The cot was barely large enough to fit one person, and Hermione had to turn in place just to move from her stomach to her back. She couldn't have slept more than an hour, tossing and turning, unable to rest.

When she first entered the tent, it felt like going home. The nostalgia quickly faded when she couldn't ignore Harry and Ron's absence and the space felt empty. She had always slept alone on her small cot when on the hunt. However, she found somehow, it now felt empty as well.

Hermione wandered around, grabbing the empty kettle and dirty cups off a tray table where they sat, forgotten. This was where she should have been the entire duration of her stay. Not endangering Malfoy after he risked his life to save her. Not being distracted by Malfoy after Harry gave his life to defeat Voldemort. Neglecting to finish the deed herself after he entrusted her to.

Hermione peaked out of the tent, the light from the sun barely penetrated the canopy of trees. The air was thicker out here, sharper. It smelled heavily of dirt and rain. It was so different from the mornings she spent sitting out on the balcony with her tea. The tea a house elf would bring to her.

She really had become complacent.

For the first time she dressed herself in the jeans and sweater she packed from home. Walking over to her side of the tent, Hermione focused her mind on the tasks at hand.

Powdered root of asphodel

Essence of wormwood

Sopophorous bean

"Damnit." Hermione slammed her potion kit shut.

She was missing at least two ingredients needed to brew the draught of living death. Not to mention a silver knife to crush the sopophorous beans. She studied the map she drew and determined the best route in and out of the potions lab without risking seeing anyone she didn't want to.

Hermione couldn't be sure that Voldemort hadn't made another horcrux. If he had made another, then trapping his consciousness in his current form for an indefinite sleep would give her enough time to hunt it down.

She had to take down and store her tent in her bag before she started her journey back. The enchantments and protective charms laced within it would make it nearly impossible to find it again if she were to travel out of eyesight. Lacking a wand, she kept the knife Malfoy had given her in the waist of her jeans. It would provide somewhat of a defense in case the worst should happen.

Her legs were burning as she started through the thick woods. There was a small stream that was hardly visible from the air that stretched through the woods. It would probably do well for potion water.

Earlier in the year she was walking several miles a day, and now she had barely been walking for twenty minutes before she wanted to take a break. It made it impossible to ignore how secluded she had been the past five months. How dependent she had become on others to do every basic thing for her. Provide her clothes. Make her meals. Provide her news of the outside world.

Or so they thought.

Neddy brought her the Daily Prophet, but Voldemort already had control over its publishing. It spoke nothing of the events of importance that were discussed in the drawing room. Neither did Malfoy. She was so preoccupied with keeping the premise of being oblivious that she never gave too much thought to how he was keeping things from her. Keeping her locked away in the dark.

Keeping her.

She winced. He didn't mean it like that.

She had the hood of the cloak lifted so that she could breathe the fresh air as she walked. Fresh air. Walking outside. Two more things that had only been obtainable to her when Malfoy saw fit. What clarity the two simple things were bringing to her now.

There was no path for her to follow, and every step required her to maneuver over a variety of boulders and foliage. She entered the manor by the side door near the kitchens and quickly made her way to the east wing. The further along she got, the fewer death eaters there were in her path. Not surprisingly, Lucius didn't like to give unlimited access to his family's estate.

The Malfoy's stores were better stocked than Snape's were at Hogwarts. Cabinets full of rare, and undoubtedly illegal, supplies. If there was an ingredient she recognized for more complicated potions, she grabbed it off the shelf. She chose a silver knife that had a wider blade to make it easier to crush the beans. Once she finished gathering her items, she took her leave. Performing another quick survey of the hall after the door locked loudly when she closed it behind her.

Pansy was in a small sitting room away from most of the others. Her short black hair that usually shaped her face effortlessly was tucked behind her ears. Her fringe was not perfectly fanned but parted awkwardly and stuck to parts of her forehead. She was talking to Marietta Edgecombe, who seemed oblivious to Pansy's detachment from their conversation.

"Did you end up getting assigned to London?"

Pansy's head finally lifted in interest. "Why are you asking about that?"

"No reason. I was just told we wouldn't be assigned missions until we were presented with the mark." Marietta defended, clearly surprised at Pansy's sudden interest in the topic. "Do you think we will have to go through interrogation?"

Hermione didn't miss the way Pansy cringed and grabbed her arm. "Why would we? That is only for initiated members."

