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Where the Heart Lies

Author Notes: so sorry this one took so long to get out! My computer decided to spite me and wouldn't work! Thank god for mommies! I'd like to thank the people who reviewed me on my last chapter! ----

Vicky: you make me feel like I'm actually a good writer! haha keep it up! ;- ) and I'm so glad you like it!

RedWitch1: thank you so much and here's some more!

ChillKat: haha those words work for me!

Pretty-n-pink898: you're too sweet! and of course I will continue to write it as long as there are people who will continue to read coughandreviewcough it! Kissin Kat: i'd like to kiss you! haha and thank you for wishing me luck, that's very kind of you. oreo69not96: thanks babe! and here's your update! Enchanted Dragon: first of all - wow. second of all - i know exactly what you mean about being stuck in a fanfic! there are some really good stories out there! and i am so glad and extremely flattered that you would think mine to be zombie capable. haha! i absolutely love you! and thirdly - i hope that my future chapters will live up to your expectations! the pressure's on now lol! ----

Thanks a bunches guys! Enjoy the next chapter and please oh please oh please review! (Not to sound desperate or anything... what? i'm not on my knees, i swear!)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this fic at all, except for any original characters, or the poem. Use them if you want, but I think then you'd be crazah! ;-)

Chapter Five

It had been about a week since the whole "veritaserum" incident and Hermione had successfully avoided any discussion of it with Malfoy. Not that he had tried to talk about it, mind you. They really didn't say much to each other at all after that really. In the morning, if they saw each other before heading to breakfast, they would exchange meaningless good mornings and, if by chance they saw each other after school hours, they would simply nod to acknowledge the other's presence.

But the words that had come out of Malfoy's mouth danced around in her head 24/7. She had seen a side of him she didn't think existed that night. And it enchanted her. She wanted to get to know it better, but at the same time she wanted to avoid it entirely. She was afraid of the possibility that she might end up actually liking Malfoy. That would definitely not go over well with her friends, especially Harry and Ron. Definitely not.

She couldn't help it, though. Thoughts of him played and replayed endlessly through her mind. Every so often, she would sneak glances of him during class. He truly was one gorgeous creature. She loved the way his fair blonde hair would fall into his face while he was taking notes or the look of his strong back as he leaned over his cauldron. Finally, she silently admitted to herself that she maybe.... possibly.... sort of........ liked...... Malfoy. But only as a friend! A friend she wanted to kiss? You could have friends like that, right? …Right?!

. . : . . : . .

Hermione slammed a pillow to her face and groaned. It was going to be another long day. She hadn't gotten any sleep at all. In fact, she hadn't had a decent night's sleep since she passed out on Malfoy's bed the night he was sick. It was like she developed insomnia overnight. Still, she forced herself to get up and ready. "Thank god for fridays."

She arrived in the Great Hall to see Harry and Ron discussing whether or not Snape would survive in one of those reality television shows Neville's grandmum had written him about. Ignoring the aggressive conversation, she decided to sit next to Marie, who was reading from a thin book.

"Morning," she said groggily, dropping down in her seat and laying her head on the table.

"Couldn't sleep again?" Marie didn't even have to look up to realize that Hermione obviously didn't rest a second last night. Hermione mumbled something in which Marie could briefly make out the words "if I ever", "sandman", "chainsaw", and "dozen dull pencils". She thought it best not to ask.

"What are you reading?" Hermione inquired a few seconds later, turning her head to face the brunette beauty.

"Just a romance novel, Of Pearls and Stars," she replied, flashing her the cover of the deep scarlet book on which the title was written in light, golden scroll. "I think love is so beautiful." She read on silently a few seconds more allowing Hermione time to gather up some breakfast before exclaiming "Oh this part is so sweet! Do you want to hear it?"

Hermione shoved a piece of sausage in her mouth. "Her meah," she spat out. Marie took that as a yes and began to read.

"A soft whisper from your lips, a gentle kiss. Is it too much to ask for this? To lay my head against your chest, to feel your arms around me, in my dreams all these things I can see. Hearing you say my name, touch my face, stroke my hair. Being without this forever I could never bare! Feeling our hearts becoming one as was meant to be and I know what I feel is destiny."

