A/N: Hey! Sorry it's been so long. I've been pretty swamped with school and basketball. It might be like another week before I can post again since I'll be in Montreal for a basketball tournament! Sorry guys!

Chapter 12

"Hurry up Malfoy!" Hermione called from the common area of their tent.

"I'm coming! Don't get your knickers in a bunch." He teased as he came out of the bathroom sporting a new look.

"Much better than the first one." Hermione commended. His hair was now blonde, but not the platinum blonde that it naturally was, he had some facial hair and green eyes as opposed to the distinctive silver that he had before. It was much better than the jet black that he had opted for the first time. Hermione on the other hand, had turned her hair blonde and straight and her eye's a bright blue. She looked really different, and actually quite pretty she thought.

"I thought so." Draco agreed, admiring his work in the mirror. Hermione didn't see him quickly appraise her new look with an approving look on his face.

"Alright enough of your vanity, we have to get a move on!" Hermione exclaimed, grabbing his hand and tugging him outside. She was pleased to see that Draco no longer flinched at her touch, but instead obliged and followed her outside. She quickly dismantled the tent and stored it in her never-ending bag. Once they left, the wards would be broken and the forest seemingly undisturbed.

"I was thinking perhaps we should just walk. It's not far at all." Hermione suggested.

"Some one too sissy for apparition?" Draco teased. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"No, it's just not that far and it's a beautiful day out. So why would we go through unpleasant apparition when we can have a pleasant walk?" Hermione reasoned. Draco smirked at her.

"Alright. Let's go." He said, heading off in the direction of the library. They walked in silence most of the way, but it wasn't the awkward silence that could sometimes occur, it was more of a companionable silence. Hermione was enjoying the scenery in the pretty town while Draco was lost in thought. It was rather pleasant for both of them, as neither felt any pressure to carry on a conversation or impress the other.

All of a sudden Hermione had the uneasy feeling that they were being watched. Years of fighting the dark sight had honed what she called her 'spidey-senses'. When she had told Harry and Ron that, Ron looked at her like she was crazy. Apparently wizards don't grow up with Spider-man. Before looking around, she cast a quick and quiet homenum revelio to see if there was anything concealed by magic. This way she wouldn't have to risk revealing that she was aware of her follower… if there even was some one following them. When the spell revealed nothing, she tried to look around as best she could whilst pretending to fix her hair. She really didn't want to seem obvious, and over the years had developed a multitude of tactics for secretly doing things. Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw something jump back into the shadows. Not wanting to push her luck though, she decided it'd be best to try and lose them instead of trying for a better look at them, or a confrontation.

"Sean dear, I think this is the graveyard Grandpa is buried in. Do you mind if we stop in and say hello?" Hermione said, gesturing to the grave yard that they were walking past. She hoped that Draco would go along with it. He paused for a split second, and upon seeing the look on necessity on her face, did.

"Of course sweetheart." He smiled grabbing her hand and walking with her into the graveyard. They walked through the graveyard, reminiscing about a grandparent who didn't exist.

"I remember when I was a little girl, he used to do magic tricks for me, like pulling money out from behind my ear, and then making it disappear again." Hermione said with a smile. Draco, aware that if they were acting as a couple they wouldn't have the same grandparents, laughed. He assumed that this was a muggle thing, as his family had always just done real magic- not that they ever really did anything to entertain him. They mostly used it to punish him. But he figured most wizard families wouldn't be doing muggle parlor tricks. He took this to mean that they were acting as muggles.

"My grandfather used to the same thing to me." He lied. His grandfather actually used to sit there and preach about blood status and the importance of keeping up our bloodline and so on and so on…

"Do you remember when you first met him?" Hermione asked.

"Yes! He scared me half to death with all those threats!" Draco laughed. Hermione laughed along with him.

"Oh that was just the initial meeting. He was just making sure you wouldn't screw me over! You guys became great friends!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, we did. He was like another grandfather to me." Draco reminisced. He wished that he could have had this pretend person for a grandfather instead.

They continued on feeding off of each other's lies until they reached a grave that looked as if it could pass as her 'grandfather's'.

"I still can't believe he's really gone." Hermione said, bringing grief into her voice to add to the act. This wasn't too hard, as she was still feeling grief over her loss of Ron. Draco put his arm around Hermione and pulled her close as a show of support for her loss. She didn't know if he was aware of the double meaning. She rested her head on his shoulder and they just stood there, looking at the grave of James Mason, whoever that was. They stood there for a minute, just looking at the grave and seemingly lost in thought. They were really putting on quite a show for whoever was watching them. It was all very believable.

"I suppose we should go." Hermione sighed, raising her head to look at Draco. "You don't mind if we stop at the library do you? There's a few books I'd like to pick up."

"Of course darling. We'll go there right now." He said, grabbing her hand as they walked towards the library. As they were leaving the graveyard, Hermione had to keep herself from doing a double take on a grave. She could have sworn that she had just seen the word 'Pettigrew' written on a gravestone.

