Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any characters mentioned below.

It was a last second change of mind that led Malfoy to disapparate in to the Shrieking Shack. He landed with a thud against the creaking floorboards as the empty house echoed the crack of his arrival. He badly needed rest, his whole body ached and his heart was pounding against his ribcage. He looked around as he got up; trying to figure out where in the Shrieking shack he had apparated. He gripped the wand he was carrying against his palms that were slightly slick with sweat and made his way to the tunnel entrance Snape had told him three years ago that led near the Whomping Willow. This way he would somehow get in to Hogwarts and ….

What?

What was he going to do then?

Could he go to Snape without getting caught by the Carrows or any nosy students? Would he try to contact Hermione? Try to join the trio?

But Merlin, they could be anywhere!

Maybe he could go to the Room of Requirement. Yes, that sounded like a stable start. And then he'll have to figure a way of trying to contact Hermione or Snape.

Oh merlin, Hermione. Was she okay? What kind of damage did that bitch do to her? Draco's brain clouded with anger as his mind flicked with images of possible revenge he could inflict on his wretched aunt.

He didn't even realize that he had got to the opening of the other end of the tunnel until he felt the gust of cold air greet him. He rubbed his fingers against the wood of Scabior's wand as tried to regain his strength, courage and whatever he needed to push on till he was safe. He had to makes sure not to attract any kind of attention, to go unnoticed through the halls once he got inside.

Ron had heard Hermione's voice coming from upstairs, and felt relieved that she was awake. She had been unconscious for three days, apart from the little moments she would wake up with no idea where she was and what happened. Fleur had taken these chances to feed her and keep her body alive with some nutrients.

Ron took two steps at a time on the stairs, despite the darkness. Shell Cottage was silent, for it was close to midnight and Harry had fallen asleep, exhaustion defeating his will to stay awake with Ron.

"Hermione?" Ron said, peeking in to the room, and switching on the lights. He saw Hermione squint at the sudden brightness that washed over the room and looked around. "How are you feeling?" He asked, cautiously. He wondered if she might go back to her little coma again or if she was up for good.

"I- Can I have some water?" She asked, her voice cracking a bit.

He walked over to the table nearby and poured some water from a pot in to a cup and handed it to her. He watched her drinking it, gratefully.

"Do you want to eat? There's some soup…" Ron said.

"Yes, please." She said, and somehow this politeness and meekness reminded him of a little girl, maybe a really younger version of Hermione he would probably take care of. He shook away this sudden funny thought and arranged her some soup Fleur had prepared the other day.

"How are you feeling?" He asked again, handing the soup to her.

"I feel…..I don't know. I feel I've slept for too long and I need to move around a bit." Hermione said, frowning, sitting up to take the bowl in to her hands.

"Do you remember what-what happened?" Ron asked.

"No."

Ron's felt his heart break a little. Bill had told him that memory loss was a side effect of being under the Cruciatus for too long. How much had she forgotten?

"What do last remem—"

"Wait." She cut him off. "Wait, we were…we were at the Manor."

"Yes, do you remember the rest?" Ron asked hopefully, taking hold of her hand.

"We got caught saying…You-Know-Who's name. And then, OH, where's Draco?" Hermione sat up.

Ron swallowed, licking his lips as he thought about his answer. He didn't want to stress her right then. She had woken up after all to worry her would lead her to Merlin's know what.

"Hermione, look. So you remember? Because that's what's important." He said urgently.

Hermione ran her hand over her face. "Yes, yes. I remember. How long have I been….?"

"Three days, I think." He replied. "Maybe two."

"Where is everyone? Are they asleep?" She asked.

"Yeah, Harry's been trying to stay up but the bloke's too exhausted. It's been a while since he experienced a proper couch." Ron said, with a hint of his old joking tone that had never had the chance to resurface.

"And Draco? Is he alright?" Hermione asked, the lines between her eyes becoming distinct with worry.

