A/N: Just a quick note before I start this chapter rather than after.

First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for being so patient and understanding with regards to the development (and delay) of this story. It's now been about a month since the last update and, honestly, it isn't an exaggeration to say that I've been busy organizing everything irl since then. As everyone knows, school starting is a big thing, and I've also had a few things to deal with regards to my job as well. September's always been a big time of change and adjustment for all of us, I'm sure, and it usually takes about the entire month to get things calmed down and settle back into a routine.

Now that I have though, I'm feeling energized and ready to get back to writing this lovely fanfic, which I still have so many things planned for!

Due to the sheer volume of the work I have to do in October though (cause profs are really cramming things in before November), at this point I can only promise bi-weekly updates; but hey, that's better than nothing, right?

I will try to keep up the chapters length-wise to being at least 2k works, and I hope all of those words will be quality.

Story-wise, just as a quick recap so no one has to go back and re-read anything if they don't want to, we left off at Harry and Hermione finally letting Ron in on the secret of Draco being their ally, after Hermione made it clear once and for all to Ron that nothing's going to happen between them. Draco's due to arrive with supplies and news in the friends' camp at Whitby Abbey soon, so right now we're at a pretty tense moment in the story.

Time-wise in Deathly Hallows we've just passed the New Years threshold, which more or less leaves us in a blank period until the skirmish at Malfoy Manor in late March. Now, obviously I won't be giving a day-by-day or even week-by-week accounting of what the friends will be up to during this time as...it's not much, let's be honest. Instead, what I have planned is maybe 2-3 chapters maximum on the upcoming encounter with Draco, after which some decisions will be made and we'll undergo a much longer time skip to sometime in March. I'll be doing that time skip to just a bit before Harry, Ron, and Hermione's abduction, as I feel that Draco's story arc needs to develop a bit more before we get back into familiar canon territory.

So then, without further ado, let's continue from where we left off, and once again, thank you to everyone who's waited for this chapter to come out!

Chapter 31 - An Uneasy Truce

Things rarely went the way he wanted them to in his life—and while it may seem odd for a rich pureblood boy like Draco Malfoy to think that, it was nevertheless true, especially recently. The cycle of disappointment started with him making plans, setting up his own expectations, and then quickly and often rather suddenly spiraling into something twisted, something downgrading and nightmarish. As an example, before he'd first started school at Hogwarts, naturally he expected himself to be the best at just about everything—the best in all his classes, the most popular boy in his year, an obvious Quidditch captain and Head Boy from the start. He would carry on the legacy of his family and no one would question that his place was to be at the top. But then, that was before Harry Potter had come into the picture, "The Boy Who Lived" with an entire lifetime of fame behind him that Draco could never match.

His second expectation, following the first, had been to at least then befriend Harry, boost up his own rank and likewise profit from a once in a lifetime chance of fame and popularity. That too had quickly gone wrong, for which Draco had always at least partly blamed Weasley. His third disappointment of not being the best in his classes was then attributed to Hermione Granger, with the special added humiliation of the witch being muggle-born whereas he was a pureblood—this last one, it should be mentioned, also brought on the harsh disapproval of his father as well. After that, it was attempt after attempt to try and regain some stable ground towards those past expectations, with Draco constantly searching for new avenues of how he might achieve it. Surely a bad start couldn't define his entire experience, right?

But, as it turned out, it had, and in the process Draco had managed to make himself more enemies than friends, with his few friends being only a select few snakes in his house, most of whom would just as soon leave him to rot as to help him. In sixth year, this much had been shown, as his father had fallen into disfavour with the Dark Lord and most of Draco's friends distanced themselves from him as a result. In that year, admittedly Draco had done his own distancing, but most of that stemmed from the fact that there wasn't support anywhere, no one to understand what he was going through. The expectation of even being "normal" after that had been fully destroyed, as soon as he'd gotten the blasted Dark Mark of his arm and then been chosen to kill Dumbledore. Draco had even heard it going around that this made him the "Chosen One" in a different sense from Harry Potter.

After failing to meet even that, the abyss had consumed him, leaving him without hope for himself, for his family, for his future.

Until he met Hermione again, that is. And ever since then, whether either of them realized it or not, she had given him a purpose in life, a reason for going forward even before Severus had given him the list to attend to. As such, being close to her had become another expectation that Draco had set for himself, this one the most important of all.

