10 DAYS TO FIGHT FOR HIM, 10 MINUTES TO LOSE HIM

A/N: Hello again! I'm updating the story! :D Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own HP.

CHAPTER FOUR: ANONYMOUS' NOTE

"In the middle of the night

When I'm in this dream

It's like a million little stars

Spelling out your name..."

Day 2-

Hermione woke to the loud banging in her door. She groaned and stirred in her bed. She decided to ignore the noise and continued sleeping. It had been the second night in a row that she didn't get enough sleep. She needed her sleep badly so she would not rose. She would ignore the pounding on her door by the large, annoying hands of Ron.

"Hermione, come on! Wake up, sleepy head! Come down for breakfast!" Ron yelled outside her door.

Hermione groaned again and made no sign of getting off the bed. She would ignore Ron. She would ignore Ron. She would-

"Hermione, get up now! Everyone's here, you know. The members are all here except you, so get up now!" Ron yelled again.

She sighed. Everyone was there. If everyone was there, she should not be the only one absent. Meals with the presence of many members meant a meeting. So, she groggily sat from the bed and yelled at Ron. "5 seconds!"

"Be sure, Hermione. Come down as soon as you're done!"

"Sure."

After that, she heard the retreating footsteps of Ron. She sighed deeply. If everyone was there, it meant Malfoy was there. She was not sure she was ready to face him after their encounter last night. It would be very awkward.

She immediately got off of her bed and fixed it. She took a quick but hygienic bath and dressed herself up. Before opening her knob, she hesitated again. But before she completely chickened out, her pride kicked off. If she don't show herself up, Malfoy would think she was affected by their previous conversation. He would know she felt a slight panic when she heard his last sentence last night. He would think his strategy was working on her. She couldn't allow that to happen. She wouldn't let him think he was winning, even for just a millisecond.

She would show him that she already forgot they even met last night. Right. She would show him.

With new-found confidence, she walked out of her room and went straight to the dining area where they were all gathered. She entered the room with grace. "Good morning, everyone." she greeted them cheerfully.

"Good morning, Hermione!" Nymphadora Tonks replied at her greeting.

"Morning there, Tonks. How's Teddy?" she said, taking her seat between Ginny and Ron.

"He's doing great! He's dying to visit here...been pestering Remus to tag him along." Tonks informed her, grinning.

"Oh, I'm dying to see him, too." Hermione chirped up.

Tonks wiped the sides of her mouth and looked at Draco 2 people away from her to the left. "Actually, little Teddy missed his dearest 2nd degree cousin-slash-uncle Drake more than anyone else in the whole wide universe." Tonks beamed at Draco.

"He missed choking me..." Draco muttered quietly while stabbing the salmon meat in his plate.

Draco paused from biting his salmon and looked at Ginny across him. Ginny was snickering at him, and she was trying to control her laughter but failing miserably.

"What are you laughing at?" he asked, unamused.

Ginny snickered more and wiped her eyes from the tears of her laughter. She looked at Tonks, grinning. "Do you remember what happened the last time you brought Teddy here?"

Tonks tilted her head sideway, searching in her mind the memory of the last time Teddy visited the Headquarters. "Um...I can only remember one, memorable moment..." she said meaningfully, glancing at Draco.

"Which is?" Ginny prodded playfully.

"Well, when Draco carried him and he wouldn't let go anymore. He clung to Draco so tight he almost got his uncle choked, and the only way we reckoned to take him away from Draco was to make him sleep. So, he slept in Draco's arms but even his unconscious mind knew better than to let go." Tonks started snickering as well. "And well, he drooled on Draco's newly purchased green and costumized Madam Malkin robe."

Draco rolled his eyes, "I wasn't 'almost' choked. I was completely choked."

Tonks and Ginny continued laughing and Draco huffed in annoyance. Hermione wanted to laugh as well, but she found herself afraid to do so. Ron and Harry soon joined, reminiscing other scenes when Teddy Lupin last visited Grimmauld Place.

