I no longer needed an alarm anymore to wake up at midnight. I had been doing it so deftly for the past two years, the alarm was stamped into my head and I woke up right at midnight, every night. So, without fail, I woke up just as the clock on the wall hit 12. I put on my shoes and my robes over my pajamas and pinned on my prefects badge. Without waking anyone, I tiptoed out of the dormitory and into the common room where Ron and Harry were still up working on homework

"Took you long enough," Ron said the second he saw me. He stood up, towering over me.

"Please," I answered, "It took me like five seconds to get ready. You two are still up because you guys didn't finish your essays."

"If you could just check it, Hermione," Harry pleaded, "please, please, please?"

I sighed, "Fine. But only after rounds."

"Get going then," Harry said. He leaned back onto the couch and picked up the familiarly battered copy of Advanced Potion Making he had been pouring over since the beginning of the year.

Ron and I set out.

"I'll check the first three floors and you can check the top three?" Ron suggested.

"That's fine with me," I answered, "And listen, if you catch anyone out of bed, you need to report them. Don't just let it go."

"Why?" Ron said, "Because they could be brewing Polyjuice Potion?"

I felt myself blushing, "No, we were smart enough to do that in broad daylight. They could actually be doing something dangerous, you know, with everything going on."

He nodded in agreement. We separated as he set off down the stairs and I set off up another flight. Rounds were second nature now. The castle at night before was a scary place, but now it was mysterious and intriguing. Harry used to lend us the Marauder's Map but after we caught Crabbe and Goyle trying to torture a little second year boy into stealing food, we decided the best way to do them was on foot.

After searching the fourth floor, I ascended up to the fifth floor landing. The Room of Requirement was on this floor and though only a select number of students actually really knew what it was, it was still a hot spot for unruly kids.

Usually there would be voices coming from the bathroom near the Room, spoken between two kids learning about love, or by a client and drug dealer, or once even between Moaning Myrtle and a kid. Usually I let them go because I was too tired to reprimand kids for being kids, or because I thought it was adorable how they would sneak around. But this year was different now that the kids knew Voldemort was back. There was a significant amount of danger in the air, which was heightened at night. So I made an effort to check everything.

Tonight, however, there were no voices coming from the bathroom. Instead, there was a sobbing. It was so quiet, at first I thought I was imagining it. But then there was a gasp of air and a splutter and the sobbing got louder. I ducked into the bathroom, assuming I'd see a lost little first year, but instead, the doubled over figure of Draco Malfoy loomed in the dark. And he was crying. I let out a gasp.

I thought I was being quiet, but apparently I had gasped quite loudly because Malfoy spun around.

"Flipendo!" he yelled as he saw me.

"Protego!" I managed to yell back. My shield charm was so powerful, the Knockback Jinx Malfoy had sent hurtling towards me deflected and hit the wall behind him, causing a huge chunk of the stone wall to come crashing down.

I saw it falling and I saw Malfoy dive out of the way and I chose my moment carefully, "Expelliarmus!"

Malfoy's body rolled underneath a sink and his wand soared gracefully into my hand.

"Give it back, Mudblood," Malfoy growled at me coming out from under his hiding spot.

"Oh Malfoy," I said, "If you really want it back, I guess Professor McGonagall can give it to you."

"Shut up, Granger, you're not gonna turn me in," he said coming closer to me. I saw that his cheeks were still shining, though now his face was covered in a fine powder.

"Uhm, why's that?" I asked. I didn't anticipate Malfoy's next move. He had grabbed my hand with his wand and twisted it around my back. He stood behind me and I felt his hot breath on the nape of my neck and one of his hands slid slowly down my arm to hold my wand hand so that I couldn't move it. I couldn't tell what I was more scared about, that he would break my arm or that he might touch my throat or even that he'd hex me. My heart was banging loudly against my chest.

I felt his other hand easily snatching his wand back. "Because, Granger," he breathed into my ear, "if you do, I'll hex you." He let my arm go.

