A/N: Well, here I am again. I have decided to post my thanks to my reviewers a chapter early because I have so many, I'm afraid I'll lose my list. I write each one down in a little notepad I had laying around. That way, I can remember who's who in case my computer goes haywire or my email shuts down. So, here we go.

hermyandron4evr: I still like your reviews. I especially like the loooooooooooong ones. :)

J.N. Cahill: Not only does he need to apologize, he will have to work at getting her to trust him again. And thanks for noticing his in-character-ness.

cuznhottie: THANK YOU FOR NOTICING THE FACT THAT I USE SPELL CHECK! I love you. I like boxers, too. Especially Draco's.

classicjs: I like saying shit, too.

hoofservant: I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed he's a spoiled brat.

kitty253: Yes, Dumbledore knew about the marriage. Dumbledore knows everything. Ever. Creepy, isn't it?

meesah: Yup. Hermione is a bitch. She's sort of allowed... but she will get better.

x3near-perfection: I found some awesome socks, and have a spare pair now. Here you go. throws socks Hope you enjoy them!

x1nfernal: I didn't notice I hadn't gotten to Draco's aura, but I will. Today, as a matter of fact. There's actually some stuff near the beginning of chapter 12 that deals with it, too.

To everyone that wants to know where Harry is: I can't help you. He isn't returning my calls. Butthole.

To everyone else, including but not limited to: Fallen4HPTF, Tamur107, PeanutluvsHP, Amanda tuck, Slyswn28 (thanks for the heirarchy of the Houses!), Elizabeth223, MajorFanFic, Azera, charmed piper, Long.Past, abbi, kriCket xO, PMF, SlytherinGurl, wiccawitch, Alexis, blackaces924, gryffindor at heart, jesse mccartney (thank you for googling, it made my day), yourFAN, happybutterfly321, Sallymander, Sarah-Lynn, EuniKouga, and Crazy4me9234: I love you all and appreciate the kind words, especially 'brilliant', 'awesome', and 'wicked'.

Here are your donuts; milk and coffee are on the table to your right. Please enjoy this nourishment as you read the new chapter. Smooches to all.

Both men rounded on Ginny. "What are you talking about?"

"Blaise, you can be so stupid. Malfoy, is this about Hermione?"

"Why should I tell you?"

"Because I know you are married, and if you are talking about another woman like that, I will tell on you, and you will never be able to get it on with anyone else ever again."

Blaise said, sounding hurt, "You knew? Why didn't you tell me?"

Draco sighed. "She hates me that much?"

Ginny contemplated her words for a minute. "She doesn't hate you. She just doesn't like you at all. What you did is really quite despicable."

"But I did it for a good reason."

"Lying to the person you love about the thing she hates most in the world is... well, it had better be a good fuckin' reason."

"It is." Draco had completely forgotten about Blaise. Who better to ask about how my woman feels than my woman's best friend? It was like losing a Knut and finding a Galleon.

"Well, did you tell her?"

"Yeah, tonight, but she didn't believe me."

"Did you tell her the truth?"

"Yeah, I did, but she doesn't believe me."

"Must be something pretty off the wall."

"It is. But you know how she is. She won't believe anything unless it's right in front of her face or Dumbledore tells her."

"Yeah, I know, I was the one that had to tell her you were in love with her."

Draco got up and moved to the bed, where he sat next to Ginny. "Really?"

Ginny laughed. "Yeah, she was too busy looking for subtle signs from you to determine if you even liked her to pay attention to the truth that was slapping her in the face."

Draco thought on this for a minute. "So does that means she likes subtle signs?"

Ginny sighed. "No. She likes facts. You know that. She was looking for something that proved you loved her."

"What, was I supposed to come right out and tell her I love her?"

"Yes, stupid. Girls like to hear things like that."

"But what if she didn't love me? I would have looked like a fool."

Ginny sighed. "So what?" She shook her head. "Anyway, that's in the past. What you need to do now is give her some facts. You said you told her the truth, right?"

"Yeah."

"And she's going to check it out tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

Ginny thought for a minute. "Don't expect her to jump right back into your arms."

"Why not?"

"Because she's going to be confused. She was mad at you for lying, then you tell her 'the truth' and it doesn't make any sense to her. So she's going to get the facts. If the facts add up, she'll still be angry. She'll need time to sort through things."

"I don't want to wait."

"That's too bad. If you really want her back, you have to let her get herself together first."

Draco was getting frustrated. "What am I supposed to do then?"

"Well, you can give her the time she needs. You can also have little meetings with her so she has the chance to talk if she wants to, and you can give her more facts. A new book wouldn't hurt either. Above all," Ginny concluded, "don't force her. Let her come to you. If you force her, she'll only feel worse and want to push you away."

Blaise was standing at the foot of the bed. He was getting frustrated. He wanted Ginny to give him all her attention, not Draco. Damn him. Why did he have to pick tonight?

Draco wanted to continue talking, but Ginny cut him off. "That's all I can tell you for now. I'm sure 'Mione will talk to me soon. Now go." Draco opened his mouth, but Ginny interrupted him again. "I was just about to get a booty call when you showed up, and I'm not going to wait any longer. Go home, go to sleep, and think about it tomorrow."

