September 23rd

It would be all too easy for Hermione to get used to sleeping in Draco's guest bed. She could see the future stretched out in front of her once she decided to quit hiding in her enemy's flat and she didn't like it. Just like the proverbial ostrich, she wished to keep her head buried in the sand just a little bit longer. Only pain and heartache and war awaited her.

Nothing had happened between the host and his surprising guest since she arrived. Hermione wasn't sure if she was relieved or offended. When she'd been there before to bargain with him about the list he claimed he could get possession of, he hadn't been able to keep his hands to himself. Had his feelings changed? Or was he simply trying to be a gentleman around a woman he believed to be in a difficult place in life?

If she'd known how rapidly her life would change with the revelation of one secret…

Experience taught her that there was no such thing as a coincidence. Not really. That was simply what people told themselves to feel better about their miserable existences. Life with Antonin was the best that it had ever been right up until that dreadful night a suit of armor was pushed on top of their son. Julia Lestrange admitted that she did it under her father's explicit orders because he wanted both of Oliver's parents to be there… so he could drop the bomb about her lost pregnancies and ruin everything that they'd been working on together. He wanted to destroy their marriage.

"A house divided against itself will not stand."

She didn't remember much about her bible lessons as a child, but she did remember that verse because her mother frequently recited it when rows between family members grew too heated. As a united couple, Antonin and Hermione Dolohov would be difficult to defeat. Shattering the relative peace of their improving marriage? It would be much easier to pick them off one by one. Clever plan.

They were set up. Someone told Rodolphus that their marriage was improving, that she was trying to make it work with her husband. Hermione could only shake her head and chuckle. She was such a fool. Such a trusting fool. Forcing herself out of the bed, she changed her clothes and readied herself to leave the flat for the final time.

Only one person with access to Rodolphus knew that she and Antonin were trying to make their marriage work. She'd all but admitted it to him during two separate meetings: once inside Andromeda's shop and the other inside his very own flat. Draco betrayed her again. Not that she was surprised any longer. He'd already proven she didn't have his loyalty. No doubt he ran straight to his uncle with the juicy gossip the first chance he could. Why else would a meeting be forced mere days later where the one secret that could destroy her marriage without question could accidentally be revealed?

"You told Rodolphus that my husband and I were getting closer, that we were trying to actually make a go of it."

Draco's fork was halfway to his mouth when she confronted him in the kitchen. Enjoying a late breakfast, he probably wasn't expecting to get called out on his duplicity by his houseguest. He wasn't able to deny her accusation. Try as hard as he might, he couldn't hide the guilt on his face from her. Too much time alone tracking dulled his deceptive talents. Or maybe she was just that good at uncovering them. It had been her career after all.

"Don't try to deny it because I know it's true."

"Hermione, I'm sor…"

She held up a hand to stop him from speaking another word.

"I don't need or want your apology, Draco. But, you will track down my husband for me. I still need to find him and you owe me one."

He stood up from the table.

"All right, but I need to deliver a message to someone else first. I was going to do that when I finished eating."

"About me?"

"No, of course not. I haven't told anyone you were here and I'm not going to."

They'd agreed to a simple truce the day before. While they were in his flat, the rest of the world didn't exist. She would be safe there. He tried to explain that he wasn't her enemy and never had been, but she refused to believe him. They each had to think about their own safety. If that put them on opposite sides, they were enemies.

"I have to give a message to Ginny Weasley."

"Is she on your side?"

"It's complicated."

"Of course it is."

Fearing that he would try to double-cross her, she insisted on going with him. She promised to stay far enough away that she couldn't actually hear the message and Ginny didn't know she was there, but she was going. Part of her feared that if she let him out of her sight for even a moment, he would betray her again. She needed to warn Antonin, to see with her own eyes that he was still all right. Maybe they wouldn't be able to recover what was lost. That didn't mean she didn't still care about him.

Once they were outside of his building tucked away in a corner where no Muggle could see them, Hermione gripped his arm tightly. Following the uncomfortable squeeze of Side-Along Apparition, they stood in the middle of a clump of large, old trees. A small house could be seen less than a fifty meters away. Hermione didn't have the first clue where they were.

"Stay here. I'll just be a few minutes and then we'll find Dolohov."

Part of her was disappointed that he wouldn't let her get close enough to hear the message he would be passing along to one of the Resistance's supposed leaders. Maybe it was something that could help her. But, she knew that it was best she stay out of sight. Her acquaintance with Draco was complicated enough and she didn't want Ginny to get the wrong idea. She was already suspicious enough about the two of them as it was.

