I am back and I haven't forgotten. Thank you all for the reviews so far, it makes me very happy. Here is what happens after the ending of the last chapter, so here's chapter 13. Enjoy

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Draco's POV

Over the next few days after I told Hermione that I liked her, I became more confused with myself and chose to ignore it. I refused to interact with anyone, including Hermione, preferring to sit in my room and think about my future. I had turned against my father and Death Eaters by joining up with Potter and destroying a Horcrux. I knew where the next one was, the only problem was I wasn't sure about telling Potter, simply because it was located in a place which was highly dangerous. If Potter was killed trying to get the Horcrux, who would be there to kill Voldemort for him? Would it be me?

"Oi, Malfoy"

I sighed and looked at the door. Weasel-bee was banging on it. I turned away and tried to ignore him, but he kept bashing the door, irritating me slowly

"He's gonna break the door and I'm gonna have to hex him"

"What the fuck do you want, Weasley?" I called

"Lunch is ready, you git"

"Like you would care if I starved myself"

I didn't want to go to lunch. That would mean being with Hermione and I don't think I could handle that, due to the fact my mind about her is so fucked

"Suit yourself, asshole"

"Alright, that's it, I'm gonna hex you"

The door burst open and Weasley stormed in, his face as red as his hair

"What is going on with you, Malfoy? Just because we took you in, we saved your ass," he thrusted his face in mine, "does not mean you can jinx us or insult us"

"Hey, Weasley, calm down, have I insulted you yet?"

I got off my bed and started to walk away. I noticed he had his wand in his hand. I grinned

"Are you going to hex me, the one who's lead you to a Horcrux?"

"Doesn't matter. You led us to a Horcrux, so what; you're still the same, Malfoy"

"Ouch, that hurt, but it's only a little sting, so I'll be fine"

"Stupefy"

I couldn't draw my wand in time. The spell struck me full-on in my chest, throwing me out of the room and onto the landing. Only I broke through the railing and fell down below into the hallway. Intense pain shot through my body, but I couldn't move

"Next time, I'll keep my mouth shut"

"What the hell just happened?" yelled Potter

"Oh shit!"

His face loomed over, along with Weaslette and Hermione. I cringed inside

"Just perfect!"

"Malfoy, were you attempting to knock yourself out?" asked Hermione, "cause next time, do us a favour and do it probably. Maybe you can put yourself into an eternal coma"

"Okay, that stung. No, that hurt, worse than Potter hitting me with that sword curse last year. So I take it she hates me"

Weasel came down the stairs and looked at me with pure hatred, as Potter lifted the spell on me. I sat up and looked away from them

"What really happened?" asked Potter

"Weasel was being a coward and hexed me when I didn't have my wand"

"You mean this?"

I turned around and saw Weaslette holding my wand. She took in both hands and raised it over her knees

"Wait, Ginny, don't," said Potter

"Why?" asked Weasley

I could feel Potter's eyes burning into the back of my head, but I refused to look up

"Just give it back to him"

My wand fell into my lap. I grabbed it and left the hallway, heading back to my room. I went in and collapsed on my bed

"So, Hermione hates me, hey. Well, so be it. I knew it was bad to have an interest in her. And I've never felt so humiliated in my life, apart from the ferret incident"

I continued to lie there, letting sleep come over me

End POV

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Hermione's POV

Malfoy left for his room and we went back to the kitchen, where we sat down with Mrs. Weasley, who served up lunch and joined us

"Is Draco coming?" she asked

"No," answered Harry, "We left him to regain his dignity"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Ron hexed him and Ginny threatened to break his wand"

"Oh very well then"

I noticed that. It seemed that Mrs. Weasley wasn't happy about Malfoy staying here. Who was? As far as I knew, only Harry seemed to tolerate him more than us. And I wanted to know why

So once we finished, I pulled Harry into the lounge room. He gave me a questioning look, but I gave him a don't-question-me look

"What do you want, Hermione?"

"I'm getting to an idea that there's something going with you"

"What are you on about?"

"You seem to tolerate Malfoy more than we do. And you know as well as I, that hardly any of us want him here"

"He led us to a Horcrux. I think he might know about the other one"

"Harry, that's not the point and I know that's not the truth"

"Okay, you want the truth, fine," he yelled

I jumped, as he got off the lounge, his green eyes blazing

"The night Dumbledore died, Malfoy was there. He had disarmed Dumbledore, but didn't kill him. Why? Well I think it's out of fear and the thought of death, that Malfoy was forced to become a Death Eater. I heard everything he said"

Harry took in a deep breath, before continuing,

"Malfoy felt he couldn't do the mission and tried to kill Dumbledore through other ways: the cursed locket, the poison that nearly killed Ron, but none of it worked. Even when he had Dumbledore disarmed and weakened, Malfoy couldn't bring himself to kill him. You know Malfoy didn't like Dumbledore at all, but still, he couldn't do it"

"What are you saying?"

"I think there's more to Malfoy than meets the eye. I think he's serious about helping us. And you know it, Hermione; you just don't want to believe it"

"So you're giving him a second chance, ignoring everything he's done to us?"

"What you have to understand Hermione, is that Malfoy has always been pushed around by his father and he's been thrusted into a position he doesn't want at all. That's why he's here, Hermione, because I think that Malfoy can help us win"

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