A/N: By the way, I just figured out that when I upload my chapters, the little star things (you know, when you press shift+8) aren't showing up. So, chances are, if you see a phrase in one of my author's notes, and it doesn't make sense, it was supposed to be in stars. From now on, I'll try putting them in brackets. Sigh Anyway, I got some good reviews for the last chapter. It was a lot of fun to write. Well, maybe not fun, but I got some of my aggression out. It was fun for me to re-read it, though. Also, I am now working chapter-by-chapter for 2 reasons: 1. I am in uncharted waters here. I have never written anything like this before. And, 2, I don't have any more chapters written. This chapter here took so long to write because it's a major chapter in this story. Here you learn about the prophecy. Also, my Microsoft Word crashed and I haven't really been home for awhile. I'm basically on the go 24/7 right now. It's like I come home to shower and get a fresh change of clothes. So, sorry for this VERY late chapter.

WARNINGS FOR THIS CHAPTER: Okay, this really shouldn't be that big of a deal, but winces some of you may find it inappropriate for the unmarried resident medi-witch of Hogwarts to be entertaining the also unmarried potions master during the wee hours of the morning… It is NOT graphic, but suggested.

Disclaimer: I do not now, nor have I ever, owned anything related to Harry Potter. Actually, I take that back. I bought a hermit crab a bit ago, and his name is Crookshanks. So, I own my crab, but nothing else!

The next morning was a Saturday. To be precise, it was a long weekend. The project was due by Tuesday's class, and Hermione still wasn't sure how in the world she was going to get Malfoy to go along with it. After all, he was just being so darned surly!

Hermione sighed deeply, and let out a groan when she saw the time on the clock. 2:15 AM. That was the fourth time she had woken up since she went to bed, and Hermione was desperately tired. In addition to that blasted and bloody Advanced Muggle Studies project, she also had essays for Transfiguration, Charms, and Potions. She was going to need to get her sleep if she was going to finish them.

Absently, Hermione cuddled under the burgundy bedspread and comforter. Her bed was so warm, but at the top of the tower, her room could be fairly cold. She pulled a velvet covered pillow close to herself, and put her back against the surprisingly warm wall. Burying her head into her pillow, Hermione tried to get back to sleep.

In his dungeon dorm room, nothing was out of the ordinary, per say. Everything was in it's place, save for a book entitled "Muggle Magic", which lay open next to the wall. The only thing that was strange about the oddly chilly green room was that its occupant was conspicuously absent. This was strange, because it was nearly 2:30 in the morning.

The occupant of this dorm room, Draco Malfoy, had been called away on official business for the Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort. This had been earlier in the night, nearly midnight, and still the blonde youth was not back. Of course, he had been late, and heaven only knew what would happen if he was late.

A half hour later, Hermione Granger woke up again. "Damnit," she sighed, and resigned herself to the fact that she would not be getting any sleep. Slipping her burgundy flannel robe on, but leaving it open in the front, revealing her white silky night dress underneath, Hermione padded down to the common room to get herself a cup of tea. Maybe some tea and a good book would help her to feel tired?

When she reached the library, Hermione grabbed a book that had captivated her attention earlier. A fairly new release, it was entitled, "Prophesies to Defeat You-Know-Who". Shrugging, she picked it up off of her desk. Perhaps it would help Harry?

As she started to descend the stairs, she heard a loud crackling in the fireplace, and then a thump. The thump was followed by a moan, or more precisely, a groan. Her curiosity was peaked. She walked down the stairs a little faster.

In front of the fireplace lay a black… Thing. As she got closer, she noticed that it was a figure. The figure's head lifted, and some shaggy white-blonde hair was revealed where the hood fell. "Oh, my god!" Hermione cried. Draco Malfoy, Slytherin Prince and sole heir to the Malfoy family fortune, lay passed out on the common room carpet.

