Harry Potter 1. Chapter 1

Hermione screamed.

This would be it; her last day on this earth. She could feel it.

Bellatrix held nothing back as she tortured her. All Hermione could feel was pain, there was nothing else… only pain.

She was tied up in a chair in an empty room at Malfoy manor. Alone. Her screams echoed all across the long hallways, the huge rooms and doorways, it seemed to go on forever. In her head it seemed to live and fester... She could barely remember what anything else sounded like. She screamed until she literally couldn't scream any more, her throat so dry, so raspy that no sound could possibly be made from it.

No one would come save her here; no one knew how to find her or where she was. She had sacrificed herself and gotten caught so her friends wouldn't. And now she was being tortured with the cruciators curse by the one woman who holds nothing back. The pain was searing, marring her bones. Her body felt limp and lifeless, she didn't notice when Bellatrix had stopped and gone out of the closed room. She just lay still in her chair, for all she knew she was dead. There were no sounds but the ringing of her ears from her own screams. The numbness in her whole body, was she even still in it? Was she still in that room? She couldn't know… she believed herself to be dead… until a pair of soft hands touched her face. Her vision was blurred so she couldn´t see who it was, but whoever it was wasn't here to hurt her. She could barely hear the person speak to her, was that a spell being murmured? She couldn't tell. The voice sounded worried, but then again she couldn´t really hear very well so it could just as well have been her imagination.

She started feeling better, her vision un-blurring and her hearing coming back. She needed to blink a few times to see straight or at all, but she still couldn't believe the sight in front of her. It just could not be possible that she was being healed, in Malfoy manor, no less. But who was doing the healing was the whopper.

Draco Malfoy was kneeling in front of her, reciting a bunch of healing spells. Unaware of the hazel eyes staring at him in disbelief. She found her voice, raspy and dry as it was.

"Malfoy?"

Malfoy's eyes opened wide and he stumbled backwards. "Bloody hell Granger. "  
>He clasped his chest. "You just about gave me a fucking heart attack. " He seemed to calm down a bit and she could see him clearly for the first time: He looked tired. He had large bags under his eyes and his face was paler than usual. His blond hair still just as shiny and greasy as it had been at school. She wondered how much hair gel he used or if he just hadn't showered in a while. She chucked that idea out the window, a Malfoy not showering and looking his best? Nonsense.<p>

Draco was nearing her again, but she still didn't trust him; not by a long shot. "What do you think you're doing Malfoy?" She rasped out with some difficulty, giving him a stern look. Draco raised an eyebrow at that. "Are those the thanks I get Granger? I thought Gryffindor's were supposed to be _nice_." He taunted. "Shut up Malfoy." Hermione retorted, still feeling very weak and having a hard time thinking straight.

"Fine." He said stubbornly and stood up. "Then I´ll just leave you here to bleed out and die; how's about it Granger?" Hermione was shocked with his confession. "You- you were healing me?" she stammered. "Why?" Draco's features stiffened at her question and she could see him steel his features, hiding any signs of emotion. "That's none of your bloody business Granger." Then he stormed out of the room, leaving behind a very confused, tired and tied up Gryffindor.

The next day wasn't much better. "Where are they?!" Bellatrix screeched in between torturing her. She would never give in; she would never sell out her friends. But even she didn't know where they were right at this moment, and she couldn't think straight either as the next wave of crucio's hit her. The pain was horrible and she was numb from it all. A thought occurred to her just before she lost the fight to stay conscious: did Malfoy heal her yesterday just so she could go through another round of torture? Was he just doing Voldemorts dirty work, taking out the trash? Making sure she was alive for a little while just to experience it again? After that disturbing thought she finally lost consciousness and Bellatrix lost her interest.

Hermione awoke to unfamiliar sounds. Someone was shaking her, albeit lightly and trying to wake her. She knew that a lot of exposure to the torture curse could result in handicap, memory loss or worse. Maybe she had already lost her mind. Maybe she was imagining the figure in front of her. Maybe… just maybe, she was already dead and safe from this wretched war.

"For fuck's sake Granger, wake up!" said the frustrated voice of Draco Malfoy; seeping through her ears.

"Huh?" she mumbled, feeling weaker than ever, not even able to lift her head let alone talk.

"Finally." He said with slight exasperation, putting his wand in his pocket.

She figured he had just used it to heal her again, she didn't like that thought at all.  
>"Malfoy, why do you even..." she coughed and could feel the tangy taste of blood in her mouth. "…bother healing me? I'm going to die anyways." He stiffened slightly at her words but showed nothing in reaction to her declaration. It was a fact really; she already knew she was dead sooner or later. She could see his jaw clench, but then again her vision was sort of blurry; she could barely see anything in the room clearly, except for him. How strange, maybe it was just because he was sitting so close to her. Now that she thought about it he was really close to her; uncomfortably close. She wanted to move away but was tied to this darned chair. Plus it would have been a feeble attempt of escape, seeing as she could barely lift her head on her own she was so weak.<p>

Draco's voice roused her from her thoughts. "I'd rather not have your death on my conscience, Granger." He stood up, apparently about to leave the room again, leave her alone. "And I don't want your dirty blood all over my floor either, Mudblood." Those were his parting words and the last thing she heard was the harsh shut of the door. The sound echoed off the empty walls in the room and did little for her headache and achingly sensitive ears.

"Wonderful" she thought as she tried to fight back her tears. He didn't want _her_ death on _his_ conscience? What was that supposed to mean? And then he went and did the most predictable thing ever, call her a Mudblood. It's not like she wasn't used to it by now, it didn't really bother her anymore. But she still felt her throat close up and tears swell in her eyes. But she knew this was from her fatigue, from missing her friends, from being alone in such a hell. She closed her eyes and let the tears drop, let herself be vulnerable for a little while and wishing her friends would find her and save her soon.

Hermione hadn't eaten proper food in four days, or more, and was starving. She had been tied to this damned chair the whole time, house-elves coming in only to let her out when she needed to relieve herself. It did little to help her though, she felt horrid being there. It wasn't until her fifth day of torture when something strange and unbelievable happened. She was fighting hard to keep consciousness after questioning by Bellatrix and Lucius, when someone entered the room she was kept in. She couldn't fathom what was happening when she felt her bonds slackening. Someone had released her from her chair. A flicker of hope ignited in her heart. Had Harry or Ron finally found her? Were they rescuing her? This person picked her up from the chair. She hadn't stood in five days and couldn't possibly put weight on her shaky and limp legs.

Her saviour steadied her with strong hands, picking her up and holding her bridal-style out of the room. But it was weird; this didn't feel like Harry or Ron at all. Being in this man's arms felt good, but she didn't know who it was and that scared her slightly. Where were they going? Where was he taking her? Why did he untie her? All of these questions flickered in her mind as they moved. Was he going to hurt her? Was this one of the death eaters? Panic flickered in her chest, but it went away when she felt him stop and move into the shadows whilst two talking men walked past. She couldn't see them, she couldn't even open her eyes, but she heard them walk away and the man that held her went forward again.

She instinctively leaned against his lean form, now trusting that he was not going to hurt her, she sought out his heat. She had been locked in a room with no heating at all and she felt as cold as an icicle. She instinctively put her arms around his neck for a better grip, or some grip since her arms felt as limp as ever. She could feel him take a deep breath as if this was hard. Couldn't be that hard, she shouldn't have been very heavy, she hadn't eaten for days and before that... well traveling with Harry and Ron with not a lot of food to come by was not exactly a walk in the park.

He walked with her in his arms to another room; this one was darker than the one she had been tied up in. She could feel him lowering her and she panicked. Was he about to let her go? Let her fall? She tightened her hold on him, not wanting to lose his heat, his closeness, his protection. She felt safe in his arms, something she hadn't felt in such a long time that it seemed like an eternity.

"Relax." He whispered in her ear, barely audible. She didn't recognise the voice, but she found herself trusting this stranger and did as he bade. He put her down on a soft surface, by the touch she realised it was a bed. Panic stole her features for a third time as the worst ideas flickered to her head. However they were quickly extinguished when the man put the covers over her. She immediately relaxed.

She couldn't turn down this offer of a soft bed to sleep in. She curled up on the bed, finding the pillow. Lying down and keeping her body close she quickly fell asleep, exhausted.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Hermione woke up feeling better than she had in weeks. She hadn't slept in a real bed since she left her house to go hunting for horcruxes with the boy's and that felt like it was ages ago. But it was nice sleeping in a bed, a very soft bed to boot. But who's bed exactly?

She looked around, but it was a feeble attempt as the curtains were drawn around the four poster king-size bed she was in. She noticed, although it was dark in her little cocoon, that the sheets were all green. Dartmouth green sheets, duvet and curtains. It looked like the whole bed was green.

She could still feel that she was very weak, but not as bad as she would have been had she not been healed straight after the tortures. But she still found that weird, why would Malfoy help her? She assumed that this was some menial job the 'Dark Lord' told him to do, probably a form of punishment or a way to demean him… probably. He despised her, hated her; loathed her. He had spent the majority of their school days mocking her, calling her names and teasing her, along with her friends. He mostly left her alone if Harry and Ron were near, just called her names then. It was different if she was alone. He had brought her to tears on more than one occasion. When she looked back at it now, she scolded herself for being such easy prey. Almost always vulnerable.

She shifted on the bed and drew one of the curtains to the side. The room was bigger than the one she had been in before. It was cold away from the heat of the duvet she had slept in. She moved her legs to touch the cold wooden floor. She bit her lip determinedly. She **was** going to stand; she was determined to do so, even though she knew her feet were weak.

Hermione took a deep breath and slowly stood up from the bed. Holding one of the posts for balance. She smiled triumphantly as she managed to stand on shaky legs. "I did it!" she smiled but then felt her knees give in and she was now slowly falling to the floor. "Bugger."

But before she could fall someone caught her. She sighed with relief and grabbed the hands that held onto her. She could feel that he was strong, but his muscles were receding, apparently from not being used much recently. "Thanks." She mumbled as he raised her to her feet again. She looked up to find the last person she thought would catch her if she fell, staring straight at her.

Those silver-grey eyes pierced her hazel. His face was so close to hers that his breath tickled her chin. Draco Malfoy's stare was unnerving, almost as much as his closeness. Alarms were ringing in her head saying this was way too intimate, he was too close and she did not want that. Not to mention that he was looking at her strangely; she could see an emotion in his eyes that she had never seen before.

"What are you thinking Granger?" he said in his usual accusatory tone. That jolted her back to reality, away from her strange thoughts.

"I-I was trying to stand." Blushing slightly. Why was she blushing? It was Malfoy, why the hell are you blushing in front of Malfoy?!

"That's stupid Granger, seeing as your legs are weak from sitting too much." There came the snide tone she was used to. But he was still too close to her, their bodies' only inches away.

"Could you put me down?" she asked awkwardly and uncomfortably. His look changed into surprise, like he wasn't aware he was still holding her up. Easing her down on the bed with strange gentleness she just stared at him. Thinking this wasn't at all like the Malfoy she knew, or thought she knew. He was the one that looked awkward now, and it came to her. The man that released her. "It was you." She said aloud.

Those three words flittered into the air which instantly thickened. Draco swallowed. Of course it had been him; he couldn't stand it much longer. If he had continued to heal her other people would have noticed that Granger's wounds _magically_ healed on their own accord. His father knew though, had noticed him walking out of the room when everyone else had gone. Draco was glad his dad kept quiet, but found it very strange considering his current state of health.

Draco had come into the room to heal her again last night, but this time was different. She looked worse than normal and so petite and fragile sitting in that chair. He couldn't take it any longer. He had to untie her from the chair, he had to save her. He wasn't surprised she couldn't stand properly; he had figured that would be the case. He wasn't a complete idiot. Sitting bound to a chair for almost a week, being tortured can do that to a person. But actually enjoying holding her in his arms? That he did not count on. When her hands went around his neck he got shivers down his spine, and when she cradled into him. It had felt bloody sinful; she had felt petite in his hands and so cold.

When he had tried to lay her down on his bed he could see the panic steal her features. He wanted nothing more than to reassure her, that she could trust him. But she couldn't, could she? He had been mean to her all throughout their school days. She had no reason to, but then again she hadn't objected to him carrying her into his room. But the look she gave him once she was on the bed was one of utter terror, and he realised his mistake. He swore in his mind for being so stupid. Of course she wouldn't trust anyone at Malfoy manor. This looked like he wanted something in return for rescuing her, he didn't like it. He knew some of the death eaters were that way, they took captives into their rooms… honestly he didn't want to know what they did but he could guess. So he corrected his mistake and watched her fall asleep in his bed. He had stayed like that for what felt like an eternity before drawing the curtains and going to sleep himself.

He awoke when Granger shifted in his bed, he knew she was awake. He decided the best thing to do would be to sneak out, until he heard her declaration. Raising a curious eyebrow he walked to glance at her, but merely saw her as she was losing her balance and falling. He caught her though, for some unknown and unfathomable reason.

Her realisation would have blown her off her feet if she wasn't already sitting on _his_ bed. Oh god, she had slept in _his_ bed. She had felt _safe_ in _his_ arms! This was not happening, why wasn't he saying anything? Why wasn't he denying it? She was hoping he would deny it, ask her what she was talking about then make some snide comment about how bad her hair looked or how muddy her blood was. It never came.

He wasn't even looking at her. Quite the opposite actually, looking at everything and anything except for her. He looked uncomfortable, not his usual indifferent mask, but uncomfortable and... awkward.

She didn't dare break the silence; she was waiting for him to say something, anything. _Was this really the same body that carried me here?_ She thought as her eyes instinctively raked over his body. NO! She tried to stop herself, looking away. What was she doing? Did she just... try to check out Malfoy? Merlin that thought was horrifying. It couldn't possibly have been him; Hermione couldn't imagine Malfoy ever being gentle with anything, least of all her. The thought was laughable, improbable even. And yet… somehow it had happened…

Silence

That was the word to describe this moment. Complete silence. Neither of them dared move or speak or even breathe. Hermione knew there was something unspoken going on between them, some truth that was hidden from her. Silence equals acceptance, which means that his answer was yes.

Malfoy cleared his throat, obviously from lack of anything better to do. He then sighed before speaking. "What of it, Granger?" What of it? What of it! He saved her and he doesn't think there's anything weird with that?!

"Why did you do it?" she asked carefully, not even sure she wanted to know.

He hesitated, he's backed himself into a corner and they both know it. "I don't know Granger, like I said, I'd rather not have your death on my-"

Hermione scoffed. "Bullshit, why don't you just tell me the truth Malfoy?"

She could see he was slightly taken aback by her word choice, but he sighed in defeat and sat (as far away from her as possible) down on the bed.

"You are way too stubborn for your own good Granger." He said, sounding annoyed. Hermione merely shrugged, she had known this for a long time and it was one of her greatest strengths, in her opinion.

"Why did you save me Malfoy? Why even bother healing me and taking me here?" His jaw clenched and his whole body stiffened. It was fascinating to watch how he struggled for control, mind over matter.

"_Save_ is not the word I would use Granger."

"Then-"

"I wasn't finished." He shot at her, obviously aggravated. By what, she didn't know. She decided that the best tactic to avoid a fight with Malfoy was to stay quiet and listen. Whether she believed what he said to be the truth or not was a whole other matter.

"I didn't _save_ you Granger, I simply _moved_ you. You looked really pathetic in that chair so," he shrugged as if this was explanation enough. She wasn't buying it.

