PART TWENTY TWO

One Last Thought

Malfoy clutched his right sleeve, rolled it up to his shoulder, and swallowed heavily. God knows he'd so much rather be with his schoolmates in Hogsmeade right now and face public humiliation in Honeydukes because of the memory of what he'd done to Pansy months ago. It was better than standing here, in his father's office in the Manor, listening to him go on ecstatically about what Malfoy knew was going to happen to him in a few minutes.

"Finally," Lucius said, holding up a vial of all the ingredients Malfoy had collected. "After all your bloody procrastinations, it's finished at last…the key to your new life…a life led by loyalty and service, to the one and only Master…"

Malfoy watched in silence as his father stepped closer to him and held up a knife. Malfoy's eyes widened, but he dared not question his father's actions. Instead he gripped his sleeve tighter, expecting the worst. He'd gotten himself into this; there was no point turning back now.

Lucius looked at his son with an almost crazed expression in his eyes. "I've told you before, Draco. The Dark Lord has special plans for you…you will not simply be an ordinary Death Eater. He shall use you as an instrument…a tool…a glorified means to wipe out the hindrances and the one nuisance that stands in His way of domination and cleansing…this is the greatest honor a devoted follower can ever achieve, my boy…" he whispered, raising the knife. "And I have never been more proud."

At the word "proud", Lucius stabbed the blade's sharpness right into Malfoy's upper arm, and as the blood  oozed out furiously from his flesh, Malfoy cried out in pain and gritted his teeth, staggering a bit as his vision began to go surprisingly blurred. He screamed again and dropped down to his knees as he felt his father pouring the contents of the vial into the large wound, and blindingly hot pain seeped through his veins and into his very soul. The room began to look different to him; everything seemed to be spinning. The pain was indescribably too much.

But before he began to lose consciousness, he caught a glimpse of a person in a black cloak emerge from the shadows in the far corner of the room…clutching a black book and walking slowly towards his writhing form. The figure stopped right in front of him, and as he strained to keep his eyes open, he saw the figure open the book and could faintly hear the person uttering an enchantment…an enchantment that seemed to intensify the excruciating pain in his arm. And when the figure extended a hand and touched a finger to the wound on his arm, he heard the soft hissing of burning and he opened his mouth to give a final scream of pain.

That was when he fell with a thud on the floor, giving it all up to the peaceful dark recesses of unconsciousness slowly enveloping him, with only one last word popping into his strained mind.

Hermione…

Hermione became, for the next few weeks, the listener to Ginny about the cheesy things Dean did. It truly seemed like they were a couple now, and Hermione, convincing herself that she was back to being her usual self, tried not to dwell on the fact that she was once just like that with Malfoy. She'd kept the locket tucked away in her drawer, and dared not to make any unnecessary confrontations with Malfoy, who was being awfully quiet recently. She focused more on her studies again, burying her head in her books every chance she got. Of course, she never failed to neglect her Head Girl duties, and her two best friends.

She was glad to note that Harry never went back to how he'd acted back in Hagrid's hut when he'd first revealed his visions. He was old Harry again, but this time he'd always sit alone during breaks, pondering on what his fifth and sixth dreams had meant. Cho was surprisingly giving him space just as she'd told Hermione on Christmas Day. Hermione felt bad still, but figured this had an advantage to it because Harry really did need to be alone with his thoughts.

Ron was being a little weird, to Hermione's opinion. One moment, he'd be all wacky and the next moment he'd be serious and awkward around her. She figured it had something to do with what he was going to tell her, but she didn't want to push him or anything. He really would look like he was ready to spit it all out on some days, but then he would keep quiet again and Hermione would never know what the deal was.

Still, whenever the three of them were together, things were how they always were. They would hang out and joke around a bit, and then get down to business on the issues at hand—upcoming tests, History of Magic research papers, Defense Against the Dark Arts essays, Charms exercises, Potions ingredients, rants on House conflicts, updates on current news and mishaps around campus or on the Quidditch practice grounds for the final match against Slytherin, and of course, the questions on their minds about Harry's dreams.

Nothing much came up for the remainder of April, and Hermione, emerging from the dormitories to get a glass of water from the common room the night before the big Quidditch final, came upon Harry sitting alone by the fireplace.

"Hey," Hermione greeted, taking a sip from her glass and settling down on the couch beside him. Harry seemed startled from his thoughts at first, but then smiled at her. "Hey," he greeted back.

"Can't sleep?"

Harry shook his head.

"Nervous about tomorrow?"

"Nah," Harry shook his head again. "I'm quite eager to see the expression on Malfoy's sorry face when Gryffindor pounds them tomorrow."

Hermione chuckled. "I can see you're quite confident," she took another sip. "I'm not blaming you; you guys have been practicing like hell for this match. I'm sure you'll ace it."

