Please please review and let me know what you think! It encourages me a lot more to write when I get some feedback!

As always, everything belongs to J.K. Rowling.

"Luna you are actually the best person on this planet."

Ron snorted, "sure you aren't a bit biased there, Theo?"

Theo smirked and shook his head, "no I only speak facts actually, Weasley."

Hannah whispered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like 'children.' Hermione looked over the plans Luna had somehow been able to pocket from the Zabini attack nearly a month ago. Bellatrix's curse had messed with Luna's physicality, taking a full two weeks to heal, but few spells could touch the ingenuity of a pure Ravenclaw. As they'd looked over the plans the past two weeks, they'd found more and more information to help them stage another attack.

"If I could go in and do the spell again –"

"No." both Harry and Theo spoke at once. The scars from the past battle had made deeper cuts on the loved ones of those injured than the actual victims. Hermione found herself wondering if there were any true survivors when it came to war.

"But they could die!"

"Look 'Mione," Harry placed a soothing hand on her shoulder, "I don't want to kill any more than you do but I think the last battle was naïve. We can't fight these people without matching their fury. I wanted to try and do this right, but considering this information wasn't stolen using a forced potion and emotional trauma, I feel a little less guilty about going in with more powerful intentions." He looked up to the ceiling where Draco Malfoy was residing four floors above.

Hermione had to admit, her favorite aspect of the plans Luna had found was the fact that Draco hadn't had to be questioned in a month. She'd already taken away the free will of the people most important in her life, and she had vowed to never do it again. Yet here she was, an accessory to a crime she never intended to commit.

"At least let me warn him," she whispered through the pain she felt from betrayal seeping into her bones.

"Do you really think that will help anything?" Ron looked concerned across the table at his best friend. His sensitivity with the entire Draco Malfoy situation continuously shocked Hermione to her core. The once proud and temperamental boy she'd known had grown into an understanding and brave man.

"He deserves to know what is coming." Theo spoke resolutely next to Hermione. Ron, continuing on his apparent mission to shock her, held his tongue when Theo locked eyes with him.

"He won't like it." Harry remarked.

"Well no shit Sherlock." Theo smirked and looked over to the Gryffindor sitting next to him, "should I tell him? Or will you?"

Hermione thought of the past few weeks, how Theo hadn't so much as looked Draco in the eyes. How his jaw had tensed whenever the unwitting guest had even been mentioned, the fire that overtook his eyes whenever he gazed at Luna and the scar on her shoulder from Bellatrix's spell. "I should do it."

Draco had watched the leaves on the small tree outside his window slowly morph in an attempt the match the sun setting in the sky. It was his only clue as to how far into autumn he was, how long he'd been trapped in this house. He looked over at the pile of books next to his bed, all regarding wards and wandless magic. He could have sworn he'd been able to slightly move his razor towards his hand this morning with a wandless accio.

As strong as he was in wandless tactics such as legilimency, he'd always struggled with charms and curses. A fact that Voldemort had been more than angry about. He suspected it was why his punishments had always been more harsh than the punishments directed towards other members of the inner circle. Perhaps it was his age, or maybe it was karma – acting through the one who had influenced the karma Draco deserved in the first place. Karma really was a bitch.

Her familiar knock on his door made him turn his head to catch her eyes as she entered his room. He felt heat spread through his body, conducting electricity at his fingertips that ached to reach out and touch her, feel the connection he'd come to accept that they had. It was a fact he was still wrestling over, she'd caught him on a good day – when he'd accepted defeat.

"Malfoy, we need to talk."

"Pity Granger, I wasn't expecting this talk until at least the fifth date."

Her eyes flicked to his bed as she smiled, "Well that's what you get for rushing me to bed. All good things take time, don't you know?"

He felt a laugh build in his stomach and burst out his mouth. Unexpected and pure and, Hermione noted, maybe one of the best sounds she'd ever heard.

"You get better and better at the retorts each time I see you Granger, please tell me Theo isn't feeding you answers through one of those weird muggle talking contraptions I've seen on the passer-by on the street."

She giggled, "A cell phone?" He nodded, confused as to whether that's what he meant or not, "Nope. It's all me. I'm insulted you think so little of my intelligence." She feigned hurt as she stepped closer to where he stood at his window.

They had been in close quarters a few times since he'd nearly kissed her over two weeks previously, but it was an unspoken agreement that they did not touch. Or speak of that moment. In fact at this point, he wasn't sure it had been real. He felt the hair on his arms stand on end as she approached and mentally cursed his unwilling reaction to her presence. His ideologies fought hard against his logic and his body's responses. As much as he genuinely didn't give a shit about blood status any longer, she still stood as a muggle-born figure for the light side of this war. She stood for everything he was meant to despise, meant to eradicate. And yet, she rarely left his thoughts.

She looked up curiously at him as he fought a mental battle to resist stepping forward. She moved past him and leaned to look out at the window where he'd been watching before she'd walked in. "I've always loved autumn," she sighed happily, "the entire world feels like a sunset."

