He pounded on the wall, the door, the window. Fist after fist raining down blows as he screamed, trying to get their attention. He screamed for Potter, for Weasley, for Granger. Screamed for his mother, and screamed for himself. Screamed until his throat was raw and he was struggling to breathe. After ten minutes of pounding, his head rested against the door and he gave a dry sob, and one last weak slap to the door.

"Please." He whispered, needing to hear the sound of someone's voice. "Just let me out."

He saw no one, bar a hand, food was shoved through a small opening in the door. He didn't know how long he had been in the room, wagering that it had been several day. He jumped as the door knob rattled.

"Move away from the door, Malfoy." A voice snapped harshly. It was deep and rough, and he recognized it instantly. Draco stepped away from the door quickly, shrinking back to the wall. The door swung open revealing the raven haired boy, and they glared daggers at each other before Harry huffed a hollow laugh and sat in the chair in the center of the room. "Hermione told me she tried to talk sense into you. That you wouldn't give. I find that that is unfortunate, really."

"You're damn right, I won't give in. I'm not going to be your lot's bitch." Draco spat. Harry rolled his eyes.

"Look Malfoy, we all think you're a slimy git, we don't want you as our bitch. Basically, since you are unwilling to work with us, we've been left with no options. I'll just lay it out for you. We're gonna let you out of this room, and into a secluded part of the house, namely the top floor. You will be confined there at all times, with someone guarding you at all times. I don't know why, but Hermione has volunteered for the job." He pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed. "The rest of us are leaving for some time. I have things I need to accomplish, and frankly, playing nicey nice with you, is just annoying the shit out of me. You're lucky though, because I was not opposed to someone just ridding us of you. Would make things a lot easier. I'm not a big fan of prisoners, that's more You-Know-who's style."

Draco surveyed him, but didn't speak. He acknowledged the possibility of Hermione staying because of what she had said the second time he saw her. I'm tired of everything. But what did "everything" cover, the war? The mission the three had set upon themselves? This life that she had stumbled into when they were eleven? He couldn't help but wonder what she meant.

Harry stood, and pulled the door open, stepping to the side. "Let's go." He said, motioning for Draco to leave the room first. He led the blonde up three sets of stairs, and the area where Draco would presumably be staying for the duration of the war. "There are charms and enchantments. You'll be unable to leave, though Hermione can come and go. Her room is off limits, you can't enter unless invited and that is unlikely to happen. After all this is over, you'll be set a court date, and we'll never seen you again."

"Then I can only hope it happens very quickly." Draco drawled, looking out the window. It was Autumn, and the leaves on the tree had changed color. The air that wafted in, was chilly and sweet, and he closed his eyes against it, remembering what it felt like to be alone, to be free of this. To live in a different time where he was safe from the world. His door clicked shut as Harry left him standing in the room. And in that moment, he felt better than he had in a long time. He felt convinced that this was right.

"Get up." Hermione's voice pierced his dreams, nightmares, whatever it was he was experiencing. When he did move, she pinched his foot. "Get up Malfoy." He made a dissatisfied noise and opened one groggy eye. She was planted at the foot of his bed, hair awry, looking on edge.

"What do you want?" He muttered, clearing his throat.

"For you to get up."

"Obviously Granger, but what's your point in making me get up? Not like I'm of any use."

She gave a huffy laugh. "You'd be surprised. I'm supposed to be briefing you on what's going on. And as it's 8 AM, I'm ready for this debriefing and you're going to be conscious for it."

Hermione gave Draco one last haughty look and left the room. Her footsteps were soft, and it surprised him. She looked as though she was carrying something heavy, and he had expected everything about her to match that. It unnerved him and reminded him that he didn't trust her. He angrily pulled some clothes on, and forced himself down the hall. She was sitting at a desk, head turned away from the door, as she wrote on a piece of paper. He watched her quietly, as she shuffled through books and looked every bit herself as he could remember. The stubborn, know-it-all girl that he loathed.

"You can sit down, you know." He cocked an eyebrow at her, before rolling his eyes and planting himself in the chair furthest away from her. She sighed and looked up at him, lacing her fingers together. "It's all relatively the same. There was a battle, there have been five deaths. Two who were working with Voldemort, three for the Order."