Once they were inside and sure that no one had followed them, they dropped the act- especially the pet names.

"Great acting Malfoy. I'm impressed." She told him.

"I was a Death Eater against my will, of course I'm an incredible actor, I was surprised at your talent though." He said. Hermione let out a small laugh.

"Well it wasn't too hard." She said. Draco gave a knowing nod and sympathetic smile. He was unsure of what to say.

"Anyways, I'm not completely sure, but I could have sworn I saw a grave that said Pettigrew on it. I didn't want to check again incase we were still being watched." Hermione said.

"Pettigrew as in… the one that turned the Potter's in?" Draco asked. Hermione nodded and Draco's eye's widened.

"Maybe we'll have some luck in this town after all." Draco mused.

"Aren't you glad we walked?" Hermione chided with a smile. Draco let out a small laugh.

"Yes, definitely. It was nice to refresh my acting skills. I need to keep them sharp for when I get my big break!" Draco joked.

"I didn't know Wizards watched muggle movies! Especially purebloods." Hermione was stunned that Draco knew about muggle films. He ignored her pureblood comment, knowing that she didn't mean it to be rude. He also knew that it was true, as most purebloods wanted nothing to do with muggles.

"I have a few times. They're actually quite cool. I mean, you can really get caught up in a story if it's good." He said sheepishly.

"I love them." Hermione smiled.

"I'll give you an autograph when I'm a famous movie star." Draco said with a cheeky grin.

"Yeah whatever Malfoy. For now why don't we focus on saving everyone." Hermione and Draco went to the archives, scanning them for any names that they knew to be magical families. They used the same system that they had before. But this time Hermione remembered that Harry had given her his Invisibility Cloak to keep her safe. This made the whole system much easier as they weren't constantly having to cast spells, and there wasn't the risk of people hearing them. It was a nuisance that they had to move together, but it was something that they could live wih.

"Malfoy, look at this. It's the article on Peter Pettigrews death! From a muggle newspaper." Hermione exclaimed, shoving it in his face. Draco took it and skimmed the page.

"It says he was killed using firecrackers. Is that the story that they fed the muggles?" Draco asked disdainfully.

"I know, it's painfully uncreative." Hermione agreed. "But then again, how many ways are there to allegedly be blown up?"

"Well well well, what have we here?" They heard a voice say. They saw a man, presumably the man that had been following them, standing in front of them. Hermione recognized him, but she didn't know where she had seen him before. Draco on the other hand, knew the face painfully well.

"Looks like there's some magical folk here. One's that have caught onto our little secret by the sounds of it." A second said, coming up alongside him. This time, neither of them knew who this one was. Perhaps he was a new recruit, or maybe he had previously been a nobody who simply moved up in ranks out of necessity. Hermione and Draco looked at each other in horror under the invisibility cloak. They had gotten careless. They mentally kicked themselves for this, especially after they had possible been followed. Hermione slowly began to stand up, beckoning for Draco to do the same. Perhaps they could sneak away under the invisibility cloak and avoid any confrontation.

"Now how could anyone know our little secret? Oh wait, that slimy blood traitor Draco Malfoy is with the Order now! How could I forget." Hermione felt Draco shaking with rage beside her. Even if he was somewhat passed the blood prejudice, such words still hurt him deeply. Especially since it was the last word he had heard from his father. Hermione grabbed his hand to remind him to keep his cool, while giving him an understanding look with an undertone of warning.

"If it's him here, I'm going to torture him into insanity like he bloody deserves. He'll be worse than the Longbottoms." The one that Draco recognized as Yaxley sneered. Now it was Draco's turn to keep Hermione calm. She was bristling with anger at the casual mention of what had happened to Neville's parents. He squeezed her hand to remind her to stay cool, and she gave him a small smile. They slowly began to inch away, making as little noise as possible. As great as it would be to capture these slimy gits, they knew that if they did their chances of finding the horcrux would be much more slim than they already were. They had to look at the bigger picture.

"Look! A foot!" One shouted. Hermione looked down to see that Draco's foot had become exposed as they tried to escape. Before anyone had time to react, Hermione began firing spells over her shoulder as she ran, dragging Draco along beside her. She didn't care if she was invisible now, they just needed to get away. There were spells flying everywhere. If it wasn't a life or death situation, it could almost be considered beautiful with all the different colours flying about. They duel was fierce. While neither side was aiming to kill- Death Eater's needed information, and the Order members merely on principal- both sides were aiming to seriously harm the other. Hermione and Draco were firing whichever hexes, charms and curses came to mind. Luckily they weren't surrounded, so they didn't need to worry about covering each other.

"Malfoy we just need be hidden for 5 seconds. Then we can apparate out of here and be safe." Hermione called above the many sounds. There were things breaking, spells whizzing about and much shouting. If Hermione hadn't been so focused on staying alive, she would have felt deep remorse for ruining so many books.

