This is a non-canon story. Different couples, different situations, etc. I am changing a lot from the book and doing it my own way. If you don't like it, you don't have to read it. If you do like it, then please, leave me some reviews because I love reading about what people think of my stories.

Disclaimer – I own nothing except my own ideas. Everything else belongs to Rowling.

Chapter 13

Hermione coughed and sputtered as she landed in the Leaky Cauldron's fireplace. She looked around and smiled as she spotted Harry and Ron dusting soot off of their clothes. She rolled her eyes and walked over to them, holding her wand out, pointing it directly at the two of them.

"Tergeo!" she commanded as the ashes on the boys clothes disappeared. She quickly repeated the spell on herself and smiled as the boys stared at her in shock.

"Hermione!" Ron snapped. "You're not 17 yet!"

"Ron...because of the time turner...I'm technically 18…" Hermione whispered as a blush crept up her cheeks.

"Does that mean you can apparate already?" Harry wondered.

"Yes." Hermione smiled broadly. "However...I can't do it until we pass the test this year."

"Right." Ron looked away, slightly embarrassed for some reason. "Well, let's go then."

"Hey, thanks, by the way." Harry said softly to Hermione as they walked over to the Diagon Alley's entrance wall.

Ron did the intricate tapping of the stones on the wall and the three of them beamed as the wall slowly parted to allow them passage. The boys rushed ahead, yelling back that they'd meet her at the ice cream parlor for 1pm. Hermione smiled after them as she quickly made her way to Flourish and Blotts.

They had a late start, but she still had, at the most, 5 minutes to spare. She scurried down the cobbled street before coming to the pale green welcoming walls of the famous and popular bookstore. She glanced around slightly before entering the store. To her surprise, the store was almost empty with the exception of one family who was seeming to be taking up all the assistant's time.

If she knew Draco, as well as she believed she did, then he would definitely stop by the dark arts section of the store. So, that's exactly where she went to wait. She browsed over the books on the shelves, but stopped herself from getting too interested in any of them, because she wanted to keep her focus on Draco's arrival.

She was in luck, finally, for no more than 10 minutes had passed before she heard the familiar chiming of the door opening. She peeked out from her hiding place and spotted Draco instantly. Her heart leapt in her throat as tears instantly began stinging her eyes, begging for permission to fall. The man walking over to the Dark Arts section was not the Draco Malfoy she knew.

No...this Draco looked battered and bruised...weak and tired...and overused. His eyes had sunken into his face and the bags underneath were prominent. He was skinnier that she had ever seen him before.

"He's not sleeping or eating…" she whispered to herself.

As if sensing her presence, Draco looked up sharply and instantly met her eyes. His own eyes widened in shock before quickly darting around to assess who else was in the store. Once he was satisfied he turned back to look upon her face before turning and swiftly leaving the store.

Hermione gasped and shot off after him, but even in his weakened state, he still walked faster than her. She blindly followed him into Knockturn Alley, and it wasn't until she was about to lose sight of him that she chose to finally call out to him, risking everything at the same time.

"Draco, please!" she screeched.

Surprised by her outburst, he stopped moving, but refused to turn around and look at her again. Hermione closed the distance between them but stopped as she got within an arm length of him.

"Draco...please...look at me." she pleaded.

He closed his eyes and prayed that no one was around at that moment because if anyone was there, they would both be in heaps of trouble.

"How stupid are you, Granger?" he spat out angrily. "You've just put yourself and myself in danger by coming here and following me into this alley. I thought you had more brains than that, Granger."

Hermione reeled back at the cold words he threw at her. No, this was not her Draco at all.

"Look at me!" she demanded, firmly this time.

"Good bye, Granger. Good luck." he stepped forward with every intention of leaving her there, but her next words caught him off guard.

"Don't you love me anymore...or was it all a joke or worse...was it part of HIS plan?" she growled angrily. "Seduce Potters brainy best friend? Make her focus on you and not Potter? I hate you."

She turned to leave but something roughly pulled her back and dragged her into a hidden alley to the side, away from whoever's eyes might have been on them. He threw her against the wall and bore his angry grey eyes into her hazel sad eyes and finally...he gave in...he couldn't stop himself anymore.

