That night's dinner had been the best Draco had had all year. Even though the rest of his house had still been ignoring his existence, he was in a wonderful mood and couldn't be bothered by anything. The meal itself was grand, as always, but it was what had happened earlier in the day that had Draco's mood so great. Not only did Hermione allow him to kiss her in such a manor, and in a semi-public area no less, but she had seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.

A small smile, barely visible unless you looked closely enough, played across Draco's face as he replayed the kiss by the lake in his mind over and over again. It wasn't until his fork had smashed the note from Professor McGonagall into his mashed potatoes that he finally snapped out of his revere.

Tomorrow, huh? Draco thought, looks like I'll be getting even more alone time with Hermione. Draco smirked at the thought as he tucked the small note into his pocket and stood up from the table, finished with his meal. Casting a quick glance towards the Gryffindor table, he stuffed his hands into his pockets, fingering the note, and sauntered out of the Great Hall, headed towards the dungeons.

Draco barely paid any attention to where he was going, his feet automatically took him along the very familiar path he'd come to know like the back of his hand. His mind again wandered back to that afternoon with Hermione by the lake. No matter how hard he tried he just couldn't rid himself of get the image of her in the sunlight, the sun glinting off of her hair, the way her lips felt against his own, the flushed look on her cheeks after they pulled away from each other. His heart began to ache more and more each time the scene replayed itself.

Once Draco was tucked away on is four poster bed, the curtains drawn around himself, he broke out his Transfiguration book in an attempt to distract his mind. He ended up rereading the same paragraph four or five times before he actually understood the words he was reading. Finally, after roughly half an hour of repetitive reading, his brain began to wander away from Hermione and onto what he was reading. It wasn't long, however, until his mind began to go back to her once more.

Sighing, Draco gave up reading, marked his place in his book, and put it back into his bag. He laid on his back and placed his hands behind his head, closing his eyes. He decided to give up fighting his brain and let it go wherever it wanted to. As he predicted, it went back to Hermione, only this time to their conversation on the train ride at the beginning of the school year.

The silence between himself and Hermione seemed to last for an eternity after he had sat back down in the seat across from her. He kept his head against the window and his eyes closed, afraid to look at her, to see the hatred and anger he was so used to seeing.

He waited and waited, bracing himself for the barrage of insults that never came. Slowly, he lifted his head and opened his eyes, finally looking at Hermione. Draco found her with her head down towards her lap, her hands twisting and turning around themselves. He could see her brow was furrowed under her thick hair. She obviously had something on her mind, and it seemed to Draco that she was fighting with herself on it. He looked away, staring down at his own lap and his own two hands, thinking of all of the bad things those hands had been the direct cause of.

"I don't blame you, you know… For what you did… Or, didn't do, that is… With your aunt…"

Draco snapped his head up so fast when Hermione had spoken that his neck had actually cracked from the sudden movement. Ignoring the short, sharp pain he felt in his neck, Draco narrowed his eyes at her, his expression completely full of disbelief and mistrust. She still kept her head down, concentrating on her fingers and the way they worked as they turned with each other.

It was the first time Draco had relived their conversation from the train ride. The conversation seemed like it happened ages ago, when in reality it had only been a few weeks. So much had changed in that short amount of time, things that he never would have imagined had happened, and he was feeling something he thought himself completely incapable of feeling.

It wasn't long before his thoughts were interrupted by a slight pop somewhere above where he laid. He opened his eyes and found a small slip of parchment on his stomach, but he couldn't make out any writing from the angle he was at. Draco sat up, the parchment slipping from his stomach into his lap before he was able to prevent it from falling.

I know what I have to do, but I still have to come up with

a way to do it. It will happen, I promise.

Draco's heart leapt in his chest at the short yet promising note. Unknown to him, he was grinning from ear to ear. It was probably the first time he had smiled completely, and not just on the outside, but from his soul, too. He knew by the way the note was written that he needn't reply. Draco folded the letter back up carefully, matching the creases already in the parchment with grace, and tucked it away in the bottom of his trunk.

He laid back on his bed with his arms under his head once more, completely at ease with himself. He sighed in content and closed his eyes, still smiling like a fool. He started to think about what Weasley would be like when Granger broke the news to him. Draco imagined him crumbling, crying like a baby for days on end. The thought made him chuckle. Turning to lay on his side, he soon fell asleep still imagining how Ron will react.

Draco woke the next morning feeling completely refreshed. He'd slept well that night and didn't remember dreaming. He wasn't sure if he actually had a dream and didn't remember it or if he hadn't dreamt at all. Either way, he felt great and didn't give it a second thought. He showered, dressed, and left the dormitory.

He'd barely made it into the Entrance Hall when he was accosted by Headmistress McGonagall, who was practically running down the staircase towards him. "Mr. Malfoy, come with me at once." For a brief moment he only stared at her, but immediately followed after her retreating back as she hastily went back up the stairs. Other students in the hall were staring at him, some whispering behind their hands to their friends.

"What's the death eater done now?"

"I hope he's being expelled-"

Draco paid them no mind as he continued following Headmistress McGonagall through the castle, having heard everything before. Neither of them said a word to each other as they headed towards the third floor corridor. Headmistress McGonagall said the password to the gargoyle statue before they'd even made it to the statue itself. She ushered Draco inside her office and closed the door quickly behind herself.

Standing just inside the doorway, Draco waited while McGonagall walked around him to her desk. He was nervous, quickly running through the events of the past few weeks, looking for some sign of him potentially being in trouble. As far as he knew, he'd been perfectly acceptable this year. He'd kept his head down, stayed away from any sort of gossip and trouble makers, barely talking to anyone but Hermione.

"Sit," she said, motioning to one of the chairs in front of the desk while she, herself, took a seat behind it. She remained silent afterwards, waiting for him to take his seat. Once he had, she continued.

"Mr. Malfoy..."

She paused and sighed, removing her glasses and rubbing her eyes. She returned her glasses to her face and continued once more.

"Mr. Malfoy, I have just received word from your mother."

"M-my mother? B-but-"

McGonagall raised her hand and hushed Draco. He reclined back into his seat, having leaned forward at the mention of his mother. Gripping the arms of his chair so hard his knuckles were white, he waited in anticipation for her to continue.

"It's-it's your father, Draco."

Author's note: Well, that was an unexpected twist! In all honesty, the ending to this chapter was definitely not in the original planning, and what happens from here on out was not where I saw this story going when I first began writing it. It's crazy how that happens when you're writing away!

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and thank you all so much for the reviews! As usual, review review review!