Whispers In The Dark

A/N: A huge thanks to AnnHarrisForever for being an awesome beta! All of your reviews are so encouraging and I really appreciate them! So keep em coming! hehe

Disclaimer: JKR owns the Harry Potter characters, not me. I am making no money from this story!

Chapter 10

The rest of the day passed by in a blur, after dinner, Hermione made her way to her quarters, ignoring Harry and Ron. She was still mad at Harry for defending that book so fervently. Why couldn't he see the dangers? Couldn't he realize the trouble that book could cause?

"Are you all right?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Draco, who was sitting on the couch. He glanced at her with concern in his eyes.

With a huff, she sat down on the couch next to him. "It's just been a long day."

"Want to talk about it?" he asked, gently.

Turning, she glanced at him, carefully taking in his features. His grey eyes were wide as he waited patiently, hoping that she'd confide in him.

"This relationship will only work if we talk about things, Hermione," he said, softly, gently touching her hand.

Hermione sighed, knowing he was right. "Harry and Ron are just being difficult, that's all."

"Difficult how?" he asked, pressing for more information.

"Well, Harry found a Potion's textbook that was supposedly edited by someone named the 'Half-Blood Prince' and there are notes written in the margin, along with spells and other things."

"And let me guess, Saint Potter is following it without even thinking about what he's doing?" Draco asked as he arched his brow.

With a shaky laugh, Hermione nodded. "Is he really that predictable?"

Draco grinned. "Yes, after all he does tend to rush into things."

Hermione and Draco laughed for a few minutes before she caught herself. "It just irks me that he doesn't take things that seriously. He happens to have a rather large price on his head, wouldn't that make him realize he should be more careful?" she asked.

"It doesn't seem so," Draco replied. "But I think you're more upset because you don't know the source of these so called 'notes'."

"I suppose," she replied.

Draco stood up. "Well, come on," he said, holding his hand out to her.

"What?"

"Come on," Draco repeated, grinning.

"Where are we going?"

Draco rolled his eyes, but inwardly grinned when she placed her small hand into his larger one. "Do you always have to ask me so many questions, Granger?"

"It's Malfoy and yes," she replied, cheekily.

Draco summoned both of their robes. "We're going to the library."

"What?" Hermione asked, freezing. "But what if we get caught?"

"It's after dinner, Hermione, so no one is going to catch us. And don't you want to know who the Half-Blood Prince is?" he asked, teasing her slightly.

"Oh, all right," Hermione said, following him outside of their dorms. Slowly, they made their way towards the library. Neither of them spoke, not wanting to break the silence.

Once they were there, Draco picked the lock to the door and they slipped inside.

"This feels wrong," she whispered, looking around the dark library. She had never been there after hours and could see why the library was locked up at night. It had a spooky feel about it once the lights went out.

"Come on, love, break some rules once in a while," Draco said, pulling her along. "Let's look at the old school records."

Nodding, they made their way to that section. Grabbing some old papers and books, they sat down and began to look through them.

A little while later, Hermione made a noise. She held up an old copy of the Daily Prophet.

"What is it?" he asked, looking up from his book.

"I think I found something. Eileen Prince; it says here she was captain of the Gobstones team."

"Well, that's not really helpful," Draco said with a frown.

"Why not?" Hermione countered. "She's a Prince! She could be the author of the notes."

Draco scoffed.

Arching her eyebrows, Hermione glared at him. "What? You don't think so?"

"Well, no," he replied bluntly.

She felt anger bubble up inside of her. "Well, why not? Surely not because she's a woman?" she challenged him.

Draco suddenly paled, picking up on Hermione's anger. "Erm…well, I-"

"No!" she cut him off, standing up. "Let me make one thing very clear, Draco Malfoy. If this relationship is supposed to work, you need to get that Pureblood rubbish out of your mind. Women can be just as powerful as men, if not more! Just like Muggleborns can be more powerful than Purebloods."

Draco simply nodded, not wanting to anger her any more than he already had. Standing, he cautiously approached her and took her hands in his. "I know there's a lot I need to change about myself, Hermione. That's one of the reasons I married you," he explained quietly. "I need you to show me."

Hermione's anger quickly dissipated. "Oh, Draco," she said, throwing her arms around his neck. She hugged him tightly, wishing that things had been different.

"Come on; let's go back to our room. It's getting late."

Hermione nodded. Holding his hand, they made their way towards their rooms. However, they didn't make it back unnoticed.

"Fifty points each for being out after curfew!" a sneering voice called out from behind them.

They both froze, slowly turning around. Snape's eyes widened when he realized who it was.

"Uncle, we were just coming back from the library," Draco quickly explained.

Without speaking, Snape grabbed each of their arms and dragged them into an empty classroom. Warding the door shut, he turned to them, a furious expression on his face. "How stupid could you both be?" he practically shouted.

Hermione winced from the biting tone of his voice. She decided to remain quiet and allow Draco to handle his godfather.

"If someone other than me had found you both out at this time of night, you'd be in trouble! Suspicions would be raised, rumours would start, and then you'd have the Dark Lord breathing down your neck!"

Snape is so angry, she thought, wishing she was anywhere else but where she was at that moment.

"Well, no one else caught us," Draco countered haughtily.

"Don't be foolish," Snape hissed. "It's not just your life that matters any more, Draco!" He jerked his finger towards Hermione.

Draco looked downcast. "Sorry, Uncle Severus."

"Sorry doesn't cut it," he said with an angry sigh. "I just don't want anything to happen to you. Nothing good would come of it, as I'm sure you know."

"We won't be out together like this again, sir," Hermione said, breaking the awkward silence between them.

"See that it doesn't," Snape said, unwarding the door.

Hermione took Draco's hand and gave it a tug. Reluctantly, they started to walk towards the exit.

"Can we have those points back?" Draco asked over his shoulder.

Snape rolled his eyes. "I don't think so. Maybe that'll serve you both right for sneaking out and about at night."

Draco opened his mouth to retort but Hermione stopped him, pulling him along. They quickly made their way back to their dorm.