A/N: I apologize for the long wait (well long wait considering how fast I usually get a chapter out. I've just been busy with sports, and with family things. I also wanted to fix a few things here and there in this chapter. So here it is :) Read and Review

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. Except one. The cute little boy later in the scene. But that's it. Even then, I got the idea of him from J.K Rowling characters, soooo all in all I don't even own him. Just like to manipulate them to my liking slightly.

Hermione woke up the next morning feeling as if her body was stuck under a troll, that's how sore she was. As she opened her eyes she looked around wondering why her room was so bright. As her eyes came to focus she could see cards, gifts and flowers surrounding her. She took a second look at where she was and realized she was in the hospital wing of the school.

Bloody hell, what happened to me? She panicked, trying to remember anything from the night before. The last thing she could remember was going to the bathroom, but couldn't remember why. I don't think I drank THAT much Firewhiskey, unless- she gasped at the possibility that she could have been drugged. No. no, that's not it, that only happens in muggle communities. She was distracted by a soft voice coming from her left.

"Hermione," Draco stuttered from the side of the bed, "a-are, er, how are you feeling?"

Hermione shot a glare at the blonde boy before her, wondering what exactly he was doing here. Giving up on thinking he had anything to do with this she sighed and shook her head. "I-well-I don't exactly remember anything from last night," she blushed.

He moved his chair closer to her side and placed a hand on her forehead, then brushed a hair off her face. "You, well," he paused, trying to explain what had happened to her. "Well at the Halloween party Ron told everyone the tale of Elizabeth Bathory, do you recall that at all?"

Hermione frowned as she tried to remember, finally she nodded her head.

"Well, I guess after the story, he sort of, um, well you didn't believe in the myth that she could come out of the mirror, hell neither did any of us really. Ron ended up daring you to go find out for yourself, so you did," he smiled at her softly, but the smile faded as he recalled the next part of the night. "You hadn't returned after a while, so I went in to check on you. I thought you had just fallen asleep, but when I got you back to your room, I noticed blood coming from your back, and well, I rushed you here immediately." He fiddled with his hands as he looked at his feet, trying to not show Hermione just how worried he was.

His attempts weren't very good however, because Hermione reached a hand out to his shoulder. She smiled at him as he looked up, returning the smile. "Thank you," she said, you really are a great guy, she added silently.

A moment later, Ron, Harry and Ginny Burst through the doors and came running towards their friend. They were in their Quidditch uniforms. "HERMIONE!" they all yelled in unison while shoving their way over to where she lay. Harry and Ginny ran around to the right of Hermione, while Ron forced his way between her and Draco, giving the other wizard an icy glare. Draco looked down at Hermione, gave her a small grimace and left the hospital wing. Hermione watched him walk away until she saw the door slam shut.

Turning back to her friends, who were waiting for her to say something, she couldn't think of anything to say. Her mind was running through all the information she had just received. Finally she remembered something Draco had told her, "Ronald!" she yelled, "you know this is your fault right?"

He just bowed his head, embarrassed and full of guilt. "I-I didn't know 'Mione, I'm sorry, I really am."

Hermione just stared at him for a moment before responding. "I know you didn't, don't worry. If it was anyone's fault it was my own," she smiled sheepishly at her friends.

This time Harry spoke up, "You can't be blamed for being you Hermione. You would do anything just to prove Ron wrong."

Hermione's eyes widened as she saw Ron about to open his mouth. "No," she cut him off, "this doesn't mean you were right Ronald. There has to be a perfectly logical explanation for all of this. Maybe there's something in the Restricted section of the library about Hogwarts…" she started to mumble to herself, thinking of a plan to look in to what could have happened to her.

Ginny changed the topic, realising her friend was starting to stress out a little bit. "We won our Quidditch match today Hermione! Two hundred and seventy to thirty."

Hermione stopped and beamed at her friends "that's amazing! I'm sorry I had to miss it," she frowned for a moment before cheering up again. "That's a bit of a large scoring gap isn't it?"

"Yeah, well, Ravenclaws aren't exactly the athletic type are they?" Ron scoffed.

Hermione could only laugh at her friends' typical behaviour when it came to the sport and house rivalries.

"Is that what you really think about Ravenclaws Ron?" Harry winked.

