It wasn't a surprise when Hagrid showed up at the Quidditch match to pull Hermione and Harry away from the game, but as she looked up at the full giant in front of her, she felt her breath leave her body. She'd forgotten how big Grawp actually was. She'd forgotten even more what it felt like to be lifted from the ground and treated like a toy. It was nothing like riding a blind dragon, but the fear felt very much the same as it did the first time Grawp lifted her off the ground.

"Put me down. Now," she told the giant, hoping her quivering voice didn't betray her. There were so many bits of life she had thought she remembered, that she thought she mastered, but the fear started becoming an overwhelming presence in each thing they did

Somehow she had forgotten about her encounter with the centaurs in the Forest. Magorian was nothing like Firenze.

"Hagrid," said Hermione in a calm and level voice, as both Bane and the gray centaur pawed at the ground, "let's go."

Hermione and Harry had to push Hagrid from the forest, but she was glad her second encounter with them went much like the first. She hoped it meant that the future would repeat itself once again when she dragged Umbridge back in later.

This time she kept her tears in check. There was no use fighting with Harry. She knew his loyalty for Hagrid was unmatched, and mentioning that Hagrid's teaching methods were subpar would get them nowhere. She needed to focus on the upcoming fight at the Department of Mysteries.

With the fight so close, Hermione and Draco started discussing the change they hoped to make. While Hermione's first thought was to save Sirius, Draco seemed to think Fate wouldn't allow such a large change.

"I'd rather focus on your shield spell," he grumbled once again as they sat on the floor in front of the fire in the Room of Requirement. She had laid out all her notes and hand-drawn maps of the Department of Mysteries.

Draco leaned with his back against the couch and his legs spread in front of him, giving Hermione the perfect space to sit between them and use him as a backrest. He held onto the maps in front of them and hummed as he studied it thoughtfully.

"Can we avoid any of this? The Brain Room seems like a waste of time?"

"I thought you didn't want to change too much; that's where Ron gets attacked."

"Okay, it can stay," he smirked.

Hermione rolled her eyes despite him not being able to see. "I thought you were becoming friends."

"Civil. Potter and I are friends. Weasley and I are civil." Draco dropped the map and wrapped his arms around her middle.

"Semantics," she huffed, trying to ignore his soft lips on the spot between her ear and neck. The gold in her veins began to heat and caused her to wiggle slightly. "There's no reason to hold a grudge."

"I'm not holding a grudge," Draco snorted, but Hermione could tell he was lying. His hand wandered under her shirt and cupped her breast softly.

"Oh no?" she challenged.

"No," he confirmed with his teeth biting into the soft skin of her shoulder, causing her heart to beat loudly in her chest. "Because even if nothing significant changes during this fight, we're still going to walk away from it together."

Hermione nodded, trying to pay attention to his words as his other hand slipped between her legs. The gold in her blood bubbled, aching for his touch.

"And once I know you are safe, I plan to finally make you mine the way we're supposed to be," he purred in her ear as his fingers made her gasp.

The gold in her body wrapped around her heart, and reached out for him, wanting nothing more than to bond with him finally.

"Please," she whined, both for his fingers and for her bond that would do anything to be finally his. "Draco, please."

"Turn over your papers," said Professor Marchbanks from the front of the Hall, flicking over the giant hourglass. "You may begin…."

Hermione watched as the other students in the Hall turned over their History of Magic OWL exam and started writing away. The only other student that did not begin their exam was Draco, sitting in the very back row, leaning back with his arms crossed behind his head like he was lounging in his Common Room.

When his eyes caught her, he smirked wide enough to make her roll her eyes. She understood there was no point in beginning their exam, it was only a matter of minutes until Harry's vision, but he could be a little less conspicuous about the whole thing. Especially as he pulled out his silver watch to check the time as if Voldemort was taking too long to penetrate Harry's mind.

Though Hermione wasn't surprised that Draco was waiting for the chaos to start. They'd been up late into the night, going over what they each remembered about the night and their best plan of attack. And doing, well, other things to sate their bond as it refused to settle, knowing that soon they would seal it.

"Take your test," Hermione mouthed from across the room. Despite having already learned the material, she still did not want to have a poor grade in this timeline.

