This story is set two weeks after the Half Blood Prince finishes.

Marcus Wedgetail is my own creation. He is a famous Auror within the Ministry with ties to the Order of the Phoenix but is not a member himself. This is my third outing with Wedgetail and I probably should have finished the others first but I had this idea for my Dramione in work one day and had to write it. Hope you enjoy.

The factory had lain empty for years save for a few pigeons that had made a home in the roof. Its tattered and dusty features knew only years of neglect as the building had sat on the side of the river Thames in London abandoned for over twenty years. It was a cool evening in late summer that the tranquillity of the buildings dereliction came to a sudden end as footsteps rang out through the vast empty space of the factory floor where once there would have been machinery and people producing car parts for export overseas.

The two footsteps echoed their way to the end of the factory floor where a tall steep metal staircase went up into a glass covered office that overlooked the whole building. With every footstep clunking its way up the steps they soon made it to the top. The glass in the windows had stained from dust and exposure so much that it was difficult to see in except for the odd outline of furniture scattered here and there. At the top of the metal stairs was a door with a large window as equally stained as the others but the words DAVID ALLSOP FLOOR MANAGER could just be made out despite the paint having faded.

The first one of the two visitors to the top of the stairs opened the door and began to enter but not before brushing an old cobweb from her bushy brown hair. The office was remarkably juxtaposed to the rest of the factory. It was clean with a long leather sofa up against one wall. The desk had been finely polished and a basket was tucked between its legs. Except for the darkened windows which made it difficult to see out of, or in for that matter, the room looked as it had when this was a thriving part of British muggle industry.

"You did this?"

The boy following the girl's voice was crisp but soft as he followed her in.

"Yes Draco" replied the voice of Hermione Grainger. "I thought it would make a good safe house until I make contact with the Order." Draco Malfoy followed Hermione into the room and closed the door behind him. She immediately proceeded towards the desk and lifted out the basket from underneath it. "I have prepared enough food to last you until I get back. I shouldn't be long. Until then its best that you don't leave this room."

"I understand" he said as he looked around the room that was now his home/prison cell.

Hermione placed the basket on top of the desk before looking over at the blonde haired boy who was standing before her with the apparent weight of the world on his shoulders. As he stood there examining the room purely because he had little else to do she soon realised he was no longer a boy anymore. He had become a man. He had turned his back on his father and the Death Eaters knowing full well what that could mean. Worse still he was now trying to defect to the Order of the Phoenix. She knew it wasn't going to be easy for all concerned especially Harry Potter. Just over two weeks ago Draco had very nearly been the one who killed Dumbledore as were his orders from the Dark Lord. But he couldn't do it. And now overwhelmed with guilt he was with Hermione hiding out in a muggle factory. As Hermione continued to watch him struggling to assimilate to the room she thought he had surely chosen to defect as a way to make amends to their late Headmaster.

"Well then" said Hermione. "I'd better go. But I will be back as soon as I can." She turned to leave the room.

"Hermione!" asked Draco in a tone almost pleading for her to stay. She stopped in her tracks and turned towards him. His back was turned to her but his head was tilted to one side in order to speak to her.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I'm doing the right thing aren't I?" he asked nervously. "I mean…Harry…Will he?"

Hermione paused before answering him. She knew that Harry had a temper anyway but in the past two years he had lost the two of the most important people in his life. First Sirius Black who was killed fighting the Death Eaters at the Ministry of Magic and then most recently Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore had been more than simply a headmaster to him. He had been almost a kind of father figure to Harry who hadn't known anything of the sort in his life. She knew that of all the Order Harry was going to have the hardest time accepting Draco's defection.

"I'm not going to lie to you Draco" she said softly. "Harry isn't exactly going to welcome you with open arms given the part you played in Dumbledore's death. But even he will understand how much you can help our cause. And he will have to accept it."

Draco's head turned away and he stared straight at the floor. Hermione surmised that this was the first time he had ever been alone without the support of his family or the Death Eaters. And he truly looked scared. Despite their past Hermione couldn't hate him right now. On the contrary she felt overwhelming pity for the Malfoy's only son.

"I should go" she said sympathetically.

"Wait!" he said. He turned around to face her. His eyes were gleaming even in the dim light that was coming through the glass. "Would you stay for a few minutes? Please?" Just a few days ago her stomach would have turned at the thought of spending any time with Draco Malfoy. But right now in this room she found herself wanting nothing more than to stay with him. A small part of her was screaming all the insults he had ever thrown at her. Another part of her hated herself for feeling sympathy for him and yet she chose to ignore those inner voices. She turned back towards him signalling she would stay. Draco looked away slightly as if looking for a topic hiding in the corner with which to talk about. "I hear that you're with Ron now?"

