A/n: Well here it is, less than three weeks! Booyah! This is also my longest chapter yet, I hope it's to your liking. Please let me know if you have a favourite sentence or least favourite sentence. What did you like or dislike? Let me know because it will definitely motivate me to write the next chapter.

Ps. Guest, ask and you shall receive ;)

Chapter 10 Secret Beginnings

After Hermione's shift she slept the day away. It was not a dreamless sleep, unfortunately. Images of Bellatrix torturing her and her friends, a dragon enveloping her in horrific flames, and flickering illusions of her friends abandoning her. It was already late afternoon when she woke and realised she still carried the horcrux around her neck.

"Harry?"

The dark-haired boy was sitting at the table with the book Dumbledore had left her in his will. He looked as if he hadn't had any sleep, Hermione could only assume she looked just about the same.

"Could you take it?" She removed the locket from around her neck, handing it over. "It's weighing me down."

"Yeah of course." Harry placed it around his neck. "Hermione, I was wondering about the signs drawn in this book-"

"Harry, you're not still going on about these Hallows are you?"

"That's the thing, why would You-know-who want Dumbledore's wand if he didn't believe that it was really the Elder Wand? Why would he go after it if he didn't believe it existed?"

"Just because he believes it doesn't mean it's true," she admonished him.

"What about my cloak Hermione?"

"What about the stone Harry?" She shot back. "We have no proof that your cloak is this invincible cloak that death made."

Draco stepped into the tent and they both fell silent, looking at him. "Don't stop on my account," he drawled in a tired tone.

"Malfoy," Harry said, holding up the Tales of Beedle the Bard. "Have you read this?"

Draco raised an eyebrow, looking between them. "Yeah, why?"

"Do you know anything about the Deathly Hallows?"

Hermione groaned and tugged at her hair. "Harry please."

"You mean the wand, the cloak and the stone?" Draco asked hesitantly. "They're things of legend."

"See?" Hermione shot in. "Now that's finished can we focus on-"

"But what if they were real?" Harry asked Draco. "I think they might be real and I think that You-know-who is after them, or at least one of them."

Draco furrowed his brows. "The Elder wand?"

"How would you know that?" Hermione said.

He rolled his eyes. "What would The Dark Lord do with a resurrection stone? Talk to all the people he's murdered?" Draco said and then shook his head. "Also he wouldn't have any need for an invisibility cloak."

"So you think they exist too?" Hermione said with disbelief.

"Well… I don't know. I mean I always sort of wished they were, it was sort of cool." He shrugged. "Also, can you imagine having an invisibility cloak that never deteriorated? Those things only last for maybe a few months at most if used a lot. The things you could do with one that lasted forever."

Harry and Hermione locked eyes. "Malfoy, the cloak we used in Gringotts was my fathers and I've been using it for years."

"It still doesn't prove anything," Hermione shot in. "It could be just really potent magic."

"I seriously doubt that," Draco said. "But wow… no wonder you got away with so much crap in school."

Harry shrugged, but before he could continue Ron came into the tent. "I think there were some muggles walking around here earlier. The wards seem to be working though because they turned around all of a sudden away from our camp." He sat himself down, strangely not glaring at Draco.

Hermione thought that was an improvement. They were all sitting together at the same table and no one was yelling. Although to be fair the silence was awkward.

"In any case," Harry said, breaking the silence. "I think we should leave either tonight or tomorrow morning."

"And go where?" Ron asked.

Harry took a deep breath, letting it out sharply. "Hogwarts."

Hermione made her way slowly between the trees savouring the sound of snow crunching beneath her shoe. Here and there she stopped to pick up sticks. Yes, she knew she didn't have to do it the muggle way, they didn't really need sticks for a fire anyway, but it calmed her. Going to Hogwarts was the most dangerous thing they'd done in a while. Sure they had faced off against three headed dogs, death-eaters, snatchers and even broken into Gringotts. But Hogwarts… She was nervous to say the least. It was dark and cool out when she came back to the tent and set down her small pile of sticks just outside the tent flaps. Harry came out of the tent wearing a thick sweater. She could see the glinting of a gold chain under it and wondered briefly if he had carried it all day.

"Hey Hermione, I'm just starting my watch."

She nodded and went for the opening in the tent but then Draco came out stopping her. "I was just coming to look for you," He said. "I wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, uhm, alright, see you in a bit Harry."

They walked back the way Hermione had just come and she let out a sigh, her breath visible before her. They walked a little way away from the tent in silence. Thankfully Hermione's brain managed not to overthink anything, she didn't feel like it. They were all stuck out here, hiding from people that wanted them dead and tomorrow they were going right into the crummy hands of those same people. She didn't have a lot of reasons to feel all that positive at the moment. Really, this couldn't be anything good.

