Chapter 26

Hermione's eyes jolted open. Her heat slowed down several beats as she took in the real world around her. She never thought how comforting it would be to see a bunk bed above her when she had wanted the top one in the first place. Even this conflicting world was easier to face than to see Ron fall to his death like that over and over again in her dreams.

Why were these dreams following her? Why couldn't they just get out of her head? She felt like punching something. Nothing of the sort had happened so far and it wasn't going to. She had to be sure of that.

Still…I have to watch over him…not let him out of my sight, and that shouldn't be a problem. No one could take her Ron away, and if they did, she would strike them off with every single spell that she'd ever heard of and knew.

And what was going to happen to Harry? He had an eve worse danger than Ron. Hermione didn't want to imagine what would happen when Harry confronted Voldemort…Well, that was if he had a chance to. How could he if he was in Azkaban? In one way, that was a good thing because he would be away from harm and Voldemort, but then on the other hand, he would to stay in prison with soul-sucking dementors driving him to insanity. He should get out. That option was much better. As far as she knew, she'd rather live a year with her friends than spend a lifetime in prison, and she was sure that Harry though of it the same way.

That was it. No more time was going to be wasted on finding Draco Malfoy or stealing potions out of teachers' offices. It was time to figure this out on their own.

…

"All right, so what do we know so far?" Hermione laid her eyes upon Ron and Ginny, ignoring the pit-pat noises occurring every two seconds in the background of rotting stalls and the glasses wearing ghost hovering four feet in the air above her sobbing loudly.

"About what happened during the match?" said Ginny.

"That, and everything else about Voldemort, Death Eaters, the stalker who's been following me-"

"Wouldn't that be Malfoy?" Ron cut in.

"No, it's not. I remember the first time I saw him, and that was at the Halloween dance, but I saw Malfoy standing somewhere else…"

"Are you sure?" said Ron doubtfully, and Hermione saw Ginny's same uncertain expression on her face.

"I am absolutely sure." Hermione knew it wasn't him, and she was pretty confident about what she had just figured out when she had been taking a shower.

"Anyway, so I was thinking about this whole ordeal with Voldemort and Harry. What's their ultimate goal? To kill each other, or at least one of them has to kill the other."

"We know that already." Ginny pointed out, but the sobbing Moaning Myrtle whimpered, "My Harry…my Harry…has to kill He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" She fit burst to tears once again.

Ron's face convulsed into confusion as he looked at Hermione, "I don't get it. How does she know about Voldemort if he was after her time?"

"It was more during her time-"

"I hear about it all the time! When girls were in here, they would always talk about how brave Harry was to face He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, but now…now look what's happened!"

Hermione took a deep breath. The last thing we need is a crying ghost on our backs, she thought.

"As I was saying…maybe Voldemort thinks that he can't kill Harry or doesn't want to take the trouble of dueling with him, considering what happened last time. What if he just wanted Harry out of the way?"

"By what, landing him in Azkaban?" said Ron.

"Exactly."

Ginny hugged herself as if she was uncomfortable and jittery in the bathroom, and Hermione couldn't blame her. Ginny said, "It makes sense."

Ron, however, shook his head, "That doesn't follow the prophecy, though. They have to kill one or the other."

"I thought about that too, and that's where this Crystal comes in. Only the heirs of Slytherin and Gryffindor can touch it after it's handed down by the Keeper. My theory is that Voldemort's planning to wait by that Crystal and if Harry ever gets out, he will…kill him." Moaning Myrtle squealed horribly at this.

"But then…then, if that's true, then their plan is already working!" Ron stuttered.

"So far it is, but Voldemort is not going to get his hands on that Crystal until he has their Keeper, and I don't know if they do or not. All I know is that Harry has to get out of Azkaban."

"WHAT?" Ginny jumped, "If Voldemort's planning to kill him, he's better off in prison!"

"I can't believe you, of all people, is saying this. You were the one who went on investigation-"

"If it keeps him alive, then he should stay there. I didn't know about this before."

"Hermione is right, Gin," Ron intervened, "it doesn't matter if Voldemort is after him or not. In face, he's been on his tail for the past seven years, so it doesn't make the situation any different now."

"Ginny, if Harry is stuck in jail, Voldemort will have the upper hand since no one else can defeat him, not even Dumbledore."

"It has to happen on day…Harry has to fight him." said Ron, making a sort of rhythmic tune as his voice blended with Myrtle's sobs.

"Fine. I just don't want him to-"

"We know." said Hermione.

Ginny stared at the moldy floor for a few seconds before she spoke, "So…what do we do now?"

"Now that I don't know." said Hermione, folding her arms and turning her head in thought.

"Why doesn't the Order go to the place where the Crystal is and guard it?"

"They already guard it…two of them died guarding it…" said Hermione heavily.

"We tell Dumbledore, or McGonagall, if Dumbledore's not here." Ginny suggested.

"Dumbledore is smart enough to know that. He's probably known it, and I'm betting he knows a lot more about this or he would not let Death Eaters run around the Forbidden Forest or put the most powerful object in a ten kilometer radius of Harry."

Ron and Ginny both nodded in agreement.

"Now, all we can do is wait until we get out of this castle, because we can't do anything major without Apparating or lack of communication with the Ministry or the Order. And speaking of the Order, once we get out, we'll be old enough to join the Order."

…

"Wait! Hold on there. Where do you think you're going?" Hermione grabbed Ron's arm as he started walking the other way of the corridor.

"We're having a sort of farewell Quidditch match."

"What?" Hermione said in astonishment, "How can you play Quidditch after what happened?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders, "It wasn't my idea. It was Katie's."

"Then don't go." ordered Hermione.

"I have to. There has to be a Keeper or there is no game, and besides, it's only the Gryffindors playing, not Slytherins."