"He'll be fine." Ron said, but his ears blushed the way it always did when he lied. Hermione was quick to notice it.

"What is it? What are you hiding?"

"Look, you need to rest. I'll tell you everything later. I don't want to stress you out, okay?"

"Goddamit, Ronald. If you don't tell me, it's going to stress me out even more!" She practically shrieked despite the little energy she had.

Ron looked at her with worry and a hint of fear. He really didn't want to unleash her wicked temper and end up with a missing toe. "Just…. calm down first." He said, almost pleaded.

She looked ready to argue but instead took a deep breath and forced herself to relax. Her gaze on him was intense.

"Do you think you could handle it now?" Ron asked. "He's not dead." He said quickly seeing the distraught that was creeping in to her features. But what he was about to tell her meant he couldn't confirm this statement either.

"Then what is it?" Hermione asked.

"We didn't have the time to get Malfoy if we had to save everyone." A voice came from the doorway. Ron whipped his head to see Harry enter the room, his hair dishevelled as ever, with dark rings around his eyes. He came and sat on the bed with Hermione. Harry had woken up to Hermione's shrieks.

"So you left him with those demented…." Hermione sputtered and turned sharply to look at Ron. "How can you know he's not dead? How can you…. He could be tortured this very moment!" She cried, her body starting to wrack with sobs. Why did they keep separating each other? This was the third time or so that they were separated. But this time, it was she who left. "We… we need to go, get him back!"

Ron looked aghast at the result and watched helplessly as Harry, who usually behaved like a deer in the headlights around crying girls, comforted her.

"Hermione, you have to understand that you were our main concern." Harry explained urgently, rubbing her shoulders. "It all happened in a rush when Dobby showed up and we didn't know where they took Malfoy. We did plan to go back and get him."

"So why isn't he here?" Hermione hiccupped.

Harry shared a glance with Ron. "Dobby…. got killed saving us." Harry said quietly, looking down at the sheets.

Hermione whimpered. "I'm so sorry." She said resting her head on his shoulder. Harry nodded, leaning his head against hers, his eyes meeting Ron's.

"We all are."

"What the fuck do you mean we have to go down to the kitchens?" Draco demanded.

Neville sighed. How did Harry, Ron and Hermione deal with this drama queen? He was starting to get a headache for the second time ever since Malfoy had joined the refugees in the Room of Requirement.

"It means that the Room of Requirement doesn't produce food, and time to time we have to sneak down to the kitchens to get food." Seamus explained, irritated. He had never been a fan of Rich Boy Malfoy.

Draco sighed. He wasn't sure if he felt relieved or frustrated that he ran in to the bunch of Gryffindors, Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs when he entered the Room of Requirement. He was backed up with allies but allies he couldn't bear to be in the same room with. Just because he was with Hermione didn't mean he had chummed up with her buddies. Oh no.

"All right. How many people are going?" He asked, since the thought of food wasn't a bad idea right now. He didn't remember the last time he ate before he came to the Room of Requirement and Patil had offered him something to eat.

"It's usually three or four." Terry Boot said. Malfoy always thought he was a ponce. "But there's an increase in people by a factor of—"

"Yeah, yeah. Just how many people, Boot?" Draco snapped impatiently.

"Seven." The Ravenclaw replied, with an annoyed look and Draco merely smirked at it. It was fun pissing off the high and mighty Ravenclaws who thought they knew everything. This was another reason he liked Hermione. She was there to shove their high heads up their arse whenever she outsmarted them.

"Well, who's coming with me?" Draco called out, ignoring the two Gryffindor boys bristling at his taking over the leadership role Neville and Seamus had occupied. But dejectedly they raised their hands, along with three Hufflepuffs and a Ravenclaw.

"Great." Draco nodded and turned to head out.

"I think it would be wise for us to take the lead here, Malfoy." The Ravenclaw, Goldstein, bravely stepped in. "After all, we're more familiar with the patrolling in the hallways." Neville and Seamus nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, whatever. Let's go." Malfoy said dismissively. He really just wanted to eat right now.

