So all the comments I read seem to want me to continue this, so here we go lol.

I'm not foreseeing this being a super extended story, but who knows lol. I'd also love to hear what some of your guys' ideas are for who captured Hermione and why they wanted/ needed her magic.

Reviews keep me motivated, so keep them coming! Enjoy guys!

DPOV

"We can use the Malfoy family library. It's got pretty much every book on dark magic there is."

She raised a slightly skeptical eyebrow and said, "Seems odd that the Ministry would let you keep those after the war."

I couldn't stop the smirk from creeping onto my face as I said, "I'm keeping your secret, Granger, I expect you can keep mine as well."

A small smile graced her lips – a rare thing these days – as she nodded, "That solves one problem."

"There are more?"

"I need a wand."

I arched an eyebrow at her, "What happened to yours?"

"They broke it as soon as they caught me." she grimaced, though it quickly morphed into a slightly wicked smile as she said, "I guess they didn't think I was very adept at wandless magic."

"Is that how you managed to get away?" I asked, not bothering to hide my curiosity. After the one night we'd talked about it she'd been completely mum on the topic.

She nodded slowly, her eyes studying me, "Yes."

I sighed, running a hand through my hair as I said, "You're going to have to tell me what happened eventually, Granger."

"When we get away from here." was all she said, pushing her chair away from the table to stand.

Stubborn witch.

"Fine, but then I want to know everything. No secrets, Granger."

She said nothing, her gaze holding mine. It was like a silent battle of wills, and I refused to look away first.

"I can't promise that." she finally said, closing her eyes briefly.

"This isn't up for discussion, Granger." I snapped, standing up as well.

If I was going to be able to help her – protect her – she needed to be honest with me. Fuck the bloody danger.

This was my job.

When she said nothing I felt my grip on my temper failing, fuse burning dangerously short.

"How the fuck do you expect me to do my job if you don't tell me the fucking truth?" I snapped, my voice getting louder, "I gave you a blood pact for fuck's sake. What more do you want from me? My bloody arm?"

Her eyes were trained firmly on the floor, her voice soft as she finally spoke up, "You don't understand how much danger you're already in. I can't –"

She stopped herself, shaking her head as she took a deep breath.

"This is my job. It's always going to be dangerous."

"Not like this…they're evil. They're evil and I'm scared. Genuinely scared in a way I haven't been since the war. I can hardly stomach that I involved you in this shite at all."

"Why are you so concerned about me?" I asked, actually curious about her answer.

She rolled her eyes, attempting to leave the dining room, but I caught her arm, stopping her.

"Granger, you can't just –"

"You've worked hard, okay!" she shouted, her own temper flaring and fuck why was she sexy like this?

"You built your name back up from the ground and now you're risking everything by helping me. Don't you realize how idiotic that is?"

I shook my head, taking a step closer to her, "You're Hermione Granger, a bloody war heroine and –"

"And the brightest witch of her age. I know that." she snapped, but didn't back away from me. "And it means absolutely nothing if innocent people end up dead. All these stupid titles I've been given don't make my life any more important than yours, or anyone else's."

HPOV

I felt like I was drowning. Words rushing from my lips and stealing my breath, but I just couldn't stop.

"Especially not with how fractured my mind is. Who knows if I'll ever get my shite together again. And what if I don't? What if I'm always getting lost in my thoughts and spacing out and –"

"Then you'd still be worth every bit of effort." he said, his tone softer than it had been moments before, and it certainly caught me off guard.

I didn't know what to say, instead choosing to look away from him.

I heard him sigh before he said, "I'll get you a wand that'll do for now, and I'll collect all the books on dark magic that we have."

Without waiting for a response he left the dining room, and a few seconds later I heard the floo roar to life.

Gods, this just kept getting more and more complicated. I wasn't sure if he actually cared or if he was just doing it because it was his job, but it shouldn't matter either way. Whatever feelings were popping up for him were completely one-sided.

Malfoy was bright, attractive, and mentally sound - what would he possibly want with me?

Suddenly the grandfather clock in the living room was going off, startling me into realizing I'd been staring off into space for the better part of an hour.

I shook my head, trying to ignore the frequency with which these little episodes seemed to come in lately.

