A/N: Next chapter up at last! Plot is moving along, hope you enjoy - any and all comments always appreciated and thank you for reading this far :)
Draco had not slept well. He lay awake most of the night, paralysed in the comfort of this new kind of safety. His mother would possibly have a heart attack if she knew where he was and, come to think of it, a secondary attack if she didn't.
He saw the light flicker outside his door. The shadow stayed for a moment, walked away, and came back.
"You might as well come in Granger."
The door cracked open, and she crept in nervously, still in her pyjamas.
"I brought you breakfast."
He cocked an eyebrow at her.
"I didn't know what you would want, so I guessed." She handed him a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon.
He ate it in silence, watching her. She turned around, looking for somewhere to sit and settled on the chair opposite his bed, gingerly moving the robes he discarded last night.
"I'm not sure where to start." Hermione admitted, pulling out her hair tie that was doing a pitiful job of keeping her curls in one place.
Draco rolled out, striding to the dresser where he'd discarded his Malfoy ring. He placed it on his left hand, tilting it in the light.
"Am I a prisoner here?"
"What? No, of course not."
"You brought me breakfast?"
She reddened, "you wanted to talk, so consider the breakfast a peace offering."
"Right."
She sighed, "what happened yesterday…I don't know how we can reverse it without killing You Know Who."
"And you intend to kill him by destroying these Horcruxes?"
"So, you do remember that." Hermione bit her lip, internally cursing.
"And other things." He titled his head.
"As for the binding," she carried on, controlling her features, "I'm not sure what it really means."
"You're stalling. What do you suspect?"
"I think it means we can perform joint magic", she let the façade drop a little, "I also suspect it means that together our magic is more powerful than the average wizard, which means You Know Who will want to use that." She re-crossed her legs, "I don't think he fully understands what we've done though."
"How can you be sure?"
"Let's just say that Harry has his own connection."
Draco frowned, realising not for the first time how many hidden advantages Potter had.
"What I'm less sure of is how we channel our magic. It will take practice."
"Naturally."
"And… proximity."
At that Draco scrunched up his nose. Hermione avoided his eyes, embarrassed, again, and keenly aware of how isolated they were.
"Professor Lupin wants us to go to another safehouse where we can work on growing our magic."
"To become the Order's secret weapon."
"In a sense." She muttered, growing more uncomfortable.
Draco watched as she curled and uncurled on the chair, ever-twitching, always thinking. There were shadows under her eyes.
"What are the other terms of this non imprisonment?"
"We have two weeks to make progress. Harry and Ron will be based there too, and we'll help them search for the Horcruxes."
"Merlin, I really am being punished."
"Look Malfoy," she snapped "I could just hand you over to Azkaban – instead, I'm trying to keep us both safe and not compromise the resistance." She stood up, furiously pulling her dressing gown tie around her waist.
"Your resistance."
"It's yours too now if you want a world without You Know Who."
"Don't be simplistic Granger."
She was standing too close to him, and their magic started to vibrate the air imperceptibly.
"Surely even you can see the advantage we'll have. You said you would fight for us if you thought we could win, and I know we can." She didn't break eye contact – she trusted him, the imbecile.
"Listen carefully," he almost hummed, "I will do this – mainly because I see no other option, but don't think that means I've had a personality transplant."
She smiled sarcastically, pulling back, making the air swell coldly around him again, "oh don't worry, I know exactly who you are."
No, you think I'm better, he thought. "When do we leave?" He asked instead.
"In half an hour – we'll travel by portkey. Dress for snow."
Hermione clicked the door shut behind her, breathing a sigh of frustration.
Ginny stood in front of her, arms crossed, looking at the breakfast tray Hermione was holding limply in one hand.
"Malfoy?" Ginny's eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"The one and only."
"Come on, I need to talk to you before you go."
"I don't have much time Gin."
"I know, I know," Ginny followed Hermione into her room.
Hermione tried to scrape her hair away from her face and started to levitate objects into her bottomless bag. Ginny watched her mumble to herself, selecting the right books – she saw the titles 'healing' and 'curses' flash before disappearing, making her stomach cringe with worry.
"Just sit down for five minutes Hermione, this is important." Ginny crept over, moving stray books to the side with her foot.
She sat on the floor pulling Hermione down next to her, "consider this your warning speech and before you object, just hear me out and then we can analyse the finer details."
