Chapter 10. Making Plans

"What do you want with me?" Hermione hissed, she couldn't recognize who they were, but she knew they were not Death Eaters. But she was prepared to be hostile.

"Your help." Sirius replied, dragging Hermione up by the arm.

"I don't understand."

"We are part of an organization, The Order of the Phoenix." Lupin started. "Dumbledore used to run it, but now…" He paused, swallowing as a grimace passed onto his face. "There are less now, only a few members left. Most of us have been killed. We have a plan, to get rid of Voldemort and we've watched you for quite some time. We need your help. Are you in?"

Hermione was disgusted that they had been watching her; annoyed that she hadn't known, and shocked that they had a plan to overthrow Voldemort.

"I'm in."

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"What's wrong with you Draco? You've been silent this whole day. It's not like you." Pansy Parkinson said, sitting next to Draco in the Slytherin Common room, her body closer to Draco's then he liked.

"Nothing." He said stubbornly, and Pansy sighed.

"I can make it better for you. Promise." She said seductively and Draco smirked.

"I doubt it. Let's get to DADA; Snape will kill us if we're late." He said, grabbing his satchel and leaving the common room, his fans following him.

His mind was on other things, and that other thing was Hermione and that kiss. He wanted to know why she pulled away, why she had left like that. That kiss had meant a lot to him, and he was terrified that it meant nothing to her. Because…damnit…because Draco Malfoy has fallen for the mudblood, Hermione Granger.

And speaking of Granger, Hermione was walking along the corridor, coming towards Draco and his friends. Her head was bent down, but Draco could see a tiny smile on her face as she walked with her basket. Look up willed Draco, and indeed, she looked up and her eyes immediately caught Draco's, intentionally or not, Draco did not care. But she was looking at him, and her smile was beginning to fade. The two were walking closer now; Draco's friends behind him seemed unaware of Hermione walking to them, as they were talking amongst themselves. Hermione seemed to notice that also, so she smiled, and she had never looked more beautiful to Draco. And Draco was just about to smile back, but then:

"What are you smiling about slave?" Pansy hissed behind Draco, and Hermione's smile faltered. She had stopped in the middle of the corridor now, and Draco and his friends were blocking her way. She made no move to answer and Pansy growled. "Answer, mudblood." Still, Hermione gave no answer, her head was bent to the ground, and her gaze was fixed on her feet. Pansy sighed and nudged Draco. "Do something Malfoy."

Hermione looked up automatically, and Draco felt as if he could hit Pansy. What was he supposed to do? Tell the Slytherin why she really had been smiling, and then they would find out about the kiss? Or should he be spiteful to Hermione, keep the Slytherins happy, but make Hermione upset. What was he supposed to do? Hermione stared at him, as did Draco's friends, and Draco decided on what he should say.

"Move out of the way, mudblood, or I'll call the Dark Lord." He said, in the most cold and cruel tone he could manage. The Slytherins laughed behind him, but Hermione kept her gaze with Draco, her brown eyes shining with hurt. Making an 'o' shape with her mouth, she moved towards the wall and put her back to it, letting the Slytherins pass, all the while keeping her gaze locked with Draco's. The Slytherins disappeared down the corridor, not noticing that Draco had not moved, and their shouts vanished. Hermione glared at Draco and made to go, but Draco's hand on her arm stopped her. She looked up to him, a disgusted look on her face, and Draco's felt terrible. "Hermione." He said desperately, and she shrugged.

"I figured as much." She said simply.

"What do you mean?"

"You did not mean that kiss and we are back to being complete enemies with each other, am I right?" She asked angrily.

Draco shook his head desperately. "I meant it. I swear I did."

"So what was that all about?" She accused, and Draco shook his head again.

"I don't know." Hermione removed Draco's hand and continued down the corridor. "You can't expect me to be civil to you in front of them, can you?" Draco shouted after her, and Hermione paused.

"I don't expect you to be civil, but I would prefer it if you weren't so cruel, Mister Malfoy." She ran down the rest of the corridor, and Draco was left alone.

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"Sarah, can I speak to you for a moment?" Hermione asked at the end of the day in the slave's room. "You too Parvati." The two girls obliged and the three sat on the floor in a quiet area of the room.

Hermione thought it was best to forget about Draco from now on. After what had happened in the corridor, she was ready to push away her feelings for Draco, all her theories of what would happen after the kiss had come true, and she was not happy with the outcome. She had more important things to think about now, and she needed her full attention on it.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" Asked Sarah, worried for her friend, thinking about the events that had happened yesterday, with Daisy.

"Nothing. In fact, I've never been better. You see, I've been visited by three very special people, Prongs, Padfoot and Moony, and they need our help."

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"It's crazy." Sarah protested, and Hermione nodded.

"It is. But it's going to work, trust me on this."

Parvati shook her head. "How are we supposed to get everyone out of here? There are hundreds of slaves, and we're supposed to get them all out?"

Hermione sighed. It was a crazy plan, she agreed with her friends on that. But it was one of those times when a plan was so crazy, that it might work. "We can get outside help on this." Hermione said, and Parvati scoffed.

"Where?"

"Snape." She said quietly, and the two girls looked at her as if she was crazy.

"Snape?" Sarah repeated in shock. "Professor Snape?"

Hermione nodded. "It's the only way."

"Yes, I can see that happening. We talk to Snape, tell him our plan about destroying Voldemort and he turns us in. Great plan Hermione." Sarah said sarcastically.

"No, it's not that. Prongs told me that Professor Snape was a spy for the Order when Dumbledore was alive. When he died…Snape just went back to Voldemort, but he didn't tell him about the Order. Think about it…Voldemort would love to take out the only organization that could get close to stopping him. But Snape did not tell him…and I'm guessing that Snape is still good at heart."

Sarah shook her head. "Wait…I still don't like the sound of this. I mean, the plan…very crazy, but it could work. The only thing wrong is the Snape part. We can't trust him!" She hissed.

"I've explained it to you already, he is a good wizard. He was a spy for the Order and that has to count for something." Hermione argued.

"I don't know about this Hermione…it's just, a jump in the dark, y'know?" Parvati said, voicing both hers and Sarah's feelings.

Hermione shook her head, and put her hands up, silencing the girl's protests. "I'll be vague about it, I promise. If he is no longer a spy, only I will get in trouble, none of you will."

"You could be killed!" Sarah said in protest.

"It's better than living in this hell hole." Hermione said determinately. "In fact, I would rather die than spending any more time in here. We have nothing to lose, girls, because we've already lost everything else. We have nothing to lose."

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Very very sorry about the long wait. Won't happen again, I promise. I've written a lot of this story, and will get back to posting regularly.

Thanks as always to my reviewers who helped me get off my butt and write this thing. Especially Snazzysnez, shootingstar19, Selina and Sam-453 for badgering me about this. If they hadn't I probably wouldn't have updated till Christmas.

Oh and thanks to Angela, who left a smashing review about my smashing story. Note the sarcasm. I don't take flames seriously, so if you are thinking of leaving one, don't. Otherwise, flames will be used to melt my marshmallows. I like getting critism, just as long you aren't mean about my story, as I dedicate and spend a lot of time on my writing. So yeah. Thanks Angela.

I am thinking of changing the rating to R. If anyone has a problem this, please tell me and I won't, but if no one says anything, up the rating goes.

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