by going back to him, all it would do would prolong the inevitable."
"Which might not be so bad. We might be able to figure out a way to save Harry if we have more time before the event is supposed to occur. The longer you keep Malfoy away from Voldemort, the longer we'll have to create a plan. Listen, we should talk to the others about this. You won't lose us as friends, at least you won't lose me. You won't lose George either. Ron might be a bit of work, but George and I can do something about him, seeing as he's our brother. Same goes with Ginny... and if anyone will understand it would be Harry. This concerns him, and he'll know you're doing it to save him. I don't care what that thing in the vanishing cabinet showed you, this can be changed." he rationalized.
"So I should lead Draco on?"
"Would it really be leading him on, Hermione? You care for him don't you?"
"Yeah, I guess I do. What about us?"
"I care for you a lot Hermione, but you have to do what you have to do. Maybe after this is all over, if you still don't want to be with him... I'll be here." he kissed her softly.
Hermione went back upstairs and changed into clothes, then made her way back downstairs. Fred was still sitting by the fire. She went over to him and hugged him. They looked at each other, then he nodded. Nothing needed to be said. They both knew. Hermione left the common room and went down to the Slytherin House. She knocked on Malfoy's door, but was startled by the painting.
"There's no one in there. He left about an hour ago." an old witch drawled.
"Well do you know where he went?"
"I'm a painting, not a secretary." replied the witch and moved out of her portrait to vist another. Hermione sighed and began walking through the corridors looking for any sign of Malfoy. She decided to go see Fleur. She might know where he was. When she got to the room though, she found that Fleur too was also missing. Hermione began to worry. Maybe he had left already. He could be on his way back to Voldemort as she stood there in the dark hallway. She saw a light from the end of the corner.
"Draco?" she called out. Fred walked over to her.
"I thought maybe you could use this." he told her and handed her a worn piece of paper. She'd seen Harry with it several times. It was the marauder's map.
"How'd you get this? You didn't tell Harry did you?"
"No, he's still asleep. I nicked it from his room." smiled Fred.
"Well how do you work it?" she asked, opening it up. Fred pulled out his wand and tapped the map "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."
Names began to appear and the map began to reveal itself. Everyone was still in their rooms except for them and two others. Draco Malfoy and Fleur Delacour's names were outside on the courtyard walking in the direction of Hogsmeade.
"Thank you." Hermione thrusted the map back into Fred's hand and took off in a run out of the corridor, through the doors in the Entrance Hall, and down the courtyard. She saw the two of them.
"Draco!" she called out.
Malfoy stopped and turned around. He was carrying his suitcase. She caught up with him. Hermione looked at Fleur. With one exchanged glance, Fleur seemed to catch her urgency, and departed forward. Hermione stood there looking at Draco, not quite sure how to say it. She didn't want to throw herself back into this. She looked up at Gryffindor tower. She knew Fred was watching them, even if she couldn't see him.
"I think this belongs to you." she blushed and handed him his journal.
"Uh, thanks... you didn't..."
"Yeah, I did. I'm sorry."
"It wasn't yours to read." he told her coolly.
"I know Draco, but I'm glad I did. Listen, you can't go back. Please don't go back."
"You called me Draco..."
"Yeah, that's your name isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's just I'm used to being referred to by my surname lately."
They stood there awkwardly for a moment. She was running through possible sentences through her head at a rapid pace, analyzing each and every one of them to try and guess the outcome. Finally she gave up. She leaned in and pressed her lips to his. He returned the kiss avidly. Almost as if his life depended on that very kiss. She felt his arms pull her in close to his body. She looked into his eyes as she pulled away.
"You can't go back to them Draco. You can't."
"Hermione, I have to! Don't you get it? I can't stay here. We're supposed to go to the Ministry of Magic today for our apparation license. You think they're going to just let me walk right in there after stealing a time turner?"
"Yeah and what good is it going to do you to go straight back to Voldemort, after you betrayed him. You think he's going to be any more forgiving than the Ministry? Not only are you putting yourself at risk... but you're putting everyone else as well. You and I both know what that prophecy said. I know you don't like Harry, but do you really despise him so much that you want to kill him?" she argued.
"Maybe I do. You wouldn't understand Hermione. You never had to deal with any of this cause of your perfect Muggle family. Potter... Harry has been nothing but a nuisance to me and my family since we arrived at this school and-"
"-And so have I, but you were able to get over that weren't you? If you love me like you say I do, I don't understand why you would want to kill my best friend. Not to mention, Harry has helped you too. He may not like you, but he helped you get the Time Turner and he tried to save you in March."
"So you're saying I owe it to him?" Malfoy sneered.
"No, but you could at least take it into consideration. Don't go back to him Draco. Stay here and I'll be with you. I'll give us another chance?"
"What about your pauper boyfriend?" he asked. Hermione flinched.
"I decided that he was nothing compared to you, Draco." she said softly. She brushed her fingers against his cheek. He kissed down her hand.
"What will we do about this afternoon?"
