This was insane. Incredibly insane. Here he was, chasing after the stupid girl on a Muggle bridge, trying to save her bleeding life from the insane werewolf running along beside him while she didn't have a wand to defend herself because it was – oh yeah – in his hand. Why in the world did people call her the brightest witch of their generation?

"Granger!" Greyback laughed, "You can't run forever, Poppet!"

Hermione whirled around, backing up to the railing. It was dark out, stars shining down on the dark moment, the orange glow from the lamp posts making it seem eerie. She was panting, sweat on her forehead as she stared at the two advancing on her. Greyback was big, tall, positively lurking, with dark matted hair and eyes that made her feel violated. Draco had gotten taller, with a lean frame. His grey eyes seemed about as wide as hers, his wand out while hers was in his back pocket, his blonde hair askew from all the running. Good, she thought with an inward smirk, he deserves to have his hair mussed. She stepped up, her back pressed firmly against the railing, looking over her shoulder to gasp at the long drop down. It was either jump, or surrender.

She turned back to them, frowning a little at the two before smirking, taking another step up so that she was actually half-way up the railing. Draco's eyes widened as he realized what she was about to do, while Greyback stared dumbly. Her tangled hair was blowing around lazily as she caught her breath.

"You're right. I can't keep running," she smirked, "But you'll still never catch me." And with that, she plummeted off the railing, having Draco and Greyback rush to watch her fall. Draco quickly muttered a spell to have her slow down, so she wouldn't die when she hit the surface of the water. But Greyback, stupid as he was, didn't notice.

"Go down and get 'er body," he ordered, "Make an Inferi."

Draco nodded as he watched Greyback Apparate away. He gave a loud sigh of relief, running down to slip underneath the bridge, tiptoeing around a sleeping homeless person, and waited by the water's edge. He watched as her head bobbed up once she was safely under the shadow of the bridge, flipping her hair out of the way and gasping for air. As he ran back to the shadows, she bobbed under once or twice before she began to swim to his slab of concrete.

"No bloody wand, stupid Malfoy, gonna kill the little git," she muttered murderously before opening her mouth for a scream as he stepped out. He slapped his hand over her mouth and hissed out a 'shhh!' He glanced back at the homeless person, who was reminding him numbly of Professor Lupin, before turning to her, glaring at her as she glared at him. Her hands were at his, attempting to pry his hand off of her mouth so she could scream for the comatose hobo to help her.

"Now," he whispered, getting closer to her and frowning, "You are going to listen to me, Granger. Not because I could kill you, not because I could do as was asked of me, but because I want to help."

She arched an eyebrow at him and quit struggling, which he took as a sign to slowly pull his hand back. "What?" she asked softly.

"That got your attention," he smirked before he noticed that she was glaring steadily at him again, "Alright, alright. I have a plan to stop this war – in your favor – but I need you to help me."

"What is it?" she asked.

He shook his head, "Not here."

"Then where?" she scoffed, "They're keeping an eye on the Burrow – which is pointless because it's hollowed out now – they're keeping an eye on the Hog's Head, the Three Broomsticks, Hogwarts, the Leaky Cauldron – they're bloody everywhere, Malfoy."

His eyes glinted and he grinned, slowly, making her eye him warily, "Not everywhere."

Draco shoved her into the small shack in the middle of the woods, having her stumble and nearly fall into the floor. She righted herself and looked around before turning and glaring at Malfoy, who shut the door with a wand – her wand – and muttered a few spells. He smirked back at her, twirling her wand around as if he were mocking her, which he most likely was.

The shack was small, holding only an unmade bed, a small mirror hanging above a little desk, complete with a stool. There wasn't a place for a fire, no windows, nothing that could allow snooping.

"How can I trust you?" she asked as he opened his mouth to speak, "How do I know this isn't all some way to get me killed?"

He blinked at her slowly before sighing, "I could've killed you at the bridge. I could've killed you on the way to the bridge. I could've killed you on the way here. I could've killed you before you even asked that question. And that's just today. Think of all of the days I could've killed you before and didn't. But, if it makes you feel better, Granger – " he lightly tossed Hermione her wand, then pausing before he tossed her his own.

