The Bodyguard.
Eleven year old Draco Malfoy stood outside of his father's study, bracing himself for the lecture he suspected he was about to receive. Draco started Hogwarts in just a couple of days, and when his father had summoned him to his study for a word, he was assuming it was to remind him that he would soon be out in the world on his own and as a Malfoy it was his duty to represent the family to the best of his ability. There was a lot expected of Draco as a Malfoy, and even though he was only eleven years old, he was ready to embrace his destiny and be the best son he could be for his father.
Ready to face whatever his father had to say to him, Draco raised his fist and knocked on the smooth wooden door. He knocked twice before his father's distinctive voice called for him to enter. Pushing open the door, Draco entered his father's opulent study and found Lucius sitting behind his large wooden desk, leafing through a few pieces of parchment.
"Take a seat Draco, I'll be with you in just a second," Lucius said without looking up from his work.
Draco sat down in front of his father's desk, and he waited in silence as Lucius finished what he was doing and slid the file he'd been working on in his bottom drawer. He then pulled another file out of another of his desk drawers and placed it in front of him, although he didn't open it.
"What I'm about to tell you is for your ears only, Draco," Lucius began, his voice deadly serious. "This is highly sensitive information and if it's gets into the wrong hands there could be trouble."
"You can trust me, father," Draco said earnestly. He'd been expecting a talk about honouring the family name, but it sounded like Lucius wished to discuss something a lot more sensitive with him.
"I hope so," Lucius said sternly. "Because as I said, this can't go any further. Not only can you not tell your friends any of what I'm about to tell you, you'll also have to keep the task I'm about to give you to yourself. You are to talk to no-one about this, is that understood, Draco?"
"I understand," Draco answered with a bob of his blond head.
"As you know The Dark Lord is in a bad way following his attempt to kill the Potter boy," Lucius explained. He'd made sure Draco had grown up knowing that Voldemort wasn't dead as many people claimed, and that one day not only would he be back, but the Malfoys would be at his right hand side as they supported his quest for power.
"But one day he will return," Draco said.
"He will," Lucius agreed. "But that's not important right now. What's important is what we can do for him while he's indisposed. He's tasked us with looking out for the most important thing in his life – his daughter."
"Daughter?" Draco gasped, totally stunned by the sudden mention of a daughter. Lucius had told him a lot about the dark wizard as he'd grown up, but this was the first time he'd mentioned a daughter.
"She's your age and she'll be starting Hogwarts alongside you," Lucius explained. "However, she's been raised in the muggle world as a way of keeping her under Dumbledore's radar."
"She's a muggleborn?" Draco frowned.
"To the rest of the world, yes," Lucius replied.
"And what, you want me to befriend her?" Draco questioned.
"Most definitely not," Lucius said, furiously shaking his head. "The idea is to keep her identity secret. If you befriended a muggleborn, there would be talk and Dumbledore would get suspicious. No, no matter what happens you're not to befriend her."
"So why tell me about her then?" Draco asked.
"So you can quietly look out for her," Lucius answered. "I know she's going to be sorted in Gryffindor and she'll be doing her best to get in with Potter. You're not to interfere in anything she does, but just try and keep her out of too much danger."
"I'll try," Draco said with a sigh. He didn't for one minute think looking out for this witch was going to be easy, especially as he had to do it without anyone finding out what he was doing.
Flipping open the file on his desk, Lucius removed a picture from it and handed it to his son. "That is a picture of her. Her name is Hermione Granger."
Draco silently studied the picture of a young girl with wild brunette hair, deep brown eyes and an eager smile. She didn't look anything special, in fact she looked rather boring. But then again, he suspected that might be the entire point. If she blended into the background, how would anyone ever connect her with the darkest wizard their world had ever known?
"I promise to do what I can to keep her safe," Draco promised, handing the picture back to his father.
"Thank you, Draco," Lucius replied, giving his son a smile. "I'm sure you'll do us both proud. Just remember that this is out secret and no-one must ever know about Hermione."
