A/N New chapter! The dramione action will really start to pick up after this, so no worries! Sorry for the slight delay. :D

Disclaimer: JKR's, not mine.

Chapter 4

Disagreement

"Granger, you don't want me in your mind!" Malfoy cried, trying to get Hermione to resist his spell. And again she succumbed. The memories flashed through her mind again, irrelevant, yet she still didn't want Malfoy privy to them. She couldn't muster the strength to cast another shield charm, so she sat in her chair and waited for Malfoy to withdraw from her mind.

He finally lifted the spell. "No, Malfoy, I don't want you in my mind. But until you give me more specific instructions, I can't do anything about it," Hermione said thorough gritted teeth. Malfoy pulled up a chair.

"It's not easy to put in words," he said. "It's almost as if… Look, pretend… Pretend I'm pushing you and you're trying to push me back."

Hermione raised her eyebrows, but she didn't say anything. She sighed, telling herself that it was only an example, and Malfoy was trying to help. "Alright, let's try again," Hermione groaned.

"Legilimens!" Hermione could feel the memories starting to swirl in her head, but this time, Malfoy was getting too personal. He was shifting through her memories of Ron and memories of her parents. He was treading on dangerous territory, and Hermione would not let him. Her every thought lay bare at his feet unless she did something about it. A strength rose within her, and somehow she found that she was ridding Malfoy from her mind. Within moments, he was gone.

"Like that?" Hermione asked, smiling.

"Yes," Malfoy said, briefly returning her smile. "However, if the only way you can oust me is if I have to look into your more intimate memories… Well, that's a bit of a weakness. One more time then?" Hermione only nodded.

"Legilimens!" This time he was going too quickly; Hermione could barely tell what memories he was looking at. She sensed something about— NO! Not that, anything but that! He couldn't learn about the Horcruxes! Hermione did the same thing she had done moments earlier, which she could only describe as a pushing movement, though in truth she didn't know what exactly she was doing. She did it again, though this time she found that she had to push harder. When he was finally gone, Hermione found herself breathing heavily.

"Good, but—"

"Malfoy, what did you see?" she demanded.

"There's no need to snap—"

"Just tell me what you saw!" Hermione almost shrieked. Malfoy's lip curled.

"Horcruxes. I suspected as much, though; he was always giving hints about hiding his soul." Malfoy replied curtly. Hermione hung her head.

I can't believe this, how could I have been so stupid?! she thought.

"I won't tell anyone, if that's what you're worried about," Malfoy stated.

"You won't?" Hermione looked up hopefully.

"I don't see why anyone needs to know about it. And it's not as if I'll go blabbing to one of my Death Eater friends," he said sourly. "I was under the impression that you trusted me, Granger," he spat.

"I do, it's just… Listen, not even Remus or Kingsley knows about it, and Harry would probably murder me if he found out that you knew."

"I want to help," Malfoy blurted out.

"You— what?" Only a few days ago he was unsure as to whether or not he wanted to help the Order. No he wanted to help them kill Voldemort? Malfoy only looked at her. "But… Are you sure?"

"Yes. This man— if he can be called that," Malfoy scoffed, "threw me in a cell to rot because I couldn't kill someone. Yes, I want to help. But…"

"But?" Hermione asked, not wanting to know what he was going to add.

"It's just… Would you do it? If you didn't have to kill someone, I mean. Or even if it was someone you knew deserved to die… Would you take the opportunity to live forever?"

"Would I take it? No… No, I don't think I would."

"I would. Immortality. Never having to worry about the end, just… living for the sake of living."

"Yes, but, I think it'd be lonely. If you didn't have anyone to share it with. And terrible; everyone you once knew would eventually die.

"Unless they were immortal as well," Malfoy pointed out.

"I suppose," Hermione mused, "but just… Living forever? Doesn't that effectively kill life? With no death, no one would feel like they had to do anything. After all, they'd have eternity to do whatever it is they wanted to do."

"And what about those who are cheated out of life?" Malfoy asked roughly.

"I won't say that it's fair…" Hermione said slowly, "but it's just—"

"Don't say that it's just how life works," Malfoy said, his voice still rough.

Just as Hermione was about to respond, Ron barged into the room.

"Yes?" Hermione asked, looking up at him.

"Remus and Kingsley are leaving; I just thought you'd want to say goodbye," he said bluntly.

Both Hermione and Malfoy got up and followed Ron downstairs.

"Remus!" Hermione called just as he was stepping out the door. "Give Tonks my best," she said, smiling.

