Unofficial Portkey Archive

Pariah

Everyday I fight a war against the mirror

I can't take the person staring back at me 'cause I'm a hazard to myself

Don't let me get me

I'm my own worst enemy

It's bad when you annoy yourself, so irritating

Don't wanna be my friend no more, I wanna be somebody else

I wanna be somebody else, yeah

(Don't Let Me Get Me-Pink)

~*~

Ron looked between Hermione and Draco. Hermione felt as if her heart stopped and that time had slowed down just to torture her for this moment.

"What the hell is going on here?" Ron asked. He didn't yell. He spoke in a deadly calm voice.

"Ron…" Her voice was shaky and she began to tremble. Tears began to form in her eyes.

Draco stepped in front of her in a protective gesture. "She doesn't have to explain anything to you."

Ron shook his head in disgust then turned and left the tower. Hermione moved to go after him but Draco stopped her.

"Hermione," he pleaded with her to stay but she yanked her arm free and ran out of the room. Draco swore softly under his breath and followed after her. Ron raced through the corridors with Hermione on his heels. Draco had been left behind, lost at a turn of a corner.

Ron stormed into the common room and Luna and Ginny stood up. "Oh good, did you find…"

Their voices trailed off when they saw the look of absolute rage on his face.

"Ron?" Neville asked with concern.

Hermione had just clambered in through the door and Ron didn't hesitate.

"WHAT THE FUCK, HERMIONE?!!"

Everyone in the room jumped.

"Ron…I…"

"DON'T EVEN TRY TO DENY IT HERMIONE! I SAW YOU! I SAW YOU WITH…WITH…HIM!!"

"I wasn't going to deny it," she shook her head.

"Ron what is this about?" Ginny cut in.

"HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO HARRY?!!"

"This has nothing to do with Harry!" Hermione shot back.

"IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH HARRY!! YOU WERE KISSING MALFOY!!"

Luna, Ginny and Neville's jaws dropped open and they all stared at Hermione. Ron realized what he had done turned away from his friends and ran a frustrated hand through his hair. Hermione turned to her friends.

"Could you…leave us for a moment?"

Ginny shook her head in disbelief at her. "Hermione…how…"

"Please?" Hermione repeated.

"We'll go upstairs," Neville said. His tone was harsh and cruel to her and the three of them followed Neville to the boys' dorm.

Ron's hands were resting on the back of a chair, his face was red with anger and fury. "I'm asking Harry to take you out of the Order."

"What?! You can't do that!"

"I can when I think your loyalties should be questioned."

"I AM LOYAL TO HARRY!" Hermione shouted.

"BULLSHIT!!" Ron threw the chair he was grasping across the room. "Your loyalty to Harry ended the moment you started feeling any sort of compassion for the Ferret. That's your downfall Hermione, it will be your downfall. You care too damn much about things that shouldn't be cared for! Your stupid SPEW, your dumb fling with Viktor during the tournament, this stupid idea that Malfoy, of all people, can be saved!"

"Shut up, Ron! SHUT UP!!" Hermione shouted, wiping the hot tears from her cheeks.

He jabbed a finger at her. "You have until tonight to tell him or I WILL!! Either way, if I see you trying to ferret your way back into his good graces, mark my words Hermione, I will put a stop to it. Harry needs at least one true friend."

The portrait door opened and Harry walked in.

"Ron? Hermione?" he asked, seeing the looks on their faces. Hermione turned away and hastily wiped the tears from her face.

Ron grabbed his cloak. "I'm outta here," he said and brushed past Harry.

Harry looked back at Hermione. "What happened?"

Hermione took one look at the concern on Harry's face and something cracked inside of her, letting the tears fall down and her shoulders shake with her sobs.

Alarmed Harry rushed to her side. "Hermione?"
She backed away from him, keeping him at arms length. "Stay…away…from me…Harry," she said in between hiccups.

He stopped where he was. "Hermione, what's going on?"

She looked at him. Her best friend. The man she truly did love. "I'm…sorry," she hiccupped. "I'm so…so sorry."

"What did you do?" he asked in a whisper.

"Harry! Hermione!" Tonks yelled as she ran into the common room. Harry looked up at her.

"What is it?" he asked, slightly startled by her intrusion.

"It's happening," she announced. "Let's go. I've got a portkey."

They moved out into the corridor where Ron was holding a muggle soda can. He didn't even glance in Hermione's direction when he held it out. With an uncomfortable tugging sensation the felt themselves leave Hogwarts…

…and land in a street somewhere in London. Harry could hear screaming and there was the smell of smoke in the air. The Dark Mark hovered in the sky above them.

"Stay in pairs of two!" Kingsley announced when they had dropped in with the other members of the Order. "You're with me Potter!" Harry looked at Hermione then looked at Ron. "Watch her for me, okay?" he asked his friend before running off with Kingsley. Ron glared at Hermione, who ignored his steely gaze and drew her wand, stepping forward to join in whatever battle there may be.

