A/N: So after much deliberation and lovely reviews I have decided to turn this into a chapter story. I must admit I am enjoying working in this writing style and i'm excited to see where this story is going to go.

Hermione was sitting on the ground with Antonin at Malfoy Manor. Thankfully Lucius treated him a little less coldly than he did her. they were actually able to get some useful information. One thing that Lucius had never been able to stop however was the house elves bringing her tea and sweets. The little things were really so kind.

"Would Miss Hermione like her tea now?" One of them asked as they popped into the room.

"Yes Anaise that sounds lovely. I'm sure that Mr. Dolohov would love some as well." She said as she looked over at Antonin who merely nodded as he concentrated on the grandfather clock before him.

Antonin had not conceded to her the other reason that he was here. The minister was worried that she would run into something here that was dark and harmful. He was supposed to keep an eye on her and make sure that she didn't get hurt. Along with assisting in whatever she needed him for. Really that is what was bothering him right now. The curses on this thing were dark and that was coming from him. It concerned him the backlash that could have potentially happened at her attempting to remove the curses. It was almost unnecessarily warded and protected, making him wondering what the Dark Lord had stored in there.

"So what do you think?" Hermione asked and her voice startled him. He jumped a little as his trance broke.

"I think that all of this cursework was unnecessary." He said as he sat down on the floor with her as he sipped the tea that had been brought. Downright thoughtful of the little things.

"I was thinking that as well. What could be so very important? There are so many layers and interlocking curses that I think this could take some time to sort out. And that doesn't even count what happens when we finally find out what is inside of that cursed locket." She said in a soft, thoughtful voice as she sipped her tea.

He certainly cut a good picture sprawled out on the floor by her. His long legs were extended as he leaned on one elbow. Those intense blue eyes were on her, staring like she was some sort of puzzle that he needed to figure out. She wondered what could be going through his head with the look in his eyes. I may be developing some sort of a crush on him. Hermione conceded, if only to herself. He was an impressive looking man and highly intelligent. Both of these traits were of the criteria she looked for in a partner.

"Why are you doing this?" Antonin asked, he wanted to know why she was going through this difficult work, or working at all. Everyone knew how rich the golden trio was now. Her ex practically flaunted it every time that he was in public. When he wasn't harassing Hermione. A fact which didn't sit right with Antonin. She didn't deserve to deal with all the venomous hatred and jealousy. Especially when the mousy little brunette in front of him was clearly so tired. Not that she'd ever admit it, or show it. But Antonin was good at reading people.

Hermione stretched a little as she looked down into her tea. She guessed that it was a fair question, and he had answered anything that she wanted of him so far. She saw no reason to hide anything from him.

"I do this, because I feel like it's my duty. Someone needs to do this, and make sure it gets done the right way. And it's not so much about the money for me as it is about my personal growth as a human being. It is important to me to further myself, and by doing this, I'm helping to promote the common good." Hermione said as she brought her whiskey colored eyes up to look at him. She watched as he raised a single, perfect jet eyebrow.

"This is something that I understand feyyerverk." Antonin said as he looked at her. She was so very interesting. He could pick her brain for some time. However there was something about this clock that was bothering him. "But there is something about this that is off to me. Why don't we meet at the leaky tonight, my treat, and we'll see if I can uncover something about this cursework. I believe it wise to proceed with caution at the very least."

"Alright, eight o'clock." Hermione said as she looked at her watch. It was five o'clock now. That would give them a few hours to discover information. She sighed as she tidied up a few things around the room before she walked out of the room. She recognized the hallway they were in. She could remember being dragged down it, kicking and screaming for help...

"Miss Granger, are you alright?" She heard someone speak her her ear as a hand came down on her shoulder and snapped her out of her trance.

"Yes, sorry just...zoned out for a second." She said softly before appariating away with a pop.

Hermione was glad that she left when she did, she couldn't help but think as she arrived home, she had began to succumb to dark memories that she sometimes was afflicted with while investigating in the Manor. Made sharp and more protracted by being left alone up until this point. She fought a smile that wanted to come to her.

His concern hadn't been something that she had figured in to the equation. She usually hid her hangups and how damaged she was fairly well. She blamed the reoccurring dream and the lack of sleep for her slip up. It did not help that Hermione was perfectly aware of how intuitive her partner was. He would be able to see things others did not, she would have to be careful with him; for none of the obvious reasons. She was upset that she had allowed herself to slip up enough to become drug down by memories in his presence.

She splashed water over her face before going to sit on her bed, she pulled a pillow to her chest. This was in preparation for the emotions that she dealt with through her work at the Manor, for ever stepping foot in that place after what she had suffered. Greyback's words still played in the back of her head on a loop some days. She felt it start, the rocking back and forth, the deep sharp gasps. If Harry ever found out that her work effected her like this he would pull her from this project immediately. But thankfully he was too preoccupied.

