Chapter Two

1996

Hermione went down for breakfast Monday early morning. Only a number of students were in the Great Hall which wasn't unusual on the first day of the week. It had been a few days since Katie was transferred to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries and the rumor about her poisoning had died down.

As soon as she sat at the Gryffindor table, she looked across the room and sure enough, Draco Malfoy was there sitting alone and far from the few first year Syltherins present. She wouldn't admit it but she had been paying attention to Draco more than she allowed herself to, not because she suspected him of what happened to Katie but because she had noticed his unusual preoccupation. She convinced herself that this mere observation was nothing compared to Harry's obsession.

Draco, she observed, had lacked interest in everything. He picked at his food, barely eating anything. He seemed oblivious of his surroundings — the occasional snigger from the other Syltherins, the Bloody Baron floating through their table and resting a few seats away. Malfoy had been ignoring his schoolwork too. He spent detention with Professor McGonagall who mentioned that he had failed to submit his Transfiguration assignments twice. And except for Potions, he didn't seem to care about any other subject. The circles under his eyes had become darker, his skin had gotten impossibly paler and his face thinner. Just as someone coughed loudly, Malfoy raised his head, his eyes looked right at hers. There was a sudden intensity in them that wasn't there before. For a second, he was the same Malfoy who hated her. She forgot to avert her eyes and stared openly at him. In the end, he seemed to have decided that she wasn't worth his time. He stood and left the Hall leisurely.

Hermione gave him a few second head start before following him out of the Hall. Outside the open doors, she looked both ways and saw his figure turn a corner. She ran as quietly as she could and hid behind the walls, waiting for Malfoy to make another turn before trailing behind him. He seemed unaware of his tail as he continued to saunter in the same pace. It was too early for class so where was he headed?

She was now on the third floor, passing through a hallway she wasn't familiar with. After rounding the corner, Malfoy was already gone. There were two possibilities: either he figured her out or he went inside one of the rooms here. The classrooms in this part of the Castle weren't used. As far as she knew, the school hadn't held classes here since before she came to Hogwarts. To make sure, she checked each of the rooms, careful to open the doors quietly and cautiously slipping inside once she knew there was no one there. The one she was in now was smaller than the others. The tables and chairs had already collected dust from years of vacancy. If Malfoy had been here before, there was no hint of it. She was about to leave when someone grabbed her, covering her mouth before she could scream for help and pushed her hard against the wooden door.

"What do you think you're doing, Mudblood?" Malfoy growled at her, his face only a few inches from hers. He was livid, all life back in his normally dull eyes.

Hermione could only look at him with wide eyes. Once she got over the shock, she tried talking with Malfoy's hand clamped strongly over his mouth. When he realized this, he quickly withdrew his hand, replacing it with a want pointed in her throat.

"W-what do you mean?" she finally managed to mumble.

"Don't play dumb with me, Granger. You know exactly what I mean."

And she knew there was no way out of this. He wouldn't believe any excuse she'd come up with, no matter how convincing it would be. So she stood her ground and looked at Malfoy, silently challenging him. He regarded her with wariness. They both knew how determined she can be. As soon as Malfoy understood this, she was sure there was no way he'd hurt her here, not when she could easily pinpoint him as the culprit.

"You better watch it Granger," he warned with narrowed eyes before letting go of her and leaving her alone in the darkness.

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. There was something in Malfoy's tone and eyes that told her it wasn't an empty threat.

2006, Present

He was running down the corridor, his heart pounding against his chest. He had never been this afraid in his life. He remembered when the Dark Lord gave him his mission and how terrified he was. But this was worse. He could feel his hands sweating, his legs aching from the effort to run faster, his fear ringing in his ears. He had never been this afraid in his life. It didn't matter if he died as long as she could live.

He was in the same empty room. His grey eyes scanned the place, searching in panic. When he turned around, she was there.

"Draco?" Her voice trembled a little. "I came as soon as I could."

Looking at her face, he was struck by how beautiful she was. Why hadn't he noticed this sooner? He balled his fists tighter and realized that he was still clutching the coin…

Draco sat upright, panting. His heart was still beating wildly against his ribs. He held a hand to his face. He'd been having this dream for two weeks. It was always the same and she was always there. He had tried to remember that time ten years ago. But it felt like grasping for something that wasn't there at all. After he fixed the cabinet, the next thing he could recall was being on top of the Astronomy Tower. Professor Dumbledore had been trying to convince him to come over to their side. He wasn't a killer, he'd said. They could protect him and his family, he'd sworn. He tried to look for gaps, any evidence that might tell him his memories had been tampered with. But there were none.

He racked his brain for any clue in the dream. He had sent her a message to meet him. He used the same method to communicate with Madame Rosmerta when he tried to sneak the necklace in the Castle. In fact, he had gotten that brilliant idea from Granger. The coin… He'd seen it somewhere. Draco opened his drawers, checking everything before finally finding it among the few trinkets from school he decided to bring. He never paid it much attention before. Now that he thought about it, he remembered holding on to it tightly even after he got home from the night Dumbledore was killed. For some reason, the gold had given him comfort not even his mother could give.

The gold coin wasn't a Galleon. Although it looked like money, he was certain it wasn't exchanged in the Wizarding community. That was why he had held on to it all these years. This was the gap he'd been looking for. There was no way he would have gotten this by himself. Because if he had to guess, he'd say it was Muggle currency.