Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling, so I do not own Harry Potter

A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter! I love hearing from you guys so much!

twistedtwin, Jaezi, fieryred20, jesska-14, SCInfinity, JessicaDracoMalfoy, Jessie, Sunflower18, Krazy Krysia, Kyra Malfoy, ilovetom88, sad-soulz, HarryPotterFan670, melovedraco, Ginny-W13, shadow-n-the-dark, Stella - thanks for the reviews! I hope you all like this chapter!
ydole3343 – yup Lucius is back (evil laugh) and trust me; nothing is ever smooth sailing for long between Draco and Hermione! Thanks for the review!
Kara Black – I'm glad that you liked the mystery of the chapter, that's exactly what I was going for! I hope you like this chapter too!
NeVeRmInD2 – thank you very much, I'll do my best to make sure that this story lives up to your expectations!
FalconWing – Definitely Lucius has it in for them (evil laugh). Hope you enjoy this chapter!
elektra30 – I'm glad you liked how I set it up, I think it makes the tone of the fic a bit darker than the last one. I hope the rest of the chapters continue to live up to your expectations! Thanks for the review!
zuvalupa – I'm glad it became clear by the end, and I'm glad that you liked the chapter. Hope you like this one too!
FallenBrokenAngel – Thank you so much! I hope I manage to make You-Know-Who sound realistic. Hope you continue to like it!
angelchic4ever – I'm glad you liked the first chapter, and I'm glad the world is exciting and good J Thanks for the review!
Kacie – I thought people might be curious, but she Harry, Ron, and Ginny are in this chapter. And don't worry, terrible things will definitely happen to them. (dun dun dun!)
Phoebe Telumetar – They have suffered a lot, but they can't just breeze through this story, it wouldn't be any good if they did! And I agree, every dark chapter must be followed by a happy one, so here's your happy one.
BleedingHeart14 – Yes it's horrid, I'm glad you're confident in me. I hope this story lives up to your expectations!

I hope everyone likes this chapter!

Chapter 2: At The Burrow

"No no, I really don't think this is a good idea!"

"Come on Hermione it will be fun trust me!" urged Ron.

"But Ron you know I'm scared of heights!" argued Hermione desperately as Ron tried to make her get on the broomstick. "Guys help me!" she shouted to Harry and Ginny, who were circling around the air, already on their brooms.

Harry wasn't paying attention, he was thinking about that morning. He had woken up to the feeling of his scar burning again; an incident which hadn't happened in over a year. It wasn't a painful burning, just a dull sensation, coupled with the feeling a cruel happiness. He hadn't told Ron or Hermione about it, he didn't want to spend the last few days of summer vacation with them worrying over something that was really nothing. Harry shook the thoughts from his head. 'It was nothing to worry about' he tried to convince himself, it had happened loads of times before, and the pain was completely gone now.

"Ron, leave Hermione alone!" Ginny ordered, coming to the rescue of her friend.

"Oh all right," Ron conceded, finally giving in, "but if you change your mind, feel free to fly up and join us."

"Right Ron," nodded Hermione knowing full well that the only way she was going to get on a broomstick would be if her life depended on it. She then added in a sarcastic tone, "if an army of blast-ended skrewts suddenly tries to attack me, I may fly up there, but only if there's no other way to escape."

"Alright Hermione," answered Ron sweetly as he kicked off the ground and joined Harry and Ginny in the air.

Hermione watched as Ron, Harry and Ginny flew around passing balls back in forth to each other, mimicking a quidditch game. She walked over to a nearby tree and sat in the shade, enjoying the peace and quite for once. She loved coming to the Burrow at the end of the summer, but sometimes it was just a little too crowded for her taste, so whenever she had these moments to herself, she enjoyed them to the fullest.

