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Rating: PG thru PG-13, as always.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER. I just like making Malfoy go crazy.

And I'm sorry if there's any weird formatting problems. Fanfiction's going nuts right now.

Here we gooooo!


Hiding
by Shu of the Wind

***

Things grew far worse after Greengrass left. The Carrows, furious that their one tangible link to sedition in Slytherin had disappeared, combed every inch of the dormitories, but everything that Greengrass had left behind, she clearly didn't care about. She had no relationships, other than her sister, and clearly, Daphne didn't know where she was; she was just as furious as the Deputy Heads, cursing everything in sight. Draco considered asking her a few times if she had ever cared about her sister, but considering Pansy's fury with him for ignoring her, he chose the wiser course and stayed out of the girl's way.

He had no idea where she had gone. He checked the Room of Requirement three times, twice superfluously; he knew that she knew that he knew about the Room of Requirement, because he knew that she knew far more than was good for her. He supposed she could have been hiding in the Forest, but only someone truly insane would have done that; certainly no one from Slytherin would have dared.

The rebels didn't know, or weren't willing to talk, no matter how much they were tortured. Draco doubted the latter. Those fat-headed popinjays might claim to have great honor, but most of them weren't willing to stick their own neck out for someone in Slytherin. He didn't doubt that if they knew, one of them would have fessed up.

The Patil twins, however, were a different story. They kept their mouths shut, no matter what the Carrows threw at them. Clearly, whatever Greengrass had done for them had been enough for them to want to return the favor. That was the impression he was getting, from sitting in on their detention.

He didn't participate. The Carrows didn't press him. He knew he would have to eventually, or risk being called a traitor himself, but the less time he spent holding a wand on people, the clearer his mind was. And he would need a clear mind to catch up with her before the Carrows did, that much was certain.

Draco turned in his chair, staring at the bookshelves absently as he thought. He'd come to the library in some effort to get things quiet, to calm his mind and strain it for information about where Greengrass might have gone. But he knew it was pointless; she would be found again when she wanted to be found, and there was absolutely no reason for him to even think about looking for her. None at all.

But she wouldn't get out of his head. Not her nor her eyes nor the lavender smell that seemed to trail along behind her. The way she'd stared at him when she'd caught sight of him in the common room, drenched in blood from the Carrows' curses. She was still the bane of his existence, but now, somehow, she was something more than that – she brought hate to him, just like the rest of the world, but she brought calm along as well, a quiet strength that had been able to reach past the anger in him. A mixture of independence and self-awareness that reminded him of his mother. But she – Greengrass – was still a mystery, still cloaked in that same mixed opals and diamonds shield that had hid her from everyone, which had been so clearly cracking that night she'd held a wand on him and accused him of guilt.

And somehow, even now that she was gone, some remnant of her kept him on the edge of sanity as he waited for the Easter holidays to give him space away from everything.

"Malfoy."

Draco didn't jump. He just looked up at someone he recognized vaguely as another member of Slytherin, a nervous-looking girl with long black hair. She seemed to be gritting her teeth.

"Good afternoon." She said politely. "I'm Rosalie King. I'm in the fifth year dorms with Astoria Greengrass?"

"What about it?" Draco asked coldly, standing and collecting his books. Either this girl was an agent of the Carrows or she was honestly concerned about Greengrass, and either way he couldn't afford to be seen standing around talking to her. "I don't know anything more about it than anyone else, and I never spoke to the filthy little traitor out of choice." He made sure to enunciate this, especially to himself. "Why are you asking me?"

King winced a little, but she straightened up, as though steeling herself. "I might not have been a friend of Astoria's – I don't think she ever had any friends, at least, not in the castle –" She emphasized this in particular, her tone heavy with meaning, "– but I'm worried about her."

Draco said nothing. He closed his hand around his wand, waiting for her to accuse him of something.

"If you happen to see her before anyone else does," King said, nodding as though he had just confirmed something for her, "can you tell her that? The last thing I want her to think is that she's alone in the world."

Draco wondered if she realized what she had just said, and who she had just said it to. He scowled. "I could report you."

"I know." King said, and with that, she walked away. Draco cursed under his breath, swinging his book bag over his shoulder. What was it with these fifth year girls and their absolute lack of common sense?