Shell cottage was officially crowded. It housed nine people when it was only meant for two, but uncannily the house remained comparatively silent. Hermione was steadily getting better but she wasn't allowed to exhaust herself. Ron and Harry weren't in better shape either despite the fact that they hadn't endured the same gruel treatment as Hermione. Their lack of sleep and stress was taking a toll on them, that Ron even started sleepwalking to Bill's distress. Fleur deduced they would have to stay under her care for at least another week if they wanted to be up and running around doing whatever the mission Dumbledore had left them. This was when Harry realized the similarities between the Beauxbaton champion and Mrs Weasley.

Of course, this did not please Hermione at all. She was desperate for some knowledge on Draco; whether he was moved to another location, whether he was kept prisoner in the manor. She hoped and even prayed that he was alive. Ron had told her it was unlikely that they would finish Malfoy off themselves since he was important ad might most likely be left for Voldemort. Since Harry had not sensed any intense emotions from the Dark Lord, they all presumed Draco was probably alive. But it wasn't soothing Hermione. Her misery kept her up at night and did not allow her for proper rest in the beginning that Fleur convinced Bill to send a message to the Order to keep a look out for Malfoy. Ever since, Hermione had been waiting for a reply, and effectively getting better through this tiny hope.

"We need to head back to the Manor as soon as we're better." Hermione pleaded and Ron and Harry shared a glance. It wasn't that they didn't care for Malfoy's wellbeing, even though how miniscule that care was. They just weren't too crazy about going back to the place and risk Hermione's life.

"Why don't we, Ron and I go get him?" Harry suggested. "Because personally I don't fancy you stepping your foot anywhere near that hell hole again."

"No, I'm coming with you!" She protested. "You can't expect it to be easy with just the two of you. That's ridiculous." Hermione argued.

"We don't want a repeat performance of what just happened there. It's hell just standing there hearing you scream." Ron snapped. "And it was probably unimaginable experiencing it."

"But we can't leave Draco there." Hermione fretted. "We can't, Harry."

"Then just let us go and get him."

"But I don't want anything happening to you while I sit here useless in bed." She sad, throwing her hands in the air in frustration.

"Guys." Bill's voice came from the door and the three heads whipped to see Bill standing by the door holding a folded paper in his hands. "Remus sent this to me." He said and he handed it to Hermione. She looked at him quizzically and opened the paper to reveal a huge image of Draco's face.

On the top it read; "WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE"

"He got away." Hermione whispered, her eyes roaming the image of Draco's face that stared blinking back her. Oh, she missed him.

Harry peered at it. "What if it's a trap?" He asked, with a frown marring his face.

"But wouldn't that be useless to issue posters indicating that he's wanted if they're trying to lure us back?" Ron said. "If they were smart, they would have kept they're hole shut and waited till we walked right in to their den so they could bag us again."

"Well, it's a good thing they didn't." Hermione retorted.

"Ron has a point, Hermione. It just seems strange they would let that opportunity go and alert us that he got away." Harry said. "There should be something behind this."

"Maybe they thought he escaped with you guys." Bill pointed out, reminding the trio that he was still there. "We don't know when he got away. So through finding him, maybe they're hoping to find you three as well."

Ron and Harry mused at this theory. Hermione thought this made sense and in fact, she badly wanted to believe it; that all this time he had not being suffering. Her eyes trailed the picture on her lap, his eyes blinking up at hers, his lips parting ever so slightly. Hermione traced her thumb across the paper, outlining his jaw, remembering how she loved feeling his defined jaw. It was one of his excellent features, in her opinion. It did make his chin rather prominent but it was just another plane her lips leisurely travelled.

"Well, this certainly makes things easier. We don't have to go to that manor again." Ron said with a small smile, breaking Hermione's thoughts. She nodded.

"So what do we do now?" Hermione asked, biting her lip.