She closed her eyes and instantly saw his face; that strong well defined face, his smooth flawless skin, those perfect lips that she longed to kiss once more. His platinum blonde hair, which fell perfectly just slightly in front of his eyes . . . oh those eyes, Hermione's breath caught in her chest at the thought of his eyes. The were deep gray, silver almost, his eyes could either show absolutely nothing, (as they had the first five years she had known him,) or they could reveal his every emotion, as she became fully aware of last year when she and Draco Malfoy, the price of Slytherin himself, began dating.

It certainly had not been an expected or likely partnership, but they had each grown to like, no to love, each other after being forced to work on an advanced potions project alone together. A lot had happened last year, Hermione had fallen in love, only to feel as if her heart had been ripped from her chest and torn up into tiny pieces when she caught Draco cheating on her. She didn't discover until months later that the affair had been a fake, a plan Draco devised to keep Hermione safe from his father. Lucius, just the thought of the man made her shiver in fear. It was startling how the man who shared so many features with Draco, the one she loved, could make her heart stop in fear just with the thought of him. Lucius, in Hermione's opinion, was the personification of pure evil.

Hermione still had nightmares about that night, the night their potion was completed, and she stumbled upon Draco's plot and his true feelings for her. She had gone to rescue him from Lucius, and instead of her saving him, he ended up nearly giving his life to save her. If it hadn't been for their potion, he would have died. Hermione still couldn't believe that he was alive, but sure enough he was, as she was constantly reminded by the numerous letters he sent her over the summer. A feeling of exhilaration swept through her each time she was Aries, (Draco's eagle owl) approaching.

She took a breath and smiled to herself, she could not wait to see him again. The two month summer had gone very slowly for Hermione with her thoughts constantly on Draco. She got a giddy feeling of butterflies in her stomach when she thought about the approaching year. She and Draco were the head girl and boy, meaning they each got their own room, and they shared a common room separate from everyone else. She blushed and suppressed a giggle at the thoughts of what could possibly happen with that set up, but she knew that Draco would never try to take advantage of her, so she wasn't worried.

"Hermione! Hey Hermione!" Ron shouted from afar, successfully ripping Hermione from her daydream about Draco and sent her crashing back into reality. She took a deep annoyed breath, and opened her eyes, trying not to look frustrated at Ron, though he truly was beginning to piss her off.

"Hermione watch this!" Ron cried happily, then began showing Hermione some new spin trick he had just mastered on his broom.

Harry and Ginny viewed Ron sympathetically, and Hermione pretended to be happy for him. They all knew that Ron was trying to impress Hermione. He still had a bad crush on her, and he could not accept the fact that she was in love with Draco. Hermione tried to be nice to Ron when he was like this, but it really annoyed her, especially when she had been having such a nice quiet moment to herself.

"That's great Ron!" Hermione shouted, sounding much more annoyed than supportive. She then got up and headed alone back to the Burrow praying to Merlin that Ron wouldn't follow her.

"Hermione you alright?" Ron shouted as he made to chase after her.

But he was stopped by Ginny, who flew directly in his path, "Ron! Can't you see that Hermione wants to be alone right now, just giver her some space."

"Alright, I was just trying to make sure she's okay," Ron said defensively.

"She's fine Ron, just leave her alone for a while," assured Ginny.

So Hermione made her way back to the Burrow alone, she entered and sat at the kitchen table, once again thinking about how much she missed Draco, she sighed sadly as she sat. She was thinking about him more and more as school drew closer, and the fact that she hadn't received a letter from him in over two weeks bothered her a bit. She knew he was busy, but she had almost come to depend on his frequent letters, little reminders to show that he truly did love her.

She subconsciously raised her hand over her heart. That was where the dragon pendant Draco had given her for Christmas hung beneath her shirt. She kept it hidden because no one had ever told Mrs. Weasley about Hermione and Draco, and Hermione didn't think it would go over too well if Mrs. Weasley found out who had given it to her. Mrs. Weasley would know that it had been a gift since Hermione never bought jewelry for herself, and she couldn't picture Mrs. Weasley being very accepting of Hermione's feelings for Draco. Hermione hated hiding the necklace, it was her one constant reminder of him, she wore it everywhere, but hiding it was better than dealing with a raging Mrs. Weasley, so she lived with it.

