Disclaimer: I don't own any of the orginial Harry Potter character because I am not that creative...but I wish i was...I only own the plot and my characters.

And As I Stared I Counted Webs From All the Spiders

Hermione's anxiety and confusion continued to grow to the point that she didn't want to be around anyone at all for fear that more questions would arise in her head. Every friendship and love was becoming harder and harder to define for her because everyone of them had pros and cons to her. The harder she tried to find the answers to her questions the more confused she became. After several hours of listening to music and writing list after list of pros and cons for each person in her life, Hermione determined that she was a lost cause. Every single list had more bad than good to her right now and her desperation was growing stronger and stronger to the point she began to think that she was going crazy and should leave everything behind. She could feel Draco trying to reach her and his urgency was mounting but she just couldn't let him in...it was as if she was already full but didn't know from what. Concentrate on the pressure you feel in your head and maybe you'll find out where it's coming from, she told herself but the more she focused on the pain the more disoriented she became until finally she welcomed the darkness that was enveloping her.....

Once again the foggy feeling returned to her and she felt herself falling and falling but where was she going? Better yet, how did she get to this place? Was she going to be ok? Would her friends be there if she needed them? Oh yeah, why would they be there after she questioned if she even wanted them and refused to let them into her thoughts for the last few days? She had gone crazy....or had she? Like the weight of a ton of bricks fell upon her as her mind cleared and she realized what or shall I say who was behind this. She had failed them all now and most of all she had failed the one she loved most and gave all the power to her enemy in a single moment of blind stupidity. Who would or even could save her now?

With a thud she landed in an abandoned hallway with a series of doors that seemed to be neverending. She felt a wave of fear and excitement rush over her all at the same time and she began to reason to her what her options were at this point. She could begin trying to open the doors to determine where she was and possibly how to get herself out of here and back to those she loved. As she approached the first door, she stretched out her hand to grab the knob when siren went off in her head stopping her dead in her tracks and a familiar voice sounded out.

I wouldn't do that if I were you....

Who's there and why shouldn't I? Where am I? Why is this happening?

Curiosity killed the cat...ever been told that before?

What am I supposed to do?

Trust your instincts...solve the riddle...find your way back on your terms...not theirs

They who.....what riddle?????

Your heart is not open so I must go

The spell has been broken...I loved you so

Freedom comes when you learn to let go

Creation comes when you learn to say no

You were my lesson I had to learn

I was your fortress you had to burn

Pain is a warning that something's wrong

I pray to God that it won't be long

I wanna go higher

If I solve the riddle then I can home?

Yes...

Who is doing this?

Solve the riddle and you will understand who, why and where home is.....

And just as suddenly as the voice appeared, it was gone and she was alone to ponder the riddle along with why this person would help her...or was it really meant to help her?

Hermione kept replaying the riddle in her mind over and over trying desperately to solve it but none of it made any sense to her...you're heart is not open so I must go...what could that possible mean, she thought to herself. My heart has always been open to everyone, even Draco as was proven at the beginning of the year. What could my heart not be open to? Thoughts began to run through her mind of everything and everyone who she was open to and would miss but she couldn't think of anyone she was closed to...well except Voldemort and his all of this be related to the occulmancy and blocking out Draco just before she woke up in this place? If Draco was who she was blocking then did that mean that he was leaving her? the spell has been broken....but what spell? She thought she understood who loved her so but the rest just didn't seem to fit. How was she ever going to solve this stupid riddle so she could go home????

The more she thought about it, the less sense it made so she moved on to the next set of lines...freedom comes when you learn to let go...creation comes when you learn to say "no"....what can I let go of? School, family, friends, Draco....the deep seeded need to right about everything???? At this moment, Hermione felt more isolated and alone than she had ever been before. For all of her wits, she could answer each line but none of the answers made any sense when they were put together and none of them answered where she was or how she'd gotten here. Then in a flash of awareness, she reached deep into her mind and tried to concentrate on Draco to see if he could help her or at least contact Harry and others to help. She sensed the familiar fog but couldn't feel any presence around her but her own beating heart...once again a clear sign of how alone she is and would probably stay until she solved the riddle and found a way home. Where ever that may be......

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Draco was becoming more and more franatic because he could no longer reach Hermione at all. He could see the fog and feel huge amounts of frustration but nothing else...no visual contact and he couldn't hear anything from her. Why would she completely cut herself off from him? Finally, Draco decided to try to contact any one of the others and get the scope on what was going on but it seems that everyone was off his radar causing his concern to grow immensely. Eventually he gave up and tried to remember the words to the song she had played for him before he left to come home...I will remember you, Will you remember me?, Don't let your life pass you by, Weep not for the memories...easier said than done he told himself but he would be back a Hogwarts soon and get answers to all his questions...or so he hoped.

