Title: Dare You To Move
Author: Mjade
Summary: My third Draco/Mione fic. Hermione Granger is feeling left out by the people she once called friends . . . but her dreams are all about to come true.
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter but the idea of this story, the two Slytherins: Mason Deimos and Don Gears, and the Gryffindor: Lucinda Lucent, are mine.
Rating: PG-13/Romance
Author's Note: I know! I know! I made you wait for around five months for this chapter and I cannot tell you how sorry I am! Aside from hazardous homework, final exams, IB exams, college applications, and graduation preparations, I had a series of my computer breaking down and being fixed. However, finally the system must have collapsed and I had to reinstall a new one so all my files, all my documents, including this story became non-existent. Imagine that! Five long years of my sweat, blood, and tears down the drain! The fates are surely against me! I almost didn't want to continue the story but as I said it's not in me to do it!

Thank you to my lovely reviewers: ShimmeringEvil, Fiona McKinnon, kirt, sEcReTaGeNtSpYgUrL, crystal369, xeledhwenx, Angelsparkle006, Lady Paine, Bookwork1214! Thanks so much for being patient with me! Now sit back and hope you enjoy! Please read and review as always!

This chapter is dedicated to two of my friends (one who kept pushing me to finish it and the other who, while not that knowledgeable about HP, gave great ideas), that without their help this chapter would not be up today!

—Chapter Twelve—

The greatest thing you'll ever learn
is just to love and be loved in return. . .

- Christian from the movie "Moulin Rouge" -

"What a mess," said a female with a heart-shaped face and short violet hair. She exhaled heavily as she got up from her squatting position, dusting herself off. Even after the fire had died down, the small Irish village was completely torn to shreds. What had been farmland now looked like a war zone. Smoke residue filled the air while corpses of men, women, and children lay face down in the muddy soil. Broken pieces of glass, wood, bricks, and metal, shredded wool, burnt flesh---everything was strewn all over the ground. How could there ever be so vast a wreckage in so small a town?

"I have never seen so many dead bodies in my entire life, and I'm an Auror!" the woman with violet hair said angrily. "They killed every single living being, and not only the men but also the women and the children! This is inhuman! Definitely the work of Death Eaters! We should have known they would do something like this! Aaargh! Wait 'till I get my hands on them! "

"We may all have sensed it, Tonks. But we had no way of knowing that---" said a tall black wizard trying to calm the woman beside him, but was immediately cut off.

"No way of knowing! No way of knowing what! That something like this would happen! We should have been here weeks before, prepared and waiting for this---this Death Eater invasion!" the woman called Tonks said. "This is worse than the attack on Italy last year, Kingsley. And then, it was just a small number that died. I---I mean we still don't know the reason why they attacked that small settlement near Naples, but. . . but most of the people killed here in Dunquin were Muggles. And innocent ones at that. Now a group of Death Eaters is moving towards Scotland! They should never have released him out of Azkaban! What the bloody hell was Fudge thinking!"

Nymphadora Tonks sighed loudly before she sank down on a large rock. Kingsley Shacklebolt frowned.

"Tonks, please calm down. We have already notified Dumbledore about this. I'm sure he will do everything in his power to protect Hogwarts," Kingsley told her.

"I'm more worried about Harry," Tonks said. "About the effect this news will have on the poor boy. And Ron and Hermione, too. Sure, they're old enough to take care of themselves and have their wits about them but . . . you know, this wasn't supposed to get out to the media. The Ministry was supposed to keep it quiet."

"Tonks, you know it's highly improbable to keep something like this quiet," Kingsley reasoned. "After all, it is about time we notified the public. We can't keep them in the dark forever. Molly Weasley will certainly disagree with me, but Harry should know what we found out."

Tonks nodded, mostly to herself.

"Oy, Tonks! "

Tonks whirled around as she heard her name. A tall, good-looking man with long red hair in a ponytail and wearing an earring with what looked like a fang dangling from it, came jogging over to her and Kingsley, slightly panting.

Tonks got up quite suddenly, causing her to trip over the rock that she was sitting on, which in turn caused Kingsley to wince, as she fell flat onto the ground. "Ow . . ."

"Man, Tonks. That was quite a fall. Are you okay?" The red-haired man said, as he reached her.

"I'll be all right, Bill. Just help me get off the ground, will you," Tonks said lying facedown, as Bill lifted her by her arms into an upright position.

