Disclaimer: I obviously don't own it. It's all for fun.

Mak is of course my beta; who is amazing.

I guess you guys have waited long enough for Chapter 5, so here it is. Review please, it helps me get motivated to write…

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Chapter Five

Life as a Muggle

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This was not how his life was supposed to be. He was supposed to be in his family manor living the life, the life of luxury. Waking up at any time he wanted, having the most expensive food cooked for him, tea time with his mother, and getting spoiled with the nicest and finest clothing anywhere. It was how things were supposed to be. But, no, Draco Malfoy was living a horrid life, in his mind at least; the life of a Muggle.

It had only been a little over a week since that fateful night at Hogwarts. Draco understood why he had to go in hiding, but he didn't understand why he had to parade around like a Muggle. It drove him absolutely nuts. Everything about the lifestyle infuriated him. He and his mother had been wearing the same set of clothing, sans the robes, for over a week and it made him queasy to think that he had been wearing the same thing for so long. He never wore anything more than once without it being washed. Not only was he wearing dirty clothes, his appearance was not like it used to be. Instead of looking sharp and noble he looked like a commoner; with mousy brown hair and eyes to match. It was so disgusting he hated to look at himself in the mirror. Vanity was a Malfoy trait, after all.

Not only did he have his vanity to worry about, he had to live with the fact that he was staying in Amesbury, which was in the same county as his family home. Not even 100 kilometres from home! He couldn't even go to the house to get a change of clothing. Draco realized the place would probably be searched by the Ministry, but, he knew they would never find anything of much significance; his father had hidden most of the important items and family heirlooms. If he ever saw Severus Snape again he was going to curse him for making him and his mother live like this.

Narcissa was dealing with the situation slightly better than Draco. Narcissa had changed her appearance as well. She now wore dark brown, shoulder length hair. Her eyes were a dark hazel. Looking in the mirror was a shock to her but she dealt with the trouble internally whereas Draco spoke about every little thing that bothered him. She couldn't fault Draco for feeling the way he was; they had raised him that way, to her approval.

Over a horrid meal one night she said, "I know this is unpleasant, believe me, this is the last thing I want to be doing, but we have no other choice."

The argument that ensued was not enjoyable. Draco had replied, "We could just go back to the manor. It's not that far!"

"It's because of your father that we are here in the first place. If he had just listened to me in the first place and convinced the Dark Lord not to burden you with that task then we would be at the manor now. We can't go to the manor and you know it."

"If anyone was watching, we could just sneak in and no one would be the wiser."

"We most certainly cannot. They are not that easily fooled Draco."

"I can't live like this any longer!" Draco screamed.

Narcissa agreed with Draco. They certainly had the easy life and she knew it must be difficult for the boy to be put in such a different situation so quickly. She was certainly missing the finer things in life and no doubt her son was as well. "I sympathize with you Draco. Severus certainly could have put us up in a more suitable dwelling, but he didn't. We have to look out for ourselves now. Your father cannot help us. When this war is over it needs to look like we helped the correct side win. It will not do for us to have to live like this forever. We have a task to do and we will use any means necessary to reach the appropriate end. If we have to take the less-than-high roads to accomplish it then we will."

Draco narrowed his eyes and smirked. "And which side is the correct side, mother?"

Narcissa gave him a cold look before replying, "You know which side, Draco."

"We have to do something. Perhaps we could just sneak home for a few things. It would make living like filth much more bearable."

The conversation continued in that manner for a long while; Draco wanting to go home and Narcissa telling him it was impossible. She was actually starting to get annoyed with her dear child. Finally, she was just too frustrated to continue with him and said snidely, "You will just have to suffer through this then!"

Draco didn't say anything more after that, though he did have a few scathing remarks about Severus, that Narcissa silently agreed with. It wouldn't do to let Draco think he could manipulate her. Dinner was tense the rest of the evening; they finished their meals at the small wooden table at their dwelling in silence.

They were staying in a small apartment near the centre of the town. Severus had sent them there with the portkey. The place had a small kitchen, a living room, two bedrooms and one bathroom. A few pieces of furniture, old and well used, were in the apartment. It certainly wasn't anything Narcissa or Draco were used to, but it would have to do.

