The next morning, Hermione woke up, feeling exceptionally bright and refreshed. Then her mind fast-forwarded and she remembered she had Potions first thing. The mere thought of Potions drained out all of her precious daisy-freshness and with a gloomy face she got dressed into her school uniform.

Draco emerged out of the bathroom, happy as could be.

'Excited?' he asked.

'What do you think?' she muttered, brushing her hair. 'This is Snape we're talking about here.'

'Yeah but it can't be that bad,' Draco consoled. 'I'm his favorite student he wouldn't make me drink poison.'

'Well, I feel so much better now,' Hermione didn't even attempt to conceal the sarcasm in her voice.

'Whatever, I'm off to breakfast.'

Grumbling to herself, Hermione finished brushing her hair and teeth and went down to breakfast too.

'I'd ask why you look so annoyed,' said Harry when she joined them. 'But I already know. It's that potion, eh?'

Ginny sat down next to her. 'What potion?'

Ron quickly filled her in.

'Damn,' said Ginny, digging into her waffles. 'Well even if it's a long term potion, we'll help you out.'

'Er – ' Hermione decided this might be the best time to break some news to them. 'I might be leaving soon.'

They stared at her. 'What?'

'Well, I'm trying my best not too,' she explained hastily. 'But I might end up leaving in a few days for about a week.'

Ron's eyes narrowed. 'Has this something to do with your marriage?' he and Harry exchanged looks and she could have sworn he mouthed to Harry "and the bird?" but she must have been mistaken.

Nevertheless, an ominous, gripping suspicious was brewing in the pit of her stomach.

'Gather round!' called Snape, and the class excitedly gathered close to the table Snape was standing next to. Apparently, seeing Hermione and Draco drink this unknown potion was something of a show.

Snape stood next to an old table, the wood of which used to be a light brown but was now a thick black, covered with years of dirt. There was not a crack in it which did not have grime filling it, and the surface was bumpy. Upon this surface stood two identical golden goblets, the contents of which looked as innocent as water.

Hermione knew better though.

She and Draco were standing behind the table, their goblets in front of them, and the rest of the class were huddled at the other end of the table, their eyes bright with anticipation.

'Drink,' said Snape.

Sneaking a quick peek at Draco, Hermione slowly reached for her goblet. She held it in front of her at armslength and out of the corner of her eye she saw Draco do the same. Neither had any real wish to drink it.

'Drink it!' shouted someone, and within seconds, the whole class was shouting drink it! Drink it! Drink it!

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath, blocking out the noise.

'Fine!' Draco shouted, and the class quietened and waited with baited breath, all eyes on him. He drained the goblet in one gulp. Then turned to her.

'Go ahead. Tastes like cabbage.'

Hermione did the same. The potion, even though it looked pure, smooth and cool as water, was thicker than a milkshake and tasted incredibly foul in her mouth. She grimaced, feeling the thick, hot potion travel down her throat. It was nothing like cabbage.

There was no noise in the room, save for the steady drops of water coming from a window, which confirmed it was raining outside. And as far as Hermione could tell, nothing had happened.

'So what happens?' she asked.

'All it was,' said Snape, 'was a strong truth potion. But I altered it some. When Draco asks you a straight question, Hermione, you'll be forced to answer it completely truthfully unless you can convince Draco to tell you that you can lie. And vice versa.'

Hermione stood frozen.

Fuck, she thought, shaking her head. Brillant.

Across from her, Draco was frozen too.

With a satisfied smile, Snape sent the class back to their seats.

'I'm so sorry for you, Hermione,' Harry whispered in her ear as they sat. 'But it really isn't so bad.' But he seemed pretty pleased that it wasn't him that had drunk the potion.

Chewing her tongue, Hermione sat down and not once concentrated throughout the lesson (resulting by losing twenty points for Gryffindor) but looking once again at the bright side, and thinking up incredibly nasty questions to ask Draco.

'Ginny!'

Ginny Weasley was taking a short stroll outside, and had stopped under a large, blooming apple tree. It made her feel peaceful, and it was a perfect place, for not many students took this road. She turned, hearing her name, and seconds later spotted Hermione calling her. She waved, and Hermione came over.

Ginny's heart pounded. She had being keeping something hidden from Hermione. And she supposed it also involved Harry, and maybe Dumbledore. She knew it was important for them to know about this but she couldn't tell... they'd be so disappointed in her, and it was so embarrassing... she didn't know what to do. That's why when she talked to Hermione or Harry nowadays she felt incredibly guilty and she wanted to tell them... but her mind had other thoughts. She considered telling Dumbledore, but it was more embarrassing to tell Dumbledore than her friends. Dumbledore couldn't understand.

