Disclaimer: Um… nope, still not mine :D

A/N: And Thursday's here! Woot, Saturday is nearing and I cannot wait for the weekend! Bah, I have to make haste. I have a test tomorrow and I should be studying right now.

Anyway, thank you for those who reviewed the previous chapter. So, here's the fifteenth chapter. Please review afterwards. Enjoy!

Chapter Fifteen: Bromance?

"Blaise, please pass the marmalade," Hermione politely requested, a small smile directed towards the Italian across from her.

"Oh, don't mind. I'll do it," Teddy interjected, standing up from beside Hermione and reaching out for her requested spread. Blaise looked at him curiously with a small frown. Teddy was sitting beside Hermione, which meant that he was farther from the marmalade than him.

"Here, Hermes!" the carefree student declared, proudly plopping the jar of marmalade in front of the brunette.

Hermione seemed a bit confused, too, but thanked him nonetheless. She wordlessly opened the jar of marmalade, oblivious to the looks she got from Teddy.

"I see you're back to normal, Nott," Draco suddenly said, snapping Teddy out of his stupor. Both Hermione and Blaise looked at him, mirroring Draco's expression.

The carefree student laughed boisterously, ruffling his hair absentmindedly. "Did I really make you worried that much?" he asked. "Aww, Draco… you're such a good mate!" He stood up and affectionately patted Draco's blond hair, ignoring his annoyed looks. "I knew you'll get worried of me, too!"

"Ah, seriously!" the blond snarled, swatting his hand away in frustration. "I don't even know whether I want you to be back to your normal self or be all brooding once again!"

"Jeez, you don't mean that!" Teddy exclaimed, averting his eyes towards the Italian. "Blaise! Draco is being such a meanie! Reprimand him, Blaise! Reprimand him!"

Blaise sighed and ignored his immature friend. Instead, he looked at Draco with a knowing look on his face. "I kinda get what you feel, mate. I honestly do," he said, a serious look on his face.

To the surprise of the three, the disguised Slytherin burst into a hearty laugh.

Hermione couldn't help it – they were acting like a bunch of five-year-olds. Teddy was, as usual, his sweet and adorable self, but truthfully, his immaturity was astounding. It was hilarious to see even Blaise annoyed by his attitude. And Malfoy – Hermione clutched her stomach and doubled over. She couldn't even think of the right words to describe how Draco Malfoy looked right now.

"O-oh Merlin," she said in between gasps, wiping a tear that rolled her eyes. "Are you always like this? This is… this is surprising me."

Teddy brightened, happy to make the brunette entertained. Although the sudden feeling he felt for his roommate was still hidden and unwanted in his heart, he nonetheless wanted to make her happy. "Are you really enjoying, Hermes?" he asked, the grin on his face so large.

"Ah, guys," she said. "If I had known that Slytherins were like this before, then I wouldn't have loa - ." Hermione abruptly stopped, realizing what she was saying. She colored and looked away from her other roommates, silently reprimanding herself for talking thoughtlessly.

"If you had known Slytherins were like this before, then you wouldn't have what?" Malfoy asked, suspicious frown on his face.

The brunette slowly looked back at the three. She was wearing an obviously guilty smile, which had boggled the blond. "What?"

"What were you saying?" Draco repeated. "You were saying something."

"Am I really?" she asked, absentmindedly scratching the back of her neck (sure sign that she was nervous).

Draco's eyes narrowed into thin slits and Hermione was forced to look away. To her immense relief, loud screeching was heard all around the Great Hall. The brunette looked up and sighed upon seeing the owls carrying their daily posts.

She looked back at Draco, thankful that he now averted his eyes away from her. Hermione's eyes then landed on Blaise and she turned confused when he was looking at her in mild amusement. Before she could even contemplate the Italian's odd look, a school owl landed in front of her. It stuck its feet towards her, a parchment tied securely around it.

'Weird,' she thought whilst untying the letter. 'I'm not expecting any letter.'

Soon, the parchment was free from the owl's leg. It affectionately nipped her finger, asking for food, which Hermione distractedly offered. It hooted in return before flying back to the Owlery.

The brunette then eyed the letter suspiciously before opening it up.

