Hey everyone sorry it's been so long, have been so busy, but thanks for being patient with me. I have news though, I have been nominated for the Nook Summer awards, Blinded by the Light-Ning; Favourite Hogwarts Era which is just crazy. Thank you to whoever nominated me, can't tell you how shocked and happy I was. If you would like to vote then here is the link: goo*.gl/forms/rmftYXRG9V5yuIff2. (Just take out the star)

I also recommend reading all the other nominations on there because they are crazy good, here's the link for that: * * *spreadsheets/d/10LpRTCokOteUlyEx5sF7uD9FIX-GdT7x32sDmzqnpcw. (Just take out the stars)

Hey somethingnew2016, thanks so much for reading and leaving a review, as for what you said about Hermione's Patronus, you know, I hadn't really thought of that. I guess I was just working on the basis that it was linked to her and so would always be an otter whether she'd cast the spell or not. I apologise if that doesn't make sense, but thanks so much for pointing it out to me. Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing, hope you like the new chapter.

"Are you absolutely sure this is a good idea?" Ginny asked, meeting Hermione's gaze evenly making her grimace. Of course, she didn't think sneaking out on Christmas eve to meet Draco Malfoy was a good idea, but she was going to do it anyway, not doing it seemed somehow worse. She dug her fingers into the cushion she was hugging and gazed at the peeling wallpaper hanging above the end of her bed. She itched with the want to reach out and pull at it, bringing it down in one satisfying strip, anything to distract her from the conversation she was having to sit through.

"I mean sure, it'll be difficult…but not impossible." If she was honest with herself, getting out of Grimmauld Place without anyone noticing her absence seemed about as close to impossible as was feasibly possible. Especially on the night of the year when everyone was expected to be together, celebrating in good cheer. Mrs Weasley had always taken the cheer of Christmas incredibly seriously, even once beating George over the head when he had refused to look happy in the early hours of Christmas morning. Even with the family somewhat more subdued than normal, she knew it wouldn't be easy to pull off.

"That's not what I mean. Are you sure it's a good idea to meet him alone?" To Hermione's embarrassment, it took her quite a while to realise what Ginny was getting at and when she did her mouth fell open in shock.

"You can't think he'd…"

"Why not? We know things are getting worse, my dad's a testament to that. Bad things are happening and from what Harry's said Malfoys dad is involved, and how many times has Harry been wrong over the last few weeks?" Hermione wanted to point out that Harry had been wrong plenty of times, one only had to cast a casual glance over his school work to see how wrong he could be, but she knew that was not what Ginny meant. When it came to matters of Voldemort it seemed that Harry had been right on every count.

"If his father Dad's involved, what's to say that he isn't? What if this turns out to be some elaborate plan to bring The Order out of hiding?" Ginny suggested as if the whole scenario made perfect sense and Hermione found herself drawing back a little as the words stung. Contemplating that Draco might have been showing any type of interest in her due to an ulterior motive of trying to impress his father and, in so doing, impress Voldemort made her feel a little sick. However, when she thought about it, it didn't make much sense at all.

They had been brought together by accident, an accident that had absolutely nothing to do with Voldemort, or Harry or The Order. It had just been them and the memories they experienced together. Everything about Mina and Edwards world was so far removed from what they were experiencing now that Hermione was left in no doubt that everything she and Draco had gone through, were going through, was not a matter of deception.

"I don't think that's true."

"But it could be." Ginny shuffled closer, crossing her legs in front of Hermione, her eyes full of deep sympathy as Hermione picked at the material of the cushion sadly. The Black coat of arms stared up at her, its colours faded by age and wear, and she traced its outline with her finger as she tried to think of something, anything to say to convince Ginny of what she was so certain of.

"Weren't you the one that encouraged me to spend time with him?" She pointed out trying to laugh off her disappointment and Ginny sighed, staring at a rather tired looking painting or Diagon Alley, that hung lopsidedly on the wall.

"I know, but that was before…before dad…" Hermione's shoulders sagged under the sadness of Ginny's words, reaching out to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. It was true that, out of all the Weasley's, Ginny was the most logical, able to keep her emotions in check till such a time when she felt it was okay to fall apart. For Ginny, that time had been when Hermione had arrived at Grimmauld Place. As soon as her bags had touched down in the room the two of them shared, Ginny had been sobbing on her shoulder. Every time her father was mentioned there was a sadness and a worry that filled Ginny's eyes and made Hermione long to make everything better. It never ceased to make her feel guilty. She wanted answers as to who had done it and why, just as much as Ginny, but she found herself wanting to see Draco more. She wondered when it was she had become so selfish.