Ron didn't follow her. He went after Harry.

Alone but not afraid. Hermione went in the direction the Remus and Tonks went. Her eye on the Dark Mark above her. Someone ran past her, a muggle, with his hands wrapped around a small television. There were sirens blaring and she jumped out of the road to let the police speed by. More people began running toward her, their faces black with ash and soot, coughing and swearing. There was a dull roaring and she could feel heat.

Fire.

Something was on fire.

Her vision became obscured by the thickening smoke and she coughed for a breath. She held her wand in front of her and did a little incantation to clear some air around her so she could breath.

Then she was tackled to the ground and she cried out in pain when her wrist of her wand arm made a sickening crunch when it hit the pavement. She was pinned and couldn't move very well but she struggled anyway. The man who pinned her grabbed her broken wrist and she screamed, instinctively dropping her wand. He flipped her over and with terror, Hermione saw Dolohov above her. The man who nearly killed her in the Department of Mysteries.

"Go ahead and struggle," he said to her, licking his lips. He moved off of her and grabbed her by her hair and dragged her into a nearby building, kicking and screaming.

*

Harry and Kingsley just rounded a corner in time to see someone throw something large and heavy into a storefront before reaching in and helping himself to the wares now available. There were smoke and flames pouring out of the windows of the building. People were running in the streets, looting the stores that were nearby, also on fire. The muggle fire brigades were doing their best to contain the fires and keep them from spreading to even more buildings. Police sirens shrieked in protest of the looters.

"Have they all gone mad?" Harry asked.

Ministry officials showed up, one of the captains walked up to Kingsley. "Round up as many muggles as you can. We'll need to do some memory modifications here. Our fire brigade just arrived to help put these fires out."

"Why aren't the Death Eaters attacking? This would be a prime time to take out as many muggles as they can in this confusion," Kingsley said aloud.

Kingsley was right. As they wandered in the streets on guard, not a single hex or curse was sent their way. It was as if the Death Eaters set the fires then left.

"Something doesn't feel right about this," Harry said, shaking his head.

"I'm with you on that one, Harry."

There was someone approaching and Harry turned to see Ron trotting up to them.

"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked.

Ron dismissed the question. "Do you have any idea what's going on here?"

"Aside from the Dark Mark, there's nothing left of any Death Eaters," Kingsley replied.

Remus and Tonks showed up as well as Moody and Aberforth.

"Nothing," they had said.

"Have you seen Hermione?" Harry asked them.

"I thought she was with Ron," Tonks replied.

Ron shrugged. "I went with Harry."

Harry whirled on him. "I told you to stay with Hermione."

"She's a big girl. She can take care of herself," Ron said nonchalantly.

Harry shook his head. "What the hell has gotten into you?"

"You heard everyone, there aren't any Death Eaters. She's probably somewhere in this crowd."

"Everyone split up again," Remus said and they parted ways to find her.

*

Hermione elbowed Dolohov in the stomach and he bent over in pain. She quickly moved past him to get through the doorway and ran down the hall. She didn't get too far before the Death Eater grabbed her and shoved her up against the wall.

"No!" she protested as he pressed his body against hers. He wrapped a hand around her throat, pinning her head to the wall as he whispered in her ear.

"How long have I waited for this?" he said, kissing the side of her face, kissing her ear.

Hermione reached up and dug her nails into his cheek and scratching him deeply. He cried out in pain and let go of her. She scrambled down the hall and heard him hex her a moment before she turned a corner. A searing pain lashed at her shoulder and she slumped against the wall for only a moment.

She had grabbed her shoulder with her other hand and when she took it away, she could see blood. She sprinted down the hall and into a room, closing and locking the door behind her.

She had run into an office and as she heard Dolohov blast away the door, she grabbed a computer keyboard and swung it at him, hitting him directly in the face. He cried out in pain. She happened to look out the window and saw Lupin and Tonks across the street.

"LUPIN!!" she screamed.

"Shh!" Dolohov grabbed her and put a hand over her mouth. "Someone might hear you."

He picked up a struggling Hermione who was kicking and thrashing. She opened her mouth a little wider and bit down hard on his hand. He yanked it away, yelling in pain. Hermione grabbed a paperweight on the desk and through it through the window.

"TONKS!!"

Nymphadora stopped Remus. "Did you hear that?" she asked.

Remus paused then…"Get down!" he shouted, bringing her to the floor as a hex flew at them.

"REMUS!!"

"Hermione!" he breathed and the two of them sprinted across the street.

"No! Let me go!"

Dolohov was having some difficulty holding on to Hermione and trying to fling a curse at the pair headed their way.

