CHAPTER NINE

Draco had returned to the shack early the next morning. He went to open the door but to his surprise it had been blown off. He was dazed as he stepped into the living room and saw the dismay. It reminded him of when he arrived the first time.

"Hermione!" he shouted up the staircase. No answer. "Hermione?" He looked at all the debris and his stomach dropped. Did they already get to her? He imagined the worst when he looked out the broken window and saw Hermione's body lying on the shore.

Draco ran to the beach as fast as he could. He got on his knees and started shaking her. He had almost started crying when she woke up. She was frightened but quickly realized who it was.

"Oh, Draco! It was wonderful! I-" he cut her off before she could finish telling him about her amazing accomplishment.

"What happened? Are you hurt?" He checked all over her body for any cuts or scratches.

"I'm fine… why would I be hurt?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe because the house is destroyed." He raised his eyebrows at her. She laughed.

"Oh that. I've just been practicing some spells." She looked proud of herself. Draco did not.

"Looks like you're going to need a lot more. Lets get you inside, you're soaked." he helped her up and brushed the sand off her back. They walked back to the shack together. Hermione was just as shocked as Draco when she saw the mess again.

"You have some explaining to do." Draco pulled his wand out to fix up the place.

"Wait! Let me do it!" Hermione was almost giddy to show off her magic. She waved her wand and everything pieced itself back together. The window, the table, the chairs, and the pillows all mended themselves back to normal in a heartbeat. Hermione beamed.

"Well then, I guess you have been practicing." Draco turned to Hermione and gave her a kiss. She tasted salty from the ocean. "I've missed you." Draco never thought he would hear himself say that. He sent Hermione upstairs to shower. He looked around the house. There was no sign that she slipped up while he was gone. He laughed and thought maybe that's why she destroyed the place. He sat down on the couch and waited for her to be done. He wanted her to take the longest shower possible just so he could stall the conversation he would have to have with her. His palms were sweaty and he wiped them on his pants.

After a few moments, Hermione came down the stairs drying her hair with a towel. She looked a lot better. She wasn't so pale and it was almost as if she was gaining some weight back. She plopped down next to Draco on the couch and started kissing him. They were interrupted when the freshly fixed door swung open and almost broke off the hinges.

"What the fuck?" Harry was so red in the face he looked like he was going to explode.

"Harry," Hermione shot up from the couch. "I can explain."

"Shut up! I told you I wanted him out." He looked like he had been mad for a while. Things with Ginny must have not gone as well as he wanted.

"Harry, I need to tell you something."

"You can tell me whatever you want but it's not going to change my mind." Hermione followed him into his bedroom and he slammed the door behind her. Draco could only hear muffled shouting as he sat on the couch contemplating whether he should get up and go or not.

"You promised me he would be gone before I came back! What the hell is he still doing here?"

"Harry, there's something you should know…" Harry let her explain herself. "Well during sixth year – Draco and I – we kind of." She stammered as she tried to think of the words. "Well we were kind of secretly seeing each other. It happened when I started tutoring him."

"Go on." Harry was growing impatient with her as he knew there was more to the story.

"I obliviated him after he told me he was to kill Dumbledoor."

"What?" Harry became infuriated. "How long did you know that?" Hermione was hesitant to answer.

"After you fought him in the bathroom."

"What!?" He felt like he could choke her. "You knew that whole time and didn't tell me? We could have saved him! We could have prevented the Death Eaters from coming. What were you thinking? You thought saving Malfoy was more important than me because of a stupid crush?"

"It was more than that!" Hermione felt her face start to get hot.

"I'm sure it was." Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You betrayed me." Harry's eyes were cold. He looked like he didn't feel anything anymore.

"Harry–"

"No. You betrayed me. I want you gone too." Harry stepped closer to Hermione and looked deep into her eyes. "You're dead to me." Hermione felt hot tears stream down her face as she tried to apologize. Harry pushed her out of his room and slammed the door in her face. She wiped her tears and went up to Draco who was trembling on the couch.

"We have to go." She pulled him to his feet and drug him out the door. "Apparate us to your place." she tried to choke down her tears.

"I don't think that a very good–"

"Now Draco!" Draco grabbed her arm and they vanished through time and space together. They landed on his front porch. Hermione vomited in the hedges. "Sorry." she wiped her chin. "I can never get used to that." She pulled herself together and followed Draco inside the mansion.

