A/N: I hope this works. The doc manager is being really really weird right now. Anyway, here is Chapter 7 for your reading pleasure!


Snape pulled the wand out of Hermione's grip as they descended the staircase. He directed his disapproving tone towards Draco.

"Through all that you didn't even think to disarm her?"

Draco simply shook his head. The majority of his memory had returned to him. He knew who he was, where he was, and whom he was with, but how or why he wound up in this situation still eluded him.

Snape led them into the dungeons, past corridors Draco had never explored before. They came up on a rather wide alcove with shackles dangling from the ceiling. Snape gently forced Hermione into the space before conjuring an Impedimentia Jinx over the entrance. Draco swore he saw Snape give Hermione an almost apologetic glance before guiding the younger Slytherin a safe distance down the hall.

"Now," Snape said, "explain yourself."

"I… I don't know what happened."

"The ward in Ravenclaw Tower? You catching Granger?"

"I don't know," Draco said. It was apparent that he should, and he searched his memory for anything vaguely resembling what Snape was searching for, but he yielding nothing.

Snape's face twisted with his scrutiny before crinkling in concentration. Draco knew this look. Out of pure instinct, he wiped his mind of everything: confusion, frustration, and the strange fear that had been integrated into his being since the Dark Lord's return.

Snape's look of focus snapped to one of anger once he realized that Draco barred any intruders from his mind. Acting on his frustration, Snape grabbed Draco by the front of his robes and shook him.

"Do you not realize what I'm trying to do, Draco? Your family would not appreciate you withholding information when they are the ones who have to pay!"

A faint echo sounded off in Draco's mind. This felt vaguely familiar: being shaken by the front of his robes over something entirely bewildering.

After his outburst, Snape released Draco with a huff of disgust.

"Stay here," Snape said as he strode back down the corridor, "watch her, and ponder your fate if you continue to remain silent."


Hermione gave up trying to overhear their conversation after the first minute. It was no use; they were too far down the corridor, and she was wandless and trapped. She had no way of knowing if her frantic attempt at a Memory Charm had worked on Malfoy. The fates of Luna and Ginny, and possibly Harry and Ron, depended on it.

She huddled against the cold, stone wall. It would take weeks for the boys to find her down here. Enough time for the Death Eaters to force-feed her Veritaserum, torture out of her mind, or decide that she was too useless to keep her alive.

Through all this, the years of sticking by Harry and the Order, she could not let this one mistake crumble everything. There was no way she could let this be the end.

"You really are the brightest witch of your age."

Sirius's words filled her mind, and she repeated them until they became a mantra. She would make it out of this alive. She had to.

It wasn't long before a slightly slumped figure came into view in front of the alcove.

Hermione straightened up and tentatively called out, "Who's there?"

The figure jerked its face up out of the shadows as if noticing her for the first time. It was Draco. She was accustomed to seeing him walk with his chest thrust out, brimming with arrogance; not like this. He looked defeated, scared. Due to her caring nature, her first instinct told her to assist him or comfort him. She took a few steps forward before she reminded herself who she was looking at.

Her eyes moved from how he was carrying himself to his face. Its differences also took her by surprise. Not only were his eyes darker and less jubilant, but there was no hint of hatred anywhere on his face. A sight Hermione had never seen.

Draco's eyes remained focused on her with such an intensity that Hermione began to feel uncomfortable. She took a step backward. Simultaneously, he stepped forward. Hermione could feel the mixture of confusion and fear cross her face. He was armed; she was not. A reaction crossed Draco's face that she couldn't put words to, and he continued to step closer to her, his gaze never wavering.

Surely he'll remember the jinx. He'll stop. He's not that stupid.

But he didn't stop. The second he made contact with the jinx he was sent backwards, barreling into the opposite dungeon wall. He swore loudly when the pain registered.

Hermione didn't know whether to laugh or desperately find some way to help. She settled for barely keeping the nervous laugh building in her chest out of her voice when she asked if he was okay.

"Fantastic," he answered bitterly as he picked himself off of the floor.

Once she had assessed from afar that he had no serious injuries, she relaxed into her know-it-all self.

"What were you thinking? You saw Snape cast the Jinx. You knew it was there, and you walked right into it!"

She knew it was unwise to say anything to potentially provoke a hostile attack, but she couldn't help it. With any other Death Eater she would keep her mouth shut, but this was Draco Malfoy. Nearly seven years of constant teasing trained her to never back down from the heated verbal fights they always seemed to get into.

Apparently he felt differently as he merely glanced at her and hurried off down the corridor without a word.

Draco only moved far enough down the dimly lit hallway to be out of sight of the alcove. Just far enough so he wouldn't be persuaded by the sight of Granger to do any more stupid things and close enough that the bond was nearly satisfied.

Back against the wall, he sunk to the floor. His fingers raked through his platinum hair. He was going insane. He had to be. This spell was going to be the death of him.

Because, for a second, he lost track of the bond, didn't realize it was working on him, and let his feet be motivated by the mere fact that he wanted to see her eyes, those deep, chocolate eyes, up close.

He wanted to see what made Mudblood eyes so different than his own.


A/N: There's Chapter 7! I hope you liked it. Again, sorry if the format isn't right, the doc manager is being a butt right now. Thanks to CentrIfficus for the lovely review! Much love to you. You should all make me just as happy by reviewing (it takes two seconds and brings me tons of joy). Have a good week!