"So you moved me to your bed, just out of the kindness of your heart?" She raised an eyebrow. "Merlin Malfoy, do you really think I'm that stupid?" She said with a roll of her eyes.

He grinned deviously at that. "No. Just incredibly gullible."

She sent him a glare that he must have been very used to by now. The one she always uses when she's offended or about to start a row only Malfoy could cook up. But she managed to keep her mouth shut, for the sake that he had the home-field advantage.

He looked her over, a glint in his eyes that she couldn't distinguish, but it was making her uncomfortable. She shifted slightly where she sat. She wasn't at all used to this sort of _staring_. He seems to snap out of some sort of trance and swore under his breath and stood up again.  
>"Just keep quiet Granger." He then walked out of the room.<p>

She raised an eyebrow. Keep quiet? What else was she supposed to do? Scream bloody murder so death eaters could come find her? No thanks…  
>Despite his weird and off-putting behaviour, and the overall fact that he was Malfoy, she decided to do what he asked, after all it would be stupid for her to give up her position. He did help her after all and she felt like she owed him something, as horrible as that thought was. She now owed Malfoy. She never thought the day would come.<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Although being locked in Malfoy's room was better than tied up to a chair in a freezing dungeon being tortured; it was incredibly boring sitting there almost all day with nothing to do.

Malfoy would open the door once in a while and ease in some food, she didn't know why he did it, but she was grateful for it. She was finding Malfoy's behaviour really strange and unsettling. It was almost as if he was acting, nice. And that couldn't be happening because Draco Malfoy was anything **but** nice. He was acting weird around her as well; whenever they were alone he would glance at her once in a while but never say anything.

It had been three days since his so called "rescue", she knew because she watched the sun move across the sky from his window. She had nothing else to do all day. At night she would watch the stars and name the constellations she knew, pointing out the window to show nobody but herself. There was the big dipper, Orion and Draco. She couldn't help but stare at the star in the sky and wonder about her strange companion.

Speaking of the devil, Malfoy walked into the room on the third night with some food. He placed it on the bed. Hermione stood up from the windowsill and walked toward the food. She looked at him with questioning eyes, always waiting for some sort of explanation, anything really.

"Thanks." She said, trying to get him to look at her. He simply shrugged, not even glancing at her. She shook her head at him then went to her food. "So is there any reason I'm getting the silent treatment?" He looked at her then as she took a bite out of her food. "Or are you just going to keep ignoring me?" She could see him swallow something similar to a lump in his throat. This intrigued her.

"I am not ignoring you." He said shakily and not at all very convincing for a Slytherin.

"Then tell me Malfoy because I'm curious. Am I your prisoner, your guest, what?" She could see he was struggling with an answer, this was unlike him; he was normally very quick on his feet with a comeback or snide remark. Tired of waiting for an answer she went to speak again.

"I can't let you go if that's what you're asking." He finally answered.

"Can't or won't?"

He visibly stiffened. _Wow how many muscles can he possibly have to be so tightly strung all the time?_ Despite this she could see he was unhinged tonight and was using that to her advantage.

"Can't"

She raised an eyebrow. "But you want to?" she asked this with surprise in her voice. Not really expecting him to say that he did. But again he stayed silent, her eyes widened; _he cannot be serious_.

"Just eat your dinner Granger." Her mouth opened wide in shock. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow; she must have looked really ridiculous for him to look at her like that. She quickly shut her mouth.

He laughed. "Wow you look exactly like a fish Granger." She rolled her eyes. "You get all the awards."

"Shut up Malfoy, can't you ever just answer a question like a normal human being?" He shook his head.

"No."

She finished off her plate and put it on the bedside table. "Why am I here?"

"I thought you already knew Granger, if you don't then you're dumber than-"

She cut him off. "I don't mean that Malfoy, I mean what am I doing in your room?" She looked at him, trying to see if his body language would give her an answer since he wouldn't. "Does anyone know I'm here?"

"No." He replied stiffly. "If they did they would kill you."

She furrowed her brows. "_They_, who are they?"

"We" He quickly corrected himself, swearing under his breath.

"You don't refer to yourself as one of them?" He merely shrugged to that. "Malfoy, can I ask you a question that you will answer truthfully? Just one question, I think you owe me that much."

He snorted then shrugged. "Sure. Why not?" Then he sits down on the end of the bed.

She prepared herself, making sure to word the question correctly. "Why did you heal me after I was tortured? Why move me here?" She had been mulling over these questions in her mind, wracking her brain for days for answers to them. She came up short every time.

Malfoy's jaw clenched at her question, but she could see the wheels spinning in his head, forming a suitable answer to her questions. "I guess I healed you Granger because..." he sighed. "I moved you here-", he stopped talking. She could see he was having a hard time answering them.

Then she did the unexpected; she moved from her end of the bed closer to him and did what she never EVER thought she would do. She took his hand to comfort him. The weird thing was though, she didn't mind touching him. She had thought his flesh would repel her or something but it felt... nice. Warm. He didn't pull away like she thought he would, actually he squeezed it back.

He sighed once more. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you Granger. And if I did, you wouldn't be touching my hand." He tried to remove her grasp but she tightened her grip.

"Try me." She said defiantly.

He pursed his lips, "As crazy as it sounds Granger, I didn't like hearing your screams. It gnawed at my insides, drove me crazy. I couldn't just leave you there..."

Hermione felt confused. This didn't make sense to her, _he's a death eater; don't they torture people every day?_

He continued. "I moved you here because someone had noticed that your wounds miraculously healed on their own accord. So I moved you and made up some story that you died and a house elf moved you because you were starting to stench up the room."

Hermione listened intently, but she still didn't understand. "Why?" She asked, confused.

He looked at her then, those cool grey eyes staring into her very soul. "Because I... I like you."

"_I… I like you"_

Hermione just stared at him, the words echoing in her head. This was the boy that had insulted her, undermined and called her every degrading name imaginable. And there he was, just looking at her, waiting for a reply. As if she would have something to say to that right away. She searched his face to see if he was joking, to see if he would burst out laughing and tell her how gullible she is. She didn't see anything of the sort, all she could see was honesty. Which looked very strange on his face.

"Malfoy..." Was the only thing she could get herself to say; what was she supposed to say any ways?! What do you say to that? She looked away, but the moment she did she felt his weight shift slightly on the bed. She assumed he was leaving and looked to where he was. But he wasn't leaving at all; he was sitting so close she could feel his breath on her chin. "What are you-?" she choked. Backing away slightly, uncomfortable with how close he was.

He ignored her question and leaned in. She panicked but couldn't get herself to move away; simply sat absolutely still. Then their lips met.

It was hardly anything. Hermione couldn't describe the kiss exactly, but it was different from the ones she had had before. It was soft and warm. Words she would never have associated with Draco Malfoy before. She found herself kissing back slightly; he put his hand on the side of her face.

That's when reality sank in and she jerked away from him, standing up and backing up to the wall. There was horror on her face but when she looked at him all she saw was longing. For her. This wasn't happening; in no world would she ever in a million years kiss Draco Malfoy.

"Dr- Malfoy what are you doing? You hate me, loathe me!"

"No, I don't." He said standing up from the bed, nearing her again.

"Don't come closer." She warned, holding up her hand to stop him. He stopped, although it seemed like that wasn't what he wanted to do. She released a shaky breath, trying to comprehend this, to understand what the hell just happened.

"I don't hate you Hermione." Baffled by the use of her first name she got caught off guard and he took a hesitant step forward. She held out both hands to stop him. "I'm not going to hurt you, that'd sort of defeat the purpose of this…"

Hermione furrowed her brows, "This? And what is _this_ exactly?"

"I don't know…" Draco ran his hand through his hair, "A confession? Isn't this what you bloody Gryffindor's call courage?"

She shook her head, "There are many different forms of courage, I'm not really one to judge that…"

"Is this really what you want to talk about right now?"

"I don't know!" She said exasperatedly. "I don't know what to think, I sort of don't want to think actually. What do you mean when you say that?"

"I mean-"

"You don't know me; you never got to know me you only made fun of me." She was ranting now.

"Herm-"

He started calmly but she kept speaking in that high-pitched squeaky voice. "And now you come with this… I don't know, bombshell. How am I supposed to trust that's what you're really saying?"

He went to her and grabbed her arms. "Hermione," he said firmly. "This isn't some plot against you. I'm telling you the truth…"

"There's no way for me to know that…" she shrugged his hands off her and he took a step back.

"If that's how you feel then… then that´s how it is. Good night." He turned and walked to the door and just like that, he was gone.

Hermione was left alone in the dark room, confused hardly began to describe how she was feeling. But that word would do for now, at least. She would overthink this through the following night and morning, she knew that much.


	4. Chapter 4 Captivity

Chapter 4 **Captivity**

The days slowly crept by at Malfoy manor. Hermione was still concealed in Draco's room and he made sure to bring her food once in a while. But she didn't see him at all anymore. After the kiss and the confession, he didn't show his face. She couldn't really blame him; she was having a hard time wrapping her head around everything too. It was so strange; Draco Malfoy liked her. The oddity of that sentence was unbelievable. Draco Malfoy likes Hermione Granger. Absurd.

If someone had said that to her the year before she would have laughed in their face. But she had proof now, sort of. If she believed what he said to be true. She still couldn't believe it, didn't allow herself to believe it. It might be some sick plot to find out where Ron and Harry were or simply to mess with her head. Either way she was wary.

She was trying to think if she had feelings for the boy as well. It was hard to think of him that way, but she had trusted him when she didn't know it was him. She had felt safe in his arms, comforted, protected even. And yet… it still nagged at her brain, how he _used _to be, how he _had _been. Could he really have changed so much in such a short time? She knew people could change but if there was one person she thought never would; it was Draco Malfoy.

It was a few weeks after their first barely anything kiss and his sudden disappearance; she was lying on her bed or _his_ bed more accurately when he suddenly burst into the room, slamming the door shut behind him. He paced the length of the room muttering angrily to himself, words that she did not catch. Hermione sat up abruptly, surprised by his arrival and odd behaviour. "Malfoy, what-?" She didn't get out another word as he turned and glared at her. His eyes piercing like daggers, he looked absolutely furious. "Malfoy what are you doing?" She continued, this time hesitantly, afraid of what he might do. She had never seen him this riled up. She'd seen him angry and frustrated; sure, but furious? No.

"That's none of your bloody business, Granger. So bugger off."

Hermione pursed her lips. "And where, pray tell, do you want me to 'bugger off' to? If it has escaped your notice I'm sort of stuck in here." She was getting annoyed.

"Well then stop sticking your nose in other people's business where it doesn't belong."

"I wasn't trying to stick my nose anywhere," she said stubbornly. "You were the one who barged in here-"

"It's MY ROOM!"

"Well I didn't exactly ASK you to let me stay here, did I?"

"NO! Because I did that out of the kindness of my own heart but you can't even believe that!"

Hermione was caught off guard by that and stood staring at him in shocked silence.

"I'm just a bad guy to you, right? I'm the one that does everything wrong, well good for you Granger, you finally got one right."

Hermione hesitated. "I… I don't necessarily think you're a 'bad guy' Malfoy… you've just made… bad decisions. When Harry told me about the Astronomy Tower he was certain that you wouldn't have gone through with it and that was brave."

He scoffed. "Brave? The brave thing to do would have been to kill the old geezer," he flinched as he said it.

She shook her head, "You obviously don't understand, being brave isn't about killing someone, anyone can be cowardly and kill someone, going against everything you believe in is not brave. But sticking to it **is brave**."

"Well I'm not a bloody Gryffindor so don't go expecting me to-"

"I don't expect you to do anything Malfoy. Recently you've been surprising me a lot so there is no way for me to guess what you'll do next." He looked at her curiously, starting to feel like his old self again, or at least less furious. "It's a little unnerving…" she muttered, not intending for him to hear it.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well I don't know you; I don't know how you behave on a daily basis or how you think outside of school. For all I know you could be a raving lunatic or a big cry-baby or anywhere in between."

He was just about to say something when loud noises outside made him stop and both of them look toward the door. A horrible scream of fury sounded throughout the manor, reverberating and echoing off all the stone walls. Then they heard loud noises of spells being cast and people running. Draco went completely still watching the door. His face got very pale, he was waiting for something. Hermione knew this meant nothing good and she didn't dare move. That scream frightened her more than anything had ever done before. It most resembled a lions roar; ferocious and angry. She did not want to know who it belonged to, but she suspected she already knew.

A few moments later there was an urgent knock on the door.

Draco signalled for her to hide by the curtains that were already pulled on his bed. The gesture to keep quiet was completely unnecessary; there was no way she was going to speak. Then Draco opened the door and Narcissa Malfoy's voice sounded from the other side of the closed drapes around the bed.

"What happened?" Draco asked his mother worriedly.

"A Gringotts goblin just confirmed that Harry Potter has broken into Bellatrix's vault at Gringotts."

"What?" Draco said flabbergasted. "But that's impossible! He managed to break into _and_ steal from Gringotts?"

"Yes. The Dark Lord… was not pleased. Don't go into the main hall, the house elves are cleaning up."

_They did it?_ Hermione thought. _They actually managed to break into Gringotts __**and**__ escape?_ She was so happy at that moment she wanted to scream, jump up and down from joy. That is until she remembered where she was AND that he-who-must-not-be-named was in this same house. Panic engulfed her. He was in the same house the entire time? She had always thought he would have some sort of muggle-born radar or something. But she had gone by unnoticed.

Draco closed the door. Hermione wasn't even sure he was still there until he opened the curtains again, his face almost entirely drained of colour. "Do you know anything about this?" He asked in a steely, accusatory voice, but she couldn't blame him; his family had been at risk. However she couldn't tell him about the horcruxes or Harry's plan. Firstly because that was for their ears only and secondly because she still didn't trust him. That word: still… held a lot of meaning. Was she truly ready to open her mind for that to change? Did she want to? Yes, she wanted it to be true that he could change. _This is going to be complicated…_ she thought.

It obviously took her too long to answer, as she was so deep in thought, because he went closer to her on the bed. "Granger if you know anything about this…" It looked like even he didn't know how to continue with that sentence. She backed away, looking at him. His voice sounded threatening but his face showed worry and as she stared into his eyes she saw the pain in them. Despite all she heard in his voice was coldness, maybe even anger. "Fine. Whatever." He said finally after a short silence, stood up from the bed and walked toward the door.

"Malfoy where are you going?" She called after him, alarmed that he would go outside after what just happened. "You can't just go out there!"

"If you have forgotten Granger, this is my bedroom, and it's currently otherwise occupied. I'm tired."

And with that he walked out of the room, slamming the door, leaving Hermione behind to ponder over everything. Why did she care if he went out there? She shouldn't, but she did. She cared if he got hurt. Now _that_ was a frightening thought.

Then again if he would get hurt then who would come get her? If any of the Death Eaters found her she'd be dead, if no one came in here she'd die of hunger or fright. There was no way she could run away unnoticed, wand-less as she was. This seemed a dreadful pickle she was in, but at that moment she was more happy than worried, for Harry and Ron had managed to get into Gringotts and were hopefully on their way to destroy another horcrux.

