A/n: Thanks to my beta Hunter's Heir! **Not yet edited!

Sorry for not responding to reviews! I ran out of time before my doctor's appointment... next week for sure!

I will not bow, I will not break

I will shut the world away

I will not fall, I will not fade,

I will take your breath away

~Taken from Breaking Benjamin's "I Will Not Bow"

"Hermione, slow down," Draco warns me as I storm away. I don't even notice the rain falling on me head. "Hermione-"

"Don't try to defend them!" I scream, spinning around to glare at him. "Don't bother. They knew all along and they still didn't tell me. Did they think that playing stupid would make this horrible fate just go away!?"

"I'm not defending them- hey!" He grabs my arms, stopping me from turning around. "Would you calm down a moment and listen?"

I'd much rather push him off and keep storming down the street, but I don't think he's going to let me go anyway. I stand silently brooding, wondering why he's trying to help this situation.

"Look, I don't know why they hid things from you. Hell, I don't know why you were never told. I don't even know if you're considered a muggleborn anymore. I don't really know anything right now Hermione. But I do know one thing. Your parents seem to care about you a lot. Trust me, I got that impression from your father when he came and had a talk with me yesterday."

I arch an eyebrow curiously at that. "My father had a talk with you?"

Draco shakes his head. "Never mind- we can talk about that later. My point is that they probably had a good reason to hide this from you. Your mother seems terrified that something awful is going to happen to you at any moment. Maybe instead of screaming at her, you should try being rational about things."

"I have to be the rational one? She lied to me-"

"I know," he soothes, rubbing my arms. "I was there while you looked through the box."

"I just don't understand," I groan, dropping my head against his shoulder. "They've always told me everything. What changed? What did they think they were gaining by keeping this a secret?"

"I don't know Hermione, but maybe if we go back and apologize, she'll tell you more about your heritage."

"Yeah, maybe," I agree, closing my eyes. I'm comfortable here, and his hands have moved from my arms to slither around my waist. I don't know when this became a hug, but I'm not arguing. It's quite comfortable here.

Lifting my head I realize we're very close. Draco doesn't look half as startled as I do, and I figure he already knew this. But that intense look in his eyes is throwing me off. Why does he always look like that around me?

I don't really know how we ended up kissing, but here we are, my hands tugging at his shirt and his hands pushing me closer to him. Its way too heated for the street, but for many moments I don't care. It feels marvelous to give into temptation and have a little taste of Draco. And Merlin, he tastes bloody fantastic.

Leaves crunch behind us and we freeze. I pull away and turn to glance over my shoulder, thinking it's my father. I stiffen when no one is there, Draco's hands tightening on my waist.

That's not good.

I shake my head thinking maybe I'm hallucinating, but beside me Draco's already pulled his wand out. I reach over and shove his hand back in his pocket, glaring at him. "This is a muggle street."

"And whoever is watching us isn't a muggle," he replies, stepping away from me. The rain doesn't fall on the area I think the person stopped at, as they are under a tree. But if we could see them, I bet the rain would give them away. We would be able to see a human form since rain wouldn't pass through, but instead follow the outline of the form. Damn, if only it would back up or step a little closer…

I wish Draco would put that blasted wand away. We have to be drawing some attention from the passing cars.

Half a second after I think about that, Draco's thrown backward by some invisible spell. My eyes flash and I rush up to him, snatching his wand away before he retaliates. The hidden figure takes off, visible now. People are going to think they're hallucinating when they see rain falling around a ghost-like figure.

"Hermione!"

"If you do magic in the view of muggles you'll be in serious trouble," I remind, helping him stand. "Come on, we can at least follow it! It isn't hard to track."

Down the street we go, following the figure around two corners. I whisper a spell as we run, changing our hair colors and eyes. Well, at least if people make reports on this we won't be recognizable.

Less than three minutes into our chase we turn into a busy street. There are hundreds of people milling around here looking for Christmas buys and enjoying the shops offered. We freeze, exchanging a glance.

We don't even know who we were following. The stalker could be any one of these people.

"You should've let me hex him," Draco mutters, crossing his arms. "We would've known who it was."

"And we would've been in serious trouble," I agree, suppressing a grin. Draco would probably kill me if he knew his hair was red right now. "The spell I used to disguise us could get us in enough trouble. Whoever it was, they're gone now."

"Yeah, but for how long?" he asks, shooting me a look. "If the leaves under the tree hadn't been somewhat dry we wouldn't have heard anything. He could've been on top of us before we even knew he was there."

"If it is a he," I remind. "We're lucky there are even leaves. It's so close to wintertime that most of them are gone by now. I'm just surprised we didn't hear footsteps in the rain."

