Well, this chapter took less time than I expected! :D

Massive thanks to everyone who reviewed last time (I did write a comprehensive list with comments - TWICE - but my laptop decided to crash both times and deleted the list and all of the personal comments I'd written). Since then I lost the will to live and decided to just say a big 'thank you' to everyone who has reviewed, favourited, followed and read this story! Your support is the best fuel my imagination could ask for.

Enough from me. Enjoy!


The dynamic in the house had changed. Everyone could feel it, everyone talked about it in the privacy of their rooms or in hushed tones when nobody was around, but nobody voiced their opinions to the house at large. Hermione had made it clear that Draco Malfoy was her friend - and therefore off limits to anyone who might wish to harm, upset or even insult him - and as a result, the 'Golden Trio' was at its weakest point ever. Ron wasn't speaking to Hermione at all, which made communal meals in the kitchen extremely awkward. On top of that, although both she and Ron continued to speak to Harry, he spent a lot more time with Ron than with her, simply because of their roles in the war effort. Hermione was effectively out of the picture as far as the war was concerned, since her magic was still almost as unpredictable as her emotional state; even if she was physically capable of fighting alongside them, Poppy had declared that the pressure would probably be too much for her. Ron's role as tactician and skill as a fighter made him invaluable to the Order, so Harry had to look past his best friends' feud and make the best of a bad situation.

As far as he could see, both Hermione and Ron had valid points. Both had approached him with their side of the argument over the course of the last week and, if Harry was entirely honest with himself, he agreed more with Hermione than Ron. Ron's feelings were clouded by his hatred of the Death Eaters, for which Harry couldn't really blame him; however, he was unable to see that Malfoy's situation was completely different now. Ron didn't believe that Malfoy had really lost his memory and thought that the 'ferret' was just playing on their feelings to gain sympathy and safety, but Poppy's tests were unequivocal. Hermione understood a lot more of what Malfoy was going through than any of the others could, so Harry saw no problem with her taking charge of the situation, especially since the responsibility seemed to be aiding in her own recovery as well. She was far more talkative and looked a lot healthier than she had a month before. Now that she was eating fairly normally - if in smaller portions than the others - she was filling out again, her bones no longer jutting sharply from her face and hands.

"Harry?"

He looked up, only then realising that he'd been staring at the same page of a report for the last half hour without actually reading it. "Oh, Neville. What's up?"

Neville held up a folder stuffed with papers. "We've gone over this stuff a thousand times. We know the plan inside out. We already have some people installed on the inside, and the rest of us are ready to go at any time." He took a deep breath. "When are we going to Hogwarts, Harry?"

Harry exhaled sharply. He had been stalling a little, now that he thought about it properly. The members of the Order that would be travelling to Hogwarts to find the last Horcrux had been ready to go for days now; he just hadn't been ready himself. Neville was right, though. "I guess there's nothing left to do here, is there?" he asked, semi-rhetorically.

Neville shook his head. "We await your orders, I suppose."

"Ugh, don't say it like that!" Harry stood up and stretched out his back. How long was I sitting there? "It makes me sound...old. It's weird."

The other boy laughed. "Alright. How about 'get a bloody move on, Harry'?"

"...I don't know if that's better." Harry rolled his eyes and walked around the desk to stand in front of Neville. "Are we ready, Neville?"

Neville heard the unspoken questions and nodded without hesitation. "We know what we're doing, Harry. Not everyone expects to live through this but we'll do it anyway. Someone has to stop him. It might as well be us."

Harry nodded, swallowing against a sudden lump in his throat. "Then...thanks, Neville. Seriously."

They shook hands solemnly, then pulled each other into a tight hug.


"Are you sure about this?" Hermione said worriedly. "It could upset them both."

"Or it could be really good for them," Luna countered. "I know it won't be easy for either of them, but I really think it could help. Blaise has been so worried about his friend."

Hermione noted her use of the name 'Blaise', rather than 'Zabini', but didn't comment. Instead she said, "What about Draco? It could be traumatic to be reminded of another thing he can't remember."

Luna bit her lip. "What do you think?"