"What is it?" She asked finally after they had stopped by a tighter cluster of trees.

"I want to show you something," Draco said, "But you need to close your eyes first."

She furrowed her brows, eyeing him suspiciously. "Why?"

"I'm not going to hex you or anything," he said with a roll of his eyes, she huffed in response. "Look," he started. "If I do anything you don't like I give you permission to hex me, alright?"

Hermione pursed her lips. "Fine." She hesitantly closed her eyes. "I swear Malfoy if you leave or something…"

His laugh came out uninhibited. "I'm not leaving Granger. I know I'm asking a lot, but just… try to trust me."

She let out a sharp breath and forced herself to relax her shoulders. "Alright." She now had her eyes closed firmly. It felt uncomfortable. Usually she was the one in control of the situation. She was the brains behind the operation, hardly ever jumping without looking first. Or at least trying to look first…

She could hear a rustle here and there, most likely from birds up in the trees all around them. The breeze softly swept by, crispy cold, nipping at her cheeks and tugging at her curls. As the seconds ticked by she started to worry that he really had left her standing there. She would be so embarrassed. It was making her uneasy. Hesitantly she asked, while keeping her eyes shut. "Malfoy?"

"I'm still here," he said.

"I don't really get how you're going to show me something if my eyes are closed."

"Just trust me Granger."

"But…" She was quickly caught off guard when something touched her hand. She jumped slightly at the electric buzz as she felt his soft fingers brush over hers. Why was he touching her hand? It felt almost hesitant, a subtle physical contact, as if by accident. Next she noticed heat, he was standing close in front of her and her mind raced trying to figure out what he was planning. What was he doing? Should she open her eyes? A second later there was a slight pressure on her shoulder: his hand touching it and stroking down her arm. She swallowed but kept her eyes shut, her curiosity overriding her anxiety. His hand lightly stroked back up her arm and she felt her hairs rise as she got goose bumps. She felt a tug as he touched her hair.

"Malfoy?" She whispered, feeling almost breathless. Maybe even a little afraid. "What were you going to show me?"

Hermione could hear him swallow and felt his exhale on her face. "The truth," he answered and his hand touched her cheek, lightly caressing it. Her breath hitched in her throat and her stomach twisted into a wonderful knot. "If you want me to." His nose touched hers. Her brain shut off, she couldn't think, couldn't wrap her head around anything and then his hand was on her waist. He cupped her cheek fully and then everything exploded. His lips were on hers, ever so lightly. It was hardly anything and Hermione couldn't stand it. It wasn't enough. She realised that she wanted this. By Merlin, she wanted it.

She moved her head forward locking their lips properly. He relaxed against her and the kiss deepened. It was as if she were on autopilot, her arms coming to rest around his neck. It was as if she had done this a thousand times before, such a small movement. His hands were around her, pulling her closer. But it was still not enough. The kiss was fire: warm and inviting, but at the same time thrilling and dangerous. Her mouth opened and before she knew it their tongues touched and danced together to an unheard melody. They drew breath only when they had to, using the time to turn their heads the other way. Her fingers raked through his hair, feeling the soft tufts and grabbing onto them. In return he nibbled on her lower lip, sucking on it before pulling away.

When they finally pulled apart their breathing was ragged and for the first time she opened her eyes to look up at the boy she had just snogged. The same boy who had called her names and bullied her. The boy who had claimed to hate her and people like her. She was utterly, unequivocally bewildered. Shaking her head, she looked into his silver grey eyes and silently asking him the question: how did this happen?

"I've been wanting to do that for at least two years," he admitted. "I can't explain it, but the truth is I like you."

His piercing gaze struck her speechless. She could see that he was laying his heart on the table and she wondered how he could put himself out there so easily. Or maybe it wasn't easy at all. He was going against everything he had been raised to believe in. Contradicting his past self, but then again he had saved her life twice and run away to help her. If that wasn't proof enough the snogging sort of gave it away too. He definitely wasn't trying to fool her. She hoped.

"I... I don't know what to say," she sputtered truthfully.

"You don't have to say anything," he said and kissed her again and she melted against him. It felt good, the kind of toe tingling-stomach flipping kind of goooooood. She didn't want it to end. But a light to the side caught her attention.

"What's that?" she whispered as she pulled away looking that way.

Draco glanced there and then pressed her against a tree, almost as if he were using his body as a shield. She was about to hit him and tell him off when he whispered: "It's Potter."

