An entire day had came and went, and Granger had not yet suggested leaving the house they currently occupied. In fact, she had hardly come out of the bedroom.

It was nearly noon the next day and Draco had not yet seen her. He decided it best to check on her. She answered his knock with a short "yes?" which he took as permission to open the door.

She sat cross legged on the bed surrounded by her belongings as if she was taking inventory, and did not look up when he entered. A few stacks of clothes, some potion bottles, more books than necessary, and a single galleon were among the many items spread out across the bed. Magic or not, Draco was amazed she managed to keep so much in her tiny bag which sat deflated looking in her lap.

"I've brought you a cup of tea," he said.

"Set it on the nightstand."

Carefully he carried the steaming cup and set it down as requested, lingering a few seconds longer than necessary incase she planned on speaking again. He noticed a photograph of a man and woman laying among her piles of stuff, one that must be a muggle photo as it's subjects remained immobile. With an abrupt feeling of intrusiveness, he realized it was likely the peopke shown were her parents. In fact, the similarities between some of their features and Granger's were now obvious.

She must have noticed him looking, because she dismissed him with a simple "thanks for the tea."

As he began pulling the door closed behind him she spoke again.

"Be ready, we'll leave in an hour."

"Right," Draco said, leaving her alone once more.

An hour later, almost down to the minute, she ascended the stairs with her small bag over one shoulder and the gun resting on the other. Her curls were secured in a messy knot on top of her head, and tied mid way up her caves were a pair of leather boots that perhaps she knicked from a closet upstairs.

Draco stood waiting, hands in his pockets, at the bottom by the door.

"We need to acquire more weapons," she said when she reached the bottom.

Draco nodded. "Where shall we look?"

"We'll scavenge from where we can. There's bound to be discarded guns and other things along the way."

"On the way to where we're going?"

"Yes."

"Which is.. where?"

She adjusted her shirt but didn't answer.

It would take some getting used to, Granger being a woman of such few words. The girl he had gone to school with was often breathless from her constant chatter, be it answering questions, correcting someone, or just bossing people in general. That Granger was gone now.

She reached past him and opened the door. Draco took a final glance at the house, one that meant nothing to him. He couldn't imagine ever settling anywhere, couldn't imagine a place that would ever feel like home.

Granger walked silently beside him with her jaw set and her gaze focused. Draco wondered if it really made a difference to her whether he was there or not.

"Up ahead," she said.

Draco looked. A few Flesh Eaters were huddled together on their knees, feasting on something- someone on the ground who appeared to be putting up no fight.

"If we move quietly they may not notice. It's too late to save whoever that is," she said.

The coldness in her voice would take some getting used to as well.

As they moved quietly past, Draco tried not to look at the victim on the ground. There was no doubt they were dead by now, but that did little to ease the bubble of guilt forming in his stomach for going on without intervening.

It was a long time before either of them spoke again. Draco merely pointed at a stray Flesh Eater looming in an alley. He cursed lightly under his breath when Granger abruptly changed direction and he nearly tripped over himself trying turn. He commented vaguely on how hot out it was today, which only earned him an annoyed side eye from her. She did however remove a jug of water from her bag not long after that and passed it to him. He drank and instantly felt a bit better.

She stopped once to retrieve something from a grassy yard. It was a long wooden thing not unlike what the Beaters used in Quidditch. She held it out for him to take, and he did. "Baseball bat" was all she said.

Further along the way she spotted a weapon abandoned next to a red stain on the sidewalk. She examined it, shifted something and muttered "no bullets", then tucked it into her bag anyway.

The next find was Draco's, though it wasn't weapons. He had pointed out an apple tree and suggested they pick some. Granger pointed her wand and the tree branches began to shake, spilling apples onto the ground. As they gathered them Granger stuffed them one by one into her bag.

They ate apples as they walked. Draco wondered how far they had actually made it. The sun was getting low and he knew she was scoping out houses to settle in for the night.

He was chewing the last bites of his third apple when she threw out an arm to stop him from walking. Swallowing the mouthful, he looked around. In the absense of the chewing sounds, he was now able to hear it.

There had to be a lot of them, judging by the volume. The street they were currently travelling was a narrow one with houses packed tightly together. It was difficult to tell where exactly the noise was coming from.

Discarding his apple core, he gripped his wand as they moved cautiously forward. The loudness increased with each step, it seemed. When they reached a crossing, Granger jabbed him in the arm and pointed.

The outside of brick building was swarming with Flesh Eaters enclosed behind a tall chain length fence. Dozens. Many stood swaying on the spot, others were pressed up against the fence, their arms protruding and fingers grasping at air.

"A school," Granger spoke up.

"School?" Draco repeated. It looked nothing like a school to him.

"They probably used it as a safe house, looks like mostly adults. Must have been an outbreak after they locked the gates."