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Meanwhile back at Hogwarts

Harry and the others were still going over curses and counter curses trying to prepare for a battle if it were to occur, when he realized that no one had seen Hermione all day. Where could she be and why wouldn't she have come to the meeting to help prepare the others. I mean she was the one who volunteered to do all the research and then she just disappears? No, this isn't right, he thought to himself and went to tell the others that they needed to find her and see what was going on.

"Hey, has anyone talked to Hermione today?" he asked the group.

A chorus of "no's" followed and then like a light bulb shining over each of their collective heads came the looks of confusion and concern. Something was up but no one had idea just how bad things were about to get for an unexpected couple and their group of do gooders....

They found Hermione in her room with her CD player running playing the most depressing but beautifully haunting music over and over again. She looked as though she was just sleeping but no could rouse her from this state. They all pondered their options..they could take to the hospital wing and see if Madam Pomfrey could wake her or they could go to Dumbledore and ask for his advice or they could try to contact Malfoy and see if he knew what was going on. No one had felt any connection from Malfoy in the last couple of days but they had been working diligently on their occulmency to keep his and Voldemorts presence away from their thoughts in an attempt to keep their plans secret. If they wanted to contact Malfoy then Ginny was probably their best option but how could she reach him? Maybe if she just concentrated on the thought of him she could make the connection?

The last time Ginny had made a connection to Malfoy was while listening to one of Hermione's CDs but Draco was the one who initiated the contact and not Ginny. The group decided to go through the CDs and pick out one that she could lose herself in and try to open up the line of communication and see if she could reverse the connection as it was their only hope before they would have to explore other options. She searched high and low for something that would open her mind to Malfoy. She needed to find something that would exploit her feelings towards Draco and in turn open her up to him. But the real question for Ginny was how did she exactly feel about someone like him? She didn't really like him or hate him for that matter. He was like a blank canvas to her. For so long they all had hated him for his arrogance and cruelty but that wasn't how they really saw him now..or was it?

After what seemed like forever she finally chose a song that would hopefully put her in his mind set. It wasn't really a song she totally understood but it had an unusual effect on her while she was listening to it. There was a dark feeling, a feeling of hopeless confusion and an ode to an unwanted change of environment. An indication of a change that left the person as half of what they were before, she imagined that if she had made the kind of changes he had made that she would no longer feel like the person she was before and incomplete without the motivation behind the change. Isn't that what he would feel, especially if something happened to the only person who ever really believed in the new Malfoy???

She cleared her mind and turned on the song. As the music began to play, she visualized Draco standing before her and lost herself to the words and the impending emotions and doubts that followed while unknowning chanting his name...

Forward yesterday
Makes me wanna stay
What they said was real
Makes me wanna steal
Livin' under house
Guess I'm livin', I'm a mouse
All's I gots is time
Got no meaning, just a rhyme

Take time with a wounded hand
'cause it likes to heal
Take time with a wounded hand
'cause I like to steal
Take time with a wounded hand
'cause it likes to heal, I like to steal

I'm half the man I used to me
This I feel as the dawn
It fades to gray
Well, I'm half the man I used to be
This I feel as the dawn
It fades to gray
Well, I'm half the man I used to me
This I feel as the dawn
It fades to gray
Well, I'm half the man I used to be, half the man I used to be

Feelin' uninspired
Think I'll start a fire
Everybody run
Bobby's got a gun
Think you're kinda neat
Then she tells me I'm a creep
Friends don't mean a thing
Guess I'll leave it up to me

Take time with a wounded hand
'cause it likes to heal
Take time with a wounded hand
Guess I like to steal
Take time with a wounded hand
'cause it likes to heal, I like to steal

I'm half the man I used to me
This I feel as the dawn
It fades to gray
I'm half the man I used to be
This I feel as the dawn
It fades to gray
I'm half the man I used to be
This I feel as the dawn
It fades to gray
I'm half the man I used to be, half the man I used to be

Take time with a wounded hand
'cause it likes to heal
Take time with a wounded hand
Guess I like to steal
Take time with a wounded hand
'cause it likes to heal, I like to steal

I'm half the man I used to me
This I feel as the dawn
It fades to gray
I'm half the man I used to be
This I feel as the dawn
It fades to gray
I'm half the man I used to be
This I feel as the dawn
It fades to gray
I'm half the man I used to be, half the man I used to be,
Half the man I used to be

The music began to fade into the background and a tunnel appeared before her. As she walked to the end of the tunnel, she found herself in a large room that reminded of a storage warehouse. There were boxes everywhere, each labeled with scenes from someones life and the dates in which they occurred. She opened the nearest box and found herself watching a memory unfold of a young blonde boy with brillant blues playing in a garden. He seemed very happy soaking up the sunlight while running around charming various objects to come to him when he called them. I must in his mind, she thought to herself.