I found the strength, and laughed, "Please, Malfoy. We both know I'm smarter than you and we both know that if you even try to hex me, you'll be the one ending up in the hospital wing."

He seemed to contemplate the truth in my statement for a minute. "Fine," he conceded, "But you still can't tell McGonagall." This time, I heard a bit of desperation in his voice and curiosity curled over my heart and settled it back down.

"I'll make you a deal," I said, leaning against a wall and trying to look completely nonchalant, though on the inside my brain was on fire with questions.

Malfoy walked closer to me and put a hand up onto the wall next to me, "What is it, Mudblood?"

I took a deep breath and involuntarily smelled him, a soft scent of soap and, strangely enough, cigarettes, "You tell me why you were crying and I won't turn you in for being out of bed."

Malfoy took a step back and the dizzying scent vanished, "You don't need to know anything, Granger."

"Not a problem," I said, "I'm sure McGonagall will want to know though."

"Shut it," he said back. He spent a moment contemplating and then, "Okay, I'll tell you."

"I'm listening," I said back. He came closer to me again and his smell filled my head again. It took me a moment to realize that he had peeled back his sleeve and that on his forearm was the Dark Mark. The contrast between the paleness of his skin and the dark jet black of the tattoo was jarring and I found myself staring. He jammed his sleeve back down.

"I'm a Death Eater, all right," he said, "The Dark Lord wants me to do job for him. And inside job, here at Hogwarts."

"Harry was right," I said before I could catch myself, "Harry was right about you!"

Malfoy moved in even closer to me and put both of his hands up, trapping me against the wall in between them, "Look," he said, "I didn't ask for this to happen, okay. I was crying because I can't figure out a way to do what He wants without hurting people. But I will find a way."

My heart was racing again, so hard and fast the room started to shake, "I have to tell McGonagall," I breathed, "I can't just let a Death Eater walk around Hogwarts."

"You can't!" Malfoy said with startling conviction, I saw him lift his wand and felt it press into my throat. The words I was going to say were snuffed out, "We had a deal."

My eyes were wide with terror and the way he was sticking his wand made them look directly into his eyes. The cold blue eyes had a mark of terror, just like mine did. His pale lips were mere inches away from mine, our ragged breathing was synchronized. I saw the arm he and been propping himself up on vanish from my peripheral vision and find my hand. Fear was suddenly replaced with sympathy, horror replaced with longing.

"You can't tell," he whispered. The breath of the words surrounded my face and made my brain go fuzzy. I found myself nodding and whispering an okay, against my entire nature. And then he drew back and started walking to the door. I was still paralyzed against the wall as he shot me a final glance and left the bathroom.

I don't know how I was standing there. It could have been a few mere moments or hours. Eventually, feeling crept back into my limbs, but my mind was still frozen with shock trying to contemplate all my feelings. I felt my hand in a death-grip around my wand and my feet start to move. They led me back to the Gryffindor common room where Harry was still sitting and reading his book.

"Hey, Hermione," he said. It was like my name broke the spell and my thoughts finally caught up with my actions.

I blinked several times, trying to clear the image of Malfoy's eyes out of mine, "Hey."

"You look like you saw a ghost or something," he joked, "Did you have an fun patrol?"

I cleared my throat. "No," I lied hoping he was clueless, "It was pretty boring. Nothing happened, no one out of bed. Do you still need me to check that essay?"

Harry smiled, "Nah, I'll take care of it tomorrow."

Of course he knew I was lying, but he knew I didn't want to talk about it.

"Sweet dreams," he said and I nodded back to him.

It was when I was finally in bed, curled safe and warm under the blankets, that it finally hit me, how stupid I was being for keeping Draco's secret. But a little voice in the back of my mind couldn't help but wonder why I had kept it in the first place.


I ship Dramione waaaaay too much so there will definitely be more to come!

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