Chapter 11 - Plans in Motion

Later the next morning, through groggy after staying up the whole night, Hermione made her way into the tent for breakfast. The coffee and biscuits that Harry had readied from their dwindling supplies were just the wake up call she needed, and Hermione smiled appreciatively at her friend for his efforts, half-edible though they may be. She was just starting to think about how to introduce the topic of her needing to go out for the day—and justify it—but just then Ron came and sat down at the table, half-asleep and his hair tousled and standing up on one side. He didn't say a word, instead just reaching for a large scone.

"Good morning to you too, Ron," Harry couldn't help but say, to which Ron only grunted.

Hermione eyed the locket hanging around his neck and debated asking him to hand it over. It would be her turn to wear it again soon, but since she was going to head off anyway, she definitely didn't want it on her when she met with Malfoy. If she'd had any thought of being honest with the boys about what she was planning to do though—minus telling them the location, of course, so that they couldn't follow her and thus put themselves at risk either way—those thoughts went away as soon as Ron spoke up.

"I've just been thinking...what the hell do we think we're doing, anyway?"

"Ron..." Hermione began, but he pressed ahead, ignoring her.

"All night I've been having dreams, you know," he said in a low voice. "About Ginny. About Fred, George, my mum, everyone." He glared up at Harry. "They were all being hunted, only the Death Eaters knew where to look. And they called out for me, but I couldn't go to them because I was busy protecting you."

Harry pursed his lips, wisely choosing to remain silent. Together, he and Hermione allowed Ron to finish breakfast on his own terms, after which he took off the horcrux and laid it down on the table. With one last glare for good measure, he stalked out of the tent to take his turn at guard duty. Having him put himself out of their way felt like the beginnings of an old, recurring pattern, one that ended up in argument and bad feelings between them. It was foreboding, to say the least, though Hermione couldn't deny that it was easier to handle each of her friends one at a time rather than together. And if it was bad dreams that was setting Ron off this time...

"He should stop wearing it at nights," Hermione said to Harry, picking up the locket and putting it around her neck. She had to be fair, after all, though it was on the tip of her tongue to beg Harry to wear it. "We thought until now that it would be better if he did but..."

Harry nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it's doing worse things to him than it did to me. I mean, at least I'm used to him being in my head."

Hermione felt pity for her friend, of course, but at the same time she couldn't help but wish that neither of them ever had to wear it at all. They'd tried taking it off once before, just leaving it in Hermione's bag, but something about the horcrux attracted bad luck their way as its malevolent energy focused on the exterior world instead of on one of their interior minds. As such, leaving it unworn for too long would only result in complications for all of them; taking it in turns had seemed logical at the time, as did making sure that whoever was on guard duty didn't have to wear it, as they couldn't afford anyone's reflexes or judgement to be affected.

"Not that we'd have the problem if he would take over more guard duty at night," Harry added, crunching down more forcefully on his scone than he should have. Back when Hermione had been working on the pensieve, Harry had virtually taken all-nighter shifts on guard duty, which in turn had also exhausted him more than before. When confronted about it, he had mentioned to Hermione that it was in many ways better than falling asleep only to wake up in a cold sweat from visions of what Voledmort was up to, but not by much. Now, it was definitely time for a change.

Hermione swallowed the dry lump in her own throat, taking a gulp of coffee to help it down. "We'll talk about it later today."

After breakfast, Harry and Hermione got out their usual books and notepads, their proverbial "drawing board", and set to work, but Hermione kept a careful eye on the clock to be sure of what time it was. Finally, she got up the courage to tell Harry what she intended to do, leaving out the detail, of course, that it was Draco Malfoy whom she would be meeting up with.

"And you have a-a lead on the book?" Harry confirmed. He had taken to the news well enough in that this time he didn't immediately reject her idea, but he looked far from happy with it. The first thing he had objected to was Hermione going alone, to which she had countered by saying that this anonymous source of information was extremely skittish, on the run, etc.—really anything to convince Harry not to come along and that it wouldn't end well if he did. Technically, that was true, even if it wasn't for the reasons that Hermione was making up.

"No, I'll have the actual book in my hands, Harry," Hermione said. "And seeing as how it's impossible for us to get it ourselves, I think it's extremely fortunate that I contacted this person when I did."

"Someone who can...get into Hogwarts for us and get the book," Harry reasoned, deep in thought. "It must be someone who's inside Hogwarts already then, since just getting in and out of there is practically impossible for anyone on our side right now. Who is it, Mione? Someone I know?"

