Disclaimer: JK Rowling created the world of Harry Potter, not me

1994 - December

Fourth year had been absolutely awful so far. Draco knew he shouldn't let it get to him but Potter was so full of himself. How did he even get his name into the Goblet of Fire, let alone actually have it chosen! He had obviously cheated his way into the competition. Draco had gotten himself much too worked up about it he knew, but it wasn't as if he could help it. The already famous boy did not need any more attention. He was already getting far too much where Draco was concerned. It wasn't like he actually did anything to defeat the Dark Lord, he was only a baby! Everyone treated him like a bloody hero when he did absolutely nothing. Now he was in this stupid tournament and not only was he avoiding and serious injury which would have made it at least a bit more entertaining, but he was actually doing well! It was horrifying to think that he could gain even more popularity so Draco was supporting Diggory, just because it gave him a chance to bash Potter.

Even worse was what had occurred after Draco had lost his temper. He just couldn't handle it anymore and snapped! As he was about to curse Potter, that new professor Moody showed up and turned him into a ferret! It was the strangest feeling and even though he would never tell a soul, it was terrifying. Before he knew it, he was being tossed around, bouncing up and down at the mercy of the professor. For the first time, he was completely helpless and vulnerable and he hated it. Draco had never been so thankful for Professor McGonagall's strict attitude as he was when she stepped in for him.

He would never live that event down. It was something for Potter and Weasley to use against him. He didn't worry too much about it spreading around to the girls as Granger wasn't as petty as those boys. Secretly, he admired her for being able to control herself so well when he and his friends insulted her, though he could see the fire in her eyes. She had only lost it that one time when she had punched him in the face. That had been quite the shock to have a Mudblood girl hurt him like that. Who knew the girl could actually stand up for herself and her friends! If anyone found out that he actually admired something about the Mudblood he would be shunned, so he had to keep it to himself.

Now Draco was at the Yule ball dancing with a proper pureblood. He was trying to have a nice night and forget for a moment all the frustrating things that were happening that year, but Pansy Parkinson was probably one of the most annoying people he had to hang around with. He was supposed to be with her but her clinginess was getting so irritating and every once and a while she would lean in and make a dirty comment about what she'd much rather be doing with him. Draco wondered how much make-up the girl had smeared on the side of his face from these unpleasant moments as her skin was simply layered with the stuff. Sure she looked nice, but when she got too close, it looked almost painted.

When Draco could no longer take another second with her, he politely excused himself and made his way off to the side where he could spend a little time alone. Finally, he could breath without Pansy's heavily perfumed body clinging to his.

That was when Hermione Granger made her entrance to the ball. And what an entrance it was. Draco had never seen her like this before; in a lovely dress, with a little make-up and her hair tamed and styled. She could even pass as a pureblood looking like that.

Draco scolded himself. He could not be thinking that the Mudblood was beautiful. Mudblood and beauty were not supposed to go along in his mind. No, the Mudblood wasn't supposed to even enter his mind except for annoyance and displeasure with her existence. For some unknown reason, those proper thoughts refused to come and all Draco could picture was an image of himself dancing with her. He made sure to keep his face neutral so no one else would pick up on his awe towards her tonight. Surely he was going mad. Maybe he was sick, coming down with the flu. Then why was he suddenly so angry at the sight of Victor Krum leading her onto the dance floor? He looked away, scowling. What was wrong with him? If any of his family found out about this he would be punished for sure and his friends… well, rumours would spread around Slytherin and he would end up going to classes and eating meals alone. He was Draco Malfoy, and Malfoys were always popular. He wasn't going to be the one to break that tradition too. His parents were already angry with him for letting the Mudblood get higher grades than him in school.

Draco tried so hard to keep his gaze on other things but his eyes kept wandering back to her. When Pansy ended up talking to some other Slytherin girl in close proximity to Granger, the difference between the two were astounding. Pansy was beautiful, yes, but completely fake and obnoxious. Granger was genuinely beautiful, with little effort it seemed. She was soft and graceful in her movements. Draco shook his head as an insane last resort to try knock these thoughts out of his head.

That was when Pansy spotted him and yanked him back to the dance floor where people blocked his view of Granger, much to his relief, easing the intensity of his preposterous distraction.

