Come Undone

The reason is becoming the enemy that prevents us from a lot of possibilities of pleasure

SIGMUND FREUD

As he left her for the third time that year, Hermione watched as Draco go with a mixture of anger, resentment and pain. She was angry with him for leaving her, and even more so with herself for letting him leave. Again. The first time had been hard, the second torture, but this... this was killing her. She just couldn't make herself go after him though. She couldn't. Just like before.

His last words to her, whispered softly so only she would hear, echoed in her head. He had done it for her. He had made the decisions she couldn't so she didn't have to. For her. And yet, here she was watching him leave. For what she knew would be the last time. He wasn't coming back. He had said it before himself. Game over. That's all folks. The end.

She quickly wiped away the few tears she had shed as she heard footsteps coming towards her. She knew it would be her two best friends who would come after her, they always did. Right now though, she wished they would just leave her alone. But she had to keep up appearances. Plastering a fake smile on her face she turned to face them.

"Er... Hello. What, er... What are you guys doing here?"

They were both out of breath, even though they were much more in shape than she was. While she spent the majority of her time in the library, they spent a lot of their free time on the Quidditch fields. Ron had finally got a much-coveted spot on the team, taking over from Oliver Wood as the Keeper in their fifth year. Harry had taken over as captain in their fifth year as well, and he had become quite disciplined when it came to Quidditch. He expected the team to be focused and single-minded, like he was. If the team had thought their previous captain Oliver had been bad, Harry was worse.

"We were... going to... ask you... the same thing," Ron replied between pauses.

"Yeah... Come to see Ferret Boy off? Wish we could have made it in time to see him bugger off though. Oh well. He's gone and that's all that matters. No more Malfoy. Forever. Ok, so it may only be for a month, but still. It's a month right?" Harry smiled happily at Ron, who grinned back.

"Oh yes... Although, I still can't believe they let him go. I mean, ok so he may not have been an active Deatheater but who knows? He still might have done all those terrible things we've heard about. And who's to say this whole thing is a lie. I mean, come on! His family's notorious for it. And I don't think anybody could say no to that dickhead of a father of his. The stuff they found in their house... My dad says they'd never seen some of those things before. All dangerous though." As he spoke, Ron recalled something that had been said earlier. "Wait a minute, who the hell was the third testimony that Dumbledore spoke of? You know, earlier on." He laughed. "Hey Harry. What if it was Sirius? I mean, Malfoy got Remus to vouch for him..."

They both laughed out loud at this thought, while Hermione became more and more enraged with them. She couldn't believe what they were saying. Professor Snape and Professor Lupin had cleared Draco. Both men who they knew they could trust. Admittedly, Professor Snape was a sour old arse with a lethal tongue but he had still come to their assistance when they needed it. She didn't like the attitude of the Slytherin Potions Master, but she still respected him. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for her best friends.

She was about to make a scathing comment when Harry beat her to it. "Oh God, yeah! I can see it now. Malfoy comes flouncing into Snape's dungeons where he and Sirius are having a nice cream tea together with Remus. And they're all wearing clown suits..."

The two teenagers began to roll around on the floor in fits of laughter at the thought of the Head of Slytherin in a clown costume. They would stop for a few seconds and then start all over again. Hermione was getting sick of their childish antics and was about to walk away when Ron said something that rooted her to the spot.

"No, no! I've got it, I've got it! The third testimony was... Hermione! Yeah, that's right. 'Cause you know in the battle with Voldemort when she disappeared, right? And then we found her with Malfoy senior nearby, dead? That was him. He saved her. He..." He didn't notice that Hermione was staring angrily at him.

Harry frowned at the idea. "What? Wait... He... saved her? By killing his own father? For Hermione?"

"Exactly!" The giggles were back in full force now, but they soon petered out when the saw the look on their friend's face. She hadn't cracked a single smile throughout this whole joke. Which it was. But now that they thought about it...

