Disclaimer: all I own is the plot.. .am obviously not J.K. Rowling

So here comes the third chapter. I hadn't planed on uploading it but since Deepspring from Animexx begged me to carry on, I did.

This chapter is for you Deepsping and another one should be comming up soon.

Chapter3

Malfoy watched the girl take off, her long brown curly hair flying as if waving and hypnotizing him. He could still feel her touch. The hug had been rather violent and strangling, hard for the body not to remember. He massaged this neck. Strangely enough he hadn't minded her clumsily hug; it had been sort of innocent. Yes, innocent was a good word to describe Hermione.

He wasn't used to dealing with innocence and felt awkward. Why could it touch him?

What was the damned girl doing to him? And what had driven him to perform the taking magic hostage spell? Tons of none-deal-braking spells existed and would've been sufficient.Well not exactly tons. He could think of one or two others that were good and would have been sufficient and no where near as personal!

He could feel Hermione's magic tingle quietly inside him. "I've some of her essence inside me" he smiled at the thought and felt comforted. Then he realised and slapped himself mentally. That was just the thought he wanted to ban.

"Hermione equals nerdy know-it-all!" He listened for any protest. Non arose, which meant that statement was still valid. Satisfied that he wasn't going mad he pushed Hermione and feelings side. It wouldn't do, to get to the bottom of what caused him to act the way he had. Maybe it would go away at its own accord. He sincerely hoped it would....

Hermione waited in the library for Ron and Harry to arrive. The plan was to do some research. Also did Hermione still have to tell the two the whole story of the nightly occurrences and what she'd gotten out of Malfoy. Already during classes, Ron and Harry had pressed Hermione for information but she'd resisted their assaults refusing to tell them anything till afterwards. It was too much to tell in a class that wasn't Professor Binns'. Furthermore, she wouldn't slacken and not soak up all knowledge she could just because her agreement with sodding, lifesaving and handsome Draco Malfoy. It only meant she couldn't do her very best in the coming tests. It went without saying that she'd prepare for them as thoroughly as usual.

"Hmpf! Not so eager to get all the facts after all!" she thought furrowing her forehead as more time went by and there still was no sign of Harry and Ron.

Hermione unusually welcomed time for just moping around alone in the library, but now it meant she had time to think and at the moment she couldn't help her thoughts from straying to a certain pale and sleazy boy.

She hadn't decided yet whether she would tell her friends the whole story including feelings and all. She was certain that they'd disapprove of the deal spell. Actually, she disapproved of it! It had been and still was by far too intimate! But she also knew it had been a valuable experience. Hermione closed her eyes inwardly reaching out for her magical core. She touched it again feeling boundless joy at feeling it. How come she hadn't felt it before? It must have always been there. The deal spell must have made her aware of it.

She smiled eyes still closed. Once more in only two days had Draco Malfoy given her a priceless gift. First her remaining sane and then the feeling of her own power. She wondered if he knew what he had given to her and decided he didn't. Surely he couldn't know.

Entwined in her own bright red magical source she felt the little green thread she knew to be Malfoy's. It seemed to fit in perfectly well in some pattern she didn't understand yet.

"As if it belonged here with me..."

Now WHERE had that thought come from??? Malfoy's spark was a hostage!!! It had to be returned!

Hermione opened her eyes now frowning and decided to start without the two. She needed to distract herself. Thinking of Draco gave her the creeps."THERE!!! I'm even calling him Draco!!!" She shook her head as if she could literally shake the thoughts off and took a deep breath. The crisp smell of books reminded her of mission.

In the six years Hermione had been at Hogwarts, she'd spent one fourth in the library. By now Hermione knew it so well, she often thought of it as hers and knew where to look for most things. She quickly found a couple of tomes she expected to contain some information on breath of death. She couldn't remember ever coming across it, but she hadn't managed to read all the books in the library yet.

Hermione began reading and was drawn as usual into the world of knowledge where she reigned as queen.

After an hour or so she found something:

" "Breath of Death", known to be one out of three very powerful potions. It is the cause of the existence of the other two named "Breath of Power" and "Breath of Life". The origins of "Breath of Death" are long lost and forgotten but they are said to go back to the time when Merlin and his druids walked the English forests maybe even before then. It used to be a feared and powerful potion, that caused people to go mad from fear or so it was said. The truth was worse. The potion caused people to hear strange voices in their head, these whispering and torturing, gradually plunging the victims into a shadow world. There was no helping those that had fallen into total darkness.

These didn't die as the name implies, but as they were robbed of all what made life worth living and lived trapped in a world of nightmares with no way of ever escaping, the name seems more than appropriate.

Luckily those not completely fallen could be saved.

Three things could keep the fear at bay and disperse it when applied together: the warmth of another humans touch, reasoning and concentration on reality and truths, strong emotion

At the beginning of the 16th century an unknown dark wizard developed a potion, that lent the first of the three potions even more terror. He named it "Breath of Power". "Breath of Power" evoked some kind of trance and permitted, the one under its influence, entrance to the nightmare ridden minds of those tortured by "Breath of Death". Once their thoughts were penetrated, they'd be enslaved un till their own death came or that of their master. There was no other way but to kill those already tortured to prevent them from becoming enslaved by those with dark purposes.

