Author's Note: So since this is a 7th year story based on an AU where Draco and Harry were never enemies, I decided to give a brief description of Draco and Hermione's friendship over the years leading up to 7th year. It provides insight to their friendship and prepares for the rest of the book. It kind of got away from me and ended up longer than I wanted, but I hope you enjoy this opening chapter!

First Year

Draco could hardly hold in his excitement for his first day of potions. He'd always loved the craft and having Severus as his honorary uncle only fueled his enjoyment of the subject. Of course, his mother had gone to great lengths to make sure he wouldn't embarrass Severus in class and he knew he was supposed to give other students the chance to answer questions and not always steal the spotlight. Discovering Harry Potter shared potions with him only made it harder for him; for some reason, he wanted to prove to Harry Potter that he could do something too and become his potions partner. Unfortunately, it was revealed early on in class that Harry Potter knew nothing about the subject, but a strange girl he'd never seen before did.

After that, it didn't take long to find out who the girl was. Hermione Granger was her name, and Draco found it bizarre that he'd never heard of her. She was brilliant in all her classes and Draco was determined to find out her secret. Perhaps she was distantly related to one of the great potion makers. When he wrote to his parents and asked if there was a family by the name of Granger that seemed to excel in every magical subject, he was disappointed at the response.

Draco,

Granger is not a wizarding name, but that of a muggle. You'll do well to move on from the girl as she is clearly a Mudblood and not worthy of your attention. Do not fret about her genius, however, as I am sure time will reveal her methods of cheating and you will surely pass her in every subject.

Lucius Malfoy

Draco had read the letter twice before checking for the hidden note his mother usually sent. He'd hoped her letter would bring encouragement, but he found no writing from her. He tried several different spells, hoping for even a brief message that she missed him. Ten minutes of searching and he realised his father's was the only response he would get.

* * *

Hermione couldn't have been more thrilled with her first year of wizarding school. Sure, there was the pesky problem of one of her teachers being controlled by another dark wizard, but overall, the year was wonderful. By May, she was dreading the upcoming summer and that it meant she wouldn't be able to practice magic for a couple of months. She, of course, planned on writing Harry and Ron during the summer, but neither of them seemed to care about school like she did. Part of her wished she'd devoted more time to making friends who did care about school, but the only other student in her classes who seemed to be equally excited was Draco Malfoy and he wasn't particularly easy to approach.

At one point, she'd mentioned him to Ron and Harry. Harry seemed like he couldn't care less about her possibly becoming friends with him, but Ron had been vehemently against the idea. He'd listed off reasons why she shouldn't be friends with him, ending with something along the lines of her being muggle-born and Malfoy being a pureblood. She hadn't seen how that affected anything at all, but Ron made it sound like the whole world would cave in if she'd approached him, so she'd kept her distance.

On the last day of school, she found herself hugging all her Gryffindor friends as she clambered off the train. Before she could meet her parents on the other side of the platform, someone tapped her shoulder and she turned around to see the pale, pureblood wizard she had just been arguing with Ron about.

"I know you can't do magic outside of school," Draco began, wringing his hands nervously and glancing behind her at something, "But if you ever want a new book on magic, my mother says you're more than welcome to owl and we'll send you something."

Hermione beamed. Ron had made it sound like Draco wouldn't want anything to do with her, but here he was, offering her books for over the summer. Not only that but Lady Malfoy (as she'd heard Draco's mother be called) was offering them to her! Ron couldn't have been more wrong about the Malfoy family if he'd wanted to.

"That would be absolutely wonderful!" she exclaimed, almost moving to hug him.

Something behind her caught his attention and she twisted around to see a regal looking woman standing several meters behind her. She immediately knew the lady was Draco's mother and sent a shy smile her way. Lady Malfoy did not respond.

Instead of dwelling on the woman's lack of smile, she turned back to Draco and asked, "If I just send a letter with your name, will the owl know where to go?"

"Oh, you'll have to add Malfoy Manor right under it," Draco told her, glancing at his mother again and blushing. "But make sure not to sign your name."

However confused the last part of his offer made her, she didn't have time to ask. He picked up his bags, wished her a good summer, and hurried off before she could ask. Hermione watched him haul one single bag over to his mother who waved her hand at it. The bag levitated along beside them as the two blonds walked through the platform. With a huge smile on her face and already thinking of all the books she wanted to borrow over the summer, Hermione heaved her bag from the ground and hurried through the barrier to meet her parents.