"Harry..."

He held up his hands. "Look, I'm not saying I'll come along or anything, but at least tell me who it is. Is it one of our friends?"

"No..."

"Right, they wouldn't be able to come out and meet us. Is it a teacher then?"

Hermione kept her mouth shut, really not wanting to say anymore. If Harry believed anything by her silence though, it was as good as a direct lie.

"Okay, fine." Harry exhaled deeply. "At least answer me this: will you be safe with this person? I mean, can you trust them?"

Anything less than a firmly positive answer wouldn't be convincing, so Hermione forced herself to say the words that, truthfully, she only half meant. "Yes. I'll be safe and I trust them."

Harry leaned back in his chair, and after a few minutes of silence he finally acquiesced. "Okay then. I think you should go, Mione."

Hermione gave him a smile of appreciation.

"Does Ron know yet? No, wait, stupid question." Harry sighed. "He's not going to like this."

Hermione winced. "No, he won't."

"And that's why we won't tell him."

"What?"

Harry shrugged. "He's already on a short fuse and, let's face it, he won't want to let you go if we tell him. At this point, it'll lead to an argument either way, but I'd rather have it be after you come back with the book. At least then he can't say that it's all for nothing."

"Harry, I...I don't want to lie to him again," Hermione said.

"That's why you won't be lying to him," Harry said, completely understanding. "As far as I know, you won't even be here when he finds out."

It wasn't a perfect plan by any means, but having Harry support it made Hermione feel better. As was the case for many times between them, certain words and understood meanings just didn't need to be said. In all honestly, if Hermione could have picked to have any sibling, Harry would always have been her first choice as a brother.

And so, with this agreement settled between them and the locket handed to Harry to wear, Hermione grabbed her bag, wand, and disapparated before Ron returned from his guard duty outside.

Finding the book was easier than Draco had expected, considering that he had been prepared for it to be stacked in some obscure shelf or other, but he wasn't exactly objecting to how easy it was. Rather, he was questioning why Granger would need the book if it was so easy to find, though maybe there was a reason why she specifically asked him to get it for her. Was it because she needed Hogwarts's copy specifically, or were there no other copies?

Or, as a third option, maybe she was just using the book as an excuse to meet him regarding other information?

In any case, it had certainly been a surprise to Draco to have her reach out first, though of course he hadn't the slightest idea of whether he would've caved in and contacted her otherwise. She had said that he could talk to her, but about what was...pretty much up in the air at the moment. After all, this was Granger he was talking about—they weren't exactly friends and, for most of their school acquaintance, hadn't even been on speaking terms. Well, not polite or congenial speaking terms, anyway. But Hermione Granger was more or less the only person he had met recently who was able to stand up to him despite his Death Eater status—not even any of Potter's friends who were still in school could claim that much, though maybe that was because for the most part they ignored him—and therefore he could speak to her without having all this recent fear in the way of what they were saying.

He had seen fear in Hermione Granger's eyes once; he was absolutely certain he never wanted to see it again.

Anyway, Draco had both books—the one about great wizards and the one on dragons—in hand when he apparated near Whitby Abbey, having chosen to dress in an all black suit rather than his Hogwarts robes. Much more classy and besides which, if there were muggles around, Draco didn't want them staring at him.

As Hermione had said though, the tourist attraction was quite empty this time of year, so he needn't have worried. The abbey, as it now stood, looked just as abandoned as it had been for centuries prior to being opened to the public for monetary gain; a relic of sorts, much like many obscure places in the wizarding world. Well, their privacy would be ensured, if nothing else.

Systematically setting up wards around the area and putting up a warming charm since it was getting quite nippy, Draco settled against a stone column to wait.

A few minutes later, he spotted Hermione coming towards him, much too close for him not to have noticed her before. Draco only questioned it for a second before concluding that she must have been there for a while and probably just used an invisibility charm or something—hard, but then again, if anyone could manage it, it was her. And that's why it also made sense that she'd remain hidden for a while and make sure it was safe before revealing herself. It just figured, but it didn't upset Draco any; he didn't expect Granger to trust him any more than he trusted her with his secrets. Their exchange today was as much a testing of those boundaries as it was an experiment in trading-off.