He snorted, "I never pegged you as poetic Granger."

Her smile fell and she turned to look back at him, less than a foot away and yet it felt like miles. "The war turned me into a hopeless romantic, what can I say?"

He laughed softly, "are you telling me you have fallen in love with the dying leaves on the trees?"

"I have fallen in love with all of it. With life. I've forced myself to fall in love with life while I still cling to it." The honesty of her words left him speechless. Trust Granger to find optimism in a world wracked by darkness. She looked down at her feet and then back up at him, a newfound sadness in her eyes, "I need to tell you something."

"I assume it's not good? Do I get to make good friends with the lovely Veritaserum again?" He shivered at the memory of the last questioning session, at the weakness he'd felt and shown.

"No, we're not questioning you again." She stuck out her bottom lip slightly in anger, "well for now." He shouldn't have been surprised to find she hated that they questioned him, but he was. "the Order is planning another attack."

He understood quickly and it sent his mind reeling. "They aren't going to protect anyone this time, are they?"

She shook her head woefully and he felt anger bubble in his stomach, ready to boil over. "I'm not thrilled about it either, but the decision ultimately falls down to Harry, Mad-Eye, Kingsley, and McGonagall. They were unanimous that it was too dangerous to try that again." She tried to catch his gaze but he was avoiding her, stepping backwards.

"Oh and I'm sure Potter's decision has nothing to do with the fact his precious little weasel was injured last time?

"There's no need to lash out at Ginny, it's not her fault."

"I'm only acknowledging the clear biases in place when you're fucking the chosen one."

"Malfoy!"

"Tell me I'm wrong! Tell me if someone else had been injured, then Potter would have reacted just the same!"

"He would!" He scoffed in disbelief and so she continued, "Harry believes in every single person on his side of the war, and he believes in saving them. Had any single member of the order been as injured as Ginny, he'd react the same way." She crossed her arms and added coolly, "he doesn't pick loyalties and favorites and inner circles."

Her last words were a hiss that snaked its way into his bones, finally boiling over the rage. "Do you think I fucking chose to be one of the favorites? Do you think I like this shite?" He ripped back his sleeve to reveal his mark bloodied with scabs torn apart against red and irritated skin. She gasped in shock and stared in horror at the ugly twisting snake barely visible under the damage.

"You said it was getting better."

"I lied." He bit out. He was trying to pull his sleeve back over the mark without causing further agitation. She reached out and held his hand over the hem of his sleeve.

She pulled out her wand and silently waved it over his skin. He felt like ice had settled over that tattoo, instantly soothing the burning. "If I'd known." She whispered brokenly, "If I'd known. I would have done more research; I would have been up to perform this spell every hour. It doesn't last much longer than that but if I'd known…" She trailed off and looked up him, her hand still over his.

"You don't need to do that Granger," he mumbled, distracted by her hand over his, "you don't need to help me."

"I want to." He reached out and cupped her cheek. She leaned into his touch, slightly sighing. She looked down at his arm and gently lifted his sleeve to guide it past his mark without touching the skin. He grasped her hand when it reached back down to his and laced his fingers in between hers. The anger that had been simmering now felt like a distant memory. Her eyes caught their hands locked together and a sudden realization seemed to transform her expression. She pulled her hand away from him and stepped back. "I can start doing some more research now." She opened the door to the library as he stood still rooted to the same spot. She bit her lip nervously, "do you want to join?"

He smiled despite himself and managed to pick up his feet even though they felt as though they'd been weighed down by lead. "Why not." He followed her into the library and noticed the burning from his arm seemed to have migrated to his hands, which were determined to hold onto the memory of her skin.

She looked over at Harry and shook her head, he was motioning for them to move down the hallway of the safe house they'd successfully infiltrated twenty minutes ago, but her detecting spell had sensed ten people on the floor above them. None of them had taken Polyjuice potion since the next batch had had to be scrapped and it would have taken too long to make enough for them all. And, there were only seven of them there. They were outnumbered and needed to wait for the rest of the order to get there. But Hermione had always been the logical one of the group, she wasn't surprised Harry was eager to move on without the proper reinforcements.

"We can take them." He whispered.

"You don't even know who 'them' are!" She spat back, "it could be Voldemort up there right now, the detection spell doesn't say who it is!"

Hannah remarked "she's got a point you know" at the same time that Ron rolled his eyes and agreed with Harry's plan to move forward. McGonagall was rubbing her temples behind Hermione, clearly annoyed at being surrounded by her former students. Mad-eye suddenly stumped up behind them, having remained silent until he was within feet of his destination. Kingsley was behind him along with several former Hogwarts professors. She looked out at them and felt emptiness in her chest at the missing giant face of Hagrid. Having been sought out by the ministry, giants, and Voldemort, he'd had to go into hiding in the Scottish Highlands. He sent letters when he could, but she missed him desperately.

