She woke feeling more rested than she had all month. There really was something to be said about sleeping in your own bed. The sun was barely visible above the crest of houses that lined the opposite side of the street when Hermione glanced out from her bed. Given the early hour, she assumed no one else would be up yet, which meant the shower was free.
Slipping quietly down the hall and stairs to the floor below, Hermione smirking at the loud snores she heard coming from Ron's room. That was something she did not miss from sleeping across a tent from him. She and Harry had almost kicked him out in the cold plenty of times but decided that his foul mood would only worsen if they did.
The floorboards creaked slightly under her step and she gasped in surprise when the last door on the way to the bathroom opened suddenly. Malfoy stood on the other side, looking much more put together than he had when she had woken him hours ago at the Manor.
"Malfoy." Hermione said quietly, suddenly quite aware of the revealing nature of her pajamas in comparison to his neat state of dress. "You're up early."
The corner of his mouth twitched as he leaned against the door, regarding her. "No. Being woken up an hour ago but what I can only assume is a tornado in the room next door is early."
She couldn't keep the slight grin from her face as another loud snore filled the hallway. "It's called a silencing charm, use it." In the mess of the night before Draco must have forgotten that he was a wizard and had access to this wonderful thing called magic.
"Why can't he just use Muffliato on his room?" Draco asked, feeling mildly annoyed at his mistake.
"Ron thinks his snoring acts as a bit of an early detection for the rest of us." She chuckled at Draco's incredulous look. "He says that if he stops snoring in the middle of the night then we'll know he's being murdered and should show up at his door immediately. Unfortunately for him, the silencing charms on the rest of everyone's rooms would make his efforts less than worthwhile."
Another snore broke the air and Hermione raised her brows at Draco who simply shook his head and sighed. "Anyways, I'm heading to shower. You're welcome to anything in the kitchen though be warned that the chocolate cereal is Ron's and he will kill you if you touch it."
She grinned at him before turning and continuing down the hall towards the bathroom door. The familiar surrounding were making her more relaxed and she found teasing Malfoy was quite enjoyable when it wasn't under the gloomy chill of the manor.
The shower felt heavenly and she was happy to find that her own stock of products were still partially full. Ginny had worked with her in a moment of boredom a few years ago to figure out a mixture that would work on both of their hair, and Hermione had been immensely satisfied with how well it tamed her curls.
She left the bathroom in a hurry several minutes later, wrapped in a towel as she hadn't bought any clothes down with her. The air was chilly against her damp skin and she reached the stairs without incident.
Her hair was still wet when she got down to the kitchen. The chocolaty, brown cereal Malfoy was currently spooning into his mouth from his seat at the table caught her eye and she raised her brows at him.
Catching her look, he smirked at her. "I like to live dangerously."
"I think already knew that." She replied as she pulled out a bag of bagels from the cupboard. They sat in silence and ate, both of them reading the recent Daily Prophet's that they hadn't had time to read otherwise.
It was less than an hour later when the house started to wake up, the sound of doors opening and soft voices drifted down to them. Hermione had her legs folded under her on the chair as she worked through a wizarding crossword on the last page of the paper. Given that the prophet was now run by Voldemort's men, the clues were along the line of 'Only ones deserving of magic', and 'Worst headmaster of Hogwarts'. It wasn't very difficult to say the least.
"Wood type of the master's wand?" Hermione asked, the final line stumping her.
Draco replied without looking up at her from his own perusal of the paper. "Yew."
Hermione gave a note of pleasure and filled in the final blank row with satisfaction. Neither noticed the couple standing at the doorway of the kitchen as they sipped their coffee.
"Well isn't this cozy." Harry said as he entered the room with a smirk. He looked much more alert than he had the night prior and Hermione couldn't help but notice that both his and Ginny's hair were wet, even though she had only heard the shower turn on a single time. Talk about cozy…
Hermione shot him a glare in return for the look he gave her as he walked behind Malfoy to the icebox. Having fulfilled the role of each other's siblings had made for an interesting dynamic between the two. Both were essentially orphans, clinging to the only family they had left.
Ginny slid into the seat next to Hermione and hugged her. She looked a bit better from when Hermione had seen her last, thought the skittish aura was still present. "I wish you would have woken me when you got here last night."
Hermione smiled warmly at Ginny when they pulled apart. "I know how much sleep means to you right now."
