Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 17

November 13th, 1998

Ron made his way down the hallway towards the Zabini library. He hesitated at the door for a moment before walking in. Theo was standing by a window but turned when he heard Ron walking towards him. "Weasley, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I- I needed to talk to you," he stammered.

"It's been months since you've been to see me. I was beginning to worry that you had given up."

"No, sir. Never. I'm just... unsure of how to continue."

"What have you accomplished with Granger?"

"She's confined to the house, wandless."

"And?"

"Nothing more."

"Hmm..." Theo paused and studied Ron. He seemed honest enough, although loyalty was not a strong trait in him. "I need you to let someone become you."

"Polyjuice potion, sir?"

"I asked you to break her, not isolate her. Think of how much you want her to pay for everything she's done. She abandoned you for Potter. She constantly made you feel inferior. Think of how much she hurt you!"

"I do, sir, all the time."

"Leave some hair here on the desk behind you. Go to your mistress tonight. You will not see Granger until tomorrow."

"Yes, my lord."

Hermione had been trying to fall asleep when she heard the familiar sound of apparition in the hallway. It was almost midnight, but she was used to Ron coming home at all hours of the night. She didn't care. She heard the door open but didn't bother to turn to face him.

"Hermione," he whispered. She hadn't heard him say her name that softly in months. She sat up quickly and turned to look at him. He was still standing in the doorway.

"Ron?" She smiled warmly at him. She noticed something different about him, something different in the way he looked at her.

"Come here," he demanded. Hermione stood up and walked over to him. She kept her eyes on him as she approached him. He sighed and pulled her close to him and embraced her. He kissed the top of her head and whispered, "I'm sorry." He put his hands on her shoulders and shoved her away from him so she'd fall to the floor. "Crucio!"

Hermione cried out in pain and he was unable to continue. The pain had only lasted seconds, but it had felt like an eternity to her. His eyes began to water when he pointed his wand at her again. "CRUCIO!" She was writhing in agony on the ground. She couldn't take the amount of pain she was in. She felt as if she was going to go mad. Please end this, please let me die, let this be over... But the end didn't come. He kept his wand pointed at her, not breaking the horrific spell he'd placed upon her.

It wasn't until she fainted from the pain that he finally gave up. He wasn't sure if she'd still be sane when she woke up. He walked over to her and picked her up off of the floor. He set her down on the bed and stroked her hair. Hermione had always seemed to be a happy, beautiful girl. But there she was a broken version of her old self.

The freckles began to fade away as his skin darkened. His features slowly turned back into his own and he kissed her forehead. "I'm so sorry, Granger." Where Ron had been, now stood Blaise. What have I done? He gave Hermione one last regretful look, and apparated away.

November 14th, 1998

The sun was shining through the window and woke Hermione up. She felt her body aching as she remembered what had happened the night before. She remembered the pain and the anger she had felt, but she also remembered the look in his eyes when he put her through it all. She noticed something in him that she hadn't seen before. It almost seemed as if it wasn't Ron, but she knew that was impossible.

I can't do this anymore.

Draco was pacing back and forth in his bedroom. His last conversation with Potter about Granger was all he could think about. "When the hell did I become so obsessed with her?" he asked himself out loud. He stopped pacing and made an impulsive decision. A moment later, he was knocking on Harry Potter's door.

A few moments later, the door swung open.

"Couldn't stay away from me, Malfoy?" he grinned as they shook hands. He led Draco inside to the sitting room.

"Sorry, Potter, you're not my type. You're wife might be, though."

"Watch it. Just because we're friends now, doesn't mean I won't hex you."

"I actually came over here for a reason. And no, it's not to get pissed - although, we should do that again sometime; preferably with more people."

"Is this about Hermione again? I already told you everything I know about what happened to her."

"You're right. But now that I know, you have me to help you find her."

"Be honest with me, Malfoy. Why do you care so much? You've never cares about any of us before. Why the sudden need to help find her?"

"I was hoping you wouldn't ask. There's some things you don't need to know."

"I'm not going to stop asking - might as well give in."

"Look Potter, and listen carefully because I will only discuss this with you once. All my life I've known nothing but hatred. I won't go into detail about how I felt towards you and your friends, because I think that much was obvious. Life isn't black and white, Potter. Sure, maybe in your story you were the good guys and we were the bad guys. But there's darkness in all of us, in you as much as it was in me. I've made many mistakes in my life, some that I couldn't have prevented. I wish now that I could go back and change the way i acted throughout school. I was an absolute idiot. I spent a lot of time in Azkaban thinking about her. I'm not sure what it is, but as much as I regret how I treated you, I regret how I treated her a hundred times more."

"What makes her special?" asked Harry, curiously.

"She's a muggle-born who was top of our class every single year at Hogwarts. It went against everything I was taught. She mesmerized me. Her intelligence, her skill, her beauty. I don't think I realized how I felt about her until the day you three would up at the Manor."

"You- you fancy her?!"

"Shut it, Potter."

Harry sat across from Draco, disbelief across his face. "I don't believe you."

"Honestly, I would think you a fool if you did. I'm telling you the truth, believe it or not. I just want to help you find her. I need to tell her this myself. I can't- I can't forgive myself until she does."

"What did you have in mind?"

"As an Auror, do you have access to wand records?"

"Of course."

"And you don't know where the Weasel lives, right?"

"Right..."

"You'll need special permission from the Minister, of course, but I think you should put spell on him."

"Which spell?"

"There's one that's mentioned in a book I was reading through last year. It's similar to the Taboo that was put on Voldemort's name. When he comes within 6 feet of her, our portkey will be activated that will take us to the location where he came in contact with her. We don't need to go at that exact moment, but the portkey expires within a day of its activation and only the ones who cast the spell can use it."

"How come I've never heard of it?"

"You don't want to know what book I found it in. It requires a lot of complex work, but I'm sure we could do it."

"How would we get close enough to him to do this?"

"That's where you come in. You have to befriend him again."

"I can't do that. I don't want him near Ginny."

"Do you want to find out where Hermione is or not?"

"It's Hermione now, is it? Not Granger or mudblood?"

Draco ignored him. "It'll only be for a few days. Have a party, invite him over or something."

"Gin asked me to try to include him in our lives. She says he's sorry..."

"There you go, Potter."

"I'll owl Gin and Kingsley. The faster we do this, the faster we'll get to her." Harry stood and walked to his desk. "Malfoy?"

"Yea?"

"Thank you. If this works and we find her, I don't know how I'll ever be able to pay you back."

"Shut up and get me a drink, Potter."

A/N:
I am so very sorry for taking so long!
Forgive me?