Disclaimer: No matter how my fanciful my dreams are, the one in which I own the Harry Potter characters is one of the most unrealistic. Pity, though.

A/N: I have amazingly updated within a week instead of a month! For a change )

queenofthelameos: Thanks for reviewing! Oh yeah Draco's having a bit of a self-confidence problem here, but I guess one would feel that way if he's torn in between two...especially when one is to do with death. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Hermione felt so dazed.

Numbed.

She sagged down in the library chair as a figure walked furiously out of the library, head down.

Never.

She could never have…

Yet…

---

Draco cursed. And cursed. And cursed, as he walked on furiously.

"Filthy little mudblood…meddlesome, interfering…argh bloody hell!"

He had thrown away the mask he had been wearing for all his life in a moment of confusion. He had just…

"Softened! Draco Malfoy, you softened! Oh damn it all…"

Quickening his pace, he continued to curse all the way, with his fists clenched and perspiration dotting his forehead, to the dungeons leading to the Slytherin common-room.

"Damn you Draco Malfoy, you're a bloody idiot!"

"Why the verbal abuse to yourself?" A familiar, twitterish voice came floating through the harsh dungeon air. Draco narrowed his eyes and curled his lip nastily. He was definitely in no mood to be dealing with Pansy Parkinson again, especially when he was quite sure she was the root of all his trouble.

"Get lost, Parkinson, I don't have the time to play games with you."

"Oh no no…I'm sure you do," remarked Pansy as she emerged from the shadows, sauntering towards Draco, the smile on her face laced with a sinister vibe. "You always have fun playing games with people; think about Whittington and her chewing gum!" She raised her eyebrows. "I'm sure I will continue playing games with you irregardless of whether you are free or not to reciprocate."

"I wasn't the one who threatened to hex her if she didn't tell McGonagall that her jaw problem was all a lie!" Draco suddenly felt disgusted by that incident, which he had long forgotten about. "It was my father!"

"Whoever it was, McGonagall had to take it even though she knew better," laughed Pansy. "And you were so happy, weren't you, Draco?"

"I said get lost!" snarled Draco, for about the umpteenth time.

Pansy merely smiled. "Why should I? We've been friends for so long, Draco…"

"That's enough!" exploded Draco, whipping his wand out of his pocket for the second time in the day. "You were the one who landed Weasley in this Stunned state, don't think I'm a fool!"

Pansy stopped smiling, and curled her lip in the same way Draco had done so. "And what would have happened to you if I didn't do something? You'd have been killed by the Dark Lord! What would you rather? You'd rather Potter's sidekick be alive and kicking whilst you get tortured by the Dark Lord? I don't think so! What's wrong with you, Draco? You never used to be so irrational! You know only too well what the Dark Lord is capable of if you fail him! And you're the leader of all of us junior Death Eaters; anything goes wrong in Hogwarts, you're to blame! Wake up, Draco!"

"I'm well aware of what I'm supposed to do!"

"You're not! Even if you are, you're hiding from it! You're a coward, that's what you are, Draco Malfoy, a COWARD!"

"SHUT UP!" hissed Draco, and the tip of his wand lighted up faintly. "Don't push me, Parkinson, or I swear I'll hex you off your feet and into the walls!"

Pansy pulled out her own wand, eyes flashing. "You're not the only one capable of Dark Magic!"

"Try me!" The light from Draco's wand brightened.

"Draco Malfoy, stop it! What if the Dark Lord hears of this?"

Pansy's voice was no longer sinister; it was full of pain.

Draco's hand quivered; the light vanished from the wand tip.

Neither of them spoke for a long while, just glaring at each other with their wands pointing ahead.

Finally, Draco lowered his hand. Pansy followed suit.

"Draco, listen to me. You must get rid of Ginny Weasley. Kill her, Stun her, whatever! You mustn't let the Dark Lord down! It's your chance to get rid of Harry Potter as well; don't be such an idiot! I don't know what's going on with you nowadays…you're always so distracted, you didn't dare to kill Ron Weasley…it's not like you, Draco…"

Draco didn't know what to think. His mind was in a whirl.

"Draco, listen. You've got to do it."

He looked up into Pansy's pleading green eyes. Instantly, he was reminded of the chestnut-coloured ones he was staring at just a few moments ago. His body gave a violent shudder once more as he closed his eyes, hearing the Dark Lord's words echo in his mind.

Don't fail me.

Instantly, the vision of the woman burning at the pyre flashed back into his mind, the screams clawing at his senses; his eyes widened a little at the image; his skin turned cold. I will not care about the process, Draco Malfoy, I will not interfere with what you are thinking in the process; all I want is the end-result. Do not make me interfere, or I'm sure you'll regret it.

Draco breathed hard.

Pansy looked at him for a long while. Then she held out her hand.

Draco stared at it. Then his eyes became even stonier than ever, as he looked ahead, brushed past Pansy and headed for the common room portrait, ignoring the sly hisses of the snake in it.

Pansy's sad eyes followed him. Then it narrowed into slits once more.

---

"Honestly, what's wrong with you two?" Lavender asked nervously. "You've been eyeing each other suspiciously for the entire day since the morning and now you're avoiding each other!"

Harry and Hermione said nothing. Lavender looked huffy and decided to leave them alone in the common-room. Seamus and Dean, seeing that the atmosphere was getting tenser every second, decided to leave as well, lowering their conversation about what they got for Christmas presents the year before to a whisper.

