Happy (almost) Halloween! What're you dressing up as this year?

x Noelle

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Changes colour.

moment to lose. As soon as they stepped out of the building, Draco tugged Hermione to his side and apparated them out.

They landed by the seventh willow tree in the blink of an eye, and Draco's mouth fell open when he saw Kingsley Shacklebolt, Professor McGonagall and Rubeus Hagrid standing with Andromeda some distance away. They were deep in discussion, but Andromeda looked half worried to death, and the moment she saw Draco and Hermione, she immediately rushed forward, wrapping her arms tightly around the two.

"Thank Merlin you're both safe," Andromeda said. "I was so worried when Theo told me he couldn't apparate back into headquarters."

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but a loud gasp from Hagrid diverted his attention. Before he knew it, Hermione was dragged away from his side and practically engulfed in Hagrid's embrace. As for McGonagall, she seemed thoroughly pleased and shocked to see Hermione, hugging the girl tightly after Hagrid had released her. Hermione looked almost awkward with the sudden outpouring of affection and immediately latched herself back to Draco's side the moment they released her.

He smirked when he felt her fingers intertwine with his. "Hello, Professor," he drawled, pointedly ignoring Shacklebolt and giving a polite nod to Hagrid. "It's been awhile."

"Not long enough, Malfoy," McGonagall returned, with a calculative gleam in her eye. "If Andromeda hadn't told us all you'd done in the past three years, I would never have believed it even if I'd seen it."

"Why don't we all go inside?" Andromeda suggested. "It's not safe out here."

"You four run along," Shacklebolt said. "Hagrid and I will make sure the wards stay in place."

Andromeda led the way inside. McGonagall immediately began talking to Hermione as they followed, even though Hermione had cast a frantic glance over her shoulder at Draco, who simply shook his head and winked at her.

Draco was the last to head inside, after he'd exchanged a quick, reconciliatory nod with Shacklebolt. Hagrid had taken a step forward for a hug, but Draco was adamant on keeping his distance and shook the giant's hand firmly instead.

"Thank yer fer bringin' 'Mione back," Hagrid said gratefully.

No, Draco thought, she brought me back.

If it wasn't for Hermione, he would've been a shell of himself. But he didn't voice his thoughts aloud. Instead, he accepted Hagrid's gratitude and headed into the house.

The sight that greeted him was one he hadn't expected at all. People crowded the entire place, which had been magically expanded to accommodate everyone. Some of them looked up as he entered. Feeling rather self-conscious, he tugged down the sleeve of his jumper to cover his Dark Mark before looking around for his friends.

He soon found them. Blaise, Pansy and a couple of other people were in the kitchen whipping up some sort of stew that smelled delicious, while Theo was taking care of Teddy. Even though Theo had often grumbled about Teddy, Draco knew that his friend was secretly fond of the kid. And this, right now, was clearly an advantageous situation for Theo as he was surrounded by girls who seemed equally as interested in Teddy as they were in him, although in vastly different ways altogether.

Ignoring everyone else, Draco headed upstairs to the inventory. He siphoned the memories of the Death-Eater he'd stupefied earlier - Crabbe Senior. After using Legilimency, he'd learnt several things:

The first was that the Dark Lord truly believed that four of his Death-Eaters – him, Theo, Guthrie and Rodolphus – had been captured by the Order. And that infuriated the Dark Lord because he'd lost some of his best fighters. The second was that he knew Pansy and Blaise had betrayed him. Fortunately, he also believed that they didn't know much about the inner circle.

He was wrong, of course. 17-65 knew everything, thanks to Draco.

The third was that the Death-Eaters had been recruiting new members. Draco didn't know the exact number, but a rough estimate would place the Order thoroughly outnumbered with a ratio of five to one. Things didn't look good for the Order, but what else was new?

Draco placed the man's memories into a phial, then shut the door behind him. He headed downstairs, where he was promptly accosted by Hermione, who seemed happy to see him. "Professor McGonagall wants to speak with you," she told him quietly. "And, um..."

She glanced around, unsettled by the blatant staring from the people around. He allowed her to lead him to the narrow hallway that led out to the back garden. There were still some curious eyes on them, and Draco angled them so that she was shielded by him.

