Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, therefore I do not own Harry Potter, I am just another obsessed fan who enjoys writing fanfics.

A/N: WOW! The responses to chapter 8 were awesome! I'm thrilled to hear you all liked the scene in the prefects meeting so much, cause that was my favorite part write! (Funny how the parts I enjoy writing the most are the ones you enjoy reading the most isn't it lol ) Now to thank everyone who sent me those awesome reviews:

SwTnDrEaMyPnAy03, jesska-14, bigred20, HarryPotterFan670, Sunflower18, Chantal J – Glad to hear you all liked it! Thanks for the reviews!
Hermione Weasley192 – Yay! I love long reviews :D I'm so happy to hear you're liking it so much and that it is sounding realistic. And yes, there is a direction that it is headed, I just don't like to give it away all at once, but I guarantee it gets exciting later. (But that's all I'll say about it for now) ;)
FallenBrokenAngel – lol nothing wrong with being kinda girly. I'm happy to hear that it can sound romantic even without a ton of kissing and stuff. Thanks for the review!
roundrockrules – YAY I'm so happy to hear you liked chapter 8 so much. I hope I don't disappoint you with this chapter!
Alcapacien – Thanks you, and yes, Draco definitely made an impression on a lot of people with what he did, but it wasn't necessarily a good one!
Sirius-harry-n-remus – yeah Draco definitely has quite a bit going on this year. I'm glad you enjoy the twists because trust me, there are more to come!
lhearttomfelton – lol I wish I had a boyfriend to defend me like Draco did too, oh well. Anyway, glad to hear you liked it and thanks for the review!
elektra30 – :o) Yay I love it when people like the tension and stuff. Hope you continue to like it!
Zuvalupa – 'brilliantly wicked' AHH I love that phrase! Hermione's doubts are somewhat involved in future chapters. They won't pull her and Draco apart, but they do cause her to question herself. And that's all I'm saying about that at the moment. :o)
Karma Chameleon – Wow, I've never made anyone explode before! I do hope you're able to put yourself together in time to read this chapter! Lol anyway, happy to hear you liked chapter 8 so much, I hope you like this one as well!
FalconWing – yeah, Hermione puts a lot of trust in what her friends say, no matter how stubborn she seems, she does take what they say about Draco seriously, so that is why she was doubting him a bit. 'bloody brilliant' another one of my favorite phrases! Happy to hear you liked the prefects scene so much!

Thanks again guys, you all rock! Now, on with chapter 9!

Chapter 9: Dealing With The Slytherins

The relief and relaxation that a long night's sleep is supposed to bring never found Draco. What did find him was a series of images and sounds which, although they did not wake him, caused him to toss and turn wildly all night long. The images couldn't really be termed a nightmare because nothing was actually happening, but that didn't prevent them from terrifying Draco. All night he had seen alternating flashes of white and green light, coupled with the sound of a cold high pitched cackle.

The sound he heard in his sleep was so disturbing that Draco was actually relieved when the shrill beeping of his alarm clock jerked him awake. Immediately he shot upright and looked around wildly. His breathing was just as fast and heavy as it was after an action-packed game of quidditch, and there were beads of sweat dripping down his brow.

Draco untangled himself from his sheets, and stumbled across the room, tearing his clothes off as he went, and not even noticing that they were not his pajamas. He turned on the shower, left the water cold and finally stopped to catch his breath as the icy drops of water soaked his body. He leaned against the wall to steady himself. He was terrified because he knew exactly what the green and white lights symbolized. Green was the color of the killing curse, and the white light was as hot and painful to the eyes as the cruciatus curse was to the body, he saw it every time the curse was upon him. But what frightened him most was the cold high-pitched laughter because he knew it could only belong to one very powerful and very dark wizard.

Draco stood in the shower for at least five minutes, all the while barely registering the feeling of the water pouring down his body. He wondered if his dream had been a premonition, a vision of what was to come. If so, someone was going to be tortured, and someone was going to die. Every fiber in Draco's being told him that that someone was him.