Hermione was caught totally off guard by the question. It was not so much the question itself rather it was the fact that being here with Draco she had somehow almost forgotten about the feelings she had been harbouring for Ron over the past year and felt both guilt and embarrassment for doing so.

"We're…Not together" she said sheepishly.

"Oh!" murmured Draco. "That's a shame. I think the two of you would make a good couple. I genuinely mean that." Draco seemed to spurt out his authenticity no doubt remembering all the hurtful things he had said to them over the years. Hermione simply smiled an acknowledgment. The atmosphere between the two of them was thick, almost tangible. It had never been like this before thought Hermione. Why was now so different? Actually, she thought, why had he come to her when he chose to defect? "Would you like to sit down?"

Again the voices inside her screamed warnings and past insults which again she chose to ignore and the two of them sat, rather awkwardly, on the leather clad sofa. Hermione sat on the right of Draco and the two of them seemed desperate to avoid eye contact. The silence was almost unbearable for her and would probably have loved nothing more than to leave and yet for reasons she couldn't quite explain she was still there sitting on the sofa with him.

"Draco?" she asked wanting to desperately break the silence.

"Yes Hermione."

"I've been meaning to ask you something. Why did you come to me?"

"What?" asked Draco. His head lifted up to look at her. Her eyes were searching for something but not even she knew exactly what for.

"I thought that…" his eyes looked away as he thought of the words to say. "I thought that out of everyone in the Order…You would be the one most likely to listen to me." He looked up at her. "I thought you'd be the only one who would at the very least help me knowing the information I have on the Dark Lord. I know we have had our differences Hermione but I feel like I can trust you."

"Trust me!" she gasped. "I very nearly…The moment I saw you I wanted to…" She calmed herself. Now was not the time to do this she thought. If Draco thought he was only useful to the Order while he had information to reveal then he may assume that he will be killed once he is of no further use to them and disappear before she could return. That's what the Death Eaters would probably do and since that's the only life he really knew that might well be the conclusion he would draw. Personal feelings aside he was of vital importance to the Order in terms of the intelligence he could provide. But her anger at him was short lived. Simply a rush of blood in a single moment. To her own surprise she found she couldn't hold onto her hatred for him. Not now in this place at this time and in this context. She wanted too. She wanted to see him as nothing more than a Death Eater not worthy of her pity. But she knew the story of what happened the day Dumbledore was murdered. And maybe thats why she didn't hate him.

"I wouldn't have blamed you" he said sombrely. "I don't think anyone would. You might even have been hailed as a hero. After Dumbledore I guess…"

"Harry told us what happened in the Astronomy tower" explained Hermione. "We know that you couldn't do it and that is going to go a long way in your favour."

"I hope it's enough" he said sadly as he leaned forward resting his elbows on his knees. Hermione's heart was in whirlpool. Why was she feeling like this? She used to hate this guy so much and yet here she was looking at him as if her best friend was in trouble. No! It was even more than that. She realised the feelings she had were similar to those she had been feeling towards Ron recently. Against her own better judgement she reached out with her hand. Nervously her fingers touched his. Draco's eyes seemed to run across them and up her arm towards her eyes that were staring down at her own hand next to his. Their fingers began to interlock and despite her distinct fear and apprehension at the thought of being close to Draco Malfoy she let him take her hand and hold it. To her surprise it was warm and friendly as if she had reguarly held his hand a thousand times before.

The two of them clasped eyes on each other and stared deeply. It was as if the two of them were being pulled together by some invisible force. Incredibly Hermione was still fighting the urge to pull away from him. Years of mistrust don't just disappear in a few days but she buried it under her sudden need to be with him. She couldn't figure it out for herself so how could she ever explain this to anyone else, especially Ron. Slowly she moved closer to him until she could feel his warm breath against her cheek.

"Maybe we shouldn't..." Draco's softly spoken words struggled to get out and was silenced by Hermione who edged herself even closer until their lips were almost touching.

Clunk! The two of them sharply pulled away from each. Clunk! Someone was walking up the stairs towards them. Clunk! The footsteps were heavy, slow and with a steady pace. Hermione's heart was racing from being disturbed so suddenly. The two of them jumped to their feet.

"Did you tell anyone I was here?" whispered Draco in a near panic.