Hermione was confused and looked to Ron for answers who only blushed. Shrugging off the obvious innuendo between the two she got her friends back on the topic of their game, listening intently at the different manoeuvres they had attempted. Her mind however soon drifted off to thoughts about what had happened, researching the possibilities, and then finally to Draco. Draco! I completely forgot! I was supposed to help him find out who could have murdered his mother! She put that on the top of her list of things to do. It's the least I can do after he helped me.

Draco was lying on his back on the couch in the common room, reading the third book of the series he had started a few nights prior. He looked up as he heard the door shut, surprised to see Hermione standing there, carrying about a dozen books, especially in her condition. However he was still a little hurt by being thrown aside earlier that day so he just remained where he was. He couldn't ignore his curiosity however.

"What are all those for?" he asked, nodding to the books in her arms.

She walked over, dropping them on the table and sat in the armchair beside the couch. "Research," she sighed, finally getting to relax, "I felt bad because well, I never got around to helping you with…" Hermione trailed off, not sure if she should bring it up.

"Oh." I was not expecting that. "You know you don't have to, but I really could use the help," he blushed, which was rare, "I haven't really gotten very far."

He really had been working on it for a few weeks. He just couldn't find any possible leads as to who it could have been. No one could have made it on to the property that wasn't family, even then family would have a hard time, he was sure of it, especially with the Aurors' protection. He was getting really frustrated so he decided to take a break. That was about two weeks ago, he hadn't really been motivated to try again. Until Hermione offered to help of course.

"I figured we could start with maybe you telling me what you do know," the witch piped up.

Draco put his book on the table and sat up, patting the cushions indicating for Hermione to sit next to him.

"Well, for starters, I know that it is impossible for anyone that isn't family to apparate anywhere on our property."

"Well what about when Voldemort controlled your house? He obviously had that changed didn't he?" she asked.

Draco nodded, "Yes, but after the war, during the trials, my mother and father had the charms put back up."

Hermione thought for a moment, then frowned, "You're pure-blood right?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "You seriously need to ask that Granger?" he scoffed.

"Well, you do have a rather large family don't you?"

Draco only nodded, wondering where she was going with this.

"Well maybe it was one of your distant relatives? Like a member of the Black family or on your father's side?"

Draco shrugged. "Maybe," he sat in thought for a moment, "it's possible but most of the Black's are either dead, and well as for my father, he was an only child, like me."

Hermione furrowed her brow, trying to find any other possible leads. "Is it possible that even the most distant relatives could get on the property? Like family through marriage?"

Draco shrugged again. "I never really paid that much attention when it came to those members of my family. If only I knew-"

"No. There was no way you could have known," she cut him off, "now; do you think there is a possibility that could be the case? Maybe your parents allowed it seeing as how your closer relatives are gone?"

"I guess yeah, but I highly doubt they would have made it far. The house was supposed to be highly guarded by Aurors."

The two sat in silence, staring at the fire, trying to think of something that could possibly help. Draco suddenly thought of something that he really wish he hadn't. He grew angrier by the second. Hermione, noticing this change, placed a hand on his knee.

"Draco?" she whispered, "what is it?"

"What if the Aurors weren't doing their job?" he asked, "Everyone bloody well knows that the ministry is a wreck right now. The only Aurors left that weren't brainwashed by Voldemort are either trainees that have no bloody clue as to what they're doing, or would be more than happy to see my family pay for what we have done, whether or not it was justified by the Minister himself." He was starting to yell. He had to stand up and pace in order to calm himself down.

Hermione continued to stare at the fire. "While I highly doubt Kingsley would allow that to happen under his orders," Draco shot her a fierce glance, "it isn't highly unlikely. I have a few books on procedures when it comes to the protection of those either under house arrest or in the witness protection program. I'll also try and find out anything I can from the Minister himself if you would like." Hermione finished, ignoring his stare.

He calmed himself down, trying not to possibly ruin things with Hermione, just because he was angry and irrational. "I guess we start there then?" he asked as he sat down and reached for a book off the pile. "A few books?" he raised an eyebrow at the witch.

Hermione blushed, "yes, well I've always found it easier to be over prepared than under."

"Who would have thought I would have something in common with the mudblood?" he laughed, but immediately slammed his hand over his mouth, realising what he just said.

Hermione just shook her head, "let's just get to work okay?"

"I'm sorry."

