Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews, they're very encouraging! I'm considering posting a chapter a day, but we'll see how that goes. Happy reading! :)

Chapter 8

"I wonder what's taking so long," Ron says, pacing back and forth in front of the door.

"Just be patient," Harry replies.

I roll my eyes at the pacing redhead before turning to look around at the others.

Fred, George and Lee are huddled together down the hall by the door, speaking in low voices so that we can't hear them. Katie's leaning against the wall on my left. Ginny's standing on my right and looking up at Harry, daydreaming.

The rest of us are gone. Charlie's staying with Mrs. Weasley and Bill at Shell Cottage, along with some other Hogwarts students in the Order. Neville and Blaise have been gone on separate missions all week. Angelina and Alicia, the last two people staying at Grimmauld Place, just left on a mission to check the information that Malfoy provided about Death Eater patrols at Hogwarts.

We decided not to reconvene this week—meetings are too risky to hold so often. But Lupin and Tonks are both here, along with Shacklebolt and McGonagall. The "adults" usually don't leave us out when they meet anymore, but tonight's different, they said. Deciding whether or not Malfoy is trustworthy is something worth looking into. It's true, but I don't know what they don't want us to see.

In any case, I don't think there's much of a chance that he's being honest. I've seen that people can change for the better—after all, back at Hogwarts, I never would have thought that I'd be friends with Blaise Zabini. But surely, Draco Malfoy is a lost case. He was a Death Eater even back when we were still in school!

I'm surprised that Harry and Ron decided to take him back here at all. But according to Harry, he didn't bring a wand and allowed himself to be Stunned, which is already more than I had expected.

"What do you reckon Lee and the twins are talking about?" Ginny muses aloud.

"Probably some new practical joke," Katie says.

I note that Ron's glowering at Harry. What happened out there?

Then Ron says, "Hermione, there's something that Harry should probably tell you."

"What is it?" I ask.

"Erm…" Harry says uncomfortably. "Ron, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Ron sighs but nods, and they head off for their room upstairs.

"Wonder what Harry was going to tell you," Ginny says.

I shrug. "I'll just ask them later, I guess."

Then the door to the kitchen opens, and Tonks steps out. She closes the door behind her quickly, before any of us can see inside.

"Hermione, can I talk to you upstairs?" she asks.

I nod and follow her up to my room. She locks the door and casts a Muffling charm on it before turning to face me, an apologetic look on her face.

"What's wrong?" I ask.

"We're going to accept Malfoy's offer," she says.

"Really?" I say, surprised.

She nods.

"Why do you have to tell me separately from the others?" I ask.

Tonks looks hesitant, but I don't press her.

Finally, she speaks. "We erm, we've decided that it'll be safest if he only has one contact in the Order, and it'd be best if it was an Occlumens, so he can't easily use Legilimency—"

Shit. I can already see where this is going…

"—to steal our information, if he does betray us in the future. And Kingsley thinks it'd be better for him to interact with someone his own age, so—"

"So you've chosen me," I say.

Tonks nods. "I'm sorry. But I do think you're a very good choice—you're brilliant. You might be able to tell from the facts whether or not he's lying."

"I don't understand. Why does it have to be someone his age? Did Shacklebolt explain?"

"No. I'm sorry," Tonks repeats.

"It's… it's all right," I say. "I should probably have a talk with him then, right?"

She nods again.

"Let's go, then."

I walk past her and exit the room.

Why me?

Oh, this is so typical. Me and my bad luck. Of all the people they could have chosen…

It's true that I'm the only one in the younger generation who was successful with Occlumency. I just don't understand why they couldn't choose any of the more experienced members to be his contact.

When I reach the others on the first floor, no one speaks.

What do they think Tonks told me?

Tonks raps on the kitchen door, and it swings open. Shacklebolt exits the kitchen, followed by McGonagall and Lupin.

"Go ahead, Hermione," Lupin says, gesturing toward the entrance.

A sense of foreboding fills me as I step into the kitchen. The door closes behind me, and my eyes fall on the back of Malfoy's head—he's sitting at the long kitchen table with his back to me.

For some reason, I can't seem to find my voice. I walk around the table to sit down across from him. This is the first time I've seen his face in three years.

Back in school, I'd conceded that he was an attractive boy; I would have been blind if I didn't see that. His face hasn't changed much at all, maintaining the same flawless, aristocratic features. But his grey eyes are fixed on mine, ablaze with a new intensity that makes me feel like I've never seen them before.

I quickly look away from them, focusing instead on his hands, which are clasped together on the table in front of him. I never noticed how long and thin his fingers were. A thick ring bearing the Malfoy crest rests on his right ring finger, and I wonder how he could ever betray his family. He bragged incessantly about his father back at Hogwarts—why would he ever choose to betray him?

I glance back up to see that he has an unreadable expression on his face, and I begin to wish I could see into his head.

What is he thinking? Why is he staring at me like that?

As I consider my situation, it suddenly seems more difficult to breathe. I've been left alone with a Death Eater. It helps to know that he's unarmed, but Blaise's warning about how he doesn't know the extent of Malfoy's powers still worries me.

The tension between us could be cut with a knife.

I sense that he's waiting for me to speak first, so I clear my throat, keeping my eyes on his face. A flicker of some expression crosses his face, but it passes too quickly for me to identify. Something akin to amusement, maybe? This irks me as much as it frightens me—how is he so at-ease?

"Malfoy," I say quietly. "It's been a long time."

He smiles at me but doesn't speak.

