A/N: Happy New Year! I've had two long weekends in a row so that means you get two chapters in two days! Hope you enjoy! And pretty please review!

I can find out the truth
I know their ways
fought their wars
served my time
in the days of my youth

"Alright, Gra- sorry, Hermione. Ready?" He stood before her, wand in hand and looked into her eyes. She closed them for a moment and pictured the empty blackboard that had worked so well yesterday. She took several deep, cleansing breaths and opened her eyes to look back into his and nodded. She watched his eyes begin to darken and in that second she remembered with a flare of panic that she hadn't removed any memories from her mind. Before she could stop them the memories she would've removed came to the forefront of her mind as her panic increased. Her grip on the vision of the blackboard slipped and she watched in horror as the memory of she, Harry and Ron passing the locket back and forth and then the memory of Harry holding it up, blackened and dead. She saw the diary with the hole left from the basilisk fang, and the ring on Dumbledore's hand, Nagini, and heard the word horcruxes echo repeatedly in her mind. Suddenly Draco broke the connection with a dramatic gasp and his eyes bored into hers.

"Holy fuck," he said in a shocked whisper. "He's got horcruxes?" she didn't know how to answer, he already knew what he'd seen in her mind. She nodded, deciding that since he already knew the answer it was best to avoid any deception. "Plural?" she nodded, again. "Holy fuck," he repeated. "That explains a lot. How many are there?" She swallowed her nerves; she had nothing to do but to trust him. She knew he'd break into her mind and find the information for himself if he suspected she was lying. She was a terrible liar.

She cleared her throat, eyes wide with nerves, "Six. We think."

"Six? Of course, with the bit of soul still in his body that would be seven in total. The magic number. How many are destroyed? From the glimpses I caught it looked like at least two. That leaves four horcruxes and then the piece in his body?"

"Three are gone. Three to go and then You Know Who himself." She confirmed. She really wasn't feeling good about Malfoy having this information, but could see no way out of the situation. Yes, she trusted him with her life, but she wasn't sure she trusted him with the secret to destroying Voldemort. She could catch him unawares and perform a Memory Charm; she was, after all, quite good at them. Voldemort could break through it, but he should have no reason to look. Dumbledore had only wanted the three of them to know about the horcruxes. How could she have been so stupid to leave those memories in her mind? She gripped her wand a little tighter, thoughts on how to modify Draco's memory.

"Okay. Okay, shit." He paced away, running his hands through his hair. "Who all is working on finding and destroying them?" He demanded turning towards her.

"Only me, Harry, and Ron." Maybe she could get some Death Eater insight before she did the charm…

"What? Three teenagers have managed to kill three horcruxes? That's ridiculous!"

"Well, Dumbledore did one before he… died." He twitched at the mention of Dumbledore; she reminded herself that he'd lowered his wand and Snape had been the one to murder the headmaster. Now that she knew him better, she didn't think there was any way he'd have actually gone through with killing him to be honest. Dimly she realized that this was the only time she'd seen him completely lose his cool, he was very close to panicking.

"Fuck me sideways." He breathed, apparently Shocked Malfoy cursed profusely. He resumed pacing, apparently too agitated with this news to do much coherent talking about it. "Let me get my head around this for a minute, okay?" She nodded and sat nervously on the couch. She heard him mutter "Christ on crutches!" under his breath. She'd have to ask him later where he'd learned such a muggle phrase. She willed herself to focus, this was huge. If he decided to give the information to Voldemort to save himself and his family it would mean her death, and the deaths of many, many others. Voldemort would surely go on a rampage. She took a deep breath to calm herself; Draco would probably let her go if he decided to do that. She decided to try to keep a calm head and come up with some kind of strategy. She shut her heart away, refusing to acknowledge the hurt that thoughts of his potential betrayal caused. Alright, strategy… Would he have any ideas about the locations of the last two? She could ask before she performed the memory modification. It seemed an hour before he spoke again, even though it couldn't have been more than five or ten minutes. He stopped pacing and knelt in front of her.