"What do you have there, Bill?" Kingsley asked him, gesturing to the roll of parchment in Bill's hand.

"Oh, right," Bill turned to Tonks. "I just got this from Fawkes, it's a message from Hestia Jones. Dumbledore needs you at Hogwarts."

From the Journal of Hermione Granger:

12/14

The Christmas Ball was rather successful. Surprisingly, most students and the faculty staff came in costumes. It's great to see that people were enthusiastic about the whole thing, which is more than I could ever hope for. The decorations we put up were beautiful and I heard even Blair Le Fay and her band arrived early and were able to provide the music for the ball. I'm just glad everything turned out all right. I received a few owls from people saying they enjoyed the ball and that we should make another one at the end of the school term. Justin was certainly happy with the idea, so yes; we are going to plan another one. Speaking of Justin, he and Padma have started dating, right after the ball. They are officially together. I guess Justin's dream has finally come true. I'm happy for him. No, really I am. For both him and Padma, actually. Justin said that no matter what happens he would still be my friend and spend time with me. Justin is truly a great guy--- and Padma is lucky to have him. Sometimes I can't help but feel that I'm worrying over nothing. One day, Harry and Ron just seem so cold towards me and busy spending time with other people, then the next day it's completely different. It's back to just the three of us. Harry, Ron, and Hermione, like it's always been. Like it has been since I stepped into Hogwarts. The best of friends. Maybe I was just insecure or unhappy with the fear of losing them. That's probably why I worry too much. I was worried at the thought that they'd leave me, but Harry and Ron would never---well, of course they wouldn't. It's just not possible. Why would they? Finally, it has come out into the open. I knew the Minister of Magic couldn't keep it quiet for long. Even with Voldemort gone the dark arts are steadily rising. Everyone was without a doubt shocked and disturbed when they heard about that article. Everyone, but for some reason, I wasn't surprised. I somehow knew it was bound to happen, but I still don't understand. Why in the world would Death Eaters attack a town for no reason? Dumbledore seems to think it was just to scare people. Most probably I guess. After all, they didn't even do it discreetly but . . . how about the attack last year? The one in Italy? What about that? It was such a small area and the invasion was so secret that it was forgotten in less than a month. The Ministry found no motive. Even the Order couldn't find out why that place was attacked? It couldn't have been just for scare. It had to have been for something else. There was a real reason for that attack . . . I can feel it.

"Aren't you a bit tardy today, Granger?"

"Only by five minutes."

"And your excuse is?"

"I had to collect the list of people staying over during the holidays," Hermione explained, shuffling some papers and placing it inside her bag.

"Well, make sure it doesn't happen again," Draco told her, smirking.

"Excuse me, who is tutoring whom? Besides, you don't have the right to question me," Hermione said, as they both sat down at 'their' table,

"Touchy," Draco smirked. "Anyway Granger, just to let you know," He continued. "I do have the right to do absolutely anything."

Hermione chose to ignore that statement.

"So, I believe you are staying? For the holiday, I mean," Draco said when she did not reply.

"That's right," Hermione said. She twirled her long hair into a bun at the back of a head and placed a chopstick to hold it in place.

Draco nodded slightly. "No doubt you're staying for Potter and Weasley."

"Well, naturally," Hermione gave him a glance. "And I'm staying for you, as well."

For a short while, there was an awkward silence. Draco shifted in his seat and Hermione started tapping the end of her quill on the table across from him. Draco knew that Hermione wasn't usually very silent--well in class she was always quiet and attentive. However, when he would look over at the Gryffindor table and observed that when Potter and Weasley would strike up a conversation that she was interested in, she would always join in with unlimited energy. Or when anybody, whether from the student body or the faculty, said something that caught her attention, she usually spoke very animatedly. However, Draco observed, she was rather quiet when he was the one with her. As if he was completely different from everybody else, as if he wasn't human at all. Draco realized as well, that she was the one person that made him feel uneasy at times, which was a big thing since he wasn't easily fazed. With Potter or Weasley, it was easy to insult them because their reactions were predictable. But with Granger . . . he didn't always know how she would react. She was the only person that had the impending effect to make him lose his calm and cool composure. Last time he was uncomfortable was when Lucius was explaining the initiation process in thorough detail. He shuddered inwardly. It was not that Hermione made him feel the same emotion when he was with his father---of course not. It was more of a perplexed or woozy feeling when with her; not troubled or nervous.

