He blinked, looking away from her quickly. His lips pressed together. "No more secrets," he mumbled. "But anything but that."

Rooted to the floor in front of him, she felt the disappointment twist her stomach. She thought again to the picture of her in his closet drawers. The possibility that she was being kept safe as a bargaining chip should the Order revive.

Narcissa's actions today could have multiple intentions…

We kept Hermione Granger alive and unharmed.

She nodded, filing this away. Burying her irrational sadness. "I need to speak to Cho."

He frowned. "Chang?"

She lifted a brow like he did. "Do you know another Cho?"

He narrowed his eyes at her in annoyance.

"At Edinburgh. Can you arrange it?" she asked.

He stared at her, taking in her face, her curls, her eyes. "Perhaps. Why?"

She pressed her lips together. No more secrets. "I have something to tell you about the Carrow Girls and their collars."

Chapter End Notes

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Chapter 20

Chapter Notes

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Thanks to SaintDionysus and raven_maiden .

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Silence hung in the room, thick and heavy like a cloak. Draco's eyes flickered between Hermione's eyes and her lips, as though he couldn't believe the words that had emerged from them over the past hour.

He'd been quiet as she spilled her secrets, one after another. The note from the strawberry-blonde. Charlotte. The grape between Cho's painted lips, and what it meant.

Apart from a sharp breath or two, he'd done nothing but stare as she'd listed the facts and shared her suspicions. But now that she'd finished, his eyes on her felt even more intense, and her sense of calm logic was slipping away from her.

When she could bear it no longer, she cleared her throat. Loudly. He blinked, as if snapping out of a trance.

"Well?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Right. That was…a lot, Granger."

She glared at him. "'A lot?' That's all you have to say?" Draco opened his mouth, but settled on a shrug. "Never mind," she huffed, crossing her arms. "Are you going to help me or not?"

A pause as he frowned at her, mind working. "You want me to arrange a private audience with Cho Chang."

"Yes."

"Knowing full well what the risks are if you're caught."

"Yes."

His scowl deepened. "And why can't you just pass her a bloody note?"

"It wouldn't fit. And it's far too dangerous."

"Now you're worried about how dangerous this all is? Every note you've passed would have gotten you killed—"

"This is different." She took a deep breath. "If this falls into the wrong hands, getting killed is the least of my concerns."