The action forced them into close proximity. Hermione swallowed when she found herself a hairsbreadth away from him.

"Granger," Draco murmured, watching in amusement as her eyes dipped briefly to his lips and feeling his stomach tighten deliciously. Merlin, there was nothing more he wanted to do than to kiss her - eagerly, feverishly, hungrily; until she could think of nothing else but him, remember nothing else but him. But this wasn't the time or place for it, so he allowed his lips to tug up in a teasing smirk instead. "You're staring."

"Sorry," she murmured sheepishly, and now she bit her lip apprehensively and he didn't know whether she was doing it on purpose but it was sure as hell fucking with his head.

Resisting the urge to let out a groan, he reached up with one arm to cage her in, resting it gently on the wall beside her head and stepped closer. Her breathing hitched accordingly, her brown eyes wide and curls framing her face perfectly as she stared up at him.

"Well?"

"Well what?" she breathed.

Unable to help himself, he lifted a hand to her face and gently dragged a stray curl away from her eyes, tucking it neatly behind her ear. "You were saying?" He prompted delicately, his eyes glinting in teasing humour.

She blinked. "Oh, right. McGonagall wants to speak to you. She's out on the back porch with 'Dromeda. I'd stay, but..."

"But you'd rather help out in the kitchen," he finished. "Go ahead, Granger."

Hermione smiled in relief and gripped his hand, squeezing his fingers briefly in gratitude before letting go and heading off to the kitchen. Draco watched her leave with a trace of regret - he should've taken the opportunity to kiss her, maybe see if she'd kiss him back.

He shoved the thought aside and headed to the back porch. A faint hum of magic shielded the house outside. McGonagall and Andromeda were deep in conversation, but stopped when he cleared his throat. His aunt headed back inside, but not before giving him a warning nudge.

Draco paused awkwardly. He'd never been particularly comfortable with the Head of Gryffindor, and her strict, sharp-tongued demeanour had always been a source of intimidation to him, although he'd rather kill himself than admit that out loud.

He tried not to flinch as McGonagall fixed her shrewd eyes on him. He squared his shoulders and stepped forward, making sure that his wand was within reach.

Just in case.

"Tell me, Malfoy," McGonagall began, in her familiar no-nonsense tone that he'd heard so much during his Hogwarts days. "Exactly what're your intentions here?"

"What?"

"Andromeda tells me that you've been keeping He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named off our tracks. Searching for Hermione Granger for three whole years. Pretending to be the the enemy when you're a Death-Eater gone rogue." When he didn't reply, she pressed, "Are you on our side?"

"No." The answer came to him in a heartbeat.

Her eyes narrowed. "You're not on the Order's side? Are you saying that you're still on the side of evil?"

Draco's features hardened as three years of memories rushed back in full force. "Professor, you speak about the Order and goodness as if they're one and the same, when they're fucking not," he replied, matter-of-factly, not even caring when her eyebrows shot up at his language. "If the Order is as good as you say it is, why did my friends and I manage to find so many defected members of the Order?"

"You found defected Order members?"

"Dozens. And we didn't just find them, we killed them," Draco drawled, almost smirking at the look of shock that flitted across McGonagall's face. "Including Martins, a defected member of the Order who became a Death-Eater."

She was silent for a moment, but he didn't miss the calculative gleam in her eyes.

"If you want, you can view Martins' memories," he offered. "We kept them in a phial and there's a Pensieve in the inventory. In fact, we've collected many memories. I'm sure you could find those from defected Order members."

McGonagall nodded and he led her back into the house. For some reason, he wanted her to believe him, if only because she actually listened. Blaise had always said it didn't hurt to have more people on their side.

And maybe, this time, he was right.

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Draco headed downstairs sometime later, only to see that the place had emptied out. Hermione and Andromeda were doing the dishes, while Pansy had Teddy on her lap, with Grus next to her. Blaise was fixing Theo's injury, and Shacklebolt and Hagrid were deep in conversation by the doorway.

Teddy was the first to spot Draco and he raised his arms. Draco quickly went to the boy, scooping him up neatly and pointedly ignoring the way McGonagall was staring at him.

