Chapter Eleven

As soon as Hermione stepped out of the fireplace she was taken aback. It almost seemed as though the Weasleys had been waiting for her!

Mr. Weasley was seated at the table reading the Daily Prophet while Harry and Ron played wizard's chess as Ginny watched. Hermione noticed Ginny's eyes rarely left Harry.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, his chair flying backward as he stood up. He seemed to cross the kitchen in one step, pulling her into a tight hug such as Hermione hadn't had since before her severe miscalculation with Alan and the death of her parents. She almost felt like crying, but withheld; Harry was such an easy person to appreciate.

From Harry's embrace, Hermione heard to whoosh of the flames from the fireplace, signaling Draco's arrival.

"Malfoy," she heard Ron growl. He stood up, just like the skyscraper she remembered him to be – at LEAST six and a half feet.

"Ron," Hermione silently pleaded.

"You didn't say you were bringing HIM…"

"We're in this together," she responded firmly. She locked eyes with Ron and was shocked to find every emotion Ron had been feeling since their break-up plastered there, so easy to read. She had to look away. There were a lot of emotions in her eyes as well, had she known it.

Draco assessed the situation and decided it was best to play it cool: He was in the lion's den now – a place where snakes do not belong. He leaned casually against the fireplace and ignored Ron – though it took a lot of effort.

"We heard," Harry said, looking Hermione up and down as if to assess she was in one piece. "Ginny told us. Mr. Weasley thinks there might be a couple ways out…"

Suddenly, Hermione found herself wrapped in another pair of arms and recognized the cooking smell. Mrs. Weasley, it seemed, had forgiven her for not dating her youngest son.

"Oh, Hermione dear, I knew something was amiss! I'm so glad you're safe and in one piece… what are they feeding you there? You're thin as a bone! I'll whip something up right away…" She bustled over to the stove and whipped her wand around, preoccupied with cooking. She hadn't even noticed Draco.

"Why don't you have a seat," Mr. Weasley said, speaking for the first time. He gestured to a couple chairs opposite himself, looking from Hermione to Draco. "Both of you."

Hermione sat down almost immediately; Draco sauntered over casually.

"Both…?" Mrs. Weasley turned around and, spotting Draco for the first time, nearly jumped in surprise. "Oh… well… I suppose, I'll just… have to make a double batch…" Hermione did notice, however, that she glanced back several more times before she was finished cooking.

Hermione could tell Ron had wanted to take the seat next to her and found she was actually glad she was seated next to Draco instead. It would certainly save all the awkwardness at any rate. But she would deal with Ron later.

"Now I'm under the impression," Mr. Weasley began, "that if the two of you merely asked to get out of this situation, the request would be denied, correct?"

Hermione nodded. Mr. Weasley had aged quite a bit since she last saw him; She would bet ten galleons it had something to do with Fred. "There was a contract," she explained, "and they wrote and signed it in Binding Ink."

Mr. Weasley sat back in his chair as though contemplating this new roadblock. Mrs. Weasley's head turned in surprise.

"What does that mean?" Harry asked, curious.

Typical, Draco thought to himself, typical for Potter to ask the mundanely obvious.

"It means that the contract signed has binding properties that will force a witch or wizard to go through with the task at hand, no matter the circumstances," Mr. Weasley explained.

"Well… why don't you just burn it?" Ron inquired.

Hermione rolled her eyes, typical of Ron to ask the question most easily snubbed.

"I'm afraid it's not that simple, son. The only way out of a contract signed in Binding Ink is through a very unique process, or to hide from it."

"Hide?" Hermione prompted. "Hide from a binding curse? How is that possible?"

"Well it's kind of tricky – you have to essentially become someone else."

"Like, with polyjuice potion?" Harry prompted.

Hermione shuddered; The last time she'd taken polyjuice potion, she'd been nearly turned into a cat and had to spend a few days in the hospital wing.

Mr. Weasley chuckled. "That is one way… but it'll take awhile to brew the potion and from the sound of things, we don't have that kind of time. No, the easiest way to hide from a spell like that is to essentially do SOMETHING that you two normally wouldn't do."

"Like…?" Draco prompted. It was his first time speaking; Ron glared at him.

Mr. Weasley faced the younger Malfoy with genuine forgiveness, as though all the trouble his family had caused them over the years was now nothing to him. Ginny and the diary, all the insults, trouble with the Death Eaters, and the slights on their wealth… were all forgotten.

"Well I'd suggest going on the run."

"Going on the run," Hermione repeated. "But how will that help?"

"Well," Mr. Weasley explained, "I expect you don't often go on long trips around the country without a purpose in mind except to run?"

Hermione thought about it and realized he was right: She, Ron and Harry went around the country a few times, but they had been looking for something then… and Ron had been a total wanker about the whole thing.

…Come to think of it, what had she ever seen in Ron, anyway…? People had warned her not to date a ginger, but she'd always brushed them off. Looks like they'd been right the whole time, after all…

"So we're supposed to just leave?" Draco demanded, snapping Hermione out of her reverie.

He was challenging Mr. Weasley: Everyone in the room sensed it. Mrs. Weasley paused in her cooking, while Ron, Harry and Ginny tensed. Hermione glanced Draco's way, hoping to catch his eye to warn him, but he wasn't looking at her.