Nevertheless "Breath of Power" was of no use whatsoever without the original potion "Breath of Death" and soon after, a wizard known as Agrippa developed the last of the three potions and named it "Breath of Light". Its purpose was to fight the two others at the core.

" The text continued, telling stories of those damned by the potion and used for dark purposes by dark men. But it didn't reveal how "Breath of Life" actually fought the other two. Neither did it say how any of the potions worked or at least how breath of death was able to effect people.

Hermione wrinkled her brow. Now she knew some history of the potions.

It was clear to her that if she wanted to fight this menace she needed to know more about the workings of breath of death, how it could effect people,what caused the nightmares to creep up. That would illuminate somewhat how the enemy managed to deposit it in Hogwarts. More importantly she needed to know more about this counter potion "Breath of light". How did it work and how was she to brew it?

Hermione was still sitting in the library sunken in thought, staring at nothing when Harry and Ron rushed in looking extremely guilty for being 2 hours late. It turned out that Quidditch practice had taken longer. "We couldn't help it!" they assured her innocently. Hermione gave them, in particular Harry a"Yeah right!-look" that said: " You are in charge of the Quidditch team and you couldn't possibly have done anything to have been here on time..." they cringed and she enjoyed it a second or two. But the the urge to tell them what she knew took over. She decided spontaneously to leave out as much Malfoy and deals as possible.

Both boy seated themselves while Hermione stood up and started pacing while she recounted a teensy bit altered version of this new threat.

Ron and Harry listened intently without interrupting her although they did wince at her just mentioning Malfoy ...

She sunned in their attention and gleefully retold all she knew, feeling guilty about how much satisfaction it gave to have the facts and them being at her mercy. It always was like that. No matter how dangerous the situation she always enjoyed research. It gave her so much power. In situations like these, the boys would be hopelessly lost without her ant they wouldn't even get to the part where they needed to be brave.

She told them how she ran into Malfoy and how he helped her, how in the morning she had figured that he knew more, how she cornered him and how he had let the name she needed for the research slip.

Then she got to the results of her research and finished with: "..the school needs to be warned. We need to hold a DA meeting immediately! They still called it DA since Dumbledore's army still seemed appropriate even without Umbrigde around. Someone must then go to Dumbledore and then at supper the rest of the school must be informed!"

She looked from one boy to the other. They both nodded. Ron scowled "What a sneaky way to get at us!" Harry sighed "Face it Ron its the big bad..." Ron gloomily agreed."Yup the rest needs to be informed..."he trailed off looking thoughtful "....Draco just accidentally told you the name? That's not much like him... I mean I can't stand the guy but sorrily I must admit that he's not stupid.... nasty lil' bugger but no way stupid... Do you think he'd let something like that just slip?"

Hermione was prepared for this. "Well, he helped me once... even if to help himself. But he didn't have to do all he did do, like being kind and comforting for instance.... yeeeeeeew did I just say Malfoy was kind!?"

Harry and Ron nodded as Hermione shook herself. "Well anyhow! My point is that he might be counting on me to do something against this! It's a threat to him same as to us. Maybe he thought the more reacherching on this threat the better!"

She looked at them happily exited. This still sounded as if Malfoy was doing a good thing and she kind of wanted him to be acting good.

"Or he could be just letting you do all the work." Harry ventured.

Hermione opened and closed her mouth. That too made sense and she even paid him grades for it. She stamped her foot. "Damn it!"

Ron patted her on the shoulder. "No worries, Herm you'd have researched anyhow."

"Yes, but I wouldn't be doing him a favour!"

"Come on Mione lets make a call on the Members of the DA and get moving" Harry offered knowing Hermione couldn't resist some action and organising.

"Alright" Sighing she took out her DA coin and let the other members know they needed to meet with a whisk of her wand. They were still using the system Hermione invented in 5th year where all the members of the DA recieved thedatesof the meetings engraved magically on their enchanted gallons. And they where still using the room of requirement.

"Umm, you two go ahead, I need to tell Malfoy about the meeting."

"What?!" the the two boys said in unison looking incredulous.

Hermione shrugged helplessly "He has to know about this, he's the link to the Slytherins. There's none of them in DA and they need to know too."

"But this way you're totally playing in to his hands!" Ron was close to tears. Harry solemnly waited seeing Hermione had a point"

"Calm down Ron, you now thins isn't really about playing into anyone's hands. We are in danger and so are the bloody Slytherins."

"Wait a minute Mione, what can you tell the Slytherins they don't know jet? You know as much as Malfoy does."

Harry was right. All her research had resulted in was a little history and confirming of what Draco already told her. But somehow she had the feeling she should involve Draco in this.

"You're right Harry. But I have a feeling Malfoy could be helpful with this." She looked at him pleadingly. Harry's eyes softened as she looked at him like that. He reached out and touched her cheek. "Do what you think is best Mione"

Hermione's heart fluttered a little. Harry was so cute. She smiled up at him thankfully for being so trusting. "Right, I'll see you there." The boys watched her hurry off.

"What was that about?" Ron asked with a smirk. Harry didn't reply but went a little pink instead.