"Fine," he mouthed back, picking up his quill and starting on his exam, slow and lazy. She wondered if he was even trying.

Hermione returned to her exam and started on her answers. She tried to be as lackadaisical as Draco but soon found herself asking for extra parchment, writing more than necessary for each answer. She ignored the chuckle from a few rows back.

She was so caught up in her exam she jumped when Harry yelped and passed out. She'd forgotten how terrifying it had been that afternoon. She watched Harry leave the hall and glanced back at Draco. He was staring right at her; a soft bloom of warmth spread through her chest, reassuring her of the events to come.

When the exam was over, Hermione headed to find Harry with Ron, just as she planned. She watched as Draco slunk away toward the dungeons to fulfill his part of the plan.

"Voldemort's got Sirius," Harry said quickly as he approached Hermione and Ron. He led them along the first-floor corridor, finding an empty classroom for them to speak in private. Hermione swallowed hard, doing her best to be concerned but also allow everything to unfold. She couldn't change this. Voldemort had to be seen. But as Harry continued to panic about Sirius, Hermione's heart cracked.

"How are we going to get there?" Harry asked, looking at Hermione for an answer.

She blinked. She knew the answer, the right answer even, but it wasn't time just yet.

"G-get there?" Ron asked.

"Get to the Department of Mysteries, so we can rescue Sirius!" Harry shouted.

Hermione took a deep breath to steady herself. It was funny how she had remembered this moment so quickly and panicked. She had been so sure that Harry flew into a panic to speak to Sirius; she'd completely forgotten it had been her cool thinking to convince him to speak to Sirius before they ran off to the Ministry.

Again, just like she did all those years ago, she tried to calm Harry and logically discuss how Voldemort could have even gotten into the Ministry undetected. It hurt now to know that she was right back then, that if she had been better at convincing Harry it was impossible for Voldemort to be at the Ministry, then they would have never gone there.

"You… this isn't criticism Harry! But you do… sort of… I mean– don't you think you've got a bit of a— a saving-people-thing?" Hermione asked, grimacing as the words left her mouth. She wasn't scared of Harry like she had been before, but she knew that he would react just as poorly. Especially as she continued to explain herself.

Harry paced around the room, growing more and more irritated with her. Hermione wanted to shut her mouth, but she knew this was how things went. How they had to go again.

"I'm just trying to say–Voldemort knows you, Harry! He took Ginny down into the Chamber of Secrets to lure you there, it's the kind of thing he does, he knows you're the – the sort of person who'd go to Sirius's aid! What if he's just trying to get you into the Department of Myst–?"

"Hermione, it doesn't matter if he's done it to get me there or not–" Harry started in on her again, "If we don't go, Sirius is dead!"

"And what if going is what kills him!" Hermione snapped. "You were supposed to turn off your mind– not to stop yourself from seeing things–"

"IF YOU THINK I'M JUST GOING TO ACT LIKE I HAVEN'T SEEN–"

"WHAT YOU SAW WASN'T REAL!"

Ron jumped from her sudden outburst, but Harry froze, not suspecting her to fight back.

"We just went over that you have no way to prove that it was real! You let Voldemort know you can see into his mind when you saved Mr. Weasley; you should have stopped him from finding a way back into yours!"

Hermione fumed, with her resolve finally cracked. She knew she agreed things had to go as they had before, but she couldn't hold it back. Part of her had wished that maybe, just maybe, if Draco had been the one teaching Harry Occlumency, none of this would even be happening.

The classroom door opened. Hermione, Harry, and Ron whipped around to see Ginny walking in, looking curious, with Luna following her as if she'd drifted in accidentally.

"Never heard Hermione yell before like that– what'd you two do now?" Ginny asked.

"Never you mind," said Harry roughly.

"Don't be rude," Luna snapped, moving slightly in front of Ginny even though she looked like she could hold her own against Harry easily.

"Harry thinks Sirius has been taken by Voldemort to the Department of Mysteries and is too stubborn to get actual proof instead of killing us all."

"And how do you think we can even get proof!" Harry snapped back.

"Didn't Sirius give you a gift this Christmas? He said to use it if you need him?" Hermione snapped without thinking.

