September 7th

With her dreams consisting almost entirely of the blackened hole where her home in Hogsmeade once stood, Hermione wasn't able to sleep well the night after the attack. She kept reliving all of the moments they were at the Yaxleys' home. Nothing made sense. What was wrong with Corban? Who would want to attack Mafalda? She was a kind and generous woman who just happened to fall in love with a Death Eater. That wasn't exactly a fair punishment.

Before the sun was even up, she knew she couldn't linger in bed any longer. She hated feeling helpless. An idea struck her while she lay awake unable to sleep that might make her feel like she was at least doing something. Even if it didn't yield the results she wanted, at least she wouldn't feel completely worthless. Careful not to wake Antonin up, she climbed out of bed and dressed. The acrid smell of smoke clung to their clothes and hair the night before, so before either one of them slid between the sheets, they each showered. Still, she felt gross and unclean.

"Where are you going?"

Antonin's voice was heavy with sleep. He'd seemingly not had any trouble falling asleep the night before and staying that way. Hermione sat on the edge of the bed and kissed him.

"I have my own mysterious mission that I can't talk about."

It was meant to be teasing, but she couldn't deny that there was a tiny bit of bitterness in there too. For as long as the power struggle had been going on, she'd felt continually left out of what was happening. Antonin could disappear for days at a time with no explanation. Did he not understand how utterly maddening that was? When he started to demand that she tell him more, she kissed him again.

"Not as much fun being on the other side, is it?"

He ran his hand through her hair and sighed. Of course it wasn't easy for him to just let her walk out of their safe cottage without him. It wasn't easy for her when he did the same thing.

"Promise me you'll be careful."

"I'll be careful."

She sealed her promise with another kiss and left before he could give her a reason to stay. Maybe he was always afraid that when she walked out of the door it would be because she was running away again. It wasn't as if she could blame him for that fear. She'd given him a lot of reasons over the years to suspect that she didn't want to be with him. Truthfully, it seemed like every day she was changing her mind about their future, whether it would be together or separate. She feared that she might not ever have a definitive answer.

Experience as an interrogator taught her that it was best to catch someone off-guard first thing in the morning. Being awoken out of a deep sleep generally made for disoriented subjects. With this knowledge stored away, Hermione Disapparated away from the cottage before the first rays of the morning sun were even visible over the horizon. Landing seconds later in front of a building she'd been in several times over the course of the previous several months, she didn't waste a second heading straight for the uppermost floor. If she talked herself out of what she was about to do, she didn't think she'd have the courage to try again.

Pounding her fists on Draco's flat door, she prepared herself for the moment the wizard would pull the door open. She had to be ready to strike the first second he gave her the opportunity. Within seconds of the sleepy wizard opening the door, Hermione pushed her way into the flat, grabbing his collar in one hand as she pointed her wand under his chin with the other.

"I have some questions for you, Draco. Sit down and don't even think about trying anything."

She was relying on the fact that he never seemed to want to hurt her in the past. Conducting interrogations outside of the safety of Level Eleven required more than just a single person. When she used to do them in the past, she had several at her disposal. Rabastan was often with her too. Funny how there was once a time that she actually felt safer with that horrible man at her back. Now, she couldn't even trust him to be in the same room. So much changed within a short period of time.

Draco seemed reluctant to do as he was ordered. They were on similar levels with their magic. If he wanted to be a bother, he could fight her and possibly even win. She didn't want it to come to that. All she wanted was to have a somewhat civilized conversation with the man. Waking him up before the sun was simply a tactic to make him unsettled. It worked well for her in the past. Likely making the decision that it was too early for a duel and maybe he was even interested in what she had to say, the wizard did as he was told. He took a seat on the luxurious sofa where a few fond memories were made. Clearing her throat, Hermione tried to push those images out of her mind as she sat down next to him, her wand still pointed at him.

"What is all of this about, Hermione? Do you know what time it is?"

"Of course I know what time it is. And I am the one asking the questions."

He sighed and quickly stifled a yawn. Evidently he hadn't had nearly enough sleep to satisfy his needs. Perhaps that was another reason he was cooperating. The sooner she got what she needed, the sooner he could go back to bed. Sometimes he could be quite practical.

Now that she was in the same room with the wizard, she didn't know where to even begin. Dozens of questions swirled around in her mind, but none of them seemed like the right one to ask. Draco just stared at her, waiting for her to say something and further making her nervous.

"Did you really mean what you said the last night I was in your flat about thinking you were falling in love with me? Or was that just another manipulation?"

