A/N Another chapter is finally up! I hope you like it! It's not quite as action-packed as Chapter 1, but I think it's still relatively enjoyable. Review!

Disclaimer: JKR's, not mine.

Chapter 2

Doubt

Hermione was surrounded by water. She could see air bubbles all around her, yet she could not access them to take a breath. Her lungs were about to explode unless she took a breath, but she couldn't and she shouldn't; for then the water would get in her lungs as well and then she would suffocate. At last, Hermione could hold it no longer. She gasped a breath.

Hermione awoke with a gasp. She shouldn't have fallen asleep while keeping watch, but she supposed her body was simply too tired. She sat up and stayed still for a moment. She could not fathom what had just happened; she had never had a dream of drowning before. And it's highly improbable considering the fact that I can swim relatively well, Hermione thought to herself, frowning. She shook her head, dislodging her thoughts of improbable drowning, and got up.

As Hermione dressed, she looked over to Malfoy's bed to make sure he was still soundly asleep. She closed her eyes and immediately her thoughts flashed over to what they boy had said the day before. "If you're here to torture me, they've done that earlier t—today." She couldn't imagine what he had been through while in Azkaban. If Hagrid had barely survived it… She shuddered.

Hermione finished getting dressed quickly. She approached Malfoy's bed to rouse him so that they could be on their way again. She had to get to the Apparating spot as soon as she could so that the Order could interrogate Malfoy. "Malfoy?" she whispered, lightly shaking his shoulder. Upon her touch, Malfoy heaved his body into a sitting position, his eyes wide, and his hands close to Hermione's throat. Hermione grabbed his wrists and lowered them to the bed while staring into his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he muttered. Hermione nodded curtly; she supposed that she would be on edge if she had just been in prison for four months. Her eyes softened as she looked at his face.

"You didn't get any sleep at all." It was a statement, not a question. Malfoy shook his head. "We can start out a little later, if you want…" Hermione trailed off as Malfoy got out of bed.

"I'll get dressed," Malfoy said, turning his back to Hermione. Hermione looked slightly surprised, but as soon as Malfoy pulled on his filthy shirt, she left to pack up.

The nice thing about having a furnished tent was that it was easy to pitch and easy to pack. And Hermione never had to worry about forgetting something in the tent, because the tent would keep the object, whatever it may be, safe until she pitched it again. Hermione removed all of the protective spells and enchantments that she had set up the night before, and tidied up her bed. Suddenly, her stomach growled, and she realized that she had forgotten to make Malfoy and herself breakfast. She dug in her bag until she found the loaf of bread and the cheese she had brought from Grimmauld place. She ripped a hunk of bread off and took a morsel of cheese for her breakfast. She laid some aside for Malfoy and put the rest away in her bag.

By the time she was done, Malfoy had gotten dressed and was ready to leave. Hermione handed over his food without a word, and then packed up the tent.

Hermione had expected the hike to the Apparition point to take about a day's worth of walking to get to. At this point, she was sure it'd take at least two. Malfoy was walking surely enough, but he was struggling. Hermione could see the fatigue in his steps, and they had to take frequent breaks. Hermione tapped her foot impatiently whenever this happened, but she knew that it wasn't truly Malfoy's fault. It wasn't as if he'd asked to be tortured and deprived of sleep.

Hermione didn't even try to keep a conversation going. She let Malfoy take his time, and she tried her best not to rush him.

They stopped for lunch when the sun was at its peak. They had been eating in silence for some time when Hermione finally couldn't take it. She had to say something; the silence was almost deafening. "Did they feed you in Azkaban?" she blurted out. Malfoy looked at her for a moment before answering.

"Yes; they couldn't very well torture people who were already dying of starvation, now could they?" he said roughly. Hermione's lips quirked.

"What did they do to you, Malfoy?" Hermione whispered reverently.

"Tortured me every day. Kept me within kissing distance of Dementors. Made sure I was positively miserable for the past four months. Kept me away from everything I know," Malfoy listed, his voice hollow.

"I'm sorry."

"So am I," Malfoy said, though Hermione wasn't sure who his apology was directed at.

