Disclaimer: I'm not the amazing and wonderful J.K. Rowling (though I may still be amazing and wonderful) but since I'm not JRK, I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but there was a problem with my computer, and I had to send it away for a week. They had to completely wipe the hard drive :o( But no worries, I backed up my fics (and all my other stuff.) Anyway, I was a bit dissapointed at the number of reviews for last chapter, but I guess everyone's busy. Anyway, a big thanks to those who did review, I love hearing from you guys!

Llama – OH NO! I hope the update came fast enough; I would hate to be responsible for killing someone with suspense! Anyway, glad to hear you liked it!
Karma Chameleon – I'm always happy to make my readers happy :o) I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.
torn to pieces – haha suspense! Lol anyway thanks for the review, and I hope this update came quick enough!
Sunflower18 – was that a good damn or a bad damn? lol thanks for the review!
fieryred20 – I'm happy to hear you liked it so much! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
elektra30 – I'm glad you thought it was exciting, and that you liked noting the changes in Draco. I hope you like this chapter as well!

Thank you all again, and here's chapter 14!

Chapter 14: Cursed

An evil grin spread across Lord Voldemort's lips at the far off gaze that washed over Draco, glazing over his slate gray eyes. "Crabbe, Goyle, kindly unchain our newest recruit."

The two lumbering young men clumsily unchained Draco, leaving him to drop to the floor in an ungraceful heap. His knees were still too weak from the lingering effects of the cruciatus curse to fully support him. Voldemort's nasty grin widened, "Zabini, fetch me that goblet off the table in the corner."

Draco closed his eyes, his head was pounding and he bent it down towards the ground. He was teetering dangerously on the brink of unconsciousness, and his breathing was labored. He heard approaching footsteps that seemed pounding and distant at the same time, they were echoing loudly in the back of his head. He forced his eyes open and saw a silver goblet placed on the ground in front of him. A green tinged vapor was issuing from the brim though the liquid itself was clear. 'Drink' a distant icy voice commanded from the depths of Draco's mind. No part of Draco opposed the command, but he found himself to be too weak to actually carry the order out.

"Parkinson, perhaps you should assist young Draco, he seems incredibly exhausted," Voldemort taunted. Four male voices sniggered in the background.

Pansy however, did not laugh; rather she was highly concerned over Draco's weakened condition. She gingerly lifted Draco's head back and tilted his head up so that it was facing the ceiling. She then carefully touched the rim of the goblet to his lips and tipped it up so that the contents dripped into his mouth. Draco, without thinking, instinctively swallowed the substance and it tingled like tiny needles all the way down. Pansy continued feeding him the potion until the entire goblet had been drained. She then placed the goblet down, but continued supporting Draco's head. She took to running her fingers through his silky platinum locks and tracing them along his face.

Draco now felt the tingling needles spreading through his veins throughout his entire body. The potion was giving him back his strength, it healed his wounds and within moments left him looking as perfectly fit and fine as he had when he arrived in the dungeon. Once the potion had fully restored Draco to his usual self physically, he stood up. His eyes, which were usually constantly swirling with some sort of intense emotion, were disturbingly vacant. He stared directly in front of him without seeing anything. No thoughts occupied his mind; he no longer had thoughts of his own to think.

Lord Voldemort seemed incredibly pleased with how the plan was proceeding. An arrogant sneer played on his lips, "now we can prepare for the second half of the plan." Lucius chuckled, malevolently in the background. "Draco," continued the Dark Lord, "before you are officially initiated, you will have the opportunity to rectify your decision to turn your back on me. Before you are initiated you will be required to fulfill a task. You are to deliver a mudblood to us. You shall be the one to deliver ­Granger."

Somewhere in the very bottom of Draco's chest, in a tiny locked away part of his soul, he cringed at the order that was being given to him. But the feeling was not strong enough to penetrate past the hate which now filled Draco, hate provided by Lord Voldemort. On the outside, there was no indication at all that any part of Draco was opposed to this order. Rather, Draco was continuing to stare at an unspecific spot in the chamber, not seeing anything. Emptiness continued to consume him until a high-pitched, icy, snakelike voice filled the void of Draco's mind, commanding his full attention and obedience. 'You will go about your business as you have all year; no one is to know that anything has changed. When the time is right, you will know what to do.'

