Chapter 9

Never Say Never

"That is exactly the reason you should not be walking around alone at night!"

Hermione heaved loudly and yanked off her robe, hanging it on the back of a chair. "Honestly, Draco, I don't need you telling me what I should or shouldn't do." She spun around to face him, irritation lining her face. "And what exactly is this supposed reason, anyway? That Ron is a delusional prat who can't hex anything if he tried?"

"Hermione, you didn't see the look in his eyes. Hell, even if you did, I highly doubt you would have understood the meaning or intent behind them," Draco snapped, toeing off his shoes, letting them land unceremoniously in a heap on the mat.

"And what 'meaning' did you see in them, oh great and wise Mr. Malfoy?" Hermione asked, tugging her wand out of the robe to place it on the table.

"He was ready and willing to force himself on you," Draco cried, hands up in the air. "I…I don't know what I would've done if he had hurt you." His voice lowered, hands shaking as he swallowed thickly, trying his hardest to find some calm within his raging body. When he had shown up on the scene, had heard Ron's words, saw the look in the man's eyes, he wondered what would've happened if Hermione had not had her wand on her and he had not shown up. While Hermione was a little hellion, a strong woman, Ron was still stronger from years of Quidditch. He could have, although not too easily, overpowered her and done whatever he wanted to do to her.

Breathing heavily, Hermione closed her eyes for a brief moment, willing the annoyance to ease down. She understood what Draco meant, knew that he cared deeply about her, but, hell, it was so damn annoying to have him popping up and saving her whenever she didn't need saving.

"Draco," she said softly, turning to face him, "I understand that you care, but…I would never let Ron do anything to hurt me. I carry my wand with me at all times and I am not some weak girl who needs to be constantly protected," she added, moving over to him. "I can protect myself; I don't need you showing up every two seconds to save the day." Her voice was firmer now, less soothing and more confident and powerful. "I am a powerful witch, I know that, I'm reminded of it every day, and I will not let Ron hurt me. Trust me on that, Draco."

He ran his hands through his hair, wanting to fight back, wanting to argue, but, in the time that he had gotten to know her, he knew that fighting back would be like banging his head against a brick wall; he would achieve nothing except for giving himself a headache. "I want to say that I am fine with you wandering on your own, I would like to pretend that I can just sit back and twiddle my thumbs and pretend that I don't worry, but I can't. Fuck, Hermione, that bloke's going mental! Don't you see it? I know that's he's always been a bit off, but, hell, something isn't right with him and I don't trust him." He moved over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders, massaging her with his fingers. "I do trust you, I know that you are an incredibly talented and powerful witch, but Hermione, I can't just sit back and do nothing. If he hurt you…if he did anything to you…fuck, I'd kill him without any hesitation."

Hermione couldn't help it; she smiled, in spite of her annoyance, in spite of everything that seemed to be going down the drain, the slight, overly female part of her took joy in the fact that Draco cared so much about her and that he understood her. He wasn't going to be like Harry, who would demand that someone watch over her 24/7, he wouldn't be like Ron, who would be breathing down her neck every second. It was nice, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel that he was going to find a way to watch over her.

It was that niggling sensation that had her frowning in a moment, arching a brow up at him. "You're being awfully understanding," she pointed out.

Rolling his eyes, Draco threw his hands into the air. "Fuck, Hermione, if you were as suspicious about Ron as you are about my actions, then, hell I wouldn't have to worry."

"What is there to worry about?" she returned, irritation swelling up once more. "I can take care of myself."

"So you've said how many times?" he retorted, moving away to pace. "Hermione, I refuse to let you go wandering around at night alone anymore. You will change your patrol schedule so that you are always paired with someone, Weasel will never be paired to patrol with anyone but me, so I can keep an eye on the prat, and you must let me know where you are going whenever you leave."

"You're not my father!" she snapped. "I am a good witch, I know more spells that you do, and I sure as hell can cast them at least ten times better than you or anyone else in this bloody school! I do not need your protection, and I refuse to let you rule my life just because Ron got a tad out of control just now!"

"A tad out of control? Hermione, did you not hear what I just said? The bloke was ready to do anything he could to get you!" Draco cried, spinning around, gesturing violently with his hands.

"Define 'get me', Draco, because that can mean anything," Hermione responded with equal passion, hands on her hips, hair wild, as though electrified from the intensity of their fight.