Accio broom...he called...the broom flew to his hand...Accio comb...the comb flew to him...Accio cup...in mid flight the cup exploded....

The small boy turned his head to see his father standing there looking rather displeased.

What do you think you're doing? Cheap parlor tricks will get you nowhere. How many times have I told you that if you're going to achieve greatness and respect, that you must challenge yourself...not pull childish pranks? Cruico....

The boy fell to his knees and cried out in pain. He couldn't have been more than six or seven years old and here was this fully grown man performing unforgiveables on a child for doing wandless magic. Any other parent would have been proud...but this was no ordianary child and no ordinary parent. Ginny willed with all her might to leave this dream...she didn't want to see more. She called out with all her might to Draco and with the slightest tug a her navel she was transported back to the storage area. As if on a speaker system, the music played again in a loop and she cried out again to Draco...please for merlin's sake hear me...please save me from his nightmare, his reality, his life......

No answer came that Ginny could tell at least but something was happening because boxes began to fly at her while opening of their own accord. She was thrust into memory after memory, each more painful than the last. There was one of Draco at about eleven or twelve years old, dressed in his Hogwarts uniform watching his father savagely beat a half naked woman that Ginny guessed to be his mother. His was sobbing uncontrollably but in a full body bind that wouldn't allow for him to interfere or leave the atrocious scene until his father was good and ready. Countless frames of unforgiveables being performed on Draco as punishment for such wrong doings as smirking at his father, a lower grade than Hermione on an exam or arriving late for a meal. Nothing was sacred to Lucius Malfoy as no warmth or kindness or love were rooted in his cold heart. This explains volumes, Ginny thought out loud. The last imagine she was shown was actually the only pleasant one she had come across. It was the night of the Christmas Ball, when Hermione told him that he was the one and had given herself to him. Ginny wasn't exactly sure but she believed that she had just witnessed the only moment in Draco's life that he had experienced and reciprocated unconditional love.

The music began to grow louder and louder once again and Ginny felt the presumptuous pull at the naval but this time she reappeared in Hermione's room with no answers about Hermione but lots of answers about Draco. No longer would she question the validity of the couples feelings or devotion as they were each others saving grace as unlikely as it may have seemed. The rest of the group stared back at her with great anticipation, she simply shook her head to indicate that she never reached Draco to get any answers. She then climbed on Hermione's bed and held on to her as she fell asleep, praying she would forget what she had just seen and felt. She never wanted to see anything even remotely similar to those imagines ever again.

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back to the land of the lost....with Hermione

The kept going through Hermione's thought...an endless aray of possiblities stood in front of her but none seemed to hold the answer. She needed to solve the first part of the riddle...you're heart is not open, so i must go???..what is my heart not open too? Her thoughts kept wandering to Draco but it wasn't her heart that was closed to him, it was her mind that was the obstacle to that. But to an outsider, maybe it would seem that her heart was closed because her mind was guarding it so fiercely. If this hypothectical person thought her heart was closed then would they think that he would have to give up and go? She wasn't sure how this could tie into where she was or who had done this but she thought she could work on the rest of the riddle to see if she could make it fit. Ok, she thought to herself, the next part of the riddle was...the spell has been broken, I loved you so...now that could mean that either someone thought that Draco had put a spell on her or vice versa but the who would think that that would have any knowledge of her and Draco?

Unless, if Voldemort could use Draco to break into her mind then maybe he saw Draco's thoughts and her own and thinks that she was playing with Draco's feelings and is therefore trapping her somewhere until she declares her loyalties to him? But that would be awfully risky considering her loyalities to Harry and the light side. Although not if they were planning to do away with her if she didn't cooperate. Alright but what's with the riddle? He has always been very abrupt to confront people not use all the smoke and mirrors. It's the riddle that has become so bothersome because it's sounds more like something she would do not Voldemort and his band of evil dimwits......

What makes you really think it's someone evil who has done this?