Unsure how to greet a former enemy—er...or, well, whatever Granger was!—Draco simply took out the two books he'd brought along and set them on a stone ledge. About shoulder-high, it once would have had stained glass within it, and was set on the wall directly between him and Hermione. As she came closer, her face guarded but no tension in her body, Hermione eyed the books greedily. She hadn't realized just how much she'd missed reading until she had some proper thick editions before her. And the book on the bottom, thank Merlin, was exactly the one she needed.

"Afternoon," she greeted, to which Draco only gave a nod. Then, picking up the book at the top, the one on dragons, she finally looked at Malfoy directly. "Anything I should know before opening this? Like what it is you want?"

Come around the wall, Draco casually strode fully into her view and held out his hand for the book. Hermione held it out towards him and watched as he flipped through several pages before coming to the page he needed. "What I'm looking for is—"

"Let's sit down first," Hermione cut in, already reaching for the book on famous wizards. It was only once she flipped to the familiar front pages that she relaxed and then deposited the book into her bag. She hadn't expected any trickery on Malfoy's part, but it was a relief nonetheless to have the book in her hands and know that she wouldn't be returning to Harry and Ron empty-handed. Now, at least for the next hour or so, she had free time at her disposal and didn't have to worry about hurrying to get back lest her friends panic; Harry, at least, understood most of the situation for what it was.

Together, she and Draco found a low ledge to sit on, not exactly close to each other, but within arm's reach anyway. Propping the book on his knee, Draco once again flipped to the page he had been looking on last time, the beginning of a chapter on how to charm dragons. Based on the introduction, it was intended as a guide for how wizards should not get killed by dragons when confronting them, but Draco figured that, out of everything in the book, it was the most likely to yield results on how to find and/or make a dragon whistle; either that or he was misinterpreting what the dragon whistle was intended for.

"I've been researching—"

"Hold on!" Hermione cut in, interrupting him a second time.

Draco turned to glare at her. "What now? Want me to transfigure you a cup of tea, maybe some biscuits? If you're stalling, Granger—"

"No!" Hermione insisted fiddling with her hands in her lap. "At least...I think I should mention that whatever it is you need from me, if it has anything to do with furthering Vol—his plans, then I won't have any part in it."

Draco furrowed his brow. "You think that's what this is about?"

The intensity of his gaze forced Hermione to look up at him, startled to find that apart from being insulted and impatient with her, Draco also seemed slightly...hurt.

"No," she found herself answering quite honestly. "No, I don't think that. But I had to be sure and make things clear before we move on."

Draco wasn't quite ready to acknowledge the relief that flooded through him at the fact that Hermione wasn't suspicious of his actions, but nevertheless it took away the anger that he had felt rising in him before. His face reasonably gentler and now neutral, he turned to look back down at his book.

"So, what is this about, anyway?" Hermione asked when it didn't seem like Draco was going to say anything else. She shifted slightly closer to him on the ledge, mostly to get a better view of the page, but also, in a way, to assure him that she didn't think that he was there for any nefarious purposes.

Draco angled his body towards her in response and held out the book. "I'm looking to find an object related to dragons—a dragon whistle. I don't know much on the subject and have tried to research into it, but that's more your area of expertise than mine, Granger, so I thought you'd make my task easier."

"Your task?" Hermione questioned, immediately catching on to the word that most people might've dismissed. "And what task is that?" She accepted the book from him and began leafing through the pages of the chapter so as to get an idea of the contents.

As for Draco, he was very tempted to come clean with her regarding what he was doing. Perhaps he wouldn't want to reveal certain points like who it was that had assigned him the task or the fact that he'd be putting the items in his family's vault—nevermind the fact that he'd stolen the key and made a duplicate—but, at the very least, it wouldn't hurt to show her the list.

And who knows? Since it's Granger, she might make finding a few of these things much easier for me, Draco thought.

So, reaching into his breast pocket, he took out the folded paper and held it out towards Hermione. "The whistle is one of many items on this list. I'm currently searching for all the items on here."

Hermione accepted the paper from him, but oddly enough, despite her curiosity, she didn't open it right away. Instead, she looked at the young Malfoy directly, her brow furrowed in confusion. "Why?"

Draco kept his mouth shut, unsure what answer to give.

"I mean," Hermione went on, "we've already established that it's not for You-Know-Who, but finding a list of items, especially something that will take you time to find like a dragon whistle—and we'll get to that in a moment—must be for an important reason."

"I suppose it must be, Granger," Draco replied. "But I couldn't tell you what that reason is any more than I could tell you where house elves meet for their yearly convention."