"I will," Remus said, returning her smile.

"Er, Professor?" someone called. Remus turned around again. He found the voice to be Malfoy's. "I wanted to say thank you. Granger told me whose idea my escape was."

"You're welcome, Draco," Remus responded, smiling. With that, he stepped out of the door with Kingsley.

After a prolonged silence, Hermione said, "well then…"

"Have you finished with her, Malfoy?" Ron asked, a bit of fire in his voice.

"I think we should be done for the day. You can go next," Malfoy said, his tone civil.

"Oh Ron, before you go, it's my turn to carry the locket," Hermione said, her hand outstretched. Ron gave her a look that clearly said "why are mentioning this in front of Malfoy?!" but she ignored it, closing her fingers around the locket. She exchanged a glance with Malfoy, and she was fairly certain he understood what the locket was.

"Granger?" For the second time in so many days Hermione's head snapped up painfully, rousing her from her sleep. She found herself to be sitting on the window seat in her room, wrapped in a blanket in front of a wide open window.

"Wha—" she broke off into a yawn that made her jaw crack. "What is it?" she asked groggily.

"It's near noon, I was looking for you so you could learn some more Occlumency," Malfoy said rather awkwardly.

"Alright," Hermione said, yawning again. "I'll be right there." Malfoy retreated from her room. Hermione looked down and realized that she was holding one of the many books on Horcruxes she had gotten from Hogwarts. She felt a pang of homesickness for the old castle in which she had spent so much of her time. She missed the enormous library filled with books that weren't purely about pure-blooded genealogy, and simply having other girls to talk to; there was a certain lack of empathy at Number 12 Grimmauld place.

She brushed her teeth and got dressed quickly, running to the kitchen. She greeted Harry and Ron briefly in the kitchen before she grabbed something to eat and hurried back up to the attic.

"I'm sorry; I was up late reading," she said to Malfoy briskly before taking her usual seat across from him.

"Right. Shall we?" Hermione nodded and they begun.

This time it was easier for Hermione, no doubt because of all the practice she had had the day before. She smiled with relief after the first few times she managed to oust him, but then she started getting concerned. Malfoy kept making the spell more and more intense until Hermione fell to her knees in concentration. After that, Malfoy withdrew from her mind, letting her recover.

"Is that even close to what You-Know-Who can do?" Hermione asked helplessly.

"Not quite…" Malfoy admitted, though it sounded more like a scoff to Hermione. "It's been about an hour," he said, "so we can stop now if you like. Or I could teach you something else."

"What?" Hermione asked.

"I can teach you how to do the spell, if you like."

Hermione was a little surprised at his offer; he hadn't offered Ron or Harry the chance, but she took it readily. "Er, yeah," she said.

"'Right then…" Malfoy said, thinking. Hermione wondered if the spell was incredibly complex. She hoped it wasn't like the Patronus charm which she could hardly ever get right on the first try. "You know the incantation, it's just the wand movement you don't know. Most people assume that Legilimens is a spell, but it's actually a hex; see you move your wand like this." Malfoy demonstrated, jabbing his wand towards Hermione. Hermione copied his movements and whispered "Legilimens," though nothing happened. "That's the easy part," Malfoy said, though he looked like he was resisting the urge to laugh.

"I'm assuming there is some sort of thought involved?" Hermione inquired.

Malfoy nodded. "While doing the movement and saying the incantation you have to want to get into the person's mind, you understand?" he asked. "You have to want to know what I'm thinking and my past thoughts."

Hermione smirked. I can do that, she thought.

Malfoy caught her smirk and returned it. "It's not as easy as you might think," he said quietly, though his tone was almost ominous to Hermione's ears. "But you may try," he said, inclining his head towards her.

I want to see what he's thinking, Hermione thought. If only for revenge for how he looked into my private memories…

Hermione concentrated, readied her wand and whispered "Legilimens!" To her surprise, the spell— rather, the hex— worked. She found that she was able to look into Malfoy's mind. However, her attack was not strong enough, and she found herself pushed out of his thoughts just as she had entered them. The only thing she managed to catch was a glimpse of a small blond boy riding on a toy broomstick.

"I did it!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, but I was able to resist you quite easily. Your hex wasn't strong enough."

"I gathered as much," Hermione said, her voice sour.

"Try again."

Hermione tried again, and this time she was able to stay in Malfoy's mind for a bit longer, but again, she found herself thrown out of his mind again.

"Shall we try this again tomorrow?" Malfoy asked. Hermione was about to protest before she considered that Malfoy himself might be tired.

