AN: Sorry for the long lapse between this update and the previous one. I swear, I've been working plenty on this story, and I've written a lot, but none of it can come up yet! But the next update should be really soon as it's already written and just needs some editing. This is definitely a turning point in this story, and it'll take (what I think is) an interesting twist after this.

Thanks to The-Lady-Layla, ShatteredTruth, BlueIrishEyes, and Ana Roo for your reviews. Feedback really means a lot to me! Thanks so much guys. I hope you really like this next chapter.

Stand and Watch It Burn

V. Warnings, Libraries, and Rumours

Draco stared at the clock hanging on the wall, tapping his foot impatiently. Tick. Tick.Tap. Tick.Tap tap. Five minutes late. Draco was started to get frustrated and annoyed. He shifted around in the squishy blue chair. Terrible for back support, Draco thought critically. No wonder Potter has such terrible posture.

The whole office was an interior designer's nightmare. Not that Draco was an expert by any means, but even he could tell this place was a disaster. The room was filled with a mish mash of pieces of furniture and ornaments, none of which matched any of the others. The blue chairs clashed terribly with the scarlet and gold striped rug underneath. Typical. Several teak bookshelves filled with books and files lined the walls. The rich mahogany desk sat in the centre of the room. On the desk sat several frames of various metals and woods.

Draco stared at the backs of the frames. Should he? How long could he delay the inevitable? He had spent the whole week since his release willingly confined within the gates of his manor. The terms of his pardon allowed him to leave, but Draco was reluctant to, for many reasons.

Slowly, and with extreme deliberation, Draco leaned forward until he could see the pictures the frames held. One was a picture of Harry and Ginny, kissing. Scowling lightly, he turned to examine the others. One of Potter's parents. He remembered that photo. One of Lupin. One of Sirius. No, no, no… not what he was looking for. One of Hagrid with that stupid hippogriff…

"It's on your left."

Draco nearly fell onto the desk. He had been so absorbed by his search, he hadn't heard the door open or Harry coming in.

"What's on the left?" he asked with an air of indifference.

"You know," Harry replied, walking over to the large, black leather chair behind his desk. It was a nice chair, Draco noted. It looked quite comfy. Harry sat down.

"I'm quite sure I have no idea what you're talking about." Draco stared out the window behind Harry's desk, purposefully avoiding having to look Harry in the eyes.

Harry sighed. He reached to his right and showed Draco what he had been looking for. A smiling couple waved at him rather obnoxiously.

Draco looked at Harry coolly. "So?" he asked.

"So," Harry said, replacing the frame. He returned Draco's look.

Torn, Draco sat, contemplating. Finally, his curiosity and desire to know won. His eyes dropped to the outrageous scarlet and gold carpet at his feet, finding it an easier sight than Harry's gaze. Quietly, he asked, "How long?"

"Two years," Harry replied. "They have a son."

"Name?"

"What do you care?"

Draco tilted his head up and gave Harry a defiant look. "Aiden," Harry finally said. "Aiden Aneirin Granger Weasley. Long name for a little guy."

Upon hearing this, Draco felt his heart twinge. "Who decided that name?"

"They agreed on the first name, but Hermione was dead set on Aneirin as his middle name. We tried to convince her that 'Aiden' and 'Aneirin' weren't exactly the best combination of names, but she had her heart set on that name for some reason. I think Ron was just glad she gave up on Plato." Draco gave Harry a twisted smile. Harry looked at Draco questioningly. "Really, what do you care?"

"I'm not heartless, Potter, as you might like to think."

"You haven't exactly proven that, Malfoy."

Silence.

"How's Ginny? I assume you two are still together, if not married. Are you married?"

"Malfoy…"

"Am I invited to the wedding?"

"No!"

"You're not together?"

"Yes, we are…"

"Then you're not married?"

"No, not yet…"

"Oh, so you're engaged!"

