Hermione did not go to Grimmauld Place for four whole days after that. Malfoy had written in the notebook a couple of times, telling her he hadn't learned where the captives were being held. Even though he did have some news about the wards, they never met in person. Due to the lack of information on the Newcastle wards, they'd been unable to rescue the captives being held there, but Hermione doubted she could have left the camp without Kingsley interfering. While she didn't tell Malfoy precisely what had gone down the last time she'd spoken with Kingsley, she was fairly certain he knew something had changed. As long as it didn't directly affect him, however, he didn't appear to care. She was just returning from dinner when she got a note saying he needed her at Grimmauld Place that night.

"What's that?" Harry asked, peering over her shoulder. She slapped the notebook closed before he could read the writing and he looked at her curiously.

"My personal notebook," she said, tucking the book in her robes where Harry couldn't grab for it. "I'd rather you didn't try to read what I write."

"And I'd rather you didn't lie to me," Harry said shortly. Hermione looked up at him, expecting to see him glaring at her but instead saw him looking at her a little sadly. "I know you've been up to something, but I don't know why you haven't told me."

Hermione sighed and glanced down at her shoes as they stood between the rows of tents.

"It's for Kingsley, Harry," she said, chancing a glance at him. "I'd tell you if I could, but it's for the Order and it's supposed to be—"

"I know," Harry interrupted. Hermione's eyes widened, wondering if Kingsley had actually told Harry what she'd been tasked with doing. "Well, I know you're doing something for Kingsley. I don't know what it is though. What I do know is that you're also doing something else, something that Kingsley doesn't want you doing."

Of all the times for Harry to pay attention to things, this was not it. Granted, they'd been in a war for more than a year now so it was good for him to start noticing what people did, but Hermione hadn't wanted him to notice what she was doing.

"I can't tell you, Harry," she said softly, looking up at him apologetically. She hoped he understood that she wanted to, but it was too big of a risk. "If I could, I would and maybe one day I'll be able to, but right now I can't."

Harry nodded and looked away. She could tell he was upset with the answer, but she refused to let that convince her to tell him right then and there.

"Please understand—"

"I do," he said quickly, still not looking at her. Hermione stopped reaching for him like she had been and drew her hand back. "I'll keep covering for you when Kingsley asks," he told her, though she could tell he was getting upset. "But don't expect me to not notice how you always leave. I won't lie to Ginny or Ron, though. If they ask, I'll tell them you've disappeared again."

"That's fine, Harry, thank you," she said quietly. Harry nodded once then turned on his heel and returned to the dinner tent without saying anything else.

Hermione sighed again and continued on her way to their shared tent where she pulled on her cloak and checked her notebook one last time. While Malfoy hadn't mentioned a specific meeting time, Hermione wasn't sure she wanted to wait to leave when Harry, Ron, and Ginny would be around to ask her questions. Rather than wait around and leave in an awkward attempt of avoiding their questions, Hermione apparated to Grimmauld Place early and found her way up to the old library.

There wasn't much in the old Black library that Hermione was interested in, but she didn't very well want to do nothing while she waited for Malfoy. It seemed like luck was on her side when she found a book on ancient healing practices stuffed between two books on blood rituals, so she pulled it from its place and went back downstairs to read. She sat on the bottom two steps, facing the door so she'd know as soon as Malfoy showed up, and cracked open the book to begin reading.

Much of the healing tricks and spells mentioned she'd already heard of, but there were a few she came across that had her writing notes down in the very back of her notebook so she wouldn't forget. While none of the spells were for the newer curses being developed, many of them could be used to counteract some of the effects or speed up healing when a curse had roots in certain fields. She found a particularly helpful spell that worked as a powerful pain reliever for any curse based on alchemy and made sure it was clearly written down back turning the page.

She was so engrossed in her reading that when Malfoy did appear at nearly ten o'clock, the loud crack from his apparation made her jump. She set her book aside, making a mental note to take it back to the Order when she and Malfoy finished at Grimmauld Place, then looked up at Malfoy to ask what he needed so desperately.

"I hope you don't have evening plans," he said, adjusting the dragonhide gloves he was wearing. Hermione narrowed her eyes at him. "There's a meeting at the Manor I think you may be interested in hearing. You'll have to use the elf passage ways, of course, but I'm sure you'll find it amendable due to the information you're likely to hear."

"Which manor?" Hermione asked, standing up from where she'd been sitting on the stairs.

"Malfoy," he replied. Hermione's breath hitched and almost subconsciously she could feel her arm burning. "I know it's not ideal, but I won't be attending so there's no way for me to get the information to you otherwise. Would you rather not go?" he asked, not unkindly.

"No, I want to," she said immediately. If Malfoy was telling her about it, then it had to be important. "If you're not going, how am I to get in?"

Malfoy's lips twitched into a smirk as he looked at her in amusement.

"It is my house," he reminded her. Hermione rolled her eyes. "I can apparate you though the wards and ley lines without triggering anything. Once we're inside, we'll access the house elf passages to find the meeting."

"Oh, so you are coming?" she asked. Malfoy snorted and nodded his head.

"Just because I'm not allowed to attend the meeting doesn't mean I'm letting you have all the fun, Granger," he said. He held out his hand for Hermione to take. Without hesitating, she grabbed it and stepped closer so they could apparate. It looked like he was about to say something else, but before she could ask what, they were being yanked away by the feeling of apparation and Hermione squeezed her eyes closed so she didn't get too dizzy.