But he wasn't about to report her, not at the moment. Not with this ever-so-fragile, but tangible link she'd offered to Greengrass's whereabouts. No friends inside the castle, but did that mean she had friends outside of it? Not the oaf Hagrid, that was for certain – she was a Slytherin, after all, and Slytherins had principles – but there were other creatures living on the Hogwarts grounds that could hide her, without anyone knowing. Centaurs, werewolf packs, brownies and mermaids, even unicorns if they cared for her enough. And he knew she had achieved high marks in Care of Magical Creatures – she knew enough about the Forest to get by.

Was that where she was? The one place he had dismissed as only somewhere someone truly insane would go?

At least he had a pure definition for what Greengrass was, now. Absolutely completely barking mad. There was no bloody way he was going into that Forest to find her, not with all of those beasts inside the trees.

But he didn't tell the Carrows. And as he wandered through the walls of the castle, obeying the Carrows, misery pressing down on him, he remembered the feel of that silky strand of hair against his fingertips and wondered where she was.

***

It was difficult to keep track of the days in the centaur herd. Sometimes she felt as though she had been living amongst them for months; other times, only the two days. They were so alien – and yet not – maddening in their similarities to human-kind and completely understandable in their own, distinct, culture – that she could barely stand them, but she trusted them far more than any human at the moment.

The herd had fractured after the banishment of Firenze a few years before. The majority of the centaurs, Bane and Ronan included, chose to remain apart from humanity, read the stars and make their doom-filled predictions and try to throw humans from their Forest. But the younger centaurs, the colts, mares and stallions, were curious about human-kind. Without the knowledge of the herdmasters, they had initiated contact with Astoria two years before as their first potential link to the human world. When it became clear to all of them that war was on the horizon, and Firenze was banished for offering help to the humans, they had broken away from the main herd and formed another, smaller one, far more radical in its beliefs. Taybur, the eldest of the colts, led them; his mate was Elmer, a spectacular grey who had taught Astoria about the plants of the Forbidden Forest, and what she could eat and what was poisonous.

When she had come to the Forest, asking for sanctuary, Taybur and the others had welcomed her into their parts of the Forest, and taught her how to live there. It was an enormous difference from the castle, where she was guaranteed a warm bed every night and food on the table; sometimes, she felt like one of the Muggle-borns fleeing the Ministry. But she embraced it, and them. They had cared about her when the humans had left her to die. The centaurs had been her friends for the past two years, and she had visited them whenever secrecy had allowed; Dumbledore wouldn't have been happy to learn that a student was sneaking down to the Forest, where acromantulas dwelt. Neither would Hagrid, now that she thought about it. But she and the new herd stayed away from where Ronan and Bane's herd roamed, and further away from the spider nests', near the edge of the Forest but deep enough in to remain hidden, which made certain that neither side were aware of her existence.

"I never understood non-interference." Elmer said, striking the ground with one hoof as Astoria kindled a fire with her wand, trying to keep it small so the smoke wouldn't alert the world to her presence here. It was very dark out, so she doubted anyone would have seen it, but it was wise to be careful. "We could see what was to come. We saw Mars bright in the sky the moment the Potter boy came to the school, and yet we said nothing. We warned no one; we made no attempt to stop the creature that haunted our Forest, slaying the unicorns for their blood." She shook her head, and the little bird-bones that she had woven into her long brown hair clacked. "Bane and Ronan have always taught that centaurs are watchers, that we do not alter the course of what is to come, but I asked them many times – if that is true, what is the role of centaurs in history? Why do we belong here, if only to know and not to speak of it?"

Astoria prodded her rabbit and said nothing, wondering where Elmer was going with this. She had heard this complaint before, but had never questioned it; she had even understood it, a little bit.

"Ronan grew angry with me." Elmer said, with the centaur talent for understatement. "He didn't like us speaking to Firenze, who agreed and taught us more about humans. He and Bane wish for the humans and the centaurs to stay apart, partly in revenge for what humans have done to us. Limiting our territory as you have." She sighed, wrinkling her nose. "Must you eat that? It smells vile."

"Protein is important." Astoria said. "I've eaten your plants for the past two days while trying to build up blood again. I need meat."