It only seemed to make it worse when I did.

I forced myself to move to the living room, flipping on the television in an effort to occupy my mind.

It wasn't long before the floo lit up, but instead of Malfoy, it was Harry.

Had he always been able to access Malfoy's floo?

"Hey, Mione. How are you?" he asked tentatively.

He was obviously nervous and unsure, and it only made me feel worse. Harry was supposed to be my best friend, and he was uncomfortable around me - and it was entirely my fault that he felt that way.

"I'm fine, Harry." I said, standing to give him a hug.

He seemed to relax a little, his shoulders less tense than when he'd first come through the floo. It was as if he expected that one day I'd just stop talking again.

Though I couldn't really blame him. I'd been - and still was - a right mess.

"Where's Malfoy?" he asked, joining me on the couch.

I shrugged, "He isn't really obligated to tell me anything."

He was silent for a moment, and it was obvious to me that he was debating something in his mind. He always got a particular wrinkle on his forehead when he did so, and it was a dead giveaway.

"Who are they, Mione?"

I sighed, unsurprised at his question. It was his job after all.

"You know I can't tell you that."

"Can't or won't?"

"Won't," I admitted, "So you should really stop asking."

He opened his mouth, no doubt to argue with me, but before he could the floo lit up, green dust spilling onto the rug in front of the fireplace as Malfoy tumbled through.

"Potter," he said, inclining his head slightly in greeting as he walked towards the hallway, no doubt to stash the items he'd acquired, "Always a pleasure, you flooing unannounced into my home."

The sarcasm wasn't lost on Harry, but he ignored it, rolling his eyes as he said, "I came because I have news."

I raised an eyebrow, annoyed that he'd only spoken up about news when Malfoy had gotten here.

Malfoy said something that neither of us caught, his voice muffled as he disappeared into his bedroom.

"Why didn't you say so?" I asked, turning my attention to Harry.

He sighed, removing his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose, "I don't know. I suppose I don't feel right involving you in this after what they did to you."

"Why can't you just listen to me?" I snapped, "When have I ever been wrong?"

A small smile touched the corners of his lips as he said, "Never...but that doesn't change anything. This is my job, and you're my best friend. I can't just...I can't just ignore this."

"Can't or won't" I asked, repeated his question from earlier.

"Won't." he admitted, as I knew he would. He was Harry Potter, always trying to save someone.

"So what's the news?" asked Malfoy, halting whatever further conversation would've happened between Harry and I.

It seemed as though Malfoy assumed the conversation would be unpleasant, because three glasses of whiskey floated behind him, one settling in front of me, the other two in front of them.

Malfoy took a seat in the recliner opposite us, glancing at me for a moment before returning his attention to Harry.

"We found where they were keeping you, Mione."

DPOV

Her face remained mostly impassive, though I did notice the slight tightening in her jaw.

It was clear that she wasn't going to say anything, so I stepped in.

"Where?"

"Galloway Forest."

I raised an eyebrow, "That forest is almost 500 kilometers of -"

"How many people are on this case, Harry?" she interrupted, her grip on her glass slightly worrying.

He shrugged, looking away from her as he continued, "No one's gone in yet."

"Good." she snapped, her cheeks splotchy and red with anger.

"Obviously it's not going to stay that way." said Potter, narrowing his eyes slightly, "I came to ask if you remembered anything."

Granger said nothing, her jaw tight and shoulders tense, her eyes focused on the coffee table.

"Damn it, Hermione!" he shouted, and I had to force myself to remain silent. It wouldn't do for Potter to be suspicious about Granger and I.

"If there are traps, I need to know. People could die if -"

Suddenly there was the very clear sound of glass breaking.

Holy shit, Granger shattered her glass.

"People will die!" she snapped, apparently ignoring or unaware of her bleeding hand.

"If you think they left that building standing on accident, you're wrong. If it's not burned to the ground, they want you to find it."

"Your hand -"

She ignored him, her voice steadily rising as she went on, "And if they want you to find it, you're bloody dead! Are you really willing to risk these people's lives?"