Of all of the potential questions she could've asked, Hermione was surprised by the one that tumbled off her tongue. So was Draco if his rattled expression could be trusted. Opening his mouth to answer, he closed it before a single word came out. It seemed that she wasn't the only one who was caught off-guard by her line of inquiry. He ran his hand through his hair, further mussing it from his sleep. She liked him when he was relaxed and natural. Somehow she got the impression that very few people had ever had the opportunity to see him that way.

"That's a rather interesting question. I didn't expect that."

She stopped herself before she admitted that she didn't expect it either. The damage had already been done. Clearly, even without her realizing it, Draco's feelings for her was the question she most wanted to know the answer to. Everything else could wait.

"Just answer it, Draco. Was it just another manipulation?"

"No, it wasn't. It was the truth."

Even with the words spoken aloud, Hermione didn't know if she could believe them. He wasn't a man that she could easily trust. Hadn't he proven that already? He'd betrayed her to his uncle. Yes, Rodolphus would've likely been able to put the pieces together that Hermione knew something was up with her mind thanks to her husband rushing off to his brother and demanding to know where he was. He was a smart enough wizard to know that the only reason Antonin would be that angry was if he knew what he'd been doing to his wife for so long. But, Draco was the one who actually told him that she was the one who was looking for him. Maybe he didn't realize the significance of his actions. Didn't matter. He'd already proven that he couldn't be trusted.

"I wish everything could be different, Hermione. All of it. I never wanted you to get hurt."

The distance between the two of them on the sofa was closed before she even registered he was moving. What a dreadful interrogator she'd turned out to be. She didn't even notice that he was close enough to kiss her until his lips were already against hers. Never should she have allowed him to get so close to her. If this had happened in an actual interrogation, she would've been in terrible danger. She still wasn't convinced she was safe even as she sighed and opened her mouth to allow him to deepen the kiss.

It was wrong. All of it. Every single passionate second of their heated kiss was wrong. She knew that she had to get control of the situation or she'd end up doing something she regretted and not getting the information she needed. Placing her hands on his chest, she pushed the wizard back and away from her. When he moved to kiss her again, she reminded him that she was in charge by sticking the end of her wand under his chin. She needed a few moments to compose herself before they could continue.

"Were you involved in any way with placing the memory charms in my mind with Rodolphus?"

"No, not at all."

His denial was so vehement that she couldn't help but believe him. She was glad to know that he wasn't involved to that extent. Maybe there was some hope for him that he wasn't completely terrible yet.

"I swear it, Hermione. I had no idea what he was doing."

"What did your uncle ask you to do for him?"

"He just wanted me to track you down and report back to him. That's it. I had no idea why he wanted to know where you were, but right at the end of the year he asked me to find you."

She always knew that there was someone who ordered him to track her down. At first she thought it was the Dark Lord and then her husband. Never once did she suspect Rodolphus. Of course up until the sessions where the memory charms were removed, she was under the impression that she hadn't even seen the man for four years until she moved into the Resistance village. That brought up another question she'd been curious about.

"Why did you want me to come to the village?"

"Because Rodolphus and I were worried you weren't going to make it much longer on your own. In the village, at least we knew you'd be safe."

It made sense. She was struggling by the time she made it to the village in Devon. In fact, she'd almost been caught on multiple occasions and she'd gotten very sick in London. If it hadn't been for Augustus, she might've either died on the streets or been dragged back to Hogsmeade against her will. The more she considered her suspicious illness, the more she suspected that Alecto had something to do with it. The timing was odd. She got very sick right after staying the night in her flat. And the horrible woman knew that she would go to the Leaky Cauldron despite her suggestion that she stay far away. Augustus said she hadn't been very subtle in front of Antonin either. Likely she was hoping that her husband would find her in the street sick with fever. When the hateful bitch crossed her path again…

"I don't know if I can trust you, Draco. You've already betrayed me. Every word you've said to me could be nothing more than a lie."

"I could've told Rodolphus you were in Rook's house weeks ago, but I didn't. I could stun you right now and tell him you're here, but I won't."

"What is it that you truly want out of all of this? Prestige? Power?"

He didn't know how to answer the question. Or, perhaps more likely, he just wasn't willing to tell her what he wanted. Deciding that she was done for the moment, Hermione stood to her feet.

"You need to decide whose side you're really on, Draco."

She turned to walk towards the front door, but was stopped by a gentle grasp of her arm. Draco kept her in place long enough to stand to kiss her again. Every bit as passionate as the first kiss, Hermione could tell that he wanted more. They both wanted more. There was a time in the not-so-distant past that she would've gone to bed with him without a second thought.

But, a lot was different. All she could think of as she returned his heated kiss was her husband. Antonin was still back in their temporary home waiting for her, worrying that she wasn't being careful. She pushed Draco away and ran from the flat. She couldn't trust herself around the wizard.