A/N: I am sooooo very sorry about how long it took to get this chapter out! I don't even have a good excuse like 'I've been extremely busy', because I really haven't. I just had the biggest writer's block I've had on this entire story. I wrote the first two paragraphs of this chapter and then just sat on my chair and stared at it, completely unable to come up with anything else. But I finally got it done! I have in my head where I want this story to go and what's going to happen on the way there (which I'm quite excited for!), it's just been difficult getting there. But I do plan on finishing this story :)

Thanks to RoseRedMisery, Ceylon, Hartwi1, dizzydazzle, and for reviewing last chapter! You guys are amazing and are what make me sit down and force myself to write :)

Chapter 11: Heroes

Draco ran a hand through his hair. It was all conversation with these people. All they did was talk and talk and talk. Molly Weasley had cooked an overly generous meal specifically for Hermione and Draco, and they had sat around the table to eat. Hermione was telling their story in crisp detail while the others hung on her every word, not even allowing themselves to take an eye off of her for fear she might vanish. She had indulged herself already, having not eaten such a large meal in a very long time. Most of the time she was talking through a mouthful to the rest of them, but they did not allow herself to fall silent for too long, wanting to hear her voice as much as possible before they woke up and found it was all just a dream.

How could he slink off without them noticing? They were dubious of him already, if he just vanished they would surely notice, and would not be too accepting of him when he returned. They would think he had gone to rally information with the Death Eaters. And if he announced where he was going, Hermione would want to come, and he couldn't allow that. He could not always watch out for her, he had something else to do, something else to worry about now. She could jeopardize the whole thing. And if any of the Aurors chose to do it themselves, they would most likely fail and his mother would be killed. They did not know the interior plans of the house; and telling them would waste far too much time.

Molly Weasley kept setting plate after plate in front of them; not taking a moment to rest. The food was good, Draco would admit. It had a bit of a different edge to it than the house elves cooking that he was so used to, although he could not place it. She was also carefully polite to him, making an attempt to fit him in the talking. The others were just throwing hesitant glances at him, thinking he would not notice, but he did.

Draco fidgeted, rubbing his hands together underneath the table in overwhelming apprehension. He wanted so badly to get away, but he did not know how, his mother could be suffering at that moment and he was busy worrying about himself…

Draco could not help but notice Snape eyeing him from the other side of the table. Oh shit, he had forgotten to keep his mind closed. Wasn't that supposed to be a habit by now? He was not supposed to feel safe enough to close his mind to other people. He was not safe here. Hermione was safe here.

At that moment Snape rose from the table, beckoning Draco to follow. Everyone's eyes followed the pair curiously, and Snape addressed them. "Please excuse Mr. Malfoy and I, I'd like to have a word."

Draco followed Snape into a corridor far away from prying ears. "We will set up a team and go after her tomorrow." Snape said suddenly, not even bothering to apologize for wrongfully invading his mind.

Anger roared in Draco like fire. He had been hoping that Snape would have a plan to get him out of here! "Tomorrow will be too late!" He hissed. "I must go now. And a large team will attract too much attention!"

Snape's eyes narrowed and he looked incredibly annoyed. This time here must not have softened him up any. "Do you think the Dark Lord is foolish? He will expect you to return, he will have traps set up!"

"I'm pretty sure I know my house better than Him!" Draco half shouted, half whispered. Just standing in this hall was wasting time! Suddenly, he was struck with an idea. "Fine. Fine, just send your stupid party out tomorrow and let them all get killed, along with my mother. Whatever." He turned to stalk off in what he hoped to be a very convincing angry stomp, but Snape's hand grasped onto his shoulder and pulled him back.

Draco saw something in Snape's eyes that he was not sure he had ever seen before, and he was slightly afraid because of it. "You know…" Snape began, with the air of incredulity, as if amazed at himself for what he was about to say. "I am…quite…proud, that you chose this path. I did not expect it in the son of Lucius Malfoy."

"Don't be," Draco growled, wrenching his arm from his grasp and turning his back on his former Potions professor.

He was no hero. No one could call him that word. Heroes had great courage and strength and did everything for the sake of the good. Draco had been merely dragged into this mess and had been unable to break free. He had saved her for the sake of being able to live with himself. He had saved her to save himself. What kind of a hero was that? He was still dark and cold inside, scarred by the hideous scenes that he had witnessed that still haunted him in his very nightmares. He was no hero. He was just a kid that hated death and for that mere reason had prevented it. Hell, he feared death! Heroes were not supposed to fear death.

Potter was a hero. Potter did everything to save others without a thought of his own safety. Potter would take an Avada Kedavra for his dearest friends. And for that very reason Draco hated him. Draco hated that Potter was everything that he wished he could be. Potter was the hero of the entire Wizarding World. Potter was the epitome of goodness. Potter was a hero with his fucking morals and his stupid I must save the world attitude. Potter was a fucking hero and he was a sniveling coward that hid in his own fear, drowning in it until he was sure he would suffocate under the weight of his own cowardice.