She couldn't believe her eyes as she looked across the large entry. Even though it was above ground, it felt like a dungeon. They walked across the cold marble floor into the dining room. Hermione has never seen a dinner table so long before. Besides the ones at Hogwarts but this was way more sophisticated. It was intense.

Lucius and Narcissa were sitting at the end waiting for their arrival. Hermione's heart dropped as she felt their icy cold eyes on her. She looked at Draco who looked more nervous than her. She took a deep breath as they slowly approached the Malfoys.

"Miss Granger." Lucius' voice was just as cold as his eyes. "It's a pleasure. Please sit down." Draco pulled out a chair for her and she took a seat. "You probably know by now why Draco has brought you here." Hermione was confused.

"Actually sir, I–" Lucius didn't let her speak.

"It's rather amusing that he agreed to our terms."

"I'm sorry sir, but what terms?" Lucius let out a chuckle.

"Of course. I didn't expect him to tell you anything of the sort. Allow me to explain." He folded his hands on the table looking more serious than he did before. "As you know, these are still very dark times for you and your kind and just so happened to find yourself with the man who is going to make them darker." Hermione looked at Draco. He remained facing forward. "Yes, Draco has been given a rather special task, you see. It is his duty to finish the Dark Lord's job and kill your friend Harry Potter." Hermione gasped. She felt just as betrayed as Harry did. "So this is what is going to happen. You will accept Draco's fate and agree to turn over to his side offering your faithfulness to him and his family. If you refuse, then we have no choice but to kill you right here. We can't risk having you run off and tell your little friends now can we?" Hermione was stunned. She couldn't believe what was happening.

"We will give you a couple of days to think things over, dear." Narcissa continued the spiel. "We unfortunately cannot leave so you will have to stay here until you have made up your mind. Normally, we wouldn't accept anyone who was less than a pure-blood, but we have taken an interest in you. I've done my research and it appears you are a very bright witch. Brightest in your grade at Hogwarts! We could use a brain like yours. I believe that you could be capable of great things." She reached over to stoke Hermione's hair but she flinched away. "Don't be scared, love. We will protect you. Go sleep on things. We can assure you that you won't regret making the right choice."

Draco took a deep breath and stood up from the table and held out his hand for her. She accepted it and she followed him up to his room. She felt like she had been walking up a million staircases. The information she just gained flooded her thoughts. She felt her legs getting weaker but she never let go of his hand. When they reached his room, he sat on his bed and started removing his shoes. He didn't want to look at her.

"You lied to me!" tears started streaming down her face. "You said they kicked you out and you needed a place to stay. You lied to me!" She yelled so loud her voice broke.

"Hermione.." Draco tried to look her in the eyes. He knew this was all his fault.

"Was this your plan all along? To get close to us and then deceive us?"

"I wasn't planning on killing you." he still wouldn't look up.

"Are you sure? Because that's exactly what your dad said he would do!"

"Hermione…" he wanted to explain that he didn't want to get close to her for this exact reason.

"Harry was right about you. He was right all along but I didn't listen to him because I thought that you actually cared about me! You just wanted me dead. Isn't that your whole family's plan? To kill all Mudbloods and take over? If you were going to kill me, why didn't you kill me at my weakest?" Hermione pulled out her wand but Draco was quick to take it away from her. He sat her down on his bed and got on his knees to look up at her. He held her down as she struggled to get loose.

"I never meant for this to happen." He looked into her eyes. She couldn't look into his eyes for long. She was afraid she would punch him in the face. "You don't know this but my parents are forcing me to do this. I really don't have a choice here." his voice turned into whispers. "You don't know this either, but I was the one who was supposed to kill Dumbledore. If I didn't do it, Voldemort was going to kill me."

He said she didn't know but she knew. She knew everything. She thought it was weird that he was telling her the truth for the second time. His eyes begged her to believe him but he didn't need to. She already did. She relaxed her body and looked at him again.

"Draco, what's going to happen? You know if I accept it?" Draco was relieved that she was thinking about it. He smiled and sat down beside her. He grabbed her face and looked into her eyes again.

"We don't have to talk about it right now. All I can say is you'll be okay as long as I am. They weren't lying about protecting you.'' They laid down together without saying another word and fell asleep.