Second Year

Upon returning to Hogwarts in the fall, Hermione had formed what she would consider a friendship with Draco Malfoy. Between writing him every week and borrowing books from Malfoy Manor, she hadn't really had any other choice. In August, his letters had stopped and she hadn't received another book, but when she saw him in the Great Hall that first night at Hogwarts, she couldn't help but grin and wave at him. He'd smiled back albeit briefly, but she considered it a success.

From then on, she made a point of saying hello to him in the hallways and offering to be lab partners during classes. While Ron muttered about how Malfoy was bad news, she found herself swapping notes with him in Transfiguration. Their friendship was limited and it was clear he wasn't nearly as invested in it as she was, but she knew the rumors Gryffindors liked to spread about Slytherins and was determined to let him know she wouldn't believe them.

When Harry was discovered to speak Parseltongue and the Chamber of Secrets became a problem, her attention drifted from Malfoy and his strange idea of friendship to solving the mystery before things got out of hand. It seemed she wasn't the only one who wanted to read up on Parseltongue, however, because whenever she went to the library for specific books, they were almost always checked out.

After one particularly disappointing day where every book she'd wanted was gone from the library, she found a pristine copy of Slytherin Secrets: Parseltongue and Its History waiting for her in potions. Malfoy was pointedly ignoring her, but that didn't stop her from penning a lovely 'thank you' note and sending it to him via owl the next day. When he'd smiled at her across the Great Hall after reading the note, she felt like they were back on the same page.

* * *

Granger was strange, to him. He'd offered her the Malfoy library and she'd actually taken him up on it. Of course, he shouldn't have been as surprised as he was, but he found he rather enjoyed her weekly letters and being able to talk to someone other than those in the Slytherin house. The minute his father discovered who had been writing him all summer, though, it was ended and he found himself sulking for the remainder of the summer.

He'd returned to Hogwarts with strict instructions from his father not to continue his acquaintance with the Mudblood girl, as he'd called her, and an encouraging note from his mother letting him know she cared not who his friends were, but how their character was. Draco had found it rather strange but kept it folded neatly in his trunk and took it out whenever his father wrote to make sure he wasn't still friends with Granger.

The Chamber of Secrets had been a harsh blow. His father had found out and wanted to know if it was him, his letter oozing pride until Draco had to tell him he hadn't been the one to do it. His father hadn't written after that, but his mother had sent a wonderful letter updating him on what was going on at home and how much she missed him. He, of course, asked her to send every book on the Chamber and Parseltongue and had grinned when the package arrived two days later.

"—every time!" he overheard Granger complaining. She was wondering the library shelves and muttering to herself angrily. "Why is everyone interested in the stupid Chamber and stupid Parseltongue? Don't they know I'm trying to research?"

She bumped into him after that and they'd had a brief conversation. It didn't last long, but the next day, Draco left one of his beloved books in her seat at potions and watched from the corner of his eye as she beamed at it. When he received her letter the next day, he'd decided it was better to share his books with her than wallow in his father's orders.

"Did you hear?" Goyle asked, grinning at the breakfast table one day.

"Hear what, Goyle?" Draco asked, not fully awake and wanting nothing more than a piece of toast and to see Granger light up when he gave her a new book.

"The monster got Granger last night!" Goyle said gleefully. Draco frowned and looked across the Great Hall to see her usual spot empty. He tuned back into whatever Goyle was talking about to hear him say, "—found in the hallway last night! Pomfrey hasn't let anyone in to see her, but that hasn't stopped Potter and Weasley from practically camping out—hey! Where are you going?" Goyle called out as Draco stood up from the table.

"I have something," Draco said stupidly, hurrying back to his room and pulling out every book his mother had sent him. He still hadn't figured out what that stupid monster of Slytherin was, but he knew Granger must have figured it out if she'd been brave enough to wander the hallways at night. He wrote his mother again before going to class and hoped she'd be able to tell him what it was. The thought of a monster roaming the school that had gotten to even Granger was unsettling. Unfortunately, when the letter did come, it wasn't very reassuring.

