CHAPTER 1 - Enemies Reunited

Hermione sat at the kitchen table and wondered when it would all end. The war was at its peak and, one way or the other, it would soon be over. Dozens of Death Eaters were dead or captured, and a few had actually revealed what they knew. The rest were crazed and devoted to Voldemort and were sure to be sentenced to death. With the Dementors no longer working for the Ministry, no one wanted to risk imprisoning the Death Eaters, who would almost certainly try to escape. They knew better now, after previous breakouts.

Everyone in the Order was assigned jobs, including the recently graduated students from Hogwarts. Harry and Ron were out searching for the second to last Horcrux. They were just one step away from the last one—Voldemort himself.

Hermione's job was to investigate tips that the Order received, hoping to find a valuable one that would help them capture the remaining Death Eaters and find the hideout of their Dark Lord.

On this particular day, just as Hermione was about to take a nap, Hedwig flew in the window of the hidden Order headquarters and landed before her on the kitchen table. Hermione opened the envelope she bore and saw that the letter was from Tom, the barman from the Leaky Cauldron. It read"

I received Intel that the younger Malfoy is possibly hiding just outside of Little Hangleton in a small, run-down house. It's important to get there soon; he may be of help if he is captured and can be made to talk. Health and luck be with you

Tom

Hermione put the letter in a box hidden in the wall and left the kitchen, pausing only to grab her things. She picked up her wand, Invisibility Cloak, and a two-way mirror that was paired with one carried by one of the senior Order members, and walked out the door.

Once she was outside and under the Cloak, she Apparated instantly into the woods a slight distance from the house. She knew where she was because she remembered Harry's description of the Pensieve visit he had taken with Dumbledore. She crept slowly out of the trees and saw the run-down house, with people's shadows inside.

Taking slow breaths, she quietly walked to the window and looked in. Sure enough, Draco Malfoy was there, as was Bellatrix Lestrange; to Hermione's surprise, Draco was crying. She watched him closely and realised he didn't look the same as usual. He looked broken.

She saw that he held a copy of the Daily Prophet and knew at once that he was reading about his mother's murder. Bellatrix Lestrange laughed at him cruelly, and Hermione heard her say, "The Dark Lord told you not to betray him; now you know the cost of your cowardice."

Smirking, she went on, "You have one last chance to prove yourself. The Dark Lord has a job for you. You are to locate Arthur Weasley—and kill him!" Draco looked pale but agreed to do it.

Hermione gasped loudly and turned to run, but it was too late: Bellatrix had heard her. Bellatrix yelled, "Bombarda!" knocking Hermione to the ground, glass and wood from the window raining down around her.

As Bellatrix came out the door Hermione tried to get up, but Bellatrix saw her shoes sticking out from beneath the Invisibility Cloak and Stupefied her. Hermione was scared; she knew that in Bellatrix's hands she was as good as dead.

She watched as Bellatrix approached her. Bellatrix pulled back the cloak to reveal who she had found, laughing at the silent tears that streamed down Hermione's face.

Just as Bellatrix lifted her wand, Hermione heard a voice shout, "Avada Kedavra!" Bellatrix fell face-down, dead instantly, and Hermione was free to move. She got up, watching Draco as he lowered his wand and faced her.

Surprised by his restraint, Hermione simply stared at Draco, who stared back, his own tears still falling. When he spoke, it was ever so quietly: "She killed my mother—she killed her. I know it was Bellatrix."

Hermione asked nervously, "Are you going to kill me, too?"

Draco looked at her. "No. I'm done with all of them, and now they'll kill me."

Hermione replied, "Not if you come with me. We can protect you. We know you can be good, Draco; we knew you couldn't bring yourself to kill Dumbledore. We could help you if you were to help us in return. You could try to earn our trust."

Draco looked at her, about to say something in reply, when suddenly he screamed, "Get down!" He aimed his wand to kill the Death Eater that had suddenly appeared behind her, but he was hit with a Blasting Curse. He went down as Hermione rolled over and shouted, "Avada Kedavra!" Having dispatched the Death Eater, she ran to Draco and grabbed his arm. Raising her hand to her neck, she instantly activated the Portkey pendant on her necklace, and moments later they landed in the corridor of the Order's headquarters.

Dazed from the Blasting Curse and the subsequent awkward trip to Order headquarters, Draco sat up slowly and looked around. "Where are we?" he asked her.

"I'll answer questions later. I need you to hand over your wand and any other weapons you have," she said, pointing her wand at him. "You have a long way to go before you can be trusted, and you can't be armed when the other members of the Order arrive." Draco slowly handed her his wand and turned out his pockets to show he had nothing else. She smiled at him briefly. "Good. Now, follow me. You can eat something after you write down every bit of information you can think of that will help to redeem you."

He followed her into the kitchen and was handed a simple corned-beef sandwich, some pumpkin juice, and a quill and parchment. He ate while Hermione spoke into her two-way mirror, summoning one of the senior Order members. As she waited for Tonks to arrive, she watched Draco take small bites in between writing sentences.

Suddenly there was a commotion in the hall, and then Tonks walked into the kitchen, complaining about rugs and a sore toe from tripping over one. She smiled when she saw Hermione watching over Draco, knowing that they appeared to have finally got a lucky break.

