Unless You Tell Them to Everyone

The ride to Hogwarts was unbearably stressful. Harry and Ron had taken off, realizing that there would be numerous amounts of death eaters in Hogwarts waiting for Harry. Draco and Hermione had stayed behind, promising to keep things in Hogwarts running smoothly and to look for the horcruxes.

There were death eaters everywhere- on the train, in the classrooms, and Snape was the headmaster. Hogwarts wasn't a home anymore- it was a prison.

For some reason, the death eaters were leaving Draco completely alone- almost as if they were scared to get near him. Any time they turned to torture a student, if Draco stepped in, they would stop immediately, retreating as fast as they could.

If Draco wasn't there, though, things would get tense, to the point where a student almost died once.

Draco couldn't be anywhere public with Hermione, though. He couldn't sit with the Gryffindors- who were the most tortured house in the school. He had to be with the Slytherins at all time, and in the common room at a certain time each night.

They could only see each other during classes, and those were only the classes that the death eaters didn't teach.

One day, during Professor Mcgonagall's class, Hermione and Draco were sitting next to each other- the only people from separate houses sitting together- when Alecto Carrow burst through the door.

"Where is Neville Longbottom?" the woman sneered, a malicious glint in her eye. "You weren't in your common room on time last night."

Every eye was focused directly on Neville at this point, who gulped and said nervously, "Y-you kept me in the Great Hall after dinner... you said that I ate too fast and then you... you crucioed me."

"You dare argue?" Alecto screeched. "Crucio!"

"No!" Mcgonagall screamed. "Stop this instant!"

Alecto let Neville go and turned to face Mcgonagall. "What?"

"I said no. You may not do that to my student. This is my classroom, and I have full reign here."

"Is that so? We'll just see about-"

"That won't be necessary, Alecto." Severus Snape's cool, smooth voice filled the room as he stepped in and put his arm on Alecto's, forcing her to lower her wand.

"Alecto, please return to your current business. Minerva, continue with the class you're teaching, but please come to my office tonight at 7:00PM sharp." Snape turned to leave.

"You mean Albus Dumbledore's office?" Mcgonagall bit out, and the entire class took an intake of breath as Snape stopped dead in his tracks, muttered something to himself, then stormed away.

Professor Mcgonagall slumped against her desk before letting tears trickle down her face. "Class dismissed," she choked out.

Hermione and Draco looked at each other, slowly packed up their things, and then waited until the rest of the class emptied before hurrying over too their crying professor.

"Professor Mcgonagall, please, it's okay! We want to help."

"There's only so much we can do," she responded thickly. "It's going to be hard to bring down the death eaters from the inside of Hogwarts. I just want to keep you students safe."

"Yeah, and look how well that's going," Draco muttered before Hermione gave him a sharp elbow to the ribs.

"I know!" Professor Mcgonagall wailed, and both students exchanged a look: they had never seen their stern, composed transfiguration teacher in such an awful state.

"Professor, it's alright. Calm down. We need to figure out what to do about this. We will find a way to win this war, with or without Harry. We can do it."

Mcgonagall straightened up and looked Hermione in the eye. "You're right, Ms. Granger. Meet me tonight in the Room of Requirement, both of you, at 10:00PM."

"Professor, we're going to get caught."

"Don't worry, I've been preparing for this. Here, take these vials. One for Longbottom as well, if he'd like to join. Each of you drinks one, and you become shadows for thirty minutes only. There's two for each of you, so that you can get back as well. You won't be seen or heard by anyone unless you want to them to hear or see you, and you can go right through people. Make good use of your time."

Hermione and Draco nodded, gave each other a quick hug, then ran out of the transfiguration classroom to separate classes.

That night, after not finding Neville in the common room, Hermione set out for the Room of Requirement alone, hurrying along the corridors, enjoying whizzing through death eaters and giving them a chill.

Once she got there, she slipped right through the door she conjured up, and then made it so that it would be invisible to everyone except Draco and Professor Mcgonagall. A few moments later, Draco came in, smiling goofily. "I know there's a war going on and stuff, but that was bloody awesome."

Hermione let slip a small smile. "I have to admit, I had a good time rushing straight through Carrow's stomach... though I wish it would have actually hurt him."

"Agreed. Is Mcgonagall here by the way? She said ten right?"

"Yes, but it's only 9:55. Let's give her a few more minutes."

Draco shrugged and conjured up a fire and a couch, so that he and Hermione could sit down. It was nice just being in the company of one another for a little while, even with what was going on all around them.

Time passed, and Mcgonagall didn't show.

At 10:15, they began to get worried.

At 10:30, they started pacing the Room of Requirement.

At 10:45, they kissed goodbye with terrified looks, drank their second vials, and went back to their respective common rooms.

The next day in class, Professor Minerva Mcgonagall performed the Cruciatus curse on Neville Longbottom, smiling as she did so.