A/N~"I wan' som chickon soup; no chickon, jus' sa soup!!"

AA/N~ I just want all of you readers to know: I DON'T CARE IF THE FIFTH BOOK COMES OUT IN SIX DAYS, I'M GOING TO FINISH MY STORY NO MATTER HOW INTENT ROWLING IS ON DESTROYING MY PLOT!!!!!!!!!!!! AND RON IS NOT HERMIONE MATERIAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hermione's PoV:

Chapter 7

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"Where has my heart gone? An uneven trade for the real world."

            As I regained control of my jaw, which was still gracing the floor with its presence, I tried to make sense of the situation. Here I was, in the middle of a Deatheater's camp, and sitting in front of me, with that same "innocent" smirk on his nasty face is Draco Malfoy. How ironic, that he would show up. But then I realized what was happening. He was a spy, sent by the other deatheaters, to make sure we weren't planning on escaping anywhere in the near future. I can't believe this!!!! How dare him!!! Just when we were about to finally get out of this hell hole, HE has to show up, the bastard.

            I swallowed every insult that I was about ready to hurl at him, and calmly waited for the other new inmates to finish their introductions. I didn't want to make a scene, so I waited until after I dismissed them for a few minutes before lights out. I walked over to where he was sitting, watching his every move. I didn't trust him with a fly in a padded room. Who knows what kind of curses he knew by now. I knew that I was the more vulnerable one at this point, and if I wanted to stay alive and help the others escape, I needed to tread very carefully.

            The whole time the others had introduced themselves, and even after they got up to walk around, he sat in his place, watching me. I could feel his cruel eyes following my move. I finally summoned the courage to make my way over to him, and I silently asked him to follow me. None of the other prisoners could hear; they were already wandering around, nervously chatting with each other. I led the ferret boy towards my small room, silently opening the door that creaked ever so lightly as I pushed on it. I turned halfway around and motioned for him to enter, avoiding eye contact, because I was afraid I was going to kill the bastard.

            He paraded into the sorry excuse for a room like he owned it, and turned around to face me. I had shut the door, making sure no one in the main room had noticed us. I didn't want to cause any unnecessary panic. I leaned against the back of the door and folded my arms over my chest. I then proceeded to glare at him, with some unconscious intent of slicing him in half. He, of course, glared right back, stepping up to the challenge. That was one thing I had to give him credit for; after all these years, he still never backed down. That's when I decided to grow up and move on.

            "What the hell are you doing here?" I hissed as menacingly as I could. Not that I expected anything truthful that would satisfy my curiosity, but the obvious question was dying to be asked.

            "Hello, Granger, or Aguila is what you go by now. Interesting name. I believe I've heard it somewhere. What could it mean, I wonder?" He was avoiding the question altogether. The stupid git thought I was really that transparent, didn't he? He really thought he could just slip in here unnoticed and spy on us. That bastard, I'll make him wish he never saw daylight. All of my pent up frustration and anger and hurt was threatening to force my hands to strangle him. He was sitting there with the same usual smirk on his face, like was better than me. I was really angry, and I think I could justify that he happened to be an innocent bystander when I lost control of my hands, don't you think? But I summoned my dignity once again.

            "Ferret, I asked you a question, and I expect it to be answered soon." Once again, I spoke through my teeth so as to keep myself from yelling and attacking him. I really was starting to get angry. I wasn't quite sure why he was making me so angry. Maybe it was because the first familiar face I get to see after two years is this snake's insipid face. Why couldn't it have been someone I was at least friends with? Anyone but him!!!

            He surprised me though. After my last question, instead of anger flashing through his eyes, and instead of him lashing out at me, I saw something else flash through his eyes. Something I couldn't quite read. Something I couldn't have ever imagined Malfoy ever possessing, and yet… no, it couldn't be. Did I just see pity? Was he capable of such an emotion? No, I was probably just hallucinating again. He regained control of his expression and set it back to the usual impassive and unreadable stare. I really should give him a certificate. He's been in my presence these past few minutes, and not time has he called me a mud blood. I'm shocked!!! Then he did another thing that I imagined he could do in a million years. He started to smile. Soon he was grinning like an idiot, like he has won the Quidditch Cup or something.

