When their feet touched solid ground, Draco's agonised cry of pain split the night air. The gash in his leg had opened up harshly, and he lay sobbing in pain. 

"I'm so sorry," Hermione knew she had to stay level headed. But how could she? After all that had happened, how could she be level headed?

She took his hand in hers and let him squeeze it as she healed his leg again. This time he cried out every few seconds, because Hermione's hands were shaking, and she was too disturbed to be gentle. She kept whispering 'I'm sorry' over and over again, although she wasn't quite sure what she was apologising for. 

The irony of the situation was almost humorous. The first time she had been in the same position, had been with Harry and Ron. Now she was in that postion again, but this time it was because of Harry and Ron.

Perhaps she would have laughed had not been for the metallic smell of blood that filled the night air.

By the time she was done, he had passed out. 

She collapsed next to him, stretched out on the ground. To say she was exhausted was a gross understatement. The ground beneath her was cold and hard, preparing itself for the coming winter. The leaves scattered under her provided no comfort whatsoever, but only added to her discomfort by being prickly and annoying.

Her dress was ruined. She felt bad about it, considering the fact that Narcissa had paid a hundred and fifty galleons for it. A mirthless laugh escaped her lips. After everything, she was still concerned about her dress. 

She closed her eyes for a moment.

When she opened them again, she was surprised at the change in lighting of the sky. Had she really fallen asleep? 

Draco.

"Draco?" she called tentatively. 

"I'm here," he said from beside her. They were still holding hands, somehow. 

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry," Hermione immediately sat up and looked around. She couldn't remember where she had brought them. 

"Where are we?" Draco asked, his voice bleary from pain and sleep.

"I-I'm not sure," Hermione admitted, ashamed, "I'll go have a look around."

"No," he said instantly, "don't leave me."

Hermione's gaze softened, but her heart broke for him, "I'm not leaving you, I'll only be gone for a few minutes, I promise."

"Promise?" the way he sounded made her heart break to smaller pieces. 

"Yes," she carefully pried her hand away from his and placed a gentle kiss on his forehead hoping it was enough of a reassurance of her return.

Standing up was much more of a struggle then it should have been. Her legs took time to get blood flowing in them again, and her heels didn't help. She transfigured them to resemble normal flats, and then began looking around. 

Oak trees. 

Hermione walked around, trying to figure out where they were. There was an old, hollow tree a little away from where they had landed. At the top, a kite was pierced through one of the branches. It was an old thing, the kite. It was blue and a sliver of the sky could be seen through the rip down its center. Its tail swayed and rustled when the wind hit it. 

They were in the woods near Hermione's neighborhood. That had been her kits when she had been a girl of about five or six.

With her spirits slightly lifted now that she had figured out where they were, she ran back to where Draco was.

"Where are we?" he asked the moment he saw her.

"In the wood near my parents' house," she explained, "I believe it was the first place I thought of so I brought us here."

He nodded and said nothing. 

They couldn't stay here forever. They had to go back and sort things out, and get ahold of whoever was responsible. 

"We won't apparate again until your leg gets better," she said after a few moments, "do-do you have my bag? The purple beaded one?"

Draco grabbed it from under him and raised it up. She took it, getting a little amused by the way Draco curiously stared at it when it rattled heavily.

"What is in that?" he asked, unable to ignore his curiosity any longer.

Hermione summoned some clothes for him and herself from the bag. She handed him one of Harry's old sweatshirts she happened to have, along with a pair of jeans. 

Draco's eyes widened and his eyebrows raised, "Wh-"

"I prepared it in case of emergencies," Hermione said, "you had mentioned the possibility of the impersonator attacking you at Hogwarts, so I put in all the things we may have required. Clothes, books, potions, sparse food. It's the bag I used when we were on the run before the war, it's basically what kept us alive."

"I must admit, I'm impressed," Draco nodded appreciatively. 

"Put those on and give me your dress robes once you're done," Hermione instructed, "take your time, I'll be a little away."

Hermione left him to change, leaving the bag in his care. She walked clumsily to a clearing a little away and stripped her dress off. She pulled on some clean sweatpants and a newly washed shirt, followed by a cardigan. She banished the dirt from her ball dress and folded it up neatly and warded it so that it wouldn't tear or lose its embellishments. No matter what happened, she wanted to keep it. It would stay forever as a reminder of her time at the tower. 

It was utterly strange and terrifying to think that merely hours ago she had felt like she was on top of the world, her spirits had been soaring. She had laughed and enjoyed herself in Draco's company. Now, she was running from her best friends, and possibly from the entire Ministry. She was sure that they had let the news out that Gryffindor's Golden Girl had been aiding Draco Malfoy, and was now a wanted witch for assisting the escape of another wanted wizard. It was all extremely surreal.

But it just wouldn't do to dwell on the recent occurrences. They had to be vigilant, they had to find the impersonator. They couldn't dawdle. Alastor Moody's face swam into her mind in all its gnarled and mutilated glory, shouting "Constant vigilance!"

