Hi everyone, sorry for the delay, I was on vacation the past week. I hope the length of this chapter makes up for it! As always, please please review! They absolutely make my day!

"Draco?" Theo knocked on his door, but if that fucker thought he was getting a response, he was sorely mistaken. "Mate just let me come in and talk to you."

It had been two days since his questioning, although Madam Pomfrey had fixed up his face from his passing out, he still felt pain radiating through his body. Images of his family and friends circled through his mind, taunting him, whispering "traitor" as he tried – and failed – to fall asleep.

The door creaked open and he shot daggers at Theo's guilty looking form. His dark hair fell in front of his eyes, pools of shame shining out of his structured face. Draco tried to hide his shock when he saw Potter standing anxiously behind Theo. His promise to remain silent finally broke.

"What the actual fuck do the two of you want?" He stood from his bed and strode over to the door, "Come to steal more secrets from my unwilling mouth? Sentence more of my loved ones to death? So sorry but I can't say I'm totally in the mood right now. Maybe tomorrow."

"Malfoy," Harry spoke, "I wanted to speak to you about the Zabini residence. We're going to launch an attack, but we want to try and minimize the damage done." He opened the door fully, "Hermione had the idea to destroy the residence without hurting anyone there, that way our side still gains by destroying a safe house but you aren't responsible for hurting your friends and family." He looked up at Draco, blazing green eyes that held genuine concern.

Draco scoffed, "You expect me to believe that you lot will go into a Death Eater safe house and refrain from hurting the Death Eaters? How dumb do you actually think I am?"

Theo cleared his throat, "I thought it seemed impossible too, but Hermione came up with a plan."

"Oh and where is the dear golden girl?"

"Neville was injured after running into Macnair in Diagon Alley this morning. Luckily he had drank Polyjuice Potion or else Macnair would have aimed to kill. She's been helping tend to his wounds because Pomfrey is sick." Harry looked around the room surrounding Draco, "She was supposed to come up here with Theo but I said I'd go."

"She can come up to talk to you about it later if you'd prefer," Theo added hastily onto Harry's statement. Draco felt suspicion creeping over his body and could tell his face showed it, "She should be done in a bit, but well…you hadn't spoken a word for two days and we just, we were worried and wanted to tell you about this possibility."

"Oh you were worried about me? How sweet." Sarcasm and ice dripped off Draco's tongue "Didn't seem so worried when you shoved potion down my throat and forced me to become a fucking traitor. Where was the concern then dear Theo? Do I only warrant pity once I shut my mouth? Once I do something of my own free will?" Draco stepped back from the door, "Get the fuck away from me, both of you. Feel free to send Granger whenever she's done with the pathetic oaf that is Neville Longbottom."

"Hey! You can – "

"We'll send her up." Theo interrupted Harry's defense of Neville with a sigh. Draco slammed the door and went back to lie on his bed. His breakfast and lunch sat untouched on his bedside table.

A few hours later, he heard Granger's familiar knock on the door. She hesitantly opened the door, holding his dinner. "Malfoy? I brought you dinner, please eat this one." She set it down next to his other two meals and sat on the end of his bed.

He raised an eyebrow, "Who knew I'd only have to sulk a few days to get Granger into my bed."

She blushed but her eyes were blazing, "Really Malfoy, couldn't even take me on a date first. Tut tut." She half smiled at his surprise to her response. She stared over to his bedside table and her smile fell, "Theo told me you spoke with him and Harry?"

"Oh yes, excellent little chit chat between the bestest of friends." Draco rolled his eyes and got up from his bed to go into the library. Hermione followed him.

"Then you know I have a plan to ensure the safety of your friends and family!" He ignored her and picked up a book off the shelf nearest his favorite armchair. She huffed and ripped the book from his hands. "We aren't going to hurt any of them."

"And you expect me to fucking believe you? Look Granger, you've been friendly and all, I won't deny that, but don't sit here and pretend we're on the same side of this war. Don't you dare look me in the eyes and tell me you wouldn't be overjoyed to see Bellatrix Lestrange dead."