Severus had given Narcissa a two-way mirror for them to communicate when absolutely necessary. He had told her and Draco to visit Stonehenge. They were to keep their eyes open for someone they would recognize, and aide that person if necessary. Narcissa had not told Draco the details of her Unbreakable Vow with Severus. No matter how sly the boy tried to be, she would not budge. If Draco knew who they were helping to protect he would refuse to do anything.

Narcissa was shocked when Severus told her who she had to protect. If there had been any way out of it, she would have taken it. However, Severus had saved Draco and she owed the man. There was no way out of it, so she took the vow. Narcissa was just thankful no one had shown up at Stonehenge. The longer it took someone to show up the longer she didn't have to tell Draco what had to be done.

It was their second weekend as Muggles and they were dressed in their best "normal" clothing. The pair took the bus to Stonehenge and pretended to be tourists admiring the earthworks. Draco walked around with a bored expression while Narcissa kept her eyes open for anyone who looked familiar. She almost gave up, thankfully, that no one arrived, when she spotted someone with a magical signature.

A girl with brown hair that was tied in a loose bun on the top of her head was walking around the stones looking at everything with deep curiosity. Narcissa had only been able to view the back of her head but Narcissa felt a familiarity with the girl. She walked around the opposite way so she could reach the girl and get a good look at her. About five minutes later she walked past the girl. Narcissa had to contain herself when it clicked in her mind that it was indeed Hermione Granger. Now, all she had to do was watch over her and make sure she got the package with no problems.

Finding Draco sprawled out on the grass looking at the monument lazily she whispered, "You wanted to know what we are doing here?"

Draco's eyes widened and he sat up fully, "Yes, tell me," he demanded.

"We are to make sure a certain person is able to obtain something from the stones safely," she said obscurely.

"What person?" he questioned warily.

"Over there," she said pointing to the girl in jeans and a black t-shirt. From the view and distance it was difficult for Draco to make out the person; which was perfect because then Narcissa wouldn't have to explain anything to Draco.

"So are we just supposed to sit here and watch her?"

"No, you are going to sit here and watch to make sure no one else, like your father's associates, arrive. If they do you will need to give me a signal." She paused a moment thinking of an appropriate Muggle signal. "Whistle three times. I will be following her to make sure everything is fine. We will need to stop anyone who tries to stop her. Curse them if you have to Draco but do it silently."

Draco sighed dramatically as if this was the silliest thing on earth. "Very well."

"Thank you, son, you are just so very helpful." She stood and walked away quickly before he could come up with a scathing remark.

Narcissa followed Hermione around for a while. She wasn't sure what the girl was doing, but she wished she would hurry up. If she and Draco could avoid having to step in to save Hermione from something then that would be helpful. After a while Narcissa started to have an uneasy feeling about this whole thing. The sun was starting to set and people were catching the last bus to head back to Amesbury.

Hermione had moved to the other side of the circle of stones so no one from the bus could see her. Narcissa transfigured into a white mink and wound through the stones all the while keeping an eye on Hermione. Draco had started to make his way closer to the pair so he could see them in the dimming light. He still had no clue who the girl was. Though he was anxious to see who they were helping he had a job to do and he focused on that. It was good for him that the area surrounding the earthworks was relatively flat; it gave him a good view of things and he was able to see if anyone was coming from a far distance. However, this gave him very little hiding space. Draco crouched down low to the ground to help hide. He was in the shadows of the stones now and kept his eyes open for anyone who was likely to arrive.

While Draco was on the outside of the stones, Narcissa and Hermione were making their way closer to the centre of the stones. Narcissa still felt very uneasy and it only intensified as they got farther into the stones. Something bad was going to happen and she knew it. It was eerily quiet, which added to her uneasiness. The only sounds were the crunching of her feet as she walked over the grounds. Narcissa was thankful that the girl was smart because she was walking in the shadows making sure she wasn't seen. If someone did appear then Hermione would have a good chance of not being visible.