Dearest Draco,

Unfortunately, we have no more books on Slytherin's monster and I'm afraid I cannot be of any assistance. I've not a clue what it could be, but I'm sure your friend would be able to figure it out. After all, she has read many books of similar subjects if I correctly recall all the books missing over the summer.

Best of luck, my darling, and please stay safe.

Mother

With no extra help from her, Draco spent the remainder of the day pouring over all his books and searching for clues. By the time Pomfrey agreed to let him into the hospital wing to see her, Potter and Weasley had settled in beside her and he forced himself to turn around and leave. He'd come back later and see if she'd left any clues out for him.

Third Year

Hermione found herself spending more and more time in the library as the year went on. Of course, it was hardly the second month, but Harry and Ron were being unbelievably annoying and the library was the only place she could find peace away from them. She'd claimed a table far in the back early in the year and since then, she found herself doing homework there every night. When she didn't have homework, she was curled up in the chair and reading. It was one such night when Draco Malfoy dropped his school bag on the table and slumped in a chair beside her.

She jumped so hard at the sudden intrusion she dropped her book and nearly fell from her seat. Draco merely raised an eyebrow at her, but she couldn't stop her cheeks from growing red. Embarrassed, she reached down to pick up her book and continue where she'd left off. It didn't take long for her to realise she wasn't going to be able to focus at all with Malfoy sitting nearby and no idea what he was doing, so she closed her book and looked at him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked after a second. Malfoy looked up from the parchment he was scribbling on and frowned.

"Am I not allowed to sit here?" he replied. Now Hermione frowned.

"Well, yes," she started, trying to figure out a way not to sound rude when she said, "It's just, you've never bothered to say 'hello' in the hallways, let alone sit with me at all this year, so I figured we were no longer friends."

Malfoy stared at her for a long second and she shifted uncomfortably, suddenly aware of how strangely she was sitting in the chair. With her back against one of the arms and her legs thrown over the other arm, she was sitting in the chair sideways and looked more like a muggle than she ever had before.

"Maybe I want to be friends again," he finally said. Hermione blinked, processing his words before smiling. "That is," he said, suddenly looking very unsure of himself, "If it's alright with you."

"Of course!" she said, a little more enthusiastically than she'd intended. Her face heated up and Draco grinned. He returned to his parchment and she returned to her book as they fell into a now comfortable silence.

After that, Draco joined her at the library every night. Sometimes he was there before her and sometimes he arrived nearly thirty minutes after her, but he came every night. They worked on homework together and discussed various readings they'd been assigned. It was one such night when the conversation steered away from the reading Snape had assigned them about werewolves in Professor Lupin's class to one of Hermione's favourite books.

"It's called the Undesirable series," Draco told her, setting aside his homework as he tried to explain the idea behind it. "Crabbe and Goyle think it's boring, but I find it interesting and I know you'd like it."

"Like it?" Hermione exclaimed, "Draco, it's one of my favourite magical series!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

They forgot about the rest of their homework as they discussed the series and Hermione told him about a similar muggle series. She was shocked to hear he was interested in reading it and promised to bring it after the holidays at home. Draco offered to let her borrow his first print edition and she beamed. They didn't leave the library until Madam Pince kicked them out, warning them curfew was in five minutes and they'd better hurry if they didn't want detention.

* * *

Third-year was the best year so far, in Draco's opinion. Sure, there was that pesky bit about Severus and Professor Lupin's petty rivalry and the high likelihood Lupin was a werewolf, but he and Hermione were becoming fast friends and he couldn't help but love how this year was going. He'd sent only two hidden letters to his mother, raving about how he and Hermione spent the evenings in the library and how she was the best study partner he'd ever had. He asked her to send his signed copy of the Undesirable series and sent her a box of chocolates when she did. Over the holidays, he wrote to Hermione nearly every day despite the difficulty of fooling his father.

When it was time to return to Hogwarts, his father took him to the train and pulled him aside before he could escape.

"Big things are coming, Draco," his father said solemnly, sending a shiver down his spine. "You put yourself in danger by being friends with that Granger girl and I would hate to see you on the wrong side of things."

"What do you mean, father?" Draco asked. Lucius simply shook his head and looked behind him as the Hogwarts Express pulled into the station.

"I care deeply for you, Draco," his father said, worrying Draco more than reassuring him. "Everything I do, I do for you and your mother. You must know I would never intentionally hurt you."