"Yes…"

"Then what on earth were you saying no to?"

"Malfoy," Harry said, giving Draco a warning glare, "we have business to attend to."

Draco said nothing.

"You know the terms of your release?"

"Yes," Draco said impatiently. "I've only heard them about seventy-three times since the wretched day I left Azkaban."

"Give me your wand," Harry instructed. Draco handed it over. Draco had loved his wand the moment he had received it at Ollivander's. Hawthorn and phoenix feather, twelve inches long. Draco feared they had broken it when he went to Azkaban, so he had been pleasantly surprised when his lawyer returned it to him upon his release. The wand had long served him well.

Draco watched has Harry examined it. "Seems to be all right," Harry finally said, returning the wand to Draco. "As you remember…"

"No Dark Magic." Draco gave Harry a hard look. "You know I gave that up, Harry."

"I don't know about that, Malfoy," Harry responded with emphasis, a faint scowl pulling down the corners of his lips.

Draco sighed. Hesitantly, he started, "Look, Potter, I didn't… That night, I…"

Harry waved him off. "You don't need to explain anything to me, Malfoy."

"You wouldn't believe me anyway."

"Ron and Hermione are my best friends." Harry leaned forward. "They've been there for me through everything. They've supported me wholeheartedly and completely. They're the nearest thing I have to family, Malfoy. Perhaps that means nothing to you, but for me, it's everything. Everything. Ron and Hermione have sacrificed so much for me, I will do everything in my power to protect them. I will not let you hurt them."

Draco's face hardened. "What makes you think I'd even bother talking to Weasley and Granger?"

"Because you love torturing us and making our lives hell," Harry growled.

Draco laughed. "True. I almost forgot how delightful it is to bait Weasley. It would be almost too easy. I could use a few laughs."

Harry stared at Draco for a long while, and slowly, the smile on Draco's face faded. "Look," Harry said in a slightly softer voice, "I know you've been through a lot. But so has Ron. So has Hermione. They're happy now. They have a son. And they have a wonderful life together. I won't let you ruin that."

"I have no illusions, Potter," Draco said coldly. "I know what happened. I know what reality is. You do not need to worry about me. And if we're quite done here, I'd like to return to the manor."

After a few seconds, Harry finally nodded. "I'll see you next week. Same place, same time."

"Don't be late next time, Potter," Draco said.

As Draco rose to leave, Harry said, "I mean it, Malfoy. Stay away from Hermione."

Draco briefly closed his eyes before responding. "Of course, Potter."

x x x

Hermione wasn't sure where to start. Ron was lying to her about Malfoy, but why? What didn't he want her to know?

She had tried to shrug it off. Maybe Ron hadn't remembered correctly. Maybe Malfoy was so unimportant that Ron had forgotten the details. Maybe this was all in her mind. I have had an awful lot of time to think lately, Hermione admitted to herself. Doing household chores could only do so much for stimulating the brain. Perhaps she was creating mysterious puzzles for herself to solve… puzzles that didn't exist.

But still, something deep inside her just knew something was wrong. And she was determined to figure out what it was… if only she knew where to start.

Hermione thought about it all night. After a restless night of sleep, she decided the answer started with what happened with Malfoy three years ago. And in order to figure out what happened with Malfoy three years ago, she needed to do research. And for that, she needed to go to the library. The Wizarding Public Library in Diagon Alley to be exact.

The library. Hermione hadn't entered it since the war when she went to research some ancient runes for Harry. The Hogwarts library had been extensive and wonderful, but it was absolutely nothing compared to the extravagance and excess of the Wizarding Public Library. There were bookshelves upon bookshelves of tomes on anything and everything a wizard or witch could possibly imagine, even the original scrolls used by the Egyptian wizards… though those were in a Rare Books department and obviously limited to use in the library under supervision.