Hermione perked up. "Do they?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Of course not, they're house elves. Anyway—"

"That doesn't make them any less as individuals!" Hermione retorted, remembering with bittersweet nostalgia how her own try at S.P.E.W. hadn't exactly gone anywhere. Perhaps after the war she might revisit that, but...

As for Draco, of course he had been aware of Hermione's campaign for the house elves, but, like for most students at Hogwarts, her efforts were viewed as merely something to joke about. Now, seeing her suddenly impassioned in defense of the house elves, he remembered it briefly, but wasn't about to bring it up and have her preach to him or anything. Instead, he pressed forward with what he was going to say.

"My point is that I couldn't tell you what the reason is because, as far as I know, it doesn't exist. This list wasn't my idea—and no, Granger, I'm not telling you whose project this is—but it gives me something to do and I'd rather take action than sit around doing nothing."

Hermione blinked in surprise at hearing Draco express those sentiments, which of course were the same ones that she, Harry, and Ron had been struggling with since the beginning. It was something she had never expected to hear from Draco, it was true, and it also pointed to aspects of him that she had never thought to question. He wanted to act, but in what way?

Hopefully for the right side, she thought, as she prepared to answer.

"I see. Well then, let's have a look at this list, shall we?"

Going through the list though, Hermione couldn't guess at the reason behind it any better than Draco could have told her. At one point, she considered that maybe the list was even intended as something to throw her off—the reference to Trelawney's crystal ball was particularly ridiculous to her, given her opinion of the professor—but then the more she read, the more confusing and yet serious it became. For instance, getting goblin-made steel was going to be almost impossible, as it was extremely rare and not much of it existed anymore. Perhaps in retaliation for wizards denying goblins the right to use wands, the goblins likewise denied their smithing capabilities to wizard knowledge. As such, the only remaining goblin-made steel was sure to only be found in old relics of the past, and were not exactly something that Malfoy could get his hands on just by striding into Diagon Alley—or even Knockturn Alley, for that matter.

All in all, it left Hermione more confused and full of questions than ever, most of which she didn't think Draco could answer if he didn't know the purpose of the list himself. In any case, she wasn't about to draw attention to some of the more questionable objects unless she needed to, so she set the list aside for the moment and focused on the book in front of her instead.

"Dragon whistles are intended to call dragons to the user's side and essentially render them tame for up to one hour," she recited, having learned the knowledge back in her fourth year and therefore not needing the book in front of her to reference that. Back then, she would have suggested it to Harry for his first task in the Triwizard tournament, except that such whistles were extremely hard to get ahold of. Not only did they have to be crafted from a special type of wood that existed only in the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary, but getting the precise pitch of the whistle was a craft known to only to a select few wizards in the world.

Among them, Charlie Weasley, whose location even now was unknown, though most likely in the sanctuary itself.

As for what she would tell Malfoy though, Hermione doubted that her mentioning that it would be very difficult to obtain would dissuade him much. So, instead, she tried to divert the conversation.

"I can't tell what you'd need this for," she began. "After all, there are no dragons anywhere nearby. They're not native to Britain."

Since Draco hadn't questioned any of the items from the list, he also hadn't given thought to what they might be used for, but now that Hermione brought it up, he had to agree that, hard though it was to find, the dragon whistle would actually be pretty useless. He couldn't discern any possible use for it either, much less wonder at why Severus would want it.

Although, Severus never did mention what any of these are for or if he'd even be using them, Draco thought. It certainly made his task more perplexing than before being faced with the whys of everything, and Draco wasn't sure how to feel about Granger being the one to point this out to him when he should have gotten answers to this himself. We'll have to have a talk, Severus...

"Should I take that as your way of saying that you can't help me on this?"

Hermione shrugged apologetically, handing him back the book. "Not a fair trade-off, I suppose, but there's nothing I can do. Unless..." She paused as she reviewed the items on the list, a "bloody brilliant" thought slowly coming upon her.

"Unless what?" Draco questioned.

Hermione blinked as she looked at him, the idea now fully developed in her mind. "Unless you use one of the other items on the list to get this one."

"What?" Now Draco was entirely confused.

But, as always, there was a method to Hermione's madness. Going off of the thought that Charlie Weasley would be one of the few wizards in the world who could actually make a dragon whistle, that didn't mean that he was the only one to possess one by a long shot. In fact, if he did possess such a skill, it would surely be in high demand by those who knew about it. And among those that did, who better to give a dragon whistle to than Hagrid, who was Charlie's friend as well as a keeper of rare magical creatures? If anything, Hagrid would almost certainly ask Charlie for one, which meant that...

