A/N: Sorry I took so long to upload this! And I'm sorry it's so short. It's kind of a filler chapter I guess. Hermione needed some character redemption. Hopefully this gives some insight into how shitty Draco's life currently is. Anyways, Enjoy! and pleaasseeee Review!

Chapter 10

"Good morning." Hermione said cheerfully.

"Er… Good morning…" said Draco carefully.

"Listen I'm really sorry about last night. I guess I just kind of snapped, and I think that I was still a little bit caught up in my nightmare." She explained.

"I don't blame you." He told her. After a slight hesitation he asked; "So what was your nightmare about?"

Hermione looked embarrassed at first, then pained and looked away. "I'd rather not talk about it." She told him. That confirmed his suspicions. She had definitely been dreaming about that terrible day at the Manor. This fact began to eat away at Draco's conscience.

"Of course. Sorry for asking." Draco said. Hermione turned back around and smiled. Draco had been with her long enough to see how forced it was, but he admired her for trying so hard.

"Well that's enough of that. Where to next?" Hermione asked.

"Well I supposed we should just move onto the next town and hope that something turns up." Draco suggested.

And so they did. But there wasn't anything there. Or in the next town. Or the next few after that. After a few weeks Hermione and Draco were becoming incredibly frustrated. They hadn't come across anymore wizarding towns, and there was nothing related to Voldemort in the muggle towns that they searched through. It was possible that they had missed something, or had been looking in the wrong places, but they couldn't come up with an alternate plan for the time being. Although Draco and Hermione had agreed to put their differences behind them, they were also both incredibly tense. Draco was scared of saying something wrong to hurt her again, and Hermione still felt uncomfortable around Draco for obvious reasons. This all resulted in them both feeling isolated and lonely. There had been no catalyst in their relationship to bring them closer, or push them even further apart. They were stuck in an awkward phase where neither really knew how to act around the other. Their mission had actually become quite monotonous as it passed without incident.

"Granger." Draco whispered a few weeks after the Hermione's melt down.

"Yes?" She said.

"Do you hear that?" Hermione listened closely, not hearing anything for a minute. Then she heard it- voices. They knew that their wards were secure, but that didn't take away from their fear of being discovered.

"I think that Paul McCartney did actually die in that car accident and they replaced him. If you play some of their songs backwards there's hidden messages to prove it. It's all just one big conspiracy so that they could continue to make money." One voice said. The other made a noise of agreement, but clearly wasn't too caught up in the conversation.

"They're muggles." Hermione told Draco, relieved. The muggle repelling charms would push them away, and even if they didn't, Hermione and Draco could easily pass for a couple out camping- as much as Hermione hated the thought.

"How do you know?"

"They're talking about The Beatles- a muggle band from the 1960's. They were brilliant, but wizards don't listen to them." Hermione explained. Draco nodded in understanding.

"Oh what a pretty owl! I've never seen a snowy owl around here before." The voice said again. Hermione's head snapped up. There weren't many snowy owls around. Unless it was all just a coincidence that a rare snowy owl happened to be just outside of Draco and Hermione's wards, Hedwig had found Hermione. She poked her head out of the tent to check. She figured that if the pair hadn't noticed the tent, then it was safe to poke her head outside. It was definitely Hedwig, perched on a branch just outside the wards. Hermione's face broke out into a huge smile. She had no idea how, but Hedwig had found them! She was stunned, but then again she had always known that Hedwig was special.

"Yes. It's beautiful. But can we please keep going? I have to drive Katie to ballet tonight." said the second voice. So the muggle charms did work! They were meant to remind the muggle of a pressing matter that needed their attention in the opposite direction of the wards. Clearly the wards were kicking in.

"Oh right." Said the first, and then walked away. When Hermione was sure that they were out of sight and ear shot, she raced to the edge of the wards.

"Granger what in Merlin's name do you think you're doing?" Draco called after her.

"It's Harry's owl! It's Hedwig!" She expclaimed. She stepped outside of the wards, and Hedwig swooped down and landed on Hermione's outstretched arm. She brought Hedwig back into the wards and took the letter from his leg, racing inside to read it. Hedwig followed- he must have been given order's not to leave without a letter.

Hermione,

I know it's unlikely that Hedwig would find you as I'm sure your wards are impeccable, but I thought it would be worth a try. If you get this, please reply so that I know we can keep in touch and that you're okay. I hate the thought of you out there alone with Malfoy and Merlin knows what else. I miss you so much, so does Ron… not that he'd admit it. He spends all his time sulking about, even though it's his fault that you two had a row. We're not making much progress here, hopefully you and Malfoy are doing better. Let us know! We're all anxious to find out. I'm going to try to convince Ron to apologize to you, but you know how stubborn he can be. Hopefully he gets it through his thick head that he needs you. Anyways, attached is the fake Galleon that we used in fifth year for Dumbledore's Army. Instead of a time, think your location and it will show up on the Galleon that I have. I will show up to said location to help you out with a bunch of other Auror's should you get into trouble or find anything. Only use it for emergencies that need immediate attention though.

Please write back!

Love, Harry

Hermione found herself almost crying as she read the note. She missed Harry so much it almost hurt, the painful reminder of her fight with Ron also made her somewhat upset. But she was also feeling emotional because she was ecstatic to find that she could communicate with her best friend now. Perhaps this would help to end the immense feeling of loneliness that followed her around throughout Scotland.

"What is it?" Draco asked, curious as to what could make Hermione so happy. He hadn't seen her smile in weeks, and he found that he loved seeing her so happy.

"Harry. He found a way to contact me. Oh Malfoy, you have no idea how exciting this is." She said excitedly. Malfoy felt a pang of loneliness. There was no one for him to write to- no one who would even want to hear from him. He was sure that no one would care if died on this mission.