"He stepped carefully," Draco replies with a shrug, staring at my head. "Blonde really doesn't suit you."

"I know. Come on, let's get back to my parents' house and take this spell off. I feel ridiculous."

"As do I." He wraps a protective arm around me and we turn around and start back. We hadn't stepped very far into the busy street, and we're almost out when someone bumps into me.

"Watch it," Draco snaps, pulling me further away from the person. He has a hood drawn up to hide his face from the rain, and muggle jeans. He steps back as though to over away, saying nothing as we move to pass. As soon as we have, I feel a slight sting on my cheek, and reach up to discover something sticky.

"Draco," I say quickly, and he stops walking, looking my way. I hold out my hand, which has a thin line of blood dancing across my fingers. The rain washes it away. His eyebrows shoot up and immediately he's on my other side, surveying the cut. A quick, whispered spell has the cut closed up. Well, the Ministry might have something to say to us when we return. At least the spells we're using are nothing major.

"I think he cut your hair," he says in a low voice once the cut is closed. My eyes widen, and I reach over to feel the hair, pulling it in front to see if he's right. One section is much shorter, and brown. My eyes grow wider still.

"Do you have any idea what this person might be able to do if he has my DNA?" I ask, pulling my shirt closer to me. We didn't remember jackets before coming outside. "He could create polyjuice, he could do some sort of twisted potion that could hurt me, he could-"

"Let's not even think about it right now," he responds, pulling me along. "Come on Hermione, lead the way. We need to get back behind the wards before something else happens."

"Right," I mutter, "With my parents."

Draco sighs. "Look, we can go stay at the Leaky Cauldron for the next few days if it helps you. Dumbledore doesn't technically expect us home for two to four more days. If you're not willing to stay with your parents right now, we should head over there. Going back to Hogwarts is probably exactly what the person expects we'll do. I don't think he'd anticipate a detour."

"We don't know what he anticipates," I reply sourly. This day just continues to get worse and worse. "But maybe you're right- we don't know what's happening with Theo yet back at Hogwarts. He might be lying low for now, but we don't know what he has planned, or if he's been arrested, or anything. Dumbledore mentioned updating us on what's been going on in just a few days, whenever we return. Maybe prolonging it wouldn't be so bad… but there's no guarantee that the Leaky Cauldron will be any safer than here at my parent's warded house. I mean almost anyone can get a room there. And people are likely to remember if they two of us get a room together. If someone wanted to brag to reporters that might just make the headlines."

He shakes his head. "The news is so meaningless these days when the most interesting things to read about are other people's relationships. At least talk to your parents before you go anywhere Hermione. See if you can get some answers even. Maybe they'll explain something. I'll leave the three of you alone and go upstairs and make sure the wards are still intact. We'll know if someone's been trying to get in."

"Yes, please do. I don't want something happening to them."

"Right. Well, lead the way Hermione. Sounds like we have a lot to do."

I nod, continuing to take us back to my house as the rain picks up. It's cold outside, and I can't wait to be cloaked in warmth once more. But I can't help feeling like it doesn't matter where we go from here. If Hogwarts has people who want to hurt me, and there are people outside the school who are in allegiance with them, then is anywhere really safe?

The box sits in front of us, the very reason for my emotional rampage earlier. Draco is upstairs dealing with wards as planned, and I'm sitting in the living room with my parents, ready to talk about things.

I guess that's a lie. I'm not really ready to talk about anything, but I have to talk about things. I need answers to the things this box can't explain.

My gaze is fully focused on my mother. "Why didn't you tell me you had magical roots? I always knew that somewhere down the line we had ancestors who could do magic, but I thought my own parents had no magical heritage whatsoever."

For a long time my mother is very quiet, supposedly trying to figure out what to say next. "I'm a squib Hermione," she whispers, not meeting my eyes. "And I was a Siren. I thought that dealing with one side of the spectrum would be enough for you. I thought… maybe, you would be skipped as far as the Siren heritage goes. I thought maybe you wouldn't have to know."

"And what if my children someday had these traits?" I snap my tone anything but soft. "What if these things happened to them and I didn't know how to help them because you never told me anything? They would be in the same situation I'm in now, mother- clueless."

I can tell that my words hurt her, but I won't soothe my tone. I'm mad at them, and I have no reason to hold my emotions back. When she has nothing to say, I focus on my father. "And you knew too?"

He swallows, before sitting forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "I knew enough. I knew that when you sent that first letter home that the process would repeat. I am a muggle Hermione, through and through. There's nothing magical about me. It was shocking when I learned the truth, because I had to accept the supernatural. At least that fellow of yours… Draco, at least he has a magical influence. These types of things aren't as hard for him to stomach. You call him a Pureblood, right?"