This morning had been a blur. Hermione had nodded her way through breakfast until Ron left for work at 7:59. Then, Hermione left Aiden with Mrs. Weasley, explaining that she needed to run some errands. Mrs. Weasley, not asking any questions, had willingly obliged, more than happy to take her little grandson for a few hours.

So now, Hermione was in Diagon Alley, standing right at the foot of the long stairway in front of the library. The stairs, like the library, were of a white-grey marble. It was a lovely day in late May, and the rose bushes lining the stairs were in full bloom. The library was very grand, much more so than Hermione remembered. There was a large arching doorway with heavy wooden doors. The front of the building was adorned with six wide Corinthian columns, three standing on each side of the door.

Slowly, Hermione climbed the stairs. Taking a deep breath, Hermione pushed the heavy wooden doors which creakily opened. For a building so large, it was relatively empty. Hermione could see a few people wandering around, perusing books, and others sitting at long oak tables, looking through huge books. In the far right corner, there was a small group of children, sitting around a witch who was reading them a story. Story time. Hermione smiled nostalgically, remembering her own experiences with story time in the Muggle libraries in her childhood. She'd have to bring Aiden here… Well, maybe when he was a little older.

"Can I help you, Miss?"

Hermione jumped slightly. The young witch now standing at her elbow smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you."

Hermione returned the smile. "No, it's quite all right," she replied.

"Is there anything in particular you were looking for?"

"Yes, actually," Hermione said, her eyes scanning the room. "Where do you keep old issues of The Daily Prophet?"

"Downstairs," the girl answered. "Here, follow me. I'll show you."

The girl led Hermione to a stairwell that led down into a stonewalled hallway lit by candles.

"Not many people look at the archives," the girl commented. "They were thinking about getting rid of them." At the end of the hallway was a wide heavy wooden door. The girl took out her wand. "Alohomora." The door swung open. "Here you go, miss."

The room had file cabinet after file cabinet, each labeled with a year. There were literally hundreds of cabinets.

"We have every issue ever printed of The Daily Prophet. Is there a particular one you're looking for?"

"I'm looking for ones from three years ago."

"Hmmm…" The girl wandered down the aisles. "Three years ago… Ah! Here it is. Which month?"

Hermione hesitated. "I'm actually not sure."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Well, is there an event or subject in particular you're looking for?"

"Yes," Hermione said slowly. "I'm trying to find articles about the arrest of Draco Malfoy."

"Draco Malfoy?" The girl looked at Hermione, intrigued. "Wasn't he just recently released?" Hermione nodded. "I remember when he was arrested. A lot of funny things going on behind that. Lots of rumours." Hermione stared at the girl, but she was too busy examining the file cabinets to notice. She opened one and shuffled through its contents. "What month was it," she mumbled under her breath. "Oh, yes, here it is. April 30. Just right near the end of the war." She pulled out an issue with the huge headline DEATH EATER APPREHENDED, MALFOY CAUGHT IN THE ACT The girl handed it to Hermione. "Here you go. If you need anything else, I'll be upstairs. My name is Olivia."

"Thank you, Olivia," Hermione said.

"There's a few chairs over in that corner you can sit on if you need. You can't check out the issues, but you can read them as long as you'd like," the girl added. "Have a nice day, miss." With that, she left.

Hermione made her way over to the aforementioned corner and fell into a chair. She couldn't believe what she read.

Last night, the Light Side won a crucial battle in the war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Just past midnight, Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, Ron Weasley, son of the Head of Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects, Arthur Weasley, and Nymphadora Tonks, an Auror, came into the Ministry with Draco Malfoy, son of renowned Death Eater, Lucius Malfoy.

The younger Malfoy, believed to be in You-Know-Who's inner circle and the devious mastermind responsible for the murder of Albus Dumbledore, was apprehended in a cabin in the middle of the woods, believed to be the residence of Remus Lupin, a known werewolf. Our sources indicate that Malfoy and his fellow Death Eaters were attempting to recruit this creature to join their side. Lupin, to their disappointment, was not there.

