Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Also this story takes place AU – Everything remains the same from the books right up until when Draco is supposed to kill Dumbledore. The second war takes place that night instead of a year later …. And this is what we're left with. Please enjoy!

"Hell is yourself and the only redemption is when a person puts
himself aside to feel deeply for another person."

Tennessee Williams

Black. Even the darkness that surrounded the castle did not match the dark ebony of the cloaks that were whirling past her and Ron. She noticed the etched wrinkles on their faces – faces of ministry officials and Hogwarts professors. In the middle of the dark herd of men, only in an upward position because their arms held him up, was a boy. And like the moon that broke up the dark sky, he was most noticeable.

His eye caught hers and never before had she seen fear and desperation in him until then.

Before she could speak the crowd bellowed down the rest of the staircases through the tower and she felt Ron's hand enclose over her own.

Dumbledore and Harry followed closely behind; both tattered, obviously worn down. In Dumbledore's hand were two wands: his own and Draco Malfoy's.

In Harry's left hand was the symbol that their world had changed for good – the Elder wand.

Lightening flashed across the sky, illuminating both their faces. Harry's was covered in soot and dirt – the only visible layer of his pale skin was where tears stained his cheeks. Hermione took a step forward just in time as her best friend collapsed in her arms. His body shook as he sobbed.

It was over.

The sunlight peaked through her scarlet curtains casting an eerie glow in the room. She awoke with a panicked breath and placed a hand over her chest to feel her heart rapidly beating beneath her skin. Hermione turned her head to see that she had a good hour and a half before her Saturday morning shift started.

Instead of hopping out of bed she remained there to remind herself that the nightmare she had was over, and it had been over for months.

Unfortunately she had the dream at least once a week … sometimes a few weeks would pass and she would forget for just a little bit: Until nights like the last where her mind reminded her of Hogwarts' darkest period.

That night the story unfolded of how Draco Malfoy was instructed to kill Dumbledore on Voldemort's order if he wanted his family to remain alive. Snape was revealed as a loyal supporter of Dumbledore's and Harry's, despite previous suspicion. And Voldemort himself returned to Hogwarts to fight in the battle that ended his reign once and for all against raven-haired boy he tried to kill sixteen years earlier.

Ron and Hermione had only seen parts of the battle. To this day she lived with the fact that she killed another human being, regardless of self-defense, and it tormented her. Ron defended his little sister, Ginny against Fenir Greyback and had a scar on his torso to prove it. All of Hogwarts' students, regardless of their background or House, had been effected mentally, physically or both by that night. Harry barely spoke, and as much as he tried to be normal and live each day fully, Hermione saw the fear that remained inside of him.

Draco Malfoy was the other who was most effected. Dumbledore knew this, and because of the his kindness he gave Draco the title of head boy as an opportunity to redeem himself and prove how hard he had worked as a student before that night. Draco was taken from Narcissa and placed under the care of Dumbledore and had spent the last 7 months since that May in the room adjacent to which was currently Hermione's.

Coming out of the trance she was in, Hermione stepped onto the cold floor and quickly made her way over to her dresser to rummage for something to wear. Weekends were not her favorite considering she actually had to think of what to put on rather than choosing on her uniform. Today it was a sweater and jeans. She slipped into a pair of flats, grabbed her wand and pointed it at the bed. With a flicker of light the crimson and gold sheets, quilts and pillows floated neatly back in place.

With everything in its spot, she stepped out of her room into the shared living quarters.

The den remained dark despite of the morning sun that peeked through the only window. Draco had left his papers sprawled out across the table next to the couch. She quietly tiptoed over to see what they were: potions … lots of potions. One parchment in particular grabbed her attention because of how incredibly wrong it was. Kneeling down she grabbed the ink-splotched quill and dipped it into the open jar.

"Two drops…" she whispered, crossing out Draco's 3 and a half.

Coming down and changing his answers was not a new concept for her. He would stay up until the sun would rise most nights trying to do the things that were once easy for him. And Hermione woke early enough to ensure that he was still sleeping and would look over his work to find small things to change without him noticing.

She never received a thank you or acknowledgement, but she did it anyway.

Making sure everything was as he had left it; she grabbed her wand an exited the portrait door into the sixth floor corridor. Saturday mornings were quiet unless there was a quidditch game. Most students enjoyed the extra sleep and wandered down to breakfast whenever they pleased, making her job quite easy on the weekends.

