Chapter 8

Harry let out a sigh of relief when he saw Hermione walk through the door to Dumbledore's office. Thank Merlin's old baggy robes that nothing had happened to her.

From the moment that they had saved her from the troll all those years back, Hermione and the boys had developed a strong bond. By the end of the year, he had thought of her as his own sister.

He knew that she only wanted to help. And for that he greatly admired her. Malfoy was the brat who spent his entire school life tormenting her, and in the end, she still wanted to save him. She had a great deal of courage, and was a Gryffindor through and through. He was proud that she wanted to do this, to try and change him. But that didn't stop him from being skeptical. Harry trusted Hermione completely, but it was Malfoy whom he didn't trust, and if that ferret did anything to hurt his sister, then he would kill him with his own bare hands.

He had been pacing before her entry into the room. So much so that Dumbledore was beginning to give him a wary look, as if he were afraid that Harry would put a hole through the floor. So what if he did anyway? The wizard would be able to repair it would a simple spell, so what did it matter?

But the person who followed into the room was someone who Harry had not been expecting. He watched, as Draco Malfoy entered the room.

He let out a yelp, and Malfoy looked up at him startled. How had Hermione been able to convince him to come with him?

He had been highly skeptical when Hermione first went after the boy. After all, Harry had been yet to convince him of the task himself. But he had a slight amount of hope. Hermione had always been more cool headed then him. While Harry would always think with his wand, then ask questions later, Hermione would observe what was happening, then make a fair judgment and act accordingly.

So he shouldn't be surprised that Hermione had indeed been able to convince Malfoy to join them. But it couldn't have been easy. The boy had more than enough pride to last anyone a life time. He enjoyed terrorizing muggleborns, first years, and anyone he deemed to be miniscule. So how exactly had Hermione been able to convince him? Harry frowned slightly, thinking about what could happen.

"Ah Miss Granger, I was wondering when you would join us. And I see you've brought Mr. Malfoy here with you," Dumbledore said, nodding to the boy who was standing quietly, and looking highly awkward.

Hermione smiled at the headmaster, "Good afternoon Sir. I hope you don't mind, but I've asked Mr. Malfoy to join us.'

"That will not be a problem, I'm glad you could join us Mr. Malfoy."

Draco nodded stiffly, and Harry noted how unsure of himself he looked. He knew that the boy was out of his element, and for that he gave him credit. He just hoped that he was being truthful about wanting to join up with them.

"I'm sure you have some requests to make before you fully join our ranks, as I have of you," Dumbledore said, not unkindly.

Draco nodded once more. "I want protection for my mother. I am not fully sure of the loyalties of my father yet however."

Dumbledore gave him a nod of acknowledgement. "Very well Mr. Malfoy, I'm sure that can be arranged. I too have some requests as I said earlier. I'm sure you can understand why I must do so. I'm afraid that I can't allow for you to be fully integrated into the Order of Pheonix until we have gotten to know you a bit better. In the meantime, I think it would be best if you met up with a single person."

Draco understood. He knew that their trust wouldn't be something easy to gain. He would think far less of them if they did welcome him with open arms. They would be foolish to do such a thing, so he wasn't in the slightest bit offended by it. He had seen it coming, and knew to expect it.

"I understand Professor," Draco told the group.

He noticed how the moods differed around the room. While Potter was watching him wearily, the Headmaster was smiling at him compassionately. Draco had no idea what to make of it; it was odd for someone to look at him with that sort of parental look glimmering in their eyes. Granger however was looking very pleased with herself, probably for being able to convince him to come to this in the first place.

"Your sixth year will be over soon, and in that time I can keep you safe in the school. But when the time comes when the school ends, we will make other arrangements to keep you safe."

Draco gave a gesture of appreciation. "I do have one more thing to say. I wish to act as a spy in the meantime while the school year is still on. I want to pass information to help your side. While my father is still in prison, He has taken a liking to me, and trusts me; for now anyway. I can work that to our advantage."

Dumbledore looked surprised by his proclamation. "Mr Malfoy, I cannot ask you do do such a task. It could out you in a substantial amount of danger."

Draco shook his head, "No Headmaster, I can do this; Severus and Aunt Bellatrix themselves have personally trained me in Legemens and Occlumency.

"Mr Malfoy, I'm sure you're aware of the danger that this will place you in. However, you are of age, and if you wish to do so, then I will allow it. However, I do wish you to be careful. Perhaps it's best if you only contact one of us at the same time. I can ask one of the teachers I trust to pair two of you in a class together to allow for a reason for the two of you to need meet up."

Potter looked a bit startled by this. He probably feared that it would be him that would be stuck partnering up with him. Personally, Draco hoped it wouldn't be him or the Weasel. Thankfully he got lucky.