I nod.

"Maybe he's used to these sorts of things happening. Maybe he even knows things that we don't, even though your mother was a Siren. I say was, darling, because she had a child. The Siren in her was broken when we mated and danger passed, and removed when she had a girl offspring."

My eyes flash, and in a moment I'm on my feet. "You mean if I have a daughter I pass this shit onto her?!"

"Hermione, language," my mother snaps, glaring at me. "We're not saying that."

"Then what are you saying exactly?"

They exchange a glance. "We're saying that it's possible," my father says at length, clenching his hands together. "We weren't sure if you would have any of these traits. It was up in the air for us. There was no definite sign because the Siren in you is such a small probability. My guess, and granted I know little to nothing about this world, is that the Siren half won out and very much became a part of you because these types of creatures are not very common anymore."

"No," I mutter, grabbing the box. "So this book is supposed to tell me all of the things people might do to me if they get parts of me? Like my hair or spit?"

My mother purses her lips. "It's just notes that some of our ancestors made Hermione. These things could've changed overtime. Magic is the only thing that kept that book so nice over the years."

I shove it aside, reaching for something else in the box. That's not the answer I wanted to hear. I don't want to hear that there's more to this puzzle. I want the pieces to stop coming, and for the puzzle to be whole. I don't want any more surprise discoveries that will make this harder.

I really wish my parents thought to bring this bullshit up in the first place. Now I'm even more afraid about what that person might do with my hair. Whether I really like it or not, I have to read that book.

Bloody hell.

"And this is just… a documentation of who in our family has been a Siren or a witch?"

"Or both," my mother replies, nodding. I hand that back to her. At this point, I don't think it can really help me.

"And your diary you kept during your experience of finding your mate and breaking the curse?" Again, she nods, and I hand it over as well, but she pushes it back. "I don't want it mother."

"Keep it anyway," she replies, giving me a soft smile. "Maybe it will help you."

"I don't think anything is going to help me," I snap, setting it back on my half of the table nonetheless. I'm not in the mood to argue, I just want to get this over with. Maybe when I'm not so angry at my parents we can really discuss this matter, but it doesn't seem like they are any more open to offering up advice now than before.

We go through the rest of the blasted box, from pictures of ancestors to mementos that can't help me. Aside from the first book, nothing too useful appears in the box. At the very bottom I notice a bracelet and pick it up.

"What's this?" I ask, holding it out to my mother. She stiffens.

"It's a bracelet my mother gave to me when she realized that I had the traits of a Siren," she replies, staring at the object. "I never used it."

My eyebrows draw together. "So what does it do exactly?"

She purses her lips. "It tells you if the child you're carrying has Siren traits."

I froze. If this thing actually works, it would've been helpful to have used a long time ago- like, when I was conceived. "Oh," I reply in response, not really sure what else I'm supposed to say.

"Maybe you should take it," she continues, glancing up the stairs to where Draco is, "It might come in handy. "You never know when you might need it."

"I don't have any plans of having children for quite some time," I reply, standing. "I'll go gather my things though. Our reservation should be ready by now."

My parents know we're spending the rest of our time at a hotel. If this worries them, they don't let on. I think they know that the ground between us is rocky enough as it is. I don't need lecturing about who I should and shouldn't sleep with in a situation like this. Plus, I'm an adult. They can't say too much.

I'm halfway up the stairs when my mother stops me, a hand placed on my shoulder. "Hermione?"

"Hmm?" I ask, turning around. I really have nothing left to say to her.

She holds the bracelet out to me. "Please, take it. You need it."

"I don't need it if I'm not planning on having children anytime soon," I argue, the two books I've taken pressed to my chest.

But she shakes her head, a pained look appearing in her eyes. "You don't realize it, do you?"

I frown. "Realize what?"

Before she can reply someone at the top of the stairs clears their throat, and I glance over my shoulder to see Draco. He seems a bit uncomfortable interrupting our conversation, but I think he sensed that it was better to as well.

"Everything's set," he says, avoiding mentioning the wards. I told him to leave that part out, lest my parents worry about what happened when we were outside earlier. "Everything's packed, except that last suitcase of yours. I didn't want to touch it."

"Thanks," I say gratefully, glad that Draco's being so understanding about this whole situation. Turning back to my mother I square my shoulders. "You were saying?"

Instead of replying, she wraps her arms around me in a tight hug. Startled I don't hug her back for many moments, and then finally accept the embrace. And to think I thought she was going to say something important.

"I'll owl you," she whispers, and I wonder why she suddenly got so quiet. Nodding once, I pull away. What's gotten into her?

