"I know but one freedom and that is the freedom of the mind."

-Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French author

OOO

I rolled over to discover the clock only read 5:00 A.M. and let a groan escape from my tired lips. After another ten minutes of trying to go back to sleep I gave up and stood. The cold, wooden floors of Grimmauld Place sent shivers up my spine and I sprinted to the bathroom. Moving with speed and agility I climbed into a warm shower and felt my whole body relax in ecstasy. Minor skirmishes had left my body with a few hairline scars. They tinged but I allowed the pain to free me from all thought as I relished the moment of freedom from planning and dueling and all the things that made up a typical day as a member of the Order of the Phoenix. Had I known what the day would bring, I might very well have stayed in that shower my whole damn life.

By the time I had brushed out my hair and gotten clothed it was time to report to breakfast which was served at 7:00 A.M. every morning.

"Good morning!" said the ever cheerful Mrs. Weasley as she levitated plates and platters full of food onto the table.

"Morning." Everyone grumbled back as they sat in their respective positions.

Heromine always sat in between Harry and Ron. After all, they were the Golden Trio, and had become even more inseparable as the war started to break upon the horizon.

"Alright, assignments for new tasks will be handed out today. Those already on extended assignments will of course continue with those and see them out for their duration." Said Snape quietly. He was the head of operations in the order, and as much as the trio loathed him they had to admit he did a good job keeping everything in order.

"Heromine, after you are done tucking your breakfast away I would like for you to meet me in the sitting room. There is a matter of extreme delicacy that I must discuss with you."

"Yes sir." Heromine replied as the wheels in her mind began turning, trying to figure out what he could possibly be talking about. Harry and Ron both raised their eyebrows at her but she merely shrugged and they went back to shoving their faces.

After breakfast, she walked down the hall with a sense of purpose that only possessed her when she knew something was afoot. Most of her missions, up until this point, had been small, recon deals. Sometimes she would babysit or research, but her role in the order was rather miniscule. As her hand took the door knob for the sitting room, she had the sneaking suspicion her whole world was about to be turned inside out.

"Enter Granger, before we all die of old age." Came Snape's drawling voice. She started but nonetheless opened the door and surveyed the room.

Snape sat by the fire place, with a foul look on his face per usual. Oddly enough she noticed that Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall and another very pretty witch she did not know where also seated.

"Take a seat please Ms. Granger." Said Dumbledore with the tell tale twinkle in his eye. She complied and looked expectantly at Snape.

"Now Ms. Granger, I'm sure you know that it is becoming harder and harder to infiltrate the dark side and obtain information. In fact, it has become near impossible to get even the smallest scraps of information. A rare opportunity has faced us in the form of…an engagement." He said, daring her to interrupt with a piercing glance, "As you are well aware, the Malfoy family is high up in the Dark Lord's inner circle. However, in light of certain events, young master Draco has begun to question his loyalty. He contacted me a fortnight ago and asked for a chance to prove himself. We need to persuade him to our side as he could prove a very worthy ally."

Heromine could no longer keep quiet, "Excuse me sir. But what does this have to do with me? He hates me. Also, I'm a mudblood."

"Thank you for that enlightening bit of information Ms. Granger. What I am trying to say is that Mr. Malfoy is going to court you. His father, though he has a strong distaste for your blood, has told his son that you are the key to Potter. You must of course pretend to be smitten with young master Malfoy. If you succeed we may win over a very valuable informant. You must show Draco the pros of being on the light side. I am asking you to do a very difficult task, but if you agree I think that you will see how important this may prove to the order."

Heromine sat shell shocked. Draco Malfoy? Draco-I'm-better-than-anyone-else-Malfoy was going to be her fiancé? He hated her, and the feeling was most definitely mutual. How could they expect her to do this?

"Ms. Granger, I know this is difficult, but we hope that Mr. Malfoy may have information that could help Harry win the war." Said McGonagall.

"I'll do it." She whispered, they had hit a spot. Harry was her very best friend and she would do anything to help him that needed to be done.

The young witch she had not known jumped, "Then we will have to make you look presentable to go meet with Lucius. He will be expected you for tea this evening. You cannot go looking like that."

"But…" said Heromine, but before she could finish the sentence the witch had bustled her back to her room and was examining her critically.

"Well, you have beautiful eyes. The eyebrows however are much too heavy. We will take care of that. Beautiful smile. Nice facial structure. It's all overwhelmed by that hair though. We will have to tame it." With that the witch waved her wand and Heromine was sitting in a chair, much like the ones at barber shops.

After three hours of excruciating pain, Heromine was released from the room and found half the order outside her room. From the looks on Ron and Harry's faces she could see they had been briefed. Well, out of the frying pan and into the fire.