A/N*
Guys, I know it's been awhile. Anyways, here's a fresh new chapter. I hope you like it.
Draco sat on his bed glaring at a particular book on Granger's obnoxiously overfilled bookshelf. An Exposé on Filing Cabinets, formally known as Dolores Umbridge. Granger had put it in his room on purpose. He knew it. 'It's best disguised this way.' She had said as she slid it onto the shelf. 'Honestly, Draco, we're all guilty here. Theo killed her, I transfigured her and now we've all taken part in hiding her body.'
Draco snorted and rolled his eyes. There were bookshelves all around the dingy flat, she didn't have to put it in his room. He flopped back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. He'd had another vivid dream last night. It hadn't been about Potter, though. It had been about bloody Granger again. Theo had finally taken to sleeping on the couch because Draco thrashed so hard in his sleep that he was giving the other boy bruises.
Draco held his hands up above his face and watched the light from the window drift through them. He sighed. He missed feeling the sun on his face. The windows in this flat didn't open. He could feel the warmth of the sun through them, but he longed to feel the soft breeze. He pulled himself up into a sitting position as the smell of baked goods hit his nose. It was probably muffins again. All Granger knew how to bake was fucking muffins. His long hair flopped into his face and he pushed it back in irritation. Merlin, he needed a haircut.
The kitchen was in its usual we-love-each-other-but-hate-Draco mood today. Theo and Brown sat at the table bickering over which words went where on the crossword puzzle, and Granger was busy frying eggs and humming to herself. Her wild hair was pulled up into a knot on top of her head, her wand was stuck through it to hold it in place. She turned briefly as he entered and then turned back to the eggs frying in the pan. She was still cold towards him after their… kiss… several nights ago. Draco wrinkled his nose at the thought. Kiss. It had barely been a kiss. He has been asleep. Well, mostly asleep. That's what he told himself anyways.
Draco sat down at the table and pulled a mug and the pot of coffee towards him. He poured himself a cup, making it a point to avoid the stack of coasters that sat right next to the coffee and mugs. He watched as his mug magically lifted, and a coaster slid neatly under it. He curled his lip. He glanced up at Granger and saw her watching him with a smirk on her face. He opened his mouth to say something rather cruel but she cut him off.
"You need a haircut." She stated before turned back to her pan and sliding the eggs neatly onto a plate.
"So what, are you gonna take me to a barber shop then?" He asked sarcastically.
"No, I'll cut it myself after breakfast." She said.
"You're not touching my hair, Granger." Draco laughed.
"I cut Theo's yesterday evening." She said.
Draco turned and studied Theo. He supposed the haircut wasn't all that bad. But it was obvious that his long messy hair irked Granger, and he intended to keep it that way.
"I think I'll keep the length." He said. He took a sip of his coffee and watched her over the rim. She turned towards him, two red circles appeared high on her cheeks. Granger wasn't one to blush much, but when she was angry her cheeks turned red. Draco would have thought it cute on any one else.
But on Granger it's adorable. Said a voice in his head. Draco idly wondered what happened when she came. He ground his teeth and clenched his hand tightly around the handle of his mug. The ceramic protested under his fingers.
"Oi, Malfoy! That's my favorite mug, don't you dare break it!" Brown's voice cut through his disturbing, and rather pleasurable thoughts.
"Er, uh, sorry." He said, placing the mug back onto the coaster.
Brown stared at him, dumbfounded.
"Did-did you just apologize to me?" She asked. Theo turned to look at him, his brow furrowed. Damn Granger, clouding his thoughts. He had been raised with proper manners. Contrary to popular belief, it has taken him a long time to become the insufferable tosser they all knew and loved.
Ignoring Brown, he turned back to Granger, who was watching him with a raised eyebrow and a knowing look on her face.
"I'm not letting you cut my hair, Granger." He said stubbornly. Granger nodded.
"Great, once breakfast is cleaned up all be happy to trim it up for you. I'm very good, you know. I cut Ron and Harry's hair all the time when we were hunting horcruxes."
Draco furrowed his brow at her. "Horcruxes? What the hell are-"
"Oh gods, Hermione!" Yelled Brown, cutting off Draco mid question. "We have an Order meeting this afternoon!" She stared at Granger, a panicked look on her face.
"Relax, Lav. Moody won't be there. Draco and Theo will be safe." She said, waving her hand. "Besides, McGonagall knows about them. She'll make sure they go undetected."
"Oh, thank fuck we have McGonagall to protect us." Draco said sarcastically.
"Hey!" Granger said sharply, pointing her finger at him. "McGonagall could have turned you over to Moody for interrogation and she didn't. You're damned lucky she was the one that walked in on all of us and not anyone else."
Draco raised his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, Granger. Merlin, you're a tight ass this morning." He said.
Theo snickered. Granger narrowed her eyes at him. "Do not make me curse you again, Malfoy. Trust me, I can conjure up a mean Bat-Bogey Hex."