Hermione had stood there, listening to Ron come out with what was practically the truth. She didn't know whether it was because she was scared they might figure it out, or just angry with everyone, Draco, them, herself. All she did know was that what they were talking about was no laughing matter.

"You... idiots! You stupid idiots! How dare you laugh at the idea of someone killing his or her parents? Especially you Harry, you of all people. You know what it's like to lose your parents. That is a sick joke, you guys. Utterly sick. I knew I was right not to tell you what happened that day. If you two can makes jokes about someone killing his father, then I don't even want to think what you'd say if you knew the truth."

"What did happen 'Mione?" Harry asked. He'd never seen her so angry.

"Well. I didn't tell you before and I sure as hell am not going to tell you now. Lucius Malfoy may have been a Deatheater and a terrible man but to laugh at the idea of him being killed by his own son is just appalling."

"Why?" Harry replied. "The man killed others just as easily. God knows some of the things he probably did to other people, people like you Hermione. You said it yourself, he was a terrible man. Ok, so maybe saying Malfoy killed him was in bad taste but him dying was a good thing. He deserved to die. And he did."

Ron, who was just sick of the whole subject, muttered under his breath, "Unfortunate that his son didn't." He wasn't quiet enough though.

Something snapped inside of Hermione. The anger, the pain, and the desire to lash out against someone were raging inside of her. To make them hurt as much as she was. To understand how she was feeling. She began to lay into her best friends.

"You fucking fucking fucking idiots! How can you... Just because Draco and you two didn't get along with each other doesn't mean he deserves to die for it..."

"But..."

"Shut up Ron! Draco is not the bad person here. Yes, he may have done a lot of nasty things to us here at Hogwarts but nothing that serious that should result in his death. You heard him say it himself. Dumbledore believed him, so did all the other Professors. He's is not a fucking Deatheater, not even a secret one. For crying out loud, all you had to do was roll up his goddamn sleeve and look for the fucking Dark Mark. But did you? NO! Because you hate him that much that it overrides the few brain cells you have rendering you stupid. I know Fred was hurt Ron, but Draco wasn't the one who did it to him. Ok? He didn't do it! So, if you two are going to make crass, asinine comments, 'jokes' as you would call them, I suggest you actually THINK before you do so. Or better yet, let me leave before you start shooting your mouths off. I'd rather not be here to listen to your stupid, juvenile remarks. Ok?" She turned to look at them both, the anger still evident in her eyes. Harry and Ron looked back at her oddly.

"What? WHAT?!"

They both shook their heads and mumbled a quiet "nothing". However, there was still that look in their eyes. Hermione stomped away from them, knowing that if she stayed she'd say something she knew she would regret later on. She didn't stop to think why her two best friends had looked at her as if she'd inexplicably grown two horns and a tail.

It was only until later when she realised what had happened. Harry and Ron had looked at her like they had because she had referred to their Slytherin enemy not as Malfoy, which they had been calling him for the last seven years, but simply as Draco.

*****

'Dearest Hermione,

How are you? I hope you're well. Me, I'm not exactly great myself so... I just wanted to say thank you for the wonderful letter. It was exactly what I needed. Especially since you're not here at Hogwarts. It's so strange and weird here now without you, Ron and Harry... Yes I said his name. No, I'm not going to throw myself off the Astronomy Tower. I'm quite... broken up about the whole thing, but like I told you before I've never really felt that things between Harry and myself were quite right. What with the thing with Cho and all the other stuff that's happened. Our relationship always seemed so... fixed. As if we were pushed in some ways together. It was like everyone expected us to get together, and because they wanted us together we got together for them. Not ourselves. And that's not what a relationship should be about, right? :sigh: Gods, I'm rambling on. So, yeah. Enough of me wailing on about my life. What about you?

I can tell you're not finding it easy at university. I don't know how I can tell, it's just... obvious. I feel the same way. I understand. And that's why I have decided to accept your offer to spend New Years with you. I think I need to be as far away from Hogwarts and Harry as possible. No doubt, it'd be good for you as well. I miss our friendship, you know. The other girls still keep their distance, even after Harry and I have broken up. I just sometimes feel so... isolated. You understand right? With you I guess it was your intelligence, with me it's just my plain weirdness. Sorry. I'm rambling again.