As she sauntered through the halls the thoughts of last night's dream weaved into her thoughts. The war had come sooner than anyone had predicted, and the unexpected fight for their lives left an eerie presence in the castle. Not only had many of their classmates been casualties of Voldemort's last fight … but the Ministry had decided the date of the War Crime Trials to be held only a few months into the semester.

Draco Malfoy's was first.

Regardless of Dumbledore's plea the Ministry felt it appropriate to try Draco because of his actions against the Headmaster and Hogwarts by allowing the Death Eaters to infiltrate that infamous night. Regardless of the outcome, or Draco's confession of what had happened that previous year the Ministry wanted to take a stand against him.

Dumbledore was one of the only one's who understood the pressures he had been under and the stress and the fear that Draco expressed. Much like had done to Harry, Dumbledore began mentoring Draco privately.

Which Hermione had no idea of until today;

"Canary Crèmes." She said almost inaudibly so no one else around her could hear as she stood in front of the phoenix statue.

It began to spin and revealed the spiral staircase that she began to ascend.

Like any other Saturday she had planned on giving Dumbledore her weekly report, but today was not like any other Saturday.

Draco had been having the same dreams as her. Only worse. And without her knowledge had woken earlier to sit by the lake before the sunrise. When that did not work, he made an impromptu visit to the headmaster…

"I'm scared…"

Hermione stopped dead in her tracks before pushing open the cracked door. Without a glance inside she knew it was Draco. But never before had she heard him sound like this: his voice was cracking. She didn't dare move a muscle in fear of interrupting this fragile moment.

"… How can they send me to Azkaban when he threatened my family? My mother…?"

His voice broke. Hermione closed her eyes, feeling uncomfortable and out of place.

"I am not evil, Professor. I have never wanted to harm another human being, especially you…"

Over her hushed breathing, she could hear Professor Dumbledore shuffling to his feet. His slow, steady steps rang across the quiet room. The only other thing she could hear was Draco's occasional weeps. Her heart raced at the prospect of being caught and decided now would be the time to turn around and start duty.

Just as she moved her foot to head back down the spiral staircase the door swung open – the morning light filled the room with a warm glow that made Draco's appearance at the door even more obvious. His disheveled sliver-blond hair glowed like a halo when the light reflected off, and his skin was pale – almost blue because of how fair he was.

But his eyes were still the most intense part of his anatomy. His orbs were like constant storms, watching every move she made… but now – now they were obviously showing confusion, fear, resentment that she may have heard any of his obviously private conversation.

Hermione's voice caught in the back of her throat as she tried saying something, anything for that matter in order to break the tension.

As usual Dumbledore came to her rescue, "Ah, Ms. Granger…"

He stepped beside Draco and grabbed her arm, " Good morning, and thank you for being here as I asked of you."

Dumbledore made sure to escort Draco down the stairs before coming back to his office to find Hermione staring idly at a picture of him and Harry that had been taken after the Tri-Wizard tournament during the fourth year. Both waved excitedly after Harry had won the first challenge. Harry still had scars on his legs from where he was burned trying to get that egg…

"Hermione," she turned quickly to find Dumbledore behind his desk, fumbling through parchments, "You are one of the few people in this castle who I trust to always do the right thing. But even with that I must beg of you to never repeat what you heard in this room."

His voice was stern, but she knew the place it was coming from was the genuine care he felt for all students. Even Draco. She briefly looked to the ground and nodded silently.

"Thank you," Dumbledore said graciously before taking a seat, and ushering her to do the same, "Now what is the real reason you have come here this morning?

Pieces of the conversation that she had overheard were still running through her head as she took a seat like Dumbledore had asked. Even if she remembered what she had come here for, what she had heard was far too mind-altering to even move past the subject.

Hermione cleared her throat, trying to muster the courage to say anything to Dumbledore, "… Does… does he come to your office, often, headmaster? I mean … "

She fumbled trying to find the right words, "Is he… Well is he alright?"

Dumbledore blinked a few times, even a man of his stature found Draco Malfoy's current situation to be one of great delicacy and even with someone like Hermione, he knew that saying the wrong thing could cost an eighteen year old boy his life.

He placed his hands in his lap before he began to speak, "How close are you with Mr. Malfoy?

Guilt ran through her, knowing that most of what she did and said to Draco was awful. Especially after the incident with Dumbledore, "Not close. He's always openly disliked me, and I pay him the same amount of respect."

