Plot: Draco is resigned to the fact that his life is about to end at the hands of another Death Eater, but sometimes circumstances change at the most unexpected of times.

Notes: This is not a request. I have had the outline for this stored in the notes of my phone for months and I decided to do something about it. My next story will be a request – for which I have already completed an outline.

Disclaimers: M for adult themes and very strong course language. I don't own HP or make money from my fics.

The Forest

Draco studied the ground intently. His clothes were filthy and his knees were buried in mud. What a way to go.

He was impressed with himself for making it so far, though he always was quick, and had given Dolohov a run for his money. But natural human speed wasn't much contest for a wand in the long run.

Malfoy didn't like to be so dirty and had always hoped his death would be a little more dignified, but figured that we all have to accept our hand in life.

For his part, he had played it well – but his parents had sold his soul to the Devil long before he was born. He had a shit hand.

Draco had only two choices. Disobey the Dark Lord and be murdered horribly, along with his mother and father, or do the man's bidding, at the expense of the lives of others.

He wouldn't say it was an easy choice, he did have a conscience after all, but for the most part, it had been obvious choose one's own life over the lives of others. He wasn't Potter. He wasn't going to foolishly run into what could only lead to ruin.

Or at least, he wasn't going to. Until he did – and now, predictably, he was here. On his knees in the forest, waiting his execution by the psychopath Dolohov.

At this point, all he could hope for was a swift death – although he suspected he wouldn't be gifted which such a thing.

"Looks like the Dark Lord's little pet golden boy has lost his halo," teased the Death Eater cruelly, "you can't possibly know how long I have wanted to wipe that smirk clean off your face."

"Just get it over with Dolohov, don't you have something better to be doing?" said Draco coldly. He wasn't about to beg for his life. Even knee deep in mud, Malfoys had standards.

Dolohov's vicious laugh tore through the silence of the forest as Draco continued to study the dirt beneath his knees.

"Always had a smart mouth on you. But Daddy can't save you now," he laughed, pushing the tip of his wand into the side of Draco's throat, "I heard, Daddy doesn't even want to save you."

Draco said nothing, just closed his eyes and waited for the end. But the end didn't come.

In that moment, several things happened all at once.

Draco felt the wand drop from his throat as a flash of green light shot past him.

Adrenalin coursed through his body as he came to the realisation that he wasn't dead. His breathing was still heavy when he managed to open his eyes a few moments later.

That's when he saw her. Hermione Granger, standing over Dolohov's lifeless body. For his part, Dolohov was somehow an uglier git in Death than he was in life. Quite the achievement, actually.

More importantly, Granger didn't use unforgiveables, did she? He thought that she and the Order only stunned Death Eaters. Apparently not, he thought darkly as Potter came into view.

Draco, still bound at the wrists and exhausted from spending half a day trying to evade capture, merely waited on his knees in the mud for whatever was to come next. He had relinquished control over this shitty situation some time ago.

"What should we do with Malfoy?" asked Harry, speaking as though Draco wasn't there. Fucking Potter.

Draco winced. His body ached and his ears were ringing. He was tired. A lifetime worth of tired.

Hermione walked up to Draco with a confidence he hadn't seen in her before and pointed her wand at his head.

So, this is how it ends? Killed by the Mudblood...Oh well…at least it's not Dolohov, were his final thoughts.

After that, all that was left in the world was a blinding light – and Draco Malfoy was gone.

Several hours later Draco awoke in a grubby looking tent. Potter and Granger were seated in chairs on opposite ends of the bed, presumably waiting for him to stir. He noted that his hands were still bound in Dolohov's ever tightening knots.

"Take this," said Granger in a businesslike tone tipping the contents of a glass vial down his throat.

"Veritaserum?" asked Draco. It didn't take a rocket scientist to work out that they would want to pump him for information.

"Yes," said Harry evenly.

Draco rolled his eyes and gulped it down. So, he was in the captivity of the Order? Big deal. He knew who he would rather be held by. He could attest to the fact that the conditions in the Malfoy dungeons were far less favourable than the tent.

