Draco didn't know one day from the next. Each moment was filled with terror. Threats, torture, dead bodies. His nightmares were infused with images too vile to speak of aloud, and his waking moments offered much of the same. With a strange jolt, he realized that the school year had begun. How very far away Hogwarts felt. Draco lay in bed recalling a single night, weeks ago, when he thought for one brief moment that he would be able to escape, and create a new reality for himself.

He had finally been able to leave Malfoy Manor. The Dark Lord was on a mission of his own, and Draco had sneaked out. He wasn't sure that she would show, but he had risked sending her an owl. He couldn't bare the thought of never seeing her again. Draco made his way along the familiar path through the forest. It had been so long since he had ventured it that it was now overgrown. When the trees thinned and the pond came into view, Draco's heart swelled. Hermione was sitting, as she had done so many times in the past, upon one of the two swings in their little park. Draco emerged from the trees, and walked tentatively towards her. As she looked up, Draco realized how very different they both were now. Their lives had been turned upside down, and the effects were apparent on both of their faces.

Draco had nothing to lose anymore. He was not worried about endangering her further, because she was in the utmost danger no matter what. He approached her, hesitantly at first, but once he was close enough to her, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. Pressing his lips firmly against hers, he embraced her. She returned his kiss, but after only a moment, Draco realized that she was crying. He pulled away.

"Hermione," He spoke softly.

"Draco, I can't stay long." Hermione said, the pain in her voice apparent.

Draco began to feel the emotion welling up inside him as well.

"Let's leave!" He said desperately. "We can go, right now. We can hide!"

Hermione closed her eyes and shook her head. "You know I can't Draco. I could never live with myself."

He admired her convictions, but he also hated her for them.

"Please..Hermione" Draco begged, clasping both of her hands in his.

"Stop." She said firmly. "I'm leaving soon...for the Burrow." She hesitated. " I'm going to help Harry. I can't leave him and Ron. They're my best friends. They need me."

Draco dropped her hands and took a step back. "I thought I was your best friend." He said defiantly.

Hermione gave a small sob, and covered her mouth with her hand. "Draco," she said "please understand."

She looked up at him, and her watery eyes met his. She took a step towards him and reached out. He obliged by extending his hand into hers. Grasping it, she took another deep breath, choking back tears.

"We're on different sides now. As much as I love you, I can't agree with what you're doing."

Draco's heart stopped. She had said that she loved him. He moved towards her, clutching her hand even tighter than before. "If you love me than just run away with me!"

She shook her head again. "I could never live with myself if I ran, and left my friends behind." She gave a sniff. "I love you," she repeated, "but I love them more."

Draco's whole being split in half. His body crumbled, and at the same time, stood in tact. She loved him...just not enough.

He leaned forward and kissed her once more. He wanted to remember the taste of her lips. Allowing himself to succumb to his emotions for just a moment longer, he held her close to his body, before releasing her, and turning his back.

"Goodbye Hermione, " He said quietly, before turning on the spot and disappearing with a small pop.

Hermione collapsed to the ground, her emotion overtaking her. She wanted to ask Draco to come with her. She wanted to explain to him how she was giving up her whole life. Placing a spell on her parents so that they wouldn't even remember her. She needed him. She could save him from the Dark Lord...but it was too late. Draco was gone.

Draco sat up in his bed and ran his hands through his hair. His eyes fell on a newspaper article that was lying on the table next to his bed. Hermione's face looked back at him, alongside several others including a few classmates that Draco recognized from Hogwarts.

MISSING MUGGLE-BORNS

The following persons remain unaccounted for. Ministry officials urge anyone with information on their whereabouts to come forward. These muggle-borns are believed to have stolen magic from unknown witches or wizards, and are masquerading as magical beings. A reward will be given to any persons who present one of these wanted muggle-borns before the Ministry.

Draco rolled his eyes. As if a muggle could steal magic from a wizard. The idea was ridiculous. Anyone who knew Hermione would be able to vouch for her miraculous abilities. It was obvious that her magic came naturally. He had witnessed her talents first hand, as young as 9 years old, when she unintentionally threw him into the pond. He smiled a little to himself. Times were so simple then. Draco didn't even sleep anymore. He just lay awake wondering where she was. He hoped that Potter was keeping her safe.