She smiled and cleared her throat, catching the attention of everyone else in the house, her presence commanding in spite of her wiry old frame. "I think it's time to lift the lockdown on this house," she began, to the astonishment of the other Slytherins and Hermione. "Hagrid, remove the anti-apparition wards please. And Kingsley, I think we'll allow the five to keep their wands."

Shacklebolt's eyebrows rose high on his forehead. "Minerva - "

"I'm quite firm on my decision, Kingsley. In a war like this, it might do us good to place our faith in certain Death-Eaters."

Draco badly wanted to smirk at Shacklebolt's surprise, but forced a straight expression on his face. Instead, he watched in silence as McGonagall shot him a meaningful look, before biding a goodbye to Andromeda and heading out with her comrades. He didn't miss the way Hermione kept a good distance from them, as though she was half afraid that they'd attack her with hearty embraces again.

Once the door had shut, he felt like he could finally breathe. He went into the living room, collapsing onto the sofa and setting Teddy on his lap, his arms wrapped loosely around the toddler. His muscles were aching and head reeling from all the magic he'd done earlier that day, and all he wanted to do was to crawl into bed and sleep for about a thousand years.

Preferably with Hermione.

But his hopes were regrettably crushed when Blaise settled down opposite him on the coffee table and nudged him. "So? What did McGonagall say?"

"She saw the memories of the defected Order members. And I think she might have reconsidered because she gave us a mission."

Blaise's eyes immediately brightened which didn't surprise Draco at all. Among the five of them, Blaise was the most eager to actually help the Order. Pansy would gladly follow, while the other three of them just wanted to stick together.

"She said we'd have to succeed if we wanted to earn her trust," Draco added, a frown glossing his forehead as he recalled their earlier conversation.

"And?"

Draco shrugged. "And - I told her that I couldn't care less about her trust and that I'd have to ask the rest of you."

"Well, what's the mission about?"

It was a complicated mission, one that gave Draco a bloody headache just thinking about it. And after all the things that had happened that day, he wasn't too sure he wanted to concoct another death-trap mission.

So he shook his head and leaned back against the back of the sofa. "I'm bloody exhausted, Zabini. Why don't you tell me about what happened during the time that I was gone?"

Blaise chuckled in amusement. "You mean while you were in the inventory with McGonagall?" Draco nodded, and he continued, "Shacklebolt set up a Floo network in the fireplace and had the refugees Floo to the other bases. Took a bloody long while, but we finally got them all out."

"That's it?"

"Er - oh, right," Blaise's eyes twinkled as he suddenly thought of something else. "Pansy got me to lug back this huge safe from the Order. We haven't opened it yet but we think it's something important. Hold on, I'll get it."

Blaise disappeared into one of the rooms just as Hermione came over, a tray of food in her hands. "I thought you might be hungry," she said, setting the tray down on the coffee table and taking Teddy from him. "There was hardly enough to go round earlier, so if you're still hungry, I'm sure I can make something else later."

Draco's lips quirked up wryly and he shook his head. "It's fine, Granger. Staying awake is already fuc - "

"Language, Malfoy," Hermione reminded, a teasing glint in her eyes.

He rolled his eyes. "Is this going to become a habit with you?"

"Only when Teddy's around. I hardly think 'Dromeda will be pleased if he models his speech pattern on yours and Theo's."

"I wouldn't be pleased at all," Andromeda's voice echoed from the kitchen, evidently having overheard their conversation. "Grus, please take Teddy out before Draco corrupts him altogether."

"I will not corrupt him! For fuc - "

"Draco!"

He subsided quickly at Andromeda's yell, shooting Hermione an aggravated look as she laughed at him. Grus ambled over a moment later and Hermione quickly passed Teddy over to him.

"Thank you for your help earlier, Grus," Hermione added, a kind smile on her face. "We couldn't have done it without you. In fact, I think the only reason we succeeded was because of you." The house-elf looked shy and pleased all at once. He nodded quickly before leaving with Teddy, and Hermione turned back to Draco, raising her eyebrows at the look of disbelief on his face. "It's true," she said indignantly, "we wouldn't even have made it into the headquarters without Grus. You should show a little more appreciation for house-elves, Draco."

