A/N: OK so I've tried to please most people, but still add some suspense to the story line. OK and Valgus Infelix Bow-legged Unlucky/Infertile (well done PinkAphid and Natsuyori for getting the surname)
I was amazed by all the helpful reviews :D
Thank you:
Witchintraining: good ideas, cheers
PinkAphid: what do you mean by 'trust you'? ;)
Sap: I agree so I've come to a compromise here
Hahaha-evil: umm, it was pretty clear of your opinion!
Ky: was I supposed to understand much of that? I think you seemed to like it…
Natsuyori: You may have noticed I now update twice a week – is that not quick enough? Cos I'm not superwoman! :D
Asphodel: OMG you like writing long reviews, excuse me but I'm the one writing the story here! ;) But thank you for your VERY helpful comments, so I have thought about adding another chapter before the second (which was a mistake) but I figured it's not the most important thing in the world, and I can learn from my mistakes, i.e. later stories of mine are naturally going to be much better. I'm guessing you'll want some 'sexual tension' somewhere soon…
SamanthaRiddle12: We'll see

Responsibilities

"Yes or no?"

"I…guess it's going to have to be…" she thought hard, if she did this at least she would still be in school and wouldn't have to face the rest of the pupils and staff. But this was still her virginity she was bargaining, something she had always wanted to save for when she was really sure and with someone she loved and trusted. But this was different. So what if she didn't? She knew Malfoy would be more than happy to spread it around, and that she would probably be expelled, but she would still be loyal to Snape.

"Yes…" she mumbled, "I will but you have to promise me that you will never tell anyone about this or about me and him, you will try and stop your father from doing whatever he was going to do, and you will leave me, Harry and Ron alone forever."

"You drive a hard bargain Granger," he whispered in her ear, stroking her cheek, she tried to pull away but he grabbed her hands, "that room you lot all used to go to last year, meet me there, 9 o'clock tonight,"

"The Room of Requirement?"

"How do I know what it's called, it's that room you had your secret meetings in."

"Hey Hermione!" Harry and Ron came into the Great Hall, still in their muddy Quidditch robes, "what was that creep doing talking to you?"

"Oh nothing, he was just being his usual self. Come on, the stew's almost finished."

They ate in silence, until Ron went off to do some homework.

"Hermione? Do you want to go for a walk?" Harry asked as the left the Great Hall,

"Don't you have any homework?"

"It can wait, I want to talk to you," she shrugged and they walked down the front steps onto the courtyard. "Hermione, I'm really sorry about what I said to you yesterday; I was in shock and I was confused. Can you forgive me?"

She smiled at him, "thank you, yes of course I forgive you, it's just been like a madhouse recently."

"So Hermione, please tell me what's been going on, I just want to understand it all better," they sat down on one of the cold stone benches.

"OK, but I'm not sure I understand much of it myself. So starting school this term I just felt different…" and so she began, with Harry nodding earnestly and asking a few questions through the conversation. She felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders; talking to someone had made it all so much easier for her to handle and to think about. "…And now with him gone, I just don't know what to do."

Harry put his arm round her shoulder, "I promise it's safe with me, I won't tell anyone unless you want me to."

"Well it's a bit late now, I mean, er… thank you."

"What? Does someone already know?"

"Malfoy," she muttered, "he saw us, weeks ago. You know those slashes on his face? That was me. Severus but a memory Charm on him, but it obviously wasn't strong enough. Malfoy's told his Dad, they know he's not dead, and now Malfoy says that if I want him to keep quiet I have to…" her garbling came to an abrupt halt.

"You have to what?" Harry looked at her anxiously,

"He says I have to sleep with him!" she sobbed, Harry let her bury her head in his chest, she quickly came up again wiping her eyes,

"But you said no didn't you?"

Silence

"Hermione?"

Silence

"Hermione? Please tell me you said no?"

"I was confused! He just came onto me, what else could I have done?"

"He's blackmailing you!"

"I know, but – "

"You can't let him! Where's he meeting you?"

"The Room of Requirement, 9 o'clock, but Harry, no – "

"I'll wear the Cloak, he won't see, and then Ill kill him or, or something,"

"You can't do that, and what happens if you see something you really don't want to see?"

"I won't let it go that far, I promise. The last thing I want is for anything to happen to you. We'll take him to Dumbledore."

"And how are we going to explain it all?"