            "I find it laughable, now that I'm here, that I am actually going to tell you why I'm here. You will never believe me anyway, will you?" He said this with such amusement in his voice that I got confused. Was he trying to mock me or something? What was his game? He was sitting there, laughing. Laughing! I looked at him with the most contempt I had in my body, and he was gasping for breath, he was laughing so hard! What was going on? What the hell is he trying to pull on me? Then, as if nothing had happened, he once again regained control.

            "I'm sorry; I just realized that I have no way of proving to you the reason of why I'm here. You won't believe me, no matter what I say." He shook his head, starting to chuckle to himself. He looked around, and decided he would sit down on the dust-ridden floor. I proceeded to sit on the edge of my mattress, watching him constantly. As I sat down, he spoke up again.

            "Gra- Aguila, I have no way of proving what I'm going to tell you, but I'm going to try anyway." He stopped, hesitating to move on. His voice seemed somewhat different. He spoke without the malice that I had grown used to. There was no evil in the way he spoke to me. His eyes, although they were glaring at me, at the same time, they weren't filled with the usual hatred. Now I was really confused. What the hell is going on?  He looked down at the floor as he sat Indian-style, and started to fidget with some speck of dirt on the floor. Was he actually nervous? Wait, who am I kidding? Those deatheaters probably hired the best-known actor they had amongst them, and sadly, it happened to be ferret boy. This was all an act, a way of trying to gain my trust, just to throw it all in my face at the end, when they kill my friends.

            He was doing a great job so far. I almost believed his nervousness, and I almost fell for the regretful look that he had plastered on his face. A load of bull, all of it. I sat back against the wall, and waited for him to give his fake speech, with some outrageous explanation as to why he treated me like I was nothing for so many years. He was still fidgeting, now he was twiddling his thumbs, and he pretended to fascinated by them.

            "I haven't got all night, Malfoy." He looked up, startled, as though he had forgotten where he was. Then, as he looked at me again, he began his "speech".

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            I sat there for the next twenty minutes as he went into this story of his, saying something about his mother, and about Lucius. I kind of tuned him out, not caring what he had to say. He seemed to drone on and on, staring at the floor the entire time. I have to give him credit, he never once broke into a smirk, nor did his voice change from the monotonous tone it had taken when he had started. Then, I heard him mention names that I had pushed to the recesses of my mind for so long. He mentioned Harry and Ron. I almost jumped off my seat to strangle him again. I immediately tuned back into what he was saying.

            "Harry, Ron, and I-

            "Don't you even dare speak their names, you bastard! How dare you even think you can come in here and do this to me. How dare you even come in here and mock me like this! Are you amused now? Now that you've seen me, the once smartest witch in our class, reduced to such standards? Go on, have your laugh. I can't believe you have the audacity to even come in here, and laugh at me in my face. My, you've changed, Ferret Boy. The last I remembered, you were a coward. Now you're a stupid coward. You go ahead and gloat now, Malfoy, but don't for one second believe that you can break me, because you can't!"

            I finally lost it, obviously. Something finally snapped in me, and I had to let loose all of my anger. I needed to yell at someone, and since he was already pissing me off, I figured he deserved it. I felt as if every one of those dim-witted deatheaters had it in for me and me alone. It was as if they were all ganging up on me, and trying to literally break me. What had I ever done to them? Had I ever set out to destroy them? Had I ever previously hated them for no reason? Hell, I didn't even know they existed until my first year at Hogwarts. I almost wanted sit there and cry like a baby, and feel sorry for myself, but my dignity saved me. With those last words, I turned my head away from his gaze. He was still sitting on the floor, but he was shocked. His eyes had gotten wider with every second that I had been yelling, and he sat there, stunned.

            I turned my head so that I could summon the last of my pride, and then I faced him again. He had risen to his feet by now, and leaned up against the door again. There was a timid knock on the door that startled us both. He moved so that whoever it was could open it. I realized then, that everyone probably could hear everything that was being said now.