"We'll they're first maybe. But we have access to the school and manor too. I don't see why else we wouldn't be allowed to leave." Marietta pointed out and

The unbreakable vow would shield the knowledge of her existence from anyone digging in their friend's minds. Draco was an Occlumens, a good one if he was able to pass Snape and Bellatrix training. That only left Anthony completely vulnerable.

All the death eaters were in uniform robes and crammed in either the main hall or drawing room. She finally spotted Anthony at the end of the entrance hall, just a few turns from the hidden alcove where they would usually meet. When she tapped his shoulder, he stood up straight and headed towards the first-floor bathroom.

The powder room was so small, Anthony only had to wave his arms around before he found her hidden under the cloak and pulled her to him. He loosened his grip enough to pull the hood off her head to reveal her.

"Tell me I can take you out of here," Anthony begged. He had the same helpless look in his eye as the night before.

"Not yet." She apologized, taking a step back as the space allowed.

"This is bullshit." Anthony snapped. "Is Malfoy even trying? Just have him tell Lucius so you can leave."

"Keep your voice down," She hissed back. "Lucius is just as likely to kill me than he is to let me go. I am not going to condemn Malfoy for refusing to chance that."

"You saw him. He didn't do anything to try and help Bell. These people- they have a way of getting into your head. Of making you want to trust them and like them, but you can't fall for it!" He ran his hand through his hair and tried to turn in the small space but had little room to move. "We need to leave, Hermione."

There was something in the words he said, and their shared experience within the manor, that helped her clue in that his fears weren't about only her.

"They're not these people. They are just people. You don't have to hate yourself if you fithem." She offered gently. Anthony took a seat on the lid of the toilet and put his head in his hands.

"Right. Because it is totally normal to fancy one of Voldemort's followers." Anthony's voice was filled with self-deprecation, not accusation. Hermione hadn't been paying attention to know who he spent most of his time with.

"The way I see it, proving there is no difference between 'us' and 'them' is sort of the whole point." She answered with a sad smile, and it pacified Anthony a little. "I didn't know Katie had infiltrated the death eaters."

"She was assigned the Lestrange manor while you and I covered here and Hogwarts," he whispered regretfully. "They found the location of an Order safe house. Bell gave her life to warn them before they could arrive."

He finally looked at her."You look like a floating head."

Hermione laughed lightly in response. "Best I keep it on in case anyone wonders what is taking you so long and decides to barge in."

"Right. We should probably go." He said standing up.

"Wait! What about the interrogations?" Hermione blurted, remembering the reason she needed to speak with him.

"Everyone is locked in until Lucuis completes their questioning. I should be up soon and then I can go." He told her.

"Aren't you worried?"

"I'm a trained Occlumens, Granger. They won't find anything I don't want them to." He reassured her. Finally, something she didn't have to worry about anymore.

"Uh, how close were you to Potter and Weasley?" He asked casually.

"They were my best friends. Why?" She answered with a raised brow.

"It's just that… I actually do need to take a piss." He said with a laugh and Hermione rolled her eyes playfully before turning around to give him privacy.

She managed to get out of the bathroom without being seen or seeing anything she didn't want to. Hermione could have told Anthony about her new living arrangement, or her new plan. However, she felt that he would become even more critical of Malfoy if he knew he tried to lock her away. Anthony was one of the few people who knew about Draco and could vouch for him once this was all over. Especially if she wasn't around to speak for him herself. The likelihood of her survival wasn't reassuring.

Hermione had done so well, avoiding Malfoy and his friends. It wasn't until she made her way down the path that she saw them leaning against the backside of the greenhouse. Blaise and Theo were ganging up on Goyle while Malfoy leaned against the greenhouse with his arms crossed. Someone else may have thought he looked bored or disinterested, but Hermione could tell how anxious he was. He must know she is fine. If the death eaters had found her, he and Lucious would be the first to know.

No matter how much he tried to imitate boredom, his eyes gave him away. They kept darting around the grounds, especially to the barn, looking for something out of place. Looking for her. She hated the fact that she didn't know what he wanted to do with her once he found her. A few days ago, it was not something that she would question.

Hermione drank nearly all the water in her canteen before she made it back to the stream. Once she arrived, she refilled them and added in the drops to make it clean to drink. She settled on a new place to set up her tent when she could not find the exact spot she had camped in the night before.