Marie set the small, narrow book down and sighed dreamily. Hermione, on the other hand, was extremely distraught. Because the one person she imagined throughout the entirety of the paragraph was none other than Malfoy. 'What's wrong with me?!' she thought in exasperation. 'This is definitely not good…' Before she had a second more to dwell on it, Harry stood up followed by Ron.

"Ah, we'd best get started to class. You alright, Hermione?" Hermione nodded and gathered her things, preparing to leave with Harry, Ron and Marie.

. . : . . : . .

"Hermione?" The last class of the day (Potions) had just ended and Cal had taken Hermione aside.

"Cal? Is something wrong?" Hermione eyed him curiously. She still couldn't shake the feeling that he was always watching her, although she knew it was a silly notion. He shadowed over her tiny frame as he looked at her intently.

"I was wondering if you could help me with our potions homework tonight," he said casually. Words seemed to just flow off his tongue. His request was rather unusual, considering the potions homework seemed very straightforward, but he appeared to be sincere. As she was studying him, she noticed a sparkling blue diamond about his neck. It was a necklace almost identical to the one Marie wore every day, only this one was a deep hue of blue that reminded her of the color of the ocean. 'I thought her mother gave her that as a present?' she pondered momentarily. 'It's rather odd that Cal would have one almost exactly like it.' Cal coughed purposely, gaining back her attention. 'Well, it's better than wasting away my time thinking of Malfoy, I suppose.' (She'd been doing that a lot lately.)

"Sure," she agreed. "Right now?" He nodded, a half-smile most girls would have swooned over donning her face.

"That would be excellent."

"Alright, then let's head up to the Gryffindor common room and-" Cal moved in front of her as she started to turn in the direction of the gryffindor dormitories.

"It's too noisy there. Let's go to your common room. I'll be able to concentrate better." She shrugged and hesitantly agreed.

"Imperfluous" she said clearly before the painting. The young maiden in the frame smiled faintly and then waved her hand as the door creaked open. Cal walked in after Hermione and looked around a second, taking in the view. He flashed Hermione one of his trademark smiles again. 'Why does he keep doing that?' she thought, getting slightly annoyed.

"Right, let's get started, then." She sat down next to the nearest table and opened her book, quickly flipping to a page dealing with the day's lesson. As she was doing this, Cal sidled over to the chair next to her, his books forgotten on a small corner table by the door. "Now, what was it that you didn't understand?"

"Hermione." From the way he said her name, Hermione felt a chill go up her spine. And not a good one either. She suddenly got a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She swallowed hard and looked away from her book to face Cal. He was staring at her hungrily. She scooted away from him in her chair, frightened by the image. But he only moved closer.

"Wh-Where is your book, Cal? How are we supposed to study if you don't even have your book open?" Hermione questioned, trying to act as if nothing strange was happening, yet still trying to put some distance between them. He only chuckled.

"Okay, you got me. So maybe I don't really need any help in potions…" Hermione looked at him incredulously as he continued to smile. "Come on, you can't tell me you're not at all attracted to me?

" Sure he was attractive, of course he was. You'd have to be blind to think otherwise. Almost every girl in the school would gladly murder Hermione and step over her dead body just to be as close to him as she currently was.

"What? Cal, what are you getting at?" She stood up now. But he just got up as well. She was just a little more than nervous – lingering in a state somewhere between 'This has to be a joke' and 'I wish I knew where I put that can of pepper spray.'

"I want you," he replied and the tone of his voice caused another set of chills to roll down her back.

"What?!" His words made no sense to her. She refused to believe he was being serious, but a small voice in her mind - that was growing louder every passing second - seemed to believe that maybe he was. "What are you talking about? Cal, this isn't funny! Stop it!" Hermione was beginning to panic. She started backing up but was running out of space. Pretty soon she knew she'd hit the wall.

"You don't really want me to stop. I can tell - Why are you acting like this, Hermione?" Cal began to advance on her, quickly filling the gap she'd struggled to make. "I see the way you look at me; I know you want me too." He made a grab at her wrists. She gasped as he pushed her harshly against the wall. She could feel startled tears start to well up in her eyes.

"What are you talking about?!" she shrieked, desperately trying to free her wrists. "I don't look at you! And I definitely don't want you! Let go of me!!" Her attempts didn't even faze him. She may as well have been pushing against a wall for all the good it did her. He was much more powerful than she was.