"I know," Draco assured him. Lucius didn't seem to take his answer to heart as he pursed his lips. Draco spotted Hermione hugging her parents goodbye and must have smiled against his will because his father turned around. When Lucius turned back to face Draco, he was trying very hard not to turn red at being caught staring.

"If you continue to pursue your friendship with the muggle-born," Lucius said, shocking Draco at his lack of the word 'Mudblood', "I will not stop you. But you must understand it is dangerous in this world and you will need to do things to survive you may not like."

"I understand," Draco replied. If his father thought otherwise, he didn't say. Instead, he nodded and stepped to the side so Draco could board the train. "Goodbye, father."

"Goodbye, Draco," Lucius replied. Draco levitated his bag to the train but didn't turn to wave at his father like he did with his mother. Instead, he hurried to find an empty compartment and settle in. When Crabbe and Goyle came bumbling into his compartment, he didn't kick them out, too busy thinking about what his father had said and what he had meant by it.

Fourth Year

Draco was dreading returning to school after the Quidditch World Cup. His father had been suspiciously absent and busy all summer long, leaving him and his mother alone in the Manor. It wasn't that he hated having his father gone, it was that he had a feeling he knew what his father was up to and hated it. He hated having to pretend whenever Aunt Bella visited that he didn't know what was going on, but was willing to side with his family no matter what. When he and his mother were left alone in the manor, he would sometimes think about voicing his worries to her, but always decided against it. Who knew what his father could hear even while away and the last thing he wanted was for the man to return because of something Draco had said.

The announcement of the Triwizard Tournament that fall gave Draco many mixed feelings. It was something new; something that would provide both excitement and anticipation to the next year. He wondered how much it would change things (refusing to acknowledge he was mostly worried about his nightly study in the library with Hermione). Upon seeing her there Monday night, he grinned and settled down next to her.

"Have a good summer, Granger?" he asked. Just like the first time he'd appeared, she jumped. She managed to catch hold of her book this time and keep from turning as red, but he still grinned.

"Rather dull, if you must know," she replied with a smile. He'd missed her letters that summer; only receiving three for the duration of the break. "How was yours?"

"I'm not sure," he replied vaguely. She frowned but didn't press him further. Instead, she returned to reading her book quietly while he opened his own.

Returning to a semblance of normal was nice. Seeing Granger devouring a book beside him in the library provided some form of comfort Draco didn't realise he'd been lacking. As they had last year, they stayed in the library until Madam Pince kicked them out. Unfortunately for Draco, when he went the next day, she didn't show up.

Despite not seeing Hermione in the library for the rest of the week, Draco went nightly to the library. She showed up late Saturday evening and when she collapsed on the chair beside him, he couldn't help but smile at the sight of her. With a book in hand, she hardly glanced up at him but Draco found he couldn't look away from her.

"Don't let me ruin your studying," she murmured, smiling despite not looking up from her book. Draco felt his face heat up the slightest bit and frowned before turning back to his book. A second later, he caught her staring at him. Her eyes darted away and Draco grinned before forcing himself to focus on his own reading.

Draco quickly discovered Hermione only went to the library a few times a week. Potter seemed distracted enough to require her most nights, but whenever she found the time, he would find her in the library either studying or reading something related to the most current Triwizard Tournament task. They hardly talked, but Draco found her company reassuring and calming in a way he'd missed during the summer.

By the time the holidays were nearing, he found himself wondering if she was going home. He'd heard through the grapevine that Harry was going home with the Weasleys, but he hadn't heard anything about her.

"Are you going home for holiday?" he blurted one night in the library. She looked particularly exhausted and was struggling not to nod off as she read. At the sound of his voice, she tore her eyes from the pages of her book and squinted at him.

"No," she replied after processing his words. Draco smiled softly at her sleepy state.

"Not even to the Weasley nest?" he teased. She shook her head, a small frown crossing her face.

"I wasn't invited," she told him quietly.

Draco joined her in frowning. How could the Weasleys invite Harry but not Hermione? The idea of them excluding her irritated him more than he'd anticipated.

He was snapped out of his irritation by her asking, "What about you? Going home?"

"No," he replied. If she was surprised, she didn't show it. Instead, she smiled and nodded at him.

