Hey guys! I'm sorry it took me so long to update but I've been major busy! Man, school can sometimes suck. Anywho, I thought that I would finally get this chapter up so my readers can enjoy more! Keep the Reviews coming!

Disclamer: I dont own any of the people in this story or anything else, except the plot.

Chapter 7: The Right Thing To Do

The dark December rain was depressing to all in Hogwarts. It still wasn't cold enough for the rain to harden and glisten into snow. The children all over the school seemed to notice for the first time that when it rained the stain glass window figures appered to be crying as each individual drop slipped down the glass, seeming each coming from one or the other eye. This kind of weather wasn't helping Harry at all.

He'd still been having his nightmares and it didn't help that he didn't have the trio's idealist and know-it-all to tell him what it meant or what he should do. He thought about Hermione now. He'd been watching her, liked he'd promissed himself he would. He had noticed that she had been through a rollercoster ride of emotions it seemed. She had seemed annoyed to the point of screaming when they'd first arrived, when she had still been around. Then she went through a stage where she kept to only herself, looking sad and confused. That had been the time she'd started separating herself from her friends, she also wasn't being her know-it-all self, rasing her hand for every question asked. He'd been quick to ask her what was wrong, but she continued to push him and Ron away, she wouldn't even talk to Ginny. Hermione now however looked like she couldn't be happier. She was doing all her normal Hermione things, going to the library every evening, rasing her hand for everything and had the normal happy, and yet a bit arrogant bounce in her step. He had also noticed that she was becoming chummy with Malfoy and he knew it wasn't going to be good. Having anything to do with a Malfoy wasn't going to be good, and she knew this. How could she be so stupid as to endanger herself?

Harry watched her pass him in the hall and stopped her.

"Hermione, umm come to Gryffendor tower tonight... I ...I need to talk to you," he said to her.

"Oh, Harry. Of course, of course. Um, ya I'll see you tonight then," and with that Hermione walked away.

Harry turned to watch her leave. He couldn't believe that that was all she had to say and just continued to walk away. This was not the same Hermione, and he was going to find out why. The trio needed her back, well at least him, Ron and Ginny did. She'd always been the less confident one when it came to friends, why abandon them for no reason... Was she mad? He didn't think so, he didn't think that they'd done anything that could possibly top all that they'd done to her in the past and she'd always came back. What made this time so special?

Hermione continued to quicken her pace down the hall. She felt really guilty because she knew that she had been avoiding Harry and the others and she knew that that was what he wanted to talk to her about. She didn't want to have to explaine herself and Draco to him, he'd be furious with her, she knew it, it would ahve been the first time he'd ever been mad with her. It had to be done however and she would make it alright, if she could get away with it she would lie, but only if she had to, she knew lies never got far.

After classes that day Hermione decided to take a walk to try and think what she was going to say to Harry. She got as far as the front door before she realized it was raining. She sighed but stood in the doorway and listened to the rain fall and the thunder. It was an old past time of hers to just sit outside under her veranda and just listen to the rain and watch it come down.

"What are you doing Hermione?" Hermione turned around. Draco was standing behind her, watching her with curiosity.

"Listening to the rain. It's calming, you should try it sometime," she smiled at him.

"You know what else it calming?" he asked her, but she never got to reply.

Draco lunged forward and pushed Hermione out into the storm. Hermione gave a little yelp and tumbled down into a puddle. Soaking wet and a shocked expression on her face she stood up. Draco was doubling over laughing. Hermione ran towards him, grabbed his collar and threw him out into the rain. Draco looked at her the same way she'd looked at him and he also stood up.

"Watcha do that for?" he asked her.

"I coulda asked you the same question. I was just getting back at you," she said smiling.

"I guess I'll have to get back at you then too," and he started running after her.

Hermione took off towards the rest of the grounds. She ran threw the puddles getting herself soaked but she no longer cared. Draco was faster then her and caught her. She slipped and fell beneath him into the mud. She screamed and started to laugh.

Draco smiled and started tickling Hermione, making her laugh even harder. It was impossible to tell if she was crying because of being tickled or if it was all rain that was running down her face.

"Stop! Stop, for Merlins sake stop it! Your going to make me have to hurt you!" Hermione yelled out at Draco, begging him to stop.

"Bring it on pussy cat," he whispered to her and kissed her lips.