Hermione had caught up to her. 'I just wanted to ask you something, Ginny.'

'Go ahead.'

'I just wanted to know... um, where were you on that day? The day that I – ' Hermione coughed. ' – well, you know, that day.'

Ginny looked puzzled.

Hermione beckoned her forward. In a loud whisper she said, 'You know, the day I got – got drunk.'

Ginny laughed. 'Getting drunk's a bad thing, Hermione, but most people our age has gotten drunk sometime. Don't be ashamed.'

'Okay,' she sighed. 'We were you? I just wondered because – well, it wasn't like you to leave me.'

Ginny's heart increased it's speed and her hands started sweating. Hermione had hit the bulls eye, but she didn't know it. It was that day that Ginny... discovered something. The thing she had to tell. It was now or never, and it had weighed her down long enough...

'Hermione, I have something to tell you.' Ginny took her arm and they both sat under the apple tree, leaning against the trunk. For a moment, Ginny surveyed her surroundings; the warm, warm breeze, the golden rays of sunlight which peeked through the thick branches and bounced off the few dewdrops littering the grass from the rain, making them look like diamonds...

'Ginny?' Hermione's voice sounded far away, and reluctantly, Ginny pulled herself back to reality.

'Okay. Well, it first started in my second year... and it's haunted me ever since... then I saw him again on that day...'

'Who?' Hermione asked urgently. This was obviously very important, and Ginny was kind of scaring her. She was not herself, for her eyes were wide and bloodshot, and she had no emotion in her voice. Her voice was pained, and in a monotone, and not once did she look at Hermione. It was like Hermione was not even there.

Luckily, she could hear her, even if she didn't seem to see her. She sighed.

'Tom,' her voice was higher, and cracked. 'Tom. My Tom.'

Hermione's heart pounded. It was strange to be so scared on such a lovely, beaming day, but she was.

'Tom, as in, Tom Riddle?' she whispered, half fearing the answer.

Ginny nodded, and at long last, turned her tortured face to Hermione's. Tears streaked down her face.

'I loved him, Hermione,' she whispered. 'True, I was only eleven, but I loved him... he was so polite, so handsome, so nice. At the end of my second year, even when I discovered he was You-Know-Who, I still loved him...'

Hermione took this in, her mouth slightly agape.

'It wasn't love, Ginny,' she tried to convince her friend, convince herself. 'You were only eleven, after all.'

Ginny turned her face away. 'I think of him every day, Hermione. I've secretly grieved for him when he was destroyed... I'm sure it's love.'

There was a long silence, in which Hermione thought over what Ginny had just said. So she loved Voldemort...? People are right. Nothing is impossible.

'And he's back.'

Hermione looked sharply at Ginny. 'Ginny, Voldemort's dead. Harry and Dumbledore killed him. Only the Death Eaters survive to terrorize us, you know that.'

She shook her head. 'You-Know-Who and Tom might have been the same person, but they were different beings. You-Know-Who's dead, yes, but Tom lives. Not only does he live, Hermione, I've seen him. He's talked to me. He's real, solid. And I'm scared.'

'Why?' now Hermione's voice was cracked.

'He said to me...' she gulped, took a deep breath and continued. 'He said he loved me too, and soon he'll come and take me away with him.'

Hermione was astounded. 'Why didn't you tell us Ginny?' fear was mounting steadily upon her; not only was another version of Voldemort back, he was real, and threatening to take away one of her best friend's.

'I was so embarrassed,' Ginny was openly crying now, and Hermione couldn't comfort her. 'What you must think of me – I'm in love with a murderer, a scoundrel and I still want everyone to love me!' she wailed. 'Imagine what Mum and Dad would do if they knew – '

'Don't worry,' Hermione said, forcing her voice to become soothing. 'I still love you, it's not your fault, and everyone will understand.' She helped Ginny up. 'The most important thing now is to get you to Dumbledore and to tell him the news.'

A/N: There was some misunderstanding about my authors notes at the end of the last chapter. No, I did not write I Didn't Know You Cared. Rootbeerfloat did that. Thank-you to all the people who made me feel a lot better! The next chapter is an interesting one, but it has got a sex scene in it. It's my first time ever writing sex and I'm very, very nervous to hear what you guys think of it. Should I change it or not? I'm kinda scared cause I might have gotten a few things wrong but please be very nice about it. Well, please review, especially if you are one of those people who read and then don't review. It really gives me inspiration to write more, even if the review is a word long! I'd really appreciate it!

cheers, sarah