Hermione sat miserably on a bed upstairs debating about contacting Harry or not. What she really needed to do was ask Draco what he thought but there was no way she was going to do that! She could contact Harry with her Patronus but every contact they made was a risk. It was very late and Hermione was still tired so she fell asleep before she had come to a decision.

When she woke the dull light was creeping in through the flowery curtains. Her neck was killing her from lying at an awkward angle and she could feel a pain in one arm and her hip from her falls yesterday. She dragged herself off the bed and decided she should have a shower. She looked down at her clothes and grimaced because not only were they dirty from yesterday, she'd slept all night in them as well. She would need to buy some new ones and quickly.

She went to the wardrobe and opened it, hoping to find a robe of some sort to take to the shower. To her utter surprise it was full of clothes. She pulled a top towards her and shook her head, bewildered. This was her top! She examined a few of the other items and they were all hers! How had that happened? She was so surprised that she forgot that she and Draco weren't speaking so she went straight to the room next door and knocked on the door. When there was no answer she carefully opened the door to see Draco lying on the bed, still in his clothes from yesterday. He was fast asleep.

Hermione didn't want to have to speak to him until she had to so she crept to his wardrobe and opened it quietly. Like hers, it was full of clothes. She took out a shirt and some trousers and examined them. They were quality and hung perfectly on their hangers so she had to presume that these were Draco's. She shook her head in wonder - what sort of magic was this? Did this mean that Harry knew they were here?

"Why are you looking in the wardrobe?" Draco's voice came to her and she spun around to see him sitting up on the bed, rubbing his head. His hair was a mess but somehow and unsurprisingly, he managed to pull it off.

"Good morning," Hermione said, pointedly. She held the clothes up to him. "I'm looking in the wardrobe because these are your clothes!"

Draco frowned and came over to her. He examined the clothes she was holding and then some of the ones in the wardrobe.

"Bloody hell - they are mine!" he exclaimed. "How?"

Hermione shook her head. "I have no idea but I am wondering if it means Harry knows we are here?"

"It must mean that he does." Draco looked down at his clothes which for once weren't looking so good. "Thank Merlin! I feel terrible."

"You look terrible too," Hermione lied because he really didn't. She could never imagine him looking terrible.

"Thanks - you don't look so hot yourself!"

"Well if I'd know you were going to get me attacked and forced into hiding then I'd have remembered to have my hair done," Hermione came back at him.

Draco had moved to look out of the low window. "You'll have to visit the village hairdressers - it doesn't look like there is much else to do around here."

"Probably not - I think that's the idea. I'm sure our arrival will cause a bit of a stir."

Draco turned around to face her again and crossed his arms in front of himself. "You can bet my arrival will! All those village girls getting a look at this!" He waved his hands down himself and wriggled his eyebrows at her.

Hermione walked over and mirrored his stance, arms folded in front of her. "I hate to break this to you but plans have changed. Had last night not happened then I'm sure you could have arrived here as the V.M.E.B." She grinned at her own take on Draco's nicknames. "Village's Most...

"...Eligible Bachelor." Draco finished her sentence. "Very amusing."

"But as I'm here then that will have to change. You'll have to be the V.M.H.N." Hermione actually chuckled as she said this and Draco narrowed his eyes at her.

"Go on...I'm sure this is going to be hilarious," he said, sarcastically.

"Village's Most Happy Newlywed!"

"No way."

"It's the most convincing cover - why else would we have moved here together?" Hermione asked.

"You could be my sister," Draco suggested.

"We look nothing alike."

"Step-sister."

Hermione sighed. "Whatever but we need to get our story straight. I'm going for a shower."

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

By lunchtime, Hermione was already going a bit stir crazy stuck in the little cottage with an equally grumpy Draco. They had hardly spoken this morning and Hermione felt upset. Neither of them had asked to be in this situation so they should be supporting each other. Hermione still didn't know if their clothes being here meant that The Ministry knew about them or not but she sincerely hoped so.

There was fresh food in the kitchen so Hermione decided it was time that she and Draco had a chat. They had no idea how long they would have to stay in hiding so this atmosphere couldn't continue. She made a light lunch and then took it out to Draco, who was sitting at the small table and chairs in the equally small back garden. The good thing was that the garden backed onto open fields so the claustrophobic feeling that was with them in the cottage seemed to disappear.

Draco looked at the tray as she put it down and then up at her.

"I thought we needed to have a chat over lunch," Hermione said, sitting opposite him. "We can't be like this with each other."

Draco's piercing eyes surveyed her face before he spoke quietly. "It wasn't your fault."

"Pardon?" Hermione asked.

"What happened yesterday - it wasn't your fault," Draco repeated. "In fact...you were bloody brilliant."

Hermione's eyes widened and she sat back in her chair, the wind completely taken out of her sails. She had been about to launch into exactly that conversation!

"What was our argument about then?" she asked, carefully choosing her tone and her words.

"I was upset that that I hadn't fooled them - they must have been suspicious of me the whole time," Draco sighed. "And I was upset that you were so much bloody better than me during the attack! I felt bloody stupid and I hated the thought that we were stuck here because of me."

Hermione was astonished by Draco's easy confession but she was still annoyed at him. "In other words - you were acting like a child."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Thanks for making this easy for me."

