It's just a phase, nothing more. Everything's going to be okay. 

This was Hermione's constant reminder to herself, telling herself to breathe and take it easy.

I'll be okay soon enough. It's just a phase. It'll pass.

Only it didn't.

The weeks rolled by from September to October to early November, but the 'phase' didn't pass. Ron and Ginny had given her the cold shoulder entirely. They'd ignore her in the hallways, sit deliberately far from her in classes, and even throw in a comment or two at times. Harry was supportive and extra-friendly to make up for Ron and Ginny, but Hermione didn't stay with him. It was not like he didn't try. But Hermione didn't want to drag him away from his best friend and girlfriend, knowing how miserable he became without them.  She felt it was too cruel to take that happiness away from him after almost two years of complete misery, just so he could lend her a shoulder to cry on when she couldn't even tell him what she was crying about.

So much bitterness in her friendships had forced her to shift into the Head Common Room. Draco had been unpleasantly surprised to see this, but at least this was a bitterness she could endure. She always expected Draco to be cruel, so that didn't hurt. However, what her friends were doing to her made her so lonely it was eating her from the inside out. She was starved for warmth and touch, an approving slap in the back, a hand slung around her shoulders, anything, really. More than a month of complete seclusion was slowly driving her mad.

To keep herself sane, Hermione set up walls around herself and withdrew behind them. She began studying and researching extensively, to the point that she always had a constant headache in her temples. She would wake up, go to classes, immerse herself in her books, keep to the library. She studied late into the night, and then immediately roll asleep in her bed. 

But even her sleep was not untainted anymore. She would often wake up at night and find that she'd been screaming from nightmares. The last time she'd had them, it was the phase after the War. But they'd started again from the day Ron had broke up with her. She'd wake up, terrified, then force herself to breathe and relax. Then she'd usually go for a short walk outside in the increasingly cold wind, trying to live inside the nightmares she had just witnessed.

And Draco noticed everything. He noticed how lonely she was. He'd wake up at nights often in his room to Hermione screaming in her sleep until she woke up. Her voice cut across the walls of their dormitories and always made him run cold, because it was a sound from her throat he recognized from his Manor. It would remind him of the time when she'd been writhing and screaming and crying in pain in front of him, with Bellatrix on top of her, cruelly cutting the letters open into her pale skin, clearly enjoying every moment of it. And he had just stood and watched.

Other than Hermione, Draco was happy. He and his friends were on almost perfectly good terms again, and they formed a tightly knit pack, laughing at the most stupid things. Things with his father were calm again, and he'd recently received a coded letter from his mother, in case it was intercepted, that she'd secretly moved into Malfoy Manor again, and that she was positive no one knew about it. That lightened his mood permanently.

Interactions between Hermione and Draco remained limited to an occasional remark and a return comment after classes were over. The nature of the interaction varied from almost teasing to openly hostile, but after a month together, they had both learned to tolerate each other's presence in the room. But that was all there was.

Hermione had a breakthrough in her research in the library on the evening of the 25th of November in a book called Advanced Charms and How to Cast Them. She read through the page, once, twice, thrice before she felt the thrill of success. Yes, yes, yes! She'd done it!

She had come halfway across the path to the destination she'd been aiming for since the start of term. But the other half of the path was still left. And, the difficulty here was, she needed a partner.

Thinking about a partner washed away all the euphoria. Who would she go to? Not Harry. Definitely not Ron or Ginny. She thought about Neville or Luna, or maybe Parvati, but all of them hung out with either Ron or Ginny or both, and they might have mixed feelings about her. She hadn't talked to any of them since last month.

The name 'Draco Malfoy' flashed through her mind.

She dismissed it as soon as she thought of him. How would she ever be able to find trust in him?

She sighed, then carefully folded down the corner of the page inwards, closing the book. She clutched it in her arms and exited the library. Making her way towards the head dorm, she thought and thought about who she could count on for help.

It seemed that there was no one left to help her.

Hermione pressed her palms over her eyes in bed, thinking. Could she trust Malfoy? She could give it a shot. She knew a secret about him that she could use as leverage - about his parents and how he was responsible for Lucius' arrest. If he exposed her secret, she would out his. Yes, maybe that would be enough.

But would he do it? He had no immense affection for her. If he had asked her to do something for him, she would have laughed in his face. Okay, maybe not so brutal, but she would never have considered the offer seriously enough. She had to give it a try, though. It was her only chance.

The next evening, Hermione found Draco in the common room, apparently doing his homework. He had parchments and quills all over the desk, and books he was occasionally referring to. Hermione had never actually seen him study, so it was not unnatural when she kept looking.

