A/N: The action in this chapter starts a bit earlier than the point in time here the last chapter ends, because I wanted to write about the Battle of the Astronomy Tower scene from Hermione's perspective, who wasn't with Harry (as J.K. wrote it) or Draco (as I wrote it in my last chapter, and using a lot of J.K's brilliant dialogue too, which I'll be using in this chapter as well) at the time where the scene with Dumbledore unfolds.

The story is continued with my version of how things turned out, so don't be too surprised if what I have in store is nowhere near the original 'script'. Just like in my last chapter, when I came up with a new magical object, in this newest installment, I've come up with a new spell, which will help advance the story in the direction of my choosing.

I'll let you read now, hoping you'll like the plot twist!


Chapter 11 – I tried to give you up, but I'm addicted

(Hermione p.o.v.)

Hermione was extremely worried, for a number of reasons. First, there was Harry, who had gone off with Dumbledore to try tracking down one of the horcruxes. Voldemort must've protected the pieces of his soul incredibly well, which meant that the mission was a very dangerous one, so even with the Headmaster by his side, Hermione worried for Harry. Then, there was Harry's warning: he'd told Hermione and Ron that with Dumbledore out of the school, it was very likely that Malfoy would try something - and Hermione feared that this time he was right. Draco had seemed content the last time she'd met with him, in the Room of Requirement.

She still didn't know what possessed her to heed his calling when she wasn't forced to do so anymore, but perhaps it was the very fact that he'd given her a choice, by removing the cursed choker from her neck, that she felt compelled to reward him. Well, that and her feelings for Draco - Hermione couldn't deny them because lying to herself would get her nowhere. Somehow she'd fallen for Draco Malfoy, it was as simple as that. Whether it was because she knew he needed her, or because she wanted to save him even if he didn't think he needed or was worth saving, it wasn't clear, but for those reasons combined with many others (like his intelligence, for instance, not to mention he wasn't hard on the eye either) she was in love with him.

But now was not the time to think about her feelings, because Draco was surely up to something, which was why she and her friends had split tasks: Ron, Ginny and Neville would stand guard in front of the Room of Requirement while Hermione and Luna would keep an eye on Snape's office. Apparently Dumbledore had warned the Order of the Phoenix about the possibility of an attack too, because not just the Hogwarts professors were patrolling the school, but also Sirius, Lupin, Tonks and Bill had joined them.

Harry was so convinced that something would happen that night that he'd urged them all to split the remaining Felix Felicis amongst themselves and drink it, just to be on the safe side.

"Is Snape behind the attacks on Katie and Ron?" Luna asked dreamily, interrupting Hermione's thoughts. "I don't think he is, but why else are we watching his office?"

"Shhh!" Hermione cautioned, then continued in a whisper: "I don't think Professor Snape is the culprit, but he might have helped the one who did it", Hermione said vaguely.

"Draco Malfoy perchance?" Luna asked quietly, shocking Hermione. The younger's girl intuition and wit did Ravenclaw proud.

"Uhm... yes... possibly..." Hermione replied.

"Well", Luna whispered, "even if he did do it, I'm sure he'll come around eventually. He's just misguided, is all, and scared, I think."

Hermione knew she was right, but couldn't quite find the words to say anything to Luna.

"I am a little scared too", Luna confessed.

"What about?" Hermione asked her, wondering if Luna was as worried as she was about what was going to happen. There was a sense on impending doom around the school that evening.

"It's just a feeling, really... Like we're in the eye of the storm... it's all quiet, but only for a moment, before all hell breaks loose..."

"I know. It's OK, there are teachers patrolling the halls, we're not alone!" Hermione reassured Luna, at the same time trying to reassure herself.

They waited and waited and nothing happened and Hermione's nerves were raw with worry... She knew that, in theory, some 85% of the things people worried about never came to be, but in this case, her instincts told her that the situation fitted the remaining 15% that actually came to pass.

After what seemed like forever, Professor Flitwick came running down the stairs to the dungeons, shouting about Death Eaters in the castle. He basically flew past Hermione and Luna, going straight into Snape's office.

"Should we...?" Luna asked, perplexed.

Hermione wasn't sure what to do. If there were Death Eaters in the castle, then they had to join the fight.

Before she could decide what was to be done, she heard a loud sound from Snape's office, as if something had fallen down. Snape came bursting out of his office but stopped when he saw them.

"Professor Snape, what...?" Hermione started asking, but he interrupted her bluntly.

"Professor Flitwick has collapsed - you two see to him, I must go fight the intruders!"

Hermione bit her lip, uncertain what to do, as Snape ran up the stairs.

"All right, let's take Professor Flitwick to the hospital wing and then we can join the fight too!" Hermione said and Luna greed.

They both cast "Mobilicorpus", levitating the Charms professor up to the first floor and onto a vacant bad from the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey was there and she came over quickly, and just as Hermione and Luna ran for the door, someone else entered... a lot of 'someones'. Lupin and Sirius were carrying Neville, while Ron and Tonks were carrying Bill.

Hermione's hands flew to her mouth when she saw Bill's ravaged face.

Ginny was also there, bearing signs of battle - no one had escaped unscathed, that much was clear, and Hermione felt guilty for not having been part of the fight.

"What happened?" Hermione asked horrified.

"There were Death Eaters in the school", Ginny said, "and a werewolf too."

"Fenrir Greyback", Sirius supplied as he and Lupin set Neville down on a hospital bed.

"We fought them, but many of our lot were hurt", Ginny continued.

"Not as much as the other side though, eh?" Sirius asked and Hermione was shocked that, despite looking beaten and battered, he had a glint in his eye that spoke of excitement.

"Is he going to be OK?" Ron asked Madam Pomfrey, who'd already determined that Professor Flitwick would be OK, as well as Neville, and was looking into Bill's injuries now.

"Hard to say, in such a case, but yes, he'll definitely live. I am not sure about the side effects of being clawed by a partially transformed werewolf though, if that's what happened", Madam Pomfrey said.

"It was", Tonks said. "It was quite unusual that Greyback was able to transform even without a full moon."

"He's one of the foulest werewolves in existence, I wouldn't put anything past him", said Lupin bitterly, Tonks hanging on to his side, hugging him for comfort.

Ginny got up from Bill's bed, where she'd been sitting.

"I'm going to find Harry", she said, and left in a hurry.

Hermione only them remembered that Harry had been on a mission with Dumbledore and wondered what had happened... she really hoped her best friend was all right.

"What is wrong with Neville?" Luna asked Madam Pomfrey, who was applying an ointment on Bill's injuries.

Luna had sat down on one side of Neville's bed, and she was looking at him, worry in her blue eyes.