But his mother was all alone, with no one else to save her, because no one loved her like Draco did. He was quite sure Lucius would not make a rescue attempt for fear he would lose his own life. Draco would not make that same mistake.

:::

Silently and stealthily, Draco pulled back the covers from his body, stepping lightly onto the floor for fear of waking Hermione. He was just to the door when her cold voice broke the chilly silence.

"Going somewhere?"

Draco did a slow-motion turn to face her. She was sitting up in the bed, the covers over her legs, her arms folded across her chest. "Just…thirsty." He lied pointlessly, knowing that somehow, Hermione had found out.

"Right. I heard you and Snape earlier. Draco," Hermione bounded from the bed in one fluid motion, resting her hand on his arm. For a moment Draco simply stared at it. "You aren't going without me."

This was not supposed to happen. She was not supposed to be dragged into this. "Hermione, you aren't going." Draco said firmly, sure that there was no hesitance in his voice. Hermione's eyes instantly narrowed.

"Not going? You can't do this alone, Draco!"

"I can, and I will!" Draco shouted, coming to the only answer to his problems that he could think of, as Hermione was looking no where near backing down. He put on an angry face, which was honestly not that hard, and firmly took Hermione's shoulders. "I'm not going to bloody watch after you all the time! I can't go around worrying that you're going to be killed when I have something to do, because it's quite obvious you're prone to getting caught!" He saw the hurt in her eyes, and went in for the kill. "You're so stupid, you know that? You're just a stupid little Mudblood!"
Her arm instantly dropped to her side, and Draco's insides did a little backflip. No, he didn't mean it, she must realize that he was just saying it so she would not want to come….

"Fine," Hermione grated out harshly, turning her back on him and crawling back into the bed without even looking at him. "Fine, and see if I care if you go and get yourself killed."

Although he much wanted to tell her it was all a lie and she surely must not believe him, Draco turned his back to her innocent form and exited the door. He crept down the stairs to the entrance, regret surging within him, but he was so very close, Mother, I'm coming…

"You didn't have to say that to her."

Draco whirled in the dark, and sure enough, comfortably reclining in one of the chairs as if he completely belonged there, was Potter. Draco's eyes narrowed in confusion. "How-"

"My room's right below yours. Really thin walls. And you didn't have to say that to her."

"It was the only way to get her to stay here." Draco responded angrily, fury in him that Potter would question his actions.

"Well it's not going to work on me. I'm coming." Potter stood, his arms crossed firmly over his chest, clearly stating the obvious – he wasn't going to back down. Draco cursed in his head.

"Potter, look, I know you don't want to go to help me. You just want to make sure that I'm not reporting to the Dark Lord. Save it, I'm going to save my fucking Mum." Draco said the last sentence in a hiss, moving closer to Potter until he was almost completely in his face. It gave him an almost overwhelming reminder of the days of Hogwarts that he had a thrill of excitement.

Potter didn't back down one bit; his expression staying impassive and slightly angry. His face was much harder than it used to be, Draco realized. The boyish innocence of a kid trying to make it through the world no longer existed. It was in all of their faces. Pain. They had all been through far too much than any kid should have been. Why did this have to happen to them? "I'm not going to say you're wrong, because you're not. I'm coming. I'm not going to make another mistake in my life. I'm not going to lose anyone else, and if you're here to take it away, I'll kill you."

Murder had once been something so terrifying; the untouchable thing that no one wanted to even associate with. It tainted one's soul, the act of murder, and it was overwhelmingly difficult to deal with. The fact that you, yourself, had taken away a life, had made someone breathe their last, had stomped out their life so easily. One could not even comprehend the pain that one felt inside when they murdered. It ate away inside of them, took over them, took over their nightmares and thoughts and everything that made them who they were until they were scarred. It was as if the ones they had killed only remained to haunt them so that they would never forget their terrible deed. And, looking into Potter's very eyes, he could see that Potter had killed. One murderer to another, staring each other down, hate seeping in their very souls, one fact in common: they were both murderers, and it haunted them both.

"Fine. But if you get caught, don't think I'm going to come back for you." Draco spat out, and Potter nodded. Together they stepped out into the night, darkness encircling their tainted souls, and without a word Draco took Potter's arm and Disapparated away from their safe haven.

:::

They landed a good distance from his house, Draco being fearful that they would have set up spells to alert them if anyone Apparated within a good distance. He crept through the darkness underneath the Invisibility Cloak that Potter had brought. The proximity of their bodies was slightly uncomfortable, but at least they could not be seen.

For a long while they walked in silence, the only sound to accompany them being their feet crunching softly against the leaves underneath them. There was almost a chilling silence, as if the night knew it needed to be especially silent so that they could slip into the mansion in the distance.