Ginny sat up, tightening her ponytail, "don't trust Malfoy," she looked at Hermione sternly, "you're already trying too hard with him, and I don't fully understand it, but I'm guessing there's more to the story you're not telling me."
Hermione was about to protest, and Ginny held up her hand, "no interrupting, remember?"
"As I was saying – don't trust him. I don't know what his plan is, but he'll have one and you're naïve to think he'll just help us after being on the other side for so long. Also, you'll need to get information from him. Remus didn't say it to you as he knew you'd object, but half the reason you're allowed to stay together is because they want you to find out about the other side's weaknesses."
"They want me to spy on him?" Hermione frowned, uneasy with the idea.
"Yes, they do. I'll be visiting sometimes to report back on your progress."
"Why can't they trust me to pass on information?"
"I don't know, something to do with the binding." Ginny shrugged.
Hermione gawked at her best friend, "this is ridiculous."
"They're just being careful." Ginny reached for Hermione's hand which she retracted.
Hermione leapt back up, resuming packing with renewed intensity.
"Where are you even going? They didn't tell me."
"Switzerland." Hermione snorted, "which, if you know your Muggle history, is deeply ironic given the circumstances." She pivoted, searching for something. Ginny realised she was sitting on it – her cloak. She moved so Hermione could reluctantly grab it.
"Look I'm sorry Hermione, I just wanted you to know what you're in for."
"I know." Hermione sighed, "I'm just still trying to get my head around everything."
"Yeah." Ginny picked up the last book, handing it to her. "Living with Malfoy though… I mean-"
"Honestly, I'd rather not think about it." Hermione cut in, blushing.
"Suit yourself."
Hermione transfigured her clothes into a fur lined gilet, cloak and trousers secured by boots. She was dressed for snow and an ambush.
She took a breath before going back out into the hallway – Malfoy was leant across the bannister, presumably having heard every word of their conversation. He looked up and down at Hermione's choice of clothing once, his eyes flickering in something – disgust? She ignored him and hurried down the stairs.
Harry and Ron were waiting for them in the drawing room, talking in hushed voices.
"Ready?" Harry asked.
"I've packed everything." Hermione gestured to the bag and shrugged.
"Literally everything." Ginny joked, but it fell stale – something about Malfoy's presence in the room seemed to sour their dynamic.
Harry locked eyes with Ginny – a serious look passed between them, but they didn't bother with emotional goodbyes. Hermione gave her a squeeze before joining the others so that they were circled around the portkey – one of the taxidermy birds that usually hung above the staircase.
"On the count of three?" Ron chimed.
Malfoy nodded, and Hermione bristled.
"One…Two…Three." They lurched in unison.
The cold hit them instantly and Draco squinted at the light reflecting off the snow. Hermione immediately drew her wand above her, repeating protective spells and slashing the air to detect any intruders.
"Lupin and Moody put the wards up yesterday." Harry reassured her, touching the small of her back in an intimate gesture.
She nodded, turning around to see which direction to head in. Ron started up the hill with Harry following soon after. At the top was a large cabin surrounded by pine trees.
Inside was an airy space with windows lining the walls, high ceilings and pine wooden beams stretching across the space.
"Let's go over the plan." Harry announced, "over there." He gestured to an open fire with two sofas opposite one another, ironically poised for conversation.
"How cosy." Draco added.
Hermione rolled her eyes, sitting next to him.
"Hermione's told you about the Horcruxes." Harry scratched his scar. "Ron and I will carry on looking for them while you stay here – just to begin with Hermione."
"It makes sense, you have to admit." Ron interjected with a tone that you might use to calm a wild animal.
"What happens if one of you gets injured?"
"We'll be ok."
"You can't just assume that."
"We can't risk you being captured, not after He inevitably figures out how dangerous you could be. So, you stay here for now and help with the strategy."
"What did Professor Lupin say to you exactly?" Hermione's eyes narrowed.
"To keep you safe."
Hermione watched Harry's face for any clues before turning to Ron, "what do you think about all this?"
"Well, he's right – you're both a liability until we understand what your magic can do, no offense." He smiled
"Fine." She set her chin, "then we need to figure out where you're going to search next."
"Actually, we're thinking of going back to Malfoy manor." Harry admitted. "The recent interest in the Malfoy family," Harry looked over at Draco, "would suggest he's guarding something there."
"But, to go back so soon Harry." Hermione frowned, concerned, though she admitted to herself that it made sense.