Only Mr. Weasley seemed not to notice, though Hermione had a sneaking suspicion he'd merely ignored it. He replied, "Yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you."

"I think what Draco meant to say…" Hermione butted in cautiously, "was something more along the lines of: how is going on the run going to make us into a different person?"

Ron and Ginny visibly tensed and Hermione wondered why for a moment before she realized: she'd called him Draco… not Malfoy… Draco. As if they were FRIENDS, or worse…

In fact, Hermione thought as she glanced sidelong at Ron, the only reason he WASN'T throttling Malfoy at the moment was because Harry and Ginny had both positioned themselves conveniently in front of him to prevent this very thing.

"Binding Ink is a strange move to be taking," Mr. Weasley ruminated, "especially considering how outdated it is. No one yet has been able to figure out why going on the run seems to make the contract null and void for the time being, but it does. I wish I could explain it, but Hermione, knowing you, I'm sure you'll find the answer somehow on your own. My only suggestion would be to leave as soon as possible."

Harry cleared his throat as though he knew he was about to ask a stupid question. "But, sir – couldn't they just go through with the contract, then make another one to void it out and sign that one with Binding Ink as well?"

"Interesting idea, Harry," said Mr. Weasley thoughtfully, "it certainly would work that way."

"But along that same line," Mrs. Weasley piped up, serving up some delicious-looking hot scones with butter, "you could keep making more and more contracts until you've made a never-ending circle."

"Besides, Hermione would actually have to marry that git," Ron remarked snidely.

Hermione gave him a look and replied, "Ron… STOP IT."

She said with such a firm tone of voice that even Draco was taken aback. Since when did Hermione Granger come to HIS defense?

"Hermione, can I talk to you alone for a moment?" Harry inquired, looking at her in a curious way.

She nodded and excused herself from the table, taking a scone with her.

As soon as she and Harry were safely in the next room, he pulled her to the side farthest from the door. "Listen, Hermione, I understand you've been through a lot this summer and I hope you realize that I'm only talking to you now because I care about you."

Hermione nodded: Harry meant so much to her… she felt tears sting her eyes, but swallowed them. Now was not the time to get emotional.

"I can understand you're on the run with Malfoy, but do you even LIKE him?"

Hermione pondered this thought for a moment. Did she? She supposed she did, yes.

"Yes," she answered truthfully, "he's a bit of a jerk, but he's not all that bad deep down. I think he's changed."

Harry stared at her for a few moments and she blushed a deep crimson as though the words she'd just uttered were blasphemous.

"Do you LOVE him?" Harry almost seemed to dread her answer.

Hermione thought about this, too. Did she? Really?

"No." Harry breathed a sigh of relief that was so sudden, Hermione hadn't even realized he'd been holding it. "Why?"

"Well he's not exactly chummy with us, as you know. He's never been."

"He practically tried to defend us last year when we got caught," Hermione reasoned.

Harry considered this: "Yes, that's true, I haven't forgotten. But, Hermione – I mean… haven't you noticed?"

"Noticed what?"

"Well…" This was clearly hard for him to say. "I mean, he doesn't exactly look at you as though you're someone he trusts. He doesn't have any patience for you, either. Are you sure you don't want me or Ron to go with you instead of…"

"I'm not going anywhere with Ron," Hermione butted in, putting her foot down. "Besides, this is mine and Draco's fight. Draco – although he's not perfect and he's got a short temper when dealing with me – has reason for this to not want to go through, just the same as me."

"Hermione…" Harry's eyes softened, "he was the one, you know… who found you…"

She stiffened. "…Found me?" But she knew exactly what Harry was talking about.

"You know… last month…when…"

Hermione's heart stopped a moment – and then, suddenly, it was beating a thousand miles a minute.

The fact that Draco had seen her naked was the least of her worries at the moment. In fact, that thought only registered for a split second before she realized it must have been Draco that'd called St. Mungo's.

Draco Malfoy had seen what had happened to her. He saw… he'd done…?

"He… saved me?"

Harry ran this hands through his hair, still unruly after all these years. "Well… yeah. But I still don't fully trust him around you. I mean, anyone would have…" He was having a hard time talking about it, so instead he pulled Hermione into a hug, "I'm so glad you're alright, Hermione." As he let go, he took a long look at her, rather like a parent surveys their child. "I just don't want to see you get hurt anymore: How can you tell this isn't just a very cleverly planned plot against you?"

Hermione bit her lip: How COULD she tell?

.

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Author's Note: Huge, huge, huge thanks to Readerforlife, xxDrAcO'sBaby4EvErxx, Michelle Marie Maire, brooklynsam3, sureynot, GoodCharlotte615, RIPJameSiriusLupinTrueMarauder, and angieLATgirllmafoXD for reviewing!! Also, just so you know, I'm going to be in Florida for a week and a half. I'm bringing my laptop, but I don't know how much I'll be updating for that time. I haven't abandoned this! I'll be in Disney World with my kids... which should be both extremely hectic and very fun.

Readerforlife - I gotta say this - I love how you review every chapter, even though it's always just one or two words. Really, most people won't leave one unless they have a question or something. Have a cookie.

Michelle Marie Maire - Yes, I remember your reviews from the original. I'm glad you decided to stop by and try the re-do, I felt it was much needed. Welcome back!