"Shut up you little mudblood!" he hissed in her ear.

She reached back and elbowed him in the face and went for his wand, repeatedly hitting his hand against the desk. He heard people approaching and turned his wand to the doorway. Hermione knocked it away as his hex landed harmlessly on the doorframe above. Dolohov grabbed Hermione and used her as a shield when the two of them entered the room.

"Let her go, Dolohov," Remus ordered him, wand drawn.

Dolohov kissed the side of her head. "Until later, my sweet."

He shoved her to them and she felt a few hairs depart from her head before the Death Eater disappeared.

Tonks was the one who had caught her. "Are you okay, Hermione?"

~*~

"Did she say who did this to her?" Harry whispered angrily to Kingsley. He was standing a distance away from Hermione who was being examined by Madame Pomfrey, a curtain was drawn around her bed to give her some privacy.

"Dolohov," he answered.

"Dolohov?!" Harry whispered his shriek. "Where the hell was Brian? Sitting on his ass?"

Kingsley gave him a reprimanding look. "He's been on surveillance at the Grangers."

Harry pursed his lips together. He wanted to lash out at someone. "And you?" he said to Ron.

He shrugged. "I was with you."

"And I told you to stay with her," Harry shot back.

"She's a big girl. She can take care of herself."

Harry looked in Hermione's direction. "Evidently," he said sarcastically.

Ron looked directly at him. "Yeah, Harry. Evidently."

Harry stared at Ron, wondering what had gotten into his friend. The sound of the curtain being pulled back brought his attention back to Hermione.

"I'll see you later," Ron said and left the hospital wing.

"Is everything okay?" Kingsley asked Harry.

He shook his head. "I have no idea what's going on."

Kingsley left him alone and Harry approached Madame Pomfrey and Hermione. She had some cuts and bruises on her, a large gash on her right shoulder and her right wrist was wrapped an in a sling. She was currently gagging down some Skele-Gro.

"She should be ready to leave tomorrow morning," Madame Pomfrey said. "But she'll rest here overnight."

The mediwitch hustled away to her other wards leaving the two of them alone.

"You want to tell me why you separated from Ron?" he asked.

Hermione played with some stray strands on her sling. "We aren't getting along right now."

"I can see that. Do you want to tell me why?" Hermione chewed her bottom lip. "Does this have something to do with what I walked in on earlier?"

"Earlier today," she swallowed her fear, "Ron…walked in on…" She just couldn't get the words out.

"Walked in on what, Hermione?" he asked.

The doors to the hospital wing opened and Harry was surprised at who was standing there.

"Um…," Draco said quietly as he stood there, awkward.

Hermione let out a soft groan and closed her eyes, wishing Draco away. Harry looked from Draco to Hermione and back. The glasses and vials on the table next to her began to rattle and there was a low rumble.

"Harry…wait," Hermione called out to him as he backed away from her.

"Hermione…," he shook his head, "…piss off." He walked away from her and out of the hospital wing. He stopped once by the doors next to Draco. He was sooo angry he didn't know what to say first. He just scoffed and shook his head in disbelief before walking out of the door.

Draco slowly approached Hermione, taking in her injuries.

She wiped the tears away from her face and slumped down in the bed. "Go away, Draco," she sniffed.

"Who did this to you?" he asked, reaching out and touching her arm in the sling. Hermione rolled away from him, not answering him.

"Hermione…"

"Please," she sniffled. Reluctantly, Draco left her side.

~*~

Harry didn't get any sleep at all that night. He made Ron tell him about Hermione and Draco and what exactly he had walked in on. Neville was up as well and offered his own editorial about how he felt about Hermione. The Ferret and Hermione kissing. What the hell was she thinking? He wanted to scream at her, shake some sense into her but that would involve talking to her and he did NOT want to do that. And as he lay awake at night, he let his imagination take over as he played various scenarios in his head, each one worse than the one before.

But the good thing about Harry Potter was that he had friends. And he sat with them at their usual spot at the Gryffindor table. No one else had known what had transpired between Hermione and Draco so it was surreal for Harry to think that while his own little world was crashing down upon him, everyone else was going about business as usual.

"Good morning everyone," Luna said, sitting down with them and handing Harry a copy of the Quibbler.

Another Death Eater Attack!

The headline was in bold letters above a large picture of him, Ron and Kingsley surveying the damage.

"Daily Prophet didn't even cover this," Luna said.

"Really?" Ron said. "I bet the Beetle is spitting fire."

"Probably," Harry sighed, folding up the paper and passing it to Neville.

"Hello Harry," came the chorus of voices from Lavender and Parvati. The article and his picture fueled their hero fantasies of him even more.

