It took several minutes of banging on Draco's door before he appeared, looking quite annoyed when he finally opened the door. His blond hair was sticking up at all angles and he squinted at her in the soft light of the hallway. He had obviously been woken from a deep sleep as there were faint pink lines on his cheek.
For a moment Hermione was distracted by the pale skin of his chest. He was dressed only in a pair of boxers and with their recent kiss still fresh in her mind, the sight of him without a shirt affected her more than it had before. She needed to act with her own advice and pretend nothing had ever happened.
"What Granger?" Draco asked, the annoyance quite evident in his voice as he glared at her.
Hermione hoped with everything she had that she had misheard him in the garden, hoped that she had hallucinated the words in her fear of Greyback. But she had to know.
"Earlier in the garden, you said something about how Voldemort didn't need another pet." Hermione began, the look of confusion only increasing on Draco's face.
"What are you talking about? You know, if you wanted to continue our actions earlier all you had to do was ask, no need to come up with some grand plan to see me half naked." His tired smirk would have been enduring if the urgency she felt wasn't more pressing.
She repressed the urge to slap him fully awake. Choosing to not address his comments, Hermione glared at him. "In the garden you said something about Voldemort not needing a dog because he had a snake."
Draco sighed and ran a hand through his hair, giving her an incredulous look as he realized she wasn't going to drop it. "What about it? Looking for a snake supplier?"
She let out a shaky breath, feeling both elation and absolute dread at the same time. "He has a snake." Draco nodded, raising his brows at her. "But Neville killed the snake at Hogwarts."
"So?" Draco asked, longing for the comfort of his bed instead of the chilly hallway air that was making the skin on his chest break out in gooseflesh. "Neville killed Naga and now Voldemort only has Nagini."
He said it so simply, but the words took Hermione's breath away and she felt lightheaded. Everything they had done that last year, all of the time and effort they had spent tracking down every horcrux that Voldemort had made, tracking them down and destroying them, was all for nothing. The amount of heartache and stress that they had all endured had been inconsequential. Because they had messed up.
"Hermione what is it?" Draco asked, his eyes narrowing in concern as her face went pale. Her actions were concerning, and he suddenly felt like this was more important than he thought.
She met his eyes. "We didn't finish it." Her voice was small, and he furrowed his brows, not understanding what was going on.
As if stung by a bee, she startled, the fear and anguish in her features turned to the look of determination that he had become accustomed to from her. Her brown eyes hardened and she set her mouth in a grim line.
"Get dressed." She said, sharply.
"Wh-what?" His confusion was back in full force. "It's the middle of the bloody night, I'm going back to bed."
Her brows rose and he wanted to laugh at the motherly look of admonishment. "You're going to get dressed and then we are going to go."
His own brows rose in response. "And why would I do that?"
She wanted to laugh at his reaction but only allows a soft smile. "Because I know how to defeat Voldemort."
She left him with the shocked look on his face, enjoying the momentary feeling of being in control. Ever since she had agreed to work with him on the mission, he had been calling the shots. Warning against helping her friends when he was the one who had hesitated. It felt good to finally have the upper hand on the smug Draco Malfoy.
She had already turned and started back to her bedroom by the time he called out to her. "Where are we going?"
"Headquarters." She threw over her shoulder as she went. She had disappeared before he had the time to clarify. Staring after her in disbelief he stood in his doorway for a moment longer, finally sighing before making his way to his wardrobe. If Granger claimed she knew how to kill Voldemort, he wasn't going to question her.
Hermione dressed at light speed, her mind a rush with the realization she had made. She needed to get to Harry, needed to go home. She was back out in the hallway within a matter of minutes, annoyed immediately that Draco wasn't waiting for her.
She stepped up to rap on his door again, but it opened just as she was raising her fist to pound. He flinched at her hand in front of his face and raised his brows at her.
"No need to hit me, Granger. I think we've reached our quota of that in our lifetime."
She wasn't especially in the mood for sarcasm, huffing out a breath. At least he was dressed.
"Let's go." At his look of apprehension, she sighed. "I promise I'll explain everything but right now I need to talk to Harry."