He'd stopped tickling her, but was subjecting her to a different kind of torture. She stopped fighting him and just let his lips warm hers. It didn't help much and yet it did. His kiss sent shivers up her spine, making her want to be cold, and yet set her on fire, making her feel so serene that she was totaly under his control and couldn't think about anything.

Draco's hands were in the mud. He stopped kissing her and touched her face lightly, getting mud smudged over where he touched. He smiled a deep smile and smirked at her. Hermione rubbed her hands in the mud beside her and reached up and smoothed it all over his face. His eyes were closed but his mouth formed an expression that told her he was surprised and just realizing what she'd done. She smirked back at him.

"Hey! I didn't rub it all over your face!" he said to her.

"Maybe not, but you smirked at me, haha I had to show you I was supperior," she replied back.

Draco in one quick motion renched his hands out of the mud and in return rubed them all over her face.

"Not anymore your not," he laughed.

As he was laughing she launched herself off her back and switched their position. Now he was on his back and she was on top of him. He'd given a little yelp of surprise but she silenced it with a kiss. It was an intence kiss and he started to run his hands up her arms and into her hair. Her hair was already covered in mud so it didn't matter if he ran his fingers through it. He decided he wanted to be back on top so he rolled them over. Without saying anything she rolled them over again so she remained in power on top. They continued to roll over and over, each silently wanting control for the top. It didn't end until they were rolling down a hill and stopped just beyond the base of the hill where she pressed him hard to the ground so he couldn't roll them back over.

This all reminded her of the muggle movie "The Lion King" and Simba and Nala rolling down the hill in the jungle and her eventually doing the same to him and ending up pinning him once again.

"Pinned ya!" she bragged to him. It was her turn to smirk.

"Thats quite alright, I like you on top," Draco's mouth drew into the biggest grin she'd ever seen him make and he started to laugh, uncontrollably.

Hermione made an attempt to look mortified and hit him. She also smiled, but climbed off him. He muttered an "aww" and sat up with her. She was shaking a bit. Draco took off his cloak and put it around her.

"We'd better get inside before you get sick. Here's what we tell people. We got into our own little mini war out here cause I called you a mudblood. Ok?" he asked her.

Hermione sighed but agreed. It was time to take a hot shower and get ready to face the inevitable. Draco got up and held out his hand for her to take. She took it and they held hands all the way back the to castle. Little did they know that they were being watched, and little did they know that it wasn't just the smiling Dumbledore who was watching them the intire time.

Hermione walked with Draco up to their dormatories. They got looks from passers by that quickly changed to looks of recognition of why they were wet and muddy. Hermione and Draco argued all the way back up to their dormatories. What they were saying wasn't even making much sence, but no one would know the difference. Draco offered up his shower first but Hermione just ended up magicking up another one so neither had to wait. Both we're freezing and dirty and Draco hopped in his shower as soon as she told him he could turn around.

The water was almost scalding on her flesh but she didn't care, it warmed her up and made her feel good. Hermione scrubbed herself clean and washed her hair twice. When she was done she wrapped a towel around herself and headed to her room to get dressed. It was time for supper and her and Draco needed to hurry up to be there in time.

"Draco, hurry up pretty boy! We'll miss dinner!" Hermione yelled up the stairs from her place at the couch.

She was leaning over her homework for that evening, trying to get a head start on it.

"I thought we agreed we weren't going to call each other names anymore," Draco said, leaning over the couch back and wrapping his arms around her.

"Yes we did, but we never said anything about not stating the truth," Hermione smiled and Draco put on his best fake hurt expression he could muster.

"Common Miss Know-it-all, we're going to miss din din," they both got up off the couch and left the common room.

Draco and Hermione sat down and Draco turned to look at Dumbledore. Dumbledore had this great grin on his face and an even brighter twinkle in his eye. He was looking right at Draco and Hermione like he knew something quite exciting. This nerved Draco a bit.

Hermione took her seat and remembered to not look or talk to Draco to keep up apperance of the fight. She switched her gaze toward Gryffendor table. She scanned the table to see what her friends were up to, as usual. Everyone seemed to be doing what they normally would do, except for Harry. He just sat there, staring up at her, his eyes slits and what you could see of them were burning. He continued to look darkly at her until she looked away. She'd never seen him like this before and it worried her. She didn't know he was capable of looking so hateful at someone. Instead of looking at him she turned to Dumbledore, for his usual short before dinner speech.