There was a brief silence and Bill, taking the hint, left the room.

"Remember Bellatrix mentioned a vault?" Harry said, leaning his elbows on his knees, his eyes giving a hint of sparkle that indicated he had a plan.

"Say Longbottom, do you know what the password of the headmasters office is?" Malfoy asked, walking up to the Gryffindor who was helping out a fifth year with his hammock.

"Why the bloody hell do you want to get in there?" He asked bewildered.

"Now, why would one want to go to the headmaster's office?" Draco mocked, looking at his finger nails. Taking a shower and shaving had done him wonders, that to Neville he once again looked like the spoilt ferret everyone used to know.

"You want to talk to Snape." The Gryffindor boy said bluntly and rather disbelievingly, not sure what to think. He absent-mindedly let go of the rope he had been holding and left the poor Ravenclaw to finish the work on his hammock. "What the hell are you up to?"

"I'm just wondering if I could use a bit of help from him." Draco shrugged.

"I knew it! I knew you were up to something." Nevilled blurted and he whipped his wand out from his robes.

"Calm your knickers. What's all this?" Malfoy said, eyeing the boy's defensive stance and the rest of the onlookers joining next to him.

"You're going to give us away to Snape, that's what. And if you think we're going to let you just walk—"

"Oh, screw you, Longbottom. If you had any brains left, don't you think I wouldn't have said anything if I was planning to rat you out?" Draco snorted. This was why Gryffindors were tactless. They never thought and they just jumped in through impulse. No doubt they would make ideal abstract artists but not a very good strategists in a war.

"Why the bloody hell would you want to go to Snape then?" Smith, a hufflepuff, asked from behind Neville.

"None of your damn business, don't you think?" He snarled. He nudged his head to Neville indicating he wanted to talk privately.

Neville paused and glanced at Malfoy's hands to see if his wand was anywhere in sight for some surprise attack, but seeing no sign of it he nodded and walked over. "What are you up to?" He asked as they walked over to a corner away from the eyes that looked at them even though Neville had gestured to leave them alone.

"I'm going to try finding a way to contact Granger and the rest." Draco muttered.

"I don't see why that has anything to do with meeting with Snape." Neville retorted darkly.

"In fact, it very much does." Draco drawled. "The thing you don't know is that Snape is working for ours side. He's a spy, always had been to Dumbledore."

He watched the shocked look on Neville's face in satisfaction. Then a look of disbelief set in his round features. "I don't believe it. You must think I'm bonkers that I would actually believe a horde—"

"Well, I don't care if you believe it or not." Draco snapped, losing his patience. "Snape is on our side. Has he actually been like the Carrows?"

"Of course, he has. Like the scum he is."

"Really? He did Unforgivables on students?"

"Well… no, but—"

"And he sent you to Hagrid, fucking Hagrid when you attempted to steal the sword."

"He-How do you know about it?" Neville asked bewildered.

Draco ignored it. "He's on our side. Snape's not going to hurt the students here if he's around. He can't intervene without risking his cover, either. You trust Dumbledore, don't you?"

"Dumbledore?" Neville looked like he hadn't grasped anything he had heard.

Draco rolled his eyes. "I'm leaving. The Carrows are probably patrolling around the Ravenclaw tower and the Great Hall. What's the stupid password, Longbottom? I'm not afraid to throw a curse or two."

"I- I remember it was something like Lilium." Neville said, looking defeated. "But, I swear if—"

"I'm not going to rat you out." Draco said and something about the way he said it seemed to have convinced the Gryffindor boy since he nodded with some confidence.

Draco felt several eyes follow him when he headed out, no doubt Neville probably trying to explain why the 'sneaky Slytherin' was leaving the Room of Requirement at this hour.

Hermione had been tossing around on her bed. Even though she had been sleeping in it for days, it had begun to feel uncomfortable after all. One would think that she would start appreciating it when she had been sleeping in those crummy mattresses that they had conjured for their camping. Hermione turned to her back and stared up at the ceiling. Ron had left a few minutes ago after switching the lights off. They had spent the day talking to the captives that had been in the Malfoy dungeons, after learning that Hermione was not going to collapse within few minutes of getting out of bed.

