CHAPTER 17: HERMIONE MAKES A MENTAL NOTE TO PUNCH RITA SKEETER IN THE FACE

"DRACO BLOODY MALFOY! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE NOW!"

Draco sat up in bed suddenly, his heart racing at the screaming voice from downstairs. She sounded mad, mad, crazy mad. Draco began to think back as quickly as possible, trying to figure out what he'd done wrong, but nothing came to mind. Perhaps the best thing to do was run away from the situation? His window lead directly to the garden and he could get away before she managed to get to him.

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT RUNNING AWAY, FERRET! GET HERE NOW!"

He froze, how did she even know? He grabbed his wand and took a deep breath in preparation and headed straight down the stairs to the dining room where the cursing was coming from.

Hermione had obviously been in the middle of setting up breakfast for the two of them, there was a plate of toast sitting idly on the table alongside eggs and pancakes, but it was the angry looking girl who stood at the head of the table, reading the morning paper that caught his attention.

He cleared his throat, "are you all right, Granger? What's wrong? What hap-" she cut him off by throwing the paper at him. It hit him in the face and he scrambled to catch it, before realising that it was the Daily Prophet and a sickening feeling settled in his stomach.

Hermione growled and scowling at him before walking briskly to the kitchen, slamming the door behind her loudly.

Draco glanced at the front page and groaned.

"HERMIONE GRANGER'S HIDEOUT - FOUND OUT! By Rita Skeeter

No one expected this to happen. A former war heroine and the son of a death-eater who society finally thought was on the path of reforming himself, acting together to get away with murder!

That's right, London! Hermione Granger's hideout is the Malfoy Manor, with the Malfoy heir himself acting as her personal protection...and a lot more and we don't know how long such an arrangement had been going on.

Yesterday, upon arrival at the Manor, it was clear that something was off with the young Malfoy. His behaviour was skittish at best and he seemed desperate to hide something from this reporter, who could have thought that it was this kind of a shock?

An accidental confession to an unknown source revealed that Draco Malfoy had indeed been hiding Hermione Granger in his family home for what appears to be the past few weeks, though this is unconfirmed. The girl that he is seen kissing in the photograph below was exposed to be Hermione Granger in a disguise to fool the world into thinking that she had been on the run whilst all along she's been living in comfort!

There seems to be no question about their relationship; they are partners in crime! As the world mourns the loss of their loved ones, the two have been caught socialising and attending parties throughout the week, with Granger donning various disguises.

With the latest evidence, it is clear what the ministry needs to do next! Arresting Mr. Malfoy for harbouring and keeping a wanted criminal hidden and obstructing our right to see the good side win another war!

If all goes well, this could be the day two of the most wanted criminals are now finally brought justice. We pray and hope that the Aurors will catch these two before any more of our loves ones are taken away from us.

Stay tunes for more new, London!

Rita Skeeter'

There was a photograph right underneath, of Draco kissing Hermione who'd still been in disguise, but written across it were the words "Granger and Malfoy in cahoots?"

He scrunched up the newspaper and threw it away, looking up in time to spot Hermione who'd just come out of the kitchen and was glaring at him, her arms crossed over her chest, her feet tapping the hardwood floor in a tempo that could only mean his annihilation

"Any final words before I kill you, Malfoy?" she asked calmly. Draco gulped and took a few small steps back away from her.

He had to choose his words carefully now, she would get mad and actually kill him if he did anything stupid. Was this one of those times when he admitted that it was his fault, even if it wasn't, and apologised, even if he didn't want to?

"Um...I'm sorry?"

That hadn't been the right thing to say. Hermione narrowed her eyes, "I told you something like this would happen, I warned you that having me around was bad luck, but did you listen, Malfoy? Of course not, you're so caught up in the idea of being on the run and breaking the law that in your thick little head, it seemed like a good idea to admit to that stupid Skeeter thing that I was in the manor!" she paused, and growled at him in frustration; Draco tried not to show the fear he felt now and took a few more small steps back.

"Granger..."

"What are we going to do now? Huh? They're going to turn up here and arrest you for aiding a killer and send me off to hell and then, just to sate the public, probably kill you too! Oh, dear Merlin, what did I do to deserve this? I never broke any rules! Well...there were one or two times; but it was for the greater good! And I was always nice to everyone, even to Draco...that time in third year doesn't count! Plus, I was Head Girl! Head Girls don't deserve to be treated like this! Heads are supposed to be destined for greatness! But wait...Voldemort was Head Boy...does that mean I'm doomed to be evil too?"

She gasped in horror at her words and rubbed her forehead. "Oh my gods, I'm going to be a nose-less, pale skinned freak in the future! That's my destiny!" she buried her face in her hands and sighed heavily.

"Granger..."

"No Malfoy, that's what's going to happen. I'm going to end up looking like Voldemort and you're not going to be of any help because all you're good at doing is walking around half naked all the time! Seriously, you're going to face the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic, in your boxers? You know Harry will probably be the one leading the assault, and you want to go and greet them half naked, to shock them so much that I can escape out the back door? Is that your plan?"

