Thank you to everyone who followed, favorited and reviewed! I love reading your reactions and every notification I get for this story just makes my day!

With no more ado, I give you chapter five!

For months Hermione had been working on a potion to negate the pain a person felt from a cursed mark. Her own arm gave her fits at random, Bellatrix's cursed blade had done its job, with many of those fits leading to her being bed ridden for days afterwards. Normal pain potions dulled the effects afterwards, but Hermione could tell it was wearing on her nerve endings. A modified pain potion with more longevity combined with a special healing potion designed to slowly and steadily heal the mark by making the dark magic dissipate. The main two problems she kept running into was that every single mark required a different spell said over the potion and the main healing ingredient, phoenix tears, was nearly impossible to come by and ridiculously expensive. If only Fawkes hadn't disappeared after Dumbledore had died.

All lamenting aside, her only batch of the potion contained six doses, enough to heal three people. As much as she wanted to use two of the vials on herself, she felt that her pain could wait while she helped just a few other people touched by Voldemort's evil. Malfoy, however, was not one of those people she had planned on helping. Yes, her testimony that it hadn't been his choice to become a death eater and that his mother was the only reason he had chosen Voldemort's side during the war.

Sighing to herself she pulled two vials of the purple tinted potion from her storeroom. She placed the vials on her work bench before exiting her office. Harry was probably still asleep, since this was his one day to sleep in. They had slept in separate rooms for the first time in years, not being able to risk anything with Malfoy just down the hall, and if Harry had the same night she did then he needed the sleep. She made her way to the kitchen and set to boiling some water for her morning oatmeal. She poked her head out of the kitchen to check on her uninvited house guest. A light snore was coming from the couch letting her know he was still asleep as well. He must be an active sleeper as well, because he had flipped on the couch, with his head now pointing away from the dining area and a leg was thrown over the back of the couch. Her water boiled, so she quickly added it to the bowl, covering the mixture to let it steamed. She turned towards Malfoy again, glaring at his sleeping form. Even if she testified for him, she still loathed him. Hermione harrumphed and turned away, pulling grape jam from the fridge and grabbing a spoon and her bowl before heading to the table.

She took a seat facing him, not trusting having him at her back. Spooning a scoop of jam into her oatmeal, she grinned mischievously before stirring it into the oatmeal. Scooping out a healthy amount of oatmeal, she took aim and launched the blob across the room. The breakfast projectile hit its mark, slapping Malfoy's cheek and splattering across his face. Hermione couldn't contain her laughter as Malfoy woke up at the attack and promptly fell off the couch as he tried to ascertain what he was being attacked with. He sputtered as he sat up, spewing bits of oats everywhere as his eyes found the laughing witch.

Hermione struggled to regain her composure, wiping tears from her eyes as he glared at her, "Morning sunshine." She gasped while trying to catch her breath.

Draco attempted to hold his glare, but it quickly turned into a pained grimace as his muscles protested his attempt to stand. He settled with just getting his arse back on the couch before collapsing down with a groan. He reached up a hand to wipe the offending food off his face, flicking his wrist in an attempt to send some back at her. He groaned again and gave up attempting to move. Hermione watched him struggle and sighed. She ate a few more bites of her food and pushed it aside. She moved from her chair at the table to the recliner that sat next to the couch Malfoy occupied. She took a moment to notice how out of place the Malfoy heir looked in the apartment. The warm tan walls and dark brown leather furniture with light blue throw pillows didn't fit the image of the blonde Slytherin. Grays, blacks and greens of course came to mind instead. Hermione cleared her throat, waiting for Malfoy to give her his attention.

Draco's head had flopped back onto the back of the couch, his eyes closed. At her cough he opened one eye to look at her before closing it again. "Take a picture, Granger, it'll last longer."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "That would imply you're pleasant to look at, Malfoy, which is hardly the case. I need your attention to explain what it is." His lack of response prompted her to snap her fingers at him, "Malfoy! Hey wake up!"

"Snap your fingers at me again and I'll snap them from your hand." He opened his eyes and glared at her.

"Wooo, I'm so scared, Ferret." She wiggled her splayed fingers mockingly. "Now this potion isn't Ministry approved yet, in fact you'll be the first person to try it at all."

"What would make you think I want to be your test subject?"

She continued, ignoring his protests, "It is a pain potion combined with phoenix tears to slowly remove the dark magic and mark along with it. There will be pain, dark magic can't be undone without pain. You will be unable to leave for the next three to five days and you would have to agree to be closely monitored by me for the duration of that time. Might do you some good in order to reintegrate with society to spend time with the people you hate. You know, finally make you grow as a person."

"And I'm just supposed to trust something you made?" Draco scoffed.

"No one is going to force you, Malfoy, however if you choose to refuse my help now then you may not be able to have access to this for years."

Draco narrowed his eyes at her, "And why would you give this miracle potion to me?"

Hermione shrugged, "Harry asked me to help and this is me helping. It's also me getting access to a free test subject for a potion that might help the greater good, which I figured might rankle you a bit."

