932 DEAD

The rain poured down from the sky, lashing against the windows and pounding against the pavement outside Grimmauld Place. Inside the mood was bleak and candles were lit to provide some extra light against the cloud covered sun. On the third floor Hermione sat in a deserted hallway wrapped in her warmest cloak with The Daily Prophet open on the floor in front of her. Things weren't looking good.

...over fifty Muggles found dead in Kingston...

That hadn't been a good night for Hermione. The magic had been thick in the air when she'd apparated to the scene. It smelt like petrol and chlorine mixed together into a toxic substance that left her gasping for breath and struggling to keep her dinner down. It had only taken one look at the bodies that were pilled in the centre of the street for her stomach to rebel.

...Minister for Magic meets with Muggle Prime Minister...

About time, Hermione thought dryly.

...Vincent Rangalee from the Department of Magical Transportation strangles his wife under the imperius curse...

...Dean Thomas found dead by Aurors in Chelmsford...

Hermione sighed. That news was not surprising, but it still tore at her heart. Shaking her head sadly Hermione chucked the paper away before her mood could get any lower; reading the Daily Prophet was damn depressing. Resting her head back against the wall, Hermione closed her eyes and purposely relaxed her mind and body, sinking into a meditative state that she had come to rely on to unwind. It didn't last long, because at that moment the enchanted coin in her pocket began to grow warm. Cursing Hermione fished it out before it could scald her and tossed it across the hall. She watched through narrowed cautious eyes as it glowed bright red before fading back to its original gold. Hermione rubbed her face. This was the third time this week it had nearly burnt her. The message was obvious – hurry the fuck up. It had been nearly a month since Malfoy had dropped the coin into her hand and she had assumed it would be up to her to initiate the meeting. Apparently Malfoy was sick of waiting around.

Hermione grimaced. If she had her way she would never meet Malfoy. She'd spoken to Moody about her and Malfoy's tentative agreement and he had confirmed that the artefact Malfoy sought was in the possession of the Ministry, whether or not it had been destroyed was unknown but either way Hermione didn't want Malfoy knowing anything about it. That little green sphere was evil and the further it was from the hands of Lord Voldemort the better.

Hermione groaned inwardly. Who was she kidding? She was stalling – she didn't want to see him again, she didn't want to fight him and she certainly didn't want his face imprinted in on her brain any further. Scowling, Hermione reached out and picked up the coin. It was still warm. Summoning every inch of her strength she charmed a date and time into the coin.

12.11 : 03.00

She hoped it burnt his fingers off.

935 DEAD

It was impossible to lose him. Not only was he large and easily visible but he was walking at the pace of a turtle! Hermione scowled and muttered under her breath as she followed Vincent Crabbe at a distance doing her best to remain inconspicuous even though he was so dim he probably wouldn't have noticed a herd of elephants trailing him. Hermione had been tracking him for four blocks now, hoping that he would lead her to... something... anything... anything at all to feed back to the Order. So far she wasn't having much luck and to make matters even worse she was due to meet Malfoy within the hour. What a waste of time this little act of secrecy had been – it had taken her longer to get past Mrs Weasley than it had to trail Crabbe.

"Bloody hell," Hermione cursed under her breath as Crabbe stopped once again. She ducked between two buildings and pulled her cloak tight around her shoulders.

For ten minutes Crabbe did nothing more or less than stand motionlessly in the street. But then, in a flurry of motion he turned, pulled out his wand, muttered an incantation and stepped straight through the solid brick wall of 158 Beltana Crescent. Hermione's eyes widened as he disappeared.

Jackpot.

"What are you doing?"

Hermione was rather proud that she didn't jump out of her skin and wet her pants when the voice suddenly broke the silence. Spinning around Hermione's eyes almost bugged out of her skull when she realised Ginny was standing less than five meters away staring at her like she had just grown another head. "Ginny?" she whispered anxiously, "What in the world are you doing here?"

Those eight words must have triggered something in Ginny's mind because suddenly she was looking just as sheepish as Hermione felt. Apparently there was more than one girl out tonight who was doing what she shouldn't be.