"Malfoy? Draco? Wake up!" she said. He didn't move. "Oh, god." Hermione reiterated. She quickly lay her book down on the kitchenette table and ran for the hospital wing. There was no sense in ruining a book, even if this was an emergency. As she ran, Hermione heard several portraits call out about being running around after hours. She brushed them all off, and breathed a sigh of relief when she reached the hospital wing, on the other side of the castle entirely.

As she went to turn the door knob into the wing, Hermione found the door locked. Hermione jiggled the knob. In her haste to get Madam Pomphrey, she completely forgot her wand in her room. "Madam Pomphrey! Madam, open the door! It's an emergency!" she yelled. To her relief, she heard the door unlock.

"Miss Granger, what on earth are you doing here at this hour of the morning? It's nearly 2:45!" the medi-witch said, patting her disheveled hair back into place. Hermione eagerly began to speak.

"Draco! He's passed out on the common room floo—" she began, but noticed a shadow in the witch's room. A tall, greasy-haired shadow that happened to be putting his shirt back on… Hermione felt like she was going to gag. Following the student's gaze, the older witch coughed, blushed, and asked the Head Girl to lead her to their tower.

By the time that the two reached the tower (Professor Snape followed behind after them), Draco was up and had moved down into his form, completely unaware of what had happened just minutes before.

Draco casually picked up the book lying on his floor, groaning as the room spun. He had a horrible headache, and watching the room spinning only made it worse. He lay it down on top of the others on his little bookshelf, and then lay down on his bed. No good; laying down just made him queasier. He went into the bathroom, and knelt by the toilet, just incase.

Madam Pomphrey and Hermione raced into the common room, and then down into Draco's dorm room. They heard a low moan from the bathroom, and the teachers raced in. "Dear, dear." Madam Pomphrey said, as she touched the boy's forehead. He was burning up. "Severus!" she barked. "He needs to go to the hospital wing. He's got a hellacious fever."

Snape nodded, and quickly helped the teen to his feet. Draco, quite frankly, looked horrible. He was sweating badly, and his eyes were glassy. As she watched, she saw him start to quake, like he had the night Sirius had first brought him into her life permanently. "Ms. Granger, please stay here. You may check on him in the morning." Madam Pomphrey said. Hermione nodded.

"Will he be alright?" She asked.

Professor Snape looked to Madam Pomphrey. "I think he will, don't you agree, Poppy?" he said.

Madam Pomphrey nodded her frazzled head. "Of course he'll be fine, Severus! And, Ms. Granger, you may visit him in the morning if you are so inclined to do so." She said. Hermione nodded, and walked with them up the stairs.

"No!" Draco suddenly yelled. Severus appraised the weak-looking teen.

"Pardon me, Mr. Malfoy?" he said.

"No! Don't let her… She just wants to find out…" he started. "Just don't let her." He said.

They took Draco to the hospital wing, and Hermione went back up into her dorm. She never had gotten her cup of tea, and since it was about 5:00 AM, Hermione knew there was no chance of her getting any sleep. She absently began to draw herself a bath. If she was ever upset, that's what she did: get a bath. Needless to say, she was a very clean person. She was always upset or worried, or even stressed out. Sometimes she was all three. Sometimes like now.

Hermione went to turn on the tap that produced lilac scented bubbles, the big kind, not the little ones like she got from the chamomile tap, and growled in frustration when she found that her favorite tap was out of bubbles. That just ruined her bath. She turned the water off and pulled the plug.

Sighing, she got up and went into her room. She pulled out a pair of dark blue jeans and a t-shirt. Then she went back into the bathroom and ran a shower. After she showered, Hermione dressed and went into the kitchenette.

Inside the menu there wasn't much. Finally, Hermione settled on a taco salad. She ordered, and within seconds, it appeared on the table. Hermione sat down, and began to eat. Suddenly, she spied her book from earlier. She picked it up and began to read the table of contents, hoping something would catch her attention.

The Prophecy of The Two Leopards… She read. Hermione shrugged and flipped to the page. A little prophecy caught her attention in the center of the page:

Two leopards in skin,

Will aide the chosen one to win.

One female spotted, on male black,

Between them no trait will they lack.