"There's no need to play hard to get," he smirked, his eyes traveling the length of her now quivering form. "You'll thank me for this later, you'll see." Without any further hesitation, he roughly pressed his mouth to hers and her scream was muffled by his lips, his grip on her wrists tightening. Tears trickled down her now moist cheeks. Her mind reeled with ways to get out, ways to get help, but finally settled on a single image that surprised even her. 'Draco...'

. . : . . : . .

"Damn skanky bitch," Draco cursed under his breath. He had been walking the halls thinking about Hermione when Pansy suddenly had the urge to try and sexually assault him... again. He might have easily avoided her if he hadn't been so wrapped up in his thoughts about the head girl. He didn't enjoy having to shove Pansy away from him all the time but dear lord, you think she'd take the hints! He let out a string of more curses before muttering the password to the white-clad maiden in the picture who was clucking her tongue at him disdainfully, disgusted by his foul language. He stepped through and his attention was instantly grabbed by the scene before him.

"Granger?!" Cal immediately flung himself away from Hermione at the sound of another's voice. He looked across the room to see an undeniably pissed Slytherin. Hermione didn't really register Malfoy's presence, but she did realize that Cal was no longer on her. She slid down the wall and sat, silent tears still falling from her wet chocolate eyes.

"What the fuck did you just do?!" Malfoy was clearly enraged.

"What do you mean, what did I do?" Cal replied, feigning surprise as Malfoy started towards him. "I did nothing! Hermione here told me she had something to show me, but when we got here, she wouldn't keep her hands off me! I told her that I wasn't interested in her that way and she forced herself on me! I was just pushing her off when you-" The next thing Cal knew, he was on the floor with practically a broken jaw thanks to Hermione's blonde savior. Malfoy didn't buy one bit of Cal's story. In fact, it took him all he had to refrain from picking his sorry ass up off the floor and punching him again.

"Get. Out. Now." he seethed, glaring daggers at him and wishing looks could kill. He grabbed Cal by the collar and threw him towards the door. "If you ever come near Hermione again," he said, his eyes shining in fury. "I promise you, you'll live to regret it." With that said, Cal scurried out of the room, off to find the first gullible girl who would take pity on him.

Hermione's sobs instantly dissolved Malfoy's rage. He turned back to her and was soon kneeling by her shaking form. She was sitting with her knees up, her head in her arms.

"Granger," he said softly, resting a hand lightly on her shoulder. Deep, sad brown eyes came up to meet his. She stared at him for a few seconds, unsure of what to do, before throwing her arms around him. At first, he was rather shocked and wondered momentarily if she would have done the same to anyone else who might have been there at the time. He gently stroked her hair as she buried her face in his chest and whimpered, tears soaking his shirt. He murmured comforting words into her ear every so often. "Shhh... don't cry, Granger. Don't cry."

Eventually, her cries subsided and she found herself still situated comfortably in Draco's arms. He had stopped talking, but he hadn't stopped running his fingers through her hair. She loved the feel of it, as all girls love the feel of someone playing with their tresses. She closed her eyes and rubbed up closer to Malfoy. Her mind was yelling at her to 'stop cuddling with a Slytherin pureblood like a stupid swooning prat!', but she didn't listen. She didn't even care, really. She felt so safe.

"Thank you, Draco," she whispered. Even though it was somewhat muffled by his tear-stained shirt, Malfoy still heard her. And she said his first name. Seriously said his first name. A wave of electricity pulsed through his body. He had never heard his name come out of her mouth like that before, but he already liked the way she made it sound.

"I guess we're even then, huh?" She looked up at him and he gave her a small smile, referring to the night she took care of him when he was sick. She smiled back, light slowly returning to her eyes. He stood up, helping her up carefully as well. Then he turned around and headed towards his room. Before he entered, he turned back to her and noticed she looked as if she might start to cry again. "Go put on something to sleep in," he said over his shoulder as he went into his room, closing the door behind him.

Hermione at first felt as if someone had taken a hold of her lungs and ripped them out of her chest as she watched Draco's retreating figure. She didn't know why, but the thought of being without him made her feel so... so something. She didn't even know what she was feeling really. She just knew that she wanted to be in his arms like she was moments before. And after he told her to go change, she was confused but just did as he said. After hastily throwing on some shorts and a t shirt, she headed back to the common room.