"He's just been knocked out, same as Filius. Should come to his senses anytime soon", the school nurse told her. "Although Neville seems to have been affected by something else than a spell."

"What do you mean 'something else than a spell'?" Hermione asked, wanted to clarify a suspicion. "Madam Pomfrey, do you mean to say Professor Flitwick was knocked out by a spell?"

"It certainly looks like he was stunned, no more than that", the nurse confirmed.

That was troublesome information... Snape had said Flitwick collapsed but if the Charms professor had actually been stunned, it meant Snape had done it. But why? That was just one of her worries - although Hermione was glad that at least Neville and Flitwick were OK, Bill didn't look good at all and she feared he might even lose his life because of the severity of his injuries. Greyback's bites looked horrible on Bill's previously handsome face.

Her head snapped up from looking at Bill's face and the doors to the Hospital Wing were pushed open and Harry and Ginny came in. Hermione was relieved that Harry seemed to be unharmed, but he was clearly marked by something. Hermione ran to him and hugged him tightly.

"Are you all right, Harry?" she asked, just to make sure.

"I'm fine… How's Bill?"

Nobody answered, although Sirius did come to Harry and patted him on the back, probably glad that he was all right. But Harry was distracted by Bill's horrific injuries.

"Can't you fix them with a charm or something?" he asked Madam Pomfrey.

"No charm will work on these," the matron said. "I've tried everything I know, but there is no cure for werewolf bites."

"But he wasn't bitten at the full moon," said Ron. "Greyback hadn't transformed, so surely Bill won't be a — a real —?"

"No, I don't think that Bill will be a true werewolf," Lupin said in reply to Ron's questioning look, "but that does not mean that there won't be some contamination. Those are cursed wounds. They are unlikely ever to heal fully, and — and Bill might have some wolfish characteristics from now on."

"Dumbledore might know something that'd work, though," Ron said. "Where is he? Bill fought those maniacs on Dumbledore's orders, Dumbledore owes him, he can't leave him in this state -"

"Ron — Dumbledore's dead," said Ginny.

"No!" Lupin said vehemently and Hermione felt her heart freeze. The Headmaster dead?! It didn't seem possible.

"How did he die?" whispered Tonks. "How did it happen?"

"Snape killed him," said Harry, and Hermione felt faint. It couldn't be! Professor Snape? The one who'd said he'd go fight AGAINST the Death Eaters?! But then there was the stunning of Professor Flitwick which could only have been done by Snape...

"I was there, I saw it. We arrived back on the Astronomy Tower because that's where the Mark was… Dumbledore was ill, he was weak, but I think he realized it was a trap when we heard footsteps running up the stairs. He immobilized me, I couldn't do anything, I was under the Invisibility Cloak — and then Malfoy came through the door and disarmed him —"

Hermione clapped her hands to her mouth for the second time that night. Draco had been part of it? She knew he was up to something but to have been part of Dumbledore's death?

"— more Death Eaters arrived — and then Snape — and Snape did it. The Avada Kedavra." Harry didn't seem like he could go on.

Madam Pomfrey burst into tears.

Ginny whispered, "Shh! Listen!"

Hermione strained to hear and indeed, somewhere outside the school, in the darkness of the night, Fawkes was singing in a stricken lament of terrible beauty, that made tears come to her eyes.

How long she and everyone else stood there, listening, Hermione did not know, but that beautiful song of mourning seemed to ease their pain a little.

The stillness of the moment was interrupted when Professor McGonagall entered the ward, grazes on her face, her robes ripped.

"Molly and Arthur are on their way," she said. "Harry, what happened? According to Hagrid you were with Professor Dumbledore when he — when it happened. He says Professor Snape was involved in some —"

"Snape killed Dumbledore," said Harry and Hermione saw the same look of disbelief on McGonagall's face before the professor swayed alarmingly; Madam Pomfrey, who seemed to have pulled herself together, ran forward, conjuring a chair from thin air, which she pushed under McGonagall.

"Snape," repeated McGonagall faintly, falling into the chair. "We all wondered… but he trusted… always… Snape… I can't believe it…"

"Snape was a highly accomplished Occlumens," said Lupin harshly. "We always knew that."

"But Dumbledore swore he was on our side!" whispered Tonks. "I always thought Dumbledore must know something about Snape that we didn't…"

"He always hinted that he had an ironclad reason for trusting Snape," muttered Professor McGonagall, now dabbing at the corners of her leaking eyes with a tartan-edged handkerchief. "I mean… with Snapes history… of course people were bound to wonder… but Dumbledore told me explicitly that Snape's repentance was absolutely genuine — Wouldn't hear a word against him!"

"I'd love to know what Snape told him to convince him," said Tonks.

"I know," said Harry, turning all eyes on him. "Snape passed Voldemort the information that made Voldemort hunt down my mum and dad. Then Snape told Dumbledore he hadn't realized what he was doing, he was really sorry he'd done it, sorry that they were dead."

Everyone stared.

"And Dumbledore believed that?" said Lupin incredulously, at the same time as Sirius made a sound of disbelief.

"Dumbledore believed Snape was sorry James was dead? Snape hated James…"

"And he didn't think my mother was worth a damn either," said Harry, "because she was Muggle-born… 'Mudblood,' he called her…"

Hermione was offended on Lily's behalf, having being called a mudblood herself, but that was of little consequence in the face of the momentous truth that Professor Dumbledore was dead.

"This is all my fault," said Professor McGonagall, disoriented, twisting her wet handkerchief in her hands. "My fault. I sent Filius to fetch Snape tonight, I actually sent for him to come and help us! If I hadn't alerted Snape to what was going on, he might never have joined forces with the Death Eaters. I don't think he knew they were there before Filius told him, I don't think he knew they were coming."

"It isn't your fault, Minerva," said Lupin firmly. "We all wanted more help, we were glad to think Snape was on his way…"

"So when he arrived at the fight, he joined in on the Death Eaters' side?" asked Harry.

"I don't know exactly how it happened," said Professor McGonagall distractedly. "It's all so confusing… Dumbledore had told us that he would be leaving the school for a few hours and that we were to patrol the corridors just in case… Remus, Bill, and Nymphadora were to join us… and so we patrolled. All seemed quiet. Every secret passageway out of the school was covered. We knew nobody could fly in. There were powerful enchantments on every entrance into the castle. I still don't know how the Death Eaters can possibly have entered…"

"I do," said Harry, explaining about the pair of Vanishing Cabinets and the magical pathway they formed. "So they got in through the Room of Requirement."

Hermione was devastated and she felt like she'd wither under Harry's stare. So Harry had been right all along... Draco had been doing something important in the Roon of Requirement - making sure he'd create a path through which the Death Eaters could get into Hogwarts undetected. If she'd been able to get Draco to their side, as that stupid prophecy said, then perhaps she could have prevented the Death Eaters coming into the school and all of this happening.