Draco's mouth was dry, and there was a lump in his throat. He tried to swallow to get rid of it, but nothing could release the tension. He closed his eyes and lifted his head so the water was pouring directly on his face. For the first time in his life, Draco had no idea what to do, and it made him feel completely helpless.

He turned the water temperature up once he started washing. His heart was telling him to talk to someone about what he had dreamt, Hermione being his first choice. But his brain quickly vetoed the idea, informing Draco that telling her would just make her worry, which was the last thing he wanted her to do. Besides there was nothing she or anyone else could do about it anyway. His second thought was to tell Blaise, but again his brain reminded him that telling anyone would do no good, it would just spread fear. Draco finally resolved to keep his thoughts to himself as he lathered his hair with shampoo. He took some calming deep breaths as the suds rinsed down his face. He turned off the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist and examined his reflection in the mirror.

Mentally he was preparing himself for another long day of putting on a cold façade, only this time he had to make sure Hermione thought he had had a good night's rest, otherwise she would be concerned and ask questions. He used a simple drying spell on his hair, which instantly returned it to its perfect silky state. After that be began changing at the same time thinking about the day ahead.

He never would have thought that it would be so difficult to pretend to be himself, but it was. When you are feeling so unlike your usual self on the inside, it is exceedingly difficult to make it appear as if everything is normal on the outside. Yet in Draco's case, it had to be done. He could not allow anyone to suspect that something was wrong, which meant that he had to be the Slytherin Prince, he had to maintain his confident swagger, his attitude, and his seemingly emotionless exterior. He had complete confidence that he would succeed in front of the school, but in front of Hermione he was not so confident. She had a habit of seeing through him when no one else could.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Hermione opened it as she spoke, "Draco?"

"Coming," he said simply. He turned his back to her as he picked up his backpack. He closed his eyes and gave himself a quick mental pep-talk. When he turned back around, he was smiling, and had every appearance of his usual self.

Hermione's smile widened, "you slept so long! Are you feeling better today?"

"Much," Draco lied as he walked over and greeted her with a kiss.

"Good, I'm glad to hear it," smiled Hermione after the kiss.

-

Once he was seated at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, Draco found it surprisingly difficult to restrain himself from glancing at Pansy. For once he wanted to know what she was thinking. Her behavior just wasn't making sense. For the most part, he kept his eyes down, but about halfway through breakfast he unconsciously looked up, and directly into her eyes, she had been watching him. The moment their eyes locked a seductive smile crossed her lips, it was the same smile she had always used to try to get Draco to pay attention to her. Draco did his best to keep his face expressionless, he wanted to look away, but there was a strange glint in Pansy's eyes that he had never seen before.

Just as Draco was beginning to speculate what could possibly be going through her head, the stiff sound of someone clearing their throat interrupted his thoughts. Draco turned to the source of the noise and found himself looking up at professor Snape, whose cold black eyes were staring directly at Draco. "Mr. Malfoy" he began quietly "if you would be so kind as to follow me, the headmaster would like a word."

"Of course professor," answered Draco formally.

Snape nodded and led the way up to the professors table where Dumbledore was seated.

As soon as Draco left, the Slytherins all started whispering, wondering why Dumbledore would want to speak with him. Like wildfire, the story of what he had done at the prefects meeting spread, and the Slytherins were outraged at what they heard.

Over at the Gryffindor table, Ron was looking towards the professor table so that he didn't have to look at Hermione. He was still annoyed with her, and the fact that she had come to breakfast with Malfoy hadn't helped his mood any. However, when he saw Malfoy being led up to professor Dumbledore like a criminal being led to the gallows he brightened up a bit. He chuckled under his breath.

"What are you laughing at?" asked Harry.

Ron continued looking at the professors table, but Harry could tell he was smiling. "Looks like Malfoy's in trouble with Dumbledore" Ron said with delight.

"What?" Hermione asked concernedly. She and Ginny (who had been discussing Ginny's new Ravenclaw boyfriend) glanced up. "I hope Dumbledore's not punishing for what he did at the prefects meeting."