"Heads up Harry," Neville muttered quietly and Harry looked up to see Hermione walking into the Hall. Her sling was gone but she still had her wrist wrapped and she still had a few cuts on her face. She sat down at her usual place at the table but the moment she settled herself, Ron picked up his cup and plate and moved further down the table. Harry followed suit with Luna, followed shortly by Neville and Ginny.

The buzz of conversation gradually lowered in volume as everyone in the school witnessed what had just happened. Hermione's face was hot with embarrassment. She hastily grabbed an orange and some toast then quickly got up to leave the Hall and have her breakfast someplace else. Conversation went back to its normal level although with much more enthusiasm.

Harry would've felt bad for Hermione if he didn't notice the Ferret watching her as she left. Fucker. Lavender and Parvati were desperate for gossip so they, too, moved to join Harry's group but where unsuccessful at extracting anything from anyone and were instead privy to a quidditch debate between Ron and his sister.

*

And that's how it went for two weeks. Harry and company avoided Hermione like the plague. If he and Ron were downstairs in the common room and she walked in to sit down and read they simply got up and left the room. She approached Neville, Ginny and Luna but was met with the same cold shoulder punctuated with a "How could you betray Harry like that." He eventually no longer saw her at the Great Hall or if he did, it was briefly when she came in, grabbed something off of the table and then left. She knew where the kitchens were anyway.

Classes were a different issue. He was forced to sit in the same room with her. She seemed to be throwing herself back into her studies but she no longer raised her hand like the Know-It-All she used to be. DADA was the hardest class. Harry had to actually sit for an hour and a half and witness Ferret and Hermione sitting together. He had some mild satisfaction seeing that she wasn't making any effort to speak to the Slytherin.

But there was a part of him, a tiny part, that actually missed her believe it or not. A part of him that felt bad for cutting her out of his life. It happened mostly when he was stumped on a question on his homework but it was the little things that really stung. The easy conversations they had, her curled up in an armchair reading a book while he played chess with Ron and worst of all going through this horcrux hunt without her.

Hermione had been replaced with Neville and the three of them were now in the Chamber of Secrets picking up a few more books to peruse through, nothing so far had given them any clues and he was beginning to lose hope. Harry eyed the pensieve on the other side of the room. Maybe he should take a dive in it. Sometime.

"I can't believe this has been here all this time," Neville said as he flipped the pages of a book.

"Let's just take what we need and get out of here," Harry muttered, letting his frustration get the better of him and shoving a book into his bookbag. He had a long night ahead of him reading through all this crap.

Meanwhile in the library, Hermione was working on her Charms homework when Draco approached her table.

"Are you finished blaming me for making you the Pariah of Gryffindor?" he asked.

"I don't blame you," she said blandly, still scribbling away.

"Then are you done feeling sorry for yourself?" She glared at him then returned to her homework. Draco sighed and snatched her homework away from her and shoved it into her bag. "Let's go," he said.

"Draco, I'm not going to go anywhere with you," she replied stubbornly.

"It's not like you have a busy social schedule," he said, shrugging. "Your friends tend to scatter to the wind whenever you walk into a room."

"Can you blame them?" Hermione said dryly.

Draco inhaled sharply and pursed his lips together in a gesture of impatience. He pulled out a chair and flipped it around backwards before sitting in it.

"And their shit doesn't stink?" he said. Hermione didn't answer him but she began to put away her quill and ink jar. "Do you think if Potty made some unpopular choices people would treat him like they did you?"

"They did when everyone thought he was the heir of Slytherin," she muttered.

"Everyone but his two best friends who stuck by his side," he retorted.

"And what about when everyone thought he put his name in the Goblet of Fire?"

"That's still up for debate in some circles but if I recall correctly, Weasley may have abandoned him but you stuck by his side." Hermione sighed and put away her book. Draco reached out and ran his finger on some etched initials in the table. "Some way to repay your loyalty."

"It's different," Hermione shrugged.

"Why? Because he's Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived? The poor orphan boy who was abused as a child and now needs to be coddled and have everything perfect around him? That's the problem, Hermione," Draco lectured, wagging a finger in her face. "You've been his most loyal friend, the one who has stuck by him through the years so he's held you up to higher standards. He doesn't hold Weasley to those standards because he doesn't expect his loyalties, they've had their disagreements. But you," he pointed at her, "he expects more out of you. You have to be the super-friend, the flawless-friend, the most loyal of them all. So when you show your human side, your faults, you fall…and you fall hard." Hermione fingered the straps of her bookbag. "Tiring isn't it? Trying to be the perfect friend."

She grabbed her bag and stood up. "Yes well, it's quite obvious that I'm not the perfect friend. I'm sure any one of them would be glad to tell you that."

Draco got up as well. "No you're not perfect. You're human. We all have flaws." Hermione sighed. "What have you got to lose?" he shrugged.

"This had better be worth it," she snapped.

"I think it might be," he grinned.