"Don't go." Hermione repeated, but with a softer tone this time, and hugged him.

"Come with me. You can watch us play." said Ron.

"I can't. I have duties to get to soon." Hermione groaned. She didn't want to leave Ron by himself outside and exposed to danger.

"Then come after you're done."

"Alright," she gave him a kiss, "Just be cautious."

"I will."

…

It was time for Hermione's last duties as Head Girl, and for it she had to prepare the letters that were to go out to the new students in the summer. This reminded her of the day when she had gotten hers when she was eleven. First, she had taken it as some sort of prank, and when she had not answered it, another one had arrived the next day. That letter was the portal to the magical world and she would have never known that she would have ended up the way she was: an established witch instead of an established Muggle student.

As Hermione went into McGonagall's Transfiguration room, she wondered how many letters and envelopes there were for her to insert and stamp. She had to admit that it was boring and tiring doing all these duties by herself.

But this changed when a person with sleek blond hair and blue eyes trotted into the classroom. Hermione stole a look at Draco and saw that he seemed somewhat thinner than before. She quickly turned as he caught her eye, and went back to rummaging through McGonagall's additional desk for the letters.

"Hello."

Just because she had hope for him didn't mean that she wasn't angry with hi, and with each step he took, the feeling of intimidation in her rose.

"Stay away from me."

"What?"

"Don't come any closer." Hermione faced him again and that kiss flashed through her mind. She wiped it away and put up a strong front.

"Stop being ridiculous." he said, coming closer to about a foot in front of her, "Let's get this done quickly."

"Just don't come near me." Hermione produced her wand and pointed it at Draco. He stepped back, gazed at the wand, and then came into realization as he saw the look on her face.

"Ohh, right. About that, well, uh, I-"

"I don't want an explanation. I want you to sit over there," she aimed her wand at the desk in the back of the classroom, "and take care of half of the letters."

She definitely did not want an explanation, because an explanation involved an answer to her question which had been haunting her inside but had never come out.

"You're kidding, right?"

"No." Hermione kept her eyes on the desk.

"Fine then." He snatched the letters from the desk and stormed off. He caressed his arm as if it hurt. A light flicked on in Hermione's brain and she threw her backpack onto the desk, took the Veritaserum in her hand, and hid it behind her.

"Hey," she called to him as he pulled out the chair to take a seat, "I'm ready to listen."

"Oh really?"

"Really," she nodded, twirling the potion in her hands, "But you can still stay there."

He rolled his eyes, "Fine. All I wanted to say is that I'm sorry for what happened."

"And which offense are you referring to? When you came on me like that and inflict hell between me and Ron? Or is it for attacking Harry and sending him to Azkaban?"

"I didn't inflict hell, and perhaps you weren't at the match because it was clearly Potter who attacked me."

"You attacked him first, though, and-"

"I had to. He was in my way-"

"-you cast some sort of anger spell on him."

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did. Don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying! I would never lie!"

Hermione narrowed her eyes in disbelief, and he continued, "Fine, I would lie, but I'm not lying now. I didn't put him under any spell."

"Were you ordered to provoke Harry into using the Cruciatus Curse so he could be sent to Azkaban and Voldemort could carry on with his plans?"

Draco laughed, "I thought I was apologizing. How did this turn into an inquiry?"

"Just answer the question," she brought forward the Veritaserum, "Or I'm forcing this down your throat."

"You can't."

"Watch me."

"Fine," he stretched out his legs, "Can I at least come up there and talk? I feel like I'm in the Great Hall."

"No." She put down the Veritaserum on the desk and folded her arms. "Now tell me. Was that your plan?"

"Part of it."

"And what is the other part?"

"The part you probably haven't figured out yet."

"Care to elaborate?"

"No."

"You know," Hermione started, as she picked up the vial again, "I could have you locked up in Azkaban in a flash. All I would have to do is bring one of the teachers here to hear it from your mouth that you're a Death Eater."

"At the expense of them finding out that you were snooping in Snape's potions?" Draco smirked.

Hermione flew up her wand and shrieked, "Car-"

"OKAY OKAY!" Draco Malfoy shielded his face.

"Spill." Hermione ordered him with her wand still armed. He lowered his arms and took a deep breath, "I can't tell you everything or I'll get my head cut off. All I can say is that they're trying to get to you too."

Her stalker immediately came to mind and finally she was going to learn more about him, "Get to me…do you mean to kill me, capture me, or capture and then kill me?"

Draco didn't answer.

"Come on, you can answer that."

"I'm not sure. Both, I guess."

Somehow, that did not surprise or scare her. What was she to expect from Voldemort and the Death Eaters?

"But why? It doesn't make sense at all. Why do they need me? I don't have anything to do with-"

"From what I've been told, you do. That's why they've been on your trail for so long."

"Why didn't they kidnap me then? I must have been alone outside loads of times, come to think of it."

Draco shook his head, "You were always with lover boy Ron so they couldn't get to you."

It was Hermione's turn to laugh, "Are you telling me that a full grown wizard couldn't handle two teenagers?"

"If both of you were captured then Potter would think both of his friends were missing, whereas if it was just you, they'd think you had buried yourself in a book."

"Which brings us back to my original question. Why do they need me?"

"I can't tell you that."

Hermione groaned with frustration. She tried approaching this a different way, "All right. How are they planning to get to me now?"

Draco stared at her seriously for a few seconds and when Hermione motioned him to go on, he said, "I don't want to tell you."

"Don't want to, or can't?"

"Don't want to."

"Why?"

"You'll freak."

"Damn you, Draco! Would you just say it!"

Draco's eyes rose at her outburst. He hesitated for a moment, gazed at her, and then said one simple word, "Weasley."