Here's Chapter 21! This chapter was kind of hard to write, but I think it turned out pretty well.

Thank you to amyownfie, monsterbleeds and previouslyjade (thank you for the fic suggestion; I will definitely have to check that out) for reviewing.

Disclaimer: Still don't own Harry Potter. Who would have guessed, right?

Chapter 21

So now Hermione knew. She knew what had been bothering Draco for all this time, and if she was honest with herself, the truth scared her. Could Snape really be on Voldemort's side? Dumbledore trusted Snape so much, and Hermione had thought Dumbledore was a brilliant judge of character. An unbreakable vow, though, was serious. Had Snape managed to fool even Dumbledore, or was it Draco that he was lying to?

Hermione shifted in her position on the couch to look at Draco. The Slytherin had fallen asleep awhile ago, but Hermione was too preoccupied in her thoughts to sleep. Draco's hair lay messily over his forehead and his mouth hung slightly open. Hermione wondered if he was dreaming. If he was, they were good dreams, she hoped. She was sure that he had had enough bad dreams to last a lifetime.

Tomorrow, they would talk to Dumbledore, and this whole thing would be resolved. Dumbledore would know what to do.

She reassured herself of this as she cuddled close to Draco, and eventually she was asleep.

When she woke up, Draco was awake and was pacing around the room. He stopped when he saw her watching him.

"I woke up awhile ago, but I didn't want to wake you," he said. "When do you want to talk to Dumbledore?"

He said this casually, but Hermione could notice the slight trace of panic in his voice.

"Now," she said. "Might as well get it over with, right?"

"Sure," he said. And then, "I don't know about this, Granger. Hermione. I don't think telling Dumbledore is a good idea."

"Draco," Hermione said firmly. "Dumbledore will know what to do. Trust me. Everything will be fine." She took his hand in hers and kissed him on the cheek. "You don't need to be scared; it'll be okay."

"I'm not scared," he said, though he didn't release her hand. "Don't be stupid."

The hallways were empty, thank goodness, because Hermione did not want to deal with other people right now. They must have all been in the Great Hall, eating breakfast.

Yes, running in to people now would be terrible, as Draco's grip on Hermione's hand was tight, and this was not the time for the public to be finding out about their relationship. The closer they got to Dumbledore's office, the tighter his grip became.

"I think you're breaking my fingers," she said to him.

He relaxed his grip somewhat, not saying anything.

"Deep breaths," she suggested.

He rolled his eyes. "I'm fine," he said. "I just want this to be over."

There was silence for a few seconds, until she heard voices from around a corner. She inhaled sharply.

And hold on, she knew those voices.

Harry and Ron.

No, not them! Not now!

In her panic, she grabbed Draco's arm, clutching onto it, which was the exact opposite of what she should be doing but she couldn't help it. And now Harry and Ron were around the corner before she could correct herself and they were staring at her and she stared at them and Ron's mouth was hanging open in an angry sort of shock and why why why did this have to happen now?

To her surprise, it was Draco who broke the silence. "Potter, Weasley," he said, almost amiably.

There was more silence. Ron broke it this time. "Where were you last night?" he demanded of Hermione. "And why are you with him?"

"Ron, I-"

"You said we would play wizard's chess! And then you disappeared after dinner, even though you promised, and –you weren't with Malfoy, were you?"

She didn't answer. She didn't need to.

Harry put a hand on Ron's shoulder before he could start yelling again. "I think we need to talk," he said.

Hermione nodded. "We're in a hurry though, so later."

"No," Ron said. "We're talking now."

"Ron, Draco and I have to-"

"Draco?" Ron repeated. "You're calling him Draco, now?" He shook his head. "I don't care what you're doing; we're talking now."

Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but Draco interrupted her.

"Just tell them, Hermione," he said. He was the only one who appeared calm; in fact, he looked almost amused by the situation.

"But what about-"

"It can wait."

Hermione glared at him; he was probably glad to be putting off talking to Dumbledore.

"Fine," she said. "There's an empty classroom right there, let's talk." They moved towards the door. As they were about to enter it, Hermione put a hand on Draco's shoulder. "Could you wait outside?" she asked. She knew Draco would purposely try to annoy Harry and especially Ron and she did not need that. "Hopefully this won't take too long."

