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Abundance of Feelings, Chapter 10: A New Leaf

Last time:

Draco continued to glare warily at him, but then stowed his wand inside his pocket. "Fine, I'll believe you... but you have to do something for me first."

"Anything."

"Make the Unbreakable Vow."

"The... the Unbreakable Vow?" Alexander gaped. "Isn't that going a little... far?"

"It's the only way that I will trust you," Draco said grimly. "And if you truly agree, then we won't have a problem, will we?"

"Wait, Draco," Hermione interrupted. "What exactly do you want him to promise?"

"Oh, not much. Just that he'll always alert us if similar situations ever come up again, promise that he won't try to overthrow us, that sort of thing."

"But... how am I going to know when something like this comes up?" Alexander asked.

"Easy. You're our spy from now on," Draco explained.

'That's... not a half bad idea. Even though the Rebels are finished, really... If we get the information from the inside,' Hermione thought, 'then that's to our advantage should a problem concerning the Rebels ever come up again.'

"So, yes?" Draco asked (though he wasn't really asking Alexander, he was just doing it to be polite).

"Fine," the man responded, after a moment of hesitation. Draco and Alexander knelt opposite each other, clasping their right hands. Hemione stood before them with the tip of her wand resting on their hands.

"Alexander, will you always be listening for information that can aid us, Draco and Hermione, and the wizarding world?"

"I will."

"Will you report to us immediately if you come across said information?"

"I will."

"And, will you do your best to help us in any way you possibly can?"

"I will," Alexander sighed heavily.

The glowing flames that emitted from her wand formed chains, symbolizing the promise made that would last throughout eternity.

Everything went by quickly. The Ministry was informed of what had happened, and soon enough, Hermione and Draco were back at Hogwarts. Alexander had promised to keep them posted if he ever heard anything of importance. So, it seemed like everything had turned out alright...

"You can't just keep running off like that, you know," Ginny said to her as soon as she entered the Gryffindor common room. "People are starting to say things."

"What?" Hermione said, surprised. She had managed to get here unnoticed by anyone, even though it was the weekend. That reminded her, she had to get any homework that she might've missed... Hopefully her teachers would understand...

"Mione. Come on. Think. You disappear one day with a guy- Draco Malfoy, no less, even if he is your boyfriend- and you still have to explain about that," Ginny reminded her, "only to come back the next day. You think that people aren't going to start to wonder?"

This was not what she needed right now. Hermione hated drama and gossip. "I... I didn't think that anyone realized-"

"It doesn't matter. You're going to have to come up with some excuse, along with an explanation of everything that's happened since Tuesday."

"Yeah. Now." Harry and Ron came in and sat on the couch across from her. Ginny sat at her feet, and all three of them made it very clear that she wasn't going to be permitted to leave without a thorough, detailed description of everything that had happened in her life...

Hermione sighed and wondered where to begin.

Where was she? Draco was leaning against the door just outside the Great Hall. It was dinnertime, and his girlfriend- how he loved that word- was nowhere to be found. Knowing her friends, she'd probably been bombarded by questions... Not to say that he, Draco, hadn't- he just hadn't felt the need to answer them.

'There she is,' he thought to himself as he watched her descend the stairs. Indeed, she was flocked by a great deal of people, most of them being ignorant students from other houses. Thankfully, her closest friends- Potter and the two Weasels- were trying to fend them off. 'Looks like they already got their explanation.'

"Draco," she said, relieved, hurrying down the remaining steps. "Coming to eat with me?"

He blinked. He hadn't really considered sitting at the Gryffindor table, but... "Yeah. Yeah, I am," Draco said, taking her arm. He was getting back into his usual manner of confidence, but not the one he'd had in the years before. Now that he was associating with Gryffindors, that expected a certain amount of manners... "So, how's your Quidditch season going so far?" he asked, turning to Harry and Ron.

They stopped completely, unsure of what to say. "Uh... it's alright," Harry responded. It was better than Ron- he just stared with his mouth hanging open.

The conversation hung in the air for a moment, awkwardness obvious. After a minute, Hermione began to chuckle, unable to keep a straight face. Draco glared at her, which only made her laugh harder. Soon they were all laughing, something nobody ever thought would happen.

Dinner with the Gryffindors didn't seem too bad after all.

The sound of a fork clanging against a glass at the head of the hall quieted all chatter at the end of dinner. "May I have your attention please," Dumbledore said loudly, using the same words as when he'd introduced Josh to the school for the first time. It was hard to believe that that was only around a week before.

"It may have come to your attention," the headmaster continued, once all eyes were on him, "that we seem to have lost a student, Mr. Joshua Grierson."

Usually, right about now, everything would be overcome by the din of chatter, but for once it was dead silent. Everyone wanted to hear what had happened.

"The only thing that you need to know is that he was an imposter. He was not your friend; rather, he was the head of an enemy group, the Rebels. Please be aware that Mr. Draco Malfoy and Miss Hermione Granger dealt with him- and 100 points to each of you, as well," he said, eyes twinkling as he looked at them. "Now, I'm sure that I can trust all of you to leave them alone and to not bother them for details. Thank you."

With that, dinner was over. Ignoring their headmaster's advice, practically all the school rushed at the pair of students, forcing them to try and escape the crowd...

-x-

"Merlin," Draco breathed harshly, "that was next to impossible..."

"But we're okay now," Hermione replied. She led him by the hand through the rows of books, to the very back of the library.

"Where are we headed?" he asked warily.

"Just to my second favorite spot in the world," she said, gesturing to a large, worn armchair in the very corner. A small fire crackled beside it, giving off a warm glow. They would be uninterrupted for as long as they pleased, free to spend the evening together, forgetting about the recent past for now. Draco picked her up and sat down, comfortable beyond belief.

"And what's your favorite spot in the world, love?"

"Right here, in your arms," she sighed, snuggling closer into his embrace. Both of their eyelids grew heavy as the glow of the flames danced across their faces.

Fin

Author's Note: Alright, so that was the last chapter... I meant to announce it in the previous one, but I didn't get around to it. Thank you all very much for reading! Some of these chapters may be rewritten and uploaded again at a later date, but who knows.

The theme song for Abundance of Feelings is "New Day" by Kate Havnevik.

Here's to all my wonderful reviewers: stefanie51, VampireeGirl, Ilyas, PinkSlytherin, miss quirky bookworm, Musiga, Nangini, Sarah, TyRaNdE wHiSpErWiNd, frostywatermelon, xxCelestialStarxx, Safaia Bara, ginsensu, hollywoodtrio, jessirose85, Riah. :D, draco-is-so-HOTT, fruityloopy, Alice Ransom, Neko4, Ivy Phoenix, Marianna, TwinsConspiracy, collin395, Hermioneroxx77, RoMaNTiCiLLuSioNS, Kat.1600, b-ballgurl2, leilygurl, ash ...and thank you to any future reviewers I might get!

Add to the Disclaimer: I own Josh, Alexander, and Ito-san.

I'll most likely be writing more Harry Potter stories, and probably Draco/Hermione... Be expecting more stories from me!

Thank you, Sienna-shirou