She was curled up in his large coat, asleep and warm in the chair. He just watched her for a moment, they had all grown up so fast. He remembered how they used to be, so young and innocent, taking on all the evils of the world. Now they had seen more evil than anyone should ever have to, they'd accepted all the shades of gray, and that there are people who do truly evil things with pure hearts, for what ever reason.

It was still a little bit of a shock to think of it. The little boy who couldn't believe he was special, because everyone had always told him otherwise, was now the head of the department of Aurors. He was married now to his wife of two and a half years, to the woman that had become everything to him when they were still so young. Ginny, he was still trying to wrap his head around that one, spit fire as they come and stubborn as her mother, she was pregnant now, would be bringing new life into this world within a matter of months. And Ron, well, he wasn't sure what was up with Ron. But there were two who had come the furthest, had overcome more change than most.

Draco, born into a pure blood household, for all the good it did him, where Hagrid suspected he had been abused when he should have been cherished. To shake off his father's chains, to reverse everything that he'd been taught, everything that he had done. He'd always have that mark on his arm. It would always define him to most of the world as one of the scum of the earth, but he had been so young, so misguided, and he had learned quickly that he didn't have it in him to kill. He tried so hard. Even as a child he'd fought it, Hagrid could see the ever present turmoil. He'd reached out and helped that little girl hadn't he, he'd have been nurturing her since he was not even old enough to attend school. Showing her the love that he'd been denied.

And her, he smiled at the sleeping figure, she had started out with all the answers. But by the end life has a funny way with taking your answers and turning every single one of them into a question until that's all your left with. She'd stopped letting people walk all over her, she'd become who she was supposed to be at the moment. But her changes were far from over. She was taking on a half grown kid, and although she was a natural parent, it would be a hard adjustment. She needed answers soon, he knew, as all people did, and he hoped she found the ones she needed.

And some people were always going to cause trouble. Bellatrix, He knew, and Lucius as another example. He didn't know what he wanted with Hermione, but he was smart enough to know it wasn't about any job. He intended to ask Draco about that, in fact, he'd go do that now. But he couldn't leave her alone, then again, she wasn't truly alone. He looked around for Fang, couldn't see him in his large cramped rooms, but that wasn't unusual. So he let out a quiet whistle, one he was sure wouldn't wake Hermione.

There was a low whimper and the coat that covered Hermione began to shift. A minute later his big black head poked out, his eye tired but willing to please. Hagrid reached down and scratched the dog's ear, chuckling at him. "Your just a big softy, aren't ya boy."

In response the dog lay his head back down, readjusting himself so that he was right up against Hermione. And he'd stay there, Hagrid knew, because he loved the closeness. So he could leave with that, trusting that Fang would jump to her protection in a matter of seconds if there was need. Because Fang had always loved Hermione.


Hagrid stood right on the inside of the castle, realizing now that he had no idea where Draco would be. He'd never had need to visit any of the other teachers in their quarters. Would he even be there? How was he supposed to knock on a portrait?

And it didn't seem to be a problem as Draco appeared out of almost no where, wearing one cloak with another bundled in his arms. "Hagrid?" He blinked at the sight of the half-giant, almost wishing he could ignore him and continue his pursuit. "What are you doing here so late?"

"Looking for you." Hagrid shifted uncomfortably, really not wanting to have this conversation.

"Well, I was actually looking for Hermione. She got upset and walked out a few hours ago, I was going to let her be, but I just realized she forgot her cloak."

"She's asleep." Hagrid nodded, watching surprise flicker over Draco's features. "She's not going to be coming back until there's sunlight."

"Hagrid..." Draco started to say something nasty, but he stopped himself before he could hurt his friend. Hagrid had done nothing but try to protect Hermione, he assumed from him. And that was no reason to get angry, after all, Hagrid had known her longer, since her first year.

"What I want to know is," Hagrid continued as if Draco hadn't planned to say anything, "What does your father want with Hermione?"

"Why would my father want something with her?" He stepped closer to Hagrid, his hands now gripping her cloak with enough strength to turn his knuckles bone white.

Hagrid filled him in on what he knew, which wasn't a lot, ending with how shook up she seemed when she came in, even though she did her best not to show it. Draco's entire face had paled now. He could have killed her there when he saw that she wouldn't give in, if Hagrid hadn't shown up, he could have killed her and just walked away. His problem would have been solved.