"We'll explain what happened. I'm sure Dumbledore already has. Come on, let's go back to the castle." She put her hand in his. He kissed her lightly and for the first time since they'd been back in each other's company, he smiled. Hermione smiled back. She looked back up at the window to the Gryffindor Common Room and sighed.
A/N: I am sorry that it's short and I'm sorry it took me so long to get up. I've had writers block. I've also been in the process of joining an RP, mending things with the fiance away from the comp, and brainstorming another story idea that I will be starting today. I will be writing this story along with that one. I'm going to try and have a chapter of each posted every few days, but the maximum length of time between chapters will be 1 week. This will allow me to write longer chapters and pay equal attention to both stories. This story is only about half way done, for reference. Anyway if you read please review.
Hermione pulled her blankets back violently and crawled into bed. She couldn't remember a time when she was more mad at one of the twins than that moment. She felt violated. Anything Malfoy had written about her would be out in the open now. Fred may have been her boyfriend, but that doesn't give him a right to know every detail about her previous relationship before she felt comfortable telling him. She was beginning to calm down when she heard a soft knock at the door. She got out of bed and opened the door. One look at Fred and she went to close it again, but he put his hand on the door to stop her.
"It's important." he said quietly. She looked over at Ginny who was sleeping.
"One minute." she told him. She went over to her bed and threw on a robe over her sweatpants and tank top, then followed Fred downstairs to the common room.
"All right, so let me guess you wanted to apologize?" she remarked.
"No... wait yes, I was being a prat and I'm sorry." he replied, unconvincingly.
"Now can I go back to bed? I have that apparation test this afternoon."
"No, listen we need to talk." he led her over to the couch and sat her down.
"I can't be with you." he said softly.
"You're breaking up with me?"
"After reading the last entries, I've decided you're better off with... Malfoy." he told her, cringing at his name.
"I don't want to be with Malfoy."
"You don't want to be with me either."
"Yes I do!"
"You do?"
"Yes! I wouldn't have said yes if I didn't want to be with you, what kind of sense would that make?" she looked at him confused.
"No, you can't be with me Hermione. I mean school starts in less than a week. George and I will be going back to Diagon Alley. We'll never see each other. In fact we probably won't see each other until the Winter Holiday. What kind of relationship is that?"
"Why are you doing this?" she was beyond confused now.
"Trying to be realistic?" he asked more than said.
"Why are you really doing this? What is it that you read?"
"Malfoy is going to kill Harry. He believes he has no reason not to follow his destiny. He stated that he's been trying to talk with you about it. He hoped you would have another answer for him. You know to give him a reason to stay, but you won't talk to him. Now he knows about us, there's no way he's going to stay. He's going to go back to Voldemort. He said that he was leaving tonight. You have to talk to him. Give him a reason not to go Hermione, or else Harry will die." he answered.
Hermione sat there horror struck. It was all happening sooner than she expected. She wasn't ready to make this decision. She looked at Fred and decided to tell him about what she saw in the Vanishing Cabinet. She slowly explained everything that had happened, about Pansy and how if she goes back to Draco she will be the one to aid in Harry's demise. She told him about how she saw them together with a child, but the shop would be in danger and Malfoy would still find a way to kill Harry by tricking him into thinking that Ginny was in trouble.
"So you see, either way Malfoy is going to murder Harry." she ended.
"Maybe what you saw wasn't real. Maybe it's... maybe it's like a boggart. You know showing you the things you fear most. I don't know enough about Vanishing Cabinets to know for sure. We can research it I suppose."
"Fred, you heard the prophecy too. Malfoy is the weapon that Voldemort needs in order to destroy Harry. When I had the vision I saw exactly what Pansy had shown me. He's going to be cut open with a knife in the Malfoy Mansion."
"Quite a predicament you're in." he commented absent-mindedly.
"Thank you, Fred, for stating the obvious."
"Maybe you shouldn't be with either of us?"
"I thought that too, but I don't know. I'm trying to figure out how this will work. If I go back to Malfoy like you suggest in order to keep him from going back to Voldemort, we already know he'll be offered something in the future that he won't be able to resist. Harry, Ron and everyone is going to end up hating me for going back to him, and I'm going to be dragged into his plan."
"Well I won't hate you, I understand now. I'm sure the others will too. Destiny can be changed."
"If I don't go back to Malfoy to keep myself from becoming involved, he'll go back to Voldemort any way. I guess by going back to him, all it would do would prolong the inevitable."
"Which might not be so bad. We might be able to figure out a way to save Harry if we have more time before the event is supposed to occur. The longer you keep Malfoy away from Voldemort, the longer we'll have to create a plan. Listen, we should talk to the others about this. You won't lose us as friends, at least you won't lose me. You won't lose George either. Ron might be a bit of work, but George and I can do something about him, seeing as he's our brother. Same goes with Ginny... and if anyone will understand it would be Harry. This concerns him, and he'll know you're doing it to save him. I don't care what that thing in the vanishing cabinet showed you, this can be changed." he rationalized.
"So I should lead Draco on?"
"Would it really be leading him on, Hermione? You care for him don't you?"