Harry glanced at Ron, "sooner the better – he won't expect us to come back right after an attack and anyway, we have Malfoy now to help us."
They all turned expectantly to him. Draco sat forward reluctantly, his blonde hair flopping over his face slightly, while his body was still subconsciously angled towards Hermione.
"I could try communicating with the house elves first. Less risky and slightly more discreet." He responded to Harry, pausing for a moment, "but I need something in return."
Hermione tensed and Ron sighed, "typical", he muttered under his breath.
"My mother-" Draco started, "- she's been on the run for a while now and I want your word you'll protect her."
"You have my word." Harry replied without hesitation.
Draco sighed, standing to face the fire, his eyes closed, "then we should wait until it's late – The Dark Lord rarely sleeps, but every night he will hole himself up in the master bedroom at the top floor of the manor. If there's anything in the house, it'll be there – with him. What are you looking for?"
"If the other Horcruxes are anything to go by then a small, precious object – something he keeps close by." Hermione replied, itching now he'd moved away from the seat next to her.
She watched him think – it was still surreal to see him isolated like this – different from Hogwarts, unguarded and in clothes she didn't recognise – even his hair was off kilter, roughly scraped from his face with stray tendrils falling over his brow. Harry started to pace, likely concentrating on his memories of Voldemort, racking his memory for clues. Ron observed the scene, his eyes darting from Harry to Malfoy, to Hermione, perturbed by the surreal dynamic.
"I'm not sure." Draco said, frustrated, "except… could it be a living thing? Like the snake? That's the only thing he keeps close to him without fail."
Harry and Hermione turned to one another suddenly. "Harry," Hermione smiled excitedly, "it's not implausible."
"Yeah, but how the hell are we going to kill the snake without him noticing?" Ron added, "and, even if we do kill it, he'll know for sure we're onto him."
"He already suspects," Draco whirled, "but he's blaming Dumbledore – thinks he did something to suck the life out of him before he died."
Harry reached to his forehead again, rubbing the scar, "so he's particularly paranoid, got it."
"How many Horcruxes are left?"
"We think three," Hermione mumbled quietly, "We suspect he's got Helga Hufflepuff's cup in Gringotts, inside the Lestrange vault and as for the other…not sure."
Draco restrained the urge to curse, mainly for her sake, "the snake is too risky now, forget the manor, we could try the vault." He moved in closer, persuading them, "as a relative, I should be able to get us in, but we'd need to move fast before the goblins know I've been captured or compromised."
Hermione looked anxiously at Harry and Ron, who seemed to be coming around to the idea.
"We'll have to go now." Harry nodded at Draco standing up, "Hermione? What do you think?"
"So much for us staying here." She groaned, running her hands through her hair, "ok, we try, but we need to plan this properly and if anything looks like it's going wrong, you get out of there straight away, ok?" She mainly addressed that to Draco who smirked in response at her concern.
"Your cloak won't work there Harry, so Malfoy will have to go it alone, but he needs to know what he's looking for," Hermione started to babble, nervous and slightly alive with adrenaline, "it's described in 'Hogwarts: A History'-" she grabbed her bag, summoning the dusty volume, "here, look -" she moved over to him.
Draco looked down at the page Hermione found instantly, her head leant over, one finger poised over the quote. She smelt familiar to him, reminding him of her laying on his chest in the dungeon. He shook off the ache that triggered and instead focused, committing to memory the description of a 'bejewelled gold drinking cup'.
"Will you tell the order?" He murmured over Hermione's head, who snapped the book shut.
Harry looked at Ron shiftily, "they'd stop us."
"This is insane, isn't it?" Hermione blurted.
"Barmy." Ron half chuckled, grabbing his coat, "but you'll get used to this Malfoy."
"Charging headfirst into situations with little to no preparation? Disavowing advice?"
"We've got an excellent track record." Harry smiled smugly. "Hermione, would you do the honours?"
She raised her eyes once to the ceiling, before transfiguring their appearances so that they would blend in, changing their hair colours and styles, "we'll apparate to Muggle London outside of the barrier, then walk the rest on foot. You'll transfigure back before you go in, otherwise that would seem doubly odd. My thinking is that you'll have about ten minutes once you're inside before you raise suspicion. If you take longer, we're coming in. Get the cup and get out."
Hermione grabbed onto them, and they landed once more in a different place.