Each Other
By: Breeze

She slowly opened her lazy eyes. She was immediately bathed by the color white. White sheets, white walls, and bright yellowy sunshine. The warm tuscany color engulfed the room. She could feel the breeze flowing through the room, giving her the feeling of being on a cloud. A warm summer breeze that could only be found on the Mediterranean. The smell of salt from the blue sea enveloped her every sense. She had no clue what town she was in and she didn't care. The only thing she cared about was the blond boy lying next to her, fast asleep in his own dream land.
She turned on her side and faced the man she had hated as a boy. The man that now loved the women she had become but had shared that hatred once. Shared it and surpassed it in ways that shocked her when she finally learned its full extent. How much they had changed. They were older. Almost twenty. He was tall now, with a body that all women drooled over and most men wanted. His hair was shorter, softer with no signs of the greasy mess it had once been in their youth. His hands had grown made to fit hers.
She was different too, of course. Her hair was still curly. Her body still slender, but other parts had grown with age. Her limbs were leaner and more adult. But she was still small. Still tiny. She remembered how he had made fun of her once.

"Granger, I could throw you around the world you're so little." She smiled smartly before punching him in the arm. "But you know what?"
"What, Malfoy?" He quickly leaned forward and lightly kissed her. He pulled back and ran his thumb across her bottom lip.
"Your smile is brighter than the sun." Before she could roll her eyes and give him a hard time for being a sap, he grabbed her again and kissed her harder.

Thinking back on the memory, she could have punched him again. He always kissed her to distract her. It always worked. How they had come so far? She would never know. Somewhere between knowing and loathing it had happened. But still, in her heart she knew there was no fighting it. When she kissed him, she knew there was nothing more right.
He lightly snorted and mumbled something unrecognizable before turning onto his stomach, crossing his arms underneath the white pillow. She smiled slightly before running her fingers along the side of his face. She then reached forward and lightly touched the scar on his bare back. He had many but this was the most obvious. It was high on the right side of his back, almost reaching his shoulder blade. She had been there when he received it. Still, he was covered with several scars that mimicked the one she had healed with magic. Ones his father had so "lovingly" given him as a child. She could never understand how he could give her so much love after growing up the way he did. He told her he saved all his love for her. She believed him.
She pulled her hand away and twisted onto her back. She exhaled deeply as she stretched out like a cat. Placing her arms over her head, she began to turn her body to get out of bed. Suddenly, a strong arm reached across her bare stomach and pulled her close, sliding her easily across the bed towards himself.
"Where do you think you going?" he growled deeply before pushing her body up and kissing her stomach. His grip tightened around her waist. God, he was strong.
"To take a shower. Do we have a problem, Malfoy?" He lifted his head and placed his chin on her stomach.
"Actually, Granger, we do." He loosened his grip and his hand lightly tugged at the bottom of her small white tank top. "I planned that we stay in bed all day." She lightly laughed before running her fingers through his fluffy spiked hair.
"Well, Malfoy, I'm sorry, but we do have to get out of this bed eventually." He buried his face into her stomach like a small child.
"No!" He kissed her again.
"Yes!" She grabbed his hair carelessly and pulled his head up so he faced her. His gray eyes met hers and she smiled at his childish behavior. "Draco Malfoy, let go," she said playfully. He did, for a moment at least. In one swift movement, he was on top of her. His hands pinned hers above her head and he smiled brightly.
"I bet I can change your mind on this whole getting out of bed nonsense." She raised an eyebrow as he pulled her hands around his neck. He placed his hands underneath her shoulders almost hugging her. His bare chest pressed down against her own.
"Oh, I'm scared." Her sarcasm was obvious. His smirk was full of cockiness before he bent down to kiss her lips. She quickly turned her head, though, and smiled as his lips smacked her neck. She smiled and laughed in triumph before feeling his hot breath run down the side of her neck. Her spot, the smart-ass. He lightly nibbled on the bottom of an earlobe. She sucked in a breath as his grip on her tightened.
"Stay with me forever," he whispered huskily. She then turned her head to face him. She didn't even need to think.
"And ever," she said readily. He smiled casually. He bent down and slightly rubbed his nose against hers. She smiled and bit her bottom lip. Sure, she was young. Sure, they were once enemies, but she knew this was her happily ever after. They were meant for one another. She had taught him to smile and how to trust. He had taught her to look past the cover of a book and truly be herself.
He pulled away, much to her disappointment, and looked more serious then ever. He suddenly seemed nervous. If that was even possible. He pulled his arm from underneath her and reached into his pajama bottoms to seize something. She looked bewilderedly at him for a second until she spotted the ring. A smile spread across his face and he kissed her nose.
"Marry me?" She felt tears coming to her eyes. She knew this day would come. She knew they would get married and have children. She knew he would love her endlessly and forever. She suddenly laughed at him and smiled.
"Of course I will, stupid. Good God, Malfoy, you're always asking the dumbest questi..." She was cut off by his lips. But the kiss was different. She couldn't describe how, but it was very different. He pulled back and smirked. "Oh God, what is that look for?"
"I knew I could change your mind about the getting out of bed nonsense." She was about to protest but he grabbed her lips with his own again. And that's how they stayed. That's all they needed. He needed her and she needed him. They just needed each other.