"I won't tell a soul," Draco vowed.
Leaving his father's study, he was as proud as could be that his father had trusted him with something so very important. There and then he vowed to do the best job he could possibly do, little realising that Hermione was going to make keeping her safe hard work for Draco. He was in for a long seven years at Hogwarts as he tried to ensure that no harm came to The Dark Lord's daughter.
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Six and a half years later.
Draco stalked the streets of Hogsmeade, silently muttering under his breath as he kept a close eye on the time. He was looking for the Head Girl, having being reliably informed she'd headed into the village with her two idiot friends. Draco had thought she was busy studying, and therefore he didn't have to worry about the fact that Hogsmeade was about to be the location of a Death Eater attack. But no, at the last minute she'd decided to leave her studies for possibly the first time in her school career, and instead opt to have some fun. Only since she'd chosen Hogsmeade as the place to have fun, Draco was forced to search the village and ensure that she wasn't caught up in the attack that his father had informed him was taking place that afternoon.
"Bloody Granger," Draco mumbled under his breath, cursing the day he'd ever discovered who she was.
At eleven he'd thought keeping an eye on Hermione and keeping her safe would be a piece of cake. However, he'd sorely underestimated just how often she found herself in trouble alongside her best friend, Harry Potter, and Potter's little sidekick, Ron Weasley. Barely a year had passed when she hadn't gotten into some sort of scrape and Draco had quietly bailed her out of trouble. Not that he'd been able to protect her from everything and she'd still suffered a bit more than he would have liked. Still, he'd done all he could to protect her and even Voldemort himself had thanked him for his diligence where Hermione was concerned.
To be honest, Draco had thought the bodyguard duties would end once Voldemort was back to full strength, which had happened at the end of their fourth year. However, Voldemort had made it clear that Hermione's undercover work wasn't over yet, and as long as she was at school as a muggleborn, he expected Draco to keep an eye on her and keep her safe as he had been doing.
For most of seventh year, Draco hadn't really had to worry about Hermione as for once it was a quiet year. However since Christmas the Death Eater attacks were starting to become a bit more regular and just the previous week, Draco had received a letter from his father informing him that Hogsmeade was next on the places to be hit, and it was his responsibility to ensure that Hermione wasn't caught up in the crossfire. After all, aside from the Malfoys, no other Death Eaters knew who she was. As far as they were concerned, she was Harry Potter's muggleborn best friend and quite likely a perfect target.
Initially Draco had thought he would have to find a way to keep her in school, even if it meant somehow making her ill or injuring her slightly in some way. But then he'd overheard her informing Harry and Ron that she was staying at school to study, so his problems had seemed to be solved. But then this morning he'd realised she was no longer in school, and once he found out she was down in the village, he'd raced down to Hogsmeade to find her before the attack began.
"But where is she?" he muttered, still seeing no sign of the feisty witch.
As tempting as it was to just go back up to the castle, and trust that Hermione could look after herself, Draco continued to search for the elusive Gryffindor. He still hadn't found her when he spotted the first of the black wisps that signalled the Death Eaters were arriving in the village. Within seconds there was pandemonium as more Death Eaters appeared and students and the general public began to panic.
Technically as Head Boy, Draco knew he should be taking charge of the students, but he left them to fend for themselves as he continued to look for Hermione. Besides, most of them seemed to be running towards the school and in his opinion anyone stupid enough to stick around deserved everything they got.
"Got you," he cried, suddenly spotting Hermione's bushy head outside of Honeydukes.
There was no sign of either of her friends, but Draco didn't bother to look for them as he strode towards Hermione. Unlike him, she looked to be helping the students by pointing them towards the castle. Draco suspected she would stay in the village until all the students were safely heading back to Hogwarts, but that could be dangerous and Draco wasn't going to let any of the Death Eaters get a good look at her and decide she would make a perfect target once they realised who she was. Fortunately the Death Eaters seemed busy with other things and Draco was confident none of them had noticed Hermione as he strode up to her, grabbed her arm and pulled her into an alley.
