Harry Potter doesn't belong to me.

She did a double take. That head. That hair. It couldn't be.

Hermione jogged ahead to get closer.

During the war, Draco Malfoy had decided that he couldn't kill Professor Albus Dumbledore. But, he didn't know how he could save his parents' lives if he didn't. The best idea he could think of was to disappear into the Muggle world. So one night when he was supposed to be out on a Death Eaters raid, he vanished. He hoped that his disappearance would be chalked up to the mission and that Voldemort would not punish his parents.

Once in Muggle London, he made plans to move to a small town in Ireland. If he was spotted, he knew that his safety and that of his parents would be compromised. There was only one person who knew where he was. There was only one person he trusted enough: Hermione Granger.

When he'd first approached her, she'd been very suspicious. The two had never been friends and Hermione certainly wouldn't have looked to Draco for help, but he seemed to recognize he'd need help from someone on the other side. And Hermione realized that he would have never turned to her if he wasn't serious or had any other option. She'd listened to his story and agreed that she could keep his secret. No one, not even Harry or Ron would know that they had talked, so people wouldn't think to ask her for information. She told him that when the war was over, she'd contact him and let him know that he could return. He told her in response that if the war started going badly she should contact him to escape.

And now, here she was six months after the war ended. She'd owled Draco at the address he'd made her memorize. She hadn't heard anything back leading her to believe that he had once again moved or that he didn't want anything to do with the wizard world anymore. And yet there he was, walking ahead of her on the sidewalk near Covent Garden.

She reached out and caught his arm. "Malfoy!" He turned around in a panic.

"Granger!" He sighed in relief. "I got your owls, but I wasn't ready to return. It took me awhile to convince myself to come back. Returning seemed like more than I could handle."

"But here you are. Do you have questions about what happened? Have you talked to your parents? What will you do now? Where were you going?"

"Isn't the wizarding world going to be happy to see me?" He tried to smirk at her, but she could tell his heart wasn't in it.

"Are you ok?" Hermione was studying Draco very intently. "You aren't. You're coming home with me." Without allowing him time to protest, Hermione grabbed Draco and pulled him to the nearest apparition spot.

Once they arrived at Hermione's house, Draco seemed to shut down even further.

"Malfoy, I'm going to make some tea," Hermione told him.

He laughed bitterly. "Better make it fire whiskey."

Before Draco had asked for her help, she still hated him. He'd been cruel to her for years and everyone knew his father was a Death Eater and had allowed Voldemort to use Malfoy Manor as headquarters. His request for assistance had shocked her. She knew she couldn't mention it to Harry or Ron. They both would immediately tell the Order about Draco's plans. However, Hermione had believed him (she still wasn't sure why) when he said he was going into hiding and would not help his father or Voldemort. Because he'd trusted her for years, and she'd lived up to her promise, she expected Draco would start talking when he was ready.

Hermione returned to her kitchen for fire whiskey and some food. She held out the drink with her left hand. "Here. You can have this, if you eat this." A sandwich was in her other hand.

Draco ate the food and slowly sipped his alcohol. Hermione sat on the couch next to his chair and waited from him to start talking. Hours later, he was still sitting in silence. Hermione had brought more food out for him to eat. He'd eventually eaten everything she'd prepared. Hermione turned on some music and picked up a book. She didn't pressure him.

Suddenly, her floo lit up. She watched Draco run out of sight and she walked over to the fireplace.

"Hey, Ginny!" Hermione said as the woman walked into her living room. "Now's actually not a good time. I've had a headache all day."

Ginny looked around and noticed two glasses. "Are you sure you have a headache?"

Hermione reddened. "Yes."

"Maybe you have a headache since you've been drinking so much fire whiskey that you needed two cups."

Hermione sighed. "I have something going on. Can I talk to you tomorrow?"

"Since when have you been a secret keeper?" Ginny asked with a sly expression on her face. But she stepped back into the floo without a further word.

In her head, Hermione answered Ginny's question. A lot longer than you think. She adjusted the wards around her flat so no one else would be able to come in.

Draco walked back in from the kitchen. "Thanks."

"Of course. I'll have to think up some story to tell her, but I think she knows to back off. No one else will be able to come over. Only you and I can be here."

The two returned to their seats. At midnight Draco finally seemed to be nodding off. Hermione waited until he was asleep before covering him with a blanket and heading to her room.

The next morning Hermione was shaken awake by an upset Draco Malfoy. It took her a moment to realize this wasn't an actual dream. She'd had a few dreams about Draco in her bed since he left and her impression of him had changed. This, she thought sadly, wasn't one. Instead of the lust-filled glances in her dreams, Draco was looking at her in a panic.

"Hey- it's ok. You're safe. No one can get in."

He sat down on her bed. Oh Merlin, Draco don't do that, Hermione thought. Please don't do that.

"Thanks for letting me stay last night. I was worried you'd left. Do you have to go anywhere?"