"Everything alright dear?" asked Mrs. Weasley concernedly

"Oh, yes I'm fine Mrs. Weasley, I'm just missing Hogwarts I suppose," answered Hermione, quickly removing her hand from the pendant, even though Mrs. Weasley couldn't see the dragon beneath her shirt.

"Ah," smiled Mrs. Weasley, "well you'll be back there in a week; I can't believe that this will be you, Harry, and Ron's last year! It's such a bittersweet time."

"Yes," Hermione had been thinking about that a lot over the summer. What would happen to her and Draco after this year was over? Would they stay together once they were done with school? She hoped so since they were still together despite not seeing each other all summer. But the thoughts still brought up several interesting questions. She quickly shooed the thoughts from her mind, those were things she didn't need to think about for months yet, and she would be sure to talk them over with Draco once the time was right. "Well Mrs. Weasley," began Hermione once she noticed that Mrs. Weasley was eyeing her sweetly. "I think I will go take a quick nap, wake me if you need me."

"Alright dear, have a nice nap," smiled Mrs. Weasley.

Hermione made her way up to Ginny's room, where she was staying, and lay on her bed though she was not at all tired. She looked out the window to where her friends were playing quidditch, and stared vacantly at them until she noticed a form growing larger on the horizon.

It was an owl, and it seemed to be flying straight towards her. Harry, Ron and Ginny stopped their brooms in midair as they watched the owl fly past, and Hermione's heart leapt, and began beating faster as Aries flew closer. She could not wait to read what Draco had written her, and it was hard to contain herself from tearing the letter off of Aries' leg once he landed.

"Hello Aries," she cooed excitedly at the owl. Just like everything having to do with the Malfoys, Aries had the look of strength, power, pride, and money, and like Draco, beneath the cold and rough exterior; Aries was the sweetest and most loveable owl you've ever met. He nipped Hermione affectionately as she untied the note, and flew to her shoulder as she read it.

- - - - - - - - - -

Ron had stopped in midair when he saw Aries, allowing the ball he had been flying towards to fall, forgotten, to the ground. He eyed the bird with an intense look of disgust because he knew exactly who that owl belonged to. Ron had long gotten over the fact that Draco had saved Hermione's life last year, and he now hated Draco more than ever. After all, in Ron's opinion, Hermione never would have been in trouble if it hadn't been for the stupid, arrogant, Slytherin sod in the first place. Ron was determined to show Hermione that Draco was evil and in the process, win her back. But he couldn't do that if the stupid snake was being considerate and sending her love notes!

Suddenly Ron zoomed to the ground, no longer in the mood to practice quidditch. Ginny and Harry flew after him, casting each other worried looks. They felt bad that he was still so crazy over Hermione, but they were never going to help him try to pull Hermione away from Draco, they knew not to cross Hermione when her mind was set on something. And now, her mind was set on Draco. Reluctantly, they followed Ron inside, and found him moping in the kitchen.

"Ron, are you alright?" questioned Mrs. Weasley.

"hmm," grunted Ron.

Mrs. Weasley smiled slyly, she knew Ron had a crush on Hermione so she decided to play matchmaker for a moment, "You know, Hermione definitely seemed to be daydreaming about someone when she came in, why don't you go talk to her?"

If Mrs. Weasley thought this would cheer Ron up, she was sorely mistaken. Ron slammed his fists on the table and stormed out of the kitchen, up to his room. Mrs. Weasley watched in shock as Harry and Ginny cast each other pained looks, they weren't sure if they should try to talk to him or not, and neither were about to tell Mrs. Weasley who Hermione had really been daydreaming about. "Sorry mum," apologized Ginny piteously before rushing after Ron with Harry at her heels.

Hermione didn't even look up from the letter she was writing when she heard Ginny enter the room, "hey, was that Ron storming up the stairs a minute ago?"