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Hermione Granger looked at the boy smirking at her from across the table. Well, she honestly couldn't call him a boy any longer. He was no doubt a man. Both were now nineteen years old. She had known him for nine years. She had hated him every moment of the acquaintance. Yet she somehow hated every single second of this moment the most.
Oh, how fate was a son of a bitch at times. Here she was, stuck with the one wizard she dreaded more than any. Even more than he-who-had-no-name-and-was-deader-than-a-doornail. She hadn't seen him in close to two years since their graduation from Hogwarts. And she could have happily gone her entire life without ever seeing him again. That was unlikely, she knew.
Draco Malfoy was, as most girls would say, hotter than hell. He was everything a pureblood was supposed to be. He was handsome, smart, rich, powerful, self-centered, and contemptible. When he enter a room, his confidence engulfed anyone around him. He made others feel lucky by just looking at them. A perfect person. No, scratch that, a perfect wizard.
Still, if you were to take a closer look, you would see something. His eyes were frigid and dispassionate, displaying his barren soul. When you looked inside him, there was nothing alive. As if someone had taken an eraser and wiped him clean of anything that ever meant something. Blank.
Still, the abnormal gray coloring of his eyes shrouded this truth efficiently, hid his secret well. And he knew it. He knew all of it. What girls thought of him and, like any young man, he loved it. The attention and the glory he received from everyone who was anyone. Not just for being one of the few in Malfoy bloodline to ever turn his back on the Dark Lord, but also to be the first Malfoy "traitor," to make it past the tender age of eighteen.
All these reasons, and then some, were why Hermione Granger was even in the same country as Draco. Unlike him, she was just beginning to make a name for herself in the world after leaving Hogwarts. One that separated herself from the other two members of the Golden Trio. She had finally moved up to staff writer for the Daily Prophet after a year, turning her back on working for the Ministry after the war. She had had enough fighting for a lifetime. Sure, she had hated every weather report and every sporting publication, but when her editor heard that she had been in the same year as the one and only Draco Malfoy, it had finally changed.
So, this was it. Her chance to make columnist. What she had been working so hard for. And it all rested on him. The thought made her want to throw up at the irony. When her editor had told her about the assignment, she had to hold back a laugh.

"Now, Miss Granger, seeing as you went to school with Mr. Malfoy and worked with him several times on Head Boy and Girl activities, I am hoping you may get to dig a little bit deeper." Yeah right, she mused. "You know he barely talks about his past, or anything for that matter, to the public. So, Granger, get the story or get the shove."

