A/N: I am not J. K. Rowling. This is my first published FanFiction and it is a work in progress. Let me hear your thoughts!

"Obliviate"

Hermione watched as their eyes became vacant and traces of her existence began to disappear. The spell would have them in a meditative state for at least an hour. It gave her enough time to clear the home of her things. She started in her room and transfigured a few items to resemble an office. She never truly unpacked anymore as is, so there wasn't much to do. It had been a long time since she had last called this place home. She filled the top of her trunk with clothes, pictures, and personal documentation before shrinking it and placing it into a beaded handbag. Hermione made sure to leave nothing behind.

They had no relatives that they kept in contact with; Perhaps a second cousin twice-removed, but no one close enough that would ever show up unannounced. Hermione only had her parents. She had already handled their finances so there would be no trace that they ever had a child. Their mobiles had been wiped clean and their dentistry practice had been sold overnight. It was almost too easy to erase herself from their lives; They were all set.

After she had done all that she could to the home, she sat quietly on the sofa in the living room across from her parents. She lifted the vial of polyjuice to her mouth and downed the contents. Her body transformed into the form of the local real estate agent, Viki Pepper, and she blanched at the taste. She had a flashback from second year, remembering her time as a human/cat hybrid, and shuddered. She dropped the vial into her beaded bag and waited. About five minutes passed before Monica and Wendell Wilkins looked at her, slightly confused.

"Sorry, Miss Pepper, I haven't the slightest clue where my brain has gone today." Mrs. Wilkins gushed, "Would you like some tea?"

"No, thank you, ma'am. I was just leaving. You will find everything we have discussed in that packet on the table," She said pointing to a large yellow folder. "Since this is our last meeting, I do hope you have a safe trip!" Hermione stood and shook hands with the dazed couple before departing the home. It's enough, she thought, It will have to be.

Hermione decided to linger in town for a week to be sure that they left without a hitch; She couldn't be too careful. Once they were gone, she returned to the home and ensured that it was empty and completely warded. The home had been put under a false name, but she held onto the deed. With the Ministry in such a right state, she didn't expect it to go unnoticed for long. One final look at her childhood home and she was ready to leave. She would have her breakdown soon.

Hermione felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention; She was being watched. The polyjuice was beginning to wear off so she had to leave before she was recognized. She pulled out her wand and turned on her heel to apparate, but she could have sworn she saw a tuft of shocking white-blonde hair in the distance before disappearing with a pop.

"Well shit," Draco Malfoy spat. He had, once again, failed a task from the Dark Lord. How was he supposed to do what they were asking? He was pure-blood, yes, but not a killer. He had been spared the Dark Lord's fury thanks to the surly Potions master. Professor Snape had done what he could not and killed Albus Dumbledore, but the Dark Lord was displeased. Weak, he had called him. Draco Malfoy was weak for being incapable of murder; Go figure.

His father, however, was less than merciful. The point of using the Cruciatus Curse was to cause him pain, of course, but did it have to hurt so fucking much? Lucius cursed Draco until his voice began to give, but it had sounded like he had been tortured earlier by Voldemort so that didn't take long. The whippings came soon after. Mother had shut down; Her face displayed horrors that Draco could not even imagine. They would tell each other that they were fine, but they both knew that was a lie.

Draco's new task was quite possibly worse than killing the old man. He had been, how'd He word it? Blessed with the task of killing Potter's Mudblood and her parents. Draco may have despised Granger, but he didn't think he could ever kill her. The seeds of doubt for the Dark Lord and his deranged gang of inbreds had been lurking far too long to ignore, but Draco needed a way out. Voldemort had mentioned that if he failed this task to not bother coming back.

He had no intention of completing the task, but somehow he had found himself staring at Granger's house; Granger's very empty house. There had been no sign of life around the home for hours. The only person to even step close to the house was a short woman in a pencil skirt that put up a sign in the yard advertising real estate. The woman fussed about the home for a few minutes before stepping back to appraise her work. Her hair slowly began to change from a short bob to long curls. Draco jerked to stand.