"Yup," Ginny sighed, "He was pissed because he saw Malfoy's owl, then mum tried to cheer him up by telling him that you were daydreaming about someone. I think she thought you were daydreaming about Ron, but it really pissed him off you know."

At this, Hermione finally stopped writing, "I just don't know what to do Ginny. I feel like every time I start to relax with you guys he takes it as a sign that I'm flirting with him! I don't want to hurt him, but he needs to leave me alone. I love Draco, and nothings going to change that."

"I know Hermione, I know, I just don't know how to get through to Ron. I think he had it in his head that you and Draco would break up over the summer or something, so seeing the owl didn't cheer him up any," explained Ginny.

"I just hope we get through this year without killing each other." Hermione sighed as she finished her letter and tied it to Aries leg, "bring this to Draco, and keep making sure he's not off flirting with any other girls!" she ordered the owl jokingly.

Aries looked at her and hooted reassuringly before flying out the window. Hermione sighed as she watched the shrinking form of the owl fly away. In just a few more days she would be back in Draco's arms, and she could not wait a minute longer.

- - - - - - - - - -

On August 31, The Weasley's, along with Harry and Hermione traveled to Diagon Alley through the floo network to purchase their school supplies. They were all in need of new robes, books for their N.E.W.T. level classes, and other such school supplies. They went first into Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions to purchase new robes. Once they were all fitted and paid for, they decided to head over to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor before finishing their shopping.

They were all talking jovially and eating their sundaes, which were piled high with hot fudge, whipped cream, and all sorts of delicious toppings, until someone caught Hermione's eye. She could only see the back of the girls head, but there was still no mistaking who it was. Pansy Parkinson, the person Hermione hated most in Hogwarts, yes even more than professor Snape, was sitting at a nearby table snogging some boy who Hermione could not see.

For a split second Hermione's heart leapt into her throat as she imagined the boy to be Draco, after all it wouldn't have been the first time she had seen Draco and Pansy kissing. However, she was able to relax once more when the couple broke apart, and Hermione saw that the boy was in fact Blaise Zambini, another Slytherin 7th year.

Hermione let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding, and returned her attention to her friends. "Hermione you alright?" questioned Ginny.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," assured Hermione distractedly.

Ginny looked over to where Hermione had been staring, and saw that the two Slytherins were again attached to each other at the lips. Ginny let out a noise of disgust at the sight, then went on talking to her friends normally.

When the group was in Flourish and Blotts searching for the required reading materials, Ginny approached Hermione. "You thought that Zambini was Malfoy didn't you?"

Hermione nearly dropped the book she was holding, and color rushed to her cheeks, "for a moment maybe."

Ginny raised her eyebrows and viewed Hermione knowingly.

"Okay, yes I thought he was Draco, I know I'm probably just paranoid, but I can't help it. I hate that girl and I wouldn't put anything past her. Then again, maybe if she's with Zambini, she'll leave Draco alone."

Ginny smiled, "I don't think you have anything to worry about Hermione," Ginny paused, viewing Hermione as she continued to browse through the books, "you can't wait to see him tomorrow can you?"

Hermione blushed, "is it that obvious? I'm dying to see him Ginny! I don't know how I survived the entire summer without him!"

Ginny giggled, which caused Hermione to giggle as well, "just one more day Hermione, I think you'll survive."

Once the group had bought everything they needed (and in the case of Harry and Ron, some things they didn't), they returned to the Burrow for the last night of summer vacation. They had an enjoyable evening; complete with a feast of Mrs. Weasley's wonderful cooking. Before they knew it, it was time for bed, for tomorrow they would be traveling back to Hogwarts. Back to their last year of magical learning, hanging out with their friends, dealing with teachers, breaking rules, having adventures. If only they knew what adventures were in store for them in the coming months, if they only knew . . . . . .

I hope you all liked this chapter, please send me a review and let me know! And just in case you're wondering, next chapter Hermione and Draco will be together again. Thanks in advance for the reviews everyone!