Author's note: Hi! I listened to a sped up version of Look after you on spotify while i wrote this chapter- you can search under MADAX. Forgive me for the ouchie i'm about to inflict on you at the end of the chapter?

Xoxo

Catstclaire

Chapter 4- They made him

Hermione's a-fouled memory made for a wonderful excuse to be sure but it also meant she would be house bound until Malfoy deemed it safe enough for her.

It took Hermione 3 days before she bit a chunk out of her pride, and outright asked Malfoy for assistance. Malfoy provided her with old newspapers and books so that she may remind herself of past events.

A chill ran down her spine when she learned how much more intricately the Ministry was sullied than she thought previously. The highest ranking officials in the ministry were now pureblooded, all of them with names from the sacred 28 of course. Any of the Ministry officials who had played ball for the Order had been publicly executed in a bid to prevent further rebellion. Kingsley. Shacklebolt. Even Arthur Weasley. Hermione's parents weren't mentioned in name, but she suspected the worst when she read of the mass killings of muggles around the country.

Voldemort had created entire new departments within the ministry, and he had done away with the ones that displeased him. Malfoy, and Harry ran the PO department or Public Order department together. Draco maintained a residence and dealt with more central issues, and Harry lived a life on the lamb- he was frequently sent on far away assignments. Together their security reached all nooks and crannies of the wizarding world.

Hermione realized immediately Tom Riddle's cunning when he appointed them both to the same department. Who better to keep on eye on the other than Draco and Harry? They were each other's spies. Either of them were as likely to run to Voldemort at the slightest sign of mutiny in order to gain favor. Their working together ensured their loyalty to Riddle.

The PO maintained 'public safety' which was really just coded propaganda for being rebellion silencers. They investigated and sought out any and all who might think of defying the new world order, and when they found these resisters they were dealt with in the most brutal ways possible. The disciples were the trained dogs of the ministry, and they dealt out unforgivables as easily as pancakes. Malfoy had even said himself that any who dared refer to the disciples as the toads would wind up in Azkaban. The PO was entirely focused on snuffing out anyone who even seemed the slightest dissatisfied with Voldemort's new world. No mercy for any dissidents they caught.

Hermione scoured the papers for any mention of the resistance Malfoy had mentioned, but there was none. Which made sense. Voldemort wouldn't want to give them a platform or any sort of mention in the Prophet, that might just serve as fuel for a low burning fire. No media attention for the resistance, and it was like Voldemort could say they didn't even exist.

It was hard to put the same face to Malfoy that she had witnessed in his home to that of the cruel and ruthless man the papers spoke of. At home he was as domestic as any single father would be. However she read from the papers Malfoy's own accolades as Voldemort's man. He had captured, imprisoned, even killed 100's if not more of people like Hermione.

A small plan began to form in Hermione's head. She believed that prophecy Malfoy spoke of. She was living proof of it afterall. Step 1 wait for Harry to arrive. Step 2 knock Malfoy's ass out, and pilfer his home of any weapons or supplies they might need on the run- but oh fuck they couldn't do that. Even if she and Harry could escape Malfoy, there was still Ginny being held prisoner. Voldemort would kill her the instant Harry betrayed him. Step 2 imperious Malfoy into helping them retrieve Ginny from Voldemort's clutches, then they ditch him and the 3 of them escape off into the sunset. Oh bloody fuck. That wouldn't work either! Ron! Where was Ron? If Ron was going to pop up somewhere back from the dead it would be incredibly dangerous for him. Once Harry deserted and Ran off with Ginny and some strange woman- Voldemort was no idiot he would put it all together, and he would use every last resource he had to sniff out Ron, and kill him before the trio could reunite. Step 2 to be revised. Step 3 to be determined.

Hermione was very afraid of revealing herself accidentally to Malfoy. What if she did or said something to remind him of her from her previous life? Whatever it was that kept Malfoy wanting to protect Sloan James it would fly right out the window once he discerned he had been harboring a resurrected Hermione Granger.