Days went past, then weeks, then months. Draco craved news of Hermione's whereabouts. On the few occasions where the other Death Eaters brought rumors of Potter's location, Draco immediately dissaperated to the spot, hoping desperately to catch a glimpse of her. A street in London, a hillside, the Forest of Dean. He popped from place to place. As badly as Draco wanted to see her, he secretly thanked the gods every time he didn't. If he could find her, so could others. He was just thankful that she was safe. As Draco sat in the drawing room one evening, having just finished dinner with his parents, there was a commotion at the door.

"What is this?" His mother asked, opening the door to a large group of people.

"We've caught Harry Potter." Came Fenrir Grayback's voice, and Draco's stomach dropped.

The crowd bustled in. Draco watched as the snatchers brought in a group of people, all tied together. He held his breath as they came closer. Then his eyes fell upon her, and he felt his body go numb. She was thinner than usual, and she had dark circles under her eyes. Draco felt his knees going weak, but he forced himself to stand tall. He couldn't give away his attachment to her.

"Draco, come here." His mother instructed.

Hermione was pulled around as those she was tied to where pivoted. Hermione could not see Draco, but she knew he was now face-to-face with Harry.

Draco took a few steps forward as they pulled Potter around to face him. All eyes were on him.

"Well Draco?" Lucius Malfoy questioned. "Is it Harry Potter?"

Draco hesitated. He looked into Potter's face. It was swollen, and red, as if Potter had been stung by something, or perhaps had been on the wrong end of a curse. But Draco was sure..it was definitely Potter. He would recognize that mop of hair and green eyes anywhere. Potter looked at him, his eyes almost pleading.

"I can't...I can't be sure.." Draco said quietly, making the decision to play dumb. He hated Potter, but he didn't want him dead. And he certainly didn't want anything to happen to Hermione for associating with Potter.

Hermione closed her eyes, silently thanking Draco for not revealing them. She knew there was still some good in him.

"What about the mudblood then?" Greyback growled, shifting the prisoners so that Hermione's face was bathed in the light of the chandelier. Draco's eyes fell upon her face, and he felt his breath catch.Though she looked like she hadn't had a proper meal or a good nights sleep in months, she was still just as beautiful as ever. How many nights had he dreamed of her face. He wanted to feel his skin against her's more than anything. He fought the urge to reach up and place his hand on her face.

"I saw her picture in the Prophet!" Narcissa exclaimed. "Look, Draco, isn't it the Granger girl?"

Draco took a step closer to her, and their eyes made contact. It was the most painful thing Draco had ever experienced. Hermione's brown eyes bore into his soul, and he felt his grey one's fill with tears, his face only a foot from hers. For a brief moment, Draco thought he saw her lips move ever so slightly, forming the word "please" as they looked at each other.

"I...maybe..." Draco couldn't form a sentence. He closed his eyes. He didn't know what to do.

Draco looked at Hermione again. "I'm sorry" he mouthed, barely moving his lips. He hoped she would see it and understand that he didn't want any of this.

Suddenly his aunt was shouting at one of the snatchers. Draco couldn't listen. He didn't care. He couldn't take his eyes off of Hermione.

"Where did you find this sword?" Bellatrix said angrily once more, pointing her wand at the snatcher. "Snape sent it to my vault in Gringotts!"

Everyone was shouting. Were they really this upset about some stupid sword? Draco did not understand what all the panic was for.

"Take these prisoners down to the cellar, Greyback." Said Draco's mother, but before Grayback could move, Bellatrix interjected.

"Wait," she said sharply. "All except... except for the Mudblood."

Draco felt a panic rush through him. He had to do something, but he was paralyzed by fear, and hating himself more by the second.

Weasley shouted. "No! You can have me, keep me!"

Draco's aunt struck Weasley hard against the face and laughed "If she dies under questioning, I'll take you next. Blood traitor is next to Mudblood in my book. "

Hermione was untied and thrown to the floor, while the others were dragged away. Draco could hear Weasley screaming for Hermione as he was dragged to the dungeons below.

