A/N: Here's the next chapter!! I'm so glad I still have some readers left!! You probably don't know this but I don't own Harry Potter. Shocker, isn't it? HOPE YOU ALL HAD A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

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For the next few days I tried to be kinder to the blond Slytherin. When he wasn't paying attention I'd study him and notice that Severus had been right. He wasn't really the cold hearted bastard that I had once thought him to be.

One night while I was watching him eat under the cover of reading in front of the fire said fire turned green and Charlie stepped into the room. When I looked from him back to the kitchen I noticed that Malfoy had disappeared.

"Nice going." I grumbled, standing from my seat on the couch. "He's not as bad as you seem to think he is, you know."

The redhead sighed, "I know. I just don't like the way he looks at you."

I stared up at him confused. "What do you mean how he looks at me? With hate?"

Charlie chuckled. "That's only when he's caught. When you're not paying attention it almost seems as if…" He stopped talking, leaving the statement open ended.

"Almost as if what?" I asked, staring up into ocean blue eyes. Charlie frowned slightly as he stared down at me. The fire crackled in the background and I could hear faint footsteps echoing upstairs.

"Almost as if he's fallen in love with you." He finally whispered, his face drawing closer to mine.

I shifted my eyes to the floor and took a step back. My face flushed and I stumbled over my words. "I'll be right back. I've got to, um, check on Sev." And with that I dashed upstairs and locked myself in my room. Once I had caught my breath I pulled open my window and settled myself down on the roof.

"What are you doing up here?" A voice asked and I whirled around. Malfoy was sitting on the other side of the roof with his legs dangling over.

"What do you mean what am I doing up here? What are you doing up here?" I stood and walked halfway to where he was sitting. He stood and glared at me. I sighed. "I mean, I always come up here. When did you find out you could get up here?"

His cold eyes softened a bit and he took a few steps towards me. "Just a few days ago. It got kinda lonely with you and Severus sleeping so I went exploring. It's really peaceful up here."

I nodded. "I know what you mean. It's almost as if you're disconnected from the rest of the world."

"Hermione!" Charlie's voice floated up to us from my open window.

"Except for when that happens." I sighed, noticing that Malfoy's eyes had hardened once again.

"Hermione, I'm sorry!" His voice called.

When I sat down Malfoy looked at me as if I had two heads. "Aren't you going to go talk to him?" I shook my head. "Why not?"

"I don't feel like talking to him right now." I said truthfully. "I'd much rather stay up here." I stared up at the twinkling stars and felt at home. A shooting star momentarily lit up the sky and I closed my eyes. 'I wish everything wasn't so complicated.' I sent my wish up to the stars and could have sworn that they flashed brightly as I opened my eyes.

Malfoy yawned from where he sat behind me and I laughed. "What's so funny?" He asked indignantly.

"I keep forgetting you're on a different schedule than me and Sev. Go get some sleep Malfoy. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Only if you call me Draco." He said standing. "I am no longer a Malfoy." I nodded and he smiled.

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The next few days flew by so quickly I barely had time to breath. Charlie was in and out of the house, Sev was in and out of consciousness, and Draco and I barely saw each other.

Finally one night we finally met up on the roof just as the sun was peeking up over the horizon. "It just seems as if there's not enough time in the day, doesn't it?" Draco asked. "Or night in some cases."

I laughed. "Tell me about it. I feel as if I haven't had a decent night's sleep in weeks." I said as I stretched. "I think…" I yawned. "I could sleep for days."

The sky was lit with pastel colors as I could feel myself slowly drifting off to sleep. Right before I totally lost consciousness I heard Draco stand and whisper, "Sleep well." Before leaving.

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"It seems as if you have a bit of a competition for your heart." Rhoswen laughed as she appeared in the hallway. I looked at her, confused. "Charlie and the young blond. They are both after your affections."

"Oh no," I giggled, "they're both just friends."

Rhoswen looked at me knowingly. "You may think so but if you pay close attention you may find that things are not as they seem." She smiled. "But it's not exactly unexpected. Leaders of the Vampire Council are always viewed upon as being exceptionally beautiful."

