Disclaimer: Harry Potter and such belong to J.K. Rowling.

You know, reviews make many people happy. Plus they are free. Spread the wealth and send me a message!

Chapter Ten: Occlumency and Gummy Bears

Dumbledore's Army was a success with the older students who had Delores Umbridge as a teacher. Everyone was assured an O on his or her Defense Against the Dark Arts exam. The first years had the class once a month in the Great Hall, much like the dueling practice in Hermione's second year. Older students, who knew more magic and therefore had to be taught increasingly complicated spells, were in classes of tens or twenties that met every two weeks.

Hermione and Draco were in the same class. There was almost an equal amount of students from every house, Hufflepuff making up the majority of this class.

Hermione was excited about learning defense spells until she learned that Harry, Ron and Neville were in the same class. She was the only sixth-year Gryffindor in her class.

The first night, Professor Dumbledore entered the room in a blue mist. For the first ten minutes he did not say a word.

Draco poked Hermione. "You think he's going to stand there the whole time?"

Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Welcome students to what might be the most important class of your life. The aims of this class are to inform you of the first war against Voldemort, to teach you anything that may help you save your own life and to let you practice some of these hexes, charms...Hermione, you can put away your quill and parchment. You will not be given any tests, nor will there be a final grade in this class, unless you do not participate."

Hermione, embarrassed, put away her things.

Professor Dumbledore told the students to stand in a line so he could pair them. Some students were paired with complete strangers, others with their best friends. Professor Dumbledore paired Hermione and Draco last.

"Excuse me, Professor."

"Yes Hermione?"

"Why do I have to work with Draco? Could I work with someone else?"

"You trust Draco more than anyone in the world. That is why you two will work together."

A smile spread across Draco's face. Hermione looked at Professor Dumbledore like he was crazy.

Hermione spent the whole session arguing under her breath.

When the bell rang Draco asked, "What do you think of that?"

Hermione gritted her teeth. "What do I think of what?"

"What Dumbledore said, about us..."

"I think that it's a load of rubbish. I trust my parents more than you, Harry more than you, Ron..." She went off into a prepared speech, but nothing could shake Draco's glee. That one sentence put him in a good mood for the rest of the month.

Ron and Harry were deep in conversation when Hermione walked into the common room one Saturday.

"Whatcha up to?" Hermione asked in a playful tone. Ginny and other Gryffindor girls walked into the room. They had been outside enjoying the last bit of nice weather before winter.

"Oh, nothing." Harry eyed the other people in the common room. Hermione knew that she would have to wait for further explanation. Then she thought of a better idea.

"Why don't we go to the library? No one will be there, so we can talk."

Harry and Ron stood up and followed Hermione to the quiet corner of the library in which she and Draco studied.

"Ron is going to study Occlumency with me," Harry said.

"Yeah, I have my own personal lessons with Snape. We both have remedial potions," Ron added.

"Why does Ron get special treatment?" Hermione asked.

"Mr. Weasley is pulling some strings for Ron at the Ministry. As soon as school is out, Ron is going straight into Auror training. Dumbledore thinks that it might be a good idea if Ron studies Occlumency so that Voldemort will not have any way to get into Ron's mind."

Hermione looked hopeful. "Do I get any lessons too?"

"No, just Ron and me."

"Oh..." Hermione looked crestfallen.

"Hermione—"

"Did Professor Dumbledore mention me at all? Did he say why I was left out of this little plan?"

"There is no need to be jealous," Ron said.

"Jealous? Me?"

"Hermione, we both asked if you were getting lessons too. Dumbledore said that you have something else in store for you."

Harry knew that Hermione was about to get very, very angry. He caught Ron's eye and motioned towards the exit. He counted to three on his fingers. They both ran as fast as they could.

Draco's hair blew in the wind that Harry and Ron created as they dashed out of the library. He ran his hand through his hair.

"What was that about?" he asked Hermione.

"Selfish—so selfish—"was all that Draco could understand of Hermione's muttering.

He put an arm around her. "It will be fine. Let it out. Besides, there's a Prefect meeting in about ten minutes. I was coming to get you at the tower when Lavender said you were in here."

Hermione muttered all the way to the Head Boy and Girl's dormitory. Draco had his books and hers in one hand and led her down the hall with the other.

Draco opened the door to the Head Boy and Girl common room. It was decorated in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff colors. There were two loveseats and many chairs spread out for the meeting. The only space left was one cushion on the Ravenclaw loveseat. Draco let Hermione have the seat and he sat on the floor.

Emma stood up to begin the meeting. "As you know there is to be a Halloween Ball. It is going to kick off the Quidditch season."

Peter picked up his wand and levitated a small notebook to everyone.

"These journals hold all of the information for Spirit Day, the Halloween Ball and the Quidditch season. If you write in the journal, all journals change to include what you write, though Peter and I will track all entries. This way, we can keep up with each other and not have to call meetings every day."

All of the Prefects flipped though their books. Rules and ideas filled the first few pages. The rest of the pages were blank.

"Inside are your assignments. When you have completed your task, fill in a report in the notebook. We have placed you in pairs with your house and year. It's easier to get work done that way. I believe we're done, so you can leave now."

Emma and Peter started their own conversation. Ron and Pansy walked to where Draco and Hermione were sitting.

"Rough deal...I was hoping that I would be able to work with Pansy," Ron said.

"What exactly are our jobs?" Hermione asked. She flipped to the task page. "Hermione and Ron...that's us...Spirit Day, we are to raise Gryffindor cheer, make banners, wear school colors, basically anything we can think of."

"It says that for everyone," Draco interrupted.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Anyways, for the ball Ron and I are in charge of decorations."

Pansy let out a sigh. "I was hoping that Ron would have superlatives for Spirit Day with me."

"Superlatives?"

Draco said, "You know, like most spirited Slytherin. Who thought of this? Most spirited Slytherin is an oxymoron! It can't happen, unless you want to see Professor Snape dressed like that boggart."

Hermione cringed. She never wanted to see Snape dressed like Neville's grandmother ever again. It was bad enough that he haunted her nightmares on occasion.

"Last but not least, the Quidditch season..." Hermione finished. "You know, there's nothing different about Quidditch."

"Don't overanalyze it. You will spoil all of the fun that Peter and Emma are having bossing us around." Draco's normal scowl had crept over his face.

Hermione got a pack of gummy bears out of her bag.

Draco looked at them with mild interest. When Hermione started to eat the tiny bears, he wanted to know what they were.

"Muggle snack, my parents sent me some. For some reason, everyone in America wanted to load my parents up with sweets. Being dentists and all, they didn't want gummy bears. And who would waste them?"

"It's not polite to eat things smaller than yourself."

"It's just candy!"

"Still, look at them, so helpless. I am making it my job to liberate gummy bears everywhere!!!"

"Right." Hermione lowered herself into a sleeping position. Draco contemplated how he would rescue mass amounts of the bite-sized bears. Then he noticed Hermione falling asleep. He sat down on the loveseat next to her.

"I love you, Hermione."

Draco heard Hermione muttering something.

"What?"

Hermione whispered, "I love you too."

Draco was about to wake Hermione up for an explanation, but he thought better of it. One, she probably would not remember saying anything. Two, she would be angry when he woke her up. Draco decided to cover her with the small blanket on the back of the couch. He watched her sleep, hoping one day she would be his.

A/N: Sorry about the gummy bear section...it's from an inside joke from All-State. My friend is going to University of Kentucky so I won't be seeing him, unless he comes home to visit me ; P