"No!" she replied just as quietly. Draco gave her a worried glare that she returned. No one in the Order knew she was here. She had left a letter for Ron saying she was making contact with a defector but that was it. There were no details whatsoever within it. There were only two possibilities in Hermione's mind. Either it was a muggle, probably a homeless one who wanted to spend the night here or, her stomach twisted into a knot, the Death Eaters had found them. Not taking any chances the two of them pulled out their wands and held them at the door. Through the stained glass an outline of a rather broad man with a peaked cap slowly edged up the stairs his features totally obscured by the dirt.

He reached the top and stood behind the door. Both of them stood with their wands out waiting for the person behind the door to make his move. The two of them shared a glance at each other as they waited. The door opened with a long and slow creaking sound to reveal the broadly built and clean shaven Auror Marcus Wedgetail.

"Wedgetail!" gasped Hermione in relief as her wand lowered.

"Marcus!" spat Draco through gritted teeth. Draco quickly turned his wand at Hermione. "Expeliarmus!" Her wand flew out of her hand and across the room onto a small waist high cupboard as Draco dived behind her and threw his left hand under her neck and held her body roughly in front of him. Marcus had now drawn his wand and was holding it at Draco and his hostage.

"Draco!" shrieked Hermione. "What are you doing?"

"Shut up!" he screamed at her in her ear before returning his now panicked face back down the end of his wand in his right hand towards Marcus.

"Bravo!" said Marcus. "You have indeed played your part well this time." The realisation that she had been a tool for Malfoy stung Hermione bitterly.

"Coming from someone known for his flare for the dramatics such as you Marcus" said Draco. "That's quite a compliment. Now drop the wand!"

"Damn you Draco! You fowl..." cried Hermione.

"Shut up!" he said to her. "A few seconds ago you were all over me so don't give me the whole damn you thing!" Draco then turned back to Wedgetail who was still blocking the door with his broad bulk. "Drop it Wedgetail!" He turned his wand onto Hermione's face. "Drop it and step aside! You know i'm capable of it!"

Marcus stood firm, his wand still aimed squarely at them.

"None of us want that now do we Ralph?" said Wedgetail.

"Ralph!" gasped Hermione. He called Draco Ralph? Had she heard him right?

"Just let Miss Grainger go and put down the wand" conitinued Wedgetail. "I've already alerted the Ministry and Aurors are on their way as we speak. Don't bother trying to apparate either. You will be tracked. Now, Ralph, for everyone's sake let Miss Grainger go and i give you my word that we can make a deal."

"Ralph?" stuttered Hermione again in disbelief at the confirmation that Wedgetail was indeed referring to Draco as Ralph.

"Yes Miss Grainger" said Wedgetail. "The man you have you been in contact with the past few days is not Draco Malfoy. It is in fact a Death Eater by the name of Ralph Tomlinson."

"That's right" spat Ralph. "I told the Dark Lord we should have dispensed with you by now."

"And why didn't he I wonder?" asked Wedgetail. As Hermione listened, terrified for her life, she noticed that the tip of her wand was facing her and Ralph. She knew that she could command her wand without having it in her hand but to channel the energy through it was going to take a lot of concentration on her part. She knew she only had one shot at it and she began to focus on it with all her inner energy.

"I am not privy to the Dark Lords thoughts!" said Ralph through Draco's voice. "But mark my words Wedgetail you will pay for disrupting my mission!"

"Stupefy!" Hermione's voice bellowed outwards towards her wand. Upon her command a bolt of red energy burst across the room and both her and her captor were thrown violently across the room against the adjacent wall. Hermione heard a loud thump in her skull before falling to the floor. Her vision had gone blurry and she felt her eyes drooping closed.

Soon her vision was coming back to her. Very slowly she began to focus her eyes. She knew she was laying on her side probably on the leather sofa she surmised. There were blurry outlines of two people talking in front of her. She fought with her eyes to get them into focus. She could hear the two figures speaking to each other. As she continued to come round she began to make sense of what they were saying.

"This is the second time now Marcus" said one of them, his voice very deep with an accent. "You know it was always Dumbledore's wish that you join the Order? Lest you forget your debt to him."

"I am aware of that Kingsley" said the second voice whom she soon recognised as belonging to Marcus Wedgetail. "And to whom I am indebted too and why but i cannot commit myself to joining at the present time. It was always my belief that Dumbledore gave up on the Ministry far too early. He ignored the fact that not all of us, even sixteen years ago, believed the Dark Lord was gone. Even now I..."

Marcus had noticed that Hermione was beginning to stir on the sofa and abruptly ended his conversation with Kingsley Shacklebolt, an Auror and one of the Order of the Phoenix. She slowly sat up onto the sofa as Marcus came and sat next her.

"Careful Miss Grainger" said Wedgetail. "You took quite a nasty bump to the head. I have healed you but i'm no mediwizard. Shacklebolt here is going to take you to St. Mungo's before getting you back to the Weasley's. Your friends are particuarly anxious to see you."