"Get you! Grab you! Force himself on you! Fuck!" He dug his hands into his hair, spiking it wildly around his face, making a right mess of it. "He was ready to rape you, Hermione! He called you a tease and I don't even want to know what you stupidly did in order to get that fucking idea in his head. Obviously, you don't know what you should or shouldn't do! He wanted to fucking rape you!"

"You're wrong."

He blinked slowly, hearing her cold voice, watching as her stare hardened to ice. "What? What? Are you that fucking blind?"

"You're wrong," she reiterated. "Ron would never do anything like that. Yes, he's a bit emotionally unstable and seems to be a bit…attached…to me, but he'll get over it. He would never try to…rape me." She spat out the word, speaking it as though it left a foul taste in her mouth.

Rubbing his face, Draco groaned loudly. "You are so bloody naïve. You survive a war, you help fight people who raped and killed for fun, and yet you refuse to accept that even one of your friends would be willing to do the same shit that Death Eaters did because they've gone mental."

"I refuse to admit it because it isn't true!" she cried, tears stinging her eyes, hurting at the thought that Draco would accuse her friend of such a thing. Yes, it was true, Ron was a prat, and he would never accept their relationship, but, in the end, he was still her friend and she had known him for enough time to know that he would never do such a thing. Draco was just being a possessive arse.

"You didn't see the look in his eyes," Draco replied, voice softer now, pain lacing through his voice as he saw the hurt in her eyes. "Hermione…I understand that he's your friend, although I don't know what you see in him, and it must be hard to accept but…"

"Ron would never do such a thing, you bloody jealous arse!" Hermione shouted. "You're just trying to find stupid excuses to keep a tab on me. You're mental if you think I'm going to believe you, fucking mental!"

"Hermione, I thought the same about some of my friends!" he cried back, lifting an arm, gesticulating erratically. "And you know what, they did the same shit! I thought that they were nice and good-natured; I thought Crabbe was just another idiot who tried to be cool but had good intentions, and look at what he did! You didn't have to watch him rape those girls! You didn't have to sit there and realize that people are capable of doing it! You friends, people you chose to love, to care about! People who seemed to actually give a damn! And fuck, Hermione, I refuse to let you go through the same thing I did!" He dragged his fingers down his face, leaving ugly red marks on his cheeks. "I wouldn't be able to live with myself if Ron did that to you, and I don't care whether you believe me or not."

She swallowed rapidly, blinking quickly as a multitude of information flew into her mind. Draco was accusing Ron of wanting to rape her. Crabbe. He used to be just a dolt…sort of like a Slytherin, Pure-blooded version of Ron, and yet he…Draco watched. "You watched?"

He spun away from her now, veins sticking out in his arms, they were clenched so tight, and he made his way over to the fire, watching as the flames flashed and danced. Breathing deeply, he nodded sharply, closing his eyes to try and push back the threatening onslaught of memories. "I had no choice."

"You could've stopped him!"

"It was impossible!" he snapped, turning to send her a cold stare. Her breath literally left her chest at the sight of his eyes; they were dead, frozen, like frigid stone, and the only flicker of emotion in them was the swirling pain that danced cruelly in the firelight. "They all watched," he admitted after a heavy silence. "I…I refused to do it…told Voldemort that I…I refuse to waste my body on such useless girls…and so Crabbe did it. He made me watch."

The pain that overwhelmed nearly made her fall to her knees; just imagining what Draco had had to go through, just trying to picture how she would have dealt with it, made her head spin. Breathing heavily, she moved forward to lean on the couch as he turned back to watch the fire, gripping tightly on the back for support.

No wonder…no wonder he wanted to watch over her. No wonder the man had so many trust issues…had so few friends now. No wonder he reacted like that…he understood…She hated to admit it, hated to say to herself that she had seen the look in Ron's eyes, but now, as Draco cut open a scar for her and bleed his past all over her, she had to admit that she had seen it and she had been scared. She hadn't wanted to admit it, had never wanted to believe that Ron could have been capable of such things, that he had just been angry, tired, and fed up…that it had been anything but that. She still wanted to refuse to believe it…but…

"People change."

She lifted her head to look at him, listening to his raspy voice.