"Come on Hermione, Dumbledore knows everything, and I'm sure he'd love a chance to get a Death Eater's son expelled." Harry smiled at the thought of Malfoy packing his cases and catching the train back home.

"OK, let's do this."

At a quarter to 9 the two of them snuck out of the Gryffindor common room under the Cloak, Ron, engrossed in an animated game of Gobstones with his sister hadn't noticed them rise from their armchairs beside the fire. They walked silently down a secret flight of stairs to the hallway where the hidden door was. When they entered the room was lit dimly by the light of flickering candles, a large bed was against one wall and along the opposite wall were large drapes and curtains. On a small table in the middle of the room were several bottles of Firewhisky.

"I don't like this Harry,"

"Come on, look it's perfect; you get him really drunk, then I take the Cloak off, knock him out and we drag him to Dumbledore, his office is on this floor you know." Harry's voice echoed around the room,

"I'm putting a lot into your hands here,"

"Shh, I can hear footsteps."

And sure enough the door's handle turned slowly and Malfoy dressed in robes all of black came striding in, putting out the light of his wand. "Ah, Granger," he ran a long thin finger down her cheek, "Are you ready?"

"I…I just need a drink first," she held up a bottle to him which he took and drained in only a few seconds, perhaps he wasn't feeling quite as cool as he made out. She passed him another and soon he'd lost count of how many he'd had.

"No, I think I've had enough now," he slurred as she passed him his sixth bottle,

"Don't worry this is only your second –"

He sat there on the bed, looking around him, "so why am I here again?"

BAM!

Harry fist appeared in midair and Malfoy lay unconscious on the cold stone floor. Hermione grinned and gave Harry a high-five. "Thank you so much!" She quickly bewitched the body to make it feather-light and they hid it and themselves under the Cloak.

"OK Harry, little problem, we don't know the password." She said as they stood outside the stone gargoyle.

"Crumple-Horned Snorkack," she gargoyle sprang aside, "see, it hasn't changed from the other day." They took the Cloak off as they stepped onto the first step and the staircase spiralled up to the top. Harry knocked on the door, and it silently swung open, Dumbledore was sitting at his desk in a periwinkle blue dressing gown and a matching nightcap.

"I wondered whether I'd be seeing you sometime soon," his eyes sparkled, he gestured to a couch against the wall, "lie him down there, and then take a seat." They sat facing him.

"You do realise Miss Granger that it is illegal for a teacher to have any sort of relationship with a 16 -18 year old under his/her care, and unethical for a teacher to make or accept approaches to a student. I could have you expelled and Professor Snape dismissed – "

"If he wasn't supposed to be dead," interrupted Harry,

"Thank you Mr Potter, but I'm not going to. But I must warn you that if anyone else should find out about this I may be forced to take disciplinary action. So, why have you come to talk to me?"

"It's Malfoy Sir, he's been blackmailing Hermione. He saw something a few weeks ago, Snape put a Memory Charm on him but he threw it off, he's told his Dad and threatened to tell everyone else. Oh, and Lucius Malfoy knows Snape's not dead."

"Thank you Mr Potter for your synopsis of the situation, but Miss Granger this all leads back to you; what have you to say?"

"Harry's said it all really," she mumbled, looking at the floor,

"Not of this blackmailing, what did Mr Malfoy want?"

"He…he wanted to sleep with me…" Dumbledore's face remained as calm and sincere as ever,

"And did you let him?" she looked him in the eye.

"No. Thanks to Harry I managed to stop him, but he is a bit drunk," she glanced over to the couch where Malfoy lay snoring loudly.

"I think you two ought to go to bed now, thank you for your information, rest assured it will be sorted out. And if either of you need to talk, I am always open. Now off you go. I'm sorry this all had to happen on your birthday Miss Granger."

Harry and Hermione walked back to the common room. Hermione wondered how Dumbledore had known everything – that it had been going on and that it was her birthday. Perhaps she'd never know. She went back to her room and found an envelope lying on her bed, of the same soft parchment that had become so familiar, and those spider-like black words.

A/N: How was that? I hope it wasn't too long. They didn't do anything, but Malfoy got bollocked and she's got another letter. Life's great. OK the next chapter is just going to be letters to and from each other, that way we can cover loads of time, and get in sync with the 'real' time i.e. you'll want to read about Christmas over Christmas won't you? Which reminds me, chapter 13 is probably going to be your lot until after the New Year – it's my birthday and Christmas, I need a break and I want to work on some new material.