The draught of living death was easy to brew since they found the Half-Blood Prince's notes on best practices in sixth year. She crushed the bean with the silver blade, grateful to have such a difficult potion to keep her mind occupied.

When she wasn't thinking of the exact steps, she would have to brainstorm on how she would slip it to Voldemort. He never consumed any of the water or wine at the table during the formal meetings. She may have to sneak up on him and shove it down his throat. That thought gave her a chilling thrill.

The draught was brewed to perfection within the hour. She filled three small vials with it and looked back at the cauldron. Typically, she would just vanish the rest of the brew. She attempted the charm wandlessly, but the remainder of the potion stayed. There were so many different plants and roots in the forest, she could find something to neutralize the rest soon.

The lack of a wand also meant bathing and cleaning clothes magically was impossible. Hermione changed into clean sweatpants and a t-shirt and flopped on the cot. She would add finding ways to bathe in a magical forest on her to-do list for later.

There were no death eaters outside the manor when she arrived, most must have been cleared the day before. The drawing room was nearly empty, and Hermione had to control her urge to bounce from foot to foot. She was going to be in the room with Malfoy again.

He walked in with Blaise and Goyle on either side of him. It was just by chance that she was standing in the corner of the room that gave her a perfect view of him.

Hermione had seen Malfoy look this way before. It was during sixth year when he first took the mark and was assigned his first task. She wanted to run her thumbs through his brow to stop them from furrowing so harshly. If she kissed along his jaw, he would groan or squirm to try and hide how much it tickled him. She wished she could make him laugh. He looked like he really needed to laugh.

The sound of several feet herding into the room broke her trance as Voldemort and his entourage walked into the drawing room. With realization came agony.

Hermione should have been looking at Draco any chance she had. His face was still exhausted, and stressed, and beautiful. It made her remorseful as she tried to memorize every detail about him. His eyes were also different today, glaring at someone who had walked in with Voldemort's group.

Greyback.

The day she arrived, he looked at Greyback with disgust. But that look could qualify for admiration based on how he was setting him ablaze with his stare now.

She looked at Greyback, who had settled into the corner near the fireplace with his much younger wolf companion. He met Malfoy's eyes and smirked. Suddenly his face fell, and he noticeably started to sniff the air. When he stopped, he didn't look back at Malfoy. He was staring straight in her direction.

What the fuck.

She instinctively took a few steps back until her back was pressed up against the wall. Greyback whispered something to his companion who then also snapped his head in her direction. Draco was clearly willing himself not to move his head and bring attention to the area they are focused on. In his lap, his wand was at the ready by his hip.

It seemed that Tom would get to live another day. Hermione bolted for the exit.

Hermione knew the manor better than almost anyone and was outside in a matter of seconds. Wolves like to hunt. She beelined straight for the barn. They wouldn't be able to track her from the air and walking into a trap set by Draco was looking rather appealing at the moment.

"Come on, Dory," Hermione whispered to herself as she waited for her to arrive. She looked around anxiously when she saw a peculiar shape sitting on one of the saddles on the wall. She got closer and noticed it was a horribly folded paper bird.

A loud thud startled Hermione and she pulled her hand back, looking up to see that Dory had arrived and Hermione wasted no time taking off into the air. She led Dory to the outskirts of the wards in the opposite direction to where she had previously been staying. If they managed to go out looking for her, they would go in the completely wrong direction.

The stream she crossed every morning seemed to stretch the entire grounds and she was grateful she would not have to find a new source of water. The tent was up in record time and Hermione collapsed to her knees once she was safely inside. Why would Greybavk scent her now, but not the night that Katie was killed when they were both in the same room?

She would think she was overreacting if Draco didn't also seem alarmed at the werewolve's behavior. Greyback laid claim to her the day he and the snatchers brought them to Bellatrix. It seemed he was a patient hunter, not so quick to give up on his prey.

"God damnit!" Hermione swore as she tore her jacket off.

Hermione flopped on her back where she sat and the floor and let out a grunt. She planned on having at least two hours of getting to stare at Malfoy during the evening meeting. The weekend had been torture and the few minutes near him wasn't enough.

If she let herself think freely, she could tell herself that he looked like he missed her too. With her eyes closed, she fantasized of all the ways she could help him forget the fight they are in the middle of. There were things she had done several times and knew he loved, and then there are the questionable acts Blaise suggested. She nearly whined out loud at the realization that she would never be able to try them.