"Remember when Malfoy tickled Teddy in an attempt to loosen his clutch on his neck and he ended up shrieking so sharp and the portrait of Mrs. Black started yelling obsceneties and stuff and Malfoy panicked and didn't know what to do because Teddy started wailing too?" Ron said, chuckling.

"Yeah, I remember that." Harry excitedly exclaimed. "Draco resorted to baby talking Teddy and he looked like an utter moron! Instead of shutting poor Teddy, he made him whine all the more!"

Everyone in the table laughed at that. They chuckled at Draco who was turning red in the face out of embarrassment. Hermione almost chuckled when she, too, remembered the very scene Harry was talking about.

Harry and Ron continued embarrassing Malfoy. They all laughed, except Hermione and Malfoy, himself, who looked ready to murder Harry and Ron. She grinned and smiled too, but she forced herself not to laugh.

30 minutes passed and they were still laughing. But everyone stopped when Shacklebolt snapped to business.

"Okay, let's set aside the fun first. We have something very important to discuss."

Draco was thankful Shacklebolt ended his torture already. Everyone stopped eating and sat straight in their seats. All turned to face Shacklebolt in the Driver's seat. He stood up and looked at everybody seriously.

"For the past year, we have been spending a lot of time searching for the remaining Death Eaters at large." he started. "We successfully captured them and now we are down to the last 5 Death Eaters yet to be caught, namely: Crabbe Sr., Goyle Sr., Thorfinn Rowle, Nott Sr. and the only thorn among the roses, Mrs. Zabini."

Shacklebolt looked at Malfoy, "Malfoy, you have been associated with this group of people in the past, haven't you?"

Malfoy tensed for a short while but nodded, "Yes." he replied. "I dined with those people a couple of times..."

Shacklebolt nodded, "Yes, yes. By the request of your father."

"By the 'demand', actually." Draco hastily corrected.

"By the demand," Shacklebolt agreed. "Of course..." he cleared his throat once again. "So, this morning, the Ministry received a note from an anonymous. We checked it for hidden curses and we found nothing harmful in it. It only had a charm to open to the rightful receiver." he informed. "Me."

"What does the note says?" Harry asked, frowning.

Shacklebolt motioned an Auror he brought along to hand him the said note. He raised the note and casted an enlargement charm. The paper instantly turned into a gigantic paper so everyone in the room could read the note. It was scribbled messily but still readable.

Kingsley Shacklebolt

-Head of Auror Department

I will go straight to the point. I know the location of the 5 remaining Death Eaters yet captured. I will give up the information about them. I will wait in a pub called 'Gates to Hades' Kingdom' in Knockturn Alley until 2 in the atfernoon today. I request the young Malfoy to take the details from me. I will talk to no one else but him. If you fail to meet my condition, no exchange of information shall be done.

"Me?" Malfoy mused. "Why do I have to be the one?"

Shacklebolt shrunk the paper and kept it again. He looked at everyone and they were all looking at him questioningly. He focused on Malfoy.

"The reason why this informant wants you to be the one is still oblivious to me." he admitted. "I do not know what his purpose or his motive is."

"Perhaps," Mr. Weasley spoke. "This informant feels safe with Malfoy. After all, the kid was once on the Dark side." he suggested.

Shacklebolt considered the idea, "Perhaps, you're right. Maybe he can spill every detail if Malfoy talks to him."

The room erupted into murmurs of agreement and nodding of heads. However, one person didn't find the proposition acceptable. Hermione scoffed aloud, stopping everyone in their conversations. "We can't just settle to 'maybe's' and 'perhaps'. We don't even know who this informant is. He could be one of the 5, tricking us to fall for their bait."

Several heads nodded in agreement at her.

"Ms. Granger, I understand your concern. But if he really is trying to trick us, he wouldn't meet us in a public place even if it's in Knockturn Alley. Anywhere is dangerous to those Death Eaters. And it wasn't mentioned that we are not allowed to go. He requested to converse with Malfoy but that doesn't mean we couldn't stay behind to watch them." Shacklebolt reasoned.

