I'm searching high and low for those reviews guys. C'mon now, I know you got 'em!

Thanks so much for the reviews I've gotten so far! They really make me gush! I mean, I never thought I'd be doing stuff like this. But you all bring out the best in me. *smiles* Keep up the good work!

Disclaimer: Weasley's are red, Ravenclaw's are blue, I don't own Harry Potter, and neither do you! On to the story then!

"Hermione!" The two boys excitedly ran over to their friend, throwing their arms around her on each side for a tight hug. That's when the tears finally fell. Her heart ached when she realized her new found friend might be lost forever to her. Over the past month, she had developed, dare she say, feelings, for the once thought Death Eater known as Draco Malfoy. I could never tell them, Hermione thought painfully. They wouldn't hesitate to scold me, probably even shun me, or worse, go looking for him. They'd kill him. Befriending the Slytherin prince may be something she'd have to take to her grave.

"Thank Merlin you're alive, 'Mione!" The Boy Who Lived spoke through her frizzy hair.

She feigned a smile; for right now, it was the right choice.

Draco clenched onto the tree trunk until knuckles became even paler than he already was. His eyes were bloodshot from crying and he was in so much pain he wanted to scream, but no sound would escape his lips.

He could count all the times he cried on one hand; his first time on a broom when he was 8, when he lost his once happy father to the whim of Voldemort, when his mother suffered under the Crucius curse before his very eyes, when he was assigned the task of killing his beloved headmaster, and now this.

In such a short amount of time, he fell in love and lost it, all too soon. His pain, frustration, and loneliness got the best of him as he forgot where he was and let out a pained cry.

"AGHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The Golden Trio's eyes all widened as they sprinted off of the frozen lake and towards their home base.

"So where were you anyways?" Ron queried as they sat in the common area, sipping on hot tea.

Hermione dreaded this question would come. She only had a split second to answer before they became suspicious. She took a long sip of her tea as she conjured up a story.

"A muggle found me laying on the forest floor and took me in to take care of me. When I woke up, she told me how she couldn't have any children so she took me lying there as a sign from God. She was a really sweet woman to let me in," she thought back to her civil conversations with Draco, "Anyways, this morning we went to a farmer's market and on our way back, I saw the doe patronus and decided to follow it, losing her in the process." She made a soft, sad sigh. "I hope she's ok," reminiscing of her blond pale friend who she left in the darkness.

Harry and Ron looked at each other and shrugged, thankfully to her not questioning her further.

"Well now that you're here, we can work on finding and destroying the next Horcruxe. Since we have the sword of Gryffindor now, it'll be much easier to destroy them all," Ron stated matter-of-factly. Harry and Hermione looked at the red head like a unicorn's horn had just grown on top of his head. Ron had definitely matured since she last saw the two of them. I should run away more often, she thought.

"Um, right." Hermione said flatly, twiddling her thumbs and looking down. There was an awkward tension fogging up the room. Guess they're doing just fine without me. "Any leads on what the next Horcruxe could be?" The lioness looked up to two pairs of blank stares. I stand corrected.

When Draco made it back to his tent, he was faced with a mirror to his heart. Darkness. Emptyness.

"C-c-cold" he said out loud, going over to the fireplace and incendio-ing the logs. Sitting over on the sofa she had once always occupied, he stared blankly at the flames dancing on the burning wood.

She's gotten such a hold on me…in such a short time…I mean I knew I didn't hate her anymore, I never truly hated her, just blindly followed my father; but to think that I would ever…love her. Is that even the right word? If someone told me this would happen, I'd tell them they were off their rocker.

But that's before I took her in. Talked to her. Shared my deepest thoughts with her. He wondered after today's events if Hermione considered him a friend, maybe even a close friend. He decided that she probably did. He certainly considered her a friend. But that kiss told so much more. He realized that he wanted that kiss not to be the last. He just had to figure out now how to get her back; if it's even possible.

He sighed and went over to a secret cabinet, pulling out a flask of firewhiskey and went back to the sofa to call it a night.

Hermione slumped over by the tree trunk and let out an unnecessarily loud, troubled sigh.

"Night patrol. Wonderful." Hermione thought out loud. "I never had to do night patrol, or any kind of patrol for that matter, when I was with him." A year ago she would never have imagined that she would feel this way about being with him. If anybody had suggested it, she would have called them crazy. But there it was, plain as day. She was crushing on him; hard.

An owl in the distance let out a hoot, and she took this as a sign to just let it out.

She chuckled softly and gave a soft smile. "He who, you ask? Why only the most chivalrous, erudite, and dreamy pureblood of this era." She beamed as she gave this answer to the owl, seeing as it was the only thing around to hear her in the first place. Or was it?

His mouth became agape as he peeked through a slit of the tent at the honey haired Gryffindor he thought he lost his chance with.

"She still likes me!" The red head excitedly whispered to himself. "She really shouldn't talk to herself like that though. It's a bit odd." He shrugged the last tidbit off and satisfyingly headed back to bed.

Pulling her knees towards her chest, she looked down and remembered the events that occurred earlier this evening. "Who am I kidding? Holding on to this silly crush-I practically gave up any chance of ever being with him by running back here! I left him out in the cold, alone, and I expect him to have reciprocated feelings? Ugh. He probably hates me so much now that's it worse than back at Hogwarts." Leaning her hand upon the back of her hand, she humphed. "But I had to come back. Back to reality; to the light...AGH! I'm practically committing suicide by coming back to the war! What am I thinking?" She whimpered as tears threatened to fall from her chocolate eyes. "I want Draco back."

I know; you guys hate me for this filler chapter. But I had to do it! Let me know what kinds of things you guys want to happen in the story, even though I have a basic idea of where I wanna go with this, I'm doing this for you guys. So ideas are encouraged. In other words, REVIEW!

Pretty please? With a butterbeer and creamy foam on top?