"Now," spoke Voldemort's cold voice for everyone to hear, "Zabini, I suggest that you and Draco return to the castle now. And a reminder to everyone, you are to speak of this plan to no one, and you are all to act as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The last thing we need is for Dumbledore to suspect anything."

"Yes master," chorused everyone except Draco, who still wore a vacant expression.

"Zabini," called the Dark Lord before dismissing the Death Eaters, "test him before you return, make sure he is behaving as he has been recently."

"Even towards the mudblood?" clarified Zabini.

"Especially towards the mudblood, we need her to continue trusting him in order for phase two to be successful."

Blaise made a disgusted face, "Yes Master," Blaise and the other Death Eaters bowed to Lord Voldemort, and then Blaise ushered Draco out the door.

Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle, followed the two young men out the door. Lucius meanwhile stayed behind wearing a satisfied smirk. "The plan is working flawlessly Master," he stated, finally breaking the cold silence.

"Yes," answered a cold harsh voice, Lucius was slightly surprised by his Masters angry mood. "Once we are through satisfying your childish revenge wishes, we can move on to more important matters."

Voldemort's words were barely above a whisper, yet they caused Lucius to flinch as if he had been shouting at the top of his lungs, "yes of course Master," said Lucius with a touch of nervousness in his tone. "But don't you agree, Potter will be much weaker and easier to overcome after we kill one of his closest allies?"

Voldemort chuckled cruelly, "indeed, that is the only reason we are continuing with this petty retribution plot."

Lucius made no response other than to bow his head, he knew better than to upset the Dark Lord.

After they left the chamber, Blaise and Draco parted from the other three to return to Hogwarts. They took a prearranged portkey back to the Hog's Head, and then began trekking back to the castle. Along the way, Blaise quizzed Draco to assure that he was still able to behave like himself even while under the Dark Lords imperius curse. For the most part Draco seemed himself, at least Blaise could not see anything different about him. But he knew that the real test would come when Draco was around his filthy mudblood of a girlfriend. Blaise was sure that the meddlesome Gryffindor would be able to pick up on little details about Draco's usual behavior that Blaise would never have even noticed.

Blaise just crossed his fingers and hoped for the best as he and Draco climbed the stairs to the castle. By the time they arrived, it was nearly time for dinner, so the two Slytherins went straight to the Great Hall to await the food. Despite his apprehension about Draco fooling Granger, he was very much relieved now that part one of the plot was over. Now he no longer had to pretend to be a hopeless traitor to the Dark Lord, he could be more like himself. Sure he still had to pretend that he was not a Death Eater, but he would have to pretend that no matter what he did, so that was no big deal really. Blaise knew that they were likely to see the mudblood, Potter, and their two weasel friends in the Great Hall at some point, so he got Draco talking about a subject that seemed completely ordinary, something that they could talk endlessly about. Of course, his chosen the topic of conversation was quidditch.

The rest of the afternoon after they spoke to Dumbledore had passed in a tense mood for the four Gryffindors. The burning of Harry's scar faded up and down over the course of the afternoon. He knew something was happening, and he was feeling an odd mixture of foreign emotions. He felt both excited, and angry at once, he also felt impatience in his chest, although he could not explain the reasoning behind any of the emotions.

Ginny and Ron were attempting to distract themselves from being concerned by playing a game of wizards' chess. Ginny was proving to be a much more formidable opponent for Ron than Harry usually was. Hermione meanwhile was trying to clear her mind by flipping through her rough draft of the yearbook and finding additional things to add and or work on. Her efforts proved to be surprisingly successful, that is until she came across the Head Boy and Girl page. Seeing Draco's photographs got her mind focused on him again, and suddenly, she found that she could not sit still. She was desperate to know that he was alright.

So, much to the surprise of her friends, the minute dinner time came around, Hermione jumped up, and in an extremely upbeat voice, suggested that they go down to the Great Hall. No one had any objections; in fact they were all relieved to be doing something. The burning in Harry's scar had finally completely died down, which he was thankful for. He made sure to tell Hermione, Ron and Ginny that it was no longer burning because he didn't want them to worry. Indeed, he was glad to see the relief in their faces.