"I think," Hermione said slowly, "that we need to approach this very, very carefully. But it could work out fine."

Both girls shared a grin and glanced at the bathroom door, where they could hear the sounds of washing hands. A moment later, the door opened and Draco stepped out. He paused when he saw them both looking at him. "What?"

"Nothing," Hermione said innocently, while Luna hid a smile behind her hand, pretending to cough. "But I did want to ask you something, Draco."

"Hmm. Alright." He sat down in the chair by the desk and raised his eyebrows. "What is it?"

"There is someone here in the house who knows you from school," Luna said carefully. "A boy called Blaise Zabini. He's...he was a friend of yours. He asked if you wanted to see him, to say hello."

Draco blinked. "I don't know who that is. Did I know him well?"

Hermione nodded. "From what he said, he was your best friend at school. He's been asking about you, about whether you're okay."

"Right." He looked a little lost, a small crease forming between his eyebrows. "Do you think I should talk to him?"

The girls exchanged a look. Luna spoke up first. "It's your decision, of course. I think it could do you both some good. Blaise has been very worried about you."

"And even if you don't remember him," Hermione added, "it could be good for you to talk to someone who knows you better than we do."

He considered for a couple of minutes. "...Alright. It can't do any harm, I suppose."

"How are we actually going to do this?" Hermione asked, frowning slightly. "Surely Zabini isn't authorised to leave his room?"

Luna shook her head. "Harry said we could bring Draco up to Blaise's room, as long as we both stay with them at all times and neither of them is given a wand. Sorry." The last was directed at Draco, who waved it off.

"Don't worry about it."

"Alright." Hermione turned to Draco. "Are you sure about this? There's no pressure."

He nodded. "I know. I'm sure."

She nodded in return. "When do you want to do it? We can go now, or another time if it's too soon..." She trailed off as he shook his head.

"Now, I think. I'll only get more nervous about it if we wait." He looked up at them both. "I have to do this at some point, right? I can't stay in this room for the rest of my life. At some point I'm going to run into someone who knew me from before."

"That's probably true," Luna acknowledged, "but there's no rush. It's entirely up to you. Blaise is happy to wait."

"No, I want to do it now. Is that alright?" Draco asked, suddenly uncertain all over again.

Hermione put a reassuring hand on his arm, surprising herself with the instinctive action but not taking it back. "It's fine."

A few minutes later, the three of them were standing outside the door to Blaise's room. Luna raised a hand to knock, then looked back at Draco. "Ready?"

He nodded stiffly, his face pale.

She knocked. A few seconds later, a reply drifted through the closed door. "Come in."

Luna stepped inside first, giving Blaise a small but warm smile. Hermione followed, her smile a little nervous. But it was Draco who was the most obviously nervous of the three. His normally pale face was almost white and he was twisting his fingers together in front of him, looking for all the world as though he was being led to the chopping block.

After an awkward couple of seconds, Hermione nudged Draco forwards gently. He stepped into the room properly and looked at Blaise. "Um. Hello."

Blaise stood up from his seat by the desk and walked to stand in front of Draco. His dark eyes searched the pale face for any recognition. "Draco... Do you remember me? Your mate, Blaise?"

Draco frowned, looking at the young man before him for several long seconds before shaking his head sadly. "I'm sorry. I don't."

The dark young man nodded once and, for a moment, his eyes shone with tears of shock and grief. Then he stepped forwards and embraced Draco in a tight hug, his own shoulders shaking. "I know this means nothing to you," he sobbed into Draco's shoulder, "but I...I thought you were dead, Draco! I thought they'd k-killed you!"

Draco's shoulders relaxed a little as he felt Blaise start to sob in earnest. Taking a deep breath, he returned the hug and said softly, "I'm sorry I'm not the person you were hoping for."

Blaise raised his head, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he wiped tears from his face. "You're alive," he replied hoarsely. "That's good enough for me."

Both boys smiled and the tension in the room evaporated. Blaise indicated for everyone to take a seat, still wiping tears from his face. "So, have they been treating you alright?" he asked Draco, ignoring the dirty looks both girls threw at him.

