FOURTEEN

Thursday, 11 September 1944

For better or worse, as the second week of being sent back in time came to a close, things had started to feel like normal. They had made it back to their common room with a few minutes to spare before curfew. Riddle had inquired about their whereabouts and Draco had responded with a condensed version of the story. He had fallen asleep thinking of Granger's way of thanking him.

However, as the week progressed, he had come to regret ever buying those blasted sweets. Even now, as he sat with her in the library before he had to go to Ancient Runes, she was driving him mad. Any chance she had, the confection was in her hand and pressed to her lips. If he timed it right, he would let his attention wander at the moment her tongue delved out to taste it more.

He swallowed hard and looked down at his notes. He squirmed in his seat as he forced himself to think of the most boring things he could. The last thing he needed was to allow the blood to rush all the way south as it kept trying to do.

Neither one of them had discussed the newfound attraction for the other. They simply let it hang between them and did their best efforts to ignore it. The only positive to that approach seemed to be that they weren't at each other's throats as often. On the flip side, Draco found himself more terrified of her than ever before. With her anger only simmering beneath the surface instead of being hurled directly at him, there was nothing to quell his innermost thoughts. The ones that imagined her-

"Oh no."

Her breathy whisper pulled Draco from his thoughts and he looked at her from across the table. She had put the sugar quill down, but a book took its place in her hand. Her brow was furrowed and her nose scrunched up as she stared down at the passage.

"What?" he asked.

She set the book on the table and turned it towards him, tapping the spot she wanted him to read. He picked the book up and looked over the passage for himself. Not that he needed to since he knew she was just going to analyze the findings and surmise it all aloud for them both.

"This is one of the books I found at the shop in Hogsmeade," she started. "It backs up what Dumbledore said about the Single Continuum theory."

"And that's a bad thing?"

The way she stared at him made him scowl. It was as if she had thought it was obvious. He shoved the book back at her. "The more something is mentioned, the more it's considered common knowledge. So far, all the other theories I've managed to come across are all written in their own contained tomes. The only ones to transcend texts are just references. This theory is the only one that isn't cited."

Draco nodded at her, half understanding what she said. He found himself wondering if this was how she always was when she made discoveries. He knew if she made him feel like a half-wit that Potter and Weasley must have felt like complete fools.

"I'm still not sure how it's a bad thing," he stated. "It means nothing we do can alter the future. We won't have to worry about doing something stupid and getting ourselves Unborn."

"It's bad because from everything I've read, this theory states that it's near impossible to return. All documentation is of successful travelers that knew what they were going back for when they made the trip. We came back here blind, Malfoy. We-"

"I do apologize for the interruption."

They both paused to see Riddle standing at the edge of the table. Granger closed her book and stacked them aside. Draco felt tension knotting his shoulders as he thought of leaving her alone with Riddle again. It was bad enough he couldn't keep an eye on her in the class they shared and their weekly hour in the Astronomy Tower. The fact that Riddle wormed his way into another hour of her time made him grind his teeth.

"I guess that's my cue to head to Ancient Runes," he said, gathering his things slowly.

Granger nodded and began fiddling with her items. He knew she was trying to get the books on time travel out of sight as fast as she could without drawing his eyes towards them. He also knew Riddle had probably already read all of the titles and would save the information for another day.

"I'll see you for lunch," she said, giving him a small smile.

He nodded at her and slung his bag over his shoulder. Riddle moved to take the seat he had vacated and Draco rose to the challenge. He moved around the table and dropped his face close to hers. He had meant to subtly kiss her cheek as she had done previously, but she turned. Their lips brushed and she jumped at the unexpected contact.

"See you," he whispered before pulling away.

He looked back over his shoulder to see Granger duck her head and clear her throat. Her cheeks were flushed crimson as Riddle stared after him with contempt. He smirked and continued on to class.

"I know that look, my friend," Kerus said as he fell into step beside Draco outside the library. "Good time with your lady in the stacks?"

"She's not like that."

He laughed and nudged Draco's shoulder. "No one's around; you can tell me."

Draco adjusted the strap on his bag and shrugged. "There's nothing to tell. It's really not like that," he stated. He shoved the inkling of disappointment that rose to the surface at his declaration.

Kerus sobered when it sank in that Draco was telling the truth. "Really? I thought for sure with the way you two have been eye-fucking each other all the time that-"

Draco grimaced at the crude statement and continued walking despite Kerus' pause in stride. "I don't think it's any of your business, but it's the truth."

"So you're telling me that you don't even know if her swotty little mouth can-"

Draco stopped and shoved Kerus against the wall, his wand pointed against the hollow of his throat. "I dare you to finish that sentence."

Kerus stared at him with wide eyes for a moment before he grinned for ear-to-ear. His hands came up to show surrender and Draco released him, hands running through his hair as he tried to reign in his anger.

"Merlin, mate. You need to get laid." He held up his hands again as Draco glared at him. "Plenty of witches within these walls who can help with that and keep to themselves afterwards."