Ginny scratched her temple and pushed her fiery red hair away from her face, "Let's pretend we never saw each other shall we?"

Hermione smiled softly, "You've got yourself a deal."

Ginny traced her eyes over Hermione's form amidst the trash of the alley and wrinkled her nose., "You look after yourself okay?"

"You too."

It wasn't until Ginny was out of sight that Hermione swore under her breath and rubbed her face roughly. Jeez, what kind of a spy was she? Not only did she have no idea what she was looking or waiting for, but she was getting caught all over the place by red headed vixens. What a nightmare.

Rubbing her face, Hermione snuck a peak at her watch. 3:08am.

She had lingered long enough. It was time to go.

938 DEAD

He was waiting for her when she apparated into the abandoned alley. He leant patiently against the wall, arms crossed and eyes cold underneath the strands of blond hair that fell across his forehead. As soon as she appeared he flicked his coin at her in annoyance. "Burnt a hole in my robe."

Hermione fished out her own coin and tossed it onto the ground next to his. "That's too bad. I was hoping for somewhere a little more... noteworthy."

He scowled. "Why are you wasting my time Mudblood? I know you don't have what I want."

"Yeah well, it's a little hard to deliver what you don't have."

"Then why even bother coming?"

Hermione shrugged and replied dryly, "Just couldn't resist your charming personality."

He didn't smile, just asked bluntly, "Are you here to kill me? Because if you are, lets just get it over and done with - this is getting a little old."

"I'm not here to kill you," Hermione replied with a small sigh. The mere thought of the amount of effort it would take was almost more than she could bear. Finding the energy and drive to carry on with all this shit was difficult, far too difficult for a war that had barely begun.

Malfoy smirked. "What's the matter Granger? Don't have enough ammunition to kill me? I deserve it you know. I killed 280 Muggles at Oaks Willow. I killed them in their beds, while they were sleeping: mothers, fathers, kids, grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunts. They didn't even know I was there..."

On second thought, maybe that drive wouldn't be so hard to find after all. Hermione clenched her fists, rising to his bait. "Shut up."

"... and again at Richmond," Draco continued his voice cold and hard. "You want to know something interesting, Granger? I killed that girl whose necklace you're wearing."

The anger was so intense that her hands was were trembling with it. "Don't you dare talk about her," Hermione spat.

Malfoy leered and stepped closer until he was in her personal space. "She was wearing pink pyjamas with yellow stars," he taunted, cold grey eyes boring into her own, "And she had brown hair in braids, and when I stepped into her room she looked at me she asked me if I was an angel." Malfoy smirked. "Am I that angelic looking, Granger? Anyways, after I killed mummy and daddy she..."

"SHUT UP!" Hermione screamed as red hot rage licked through her body. Her wand was in her hand, how had it gotten there so quick? "Just shut up Malfoy!"

"Make me!" he snarled, grabbing her wand and shoving it into his torso.

Hermione steadied her hand as livid red sparks brushed harmlessly over his shirt.

"C'mon, Granger," Malfoy spat his eyes dark and angry. "Yyou came all this way to kill me, so do it already."

Hermione gripped her wand, the killing curse milliseconds away from being shouted when unexpectedly her mind whispered: No, you need him.

The whispered words left her absolutely flabbergasted and staring at Malfoy in some form of horrified shock. She didn't know what was more messed up - the fact that he was giving her the open opportunity to kill him, or that she was hesitating over a couple of internally fucked up words. What in Merlin was wrong with her?

Malfoy was apparently wondering the same thing because his lip curled in distaste. "Next time, Granger, why don't we just stay out of each others way?" He dropped her wrist and stalked up the alleyway out of sight.

Once he was gone Hermione's wand fell from her trembling fingers and clattered to the floor. Rubbing her hand over her face she backed up several steps till she hit the opposite wall and slid to the ground. "This is so messed up," she muttered as she buried her face in her hands.

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To be continued...

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