"What do you mean? I'm not in charge of the Vampire Council." I shook my head firmly.

"Ah, but you will be someday. Why do you think we've been visiting you?"

I looked at her blankly. "But I'm a Halfling. Is that even possible?"

"There's nothing in our Code that says anything against it." She said as her edges started to blur.

Suddenly I was alone in the hallway and for the first time since these dreams had started coming to me I had the chance to explore my surroundings. The portraits on the walls smiled at me as I passed by, each one of them scarily gorgeous.

As I reached the end of the hallway I turned to the only door and stared at it. The golden door handle glinted in the pale light. I reached out for it but as my fingers made contact with the cool metal the hallway started to fade right before my eyes.

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"Hermione, are you okay?" Charlie asked one night as we sat in his kitchen waiting for Bill to come for breakfast. "You look sick."

"I'm fine." I sniffled. "I just haven't gotten much sleep lately."

"Nonsense," Charlie said as he placed a cool hand on my forehead, "you're burning up. You need to go home and get some rest."

"I'm fine." I insisted, blinking away at the haze that had started falling across my vision. "I really am."

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe you and I'm sure that if your father was here he'd agree."

I blushed shamefully. Ever since I had started feeling a bit under the weather I had been avoiding Sev. Surely if he had seen me like this I'd be stuck in bed for weeks while he poured potion after potion down my throat. "Really, Charlie, I'm fine. I promise that as soon as I get home I'll get some rest but I haven't seen Bill in ages."

"If you say so." The redheaded former Dragon Tamer said hesitantly. "But you have to swear to Valkyrie that you'll go straight to bed as soon as you get home."

"I swear." I said as a loud THUD alerted us of Bill's arrival.

Breakfast passed by slowly and I could feel my eyelids growing heavier and heavier as time went on. By the time I had finished my food everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. Bill was looking at me worriedly and Charlie was asking me something but I couldn't hear him over the ringing in my ears.

Suddenly everything went quiet and I could see Bill yelling something as everything started to blur. Strong arms wrapped around me and I was lifted from my seat. I tried to say something but it was as if my mind had disconnected from my body.

I watched as I was carried into the fireplace and suddenly fire wrapped around me. Everything was hot and I couldn't cool down even after we had stepped from the fireplace at my home. A shrill siren broke through the silence and it took me a few moments to realize that I was screaming.

I saw Draco rushing towards us as my vision started to ebb away. Sev was pulling me from the strong arms and rushing me upstairs. As my sight went black I found peace in the emptiness and felt as if I were floating away from my body.

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When I opened my eyes I was in a much different hallway than I had ever been in before. There were no portraits but rather black vases filled with white roses adorned the tables along the stretch of hallway.

No one came to meet me as I took a woozy step ahead. "Hello?" I called and found my speech was slow and slurred. "Is anyone here?"

A small child's laugh came from behind me but when I turned to look for its source I became dizzy and fell. I closed my eyes, expecting contact with the floor beneath me but just kept falling. Dark nothingness surrounded me when I opened my eyes. I could see nothing but my hand when I struggled to hold it mere centimeters from my face.

I landed with a thump in a field of grass. The moon shone brightly in the night sky above me. "Hermione." A voice whispered. "Hermione please wake up. We don't know what's wrong with you." A flash of blue erupted before me. "Just give us some sign that you're okay." I slowly reached out to the blue light with a heavy arm. My whole body felt sluggish as I walked towards it.

My fingers brushed against it and chills ran down my spine. "Severus!" The voice was now loud, too loud. I covered one ear with my free arm as the other one stayed in the glowing blue light. "Something's wrong, she won't stop shaking." My ears rang with the sheer volume of the voice and I pulled my hand away to cover my other ear.

The light slowly started to fade away. "Wait!" I called but the words danced out in front of me soundlessly.

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A/n: What's happened to our dear Hermione? I know I said that the last chapter was the last chance to vote but I changed my mind, you have one last chance, but now it's only between Charlie and Draco.

Charlie: 27
Bill: 7
Twins: 4
Draco: 20

So who's it going to be? Charlie, the redheaded Halfling, or Draco, who has no idea what Hermione is?