TWO

Tuesday, 2 September 1944

The moment they were free of Riddle, Draco nearly dragged Granger with him to the Room of Requirement. He didn't want to go back there, but they needed somewhere that guaranteed them privacy. They both hesitated before stepping through the door, but hurried through it together once they committed.

He began to pace, his hand raking through his hair hard enough he was sure to lose some. He muttered curse after curse under his breath, stopping when he noticed Granger sink to the floor. She made herself small as she drew her knees to her chest. She put her head between her knees and began to rock back and forth; the sounds of her sobs filling the room.

"We need to get the fuck out of here."

His voice snapped her out of her thoughts, but sent her into a frenzy of another kind. He was not expecting it and it took him a minute to react. She was clawing at the back of her hand where Riddle had kissed her in greeting. It wasn't until her blood splattered on the floor that he sank to his knees in front of her.

He took her hands in his and held them firmly. "Granger!" he snapped, hoping to get her to focus. Her eyes rose to meet his and he saw them dilate in pure fear. An image of her screaming on his drawing room floor flashed in his mind and he knew that if that hadn't brought about this level of terror, they were fucked.

Her blood ran down his palm and dripped onto her borrowed robes. He held on tighter when her hand started to slip. He watched as she chewed her bottom lip. He considered slapping her to bring her back, but didn't want his nose broken a third time.

"Now is not the time to lose it, Granger. I need that brain of yours if we have any chance of getting out of here."

Her eyes went wide and he saw the moment she came back to reality. He also felt it as she yanked her hands from his and pushed him back hard enough he bruised his backside. "Get off me!"

"Then snap the fuck out of it," he returned, wiping her blood on his robes.

She propped her elbows on her knees and put her forearms over her ears. He watched as she began to laugh. The hysteria bubbled out of her like a hurricane, filling the room in the place of her sobs from earlier. For a moment it reminded him of his aunt and he shuddered at the thought.

"Just my luck. I'm stuck in the past with a mad man and a pompous ass. Both of which think I'm no better than the dirt beneath their shoe." She scrambled to her feet and rubbed her hands on her robes as he had just done.

"As if my first choice was an insufferable, know-it-all swot like you."

The menace in her gaze was enough to make him take a step back. He was seeing all sorts of sides of Granger he didn't know she had. This was definitely one he didn't like. As if he needed a reminder she was stronger.

Her hands balled into fists and she took a step towards him. He had to force himself not to cower any further. "You don't understand, Malfoy! This is Voldemort!"

His lips curled into a snarl and he surged forward, his face inches from hers. "I'm pretty sure I do understand, Granger! That maniac was living in my house for over a year. He tortured people in front of me. People I cared about, strangers; anyone he wanted. He killed-" He shook his head as he choked on his words. "I fear him as much as you do."

"At least you're a Pureblood!" she spat. "I'm sure he'll be offering you a spot in his precious inner circle by the end of the week!" She gestured towards his left arm. "Won't he be over the moon when he sees you're already marked! You'll be his favorite."

Her eyes widened in surprise for a moment as he lunged. She grunted from the force of which he pinned her against the door. His forearm was pressed against her throat and she clawed at him. "You don't know a damn thing, Granger!"

She blasted him with her magic. He reeled back, knocking a few things over as he caught himself before falling. She had fallen to her knees as her hands touched her throat. She was breathing hard, seething at him for a moment before pushing herself to her feet.

His anger subsided as he watched the way her hand trembled when it touched her throat again. He looked at the floor in shame. "I'm sorry."

When he lifted his eyes to her, she held his gaze and then nodded.

"This isn't the Dark Lord. Not yet. This is still Tom Riddle."

"No," she said, her voice hoarse. Shame made him want to vomit. "He already created one Horcrux for sure. He called himself Voldemort in the Diary. He might have already created another. I can't…" she shook her head as if trying to think. She gave pause to her pacing and nodded in confirmation. "Yes, the ring. Last year he created a second."

"Horcrux?" He had heard the term before. He hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but he had. The word hadn't turned up in any search.

She nodded again, but didn't elaborate. He didn't push the issue despite the fact that he was immensely curious. "He's a Head Boy so he's a Seventh Year," she began to pace as the facts tumbled from her lips in rapid succession. "He's already opened the Chamber of Secrets. The Basilisk is still alive. Myrtle died. Hagrid-" She stopped dead in her tracks. Her excitement at the giant's name dwindled when she looked at him. She quickly averted her gaze and continued. "Hagrid's been expelled. He might already be Groundskeeper."

She muttered to herself in a volume Draco could no longer hear and he didn't dare move forward.

"At least Dumbledore's here. I wish McGonagall was here."

At the mention of Dumbledore's name, Malfoy leaned against the pile of clutter to keep himself upright. When he had walked into the infirmary the night before, Draco almost fainted.

"I know you didn't kill him," she said, pulling him from his thoughts."

"What?"

"That night at the Astronomy Tower." She blinked back a few tears, but met his gaze evenly. "You were tasked to it, but it was Snape."

"H-how?"

"Harry…"

At the mention of her friend's name, she started crying again. At least this time she managed to not go into a full-on sob.

"We need to get out of here. I should have told Dippet I was a half-blood at least."

"I won't let him hurt you."

She stepped back as if he'd physically pushed her.

Her lip curled into a sneer. "You are the lesser of two evils, but you'll excuse me if I don't believe for one second that you would ever stick your neck out for some lowly Mudblood."

He winced at the ferocity of her voice. He dropped his gaze and unfurled his fists.

"You can stick up for yourself and fit right in like you always do." She sucked in a breath and squared her shoulders. "I can handle him."