And she would. Nothing was going to get in her way. She deeply sighed before asking her first question.
"So, Mr. Malfoy." His smile broadened. She could, and would, kill him if he messed this up for her. Ferret. "How is it that you have managed to take control of the Wizards Firm in such a short time?"
"Well, you see, Granger..." She cut him off.

"Miss Granger, if you would be so kind." She squinted her eyes at him.
"Fine, Miss Granger, after the sudden retirement of Claremont, I was made partner by his request."
"And why did he request this? You had only been there for three months. Usually it takes twenty to thirty years." He cocked an eyebrow.
"He said he owed my family a favor." He deathly glared at her. A touchy topic, probably the only one, for Draco was his family. Mostly, and understandably, his Father. She didn't want to even go there. She knew him well enough to leave that topic alone. Didn't mean she couldn't dance around it though. "And who am I to fight the wishes of a sick friend?"
"I see." And with that the interview continued. The same old same old blah blah blah stories. Things she already knew and still didn't care about. She quickly glanced out the window of the restaurant. If she weren't with whom she was with, she would have said this was the most perfect place she had ever been to. She had never been to Italy before, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to leave. She was listening to his answer drearily when he quickly stopped mid-sentence. She knew why.
Magic. Not any magic but sinister magic. Slowly, it was filling the restaurant. But this place was full of innocent muggles. She quickly glanced around the busy room before turning to face Malfoy. She knew they were here for him. Death Eaters here to try and kill him for the billionth time, most likely. Sure, he-who-had-been-destroyed-by-the-boy-who-lived was gone, but his followers had other plans. They had been attacking traitors, half-bloods, squibs, and others more frequently. He grabbed her hand from across the table and gave her a look she could never forget. She nodded her head in understanding. He wanted her to get out before they came in. She was a witch and they would know it. He released his grip and sat up straight. She began to stand as to casually end the interview.
"Malfoy, we should..." but before she could end her farewell line of bull shit, there was a loud crash and she heard someone scream. Then nothing; it all just went dark. Freaking fate. How she truly hated it at times.

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Her head was throbbing. The pain was wrapping around her brain, causing her to fear opening her eyes. The light would be bright. She was dreading it. Still, there was only silence. Nothing, it was as quiet as a tomb. Her eyes sluggishly opened. But there was nothing. Only darkness. Her eyes darted around, frightened, as she sat up.

Oh God, she had been captured. Her mind started to reel. What would she do? How could she escape? Her eyes began to burn, her throat releasing a small whimper. Wand, wand, must find wand.

"Calm down, Granger." Her head snapped towards the voice. That voice. She felt her stomach turn. In a quick, and what she could assume was graceful, movement, he struck a match. Reaching smoothly across the small nightstand, he carelessly lit a small white candle. The room slowly took shape as her eyes adjusted to the faint light. He was in a large armchair. His legs were lazily draped across the small coffee table in front of him. His face was stone as per usual, and he was letting the match burn in his fingers. He didn't flinch. And then it hit her.

She was in a bed. A huge, king size, silk covered, engulfing her petite frame, BED. And she was injured. She could now feel it. The fear had numbed it at first, but now the pain was shooting up her body. She reached down and pulled her shirt up slightly. A large piece of gauze was covering her midriff.

"I took care of your wound, Granger. I hope you don't mind. I didn't." She gave him the death glare as her skin began to crawl with the thought of him touching her.

"Where are we, Malfoy?" She pulled her shirt back down and glanced around the obviously expensive, yet beautiful, room.

"Earth." He smirked. She was going to kill him. "Well, some of us are." She looked confused for a moment before realizing his eyes were staring at her hair. She self-consciously touched the frizzy mess. A quick blush spread across her face.

"Shut up, you ass." She slowly slid out of the bed, being careful not to cause any more pain. She went towards what she assumed was a bathroom and went inside. She could feel his eyes on her. Glaring at her. Following her every move. She slammed the door behind her.

"Your bag is on the floor, Granger. I took the liberty of having it removed from your hotel room. You checked out, by the way." After a few minutes, the door opened. She had fixed her hair and changed into jeans and a black shirt.

