From Malfoy to Draco

The Battle of the Lighting-Struck Tower

The next morning Hermione woke up groggy and stiff, her night was restless and took a toll on her mood drastically. Getting out of bed, she stretched out every part of her body, checked her watch and realised she only had thirty minutes until breakfast was over.

"WHAT!" she shouted. Lavender, who had just walked into the room, smirked and started looking for something in her drawers.

She rushed to get changed into her robes, brushed her teeth and hair, grabbed her books and sprinted down the stairs. Breakfast was uneventful but a nagging feeling in her stomach began when she scanned the Great Hall for Draco and realised he wasn't there. It only seemed to increase as the day went on and he wasn't in any of the classes they had together. Dumbledore said they had everything under control, stop worrying! she reminded herself, but the headmaster's lack of interest or concern didn't make her feel any better.

At the end of the day, Hermione thought about doing something productive in the library and found what she was looking for in the first half an hour. Running up to the common room she saw who she was looking for at a window seat.

"I want to talk to you, Harry."

"What about?" said Harry suspiciously.

"The so-called Half-Blood Prince."

"Oh, not again," he groaned. "Will you please drop it?"

Hermione couldn't believe her ears. Didn't Harry want to know the owner of the book that contained dark magic? Didn't he want to know the inventor of the spell that put Draco in the hospital? She refused to drop it and continued to tell him what she discovered. As usual, the conversation went south.

"Where did you get this anyway?" Harry asked.

"The library. There's a whole collection of old Prophets up there. Well, I'm going to find out more about Eileen if I can," she replied.

"Enjoy yourself," he said irritably.

"I will," said Hermione. "And the first place I'll look," she shot at him, as she reached the portrait hole, "is records of old Potions awards!"

Angry didn't even cut the way she felt with Harry's complete ignorance. Halfway to the library, the fight she had in her when talking to her best friend had gone out abruptly and she felt tired. The sky outside was darkening quickly so a walk wasn't a good idea, she had nowhere to go.

I have one place...

She walked down the familiar corridor and looked into the room, no one was in there. Looking around all the memories of their time together seemed to overwhelm her. His scent was lingering; expensive aftershave, clean clothes, and a hint of sour apples - never sweet. Her eyes travelled up towards the spot in the ceiling where the mistletoe hung, instinctively she touched her lips. Hermione dragged two chairs to their designated spots in front of the fireplace and sat in her one, thinking about all the conversations they had together. After what felt like an hour, she decided to walk back towards the common room. Ron was sitting with Seamus and Dean but Harry was gone.

"Hey. Where's Harry?" she asked.

"Oh," he got up and took her over to a quiet corner so they wouldn't be overheard. "Dumbledore sent him a message. I think they're leaving tonight."

"WHAT?" she shouted. When the eyes of everyone in the common room went back to where they were originally, Hermione whispered, "what?"

"Hermione, he's with Dumbledore. There's nothing to worry about."

"You are an idiot sometimes, Ron! This isn't some silly walk to find a missing item. This is a dangerous mission to find a Horcrux, there are going to be countless life-threatening obstacles preventing them from getting anywhere near it. Honestly, Ron, you should be more concerned!" her voice was still low enough to not be overheard.