Notes: Thank you all for being here. Your support means the world. Short, but more coming soon. Please stay safe.

~*~ Nine ~*~

Hermione's heart was still beating out of her chest as she walked with Aurelia to the girls' dormitory that evening. She'd never imagined she'd be using the Occlumency skills Malfoy had taught her against him, but that's exactly what she'd done for an entire afternoon. He'd told her he actively avoided her mind, but with the memories of Tom's lips devouring her, she knew better than to leave such information to chance. If Malfoy found out… well, she wasn't entirely sure what he would do, but she knew she didn't want to find out. Hermione had come to rely on him, to need him in this foreign land. And she'd promised him. She'd looked into those haunted eyes and promised she wouldn't let Tom destroy everything. She'd betrayed Malfoy the moment she'd given in and that was one more failure, further proof of how little integrity she had left. Even her word was meaningless now.

Malfoy would find out. He was too clever, frozen glare missing nothing, intuition dangerously attuned to Hermione. He would know and her precarious position would tilt beyond the precipice, her world ripped out from under her yet again. But not tonight. Tonight she used his teachings against him. Tonight she basked in the glow that Tom's lips left in their wake. Tonight she forgot the pain, the infinite loss, if only for a few grains of sand in the hourglass of her life.

"You look like you just got front row tickets to the Quidditch World Cup." Aurelia's sweet voice cut through her ruminations. The other girl sank onto her bed, lips twisted in a knowing smile. "So tell me, which one of them made you as lovesick as Amortentia?"

Hermione blinked at her. Damn Slytherins and their cunning observational skills. "Which one?"

Aurelia rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Hermione. It's either Dacian or Tom, both of them look at you like you're the bloody resurrection of Salazar Slytherin."

That would be Tom. But that wasn't Aurelia's point, and Hermione could hardly continue to play dumb. No, Aurelia was just as observant as every other member of the serpents' pit. She sighed, her teeth worrying her bottom lip as she stared across at her… friend? Aurelia was the closest thing she had to a friend, the only girl she'd been close to since… Ginny? There had been Harry and Ron, but given her sexual history with both of them, it hadn't been anything as clear cut as friendship between them. And Malfoy. He was something else entirely, caught between enemy and friend, nemesis and temptation. She couldn't bear to think about how important he'd become to her, how deep this betrayal would cut.

"Can you keep a secret?" The words were out before she could think better.

Aurelia's honey eyes flared with interest. "This is Slytherin, secrets are our currency. We know how to keep silent."

"Tom."

It was only one word, but the rush of relief that followed the admission threatened to bowl her over. Hermione sank to her bed, taking the deepest breath she dared, feeling the tension melt from her shoulders, the joy swimming through her veins at the memory of him against her.

"Holy mother of Merlin," Aurelia gasped. "How was it?"

"Bloody brilliant," Hermione gushed, the floodgates crashing open. "I've never felt so alive in my entire life. He just… lights my fire." It was a hopelessly inadequate way to explain how deeply Tom had branded himself upon her. Hermione giggled, giggled in a way she didn't remember, in a way that made her feel thirteen again.

"He's knocked the sense right out of you, hasn't he?" Aurelia murmured, wry smile painting her delicate lips. "What does Dacian think?"

It was a shot of ice through her euphoric veins. "He doesn't know and he can't. Aurelia, it is imperative that you don't tell him."

"Dacian isn't an idiot, Hermione." Aurelia's tone wasn't kind, her honey eyes wary. "Tom may look at you like he wants to eat you for lunch, but Dacian looks at you like he'll burn the world to save you."

"What?" Hermione could hardly imagine Malfoy looking at her with anything but poorly concealed ire and annoyance.

"Tom wants you, but Dacian cares, so much he can't begin to hide it. He won't take this sitting down."

That was utterly impossible. They'd only been here two months and Malfoy sure as hell hadn't had any feelings for her beyond disgust when he hitched a ride to the past. Sure, he was protective, but that served his interests. If she was found out, so was he. They were tied together in their effort to survive this hair-brained mission that had spun so far off axis Hermione wasn't sure how she could possibly recover her original intention. But that was it. That's where Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger started and ended, an alliance of convenience.

"You're mistaken." The frost in her tone brooked no argument and Aurelia recoiled as if stung. Hermione felt a momentary pang of regret, but pushed on. "Dacian and I have a long history, but at no point in time have we ever been anything but colleagues. Even friendship is not part of our relationship."

"But—"

"No. Whatever you think you're sensing, you're wrong." Hermione let out a weary sigh. "Please don't tell anyone what I shared."

Aurelia stared back at her, a foreign emotion dampening her bright gaze. It took Hermione a moment to realize it was disappointment. "I won't say a word, Miss Gable."

They didn't speak for the rest of the night, the guilt of it gnawing at Hermione even as the ghost of Tom's lips danced over her skin. But the last thing she thought of as oblivion swallowed her was desperate stormy eyes behind midnight fringe and just how far off track she'd strayed.