"I don't suppose you'll be frequenting the library," she mused. Draco smiled back at her and shrugged.

"I don't suppose I'll have anything else to do."

* * *

Hermione found herself enjoying the holiday at school more than she'd thought she would. Between spending all day in the library with Draco and filling her time reading up on the next Tournament task, the short time flew by. She'd planned on getting all her reading down in the library but after her first day of break, she discovered that would not be the case. Rather than reading and studying like they usually had, she and Draco spent the day talking and playing various card games. She taught him muggle games and he taught her more wizarding games than she ever cared to know.

"That's cheating!" she shrieked when Draco transfigured a card to suit what he needed. He looked at her innocently as she transfigured it back. "You can't use magic to win!"

"I've not a clue what you're talking about, Granger," he said, smoothly changing the card back.

Hermione leaned forward and cast an anti-Transfiguration charm across the deck, smirking at him when he frowned. With a grumble, he drew two cards before he could play, setting one on the carpet in front of him.

At some point during their game, they'd moved from the table to the floor, allowing them much more comfortable positions. Hermione was lying on her stomach while Draco sat cross-legged in front of her. They'd long since discarded their robes and were in comfy clothes and no shoes as they teased and played cards through the afternoon.

"Oh," Draco said as they packed up the cards, "I nearly forgot your present."

Hermione's eyebrows shot up as he summoned a small gift in front of him and handed it to her. Tomorrow was Christmas so she supposed it was reasonable, but she hadn't thought he'd get her a gift.

"Oh, Draco, you didn't need to," she said, turning red as she took the present from him. He turned red as well, stuttering out some excuse. She'd planned on getting his gift tomorrow on a short trip to Hogsmeade, but now she wished she'd planned ahead better. "I'm getting yours tomorrow, I swear I haven't forgot," she told him, gingerly taking apart the fancy wrapping.

"Hermione, I told you not to," he reminded her.

She avoided his eyes as she remembered several days ago asking what he wanted for Christmas. He'd made it quite clear she didn't need to get him anything, but she hadn't let that stop her despite agreeing. When she opened the box to find a beautiful hair clip, she was glad she had.

"Oh, god," she whispered, pulling the sliver and green clip from its box. Despite the Slytherin colours, it was in the shape of a lion's head and she knew he'd had it specially made. "Draco, how much did you spend on this?" she asked, gingerly taking the pin from its place in the pin.

"It's not that big of a deal," he said, trying to brush her off. Hermione shook her head, telling him it was and pulling the sides of her hair from her face. She tucked the strands into the curve of the clip and stuck the pin through the loops to secure it.

"I love it!" she told him, throwing herself forward to hug him. He was tense for a second before relaxing and hugging her back. When she pulled away, she was still grinning as she said, "If you don't have any plans, you're welcome to accompany me to Hogsmeade to pick up your gift in the morning."

"I'd love to," Draco said. At that moment, Madam Pince came to announce she was closing the library, so they finished cleaning up their area then split up for the night.

In the morning, when Draco met Hermione on the steps of the castle wrapped in a thick cloak and warm mittens, Hermione couldn't help but grin as they went into Hogsmeade.

After she had chanced writing his mother, Hermione had arranged to have his first edition copies of the Undesirable series signed. It had taken two months as she had to send them away, so she had been desperately hoping he wouldn't notice their absence. Apparently he hadn't as he muttered about writing his mother to ask her about it as they went to get butterbeer. Hermione refused to acknowledge just how nice the resulting hug had been and hated herself for wondering what it would be like if he hugged her more often.

Fifth Year

Hermione hated Umbridge. That ugly, horrible woman had given Harry detention early in the year and only gotten worse. From restricting their defense classes to searching for reasons to give students detention, Hermione decided she hated the woman. She didn't bother hiding her disgust as Draco sat beside her in the library, listening to her rant about her. She knew Umbridge favoured Draco and in turn, Draco didn't openly hate her, but she could tell by the sly smile on his face that he felt the same way Hermione did.

When she finished ranting for probably the dozenth time that year, she looked at Draco for a response. He was smiling at her with an expression she couldn't quite place. After a second, he leaned forward in his chair and said, "So what are you going to do about it, Granger?"