Before long the Manor loomed over them in an almost menacing way. All of the windows were darkened and it appeared to have been long since abandoned. He could feel the questioning glance burn in his back from Potter, but they both knew better than to speak.

Draco led Potter around to the back of the house, far away from the entrance, and up to the giant wall that circled the Manor. Jerking his head up to the wall, he attempted to convey the message that they would have to climb it. Potter's eyes slightly widened in question, and Draco knew what he was thinking: surely they've at least set up a Caterwauling Charm? Draco shook his head. He knew what Potter did not: this portion of their land was impervious to such Charms thanks to a nifty little spell that his father had discovered. He had somehow known that one day the Dark Lord would most likely take over their house, and he had ordered some of the House Elves to do a series of complicated magic that resulted in part of the grounds repelling magic.

Draco removed the Invisible Cloak off of his shoulders, knowing that they would not be able to climb with it remaining over them. Potter nodded at him, and simultaneously they casted Disillusionment Charms to blend themselves into the landscape. Having done this many times, Draco set his foot in a crack in the wall and hoisted himself up. His fingers dug into the slightly weathered rock and supported him as he lifted his body to the top. Slightly wondering when his life had come to this, he turned to extend an arm to Potter, who took it with a slight grunt. Draco hoisted the Boy-Who-Lived up, and together they slid down the wall to the Manor's grounds.

Draco darted across the lawn, careful to stay in the safe grounds. The grass was growing slightly; it wasn't perfectly short and manicured as it most often was. He knew that something was wrong.

The two dark forms dashed through the lawn undetected. Draco pressed himself against the back wall of his Manor, pressing a hand to the cool brick. Potter hovered over his shoulder, slightly out of breath. Noiselessly and swiftly, Draco tapped his wand to the brick and muttered a quick spell. The brick instantly began to deteriorate to his touch, creating a tiny hole just large enough for a person to squeeze through. Draco glanced at Potter, who nodded. Now that the danger they were in was obviously quite real, it seemed that Potter knew Draco had been telling the truth after all.

Sucking in his breath, Draco squeezed his body through the little hole and crawled a tiny distance until he could see light. He pulled himself out, ducking into the shadows in case anyone was near. The little cellar that the hole led into was quite empty and utterly dark, and Draco turned around to help pull Potter through the tight squeeze.

Potter unraveled the Invisibility Cloak and threw it back over them. His wand squeezed so firmly in his hand that his knuckles were turning white, Draco opened the door leading to the kitchens. It swung open ever so slowly, and Potter and Draco squeezed themselves through the crack, glancing around their surroundings.

Only the house elves remained in the kitchens, most of them sleeping. The two boys slipped past them easily, and Draco led Potter out. They poked their head out into the main hallway, adorned with chandeliers and giant pictures of past Malfoys. Two hooded figures paced down the hallway, slightly veiled in shadows, almost stopping Draco's heart. So the house wasn't completely unprotected. Both Draco and Potter slipped their wands from under the Cloak and simultaneously cast nonverbal spells, dropping the two Death Eaters without a sound. In another instant they had thrown off the Cloak and both dragged the men into the kitchens where they hopefully would not be discovered. Potter threw the Cloak back over them quickly, and once again they were on their silent way.

Unfortunately they had to navigate the larger of the Malfoy's two living rooms to get to the dungeons. The room was filled with an alarming amount of Death Eaters, each of them aware and ready for any slight movement, pacing almost every inch of the floor. Knowing that they would most likely not be able to take down all of the Death Eaters without them alerting others, Draco and Harry tiptoed through the room, their breath sucked in, weaving around the Death Eaters as if it were a maze.

Draco led the way behind the couch all the way to the doorway, where a Death Eater paced like a stealthy cat. How were they possibly supposed to open the door without causing suspicion?

As if he had known the solution all along, Potter pointed his wand and muttered, "Serpensortia," so low that Draco almost didn't even hear him. There was a flash of light that Draco was terrified the Death Eaters would see, and then a snake flew right into Potter's hands. Draco paled a significant amount. Potter hissed something low that sounded suspiciously like he was talking to the snake, and then he lowered it to the floor where it hissed and slithered right past the Death Eater pacing the floor to the center of the room.

"Oh, shit," the Death Eater said loudly, trying to stomp his boot on the serpent but failing miserably, and successfully attracting the attention of the rest of the Death Eaters. Some of them gasped and shrank back, and some of them laughed at the others' fear, until one carelessly flicked his wand and muttered, "Avada Kedavra," uncaringly. The snake hissed one last time and stilled, and not one of the Death Eaters noticed the door to the dungeons open and shut silently, the two boys that the Dark Lord most wanted slipping right by their very faces.

A/N: So this was originally supposed to be much longer, but it was getting a little lengthy so I decided to end it here. Hope you guys forgive me and review!