"There's always a way out of this castle," Draco said to her when the two of them walked behind the greenhouses. "Ready?" he asked, holding out an old muggle cassette player. Hermione sighed and reached out to touch it. Draco tapped it with his wand and they were transported away.

They landed in a grassy field and she followed Draco as they climbed it only to be greeted with a view of a rundown home overlooking a small village.

"Where are we?" she asked, stepping forward.

"I'll give you a clue," he said, stopping some meters from the house. Hermione watched as he took out a small knife from his pocket and pricked his finger with it. He squeezed for a drop of blood and held out his hand to let it drop to the ground. Hermione felt a slight vibration in the air. "We can get past the perimeter charm now."

Terror and panic suddenly seized Hermione and she reached out to grab Draco's arm. "Where are we?" she whispered.

Draco swept his arm out in front of him in a grand gesture. "The Riddle House, my dear."

~*~

Ron was the first to give up. He was slumped over the table, his face resting on the book with a little bit of drool coming out of his mouth as he softly snored. Neville sat across from him, desperately trying to stay awake and make sense of what he was reading. Harry could see that once in awhile he seemed to get lost then start again a few pages back. At least he was trying.

"It's late," Harry said, nudging Ron awake. "Why don't you guys get going?"

"I'm okay Harry, really," Neville said, stifling a yawn.

"Go, I'll be fine," he insisted. Reluctantly, Neville left with Ron who was still half-asleep as they trudged upstairs.

Harry closed the book that he was reading and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He was sitting on one of the couches and he let his head fall back to rest on the back of the couch. He didn't want to admit it but he could really use Hermione's help right now.

~*~

"Draco, I want to leave," Hermione whispered, her voice in a tremble.

The two of them walked down a darkened hallway to a large room that she presumed to be a dining room.

"Would you relax," Draco hissed back, "Nobody's here."

"I don't care. I just don't want to be here in the first place."

He looked back and grinned, pointing to something in the corner of the room. Hermione gasped and stumbled backward, hitting the wall behind her. There was the shed skin of a very large snake lying on the floor in the corner.

"I found this little portkey on Hogwarts grounds. Looks like someone was a little careless." He waved the cassette player in the air. "Voldemort told me to tell Potty about the attack on London to `gain his trust'. He of all people knew that no such thing would happen. So why send me to do it? Why do the attack anyway? Especially since no one was hurt." He paused and looked at her. "Well, no muggles were hurt anyway."

Hermione stared at him with wide eyes. "Slight of hand," she whispered and Draco grinned.

"While everyone is looking one way…" he made a gesture with his hands.

*

Hermione stepped through the portrait door into the dimly lit Gryffindor common room to find Harry resting on a couch. He lifted his head as soon as he heard someone enter and a dark look crossed his face when he saw who it was. Hermione brushed it off and approached him.

"Harry, I need to talk to you about something," she said.

Harry got up from the couch, taking his books with him. "Hermione, there's nothing you have to say that I could possibly want to hear."

"Would you wait a moment?" she said to him, stopping him at the stairs. "It's about the attack in London. Draco and I-"

"Oh, Draco and you. You know what, I don't want to hear it. I don't care. I don't care about anything that comes out of your mouth and anything you do."

Hermione stood there, stunned and in shock. She shook her head. "Harry, I'm trying to help you-"

"You don't get it do you?" he said, his voice rising in anger. "I. Don't. Want. Your. Help. I don't need your help and I don't care for it. So do me a favor and just stay away from me."

"Harry if you would just listen-"

He dropped his bag and swooped down on her, his eyes blazing in anger. "No, you listen to me," he hissed in a dangerous tone. "You kissed Malfoy. After everything he did, after everything he's done, you kissed him. You made it very clear where your loyalties lie and you betrayed us and everything we stood for. You betrayed me! You hurt me and I will never, NEVER, forgive you for this. So go ahead and run around with your little pet ferret. Do whatever you want with your life but stay the hell out of mine!"

The fire's flames in the fireplace roared and leapt out, books that were stacked in neat piles around the room were tossed to the floor and all the little glass vases shattered. He turned around and picked up his bag before jogging upstairs. Hermione stood there stunned. Something inside of her shattered but she didn't cry, she wouldn't cry. Harry wouldn't listen to her but someone else would.

~*~

"You know, Harry," Ron said as he, Harry and Neville made their way to the Headmistresses office, "it might not be a bad idea to start up the DA again."

Neville's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea!"

"I think we have a lot on our plates right now," Harry replied.

Ron shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe you should think about it."

They opened the door to find the most trusted members of the Order patiently waiting for them.

"Shouldn't we wait for Her-" Lupin started to say but Tonks shook her head no.

McGonagall just pursed her lips together in a disapproving frown. "I received some information from a source," she announced. "It pertains to the day of the last attack." She held out an old cassette player. "This was found on school grounds. It's a portkey, although we aren't sure if it was dropped on purpose or accident."