"We don't always see it, Hermione," he continued, either uncaring whether she listened or not, or fully aware that he had her full attention. "But people change…either suddenly or over time. Crabbe's was over a period of time, but nobody saw it. Ron…I know he used to just be a prat, an idiot who, and I hate to say this, was a good person…but, he's changed, Hermione. Something happened to him over the war and he's not the same, but nobody's seeing it. Everyone refuses to see it just as I refused to see that Crabbe was changing." Inhaling deeply, he rubbed his face, the cheeks sore from his nails. "I was too late for Crabbe, but I refuse to watch the same thing happen all over again. I refuse to let you be the victim, Hermione. Yes, you can take care of yourself, but, hell, I love you too much to just sit back and let you take care of everything on your own. I…I don't want you to end up like those girls."

She slid forward, moving slowly to the man she loved, to the man who irritated her beyond belief and yet, made her smile no matter what. To the man who ached and pained for her, who worried about her more than her parents and friends combined, and she slid her arms around the man, wrapped him into her embrace, physically telling him that, no matter what, she would be there with him. That, in spite of their differences, no matter how hard they fought, no matter how many insults were flung, she loved him.

"I can't promise that I won't go out alone," she whispered to him, pressing her face against his shoulder blade.

"Just promise me," he said softly, lifting his hands to keep her arms in place, twining his fingers with hers, "just promise me that you won't be alone with him. That's how Crabbe…just don't be alone with him. Ever."

"I…" she sighed gently, rubbing her cheek against his back, "I won't be able to make a promise that I won't be alone with him because you never know what can happen; but I can promise that I will not let him do anything to me. He won't be able to lure me away, Draco, and I sure as hell will make him hurt before he hurts me. Remember, I'm not the kind of person who will let just anyone rule my life or tell me what to do."

"I know." He leaned back into her embrace, shutting his eyes against the pain of the past and the fear of the future. Images danced in his mind, memories of Crabbe and the girls, some of whom had barely hit puberty, and he felt his heart clench in agony. Slowly, however, the warmth of her embrace seeped into his back, slowly sinking into his body, latching onto him and warming him, soothing the pain that threatened to overwhelm.

It is this warmth that allowed him to open his eyes to the present; it pushed the memories away and shattered the worries. The warmth of her love, of her gentle caresses, that reminded him that she was there and would always be there.

"We just ended a war," she sighed after a moment, fingers clenching tightly onto his shirt. "I just finally felt free to walk without a wand in the castle, free to live without fear and now…"

He twisted in her arms, pulling her face against his chest, pressing his chin on her head, and he held her tightly. "I know, Hermione."

"I won't leave without my wand." She buried her face against his chest. "I'll be cautious like I was before, I…I don't want to have to live like that again, but I have no choice."

"If he touches you, if he hurts you at all, Hermione, I will kill him without hesitation," Draco reminded her.

"I know."

They stood there for some time, trying to fight away the fears of reality, secretly praying for the strength to deal with this new obstacle, all the while clinging onto each other for the support they desperately needed. In the dim light, they helped each other push away their fears, they fought against the pain, the terror, the unknown, until, exhausted, they stepped away from each other only to come together again under the covers, embracing tightly until sleep forced their worries away and drew them into a realm of dreams.

The room was not as luxurious as their hotel, but it was her second home and she felt more than able to now deal with the minor plain features, including the lack of engraving on the posts of her bed or the faux-bear fur rug that covered the floor by her bed. But, since it was home, and she had become adjusted to these annoyances, she was able to still enjoy the room in spite of the inadequacies.

Lying back on the bed, Pansy stared up at the green curtains that hung up and around the four-poster bed, listening to Daphne grumble about how much work the teachers had already given them. Her mind, however, was not on Daphne's words but on a very recent and common internal debate.

Who controlled who? Did Hermione really find a way to manipulate Draco into falling in love with her, or was he manipulating her only to push her away heartlessly in the end like the Draco she knew? She wanted to believe in the latter, but it made little sense considering his recent actions. If he did, indeed, plan to establish a fake relationship and break the chit's heart, then he would not be denying the rumours.

Hermione…she hated to admit it, hated it with every fibre of her being, but that witch was bloody smart. Hell, probably more than smart enough to create love potions or spells that would make Draco fall helplessly in love with her. The girl wasn't pretty at all, at least according to Pansy, what with her frizzy hair and small bust, hell; she was plain, far plainer than half of the girls in Slytherin. So, what would Draco see in her of all people?

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Pansy glanced briefly to Daphne, who had somehow materialized beside her bed, hands on hips. Narrowing her eyes, she glared once at the girl before returning her scowl to the drapery.