She furrowed her brows but was all for hiding from Harry. Man would it be embarrassing running into him with her and Draco in such a compromising position. Also explaining that they had been snogging… this was going to be difficult.

She turned her head to look between the trees. She could see Harry's back moving away from them. In front of him was a silvery form of a doe. A patronus, it had to be. That was odd. Hermione looked to Draco and he seemed to be thinking the same thing compared to the confused look on his face.

"Where's he going?" Hermione asked, not really expecting any answer from Draco. Draco… Again she started scrutinising the boy in front of her, realising she really knew nothing about him. This was nothing like what she would have expected of him. "What is this Draco?"

He looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"I mean…" she sighed, what did she mean? Did she even know? She felt exasperated at her inability to articulate what she felt. "This is so unexpected. What… I don't know how to react or what to expect. You've wanted to kiss me since fourth year? How am I supposed to process that kind of information?"

"I don't know. Trust me I've thought about it a lot and I still have no clue why or how or… It just is. Initially I tried to fight it but it was no use."

She pursed her lips, not sure how to take that. Should she be offended? Really though she could get that. Did she feel the need to fight it now? No… she saw him differently. This was a totally different person. He had never shown this side, who was she to say it hadn't always been there? He had never had a reason to show it to her.

"I don't know if… Gods this is so messed up."

He cracked a smile. "So is everything, this whole war."

She shook her head. "Draco…" she bit her lip, daring for the first time to touch his cheek, the first intimate touch. Would there be more? "I'm not sure if I can…" she sighed, how was she supposed to say this? She couldn't just ignore it, she had feelings for Ron. Were they gone? Hardly. But did that mean she had to give this up? Had Ron ever shown her this much attention or interest?

Draco pressed against her again. "Weasley," he whispered quickly as explanation.

Hermione could swear she felt her heart skip a beat. She closed her eyes tightly and held onto Draco. Wishing with all her might that Ron would not see them there. Please please please no. She swallowed. "Is he gone?"

Draco waited a few seconds before answering, moving away from her as he nodded. "He went the same way as Potter, holding something small." He shook his head.

"Do you want to go back to the tent?" she asked, suddenly realising how incredibly cold she felt, especially without him pressed up against her. "Since they're both out doing Godric-knows-what."

"Sure."

They went back to the tent and Hermione kept her arms crossed over her chest the whole way there. Too aware and afraid that he might want to hold hands and she needed to keep her head clear as she thought about this. She needed to think about this practically.

"Okay uhm, let's just sit." Hermione said, gesturing to the table.

"Sit?" Draco raised an eyebrow. "This isn't exactly a business transaction Granger."

She sighed. "Well that's the way I know how to go about things. How do you suggest we do it?"

He chuckled. "Do it?" he smirked and it definitely had a different effect on her now than it had before. "And what exactly are we doing?" He neared her and moved her hair back, exposing her neck. Hermione honestly should have stopped him, really she did think about it… for a second or two. But then he was kissing her neck and it was just so delicious…

"No, wait, Draco stop." She pushed away from him and wiped at her neck. "We need to talk about this." She was thankful that he didn't try to continue, although it was obvious he wasn't happy to be stopped.

"What is it?"

Hermione swallowed. "Well it's just… I mean I…" she sighed, closing her eyes. She couldn't bear looking at him when saying it. "I like Ron."

There was a deafening silence and she peaked at him with one eye, not sure what to expect. Her lip was securely locked between her teeth. She couldn't read his face, but he obviously wasn't going to explode so she dared to look at him fully and relax.

He shrugged. "I sort of figured."

"What?"

"Well I mean, come on Granger, I'm not completely stupid. Although I don't want to admit it I have been uhm… let's say observing you a bit these last two years. It's not hard to see if you're looking." He raked his hand through his hair, straightening it down after she had tugged at it. "Does he know?"

"Uhm…" This wasn't going at all like she thought it would. "I don't know. I don't think so."

"Okay so, are you saying that you like Weasley that much, or much more, that you'd rather wait for him to see sense than be with me?" He stepped closer.

"I… It's not just that, I mean he's my friend too and Harry…"

His eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "You like Potter too?"

"No," she practically exclaimed. "Jeez, no I don't like Harry. It's more… that uhm, I don't know how they would take it."

"And that's enough reason for you to not want to be with me? Not how you feel but how they would feel?"

She could feel her resolve wavering. Her arguments were weak, they hardly made sense to her even but she couldn't think. She could hardly breathe. He was right there, so close and right in front of her. Did she want to be with Draco Malfoy? Gods, what did that even mean, being with him?

"How do you feel, Granger?"

