He owled the ministry to say that he would not be coming to work until his mother had been properly buried. He had been tempted to recommend that Granger be assigned to another to deal with, but changed his mind at the last minute.

Malfoy returned to work on Friday. He say numbly listening to Alfred Grompton attempt a show of sympathy whilst still berating him for rushing out on Wednesday.

"I know you had had a shock Draco my boy, but we must still remember our duty to the ministry and to each other. I completely understand my dear boy, and if it were up to me I'd have you take the week off...but the powers that be old chap...the powers that be."

Malfoy had thought he hated Potter. He had thought he hated Moody. But it just didn't compare to how much he hated Alfred Grompton. The man was vile; gnarled and stunted like a tree grown on a cliff-face, straining its hunched branches up to seek the sunlight. Everyone was like that at the ministry. Maybe not as physically repelling, but they all reached with grasping fingers towards the glory of their Dark Lord.

He's your Lord too Draco Malfoy said a nasty voice in Malfoy's head.

'No he isn't!'

When Grompton was finished with his sympathetic attack, Malfoy returned to his desk. It was in disarray. It appeared that, instead of shouldering some of the slack, or getting a temp to cover for him, the work had simply been allowed to pile up. Files for copying, invoices to be verified and sent, letter upon unopened letter and, worst of all, payroll confirmation slips- unsigned- had yet to be sent. Malfoy did not want to envision what might have happened if he had not come in till Monday. Probably a wizards lynching- if nobody had been paid.

Malfoy spent the entire of the morning catching up with the payroll, making alterations to various officials calendars and wondering whether a parchment-cut to the throat would be enough to kill himself.

When at last he had nearly reached the bottom of a towering pile of memo's, some of which had attempted to escape through the window as he disturbed them, he recognised one from Yaxely. His large and spiky handwriting, dotted with ink-blots and misspellings, said;

Malfoy

Howe much have you goten out of that mudblud I put you in charge of? None of the guards have heard anythin from the interogation room. I am hopeing this means she has been giving information willinly, and without perswasun.

We do not tolerayte soft-touches in my dept. Malfoy. Pull your wand out and get on with it! We need to know where her assoshiates are hiding out. If you have not gotten this information by this afternoon, i will expec you to come in on Saturday.

She is to be sent for processing by the muggleborn register on Sunday.

You'd better have somthing by then Malfoy or i might just send you with her!

Yaxley.

Malfoys blood ran cold, "Sent for processing" made her sound like reclaimed meat. Granger may be... what was she? She wasn't against him personally. Sure she'd fucked about when he tried to fill in the forms... but everybody fucked about when he tried to fill in the forms. Any forms. And she had been kind to him when nobody else was. When Snape had left him to brood and... well Snape was the only other person that had even offered his condolances. But had Draco been the prisoner and she the interogator it was unlikely he would have stroked her arm soothingly and made her tea in a cufflink.

Malfoy made his way to level 10 on autopilot. Staring straight ahead of him and not talking to anyone he knew. He tried not to think but his steps seemed to beat out the rhythm.

Cru-Cia-tus Cru-Cia-tus Cru-Cia-tus

He reached his destination all too soon. The guards stopped talking as he approached. They straightened up and watched respectfully as he held his hand to the enchanted panel that would admit him. The lock clicked and Malfoy walked in.

"Hello Her-" Malfoy was interrupted by a crudely made cup crashing against the wall beside his head. He shut the door hurridly.

"Where the fuck have you been Draco Malfoy!" screeched a tired and pale looking witch. Wriggling in the chair he had magically fixed her to on Wednesday.

Wriggling in the chair she was still magically fixed to.

"What?" he asked, guileless as Ron.

"You left me here! You left me here to rot in this hateful little room!"

"Why didn't you call the guard then you idiot?"

"You're not serious?" she asked. "I did call the fucking guards! They just laughed at me and turned the lights on and off for about four hours! The doors charmed Malfoy! No-one can get in or out without your say so. Why the hell didn't you tell anyone I was here? Did you think I might tell you something if you left me for two days with nothing to do but starve at watch the stains come and go on this grisly carpet! Why didn't you just-"

"What the fuck!" exploded Malfoy, angry for being so abused by aprisoner and guilty for having forgotten, "You're a prisoner Granger. did you expect linen table cloths and a maitre-de?"

"I expected not to-"

"Just shut up! I'm sorry alright? I didn't mean to!"

"Whatever Malfoy, just get me some water for Christ's sake!"