With that, he stood up, winked at Blaise, and walked out the door.

"Now, where were we?" Ginny asked with a grin. Blaise dropped his pants and jumped on top of her.

XXXXX

The next morning, Hermione was up early. She showered, dressed, and left. She grabbed a bagel from a vendor on her way to the Underground and ate it on her way to the Leaky Cauldron. She had to stop in Diagon Alley and pick up some potion supplies.

She completed her business quickly and was on her way out the door of the pub when she felt a hand wrap around her waist and felt another cover her mouth. She tried to scream, but was silenced almost immediately by another person, who whispered 'Silencio'. She kicked out behind her but only hit brick. She tried to reach her wand, but it was inside her robes and her hands were pinned at her sides by the huge arm wrapped around her. She suddenly heard the man whisper in her ear.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the little Mudblood bitch running around. What should we do with her, do you think?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe we should throw her to the Dementors, but that wouldn't be nearly enough fun. What say we take her back to the house and shoooooooooooooo shit, that hurt!" Hermione had managed to kick him in the nadgers. The man holding her loosened his grip when he saw what had happened to his mate. It gave her just enough room to grab her wand. She thrust it over her shoulder and mouthed, "Stupefy!" It didn't stun him, but did make him loosen his grip enough to let her squirm out of his arms. She turned and ran back into the pub, adrenaline pumping through her veins. This wasn't the first time she had been attacked, and she was certain it wouldn't be the last. She ran up to the wizard who was keeping bar and pointed at her throat, trying to make him understand she couldn't speak. He didn't get it, so she grabbed a piece of parchment and wrote the words, 'I have been silenced. Will you please say finite?'

The barkeep complied, and Hermione gave him her thanks and dashed outside to see if the two idiots were still there. She dashed to the alley they had dragged her down, but saw no one. She breathed a sigh of relief and turned back to the road. She stepped inside the Leaky Cauldron and Apparated to work.

When she got there, Dumbledore was sitting at her desk. He looked at her flushed complexion and asked, "How many this time?"

"Two, but I didn't get a chance to see them. They came from behind and silenced me, so I couldn't do anything. I kicked one in a sensitive area, the one holding me dropped me, and I got away."

"Good job, as always. Unfortunate that they continue to try and capture you," he murmured, "but obviously it doesn't bother you much."

"I've sort of grown accustomed to it. It's when they quit trying to kill me that bothers me; my job becomes quite boring." She grinned.

Dumbledore beamed at her from underneath his beard. "I've received a visit from your husband today, Mrs. Malfoy."

"Please, sir, don't call me that."

"I've always felt it proper to use one's given name."

"Well, if I had my way, it wouldn't be my name." Hermione thought back to last night. "Why did he call on you?"

"He wanted me to know you just found out what he's been doing for the Order."

Hermione nearly fell off her chair. She stared at Dumbledore, at a loss for words. She realized her mouth was hanging open and quickly shut it. "What?"

"You see, we felt it necessary to keep his involvement secret, so-"

"Wait. Wait just a minute. You needed to keep a secret about my husband from me? Why on Earth would you need to do that? Did you think I'd slip up? Tell someone? Why? I have been under the impression for the last eight months that my husband was a Death Eater and no one bothered to correct me? I don't understand." Hermione was completely dumbfounded. I just don't get it. Why? WHY?

"You see, Mrs. Malfoy, it wasn't because we didn't trust you."

"Well, could you please explain?"

"Honestly, we thought you knew."

Hermione was at a loss for words. After a few moments, she finally said, "Why would you think that?"

"You have a special sight. You can see people's auras. We assumed you would have read his aura and been able to tell." Dumbledore looked politely confused.

"Well..." she trailed off. She was lost. "How would I be able to tell from his aura?"

"I myself cannot see auras. I have read books on the matter and can only guess at what his might look like. It would seem that it would be a color, probably a green of some sort, which generally appears when the person involved is not acting for the greater good. In this case, it would be on account of him having the Dark Mark, marking him as a Death Eater. I would also assume it to be light in color, because he didn't want to be doing what he was involved in."

Hermione was shocked. He had described Draco's aura almost as though he had actually seen a picture of it. "Yes, that is similar to what is aura looks like. But I didn't know the reasons behind it."

Dumbledore looked slightly taken aback at this information. "I was not aware of that."

"Yes, well, I wasn't either."

"Now, it seems there was something else about his aura."

"Yes, it has silver streaks in it." Hermione stopped. How could I not have seen it before? Am I really that stupid? Pure silver in an aura is a sign of disturbance. He was – is – disturbed by something in his life. It's a big disturbance, too. The silver bits have gotten bigger in the last eight months. Things were starting to click in to place now.

After a few minutes, Dumbledore cleared his throat and asked, "Is there anything else you are in need of right now?" She shook her head no. "Well, I'd better be going. I have a school to run, after all." He smiled his benign smile, stood up, and walked to the lift at the end of the hall.

Hermione was still caught up in her thoughts. Am I really that stupid?

I have to talk to Ginny.

A/N:Finish the donuts, please. The readers at my other story left a few, and my boyfriend, who is supposed to be on a diet, devoured them. Please, I beg you, take them with you. Oh, and please review.

With hope,

-Kat