Suddenly the key to Hagrid's house, which was also on Malfoy's list, took on a whole new meaning of importance.

The list isn't just meant to check off all the items; it's a puzzle, Hermione thought.

Should she tell Malfoy that though? After all, he himself didn't know why he was looking for these items, and Hermione would hate to think that she'd be helping him do something bad, however indirectly and unwillingly. Malfoy himself obviously hadn't noticed that the list might well be a puzzle, perhaps only intended to help him find a small minority of the items there, but would he figure it out? He certainly had changed since Hermione had last known him at Hogwarts, and so there was no telling in what ways his mind worked now.

And you truly don't understand him, Hermione. Not only in how he thinks, but also...who he is.

Take it all in all, she realized that she wanted to give him a chance. Right now, from all that she could tell and had picked up on from her meetings with him, the only certain thing was that Malfoy was confused, right on the borderline between what side he was on and who he supported. But if...she could somehow get him to see reason and thus assure that the side he was on would be the right side, then maybe it was worth it to give up a bit of her own confidences in the process. And besides which, as far as Hagrid was concerned, it wasn't like the half-giant really had a use for the whistle anyway, right? At least, Hermione hoped not, otherwise this might count as a betrayal towards him...

Merlin, but that's not a sure plan, she thought, even as she stared at Draco as he waited for her explanation. Looking at him closely, she wasn't sure that prejudiced prick she had known in the past was the same young man in front of her now; he seemed almost completely different, and the weaknesses in that image, whether just how tired he looked or that inexpressible emotion in his eyes, drew her more towards taking a step closer rather than back.

If she opened up to him even a little though, who knew where it would lead? This unanswered question aside, she had already made her decision.

After choosing to explain to him how he might use the key to Hagrid's house to gain entry and check to see if the half-giant didn't have a dragon whistle handy, as well as share her thought that the list was intended as a puzzle, she waited to hear Draco's reaction.

Draco, for his part, was aware of two things: one, that what Granger told him must be the truth as it made perfect sense and suited Severus perfectly (after all, the man was a puzzle in himself, even to his godson), and two, that it was quite beyond what he had expected of Granger when asking for her help. Not only had she given him what was possibly the answer to finding the dragon whistle, but she had also given him a huge step forward in his task overall. It was almost as if their situations had reversed and suddenly he was the one being unfair in the trade-off.

Did I expect anything less of Hermione Granger though? Draco wondered. Of course not—that was why he had decided to tell her about the list in the first place.

Setting the dragon book aside as it was no longer necessary, Draco folded his hands in his lap. "Seems you've earned your reputation, Granger," he said. "You really are a know-it-all."

It didn't escape Hermione's notice that he left out the "insufferable" part of that mocking nickname bestowed upon her by their Potions professor, but she didn't comment on it. Instead, she found herself smiling, turning to look ahead of her instead of at Malfoy. "You've only just now noticed?"

Draco turned his head to look at her, noting for the first time how, though he hadn't given it any thought, Hermione Granger had grown up. Well, obviously she had, since they were the same age and all, but it was one thing to remember someone as the large-toothed teacher's pet who loved to show off her knowledge, and quite another thing to discover that that person had become someone quite different—someone matured for the better in all the ways that counted.

Draco didn't even try to deny the thought that she wasn't unsightly at all—no, not even when he remembered the fist of that same girl connecting rather painfully with his nose. In any case, she looks better than I do, Draco thought, reflecting how he himself had only changed for the worse, both physically and mentally.

Realizing that the silence between them had gone on too long and that maybe that meant that they were done with their business for the day, Draco was just about to say his goodbyes, when suddenly Hermione spoke up first.

"Were you going to contact me?"

Draco blinked. "What?"

Hermione turned her head, her eyes directly on his. "Before, when we first brought up this business with the patronuses, I said you might contact me if you just needed to...to talk. You never did, but I was wondering if you were going to."

Truthfully, Draco had considered it once or twice, but never enough to take out his wand, summon his patronus and, in all effect, humiliate himself by coming to Granger for the emotional support he needed. Somehow, the clever witch had seen through to him already based on what little he'd said—and perhaps more that he hadn't said—and had figured out that he was in a confusing, lonely place right now. A vulnerable place, and that was an especially bad thing right now. Draco couldn't reason with himself whether he'd purposely let her see even a bit or not, but now the damage was done and Hermione Granger was doing what she did best: seeking out more information. She could use that to her advantage, of course, but somehow Draco doubted that she be putting herself at risk by appearing in front of him alone and unguarded like this just for that. For the first time in any of their recent meetings, he noticed that she didn't have her wand out, and that was a lot in and of itself.

