A/N: I would like to thank all my wonderful reviewers: Monday Mornings, Janie Granger, KayeRyoko, couch-potato01, xXxThe coldness of lovExXx, PART-TIME SINNER, Kiwi-San. It's nice to know someone's reading what I write.

One more chapter to go after this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, (surprise surprise!).

Love is a strange little thing. It makes us do things we would otherwise have thought ourselves incapable of doing. It's like a force inside of each of us, which drives us to new extremes. It is the one emotion, which gives us courage in dark times and light in dark places. It's unjustifiable, and unexplainable, yet at the same time, it is humanities only saviour. People spend their whole lives searching for love, and when they find it, they wish for time itself to stop and to be frozen in the arms of the person they love. Forever.

Its only downfall?

It's inescapable. You get caught up and your emotions soar sky high. You place all your trust into this one person, and this in turn, can be a downfall. She didn't yet know it, but it was Hermione's downfall.

And as she held tightly onto the hand of the man who stood before her, she trusted him with all her heart, for he in turn held the key to her very soul. Perhaps, had it not been for this emotion, she would not have forgotten that appearances can be deceiving.

Lucius was silently repulsed as he held onto the mudblood's hand gently pulling her out of the common room, and allowing his disguise to fool her into believing he was Draco. It was obvious she trusted him. As long as he looked like Draco, she would be using her heart rather than her brain. Perhaps it was this thought which made everything that little bit more enjoyably for Lucius' sadistic mind.

"Come on," he whispered, urging her to walk faster.

"Draco," she mumbled, "where are we going?"

"Outside of Hogwarts, far from the castle," he replied in a sincere voice, making it up as he went along, "we're not safe here, there are death eaters within the walls of Hogwarts".

He tried to hide the small smile which graced his lips as a gasp escaped from Hermione, "what about the girl in my dream?" The head girl asked him urgently.

Lucius tried as best he could to improvise, not knowing what she was talking about, "McGonagall said to leave it to her".

And with this, he pulled her towards the large doors of Hogwarts, and together they stepped outside into the biting cold; their warm breathes causing a small cloud of mist to form as the breathed out heavily. The snow still fell heavily from the sky. Hermione ran forward, trying to get far away from the building, however she came to a halt when she noticed Draco was not following her. She looked up at him questioningly, and he in turn returned her gaze, but remained silent.

Lucius dug his hand deep into his pocket, stroking the silver blade and enjoying its icy sharpness against his skin. He slowly walked over to her, pausing for the briefest of seconds in order to allow her to take in the perfect beauty of this moment. Then, as swiftly and his skilled hand could, Lucius pulled the silver knife from his pocket and slipped it easily into the soft flesh of her stomach. A look of shock filled her cinnamon brown eyes as they welled with tears of pain.

A shudder of revulsion passed through the man's body as her warm blood spilled onto his hands, staining the crisp white of his shirt sleeve to a brilliant crimson. Refusing to take his eyes from hers, he resolutely pulled the blade from her body and carelessly let it fall to the ground. It hit the earth with a dull thud, the ornate silver handle denting the snow.

She looked at him, a confused expression mingling with the pain she felt. Her breathing was haggard and blood began to trickle down from the corner of her mouth, the salty substance turning her lips a deep red. And yet, she determinedly used the last of her energy to speak, "why?"

He looked at her, a smirk resting upon his lips, "you don't think I loved a filthy mudblood like you?"

And that was all he needed to say. For in that moment, the girl gave up on her struggle to live, for they were the words she dreaded hearing the most. As the strength left her limbs she slumped forward leaning heavily on the blonde boy.

He watched silently as she struggled to remain conscious, her fingers scrabbled to find hold on his sleeve, still scared of falling into permanent darkness. He gently pushed her away and she crumpled to the floor, a small convulsion making her body shake. Her blood stained the perfect white snow to a deep crimson, but no one noticed.

Lucius turned around and picked up the blade from the ground, carefully wiping it on a cloth, and in that moment someone caught his eye. He smiled, as he noticed his son running towards the girl desperately. "It's too late!" the older Malfoy called out to him, "you're little mudblood is dead". Then, without a second glance back, Lucius slowly walked away, before the Polyjuice potion had even worn off.

The girl lay, taking a last laboured breath, drifting into a never-ending sleep.

Draco Malfoy ran towards his love, refusing to believe she were dead. He fell to his knees beside her, not noticing the tears, which were falling from his eyes, "Hermione," he whispered, stroking her face with his hand, "don't die. Please," then, in a slightly more determined voice, he added, "you can't die; because I love you!"

But she could no longer hear him.