After breakfast Theo and Brown retreated up to her bedroom to "talk". Draco sat begrudgingly in a chair in the middle of the kitchen while Granger snipped at his hair with a pair of shears. He had tried to sneak off to his bedroom but she stopped him at the door way and threatened him with her wand.
"You know, we really could be civil to one another, Draco." She said.
Draco blew a piece of hair off of his nose. "No, Granger, I really don't think we could. You see, you're a know-it-all swot, and a mudblood-"
"So help me, Malfoy, I will shave your head right down the middle if you call me a mudblood again." Granger said through her teeth.Then after a beat she said "you didn't seem so put off by me the other night," in a snarky voice. Draco ground his teeth.
"I was half asleep, Granger. I thought you were Greengrass or some other slag that I was dreaming about. Besides that, I haven't even thought about that kiss. If that's even what you could call it."
But he had thought about it. Almost every night. He thought about kissing Granger, and he dreamt about shagging her. "Are you almost finished?" He snapped at her. "I'd like your grubby hands off of me as soon as possible." Something shiny flashed before his eyes. Surprised, he looked down to see the pair of kitchen shears stuck, tip down, into the kitchen chair between his legs.
"Finished." Granger snapped before marching out of the kitchen.
"Are you trying to neuter me, woman?!" He yelled in shock at her retreating back.
He yanked the shears out of the wood and tossed them on the table, thanking Merlin that they hadn't struck anything valuable, before heading to the restroom. He wouldn't be surprised if Granger had hacked his hair to bits, but he was surprised to find that she had done a good job. A feeling creeped up his throat. Guilt? Was he actually feeling guilty for what he had said to Granger? Merlin's tits, he needed to get out of this place before he lost it all together.
He turned from the mirror and trudged out of the bathroom. He needed to sulk. He skidded to a halt just before he ran into McGonagall, who was standing just outside the hallway. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Mister Malfoy. Very nice haircut." She said with a nod. "It's about time you got rid of that rats nest."
Draco bit down on his tongue to avoid telling the old bint where she could shove her compliment.
"Thanks." He mumbled and tried to scoot past her, but she blocked him.
"I'm sure Miss Granger has informed you of the Order meeting that is taking place later this afternoon?" She asked.
"Yeah. It's super secret. Don't worry, Theo and I will be up in our room pretending we don't exist." He said with a roll of his eyes.
McGonagall studied him for a moment before nodding once.
"Very good." She said before turned away and heading to the kitchen where Granger was sweeping his hair off the floor.
Why didn't she just use magic? One flick of her wand and the hair would gather itself. Stupid mudblood. There it was again. Guilt. The thick feeling stuck itself to the back of his throat like molasses. He hurried up to his room where he found Theo, who sat on the bed with messy hair and flushed cheeks.
"Snogging the blood traitor again?" Draco sneered.
Theo rolled his eyes.
"For fuck's sake, Malfoy, you know none of that matters anymore. We are blood traitors now, too. And what's more, it didn't matter to begin with. It's all bullshite."
Draco clenched his jaw and sat down on the bed. "What do you think the meeting will be about?" He asked.
Theo shrugged. "Probably the usual. How are we going to stop You-Know-Who, where the hell has Potter gone, etcetera, etcetera."
Draco stared at him for a moment. "Brown tells you what the meetings are about? Wait-did you just say we? As in, you're on their side?" He asked, appalled.
Theo laughed "I thought it was pretty obvious what side I was on. I've been rooting for Potter from the start. I only took the mark because I had no other choice. I was never behind You-Know-Who, but I sure as hell didn't want to die. You know that."
Draco pulled back the sleeve of his grey jumper and studied the vivid black mark that jumped out from his ivory skin.
"None of us actually wanted the mark. Me, you, Parkinson, Zabini. None of us wanted it, the Dark Lord is an absolute psychopath, but that doesn't mean he isn't right. We, the purebloods, are superior above all others." But even as he said the words, he knew he didn't believe them. 'Pureblood' didn't carry the heavy pride that it used to. The skull on his arm stared at him in mockery. Fake he thought acidly. Traitor, rat, no better than the mudblood Granger. He yanked his sleeve back down over the mark.
Theo scoffed. "That's all bullshite, Malfoy. You know it is. Blood is blood. It doesn't mean anything. It never did. Hermione is muggleborn, and yet she kicked your arse in all of our classes. You're not just a pureblood, either, oh no, you're a Malfoy. The cream of the crop. And yet, you're here, in Hermione's flat. Under her protection. I mean, that's just about the most despicable set of circumstances a pureblood could possibly find themselves in." Theo said smugly.
A whirlwind of emotions were erupting inside of Draco. Threatening to crawl up his throat and pour out of his mouth. Guilt, anger, sadness, grief, self loathing, and every self pitying emotion there was. Something itched in the back of his brain. Something… he knew something. Or knew of something. The beliefs he had been raised on were crumbling around him, but it was almost as if he had ditched those beliefs long ago, and had somehow forgotten about it. Was it possible to forget that he had forgotten his prejudices? Did that even make sense? No. No it did not make sense.
Theo made his way across the room and tried the doorknob. It didn't budge.
"Looks like the meeting already started."