There was a brief moment of silence before Hermione asked her next question. "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." There was no hesitation in Malfoy's voice. Hermione was surprised that she had gained such faith in such a short time from a boy who had just recently loathed her.

"Even though I'm a mudblood?" Hermione asked, curious.

"Sometimes, I suppose one must look for help in the enemy," was Malfoy's dry response, though Hermione suspected that he wasn't so sure of himself. Then he asked something she had not anticipated. "Is it true that your blood runs brown?"

Hermione simply took up her wand and opened a small cut on her finger with it. She showed the red drops to Malfoy. Then she healed the wound.

"Ah, I see that it is not," Malfoy said rather delicately.

Hermione and Malfoy kept hiking after they had finished eating. At this point, even Hermione was beginning to tire, so she couldn't imagine how tired Malfoy felt.

As soon as the sun kissed the horizon, she announced that they were going to set up camp. "We'll reach headquarters tomorrow," she said, erecting the tent. Malfoy seemed relieved to finally stop. Hermione could tell that he was exhausted, so, for the second time, she led him to his bed and left him to sleep after setting up her protective charms. But just as she was turning, Malfoy called for her. "Erm, Granger?"

"Yes?" Hermione responded, turning towards him.

"Could we… er… talk a bit?" he asked hesitantly.

"Sure," Hermione said, conjuring a chair near the bed. She sat while Malfoy dangled his legs off the side of bed.

"I just wanted to know… Why did you decide to save me?" he questioned, each word slow and thought-out.

"It wasn't my idea, if that's what you're thinking," Hermione said hurriedly. She hated being thanked for something that she had no part in. "It was Remus's idea to free you."

"I see. So I owe a werewolf," Malfoy said flatly. Hermione couldn't bear his disdain for someone who, in his mind, was probably so decidedly lower than himself.

"And is the idea especially repulsive to you? After all, I don't suppose werewolves are considered to be much better than mudbloods amongst the Death Eaters," Hermione snapped. She was pleased to see that her words caused Malfoy to flinch. Hermione continued after a measured amount of silence. "He proposed the idea and I agreed that it seemed like the right thing to do."

"But why me?"

"Because Remus thought you were young enough to still be swayed and because he thought you'd have sufficient reason to dislike the Death Eaters after having been locked up for so long," Hermione said.

"And why you? Why didn't Potter or Weasley come?"

"Because I…" Hermione paused. "Because I was the only one who thought that you could still be saved."

"Saved from what?" Malfoy asked, his voice a whisper. Hermione only kept staring at him. She knew he knew who she was talking about. "Ah," Malfoy said, his voice even quieter. "So now, I will either agree to work as a double-agent for you, or I will rebel and be killed."

"No! Of course not, we wouldn't—"

"It doesn't matter; I'd be killed either way," Malfoy said roughly, cutting Hermione off.

"We wouldn't kill you; we'd only wipe your memory and put you back in Azkaban. Your choice."

"So basically, one leads to immediate death, while the other leads to eternity in hell," Malfoy said sardonically. "Well, I find myself at quite an impasse." Hermione laughed; she couldn't help herself. It had been a few days since she had last laughed, so it felt good, it felt real and alive. Though in truth, she knew Malfoy was only trying to be difficult. She would not let him win either way.

After her laughter subsided, Hermione found her voice again. "Do you know why the Death Eaters want to rid the world of mudbloods and half-bloods?" she asked.

"Because they aren't pure," Draco stated bluntly.

"So, I'm not pure then."

"I—"

"I, who saved you from Azkaban, am not pure. I'm not good, is that what you're saying?" Hermione asked, her voice cold.

"I... I don't know, alright?! I don't know what I've done and I don't know what I think!" Malfoy spit out furiously. Hermione didn't say a word. She had pushed him too far, and she shouldn't have.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. Malfoy only stared at his lap.

"Thank you either way," he whispered. Hermione swallowed. This was the second time he was thanking her, and she still couldn't get over it.

"You're welcome," she said again. Then, just out of curiosity, she asked him how long he was meant to stay in Azkaban for.