"I really don't think Malfoy is involved with this…he…" Hermione hesitated. Telling Ginny that she and Draco had planned to meet was one thing, revealing that they had been in constant contact and showing their correspondence was another.

"Of course, you don't considering how you feel about him." Hermione bristled, while Ginny was right she still didn't like hearing it. Maybe she was completely misjudging him because of all the change she'd seen him, all the hidden good things that made it impossible not to like him.

"It's more than that, It's-look I can show you."

"What?" Ginny was eyeing her up suspiciously and Hermione sighed. She supposed that it couldn't hurt, she had trusted Ginny with everything else. She quickly jumped off the bed and rummaged through her bedside table where she'd taken to keeping it. Sometimes he wrote to her late at night, musing about their plan, what they would find when they reached Arden and also about random little things that never ceased to make her smile. She had found herself rather embarrassingly, keeping the messages on the scroll, reading back through them with a small smile tugging at her lips. She picked it up, passing it through her hands before handing it over to Ginny whose forehead furrowed in confusion.

"What's this?" She asked, opening it out letting her eyes scan its contents.

"It's…it's how we talk to each other."

"This is Malfoy?" Ginny asked in shock, her eyebrows rising in clear shock as she let the scroll drop a little. Hermione nodded, and Ginny slowly shook her head.

"Who knew he could be so….so…" Ginny shook her head again, words failing her. "I can't believe he's flirting with you." Hermione blushed, scoffing lightly at the redhead's words. She'd hoped that he was, hoped that there was something about her that was better than Daphne but then she'd always squashed those thoughts beneath logic. While there might have been some element of Malfoy that enjoyed winding it her up, that was all it was, him being his usual Slytherin self.

"Come on, he is," Ginny stated, jabbing her finger into the scroll. Hermione bit her tongue, not wanting to say too much in case Ginny decided to bring up the fact that she had been flirting too. "Everything he says is just to get you to react to him. Like this 'You're a like a miniature horntail when you're angry, adorable but Merlin, feisty'"

Ginny eyes were practically bugging out of her head.

"He's always called me names." Hermione pointed out, shaking her head quickly to dislodge the niggling thoughts of Draco thinking that she was adorable.

"Not like this, this is…weird."

"We've been over this before though, all the nice things, all the things that don't quite seem like him, they could just be the Sensieve." Ginny shook her head, seeming to have forgotten her previous suspicions that Draco was talking to her to undertake some nefarious plot involving Voldemort.

"You'd think an ancient magical bowl would have had plenty of time to learn how to flirt better." Hermione found herself chuckling, tugging her bushy hair behind her ears only to have it spring free moments later.

"You still think it's a trap."

Ginny considered Hermione's question for some time before shaking her head.

"Honestly, no. Everything that's happened to you and him happened way before any of this went on. I think this is, unbelievably, just Malfoy." Ginny lay back on the bed, handing the scroll back to Hermione after reading it a few moments longer.

"Makes you wonder what's going on in his head, doesn't it?" Hermione mumbled, reading a few lines before rolling it back up.

"And also, how in Merlin's name he ever got so much female attention." Hermione giggled, laying down next to her friend, staring at the peeling wallpaper.

"So, you think I should meet him?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but yeah, I think you should meet him. And who knows, maybe you'll find out more about Edward and Mina on your travels, you know if you're not too busy with other things." Hermione made a disgusted sound hitting a laughing Ginny across the face with her cushion. The Redhead spluttered at the plume of dust that erupted at the collision.

"I just need to figure out how to sneak out of here and back without anyone noticing." Ginny coughed and spluttered waving her hand in front of her face. Eventually, she calmed, her eyes watering slightly as she grinned at Hermione, something rather Slytherin in the way it curved her lips.

"Oh, leave that to me."

Draco had never been more reluctant to visit the front room of his home before, his feet scuffing against the stone floor as he dragged them to the ever-waiting doom of Daphne Greengrass. His mother had found him in amongst the old part of the Malfoy Library, briefly shaking her head and tutting at the state of him before telling him that he had a visitor. The rather pleased smile that accompanied her announcement told him that it was, in fact, Greengrass waiting for him and he was not in any state to put up with her.

He'd resigned himself to ending things, being with her wasn't distracting him in the slightest and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to catch any sort of amorous feeling towards her. Sure, Pansy assured him that feelings would grow with plenty of contacts, but he was beginning to think that only Professor Sprout levels of gardening would ever make anything remotely romantic so much as sprout between them. It was all made worse by the fact that Daphne and Theo seemed to have no problem with it, their feeling practically blooming in everyone's face, the sight of it somewhat sickening. He supposed though, that their added interest in each other had meant that slipping away to see Granger all the easier, added to that Pansy being somewhat distracted and the last couple of days of term had been a breeze.