They landed in a large room, lit by floating candles and a large silver chandelier. Hermione didn't have to look around much to know they'd apparated to a private room of the manor. The tall bookshelf to her right drew her attention at the same time the large bed in front of her did. With a dark green comforter and what looked like white silk pillow sheets, Hermione was quick to realise she was standing in the middle of Draco Malfoy's bedroom.

"If you wanted to sleep with me, you could have just asked instead of making up a story to get me to your room," Hermione teased, glancing up at him with an irritated look. Malfoy raised an eyebrow at her and released her hand, something she hadn't been aware she was still holding.

"If I wanted to sleep with you, I wouldn't have arrived wearing these robes," Malfoy taunted back. Hermione glanced over the dark robes he was wearing and realised they were identical to all the Death Eaters' robes. He must have gone directly from a base to Grimmauld Place, but when she'd stopped noticing the dark robes for what they were, she couldn't be sure.

"I don't think the robes would make any difference," she said, shrugging slightly and casting another glance around the room. She gave him a teasing smirk as she said, "I'd have said no either way."

"Fuck off," Malfoy replied, though there was no real bite the insult. Hermione just grinned in reply and watched him walk toward the bookshelf she'd been eyeing. Without looking back at her, he said, "If you won't sleep with me, you definitely can't touch my books."

"I don't want to touch your books," Hermione lied haughtily. There was very little keeping her from walking over and pulling them off the shelf aside from her sheer desire to not give him any more reason to suggest such an absolutely foul thing.

Malfoy just snorted and seemed to distract himself with something behind the bookshelf. A second later, Hermione heard a soft click and he moved the bookshelf with ease. Behind it, a narrow passage appeared and Malfoy stepped inside. He had to crouch in a way that looked rather uncomfortable, but when Hermione stepped in after him, she hardly had to bend her neck.

"I always hated how small these things were," Malfoy grumbled in front of her. "Hopefully you aren't scared of dark, tight spaces."

Hermione frowned, glancing behind her at his bedroom that was casting light into the tunnel. While she was glancing back, the bookshelf moved back into place and sealed them both inside. She only had a second to realise it was too dark to see her own hand before Malfoy lit his wand and she could see again.

"This isn't ideal, no," she admitted, lighting her own wand to light the tunnel further. "However, it's not the worst thing I've done this year."

Malfoy glanced over his shoulder at her with a small smirk. He turned back around and started down the tunnel, his footsteps almost silent even though the tunnel was clearly meant to echo. Hermione ended up casting a silencing charm on her own shoes so she could keep up with his pace and stay quiet. Neither of them spoke as they walked and while Hermione had no idea where they were at or where they were going, Malfoy seemed to know the exact answers to both. She was starting to wonder how he even knew how to navigate the tunnels when he stopped abruptly.

"Here," he said, his voice no more than a whisper. He shifted awkwardly to face one of the walls and Hermione followed suit.

She glanced at Malfoy skeptically but he nodded confidently. Nonverbally, she cast a spell to enhance her hearing and she was able to make out the quiet voices on the other side of the wall. She wasn't sure how many people were there, but she immediately recognised the two voices.

"You'll have full control of the Swiss border when it falls," Lucius Malfoy promised.

"My pack wants England, not Switzerland," Fenrir Greyback snarled. "The Swiss have their own pack ready to fight."

Hermione inhaled sharply at his voice and glanced to her right at Draco to see if he'd recognised it. His lips were pursed and his face unreadable, but she could tell he knew exactly what this meeting was about.

"If you don't think your pack can handle another, perhaps you're not as strong of an ally to the Dark Lord as you thought," Lucius replied. Greyback snarled again but Hermione doubted such an act would intimidate someone like Lucius. She was proven right shortly after when he said, "You don't frighten me, Fenrir. There's a reason I was made your primary contact and if you don't want to end up as a muggle exhibit, you'll keep your more feral traits out of my manor."

There was a tense pause and Hermione held her breath. Beside her, Malfoy seemed to do the same.

"You say when the Swiss border falls," Greyback said and Hermione had to think quickly back through what had been said before. "I thought it was guaranteed already."

"It is," Lucius said calmly. "A matter of days and Bellatrix will have a secured hold there. She's already taken the Swiss minister and their government is falling as we speak. Thanks to Dolohov's new potion, our soldiers are able to fight longer and harder. By the next full moon, you'll have new territory."

"I want security now," Greyback demanded. Something crashed loudly and Hermione jumped at the sharp noise, elbowing the wall behind her.

"Fuck," Malfoy hissed, looking at her with wide, panicked eyes. He grabbed her arm and turned her back the way they came, shoving her forward. "Go, hurry," he hissed.

Hermione tripped as she tried to look at him but he kept moving her forward. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but he didn't give her time. A sharp look from him silenced her and she let him steer her back through the tunnel until the back of the bookshelf came into view. Malfoy reached around her and pushed a square area in front of them. With a flick of his wand, the bookshelf slid out of the way and they went tumbling into his room.

Malfoy didn't let her go even as they tripped over each other and almost toppled to the ground. He kept his hold on her secure and the second they regained their balance, he was apparating them both back to Grimmauld Place. Hermione, dizzy from the apparation and still stumbling from being pushed out of the tunnel, went crashing into the wall.

"Don't leave," Malfoy ordered, holding out his hand in warning. "I don't know—I have to go back and it could be hours before I return but you can't—Don't leave. There's more you need to know before you do."

Before Hermione could ask what was happening or why he needed to go back to Malfoy Manor, he disapparated in front of her and she was left alone in Grimmauld Place.