A nice long chappie for you!

"We need to go to the forbidden forest." Harry stated as he approached me.

"What?" I stare dumbly back.

"Trust me." He simply says, as if that was enough to soothe my fears.

I stare mutely at him and he only stares silently at me back.

"Voldemort is coming." He announces bluntly, not caring about the series of glances coming our way.

I stare down into the book I'm ready, the one I'm supposedly sharing with Malfoy. I don't bother to question how he knows; his scar? Dumbledore approached him? I only question what he plans on doing.

"You want us to go into the forbidden forest." I repeat.

"Yes." He confirmed.

"You want to find Voldemort." I clarify. The Harry I knew would have never gone looking for trouble, it simply found him.

"Yes." He answers.

"What do you want to do when you've found Voldemort?" I ask, somehow knowing the answer before it came out.

"Kill him."

Before, when we were still the friends I know we now are not, Harry would not have said this. He would not have wanted to kill. He would not have hungered for death or thirsted for blood. He would not have been searching for revenge.

Sure there was always the bitter spark within him, because of his past. But nothing like the ruthless and merciless figurine that pretends to be the boy hero of the wizarding world. But he is no longer the boy I met seven years ago, no longer the kind and forgiving Boy Who Lived.

No longer Harry, but simply Harry Potter.

"How do you plan on doing that?" I go on.

"I was so close last time. I'm sure I can finish it." He urges.

"Voldemort was also close last time. He almost finished you." I see his face darken, and I already know his retort.

"It's I risk I have to take." Not a risk I'm willing to take, but a risk I have to take.

A big difference I noticed in his speech a few years earlier.

"And you want me there because…" I trail off, letting him fill in my blanks.

"…you're my friend. You've always been there for me."

I sigh and carry on reading.

"Tonight." Harry commanded. I nod my head in acceptance and he takes his cue to leave.

I lift my eyes in time to see Harry's back exit the library; just in time to see Draco looking at us.

I don't know why I still listen to him; I don't know why I'm getting up. I guess its habit; I guess the faith I had in him long before hadn't all together vanished. I guess.

I pull on my jumper in anticipation for the cold, I don't really believe that the Dark Lord would show up. I don't hesitate in believing that the information Harry got about Voldemort's whereabouts is genuine, but the channel in which Harry sees things goes both ways. Many times the random scavenger hunts were in vain.

I slip out of the room quietly to make my way to the Quidditch pitch, our meeting place before such outings.

I sigh as I'm the first one there and await the hero of the wizarding world who fulfilled my expectation of being late.

As I shudder from the chill, I begin to decide that I should leave. Over half an hour has passed of me waiting here and I wish to sleep. I am sure the great Harry Potter has all but forgotten his desperation of killing Voldemort tonight in the comfort of his bed. Either that or he chose to forget, to forsake what he believes is his duty; not able to free himself from the luxury of an ordinary lifestyle.

I begin my walk of shame back through the open winds with no stadium to shelter me from it, I halt as I herd something.

No.

It couldn't be, not tonight.

I breathe out through my mouth, although I couldn't see it, I felt the puff of steam.

"Who's there?" I take a chance and ask; if it is really Voldemort I am doomed anyway. My hands are numb from the cold, making my heart beat faster as I fumbled uselessly for my wand.

"Calm down, Granger." I hear someone drawl. I hear a familiar cold glint alight in his voice.

I freeze; does the Dark Lord drawl?

My wand is in my hand. I don't think twice.

"Lumos." I almost shout, adrenaline pumping through me, caused by both fear and courage. My heart races even faster, if possible, when I see the pale blonde hair and silver eyes. I step back.

"It's okay; I won't hurt you." He assures me, thinking I must've been scared of him.

Am I?

"Git." I revert back to the old ways of when I was just a first year, trying to have some sort of system I could fall back on.

"What are you doing here?" He seemed to have a mischievous glint in his eyes, it tells me he already knows.

"What are you doing here, Malfoy?" I answer with a question.

Silence follows as we realise we'd get nothing out of each other this way.

"I over heard you and Potter talking in the library." Malfoy confessed, he was too far away for me to even try to read his expression.

"That still doesn't explain what you're doing here. Why did you follow us?" I know I sound demanding, but I'm curious and it's the only way to get answers out of him.

"Us?" He chuckled without humour, looking for the absent Harry. "I wouldn't have if I'd known Potter wouldn't show up."

I find myself agreeing with him; he still hasn't answered my question.

"I'll walk you back." It wasn't a question, but I could've easily turned down his offer.

"I'm so sorry, Hermione." Harry interrupted Ginny. She looked questioningly at me and carried on. I fill my plate with a danish. "How about tonight?"

I look up at him. Did I really have a choice? I nod my head and he strides off, probably think all is well.

I lose my appetite and leave Ginny mid sentence. I will apologise to her later. I head for the library, somehow knowing that is where he'd go once he's finished. Malfoy wasn't at breakfast.

Not that I was looking.

So he might be here.

And I'm right; he is.

I look at him and he shakes his head. A sign that the Prince of Slytherin is unavailable.

I place my bag on a table and retrieve a piece of parchment and my quill. I feel his eyes on me.

I scribble a note, leaving it explicitly on the desk, I gather my things in search of a book and make my departure.

Keep up the reviews. – gets on her knees… but refuses to beg -