Chapter 39-

AN- Hello…r/r

The next night was New Years Eve and Hermione and Draco were planning on having a party. Harry, Ron, and Ginny were going to come and stay in head dorm as the clock struck 12. They had spent some time decorating the room with multicolored streamers and confetti.

At about four thirty, they were lounging on the couch when they heard a knock on the portrait. "Come in." they both said at the exact same time.

"Hey guys!!" Ginny said as she walked into the room, followed by closely Harry and Ron.

"Hey." Hermione said with a smile as she glanced over at Draco. He nodded slightly and gave her a reassuring smile. She gulped and turned back to the others. 'Guys, I think that you might want to sit down. I have something that I need to tell you." she said as she gestured to the open couch beside her.

They all gave her puzzled looks, but did as they were told. "What's wrong, 'Mione?" Ginny asked after a few moments of silence.

"N-nothing. I just need to ell you guys something." she said as she took a deep breath and started her story. She told them about the prophecy and about everything Dumbledore had told them the night before.

The room was totally silent for a long time before Harry suddenly spoke up. "look, it's not that bad. We just have to stick together and we can do anything." he said with a smile.

Hermione smiled back at him with a sigh of relief. She didn't know why she was so worried about it, but his smile seemed to lift a thousand pound weight off of her shoulders.

"well, how about we forget about all of that for tonight and have a party!" Ron said. "Harry and I brought something to get he party started." With that, he stepped out of the portrait hole and reappeared with a huge wooden crate.

"What is that?" Hermione asked.

"Why don't you take a look, Ms. Curiosity." he said with a smirk.

"Fine, I will." she said as she sauntered over to the crate and opened it. Inside, there was at least fifty bottles of Butterbeer. "Ronald Weasley!!! We cannot drink all of this!!" Hermione said in a half-serious, half-amused voice.

Ron shrugged. "We can always keep the rest for a rainy day."

"Riight. If you say so." she said as she rolled her eyes.

"Well, how about we get this party started!!" Draco chimed in.

They all nodded and they began their party.

An hour and a few Butterbeers later, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were extremely drunk. Draco, on the other hand, had a much higher tolerance for alcohol and was perfectly fine. They were all partying and having a great time.

Soon, when the clock was at 11:45, the all gathered in the middle of the room. Draco opened a new bottle for each of them and handed one to each person. They waited patiently until the clock finally rang in the new year and they could toast.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!" they all yelled in unison as they raised their glassed and knocked them together.

"Well, I'm bushed." Hermione said as she started towards the stairs.

"Oh no you don't!" Ginny said as she grabbed her arm and pulled her back to the couches. Ron handed her a new Butterbeer and they began talking. Ginny wasn't tired and so she wasn't going to let anyone go to sleep.

A few minutes later, they decided to play 'I never.' (Ginny's idea.) One person would start by saying something that they have never done and anyone who has done that had to take a shot of Butterbeer. All in all it was a pretty fun game, but by the end everyone, except Draco who could hold alcohol really well, was completely drunk.

Hermione, who had never been drunk before, was feeling a little sick and wanted some fresh air. "I am going to go for a walk, Draco." Hermione slurred as she wobbled towards the door.

Draco, however, didn't hear her. Being the only partially sober person in the room and he was attending to a certain Ginny Weasley, who was throwing up in the lavatory.

Hermione walked out of the room and down the dark hallway. Soon, she was at the entrance hall and making her way towards the door. She opened the door and stepped out into the cold winter air. She took a deep breath and smiled. She spun around several times before a nauseous feeling overcame her and she fell to her knees in dry heaves. When she was finally finished, she sat up in the grass.

For the first time since she got outside, she looked around her. It was nearly pitch black and there was no moon and practically no stars out. She laid down for a minute before opening her eyes again. She frowned, 'Why am I outside?' she wondered, totally forgetting only a few minutes before. She tried to stand up but immediately fell back down with a heavy thud. Dizziness overtook her and she passed out cold.

Back in the Head Common Room, Draco was putting Ginny to bed on the couch. She had passed out after throwing up several times. He covered her and looked around the room. Harry and Ron were also passed out, but they were on the floor. Draco was not even going to move them, so he left them on the floor and went to look for Hermione. He searched the whole common room and both of their bedrooms. 'Where could she be?' he wondered as he went to check the last possible place, the bathroom. He opened the door and looked around the room. No Hermione. Draco had a very bad feeling about this.

Panic suddenly overcame him as he ran out of the Common Room and down the hall. He frantically searched the corridors and empty classrooms. "Hermione…Hermione…" he whispered for fear of getting caught in the hallways at two-thirty in the morning.

After searching several possible places that she could be, (the Library, the Great Hall, the Gryffindor tower…) he wanted to scream. Then, as he was heading back to the Head Common Room to see if she went back, he saw that the doors in the entrance hall were wide open, revealing the black, starless night. 'She wouldn't have went…outside, would she?' he wondered as he took a few timid steps towards the doors. He pulled out his wand as whispered, "Lumos" causing a beam of light to erupt from the end of his wand.

He stepped out into the night and looked around for any sign of her. He walked around for several minutes and was about to give up when he heard something crunch underneath his foot. He looked down and saw the barrette that had been in Hermione's hair that night.

Once again, he was overcome with panic as millions of reasons flew through his head, none of them good. He ran around in the darkness calling out her mane, but was greeted with no reply. Draco knew this was bad. She was drunk out of her mind and wondering around outside at two-thirty in the morning.

"Hermione…Hermione…where are you??"

AN- sorry that this chapter was so short. I just had to end it there for now. I will update as soon as I can!!!