~ Draco and Hermione ~

"The world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters.
We've all got both light and dark inside us.
What matters is the part we choose to act on.
That's who we really are."

Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters and settings belong to J.K Rowling.

Enjoy!

Chapter 11

When they returned to the tent Draco quickly went in for a shower. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat in the living room and decided how they would get into Hogwarts more in-depth. The plan was relatively straight forward though, and there wasn't much to talk about. Harry and Ron would be under the Invisibility cloak, Hermione and Draco would be under the Disillusionment blanket, and they would all apparate into Hogsmeade the next morning. From there they would sneak into the Honeydukes basement and use the underground passage to get into Hogwarts. Then they would split into pairs and search for the Elder Wand and any horcruxes. While it was a simple plan, there was also a significant degree of risk. Students and teachers would be swarming the corridors, and there were at least three Death Eaters at Hogwarts: Snape and the two Carrow's. After they'd agreed on the plan, Ron changed the subject.

"So, did you and Malfoy have fun shopping together?" he asked in a mockingly pleasant voice. It was obvious that he was angry about it. Harry gave Ron a warning glance, silently willing him to be quiet.

"Yes we did," replied Hermione simply.

"You seem to like being alone with him," continued Ron casually.

"Is it a crime to go shopping now?" Hermione snapped. She knew where the conversation was heading.

"With him it is, yes!" shouted Ron, pointing towards the bathroom door.

"Ron, be quiet," warned Harry, looking at the entrance to the tent cautiously. But the other two paid no attention to him.

"You need to grow up Ron!"

"I was right from the start, you're fraternising with the ferret!"

"Maybe if you guys didn't fight so much I wouldn't want to leave the tent all the time!" Hermione yelled in reply.

"He starts the fights on purpose!"

"I'm sick of arguing over this..."

"Both of you, be quiet!" hissed Harry as he stood up and drew his wand. Everything went silent as they followed Harry's line of sight and looked towards the entrance of the tent. Even the shower had stopped, so they could clearly hear the crunching of snow from outside. Hermione's eyes widened in fear as she too stood up and drew her wand. They began to hear voices drifting towards the tent, voices that still haunted Hermione. It seemed that the snatchers were getting better at finding people. The crunching sound of footsteps on snow was drawing closer by the second.

"Did you put up protective enchantments?" whispered Hermione, looking at Harry. He shook his head, using his wand to magically pack everything in the small bag. They would either have to fight or run, and quickly. Hermione couldn't believe her ears. How could they have forgotten to put up protective enchantments? They wouldn't last two days by themselves, Hermione thought furiously as she moved towards the bathroom. Ron began helping Harry to pack everything of importance.

"Malfoy! Hurry up!" Hermione hissed into the crack of the door.

"Calm down Granger, I'll be out in a second," replied his voice from inside. Clearly he had no idea what was going on, and they didn't have any time to waste. They needed to leave, immediately.

"We heard shouting, come out with your hands up!" came a voice from outside the tent. Hermione was absolutely terrified at that point, so she quickly unlocked the bathroom door and opened it. Draco was only wearing jeans and no shirt, and he looked up in surprise.

"Merlin, someone's eager," he said in amusement.

"Snatchers are here, we have to go!" said Hermione quickly, running in and grabbing his things. With no time to think, Draco followed her back into the living room where Harry and Ron were waiting with their wands pointing at the entrance. They'd put the lights out, and all was pitch black as Draco raised his own wand. They waited in frightened silence as the sound of crunching snow began to circle the tent.

"On the count of three, shoot spells and hold hands," Hermione whispered. They all nodded, although it was hard to see any movement at all in the darkness. Once Draco's spare clothes were in the small bag as well, Hermione held his hand and raised her wand.

"One... two..."

"This is your last chance to come out!" growled the voice.

"Three!" hissed Hermione, and her voice was instantly followed by an explosion of colour. Hermione waved her wand and took the tent down instantly with the counter spell of 'Erecto', while the other three shot continuous spells of red and green. Shouts from the snatchers filled the air as they returned the spells, but before they could fully react the four of them had clasped hands and vanished from the spot.