Draco stared at her blankly, wanting to ask who was dead but not wanting to break his pride. She spared him the battle.

"Deatheaters Nott and Malfoy were killed. Ours were George Weasley, Seamus Finnigan, and Cho Chang. Malfoy Manor was destroyed in the battle. Fire." She added as an afterthought. He was surprised at how detached Hermione was, unmoved by the death of their classmates, her best friend's brother. He wanted to ask which of his parents were dead, but that would be admitting that he was concerned, and he refused to appear anything but cold as stone in front of her. She stared at him for a moment longer, before picking up her quill and returning to what she was doing. He took that as a sign for him to leave. He had just reached the door when her voice reached his ears again.

"It was your father." She said. Draco licked his lips relieved that it wasn't his mother, pausing only for a moment and then continued on, as though nothing had been said. He was well down the hall when he could have sworn he heard her crying.

Hermione was repetitive. It was the first thing Draco noted. A week in and she woke him up at the same time everyday and managed to rip open wounds and pour salt in them while she delved out blows of deaths and destruction in a world where they no longer really belonged. She kept that cold demeanor towards him that he happily returned. He began getting up before her, and settling himself in the sitting room before she had the chance to order him around. He wanted to get a rise out of her, ignite some anger within her and make her lash out. The outward silence that she brought was unnerving. He stopped listening to her, some days would hide in one of the many rooms of the flat. But she never came looking for him. So he had every reason to be shocked when he awoke to her sitting across from him in one of the empty bedrooms. In the middle of night while he was feeling restless, he had made his way here, and ended up falling asleep.

"You're not very bright are you?" She snapped. "Do you know I could curse you for disappearing? You might think you're clever not showing up to our meetings and hiding from me, but it makes you look weak." Draco raised an eyebrow at her.

"Me, weak?" He pretended to be appalled, "This coming from the girl who cries every hour of the day." Her eyes flashed with some unknown emotion.

"Lack of emotion doesn't make you stronger than me," She spat. "All it does is make you sadistic, because I'm sure you get some weird kick out of other people's pain."

He watched her idly, trying to think of something to retort with, the moment to do so slipping further and further away from him.

"I don't get a kick out of other people's pain. Just yours, mudblood." He smirked wickedly as the comment hit home. He had enough time to register the rage on her face before his cheek screamed as it burned. He licked his bottom lip, and raised a hand to the mark the hex had left. "Attacking an unarmed prisoner, I never thought you would sink so low Granger. "

She rolled her eyes in response. "Did Mummy teach you to not use such bad words, Malfoy? Or was she far too busy slaving for your father to pay you any notice or show you any love? She must have real tough knees." Draco moved across the room in under a second, just centimeters from Hermione's face.

"Don't speak about my mother, Granger. You know nothing of what she's done for me." He hissed through clenched teeth.

"Did I hit a nerve?" Hermione placed her hand on his chest and pushed him backwards, "remember I still have my wand." He wanted so badly to hit her. He wanted her to feel everything he felt and more, and realize how lucky she had it. He wanted her to be someone else, someone who wasn't connected to him. Someone who wouldn't abandon him in dark rooms, and leave him to his own devices because Merlin, if she didn't destroy him, he'd end up destroying himself.

Her hands ran through his hair, kneading and pulling, as he leaned over her. He watched the rise and fall of her chest, as her breathing increased. His hands grasped her waist, feeling the softness of her skin. His mouth attacked a spot on her neck that pulled a sound from her throat and sent shivers down his spine. Their movements became move frantic, and he buried his face in her hair, breathing in her smell, trying to capture her in this moment.

"Draco." She whispered. "Draco, "

"Hm?" He responded, kissing her shoulder.

"We're going to die here."

His eyes opened. The white of the ceiling blinded him in the sunlight. He fumbled for his watch, trying to check the time, trying to figure out why Hermione hadn't come to wake him up. It was 2 in afternoon. He threw his head back against the pillow and then did it again, letting out a frustrated roar. It wasn't the first time he had the dream, but he was continually confused by it. "Can't leave me fucking alone in my dreams either." He thought to himself disgruntled. The annoyance covered the immense frightened feeling he felt.

