A/N: Thanks to Dianne, who, as usual, is the forever faithful reviewer! =) To Lily Dwarf, whatever gave you that idea?!?! And finally, to padfootgurl89, thanks for your really nice comments! =)

And drum roll please here's Chapter 9!

Chapter 9:

"Hermione!" Ron yelled up the stairs to the Girl's Dormitories. NO one replied, so he yelled again.

Hermione stumbled down the stairs, rubbing her eyes. She tripped on the last stair, Ron running to catch her as she fell. She fell into hi arms.

Ron held her there, a little longer than was necessary. Hermione jumped out of his arms, her eyes now wide.

Ron coughed, not quite sure what to do his hands.

Hermione looked at him expectantly, but he was still lost in the memory of having her in his arms.

"Ron," she said impatiently.

He shook his head, trying to focus on the situation at hand. "I had a dream… I don't know if it means anything but… Harry… me… grey eyes…"

"Woah. Ron, slow down," she said soothingly. Hermione lead him over to the couch, and there they sat, in front of a roaring fire, waiting for Ron to calm down.

"You okay now?" she asked, her voice filled with concerned. Ron took a deep breath, his senses deeply aware of the hand the she had placed over his own. "Well… uh…" he stammered.

As if aware that he was slightly uncomfortable, Hermione moved away from his, colour rising in her cheeks. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Ron cast a quick glance at her, out of the corner of his eye. "Don't be," he said quietly.

There was a comfortable silence between the two best friends.

"I had this dream. Harry was there and me, and I thought you were too. Your body was lying there." He sobbed back his tears, remembering his feelings throughout the dream. "I thought I'd lost you."

Hermione shushed him. "Shh. It's okay. I'm alright," she whispered.

Ron nodded, brushing his tears away. "Sorry."

They sat there, again in silence, the warmth of the fire comforting them.

Hermione stood up abruptly. "Well… uh…"

"'Mione, we've got to talk." Ron grasped her hand and she sat back down.

"What about?" she asked, knowing exactly what he wanted to talk about.

"Well, I don't want to lose our friendship, but I-"

"Ron! I've got it!"

Ron shook his head. "What?"

"Grey eyes! Ron, who do we know that has grey eyes?"

His thought after he woke up came back to him. "Malfoy," he said with disgust. In all the anxiousness, he had completely forgotten that.

"Exactly. If only Harry-" She looked over at Ron, her eyes brimming with tears.

"'Mione, he'll be okay," he said, reassuring her, but also trying to reassure himself. "He's been fine for the past five years."

"I'm just afraid that he might… we're not there Ron. We've always been there, talking him out of doing anything stupid…"

"He'll be fine," Ron said, firmly.

Hermione nodded, then, wiping away the tears from her eyes, she said, "We're going to have to do research, about this Malfoy business. It mightn't mean anything, but we better just make sure, ok?

Ron nodded. She's getting carried away.

Coming out of Potions, Ron complained to Hermione. "Snape is so bloody annoying. ONE little mistake and he's hounding us like a bloody bloodhound!" He turned to Hermione, only to discover that she was gone. Oh yeah, he thought. RESEARCH. With that thought, he trudged off to the library. There, he found Hermione frantically leafing through volumes of old dusty books.

"There was something, I read it before, but I can't remember where!" Hermione was clearly stressed.

Ron gently grabbed her shoulders, looking into her eyes. "Calm down, love. Just try to remember." He lowered her down onto a seat.

Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath, unconsciously tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "There was something about the Malfoys having a half blood child, but I can't remember if it was a girl or a boy." She paused, still focusing, trying to sort out her thoughts. "I've got it!"

And without a word to Ron, she scrambled up from her chair, and rushed down one of the numerous aisles, in search of the perfect book.

Ron was curious, but he knew better than to disturb her when she was like this.

Hermione came dashing back to the table, and plonked a heavy book on it, a cloud of dust rising out from the volume. She leafed through it until she came to the right page, and pointed to a short paragraph. "Here. It says right here.

The whereabouts of the halfblood daughter of Narcissa Black Malfoy is unknown, though it has been speculated that she was adopted by a Muggle family after being put up for adoption through the Muggle adoption system. It is uncertain as to whether or not she will become a witch, but evidence shows that the blood from the Black family, one of the most pureblood families in England, should lead her to become a very intelligent witch. The question remains, however, as to whether the Malfoy or Black family will acknowledge her existence if she does indeed reenter into the Wizarding World. "

Hermione looked up from the book. "There. Now, what do you think?"

Ron looked slightly confused. "If this is true, what does she have to with everything? With Harry?"

Hermione considered his question.

"What's going on?"

Ron and Hermione looked up, to find Ginny. "Uh…" stammered Ron.

Ginny gave Ron a stern look. "I'm in this too," she said firmly.

Ron relented, though still unsure about whether he should put his sister in danger yet again.

Hermione, with permission from Ron, quickly filled Ginny in, showing her the passage.

Ginny took all this in, without asking any questions. "I think Malfoy's sister is going to come… and pretend to help us, and then report all our plans to Vol- You-Know-Who."

Hermione thought about this, but dismissed it, saying, "She should only be 11 now," as she looked down at the girl's birthdate. "If she HAS been accepted into a school, she should already have been admitted. And then, we don't know whether or not the Malfoys want to use her as a spy."

Ron nodded at this. "Well, just in case, do any of our First years have Malfoy eyes?" he asked Hermione.

"No… I don't think so."

"Well, I think we should just keep our eyes and ears open," said Ginny, offering the most practical suggestion.

The others nodded in agreement, images of a female Draco floating in their heads as the headed out of the library. Other thoughts were present, but the most prominent one was whether or not Ron's dream could really mean anything, or if they were just being too suspicious of every little sign. Or what if Voldemort was doing what he did to Harry: manipulating his dreams so they'd fall into a trap?

Back at the Common Room, Hermione smiled at Ron. "What were you going to say last night? About… us?"

Ron blushed. "It was nothing, don't worry." He wasn't entirely sure whether Hermione was actually his girlfriend, although he liked the sound of it, so he used it anyway.

Hermione looked up at him sceptically, before lightly kissing him on the cheek. "Thanks," she whispered.

Ron was taken aback by this. "For what?"

"Telling me everything's going to be okay, for being the best friend that you are."

Ron couldn't stand it anymore, so he leaned over and kissed her on the lips, brushing them slightly over, before standing up abruptly to run up the stairs.

"Ron!" Hermione called after him

He froze, half-way up.

"That was nice," she said shyly.

A/N: phew that was a pretty loong chappie. Hope it was good for everyone! =) PLEASE review guys!!!! =) well, I reckon that's a little confusing, coz I'm getting a little confused. It's been a long time coming, and it should be better because of it… but it's not. =( Anywayz, next chappie will make things a little clearer… just hope that it makes you want to find out what happens in the end… instead of just stopping there… =/ inandout