Hermione's eyes shot open. Her breath catching in her throat. She was on the cot, a blanket was thrown haphazardly over her body, covering only her torso and thighs. Her hair was sprawled over the pillow, but something was different.

The pillow and blanket were hers. But they didn't smell right, they smelled like evergreen trees and stale water. Him.

She sat up, the blanket falling off the cot, and it all came back. The haziness of her head, the crick in her neck, her chapped lips…

Her eyes widened and the taste in her mouth turned sour as she remembered his taste. She sat up quickly and ran her hands through her bushy hair. She wondered if it was possible to Oblivate one's own memory; promising herself to look it up later.

Hermione could hear Draco rustling around in the main part of the tent. She glanced down at her bag at the end of the cot and the half-empty bottle of Firewhisky. Despite him saving her life, she couldn't fully trust him. When she had recovered from the Cruciatus, Hermione had half-expected Draco to run off or maybe worse. And now, now that they had kissed, he could blackmail her, or use it to ruin any shred of a reputation she had.

Thinking of all the terrible possibilities made her head hurt. She stood up and carefully shrunk down her bedding and placed it back into her bag. She did the same with the bottle of Firewhisky, making sure to completely re-fill it first.

Draco stood fully dressed. His once torn and dirty clothes were fixed and cleaned. His hair was combed and washed. The white-button down he had dyed black and the sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, exposing his Dark Mark.

"Good, you're up. He threw her a set of clothes she had never seen before. A black button down paired with a knee-length emerald green skirt topped off with a set of emerald green robes. The pattern on the robe was intricate, the seal of Slytherin predominating, however, when Hermione looked on the underside of the robe, it was lined with gold silk.

"Where did you get these?" Hermione asked, her mind suddenly wondering if Draco had left and murdered some poor witch for her clothes.

"I transfigured the spare bedding. We'd be caught the second we walked through the door if you were dressed like that." His eyes roamed from the top of her head down to the tips of her toes. A smirk broke out across his face. "Unless, you wanted to act as my…" Draco moved closer to her now his face coming within inches of hers. He leaned down near her ear, his lips brushing against her skin as he whispered, "...whore."
Hermione pushed him away. Her expression twisting to one of disgust. She headed back to her bedroom to change, but just before disappearing behind the curtain, she targeted a quick Stinging Jinx at Malfoy's legs.

She had just gotten behind the curtain when she heard him yelp in pain. Hermione couldn't help but smile. Wanker.

The clothes looked odd on her. While they weren't out of the ordinary for someone in the Wizarding World, she couldn't help but feel unlike herself. Which, she figured, was exactly the point.

Taking out a mirror from her bag, she started to work on transfiguring her appearance. She first paled her skin and added a dappling of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Her eyes turned from brown to green; and her bushy, mousy brown hair to wavy red hair that flowed down her shoulders. She was satisfied with her temporary appearance. While she looked like a stranger, Hermione could still herself somewhere among the emerald eyes and Weasley-colored hair.

She emerged from behind the curtain. Draco was waiting for her a half-eaten apple in his hand and another on the table beside him. He nearly laughed when he saw her appearance.

"Is that what you think a Death Eater looks like?" he asked, taking a bite of the apple, it's scent filling the air.

"What? Not all Death Eaters have to look like stuffy pricks with sticks up their arse," she answered. Two can play that game.

Draco frowned and pointed his wand at her hair. It promptly changed from bright red to a deep, Dementor black. The freckles remained, but faded slightly. Her eyes, however, didn't change.

"No, self-respecting Pureblood has red hair." His voice sounded more like a raspy growl. There were dark circles around his eyes and his eyes were slightly bloodshot, clearly signs of a hangover. Yet, he looked more like the Draco she used to know. The one back at Hogwarts. She thought he had changed, but maybe he was the same Draco.

"You're a real tosser, you know that?" she said, glancing at her new reflection in the mirror. She did certainly look more like the conventional Death Eater. Black hair, pale skin. A shiver ran down her back.

"Tell me something I don't know," he said, frowning. He held out his arm to her. 'Let's get this over with." He put on the hat. His face was still visible, however, it was absolutely impossible to find out his identity without taking off the hat.

Hermione took his arm and Draco apparated them. Within seconds, her feet hit cobblestones. The alley was dark and she instantly tensed when she realized Draco had not apparated them to Diagon Alley.

"Knockturn?" she asked, glancing around to make sure the Disillusionment charm she had cast as soon as they had landed worked. While they were drawing some attention, she realized it was because of the Dark Mark Draco displayed openly.

"Obviously," he said, dryly.

She felt his gaze on her as they approached the merge point to Diagon Alley. Hermione wondered if the transfiguration was already starting to wear off on her features. She shot a quick spell up to her face, but nothing changed.