Their hearts were pounding as they collapsed on a hill together. It was still dark wherever they ended up, which added to their fear and panic. They all cast 'Lumos' and ignited the hill with bright wand-light, breathing hard and looking at each other. Hermione looked beside herself with rage. Harry and Ron had made so many mistakes. Back in school their mistakes were overlooked because being in a classroom wasn't exactly a life and death situation. But in their current circumstances, mistakes could result in death. Them forgetting how to put up the tent with magic almost led her to bleed to death. All four of them had nearly just been captured because Harry and Ron either forgot or were too lazy to put up protective enchantments when they first arrived.

"Set up the tent, and this time use 'Erecto' so that we're not standing out here for twenty minutes," Hermione said furiously, glaring at Harry who was holding the bag. Realisation dawned on his face as he remembered how to magically put the tent up. While they did that, Hermione circled the area and put up protective enchantments to make sure they wouldn't be found again so easily. Once the tent was up, they all entered, ignited the fire and put the lights back on.

"What the hell just happened?" demanded Draco, still only wearing jeans and shivering slightly without a shirt on. He snatched the bag off Harry and searched for a muggle shirt that Hermione had gotten him.

"Yes, what did just happen?" agreed Hermione as she glared at Harry and Ron.

"We forgot to put up the enchantments, so what?" said Ron. "We were in Albania."

"SO WHAT?" Hermione almost screamed.

"We were in the middle of nowhere Hermione..." Harry tried to explain.

"You put up protective enchantments no matter where you are, do you realise how close we just were to being caught?" she continued, getting louder and louder. Draco could tell that this was the final straw, and he watched as the three best friends quarrelled.

"It was just a mistake!" said Harry exasperatedly.

"I almost died yesterday because of your mistakes, or have you forgotten that as well?" screamed Hermione.

"You can't just blame us, Malfoy forgot too," Ron said defensively.

"I don't know what enchantments you lot use, Weasley. I've never done anything like this before," Draco said defensively.

"There's no one else to blame but yourselves! I can't believe how careless you both are!" said Hermione as her eyes began to well up.

"We're okay now and that's all that matters," said Harry, although he looked concerned. "It's alright, just relax."

"No Harry, I'm not okay and I'm not going to relax. You have no idea what I went through when the snatchers caught me last time. That can never, ever happen again," said Hermione, her voice breaking into a sob as she turned away from them and headed to the bedroom. There was an eerie silence after the door slammed. Draco considered going in there to avoid being around the other two. But he wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to follow her straight away, in-case she wanted to be alone. The silence continued to lengthen until Draco decided that an emotional Hermione had to be better than her awkwardly guilty looking friends.

He walked to his and Hermione's bedroom, and opened the door. When he entered, he saw Hermione sitting on her bed with her knees against her chest.

"Get out," she sobbed as he closed the door behind himself.

"No," Draco answered, getting up onto the top bunk bed.

"I don't want you here," continued Hermione weakly.

"Well then you should have locked the door," replied Draco, leaning back against his pillows. There was silence as Hermione sighed, not wanting to argue with him.

"Are you going to sleep? I could turn the light out," said Draco, breaking the silence.

"No, I came in here to cry," answered Hermione from below him. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Well... can you cry in the dark?" he asked, trying not to snicker as he said it.

"No Malfoy!" Hermione sobbed. "Why even say that? It's not funny, I'm not in the mood."

He felt a pang of guilt and sighed, maybe that was a bit much.

"Sorry. Look, if it helps, everything you said needed to be said. Maybe they'll get the message now and start thinking straight," suggested Draco aloud.

It was strange witnessing the Gryffindor's argue. Slytherin as a house wasn't quite as unified or team oriented as the others. There was too much ambition, too much gossip, backstabbing and drama. To survive you had to have a close-knit group of friends. While Harry, Ron and Hermione seemed to tolerate and bottle up their annoyances towards each other until they had a blowup, Slytherin's were the opposite. The moment anything got on his nerves, he said it. So did Pansy, so did Blaise, Goyle, Crabbe. Perhaps their brutal honesty and shorter tolerances led to more frequent arguments, but they very rarely bottled things up or had falling outs. And just like Hermione had been saying since the beginning, the four of them had to get along somehow, or else they were going to be miserable.