"He didn't say. He only tortured me and threw me in the cell," Malfoy said coldly.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said again. She was at a loss; what was one supposed to say when someone you had recently hated evoked pity in you? "I'll let you sleep now; we should get to headquarters tomorrow, and they'll tell you everything there."

"Good-night, Granger," Malfoy said. And Hermione could have sworn that she could hear remorse in his voice.

"Good-night, Malfoy."

The start of the next day was much like the start of the day before. Hermione got up, got dressed and roused Malfoy. Then she got breakfast, packed up the tent and they were off again.

Malfoy didn't seem as weak to Hermione. She expected them to reach the Apparition point by mid-day. Hermione made no attempts at starting up another conversation, and neither did Malfoy. They both walked in silence.

They reached the Apparition point a little after mid-day.

"Have you ever done side-along Apparation before?" Hermione asked Malfoy. He nodded. "Number 12 Grimmauld Place. Remember that," she told him. He only nodded again. She held out her hand, and he grasped it. She threw the invisibility cloak over both of them. Destination, determination, deliberation, Hermione thought to herself as she spun, leaving the woods in a rush of green.

It was difficult enough Apparating, but doing it with another person was especially difficult. Hermione had to focus her thoughts and could think of absolutely nothing else, or she and Malfoy could end up in the middle of nowhere, or worse, get splinched. Fortunately, both she and Draco got there in one piece. Or at least she hoped he was in piece; she couldn't quite tell as he had fainted. "Damn it!" she whispered. Apparating had been too much of a strain on Draco.

Making sure the invisibility cloak was covering both of them, Hermione put one hand under Malfoy's knees and one under his back and picked him up, as if carrying a child. Due to the fact that he had nearly been starved for three months, he was relatively light, and Hermione found that she could use her keys to unlock the great front door of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place quite easily.

After closing the door behind her, Hermione shook off the invisibility cloak and called out. "Hello?" There was a clamor of chairs being hastily pushed back, and within seconds, she was face to face with Remus, Harry, Ron and Kingsley.

"Kingsley!" Hermione cried with happiness. It had been a while since the man had visited Grimmauld Place.

"Hermione," Kingsley acknowledged, smiling. "I take it your break-out was successful?"

"As you see," Hermione said, nodding her head towards the boy in her arms.

"Why are you carrying him?" Ron asked very loudly.

"He fainted Ron, and instead of dragging him through the door, I thought I'd carry him instead; much more civilized, don't you think?" she asked, walking towards her room.

"You didn't face any trouble from the guards then, Hermione?" Remus asked. Hermione spotted a cut on his face, though she could see that his smile was genuine.

"No trouble. Thank you, Remus; the timing was perfect. And neither of us suffered any great injuries, so I think this turned out about as successful as it could have."

"Oh, Hermione, you can take him to the attic; I cleaned it up and I set up a bed in there, so he should be comfortable," Remus continued, as he followed Hermione up the stairs.

Hermione changed directions and headed towards the attic. "You don't all have to follow me; I'm actually quite famished, so if you could maybe make a little lunch…"

"Oh, right. See you in a few minutes then," Harry said hurriedly, trying to brush off any awkwardness that he had created by following her around. Ron, Kingsley and Remus followed him downstairs. Hermione heaved a sigh. She was back, and for right now, she was safe. But Malfoy was getting heavy.

Hermione opened the door to the attic. It made a loud creak, which she ignored. She looked around the room and realized that Remus had actually done a pretty good job. It still had a dead air to it; no one had been in the room for quite a while, but Hermione was sure that after a time it would lighten up. She placed Malfoy on the bed and cranked open the window to let some fresh air in. She pulled the light covers over Malfoy's body and gently brushed his hair out of his face. She was surprised at herself; she hated this boy. She hated him ever since she first set eyes on him, but now, because of Voldemort, she felt… Certainly not amicable towards him, but… the hate had lessened. Some of it had turned to pity, and the rest had turned to doubt. "Sleep well," Hermione whispered. She walked towards the door, and after one more glance back at Malfoy, she exited the room, leaving a warm breeze in her wake.

A/N I don't feel like this was my best chapter, but I suppose all of them can't be. In any case, reviews are very much appreciated! Bisous ~ the shattered star