"Yeah, I guess I do. What about us?"
"I care for you a lot Hermione, but you have to do what you have to do. Maybe after this is all over, if you still don't want to be with him... I'll be here." he kissed her softly.
Hermione went back upstairs and changed into clothes, then made her way back downstairs. Fred was still sitting by the fire. She went over to him and hugged him. They looked at each other, then he nodded. Nothing needed to be said. They both knew. Hermione left the common room and went down to the Slytherin House. She knocked on Malfoy's door, but was startled by the painting.
"There's no one in there. He left about an hour ago." an old witch drawled.
"Well do you know where he went?"
"I'm a painting, not a secretary." replied the witch and moved out of her portrait to vist another. Hermione sighed and began walking through the corridors looking for any sign of Malfoy. She decided to go see Fleur. She might know where he was. When she got to the room though, she found that Fleur too was also missing. Hermione began to worry. Maybe he had left already. He could be on his way back to Voldemort as she stood there in the dark hallway. She saw a light from the end of the corner.
"Draco?" she called out. Fred walked over to her.
"I thought maybe you could use this." he told her and handed her a worn piece of paper. She'd seen Harry with it several times. It was the marauder's map.
"How'd you get this? You didn't tell Harry did you?"
"No, he's still asleep. I nicked it from his room." smiled Fred.
"Well how do you work it?" she asked, opening it up. Fred pulled out his wand and tapped the map "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good."
Names began to appear and the map began to reveal itself. Everyone was still in their rooms except for them and two others. Draco Malfoy and Fleur Delacour's names were outside on the courtyard walking in the direction of Hogsmeade.
"Thank you." Hermione thrusted the map back into Fred's hand and took off in a run out of the corridor, through the doors in the Entrance Hall, and down the courtyard. She saw the two of them.
"Draco!" she called out.
Malfoy stopped and turned around. He was carrying his suitcase. She caught up with him. Hermione looked at Fleur. With one exchanged glance, Fleur seemed to catch her urgency, and departed forward. Hermione stood there looking at Draco, not quite sure how to say it. She didn't want to throw herself back into this. She looked up at Gryffindor tower. She knew Fred was watching them, even if she couldn't see him.
"I think this belongs to you." she blushed and handed him his journal.
"Uh, thanks... you didn't..."
"Yeah, I did. I'm sorry."
"It wasn't yours to read." he told her coolly.
"I know Draco, but I'm glad I did. Listen, you can't go back. Please don't go back."
"You called me Draco..."
"Yeah, that's your name isn't it?"
"Yeah, it's just I'm used to being referred to by my surname lately."
They stood there awkwardly for a moment. She was running through possible sentences through her head at a rapid pace, analyzing each and every one of them to try and guess the outcome. Finally she gave up. She leaned in and pressed her lips to his. He returned the kiss avidly. Almost as if his life depended on that very kiss. She felt his arms pull her in close to his body. She looked into his eyes as she pulled away.
"You can't go back to them Draco. You can't."
"Hermione, I have to! Don't you get it? I can't stay here. We're supposed to go to the Ministry of Magic today for our apparation license. You think they're going to just let me walk right in there after stealing a time turner?"
"Yeah and what good is it going to do you to go straight back to Voldemort, after you betrayed him. You think he's going to be any more forgiving than the Ministry? Not only are you putting yourself at risk... but you're putting everyone else as well. You and I both know what that prophecy said. I know you don't like Harry, but do you really despise him so much that you want to kill him?" she argued.
"Maybe I do. You wouldn't understand Hermione. You never had to deal with any of this cause of your perfect Muggle family. Potter... Harry has been nothing but a nuisance to me and my family since we arrived at this school and-"
"-And so have I, but you were able to get over that weren't you? If you love me like you say I do, I don't understand why you would want to kill my best friend. Not to mention, Harry has helped you too. He may not like you, but he helped you get the Time Turner and he tried to save you in March."
"So you're saying I owe it to him?" Malfoy sneered.
"No, but you could at least take it into consideration. Don't go back to him Draco. Stay here and I'll be with you. I'll give us another chance?"
"What about your pauper boyfriend?" he asked. Hermione flinched.
"I decided that he was nothing compared to you, Draco." she said softly. She brushed her fingers against his cheek. He kissed down her hand.
"What will we do about this afternoon?"
"We'll explain what happened. I'm sure Dumbledore already has. Come on, let's go back to the castle." She put her hand in his. He kissed her lightly and for the first time since they'd been back in each other's company, he smiled. Hermione smiled back. She looked back up at the window to the Gryffindor Common Room and sighed.
A/N: I am sorry that it's short and I'm sorry it took me so long to get up. I've had writers block. I've also been in the process of joining an RP, mending things with the fiance away from the comp, and brainstorming another story idea that I will be starting today. I will be writing this story along with that one. I'm going to try and have a chapter of each posted every few days, but the maximum length of time between chapters will be 1 week. This will allow me to write longer chapters and pay equal attention to both stories. This story is only about half way done, for reference. Anyway if you read please review.