Hellooooo! Okay, I know that I haven't updated in….. well….. AGES, and I'm sooooo very sorry! I've been having quite a hard time going through my muggle life on this side! You'll have to forgive me….. Please!?

Go through this chapter, and tell me if I've made up for the late update! Love you all!

And the same, RER!

[All of the magical Wizarding World, as we all know it, belongs to JKR!]

One by one, they all went off to do their respective jobs, and then, had a peaceful night's sleep until they heard Draco's cry for help in the middle of the night!

"Aaahh! Somebody get down here AT ONCE!"

This shout from the common room woke everyone up. There was a scurry of feet, lights were switched on, and the rest of the group came running down the stairs. Hermione was the first to reach the bottom. She stood stock still as she reached the bottom step, both her and Draco staring incredulously at a spot in front of them.

The others came down after and stopped right behind Hermione.

"What are you two staring at?" Pansy asked, obviously annoyed that her beauty sleep had been disturbed.

Draco got up from his position on the floor. Apparently, he had fallen back in his fright. "Didn't you guys see it?!" he asked, waving his arms about. "It was standing right HERE!" he yelled.

"See what?" Blaise asked, surprised.

"A- A figure…" Hermione murmured, turning to her friends. "A strange figure. I saw it disappearing into thin air just as I got down here."

Draco nodded. "I came down to get a glass of water." He said. "And this thing, whatever it was, was standing right here. Well not even standing, I guess. The creature was kind of floating in the air." He shivered.

"Ooooh scary!" Ginny said.

"But the question is, who, or what, was that?" Hermione mused, the gears in her brain already turning hard.

Theo shrugged. "Maybe it was Draco's great-great-great-great-great grandfather or something, and he probably wanted to see how his great-great-great –"

"Yes, yes, thank you Theo," Pansy snapped.

Theo clutched a hand to his heart. "Well!" he said, pretending to be heartbroken.

"Shut it, you idiot!" Blaise laughed and turned to Draco. "So what do you reckon we do?"

"I guess –" Draco began,

"We should go to Dumbledore. Now."

All heads turned to Hermione.

"Like, right now?" Draco asked, receiving a glare from Hermione.

"Well, what would you suggest we did?"

"Never mind that." Draco said quickly. "But Hermione, it's only-" he paused to look at the clock. "- 1.30 in the middle of the night, and-"

"I said we're going and that means we're going."

There was a chorus of groans.

"But Dumbledore must be-"

"Draco," Hermione interrupted. "Please."

"Fine." Draco sighed and snapped simultaneously, which is something only Malfoys can do. "That old man must be sleeping in his chair cuddling with a bag of Sherbet Lemons or something."

"Draco!" Hermione chided.

"Ok, fine! Fine!" Draco said again, raising his hands in mock surrender.

They all climbed out of the portrait hole and made their way to Dumbledore's office, only a yawn or two from Ron breaking the eerie silence.

"For the last time Weasley, stop that!" Blaise almost yelled.

"Stop whaaaa-" Ron broke off, ending his sentence in a massive yawn.

"That!" Theo said, annoyed. "Here we are, trudging up to Dumbledore's office in the middle of the night, all because Mrs. Malfoy just had to see him and it couldn't wait until morning, and the best you can do to shake off our sleep is THIS!" he finished, waving his arms about like a madman.

"Theodore Nott."

Theo gulped and turned to Hermione. The witch could be scary if you got on the wrong side of her wand.

"Uh… yes?" he asked, trying to sound meek.

"Stop calling me that. At least for now."

Theo nodded. Good. She wasn't hexing him right now. But he, and also the others of course, hadn't missed the "At least for now" part. Draco smirked to himself at that, but a contended smile also made its way onto his face.

There was no more talking until they reached the Headmaster's office. Even Ron had smothered his yawns in fear of Hermione forbidding him from touching his breakfast.

Draco said the password, and one by one they stepped onto the Gargoyle and reached the door.

"Should we um.. knock?" Hermione asked, twisting the ends of her curls with her fingers.

"This was your great idea!" Draco snapped.

"I know, but…" Hermione was almost pulling out her hair now. She looked at Draco pleadingly.

"Oh, Alright!" Draco sighed and put up his hand to knock.

To their surprise, the door swung open, revealing Dumbledore sitting at his desk, popping Sherbet Lemons into his mouth, at which Draco silently smirked at Hermione who simply glared. The usual twinkle of amusement in the professor's eyes had grown brighter than ever. He smiled at them.

"Please, come in." he said, gesturing with his hand for them to enter.

Everyone trooped into the office, the astonishment still showing on their faces.