Hermione was very happy to hear that the burning was gone for Harry, but she wasn't going to be able to relax until she was sure Draco was alright. A very tight sickening sensation in the pit of her stomach suggested that something horrible had happened to him, as in death. Hermione gulped, internally shaking the absurd idea from her head, 'no,' she convinced herself, 'he's fine, you're worrying for nothing!'

When the group finally entered the Great Hall, Hermione was hanging her head down, not wanting to see the empty room without Draco.

"Not a chance in Hell! Seekers are by far the most important players on the team!"

Hermione's head shot up at the sound of Draco's voice. Hermione couldn't believe it, there he was, he and Zabini were already eating at the Slytherin table, and were apparently talking about quidditch. Hermione was beginning to think that quidditch was the only topic boys ever talked about together.

"No way mate, keepers are the most important players, who else stops the chasers from scoring," argued Zabini.

"Yeah, they stop the occasional quaffle, but the game can't end without the seekers."

"Whatever," Blaise shook his head.

Draco smirked, then glanced over at the Gryffindors. His smirk momentarily turned into a smile when he saw Hermione.

Hermione beamed at him, she was so relieved to see that he was obviously fine that she was completely unaware that deep down inside him, something was terribly amiss and that Draco was not himself at all.

Shortly after the Gryffindors arrived, Blaise ushered Draco out of the Hall. Draco was still having trouble adjusting to his lack of free will, and as a result, he needed someone to tell him what to do. Blaise hoped that that particular side effect would wear off fast because someone would definitely notice a change like that. The real Draco would never allow anyone to tell him what to do; he was always the one barking out the orders.

Blaise dropped Draco off at the Founders portrait, and walked away with an unshakeable sense of unease. As he was descending into the dungeons, his worried thoughts were disrupted by the sound of the doors to the Great Hall opening, and the voices of the Gryffindors as they exited.

"Come on Hermione," the Weasley brother was saying, "come hang out in the common room."

"Oh alright, I'll come with you guys," the mudblood responded, "but first let me drop off my bag, it weighs a ton. Then I'll meet you there."

"Why don't we just wait for you?" asked the Weasley brother.

"Ron, stop making things difficult," ordered Weasley's little sister, "Hermione, we'll meet you in the common room."

The conversation continued, but the voices had moved too far away for Blaise to continue listening. He gulped and drew a deep breath as he resumed his journey into the dungeons. 'Hopefully the mudblood won't stick around long enough to notice anything,' he thought to himself, 'then again,' his thought continued, 'if she does notice something maybe we'll be able to get this stupid plan over with faster.' An evil smile spread across his face, 'I can't wait for Lucius finish that annoying mudblood bitch off for good.'

Harry Ron, and Ginny kept walking when Hermione stopped at the Founders portrait. She said the password, then stepped inside. She beamed at Draco, still incredibly relieved that he was alright. He was lounging on the couch watching his model wyvern flying around his head. "Hey!" greeted Hermione.

"Hey," echoed Draco. He sounded normal, although he did not get up to greet her. However, since she was only stopping in for a minute, Hermione didn't notice.

"I only came by to drop this off, so I guess I'll see you later."

Draco made no response. Hermione figured that he was probably miffed about her leaving to spend even more time with her friend rather than staying with him. She turned to head out the door, rolling her eyes as she did. Still, she didn't want him to be in a bad mood, so before closing the portrait, she turned back, "I love you."

"I love you too," Draco's eyes met Hermione's and from where she was they seemed every bit as sincere as usual, but his voice sounded strangely flat. It almost sounded as if he were merely repeating a prerecorded, meaningless message. Hermione closed the portrait behind her and shook the feeling away. It had been a long day, so she was probably just imagining things. By the time she reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, she had succeeded in removing the concern from her mind.

She entered the Gryffindor common room and was greeted with the sight of Ron getting squirted square in the face by a gobstone. Ginny was howling with laughter, and Harry was having a difficult time containing his laughter as well.

"That's a good look for you Ron," said Ginny in between laughs, "you should think about sticking that stuff to your face permanently.

That comment sent Hermione and Harry into a round of hearty laughter. Ron meanwhile wiped the substance from his freckled face. "Wanna play Hermione?" he asked once his face was free of the liquid.

Hermione considered it, decided that she didn't want to end up with that stuff on her face, and politely declined.