He stared at her for a moment longer, almost as if he was deciding if it was really worth it. Finally, as if reaching a decision, he sighed and nodded. They went down the stairs to his study, disappearing in the flames of the floo.
Grimmauld Place was silent and dark when they arrived, as it should be Draco thought with a sigh remembering the warmth of his own bed waiting for him back at the Manor. Hermione was already making her way up the stairs, the wooden steps creaking as she took them two at a time. He followed her slowly, reaching the third floor only to hear her pounding on one of the doors in a long hallway. Good to know it wasn't just his sleep she cared about disturbing.
The door opened a minute later and a very disheveled looking Harry Potter stood on the other side, blinking at the sudden intrusion. Draco sympathized with him but found sudden amusement in Potter's appearance.
"Hermione, what-?" Harry, squinted at her and Draco could tell he was trying to decide if this was a dream.
"Harry, we didn't get them all."
For a moment Potter looked confused, still coming out from the drudges of sleep. Then as if her words had set off a bomb in his head, his eyes widened, and a look of shock crossed his face. "Are you sure?" Hermione nodded. "How do you know?"
"We need to get Ron." She said simply, shaking her head at him before moving down the hall to pound on yet another door. It was a miracle that she didn't wake everyone else up in the house. Harry watched after her before noticing that Draco was there. He raised his eyebrows at the blond leaning against the hall wall before turning back into his room to get dressed.
Several minutes later, the four of them were sat around the table in the kitchen, trying to stay as quiet as they could. Something that Draco found amusing given Hermione's grand entrance into the place. Ron was grumbling about being woken up and Draco smirked, loving how childlike he was acting.
"Alright Hermione, what is going on?" Harry asked, getting right to the point given the urgency of her arrival.
Hermione appreciated the bluntness, almost bursting at the seams to share their discovery. "Right, so last night Draco and I went to a party at the Parkinson's mansion—" Ron scoffed and was met with a glare from Hermione.
"Anyways, Greyback was there."
"He didn't recognize you, did he?" Harry interrupted remembering with panic the werewolf they had encountered in one of the worst nights of their lives. Hermione huffed in annoyance at yet another interruption.
"No, he didn't. Now if you'd all please just shut it, I could get to the point." Her two friends looked appropriately abashed and Draco found he was quite enjoying the interactions. It reminded him of the squabbling he had witnessed at Hogwarts between the three, something that always brought great enjoyment to him.
"No, he didn't recognize me, I was using George's disguise. But he was bothering me, and Draco stepped in. During the altercation Draco made a comment about how Voldemort didn't need a dog when he already had a snake."
Ron snickered with laughter, obviously missing the point of the explanation as he found the insult to Fenir Greyback funny. While he laughed, Hermione kept her eyes on Harry who stared at her with a look of comprehension.
"But Neville?" Potter asked and Hermione nodded, grateful that he was understanding the significance.
"He had two snakes, Harry. Draco confirmed it. The one that was killed at Hogwarts was Naga, the second one. Nagini is still alive."
Ron stopped laughing at this and his expression changed into one of horror. "What? The fucking snake is still alive?"
Hermione nodded, the grave look on her face once again made confusion surface in Draco. "I'm sorry," He interjected leaning forward in his chair and placing his hands calmly on the table. He was tiring of feeling like important things were happening around him without his knowledge. "But what the hell does a snake have to do with anything? Let alone killing Voldemort?"
Hermione glanced over at him and opened her mouth as if to speak, but then turned to look at Harry and exchanged a look that Draco felt conveyed an entire conversation. Harry nodded finally and Hermione took a deep breath.
"Have you heard of a horcrux?" She asked, turning her attention back to Draco.
He considered the word for a moment, finding it familiar but unsure where he had heard it before. "I think so." Hermione looked surprised at this. "But I don't remember what it is."
"It's an object that houses a fragment of an individual's soul, in this case, Voldemort's." She explained.
"So, you think the snake is a horcrux?" Draco asked, glancing around at the other two the find his question confirmed by the grim look on their face. "Voldemort's horcrux."
