Phew still scribbling. Am not sure about this chapter but I hope you enjoy it. Thanks so much to everyone that has commented and continues to read, it really means a lot. I am still looking for someone to help out reading drafts, I know a couple of people messaged me ages ago about it, but I was shit and didn't get back to you. If you are still up for it that would be awesome. Anywho on with the tale, hope you enjoy and let me know what you think.

The frosty atmosphere that had settled among the Slytherins had warmed as the weeks went by and Potter's article became a passing annoyance that hardly made an impact. Even Umbridge prohibiting the owning and reading of the Quibbler - though threatening to turn it into something forbidden and exciting - didn't seem to have that much effect. The only student in Slytherin that seemed the slightest bit put-out was Blaise, who grumbled for a while at the sheer nerve of the woman trying to control what he could and could not read. Pansy was glad that it hadn't stuck, but even with the quiet, she hadn't rested. She couldn't. Not when rule followed rule and Umbridge surreptitiously took over the school, her chubby fingers wrapping soundly around the faculty, tugging their strings in a merry dance of ministry mandates. For a while it had been amusing watching the professors stumble through their lessons, while the fragrant frog-witch watched snootily from the back of the class, scribbling her judgments ferociously on a scroll with an obnoxiously pink quill, but then the whole thing with Trelawny had happened and it wasn't funny anymore.

But Pansy had a plan.

If being a Slytherin had taught her anything, it was that - being the strongest person in a fight mattered little when you were friends with them. Sneaking behind enemy lines and ingratiating herself with the perfumed waft of a woman was a sure-fire way to know exactly what the Ministry was playing at; firing Trewloony and coddling them in Defence Against the Dark arts didn't exactly scream wanting to keep the young generation of magic users safe, more edging on setting them up as Avada fodder that could just about predict their demise within a dragon-sized margin of error.

She also needed a diversion for Crabbe and Goyle to get themselves lost down. Their loyalty to Umbridge was getting concerning, especially when both boys seemed to be drawing away, sinking further into their anger. Admittedly Crabbe and Goyle had never been described as calm, their stupidity the only thing standing between them taking out their worrying home lives on anyone that so much as looked at them funny, but they had found a camaraderie in each other that had softened their sharp edges and made it possible for them at least connect with other students their age. She wouldn't let them be used and abused, not by a woman that didn't understand the delicate balance she was disrupting.

Pansy opened the door to the library, smiling when she saw that Blaise, Theo and Daphne were already sat waiting for her. In spite of their complaints she knew she could always count on them.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, Pans, but I think you might have been right," Blaise stated as Pansy dropped her bag by the side of the table and sat across from him, their legs pressed together beneath the table, "Crabbe and Goyle have got some weird thing going on with that woman, and they're still stomping around about that article."

"I know right, I mean yeah it was a shitty thing to do, but it hasn't stuck so," Theo shrugged, "no harm, no foul.

"Oh, sweetie, but it really upset you," Daphne simpered, grasping his hand and rubbing it comfortingly.

"Yeah well, I've got you to make me feel better."

"Got a bag, Pans? I may throw up." Pansy grinned at Blaise, ignoring how her breath hitched at his smile.

"Very funny, Zabini," Theo murmured out the corner of his mouth, refusing to take his eyes off his girlfriend.

"I thought so."

Theo's and Daphne's relationship was a sickly kind of sweet that had the toothache inducing quality that one got from repeated visits to Honeydukes. Whenever she saw them, foreheads pressed together, whispering inside jokes and secrets she wondered how she could have missed how perfect they were for one another, even if watching them interact made her heartache, wishing she had the same thing. Pansy quickly distracted herself digging her scrolls out of her bag, placing them in a haphazard pile on the table.

"Oh, Merlin, she's writing her crazy ideas down now," Theo groaned, and Daphne hit his arm.

"This is serious, Sweetie. Stuff around here is getting…well I don't know what it's getting but it doesn't feel right."

"I know, Pansy can spell,' Blaise mocked, wincing when Pansy kicked him.

"I couldn't care less what you pair say, we need to put ourselves in a position where we know what's coming."

"Hmm, it would make planning our escape that much easier."

"Exactly," Pansy clarified, "we just need to wait for Draco."

"Yes, where is the blonde zombie?"