"It would make the most sense if it were you and Miss Granger. I do trust that you will make this work, regardless of your past together."

So the old man was telling him to play nice. Draco supposed that it was luckily for him that he had every intention of 'playing nice', even if it meant putting up with Granger and the two daft things she called friends.

"Professor, you can't be serious. Having him work with Hermione? How do we know we can trust him entirely anyway? What if he tries to do her in or something when they're alone?" Potter outburst.

Hermione rolled her eyes, and Draco knew she must have been expecting such a reaction.

"For the last time Harry, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself. And no offence but if Professor Dumbledore were to partner either you or Ron with Draco, then one of you would end of dead."

She had a good point. Draco was still a bit startled by all of this. He wasn't quite sure of what to make of the fact that Granger wasn't entirely repulsed by him. He wouldn't blame her if she was.

Granger simply nodded her head, as if it were no big deal for her to have to work with him.

"And what will happen to Malfoy after the school year," Hermione asked after a moment of silence.

"At the moment, I am not quite sure. But when the time comes for it, the necessary arrangements shall be made. I hope by then that it will be slightly easier in the world but I am aware that it is wistful thinking."

Draco nodded. There was no way the war would be over that quickly. It had never been that easy, not in the past, nor now. But Draco had gotten used to that over the years. He had learned how to deal with it.

Potter was watching from the corner of the room. He hadn't said a word since Draco had entered the room, but Draco was pretty sure what he would say.

"I'm sorry professor, but how do we know if we can trust him? He is a Death Eater after all. What if he's secretly passing information back to them?" Potter asked, sounding highly skeptical.

"Harry-" Granger started, in a warning tone.

"It's alright Granger, I can defend myself.

Potter, you don't know what I've gone through. I was born into my life as you were yours. I didn't choose to be born into a family that supported Death Eaters. My father chose this life for me, and it was something I was forced to live with. If it was up to me and it was just my life at stake, I wouldn't have joined his ranks. But it's more than that. It's the life of my mother, and maybe even my father. I don't like you still Potter, and I am sure that the feelings are mutual. But I am not the person that my father tried to raise me to be, nor do I believe in his views. It might take a while for me to be able to stop having to catch myself from making remarks, but that doesn't mean that I want to. Voldemort has his spies in your ranks, as you probably have some in his. So he doesn't need me to be one as well," Draco said startling himself with his confession to these people he barely knew.

Hermione gave him a surprisingly smile, one that he didn't think he deserved.

Potter gave him a weary look. It was less skeptical than the earlier look that he received, but there was still a look of mistrust.

"Thank you Mr Malfoy, I am glad that you have decided to join us. In the meantime however, you should return to your house; let your housemates know that you are still on their side, and that they can trust you. The last think you need right now is for them to be suspicious," Dumbledore said, concluding their meeting.

"No bloody way!" Ron shouted loudly. People all around them in the Great Hall looked their way.

"Shh Ron!" Hermione hissed. "You can't let anyone hear you!" Silently she cast muffliato, so those around her wouldn't hear. The days where she didn't approve of the spell were long gone. Yes, she didn't agree with this 'Half-blood Prince' bloke; anyone who named themselves based on their blood type was not anything Hermione found prideful. But there didn't seem to be anything wrong with the spell, so she used it.

"You can't be serious Hermione," Ron said in an angry voice. "Harry, tell me she isn't serious."

"Ron, as much as I dislike this idea, I think Hermione's right. I don't trust him either, but I don't know man, he seemed fairly genuine in what he said. I don't like him anymore than you do, but we need to at least try."

Ron grunted, hunching his shoulders slightly. "I don't like this, nor will I be nice to him."

"There's more Ron," Hermione said in a quiet tone.

"What?" Ron asked, in a suspicious manner.

"I need to work with him on a project, so we can be able to gain information from him. He's going to spy for us, and we are to be his contact."

"Seriously?" Ron screamed out, almost jumping from the table.

"Ron, sit down," Hermione demanded.

"I don't trust him with you, Hermione! How do you know that he won't hurt you, especially after everything he's said to you over the years? What if he hurts you?"

Hermione sighed, knowing she would be repeating herself. "Ron, I can handle myself, you know I can." But as much as she was annoyed, she felt slightly pleased that he cared about her.

"I know Hermione, but what if-" Ron started, before Harry cut him off.

"It's done mate. He's joined our side," Harry said, sounding like he was accepting defeat.

Hermione sighed at the boys. "Harry, it was your idea to begin with, why are you so depressed about this? You were the one who initially wanted him on our side."