As such, given his history, it was only a matter of time before that too was compromised or corrupted in some way, this time in the form of Weasley shooting a hex at him as soon as Draco walked into the trio's camp at Whitby Abbey.

To stunned even to dodge the hex, as he hadn't been expecting it, Draco was hit directly and ended up writhing on the ground until the aftereffects of a stronger hex than he'd ever have given Weasley credit for wore off. Draco had no idea what was going on or why he should be hexed now; but then, he had no way of knowing that it was just moments ago that Harry and Hermione had finally revealed his identity to Ron, and that Ron had a) not had time to process it and accept it properly, and b) had thus reacted out of instinct upon seeing him and actually managed a successful hex that in school he'd otherwise failed. It was yet another in a long line of unfortunate instances for Draco Malfoy.

In the time it took Hermione to fail to stop Ron casting the hex, she had at least been able to cast a body binding charm on Ron enough for Harry to disarm him. Hermione wasted no time in running over to Draco though, leaning over him and checking to make sure that he was alright.

"What hex was that, Ron?!" she demanded, rounding on him angrily once she saw the expression of suppressed pain on Draco's face.

Ron glared daggers at the lot of them, his face as red as his hair and his expression clearly shocked and outraged. "It was just a stinging spell, but that prat deserves much worse!" he spat.

Ignoring him, Hermione murmured a slight soothing charm and waved her wand over Draco, alleviating some of the pain he was experiencing until he was fit to sit up, at least. The packages of supplies, both medical and foodstuffs, had been knocked out of his hands and was now scattered around them. Draco blinked as he got himself together, returning Ron's glare tenfold.

"Nice to see you again too, Weasel," he said nastily, reverting back to his old nature easily. "Something tells me we would all have been better off if you just stayed away."

The profanities Ron started spouting afterwards are not worth mentioning; needless to say that neither boy was exactly taking the reunion well. Harry and Hermione, caught in the middle and, for the most part, feeling conflicted on which side to take, made no attempts to calm either of them down. Instead, Harry left Ron sitting on the grass and looking rather pathetic in Hermione's body bind, and then set about collecting the parcels that Draco had dropped.

Finally, when Ron had said just about everything he could think of saying and thus shut up, Hermione spoke up, addressing Draco. "I'm sorry—we should have warned you not to come this early..." she began.

"Why are you apologizing to him, Mione?!" Ron growled, his anger reignited as he perceived her to be taking Draco's side. "If anything, he owes you an apology—a thousand, in fact! He's been more horrible to you than anyone else, Mione—even worse than Harry! You should be the one hexing him instead, I'd think!"

Hermione brushed his words aside, having already dealt with her own demons regarding this issue; but, based on how Draco winced in harsh recognition, it was clear that he agreed with some of what Ron was saying. To the surprise of everyone there, he spoke up next, actually responding to Ron's accusations.

"I've already apologized to her, Weasley," he said, his tone carrying none of the sting or derision from before. "And even then, I agree that it's not enough. Maybe it won't be enough for a long time, but I intend to start making things right now. Whether you believe what Harry and Hermione have told you already or what I'm telling you now, it's true: I really am on your side in this war, and it could very well cost me my life to be so, but I don't care."

Hermione frowned disapprovingly at his words, though deep inside she knew that to some extent they were true. It was something she was unwilling to think about though, as acknowledging the fact too openly felt like she was accepting that it would happen—and though there was nothing she could do at the moment, when push came to shove Hermione knew she would go to great lengths to prevent it.

"Draco—"

"Draco?!" Ron spat, his eyes wide in disbelief. "Now you're on a first name basis with a blood death eater?!"

"Didn't you just hear what he said?!" Hermione snapped, rounding on Ron and giving him her attention at last. "He's on our side, Ron! He's not a death eater!"

Surprisingly, Ron answered quite calmly this time. "Oh yeah? The Dark Mark on his left arm might tell a different story." And, although it was covered up, just the mention of it brought a full awareness to everyone all of a sudden. Draco tugged uncomfortably at his left sleeve, pulling it down as though that would make a difference and serve to erase the mark. But it was permanent, etched onto his skin along with a legacy that he could never shed...