"That's great, but I was talking about the bundle attached to it." He said.

"Oh! Remember in fifth year when you worked so hard to find out where and when our Dumbledore's Army meetings would be?" Hermione asked. Draco nodded confusedly. "Well this is how we decided on meeting times. I would change the times on this Galleon and it would alert all the members."

"Can I see it?" Draco asked. Hermione pushed the fake Galleon towards him, watching him carefully. It wasn't something she could afford to lose. "It's brilliant! Who came up with the idea?"

"I did." Hermione said, blushing at Malfoy's praise. Wait- why would she blush at that? Hermione raised her head up confidently to cover it up.

"It's a brilliant idea. No wonder we had such a hard time figuring out a pattern to your meeting times! There was none."

"Oh, thank you." Hermione said, blushing a little bit again. What in Merlin's name was wrong with her?

"So how did the owl find us?" Draco asked curiously. He figured that if their wards were human proof, then surely they must be owl proof too.

"I don't know. Hedwig's a very special owl. He was always able to find Sirius when he was on the run too." Hermione told him. She felt a twinge of sadness when she thought of Sirius as she had come to really care for him over the few years that she knew him. She admired his loyalty above all else. Bellatrix was to blame for that loss too.

"Sirius Black? I thought he was trying to kill Harry that whole time." Draco asked. Hermione forgot that everyone at Hogwarts must have so many unanswered questions about the trio's adventures throughout the years and often spoke as if they knew everything. Most people vaguely knew of the trio's adventures, but they never heard the full story, and sometimes never knew the outcome.

"Oh no. He was always trying to kill Peter Pettigrew for turning in the Potter's. You see, he asked Wormtail to be secret keeper in the hopes of bettering the Potter's protection. Wormtail then cut off his own finger after he killed all those innocent people to cover his crimes. In the middle of all the commotion, he switched into his animagus form of a rat and stayed that way until third year. He was actually Ron's pet rat, Scabbers. So Sirius was after Wormtail that entire time for revenge, not after Harry. It's all very complicated." Hermione told him.

"Sounds it. Wormtail would be Peter Pettigrew I assume?"

"Oh yes. Sorry, I'm so used to calling him by his nickname. Anyways, I'm going to write back to Harry. Was there anyone that you wanted to write to? I'm sure that Harry wouldn't mind passing the letter along." Hermione offered in an attempt to be nicer.

"No… I don't really have anyone to write to." Draco told her. Hermione was taken aback at his honesty and stared at him in disbelief.

"But there must be some one!" She exclaimed. Draco shook his head.

"Pansy?" Hermione asked, assuming they might have continued their school days romance.

"She was killed trying to switch to your side." Draco said emotionlessly.

"I didn't know she tried to switch!"

"Father killed her before she could get very far." He sounded like he was talking about the weather. Hermione was stunned by how desensitized to death he was.

"Oh. Well what about Crabbe and Goyle?"

"One died in the fire that he set himself- remember that time when you saved us in the room of requirement?"

"How could I forget! Of course, we only got two of you out."

"Yes. And the other ended up killing himself. He was holding his wand backwards whilst trying to kill a muggle."

"What an idiot. I guess something along those lines was bound to happen sometime, he really wasn't the brightest. Well what about Blaise Zabini?"

"He died the same way Pansy did." Draco said. Hermione marveled at his strength. He had no one in the world who cared about him, yet he was still able to keep his cool- which was more than she could say for herself. She also felt bad for him. Despite his past, he had an especially tragic present.

"I'm so sorry Draco." She said quietly. Draco? When had he become Draco? Just last night she had lost her marbles at him- something she still hadn't gotten over. Draco looked at her quizzically, but smiled his thanks.

"I'm sure Harry would pass a letter alone to your parents… despite the circumstances." Hermione offered. Draco scoffed.

"I might as well not have parents. They disowned me as soon as they realized what I had done. Just as well though- Father was barking mad." Said Draco. He tried to sound blasé, but Hermione noticed that he turned away when he spoke of his parents to hide his emotion. She also noticed that he hadn't mentioned his mother. He knew that he and his mother had been close- Harry told her about how Narcissa saved him to find her son.

"I don't have parents either." Hermione said before she thought about it. Why was she telling him this? Perhaps she was prompted by his heartbreaking honesty and his loneliness.

"What happened to them?" Draco asked, sincerity written all over his face.

"Before I left to go search for horcruxes, I erased myself from their memories. For all they new, they never had a daughter. I thought I'd be keeping them safe. Just before they left for Australia Bellatrix found them. She knew if she found me she'd find Harry. She took their ignorance for defiance and… she killed them." Hermione said quietly. Her eyes began to water and she quickly wiped any tears away. She felt so guilty. If she had only sent them away sooner, or maybe if she had just let them know about her mission, they would have been spared.

"Bellatrix really buggered up your life." Draco said simply. Hermione forced out a short laugh.

"Well if that isn't the understatement of the century."

"I'm sorry for all my aunt has done to you."

"You don't need to apologize for her. It's not like you were the one to kill them." Hermione said, careful to avoid any mention of all that he could have prevented- namely Dumbledore's death and her torture.

"Still though. I'm sorry." He said sincerely. Hermione gave him a reassuring smile and went about the kitchen, trying to distract herself as she remembered who she was talking to. As bad as she felt for him, she couldn't just forgive him everything like that. She didn't wish that amount of loneliness and pain on anyone, but she couldn't just pretend as if the past hadn't happened. Although she understood him better now, she couldn't put it all behind her. However, this also meant she couldn't heal.