"These days have been gloomy and dark for the last little while and I know that all of you have been looking forward to the snow that should have already come. However, it has not and I ask you to take advantage of the weather we are having and use it to it's best ablities. Dont spend all your time in your studies, go out and dance in the rain, sing if you must, but it's a wonderful way of having fun in weather that is normally not so good. Dig in everyone." Dumbledore had been staring at Draco and Hermione the entire time he spoke and even still did as he sat down.

The entire hall as well was looking at them, but got over it and went to eating when the food appered. Hermione looked over at Draco. He knows is what both their eyes said to each other. Both quickly turned to their plates and began to eat, not willing to look at themselves or Dumbledore and Hermione not looking in Harry's direction.

The feast ended all to quickly for Hermione and when Dumbledore rose and told them they could leave Hermione took a deep breath and told Draco she was going to go see Harry. He reminded her that they had duty tonight and that he wasn't doing it alone.

Her palms were sweaty as she reached the Gryffendor common room. She knew he would be angry with her, but didn't yet know anything about her and Draco and so she must have done something else to make him so mad. She wasn't sure and that was the worst of it all. She said the password and the portrait swung open.

The common was nosy and full of people, as usual. She found Harry sitting in hs usual chair beside the fireplace, but he was staring at her, like he'd been waiting for her. Ron turned to see who had walked in and yelled at Hermione.

"Hermione! Where have you been! We've all been in a panic, whats wrong with you, you ok? Or are we just not good enough for you anymore?" he didn't say this with malice and he grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her over to them, smiling.

"I cant stay... I have duty later. I came to talk to Harry. I'm sorry I havn't been around. I'll explane soon, I promiss."

"Damn straight you will. Ron stay, dont even think about listening in on us, common Hermione," Harry got up and took Hermione rufly by the arm and took her up the stairs to the boys dormatory.

Harry walked them both in and closed the door and put a silencing charm on the room. He pointed over to his bed, instructing her to go sit and he walked over to her. She grabbed the blanket and balled it up in her fists, but nothing prepared her for what he let loose.

"WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DO YOU THINK YOUR DOING KISSING THAT FILTHY FERRET HEAD! DONT EVEN TRY TO DENY IT, WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?" Harry's face was beat red and his chest was heaving from the lack of air that he'd pushed out of his lungs to yell at her.

He knew. She didn't know how he knew, but he did, and he was angrier then she'd ever seen anyone ever before. She tried to calm him, to tell him to settle down and she would explane but it took him a while to do so.

"Ok, Harry, please just listen to me. It's not what you think." Hermione started trying to explane, but as soon as she said it wasn't what he thought he rolled his eyes at her.

"Ok so I imagined your toung down his throat? Is that it?" he asked her.

"Yes, I mean no, I mean, thats not it, theres a reason... and a good one,"

"Whats the good reason then, there couldn't possibly be one that I can think of," Harry glared at her.

"Well... hes really not as bad as you think he is... he isn't and doesn't want to be a Death Eater, he was trying to survive. We've spent a lot of time together and it made me see that he was all an act. He's really different underneith. I- I like him Harry. I know you dont approv, obviously, but you need to consider my feelings in this to." Hermione looked up at him, expectantly.

"He's got you blinded that you cant see what he's doing. He's using you to get information about me and the Order to Voldemort! Your putting everything we've worked hard for and putting Dumbledores "death" in vain. Hermione your usually the smarter of the three of us, how could you suddenly just be so stupid. He doesn't and never will love you. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. He's a Malfoy, and Malfoys dont care about anything except themselves." Harry was sitting next to her, trying to calm her down and keep from crying and yelling at him back. He wasn't doing a very good job.

"Harry he didn't kill Dumbledore and he didn't want to, he couldn't do it, he risked his life because of it, and now hes scared to death of something happening to him. Harry dont be your stuborn git of a self and learn to see people as they really are. You went with what you saw on a first impression, and that was when he had to act. If you spent a little time with him now, he's different. Of course you would never because your afferade of having to say you were wrong!" with that she ran out the door on him, tears slipping down her face and leaving him sitting on his bed, astounded at what she'd said.

