At length Draco pulled away from Hermione's embrace. Harry was standing there watching them.

'Welcome back, Draco. I won't try to beat Hermione's greeting.'

'Just as well. I don't think you could.' Draco said, smiling from ear to ear.

'I take it Hermione hasn't told you about our plans.'

'It's a bit difficult to explain that sort of thing with your mouth full.' Hermione said.

'I suppose so. You two aren't going to go all Ron and Lavender on me are you?'

'I'm making no promises.'

'Oh good. Well, I was thinking of visiting Xenophilius Lovegood, Draco.'

'What? That old nutter? Why?'

'Well, this symbol's kept cropping up. You remember it was on that gravestone. Well, it's in this book Dumbledore left Hermione.'

'Yeah, you mentioned.'

'Well, do you want to look?'

'Oh, go on then. It can't hurt can it?'

'I suppose not. Where'd you leave it, Hermione?'

'It's behind you, on the table.'

'Oh, right.' Harry turned round, picked the book up and opened it to a well thumbed page.

'Here. The tale of three brothers.'

'Oh. I never liked that one. You know about the conspiracy theory around it, I presume?'

'Conspiracy theory?'

'Oh yes, your whackjobs like Lovegood- senior that is, are the sort that believe the tale is actually true. They say that there were three brothers, who had these objects. The unbeatable wand, the stone with the power to recall the dead and Death's invisibility cloak.'

'And?

'Well, personally, I think it's bunk. Possibly some brothers did create some powerful objects a long time ago, but that's no reason that they can't be beaten. I'm not saying it's not got some basis of truth to it- after all, the average lifetime of an invisibility cloak simply isn't long enough for one to be passed down from father to son and.'

'Hang on. That can't be right can it, I mean, this was my Dad's.' Harry said, brandishing the cloak.

'Exactly. I reckon that's probably the cloak everyone was banging on about. The Dark Lord it appears is hunting for the wand.

'If he finds it.' Hermione gasped.

'Nonsense. If he finds it, there's a good chance it won't work for him and even if it does it doesn't matter. The wand's owner's been beaten enough times in history, or at least, so Binn's told me.'

'You studied this in History of Magic?'

'Oh, yeah. This wand, by any name, be it the Deathstick or the Elder wand, crops up loads of time, usually in the hands of some absolute maniac trying to take over the world. It disappears occasionally, but it usually show up. I'd be surprised if a really determined wizard couldn't find it.'

'You-Know-Who thinks Grindelwald's got it.'

'Him. No chance. If Dumbledore beat him, there's no way he'd still have it, and he's been locked up since then- absolutely no chance to have found it. If he had it before then, I can't see Dumbledore not taking it, can you?'

'You reckon Dumbledore had it?'

'Why not? It's a good a bet as any, and you can't disprove it.'

'And the final thing. The stone thingy?'

'Well, it's supposed to bring people back from the dead, only not very well- the story covers that. If that exists then it really would be quite interesting to find out how it worked, particularly from a historical perspective. Think of all the interviews you could do.'

'Oh, great. An object that can bring people back from the dead and you want to do interviews of famous dead people.'

'And I suppose you'd rather bring back your parents?'

'Damn right I would.'

'I understand. Certainly wouldn't do it myself, the world's far better off without them. Well, my father anyway. I'd rather have the wand. Grab it, deal with him and then sit back and relax. It'd certainly help.'

'You're supposed to want the cloak though, aren't you? It's better to have safety and security than power any day, and lingering on the past isn't healthy either. It's what Dumbledore said to you when you found that mirror in first year Harry.'

'I suppose you're right. You usually are.'

'Nonetheless, it doesn't give us much of an idea about what to do next, does it. I half thought it might be a good idea to go after these objects, but I suppose for all that it's back to Horcruxes. Still, don't you think it would be a good idea to get the wand before Lord thinggum? After all, if he gets it, it'll only cause problems.'

'You've got a point, but I think him being immortal is probably a bigger problem.'

'So you think we should press on with the horcruxes regardless.'

'I do.'

'Then we're going to need to find the last ones, aren't we. I fancy ignoring the snake for a while though, leave that 'til last, if you don't mind.'

'No, that's a good idea.'

'But that's the only one we know about.'

'Yeah, but he's bound to notice it if his pet goes missing, isn't he?'

'Exactly. I still reckon Hogwarts would be worth a try.'

'Still?'

'Yeah, well it does make sense, doesn't it? The whole point of those lessons of mine with Dumbledore last year were all about trying to understand how he thinks. Hogwarts was an important place to him, it only makes sense that he'd leave on there.'