He looked extremely disappointed, but conceded, and Hermione followed Harry and Ron into the room.

As soon as they sat down, Harry and Ron looked at her expectantly.

"Um, okay," Hermione said, unsure where to start. "Over this past little while, I haven't been exactly... truthful," she said.

"I've figured that out," Ron said coldly. "I knew you were hiding something weeks ago. What I want to know is what's going on between you and Malfoy."

Hermione winced. "Draco and I are..." she paused. She had never thought of a word for what Draco and her were, had never needed to. Boyfriend and girlfriend sounded too silly. "Involved," she said eventually. "Romantically."

She had never seen Ron's face this red before.

"What?" he sputtered. "Why would you... how could you... Why would you do something so stupid, Hermione!"

She didn't answer, instead looking at Harry for his reaction. He did not seem as angry as Ron, instead appearing to be more hurt.

"Why wouldn't you tell us?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know," she said. "I didn't know how, I guess, and I was scared of how you'd take it." she sighed. "This wasn't really how I wanted you to find out."

"Were you even going to tell us at all?" He narrowed his eyes. "Never mind, don't answer that. I don't think I want to know."

"Harry..." she started, but trailed off, not knowing what to say. He had a right to be angry. She had lied to him.

He shook his head. "I'm going to talk to Malfoy," he said, standing up.

The moment he exited the room Ron turned on her again. "Why would you even do this?" he shouted. "And Malfoy, of all people! Don't you remember what he's done to us?"

"People change, Ron!" she yelled back. She breathed heavily, holding back anger and tears alike. "And even so, I'm not asking you to like him. I'd just like you to accept him, and that he makes me happy. It's not like I like Lavender," she added under her breath.

Unfortunately, Ron heard her. "That is completely different! Lavender hasn't tormented you since first year! And besides, Lavender and I aren't actually serious or anything."

"Does she know that?"

"Don't change the subject!" Ron snapped. "Don't make this about me!"

"But this is about you, Ron!" Hermione said. "You were like this when I was with Viktor, too, and he had never done anything to you! Why can't you accept it when I want to be with someone?"

"Because you aren't supposed to be with them! You're supposed to be with me!"

They both froze.

Ron's eyes were wide. He had obviously not meant to say that.

Hermione simply stared at him, not knowing how to respond. Even at the beginning of this year, she would have given anything to hear those words. But so much had changed since then.

"Ron..." she said.

"Don't," he said. "Don't look at me like that."

"Ron," she said again, and sighed.

"Is that all you're going to say?" he asked bitterly.

"Ron," she said again, and internally kicked herself. "If you had told me this a long time ago, I would have been so happy. But I... I've moved on. I'm sorry."

Ron sighed, and it was like all the anger drained out of him. "I understand," he said quietly. "I just never thought I'd be rejected for Malfoy."

"It's not like that," she said. "I got over you after you got together with Lavender. Draco came later."

"That doesn't really help," Ron said. "But thanks."

"I'm sorry," she said again.

Silence.

"Ron, I..." she paused. "I really hope that this... that this doesn't come in the way of our friendship."

That was probably the most awkward thing she had ever said.

For too long, Ron said nothing, and she felt tears well up in her eyes once more.

Then he sighed. "Yeah," he said. "Me too." He swallowed. "Actually, let's just pretend this never even happened."

She smiled slightly. "Yeah," she said. "Okay."

He nodded. "The last thing I said to you is 'Why would you do this; Malfoy's a jerk' and you said 'I don't want to argue with you anymore, Ron, since I can never beat you in an argument'-" (she rolled her eyes) "-and now we're going to make sure Harry and Malfoy haven't killed each other."

She grinned, and hugged him. "Thanks, Ron," she said.

He winced, and pushed her away. "Maybe don't do that," he said. "For a while, anyway. Not," he added quickly, "because anything happened."

"Of course not," she said. She moved towards the door. "Let's make sure Draco hasn't killed Harry, shall we?"

"Malfoy couldn't kill Harry," Ron said. "Malfoy's a loser."

She smacked him, and they exited the classroom.