"No," she said thankfully. "I was planning on a lazy Saturday morning."

He stretched out and rested his back on the headboard. Dammit Draco. I don't need to have a real image of you in my bed.

"Being back seems surreal. The time I spent away I was able to think about everything. I had a lot of time on my hands. The Muggles I met were all friendly and kind, even though I wasn't nice to them. I read a lot, which was of course all Muggle literature. And you, a Muggle-born who I'd treated so badly had helped me escape, when my pureblood father put my mother and I at such risk. I know Lucius is in Azkaban and that my mother is at the Manor. I just don't know if I can go back to that world."

"Other Slytherins left. You weren't the only one. Blaise Zabini went home to Italy when things got bad. Pansy Parkinson and Theo Nott stayed at Hogwarts and refused to leave. Both of their parents were extremely mad, but they were protected."

"No one suspected that you had left voluntarily. Everyone thought that you'd been killed and your body was hidden to prevent the wrath of your father. I haven't told anyone. Have you let anyone know that you are, in fact, alive?"

"I need to let my mother know. At least to start with."

"Do you want to send her an owl? Do you want to go to the Manor?"

"Let's talk about something else. What is your job? What is going on with our classmates?"

Hermione began filling Draco in on all the things that had happened in their world in the past two years. She now was working for the Ministry, but it wasn't particularly rewarding. Ron and Harry were Aurors. Ginny was playing quidditch for the Holyhead Harpies. Surprisingly Blaise was working with George Weasley at his shop in Diagon Alley. It seemed as if the two were able to work together quite well. Hermione was sure that being around someone who sat out the war was helpful to George so he wasn't faced with it everyday.

Draco continued to watch her, leading her to believe that he just wanted to listen instead of talk. She told him about her job and the latest books she'd read. She even filled them in on their friends' love lives. Luna and Neville were dating.

At this news Draco interrupted. "I thought you and the Weasel were…"

"No. At one point we were interested in each other, but it was nothing serious."

He closed his mouth and waited for Hermione to continue talking. When she'd said pretty much everything of any interest she knew, she looked over at Draco to find him asleep. In her damn bed. Apparently he was exhausted by everything so Hermione left the room to begin cleaning her flat as she did on most Saturdays.

Hours later, Draco walked out of her room, looking very sexy in a bed-rumpled way. Hermione cringed at the way she was thinking.

"I need to go see my mother. Will you come with me?"

"I don't know that is a good idea, Malfoy. Your parents stayed on Voldemort's side. I don't think she'd like to see me in her house. I can apparate with you and wait outside."

"No, you are coming with me. You saved my life after my parents put it in peril. I don't care what my mother thinks. I will tell her I'm back, but I don't need to listen to any of her words about the war or Muggle-borns or why my father shouldn't be in Azkaban."

"I can go with you, if that's really what you want."

They decided to side apparate hoping that the wards hadn't been changed since the Malfoys thought Draco had died so that he would be able to bring Hermione on the property.

With a crack, they were standing in front of Malfoy Manor.

"OK, I need to do this now or I'm not going to," Draco grimly stated.

Hermione laughed. "Pretend you're a Gryffindor and you've got some bravery!"

Draco smirked. She could tell he didn't want to, but it was the first bit of a smile she'd seen and that made her feel really good.

Before they could take a step towards the house, Narcissa Malfoy came running through the doors.

"Hermione! Oh, thank Merlin, Hermione! I knew-" She stopped and showed she wasn't sure of what she was seeing.

Softly she whispered, "Draco. Draco. Draco."

Narcissa Malfoy reached out for her son. He held her tightly. Draco looked so handsome and strong as he hugged his mother. She on the other hand, didn't look so well. Narcissa had aged years since he'd last seen her.

She began crying. "Hermione, I knew you knew where he was. Thank you. You kept him safe."

Hermione knew she looked confused because she had no idea Narcissa knew Draco was safe and that she had anything to do with it.

Narcissa laughed joyfully. "I used Legilimency when Bellatrix, well you remember. I could see you knew, but even though my skills are very strong, you were able to repel me from seeing too much. I wanted to keep both of you safe, so I told Bellatrix that I couldn't find anything so it wasn't worth it to keep torturing you. That's why she threw you back in the dungeon."

"WHAT?" Draco yelled. "Bellatrix tortured you?"

"How is your arm, dear? I thought that when she died, the spell would disappear." Narcissa gently pulled up the sleeve on Hermione's shirt. She could see that "Mudblood" was still clearly carved into the girl's skin. "I really hoped I would be right about that. I'm truly sorry I wasn't."

Hermione lowered her arm and looked away from Draco who was so shocked he didn't know what to say.

"Let's go inside. I can explain some things for you, Draco."