"Ah, no penny needed," the brunette said in mock revelation. "You seem to be thinking about a certain blond and his sudden relationship with a certain brunette who likes the colour red."

"Sod off," Pansy muttered, crossing her arms over her chest, which, she had to add, was bigger than Hermione's. "Stupid chit."

"Honestly, I don't know why you're so bloody cranky about all of this," Daphne sighed, shifting to sit on the end of the bed. "There is absolutely no proof of what you say, all we know is that Draco and her are acquaintances."

Pansy pushed back her dark hair, tucking the strands behind her ears as she sat up to lean against the headboard. "That's what she wants everyone to think, but in fact, she had used some sort of potion to make him love her."

"And how exactly do you plan on proving it?" Daphne pointed out, stretching out her legs. "Must I repeat myself? There is no proof of what you claim."

"Not yet!" Pansy snapped, grabbing a throw pillow and hugging it to her body. "All we need to do is get him alone and then…"

"And then what? We start asking him if he's under some sort of spell? How do you plan on going about that? Just wave our wands around and start saying a bunch of spells and hope we get the right one, if he's even under a spell?"

Pansy shut her mouth, pausing mid-response to consider what she might say next. "Well, obviously he'd deny it either way, but we have to look at the way he answers."

"Yes, he'll either be extremely insulted or…"

"He'll be trying too hard to deny it!"

"Oh, in the name of Merlin…Pansy, do you realize how silly you sound?"

"If he tries too much, he's definitely under some sort of spell. And then, I must find a way to break it, even for a moment, to get the real Draco back. And he will be, because there's no way he would fall for such a plain chit," Pansy continued, not heeding a single word Daphne said.

"Athena, please grant us your wisdom," Daphne groaned, falling back on the bed to stare at the canopy. "How exactly do you plan on 'momentarily breaking' his so-called spell?"

"Like they do in plays and books," Pansy replied, "with a kiss!"

"A kiss? How the hell is a kiss going to break this so-called spell? You'll probably just end up pissing him off even more!"

"It will remind of our love! Of how much we cared about each other, about the golden days when we used to spend every moment together. It will snap him out of it long enough for him to beg us to free him and he will tell us exactly what she did. And then we will get her, we will find a way to break the spell and free him from her torture, and she will be expelled and…"

'You are bloody mental, Pansy,' Daphne groaned inwardly, rubbing her eyes, ignoring the way it smudged her mascara; they were going to bed soon anyway, so what was the point in keeping it tidy? 'About as fucking delusional as that Weasley kid.'

"Pansy…" she began only to be cut off yet again.

"Look, Daphne…in the end, I don't care that he doesn't feel for me anymore. I wish he did, I wish we still loved each other, but it probably won't happen again," Pansy said in a moment of sanity. "However, I just cannot believe that he would choose Granger out of all of the girls in the world. There is just so much that doesn't make sense, that doesn't add up. Why her? Why not you? Why not Astoria? What about the other girls? What's so special about Granger? I'll tell you what's special; she can make one bloody strong love potion. That would be the only reason he'd fall in love with her because he would never love her!"

Daphne wanted to grumble and fight back, she wanted to shout at the girl and remind her of just how delusional she was, but she knew that it would result in nothing but pissing off the dark-haired girl. She had to admit that, at first, Pansy sounded far more normal than usual, until she began spouting off that Hermione would use love potions to get Draco. Some of it just didn't make sense; Hermione and Draco had been enemies for years. Why would she want to use a love potion on him? She understood that they had become closer over the past year, having done missions together and, the obvious, living together since September, but she didn't think that Hermione would suddenly fall so madly in love that she felt the need to use a love potion.

"Granger is smarter than that," Daphne pointed out, although her voice was suddenly overpowered by Pansy's, who began spouting off how Hermione's intellect would give her and advantage and how they needed to find a way to free Draco from his spell. Lying back on the bed, she stared at the canopy and wondered if anyone would be able to help her sort Pansy out.

The door swung open, and she thought that her prayers had been answered until her little sister walked in followed by her friend Maryse Felborne. Astoria, she knew, would quickly follow Pansy's train of thought and begin spouting off the same delusional thoughts, while she and Maryse would exchange worried glances or looks of exasperation. It was difficult to determine whether or not Pansy and her sister posed a real threat, or what they said was nothing but nonsense.

True to their nature, Pansy turned on Astoria and began asking for her assistance in her good-natured attempt to save Draco from the clutches of the evil Hermione Granger, while Maryse sidled over to Daphne to sit on the bed beside her, hugging her knees to her body.