Just when Narcissa and Hermione were getting to the centre she heard three whistles. Crouching down closer to the ground Narcissa looked around hoping to see who was coming. She could sense a couple of people. Hermione had stopped as well when she heard the whistle. After a few moments, they could both here the sounds of footsteps. Hermione had crouched down behind a stone and Narcissa was working her way around the stones to place herself between Hermione and the intruders. She had to find out who she was dealing with before she could make a move.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up and she stayed as still as she could. Three sets of legs walked quickly past her. She watched them walk right by her and saw Draco hide behind the nearest stone. Draco spotted her as she transformed back into a human. She signalled for him to stay put and he did. Narcissa silently followed the three as they neared the centre of the stones. It seemed Hermione was going to just stay put and see what happened.

The three stepped fully into the centre and Narcissa was able to see who was there. It was Avery, Alecto and Amycus Carrow; all three had been involved in the raid at Hogwarts. They clearly didn't know what or who they were looking for. The squat Amycus questioned impatiently, "Where the bloody hell is it?"

Alecto looked at her brother and sighed warily. "Well clearly I don't know. How about we look around for it?" she said mockingly.

Amycus glared at her and was about to retort when Avery stepped in and said, "Enough! Let's just find this stupid thing and be on our way. We don't want to keep the Dark Lord waiting…"

The three started to look around and Narcissa transformed back into a mink and walked around avoiding them. She kept an eye on Hermione just to make sure she wasn't seen. Hermione had also been moving around, making sure she was undetected, while the Death Eaters prowled around. Narcissa was slightly impressed that the girl was so stealthy.

"Oye! Over here you lot. I've found something," Avery yelled out suddenly. He was on his hands and knees looking at the ground. The ground around one of the stones was slightly messed up as if it had recently been trampled on. It was the only one of its kind. Using his wand he lifted the stone and found a hole that was filled with fairly fresh dirt. Alecto and Amycus began to move the dirt around with their hands until they felt something. With some effort they finally pulled up a dirt filled cup. Amycus wiped it off and emptied all the dirt out of it while Avery replaced the stone.

"Is that Hufflepuff's cup?" Alecto asked.

"Yes," Avery replied. "Let's get out of here," he said hastily.

As they started to move away from the centre of the stones Avery was hit from behind with a curse. He dropped to the ground like a stone and Amycus and Alecto turned around quickly, eyes wide open, and their wands at the ready. Another curse from another direction hit Amycus who fell to the ground, the cup flying from his hands. Alecto crouched down to the ground and started to look for the fallen cup. She spotted it but before she could reach it someone jumped from the shadows, snatched the cup up and dashed through the stones. She took off after the person throwing curses at them whenever she could get an open shot

Narcissa was about to cast another curse at Alecto when she was tackled to the ground by Avery. They rolled on the ground for a few moments before Narcissa was able to connect her knee with his groin. He was momentarily paralyzed and she took advantage of that by casting the Killing Curse. She got up quickly and found Amycus recovering from the curse she threw at him. He straightened and looked directly at her. He didn't hesitate to throw a curse, Petrificus Totalus. He merely wanted to stun her so he could capture her. However, Narcissa was much quicker than he was and transformed into a mink again. She scampered away and due to her small size she was difficult to see. Amycus tried to find her but before he could Narcissa had transformed back and used her wand to pick up a piece of stone and smash him in the head. Satisfied that those two weren't going anywhere she quickly ran to the edge of the stones to see where Draco was.

Draco had been waiting at the outer rim of the stones to see who would emerge from the centre. He heard two people running and every now and then the sound of spells hitting stone. Waiting patiently he stood against one of the stones with his wand ready. He waited for the two people to run by him before he acted. The girl had something in her hand and was running as fast as she could. The person behind her was trying to catch up though clearly out of breath. They were slowing down and it was getting harder for them to cast a spell. Draco took a step forward and cast Impedimenta, successfully stopping the person. Draco was hoping to get a look at the girl, and he did. She turned around to look back to make sure she was in the clear before she apparated away.

Draco was astonished when he realized it was Hermione Granger. His anger was starting to boil but before he could get angrier he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around quickly ready to cast a curse if he needed to. Realizing it was only his mother he lowered his wand and looked angrily at her. "Why didn't you tell me we were helping a Mudblood?"

"Get over it Draco. Help me with these bodies. We need to get them out of here so no one figures out what happened here tonight," she said quickly as she started toward the stiff Alecto. They had to get rid of three bodies tonight before they could move on.