She just smiled in response and picked up one of the books she brought from the library.

Later that night, Draco lay awake on his bed thinking about what they had accomplished that night. It wasn't much really, but it was enough for the time being considering he wouldn't have even gotten to that point on his own. They had found out that there had been some loopholes in the past, where people have gotten past the guard's charms and defences, however the books they had didn't say what those loopholes were. This was to be expected since they were in fact school books, and it would be a crime to teach students how to get past an Auror undetected. Also, Hermione had offered to owl the minister for some possible help. Draco sighed. He was lucky to have managed to get on Granger's good side seeing how close she was with the Minister. This will definitely come in handy when it comes to my review at the end of the year, he thought. He then thought of earlier that day when her friends had blatantly excluded him from seeing her in the infirmary. He swore under his breath knowing that Hermione was only being this helpful because she felt sorry for him, or thought she owed him in some way for helping her on Halloween.

How could I be so thick? Of course she doesn't actually care about me. I bloody well called her a mudblood today! I'm a stupid git who was an even bigger arse in the past, no wonder she doesn't actually think of me as a friend. He rolled over and slammed his face into the pillow, forcing himself to fall asleep.

Over the next few days Hermione noticed Draco had become fairly distant from her. Even when she tried to talk to him about the research, he would give his input and that was it. It was if they hadn't even become friends over the past few weeks. She noticed that it seemed to start the very next morning after their first meeting. She couldn't think of anything she had said to make him act so hostile against her.

But then again, maybe it wasn't what I said, she thought. Maybe it was something he said. She immediately remembered when he accidentally called her a mudblood. Her hand instinctively pressed against her left forearm as she winced. I'm being ridiculous. He doesn't think of me as a friend. He thinks of me as filth, what could possibly change that? All I am to him is a useful tool to help him find information on his mother. And to think I actually believed all that bullocks about him changing. He flat out proved it wrong last night when he called me a mudblood!

As soon as Ancient Runes was over she stormed out of the classroom, heading towards her room, as a tear ran down her cheek. What's so wrong about being a muggle-born anyway? She almost screamed, before noticing a couple of third years staring at her as she practically ran down the corridor.

"What?" she asked as she shot them an angry glare, "go on. Leave!" she finally yelled when they wouldn't move. The students ran as fast as they could to get away from her.

Finally making it to her room, she slammed the door and sat against it. Tears flowing from her eyes as the memories overtook her.

FLASHBACK

"No not now Greyback, soon you can have your turn," the deranged witch said, "but right now, I want to have some fun with our little guest, girl to girl." Hermione felt the witches hand rip some of her hair as she grabbed her by the neck and turned her so they were facing each other. Hermione tilted her nose to the air at the witch, setting her jaw to show she couldn't be broken.

"Well, well, well. A stubborn little mudblood we have," Bellatrix chortled, the werewolf behind her letting out a rather loud laugh as well. "Shut it!" she snapped at him before turning back to Hermione. "Now, I'll pretend that you're not the filth you are, and ask you once nicely. Maybe you'll get out of this with a quicker death than planned. How did you get into my vault?"

Hermione had no idea what the witch was talking about so she kept her mouth shut, hoping to get some answers out of this as well.

"Answer me," the other witch yelled as she slapped her across the face. Still, Hermione said nothing.

The next thing she felt was the cold hard ground as she was flown across the room. Hermione had never felt so much pain in her life as she saw bolt after bolt of red light flashed towards her. For a brief moment her thoughts went to Neville's parents, then back to the witch that was currently torturing her. The pain stopped for a moment, but Hermione was too weak to move. She could see Bellatrix leaning over top of a small figure Hermione could tell was Griphook.

"How could a filthy mudblood like her break into my vault and steal the sword?" she spat at the goblin.

"Your vault was not broken into, I can assure you that," he stated.

The witch let out a deafening scream as she threw another blow of the Cruciatus curse towards Hermione. Her hands grabbed at Hermione's throat now as she mounted on top of her.

"Tell me how you broke into my vault dearest," she smirked as she trailed a finger along the young witch's cheek towards her lips. "Wouldn't want to let such a pretty little virgin be broken by a werewolf now would we? No, no, that would be such a waste. Now tell me what I need to know, and I'll just kill you right on the spot." Bellatrix raised a hand towards Greyback who was about to protest.