"I wouldn't!" She yelled. "I hate the woman. I truly do," her hand went to grasp at her wrist where he knew that word was etched into her skin. He felt bile rise to the back of his throat at the memory of that day. How desperate he'd been for an end to all of this. How desperate he still was. Her words stole his attention back to their conversation, "but I'm not a murderer. And I'm tired of watching my friends become one." She set the book she'd stolen from him down on the table and walked closer to him, closer than she ever had, "and if it was me being captured and questioned, if I'd been forced to give up the people dearest to me, I'd pray to every non-existent god that they'd spare them." She stood inches from him, brown eyes gazing into silver, "you don't deserve to live with the guilt of their lives on your hands. You don't deserve any of it. No one does."

Draco didn't know what to say. He knew Granger was selfless, anyone who had to hear about her ridiculous SPEW campaign at school knew about her giving heart. But this, this was more. He could feel her breath on his neck as she looked up at him, begging him to believe her. And fuck, he did. His cold heart told him he'd regret it, but he trusted her.

"You'll save them? All of them?" She could taste mint on his breath as he stared down at her. She could also hear her heart beating in her chest, for entirely different reasons than she expected. Flecks of blue dotted his eyes and she was reminded of an ocean, wracked by storms.

"All of them," she whispered. Noise seemed too delicate for this situation, once she'd stepped into his space, once his scent had invaded her mind.

"They're monsters. Some of them, they're the monsters you hide from in the dark."

"Well according to you, aren't we all?"

He dropped her gaze and looked down at her wrist that she was still holding. His fingers wrapped around hers and his eyebrows knit his forehead into regret, "she'll be there, I'm almost certain." He saw goose bumps rise on her arm but in this moment, he wasn't sure if it was due to his words or the way he'd absentmindedly begun rubbing his fingers against hers, as though he could erase the scar with the touch of his hand.

"I know." Her breath was hitched; she feared she might shatter the peace if she allowed herself to fully inhale. She was looking down at his hand and she felt fire from the place where their skin touched. He brought his hand to her chin and tilted her face up to look at his once more. His lips were slightly parted and she was startled to find butterflies erupting in her stomach at the idea of closing the distance, of feeling them against her own. Her fright at her body's response must have shown because he suddenly looked confused, scanning her face for signs.

Minutes – or possibly hours – passed before he spoke once more, "They don't deserve you."

"Which side?"

"Both." He tilted his head and leaned towards her and suddenly the door to the library burst open, revealing Theo.

"Hermione, Harry was asking for you for the strategy meeting in a few minutes I just thought I – " he cut off as he looked up to find Draco and Hermione standing dangerously close to one another. Draco's hand quickly stashed into his pocket, a place Theo was sure it hadn't been moment before. Hermione hastily stepped away from the Slytherin, nearly tripping over her own feet. Her cheeks were painted red and, Theo was surprised to find, so were Draco's.

"Can you tell him I'll be down in ten minutes? I'm not finished explaining the plan to Malfoy." Theo smirked as Hermione refused to look up at him.

"Yeah I'll let him know." He met Draco's eyes and turned to leave the room, softly closing the door behind him.

"So Hermione will go in the first wave and cast the spell she's found. Our batch of Polyjuice Potion will be done in a week so as soon as it finishes we can attack." Harry addressed the table of Order members, consisting mostly of members his same age.

"And what is this spell again?" Ginny asked.

"It encases people in a protective charm from any burns or fire. I found it in the library a few weeks ago. It is usually meant for one to two people but I think I can cover the people at the safe house."

"And remind me again why we even care about the safety of them? They're fucking murderers." Padma was livid at the end of the table, her boyfriend, Dean, looking equally as angry.

"Because if we do not have to kill, why would we?" Luna had an uncharacteristic ice to her voice.

"No one said we'd kill them, but I think they could stand to be roughed up a bit." Ever since the information about Seamus' death had filtered through the Order, Dean had become a more ruthless version of himself.

"The charm only protects from fire because we are going to blow up the safe house," Ron looked annoyed, "did 'Mione say anything about protection against spells?"

"Weren't you the most eager to kill Malfoy when he showed up a few months ago, Ron?" Dean began to stand from his seat, "Since when are you concerned with the safety of any Death Eater?"

"Since my best friend reminded me what it's like to have some fucking humanity." He roared over the growing chatter at the table.

"He chopped up my best friend so excuse me if I'm not eager to extend humanity!" Dean yelled back.