Hermione scoffed again in disbelief, "You're fine with risking Malfoy? Outrageous!" she threw her hands in the air.

"I'm going." Malfoy announced suddenly.

Hermione whipped her head towards him and gaped at him. "What?" she asked incredulously. "Are you losing your fucking mind Malfoy? You are not going." she told him bossily.

Malfoy narrowed his eyes, "And who are you to stop me?" he retorted back.

"I'm just being a concerned citizen here!" Hermione blurted out. "But if you want to put your dear life to danger for something uncertain, then go, for all I care. But if you die, don't dare tell me I didn't warn you." she stood from her seat angrily and marched out the dining area, leaving the others in confusion.

She slammed the door in her room in frustration. She was fuming in an anger directed at Malfoy. She was just concerned, for fuck's sake, and he had the nerve to retort like she was someone not associated with him at any angle. She was a member of the Order too and she had a say whether she disagree on something or not. What if it really was a trick? What if he ended up killed? Like anybody could save him from the killing curse fast enough even if other members were watching close behind. They were all losing their wits. Even Shacklebolt was an idiot.

She lay in her bed and glared at the ceiling, seeing Malfoy's face. She didn't know how long she glared at the ceiling, all she knew, she fell asleep.

She woke up from the knock on her door. She stood up and opened it and saw Harry outside.

"Harry," she acknowledged him.

Harry nodded and reached inside his pocket. He took out something and handed it to Hermione. Hermione stared at his closed hands before looking at her best friend with brows furrowed.

"What is that, Harry?" she asked.

He opened his palms and revealed a miniature figure of an ear. Hermione frowned at the little object before picking it up from Harry's hand. She examined it close to her face. It really looked like an ear.

"It's a device from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. We purchased a couple of boxes for the mission in Knockturn Alley." Harry informed.

Hermione looked at Harry in disbelief. "So, they're going on with it?"

Harry nodded. "Shacklebolt believes it will be successful. Said, let's just have faith in Malfoy and the informant."

She scoffed bitterly, "So Malfoy really accepted the mission?"

"Of course," Harry answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You know Malfoy never declined a mission."

"Stupid fucking moron..." Hermione hissed, looking away indignantly.

"It will be fine, Hermione. Shacklebolt is right." Harry reached for her shoulders. Hermione looked at him. "How will we know if the informant is a fake if we don't go and find it out ourselves?"

"But in doing so, we're sacrificing one of the member's safety!" Hermione reasoned.

"Yes, but...if we don't go and take the risk, we won't know what we are suppose to achieve. If we don't taste the food, how will we know it's delicious? Appearance and smell certainly don't justify the means. Same as this mission. It looked risky, it sounded dangerous, but we can never confirm anything unless we go and find out the results in the end, ourselves."

Hermione stared at Harry for a moment, taking in his words. Then, she took a deep breathe, closed her eyes and exhaled in a loud gasp. She looked at Harry's eyes again and to the smaller version of an ear in her hand.

She frowned suddenly, "Wait a minute," she glared at Harry. " We purchased tools for a serious mission in a joke shop? That's ridiculous!"

Harry exhaled, "Hermione, this might just look like a joke item but it works, honestly. Through this, we can hear what Malfoy and the informant will be talking about. We will not be void of any information. If he's attempting to attack Malfoy, we will hear it. We can act immediately." Harry convinced her.

Hermione let out a heavy exhale again. She shook her head. "I really can't believe they're going." she muttered. "You know what?" she asked Harry.

Harry looked at her, raising his eyebrow. "Yes?"

"If Malfoy died in this, I'm going to kill him. I promise that." she told Harry seriously.

Harry couldn't help but smile, "Yes, well. Want me to lend a hand?"

Hermione chuckled at that. "Come on." she gave Harry a little push in the back and closed her door and they went downstairs to prepare to go to Knockturn Alley.

A/N: so, how was it guys? The lyrics above are from the song, "Untouchable" by Taylor Swift. Please REVIEW.