"I bet he's gonna take away his Head Boy status!" cried Ron with glee. "Then maybe Dumbledore will make you Head Boy Harry!"

Hermione scoffed, "I'm sure Dumbledore wouldn't do that!" She bit her lip, "maybe I should go talk to them too, I'd hate for him to be punished when he didn't do anything wrong."

"No!" cried Ron indignantly, he was enjoying the thought of seeing Malfoy in trouble.

Hermione pursed her lips so that she looked astonishingly like professor McGonagall, and glared at Ron.

"Come on Hermione, I'm sure Dumbledore won't punish him. Besides, you don't even know if that's what they're talking about," reasoned Ginny.

Hermione did not look at all convinced, and she continued to stare at the table looking as if she was ready to jump out of her seat at any moment.

Up at the professors table, Draco was looking at Dumbledore with his usual bored expression, complete with his famous smirk.

"Mr. Malfoy," began Dumbledore calmly "I have been informed that last night you took it upon yourself to blow up Mr. Thomson's prefect's badge?"

"That is correct," replied Draco with his usual lazy drawl.

"You understand of course that it is not your responsibility nor is it in your power to take away a students prefect status," lectured Dumbledore lightly.

"Under normal circumstances of course, however last night was a special circumstance. I feel that Thomson's behavior completely justified my actions," stated Draco, completely maintaining his cool.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, "please, do explain."

Draco lazily told Dumbledore about Thomson's abuse of his powers, and about what he had said to Hermione. Once Draco had finished talking, Dumbledore paused to think a moment. He looked at Draco as though seeing his thoughts rather than his expression, it unnerved Draco a bit, but he did not show it. "Well Mr. Malfoy, if this sort of behavior occurs in the future, then you may remove the student from the meeting, you may speak to the individuals Head of House about suspending or revoking their prefects status, however you may not blow up their badges, is that understood?" Dumbledore smiled slightly, he never thought he would see the day when a Malfoy acted against a Slytherin in defense of a Gryffindor muggle-born, and he certainly wasn't about to do anything to discourage that sort of behavior. "For the time being, Mr. Thomson's prefect privileges have been suspended until December. After which, if he makes any more mistakes, he will loose his position."

"Very well professor," drawled Draco.

He turned to leave, but was stopped when Dumbledore spoke again. "One more thing Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Thomson also mentioned that you were most unlike yourself at the meeting last night. Is there anything bothering you? Anything you wish to discuss?"

Again Dumbledore looked as if he were seeing straight into Draco's thoughts. Draco's eyes narrowed and remained dark. He kept himself completely closed off and refused to think about what had been occupying his mind lately. He didn't like Dumbledore attempting to see through him, and he wasn't afraid to let it show. Draco smirked even more, "not at all professor, I was just allowing Hermione to lead that meeting, if that disturbs people so much I will be sure to never let it happen again."

Dumbledore closed his eyes and momentarily looked down as if disappointed about something. "Of course, well then, off you go."

Draco nodded curtly at professor Dumbledore, then swept around and returned to his seat. He frowned at the looks his housemates were giving him, "what are you all looking at?" he demanded.

"We've all just heard a very interesting rumor Draco," answered Pansy, her voice laden with disgust.

"Oh really?" answered Draco with mock interest.

Pansy sneered, "you know Draco, I seem to remember a time when you thrived on taunting mudbloods. But that was back when you had pride for who you are." The other Slytherins were listening to her, and many nodded in agreement.

Draco's temper quickly escalated, "Those times are over Parkinson, and for your information, I have never been more proud of who I am that I am now." Perhaps if his better judgment had not been impaired by his temper, he would have held his tongue, so much for acting like himself.

Pansy leaned across the table so the her face was inches away from Draco's, "You better watch yourself Draco," she whispered menacingly, "we wouldn't want you to do anything stupid." She pushed herself away from the table, "come on Blaise, we're leaving." And then she stalked off towards the door. The Slytherins who had been listening watched her go, and then turned to give Draco angry glares.