"And why, pray tell, did you do that?" She leaned against the doorframe and glared at him.

"They want to kill you." He said it like you would say, 'You want a cup of coffee?'

"What? Why in the hell would they want to kill me?"

"Several reasons." She gave him a look and he sighed. She was so very beyond aggravating. "Because, Granger. Not only are you a direct connection to Potter, you're also a reporter. And who likes reporters?" She crossed her arms.

"That's ridiculous. They have known about my friendship with Harry for years and never gone above and beyond to attack me." For the first time, he glanced away from her. He quickly looked back up at her, yet it was too late, she had caught it. "What else, Malfoy?" He looked away again. "What?"

"They know our future."

"What do you mean," she took a deep breath before saying the word, "OUR future?" He stood for the first time. She felt sick again. He began to pace back and forth. 'Oh God, this is bad. This is going to be really, really bad,' she thought silently to herself.

"Damn it Granger!" His voice boomed through the room, yet somehow remained smooth. Calm. Malfoy. Her eyes widened with surprise.

"What the hell did I do?" Her voice was equal to his level. The only difference was that it was shaky. And still small in a way. "Don't yell at me, Malfoy, or I swear I will..." Her voice faded out. He was stalking towards her. She took a step back and hit the wall. Trapped. Her body flinched as his hands slammed down hard on the wall. Really trapped.

"Or you'll do what?" His voice, though she would never admit it, scared her. It was low and deep, filled with darkness it seemed. Still, she was a Gryffindor. She glared up at him, her brown eyes full of pride and defiance. They stared each other down for a few moments before she rolled her eyes at him. Her way of saying, 'Nothing.' His cocky grin spread across his face, and for a moment she thought about slapping it right off. "Listen Granger, I don't know what they know. Or how they know. But they know something that involves," he looked her up and down with a repulsed eye, "us."

"I think they have got the wrong girl." She quickly perked up and smiled. "Or the wrong boy." The sarcasm in her voice was thick. Her right eyebrow lifted lightly.

"Well, whatever it is, they have something wrong." He bent his head down, lightly placing his lips centimeters from her ears. "But really, Granger, am I that bad?" he said in a low whisper.

"Yes," she said flatly. He pushed his hands off the wall and began to walk towards the edge of the bed. He sat down and turned on the television.

"I'm cursed. The one girl I'm stuck with is the only girl I would never sleep with."

"Actually I think it's, 'the one girl I'm stuck with is the only girl who would never sleep with me.'" She walked back towards the bathroom. "Wait." She stopped dead in her tracks. "What do you mean stuck with? I'm leaving."

"You can't." She snorted and folded her arms.

"Yes I can. Here, watch me pack." He flicked the t.v. off and smirked at her.

"Well, you can pack, cause we're leaving."

"NO. I'm leaving. Me alone. Not you." Her voice was full of worry. She really didn't have to stay with him, did she?

"No, you're coming with me, and we're leaving together!" He was getting irritated.

"Why?"

"You know, for a smart girl, you sure are acting stupid. Did you just miss the whole 'Death Eaters are trying to kill you' conversation because I swear I wasn't talking to myself." She stood in front of him and gloated.

"I don't need anyone's help. Especially yours." He quickly reached up and delicately poked her side next to her wound. She gave a short yelp of pain and grabbed the spot. It was his turn to raise an eyebrow. He had won. "I hate you." He smiled at her.

"Likewise. Now, get your things cause we really should get going, Granger."

"And, pray, do tell again, where are we going?" He picked up a piece of luggage and threw a sweater at her, hitting her in the face. Most likely on purpose.

"Greece."

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Draco glanced at the young women sitting next to him. She was fidgeting nervously as she stared out the window. The driver of the taxi had to be the slowest motorist in the world, Draco had concluded. Or maybe it was the person sitting next to him that was making the ride so long. Either way, this was hell, he was sure. The trip to Greece had been dull and he hadn't said more than two words to her. Those words being a harsh, 'Move' and 'Go.' She had made no attempts at conversation and he speechlessly thanked God for this gift. The gift of her mouth shut and silent.