"Stop yelling at Ron for something someone else did, Dean."

"I can defend myself, Theo." Ron spat. Theo's hands went up in surrender as he rolled his eyes.

"Enough!" Harry nearly screamed over the table. Everyone fell silent. "We are doing this because I'm tired of casualties and the way we got this information was immoral in the first place, so may as well try to be as light as they believe us to be. We are not killing anyone on this mission. That is final."

Hermione unfurled the plans they'd drawn up of the house, based on all the research of the Zabini family and the area's architecture she'd been able to do in the past few days. "Now, Ron and myself will approach from the South side of the house in the first wave while Kingsley and McGonagall will approach from the North." She pointed at the map, "in the second wave Ginny and Luna will approach from the East and Neville and Dean will come in from the South. The goal is to be in and out within twenty minutes. We will go in, I will cast the spell and we will try to steal as many plans or information as we can. The second wave will help to set fire to the building and then we will blow it up right before apparating away." She looked around the table, "are there any questions?" The entire table shook their head as she rolled the map back up. "Excellent. Then we will plan to attack September 2nd."

He kept feeling her skin under his hands, her pulse racing against his own and her eyes, deep and chocolate, staring up at him. Why the fuck had he let her get so close to him? And why the fuck had he liked it? Draco felt a swoop in his stomach at the thought of how close he'd been to kissing her. What the fuck was wrong with him?

It had been a week since she'd come to him with her plan for the attack, a plan that he had to admit, was genius. She had come up with his breakfast that morning to tell him they planned to attack today and his stomach had been in knots ever since. All he'd been able to think about for a week was this attack and her. The dusting of freckles he'd noticed on her nose, they way she'd looked up at him with confusion and dare he say it, wanting?

When thoughts of her lessened, worry and fear for his friends and family settled into his heart. He'd spent the better part of his life assuring those around him that he was a cold, unfeeling person. It was better this way, he had few to disappoint and few to upset. He had set the expectations low and it was the way he was most comfortable. But he'd sooner rush into a burning building than sit and watch the most important people in his life burn.

A sudden crash and shouts of terror and anger pulled him out of his thoughts as he walked to his door and pressed an ear against the ancient wood. Two floors below, someone was screaming and someone else was screaming even louder back at them. From what he could guess, the mission was over – and it hadn't gone well. The worry he'd been thinking about for the past week grew like a weed in his stomach, the chaos from downstairs feeding its roots.

Hermione felt the ground hit her feet and she allowed her lungs air from the moment of suppression that came with apparition. Anxiety already swirled in her stomach and she pictured her parents in her head. Every battle she went into, they were all she could see. Would she die without ever fixing them, without ever finding them again? Would their only daughter die without them being the wiser to her existence? A sound tore her from her thoughts.

Ron popped up beside her, apprehensively looking ahead towards the sea. He had taken Polyjuice potion to look like the mailman who walked by Grimmauld Place each morning. The house was right in front of them, they just needed to wait for McGonagall and Kingsley to bring down the ward.

A moment later, the house appeared suddenly blocking their view of the ocean. "Let's get this over with," Ron sighed. He and Hermione climbed up the slight hill he house sat on and were instantly met with two Death Eaters. Before they could begin to duel them, Kingsley appeared at Hermione's side.

"Go!" He yelled to her while casting a shield charm. She didn't wait to be told twice. The Polyjuice Potion she'd taken, from the identity of a random muggle girl who worked at a coffee shop near Headquarters, had lengthened her legs and she found herself wishing she could always run this easily. She burst into the door and immediately threw up a powerful shield charm as three more Death Eaters leapt to their feet at her arrival. By the surprise on their faces, they had not been prepared for any kind of attack.

She recognized Dolohov and Goyle but the third had on a mask. Their spells were beginning to break down her shield and so with as much haste as possible she thrust her wand into the air, "ignis clypeus!" She shouted. The three Death Eaters looked around curiously as they felt the spell begin to take effect. There was a slight, orange glow around their bodies and by the fury twisting their features, they thought she'd just cursed them. If only you knew, she thought bitterly to herself.