"That was a very courageous thing that you did Hermione" boomed Shacklebolt. "You could have been seriously hurt."

"Dra-Draco!" she stuttered still not quite fully awake.

"No" said Marcus. "Not Draco. Ralph. Ralph Tomlinson was masquerading as Draco. Do you remember?"

It all came flooding back to her. "Yes!" she said sadly. "I remember. Where is he now?"

"In custody" answered Shacklebolt. "Thanks to your actions. Had Wedgetail not intercepted him here today then the Dark Lord would have had an agent placed within the Order. But that does not excuse the fact that you operated outside of the Order Hermione. Remus and Arthur will probably want to speak to you about that. No doubt-."

"Please Kingsley" interrupted Marcus holding up his hand. "Now's not the time."

"No" added Hermione. "He's right. It was arrogant of me, thinking that i could do this alone. I should have come to the Order the moment Dra-, I mean Tomlinson came to me for help. I was so stupid!" Both Shacklebolt and Wedgetail assumed that she was referring to simply being tricked by Tomlinson when she was in fact referring to her letting him decieve her heart as well as her mind.

"There is no shame in this Miss Grainger" said Wedgetail. "Tomlinson was gifted in the art of subterfuge. He has hoodwinked many an older and more experienced witch or wizard than yourself. I must confess that he has fooled me on at least three occassions prior to today. But for the past month I have been tracing his steps. I knew he was on a mission for the Dark Lord and when i recieved a message from Shacklebolt that you had left Ronald Weasley a letter explaining that you were making contact with a defector i suspected it must have been him. I located you through my contacts within the muggle police and when i spotted you with what appeared to be Draco I assumed that it was probably Tomlinson. You are by no means the first to be tricked by him but thankfully you will be the last."

As he looked at Hermione's expression Wedgetail knew that Tomlinson had really gotten to her in a personal way. That was what he did best and Wedgetail's words were of little comfort. He leaned closer towards her. "Hermione!" he said which caught her attention for it was the first time he had ever called her by her first name. "Tomlinson has done far worse than decieve you. He has, in your heart, betrayed you. He forced you to trust him. Played on your emotions. Used all your own traits against you. And i'm not going to patronise you by saying everything is ok and the world is now a brighter place. But we have scored a victory against the Dark Lord here today. But i fear you have paid the price. And you know, a great wizard once said to me that when we are at our lowest a little sweet will always, at least for a moment, take the edge off." As he spoke the words he had discretely conjured a toffee into his hand and held it out for her. Shacklebolt smiled as he recognised the words of Albus Dumbledore being spoken through Wedgetail. "You've had a terible shock. Go with Shacklebolt to St. Mungo's to make sure your ok then get some rest. You've earned it."

Hermione was lead out of the room by Shacklebolt. Before she walked through the door she turned back towards Wedgetail. The most famous Auror since Moody sat on the sofa holding his signature peaked cap in his hat and was staring intensely at it no doubt reflecting on his latest case. It was the first time she had seen him without his hat on his head. He had well combed dark hair with hints of silver along the sides. As she looked at him she noted a hint of sadness in his face. She had met Wedgetail on at least five seperate occassions prior to today and each time was in the middle of a csae. His enthusiasm for the hunt was legendary. This was the first time she had met him after the case had been solved and it became clear to her that Marcus Wedgetail was the kind of man who needed a purpose in life otherwise he was simply lost. Staring into his hat he had failed to even notice that Hermione was still standing there with Shacklebolt.

"Mr Wedgetail?" she asked.

"Yes Miss Grainger!" acknowledged Wedgetail as he snapped himself out of his gaze.

"Tomlinson?" she said. "Does he... I mean...Did he know things about me to use against me? Things that maybe i didn't even know?" Her attraction to whom she believed to be Draco Malfoy was still weighing heavily on her mind. Worse than being decieved by him she felt that somehow she had betrayed her feelings to Ron.

Looking at her standing there next to Shacklebolt in the doorway Wedgetail assumed how he had worked Hermione over during this experience. He had seen it before. Ralph Tomlinson could be quite a charmer when he wanted to be. In Wedgetail's mind it was a particuarly cruel method of infiltration.

"Ralph Tomlinson" he explained. "Is a master of manipulation. He twisted and perverted the truth for his own cruel purpose. Whatever happened in here today, Miss Grainger, has no meaning beyond these walls. Take comfort in that!"

Shacklebolt and Hermione left the room as the door creaked shut behind them. As it shut it closed yet another case for the Auror Marcus Wedgetail.

The End