Draco was convinced that he would die here. He was sure of it. His lack of cooperation would inevitably get back to the Order, and they would get rid of him. He told himself that it was okay, and a part of him believed it. But then he found himself making plans, ways to overtake Hermione, steal her wand and escape this place. Plans to find his way home, to a home that no longer existed. Every time he got up the nerve to do it, Hermione gave him a look. Many times, it was the same one, a small frown with eyes that said she had given up. This frightened him as well. If the Golden Trio's smartest had given up, what did that mean for him? Was it time for them all to give up? These were the questions that plagued him, and ate at his soul. These were the questions that made him consider being different. And then there was the fact that she had protected him, when she hadn't needed to. He thought of reaching out to her, telling her he would help, but fear kept him stuck in roots, and unwilling to change for anyone.

Draco heard the yelling before he realized who it was. Hermione's voice reached new levels as she screamed at someone. Or was it to someone? He wanted to peak his head out into the hallway, curiosity eating at him. He heard mumbling and then more yelling.

"I WANT TO GO WITH YOU!" She yelled. "I don't care if it's not safe. I don't care if you're worried about my goddamn well being, Ronald." The use of the name piqued Draco's interest further and he cracked the door. Sure enough, the red headed boy was standing in the hall, leaning against a wall, looking as though his mother was scolding him.

"Harry thinks that it would do you good to get some more rest. You went through something horrific, Hermione. It's going to hit at some point and you can't be in a stressful situation when it does. You could die." Ron looked tired, and ran a hand through his shaggy hair.

"I don't care. Plenty of people are tortured and go right back into battle. No one else is fucking coddled."
"You aren't just someone else! Do you realize what could happen if they get their hands on you again? You're valuable to the cause, to both sides because you have things that can be used."
"This isn't fair!"

"War isn't fair! We can't lose you. Merlin, Hermione, it would kill me if we did."

Draco couldn't see her face, but it was evident she had given Ron a look that struck a chord in him. His face wrinkled in concern and he pulled her into him. He buried his face in her hair. "Just stay a couple more weeks. Relax. We'll get you back in the game soon enough. We still need you."

She pulled back wiping her eyes, and letting out an exhausted breath. "Fine." She said crossing her arms, "But only a couple more weeks, or I'll leave Malfoy here and come find you myself." At his name, Draco closed the door with an audible click that he was sure the duo would have heard, but neither came to investigate. He felt strange. Seeing them together had evoked something in him that he could quite pinpoint except to recognize how alone he was here, without no one really on his side, no one who would die for him, or lock him in an ivory tower for his protection as opposed to him being a threat. And it made him angry, so angry he started to act without thinking, trying to break everything his hands could touch and hoping at some point it would begin to hurt and perhaps he'd be able to feel something else.

Hermione came to his room a short time later. After the anger had subsided, and the voices in the house grew silent, a solitary door slammed, as the ginger boy took his leave and disappeared back into the world. She had knocked softly, as if scared that Draco would yell at her. He merely cracked the door and a pair of brown eyes looked up at him. He sighed and rolled his own.

"Can I help you, Granger?"

"I…um. Sorry…I" She bit her lip.

"Out with it. What. Do. You. Want?"

"I heard you earlier."

"Okay, and? I'm perfectly capable of kicking things if I want." Even he knew how lame that sounded. Her eyebrow twitched and he waited for her to come back with some snarky response, but none came.

"Are you okay?" A hand pushed the door lightly, and it swung to reveal the room which was in tatters. She frowned and waved her wand, righting everything.

"You don't really care." He tapped his fingers on the table he was standing next to, unnerved by her closeness.

"Well…um… I'm going to order take-away. If you would like some."

"Why would I want any of that? Do I have to interact with you?"
"You don't have to. I'll send an elf to you." She turned to leave, and he felt anxious not wanting to lose the moment.

"Granger-?" She turned and looked at him, head tilted to the side, slightly curious, waiting. "what's take-away?" She gave a laugh, and motioned for him to follow her.