Draco cleared his throat and broke the silence. "Here," he said, reaching down for his bag. He took out a thick, hardbound book, Arsenius Jigger's Guide To Magical Potions, and handed it to her. "Frankly Granger, this book was rather useless. Most of the stuff in there, I already knew."

Hermione put the book down. "Well, then. If you're so sure, then we should start."

"Be my guest," Draco said, pulling himself closer to the table.

Hermione cleared her throat as she turned to a page. "Okay. Explain the Avaritia potion."

"Also known as the Desire Potion," Draco started. "Similar to Veritaserum, when taken it is impossible to tell a lie. The Avaritia potion allows the drinker to share his innermost desires with anyone who asks, unable to suppress the truth. Another effect is: when the drinker encounters the 'object' of his or her desire they have an uncontrollable urge to fulfill or act on their desires, as they are powerless to the potion's influence."

Draco smirked. "Maybe we should get you some of that potion to loosen up, Granger. That way, you wouldn't have to go into the trouble of suppressing anything at this particular moment."

"Your unlimited arrogance astounds me," Hermione said, rolling her eyes. "I know it's hard for you to accept, Malfoy, but I find you in no way desirable."

"Oh, come now," Draco teased. "I'm not all that bad, am I? After all, you agreed to tutor me. However, I think you just couldn't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight."

Hermione's lethal glare told Draco that she was only so close from wringing his neck with her bare hands.

"Fine, fine" Draco said, holding his hands up. "It's just a suggestion. No need to get your knickers in a twist. But it's nice to know I have that effect."

"Would you care to go on!" Hermione said irritably.

"Sure," Draco said before continuing. "The Avaritia potion is one of the most powerful in the Wizarding world and an antidote has yet to be found. Therefore, there is no alternative to relieve the drinker's torment aside from allowing him or her to complete the fulfillment of his desires. Since it is dangerous and may likely cause permanent damage, the Ministry of Magic passed a law in 1996 banning conventional brewing of the potion and I'm sure you know the rest of the details, Granger."

"Impressive," Hermione said. "Are you sure, you didn't read the book?"

"I must have skimmed through it. I hardly call that reading," Draco said.

"If you say so," Hermione shrugged. "I believe you can answer this question now: what are the three main ingredients for the Speculum potion?"

"You mean aside from a person's DNA?" Draco smirked.

Hermione sighed. "Yes, Draco. Aside from a person's spit and lock of hair."

Draco correctly named the three ingredients and explained each of them perfectly. Hermione smiled inwardly. So he did read the book, after all. She was a bit surprised. The infamous Draco Malfoy actually followed her advice. She had tried to make Ron read the book to help him pass his Potions O.W.L., but according to him it was a waste of his so-called precious time.

A strand of blonde hair fell out of place.

Hermione's eyes went from his face to his forehead. And she completely tuned out Draco's voice.

She was instantly reminded of that Thursday, a week or two ago. Although there was that strange moment of complete and utter silence, a million thoughts had been running across Hermione's mind. They were just staring at each other, observing each other, scrutinizing the opposite person. Draco's face was expressionless at the time, but his eyes . . . they definitely told a different story. She had seen desperation, fear, helplessness, and even anger, yet they had all past as quickly as they had come. But why? She had never seen those emotions on his face before. That's when she realized she never actually looked at his eyes. Of course, she looked at his face when he would talk to her but never looked him directly in the eye. His cold, sharp, grey eyes seemed to look right through her, enveloping her soul, breaking any mental barriers that she had built to conceal all secrets. It may have been one short moment but to her, time had come to an indefinite stop. Eternal, never ending. It had made her feel cold, lost, yet alive. She shivered. Those silver eyes . . . void of emotion, overwhelmed with emotion, almost unworldly. Cruel, fierce, piercing, intense, ethereal depths of cerulean-silver. His eyes were just so. . .

"Granger?"

. . . intoxicating.

"Granger!"

Hermione jolted out of her reverie. What had Malfoy been saying?

She realized she had been staring at him the entire time. God, what is the matter with me? She cursed herself for getting caught up in la la land.

Draco looked perplexed at first with one eyebrow raised, then slowly, his infamous smirk annoyingly started creeping back onto his face. "So much for not finding me desirable, huh, Granger?"

