Hiya Peeps! How ya been? I have a couple things to say. Upon checking my reviews, I was pleasantly surprised to find that ImagineThat has put me in the current contest she's running. You can go vote for this story, and nominate others, I suppose. I feel very honored that I was even put in the contest. So…moving on…I just have one more thing to say.

To LiOn3ss – I'm not sure. That's just the problem I'm facing. I meant for it to go this way, but it happened sooner than I expected, so now I'm at an in-between spot. It'll probably only be a few more chapters. –

Oh, and to TomboyishRandom - - I might've lied when I said there would be no more once I'm done with it. More and more lately, I've found myself considering the possibility of something after the end. I have it all planned out in my head, but I'm not sure if it'll be enough to create an actual storyline. I don't know, but I just wanted to alert you all to this fact, in case I do decided to do something.

Okay, I'm really done now. I promise. On to the story!

Chapter 17: The dreaded!

Hermione didn't know what she wanted. Sure, she was fine right now, but they were graduating, in what, a month? Hermione didn't know what to do. She didn't know what she wanted to do. Well, that's not entirely true. She knew she wanted to still read constantly. She knew she wanted to travel the world. To see how other cultures live, the sights, the locals – both in the magical world and muggle. The problem was she didn't have a lot of money. So she needed a job. But she couldn't find a job that was right for her. She wanted to continue learning. Learning about the magical world she'd only been in for 7 years. Learning about different people's worlds. That's what she wanted to do for the rest of her life. Always learning something new and different. But, like she knew, she couldn't do that. That didn't happen in the real world. That wasn't real life. Wasn't her life anyway.

The bell rang. Hermione gathered her things. She would ask Draco later what the assignment was. She vowed to herself that she wouldn't daydream anymore during class. Especially not this close to the end of the year. She sighed. The dreaded! The dreaded end of the year. She didn't want it to end. Not now. Not while everything was so good. But people just kept on coming. 'What are you doing to do?' 'Do you have a job lined up? You just have to, you're so smart.' Blah, Blah, Blah. So what if she was smart? So what if she was getting owled by all these big companies asking her to come and work for them? Just because they wanted her didn't mean she wanted to work for them. They were all desk jobs. Research this or that. Not exactly what she wanted to do with the rest of her life.

It was a week later that Hermione started to worry. Not about the future, but Draco. He had been acting strange for a while, but now it was to a heightened state. And she was really starting to worry. What if he wanted to break up or something? She really hoped that wasn't it. The pressure was starting to get to her, and Draco seemed to blow her off every time she started to talk about after Hogwarts. She decided to confide in Ginny.

"Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah, sure." They were in the Gryffindor common room.

"Um…you want to go to the library and talk?"

"Okay…" Ginny got up and followed Hermione out of the room. The whole way to the library, she was casting Hermione odd glances here and there. They went to the very back of the library and sat down at a table.

"Ginny…ya know how you and Blaise are going out now?"

"Yeah…" Ginny still wasn't sure where this was going.

"If you asked him to do something, he would do it, right?"

"I suppose so, yeah."

"Could you do me a small favor?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Could you ask Blaise to talk to Draco?"

"I guess so. Why?"

"Because, he's been acting really, really strange. And I can't figure it out. Every time I ask him what's wrong, he says nothing. But every time I go to talk to him about jobs and stuff like that, he goes all…I don't know, just Blah! He obviously won't tell me, so maybe he'll tell Blaise."

"Hermione, I don't know. I can't just ask him to do that; Draco's his best friend. Blaise can't betray his trust like that, just like I wouldn't betray yours."

"Okay, fine. How about Blaise just talks to him, and he can just tell me if it's no big deal, or if I should be worried? What about that? He wouldn't have to tell me anything that Draco told him."

"I could ask. But I don't know if he'll agree to it. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm just so worried, anything would be fine."

"Okay. Well, hey, get some sleep. You have terrible bags under your eyes."

"I'll try. Thanks Gin."

"It's no problem. Now, come on, let's go. I promise results in less than a week."

"Thank you so much Ginny, really. You have no idea how much this will help me."

"It's fine. Let's go."

They walked out of the library. Hermione's worry didn't leave her until the week was almost over. Because that's how long it took for Blaise to talk to Draco.

"So…how ya been, man?"

"Good. Okay…Horrible."

"Yeah. I kinda noticed. You look like shit."

"Gee, thanks Blaise, you're so kind."

"Hey, I'm honest. What's been eating at you man?"

"Just this thing I've been thinking about. It's kind of a big deal."

"What is it?"

"I've been thinking, I don't really want to work after school. Ya know? And I have more than enough money to just laze around."

"Is that all? You're worrying about not working?"

"No, that's not all of it."

"So…go on."

"Well, the thing is - you have to promise to tell no one – "

"Alright, I won't tell anyone. You have my word."

"Okay, the thing is, Hermione doesn't want to work either, right?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

"So, I was thinking of, well, here, look at this."

Blaise was shocked.

"What? Are you serious man?"

"Yeah. I told you it's a big thing."

"No wonder you're stressed."

"Tell me about it."

HAHAHA! You all hate me now, don't you? I know, I did a horrible thing. And I'll probably pay for it in Karma, but it's worth it. I really am having a good laugh. I hate cliffys, but I love writing them. So, I'll be updating soon, I promise. I'm super physced cause RENO 911 is back, baby! Who else is happy? YAY! There was a lot of dialogue, wasn't there? See you on the flip side!

Dizzy