Draco nodded, a small smile crossing his face. "On the whole, I can't complain."

"Good. That's good." Blaise propped his elbows on his knees and leaned forwards, looking at the floor for a few seconds. "Sorry," he said when he looked up. "This must be so strange for you. I'm just so used to being able to say anything to you, you know? But..."

"I know." Draco grimaced. "I hate it too."

"What happened? What did this to you?"

The blonde shrugged. "I wish I knew. I don't remember much at all from...that place."

"It happened at the Manor?" Blaise saw, belatedly, the look of intense discomfort on both Draco and Hermione's faces. "I'm sorry. You don't have to answer that."

"It's okay," Hermione said softly.

Draco glanced at her, then turned back to face Blaise. "Yes, as far as I know."

"I'll kill whoever did this to you." The words were spoken quietly, without anger, but that was almost more frightening than if he'd shouted them. Draco actually leaned back slightly, his eyes wide. Blaise chuckled. "Relax, mate. Chances are the bastard that did it is already dead or soon will be. I'm not going to go on a rampage or anything. I just...I hate this."

"Join the club."


If Hermione had thought that being left behind at the Manor was her most terrifying moment, she had been wrong. This was worse, so much worse.

Her friends - her family - were preparing to leave for Hogsmeade, ready for a final assault on Hogwarts. All but one of Voldemort's horcruxes had been accounted for: something belonging to Rowena Ravenclaw, most likely hidden somewhere inside Hogwarts. They had been discussing the possibilities for weeks and it was the only possible remaining place that would hold enough significance for Voldemort. It was also crawling with Death Eaters, possibly the current resting place of Voldemort himself - and the last possible place that Harry should be going.

Hermione told him as much, but he simply shook his head. "I have to go, Hermione. This isn't just about the horcruxes anymore. There are children in that school right now, along with a lot of Death Eaters."

She blanched and he grimaced. "I'm sorry. I don't want to do this, but if we don't go now it could be too late. For all we know, Voldemort already knows about the ones we've already got rid of."

He was right. She hated it, but he was right. "I understand. I do. I...Just be careful, won't you?"

Footsteps sounded behind them and Ron walked past, momentarily pausing as if he wanted to speak, then shaking his head and continuing down the corridor.

"Ron?" Hermione's eyes filled with tears.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Harry burst out, startling Hermione out of her sadness with both the vehemence and profanity of his words. She'd never heard him swear like that before, in all the years she'd known him. "Ron, get back here."

The red-haired wizard turned, not looking at Hermione as he returned to the pair. "What?"

"We could die in there," Harry said bluntly. "Do you really want to leave Hermione like this?"

Normally, Hermione would have been protesting that he was speaking about her as if she wasn't there, but for now she was just in shock at the sudden force in Harry's words.

Ron took a deep breath, then turned to face Hermione. "I don't hate you," he said stiffly. "I can't agree with the choices you've been making lately, but I don't hate you."

Hermione blinked, not sure what to say. There was no way she would get any kind of apology from him; she knew him better than that. "I suppose that's enough for now," she said finally. "Just...Don't you dare get hurt in there. Either of you."

Both boys nodded and, for a moment, all three smiled and it felt like nothing had changed. Then Ron glanced at Harry and said, "I should go and see if Neville needs anything." He turned and left, leaving Hermione and Harry standing awkwardly in the hallway.

"I'm sorry," Harry said quietly. "I honestly hoped he would have stopped being such an arse by now."

"It isn't your fault," Hermione replied in the same tone. "Thank you for trying."

He nodded once, his expression hard. "When this is over, if he doesn't come grovelling to you with an apology, I'm going to hex him to the other side of the planet."

"Not if I do it first." She grinned.

He returned the expression, then grew suddenly serious. "You stay safe here, understand?"

"I'll be safer here than you'll be out there," Hermione said. "I should be saying that to you."

"I'll be careful," Harry assured her. "Besides, any more scars and I'll start to look like I'm trying too hard."

She swatted at him, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "I mean it. If I hear that anything's happened..."