Meet me in the Room of Requirement later at nine o'clock pm. Do not be late.

P.S. I'm warning you…!

Hermione softly chuckled, her eyes landing on the Gryffindor table. She subtly shook her head upon seeing Harry Potter wink before returning back to a conversation he was having with his girlfriend. 'Oh Harry,' she fondly thought. 'What do you want now?'

"Who's that from?" Teddy asked, trying to take a look at the letter clutched on Hermione's hand. Before he could even look at it clearly, the brunette immediately placed it inside her Potion's book.

"No one," she said in a rush. "Just some… silly admirer, that's all."

"Admirer?" Teddy asked, surprised, although a hint of annoyance was visible in his voice. "I'm telling you… those people are annoying. I mean, sometimes all they write about are rubbish and cheesy things."

From across him, Draco released a loud snort. "And those things are coming from a guy who gets all flattered after receiving a letter from a new secret admirer," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. He ignored the glare that Teddy threw at him.

"An admirer?" Blaise asked again, eyebrows raised high in surprise.

Hermione merely shrugged her shoulders, eager for them to change another subject. Fortunately, the bell rang, signaling the start of classes. "We better get going or we'll be late," she said, standing up so quickly she banged against her other sixth year seatmate. Her Potions book fell flat on the floor and she smiled sheepishly at her junior, apologizing for her clumsiness.

She directed a glare towards Draco when he made a comment but chose to stay silent. After all, their first class was Potions and Snape never tolerated unpunctuality, even of his Slytherin students.

The brunette immediately picked up her book and followed Blaise and Teddy.

Draco also followed suit, the infamous Malfoy smirk still plastered on his face, but then halted upon stepping on a piece of paper. He bent down in curiosity and clutched the parchment in his hands. He instantly recognized it as the letter from Hermes' admirer.

Meet me in the Room of Requirement later at nine o'clock pm. Do not be late.

P.S. I'm warning you…!

His eyes shot up after finishing reading it. Judging from what he had read, Austen had an admirer and it seemed as if his roommate returned the feeling.

'Nine o'clock in the Room of Requirement, huh?' he took note, crumpling the torn parchment and pocketing it inside his school trousers. 'Interesting. I wonder who Austen would meet…'

"Oi, Draco! Hurry up!" Teddy called, temporarily snapping Draco off his reverie. "We'll be bloody late, you know!"

The blond merely nodded and jogged towards the other three to catch up.

'Well, there's only one way to find out,' he pondered, giving an amused glance towards Hermes' oblivious look. 'This will be fun.'

Hermione checked from left to right before scrambling up the staircases, eager to arrive at the seventh floor of the Hogwarts castle, just opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy where the Room of Requirement was located. It had been days now ever since she saw Harry and she had sorely missed him. And judging from Harry's playful letter, he was honestly missing her too.

The brunette slowed down her steps, frowning as she heard some footsteps that did not belong to her. She whipped around and her frown deepened upon seeing that no one was behind her at all.

She started walking again and stopped, this time swearing that she really did hear other people's footsteps rather than hers.

"Hello?" she said, looking around wildly. "Is someone there?" When no one had emerged at all, she slowly pulled out her wand just for safety's sake. They were still in the midst of a war – danger could be lurking anywhere… even in a place you call 'home'. Just look at what happened to her parents' house…

'Oh, for Merlin's sake!' she shrieked inside her mind, shaking her head in the process. Hermione scowled, took one last look behind her, before swiveling around and continuing her small journey.

Soon, she was at the seventh floor of the Hogwarts castle.

Draco took a peak from an alcove he was hiding and released a silent sigh upon seeing that his roommate had averted his attention back to his journey.

The blond mentally cursed himself for forgetting to muffle the sound of his footsteps. His newly branded shoes were annoyingly loud, especially if they were walked on stone floor. And so, he brandished out his wand and silently muttered a spell to muffle their sound.

Once he was done, Draco emerged out of the alcove and continued to follow Hermes. He was nearing the seventh floor already and the blond's excitement heightened. Ever since the start of the school-year, he had been looking for more things that could be used to mock or make fun of him. Yes, he had loathed him the first time he had seen him but as more weeks passed by, he was sure his animosity… mellowed. It seemed like it was meeting Theodore Nott all over again. He had loathed him the first moment he had seen him and now, look at their relationship – they were best friends.

