A/N: Hey all, terribly sorry that its been months since the last update. These two chapters have been written for quite a while but I was hoping that we would have more written before I posted them. However, I thought I might as well post these so I can update you all on why It's been so long. Next month my partner on this story and I will be graduating from high school, therefore we haven't had a lot of free time, and the time we have spent writing together has been on our other project. I have no idea when this story will be finished, we have an outline so it's just a matter of putting pen to paper, or rather fingers to keyboard. Sorry you all have been waiting, and I'm sorry to say that we will not likely be updating soon. I have no idea when we will again, I promise we will finish this eventually though. Until next time...

Chapter 9: The Accusations of Toothbrushes

Harry,

I'm sorry I haven't written or stopped by lately. I've been really busy with school. Malfoy and I had to do this really big project for our Muggle Relations class. Unfortunately, we failed… Accidentally alerting muggles to magic... After a few well cast memory charms everything was set back to normal, but the deed had still been done and of course we had to report it in our essay, Malfoy tried to talk me out of it, but I'm not a rule breaker (by choice, although all the times we got in trouble at Hogwarts it may have been a little unclear) and therefore couldn't lie, so naturally we failed. But it's okay, I'm not as devastated as I thought I would be. The project was actually rather fun and Malfoy has been keeping me company a lot lately so I've hardly had time to dwell on the grade. Anyways, I'm not doing anything special this weekend. Maybe we can catch up?

Love,

Hermione

"It seems fine to me, Granger." I'm not sure why she wanted me to approve of her post.

"I don't sound as if I'm bothered by his letter, do I?" she questioned innocently.

"Quite the contrary. Although, I'm not sure I remember this 'fun' you speak of." I replied with my signature smirk.

"You're right, Malfoy. I'll just rewrite it and mention what an annoying git you are."

"Well if that's the case, I guess I'll just go back home." I said, rising from her sofa.

"So soon?" She voiced offhandedly.

"I can tell when I'm not wanted." I walked to the door and opened it very slowly about to leave.

"Wait, Draco. Stay a bit longer?"

"Oh alright, you don't have to twist my arm!" I agreed immediately, tugging at one of her curls and flopping back onto the sofa.

She returned her attention to the letter she had just written. "You're sure it doesn't sound like I care about Ron's relationship?"

"Yes, Granger," I said tired of her antics. "You sound very happy. One might think it was because of me even."

She didn't hear the last part of what I said due to her tying the letter to her owl's leg. She ushered the bird out of the window and walked to the kitchen. "Hungry?" she called.

"Always!" I replied enthusiastically.

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"You know, Harry's letter said he's coming at noon." Hermione reminded me.

I looked at the clock; it was 11:15.

"He's never late either."

"Okay, okay, I get it. You don't want me here when scarhead arrives. Trust me, I'll be gone; I have no intentions of seeing his mug." I told her, setting down the book I was reading and heaving myself up from her sofa.

"Don't call him scarhead," she reprimanded.

I ignored her and walked to the bathroom to brush my teeth and fix my hair.

"He's not staying for dinner." I told her walking towards the door and picking up the book I was reading. "I'll be back at 5."

I saw her roll her eyes in my peripheral. I tugged on one of her curls. "See you."

Harry arrived at Hermione's flat a few minutes before noon. She let him in and he took in the surroundings. It had been a while since he'd been to her flat. The couches had moved, the green chair looked new, the walls were a light blue instead of the lilac they had been, and the television appeared larger, but it was as immaculate as always.

"How have you been?" Hermione asked her best friend, pulling him in closely for a hug.

"Quite well, you?"

"Good. I've missed you" she admitted, releasing Harry.

"Yeah, I'm sorry it's been so long. Auror training really takes a toll. How's school going? You said you were paired with Malfoy for a project, but I was quite surprised that you said you've been spending time with him."

"He's not so bad once you get to know him. I, uh, well I kind of owe him."

"What do you mean you owe him?" Harry asked skeptically.

"It's nothing big. Just… er… well your last letter, it uh…" she stammered. Harry raised his eyebrow prompting her to continue. She lowered her eyes to her hands, "well I sort of didn't have a good reaction to it. I know it shouldn't bother me, but he always brings back terrible memories." Harry frowned at this. "Draco may have walked in on me… crying about it, and he, Harry, he was so nice; he comforted me and let me cry it all out. He didn't leave me, Harry. You can't even begin to understand how grateful I am for that. He's been keeping me company since."

"Hermione! Why didn't you tell me it's still bothering you? I can help you! Far better than him too, I bet! You know what he's really like! He's a Slytherin for crying out loud!"

"Yes, Harry I know he's a Slytherin, but he's changed. All you have to do is give him a chance."

Harry stared at her open mouthed.

"Can we just talk about something else; I really don't want to have to fight with you about who my friends are." Hermione said.

"Fine," Harry replied grumpily.

"Oh come off it. I made some cookies, do you want some?"