"Nothing's going to happen." Harry smiled. "We've had this planned to the letter for weeks, Hermione. There's no eventuality we haven't planned for. Even if Voldemort transfigures himself into an aubergine and tries to hide in the pumpkin patch-"

"What?" Hermione spluttered, laughing.

"Luna contributed that particular idea," Harry admitted, "and it is pretty unlikely, but we've got a plan for it anyway. We are as prepared as we can possibly be, Hermione."

She nodded, still smiling about the aubergine comment but quickly growing serious again. Then she threw her arms around Harry and squeezed tightly. "Come back," she whispered in his ear. "That's all I ask."

He nodded, squeezing back. They stood like that for several long seconds. Then a voice that sounded like Remus called from the kitchen: "Is everyone ready?"

"I have to go," Harry said apologetically. "I'll see you when we've won."

Hermione nodded. "Ginny will be waiting to say goodbye." She forced a smile and stepped back, biting back her tears until he had disappeared into the kitchen. Then she turned and ran up the stairs, not thinking about where she was going until she was outside Draco's door. She raised a hand to knock, but he opened the door before her hand touched the wood.

"Hermione. What's going on?"

She opened her mouth to speak, but the tears got there first. Her face crumpled and she reached for him, feeling him enfold her in a hug as she started to sob.

"They're going, aren't they?" he asked, knowing the answer before she nodded. "Then it's almost over."

Shaking with sobs and blinded by tears, she allowed him to lead her over to the bed and gently push her into a sitting position. Then a tissue was placed in her hand and she felt the mattress depress as he sat beside her. She expected him to try and put an arm round her, hug her, or something equally awkward. Something Ron might have done, her mind supplied unhelpfully.

Oh, Ron... Her sobs renewed in vigour as she recalled the detached expression on his face as he had spoken to her for the first time in days.

"I don't hate you," he had said. Did that mean they could still be friends? Or had her choices ruined everything?

"Hermione?" Draco's voice sounded worried. "Hermione, you need to take proper breaths. You're going to pass out otherwise."

What? she thought distractedly. Then she heard the sound of her own breathing, a quick staccato rhythm that rasped from her throat as she continued to sob. Her chest ached as she tried to exert her will over her heaving lungs.

Draco hesitantly reached over and put a hand on her back, rubbing in small circles. "It's alright," he soothed gently. "Just breathe."

Eventually she managed to slow her breathing down to something resembling normal, although her heart continued to flutter unpleasantly in her chest. I wonder if that's what a panic attack feels like.

"Possibly."

She looked up frowning. "Did I-" she started to say, but her throat constricted and she coughed instead.

"Say that out loud? Yes, you did." He smiled as he passed her a glass of water. She noticed then that he had removed his hand from her back as soon as she had started to breathe normally. She was grateful that he hadn't maintained the contact without asking permission but, at the same time, the area on her back that had been warmed by his hand was starting to feel strangely cold. As if it missed his touch. "And it probably was a panic attack, yes."

"How do you know?" she asked curiously.

He waved a hand at his desk, which was piled with books. "I've been reading a lot about medicine. Luna brings me books from the library."

He's interested in medicine? That doesn't sound like the Draco Malfoy I used to know. Then Hermione frowned at herself. How could she possibly know what the old Draco Malfoy had aspired to do with his life? He had been very skilled with potions and Charms, after all. For all she knew, he had wanted to be a Healer when he left school.

"They'll be alright, you know."

The sentence caught her off guard and she stared at him. "How can you possibly know that?"

"Because if they're anything like you, and they probably are, they won't give up until they've succeeded. I remember when you created light in the darkness without even a wand. If they've got half of your courage, they'll be fine."

Tears coursed down her face as his words sank in. Even after everything that had happened, it still felt so strange to be comforted by Draco Malfoy, of all people. Still, she leaned into his side as the tears continued to fall, letting him put a hesitant arm around her shoulders as she cried.

"I'm so scared..." she whispered through her tears. "And...R-Ron still hates me..."