"Drink this." Draco, who had been standing at a table mixing something, handed Hermione a coffee mug filled with a gold liquid. Hermione instantly wrinkled her nose.

"What is it?" she asked, cautiously dipping a finger into the warm drink. "And better yet, where did you get it?"

"Nevermind that. And for heaven's sake, Granger, it's not going to bite you!" Draco said as he watched her try to poke the drink again. "Just drink it. It'll help you calm down. Trust me." 'Trust a Malfoy?' she thought to herself. 'Now that is something I thought I would never do.'

"If you say so..." She plugged her nose with one hand and took a huge gulp of the homemade concoction. "Mmmm... this stuff's not so bad." It tasted like mint hot chocolate. As soon as she had set the cup back down on the table, she felt her eyelids begin to droop.

"Her- Granger, maybe you should lie down." Draco looked at her curiously. He had never actually made the potion for someone before. It was just something he knew about, something his nurse used to make him as a rambunctious child. Now that he was thinking about it, though, he had no idea how long it took to actually affect the person who consumed it or how long it lasted.

"Have I ever told you that you have beautiful eyes, Malfoy?" Draco turned his attention back to Hermione, who was now swaying back and forth in front of him.

"Whoa!" Draco said, making a grab for her waist to steady her and, in the attempt, pulling her closer. "Absolutely gorgeous..." Hermione whispered, looking dreamily into his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm thinking you should definitely lie down." Draco commanded, shifting her position so that he could guide her over to the couch.

"Pssssh!!" was his reply as she waved a hand in front of her face. But then her attitude towards the situation changed. "Do you wanna lie down with me?" she smirked coyly, reaching down to snatch one of his hands on her waist. Draco stared at her with wide eyes. "But I was thinking maybe more on top of me than next to me?"

"Oh my god, I've freaking intoxicated her!" he exclaimed out loud to himself. He urgently snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Granger! Hey! Focus!" Hermione started to sway a little more precariously, blinking heavily.

"God save the Queen!!" Hermione shouted before gracefully passing out into Draco's open arms.

. . : . . : . .

Hermione slowly opened her eyes and blinked a few times. She was in a strange, circular room she'd never seen before. There were no doors, no windows, only seven half pillars where placed evenly along the wall. The only source of light was a circular opening in the middle of the ceiling and it only illuminated a circle about 15 feet in diameter. The rest of the room was in total darkness. The sunlight that invaded the room landed on a glittering crystal bowl. The bowl was placed on a stone pedestal centered in the room and the pedestal was set on a small, circular raised portion of the floor. The only other object was a stone slab that hovered ominously about four feet above the ground.

Hermione looked around, confused. "Where am I?" She blinked again, hoping that when she opened her eyes, she would be somewhere else. But still she remained in the same circular room. Hermione sighed and stood up, wondering how she was going to get out of this one. She decided her best chance was to climb on top of the pedestal and see if she could somehow get out through the opening. She'd worry about how she got there after she had gotten out.

Hermione sensed something unusual behind her and whirled around in time to glimpse the tail of a black cloak disappear into the darkness that outlined the room.

"H-Hello?" Hermione said softly, unsure of whether or not she really wanted to know who - or what - was there. She stared at the spot where she had last seen the figure, straining her eyes to see into the pitch black. After a few minutes, she sighed and turned back towards the pedestal, dismissing the occurrence. She just wanted to be away from this place.

The echo from her steps caused her heart to beat a bit faster as she made her way towards the crystal bowl. 'There's nothing to be afraid of. There's nothing to be afraid of,' she whispered over and over, desperately trying to convince herself.

She stepped onto the raised circular platform and her heart dropped in her chest as she looked up. There was no way she would be able to make it out of this room through the opening. It hadn't seemed very high from her waking position, but now that she was standing directly under it, she knew it was too far up for her to escape out of.

She felt herself begin to panic. "Stay calm, Hermione," she demanded. "Everything's going to be-" Hermione quickly stopped talking. Someone else was definitely in the room with her. She could hear him walking, but thanks to the echo, she couldn't tell whether he was walking towards her or away from her. She spun in circles, trying to see the entire room at once. Her heart was racing now. All her previous attempts to remain in control slipped away from her. And then, just when she thought she was doomed to some horrible fate - the noise stopped.