"Okay. We're leaving, today. I told you the other day that I'd think about helping you in whatever you were doing to fight the Dark Lord. I honestly didn't think it'd be anything this important. But, this is the only way he'll ever be stopped, the only way we'll ever be free." She stared at him and he took both her hands in his. "I'm in. I'm all in, Granger." Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open in shock. "This is too important to sit around waiting to be caught by my family; we've got to get out of here. Let's figure out what we need to do to get ready to leave. I think we should do it after dark, which will give us the afternoon to gather supplies and plan. Yes?" She still hadn't found her voice, but nodded. She did agree that she felt like a sitting duck staying in Malfoy Manor, she was beyond ready to get out of there. Could she trust him? She wasn't sure. Her past with Malfoy told her 'no way in Hell.' But during the time since he saved her from Voldemort he'd been a person she'd have never thought possible. The fact that he'd saved her in the first place was something she'd have never credited him with. He walked out of the study as she sat in dazed thought, listening to him rummage around in his room. She'd just let Draco Malfoy in on her most important secret… the most important secret she'd have in her entire life. What if he did decide to present the information to Voldemort in order to save his family? Information that important would surely put the Malfoys back in his good graces. She was just convincing herself to walk in there in and modify his memory when he came back in and knelt down in front of her.

"Look…. It's just occurred to me that you are probably struggling with trusting me with this. I don't like it, but I understand. One week of good behavior is not enough to change six years of bigotry." She nodded, not knowing what to say and feeling somewhat guilty for thinking about messing with his memory. "So, I want you to see for yourself that I'm telling the truth. I want to help you destroy the Dark Lord." She was confused, what did he mean see for herself? Her thoughts must've been plain on her face because he continued: "I want you to use Legilimency to look at my memories. So you can know what I've been feeling. We'll keep at it until you're satisfied that I've changed and that you can trust me." He paused and brushed his thumb over her cheek, "Okay?" He slowly leaned forward and brushed a soft kiss over her lips and a bit of tension left her. She nodded. "You know what to do?" She nodded again and stood to face him. "I'm going to think of the most relevant things first, since you don't really know how to find what you're looking for yet. If you want to keep looking after you've seen those you're welcome to. I want you to trust me." He dropped his wand to the couch and took her left hand in his right and intertwined their fingers. He nodded for her to begin.

"Legilimens," she whispered. His pupils widened until she felt like she was falling into a well, their darkness swallowing her. Suddenly she was standing beside a much younger Draco who was kneeling in front of his father.

"Tell me, Draco, why is it you are not the first in your class?" Draco remained silent, his gaze fixed on a spot on the floor near his father's polished shoes. "Remind me, who is it who has beaten you?"

"Hermione Granger, sir." Draco muttered.

"Hermione Granger." Lucius repeated slowly, separating the syllables. "Unless I am much mistaken, she is the bushy-haired mudblood that traipses along behind the Potter boy. Is this correct, Draco?"

"Yes, Father."

"So, you mean to tell me that a Malfoy is taking second place to a Mudblood?" Lucius demanded in an eerily quiet, terrifying tone. Hermione knew there was more danger in this whisper than in a shout. Cold anger was much more terrifying than passion.

"Yes, Father." Draco flinched as Lucius' cane came crashing down upon his shoulders, but no sound escaped his lips. She was sickened as she watched Draco kneel, unmoving as his father rained blows down his shoulders and back. This appeared to be something he was familiar with.

The scene dissolved until she watched as an older Draco kneeling this time at Voldemort's feet, instead of his father.

"Draco, Draco. Tell me, Son. Do you love your mother?" He gestured to the far side of the room and Hermione turned and gasped as she saw the elder Malfoys seated in chairs looking as though they'd been thoroughly beaten. Narcissa was sitting ramrod straight with a lace handkerchief staunching the bleeding of a wound above her left eye. Her face was a mask, without any show of emotion, pain, or fear. Hermione wondered how much strength that took. She'd never felt anything but disdain for the Malfoy matriarch, but at that moment felt a tiny bit of respect begin to grow.

"Yes, My Lord." Draco answered, his gaze again fixed on a spot on the floor.

"Then it would follow that you would do whatever it took to save her from my wrath? Your father was incapable of that. Will I have to punish her for your failings as I have had to do for his?" Voldemort asked, a sickening smirk on his face. He was thoroughly enjoying the humiliation of the Malfoy family.

"No, My Lord. I will not fail you." Draco replied in a calm voice, as though threats on his mother's life were commonplace. Hermione wondered if perhaps they were.

"Spoken like a Malfoy to be sure. Well, we'll see, boy. Roll back your left sleeve and I will give you the opportunity to prove that you're less of a failure than your useless father." Hermione tuned out his words and watched as he branded Draco with the Dark Mark. Instead of listening she focused on Draco. Though he'd trained his expression nearly as well as Narcissa, being a part of his memory she could feel waves of fear and disgust rolling off of him. She, Harry, and Ron had all assumed that he'd been eager and proud to take the Dark Mark… she could also feel that he was fully aware that he was not being brought into the Death Eater fold because of his own merits, but as punishment for his father's numerous failings. She felt hatred begin to boil in him. Fear. Hatred. Disgust. This was not what she had expected.