Hermione started planning her escape only a few hours after Draco had left. If Harry and Ron managed to break into Gringotts and find the horcrux, maybe they managed to destroy it as well. At least she hoped so. Now she had to focus on getting out of here with no wand and without getting seen by the death eaters that stayed at Malfoy manor. And she also had to think about Malfoy not seeing her on the way. She was certain that he liked keeping her prisoner and was going to do everything in his power to keep her there. The real problem was that even if she could get out of the room; she couldn't navigate through the halls. With all the death eaters and perhaps the Dark Lord himself, how was she going to get away undetected and unscathed? Planning wasn't exactly an option here, but she was trying her best, thinking up every scenario possible. Perhaps the window? _No it's too high…_ Then again she could wing it and hope for the best… _last time that happened I ended here._

She sighed at her failed attempts at finding ways to escape, this was impossible. She was lying on his bed with notes all around when he walked back in. "What are you doing?" He asked in his usual snide tone. She hurriedly gathered the papers together. "Nothing" Hermione couldn't hide her blush, she knew she was a bad liar but really she should be able to lie about this to Malfoy, right?

He walked toward her. "What was that Granger?" he yanked a few papers out of her hands and read it. "Planning on running away?" He raised an eyebrow. "Without a wand?" She pursed her lips.

"I can't stay here, I have to go and-"

"And do what, Granger? Help Potter and Weasley? You wouldn't even get out of the room without being spotted." He threw the papers back onto the bed. "They think you're dead, and you're just going to waltz out there?" he said this coldly, as if it was a minor detail that held no significance whatsoever. But something nibbled at the back of Hermione's brain; he had saved her and covered it up, let her stay in his room and sleep in his bed. Yet he asked for nothing in return. She worried her lip in thought. "Thank you,"

He looked at her in surprise.

"Draco."

This surprised him even more; she had never used his first name before, at least out loud.

"You're… thanking me?" He asked sceptically.

"Yes."

Draco narrowed his eyes slightly. "Why?"

Hermione rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Why? Because I appreciate what you've done for me. And I was _trying_ to say it so that I wouldn't have to clear it up like I'm doing now." She crossed her arms.

Draco hesitated, "Is it because you want to leave and you think thanking me will be your ticket out of here? Because that's not going to work."

She scoffed. "Please, I know you won't let me go anywhere." She said with a sigh.

"Oooh I see, so you're going to go on your own, is that it?"

Hermione pursed her lips.

"Of course the brave little know-it-all Granger, going off on her own on a dangerous adventure." He rolled his eyes. "Fairly pathetic if you ask me."

"Pathetic?! You call **me** pathetic and all you do here is mope and groan and hide. What are you doing in this war, huh? Nothing. Sitting around and waiting. Well I'm not going to sit around and do nothing while my friends, my fellow wizards, are being hurt and risking themselves for this war. You? You're not even taking part in it!"

"Yes I am." He said with a clipped tone, his lips tightly pursed and his hands in fists. Hermione didn't notice.

"Oh sure, how could I forget? You took me here, congratulations you suck as a Death Eater."

That obviously struck a nerve. He came closer and loomed over her. The light above the bed made his shadow grow and covered her completely; she leaned back as far as she could without actually moving on the bed. He leaned over her, a menacing look on his face. "You know _**nothing**_." He sneered. "You think this is easy? Do you think my life is a ride in the park? Well here's a newsflash for you _Granger_; life isn't all rainbows and unicorns."

"I know that, _Malfoy_," she cut in before he could say more, she tried to sneer right back at him but it didn't go so well. "It's people like me he's trying to hunt down and kill; muggleborns. I know what's going on in this war and don't you dare try to tell me I don't and that I think everything's right with the world. Because it isn't and I'm trying to do something about it."

"Well what makes you think I'm not doing the same?"

"Well you're on the other side, aren't you? You're with _them_." Draco hesitated. Hermione furrowed her brows. "You are with them, right?"

"Of course I am," he flinched slightly and straightened his back. Draco tried to look stoic, strong as he stood there but his eyes betrayed him.

"You don't think of yourself as… a death eater?" Hermione asked surprised.

"And what would you know about it?" he snapped suddenly at her, narrowing his eyes. "All you know is your side, and you think I don't take part in this war? You have no idea what I've done, what I've gone through so you can just shut your filthy-"

"Mudblood mouth?" She cut in, getting angry herself. "How dare you still call me that?" emboldened by her loathing of that word she stood up in front of him and straightened to her full height. She still wasn't nearly as tall as him but she made up for that with her stubbornness and feistiness. "How. Dare. You?" she poked him in the shoulder at each word for emphasis and he took a few steps back. "You put up this façade and tell me that you can change, and then you go and say something like that and it proves to me that you haven't changed at all. No, I don't know what you've been through and I don't know what you've done, Malfoy. But I can sure as hell imagine and that's good enough to give me nightmares."

He simply stood there, staring at her, completely speechless.

"You don't know me either, you don't know what I've been through or what I've done, so don't plaster me with some sticker of naivety." There was a moment of silence after this declaration of hers and she felt uncomfortable in the tension, her anger simmering down and the memories of what she had seen, what she had lost starting to flood her mind, bringing her from anger over to sadness. "So there." She plopped down on the bed with a huff.

After a short bit of silence following this Draco finally got his thoughts sorted together, sighed heavily and raked his hand through his hair, Hermione looked up at him, albeit cautiously. "Look, I'm going to regret ever saying it and if you tell anyone," he looked her in the eye. "I'll deny it flat out and call you crazy, is that clear?" She nodded absently, with no clue as to what he was talking about. "I don't want to be here, I don't want this war any more than you do, or that stupid Potter. I don't want to see people getting hurt _in my own home_. I don't like seeing these… these people plot against my old schoolmates and teachers. I don't, so don't go labelling me as a death eater or anything else for that matter until you know me, until you understand me."

Hermione's eyebrows raised high on her forehead, this she was not expecting to hear from him, ever. So she wasn't processing it very well; or easily and by her lengthy silence after his speech he gave out a frustrated sound. "Well say something."

She scoffed. "Like what?"

"I don't know."

"Then don't tell me to say something. It takes time to process these sorts of things."

Draco crossed his arms in annoyance.

Hermione was thinking, gnawing her lower lip and constructing all of this in her mind into one coherent bulk instead of the messy state it was in now. "So… you're saying you don't want to be a death eater… and yet… you are one?"

He sighed. "Technically I am one, yes." He absently twiddled his thumb on his robe sleeve.

"And you're obviously not proud of that." She said slowly.

He groaned. "Will you please come to your conclusion faster, this is just bloody annoying."

Hermione pursed her lips. "Fine." She crossed her arms, looking at him determinedly. "You don't like being a death eater; you want to be on our side of the war, I'm guessing, so why don't you help me escape?"

"What?"

"Help me escape." Hermione stood up. "You have a wand, you know your way around this house and you know everyone that's staying here. Again I'm guessing." He made a gesture proving her to be right. "Good, so you could, in theory, get me out and yourself as well."

Draco raised an eyebrow. "In theory."

"Look, it could work if we plan and do it together. I know for a fact that you're fairly smart if you put your mind to it."

He grinned slightly. "Oh yeah? Finally acknowledging that fact are we?"

"Oh shut up and stay on subject."

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, in theory I could get you out."

She waited, "But…?"

"But, my mother is here, my father is here. Even the bloody dark lord is here, I can't leave just like that without being noticed."

"Your parents will be fine as long as they won't be suspected in helping you, then again you might have just disappeared."

"I don't like that idea any better, Granger."

"Then help me form one, I want to leave here, I want to find the boys and help. I can just feel it in my bones that something is going to happen because of what they did. Because of what they managed to do; and it's going to happen soon." Determined now she stood up and started pacing a few steps back and forth. "I have to take part; I have to do what I can."

"Why?"

"Because, they're my family, they're where I belong and it's my fight also!" She caught herself and lowered her voice and calmed down. "It's yours too."

He looked out the window. "What do you expect me to do about it? I'm not exactly in the best position right now."

"Then change it."

"How?"

"By helping."


	5. Chapter 5 The Escape

Chapter 5 The Escape

It took almost two hours for Malfoy and Hermione to agree on a plan that would work for their escape, it shouldn't surprise anyone that they fought and argued a bit during that time which delayed them. Part of their genius plan was to escape at nightfall, that way everyone would either be asleep, as Hermione pointed out, or out doing dark deeds, as Draco pointed out.

"And you're sure?"

"Yes Granger, as I've already told you a million times over, now can we go?"

Hermione pursed her lips. They were standing by his bedroom door, listening for anything outside in the hall. There was no sound at all and Draco had several times told Hermione that everyone would be asleep by now, or at least not roaming the hallways. He was getting impatient with her. She was being ridiculously cautious and hesitant.

"Let's just go over the plan one more time."

"Ugh," he groaned in annoyance, opened the door and pushed her out into the hall and followed after her, closing the door silently behind them. "Just go." He whispered to her and led her down the hall. He had loaned her some black robes and she had the hood over her head. All they had to do was get to the gate, Draco didn't trust the floo network, nor did he know what fireplace he could possible floo to. Even though Hermione suggested the Burrow, he wasn't optimistic about that actually working.  
>They walked hurriedly down the halls, trying as best they could to stay quiet whilst every small sound reverberated like the loudest bell off the walls. One misstep and anyone could discover them. Then again, how they were walking now was extremely suspicious so if anyone actually did come out into the hall they'd know something was up immediately. Just as this thought occurred to Draco he heard footsteps approaching opposite them, in a hurry he grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her into a gap in the wall behind a tapestry and put his hand over her mouth just in case. The footsteps grew nearer and then faded away again as the person walked past. Draco sighed with slight relief as silence fell again and he moved his hand away from her mouth and looked at her.<p>

"I know how to keep quiet you know." She hissed at him.

"Better safe than sorry, Granger." He whispered back.

She huffed and moved some of her hair out of the way. "Can we go back out now?"

"Perhaps."

She furrowed her brows. "Perhaps? What do you mean perhaps Malfoy?" still whispering, but demandingly.

"It's not every day that I get you in a compromising position." He grinned.

"Compromising posi- ?" She stopped, realising what he meant and pursed her lips. "Oh shut up, just because we're standing close to one another doesn't mean anything. Let's just hurry please."

He grinned. "Fine, since you asked so nicely." Being way too calm and flirtatious for the scenario, Draco stepped back out from behind the tapestry and scoped the surrounding area before telling Hermione to come out as well. They walked on through the stone hallways of the manor and were nearing the front door. Hermione's heart was beating stridently as she walked on, she felt her fear and anxiety rise the closer they got to the door, even though it still seemed miles away. Her worries thundered around in her head, what if they didn't make it out? What if they did? What if someone caught them?

At last they got to the door, Draco turned the doorknob and Hermione barely managed to get half-way through the door when a voice spoke behind her.

"Leaving so late?"

Both Draco and Hermione froze in place, but it was Draco who turned round first, "Evening Professor." He said it calmly, although Hermione couldn't understand how he could sound calm in a situation as this. She kept still, half hidden by the large door and by Draco's robe.

"What are you doing Draco?" Came the droning voice of Professor Snape, unmistakable to Hermione's ear, she had heard his snide voice directed at her far too many times in school. She felt her fear rise, for if there was anyone else she feared more than the Dark Lord himself, it was Snape. Due to his betrayal Hermione both loathed the man and feared him greatly. This was one of her worst case scenarios for their escape plan.

"Thought I'd go out for a late night stroll, is that a crime?"

There was a pause, "Do you think that wise, at this time of crisis?"

Draco scoffed. "It's not my crisis."

"You keep thinking like that and you'll get into trouble." Draco stayed silent and Hermione heard Snape take a step closer. "Draco, you know the dangers that lie here, you know the risks. The punishments have been shown clearly haven't they?"

"Yes." Came Draco's clipped answer and Hermione could have sworn she heard anger, maybe even a tinge of fear in his voice. She wondered what these punishments were, but thought better of it, she'd rather not know.

"Then you better be sure of what you're doing, completely certain." Again there was a pause and she heard a sound like a hand against fabric, perhaps someone putting a hand on someone's shoulder? Having to rely on her hearing only wasn't exactly new to Hermione but she preferred using her eyes if she could, her curiosity was truly one of her fatal flaws in her opinion as it made her do reckless things without thinking. However there was no way she was going to take a peak now, no matter how curious she was. This was way too dangerous.

"Alright, have a good... stroll." Snape said finally.

"Thank you, professor." Draco then pushed Hermione's arm and stepped outside, closing the front door behind him. "Walk." He told her, holding onto her upper arm and walking alongside her down the small road and to the gate. Hermione was wondering why Snape hadn't stopped him. Had he not seen her? Maybe they got lucky, whatever the reason, she still thought that that interaction was peculiar at the least and decided to ask later, once they were safe. If they got to safety.

When they got to the gate Draco stopped her and stepped in front of it. He pulled out his wand, raised it and muttered some incantation Hermione couldn't catch, but once he finished he took her arm again and literally pulled her _through_ the gate. It was almost as if it were made of gas and not steel. Hermione was entranced by this magic and wanted to know more and was almost going to ask right then when the front door of the manor opened and someone yelled.

"Run." Said Draco and ran, pulling her along with him.

They ran for a long time, so long that Hermione wondered why there wasn't a gym class at Hogwarts, it would have come in handy now and when she, Harry and Ron had been looking for Horcruxes. Merlin she missed those boys. "Please can we stop?" She heaved, her stomach cramping so badly she couldn't possibly get herself to run more.

"Fine," He said, panting as well. "For a little while."

She nodded. "Why don't we just apparate?"

"Can't yet, need to get clear."

"Clear of what?"

"The wards; **He** put up wards all around the manor and even further back, so that he could know if anyone apparated close to it, pretty brilliant but unfortunate for us."

"No kidding." She bent over, hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. "Is anyone following us?"

"I don't think so, they obviously noticed someone using the gate but I doubt they'd bother running after us."

She decided to take his word for it, too tired to question it more at the moment. So they stayed for a short while, catching their breaths and Hermione couldn't keep her curiosity at bay. "Why did Snape let you leave?"

"Why wouldn't he?" He answered a bit defensively.

"Lots of reasons, it's suspicious and-"

"Granger if I wanted to chat with you about my relationship with professor Snape I'd mention it myself, but seeing as I haven't that should be a fairly obvious sign that I do not want to talk about it with you." He straightened up. "We should get going again, we're not that far away from the border of the wards." He began walking again. She nodded and followed suit. But after a little while she spoke again.

"So you'd want to talk about it with someone else then?"

He groaned. "Granger let it go." Obviously annoyed, but so was Hermione at his stubbornness. It was hardly a personal matter to ask about and so she couldn't understand why he'd want to keep their conversation or relationship, as he had called it, secret. It didn't make sense to her, therefore it interested her more than anything, she needed to know what he meant and she needed to know everything about it. Damn her curiosity.

Somehow she managed to purse her lips and keep silent. Finally they got past the wards, it seemed to go on forever, but maybe Malfoy simply wanted to walk for longer. At least she assumed they had gone past them since he simply offered her his hand without another word, they had walked the rest of the way in silence, she guessed it was because of their mutual annoyance at one another. She then took his hand without a word, looked into his eyes just as they apparated. She held tightly onto his hand and closed her eyes, when a sudden panic seized her; where were they apparating to? Even though they had talked about a place to go to how could she know he'd really take her there? What if he simply apparated someplace completely different? Could she truly trust him? _Well it's a bit too late to ask that question now Hermione, you have already taken his hand without question and without hesitation_.