The days since her arrival were beginning to have a pattern, a consistency to them. Malfoy left for his work in the mornings. He donned his cloak, and black chains almost as soon as he awoke. Then sometime in the evening he'd be back, and they would have dinner together.

Mostly Hermione tried to gather as much from him as she could. He liked to talk alot over dinner, and it was easy for her to pull information out of him. It was anguishing some of the things he told her every dead friend brought fresh heartbreak, but buried in Malfoy's stories were still small glimmers.

Malfoy described Neville Longbottom's triumph when the trio had been broken. When Harry was captured Voldemort felt that the Order had given up all hope, that no one would dare try to continue the battle. The only one who did was Neville. He killed Nagini while Hermione was probably taking her last breaths at the manor, Voldemort had been to distracted with the trio he hadn't even realized until after. By the time Voldemort returned to Hogwarts Neville was gone, and all he'd left behind was a note he addressed to Tom Riddle.

'You took my friends. So i took your snake.'

Most of the people left at Hogwarts at the battle were taken prisoner only to be executed days later, and the others of worthy blood were sent for reeducation so that they may rejoin society someday. That had been Luna. Luna was reeducated, then Voldemort saddled her with Malfoy once she had proven herself changed.

"So what happened to him. Neville Longbottom. After the battle?" Surely Voldemort would have attempted to move heaven and earth to find him after what he had done.

"No one knows for sure." Malfoy popped a strawberry into his mouth and chewed slowly. "But it's been rumored he ran off to form the resistance Potter and i deal with on occasion. That's just a rumor mind you, but officially there's never been a trace of him in ten years so if he's out there, he's very good at hiding."

"Really?" Hermione knew her voice sounded gleeful, but she couldn't help it. "Pity you couldn't catch him."

"Potter says he bets Longbottom was the first to call us the toads."

Hermione bet that to. She chewed around the smile licking at her lips.

Well done Neville!

"They give you and Potter much trouble? The resistance. What do they do, exactly? The papers would lead most to believe there isn't a resistance."

"They smuggle out Muggleborns, plot to free Azkaban prisoners, but in general it's just alot of stolen supplies- once i even collared Bill Weasley. He was quite the catch you know. Any member of the Weasley family is."

"I can imagine so-" Hermione felt her stomach drop. Bill. Ron's brother. "What did he do then, Weasley, for you to arrest him?"

"He was attempting to break into a building the Dark Lord wants guarded." Malfoy plucked up another berry. "Couldn't get him to divulge to much, but he was there looking for something."

"What building? What was he looking for? Is he in Azkaban?" Her hands gripped the edge of the table.

Malfoy's gray eyes glinted darkly in the light around his dining table.

"What's your interest in a Weasley, Ms. James?"

Hermione reeled herself back.

"History. I love history. I told you that." She answered lamely.

Malfoy snorted. "Last i heard he hadn't escaped Azkaban. No one has since Voldemort started running the show. I imagine he was looking for the cursed object i found inside that ridiculous house in Surrey."

Surrey. Building- house. Cursed object.

It couldn't be.

"Surrey? What part of Surrey. I'd like to do some traveling soon i think. Just curious- maybe i'd like to see this house it sounds quite thrilling."

Malfoy glanced at her. "As i said this place is guarded. Voldemort dictated it to be."

Hermione held her disappointment at bay.

"As luck would have it, i am in charge of guarding that home. Part of why you are here is because i intend to take you there. Your skill set will come quite in handy i think."

Hermione clenched her jaw.

"It's on a muggle street. Privet Drive- it's quite legendary. Do you remember anything about it?"

"What? I of- of course not. I've never been there." She got to defensive to fast she knew.

"I didn't ask if you'd been. I asked if you remembered anything about it."

"Why should I remember anything about it?" She sniffed.

"I'm quite sure those books i've given you would have mentioned it a dozen times over. Privet Drive after all is the childhood home of Harry Potter." His coy smile was back. "For someone who claims they like history, you aren't very good at remembering any of it."