Theo may have been joking but there was a depressing truth to it that stilled the smile on Pansy's face. Draco had been like a zombie the last few weeks, moping his way through his lessons. Gone was the secretive glint in his eyes and the wide shit-eating grin on his face, in their place, was a constant frown and a dead quality to his gaze that worried her far more than his sneaking around with Granger, ever had. She didn't like to give the know-it-all any credit, but Draco had seemed happier with her. Eventually, her concern had gotten too much, and she'd followed him to the owlery, cornering him amongst all the feathers and bird droppings, demanding to know why he'd taken to pushing his food around his plate rather than eating it. She'd been fully prepared for the anger that her snooping usually induced, bracing herself for the Malfoy bite as he verbally tore her to shreds and put her in her place, but his eyes had filled with tears and his hands had begun to shake and she'd been left wondering what Granger had actually done to him.

"Pans I – I messed up." He'd perched himself of the window-ledge, wiping his mouth as if trying to wipe away the words he had spoken. He'd glared out at the grey day and she'd stumbled several times over what to say, feeling as she needed somewhere to sit as well, the possibility of Draco even hinting at being wrong had left her lightheaded.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"What do you think?" He'd glared at her pointedly and she'd shrugged.

"Well, I don't know what I think, if I'm honest I'm still trying to process the fact that you admitting to messing up."

"I'm not in the mood for jokes, Pans."

"I'm not joking, come on even you have to admit that it isn't like you." He'd been silent for the longest time staring at his lap. Finally, he'd gulped and met her gaze.

"We, - I mean I – I ended things with, Granger."

Pansy couldn't quite explain how she'd felt when she'd heard those words, knowing that she should have felt relief. It had, after all, been the plan all along; keep Draco away from Granger and distract him from his troublesome feeling towards her. But she'd expected him to be happy about it, to feel lightened by the separation, but Draco seemed to be getting squashed beneath his sadness. Before Pansy had been able to say anything, he'd dug a crumbled up scroll out of his pocket and tossed it towards her. She sheepishly leant down to retrieve it from the owl dropping splattered floor.

"What am I looking at?"

"Read it."

She'd opened it out, smoothing out the wrinkles and taking in the thin letters scratched across it as sharp and prickly as the man that had written them.

"I understand that our correspondence has been more frequent as of late, but it is an important time and I am writing with news… Is he always this sweet?"

"That's warm for him."

"I am moving ahead with my plans, and should I need your help I want you to be ready. Your father, Lucius." Pansy had scanned through it again before looking up at him "Well, it's short."

"It's shit Pans."

"I'm not following."

"Come on, I'm moving ahead with my plans? I need you to be ready? My dad has never been the most subtle."

"Umm,"

"By Salazar, Potty, he means plans for Potty. He knows he messed up with you-know-who and now he's trying to prove himself."

"But what's that got to do with you? I mean, Potter is always getting himself into ridiculous situations, it's only a matter of time." Draco had glared at her for a long time. "What?"

"Who does he normally drag into those ridiculous situations?" Pansy was still embarrassed by how long it had taken her to realise what he was talking about.

"Oh, this is about…"

"Granger, yes."

"But I thought you guys weren't…"

"We're not." He'd looked so wounded, that she'd actually drawn back a little.

"Well that's good right, you don't have to worry about things getting messy, or you-know-who finding out about you pair and…"

"All of that is pointless if Potty still acts like Potty does and gets her killed."

"Aren't you forgetting that she betrayed you and not to mention your friends?"

"But she was right." Pansy didn't mind admitting that the statement had knocked the wind out of her.

"Wha…?"

"Shut your mouth Pans, you look like a Clabbert."

"Don't take your anger out on me, you can't say crap like that and expect me not to be surprised."

"Fine, fine, I just…my dad was there."

"What, when Diggory…?"

"Yes and Theo's dad too. Me and Theo heard them talking about it at Christmas. And Grangers right, the wizarding world does have a right to know, I mean, come on, we are back to basics on Defence Against the Dark Arts and the ministry is so busy snuffling up Dumbledore's backside they wouldn't even see the signs if they avadered them in the face."

"But what can we do?"

"I don't know. If I make any move, Merlin only knows what's going to happen to my mom."

"Is she in on it too."

"Yes, Pans, she just can't wait to get in on the murdering half-blood action, it's what she lives for."