She felt soft ground below her feet and she opened her eyes to see a field of grass stretched far in every direction. Looking around her frantically for a familiar shape her eyes finally locked on it; the colourful and wonderfully misshapen house a little ways off and down the hill they were standing on. She smiled despite herself; she was finally going to see people that cared for her. It wasn't until she made to go there that she remembered Malfoy, for he was still holding her hand. She turned to him. "What?" He had tightened his hold on her hand when she made to leave. Then she saw his face and it looked pained for a moment, but when he looked at her it was back to the stoic mask she knew well.

"I can't go with you."

"What are you talking about, of course you can."

"No, Granger, I can't." His hand squeezed slightly against hers, whether he did it on purpose or not it didn't exactly feel comfortable for her. "The moment they see me, they'll hex me."

"You can't know that Malfoy,"

"Yeah I can."

She sighed. Wanting nothing more than to simply agree with him and go alone to the burrow. However she could not in good conscience do that, he had helped her after all, and... done other things... which she did not want to acknowledge.

"Look Malfoy, I know them, they're the most loving people in the world and before you say anything, I also know your history with them. But they won't care, the moment I explain they'll probably be more than welcome to let you in. They might not hug you or let you in on everything that's been going on. But they'll let you stay there, until they can trust you."

"Like you trust me?" She felt a pang of guilt and looked away. "Look Granger, if I can't get you to trust me I'm hardly going to get them to." He let go of her hand and fidgeted with his wand in his hand.

She gnawed at her lip as she thought. "Malfoy... I don't trust you because I don't understand you. You haven't exactly explained much of anything and I've mostly had to fill in the blanks with guesses and maybe's. Your actions speak for you sometimes but they are so vague I have no idea whether I should believe this action or that one, because they are so different and sometimes even opposites." She shook her head. "It's very confusing and infuriating. However, if you're honest enough and sincere in your explanations to them they'll believe you and slowly start trusting you."

He grinned slightly at the infuriating part but otherwise kept his face indifferent. "Fine, I can try."

"Good." Hermione took a breath, "This is not going to be easy. Come on."

Thereupon they walked down the hill and to the Burrow. Hermione could feel butterflies in her stomach from both excitement and nervousness; she was going to see them all again. She had no clue how they would react to her coming there, especially not with Malfoy in tow. She stopped at the door, gnawing at her lip with uncertainty and then finally knocked on the door. She then turned and looked at Malfoy. "Perhaps it'd be better if you stood a bit to the side, so they don't see you right away." He simply shrugged and did so.

"Who could that be at this hour?" Hermione heard the distinct voice of Mrs. Weasley and couldn't help but smile. She opened the door and her face showed obvious surprise. "Hermione," after a short hesitation Hermione was in Molly's arms, being crushed against her warm and loving body.

"Hi Mrs. Weasley." Hermione smiled and hugged her back, incredibly happy at being safe; finally.

"My dear, what happened to you? Where are Harry and Ron? Are they with you? Look at you, you look terrible, come in and let me make you some hot cocoa or tea if you prefer." She had grasped Hermione's cheeks and scrutinised her face in such a motherly fashion that Hermione couldn't help laughing slightly.

"I'd love that Molly but... I'm not alone and it will take a bit of explaining but I'd like you to keep an open mind." Hermione took Molly's hands in hers to both keep her calm and also for support. Whether she needed it or Molly, Hermione couldn't be sure.

"Oh?" She looked around Hermione eagerly, probably expecting to see the boys. When Malfoy appeared out of the darkness she was surprised, very obviously, but when she looked at Hermione she decided to be nice now and ask questions later. "Come on in you two, it's chilly outside. Heat yourselves up inside and then we can hear the whole story." Molly smiled warmly to them both and led Hermione inside and Malfoy followed.


	6. Chapter 6 Safe house

Chapter 6 Safe house

Mrs Weasley was warm as always and bid them sit down in the living room while she made them some tea. Hermione took off the cloak Malfoy had lent her and hung it on the armrest of the couch and sat down. The familiar clutter and cosy feel of the Burrow calmed her extensively, although her worry for the others reactions of Malfoy being there did not disappear. He also sat down in one of the plush armchairs, albeit uncertainly. He was looking around curiously at all the things in the vicinity, as well as scoping the room.

"There's no need to be anxious." Hermione said to him.

"I have every reason to be anxious Granger." He looked at her; she knew he was right to some degree, but really Mrs Weasley was the most caring woman Hermione knew and there was simply no way that she wouldn't listen to what he had to say.

Mrs Weasley came back into the living room with three tea cups and some biscuits on a trey. She set it down on the table and sat down in one of the armchairs, facing both of them. "Now, I'd like to hear everything, in detail dear." She took up her cup and sipped the tea.

Hermione took one as well and drunk. "Well…" she glanced at Malfoy before continuing. "I can't say everything in complete detail, but I'll try my best."

"That's alright dear." Malfoy sat there unmoving and Mrs Weasley turned to him. "Have a biscuit dear," She said with a smile.

Malfoy looked at her, nodded a little and then took some biscuits, although he didn't look like he wanted to eat them.

Hermione took a breath. "It all started after Bill and Fleur's wedding, we went into hiding," she decided that was the best way to describe it without actually saying anything about their horcrux hunt. "We moved from place to place, until eventually we were caught… Or rather almost caught…" She looked down at the cup in her hands. Both Mrs Weasley and Malfoy were looking at her with interest. "One of us said **his** name and… it was a trap, anyway snatchers came to get us but I kept them from the boys. Harry and Ron refused to leave but I told them to otherwise I'd hex them myself." Hermione looked up at Mrs Weasley. "They got away while I fought them off, but they eventually overpowered me and I was brought to their headquarters, which is incidentally Malfoy manor." She turned to look at Malfoy.

"But where are the boys now?"

"I don't know where they went…"

Molly looked disappointed, understandably. Hermione wished she could tell her more, if she only knew more.

"Tell me what happened next." She said sweetly to Hermione, though it was obvious to her that she missed the boys, Hermione did too.

"I was uhm… hurt," deciding not to use the word tortured. "Malfoy saved me." Hermione looked to him, but he was simply staring down at his cup of tea. "He helped me escape. But… something happened, the boys managed to break into Gringotts."

"Why on earth would they do such a thing?" Mrs Weasley exclaimed.

Hermione cleared her throat. "To find something that might help with fighting you-know-who. But that's not the point right now… or well, it is. It is part of the point and the point is; Malfoy helped me and he needs a place to stay."

"What?!" Two voices said in unison, coming from the stairs.

Hermione looked toward the staircase.

Molly pursed her lips and turned in her chair. "Will you two behave yourselves? Or at least come out and stop with the eavesdropping!"

There was slight whispering and then George was shoved out into the hall and Fred came out after him. "Harry did _what_?" They both walked to them, looking expectantly at Hermione and their mother in turn.

"They broke into Gringotts." Hermione answered after a short silence.

"That is-"

"Awesome!" They both said in unison.

"We have to tell people, no not people; everyone."

Molly shook her head. "Will you two please try to calm down?"

Hermione observed that they hardly even noticed Malfoy was there, it seemed neither of the Weasley twins really cared about that. Even though that was all she could think about at the moment and she therefore missed half of the conversation the Weasley's had while she was thinking. She kept wondering what Malfoy might be thinking, or feeling being there. Why did she care? Okay that one was self-explanatory, but she wanted to be able to be cool toward him, give him the cold shoulder, not care at all. However she was simply the caring type. When she had reached this part in her thought process she tuned back into the conversation by a very interesting sentence.

"They will all come and it would be like a revolution, an upstart!"

"Wait what?" This was her very intelligent reply.

Fred turned to her. "The moment we tell people about this on the _Potter watch_ everyone will want to help. Harry breaking into Gringotts is a sign that he wants us to help. We're going to overtake You-know-who and all his goonies."

"What nonsense! You're children." Mrs Weasley complained, or tried to reason.

"What are you talking about, you want this as much as we do and just because you're our mother doesn't mean you should stop us from doing what's right."

Molly pursed her lips. "I still think this is something for the Order to do, not you or your club of school buddies."

"Mom," Fred rolled his eyes. "It's the DA, not just any school buddies. Let the Order know too. The more the better."

"What is all this ruckus?" Mr Weasley came down the steps and into the room, wearing pyjamas that had rubber ducks on them. "Hermione," he said with surprise. "What are you doing here? Where are the boys?"

"Oh Arthur, we'd rather not repeat everything for the second time. The boys aren't with her, it seems they broke into Gringotts bank and Fred and George now want to start a revolution against You-know-who." Molly shook her head.

Mr Weasley took a few seconds for processing before responding with: "That is an excellent idea and we should get on it immediately."

"What?"

"Yeah!"

Hermione didn't think she had seen Mr Weasley as serious about something since from right before second year at school, when speaking with Mr Malfoy, or rather fight against Mr Malfoy.

"It's the right thing to do and about time we do something Molly. I say we waste no time at all to get the Order together and to let everyone know that is against You-know-who."

"I'll go immediately to let the DA know." George ran up the stairs.

"You forget you have magic!" Fred yelled after him and apparated upstairs.

Hermione wondered whether she should sit back down again or help with something. She felt out of place, then looking at Malfoy she realised that she was definitely not the only one feeling that way.

Molly and Arthur were arguing and walked together into the kitchen, bickering. Hermione wasn't sure what this meant about Malfoy being able to stay here with them and her too, although she sort of figured she would always have a place to stay with the Weasley's. "Where does that leave us?!" she called after them.

Molly turned round, "Yes dear, go upstairs and lie down, Ginny isn't here so you can be in her room." She went back to arguing with her husband.

"But what about…" They disappeared. "Malfoy…" Hermione sighed and looked at him. "Okay so… upstairs?"

"Both of us?" Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes…" she said reluctantly. "We'll figure something out, just come on."

Hermione headed for the stairs. As if reluctantly realising he had no other choice but to go with her or stay there and get noticed by the Weasley's, Malfoy stood and followed her. The stairs creaked below them as they ascended. Hermione walked into Ginny's room and checked it out, making sure no breakables were around or anything used to throw at each other. Naturally she didn't expect them to fight but… no who was she kidding, she expected a fight between them. Then again an awkward silence wasn't out of the question, which was happening now.

"Great room," Malfoy said sarcastically.

Hermione sighed, "I'm tired, let's just… try to decide the sleeping arrangement."

"Come on Granger, we both know it'll end with you on the bed and me on the floor so let's not try to pretend with pleasantries and go to sleep." He grabbed a blanket and laid it on the floor.

However Hermione was way too stubborn to admit that's what she wanted or was planning, therefore she had to contradict him. "Actually, you're wrong."

"What?"

"I wasn't going to suggest that at all."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh really? Well what other great plan did you have since there is no other way for us to sleep, which you might have noticed?"

"Yes there is another way." Hermione said stubbornly, although not really wanting it, or that is afraid of it. Therefore she decided to do the opposite of the first idea that came to her head and suggest the second one. "I sleep on the floor."

Malfoy scoffed. "Yeah, great idea Granger." Again with the sarcasm. "You're not sleeping on the floor. So let it go and lie in the stupid bed."

She stubbornly crossed her arms. "You are not going to sleep on the floor, and that's final."

"You are crazy and ridiculously annoying."

"I was going to say the same thing about you."

"So you're okay with that?"

"Okay with what?" Hermione asked.

Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "You know that since you won't let me sleep on the floor and I won't let **you** sleep on the floor, we're about to sleep in the same bed."

Hermione hesitated. "Yes, I did realise that."

"And you're saying that you want that?" He asked sceptically.

"I'm not saying it's the best case scenario but..."

"But you're too stubborn to do anything else, yeah yeah." He rolled his eyes and kicked off his shoes. "Whatever."

She watched him, unsure what do to.

"Do you usually sleep in your clothes?" Malfoy asked as he tugged off his jumper and then unbuttoned his shirt.

Hermione watched uncertainly, should she look away from him? Should she ask him to look away while she undressed? Was there any way for her to avoid getting undressed?

Malfoy glanced her way as he goes to take off his pants. "Are you in shock Granger, or simply staring at me for your own pleasure? Or maybe those two intertwine?"

Hermione blushed. "I wasn't, am not, staring." She crossed her arms. "I was simply-"

"Admiring the view then?" He moved his discarded clothes to an armchair not far off; he was now wearing nothing but his boxers.

Hermione couldn't think of anything to say to that, especially since that was sort of what she was doing... I mean who could ignore what was right in front of them? Although he had slimmed down a lot over the last year and a half and was therefore skinnier than she had ever seen him before. Not that she had seen him this way ever before, or that she ever thought of it. _Hermione, if anyone could hear you think they would assume that you are fooling yourself, which you're not._ _Right?_

Malfoy went into the bed, "Are you coming at some point or? If it makes you more comfortable we could make a wall of pillows between us." He was being half sarcastic and half serious, Hermione could tell. Although she did consider it she discarded it after a little thought.

She shook her head, took a deep breath and then started to undress, she didn't exactly feel comfortable doing it but turning her back to him did help. She grabbed a T-shirt of Ginny's and put that on before taking off her bra. There was no way she was going to sleep on her bra or half naked. As she turned round she saw that he had closed his eyes, whether he had had them closed the whole time she wasn't sure, but she appreciated it. Lying down in the bed felt strange, she had never really slept with someone else in the bed before that wasn't one of her girlfriends or family. She lay on her back fairly stiffly, afraid to move and accidentally touch him or bump into him. Wow she was anxious...  
>Malfoy sighed, and shifted. "This bed is too small." He complained and turned on his side and back again turning towards her. She swallowed back her nervousness and glanced up at him. Really there wasn't room for two people in this bed, unless they both lay on their sides, Hermione was already slightly off the bed the way she was laying.<p>

"Okay, don't take this the wrong way." She said as she turned on her side, facing him, she had to grab onto his arm to not fall off the side of the bed. As a result Malfoy put his hand on her to steady her.

"I won't. Unlike all of you Gryffindors seem to think, I'm not such a bad guy."

"I don't think you are... at least not really anymore."

"But everyone else does, I'm not like _his_ followers. I don't do that to women."

Hermione looked up at him and felt relieved but also very uncomfortable thinking about that, maybe if he hadn't helped her it might have happened to her. Someone might have decided that she was good looking and taken advantage of her. She couldn't imagine what he had seen or let happen around him, quite honestly she would rather not know about all that. However… it did spark her curiosity, even just a little bit.

"Why not?" She asked timidly. "I mean you probably could have if you wanted to and-"

"But I didn't want to." He replied firmly. "This may come as a surprise to you, but I'd rather have sex with someone that wants to." Hermione nodded, deep in thought. "It's also better that way, the passion and all that. "He added. Hermione looked up at him, mulling over his words and found he was looking at her. She blushed but did not look away.

"I know this is a very personal question, however… I'm going to ask it anyway…" Although he sounded hesitant to, which surprised her, she would have guessed that he took pleasure in making her uncomfortable with overly personal questions as he used to do in the past. "Have you ever…?" He didn't finish the question nor did he need to. Hermione looked down, she contemplated arguing, say that it were none of his business and that it was, as he said, a too personal question. Instead she shook her head in answer.

"What about this?"

He meant lying in bed with someone; she knew it without him having to indicate it in any way. Again she shook her head. "Why do you care? Or rather… do you at all?"

"Simply curious, is all. It hardly matters though."

"No? A lot of people back at school would disagree. I thought you would be among them."

"I might have boasted a bit during school, but really; whether you have or haven't is irrelevant."

"Oh? How so?"

"Experience is a lie, simple as that. You don't have to have had sex with a bunch of people to be good at it. I mean it's good to know what to do but everyone's different, no two people are going to like the same thing." He shrugged.