"Right," Harry looked behind at their new arrivals and struggled to catch the attention of Dean, Padma and Neville who had crouched near the staircase about ten feet ahead of them. "Now, can we go?" The group nodded and, with wands ready, they charged up the stairs with the element of surprise on their side.

It was a blur of curses flying past her face, shield charms shooting out of her wand to protect her friends, and screams of rage from the death eaters at having been discovered. She ran to the room that appeared to be their office and magically locked the door shut. Her task was to discover more information that could help them, and she spotted battle strategies openly lying on the desk in front of her. As she leapt toward them, the window behind the desk smashed open and showered broken glass shards over her face. She felt the stings of their cuts on her cheeks, unsure of how deep they'd gone.

The rain from outside whipped into the room and began to cover the documents. She quickly stashed them into her beaded bag, sending a drying spell down to her treasure. An explosion then shook the entire house and destroyed the door to the room. She peered out at the scene of the blast and felt a sudden wave of nausea rip apart her stomach.

Pansy Parkinson laid across the floor, bent at an angle that guaranteed she had not survived the bomb. Her leg was bleeding so profusely below her knee that Hermione was not sure whether the rest of the limb remained. Despite the horrors she'd seen in war, a scream ripped out of her throat and fount a barrier against Ron's hand. He had rushed into the room upon seeing Hermione standing unprotected and now was nearly supporting her weight as her legs gave out beneath her. Harry ran towards his best friends and with a violent crack, all three had apparated back to headquarters, the broken body of Pansy stained across Hermione's eyelids.

"WHAT HAPPENED?" Hermione felt like she'd nearly burst a vein as she addressed her friends. Theo came running from the other room, having stayed back from this battle.

"We don't know!" Harry kicked the table leg in frustration as Ron apparated away again, most likely to find Hannah back at the scene of the attack. "We were battling, each Death Eater was taking on one to two order members and Pansy was going crazy, shooting curses in every direction in the middle of the room. Mad-Eye went to fight her and then as I turned my head to block Zabini from a stunning curse, I heard the explosion and was blasted off of my feet to the other side of the room." He looked at Hermione in defeat, "I think it got some of our side too. I just. I don't know. We couldn't let the documents you were retrieving get destroyed, I had to get you out of there." He embraced Hermione in a tight hug and she was reminded of her conversation with Draco a week before. Something told her that her early departure from the safe house had less to do with the contents of her bag and more to do with her status as Harry Potter's best friend. Guilt rushed through her blood, mixing with the adrenaline and horror from the day and creating sickening cocktail.

A crack resounded from the floor above them, where voices were shouting in the infirmary. More had been injured in this endless war, more had died, more love had been lost. She retched onto the floor as the images of her parents swam behind her closed eyes.

"Draco?" her voice was small behind his door and his stomach sank farther than it already had. He'd heard the yelling, the chaos of their return from the attack. Her knock at his door cemented into place what he already knew: one of his one had been injured.

"What is it Granger?" She looked pale and sick. The only hint that she'd been in battle were the numerous cuts across her cheeks. It looked like she had not even attempted to remedy them.

She shut the door behind her and shuffled towards where he sat on his bed. "It's the battle." He tried meeting her eyes but she stared determinedly at the ground, "it didn't go well…there were…there were casualties."

"On which side?"

He saw tears rolling down her cheeks as she responded, "both."

"Who died Granger?" She shook her head silently and finally looked at him, her eyes watered down with grief. She remained silent and he grew more adamant, standing up from the bed. "Granger. Who died?"

"Pansy Parkinson."

The room was spinning; surely his feet could not be planted onto the ground at this moment. Surely his body was revolving with the earth, at light speed with little coherence. One of his oldest and best friends was dead, surely reality could not cease the way in which the room rotated around him. "Who killed her?" He choked out.

"We don't know, there was an explosion and suddenly she was on the ground. It got Professor Sinestra too; she was blasted through the wall and out of the building. But Pansy…she was hit with the worst of it."

"Who. Killed. Her." His teeth ground against one another as he stepped towards her and she doubled backwards, fear covering the anguish on her face. Somewhere deep within him, he was disturbed by the fear he invoked in her, but it was buried beneath the fact that Pansy Parkinson was dead.

"I told you, we don't know."

"WELL THEN YOU'RE FUCKING USELESS AREN'T YOU?"

"Draco –"

"Get. Out."

"Please we can discuss th—"

"GET THE FUCK OUT MUDBLOOD." Regret washed over his body instantly, but the damage was done. Her jaw clenched and she subconsciously grabbed her wrist. She turned from him and walked out, slamming the door. As soon as she was gone, he allowed the ocean of emotions swirling in his head to cascade down his cheeks, hot and rushed and a cruel reminder he was alive.

Hi sorry I know this chapter is shorter than the previous ones but I liked where it ended. The next chapter will be extra long since I cut some stuff I planned to include in this chapter, so it'll spill over to the next update! I hope you guys liked this! I had some major writers block but I like the way it turned out. Please please please review, I can't say how much they make my day and make me feel inspired to write more!

Thanks!