She was so shocked it took her a second to realise what he meant. The idea of doing something behind Umbridge's back was so preposterous, Hermione wondered if he was toying with her. When he brought up the idea of a secret defense class a couple of days later, Hermione knew he was serious.

So she went on with the plan. She and Harry created what they called Dumbledore's Army and even with Harry busy learning Occlumency from Snape, it worked. Time in the library with Draco was cut short as both of their schedules got busier and busier. When it was finally time for the holiday, she found herself wondering if Draco was staying or not.

To her complete and utter surprise (not joy; it was not joy that she felt), he was waiting for her at their table in the library the Saturday after the holiday began. At first, she thought it was just a regular meeting, then she realised his mind was elsewhere and forced herself to not pry.

The library was silent the entire time and when Madam Pince kicked them out, Draco didn't even say goodbye. She almost didn't expect him the next day, but he was already sitting at their table when she arrived. She sat beside him without a word and opened her book, resolving to finish it that morning and grab a new one before lunch.

Every day until Christmas morning was the same. When she walked into the library Christmas morning, a small parcel tucked under her arm, she frowned at the lack of Draco's presence. Nevertheless, she settled into her chair and opened her new book. Draco arrived as she turned her second page but didn't sit down. When she looked up at him, she immediately knew something was wrong and closed her book. She jumped to her feet to ask him what was wrong, suddenly very aware of how much taller than her he was.

"What's wrong? What's happened?" she asked, itching to reach out and comfort him. His whole body was tense and from the corner of her eye, she saw his fingers twitch toward her. Neither of them moved toward each other though.

"It's Christmas," he said. She stared at him, knowing that wasn't what was bothering him.

"What's wrong?" she repeated, softer this time and gave in to the urge to grab hold of him. His fingers immediately laced with hers and held on to her tightly.

"It's not something I should say on Christmas," he said, choking on the last part. She frowned and tried asking him again, but he shook his head. "I'll tell you later. For now, this is all I need," he told her, squeezing her hand. She was still worried, but she nodded and twisted to grab the present she'd gotten him.

Without letting go of his hand, she grabbed the small box and handed it to him with a smile. He regretfully let go of her hand to take the box and open it. When he peered inside, she saw a look of confusion cross his face. She rushed to explain.

"Harry and Sirius have one," she started, pulling the little hand mirror from the box. "I charmed it to call me whenever you want it to." She pulled her own mirror from her pocket and opened it. He opened his and when she told the mirror to show her Draco, his reflection shimmered to life on the little glass. Her own face grinned at him both through the mirror and in real life. "In case writing ever becomes too tedious, what with everything going on," she explained weakly. Draco grinned and pulled her into a hug, holding her longer than necessary and dropping a kiss to her cheek when he finally let her go.

"I love it," he replied, pocketing the mirror carefully. "Thank you so much."

Hermione couldn't help but grin, taking the chance to talk to him for the first time in a while. With an empty library and the warm smile on his face, it was easy to catch up on the time they'd missed and talk about their classes. Draco pointedly ignored questions about his family and turned them around on her. It wasn't until she returned to her room late that night that she realised he hadn't given her a gift. Instead, the small package sat on her bed wrapped the same as last year.

With a smile, Hermione got changed into her pyjamas before seating herself on the edge of her bed and opening the small box.

She hadn't had any idea what to expect, but a small velvet box and a pristine envelope had not been it. Choosing to open the box first, Hermione let out a soft gasp as she saw a silver ring staring up at her. It didn't have a large diamond like she would have expected from Draco, but it was embedded with tiny crystals on the outside. Instead of being bright and eye-catching, it was small and perfectly like her. She slipped it on with a smile, unsurprised to find it fit perfectly. Next, she reached for the letter and broke the seal on the envelope.

The letter was longer than she had expected, but she savoured every word of it. From beginning to end, she read it twice, tears creeping into her eyes both times. It took a lot of control not to flee from the Gryffindor tower and seek out Draco just so she could hug him and promise everything would be alright. Instead, she pressed a soft kiss to the letter and carefully folded it back into its envelope. She placed a concealment charm on it as well as a safe-keeping one before tucking it away in her trunk. Deciding to keep the ring on for the night, she curled up in her bed and waved a hand at the lights to shut them off.

Tomorrow, she decided, she would ask him what was wrong again and bring up the letter. Unfortunately, he didn't show up at the library and she never got the chance to ask.