Draco took a few steps onward, but Granger remained stationary, staring at the so called school.

"What's the matter?"

"There's a sign," she said.

"A sign? Where?"

"There, in that window."

He squinted in the direction she pointed until his eyes fell on it, large red letters taking up the length of an entire window.

"H-E-L-P" the letters spelled.

She was getting further from where he remained standing, giving him the uncomfortable suspicion they were not just going to continue on their way.

"That's a shame," he said mostly to himself as she was nearly out of earshot.

Only a few paces remained between her and the fence where more Flesh Eaters were beginning to notice her presence. The ones closest to her were pushing more eagerly against the barrier. Reluctantly, Draco abandoned their path to follow her.

"What are you thinking, Granger?"

"I'm going in," she said plainly.

"You're joking."

"Not joking."

"I'm not going in there."

"I didn't ask you to."

Draco groaned as she pulled her knife out and began sizing up her oppenants.

"This is absurd," he said, running his hand through his hair. "You're going to get yourself killed for nothing."

"Someone needs help."

"That sign could be from days ago! Look at this place, there's probably no survivors left."

She stuck her knife between the fence and straight into the head of the nearest Flesh Eater, which dropped to the ground.

"C'mon, Granger," he said, looking around for something to pursuade her away from the situation.

Still she continued on, knifing one after another as they approached the fence. Her blade stuck in the skull of one. As she struggled to pull it out, others began crowding the fence which was becoming more strained with each passing second.

"Fuck," Draco muttered, defeated.

He pulled out the knife she had given him and began putting down the ones in reach. She unstuck hers and methodically continued on.

One by one they slowly thinned out the mass. She worked much faster, swifter. She always did have thing for outperforming him, at least that hadn't changed. It took the better part of 20 minutes and some loud coaxing from Granger to get the last remaining few to approach, but they finally eliminated them all. Heaps of bodies lined the bottom of the fence.

Draco wiped sweat from his brow with his forearm. His hands and wrists were flecked with blood. Granger's face was also shiny and blood speckled, though she made no effort to clean it. Instead she took out her wand.

"Alohamora," she said, aiming it at the lock.

Once the chains slid to the ground, she pulled the gate open, then pointed her wand at the gun and muttered "Silencio."

Pocketing her wand, she carried the gun with both hands and stepped through the gate.

"Put your knife away. The bat may be more effecient to keep them at a distance. Just be sure to hit them hard enough."

"Don't boss me, Granger," he said, but took put the knife away anyway.

Carefully, they stepped over corpses and made their way to the building. Draco gripped the bat, keeping his eyes peeled for movement. It was getting more difficult to see as the set.

As they approached, he knew this would be a fruitless effort. The heavy doors were closed tight, but he could hear the sounds beyond them. There were likely just as many inside, if not more than there had been outside.

"We should find another way in," he said.

"You're right."

He raised his eyebrows. She rolled her eyes and left his side to look in the nearest window.

"There's chairs and furniture stacked against these but it sounds like more Flesh Eaters."

She went to check the next one, then the next after that. Draco followed. Above their heads on the third story was the window with the sign. She stared up at it.

"I'm going to apparate in there," she said.

"The hell you are."

"It's the easiest way-"

"It's the dumbest way!" Draco snapped. "Honestly, you're brighter than that, aren't you? If apparating was safe we'd have been doing it all along. There's no telling what's in there!"

"What's in there is someone needing help," she said stubbornly.

"There's a better way."

"What way is that?"

Draco rocked on his feet, scanning the the outside of the building.

"I don't know," he said.

"Right, looks like it's my way then."

Draco grabbed her arm as she raised her wand, earning himself a most reproachful glare.

"I won't allow this, Granger. It's beyond foolish. Even if there is someone in there, are they worth getting yourself killed for?"

"Funny, Ron asked Harry the same thing when we went back for you that time the Room of Requirment caught fire."

Stunned, Draco let go of her arm, but before he could respond or even wipe the look from his face, she disapparated.

"Oh for fucks sake!"

He looked overhead, braced himself, and disapparated.

His eyes were squeezed tight when his feet hit the floor, but the room was quiet and that was a good sign. Relaxing his tense muscles, he opened his eyes though it looked no different from when they were shut.

"Lumos."

Backwards letters were painted on the windows. Empty chairs were pushed to one side of the room. He turned around and spotted Granger standing at a corner with her back to him, looking down at something illuminated by her own wand light.

"Hey," he called out to her quietly.

When she turned around, Draco saw the red splatters on the wall. Slumped below it with a hole in their head and a gun in their hand was a man.

Draco didn't dare utter a word about being right. It was not a triumphant feeling.

