Draco was broken too. Tears were right under his eyelids and he didn't think he could hold them any longer. She'd again comforted him when she'd just been the one loosing her mind at that horrific memory. And she'd said it, to his face, not on paper this time. She didn't hate him. She should have, but she didn't. Now she was looking at him right in the eyes, her left forearm still lifted in his hand, the rough scar contrasting with her soft skin under his thumb, and she looked as broken as he felt.

Unable to do anything else but stare at her too, he stayed like that. She looked like a small and fragile porcelain doll he could break with one word. That strong, witted and talented witch, could be broken with a word. A word his aunt had for ever scarred on her, a horrific word that sullied her.

There was nothing he could do or say that would make it right again. She was for ever marked, and broken, and there was nothing that could ease the pain and horror he'd seen in her swirling whiskey eyes. One tear finally made its way down his lashes and she suddenly removed her arm from his grip. Thinking she was rejecting him and his pain, just as he deserved, Draco was about to take a step back when she took one forward. She did the most unexpected thing of all. She hugged him.

It had nothing to do with those forced hugs you give foreign relatives, it resembled nothing he'd ever lived before. She clutched at him tightly, her arms around his waist, her head just under his chin, her face buried somewhere against his chest. Even his mother had never hugged him like that. It was nothing like the hugs he'd received from girls over the years either. It was a comforting embrace, one of friendship, one meant to make him feel better. She smelled like shampoo and flowers, and Draco decided not to think, to embrace it. He let his chin rest on top of her head and after maybe a bit too long, wrapped his arms around her shoulders in return. She tightened her grip at the back of his robes, clenching bits of the thick fabric in her small fists and all Draco could think about was her strength. She'd recovered instantly, as every time, and found it in her to comfort him when he should have comforted her. She was a force to be reckoned with and at this point, he didn't even care that her name was Hermione Granger, and that years of mutual hatred were behind the both of them, all he cared about was the foreign comfort he felt from their embrace.

Who gave a damn about the past? It was ruining their lives enough already, that they didn't need to add to it. Blaise had understood that, and that was probably what had decided him to become an auror, to even laugh with the weasel, or to look beyond Brown's scars to find her pretty. Draco had let himself follow his friend, and as Hermione Granger hugged him, even if it certainly meant he had lost his mind, he knew he'd made the right choice.

"Draco? Mate?" Blaise's voice broke the moment and Granger just took a step back, escaping his arms, and leaving cold and empty space where comfort had just been. Blaise opened the door and scanned the room quickly before shutting it behind him.

"It's time to go. Are you all right Granger?" Blaise looked at her arm, now hidden under a wrinkled sweater sleeve.

"Yes, look, I'm sorry Zabini I don't know why I …" Apparently sensing her discomfort he cut her, waving her justification away with a hand.

"Yeah we're all traumatised. I drink to cope, you hurt yourself, Draco cries in dark rooms …"

"Blaise!" Draco knew he was only joking but the fact he'd actually just been crying - no, he'd shed a tear only - made the joke even worse. Granger chuckled and then guiltily covered her mouth with a bony hand. Blaise flashed her one of his famous grins and she returned it, to the both of them. Draco couldn't blame her.

"Could you not tell the others? I don't want them worrying more …" She said, her smile replaced with her own share of worries.

"Course." Consented Blaise. Draco nodded, but he sensed she already knew he wouldn't tell anyone. She gave them a small smile in thanks and went for the door.

"Go ahead with them then, I need another bloody sweater, I'll go by myself." She went out first and Blaise followed. As she hurried up the stairs and he down, Draco looked at her retreating form just as she glanced behind her shoulder. She smirked.

"Who's staring now?" She said before running up giggling, not letting him time to answer. Unpredictable. An exception to every bloody rule he knew.

Draco apparated to the ministry's entrance hall, releasing Potter's arm as quickly as possible, just after an awkward hug to his mother, which had felt so wrong after Granger's. Potter had looked at him suspiciously but said nothing, and the redhead was so thick, he hadn't even noticed anything. No wonder she'd been bored with him, the git couldn't see anything past his big fat red nose.