Was she the one gathering intel here or was it Malfoy?

Hermione left the table claiming a headache was coming on. It wasn't really a lie.

Hermione laid in Harry's bed wondering once again about what the relationship had been between Malfoy and Sloan James. They chatted about necromancy, she taught his son, did that make them friends? Had there been something more...it felt like that sometimes- when she caught his gaze lingering on her from across the dinner table.

Hermione couldn't get comfortable so she decided to do a more through search of the room. She had held off so far, because she hadn't wanted to invade Harry's privacy but she had expected him back sooner.

She opened the bedside tables, and found notebooks with scrawled out lists with which she didn't understand the contents of. There were empty sweet wrappers, and a jar of broom polish. Then she got cold and she checked his clothing dresser. She only meant to grab out a sweater for herself, but then her fingertips met something at the bottom of the second drawer. She tugged it and heard the crinkling of paper. It was a book. 'The book thief.' Hermione had read it herself many years ago. She tried to ignore the reasons Harry might be reading it- mostly to torture himself she decided.

She was going to put it back, but then on a whim she snapped it open. Her jaw dropped.

Oh, Harry. You sentimental fool.

Her hands trembled as she combed over the pages of the book. Harry had shrank down various pages of the Prophet and used a sticking charm to secure them inside the book.

The prophet hadn't always suppressed meaningful events. These must be from the early days of Voldemort's rule she guessed. Before he controlled every facet of everyone's lives.

The articles detailed the resistance movement, and other landmark events that happened after the battle of Hogwarts.

"Down with the toads- up with the resistance!" Cried one headline. It featured a snapshot of Bill and Charlie Weasley as they dueled a pair of disciples.

Hermione had to skim the article that detailed the tragic fate of Remus Lupin's boy. Teddy only an infant at the time was in the process of being smuggled from the country by his grandmother when they were stopped. Andromeda was only recovered in pieces, and the article alluded to the baby's demise although nothing was ever found of him.

Another article spoke of mysterious disappearances and unfair prison sentencings. Another called out the Ministry for failing to protect them, and condemned them for their glorification of blood supremacy.

They still fought. The Order lost the battle and the war, but the people who remained never stopped. The Bill and Charlie Weasley's of the world still had hope for a better world even if Voldemort wanted everyone to believe they were gone.

Malfoy spoke of the resistance as if they were nothing more than a nuisance- a fly one swatted whilst enjoying their pie. Hermione was sure now that that wasn't actually the case.

Malfoy, she learned more of in the articles Harry preserved. After Luna's reeducation she and Malfoy welcomed their son almost immediately, but as Hermione knew herself fate was unkindest to the best people. Luna contracted an illness, and she died before the child turned 3.

The last of the articles Harry had ripped out of the paper by hand. The headline was 'The Boy who turned.' The picture hardly even looked like Harry. He looked gaunt, and broken. His hair matted, glasses shattered but forced up onto his nose regardless. Bellatrix Lestrange had one delicate claw wrapped over his shoulder. Like an owl talon securing it's next meal. Hermione could only imagine what Harry felt like in that moment. Bellatrix the woman who murdered his friend, draping herself all over him it was disgusting. The foot note stated that the photo was taken after Voldemort's triumph at the battle. Hermione guessed it couldn't have been very long after Harry watched her and Ron both die. She wished she could hug him, he looked so small and helpless. It hit her for the first time, that people must hate Harry. That they witnessed the boy who lived turn into Voldemort's right hand man in a single night. Harry wasn't fighting for the resistance anymore the world called him a traitor- but people didn't understand. He was keeping Ginny safe. He was doing what he had to for her.

The articles Harry kept were like a shining beacon in Hermione's eyes. Harry had spent 10 years of his life in this new world, working for Voldemort but he was still Harry. He would fight when the time came no matter what had happened to him or what he had been forced to do. Squirreling away these papers was proof to her.