Hermione looked the witch in the eyes as she heard screams coming from the cellars. "Yes, how could you of all people allow a filthy little mudblood break into your vault? Your precious Dark Lord won't be too please I'd imagine. Tell me, girl to girl, has he proposed yet?" Hermione mocked the witch. If I'm going to die, it might as well be worth it.

Bellatrix screamed louder than before and then a grin spread across her face as she broke out into laughter. She cackled as she loomed over her body and reached for a shard of glass. Hermione scrunched her mouth shut, trying not to let any sound escape her as she felt the sharp, cold glass carve into her skin. She could feel her arm become warm from the blood trickling down. As the witch stood up and reached for her wand, Hermione turned her head and noticed the world 'MUDBLOOD' scratched into her arm. She looked up to see the Malfoys standing and watching as she felt the familiar pain of the Cruciatus curse once more. She looked at Draco who was standing there staring at her. She noticed he looked scared, and worried. Why the hell wouldn't he do something? She thought as she lay there helpless. She stared into his eyes as she waited for the flash of green to overtake her. She continued to stare at him as she saw tears fill his eyes and he looked away. Good. Feel some sense of remorse for once.

She shut her eyes, waiting for the inevitable, but it never came. All of a sudden there was a loud crash, and a lot of yelling. Hermione opened her eyes to see spells and wands flying across the room. But before she could gather what had happened she was scooped up and felt something cold and sharp against her neck. Her eyes began to focus as she saw Harry and Ron drop their wands. No! Fight! She wanted to scream at them for giving up. She felt her life was as good as gone, the least they could do was save their own arses. As she saw Draco scramble away with the wands in his hand she shut her eyes again. Waiting.

She felt herself fall to the ground, with a huge weight crashing down upon her. The sounds were muffled, and her eyes fluttered open and shut like one of those muggle picture slideshow toys, each sight presenting a new scene. She saw glass everywhere, then she saw Ron scooping her up in his arms, last thing she saw before everything going black was Draco watching her as Harry grabbed the wands out of his hand.

END FLASHBACK

Hermione woke to a few loud knocks on her door. She had fallen asleep on the floor, overwhelmed by the memory from Malfoy Manor. She groggily stood up and rubbed her eyes against the backs of her hands.

"Granger, we have rounds tonight. Be down in five minutes." She could hear Draco's voice through the door.

Great she thought. He was the last person she wanted to deal with right now. She couldn't understand what she was feeling. Never had she ever cared how Draco treated her, so why was it different this time? Why couldn't she get over the fact that they were from two completely different worlds and would never truly understand each other, let alone get along.

She groaned as she made her way down the stairs. "This is going to be a long night," she mumbled to herself. When she reached the bottom of the stairs however, she had a spot of luck, Draco was nowhere in sight. She decided to head out for her duties, hoping to have as few run ins with the wizard as possible that night.

During the rounds, Hermione caught a suspicious little first year lurking through the corridors past curfew. He was trying to sneak out to Hagrid's hut. Hermione sighed as she walked over to the doors she had once snuck out of herself for the same very reason in her first year, and many years to come after that. When the boy heard her footsteps, he froze in place like a deer in headlights. Hermione slowly walked over to the young boy.

"What's your name?" she asked.

The boy gulped and tugged on his yellow and black tie, "Jeffery Bones," he finally managed to sputter out.

Hermione smiled down on the younger brother of Susan. "Were you lost?"

He blushed and was about to open his mouth before looking down at his feet and just shaking his head.

"Ah, well what exactly are you doing out this late?" Hermione asked the young wizard as she knelt down in front of him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at her, feeling instantly calmed by her warm smile; Hermione couldn't help but beam back at the child. He was definitely not the usual type of rule-breaker. "Well, I, um, well, I was going to Hagrid's hut. A couple of my friends said that if I wanted to be in their group, I had to knock on the door, and then steal a hair from his beard and bring it back to them. That would prove just how loyal I am to them." The boy couldn't help but smile and put on a brave face as if he was attempting the most dangerous thing anyone could think of, far more dangerous than any tri-wizard tournament event.