Draco slipped out of the protection of the trees and carefully approached the small house. Hermione could tell by his movements that he was familiar with the location. How many times did he have cause to deliver a message there? And, had he been there for reasons that had nothing to do with whatever bizarre partnership existed between them? She hated the flare of jealousy at the thought of Ginny touching Draco. When the notion crossed her mind, she tried to dispel it. There was no reason for jealousy. It wasn't like she had any claim on the wizard or any desire to change that fact.

The front door opened after Draco's second soft knock. Ginny emerged clad in a tied dressing gown with mussed hair. Instead of inviting him in, she stepped outside and closed the door quietly behind her. Hours must be kept late in her house. It was long past mid-morning. Hermione didn't care what sort of activities the Resistance was currently engaged in. If she had it her way, she wouldn't have any further interactions with them for the rest of her life. She doubted that any of them would mind that too much.

His mission was over almost as soon as it began. After a gentle squeeze to his forearm, Ginny stepped back inside and Draco began the walk back to where Hermione was waiting. She hoped that she wasn't being fooled, but she supposed that if he really wanted to hurt her again, he would've taken her straight to Rodolphus. At least it seemed that he was willing to help her to assuage some of his guilt.

"Do you have something of Dolohov's?"

Hermione reached into her beaded bag to pull out her husband's pajamas. She hoped it would work as she had no other options. Draco took the garment in his hand and pointed his wand at it. A flash of light from the tip shot out to gradually engulf the item. When it was fully covered in a misty blue light, he grabbed Hermione's hand.

"Now, if this worked like it should have, when I Disapparate us away, we will end up in the approximate area Dolohov is in."

"Does it always work?"

"Sometimes it works better than others. Depends on the personal item and how long it's been since the item was last touched by the owner. If he's worn these a lot in the past and it was just a few days ago, it should work perfectly."

She prepared herself for the uncomfortable squeeze. It was over in less than a heartbeat. Standing only a few steps away from their previous location, they were both confused. Draco sighed.

"Have you washed these or worn them since he last wore them?"

"No. What's wrong?"

"I don't know. Let's try again. Sometimes it doesn't work the first time. It's not an exact magic every time."

He repeated the same action as before. Once the pajamas glowed blue, he grabbed her hand and Disapparated them again. For a second time, their feet landed back in the same general area. Frustrated, he didn't know what was wrong.

A nagging thought in the back of Hermione's mind took up root. Maybe she was paranoid and completely barmy, but she had to know. She stepped away from Draco towards the house. When he hissed at her to come back, she ignored him and kept walking. There couldn't have been more than a couple of rooms in the house. It was likely used once as a hunting lodge. She was careful to stay out of the line of sight of any of the windows and to watch her steps. One of the windows was open. She had to know.

On her first try, she found the room in the house that had a bed. Just as she thought earlier when she didn't invite Draco inside, Ginny wasn't alone. Hermione just assumed that the other person inside the house was Ginny's four year old daughter she'd told her about months earlier. Never would she have guessed that her husband was the one inside.

Antonin sat on the bed with his back leaned up against the headboard watching Ginny untie the flimsy belt at her waist. Completely naked himself, he smiled so brightly that his dimples were on prominent display. She couldn't hear what they were saying. Her heart was beating too loudly in her ears. Once the dressing gown fell to the floor in a pool at her feet, her husband's latest mistress crawled onto the bed to straddle Antonin's hips. Perhaps Draco's visit interrupted them in the middle of their pleasurable morning alone. Fearing she might vomit, but unable to look away, Hermione could see him thrust inside Ginny's body like he'd already been there a hundred times before. With one hand on her pale arse and the other fisted in her long red locks, he forced the witch's lips to his. The sound of a deep guttural moan she'd heard countless times over thirteen years snapped Hermione out of the trance that she was in watching her husband's adulterous activity.

She ran back to the trees where Draco was waiting, afraid that she was about to burst. If she didn't get away from the area, she was in serious danger of blasting the damned door down and slicing both of their throats open with a single effective charm. Draco still held Antonin's pajamas, confused and unaware of what she'd just witnessed.

"We can try it again. Maybe this time it'll work."

"No need. It worked."

With no further explanation or a thanks to the wizard that tracked down her husband for her, Hermione spun in place. She needed to get as far away from there as she could before she exploded in her rage.