Disclaimer: Harry Potter was never mine. Only JK Rowling can be that awesome.

SALVATION - A DRAMIONE FANFIC

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CHAPTER 1 ~ OFFER

Hermione Granger walked into the pub with a look that obviously said 'I want to leave now'.

"Give me whatever this can buy," she said quietly to the barman, handing him a slip. "And wrap it to go."

The barman huffed and went to the kitchen to fetch her order.

Fidgeting in her seat, Hermione thought about how Harry and Ron were doing back at the woods. She had Apparated to a random pub in the hope of getting them some food with the little amount of Muggle money she found on the street.

"Oh please, hurry up," she muttered as she placed the Muggle money on the table. Impatient, she tapped her fingers on the bar table and began humming a random tune.

"Well, well, well, look do we have here."

The voice was like a Stun to Hermione. She knew that icy voice. That was the voice that taunted her several times at Hogwarts, the voice that laughed at her when one of Fred and George Weasley's pranks exploded on her face and turned it into a human panda, the voice that called her a Mudblood in second year in front of the Gryffindor and Slytherin Quidditch teams while its owner held a new racing broom.

That was the voice of Draco Malfoy.

She turned around, wand at the ready to fling a curse at him. But just then, the barman reappeared and placed a paper bag with her food in front of her.

"Hungry, aren't we?" Draco asked. He had taken the stool next to Hermione and was leaning on the table with his elbow.

"What are you planning to do with me, Malfoy?" she asked through seething teeth.

"Why, nothing. Didn't you know, I'm not a Death Eater anymore," he replied calmly. He raised his hand and whistled. "Hey, barman. Get me a beer, will you?"

Hermione watched with her mouth agape as Draco pulled out a Muggle bill and set it in front of him. He looked perfectly at ease, it was as if he was Muggle himself.

"I repeat, what are you going to do with me? Tell me now, or I'll hex you."

"Then I'll fight you off." Draco pulled out a black wand from his cloak pocket and grinned. "Didn't think I'd come quietly, did you?"

Hermione took the paper bag into her hands and got up to leave. The sooner I get out of here, the better, she thought. She walked out of the half-deserted pub and trudged off into the snow.

"Wait," a voice behind her called. She turned and saw Draco standing at the doorway.

"Keep walking. He's trying to get you alone. Once you're out of sight, Disapparate," Hermione told herself.

Hermione walked on, but stopped short when she heard a pop in front of her. Draco appeared and was smirking.

"What do you want from me?" she asked, growling every word.

"Easy there, Granger. I'm trying to help you."

Hermione was taken aback by his words. Draco Malfoy trying to help?

Draco must have sensed her confusion because he said, "Yes. Help. I know what you twits are looking for."

Hermione's mouth popped open. How did he know?

"Horcruxes, am I right?"

"It's none of your business," she managed to reply. She tried overtaking him, but he anticipated this and moved in front of her.

"Yes it is." He said this with conviction. "I want my revenge."

"Revenge for what?" she asked through gritted teeth. Why oh why, did she have to run into him in a random, half-deserted pub in the middle of nowhere?

"Well for one, he killed my mother. And for another, he killed Snape." Draco's eyes turned darker. He seemed more evil than he was five minutes ago.

"He? Who exactly is he?"

"You know. But don't say the name. It's tabooed. Once you say his name, his followers will be able to track you down and kill you." Draco said the word 'followers' as if it was a swear word.

Hermione's eyes widened. So they can't say Voldemort anymore? Was that how the Death Eaters were able to catch them at that coffee shop at Tottenham Court Road? She could recall Harry using his name then…

"Take me with you. I can help you three. And I'll have my vengeance if he dies."

"Why should we take you in? You're a Death Eater!" Hermione cried.

"I told you, not anymore." Draco pulled back his sleeve, and there, Hermione saw, was a faded Mark. It was so light now; the outline of the Mark was the only thing left.

"But – "

"Yeah. I quitted after Dumbledore died. I couldn't do it, you see. And I escaped because he was going to kill me. Since then, I've decided his side isn't the way to live."

"We still won't!" Hermione caught her chance and walked on, taking her wand out to Apparate. As soon as she left the place, she felt him hold on to her.

"Let – me – go!" Hermione thrashed and kicked at him, but it was no use. His grip was so strong, she could feel his hands making bruises on her arm.

They stopped whirling. Hermione spotted their tent and ran.

But then she stopped. Why was Draco not chasing her? Where was he?

The animalistic cry of pain behind her took three seconds to process in her brain. She turned around.