But right now, he was pretty sure that if she didn't sit still for one second, he would reach out his wand and...

"Granger, could you stop fidgeting? It's bothering me." His voice was cold and deep. She turned her head towards him and glared.

"Malfoy, could you stop breathing? It's bothering me," she snapped back just as coldly. He smirked at her.

"Charmed, I'm sure." He received a sarcastically sweet smile from her and looked away. He stared out the window. 'Don't kill her. Don't kill her.' He continued to chant the words in his head when she abruptly interrupted them.

"Where are we going Malfoy?" It was less of a question and more of a demand. He just starred at her for a few moments. His face blank of any kind of emotion. She lifted her eyebrows. "Hello!"

"To see an old friend." She sighed. If he was going to be forced to talk to her, he could at least frustrate her. He did desire some fun in life. And pissing off Granger sure was fun.

"To see an old friend, what is this a riddle? Who?" He smirked at her.

"Well, less of a friend and more of a mentor." He noticed they were coming up on the small home. "Professor Trelawney is expecting us, I'm sure." Her face dropped.

"What?" Her voice was so loud, it even made the driver jump. "Are you kidding me? People are trying to kill us, and your plan is to go see that… that… that… I don't even know what to say." She sank down low in the seat. So low that the seat belt was hitting her chin.

"It's not my plan, it's Dumbledore's and that… whatever you want to call her, is a good way of finding out what the hell is going on." She glared at him.

"How is seeing an illogical women going to help us with death eaters?" The car came to a stop. Draco handed the sluggish man some money and told him to wait there. He looked over at her and glared back.

"Listen Granger, the death eaters saw the future. What does Professor Trelawney do? Sees the future. So if we know what they know, we might be able to make a plan. Now get out of the car." He didn't wait for a response. He opened the door and climbed out, the cool air hitting his pale skin. He didn't turn to see if she obeyed. He actually didn't care. He headed towards the small home when he heard the door slam behind him. He smiled as he heard her groan following him. He reached the door and turned to face her. Her agitation was apparent. He smirked at her, and she sneered. Everything was normal. He was about to knock on the door when it was flung open.

"Darlings, I've been excepting you." Professor Trelawney smiled brightly and motioned for them to enter.

"I bet," Hermione said softly as she followed the aging women into a darkened room.

"What was that, Granger?" he questioned. God, did she hate him.

"Nothing Malfoy, you must be hearings things. You know, doctors say when you hear people in your head, you're crazy."

"Oh sweetheart, doctors know nothing. If that was true, then I would be beyond crazy." Professor Trelawney injected.

"My point exactly," Hermione huffed.

"Oh, come now dears, take a seat." He sat down on the comfortable couch and leaned back. He was tired, he had to admit. He hadn't slept in over forty-eight hours and, to top that off, Granger was exhausting. She sat next to him. As far away as possible, he noticed, and Professor Trelawney sat across from them in a large chair. "So, Dumbledore has informed me of your situation. I have been meditating on the circumstances for the last few hours now. Your auras are very strained. Especially yours, dear." She pointed towards Hermione. Draco held back a laugh. "Still, I got a few glances and sensations. What I need for you to do now is to look into this crystal ball and concentrate on each other."

Hermione rolled her eyes as she sat forward in her seat. Draco followed her movements and sighed. Concentrate on Hermione; good God, this was Hell. 'Alright Draco, Granger is annoying, exasperating, irksome, plain, a virgin no doubt, short, and extremely worthless.' He was beginning to think this was useless when something inside the crystal flashed.

He looked at the young women filling his thoughts. Her eyes had widened and she had seen it to. He looked back into the crystal and saw a picture forming in a fog. He wanted to kill himself.