"Oh, shut up," Hermione said. She glanced at her wristwatch.

"It's quarter to five. We still got work to do."

"Merlin's beard! Not again. Where are they this time?" Justin said, as he came down the stairs from his bedroom. He walked to the wooden round table and rummaged through his bag, looked through spare pieces of parchment, then held his Defensive Magical Theory: Volume III book upside down and shaking it, wondering whether or not there were any loose pages stuck in it. It turned out there were a lot, but none of them appeared to be what he was looking for.

"'Mione, you wouldn't by chance know where the Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw lists are? I think I misplaced them. Again," Justin said.

Hermione was sitting down on the velvety crimson couch in the Head common room with a stack of papers and parchment piled onto her lap, while Crookshanks lay beside her.

"Hold on," Hermione said, as she began sifting through the large stack of parchment. "Er . . . yes. Here they are," she said, handing both the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw lists of people staying over the holidays to Justin. "I guess I'll be checking the Gryffindors and Slytherins."

"Thanks," Justin said. "Where were you earlier, by the way?"

"The library," Hermione answered. She started with the Slytherins, scanning the list of names. It seemed Mason Deimos was staying for the holidays, so was Don Gears, and. . . Blaise Zabini.

"Justin?"

"Yeah?" Justin replied, not taking his eyes away from the list.

"Is Sally staying for the holidays?" Hermione asked him.

"Sally?" Justin said, looking up at her. "Sally-Anne Perks?"

Hermione nodded.

"As a matter of fact---yes, she is." Justin said, reading through the list and raising his eyebrows, slightly confused. "That's odd. Sally never stays at Hogwarts over the holidays."

Oh, perfect, Hermione thought glumly. What is Blaise planning this time?

It was no secret whose Blaise's new girlfriend was. It was also not a private matter that he changed girls at least three times a month.

Unlike most female students at Hogwarts, Hermione knew what kinds of things he did. She knew the kinds of games he played and it disgusted her to a point where she wished she could hex him into oblivion. Blaise was one of the most horrible people she had the displeasure of knowing. And the worst thing about it was that he was an expert at what he did. Romancing, seducing, brainwashing, and eventually: completely and utterly destroying a person. It was absolutely revolting.

Zabini should have been kicked out of Hogwarts years ago. Hermione wished that someone could say something to get him expelled. The truly sad part was that none of his girlfriends (or conquests as he liked to call them), previous or current, did absolutely nothing to give Blaise what he long deserved. It seemed that they were just too afraid to stand up to him. Along with their pride and dignity, their courage seemed to be ruined as well.

How about the fifth-year Ravenclaw? Hermione knew her. They weren't close; not really even friends, but she did know her. The Ravenclaw was a prefect after all and they had bi-weekly meetings together with the rest of the prefects and the Head Boy. Her name is Aaralyn. Aaralyn Everard.

Hermione scolded herself. She should have noticed the changes in her. At the beginning of the year, though rather quiet, she had seemed so carefree and gave many good suggestions for the school events. But during the Christmas Ball preparations, Aaralyn's usual cheerful disposition drastically changed. She often arrived late for the Head and Prefect meetings and always appeared to be exhausted. Though still very pretty, with lustrous blonde hair, she noticed dark circles around her once intense blue-green eyes. The sparkle in her eyes had faded as well. It seemed as if she didn't care anymore. Indifferent . . . unresponsive . . . aloof. Hermione didn't even want to think about what Blaise had done to her. But she is Head Girl, it is her duty to protect all the students in Hogwarts.

After that incident in the hallway, Hermione had tried talking to Aaralyn, had tried to get her to at least say something, anything. However, Aaralyn had just brushed Hermione off and told her irritably that it was none of her business and it was her own fault that Blaise had dumped her anyway. Aaralyn having said that, Hermione knew that was a sure sign that Zabini had indeed done his job well. And how about his new profession, his new station that made him think he was superior above all others?