He said. He walked to the bookshelf and pulled down on of the books Hermione had gifted Draco months ago, A Tale of Two Cities, and settled into the armchair in the corner. Draco flopped back into the bed and closed his eyes. He was exhausted even though it was only late afternoon. His eyes fluttered shut.
Draco watched the fire crackle on the snow covered ground. Across from him sat Harry Potter, who had a rather large gash across his left cheek.
"We could look in Romania. I know you don't think it's likely that he hid one there, but-" Harry tried to reason, but Draco cut him off.
"There aren't anymore, Potter. You know it, and I know it. You had to have messed up the spell, or maybe You-Know-Who used something else to make him immortal, like a back up plan in case all of his Horcruxes were found."
Draco watched the flames dance around. He picked up a small twig next to him and threw it in, watching the fire consume it. The twig curled in on itself before crumbling away.
"What spell could he possibly have used then, Draco? There has to be another Horcrux." Harry said desperately. "Maybe… Maybe it's me. Maybe I'm not the- the Chosen One. Maybe the prophecy-"
"The prophecy is bullshite, Harry." Draco said, looking up and staring the other boy in the face.
"It's bullshite, do you hear me? It's moot. It doesn't matter anymore. You-Know-Who is smart. He covered his ass and he did it well. We have to be smarter than him-"
"I miss Hermione." Harry said, cutting Draco off mid tangent. "She- she would know where to look. She would know what book to read through. I'm useless without her…"
Draco's eyes sprung open. The room was dark, the moonlight shone through his window. Tomorrow night it would be full. No wonder Brown had been more on edge lately. He looked around the room and found that Theo had gone at some point. Horcrux his mind whispered. What was a Horcrux? Something that made Voldemort immortal. But how? A memory danced on the edge of his brain, as impossible to grasp as a vapor. Horcrux. He knew what a Horcrux was. He had to know. He had been discussing them with Potter somewhere in the woods. Why on earth has he been with Potter?
Aggravated, he pulled himself up off of the bed and crossed the room. He tried the knob and it clicked open easily. After a moment, Draco heard voices coming from downstairs. They sounded heated. He recognized Granger's voice right away. But the second was only vaguely familiar. He crept silently down the staircase careful to stay in the shadows, until he could clearly see the front door. He saw Granger standing there, holding the door open. Her jaw was set and her brow furrowed. Draco's eyes followed her glare and fell upon one Ron Weasley.
Oh great. Weasel is here. He thought acidly.
"It's time for you to go, Ron." Granger said firmly. She held the door open wider.
"C'mon, Mione, can't we just talk for a minute? I miss you." Weasley pleaded. Draco wanted to gag at the fake desperation in his voice. He tightened his fist as Weasley reached his hand out to Granger
"Don't touch me, Ron!" She snapped.
Good girl. Draco thought smugly. Don't let his scummy hands touch you.
"I just want to talk to you!" Weasley yelled. He yanked the door out of Granger's grip and slammed it shut. Grangertook a step back, her eyes wide with shock. Weaseled massaged the bridge of his nose.
"I'm-I'm sorry, Hermione. I just want to talk. Please? Can we just sit down and-"
"- I think you should leave, now." Draco said before he could stop himself. Weasley's head whipped around to where he was standing, hidden in the shadows.
"Who said that? Who's there?" He asked, squinting to see Draco.
"Go back upstairs!" Granger said, panicked. "This doesn't concern you. Just go back upstairs."
"I'm not going anywhere until Weasel walks out that door.
Fuck. He'd called him 'Weasel'.
"Who- Malfoy?!" Weasley said in shock.
Double fuck.
Weasley pointed his wand at Draco. "Come here!" He demanded "Step out of the shadow so I can see you!" Draco stepped forward, his classic smug grin on his face.
"Miss me? Weasel?" He asked arrogantly. The look on Weasley's face was absolutely livid. He raised his wand, to cast a curse, probably, but Granger jumped in front on him. Putting herself between Draco and the very angry red head.
"Don't, Ron!" She cried. Wesley looked at her in shock.
"He- you- you're protecting him?!" He roared at her. "After everything he's done?! HE KILLED DUMBLEDORE, HERMIONE!"
"Oh please, Ron, you know that actually wasn't him!" She screamed back. Weasley stared at her, dumbfounded.
"Does Moody know about this?" He asked after a beat. Draco's heart sank. He had hoped that Weasley would just assume everyone was keeping him in the dark, and that Moody actually did know that Granger was housing a Death Eater. And he knew Granger couldn't lie.
"He-well, we were going to tell him-" she began frantically, but Weasley cut her off
"Well. Now you don't have to." He turned and threw the door open and stormed out. Slamming it shut behind him. Granger turned and looked at Draco. Her eyes full of seething anger. For a moment he thought she might hex him.
"Do you know what you just did?!" She screamed. "You just blew our cover!" And with that, she turned and chased after Ron.
Draco heard footsteps on the stairs behind him.
"What happened? We heard yelling!" Brown said frantically.
"Well, I could be wrong, but- I think Weasley knows I'm here."