"I messed up, Harry," said Ron bleakly. "We did like you told us: We checked the Marauder's Map and we couldn't see Malfoy on it, so we thought he must be in the Room of Requirement, so me, Ginny, and Neville went to keep watch on it… but Malfoy got past us."

"He came out of the room about an hour after we started keeping watch," said Ginny. "He was on his own, clutching that awful shriveled arm..."

"His Hand of Glory," said Ron. "Gives light only to the holder, remember?"

Hermione listened bleakly, in a detached sort of way, although she did want to know what had happened while she and Luna had pointlessly watched Snape's office. She was probably in shock, but she needed to know what had happened, no matter how horrible it was.

"Anyway," Ginny went on, "he must have been checking whether the coast was clear to let the Death Eaters out, because the moment he saw us he threw something into the air and it all went pitch-black..."

"Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder," said Ron bitterly. "Fred and George's. I'm going to be having a word with them about who they let buy their products."

"We tried everything, Lumos, Incendio," said Ginny. "Nothing would penetrate the darkness; all we could do was grope our way out of the corridor again, and meanwhile we could hear people rushing past us. Obviously Malfoy could see because of that hand thing and was guiding them, but we didn't dare use any curses or anything in case we hit each other, and by the time we'd reached a corridor that was light, they'd gone."

"It was fortunate that Ron, Ginny, and Neville ran into us almost immediately and told us what had happened", Sirius said. "We found the Death Eaters minutes later, heading in the direction of the Astronomy Tower. Malfoy obviously hadn't expected more people to be on the watch; he seemed to have exhausted his supply of Darkness Powder, at any rate. A fight broke out, they scattered and we gave chase. One of them, Gibbon, broke away and headed up the tower stairs -"

"To set off the Mark?" asked Harry.

"He must have done, yes, they must have arranged that before they left the Room of Requirement," said Lupin. "But I don't think Gibbon liked the idea of waiting up there alone for Dumbledore, because he came running back downstairs to rejoin the fight and was hit by a Killing Curse that just missed me."

"So if Ron was watching the Room of Requirement with Ginny and Neville," said Harry, turning to Hermione, "were you...?"

"Outside Snape's office, yes," Hermione whispered, tears in her eyes, "with Luna. We hung around for ages outside it and nothing happened… We didn't know what was going on upstairs, Ron had taken the map. It was nearly midnight when Professor Flitwick came sprinting down into the dungeons. He was shouting about Death Eaters in the castle, I don't think he really registered that Luna and I were there at all, he just burst his way into Snape's office and we heard him saying that Snape had to go back with him and help and then we heard a loud thump and Snape came hurtling out of his room and he saw us and... and ..."

"What?" Harry urged her.

"I was so stupid, Harry!" Hermione admitted. "He said Professor Flitwick had collapsed and that we should go and take care of him while he — while he went to help fight the Death Eaters..." She covered her face in shame, talking into her fingers. "We went into his office to see if we could help Professor Flitwick and found him unconscious on the floor… and oh, it's so obvious now, Snape must have Stupefied Flitwick, but we didn't realize, Harry, we didn't realize, we just let Snape go!"

"It's not your fault," said Lupin firmly. "Hermione, had you not obeyed Snape and got out of the way, he probably would have killed you and Luna."

That was probably true, but Hermione didn't find much comfort in it. Perhaps she could have held Snape off, fought him off, so that he wouldn't have gotten to Dumbledore to.. to... kill him.

"So then he came upstairs," said Harry, who sounded impatient to understand the entirety of the events that had unfolded that night, "and he found the place where you were all fighting…"

"We were in trouble, we were losing," said Tonks in a low voice. "Gibbon was down, but the rest of the Death Eaters seemed ready to fight to the death. Neville had been hurt, Bill had been savaged by Greyback… It was all dark… curses flying everywhere… The Malfoy boy had vanished, he must have slipped past, up the stairs… then more of them ran after him, but one of them blocked the stair behind them with some kind of curse… Neville ran at it and got thrown up into the air —"

"None of us could break through," said Ron, "and that massive Death Eater was still firing off jinxes all over the place, they were bouncing off the walls and barely missing us…"

"And then Snape was there," said Tonks, "and then he wasn't..."

"I saw him running toward us, but that huge Death Eaters jinx just missed me right afterward and I ducked and lost track of things," said Ginny.

"He ran straight through the cursed barrier as though it wasn't there," Sirius said.

"I tried to follow him, but I was thrown back just like Neville…" Lupin told them.

"He must have known a spell we didn't," whispered McGonagall. "After all — he was the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher… I just assumed that he was in a hurry to chase after the Death Eaters who'd escaped up to the tower…"

"He was," said Harry savagely, "but to help them, not to stop them… and I'll bet you had to have a Dark Mark to get through that barrier — so what happened when he came back down?"

"Well, the big Death Eater had just fired off a hex that caused half the ceiling to fall in, and also broke the curse blocking the stairs," said Lupin. "We all ran forward — those of us who were still standing anyway — and then Snape and the boy emerged out of the dust — obviously, none of us attacked them ..."

"We just let them pass," said Tonks in a hollow voice. "We thought they were being chased by the Death Eaters — and next thing, the other Death Eaters and Greyback were back and we were fighting again — I thought I heard Snape shout something, but I don't know what..."

"He shouted, 'It's over,'" said Harry. "He'd done what he'd meant to do."

They all fell silent, the only sound that could be heard being Fawkes's lament, still echoing over the dark grounds outside.

Suddenly, the doors of the hospital wing burst open, making them all jump: Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came in, Fleur just behind them, her face terrified.

"Molly — Arthur —" said Professor McGonagall, jumping out of the chair and hurrying to greet them. "I am so sorry —"

"Bill," whispered Mrs. Weasley, going past Professor McGonagall as she caught sight of Bill's mangled face. "Oh, Bill!"

"You said Greyback attacked him?" Mr. Weasley asked Professor McGonagall distractedly. "But he hadn't transformed? So what does that mean? What will happen to Bill?"

"We don't yet know," said Professor McGonagall, looking helplessly at Lupin.

"There will probably be some contamination, Arthur," said Lupin. "It is an odd case, possibly unique… We don't know what his behavior might be like when he awakens…"

Mrs. Weasley took the nasty-smelling ointment from Madam Pomfrey and began dabbing at Bill's wounds.

"And Dumbledore…" said Mr. Weasley. "Minerva, is it true… Is he really…?"

Professor McGonagall nodded, and Hermione felt fresh tears as the finality of Dumbledore's death started settling in.