The quiet may have been more disturbing than the footsteps. She held her breath, straining again to see something, anything. She heard a cloak rustle over to her right. Her head shot in that direction. She kept staring there as she slowly walked back towards the darkness on her left, wanting to put as much distance as she could between herself and the mysterious figure. She stood on the edge of the circle of light the opening permitted, trying hard to make out any type of sound.

"Death… shall never keep me." Hermione turned instinctively to see who had spoken. A hooded man stepped out of the shadow in front of her brandishing a gold hilted dagger. Hermione, in her efforts to get away, tripped clumsily over her own two feet and hit the cold stone floor harshly. She turned on her side just in time to see the man raise his dagger high. Hermione screamed and closed her eyes hard. "NEVER!" the voice hissed.

"NO!!!!" Hermione screamed as she shot up in her bed. She looked around her briefly and realized she was in her own bedroom. It was all a dream. A cold sweat dripped off her body as she struggled to get her heart to beat normally. She closed her eyes and buried her head in her hands. When she opened them again, she looked hastily around her room. Hurriedly, she threw the bed covers off her body and ran to the door. She didn't stop running until she had reached the bedroom across from hers.

"Draco!" She pounded her fist on the door. "Draco!" she said again, louder this time. She heard him jump out of bed and rush towards the door. He appeared a moment later wearing only a pair of mesh shorts.

"What?! What is it!? Are you okay?!" Hermione didn't even have the strength to reply. She threw her arms around him and cried like she'd wanted to since her dream began. "Hermione, what is it? What's wrong? Are you hurt?" Draco cupped her face in his hands and started examining her for any sign of injury. But Hermione just shook her head. "Please, Hermione, tell me what's wrong," Draco pleaded.

"It seemed so real," she whispered raggedly between sobs.

"What?" Draco brought her face to look at him again. "What seemed so real?"

"It was so real," she whispered again. Tears ran mercilessly down her face, welled up in her eyes, blurred her vision. She buried her face into his chest for the third time and continued crying. Draco, knowing nothing better to do, ran his fingers soothingly through her hair in an effort to settle her down. She was right to have come to him, remembering how safe she had felt in his arms earlier that day, even if she was crying yet again.

"Come on, Hermione," Draco sighed, practically dragging her into his room, and closed the door behind them. He stood there for a few seconds more, supporting her as she leaned all her weight on him. He gently bent down and placed an arm around her knees, lifting her up as he stood. He carried her the five steps over to his bed and tried to set her down, but since she wouldn't give an inch on the death grip she had around his neck, he was forced to sit down with her laying on his lap. The two stayed like that for quite some time as Draco waited for Hermione to stop crying.

"Hermione," Draco said softly into her ear causing Hermione to shiver slightly at his sensual tone. She had ceased her crying bout, but still the reality of her dream haunted her. She knew she would have to tell Draco about it eventually. She owed him that much for barging in on him in the middle of the night at the very least. She just didn't want to have to relive it. She could only think of a few times she had been that scared in real life – and she'd had some scary times, believe you me.

Hermione sighed as she slowly pushed her upper body away from Draco's chest. "I just had a bad dream, that's all." She gingerly wiped away at the moisture that covered her cheeks.

"Care to tell me about it?" Draco knew that 'just a bad dream' wouldn't have caused Hermione to break down like she did.

"I- I was in this room. This big, circular room." Draco listened patiently as Hermione struggled to put into words what she had dreamt. "There was hole.. in the ceiling. I tried to get out through it, but I couldn't. I kept hearing noises around me, in the shadows. I backed away and then... and then I turned around and the man, he tried to kill me."

"What man, Hermione?" Draco furrowed his brow, perplexed by her story.

"The man who spoke to me." Hermione's eyes seemed distant as she stared intensely at the stitching in Draco's comforter.

"What did he say?" Draco questioned, rubbing her hand comfortingly with his. Hermione thought not only about what he said, but how he said it. His voice was what frightened her the most. It was empty, void, lacking any kind of emotion. She could still hear it in her head. When Hermione failed to answer his question, he asked her again. "Hermione. What did he say?"

"Death," she answered softly, "shall never keep me."

. . : . . : . .

Wow! another chapter finished! i hope you enjoyed it and as always, please review! thanks!

sweetdreamsmuse