Disclaimer: Ha, do you seriously think I own Harry Potter? Forget him, I want Draco Malfoy! Lol. Sad, I don't own either of them. :(

Author's note: Okay, okay, okay. I was positively overwhelmed with reviews for all of my stories! I came to my mailbox (yahoo) and there was like 54 and only 4 of them were story alerts. I read all of them and replied to some. Thank you all so much for the reviews! They were confidence boosters!

Okay, the debate of sorting. Fun, fun. One reviewer pointed out that Slytherin does hold and represent a sort of "darkness" and Hermione represents the night so she should go into Slytherin and Ginny somewhere else. In that thought process, Ginny would go to Gryffindor, red and gold are pretty sunny colors to me… lol. But, I don't want to be cliché or anything. Ugh… They are definitely not being sorted in this chapter. Lol.

And, for those of you who have read it, I have a question about the sequel to Escaping The Past. No, I haven't written or posted it yet but those who have read ETP, should Hermione have a kid in the sequel, that's like already about 10 or so? I mean, it wouldn't be Draco's and the father wouldn't be involved in her life… or maybe he would and Draco would fight for her… what do you think? The sooner I know, the sooner I'll start writing it again. :)

Don't forget to review!

Previously: She watched the owl fly off and noticed that Draco was staring at her from his window. She winked at him and smirked before shutting the window once more.

Chapter Seven

Hermione lay in her bed, slowly bringing the covers over her shivering body. The only light was the moon that shone in through the window. She was wrapping her arms around herself when she noticed a scar on her left wrist. Where did that come from? That was her last thought before she fell into a deep sleep.

Draco, six years old, was running around his back yard with Hermione, also six, chasing him around. Suddenly, he fell.

"Dray!" Hermione ran to his side as fast as her legs would allow her.

"I'm… I'm okay," he got to his feet, dusting the dirt from his clothes.

"Dray, you're bleeding," she was pointing to his right wrist.

"Hmm… it didn't hurt," he smiled bravely.

"Where do you think you cut it?" she asked with a hint of curiosity and mischief in her voice.

"Uh," he looked around and pointed, "oh, there. I fell by the roses and they got my arm. Why?" he cocked his head.

She marched over to them, not bothering with his question. She scrutinized one of the thorns before grasping a stem and putting a thorn to her left wrist. She pushed it down hard and dragged it across, trying not to wince at the pain.

"Mi! What are you doing?" Draco ran beside her and looked at her bleeding wrist.

"Here," she began, "give me your wrist." He obliged. She held their cuts together. "We're best friends forever."

"Forever," echoed Draco, staring in amazement at their arms.

Hermione gasped. What the hell? she thought. The scar on her arm was raised, appearing like it was fresh. She ran her finger over it, as if to smooth it down. Noticing it was still night, she rolled over. Her blinking clock read 3:30 a.m. An hour and thirty minutes of sleep? I'm wide awake! Ugh, I'm going to be so tired today.

Hermione pushed her covers away. She stood and strolled to her closet. Rubbing her eyes, she pulled pants and a tank top out of her closet. She ambled into her bathroom and turned the water to a slightly over warm temperature. Her smile grew as she looked at the large tub.

When she stepped in, the warm water was soft. She went under the water and came back up.

An hour later, she was sitting in front of her computer. Her pants hugged her closely and her shirt wasn't too loose. Her black hair was wet, lying on her shoulders.

Silvereyedcharmer: Hey. Why are you up?

Guardarlo: I'm a night person. You?

Silvereyedcharmer: Yeah, I guess. Those dirty images kept me up.

Guardarlo: lol. I had a dream… do you have a scar on your… right wrist?

Silvereyedcharmer: Yeah, why?

Guardarlo: Do you remember where it's from?

Silvereyedcharmer: Of course, all my memories of you were restored. You were chasing me and I fell. Then, you cut yourself purposefully with a thorn and put our wrists together saying that we would be best friends forever.

Guardarlo: Hmm… so much for that.

Silvereyedcharmer: We could be.

Guardarlo: I don't even call you Draco.

Silvereyedcharmer: You'll warm up to me.

Guardarlo: I'm not like most girls.

Silvereyedcharmer: I got that already.

Guardarlo: Hardy, har, har.

Silvereyedcharmer: So, are you ready for seventh year?

Guardarlo: Totally, you?

Silvereyedcharmer: Whatever it takes to get out of this house.

Guardarlo: Away from my world, whatever it takes to get away from my world, I mean.

Silvereyedcharmer: You just got into it…

Guardarlo: No, I've been in this world for 17 years. I mean my whole world, not just this richie rich style.

Silvereyedcharmer: You don't like your life?

Guardarlo: Did I say that?

Silvereyedcharmer: Between the lines.

Guardarlo: Oh, sorry, I like my life just fine. I just would prefer things to go differently.

Silvereyedcharmer: What happened?

Guardarlo: Changing the subject, what's the name of that girl you like?

Silvereyedcharmer: It appears that we both have questions that we'd rather not answer.

Guardarlo: My point exactly.

Silvereyedcharmer: Yeah, yeah. I better go. I need sleep whether you do or not.

