Hermione scanned the titles as she walked down the 'Dark Arts' aisle in the Hogwarts Library. Ever since Fudge and Jaide had told her about the prophecy the previous night she had been wondering what the 'Book of the Shades' was. She paused as she saw a promising title.
'Shadow Magic' she thought, 'This might be what I'm looking for.'
She pulled the heavy book off the shelf and sat down at one of the tables. Examining the contents page she saw that chapter seven was entitled 'The Book of the Shades'.
'The Book of the Shades is an ancient grimoire of Shadow Magic.' She read, 'It is said that it was written five thousand years ago by the first Shade, Shardi, and that it's contents will give the user the ability to resurrect the long extinct Shades. Old records say the book was last seen in France and no trace has been found of it since. Many witches and wizards regard it as a fanciful legend.'
'Interesting…' Hermione thought, 'I've never read about Shades before. I wonder what they are.'
She flicked back to the contents page and then went to chapter three, entitled 'Shades and Shadows'.
'A Shade is similar to a Ghost.' She read, 'they are the spirit of a person who has died but did not wish to leave. Unlike Ghost's, however, they are an entity of pure evil. Much in the same way as a dementer, a Shade will suck all happiness and cheer from a room. If someone spends too much time in the vicinity of a Shade they will eventually kill themselves and the more people a Shade convinces to kill themselves, the stronger it becomes. The only way to destroy a Shade is when two special people combine their powers to bring forth a Lialle, a divine being comprised of pure love.'
"Oh my god." She whispered, "There's no way this is happening to me.'
While Hermione was in the Library she was unaware that someone was watching her. Draco stood, hidden by the shelves, as she read a large book. He noticed that she looked worried by what she read so when she rushed out of the Library he walked over to where she had been sitting and opened the book.
"Shadow Magic?" he muttered, "What on earth…?"
Then he remembered what Jaide had said about the Book of the Shades. It was obvious that Hermione had been here researching it. He sat down in the now empty seat and flicked through the book to the pages she had read.
Pansy Parkinson was walking up the many stairs to the Owlery, a very important letter in her hand. She had come up with a plan to stop her Drakey from falling for that dirty mudblood. Once she had sent this letter Draco would have to give Hermione up.
'This'll show them to do this to me. Serves them right.' She thought bitterly as she tied the letter to a big Barn Owl.
A few hours later the owl flew in Lucius Malfoy's study window at Malfoy Manor.
"What is this?" he questioned as he untied the letter, "Ah, a not from Miss Parkinson. No doubt she has news of Draco."
'Dear Mr Malfoy,' he read, 'I'm afraid to report that something terrible has happened to Draco. As you know, he has been sharing a dorm with the Head Girl this year. Unfortunately this is Hermione Granger, a rather disgusting mudblood. It would appear that she has put some kind of enchantment over Draco and he has renounced the Dark Lord. I also believe he has fallen for the mudblood. Also, our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is the traitorous Jaide Black and she has been brainwashing Draco against all you have taught him. I felt it was necessary to inform you of these events as quickly as possible so you can rectify the situation before it gets out of control.
Sincerely yours,
Pansy Patricia Parkinson.'
"Well now, this is interesting." He laughed, "How Draco thought to get away with this I do not know, but I cannot allow this kind of rebellious behaviour from my son."
He carefully folded Pansy's letter and stored it in a draw before pulling out a fresh piece of parchment and sitting down to compose a letter of his own.
"Hermione, can I ask you something?" Draco inquired as they sat in their dorm doing homework.
"What?" she replied.
"Well, I was wondering if you would um…" he trailed off.
"If I would what Draco?"
"Uh… well, I don't have many friends so I, er…" he took a deep breath, "Will you go to the Yule Ball with me?"
"Oh Draco. Is that all? You had me worried." She sighed with relief, "Of course I'll go with you."
"Really!" he coughed, "I mean great."
"Silly Draco." She laughed, before turning back to her homework.