"Mad dash for the door?" Draco asked. Hermione nodded, and they took off. They were firing every protective charm they could think of over their backs, as well as a few offensive spells to shake up their opponents. Once they finally reached the door, Hermione grabbed his hand and apparated them away. When they landed in a nearby forest, Hermione collapsed. Draco looked down at her to find her in a bloody heap on the forest floor.

"Hermione? What's happened?" He asked, sinking to his knees beside her. He was so stunned and worried that he had used her first name. If Hermione wasn't in such pain and losing so much blood, she would have smiled at thi.

"Sect- Se-Sect-" Hermione tried to say. Draco looked down and realized immediately what she was trying to say. There were two huge gashes across Hermione's body. He knew exactly what curse had hit her.

"Oh Merlin." He said worriedly. He racked his brain, trying to think of a solution while Hermione was gushing blood in front of him. She was losing a lot of blood, and fast.

"Bag." Hermione croaked. Draco looked around, searching for her bag. He grabbed it and began chucking things out of it, looking for the potion that could heal cuts. When he finally found it, he began pouring it in her wounds. It wasn't working fast enough. The curse must have something in it to prevent much healing. Then he remembered. When Harry had hit him with this spell, Snape had used some spell to heal him. He began to recite the spell, drawing his wand over Hermione's wounds. He had no idea how he remembered the words, or what to do- instinct just took over. It was working. He almost laughed when he saw that she wasn't bleeding anymore. He had done it- he had saved her! His feeling of success was short lived when he realized that she had passed out from losing so much blood.

Draco set up the tent and then went about setting the wards as best he could and as quickly as he could. He'd have to remember to have Hermione check them when she woke up, he reminded himself. When he was done, he picked up Hermione and carried her inside. He placed her gently on the sofa, then dashed into the kitchen to look for some blood replenishing potion in the cabinet. He assumed that Hermione might have some in her bag, but it was so full of stuff It'd be nearly impossible to find.

"Hermione. Hermione wake up." He urged. When she didn't even budge, he realized that he would need to force it down her throat. He sighed and gently pressed his fingers to her soft lips and pried her mouth open gently. He poured some potion in her mouth and closed it, hoping that she would swallow. After a few seconds, she unconsciously did. Draco smiled and repeated the process until the correct dosage was delivered. He smiled smugly to himself at his success in keeping her alive. As an after thought, he grabbed a blanket and draped it carefully over her. When he was done, he sat down in the chair next to the sofa and thought. He thought about his parents, the Death Eaters, his past, and most of all, the fear he felt when he saw Hermione so injured. Why had he felt that way? He was only being civil, he wasn't even supposed to like her. If he didn't even like her, why had he been so worried? Draco was baffled by his emotions sometimes.

At the sound of movement, his head snapped up. He glanced over to see Hermione stirring a bit. He smiled and got up to make some tea. By the time he was done, she seemed to be awake.

"Hey sleepy head." He teased, putting her cup of tea in front of her. She gave a small smile and started to sit up. As soon as she moved, she let out a groan from the pain. Draco got up and pulled her into more of a sitting position so that she would be more comfortable without having to move. Hermione gave him a quizzical but grateful look.

"Don't move, you'll be really sore for a while. It won't be too bad tomorrow, and you should feel normal again in a few days. Just rest and stay still for now." He told her. Draco grabbed her tea and passed it to her so that she wouldn't have to move again.

"What happened?" She asked, sipping on her tea.

"One of them must have hit you just as we were apparating. It's a wonder you didn't splinch as well." He commented.

"So how'd I get here?"

"Somehow you managed to apparate us here safely. As soon as we got here you collapsed. After I finally closed your wounds- that potion was bloody useless by the way- I set up the tent and wards-which you might want to double check- and carried you inside."

"Thank you. But what'd you do for me then? What'd they even hit me with that was that bad?"

"Sectum Sempra." Draco told her. Hermione went white.

"How do other people know about that?"

"I know it because Harry hit me with it in year six, and they must have seen me or Snape do it." Hermione went whiter still.

"You-you've used it on people?" Hermione asked quietly. Draco looked down. He'd done a hell of a lot worse than that.

"It was all self-defense really. In battles you just kind of fire the first spell that comes to mind." He lamely explained. That was partially true, but he'd used it other times as well.

"Nevermind that. How'd you save me then?" She asked.

"I remembered how Snape saved me that time, and I imitated it. I don't know how I remembered it at all. I just started speaking and that's what came out. Thank Merlin it worked though. I don't know what I'd have done if it hadn't." Hermione smiled slightly at the insinuation that he needed her around. Even if he hadn't meant that, she could pretend like he cared.

"Thank you Draco." She said softly. Draco's head snapped up at the use of his first name. Hermione blushed slightly, and Draco realized that this made her look especially beautiful.

"You called me Draco." He commented in a stunned way.

"Yes, yes I did." She said in that matter-of-fact Hermione voice.

"Well Hermione, you're welcome."

A/N: They're becoming friends! Yay! I hope that this is okay. PLEASE let me know what you think. Am I moving too fast? Are they getting out of character? LET ME KNOW! I love reviews! They motivate me to write more 3