Sixth Year

Draco's arm itched. It had all summer and he hated what it meant. Returning to the school meant several things this year, but mostly it meant he'd have to lie to Hermione. They'd used her magic mirror multiple times over summer, but Draco had nearly had a heart attack when his mother found it and told her they could no longer use the mirrors. He hadn't spoken to her since late June and was dying to know if she would be in the library to talk Monday evening.

She was, of course, but Draco only knew this because Blaise told him he'd spotted her there. Much to Draco's chagrin, Severus had reminded him of his mission and helped him find a secure location to work on it that night. Draco didn't make it to the library until Thursday evening and by then, he felt so bad he almost didn't go.

The second he stepped into the corner where their little table was, he knew they were surrounded by charms. Clearly, Hermione had known Blaise had watched her the few days prior and decided to enchant the location with so many charms only he would ever be able to find the place. He wondered if Madam Pince would even be able to find them and kick them out. He didn't have much time to think about it, though, because the second he stepped through the charms and drew her attention, she flung herself at him and hugged him tightly.

"I'm so glad you're okay," she muttered against his shoulder. Draco couldn't help but hug her back just as tightly at her words, thinking the exact same thing about her.

"Of course, I'm alright," he assured her. They separated and sat in their respective chairs. Draco scooted his a little closer to her and couldn't help but notice the ring he'd given her last Christmas was no longer on her finger. She seemed to notice his stare because she pulled a silver chain from under her uniform and revealed the ring to be hanging around her neck.

"Harry and Ron asked one too many questions," she said with a small smile. Draco returned it and she tucked the necklace back under her shirt.

After that, he met with her every Thursday and Sunday night in the library. He quickly learned Madam Pince could not, in fact, find them through Hermione's charm work and refused to write a proud letter to his mother in fear that his father or someone even worse would read it. Instead, he kept his pride to himself and reminded himself that asking her to stay past curfew with him in the library was a very bad idea.

Instead, when he wasn't at the library arguing against his own mind, he was working hard at the vanishing cabinet on the seventh floor. He'd get frustrated every now and then and seek out Hermione in the library on those odd days, trying to ask her inconspicuous questions that could possibly further his work. Sometimes, the only thing he could do to make more progress was read and he gladly did so with Hermione in the library.

As the holiday neared, he grew more anxious. The lack of classes meant he had all day to work on the vanishing cabinet, but he also wanted nothing more than to spend the entire time with Hermione in the library. When he heard she'd been invited to the Weasleys for Christmas, he pretty much figured Friday would be the last time for several weeks he would see her, so he was very surprised to see her Saturday morning at breakfast. That, of course, delayed him in his work on the cabinet as he wandered to the library and asked her why she hadn't gone with Ron and Harry.

"I figured you could use a friend more than they could," she replied, smiling at him over the cover of her most recent book.

His arm itched and his heart ached at the thought that he'd been busy with the cabinet every day and she'd been left alone, but he couldn't dwell on it long. Shortly after that, he'd left for the seventh floor but found it difficult to concentrate.

He refused to visit the library for three days after that, knowing the Dark Lord was getting impatient and Severus was sure to tell his parents if he didn't make substantial progress over the break. When he finally managed to get a bird through without killing or otherwise hurting it, he decided he deserved a break and went to the library to find Hermione.

He had barely stepped through the enchantment barrier when he knew something was wrong. Hermione was buried in a book and not looking up at him. She tended to look up the instant he appeared, so he knew something must have happened for her to ignore him so.

"Hermione?" he asked. She didn't look up. He sat beside her and the only response he got was the turning of a page. "Hermione, what's wrong?"

"You tell me, Malfoy," she replied, looking at him pointedly and snapping her book closed.

He sighed; he figured he deserved her cold attitude but her refusal to call him by his first name hurt a bit more than he'd thought it would.

"I stayed over break for you and this is the first time you've come to the library," she said. He opened his mouth to point out he had come by earlier, but she cut him off. "That doesn't count and you know it. You didn't stay."

"I'm sorry," he said quietly after a pause. She didn't look impressed by his answer and even reached for her book to block him out. "Wait!" he exclaimed, reaching forward to stop her. His hand grabbed her own and they both froze. With pain he didn't think possible, he pulled away from her when he realised his dark mark was on the hand he'd reached for her with. She was the last person he wanted that godforsaken mark to touch.