"So, we'll brief five minutes, then you're on." Potter's tired statement vanished any confusing thought Draco might have had. It was time to work and there was no space for anything else. Granger arrived in the meeting room just as they were about to sit down. She wore a blue sweater, and held her folded robes on her arm, maybe she'd thrown away the Weasley one. She sat at Potter's right, her determined nose right back up, just next to Longbottom, who looked strangely out of sorts. Draco frowned at him and he just scowled, lowering his eyes to the big scroll he'd been writing on since they came in. Blaise shrugged at Draco's frown.

"So who's first?" Potter's question to his team put Draco back on the matter, but Brown's answer gave him an idea at why Longbottom looked like shit.

"Change of plans. We thought Neville could go first. Would be better to test them out when they're not in full brain capacity." Wow, what did that imply?

"You're right. So Neville, I guess Hermione next, and then training room one?"

"Yes we thought it would work better."

"Neville? Ready for torture?" Asked Potter with a sadistic smile his friend didn't return. Torture? Blaise gave him a wide-eyed glance before frowning at Longbottom.

"Not really but it'll do." The last said, not even bothering lifting his head up from his scroll.

"We're off then." Longbottom nodded and everyone went out.

As soon as the door closed Neville knew it had started. The fact that the two former Slytherins in the room had no idea what was coming at them put things to his advantage. He had to act perfectly. This test would be decisive in the position they would get. Neville also felt like he had something to prove. Like he could take some sort of revenge on the two, now not so unpleasant, men that sat at their meeting table. He felt like seven years worth of bullying needed correcting. He had become someone, he was skilled and smart, he was useful and talented. They needed to be out of this room, knowing who he was, and he needed to let them go, only when he knew who they were.

Neville lifted his head from his scroll, thanking inwardly Harry for his "torture" mention that clearly had triggered something within at least the dark skinned man. As for Malfoy, his façade was cold and serious, but Neville had come to know that it was indeed just a façade. He'd seen it when the ashen blond man had talked with Hermione, when he had joked, and when he'd taken her defence. Neville realised he'd come to quite appreciate the man he now was, but he also knew he wouldn't dupe him that easily. This needed to be perfectly articulated. Keeping his expression blank, Neville took his bag from under the table. He opened it on his lap and retrieved a few vials, all the same, none containing the same potion. He put them neatly on the table, facing Malfoy and Zabini. Of course he didn't say anything while arranging them, taking his time. He looked steadily at the two men once he was done, and he got started.

"One of them is dittany, one of them is amortencia, one of them is death, one them is veritaserum, one of them is pepper up potion, one of them is water. You won't touch them, you won't smell them, you won't get any closer to them than you already are. You have five minutes to figure it out. Of course you can't talk." He kept looking at them, and hoped they would go around the rules to work as a team. He knew it wouldn't take long to two clever men to figure it out, but they were Slytherins, and maybe their sneakiness would be useful and quicker. After ten seconds they both refrained a smirk and Neville got what he wanted: a confirmation that they could play his game.

Draco looked at Longbottom. The potato was impressively stoic. His expression was blank and his movements precise and controlled. Draco couldn't help but feeling impressed at the change of character. After announcing the rules, they kept it shut. Draco's mind started to race. Were those rules part of the test too? Because if he couldn't speak, he could write. Apparently Blaise had thought the same thing since his right hand was in his pocket, at the same time Draco hit his. Wait, if it wasn't part of the test, they'd screw it up. If they just needed to guess which vial was which potion, following strictly the orders they'd fail. Blaise took the decision for him though and as soon as Draco's pocket got warm, he knew it was the right thing to do. Skill testing it was, then sneaking and going around the rules were one their skills. Blaise had written:

- Can't be random, would be a certain failure. Logical order.

- Simple order? Alphabetical?

- Too easy. Death? Maybe less to most dangerous?

- Right, water, pepper up, dittany, amortencia, veritaserum, death.

- Logically from left to right?