A small part of the blond thought that maybe, Hermes Austen could be a good friend to him, too.

Draco never really had a lot of friends ever since he was young. It was mostly because of his father's orders: "Malfoys do not treat anybody as friends, Draco. Treat them as acquaintances… allies that could help you be better than what you are right now. Remember that." And for the most part of his young age, he had taken that order by heart.

And then came Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott.

Blaise Zabini, he assumed, had received the same order from his mother. After all, he was still a Zabini, a pureblood. And so, they had established this so-called 'alliance' as soon as he was first brought to the Malfoy Manor when they were still small children. Draco never knew how their 'alliance' evolved into true friendship but all he knew was that he was his best friend and if something bad had happened to him, he would stand up for him and help him.

Theodore Nott, on the other hand, was entirely a different story. He was just a like a mushroom sprouting out of nowhere. The memory of Teddy's eleven-year-old self was still vivid in his mind and every time he remembered that, he couldn't help but shake his head and laugh. Teddy was known to be immature and childish nowadays in many ways. And when he was eleven-year-old, his attitude was worse. Draco was so amused of his weird attitude – allowing the people he truly liked to call him 'Teddy' and for the people he truly loathed to stick in calling him 'Theodore', 'Theo', or better as 'Nott'. Teddy was such a nuisance to him before but there was just something in him that made Draco secretly admire him in his own way. And as years passed by, he would say that Theodore Nott was his best friend, too.

There were some people he actually thought that he was friends with, namely, Gaston Gray. Just thinking about him made him scowl and mentally curse his ex-roommate inside his head.

He really thought that he would be a friend to him, until he opened up his big, fat mouth and told his father things that led him to be punished severely by Lucius. Apparently, it came to his knowledge that his only heir had changed sides and was actually a spy for the Order. Luckily, Snape was there, another spy, and told Lucius that he had observed Gaston Gray all his life and said that he was just envious of his son's position and such. After that, Lucius had left him alone and Draco was left with Narcissa to tend the wounds surrounding his body.

Draco scowled after hiding behind another alcove when Hermes turned around. He stayed there for quite a while, contemplating about his life, and flashed a wry smile. Who knew he would one day become a spy for the Order of the Phoenix led by a man he used to think was a nutcase?

The blond peeked out once again, leaving all of his personal thoughts behind, and emerged upon seeing that his roommate was once again walking, his back facing the blond.

They were in the seventh floor already, nearing the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy, and finally, Hermes ended his small journey.

He could see a person standing opposite the tapestry and couldn't make out the face at first. Until to his utmost astonishment, Hermes flew into the said man whilst shouting a loud "HARRY!"

'Potter?' he guffawed in his mind, not believing the scene unraveling in front of him. There was Hermes Austen, arms tightly wrapped around the high and mighty Harry Potter, whose arms were equally tight around his Slytherin roommate.

'So Austen and Potter are secretly dating, eh?' he asked, watching as Harry whispered words that made the Slytherin laugh heartily. 'I always thought that Austen's a bit… effeminate. But Potter? I never guessed in my whole seventeen years that he swings the other way.'

"You are actually early today, Austen," Harry playfully said, burying his head against his disguised best friend's shoulder. "Scared about my postscript?"

Hermione released a laugh. "Ooh, I was downright terrified," she said in a mocking tone while shaking her head. "Just say that you missed me so."

Harry rolled his eyes upon feeling her arms tighter around his waist. "I would, if you weren't disguise as a bloody bloke." He mockingly pushed her away from him, face slightly contorting in disgust and subtly shivered. "I'll never get used to this, you know."

"Shut up," she hissed, although with a huge grin on her face. Her eyes landed on the bare wall. "Well, aren't we going inside? It's not yet curfew so there's a big possibility that people might still be roaming around."

The Gryffindor nodded his head in agreement. He then paced three times in front of the wall, thinking of a place where they could talk in secret. Soon, a door materialized.

"Ladies first," he whispered, gesturing to the door. Hermione rolled her eyes once again but went inside first, nonetheless.