Again the memory faded and her eyes teared up as another memory came into focus.

She stared into the pale face of Albus Dumbledore atop the Astronomy Tower on what she could only assume was the night he was killed. She didn't need to listen to them speak; she already knew what they'd discussed from Harry. Instead she paid attention to the emotional climate and Draco's body language. Similar to the last memory she felt his fear, bordering on desperation. As though she were reading a closed caption of his thoughts, she knew he was deathly afraid for his mother. She understood that he knew if he did not succeed in this mission his mother would be killed, brutally. Following that was the knowledge that he too would meet that fate. Surprisingly she also felt pity stir in Draco as he watched the obviously ill headmaster slide down the wall. She didn't want to watch the rest of this memory. She knew what came next.

Now she was standing in a village lane in the dark, lights from spells flashing brightly. Screams filled the night air.

She understood that this was a muggle village, and that Death Eaters had descended with the intention of torture and murder. She turned away from the flashes and screams to watch Draco. He was leaning against a back wall of a home, hidden between a chimney and a stack of firewood. He had his left hand in his pocket and was idly twirling his wand in his right. Through the magic of Legilimency she was once again able to read his emotions as though they were printed on a page. She felt his disgust. She could tell that he had no desire to join in the debauchery and cruelty that was going on around him. He glanced down at his watch and sighed deeply. He raised his wand to his cheek and with a silent spell cut a shallow gash, he put a scrape high on his forehead. He used a silent Severing charm to rip several holes in his robes. He looked down at his clean hands, turned, and to her shock closed his fist and punched the brick chimney three times in quick succession. Grimacing, he cast a charm that apparently eased the pain in his ripped and bruised knuckles. He shook out his hand and picked up his mask that he'd discarded on the ground and blasted burn marks on the areas corresponding the injuries on his face. He sighed again, put his mask into place and stealthily returned to the now declining action.

Once again the scene transformed and she found herself in Malfoy manor again. She wasn't sure of the room, but the marble floor and dark wall hangings were familiar. It was dark and she felt afraid.

She saw Draco in front of her, flat against a wall, appearing to be listening to a conversation taking place around in a room on the other side of that wall. She edged a bit closer to him, even though she was fully aware that she couldn't be harmed. Like the last one, this memory must be fairly recent, he was tall and broad shouldered, she could just make out the Mark on his arm in the gloom.

"My lovely Narcissa." She and Draco both shuddered at the tone of Voldemort's voice. Hermione, knowing that she couldn't be seen, peeked through the doorway to see the occupants of the room. Voldemort was standing insultingly close to Narcissa, trailing a finger down her throat to her cleavage and down her stomach. The woman's composure didn't waver. "For some reason, Narcissa, my goal remains unmet. Have you been… undermining me?" His voice was deadly soft.

"No, my Lord." She replied calmly.

"I shall see to it that you do not. If you fail to produce me an heir, you will lose yours. Do you understand me?" Hermione was appalled, did he mean what she thought he meant? She moved back to look at Draco and both saw and felt his revulsion and fear for his mother. Either she gives birth to the Dark Lord's son or he will kill hers.

"Yes, my Lord."

"Good. Take this potion; take one dose every night this week. You will visit me in my bedchamber on Saturday night and you will conceive my son and you will be looked after for the rest of your days. I will continue my bloodline, Narcissa, and yours, the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black. The heir of Slytherin will have an heir." He started to step away, but turned back. "Oh, and Narcissa? Your sister lives to please her Lord. I suggest that you find that same level of….appreciation, before Saturday. If you fail me, she will be a suitable and loyal mother to my son, but you… you have a subtle and very Slytherin manner of controlling a situation that your sister lacks. In some areas I enjoy her wildness, but in others…. It will not do. Remember Narcissa: on Draco's head be it." He swept out of the room into an antechamber that left Draco undiscovered in the hallway. Hermione stared at Narcissa for a moment, heart full of pity, as a tear leaked out of the mask of calm. She shivered and hurried out to Draco. He was standing frozen against the wall a look of horror and loathing.

Hermione felt the sensation of hurtling back out of the well she'd fallen down and found herself back in the present. She was inches away from Draco's pale face. His mouth was set in a grim line and she knew that he'd also seen the memories as they'd played back for her. She sniffed and realized that there were tears streaming down her face. How could she have ever thought that he'd entered in to Voldemort's service willingly? Did anyone besides Bellatrix actually volunteer? She supposed people must, but now knew that probably a lot of them did it out of fear. She was horrified that Voldemort was attempting to produce a child. But she knew that the likelihood of his offspring being equally evil were slim, unless he were to raise the child himself. One thing at a time, kill Voldemort, then worry about any progeny. Her thoughts returned to Draco as he turned away from her tears. She put her hand on his shoulder. He tensed, but didn't draw away.