"How'd you know–" Harry gapped at her, but Hermione couldn't hold back.

"WELL, I SUGGEST YOU USE IT!"

The classroom door opened again. This time Draco slid in, hands in his pockets, eyebrows raised.

"Going off script, Granger?" He smirked, finding a desk to lean against, hands still in his pockets and looking rather nonchalant at the whole thing. Ginny was the only one that seemed confused to see him there, but it was still odd.

"Yes, well, if we can avoid Umbridge–"

"Umbridge's still got her Floo connected," Ron finally piped up. "Why don't you try Sirius on that?"

"No! Just go get–"

Harry cut her off. "Ron's right, we can use Umbridge's Floo, and with Malfoy here, he can let us know if she's on her way."

Hermione tugged at her hair; she could feel hot tears burning at the corner of her eyes. She stomped her foot in frustration twice before a cool hand found hers and tugged her close. Before she knew it, she fell backward, her back resting softly against Draco's chest as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

"Remember, Fate's not going to let you change everything," he whispered in her ear.

Hermione swallowed and nodded. "Fine. Fine. We can use Umbridge's Floo."

The rest broke into planning their attack on Umbridge's office and offering a distraction. Hermione closed her eyes and focused on the soft thump of Draco's heartbeat against her back, lulling her back into calm. She was so close to changing everything to keep them from harm and save Sirius's life, but Draco was right; the conversation was falling right back to what had been Fated in their first timeline.

Once it was decided that Harry would get his Invisibility cloak and meet them back at Umbridge's office corridor, Harry flung himself out of the room, and the others followed suit. Ron gave Hermione and Draco a slight shake of the head before he disappeared with his sister and Luna.

"They're going to get caught in the office," Hermione groaned.

"You're going to get caught in the office," Draco corrected her with a chuckle. "Hope you do a better job of acting than you did last time."

"You believed me last time!" Hermione turned in his arms. They didn't have time to be having a moment to themselves, but she felt herself recharging in his arms.

"Did I?" Draco scrunched his nose at her.

"Yes," she smiled, leaning up to kiss him. The bond thumped hard in her veins. The sound of students outside stopped her from kissing him any harder. "Aren't you supposed to be getting your Squad together?"

"Blaise and Theo are just outside," Draco explained. "I was just checking in on you."

"I don't need checking in on," she smirked at him, standing tall even if he was still taller.

"Sure, Granger." He stole her wand from her pocket and flipped it a few times in his hand before holding it up for her. "How's your shield spell coming along?"

"Good. I'll be ready this time."

"Good, though, either way, I'm not letting anything happen to you."

Hermione smiled despite his overprotectiveness. "You might have a saving people thing, too, you know."

"No. I have a saving you thing, Granger," he said, rolling his gray eyes and handing her back her wand.

"Thank you," she smiled, taking her wand before leaning in to kiss him again. "I'll see you soon."

"I'm not showing… them," said Granger shrilly, looking at Draco and the other Slytherins through her fingers. Draco glared. Of course, she would be pulling this. He was five seconds from breaking this farce and throwing all her swotty plans out the window.

"It's not for you to set conditions," Umbridge said harshly. Draco did his best not to roll his eyes. This was taking forever. Honestly, he could just stun them all and call it a night.

"Fine," Granger said, now sobbing through her hands' fake tears. "Fine.. let them see it, I hope they use it on you!" She went on, and Draco was not sure how no one else saw this poor attempt at acting. He bit his lip, looking around the fuzzy pink office, trying to figure out a Plan B while Granger continued about going into the forest for some weapon. Wait, fuck that.

"Professor," Draco spoke up, "I think some of the squad should come with you to look after–"

"I am a fully qualified Ministry official, Malfoy, do you really think I cannot manage two wandless teenagers alone?" asked Umbridge sharply. Ah, there it was. Plan B. Draco glanced over to the worst actress he ever met– he would give her shit about that later– and nodded his head to the side just a touch so she could scoot closer.

"All right," he muttered, looking sulky and disappointed as he clandestinely tucked both her and Potter's wand into Granger's back pocket. Hermione's eyes widened only slightly, but Draco kept his face trained. No one else in the room was any the wiser.

Hermione secretly grabbed his hand and gave it a quick squeeze before being paraded out of the room.

