A/n: We are going to look at the Dark Mark again here! Don't worry, you'll find out what's on the paper soon. Thanks to my beta loveinthemadness! **Not yet edited. And as always, check me out on facebook! The link is up on my profile.

He was getting worried. Night came and she was nowhere to be found. The blonde hadn't meant to upset her the way he did, but it happened that way. And now the girl seemed set on avoiding him. Cursing, he decided he hated his luck. Things were going swimmingly until he kissed her, until he reminded her of a past she had been deprived of for so long.

After everything that had happened lately, it unsettled him to now where she was and if she was alright. Her husband might be behind bars until the trial in a few short days, but that didn't calm his nerves. If he had even the slightest idea where she was, he would go looking. But in case she came back at some point, he didn't want to chance it.

Draco was beginning to ponder the idea of trying a locating spell on her position when the floo roared to life. Spinning around, he saw her stepping from the flames, and his mood immediately brightened.

She didn't look exactly happy to be back, but that was expected. The blonde hurried towards her, happy to be back in her presence and persistent to make sure that she was alright. He stopped directly in front of her though, his face scrunching up when he realized she looked like a ghost now that she was in the light, her complexion drained of any color. She was almost paler than he was.

The blonde reached out, gripping her chin. "Hermione? Hermione, what's wrong?"

The girl finally looked up, meeting his concerned orbs. It felt a bit like she was walking on air, floating above her reality. Even Draco didn't seem completely real, so she didn't respond. Hermione knew she was in shock, but was helpless to do anything on the matter. All she did she stare back into Draco's eyes, her hand squeezing the paper in her pocket far too tightly.

He led her to a chair across the room, gently getting her to sit down. "What's wrong?" he asked again, caressing her cheek. The blonde needed to know what was haunting her. He needed to know what to do.

She shook her head, glancing his way. From her pocket she pulled out a manila piece of parchment, wrinkled and slightly damp. He pried it gently from her fingers, the piece tearing at one edge. To this, she looked away.

Not understanding why she was so sad due to a sheet of paper, he flipped the damp piece over and scanned the contents on one side. Pausing halfway down the small sheet, he closed his eyes, comprehending why she seemed so distraught.

Leaning over, he wrapped a strong arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him. She moved without a word, slumping against his body.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly, kissing her head. When she didn't slap him, he assumed she was too disheartened to be concerned about his actions. "Where did you get this Hermione?"

She finally looked him straight on then, her eyes staring straight into his. "Seamus."

When she awoke later, she found it to be dark outside. Despite telling Draco that she didn't care where she slept, just that the drapes were open, he had moved her to a bedroom. Waking now, she found the sky to be a black abyss outside her shadowed room. Reaching out blindly for her wand, she found it really was in the same position Draco had said it would be. Gripping the handle, she let the tin object light up to a single word, illuminating the dark room. She wasn't sure what she expected, but this was disappointing.

This wasn't Draco's room. Although they had an argument, a part of her wanted to believe that he would bring her to his room anyway. But she should've known from the moment she awoke that she wasn't there. The bed was cold on one side, and if it truly was the blonde's room she was sleeping in, then she knew there would've been warmth throughout the mattress. Sighing, she relaxed back against the sheets. She missed having him there, even after she learned things. Hermione loved having his presence while she slept, warm and protected. It was depressing to think that he brought her there instead of her room.

Closing her eyes, she considered the few scarce things they discussed before he told her that she needed to sleep. She explained the experience with Seamus- one which the blonde seemed none too happy to listen to- and he decided that the man' words didn't seem trustworthy. They didn't know if anything on the parchment she was given was true, and that made him weary to believe the words. But Hermione would believe them anyway. She was too upset to do anything else. And Draco knew it.

Lavender knew it too though. That's what Draco kept trying to push into her head. But she was resistant to that answer. She didn't want to believe there was any truth in his words.

Sighing, she rolled over on the cool mattress, wishing there were a pair of arms to embrace her. Yet there was only the other half of the mattress waiting for her, cold and uninviting.

When sleep proved to be impossible, she threw the blankets off her chilly legs and got up, ignoring the shock up both her legs as bare feet touched the cold stone floor. Had he taken her shoes and stockings off? She didn't know, and wasn't sure entirely how she felt about it. But she didn't exactly feel violated like she should.

Finding some socks to try and fight off the cold, she stepped out of her room. Wandering down the familiar path, she came to the lab. Without thinking, she stepped in and let the door slam shut. Immediately, she wished she had been a bit slower with her entrance.

The girl lost precious hours by disappearing that morning. All the plans she had to investigate the potion and work on other things to create a workable salve had been put on hold, and now she was dealing with the consequences. The room was filled up with smoke, pooling around the ceiling instead of staying someplace near the middle. Yet when she breathed at all the contaminating concoction poisoned her airways. Damn magical smoke.