"What makes you say that?" Draco asked gently. "You've been friends for so long, surely that-"

"No." Her quiet voice cut him off. "The way he looks at me now...and he-he won't talk to me anymore."

There was a moment of silence. Then Draco said, "It's because of me, isn't it?"

Hermione opened her mouth to speak, but stopped when she realised she had no idea what to say. He was right, of course; if Hermione went to Ron and told him she would have nothing more to do with Draco, they would be back to normal in no time. It was her friendship with the blonde that had jeopardised her friendship with Ron.

"I'll take that as a yes." Draco sighed. "I'm sorry. I had no idea my presence here would cause so many problems."

"It's not your fault!" she burst out. "He just doesn't understand, but when I try and explain it he won't listen!"

"He probably just needs time," Draco reasoned. "You've all spent most of the last seven years thinking about me as a horrible person, to put it lightly. I wouldn't expect that to change overnight."

Hermione gulped, wiping her eyes. "I just wish he would understand how much you've helped me."

"Maybe that's the problem." Draco took a breath, then continued. "He hates me, right? And he loves you."

She nodded slowly.

"He hates the fact that I'm able to help you while he can't. He probably wishes you would go to him when you were upset, instead of anyone else. The fact that it's me just adds insult to injury." He grimaced.

"That makes sense," Hermione replied. "But if he truly loved me, I would hope that he could look past his prejudices and see that I'm better thanks to you."

Draco shrugged lightly, but she could see he felt guilty for his part in what had happened between her and Ron.

"You know it isn't your fault, right?" she said, raising her eyebrows slightly. "If even I can forgive you for what you've done, then surely he should be able to as well."

Everything he's done? her inner voice demanded, making her start in surprise. Even what he did at the Manor?

She cringed slightly and tears prickled at her eyes, but she blinked them back. Yes. He was forced to do that. They would have killed him.

"Hermione?" Draco's voice sounded like it was coming from far away. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she heard herself reply. "Yes, I'm fine." She blinked again and the world came back into focus. "Sorry, I was...somewhere else for a moment there."

You should tell him, you know. He should know what he did to you.

No. I can't.

"Do you want to do anything?" Draco asked, a small smile playing around his mouth. "To pass the time, I mean."

Hermione stared at him for a moment, then rolled her eyes. "You want to play Monopoly again, don't you?"

"...Maybe." He pouted and bowed his head, looking up at her like a puppy. "Unless you don't want to...?"

She laughed. "Fine, but I'll have to get it from my room."


Back in her bedroom, Hermione dropped to her knees, her legs shaking too violently to support her weight. Her heart was beating so fast it hurt, her eyes streaming with tears. She was back in the darkness, back in the cell, back in the drawing room. His pale face swam across her mind, contorted with anger and disgust as he pointed his wand at her.

Crucio!

She shrieked into her hands, expecting to feel that excruciating pain all over her body just like before.

Then his face changed. Tears streamed down his pale cheeks as his mouth tightened to hold back his sobs. His eyes were wide, his emotions written clearly across them for her to read: I'm sorry. I didn't mean it.

Hermione opened her eyes, half expecting to see...what? Darkness? The wood-panelled walls of the drawing room? Instead, the bright, clean surroundings of her bedroom startled her for a moment. Wiping her eyes free of tears, she got to her feet, her legs now steady beneath her. The Monopoly box was where she had left it on her desk. She grabbed it and left the room, heading back up the stairs. As she went, her tears dried and a smile started to spread across her lips.

Draco smiled when she entered the room. "So, do you want to be the top hat today or can I?"


I hope you enjoyed that :) I apologise on Ron's behalf for his utter inability to be a decent human being. He probably won't improve for a while yet, but I'm slightly ashamed of his behaviour. I didn't intend to write him so mean! Oh well...At least Hermione and Harry got a bit of quality screen time :D

The actual story has finally progressed a bit, now that Harry and his pals are on their way to face Voldemort at Hogwarts. I haven't decided how much of the battle you'll actually get to see, so you'll just have to wait and find out in the next couple of chapters! :P

Thanks for reading! Please leave me a review and let me know what you think :)