"I don't want your pity." He snapped. "I see it all over your face."

"I know you don't want it. You only want my trust. You have both, though." She pressed on his arm and he turned towards her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and silently mourned for the child that this man had never gotten the chance to be. "Your mother…. Will she be alright?" She didn't know if he could go and leave her here.

"I don't know. Probably not. Once they discover that I've run away, she may follow suit. I am the only thing keeping her here." He returned her hug and rested his chin on her hair. "She'll have to leave. Or he'll kill her. She'll never be able to bear him a son, you see."

She pulled back to look up at him, "Why not? She's young enough…."

"I snuck a potion in his food to render him sterile. We'll never have to worry about a second generation of evil." Hermione's eyes widened. "He has Pettigrew taste all his food before he eats it, checking for poison, but obviously it did no visible harm. I watched him eat the entire meal. He's shooting blanks, Granger." He said with a smirk.

"My god, Draco. That was either incredibly brave or incredibly stupid. If he'd caught you you'd have been killed immediately!"

"Can you blame me? Would you want to have a half-sibling whose father is the most evil wizard of all time? I think not. Anyways," he continued before she could interrupt, "Do you feel comfortable leaving here with me or do you need to see more?" He studied her brown eyes, with a worried expression in his.

"No, I don't want to see any more." She responded immediately with a shudder. She was slightly nauseated with what she had seen already. "And yes, I feel safe with you." He gave a small smile and leaned down and slowly kissed her. When she returned his kiss his arms tightened around her and pulled her up against him. "Mmm, Draco," she breathed against his lips. "This feels amazing, but don't we have a lot to do today?" He sighed and pulled away.

"I suppose you're right. As always." He kissed the tip of her nose and began pacing while he plotted.

He devised a plan for the day; she would pack clothing, healing supplies and such in her bag. He would go to the kitchens and pack up as much food as he could without raising suspicion, having heard her stories about nearly starving while on the run with Potter and Weasley he had no desire to live through that and no desire to watch the couple of pounds she'd managed to put on during the last week and a half be starved off again. He would also get his broom and their tent from the World Cup and have it ready to go as soon as full darkness fell that night.

While she packed a thought occurred to her and she went into the bedroom to Draco.

"Hey, I've been thinking-" she started.

"Shocking!" He interrupted, smirking. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"How early in a pregnancy can a paternity spell be done?" His movements slowed and he turned from the bag he was packing.

"I'm not really sure, but I feel like it's got to wait until the mother is three months or so along. I don't remember where I heard that though…" He scratched his chin. "Why?"

"That's what I thought also. Are you parents Occlumens?"

"Yes. What are you thinking, Granger?"

"Is Voldemort still giving your mother that fertility potion?" She persisted, wanting answers to her questions before she presented her idea.

"I believe so, that memory was from the first night I came home from the Easter holidays. So the Saturday night he specified was just a few days ago."

"Have your father impregnate her." Draco made a slightly disgusted face but she continued. "It'll buy her at least three months before he'd be able to find out the child was your father's and not his."

"I'm pretty sure he's keeping them separated to prevent that." He was looking thoughtfully at her.

"Um, hello? You're Malfoys! You're the most cunning family in the history of wizards! I imagine your father could find a way to sneak into her chambers for a few minutes."

"You know what? As much as I hate to think about my parents having sex, it's a brilliant idea. I'm going to go tell my mother to get it on with my father. I'll be back." She laughed at the uncomfortable yet slightly amused expression on his face as he walked out of the room.

Draco ordered a large supper and they ate as much as they could as they watched the sky darken as the sun sank below the horizon. Hermione wasn't hungry in the least, but memories of going to bed hungry encouraged her to eat until she was uncomfortable. She was reaching the freak-out portion of the program at this point. Every time she'd been in on the plan for any covert operation, right before it commenced she spent several minutes in a sheer panic. She was rifling through her beaded bag mumbling to herself.

"Socks, jumpers, nickers, jeans, shoes, books, Essence of Dittany, bandages, Blood Replenishing Potion, Skele-gro, bezoars, toothbrushes, tent, blankets, map of western Europe…."

"Alright, Hermione. Add this parcel of food and let's get on with it. We don't have time to fret over anything, if we don't have it, we don't have time to get it. We need to go. Okay?" He tucked a loose curl behind her ear in a gesture she had come to love and she took a deep breath to calm herself. He was right, they had to go now. He was expected to return to Hogwarts in a few days' time and the risk of being discovered seemed to increase every day. They had to go while they had the chance, while they had supplies and not in a desperate bid for freedom if they were found out.