"Yes. And it explains why none of the attempts on Voldemort's life have been fatal, including Harry's." She sent a glance at her friend and Harry's face tightened.
"So, Voldemort is invincible, that's really your grand answer?" Draco asked, the frustration building within him.
"No, he's not." Harry said, leaning back in the rickety chair. "We destroyed six other horcruxes the year we were gone from school."
"Six?" Draco asked, his brows raised in shock. "You're telling me Voldemort split his soul into seven pieces?" Hermione nodded and Draco felt slightly ill at the process of splitting one's soul.
"And if you destroy all of them then Voldemort, he'd be un-immortal?"
Hermione appreciated how quickly he was grasping the information. She had had to explain it four times to Ron at the beginning of their hunt and at least twice the rest of the order when they had initially told them.
"Yes. And the word is mortal." He rolled his eyes at her, but she saw the slight twitch of his mouth.
"Okay, so we kill the snake."
Ron scoffed and shook his head at Draco's naivety. "If only it were that simple. I'm assuming Voldy keeps the snake pretty close now-a-days?"
The Weasel was right, Draco thought with annoyance. He hadn't seen the snake since the night McGowan was killed. And before that, the snake rarely made an appearance with Voldemort. It all made sense now though. The knowledge that Voldemort had split his soul into fragments was not surprising to Draco, he never doubted the lengths the wizard would go to stay alive.
"So, it's pretty safe to say we're screwed?" He said, letting his eyes fall to the tabletop as he leaned back in his chair.
"Basically." Ron said, the defeat in his voice quite apparent.
"No," Hermione interjected, glaring at Ron. She knew that he was tired of the war, tired of losing family members, but he couldn't give up. Ron and Harry were the tethers that kept her sane throughout the craziness, the people she could count on to be as dedicated to ending all of this as she was. He couldn't give up, he needed to believe in them.
"We can do it. We've been fighting Voldemort since we were twelve, at this point we don't have a choice."
Draco met her eyes, still not feeling convinced. "And how do you propose we accomplish this? I haven't seen the snake in months, and" he let his eyes flick to Harry, "I'm assuming the Dark Lord knows about your previous exploits?"
Harry nodded grimly, remembering the feeling of Voldemort being inside of his head prior to destroying the part of soul that was embedded in him. The pure rage and fear that he had felt from Voldemort when he realized that his horcrux's were being destroyed had been blinding. Something he was only too grateful to never have to experience again.
"We'd have to get them both at the same time." Hermione said, her mind racing with the attempt to conjure up some sort of plan.
"How do you figure?" Ron asked, still feeling the doubt from earlier.
Draco scoffed and answered for her. "He'd just make a new one if he knew the snake was gone. The Dark Lord would never let himself be vulnerable." Hermione nodded in agreement. "But how do you know he hasn't made more since you destroyed the others?"
"He didn't have the capacity." Harry said simply with a shrug. "Dumbledore told me that splitting the soul damages it. Voldemort never knew that it also damages the magical core. He wouldn't be able to make another one, it would kill him."
Ron snorted, "Why don't we just wait for him to try?"
Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Because he knows it. He knows how vulnerable he is, that's why he's been keeping Nagini hidden all of this time. It's why he doesn't go out during the fights. Even though he knows he still has a horcrux left and that essentially protect him, he doesn't put himself in any situation that could be a threat to his life."
Draco nodded, appreciating her firm assessment of the situation. Her insightfulness as to the Dark Lord's mentality was surprising, given that she had only been in his direct presence a handful of times. Then again, he reminded himself, she would have had years to conduct research on him and observe Voldemort's indirect actions. He had seen how Hermione spent her free time and he knew that it sure wasn't sitting around basking in the sun.
"So, we need to get both of them at the same time. Just like Hogwarts." Ron said with a sigh. Harry, Hermione and Draco nodded at the same time and Draco saw the slight smile that crept over Hermione's lips as she noticed the movements.
"So back to the original question, how?" Ron's dark blue eyes looked between Harry and Hermione, the three of them feeling like they were back at square one in the tent on the run.