Potter, Weasley, and Tonks have declined to answer any of our questions. Although we are unsure of the actual chain of events, from what we have surmised, we believe this to be what happened. Malfoy and others appeared at the cabin and searched for Lupin, but he was nowhere to be found. An organization fighting the Dark Side – the so-called "Order of the Phoenix" – had long been on Malfoy's tail, and it is believed that they managed to trace Malfoy to the cabin. They, however, arrived at different times. From what we can deduce, the first to arrive at the scene was Hermione Granger.

Hermione stared at the newspaper in disbelief. I was there? That's impossible! How on earth… Hermione shook her head. Impossible. Completely impossible.

Granger then confronted the Death Eaters, but being vastly outnumbered, she could hardly fight them all off. By the time Potter, Weasley, and Tonks arrived at the scene, Granger had been knocked unconscious. The three managed to subdue the Death Eaters, but the majority escaped. They only managed to take Malfoy into custody.

Currently, Granger is in St. Mungo's, still unconscious. The doctors have not answered our inquiries about her condition, merely stating that she is stable and they are unsure of what curse was used upon her.

Unconscious. St. Mungo's. Hermione's head spun. She didn't remember any of this. What the hell was going on?

Hermione put the newspaper back in the file cabinet and hurried back upstairs. Back in the main room, she looked around until she found what she was looking for.

"Olivia!" Hermione called out. Her voice wasn't loud but definitely above a library voice. Many patrons in the library looked at her and shot her a dirty glare. God, now I'm forgetting my library etiquette. What's happening to me?!

Olivia came to Hermione, smiling cheerfully. "Did you find everything you were looking for, Miss?"

"Not exactly."

"Well, what else do you need?"

Hermione bit her lip. "Olivia, when you said there were a lot of funny things going on behind Malfoy's arrest, what did you mean? What rumours are you talking about?"

Olivia's face immediately darkened. She looked around quickly. "Oh," she said, her voice barely audible. "I'm not sure if this is a good place to talk about it. Come with me." She led Hermione out of the main room and into one of the smaller rooms. "This is the Muggle Technologies and Science section. We shouldn't be bothered here."

"Why all the secrecy?" Hermione asked.

"Well," Olivia said slowly, "it's just that… all these years after the war, it's become the general consensus that Draco Malfoy's arrest was integral to the downfall of You-Know-Who. Especially since it happened just a month or so before the end of the war. But at the time of his arrest, there were a lot of rumours swirling about. Almost everyone was whispering about it. I'm really surprised you haven't heard about it."

"What rumours, Olivia?" Hermione pulled at her hair in frustration. "Why wasn't it mentioned in the article?"

"Because they wanted to keep it down."

"Who?"

"The Ministry. The Order."

"The Order?!"

"Shhh!" Olivia peeked through the door, checking to see if anyone overheard them. "Keep your voice down. Yes, the Order of the Phoenix."

"Why would we – they want to keep it down?"

"I have no idea," Olivia said. "I've always wondered, but I was never told any reason. All I know is Harry Potter and Ron Weasley made sure that The Daily Prophet didn't even mention it."

Hermione stared at Olivia. "Harry Potter and Ron Weasley?" she repeated weakly.

Olivia nodded.

"But what…"

"SHHH!"

"Sorry," Hermione hurriedly apologised. "What rumours did they not want mentioned?"

"That Draco Malfoy was no longer a Death Eater." Olivia looked at Hermione with wide eyes. "That the truth was Draco Malfoy had long defected. That, really, Draco Malfoy was a member of the Order of the Phoenix."

AN: Ah yes. It's really not a surprise that Draco was on the light side was it? If not you haven't been paying attention:P But Harry and Ron's role in it? Hmmm... And why doesn't Hermione remember?

I don't think I reveal any secrets when I say writers love reviews. Please:)