"Okay, let me go use the loo before we leave. Oh, and Draco? I should confess…. I'm not a good flyer." She was extremely nervous about this issue. To be honest, she truly hated to fly. All forms of magical transport were preferable to flying in her opinion. She expected Draco to be annoyed, but to her surprise he chuckled.

"I know." She wondered how he knew that…. "Don't forget that I have known you for seven years and have only seen you on a broom that very first time in Hooch's class. You have flown since then though, correct?"

"Yes, of course. But only if I couldn't help it. If Harry, Ron, and Ginny badgered me to play Quidditch so they'd have even teams."

"Granger playing quidditch… that's something I'd like to see. Never fear, love, you'll be riding with me. I'll keep you safe and sound." He gently pushed her toward the bathroom and she rushed away, feeling marginally better. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to spend a couple of hours wrapped in Draco's arms… she'd just have to forget that they'd be soaring hundreds of feet above the ground…

A few minutes later they stood in the darkened study, he was clad in long, black wool, fur-lined cape and she in one of charcoal-colored wool that resembled a muggle trench coat, buttoning down the front and ending mid-calf. The collar and hood were trimmed in rabbit fur. He had a messenger bag slung across his body and her beaded back was securely stowed in an inside pocket. The night was cool and the wind would make it feel as though it were the middle of winter. They stood for a moment at the window, his broom waiting, listening and watching for movement outside.

She turned to him, pointed her wand and whispered, "Visio Nocturna" then turned the wand on herself. She blinked several times and suddenly they could see the patrolling Death Eaters as though it were midday. She was quite glad she'd stumbled across this spell.

"Nice one, love! I'll ask you later where you learned that one. My turn." He raised his wand and tapped it on the top of her head and she felt the familiar cold trickling sensation of a Disillusionment Charm. She watched as he, too, disappeared. She felt his hand touch her shoulder and slide up her neck to cup her cheek. She raised her hand to his and rubbed a couple circles with her thumb as she felt his lips press to hers. The kiss lasted only a couple of seconds, but it still made the muscles low in her belly clench. Even invisible he turned her on. "Alright, it's late enough that no one should miss me until mid-morning so we should have a ten hour head start. Because you're on the same broom with me we'll be able to cross the boundaries without issue. There may be a spell to detect Apparition within a certain distance of the Manor. I don't know if it's active, but we're going to operate under the assumption that it is. We'll go by broom for at least two hours. More if we can manage it. We've got no real destination in mind, so maybe if we've been flying for a while without seeing any lights or homes we'll set up camp. Alright?" She nodded, but realized he couldn't see her…

"Yes, alright. I'd like to stop a moment when we've crossed the perimeter around the Manor; I think we should take a couple seconds to see if our crossing has caused any disturbance. It would be good to know if we were being immediately pursued or not, you know?"

"Yeah, good idea." He paused, she assumed he was thinking it over. "Yeah, we'll do that. Okay, you mount the broom and I'll get on behind you. Got your wand and bag?"

"Yes and yes. Just so you know, if you let me fall to my death I will come back to haunt you. You'll have no rest from me." She smiled as she felt him laugh as he settled in behind her on the broom. She quite liked the feel of being pressed against his front, his strong arms around her.

"Alright, quiet as we can." They eased out onto the window ledge, quite an awkward maneuver considering they were both invisible, he'd rendered the broom invisible, and the ledge was narrow. She clenched her lips tight so that she wouldn't squeal and give them away when they took off, but soon found it unnecessary. He was very gentle and smooth as they lifted slowly off the ledge. She heard the window softly close behind them and they slowly ascended, eying the Death Eaters below warily. They flew at a snail's pace, watching for any sign of alarm from the men below. All stayed quiet and they continued out over the expansive lawn to the boundary of the property. She felt a hum in the air and knew they were approaching the wards. Sure enough, after a few more seconds she felt the magical disturbance as they crossed over. They moved a dozen yards past this point and turned to look for signs of trouble. She was relieved to see that the patrollers had kept the same pace they had seen watching through the window. No lights in the building had come on; no cries of alarm could be heard. She'd envisioned a much more dramatic escape… curses flying, fleeing at top speed, barely making it out alive, if at all. So far this was going much better than that…

She felt him shift and he breathed in her ear "So far so good," so quietly it was nearly inaudible. She nodded against his cheek, enjoying the contact. He turned the broom away from the manor and they continued on into the darkness.