Guardarlo: G'night sleeping beauty.

Silvereyedcharmer. G'night… and I have to say, you're the beauty. ; )

Silvereyedcharmer logged off at 5:13 a.m.

Hermione turned her laptop off. She moved to her bookshelf and grabbed a book from it. She lounged on her bed and began reading.

A knock came to her door a few hours later.

"Come in," yelled Hermione.

"Miss, breakfast is ready."

"Okay, thank you, Tinker," she smiled warmly as Tinker bowed her way out of the room. Hermione marked the page in her book and sauntered down to the dining room. The sight was the same as it was the morning before. Lana was surveying every centimeter of her nails, and Casper was reading the Daily Prophet.

"Good morning," Hermione spoke with an air of sweetness.

"That it is," Casper replied. "The Malfoys' are having their annual back to school dinner and have been courteous enough to invite us. It is tonight, and we are all expected."

"Okay."

"Expected where?" Ginny appeared, yawning largely.

"The Malfoys'… for dinner," answered Hermione.

"Okay."

Hermione ate the fruit from her tray before looking at Casper. "Casper, I'm going somewhere today, when should I be back?"

"The dinner is at six p.m. However long it will take to get ready for you, make sure you are back in time to be over there at five-forty-five. Is that okay?"

"Yes, sir. I'll be back around five." She hopped from her seat and up the stairs. After grabbing her purse, she apparated.

The whole house was dark. The only light came through broken blinds. Hermione switched some lights on. She checked each room to secure that no damage had been committed and everything was still in its original order. She smiled almost wearily at the pictures of her family and herself, tired of remembering bad things.

She unlocked the front door and pulled it open. Sunlight shined brightly into the house, clearly pointing out dust that had collected itself over the few days of Hermione's absence.

Hermione pranced to the mailbox by the road. She felt someone's eyes on her the whole time. Once she got the mail out, she casually let her eyes glide up. They darted towards the neighbor's house where a boy, who looked her age, was staring at her. He glimpsed her up and down, smiling sickeningly and she frowned, beginning to walk inside.

She shut the door behind her and started to sort through the mail. Two steps in and someone blocked her path. She jumped back, mail flew out of her hands, and her eyes met the intruder's. Hermione sighed. It was almost one of relief.

"Damn it, Jake, don't do that." Jake was the neighbor.

"Don't do what, my sweet. I'm just doing my job."

"And that job is? How do you even know who I am, I look totally different."

"I would know you anywhere, my sweet. My job is to watch you."

"And who gave you that job because you passed the stage of creeping me out about a year ago."

"Your father gave me my job. I have to say, I like it even better now." As she tried to side step him, he blocked her path once more and took a step towards her.

"My father is dead."

"I know, and I have specific orders."

"And those are?"

"One is to not tell you any of them."

"Didn't you just break the rules then?" she tried to go around him but he took another step towards her, causing her to back into the door. He took yet another step and, fearfully, she scooted into the corner. His body was against hers. He slowly brought his hand up and stroked her face.

"Maybe," he whispered into her ear. He took his hand away from her face and placed both of his hands on her hips. She twitched at his touch. He slid his hands up her shirt and her body froze. "I can't wait until I have you," he whispered it almost maliciously just before he disappeared as if she had imagined the whole thing. But she couldn't have, she could still feel his cold touch on her skin.

Ginny knocked nervously against the door. She had spontaneously decided to show up where she wasn't sure she was any longer allowed. A plump woman with red air thrown upon the top of her head opened the kitchen door.

"Oh, yes, who is it?" she was wiping her flour covered hands on her apron.

"Mum?" Ginny asked.

"What," Molly Weasley looked up, "oh, Merlin. Ginny, come in."

Ginny obliged and stepped into the kitchen that smelt wonderfully like sugar cookies.

"Where is… everyone?"

"Out back, dear," a silence crawled between them. "I saw you at the bookstore the other day. Is Hermione all right? She seemed upset."

"Her… parents died," Ginny said with lament.

"Whose parents died?" Harry asked, coming in.

"Oh, no one's, Harry. You must have misheard. This is… uh…"

"Helen," Ginny offered her hand, looking nervously from Molly to Harry.

"Yeah, you were at the bookstore, right?"

"Yeah."

"Cool, thanks for your… help."

"That was my sister."

"Either way, Malfoy can be a pain."

"That's true. She's put up with him a lot, though. We actually live next door to him."

"Ooh. That must suck."

"Not really, he's pretty good once you get to know him," Ginny was a bit surprised that that had come out of her mouth.

"I don't know."

"No one does," she stood. "I better be going," her eyes drifted to the stove clock. "I'll… talk to you later… M-Molly."

"Of course, dear. I hope to see you soon."

Ginny winked at Harry and departed.

Author's note: Okay, it took me a few days but at least it's really long! I like it. Do you? Please, please review and thank you so much to all of those who reviewed for all of my stories.

Ha, I left you with a bit of a cliffe in Hermione's situation. Haha. : )

Don't forget about Hidden Surprises, it's a must read if you haven't. : )

Most of my love,

Heather.