Chapter One: Headquarters

Hermione sat with her thin, long arms folded, her small frame rigidly sitting on the end of Ron's bed, which was really more of two mattresses on top of each other.

"This is wrong," she huffed. "A person is disclosing their weaknesses, and you lot are up here eavesdropping on the poor soul. You shouldn't listen in."

"Oh Hermione, would you calm down?" Ron whined.

"Yeah, I can't hear what's going on," said Fred. He and George were lying on the floor, their ears to the ground. Ginny and Ron were bunched up in the corner, and Harry, who had just arrived, was sitting with the door handle pressed into his forehead.

Hermione clenched her jaw in anger. Here they were, on the eve of the greatest war in all of wizard history, and all these people could do was sit there using Fred and George's Extendable Ears to listen to an unknown man asking to take refuge in the Order's new headquarters. It was wrong, and not to mention insensitive. Not like it could possibly be that amusing, anyways.

Plus, it's very rude to eavesdrop on something so intimate as a plea for help, Hermione thought, annoyed at her friends' immaturity.

"Come on, Hermione," Ginny said softly. "It's not like we're eavesdropping on you."

Hermione turned her back to the lot of them huddled near the crack underneath the door, and looked out the window to take in the new scenery.

After the previous year, the Order thought it wise to move their headquarters to somewhere other than number twelve, Grimmauld Place, seeing as Snape knew where it was and could come attack them there at any moment.

It was a slight surprise, Snape's act of betrayal, but it was not as if everyone really trusted him in the first place. Of course, all of the adults had placed their trust in him with hopes that they were all mature enough to see past Snape's previous mistakes. After Dumbledore's murder, however, every one of them pretended like they suspected Snape's evil all along.

He hadn't been seen since Dumbledore's death, and everyone was absolutely sure that he was working for Voldemort. And, although he was unable to tell anyone where the headquarters were, seeing as he was not the Secret Keeper, there was not much stopping him from coming back there himself.

So it was, after the finish of their school year at Hogwarts, that Hermione, Ginny, and Ron came immediately to the new headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

Hermione's eyes rested on the grim slate-blue sky, which was filled with black clouds that seemed ready to burst. Her eyes traveled down to the scene outside, which was even bleaker. The streets were empty, but not in a peaceful way. The air itself seemed to be thick with tension, and the fear and anxiety of their surroundings could almost be tasted.

They were in a city, but not London. It wasn't anywhere near there, or that was what Hermione deducted from the way passersby appeared to be more rural and worn. The city seemed smaller, but Hermione was not sure because neither she nor the rest of her companions were allowed outside the headquarters under any circumstances.

It was nearing dusk, and Hermione felt her stomach rumble with hunger.

"When are we going to eat?" she said, forgetting her momentary anger.

"Well, that would be as soon as they are finished listening to this bloke, wouldn't it?" said George. "Quite interesting, though. You sure you wouldn't like to have a go?"

Hermione looked at the Extendable Ear that George held out to her. She was extremely bored…

Forgetting her annoyance at the group, Hermione accepted George's offer and settled herself between Ginny and the wall, thankful that she was thin enough to squeeze in without much trouble.

"I didn't know what else to do."

"You could have come to us in the first place…" Hermione heard Remus Lupin say, quite harshly.

Silence. Hermione held her breath as almost a whole minute passed without any sound.

"I should have."

Through the heavy muffle that the Extendable Ears created, Hermione heard a familiar drawl in the visitor's voice. Her mind raced, but she tried immediately to push the thought away. No, it can't possibly be…

"You're right. But that's in the past. We need to look to the future," Lupin replied, softer this time. "We do realize your danger in this situation, and we are thankful that you would think of us as a safe haven. However, for obvious safety reasons, we will need you to take Veritaserum in order to ensure your… reliability."

"I understand," said the anonymous voice.