He looked up and found himself admiring the strength in her stance. He dismissed the notion quickly. "I know you can, but you don't have to do it alone." Her lips parted to yell at him again, but he took a step forward and rushed on. "I've seen your blood, Granger. I watched it pour from your arm on my drawing room floor."

She looked away and put a hand on her left arm even though the slur was gone.

"All my life I was told that Muggle-borns were dirty; that their blood was mud. Well, they lied. Your blood is just as red as mine. I was up close and personal with it when they made me scrub it from the floor like a Muggle."

He closed his eyes against the onslaught of those memories. He wiped his hands on his robes again and shook them from his mind.

"Hate me all you want, Granger. I deserve it. But while we're stuck here in the past with Tom fucking Riddle, can we please just put everything aside? We'll never get home if we don't work together."

She didn't answer right away and he had been in enough lessons with her over the years to know the face she was making meant she was formulating a plan. He grit his teeth knowing full well he wasn't going to like it.

"We had to come here; to this year for a reason."

"It was either this or Fiendfyre."

She shook her head. "What if we can stop him? We can work together and take him out before he leaves Hogwarts. The Diary is in the Chamber of Secrets. I've heard Harry and Ron say the word; I can get us in."

"Do you even hear yourself?"

"Did you hear me?"

"I heard some mad ravings of a lunatic," he fired, his anger flaring anew. It was maddening how she could bring such ire to him. "We can't do that, Granger. It would alter the future; everything we know would disappear. Merlin forbid something viler than the Dark Lord rises! We might not even come to exist just by being here."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take."

He ran a hand over his face. "And here I thought you were the brains of the Golden Trio," he muttered.

She bristled after a moment, relaxed her stance a bit. "Fine."

She raised her wand and he flinched as something whizzed past his ear. He watched she flipped through the books as they appeared. She kept waving her wand for a new one when she discarded the previous one. She kept it up until she had two. A red and a black leather. She tapped them with her wand and uttered a spell he wasn't familiar with. She handed him the black one.

He took it from her and opened it, frowning at the empty pages. "What the hell is this?"

"Inspired by the Diary," she said. "The books are linked. You can write in it and whatever you put down I'll be able to see in mine. Your message will stay until I see it and vice versa. Once I see it, it will disappear."

"Or we could just stay here. We can step out, rethink the room we require, and camp out. We can sneak into the library at night and the House Elves can bring us food."

She considered it for a moment, but then shook her head.

He narrowed his eyes at her and then smirked. "You don't want to miss lessons."

She glared at him and then gave a puff of annoyance. "I spent all of Seventh Year on the run! I didn't even get to take my NEWTS…"

"Merlin, help me," he muttered as he rubbed his chin.

She froze and rubbed the back of her hand, bringing fresh blood to the surface. "I'm going to be alone with him for Astronomy." The fear was back in her voice.

"We can talk to Dippet. You can either drop it, or I'll switch my schedule to match yours." He was before her again. He gingerly grasped her chin in his hand and tilted her head up. When their gazes met, he spoke. "I promise you, Granger; he'll never hurt you. Not on my watch."

He knew she didn't trust him. He didn't blame her; he'd never given her any reason to. He didn't even trust himself; he wasn't anyone's hero. He was just a coward. He couldn't kill Dumbledore; couldn't save her from his aunt. All he could do was run and hide.

But if he did that this time, they would both die.

"Okay."

He breathed a sigh of relief and stepped back. He glanced at her hand. "We should go to Madam Perth."

"No need." She brought her wand out and whispered, "Episkey," she said and turned towards the door. There was no use in waiting for the inevitable. They had to get back to the dungeons before dinner to get their dorm assignments.

"I'm sorry, Granger," he said in a low voice, causing her pause. "For everything."

"I'm only forgetting everything for the time being, but I'm not forgiving you."

He nodded and scolded himself for thinking she would accept his apology. He was only glad she didn't apologize. It would be something she'd do. He followed her out of the room once the coast was clear and they made their way to the dungeons in silence.

They both braced themselves when they entered the common room, but it was bursting with activity. It was still unnerving to see Riddle make his way over to them. It was downright disturbing when he saw the way his eyes raked over Granger. He stepped closer to her, resisting the urge to display outright dominance by reaching for her hand.

"There you are. I hope neither of you lost your way."

"No, the castle isn't too hard to navigate," he answered, earning a flicker from Riddle before he fixed his gaze on Hermione again.

"Dippet has your dorm assignments. They had a little trouble with space, but they made it work. Mister Malory, follow me."

Draco exchanged a worried glance with Granger.

"Rules are rules," he drawled. "I'm afraid neither of the opposite sex allowed in the opposite dorms. I'll be right back to show you your room."

They both stilled at that. "I thought you just said-" Granger started.

"I'm Head Boy. That rule doesn't apply to myself, the Head Girl, or the Prefects. No need to worry, we'll be right back."

"You're the transfers?" a new voice interrupted. The girl had raven black hair in a solid plait tossed over her shoulder and charcoal eyes. "I'm Kalista, Sixth Year Prefect. I can show you your room," she offered.

"That would be lovely," Granger breathed. "Thank you."

"Yes, thank you Kalista," Riddle said.

Malfoy didn't miss the darkness in his voice. "I'll meet you here in a minute," he assured her. She nodded and they parted ways. He would rather endure Riddle alone than ever see him alone with her.

"Typically you would be put with the other Seventh Years, but as I said, space was a little tight. As Head Boy I'm entitled to my own room, but when Dippet asked, I consented. It'll be just the two of us."

Draco swallowed over the lump in his throat as Riddle held the door to their room open for him. "That was kind of you," he bit out. "Thank you."

The moment the door closed, Draco felt the panic creep in. They needed to get the hell out of here as fast as they could.