Unexpected Death Eaters

Draco was shocked to find Lucius, Hermione, and his mother, talking animatedly in the dinning room the next morning.

"Well, look who finally decided to join us," Lucius drawled as he noticed Draco's arrival. Draco tried hard not to roll his eyes at his father's comment as he strolled over to the table.

He took a seat next to his mother and muttered, "Good morning everyone," under his breath. They all sat in silence for a moment while they ate their breakfast.

"So, Father, what are you doing here?" Draco asked as he poured himself some more orange juice.

"Draco, just last night you were telling me I needed to come home more often, and now that I'm here, you ask me why?"

Before Draco could open his mouth to retort, Narcissa cut in, "Now, now, lets not start a fight in front of our guest." She shot a smile at Hermione, who was sitting across from Draco.

Once again there was a short silence in the room as everybody ate. Draco chanced a look at Hermione and noticed that she was still in the black dress he saw her in last night.

As if reading his thoughts, Lucius spoke, "Draco, I want you to take Hermione into Diagon Alley and buy her some new robes."

"Doesn't she have money of her own if she needs new robes?" Draco asked. Was Lucius really asking him to buy robes for a mud...for someone he has hated since he was eleven years old? He thought to himself.

"Yes she does, but I figured this way you two can bond. After all she will be living and working with you; she isn't your enemy anymore." Draco couldn't believe the words coming out of the older man's mouth. Lucius wanted him to bond with her? "Don't look so shocked Draco; it doesn't look good on a Malfoy."

Draco just nodded at the older man and tried to concentrate on his breakfast. This was going to be a long day.

***************

"Oh come on Ron, you can't chicken out now!" Harry shouted through the wooden door that was between him and the red haired boy.

"Harry," Ron said while opening the door, "I thought I could go through with this, but I can't! It seemed a lot easier in my head, but now that it's actually happening, it's so much more complicated!" Ron leaned against the doorframe and stared blankly at the floor.

"Look, I understand how you feel. This whole Voldemort and I thing seems a lot easier in my head too, but when I come face to face with him, I come crashing down to reality and realize it's not as easy as it seems." Even though Harry had an idea about what was going through his best friend's head, he still couldn't find the comforting words that he needed.

"But this is a totally different situation!" Ron shouted, his voice rising to hysterics.

"Ron you don't need to shout!" Harry exclaimed while cupping his hand over the other boy's mouth. Ron muttered a sorry under the hand with a nod and Harry removed it.

"Come on, I know just the thing that will help calm your nerves," Harry said while walking towards the stairs at the edge of the hallway.

With a heavy sigh, Ron stepped away for the doorframe and followed Harry down stairs.

***************

Draco and Hermione had Apparated into Diagon Alley and headed straight for Robes R' Us, a store that Narcissa highly recommended. When they walked into the store a little bell rang and a short witch, in emerald robes appeared in front of them.

"Can I help you my dears?" she asked with a smile full of perfectly pearly white, straight teeth.

"No thank you, we're just looking," Hermione said with a smile.

"Alright, I'll be in the back room; just give a shout if you need anything," she said before she Disapparated.

Draco leaned against the check out counter as Hermione combed through the store. He watched as she gently ran her hands across the fabrics of the robes, stopping every now and then to pull one out for a closer look. He noticed how she bit her lower lip as she examined the robe, let her fingers glide around the fabric and then pick up the price tag. Each time she did this, he noticed how her eyes would widen and she would quickly return the robe to its original place.

"Draco, these robes are way too expensive! I can't possibly have you buy me things with such a high price," she whispered in his ear after looking around.

"You didn't expect me to bring you to some shit-hole to shop did you, Granger?" he drawled.

"No, but I didn't expect anything like this. We can go somewhere else if you'd like."

"Granger, my mother told you to shop here, so the price obviously isn't a concern; not that it ever is for a Malfoy. Now will you get a move on; I don't want to be here all day." He averted his eyes away from her brown ones and examined his nails, hoping that she'd get a clue that this conversation was over.

"Fine, but there is just one more thing."

Draco rolled his eyes and let out a deep sigh. "What now?"

"Stop calling me Granger; its Hermione, Draco." She spun on her heel and proceeded to look through the robes.

Thirty minutes later, Draco and Hermione walked out of Robes R' Us and slowly made their way down the rest of Diagon Alley.