He realised it wasn't the best of situations and maybe if he'd been a better person he wouldn't have let it go on as long as he had. Problem was, he hadn't really thought about Greengrass all that much, so ensuring that her feelings weren't being slowly hurt hadn't really cropped up. He supposed though that now was as good a time as any to end things. Put a full stop on the end of a bad idea and carry on as though the whole messy business had never transpired. He winced when he thought of what her reaction would be, no doubt there would be tears, lots of babbling and sniffling as she begged him to explain to her why such a relationship should end. He couldn't be exactly sure but based on her general personality he thought it best to prepare himself for the snottiest and most tearful breakup he'd ever experienced. He'd been so caught up imagining her woeful reaction that he was caught a little off guard when she didn't go through the usual routine of throwing herself into his arms and shoving her tongue down his throat. Instead, she remained with her back to the fire, arms crossed, looking the most composed and collected he'd ever seen her. She didn't look on him with adoration but rather appraised him with a sneer, a sniff of disapproval leaving her when she took in his attire.

"You look a mess." Draco stared down at his filthy clothes then back up at Daphne somewhat at a loss as to what was going on. Everything about her looked Daphne, right down to the long-sleeved red top, with a rather plunging neckline and what Draco guessed were mightily expensive trousers that hugged her legs, but something wasn't right.

"Nice to see you too." His sarcasm lacking some of its bite as he tried to fathom what in Merlin's name was going on. Instead of an answer, or the hurt look she usually threw him when she was the butt end of his scathing sarcasm, she simply flicked her hair over one shoulder, re-crossing her arms and looking down her nose at him. Draco would have bristled at such treatment if he hadn't been in utter and complete shock.

"We need to talk." She stated, gesturing for him to take a seat as she herself sat down. Draco bit back a comment about it being his home and begrudgingly lowered himself into a seat across from her, the sooner they finished their wretched conversation the sooner he could get back to what truly mattered.

"What the matter?" Draco managed through gritted teeth, picking dust off his trousers uncomfortably. When he'd imagined this scenario, he had always been in charge, now it felt as though Daphne were ripping all his pride out from under him and he didn't like it one bit.

"We are going to break up." Draco's eyes widened, sure he'd been expecting such a thing to happen, but he'd been expecting to deliver the bad news, not the other way around. And the way she said it as if he had been the one pining after her for months. "And you're going to tell me why you thought it was okay to use me." Draco's mouth dropped open.

"Use you? I'm not sure…"

"Oh please, you must think I'm an idiot. You don't like me, you never have so, who is it? Does she already have a boyfriend or is it closer to home? A dark stain on the ever-glowing Malfoy name perhaps?" He hadn't meant to react, but his whole body froze at the mention of shame to his family. He'd grown to hate the idea that Hermione was shameful to his family, but no matter how he felt about it, it remained true.

"Are you joking?" Daphne laughed bitterly, a small flicker of sympathy creeping into her eyes. The Greengrass' were yet another pureblood family that obsessed over how wonderfully important they all were to the wizarding community, treating those who were of muggle descent with all the scorn and hatred they could muster. He had no idea what Daphne's stance on the whole subject was, but he guessed it was nowhere near as steadfast as her parents.

Draco clenched his jaw, standing up quickly, hoping to bring the conversation to a close. Usually, his anger would make Daphne shut her mouth, but something seemed to have happened to the blonde and she'd morphed into something else, something less timid and fragile. It was rather unnerving that he thought she'd never looked more attractive, the steely resolve in her eyes reminding him of the steely resolve he always saw in Granger's.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but if that's all."

"Malfoy, you will sit down and explain everything to me, I deserve that much after all the crap you've put me through."

"Oh, come on, I dated you for a bit what more do you want." Daphne looked affronted by his words, tears glimmering in her eyes, but she took a moment to compose herself.

"Dated could hardly be the word to describe our relationship if it even was that. You treated me like a fool. Did you think that just being by my side would keep me happy? A few words, a couple of kisses tossed my way would be enough?" Draco didn't say anything but that was exactly what he'd thought. A little voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like Granger was admonishing him for being such a careless idiot. Neither he nor Pansy had thought about Daphne's feelings, not even once. He suddenly realised Hermione meant when she told him that he could be a git. Git didn't even go far enough to cover what manner of dick he had been.

"Look, Daphne, I…" He sighed, once again sitting in front of her, running his fingers through his hair and tugging harshly at the ends, "I like you, Greengrass, just not…"

"Oh please, save it. I can't imagine anything more degrading right now."

"But it's true, I wanted to-I wanted it to somehow work, Merlin knows it would have been easier."