Blaise started to rise, and whispered as he did so, "Draco, what the Hell are you thinking?" his voice was panicked.

"BLAISE!" shrieked Pansy once she had reached the door.

Blaise stumbled away from the table and hurried towards Pansy.

Draco shut his eyes and mentally kicked himself for letting his temper get the better of him. He knew it was a bad idea to give Pansy another reason to be angry with him, but the mere sight of her was enough to make his blood boil.

Pansy's shout had caused half of the Great Hall to jump in surprise. Luckily, most of the students looked at her and then went back about their business. However, there were two faces in particular that did not. Professor Dumbledore had been eying the three Slytherin's curiously ever since Draco had returned to the table. He could sense that there was something big going on, however Draco was obviously not going to talk about it. And unfortunately, it seemed as if all the years of Lucius' training in blocking one's mind had paid off, because although Dumbledore had tried, he could not see past Draco's wall and into his thoughts.

The other head that turned toward Draco was of course Hermione's. She was a little unnerved at Draco's expression. She had a pretty good feeling of what the discussion had been about, but what she didn't understand was why Draco appeared so bothered by it. Hermione continued thinking about it until Ginny's worried voice led her away from her thoughts. "I don't know Hermione; maybe what Malfoy did at the meeting wasn't such a good idea."

"Why not?" asked Hermione, finally turning towards Ginny.

"Did you see the looks his housemates are giving him?" reasoned Ginny.

"He's not the only one getting dirty looks," added Harry with more than a touch of concern in his tone, "you better watch yourself Hermione."

Hermione gave Harry a confused look and turned back towards the Slytherin table. Sure enough, she found several pairs of eyes glaring furiously at her. Unconsciously, she gulped as she returned her attention to her friends. She was startled by the booming bell announcing the start of the day. Hermione's first class was arithmancy, but as she stood up to leave, some Slytherins pushed past, purposely shoving into her. One rammed her so hard that she was knocked back down into her seat. Harry and Ron saw this and immediately stepped in front of her, looking like two menacing guard dogs. The Slytherins sneered at them, and then looked past them at Hermione. "You better watch yourself and stay out of our way, unless you want to be seriously injured."

"And unless you want to be 'seriously injured' I suggest you stay out of her way," Draco had witnessed the scene and arrived behind the other Slytherins.

They jumped around, their surprised faces quickly turning into defiant looks, "That just proves that you've lost all your house pride Malfoy!" argued one Slytherin.

"Ha, no one has more pride in being a Slytherin than me, what I do not have pride in is housemates that attempt to undermine my authority. Now, get out of here."

The Slytherins brushed past Draco, still not looking very pleased, but they were not brave enough to argue, and Hermione at least was able to breathe again. "Thanks guys" she said to Harry and Ron.

"Do you want us to walk with you to class?" asked Ron, eying Draco suspiciously.

"No, it's alright, I'll be fine," assured Hermione, "plus I don't want you two to be late to divination."

Harry sighed, "alright, just watch out, I don't trust them." Harry stared directly into Draco's eyes when he said the last part. Draco stared right back at him, his eyes dark and narrowed. Harry and Ron then left the Great Hall, leaving Draco and Hermione alone.

Hermione picked up her bag and the two began walking to class. Draco could tell that Hermione was thinking hard, and her head was down. "Sorry about my housemates," he muttered.

Hermione shook her head, "don't be, I'm used to it by now," she answered sadly. "What did professor Dumbledore say to you? He didn't punish you did he?"

"Of course not, he just told me not to do it again," said Draco with a wave of his hand. He looked down at Hermione, "hey, cheer up, everything fine."

Hermione closed her eyes, "how can you say that, your housemates aren't just mad at me, they're mad at you now too! I can't live with all of them acting like they did just now!"

"Relax, I'll take care of it," answered Draco, "they're just pissed because I lost my temper with Pansy this morning. But don't worry, I'll go to the common room tonight and straighten them out."

