A/N: Eeep! It's been a while. Sorry 'bout that! :( I actually didn't have a lot of time to work on this lately...and this chapter wasn't really working out.

I hate this chapter btw. A lot.

Did you guys notice at the end of the last chapter I wrote down "the 13th Chapter is called 'Not Ready to Make Nice'"? It's actually the 14th Chapter.

Well, there's some Draco/Hermione moments here, plus – we learn a little more about this "Morlus Riddle" character. Draco's probably sounds OOC. I apologize if it sounds that way.

Don't ask about the boulder. It's an old thing I came up with that would've worked well when I was first beginning this story. Now though, it's not a really big part. Just a filler.

I know a lot of you are confused about certain events...or the whole story. There will be answers, I promise you that. Just not right now.

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by JK Rowling and the song "Not Ready to Make Nice" is by Dixie Chicks. All I own is the (ADDED) plot and the OCs.

Not Ready to Make Nice

...***...

Chapter 14

"Forgive?

Sounds good.

Forget...I'm not sure I could.

They say, time heals everything,

But I'm still waiting.

I'm through,

With doubt,

There' s nothing left for me to figure out.

I've paid a price,

And I'll keep paying..."

-Not Ready to Make Nice, Dixie Chicks

Hermione, once she got out of the castle, raced down toward the Black Lake. Her hair flew in the makeshift wind and she came to a halt right beside a large boulder. She needed that. To run. To be free. To stop thinking about everything. She wasn't sure why it was such a good idea, but...all of this...it was so confusing.

Hermione herself wasn't quite sure what to think. Was it just because of that story? If so, she definitely wasn't ready to forgive and forget. Things like this, especially after last year, (and this year, the Dark Lord seemed to have taken up some sort of profession for Hide and Seek,) the subject definitely was something far more serious than tripping someone on a playground.

Another thing was that it was immediately after Morrigan told the class that story. There was no evidence that it was true, though. Until someone could give her something that even remotely stated that what the Professor spoke about was truth, nothing in her mind would be changing.

She hadn't gotten any apologies from anyone yet. Not that she was expecting any. The ones he referred to weren't exactly the 'apologetic' type.

Hermione sat down on the boulder. Some odd force calmed her, which was an odd sensation at the moment. Hadn't she just been a little stressed about whether or not she should forgive Parkinson and the rest of the Slytherins or not? Relaxed (but slightly confused), Hermione began picking up a pile of rocks and throwing them at the lake. She wasn't really one for skipping stones – but throwing them at the water seemed just as entertaining.

Not really. But she had to do something. The calmness of the water and the boulder unnerved her.

After about five stones thrown, she began counting. Six...seven...eight...ten... She stopped mid-throw. Ten? What...?

She just realized at that moment that someone had decided to join her. For she never remembered throwing that ninth stone, but she did remember clearly noticing it fly and skip over the water. She also didn't remember her Arithmancy skills going so low that she couldn't quite count properly.

There went another stone. She counted the amount of times it skipped across the water. Five. Better than I would've ever done. She didn't turn. Calm...

"Careful, Granger. The rock's charmed," said a drawling voice behind her. She frowned, turning her head slightly in Malfoy's direction. She was surprised by the dreamy tone of her voice.

"Who in their right mind would charm a boulder? Or rock, whatever..." The calmness of the world (or the Black Lake, she wasn't sure) was beginning to catch up to her. She tried to fight it, but the more she tried to be confused, angry, frustrated or...anxious again, she became even more calm. Hermione doubted she'd ever get those emotions again.

He shrugged, not really answering. "I see it affects you."

"What?" asked Hermione. "How does it affect me?"

"Well...you look like you've been high off of a Calming Draught, and you sound like Lo...Luna. But, err, not as...loony."

Hermione barely registered that. She felt so relaxed, trying to fight off whatever this force (or spell) was, but now she felt like she was going to drift off to sleep, and that would be quite unpleasant.

Noticing her in this state, Malfoy rolled his eyes. He chucked the stone in his hand into the lake (noticing it skip a few times), went over and pulled the girl (not too rough, but not exactly gentle either) off of the giant rock. Immediately, Hermione was able to come back to her senses, the feeling of relaxation leaving her body and replaced with slight confusion, but not quite what she felt at first either. It felt...good.

Fine. Fine, she should say. Good may have been pushing it. Malfoy's hands were still gripping at her upper arms, his eyes looking at the boulder. A ghost of the feeling she had in DADA class that day came back, even through the robes she was wearing. His eyes shifted toward her for a second, then at his hands, when he abruptly let go. There was an unnamed expression on his face that Hermione couldn't quite place.

"How are you feeling?" asked Malfoy, nonchalantly, as if nothing happened.

"Fine. Better. Good. Yeah," said Hermione, still not exactly sure what she was feeling. Malfoy furrowed his brows, but he looked amused.