God, he's even more terrifying when he smiles. I wish he'd revert to his famous smirk—at least that's a familiar expression that I can handle.

"Say something," I say.

Oh, I sound pathetic.

"Hello, Granger. You look well," he says.

His voice sends chills through me, and I look away from him. What the hell is wrong with me tonight?

He stands and starts walking around the table toward my side. I keep my eyes on him until he reaches my side of the table. I don't want to look afraid by twisting around just to keep him in sight at all times—after all, he is unarmed.

I will not be intimidated by him.

"I heard that your family lost Voldemort's trust," I say, looking at the closed kitchen door across from me.

He doesn't reply, and I hear his footsteps stop right behind me.

My heart is hammering in my chest. He's never had any sort of effect on me before, so I don't understand why I'm reacting this way.

"What are you doing?" I ask in a deceptively even voice.

His hands lightly rest on my shoulders, and I fight the urge to jerk away from his touch. There's a lump in my throat, and I swallow hard in an attempt to make it go away.

I feel his warm breath against my ear as he whispers, "I'm testing you."

"Get away from me," I say, shrugging his hands off me.

He backs off, and I can breathe normally again.

"The others have decided that I'll be your contact," I say.

He chuckles. "Yes, I see that."

I hate that he's behind me, so I turn around on the bench and face him. He's standing closer than I'd expected, and I lean back slightly against the table to put just a bit more distance between us.

"Why can't you just sit at the table like a normal person?"

"I'm hardly a normal person now, am I?" he replies.

"Well, it's nice to see that this war hasn't hurt your ego in any way," I say sarcastically.

He scrutinizes me for a moment, and though I start to feel uncomfortable, I meet his eyes without wavering.

"We should probably set up some rules for meeting," I say.

"Sure," he says, casually leaning back against the wall behind him.

Looks like he doesn't plan to help me. So typical of him.

"Do you have a meeting spot in mind?" I ask.

"Hmm, no. No, I don't," he says.

"And how are we going to contact each other? It'll have to be something better than a Patronus or an owl—that's much too obvious."

He smiles again, and I can't seem to take my eyes off him. His face just lights up when he smiles. I wonder why I never noticed before. Oh, it must have been because I was too busy being offended by the label he'd given me: Mudblood Granger.

"That I already have covered," he says.

He reaches into his back pocket, and I instinctively whip my wand out.

"Calm down, Granger," he says, looking at me with an amused expression.

He pulls his hand back out of his pocket, but I can't see what he took out. He holds a closed fist in front of my face, and I look between his face and his fist.

"What are you playing at?" I ask.

He opens his hand, palm face-down, and a gold chain dangles in front of my face. A small, gold, heart-shaped charm hangs on the chain.

"What's this for?"

"I got this idea from you, actually," he says. "A Protean Charm, like the one you did on all those fake Galleons for Dumbledore's Army in fifth year."

I bite my lip and reach out for the necklace, but he pulls it back, shaking his head.

"What? Surely I have to have one, if that's how we're going to communicate," I say.

"Stand up."

I glare at him. "I'm not taking any orders from you, Malfoy."

"Stand up, please," he says, smirking.

Oh, I can't stand this man. I get to my feet, and he gestures for me to turn around. I'm reluctant to turn my back to him, but I do so anyway.

He throws the necklace over my head and pulls the ends behind my neck to fasten them together. I pick up my hair to make it easier for him. His fingers brush lightly over the back of my neck, sending chills down my spine.

Why am I so sensitive to everything about him tonight? It's getting on my nerves.

When the necklace is secure, I step away and turn around to face him.

"Perfect length," he says with a small smile.

I frown—this necklace is hardly the perfect length. The chain is too long; the charm hangs between my breasts. I finger the small golden heart.

"A heart, Malfoy?"

"Girly enough for you to wear, Granger?"

"Sure. What's your object?" I ask.

He reaches up and traces a silver chain around his neck to the front, pulling the charm out from under his shirt. For a second, I almost think it's going to be another heart—that would be too funny. But of course, it isn't. The charm on his chain is a silver oval with a serpent engraving.

"So, how are these going to work? Will a date appear on the back?" I ask him.

He fists his hand around his charm and closes his eyes. I watch him suspiciously and then jump in surprise as the charm that's hanging from my neck burns me through my clothes.

I point my wand at him, prepared to use it if the necklace starts choking me or hurting me—if he's going to strangle me, I'm taking him to the grave with me.

Then he opens his eyes.

"So tense, Granger," he says.

He opens his fist, and the heart stops burning me. I lift up the charm with my left hand and see that a date and time have appeared on one side. Glaring at him, I lower my wand.

"That solves date and time. As for the place… I think I know the perfect place," he says.

"Where?"

"I'd rather just take you there."

"I'm not going to just Apparate somewhere with you," I say.

"Well, I can't take you anywhere by Apparition anyway—I don't have a wand. Come, let's go."

He starts to walk around the table, and I grab his arm.

"We're not going anywhere until you tell me where we're going," I say.

He slowly turns back to look at me, and his eyes fall to my hand, which is still gripping his arm tightly. I release him as though I've been burned.

"Follow me, Granger. I won't ask twice."

I glare at him. "I already said this once—don't make me repeat it again. I am not taking any orders from you, Malfoy."

"All right, then. I'll leave."

"Fine. Leave."

He walks around the table and towards the door but stops before he reaches it.

I wait patiently for him to turn around. For some inexplicable reason, I know that he won't just leave like this.

I can't say what makes me so sure of it.