- Wait isn't Longbottom left-handed? From right to left?

- Yes.

Draco lifted his head from his parchment, and what he saw meant something was wrong. Longbottom was smiling. A fake and ugly smile. He was smirking! Shit. Shit. The potato looked at his watch and said:

"One minute." Blaise scribbled furiously down his parchment.

- Shit, not good, we're wrong it's not logical.

Draco looked at Longbottom again. Or his smirk was an act, and he was messing with them, and there was a logical way to figure it out, or there wasn't and they'd fail. What would be the point if they were sure to fail? Shit, he knew! He wrote:

- Order he said it, his left to his right.

- Dittany death amortencia veritaserum pepper up water.

No that was wrong.

- No, dittany amortencia death veritaserum pepper up water.

- Knew I was wrong when I wrote it .

"Time." Longbottom unfolded his hands and took the vial to his right. Shit. Right to left? Or was he messing with them?

"Zabini?" Shit, it was right to left Draco was sure of it now.

"Dittany." Good, good. Longbottom didn't say anything though, and put the vial back down, without confirming anything.

"Malfoy?"

"Amortencia." He got on, each time changing vial until the last one.

"Malfoy?"

"Water." Longbottom did the most unnerving thing, he didn't speak and went straight on with the next test. He put back the vials in his bag, and retrieved a small pouch from it.

"You have ten seconds to answer this one simultaneously. I'll retrieve things from there, and I want you to tell me which one is a life saver." He turned the small pouch over the table and started counting.

"One." Shit, stones.

"Two." Grey stones.

"Three." Life saver?

"Four." Stone saving life?

"Five." Stone saving LIFE?

"Six." Magical stone.

"Seven." All grey.

"Eight." One slightly veined.

"Nine." Oh! Anti-poison!

"Ten." Simultaneously Blaise and he showed the exact same stone.

"Bezoar." They said.

Longbottom was becoming the more detestable. He put back the stones in his bag and kept going. He retrieved one of the precedent vials from his bag again.

"Veritaserum." He said and waited. They didn't move. What did he want? Were they supposed to drink some? No way! Maybe they were, Longbottom didn't move at all it was starting to become frightening. It looked like he didn't even breathe. What the hell was going on? What were they supposed to do or say? Tell him the recipe? Drink some and what? Tell their deepest secrets? Wait for instructions that certainly wouldn't come? Resist the urge to ask? Ask? Shit this was the most horrible thing ever! As if sensing his thoughts, Longbottom smirked. Patience. He was testing patience, and Draco had just failed. The potato put the vial back in his bag and waited. Now Draco knew what he was testing: curiosity. And Blaise failed miserably by opening his mouth. He shut it instantly but even without talking he had failed.

Draco didn't get any more time to think, Longbottom was rummaging through his bag again.

Hermione had just learned by heart the moves they'd be testing on Malfoy and Zabini, and settled for her solo part of the testing in the second training room, when Harry put his head inside.

"They're out. It's no pretty. Neville's a genius." He extolled with a big grin. Well, did that mean they'd passed or not?

"So?" She queried.

"Neville won't tell but he looked really proud of himself. I don't know if it's a good sign for them though."

"Err, right. My turn then?"

"In a minute." He winked and got out, closing the door after his joyous face. Not pretty eh? The door opened again before she could give it more thoughts. Malfoy and Zabini entered warily to her utter surprise. In thirty minutes, Neville had ruined them, the genius! Hermione smiled, at least they knew it wouldn't be a piece of cake. Her smile seemed to confuse both men and she chuckled.

"Hufflepuffs." She huffed. There, Malfoy's previously concerned eyes regained some of their personality. She added before he could speak: "I won't torture you now. You will." She said. "Desillusion each other please and regain your visible form by yourself. Two minutes." Both opposite looking men had a second of hesitation before turning to each other and performing the most simple of the charms she was to test. Of course it wasn't an easy charm. They both looked concentrated and succeeded rather quickly, Malfoy a little ahead of Zabini though.