"Chocolate chip?"

"Of course."

Harry brightened considerably and followed her into the kitchen where a pile of fresh cookies awaited them.

"How's Ginny?" Hermione asked.

"She's good. Gin is really enjoying traveling around all of Europe, one of the perks of playing for the Holyhead Harpies."

"Do you ever wish you would have played professionally? I'm sure you could've."

"Nah, I'm much better off where I'm at. Rounding up all of the remaining death eaters is way more important than entertaining some people for a few hours. Besides I still get to show off whenever the ministry holds tournaments."

Hermione smiled, "When is the next one? I want to come!"

"It's a few months from now; I'll let you know when it gets closer." Harry smiled taking a sip of milk. "Mind if I use the loo?"

"Not at all, you know where it is."

Hermione was so startled when Harry returned seconds later with a green toothbrush in his hand that she dropped the cookie she was about to eat. "Hermione, why are there two toothbrushes in your bathroom?" He questioned so quietly it was scarier than if he had yelled.

"What kind of a question is that?" She quipped.

"A person only ever needs one toothbrush, but you have two. There's only one answer." Hermione's eyes widened. "You have a boyfriend! Who is he?"

"Wha—what?" She spluttered.

"Oh come off it, it's obvious."

"Harry, that is Draco's toothbrush."

"MALFOY?! MALFOY'S TOOTHBRUSH! ARE YOU MENTAL?!"

"Calm down, Harry. We aren't dating. He's been over so much that I just let him stay in the second room. It's really nothing, Harry."

"No! This is not okay! You don't understand. He is a Malfoy. He is a guy. He is going to take advantage of you. I don't want him to hurt my sister." Harry said grabbing hold of her shoulders and shaking her.

"Harry, I'm not your sister."

"Well not technically, but you know what I mean. But he's not allowed to stay here anymore!"

"I've already told you that you can't tell me who my friends are."

"I'm not. I just don't want him to do anything to you."

"I know, I know. You've always acted like the protective older brother. And I'm the older one!"

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I closed the door with my empty hand. Where was I going to go for the next five hours? I suppose I could go to the library so I could finish this book and then maybe get some homework done. Yes, that plan seemed good enough. I apparated to the university's library and looked for a quiet place to read. I spotted a green armchair in a secluded corner and walked towards it. It was very similar to the one that I had convinced Hermione to let me add to her flat. However this one was clearly not as well made as the custom seat I had ordered to include some Slytherin décor in her life. I settled into it and reopened my book to where I had left off. I spent the next three hours undisturbed flipping through each page with mounting interest until I finally reached the last page. Utterly disappointed with the ending I searched the empty pages at the end looking for any indication that there was a sequel. Finding the exact words I was looking for, I leapt from my seat and headed towards the fiction section of the library in search of the next novel.

I found the shelf with the Author's name on it and began fervently looking. Just as I pulled the book off the shelf someone walked up to me. It was none other than Thomas Chaplain, looking as sour as ever.

"Chaplain."

"Malfoy."

I waited for him to speak since he was the one to approach me.

"Have you seen Mariah?" he asked a flicker of hope crossing his eyes. I was caught off guard by his question and stared at him for a moment.

"No, I haven't. Not for… a week at least, I think longer." I tried to remember the last time I had seen her.

"Neither have I. It's been three days since I saw her last." He paused obviously debating if he should go on or not. After several moments he opened his mouth once more. "The last time I saw her we had an argument… about you. So I assumed that she would've sought you out."

I shrugged, "She could've gone by my flat I guess, but I haven't been there. I've been staying with a friend."

Chaplain put his face in his hands, "You were my last hope… Nobody has seen her."

"Did you check her flat?" He nodded. "Talk to her parents?" He nodded again.

"I checked everywhere. I asked every one. Maybe she did go by your flat?"

I took a moment to think. I wouldn't be surprised if she had gone by my flat, but I obviously wasn't there. "We could see if she stopped by my flat…" I muttered, checking my watch. It was only 3:30, so I still had plenty of time to kill and while I'd rather spend it reading, if it would get Chaplain off my case then the small excursion couldn't be totally useless. Also, I suppose I could pick up some more stuff to take back to Hermione's.

Chaplain nodded so I grabbed his elbow and turned on the spot. We arrived outside of the building and I strode towards the door and up the stairs, Chaplain only a step or two behind.

I pulled out my wand to unlock my door but the charm I cast didn't affect the door. This was very peculiar since I know for a fact that I locked this door and nobody could have broken through. I placed my hand on the doorknob and it turned easily, alerting me that something was indeed wrong. I glanced back at Chaplain and gestured for him to pull out his wand. He did so with an expression of fear on his face, he too could tell something was wrong.

I slowly eased the door open, wand at the ready and carefully stepped inside with Chaplain following my lead.

I looked around, inhaling sharply as my eyes immediately fell on Mariah's body sitting in a chair.

She was dead.