"Easier?" Daphne asked sharply, leaning forward in anger, her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Not easier, just what everyone expects. Nothing would be messy it would all just…fall into place." Daphne nodded once, although she didn't seem wholly satisfied with the answer. "How did you find out?"

"Oh please, you were about as subtle as a bludger to the face," Daphne scoffed, adjusting her jumper so that the plunging neckline revealed yet more pale cleavage.

"Kind of like you and Knott then?" Draco bit back a grin of triumph when Daphne herself jumped slightly in place, her eyes widening as she looked up at him.

"How did you…"

"Just a guess, good guess though." Daphne looked away from him, staring at the picture of one of his ancestors that hung above the fireplace, the old aristocrat snoring softly, dribbling on himself with such poise.

"And what of it?" Daphne sniffed, turning back to him defiantly. "You were sneaking off to Merlin knows where with Merlin knows who and treating me…the point is Theo was there."

"And that's all you required?" Draco asked cynically, and Daphne frowned at him.

"It was more than you offered. Theo…he's not what I expected. I didn't want to do this, I was going to wait until I'd spoken with you but…well things just happen I guess." Draco could attest to that, though he didn't want to. The amount of time he had fully intended to stay away from Granger and he'd ended up right in front of her, fighting back urges that he felt as though he had no control over.

A silence settled between them, only the crackle of the fire breaking it at regular intervals. He felt as though there were nothing left that he could say, but it seemed that Daphne was waiting or something, perhaps an apology, or for him to show some sort of emotion over the fact that his friend had effectively betrayed him. No matter how much he tried to see it that way he couldn't, the pair of them were, he supposed, good together and it wasn't like he'd ever been wholly invested in the relationship.

"Who is it?" Draco started at Daphne's question and immediately put up his guard.

"No one you need worry about." He muttered, quickly standing once again, very aware that there were portraits of ancestors all around him that had a habit of listening in on conversations.

"Are you going to tell them?" Draco frowned at her question for a while wondering why it was all so important for her to know. They'd talked about everything that mattered, now it was time for them to go their separate ways, no harm done.

"Why would I do that?" He shrugged, digging his hands into his pockets.

"Why not?" Draco gritted his teeth at Daphne's shrug of reply. He hated it when people who didn't understand made everything sound so easy; Pansy and Snape with their insistence that he stay away from Granger and now Daphne with her carefree attitude about telling Hermione Granger something that could literally give her the power to tear the heart right out of him and trample it into dust.

"Because reasons…" Daphne lifted one eyebrow and he sighed. If he was going to get her to leave, he was going to have to play along with whatever warped cathartic game she was playing. "My parents would never allow it."

"Urgh, that's the worse excuse I've ever heard." Daphne groaned, unimpressed.

"It's not an excuse, it's a reality, now if you're quite done with the life counselling, I'd like to get back to being dumped."

"So, that's it? You hurt me, play around with my feelings, only to find the plan you had doesn't actually work and now you're just-just going to quit because of Mommy and Daddy." The ancestor above the fireplace stirred slightly as Daphne's voice rose, only to sink back into soft snoring after a few moments of silence. Draco let out a breath he'd been holding, the last thing he needed was past Malfoy's adding to the disappointment and general contempt he usually got from his father.

"It's not that simple." He ground out and Daphne laughed, shaking her head at him slowly.

"All that really matters is if you care for the person."

"What magical romance novel you lift that from Greengrass?"

"Sod off, Malfoy, it's true."

"Yeah well, thanks so much for the advice."

"Merlin Malfoy, I already know you're a prick, don't prove to be a coward as well."

"Er Slytherin, we aren't known for our bravery."

"Or stupidity." Daphne countered, and Draco found himself well and truly shut up. He watched her lift herself out the chair thinking that she was not the girl that he and Pansy had decided he should try and date. He wondered where that girl had gone to, she was a lot easier to deal with.

"Look Greengrass…"

"Please don't apologise. I want to stay angry with you for a bit longer." She headed towards the fireplace, flicking her blonde hair over her shoulder. She turned to face him, Floo Powder in hand flames of the fire dancing at her feet, "Oh and don't blame Theo for this. I didn't exactly give him a choice." Draco couldn't stop the surprise from registering on his face and Daphne seemed mildly pleased with herself.

"Wow, predatory."

"What can I say," the blonde shrugged, "I go after what I want." She batted her eyelids the way he'd become accustomed to over their non-relationship and Draco realised with sickening clarity that there was a definite reason why Daphne Greengrass was a Slytherin. Both he and Pansy had thoroughly misjudged the blonde, seeing as little more than a means to an end, someone that would go along for the ride and complain very little about the crappy journey. But they'd been wrong and Greengrass had struck before either of them had realised she'd been waiting to attack.