"You know, for being Gryffindors, you two are really quite a pair of chickens," said Ron, gesturing to Harry and Hermione. "The stuff comes right off you know."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Ginny, wearing an expression on her face as if she knew something he didn't. She winked at Harry and Hermione while Ron was not looking, then threw a not so discreet look at his face.

Ron frowned, reached over into Ginny's pocket and removed a compact mirror. He opened it and looked at the reflection. "There's nothing there!" he cried as he threw the compact back at her.

"But I had you thinking there was!" Ginny and the others were laughing hysterically at Ron again.

Ron scoffed and crossed his arms, but eventually he too joined in on the laughter.

It was past ten o'clock when Hermione finally returned to her common room. There was one occupant in the main room, but it was not Draco. Crookshanks was stalking outside Draco's closed door, his eyes fixed determinedly on it. Hermione frowned, her cat didn't look as if he were watching the door for fun, instead he looked like a predator stalking its prey and preparing for an ambush. Hermione scooped him up and Crookshanks protested with a disgruntled yowl. "Draco," she called, "you in there?"

Hermione heard the dull thud of approaching footsteps, then the click of the door as Draco turned the knob. But as soon as he stepped out, Crookshanks started flailing around like mad in Hermione's arms. He furiously swiped his sharp claws at Draco. Draco stumbled back, "get that damn cat away from me!" he roared.

Hermione struggled to maintain a hold of Crookshanks, and ended up half throwing him back into her room. She only just managed to close the door before he charged forward in an attempt to escape. Hermione turned to Draco, panting heavily from the struggle with her cat. "What was that all about?"

"How the hell should I know?" Draco snapped, "the mangy cat has been like that all night. The stupid wyvern flew into your room, so I went in to get it. The cat woke up and took one look at me, then it attacked, and it's been stalking me ever since!"

"I don't understand," said Hermione concernedly, "I thought Crookshanks liked you."

"I thought so too," agreed Draco, finally regaining control of his temper.

"Strange, that sort of behavior is not like Crookshanks at all."

Hermione immediately knew that she had said something wrong because she instantly saw Draco's temper flare up from within him again. "Are you saying that I am lying?" he challenged angrily.

"No," she argued quickly, attempting to appease his temper before he really blew up. "I was just thinking that maybe Crookshanks is ill or something. Perhaps I should bring him to Hagrid's in the morning."

"Brainless oaf," muttered Draco under his breath.

Hermione frowned and put her hands on her hips, "honestly, what's got you in such a foul mood tonight?"

"Nothing's wrong with me other than I've spent half the night held prisoner in my own room because of a psychotic cat," answered Draco, his tone wasn't as angry as she expected, but there was a definite bite to it.

"Are you sure everything's alright?" she asked cautiously, while giving him a concerned look. "Did something happen while you were in Hogsmeade?"

An odd look flashed in Draco's eyes so quickly that it wasn't even perceptible, so Hermione did not see it. There was a slight pause before Draco responded, it wasn't long enough to be suspicious or awkward, rather, it just seemed to be a natural pause in the conversation.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," he answered casually.

Hermione let out a breath and smiled. He returned the gesture, which to Hermione made everything feel perfectly normal again.

All too soon, in the students' opinions at least, the Christmas holidays ended and classes began again. Before they knew it, January was gone and February was underway. Once February began, the seventh years really began to feel the pressure mount. Suddenly N.E.W.T.s seemed much closer than they had ever felt before. The professors were suddenly trying to cram even more information into the student's brains than usual, and as a result, everyone was noticeably more high strung.

By the end of January, Hermione and the yearbook staff had completed the rough draft of the yearbook, with the exception of the pages left blank for upcoming events. Dumbledore assured them that they could complete those pages later and send them into the printer individually. In the meantime, he had sent what was finished of the yearbook to the printer so they could begin printing up enough copies for all the seventh years, and so they could have plenty of time to add the numerous charms the yearbook staff had devised.

One would have thought that with the weight of the yearbook off her shoulders, Hermione would have felt some measure of relief. But anyone who would have thought that, clearly did not know Hermione Granger. When the stress of the yearbook had disappeared, it had been replaced with the full weight of the impending N.E.W.T.s.

