The day of the tournament was bright and clear, perfect weather for spectator sports. Hermione was very antsy, and puttered around Harry, making sure he ate breakfast and had his Firebolt ready on the grounds. She hoped he would be able to avoid being scorched by the dragon flame. Ron was looking at her like a particularly violate potion, or like his mum when she was on a rampage.

Hermione forced herself to sit still when she realized she probably did resemble Molly in her mothering habits. By the time they walked down to the task, though, she was just as wired as ever. It didn't matter that she'd already seen him win once before. Things could still go wrong. They could still end up with an injured Harry, or him be so demoralized that he didn't want to continue training.

She could imagine it now – Harry, returning after a spectacular failure at the first task. If he did that badly, he might just stop trying altogether. What was the point, if he didn't have a chance at winning?

She didn't want to invade the champion's tent again (Skeeter's article was unfriendly enough the first time), but she did want to be close enough that she could intervene if necessary. She waved Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville forward, saying she'd meet up with them later, and to save her a seat.

Standing between two of the gigantic stands and looking at the dragons in front of her, Hermione almost didn't feel a presence behind her. She turned around and saw – to her surprise – Draco Malfoy. "Malfoy!" She yelled, whipping her wand out in front of her. He was unarmed, and held his hands in front of him in a sign of surrender.

"What do you want?" She said sharply. She had no interest in communicating with this much younger, much less friendly version of him.

"I just want to talk." He said, slowly lowering his arms to his sides. "I know what you're doing, Hermione."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, body still wired like a panther ready to pounce. He called her Hermione. What kind of trickery was this? "Talk. You have thirty seconds."

"You'll want me to stay for more than that. I know your secret." He said, his pointed face twisting into a ghost of a sneer. "I know about the Veil, and I know you're behind all the little differences that have started cropping up this year."

Hermione's eyes widened incrementally, and she let herself hope, just for a moment, that it was him. It was unlikely, however much she wanted it to be true. It was honestly more likely for Snape to have ratted her out. "Explain." She bit out.

"I've gotten some… interesting dreams. Ever since I started at Hogwarts, I've been getting visions of the future. I decided I must have been some sort of seer, gifted with the knowledge of events that wouldn't happen for years. Dreams about the Chamber of Secrets, before it opened. Dreams about the Werewolf before Snape told me about him."

He paused, and Hermione realized her jaw had dropped some time ago. She shut it with a toothy snap. What did this mean?

"I had other dreams, too. Dreams about the Quidditch World Cup. Someone cast a Dark Mark, you know. That confused me, for my dreams had never failed me before. It made me doubt my skills, whether I was learning different possible futures or if something in the world had changed. But you know all about that, don't you? Of course you know. You're the one who made the changes. I had a dream a few weeks ago about Hermione Granger at nineteen, creating an alter-ego she could use in Diagon Ally. Evangeline, you called her, yes?

"Evangeline, or as the world knows her now, the Heroine. I realized the different future had to do something with you once I dreamt that. Lots of little changes have happened, from what I've seen. A smoother ride for the Boy Hero, lots more support for him than there was last time around." He paused, tilting his head in a silent question.

"If that was true, why would I admit it?" Hermione said calmly. "It sounds like you're just going insane, a seer who's gone off his rocker. It wouldn't be the first time."

Internally, Hermione's mind was moving a mile a minute. What had happened? Had part of Draco's consciousness come through after all? Her repeated nightmare, the image of Draco's body lain across the Veil, rose once more in her mind. He said he was seeing the future. But how? Did he come back? Was he the same Draco she knew, or something entirely different?

"I saw no reason to alter the previous timeline," Draco mused. "I only ever saw three or four years ahead of time, and the bits and pieces I saw were pretty good for me. But then I saw what happened during out eighth year. The Massacre at the Ministry. And I saw us becoming friends – real shocker, that one. Me, befriending the know-it-all? But I've been watching you for months now, and you're not the girl you were in fourth year. You're her, aren't you?"

Wordlessly, Hermione cast a legilimens on him. Draco's mental shields, while strong for a fourth year, were no match for her, and she was reading his thoughts within moments.

Waking up in a cold sweat, wide-eyed and astonished by Voldemort's third coming.

Sneaking into the Slug Club party, pained by the stresses of killing Dumbledore.

Anger filling his vision with red as he saw Voldemort killing his parents, their lifeless bodies bloodied – tortured. Despair when he realized the murder was meant for him.

