Author's note: This is a Draco/Hermione fic. I personally see nothing wrong with this pairing, but if for whatever reason you don't like it please DON'T READ IT! This takes place around 6th year, Sirius is not dead, and there is OOCness. Draco is totally epic, and Hermione is more giggly and scattered than usual.(Although, most of this occurs early in the morning before her brain has had enough time to wake up properly) There is a scene later in the fic where Draco is in the shower, but that's really as far as it goes.

Not Important…

"Harry's not doing too well…" Hermione said, worry evident in her voice. "I knew that the Dursley's were horrible, but I never imagined that they would beat him within an inch of his life…"

Ron looked both disgusted and just plan pissed off. "If I EVER see that bastard of an uncle, I swear I'll—"

"You can't kill him, Ron! You'd be sent to Azkaban!" Hermione snapped. The door opened and Arthur Weasley walked in looking quite distressed.

"The members of the Order have been summoned. They should be here soon to help protect Harry." Arthur said hopelessly.

"Dad," Ron started, "That's really not necessary! I mean, this is Harry were talking about! He'll be fine. He'll pull through and—"

"He's too vulnerable right now, Ronald!" Arthur cut in sharply. "He wouldn't be able to handle an attack in the condition he's in…"

"Arthur! They're arriving!" Molly Weasley called up the stairs. Arthur and Ron both went down to greet the arriving members while Hermione stayed up with Harry.

"How is he?" Sirius asked, on the verge of tears.

"Not too good at the present, I'm afraid," Arthur answered solemnly. "But I'm sure he'll be fine, given the proper time…" He began leading them inside the Burrow. Ron was making to follow when he heard the sound of someone apparating.

'Odd' he thought, ' I could've sworn that all the Order members were here already…' He looked up and saw a hooded figure stalking up the path. "Who are you?!" he bellowed, pulling out his wand. "Take off the hood! Now!" The figure continued up the path, and Ron was sure he heard the figure laughing at him.

"So…" came a voice from under the hood, "How is he?" The voice seemed familiar to Ron, but he couldn't quite place it. He was getting ready to tell the figure to remove the hood once more when the figure scoffed. "Oh, fine. I'll take off the hood, alright?" Elegant, pale hands reached up and flicked the hood off in one swift, fluid motion. Ron could only stare in stunned awe. Standing before him was the last person he had expected, or wanted, to see that night. Though Ron had seen him plenty of times before, he had never looked quite so… surreal. The pale light of the moon made his platinum blonde hair and ivory skin seem more flawless than usual, and it was as if every star reflected in his eyes of quick silver. In Ron's personal opinion, Draco Malfoy looked like a porcelain doll that could be found in an antique store.

It suddenly dawned on Ron that it was Draco-bloody-Malfoy! He seized Draco by the shoulders and threw him up against a tree, pinning him there with one hand while holding a wand to his throat with the other. "What the Bloody Hell are you doing here, Ferret?!" Ron barked, demanding an answer. Draco just smirked. His patience wearing thin, Ron slammed him against the tree again. "Answer me, damn it!"

"I was summoned," Draco responded, coolly.

"I am so sick of your bullshit, Malfoy! You came here to try and attack Harry, didn't you?!" Tonks came out, hearing the commotion. She pulled Ron off of Draco, looking rather frazzled.

"What are you doing, Ron?"

"This git's going to try to attack Harry! After all, he is a member of the—"

"The Order of the Phoenix. Not the Death Eaters, as I'm sure you assume." Lupin called from the doorway, striding out onto the lawn. He was soon followed by other Order members.

Ron's eye grew at least three times in size. "Beg Pardon?" he said, not believing what he had just heard.

"He's one of the Order's best spies. And one of our best kept secrets, as well…" he couldn't help but smirk. "He flawlessly plays the part of the son of Lucius Malfoy. He's rude, cocky, arrogant, weak, childish, and all around a right pain in the arse, but only when he needs to be to keep up appearances. Otherwise, his parents would know that he was keeping something from them."

Ron looked as if his brain had just been set on fire. "So… This isn't the real Draco?"

"No, it IS the real Draco. That's what I'm saying," Lupin explained, "He only acts the way that you know him as because that's the way the son of Lucius is supposed to act. He isn't actually like that though…" He let out a small sigh. "You'll see…" He left it at that.

"I don't trust the git though!" Ron voiced his doubts. "Besides, what good is he to us? What could he possibly do to help protect Harry?" He shot a glare at Malfoy.

"He knows more about the Dark Arts than anyone else here. Even me…" Moody piped in.

"How could that even be possible?" Ron asked, his question addressed straight to Moody, temporarily forgetting that Draco was even there.

"Because I deal with them on a daily basis," Draco answered, getting annoyed with everyone answering for him. Ron turned his attention back to Malfoy, a guarded curiosity in his eyes. Draco smirked, "My father not only wants me to know them for 'when I become a Death Eater' but he also wants me to 'be able to defend myself if they're ever used against me'. That's what he tells me, anyway…" He shrugged. "Personally, I think it's just a way for him to torture me when he gets bored, but doesn't feel like beating me the muggle way…" All eyes turned to him. He shifted, realizing that he had said a lot more than he had intended to.