Quickly, Hermione ran through an analysis of what she had done to the potion recently, and what compounds might be causing this unhealthy reaction. She had several different little experiments set up around the room, her abundance of notes spread throughout. She doubted she would find anything she needed before she suffocated.

Pulling her wand out again, she cast a spell, giving herself a barrier between the air around her and the rest so as to avoid inhaling more of the smoke. It was different from Harry's conclusion to breathing under water during fourth year, for she didn't need to find new air so much as keep some private and to herself. At least no more of the smoke would enter the bubble she had placed around herself, ensuring her survival at this late hour. It seemed doubtful that Draco would want to find her dead body that morning.

Wandering quickly, she checked the various mixtures around the room, placing wards on anything that wasn't bubbling or creating smoke. At the fourth compound, she discovered where the problem was.

A blue mixture was spewing out the dangerous smoke, and for a moment she had no idea what she had used to make the combination. Finding her notes among the smoke, she wondered if blue smoke was beginning to wander anywhere else in the Manor. She hadn't shut the door, much less placed a barrier. Great, now someone might figure out what was wrong.

Locating a handful of notes, she scanned them quickly before finding the page containing this certain mixture. Reading fast, she recalled the compound she created, now wishing that she had been more careful with her supplies. What she had put together would burn if touched, and she searched for a lid to place over to bottle. Finding one, she used that immediately, at least needing to get the smoke to stop rising. She didn't want to use magic at first, wondering what kind of reaction that would have.

Pausing, she took her wand and used it to open the lone window she could see. Whispering a spell, she watched the smoke follow the direction she had chanted, disappearing out the window. When the room was clear, she slumped against the table. Well, now she had a mess.

Barely taking a break at all, she looked back to the container. The blue smoke was spreading, but surprisingly it wasn't escaping. Curious, she watched further, wondering what exactly she had created by combining two dangerous things.

The smoke was settling in the small condensed area, which was surprising since the girl didn't expect this solution to work for more than a few seconds. Yet the smoke seemed to be folding in on itself, even disappearing to a degree. It was quite fascinating to watch.

When the smoke had decreased a bit, she made sure the door was shut and took the lid off again. The smoke rose this time, but didn't go very far. Raising an eyebrow, she reached forward and grabbed the container to shake it a bit. It burned her hand, but she didn't pull back.

The smoke cleared, and she looked down at the mixture. It had thickened quite a bit since the last time she looked, and scrambling for something long she stuck a test stick into the concoction and pulled it out. The stuff came out like a gel, blue and sticky. Dropping the sample into a smaller container, she cast a spell over it to check the chemical compounds now.

The same chemicals she had put in were still there, though now they were in an almost solid form. Raising an eyebrow, she thought about how strange that was. Did this happen because she left unstable position ingredients alone too long to create smoke, or was this reaction always bound to happen. She wished she had a thorough answer.

According to her spells, the potion was safe to touch human skin. The ingredients she used were for protection and pain, and she laced a hint of darkness into the mixture, though she had no intention to reveal what it was. That would be her secret.

Hermione jabbed at the mixture, surprised to find a simple touch soothing to the skin that met the blue gel. Curious- and a bit stupid- she placed the gel on the back of her hand by dumping the flat container on her. She hissed, feeling it burn into her skin. Quickly, she shook it off, watching the skin on her hand disappear. Gross.

She tapped her chin with the other hand, fighting off the pain in her hand now from her curiosity. Her spells said it was safe, yet it hurt her. Glancing at her body, she thought about the original intention of this creation. Reminding herself to be careful, she reached out again and grabbed a second sample of the mixture, this time dropping it onto a scar.

There was no burn. Looking at the gel, she watched it bubble, sinking into her skin. Paranoid at what that might mean, she reached for her wand in case she needed to save herself. But as the mixture disappeared from sight on her other arm, her eyebrows shot up. The scar was no longer there.

How interesting…

The girl could feel her excitement growing instantly. Without thinking, she snatched up the creation, bolting out of the room. She dashed down the halls, arriving at her destination only a few moments later, panting but she didn't care. Hermione didn't knock like she should've, but instead walked right in, rushing to the bed.

She jumped on the bed, intentionally landing on the man lying there. He grunted at the random, unexpected weight and snatched up his wand as she provided light. Draco stopped his movements when he realized this wasn't a threat, but gave her a strange look.

"Erm, Hermione? What exactly are you doing?"

She grinned, clapping one hand against the container. "I've done it Draco! I think I found you a salve that's better than the one you have now!"

He blinked, struggling to sit up beneath the additional weight. "In the middle of the morning?" She nodded quickly. "What were you doing up so early?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Does it matter? You should just be happy that I've found something! Don't be a prick."

He relented to that. "Fine, fine. Give it here. Just don't burn me or something because of yesterday!"

Without responding, she grabbed the arm that she knew had the Dark Mark on it. Flipping his arm to bear the tattoo, she dropped a bit of the concoction onto it. With large eyes, they both watched it bubble.

A/n: Thoughts?