A romance will blossom,

The outcome to be unknown.

To help or to harm their fate,

By the time they know, it will be too late.

Hermione read it again. It was… Well, she didn't know what to think. It didn't make much sense. About all she got out of it was that there were 2 people, a witch and a wizard, who were leopard animagi. And they would help Harry to defeat Lord Voldemort. At least, she guessed that's what it meant. It wasn't clear as to what the chosen one would be winning.

As Hermione was reading what the book's collaborators thought about this prophecy and what it meant in relation to the downfall or up rise of Voldemort, the headmistress came in. "Good morning, Hermione." Professor McGonagall said.

Hermione looked up into her headmistress's face. "Good morning, Professor." She said. "What can I help you with? Surely you know the Malfoy is in the hospital wing." She said. Minerva McGonagall sat down in the second chair at the table.

"Well, Miss Granger, as you may well know, Professor Haddix is not teaching about the animagus form. She can't do it, so she won't be teaching it. I have decided to offer the course myself for a few select students who I believe are able to perform the difficult spells in order to reach their animagus form." She said.

"Okay, so… Who else have you asked, yet?" Hermione said, no yet belaying the fact that she would love to join in the class.

"Well, Miss Granger, I have asked yourself, Mr. Malfoy, two Ravenclaw students and a Hufflepuff. As you can see, it's a very small class. Are you going to join us? Everyone else has said yes." Professor McGonagall said, smiling as though she knew something that Hermione didn't.

Hermione nodded. "Okay, I'll give it a shot, Professor. When does the class start?" she asked.

"I will send a house elf to let you know. I haven't decided yet when it will begin, but it will be soon." She said, and left to go back to her planning and the general running of the school. "Goodbye, Miss Granger." She said. Hermione responded to the conversation end, and then stood up.

It was close to noon, and since Draco Malfoy was currently confined to his bed in the hospital wing, she was going to take full advantage of it. She would get that damned project done for Professor Kent if that was the last thing she did.

"Malfoy, can't you just please cooperate?" She yelled at the top of her lungs. They had been sitting there for about an hour and a half, and she had only gotten out of him that his favorite color was green.

"No. I cannot cooperate. I hate this project. I hate you." He said, glaring at her.

"I don't care what you hate or what you don't hate. You know what? I am not doing this. I brought your copy. You fill it out, here are my answers and my synopsis. All you have to do is finish it and turn it in." she said, throwing a filing folder at him, and stomping out of the room.

Draco surveyed the room. Papers were everywhere, from her file folder flying open midway onto his bed. Gingerly, he got out of the bed and began to pick up that papers, and put them into the file folder again. Draco's pet peeve: messes.

As it turned out, Draco did what Hermione asked. He finished his half of the project and turned it in. Hermione really didn't care right now, either way. So what if he did? He wouldn't sacrifice his grade to make sure she got a bad mark.

Professor McGonagall had sent the house elf to their common room the night before to announce that Animagus Classes would begin on the next Monday. Hermione couldn't wait.

That night was Sunday. The new class would start the next morning. Hermione was almost too excited to sleep as she put on her baby blue flannel pajamas with the little sheep on them and snuggled into her bed. On her night table sat the book about prophecies, open to the prophecy about the two animagus leopards…

Okay, this is undoubtedly the first time I've put an author's note at the end of a chapter, but I want to thank everyone that has reviewed, and I also want to say that I am starting another story soon, so if I become a little too lax in posting the chapters for this story, that's probably why. Of course, like I said, I am almost never home anymore, and have transferred this story to disk so I can take it with me, but finding time to type is problem. Right now, my soon-to-be-sister-in-law and I are trying to plan a trip on the Hiawatha. That's a paddle boat tour where we live. Anyway, my sweet 16 is also on the 10th, and I would hate to miss that. Hopefully, I will get this posted on the 9th because I really don't want to be on the computer all day on my birthday. wishes beyond all hope that Mom and Dad bought me the nice old blue pickup that I was looking at Wish me luck with chapter writing, all!