"Oh Hermione…" he breathed out. "How wrong you are…"

He slammed his lips over hers, apparating them at the same time to a much safer place. Hermione, having not seen him, spoken to him, or even kissed him in so long, gave in to the passionate kiss instantly. She reached up and gripped his hair, ignoring the queasiness of apparating.

Once they arrived at Draco's destination of choice, he began getting a bit more aggressive and desperate. Hermione winced slightly as she felt herself being slammed back against a cold wooden wall. Draco reached lower, grabbed her slender legs and lifted her higher, sliding her back along the coarse wood as his tongue slid into her hot mouth.

Hermione released a soft whimper that quickly turned into a moan as she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer. Draco pulled away from her lips to slide his tongue down her neck before wrapping his cold lips around her jugular vein and began sucking softly.

"Oh...Draco…" Hermione breathed.

"Say it again." he whispered against her neck as he lowered his lips to her collar bone.

"Say...what?" Hermione wondered, her mind too clouded with lust to think straight.

"My name…" he murmured. "I haven't heard it in so long…"

Clarity instantly entered Hermione's haze. It was his fault for ignoring her in the first place. She had planned to confront him and find out what was going on, but here she was, giving herself to him before she even got the answers she so desperately needed.

"Put me down." she said softly.

"What?" Draco stopped his ministrations and glanced up at her.

"Put me down, Draco." she snapped, more firmly.

Draco unhooked his hands from under her legs and slowly lowered her to the sandy floor. Hermione walked away from him quickly, trying to get some air in her lungs and head. As she walked further away from him, she realised that he had apparated them to Durness...a special beach that she'd only read about and only he knew about.

"This is cheating." she mumbled, more to herself.

She quickly turned away from the dark blue water and looked at him. Draco stood at attention behind her, waiting for her to start the conversation.

"Explain." she simply said.

"What, exactly?" he smirked at her.

"Don't play coy." she snapped. "What happened after the attack at the Ministry? Why haven't you spoken to me since? Or your mother?"

Recognition dawned across Draco's face. His mother was to blame for this surprise and problem. He took a deep breath and walked over to Hermione but instead of reaching out for her, he sank down to his knees in the warm sand and pressed his face against her thighs.

"I've been protecting both you and my mother." he finally admitted.

Hermione stared down at the resolute position he had put himself in and couldn't stop the lone tear from falling down her red cheeks. She reached down and gently placed a hand over his head, stroking his barely washed hair. He was worse than she had earlier thought.

"What are you talking about, Draco?" she asked more gently.

"At the ministry...one of the Death Eaters….Dolohov...he was there...he was after you in particular. He hates muggles just as much as Voldemort." Draco said softly. "He realised that most of the spells he was firing at you...I was blocking them from hitting you...he also caught me looking at you while Voldemort and Professor Dumbledore were fighting. He quickly put everything together and attacked me that night when everyone got back to the manor. He tried to read my mind, but he wasn't as good at Legilimens as I am. Nevertheless...he knew enough either way to report me. I brushed him off and he decided to test my loyalty instead, in case Voldemort didn't believe him. He convinced Voldemort to give me a task for next year...a very hard task. He's also been assigned to watch over me...guide me, so to speak. Voldemort, himself, has threatened to hurt my mother if I fail...and well...I had to protect you from Dolohov, so I've been treating you as if you have never existed to me. Both to convince Dolohov that he was wrong in his calculations about us, and also, to protect you. It's been both the hardest and the cruelest thing I've ever done...and it's even worse that I've done it to the person I love…"

The lone tear had turned into a waterfall as Hermione listened to Draco's explanation. She had thought that what he said had happened, but she never had any solid proof until now. As she stared down at Draco's perfect white blond hair, she realised that beyond the waves crashing upon the shore, the only other sound around them was Draco's quiet sobs. Hearing him cry brought Hermione to her own knees as she wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him tightly.

