A/N: Ah! I'm so behind its horrible! I'm so sorry people! I've just been so busy and everything it's just bad. Well thanks for all your reviews…hannah: Draco IS my hero!!! Don't be dissing the hot one! storyreader14: same to you! You're not supposed to hate Draco; you're supposed to love him! Like I do! And it's called a coincidence… Lady Emerald Black: Thanks for the lovely review…you'll have answers to your questions (hopefully) soon…and pregnant is spelled like I just spelled it. Like I said, I didn't expect it to be Draco and Ginny AT ALL! I didn't want that to happen! But I'll figure it all out eventually… Zurine: more Charmed is coming soon, I promise! MEERA: Don't die! I'm updating! Here! Stephanie: Good idea…we'll see what happens…

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, I PRESENT TO YOU, MY LOVING FANS, CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE!!!

DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!

Chapter Thirty-Five

Hermione was awakened with a start, tears in her eyes. She had just had a particularly bad dream about her parents' murder. Recalling the nightmare, tears anew made their way down her cheeks as she bowed her head and tried to sob quietly.

So it was that Hermione was awake when Pepper came back into the dormitory, elated but a bit confused from her late night rendezvous with Malfoy. She was humming and she didn't realize how loud it was until Hermione stuck her head out from her closed bed hangings just as Pepper was entering her four-poster. "Where were you?" Hermione hissed through tears, her voice strangled from crying.

Pepper whirled around to face Hermione at her brow wrinkled in concern at once. "Hermione, what's wrong?" she asked quietly, as to not wake the other girls in their dormitory. Pepper crossed the room to Hermione's bed and climbed inside the hangings with her. At a closer range, Pepper could tell she had been crying. "What's up?"

"Just a nightmare," replied Hermione, trying to regain her composure. She was curious as to why Pepper was up this late. "Where were you?" she repeated.

"I'm not pregnant," Pepper said, beaming at Hermione. Hermione looked at her, puzzled. "I met with Malfoy tonight at the top of the Astronomy Tower and he explained all this to me…" Pepper told Hermione of what happened with Malfoy, (leaving out the part about him being in love with Ginny), and when she was done Hermione was also smiling.

"Pepper, that's wonderful," she said quietly. As quickly as the smile appeared on her face it fell into a frown. "Voldemort's planning on killing you," Hermione gaped. "We've got to figure something out! We've only got eight months left, by then I'm sure he'll have some plan to take you so you can have the baby! But when he finds out that you're not pregnant after all he'll be livid, Pepper."

"Do you think we should tell Harry and Ron all about everything? I figure we're going to need their help. Especially Harry's help," whispered Pepper.

"Yeah, I s'pose we should," Hermione agreed. "I think we're going to have to explain it slightly backwards, though, because they'll probably get really worked up over your pregnancy scare."

"I almost hit him tonight, you know," said Pepper thoughtfully. "I wanted to break his nose so bad…but I think I'm glad I didn't because he probably wouldn't have told me all that helpful stuff. He's not a bad guy, Malfoy."

"Perhaps not," said Hermione. There was a thoughtful pause in her speech before she continued, "Pepper, I realized something while you were in the hospital wing today." Pepper looked at Hermione in question. "I'm in love with Ron."

Pepper fell off the bed she was so surprised. The loud "thud" didn't wake Parvati and Lavender and when Pepper's head appeared above the bed once more she was grinning ear to ear. "I knew it!" she exclaimed in a whisper to Hermione's laughing face. "You realized this after your date with Neville this afternoon, didn't you? I knew it!" She climbed back into Hermione's bed. Hermione didn't choose to answer Pepper's question. They sat in silence for a few minutes, each of them lost in their own thoughts. "Was your nightmare about your parents?" Pepper asked softly after a while.

Hermione looked up at her. "Is the numbness gone for you?" she asked hoarsely.

"Sometimes," replied Pepper sadly. "It's almost the year anniversary of my mom's death…the end of this month…"

The both of them knew the tears were coming on and didn't stop them. They hugged each other, trying to comfort the other person, thought they were both sobbing uncontrollably. That was the way they spent most of the night, and when they were out of tears they both fell into an uneasy sleep.

Charms the next day was the first chance Pepper got to talk to Ginny. It was the afternoon and by then Harry and Ron had been informed of Pepper's pregnancy scare and what happened on the Astronomy Tower with him, ("You should have told us so we could go with you!" "He could've thrown you off the tower or something!"). They, too, knew that something needed to be done about Voldemort. Pepper had woken up that morning before Hermione and left Hermione in the bed alone, hoping she would forget the sad events of the night before. Neither one them had said anything to the other about it.

When Pepper entered the Charms classroom she found that Ginny was already there, sitting at a table in the front of the room. Pepper was almost bursting with the news she was about to tell Ginny and she practically skipped up to her redheaded friend. "Hey, Gin," she said, taking the empty seat next to the girl.

"Hi, Pepper," Ginny replied.

"I have something exciting to tell you," Pepper cried just as Professor Flitwick started class. She rustled around for some parchment and her lucky purple spotted quill to write a note to Ginny, who looked very curious.