The seventh year wizarding tests were not taking place until the end of May, but already Hermione was feeling incredibly under-prepared. As she had done every year, she drew up study schedules for herself, Harry and Ron. This year she also made one for Draco, even though she knew he didn't need it. It had been incredibly easy since his schedule was the same as hers, plus she felt weird making one for Harry and Ron but not for him. Yet, she hadn't given it to him. She sat in her room gazing apprehensively at it lying on her desk, and even as she though about it, she couldn't believe how silly she was being.

The reason she hadn't given it to him yet was because she was unsure of how he would react to it. He had been in a very strange and unpredictable mood lately. One minute he'd be fine, the next he'd be pissed at something or another. Though, she did notice that he was never directly angry at her, she only noticed his attitude because they shared a common room together. Hermione wrote his moody behavior off as nerves, but it still made her wary because she never knew what would set him off. It wasn't as if he started yelling and screaming, but instead he would become moody and closed off. In regards to the study schedule, she wasn't sure if he'd take it with a laugh as something only she would do, or if he would somehow take it the wrong way.

'For Heaven's sake Hermione,' she reprimanded herself, 'stop overanalyzing every little thing!' She nodded her head, "I'll just give it to him when he gets back from quidditch practice, then whatever happens, I won't need to think about it anymore," she said aloud to Crookshanks, who was lounging on her bed, watching her.

With her mind finally made up, she was able to fully concentrate on her potions essay. The assignment was to write a 4' essay about the Veritaserum truth potion. Professor Snape wanted them to write about the effects of each ingredient and then they were to comment about why the use of the potion is so strictly controlled by the Ministry. She had already finished three and a half feet about the effects of the ingredients and of the potion itself, so all she had left to do was write about why it's so regulated.

'Piece of cake' she thought. She glanced around her desk for a moment, searching for the book she had been using as research before remembering that she had put it back in the common room library. She relocated herself and her essay materials to the desk in the main room, and then browsed the shelf for the book she needed. It only took a second to find, so she opened it, took a seat and began skimming through it to find the correct section.

Ever since fourth year, when Dumbledore had used Veritaserum on Crouch Jr. Hermione had been curious to know why the serum wasn't used more often. It seemed to her that it would be much a more effective and simpler way of determining an accused criminals' guilt or innocence rather than lengthy and boring trials. She had been curious, but so many other things had happened since then that she had never gotten around to researching it before now.

Hermione's eyes brightened when they found the section she was looking for. She quietly read the passage aloud to herself, a habit which she had picked up at home when she was reading alone that now she did unconsciously when she was by herself, and sometimes when she was alone with Draco as well. But he had never said anything to her about it, and she was unaware that she ever did it. The passage turned out to be exactly what Hermione had been looking for:

Veritaserum is the most potent truth potion in the world. Accordingly, as with any extremely powerful potion or spell, its use is regulated and controlled by the Ministry of Magic.

Hermione began jotting notes on a spare bit of parchment.

As a truth potion, Veritaserum directly affects the drinkers' brain. Too much could very easily cause permanent damage to the drinker. In addition, several of the ingredients used to make Veritaserum are extremely rare and or difficult to find. As a result, there is a relatively limited supply available for use. The potion also takes well over a month to prepare, and if anything goes even the slightest bit wrong during the preparation and brewing phase, the entire batch is wasted. . .

The book continued, but Hermione stopped reading and began completing her essay. She was just finishing the last line when Crookshanks stalked into the room through the door she had forgotten to close. He was hissing and spitting ferociously. "Crookshanks what . . ." But Hermione's question was answered before she could even finish asking it. The portrait door began to open, and Crookshanks charged, "Draco stop!" Hermione cried. But it was too late; Crookshanks leapt and sank his claws deep into Draco's leg. Draco howled in a mixture of shock and pain. He began kicking his leg in an effort to remove Crookshanks, he then half hopped, half fell into the room with a loud thud, and a feline yowl.

The fall managed to dislodge Crookshanks, and Hermione took the opportunity to seize him round the middle and force him back into her room. It was quite a struggle, and she even got a few minor scratches from his flailing claws. But in the end, she managed to lug him back into her room, after which, she slammed the door and turned back to Draco preparing herself to face his temper.

He was sitting on the floor, with one of his pant legs rolled up to his knee. Crookshanks had managed to do a surprising amount of damage, and the sight of it made Hermione gulp. The cuts were long and deep, and there was blood oozing out all over his leg. Hermione walked over to him, taking her wand out as she did so. She knelt down beside him and performed a simple charm which cleaned the blood off his leg. The cuts were still there, but the free flowing blood was gone. She looked up and was unsurprised to find him glaring at her.