"Oh…" She wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"Yeah." An awkward silence followed. "So I'm guessing you haven't seen one…" He went on.

"Of course I have Malfoy, don't be crude." She shook her head at him. "I'm not a complete ninny as you would say. That's really not appropriate."

Malfoy chuckled a little at her. "I wasn't volunteering or anything," He said with a mischievous grin. It faded slowly before he went on, "So you've seen one in person?"

She hesitated. "What does that matter?"

"Ah, so you haven't."

Hermione pursed her lips, "I've read about them in books and seen pictures. I know all about how it works and all that, so don't assume I'm less informed on _that_ particular subject than any other." She said stubbornly.

"That's not the same though, you know that right? Some things you just can't learn from books."

"It's working well enough for me so far."

"It doesn't beat the real deal though." He grinned playfully.

"Oh stop it will you?"

"Why? Am I making you curious?"

She scoffed. "Hardly."

He smiled in amusement. "You can look if you want, I don't mind."

"What?!" She exclaimed alarmed and stunned. She blushed and he grinned.

"I meant, everything except that, naturally. If you're curious, then you can see what I look like." He was teasing her, being playful.

"Malfoy…" However she saw it in a different light.

"I'm only teasing you Granger, lighten up and stop taking everything so seriously." His playful manner was now gone and as he sighed tiredly he shut his eyes. "Let's just go to sleep."

Hermione watched him curiously and hesitantly to make sure his eyes were closed before allowing herself to look over him. Of course she was curious, otherwise she wouldn't have read all those books, searched for pictures and hoped for the real thing… Malfoy was right, all that couldn't really beat the 'real deal'. But she was cautious around him, with him. Especially after he had confessed his feelings for her, which still surprised her beyond belief. How could this boy, or young man compared to how he looked lying there next to her, have feelings for her? After all this time and everything they had been through apart. She had no idea about his personality or how to act around him. Then being thrown together like this all of a sudden didn't make anything easier. She felt a horrible longing for home, she wanted her mother to come in and hug her and her dad to help her get to sleep and shy away the nightmares. With homesickness raging in her stomach she could feel her eyes watering with the thoughts of all the people she hadn't seen for so long. She also wished that the boys were here, just so that she could see them and hug them. They'd chide her for doing it and act like little boys, but she wouldn't care, she would hug them even more for it. God she missed them. A slight sob escaped her lips as she thought this, completely involuntarily, along with a sniff or two. She was trying her best to be quiet.

"Granger?"

"Mhm?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm okay." She tried to move her arm but in the process shifted her weight on the bed and almost tipped over, if it wasn't for Draco's arm that went around her and made sure she didn't fall.

"I'm not completely daft Granger, I can see there's something wrong, or rather hear it."

Hermione sighed. "I don't want to talk about it... I just... miss people." Moving her arm out from between them she put it over the blanket and he pulled her back properly onto the bed. "Like... my parents," she sniffed again.

"Right..." He seemed uncomfortable, or his voice sounded that way at least. Hermione couldn't exactly see him while lying this way. She was also purposefully trying to shield her face so he couldn't see her tears.

"Ignore me."

"That's pretty impossible like this Granger."

"Sorry." She said in a low voice.

He hesitated and patted her arm awkwardly. "You shouldn't apologise, I mean there's no need to. I don't think."

She nodded and leaned her head against his chest. "I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable."

"It's fine." He said shortly.

After a while of awkwardness with Hermione sniffling quietly and him patting her arm, Hermione fell asleep and Draco was left in the bed with his thoughts unable to sleep. After not so many hours there was some noise outside in the hall and then Molly Weasley came into the room. Draco was surprised by it, also with how they were on the bed it might not be the best thing to walk in on for Molly.

"You two should get up, quickly. Everyone is getting ready."

"For what?" Draco asked, shaking Hermione awake.

"We're going to Hogwarts, we're going to fight."


	7. Chapter 7 Returning to Hogwarts

Chapter 7 Returning to Hogwarts

Hermione didn't get a lot of time to wrap her head around what was going on after she had woken up, with all the hustling and bustling of everyone in the burrow. While everyone was running around getting ready for whatever might come, there was some debate about whether Malfoy should tag along or stay behind. Everyone was of the opinion that he should stay behind, whether or not he had defected he shouldn't accompany them. Hermione was the only one that tried to persuade them to let him come, but she did agree that he should stay behind and therefore it was difficult to go against her own point of view in an argument.  
>Hermione was already dressed and ready to go as most of the Weasleys' were and Malfoy was still upstairs in the bedroom, as she had instructed him to wait while she talked with them. She did not look forward to going back up there and telling him that he couldn't, or shouldn't go. She could also just leave and not tell him, however she found that to be too mean and cowardly. She got up there and went in hesitantly.<p>

"Hey..." She said gently, wanting to break the news in a nice way and not too harshly. "So... there was some... uhm... talk about whether or not you should come with us..."

"Bloody hell Granger," he said annoyingly, reacting to her tone of voice. "I'm not a child so don't tiptoe around me as if I'd cry at any moment." He rolled his eyes and stood up. "Just tell me"

Hermione bit her lower lip slightly before blurting the words out in a hurry. "You can't go with us."

"I didn't exactly ask for your permission to go, Granger."

"Everyone else said so as well..."

"I didn't ask them either, I'm of age and I'm pretty sure that I can do what I want. So I'll go if I want to and neither you nor the weasel clan can stop me."

"Actually... we can."

"You wouldn't dare." Malfoy snarled.

"If it comes to it, we will." Hermione said firmly and crossed her arms. „Look, it's dangerous there, it's a fight, a war. Which, quite honestly, we don't really know which side you're on. Even if we did, it wouldn't change the circumstances, which are strange to say the least. We don't know what's going to happen or might happen and you would be safer here."

"Safer, my bloody ass, Granger! I haven't done anything worthwhile in this so called 'revolution' except cower and hide. I'm done hiding and the only thing I can't stand is being told what to do by blithering Gryffindors of all people!"

"Oh so you can't stand us but you can stand them?!" Hermione couldn't help saying it, he managed to irritate her so quickly. For a brief moment she wondered if she was turning into a hot-head.

"The circumstances now are a little bit different."

"No they're not. Do you not even remember where we were not one day ago?"

"I think it's impossible to forget Granger, especially with you always reminding me."

"Always reminding you?" She said indignantly. "I just mentioned it now for the first time!"

"Oh so you whining about it in the evening didn't really happen?"

That felt like a slap in the face to her and she really had to hold back punching him in the face. Her fists clenched by her sides and her lips pursed into a tight line. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and then uttered in a deadly still voice. "You are staying here and that is final. I try to talk on your behalf and this is what I get for it? Fine, you know what? I'll just stop trying all together. Stop having faith in you; stop believing that you can change or that you have changed. Go or don't, I don't care. Go and get hit by an unforgivable and see who comes to your rescue." Irate, she stormed to the door.

Malfoy hurried ahead of her and blocked the door. "Having faith that I'll change? What kind of crap is that Granger?"

"Get out of my way Malfoy."

"You've been thinking about me so much that you were actually hoping for things?" He tried to change his tone to a teasing one but it wasn't working, not on her.

Deigning to look into his eyes only to glare at him, she poked at his chest. "I try to see the best in people, now get out of my way."

"No."

"Get. Out. Of my way, Malfoy. Or else."

"Or else what, you'll hit me? Push me out of your way?"

Hermione narrowed her eyes. "No, I will use magic." She moved to get her wand from her pocket but Malfoy stopped her by grabbing her hand. "I'm going to Hogwarts, you are not going to keep that from me-"

"Let me go." She was glaring at him, trying to get her hand free.

"No, just listen," He said frustratingly. "You incredibly frustrating witch."

Hermione took a breath to retort, with indignation most likely but was stopped short by Malfoy. "Like I said, I am not going to stay behind and not know what is happening to anyone over there. I am not going to let you leave and get hurt or killed."

Hermione furrowed her brows. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, I am going with you and I am going to make sure you don't get hurt."

Instead of hearing that in a good way Hermione was offended. "How dare you imply that I can't take care of myself, if you have forgotten I was the best in my year."

"Second."

"No, pretty sure I was the first in my year."

"Whatever."

"No, not whatever, I can take care of myself just fine Malfoy. I might even be better than you are in jinxes and hexes."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her. "Excuse me, we have never had a duel and so you have nothing to base that on."

"Well I was in Dumbledore's army and we were practicing spells and jinxes while Umbridge was terrorizing the school in fifth year."

"Hermione!" Molly yelled from downstairs. "We have to go!"

Hermione looked over Malfoy's shoulder to the door. "I'll be right there Molly!" She called downstairs. "I have to go, so get out of my way."

"I'm going with you or we're both staying."

"You're being ridiculous."

"No, I'm being completely rational and fair. If your stupid Gryffindor friends were here, would they let you go alone?"

Hermione pursed her lips. "That's different."

"Why?"

"Because, because they're my friends."

Malfoy hesitated. "Yes..." He let go of her hand, which had long ago stopped trying to get her wand. "And they'd personally kill me if I didn't make sure you were safe and not about to go do something incredibly stupid."

Hermione couldn't decide what to say to that, her lips pursed and then hearing Molly call up again from downstairs. She groaned. "Fine, let's just hurry or else we'll miss the opportunity to."

Malfoy nodded, stepped to the side and went through the door and down the winding staircase to where only Molly was standing by the fireplace.

"It's about time you two got down here."

"Where's everybody else?" Hermione asked.

"They've already gone, come on now hurry."

"But... even..." Hermione hesitated. She was surprised by her lack of reaction to Malfoy being there also.

"Yes dear, even Malfoy. I knew he wouldn't just stay there all locked up tight, or at least I hoped he wouldn't." Molly looked to him. "I am glad you are growing up and seeing the real values in life." She smiled to him then handed them the floo powder.

Even Malfoy seemed struck speechless by her kindness, but soon recovered, nodded his head and took a handful of floo powder. Hermione did the same.

"You two should just go together, it's quicker. I'm sure you're both skilled enough for it anyways." Molly smiled to them. "On three," Hermione was about to protest but Molly didn't give her any time. "One, two," She hardly had time to think about Malfoy's hand grasping hers. "Three." She threw down the powder. Smoke and flame enveloped them and she felt like she was being choked by it. She was wrenched forward and pulled, with smoke and dust flying all around her. She closed her eyes tightly and waited to land, which happened sooner than anticipated. She really disliked the floo network.

They landed and tumbled ungracefully out of the fireplace and onto each other. Hermione huffed to get all the hair out of her face and soot from her mouth. Malfoy tried to push himself up but pulled some of her hair with him, which made her flinch and make a slight sound of pain. "You're on my hair." She complained.

"Your hair is everywhere Granger, I can't see anything because of your precious hair."

She hit his arm to get him off her. "Move away."

"For Merlin's sake!"

He rolled off to the side and she was able to sit up. Moving her hair out her face and patting it down along with getting dust and soot out of it. Molly appeared then and easily stepped out of the fireplace. "Oh my dears," She helped Hermione to her feet, Malfoy was already half way up, dusting off his pants and shirt. "We hardly have time to sit around."

"We weren't-" Hermione started but saw the older witch was teasing her.

"Let's go." Patting Hermione's hand, Mrs. Weasley went over to an open painting above the fireplace and started walking through tunnels that were there.

"That's strange." Hermione mused before following her.

Malfoy simply followed, shaking his head a bit. They walked for a while, the way sloping down, bending, turning up and levelling again. Hermione felt she was close to panting by the movement but tried to hide it, since the others seemed to be in better shape than she was. Finally they reached a gap and once through a strange sight greeted them.  
>It was a large room with beds everywhere and colours from all houses, except Slytherin, were covering the bunks all over. There were a lot of people milling around, most were talking excitedly, or anxiously. She couldn't tell. Then she was met with cheers.<p>

"Hermione!" Someone yelled across the room as she stepped down, which made others look to her and practically everyone was rushing over to greet her. She smiled to them and greeted as she could. But then suddenly everyone slowly went quiet. Hermione could guess why. Malfoy had gotten down behind her.

"What's _he_ doing here?" A girl called from the back of the room.

"He's a Slytherin!" A boy to her left said.

Molly had gone to talk to Remus, Hermione could see them not far away and wished for their help. She felt awkward and wanted to shrink into herself. Glancing behind her she saw Malfoy straighten his back and using all his height to glower over everyone else. His stoic mask of indifference and slight superiority was back on his face.

"Now, now, everyone settle down!" Remus's soft voice came as he strode over there. "Malfoy has defected and is here to help our side." Hermione could practically hear Malfoy sneer at his words, but he never said anything. "Go back about your business."

Begrudgingly they did and left them alone, although many continued to stare or glance in Malfoys direction.

"Hermione," Lupin said, "I am glad to see you here. Harry and Ron will be pleased to see you."

"Harry and-" Hermione said, eyebrows raising. "They're here?" She said excitedly.

"They are, I'm not sure where they went exactly but McGonagall just informed us that there will be a meeting shortly in the Great Hall. I'm sure they will not miss that."

"Thank you, I think I'll just go there now."

"You should probably take Mr. Malfoy with you. So the others here don't spontaneously attack him." He said it good naturedly, but Hermione didn't doubt that some of the people in here would think twice about it.

"Come on Malfoy." Hermione neared the door and went out with him into a hallway on the seventh floor. She furrowed her brows. "But we can't…" turning around she saw the door disappear. "The room of requirement," She smiled appreciatively; whoever thought of this was a genius.

"What are you babbling on about?" Malfoy asked with a raised eyebrow behind her.

"Nothing. Let's go." She began walking and he kept in pace with her.

"So, what now, you meet up with your buddies and we go our separate ways?" He said it with a slight bitter tone to his voice. "Oh and best not forget everyone that will then collectively think they have a right to judge what should happen to me."

"They won't do that."

"Yes they will Granger, and thinking they won't is naïve."

She pursed her lips. "I am not naïve, Malfoy."

He scoffed.

"I am not! I am optimistic."

"How can you be optimistic in a war?"

"Because."

"Nice reason."

"Oh shut up."

He grinned slightly. Their footsteps echoed in the empty hallway as they walked on and down a staircase. Students were going up and down every staircase, seemingly unaware of their own destination and simply going anywhere they could in all the confusion. Some moved out of their way and gave them a wide berth. Whether it was from fear or respect, Hermione didn't know. Some stopped their frantic walking down the hallways to stand and stare at them, their eyes especially lingering on Malfoy. Hermione wasn't surprised to their reactions and dreaded her friends' reactions.

Hermione quickened her steps as she saw the Great Hall up ahead, excitement and nerves balling up in her stomach. Malfoy didn't seem as eager and drew back a little, letting her go ahead.

She got inside and the hall was packed, students were everywhere from all houses and of all ages milled around, talking, whispering. At the back, where the teachers table used to be stood McGonagall, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Slughorn, a few other teachers and Harry and Ron. Hermione practically ran through the crowd to them. "Harry! Ron!" Harry was the first to turn around.

"Hermione!" His tone was that of surprise and delight. She ran to hug him and he, catching her, hugged her close. "Where have you been? Are you alright?"

"Hermione," Ron said, extracting herself from Harry's grasp she hugged the tall boy as well. "Bloody hell it's nice to see you again."

"You too," She sighed and pulled away from Ron. Looking at them both she saw they were weather worn, both with stubbles growing and long, untidy hair. Being on the road did not suit them look-wise, she could see they had also been through some things that darkened the circles under their eyes and made them heavy. "To answer your question Harry, I am as good as can be expected. I want to know everything."