So. Back to the point. Cambridge. New Years. I'll be there. Just make sure I don't drink anything that will make me cry at four in the morning, ok? More importantly, there are things I need to talk to you about. I've put it off for long enough. I have to tell someone, and I'd rather it was you. I don't want you to get worried though, ok? It's not a big thing, so don't panic. I just... need to tell someone. I'd better stop here before you decide to come and see me or something.

Missing you loads, big hug and I'll keep subtly reminding Ron to write to you. One day he'll cotton on.

Much love, Ginny.'

Hermione re-read the letter for the third time, a smile on her face. Trust Ginny to know what to say, she thought. The younger girl may have been having a terrible time herself, but she always knew how Hermione felt. Especially now.

Hermione sat in the room where she was going to spend the next four years of her History of Magic degree at Cambridge University. It had been a long and hard task picking which subject to continue but as Ron had put it a year ago, she was already a walking History of Hogwarts book so she might as well become a walking history of magic book too. She was still taking extra modules in the other courses that interested her, including Potions, which she found to be quite soothing. It helped when the Professor was totally different to the one at Hogwarts.

She had always like Potions, teacher excused, but she had fallen in love with it when she and Draco had got together for their joint Potions project. He knew things she had never thought of, which frankly surprised her. Like her fellow Gryffindors she had thought that the lavish attention praised on the Slytherin Head Boy by his Head of House was due to House loyalties. But it seemed he was talented in the subject in his own right. He had once told her that if he ever got the chance, he wanted to continue with the subject. His father however, had other plans for him.

She sighed. She didn't like remembering. It hurt too much. Even now. Looking back at the letter, she glanced at the last few lines and wondered what it was Ginny was alluding to. Maybe it was something about Harry. Whatever it was she was sure she'd find out once Ginny came to stay. Hermione had okayed her best friend coming over with her new university friends. Two of them, Hazel and Megan were muggle-born like she was. The third, Amelia, came from a prominent wizarding family who loved the idea she was living with muggle witches.

The flat they shared was very muggle orientated because of that. They had a television, video and all the other things expected from a muggle home. There were also touches of magic throughout the flat. The cleaning tools all worked magically, although they were muggle in design. There was even a telephone in the lounge, since both Hermione's and Megan's parents were still inexperienced with the floo idea.

It was a great place for Hermione. She had friends and was doing what she loved the most. However, there were low points. As Ginny had pointed out in her letter, her two best friends had been rather lax in their correspondences with her. She had only seen Hedwig a few times in the autumn semester at university and she'd hardly seen Pig. He'd come once over the last three months, and even then Ron's letter had been limited in detail. Harry's were better, but not by much.

They had both joined the Aurors, and were now going through their training. She had thought about doing the same but had realised she wanted to continue academic-wise. She was also doing it for her parents. She had relatives who were quite nosey when it came to her education and her parent s had had to evade dubious questions for the last seven years. Once she knew she was able to get into Cambridge, her parents were now able to competently answer questions they would have had to evade years ago. It was much easier to say your daughter was studying at Cambridge University, one of Britain's best universities, than Hogwarts, a school of magic.

Hermione put the letter on top of the pile of letters she had received in the semester. She then pulled out her lecture notes for the day and began to copy them up in neat. When Ginny came to stay, she wanted to be as hassle-free as possible. They were going to have the best few days ever.

*****

"So. What shall we do now?"

Hermione got up from the sofa where she had been sitting for the last two hours watching films with Ginny. They had nearly got to the end of 'The Princess Bride', one of Hermione's favourite films. The mix of romance, humour and downright silliness got to her every time she would sit down to watch it. But recently though, she wasn't as enamoured of it as she used to have been. Probably because it brought back memories of happier times.

