"Darling, are you feeling alright?" Mrs. Weasley asked as Hermione slowly trudged down the stairs, contemplating on her next move. Of course The Order didn't know that she was keeping Draco. But she almost expected them to find out, since most of the older members were very skilled Occlumens. She had hoped they would find out, so she would be spared of the explanations and the scolding, for keeping a fugitive such as he.
"Hermione, are you okay?" Harry asked, concerned. He was clutching his wand tightly, and lack of sleep was evident in his emerald eyes. They were not the bright ones she knew, but instead, a hollow emptiness that his eyes seemed to convey. The war was punishing them. Still their faces were expectant of a perfectly good reason why she would shout out his name.
"I, uh, was dreaming?" She tried. It was a shallow excuse, too shallow for someone like Hermione Granger. But that was precisely why they believed her. They breathed a sigh of relief, delighted that the girl was still all right, even after the atrocities of last night.
"Harry, Ginny, Mrs. Weasley and Professor Lupin!" Hermione screamed, trying to sound excited when she was just warning Draco. "I didn't expect you here."
"Well, we wanted to make sure you were alright." Professor Lupin said, and Hermione thought that she saw that old knowing glimmer in his steely eyes.
"Well, yes," Hermione said, sitting down in one of the velvet armchairs, "I'm quite alright here. The house fixed itself, amazingly. It must have had a pretty powerful owner." She said, trying to keep things light. She wanted to make them believe that she was all right, even though she was deathly terrified of what's to come. Still, she cannot turn Draco in. They will not understand.
"Please go home with us," Ginny said, rushing to her side, her flowing red hair trailing behind her. "It's too dangerous. Ron's panicking and being all annoying, Harry doesn't sleep anymore, all mum and dad do is—"
"If you want to, Hermione." Mrs. Weasley interrupted, shooting her daughter a warning glance. "We can discontinue this operation, and you can go home safely. I see no reason why the older members of The Order cannot continue what you have started."
"No!" Hermione answered almost immediately. "What I mean is, you may not understand why I'm doing this. I feel like I owe Professor Dumbledore something. I want to be the witch that he always saw me to be, and I can be that witch, if I do this."
It was as if something in Harry stirred. "Well, right." Hermione looked at him and saw tears brimming in his eyes, showing the old warmth they once contained. "If you need us, we're just a floo powder away." Mrs. Weasley and Professor Lupin looked at each other, each breathing a deep sigh.
"Be safe, dear." Mrs. Weasley said, giving her a warm hug.
"Please come home, Hermione." Ginny said, her voice on the verge of breakdown.
"There are a few books in the library that can help you, Hermione. I know that they are of the dark arts, but it helps to be sure." Professor Lupin advised.
Harry gave her a long embrace. "I'm sure he'd be proud of you, Herm." Harry whispered.
"I know he would be proud of you." She told him.
She turned around and sighed, after they had flooed out of the house. She collapsed onto the velvet armchair. She doesn't exactly have a plan about Draco, and now that she was spending time with him, it proved to be more difficult to turn him in to The Order.
"They're gone, then?" Hermione heard a voice say. She turned to look and saw Draco wearing only a green silk robe, descending down the stairs like some sort of master.
"Yes, Malfoy." She said, shutting her eyes. "Your presence is giving me a migraine. Can you bother me later?"
"But Granger, you know my morning isn't complete without seeing you squirm." He said evilly.
"Leave now or you'll start to grow on me. And you won't like me liking you." She said with a yawn, waving her hand to gesture dismissal. "Food's in the Slytherin dining room."
"I thought you liked me already." Draco replied wittily.
"I don't know where you think these things up, Malfoy." Hermione said sleepily. I'm starting to believe them myself.
xox
"Are you sure Remus?" Molly Weasley asked for the tenth time, while taking a sip of her tea. She was pacing back and forth nervously in the small kitchen of Number 12, Grimmauld Place, perplexed at the situation before them.
"We should put him in custody immediately." Moody said, his magic eye twirling around in its socket, the way it is when tensions are high and the enemy is near. It does that a lot lately now, ever since both of the sides realized that war was inevitable.
"He is just a boy, Alastor." Molly replied, sitting down, drinking more tea to calm her nerves. The boy made her nervous, especially with her so close to him.
"He is hiding from the Dark Lord, so that means he is against him." Remus Lupin said, defending Molly. He believed the boy's good intentions. He was just a boy, after all. And whispers told him that the boy ran away when he was about to be marked.
