A/N I dont really have anything to say about this chapter, its a little wierd maybe? Well enjoy xD

Disclaimer: JKR owns all rights and I nothing

.

.

Day 3, 6.17, hour 41

After last night events Hermione had an uneasy feeling in her gut, almost queasy. She had fallen asleep nest to the thorn Slytherin after his last tears had fallen. But he had tossed and turned in his blankets and woken her several times.

He had said that seeing her cry made him feel uncomfortable since it was showing weakness and she could agree with that. Seeing him weak was somewhat like as if Alastor Moddy had put on a pink tutu and danced around to Celestina Warbeck.

She felt closer to him now that he had shared some of his pain with her and she didn't know if she liked it, or maybe it was her not liking to like it just out of principle. their relationship was progressing very fast, faster than she thought possible. She guessed that they were equal now since her own mental breakdown the other night. They were going crazy, both of them.

She couldn't understand though why being a failure at killing people and being a masked idiot meant so much to him, she thought it was great, but then again it lay deeper than that. Just like her own feelings towards being the 'good girl' laid deeper than just rebelling against authority and friends now when they weren't under a constant death treat.

While Malfoy slept she took some time to go through her own emotions and putting him aside for a while. She was definitely mad at Harry and Ron for not writing. She missed them; they were her brothers for Merlin's sake. She felt unimportant, set aside and ashamed over the anger that scorched inside of her for it. She remembered her argument she'd had with Ron like it was yesterday.

"I just don't see why you would go back there Hermione, I mean we don't have to?" Ron had asked, slouching on the couch in his living room.

"Well I don't know what else to do, I don't want to become an Auror like you and Harry and I just need more options" She explained.

"You don't need more school for that, you're bloody brilliant and you're part of the golden trio, anyone would hire you in a heartbeat" He said with confidence.

"I don't want the attention, it bothers me Ronald"

"Well what about helping people? I thought you wanted to do that" Incomprehension shined in his baby blues.

"Of course I want to help people, but I need to help me right now" She fidgeted warily with the hem of her dress.

"Isn't that a bit selfish of you now after the war and all?" He asked casually.

"What?"

"Yeah, there are a lot of things you could do to help people heal; thinking of yourself seems out of place, wasting your brains on yourself"

"Then what about me Ron? Maybe I need to heal too…" Hopelessness seeped through her like venom.

"I just don't get it, you're famous now, you have money and you can do whatever you want,"

"But I don't know what I want!" He just shrugged.

"Well we are going to Auror training anyway, regardless if you join us or not"

"So you don't give a shit about me then?" He looked at her with that goofish expression only he could muster sometimes.

"No that's not it, I care I just know what I want and you don't, I can't wait for you. And what's up with the dirty mouth? It really doesn't suit a girl like you" The sincerity was clearly absent in his statement so she just turned around and walked away with a feeling of complete abandonment.

Hermione felt angry at the memory. She decided then and there that she wouldn't give a shit about what anyone thought about her anymore. Sure she was a complete mess of emotions but she was going to figure it out at her own pace, grow in her own pace.

If Ron couldn't accept that then maybe they didn't have the relationship she'd thought they had anymore. She did have the right to think about herself and she was allowed to give herself credit for her own accomplishments.

Just because she never did before didn't mean she couldn't start now. Maybe that was his problem. She had never been independent from the pair of them before. It was always 'Harry's scar' and 'Ron's' Quiddich'.

She knew that her nightmares and other more physical problems would waver with time as long as her mind got more time to process it. She decided that she wouldn't try and fight it so hard, and she would take up Malfoy on that Quiddich thing as well. Hell, she needed some new ground.

Then there was the problem with her parents. Godric how she missed them! But the sting of their betrayal still burned in her heart with a blazing fire. She thought of all the letters they'd sent each and every one discarded without being opened.

She looked over at Malfoy who was stirring in his sleep again and searched her heart for what she felt about him. Things had changed so much since she saw him at the train the first of September. Back then she couldn't believe the nerve he had to return to the school he had helped to destroy. He was one of 'them'.

Now she was uncertain, a feeling she didn't like at all. She liked facts, truths and things etched in stone.

She felt his pain as if it were her own for some reason, yesterday had broken her heart completely. She had learned to appreciate the person he was, yes he was a broken and shattered person, but a human with feelings nonetheless. He was witty, smart and handsome.