Hermione nodded. "Have you seen the house yet?" she asked him. He shook his head. "Would you like— Should I— do you want me to show you?" Hermione wasn't sure why she was lost for words, but she blamed it on the fact that her mind was a little tired from all the hexes she had been put under.

"Er, sure," Malfoy said, shrugging slightly. Hermione bounded off her chair and opened the door of the attic, motioning for him to follow her.

She showed him her room and Harry and Ron's room, the kitchen, the parlour, the assortment of rooms that they didn't use, and finally they came along to the tapestry with the Black family tree on it.

"Oh look, there you are," Hermione said, pointing at his name. Malfoy nodded rather robotically, and then rolled his eyes. "What is it?" Hermione asked.

"Nothing, it's just… Under normal circumstances I would feel pride at being on this tapestry, but now…" he trailed off. Hermione kept quiet. She hadn't expected Malfoy to lose his pride of all things; she remembered Malfoy as incredibly arrogant. What had happened to him? Well, being stuck in prison for three months doesn't help, I suppose, she thought. "But perhaps I'm just being over sentimental," Malfoy muttered.

"No, no of course you're not!" Hermione exclaimed, too shocked to keep quiet. "You were in prison for three months, you were traumatized!"

"But I should have been stronger than that! I should have been able to cope!" Malfoy spat.

"Malfoy, it's a prison designed to make you miserable and hopeless; how is anyone meant to survive that?"

"Regardless, I should have tried harder, I should have been able to deal with the situation—"

"What 'situation?' You were in prison, for Merlin's sake! What were you going to do, plan an escape?" Hermione's emotions were out of her control at this point. She didn't know what she was saying, but she would not let this boy, this boy whom she remembered to be so damn arrogant, win. He was not going to blame this on himself.

"Perhaps I should have! Perhaps I should have rejected your offer and just died in that cell! At least then I wouldn't feel so—" Malfoy broke off suddenly.

"Feel so what, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, her voice was raised.

"It doesn't matter, Granger. That's the point, it doesn't matter," Malfoy said bitterly. Hermione's temper exploded and she left the room before she threw something at Malfoy's head.

She slammed the door to her room closed and opened the window wide. She grabbed a small quilt and wrapped it around herself, curling up on the window seat. This was her favourite spot in the whole manor because it was the one place through which one could not see the Death Eaters waiting outside. Through the window, one could see the small interior courtyard of the building. It wasn't anything spectacular, but it was better than seeing Death Eaters.

Hermione couldn't deal with Malfoy. She had been the only one who had believed in him, and yet she could barely put up with him. She hated how he hid his emotions behind a wall. She had been so close to penetrating that wall, and then he had closed up again. She got up and grabbed the book on Horcruxes off her unmade bed and began to read.

Hermione jumped when she heard someone enter her room. She turned her head to find Harry.

"Hermione, I think we should talk."

"About?" Hermione asked.

Harry moved to the bed and sat down across from Hermione. "The dilluminator is doing something strange, and Ron reckons that we should follow it."

"What's it doing?"

"It's glowing blue, and Ron claims that it feels like it's pulling him towards something," Harry said, though he looked slightly unbelieving.

"Well then we should follow it!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping off her window seat. "Dumbledore gave it to Ron, so it must mean something. Give me five minutes and I'll be—"

"Wait, Hermione," Harry said gently. "I was thinking… Maybe you should stay behind and keep an eye on Malfoy."

"Keep an eye on him?!" Hermione exploded. "Harry, we trust him!"

"Well… I know, but it's just that I've been around him for too long; I know him too well!"

"You know him too well," Hermione stated, sarcasm dripping from her words. "I've seen his thoughts, Harry. I somehow doubt that you know him better than I."

"Hermione, listen. Ron and I will track down whatever it is that the dilluminator is telling us, and then we'll come back. While we're gone, you can do some more research and figure out where the next Horcrux is."

"We were meant to work together, Harry," Hermione snapped. "'Together' includes me."

"But Hermione, we don't even know if this will lead us anywhere! Come, you must see that this is for the best."

Hermione was silent for a moment. She could see it from Harry's point of view, but she still wanted to go with him. In the end she consented; it was true that they still didn't know where three of the Horcruxes were. "Fine!" she burst out. "But I still don't like it."

A grin appeared on Harry's face. "Thanks, Hermione," he said, hugging her tightly. Hermione only pursed her lips.

A/N Was it enjoyable? How was the scene with the tapestry? Any good? Leave a review! Danke. Bisous ~ the shattered star