The woman whipped her head around, wand in hand, and looked straight at him before disapperating into the night. Ah Fucking Hell. Now he really had no choice, not that there ever really was one. He'd be dead faster than he could say Potter Stinks. Thankfully he had Lulu, his personal house elf, pack his trunk weeks ago and shrink it for him. He was planning on doing a runner anyways, but seeing Granger had only solidified his resolve.

Now, how in the hell he was going to find any of the goody-goodies and convince them to take in a Death Eater; He did not know.

He knew Granger well enough to know that her vacant house would be warded and probably booby trapped to anyone bearing the mark so staying there was out of the question. He decided to apparate to the town of Ottery Saint Catchpole. If Draco was to meet anyone in the Order, he might as well start near Weasley central. The whole lot of them were well known for being blood-traitors and muggle sympathizers. Before he turned to apparate, he transfigured his appearance to resemble a Weasley. There were so many of them and they all had the look of dingy ginger. It wasn't a difficult transformation, but enough to hide his too obvious Malfoy looks. He transfigured his blonde hair to long ginger locks and changed his clothes to look dated and worn. He traded his trademark pressed suit for a slightly faded maroon sweater and jeans.

He popped into town behind a paper shop that had a few articles from that ridiculous paper, The Quibbler, pasted on the brick walls. He had only ever been to Ottery Saint Catchpole once so this was unfamiliar territory. His father had wanted to show how Malfoys lived on superior land compared to poor blood-traitors, but as much as Draco was loathe to admit, he found the landscape to be rather picturesque.

He was not quite sure where to begin his search for the Weasley home so he decided to set up camp near a formidable looking Willow tree. He would stay far enough away from town to not be in the line of fire or questioning gazes, but was close enough to see if there was trouble.

He pulled out his camping gear that had not been used since the Quidditch World Cup and began setting up protective wards. Setting up camp had gone rather fast, but he was physically and emotionally exhausted. He decided to tuck in for the night with the plan to investigate the surrounding areas in the morning.

Draco didn't have to wait long to discover where the Weasleys lived because that night he heard a lot of unusual racket coming from the sky. The noise was difficult to ignore so he pulled on the worn jumper and peeked out the front door of the tent. He blinked a few times before focusing in on the intimidating form of Kingsley Shaklebolt who apparated not too far from Draco's spot under the tree. He disguised himself with a disillusionment charm and ran to the spot Shaklebolt disappeared.

He may have looked like a Weasley, but his time at the manor had taught him to trust no one. He looked around the area quietly before spotting a skeletal horse figure fly overhead. The creature held two bodies, one with bright orange hair and another that looked unmistakably like the Chosen One himself. Draco took his chance and darted after them. He ran the length of three whole Quidditch pitches before he smacked directly into something. Hard. Rubbing his nose he looked up to see what he hit, but saw only air. He stood up and walked slowly with his arms raised out in front of him and he felt the solid barrier wall preventing his progress. Blocked. Of course.

He marked his spot at the barrier with a quick spell before returning to his tent and packed the tent as fast as he could; He was in it now. If he was going to do this, might as well make it obvious. Draco walked back to where the skeletal horse crossed the boundary and began to set up camp once more. His progress was suddenly halted by a wand pressed to his jugular.

"Mr. Malfoy, I am not in the best spirits so you best speak quickly lest you lose your head. What are you doing here?" His disillusionment charm and altered appearance spell work must have worn off. Fuck.

"Speak!" He recognized the voice but could not put his finger on the name. "I'm here to s-surrender to the Order of the Phoenix." The wand was pushed painfully into the his neck. "I don't believe you. You bare that mark, why should I believe you?"

Draco slowly held up his hands in response and passed this man his spare wand; He always kept a spare on him. He was scared, but not suicidal. "I want to help you...I did not kill Dumbledore. I can no longer stand for what that snake is doing. Bind me, hold my wand hostage, but keep me safe. Please." He knew this sounded pathetic, but he needed to play on the Order's heart strings to get anywhere.

There was a quiet moment before the man moved his wand from Draco's vein. He grabbed the offered wand and quickly bound the Malfoy heir. A silencing spell was cast and Draco's camping supplies were packed once more. The mystery man stunned Draco before levitating him and his shrunken tent across the barrier to the Burrow.

A/N: Thoughts?