She motioned for him to continue, either not having noticed or choosing to ignore the way his hand had pulled back from her like it burned.

"I can't tell you what's going on," Draco whispered, looking at the ground. He didn't want to see her disappointment, but when she started to pack up her things, he closed his eyes tightly and (hoping the charms she'd set up repelled Death Eaters and magic listening tactics) blurted out, "He'll kill me. He'll kill my mum and probably my father too and I swear I want to, Hermione, but I just can't tell you."

That effectively caught her attention as she stopped packing her things and looked at him, waiting for him to say more. He opened his eyes and her gaze immediately softened when their eyes met. The tear that escaped betrayed him and she dropped to the ground in front of him, taking his hands in one of hers and reaching up to wipe his cheek.

"Draco, please tell me what's going on," she whispered. His eyes squeezed shut again and he shook his head. He couldn't tell her. If she knew what he was assigned to do, she would tell Dumbledore before he could even try. Besides, once he'd done his task, she'd hate him and probably regret all the time they'd spent together. There was no good way for this to end.

"You know what I mean," he said softly, opening his eyes to look at her again. He'd told her, albeit not straightforwardly, that the Dark Lord was living at the Manor now. He knew she'd known he was back and telling her that his house was invaded with Death Eaters who were itching to kill her didn't seem like something to tell someone on Christmas Eve.

"Are you in danger?" she asked, looking so worried he almost thought she would help. Maybe if he was in danger she would see he had no choice and wouldn't hate him for his actions. But no, he wasn't that stupid and he knew she'd see right through him.

"I'm not," he said. He looked straight at her as he said it and knew she knew what he meant.

She was, and by staying friends with him, she was only pulling herself closer to her own doom.

"I'm not afraid of death, Draco," she told him softly, squeezing his hands tightly and brushing her thumb across his cheek. He subconsciously leaned into her touch.

"I know. That's why I worry for you."

There were things worse than death and if anyone knew that, it was the Dark Lord and his followers. Draco knew how ruthless the Death Eaters were; he'd seen them kill muggles for fun and torture blood traitors just because they could. It had all happened in his house and was one of the few reasons he refused to return to the Manor for the holiday. His assignment just provided an easy excuse.

"I worry about you," she told him. He frowned. That was the last thing he wanted her to be doing. If she worried about him, she was likely to get involved. "Every time I come and you're not here, I worry maybe he's called you away and forced you into something."

"You don't need to worry about me," he said, trying to convey to her just how much he didn't want her to do that. She just smiled tightly and turned to pull something from her bag.

"I know, but I do," she said, fiddling with a wooden box she hadn't bothered to gift wrap. She pulled her hands from his and handed him the box. "I know we usually do gifts on Christmas Day, but I think I'll be able to sleep better tonight once I know you have this and are safe."

He was confused, but instead of asking questions, he chose to open the box. Inside was a thin amulet. It was clearly handmade and the emerald stone at the center was held in place by thin silver wires, twisting together to resemble a snake although not so much it was obvious. Draco glanced at her for an explanation.

"It's a protection amulet," she said, wringing her hands nervously. She avoided his eyes as she said, "I read about them over summer and spent all summer working on charming it with the strongest charms I could do and even asked McGonagall to look at it. She says it's one of the best she's ever seen, but I think she just said that to make me feel good—"

Draco cut her off by dropping from his chair to pull her into a hug. Her voice was muffled as her face smashed into his chest and she immediately melted at his embrace. He held her for several minutes, willing himself not to cry and making silent promises to keep her safe no matter what because no one had made an enchanted amulet for him before. No one had ever cared so much to spend their entire summer working on something for him and then go to ask a teacher who could very well demand to know things he knew she would never tell.

"I'm going to wear it forever," he promised, burying his face in her neck and hugging her tighter. He felt her squeeze him in reply and he slowly let her go. As soon as he was able, he slipped the amulet around his neck and immediately felt warm. The small thing hid smoothly under his robes and Hermione beamed at him when he told her it was perfect.

"I hope it works," she muttered. Draco fingered it through his shirt and reveled in the feeling of warmth it provided him.

"I'm sure it will."