Oh, great, the voice is back...so familiar but not at the same time. Someone good wouldn't imprison me, they would just sit down and have a polite chat with me.

But it's not like your being tortured if you know what I mean.

True, but I'm not able to talk to or see anyone. I'm all alone on this one and I don't even know why I'm here. Can't you tell me anything that would help me with this merlin forsaken riddle?

Yes, you're looking in the wrong direction but the right place.

C'mon. Must everything be a riddle to you? Always so cryptic. Can't you just come out and say anything at all?

No, but do I remind you of someone?

What????No, I mean yes but it couldn't be. Or could it?????

At that moment all the cobwebs seemed to have cleared from her mind and the truth became clear to her. The answer to the riddle did in fact lie within her but finding her way back to the real world would mean answering questions that she had been ignoring for far too long. As Hermione sat on the ground she realized that the answer to the first question was simple, her heart was closed to Draco because her mind had become polluted with doubt that made her heart jump to an unavoidable conclusion. She threw her feelings to the side to look at her situation from an anaylitical view and concluded that Draco could not change, therefore, she shut him out which left him out in the cold when he needed her the most. Next, the spell that had been broken was none other than true love. She let her mind convince her heart that the love was not real no matter what he had said or done and she knew in her heart that he did love her but she just discarded it because it was easier that way. Or was it???

Freedom comes when you learn to let go, once she lets go of her need for everything to make sense and just learn to live with what life gives her then and only then will her heart be allowed to follow its path. Creation comes when you learn to say "no", if she doesn't think so hard about why this happening then her love and grow and create the life that everyone wants. One that is filled with hopes, dreams and love of another human being in which to share your future with. You were my lesson to learn, Draco is, was and always be her first true love and therefore, she had to learn what it meant to give herself over to it and its plan instead of her preconceived notions of where her life was going. I was your fortress you had to burn, it was her heart that he had melt and her prejugdices he had to overcome on his way being the Draco he wanted to become and not the one his father had raised him to be.

Pain is a warning that something's wrong, the pain and isolation that she was feeling was there to make her deal with her fears and demons before she said or did something stupid. I pray to God it won't take long, the hope that she would be strong enough to find her way quickly or all would be lost for her first love and maybe everyone else too. I want to go higher, may she grow into the woman she is meant to be and the girl who's to afraid to trust and change at any price. Just as she thought the last idea, a door appeared at the end of the tunnel and she got up, walked to it and turned the knob. She walked through a waterfall of light and sound and was back in her room where Ginny was lying beside her crying hysterically but appeared to be asleep. My goodness, she thought as she grabbed a hold of Ginny and tried to wake her while consoling her, what has happened now???

"Ginny, what is wrong. Please wake up and tell me what is wrong." Hermione said soothingly.

"I can't make the images go away. Oh my, you're back Hermione, we couldn't wake you so we thought there was something wrong but we decided to have me try to contact Draco and see if he knew what was happening but when I tried I got caught up in his memories and it was the most horrible things I've ever seen. I can't make them stop. Please take them away, I don't want to know this anymore." Ginny sobbed into her pillow.

"I'm going to go get Harry. I'll be right back." she replied and left the room to go get the rest of the group.

As she stepped out of her room, she saw that everyone was asleep throughout the common room and yelled to get them all up.

"Everyone up now...Ginny needs help...Ron go to Madam Pomfrey and get an calming potion NOW!!!!! Harry, Cheyan, with me, we're going to need to perform a memory charm if the calming potion doesn't work." Hermione stated firmly like a general in the midst of a battle.

"What's going on?" Katie asked while hurrying towards Hermione's bedroom.

"Ginny's seen something or somethings that she shouldn't have and we have to help her through it." was her only reply as she turned and went back to Ginny's side.

Everyone was in the room and trying to calm Ginny down and find out what she had seen when Ron finally came back with the calming potion. He was almost frantic with idea that Draco had somehow hurt his sister but nothing she was rambling about was making much sense. She kept talking about all the pain and anguish, that it was too much, that she felt like she was going crazy and begging for it to end. They got the calming potion down her and waited to see if she could calm down enough to explain what had happened and what she had seen. But quite to their dismay, the potion sent her to sleep within a matter of minutes and leaving them to wonder how long until they could the answers they so desperately needed. Hermione had a good idea of what she had seen though. Draco had never went into a whole lot of detail to her but she had a feeling that Ginny had just experienced sixteen years of torture by Lucius Malfoy to his son. As Hermione voiced her beliefs as to what had happened to Ginny, they were struck by the feeling that they were just flies caught in the web of some very big spiders.....