Draco waited a few moments before he was sure they were gone before turning to the other Slytherins.

"Zabini, Nott, you stay here - the rest of you go patrol for any other miscreants trying to be heroes," Draco sneered at his other Slytherins. However, once they were out of the room, he dropped his disgusted expression and handed back Weasley, Longbottom, Mini-Weasley, and Luna their wands.

"What's going on?" Longbottom asked, still brandishing his wand, ready to fight.

"Haven't you heard? Draco's a spy," Luna said cheerfully.

Draco rolled his eyes. "I'm not a spy."

"Worse, he's–"

"Oi!" Draco snapped at Weasley. "Not everyone needs to know my business."

With Weasley significantly shut up, Draco took a deep breath and peered out the office window at the Forbidden Forest. He could see the dark shapes of Potter, Umbridge, and Hermione moving across the lawn and into the dark line of trees.

"Granger will send up red sparks when we're to meet them. Blaise and Theo are staying behind to say you attacked them to keep Umbridge from being suspicious."

"And you?" Mini-Weasley challenged.

"I ran after you to stop you. Obviously."

"I checked the mirror," Harry said through ragged breaths as he and Hermione ran through the forest.

"You what?" Hermione choked.

"The mirror, like you said. It was a good try, but no one came," Harry explained as they slowed their steps near the tree line.

Of course Fate made it so the mirror still wouldn't work. They had to go to the Ministry. It was cemented in time. That just meant she would have to change things once she was there.

"So how are you planning to get all the way to London?" Hermione asked, softening her voice, knowing Harry was fueled with panic and quick to snap.

"I don't know, Hermione, you're the one that brought us out here. You keep acting like you have some big plan with Malfoy– which, how you trust him is–"

"Ouch Potter, thought we were finally friends," Draco said, pushing aside a low-hanging branch to reveal himself, Luna, Ginny, Neville, and Ron.

Hermione watched as Harry rubbed at his scar, a sign that Voldemort was trying to retake control.

Draco seemed unbothered by Harry's outburst and moved forward, cupping Hermione's face to look at the scratches on her face. "Alright there, Granger?"

"I'm fine," she reassured him.

"This is lovely and all, but we must find a way to get to the Ministry of Magic right now," Harry said frustratedly.

"Look!" Luna said, pointing behind harry. Hermione looked as well. Standing between two trees, their white eyes glamping eerily, were two thestrals, watching the whispered conversation as if they understood every word. "Hagrid said they're very good at finding places their riders are looking for."

"Harry?"

"What?"

"Have you seen this?"

"What?...What?"

"It's– it's got your name on."

"My name?"

Draco glanced at the pair of Gryffindors before staring back into the blackness between the shelves. He had spent most of his time quietly listening and observing, allowing Granger to direct the conversations and keep them moving. He stayed a few steps behind the pack, listening for footsteps or signs they were no longer alone.

The hairs at the back of his neck stood on end as Potter took the Prophecy from the shelf. This was the moment Hermione warned him about. With a quick Disillusionment Charm, Draco stepped into the shadows to hide just as he heard his father's voice.

"Very good, Potter. Now turn around, nice and slowly, and give that to me."

"Where's Sirius? I want to know where Sirius is!"

"I want to know where Sirius is!" mimicked a woman. Bellatrix. Draco had been dreading running into her again. He closed his eyes, remembering her lessons of Occlumency. Despite them being worse than anything Snape had taught Potter, Draco used her instruction to close off her mind so that she or his father would not be aware of his presence. He moved his thoughts back to his cellar, hiding Granger, Potter, and all their plans to keep them safe.

As they continued their conversation about the prophecy, Draco snuck away from the group towards the door they came from. The gold in his body throbbed, hating the idea of leaving Granger in anger, but he knew he had to stay hidden until the last minute.

Yells and crashes erupted around him just as he reached the doorway. Draco looked into the darkness, bouncing on the soles of his feet. The urge to join the fight grew more and more. His heart beat wildly in his chest, and his body began to ache in stifled panic as the bond screamed to help. Hermione was out there, unprotected from his father and Bellatrix, and he was doing nothing.

Draco took two steps out of the door, ready to join the fight, and heard footsteps coming his way.