Granger could use as many unforgiveables as she wanted and still be nowhere near as creative in her sadism as Dolohov would have been. He was an artist of cruelty. Somehow, he didn't think anyone on team Potter would have that level of violence in them.

Plus, for the first time in his life, he felt like being honest.

"The killing curse Granger? I thought you were above all of that…" he mused, turning his attention to Hermione, the more attractive member of the pair questioning him.

"Please," snorted Hermione, "How many Dark Wizards have gone missing over the past months? Of course, we're getting rid of them," she replied, crossing her arms defensively. Draco noticed that she looked different. Colder. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He thought her bleeding heart was something he could count on in life.

"We should just obliviate him… it's Malfoy!" exclaimed Potter, exasperated. This was clearly an argument they had been having while he was unconscious.

Draco smirked. He was never too old to enjoy an argument between Hogwarts's golden students.

"He could be useful," she shot back, looking at Draco.

"It's been long enough, let's see where his loyalty lies," said Potter menacingly, narrowing his eyes.

"Why didn't you kill me Granger?" asked Draco, hoping to delay the looming questioning he was about to be subjected to.

"I don't kill innocent people," she replied matter-of-factly.

"What makes you think I'm innocent?" he asked, intrigued by her thought process.

Harry snorted from the other side of the room. "Right!" he exclaimed, agreeing with Draco.

"Because Dolohov was executing you. Your father is Voldemort's right-hand man. There is absolutely no way his son would be being executed by a Death Eater unless he had committed an act against the Dark Lord so serious that Lucius couldn't help," she concluded. Bloody Granger, always too smart for her own good.

"Ten points to Gryffindor," said Draco darkly, shifting his sore body on the bed. "But why does that make me innocent?" he pressed.

"Because," said Hermione haughtily, "it means you had to have betrayed him… and to betray him is to do something in OUR interests," said finished.

"Clever little bookworm," said Draco, smirking and studying the roof of the tent.

"Enough of these delay tactics Malfoy," said Harry, "Why was Dolohov executing you rather than taking you back to your father?" he asked.

"My father wouldn't want me back after what I had done," said Draco, unable to gulp down the answers due to the potion in his system.

"Why?" asked Harry.

"I freed someone," admitted Draco.

"Who?" asked Potter.

"A muggle," he replied. Ever the observant Slytherin, he noticed the breath catch in Hermione's throat at his confession. Hope springs and all that.

"Why?" asked Harry, feeling as though he was pulling teeth from the blonde wizard.

"She was nice," said Draco truthfully. Bloody Veritaserum. 'Nice', Malfoy, Really? He thought angrily.

"Lots of people that are tortured and murdered by Death Eaters are nice, what was different about this one?" asked Harry in a tone so devoid of emotion he was surprised it came from Potter. What the fuck had happened to these two?

"She was the last in a long line," confessed Malfoy, "They made me check on them. Some of them would talk. I think they somehow thought it might give them more of a chance at surviving. It didn't. Anyway…" he said, trying not to think too much about it, "I freed her. Took her to muggle London, obliviated her and then took off myself. I didn't like my chances of getting too far. Guess I was right about that. Dolohov got me after a few days, and well, you know the rest," he said.

"Do you still think purebloods are superior to muggleborns and halfbloods?" asked Hermione, struggling to hide the curiosity in her voice.

"Yes," he admitted, unable to lie.

"What do you think should happen to them?" she asked.

"Nothing," he replied.

"Nothing?" she affirmed, a note of disbelief in her tone.

"I think we should leave them alone," said Draco. Though he initially felt like being truthful, he thought it would only pertain to events. Not his feelings on things. He hated talking about his feelings. Fuck he hated Veritaserum.

"I think being better is enough. Life was fine before all of this," continued Draco. Hermione nodded, accepting his answer.

"Would you like to join us or leave?" asked Hermione.

Harry let out a disgruntled huff from the other side of the bed. Obviously, Potter was not a fan of Malfoy joining them.

"You would allow me to leave?" asked Malfoy cautiously.

"Voldemort knows we are alive and out here. All you've seen is the inside of this tent. There is no harm in allowing you to leave," said Hermione, as though it should be obvious.