'Yeah, but where? Hogwarts is huge?'

'I don't know. Depends what it was?'

'You don't think he'd have left it down in the chamber of secrets, do you?'

'Nah. We've already been down there. Didn't find anything then, did we?'

'But we weren't looking'

'I still don't think it's down there. It's too, well, humble for him. It's a bit of a grotty place, all things said and done, and I don't think he'd leave it down there. He's too proud for that. It's more likely to be somewhere really obvious, where anyone could find it if they looked hard enough.'

'Then how come Dumbledore didn't find it?'

'I don't think Dumbledore got to the bottom of that place. Down in the chamber Riddle claimed that he'd explored more of Hogwarts than any other student. Strikes me that that might be something to do with his, shall we say, rule-bending.'

'And you don't think Dumbledore bent rules, is that what you're saying?'

'Precisely.'

'So, we want something really famous, somewhere really obvious in Hogwarts to a Slytherin fifty years ago.'

'Yes. Doesn't sound quite so hopeful when you put it that way.'

'No, it doesn't does it?'

'The big problem there of course is we don't know what side Snape's on, do we? Dumbledore always trusted him, and he's not exactly done anything to show for certain that he didn't deserve that trust. If we had his support we could probably search the castle from top to bottom without anyone finding out. Shame it wasn't McGonagall who got the top spot really, we know we could have trusted her.' Hermione sighed.

'Bit of a moot point really. She didn't, Snape did.'

'Still, might be worth a try.'

'Eventually.'

'I was thinking sooner. Perhaps if we can get into Ravenclaw tower there might be some clue there about which objects she's left behind.'

'But what about making a plan?'

'There's plenty of time for a. Ooh.' Harry sat down sharply, his hand flying to his scar.'

'What's wrong Harry?'

'Scar. It's him. He's found Grindelwald.'

It was strange watching Harry receiving these visions, even now. Occasionally he groaned, but mostly he just twitched slightly. They sat still and tired to keep him away from anything sharp of heavy- not difficult given he was sat in the heavy, if somewhat collapsed, armchair. Eventually, Harry came to, phasing back into reality where they were, rather than wherever he had been. It wasn't good, was it?

'What is it Harry?'

'He found Grindelwald. He asked about the wand. He didn't give it up, but he guessed. He guessed. He's going to Hogwarts now to claim it.'

'Best we stay away then.'

'I suppose there's no chance of us beating him there?'

'Not if we want to make it out alive there isn't.'

'He felt a flush of happiness when he thought about Hogwarts though. I told you it was important to him.'

'Yes, yes. Well done. That's not really the important bi though, is it? Draco. Do you know of anything left behind by Ravenclaw?'

'No. We never looked at anything like that in History. It's nice and all, but it's not really all that important what they left behind. The only thing of any consequence that they did leave was the sorting hat. And possibly the basilisk. None of that was even mentioned. It's a bit niche all that "look what some famous wizard owned, now it's mine" thing. You have to be a seriously old an powerful family to have something like that.'

'You'd know about it.'

'Not really. After Septimus Malfoy bankrupted the family, we had to sell anything of that sort off. Septimus' son had to join the Navy. Sailed round the world and got enough prize money to buy back the manor and a lot of stuff, but a lot of the old heirlooms were lost then. To be frank, I think a lot of the really old families still see us as being nouveau riche.'

'How long ago are we talking about?'

'Oh, about three hundred years.'

'Positively recently then.' Hermione said sarcastically. Draco smiled in answer.

'The other thing we could look into is another attempt on Gringotts.'

'Why?'

'To get the Horcrux, Draco. Blimey, why do you think we went there in the first place?'

'What. This horcrux?' Draco asked, pulling the small, golden chalice from a pocket.

'You got it! Why didn't you say?'

'There didn't seem like a good moment to mention it.'

'Draco.' Hermione sighed exasperatedly.

'Well, that's something at least. How are we going to destroy it?'

'I thought it might be worth giving fiendfyre a g, but I was hoping to have another look in the book before doing it. If you get it wrong it's nasty stuff.'

'It can't be worse than being partnered with Neville in potions can it?'

'No. It's not that bad. It's even worse. This stuff'll burn you up without thinking about it, it won't go out unless it runs out of fuel or the person who casts it gets rid of it. I can't remember what the cancelling charm was, or I'd've gotten rid of it already.'

'Very well. If that's what you think, then we can always get rid of it in the morning. I'm going outside to take watch.'

'You sure, Hermione?'

'Yeah.'

'Wait up a mo then. I'll bring a blanket to keep us warm.'

'What, you're coming to?'