Hermione ran straight into his arms, tackling him into the room, followed by the rest of the group. "It worked!" she gasped, "I could feel you!"

"Worked at almost giving me an aneurysm," Draco grumbled despite his arms hugging her tightly to him, unable to let go.

"Colloportus!" Hermione gasped, remembering to throw the spell over her shoulder and seal the door behind her. Draco took the moment to look around; only Potter and Longbottom were with them.

"They must have gone the wrong way," Harry said, finishing Draco's thought for him.

From behind the door, Draco could hear his father bellowing instructions to the other Death Eaters. He tried not to smirk too hard when he heard Nott Senior had been injured.

They moved from the door and ran quietly as they could toward the exit into the circular hallway at the far end of the room. They were almost there when Draco heard something large and heavy collide with the door Hermione charmed shut.

"Granger! Draco shouted at her in a warning.

"Shit! I forgot this part– duck!" she yelled, and they all dived under desks. Two Death Eaters entered the room, drawing near.

"They might've run straight through to the hall–"

"Check under the desks!"

Draco saw the knees of a Death Eater beginning to bend to check the desk Granger was hiding under. He grabbed his wand and shouted, "STUPEFY!"

A fight began quickly. Potter launched himself across the floor and grabbed the Death Eater around the knees. Longbottom overturned his desk and pointed his wand at the struggling pair, "EXPELLIARMUS!"

Potter scrambled for his wand. Draco watched as the cabinet near Potter fell to the floor and burst apart, glass flying everywhere. It sprang back up onto the wall, fully mended, and then fell down again and shattered.

The Death Eater snatched up his wand, and just as he aimed it at Potter, Draco screamed, "PROTEGO!"

"STUPEFY!" screamed Granger on his right at the same time. Their spells followed one after another, his throwing a shield in front of Potter while her's stunned the Death Eater right in the middle of his chest, causing him to fall back into the hell jar.

Draco didn't wait to watch what happened to the Death Eater and turned to Granger instead. "You forgot!" he asked hotly.

"A lot happened tonight!" she groaned, seemingly just as frustrated at herself.

A shout from a nearby room distracted them. Potter and Longbottom looked away from the horrifying sight of the Death Eater that now had the head of a baby.

"You forgot that!" Draco asked incredulously, gesturing to the now-wailing baby head. "Merlin, Granger, what else did you forget?"

"Nothing! From here, we go into the office and–"

"Come on!" Potter shouted at them. They took off for the door that stood ajar at the other end of the room, leading back to the hallway.

They had run halfway towards it when Potter noticed two more Death Eaters running toward them. They veered to the left, bursting into a small, cluttered office, and slammed the door behind them.

"Collo–" Granger began, but the door burst open before she could seal it. Two Death Eaters hurried inside and yelled, "IMPEDIMENTA!"

Draco, Hermione, Harry, and Longbottom were all knocked off their feet. Draco's head hit the ground hard, causing his vision to blur and his ears to ring. He blinked a few times, trying to sit up. When his vision came in, he saw Hermione behind him, crushed against a bookcase, books falling all around her.

Draco groaned, holding his head and looking around for his wand while trying to move closer toward her. She noticed his movement and gave him a look to tell him she was okay. Fortunately, she still held her wand tightly in her hand.

"WE'VE GOT HIM! IN AN OFFICE OFF–"

"Silencio!" Hermione cried. Her swiping movement caused more books to crash from above her. She screamed, covering her head with her arms to protect herself and dropping her wand.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Potter shouted at the second Death Eater.

The first Death Eater above her ripped off his mask as he tried to speak.

Draco recognized him instantly: Antonin Dolohov.

Time started to slow as Draco felt the gold pulse all around him. He knew from her stories that this was the moment. He stopped looking for his wand in an instant.

Hermione's eyes widened as looked around the books for her wand. She found heavy books aside with panic, but there was no time.

Draco knew there was no time. She wasn't going to find her wand. He swallowed hard and let the gold thread take over his thoughts completely.

Dolohov made a sudden slashing movement with his wand, from which flew a streak of what looked like a purple flame.

It hit with precision despite being silent.

Hermione gave a tiny gasp of surprise.

"DRACO!"