Draco winced at her tone. Merlin, she could be harsh when she wanted to be. She was like McGonagall; kind of terrifying.

"What's all the commotion about? I could hear yelling from all the way at the other end of the Manor." Narcissa Malfoy appeared in her frame and pursed her lips at her son, "what did Draco do now?"

Draco rubbed the bridge of his nose; even his mother was out to get him, how could this day get any worse?

Lucius Malfoy causally soled into his frame and observed the newspaper lying on the ground in disgusted curiosity before turning to face the two standing before him. "May I enquire as to what seems to be the problem?" his voice was calm and collected, waiting for a polite response from either one of them.

Hermione glowered at him, not looking impressed by his regal tone. "Why don't you ask you stupid son what he went ahead and did! I'm sure he can fill you in plenty, can't you Draco?" she walked off in a huff, muttering to herself about arrogant Malfoys that don't listen to reason and logic and shut people up by kissing them.

Lucius Malfoy stared after the girl, wondering why he'd never noticed the fact that she was and had the immense potential, to be quite terrifying. He smiled inwardly to himself.

She is going to be the perfect wife for Draco! Once he learns to dress himself properly in her presence that is...

Narcissa stared after Hermione with a concerned look on her face that turned to an unimpressed frown at her still almost unclothed son. "Well, what did you do to annoy her so much!?" she asked incredulously.

Draco gaped at his mother, why wasn't' she taking his side? Weren't mothers supposed to take their children's sides?

"Mother! I didn't do anything! She is freaking out because this crazy chick tried to kill me yesterday and Hermione thinks that it's all her fault and I told her it wasn't, but she won't believe me because she enjoys taking the blame for everything far too much. So, to keep her safe from Harry Potter who is out to hunt her down and bring her to justice for killing people, even though she hasn't done anything wrong, I kind of forced her to stay in the Manor, which is making her even more pissed off at me and then Blaise found out about it and was totally cool about it which was pissing me off because he doesn't get it and thinks he does but, seriously, he doesn't. And, everyone believes she is a murderer out to get them and wants her caught so that they can get all the money on her head and Rita Skeeter isn't making any of this easier because that woman has serious issues, and neither is Granger really, because she keeps insisting that I kidnapped her, even though I made it pointedly clear that I was only borrowing her and keeping her without permission which doesn't count as kidnapping because I said so."

The silence that followed was one that could be called awkward or weird, but Draco was far too busy breathing in deeply after all the effort that took to notice the bewildered looks his parents were sending each other.

Lucius frowned, "Draco, "because I said so" is not a reasonable argument for anything. No wonder Miss Ganger is frustrated with you; your brain cells seem to be depleting by the second! Do you even think before you speak?"

Draco sighed. Of course that would be the only thing that his father would focus on. Luckily for him, Hermione walked back into the room before his mother could add to that statement and make him feel even more like an idiot.

"The best thing to do in this situation is to get out of the house as fast as possible. Since its going to be Harry's team that's after us, we don't have time to waste." She faced his directly, making sure that he was looking her in the eyes, "I need you to remove the anti-disapparating spells from the area so that we can travel out of here fast and I need you to pack essentials that should last you a couple of days at the least."

She looked up at the moving portraits of the late Malfoys, smiling at their concerned faces. "I know most of this won't make any sense to you, but all I can promise is that I'll make sure he's safe from all the trouble and once everything had been sorted out, he'll be back here in one piece."

Narcissa Malfoy bit her lip, but nodded, "I understand." Lucius nodded, his eyes on his son who was standing around staring at the window blankly before sighing in disappointment. He'd raised an idiot, apparently.

Hermione took charge immediately, she glanced at her wrist and nodded, "okay, the paper came at eight, it is now ten past eight, that means we have ten minutes at the most before they get here. Draco, I told you to go pack a bag and get rid of the spell, why are you still here?"

"Oh, right. I should do that." Draco muttered as he ran back up the stairs, not a question on his lips. If there was one thing he'd learned about Hermione during their school years, it was never to question her when she was in her zone, and besides, she'd probably already though seven or eight steps ahead just in case, if she had a plan, he was willing to go along with it.

Draco scoffed at himself as he pulled out a bag, he couldn't believe it, Draco Malfoy going along with Hermione Granger, trusting her with his life, going along with her plans. Was he the only one who could see the irony in this? But there was a part of his mind that was thoroughly excited at the idea of going on the run with her.

Who would have thought? Draco shook his head clear of those thoughts and put on a pair of black, warm jeans and a black t-shirt. He took out a black jacket and zipped it up. Then he grabbed anything else that looked warm and tried to cram it all into the tiny bag he'd found. He was still trying to squish in some gloves when Hermione burst through the door; she rolled her eyes when she found him trying to sit on the bag to squish in more things.

