Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, or original plot lines. That all belongs to the lovely J.K. Rowling. If I do create new plot lines or charactarers it will be stated at the beginning of the chapter in an author's note. Hope you all enjoy my story, and please give me reviews, good or bad, as long as they're not offensive and are meant for me to better my writing.

The Mark

He looked at her eyes, getting lost in them over again. Drowning in that rum colored sea, like he always did when she wasn't looking. He remembered the day he met her, the little know it all reciting parts of Hogwarts a History by memory. It intrigued him that she would learn their textbook even before their first day. He had wanted to talk to her, but the gang of idiots that wouldn't leave his side prevented him from doing so. According to them she was a "mudblood," oh how he hated that term.

But, he knew his father wouldn't approve, he knew that they were supposed to be against her kind, he knew a friendship with her would get him in trouble and he didn't want to upset Lucius; however, he couldn't help but resent all the believes he had been brought up with, resented the hatred that was induced into their minds since the day they were born, he knew his best friends Theo and Blaise resented it too, but the trio knew better than to disobey their parents.

It had been almost three years since then and a lot had happened since that first day. His father had kept on feeding that bunch of lies about muggles, muggle borns, half-bloods, and other magical creatures. For some time, Draco had allowed all those lies to fog his mind, listening and doing as his father said until that one hurtful day. In their second year he had called Hermione a "mudblood, and he regretted it with all his heart. When the year was over Draco had defied his father just to being tortured with the cruciatus course for God knows how long. Of course the Ministry of Magic never found out, the Malfoy Manor's wards made it impossible for any dark magic used within the house to be detected. He never even got any consolation from his mother, she was distant, in her own world. He only had Theo and Blaise to confide on; they knew how bad it could get with their Death Eater parents.

After that one night his father had tortured him, he decided to put on a facade. He wasn't going to allow Lucius to hurt Hermione or any other muggle born any more. He had witnessed the Death Eaters at work and all the pain they caused. Once a year the 'Dark Lord's' followers would meet in his house, taking muggles hostage and torturing them, Draco had had enough. He decided to keep close, to show his father that he was sorry for defying their believes, if only to be able to spy on the Death Eaters and their plans. Even when their relationship was so damaged, he had Theo and Blaise to count on.

Now he was sitting so close to Hermione, he would like to reach out to her and tell her how sorry he was for what happened two years ago. Everyone was watching the game so intently, but he couldn't care less, all he wanted to do was being close to her. A nudge on his side distracted him and he resented it for breaking his concentration. "Damn it Nott, what the hell do you want?"

"Oh forgive my interruption mi lord." Said Theo in half a chuckle. "If you have forgotten we have to meet up with Blaise down in the field, both Crabbe and Goyle Sr.'s disappeared already and I just saw your father excusing himself with the Minister."

Draco had lost notion of the time. He had to warn Potter and the idiots he called friends about the Death Eaters attack tonight. He wasn't going to allow his father to harm anyone tonight.

"Shit Theo, I had forgotten about that. Did you and Blaise bring the Invisibility cloak? I just hope Potter doesn't notice it's missing. I don't feel like arguing with him over a stupid piece of cloth"

"Sodding Potter wouldn't know if it's missing. If they call you up on it, we'll just make up a story about you owning one. Potter's is not the only one in the world is it?"

"No they're rare but his is not the only one. Let's get the fuck out of here then. We have to either tell Potter or stop my father and his cronies ourselves."

Theo stood there looking at him with a worried look. Draco knew what was going through his friend's mind. They were all afraid. If they got found out by Lucius or the other Death Eaters they were going to pay for it, and it was going to be bad, really bad. That's why when he learned of Harry, bloody, Potter's invisibility cloak he had planned to use it for this. Knowing Potter, he knew he would bring it. After all Potter and his friend, didn't know how to stay away from trouble.

"Look Nott, I wouldn't allow your father to hurt you. It'll all be on me. I'll say I used the imperius curse, but I would not allow you or Blaise to be blamed for anything."

"Na, little Dragon, we wouldn't let you take the blame yourself. We knew what we were doing." He had a worried look on his face but shook it off. "Enough, we have to get going."

With that, they both left, without noticing Hermione's stare. She knew Draco and his gang were planning something, and she had to find out.

The game had ended and they could see celebrations everywhere. Hermione saw how Harry was taking everything in awe. She felt happy for her friend. In the muggle world she had experienced this before, maybe not with magical fireworks but her parents had taken her to the soccer world cup once and she knew Harry had never experienced something of the sort even in the muggle world. That's why she didn't tell him her suspicions about Draco and the other Slytherins. This was something she had to do herself.

The entire Weasley clan was walking ahead of them except for Ron who always lingered with her and Harry.

"Isn't it amazing?" she heard Harry say.

"Mate, you're telling me you had never seen anything like this? Not even in the muggle world?"