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They hadn't made eye contact in three hours, both their minds reeling with what they had seen. She sat on the bed with her back to him, staring at nothing. He was pretending to read a newspaper but was in all honesty staring at her. This was the most uncomfortable he had ever been in his entire life. And that was saying something. He had avoided thinking about what he had seen. His sanity depended on it. Still, he knew they would have to inevitably talk about it.

"I hate the name Alex." She kept her back to him. The inevitable came. He gracefully folded up the newspaper and sat it down. For the first time in his life, he was giving her his full attention. "I hate that name. We're not naming any of our kids Alex, okay?" Her voice was becoming frantic.

"Granger," he said slowly. She was going to freak out this much, he knew. How bad, he couldn't tell. "Just stay calm." She turned around and faced him, her eyes large now, full of tears. She didn't shed any; she fought them back.

"Stay calm? Are you crazy? Today, I found out that I am the future Mrs. Draco Malfoy." She paused for a moment. He hadn't thought of it that way. He didn't want to. "Oh my God. OH MY GOD! I'm going to be called that. Mrs. Malfoy. Oh God! This can't be. I hate you. I hate everything about you." She rose to her feet and climbed on top of the bed, standing on it like a small child. "And look at you." She pointed at him repetitively. "You sit there like someone just told you the weather forecast. You're this tall, blond mass of nothing, and one day I'm going to—" She sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"I think you already are." Her head shot up and she looked like she was going to rip out his throat with her bare hands.

"This is not time for jokes, Malfoy." Her eyes were on fire. In reality, he was trying not to think about it. The thought of falling in love with Hermione Granger made him want to run screaming down the street. But he couldn't. He wasn't allowed to. Dumbledore gave him orders and he would follow them. "I don't believe it. I can't, I mean, it has to be a spell or something." She wasn't really talking to him, more like thinking out loud.

"You know it wasn't a spell, Granger. You heard Professor Trelawney. It just happens. You know, fate. We can't fight fate. And fate says that in less than a year, you and I will be..." He couldn't say it. He didn't want to. He wanted to get drunk. He wanted to run away. He wanted to kill her. But most of all, he wanted to laugh at the irony of it all.

"Shut up, Malfoy." With that, she got off the bed and walked into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

Freaking Fate.

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"Malfoy." Hermione looked down at the sleeping young man. His blond spiked hair in a mess, he lightly twitched and continued sleeping. How he could sleep at a time like this, she would never know.

"Malfoy." She thought about punching him in the face. That would surely wake him up. It wasn't fair that he fell asleep while she had been up all night thinking about what that crazy women had said, telling her why in the world she was stuck with the one person she hated most, with a group of death eaters trying to kill them. She was sure she had lost her job, and for that, she could kill him. She had concluded she had several valid reasons to kill him. Actually, seventy-eight to be exact. She also had a headache from thinking too much. Even for her.

"MALFOY!" He didn't move. 'Unbelievable,' she thought. She was about to punch him when she saw the gleam in his pale eyes. The light from the early morning moon barely caught his eyes in the black room.

"Yes, Granger?" he said, the words so nonchalant that it irritated her. Everything he did irritated her. His words were muffled. He didn't even bother to take the right side of his face out of the pillow.

"We need to talk." She crossed her arms across her chest.

"At four in the morning? Honestly, Granger, get some sleep."

"Get some sleep?" She began to pace around the room again. "Are you kidding me? How can I sleep?" He groaned and covered his ears with his hands. "You are absurd. You can't even realize the seriousness of this situation. You don't even care—"

"Of course I care, but, unlike you, some of us do need our beauty sleep. Actually, I think you need more beauty sleep than me."

"Malfoy, please, can you be serious for two seconds?" He rolled his eyes and turned onto his stomach.

"Fine. What do you want Granger?" She looked at him, unconvinced. "I promise to play nice."

"So, you saw what I saw, right?" He nodded slowly. "Okay." A few moments passed. Moments so awkward and so full of tension, she was sure she couldn't take a step because it was so thick. "What do we do?"

"We follow Dumbledore's orders. We do what he says and stay alive."