Hermione giggled and just pat the boy on the head. She reached into her cloak and pulled out a small vial. "Here," she said, pulling out a scraggly strand of hair, "I stole this from his beard a few years ago, thinking it would be of use one day for a polyjuice potion, but so far hasn't proven to be very useful at all. You can have it as your proof. Now run along, first years are not supposed to be wandering the halls this late at night. Unfortunately I will have to take off five points from Hufflepuff, but if you had been caught out of the school, it would have been much worse."

The boy hugged Hermione as he grabbed the hair and ran off towards the stairs to the basement where the Hufflepuff common room dwell. Hermione beamed as she followed the same way, to make sure he was indeed going back to his room. Jefferey had brought back a lot of memories from her first few years at Hogwarts and how much fun her, Harry and Ron had. They had been so young, and innocent, no one would have guessed they would later face the struggles they had faced in the past few years. She silently prayed that the young wizard would never have to experience many of the things they were forced to experience.

When Hermione turned the corner, her slightly better mood was immediately erased as she saw Draco scolding the same small Hufflepuff student she had earlier dealt with.

"Leave him alone Malfoy, I've already deducted points from him just a few minutes ago. He was on his way back to his room," she scowled as she sped towards the two.

"Do you not know how to discipline Granger? What if the little twerp decides to do it again, especially since he got off so easy," he snorted while keeping his focus on Jefferey.

Hermione grabbed his shoulder and forced him to face her using all her strength. "Honestly, you haven't changed one bit. You really are an arse Malfoy. No wonder you haven't got any friends. You're just a horrible person. He's only a first year!" Hermione gestured towards where the boy previously stood, but had snuck away back to his room as had originally promised.

"Oh since when has stuck up Granger ever been so easy going?" Draco taunted.

"I may be a stickler for the rules, but unlike a certain pretentious… ill-tempered… wimpy little ferret of a wizard I know, I was raised with compassion and because of that I actually have a heart!" she was yelling as she poked at his chest.

Hermione's heart lurched at her words, knowing very well that bringing up how he was raised was a little insensitive, but that feeling was soon pushed aside by the thought that he had never cared for her feelings so why should she care for his.

Draco's eyes flashed a hint of pain before glaring over with ice. He stared down at Hermione as he grabbed her by the elbows. "I will not tolerate anyone who criticises my upbringing. Especially not a filthy, muggle-born, mudblood such as you," he whispered before turning away and disappearing into the dark halls.

Hermione stood dumbfounded in the hall before finally retiring to her room for the night. She knew there was still about fifteen minutes left in her route, but she really wasn't in the mood anymore, there was just too much on her mind.

As she slept, many memories flashed through her head. She had night terrors about the night in the Malfoy Manor, she had pleasant dreams of her visits with Hagrid when she was younger, but what seemed to play a major role in her dreams that night was the image of that flash of pain across Draco's eyes. In her dreams she could see him for what he really was, vulnerable and alone.

"But sir, should we not wait for a better time? The ministry has been on edge for the past few months since the war, we should wait until they least expect it," said a shrill voice from behind a silver mask.

"That is precisely why the sooner the better. They will not expect us to attack so soon, as that would be a suicide mission," replied a raspy voice from a deep mahogany arm chair behind a rather large work desk.

"B-but" the first wizard stammered.

"But nothing, you will do exactly as I say. We don't want another mishap like on Halloween eve, do we?" the second had interrupted, receiving only a nod from the other wizard before continuing. "They will not be expecting us to be so daft, which is why we will attack in three weeks. The ministry will be too busy keeping everyone calm and safe for the Christmas holidays. Do you remember the plan?"

The masked figure took a seat across from the other wizard before answering. "We work from the inside out, rather than go in wands at the ready."

The other man nodded. "We need the least amount of publicity possible. We wouldn't want the boy to find out about this now would we?"

The two wizards discussed further details before both standing to shake hands and part ways. "I will gather the others in a week's time," the masked figure said.

"Aye, and I will gather my sources for a clean, undetected break in," the other nodded.

With a puff of green smoke, the silver faced wizard disappeared into the night, leaving just the foul haired man a lone. He picked up a photograph and began to trace a finger along his lost beloved's jawline. When he turned the picture around however, he noticed something odd. He took of the frame and found the image was sealed on top of another. As he unsealed the charms and peeled back the top picture, he had barely looked at the image before he threw it across the room.

Betrayed by my own wife, yet I still serve to get my revenge for her death. With no more thought on the topic, the man got up and left his office, before setting fire to the very contents of the room.