'It wouldn't be very proper of me to leave a Lady outside on a night like this when I'm tucked up inside all warm and dry.'

'But what about your shift?'

'I'll do that after yours. I'm sure Harry won't mind if we swap.'

'Go ahead, it'll be nice to get an unbroken night in for a change.'

'Go on then. I won't deny it can get a little lonely out there.'

Draco pulled a blanket off of the pile on the chair in his room and followed Hermione outside. They sat down at the base of a tall oak and spread the blanket out to cover them. Draco could feel the warmth of Hermione's body through his clothes and he put his arm around her. She laid her head against his chest and he smiled, leaning his head back towards her.

'Draco. That letter. Did you really mean it?'

'Which bit?'

'About you wanting me to cry over you like I did over Ron?'

'No. Well. Yes. Sorry. I'm not making myself clear. Hermione. I'd love it for you to feel that way about me that you would cry over me, but I wouldn't ever want you to cry. I don't think I can handle seeing you cry.'

'Just as well you weren't here then.'

'What?'

'When you were gone. I did cry Draco. I did.'

'Hermione.'

'Yes?'

'I'm not worth it you know. I meant the other bit too. I know I'm back, but I think you should look for someone else. It's not that I don't love you.' Draco added quickly, 'It's just, well, I don't think you should be lumbered with me. I mean, what am I? A miserable bastard who killed his own father and is about as capable of happiness as this tree. I love you, Hermione. I just think you'd be happier with someone else.'

'Draco. Stop being silly. You're capable of happiness, of course you are. It's just you've never had anything much to be happy about.'

'Except you. Every time I look at you, no matter how bad I'm feeling I always find myself smiling. I can't help it. Every time I see you I just feel better, Hermione. I know I shouldn't. Well, maybe not, but I was always brought up to believe I should look for a pureblood to marry and settle down with. Instead, I've found myself falling in love with the most beautiful, and the most intelligent witch alive today.'

'You don't still believe in all that pureblood stuff, do you?'

'No. I think I understand the point behind it, in that the stronger the parents are, magically speaking, the stronger the children will be. I'm just not sure that strength is exclusive to purebloods. I can't really, you're living proof against it.'

'Draco.'

'Yes.'

'You're waffling.'

'Sorry. It's just I. No. I'm still waffling, aren't I?'

'Pretty much.'

'Sorry.'

'No problem.'

They sat in silence as the wind and occasional showers washed by them, sitting there out in the open for what seemed like hours. Hermione broke the silence.

'How long, Draco?'

'How long what?'

'How long have you. You know, loved me?'

'I couldn't rightly say. I mean, it wasn't when I first met you. I've always been an appalling judge of character, and all I felt then was that you were incredibly bossy. Certainly there was something there by fourth year though, You know I stayed away from the Yule Ball. I think I said at the time that it was because my mother had just died, but , if I'm being honest there was also the feeling that I wanted to go with you and well, since I couldn't it would be going behind your back if I was to go with someone else.'

'Really?'

'Really.'

'You muppet, Draco. Do you really think I'd've cared?'

'No. But it seemed like the right thing. I know you're going to hat me for this, but I was really hoping it wouldn't work out between you and Ron. When you first started going out, well, my heart sank when I heard about it. I never thought I'd be happy again.'

'Draco.' Hermione sighed, gently shaking her head, 'Why didn't you say something? If you'd asked me out first then well, who knows?'

'I don't know. I didn't want to be forward, I guess.'

'Well, you've certainly avoided that.'

'I know. I've never been very good at being honest about how I feel. I tend to just keep it to myself. Bottle it up and ignore it until it goes away. Above all, I think I was afraid of being hurt. I'm a terrible coward you know, deep down. I've never told anyone before, but I am. I've been so afraid of getting rejected that I've never let anyone get close. No-one. I only told you what I felt in such a way that I'd be dead before you found out, just to avoid it.'

'Surely you didn't think I'd reject you?'

'I didn't know. That was enough. As I said, I've never really been brave at all.'

'What about at Gringotts. I thought that was pretty brave, volunteering to go in there on your own.'

'I just did what needed doing so that you two would get out alive. It wasn't brave. Just necessary.'

'It was brave, Draco. You're a good person. Brave, kind. Handsome too. It's just well, if you stopped being so critical about yourself you might see it and be happy about yourself.'

Draco couldn't think of anything to say to that, and so didn't, just sitting there, cradling Hermione with one arm as the rain fell about them. At some point Hermione fell asleep and Draco sat there, here sleeping form in his arms, thinking. Thinking, and wishing he'd said all of this long ago.