"How about we stop and get some ice cream from Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor? My treat!" Hermione said, breaking their silence.

"I'm not going to have a mudblo..." Draco stopped mid-sentence remembering that Hermione wasn't a mudblood after all.

Hermione smirked, "Awe, poor Draco doesn't have anymore insults to throw at me now that I'm not a muggle-born."

"Muggle-born or not, it doesn't change the fact that you're still a nosey little know-it-all," he snapped.

"Nosey, yes," she smirked once again, "but I don't think that being called a know-it-all is such a bad thing. That just shows that you do know that I know more than you after all. So in a way, it is more like a compliment."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Whatever Granger."

"Hermione," she corrected him. Draco ignored her last comment and followed her into Florean Fortescue's. If he had a choice, he would had left her back in the robe shop, but he knew how much trouble he would be in if he returned home without her.

Hermione had ordered a chocolate sundae, while Draco had ordered nothing. They sat in silence while they waited for her food.

"So Hermione," he said her name slowly to make sure that she would hear it, "you never did tell me the reason for your sudden change of mind."

"But I do remember telling you it was none of your bloody business," she snapped.

"Is it because you had found out that you weren't a mudblood after all, so you decided it was alright to hate them?" he asked in a low tone to make sure that no one around could hear him.

Hermione's body stiffened and her face filled with a scared expression. Under her breath he heard her sigh, "Harry".

"Potter? Don't tell me this is all about a little dispute with Wonder Boy."

"No, Harry is here! And he is with Ron!" she shrieked, while trying to hide behind her menu.

Draco turned around to see the two boys sitting at a table that was at the opposite side of the restaurant. He smirked as he turned back in his seat to see Hermione still trying to conceal herself with her menu.

"Now why would Hermione Granger be hiding from Potty and the Weasel?" he asked. He was enjoying watching Granger squirm in her seat.

"One, they think I'm in Paris with my family. Two, if they saw me here with you Malfoy, they would flip!"

"Back to using surnames now are we? I see how it is; we just can't be friends when you're with the rest of the trio," Draco said with a fake pout playing on his lips.

"Shut up Malfoy! We need to leave now! This could ruin everything!"

"But I want to go say hi to my old school mates." Draco sneered at Hermione who was now hiding under the hood of her cloak.

"Come on, we're going back to the Malfoy Manor." She grabbed him by the arm and yanked him into a standing position. Draco was surprised at the strength her fragile looking body had.

He pulled his arm out of her grasped. "Don't ever touch me like that again Granger!" he said, his eyes flashing. Hermione paid no attention to his outburst and headed for the door.

As they hurried towards the entrance of the restaurant, where Harry and Ron's table happened to be next to, Draco stopped in his footsteps and turned to face the two Gryffindors.

"Well, if it isn't the Weasel and Wonder Boy themselves! What's it been, three years since I've seen you?" He smirked at the noticeable anger that was rising in the Weasley's face.

"Sod off Malfoy," Harry hissed.

"Now Potter, is that the way you treat all of you old school mates?" Draco asked innocently.

Harry just glared at the blonde boy, while Ron clenched his fists under the table, trying to keep his rage under control.

"Say where is the rest of the Dream Team? Let me guess; you've both finally had your way with her and kicked her to the curb?" This was just like the old days, watching Potter just glare daggers at him and the Weasel try to stop himself from pouncing on him.

"That's it Malfoy," Ron said rising from his chair and letting his hand find his wand, "you're gonna pay for that!"

"No, Ron don't," Harry, said grabbing the other boy's arm, "he isn't worth it."

Draco just sneered at the two boys before turning on his heel and dragging the silent hooded figure along with him.

***************

When Draco and Hermione arrived back on at the Malfoy Manor, Hermione turned on him.

"What the hell were you thinking Malfoy? You could have ruined everything!" she shouted in his face.

"I was just having a bit of fun and why do you keep saying I could ruin everything? What in the bloody hell do you keep going on about?"

"You could ruin any chances I'd have at giving Harry over to Voldemort. If he saw me with you today, he would know that something was wrong. Or if he didn't come to that conclusion, he could have been angry with me and we would be in one big row!" she shrieked, throwing her hands up in the air as she spoke.

Draco just stared at the brown haired girl in front of him in astonishment. She was actually planning to turn Potter over to Voldemort.