Hermione shivered; sat up on the battlements of the fort she could see the lights of Plymouth in the distance. She hated how confused she had been since Draco had collapsed on her, why did he have to turn up when she was doing sentry duty? Of all the…no it wasn't worth questioning, he wasn't worth it. The way he spoke, it was almost as if he cared for her, which was a ridiculous suggestion but…the way he had spoken of her parents, unless he did care why would he apologise in the way he had?

"Hermione…" She turned around to find herself enveloped in a hug, she knew that smell, those strong arms.

"Ron…" She clung to him and hid her face to stop the tears that ran down her face showing.

"Harry said you were up here." As if an explanation was needed.

"How long have you been back?"

"A few hours." He fiddled with the lapels on her shoulders. "I would have come sooner but the debriefing took longer than expected, the new developments…Harry said it was you who found him."

"He found me."

"Oh." Hermione took a step backward and Ron tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "'Mione you're cold. Come down to the mess with me, you must be hungry…"

"I'm fine."

"You have to eat."

"I…"

"Hermione…" He scolded and she chuckled softly. "Oh Merlin, I sound like my mother don't I? Come on, this calls for mead." He wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders and led her down the stone stairs and across the fort into the mess lit by flickering lanterns. A few people looked up as they entered and nodded in greeting. Ron sat Hermione down in an armchair by the fire and conjured a blanket to tuck round her. "I'll be right back." Hermione nodded and Ron crossed the room to gather food and drink for them.

Hermione fixed her gaze solidly on a point on the wall, trying her hardest to ignore the gaze of her fellow officers. She should have been used to it by now, the enquiring glances, the quiet but cruel comments but even after over half a decade, it still hurt her beneath the cold exterior.

"Here you go." Ron handed her a plate of beef stew and she picked at it for about ten minutes under his watchful gaze before giving it up as a lost cause. She quickly finished the small glass of mead he had brought her and stood up.

"Don't…" Her eyes were daring him, challenging him to question her and he knew better than to do so, not when she was acting like this – Ron couldn't say what she was feeling because he honestly didn't know, never had, hadn't tried to understand, only to be there for her when she needed him.

Taking a fresh plate of stew and some water from the mess she pulled on her great coat and crossed quickly through the glum night into the field hospital where Draco was propped up in bed, inspecting his fingernails.

"Ah Granger…delightful, I was getting quite bored…and waitress service as well now, my my…I wonder why I didn't drop by sooner."

Hermione smiled sarcastically and sat down on the end of his bed, playing with the hem of her great coat. Draco's attention was focussed on her momentarily before he yielded to the demands of his stomach and began to eat. "How are you feeling?"

"Why so concerned…" He paused, fork halfway to his mouth.

"I…"

"No, wait. Sorry I…I'm feeling a little better thanks." He smiled hesitantly and Hermione nodded in reply. "Is this place as vast as it seems?"

"Yes."

"For somewhere so huge, it's remarkably well concealed. I take it there are no Muggle repelling charms?"

"The place couldn't just disappear from under their noses."

"Understandable. But, immensely difficult to find you know. I had quite a struggle getting here." He lowered his gaze briefly. "I couldn't' do it anymore, about three years ago…I just couldn't take the lies anymore. But then…Severus…I had to go on. To honour him, and Dumbledore."

Hermione met his eyes and saw the flicker of anguish within them, the need to be recognised for his deeds. "You did well, Draco. Soon…soon we will be free."

"Do you honestly believe that? That we could ever be free? This…this lie is all I have ever known, and you've been stuck in it since you were eleven."

"I believe that we will have the chance to build ourselves a future. I want that chance Draco."

"Yes, I can see that." He scraped his plate clear and placed the enamel dish on the rickety table beside his bed. "You're going to run aren't you?"

Hermione flushed. "I had, considered it…briefly."

"The intention was there, it's in your eyes. You need an escape."

"But I, I don't want to run…"

"Good. You're not a runner."

"Draco?"

"Mmmm?"

"Why…I don't understand, why are you…"

"Well someone's got to make the fucking effort to get you to talk about it haven't they. And I don't see anyone else trying." He half shouted indignantly.

"I never…"

"No exactly, you just buried the grief away time after time after time. At least I took my aggression out, and not in the way you're thinking either," for he had noticed the way here eyes had flashed in anger. "I have my methods. But you, for over a decade you've been bottling up every little doubt you ever had, every niggling feeling and every tear. It can't go on, you'll explode."

Hermione looked up at him, there was such sincerity in his eyes that it shocked her. "Thank you."

"It was nothing." He shrugged. She hesitated before standing up again, Draco's attention was now on the activity out of the window – they were practising night attack drills.

"Good night Draco."

"Running away again?"

She smiled one hand on the door frame, half of her face bathed in darkness. "No. The answers are right here."

Draco watched her as she crossed the fort, dodging some spells and hexes as she went, hands stuffed deep in the pockets of the great coat that billowed around her in the wind. Someone, probably Potter or a Weasley, stopped her and she exchanged a few polite words before moving on towards where he presumed her barracks were.

Slumping down against the bed he resolved to think about her more in the morning, but for now he needed rest. His first rest in years.