A/N: Hello there, I am back.

Most of this story has been pre-written so updates will hopefully be quick. I have very much enjoyed writing this one and I'm very excited to be publishing writing after a very long break away. I hope that you guys enjoy reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE WORLD OF HARRY POTTER. THAT HONOUR GOES TO JK ROWLING.

Read, review and enjoy?

October 2002:

War rages on for a fourth year. Will it ever end?

Hermione Granger threw aside the copy of daily prophet that she had in her hands after picking it up from the coffee table in the sitting room of Grimmauld Place, the house that was once her escape but had since become her prison. She was painfully aware of how long the war and the fact that it seemed to never end or even ease.

She made her way over to her favourite arm chair and sat down, she tucked her legs up towards her body and rested her head on her knees. From where she sat, she had a clear view of the street outside. It was a murky day, the cloud coverage was low and blocked any sun rays that could have been trying to burst through as they dusted the pavement with their rain. Hermione sighed. This had become her life now. Sitting in an arm chair staring out of the window. Long gone was the war heroine that once ruled the battle fields. Long gone was the young girl who used to believe that things would always get better. Instead, there was half a girl who had long accepted that she would never see better days again.

Six months ago, she had been at the forefront of the war. A war heroine who had lead them to victory in several battles. Then she was hit by a curse, a curse so powerful that it removed all muscle functions. She could not even tilt or nod her head, wiggle her toes or fingers, nothing. She was a vegetable. She remained like that for many weeks, a prisoner in her own body. Her mind was fully alert, her body however would just not respond. St Mungos worked tirelessly for those weeks but nothing worked. Until they received anonymous intel on the curse that Hermione had been struck with and the counter curse. However, the counter curse didn't work instantly, Hermione had to teach her muscles to move again after being frozen for so long. She had to learn how to talk, write, walk, eat and drink again. It was humiliating for her, the brightest witch of her age, Captain of the Dumbledore's Army: The highest ranking squad that the order have consisting of the best witches and wizards from around the world, to be nothing more than an over grown baby having to depend on someone else to keep her alive. It was decided then that word would be spread of the young witches death. It was easier to let people think she had died than to reveal the truth and honestly Hermione was okay with that.

Thinking about what her life was like was difficult for Hermione, it always left a pounding in her chest and a dull ache in her head. She stared out of the window and watched the rain drops run down the glass. She used to play this game all of the time when she was a kid in the back of her dad's car whenever it was raining. Her mind went to her parents. They were, as far as she was aware, still living a happy life in Australia where she had sent then a little over four years ago. She tried not to think about them either, she would always remind herself that they were safe and that was the end. She hoped deep down somewhere that one day she would be able to reunite them to their only daughter but the longer the war went on, the less likely it became. As far as she was aware, her parents had died 1998 when she sent them away and modified their memories.

Hermione didn't know how long she had been in the armchair for when a commotion downstairs caught her attention. She stood up and slowly made her way down to see what was going on. She walked along the hallway that lead to the kitchen. She could see many people filling the room, they were surrounding the table, it was most of the DA and the phoenix squad. She slowly approached the doorway to attempt to get a better look at what was going on. She felt a twinge in her heart when she looked around at the Order's finest members, she was once in that crowd. As she scanned the room, her eyes fell onto the blonde hair that she would recognise anywhere. She frowned. What on earth was Draco Malfoy doing in the Order of the Phoenix's headquarters?

"I've already told you. I received this." He growled as he tossed a clear vial with a rubber stopper onto the table. It was clear to see that it contained a memory. "It lead me here. See it for yourselves." He growled as he lent back against the chair. Hermione watched in confusion as a pensive appeared on the table. It was Remus who elected to watch the memory first. Hermione waited, eagerly watching to see what would happen. Her body might have failed her but her mind never did, she always wanted to know more; even now, especially now.

Lupin stepped away from the pensive and nodded his head, he indicated for someone else to step up. Hermione watched as the order members took it in turn to witness the memory. Harry, Tonks, Ginny, Ron, George, Kingsley Shacklebolt and finally Dean Thomas all took their turn and it wasn't until all of them had seen the memory did someone speak.

"We believe you." Remus said calmly. Draco threw his hands in the air and statistically cheered. "You will obviously have to prove your loyalty to the order, we must know for sure that you aren't going to run straight back to the death eaters and share with them everything you know." Remus explained. Draco nodded as if he had been expecting that. "You will be under house arrest until further notice, I assume they will assume you missing in action?" Remus asked. Draco nodded, he was staring at his hands which were joined on top of the table, Hermione wondered whether that was to control his anger, or to stop the shaking that was caused by his evident nerves.

"Draco Malfoy, you are hereby under house arrest with the Order of the Phoenix whilst you under go loyalty tests. You have agreed to this and once I have finished it will be too late to back out." Remus was talking fast but clear, Draco was still staring at his hands. "This now will be your final chance to walk out of here, to make up your mind you must answer this question and I will take your first answer, do you understand?" Remus asked. Draco looked up and met eye contact with the werewolf. He nodded and Remus nodded in reply. "Master Draco Lucius Malfoy, do you have services that are of use to the Order of the Phoenix? Yes or no?" Remus asked.

"Yes." Draco replied almost instantly, his gaze remaining linked with Remus'. Remus nodded and then smiled.

"That's the answer I was hoping for. Draco, this has been a long time coming. Welcome, shortly we will get you settled into a bedroom but for now can we get you anything?" He asked. Draco shook his head. Hermione started to notice that her muscles were starting to ache. She wanted to know more, she was even tempted to walk into the kitchen and pretend like she hadn't seen a thing, she wouldn't ever do it, not any more but, that didn't stop the temptation. She was lost in her own thoughts when she noticed that he was looking at her. Her heart hammered in her chest as they stared at each other. She didn't know what to do, she hadn't mean to be spotted, did he know that she'd been there the whole time, did he think she was dead like so many others did? He frowned at her and cocked his head to the side. She blinked a couple of times and then turned away, she rushed up to her room moving as fast as her tired muscles would let her.