Hermione's stomach wrenched at the mention of Pansy, but she chose to ignore the feeling. "Oh Draco, don't hex any of them, then you really would get in trouble!" she pleaded, looking nervous.

Draco laughed, "As much fun as that would be, I was never planning on hexing any of them. Trust me; after tonight they won't be bothering you any more than they bother anyone else."

"If you say so," said Hermione skeptically as they arrived at the arithmancy class.

-

The rest of Hermione's day was horrible; it seemed as if the Slytherins were all trying to make her life miserable. With every step she took she had Slytherins there knocking into her, attempting to trip her, muttering under their breath. And in the classes she had without Draco, every time she raised her hand to answer a question they would hiss at her and call her things like 'know-it-all' and 'show-off' under their breath. While the teachers would take points away when they heard the taunts, it didn't help to cheer Hermione up much, and by the end of the day, she wasn't raising her hand anymore. Harry and Ron attempted to cheer her up, but nothing they said or did helped much.

At the end of the day, Hermione slumped into the common room and dropped her bag on the floor. She fell back onto the couch, and let out a loud frustrated breath.

From inside his room, Draco heard her, "Hermione? You alright?" he called.

"I'm fine," lied Hermione.

"You don't look fine," said Draco as he looked at her from his doorway, "what happened?"

"Let's just say that everyone in your house is an insufferable arse" answered Hermione bitterly.

"Everyone?" asked Draco with raised eyebrows, as he made his way over next to her.

"Yes, everyone you have been known to be an insufferable arse yourself in case you've forgotten."

"Me? Never!" said Draco with mock surprise.

"Ha!" laughed Hermione.

Draco shrugged, "if you say so, but just remember, that means that you're dating an insufferable arse."

Hermione opened her eyes, "shut up," but there was a bit of amusement in her voice and a tiny smile on her face. "On the positive side, they lost about fifty of points today for making comment about me in class."

"Speaking of my housemates," began Draco, "I'm going down to the common room to straighten them out, I'm not sure how long it will take though, so I may not be back here until after dinner. But I'll make sure they leave you alone."

"Just as long as you don't get hexed down there," said Hermione with a trace of worry in her voice. Then she added, "why don't you take the flyer announcing the yearbook with you to put on the announcement board, and I'll deliver them to the other houses."

"Will do," Draco walked over to the desk and picked up one of the flyers Hermione had made, "looks good," he commented.

"Thanks, I'll see you later," muttered Hermione.

"I love you, and try to cheer up, I hate seeing you upset," said Draco as he opened the portrait door to leave.

"I love you too," called Hermione.

Draco walked swiftly through the halls down to the dungeons where the Slytherin common room was located. Once he reached it, he said the password and stepped inside. All the Slytherins who were there at the time immediately stopped what they were doing and stared at him with looks of outrage on their faces. This was the first time Draco had bothered to come by the common room since school started, and at the moment no one really wanted him there.

He stalked over to the announcement board and put up the yearbook flyer. He then turned to his housemates with a cold expression on his face. The Slytherins were glaring at him, after a moment, Pansy, who was secluded in a corner with Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle spoke up. Her tone was dripping with sarcastic venom, "Draco, how nice of you to stop by, we were beginning to think you'd transferred to Gryffindor with your mudblood girlfriend!" The other Slytherins began murmuring to each other.

Draco sneered, "that is enough Pansy." Inside he was dying to take out his wand and give her a good hex for daring to say that he could possibly be a Gryffindor and for insulting Hermione, but he didn't. Right now he needed to be the old Draco Malfoy, the one his housemates idolized and respected. "Now everyone shut up and listen."

The Slytherins stopped talking, but shot Draco resentful looks. Draco slowly scanned the room making sure he had everyone's attention. Once all eyes were on him, he began, "I am disgusted with you all!" His voice was loud and authoritative, but his words caused more furious glares to come his way. "You all must be brain-dead. Have you any idea how many points you idiots lost for Slytherin today with your pathetic taunts. At the rate you lot were going at today, you're going to practically give the house cup to the Gryffindors!" The Slytherins started looking at each other, clearly feeling dumb for their actions.