He nodded, "I understand that he is not the most pleasant of companions sometimes – most times – But you have to realize the kind of a trauma he has been through in the past few months. Have you noticed a change in him? His demeanor – the way he acts? He obviously is not the same person. He may act the same, Hermione, but Draco is deeply disturbed, and frightened…"

It was shocking how frank Dumbledore was being about the Head Boy he had chosen. Hermione nodded her head, not really knowing what he wanted her to say. What could she say?

"Hermione…" Dumbledore sighed, understanding that once again he was asking too much of a girl who already gave everything she had, "Please don't mention this conversation. I purposely let you listen in today to understand him a little bit better."

"You knew I was standing at the door?" She asked, surprised.

"Of course, Ms. Granger," She saw a twinkle in his eye, but quickly his features turned grave, "I'm afraid the ministry is not going to give him a break during this trial… so I'm going to need help. The help of those who would normally turn their backs on Mr. Malfoy and his family…."

Dumbledore stood from his chair and made his way over to the window where he could see late Saturday morning risers heading out onto the grounds to play a game of quidditch or take a walk by a lake… those of which who the war effected minimally. Those who still had all the pieces of themselves… Dumbledore turned back to Hermione.

"I want you to testify at his trial."

The statement threw her off. Even for Dumbledore it was so shocking, and yet almost a plea from her headmaster…

"I…" The words slipped sloppily out of her mouth, "I… Don't know what I would say. What do you want me to say?"

Her confusion was to be expected, "Say what you know. And you can discuss what you find out about him. Draco does not show emotion well, which won't be helpful to his case. You on the other hand are eloquent and already a respected young-women in our world, Hermione. Spend more time with him… find out about his motives and I think you'll feel obligated to help him fight for his life."

Hermione looked down at her hands folded neatly in her lap. Dumbledore did not ask things of his students that were meaningless and she could hear the sadness in his voice as he seemingly was begging her for this favor, even though he was begging for someone who intended to kill him for the sake of his family.

"Of course, Professor."

If Dumbledore could muster up forgiveness and be as kind as he had been to Draco, then she could too.

. . . . . . . . .

After leaving Dumbledore's office, Hermione wandered down the hall to finish her morning shift out. This morning people were getting away with more than they could regularly from the Head Girl, but her mind was swimming with everything she had heard in that office.

Every now and then she would close her eyes and the only thing she could see was Draco being escorted down the stairs looking broken and scared after the Ministry Officials had captured him that night.

Opening her eyes she found herself in front of the dark entrance to the Slytherin Dungeons. She groaned. Regardless of the detention pad she held in her hand, there was always someone who needed to point out her 'tainted blood' or shout something nasty in her direction as she roamed the cold, secluded dungeons where the snakes slithered.

This part of the castle was usually the quietest, even eerie. Hermione carefully made her way through, checking corridors along the way for anything. Just as she turned to make her way back to the Great Hall, she heard a familiar voice…

"Malfoy, you know the rules. We're not allowed to discuss anything…" the voiced was hush, male... Hermione turned her ear to listen closer, trying her best to control her breathing.

"I'm not asking for a bloody reprieve! I just want to know who will testify against me so I can be prepared … how would you feel, Theo?" Even though Draco was not yelling, his voice was more threatening than Theodore's was.

Theodore Nott had been his best friend since they could remember. Both were from the same type of family, were subjected to the same kind of belief system, but Theodore had both of his parents still… both of whom were going to testify against the Malfoy's to protect themselves. Draco could not begin to fathom the idea of people who he thought were his family, betraying everything to save themselves. Even Theodore had stopped speaking to him since the incident. While everyone would have supported him if he had succeeded, now he was just a failure. A broken, disenchanted boy.

Hermione stumbled into the stone wall as she tried to listen closer. Both Theodore and Draco turned to the right at the warning of an oncoming person. The torches did not illuminate the hallway so both begin walking to see who was there before saying anything else.

Theodore was first to find her, "I need to call the cleaning services… they forgot to remove some of the filth."

Hermione's eyes narrowed at the all to usual welcome from the Slytherin. Taking out her notepad she fumbled through it, trying to find any excuse to why she had been there, "I uh.."

Draco stepped behind Theodore to find the Head Girl, obviously shaken, flipping through her detention pad, "I was just about to head to the Great Hall. Was it really necessary to come down here to find me, Granger?"