Draco leaned down near her ear again. However, this time it felt different. His breath was more controlled, his lips farther away.

"Walk straighter; act like you own the place. Hold your head up higher. The Disillusionment is only allowing you cast the spells, remember." His voice was no longer the growl it had been before. It had returned to normal, or at least he wanted her to think it had.

Hermione nodded and immediately altered her mannerisms. She didn't want to tell him that she was imitating the way Pansy used to flaunt around Hogwarts, as if the school were her own personal toy box and all the students merely her dolls. It gave her a secret pleasure to know that her worst Hogwart's bully was the one to inspire her pungent countenance.

The pair approached Gringrotts. The street growing busier. People stopped and stared, pulled their children away, parted as if they were the Red Sea. Hermione felt Draco's arm tense underneath her hand. She tried to keep her countenance, however, seeing the fear in the people's eyes and the way they clutched their children. It broke her heart.

Draco took off his hat when they entered the bank. He handed it to Hermione who scrambled to put it in her bag. The witch was obviously terrified. Despite putting on a fairly convincing performance, her hands still shook and he could see the anxiety in her eyes.

The goblins all turned to face him, their eyes widening and a flurry of whispers erupting. Draco had expected a reaction, but the goblins were looking at him as if he were dead. Maybe he was…

The walk across the ornate marble floors felt like an eternity. Every step echoed around the large hall as if the building itself were surprised to see him walk through the door.

He caught a flash of light but realized it was just Hermione keeping up the transfiguration. No one else seemed to notice. It was odd looking at her. She looked exactly like someone he could've grown up with, but instead it was Hermione Granger, a girl so different from the girls of his childhood.

They reached the counter. The goblin sitting there was already staring at Draco in disbelief.

"Mr. Malfoy," he said his voice shaky. "To what do we own the pleasure?"

Draco reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. It had taken him nearly the whole morning to write something that would look like it came from his aunt. He handed it over to the goblin.

"My aunt actually," he said. "She needs me to retrieve something from her vault. I'm sure that will be no problem."

Draco made sure his Dark Mark was fully visible as he drew his wand. He didn't cast a spell, but he knew that his capability of the Imperio curse was no secret.

"That would be no problem, Mr. Malfoy. But we just let you and a friend into her vault not ten minutes ago."

He felt Hermione's hand tighten around his arm.

"What do you mean?! They were obviously an imposter! This is ridiculous! I demand to be let in!" He held his wand against his Dark Mark. "I highly doubt you want the Dark Lord to settle this." His gaze was intense and deadly.

"That will not be necessary, Mr. Malfoy," the goblin said. "Obviously this is just a misunderstanding."

Draco nodded, pulling his wand away from the skin, but keeping it firmly in his grasp. Hermione was starting to lose her composure, her walk was becoming bouncy and excitable. Her true personality starting to come through.

He helped her into the cart and then climbed in afterwards, the goblin climbing in last. The ride started out fairly typical. But halfway through, the cart stalled and the three were ejected from the cart. Hermione stopped them inches from the ground.

"Thanks," Draco murmured.

"The Thief's Downfall," the goblin said. "Thieves! You're all thieves!"

The goblin began to walk away, but Draco quickly cast an Imperio on the goblin; commanding him to guide them to Bellatrix's vault.

He saw Hermione was back to normal. Her mass of curls overtaking her small form. He couldn't help but smile. The bedding he had transfigured for her clothes had once again turned into bedding, which Hermione was frantically trying to tie around herself.

"I thought you'd at least be able to keep up a simple transfiguration," he said smirking.

Hermione blushed and avoided his gaze. The sheets, while sufficiently covering her, had slipped off her shoulders, the dim light bouncing off her skin delightfully.

"It wasn't me," she said. "I think when we fell it's enchanted to get rid of any existing enchantments." Hermione pulled her wand from the mess of bedding and quickly transfigured them into something more sensible. Something more Hermione. The sheets turned into a pale pink jumper and a pair of jeans.

The rest of the walk was dank and cold. The goblin walked blissfully under the Imperius, it was almost comical. Hermione, however, was walking as if every step was a journey. Not ten minutes before, she had been walking with such a bounce in her step.

They reached Bellatrix's vault, the door already open. Various valuables, mostly cups, were spilling from it.

Hermione climbed out before Draco could say anything. She dived into the vault and disappeared from his sight. He followed her and soon felt himself tackled by a large mass.

"Harry! I thought you were buried!" the redhead climbed off of him.

Draco sneered at him, suddenly realizing that Harry must have used Polyjuice. Hermione emerged from the overflowing valuables, dragging up a pale blond head with her.

Ron glanced at Hermione in disbelief and then back at Draco. Ron's wand was at his neck before he could react.

