We had been sent on a mission by Dumbledore himself. The object we were meant to retrieve without detection was extremely important to our investigation and this object just happened to be in a room near a bunch of death eaters. This was it. Once we got our hands on it, we could move forward. This mission was just as important to me as it was to the Order so it had to be as stealthy as possible. It was the chance to prove myself and show I was not on the side of Voldemort and his followers. With my father in Azkaban for the rest of his life and my mother seeking asylum somewhere safe, I have the chance to redefine the Malfoy name.

"Can you see how many are in there?" Granger whispered crouched down beside me. Dumbledore was being too kind. He knew that if Granger was with me it would do well for both me and the Order. This woman is a force to be reckoned with. In the short time I've been around her, she's been patient and understanding along with being the only one not reluctant to work with me. She's trained me in all subjects Order of the Phoenix, combat skills, and using muggle devices. She's kicked my ass a couple of times much to my astonishment. So she volunteered to go on this assignment knowing how dangerous it is.

We're hiding near the gardens at the Malfoy Manor, a place I once called home but now inhabited by evil. It breaks my fucking heart to see it so run down but hopefully, once Voldemort is defeated and his followers caught I can get back what's mine. Redemption and all.

"Give me a second, I'm counting." I mutter. Granger and her calculations. Always ahead of everyone when it comes to thinking. I'm using muggle binoculars. It's hard trying not to use magic binoculars or magic alone in this area. Granger figured there were wards and enchantments put in place. There are several wards surrounding the Manor and the slightest bit of magic that is unrecognized by someone who is not death eater or Voldemort himself triggers them to sound an alarm.

"I'm counting about eight of them surrounding the area where Dumbledore said the object would be." I whisper to her handing her the binoculars. She hastily puts them away in her bag. "We need to drink the poly juice potion now. The later it grows the more death eaters will come to receive assignments."

Her eyes look anxious but determined on getting this done.

"I would ask how you know so much about what goes on but I'm sure you've heard everything before since this was your family home." She whispers back

"I was actually told to attend a meeting once," her eyes widen in fear but I continue telling her, "It was the meeting where the missing teacher was tortured and handed over to Nagini... I knew right then and there that my mind was made up. This wasn't me and this wasn't what I actually believed. Only fear of my father's anger is what kept me seated. Until now."

She tries to place a comforting hand on my arm but I immediately tell her it's time to get on with the plan. Reaching into her bag, she retrieves two vials with a single strand of hair. One female. One male. Each of us is going to be disguised as a death eater in order to get into the Manor. We're already dressed the part now we have to actually have their faces.

"We'll come back to this conversation later then." She says

The bottle of poly juice smells like rotten eggs and we reluctantly place our hairs into it. Once we swallow back the vile concoction, we feel the sting of transformation. Once the discomfort passes, I look over to Granger to make sure she didn't turn herself into a cat.

Granger gives me a knowing look and I grin. She gives me an annoyed look but I can't help it. She's so easy to tease.

The face of the death eater she transformed into is the face of a, unfortunately, very beautiful black witch. She has an elegant dress on and I see her taking what look like small metal toothpicks picks out of her bag placing them into the middle of her bosom.

"What are you doing?" I asked her in confusion. "What are those?"

"Isn't it ironic," she says as she stashed her bag and cloak under a bush "That they are so hell bent on their views on being pure bloods, yet they use muggle techniques to hide their treasures?" She says. "You'll see."

I follow her lead and stash my own cloak in the same place where she hid her belongings. It's now or never, or tomorrow the object will be moved and it will take a lot more investigating to track back down. We slowly stand to make it seem as we were already walking from a few ways away. The disguises we are wearing have the dark mark on their persons so it was easy to get through the gate.

I can feel nervousness coming off of Granger.

Bending down slightly, I whisper. "Granger, stop looking like you're about to plummet to your death. You're supposed to be a death eater. Look like everything around you is beneath you." My breath makes her hair sway a little bit and she looks me directly in the eye.

"Sorry, it's just, these people want people like me, muggleborns, dead." Anxiety clearly on display.

My lean forward more and make my voice sound even lower so as to not raise suspicion or risk someone hearing. My top lip brushes against her ear and I swear I see her shiver at the touch. I don't know why but I grab her arm and give it a reassuring squeeze. "You're braver than you think, we will be in and out. Besides, I'll be right here with you the whole time."

Raising my head to meet her eyes again she's looking at me in wonderment then gives me a small smile. She slowly takes a deep breath then subtly turns again to continue walking towards the doors of the Manor as if she didn't almost freak out. She continues walking and I trail a little ways behind her so it doesn't look like we're together. Once inside we see that there are death eaters spread out everywhere making themselves at home. Fucking bastards. Seeing how my childhood home is now makes my blood boil but I wear the anger to keep up the facade of the death eater who I am currently acting as.

I can see that Granger is making her way up the steps surely to the location where we are meant to be searching for the item. She gives me the signal to keep following and I make my way upstairs once she turns the corner.