If she was right, she had a point. This was toeing a thin line between a personal vendetta and what was actually expected of Aurors. I couldn't imagine Potter being willing to risk anyone's life, especially based on Granger's word.

"What's in there?" he asked through clenched teeth, standing from the couch.

"You -"

"Give me your hand, Granger." I said with a sigh, rising from the recliner to heal her hand - and end this discussion. It was clear that she wasn't willing to tell him anything, so it was better to just attempt to change the topic.

She said nothing while I healed her hand, her eyes focused on me – as were Potter's.

When I dropped her hand and returned to my seat Potter audibly sighed, raking a hand through his hair before standing.

"If you change your mind, you know where to find me." he said, squeezing her shoulder before stepping through the floo.

Before I could say anything, Granger was speaking.

"Thank you for healing my hand…and changing the topic."

I shrugged, "Didn't seem to be going anywhere."

She shook her head, staring at the now muted TV – that I'd only acquired for her– as she spoke, "He just doesn't understand…they've burned down every house we stayed at. If they left that one, there's a reason."

"What kind of reason?"

"Nothing good." she said, standing from the couch, "We need to hurry. It'll take Harry a few days to get Kingsley's approval to raid the house, so it should buy us some time."

"I took everything that looked even remotely like it was about dark magic, so hopefully whatever you're looking for is in one of those books."

A small smile graced her face as she said, "Hopefully whatever we're looking for is in those books."

I was a bit surprised at her sudden change in attitude about the whole thing, but wasn't about to question it. Especially if it worked in my favor.

I stood, retrieving the shrunken books and the wand I'd gotten her, setting the books on the table in front of her.

She raised an eyebrow, sitting back down and looking through them.

"I still can't believe you have all these." she murmured, flipping through one.

"We'll have plenty of time for reading later, Granger." I said, pulling the wand from my robes.

"You actually managed to get me one?" she asked, eyes wide.

I nodded, handing the wand over to her, but instead of taking it she threw herself at me, her arms winding around my neck.

Holy shit, Granger was bloody hugging me.

It took less time than I'd like to admit for me to wrap the arm that wasn't holding her new wand around her waist, tentatively hugging her back.

She smelled of my shampoo, green tea, and something distinctly Granger that I just couldn't place. Her body was soft and warm and bloody hell I needed to stop that train of thought immediately. The last thing Granger needed was me trying to fuck her, particularly after our history.

Though it seemed like she was comfortable enough here…with me.

"Thank you, Malfoy." she said softly, her voice slightly muffled against my neck, but who could worry about that when she was so bloody close?

I simply grunted in response, not trusting my voice to not be rough.

She seemed to realize what she was doing, because she pulled away, a lovely blush staining her cheeks as she stumbled through an apology.

"I'm sorry, Malfoy. I don't know what came over - "

"Don't worry about it." I interrupted, "It's no big deal."

Except it was. It really was, because I had no idea what strange feelings I had brewing for the witch in front of me.

And whatever those feelings were, certainly shouldn't be happening, let alone now of all times.

She nodded slowly, accepting the wand from me and turning it over in her hands.

"Well come on, Granger, try it out."

She smiled, a real smile, as she cast a spell, the stack of books levitating from the table before gently floating back down.

"It's perfect." she said, looking to me again, "How did you -"

"Oh no, some secrets I'll be keeping to myself." I said with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes, but didn't actually seem bothered.

Whatever weird truce we seemed to have reached was certainly going to take some getting used to.

HPOV

We were leaving today.

I couldn't really wrap my head around it yet, but it was happening. Malfoy and I were going to one of his heavily warded family homes in Wiltshire, and from there we'd figure out what to do.

I'd skimmed through a few of the books he'd gotten from his family's library, and it seemed promising.

But maybe that was just wishful thinking on my part.

It was almost 4am, so we were leaving soon. The few belongings I had at Malfoy's were packed away, shrunken down to fit comfortably in my pocket. My new wand was tucked into my back pocket and I'd triple checked that Malfoy had packed all the books.

I pushed open my bedroom door, heading into the kitchen to gulp down a cup of tea before we left.

A few minutes later I heard glass clanking, and entered the dining room to find Malfoy rummaging through his alcohol cabinet.

"One for the road?"