What in Merlin's name did she want to know about him though? —And how much are you planning on telling her, Draco? he asked himself.

In answer to her most immediate question though, Draco could only shrug. "Can't say if I was or wasn't," he said. "It's only been a few days since last time, Granger, so it's not like I had much time to think about it."

Hermione sensed the lie there but didn't mention it. Instead, she diverted yet again. "Suppose I say that I've been waiting to hear from you. What then?" Well, that was half true, as it had been a mere curiosity on Hermione's part on whether Malfoy would or wouldn't take her previous offer seriously. If so, then yes, of course she was willing to talk to him and make progress that way, but if not, then sooner or later she might have contacted him in turn. She certainly wasn't going to let their previous interaction go to waste without exploring all possible future options.

For Draco though, who didn't know this, the situation put before him was...something to which his own reaction was a surprise. He found that Granger waiting to hear from him meant something, and though he couldn't put a name to it, the meaning was something pleasant. It made him feel...like he wasn't alone, and like there was finally someone who he could actually talk to who would listen. The thought reached more deeply into him than Draco would have thought possible considering that it was Hermione Granger of all people; but after months of feeling nothing but misery, this was more than a welcome change. Without realizing it, or perhaps because he realized more than he knew, Draco held onto this thought tighter than he had held onto anything for a long time.

"Then..." he began, his mouth feeling dry, "I'd have to question what it is you want to hear."

"The truth," Hermione replied without hesitation. "That's all I want, from you or from anyone. I've been honest with you, as much as our circumstances will permit, and...and quid pro quo does come into play for you as well, Malfoy."

Now it was Draco's turn to smile, and for once it was more of an actual smile than a smirk. "I never thought you'd be a smooth talker, Granger. Careful, that's a Slytherin quality."

Hermione returned the smile. "Merlin forbid, I'd hate to be that."

At both her light tone and the surprisingly bright smile she gave him, Draco felt himself being drawn closer to her. Not only in wanting to actually tell her more, but also in physically leaning towards her in interest. Finally, for once someone could—

Just then though, a sound penetrated the silence between them, coming from Hermione's sweater where until now she had kept her wand. Only Hermione knew what it was right away, having set an alarm on her wand to let her know when it was time for go. For a while there, she had almost forgotten that she was on a time limit, lest Harry panic and question her actions for this afternoon.

Reluctantly, Hermione silenced her wand and then stood up off the ledge. "Uh, I need to go now."

Draco blinked, then also stood up. He felt a sudden wave of regret come over him at the thought that she was going to leave now, but he quickly brushed it away as irrational, only to have it surface again. Whatever emotions had been inspired in him by their meeting just now, they were persistent.

Still, on the outside, all he could do was give a nod. Then, just as Hermione was walking away to get a clearer space to disapparate from, he called after her, "Granger?"

Hermione turned back towards him, their eyes catching for a moment.

"Be careful."

Perhaps it didn't need to be said between them, as Hermione knew better than he did how much of a target she was but...she appreciated his words regardless.

Finding herself smiling one more time, she called back, "You too!" and then disapparated, leaving Draco alone.

Their discussion from this time had left both of them feeling uncertain, but...the changes were not wholly unwelcome. For either of them.

A/N: Whew, fourth meeting down! I'm definitely trying to move things in more and more of a desirable direction with how many times they're going to keep meeting each other, and I can only hope that the slow burn of it isn't discouraging readers or anything (doesn't seem so, but I like to reassure folks when I can)! Again, I am trying to keep a realistic pace and keep the characters true to Rowling's story, but the closer Draco and Hermione get, the harder this will be to do. After all, I am making their romance up from scratch, so sooner or later I'll have them say or do things that were not on Rowling's agenda, but that nevertheless fit in with the flow of the story. If anyone has any problems and/or suggestions with this, please let me know in the reviews!

Anyway, yet MORE new developments upcoming in the next chapter, so stay tuned for those and please do continue to follow, favourite, and especially review if you haven't already! I'm seeing a lot of readers following and favouriting this story, which is great, but please do share your opinion as well, as those reviews are the most encouraging part of my writing process!

Cheers to all of you and see you soon in the next chapter!