"Professor," Hermione said. "Did you know we were –"

"Coming?" Dumbledore asked to which Hermione nodded. "Oh, I would suggest you didn't worry yourself about it Miss Granger." He said, his eyes twinkling at Hermione, his expression showing a tinge of amusement. She nodded again and fell silent.

"Professor," Draco spoke up, deciding to ignore that part. It was probably one of the traits that came with being one of the most powerful wizards in the world. "The reason we've bothered you at this hour is because of the fact that I saw someone- or rather something in our common room a few minutes ago."

"Who, or what was it, Mr Malfoy?" the professor asked.

"I don't really know," Draco answered. "It was actually a cloaked, hooded figure that I saw when I went down to get a glass of water. And just as I got to it- it just, sort of disappeared."

"Ahh!" Dumbledore exclaimed, rising from his desk. "Now, that would be Death." He said, as if Death visited him every Sunday.

"Death?!" Hermione repeated, startled.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes Miss Granger." He said. Then he turned to the others. "I'm sure you all have, by now heard The Tale of the Three Brothers."

"Of course we have," Ron said. "I mean, that's what happens when you hang out with Hermione too much." He grumbled, but shot Hermione a playful grin.

Hermione grinned back lightly, but then turned to look at Dumbledore. "So…. That figure we just saw….. It was Death? Just like in The Tale of the Three Brothers?" she questioned.

"That's right." Dumbledore said. "You see, Death keeps traveling here and there, and so, he also has to travel through time."

"You mean to say…" Hermione trailed off, leaving everyone but her and Dumbledore confused.

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

"Yes Miss Granger," Dumbledore said, nodding all the time. "Like I said, Death travels through time, and has, accidentally, appeared at a wrong place and the wrong time."

"I've read about such incidents, but I never really thought…." Hermione said.

"It's happened before, and that's what I think has happened now." Dumbledore said, adjusting his glasses. "Especially with you two involved with this prophecy," He said, nodding at Hermione and Draco.

"Boy, Death must be one confused person." Harry said, running a hand through his already messy hair.

Dumbledore chuckled. "I suggest you all go back to your dormitories and spend the rest of the night in peace. From what I know, Death never makes the same mistake twice."

They nodded and made their way out of the office and back to the dorm.

"See, I knew there had to be a simple explanation!" Pansy said as they scrambled through the portrait hole. "Disturbing my beauty sleep for nothing. Now I have to…." She grumbled, walking upstairs to her room.

The others followed after her, and soon, everyone had said good night and was in their respective rooms. Everyone except Draco and Hermione.

"Hermione, wait up for a second." Draco stopped her just as she was about to open her door.

"Yeah?" she asked, still twiddling with her fingers. She'd been doing that ever since they'd left Dumbledore's office, he'd noticed.

"You okay?" He asked. "You still look pretty shaken up about all this."

"No, I just…." She sighed. "All this prophecy business has had me completely nervous." She said in a small voice.

"I get frightened at times too." Draco admitted. "But there's one consolation I have, one thing that keeps me going." He said, smiling slightly.

"What's that?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Knowing that you're in this with me." He answered, looking into her honey brown eyes.

She blushed.

"We're in this together, Draco." She said, meeting his eyes.

"Together, forever!" Draco said, making a dramatic gesture with his hands.

Hermione laughed. "Oh shut up!" she said, punching him playfully on the arm.

They laughed like that for a while, feeling all their worries and apprehensions fade away bit by bit, for the time being at least.

"Good night Hermione." He said, coming closer to her.

Hermione smiled shyly. "Night Draco."

Their lips met, and it was the greatest feeling ever. It felt infinite. They could have remained that way for eternity, if only Hermione hadn't pulled away suddenly, blushing furiously and walked quickly into her room and shut door.

Draco chuckled to himself and retreated to his own room.

The minute his door closed, six other doors opened just a crack, and the occupants gave each other huge grins, whispered good night, left their posts at their doors, and snuggled into their beds, and slept through the remaining few hours they had left.

It had been a great night.

Did I make up for my late update? Did you guys like it? I desperately need to know! And let me tell you, I wrote this chapter in quite a hurry, so PLEASE forgive me if I haven't been quite up to the mark with this one! I'm sooo sorry!

And now, for you sweet, lovely people who have been reading this story and encouraging me,*smiles happily* you know I usually say thank you to each of you personally but I seriously have no time right now and that makes me so sad! I gotta rush right after I update this chapter and I just don't have the heart to keep you guys waiting any longer!

A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL YOU PEOPLE, YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW HAPPY AND CONFIDENT READING ALL YOUR REVIEWS MAKES ME! :-)

So go ahead, click on the review box down below and tell me how you felt!

Until next time,

Sasha.