She had managed to pull herself together by the time she was due to meet Dolohov in the Leaky. She swallowed as she changed, a simple black pants and a purple polo beneath her robes. She slipped her feet into flatts before appariating away. She had made sure to check that her makeup was not a mess just to try and avoid any questions by her counterpart.

When she arrived Pansy called her over. Hermione walked over easily, finding the idea of getting a drink to calm her perfectly reasonable.

"Dolohov got here before you today." Pansy said with a little smirk, before handing the witch a glass of wine. Hermione gave it an odd look. "Don't ask me, he's got the same wine at his table, he told me to give it to you as soon as you walked in." Intuitive asshole. She thought to herself as she took a drink of the preferred wine. She sighed and ran a hand along her face. "You okay Hermione?"

"Yeah, it's just one of the bad days." Pansy was well aware of what the brunette spoke, no one had made it through the war entirely unscathed. Pansy herself was included and if there was anything that she could understand in this life, it was Hermione Granger's panic attacks. For what she went through she was extremely high functioning, and she'd also gotten good at lying when people asked her how she was, Pansy understood that.

"You okay?"

"I'll be alright, just got bogged down in some memories earlier." Hermione gave her a gentle smile at the girl's care. "I think I'll head over to the table now, don't work yourself too hard Pansy." Hermione said with a smile as she walked over to where he was sitting. "Mighty nice of you to have a drink ready when I arrived." Hermione said as she sat down.

"We both had a long day." Antonin responded as he took a sip from his own glass and giving her this look. It made her worry for her secrets, because that was a gaze she had a hard time fighting against. "I'm going to be impertinent, if you'll forgive me." He said before continuing giving her no time to object. "What happened today at Lucius'?"

"I was afraid that you would ask me that." Hermione spoke honestly as she took another drink before sitting her glass down and staring at the table, trailing her finger over the various scratch marks in the wood. For a while it seemed like she wasn't going to answer him further. But her voice started slowly. "From time to time I get lost in memories. One of the many side effects that I am dealing with from the war. And in a place like Malfoy Manor where I have a lot of dark memories, it happens to me more than I'd like." Hermione said as she took another drink before looking at him over the rim of the glass.

"I appreciate your honesty." Antonin spoke as he looked at her. She was so delicate. Not in the way that she was frail or needed protected, but she did and was all at once. She had went through so much during the war and yet she held herself together so well ordinarily. That she was able to go on and do something that mattered, something that she was passionate about. It made Antonin experience a fierce desire to protect the little witch. "And because of that I would like to share something with you."

"What is it Antonin?" She asked, calling him by his name for the first time and startling him initially. He recovered well though, as he prepared to tell her the secret that he'd been hiding from her.

"Well our superiors do not wish for me to discuss this with you. However I feel that you should know. I didn't think it was right going into this and not telling you in the first place. No matter how resistant you might have been." He said as he keeps his icy orbs focused on her. "The reason that I am here is to keep an eye on you. Potter was worried about you doing this on your own. Frankly I agree, the number of curses placed on this object is dangerous and any manner of things could have happened to you while trying to rework the layered cursing." Antonin said as he took another drink, mirrored by the witch in front of him. "But it's more than that, this whole business gives me a bad feeling. And you don't deserve it. You deserve to have someone who lets you know that you are worth it." It was after that he finally tore his gaze from hers.

Hermione truly didn't know what to say at first. She should have known that Harry wouldn't let her go into this without interference. It was just his way really. But she also understood what Antonin was saying to her. That he was choosing to let her known something that they had discouraged him against. She took another drink as she contemplated the last part of his sentence. She had never considered she was anything more than her hangups and that she deserved any more than what she received from Ron.

"Thank you for telling me." She said as she looked back up at him. He wasn't looking at her just yet and she was sort of thankful for that. His eyes made her want to spill all of her secrets to him. As it was she couldn't believe what she was contemplating on telling him. "I have panic attacks." She said softly.

Antonin didn't say anything but his eyes did return to hers. Giving her every iota of his attention. She clearly hadn't told many people this and it made him wonder how it had escaped Potter's notice of what was going on with his supposed best friend.

"They are bad enough that I experience one a large percentage of the time that I leave the Manor. But if Harry knew..." She trails off as she begins to wring her hands.

"He'd pull you off, wouldn't let you do the work." Antonin said as he placed his large hand over her small ones to stop her anxious movement. "Tell me, feyyerverk, when was the last time that you truly slept a night through?"

Her mouth opened and shut, she couldn't answer that question, it would cause to much concern. Pansy had been bad enough when she had told her what her sleep schedule looked like. She couldn't have this dark wizard worrying about her as well.

"Because I would bet a hundred galleons that you haven't really slept since the end of the war. You get enough sleep to keep surviving, keep your wits about you, but you don't get any rest, and it doesn't help you get any better. Am I right Hermione?"

And all she could do is nod astonished as she looked at him. She couldn't keep the childish thought out of her head as well. He called me by my first name. There were other thoughts there as well, some more dangerous in nature. Perhaps I could trust him.