"Get off me, Malfoy," Hermione hissed, trying to pull herself from the blond's grasp. She'd been busy looking for other students and hadn't noticed him until he had her in his grasp.
"Shut up," Draco hissed, noticing that the Death Eaters were moving closer to where they were located. Now it was going to be quite tricky to get away back up to the castle without anyone seeing them.
"I will not shut up," Hermione said loudly as she tried to kick Draco in the shins.
"For Merlin's sake woman, don't you know a rescue when you see one," Draco spat, dodging Hermione's kick and giving her a rough shake.
"Yeah right," Hermione snorted. "As if you'd be rescuing me. More likely you're going to shout for some of your friends out there. Why don't I save you the bother? Hey, we're over here," she cried loudly.
"Shut it Granger," Draco snarled, pulling Hermione further into the alley and further into the shadows.
"Stop ordering me about," Hermione snarled back, once again struggling to break free of Draco's hold.
"You are the most infuriating, stubborn witch I've ever met," Draco snapped, amazed that no-one had heard the commotion she was making. If he was wasn't careful, they would be caught simply because Hermione couldn't keep her mouth shut.
"And you're the most arrogant, annoying git I've ever met," Hermione retorted loudly.
Groaning slightly at the noise Hermione was making, Draco wracked his brains to think of a way of shutting her up. Of course he could stun her, but then he'd have to get her back to the castle without anyone seeing them. What he really needed was to find a way to get her to be quiet of her own accord, then he could drag her back to the castle and just leave her once he knew they were safely away from the village.
Draco's mind was still whirling with ideas as Hermione opened her mouth to say something else. Not wanting to risk her drawing attention to them, Draco did the first thing that popped into his head and he covered her mouth with hers. Hermione let out a squeal of surprise, and even though Draco himself was stunned with what he'd done, he didn't let her go. He kept his mouth over hers and before he knew it, he was kissing her properly. It only took a few seconds before Hermione was responding and with danger only a few meters away the pair shared the hottest kiss either of them had ever endured.
It was the need for air that finally forced them to part, and when they did Draco couldn't help but smirk smugly as Hermione gazed at him, obviously speechless. In fact she tried to speak more than once, with nothing coming out other than a tiny whimper.
"What was that?" she eventually managed in a quiet voice.
"That was me keeping you quiet," Draco replied. "Just trust me Granger, I'm keeping you safe. As soon as we can, we'll get back to school and never have to speak of this again."
"Why?" Hermione asked, still keeping her voice low. "Why are you protecting me?"
"It doesn't matter," Draco answered with a shrug, wishing she would drop the subject. After all, it wasn't as if he could say he was doing so on her father's instructions. "Just be grateful that I was here to save your backside."
Hermione made a small noise, which may or may not have been agreement, but Draco was aware she was scrutinising him carefully. Ignoring her stare, but fearing that his secret was blown, he carefully pulled her back towards the entrance of the alley. By now the Order and several Professors had appeared and the fighting seemed to be located down the other half of the village.
"I think we can make a run for it," Draco whispered to Hermione. "Keep right beside the building and as soon as we're past Honeydukes, run. Get into the tree line and get up to Hogwarts under the cover of the forest."
"You make it sound like you're not coming with me," Hermione muttered.
"I'll be right behind you," Draco replied.
Taking another look into the street, he swung Hermione around him and pushed her into action. He then put himself between her and the fighting in the village and urged her to run. For once she did as he'd ordered and once they were past Honeydukes, she darted for the cover of the forest. Draco was right on her heels and the pair sprinted back up to the castle, making rather good time as Hermione was clearly in good shape as was Draco.
Once they reached the castle, Draco hung back and let Hermione enter Hogwarts first. Everyone seemed to have gathered in the Great Hall, and Draco watched Hermione enter the room and join her friends, before he also slipped into the Great Hall and settled down with his friends, looking as though he'd just arrived.