"Where does it go?" Moody asked, eyeing the thing suspiciously.

McGonagall paused in answering. "The Riddle House."

Harry stared at the object. "Who told you about this?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Hermione Granger," she answered. Ron cursed under his breath. Harry was livid. She went to the Riddle House??!!

"How did she know?" Tonks asked and McGonagall gave her a pointed look.

"Girl should know better than touching random objects on school grounds," Moody muttered.

"It's not active right now," McGonagall said, "but that wasn't the point. The point was, what was this thing doing here the day of the attack in London?"

"Someone dropped it?" Remus offered.

"What if the attack was just a distraction? Something to draw us out of the castle or, as Hermione put it, a specific someone?" McGonagall's eyes fell on Harry. "Someone who would detect something off within our walls?"

Harry looked at everyone in the room. "Forgive me for being blunt. But there's a reason why Hermione Granger isn't at this meeting nor any other future meeting of the Order. Her judgment and loyalties have been compromised."

"You think she's a traitor?" Moody asked gruffly.

"Impossible," Lupin scoffed.

Harry ignored them. "Therefore, you can't blame me if I take anything she says with a grain of salt."

"It's not completely far-fetched," Lupin spoke up. "What if someone somehow got into the castle, found whatever it was that they wanted and left in a hurry, dropping this on the way out."

"How would they get back?" Kingsley asked.

"So you're saying they could still be stuck here?" Tonks asked.

"I think we should be extra cautious about anything odd that happens within these walls," McGonagall said gravely.

~*~

"A Death Eater in Hogwarts?" Neville frowned. Harry, Ron and he were walking back to the common room after the meeting.

Harry shrugged. "Why not. There's already one here."

They turned the corner and found that Hermione was walking down the hall, her nose buried in a book.

"Just keep walking Harry," Ron muttered but Harry marched forward.

"Harry don't," Neville whispered, trying to hold Harry back but he shrugged out of his grasp.

Hermione looked up from her book to see Harry approaching her. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"What was that all about?" he spat at her.

She smiled sweetly at him. "I take it you got my message."

"Oh I got your message. What the hell where you thinking going to the Riddle House?"

"Aw, Harry. I didn't think you cared."

"He doesn't," Ron stepped up and shoved Harry forward so they could continue on their way.

Harry was so furious when he got to his common room. He went to his trunk and pulled out his invisibility cloak.

"Harry what are you doing?" Ron asked him.

Harry turned around. "That Ferret is up to something and there's just something, something in my gut that's telling me that Hermione is a pawn in all of this."

Ron blocked his way. "Harry, Hermione is a big girl and her own person. I know you're a little distraught right now by these turn of events with her. I am too. But you didn't see them, I did. And you know that Draco has been after Hermione for some time, you know this Harry."

"Harry we've got class in ten minutes," Neville added.

"What better time than now?" he said, moving past them. "Look you're either with me or not," he said, tossing Ron the Marauder's Map.

"This had better be worth it," he grumbled as he went after Harry.

~*~

Harry used his father's Head Boy badge that she had given him for Christmas to open up the Slytherin portrait door. Having been to Draco's room before, Harry made his way directly for it. The Map had shown that Draco was already in his Potions class, so after they had slipped into his room, Ron locked it behind him.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Ron said in a grumpy tone.

"I don't know," Harry replied irritably. "Anything."

"Well that narrows it down," Ron muttered.

Harry scoffed. "Why are you being so difficult?"

"Why are you doing this?" Ron gestured around the room.

"Because," Harry said as he began to rifle through the books in Malfoy's bookshelf.

Ron stayed by the door. "Because why?" he demanded.

"Because I love her Ron!" Harry shot back. Ron just looked at him and shook his head in pity.

"I want nothing to do with your personal quest for Hermione redemption."

"Just watch the door," Harry muttered.

There was nothing in the bookshelf nor the desk. Harry got down on his knees and looked under the bed. There was a small box there and Harry pulled it out. He lifted the lid to find it filled with small vials filled with potions.

"Hey Ron look at this," he said. Rows and rows of vials with labels on them, the names of which he recognized as having done in their class.

"He's been saving samples of the potions he's brewing?" Ron said, holding up a vial of polyjuice potion.

Harry sat back on his heels and sighed. Was this what he was looking for? From the peripheral vision of his eyes, something caught his eyes. Something that was not quite right. Something that just didn't…fit.

He stood up and walked over to the wall. Draco was sloppy and must have left in a hurry for there was a single stone block in the wall that jutted out just centimeters from the others. Harry reached up and pried it out.

Inside was a single vial with a golden colored potion inside. Harry couldn't remember where he had seen this. He knelt back down and compared it to the other potions that had labels on them but they didn't match.