She reached down and took the weapon from the dead man's hands. Something loud on the other side of the room made Draco jump. Something was on the other side of the door, attempting to get in. A large wooden desk and metal cabinet were pressed up against it.

"C'mon," he said, "Let's get out of here."

The rattling got louder.

"I need to sit down for a moment first."

"Now?" Draco asked.

Her leg jerked, threatening to give out.

"Alright, alright, hang on," he urged, grabbing a chair from the stack.

She sat down, bowing her head low over her knees.

"Was it apparating?" Draco asked.

She shook her head. The rattling got louder.

"You should drink something. The bottle, from your bag."

She didn't move.

Testing the waters, Draco reached for the bag draped around her shoulders. She did not resist at he tugged on it.

Opening it, he plunged his arm in up to his shoulder, feeling around. His hand found several objects he couldn't identify but not the bottle.

"Merlin. Accio bottle," he said as he should have in the first place.

Shoving it into her hands, he looked over his shoulder where the door continued to rattle violently. He could see how one would be driven mad by the anticipation of it. He tried not the think of the man slumped in the corner.

"Drink, Granger. We need to get out of here."

She didn't move.

Draco shook her shoulder, then lifted her face. She stared blankly up at him, his wand light reflecting in her glassy eyes.

He took the bottle back and put it up to her lips, tilting her head back further. She drank. The door rattled.

"Okay, up we go now. Let's get out of here."

Coaxing her up by her elbow, he supported her weight. Her wand pointed uselessly at the the grimey floor. He noticed now there were standing in a pool of dried blood.

He knew he was going to have to apparate the both of them. It was not going to be easy, but what other choice was there?

"Ready?"

She did not answer, but did not let go. Draco clutched his wand in one hand and the bat in the other.

"Hold onto me. Here we go."

For a second they were squeezed together through the black vaccum-like void, then they were back outside in the grass on their knees.

The few minutes they had been inside was enough for the sun to disappear completely. It was not good to be out after dark.

Before he could even get to his feet, Draco realized they weren't alone. Several Flesh Eaters were comimg through the open gate and heading right for them.

"Up, get up, Granger! Hurry!"

He stood up and pulled her to her feet. She swayed slightly but held tight to his hand. There was too much to hold on to, so he put his still lit wand between his teeth, kept a firm hold on the bat, and pulled her by the hand as they began to move.

They weaved between the oncoming Flesh Eaters. One got too close. He jabbed it hard with the bat, knocking it clean off it's feet. They were almost to the gate, but he could see more in the distance.

"Which way?" Draco said out loud, recieving no answer.

He was tempted to go back the way they came, where there had been rows of houses, but that seemed to be the direction from where most of them were coming. Perhaps they had been following all along. They needed to find shelter for the night quickly. Granger was at least managing to keep up with the pace at which he pulled her.

They dodged a rather large Flesh Eater and sprinted down an alley. Upon making a sharp turn they came face to face with two more. Something about the darkness really stirred them up. Draco let go of Granger's hand and grabbed his wand.

"Protego!"

The two Flesh Eaters were knocked to the ground by the force of the spell. He took her by the hand once more and they continued on.

Reluctant to stop anywhere the Flesh Eaters seemed to be lurking, they continued on another two block, but he could tell Granger was slowing down.

The next house in sight was a tiny shack on the corner, and it would have to do unless he wanted to end up carrying her the rest of the way.

They were almost there when Draco felt Granger jerk and come to a stop. Turning around, he illuminated his wand to check what she had gotten herself tangled in. Instead he saw a rotting hand wrapped around her ankle. A Flesh Eater was on the ground, half hidden from the shrubbery. It was pulling itself closer to her, teeth snapping hungrily.

Draco didn't wait to see if she would aim her wand. Instead he wrapped both hands firmly around the bat and came crashing down on the Flesh Eater's skull.

The sound it made was sickening, yet Granger didn't seem fazed. Once she was free of it's grasp, Draco all but dragged her the rest of the way to the little shack, keeping her close as he opened the door and checked the interior. There was only one floor and all appeared to be quiet. With a relieved sigh, he shut and locked the behind them. They had made it through another day, somehow.

After removing her boots and putting her into the bed, the only one in the tiny house, Draco stood in the doorway for a long time, watching. Granger was not well, that much was clear. The current state of things was weighing on her mentally, as it did him and would anyone, but the way her moods shifted abruptly concerned him. He feared if something didn't change for the better, she may crack at some point.

For now, it was just a matter of keeping her from reaching that breaking point.

He wasn't sure whether or not she was actually asleep, but her eyes were closed and she lay quietly still. He hoped no nightmares woke her tonight and made a mental note to try and gather ingredients for a dreamless sleep potion. Blowing out the candle at her bedside, he left the bedroom door open and stretched out on the sofa in the next room. He fell asleep counting her breaths, the only sound filling the silence.