"Draco? Can I come back now?" it had been nearly ten minutes.

"Yes."

Hermione released a shaky breath and headed back to where she had left Draco under a tree. He was leaning against it, with his head tilted back and eyes closed. 

"Does it hurt very much?" Hermione asked stupidly. 

"Not as much as it should," Draco said, "you're a good healer."

"Thank you," Hermione said. 

They couldn't just sit outside in the cold weather. They needed shelter, somewhere to sleep at night. And this time she didn't have the tent. So, being friends with Ronald Bilius Weasley did have it's advantages, along with the multitudes of disadvantages. 

"We need a place to stay," Hermione pointed out, "This is a muggle neighborhood, so we'll be safe."

"No," Draco said immediately, "they send out search parties everywhere, not only confined to Wizarding London."

Hermione made an irritated noise and began pacing, "We'll have to disguise ourselves, there's no other way. Oh, give me your robes, I'll put them away."

He handed her the newly folded robes. After warding it and placing it in her bag, she resumed her brainstorming.

"I have the letters with me, by the way," Hermione said, "but we still don't know how to get to the person without the spell you mentioned."

Draco nodded, crestfallen. 

"I'm so sorry for putting you in this place," Hermione said suddenly, "if I would've worked something out sooner, maybe we could've been gone by now."

"Quit blaming yourself," Draco admonished lightly, "I know Gryffindors are chivalrous, but this isn't the right time."

She noticed him glance at her, and realised that all this time, he hadn't looked at her directly. She felt a strange pain in her chest.

The air was thick with unspoken words. Hermione couldn't help glancing at him every few seconds. 

"Stop staring at me," he said when they had spent an entire minute glancing at each other.

"I could say the same to you," Hermione said exasperatedly.

"I'm sorry."

Hermione swivelled around to look at him. He was looking at her now, very intensely.

"F-for what?" Hermione stuttered out.

"It was wrong of me to expect a feeling of such large magnitude in so less time from you towards me," he shrugged as he said it, "but I want you to know that, no matter what you say, I like you. Very much."

Hermione walked over to him in hesitant steps and sat down next to him on the leaf strewn ground. 

"I like you too, Draco," she admitted, "very much."

He smiled down at her, a real smile. It made Hermione's heart flutter. 

"Looking at the sky, it looks near four in the morning," Hermione said, "get some rest, we'll head out when the sun is higher."

Draco shifted a little away from Hermione. Before Hermione's mind could begin devising several theories as to his action, he leant sideways and laid his head on her shoulder. His hair smelt like apples, and Hermione smiled. She felt him guide an arm behind her back and settle there. He was asleep before she could say anything. She laid her head over his, staying wide awake as the events of the past few hours replayed in her mind. 

-----

"You're absolutely sure?" 

Harry was pacing madly in his office, his hands in his hair. He just couldn't comprehend everything that he had seen and heard. It was too much, much more than he could deem sensible. 

Hermione had helped Malfoy. What was she thinking? Was she out of her mind? Now she was on the wanted list, and anything he said wouldn't convince Kingsley or anyone else to leave the search to him. 

"I've told you, and you've seen them yourself," Ron snarled at him, "why would I be lying?"

"Oh, I don't know," Harry feigned wonder, "how about we recall how you've treated her in the past, will that answer your question?"

"You don't know what she did, Har-"

"Don't say a word against Hermione!" Harry was shouting now, "Don't you dare. You have no idea how much you hurt her, Ron. You didn't even see the top of the glacier, you didn't see her crying every night, you didn't see her harming herself. She loved your sorry arse and you threw it away, if there's anyone to blame here it's you. Contradict me, I dare you."

He was standing mere inches from Ron's face, glaring with such ferocity that Ron took a step back.

"I hope you regret your choices," Harry spat at him before walking away.

They heard the sound of running in the hallway, and Ginny burst into the office, "Tell me it's not true."

"I'm sorry," Harry said, letting Ginny embrace him.

"She would never, Harry, she would never," she cried, "she would have told us, maybe we could have helped-"

"Why do you want to help Malfoy?" Ron sneered.

"Why is he here?" Ginny asked Harry, pointing to Ron over her shoulder.

"He may have been the person who sent the message," Harry said guiltily, "really, I don't want him here anymore than you do." 

"I'm standing right here," Ron said pointedly. 

"Does it look like I give a damn?" Ginny spat at him, "It's not exactly a pleasure to meet you again."

"Lovely to see you too, sister," Ron retorted.

"Shut it," Ginny said with so much malice that even Harry felt obliged to comply even though it wasn't meant for him. 

Ron's ears turned red at the rude dismissal. Ginny turned to face Harry again, distraught, "Kingsley is organising a search team, Harry, I'm in it."

"Why won't he let me in?" Harry asked frustratedly, "I'm one position away from being Head Auror."

