Hi again :) Hate to break it to y'all but this is basically a filler chapter and since I don't have much time to write I figured I'd at least get SOMETHING out there. Hope you are all well :) xx

Disclamers: You know the drill.

Draco and Hermione had first met on the stairs before entering the Great Hall. Draco had made a name for himself early on. As a Malfoy, he was looked upon almost as highly as Harry Potter was, only in a different way. The Malfoys were the most famous wizarding name on bad side of things; Voldemort's side. The Potters were the most famous wizarding name on the good side of things; Dumbledore's side. Early on the two had a rivalry that stemmed out of nothing more than their names. Draco left an impression on everyone he encountered, especially Hermione. Every chance he had gotten he let the name 'mudblood' slip with a smirk across his face. Their first two years at Hogwarts, Draco and Hermione only referred to each other as Granger and Malfoy and only came in contact with each other whenever Harry and Draco wanted to get in each others faces.

Draco saw Hermione as a filthy mudblood, who was incredibly unattractive, a know-it-all, a bookworm, a dork and was just all around annoying. He hated everything about her. The sound of her voice. The way she looked. What she knew. The talents and brains she had. The people she hung out with, aka Harry and Ron, and how she was always with them. And the thing he hated more than her being a Mudblood, was the fact that she was smarter than him. He, however, loved that it was easy to make her cry. She was easy to tease. And since Harry and Ron were so protective of her, he loved that he had another way to get under Harry's skin.

Hermione saw Draco as a pompous ass, who was only ugly because of his personality, he was stupid, power-hungry and was just all around arrogant and slimy. She hated everything that he was. She hated how she felt when he was around. She hated how people bowed down to him because they feared his family. She hated how he was always going at it with Harry. She hated how he always used that awful name when referring to her. She hated how he always went out of his way to make fun of her and make her cry. There was not a thing about him that she even remotely liked. He was always followed around by girls. Teachers sucked up to him, aside from McGonagall and perhaps Dumbledore. And his two "friends" were probably the two stupidest people in all of Hogwarts. Hermione had simply never loathed someone so much in her whole life.

As the years went on, the two grew somewhat more civil towards each other. Draco started working under Voldermort and with Harry's life becoming revolved around defeating Voldemort, Hermione was always in the library – a place Draco would never step foot. The two knew nothing more about each other than rumors or judgments they had placed upon one another. Outside of a few tense encounters and the normal bumping into one another from living in a school together, they hardly saw each other nor did they have any real memories of one another until their final year at Hogwarts... or at least it should have been if they actually had went.

Harry, Hermione and Ron skipped out on going to Hogwarts for their last year as it was overrun by Death Eaters. Dumbledore had been killed and Harry was left as vulnerable as he had been when he was a child. The trios mission was to destroy all the Horcruxes and ultimately defeat Voldemort. They set out on what would look like backpacking across Europe to most people. All they were concerned about was staying alive, destroying the Horcruxes, defeating Voldemort and keeping their loved ones safe. Harry had no family so the people he cared about most were the Weasley's. They were practically his family. And although the Dursley's were his actual family, Harry didn't see them that way. But, regardless of how he felt they were in fact family so he did love them. They just moved out of the house of Private Drive and had hopes of never seeing each other again. The goodbye was awkward, yet touching. Harry just worried about everybody; he didn't feel right letting everyone die for him, although it was somewhat indirectly. Ron, on the other hand, had to let go of no one he loved because they were all avid fighters in the war. The only thing he really worried about was their safety and his two best friends safety as well. Hermione had, had the least to do to keep her loved ones safe but it was the hardest of all. In order to keep them out of Voldermort's grasp, she had to erase their memories and send them to Australia under the names of Wendell and Monica Williams. Each had their own tragedies and challenges to face, but still they'd march on (A/N: Have you guys seen the fan video on YouTube that goes along with the song "Marchin' On" by OneRepublic? Chills.)