"Right. That," he pointed at the rock, "is, as I said, charmed. Been working on something to balance emotions, but it still hasn't worked out quite right."

"Balance emotions?"

"Yeah. So, if you go to it feeling, I dunno...sad, melancholy or something along those depressing lines, you'll start to feel happy when you sit on it. Happy emotions turn sad, angry or stressed to calm, you get the picture."

Hermione nodded. That would explain much. But... "Why would you want to do that?"

"Well, the after effects are what you're looking for. You sit on it with one emotion, then feel the other, and somehow the two emotions cancel each other out. The problem with what I'm doing though, is that it seems I can't sit on it for any less than five minutes. The feeling's a little...addictive. Not necessarily the best spot to be hanging around until I get that fixed.

"But the rest of the shoreline's a good place to think," he added after a few seconds, walking past Hermione to go sit on the ground past the boulder, nearer the lake. He took a stone from the ground threw it, this time making six skips. Hermione stood in the same spot, not sure what to do just then.

Malfoy turned, an odd expression on his face, but his eyes didn't meet hers. "Look, I...I need to apologize," he started, awkwardly.

Hermione's head turned quickly. Was he really...?

After a long moment, his eyes finally went up to look straight into hers. Upon seeing her frown, he gave one of his own. "Oi, it was going to happen at some point or another, may as well be now." Hermione's face relaxed a bit, as well as Malfoy's.

"I'm sorry...for everything. It was wrong, you're no lower than us...we're all..." he paused a moment, his eyebrows furrowing as if he were trying to figure out how to say something. "We're all...on the same boat? Or is it plane?" Hermione couldn't help the smile that formed on her face at his effort for using a Muggle expression.

She nodded. "I think it's boat."

"Good. Because I wasn't going to try again if it wasn't. So...we're all on the same boat. You're no better, but I'm not either. And...I wouldn't take you as someone who would steal things, let alone magic." Hermione had some sort of sheepish expression on her face, that made Malfoy blink.

Thinking he'd gotten the wrong idea, Hermione quickly began to explain. "No, it's not that! I mean...I've stolen Harry's Invisibility Cloak a few times..."

"Let me guess – to go to the library after hours," he said, smirking. Hermione glared at him for a second, but continued.

"Fine. Yes to that, and other things...but that's not important!" His smirk widened, but it quickly turned serious, the smirk disappearing. Hermione swore she saw that glint of green in his eyes again, but it was gone too quickly to be sure.

There was something else in there too. No, it wasn't what people would guess when you look at someone like that. It was like...he was fighting something. Not fighting to do something (to her anyway), but there was a sort of internal struggle in there. It was evident that it had nothing to do with her, but he was letting his guard down for her. She never saw him as someone who would do that.

Another moment passed, and his wall fell completely for a second, and she knew – she knew that whatever was in his head, it was dangerous.

He cleared his throat, bringing Hermione back to reality. She tried to look everywhere but at him. "I um...I have go," she stated, pushing past him back toward the school. When she turned to look back at him, she was a little confused by the disappointed twist in her stomach.

He did not look back to watch her leave.

...***...! #$%^&*()_+...***...

It was Saturday. Hermione was walking with Harry toward the Great Hall for breakfast. They were in an amiable silence, neither one deciding to make a conversation to ruin the moment.

Ron, Ginny and Foster were all probably in the Great Hall already. Hermione frowned at the thought of Foster. She was still a little suspicious of her, for reasons quite unknown, but Hermione felt an odd aura around her. No, it wasn't the fact that she was Head Girl, or in Ravenclaw even though she should be in Slytherin...it probably had something to do with Ron, she was sure of it.

Speaking of Ravenclaw...

"Hey Harry," began Hermione. Harry glanced over at his best friend, raisin an eyebrow. Hermione continued, hoping he wouldn't care to ask where the information came from. "You know about your upcoming Quidditch match against Ravenclaw?"

He nodded slowly, wondering where this was going. "Yeah..."

"Well, a...friend, of a friend...of a friend of mine, told me that Ravenclaw has a new Seeker."

"Um...yeah. Obviously. I mean, it isn't like Cho is, oh I dunno...a whole year older than me. Naw, it's not like that at all..." replied Harry, sarcastically. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Well, that, err...friend," (this was weird referring to Malfoy as a friend) "told me that he or she is really good, and you should watch your back."

"Who was this friend?"

"Malfoy." She never meant for that to slip out, but he was going to find out sooner or later, so what the hell?

Harry looked at her dumbstruck for a couple of seconds. "So...who's he friends with?"

"No one. Just trying to keep it distant."

"Hermione – how do you know this isn't one of his stupid pranks? He's been acting oddly, again, this year...you don't know what could be up his sleeve anymore...literally..."