"You're staring, Mudblood."

She snapped out of her reverie, looking anywhere but at him. "Forgive me. I've never seen you do anything so normal as doing homework."

"How else do you imagine I remain the brightest wizard around?"

"That's the thing, you said 'wizard'," she said coolly. "Because a particular witch always manages to surpass you." She smirked as she said it.

Okay, now was the time. He didn't seem too vehement in his conversation, so maybe he was in a good mood.

"Malfoy," she said. He neither looked up nor responded.

"Can you hear me?" she asked skeptically.

"I can, but I'm afraid to capture my attention you need to continue beyond the name."

She huffed, then reminded herself to stay patient. She had to tread carefully.

She drew a long breath, unbelieving she was going to say this to her eternal enemy. "I need your help."

At this, Draco put his quill down and looked up, his chin resting on his palm. He stared at Hermione with mock wonder. "A war hero asks a Death Eater for help. Wow, that must be some kind of record."

"I'm not joking," Hermione said. "I really do need help."

"You need to find an Order member to spy for you or something. My allegiance is to the Dark Lord, remember? What happened to Golden Boy and his sidekick?"

"Trust me, if I could have gone to Harry or Ron, I wouldn't have come here," she responded sadly, then quickly recollected herself. "And no, the task is not remotely Order-related. It's personal."

Draco felt a little confused. Know-it-all Mudblood came to him for a personal task? Did she really expect him to agree?

"Well, then, I think you should find someone personal to do it." He gave her a very pointed 'wrong person, duh' kind of look.

Hermione felt her throat tighten. 

"Yeah, of course, I - I'm sorry, I shouldn't have assumed you'd help me." Her face reddened, and she turned around, walking rapidly back towards her room. There was no one to help her. Her loneliness crashed upon her like an enormous wave.

Seeing her go away so miserably made Draco say it out without really thinking. "What is it you need help with?"

Hermione stopped, then slowly turned around. Draco slapped himself mentally.

"I can't tell you unless I know you're up for it."

"Let's say I am." He regretted the words as soon as they rolled off his tongue.

Her eyes widened, not believing it. From Malfoy, this was as good as a direct promise. 

"I thought the task was urgent," he drawled, getting up and settling down luxuriously on the sofa. Hermione came and sat down on the sofa opposite him, then started talking. 

"At the end of sixth year, when Dumbledore died and we knew we had to go hunting for Horcruxes, and we were sure there'd be a war, I was very worried over my parents' safety. Being associated with me, one of the most hunted witches in entire Britain, would put them in danger - mortal danger. So, to keep them safe, I cast a memory charm on them. I obliviated them so that they wouldn't remember who I was, or what relation I had to them. Basically, they forgot they'd ever had a daughter."

"You did what ?" Draco said, shocked. He'd never imagined anyone could do that. Despite Hermione being an enemy, Draco empathized with her. It would have been incredibly difficult for her to do that, knowing that she'd probably never see her parents again.

"I also modified their memories so that they would remember and identify themselves as someone else, and would shift to Australia." Hermione continued as though she hadn't been interrupted. "Of course, at that time I was almost certain I'd die in the war, so there was no plan about having their memories restored. However, I did come out alive, and now all I wanted was to get them back again. But I didn't know any memory-restoring charms, and I spent all these months looking for the right spell. I found one yesterday."

She paused, studying Draco. He had his indifferent mask on, but on the inside, he was horrified. To go on a suicide mission knowing that there'd be no one at the funeral - it would be indescribably hard.

"The trouble is, it's very complicated. Since the memory I want to restore to them is so huge, a single mistake and I would risk taking away even their existing memories. So I need practice to do it flawlessly. And for that, I need a partner to perform the spells on."

"You intend to mess up my brain and want me to let you?" Draco asked incredulously.

"It won't do any damage to you," she explained. "I have it all planned. You can choose a memory, an unimportant one, which won't be a loss to forget. I'll obliviate it, then try to return it back to you."

Draco turned the thought around in his mind. Okay, he couldn't find any loopholes in the plan. It was doable. Somehow, he even found himself willing to do it.

"Okay, I'll do it," he said firmly. "I'll help you."

Relief flooded over Hermione's anxious face. The knot on her forehead relaxed.

"What will I get in return, though?" he asked, malice on his face.

"Anything you want," Hermione said. "Anything for my parents. What do you want?"

"Ah, not now," he said. "Consider it a deposit in the bank. You owe me. I'll withdraw the money when I want."

***

A/N: Long, long, long chapter! This was exhausting to write, but it's a significant step ahead. Both in our romance and in the plot. So, your thoughts?