Hermione felt a stab of pain for the individual. He seemed so distraught and hopeless, and yet dignified. His words were filled with genuine sorrow, and he seemed to be quite shaken. Empathy poured out of Hermione's heart for the man, and she wondered momentarily how she could feel so bad for someone she had never met. Her thoughts were soon interrupted with the sound of a slight cough, and then Lupin's voice.

"That should be enough to make even a troll divulge his darkest secrets. So why don't we let the interrogations begin, Draco."

Hermione pulled the Extendable Ear out of her own ear, and looked around at her friends, who had done the same.

Silence hung in the air for an eternity, until Fred blurted, "Well I don't think any of us expected that!"

The conversation had continued afterwards, and they had come to the conclusion that Malfoy must have found a way around the Veritaserum; there was no way that they were going to trust Draco Malfoy, of all people, to be accepted into the Order of the Phoenix.

Hermione's feelings differed from those of her friends, but she was unsure why. She had heard less than they had, but she felt like Malfoy was truly sorry for his actions. Of course, she would not have admitted it for all the gold in Gringott's, so she kept her mouth closed throughout the discussion and let her thoughts consume her.

She snapped out of her trance when she heard Ron's voice bellow, "Hurry, she's coming! If she catches us with these Extendable Ears we'll all be done for!"

Hermione's ears focused on the sound of heavy footsteps moving towards the door of the room that they were in. All of them scrambled off the ground and onto the four beds in the room, one for each of the boys staying there.

They just had time to sit down before Mrs. Weasley came in, and her expression showed that she was perplexed at the awkwardness hanging in the room. She quickly recovered, however, and said softly, "Dinner is ready, everyone…"

There was a slight pause before she continued, "And we have a new member that we'd like you all to meet."

They sat around the table, most everyone eating rabidly and as if they'd never tasted lasagna before. Hermione, however, focused her gaze on the tall, thin figure with silvery blonde hair and a solemn look on his face. He hung his head and his eyes never once ventured from his plate, where he was moving his lasagna around and only taking bites every few minutes.

He seemed to have thinned considerably, but the dark circles that had come to reside around his eyes the previous year were now fading into a pale flesh tone. His icy gray eyes were framed by furrowed brows, indicating that he was thinking deeply. It seemed like he had aged, but not in a worn, unhealthy way. He looked stronger, calmer, and more resolute than Hermione had ever seen him.

How could he lie? Hermione let her thoughts wander. How could he find a way to lie through "enough Veritaserum to make even a troll divulge his darkest secrets?" And even if he had found a way, why would he have such a calm, healthy look on his face if he weren't free of his burdens? Surely, working for the Death Eaters last year had weighed on him heavily. Why would he look so relieved if he were still with them?

Suddenly, as if he could feel her eyes on him, Malfoy's head shot in Hermione's direction and his eyes linked with hers. Without even blinking, they held the gaze for what seemed like an eternity, and Hermione could swear that she could feel his emotions. His eyes looked deeper than before, and she was interested in learning the whole story of his experiences. She couldn't move her eyes away. She didn't want to, either.

Malfoy sat in silence as he moved his food around on the plate that they gave him. It was cheaply made, he could tell that much. He thought for a second of the fine china that he had always dined on, and almost missed the Malfoy Manor. He shook the thought out of his head and let all of the memories of the past year flood his mind.

August before he returned to Hogwarts. His father sat him down to let him know that he was nearing the age of acceptance into the circle of Death Eaters, and that he would be given a task in order for him to prove himself worthy.

"What if I fail," he had asked, thinking that he might just do so on purpose. Draco had never wanted to be a Death Eater, and plus, the prospect of being controlled by a snake-man was not all that appealing to him.

"You won't," Lucius had replied. "So don't even think that you can fail purposefully and not be punished. The Dark Lord has told me that you will be bound to this task."

Lucius paused to see whether Draco understood or not.

"If you fail at this task, there will no longer be a point to your existence," he continued, "So you will simply…cease to exist."