Time seemed to slow. Draco's eyes fell on Hermione as she began to push herself up from the floor. As her gaze met his he took two steps towards her, extending his hand slightly.

"Crucio!" Shouted his aunt's voice, and Hermione's screams of agony filled Draco's ears, rooting him to his spot.

"Where did you get the sword!?" Shouted Bellatrix as she lifted the curse. Hermione's body fell limp.

"It's a fake." Hermione whimpered, her body still feeling the after effects of the curse.

"Liar!" Bellatrix shouted firing another curse at Hermione.

Hermione writhed in pain, screaming. It was the worst noise Draco had ever heard. He took a few steps back, feeling that he might pass out, and leaned against the wall behind him, his eyes shut as tight as he could. And then, as Hermione's screams of pain subsided, she gave the smallest sob.

"Draco.." Came her voice through the tears. Almost so quietly that for a moment, Draco thought he imagined it.

"Ha!" Laughed Bellatrix. "Don't you dare speak to my nephew! Just because you went to school together means nothing!" She gave another screech of laughter. "Draco has no pity for a pathetic mudblood like you."

"Draco...please..." Hermione said weakly, and Draco fell to the floor. He could no longer support himself, and could no longer keep the tears from falling freely down his face.

"Enough!" Shouted Bellatrix. "You filthy mudblood! What else have you stolen from my vault?"

Hermione pushed herself up to look at Bellatrix and said more forcefully than Draco would have thought possible "Nothing!"

"Liar!" Bellatrix shouted again and aimed her wand at Hermione. With a flash of light, and another cry of "Crucio!" Hermione gave a horrible scream, and fell to the ground where she lay limp, and barely moving.

The goblin was called up from the dungeon, but Draco could no longer hear anything that was being said. He didn't care. He could not rip his eyes from Hermione's barely conscious body.

"We can dispose of the Mudblood." Came Bellatrix's voice. "Greyback, take her if you want her."

"NOOOOOOOOO" Draco felt himself shout as he lunged forward, attempting to stand, but his voice was horse, and he was not the only one that had shouted.

Weasley burst into the room, closely followed by Potter. Draco managed to regain his composure for just a moment before his wand was ripped from his hand by a disarming charm sent by Potter.

"STOP OR SHE DIES!"

Draco spun around. Bellatrix had an unconscious Hermione in her arms with a knife pressed firmly against Hermione's throat. Everyone in the room froze. Bellatrix ushered Draco forward to collect everyone's wands. As he turned back with the wands in hand, he chanced a quick look at Hermione. A trickle of blood was dripping down her throat from where the knife was pressing into her skin. Suddenly, there was a grinding noise. Draco looked up for the source of the noise, and a memory from his childhood seemed to flash before his eyes. His grandfather's crystal chandelier came crashing to the things seemed to happen all at once. Bellatrix flung Hermione away from her, Potter lunged forward and grabbed the wands from Draco's hand, and as Draco's mother pulled him out of harm's way, Dobby, their old house elf grabbed everyone, and they vanished into thin air.

Draco stumbled into the hallway, and fell to the ground, trying to grasp what had just happened.

"Draco," came his mother's urgent voice. He felt her hand grasping his arm, pulling him to his feet. "Draco, we are in trouble! The Dark Lord is on his way, and he will not be happy to find that we have allowed Potter to escape." She was pulling him down the hallway. "You must stay in your room, and no matter what you hear, do not come out."

They had reached Draco's room. Narcissa pushed him inside, paused for a moment and looked at him.

"My sweet boy." She said quietly, taking his face in her hands, before stepping back, and closing his door. Draco heard the lock click from the outside.

Draco was living in a nightmare. Days past, and then even more days. He couldn't distinguish them. Finally, he had the chance to go back to Hogwarts, and he relished the idea. He so desperately wanted things to go back to the way they were.