"No thank you," Draco bit out.

Kerus shrugged his shoulders and followed Draco towards the classroom. They took their usual seats next to one another much to Draco's dismay. He couldn't shake the anger at Kerus for making slaggy comments about Granger. Mostly he couldn't shake the guilt as seven years of teasing came back to haunt him.

Saturday, 13 September 1944

Much like the week before, Draco had been in the common room before Granger and Riddle took their leave for their project. He was still there when she returned to bid her goodnight. Unlike the previous Saturday, she was up and in the common room before it was time to leave for breakfast.

After breakfast they took leave of the castle in favor of soaking up some sun and fresh air. Per her suggestion from the week before, they found themselves walking along the Black Lake, taking the side closest to the Forbidden Forest as it decreased the likelihood of being overheard. As it was, their walk was filled with idle chit chat. Most of which was from her. He had come to know that unless there was a book in front of her face to occupy her mind, she constantly felt the need to expel whatever thought came to mind.

"How many times have the Golden Delinquents been in there?" he asked, nodding towards the trees.

Granger rolled her eyes at him from her spot on the grass. "A few times," she said, plucking at the blades of grass between her fingers. "Have you been in there since First Year?" she asked. "It's not that terrifying."

"Excuse me," he said, glaring at her. "Detention or not, we had no business being in there. My point was made when Potter and I encountered the Dark Lord. It's far too dangerous in there; especially for First Year students."

She shrugged. "Fair." A small smile tugged at her lips. "I got the centaurs to haul Umbridge away."

His eyes widened. "I wondered what you'd done to that nutter."

"You didn't think to seem she was so crazy when she stuck that infernal badge on your robes."

He rubbed at his neck and then leaned back on his hands. "I can assure you that even I cringe at some of my past behavior."

"Good," she replied cheekily before lying back on the grass to stare up at the cloudy sky that promised a storm but had yet to deliver.

Her eyes closed for a moment and he used the opportunity to steal a glance at her. His eyes swept over her face, down her torso, and slowly down her legs. Since it was a Saturday and they weren't wearing their robes, he was able to see her shape. He'd seen it before, but not this up close and personal. He had come to find her attractive some time ago, but seeing her at ease around him made her even more desirable. She cleared her throat and Draco looked away to contain his sheepish grin of being caught.

"You ever going to tell me about those Horcrux things?"

She reached for her wand at her side and cast a series of charms. All of them were nonverbal so he couldn't be sure exactly what she had used, but he could feel her magic tingling the air around him regardless. "Very Dark Magic involved in their creation. Their purpose is to house a fragment of a soul so that the being whose soul was split cannot easily be killed. The easiest way to split a soul is with murder."

Draco winced as his left arm began to burn. He wasn't sure if it was real or if it was his subconscious just imagining the act. Granger continued to tell him what she knew of the Dark Magic involved; each bit of information he absorbed made him sick to his stomach.

From the death of Moaning Myrtle to the diadem; the tales Granger weaved made his head spin.

"And you lot have been hunting them?"

She nodded. "Harry destroyed the diary in our Second Year when the chamber had been reopened. The next one didn't surface until Dumbledore had tracked it down. He had had it for awhile and he wore it. It's what was killing him; the Dark Magic penetrated his core and was wearing him down."

Draco cast his eyes down at the mention of the elder wizard's death.

"When we had the locket, we took turns wearing it," she said quietly, sitting up to wrap her arms around her knees. "Each time we had it on it was as if we were drowning. Like there was this dark sea pulling me asunder. Every doubt and bad thought I had was amplified. It pushed every bit of anger to the surface and-" She stopped and shook her head. "It affected Ron the worst. We finally destroyed it, but it took so long that there were some lingering effects."

Draco found himself moving to sit closer to her, but stopped himself from reaching out in for her in any other way. She was too busy staring off into space to even notice the action.

"We couldn't have destroyed Hufflepuff's cup without your aunt," she said, turning to him. If she noticed the distance between them was practically nonexistent, she didn't mention it. "Had she not reacted so strongly, I would have never put two and two together."

"So you hadn't been in her vault?"

She shook her head. "Not at that point, but afterwards we robbed it."

Draco stared at her in disbelief. "You mean to tell me the dragon escape at Gringotts was you lot?"

"They have no business keeping a creature in those conditions. The poor thing had turned white from being kept in darkness and-" She stopped to take a breath. "The next one was the diadem which we found in the Room of Requirement. I hope Harry and Ron destroyed it when they escaped."

It wouldn't have mattered if he had grown up being friends with Granger instead of her bully; Draco was never good around crying witches. She turned to him and laid her head on his shoulder and the sound of sniffles and stifled sobs filled the space around them. Awkwardly, he slid an arm around her back and let her cry it out.

Even after the tears had ceased and the breeze rustling the leaves replaced the sound of her sobs, she never moved. They both basked in the silence and fresh air as they leaned on one another until they mutually decided to head back in for lunch.