Meanwhile, Draco was the head honcho over at Hogwarts. Since the Death Eaters had taken over and Voldemort was gaining an increasing amount of strength, Draco had power. He was next in line to become a Death Eater, Voldemort's right-hand Death Eater at that. Lucius, his father, was getting old and at the prime age for producing an heir to his position – Draco. His mother, Narcissa wasn't the least bit thrilled about this, not that anyone but Snape knew. Like any Malfoy, Draco stepped up and went before the Dark Lord when he was called upon. Before he could officially be made a Death Eater, he needed to prove himself to Voldemort. Voldemort asked Draco to help infiltrate Hogwart's security and kill Dumbledore. Draco had easily managed to get the Death Eaters in but when it came to killing Dumbledore, he seemed to fall short. Luckily, Narcissa had gotten Snape to protect Draco if he were to fail so Draco had gotten no punishment for not fulfilling his task. However, Voldemort had another plan for him.

After seeing so much death and after actually trying to kill, Draco couldn't do it. His steeliness had somehow vanished and he suddenly became vulnerable, something he had never felt in all his life. A heart started to exist where that black hole had always been. He didn't want to admit it but, he didn't want to be on the bad side anymore – not that he would ever admit that to anyone. His little antics had his family under close scrutiny, but luckily the Snatchers Bellatrix had hired caught the trio, making the Malfoy family a little higher in Voldemort's eyes.

"DRACO!" he heard his father belt from the first floor.

He casually walked downstairs and met his parents and Bellatrix in an empty dining room. He raised an eyebrow at his father.

"Draco, we have just gotten word that Bellatrix's Snatchers have found Potter, Weasley and the Mudblood! We, of course, have no seen any of these traitors but we need a positive identification from you." He grabbed Draco by the collar and pulled him close to his face so when he spoke no one else heard. "This is your last chance to prove yourself to the Dark Lord and make the Malfoy a proud name to have again! Understand! Don't. Mess. This. Up." He aggressively pushed his son away. Draco straightened himself out and stood in wait with the others.

BANG. Suddenly the room was full of people and there were three dirty looking people thrown across the floor. Draco assumed these were the people caught. He could automatically identify Weasley. His red hair and stupid complexion were a dead give away. Stupid Weasley. He knew he hated Weasley's because they were Muggle-lovers, but outside of that Draco could never understand where his incredibly deep hatred for this particular Weasley stemmed from. Draco muttered a curse and Ron started writhing on the floor. The second male in the group immediately jumped up, but that was only because the female was being held down by Bellatrix. Potter. Stupid stupid Harry Potter. But, wait... was he really? Lucius pushed Draco's face close to the unknown male who had an incredibly deformed face – the doings of a spell no doubt. He couldn't know for sure but the stupid Weasley would never be seen without Harry or the stupid Mudblood, who most certainly was the female Bellatrix was hissing at. Potter and Weasley were taken down to the dungeons while the female remained. Draco didn't even have to look at her to know it was Granger, he recognized the sobs.

"Please. Please. No." she managed through sobs.

Draco turned around and was surprised to find Bellatrix nose to nose with him. "So what are you going to do Draco? Hmm?"

Draco gave her a look. "What?"

Lucius cut in. "The Dark Lord has asked that you retrieve information from this Mudblood because the Potter boy, and most definitely the Weasley boy, will be of no use to us. She is said to be the smartest witch to have ever been born and the Dark Lord needs her assistance. Being as you failed to complete his last task, the Dark Lord has given you another because he sees greatness in you, Draco."

Suddenly Hermione was screaming and everyone's attention was brought over to where she was. Bellatrix had been etching 'mudblood' onto Hermione's arm in probably the most torturous way possible. Draco swallowed hard. "Get the elves to bathe the filthy Mudblood and have her sent to my room. It will be taken care of." And with that he walked off.

Please review! Til next time xx