Just as she'd been about to exit the house, a fourth Death Eater rounded the corner and broke down her shield charm. Crazed black eyes stared out from a mass of black, curly hair that framed defined cheekbones. Bellatrix Lestrange had the look of murder written all over her face. Hermione felt as though she'd just been doused in ice water, freezing her joints and rooting her to the spot.

"Aw are the Order recruiting precious students now?" She looked at her skin with its slight orange glow, "and talented ones at that. Hi pretty girly, I hope you're a pathetic mudblood, it'd be a shame to spill pure blood." She raised her wand to curse Hermione but then two pops behind her gave Hermione time to send out a stunning curse. Ginny and Luna had arrived, early and in the wrong location. Both without the Polyjuice potion they were supposed to have taken.

They began to duel Bellatrix, who had narrowly missed Hermione's stunning curse, and signaled for Hermione to leave the house. But then how were they planning on getting out? She didn't have time to consider the answer however because Ron had suddenly grabbed her hand and yanked her away from the house. She crashed back on the floor of Headquarters, rage seething through her.

"What was that for?!" She turned on Ron who was dusting off his pants, "Ginny and Luna are still in the house!"

"McGonagall is handling it!" He shouted back, "Something went wrong with the Polyjuice potion, yours was about to wear off and mine had already turned my features back to their original state. You want the Death Eaters to suddenly realize they're dealing with Hermione Granger and not some random girl? You want them to torture you instead of a quick death? Because that's what was about to happen!" Ron's face was red and his hair was slowly turning to match it.

"That's the last time I let Padma take charge on making potions." Hermione grumbled and began pacing the room. Her friends were still out there and the entire plan was falling apart at the seams.

Five minutes later, two pops signaled the return of Dean and Kingsley. Dean was holding up Neville who had a bloody nose and looked semi-conscious. Theo, who had run into the room two minutes earlier, looked apprehensive, "Where's Luna?" He scanned the three men but none could supply an answer. Theo ran a hand through his hair, worry written across his features.

Harry, who had been pacing since Ron and Hermione returned, stood shaking in the corner of the room. "What about Ginny?" He whispered, too afraid for the answer. All he received was a sorry silence. They waited another ten minutes, Hannah offering to get them all tea without a response.

Finally, another pop brought everyone's attention the other end of the room, where McGonagall was supporting both Ginny and Luna. It was hard to tell which girl was worse off, with blood and bruises marring their faces. Neither seemed to be conscious. Harry and Theo sprinted to the sides of their girlfriends, tension apparent in every aspect of their posture.

"What happened?!" Theo screamed at McGonagall.

"Bellatrix. They were both battling her inside the house when the fire began and Hermione didn't get a chance to cast them with the fire protection spell." She looked somber and she allowed both Harry and Theo to support Ginny and Luna. "I was able to get them out before the house blew up, but they'd already been badly injured by Bellatrix. Get them up to the infirmary, quickly." She gestured to the stairs and everyone collectively helped lift the girls up the stairs up to Madam Pomfrey, who still had Neville's blood on her robes.

Harry and Theo both paced anxiously as Pomfrey and Hermione worked tirelessly to tend to Luna and Ginny's wounds. Hannah, who had been training with Pomfrey the past few weeks, came up to help. After an hour, the girls finally looked like themselves, save for a few bruises that didn't seem to want to heal. Luna had suffered the worst damage, having been on the receiving end of an internal injury curse. Once Hermione, Pomfrey, and Hannah finished up, Theo raced to her bed with tears streaming down his cheeks.

"The next time I see that evil woman, I'm gonna kill her." He said through ground teeth. Harry nodded in agreement from Ginny's bedside, tears also in his eyes. The rest of the Order silently crept out of the infirmary, allowing privacy for them. Hermione sighed and climbed up to the library, defeated, tired, and more than anything – angry.

Two weeks after the battle at the Zabini safehouse, Ginny and Luna were finally back to their normal selves. Theo and Harry had calmed down, but resentment towards the Death Eaters had grown even stronger in them. Theo had refused to speak to Draco – or even look at him. As if Draco himself had been the one to try and kill his girlfriend. Hermione had been more subdued with him too, barely offering conversation for each meal she brought. She'd refused to look him in the eyes once and he was growing impatient and more importantly – bored.