"Well, it was a simple warning. I'm not saying to listen to him or anything," replied Hermione, keeping her voice calm and trying to convince herself that she absolutely did NOT trust Malfoy, "but maybe you should still be careful."

"Hermione, when am I not?" Hermione opened her mouth— "Don't answer that."

Harry suddenly stopped in his tracks. Hermione did too, but looked puzzled for a moment until she heard voices down the corridor. She quickly followed Harry when he began to check out what it was. Hermione wasn't quite sure who was talking, nor what they were talking about, but when they got closer, she put a hand over her mouth in an attempt to stop them from hearing her.

They were in an abandoned hallway. Harry and Hermione moved to have a clear view, while still being able to hear their conversation.

"The Dark Lord has been oddly quiet, Morrigan."

"And...?"

"I have a feeling it has something to do with you and your...influence."

"Don't be ridiculous, Severus. I have no influence, Fox has influence."

It was Snape and Morrigan. They were talking, but it seemed like they didn't want anyone to hear. If only Harry could find his invisibility cloak...

"Fox, has no influence. You know that."

"Fine then. Morlus has influence. What do you remember of him?"

There was a quick "hmph" from Snape before he continued. "I remember how stubborn he was. The amount of detentions I would give him and points taken from Ravenclaw for not doing a single essay assigned. He wouldn't stop his incessant daydreaming during my class, the doodling in his little notebook, nor his attitude when speaking to me. I very nearly asked Flitwick why he hadn't expelled him yet."

"He was smart, Severus. A true strategist, inventor...fortuneteller."

"Riddle had his own way of thinking, yes. But you missed one thing – he's a cheater."

"Don't be so quick to accuse him of such things. Cheating, as you say, is a relevant term, only when one is caught in the act. Otherwise, it may be viewed as intelligence. Don't you agree?"

Snape looked at him oddly before changing point. "At least he didn't speak up during my class. He still managed to do all of his exams. It is almost like he paid attention.

"He wasn't too good with magic for the first few years. Serves him right for not paying attention. It was around his fourth year when he began to...gain more magic ability. Suspicious...is it not?"

Morrigan let go a sarcastic laugh. "You say that as if he'll never hear your words. Say what you will now, Sev, but he'll hear it. Sometimes I think he was the one worthy of the Dark Lord's title. 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' must be so proud."

"Absolutely not. Morlus was named a traitor in the Dark Lord's inner circle last year. You know what happened, Morrigan. You've heard stories." The way Snape said the last bit put Hermione on edge. There was something about it that didn't quite fit.

"Of course, Sev—"

"Stop calling me that!"

"Fine, Sev. I'll try not to, Sev." Upon seeing the glare that Snape gave him, he cleared his throat. "But in all seriousness – you know well enough about him. Even more so, you heard about his greatest discovery?"

"Yes, he stole his father's ring many years ago and chipped a piece of the Resurrection Stone off to put into his wand." Hermione furrowed her eyebrows. Huh? Why would you do that? What good would that do...?

"Ah, yes, his Resurrection Spell, as he put it. Recro Iterum, the official incantation. A very interesting piece of magic, complicated too. One would need a wand that has an infusion of the Resurrection Stone itself in it, while being the owner of that wand, or perhaps being Master of the Elder Wand. I'm not quite sure, I will be looking it up."

Snape raised his eyebrows for reasons unknown. "I shall make a wager that Riddle has the ability to cast it?"

"Of course." Morrigan frowned, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world and he just wasted his voice on two easy words.

"And would you happen to know anyone else?"

Morrigan paused. Then he continued. "If my suspicions are correct, I would guess that another would be Harry Potter."

A/N: I totally get it if you don't understand the chapter, or hate it altogether. I'm with you. It's not my best.

Huh. I think I've heard someone say once before, "We're all on the same plane," but it may have been page. Either way, both boat and plane are ways of transportation for multiple people, and does anyone really expect Draco to get a Muggle expression on the first try?

"Cheating is the relevant term only when one is caught in the act. Otherwise, it is viewed as intelligence...no?" -HK-47, Knights of the Old Republic (I can't remember if it's KotOR I or II...either way, owned by LucasArts, possibly Obsidian and Bioware. One or both.)

Ah ha. Cliffhanger. I'm evil. It's been a while, I'll work on the next one.

Looked over the 15th chapter. You're all going to hate me. It'll get better and things will clear up! Later! Maybe not yet. But later!

The 15th Chapter is called "The Lazy Song" (by Bruno Mars) and the song quote is:

"I'm gonna kick my feet up,

Then stare at the fan,

Turn the TV on,

Throw my hand in my pants,

Nobody's gonna tell me I can't.

I'll be lounging on the couch,

Just chillin' in my snuggie,

Click to MTV,

So they can teach me how to dougie,

'Cause in my castle I'm the freaking man..."