"Ms. Granger, I hate to interrupt but I am afraid that will have to wait." McGonagall interjected. "Although it is nice seeing you again, safe and sound."

"You too, Professor,"

She went back to talking to Shacklebolt in hushed tones. Ron used the chance, "How did you get here?"

"Your mother, I was at the Burrow with-"

"Should have known she would get you," Ron grinned and looked over her shoulder at the doors to look for her. "She came with you did she?"

"Yes she did but-"

A dark look crept over Ron's features. "What the hell is _he_ doing here?" He raised his arm and pointed a finger at a tall blonde boy standing awkwardly, although regally, in the middle of the hall. He looked toward Ron pointing his finger at him, and keeping his head held high, said with a sneer. "Didn't anyone ever teach you that pointing is rude, weasel?"

"I swear-"

Ron made to go at him but Hermione stepped in his path, putting her hands on his chest to stop him.

"Ron, don't."

"What?" Ron gave her an incredulous look. "Hermione, it's Malfoy! Son of a death eater and probably is one himself." He spat that last part in Malfoy's general direction.

"Leave him alone Ron, I mean it."

"Why are you defending him?"

"I'm defending him because he saved my life." There was a pause here after her declaration, wherein everyone listening was silenced and flabbergasted. Hermione crossed her arms in front of her chest and stubbornly raised her nose. "So I would appreciate it if you did not say that he is a death eater since he left his family to come here and help all of us."

"You're taking the piss out of me." Ron said disbelievingly. "You must be joking."

Hermione furrowed her brows at his odd phrasing. "No I am not Ronald."

"Listen to the girl, Weasel." Draco said from behind her in a snide tone. Which Hermione knew Ron would not approve of so she placed her hand on his arm to get his attention.

"If that snake comes near me I'm gonna-"

"Okay, okay fine. Then you don't go near each other. Seem fair?" Hermione looked between both boys and only stopped when they both made a small gesture of consent. "Good."

Harry simply stood there, watching the interaction with slight amusement. "It's wonderful to have you back Hermione." He said, as if nothing had happened, for this she was grateful.

"So, what is the plan?"

Here McGonagall interrupted by speaking to the whole assembly in the Great Hall. "Students!" Her voice magnified by magic. "We must protect our school and ourselves. We have decided to evacuate students that are underage, those that are old enough may stay and fight if they wish it."

"As for the battle plan itself," Shacklebolt began, "We shall split into groups that will go to different places on the grounds and in the high towers. Teachers will help set up charms and protections around the grounds as we get ready for this battle."

There were some cheers from the crowd and then McGonagall went to round up the younger students for the evacuation, while Shacklebolt helped with the preparations. At which time Lupin had joined them along with most others from the room of requirement.

Hermione turned back to the boys and noticed Harry talking with Professor Flitwick, she wondered why he was doing that but decided it did not matter at the moment. Instead she hurried over to Kingsley before he went to talk with someone else.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, I know you have a lot on your plate but I was wondering… what should be done in regards to… Malfoy."

Kingsley raised an eyebrow at her before looking over at the young Malfoy. "If he wishes to fight with us, then I will not stop him. As for what should be done, I cannot say for who am I to make decisions like that? He will have to make his own decisions and live with the consequences."

Hermione wasn't sure if he was referring to how Draco had let the death eaters in the castle the year before or simply stating a fact. She didn't have time to ask, plus it would have been a silly question to ask the busy man. As she turned back to go to them she noticed that Harry and Ron were deep in conversation about something and Draco stood to the side looking almost bored, inspecting his nails.

Harry looked to her as she approached. "I just talked with Flitwick about Ravenclaw's lost diadem, and-"

"Wait, Ravenclaw's what?" She asked confused.

"Well when we arrived earlier we asked if anyone knew of any relics or ornaments from the founders and Luna told me about this diadem, she even showed me a statue with it."

Hermione looked at him sceptically. "This is Luna we're talking about Harry…"

"I know, but I also asked Flitwick and he confirmed it, but he also said that no one in living memory has seen the diadem for… well a very long time."

"What's your point Harry?"

"Well if… you-know-who found it… it must be hidden in the castle."

"Harry, if it hasn't been seen in centuries how would he have found it?"

"Weren't you listening?" Draco suddenly interjected. The three of them whipped their heads in his direction with surprise, as well as annoyance at his eaves-dropping. "No one in living memory," he emphasised.

"What's your point Malfoy?" Ron said rudely.

Draco rolled his eyes, looking at them. "Well, Weasley, my point is that someone dead might know where it is."

The trio all furrowed their brows in unison. "How can we speak to the dead?" Ron started stupidly, and it dawned on Hermione.

"A ghost."

"Finally someone with sense!" Draco exclaimed, shaking his head at the other two boys.

Weasley pursed his lips at the insult. "Alright fine, a ghost, but which ghosts? Hogwarts is filled with them."

"Not just any ghost, it has to be a ghost relating to Ravenclaw." Hermione interjected.

"Exactly," said Draco. "So you go to the Grey Lady."

**I am so so so so so so sorry guys for taking so long to write this chapter… I simply have no motivation at all or inspiration. I'm honestly starting to question if it's worthwhile continuing with this story, I feel like it might not be… Please feel free to voice your opinion if you feel otherwise because I want to keep going with it but not if I don't think it has a future. Please review or tell me how you like it, you can even make suggestions! I welcome anything and everything you have to give me if you have the time. Thank you very much for reading. I think this is my longest chapter yet, I hope it wasn't boring as hell x)**

**-Kete.**


	8. Chapter 8 Getting Answers

**Hi everyone! Oh my gosh I am so sorry for the long wait! But starting a higher education took up pretty much... all of my time. That is whyyy I am making up for it by having this chapter extra long! I hope it was worth the wait I really really do. Please review so I can get feedback and write the next chapter and make it even better and improve. Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoy :)**

**-Kete**

Chapter 8 Getting answers

"Why is it _he_ knows where she is?"

Ron said irritably as the four of them walked down the halls of Hogwarts, led by Draco. Hermione didn't think she had ever seen the castle as busy as it was then, everyone running around with some secret goal in mind or simply lost in the chaos of things. It struck her then that she was about to participate in a war, an actual war. Something she had learned about in muggle school, read about in books, seen documentaries even but never actually experienced as a real thing, until now.

"I'd think only Ravenclaw's would know where she is." Ron continued sulkily.

Hermione gave an exasperated sigh. "Just get over it Ron, Draco knows where she is so we're following him, end of story."

"_Draco_? Since when do you call Malfoy that?"

"Since now." She lifted her nose in defiance. "Is that a problem?" She dared him to defy her.

"Just seems weird..." He muttered to himself. "The git is planning something or other, I don't trust him."

"That's obvious..."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"It means Weasley that you have not stopped complaining the whole time, fairly loudly by the way, I'm certain the whole castle knows by now." Draco said. "And just because _you_ don't know where something is doesn't mean no one else does. We're not all as dim as you."

"Hey! If anyone here is stupid, it's you Malfoy!"

Draco scoffed. "Is that so? Tell me weasel, which one of us is second in our year?"

Ron was silent, and when Hermione looked over at him she saw his ears turning red, his lips were pursed and his fists clenched by his sides. She simply shook her head at their childishness.

"My point exactly." Draco smirked.

"How's he second?" Ron whispered to Harry, who simply shrugged his shoulders, uninterested in the conversation.

"Because I actually _do_ my assignments, Weasley, unlike some people." Malfoy interjected again, and Hermione had to hold back a groan at his goading. Before Ron could retort she shot in,

"Could you two please stop bickering? I think there are more important things to think about right now than who is second best." Ron muttered a low apology while Malfoy simply kept quiet ahead of them.

Hermione went to Harry's side. "How are you?" She noticed that he seemed distracted.

"I'm alright Hermione, it's just... stressful I guess. So many lives are hanging in the balance and if we don't find it-"

"We will find it."

"But will we do so in time? I can feel him Hermione, he's already gone to Dumbledore's tomb and-"

"Wait, Dumbledore's tomb?" She furrowed her brows. "Harry, you're not still on that are you? With that children's story..."

"It's important Hermione, I know it is. Dumbledore believed it and even _he_ does. So why shouldn't we?"

"Because it's preposterous."

"We know the cloak exists."

"Yes, alright Harry, the cloak exists. But a resurrection stone and an undefeatable wand? I find it hard to believe."

"I know you do, but-"

"We're here." Malfoy said, effectively cutting their conversation short.

They were in a dark passage, to their right were arched windows showing the grounds and rolling hills beyond along with the dark trees of the Forbidden Forest. As Hermione looked on she could see the protection barriers the teachers were putting up around the castle, all of the charms and spells glittered as if a massive shield-like bubble surrounded them.

Harry stepped forward. "I should speak to her alone."

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at him. "You've never spoken to her before, Potter. She has no reason to trust you."

"What and she trusts you?" Ron interjected on Harry's behalf. Harry didn't seem nearly as annoyed at Malfoy's comments, he even looked calm, almost like he had already resigned himself for the battle that was to come.

"Yeah, actually she does." Malfoy spat at Ron. "She's shy," he crossed his arms. "You have to be careful."

Ron scoffed. "As if you could ever be-"

"Ron," Harry said. "Let it go." He then turned to Malfoy. "Alright, you speak with her first, but then I would like to ask her something and I would like to do it just me and her."

Malfoy nodded. "I understand." He then walked forward toward a small stone staircase at the end of the hall, Harry followed but strayed behind.

"Come on Ron, we should probably wait until they return." She tugged at his arm and they walked back a bit to give them some privacy.

Ron huffed as he sat on a window-sill, "Why'd you bring him here?" He shook his head. "The git's doing this just to mess with me."

"Doing what Ron?" Hermione asked, half exasperated.

"Being here for one, he's on you-know-who's side for Merlin's sake! I don't trust him one bit, you wait and see; the moment our back's are turned he's going to-"

"Stab us in the back?" Hermione ventured.

"Yeah."

She sighed. "Ron, he's changed, or at least he says he has. He's left his family and come here to help. He's even helping Harry now and the two of them are being civil. You're the one riling him up, trying to pick a fight."

Ron looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "Are you stark-raving mad?! This is _Malfoy_ we're talking about!" He flung up his arms. "You know; the pureblooded git that taunted you, all of us, for years."

"I'm aware who he is Ron." She crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Well then why are you defending him?"

"Because he's done some good lately and I'm cutting him some slack. Even Harry is tolerating him Ron, and they're basically enemies. Try to be the bigger person here."

He simply shook his head and scoffed like a child. She decided to give up on the conversation, or rather him, and let it go for now.

A moment later Malfoy returned and joined them in the hall.

"How did it go?"

He shrugged. "Good I guess. Potter's talking to her now."

Hermione nodded. An awkward silence filled the corridor as the three of them waited for Harry to return with some sort of instructions or at least new information for them to act on. Ron was seething where he sat, decidedly not looking at Malfoy. Hermione was mostly looking at her feet, to avoid his gaze. Especially since Ron was there.

Minutes passed, and after what felt like an eternity they heard Harry's footsteps come toward them. They all looked up in his direction.

"I know where it is."

They were ascending the stairs to get to the 7th floor when a sudden voice boomed over the castle grounds, and Hermione's first thought was that the protections around the castle had failed before anything even started. They all stopped dead in their tracks, as it was Voldemort's voice informing them all that their fight was futile and that no one would die if they handed over Harry Potter. _You have one hour._

Silence.

Hermione felt a chill go down her back and shivered. Glad that was over. There was a second of hesitation, almost like time stopped in anticipation for what would happen next. Then Ron stepped in front of Malfoy with his wand raised.

"You so much as think about going near Harry, I won't hesitate to hex you."

Malfoy cocked an eyebrow.

"Ron!" Hermione chastised. "What are you doing? Lower your wand." She said sternly.

"No! This git is going to try to hand Harry over to his master like a loyal little, cowardly puppy dog, and I'm not gonna let him."

Malfoy stepped up right in front of Ron, who had his wand on his chest, and got right in his face. Obviously fed up, "Who are you calling little and cowardly, Weasley?" Both boys would have towered over Hermione, but they were about the same height. However she had to hand it to Malfoy, he could look very intimidating when he wanted to. She was surprised how steady Ron's voice was when he replied.

"I'm calling you that, you snivelling prat." He practically spat at him, straightening his back.

"Stop it! Both of you!" Hermione marched up and pushed Ron away from Malfoy. Giving him a deathly serious glare, akin to the one he was sending Malfoy.

Malfoy shook his head at Ron. "I wouldn't have done it anyway you idiot. I go over there and I'm as good as dead, no matter who I have with me."

Ron scoffed. "As if you're not just waiting for an opportunity to betray us, you've always hated us!" He tried to take a step forward but Hermione stopped him; pushing at his chest with all her strength.

"Stop it Ron, now!"

Malfoy gave a wry little mock chuckle. "Things change Weasley," he grinned as if to taunt Ron even more. "I thought you Gryffindor's always believed the best in people."

"Not when it comes to foul gits like you!"

Hermione groaned in frustration. "That is it!" She silenced both of them. "You will stop this right now. There are more important things going on. The whole school is about to participate in a war, a _war_. Does that not compute for you boys?" They both looked confused at this, which made her even more annoyed. "Is that so difficult to understand?" She rephrased. "If we don't do this now, and properly then all of their fighting would be in vain. Do you want that?" She gave Ron a pointed look. He shook his head and looked down at his feet in shame. She then looked at Malfoy with the same expression and he simply grinned at her; which threw her off guard. She cleared her throat. "Now we are going to go to the room of requirement, find this... headdress or whatever, and destroy it. And you two will not bicker the whole way there, is that clear?"

Ron nodded. "Sorry 'Mione..."

She took a deep breath. "Good. Harry, you walk with Ron and I'll walk with Malfoy." Ron snapped his head up to protest but one hard look from her made him hold his tongue.

"Fine, come on Harry."

The two boys started off ahead of them and Hermione let out a frustrated sigh, or rather huff of air. Malfoy whistled. "Well... that was interesting."

"Don't start." She walked on with Malfoy at her side.

"Start what?" He asked innocently, too innocently.

"You know what."

"Please enlighten me."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Merlin you're immature."

He scoffed. "_I'm_ the immature one? Who just threw up their wands in the middle of the hallway for no bloody reason? Quite honestly Granger, I do not know what you see in him."

"Wh-what?" Hermione blushed. "What are you talking about?"

Draco gave her a sideways glance. "Are you saying there's nothing going on between you and the weasle?" He cocked an eyebrow at her and she blushed and looked away. Not wanting it to be seen and also to try to make it seem like that isn't the case.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Draco gave a half-hearted chuckle mostly consisting of air leaving his mouth in five quick puffs. "Whatever you say."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

"No, Malfoy," she stressed his last name. "What did you mean by that?"

He smirked, obviously controlling the situation and liking it. "I mean that you two making googly-eyes at each other and him obviously having feelings for you. So I guess you have a thing for hot-headed redheads."

Hermione was indignant, "You can't just make assumptions like that."

"I'm not making assumptions I am making observations."

"Well then your observations are wrong."

"Oh so he doesn't have a thing for you?"

"I didn't say that-"

"Ah so he does."

"Stop twisting my words!"

"I'm not twisting anything Granger."

"Yes you are and it is annoying me to no end." She stopped and poked him in the chest. "Now listen here, you will not goad Ron any further, or me for that matter. I am way too stressed for something like that at this moment and I'm actually very surprised you aren't. This is life and death here, there won't be any certainties and you're asking if there's something going on with me and Ron? How is that a priority right now?"