As they waited for news, Draco could feel Hermione watching him, but he kept his eyes averted. Instead he sat mulling on what he was going to say when Hermione undoubtedly confronted him over what had happened in the village. Did he break and confess everything, or did he hold out and just pretend to have a crush on her? Although pretending to have a crush on her could lead to serious problems since he was supposed to think she was a muggleborn, and the last thing he wanted was for her to tell her father that he wasn't loyal to the dark cause.
By the time the students were dismissed and ordered back to their dorms, Draco still had no idea how he was going to handle Hermione. Hoping that a good night's sleep might help with the problem, Draco headed down to the dungeons with his friends, only to be collared by the Head of Slytherin, Severus Snape, and escorted into his office.
"Is there a problem?" Draco asked the wizard who also happened to be his godfather.
"No problem, just checking that Hermione is alright. I can hardly ask her myself, can I?" Severus said. He also knew who Hermione was, and he'd been a large part of the conspiracy that allowed her to attend Hogwarts as a muggleborn and pose as a Gryffindor even though the hat wanted to put her in Slytherin.
"She's fine," Draco replied with a frown.
"But?" Severus asked, knowing that something was bothering Draco.
"But I wasn't able to protect her from afar this time," Draco confessed. "She was supposed to be staying at school, and by the time I found out she was in the village, I barely had time to get down there in time. I didn't find her until after the attack had begun. I had no choice but to bundle her into an alley."
"She saw you?" Severus checked.
"Of course she saw me," Draco snorted. "Hell, she fought so hard she almost gave our hiding place away. It's a bloody miracle none of the Death Eaters heard her."
"Clearly you managed to deal with her though," Severus said. "So why does she think you protected her?"
"I didn't tell her," Draco answered. "But I did have to take drastic action to get her to be quiet."
"What did you do, Draco?" Severus questioned, hoping his godson hadn't hurt Hermione in any way. Somehow he doubted Voldemort would be happy if he found out Draco had hurt Hermione when he was the one who was supposed to be protecting her.
"I kissed her," Draco confessed with a sheepish grimace.
"Bloody hell," Severus muttered, dropping down into his chair. "Now she's going to think you like her. Or do you like her?"
"I'd never really thought about it," Draco replied honestly. "It was just instinctual as I tried to shut her up. But I can't deny that I enjoyed it."
"We could have a problem on our hands though," Severus said. "Hermione won't just let this drop. She'll want some answers."
"Do I give them to her?" Draco asked.
"I don't know," Severus said as he rose to his feet. "Wait here."
Not telling Draco where he was going, Severus connected his floo and disappeared in a whirl of emerald flames. Draco waited for nearly fifteen minutes before Severus returned and disconnected the floo yet again.
"Well?" Draco asked when Severus settled himself in his chair and didn't say a word.
"If she comes to you demanding answers, you can tell her the truth," Severus said. "You can also tell her that if she comes to me, I can arrange for her to see her father. But if she doesn't approach you Draco, you don't say a word."
"Understood," Draco replied with a nod.
Saying goodnight to his godfather, Draco left the office and carried on down to the Slytherin dorms. In the time he'd taken to speak to Severus most people had gone to bed and the common room was virtually deserted. Draco's friends had hung around to wait for him, but once he assured them that Severus just wanted to discuss a few head matters, they said their goodnights and went to bed. As Head Boy, Draco had his own private room in the dorms, so while his friends all headed off their room, Draco sauntered into his bedroom, only to be stunned to find Hermione sitting on the side of his bed.
"Hello Malfoy," Hermione said, waving her wand to shut the door behind the stunned blond boy. "I think we need to talk."
"How did you get in here?" Draco asked.
"In all the confusion it was easy to cast a disillusionment charm on myself and mingle in with the Slytherins. No-one spotted me as I found your room and slipped inside."
"Won't your little friends be missing you?" Draco questioned.
"No, I told them I had some head duties to do," Hermione replied.
"You're quite the liar, aren't you Granger?" Draco remarked, leaning against his desk and waiting to see what Hermione was going to ask him.