He chuckled, the sound strangely pleasing, before he said, "With the work ahead of us, it seemed like a good idea."

He seemed to find one he liked, turning to face me with a triumphant smile on his face.

"A Malfoy vintage." he said, shrinking it down and tucking it into his robe. "It's sure to come in handy."

I rolled my eyes but was unable to keep the smile off my face, choosing instead to hide it behind my mug, taking a sip of the scalding liquid.

"You're ready, then?" he asked, walking towards the doorway - and me.

I nodded, stepping backwards through the doorway to keep some distance between us, "I just need to rinse this out."

Without waiting for a response I turned and re-entered the kitchen, dumping my practically full cup before giving it a quick rinse.

I had no idea what was going on, but somehow the thought of being close to Malfoy was...sinful. It was practically impossible to keep my mind from wandering to thoughts of him, particularly when I was trying to keep myself from thinking about the task we had ahead of us.

He was fit and clearly knew it, and my treacherous mind seemed ready to produce a litany of inappropriate images at a moments notice.

Having imagined his mouth on my body made it a bit difficult to be in such close proximity.

Merlin, I was a mess.

Shaking my head I entered to the living room to find Malfoy waiting at the fireplace.

"Off we go, then." he said, offering his arm to me as he grabbed a handful of floo powder.

With a deep breath I stepped forward, hooking my arm through his and following him through the floo.

DPOV

"You're honestly telling me you can't cook?"

Her cheeks wore a pretty blush as she shook her head, refusing to meet my gaze.

"You lived alone, didn't you? How did you manage to keep yourself alive, Granger?" I asked, unable to keep the growing smirk off my face. It was quite amusing to imagine Granger not knowing how to do something - particularly something as muggle as cooking.

"I ordered takeout a lot, or just heated frozen meals. I - Malfoy stop looking at me like that!"

Her cheeks only became redder, the blush spreading down her neck to cover the tops of her breasts -

Fuck, why was I looking at her breasts?

"Well you're going to have to learn, because I'm not about to do all the cooking, and we can't exactly ring for takeout here."

Her eyes widened slightly, and she said, "Oh, I guess that's true. You've been doing all the cooking, haven't you?"

By the look on her face it seemed like she was trying to recall the food I'd fed her, but was coming up short. I knew that she was worried about her mind and it's...accuracy. But I had faith. She was Hermione bloody Granger, for fuck's sake.

"Come on." I said, not waiting for her as I entered the kitchen.

"What are we making?" she asked, leaning against her arms on the counter, watching as I pulled various things from cabinets.

"My favorite." I said with a smirk, shooting her a wink.

She rolled her eyes, "Of course the first thing you'd teach me would be your favorite food."

"I should be getting something out of teaching you a life skill, Granger." I snorted, "This is the least you could do for my trouble."

Was I actually joking around with her right now?

"Oh, how silly of me." she said, dramatically throwing an arm across her forehead, "I'm forever in your debt for this kind deed. Please take my humble offerings, they are all I can afford."

I couldn't stop the abrupt chuckle that burst from my mouth, completely caught off guard by this side of her. Even before she'd been captured, I'd never seen her joke around. It seemed so odd, yet she did it so easily.

Hell, she was funny.

"Nice to see you're capable of laugher, Malfoy." she said sarcastically, returning to her previous position of leaning against the counter.

"I could say the same for you. Who knew the Gryffindor Princess had a good sense of humor?"

She simply shrugged, "So what's your favorite food? Caviar? Something covered in gold? A rare clam from off the coast of -"

"Shepards Pie, actually." I interrupted, slightly smug at her embarrassed expression.

"It wasn't always." I admitted, "But directly after the war I was hiding out in some little hole-in-the-wall inn, and this little old muggle lady kept insisting I try her Shepards Pie. Greatest decision of my life."

She laughed, the sound less annoying than I recalled from our days at Hogwarts.

Though she hadn't really been annoying for years now, if I were honest.

"Alright, Professor Malfoy, teach me how to make this glorious dinner."

Never once had I thought of Hermione Granger as a minx, but bloody hell for some reason a kink I didn't even know I had seemed to pop up at hearing her call me Professor.