"I thought that that was the reason for everything...but the longer you kept ignoring me...I thought...I...I stupidly thought…" Hermione couldn't bring herself to finish her statement.

"You thought what?" Draco pressed as he pulled his head away to look into those hazel brown eyes that had haunted his dreams for months. "Did you really think that I...that I didn't love you anymore?"

"No…yes...yes...that and...I thought you were so upset with Ron holding my hand that this was your way of ending things with me." Hermione confessed.

Draco released a low growl and cupped her cheeks in his hands. He pulled her closer and placed pepper kisses around her eyes, tears, cheeks and the sides of her lips.

"Anyone with half a brain could have seen how uncomfortable you looked when Weasley was holding your hand. If anything, I was angry that he was making you feel so uncomfortable." Draco chuckled lightly. "Hermione, when I told you...so long ago...that I love you...I meant forever. You have to remember...that with everything happening...everything I'm doing...is for you...for us...for our future. But...I know that I've been hurting you. I wish I could take back all those months. I just didn't know how to contact you without someone seeing me. I didn't know who Dolohov had looking at me during the remainder of the school term, at least I didn't know until recently. And over the summer...I've been watched like a hawk. It's been a...hard...summer. I did things that…I'm not proud of...but I had no choice in doing."

"What things...Draco?" Hermione stared into his eyes. "You know you can tell me…"

"I...I'm sorry…" he pulled away from her face and placed his left arm outwards towards her, lifting his black silk shirt slowly, revealing the Dark Mark. "I had to...Lucius...he threatened to kill her if I didn't."

Hermione looked down at the horrific mark, not with disgust or resentfulness, but with pity and regret that she wasn't able to contact him while he was going through that situation over the summer. Draco, seeing the expression on her face, sighed in relief. He was worried that the mark would make her change her feelings about him, but once again, Miss Hermione Granger had proven her true love for him.

"It's ok." she whispered as she lifted his arm to her lips and kissed the mark firmly. "Nothing you do...could ever make me think any less of you."

Overcome with relief, Draco turned around to face the ocean, pulling her into his lap at the same time and wrapping his arms securely around her waist. Hermione pressed her back against his chest and sighed at the slowly returning normalcy.

"Draco, if Dolohov was watching you...and if you think he had someone watching you for him at Hogwarts...why did you bring me here...why did you confront me in the middle of Knockturn Alley?" Hermione wondered. "Won't someone have seen?"

"I grabbed you pretty roughly in Knockturn Alley, so all anyone would think is that I was probably taking you to the Dark Lord myself. As for Dolohov...I know who his connection was at Hogwarts, and Dolohov, himself, is on a mission for the Dark Lord at the moment somewhere in Ireland." Draco whispered. "So, he's not watching me today, and actually...I'm supposed to be doing errands for my mom today, so no one is actually watching me. Snape taught me a little spell he created that allows me to know if someone is following or spying on me. Remind me to teach that to you."

"I see." Hermione sighed. "Sixth year is going to be different...isn't it…"

"Yes." Draco nuzzled the side of her neck. "I believe it's going to be pretty much the same as the ending of last year. The only way for us to...meet...would be if I get called to Professor Snape's office and you just happen to be there."

"Would he even allow that?" she wondered. "He's a very private person."

"It was his idea." Draco whispered into her ear, causing her to shiver slightly. "Actually, he has his own reasons for wanting to help us."

"Lily." Hermione answered the unspoken question as a more troubling question entered her mind. She slowly turned around, wrapping her legs around his waist and running her fingers through his hair. "What is it that Voldemort wants you to do this year?"

"I don't know if I should tell you." he murmured. "It's the worst thing you can imagine."

"Whatever it is, we'll get through it together." she reassured him.

Draco took a huge breath, staring down at the love of his life, knowing that if he actually did tell her about this task, she might leave him. She won't understand, would she?

"He wants me to fix a door in the Room of Requirement that will allow Death Eaters to enter the school." Draco revealed as Hermione's eyes widened in shock. "And...I have to kill Professor Dumbledore."

A/N

I hope this explains a lot of what's going on with Draco! Thanks for all the reviews and love! Until next time!