"Dumbledore gone," whispered Mr. Weasley, but Mrs. Weasley had eyes only for her eldest son; she began to sob, tears falling onto Bill's mutilated face.

"Of course, it doesn't matter how he looks… It's not r-really important… but he was a very handsome little b-boy… always very handsome… and he was g-going to be married!"

"And what do you mean by zat?" said Fleur suddenly and loudly. "What do you mean, 'he was going to be married?'"

From Fleur and Mrs. Weasley's discussion, it was clear that Fleur still wanted to marry Bill despite of what happened and that fact made everyone appreciate the French witch more, including Mrs. Weasley: the two ended up crying and hugging each other. Hermione was startled, but glad by this turn of events.

"You see!" Tonks suddenly exclaimed in a strained voice as she glared at Professor Lupin. "She still wants to marry him, even though he's been bitten! She doesn't care!"

"It's different," Lupin replied, barely moving his lips and looking suddenly tense. "Bill will not be a full werewolf. The cases are completely —"

"But I don't care either, I don't care!" said Tonks, seizing the front of Lupin's robes and shaking them. "I've told you a million times…"

Their argument made it clear for Hermione and everyone else there that the two were in love, but Lupin obviously thought it was too dangerous for Tonks to be with him, what with him turning into a werewolf every full moon - though he could keep the transformation in check with the use of the Wolfsbane Potion.

"This is… not the moment to discuss it," Lupin finally said, avoiding everybody's eyes as he looked around distractedly. "Dumbledore is dead…"

"Dumbledore would have been happier than anybody to think that there was a little more love in the world," said Professor McGonagall curtly, just as the hospital doors opened again and Hagrid walked in, and Hermione was shocked to see that he was with Draco, and the two of them were carrying an unconscious and weak looking Professor Dumbledore, who, however, was very much alive.


A chorus of "What?!", "Dumbledore?!" "Professor?!, "He's alive?!" rang through the Hospital Wing as everyone ran forth.

"Stand back, everyone!" boomed Madam Pomfrey's voice, who shooed everyone away and quickly started treating Dumbledore, who looked very ill indeed. The Headmaster might not have been dead yet, but he was certainly on the brink of death.

"But... how?!" Harry asked, his voice sounding lost, and Hermione could empathize with him.

Until just a moment ago, everyone had dealt with the terrible truth of Dumbledore's demise, only to find out it hadn't been true after all.

"I saw Snape cast the killing curse at Dumbledore! I saw Dumbledore falling from the Astronomy tower...", Harry went on.

"I think it'd be best for Malfoy here to explain in ter yeh", Hagrid said, and everyone turned to Draco, who, Hermione noticed, wasn't looking much better than Dumbledore.

Everyone was looking accusingly at Draco, but she knew that if Draco was there with Hagrid and Dumbledore, it meant that he was not beyond salvation.

"What happened, Draco?" she asked quietly, using his first name, trying to convey the fact that despite all the terrible events that have been put in motion by his bringing the Death Eaters into Hogwarts, she still believed in him.

She took a few hesitant steps in his direction, hoping that her closeness might encourage him to speak. He looked not just ill at ease, but just ill... or hurt. Hermione wondered if he had been injured.

"Dumbledore had an understanding with Snape - Snape was a double agent, he was working with Dumbledore after all...", he trailed, and he seemed perplexed and shocked, which was no wonder - only the members of the Order of Phoenix had known that fact.

"No, he wasn't, he attacked Dumbledore with the killing curse!" Harry yelled, his voice strident in the otherwise quiet room.

"Hush!" Madam Pomfrey admonished - she was still feverishly working to heal Dumbledore.

"That was part of the plan", Draco said, flinching at Harry's tone.

"If that's true, then why did he run?" Harry asked, his voice even louder than before.

"Because this was all a part of Dumbledore's plan to convince Voldemort" - most of the people in the room flinched upon hearing the name - "that Snape was on his side and that Dumbledore was dead."

"But how come Dumbledore is still alive, if Snape cast the killing curse, like Harry said?" Sirius asked.

"When the Headmaster wakes up, he can explain it, but I think the reason is that Snape didn't cast the killing curse, not really", Draco said quietly.

"You were there, he did cast it, you heard it! Don't make excuses for him!" Harry shouted.

"Exactly... I've had some time to consider while I was hiding behind the Astronomy Tower..." he trailed off noticing the blank stares of everyone around.

"Perhaps you should start over, from the beginning this time, Mr. Malfoy", Professor McGonagall said, and Hermione was glad the Deputy Headmistress made that suggestion. She wanted to hear the entire story, from Draco's point of view. "As it is, you stand accused of bringing Death Eaters into Hogwarts, among other things, and that's not to be taken lightly! You have some explaining to do!"

Hermione watched Draco draw a deep breath, after which he lifted his left sleeve, revealing the Dark Mark - it elicited gasps from all around the room.

"I knew it! I knew it! Didn't I tell you?!" Harry shouted, but for once, no one paid any attention to him.

Draco, too, ignored him, as he started talking, in a monotonous voice, that almost sounded like he was dead inside - that worried Hermione immensely, but she needed to let him make his confession now, in front of everyone. Once he finished talking, she'd decide what was to be done, but the fact that he was here, instead of having fled with the Death Eaters, made her be almost sure that he was now on their side.

"Before the start of the year, I took the Dark Mark in order to fill Voldemort's ranks, in place of my father, who, as you all know, is in Azkaban. The Dark Lord gave me a mission: to kill Dumbledore."

"Only you-know-who would make assassins out of children", Hermione heard Mrs. Weasley whisper.

"I didn't want to kill anyone, but not just my life, my parents' lives were at stake, so I had to at least make it look like I'd tried to accomplish this mission", Draco said, and Hermione took a few more steps, until she was by his side, and she took his hand in hers, to the loud indrawn breaths of most of the people in the room. Hermione didn't care that she'd shocked them, she wanted to be there for Draco.

"As if!" Ron commented, clearly not convinced that Draco hadn't really meant to kill Dumbledore, and not happy with Hermione's support for Draco.

Strangely, however, Harry made no further comments, although he did look disapprovingly at Hermione. She looked defiantly back. Draco was not evil, he'd just had to make some unfortunate choices due to numerous extenuating circumstances.

Draco's hand trembled slightly in hers, but he continued talking.

"I had to come up with two or three plans - one was the cursed necklace, the other was the poisoned mead, and my last resort were the Vanishing Cabinets..."

"So you were the one behind those two incidents, Malfoy, Harry was right all along!" Ron exclaimed and Hermione wished that he'd keep his voice down. First Harry was yelling, now Ron. The only thing to do in such a situation was to keep calm, too bad her friends couldn't see it.