And he was just as lonely and doubting as she was. A sting of pain spread through her chest, slithering around her heart like a venomous snake when she realized that he was all she got. At least for the moment.

On the other hand maybe it wasn't so bad. If they had been two other completely different persons this might have been something to be girly exited about, but they were'nt. It was complicated. But she decided that she would give him an honest chance, whole heartedly.

She also decided to back him against the wall and question him about the choices he'd made in the past. She would try and only see him as he was now, the Malfoy she really liked, today since she knew that he was different, but she needed some reasoning. She needed logic. She would never forgive him, but maybe she would understand. Maybe.

She looked over at him and let out a little yelp when she was met by his scrutinizing grey pools, she thought he'd still be asleep.

"Where were you? It looked like you had taken a bludger to the head" His shirt was unbuttoned halfway down his chest revealing a beautifully sculptured chest and he was leaning back on his arms.

"I was thinking about you actually" She said honestly. He frowned a bit.

"About yesterday… I don't quite understand but I have decided that I will try and not to judge you anymore, as much as I can" She struggled for words and he squirmed uncomfortable.

"I am tired of all the tip toeing; I want to be honest with you because you deserve it, you proofed that to me yesterday and I know how hard that must have been for you. What I am trying to say, I think, is that I'll be there for you… If you want it…" He smiled sadly.

"Wow, did you age ten years when I was sleeping? That's some really mature stuff…" He sat up and inhaled hardly.

"This is so fucked up" She nodded in agreement.

"I mean you're Hermione Granger, part of the golden trio who defeated the Dark Lord and sent my whole circuit crumbling down" He avoided her eyes.

"You of all people should hate me and here we are trapped together and you say that you will try and not to judge me? Pure Gryffindor stupidity" Now it was her turn to frown.

"I don't think I am that Hermione anymore, and anyway it does'nt matter when it comes to this" She stated firmly. "so you say that it's wrong of me to trust that you have given up your beliefs? That you're not trying to change?"

"No, I just think it's typical of you to be so bloody kind and that is beyond me, I can wish for you to trust me all I want but would you actually do it whole heartedly? Only you can decide to do that, I am just surprised that's all" He seemed very bothered by his own words and she understood why.

She had been taught since she could walk that truth and communication was the foundation of a good relationship. All he had known was fake masks, lies and trying to hide who he was. This she concluded herself but she could bet her left foot on that it was true. She told him so and he agreed with discomfort.

"Well I know this is fucked up, I didn't expect this either" she gesticulated between them "but can we be honest with each other from now on?"

"I'll try" He answered.

"What do you mean 'this' by the way?" He copied her movements from earlier.

"Us, we confiding in each other, I… obviously we have a great need for it, and I just don't see why we should fight this connection just because we're, ehm, different… Well you seem to understand me, you don't judge" She regretted her words as soon as they flew out of her mouth and saw the look in his eyes. Maybe she had pushed this matter on him to quickly, maybe she had pushed it on herself to quickly.

I mean I don't know what I feel about him, right?

"I am hardly in a position of being able to judge anymore…" He licked his lips nervously. He looked so misplaced I his corner, so not like him at all, all vulnerable and confused. She realized that he neither had a clue of what was going on between them. Then suddenly he got a very determined look in his eyes, like someone had lit a candle behind his stormy grays.

"I don't care as long as you don't give up on me… Promise that you will be there then? Shit I don't like this… just promise ok? No matter what?" the determination had been accompanied with a desperate pleading.

I'm suppose to say no to those puppy eyes?

"Certainly, but you must promise to be honest with me, about everything, no lies" Hermione answered as she crawled over the stone floor to get closer to him. Malfoy nodded warily as she positioned herself Indian style in front of him.

"You to, right?" Hermione smiled and stretched out her hand which he took in his bigger one. They shook on it to seal the deal, whatever it was, and Hermione couldn't help put to hold his hand a heartbeat longer than necessary. A sort of awkward silence settled between them like a thick mist and they both retreated into their own worlds to think about what they just shared.

Hermione pulled out a book and pretended to read while her mind processed their conversation. She could almost feel the gears spinning. She hastily glanced over her shoulder to make sure there wasn't any steam coming out of her ears.