He made a begrudging noise and continued to eat. After awhile, Blaise and Theo entered the living room, carrying a heavy black box between them. Pansy was trailing after them, a collection of wands in her hand. With difficulty, Blaise and Theo set the box down on the floor, before looking over at Draco.

"So? What do you think?"

"What do you mean 'what do you think'?" Draco shot Blaise a sardonic look and turned back to his food. "Just open the bloody box."

"I've tried," Pansy sighed. "Nothing works."

"Impossible," Draco shook his head, reaching over to test the box with his wand briefly. When there was no faint buzz of magic, he pulled back and set his wand aside. "You've removed all the charms, Parkinson. There has to be some sort of code on it that you have to undo manually."

"There's a dial," Hermione pointed out, "why don't you try cracking the code on that?"

Eagerly, Theo pushed Pansy and Blaise aside, ignoring their aggravated protests. "Here, let me try."

The four Slytherins and Hermione sat staring at the box for awhile longer as they watched Theo spin the dial over and over in different combinations, until a soft patter of feet broke them from their concentration.

Andromeda's eyes widened in disbelief as she took in the sight of the precious safe. Wiping her hands on her apron, she took several steps closer. "Where did you get that?"

"Shacklebolt's room," returned Pansy, with a small frown on her forehead. "At least, I think it's Shacklebolt's room. We found our wands and a lot of spares there too."

"Do you know how to open it, 'Dromeda?" Blaise asked curiously, noticing the expression on her face.

"I - "

"Help us open it, 'Dromeda, or I'll use Legilimency on you." It was an empty threat, but Draco couldn't resist.

And he didn't flinch when Andromeda reached over to smack him soundly on the head. "How dare you threaten your Aunt?" She glared at him in mock-indignation and he simply smirked in response. But after a moment's hesitation, she sighed, kneeling down beside Theo and placing a hand on the dial. "Okay, but the five of you can't tell anyone what's in this safe."

"We promise," Hermione assured her, and the others mumbled their agreement.

They watched as Andromeda twisted the dial in a certain, well-rehearsed pattern. The dial gave a short click, and she tugged on the door lightly to open the safe. Tentatively, she drew out the first object that made all the Slytherins' eyes widen.

"Shit. Is that the - " Blaise was the first to break the silence, just as the tear along the Sorting Hat's brim began to sing loudly.

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty, but - "

The Hat was quickly cut off mid-song as Draco shot a Silencio at it. The others turned to look at him quizzically and he simply returned a sardonic look. "You know that once the bloody thing starts singing, it goes on for about an hour."

"Don't exaggerate, Draco," Andromeda chided him gently when Hermione's eyes began to widen. The brunette witch was staring at the Hat in fascination, as though she vaguely remembered it but only barely. Andromeda noticed the curious expression on Hermione's face and she smiled down at the girl. "Do you want to try it?"

Hermione blinked. "Who, me?"

"Yes. It's a Sorting Hat - it places you into any one of the four houses."

Theo frowned. "But Red was already sorted into Gryffindor," he began, even as Andromeda disregarded him and gently placed the Hat over Hermione's wild curls. Draco removed the Silencing charm and the Hat began to speak.

"Hmm, well, clever, of course - very clever," the Hat drawled, and Hermione looked startled as the Hat shifted on her head. "With a righteous sense of honour, you should belong in Gryffindor, of course. But, then again, you are an unusual combination - heroic but not entirely brave as a Gryffindor should be, instead depending on your wit to pull through. And so I would say - Ravenclaw."

Hermione smiled; clearly pleased by the Hat's decision, but the other Slytherins stared at her with open mouths. Even Draco looked faintly perturbed, which was an odd expression coming from him.

"Ravenclaw?" Pansy looked at the hat in disbelief. "Is the Hat ruined?"

"Not at all," Andromeda returned calmly, even though she seemed rather surprised. "It's been said that the Hat sorts people based on the qualities they desire, rather than the qualities they actually have. Perhaps Hermione no longer desires the same things she once did," Andromeda finished, casting a swift, surreptitious glance at Draco.

No one noticed the furtive look but Hermione, and as she met Andromeda's eyes and saw the knowing glint in them, she fought the urge to smile. Andromeda knew her far too well.