"All right - so when the first two of your initial plans failed, you worked on fixing the Vanishing Cabinets - we know all about them", Lupin said, "Harry already told us, so you can skip that part."

Draco was quiet for a few moments, trying to figure out where he was supposed to continue the story.

"Then all that is left to say is that I couldn't have killed Dumbledore, even though I disarmed him. I was just trying to stall for time, hoping that you'd neutralize the Death Eaters... I couldn't let them know I'd betrayed the Dark Lord or my parents would have been killed."

Sirius and Ron both made sounds of protest, clearly not believing that, but Professor McGonagall shushed them.

"Go on, Mr. Malfoy", she encouraged.

Hermione gave Draco's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"The Death Eaters managed to get past you lot, they entered the Astronomy Tower, and they wanted me to do it, to kill Dumbledore... I couldn't, though, and just when I thought everything was lost, Snape arrived."

"Yes, and he cast the killing curse at Dumbledore", Harry said, but now there was doubt in his voice.

"Do you remember the exact words?"

"What kind of a question is that?" Ginny asked. "Everyone knows the incantation for that dreadful curse, even if most people don't use it."

Harry wasn't saying anything and Hermione watched him and Draco, wondering what it was that she was missing. The two of them were the only ones from the room who had been there, the only ones who'd witnessed what happened.

"He said Avada KedaBra... not Kedavra... or that's how I heard it. What did you hear, Potter?"

Harry was still silent but Hermione could tell he was thinking hard, trying to remember what he'd heard.

"You're right, he said 'kedabra' not 'kedavra'", Harry finally said.

"Okay, so he mispronounced the curse, why is that relevant?" Sirius asked, but Hermione already had the answer to that.

"Because saying the magic words properly is very important!" she exclaimed.

Everyone in the room turned to look at her, and she continued, quoting: "never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest.' Remember?" she asked Harry and Ron who were looking at her as if she'd grown two heads. "Professor Flitwick told us that in our first year!"

"Quite right, Miss Granger!" squeaked Flitwick, who had gotten up from his bed, apparently recovered from being stunned. "If Snape did say Avada kedabra instead of Avada kedavra, that could be the reason why the spell didn't have the intended effect. His pronunciation was just fine when he attacked me, though!" added the professor, ruefully.

"It can't be a coincidence that Snape mispronounced", Lupin reluctantly admitted.

"When Snape and I escaped from the tower, he explained everything to me" Draco said. "Dumbledore asked him to attack him but not kill him, because in his weakened state he knew that even an incorrectly cast killing curse would stop his heart, but that he could be brought back to life from it. On the other hand, there's no coming back from the actual killing curse, so it was better to try it that way. And that's exactly what happened. Hagrid brought the headmaster back to life."

"Hagrid, you did that?" Professor McGonagall asked, awed.

Hermione could see that Hagrid was very rattled and very uncomfortable being the center of attention.

"Well, I... I remembered something Professor Burbage taught me... Ye see, a couple o' years back, I had a mooncalf in my care, Brighteyes I called 'im. He was old but still did that complicated dance they do under moonlight, and Professor Burbage often came by so we could watch Brighteyes dance. One night, he was in the middle of the dance, when he just collapsed. I thought he was a goner, but Professor Burbage didn't give up on 'im. She cast a spell, "Corpulmonis Resuscito", and Brighteyes drew breath again. She said it was a spell that was invented by a muggle-born witch, inspired by something the muggles do..."

"CPR", both Hermione and Harry exclaimed at the same time.

"That's the one", Hagrid agreed. "In any case, I thought the spell might also work on Professor Dumbledore, so I cast it and it worked! "

Hermione had never heard of this CPR spell, and she now regretted having quit Muggle Studies in her third year. Had she continued, she probably would have learned this spell from Professor Burbage. But now it didn't really matter anymore - Hermione was just glad that Hagrid had known the spell and had used it to resuscitate Dumbledore.

"So that's why Snape is still alive!" Harry exclaimed, but then he seemed to regret his outburst, when everyone looked at him.

"Well, he made the Unbreakable vow, so I was wondering how come not killing Dumbledore didn't result in his death... But if Dumbledore's heart stopped, he was basically dead for a while - before Hagrid brought him back", Harry explained.

That certainly explained some things, but there were other matters still unresolved.

"But to risk his life on the off chance that someone would bring him back..." Lupin trailed off.

It was clear to everyone: Dumbledore had hoped he'd survive, but he hadn't been counting on it.

"Snape took a big risk too - what if Dumbledore's heart didn't stop? Then he'd be dead, because he'd have broken an Unbreakable Vow!" Ginny mused out loud.

Hermione agreed with her - not just Dumbledore, but Snape as well had been willing to stake their lives on the outcome of that evening. It was a miracle that things had played out just the right way.

"Dumbledore is not out of the woods though, is he, Poppy?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"I'm afraid he might not make it after all... I've tried my best, but he seems to be slipping away..."

Hermione could see that the Headmaster was barely breathing, the few shallow breaths he was drawing were few and far between.

A phoenix cry suddenly sounded just outside and Luna ran and opened the window. Fawkes got in and he landed on Dumbledore's chest. He looked sadly down on the Headmaster and then started shedding tears on the Headmaster's face.

"Phoenix tears have tremendous healing properties", Hermione exclaimed. "If anything can help Professor Dumbledore now, it's Fawkes' tears!"

"Yes", Harry agreed, "his tears saved me from Basilisk venom, surely they'll be efficient!"

"Are they more effective when the injured party drinks them?' Luna asked airily and Hermione looked closer, noticing that the tears didn't randomly fall on Dumbledore's face, but they were dripping directly into his semi-open mouth.

"I know of no such thing, but then again, I'm not an expert in phoenix tears", Madam Pomfrey said.

Hermione didn't know anything about the efficiency of drinking phoenix tears, but she could see that color was returning to Dumbledore's face.

"He looks so much better than before!" Harry said, as he, too, noticed the improvement.

"I'm glad you think so, my dear boy", Dumbledore spoke, as he came to his senses, his eyes opening.

'Professor!', 'Dumbledore!', 'Albus!'

Again there was a chorus of voices, everyone happy that the Headmaster had regained consciousness and was going to make it, despite the ordeal that he'd been through. Fawkes, too, gave a happy cry as he moved to the side of the bed.

"All right, back off, let's not kill him, now that he's come to", Madam Pomfrey said.

"I don't have a mirror, but I do believe I look pretty well for someone who died and came back to life", Dumbledore added, as he raised himself so that he was sitting up.

"It's wonderful to see you alive and well, Albus", Professor McGonagall said, and there were fresh tears in her eyes - tears of joy this time.