"Stay discreet, no two death eaters are seen walking together unless they are on a mission. You cannot look as if you are on one once inside the headquarters of one Lord Voldemort." Said Dumbledore.

I try not to follow too quickly behind Granger and I make myself seem as if I'm bored. I'm about to turn to go up the stairs when I see Greyback and he's looking directly at me with an unreadable expression.

Fuck. I really hope the poly juice potion is wearing off already. I try to seem as if I didn't see him and finally make my way up the stairs. Once my foot is on the top step, I quicken my footsteps. I reach the door and Granger is hissing under her breath.

"What took you so long?" She says somewhat annoyed as she locks the door behind us.

My heart is thundering against my chest.

"We may have to hurry because Greyback is downstairs and he spotted me. Well not me but possibly someone who was not supposed to be here, maybe? He was starring a little too hard for my liking."

She curses under breath and goes to a bathtub near the far end of the bedroom and gets to work immediately. I recognize this room all too well, this room was my mother's beauty room. She would come in here and have maids pamper and care for her whenever she had a bad or long day. Smart for these assholes to use this room. No one would think to come in here to look for something Voldemort is hiding.

"Draco, I need your help. This takes two people to hold open."

Right.

Snapping out of my reverie, I walk over to her and ask for instructions.

"I think this is where Dumbledore said it may be hidden." She says

She takes the small metal toothpicks out from between her breasts and start to dig them into the marble that holds the bathtub.

"What are those exactly?" I asked

"They are called lock-picks. No wands or alohomora's will work with these locks. The way Dumbledore described the type of lock it may have, made it sound like it needed a type of combination of movements." She explains.

I look at her in amazement. How can someone be so intelligent? I catch myself being mesmerized and she blushes.

Back to the assignment. Get a grip, Draco.

She's slowing moving the lock-picks and I move my hands towards where her hands are so that I can be ready to retrieve the item inside. My hand brushes hers and I feel her breath hitch a little. I clear my throat. What the hell is going on? We're not supposed to be like this on a dangerous mission.

"Okay, it looks like it just needs a twist to the right so I'm going to need you to open the latch on here while I keep my hands on the lock-picks, otherwise, if I let go, the latch is going to slam shut and we're going to accidentally alert someone." She says

At that exact same moment, we hear the doorknob rattle.

"Granger, hurry." I look at her with panicked eyes. She curses under her breath again and hastily twists the lock-picks to the right and I open the latch as quick as I can without letting it slam shut. I carefully but quickly retrieve the object. I don't even bother looking at it given the circumstances.

"Close it as quickly but quietly as possible." She rushes out. "We have to hide."

I close the latch as quietly as possible and at this point the doorknob is turning.

"Come on, Draco. Hurry." She exhales

I close it then look towards the door. The knob is turned all the way and the door about to open. At this, I feel Granger yanking me towards her and I do everything I can to not yell out in surprise. I land in the bathtub on top of something soft then feel something that feels like velvet covering me.

"Shh..." She says with a finger on her lips and I feel her breath on my face. She takes her wand out and lights the smallest lumos. She points upward to the velvet something that's covering both of us and I look upward.

Of course. Potter's invisibility cloak. He would never have let Granger go without his cloak knowing she might be out in a dangerous situation. I look back down at her and I nod.

The death eaters are now inside the room and we can hear them searching and rummaging through every nook and cranny to check for intruders.

I can hear my heart in my ears and the look she gives me keeps me from moving. We're suddenly staring at each other in a passionate battle of wills. We're both crammed in such a small space that it starts to get warm under the cloak right away. I can feel her breasts pushed up against my chest, her stomach against me, her hips connecting to mine and our legs are tangled with each other. I bite my bottom lip to stop a groan from escaping my throat. Then she does something unexpected and un-Hermione like.

She lifts one leg up and wraps it around my waist while her hand reaches up to tug at my shirt down toward her. When I feel her mouth near my ear, I try to not let it show that she's turning me the fuck on. It doesn't help that I'm currently on top of her, in a bathtub, with an invisibility cloak over us hiding from death eaters where no one can detect us.

"This is payback for teasing me with whispers in my ear," She whispers "don't think I don't know the subtly of your ways, Malfoy."

Lust courses through me and I close my eyes. This is definitely one of the worst paybacks ever. We're in a dangerous situation and she's getting back at me knowing I can't even move or make a peep.

She doesn't let me go until finally we hear the death eaters retreat to where they came from. The door shuts with a click and we wait a couple more minutes before checking to see if the coast is clear.

Granger finally lets me go and she smirks at the way my hair is rumpled from my head rubbing up against the invisibility cloak during all the commotion. I run my fingers through my hair and she gives me a grin.

"Don't, I like it like that."

I look back at her eyebrows raised in surprise. How was it that she seemed like a scared little doe not that long ago and now she's looking as if she wants me to pin her back down into the bathtub?

Fuck me.

"We have to get back." She says snapping me out of my thoughts.

"I'm getting my payback soon." I say to her

"We'll see about that." She winks making her way out of the bathtub.