"Thanks," Harry smiled at her, and they both turned to the fire, hearing nothing but the cackling of the logs. It was a while before Hermione broke the silence.

"Say, Harry," she said softly. "What if I told you…that there's something I've been hiding from you and Ron…something I regret and have been trying to tuck away, but can't…?"

Harry turned to look at her. "What are you trying to say?"

"It's just that…" she sighed. "I've had this huge secret that I keep wanting to tell you two but can't because I know you guys will totally hate me for it. I've had to lie for so long…and I hate lying to you both."

"Hey, it's okay," he reached out to touch her shoulder. "What if I told you that once I find the meaning in all these visions, I plan to take actions on my own so as not to get Ron and you involved?"

Hermione's eyes widened. "What--?"

"But I'm not going to go through with it," Harry continued. "And that's the point. That's why some things are better kept to ourselves. In the end we pretty much get to figure them out on our own. We realize what we should or shouldn't do. That's why we have secrets; we don't have to tell each other everything. We all have something we intend to keep," he finished.

Hermione looked down. "Well, if you put it that way…" she sighed again. "Damn, I'd give anything to be Ron right now…he doesn't seem like he's keeping anything from us."

Harry snorted playfully. "Trust me; he does."

Hermione looked at him and her eyes widened. "Oh, right!" She snapped her fingers as if she'd just gotten a brainstorm. "Don't tell him this, but I once saw his journal—did you know that he has one?—and I accidentally read a page or two…Ron is crushing on some girl here at Hogwarts, you know! I think the reason why he's acting weird recently is that he maybe wants to tell me about it so that he can get a few tips, if you know what I mean," Hermione wiggled her eyebrows and grinned. "I reckon she's someone I know and Ron's trying to get me to bring him closer to this Mystery Girl."

"Er…" Harry bit his lip. "Believe me, Hermione. You know her more than you think."

"You know about all this? Wicked!" Hermione set her glass aside on a nearby table and edged closer to Harry, intrigued. "So who is it then?"

Harry stared at her eager eyes for a while, and then he sighed. "It's you, Hermione. Ron likes you; he always has. I thought you'd have noticed that by now. It's been years, Hermione…" Harry smiled at her.

Hermione stared wordlessly at him, her mouth hanging open. Harry let it all sink in, and after a few minutes, Hermione whispered, "Oh. My. God."

"He doesn't expect you to like him back, Hermione. That stuff he's been wanting to tell you? He just wants to get it out," Harry shifted in his position. "Have you ever noticed how as the days go by, he's becoming less and less of a pain in the neck for you? He's toning down on the insults and you guys barely have any bickering anymore like in the previous years. All I'm saying is that you cut him a little slack. Start appreciating him for the guy he is behind the antics. If you'd read his journal, then you should know that by now. He's not twelve years old anymore, you know."

"Oh my god," Hermione repeated, gathering up her knees and hugging them to her chest. "I'm so stupid…Ron, I'm so sorry…The minute I finished reading the entry I told myself I'd appreciate him more…but I guess I never did…" she trailed off and silent tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Whoa, hey, no tears, okay?" Harry said soothingly, wrapping her in his arms and giving her a hug. "Nothing's changed…don't get all awkward around him…god knows that's the last thing he wants."

Hermione nodded, and Harry kissed her on her head. They broke apart and Harry stood up. "Listen, why don't you just sleep on it?"

Hermione looked up at him. "I'm really sorry, Harry. And here I thought I was the one who's going to comfort you and get you to go to sleep."

Harry grinned. "You did. I'm definitely going back to sleep now. I've been thinking too much, and I've definitely had enough drama for tonight," he joked.

Hermione laughed and wiped her tears with the back of her hand, standing up as well. "Okay, Harry. Thanks a lot."

"Anytime," Harry winked at her, and they both made their way to their dormitories. When Hermione reached the door to her room, she paused as her hand took hold of her doorknob. Thank you, too, Ron, she thought. And good luck on the game tomorrow, Harry…Draco…

yey!!! Another chappie!!!! Thanks to all my readers!!! You guys ROCK!!!!!!!! I'm sorry if (as Softish pointed out) the chaps get shorter as I go on, but it's just that despite my busy sched, I'm updating a whole lot faster now than I used to (the old me used to update once every three months. ) I just hope I keep it up for you guys:D Thanks aimee!!! Thanks y'all!!! And yes, mygawd, I am SOOOOOOOO looking forward to the HP3 movie!!! I can't wait to see tom felton in action again (his new hairdo is just TO DIE FOR :D ) anyways, off I go for now!! Thanks for standing by me all this time!!! you guys are the best :D

PS

Hey "zing-baby"!!! thanks for your review, I'll go check on your fic as soon as I get some free time:D I bet it'll be great!! See ya!