"Wotcher, Hermione. Is he unarmed? Does he have any helpful information?"

"Yes to both, Tonks. This is Draco Malfoy. I captured him after receiving a tip. I put the tip note in the box, by the way. Draco wants to prove he has changed; it seems his mother's death turned him in the right direction."

Draco looked at Hermione and quietly said, "Please. Don't talk about my mother ever again."

Hermione smiled kindly, saying, "Of course. I'm sorry about her, Draco." Draco glanced at her as she pulled Tonks into the corner of the room, still within sight of their informer, her wand at the ready just in case. He wondered how she could be so nice to filth like him, and he wondered what the reaction to his presence would be by the other Order members.

Hermione whispered to Tonks, "We need to spread the word to as many of the members as possible so that no one gets wand-crazy when they see him and hurts him."

Tonks agreed and walked out of the room to alert the others. Draco motioned to Hermione and handed over the parchment, then proceeded to eat the rest of his sandwich.

As she read, he said, "I'm sorry for everything, you know, back at school all those years. And for everything else that's happened since then." He hung his head and looked at the table. "It wasn't easy with my father breathing down my neck, trying to prepare me for the life he'd chosen for me. I guess that's why I was so nasty—to vent, you know? Deep down I knew I didn't want that life, but I was too weak to walk away from him, too scared, and now my mother is..." He stopped talking and sipped at his pumpkin juice for a bit.

Hermione was stunned to hear Draco say those things. He had always been her enemy; he was hated for his evil taunts, calling her "Mudblood" and such. Looking at him carefully, she knew that he was different, and that he meant what he said. She could see the pain and regret in his eyes.

She told him, "It will be a while before you're really trusted. You did a lot of horrible things, and people will hate you; most of them won't be so forgiving. I'll probably be assigned to watch you constantly, since I was the one who captured you."

Draco looked at her. "I don't blame anyone for not believing me or for hating me. I let my father turn me into a monster like Bellatrix, who killed my mother. I'll do anything I can to help the Order kill every last one of those monsters. I swear on my mother's grave!"

Hermione was at a loss for words; she didn't know what she could possibly say after that declaration. They shared a look for a moment, each one seeking some understanding. Hermione squeezed his shoulder briefly. Then she motioned for him to follow her and led him to a room upstairs where he could sleep. After locking him in with several spells, she thought of the pity she felt for him and surprisingly also felt a little compassion. She decided then and there not to judge him for his past, but for what he would do now and in future; because if he was sincere, he deserved a chance to change. Everyone deserved that chance.

Draco sat in the room feeling disgusted with himself, empty. His mind wandered to Hermione. He was still surprised that she had practically comforted him, after all he had done to her and her friends. How can she forgive me? he wondered to himself. He remembered the look in her eyes when Bellatrix had Stupefied her; Hermione had been sure she was about to die. Her face had been frozen and fearful.

He had felt the hate stir up in him then and had killed Bellatrix without hesitation. He remembered the feeling he'd got when he'd lowered his wand and seen the other Death Eaters appear and point their wands at Hermione to kill her. He'd felt protective, and that surprised him most of all. It was like he didn't know himself. He would have to get used to his father not breathing down his neck any more. He wasn't used to listening to his own feelings instead of thinking about what his father expected of him.

For the first time in years, he felt a little happy with himself. He was free—free to be himself, whoever that was. He owed it to his mother, and he also felt he owed it to Hermione, who was willing to overlook his past. He promised himself at that moment that he would do anything to repay the kindness she had shown him by extending the opportunity for forgiveness and a glimpse of what freedom of mind could be like. He could be good, and he intended to prove it.

Downstairs, members of the Order were arriving for the nightly meeting. As soon as everyone was gathered and quiet, Hermione raised her hand and announced that she had good news. Everyone looked on as she picked up Draco's parchment and read off all of the tips and secrets that he had written for them.

Everyone stared in astonishment, and it was Mr. Weasley who finally asked, "Where did you get all this information?" She smiled and explained about the tip from Tom the barman, her trip to Little Hangleton, and her captured reformer. Mrs. Weasley asked, "Where is he—and how can you be so sure he really wants to change and isn't trying to trick us?"

"It's a hunch," explained Hermione. "I could see his pain over what he's done, which indirectly led to his mother's death. He says he really does want to change, and I believe him. I know some of you don't, and you think I'm being careless, but I promise to take full responsibility for him. I'll watch him night and day; I'll cast spells to help me do those things. I'll get Tiny and Lucky to help me watch over him:—between us, we'll have him under constant surveillance. And I promise if I feel the least bit nervous about any action or comment of his, I'll alert one of you immediately." She looked at them earnestly, willing them to give Draco this chance.

Mr. Weasley looked around the table and asked the other members if they all agreed. Every one replied in the affirmative. Hermione, privately sagging a little with relief, nodded to them and said, "I'll go cast those protective spells right now and explain things to Tiny and Lucky."

Although everyone was shocked by the night's events, they didn't let that stop the meeting. They went over the revealing information Draco had given them, divided up the tasks of seeing if the information really was helpful, and left with high hopes. They knew Hermione had good sense. This was the best thing to happen to them in quite a while.