She shook her head as if to get rid of her wandering thoughts and made her way to the small kitchen, taking the two empty ice cream bowls with her. As she put the dirty bowls into the sink to wash, Hermione called out, "How about going down the pub? Or did you want to spend New Years here? Your call."

She waited for a reply but didn't get one. Ginny must have zoned out again, she realised as she went back into the lounge.

Hermione laughed as her friend finally realised something had been said and replied with a confused "What?"

"Off in your own little world again I see."

She smiled and then sat back down on the sofa she had just vacated. Ginny smiled back sheepishly. "Sorry. I was just..."

Hermione knew of her friend's bouts of daydreaming. She's been told about them from Ron, when he had been bothered to write to her, and Molly Weasley, who had been worried about her one and only daughter enough to ask her best friend to talk to her. The former Head Girl hadn't had the chance to broach the subject as yet, so maybe this was a good time to see what was going on.

"Honey, don't worry about it. I do it... well ok I don't do it at all but I seem to have developed a bad case of daydreamitis in my History of Magic lectures. Gods, my lecturer makes Professor Binns seem like... well, good!"

Hermione hadn't meant for that to slip out but it was true anyway and it had made Ginny laugh. They both did. She stopped laughing a few minutes later and began to study her best friend. It was so good to see Ginny laughing again. She'd been pretty quiet so far, happy to sit around and watch films. She didn't seem to want to go out and talk to other people. Hermione knew that she hadn't been a barrel of laughs herself but it was nice.

"What?"

"Nothing! It's just..." Hermione paused and then continued. "It's good to see you happy. What with..."

She ground to a halt as she wondered what to say. She knew Ginny had said she was okay about breaking up with Harry but Hermione wasn't so sure. There was something in the younger girl's eyes that made her question the truthfulness of her claims. Ginny had to be hurting a lot more than she was letting on. Hermione herself knew how hard break-ups were. They bloody hurt like hell.

She pushed a loose curl back and Ginny sighed. She then grimaced as Ginny said, "You can say his name, you know. Harry. Harry Potter. Harry-The-Boy-Who-Lived-Potter. I'm not going to break 'Mione."

Getting frustrated with the way things were going, Hermione spoke rather louder than usual when she replied. "I know! I know. It's just... Break-ups are hard. There's a lot of pain and hurt on both sides. And there's always the feeling of uncertainty of whether you've done the right thing or not."

She definitely knew how the last bit felt. After the break-up, she had been plagued with uncertainty over whether she could have done something to stop it from happening. She KNEW she could have done something to stop it, but she couldn't. She wouldn't. It had taken over half a year for the uncertainty to lessen to a twinge of guilt and pain every now and then. She shook her head, remembering it wasn't her they were talking about. She continued talking. "...So smiling and being happy is a good thing."

Hermione realised she had made a mistake in taking so to reply, as Ginny regarded her shrewdly. She flushed further when the redhead asked her if she was talking from experience. She had to kill the subject and quickly. She didn't want Ginny to know about... her scarlet past as it were. But then again, maybe it would help for both of them. Ginny wasn't as disillusioned about certain people as Harry and Ron were so there was the chance she'd understand more. However, Hermione knew she couldn't push this onto her friend after what had happened with Harry. Not so soon.

"Oh I'm not... I mean, I've only ever really been out with Viktor. And Ron. Nobody else. No break-ups..."

She could tell Ginny didn't quite believe her but was grateful when she didn't pursue the subject further. They sat there in silence, each trying to think of something to talk about. Eventually they both spoke at once, grinning at each other when they realised what they'd done.

"Ginny, you know..."

"I have to tell you..."

Hermione stood up again and turned off the TV. The film had finished a while ago, which they hadn't noticed. She decided to put off telling Ginny about her chequered past until the time was right. Right now, it was time for Ginny to talk. At that thought, something struck her. In her letter, Ginny had spoken of something she needed to tell her. It had sounded important at the time. Ginny had also just said, "I have to tell you..." The former Head Girl wondered what it was her friend wanted to tell her.