Hermione gave a little gasp at the foreign wand in her hand before looking up at him. He was frowning, an eyebrow arched as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Alright. I believe you now."

"When you jumped off the bridge, I was told to make an Inferi of your body, but of course you lived," he began, "A week from now, You-Know-Who is planning to make another final stand against Harry and Weasley – no, he hasn't had enough time to make more Horcruxes, because that insane Weasley twin has been setting off little toys that shout his name into the middle of an empty forest and send Snatchers there." Draco gave a little smirk, "He's going nuts about it."

"Go George," Hermione smiled sadly, knowing that he was mostly doing it for vengeance of the loss of his twin a year ago. The last she had seen him – or Harry, Ron or Ginny for that matter, she could tell that the gears had been spinning in his head. She just hopped a few of the screws wouldn't pop loose.

"Anyway – my plan is to make them think you actually are an Inferi, sending you after the two as they follow – because of course they're going to want to watch, they're sick – then I can tell you when to whirl around and kill the bastard."

"I find many flaws in your plan," she stated dully, "One of which is its stupidity."

"That's why they'll never see it coming," he smirked.

She thought about it before shrugging, "Alright. But another would be the one where I get killed. See, if I miss and hit – I don't know, a trashcan or something – that guy is going to Avada Kedavra my arse off."

"And then he'll go after mine," Draco shrugged, "It's a team effort."

"Team?" she spluttered back.

"Do you know anything about the Dark Arts, Granger?" he asked dully.

"Not a whole lot, but enough," she admitted.

"I've seen Inferi, I've seen how they're made, I've seen what they do to people who knew them while they were alive. I've seen the Killing Curse used on people, I've seen people begging for it after the Cruciatuis Curse." His gaze softened a little as her head dipped, "I've seen what it did to you. Now don't tell me you don't want to get back at her for that alone."

Hermione was silent for a few moments before she looked up at him, a million and one questions burning in her expression, "What happened to you, Malfoy?"

He gave a rueful smirk – "Merlin, what's with him and smirking?" Hermione questioned inwardly, "Either frown or smile, damn it, pick one!" – and sat down at the chair in front of the desk, leaving her to perch on the edge of the bed, "My aunt and You-Know-Who killed my father and my mother in front of me. Before I'd been contemplating what the hell I was doing – after that I'd been planning on how to fix the mess I helped make."

Hermione paled, while he just shrugged at her, "Wow, uhh – I'm – "

"Say you're sorry and I'll kill you here and now," he interrupted, his eyes blazing now, "I've had enough people tell me that and not meant it."

"You don't think I mean it?" her eyebrows arched, "You don't think I don't know what it's like to lose both of your parents? I'm not sympathizing with you, Malfoy, I'm empathizing with you. I altered my parents' memories knowing that even if I lived – even if everything worked out the way I'd wanted it to, I could never get them back. They're somewhere in southern Australia, with no idea who Daniel and Mariah Granger are, with no idea who I am, thinking they've been Chandler and Monica Wilkins for all of their lives. And I can't do a damn about it. Same boat as you, now please grab an oar and start paddling."

He was silent for a few moments before grinning, a small one that could've been a smirk, "Thanks, I think."

"But what's the plan?" she asked, "I'm obviously not dead, so how can I look like an Inferi?"

He stood up, walking over to her to hold his hand out for his wand. Once he got it, he muttered more spells and walked to the door, turning back to her, "Nobody but me and one other person knows where this is. I made it invisible, spell-proof – yadda yadda, you get it." She rolled her eyes at him and shook her head, "Don't leave, even if you hear me yelling that I've got free cake."

"Why would I come out if you were yelling that you had free cake?" she arched an eyebrow at him.

He arched one back, and threw in a smirk, "When was the last time you had cake?" As her eyes glazed over and her mouth dropped open to silently ponder this, he chuckled and stepped out the door, "Stay safe, Granger."

She stared at the door, waiting for something that would have put her on her toes. When nothing happened, when no Death Eaters burst through, when no Voldemort waltzed in screaming the Killing Curse, she flopped back on the bed and sighed, "Now I want cake."