Her eyes narrowed.

"What do u mean, you're going to murder Dumbledore?" she hissed, grabbing hold of his arms.

He looked away from her, his face contorting with pain, the anguish etched on his face.

"I've been ordered to murder Dumbledore" he whispered, despair heavy in his voice.

Hermione was horrified. "There is absolutely NO WAY that I am going to sit back and allow you to do this, how can you want to kill him?" she cried, shaking him violently.

He grabbed hold of her upper arms "I don't want to do it, how can you even… You have no idea….If I don't HE is going to kill me!" tears streamed freely down his face. She had never seen him so broken.

"Who?" her voice broke as she tried in vain to hold back her own tears.

"The Dark Lord" he rasped out, dropping his head.

"Draco, we can protect you, the Order can protect you" Hermione whispered, pulling him into her arms, resting his head on her shoulder as his body racked with sobs.

.

Snape sidled up to Lily, placing his books down next to her carefully. Lily glanced at the books then slowly lifted her eyes up to her former friend. She hadn't noticed him come into the library and his presence next to her was a little unnerving.

"Lily, I am...not very good at this" he began, twisting his hands nervously. Lily wasn't used to seeing him so nervous. It was unsettling. Her green eyes fixed on him as she pursed her lips. The action making her think of her sister, she immediately relaxed her lips but the rest of her features remained unmoved.

"I am sorry. For the transgressions that I have committed. For the pain. That I have caused. For the friendship I threw away"

"Forgiveness is freely given only when it is earned, Severus. I wont be able to forget, but I may be able to forgive" she quietly told him, before turning her attention back to her books.

Snape stared at her, uncertain as to how he should proceed. He opened his mouth, but seeing James slaunter in, he glided away before James could notice him.

Lily looked up, sensing his approach and beamed at him. He dropped into the chair beside her, his satchel slung down next to him. "Any chance you could take a look at my essay?" he grinned. Lily rolled her eyes, and without a word, held her hand out for it.

.

Hermione and Draco watched the exchange before realising they were still clinging on to each other. Draco felt his pulse quicken as his hands began to tingle, his insides churning, his body betraying him. Hermione flushed and looked away, slowly relaxing her grip on his shirt. Her own was now soaked with his tears. Draco rubbed his face with the back of his hand, grinding away his tears.

"I promise, the Order will protect you. I will make sure of it" she whispered, cupping his cheek. Draco only nodded in response.

"Why do you think the charm brought us to here?" he asked her, turning their attention back to the task in hand.

"It must have something to do with the relationship between Lily and James, but the more I see of their interaction with Snape, the more I think that must be part of it. His younger self reminds me of you actually" she told him, smiling bashfully.

"Hermione.."he began "I need your help, only you can save me" he whispered, noticing his hands still hadn't let her go. He leaned in and heard her sharp intake of breath. Touching his forehead to hers, he sighed "I don't want to do this."

She squeezed his shoulder "Then we need to work out what the charm does, why we are here and how we can get back" she quietly told him, before carefully extracting herself from his grip and turning in her seat.

Draco watched her as her attention went back to the book. She chewed on her lip as she read and he felt his arousal build. It always unnerved him how her little actions that showed her concentration made him feel, or the little sighs and moans she made when she worked on the tension that built in her neck from being hunched over texts. He was supposed to hate this witch and her kind, but how could he? Confusion was a familiar feeling to him these days, he mused. He had been taught he shouldn't be able to feel this way for anyone who wasn't pure. But here was the rub, sat next to him was a witch who was pure. Hermione was pure in every way except for her muddy blood. He thought back to Snape and the forgiveness he sought, the way he had been berated by James and the things his Father had told him about Potter's parents. Hermione had no idea how right she had been about he and Snape being alike. The only thing Snape could have called her that required forgiveness was the same slur he had once used himself. One look at the boy told Draco all he needed to know.

He too had fallen for his Mudblood.