Curiosity piqued, she began to talk. "So, what were you going to say Ginny? Before. Because I've just remembered you telling me in your letter you had something important to tell me. Was that what you were going to say? Because you can say it now. I won't interrupt. Promise." She waited. No reply. "Ginny!"

"What? Oh gosh! I did it again didn't I?"

"That's okay. I was just asking you what you were going to say before." She paused to let her friend speak.

Just as Ginny was about to something, a giant grey eagle came through the widow. As soon as she saw it, Hermione recognised it. But what was Draco's eagle doing here? The eagle, whose name she had forgotten, flew towards her and dropped the letter it had into her lap. She picked it up and opened it with shaky hands. She hesitated in reading it. What if... But then she figured out that if anything were to have happened, then it was unlikely he would send a letter. Least of all to her. There was still that feeling of trepidation and unease lingering though. As the words became clearer, she managed to decipher Draco's unusually messy writing. He wanted to see her. But why?

The look on her face must have scared Ginny because she asked, "'Mione! What is it? Is it..."

"No!" Realising she was being defensive with her friend again, Hermione calmed down. She couldn't tell Ginny the truth. She didn't know the truth herself. All she did know was that Draco wanted to see her. After saying he never wanted to see her again ever. She had to come up with an excuse. Fast.

"It's a er... It's a letter from one of my Professors. Er... Apparently he wants to see me straightaway about something in my course."

As soon as she said it Hermione knew she should have said something else. Anything that was better than what she had just said. It didn't help when Ginny pointed out that New Year's wasn't exactly the best time to be going over coursework. Trying to cover her tracks, the older girl began to babble.

"I know, I know! But this is about something important. A project! An important one. He really needs to see me about it and I should go. Because it's important. Really. Really important..."

She slowed down, knowing she was making no sense. She was probably making things worse. She waited for the inevitable "Ok. Out with it. What's it really say in the letter?", but thankfully got "Hermione. It's ok. I understand. Well, actually no I don't understand your thing about schoolwork but you know. I get it. So if he has to see you straightaway maybe you should go now?"

But now that Hermione had got the lying over and done with, she wasn't sure she wanted to go after all. She hadn't a clue what Draco 'wanted to talk about' and she wasn't sure she wanted to hear what he had to say. Whatever it was, it wasn't going to be nice. She knew it was unlikely that he had had a spontaneous change of heart and wanted to get back together. Although... No. That wasn't going to happen. At all. Ever.

She suddenly realised she had forgotten Ginny in all this. How could she leave her by herself in the flat and on New Years Eve? What kind of friend was she to drop her best friend so easily?

"But what about..."

Hermione's question was waved away by the redhead, who replied with, "Don't worry. I'll be fine."

Ashamed she was leaving Ginny by herself to go and see the blond Slytherin, she tried to urge her friend to go down to the pub where Hazel, Megan and the others were spending New Years. Ginny grinned at her in response and pushed her towards the door.

"Hermione. Go."

"But..."

"Go!"

She gave in. If Ginny was ok with her leaving then she might as well go and see what Draco wanted. It wouldn't take long, she thought. He'd shout at her, she'd shout at him, and then she'd leave in a huff. That's what usually happened. Hermione grabbed her coat from the hanger and put it on.

"Ok, ok! I'm going! I should be back... Well, I don't know when I'll be back. Hopefully it won't be long though. Are you sure about this?" She had to be sure.

She was pushed out of the door rather forcefully in reply. As she walked towards the pub where Draco had said to meet him, she heard a faint "I'll be fine! You just... do whatever it is you need to do with your Professor ok?"

She winced at the way Ginny had put it. She had to work on her lying skills, she thought. Ginny probably thought she was having a secret rendezvous with someone. She stopped at the thought that her friend might actually think it were an actual professor she was seeing. Hermione had heard of stories of girls going out with their professors but she wasn't one of them. There was only one thing she wanted from her professors and it wasn't in their trousers. Although... Professor Lupin... Remus... was quite sexy for an older guy.