1997

What had he been thinking? Draco's short encounter with Hermione had made him realize that this was going to be a lot harder than he had thought. Hermione Granger was not some stupid trophy girl who only cared about herself. She was smart and thoughtful. He should have known that she wouldn't be satisfied with just knowing that she wasn't going to be hurt, especially not from him. It was clear what she thought of him. Hermione hated him, that was for sure. She thought he was evil, untrustworthy. He couldn't blame her, he thought much the same of himself. He had wanted to tell her what was going on, but he just couldn't. She wouldn't understand, she would be too curious and ask about his intentions. She would be confused and probably angry. Draco wondered if she would be afraid of him if she knew the whole story.

The look in her eyes when she saw him ripped him apart. Gryffindors. Showing their emotions all over their face. In Hermione's, Draco saw fear, anger, confusion, hatred. It killed him that it was his fault all this was happening to her. He should have controlled himself more, controlled his desires, his actions, his emotions. Because he was a death eater, Hermione was in more danger than she could possibly understand. Draco worried that if she knew even a little, that she would push for more and end up learning too much. That information could potentially put her in even more danger should she be discovered.

Draco sat at the kitchen table staring at his own untouched breakfast. Why had he made her breakfast? Hermione was smart, she could read into that! But he couldn't just let her starve either. He wondered if she had actually eaten it or left it on the night table where he had put it. Considering their relationship at the moment, she probably thought it was poisoned or something. That's not your problem. He told himself. If she doesn't want to eat, it's her choice. Not your problem.

Draco wondered what Potter had been telling her about him. He knew that Potter suspected him of being a death eater, and he was right. Knowing Hermione, she was already planning an escape. If only he had just told her exactly what was going on, she would know that it was much safer to be exactly where she was! But there was no way he was going to tell her that. Draco didn't know what to do. He wanted to keep her safe, but he was conflicted on how best to do that. He knew she wouldn't stay put if he didn't tell her the truth. Maybe he could tell her some of the facts, just enough so she's satisfied. Maybe she wouldn't figure anything out. Perhaps that would solve the problem.

Draco sighed and pushed out his chair, getting ready to stand up and go face Hermione again. That was when he heard the thumping on the door coming from the room she was in. This is it, he thought. Here comes her attempt at escape. He should have been expecting from the very beginning the trouble this would cause, that she would try to escape. He had to be ready to stop her. She couldn't get away. If the other death eaters or the Dark Lord himself found out that he had not completed his mission and if they found her, she would most likely be tortured to death. Draco knew that he had to tell her something to make sure she stayed safe.

He stood up and walked over to stand on the other side of the door he knew she was waiting behind. Bracing himself for whatever was about to come, he opened the door. Before he could even think, there was a book being slammed in his face and Hermione rushed past him.

"Damn it!" Draco yelled, holding his now bleeding nose, eyes watering at the pain. He shouldn't have given those books to her, or at least have thought to only give her ones with soft covers. He had just thought it would make this better on her, but instead, he had handed her a weapon.

He spun and ran after her, tasting his blood as it ran into his mouth. Draco had his wand drawn and quickly caught up to her running form. The cabin was small and she was already close to the door when he reached her.

"Colloshoo," he said, and immediately after being hit, Hermione's feet stuck to the floor, making her unable to move. "Episkey, tergo," he mumbled, fixing his broken nose and clearing away the blood from his face.

"Granger!" he yelled. "Are you insane?!"

"Let me go this instant!" she shouted back. She looked around, taking in her surroundings.

"No, I will not let you go. You girls can't get everything you want now can you," Draco told her sarcastically.

"Where is everyone else?" she demanded.

"No one else is here," Draco sneered. Hermione's eyes grew large and he could see fear.

"What do want from me? What are you going to do?" she asked.

Draco sighed. "Nothing." Then he added, "Unless you want me to do something." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"You are disgusting!" she yelled, to which Draco smirked. Hopefully acting this way would make her overlook the next part.

"Then why am I here? Why did you kidnap me?"

"Look," he started, being more serious. "You are much safer here right now than out there." He gestured towards the door.

"And why is that?" she asked skeptically.

"You should know by now that nowhere is safe for a witch like you, not even Hogwarts," Draco scoffed. He felt horrible about saying the words. It was harsh, but true. At least he didn't call her a mudblood like he used to.