Harry let out a sad sigh. "No Ron, I had never experienced anything of the sort. My aunt and uncle never even allowed me to watch the New Year celebration on TV with them. I never was able to go to any sporting event nor school parties." His face was sad and pensive; it hurt Hermione to see her friend like that so she brought them back to the present subject.

"Guys please, let's just forget about the past and focus on the preset," she said when they found a little hill to sit and watch the unicorn of fireworks gallop around on top of the Quidditch stadium. She shouldn't be feeling worried at a moment like this but she couldn't help it. She had to separate herself from her friends and go find Malfoy and his gang. Whatever they were planning she had to stop them. She was so lost in thought that she hadn't heard the guys talking to her.

"Hermione, are you even there?" Ron was calling her.

"I'm so sorry Ron, I was just…."

"And you were the one saying to focus on the present."

"Well I was, Ronald," she replied a bit taken at back hoping they didn't notice her worry. "I was just watching the unicorn. You know, muggle fireworks only get to the point of forming figures, like hearts and happy faces, but you never see a moving one. It looks so real, so free, I wish we could be like that."

"But aren't we free Hermione?" asked Harry. "At least I get to hang out with you guys before school starts, and don't get to be stuck in a cupboard under the stairs or locked in my room with the Dursley's."

"Come on Harry, you know I don't mean it like that. I mean… you keep on having those nightmares about Voldemort returning, and we would never really be free until this is over."

"Bloody hell Hermione" this time was Ron interrupting her. "Please don't say You-know-who's name. Let's just keep on watching the bloody fireworks, and forget about wars and cupboards for the rest of the night." He sounded exasperated now, "at least this one time."

With that all three of them went quite, returning their attention to the fireworks, this time watching a group of Veelas dancing, probably in unison to the real Veelas in that were entertaining those left in the stadium. Hermione turned, paying little attention to the fireworks but frowning at herself for what she was about to do. Taking out her wand and pointing it out to her two friends she whispered, "petrificus totalus." She left them there paralyzed looking at the fireworks while she went and looked for Malfoy.

Draco, Blaise, and Theo were frantically looking for Lucius and the other Death Eaters when Draco saw something that called his attention. He saw a mane of untamed taffy colored locks walking by herself.

"I see Granger; we have to get to her." He whispered to his friends.

"Drakey sweetie, are you nuts? We can't be losing any time. We have to stop your father from attacking anyone tonight."

"For Salazar's sake Theo she can be one of his victims. Do you think I'm going to let anything happen to the girl I love?" answered Draco. His friend was right, they needed to find the Death Eaters, but he was going to save Granger even if it meant he left his friends take the cloak and go to her on his own.

"Nott, Draco is right she can be one of the victims of the scum tonight, we were going to tell Potter anyway, if he's not with her then there's no one that could protect her. Is better if we don't separate for this."

Turning to his other friend with a shocked look, Theo had no other option than agree with Blaise and Draco. "Fine let's go find the mud- sorry, old habits are hard to get rid of, let's go find Granger." He sighed, "lets protect as many people as we can. I just hope my father is not here."

The three of them started to run, holding the invisibility cloak so that it wouldn't reveal them. Draco wanted to call her name, he wanted her to know she was in danger, but he knew that if he started yelling he would alert the Death Eaters and things would be much worse than he could imagine himself.

In their way to get caught up with Hermione he noticed two figures laying in the grass and he recognized the round spectacles right away. "Stop" he hissed to his friends, "there's the pair croons petrified, lets tell them so that when they can move they could alert other people."

They were trotting towards the direction they had seen Hermione go, when something peculiar caught their attention. He saw the two boys immobile and automatically understood that Hermione had petrified them. Ever the clever witch, she wanted to protect her friends when it was she herself that needed protection. Without uncovering themselves Draco bent down and whispered to Harry, "Potter, there is going to be an attack from the Dark Lord's followers tonight we're trying to stop them but three of us can't do it on our own. As soon as you can move go alert someone, we'll try to stop them but we don't know how many of them are coming. Just run and tell someone." Draco then pointed his wand at the two boys, whispered "finite," and started moving again.

Harry and Ron started moving again, and Draco saw out of the corner of his eye how Harry pulled on Weasley and left at a run. He then started to run and his friend with him. He had find and protect Hermione, he just had to.

Hermione was at a loss. She couldn't find Draco or anyone of his little gang and she hated not being able to be in control of a situation. Stopping for a breath she leaned on a tree for support and noticed she wasn't alone. She couldn't see well, but she felt eyes on her, not a pair, or two, but maybe a dozen or more.

"You're being paranoid Hermione." She whispered to herself, "there's nothing but trees here." As she was turning to go she heard steps approaching her, so she started moving at a faster pace towards camp. But it was too late. With a sudden wind she was lifted up into the treetops, she tried screaming but nothing came out as she felt a blow to her stomach and the air left her lungs. She was being shoved against the tree trunks with such force she thought there might be broken bones after.