"Well, it's good to hear that your sarcasm isn't broken."

"Merlin," he'd rubbed his face again as if he were worn with the conversation, "look Pans, no matter what me and my mom actually want is null and void because my dad isn't backing down on this one, trust me."

"What do you mean?"

"It means that my dad will literally do anything, even unforgivable shit to get his own way."

"So what happened, what did you say to Granger?"

"A lot of stuff. Look it doesn't matter; I've screwed that one up enough for a lifetime. But I can't risk her getting hurt, especially not because Potty has been a prat and gone wandering wand-first into a trap."

"So what we going to do, strap him down?" The plan had practically slammed into her as soon as she'd said it. They didn't need to literally hold the boy-wonder and his merry band of do-gooders down but figuratively could work just as well. She'd hardly been able to contain her excitement, staying up into the early hours of the morning laying out her plans.

"Oh, here he is, Merlin he looks like shit," Theo murmured, cringing as Draco made his way across the room, shoulders slumped lethargically.

"You're not kidding, what's wrong with him," Blaise mumbled under his breath.

"I'm sure it's just OWL's stressing him out." Blaise gave Pansy a questioning look which she dodged by shuffling her papers. She should have known that Blaise would see through the transparent excuse she'd given.

Draco slumped the chair beside her, nodding quickly at each of them before turning to Pansy expectantly. She cleared her throat and began.

"So run this by me again," Theo stated, polishing his Inquisitorial badge for the fifth time that evening, the shine to it being on par with a Lumos Maxima to the face.

"Mate, watch the face," Blaise grumbled, shielding his eyes as Theo inadvertently reflected the torchlight bouncing off his silver badge straight into his face.

Blaise wondered yet again why he was even bothering to join in on Pansy merry little song and sneakiness, especially when he didn't have anything to prove to her, she'd been clear on that front - they were just friends and nothing more. But he'd found that his feelings for her had the qualities of Phoenix; burning up in his anger and bitterness when she pushed him away, then re-emerging from the ashes, bare and shivery in their frailty and softness, in that state he could get talked into anything. Every time she smiled it was as if she'd Imperiused his ass.

"Sorry mate," Theo apologised, finally leaving the badge alone and looking at him expectantly.

"We are supposed to wait here and keep an eye out for any fleeing Gryffindors. Umbridge apparently got hold of some insider information."

"How she manage that?"

"Salazar mate, you were in the meeting," Blaise exclaimed incredulously. He hadn't exactly listened to what Umbridge had been saying, unable to hide his disinterest in her vendetta. Even when her face had broken out in – what he thought was - a premature victorious grin at the proffered a bottle of Veritaserum, he'd been unable work up any enthusiasm.

"Sorry, Daphne was doing some interesting things underneath the table."

"Merlin, obliviate me please."

"I heard something about said that the golden trio acting suspiciously, my question is, when aren't they acting suspiciously? Super-specs always looks like he's got somewhere more deadly to be." Blaise nodded, breathing into his hands and rubbing them together. A few weeks had passed since their meeting in the library and even though the weather had been steadily getting warmer, the corridors at night still remained icy with the chill of winter that seemed reluctant to leave.

"Well apparently, they're more suspicious than normal, something about a club? I don't know, honestly, I wasn't listening."

"Oh I see getting all high and mighty at me for not knowing and there you are, clueless."

"Hey, I at least have some idea what's going on, past the colour of my girlfriend's bra."

"A dark blue number, it suits her complexion surprisingly well."

"Please don't…" Blaise groaned.

"Hey, you brought it up."

"Yeah, well, I'm un-bringing it up."

"So," Theo uttered after a moment of quiet "Draco volunteered to do a patrol on his own?" On the face of it the question was innocent enough, just a way to pass the time, but Blaise knew better. While they both hated skirting into Parkinson territory of prying, they couldn't ignore the fact that something had been troubling their friend, and the carefully worded question was Theo subtlety cracking open the Albino-related can of worms.

"I don't know what's going on with him mate, have you seen him lately?"

"Who hasn't, he even scared Peeves, poor sod looked like he'd seen a ghost."

"I think Pans knows something she's just not saying. I mean what was her crap about him stressing over OWL's?"