"I don't know." Hermione said finally, a crease forming on her forehead as she furrowed her brows. It was hard for her to admit that she didn't know something, though granted it had become easier over the years given the uncertainty that they had faced.
Draco let out a jaw cracking yawn and chuckled as Harry also stifled one. Ron groaned and lowered his head to the table with a slight clunk.
Harry's sigh cut through the silence and he stood, the legs of his chair scraping against the tiles of the floor. "It took us nine months to figure out how to kill him the first time and it didn't even work, I doubt we'll be able to do it in one night."
Ron heartily agreed, feeling even more exhausted than he had when Hermione had pounded on his door a half hour earlier. Hermione looked between her two friends and sighed, knowing that they were right. She knew when to give up, when to step back from the problem, or patient, and take a break.
Sensing the commencement of the little meeting, Draco stood as well, stretching his arms out. "Well this has been an insightful meeting, but I'd really like to get back to my bed now."
"You may as well just stay here." Harry said, looking over at the man. "We'll have to call the order to meeting in the morning anyways and you should be there. They've been monitoring the frequency of floo's in the neighborhood so the lower we keep the number the better."
Draco sent an exasperated look back at Hermione who shrugged. Of course she wouldn't object, this was her home. But this place made him feel antsy, like he needed to high tail it to the nearest deserted island.
"There are plenty of extra rooms." Hermione added, not so helpfully. If he wasn't so tired, he probably would have argued more, but the only thought on his mind was the bloody snake and getting back into bed.
Running a hand through his already messy hair, Draco sighed and nodded. He followed the three of them back up the stairs and Hermione led him further down the hall and stopped in front of a closed door.
"This was Regulus's old room. Seems fitting." She said with a hint of an ironic smile before pushing open the door.
It was a dark and forbearing room, but at least it was clean. In the first year of being fully underground, the trio along with the Weasley's had swept through the house, clearing it for the functional use of its residents. It had been a large chore but with Mrs. Weasley's housekeeping expertise, it had been accomplished as efficiently as possible.
"Cozy." Draco said offhandedly as he stepped in and lit a couple of lanterns with a flick of his wand.
"Not really." Hermione said, still standing at the door as she looked around the familiar room. "Anyways, bathroom is down the hall. You already know where Harry and Ron's rooms are and I'm up a floor, first door on the left if you need anything."
"Doubtful, but I'll remember."
Hermione rolled her eyes and snorted. To think that not eight hours ago, she had kissed this insufferable man. Being back in Grimmauld Place was slowly clearing her senses and bringing her back to reality. The kiss had felt like a dream at this point, like something out of one of the crime shows her mother used to watch where the main characters became so engrossed in their investigation that they were blind to the rest of the world.
"You're welcome Malfoy." She said, the tinge of annoyance quite present in her voice.
He turned at the tone and the corner of his mouth twitched. She saw it and grew even more annoyed by the slight twinge she felt in her stomach at the site. She narrowed her eyes briefly at him before turning from the door and making her way up the stairs to her own room.
It was one of the smaller rooms in the place, but she enjoyed the coziness of it. At least the coziness she had created in it after she had claimed it as her own. The dark blue walls were still present from the original state of the room but that was the only thing dark about it. The plush bed was the result of multiplying charms on the soft down coverlet she had brought with her. It was topped with a soft, light cream comforter that used to feel soft under her fingers but after the luxury of her room at the manor, now felt like sandpaper.
She barely bothered changing back into the pajamas she had stored here before crawling into bed, trying not to let her mind wander to the man that was sleeping almost directly below her. It both bothered and comforted her that he was here. She never felt fully at ease at the Manor and it felt nice to interact with him not under the duress of his childhood home, the place where she had been tortured looming over him.
Annoyed again by the thought of wanting to interact with Malfoy, Hermione turned over roughly in the bed, sighing when the slit of moonlight fell over her face. Bloody hell, she thought, it was Malfoy she was thinking about. She sighed and tried to control her thoughts, but after several minutes of trying, she gave up, enjoying the memory of his lips on hers.