They settled themselves with boxes of Chinese food in the kitchen. She sat on the chair with her legs pulled into a crisscross, helping herself to the abundant amount of food. Draco didn't move to take anything, and she leaned back, eyeing him. When she had shown him the menu, he grew alarmed, having never experienced anything like it. After explaining what it was, the most she had been able to get out of him was that he liked spicy food, and so had ordered everything that she thought he might like. It had taken a lot of energy to not insult his upbringing in the process by suggesting that perhaps he thought he was too good for this sort of food.

"You can have whatever you like." She said, taking a bite of noodles. He stared at her before grabbing the box closest to him and putting some food on his plate. He unfolded a napkin and placed it on his lap, before taking his knife and fork and cutting up the food into small manageable pieces delicately. "Do you always eat like that?"

He glared at her. "Unlike some of us, I was raised to eat like a gentleman."

Hermione snorted before shaking her head. "You are the furthest thing from a gentleman."

"You wouldn't know."

"Well, Malfoy, considering you call me horrendous names, and treat me, in general, like shit, I'd say that's not very gentleman like." Draco bit his tongue, trying to avoid conflict but took the bait.

"Did you get me out here just to harass me, Granger? Try and make me angry, needed someone to irritate because you can't be off irritating your lovely friends?" Her face grew solemn and she pushed the food around with her fork.

"I was sick of being alone." She said softly, before rising. "I'm sorry I thought for maybe a moment, we'd be able to forget that we hated each other and just be people stuck in this house with one another. Obviously, I overestimated you." The plate clattered into the sink, and the door gave a swoosh as she disappeared through it. Draco closed his eyes, fist clenched, before pushing his plate away from angrily and burying his face in his palms.

When Draco finally swallowed his pride and followed after her, she had seemingly disappeared from the flat. He wondered if she had left, against the advice of her friends and whoever else had told her to stay. As he paced the hall, trying to figure out where she may have gone, he paused at the top of the steps. His foot barely peaked over the top step, and a loud blaring picked up. Draco jumped as a burning sensation went through his foot. Jumping on one foot, he covered his ears as the blaring got louder. His back hit a wall as a body tackled him out of nowhere.

"What in Merlin's name were you thinking?" Hermione snapped, wand out and pointed at him. The blaring had stopped as had the pain left his foot.

"What do you mean? I came looking for you!"
"And so you tried to go downstairs? Wow, good excuse."

"Eurgh, no! I was standing at the top and-"

"Your feet just happened to go down on their own accord!"

"NO!" He roared. "I must've stood to close to the edge. I was standing there wondering if you had left, since I bloody couldn't find you up here." She eyed him suspiciously, not sure she believed what he was saying.

"Really?"

"Yes, really! I didn't realize you were so thick, Granger." Draco rubbed his ear trying to get the ringing to stop.

"I'm not thick. And I'm not the one who just set off a million freaking charms and alarms." Hermione turned away from him, retreating into the room he surmised she had come from. He followed after her, and she turned back around. "What are you doing?"

"I just told you, I was looking for you."

"Well, what do you want then?" She rested a hand on her hip, looking at him expectantly. He tried to pick apart what she was thinking, whether she believed he was lying or not and if it mattered.

"I suppose, I wanted to apologize. You were right, being here and not talking to anyone is driving me bonkers. I guess we could pretend we're just two people."

"Ah, and what do you want out of it, Malfoy?" She got the tired look he had grown used to again.

"Nothing. Something, I don't know. Company? Someone to talk to occasionally about stupid things."

"I don't want to play house with you."

"I'm not asking you to. I'm just… I don't know. Can we just not avoid each other anymore?" She was virtually unreadable. The seconds that passed were absolutely agonizing, he knew she was going to laugh any minute and tell him to sod off. He felt that need to interact with her again, to try and prove something to her.

"Fine. I study in library from 8-11, and then 2-8." He closed his eyes for a moment, the bloody library. Figured. "Lunch is at noon. Dinner at 5. Unless it's one of those times, don't come looking for me. And if I'm studying, I won't want to 'talk.'"

"Okay." He said. Her eyes bore into his until he felt uncomfortable. "Um. Alright then, see you in the morning." He turned down the hall and as his fingers wrapped around the door handle glanced back at her. She was still planted in the center of the hall watching him. He shook his head, and closed himself off into the room.