"Pfft I know, the day that Draco Malfoy stresses about anything school-related is the day you-know-who marries a muggle and makes lots of half-blood babies."

"Don't let Pansy hear you joking about that crap, she nearly bit my head off the other day when I did."

"Don't suppose he'd talk to us about it," Theo commented, half laughing at the stupidity of his own statement. They both knew that he wouldn't, if Draco, in some mad twist of fate, ever actually admitted to something being wrong, he wouldn't lower himself to the embarrassing level of asking for help. It just wasn't the Malfoy way, more like suck it up and turn your nose up at anyone that asks about it.

"Best just to leave him to it and hope he doesn't die." It was only partly a joke because if the blonde didn't start eating his meals soon there stood a good chance that him popping it could be an outcome.

"Speaking of people acting strange… you and Lucy?" Theo let the question hang for a while before casting a glance his friends' way, hoping to gauge some reaction; as ever Zabini's face was stony.

"What about it?"

"Nothing, I'm just curious how it all started, considering your previous aversion to anything Lucy Runeth related." Blaise shrugged but Theo could tell by the tension in the whole of his body that his friend was far from nonchalant about the subject.

It wasn't that he particularly disliked Lucy, she was a nice enough girl who was easy to spend time with, but she wasn't Pansy. The whole day he'd spent with her visiting romantic hot spots of Hogsmeade had felt like a hard slog, and all he'd thought about was what Pansy was doing, who she was with. When they'd finally joined all the other couples to watch the fireworks, she'd cuddled close to him he had reached the conclusion that he wouldn't be able to stomach any more time with her. It wasn't fair to lead her on when he knew their relationship wasn't going anywhere, but he wasn't going to tell Theo Nott that.

"A guy can change his mind, there's no law forbidding it."

"No, but perhaps there should be a law against lying out your ass."

"Shut up Nott, just because you nabbed someone else's girlfriend doesn't suddenly make you the expert on love." Theo winced, turning away and adjusting his badge to make himself feel better, while he didn't agree with Umbridge's choice of clothes, he had to admit that her choice of badges was second to none.

"Low blow, Zabini."

"I know, I know, I just – I've had the same interrogation off Pans, and I'd prefer not to repeat it if I can help it. Besides I don't know if I'm going to see her again."

"Valentines that bad?"

Theo's and Daphne's Valentine's day had been wonderful, so wonderful that Theo hadn't been able to stop himself from gushing about it at every available opportunity, regardless of whether his audience was actually listening. He'd been so caught up in reliving the experience that he hadn't even noticed the fact that Blaise hadn't mentioned anything about his day. Of course, normally Blaise's dates were a particular type of airhead that meant most of the stories Blaise told of them was how he'd spent the most romantic day of the year trying to lose them

"Not bad as such, just…meh."

"Well, nothing screams love like meh."

"I think you've been spending far too much time with, Daphne."

"Even if I have, mate. I want you to be happy and lately, you haven't seemed it. Oh Merlin, Avada me now, before the Hufflepuffs get me." Blaise laughed.

"You know that joke is getting old, we really need to mix it up a bit."

"Yeah well, the only way we'd ever get sorted into Ravenclaw is if we all suddenly got smarter, and I don't think that's going to happen with the way our lessons are going."

Blaise had never thought that Hogwarts was an especially good school, being about as interested in his studies as he was with a lot of his dates, but even he had to admit that the standards had slipped considerably, what with Umbridge bringing them to a standstill with all her regulations.

"Do you hear that?" Theo mumbled and Blaise strained his ears to listen, finding nothing but the gentle far off creak of the staircases as they rearranged themselves.

"No, what was it?"

"I thought I heard a scuttling noise, like something running," Theo was glancing down the corridors with worry. Blaise understood his concern, Peeves was frequently setting traps for unsuspecting students and being on the receiving end of one too many had made them both incredibly cautious when they went anywhere in the school. Peeves was the main reason that they conducted their patrols from one spot and one spot only.

"I don't think they are going to be coming past here," Theo mentioned.

"Right there with you, mate."

"I mean, if it's secret how in Merlin's name are, we supposed to find…" Both boys paused as a group of Gryffindors ran past the end of the corridor followed a few moments later by a very out of breath Crabbe and Goyle.

"You think that…?" Theo gestured to the two large boys as they disappeared, their wheezes echoing long after they'd gone.

