The two returned back to the Shrieking Shack, barely making it back on Hogwarts grounds before the Multicorfors charm wore off and Hermione's hair grew back to it's normal length, fading back into its natural brown color. Draco's changed back not long afterwards and as they approached the Whomping Willow, turning the white shade that it normally held as it grew out slightly longer, returning to it's normal style.
As they walked into the shack, Hermione quickly returned to the mattress on the floor. "Tomorrow we will have to get some hairs from your father." She says, looking at the Polyjuice Potion. "Any ideas on how?" She asks softly, still shocked that Draco had saved them the extra time by purchasing the Polyjuice Potion, even if it was dangerous.
"You are dead set on using my father, aren't you Granger?" Draco asks, shaking his head at the risks.
"That's what the Prophecy said." Hermione answers. "Brew a potion for wooly socks."
Draco sighed in defeat, knowing there was no talking her out of it. "Fine," He says firmly. "But who are you going to take the potion and become? You can't be me, I am still in school."
Hermione thought on it a moment. Bellatrix was still in Azkaban and Draco was right, it would look suspicious if he was in Knockturn Alley whenever he was supposed to be at Hogwarts. It would raise future questions from others to Lucius. She tried to focus. They couldn't know exactly where another Death Eater was going to be at the time to change into one of them and inter-species prevented her from becoming a House Elf. "What about your mother?" She finally asks, not having any other ideas. "She's pretty much our only option."
"My father would never take my mother into Borgin and Burkes." Draco hissed, a look of disgust on his face. "It is a place where father does business. My mother does not belong there. She never questions my father's work and he never drags her into it."
"We don't have any other options." Hermione answers, not knowing what else to say. "It is either I take the potion to look like you, which I don't even know if that would work because it may turn me into you now, which does us absolutely no good and is way too risky, or I take it to become your mother."
Draco huffs, knowing Hermione was right. He didn't know of a single Death Eater who was out of town. Anyone who his father would go in there with other than himself or another Death Eater and it was too risky stunning one of them with the Dark Lord being a legimens and finding out. "Fine," He says in defeat, not liking where this was headed at all. "We'll do it." He said as he climbed into bed, covering himself up. "But you have to learn how to close your mind Granger." He said, not wanting them to get caught. "You never know who is a legimens, especially in Knockturn Alley."
"Fine," Hermione answers firmly, covering herself up as she lay her head on her pillow. "Nox."
The lights turned out, leaving Draco laying in the darkness as he wonder what exactly he was getting himself into. He wished it were easy enough for him to just tell Granger forget it and move back to 1996. It seemed a lot less risky at this point but she had the time- Wait! Granger had the time-turner! Draco could simply take it, move forward in time and lie. Say Granger was dead, say that he had broken the Vanishing Cabinet but had gotten caught in the process. He could claim the Death Eaters got ahold of Hermione and were going to torture them both and he got free. It was genius and by the time he got caught...maybe by the time he got caught, he would be done with school. Granger would have to catch up with time, three years. By that time, Draco would be done with Hogwarts, never turning back to face the blasted school again. Or even better, the entire bloody war would be over and he would be such a hero for breaking the pathetic cabinet that no one would care that he had left Hermione in the past. It had to work.
Draco sat there in the silence, working the plan out in his head as he listened to Hermione's breathing, waiting for it to regulate into a constant state of sleep. It was only a matter of time before he was done with this stupid mission. His mother would still be safe, the muggle-loving Dumbledore wouldn't know the difference in if the cabinet was broken or not, and he could live life like normal, without the mudblood in his way.
As Hermione's breathing went off to timed deep breathing Draco smiled, climbing out of bed. He knew he had to be quiet as he snuck over, kneeling down beside Hermione's bed. The necklace lay around her neck, only where the chain touched her neck being exposed. Reaching down, Draco gently touched where the chain wasn't directly on her neck, the dips where her neck met her shoulders. He knew he had to be careful with this, gently lifting the necklace up so that the chain didn't drag along her skin as he slowly pulled the chain towards her face, bringing the time-turner closer to the surface. As Hermione took a deep breath, Draco froze in fear and silence. If she were to wake up now, what would he say? What could he say? That he wanted to see the time-turner for himself? That he wanted to be closer to Hermione? He sat there in fear, not letting go of the golden chain as he waited patiently for Hermione's breathing to return to normal, the light reflecting off of her face.
Once Hermione's breathing returned to a steady pace, reminding Draco that she had in fact drifted back off to sleep, he pulled up a little bit slower. He bit his bottom lip in concentration, trying to focus on not waking her as the time-turner finally exposed itself from beneath her shirt. He lifted it up on the chain, unsure of how to get it from behind her neck as he stared at it.
The set of metal circles were just a bit too big to fit in the palm of his hand when he tried to close it, each circle slightly smaller than the last with an hour glass in the center. It really was a special piece. Something Draco had never seen before as he thought of what the Death Eaters would do if they could get their hands on a piece as special as this. He shuddered in fear at the thought as he moved the time-turner, flipping it over in his hand to see either side with detail.
There were words on it, on each circle. He moved his face closer to look at them, reading the outer circle. I mark the hours, every one. Nor have I yet outrun the sun. He then read the middle circle. My use and value, unto you, Are gauged by what you have to do. I have to get back to 1996, he thought to himself, how's that for value?
Draco couldn't help but look back at Hermione one last time as he tried to think of how to get it off of her neck. He let out a heavy sigh as the fire in the fireplace lit a soft glow on Hermione's skin, almost mesmerizing Draco as she slept. For a mudblood, he thought to himself, she really isn't that bad. Not that I would ever tell her that. She just...she isn't like my father made them out to seem. He said they are dirty, filthy beings. Ones who are less than us, dim. Granger don't seem that way though. I have never seen her 'filthy', although she is quite pathetic for hanging out with Potter. And for being dim, she sure is analyzing this prophecy closely. Who would have ever thought 'brewing a potion for wooly socks' would be talking about my father after all. He sighed heavily as he faced a difficult decision. To leave Hermione Granger or wait and see what she had planned and for the first time, possibly ever in Draco Malfoy's life, he was siding with helping the mudblood. Softly, he sets the necklace back down on her shirt as he walked back over and crawled into his own bed.
"This better be worth it Granger." He whispers, looking over at her sleeping body one last time before rolling over and facing the wall to go to sleep.