*****

When Hermione got to the small pub Draco had told her to come to, she was shaking. What did he want? Last time he'd seen her he had told her in no uncertain terms he never wanted to see her again. But now... What had changed to make him take his vow back? Grateful he had picked a pub where she knew her friends wouldn't inhabit, she walked in and looked around searching for him. She finally spotted him in a hidden corner, his hair giving him away instantly. Not many people had that almost white quality to their hair like he did. She noticed it a lot.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she made her way towards him and sat down in the seat opposite him. He was nursing a glass of what looked like whiskey to Hermione. There was another glass, this one full of white wine. For her, she realised. He had come prepared. He didn't bother to glance up and look at her when she spoke.

"What do you want Malfoy?" They both knew she had used his surname deliberately, instead of his first name.

"Can't two people have a sociable drink together to celebrate the New Year coming in?" he replied quietly. He sounded exactly the same as before. Although there was a hint of... bitterness to his tone. Hermione decided she had made a mistake in coming.

"Not when one of them is a spoilt egotistical bastard who wants everything his own way..." she hissed back.

"Oh really? And what about the other? A lying secretive bitch who also wants everything her own way."

Draco finally sat back and looked at Hermione, and she gasped at what she saw. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked as if he hadn't slept for days. His hair was a mess, looking as if he'd been hacking at it with a pair of nail scissors. Worst of all was the look in his eyes. Haunted, suffering and pained. He looked like what she felt.

Knowing he looked a right state, Draco laughed bitterly and took a gulp of his drink. "You haven't changed one bit. But I have. You know, you forgot to add 'drunk, lazy, good-for-nothing jackass' to your little description. But then again, you weren't to know. I've been busy. Honing my 'skills'. As you can see."

Unsure of what to say in reply and just plain unnerved, Hermione took a sip of the wine in front of her. She winced when she realised it was warm. Just how long had Draco been here waiting for her?

"Dra... Malfoy. What... What happened to you?" She knew she shouldn't have spoken when he snarled at her.

"What the fuck do you think happened?! I fell in love with a girl who I thought loved me back. Instead she kept our relationship in the dark like it was a fucking great big dirty secret and wouldn't tell her friends about us. I also ended up killing my own fucking father to save the very same girl, who though thankful for saving her, was still unwilling to tell her friends about us. In the end I made the fucking choice she wouldn't, couldn't, whatever. I left her. And here I am today, stuck in a fucking great big house, with a fucking dead boy in my head who wants to be alive. Is there anything else you'd like to know? I'm sure you know the rest seeing as you're the one who fucking did this to me."

She shook her head, not wanting him to see the tears that were threatening to fall. It hadn't happened the way he said. "I didn't do this to you."

"So are you telling me that you didn't choose your friends over me? That you didn't choose to stay with them instead of me?" He asked loudly. He knew they were being stared at but he didn't care.

"I didn't choose anything! I didn't get to. You chose for me. You chose to leave. You could have stayed..."

"For what? For what?! You? You wouldn't tell Potty and Weasel about us. You were willing to keep me as a secret to them. Were you ever going to tell them? Ever? Or were you going to drop me as soon as school finished? There was no way in hell I was going to wait and find out. I knew who you were going to pick anyway. You already did. I made my choice... and so did you."

"What?" She didn't want to hear anymore. What he was saying wasn't the truth. Was it?

"YOU made the choice not to tell them. YOU made the choice not to follow me. And YOU made the choice to let me go. Ok? So don't tell me I didn't give you any choices. They were there all the time. You just made the choice not to take them."

He finished his drink and motioned for another. She watched him as he drank that in one gulp, unable to stop him. So she did the only thing she could think of. She put her hand on his.

"Draco." He looked up at her then. "Why did you want to see me?"

He stared at her for a while and then pulled his hand free away from her. He then gestured at her unfinished drink. "I told you. To have a drink to welcome in the New Year. Drink it. I've already drunk mine. And a few others before that. I've drunk enough to welcome in the next decade. You've got to catch up. Finish it."