"If you must." Elmer said magisterially. She continued: "I believe that if humans and centaurs join, in peace, then we have far more to teach the other than we have to fight with. Which is why we are hiding you here, pale one."

The rabbit was done. Astoria pulled it off the stick, onto a plate she'd Transfigured out of a leaf, and picked at it with her fingers, glad that she'd cleared the ground of the clearing Elmer and Taybur had brought her to. Her broom lay inside the cave, and Ursa, her owl, had begun to roost with her instead of in the Owlery. Astoria wondered whether the Carrows had tried something with the tawny.

"But I believe that you are different from your people, too." Elmer said. Astoria understood this to be a question, and barked out a laugh.

"You have no bloody idea, Elmer." She popped a strand of steaming rabbit into her mouth, grimacing. She'd overcooked it. "They don't like me much, up at the school."

"Dark deeds occur this moon's cycle." Taybur intoned, stepping through her wards into the firelight. He was a rare blue roan, at least fourteen hands, with a muscled human body and shaggy black hair. "Several in the school await your return, your fire reads."

The D.A., wanting someone to do their dirty work. Astoria grunted noncommittally, picking at her rabbit. Couldn't possibly be anyone else.

She ignored the image of Malfoy in her head.

"Why is it you have come here?" Elmer pressed, her eyes flickering to the bandages on Astoria's arms and legs. "You have been torn. We have not asked, following the centaur way of privacy, but I fear that this silence cannot continue. We must know if you have brought danger to our Forest."

Astoria said nothing. She picked at her rabbit.

"I wish for humans and centaurs to work in peace." Elmer repeated, smoothing her hands over her waist. Astoria had long grown used to the fact that the centaurs wore no clothing on their human torsos, but for the sake of propriety, she averted her eyes. "For us to do that, trust must be exchanged between our races. Astoria, you must tell us what you have brought with you."

"I have tried to bring no evil into this Forest." Astoria said, feeling strange to speak in the roundabout centaur way. Elmer relaxed a little, but Taybur didn't take his eyes off of her. "That doesn't mean that evil has not already penetrated your defenses. It is being done in the school." She swallowed hard. "Kids – foals – are being tortured there. There are a few who are fighting for freedom, and I used to work with them, but I tried to help two girls who were chained up and I had to escape. Which is why I came here. I trust you, all of you." She knew that the other centaurs liked to wander around her camp sometimes, and she had been hearing the crackle of breaking leaves for the past twenty minutes, as she and Elmer had talked. "I understand and respect your laws. I have raised neither hoof nor tooth nor wand to you, and I will not do so." She hesitated. "Unless it is in self-defense. And if it is so possible, I would wish to assist you."

God, why were centaurs so bloody flowery in how they made promises?

"We respect and honor your truthfulness." Taybur said, inclining his head towards her. "And I have a bargain to offer you. In return for your allowance to stay in our part of the Forest, I would ask that you visit your Ministry, when it is safe again, and request that we be granted lands of our own, away from the herd of Ronan and Bane."

"The Ministry may never be safe again." Astoria said bluntly. "It's run by the same group who have taken hold of the school and turned it into such a dangerous place. And they are not going to give up their power without a fight." Her heart sank. "Besides, I'm not of much worth to the world at large. I come from a House – you know about the Sorting?" When Taybur and Elmer nodded, she continued. "Not many trust us. We have never really been trusted. One of us betrayed the school and gave it to the evil ones, and I don't think anyone is ever going to be able to forgive him." Most certainly not me. Astoria pushed away the thought of Malfoy, surprised at the sudden bite of homesickness it brought along. She wanted to go back to Hogwarts; or, if not Hogwarts, to Greengrass House in the Fens, where she knew every bit of the land there, and could trust it. "I may not be able to do much at all about giving you lands of your own, Taybur."

"Of this, we are aware." Taybur said. "All we ask is that you try."

Astoria scrubbed her hands on her trousers, clearing them of rabbit grease, and stood up. Ursa swooped down with a triumphant cry, snatching the remnants of the once-hopping bunny, and coasted up to the top of a nearby tree, where she sat there tearing at the bones. Ignoring her rude owl, Astoria held out a hand to Taybur, waiting until he took it.

"In return for what you have done for me, I promise that I will try to bring you your own lands separate from Ronan's." Astoria said, with the same sense that she was making a promise backed by magic; the fire began to climb higher. "I swear it."