"You don't know as much of his story as we do, Ron; so you have right to judge just yet."

Harry's voice, full of authority and calm as always, seemed to have the same effect on Ron, Draco, and Hermione alike. Their expressions softening, Hermione was even comfortable enough to finally release Ron from the body bind, which she did and after which he simply stood and rubbed his arms as though the bind had physically hurt him or something, though Hermione knew it hadn't. Casting her one last look full of anger, disbelief, and hurt, he stomped back towards the tent, uncaring who followed him.

"He has no right to judge at all," Hermione muttered as she watched him go.

Harry struggled, handing her the satchel of medical supplies that Draco had brought along. "Maybe not, but I can understand how he feels mad about how he's been treated lately. He clearly expected a different welcome when he came back to us."

"So did I," Draco said, looking disgruntled.

Hermione turned to him in sympathy. "We just got through telling him about your alliance with us; it's just very bad timing that he didn't take it well."

Draco snorted. "Knowing Weasley, I doubt he'd take it well after a year of consideration."

"Well, at least the worst's over now—maybe," Harry concluded. "Now I think we should go in before Ron does something he might regret."

Hermione and especially Draco looked unconvinced, but in the end all of three of them made their way over to the tent, where they found Ron inside sitting at the table and listening to his ruddy radio again—already a bad sign.

Harry and Hermione took their usual seats at the table, whereas Draco lingered by the entrance to the tent, looking awkward and out of place. Giving him a subtle regard, Hermione shifted over on the bench to make room for him; and though Ron glanced up sharply when Draco did finally take a seat, he made no comment on it. After a few minutes of tense silence, it was Ron who spoke up again, addressing Draco even though he didn't look at him.

"So how come you are on our side now? Finally woke up and realized how evil your family is?"

"Ron!" Hermione hissed, but Draco held up a hand to stop her saying more.

"No, he's right," he began, "and it was that, partly at least." Taking a deep breath, he launched into his explanation, repeating his story for Ron's sake so that he got it directly as well. "And just for the record, it's only my aunt and maybe my dad that I would say is really 'evil'," he concluded, sounding defensive for the first time since he'd started speaking. "And even for my dad, he's...not like how he was before. If you saw him today, I don't think you'd even recognize him."

Ron snorted like he very much doubted it, but at least he made no further comments against Draco. After wrapping up the story, once again they sat in a long, tense silence, after which Ron (at last) seemed to relent and ease up a little. "I already knew some of that, like Harry telling us that you didn't kill Dumbledore before, that...that you couldn't make yourself do it. So I believe that. The rest is...far-fetched, but if what you've all told me true and you really have been helping us out and even saved Harry and Hermione's necks after they got attacked by Nagini and all, then...I guess you must mean what you've said to some extent."

It wasn't much of a concession, but then again, Ron Weasley wasn't one to admit when he was wrong. In a sense, perhaps he was still justified in being suspicious; though Hermione felt it unfair for him to remain so when she and Harry, who had taken a lot more from Draco than he had, already forgave him and accepted him as one of them. For now though, even though it was uneasy and shaky at best, it appeared that they had a truce.

"There is one thing that I'm still unclear on," Ron added, his gaze intent on Draco. "Just what exactly do you plan to do now?"

"Besides help you, you mean?"

Ron nodded once. "Just how do you plan to help us, Malfoy? You have any idea where to find another horcrux or something? Because as Harry and Hermione have probably already told you, that's the only thing we need help on right now."

"Honestly, Ron!" Hermione sighed, unable to keep quiet at this point. "Draco's just brought us other things that we need—food and medical supplies! Just how to do expect us to live long enough to destroy the horcruxes if we don't have means to survive in the wilderness until then?!"

"We've been doing alright until now," Ron mumbled.

Hermione shook her head. "Face it, Ron: we're fugitives and there's nowhere we could go in all of Britain right now where we won't be recognized. Draco's been keeping us informed on what's going on and even your radio should have confirmed as much: the hunt for us is getting more intense than ever, especially since we destroyed Slytherin's locket, and—"

"I destroyed," Ron cut in, though at the glares he received from both Harry and Hermione, he shut up about this—and honestly, they'd been hearing enough about this from him to get sick of it over the past several days.