"They really are quite the pair, aren't they?" Maryse said softly, taking in Daphne's annoyed expression that told stories of a thousand words.

"Don't get me started," she grumbled, swinging into a sitting position. "Honestly," she sighed as Astoria let out a shriek and began rambling about something she had seen in the halls a week ago, "I don't understand how they manage to focus on school work at all."

"Astoria is being tutored."

Daphne gave Maryse a look of horror before letting out a noise of irritation before falling back on the bed. "Mum and dad are going to be pissed."

"I have to be there when you break them the news," Maryse replied with a mischievous chuckle. "It will be hilarious."

"I think I'm going to trek the Amazonian Jungle for the next century or so; I'll be able to get away from all of his balderdash and stupidity."

"Stupidity? You think that this is stupid?"

"They heard you," Maryse whispered, unable to hide another laugh.

"Sod off," Daphne muttered, sitting back up to stare at the livid looking duo; her sister and Pansy. Honestly, she had no clue where or when Astoria had gone through such a drastic character change. Beforehand, she used to be very nice and quiet, albeit a little to prim and proper and it resulted in her being labelled a tad snobbish, but she had not been as…exuberant and unintelligible before now.

"Daphne!" she heard her sister cry; she had closed her eyes against the horror that lay before her. "How could you? How could you think that this is any form of stupidity at all? We are trying to save Draco from that chit's clutches and you…you think that this is stupid?"

Rubbing her face, Daphne muttered an incomprehensible curse under her breath before looking at her younger sister. "Look," she began, knowing that she had to be cautious in her wording, lest the wrath of Pansy and Astoria be unleashed upon her. "I think it's a bit silly to be acting this way when you don't know all of the facts."

"That's why we are going to get the facts!" Astoria replied, slamming her fist into the palm of her other hand for emphasis.

"But," Daphne pointed out, "you are jumping ahead of yourselves. I know that you don't like Granger and it's rather odd that she suddenly became so chummy with Draco, but you don't have any proof that she did anything. Get the proof before you start jumping to conclusions because right know you two sound very silly."

Astoria paused, mouth partially open, retort having died on her lips, and she simply stared at Daphne as she attempted to find a strong answer that might help her cause. It was Pansy who responded, in her usual shrill and over-exaggerative manner.

"Then help us get the proof! We will show you! We know that Granger has brainwashed Draco! We know that the stupid witch is smart enough to make a powerful mind-controlling potion!" Daphne didn't even bother correcting Pansy's oxymoron. "Help us and we'll show you! Then you can take back what you said." She spread her legs and pointed at Maryse and Daphne, eyes alit with the fire of passion and rage. "If you don't help us, you won't be considered Slytherins and…and…you'll have to send erotic valentines to Finch-Fletchley, Longbottom, Potter, and…and…Slughorn!"

"You have got to be kidding me," Daphne choked out, watching as Maryse turned a rather putrid shade of green. She swore she tasted a touch of vomit in her mouth at the thought of Slughorn receiving an erotic valentine.

"You have no choice!"

"I give up," Maryse said, "I just…I give up. Fine…we'll help…just don't make us send…those."

Daphne swore that if Pansy could cackle evilly, she would have at that moment. It was at this point in time, as she fell back on the bed to stare at the rippling green canopy, she thought it might have been a better choice to send Slughorn an erotic valentine.

The first month came to a swift and rapid end at Hogwarts. Students slowly integrated back into their scholarly lives and the rumours of New Year's began to die down heavily as rumours of Valentine's Day grew. What would happen this year? Who would be whose Valentine? Would there be a dance? A couples gathering? So many questions were posed and none of them had a single answer.

Students debated over whether or not there would be some kind of Valentine King and Queen, if there was a dance, and couples began to show off more public displays of affection in order to establish their places as favourite couples. Hermione and Draco were growing increasingly grateful with this new change, quite content that, at least, the rumours about their personal lives were coming to an end. Students could snog in the hallways as much as they wanted, argue about who was the better couple, and discuss passionately about Valentine's Day celebrations, just as long as Hermione and Draco were no longer celebrities in the gossip world.