Taybur pressed her hand for a moment and then drew away, and the fire began to die down again. Astoria could feel her fingers tingling.

"Thank you, Astoria." Taybur said. Without another word, he walked away, accompanied by Elmer, and Astoria let out a long, slow breath. She liked the rogue herd, she really did, but the intensity of them – especially of two at once – was too much for her to handle at times.

She pointed her wand at the fire, extinguishing it with a muttered spell, and wrapped her cloak tighter around herself, wondering whether it was possibly going to warm up soon. She didn't want to wake up drenched in snow, like she had that morning. The spells she'd set up around the cave kept her hidden and kept her warm, but walking out into the snow in bare feet wasn't a pleasant experience.

Astoria wondered where Firenze had gone. He had been her favorite Divinations professor, and not because he was good-looking, either; she had liked talking with him, and he'd taught her a little about how centaur herds worked, and the injustices they dealt with as a species with 'near-human intelligence,' which had led her, in turn, to growing more involved with the rebel centaur herd and the Gryffindors.

Maybe she should credit Professor Firenze as her reason for offering her services to the D.A., and not Professor Dumbledore. Certainly not Professor Snape.

Astoria sighed and ducked back into the cave, crouching down in the center. She'd Transfigured most of the things she needed, other than what she had shrunk and brought with her – a mattress pad, which was far more comfortable than sleeping on rocks; a pillow and blankets. It was almost as comfortable as sleeping in the fifth-year dormitory in Slytherin House – after all, it was probably just as cold in there as it was out here. Nothing much had changed.

Except for the fact that she had no human to talk to. She hadn't before, not really; Rosalie King had tried several times to make friends with Astoria, but she had had no desire to spend time with her fellow Slytherins, and had made that clear on more than a few occasions.

The only person other than her sister she exchanged words with (and Daphne had been growing rarer and rarer, these days) was Malfoy, and that hadn't really been out of choice. It had been nothing but a pain to have to talk to him on a semi-regular basis, but at least she had had somewhere to vent; someone who knew what she was. And now even though she had multiple individuals to talk to, and that knew exactly what she was doing here, none of them were human.

Astoria shook her head a few times back and forth, furious with herself. She hadn't liked Malfoy, hadn't liked talking with him. She'd been using him to learn Occlumency, and (though she hadn't known it) Legilimency, and that had just sort of involved her talking to him. It had been an accident that he had learned about her allegiances at all, and she'd been terrified every minute of every day that he was going to turn her over to the Carrows.

But he helped you. That nasty little voice of reason whispered in her head. He didn't have to, but he helped you. He didn't turn you in.

Shut up, stupid voice

. Astoria scowled. She hated having a voice of reason in her head.

The stupid voice was right, though. Astoria sat down on the Transfigured mattress, pulling the blanket up over her knees. Malfoy had helped her. He'd kept her secret. She had had much more to lose by trusting Malfoy than he had with trusting her; the Carrows would have believed him over her at any moment of the year. He hadn't had to help her, hadn't had to keep it all quiet, hadn't had to warn her about the Carrows, but he had. And that was making her nervous.

Astoria fingered her hair slightly, thinking. She hadn't meant to get so deeply involved in this…this alliance she'd made with Draco Malfoy. But she had, and now she had to deal with it, even though she wasn't even sure what it was any longer. What was it, anyway? They most certainly weren't friends of any description, considering how much she hated him for his bigotry, his arrogance.

But she felt bad for him; pitied him, for the fact that he was clearly miserable. She understood him a little, knew that trapped feeling and the enormous ambition they both had, though hers lay in a very different direction than his. If she had been raised the same way he had, learned the same things, she didn't doubt that she probably would have gone down the same path, and the admission made her feel sick.

But as she remembered the utter poison they'd spat at each other, and the strange commiseration in the library where she'd found him throwing books and out on the pitch when they'd argued – the way he'd looked sometimes when he hadn't known she'd been keeping an eye on him, grey and cold, distant and desperate, like he'd been thrown in deep water with no way to figure out how to swim; the same way he'd looked when she'd studied the Dark Mark on his arm – Astoria pulled her knees against her chest and wrapped her arms around them, staring out of the entrance of the cave.

Outside, it began to snow.