"Stands a good chance." They both shared a tired look and then hurried to follow them.

Draco had never felt so lost. He shared an alcove with a particularly ugly-looking dragon vase that peered at him curiously in the shadows, yellow stone eyes on the only pinpricks of light in the darkness. He'd walked past the sorry excuse for décor many times, but now that he looked up at it, blinking past his Granger-induced daze, he found it unnervingly unfamiliar, as if he had never seen it before. This phenomenon was nothing new, he'd been experiencing it for weeks; everywhere he went felt strange, as though it wasn't in the right place, slipping through some veil and landing in an alternate reality that was never meant to be. An alternate reality where he and Granger were nothing more than enemies. He knew how ridiculous the thought was; they'd been enemies before, in fact for the longest time he'd been sure that was all they would ever be, but now? How could he see her that way? Not when he'd held her the way he had, touched her the way he had, not when he'd allowed himself to trust her and puffed out with pride when she'd allowed herself to trust him. She'd never trust him again though, not even if he made the grandest of un-Malfoy like gestures and got down on his knees and begged for forgiveness, because Granger wasn't a fool, not like he was.

The article had hurt, knife-shaped and going straight for his heart. It wasn't so much that what the article had said, but more of what it represented. It was proof that she would always put Potty before him, and yet again the boy-wonder had won. He could have sworn he felt his chest tightening as super-specs stomped on him with his big-hero boots and squashed him into the dirt. That feeling had fuelled his anger, and his anger had kept him going for a few weeks. Then it had left, drained out of him like someone unplugging a bath; the muddy waters of all his emotions had swirled down the plug hole and he'd suddenly become aware of how much he'd relied on Hermione's brightness to keep him functioning as a human being. He'd become a waste of wizard in her absence, his reflection blank-faced and beyond help in the aftermath of their relationship.

The realisation that he was not much more than skin and bones without her had him rushing to find her in panicky desperation; he'd tell her how much he regretted every bad word that had ever left his mouth and how he'd say anything she wanted him to, for the rest of his life, if it meant that they could time-turn back to when things were better. But he hadn't found her. Instead, his Father's letter had been delivered, and a giant-sized pit of despair had opened up beneath his feet. He hadn't fought it, embracing all the bleakness, surrendering to the shittiness, comforting himself with all the self-pity he could muster. It was for the best. Taunting and terrible as the thought was, there was truth to it, in spite of his health's argument to the contrary. This way he could keep her safe, keep his mom safe. His own pain was worth it if he knew that they wouldn't be hurt by his father's mistakes.

He was so caught in his own thoughts that he nearly missed the sound of hurried steps making their way towards his hiding place. Clearly, Umbridge's assertion that the Gryffindors had a secret meeting place wasn't entirely unfounded. He stepped back further into the alcove muttering a tripping Jinx under his breath. He stepped out of his hiding place and couldn't help the laugh that burst from him at the sight of his nemesis sprawled on the floor. All the times he'd actively sought to make Potty look like an idiot and all it took was waiting for the prat to come to him.

"Trip jinx, Potter." The grin on his face felt unfamiliar as he called for Umbridge, eyes not leaving the heap of boy-wonder on the stone floor. A myriad of thoughts went through his mind, tinged with the darkness that had been shadowing him for the last few weeks. What if he was gone? Voldemort would get what he wanted, and his family would be off the hook. Granger would be safe, with no misguided do-gooder dragging her into crappy situations she'd be free to live a happy and long life, maybe even a happy and long life with him. Reality dawned with a sickening blow when he heard the click of Umbridge's shoes as she made her way towards them.

If Potty died there'd be no warning, no buffer for The Dark Lord and he'd take over, infecting the wizarding world and poisoning them against people like Hermione. Nowhere would be safe with her, especially not with him. He felt as though everything within him was frozen wondering if the boy he'd spent his entire life hating was necessary after all. Someone had to do it he supposed, he just wished that it wasn't someone so close to Granger.

"It's him! Excellent, Draco, excellent, oh, very good – fifty points to Slytherin! I'll take him from here…Stand up Potter." Umbridge's voice startled him out of his thoughts and he watched as Potter climbed to his feet and scowled at him, glasses slightly askew.

