Reviewers-I'm sorry it's so short, but it's exactly how I planned out the chapter leading up to the final battle! I will, however, try and make my last chapter next one as long as possible.

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It was a drafty Saturday morning and she was quite sure she would be the only one awake.

"Granger!" called an impatient voice from behind her, "Granger, slow down for a second!"
"Draco?" she blurted out thickly, turning around to find the source of the voice, "or, not Draco at all!" she said discomfited, turning to leave.
"Stay put woman! I need to speak with you."
For the second time that morning, she spun around, curious about what the almost-stranger-Slytherin could have to say. Arms akimbo and eyebrows raised, she waited for his explanation.

"Don't act so condescending, both of us know you're dying to know why I, Blaise Zambini, have chosen to grace you with my presence!" he said majestically, whipping out a familiar smirk; the Slytherin smirk.

Hermione wondered if there was an unspoken requirement for the house of green and silver. Maybe you had to be born with that smirk to be sorted into the house. Or perhaps they held lessons of some sort, in which Snape teaches students how to smirk, sneer, and perform perfectly executed insults in a timely fashion.

At any rate, he continued.

"Don't be daft, sit down," he said sliding down the wall to sit on the floor, "and don't be afraid because nobody will see you with me. If you haven't noticed it's six 'o clock in the bloody morning. Hold your breath for a moment Granger, and listen."

She inhaled and sat in silence, straining her ears to search for the tiniest piece of noise.

"All right then, what did you hear?"

"…nothing" she mumbled.

"Exactly-the castle is sound asleep."

"What is it that you wanted to discuss with me?" she asked, taking her seat on the opposite side.

"Are you involved with Draco Malfoy?" he said casually.

"Yes."

"Then I think that a proper introduction is in order here. I'm Blaise Zambini, but you, pet, can call me Blaise." He said with a grin, holding out his hand.

She couldn't help but smile at the gesture.

"Of course, and you may call me Hermione," she said, extending her arm. He caught her by surprise when he kissed her hand. One moment their all smirky and the next their sophisticated; Slytherins are truly a breed of their own.

"Would you like to tell me, Hermione, why my room mate came home last night soaking wet?" He asked, to a blushing girl, "Eh, I suppose I can leave that bit up to my imagination." He said, smirk returning.

For an hour or so, they sat chatting lightly, getting to know each other. With his kind streaks and wit, Hermione found him to be an easy friend. It was a shame that their house rivalry had kept them apart for so long, and that there was only one more year of Hogwarts left for them.

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"Draco, I would like you to follow me," Snape said, leading me into his office.

"What is it you require, professor?"

"I know you've been messing around with the Granger girl, but you cannot let her corrupt you! She's filthy, Draco. Girls like that are okay to string along on occasion, but a classy young man certainly does not parade them for the public. Girls like that are dealt with behind closed doors. I need to know with whom your loyalties lie, boy."

"Why naturally, I am devoted to the Dark Lord and his bidding, professor." I said, haughtily, because maybe if I could convince Snape it was what I wanted for a life, I would be one step closer to convincing myself.

"Don't patronize me, Draco!" he said, raising his voice, "I don't have to be a Legimens to see the hesitation within you! Your attempts at convincing me have become feeble. You are teetering on thin ground, here. Do not think that just because she is beautiful and clever she will be the solution to all of your problems! Some things are hopeless from the start. Don't fool yourself for a moment thinking that Potter and his gang will ever really accept you. You are meant to fight on the dark side Draco. You were born to do it! This is who you are, the darkness is not only around you, no, the darkness is within you Draco. It will always fascinate you, it consumes you. You are past the point of options, you foolish boy!"

Snapes voice was hoarse from yelling by the time he finished his lecture.

Draco was trying very hard to keep his temper.

"I haven't an idea what you're talking about, sir."

"Get out of my sight," Snape growled, as the boy ran to escape his office.

"Some things, are hopeless from the start", a miserable man muttered inaudibly to himself. His vision was blurred by his agony as he took the tattered photo of the familiar redhead out of his desk, "some things are hopeless from the start."

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"Ennervate!" said Ron, pointing his wand at a stunned Dean Thomas, who thereafter awoke.

"Good job, you're getting the hang of it," said Harry, pacing around the Room of Requirement.

"Impedimenta!" shot Padma Patil, slowing down her sister.

"Incarcerous!" Parvati sent back, tying her twin up with ropes.

"Excellent, ladies!"

Harry continued to help Neville improve his Locomotor Mortis and Ernie with his Petrificus Totalus.

They had been practicing furiously all day, and he was about to tell everyone to start heading back to their commons when He heard a feminine sob from the corner.

"R-r-riddik-kulus!" Hermione sobbed hopelessly at the boggart, which had taken the shape of dead Harry.

Dead Ron ensued, and she attempted to yell the spell once more.

Harry saw Mrs. And Mr. Granger appear in a torturous state, as she tried again to fight the boggart.

Dead Dumbledore.

Dead Ginny.

Dead Zambini.

'Wait…what? Dead Zambini?'

Dead Malfoy.

Hermione stood still, tears pouring down her face. Harry had never seen here this desperately miserable and it killed him. He felt like her apprehension was everywhere. It was expanding into all of the empty spaces and it was filling all of the doubtful corners of his mind.

"Finite Incantatum! Riddikulus!" Harry bellowed, forcing the boggart back into the cupboard and facing his best friend.

"Harry," she said, breathing shallowly, "I, I don't know what's come over me, I thought I could handle a boggart, but it's just so terrible, and I, I just don't know what I would do if-"

"Shhh," he said, pulling her into a safe embrace, "It's alright Hermione, I know what you mean."

She buried her head in his robes and wept. She wept for Harry, and for Ginny. And for Draco, who was fighting on the wrong side, and for herself, because she adored him anyway.

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An owl approached me while I was in my dorm.

A gorgeous, royal owl, having a terrible tantrum because I had no treats to feed him.

Naturally, he was the Malfoy family bird.

"Draco,

I have been informed that tomorrow is going to be the day. This is more likely than not your last day at that wretched school, so pack all of your things. Prepare yourself."

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I glanced around the hall, and saw quite a few empty seats. The Creevey brothers had left school that morning, and Seamus had caught a train the night before.

The hall was eerily quiet that dinner, for the most part. We were all enraptured by our own trials. I think Draco and I could've been snogging on top of the Hufflepuff table and no one would have noticed. It was just that kind of day.

He caught my eyes, and I made an attempt at a smile. Although, it was sort of a pathetic attempt, so I've not a clue what it must have looked like to him. He did not smile at me or anything of the sort, but sent a curt nod my way. I could not blame him though, because it was his nature.

Dumbledore cleared his throat, and immediately every set of eyes in the hall was on him. The stillness before his speech was absurd.

"Good evening, everyone. In light of recent incidents, I feel it is my obligation to say a few words. We are all facing quite dreadful things. Live all of the time you have left here, in this school, in your youth, to the fullest. Trust, children, trust each other, and let down your boundaries. Isolating yourself can do you no good in times of trouble such as these. Be loyal, to those who are worth being loyal to, and do not lose sight of who you are. It is not your name, nor your abilities that define you. It is the choices you make. No one in this room is destined to a life of hatred. There are always options, and they may not be what is expected or what is easy, but not taking them could change your life for the worst. Keep hope, all of you. Help each other to be strong."

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