As Heads, however, with the approach of Valentine's Day came the discussion of what to do about it. Hermione, fortunately, was able to use this as yet another excuse to avoid Ron at all costs and give Harry brief responses to his otherwise personal and in-depth-response-requiring questions. Draco, however, had taken to sneaking a touch more through the corridors, always afraid that one star-struck Slytherin girl or another might decide to jump him and beg to be his Valentine. He may have been labelled as a Death Eater, but not one girl forgot, come Valentine's Day, that he was one of the hottest men at Hogwarts.

What the girls did not know, however, was that he was no longer eligible, and this resulted already in a few tears when he had to, kindly, turn down some requests.

With Valentine's Day two weeks away, Hermione and Draco had finally settled on establishing a meeting with Headmistress McGonagall concerning activities. Unfortunately, this meant that all Prefects were obliged to join in the brainstorming session and that included Ron, as well as Daphne Greengrass, who had recently replaced Pansy as Slytherin Prefect.

Draco never had anything against Daphne; the girl had always been kind and a lot less…strong in demonstrating her ideals than the others. But she was passionately defensive about her family, particularly her younger sister. This worried Draco because he was quite certain that her sister was harbouring some kind of feelings for him…or was very passionate about getting Draco and Pansy together. Either way, it terrified him and he was rather unnerved at the thought of being stuck with the task of dealing with a Greengrass. At least the Slytherin male Prefect was Blaise…he felt a lot safer with him around.

To make a long story short, we now find Draco and Hermione sitting comfortably at the head table of the small meeting room, watching as the Prefects file in and take their seats. Luna managed to grab a seat behind Blaise and Hermione couldn't help but smile as the way they calmly greeted each other. It was a pleasant sight to see other Houses engaging in Inter-House Unity. Her partner, Terry Boot, took his seat beside her with only a few faint signs of disgust on his face at the idea of being 'stuck' behind Slytherins.

When Ron entered the room, Draco instinctively wanted to reach out and grasp Hermione's hand as she turned her gaze away from the redhead, but he had to settle for clenching his pants, wishing he could march over and slam his fist into the smug freckle-faced bastard.

"Now," Hermione began once everyone was seated, "I assume that most of you know why we're all here today."

"Valentine's Day!" piped up the sixth year Hufflepuff Prefect, Seanacy Wilkes.

"Yes," she continued calmly. "Valentine's Day is two weeks away and we decided that it is time to bring up the suggestions made at the beginning of the year for ways to make this holiday lively and celebratory." She waved her wand at a nearby chalkboard and the white chalk whizzed frantically over the surface, quickly yet neatly writing down a short list. "It is easy to assume that we will not be able to have a ball, since we were forced to choose between a Halloween Masquerade and a Valentine's Dance. Does anyone have any new ideas or anything they might wish to add to an already existing idea?"

"What about Cupids?" asked Ernie Macmillan, the other Hufflepuff Prefect, earning many glares from the seventh year Prefects.

Draco rubbed his nose at the memory of those damn Cupids from…what year again? Wasn't it First? Those little buggers that flew around and read out loud your bloody Valentine…hell, the idea of them gave him a rather powerful headache that not many memories could create.

"No."

Hermione was quite pleased that Draco had said it and not her; at least Ernie's glare was directed to him.

"I'm afraid not, Ernie," she said. "Are there any other ideas?" she continued, looking around expectantly at the Prefects.

The meeting lasted longer than it was initially supposed to; after Ernie had broken the ice, and had been turned down, more of the Prefects came up with various ideas on how to celebrate Valentine's Day, from raffle prizes of romantic giveaways, to an extravagant event that would be completed with the crowning of Hogwarts' 'Royal Couple.' Hermione was torn between yelling at some of the silly ideas and nodding appreciatively and hugging those who actually put some thought into their words before speaking them. Draco, on the other hand, was far blunter than her, ready to tell a student just how obviously stupid the idea was within the first few seconds of its life.

Needless to say, while this meeting, like most other Prefects' meetings, would conclude with her nursing a throbbing head, it was one of the few that actually resolved an issue before its end and she was quite pleased with the results. She was even more pleased when Ginny, Gryffindor's female Prefect, nearly dragged Ron away when he seemed rather adamant on staying and glaring at Hermione for the rest of eternity.

She would most definitely be sending her friend a rather large box of chocolates.

By the next day, flyers were up and word spread throughout Hogwarts about the upcoming Valentine's Day events; kiosks would be set up in the Great Hall on the 13th, which happened to fall on a Friday, and students would be able to write out their Valentine's in privacy, and they would be passed onto the Prefect in charge of said kiosk, who, due to charms, would be unable to see the author. As Hermione had pointed out, this would ensure that all students received kind Valentines as opposed to cruel ones. Students would be given the option to sign or not, and those who signed would be using an ink that was charmed to only become visible once Valentine's Day ended.