"Stop!" Hermione screamed. "This isn't the time! We have to get the horcrux!" Harry, still disguised as Draco, began to climb towards the top of the mountain where an ornate cup sat. Hermione scrambled after him.

"This isn't over, Malfoy!" Ron said as he withdrew his wand hesitantly. His gaze was locked on Draco, his breath heavy and beads of sweat ran slowly down his forehead.

"I'd expect nothing less," Draco said standing up and flinging some of the still multiplying cups to the side. "Let's just try to live through this first."

"Stop moving!" Hermione shouted. Everyone stopped and the cups ceased to multiply until Harry slowly creeped towards the cup, the valuables starting to overcome in. Within seconds of him disappearing underneath the cups, he emerged holding the horcrux.

Griphook, who Draco had failed to notice earlier, grabbed the cup from his hand. Harry looked up at him stunned. Draco couldn't hear the exchange, but the goblin soon fled with the Sword of Gryffindor in hand. Hermione now holding the horcrux.

Draco started back towards the entrance of the vault and tried to clear a path, but every time he cleared away 10 cups, twenty more sprung up in their place. He reached the door first and used magic to try and clear it the best he could.

Ron bumbled out first with Hermione just behind, still holding the cup and finally Harry, back to his normal self. The cup wasn't the only thing Hermione was holding. Her and Ron's hands were clasped firmly in each other's.

Draco felt a slight annoyance. It wasn't like he was blind. Weasley had liked her for years and she had felt the same. How else would've he made Keeper… But yet, something didn't feel right about the pair. Hermione was smarter, more competent than Weasley. Hermione was too rigid, too stern for someone like Ron.

"Hermione…" the other two boys said at the same time. They enveloped her in a hug. Draco rolled his eyes, but before he could open his lips to complain, jets of light flashed towards them. All four drew their wands.

The bank guards outnumbered them immensely. There was no way the four of them, although talented, could hold them off for much longer. A curse grazed Draco's arm and sliced open his shirt, warm blood coming to the surface and saturating the fabric around it. The blood began to run down his arm, but he ignored it and fired off another curse, one of the guards falling to the ground, stupefied.

"Got any ideas, Hermione?" Ron asked, firing off a curse.

"One, but it's mad. Hold them off," she said. She backed up and shouted, "Reducto!" The railing on the platform blasted into pieces and Hermione ran towards it, jumping onto the dragon's back. The dragon wretched backwards, but Hermione held on.

One by one, the boys jumped onto the back of the dragon, dodging the curses from the bank guards. With a flick of her wand, Hermione prompted the dragon to rise up and up, until it blasted through the roof of Gringotts.

With plaster in their hair and a few cuts and bruises each, the quartet clung to the dragon. The ride was blustery, but it gave them all a new rush. For some the rush was more beneficial than for others…

They landed just outside Hogsmeade. Hermione cued the dragon to land them just outside the cave Sirius hid out in during their third year.

The dragon flew off turning and somersaulting in the air happy to once again have it's freedom. Hermione watched it go, smiling.

"Malfoy!" Ron shouted drawing his wand.

"Yes, Weasley?" Draco asked.

Ron didn't answer, instead he fired a curse. Draco easily deflected it and fired another back at him.

"Woah, Ron, give him a chance to explain!" Harry said, pushing firmly against Ron's chest.

"What's there to explain?! Malfoy kidnapped her!"

"But she's back and she's fine," Harry said. "It doesn't make any sense, Malfoy. What happened back at the Manor?"

"I don't owe either you an explanation. If I hadn't stepped in, Greyback would've turned her! I can't help that you're incapable!"

"We were locked in your cellar!"

"Yes, and if you were capable you wouldn't have let it get that far! I can hardly help your lack of competence! You should be grateful. I gave up my good name and my status to help out you ungrateful bastards!"

Ron's face was growing redder with every word that spewed from Draco's mouth. His knuckles growing white as he clutched his wand tighter and tighter.

Hermione walked into the cave and came upon the tense scene. The cheerful expression on her face soon changed to one of worry.

"What's going on here?"

"Malfoy's about to get his arse kicked!"

Ron fired off another curse which bounced off the cave wall and disappeared into the ground. Hermione pulled out her wand intending to sweep both boys off the ground.

"Sectumsempra!" Ron shouted.

"No!"

The white light emerged from Ron's wand and headed straight for the Slytherin wizard. Draco narrowly escaped the curse, the light bouncing off the stone wall behind him.

The curse redirected and the Chosen One fell to the ground; blood beginning to soak through his shirt.

A/n: I know, I know, it's been much too long! I hope this chapter was worth it though! Draco's dark side has once again returned! Let me know what you think!

-Alyce