"What do you suppose that is?" Ron asked.

"I don't know," Harry said, putting the potion in his pocket and replacing the brick. Ron put the other potions back under the bed. "But I have an idea of where I can find out."

Harry completely missed his Potions class but he didn't care. He send the vial in a package to Miles with a reply post haste. Now all he had to do was sit and wait.

~*~

"Hello, Hermione. Haven't seen you around lately," Hagrid said, opening the door to his hut to allow in one of his favorite students.

"Hello Hagrid," she replied, stepping inside.

"Ron an' Harry not wit yeh?"

She shifted awkwardly. "No, not today. Listen Hagrid. I have a bit of a rat problem in our dormitory and I was wondering if you had any traps?"

"Oh, of course," Hagrid said, moving to a large cabinet on one side of the room. He reached in and handed Hermione some sort of contraption that looked like some sort of mangler.

"Oh! Um…perhaps something more humane? I would like to live trap it."

"Well, in that case you'll need this." This time he handed her a medium size cage and after a brief tutorial on how to use it she headed back to the castle to set it up.

It didn't take too long, she stopped by the kitchens to ask Dobby for a bit of cheese then she set the trap in a corner in the Gryffindor common room. Crookshanks eyed the trap with interest.

"I need this rat alive, Crookshanks," she scolded him. The half-kneazle blinked up at her with disinterest.

The common room was empty because dinner had just started so she quickly made her way back to the Great Hall. This time, Hermione took her newly usual seat at the far end of the table and propped a heavy book in front of her to do some studying. Hedwig flew over her head and landed by Harry as she filled her cup with pumpkin juice and she took a long drink. Meat and potatoes tonight but she didn't really feel like eating, she was too anxious about her trap and what it would mean if she caught anything in it.

"Professor Tonks wants to speak with you."

She looked up to see Harry standing in front of her. Hermione was mid drink and she hastily put it down. Harry's eyes flickered to her cup briefly before looking back at her.

"Did she say what it was about?"

"I don't know," Harry snapped. "She just does, okay?"

"Fine," Hermione said in a nasty tone and she got up from the table. She marched to the front of the Hall where the Professor's were sitting down and chatting away.

"Professor Tonks, you wanted to see me?" she asked as she approached her. Tonks looked at her with a puzzled look on her face.

"I did?"

"Harry said…," Hermione stopped and sighed. "Never mind." She turned around and marched back to her spot at the table, livid. Harry was still standing there, looking a little pale. He saw her approaching and he began to fidget.

"Why did you send me-" She stopped abruptly when Harry knocked her cup into her plate, spilling pumpkin juice all over it then tipping the plate over. Hermione looked up at him.

"Er…," he bit his lower lip nervously.

"Harry have you gone mad?" she grabbed her bookbag.

"Hermione wait," Harry said.

"If you don't want me at this table anymore, there are more subtle ways of doing so as you very well know." She turned around and left the Hall.

Harry sighed as he watched her go. Fuck, fuck, fuck and double fuck.

Minutes earlier, Hedwig had arrived with a package. Inside was the vial that Harry had sent Miles, along with a note.

Harry where did you get this? This could be a very dangerous potion if used improperly and I'm not sure what the intent was of the person who brewed it. It's a modified Inhibitus potion. Its purpose is to lower ones inhibitions. This one is a little different, this one is aimed at lowering inhibitions toward a particular person. I found traces of a person's essence in it. Give me some time identifying who exactly but preliminary results say that it is a male.

Harry folded the not and looked up across the table at the Slytherins.

You. Stupid. Cowardly. Fucker.

Things began to click in place in his mind.

"Oh no!" Hermione started, losing her grip on the jug and it clattered to the table, emptying the rest of the pumpkin juice on its nearest occupants.

Ron looked at her exasperatedly as he cleaned up his robes, for the third time today, with a flick of his wand. Ginny and Neville were doing the same and Harry looked at Hermione with concern as he cleaned off his glasses on his robes. She had been like this all day. Distracted and a little bit disoriented, she didn't once raise her hand for answers that he knew that she knew, she merely gazed out of the window in all of her classes. He had even seen her walk into a couple of walls.

All this time he thought it was because he had Stupefied her.

Hermione stepped forward and knelt before Draco. "Draco, why did you tell me about what Voldemort asked you to do?"

"I needed help. I didn't know what to do. He's going to kill my mum, Hermione."

Harry was reminded of the time he had accidentally walked in on Draco last year in the lavatory talking to Moaning Myrtle. The pitiful boy who had bitten off more than he could chew, the boy who made a deal with the devil and realized that it came with a price.

But he remembered that this was also the boy who brought about the death of Albus Dumbledore even if he didn't have the courage to do it himself. This was the boy who had forced Hermione into a pact that nearly ended her life. And yet, Hermione was kneeling in front of the git, looking at him with compassion!!