He raised an eyebrow in response to her rant. "You don't think I'm on edge? Volde-fucking-mort is out there right now wanting to kill me, you, Potter and every other stinking soul in this place, and you think I'm calm?" She cringed at his profanity. "I'm simply exchanging witty banter with you Granger, and riling you up because I enjoy seeing your cheeks flushed."

Hermione pursed her lips at this and started walking again, he got in step with her again. "That's stupid."

"We all have different ways of distracting ourselves from our wretched lives or the current situation. For you it's worrying about everything and not distracting yourself at all, while I go into conversation that might rile up Weasley." He shrugged.

Hermione shook her head. "I will never understand you..."

"Give it time." He said with a smirk.

They reached the 7th floor, Ron and Harry had already stopped outside the entrance. "What took you two so long?" Harry asked.

Hermione answered quickly to not give Malfoy a chance to make up some embarrassing lie. "We stopped to argue on the way. So is anyone inside?"

"I don't think so, if there is then we won't be able to get into the room of requirement anyway, so we'll just ask them to leave."

"Or make them." Malfoy muttered.

Harry and Hermione both ignored it while Ron gave him a glare.

"Let's go."

Harry walked three times by the wall and a door appeared, he stepped inside followed by Ron, Hermione and lastly Draco. Once inside Harry described the object to all of them and the strange bust that he put it on once in sixth year. They spread out trying to find it in the heaps and heaps of junk strewn about everywhere. Hermione thought she had never seen so much chaos since she went into Ron's bedroom once in fourth year, before the Quidditch Cup. She sighed at the thought that they were never going to find this, especially in a room that was specifically designed for lost things, maybe the room wanted the things to stay lost. While contemplating the mechanics behind making such a room she heard some ruckus to her right. She quickened her pace and got to a slight opening amidst stacked chairs and tables. There she saw Ron in a fist fight with Crabbe, Draco's old Slythering buddy. She was so shocked she didn't know what to do. She took out her want and yelled "Petrificus totalus!"

Crabbe stiffened and fell to the floor. Ron had a black eye forming and a slightly ripped shirt, otherwise he looked unhurt. "Thanks 'Mione."

"What happened? And why didn't you use your wand?"

"Well-" Then his eyes widened and focused on something behind her. "Duck!"

"Avada-"

Hermione ducked down and rolled toward Ron as quickly as she can, more afraid of what she had heard behind her than she had been in months, or rather since she was tortured by Bellatrix. Nothing would top that.

When she stood up Goyle was standing where she had come from, his wand raised.

"Stupid mudblood." Ron had found his wand and raised it. To which Goyle responded: "Bloodtraitor." Practically spitting on the ground. Crabbe's petrified body lay between them, unmoving. "Restore him!" Goyle demanded, his wand still pointed at them.

For some reason Hermione couldn't think, she was frozen with fright. Ron scoffed beside her. "You're not exactly in the position to give orders, numbnuts. If you didn't notice, you're outnumbered, two against one."

"I only see one wand up against me Weasley and it's yours, so it seems like a standstill to me."

Ron furrowed his brows and made the mistake of looking over at Hermione, at which Goyle took the opportunity to throw a hex at him, which threw him back into the pile of wood behind them, effectively knocking the tower down on top of him.

Hermione screamed Ron's name, terrified by now, she looked back at Goyle, afraid of turning her back to him. She then got back her senses and wondered where her wand was. She had been holding it before Goyle appeared but when she ducked and rolled... she had let go without realising. She wanted to scan the ground for it but would not allow herself to take her eyes off Goyle.

"It's just you and me now, mudblood." He said with a deep look of disgust on his face. "I'll make my master proud by giving you what you deserve; death."

Hermione let out a shaky breath, then she heard a voice to her right, behind her, from the other opening behind the pile of wood that was now probably crushing Ron.

"Goyle, what are you doing here?"

"Ahh Draco, nice of you to join us, I was just about to give this filthy mudblood bitch what she deserves. Care to join in?"

Malfoy walked past Hermione, glanced at Crabbe's petrified body on the ground and then back up at Goyle. "What are you doing here Goyle?" ignoring what he said.

"I'm here to fetch Potter, aint that what you're doing?" He looked at Draco suspiciously. "Redeeming yourself in His eyes?"

"Lower your wand Goyle." Draco said, eyeing his wand that was still pointed at Granger.

"Why?" Goyle furrowed his brows, even more suspicious.

Draco kneeled down to Crabbe's body, as if checking to see if he was okay. "Because she's wandless and terrified already, she's not about to try anything."

Hermione stood there in shock, but still not letting herself believe it, holding fast onto the thought that Malfoy gave this life up and he was acting in front of Goyle so he wouldn't hurt him. But then the thought also occurred to her that he may have been doing that to her this whole time too.

"I guess..." Goyle mumbled uncertainly, moving the wand down an inch.

"Well wouldn't you need to use your wand to revive Crabbe anyway?" Draco looked up at him, still kneeling by his old friend and classmate.

"Oh right, yeah." Goyle lowered his wand and took a step toward the two boys.

At that moment Draco whipped out a wand and threw a hex at Goyle, who was subsequently thrown back into a pile of chairs with a loud crash. Hermione let out a relieved breath and without hesitation turned around to dig Ron out, trying to throw the chairs and pieces of wood out of the way.

"Have you gone crazy?" Draco said as he came to her. "You are held up at wand-point and you suddenly go... looking for furniture?!"

"I'm not looking for furniture you idiot, Ron's buried under here!" Hermione said with a frantic tone to her voice.

"Step aside Granger."

"No! I have to get him!"

"Step aside," he said and wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her away. Once he had managed it he raised the wand and started moving the furniture away by magic. Hermione then realised how stupid she was not to think of magic, and wiped at her cheek which she hadn't realised was wet until now. Ron was uncovered, unconscious and bleeding on his thigh. Hermione let out a relieved breath and went to him. "We should revive him."

Draco nodded and handed Hermione the wand. "Here, you should really try to hold onto this you know, there's a war going on." He was trying to lighten the mood but she was simply surprised and looked up at the wand he was handing her.

"That...that's mine."

"Of course it's yours Granger, I don't have a wand, remember?"

She actually did not remember. "Where did you-?"

"It was under Crabbe, I saw it and took the chance."

Hermione hesitantly took her wand back, feeling strange that he had been able to use it so effortlessly. Returning her attention to Ron, she first tried her best at healing the cut on his thigh as best she could before reviving him.

He gasped and spluttered, then groaned, looking around wildly. "That bloody Slytherin!"

"Ron try to calm down, I don't know if you hit your head or not."

"My head's fine, it's Goyle's that won't be after I'm through with him."

"Sorry, but I already took care of that." Draco shot in.

Ron looked confused up at him. "We can talk about it later," Hermione said, helping Ron up. "Let's just find Harry."

"Not necessary." Harry appeared around the corner, climbing over some knocked-over chairs and tables. "I found it." he held up a tiara of some sorts to show them. It was silver with blue gemstones on it, engraved on the sides was: _A wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure_.

"That's great Harry," Hermione said with a relieved sigh. "Now we just need to figure out a way to destroy it.

"Wait a minute," Ron said, looking at Harry. "I just had a thought, remember how you destroyed Riddle's diary in second year?"

"Yeah." Harry replied.

"Well there must be some things left down there that we could use right?"

A yell suddenly burst out behind them and they all turned around, raising their wands, except Malfoy. Goyle suddenly burst forth from the pile of wood, all in a rage, glared at the four of them. "You're helping them?" He spat at Malfoy. He was so angry his face had turned almost purple, veins protruding from his neck. Then he yelled a curse at them, one Hermione did not recognise and something happened which she did not expect at all. She had been thinking of a shield charm in her mind to keep the jinx from hitting them. However, nothing came. Instead fire started seeping out of Goyle's wand, almost in an uncontrolled way. Or rather, completely in an uncontrolled way, the first thing to catch fire was the pile of chairs Goyle had been buried under. Hermione's eyes widened and it was obvious that Goyle had not expected this to happen.

"Goyle... what have you done?" Draco said beside her, an obvious tint of fear in his voice. "Where did you hear that spell?"

Goyle however did not answer, too preoccupied with watching his wand, trying to control the flames or stop them.

Draco turned to them. "We need to go, now. Stop staring and start running!" He practically pushed them away and soon the boys listened and they were all running away. That's when Hermione noticed the flames were consuming almost everything around them. That's when she started to panick slightly.

"Can't we stop the flames?" She said between pants as they ran through the maze of discarded items.

"No, you can't really stop or control Fiendfyre."

"That's Fiendfyre?!" Hermione exclaimed, knowing how dangeous it is, having read about it. "How did Goyle know to conjure cursed fire?!"

"Don't ask me! Just get to the door!"

They ran, it was getting really difficult, especially with all the smoke growing around them. They hit a wall, a literal dead-end in this maze.

Ron groaned. "What now?"

Harry was looking around, "There." He pointed to a set of brooms leaning against a huge pile of books. Ron and Harry immediately went for a broom. Hermione hesitated. "Uhh... how will we do that, there are four of us but only two brooms."

"We'll have to fly two and two." Harry answered.

"It's alright Granger, you can ride with me." Draco said with a smirk.

"No way, she's riding with me." Ron said, walking to Hermione.

"Suit yourself. I am better at flying than you though." He added slightly under his breath, but everyone heard anyway.

Harry interjected quickly before Ron could retort. "Malfoy you'll ride with me then."

"Whatever Potter."

Hermione got onto the back of Ron's broom and when they went into the air she clung to him for dear life and closed her eyes tightly. Man she hated flying.

They zoomed through the smoky air, practically everything was enveloped in fire and smoke and Hermione lamented over all the books that may be burning beneath her. Harry saw the exit and called to them where it was. They sped toward it, trying to get out there as quickly as possible, the flames were now trying to reach them, it was as if it were a living being. A predator hunting it's prey. They got out but were at such a speed they didn't have time to stop before they hit the opposite wall in the corridor.

They all fell to the floor in a groaning heap, then one by one trying to get up. Hermione managed to push herself up into a croutch when she noticed the diadem in front of her on the ground, split in two.

"Harry, it's broken." She looked up at him, "of course, I read about Fiendfyre in a book about horcruxes!" She said in a fit of realization, without second thought. "It destroys horcruxes. But it's so dangerous..." She gasped. "Oh no, Crabbe and Goyle."

"They're gone."

Hermione looked over at Draco and wondered what he must be feeling at that very moment, to know that two friends of his, old or not, had just died.

There was silence. But then the whole castle shook and they realised that the fight had begun and Hogwarts defences had been broken.


	9. Chapter 9 The Battle of Hogwarts

Chapter 9 The Battle of Hogwarts

"We still have the cup right?"

"Yeah."

The diadem had been destroyed earlier by the Fiendfyre Crabbe had started in the room of requirement, which took both his and Goyles' lives. There was still smoke in Hermione's throat, a cough showed up every once in a while. Ron had gone straight back to business when they felt the castle shake. They only had two Horcruxes left, Huffelpuff's cup and Voldemort's snake Nagini.

The castle was in a craze. Hermione didn't know what to think, but the thought that was dominant in her mind was that her childhood was being ripped apart brick by brick. Students and Order members filled the halls as they, Harry, Ron, Draco and Hermione, rushed past trying to find their way to the girls' bathroom on the second floor.

She glanced back and saw Draco trailing behind them, disinterested in his surroundings, hardly giving a glance to a spell that flew right past him, shattering a window to his left. Hermione felt bad for him, he just lost two childhood friends, even if they lost touch recently or something like that (she didn't know the details this was simply speculation) it would still hurt. Death had always seemed destructive to Hermione. She had gone to a funeral once, for an aunt she didn't know very well. She was young and didn't fully understand what had happened. So she observed the people at the funeral. All she could see was pain, sorrow and grief. So much negativity and sadness.

Hermione let Harry and Ron go ahead, she slowed to catch up with Draco.

"How are you holding up?"

He ignored this completely and simply kept walking, even quickening his pace. Hermione pursed her lips. She was trying to help him and he was just going to ignore her? _Why do I even try?_

"I'm sorry about Crabbe and Goyle…"

"Don't." He interjected. "Don't give me that sympathetic tone. Don't try to comfort me with that 'goody-two-shoes Gryffindor attitude'." He said with spite.

"I'm just being nice to you, Malfoy."

"Well stop, I don't want it nor do I need it."

"Fine then."

Hermione thought she heard him grumble a reply, but at that moment the wall to their left collapsed in on itself, hurling stone and debris everywhere. The huge gaping hole in the wall wasn't of much concern to Hermione as she was buried under the debris. Hardly able to think clearly, she realised she shouldn't move. The adrenaline kicked in and her mind started racing, remembering passages in books and muggle classes where she had learned what could happen if you are seriously injured and you try to move. In one there was a possibility of paralysis, not a good option. In yet another there was a chance of a broken bone or even a severed limb. Would she notice if she had a severed limb? She hadn't even tried to feel anything yet... maybe she couldn't feel anything at all anymore, was it possible she was already paralysed from the neck down? Or... even worse... she was already dead.

Hermione chanced, or dared, to open her eyes and everything came crashing in on her all at once. The noise, the excessive and horrifyingly loud noises all around her made her feel like her eardrums would explode. She could see a few rays of light here and there but otherwise it was mostly darkness. She took notice of her breathing, it was heavy she needed to calm down. Where was her wand? Had she been holding it? Was it in her pocket still or thrown away by the force of the wall hitting her?

She still didn't dare move but she had to know if the others were right. If there was anything that was safe to move it was the vocal chords, right? Nothing about those in any of her books or research. She tried to say something, cleared her throat and tried again. A very low and weak squeak emanated from her. Was this really all she could do? The great Hermione Granger beaten by a wall and on top of that unable to communicate with her friends.

Wait a minute... maybe they were trying to communicate with her. She tried to listen to the ruckus all around her again and this time to focus on things close by her. There were voices but she had a difficult time distinguishing them.

She levelled her breathing and then took some time to prepare before trying to shout 'help'. It seemed to work, at least to her ears. However if anyone could hear it over all the noise she'd be surprised. This couldn't be it, this could **not** be the end. She could still think, how ironic was that that the only thing she had left to herself was her mind, typical.

"Hermione?!"

She heard a frantic voice behind her somewhere, it was loud though so it had to be close.

"Here!" She tried to call, her throat doing its best to fight the drought and fight through the hurt. "I'm here!"

"Hermione!" The voice was more hopeful now and coming closer to where she was. The background noise was slowly waning and she could hear rummaging, the person was moving the rubble away. She knew then it was one of the boys, it had to be.

"I'm here, right here." She kept muttering, lower and lower each time as her throat got tired. She had to keep talking though so he could find her. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on that moment, the moment the light would shine in on her face and she would look right into his. She would see the relief in his silvery eyes...

The rubble was moved away and just as it was she felt a stinging pain in her leg. She cried out and involuntarily moved the leg toward her body.

"It's okay, I found you. Are you hurt?"

"I don't know..." she muttered with her eyes tightly closed from the pain, clasping her knee to her stomach. Afraid of touching the place that hurt and also afraid to move the rest of her body.

"I'm going to pick you up, is that alright?"

She nodded after a slight hesitation. Then the arms were moving around her, gently but deliberately, and she was pulled into his arms. She leaned against him as he stood with a grunt and moved away from the wreckage.