Theodore smirked as she stood there in silence, he reached out to wrap on of her curls around his finger, "Aren't we a Cowardly lion, today?"

Hermione uncomfortably moved away from Theodore, "Don't touch me," She warned, "I just came down here to find Millicent… have either of you seen her?"

Lying through her teeth.

"Really? To find Millicent? For what… did you leave Ron and finally come to terms that you want to be with a woman?" Theodore laughed at his own comment, slapping Draco in the arm.

Draco crossed his arms over his chest, watching Hermione carefully.

"You've really grown up, haven't you Nott?" Her voice became more confident when she actually found the detention slip she had written two weeks ago and forgotten about until now: Millicent had been wandering the halls after hours and going to the kitchens to steal tarts and candies. It really had not been a big deal until now, when she needed an alibi.

She ripped the slip from the notebook and handed it to Draco, "She's your house-mate. You give it to her."

"Well I'd love to hang around and discuss your boring, unnecessary job, but I'm going to the quidditch pitch," Theodore glanced at Draco before making his exit, leaving them alone.

Draco ripped up the slip and threw it aside, knowing truly that she had not been down here for something so frivolous, "That's the second conversation you've listened in on today."

She raised an eyebrow, leaning against the wall coolly, "Excuse me? I was down here doing my job, unlike someone else…"

"Quit lying through your teeth," the former prince began to walk away from her, not really caring or having the strength to deal with her at the moment.

As he suspected though, she trotted close behind, "What was that about then?"

"What about?" He carelessly said, roaming through the dark corridors trying to find the light where the stairwell was.

"You and Nott, that exchange? "You know the rules"… What rules?"

He stopped in his tracks and sharply turned to find her right in from of him. He was only half a head taller than her, but she always felt five inches tall when he looked at her like that, "That is none of your business, Granger. And it would be beneficial to you if you stuck to what you were good at… like writing rubbish citations to those who don't worship the bloody ground you walk on."

She swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to muster up the will to fight back, "I did not intentionally come down here looking for you! Honestly… I had twenty minutes left and knew there's no one around here at this hour. I didn't want to write detention slips, I needed time to think, Malfoy!"

He shrugged his shoulders, "And during this moment of peace to yourself, you somehow just find a resting spot in a dark corner where I am talking to someone? For someone so clever, you really are a twit."

"A twit!" her voice cracked as it rose, "Yes! You want answers? Yes I did hear you this morning! I didn't mean to… once again…. But I did hear. I was not going to bring it up until Dumbledore practically begged me to do something I would have never dreamed of doing."

There were voices echoing through the halls. It must have been one o'clock – lunchtime. Draco moved away from her, trying to process what she was saying.

"And what is that? What demeaning task did he ask of you?"

Hermione sighed, watching how tense he was becoming. His hair covered his eyes as he looked to the ground, and Hermione knew why Dumbledore had asked her to do this. Draco needed someone – anyone, as a companion. He was visibly alone.

"He wants me to testify for you."

Her simple words were laced with all the kindness she possessed. No attitude, no remorse or hatred; It was an offering. Draco moved away from her and kicked a rock from the dirty floor of the dungeons he used to rule.

"I don't need your help."

"I know," She whispered, "But… I want to help."

Both faced each other, on opposite sides of the hallways. Hermione awkwardly fumbled with the quill and detention pad in her hand, not really knowing how to act or what to say, or if this new venture of hers was a good idea – a safe idea. On the other hand Draco hated the idea that the one of the only people willing to help him was a girl he had detested from the first time he laid eyes on her. She was the epitome of what his parents preached against: uppity, Muggle-born, and entitled. But here she was, after all the name calling, after the pranks, after he degraded her – she was still willing to put her reputation on the line.

Before Draco could say anything, students started trickling throughout the dungeons, on their way to lunch. One student in particular grabbed his attention.

"I'm just in time, obviously…" She drawled through her candy-apple red lips, "Good thing I can take you to lunch before she bores you to death."

Pansy grabbed Draco's arm and led him away from Hermione who was now an obvious standout in a sea of gray and green scarves, hats, shirts….

Hermione turned to find Draco glancing back at her.

"Bastard," She whispered to herself.

Author's Notes: Hope y'all liked the first chapter. Please review and let me know what you think; I absolutely LOVE reviews (good and bad)! Thank you so much for reading!