Draco furrowed his brows at the look of surprise that washed over the Weaslette's face and couldn't help but wonder if it meant something. Harry cleared his throat as he sat down, drawing the attention back to him. He looked between the two witches and then over to Draco.
"I filled Ginny in on everything that we talked about. Hopefully once everyone else arrives we can figure out our next steps."
Hermione nodded and pulled the coffee mug that Harry had slid over to Ginny in her direction instead. Ginny made a small noise of protest but was silenced by a brow raise from the other witch. With a sigh Ginny got up to fetch herself a cup of tea instead. There definitely was something going on, Malfoy thought.
The rest of the order slowly trickled into the kitchen and dining room, several of them greeting Hermione warmly while eyeing Draco with apprehension. He certainly felt out of place in the warm, bustling environment, wishing he was back in his empty, cold study reading an up-to-date newspaper.
Still, it was entertaining to watch the various interactions that occurred around the room. He especially enjoyed getting to see a different side of Granger. He knew that living in his house under the constant threat of being summed by the Dark Lord was getting to her a bit and as strong as she was, living under such conditions would take their tole on anyone.
Everyone settled in after a while, each taking their place around the large dining room. Hermione was pleased to see Luna in her usual spot, looking much healthier than she had those weeks ago in the hospital bed. The blond sent Hermione an ethereal smile when she caught her looking in her direction. Blaise did well, Hermione thought with a hint of pride in her fellow healer.
Just as she thought it, the man in question waltzed through the door. She looked up at him in surprise, not used to seeing him at these meetings. Then another thought came over her and she started to rise from her seat.
"Sorry I'm late—" Blaise said just before his eyes fell on Malfoy and the smile that had been on his face dropped like a rock. "What the hell is he doing here?"
"Blaise." Hermione said, her voice soft in warning. She knew only a bit of their history, but she knew that Blaise harbored very strong, angry feelings for his old friend. That much was evident on the man's face now as he glared at Malfoy.
"Nice to see you too, Zabini." Draco said slowly, still keeping his seat at the table.
Blaise just glared at him but rounded the table to take the empty seat across from Malfoy, right next to Hermione. He leaned over to say something in her ear and Hermione nodded. Draco observed the interaction, noting the familiarity between the two healers. His attention was drawn away eventually by Lupin calling the group to order from the head of the table.
Hermione and Harry filled the rest of the order in on their late-night discovery. Draco felt more than a few glances in his direction during Hermione's description of how he had attacked Greyback. He honestly hadn't thought much about it at the time. At the party when he noticed Hermione had gone missing from the room, a sense of dread had forced him to go looking for her.
It was an instinct to defend her against the werewolf, but the though of the man's nose buried in her neck still unnerved him. He had seen the victims of Greyback's attacks on multiple occasions and the thought of Hermione's neck being ripped into by those teeth was more than unsettling.
Lupin was sitting at the head of the table, completely silent as he rubbed a hand over his eyes. The man looked years older than his true age, only intensified more with the deep scars that marred his face. The same look of fatigue was echoed in everyone around the room as no one else spoke. Draco looked around at each of them, seeing the tinge of defeat.
The realization made him slightly angry. This was supposed to be the group that defeated the Dark Lord, they better start acting like it. "So what's next?" He asked bluntly, breaking the silence.
Hermione met his eyes with a look of appreciation, she understood his tone completely. Having been down in the caves and seeing the extend of Voldemort's control over his followers, she understood only too well the risk he was taking in helping them.
"Well, Mr. Malfoy, you're the one most intimately involved with their side. What do you suggest?" Kingsley asked.
Blaise snorted at this and Malfoy shot him a glare. The man smirked back at him, leaning back in his chair in a gesture of defiance but made a gesture for Draco to continue. Hermione glanced between the two men and sighed, knowing that the tension would have to be pacified for the moment.
"Whatever we decide, it needs to be enough to draw Voldemort out of hiding." She said, drawing attention off the altercation and onto her. "Malfoy and I should be able to get to the snake if Voldemort continues to keep it hidden and apart from him. But we need to separate the two, otherwise Voldemort will know exactly what we are doing."
She hated the idea of not being there when Harry defeated Voldemort once and for all, but she knew the importance of her position of having access to the inner workings of the snake pit. Lupin nodded at her words.
"So what is big enough to draw him out?"