            "Is everything okay in here?" it was one of the younger teenage boys, who had introduced himself as Micheal.

            "Yes, everything's alright, Micheal. Please, go back to your bunk. We'll be in there in a few minutes. Sorry for disrupting you." He did as I asked, but not without giving me a questioning glance, and taking a sidelong look towards Malfoy before he shut the door. Malfoy turned back around to lean back up against the door, and folded his arms over his chest. We both sat there in silence for another few moments, challenging the other to speak up first. I rose to the occasion.

            "I don't know who the hell you think you are by coming in here. How dare you even believe that you have any right in using their names. Get out of my sight Malfoy, or you will regret ever even imagining coming here." I spoke quietly and with as much venom as I possessed.  Malfoy just stood there and stared at me again. Just as I was about to yell again, he spoke again.

            "You didn't listen to a word I just said, did you?" He asked with the most award-winning, fake sincerity I have ever heard. I returned his constant gaze on me with an incredulous look.

            "The hell I even care about what you say! I'm just a mudblood, remember? Get the hell out of here now, Malfoy, or did you not understand me the first time?!?" I started to move toward him, so that I could shove him out of the door, but before I could be given the honor, he nodded his head knowingly at me, and quietly left the room. Why didn't I threaten him sooner? If all I had to do was ask, why couldn't have done so twenty minutes ago?

            I was so frustrated and so confused, that I stared at the door that Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, had just closed. I wasn't hallucinating was I? Did that just happen? Did Malfoy actually do what I told him to do? This was way too much for one night. I really couldn't process everything that had just happened at once. Putting my responsibility first, I stuck my head out of my door, and told my new inmates that it was lights-out. They all climbed into their bunks, and I noticed that they all gave me and Malfoy sidelong looks. Yes, Malfoy was still in the cabin. I glared at him one last time before I shut my door.

            How infuriating!!!! I felt so perplexed by what just happened I didn't know what to do. I walked over and sat back down on my bed, and put my head in my hands. What a headache I was getting from all of this! It had been to long since I felt so angry at one person, and it had been so long since I had last vented all of my anger. The whole situation was just so abnormal I didn't know what to think. My skeptical side kept telling me this was all a trick to get me killed, while my other side was telling me to believe him. Believe what? I hadn't listened to a word he said, on purpose, and now, I have no idea what was said. Did I miss something important?

            I laid down on my mattress, and closed my eyes. I took a deep breath and tried clearing my mind. There was nothing worse than not getting a goodnight's sleep in this place, so I figured I may as well leave all this confusion for the morning.

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            I woke up the next morning not feeling any different from the night before. Although I slept, it was, as usual, restless. I was still tired, and still confused. Malfoy's arrival the day before had completely thrown me off balance. I didn't know quite how to react, nor did I know what to do next, concerning Mallfoy. I rolled off of my mattress and stood up, stretching. Another long day ahead, and it was probably going to be eventful, with Ferret boy there. I walked out of my small little room, and began making sure the prisoners were up and moving. Unfortunately, Malfoy was in there, sitting on the edge of his bunk, conversing with another prisoner. I couldn't hear what he was actually saying, but I could tell that whatever was being said was friendly. His tone of voice was completely indifferent, without any harshness. If it weren't for the fact that I knew this was Malfoy, I'd say he was being nice to a muggleborn!

            I cleared my throat to alert the others to be quiet. Immediately all of the new inmates turned their heads in my direction, and some moved closer so that they could hear me. I completely ignored Malfoy's as I told everyone to get into the formation that would be theirs until they left the camp, if that miracle would ever come true. They all got into two single-file lines, and as I opened up the door, I led them outside the cabin. We marched in silence up to the all-too familiar mess hall, and once again, silently entered. I watched as all the new prisoners experienced their first breakfast at Carceris Crudelis.

            Unconsciously, I had followed Malfoy with my eyes, watching where he was going and what he was doing. He chose to sit at a table filled with other teens our age, most of them were male. I caught myself watching, and turned to look for my own friends. I spotted them at our usual table, talking lowly together, sharing worried glances every now and then. I got my plate full of inedible food and made my way through the maze of tables and chairs. Liam was talking to the others, and looked up at me as I came nearer.