"Hermione? We have to keep moving, if you're not injured then I should set you down."

It was Harry, she could hear it now, and feel it. He had hugged her enough times for her to know.

"I think my leg... I can't look."

She felt him nod. "I'm going to set you down in this alcove so you'll be safe and so we can check on you alright?" This time she nodded in response and wondered who was among the 'we'. She was set down on a cold stone floor and she still didn't dare open her eyes again. _So much for Gryffindor courage_.

"Let me look."

A cold hand moved her leg a bit to the side so the wound was exposed. Hermione heard a sharp intake of breath which only made her more nervous.

"What is it? Is it horrible?"

They didn't answer and she could hear them muttering between each other. She only heard bits and pieces especially from a voice deeper than the two, Ron's voice. He was okay. She was relieved for half a second at that thought.

"I mean... did we learn any healing spells? I don't remember learning any healing spells." Ron sounded slightly frantic and Hermione got the horribly strange urge to laugh. Of course she was the only one of the three of them that actually took the time to memorize and learn healing charms. Oh how fate loved to toy with her in such ways.

"I can do it." A third voice... it was solemn, defeated or simply exhausted.

"Malfoy... you're hurt yourself..." Harry chimed in, strangely sympathetic to Malfoy's ailments considering their unpleasant past.

"Well we can't bloody well just stand here for another half hour while you decide how to help her?! Unless you want to desert her here. Because those are really your only two options. Now, I've been pleasant up until now-"

Ron scoffed.

"But this time you knuckleheads have gone so far beyond past stupid that I can't hold it in much longer."

"Hold it in?!" Was Ron's unceremonious response. "You haven't held anything in you twat. You've been a pain ever since you came here!"

"Like you've been of any help! What have _you_ done to help _her,_ huh?! Nothing, absolutely nothing. You stand there like pricks unable to help her when she's in need! Jeez I thought she was supposed to be your friend and **this** is how you treat your friends?!"

"Say one more word Malfoy and I will-"

"You're a dick Weasley."

"Guys stop it!" Harry interjected, Hermione could imagine him getting in between them. "We have more important things going on. Like a war and our friend being injured! We don't exactly have time to argue or fight right now."

There was a short silence before Ron spat out a silent "Fine".

"Now, Malfoy, if you can heal her then do it. We need to move. The longer we're here the more time we waste. Time we do not have."

She heard footsteps and someone knelt in front of her. She felt a light, albeit cold, touch on her ankle. "Dejá vu, huh, Granger?" Malfoy whispered softly, so only she could hear. She still didn't dare open her eyes, whether she was afraid of facing all of them or afraid to see her wound she wasn't sure. "Where's your wand Granger? I need it."

"I... I don't know, I can't remember."

"Well if you opened your eyes..."

"No." She interjected quickly. "I don't want to."

"I thought you Gryffindors were supposed to be brave..." he sighed. "I can't exactly search you, now can I? Unless you want me to."

How could he joke at a time like this?! Well... maybe he was trying to lighten the mood, is that something he would do? Hermione didn't know him well enough to be certain of much of anything.

"Is it bad? The wound?"

"Well Granger... you sort of have to be the judge of that yourself, but I'm not sure you'll be able to walk without at least a limp."

She let out a long sigh. "Okay I'll uhm..." She couldn't decide if she wanted to open her eyes or look for her wand by hand. She decided by hand first. She felt around her stomach and up to her jacket pocket, she could feel her wand in the inside jacket pocket. She retrieved it and moved it in front of her, still not daring to look. This time she knew it was because she didn't want to look into his eyes.

He started chanting, she could feel warmth on her leg, spreading up to her knee. She could also feel pain going away, pain she had hardly even felt. Remnants of adrenaline? This time she dared to take a peek. She saw him kneeling in front of her, waving her own wand over her leg. It seemed relatively healed by now. She looked behind him and could see Ron very upset talking animatedly to Harry, although in a strangely low voice. Harry turned and noticed her looking, he waved to Ron and walked over a bit.

"I think it's best if we split up, we're running out of time and we still need to destroy the cup."

Hermione nodded her head, "Okay uhm... I can-"

"No." Harry sighed and ran his hand nervously through his already tousled hair. "Ron and I are going down to the chamber, I want you two to try to stay here and stay safe. Hermione... you can heal Malfoy when he's done." He seemed to say this slightly against his own better judgement.

Hermione glanced up at Ron, he didn't seem happy, or rather that was an understatement, he looked verging on furious. She looked toward Draco, he had slowed his motions, obviously listening and not daring to speak or move.

"Harry I..."

"I know... but, look we have the map, either I can have it to find you again or you can have it to find us."

She thought for a moment. "You have it, we'll head for the second floor once we're finished and if we can't find you there we can meet up at the Great Hall."

"Brilliant Hermione." He smiled slightly to her, although he didn't seem very hopeful. There were so many things that could be causing it, Hermione couldn't have guessed, and she guessed she didn't have time for it either.

"Alright, be careful."

Harry nodded. "You too." He walked back to Ron.

"If you so much as-"

Ron started belting out, as Harry put his hand on his chest and pushed him away.

Hermione watched the wall on the other side where they had gone away for a few moments longer before moving her gaze to the boy in front of her. He had stopped and was looking at her. He pointed her wand at her and for a split second, Hermione worried he was going to threaten her or cast a spell on her. That he had in all reality come there only to betray them. He then flipped it over.

"Well, are you gonna take it?"

She nodded numbly and took it, her hand was shaking a tad. This, she realised was because of shock, that seemed about right… logical. "Harry mentioned you were hurt, where?"

Malfoy turned and sat down, leaning back against the wall to her left. "Yeah, my arm, but it's fine." He sighed and she took the chance to look at him, he was dirty from the rubble that had fallen on him, he had white and grey patches on his clothes and face.

Hermione checked her leg and moved it a bit before trying to sit up properly. "Give me your arm, I'll heal it."

"If you hadn't noticed Granger we're not exactly in the best place to do this. Anyone could come and kill us, we're sitting ducks here."

Hermione thought about that for a moment and then sat on her knees, taking a deep breath to help her calm down and focus. She then started on protection spells, not as many as she had used when Harry, Ron and she had been on the run. But enough to keep the two of them out of sight, along with a silencing charm for privacy.

"There, is that better?"

He raised an eyebrow but didn't say the scathing remark she anticipated, simply nodded in agreement. She scooted over to him putting her hand out for his arm. He hesitantly unbuttoned his shirt sleeve and pulled it up. It stuck to his forearm the higher he got and he had to peel it off, revealing some blood. The first thing Hermione noticed was the Dark Mark on his forearm, black and obvious. She tried to ignore it until she noticed that it was moving, the snake writhing from and within the skull. She hesitated with her wand in the air.

Malfoy was looking at her. "Remember when Potter said we didn't have much time? Though I tend to disagree with him, I think he is right in this instance so you might want to get started soon."

"Why… is it moving?"

He shifted a little uncomfortably. "He's… calling his followers to him." There was a slight pause. "Can you just get it over with?"

Hermione nodded and started on the spell, trying to stop her hand from shaking as she did. "Is it… tempting?" She asked hesitantly.

He looked up at her. "No."

"Not even a little?"

"No Granger."

"Why?"

He sighed in slight exasperation. "Because I would be killed on the spot if I went there, not to mention the fact that I don't want to. I left them, I'm a traitor and there's no way for me to go back now."

"What about your parents?"

"Granger, I don't want to talk about this."

She could hear from his tone that she was overstepping. Why was she prying anyway? She turned back to the healing and finished. There was a bit of dried blood and pointing her wand to it she muttered, "Tergeo" and it came off.

"There, now it's healed and clean… sort of." She leaned back a bit as he went to pull the shirt sleeve back down. She used the wall to help her stand, she felt sore in a few places which she tried her best to ignore. He stood beside her a second later.

"Quite a duo we are, fighting in war with one wand. I might as well be in a wheelchair."

"Don't say that Malfoy, even though you don't have a wand you're not completely useless."

He shook his head. "I'm more in your way than anything. You should just, leave me here and go ahead on your own." He was checking out of their little nook, where the protection charms she put up were still keeping them safe for the time being.

Hermione couldn't decide if he was resigning himself to a fate of staying back and not involving himself in the war, taking the cowardly way of hiding, or staying back to die. Then there was the third option, that he wanted her to go on her own so she would be safe and not worrying about him behind her. Whichever the reason was, she thought it was stupid.

"Stop wallowing, right this second and man up!"

He was startled by her sudden frank outburts. "What?"

"You heard me, this is a war, and no you don't have a wand and that does leave us a bit exposed but that doesn't mean we can't get to where we want or fight. There may be some discarded wands in the halls or near... well we might find a wand at some point that you could maybe use. So stop thinking so goddamn negatively and let's get going."

He raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?" She demanded.

He shook his head. "Nothing, I... simply didn't expect that from you at all."

Hermione huffed and crossed her arms across her chest, giving him a stubborn look, the one infamously named 'do-what-I-say-or-else face' by Harry and Ron.

Draco grinned slightly, which reminded her of him before this a little bit, but then again there weren't a lot of reasons to smile during a war. "Alright, then we go. There's really no need to bribe me though, Granger."

"Bribe you?" She asked confused.

He glanced his eyes down with a smirk, then looked back out to the corridor. Hermione glanced down with eyebrows knit and expecting to see something on the floor but then noticed that her cleavage was showing a bit more since her arms were crossed. She gasped and moved her hands down quickly, annoyed and abashed. "Let's go." she hit his arm on her way out of the alcove and back out into the bustling hallway.

There was a slight chuckle from Draco behind her as she stepped out into the hallway, he followed. They made their way down to the stairwell, it seemed to have died down a bit, or people were simply staying away from fighting on the stairs. Either way the coast was relatively clear for them as they made their way down to the second floor. However, that's where they ran into trouble.

Three death eaters were at the end of the hallway, fighting a student. There were bodies up against the walls and Hermione did her best to ignore them, she didn't want to see if it was someone she knew. She kept her guard and wand up as they neared the fighting, she didn't know what to do though with the student there and Draco without a wand. Then suddenly, the fight was over and the defender was on the ground, unmoving. The dark clothed men now turned their attention toward Hermione and Draco.

Hermione swallowed, readying herself for the defense, with three against one the odds weren't great.

Draco was suddenly very closely behind her and whispered in her ear. "They assume you'll wait for their attack, because you're backed up to a wall. You should be the first to attack, they won't expect it and I could maybe get a wand from one of them."

The death eaters were stalking toward them, practically chuckling amongst themselves about the silly little girl in front of them, trying to hold her ground. But Hermione was no little girl. She narrowed her eyes and cast a curse at the first death eater which got pushed back, landing on the floor way behind the others. Draco was right, they hadn't expected that, and for the moment she had the upper hand. She cast another to the second death eater, but he was prepared and waved his hand dismissively, deflecting her spell. The third took his eyes off his seemingly fallen comrade and threw a jinx at her. She deflected it, but was pushed back a tad by the sheer force of it. Hermione gritted her teeth, could she really do this? Could she really fight three skilled, adult death eaters alone?

"Come on Granger, you can do this." Draco said from behind her, managing to keep his tone level, but she could also hear the fear. He knew that they both had a very high chance of dying right there, if she didn't manage to save them. She had to stay strong, calm and focused. She kept that as a mantra in her head, before taking a step forward and throwing a volley of jinxes at both men. The first was pushing himself up a whiles away, she couldn't focus on him yet, she had to deal with these two first. _Focus._

The fight was difficult, Hermione was outskilled as well as outnumbered, she was losing and it was all she could do but keep Draco safe from jinxes. Then one hit her, struck her in the shoulder, throwing her against the wall to the side. The death eaters snickered. The jinx she could have ignored, she might have given up then. Knowing she wasn't good enough to beat them on her own, she would have let go and stopped figthing... if it wasn't for that snicker. That was something they should not have done. It angered her, angered her a lot more than it should have. It sarted a fire inside her that got so inflamed she was all in a rage, such a strong emotional commotion as she had never felt before.

They neared her, as if to finish her off, and left one to do that while the other two stalked toward Draco, toying with their meal while they could just as well kill them both in a second. Hermione let out a whimper which made the death eater in front of her grin, but he was unaware of her fantastic acting abilities. The next moment was a blur of adrenaline for Hermione, she cast a curse on the death eater in front of her, and this time she knew it was life or death. He got blasted against the opposite wall, his two comrades jumped slightly at the sound, but didn't react quickly enough as another curse hit him and the man did not stand again.

Hermione turned to the two now half-turned to her and half-turned towards Draco. Hermione caught his eye and he nicked his head ever so slightly. "Well?" said Hermione, which made the death eaters look at each other, another costly mistake. Draco, to Hermione's surprise, tackled them both to the ground. Hermione jumped back slightly, not certain what she could do, but Draco was now wrestling with one of them, the other left alone to stand up. Hermione focused on him and threw a jinx at him, afraid of what he'd do once he got his senses. The man fell to the ground and Hermione did what she had to. She turned to look at the wrestling men and saw that Draco was trying to pry the wand from him. It was a little easier for Draco being on top of the death eater, he got a punch in which made the wizard slacken his hold on his own wand, allowing Draco to take it. He didn't even hesitate before killing the death eater beneath him.

Suddenly the ringing stopped in Hermione's ears, she hadn't even realised it was there until it was gone. She was breathing heavily, then when she looked around all she could see was death and she could feel the panick start from deep in her stomach, rising up like bile in her throat.

Draco was in front of her now, "Granger?" She just shook her head, starting to hyperventilate. He swore under his breath, putting his wand into his pocket and grabbing her upper arms. "Granger!" She looked up at him. "Look at me," he said, holding her gaze. But she couldn't stop thinking about it, all the death, all the grief throwing itself on her like a ton of bricks, burying her underneath its weight. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't see a point in going on with this, wasn't it all pointless anyway? Weren't they all going to die in the end anyway? "For Merlin's sake Granger, snap out of it!" Draco shook her and she gasped slightly, grasping for air. Her lungs were charitable enough to allow the air in, and she tried to calm herself. Tears filled her eyes and she couldn't keep them at bay.

"There's... so much..." she said between ragged breaths and gasps for air, "death..." she started sobbing. Why was this happening? She didn't do this, break down at random times.

Draco looked completely lost, without a way to find an answer, he obviously didn't know what to do with the pathetically sobbing girl in front of him. She really was pathetic, she closed her eyes to these thoughts, letting them consume her. They gripped her tightly and wrapped her in an unhealthy cocoon... Then there was... warmth, softness. Hermione dared to open her eyes and realised Draco was hugging her. She assumed she had lost consciousness, fallen asleep, maybe she had even died, because this was something she thought would never ever happen. She was completely shocked and didn't dare move. She could feel his swallow, he was uncertain about this. Then again, maybe he needed it as much as she did. This strange interaction continued for a few minutes longer, while Hermione's breathing slowed, she then pushed slightly against him and he let go.

They then looked at each other, neither knowing what to say, the air around them was weird; somehow warm yet... intense. Hermione didn't dare say anything to break this profound silence between them, she hardly dared breathe too loud in case she broke the spell that had been cast upon the two of them.

There were sounds on the stairs behind them and Draco looked to the side, breaking their eye contact and breaking the spell. When he looked back at her, he simply nodded which said enough: we need to go. He then hurried down the corridor, with his new wand in hand and out where the death eaters had come from. Hermione followed close behind.


End file.

Harry Potter, Angst, Romance