Because also unlike most female students at Hogwarts, Hermione knew that Blaise was an initiated Death Eater. Sighing sadly, she picked up the next roll of parchment and started on the Gryffindor list. Suddenly, her thoughts went to Malfoy. She wondered whether Draco was just the same as Blaise, in the sense that he mistreated girls and brutally damaged them. Draco Malfoy, with his wealth and his looks, definitely appealed to more than half the women population at school but, for some reason, she couldn't see him as the sort of person that would play with the minds of girls or harm them in anyway. But Hermione couldn't explain why. It was not as if Malfoy was much different from Blaise, right? But was he any different from him? Was he already initiated into the circle? Was he a Death Eater as well? Certainly Hermione knew that she, Harry, and Ron used to make jokes about Malfoy being one of the followers of the Dark Lord since second year and Hermione had always assumed that Draco would become a Death Eater during his seventh year at school ever since she met his father, Lucius Malfoy but. . .

Hermione's train of thought stopped. She turned over the Gryffindor list. It was blank. That's odd, she thought. She double-checked the names printed. She spotted her name; Lucinda Lucent . . . Seamus Finnigan. . . Natalie McDonald . . . she scanned down the list as it came to a halt ending with the name: Euan Abercrombie. Hermione blinked. Something was off. Something ought to be there but it wasn't.

Where were Harry and Ron's name, or how about Ginny's? It was so bizarre. What in the world was going on? They never left for the Christmas Holiday and if they did plan to go somewhere they surely would have told her . . . wouldn't they?

"Justin, did I give you the second half of the Gryffindor list by mistake?" Hermione asked him.

"Let me check," Justin said as he sifted through the long rolls of parchment. "Er . . . no. I thought you had all of them. Why? Is something missing?"

Hermione looked at Justin then back to the list in her hands. "I don't know. I got to check on something, Justin. I'll be back!"

"Wait!" Justin called, but the Head Girl had already left, racing towards the Gryffindor Tower.

Hermione burst through the common room nearly giving Seamus, who had been heading out, a heart-attack.

"Merlin, Hermione. Is everything all right?" Seamus said.

"Seamus, you're still here! Wonderful, I thought everybody had already gone down to dinner. Have you seen either Harry or Ron?" Hermione asked hurriedly.

"You're in luck! They haven't left the dorm yet," Seamus said gesturing to the stairs behind him. "Still packing, I reckon."

"Packing?" Hermione said, slightly at a loss. Packing for what?

Seamus shrugged. "Yeah. Dean just finished doing that a while ago too, as a matter of fact. I thought you would have known seeing as you three always do everything together. You want me to ask Harry and Ron for you?"

Hermione smiled gratefully at him. "No thanks, Seamus," She sighed. "I'll just ask them myself."

She hastily climbed the stairs to the boys' dormitory and threw open the door.

And, indeed, Harry and Ron were packing. Quite untidily, too. Clothes were strewn all over the floor and various items were scattered on both of their deep red four-poster beds. It appeared as if there was a lot of clutter under them as well. Ron was tugging at his Chudley Cannons t-shirt wrapped around in his bed sheets, which was quite unmistakable, with it being bright orange and having the logo of two large black Cs and a speeding cannonball. Harry, on the other hand, was folding his clothes as neatly as he could and threw them into his trunk. Hermione was also quite annoyed that they had messed up their beds again when the house-elves just made them after breakfast.

"What is going on?" She demanded bluntly. She didn't feel there was a need to prolong this. . .this. . .well, whatever this was.

Both Harry and Ron jumped, surprised to see her.

"Hi Hermione. What's up?" Harry said.

Hermione put her hands on her hips. "What are you two doing?"

"We're packing," Ron replied, while chucking his Gryffindor scarf along with his pile of clothes into his trunk.

"Yes, I can see that," Hermione said crossly. "What I meant was why are you packing? Where in the world are you boys going?"

The boys exchanged looks.

"We're going to Romania for the holidays," Ron stated plainly. "There's a dragon convention in Transylvania up 'til New Years Eve, somewhere between Fagaras Mountains and Dracula's Castle, I think. It's going to be bloody brilliant! They have all sorts of dragons there: Chinese Fireballs, Norwegian Ridgebacks, Romanian Longhorns, Hungarian Horntails, and they even managed to capture a few Ukrainian Ironbellys. Charlie gave me five tickets in case I wanted to bring other people."

An uncomfortable silence followed. What? Hermione thought. When had they ever mentioned that? It was a known fact that Ron's family did frequently travel to Romania to visit his brother during the holidays---but Ron never went, neither did Harry. Why hadn't they told her earlier? The boys just gave her blank looks and made no attempt to speak so Hermione was the first to break the silence.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Hermione asked slowly.

"Didn't you know? I thought we told you," Ron replied as if he was shocked.