"Not that well yet, but I'm sure that I'll be thriving again in no time, under Poppy's ministrations. I, too, believe it's wonderful to see you all. Although I imagine you have some questions for me regarding Severus... that was what you were discussing just now, wasn't it?"

"Yes, Professor", Harry confirmed.

"It is like young Draco told you: Severus cast the killing curse at me because we'd previously agreed to do that - in fact, I'd insisted he cast the curse properly because for quite a while this year, I wasn't sure I'd survive for much longer. I was affected by a powerful curse just before the school year started, which cost me my hand and might have cost me my life if it weren't for Severus, who treated me magnificently, and, of course, Fawkes helped too, with his miraculous tears. Enough said that I considered I'd reached a ripe age and I already owed enough to Severus that I wasn't willing to risk his life to save mine. However, Severus insisted that it was worth the risk of mispronouncing the killing curse - he was quite adamant about his reluctance to kill me, and in the end, I couldn't get him to agree to cast a proper Avada kedavra. I am pleased that he managed to trick the Unbreakable Vow after all, despite my doubts. My heart did stop, so I suppose that fulfilled the vow, but it was quite the gamble.

After speaking all of that, Dumbledore took a few deep breaths, letting his words sink in.

"Despite all I've said until now about my willingness to die", he continued, "I'm very pleased that my heart is functioning once more and Hagrid, I have you to thank for that! So thank you for saving my life - I always knew you could do it!"

Hagrid's face was as red as a lobster and he seemed at a loss for words.

"Professor Dumbledore always said he could trust you with his life, Hagrid!" Professor McGonagall said kindly, looking affectionately at the gamekeeper. "I, too, want to thank you for not betraying that trust!"

As if on cue, everyone in the room started thanking Hagrid, patting him on the back, as Hagrid smiled goofily.

Hermione was glad to see him get the appreciation he deserved. She still didn't think Hagrid was teacher material, but he was definitely someone you could rely on, very loyal and brave, and that was the essence of being a Gryffindor.

"Now that we've all expressed our gratitude to our excellent gamekeeper, Draco, will you please come closer?"

Silence took over once more, as Hermione watched Draco hesitantly approach Dumbledore's bed.

"I know everyone here is conflicted about Draco, so let me say this: he was never going to kill me, I believe Harry can also attest to that."

Hermione looked at Harry who seemed reluctant to speak, but he couldn't refuse the Headmaster.

"That's true - Draco was lowering his wand when the Death Eaters came. He wouldn't have cast the killing curse."

"Now that's settled, I intend to keep Draco under my protection - he didn't have much choice given the threat that Voldemort made against him and his parents. So if he wants it, I've already offered sanctuary."

Before Draco could say anything, Sirius intervened.

"Pettigrew said he betrayed James and Lily out of fear of Voldemort too, are you saying we should just let him be, too?!" he said harshly, his voice just shy of a shout.

Lupin nodded, in clear agreement with his fellow Marauder.

"I believe Pettigrew still has a role to play, but right now, his fate is not in our hands, while Draco's is", Dumbledore said quietly, but firmly.

"I expect you to apologize to all affected parties, Draco, and also, I expect you to join the fight against Voldemort. I assure you that your parents will be safe - I've already talked to Severus about it, as I am sure he already told you, before he made his escape. He will tell Voldemort that you've been captured - and if you're seen fighting on our side, being under the Imperius curse will be an easy explanation - after all, Voldemort and his followers use that curse themselves often enough not to be suspicious. Given these facts, will you join the Order of the Phoenix and accept sanctuary?"

Hermione held her breath, although there really was no other choice for Draco. She was probably not the only one who thought so, as there was resentment in many of the eyes focused on Draco at that very moment.

"I will", Draco said solemnly, and although Dumbledore smiled at him, not everyone was happy with the way things turned out.

"What else is he going to say? If he refuses, he'll be a prisoner", Ron muttered.

"How can we trust him to fight alongside us after all that's happened?" Harry asked no one in particular.

"I trust Draco, so if you trust me, you'll trust him", Dumbledore pointed out.

"I agree - we all had doubts about Snape and it turned out we should have trusted him all along", Lupin said.

As if wanting to show his support of Draco, Fawkes stretched his neck and rubbed it against Draco's arm.

"There's also the prophecy", Hermione said, knowing it would bring more shock, but wanting to bring all the arguments to the table.

"What prophecy, Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall asked at the same time as Harry asked "Since when do you believe in prophecies?" and Ron uttered "You never believed all that divination beetle-dung."

Hermione didn't know whom to address first, but she figured the Deputy Headmistress was owed an answer first - her friends could wait.

"Professor Trelawney made a new prophecy a while back - one that said that Draco will play an important part in the fight against Voldemort - if he can be persuaded to fight against and not for him."

Her eyes pleaded with Dumbledore not to reveal the other part of the prophecy - the one that said that Hermione herself would be the one to sway Draco to join their side.

"I was with Professor Trelawney when she made that prophecy and I can confirm it", Dumbledore said, looking sharply at Hermione, as if to tell her the secret was safe with him. Even in his weakened state, Dumbledore's stare was as piercing as ever.

"Hmph!" came from Professor McGonagall, who, just like Hermione, wasn't a believer in Divination and prophecies, but having both Dumbledore and Hermione advocate this particular prophecy seemed to keep her from saying more.

"I am extremely sorry for all the harm I've caused - and not just this year, but ever since my first year at Hogwarts!" Draco said emphatically. "I know I don't deserve forgiveness, but I would like to ask for a chance to make up for all my wrongs by fighting with you against Voldemort", he added and Hermione could hear how heartfelt his words were. She was sure everyone could hear the sincerity in his voice.

"I say let the boy fight - we'll need all the help we can get in the upcoming battle!" someone said, and Hermione was pleased to see it was Bill! He'd regained consciousness.

The Weasleys all gathered around his bed, exclaiming happily.

"That much is true. All right then, he can stay at my place, since that's the headquarters of the Order of Phoenix and he's a member now, right?' Sirius said.

"Let's leave the planning for some other time. Right now, all students please go back to their dormitories", Professor McGonagall said.

"Including you, Mr. Longbottom", Madam Pomfrey added. "I noticed you got up a while ago and have been whispering with Miss Lovegood for a while now - you're free to go as well so don't delay in doing so."

"But let no one know about my survival", Dumbledore cautioned them. "To the world, I must appear dead! I know you're confused, but I will explain everything in due time."

Hermione took Draco's hand and lead him out, following Luna and Neville who were already halfway out the door. Harry and Ron hurried after them and once they were all outside, the questioning began.

"So what's this then, about a prophecy about Malfoy that you knew about and didn't tell us?!" Harry asked while Ron had other things in mind.