            "Hey, Aguila. How were your new inmates?" he asked me.

            "They were alright," I answered, making sure not to mention anything about Malfoy. I had once told them stories of how awful he was to my friends and me at Hogwarts. If they knew he was here, I'm not sure how they'd react. I ate my breakfast quickly, barely listening to the other four at my table complain about how the new shipment of prisoners was going to completely ruin our escape plan. They didn't know how right they were! Well, anyway, after I was done eating the lovely pile of gunk on my plate, I looked around again for my cabin members, paying special attention to the toe-headed ferret boy, who seemed to be in a deep discussion with the others at his table.

            A few moments later it was time to go out to the fields. I stood up, and gathered all of the people in my unit into their lines. When it was our turn, we marched out of the mess hall, out onto the avenue of gravel. The inmates quickly became silent, as they looked around at their surroundings. I marched the unit to the field that I had worked in for the past two years. I hated that field. It was always grey and dismal, and didn't produce much more than weeds. But it was where I went every day, where I spent hours picking and pulling at nothing. It was rare that the field actually yielded any type of crop at all, because it had been worked so much.

            I watched for Malfoy's reaction when we finally got to our end of the field. I had explained to the unit exactly what they were going to be doing every day. Malfoy wasn't fazed. He just stood there, as if he expected there to be harder work or something. That git!! What really topped the cake, though, was that when I told them to get started, Malfoy picked up his own basket and actually started working! He worked a few rows away from me, and for the first hour or so, I kept my eye on him, to see if he'd wimp out. But he didn't.

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            All day we worked. The heat was starting to become really unbearable, and I lost count of how many times I wiped the sweat from my forehead. I noticed that the ferret had kept working the whole day, not stopping once. The overseers only had to curse one or two others from my unit, so the day was pretty uneventful. When it was time to go back to the mess hall, I called everyone back to the lines. The sun was just disappearing under the horizon, casting an orange shadow over the fields. I tried to smile at each person in my unit to cheer up all of the weary, long faces. They were all so tired, and I felt the same way.

            We entered the mess hall, and instead of it being the usual noise-filled cafeteria, very few people were talking. Everyone was so exhausted that it was all they could do to eat their food. I sat at my usual table, eating in silence also. I looked over again at Malfoy, who didn't look any different from the people around him. His whole body seemed to sag, as leaned over his dinner. I almost felt sorry for him.

            We had forty-five minutes after dinner to "socialize". So I started talking to Ceara and the others. We decided that we were going to still try out our plan, no matter what. I agreed though I still wasn't sure what to do about Malfoy. Speaking of the devil, he walked over to my table after a few minutes. I saw him coming, and rolled my eyes, wondering what he was going to start.

            "Aguila… " He started. I braced myself, and turned towards him.

            "Yes, Bran," I answered, remembering the name he'd told the unit.

            "Can I speak with for a few minutes?" He asked the question almost timidly; as though he was afraid I'd answer yes. So, just to spite him, I did. Nodding at my friends, I silently told them we'd talk later. I got up from the table and led Malfoy out of the mess hall. We were allowed to back and forth between our cabins during our free time, so I figured if Malfoy wanted to start something, it shouldn't be in front of everyone. I led him back to the cabin, almost kicking myself for doing it. I was putting myself in possible danger by being alone at the cabin with Malfoy. Who knows what he could do to me. I didn't think I could handle a reoccurrence of what happened all those months ago by the mess hall kitchens. I shuddered, trying to erase the unspeakable memories of that night from my memory.

            I quickly slipped into the cabin, and Malfoy was right behind me. We both had been silent the whole time we had walked, and we were both still silent. I walked into the main room, and made sure no one was in the cabin with us. Then I turned to face Ferret Boy. But I almost lost control of my lower jaw again as I looked at him. His face had changed. Not drastically, just back to what I remembered his face to be back at Hogwarts. He must have had some kind of disguising spell that made him look unrecognizable. He looked more like the Malfoy I used to know, except the eyes. They were the only thing about him that seemed to have changed.