Ok, so she had made some sort of agreement with Malfoy, whom she tried not to like but really did like a lot, which involved them 'bonding' for a lack of better word. She remembered the great feeling of relief after she had told him about her anger towards Harry and Ron, she needed someone to talk to about her feelings, and he just happened to be the only person she felt that she could manage the presence of.

And Malfoy obviously needed to vent a bit to so she couldn't really see what was wrong with their understanding.

He used to be a Death Eater…?

Well did that matter? No it bloody didn't, she didn't care anymore. He was just not what she was used to and in his new humbled state she didn't feel afraid of showing her insecurity's anymore.

He seemed to take anything she gave him and he just, agreed or disagreed, calmly accepting that 'that's idiotic but it's Granger'. Unlike Ron the stupid prick, he wouldn't recognize change if it slapped him in the face!

"Do you care about me swearing?" She suddenly blurted out. Malfoy who seemed to actually read his book didn't look up.

"No, you were always such a prude before so I think it suits you" he mumbled.

Prude? Yeah okay, maybe…

"Do you think I am selfish for wanting more options for myself?" She had really no idea what made her say that either. Did she need him to reassure her?

"No I think you're smart. Options are great, and you shouldn't take them for granted…" He smiled sadly.

A small tingling fuzzy feeling spread in her chest.

Ok I guess she did need him to reassure her.

"How much cottage pie can you eat?" She asked suspiciously.

"For fucks sake, what is up with the twenty questions?" He huffed in amusement. "And I don't know, I don't even like the shit" he added and gave her an equally suspicious look before returning to his book.

Yeah, definitely unlike Ron.

.

.

Day 3, 16.05, hour 51

The day progressed slowly in their little prison and Hermione felt the insanity stroke her in her neck as they tried to occupy themselves with something to do. The small matters of personal hygiene and food was simple fixed with magic which was easier than she thought it would have been when they just had gotten trapped.

She had used the Scouring Charm to clean herself but found herself longing for a real shower and something else to eat but onion soup.

They had talked a lot about their feelings and loneliness. Malfoy's mother was apparently in St. Mungo's for the time and he missed her immensely. He had also been to a labor camp over the summer as punishment for his involvement in the war which explained his new more muscular form.

Ha had reasoned that it was fair, and it was way better than Azkaban and yet again she saw the guilt gnawing in him as he spoke.

Of course she had to pry it out of him since he was still reluctant to sharing personal things with her but had honored his promise to be honest with her. She had also answered all his questions honestly but had sneakily changed subject when they got to deep into the matter of her parents. She had told him almost the entire truth. She wasn't ready to pull that thing out of the pain box yet.

After the war she found it safe to go to Australia and look for them and had found them on a crocodile farm outside of Perth.

The angry and accusing scolding she had gotten was not expected. Apparently tampering with their memories to protect them from her world's most evil wizard was a bad idea according to her mother. Her father had said that her magic was starting to become a burden and that she was getting disrespectful.

"Didn't they realize you saved their lives?" Malfoy asked frowning.

"Yeah but he still said he wished he got a normal daughter who couldn't cause him these sort of troubles, not a witch" Hermione had expected a snaring comment on the barbaric nature of muggles from him but he just said that they were probably just upset and that they would make up when given time to forget.

"It's not that simple" She groaned frustrated into her hands.

"Then tell me?"

"They said that, -" She had almost let it slip what she wanted to tell him. The main problem to why she was hurting and the thing that needed to come out before it ate her alive but she couldn't.

"Everyone fights with their parents Hermione, I am sure you will solve it"

"Well I can't do it this time!" She spat.

"Why?" He knitted his light brows together in confusion. "You know you can tell me right?"

"No I can't because you will think differently about me" He almost laughed at her which made her even angrier.

"Why the hell would I think differently of you because you told me about a row you had with your parents? What could possibly have happened that is worse than the things I have done?" Actually he was right, she thought, and was tempted to give in and tell him.

But then a fear spread through her, chilling her veins and she just couldn't. She couldn't lose this newfound friendship-relationship thingy she had started with Malfoy; she needed him to be alone with her.

"Never mind" He shrugged, but she could see that he would press her about it another time just like she had done with him. She feared that moment.

She wanted to cry again.

.

.

A/N I know this was a filler but soon things will start to stirr xD I have also noticed that my chapters are getting longer. I wanted to keep them short and sweet in the beginning but now I don't know anymore, what do you guys think? Feedback? :P