I cleared my throat, and by some fucking miracle, managed to lead her through all the steps correctly, not an inappropriate word spoken -

But fuck had I wanted to.

Once the pie was in the oven she glanced at me, a laugh immediately bubbling from her mouth.

"What?"

"You've got a little flour..." she motioned to her nose, still smiling.

I lifted my hand to wipe it, but her laughter only increased. Glancing at my hand I realized it was also covered in flour.

Smooth.

"Here," she said, laughter still in her voice as she picked up the hand towel, "I'll get it."

She swiped my nose with the cloth, her body so bloody close as she tilted my face down so she could reach better.

"That wasn't as difficult as I would've expected." she said, stepping back and setting the towel back on the counter. "I imagine I'll be able to make this without catching anything on fire."

How was she so unaffected?

What in Salazar's name was this weird thing that was happening?

"Malfoy?"

I shook my head, clearing my throat before I said, "Sorry, yeah, it's an easy recipe."

She raised an eyebrow at me, leaning back against the counter and crossing her arms, "Don't tell me you're spacing out now, too."

I chuckled awkwardly, running a hand through my hair, "No, I was just thinking."

"About what?"

Wanting to bend you over the kitchen island and fuck your brains -

HPOV

The atmosphere was noticeably tense.

I had no idea if he felt it, but to me it seemed palpable.

"Wanting to -" he immediately cut himself off, seemingly surprised that he'd said anything.

I knew the feeling.

"Wanting to what?" I asked, eyeing him cautiously. He was so difficult to read, so I couldn't be sure he felt what I did.

He shook his head, a slight frown on his face as he begun washing the dishes we'd dirtied.

Right, just me then.

I left the kitchen, wandering out into the backyard. I needed to be reading through all those books, but I couldn't keep my mind from literally undressing Malfoy. It was extremely counterproductive.

And odd. I'd never been so...consumed by a person, let alone a man - and one that I hardly knew.

Merlin, what if this was some weird form of psychosis or something? I really was loosing my -

Suddenly Malfoy's lips were on mine, his hands tangled in my hair, and I felt relieved.

As if on instinct, my hands moved to his waist, tightly gripping the soft material of his impeccably tailored shirt.

I had no idea why, but it felt right.

His lips were soft and demanding, his hands keeping me exactly where he wanted me - though it wasn't like I planned on going anywhere.

"What the fuck is happening?" he groaned, trailing kisses down my neck.

"I have no idea. Maybe we should sto - oh!"

He bit down on my shoulder before he growled, "No way in hell."

My stomach clenched at his words, and I couldn't stop myself from pulling his lips back to mine.

He slid his hands under my shirt, his cool fingers grazing my sides as he pulled my shirt up.

A moment later it was up and over my head, discarded somewhere behind us.

"Don't you think this is kind of weird and -"

"Yes, and I don't care."

Did I care?

His hands cupped my bare breasts, and all thought of stopping this left my mind.

DPOV

I had no idea what was happening, and I honestly couldn't give a damn at the moment.

Touching her just felt right.

And her moans.

Bloody hell.

It was a good thing this place was in the middle of nowhere, otherwise standing outside under the slowly setting sun with a topless woman would've been rather difficult to explain to the neighbors.

"We should go in." she murmured, her nails digging into my hips as she pushed me back inside.

No sooner were we in, I pressed her back against the wall, dropping my head to kiss and lick her breasts.

Her body was soft, and warm, and fuck everything about her was erotic at this point.

I felt her hands at my buttons, fumbling through each one before she was shoving it from my shoulders and raking her nails up my back.

I moved my hands to her thighs, quickly lifting her and pressing her into the wall, my hard cock pressing against her warm cunt through far too many layers.

"Malfoy," she groaned, her hands in my hair as she arched further into my touch.

I couldn't resist rocking into her, enjoying the breathless moans she made at the contact before swallowing all of them with a kiss.

Salazar she was beautiful.

Had she always been beautiful?

Fuck, she had, hadn't she?

Do you guys have a preference for POV? Somehow it seems I'm always drawn to DPOV, but if you guys prefer I make it a bit more even then it is in this chapter, let me know!

Leave a review, they make my day :)