"I am," Hermione confirmed with a nod. "But then again, you already know that, don't you? Because you know who I am."
"I should think so, I've gone to school with you for six and a half years."
"Cut the crap, Draco," Hermione spat as she elegantly rose to her feet. "I know that you know. The question is how, and for how long?"
"That's two questions," Draco pointed out. "But I can answer them both. I've known since before we started school. Father told me."
"Why?" Hermione demanded, her confusion evident for Draco to see. "You didn't need to know about me. In fact, you still don't need to know."
"I needed to know about you so I could protect you," Draco answered with a shrug as he pushed himself away from the desk and kicking off his shoes, he settled himself on his bed.
"You protect me?" Hermione's eyes followed Draco as he settled himself on the bed. "In first year?"
"Not just first year, in every year," Draco replied. "But it started in first year."
"And how did Lucius expect you to protect me in first year?" Hermione asked with a laugh. "Not only were you a midget, but you had your own protection in the form of Crabbe and Goyle. What sort of bodyguard needs his own bodyguards?"
"Vince and Greg are friends, not bodyguards," Draco snarled. "Just because they were bigger than me, didn't mean I needed protecting."
"Please, they were your bodyguards," Hermione snorted, perching on Draco's desk chair. "Which brings us back to the point of how you ever could have protected me? What was Lucius thinking entrusting a squirt like you with my protection?"
"Funny, but this squirt managed to look out for your plenty over the years," Draco snapped, bristling at the fact Hermione kept harping on about how small he'd been at eleven. Granted he was rather small during his first two years, but he'd had a growth spurt the summer before third year and now he was one of the tallest, if not the tallest, boy in their year.
"And just what have you done for me?" Hermione asked with a laugh.
"You want a list?" Draco retorted.
"Yes, come on Malfoy, dazzle me with your protection skills," Hermione urged. "Prove to me that today wasn't the first time you looked out for me."
"Fine, let's go back to first year shall we?" Draco spat as he sat up. "Have you ever wondered how Severus and McGonagall knew that you, Potter and Weasley were in the bathroom with a troll?"
"They followed the trail of destruction," Hermione said.
"No, I told Severus," Draco answered. "I was actually planning on looking for you myself when I heard Potter and Weasley work out where you were. So I found Severus and warned him. Not that it would have happened if you hadn't been crying in the bathroom like a pathetic idiot."
"It was all part of my ploy to get Harry to like me," Hermione said defensively. "I didn't know there was going to be a troll."
"That's about all I could in first year," Draco admitted. "I did try and keep an eye on you when you were poking around that Cerberus on the third floor, but you kept sneaking around in the night, and call me crazy, but I sleep on a night. Although, again I told Severus what you were up to and he was around to do what he could."
"So basically you've protected me by telling Severus?" Hermione asked. "Hardly very heroic, Malfoy."
"I did the job I was asked to do," Draco retorted. "Even though sometimes it was tempting to just leave you to your fate. Like in second year when you were petrified."
"And how did you help there?" Hermione demanded. "There was nothing you could have done to protect me from the Basilisk."
"No, there wasn't," Draco agreed. "But I could help point the dense duo in the right direction. I snuck into see you shortly after you were petrified and spotted the sort of books you had with you. I look through the books and found the note you'd made on how the creature was getting around. I tore it out of the book and stuffed it into your hand for Potter and Weasley to find."
"I always wondered how that had happened," Hermione confessed. "When I first woke up, I assumed Harry and Ron had gone through my books and found the note I'd made. But then they mentioned finding the paper in my hand and I was confused. Not that I could tell them that I hadn't torn the paper out of the book. To be honest, I always wondered if it was Severus."
"Now you know it was me," Draco said with a casual shrug of his shoulders. "And in third year I was the one who alerted Severus when Black pulled Weasley down into the Whomping Willow and you and Potter were foolish enough to follow."
"How? We saw you running away after I'd hit you."
