I dragged myself down the empty hall, leaning against the stone wall as I walked, text books clasped to my chest. It had been a month since I last went into the room and I hadn't seen Draco since before that, so this time I wasn't all that excited to see him.

I made my way sluggishly down the steps leading to the boathouse. As I came to the bottom I faced an enthusiastic Draco who looked as if he might start bouncing off the walls any second.

"Hey Granger!" He walked closer, wrapping his arms around me in a warm, uncomfortable embrace, "It's nice to see you again." I forced a somewhat convincing smile and pulled back slightly.

I looked down at my feet, not wanting to meet his eyes quite yet. He lifted my chin with his warm boney finger but I still fought to keep looking at the ground.

"Hermione, are you all right?" He spoke emphatically; I gave in and looked up into his lightless bright eyes, "You look sickly."

"Umm...yeah...I haven't been sleeping well lately." I half lied through gritted teeth, looking down again, "That's all." I really haven't been getting any sleep at all but that probably wasn't why I looked so grubby.

He peered at me for a moment or 2, "Err…Okay then…" He said unconvinced, "Let's sit down then." He grabbed my numb hand and leaded me to the wall where we always sat.

"Got any homework?" He grinned writing speedily on a half-filled piece of parchment. I just shook my head looking around the room, avoiding his gaze. He sighed heavily, "Then what would you like to do?" I shrugged accidently looking his way.

"Hermione what wrong?" He spoke worriedly.

"Nothing." I muttered.

"Don't lie to me Hermione!" He shouted this time pouncing up off the ground looking down at me. "Obviously something up because you've been avoiding me ever since last month! I pass you in the halls and you don't even glance my way, or smile, or ever show any sign of recognition! What the bloody hell did I do? Just tell me, I'm sorry!"

He ran his fingers through his hair like he usually did when he was frustrated, like when he stood at the sink in the Prefects bathroom, like when he killed harry, like when I killed him. But that wasn't real, I can't be mad at him for something he hasn't done can I?

I had to think quickly, what else has been going on this year? What's an easy excuse for being in a miserable mood? Well obviously there's the Tri-Wizard tournament, that'll be good enough.

"It's Harry." I lied twiddling my thumbs, looking down into my lap.

"What about Harry?" Malfoy snorted.

"Well no one has any idea what the third challenge is Draco!" I gasped, "He could die for all anyone knows!" I told myself this was what had been bothering me until I myself believed it. That was the only way I could be convincing enough.

"Granger, Dumbledore obviously isn't going to let anything happen to Potter!" Draco retorted.

"Well I suppose…" I mumbled trying to get off the subject. He stood there silently for a minute or so until he spoke again.

"I was hoping you would be in a good mood actually. Well I always am, not that you ever aren't, but today especially." He huffed, "I have to tell you something very important. You cannot tell anyone, especially Potter and Weasley!"

"What?" I said.

He walked over to the opening of the boathouse and leaned against the frame, watching the moon dip into the calm black lake. "It's about my father." His hand started trembling at his side. "He sent me a letter. It said that he would be coming to the school for the 3rd and final task."

"What's so important about that?" I grouched.

"Well the reason why he's coming to Hogwarts." Draco said firmly, "Hermione, he's not coming to see me, he's coming because he is being summoned. He says his Dark Mark is coming back, Voldemort is summoning him."

My mouth hung open, "You mean…He-He'll be in the la-last task?" I stuttered, "Harry will have to face all the Death Eaters and Voldemort!" This was impossible Voldemort was gone, finished, right?

He just nodded. "So wait…" I spoke with a little more aggressively, "If you knew Voldemort was going to be in the last task why did you just tell me Harry was going to be fine?"

"No, Granger you don't understand." He turned sharply to face me once again, "Harry's taken on Voldemort twice before, he'll be alright. But those times Voldemort almost returned, no one's Dark Mark came back. What I ment is, Hermione this time, he's coming back for good."

"So you mean…" A shiver went down my spine, followed by the short hairs rising up on my chilly arms, "There's going to be a 2nd Wizarding War?"

He took a large breath, "Yeah, that's exactly what's going to happen."

A long silence passed slowly, the longer it lasted the more tension filled the room. The thought of another Wizarding War, after all the stories and scars of the last, well the thought was far past disturbing.

"Are you going to tell Dumbledore?" I hesitated after, regretting the statement.

"I can't." He sighed, "I don't have a choice. My father could be put in Azkaban. And anyways what would Dumbledore do? He can't stop Voldemort, if he could he would've done it last time."

He had a good point. As amazing as Dumbledore was he had yet to even make a remote move on destroying Voldemort during the first Wizarding War. I all of a sudden didn't feel as drowsy as I did the past month in my torpid state. The last thing on my mind was the room. Voldemort was coming back and I wasn't a loud to tell anyone. I couldn't even imagine what it would be like to be involved in a war.

"Sorry to bring this up Hermione," Draco interrupted my notions, "I hope this doesn't come out rude, but…Have you found out anything about the room?" He was sitting down again, pressed up next to me, eyes fixed to mine. Just when I thought I could push the thought of that stupid room away it had to find its way back.

I most definitely couldn't tell him what I saw. I didn't even understand what the hell happened myself, how could I explain it? What did I know about the room right before I saw all of it?

"Well I found out the name?" I mentioned awkwardly, "But it`s not much help?"

"Really what is it?" His eyes filled with curiosity.

"Well...Err…It's called The Room of Many Fates." I stumbled with the words, which sounded somewhat silly coming from mouth since I had yet to say them out loud.

"Oh well…Is that a good start?" He tried to hide his disappointment but I could see right through it.

"No but…After that I found a riddle." I added not wanted to leave him with such a letdown, "It's written on the pendulum…Next time you go in climb onto it and you can see for yourself." This was as close as I could get to the truth without having to attempt to explain the pool of light muddle.

"Thanks Hermione." He said looking down into his lap then reached out to hug me, "You have no idea how much this means to me."

As he pulled away I smiled back glad that I got to see Draco again. I really did miss him the past month. It was just every time I saw him I thought of what he did in those odd situations, they totally blocked out the Draco I knew, they made me think he was a monster. I'm glad to know he was back and not the monster the room made him out to be.