"I was furious with your behavior in the Great Hall this morning, I swear, if any of you would use your brains it would be a miracle."

"You're the only one who hasn't been using his brains Draco!" argued Pansy, "imagine, defending a mudblood and turning on one of your own!"

The Slytherins nodded in agreement with Pansy, and eagerly turned back towards Draco to see what his response would be.

Draco rolled his eyes, he had already prepared an explanation for his actions over the course of the day, "think about it Pansy, if I had allowed Thomson to continue acting as he so stupidly was, Herm . . . Granger would have told her two body guards about it, and Dumbledore would inevitably find out about it. Then my Head Boy status would be jeopardized because I hadn't done anything to tame my housemates." Draco had almost said Hermione, but he quickly called her Granger instead. He felt it would be best not to use her first name in the presence of his housemates, that way they wouldn't be reminded of how close he was to her. He paused to take a breath then went on with his well rehearsed rant, "You know how the old coot favors Gryffindors, I'm sure he would love a reason to suspend my Head Boy status. Or even worse, take it away and give the position to Potter. Do you idiots really want two Gryffindors with all the power?"

The Slytherins were giving Draco skeptical and confused looks as though they didn't fully believe him, "Don't you guys get it!" shouted Draco, "It's all an act! I have to 'discipline' all students who do not follow the schools rules, which include respecting and obeying the Head Boy and Girl. I have act like an authority figure, but you guys have to understand that it's an act. I don't care what you guys say about the other students in the school as long as you don't say it around anyone who's not a Slytherin. If you do, I will have to act, so if you don't want me to punish you, then don't act like idiots anymore!"

The Slytherins were gazing at Draco with newfound respect, each were thinking similar thoughts. He hadn't betrayed them at all; he was just smart enough to know how to pretend like he cared when he needed to, and he was cunning enough to make everyone believe him. "So, you really don't care what we say about Granger or anyone else as long as we only say it around the other Slytherins?" asked Thomson sounding stunned.

"Of course not, you didn't see me say anything to Pansy when she called Her . . .Granger a mudblood a few minutes ago did you?" Draco almost slipped by saying Hermione again, but luckily he stopped himself.

Draco could see the looks of understanding dawning on his housemates faces. Yet, one face alone stood out against the rest, one face continued to look skeptical, it was not entirely disbelieving, but it wasn't as trustworthy as the rest. That face belonged to Pansy Parkinson. For the second time that day, Draco locked eyes with Pansy. Even from across the room he could again see that mysterious glint in her eye. Part of him was dying to know what she was thinking, but the other part knew that he really didn't want to know. As the rest of the Slytherins went back about their business, Pansy called to him, "So Draco, are you now that you've redeemed yourself with these pathetic idiots are going to leave to go spend time with your precious mudblood?"

Draco clenched his teeth and fought hard against the anger that was swirling inside him hearing Pansy reference Hermione like that. But instead of lashing out, he put on his infamous smirk and swaggered over to the corner where Pansy was sitting with the others, "actually no, I was planning on spending time here with you tonight. Unless of course, you'd all rather I leave."

For a brief moment, Pansy's face lit up like it always used to when she thought she had a chance of being with Draco. Then the realization that he meant spending time with all of them and not just her hit, and the excitement quickly faded. Draco noticed the look, and was completely astounded that she could still want him. With the fact that she was dating Blaise, all the crap she gave him and the fact that she was a Death Eater he figured that she would be over him by now, but apparently he was wrong. 'Perhaps' he thought, 'that was why nothing had happened to me yet. If Pansy still likes me then she wouldn't really want to hurt me.'

Blaise also saw the excitement pass through Pansy's eyes, and a look of resentment and disgust crossed his face. Obviously, he was not happy to see that his girlfriend was still mooning over another guy, especially one whom she was supposed to hate and had no chance with anyway. Draco never saw the look of disgust Blaise threw him, but if he had, perhaps it would have caused him to wonder, 'why would a guy who wanted nothing to do with the Dark Lord be jealous that his Death Eater girlfriend wanted someone else?' But Draco never saw Blaise looking at him, so the thought never crossed his mind.