"Do you think he knows what we know?" she asked weakly.

"I think he knows that and then some." She slowly walked over to the bed and sighed. She sat at the edge of it and looked at him.

"And us. What about us?" She didn't look at him. She didn't want to, didn't want him to see that fear in her eyes. The fear of her own fate. A fate that seemed to entwine him with her. Of course, she could just kill him.

"It's not about just us. It's about our families. Our parents and our children."

"How can you just... except that? How can you just let it roll off your back like that?" She stood again and walked across the room. She stared out the window.

"What's the point in not?" She faced him and glared.

"The point is that I hate you. You made my life hell. You called me names. You wished me dead probably a thousand times and then some."

"I have never wished you dead," he said quietly.

"Oh, yeah, right. Don't lie to me, Malfoy. I can see right through you." She turned away from him again and glared out the window. This was absurd. She needed to get away from him. Away from this craziness.

Suddenly a large hand covered her mouth. When had he gotten out of bed? How hadn't she noticed?

"Shh." His hot breath tickled her ear as he softly made the sound. She didn't try to pull away from him. She felt them, too. Coming closer to them. He bent down and grabbed their bags, releasing her mouth. "Follow me." He pushed her lower back with his hand and she obeyed. He reached around her and was about to open the door when the handle jiggled. Hermione lightly jumped back, and he covered her mouth with the hand that was just at the doorknob.

They were too late. The Death Eaters were at their door. Their door that was five stories up, in a room with no other way out. The door jiggled again, and she stepped backward, her back lightly hitting his chest. "Bathroom." He gave the order and she jumped at the chance to get away from the door. She got into the bathroom and he followed behind her, silently closing the door. He grabbed her arm and pulled her into the shower, closing the curtain behind them.

"You didn't lock the door," she whispered.

"Then they would know someone was inside. Now shut up." He pushed her back up against the cold tile. She heard the door open with a slight bang. Magical entrances, no doubt. And she was scared. She subconsciously touched the wound on her stomach before closing her eyes. She felt a tear fall down her cheek and choked back a cry. She was going to die.

And then he did something that truly surprised her. He wrapped his arms around her, burying her inside his cloak. She hid her face in his chest, praying to God. The bathroom door opened and she heard a footstep hit the tile floor. She held her breath.

"Did they get away, sir?" The voice was raspy and cold. So cold it sent a chill down her spine.

"Yes. Damn it. Someone must have tipped them off. Strange, how could they have known?" There was silence for a few moments and she closed her eyes and he grabbed her tighter. "Let's get down to the lobby and see if they checked out." She heard the door close and was about to move but he didn't let her go. She wondered what he was doing and then heard the front door close again. After about a minute, he let her go before stepping out of the shower. It felt like a lifetime.

"Stay here while I make sure they left." He walked out of the bathroom and came back a few minutes later. When he walked back in, he put his wand into his pocket. "All clear. Let's get going." She didn't move, though. She just stared at him, her face full of fear and sorrow. "Granger, what's wrong?" He took a step forward and saw the tears streaming down her face. She was crying, yet she was emotionless. Like when you cut an onion and you don't feel anything, but the tears just stream down your face.

"I don't want this," was all she said. Her voice was heartbreaking. He didn't say anything, only looked at her understandingly. He didn't blame her. He didn't want this either. After a few moments, she wiped her tears off her face and, from what he could tell, regained her bravery. Like a true Gryffindor, she collected herself and her inner strength. She stepped out of the shower and picked up her bag. She walked past him and lightly hit his shoulder with her own.

"Let's go, Malfoy." She said the words harshly. He followed her out the door and to the elevator. She pushed the button and looked at him quickly before starring at the door. The bell dinged and they step through the large metal doors. She hit the garage button and smirked at him.

"What are you looking at, Granger?" She turned away from him and looked forward towards the door, her smirk only growing.

"I should have just killed you." He looked over at her and then forward again, a small smile playing on his lips. The elevator doors closed.!