"Well, the way I'm seeing it is that you're the only reason I'm not safe. You are the one who kidnapped me! I may not know what you are planning, but nobody is going to use me to get to my friends. I will get out of here!" she yelled.

Draco groaned in frustration. "Why do you think everything is about …" Wait, maybe he could use that.

"You're here because I didn't complete my mission," he told her.

"I don't understand why that has anything to do with me. That actually doesn't explain anything," Hermione said, confused.

"Well, my mission had a lot to do with you." Draco still saw a lack of comprehension on her face. He was going to have to go out and say it.

"I'm not evil you know. I don't like killing, even people like you. I was stupid so I brought you here instead," he explained.

There was a pause for a moment and Draco saw the moment when realization hit her.

"Your mission was to kill me," she said quietly.

"If you step outside that door, you will be killed for sure, and not mercifully."

Hermione nodded her understanding, but stayed quiet and Draco could almost see the wheels turning in her head as she thought about her predicament.

"So, can I let you go now?" he asked. "You won't try to escape?"

"I won't try to escape," she assured him. He nodded and released her. "Why didn't you kill me?" she questioned.

"Because I'm a coward and can't kill a classmate, even if we do hate each other," he replied harshly.

"That's not cowardly," she almost whispered. "What happens now?"

"Now, you stay here and don't leave. You can go anywhere in the cabin except my room," Draco told her, slightly afraid that he had given her too much leeway.

"I have to tell Harry and Ron what's going on," Hermione said.

"No, you can't. Somehow, I have to make everyone believe you're dead," Draco tried to explain.

"You will not!" she yelled. "I will not allow you to fake my death!"

"If I don't, I'll be tortured and probably killed!" he yelled back. "Also, no one will know where you are so you will run out of food and starve to death," he added.

Hermione was silent and bit her lip, thinking. "Okay," she said finally.

"Okay?" he questioned. She nodded.

This surprised Draco. He was expecting much more of a fight than that. This was the first time he himself had been on the receiving end of Hermione's famous kindness and it made him feel sick. She was willing to give up everything for while, just so that he wouldn't face the horrible consequences, even when she hated him. He guessed that it could have been self preservation, but if he knew anything about Hermione Granger it was her willingness to help anyone in need. This attitude was going to end up getting her killed one day, especially if she kept following Potter into this war.

"Why does Voldemort want me dead?" she asked.

Draco flinched at the name of the Dark Lord. "You should take it as a compliment," he semi joked thinking of something to tell her that she would believe. "He thinks you're one of the reasons he can't get to Potter. You're too smart and keep figuring things out Potter would never figure out on his own." He tried to sound like he hated saying it. This was all a complete lie, but it was better than the truth. The truth that he was the only reason she was in this mess.

"What are you going to do?"

"Change out of your clothes. There are some other ones in the wardrobe. If we put blood on the clothes you were wearing last night at the library and put them out in the forbidden forest for someone to find, they'll come to the right conclusion. Hopefully," he explained. It was a pretty good plan, but it was not in the slightest foolproof. Plus, it meant that he had to hurt Hermione again to get her blood on the clothes.

Hermione nodded, then said, "It has to be my blood doesn't it."

"Yes," he stated, sounding unaffected. They both knew that was the only thing that would sell it. Her tattered clothes weren't enough. They would test to see if it was her blood for sure, and there would need to be a decent amount of it to be convincing.

"Alright," she agreed. "We should do this as soon as possible to make it convincing. I'll go change," she said, turning to head back to her room.

Draco watched her leave, still in awe of what had just happened. She's just doing this to save herself. She's only doing this to save herself. There isn't another option, he told himself, as if it made him less horrible of a person. What he wouldn't give to know what she was thinking. He hated seeing the fear in her eyes when he told her it was only them alone in the cabin. What did she think he was going to do? Rape her? Torture her? Did she really think he was that evil? His gut twisted at the thought. It doesn't matter what she thinks of you. It's just your job now to keep her safe, and try to keep yourself alive.

Author's Note:

So there's another chapter! Thanks for reading! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, or just a wonderful day if you don't celebrate Christmas. I got over my flu by Christmas Eve so I'm feeling much better now! A big thanks to FortyFandoms and Morganna12 for reviews on the last chapter, it means so much to me that you took the time to say a few words! I would love to know what you think of the chapter and about the story so far. Thanks again!