Hermione let Draco take her hand and was rewarded by his warm smile. He pulled her through an archway and down a passage, all the while looking back as if to check that she was still there. Hermione tried to look around and get her bearings but she quickly deduced that she'd never been this way before, that she was probably heading deep into Slytherin domain, and that her brain was still too focused on the way the torchlight illuminated Draco's white blond hair to think much more about trivial things like the way back or where she was heading. Suddenly Draco pulled her through a heavy stone arch and they stepped out into bright sunlight. "Its beautiful!" Hermione gasped as much in surprise as in pleasure.

Draco smiled back and swept the entire garden with a single glance. Hermione looked longer, intrigued by the trees that grew haphazardly through the courtyard, the waterfall gurgling softly in the clear pond, the neatly trimmed bushes that seemed to beckon visitors down shady paths towards bright flowers exuding heady fragrances that Hermione could smell even from a distance. "Where are we?" she asked finally.

"Penelope's Garden." Draco had circled Hermione to stand behind her, one finger slowly twirling its way into a thick curl. He stepped forward into her line of view. "Penelope was the woman Salazar Slytherin loved. She was Helga Hufflepuff's sister and under Gryffindor's protection. But she eloped with Salazar and he brought her here." Draco hesitated, almost enraptured by the giddy smile that was flickering on the girl's face. "The pool swallowed her on the second day." Hermione looked at him, struck. He took her hand and watched his own fingers brush over her knuckles. "For years Slytherins have tested their love here. If it's not love… it dies here. Like Penelope." He avoided looking into her eyes.

Hermione had heard of such places, marked by what some defined as vengeful ghosts or sprites. Some even thought they were portals through which gods could work. "Draco—" Hermione knew that she liked him and his kisses very well indeed but true love? And at such a risk?

"I know." Draco put a finger to her lips, half a caress, half a shush. "I know we aren't ready for true love or any of that other shit." His hand traced her jaw line and moved to the back of her neck, pulling her in. "Maybe…" he breathed before he kissed her again. This time when her knees went weak he encouraged them, lying her down softly on the springy grass and leaning over her, propped up by an elbow on either side of her head. For a while he let her kiss him, his tongue only slipping out occasionally to flirt with her. She laughed a little, and felt, rather than saw, his smile before his hand began to play with her bushy curly hair and he began to kiss her in earnest. They were almost too distracted to hear the loud footsteps and the scuffing of gravel. Almost.

It was another Slytherin. Draco swore softly under his breath. Hermione was about to push him off, affronted that he was embarrassed to be seen with her when her movement made him look down at her. She realized suddenly that he was afraid, and afraid for her. She remembered where she was and realized that he must have broken more than one rule to bring her there. He pulled out his wand and Hermione forced herself to trust him even as her instincts screamed for her to run, that he would hex her. But rational Hermione winced and held still, realizing that trusting a Malfoy was better than being caught in something that seemed more private and Slytherin than even their common room. Draco smiled as he saw Hermione's form blink and disappear, and whispered in her general direction, "They can't see you. Wait over by the silver tree." Hermione nodded before she realized that he couldn't see her. Embarrassed, she ran to the tree before she could see his slight smirk as he translated the movement of the grass she had been lying on. He pushed himself off the ground as she peered out from behind the tree knowing full well that it made no difference whether she was behind, in front of, or up the tree if she was invisible.

Hermione watched as Draco sauntered towards the other Slytherin. "Warrick, what is it?" The Slytherin Quidditch Captain nodded subserviently to Draco, making Hermione's blood boil as she saw Malfoy transform into a Death Eater.

"I was looking for you, Malfoy. Your father's here."

"Here?"

"Here." A new, icy cold breathy voice entered the conversation, making both Hermione and Draco stiffen reflexively. Mr. Malfoy had joined them in the garden. "Thank you, Warrick." Warrick nodded and walked out a little too quickly. Mr. Malfoy did not turn to watch him leave, instead he tilted his head to the side as he looked at his son, lips pursed.