Hermione pondered about their plan. There were so many places they could go wrong when they really couldn't afford to. They had come so far and they had no idea how much more to go. She bit her lip, realizing that she was beginning to think like Draco. What would Draco have said if he was here?

He'd probably tell them that they were being impulsive.

Tell them that laying low would be ideal right now that they just escaped the Malfoy Manor.

"Breaking in Grigotts is a suicide mission."

"Don't trust Goblins, are you mental?"

"You don't have Bellatrix in you, they'll know it's not you."

"Why don't we just imperius someone, and make them do it?"

"You stay, I'll take those lunatics and get the Horcrux. How about that?"

"I'm pretty sure I can do a wonderful impression of my aunt."

"It's not the bloody time to be stubborn, Hermione!"

She frowned at her thoughts. Was this how a relationship ought to be? Hermione wasn't sure for she really didn't have any experience with dating. Viktor Krum was hardly anything. Draco was her first actual boyfriend. She remembered their kiss, sharing it in front of Snape, no less. She remembered the 'date' at Hogsmead when Draco had joined her, kissed her to tease Ron. He had told her he loved her.

She believed it.

Was love so quick? So sudden? So sure? Did Draco know what love was then when he had offered the three words to her?

Hermione turned her pillow on to the cooler side. She had to stop thinking. Why was she having second thoughts all of a sudden? Maybe it was the calming potion she had been dosed with the past few days. It had given her a peaceful mind to think, to ponder about the things that resided in the nooks and crannies of her mind.

She loved him, she was sure. She cared for him, thought of him when he wasn't near. Heck, her heart still danced like a drunk monkey when he got near her with that look on his face.

But these past few months felt as if all they did was argue, fight and leave. It must be the war, wasn't it? When the war was over, they would actually act like a normal couple, wouldn't they? No prejudice, no mistrust, no constant distance between them?

Hermione wiped a stray tear that ran down her cheek. She was being silly. They were good, it was just all the stress, she told herself. She really needed to sleep if she wanted to get out of the place and resume their hunt; for Draco and the Horcruxes.

Ron and Harry were starting to get stronger and they had taken on to themselves to start working out to make themselves fit. It did them little wonders, she had to admit when she watched them. Her boys, she would think fondly. They were going to need all their strength now.

At the end it was she who was lagging them from progress. It truly was a first. Ron would probably have a laugh at that, she thought with a little smile.

Ron.

She suspected he had feelings for her. In fact she was sure he did since third year. So had she, ever since fourth year. She had hoped so much for Ron to ask her to the Yule Ball, it was almost embarrassing. And how lovely that satisfaction felt when he saw her in that dress! She had been so sure that he would ask for a dance after seeing her like that. Instead, they had fought.

And they had fought again, hadn't they? Fought like fools over crushes and jealousy, while Draco was in the Room of requirement, and Snape and Dumbledore had been plotting assisted suicide.

But they hadn't fought in a while, come to think of it. Was that saying something? Hermione wondered before she blinked at the sudden light that engulfed the room as a silver doe appeared in the room. She gasped.

"Draco is safe and is at Hogwarts." Snape's silky voice emitted from the Patronus "Hogsmead is not safe, do not apparate."

With that, it was gone, leaving Hermione in the darkness again.

I doubt an apology would actually be effective this time but I am truly truly sorry that I was unable to update this sooner. Some of you probably don't remember the story anymore and I understand if you're thoroughly annoyed.

Thank you for reading and reviewing. It had meant the world to me to find inspiration through your reviews and private messages that encouraged me to continue this despite my lack of enthusiasm. People like JessicaHenry3 and Tefi Weasley and many others are the reason I've decided to post this chapter.

I hope you can be patient with me again.

Thank you.