It was only a matter of time before the golden trio was able to reunite, and then- the 3 of them were going to make Tom Riddle wish he was never born.

Hermione was so deep into her own angry reckoning that she didn't hear him when he came in.

"Didn't realize he had company over-" She couldn't have been prepared for her reunion with Harry if she tried. Her voice refused to come, all she managed was an unintelligible gasp. "Just make yourself at home, why don't you." He said over sarcastic, and with his shoulder leaned into his doorway.

Harry had never looked at her like this in all the years she knew him. He was glaring daggers. The phrase 'If looks could kill.' Sprang to her mind.

She fought back the immediate urge to wrap him up in a hug, to bury her face in his smell. He didn't know. Harry had no idea who she was. She had to tell him, and then they could figure out the rest.

She worked her mouth open finally, but snapped it shut when she realized Harry was wearing his chains. She couldn't say a thing to him as long as he wore them. Voldemort would know.

"Cat got your tongue?" He taunted then sauntered over to where she was splayed on the floor with his book still in hand. He sneered at her and pried it out of her fingers. Her cheeks blossomed with warmth.

"Oh, sorry I didn't mean to pry."

"Hmmm, i'm sure you didn't." He said without meaning it.

Hermione's mind began to whip in a hundred different directions trying and failing to think of something to say or do. There was nothing. She didn't have shit.

Then Malfoy was in the door, and it didn't matter anymore. She certainly could say nothing now.

"Ah, i see you've met our guest." Malfoy drawled to Harry with a demure grin.

"Yeah. Do me a favor, and keep your little playthings out of my stuff Malfoy." Harry brandished his book at him.

Malfoy turned to chuckle at Hermione as she got off the floor.

"Apologies. She's a curious one. I had to bring some of my work home this week you see."

"Whatever." Harry mumbled. "Just give me a heads up next time you 'bring your work home' allright?"

"Yes, yes of course."

The two men were watching each other as closely as Hermione recalled they did in childhood. Neither of them took a breath the other didn't take note of. Then Malfoy saw her still standing there simpering in the middle of Harry's room. Her mouth felt like peanut butter had been shoved in it.

"Something you'd like to say sweetheart?" Malfoy asked playfully clearly enjoying the fact that Harry was riled up- some habits never die. Then her palms began to sweat.

Hermione turned her gaze to Harry. He glared back, but she gentled Sloan's voice as much as she could.

"I'm so sorry-" She pointed at the book in his hand. "that they made you take that picture with her, with Bellatrix... after she killed Hermione Granger that was wrong of them. It must have been horrible."

Harry's eyes bulged briefly then turned dangerous. Malfoy's gaze had turned serious.

"You think that's funny?" Harry's voice was acidic and so unhinged Hermione took a step back from him. "How dare you speak her name to me!"

Malfoy caught Harry's wand arm as it rose. Malfoy jerked his head at her. A clear indication of 'Get the fuck out of here.'

She stood in the hallway waiting for Malfoy. After she left Harry threw the door shut, and she didn't hear a peep because of the silencing charm they cast but she knew they were probably yelling at one another.

When Malfoy finally came out he pulled the door shut tight behind himself, and guided her down the hall to another room. He sat her on the bed.

"I'm sorry- I didn't mean to- what did i say?"

Hermione had run the interaction through her head and she couldn't decipher what it was she had said that had set Harry off.

"It wasn't Bellatrix that killed Hermione Granger."

Oh.

"But- It wasn't?"

"No. Voldemort made Potter do it." His voice was deathly quiet, and had so much more sadness in it than she could ever imagine Draco Malfoy feeling for anyone- let alone her.

Her blood ran cold. Her mouth went dry. She felt faint.

Draco's hand shot out to steady her.

"They made him. He never wanted to. If he hadn't Ginny Weasley would be dead- and Voldemort would have slaughtered the rest of the muggleborns they captured at Hogwarts. It's what Granger would have wanted."