"Father, what are you doing here?" Draco's tone was bored but Hermione could see his hands clasped behind his back, his feet turned out, and his straight spine. Draco could pretend to disrespect his father, but Hermione had a feeling that Malfoy senior knew as well as she did that the defiance was an act.

"Looking for you, son. Now where is your companion?"

"You just sent Warrick away."

Mr. Malfoy smiled coldly. "I meant your female companion." The word female slipped from his lips hotly. It seemed Mr. Malfoy had an abnormally strong interest in Draco's love life.

"Father, I just came here to sit. I didn't bring any of those girls." Hermione heard how carefully Draco avoided lying and felt her stomach sink as the awful feeling there might be a truth spell in use swept over her.

"Liar. You have a friend here. Standing over there. Behind the silver tree." An icy wave washed over Hermione's body as she heard those words and saw Lucius Malfoy slowly turn to face her. "Come out, my dear. Let's have a look at you." Hermione considered the invitation for a moment before she ran. Dodging through the trees she wished that Draco would just say something. Or Mr. Malfoy. Anything had to be better than not knowing whether or not she was about to be seized, jinxed or recognized. Hermione was focusing so intently on any sound behind her that it took her a long time to realize that she was out of the garden and flying down unknown corridors with no footsteps behind and nothing to see when she finally turned to look.

Hermione collapsed against the wall in relief and sank down into a crouch, wondering how she had possibly escaped a Death Eater. Mr. Malfoy must not have anticipated the invisibility spell, she realized. That, of course, led to another, less pleasant thought. She didn't know what spell Malfoy had used to make her invisible and she no doubt needed him to remove it. At this rate she would miss first class, or at least not be there enough to be counted in attendance.

Chewing her lip guiltily as she contemplated her first and only escape plan, Hermione pulled out her wand, grasped it firmly and cried "Accio Marauder's Map" as loudly as she dared. Guiltily she waited, feeling that the Map was Harry's and Summoning it did rather count as stealing. Her thoughts were interrupted by the Map's arrival. From the time that it took for the parchment to arrive, Hermione guessed that Gryffindor tower was a ways away. She tapped the parchment briskly, whispering "I solemnly swear I am up to no good." The spider lines spread far too slowly, even as Hermione hissed at them to hurry. When the ink finished its wriggling and flowing Hermione looked down to see that she was in the heart of Slytherin domain, as she had suspected. "Shit."

There were two ways to Professor Psyche's office. One lead through what looked to be the Slytherin common room, the other was through the arch across from Penelope's Garden. At that point, Hermione was more afraid of Mr. Malfoy than twenty common rooms filled to the brim with Slytherins. She followed the Map, and sure enough, it led her to the common room where several Slytherins obligingly if unknowingly opened the entrance. To her distaste, there was some sort of a fistfight in the center of the room, and Hermione was forced to push her way through the crowd leaving a storm of bickering over who pushed who in her wake. Even after passing through a small concealed door thankfully labeled on the map, Hermione did not feel at ease until she reached Professor Psyche's door, checked that the Professor was alone and knocked lightly on the wooden door. Behind her invisible back she tapped the parchment, "Mischief Managed!" and Banished it quickly. The parchment rounded the corner as Professor Psyche peered out of her door, looking both ways down the hall.

"Professor?"

She jumps. "Who's there?" Her wand is drawn and her hand is steady.

"Professor, it's me. Miss Granger."

"Where?" Professor Psyche asks warily, wand still drawn.

"I'm invisible, Professor."

Dumbledore's daughter took the news better than Hermione had expected. She laughed. "Oh dear. I suppose you'd better come in then." Calling for Hermione to shut the door behind herself the Professor quickly brewed her student a cup of tea, no questions asked. As Hermione gulped the "tea" down, grimacing at the foul taste, Professor Psyche smiled. "Welcome back, Miss Granger."

"Thank you, Professor."

Fortunately for Hermione she had Professor Psyche's class first, and when she stumbled into the classroom fifteen minutes late, tie askew and face red from running around the castle looking for schoolbooks and the classroom, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Mistress did not even mark her tardy.

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