She wasn't sure if he as telling the truth or not. She's never seen him like this before. It was almost like he was on autopilot or something. Or self-destruct. She didn't want to say anything to make him worse, so she did what he had asked. She drank the rest of the warm wine, his eyes not leaving her for a second.

A few seconds later, she began to regret her decision. She didn't get drunk so easily, especially after only one glass of wine. Yet she felt sick to her stomach and couldn't focus on the man in front of her. There was three of him now, which frankly scared her. One Draco was enough, but three? She tried to take a deep breath but only succeeded partially. Looking into the six grey eyes that swam around of her, she realised what had happened. He'd been especially weird all evening, as if to put her off something. To make sure she didn't realise what he was up to. Whatever he was up to.

She blinked a few times and then spoke slowly, as if the words wouldn't form properly. "Draco... What did you... put in the wine?"

The last thought Hermione had was 'You always were good at Potions', before everything went black and she fell into Draco's waiting arms. He pulled her close to him and whispered into her ear. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I have to do this. I have to. I have to get him out of my head. And if it means being closer to you then... I'll do anything."

He began to walk towards the pub exit and as he did, he caught the eye of the pub landlord. He winked and then spoke conspiratorially. "Women, eh? Can't control their drink. One glass and she's gone."

A few minutes later and they both were.

*****

She had the biggest headache when she awoke. Whatever Draco had put into her drink had totally fudged up her mind. She tried to remember what had happened but it hurt too much. Then comprehension dawned and she sat up abruptly, wincing at the pain it caused. She rubbed her eyes a few times, trying to get rid of the lethargic feeling she felt all over. When she felt slightly better, she began to look at her surroundings as the missing pieces from last night fell into place.

Draco. He'd wanted to see her. He hadn't said why. Well, he'd said a lot, but it wasn't the real reason he had wanted to see her. He'd drugged her. But why? With that question in mind, she looked around her trying to figure out just what was going on.

She was in a room, a pretty opulent one from the looks of things. There were two single bed side by side and there were other pieces of furniture just as ornate as the beds, which subtlety completed the room. The colour scheme was pretty monochromatic with hints of silver and green here and there. It all seemed very Malfoy-esque. Hermione realised she had to be in Malfoy Manor. Where else would Draco take her?

At that precise moment someone walked into the room, with a person in their arms. As Hermione watched in horror, she realised it was Ginny. She leaped out of the bed and ran towards her best friend and the unknown figure. She came to a grinding halt when she looked at the person carrying her friend. He looked like Draco but... didn't. While Draco had that gorgeous shoulder length blond hair, this figure had slightly messy black hair. Very similar to Harry. He also had Draco's slender build and height.

But it was his eyes that made Hermione realise that the figure in front of her was the former Slytherin Head Boy. She had loved staring into them time and time again, as they reminded her of a stormy sky waiting for that moment when everything became suddenly clear. The last few months of their relationship though his eyes had been dark grey; stormy, tempestuous and bleak. As if things were happening they couldn't control, bad things that were waiting to happen.

She hesitated. "...Dr... Draco?"

He pushed past her and put the sleeping redhead onto the other bed, morphing slowly back into the person she knew and loved. Had loved. He had used Polyjuice Potion. To be who though? It looked like Harry, Hermione thought. However, the person he had morphed into was slightly different to her best friend. Very smooth and sleek while Harry was scruffy and messy. She moved closer towards him and then stopped.

Ginny was awakening. She stirred for a while, and then looked to Draco and Hermione confused and bewildered. "Tom... Where's Tom?"

Hermione also turned to face her ex-boyfriend, a look of uncertainty blossoming on her face. She didn't like what was going on and there were so many questions she needed answering. Just what was Ginny doing here? And why had she called out for 'Tom'? Who exactly was Tom? And who had Draco just been?

She decided to go straight for the jugular and asked Draco directly, "What the hell is going on?"

Rubbing his face tiredly, Draco glanced at the two girls before speaking slowly, "I'm going to bring back Tom Riddle. And you two are going to help me."