He left with Hagrid, explaining on the way about the conversation he had had with father earlier that evening. And he could tell that Hagrid wasn't happy about it, not much he could do about that. By the time they reached Hagrid's hut, he'd slipped into silence, not wanting to earn a lecture from the half giant.

He wasn't sure why he'd followed Hagrid out, except that he wasn't going to sleep at all tonight anyway. He hadn't been able to stop reeling after she left, replaying everything she'd said to him. And most of it still didn't make any sense. So her cloak had been an excuse, and even then, he debated on whether to bring a cloak or a coat. His decision was made easy when he found that none of her actual jackets were warm enough to stand up to the January chill. Either way, he'd needed to see her, now especially. Because his father had come so close.

He stepped into the warm hut, saw her almost immediately. Fang, who had stayed awake to make sure that someone would come back, settled his head down and just watched Draco. There was something in the dog's eyes, as if he knew that Draco had caused her some kind of pain. And Draco didn't pay one bit of attention to the dog.

He never noticed how peaceful she looked when she was asleep, as if she was some kind of angel that should never be disturbed. Almost silently he sat in a chair across from her, waited. He wouldn't wake her, not yet. That was until she cracked open an eye, she'd been awake, dying to go back to sleep, but she couldn't with him watching her. Her gaze bore right through him. "What are you doing here?"

He got up again, came to kneel in front of the very large chair. "Hagrid came and got me."

"Terrific." She rolled her eyes, pushed at the dog until she was certain there was no way he was going to move for a while. "Just damn terrific."

"You didn't want him to tell me?" Draco looked at her, the woman who had gotten mad because he hadn't wanted to share his troubles. And she didn't want him to know.

"Not at, what is it, around two o'clock in the freaking morning." She dragged her fingers through her hair, secretly wishing she'd thought more clearly before she'd walked out. Because if she had, she'd have gone almost anywhere else. Who knows, maybe she'd have gone to the shrieking shack, now that the tunnel under the willow had been reopened. They had Fenrir Greyback to blame for that, with five students having been bitten, and they wouldn't turn them away. But Draco wouldn't have come and she'd have been able to think without the distraction of having their disagreement, for how could it be an "argument" if he didn't argue with her, tossed back in her face.

"Your still mad." He couldn't really be angry with her, something about her seemed to cut that emotion off at the knees, but he could be frustrated. And he could be annoyed.

"Very good, Dr. Watson." She bit, stopped for a second when he was confused. Her tone lightened just a little and it was the first time she really realized just how different their two worlds were. "Sorry, it's a muggle thing. Dr. Watson was a companion to a fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes."

"I see." He didn't, not really, but it would take too long to explain it all so she dropped it. "Are you okay?"

He was done dancing around the disagreement, she decided, and he meant something else entirely. He meant, did his father hurt her? "Yes, I'm fine. It just took me by surprise, that's all."

"We wouldn't be having this issue at all if you had just stayed inside the castle." He rose, suddenly impatient with the two of them. Because everything had been fine, and he couldn't figure out when she had started to distance herself so completely from him. But it felt more than ever like he was losing her fast.

"You want me to apologize?" She asked him, reaching down to stroke the dog when he butted his head against her head. In other words, if your going to keep me awake with your bickering, least you could do is give me a good scratch behind the ear. "Fine. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I got hurt because you don't want to trust me."

"Hermione, that's..." He was going to tell her not to be stupid, that what she was saying was absurd. But another thought struck him hard in the chest, he'd go for Mel next. Not because he cares one way or another about what happened to her, she'd only ever been a burden to him, because she was a girl. But he'd go for her because he knew they cared about her, that Hermione would do almost anything to see her safe.

Hermione knew the look in his eye, knew exactly what he was thinking. "She'll be safe for now, he won't try for her. She's surrounded by huge amounts of people almost every second of the day, he knows that." She reached out to touch his arm, her concern for Mel overriding her anger. "She'll be fine. And we can work on going back to our lives. After all, we have a ball to finesse."

He smiled at her and her walls were back up. She just curled up again against Fang and went back to sleep. She wasn't ready to forgive him yet, and he still wasn't quite sure why she was angry in the first place.