"And why on earth do you keep on holding his hand?!" he yelled. "Did you get cursed or hurt your head or something?"

Hermione could tell the situation was incendiary, so she needed to keep things calm and polite, if possible. She let go of Draco's hand and then spoke calmly.

"First of all, lower your voices!" Hermione admonished quietly. "Whatever we discuss now must stay between us for the moment, just like the Headmaster said."

"But do, please, explain", Ginny said, while hanging on to Harry's arm - whether for comfort or to restrain him, it wasn't clear. "I'm pretty curious about that prophecy!"

"Me too!" Luna said eagerly and Neville also looked like he wanted to find out.

"All right!" Hermione said between gritted teeth. She knew she was reacting defensively, but she didn't really know what she could tell her friends about her 'relationship' with Draco - if it could be called that. Telling them about the cursed choker would be a bad idea, because it would make them trust Draco even less, especially if she added all the 'spicy' stuff about their meetings. So she needed to come up with a story that was part true, a more 'innocent' version of what had happened that would appease them.

Draco was smart enough to follow her lead but just to make sure he'd let her do the talking, she gave him her pointed 'look' - the one she always used on Ron and sometimes on Harry, whenever they did something stupid, and that happened more often than any of them would like to admit.

"Harry, you were so sure Draco was up to something, that I decided I'd investigate on my own. So I approached him, and he told me about the prophecy."

"And you believed him?!" Ron exclaimed and Hermione shushed him.

"You believed him?" Ron asked again, this time quietly.

"I'm not a fool - I didn't just take his word for it", Hermione said haughtily. "I talked to Professor Dumbledore and he confirmed the information."

"And you didn't think you should share that with us?" Harry asked, and the reproach in his tone made Hermione blush with guilt and embarrassment.

"I knew you'd have a hard time believing it and that you'd say it was impossible to convince Draco to join our side. Neither of you can think rationally and objectively when it comes to Draco."

"True", Ginny agreed and no one else could argue with Hermione's point.

"Can you blame us?" asked Harry, ruefully.

"No, of course not", Hermione said, already tired of arguing. It had been a very long day, filled with a rollercoaster of emotions and she felt drained and in dire need of rest. But the heavenly oblivion that sleep could offer would have to wait until the air was cleared so that they could all sleep well, without lingering doubts or resentments.

"There's been bad blood between us and Draco, which was why I didn't want to tell you anything until I was sure that what Draco really wants is to fight against Voldemort. Besides, there was a second part of the prophecy, one that hinted that I was the one who could make Draco see that he must join us."

That statement was met with shocked silence.

"If anyone could do it, it would be Hermione, wouldn't it?" Neville asked, and somehow that made sense for everyone.

However, Luna was more intuitive than most.

"You gave Hermione the choker, didn't you?" she suddenly asked Draco, startling not just him, but Hermione and everyone else, too.

"Uhm... yes, I did..." Draco admitted hesitantly.

"What?!" Ron was outraged and his voice had climbed in volume again.

"Shhhh!" Ginny said.

"I always figured it might have been you, as you certainly have the money for it", Ginny added, addressing Draco.

"So you like Hermione?" Luna asked bluntly, as it was her way.

Hermione was struggling to find an explanation for Draco giving her the choker, one that didn't involve telling them that he'd basically made her his slave, when Draco spoke.

"As a matter of fact, yes, I do."

Ginny's hands flew to her mouth and Ron practically growled, while Harry and Neville wore similar dumbfounded expressions.

"That makes sense", Luna said, although it probably only made sense to Luna, which was no sense at all most of the times. "It's good to have a new friend. I'll see you all at breakfast!" she called airily, as she skipped towards the grand staircase and the Ravenclaw tower.

"I'd also like to go rest now. We'll talk later", Neville said quickly, following Luna up the stairs.

Harry and Ron weren't so easily dealt with, and Ginny was stuck to Harry like glue. Hermione figured she also wanted to know more about her and Draco, so curiosity was probably the other thing keeping her in place.

"We all like Hermione, and we've liked her longer than you!" said Ron crossly.

"He doesn't mean it in that way, Ron!" Ginny said, apparently enjoying herself immensely. "Did you, Malfoy?"

Hermione wasn't sure she was ready to hear the answer to that question, so before Draco could speak she interfered.

"That's hardly the point now! What I want to know is whether you can accept that Draco is not the enemy anymore and act your age!"

"He's still a prat though, no matter what side he's on!" Ron said.

"And you're still a useless Weaselbee", Draco retorted.

"Enough!" Hermione said, her voice louder than she intended. "Draco, I hope that you, too, can put the past behind and act... well, not friendly, that would be asking too much, but politely at least. We're not in kindergarten!"

"In what?!" Draco, Ron and Ginny all exclaimed and Hermione sighed from the bottom of her heart, as she and Harry exchanged looks that said 'purebloods'.

"Never mind, it's a muggle thing", Hermione said, not willing to go into explanations. "Just please, let's all be on our best behavior and get along! We have much bigger problems waiting for us - like Voldemort and the war that's coming!"

"Can't deny that", Harry said and Hermione gave him a smile for supporting her. "I think we've all had just about enough for today. So I'll try to be on my best behavior tomorrow. Tonight I'm going to follow Neville's lead and go to bed."

"Good call, Harry. Let's go!" Ginny said, and they both left.

Ron glared at Draco, hostility clear in his eyes, and then he turned his attention to Hermione.

"I still think you're making a mistake", he told her.

"Time will tell", Hermione told him evenly, not letting him get to her.

Ron left without a word and Hermione was relieved... she'd been wanting a word alone with Draco ever since she saw him enter the Hospital Wing.


"That went well", Hermione said on a cheerful tone that even to her own ears sounded forced.

"That's one way to call it. But I have no complaints, I'm still awed and grateful that I am now a member of the Order of the Phoenix."

"You've gotten approval from a phoenix after all, there's no beating that. I was surprised, but pleased, when Fawkes rubbed his head on your arm. He doesn't usually interact with anyone other than Dumbledore... Although he did save Harry in our second year by applying his tears to his basilisk venom infected wound."

Draco looked only mildly interested in the information she was sharing.

"While I admit it was something else to have Dumbledore's phoenix give me such a sign of trust, is that really what we want to talk about?"

"Not really", Hermione admitted. So many things had happened that she wasn't sure what she wanted to talk about anymore. "But then again, what else would we talk about? I mean, Harry's already told us everything that happened, and then you continued the story. So I have all the facts now."

"But even before you had your facts, you still stood by me", Draco pointed out.

"I did, because I knew that regardless of whatever it was that you'd done, you hadn't done it because you wanted the Death Eaters and Voldemort to win. I've seen you struggle with something all through the year - I just didn't know what it was until today, and finding out that you were supposed to commit murder explains a lot of things."