"You hop along and see if you can round up any more of them, Draco. Tell the others to look in the library – anybody out of breath – check the bathrooms, Miss Parkinson can do the girls ones – off you go – and you," Malfoy turned as if in a daze walking down the corridor as though detached from reality, "you can come with me to the Headmasters office, Potter."

When he turned back, they'd already disappeared around the corner.

"Where is he?" Draco started, looking up to see a furious Hermione stomping towards him, her hair springier than normal. She had been searching the corridors for some time, having doubled back when she'd realised that Harry wasn't with them.

"What?" He blinked out of his thoughts hardly believing that she was in front of him, talking to him again.

"Don't what me, Malfoy, you and your cronies have been chasing us all through the castle, now where is Harry." She couldn't exactly say that the Slytherins had been chasing them, not when the only ones that seemed to be trying were Crabbe and Goyle and their efforts were laughably wheezy. "I knew you were petulant, but I didn't think you would sink this low. Working for Umbridge? Really?"

"Someone has to control you Gryffindors, you're a force of stupidity all your own." He wanted to be angry, but he was just so relieved to see her as if he were letting out a breath he'd been holding for too long.

"We were learning how to defend ourselves. If anything…I don't know why I'm even explaining myself, I don't need to tell you anything." Draco tried to hide the fact that her words had the sting of flying face-first into a Billywig Hive.

"Perhaps if you weren't so willing to wander into every battle, you wouldn't need to defend yourselves."

"I'm not having this argument with you, Malfoy," she stated, placing her hand up to press pause on whatever retort he'd been about to hit her with. "just tell me where Harry is."

"If you must know he's gone with Umbridge to the Headmasters office, you can thank me later."

"Thank you? Are you…? I can't believe you; I can't believe I ever thought…"

"What? Ever thought what?" Hermione pursed her lips and looked away from him, her nose wrinkling as though she'd smelt something bad.

"It doesn't matter, I should have listened to Ginny," She was gripping her forehead and staring off into the distance with the same look he'd been sporting since the article had appeared in the Quibbler.

"Why? Did the Weaselette warn you off me?" He'd never wanted to hurt the redhead so badly.

"She cautioned me against trusting you." Draco laughed, hardly able to believe what he was hearing, recent enlightenment flying out the window and being replaced with anger and frustration at her and her insufferable need to always be right.

"You're a fine one to talk about trust, Granger."

"Yes, you're right, I am." He watched as she began pacing, "I honestly can't believe I ever thought I could count on you of all people to be mature. Did you get joy out of catching him?" She paused and looked right at him; eyebrows raised as she waited for the answer she already knew was coming. He hated that he couldn't prove her wrong.

"And if I did?"

"Urgh, I'm going to get him."

Before he'd had time to think about what he was doing he'd grabbed her arm.

"Get off me, Malfoy."

"Are you an idiot, Granger, you're going to get yourself into trouble."

"Harry has taken the fall for us too many times, I'm not letting him face this alone." She tried to yank her arm away, but he gripped her tighter.

"Are you kidding me? What about all the things you've done for him? Will you stop wriggling?"

"No, I won't,"

"Merlin, Granger, this is the kind of crap I'm talking about, you never know when to just quit with the heroic theatrics. This shit could get you killed."

"I would rather risk my life doing the right thing than sit back and let the people I care about suffer."

"And I'm sure everyone will thank you at your funeral. By Salazar at most he will get a detention."

"This isn't about detention. Do you have any idea how serious this is?"

"I don't really give Godric's two tits how serious it is, I'm not letting you do something daft simply because 'it's the right thing to do'."

"Why do you care? You've already made yourself abundantly clear that you and I are nothing but enemies."

Hermione stumbled back as Draco released her arm as if he'd been burnt, looking away from her, mentally admonishing himself. He'd promised himself that he'd keep his distance and not get caught up in one of their verbal duals that usually ended with him thinking about how good her sighing against his mouth felt. Now here they were and the redness of her cheeks made him think of Valentine's night, her quickened breath made him think about how easily he made it hitch, and the fury with which she looked at him, made him think about how soft her eyes had been when she'd told him she trusted him.

"Do what you want, Granger."

Draco paused, not sure whether he was delighted or horrified when his retreat was foiled by the Sensieve, the corridor quickly changing and pulling them both into a memory.