"I suppose. I hope I didn't hurt their feelings... but I'm just so sick of everything, I always have to do all the work," said Hermione sadly.

"You shouldn't have to. I don't like them, but they'll probably try harder. Besides, it could be worse. Imagine being out here with Crabbe and Goyle. After six years at Hogwarts, Greg still can't cast 'Lumos', and he learned to read in our third year," Draco snickered, remembering how truly stupid those two were. Hermione laughed a bit, she could actually remember that one of them didn't know how to read when they were younger.

"Which one was Greg?" she asked.

"Goyle, the taller one. Crabbe was the fat one. They may have been complete idiots, and all of Gryffindor probably hated them, but they were hilarious to be around," said Draco. He had no idea why he was telling Hermione any of this, but she wasn't crying any more and it was one of the first proper conversations about his experience at Hogwarts they'd ever had.

"Do you miss them?" asked Hermione curiously.

"I miss Pansy and Blaise the most. We were... closer. More like you three, I suppose. And their parents aren't Death Eaters, or really that involved in the war. Crabbe and Goyle's fathers are Death Eaters though, so when all of this is over, we probably won't be on great terms," Draco explained. Hermione could hear the sadness in his voice.

"But hey, imagine if you were stuck here with me, Crabbe and Goyle, setting out to kill an evil Dumbledore, while Harry and Ron were having the time of their lives at Hogwarts for a year," said Draco with a laugh, as if to lighten the mood with another funny scenario. But Hermione realised that that was probably exactly how Draco felt, only in reverse.

"That would actually be really scary," said Hermione honestly.

"It's just odd. And frustrating, because of Potter and Weasley," Draco said. He lied slightly there. It actually was somewhat scary. Joining his enemies, camping out in the middle of nowhere, going to Hogwarts which is filled with students, teachers and three Death Eaters... setting out to kill Voldemort while not knowing whether his parents were dead or alive. Yes, it was scary. But at least he had a chance to change things, for better or for worse.

Hermione turned the lights out, feeling somewhat better. But they talked for a while longer until they were both tired enough to fall asleep.

The next morning they had toast for breakfast and spent the rest of the time packing the tent and everything else into the small enchanted bag. It felt strange to be returning to Hogwarts again, mainly because they knew they would be sneaking in from an underground passage, and not arriving by train. Once everything was packed, Hermione took out the Invisibility cloak and blanket. Then she lead the way up to the top of a hill, and Harry and Ron put their Invisibility cloak on. They vanished completely from sight. Hermione got out the blanket, which now was translucent, and put it over herself. Draco nodded.

"I can barely see you, it's almost invisible," he said in satisfaction, "Good work."

"Thanks," Hermione smiled, taking it off her and turning to see Harry and Ron take off their cloak.

"Okay, we'll apparate in our pairs. Remember to try and get as close to Honeydukes as possible. If we can't see each other, stick your foot out from under the cloak and whisper something," said Hermione, though she was unsure if this would be a good idea.

"We better not lose each other," said Harry, casting a cold glare at Draco before throwing the cloak back over him and Ron. Hermione did the same, covering herself and Draco. The blanket was smaller, and they had to be almost hugging to stay completely underneath it.

"Three, two, one," said Hermione, turning on the spot and disapparating from the hill whilst holding hands with Draco. They went through the uncomfortable feeling of being sucked through a rubber tube, and re-appeared a moment later down an alleyway, nearly falling over. They had to hold on to each other to regain their balance, stifling laughs as they did so Then they attempted to stay quiet as they looked around to see where they were.

"This is beside Honeydukes," whispered Draco, and he pointed where to go. It was awkward and hard to walk being so close to each other, and they had to make sure not to step on the blanket as well. With near constant bumping into one another and stepping on each other's feet, they reached the front of Honeydukes. On the windows there were no longer bright, colourful signs and pictures of chocolates and sweets. Instead there were Wanted posters of Harry, Ron, Hermione and other muggle-borns on the run. The shop looked hauntingly grim, like every other shop on the street. Everything was smashed, dark and gloomy. Hermione saw the door of Honeydukes open outwards, but there was no-one there, so she knew it was Harry and Ron. Hurrying forwards as fast as they could, they reached the door and slipped in as well. Hermione was right the day before, it was much warmer under the blanket. The problem was, it was a hot day, and two people stumbling along under a blanket created a lot of warmth. They wandered into the shop, slowly slipping past the lady at the counter.