"Maybe I was just struggling with how to do it", Draco proposed, but Hermione knew he was just playing the devil's advocate. Still, she indulged him.

"You struggled with that too, but I think it's fairly clear that what you were troubled by was the mission itself, something you didn't want to do. Under similar circumstances, I don't know that I would have done any better, so don't be too hard on yourself. Luckily", she smiled, thinking that it was in fact the Liquid Luck that Harry had shared, which had helped such a favorable outcome come about, "it all turned out relatively well. Bill was the one who was most affected by the battle, and he's probably going to be OK eventually - with Fleur by his side, I'm sure his recovery will be swift."

"Bill is one of the Weasleys, right?" Draco checked, and at Hermione's nod, he continued. "And the Triwizard Tournament Beauxbatons champion - Fleur, was it? - is his girlfriend?"

"A bit more than his girlfriend - they're engaged to be married. In fact, the wedding's going to take place in a couple of weeks."

"Although I find it a bit inappropriate to have a wedding when the entire world is going to hell in a handbasket, a party sounds good for a change. I don't reckon there's any chance I might get an invitation, what do you think, Granger?"

Hermione was surprised that he'd even want to go to a party with the Weasleys. Didn't Draco think of himself like pureblood royalty, while the Weasleys were something akin to peasants or serfs in his eyes? But that was the old Draco - the new one wasn't afraid to party 'beneath his station'. How things had changed since their first year. She remembered hearing Draco telling Harry that 'some wizarding families are much better than others', and that he wouldn't want 'to go making friends with the wrong sort'.

"I mean, I'm invited, so I suppose you could be my plus one if you really want to come. Although I should probably check with Bill and the other Weasleys first..." Hermione trailed off. Then she decided to be brave and add the words that would steer the conversation towards the information she really wanted to find out. "It's the least I can do, now that I know that you like me."

"Oh... that!" Draco said, as if he'd forgotten his recent admission. "Well, Granger, it can't have come as a surprise to you. That's why I gave you that cursed choker in the first place - to make you come to me. And even after I released you from its hold, I still called you. And believe me when I say I didn't want to, because I don't see this - whatever this is - working. I tried to give you up but I'm addicted, it seems."

Hermione listened carefully, trying to understand the meaning behind the words.

"Please tell me this is not a 'I like you despite myself' confession like the one Mr. Darcy made to Elizabeth", Hermione groaned.

"Between who and who?" Draco was understandably confused.

"It's from 'Pride and Prejudice', a rather famous muggle novel. Never mind, I suppose any type of confession is better than none."

"No, wait, what happens in that book? After this Mr. Darcy confesses?"

Hermione found his curiosity endearing, so she answered honestly.

"Elizabeth tells him she doesn't want someone to like her despite himself. She wants someone who likes her for who she is and who isn't embarrassed by her or her family, because Mr. Darcy had a problem with that, too."

Draco frowned and Hermione knew he understood the similarities: Draco, a pureblooded wizard who came from one of the sacred 28 pureblood wizard families (royals, in a sense), surely couldn't be very fond of Hermione's parents, who were muggles.

"So she turned him down?" he asked and Hermione wondered if she should simply answer his question or tell him the entire story.

"Yes, she did... " she waited a few moments before continuing. "But she, too, was in the wrong, because she was prejudiced against him, and then he proved her wrong by helping her, selflessly, and thus won her over."

"Which means...' he trailed off questioningly.

"They ended up married and lived happily ever after."

His smile was bitter.

"This is a fairy tale, then? Or something like the Enchanted Encounters series by Fifi LaFolle?"

"You've read her books?" Hermione was shocked.

"No, I've just heard about them from Pansy. Why? Have you read them?"

"No! Parvati and Lavender talked about them a lot in our fourth year. Anyway, to answer your question, 'Pride and Prejudice' is not a fairy tale, but it is a romance novel."

"Fiction to be sure", Draco said ruefully. "In real life, happily ever after is pretty much a myth."

"Do you know what 'magic' means for muggles?" Hermione asked him.

"How would I? And what else could it mean than what it does in the wizarding world?"

"The meaning is somewhat similar and yet different. You see, those of us who know about the wizarding world, magic is something real, a 'power' or 'force' - for lack of a better word - that we use in order to do a number of things, from small every day things like lighting a fire or stirring a potion in a cauldron, to significant things, like the Unforgivable curses, or the most powerful spells like the Protean charm or Expecto patronum or the shield charm, Protego."

"With you so far", Draco said.

"Well, to muggles, magic isn't something real but rather something mystical that explains the unexplainable. So if something that doesn't have an explanation happens, muggles might say 'it's like magic'. In fact, before Harry found out he was a wizard, he got in trouble with his uncle because of accidentally triggering off his magic at a zoo. He didn't know he'd involuntarily used magic, but when asked what happened, he said it was like magic."

"And your point is?" Draco asked, clearly not impressed about Harry's exploits.

"That there might be more of what muggles call 'magic' in real life than you think. Happy endings are possible, and you should know that more than most, because you were given a second chance and sanctuary today, which is more than many people can say."

"I suppose you're right."

"I am right, don't you doubt it!" Hermione said smugly. "And if you need more convincing, maybe this will help."

She got up on her tiptoes and placed a light kiss on his surprised lips.

It was the first time she'd actually taken the initiative of intimacy, and it sent a thrill through her.

Apparently Draco approved of her initiative too, because he grabbed her and deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue through her lips and tasting her thoroughly.

Hermione fought for dominance, because for once, she felt like she wanted to be in control and to assume the responsibility for wanting to kiss Draco. Now that he was on her side, her feelings for him - whatever they were - didn't feel quite as forbidden so she didn't feel like she needed to hold back.

A loud voice suddenly bellowed through the corridors, making her and Draco jump apart.

"PREFECTS KISSING IN THE CORRIDOR!"

It was Peeves and Hermione felt herself blush a dozen shades of red.

"That poltergeist certainly knows how to pick his moment", Draco said grumpily. "I suppose we'd better split, before Filch or someone else comes to see what all the shouting's about.'

Still rattled, Hermione nodded her assent.

"Yes, we'd better hurry. Don't forget - no word about Dumbledore's survival to anyone, OK? I'm sure the Headmaster will send word soon with instructions, but until then we have to keep low and act our part, OK?"

"Of course. Kiss you later, Granger! Unless you kiss me first!", Draco said with a wink and then quickly went down the stairs, towards the dungeons.

Laughter bubbled out of her, as Hermione turned around and started climbing up the Grand Staircase.

Draco was incorrigible, but although she hadn't admitted it, she liked him that way.