On the night of a particularly bad storm, he walked into the library to find her curled up in his favorite armchair. She was reading that damn history book of Hogwarts, which he was sure he'd already seen her reading at least three times before this. A stack of burn relief books sat on the table next to her. They were on top of the several books on wards he'd been looking over the past few weeks. He was still desperate to understand how the wards had gone down when he'd escaped Voldemort. But the more he looked, the less answers he seemed to find.

"You're in my seat Granger."

"Does it have your name on it?" She responded pettily without looking up. He rolled his eyes and settled into the chair on the other side of the couch. They sat in silence for a little over ten minutes before he finally cracked.

"You know if you were going to be angry at me for your whole plan with the Zabini house then why did you even do it in the first place?"

She looked up, surprised. "I'm not angry at you."

"Oh sure, and Theo thinks the world of me too."

"I can't speak for Theo, but I'm not angry at you. If I had to go back, I'd still protect every person in that house." She bit her bottom lip, concern pooling in her eyes. "I wish the rest of the attack hadn't gone the way it did. But I don't blame you for any of it, and I'm not angry with you."

"Well then why the fuck have you been so quiet the past few weeks?" He stood and sat on the side of the couch nearest her, "You won't even look me in the eyes."

She shut her book and looked over at him, the damned butterflies he'd been trying to ignore when it came to her fluttered in his chest. "Why do you care Malfoy?"

He didn't have an answer for that one. Why did he care? Why was he so eager for their conversations, to look into her eyes? "I don't. But I sit around doing nothing all day, every day. So you can't blame me for getting curious."

"I don't like battles. I don't like when they go poorly. And I especially don't like when it's my fault." She looked down at her lap, ashamed.

Draco's eyebrows shot up on his forehead. "How the fuck is my crazed aunt your fault? How is anything that happened your fault?"

"It doesn't matter." She stood from her chair and began to walk away from him.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her back, within inches of him. "Yes. It does matter." He let go of her arm but she made no attempt to move away from him. "You're a lot of things Granger, but dumb isn't one of them. But you sure are acting like it. The battle wasn't your fault."

She looked up at him through her lashes, "I froze. When I saw her, I froze. Everything came back and I froze. And I couldn't help them."

He mentally reminded himself to refrain from taking her into his arms, to offer comfort in any way he could. What the fuck was wrong with him, when had he gone softer than saint Potter? "She still bothers you that much?"

She stepped away from him, "you have the most insulting word known to wizard-kind carved into your arm by a deranged lunatic and then you tell me you'd be just peachy running into her!" She shouted. "So sorry I can't turn off my feelings all the god damn time like you seem to."

"I think you're forgetting that deranged lunatic is my aunt. And that I report to the biggest deranged lunatic of them all. So yes, I do know where you're coming from. I just, I didn't know she bothered you that much. You seemed fine with seeing her last time we talked." The memory of last time, of her freckles and the feeling of her skin flew into his mind. He almost ached to reach out to her.

"Well she does." Hermione retorted, softer this time. "I can't just turn it off. If I could, I wouldn't be so nervous every time I go into battle. If I could, maybe I'd be able to move on, sleep a full night. But I can't." Draco felt his pride take a harsh blow at her words. His assurance that no one in this prison could understand how he felt, that they were all pampered self-righteous bastards went out the window. Here he was, standing across from someone who very much understood. And despite it all, was warm and kind and soft. He was jealous of her grace, her forgiveness, her heart.

"I'm sorry."

She whipped her head up to look at him, "What did you just say?"

"I said I'm sorry. I'm sorry the war has done this to you. You don't deserve it."

"Thank you," she replied slightly awkwardly, "you don't either."

He chuckled, "Yeah I think you've told me that – just once or twice."

She laughed and he found himself falling for the sound of it, what he'd do to hear it again and again. He mentally punched himself, what the fuck was getting into him?

"Well I meant it," she said, "in case you didn't know." She smiled and settled back onto the chair with her book. He smiled softly and settled into the other chair. They sat in silence for hours, a new understanding seeming to bridge the gap neither had realized was there until it wasn't. The silence was comfortable, but as Draco's thoughts seemed unable to allow him to forget, it would be a hell of a lot more comfortable if she was sitting next to him.

I hope everyone liked this chapter! It took me a bit to write and I apologize for typos, I tried reading through it and catching what I could. Please please review and let me know what you think! Thanks!