A month and a half later, my path would cross Draco's yet again, and this time, I would be forced to spend several weeks seeing him…

&&&&

Ginny and I were walking side by side together talking in Diagon Alley, completely unaware of the tragedy to come.

"I notice you've been associating more with Harry recently." I grinned.

Ginny blushed. "It's all platonic, Hermione. There's nothing romantic happening, if that's what you were wondering."

"And is that the way you prefer it to be?" I asked with a devious grin.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You perfectly well know the answer to that question," she snapped.

"Well," I started, "it's perfectly blatant your affections aren't one sided there."

"And you point is…?" Ginny retorted.

"It's such a shame to see two people so in love and yet do nothing." I replied sweetly.

"Ah, I see. Interesting," Ginny mused, "But what do you propose to do?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. But I'm not the one in love with Harry."

Ginny punched me playfully on the arm. "A most brilliant plan Hermione! I'll be forever in your debt now!"

"Oh come on Ginny. You know romance is not my forte!" I replied defensively. "Otherwise, I would've started dating Ron sometime ages ago in fourth year instead of just recently in the past few months."

Ginny chucked. "True."

I gave a devious grin. "You know, you could sing to him…"

Ginny frowned. "What song?"

My smile grew wider.

Ginny gaped at me in mock horror. "You don't mean-"

"His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad," I recited in a sing song voice. "His eyes are as black as a black board."

"I hate you." Ginny replied back. But she finished the stanza. "I wish he were mine. He's really divine, the hero who conquered the Dark Lord."

Both of us doubled over in laughter. Tears streamed from our eyes. It was a pleasant memory, which was good since that day would be the last I would see her.

I sighed, content. "You know, I haven't laughed that hard for months now. But, I guess you can blame Voldemort for that.

"Indeed." Ginny agreed.

A moment of silence came after those wards, but that small time of meditation was interrupted by a woman's scream somewhere up ahead.

Ginny and I looked at each other, our eyes wide with fear. We took out our wands, expecting the worst.

And the worst was confirmed. Up ahead, in those sinister black masks, were the Death Eaters. There were about twenty of them. You couldn't fight them all single handedly. Ginny and I turned around and sprinted away, try to get as far as possible away from them.

Unfortunately, one of them seemed intent on coming after us. Fear rushed through out veins, and that drove us to run one more step every time.

I never learned who that mysterious Death Eater was, or why that person was coming after us specifically. I suspect the person now was somebody who knew about us being closely associated with Harry Potter. But the only people who would know us would be the original Death Eaters, the ones we met in the Department of Mysteries.

We ran everywhere we could, and occasionally try to shoot a spell at the Death Eater behind our backs.

We ran into some fashion store, with the plan of running out the back door, but two more Death Eaters were in the store already. I tripped over a body. Ginny looked back down at me, and hastily tried to pull me back up. But it was too late, in a flash of blinding green light; one of the Death Eaters had placed the killing curse on her.

I gasped. I sprung up and petrified one of the Death Eaters, and raised my wand to curse the second.

What I failed to remember though, was that there was already another Death Eater behind me. I was hit with the cruciatus curse.

I cannot begin to describe the pain I went through with that curse. My body was blazed into the worst throes I ever felt. I screamed my lungs out.

Suddenly, the pain left me as soon as it started. I rolled over and sighed with relief. And there Draco Malfoy was, standing at the doorway. He was talking to the Death Eater who had tortured me.

"Come on then." He said.

The other Death Eater sighed. "I wish you'd let me still have the opportunity to kill this mudblood here."

I groaned.

"She is meaningless," Draco said, "And our Lord is not one you keep waiting." Draco started turning away from the store, and the two Death Eaters were about to follow him when one of them stopped in his tracks.

"Wait a minute, you lie. If the Dark Lord wanted us to attend to him, we would have felt it on our skin. What are you trying to do?"

I turned my head slightly to locate my wand.

"What? No, I'm being honest. Let's go!" Draco rushed out his words. He really wasn't being convincing at all.

I touched the handle of my want.

The two Death Eaters started chuckling. "I thought you would be better at fibbing then that. But no matter what you are trying to do, it's not going to wo-"

I had done a spell to knock both of the two out at once.

Draco walked over to me, looked at Ginny briefly, felt her pulse, and then squatted down next to me.

"We have to go." He said urgently.

"Where will we go?" I asked.

"My place. I have to get a few stuff. But it's not going to be for long. Soon, the others will know what I have done and I will be hunted down. So will you, really."

"I don't think I have the strength to apparate." I mumbled.

"You can just side along apparate with me. We must go."

"Wait, what about Ginny?" I asked.

"She is dead." He replied simply.

I gasped. "She is not!" I shouted.

He grabbed me on the wrist and transported me to his place back with him, while I was hollering at him in a way uncharacteristically of me.