"Typical! You're denser than Goyle!" he heard her mutter, before pushing him off the bag and pulling out her wand. She rolled her eyes at him, "and you call yourself a wizard? Expando!" the clothing that had been spilling out his bag fell inside it as the bag inside expanded in size.

Draco felt like slapping himself, how come he hadn't thought of that? With all the extra space, he stuffed all the things he didn't actually need into the bag, things like five or six rolls of parchment and inkbottles to last a year.

He heard Hermione give an exaggerated sigh and walk out. She made her way to her room, grabbing her beaded bag and changing into casual jeans and shirt, with a jumper, scarf and gloves for warmth. Scanning the room once more, she headed downstairs to the front door, and rolled her shoulders in preparation.

Latin chanting had never been her strongest subject, but the words seemed to come easy to her and it seemed to be working too since a thin layer of coloured light began to emit from the tip of her wand and cover the whole manor slowly. It glowed brightly for a moment before sinking into the structure.

She lightly pricked her index finger, wincing at the moment of pain as she spread the drops of blood across the front door, marking out the words Hermione, and then she hesitated, unsure of what name to use. The name she was given at birth or the name that she'd been brought up with?

"Granger, what the hell are you doing to the house?" Draco's voice yelled from his room. She smiled.

Hermione Granger. That was who she was after all. The blood written letters disappeared into the wood.

Draco dragged his bag down the stairs; the stupid thing weighed a ton. Hermione glanced up from her half-done spell to see him trying to roll it down the stairs, instead of carrying it and sighed heavily. She murmured something and the bag became light as though it was empty and it shrank to the size of a wallet. He put it into his pocket with a huff; "I knew I could do that! I was just making sure you knew...how to do that too..."

Ignoring his stupidity, she grabbed his arm and pulled him down the stairs so that he was beside her at the front door.

"You are going to tell me what you just did to my house, right?" he asked. She ignored him and incomprehensibly said something and Draco felt a prickle of his index finger on his right hand, he glanced at it and found drops of red liquid pooling around.

"What the hell? What are-" he began, but she cut him off by glaring at him with all the anger she could muster and pulling him beside her, she wrote the word Draco Malfoy across the door, the blood stayed for a few seconds and then it soaked into the wood, not leaving a mark.

She dragged him back to his parents where she took a deep breath. "I have secured the house," she started, "only those with my blood or Draco's blood may enter, and seeing as I'm the last of my family, and Draco is the last of his, only we can enter, and we have to do it willingly. Imperio, or compulsion charms won't work."

She waited a second and looked back up at them, Draco watched her from the dining room doors, "I apologize for leaving without explaining anything, but we don't have time to waste at all. If they catch either one of us, it won't end well. Rest assured, I won't let anything bad happen to Draco. Ferret, you have two minutes to say goodbye and meet me back at the front door to leave. Mr Malfoy, Mrs Malfoy, it was nice seeing this side of both of you see. Hopefully, we will meet each other under better circumstances next time." she smiled, nodded her goodbyes and walked to the front door, leaving Draco with his parents.

Draco smirked up at his parents, and ran a hand through his wayward hair. "I suppose I'll see you both if I survive the wrath of Potter and the Ministry."

Lucius smirked right back at his son, "don't be pathetic Draco, Miss Granger can look after you amply well enough, so I don't have to worry that you'll die and that'll be the last of the Malfoy's. And that's all I want, generally." Lucius sniffed.

Narcissa rolled her eyes at her husband and pursed her lips at Draco, "she can keep you safe, Draco, I know that. But you should keep her safe too. if I hear that something happened to her because of your negligence, I don't care that I'm dead of in a painting, I will find a way to punish you. Stay alive, both of you."

Hermione put an ear to the front door, listening keenly; there was no clear noise on the other side. Stupid Rita Skeeter and her stupid Daily Prophet articles. Hermione made a high alert mental note to punch that witch in the face the movement she saw her next, at least a broken nose or Hermione would never be happy in her life again.

Draco headed to Hermione, who grabbed his hand as she opened the door carefully as they stepped outside. "We are going to have to apparate to somewhere else. So, wait patiently while I remove all the traces on you," she said as she closed the door behind her. A gloss appeared across it, and they stepped away from the landing, the whole house disappeared.

Draco let out a breath of amazement and the whole Manor, gardens and all, simple disappeared as she began to remove all the traced placed on him the moment he'd stepped outside his house.

"Come on, come on, we don't have time! You can be amazed by me later!" she muttered. She gripped his hand tightly as was about to apparate when a startled yell came from above.

Hermione glanced up and found Harry looking down at her, sitting regally on a broom, following closely behind him where a lot more Aurors, all yelling at each other about her being there.

She shook her head and clenched her teeth, now was not the time to get emotional. Harry pulled out his wand and aimed it at her for a moment, before pointing it at Draco, and throwing the red blazed spell to stun him.

Hermione felt tears pool in her eyes and apparated with Draco, and just as the spell reached them, they were gone.