"I thought you said you were going to get the damn cat checked out," he spat venomously.

"I did," said Hermione defensively, "Hagrid said there's nothing wrong with him."

"Bloody brainless oaf," muttered Draco.

"Don't call him that!" shouted Hermione.

"Well doesn't it look to you like there's something wrong with it!" challenged Draco.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with him," she said in a defiant, yet small voice.

"Fine!" roared Draco as he stood up, "just keep the damn thing the fuck away from me!" He stormed into his room and slammed the door behind him.

Hermione cringed at the sound, and sat alone on the floor for a moment. In all honesty, she didn't think there was anything wrong with Crookshanks, because he had behaved in a similar manner to this before. That was what disturbed Hermione the most. In fact it disturbed her so much that most of the time, she just completely blocked the thought from her mind. But at this moment, it crept back in and demanded consideration. The last time Crookshanks had acted like this was back in her third year when he was after Peter Pettigrew, who had been disguised as Ron's pet rat Scabbers.

Hermione sighed, and got up to return her essay into her room. She opened the door and looked at Crookshanks, who was now sprawled out on her bed looking like a small ginger blanket. Hermione dropped her stuff on her desk, and then sat down beside her cat, stroking his long fur. "You don't think there's something wrong with Draco do you?"

Crookshanks stared at her, and Hermione desperately wished that he could talk so that he could answer her question. 'No, there's nothing wrong with Draco!' her mind attempted to convince herself. 'Crookshanks must just be jealous of the attention I give him.' She silently considered this option for a moment. She remembered her mother telling her about a friend of hers who had had a pet who acted all defensive like that around people it felt were intruding on it's territory, especially people of the opposite sex. So it was apparently, entirely normal for pets to become jealous of people and attack them just as Crookshanks was doing. "Yeah, that's it," she said aloud after fully convincing herself that jealousy was the culprit.

Having made the decision that Crookshanks behavior stemmed from jealousy and nothing more, put Hermione's mind at rest. She was then able to go talk to him. She got up and walked purposefully over to Draco's room, making sure that she closed her door behind her this time. She knocked, she took a deep breath, hoping against hope that he had managed to calm down.

"Come in," he called gruffly.

His tone allowed her to relax slightly, at least he wasn't sounding furious, which was a good sign. She opened the door and found Draco working at his desk. "Hey," she began cautiously. "How's your leg?"

"Fine," he answered stiffly. "Just don't tell me that you came here to continue defending the cat."

"I didn't!" she said, "but I do think I know why he's been acting strange lately."

"And why is that?" Draco asked in an incredibly bored tone, he had yet to look up from his work.

"Well . . .I think he may be jealous." She said quietly.

Draco made a noise of disbelief, "jealous?"

"Of you," said Hermione, "I think he's tired of me spending time with you."

Draco continued looking down at his work, but he snorted with laugher, and Hermione glimpsed a smile on his face, it brightened her mood. "Well, I must say this is a first," he said finally, looking up at her, "naturally, I'm used to wizards being jealous of me" Hermione rolled her eyes, "but cats! Come on now Hermione," he said looking skeptically at her.

Hermione bit her lip, and blushed a bit, "It was just a thought," she muttered, directing her head downward.

But the thought of that he made her cat jealous had turned Draco's anger to amusement, and he chuckled at Hermione's shy demeanor. He draped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her head, "Well he's gonna have to work a lot harder than that to ever get rid of me."

Hermione smiled and looked into Draco's eyes. Maybe it was because she hadn't looked into his eyes for any great length of time for quite a while, or maybe it was just because her mind did not want to see it. But for whatever the reason, Hermione did not notice the change that had come over Draco's eyes. What had once been constantly swirling pools of silver and steel were now static gray eyes. His eyes no longer revealed his emotions to her; rather they were now like most everyone else's eyes, simple and unchanging. Yet, since they did not give off a closed or angry feeling, Hermione did not notice the difference.

I know that this chapter wasn't quite as exciting as the last one, but trust me, real plot heavy stuff will be coming in either the next chapter or the one after that. And as always, I love hearing what you all think, so please review:o)