Inside the library Narcissa wouldn't let go of her son. She explained that she knew Hermione had arrived because she'd changed the wards to alert her if Hermione ever came back to the Manor. "I knew that you were helping Draco. I hoped that one day you would be able to tell me what happened to him, so I allowed you to apparate here. I was beginning to lose hope. I didn't want to approach you, but it's already been six months. When I hadn't heard from either of you I didn't know what to do. I am sure this is probably the last place you'd ever want to be." She turned to look at Draco. "Hermione was tortured here. Dobby managed to rescue her and the others. I distracted Bellatrix, but he got them out of here."

Draco walked over to Hermione and sat next to her. "Why didn't you say something when I asked about coming here? You wouldn't have had to come. How were you able to prevent my mother from seeing?"

Hermione wasn't sure how Narcissa had been prevented from seeing information about Draco. She hadn't even realized that Narcissa was looking for information so she had no idea how she'd managed to keep her out.

Narcissa opened her mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it. Instead she smiled at Draco and Hermione. "How about some tea?"

Over the next few hours Draco filled Narcissa in with what he'd been doing for the last two years and explained why he'd left.

"Son, I'm so sorry. I only wanted to protect you, but your father let the Dark Lord come too far into our lives. I didn't know what to do. I'm so glad to have you home. Your room is still the same. I haven't changed anything."

"I'm not staying here. I am not ready to be here like that. I thought a great deal about what you and father taught me about purebloods and Muggle-borns while I was gone and I'm not sure I can continue to be someone who supports the Malfoy way of thinking."

Narcissa's eyes filled with tears. "I understand. I love you more than anything. I hope you will be able to forgive me eventually."

Without looking at Hermione, Draco told his mother he was staying with Hermione for the time being. Hermione wasn't sure why Draco wanted to stay at her flat, but she played along.

"Narcissa, I'll allow you to floo in, so you can come visit."

Narcissa nodded, while trying not to cry. "You both are welcome here anytime."

Draco hugged his mother. "I'll be back soon, but I can't stay here right now."

Draco and Hermione were back in her living room.

"You are welcome to stay," Hermione told the blonde.

"I'm sorry I didn't ask. The thought of staying there made me nauseous. Your place was the only thing that popped into my head."

"I had no idea your mother knew anything about us. About how I'd helped you. I never even felt her enter my mind." Hermione laughed without humor. "Of course, I wasn't really sure what was happening."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry my family did this to you. This is exactly why I can't live there. How could my family have done such horrible things? At least it seems like my mother was able to do something to help you."

Hermione had been surprised what Narcissa had said about when she had been a prisoner at the house.

"Draco, you probably don't want to think about this, but what are you going to do now? How are you going to let people know that you are back?"

Draco groaned. "I don't want to think about that. I just want to avoid everything right now."

"I have an idea. Luna could do a story in the Quibbler. She wouldn't ask questions you didn't want to answer. You could tell her exactly what you wanted to. That way it would be news that you were back, but you wouldn't have to explain to every single person you met."

They agreed that Luna would be an easy way to get the information out there, but she wouldn't prod Draco for too many answers.

Hermione knew she'd put Ginny off for long enough. Ginny was going to start asking many more questions if she didn't hear from Hermione about what was going on. She quickly wrote owls to the two women.

Luna,

I have a huge favor to ask. I need to spread a piece of information and I was hoping you could do so through an article in the Quibbler.

Hermione

Ginny,

You'll know what's going on soon enough. It's not my information to share yet.

Hermione

Luna immediately responded and said she'd floo over in a half hour. Hermione changed the wards. She gave Draco a pep talk. She got out tea and fire whiskey. Draco was still nervous, but reached for the tea instead of the alcohol.

"Hello, Hermione!" Luna called as she entered the home. "Hello, Draco."

"Why aren't you surprised to see him?" Luna never failed to recognize things that others missed, but this was something else.

"You said a couple things about him that led me to believe you knew he was alive. And if you knew he was alive, you knew something about where he was." She saw Hermione's shock. "Oh, don't worry. No one else realized it. And then when I got your owl, I knew what you needed. Draco is back and he needs help letting the world know and a story in the press was the fastest, easiest way to get that news out. So, Draco, what would you like to tell me?"

Earlier Hermione had seen Draco smile. Now she heard his laugh. "Lovegood, you are amazing."

The three planned out what Luna's article should say. Draco didn't want to reveal too much information for fear that Death Eaters were still out looking for revenge. He asked Hermione if she minded if he explained how he'd escaped. She knew that her friends would be mad that she'd helped Malfoy and that she never told them, even after the war was over and he was able to return to society. They didn't know how people would respond to Hermione. Would she be seen as a hero who'd helped an innocent person escape or would people think she betrayed the Order by allowing Draco to leave? Hermione believed that eventually the truth would come out so they should be upfront about it. People would be too curious to learn how Draco had left that they'd keep asking questions until they figured it out.

"I think I've got everything I need. I will publish this tomorrow morning. Are you two sure you're ready?"

"Might as well. I've tightened my wards. Right now you two and Narcissa are the only ones who can come in." Hermione knew that this is what had to be done, but she dreaded the attention and worried her friends wouldn't understand.