Title: Mesh

Author: Morbid Romantic

Pairing: Draco Malfoy/Hermione Granger

Genre: Romance/Angst

A/N: Sorry it's taken so long! I hope you like!
Check this out! http/whspersntheattc. - A new HP forum!

And I remember, And I recall
And I can see that nothing's changed at all
Though we falter, we don't have to fall
And I can see that nothing's changed at all"

- Nothings Changed (The Calling)

Chapter Two

I sit in the great hall at breakfast. My eyes drift over the few students that have been left out of the war. Many of them are younger, but a few from my own year still remain, mainly researching or helping guard and teach the younger students.

Among the familiar faces are only three that I have ever really spoken to. One of them being Malfoy, the other two being Parvati and Padme Patil. Both have been left out of the war to help teach Defense Against the Dark Arts and Transfiguration.

Padme looks up from her meal to see me staring. A brief smile flitters onto her face. I try to return it, but my face gets stuck into a wince. I see sympathy flicker in her eyes, and then she quickly goes back to her meal.

I look back over to Malfoy. He sits reading the paper, ornamented hand resting casually on the table. I can't help but feel complete and total disgust rise within me.

Since what happened last year, I have never been able to trust him completely. He, who was responsible for Dumbledore's death. He, who failed to save a great man due to his cowardice.

A few months ago he redeemed himself in the wizarding world's eyes, but in my eyes he would always be a traitor. A coward. A murderer.

It had been a foggy day. You could barely see two feet in front of you. I had been in Dumbledore's old office, occupied by another Order meeting. Without warning a disheveled Malfoy who no one had seen in months came bursting through the door. The Order had immediately been sent into an uproar, the portraits had begun screaming about the atrocity he had committed against us all.

He had instantly been pinned against the wall, a wand pointed to the back of his head.

"Wait!" He has screamed out. Silence had cast itself upon the room. "I have information that you need to know!"

"Let him loose!" Harry, the new leader of the Order had said. Everyone had looked at him in shock, but the wizard who had him pinned let him go none the less.

Malfoy had fallen away from the wall, turning to face Harry. I had watched in disgust as he had straightened his coat, running a hand through his hair, the superior look he wore like a favorite shirt once again returning.

"They're here for you." He had said, looking Harry right in the eye. "They are waiting for you up in your rooms. Crabbe and Goyle, that is. I was sent to help them capture you. You need to leave. If you're not up there soon, we've been ordered to come looking for you."

The silence had shattered into a million frantic voices. Harry had held up his hands, asking for silence.

"What will happen to you if I am not found and brought back?" Harry had asked calmly. I can't help but smile at the memory. Dear Harry. Always thinking of everyone else's safety first.

"We'll be punished," Malfoy had stated, shrugging as if it was no big deal. "But they'll kill you. You have to get out of here."

"Harry," Remus Lupin, now the only closest friend I have left, had said tentively. He had stepped up behind Harry, placing a hand on his shoulder. "That safe house, the one in France that I was telling you about…I think you should go. Now. Leave. We'll be fine. There you can continue your training."

Harry looked around the room, his eyes finally coming to rest on me. His eyes held the question. I nodded at him.

"Fine, then." He whispered. "I'll go." He looked back at Malfoy. "Why are you doing this?"

"Simple, really." Malfoy said, arching a fine eyebrow over a gray eye. "I don't want to be like this. I want to be like you." He spread his arms, indicating the group. "I never wanted it to be the way it is."

Harry smiled, he actually smiled, at Malfoy before taking his hand and shaking it. "Welcome to the Order."

I look across the great hall and spot Granger. She looks lost in thought, her eyes looking stormy against her ivory skin.

They look close to the way they had that day I had been inducted into the Order as a spy. After Potter had shaken my hand, welcoming me, Granger had jumped up with a screech.

"No!" She had nearly screamed. The Order who was still in shock at my sudden induction looked quickly towards her. "Harry! I will NOT let you do this!"

Potter had raised a cool eyebrow. "Why not? He's basically saved my life, Hermione."

She stared at him in shock. He stared back defiantly. I watched the silent exchange between the two friends take place silently.

"He killed Dumbledore. He's a murderer." She had said softly. Potter had given a quirk of an eyebrow, his way of saying 'I don't care'. An expression I had seen on his face many times, usually when he was speaking with me.

"I don't support this decision." She had said, shaking her head and giving him a disapproving stare. "I don't support it at all, Harry." She had left quickly after that. The order watching her go silently.

"Remus, please take Malfoy back up to my rooms, so he can pretend to still be on the mission." He had given be a tap on the shoulder, indicating I should follow the old werewolf, and then had followed Hermione.

Lupin had taken me back upstairs. Once there we had quickly worked out a plan.

My arm had taken twice as long to heal after You-Know-Who had finished with me.

TBC