Lucius let out a cruel chuckle, as if he was amused at the idea that his master would kill his only son if he did not prove himself worthy.

"You're going to let them kill me?" Draco had inquired angrily. "I'm going to die if I don't succeed at your 'task'?"

Lucius said nothing, but glared into Draco's eyes sharply.

"What is this task, anyway?"

Draco pulled himself out of his memories, for he felt slightly nauseous at remembering these following events. He was surprised to feel a pair of eyes on him, and he looked up to see who had been staring.

His eyes met with a pair of huge honey colored ones, and he barely noticed that he was looking into the eyes of Hermione Granger. He studied the pupils and irises of her eyes, and then moved to the surrounding area, where he found long, dark lashes dramatically framing the windows into her soul. He felt as if his eyes were locked onto hers, and he couldn't move them away even if he wanted to, which he didn't.

Ron shoved Hermione in the ribs to get her attention.

"Ooof," she cried. "What was that for?"

"Hermione, I said your name three times and you didn't respond at all. What's gotten into you?" said an annoyed Ron.

"Sorry… um, what did you want anyways?"

Ron looked sheepish and Hermione supposed that he realized how much of an ogre he was being. He softened his voice considerably before he replied, "We were just going to go upstairs and um…" he glanced at Malfoy, who was openly listening to what he was saying. "Play some card games or something. Just wondering if you were going to join us."

Hermione also looked at Malfoy, but tore her eyes away and looked at Ron as she muttered. "Sure, yeah, I'll come… just, uh, let me finish my food." She glanced down at her plate and was thankful that it still had food on it, for she hadn't looked down in a while and it would be unfortunate if her excuse proved invalid.

"Yeah, okay," Ron mumbled as he walked away.

Hermione looked up awkwardly, as she and Malfoy were the only two left at the table and she was trying not to seem as anxious as she felt. Her gaze swept over the plain ceiling and moved to the boring light fixture, which was comprised of a light bulb and a chain dangling from it. Down to the walls covered in pasty-blue paper, and lower to the wooden floor, which was easily the only nice part of the room.

She looked at the table in front of her and realized that Malfoy had moved a seat closer to her, and she felt her chest tighten.

"Malfoy," she said curtly with a nod of her head.

"Mud – uhm, Granger," he almost insulted, but saved quickly. He would have to be nicer to the people who were saving him. Plus, what did he care if she were a muggle-born? The only reason he cared in the past was because his father did, and Malfoy was far beyond the point where he cared about that anymore. The only thing important was getting away from the Death Eaters, and then surviving the war.

They looked at each other in awkward silence before Hermione managed to say, "Well, I… I'm going to go join the… the card game… Do you want to come?" She beat herself over the head mentally for that last part. She had no idea where that came from.

"Are you kidding?" Malfoy asked, but Hermione hardly heard him because she was so fixed on the smirk that just appeared on his face. She had seen that smirk before, but never had she found it so intriguing… almost appealing… What is going on? she thought. Malfoy? Appealing? No. She tried to convince herself.

"You all hate me, so don't try to pretend we're friends now," Malfoy continued.

"I don't…" Hermione started, but decided against it. She had, in fact, come closer to hating Malfoy than she had with anyone else that she knew.

"I…sorry," she mumbled, and got up from her seat. She pulled her t-shirt down over her jeans, covering up a creamy patch of stomach that Malfoy only saw for half a second.

He watched her slender form as she walked gracefully to the edge of the room and through the doorway, and he wondered why he was ever so mean to her in the first place.

Author's note: I apologize for the lack of scene changes, and also in other chapters. I hadn't realized that the files weren't uploading with the line breaks. I am trying to find a way to make line breaks, but every time I save the file, it deletes the one's I've just made. I am still trying, but nothing seems to be working, even little symbols like asterisks. Again, I apologize!
Thank you very much for reading, and I hope you enjoy the story!