"Does Hermione know that he is in the house?" Molly asked, frightened.
"No, I don't think so. The house is very big, and very old. There may be rooms that are only accessible to pureblood descendants. And as you know, every pureblood family is interconnected." Lupin looked at Moody, who started at him sternly.
"Fine. I suppose we should just leave the boy there?" Moody said. He never took a liking to the Malfoy boy. Potter didn't like him, and he trusted Potter.
"For the moment, I'm afraid that's all we will be able to do." Remus said with a tired sigh. "We should bring this matter up in the next Order meeting. Maybe Minerva will pass better judgment on this matter, and figure out what to do with young Draco."
xox
"Did you hear that?" Ron asked. Harry and Cho were sitting on the stairs, watching him listen in to the conversation at the kitchen. Ginny was opposed to listening in during Order meetings so she ran back upstairs.
"Hear what, Ron." Harry said, rolling his eyes. Ever since the attack, Ron was in full-on panic mode. He never slept anymore, he kept on pestering everyone around the house about Hermione, and just last night he made a muggle diagram to persuade Lupin to send Hermione back. Harry was stressed, but even he knew that Ron was bordering on insane.
"Fine. Don't care about your best friend, Harry." Ron replied, sensing the tone of intolerance in Harry's voice.
"It's not that I don't care about Hermione, Ron. I do. I just trust her to take care of herself. You, on the other hand, talk as if she were some struggling first year student in a sixth year transfiguration class." Harry said calmly.
"I think it's best if you paid her a visit." Cho said. She was usually quiet, so Harry turned to her when she spoke. She smiled lightly, though that failed to remove the sadness in her eyes.
"If you're so worried about her, Ron, why don't you go see how she's doing?" Harry said, backing up Cho's suggestion. It would satisfy his insatiable concern for Hermione's welfare and get him out of the house, so for once, they would get some peace and quiet.
"I'll get Malfoy myself." Ron grumbled, and entered the kitchen to pay Hermione a visit.
xox
Hermione was still resting on the velvet armchair when she heard a thud. She immediately opened her eyes and grasped her wand, only to loosen her grip when she saw that it was only Ron. He was dusty, and, after getting over the initial pain of the marble floor, got up and brushed off the ashes of his shirt.
"Where is he, Hermione?" Ron asked, enraged. He was pointing his wand threateningly at no one in particular.
"Oh, crap." Hermione cursed under her breath. "Where is who, Ron?"
"Malfoy. I know he's here." Ron said angrily. "Come out, come out, wherever you are ferret boy!" He screamed. Hermione thanked Ron silently. At least Malfoy would be aware of Ron's presence.
"Ron, you are delusional. What would Malfoy be doing here?" She asked, feigning innocence.
"Stop covering for me, Granger." A cold voice said behind her. Ron's stare grew more intense. She turned around, and saw that it was Malfoy, eating a ham sandwich.
"What are you doing?" She asked him. "Now we have to deal with Ron squealing to the Order!"
"The Order already knows that Malfoy's here." Ron spat, his wand still up.
"Put that down, Weasley. Before you hurt yourself." Draco drawled infuriatingly.
"The Order knows?" Hermione asked, suddenly nervous. "How?"
"Didn't you expect them to figure it out?" Ron answered impatiently. "Now stand back, Hermione, as I finish this git off."
"Ron, put your wand down." Hermione warned.
"You're actually protecting him? Get away, Hermione!" Ron screamed.
"You heard him, Granger. Let's see what he's got." Draco taunted.
"God, Malfoy." She said. "Ron, I suggest you put your wand down."
"Cruc—"
"Expelliarmus!" Hermione said, and Ron crashed to the antique table, breaking the precious Ming porcelain vase on top of it. Draco dropped his sandwich and applauded.
"Oh shut up, Malfoy." She said, running to Ron. She brushed off some of the debris off of his face, only to discover that he was unconscious. "Get over here!" She told Malfoy. He walked slowly, carrying his wand with him.
"I think we should leave him this way." Draco said, an amused grin playing on his face.
"We need to perform a memory spell on him." Hermione said, lifting her wand. "Obliviate une!" Sparks flew from her wand to Ron's temples, dancing around before they disappeared. "That should remove his memory of the past hour. Fix those, will you?" She said, pointing to the antique table and the Ming vase. She pulled Ron away from the mess.
"Stay here while I bring Ron back. The we can deal with the fact that The Order knows that you're here." Hermione said.
xox