Harry was unable to speak because he had suddenly felt very angry with Hermione for leaving the Hall at dinner without a word. He had wanted to speak with her about what happened the night before, but she had just vanished. What made things worse was when she came back to the common-room, she just sat there like a gargoyle, staring dazedly into space. She was obviously not willing to listen to anything he wanted to tell her!

Hermione, on the other hand, was just completely blank. She knew nothing at the moment, except for the fact that she had just been kissed by the boy she hated most in school. In the library…of all places! But what made her absolutely numb was that she had not felt a single bit of repulsion by his act; she had actually warmed to his kiss. She had allowed him to do so, even when she was so angry and hurt that he was losing himself to the Dark side.

No, Hermione. I can't.

Oh yes, you can! She suddenly thought, fiercely. You're just avoiding it!

Yet Hermione knew very well that nobody could defy the Dark Lord's orders and get away scot-free for it. If Draco Malfoy let Ginny go, Voldemort would kill him. He could only kill, or be killed. She had witnessed, in her dreams, how the Dark Lord burnt people at the pyre of Death, mercilessly shutting out the cries of despair and rage ringing out…

Another thought struck her. He had called me Hermione. He had dropped the surname basis and had actually addressed her by her first name. Hermione's head throbbed terribly as she tried to think harder. Who is Draco Malfoy, really? Stuck-up, spiteful…is he really truly any worse than that? Is there any good in him? He didn't want to become a Death Eater…what made him? How was he going to survive being such an important figure in Voldemort's plans…what if he failed?

"Hermione?"

Harry ventured to break the ice – his curiosity was getting the better of his anger.

Slowly, Hermione turned to face him. Harry was surprised to see such a blank expression in her eyes. "Hermione, what happened? Where did you go?"

"I…nothing. I…just…I was just thinking about Ron…and…and Ginny."

Harry turned a bit pale at the mention of Ginny.

"I'm…I'm sorry…"

"Hermione…" Harry closed his eyes. "We've got to tell Dumbledore."

"No!" Hermione's eyes suddenly blazed. "No!"

Harry was taken aback. "What?"

"I said no…" her voice was reduced to a whimper.

"Hermione, I know it's going to be risky, but he'll handle it better than we will! I can't imagine what Voldemort will do to any student in the school if he can enter it as and when he pleases to!"

Almost immediately, that mental image struck Harry hard as he sat up straight. "I say! How ever did Voldemort get into Hogwarts with all that magic? I don't believe his powers have surpassed Dumbledore's that much!"

"What are you trying to get at?" asked Hermione, wearily.

Surprised by her inability to infer from his words, Harry explained. "Don't you get it? There must be some secret entrance to allow Voldemort to enter the school grounds without getting noticed. And it must be linked to the tower, or else he'd have risked being spotted…since the tower staircase is so near Dumbledore's office!"

Hermione's eyes lighted up with that suggestion, but she said nothing.

"We've got to find that entrance!"

"And…what about Dumbledore?"

Harry's excitement died down a bit. "Well…maybe we'll tell him after we try to figure out what's going on at the tower. I…Meanwhile, we'd better keep a…a closer eye on Ginny. She can't be hurt a second time…it's too much."

Sensing Harry's concern for Ginny, Hermione felt a sudden ache in her heart. If she had to choose…how could she?

"By the way, you haven't answered me. Where did you go after dinner, in such a hurry?"

Hermione's hands went rigid and cold. "I…"

"That letter…" said Harry, eyeing her suspiciously. "Who was it from?"

"No..nobody, really…"

Harry was not stupid. "Malfoy?"

Hermione started. "No! No, not Malfoy!"

"Relax, Hermione!" Harry was alarmed by her violent reaction, and terribly suspicious at the same time. "Then who was it from?"

"It…It was from McGonagall…" stammered Hermione.

"Hermione, don't lie to me!" Harry suddenly burst out, looking very angry indeed. "Even if you didn't know, I am quite sure that the owl that gave you that note belongs to Draco Malfoy!"

Hermione buried her head in her arms and began to sob.

"What did he tell you? Did he threaten you? Did he…do anything? That nasty ferret; thinks he's so great, now he's a Death Eater going to kill off the Weasleys…"

"Harry, please! No…"

"What happened, Hermione! What's going on between Malfoy and you? First, it's telepathy, now it's a meeting?"

"Harry, he didn't choose to become a Death Eater!"

Harry snorted. "And you believed him? Of all people, Hermione, I can't believe you fell for his words! He's just trying to win your sympathy! So now he's playing soft, huh? I wouldn't have thought it of him…just a sly little ferret, a useless pawn of Voldemort…"

Hermione brushed away her tears. "I…I don't know…"

Feeling a wave of pity wash over him, Harry stood up and walked over to the couch where his best friend sat, and put an arm around her, pulling her close to him. "Hermione, I promise that I'll never let you get hurt by Malfoy, in any way. He's just a liar, a cheat, a fraud. There's nothing good about him. If he tries to connect with you by whatever telepathic means or any kind of secret meeting, you've got to tell me…I won't let him hurt you."

He said it so fiercely, with such conviction that Hermione felt comforted by the strong friendship they shared…she immediately thought of poor Ron lying in the hospital wing…how she wished the three of them were together again, laughing and joking about the latest gossips of the students, she and Ron having their usual bickering session, the two boys trying to beat each other at wizard chess…

Yet she also thought of Draco Malfoy, tousled blond hair and all, curled up and shackled in a corner of a dark cell, crying his heart out bitterly, the scars on his arms evidence of the torture by Voldemort…

"I know you won't. I know you won't let him hurt me."

I know you won't hurt me.