Harry followed soon, a huge boyish grin on his face.

Draco dashed forward and with a small wave of his wand, he made the door ajar. Potter and Austen had gone inside now and he was eager to listen to their conversation. Their voices were too soft for him to hear and it would be a bit dangerous if he muttered a soft spell under his breath that could make him understand their conversation more.

He stood rooted on his spot first, making sure that neither Harry nor Hermes noticed that the door was ajar. As soon as the coast was clear, he softly crept towards the slightly opened door and peeked inside.

His expression instantly turned amused upon seeing that their chosen hideaway looked a bit too… comfy. He made a face in disgust, thinking about what the two would do inside such a comfortable and secret room.

'I think I should get going now,' he thought. 'I don't want to see things even my eyes can't take.'

Draco had stood up now and took a last peek inside the room.

But then, he had heard Harry's voice and the words that came out from his mouth had made him frozen on the spot.

"Now pray tell, Hermione Granger, how's your deceptive life so far?"

"Now pray tell, Hermione Granger, how's your deceptive life so far?"

Hermione scowled, playfully hitting her best friend with the throw pillow. "You make it sound like what I am currently doing is a bad thing," she exclaimed, rolling her eyes at her laughing best friend. "And for your information, my so-called deceptive life is turning out to be more and more bearable as more days passed by."

Harry raised an eyebrow and nonchalantly placed an arm over her shoulder. "Really now?" he asked, voicing out his disbelief. "I am starting to worry that you're favoring Slytherin over Gryffindor… AND, don't you dare deny it because I can always see that you're chummy-chummy with your roommates already."

The brunette laughed and playfully ruffled Harry's hair. He was honestly acting like a possessive five-year-old. "Aww, you're jealous?" she asked. The Gryffindor only scowled. "Harry, you've been my best friend for ages already. No one can replace your special place in my heart. And Ron's, too. No matter how much friends I gained from the Slytherin House, you and Ron will always be the best friends I ever had."

Harry, unable to help it, grinned widely and dropped a kiss on her forehead. "If you say so," he said. "But… Nott's been acting a bit… weird, lately? Especially around you. Is everything all right between the two of you?"

"Teddy?" she asked, genuinely surprised because for her, Teddy was just back to his normal cheery self. "I never noticed any changes in his attitude lately. I mean, there was one time when he was completely the opposite of his usual self but now, I think he's back to normal."

Her best friend raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, you girls never understand our actions toward the opposite sex," he said. "Though, I must say that it's honestly surprising to see Nott acting like that when he knows you're a guy."

"What?" Hermione asked, confusion etched on her face. "What are you talking about?"

Harry sighed and shook his head. "Nothing," he said. "Nothing at all."

Trust Hermione Granger to be so dense when the topic was about love or mere fancy. She was definitely a good adviser to both him and Ron when they were having girl problems. Just look at him and Cho. Him and Ginny. But then, Hermione was never good in realizing that some blokes fancied her. For instance, there was Seamus Finnigan. It was so obvious that there came a time when he was head over heels in love with her, and most of the Gryffindors knew about it (even Ron, surprisingly), except the oblivious object of his attention. It was honestly amusing for Harry, knowing that his best friend was the brightest witch of her age.

"Hey," the brunette said, cutting Harry off his musings. "Have you heard… anything about my parents? Dumbledore hasn't talked to me for quite a while already."

"Oh, yeah," Harry said, realization dawning on his face. "I just remembered that Dumbledore told me to tell you about the state of your parents." He grew sheepish, scratching the back of his neck. "I'm sorry; I've forgotten."

Hermione only shrugged to dismiss his apology. "So what did he say?" she eagerly asked, leaning a little closer to the Gryffindor. "And why didn't he call me instead?"

"He said that he'd be busy with his work the next few days and since I had a meeting with him and I'm your best friend, he entrusted me with this information." Harry soon grew serious. "The spell's still taking its effect so far according to Snape's observation. Almost two months had passed already, you know. That means that you have eight months left to save your parents from Voldemort."

