A/N: Alright. I'm still trying to figure out a place for this story to go right now. I've got at least one more chapter prewritten before I run out... But I will re read that chapter tomorrow after work and figure out a place for this story to go. :) Please read my other story Consequences of War! It's a few chapters away from ending! So please! read it! and review both this and that one :)

:) Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Nine

The Roommate

"Cassie, Draco, I would like you to meet your new roommate." Dumbledore said. Cassie and Draco stared at the girl. She was definitely not what they expected. Cassie couldn't decide whether she looked familiar or not. Her straight black hair flowed down to her waist, and her left eye was covered by bangs. But her eyes were caramel, and her skin was milky smooth. She seemed like the perfect girl.

"Ok, can you tell us who she is?" Draco asked, stammering. The girl smirked and shook her head, before walking up the stairs and into the remaining bedroom. She slammed the door closed, and behind it they could hear her muttering darkly and slamming things across the room and unpacking.

"She is just a normal person. She has no specialties in martial arts, and isn't a ninja. Though she is quite good at spells. I don't know whether she has kept up her skills. But a few years go she was quite the knowledgeable witch. That's why I needed you guys here. You need to help her get back into the groove of things."

"Ok, so why must she be protected? She's not some governor's daughter, and she's not a princess. What happened that makes her need protection?" Cassie was very curious to know why she was being kept at the safe house. It wasn't safe to have someone who wasn't in danger at the safe house, and they had to make sure their own safety wasn't about to be compromised.

"It's not what happened or what she saw that makes her need protection. It's who she is. Now, I must really be going. I have a school to run, and letters to write. And plus, someone must annoy Severus if you won't Cassie." Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye. Cassie giggled as Dumbledore stepped into the fireplace and called his destination.

Draco looked at Cassie. This was going to be difficult. The girl seemed to not like them, and seemed very unhappy that she was there. "She just lost her parents, Draco. You can't blame her for being angry." Cassie said kindly. He shrugged.

"Well, how about you go talk to her. She seems like the kind of person who takes better to girls right now. She was full out glaring at me. So I'll sit around in here until you manage to get her in a better mood." Draco said looking down at his feet. Cassie gave him a sad smile, and patted him on the back. She handed him the book she knew he was looking for then headed off upstairs. Draco watched her go. Cassie was more like a best friend than a little sister sometimes.

"Hey, umm, my name's Cassie. I was wondering if I could come in?" Cassie asked knocking on the new girl's door. The door opened and there stood the girl again. Her hair was up in a sloppy bun, with a few pieces hanging down near her face. She smiled lightly, and allowed Cassie in. The room was pretty organized. She seemed to be putting away just her clothes for now.

Cassie watched as she took out neatly folded shirts and put them in drawers. Whoever this girl was she was very organized. As she bent over to get something out of her bag, Cassie saw a small black tattoo on her lower back. It said 'Never Forgive, Never Forget'. Cassie smiled. Her kind of girl.

As Cassie watched the girl, she was getting towards the bottom of her duffel bag, even with what seemed to be an Extending Charm on it. And she saw clothes she had no idea this girl could ever have. She saw a Hogwarts uniform and the black material of a Hogwarts robe. This girl used to go to their school. But then...

"A Hogwarts uniform? How do you have one of those?" Cassie asked before she could stop herself. The girl turned around and smiled at Cassie. One of those 'You-know-exactly-what-that-means' kind of looks.

"No way..."

Draco sat reading Pride and Prejudice, and found himself thinking about Hermione. He wondered where she was, and how she was doing. He really wanted to see her again. He couldn't take just sitting around, waiting for the girl to warm up to him and his sister. He quickly scrawled a short note to Cassie and walked out the door, trying to be as quiet as he could.

He was just going for a walk, and was hoping to go eat at a cafe real quick. He didn't get to finish his lunch and was starving.

The safe house wasn't located in a main part of London. It was actually only a few blocks away from Grimmauld Place. They were most definitely within walking distance of each other, and there was quite a large Wizarding Community just a little ways away from the safe house, in the opposite direction of Grimmauld Place, though.

It was a nice little neighborhood. There were a few shops and cafes that were open to Muggles and Wizards alike, the owners themselves accepted both kinds of currency and got quite a bit of business. It was always a good thing living in a Wizarding community, without actually living in a Wizarding city. There were a few here and there.

They weren't anything special, just cities that seemed to attract more Wizards than Muggles. Usually there were spells against Muggles entering, just because sometimes it was for the better interest of the Muggles to keep them out. But for the most part, Wizards liked to live in a mixed setting. Where there were a few wizards, and a few Muggles, to keep things in order.

Draco simply walked down, past Grimmauld Place, and on a bit more, and then crossed the street and walked back. He loved walking, especially in this neighborhood. No matter how long he lived here, there would always be something new, something different about the place. He walked into this quaint little cafe, and waited in line. He knew the owners, and was liked by most of the regulars. It had been a normal haunt for him and his sister during the summer holidays. Even Harry had come along once or twice. It had some of the best coffee and tea that Draco had ever had.

He ordered a small coffee and made it the way he liked it, and grabbed a Daily Prophet. The owners always kept two newspapers, one for Muggles, one for Wizards. And they had some magazines from both worlds. Draco loved this place, because the Muggles couldn't see the Wizarding things, and the Wizards got to experience Muggle food and drink.

Draco would be the first to admit that he wasn't so sure about the place at first. He thought the people were crazy for doing this. But then as he watched people mingle, Wizards talking with Muggles about things like the weather and the pastries, he saw that it was a pretty good system. The Muggles were none the wiser and snobby wizards like himself became more informed on the goings on of Muggles and how they weren't really different. Now he could understand why Hermione had left the Wizarding world behind.

Draco watched Muggles very closely. He was currently taking Muggle Studies. He was totally and completely prepared to give up his magic if he could be with her. Even for the chance to be with her, he would give all this up. He knew how to use a TV and a DVD player. He and Mr. Weasley had talked on many occasions about Muggle devices and how things worked. He actually found a good portion of it interesting.

But all that was needed was for him to find Hermione, and convince her that he really did love her as much as he said he did.

Draco sat down at a small table and sipped at his coffee, trying to figure out how to find Hermione. He could probably get a job with the Postmen, and see if anything for a Granger came through. Especially a Hermione Granger. If he could find her before it was too late...

Suddenly Draco saw how late it was getting. He needed to get back to the house. On the way back, he thought about the girl. Whatever her name was. Then he realized he hadn't learned her name yet. He shrugged it off, he didn't care. She seemed to hate him, so be it. He didn't have an obligation to be nice to her.

Dumbledore had said to try and help her. If she was unwilling to be helped, that was her problem, not his.

Draco made his way back to the safe house, his mind on Hermione the whole time. He needed to talk to Cassie, she always knew how to make him feel better when he was feeling this way. It wasn't that he was sad, he just didn't want to do anything.

He wasn't terribly, heart broken in love with Hermione. He just always felt guilty that he hadn't made his intentions known to her. He wished he had made it extremely clear that there was no way possible for him to cheat on her. He wished he had warned her about Pansy ahead of time. He wished that he had shown her the letter, then laughed it off with her before going and chewing out Pansy.

He should have known his parents wouldn't have cared about him dating her. He should have known that his parents would have been fine with it, had he only talked with them about it before hand...

He walked in the door and found his sister coming out of the other girl's room, her eyes wide.

"We have to talk. Right now." She said urgently.

"Ok, what about?" He asked sitting down on one of the couches.

"It's about Hermione."

A/N: WHAAAA? please review! the more reviews the quicker i'll feel happy to update and keep writing :D