Ron ran up the stairs to the boys dorms and walked over to Harry on his bed.

"Geez mate, whatcha do to her? I've never seen her that upset at you, only at me, it had to have been a doozy whatever it was you did. Whats this all about?" Ron asked him.

Harry just looked up at Ron and walked to the window by his bed. He wasn't going to tell Ron just yet what had happened. He needed to think about this before he did something rash without knowing everything. Everything was still a big blur in his head.

Ron took no offence to Harry's lack of speaking. He wasn't ready, things had just happened and he knew he always wanted to stop to think about things before he jumped. He was a Hermione except having less of each of her qualities, though he was equally good in spells. Ron left Harry sitting in his window and went back down to the common room where he was still trying to talk to Ginny about why she was so bitchy lately. Things had been falling apart for them all this year and he knew that this would be the year that mattered, they would need each other in the end.

Ginny was sitting once again with her knees drawn up into her chest. She'd just witnessed what she'd thought to be the first fight Hermione and Harry had ever had and it had to have been a real biggie. She'd ran out of the common room crying and Harry had remained upstairs. Seems like it wasn't only her life that was going badly right now. She was losing her friends, she was still confused and angry at Blaise and her work was suffering because of it all. She was begining to just not care. It didn't help either that Ron was being his annoying prattish self with her and she was not in the mood to deal with him on top of everything else.

Ron came back down from the dormatory looking a little sad, but not anxious so she figured he hadn't been told anything or he would be spreading it around by now, starting with her. No, he just came and sat next to her on the floor by the fire and looked into it.

"Things just arn't the same anymore... I wonder if they'll ever be the same." Ron spoke out to her suddenly.

"People are changing, you cant expect them not to, to much is happening, to many people are having to choose things that they dont want. To many people are having to become people they dont want to be, all to accomidate the world of today. Even your changing Ronald Weasley. You dont see it right now because it's little changes, but by the time this is all over, you wont even reconize yourself, weither its for the better or not, you wont, no one will. Everyones going to have to refind themselves and some wont. It's just not how these things work." when she was done, she too, returned to looking into the fire, her face solome and lonely.

"Wow, gloomy prospect, but in some casses,true. Hermione's changing a lot. She's not always her know-it-all self as much anymore and shes never around. She's always thought herslef better then us, but not enough to like stay away form us."

"Thats not it Ron. She doesn't think that, it's something else, and you'd see it if you observed people more often. Ironically I think that this is all what Voldemort wants. For us to lose ourselves and to think whats the point? It makes us weaker and him stronger. Maybe thats why hes kept this threat up for so long instead of just attacking, especailly after Dumbledores death. It would just increase the fact that there wasn't hope. Of course he never expected Dumbledore to rise again, but who saw that coming?" she asked.

They both were quiet after that, for a long time. Ginny just stared at the fire and tried not to think of Blaise, but she couldn't help it. He was one of the changes that she was going through. She hadn't decided weither she should grow with it or shrink. She didn't want to be going through this right now, but she supposed others had worse. Like Harry. He had the pressure of the whole changing world on his shoulders. He had to deal with everyone elses changes as well as his own. He had to deal with relationships (friendships or more). He had to deal with the threat on his life. He had to deal with the fact that he had to kill someone that equally matched himself in order to save everything and everyone he loved or even didn't. All because it was the right thing to do. Was it right to put all that on one teenage boy that had gone through enough already with his parents death and all, but then put more and then even everyone elses problems on him just because it related to his cause? No of course it wasn't, but it was the only thing they could do and say thank god it wasn't them. Prats. No, she was not going to weigh him down with the pressure of her. She would brighten up, despite how she felt and she would make herself feel better, all for him. Because that was the right thing to do.

Ginny hugged Ron and headed up to the girls rooms. She got undressed and slipped into bed, not saying a word. She laid there until she fell alseep, staring up at the moon.

Blaise was sitting at a desk in the Slytherin common room. He was writing a letter but he couldn't get the words right.