Resisting the urge to send a jet of aguamentied water right in her face, he picked up the as yet unbroken cufflink cup and filled it with his wand. Hermione snatched it from his hand and drank it in one.

"Very Impressive." he sneered.

she coughed and held the cup out for him to refill. "You should see me drink Firewhisky."

Malfoy laughed.

"You're not quite how i remember you Gra- Hermione. The frizzy Gryffindor I knew wouldn't have touched the stuff. And the smoking. When did all that happen?"

"Ah Malfoy, life on the run teaches you to enjoy such dubious pleasures." she replied like an old sage.

"I doubt you can run very far with a hangover. Or very far at all for that matter, if you smoke." replied Malfoy, hoping that she might slip up and tell him about their head-quarters.

She didn't.

"Oh don't be so literal Malfoy."

He took his seat opposite her and suddenly a thought struck him:

"You're still fixed to that chair?"

"Obviously."

"How did you get up last time?"

Hermione paled beneath her wan mask. She was relieved he wouldn't see it. Keeping her breathing steady and her eyes on the table she replied.

"I don't know." think Hermione think. "You...were upset and I wanted to comfort you. Have you never done accidental magic?"

Malfoy shrugged and the two were silent once again.

'Oh god. He nearly caught me out there! Oh I knew this would be too risky! Why did I listen to Moody? Or Lupin Or Ron! Nobody should ever listen to Ron. I can't believe I agreed to this. God what would he do if he found my wand? This is impossible! I'll never get him on side!'

"Oh Merlin. Look at her! The picture of strength and innocence. Bloody Gryffindors . After all I've ever said to her, all I've done! Letting deatheaters into Hogwarts, getting that mad bastard Dumbledore killed... And all I've not done! Doing nothing while my mad aunt crucioed her into tommorow...she still felt so bad for me she could release herself wandlessly. I couldn't torture someone like that. I couldn't listen to her scream, not again...Well...it might be easier if she kept that bloody mask on.'

"Take that stupid thing off Granger."

Hermione's hand jumped to her wrist, where the large wizards watch still lay hidden by her sleeve.

"What?" she asked in a strangled voice.

"That clown mask. Where on earth did you find it?"

"The Pied Peddler." she replied distactedly

"What's the pied pedlar?" asked Malfoy, dubiously.

"It's a muggle toyshop. And before you start scribbling things down it's not a hideout of ours."

"Odd how that would be exactly what you'd say if it was your hideout."

"Whatever. Anyway. Colin apparated us there once when we came under sudden attack. It's in the town he grew up in. You know, it's quite bizarre what muggles find entertaining..."

"You are a muggle, Granger. You had the same toys as they did." said Malfoy...with a sneer.

"Oh come on Malfoy don't be such a prat. anyway, during the attack that hateful Fenrir Greyback who bit Remus and Bill turned up and was even more leering and unsettling than usual. So Bill insisted that Fluer wear a glamour in future."

"I can see why."

"Quite. Anyway., Ron held up my clown mask and asked if that would do ... joking of course-"

"Of course."

"But it gave me the idea. so here there it is today." Hermione finished brightly gesturing

"I see. Why the bedazzling Hex then?"

oh fuck.

"what do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"Why the bedazzling hex if you were all glamoured up to the nines?"

I knew this wouldn't work. Oh merlin i knew he was too quick! Why couldn't this be Goyle or something?

"How... else would we... "

"Granger?"

"Erm.."

"I have to know Granger! Come On...Hermione, please? Yaxley wants me to torture you but I can't." his breathing was ragged and he was obviously barely keeping hysteria at bay. "I just can't... And they'e sending you to the MR on Sunday and I need to have something by then."

This had been exactly what Hermione had wanted. This was exactly what Snape had said would happen. Exactly how Lupin had told her to play it, but she was still furious.

"So you'll deliver me into their hands happily enough, but yourelf? Oh no. All of a sudden we're friends. I have to help you do I? Well I'll tell you one thing Draco Malfoy you fucking ferrety coward, I'll help you when you man up and stop being such a selfish brat who wouldn't know decency if it jumped up and hexed him!"

"Man up?" answered Malfoy, with a dangerous softness. "Man up! I'll show you!" he was out of control. He could feel his grip on himself, the one he had clung to desperately when Voldemort invaded his house, his school, his family, slipping away. It was terrifying and exhilerating at the same time. He let go.

Reaching for his wand, standing up and knocking back his chair he pointed his wand at Hermione and cried,

"Crucio!"