He knew it. He knew it all along somewhere deep down that there was something wrong with Hermione. Especially when he talked to her on Valentine's Day.

Seeing the crestfallen look on her face, he shoved them into her hands before she could protest.

"Look, I know something's wrong with you. Something is bothering you. You can talk to me. I'm still your best friend aren't I?"

"Harry what is it?" Ron asked. He was holding the note so tightly in his hands and the plates around him began to rattle violently. "Harry calm down and hand me the letter."

Harry handed it off to Ron then looked for Hermione. She was sitting at the end of the table tucking in for dinner. He had to do something so he got up out of his chair and approached her.

"Professor Tonks wants to speak with you."

Oh geez that was so lame but whatever. To his horror she was already drinking from her cup.

"Did she say what it was about?"

"I don't know," Harry snapped. "She just does, okay?" For crying out loud Hermione just leave the damn table.

"Fine," Hermione said in a nasty tone and she got up and left.

Harry took out his vial of potion detection and sprinkled some of it on Hermione's food and drink.

It turned red.

Harry's heart dropped into his stomach. He was going to kill the Ferret. He looked up to see that she was returning and so not looking happy. He didn't want her to continue ingesting this crap so he did the lamest thing possible and ruined her food.

"Well that was some damn fine piece of investigative work," Ron mused when Harry returned to the table.

"Oh hush up," Harry muttered in reply.

~~~Weeks Earlier~~~

"Hermione wait!" he reached out and stopped her from leaving. She hit him on his arms and shoulders.

"Let me go, you bastard. You son of a bitch!!"

"Hermione, why do you think I'm telling you this?"

"I don't give a fuck what you say!"

"He's setting up an attack in London. He told me to tell you this to gain your trust. I'm being honest with you!"

Hermione jerked her knee upward making contact with Draco's groin and he crumpled to the floor, groaning in pain.

"I'm not going to let you near Harry!" she screamed at him. "I'm not going to give you chance to hurt him, do you hear me?!"

That was the last straw for him. He was sick and tired of playing second fiddle again to Potty. He had spilled his heart out to her, had asked her for help and she had rebuked him to defend Harry Potter. He hated Harry, he was so jealous of him and the undeserved loyalty he received from Hermione. Loyalty that he wanted for himself. She would look at him that way, he would find a way to separate her from Potty for good.

He slammed the door behind him in his room and went straight for his hiding place in the wall, removing a brick and revealing the Inhibitus potion inside. He had read about this in one of his potion books, the same one he had given Hermione in fact. Oh, the irony. He took a smaller empty vial and poured some of the potion off into it. Slipping it to her wouldn't be an issue either.

Hermione's crusade for Elf rights had turned off some of them to her. One in particular and Draco waited until the common room was empty in the middle of the night before confronting a squeaky, drunk, little elf named Winky who made it clear that she was no friend of Hermione's and her silly ideas.

What he would tell Hermione later was absolutely true and he knew it. Potter held Hermione on a pedestal so high that she was destined to fall, all he had to do was be the catalyst. And when Potter shattered her, he would be there to pick up the pieces.

Fuck Voldemort and his stupid little plan to earn Potter's trust. He was going to fail at that, he knew it. But if he was going to go down, he was going to do it in a way that would destroy Potter and keep Hermione at his side.

And that plan worked delightfully well. On Valentine's Day, Hermione had kissed him. And oh what a wonderful kiss it was. Draco had never felt that way before and he knew in that moment that he was a man lost. He was playing with fire and now he was getting burned. There was no way from here on out that he was going to let Hermione go.

And how perfect was it that Weasel had walked in on him? Before he knew it, Hermione was the pariah of Gryffindor. Nobody wanted to have anything to do with her, not even Potter. And he was there to pick up the pieces. Hermione was as good as his.

~~~Present~~~

Hermione and Potty had another fight and this time he had managed to chase her away from dinner. She was probably heading to the library, pissed off, hopping mad, emotions running high.

Perfect.

She would probably be hungry so he would have to make a stop off at the kitchens to pick some food up. Hmm, a seduction in the Astronomy Tower? Brilliant.

He got up from the table and headed to his room. He wanted to use some of the potion on the food, maybe in a stronger dose. Why not? It was a clear night, the stars were out, bring a little blanket and who knew how far Hermione would go?

He paused in front of the wall in his room to take a moment and close his eyes. He imagined what it would be like to kiss her again, to run his hands over her, to have her in the way Potty had her.

He sighed and removed the loose brick only to find that the potion was missing.

There was a soft shuffling sound and Draco turned around to see Potty step out from the shadows in his room. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt so he didn't see him when he first came in the room. He was holding the vial of potion in his hand.

"Looking for this?"

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