-

While Draco was occupied in the Slytherin common room, Hermione hung up the yearbook flyers in the other house common rooms. She did Gryffindor last, then stayed and hung out with everyone. Since it was Friday, no one was working on homework; everyone was talking ot playing games such as exploding snap or gobstones.

Hermione sat and watched Ron murdering Harry in wizards' chess, she shook her head wondering why Harry even bothered to play against Ron. In the seven years they had been playing against on another, Harry had never even come close to winning.

When Ron finally ended Harry's misery by winning the game the two boys turned to talk to Hermione, but she appeared to be deep in thought. "Hey, whatcha thinking about?" asked Harry.

Hermione looked at him and tried to suppress a slight blush. She had been thinking about Draco, her mind racing with the worst possibility of things that could be going on in the Slytherin common room. She had no idea how he planned to 'straighten them out' but she did not think it was possible no matter what he did. She opened her mouth to make up something, but her friends knew her too well, and they both sensed the hesitation.

"Merlin Hermione!" cried Ron "You're getting worse than Parvati and Lavender!"

"I am not!" argued Hermione, blushing even more. "It's just that he's dealing with his housemates, and I'm afraid that they're gonna hex him or something."

"That would be nice," muttered Ron.

Hermione closed her eyes, willing herself not to get angry, she hated being angry with her friends, and perhaps she did think a little too much about Draco when she was with them. "I'm sorry guys, look let's talk about something else."

But Harry and Ron were both giving her stern looks. She desperately racked her brain for a new topic of conversation, until finally she found one. "So, when does quidditch season start?" Normally she hated quidditch conversations, however at the moment anything that would loosen things up between them was a good thing.

"Practices start in a couple weeks" answered Harry.

Amazingly enough, the three friends discussed quidditch (well Harry and Ron discussed, Hermione just listened and nodded when it was appropriate) until dinnertime. For a while it seemed as if things were completely back to normal between them. Back to when they told each other everything and were always together. They were all smiling and relaxed, but that was until the Slytherins entered. Hermione quickly tensed when she saw them. She was expecting rude taunts and glares from the entire house, but to her complete astonishment, not one even looked her way.

Hermione was looking at the door when Draco entered. For the first time in a long time, he was with his old Slytherin gang. Hermione did not know how she felt about that. She was definitely not too happy that Pansy seemed to be warming up to Draco again. A bit of jealousy began to well up inside Hermione; however it quickly subsided when Draco looked at her and gave her a quick smile and a wink.

Hermione had no idea what Draco did or said to his housemates to get them to behave. At first she didn't know what to think. But as her attention returned to her friends, she found that she didn't need to think about it. Whatever he had said or done, obviously worked, so she wasn't going to think about it. Instead, she smiled because for the first time all day she was truly able to relax and she enjoyed every minute of it.

-

Hundreds of miles away in a cold dark dusty room, the Lord Voldemort stood waiting. He was wearing a long black cloak with the hood covering his face. His sharp ears heard a door open behind him and heard the quiet footsteps of the Death Eater he was expecting. He turned to face his servant, who was also hidden underneath a black hooded cloak. The Death Eater bowed deeply before beginning.

"Master, I have found an appropriate location. It will perfectly suit our needs, it is out of the way and I can assure you that we will not be disturbed while we are using it." Lucius approached his Master slowly; there was excitement in his voice.

"Excellent Lucius," replied the Dark Lord, a cruel smile upon his hidden face. "Now we must wait until the time is right, I shall check up on my servant soon to assure that everything is going according to plan."

"I eagerly await it my Lord," answered Lucius with a bow.

"Yes, the time is slowly approaching, but for now, we wait."

I hope everyone enjoyed chapter 9, as always I would love to hear your thoughts in a review. And I will do my best to update as fast as possible!