"Right, blue hair please, on yourself, counter-charm on the other." She smirked and Malfoy scowled but they did the charm without protesting. Again Malfoy was a bit ahead. Hermione sensed a pattern there.

"Make yourself taller an inch please." They both frowned and she smirked.

"Aditare altitum." She said flicking her wand at both men. They grew almost imperceptibly. "Finite incantatem." And they shrank equally. "Your turn, one try." Zabini looked slightly worried but Malfoy kept his impassible façade on. Hermione could tell he was worried too though, as his eyes were storming and she could see it from the other side of the room. His brows furrowed in concentration for a moment and after keeping still a minute he flicked his wand, to an exact mimic of her demonstration.

"Aditare altitum." He grew and his façade fell, he looked relieved and maybe a bit proud too. Zabini was still practising the movement of his wand, and finally managed to perform it too. She nodded and they threw each other the finite incantatem.

For the next twenty minutes she tested every complex and difficult charm or transfiguration she could, and added a few wards, even if she knew Malfoy had great knowledge in that field. He was strongly ahead of his friend, but Zabini still managed to perform most of what she asked them. He failed three times, Malfoy one. Of course she had summarised the testing, but this was still a great score, as it had been expected of them to fail a few. This way she knew what they needed to work. She also sensed a bit more tiredness from Malfoy than from Zabini, the "lean" as he put it, tall blonde man, that apparently didn't know how to shave any more, was probably weighting a third less than his old class mate. Zabini was toughly built, and maybe an inch shorter than Malfoy. His physical predispositions seemed to prevail more energy. Hermione couldn't wait to see them both in fighting. She ended her test with asking them to apparate in less than ten seconds to the other end of the room. Their training room had been opened for apparition by Lee and only for five minutes. If they failed or took too much time to apparate, they could splinch themselves, but it was worth taking the risk, Hermione knew they had it in them. They both succeeded and when she started vanishing the cots they'd conjured, among other things, she saw relief take both men's faces.

"Yes, it's over." She said.

"Not to fucking late." Mumbled Zabini. She turned around to face him.

"Don't like me that much any more eh?" She smirked.

"Not right now no. This was a tremendous pain in the arse." He scowled. She chuckled.

"And it was just half of it." She mocked. Malfoy growled.

"Yes mate, we're doomed." Zabini confirmed.

"Where's your Slytherin pride Zabini?" She asked with a little smile.

"Stayed in the monstrous house of your beloved scarhead." He answered pouting as she chuckled.

"Right, you should go to the first training room now, I need to see Neville a minute before I join you." She only got irritated mumblings as a response, but when they passed her, Zabini still winked, and she could swear her smile had made Malfoy's mouth twitch. She got out following them, but passed them as the door of the training room closed on Malfoy's back. She went up the stairs to see Neville and tell him how they'd done for his analysis. Maybe also to get a hint on how they'd been doing with him.

Granger would have made a great teacher, Draco thought. She'd explained clearly and precisely everything she had wished them to perform, and nodded approvingly whenever they'd succeeded. She'd kept a strictly professional attitude all through the half hour they'd spent with her. Except for the very beginning, she hadn't joked, nor let them any time to, either. They only sign Draco had witnessed, that she even knew them on another level than professionally, was the slight smile she'd given them, each time she'd sensed they were in difficulty. Which had strangely given him a bit more strength. Even Blaise had seemed to appreciate the gesture, as he'd returned it with his best grin, even if slightly less wide than usual.

That part of the testing had been way less of a burden than the precedent one, as it'd been quite academic, but Draco was nonetheless relieved when he stepped out of the room. After Longbottom's half hour of nerve testing, it had been much more tiring than he'd thought to perform charm after charm, transfigurations that sometimes had been way beyond his level of capacity, and that quick apparition at the end that had messed with his stomach. He felt nauseous and drenched, just as they were about to fight their arses off. Great. Just Great. Not in full brain capacity, bitch Brown. Blaise had been less successful than him but he looked less tired. Draco sensed that given their precedent assumed scores, and because Blaise would probably do better than he would in fighting, his position would certainly be at the back. He scowled, he knew how to fight, and he was going to prove it.

