A/N: Hello all! I know… I was planning on getting out like one chapter a day or every other day… well… as you probably noticed… plans changed.

As some of you know, I work at a camp during the summers and I normally have to be there on May 27th. But out of the blue, they offered me a Division Head position, so now I have to be there like 2 weeks earlier… like Today.

I've been trying to get a chapter out to you guys before I left, but I went to visit my sister for a day or two… and we got in a wreck while we were there. Some lady liked totally plowed into us. Everyone is okay… I have a concussion because I was in the backseat and I wasn't wearing a seat belt and I hit the window.

But we were definitely lucky because my 2-year-old niece and my 8-month-old nephew were in the car, but luckily they are okay. So… anyway, like I said… plans changed.

But I did my best to at least get something out to you guys before I left. I will be back for a slight break on the 22nd through the 27th. So hopefully I'll get more done then.

It will be shorter than normal and for that I apologize now. But I figured you guys would prefer a short chapter rather than no chapter.

Explorations

SPG

Hermione Granger had risen early that morning—whether out of excitement or curiosity, she wasn't sure. She had been delighted by Harry's offer. A visit to the Malfoy library could unearth the information about which her mind had been fruitlessly hypothesizing.

She had been jittery all morning. She'd squeezed her shampoo bottle a little too hard that morning when she had tried to open it. The result had been a few bubble of shampoo shot directly into her eye.

Even the fierce burning hadn't been enough to dampen her excitement. She'd continued with her maladroit maneuvering the rest of the morning. After two broken coffee cups, three drafts of letters to her mum, one rather violent incident (where she stepped on Crookshanks' tail), and a broken strap on her favorite Mary Janes, it was finally time for Harry to pick her up.

She had worried for a moment about her dinner with Harry. She assumed they'd be going directly from work like they usually did with Ron, but somewhere in the pit of her stomach she'd felt a flurry of anxiety. Harry hadn't mentioned anything about Ron coming, but she was sure he had just forgotten to mention it. All the same, she decided to set out a nice a-line skirt and a cute blouse.

She heard a knock on her door and had to contain a squeal of excitement. She grabbed her extra-large tote bad and shrunk it so that she could fit it neatly in her pocket until she needed it.

She ran to the door, threw it open, and tackled Harry into a hug.

He laughed, "You know, if I were a lucky guy, you'd be as excited about me as you are about books."

"Oh you're lucky, Potter." She grinned. "Lucky I don't hex you for being late."

"What?" He laughed, "I'm like thirty-seconds late at the most!"

"Like you said… I'm excited about my books." She grinned cheekily.

"Well then" he continued, "in interests of preventing my demise, we should probably leave."

"Right you are, lucky boy." She laughed.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

When they appeared at the apparition point in Malfoy Manor, there was a flurry of excitement in the air. The capture of Lucius Malfoy had raised everyone's spirits and sparked a renewed vigor in the auror department.

Harry had placed a ministry I.D. around her neck that gave her free roam around the premises. He also placed a gentle kiss upon her cheek before bustling off to do whatever it is that head of the auror department does.

Hermione fingered the tag around her neck as she walked. Harry's behavior had been oddly different lately. It wasn't unpleasant in the least, just … different. He seemed much more carefree and laid back. He didn't have that crease that ran along his forehead, that Hermione knew from observation had rarely left his expression since the war began. The only time she'd seen him this carefree was in his sleep. And even then, his dreams were usually cause for worry as well.

She ran her palm along the smooth, contoured wood of the grand staircase. It was cool beneath her fingertips and she entertained for a moment a fleeting vision of herself sliding down the great banister in a torrent of laughter.

She continued up the stairs, her heels (which she'd been forced to wear in the absence of her Mary Janes) clicking in her wake. As she walked along the hallways which were trickling with ministry employees, she couldn't help but feel a pang for Draco. She watched as his childhood home was being stripped of everything from picture frames, to family heirlooms, to small knick-knacks.

She was about to ask an employee for the whereabouts of the library when an open door caught her eye. She walked to the entrance and peeked in, not wanting to disturb anyone's work. When she saw that it was empty, she stepped across the threshold.

As soon as she took in the room, she knew it belonged to Draco. She could tell it hadn't been touched in years, but at the same time it still held that polished immaculate look that was so characteristic of Draco's life. The bed was stereotypically draped in green and black silk befitting of the former Slytherin Prince. She noted that the grand mirror on the right wall had three large cracks that extended from the outer edges to a point just right of center where they connected in a circle of smashed glass that looked distinctly like the imprint of a fist.

She wondered briefly whether Draco had broken it all those years ago, or whether this particular act of frustration was Lucius's doing.

A trickle of guilt surged through her as she began opening the drawers in a large wooden chest that sat alongside his canopy bed. The majority of the drawers held normal things that ranged from boxers (at which she blushed furiously) to socks to other various articles of clothing, but the bottom drawer caught her fascination.

At first glance it was filled with pairs upon pairs of black dress pants, but by luck she caught site of a barely noticeable seam in the wood at the back of the drawer. She moved the clothing aside and took out her wand. She tapped it once and the small square of wood moved forward and to the side. Her mouth opened in surprise when she saw a distinctly recognizable black satin bag in the small opening.

She retrieved it and slowly loosened the drawstring to find that her assumption was correct. It was one of the never-ending bags she'd seen in a store in Diagon Alley. You could put as many things inside as you pleased and it would never fill up.