"What do you mean, "beating you the muggle way"?" Ron asked hesitantly.

"Not important…" Draco pushed past him. "We should probably start setting up the wards now." They all circled the Burrow and began casting protective spells and incantations into the sky. Ron didn't know any really strong ones, so he decided to stay out of the way and watch. He had to admit that he was a little impressed. As the spells were cast, he noticed that Draco's were incredibly bright, much more so than they really should be at his age. Some were different colors, as well, not just the blue/white color. 'Maybe he really is different than I always thought…' Ron pondered.

An idea popped into his head. "Hey, Malfoy! Come here!" he called out. Draco finished up the spells and walked over to where Ron stood.

"What?" he asked, sounding rather calm given the state of things.

"Are you good with healing charms?" Ron asked. Draco raised an eyebrow in curiosity, but did not speak. Ron led him up through the house to the room where Harry lay unconscious and wounded. Hermione turned to greet Ron when the door opened, but her eyes fell upon Draco first. Without thinking about what she was doing, she crossed the room and smacked him across the face.

Draco looked at Ron with a stunned expression on his features. "What did I even DO?!" Ron was desperately trying not to laugh. He opened his mouth to explain but was cut off when Hermione smacked Draco again.

"What the Bloody Hell are you doing here, Malfoy!?" she spat.

"Wow, dejavu…" the blonde muttered to himself. Hermione raised her hand to smack him again, causing him to flinch and duck behind Ron. When she began to advance on him, she was shocked when Ron blocked her path.

"He's here to help, 'Mione." Ron explained when she looked incredulously at him. "It's kind of a long story…"

"How could HE possibly help?" Hermione emphasized the statement with a bone chilling glare at Draco.

"I'm good with healing charms and protective spells," he said, stepping out from behind Ron.

"I've already tried. There's nothing that YOU could do." She gave him a rather smug yet challenging look, daring him to tell her she was wrong.

"No offense, Granger, but just because you couldn't do anything doesn't mean that I won't be able to." Hermione looked like she was going to attack him with every hex that she knew. He casually walked past her, but kept alert. He knew what she was capable of… He pulled out his wand and knelt beside Harry. "He looks so…broken," he said, more to himself than the other two. He tried a couple different spells, but nothing happened.

"Told you…" Hermione scoffed, sounding like a child.

Draco smirked over his shoulder. "Come on, Granger. You've known me long enough to know that I usually have a trick or two up my sleeve." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small knife. Hermione and Ron were about to jump him, thinking that he was going to hurt Harry, when he pressed the blade into his own palm.

"What are you doing?!" Hermione shrieked when she saw a steady stream of blood pour from his hand.

"Just be patient and watch…" he hissed through clenched teeth, though he seemed far more focused on carving into his palm than on the pain it caused him. He finished, placed his bleeding hand over Harry's heart and muttered an incantation in a language that Hermione didn't recognize. Suddenly, there was a bright purple light surrounding Draco's hand and Harry's body. He pulled away, no sign of the damage he had inflicted moments before remaining. Ron's jaw hit the floor: Harry looked as good as new.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked after a long, stunned silence.

"It's old magic. They don't teach it at school…"

"How did you learn how to do that, then?" Ron asked

"Not important…" Draco said, standing up and putting his knife back into his pocket. "We should head back downstairs to see if the Order has decided anything yet." With that, he slid past them and descended the staircase silently.

"What the Hell…" Ron muttered. "What is he hiding?"

"What do you mean?" Hermione looked at him.

"I asked him a question earlier, and he dodged that one too…" They exchanged quick glances. However brief, it was enough to tell that neither one trusted Draco yet. They went down the stairs slowly, so as not to make a lot of noise on the old creaky stairs. They weren't sure if a meeting was going on or not.

"How does the slick git do it?" Ron whispered. "I mean, he was moving pretty quick, but I didn't hear a damn thing. He's like a bloody shadow or something…"

"Don't know…" Hermione shrugged. "It must be a useful skill to have given his… lifestyle, I suppose. Having to spy on people and whatnot…"

"Exactly. He spies on people. Who's to say that he's not just fooling with the Order? Sneaky and Slytherin kinda go hand in hand. Not to mention that he's a Malfoy. He's quiet and, as much as I hate to admit it, he knows… things…"

"Things?" Hermione raised her eyebrows. "What kind of 'things'?"

"I don't know!" Ron slumped against the wall. "I get the feeling that he knows something, but I don't know what! It's gonna drive me MAD!"

Mrs. Weasley came out of the kitchen, hearing Ron's little outburst. "Ron! Hermione! You have to go back upstairs. The Order is having a meeting. Now, go on!" She shooed them back up the stairs, Ron grumbling the whole way. They split off, going to their own rooms and crawling into bed, though neither was able to find sleep until well past midnight.