He took her hand and her resolve broke. She grabbed the back of his head and pressed her lips firmly against his. That feeling, she thought she could never get tired of it. There weren't just butterflies but something bigger just flipping and jumping around in her stomach. Her heart wanting to break out of her chest it beat so fast. The sound of it drumming loudly in her ear. His lips held the answer somehow. She had been parched but he was her water. Man it sounded cheesy to her own ears but she had been lost and now she was found. Funny how she had found it in the lips of one Draco Malfoy. Fate really worked in twisted ways.

"I thought you knew that." Harry's voice came from outside the tent.

Hermione practically jumped away from Draco, backing as quickly as she could and knocking the back of her knees on her bunk, falling down on it. She quickly patted down her hair just in case. She wished she had a mirror handy, hoping it didn't show too much. Her face felt hot.

"Yeah," Ron said and then they were both in the tent. For some reason Ron's clothes were soaking wet. Not only that Ron was holding the Sword of Gryffindor! How did he get that? She also noticed that Harry was holding the locket, but it was obviously broken.

"What happened to you two?" Hermione asked after clearing her throat, doing her best not to look at Draco, who still stood in the same spot.

"It's a long story, we'll tell you later," Harry said, slumping down on his own bunk.

"Hermione can I talk to you?" Ron asked.

She swallowed. "Of course," standing up she felt as if she had to force her smile. This was the worst time. As she walked toward Ron she glanced at Draco and they locked eyes. His piercing gaze… she felt her cheeks flush and she quickly looked away trying hard not to think about his kisses as she headed outside again with Ron in tow.

"What's up?" She tried to sound casual as they strolled away from the tent.

"I feel like we haven't really talked in a while." He kicked at a few stray and half-frozen leaves on the ground. "Wanted to ask if you're alright and all."

Hermione smiled. "Yeah Ron, I'm alright."

He nodded. "There's some things I have to tell you Hermione. I've discovered a lot of new things about myself. I'm a lot braver than I thought… I know that sounds a bit stuck up but like I was never brave like Harry. He could somehow always believe in himself no matter what and you… I mean you're so brilliant you have no reason to think you wouldn't be able to do something. Some days I think that there couldn't possibly be anything you don't know."

They both laughed a little and Hermione just shook her head. "Ron, you're plenty brave. You've been with Harry and me doing all the same wacky things as we have. Remember first year?"

He nodded. "Yeah, if I remember correctly we fought a mountain troll, a three headed dog and a life-size chess board."

"Sounds about right."

"It's all so crazy."

"It is," Hermione agreed.

"But I've always been cowardly, maybe not when it comes to stuff like that but…" he ran his hand through his hair in frustration. They had stopped walking and Hermione looked at him fully. He seemed to be fighting with himself almost. "Why is this so hard?" He asked with half a laugh. "I'll just say it."

Uh oh, a hard and heavy rock settled deep in Hermione's stomach.

"I like you Hermione." He strode forward and took her hand in both of his. His smile was broad and so genuine. "I've liked you for a long time."

"Oh Ron," Hermione said. How was this happening? Was this actually happening?! "I don't know what to say."

"You don't need to say anything Hermione." And then there he was, right in front of her. The boy she had been friends with since she was eleven. The boy she had liked since third year. The boy she cared for so deeply and he kissed her. This was so different from Draco. She couldn't help but compare them, I mean she had now kissed them both in the span of a few hours. She couldn't believe it.

Ron's kiss was a lot gentler somehow, not as insistent, not as passionate. It wasn't bad at all, it was nice. But that was all it was. Nice. Would she have felt different if Draco hadn't kissed her first? Oh Godric, Draco.

"Ron…" she said, pulling away. "You have no clue how long I've been waiting to hear that," she said with a smile. "But… I don't know what I want right now. Everything is so crazy and there are a million things we need to do. I need time to think."

He nodded in understanding. "That's fine. I'm so glad this is happening." He hugged her and she hugged him back.

She let out a breath. This was not at all what she expected.

They went back to the tent and Harry started telling them about how he had followed the patronus to the frozen lake and seen the sword on the bottom. How the locket had tried to kill him and how Ron dove in after him and then them subsequently destroying the locket. Although Harry and Ron seemed to glance a lot back and forth as if they were keeping something from them. But what mattered was they had destroyed the locket and now they had the sword to destroy the cup. They decided they would all sleep now, trusting the wards they had put up and then in the morning destroy the cup before apparating to Hogwarts.

Hermione transfigured the table into another bed for Draco. They hadn't talked at all to each other after she got back with Ron. She could hardly look at him, couldn't bring herself to do it. She did her best to avoid Ron's gaze too. How did she get into this mess?