The brunette, after hearing the news, leaned the back of her head on the backrest of the couch and closed her eyes. She was silent for a while, allowing the information to sink in first before starting to talk. "Eight months, huh?" she said, releasing a humorless chuckle. "Gee, and I still haven't figured out how I can be closer to my parents." She released a soft groan and opened her eyes now directed helplessly at her best friend. "Oh Harry, what should I do?"

"Wait!" Harry said, looking enlightened. "I also remembered that Dumbledore told me that the initiation of Death Eaters will happen next month."

Hermione's face lit with delight. "That's great!" she cried in enthusiasm. The brunette shifted on her seat, her body now fully facing her best friend. "This is a great chance for me to finally discover where Voldemort's specifically hiding my parents."

The brunette's expression was a picture of pure happiness. Harry's face, on the other hand, had contorted into pure anxiety. "Are you really sure about this?" he asked. "I mean… Hermione, we are talking about being a Death Eater here. And we both perfectly know that this is more dangerous than a Muggle-born being sorted into Slytherin."

The brunette rolled her eyes, exasperated with Harry's worry. "Harry, how many times do I have to tell you this? I know what I'm doing. And yes, I know that this is extremely dangerous. Once Voldemort knew about my true identity, I am so sure he won't hesitate but kill me right there and then. But I can take care of myself and you know that. And besides, these are my parents I am going to save. It's enough for me to decide to be a Death Eater, even if my heart is strongly against it."

Harry tiredly sighed and gingerly enveloped Hermione into a friendly hug. "Just… be careful," he said. "I know I'm being monotonous already, 'Mione. But let me repeat it again loud and clear: Be fucking careful. And…"

"Harry."

"No, listen. I'm being se…"

"HARRY!" Hermione's voice resounded around the whole room and the surprised Gryffindor fell silent, eyes wide as he stared at his best friend.

The brunette shook her head and gently placed a comforting hand on his cheek. "I will be fine, okay?" she said reassuringly. "Trust me."

"Don't do that!" he cried. "You know that I trust you so much but…"

"Trust me," she repeated once again with greater emphasis. "Trust me."

"Sh-shit!" Draco released with a horrified gasp, taking a few steps away from the opened door. He couldn't believe it. Hermes Austen was a disguised version of Hermione Granger. "Shit!"

The blond swiveled around and absentmindedly ran away from the Room of Requirement. The conversation he had heard just now still rang wildly in his ears and as he ran farther and farther away from the bewitched room, his horror grew.

Hermione's ears perked up, an alarmed look on her face. "Did you just hear something?"

Harry merely shook his head, slowly pulling away from their hug. "Maybe just some random ghost wrecking havoc," he said. He then looked at his watch and sighed. "Well, it's past curfew now and I think it's best if we go back already. I forgot to bring my Invisibility Cloak."

The brunette nodded and stood up, the Gryffindor in tow. But as soon as they reached the entrance door, Hermione was so surprised to see that the door was ajar. "Didn't we… close this?" Her eyes grew worried. "What if someone, you know… heard us?"

Harry grew a little apprehensive but it was soon gone. "Hermione, people rarely pass by this corridor," he assured her, placing his hand at the small of her back and guided her out of the Room of Requirement. "I probably just forgot to close it properly. Don't fret too much. You're being a little paranoid again."

Hermione chuckled and shook her head, brushing her anxiety away. "You're right," she said, facing him fully. "So… I guess this is goodnight then."

"Until we meet again," Harry said with a grin and leaned forward to give her a kiss on her forehead. "Take care, Hermione."

"I will, Harry," she answered. "I will."

And with that, they went on their separate ways.

A/N: And, end of chapter fifteen! Dun dun dun dun! LOL XD Draco already knows. What will he do? More importantly, what WILL Hermione do? Pfft, oh the suspense.

Anyway, just like the previous chapter, I have no time to post my review responses. Again, I have this test on a bloody major subject and if I flunked it, I'm dead meat.

By the way, I thank all those who recommended mangas to me. Most of them, I've read it already. Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm a hopeless case. First, it was fanfiction, and then it was manga. When will I stop obsessing over those kinds of things? Haha, but seriously, thank you. I bookmarked the interesting ones and I assure you, I'll be reading them some time.

Well, that's about it. PLEASE DO REVIEW! Until next Thursday then. Ciao for now XD

With love,
2booklover4