Draco winced at the reminder of the punch Hermione had delivered to him in third year. He had no doubt that he deserved it as he was being rather obnoxious at the time, but it was still a blow to his ego to have been hit by a witch, especially in front of his friends.
"I warned Vince and Greg not to say a word about what had happened and sent them back to the dorms. I then hung around and watched what happened. When I saw you disappear, I ran off to get Severus."
"Thank you," Hermione said softly. "It really seems like you've done a lot for me without me even knowing."
"I have," Draco replied. "And it doesn't stop there. In fourth year when Krum started showing an interest in you, I warned him not to mess with you. I also asked him to keep you safe."
"At fourteen you warned an eighteen year old quidditch start not to mess with me?" Hermione asked in disbelief.
"My name carries a lot of weight in our world," Draco replied with a shrug. "I may have been younger then Krum, but my family is higher on the totem pole than his. He wouldn't risk getting on the wrong side of a Malfoy."
"No, I don't suppose he would have," Hermione agreed. "So what about fifth year, how did you help me then?"
"I kept Umbridge off your back for as long as I could," Draco answered. "Not that it was easy convincing the pink toad that you were always one step ahead of us. I then helped your little friends escape when it was clear they were itching to join you and Potter in the woods. I didn't know what the hell was going on, but Father had warned me not to interfere in anything you were doing and I got the distinct impression you were up to something that year."
"I was," Hermione replied with a nod. "I guess it's partly thanks to you that we got to the Ministry and got hold of the prophecy."
"I aim to please," Draco said with a smirk.
"And I guess last year and this year you've just been keeping an eye on me," Hermione said.
"Until today when I knew I had to look out for you in Hogsmeade," Draco replied. "Although, I did think you were staying at school. Because of the lack of notice, I didn't have time to plan ahead and keep my distance."
"The one thing you didn't do was keep your distance," Hermione agreed. "Just how do you think my father will react when I tell him that you kissed me to keep me quiet?"
"I'm guessing he won't mind as it kept you safe," Draco retorted, even though he wasn't at all sure what Voldemort's reaction to the kiss would be. "My job was to keep you safe, and aside from a few minor instances I've done just that."
"Not that I really needed it," Hermione murmured. "I'm more than capable of looking after myself."
"I'm not the only you need to tell that to," Draco said, holding up his hands to stop any protest Hermione could form. "I'm merely doing as The Dark Lord wishes. If you have a problem, take it up with your father. Severus said if you went to him, he could arrange for you to visit with your father."
"And that is exactly what I will do tomorrow," Hermione warned. "I appreciate what you've done for me, Malfoy, but it's not necessary. I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself. I'll speak to my father and have him relieve you of your bodyguard duties."
"Good luck with that," Draco chuckled as Hermione prepared to leave his room and return to Gryffindor Tower.
"I don't need luck, I'm the daughter of The Dark Lord, and I can get him to do exactly as I want. If I want him to call you off, he will," Hermione replied with confidence.
"If you say so, Granger," Draco said, his amusement still evident in his voice. "But until The Dark Lord himself orders me to stop, I'll carry on looking out for you. I'll be your knight in shining armour."
Hermione rolled her eyes at the blond, and once again reminding him that his services were coming to an end, she cast a disillusionment charm on herself and slipped out of the room. Draco watched her leave the Slytherin common room, before returning to his bed and settling down for the night. He did wonder if Hermione would get her way with her father, but he knew that he would find out soon enough if his bodyguard services were no longer required.
Sure enough, the next day Severus called Draco into his office, where an irate Hermione was sitting and informed him that he was to carry on looking out for Hermione for as long as they were at school. The situation was to be reviewed at the end of the year, depending on what Hermione's next move was going to be, but for now Voldemort was adamant that nothing was going to change. Even the fact Draco had kissed Hermione hadn't changed anything, and in fact Hermione admitted that her father had merely laughed and praised Draco's quick thinking. Whether Hermione liked it or not, she was stuck with her protector until the end of the year as Draco would carry on with the job his father had tasked him with as a tiny eleven year old.