He scowled at her, "So where is that boyfriend of your's Granger? You wear him out last night?" He chuckled, using the laugh to hide the grimace as he shifted to get more comfortable. He closed his eyes and leaned his head back not at all ready to greet the day, even if it meant riling up Gryffindors.

Hermione stared at him passively, his barbs rolling off of her, "Fine. If you don't want my help then it's no skin off my nose. In fact it just leaves a dose for someone who deserves it. You may leave." She rose with her dismissive words and cleared the table with a wave of her hand. Dishes went soaring to the sink and the chair scooted itself under the table on its own. She disappeared down the hallway and slammed her door shut, abruptly waking the wizard in the room across the hall.

Again Draco wished he could bring himself to care about anything happening around him other than the pain. He was smack dab in the middle of the juiciest gossip and blackmail material, yet he found he really couldn't give two shits about any of it. Granger had reacted dully towards his digging questions, effectively shutting down the conversation as soon as he asked. What he did give a shit about, however, was the promise of relief from the constant pain he experienced. He glared at his arm, cursing his father and the dark wizard who ruined his life. He forced his head up and looked around the flat. One opening lead to the kitchen, one door that he assumed was the entrance to the flat, and then a hallway. Option number three it was then. Steeling himself, he pushed to his feet and slowly made his way around the couch and down the hallway. Trying the first door on the left, he took advantage of his accidental discovery and relieved himself before washing his face. He looked terrible, he observed, turning his head this way and that as he noted the dark circles under his eyes and mussed hair. He wet his hands and ran them over his hair, trying to smooth it down. His efforts were wasted though and he concluded that Potter's forever messy hair must be contagious and staying here the night had tainted it. He needed to get home and shower to off the noble Gryffindor germs.

He left and continued his search. The door straight across the hall proved successful when he pushed the door open and found a working potions lab. Various cauldrons steamed on the work bench, each with ingredients in front of them for later addition. He noted curiously that there seemed to be a floating hour glass above each cauldron. He made his way over to the bench, leaning heavily on it with one hand as he reached to touch the levitating timepiece. He was about six inches away from touching it when the hourglass retreated from his hand. He frowned and attempted to grab it, but it flew away from his again. He gave up his attempt, begrudgingly admitting to himself that it was a clever bit of magic.

Draco's eyes fell on a large cupboard next to the workbench and he decided to start searching for the potion there. He pushed off the workbench and headed over to the cupboard. He was so focused on his goal that he failed to notice the large cat that chose to zoom in front of causing him to trip and catch himself on the storage cupboard. He cursed under his breath as the cabinet rocked backwards and hit the wall with a thud. He froze, expecting to hear someone stomping into the room to throw him out. He was met with silence from the next rooms, but strained to hear what he thought was breaking glass. Draco tugged the door open with a wince, expecting to see some broken ampules, and saw a deep closet that should not have fit inside the cupboard. The walls were lined with shelves which contained hundreds of bottled potions; potions that were currently rolling off the shelves and falling to the floor. He stuck his head in the cabinet looking for the potion he wanted, ignoring the mist that began to rise as the potions began to mingle on the floor.

After being awoken by a slamming door, Harry laid in his bed pondering his current situation. His once enemy turned apprentice was more than likely doing a smashing job of pissing off his secret girlfriend. On one hand, Harry was ready to accept that Malfoy might find out about them because he was really tired of hiding. On the other hand, he had yet to find out just how it went this morning, but judging by the wake-up call he had just received, he didn't think that it had gone well. He had really hoped that Malfoy would swallow his pride for once and accept Hermione's help so that she could finally test her potion. Harry heard a thud against the wall between his room and the potions lab and rolled out of bed, thinking that Crookshanks must be mucking about in there again. He reached the doorway at the same moment that Hermione opened her door. Harry was about to tell her he would take care of it when they both heard a mumbled "shit" from the room in question.

Harry's face pinched with worry, "Did you leave that door open Hermione?"

She shook her head and sprinted down the hall. Harry followed hot on her heels, grabbing the doorframe to swing himself into the room. He heard the glass breaking then and saw Malfoy's back, as his head was stuck deep in the charmed cupboard. Hermione's undetectable extension charm allowed her to keep a vast array of potions in there and it sounded like they were all falling.

"Malfoy!" Harry shouted.

Draco yanked his head out and banged it on the top of the cupboard. He grabbed his head and backed away from the offending furniture and right into the workbench, knocking over the row of cauldrons like a set of dominos. Hermione's expression turned panicked when a red haze wafted from the cupboard and met with the pink mist that was now hovering over the mess of spilled potions.

"Everyone clear the room!" She yelled as she turned to grab Harry's hand to leave. Her warning came too late, however, as Harry reached out towards her outstretched hand only to be knocked back by a blast of magic. The two mists swirled together and had exploded outward. His head hit the wall and his vision grew spotty when he heard his name being called. He tried to answer, but the darkness overtook him and he lost consciousness.

There you have it! Our plot has officially begun and have no fear as the smut will be back in the next chapter! Read, review, follow and favorite please!