"Alohamora," murmured Harry's voice from ahead, and they saw the basement door unlock and creak open. They held the door open for Hermione and Draco, who followed them invisibly. Then the door closed, and they re-locked it.

"You go first, Harry, you know the way best," Hermione whispered into the air, the trapdoor a few feet away.

"Okay," came Harry's whisper, as they pulled their cloaks off. Harry opened the trap door and went down first. After him, they all went down one at a time into the underground passage. To be safe, they closed the trapdoor behind them and got under their cloaks again. They stumbled along the passage without any light, for what felt like ages. Hermione could feel herself sweating under the now uncomfortably hot blanket.

"I think a blanket would've been better during the night, not the day," whispered Draco, seeming to read her mind. He was so close behind her that she could constantly feel him.

"Agreed," Hermione whispered back. They heard Ron snicker from ahead. The minutes ticked by slowly as they continued stumbling through the long, dark passage.

"We're approaching the end," whispered Harry from in front of them, nearly twenty minutes later.

"Finally."

"Thank god."

"Have a quick break," said Hermione quietly, pushing the blanket off. The cool air of the underground passage felt incredible, and they relaxed against the stone walls. They didn't want to wait too long however, as they needed to get everything done before night fell and the Caterwauling charm was set back in place. Harry and Ron went under their cloak, and prepared to move the statue of the one-eyed witch.

"It's going to be even hotter up there in the castle," whispered Draco with a groan.

"I know. Give me a second," said Hermione quietly, taking off her long-sleeved shirt. Underneath she was wearing a plain white singlet. Draco couldn't help but stare at her slender figure again, something he'd been doing a lot of lately. While they were at Hogwarts he'd never noticed nor cared about what she looked like under her baggy robes, which every student had to wear.

"Ready?" she asked, holding the blanket up.

"Oh, yeah," said Draco, doing his best to act as though he hadn't just been checking her out. Hermione seemed to find this amusing since only days ago he probably would have smirked and said something to annoy her. She smiled and put the blanket back over them, preparing to move into the halls of Hogwarts. Even though she'd attended Hogwarts for six years, her heart was thudding against her chest as she entered it again. The same thing was happening to the other three beside her. Harry was nervous because Hogwarts was the closest thing to a home for him, and he was going to see Dumbledore's grave again. Ron was nervous because he had a chance to see his little sister again. Draco was nervous because every student in the castle thought he was a Death Eater, and the Carrow's would surely kill him if they saw him.

"Dissendium," murmured Harry from in front of them. The statue moved aside, and they had to shield their eyes from the light of the corridor. Hermione and Draco drew close together as they began walking, and Harry moved the statue back into place when they'd passed through. It appeared that they'd been lucky, as there was no one around to see the statue move.

"We're on the third floor. Dumbledore's grave is out on the grounds. We can't see each other, so just meet up at the grave," Hermione whispered quietly.

"What if something goes wrong?" came Ron's anxious whisper. It took a few moments for someone to reply.

"Room of Requirement. If you get into trouble, hide there," whispered Harry.

"And after that?" Ron continued.

"If everything goes wrong, we meet up again at The Burrow. Just get out of Hogwarts by any means necessary and disapparate. Good luck, see you on the grounds," Hermione whispered, the other two also wishing her good luck. Unable to see the other two, Hermione and Draco set off in their own direction. They were huddled close together and moving carefully to avoid stumbling. It normally took a while to reach the grounds from the third floor. Doing it in broad daylight with students and teachers walking around meant that it would take even longer and be even more dangerous.

Thank you for reading! If you liked this chapter, please feel free to review and add to alerts/favourites! :)

Check out my other stories!

Draco and Hermione - s/5661111/1/Draco-and-Hermione

The Soul Connection - s/9868543/1/The-Soul-Connection

The Time-Turner Division - s/12337018/1/The-Time-Turner-Division