They got in the large training room warily, closing the door behind them, only to find it empty. Draco could swear the others had gotten down by the door to the stairs when they'd started with Longbottom though. Blaise was frowning in confusion too. It felt odd. Were they next door and Granger had been mistaken? Draco snorted at his own stupidity. Of course Granger wouldn't get mistaken and of course, as this was the biggest training room, they would test them here. It had just started was all. Draco lifted his wand randomly, ready to check his hypothesis:

"Huminium revelio!" Four blue rays of sparks went out at the tip of his wand and Blaise eyed him with a smirk. The lad got his wand at the ready as Draco lifted his own again to vanish the desillusionment charms:

"Reve …" But he didn't get time to swirl his wand the right way that Brown's voice startled them both:

"Stupefix!" A red jolt flashed but Blaise was quick and cast a protego, thus permitting Draco to finish what he'd started:

"Revelio!" Brown, Thomas and Weasley appeared, each at a corner of the room, circling them. During three really stretched seconds no one moved, no noise was made, and time froze. Then, all Hell broke loose and it all became the biggest mess Draco had ever witnessed within the ministry's premises.

Draco didn't get a spare second to think for the next hour. Not until the last second, when he sunk to his knees, sat on his tired ass right on the floor, and rubbed his face with both hands.

First, Brown had jumped to Blaise, with a vivacity and a pace unattainable. Draco had been cornered by Weasley and Thomas, who had put up a strong fight. But Draco had suddenly remembered the four blue sparks his wand had made, and shot an accio for the invisibility cloak. Potter had jumped in like a madman, and as painful to admit as it was, Draco had to comply and give Creevey that, Potter was gifted, and insufferably lucky.

The four of them had switched partners constantly, so Draco had fought them all one on one, then two of them by turns, then three on him and one on Blaise, up until he'd seen all possible combinations.

It had been a hectic pain in the arse. Draco had fired more hexes, jinxes, spells, and curses than he had ever in his entire life, in the space of that hour. Thank Salazar their aim had always been purposely wrong.

Draco didn't know when, but not a long time before it ended, Longbottom and Granger had joined their team, and fuck him but it had become even worse. Draco and Blaise had already been cornered, side by side, their back to the wall, when the lumpy potato had yelled a stupefix at Potter's back, and joined Blaise and he. Granger had gone straight against them, and to Draco's surprise and denied irritation, had partnered the weasel first. They definitely knew each other by heart. If it had been in Granger's intention to destabilise him, she'd succeeded, for Blaise had had to cast a few protegos his way.

Then of course they'd swapped partners again, and this time Granger had joined his side, but kept herself on the front line. Blaise had been the first to understand what this was all about, and as he'd cast a protego on her, he'd realised they were testing his ability to cover someone, and to work as a team. So he'd taken on him to cover Longbottom.

At the very last minute of all that very very stretched hour, where his brain hadn't seemed to register anything but the word SURVIVE, Granger and Longbottom had swapped sides again, and they'd been all against the both of them. Trying desperately not to loose this fucking madness, Draco had fired and shot and screamed and silently cast a million things, all magic he'd ever known, and to his side, Blaise had done the very same.

Then a loud and deep voice had shouted: "STOP!" and everyone had lowered their wand.

Shakelbolt had apparently been there, since when, Draco had no idea, and his saviour in heavy black auror's robes had said: "Rest."

That's when Draco had sunk to his knees. Now he was panting, drenched in sweat and his brain was shut. Blaise sank beside him not long after. Potter and Weasley sat too, and soon all the others did the same.

"Way to start a bloody fucking day." Mumbled Blaise quite audibly.

"It was awesome!" Extolled Brown, between two deep breath. Blaise gave her a look close to awe but still shook his head at her:

"You're completely mad blondie."

"Thanks." She cheered with a wicked smile. That one was going to rock the poor lad off his feet some day. He had no idea what was coming at him.