There, lying on the forest floor at her feet, was Draco Malfoy writhing in pain. His leg was separated from his torso, bloodied and gruesome. Hermione felt a surge of pain in her gut. Quickly, she flung the paper bag aside and took out her purse.

"Accio, dittany!" she yelled. The vial she Summoned came into her hands at once, and she swiftly knelt beside Draco and poured its contents on his arms.

She heard voices approaching and figured that Harry and Ron must have seen her.

"'Mione, what's happened?" Ron yelled as he ran towards her.

"It's – it's – I'm so sorry! I went to buy us some food with the Muggle money I found and then – then he found me there and tried to tell me things – crazy things! I Disapparated hoping he'd leave me alone and then he – he grabbed hold of my arms and when I came here, he got splinched!"

Hermione felt tears stinging her eyes. Draco's leg was back in place, but he was still moaning in pain. Ron stood there, dumbstruck and became an unmoving statue of shock.

"How did he get here?" Harry asked with disbelieving eyes. "How the hell did Malfoy end up at our campsite?"

"I told you already! He was telling me things… crazy things, absolutely insane! Malfoy said he wasn't a Death Eater anymore and that he killed Malfoy's mother and Snape too, so Malfoy wants revenge on him." Hermione was careful not to mention the name, which was almost slipping at the tip of her tongue as she narrated the story.

She stood up after Draco's moans went lesser. "He'll be fine now. We should Obliviate him."

"Wait, no."

The voice was neither Harry's nor Ron's, but Draco's. "I can explain everything. Just… let me."

Harry's wand was at Draco's throat before he finished speaking. "Why should we?"

"Because I'm telling you the truth! I want to help you!"

"Get up," said Harry, his wand still pointed at Draco's neck. "Hermione, get your wand out. We'll be interrogating our little visitor before we decide what to do with him."

Draco smiled slyly. "You think you're so brave, Potter? 'Decide what to do with him.' The worst thing you can do is Obliviate me. Why should I be afraid?" But he got up just as well, limping on his other leg.

"Shut up, Malfoy, or we'll stop all this and just hex you back to where you came from," said Ron suddenly, who had stepped out of the trance and whose wand was now pointed at his back, ready to flank Harry. Hermione followed suit, standing beside Ron.

"Walk." Harry nodded in the direction of the tent.

"As you wish, oh Chosen One," Draco muttered, loud enough for his captors to hear, and walked towards the trio's tent.

The four of them entered, the trio's wands still at the ready, and Draco limping inside. "Well this is cosy… and I'll bet that's where Weasel and Granger go shagging all night," said Draco, nodding in the direction of a small couch.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione threatened. She looked murderously at Draco, wondering what the best angle for hexing him would be. I'll bet he'll love to see that beautiful face of his destroyed, she thought. I would.

"Sit, Malfoy," said Harry cocking his head to the direction of the couch Draco just pointed out.

"Sit? Do I look like a dog to you?" Draco did as he was asked though. He sat back and crossed his arms in front of him. "When do I start talking?" he asked conversationally as Harry and Hermione closed in on him.

"Right after we give you this," Hermione said, showing him a vial of potion she conjured out of thin air. "Open up, Malfoy. It's Veritaserum."

Draco showed no sign of resistance as Hermione poured three drops of potion into his mouth.

"Good thinking, Hermione. Alright, talk," said Harry once Draco had finished swallowing.

"Well, what do you want to know?"

"Everything!" Hermione half-shouted at him. "We want to know why you're going around in the Muggle world like you actually live there, why your Mark has faded, and why you follow me all the way here just to smirk in our faces!"

"I told you, I want my revenge."

"Revenge? Do you expect me to believe all you want is revenge, Malfoy?" Hermione's lip trembled. Oh how she hated him! All those years spent at Hogwarts castle trying to evade his remarks about her parentage, and now he comes in and tells her he wants to defy the Dark Lord?

"Is it that impossible to believe that I am a changed man?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.

"A changed man, Malfoy? Do you really believe yourself to be a changed man?" said Harry. "You seem the same to me."

"That's because you're prejudiced. You think I'm not capable of change? I've been defying the Dark Lord since I stepped out of his society."

Harry's wand went further down his throat. "If you really are a changed man, then why don't I see it?"

Draco laughed slyly, his Adam's apple bobbing against the pressure of the wand on his throat. "Just because I've changed, that doesn't mean I'm nicer. I'm still the Slytherin you once knew, just less evil."

"If, after a few eons of years, you decide to talk, maybe we'll let you know if we want you with us," Ron suddenly said. He had remained silent throughout the entire discourse, or rather bicker, Hermione had almost forgotten he was there.