"I know, I mean I really do. But it's really hard to set aside six years of bad blood between the two of us. I want to be able to be fine with it, I do. But it's hard," Harry said, sounding confused about what to do.

"You can't be serious Harry. It's bloody Malfoy we are talking about. There's no way that we can simply 'put aside' the bad blood. We hate him!" Ron said, shouting once more.

"Ron, calm down. I don't like this either. But we need help. We need people to help us on this mission, and if we don't need to worry about Malfoy and whatever it was that he had to do, then the more time we can spend focusing on finding the horcruxes."

"What was his mission anyway?" Ron asked them both curiously.

Harry and Hermione exchanged a look.

"Do you know?" Harry asked Hermione. "He never said a word to me about it."

Hermione shook her head. "No, I don't."

Ron groaned. "Unbelievable. Neither of you bothered asking the guy what it was that he was supposed to do, yet we have to blindly trust him. What if this was his mission; to get into our ranks and send Him information."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Ron, we need to trust him. We're not going to tell him everything right away, and let him know our deepest secrets. We wait to know that we can actually trust him. Until then, we let him in on as minimal details as possible. He has agreed to these conditions. Besides, if there is a spy in our ranks, then it will be safer for everyone not to know about him."

Ron sighed in defeat, "Fine, we accept him. But if he does something in the slightest bit untrustworthy then I will kill him myself."

Harry grinned at his friend. "I'm sure you will Ron. And if he does, then don't worry; we can kill him together."

Hermione smiled. At least some things would never change.

Draco sat on the bed in his dorm room, across from both Blaise and Theo. Neither of them knew of his recent change of heart, and it would have to stay like that. While he cared about the both of them, there was no way he could let them know something like that. He trusted them both, but you never really knew if someone was listening in on your conversations.

"Draco, my father has been asking questions about you. The Dark Lord has started to question your loyalties. I bought you some time by saying that you have been working hard to get the cabinet to work, but there are many difficulties with it. Hopefully it can buy you some time," Theo said.

Draco nodded gratefully, "Thanks mate. I don't know what I would do without you; either of you."

The boys smiled at him. It was rare for Slytherins of their age to show so much compassion; but in these times with constant change, they had learned to throw aside stereotypes and say the things they needed to say. To many people they knew had lost people they cared about to leave the little things left unsaid. Theodore was the prime example of that, having lost him mother at an early age.

Draco was about to say something back, when a first year timidly knocked upon the door.

"D-Draco?" the boy said softly.

Draco looked up amused. It had been a while since he terrorized any of the younger kids, but the rumors still circled around about him.

"Yes?" he asked the boy, trying to sound as un-scary as possible.

"There's a girl outside asking for you. She says she needs to discuss some prefect duties with you."

Draco groaned. He hoped that he hadn't forgot his turn to patrol the corridors, Merlin knew that he forgot too many times in the past.

He headed out the doors to find none other than Granger there waiting for him.

Once she saw him, she dragged him off to a private corridor.

"This has nothing to do with Prefect duties, does it?" Draco drawled once revelation hit him.

"No, it doesn't," she said, in her velvety voice.

"Then, why did you drag me out here?" he asked her, half curious.

"Because I needed to ask you something."

"And what may that be?" Draco asked her, sounding cautious.

"What mission did Voldemort give you?" Hermione asked him in an undertone. He was shocked by the way she so blatantly said his name, without any trace of fear.

"Are you sure you want to know?" Draco asked her carefully.

"Yes," she said firmly.

He pulled her into the classroom. He closed the door, but before he could open his mouth, Hermione stopped him.

"If you care so much about no one hearing you, then wait for a second," Hermione said. "Muffliato," she murmured.

"What does that do?" he asked her curiously.

"It's a silencing charm. That way no one can hear us. Seriously, you Slytherins never use it?" Hermione asked him, sounding shocked.

"Never heard of it; but thanks for the spell," he said, genuinely impressed.

"So what is the mission?" Hermione asked him, after a moment of silence.

"He wants me to kill Dumbledore," Draco said softly. It was one of the first times he'd said it aloud since he received the task.

"What?!" Hermione said, yelling. He was thankful that she had spelled the room so no one could hear. "You're 17 Draco. There's no way that he could possibly expect you to succeed Draco."

"I don't think he does," he said quietly. He once again surprised himself by how much he felt able to be truthful with her.

"What do you mean?" she asked him, sounding fearful.

"I think he wants me to fail; to send a message back to my parents."

"That's horrible Draco," she said softly. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. Before he could, she wrapped her arms around him and brought him into a tight hug. He was shocked at first, but hugged her back. It was odd how comforting it was to be in her arms.

"I don't want you to fail."