And then he was there. He was in the very corridors that he walked as a child. When things were so easy. When his family wasn't constantly in pain. He would do anything to keep his mother safe. He never wanted her to feel pain again. So he was fighting. Draco rushed down the corridor as spells flew through the air around him. Crabbe and Goyle were at his side. He ran around the corner and froze. Hermione was standing with Potter and Weasley outside the Room of Requirement. Before Draco could do anything though, Hermione flung herself into Weasley's arms, kissing him fiercely. What little color he had left drained from Draco's face as he watched the passion with which they kissed each other. For a moment, he almost forgot they were in the middle of a war. He felt sick. As he watched them, he could see a passion flow from Hermione in a way that she had never shown toward him.

When they broke apart, Potter pulled them into the Room of Requirement. Draco, rushed after them, with Crabbe and Goyle at his heels. Potter was looking for something. If Draco had any chance of keeping his family safe, he needed to find it first. Hermione and Weasley were nowhere to be found, but Potter was in sight.

"Hold it, Potter." Draco said loudly, and Potter turned to see the wands of Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle all pointing at him.

"How did you get in here?" Potter questioned.

"I virtually lived in the Room of Hidden Things all last year," Draco snapped back. "I know how to get in."

Things got out of hand quicker than Draco expected. Ever since Draco's family had disgraced themselves in the eyes of the Dark Lord, Crabbe and Goyle didn't respect him any more.

"Who cares what you think?" Crabbe spat ferociously at Draco, when Draco attempted to stop him from destroying everything in the room. "I don't take your orders no more, Draco. You an' your dad are finished."

Crabbe was shooting jinxes in every direction, and aiming to kill.

"STOP!" Draco shouted, but it did no good.

Crabbe spun around as a stunning spell shot right past his head. Draco looked up into the angry eyes of Hermione.

"It's that Mudblood!" Crabbe shouted. "Avada Kedavra!"

Draco grabbed Crabbe and pulled him aside, disrupting his aim at Hermione. Draco's wand was knocked from his hands.

"Don't kill him! DON'T KILL HIM!" Draco shouted at Crabbe and Goyle as they both turned their wands on Potter. But Potter was ready for them.

"Expelliarmus!" He shouted.

Spells were flying everywhere. Draco could do nothing without his wand, and ducked behind a wardrobe. Suddenly, there was a roaring noise, and flames erupted up the isle. "Oh no" Draco thought. "What has that idiot done now?" Crabbe was running past everyone. He didn't seem to have any control over the friendfyre he had conjured. The flames rose and crashed, forming horrible beasts that seemed to chase them around the room, set on destroying everything in their path. Draco tried to escape by climbing a pile or desks that rose above the flame. He frantically looked around for Hermione. Panic was overwhelming him. He was going to die here, and he would never even see her face again. Goyle was right behind him, but he could hear him choking on the smoke, his breath becoming more of a wheeze as they climbed. Crabbe was nowhere to be seen. At the top of the desks, Draco called out.

"Hermione!" he yelled, though he doubted anyone could hear him over the roar of the flames.

He felt Goyle begin to collapse next to him, and Draco grabbed his unconscious body to keep him from toppling off the desks and into the flames below. Suddenly, Draco caught a glimpse of two brooms emerging out of the heavy smoke. Hermione was safe behind Weasley, and Potter was coming straight for him. Draco put his hand in the air as Potter reached for him. Their hands grasped, but slipped apart quickly due to the heavy sweat caused by heat and fear. On the second time around, Potter caught hold of Draco. Weasley pulled his broom up beside them and Hermione helped Draco lift Goyle's unconscious body onto the broom. They made eye contact for a split second, and Hermione grasped Draco's hand in a reassuring way before their broom took off again. Draco jumped onto the broom behind Potter and they soared towards the door. As both broomsticks toppled into the hallway, the Room of Requirement was sealed behind them. Draco lay on the floor gasping for air, his lungs filled with smoke from the raging flames they had just escaped. Draco rolled over, and sat up, still struggling to speak.

"C-Crabbe?" Draco questioned.

"He's dead," Weasley responded harshly.

Draco put his face in his hands. Crabbe had been one of his best friends for the past 7 years. He felt a hand rest on his shoulder. It gave a small squeeze, and he looked up just in time to see Hermione sprinting away into the battle after Potter and Weasley.