"Wait." Harry was having an epiphany, a memory dawning on him. "After Dumbledore had died, word got out that you had died. Why is that and why are you here fully alive?"

"I didn't kill Dumbledore. Snape did—"

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Hermione cut in.

"Will you shut up and listen to me? You're the one who wanted me to answer your stupid questions, so shut your trap and listen!

"As I was saying. Snape killed Dumbledore. After that, I wasn't sure I'd still live – I knew he would punish me severely. But Snape told me that the Dark Lord was intending to kill, not just punish. He devised a plan to fake my death in order to save me – after all, he did make the Unbreakable Vow and he had to protect me.

"It was all a blur afterwards. All of a sudden, he'd given me the house he grew up in and all the things I'd need, and we stopped correspondence after that. A few months later, I found out that my mother and Snape were dead, and I knew at once that the Dark Lord had killed them."

Draco took a deep breath. "And now I want my revenge."

Harry and the other to stared back at him, whether with indignation, disbelief or pity, Draco didn't know. After a few moments, he realized they hadn't spoken yet.

"Well?"

"Your story… it fits. But then this could all be a plot to get us. How do we know you're speaking the truth?" Harry asked in an unsure voice.

"I'm already under Veritaserum, what else do you want?" Draco demanded. "This whole interrogation is pointless if you're not going to believe me. You can torture me or put me under more potion; I'll still say the same things!"

"He has a point, Harry," Hermione said quietly. "How did Snape fake your death, Malfoy?"

"He made a potion. Snape devised it as a backup plan; he knew I was going to fail. The potion, once drunk, would stop one's heart and would give the illusion that the drinker was dead. Within the next half hour after the potion's intake, the antidote must be drunk, or else the heart would stop permanently."

Ron grunted in response. "Pity it didn't though."

"If it weren't for me, Weasel, your girlfriend would have died on the spot. Did you know the pub was being watched, and two ex-Walpurgis Knights just saw you there, Granger?" Draco nodded in Hermione's direction, and watched with satisfaction as the brunette's eyes widened in terror.

"What the hell are Walpurgis Knights?" Ron demanded.

"They're the old name for his followers, Ron. That was believed to be the name they used back when Grindelwald was in power," Hermione explained. She turned to Draco. "If two of them were there at the pub, how come they never entered or attacked when they saw me outside?"

"They thought they were too good to be guarding Muggle pubs, much less enter it. Prejudice, as always. It's pathetic, if you ask me. When you came out the door, they just left. I managed to distract you long enough for them to leave and you get away scot-free."

Hermione was dumbfounded. Had this platinum-blond boy she considered to be her enemy just helped her out of a life-death situation she hadn't anticipated? The words 'thank' and 'you' were already rolling on the tip of her tongue when Draco suddenly spoke up, the ever-present smirk playing on his lips.

"Don't I get a word of thanks?"

You were, had your arrogance not ruined the moment! Hermione gritted her teeth angrily. Since birth, her parents had always taught her to say thanks to counter any good act. This time, she wanted to hex herself into Hogsmeade and back for even considering saying 'thank you' to Malfoy. Not even if he was saving her neck.

"No, you do not, you slick arrogant git!" she spat at him. Hermione turned away from Draco and crossed her arms in front of her chest like a child about to throw a horrible tantrum.

"So, what do we do with you now, eh? Should we just Obliviate you or hex you back to wherever the hell you came from?" Ron mused.

"What about I turn you into a weasel, Weasel?"

"You said you had a house. Where is it, and how do we know the Death Eaters aren't there?" asked Harry. Throughout the discourse, his wand had eventually left Draco's throat, but still pointed at him, poised for attack.

"It's in Hexham, I could tell you the address; I'm Secret Keeper. It's got wards and all. I've been hiding there for over a year, and no one ever came. It's about the safest place there is. You can live there, you know." He let the bait hang there, lingering in the air like the tempting aroma of hundred-year-old mead.

The trio looked at each other uneasily. If there was anything they needed really badly right now, it was a place to stay. Winter had come to England, and they simply had no shelter for the coming onslaught. They knew it was going to be hard going, and had prepared for the worst, but here they were, being offered a house.

Draco, on the other hand, felt triumphant. He'd struck a nerve, given them what they needed, and there was no way they could refuse now.

"Well, we do need shelter," Hermione said quietly, voicing her thoughts aloud unconsciously.

"My thoughts exactly… hm…" said Harry. He turned to Malfoy, his wand still raised.

"I think, Malfoy, you've found yourself a substantial argument."

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A/N: I couldn't help it. Here's Chapter 1.