"You're welcome."

"I don't apologise very often."

"I haven't heard you apologise yet." Hermione knew she was being cruel but she couldn't help it. It was time the king of cruel got a taste of his own medicine.

"I told you it wasn't your fault!"

"That's not an apology."

Draco leant across the table, his hair falling into his eyes. "You're pushing your luck, Granger."

Hermione did a quick raise of her eyebrows and smirked at him. "I know I am but you feel guilty so I have to make the most of this opportunity to get one over on you." Draco's serious face was in place for a few more moments and then she saw his eyes soften. She changed her smirk into a smile and he returned it hesitantly. Hermione leant closer to him as well, leaning her head on her hand. "We only have each other right now, we can't afford to be at each other's throats. This is going to be hard enough without having to deal with that."

"You can say that again," Draco surveyed the cottage and sighed.

"We're in a beautiful, country cottage in a lovely, little village. We should make the most of it," Hermione said but she knew how he felt. Staying here for any length of time was not going to suit either of them. "Do you think we should contact Harry? I could send a Patronus."

"No - definitely not. Our clothes didn't get here by accident and the food didn't jump into the cupboards itself. They must know that we are here - don't ask me how," Draco said. "I think we should go out tomorrow and explore the neighbourhood - that might stop us killing each other."

"I agree but we need to do something with your hair," Hermione surveyed his startling, blonde locks. "It's too distinctive - wait there." She ran into the house and grabbed her wand. As she returned to the table, Draco was shaking his head.

"Put that away - there is no way on earth I'm letting you do anything to my hair," Draco said, holding his hands up defensively.

"It's fine, I know what I'm doing," Hermione aimed her wand at his head, enjoying his discomfort.

"No! Put it away!"

"You can't walk around the village looking like Draco Malfoy," Hermione insisted. "I'll just tone it down a shade."

Draco stood up and stepped away. "No, you won't." Hermione went to protest and he took a step to be next to her and put his hand across her mouth. "No, you won't because I'm going to do it." He lowered his voice. "And watch what you say so loudly, we're outside remember? Anyone could hear." Hermione blinked at him, realising he was right. She needed to think before she opened her mouth. Sensing her change of attitude, Draco stepped away and removed his hand from her mouth. "I'll go and sort my hair out."

"I'll need to approve it," Hermione said with a smirk and Draco nodded, surprisingly agreeable. Hermione then realised he had stepped closer again and she eyed him suspiciously. He lifted his hand and gently touched her hair and her eyes widened.

"What are you doing?" she asked, intending to sound demanding but her voice had a slight husky tone to it because Draco was close and he was touching her hair and he smelt delicious and...she hesitated, not wanting to think the thought but unable to stop it...and he was ridiculously attractive and it affected her whether she liked it or not. Her thoughts were interrupted rudely when she felt a sharp stab of pain in her head. "Ouch!" Draco now had a few strands of her hair in his hand having pulled them out rather roughly. He smirked at her.

"You didn't think I was being affectionate, did you?" he asked and Hermione slapped him in the chest as hard as she could. He just laughed and held up her hair.

"I needed a colour match. We are meant to be related after all," he teased.

"Firstly - you could have asked. Secondly - matching our hair colour didn't necessitate extracting a handful of mine and lastly we're STEP brother and sister. No relation to each other at all!" Hermione hit him again for good measure but he just grinned more.

"Oh yes - silly me!" He didn't sound in least bit sincere but Hermione couldn't help but find him slightly amusing. The annoying git! How could someone be so obnoxious and so charming at the same time?

"Before we go into the village, we need to get our story straight. So we're definitely not getting married then?"

"You rejected my proposal of marriage if I remember correctly - something to do with chatting up any available village girls there may be?"

Draco grinned at her. "Okay then, sis."

Hermione pulled a face. "That sounds weird."

"Not as weird as - okay then, darling would have sounded!" Draco grinned at her and she couldn't help but grin back. The horrible, lonely feeling had gone and if she and Draco could manage to get on, this just might be bearable.

"You're right, sweetheart!" Hermione agreed. They both chuckled and Draco leant back, putting his hands behind his head. Hermione felt herself relax and she sat sipping her drink, the silence a amicable one.

"I'm sorry," Draco said and Hermione looked over at him.

"What?"

"You wanted an apology so there it was," Draco said. He hadn't turned to look at her and was still sitting with his head back staring across the fields. "Don't expect me to repeat it."

Hermione felt a small rush of affection for him because she knew how much it took for him to actually apologise. "You're forgiven," she said, quietly and Draco turned to look at her, his eyes warm.

"All married couples argue," Draco said then he grinned.

"We're step-siblings, remember?"

"Yeh - well they argue too," Draco laughed, stood up and stretched. "Actually, I might need to re-think this because the problem with being brother and sister is that we can argue but we can't kiss and make up. At least if we were married I'd be entitled to a few perks..." With a quick wink, he walked into the house, leaving Hermione staring at his back and shaking her head.

So, husband and wife or brother and sister? Which should it be? Hope you liked their being friends again. I didn't want to make it too much, too quickly. I like them to still be a bit offish because it makes it more realistic. Let me know what you think and thanks for the great reviews. x