"No," Hermione said dangerously. "Neither of you told me a single thing. I heard nothing about a convention in Romania, nothing about Norwegian Ridgebacks or Ukrainian Ironbellys, and I did not even receive a small hint or any indication whatsoever telling me that both you AND Harry were leaving for the holidays!" She yelled.

Harry and Ron were rather taken aback. They didn't know whether they should say something or let her calm down a bit. Clearly, they had no clue at all why the bloody hell she was shouting at them and that only made Hermione angrier.

"Is that why you're names weren't on the list? The least you could have done was tell me!" She shouted.

"Well, it's not our fault you didn't know!" Ron said irritably. "Just because you're stuck spending the holidays here don't go on blaming us for your lack of awareness!"

Hermione's deadly glare began to creep onto her face.

"We're sorry, 'Mione!" Harry said hastily, knowing full well Hermione's extent of anger and the fact that she was only so close from avada kedavraing Ron on the spot. He shot a look at Ron. "We might've just forgotten to tell you."

Forgotten? How could they forget her? She was their best friend. Hermione took a few deep breaths to calm herself. "What about the DA? I thought we were going to recruit more people and hold sessions during Christmas."

"We can always do that when we come back," Ron said. "We don't need Harry worrying about that now. After all, we already defeated You-Know-Who. It won't be that hard to deal with a couple of Death Eaters."

"I think it's safe to call him Voldemort nowadays, Ron," Hermione said then stopped. "Hang on a second. So, who's going with you to Romania?"

"Well's there's Harry and me," Ron started, "I invited Parvati too and---how about you Harry?"

"I asked Lucinda if she wanted to come but she said she couldn't go," Harry said.

"And why not?" Hermione questioned.

Harry shrugged and scratched the back of his head. "I don't really know. She said it was important for her to stay at Hogwarts during the holidays. I gave the rest of the tickets to Ginny."

"And none of you thought of asking me?" Hermione said.

"What are we supposed to do, 'Mione? There are no other tickets left," Ron said.

"There is one more, actually. Ginny has an extra ticket." Harry turned to her. "That's weird. She didn't tell you about it, Hermione?"

"As I told you both," Hermione said exasperatedly. "I was completely uninformed about this whole thing. I would've expected that my two closest friends would be the ones to tell me, not Ginny."

Coincidentally, a red-haired girl stepped into the boys' dormitory.

"Ron, have you seen---" Ginny stopped abruptly as she spotted Hermione. "Oh, hi 'Mione," she said rather sheepishly, which Hermione found extremely odd considering this was Ginny. Dean, her tall, black boyfriend appeared by her side.

"Er . . . Ginny?" Harry started. Upon seeing Dean, he already had a good idea what the answer to his question would be. "You wouldn't by chance still have an extra ticket would you?"

Ginny looked from Harry to Hermione and back to Harry. "An extra ticket?" she echoed looking uncomfortable, as if every word upset her.

"Uh . . . yeah. It was supposed to be for Hermione," Harry said.

"And apparently, I didn't get one," Hermione added.

Ginny began wringing her hands as she looked at her female best friend . "I'm sorry, Hermione," she bit her lip. "I kind of gave the other ticket to Dean. I didn't know you wanted to come," she added hastily.

Dean raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend. "I thought you said Hermione didn't want to---ow!"

Ginny tried her best to hide that small incident where she had elbowed her boyfriend at his side. Unfortunately, for her, Hermione had noticed it.

She finally realized what was going on. She knew why their names weren't on the list. She knew why they never told her that they were leaving for the holidays. It was all clear now.

"Oh, I see what's happening," Hermione said slowly. "You're all trying to get rid of me. Aren't you?"

"'Mione, you know that's not true," Harry said. "We thought of asking you, but it just slipped our minds."

Hermione scoffed. "I think the only thing that slipped your mind, Harry, was my very existence."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ron said.

"Well, let's think about it, shall we?" Hermione said, glaring at all of them. "I wonder if whether or not you've just forgotten to tell me or if you've forgotten all about me!" Hermione said angrily. "I don't know what's going on! We always spend the holidays together! It's practically tradition! Why do you insist on keeping me in the dark!"

"Hermione, please," Ginny said. "You know we would love it if you came with us. It's just---well, we're always with you and frankly, it's getting rather. . . boring. Don't you think we should start spending time with other people?"