"I'll finish packing," I say awkwardly. Backing up the stairs I can't read the expression on her face, but I can tell she's worried. Why didn't she just finish her thought?

I think it has something to do with Draco. She got nervous when he appeared- but why? At the top of the stairs I turn and walk away with Draco, shaking my head.

I will never understand my parents. They can never just say what's on their mind.

The Leaky Cauldron is crowded as usual, but we sneak in. Draco checks in since the reservation is under his name and he goes upstairs first, despite his protests that I should. Ten minutes later I follow, all of our luggage having been taken upstairs by him.

I love the Leaky Cauldron, but some of the occupants here are a bit creepy. Those are the ones I try to stay away from. I get to the room and knock, and Draco quickly pulls me inside.

"I knew there was a reason my family always stayed at the Pitch," he mutters, shaking his head. "This kind of crowd would've never gotten in there. We shouldn't even be in this establishment."

"It's not that bad Draco," I reply, sitting down on the bed. "The rooms are comfortable, the price isn't through the roof-"

"This price is barely through the floorboards."

I throw a pillow at him for interrupting me. "The location is great and the only drawback happens to be some of the people. But people are nothing we can't handle. Besides, the guy that checked you in looked floored that you were there at all. People don't expect you to be here, which is good. That means whoever stalked us earlier today probably doesn't even realize we're here."

"Yeah, maybe," he mutters. "I'm going to take a shower Hermione. We can go get something to eat after that."

I roll my eyes. "They do have room service Draco, which will up the price since you're complaining about how little this costs. I'll order in."

"Have it delivered in at least a half hour."

I crinkle my nose. "It takes you half an hour to shower."

"No, it takes me twenty minutes to shower. Then I do my hair and get dressed. I just prefer to be out here when the food arrives."

"Whatever," I reply, holding up my hands. "A half hour it is." Satisfied, he hurries off to shower, and I shake my head. He's a little over protective still.

My hand moves to my hair and the short piece. Maybe he's right to be over protective. Someone really wants to kill me. Being cautious can't be bad in a situation like this.

I've sent out for room service not five minutes later when the latest paper catches my eye, sitting on the bedside table. Deciding that I can't stomach anymore Siren nonsense for the time being I pick it up, hoping to find an interesting story somewhere in its pages.

The headline immediately catches my eye. It's a list of former Death Eaters who are being released from Azkaban within the next week. I've seen the headlines like this before, but one name in particular catches my eye.

Atticus Nott. That's Theo's father, and he's being released this week. I check the newspaper date again. Yes, he was actually released two days ago.

I tap my chin. He would've been out and about, parole officer or not. He could've been the person following us today. After all, I doubt a Hogwarts student got away on a break. But Theo and his father were always known to be close, just like Draco and his father at one point…

I get up and knock on the bathroom door. "Hey Draco."

"What!? Something wrong?" I hear the water turn off.

"No, no, continue your shower. I just have a question."

"Bloody hell Granger, it must be one important question." The water doesn't turn on but I can hear him wandering around the bathroom. "Shoot."

"Was Theo really close with his father before he was imprisoned?"

"Nott Senior?" The bathroom door opens and he steps out in nothing more than a towel, wet hair stuck to his head. My stomach does a little flip at the image. "Yes, they were pretty close, why?"

I pull myself out of my oogling faze long enough to point to that section of the paper. "His father, Atticus, was released two days ago. Do you think he would want to team up with his son for some reason to come after me?"

His eyebrows draw together, beads of water coming down to attack the paper. "From what I know Theo hasn't spoken to his father since his imprisonment. However, that may have changed since he's now released. But that's pretty quick to explain an elaborate plan to kill you."

"If the plan is to kill me."

He shoots me a look. "The plan is probably to kill you. Who else is listed?"

I glance at the paper. "Marcus Flint, Crabbe Senior, Regulus-"

"Theo was quite fond of Flint," he interrupts, rubbing his chin. "I'd be more convinced that he's been talking to Marcus than to his own father. They are like best friends outside of school. Bet they even communicated while he was in prison too."

"So you think Flint should be our number one suspect right now for who's working with Nott?"

"I'd rank him pretty high," Draco agrees nodding his head. "But we have to remember that they have only been out for two days. The eyes we saw outside the Hogwarts boundary happened almost four days ago. That leaves room for questioning. But right now, since we really don't have anyone else to go off of, I think we should rank Nott Senior and Flint as suspects one and two."

A/n: There's chapter fourteen! Do you think it could really be Atticus Nott or Marcus Flint, or someone else completely? Let me know!

Also, the stuff that hid in the box from Hermione's mom? That's super important in the future! Trust me :D

Let me know what you thoughts.