It had taken a while, but she had finally managed to convince Harry to stop worrying about what Malfoy was up to and go to bed. Ron had gone with him, promising to make sure he put the Marauders map away.

So once she was certain Harry was asleep she crept out of the common room and made her way to the library, where she knew Madame Pince was only just beginning to lock up. Her heart raced in excitement as she got closer and she couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face.

Reaching the library, she burst in just as Madame Pince was walking over to leave. She jumped slightly when she saw Hermione, and then smiled sadly.

"It's after hours, dear. You need to go to your common room." She said gently. After years of practice, Hermione went straight into her act and promptly burst out crying.

"I've just.. I need... I've got to..." she slumped against the wall and felt Madame Pince's hand on her shoulder.

"Well, as long as you lock up when you leave and promise not to be seen by anyone." Madame Pince said kindly and softly. Hermione straightened again and wiped her eyes, nodding and trying to look calm.

"Th-thank you." She said, taking hold of the keys Madame Pince held out to her.

Once the librarian had left out the door, Hermione hurried through the bookshelves before sitting on a chair near the Dark Arts section. She took some deep breaths and waited eagerly.

It was twenty minutes later when the door to the library creaked open again and someone entered. Hermione listened to the soft footsteps approaching where she sat and bit her bottom lip nervously. Then the figure passed the last shelf between them and stopped, looking down at her.

Hermione gasped as soon as she laid eyes on Draco Malfoy, not believing that this could be the same person she had seen the day before yet knowing it was true. His skin was deathly pale and his eyes were void of life. He took another step forward and collapsed on his knees in front of her.

"What happened?" she asked, immediately dropping to her own knees beside him and putting an arm around him in comfort.

"I can't... tell you." He whispered, squeezing his eyes shut. "I haven't told anyone. I'm not allowed." He took a shaky breath and sagged against her as he let it out, looking utterly exhausted.

"It's okay, you don't have to tell me." Hermione soothed softly. She reached one hand up to his hair and stroked it slowly, trying to take his mind off whatever was troubling him.

"I just never thought it would be this hard." he mumbled. Then he pushed away from her slightly to look at her face. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." she assured him, smiling and continuing to trail her fingers through his platinum blond hair.

"Why do you trust me so much?" he asked suddenly, frowning in true confusion.

"What do you mean?" Hermione questioned curiously.

"You don't care what I do or don't tell you. We rarely see each other and you have no idea what I spend my time doing. How do you still trust me?"

Hermione thought about it for a moment, and then simply shrugged. How could she tell him what was going around in her head?

"I don't know why I trust you, to be honest. I just do. The way you talk to me when we do manage to meet up is what I base your character on. I believe you're a good person because you've shown me that side of you." Hermione sighed and frowned slightly as she considered her next words. "Sometimes I'm afraid of who you might actually be. I wonder if you're doing things you shouldn't-"

"Potter thinks I'm up to something, doesn't he?" Draco snarled angrily, interrupting her. Hermione winced and her hand froze in his hair. She had been hoping to avoid this subject.

"Yes, he does." she admitted.

"I knew it." Draco spat.

"But listen! I've been telling him that he's probably imagining things, so you don't need to worry. And he's-" Hermione rolled her lips together to stop herself from saying anything else and closed her eyes as if awaiting judgement. Then she carefully opened her eyes again and opened her mouth to speak again. "I'm doing my best to keep him from believing you're up to something, but I'm not so sure he's wrong any more."

Draco stared at her and slowly nodded. He moved away from her and stood up, swaying slightly on his feet as he did so.

"You're not telling me everything." he said quietly. His voice sounded pained and his pale skin and dull eyes added to the effect of hopelessness. It was as if he had nothing left and it was her fault.

"You've never told me everything." Hermione mumbled, lowering her eyes and instantly regretting the words which had left her mouth. Their relationship had always been unsteady as they had tried not to offend each other, and now as she stayed silent she wished fervently that he would not hold this against her.

"Touché." Draco chuckled. Hermione glanced up, startled. She had not been expecting this response from him at all. He was grinning down at her, although it looked strange on his white face.

"I thought-"

"It's a perfectly good reason," he said. "I was being immature about it, after all."

Hermione nodded silently, confused as to how easily he had gotten rid of the tension. Then she remembered what she had been aiming to explain before and said, "Draco, I'm worried about you."

Draco's grin turned into a frown and he didn't say anything for a moment. He knew she had every right to be worried about him – he too knew what he looked like – and yet he also knew that if he told her anything at all she would not be worried about something she didn't know, but something she did know.

"That's understandable." he managed. It sounded pathetic and he wanted to just hurriedly explain everything to her in an instant.

"If you could just tell me you'll be alright... or that no one's going to get hurt..." Hermione murmured, floundering for the right words and choking back tears slightly when Draco turned his face away.

"I can't tell you anything. I'm sorry, but I think you understand." Draco sighed and ran a hand through his own hair. "Honestly, I don't even want you to know! I'm afraid you'll..." he trailed off and stared into the distance looking troubled.

"I'll what? Not want to see you again?" Hermioned asked gently.

"Precisely." Draco nodded.

Hermione stood up, facing him. "Harry's been telling me everything he thinks about what you're up to. I've... thought about the possibilities a lot. I don't know if they're correct, and truthfully hope they aren't, but I also know that even if some of the things he has been saying are true I won't be able to stop seeing you."

"You don't understand-"

Hermione didn't wait to hear what he had to say, instead reaching forward quickly and grabbing the sleeve of his left arm to pull it up. She had seen what was there before Draco realised and had a chance to wrench his arm back, hiding it behind his back. His eyes blazed angrily and Hermione suddenly found herself crying.

"I'm sorry... I just wanted to know..." she blubbered, covering her face with her hands. "I didn't think he allowed people so young to... to join."

"You should have asked first." he snapped.

"I know, I'm sorry." Hermione answered quickly.

Draco stared at her, his gaze slowly softening as he saw the pain in her body language. She had only wanted to know, and if she hadn't looked for herself how would she have known if he was telling the truth?

Tugging his sleeve down a bit lower in paranoia, Draco turned and walked from the library. He was not good at being humble for long periods of time and his natural Slytherin personality was threatening to do something horrible to the mudblood. He knew she would probably get the wrong impression from this, but he could not stay. He could not allow himself to live with the knowledge that he had let her see his mark and had stayed afterwards to comfort her. He would not.

It was possible she would never speak to him after this, but he probably wouldn't get a chance to speak to her anyway. After all, he would be completing his mission soon and once that was done he might be able to convince them to take him out of Hogwarts. There would be no option of keeping her around if that happened.

As he walked out the doors of the library he could hear her faint sobbing and a pang of guilt shot through his heart. Sweat broke out on his forehead and he stumbled again, having to lean against the wall for support.

What was he doing? He'd never be able to complete his mission at the rate things were going, and he was throwing away the only possibility of having a friend on the other side who might be able to convince someone powerful to hide him from them –

Shaking his head forcefully, he hardly noticed the tears streaming down his face as he pushed onwards, making his feet step one after the other.

This was it.

There was no turning back now.