"You're asking me what I think? Does it even matter to you what I think?" Hermione said, her anger rising. "Honestly, 'spending time with other people '! Is that what you're doing? Come on, that's just some fancy name for completely eliminating me from your lives!"

"Hermione! Can't you take a hint?" Ron yelled, his temper flaring. "We just want to be with someone other than you for a change!"

"Ron!" Harry said in disbelief, trying to stop him.

But it was useless. There was no stopping Ron now as he started shouting at Hermione, no longer realizing what he was saying.

"I'd like to be with Parvati alone for once, okay! And Harry would rather be with Lucinda and as much as I disapprove of it, Ginny wants to spend time with Dean. We don't need you to be there. Look, I'm sorry, Hermione but you're the third wheel! Can't you just accept that!" Ron shouted, his face as red as his hair.

Hermione felt like she'd been stabbed through the heart. She knew that that was Parvati talking. It just couldn't be Ron. "Accept that! That's all I've been doing! Parvati's been nothing but antagonistic towards me but I put up with her because you're one of my best friends, Ron! I accepted Harry's relationship with Lucinda! And I also accepted the fact that you spend lesser time with me because you were busy with them! I dealt with that! I respected your decisions! And that's because I love you, Harry, and Ginny to death. And after all I did, you had forgotten all about me!"

"When did you become so self-sacrificing, Hermione! Why don't you figure it out? You're smart!" Ron yelled harshly at her. He began ranting hysterically. "There are just so many things that I want to do and I can't afford having you slow me down! We just don't what you with us, anymore! That's it! Period! Don't make us feel guilty because you always try to do that! For once, we don't need you! And personally, I don't want you interrupting the time I get to spend with Parvati. Neither do I want you hampering about us or nagging me and Harry, like you've done for the past six years! You're not our mother, so BACK OFF! You'll only be in our way---"

SMACK!

Hermione's hand collided with the side of Ron's face in a thunderous sound, throwing him back.

Harry and Dean stared at the scene wide-eyed and Ginny gasped, clasping her hands over her mouth. They could hardly believe what Ron had said to her and they couldn't believe that she had just slapped him across the face with that amount of strength.

The stinging pain on his cheek sent Ron back to his senses and he realized what he had just said. That was probably the most hurtful and horrible thing he had ever said to anyone. And of all people, his best friend. What was he doing?

But it was too late. The damage was done.

Hermione remained standing, in stony silence. She felt as if they had all betrayed her. Who were these people because frankly, she didn't know them anymore. Tears were burning in her eyes. She took a deep breath.

"You know if all of you felt this way, I wish you would have just told me sooner. God, I feel so stupid," Hermione said, barely audible. "I'm rather impressed that you manage to continue this charade for so long. Well, good job. Congratulations."

She strode down the stairs without looking back. She entered the common room and as soon as she left Gryffindor tower, she broke out into a run. Tears were streaming down her face.

Her worst fears were confirmed.

She was the third wheel. She was that extra cargo that couldn't be bothered with. She was replaceable to them. And she had indeed been replaced. And through that painful process, she had lost Harry and Ron. Now, it was final. She was alone.

A/n: Well this is my longest chapter yet! Thirteen pages on word with Arial size 10 font! Tonks, Kingsley, and Bill finally make an appearance in this chapter! And it's finally revealed why Harry and Ron seemed so distant with Hermione. And she's left alone in Hogwarts with (drum roll please)...DRACO MALFOY! Honestly, what is she so sad about? That guy's damn fine! Just kidding! I hope most of you Star Wars Fans caught the line Draco borrowed from Han Solo in Empire Strikes Back: "I think you just couldn't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight!"

Well, hopefully you enjoyed this chapter and I apologize again for the REALLY long wait! Yay! High School is finally over! I just graduated from my school on May 27th! I'm free! Hooray! So review and watch out for the next update!

Pls. Read: By the way, if you guys want to read really good D/Hr stories please check out my new C2 community: An Eternal Flame. The archive holds twelve fanfictions at the moment but I plan to include more. I highly recommend those stories to all of you because they're all beautiful, touching, and COMPLETED and without a doubt, I'm sure you'll enjoy them. If you're not a D/Hr fan now I guarantee you'll change your mind! If you would, please subscribe to the community or join the staff because god knows I need one. Just contact me via email! Thanks so much!

- Mjade