"Harry." Hermione said simply, sending an apologetic glance at her friend. "You should hear the way they talk about him down there. Time has done nothing to lessen their hatred of him."
"Good to know my reputation still holds." Harry said smugly, meeting her look with a slight smile that made her want to roll her eyes.
Ron snorted and raised his brows at his best friend. "The boy who continues to live, must grate them, huh?"
"It does." Hermione agreed, her voice a grave contrast to the joking tone. "You have no idea how much they hate you down there, Harry. When Malfoy didn't attack you during the hospital raid, I honestly thought they were going to kill him for it. Not taking the opportunity to harm you is viewed almost as negatively as interacting with a muggle-born."
"And yet he's still here." Blaise said with a glare in Draco's direction.
Feeling uncomfortable being the object of discussion, Draco shrugged and hoped Hermione would drop it. "Must be lucky."
Hermione huffed. "I wouldn't exactly call being tortured for three hours lucky, Malfoy."
He shrugged again and pointedly turned his attention back to Lupin. The number of curious eyes on him at this point was disconcerting and he wished he could get up and leave. It was one thing being in the higher ranks of Voldemort's regime, at least there he knew that he was respected and feared. Here, it felt like there were no boundaries in the interactions between members.
"So we need to rile them up enough and dangle Harry in their face?" George asked, picking up on Malfoy's unease. "Sounds easy enough. We could just tie him up in the woods and send them a message like 'Hey Voldy! We surrender. Here's Potter. Love, Order'."
Ginny snickered at her brother and he shot her a happy grin. Since the loss of Fred, the two of them had grown very close, in fact, the entire Weasley clan had drawn together in solidarity. They communicated more, saw each other more, made an effort to include everyone in any significant life events. Hermione loved the dynamic between the family members but couldn't help but to feel a little jealous. She missed her family.
"As much as we all appreciate your enthusiasm George," Lupin sent the redhead a mischievous grin, "I think offering Harry up as a human sacrifice would be ill advised."
George shrugged but smirked. "Can't say I didn't try."
The group debated different approaches for the next two hours, each suggestion being shot down because of one reason or another. It turned out Draco's presence there really was invaluable to the planning stage as he was able to offer different approaches that he knew would be the most and least effective.
In the end, they reached a tentative plan. One that would goad Voldemort into action. The sense of anticipation that hung over the group was contagious and Draco found himself feeling almost excited. He wouldn't go as far as to say he was hopeful, that would take the defeat of Voldemort to accomplish, but he felt the general giddiness of a new plan.
The plan was to turn the knowledge that Harry, Ron, Hermione and Dumbledore had gained from hunting for Voldemort's horcruxes against him. Taunt him with that knowledge until the wizard was forced to act.
The group started to disband with a sense of finality, plans in motion to start gathering resources and forces. Blaise and Hermione were deep in conversation across the table form Draco, going over the Burrow hospital and preparations that would need to be made in order to ready it for the final stage.
The glares Blaise occasionally shot in Draco's direction didn't go unnoticed by Hermione and by the sixth or seventh one, she sighed.
"Do we need to move to a different room?" She asked suddenly, interrupting Blaise's speech about the lack of potion ingredients. Draco looked over at her, surprised by her blunt address of the situation between him and Blaise.
"Mia.." Blaise began and Draco raised his brow at the nickname. If the closeness between the two healers wasn't enough evidence that there was something personal going on, then the use of the name certainly confirmed it.
"No, Blaise, honestly. We all need to be able to work together and it's not going to go well if you both can't even be in the same room as each other."
"We wouldn't be working together." Draco said, keeping his voice relaxed. "Opposite sides remember? Besides, it's not really any of your business what happened between us, Granger."
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him just as Blaise spoke. "You don't get to talk to her like that, Malfoy."
The corner of Malfoy's lips twitched, and Hermione shook her head, knowing that he was enjoying goading his old friend just as he enjoyed goading her all throughout their schooling. As much of a fuss that he made being here, she knew that he enjoyed the constant drama that was present within the order. It certainly was a bit of a change from the quiet, tranquil environment of the Manor.
"How you've changed Blaise, standing up for Granger." Draco said, ignoring Hermione glare at him.
"Yeah, it's a bit of a shift from torturing innocent people for fun, right Malfoy?" Blaise shot back with the same cool tone.
"Okay, that's enough." Hermione said, sighing as she stood from the table. "I'm sorry I brought it up. I really don't care what happened, I just need to know that whatever it was isn't going to get in the way of our plans."