"—and the point is that we can't wander out in the open at all. You Know Who's got snatchers, dementors, giants, werewolves, and who knows what else after us! Nowhere is safe for us and we need to stay hidden. I wouldn't even go into a muggle town to purchase goods at this point!" She sighed, leaning back at last and easing up from her scolding of Ron. "Believe it or not, we've got other problems than just finding horcruxes now."

"Not to mention that we've still got the mystery of the Deathly Hallows to figure out," Harry volunteered.

Hermione threw him a glance, as if to remind him that she still wasn't convinced that that point had any importance; however, just this once, she kept quiet about it and let him believe what he may. Ron, though also not a believer in Harry's theory about the Hallows, also said nothing, and instead looked to Draco for the answer to his earlier question.

As to that, Draco, like the rest of them, was somewhat stumped on what to do. Ever since he'd overheard the conversation between Bellatrix and Voldemort, though he had been able to confirm that his aunt did likely have a horcrux in her possession, he doubted that it was likely he'd be able to get ahold of it. Voldemort naturally placed a lot of value and importance in his horcruxes; and as such, even if she didn't know what it was, any item entrusted to her by the Dark Lord was like a holy relic for Bellatrix. Draco still had a lot of digging for information to do there and at the moment didn't have anything definite to report to the friends. Therefore, apart from repeating the conversation he had overheard for Ron's sake, he had nothing more to add.

"Well, that's just brilliant!" Ron exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "The Wizarding World's #1 craziest witch has a part of Vold—"

"Ron!" Harry and Hermione exclaimed at once, stopping Ron from triggering the Taboo curse.

Ron flinched. "Right, right. But yeah, she's got a part of his soul and no way in seven hells is she handing it over!"

"Well, Umbridge didn't exactly 'hand over' the locket either, Ron," Hermione countered.

Ron shrugged. "True, but she had no way of knowing what it was; Bellatrix does. Do we even know what the horcrux is?"

"We're thinking that it's likely Hufflepuff's Cup," Harry explained. "But even knowing that won't help us much. He knows what we're doing now, and so he will have taken precautions, maybe even had the cup moved from where it was before. It'll be harder to find now, and probably harder to get to even if we know its exact location."

"I'll try to find out more if I can," Draco promised, though Merlin knew how he was going to deliver on that. "Right now, since I'm back at Hogwarts, I'll try to see if there's anything else that could be hidden in the school—it seems likely."

After that, the four only proceeded to discuss what had already been discussed before, the tension between Draco and Ron largely ignored as they united in a common cause. It was doubtful that Ron accepted Draco at all, but at least he made no further fuss in front of Hermione and Harry. By the end of their meeting, two successive hours had passed in relative agreement, after which Draco informed them that he would have to get back to Hogwarts soon before they locked down for the night—"another bothersome regulation", he said.

It was Hermione who escorted him out, watched by Ron who glowered at them as they left. To Harry, he whispered, "Are you sure we can trust him? I mean, we're not forgetting that he's—"

"Ron, drop it," Harry sighed, shaking his head. "He's one of us now and Hermione and I have both accepted it. He's proved himself to us, Ron, and saved Hermione's life more than once."

"Yeah, but, I mean...when it comes down to it and he's forced to make a decision, say if we're surrounded by death eaters or something, do you really think that he'd be open about joining us? Would he really take our side?"

And Harry, for all that he wanted to be sure in Draco, to trust him and be certain about his loyalties...in reality found that he just didn't know how the young Malfoy would react if put in that difficult a situation. Hopefully the need would never arise for Draco to be tested in such a way, of course, but...Harry just didn't know.

A/N: Aaaand I think that's a good a place as any to wrap up this chapter, but I hope it's been a satisfying read for everyone after a month-long wait! If anything's a bit shaky and awkward, it's because I'm just learning how to get back into characters and getting a feel for the story once more, but I did enjoy writing if a lot, so I hope everyone's enjoyed reading it!

Next chapter we'll have a bit of fluff at the beginning between Draco and Hermione, just because, and after that I'll get a bit more into developing Draco's story arc, so look forward to that!

As always, please do follow, favourite, and especially review, so I can read all your lovely thoughts!

Take care everyone, until next chapter—coming up later this month!