Dear Ginny,

Please accept my apology about my behavoir the other night. It was a very rude thing for me to ask and I should have been more conciderate of you and minded my own busness. I am not trying to use you and I didn't set up Trelawney, I have no clue what that was about. Everything I said that night was true. I do believe what she said and I do believe that we click because we are ment to. We have a bond that hasn't been experianced by many people because you dont hear of it to often. It is true that I know what you are thinking not only because you are so open about yourself but because you willingly open yourself up to me, and as it seems, only me, for there are many that still do not understand you. I know you think the same thing. Please Ginny, forgive me and be willing to give me a chance, even if it's just a chance to just talk with you. I dont like thinking that your angry at me and I know you are. You've stopped looking at me and hiding yourself from me. Please Ginny, think about things before you step off the cliff. Write me back or at least look at me again and that will be enough.

Yours Truly and Always,

Blaise Zabini

It wasn't a master peice, but it would have to do. It was mushy, but he didn't know how else to get his words out. He was a hopless romantic and he smiled to himself at his joke. He sealed the letter and put it on his dresser for the morning. Blaise climbed into bed after that and thought about her. Ugh mushy!

Hermione was running down the last hidden hallway to the Heads dorm. All was quiet except the sound of her feet and her not-as-silent-as-they-could-be cries. She wasn't able to handle it. She wasn't able to handle the stress that these two people put on her.

Draco looked up when she entered the common room. He threw his book he'd been reading onto the coffee table and got up to guide her the the couch. Something was obviously wrong.

Her whole body was shaking and tears were crawling down her face still. She looked like she was in shock for her eyes just kinda stared straight a head of her, always, where ever he turned her.

"Hermione, talk to me, please, what happened with you and Harry?"

"He- I- I dont know. It was horrible, him yelling and me and everything... I-I just dont know." Hermione's voice never quivered but it was histaricle.

Draco knew her thoughts weren't right, she wasn't thinking straight, it hadn't all sunk in. He took her over to the couch and laid her down next to him.

"Sh... calm down, it's all ok, it's all alright. He was just surprised. Go to sleep and it will all go away." Draco told her, he was stroking her hair.

Hermione complied and she closed her eyes. He kissed her head and whispered things into her ear until she fell asleep. They lay that way until he had to go and do their rounds, he was going to give her a break that night. Draco decided he would do the ask a million questions game with her tomorrow when she wasn't so tired.

Draco got up carefully as to not wake her and went to do their night rounds. The halls were as usual, quiet, dark and seemingly empty.

Draco's thoughts were winded so tight up in his head that he couldn't make things make sense. Everything was sort of a blur and he wandered the halls, not taking in anything. In fact, he was so deep in his mind that he almost didn't even realize he'd run into someone.

Toppling over the slightly shorter but built hard form of another Draco woke up when his head reached the floor. Sitting up and rubbing his forehead softly, Draco tired to regain his sight. When it returned to him he immdiatly sneared. It was his automatic reaction to this particular individual.

As Harry Potter got to his feet and turned around to face his attacker, he pulled out his wand faster then he ever had and pointed it at Draco Malfoy.

"Pointing your wand at the Head Boy, hmmm I beilieve that should get you fifty points taken away Potter. Now kindly remove your wand from under my nose and leave my sight back to you dormitory," Draco raised his own wand to meet Hary's.

"I dont think so Malfoy, not till I have a little chat with you. NOW WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HERMIONE?" Harry didn't want to yell incase he woke anyone, but found himself not capable of not yelling.

"What I did Potter? I would think it was you who did something to her. She came back to me, drenched in tears and hystaricle. She wasn't even able to do rounds with me tonight, shes in our dorm and she cried herself to sleep. Now I must say I've never done that to her so it was you who did something. Dont go getting angry at me just because I gave her the chance to love and be loved back." Draco stared Harry down until Harry looked ashamed and looked down at the floor.

"She really cried herself to sleep? I didn't think it was that bad... I mean I got mad, but I didn't think she'd get hysterical."

"She got hysterical because you were yelling at her for something she could not control, you cant help who you fall in love with. It made her upset because she didn't want you to be so pigheaded that you wouldn't even give me a shot when she knew the real me and you totaly flipped on her. Shes right, your to proud to let anything go and see someone for who they are. I was like that, but I changed, I think you could do the same. Now please return to your dormitory before I am forced to deduct more points from you," and with that he left Harry standing there with his head down.

"What am I going to do now?"

Harry walked back to his dormitory and made sure he didn't wake anyone.

Common guys, I know you wanna review! Please! bats eyes