Students were rather excited over this idea, quite pleased that no singing, dancing Cupids would be barging into their classrooms to sing rather embarrassing poems to them in the middle of Potions or Ancient Runes. However, the excitement increased when the students, particularly the older ones, noticed that they would also have a Hogsmeade trip and that the Three Broomsticks would be having special 'Couples' Lunches,' for the students.

Hermione couldn't help but beam at the handiwork of the group, quite pleased with the reaction of the student body and just how helpful the Prefects would be. That is, if someone excluded the begrudging Ron, but, at this particular point in time, they barely registered on her radar. She was too excited over the upcoming holiday and far too busy with all of her duties to be concerned about Ron.

This, she thought one day in the middle of writing an essay for Astronomy, might actually be the first time she'd actually enjoy a Valentine's Day.

"I should send her a Valentine asking me to meet me somewhere; then she'd have no choice but to stay a listen."

"You heard what the rules stated; students are not permitted to ask for fellow students to meet at a specified location."

"That's to avoid fights and embarrassing situations," Ron pointed out, gesturing with his knight as he stared at Harry from across the chessboard. "This is different."

"Yes, it is," Harry agreed after sending his rook to obliterate Ron's bishop; he had to admit, Ron growing a little more…'concerned' about Hermione was causing him to make very amateur mistakes in their chess games, which resulted in Harry nearly winning one the previous week. "This will result in pissing Hermione off and you getting your balls hexed off."

"Why would she get angry about meeting me in secret?" Ron asked, rather innocently oblivious to Hermione's true reactions to his actions. Harry was finding it odder and odder with each passing day to what Ron flit between hatred and pure, raw love and devotion for the female part of their trio. He debated heavily whether or not something really was wrong with Ron and just what it might be; this seemed a bit much for just a passing crush.

"Well," Harry began, wincing as Ron decimated one of his knights, "firstly, you'd be breaking the rules that she set in place. That would probably insult her. And, lately, you seem to have had the worst luck at saying the wrong things at the wrong moments. Like last week in Potions, when, instead of complimenting her, you only succeeded in insulting her by insinuating that she could never live without a man like you."

Ron sighed, rubbing his face. "But it's true," he replied rather wistfully yet passionately, a strange combination. "She can't live without me. Have you ever heard of two soul mates being able to live apart from each other? It's unthinkable and would probably result in our death."

Harry snorted loudly, causing Ginny, who had been sitting just out of earshot of their conversation, to look over the edge of her Quidditch book and send a questioning look to Harry, who had not seen it. "Have you been reading Gin's vampire romance novels?"

"No!" Ron replied sharply, ordering his pawn to move in reaction to Harry's earlier move. "What I mean is that she will be so lonely without me, if we part ways, if we are never given the chance to…love each other, we will never be able to find someone else to fill the hole; she will never be able love anyone but me."

Harry rolled his eyes and shut his ears to Ron's lengthy answer, knowing the damn thing by heart. Ron would babble on for a while, sounding very much like a corny romance novel, before ending with slamming his fist on a nearby solid surface and stating loudly that he and Hermione were made for each other. So, while he ignored Ron, he focused on the game in order to make his move and then let his mind drift to other subjects, the main one of which was Hermione.

He felt rather bad; they had not been able to have a decent conservation since returning to Hogwarts, particularly since Ron demanded on spending every moment with Harry in case Hermione showed up to talk to the Boy-Who-Lived. This caused Hermione to avoid Harry like the plague, which he knew was something she did not particularly enjoy.

There was also this nagging feeling that erupted at the base of his neck every time he glanced towards Hermione and Draco whenever they were together for school work or Heads' duties. It pestered him, told him that, perhaps, Hermione had not been telling Harry everything when he had appeared that day over Christmas break. That there was something more, something she kept hidden.

BANG!

"Hermione and I are made for each other!!!"

Harry jumped, unprepared for the rather loud sound of Ron's fist slamming against the chessboard – which resulted in all of the pieces tumbling and fall off of the board – and his even louder voice that shouted the overused words.

Sighing softly, beginning to gather the pieces and set up for a new round, Harry couldn't help but feel that this information Hermione was keeping behind would be the spark that might start the fire. The only problem was; he wasn't sure whether it would be a healing or damaging flame.