Without a second of hesitation, she took a seat on the silken cushioning of Draco's bed and reached inside the small bag. The first thing she pulled out was a small 3x5 moving photograph of Draco and his mother. She smiled as she observed what appeared to be a three-year-old platinum-blonde toddler being twirled around in the arms of a Narcissa Malfoy that looked young and carefree—nothing like the bitter and cold woman that Hermione had met in the top box at the Quidditch Cup so many years ago.

She placed the photograph back in the bag and reached her hand in once more. She felt around for something that might spark her interest and when she felt a book her eyes lit up and she pulled it out.

It was a small leather-bound black journal with the name Draco Xavier Malfoy embroidered in the lower left hand corner in small curly golden script. Her eyebrows rose so high they nearly disappeared into her hairline.

She let out a slow and steady breath and raised her hand to open the manuscript when she heard a rustling outside the door and panicked. She quickly stuffed the journal back into the bag and pulled the drawstring tight. She slipped the back into her robes and was alarmed to see the door handle beginning to turn. She threw open a door to her left and jumped inside.

She heard Harry's voice fill the room as he said, "I wish I could just torch this place."

She recognized Dean's laugh as it filled the room.

"Whatever happened to Malfoy anyway?" Dean asked, "after that night I mean?"

"I don't know Pal." Harry replied, "Some say Voldemort killed him that night he killed Narcissa, but I'm not so sure."

"But where else could he be?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. That's what bothers me." Harry finished quietly.

Hermione could hear them rummaging through Draco's things and she thought sadly that they probably weren't being very gentle if Harry's opinion of Malfoy was any indication.

"So you ready for tonight?" Dean asked Harry in a teasing tone.

"Haha…" Harry laughed, "I'm a little nervous."

Hermione's interest peaked. What did Harry have to do tonight that would make him nervous? She grew worried at the thought that he might have another dangerous raid tonight.

"Don't be, man." Dean laughed, "If you can defeat Voldemort, a couple dragons, a few hundred death eaters, and like a million dementors, I'm sure you can handle telling your best friend you love her."

Hermione covered her mouth to quiet the squeak that escaped her mouth as she moved backward in surprise. She felt her back hit a wall—a wall that gave way easily and sent her falling on her bum.

She landed with an "Oof!" and heard the hidden door snap back into place. She sat up rubbing her head angrily, and was surprised to find herself in a dark corner of what she could only guess was the Malfoy family library.

She marveled at the tombs that lined walls that stretch farther than she could see and higher than she would care to climb.

She realized with a small smile that perhaps she and Malfoy weren't that different after all. It appeared that the library served as some sort of sanctuary for the both of them.

She immediately retrieved her shrunken tote from her robes and returned it to its normal size. She set off down the closest aisle scanning the titles for anything of relevance.

She spent what seemed like minutes (but really were more like hours) traveling down aisle after aisle with no luck. She'd been tempted to grab a few books that interested her along the way, but reminded herself to stay focused.

She was about to give up and try searching somewhere else when she saw a door to a smaller room also filled with books.

She knew immediately when she read the first title, "Curses for Torture" that she'd found the Dark Arts section of the family library. She was flabbergasted by the size of the room. She'd had no idea that the dark arts were even this extensive. Her knowledge of the dark arts had never extended very far past the unforgivables.

She continued to scour the room until she'd read every title. She exited the room with several books in her tote. Dark Curses to Control the Mind, Malfoy Family Punishment Curses, Bewitching the Mind, and A History of the Malfoy Family were the most likely to be of help. She shrunk the bag and its contents once more and returned them to the inside of her robes.

The door behind her had just closed with a click when the hidden door from which she had originally entered creaked open slowly. She braced herself, a tingle of fear and anxiety shooting up her spine, but was relieved to see the familiar messy black hair of the Boy-who-Lived.

Her anxiety returned when she remembered the reason she had so ungracefully fallen into the library in the first person.

Was it possible that her dinner tonight with Harry was … a real date? And… he was in love with her?

Her entire face paled except for a small blush painted across her cheek bones.

"Hermione!" Harry walked up to her, "You alright? You look a little pale." He ran his thumb lightly across her cheek and Hermione resisted the urge to shiver.

"I-I'm fine. Just overdid it a little. I got just a little too excited, I guess." She laughed.

Harry laughed and casually draped his arm across her shoulder, "Well, I'm actually about done here for the day, shall we head out? I need to go home and clean up a bit, shall I drop you off at your flat?" he asked.

"Oh… I'm sure I can manage alright by myself Harry." She smiled. "Just pop on over whenever you're ready, okay?"

"Sure, I'll see you in about an hour, Okay?" he asked.

"Sounds Great." Hermione replied. Harry turned to leave and she asked, "Uh… where exactly are we going again Harry?"

He grinned and she noticed the boyish dimple on his right cheek, "Ah… It's a surprise… but dress nice, okay? I'll pick you up around 7:00." He bent to give her the customary kiss on the cheek, but Hermione flushed when his kiss landed on the corner of her mouth, far away from the friendly pecks she usually received.

A/N: Alrighty guys! That wasn't too terrible short, about 2,300 words, but I didn't even come close to covering everything I wanted to cover. But alas… it is 3:30 in the morning and I must be leaving early tomorrow for Camp.

I will be back in about 4 or 5 days and it would be wonderful to come home to a big fat pile of reviews.

Oh yeah! And my birthday is in about 2 weeks… June 4th actually… so any of you fan artists out there can feel free to draw me a dramione birthday present wink or for you authors out there… I love one-shots! Or… you can all just be really nice and leave me a review!