"He said he doesn't want you in it because he thinks your personal relations with her may bias your actions," Ginny said bitterly, "he thinks me and her had no relation at all."

"What instructions has he given you?" Harry asked desperately.

"We're granted permission to use any measures required to bring them in," Ginny bit her lip, "they're required here, dead or alive."

"Dead or alive?" Harry's voice had risen again, "If Kingsley expects me to sit here and just let the others kill Hermione he is sadly misinformed."

"Kingsley didn't give us these instructions," Ginny said, shaking her head, "Rena Podmore, she's the head for the auror representative division in the DMLE."

"Yea I know her," Harry said, "how can she- does she even know what she's doing?"

Harry's unchecked emotions were let out in the form of unexpected magic. The glass of his desk shattered. Ginny ducked, and cast a deflection charm, but Ron wasn't so lucky. Several of the shards caught his arms.

"Ruddy hell," he muttered, casting a spell to banish the shards away and quickly heal the small cuts. 

"I hope that hurt," Harry said over his shoulder.

"If you don't want me to be here," Ron was getting angrier every second, Harry knew it, "then I'll leave."

"Be my guest."

"You're choosing Hermione over me?" Ron asked incredulously, "What has she done to you, Harry? You're not Imperiused, are you?"

"Get out," Ginny gritted out, pointing to the door, "Hermione isn't here this time to stop us from killing you, so leave when you can."

Ron glared at both of them by turn, then turned and sweeped out of the room. 

"Rena Podmore will be going with you, yes?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Ginny confirmed, "she- I don't know why Kingsley set her in charge of this, Harry, I really don't know."

"Well, technically she has all right to take charge of it," Harry said, "doesn't mean I'm happy with it, I'm just saying that she is high enough in the hierarchy to do what she wants."

"We can't really do anything to contradict her," Ginny threw her hands up, "I hope they're okay, Malfoy and 'Mione, I mean."

"I can't believe Hermione chose to help him when she knew that he was a wanted Wizard, she knew what he had done," Harry ran a hand over his face, "it doesn't make sense, Ginny, there's got to be something wrong, something missing, which we aren't seeing."

"All the facts are plain," Ginny said bitterly, "it's not something we can dig in to to find anything else."

"Maybe she left us a message, in since way," Harry resumed his frantic pacing, "something to let us know why she's doing this, she wouldn't just leave like that. I'm going to her house, I'll check for anything-"

"Harry-"

"Why won't you just let me?" Harry couldn't keep his volume in check anymore, and he wasn't ashamed to be yelling, "I can't lose her, okay? If they kill her I'll never be able to forgive myself. She can't die. I won't allow it, no matter who says what, I don't give a damn about Kingsley or Podmore."

Some rogue tears slipped past his eyes. He had been holding them back until then, but now he couldn't.

"Oh Harry," Ginny immediately waited over and wrapped him in a hug, "you won't lose her, I promise."

"I don't want to lose anyone," Harry said pathetically, "I can't, I won't be able to handle it. If I lose you now, or Hermione, I won't be able to live with it."

"You won't lose me, either," Ginny said, "I don't let go that easily, it'll take more than death to peel me from you. Save your worry over me for Hermione, she needs it."

"Thank you, Ginny," Harry gave her a watery smile and stroked her cheek. He placed a soft kiss on her lips, then they left the office to meet Kingsley Shacklebolt, Minister of Magic.

------

Hermione and Draco stood facing each other. But they weren't themselves at all. Hermione had long, dirty blond hair and a slightly upturned nose and pale skin. Draco had an unruly mop of brown hair, and slightly darker skin than his usual. They had left their eyes the way they were. Hermione was also slightly taller than her usual self, so she was only a few inches below Draco's forehead.

"Realised you were shorter and thought of changing it?" Draco asked, a small smirk turning up the corners of his mouth.

"I'll have you know that I am considered an average height," Hermione said. 

"Average as in, short?"

"I'm not short."

"Yes you are," Draco pulled himself up taller as he said that, "I have to look down at you."

"Because you're unnaturally tall," Hermione smirked now.

"You think you're so hilarious."

"Oh, I know I'm hilarious."

She was thankful to him for trying to keep the atmosphere from becoming tense. Knowing herself, she would have had atleast three anxiety attacks by now if he wouldn't have kept up his joking.

"So now, you're David William," Hermione pointed to him, "and I'm Clarice Gertham."

"Brilliant," Draco said sarcastically, "let's go."

"Okay," they clasped each other's hands, and walked to the edge of the wood. They could see the main Street, with its surrounding houses.

"Which is your parents' house?" he asked curiously.

"It's a little way down," Hermione said, "I don't have enough muggle money to get us a grand place to live in, but-"

"It's okay, this isn't a relaxation trip," he reassured.

"Once we can find a place to stay for a few days, I can begin researching on that spell you mentioned," Hermione said. They shared a look, and began walking up the street.