Chapter 14: Draco's POV

It is midnight.

Draco slips into his shoes and lights up his wand. He is more than just nervous. He's scared. Terrified.

How many people just sneak out of school to go on a suicide mission? He thinks miserably. I'll die young. At least Hermione will be with him when he dies. He doesn't have to bear the pain alone. He'll probably die in her arms or something.

He hurries down the step of the castle and strides across the lawn to Hagrid's house. He tiptoes behind it to find someone already there. She's snoozing over a book, her head laid on one of the barrels.

Draco sighs and walks over. He grabs her shoulder and shakes it. She gasps and her eyes flutter open. She snatches up her wand and aims it at Draco's chest, unable to see him in the dark.

"Who's there?" She whispers.

"Chill, it's just me," Draco lights his wand back up. "Though I am impressed how fast your reflexes are."

She blushes. "You should tell me before you try to yank me awake like that. Or next time I'll stab you."

He laughs. "Okay. Let's go. We don't want to be caught by the oaf."

Hermione glares at him as he helps her up. "The oaf as a name, you know. Hagrid."

"Fine. We don't want to be caught by Hagrid. Happy?"

"Certainly," Hermione grabs the bag and makes her way into the forest. Draco follows her in hesitantly. "Are you sure the cracewood stuff is in here? Because if it isn't, I will be furious."

"Positive. And besides, the Cabinet can never be fixed physically or manually. It has to be done with advanced magic."

"But why? Everything seems to get fixed with my wand. Why not this? "

"Because it has dark magic."

Draco goes silent at that. "That makes sense, I guess," he mutters.

"Now, We'd probably get there in three days if we continuously walk, but you know that's impossible because we have to sleep and eat. So it'll probably be a week before we retrieve it."

"A week? Hermione, that's impossible! Dumbledore would already think that something is going on, because neither you nor I will show up in any of our classes! He'll send someone after us to bring us back, and I'm dead."

"Don't worry, Draco. Didn't I say I've got everything taken care of? I used a Clone Charm for both of us so no one would think anything's wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, I've created duplicate copies of ourselves. They'll take our place at Hogwarts."

Draco gapes at her. How does she fit all this knowledge in her brain? "Have you named them?"

Hermione throws her arms up exasperatedly. "No, of course I haven't! Draco and Hermione! Are you that stupid?"

Draco grins. "I dunno, am I?"

"Forget it. Let's just get this over with." She shoves her way through the entrance, and Draco follows her closely. They walk in silence for a while, and Draco doesn't bother to ask her where they are headed to. She probably knows where it is, anyways, he thinks hopefully.

Unfortunately, it is the opposite. "Where do you think it is?" She asks, breaking their silence, snapping Draco out of his reverie.

"Whatever do you mean? I thought you'd know exactly where we are going to!"

Hermione stares at him. "Draco! You can't expect me to do everything myself! You have to give some contribution, since it is me doing you a favor. A quite dangerous favor, on which you wouldn't survive upon. Consider yourself lucky."

"Lucky? You're crazy! You're the one dragging me off into a dark forest filled with terrifying monsters and not knowing where you're going."

"I've been trying to locate the cracewood, but since it's a rare herb, nobody's recorded where it is. Or at least no one bothered to. From all I know cracewood grows under darkness, where there is no sunlight. It grows in bunches, and silver can kill or harm it," Hermione says.

Draco snorts. "And that's oh so helpful."

She stomps her foot. "Shut up! I'm here because of you, I'm doing all this crap because of you! I should be sleeping soundlessly in my dorm right now, and look at where I am! Does it really look like I want to do this?"

Draco stops abruptly. "Because of me? Granger, as much as I remember, you were the one constantly arguing with me back there about helping me! I never wanted you to be a part of this-I could've handled it perfectly myself."

"You would not, Malfoy!"

Draco smirks at hearing his old nickname again.

"You would've probably kill yourself before you succeed, let alone trying to kill Dumbledore! I'm helping you-" She continues angrily.

"WHAT IS YOUR POINT?" He bellows. "One minute you're telling me you care about me and don't want me to get hurt, and the next minute you're shouting at me about all this shit happening because of ME?"

"It is happening because of you!" Her eyes are glistening with tears. "If I hadn't cared for you, if I hadn't loved you, I would've spit on your face when you'd told me what you were going to do! But I didn't, because I BLOODY CARE FOR YOU!" She shouts angrily.

Draco steps back, shocked. "You didn't say-"

"I did say that, Malfoy! And you know what? Even if you don't care for me, if you hate me, it won't change a single feeling I have for you! Because no matter how much you despise me, I will never stop caring for you! EVER!"

She turns her back to him, wiping away the tears furiously.

Draco comes closer to her. "Look, I didn't mean anything. I'm sorry if I misunderstood you-and I will always care for you, too," he whispers, sliding his arms around her shoulders, but she pushes him away gently. "I'm sorry, Draco-I just need to be alone for a while. "

He nods hesitantly. "Sure. I'll keep watch and you can rest."

"Thank you." She meets his gaze for a second, her eyes red and swollen.

He looks away. "I'll be over there if you need me." He walks away, a sudden, sharp, pain spreading over his heart. His eyes are stinging, yet there are no tears being shed. "Stay strong, Hermione Granger," he whispers to no one in particular. "I won't let anything happen to you. I'll be with you wherever you go."

He strides into the tugging darkness, knowing that the worst is yet to come.