Draco and his friends arrived to see Hermione dangling upside down, in pain, and being shoved into the trees by hooded figures that were approaching the edge of the woods little by little. The boys couldn't be sure, but felt the presence of at least 8 to 10 Death Eaters.

When Draco saw Hermione he wanted to run to her, he was about to scream but was stopped dead when the piercing screams from the camp reached his ears.

"Calm yourself Draco," whispered Theo. "We have to stop these monsters before we try and go help the people in the camp. Salazar help us, Potter and the weasel got some help."

The three of them angled themselves in different sides, and pointed their wands towards the woods, and at unison they used the full body bind curse whispering "Petrificus Totalus." They heard the tumble of the bodies hitting the grass, and whispered the incantation once more in case there were more Death Eaters in the shadows.

Draco abruptly turned to look up and saw Hermione dangerously hanging from a tree branch, holding herself with only one hand. Levitating her body, he carefully lowered her and uncovered himself.

"Granger are you okay?"

"Ma… Malfoy, what… what are you doing?" She whispered.

"What does it look like I'm doing, Granger. We were trying to stop them before something like this happened. We knew they were planning something, but we didn't know how many of them came."

Everyone stood quite for a bit. Hermione still trying to regain her breath. They could hear the chaos in the camp, looking up they saw it. The boys recognized the mark, and every time it appeared, it meant death.

"W…We? Are you not alone?"

Uncovering themselves Blaise and Theo nodded to Hermione in salutations. She just stood there looking at them, without words.

Theodore Nott was the first one to break the silence still looking at the Dark Mark. "Shit, how many of these bastards are around? Can't they go to the bathroom by themselves?"

"Nott it is not the time for your ill-timed jokes!" exclaimed Draco.

"We have to get out of here. We need to see if Potter and the Weasel were able to find some help. We knew there could be more than just our parents. After all He has a lot of followers." This time it had been Blaise the one that spoke.

Waiting for Hermione to regain full control of herself, the boys looked terrified. When they were a bit more calmed they walked to the outskirts of the woods.

Hermione let out a sigh once she was out of the woods, turning to her companions Hermione looked at the three friends. "First explain what is that in the sky?"

"What? Granger doesn't know something, that's a first."

"Stop it Theo!" interrupted Draco. "That Granger, is the dark mark, in the times of the Dark Lord, it was a sign of death. This time, I don't know what to expect."

Hermione's jaw dropped, but she tried to compose herself. "You're telling me Voldemort is back?"

"Not exactly, at least not yet." Draco's expression was thoughtful. "All we know is that his followers are starting to get back together, and we just don't want anything to do with that."

"Excuse me from interrupting this enlightening conversation, but have to go sweetie." Said Theo looking at Draco.

"Theo is right we have to go and let someone know about the scum we left back there," his face contorted into a frown, "even if your parents and my step-father, are there, we have to make sure they don't hurt any more people," intersected Blaise.

Draco turned to Hermione, "Zabini is right, please go hide, we don't know how many can be out there, and… I … I wouldn't want anything else to happen to you."

"NO! I'll go tell someone from the ministry, you guys go do what you have to do." She relaxed her worried face a little, "please be careful."

"No worries Granger, we'll be. Thanks for listening." Draco signaled his friends and covering themselves with the cloak again they left at a run.

Hermione looked after them seeing them disappear then left to find Cornelius Fudge.

Hermione, kept her wand at the ready, carefully looking around so that she could defend herself if need be. She didn't know why, but apparently Draco was changing, and she was worried about his well being. She heard the familiar voice of Mr. Weasley talking to someone from the Ministry of Magic and followed the sound until she had reached them.

"Hermione!" exclaimed Mr. Weasley, "what are you doing here? Ron and Harry told us what you did. May I know why?"

"Mr. Weasley, I saw Draco Malfoy and his friends acting strangely so I… I followed them. Turns out they're out there risking their lives," she paused to take a deep breath. "Draco, he… he helped me when the Death Eaters attacked me. They're trying to stop them, but they know their parents are in the group of Death Eaters. They actually petrified my attackers back in the forest. You have to send someone to arrest them before the spell wears down."

Mr. Weasley stared at her for a moment, as if figuring out if she was lying or was being 'possessed.' She looked him in the eye, sure he believed her right?

"Alright, what is all this? How do you know these were Death Eaters young lady?" This time it was Barty Crouch Sr. Speaking. Hermione recognized him from the booth earlier.

"Mr. Crouch, I have read about them, and I know they're the followers of Lord Voldemort. I also know of their disdain for people of muggle origin like myself." She sounded exasperated, time was passing by and her friends were in danger, just as the platinum blond that had saved her earlier that evening. "Please! Send someone to arrest the Death Eaters that attacked me. Can't you see there's other people in danger here?" she then turned to Mr. Weasley and asked. "Mr. Weasley, do you know where Harry and Ron went?"

Mr. Weasley just shook his head and left after Barty Crouch in the direction of the woods.