            "Well then, did you want to speak with me or not?" That flustered him a bit, and he seemed to have been startled by my presence. He had been staring at me again, so I had spoken up to break the silence.

            "Yes, I… Since you obviously didn't listen to me at all last night, I thought I might try again." He looked at me with hope in his eyes, and I just stood there, lost, because he was showing emotions I never thought he was capable of. I nodded, figuring I may as well listen to him. Everyone deserved a fair chance, even if their father was Lucius Malfoy. He took my nod as a signal to begin talking. I sat down on the nearest bunk, and he sat on one directly across from me. He basically repeated the same actions as he had done the night before. Only this time, he looked me straight in the eyes.

************

            As I listened to him tell me about his mother's death, and her diary, and what was in it, I began to wonder if it was the truth. The way he had to fight back tears as he spoke about Narcissa, it was all so unbelievable. That Draco Malfoy wasn't Lucius' son. That all these years, Malfoy had suffered so much. That Malfoy actually had a heart. The most unbelievable part of it all was that he had actually gone to Dumbledore, and began to work for him and with Harry and Ron. How was it all possible? I wanted to believe him so badly. I wanted to believe that what he'd said about Dumbledore sending him here to rescue us was true. But I couldn't fall for it. I couldn't risk the lives of every innocent witch and wizard here.

            After he was finished, he kept looking at me, expecting a reaction. So I reacted.

            "That was quite a story, Malfoy. But did you really expect me to believe you?" I asked him silently. I didn't talk to him with any hatred or sarcasm; I just wanted to know the truth. I was sick of playing this stupid game.

            "I can't prove it any other way except to tell you that I am speaking the truth. Listen, I know that I treated you so horribly at Hogwarts, and I can't even imagine the pain you've been through, but I'm trying to at least make up for some of it." He was so sincere; I wanted to believe him so badly. I stood up.

            "Malfoy, you can't expect to just walk in here, explain away the past, apologize and then think everything's okay. How do I know that you aren't trying to trick me, just so you and your fellow deatheaters can catch me and… and… torture me again? How can you prove it?" Wrong move on my part. He almost exploded. I noticed that he had balled up his fists, and gritted his teeth. And how much more stupid could I get? I tested him even further.

            "You stupid deatheaters think that just because we're muggleborn, we can't think for ourselves. You know we-"

            He interrupted me. He leapt up off of the bunk and almost lunged at me. He had pulled up the sleeve of his robe on his right arm, and shoved his arm in my face. He was so close that I stumbled backwards. He was scaring me. His face was flushed with anger and he yelled at me.

            "You don't get it, do you?!? The day Mum… I died that day! She never hurt anyone, and look what he did to her!!! The day she died, any and all of my loyalty to that bastard died with her!!! Look, look at my arm!!" He shoved it closer to my face.

            "Do you see anything? No, you don't, do you. BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING THERE!!!!!!!!! If I were a bloody deatheater, as you think, there would be a lovely little darkmark right there!!!!" He pointed to the underside of his upper arm, and I noticed that he was right. There wasn't anything there. Then, that could only mean… No, it couldn't all be true, could it?

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(Chapters 1-6 start singing along with Celine Dion's song, "At last, our love has come along, and our lonely days are over…)

            Hey, I'm sorry about the delay folks, but this past week was filled with all of the lovely stresses of finals. Yes, I am a SENIOR!!!! Wooohoooo!! Well, I wanted to say thank you to all my readers and reviewers, and remind you all again that no matter what happens in the fifth book; this story will continue to be posted, because I have spent far too long working out all the lovely little detail for this plot, and I will not give up!!  Resistance is futile!!!!!!!

Thanks to:

BellethePhilosopher'scookie, Serpena, me, life's mysteries, Silver Bunnie, dmbabe, Jade Shintz, and…

Stacey~ patience is a virtue that you obviously didn't inherit!!! j/k thanx for waiting!!

Quicksilvermad~ Hey, I don't have a beta reader, so excuse me if I have something wrong, so there:P

Stormy~ yay, you read my story!!! I feel so honored!!!