The two men stared at each other. Where others would glare at the person they were fighting with, the Slytherin way seemed to be a challenge of who could keep the most aloof expression. Unsurprisingly, Blaise broke first. He huffed out a breath and nodded.
"It won't be a problem."
Draco tilted his head and smirked at the healers. "None at all."
Hermione glanced once again between the two before sighing and shaking her head. "Not my problem." Draco heard her mutter as she left the table leaving Blaise and Draco still in a standoff.
After a moment, Draco leaned back in his chair. "You and Granger seem close."
Blaise glared at him but then echoed his relaxed posture. "Jealous?"
"Of your oddly out of place relationship with her? Not in the slightest." Draco replied easily but felt a flicker of annoyance at Blaise's smirk. After another moment, Draco sighed and tapped his fingers on the table. "Pansy sends her regards by the way. Theo too."
Blaise's expression softened a bit at the mention of his two friends. It had been the one thing he regretted leaving behind in his old life. Not seeing his friends any more was difficult, but he had found new friends within the order that helped fill the void. Nevertheless, "How are they?" He asked, trying not to show the true level of his interest in his tone.
Draco shrugged. "Fine. Skirting around her father like usual, but they seem happy."
"Well they'll be the only ones then." Blaise said with what looked to Draco like a wistful expression down the table. He followed the direction of the look and was surprised to see Luna Lovegood sitting at the far end of the table talking to Neville. Another glance back at Blaise's expression of longing confirmed what Draco had initially thought and he snorted.
Blaise turned his glare back to Draco at the noise. "Really? The loon?"
"Can you refrain from insulting my friends any further?" Blaise asked coolly. "She's worth a hundred times more than you are."
"I never said she wasn't, just thought that you would have gone for someone more severe." Draco said with a smirk. "Never pictured you as the ethereal type."
"Well you don't exactly know me anymore, do you?" Blaise shot back. Yes, Draco was enjoying the back and forth, and it seemed that Blaise was too given the slight upward twitch at the corner of his mouth. Another Slytherin characteristic, Hermione would have noted.
Blaise pulled Hermione aside later as final assignments were made for the implementation of the first steps of the plan. They made their way up the stairs, not noticing how Draco's eyes followed them curiously.
The potion stock room on the top floor was a quiet secluded spot Hermione used sometimes to clear her head. She and Blaise entered the room together before she turned to face him. Knowing him, she knew that he would have questions about her time at the Manor.
"So, how are you? Really?" She was right.
Hermione smiled slightly and ran her hand over the dusty countertop of the brewing bench, apparently in her absence there hadn't been any visitors to the room.
"I'm okay. Bored out of my mind sometimes but overall I'm okay."
Blaise nodded and seemed to consider her for a moment. "And this business with Greyback?"
Hermione shook her head quickly. "Nothing happened. Draco got there before anything could and I'm sure with the warning he issued, Greyback will be leaving me alone from now on."
"He's persistent, Hermione." Blaise warned.
"Draco or Greyback?" Hermione asked with a slight tilt of her head.
Blaise let out a breathy chuckle and shook his head, his grin broadening as she smiled up at him. Sighing he stepped forward and pulled her into his arms, burying his nose in her hair. In the month that she had been gone, he had missed her. It was odd and exhausting working in the hospital without her and he felt the effects every day.
"Just make sure that you're safe." He said, feeling her relax in his arms as she had so many times before.
Hermione sighed against his chest and nodded. "I am."
After another few moments she pulled back and looked up at him. "So, how's Luna?"
It felt good to relax and joke around with someone, she thought as they discussed the sprite-like witch. Apparently, Blaise had taken steps in the progression of their relationship and finally worked up the nerve to ask her out. Though where they would be 'going out', was a mystery to Hermione given the order's status in hiding.
A knock on the door interrupted their conversation and Blaise glanced over at it annoyed. Malfoy stood on the other side, looking into the room with a bored demeanor.
"I was told you'd be up here." He said, looking past Blaise into the room at Hermione. "We should get going."
Hermione looked momentarily deflated, hating the thought of leaving the comforting setting around her. She knew they had tasks to complete in order to help the order start to move on their plans, ones that couldn't wait.
Resigned, she nodded and followed Draco down the stairs back to the floo, back to the Manor, back to isolation.