"So, you'd really allow me to leave, despite everything?" asked Malfoy incredulously, his grey eyes boring into hers.

"Yes. We don't kill innocent people," she said, echoing her earlier statement.

"I'm not innocent," replied Draco evenly.

"You're not guilty either," she replied, nodding in his direction.

Draco shrugged. He had never thought about it that way. Trust Granger to hit him with fucking logic in some shit-heap tent in the middle of a bloody war.

"If we untie your hands, will you behave?" asked Hermione.

"Yes. I mean. I'll probably still be rude. But I won't do anything drastic," said Draco, still under the truthful influence of the serum.

Hermione laughed as she untied him.

"I am glad to see that you are still you," she remarked, "now what will it be?" she asked, sitting next to him on the cot.

"I would like to stay and help you and Potter, and I guess even Weasley if he's around…" said Draco.

"Ronald's presence is of no concern," snapped Hermione defensively, getting some kind of meaningful eye contact with Potter.

"Whatever Granger. I don't care about your shabby little boyfriend. What I am saying is this: what they're doing is wrong and it won't ever stop until they're gone. I will never be forgiven for what I have done and I will never be free. Not until they're gone for good. I haven't got much of a choice," said Draco.

"The only way out is through," said Hermione thoughtfully, remembering the old muggle saying.

"Exactly," nodded Draco.

"And where does your loyalty lie?" asked Hermione, looking at him intently. Draco felt himself shudder involuntarily under her gaze. When did Granger start looking like that? He wondered.

"With you," he said honestly.

Harry looked like he was going to explode with displeasure.

"Oh, for God's sake Harry grow up!" snapped Hermione, putting her hand on her hip and glaring at the raven-haired wizard.

"He has talents in the dark arts we don't have! I have heard he's a Legilimens, among other things," she ranted. Draco smirked at her having heard about his talents. "Plus, he's just admitted whilst under the influence of the serum that his loyalty lies with us."

Draco cleared his throat to get her attention. "Actually Granger, I said my loyalty lies with you. There's a difference," he said calmly. Hermione's eyes bulged slightly.

"I'm not loyal to Potter and the Order. I am loyal to you. I'll help you," he said.

"Why me?" she asked quietly.

Harry observed the pair closely. He did not like whatever was going on. He did not like it one bit.

"Of all the people in the world, you should have let Dolohov kill me. But you gave me another chance. A product of your annoyingly good character, no doubt," he explained, planting his index finger beneath her chin and raising her head so that she made eye contact with him.

"Plus, the way you cursed Dolohov had a certain… flourish," he said, smirking.

Hermione squirmed uncomfortably. Draco liked it. Clearly, she wasn't comfortable with the Dark Magic she used. But she was good at it. That's the thing about unforgiveables… You have to mean them.

"I'll serve you," he said provocatively. He knew this moment he was having with Hermione was driving Potter insane.

"You'll… serve me?" said Hermione, licking her lips, raising an eyebrow and stifling a laugh.

This time it was Draco's turn to feel uncomfortable. He felt his face redden. He had meant to make her uncomfortable, not himself. Bloody hell.

"Hermione. Stop making Malfoy uncomfortable with sexual innuendo," snapped Potter. Sexual innuendo. Now there was a phrase he didn't think he would hear from Potter.

"They love the dramatic language, the purebloods. He only means to say that he will pledge his loyalty to you because you saved him. It's called a life debt," he explained. Draco rolled his eyes. Trust Potter to be a fucking buzz kill.

Hermione turned to Malfoy and smirked. He didn't like the way it made him feel in the pit of his stomach.

"Just get him to take an unbreakable vow for loyalty and we will fill him in on the rest," ordered Harry, stalking out of the tent.

"OK – ruiner of fun!" shouted Hermione out after him.

"Look's like we'll be spending a lot more time together," she said innocently, the corner of her mouth twitching.

"So, it does," he replied calmly, returning her smirk.

"The only way out is through, after all," she repeated knowingly as she took his hand in hers for the vow.

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Thanks to all the usuals (I see you guys, reviewing every time, and totally appreciate it) – as well as to everyone else who has taken the time to leave me reviews and suggestions.