Unfortunately, Professor Flitwick's class was interrupted, as there came a knock at the door. Everyone turned in their seats (though Pepper desperately wanted to tell Ginny the wonderful news), and Professor Dumbledore poked his head in the classroom. "Excuse me, Professor, my I interrupt for a moment?" he asked.

"Yes, Headmaster, of course," squeaked tiny Professor Flitwick.

The Headmaster opened the door wide and stepped in. "We have the pleasure of a new student here at Hogwarts," he announced. He ushered a girl into the room; a girl who made everyone's eyes go wide. It was obvious from the start that there was something very special about this girl. She had a hold on all of the boys, that much was certain, and there was some entrancement on the girls' part as well. It was mostly that feeling of jealousy you get when you want to be exactly like someone else. The only people this girl didn't seem to really affect were Hermione, Professor Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick.

Professor Dumbledore and the special girl walked to the front of the classroom. Hermione tried to put a finger on what exactly made this girl so special. She had long sparkling blonde hair and wide wondering eyes, but she seemed a little shy as she stood in front of the class. The girl was looking slowly around at all the students, looking as if she wanted to disappear into the floor. She was beautiful, Hermione decided, but it was not her looks that made her quite so. Hermione just couldn't decide what it was that made her so beautiful that she had a hold over all her classmates. And Hermione wondered why this girl had no hold over her.

"This is Miss Eowyn Cuomo," Professor Dumbledore introduced. (A/N: Hmm…I wonder who this is Elise…?) Hermione didn't think the class cared what her name was, they just wanted to look at her: the boys with lust and the girls with loathing. Professor Dumbledore didn't seem to notice this. "She is a sixth year Ravenclaw, new to Hogwarts this year," Dumbledore continued. "I hope you all make her feel welcome. Now I will let you get back to your lesson, Professor Flitwick, thank you."

"Thank you, Headmaster," squealed Professor Flitwick. "Miss Cuomo, you may take a seat next to Miss Granger."

The strange new girl took the only empty seat in the room – the one next to Hermione, who got to take a closer look at Eowyn Cuomo. "Hello, I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione said friendlily, smiling at the mysterious girl, who looked at her in slight shock.

"Hello," she replied evenly. "I'm Eowyn."

The two of them didn't speak for the rest of the class. Hermione could tell every single person in the classroom was itching to get up and talk to Eowyn. She studied the girl out of the corner of her eye for the rest of the class.

When the bell sounded most of the class's male population (including Harry and Ron) surrounded the new girl, who soaked up all the attention happily, which disgusted Hermione for a reason she didn't quite know. Pepper and Ginny both looked fairly interested in speaking to Eowyn, but Hermione led them from the room and down to lunch.

"Don't you want to meet her Hermione?" said Pepper as Hermione dragged her two friends down to the Great Hall. "Oh, wait, that's right, you got to sit next to her the whole class." Pepper sounded slightly jealous and Hermione wanted to yell at her not to be jealous, Eowyn was just a girl! But Hermione could tell that that was a lie: Eowyn Cuomo was not just a girl.

"Why is everyone so anxious to meet her?" Hermione asked, wondering if she could get an answer to her question right here and now.

"Why aren't you?" Pepper answered, furrowing her brow.

Hermione didn't answer – she didn't know what she would say to that – and the three continued their journey to lunch in silence, the three of them each thinking about this mysterious girl.

Ginny had completely forgotten about what Pepper had to tell her at the beginning of Charms class. She remembered it halfway through her lunch (Harry, Ron and Eowyn Cuomo had not shown up yet), and she said, "Pepper, what was it that you wanted to tell me?"

Pepper turned suddenly to face Ginny and a huge grin broke out across her face. "Malfoy's in love with you," she said very quickly, her eyes lighting up.

Ginny stared at Pepper in alarm. "He's what?" she asked. "In love with me?" Hermione stared at Pepper as well, though her glance was quizzical. She wondered why Pepper hadn't told her this last night. Unless Pepper had recently met with Malfoy more than once…

"I met with him last night to…erm…clear something up and he told me to tell you that he loved you!" said Pepper, a little disappointed at Ginny's less-than-giddy reaction. "I thought you were in love with him too and all and…" her voice trailed off as Ginny shook her head slowly. "…but…"

"I'm not in love with him, Pepper," said Ginny. "And I doubt that he's in love with me. He was probably just telling you that for his own sick enjoyment or something." Her eyes burned with deep rage and Pepper shook her head furiously.

"He wasn't just saying it Ginny! I think you should talk to him!"

Ginny was thinking of a response when Harry, Ron and a few other Gryffindor boys decided to join them at the table, looking starry eyed. "What happened to you two?" asked Ginny.

"She's amazing…" said Harry, taking a seat.

"She touched my arm," Ron said dreamily, sitting down beside Hermione and spooning some green beans onto his plate.

"…beautiful, sweet, kind, beautiful…" Harry was continuing. Pepper had to smack him upside the head to make him shut up, though she looked jealous again.

A light bulb suddenly went off over Hermione's head. "I'm going to the library!" she announced, though Harry and Ron were too busy talking about Eowyn to notice and Pepper and Ginny were too busy trying to get the boys' attention to pay any heed to Hermione.