Hey guys.

Sorry for taking so darn long to update. As you all know, I had adapter issues and have fixed things with Dell and am currently waiting on a new adapter.

Also, while I have been on "reading week" (pre-spring Spring Break), I have been spending my week off working, with my fiancé, and playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on N64.

So, mainly because Ocarina of Time is made of 100% win, I have not been spending much time at my computer. Actually, I had not even touched my computer from last Saturday up until this Wednesday. Rather sad, isn't it?

Well, this chapter is done, and I have a lot of plans for future chapters and will never abandon this story. I thank you all for being so darn patient with me and I am sorry it has taken me so long to finish this one. I'll let you all know, the week before my week off, I had an exam in Modern History on the Tuesday, exam of History in China on the Wednesday from 8:30pm – 11:30pm, and then an essay due for a conference group of Modern History on the Thursday morning.

So I had a busy pre-break week and I just took the first half to relax and not die.

I will spend this weekend working on the next chapter and will try to have it up by Monday/Tuesday, but not promises, just in case things don't go as planned.

Also, while I'm not particularly talented with computer stuffs, I was wondering if people might want to make banners, do doodles or anything, for any of my fics. I know that I'm not some uber famous author, but it's always nice and it might help get my name out there and get a bigger fanbase.

So, if you're interesting in making videos, drawings, banners, etc, let me know. I really do want to expand my fanbase, but, I will always keep you guys, especially those who have stuck with me from the beginning, close to my heart.

Thank you guys.

RECIPE TIME!!!!!!!! (cue dancing Dumbledore puppet from Potter Puppet Pals)

Dark and White Chocolate Igloos

Source: canadianliving(dot)com - go into food, and it's under Best Chocolate recipes or something. (Thanks for reminding me dail-of-the-air about the link-thing. I meant to change it but completely forgot!)

Ingredients:

1 ½ tsp unflavoured gelatin 1 5oz bittersweet chocolate, very finely chopped*

1 vanilla bean 8 egg yolks ½ cup granulated sugar

2 ½ cups whipping cream 2 tbsp coffee liqueur

1 5oz white chocolate, very finely chopped*

Preparation:

In small glass measure, stir gelatin with 2 tbsp (25 mL) water. Place bittersweet chocolate in large heatproof bowl. Set aside.

Slit vanilla bean lengthwise in half; scrape out seeds and place seeds in separate large heatproof bowl. Whisk in egg yolks and sugar. Set over saucepan with about 2 inches (5 cm) simmering water; whisk until thick enough to thickly coat spoon, about 5 minutes.

Measure 1/2 cup (125 mL) of the cream into small glass liquid measuring cup; microwave on high until bubbles form around edge, about 1 minute. Whisk into egg mixture.

Remove bowl of egg mixture from saucepan and saucepan from heat; set saucepan aside. Pour half of the egg mixture over bittersweet chocolate. Add liqueur; whisk until smooth. Refrigerate until slightly chilled and firm enough to mound on spoon, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, add white chocolate to remaining hot egg mixture, whisking until chocolate is melted. Set measuring cup holding softened gelatin into hot water remaining in saucepan; let heat until gelatin dissolves and clarifies, about 3 minutes. Whisk into white chocolate mixture. (If either chocolate does not completely melt by the time it is cool, rewarm over hot water, whisking until smooth.) Refrigerate until cool and thickened to consistency of raw egg whites.

Whip remaining cream. Fold one-quarter each into each chocolate mixture; fold in remaining cream.

Divide white chocolate mixture among twelve 3-inch (125 mL) ramekins; place on rimmed baking sheet. Top with bittersweet chocolate mixture. Cover lightly and freeze until set, about 2 hours.

Additional Information

Tip: For mini igloos, you can extend the number of servings to 24. Little and rich make a good festive combination.

*- Concerning the * beside the chocolate amounts, I was unsure as to whether or not there was just an added space and it's actually 15oz of white chocolate/bittersweet chocolate or not. This is why I set up the link, so that you may determine it for yourself.

If anyone uses this recipe, let us all know in your review, please, that way we, myself and the readers, may know whether or not this recipe is truly worth attempting.

Also, have fun finding a vanilla bean!

Enjoy the recipe and thank you for reading! Now please review!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (even though I'm a horrible person and take over 9,000 years to update….HAHA! over 9,000…HAHAhahaha…okay…I'll stop.)