Dreaming of shaking Hermione's hand, deciding to work together for the betterment of the Wizarding World.

Seeing the paper with Evangeline, Hermione's alter ego, in his mind. Realizing that Hermione wasn't what she seemed.

The pain of losing Astoria, his fiancé, just days after he proposed. The confusion he felt when he woke up, crying, only to see her at breakfast.

Hermione snapped herself out of his mind. He was looking at her fearfully, clearly doubting his decision to confront her. She realized that he had taken the opportunity to bypass her shields, and had probably seen some memories that confirmed his suspicions. She was from the future, all right.

Hermione wanted to hug him tightly, confide in him, talk like they once did – but something stopped her. This wasn't really her Draco. He had her Draco's memories, but he was still a meager fourteen years old. He was a child, almost ten years younger than her mentally. Was he really equipped to aide her?

Would he be able to make the right choices?

She twisted her hands nervously, and a loud boom! shook through the clearing, announcing the beginning of the task. Draco looked around, realizing they both needed to head back to their seats before they were missed. "Meet me in the Room of Requirement, tonight. Eight O'Clock."

Hermione's eyes widened, but she nodded a jerky agreement before running back to her section of the stands.

Well, she definitely had something else to focus on than Harry's performance on the task, now.

Hermione's friends smiled at her when she sat back down, everyone excited for the spectacle. "Oh my, can you believe they brought dragons?" Said Neville, who seemed quite shaken by the idea. "I don't envy Harry at all."

"Nor do I," said Ginny. "But I bet my broomstick my brother's down there- Charlie, you know," she said to Hermione. "He works with dragons."

Ron looked paler, throwing his freckles into high relief. "Those things are nutters. I mean, I knew it'd be bad, but look at the breeds! Chinese Short-Snout, Norwegian Ridgeback? They're some of the roughest dragons around!"

They were cut off by Bagman announcing that Cedric Diggory was entering the stadium. Hogwarts seemed to cheer louder than the hundred-thousand wizards at the Quidditch World Cup, a unified, deafening roar that made it difficult even to hear Bagman under a sonorous. Hermione looked on grimly as Cedric transformed a rock into a dog and sprinted for the egg.

"Oh, I can't look!" she said, burying her face into Neville's shoulder (he was closest). It was even more painful to see Cedric get scorched when she knew what had happened to him mere months later.

"S'alright, Hermione," said Neville awkwardly, patting her on the shoulder. "He's got it!"

And he did, for the stands erupted around them in glee. Hermione clapped along with the rest of them, but it felt hollow in her mind. The reality of Draco's memories was sinking in, and she had absolutely no idea how to handle them. Perhaps another visit to Snape's office would help.

Soon enough, Fleur and Krum were in and out of the stadium, both successfully grabbing their eggs like she knew they would.

And to another deafening roar from Hogwarts, Harry exited the champions tent.

Hermione chewed her nails into nubs as he summoned his Firebolt and lifted off. He flew brilliantly, dodging the Horntail with a skill she knew Krum would be proud of, swerving to lead the beast away from the nest – a curse that Hermione knew was conjunctivitis left Harry's wand, and the dragon blundered forward blindly.

Quick as a snitch, Harry swooped in, located the golden egg, and soared into the sky without a single scratch. Hermione, who realized she had made semi-circle marks in her palms from how tightly she clutched her hands, relaxed finally. He had done it, he had really done it!

The crowd was raving as Harry got his scores from the judges, cheering louder than ever, standing up to see better, and closing in so close to one another Hermione thought some of them would fuse together. A six, two eights, a nine, and one ten – that was better than Krum! He hadn't just finished the task, he had won!

Over the roar of the crowd, Ron suggested they go find him, and they slowly worked their way through the stands and down the stairs. On her way, Hermione briefly caught Draco's eye. He held her gaze steadily, and mouthed the word 'eight' at her. She would go down to Harry, now, but her stomach churned with nervousness for eight pm.

AN: It finally happened! I know many of you suspected something was wrong with Draco, and now you know your suspicions are correct. I've been waiting to write this scene for ages, especially after you guys started commenting with your theories. Some of you were very, very close to the truth, so congratulations. I'm so astounded by the response to my story, thank you all for choosing to spend your time on my ramblings. A few of you have been very nitpicky with canon, and you sure keep me on my toes. I really appreciate the positive reviews, but all of these reviews show me that you're enjoying the story!

to Guest: you're definitely right, Hermione isn't flying completely under the radar. She's already been caught by a few people, two more than she would like!