3. Do Not Pass Go

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy. They belong to JKR.

Note: This chapter title comes from the very popular board game, Monopoly! :)

NEW NOTE: Not much to say about this one. Except, I used numbers instead of writing them out. 20 instead of twenty. Haha. So I changed all of those.

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Chapter 3 – Do Not Pass Go

The men released their grip, eager to part contact. Draco felt like he could breathe for the first time in a long time. Harry was going to listen to him.

"Thank you, Hermione," said Harry. "You may go."

"But, how will I know if you break your Vow?"

"The spell will know."

She wanted to stay. Obviously something big was about to happen. But Draco was glaring daggers at her, so she glared back at him and left the room for the second time that day.

An hour later, Hermione watched as Harry led Malfoy out of his office. The customary smirk and confident strut were back; the other man she had seen in Harry's office, the ghost, was gone. Though the Aurors had returned from lunch, most of them were in a meeting and only a few were able to catch a glimpse of Harry leading Draco Malfoy through the office, wand pointed at his back. Harry caught Hermione's eye and indicated he wanted her to follow them.

She scrambled out of her desk and walked quickly out into the hallway where she had to run to catch up to them. Neither Harry nor Draco said a word, and she noticed Harry had put his wand away. Harry led them to the lift, which they rode down to the lowest level, below even the old courtrooms where Harry had once been tried. When they stepped into the dank, damp hallway, they were alone.

"Hermione, Malfoy is going to spend some time in Azkaban. I need you to take him there and get him checked in."

"Me?" she asked, unnerved by the idea of walking the long journey full of underground corridors with the Death Eater for company. Draco gave her an evil smirk, clearly enjoying her discomfort.

"Yes, Hermione. I have to see Moody and take care of some things. It is important that this be handled as quickly and quietly as possible."

"Okay," she said nervously, anxious to learn what had happened between the two enemies.

Harry handed her a piece of parchment. "Give this to the guards. It contains my instructions. I'm also going to ask you to go to Azkaban a few times to take statements from him. Don't worry," Harry added when he saw the look on Hermione's face, "He can't do anything to you. As part of the agreement, and because I've cast as many spells on him as I could remember to keep him from touching you."

"Not that I'd want to," Draco muttered under his breath, but loud enough for her to hear.

Hermione took deep breaths to try and steady her racing heart. She could only nod.

Harry took her shoulders in his hands and looked into her eyes. "Thank you, Hermione, I mean it. I know this is hard. It will be over soon," he said, too quietly for Draco to hear. She nodded again, setting a determined look on her face. Harry left them in the hallway.

Hermione watched him go. When she couldn't hear the hum of the lift anymore, she turned around and started down the long corridor to the Azkaban Apparition point. "Come on, ferret," she said. She heard him start to follow her, but slowly. "Keep up, or I'll hex you."

They walked in silence for fifteen minutes. Draco was starting to get anxious about the dark, enclosed space when he saw a light. They entered a small room, barely big enough for the two of them. She faced him and he smirked at how uncomfortable she looked.

"Don't say a word or I'll touch you," she threatened. Part of him wanted to laugh, but she looked so angry he figured she really thought it would bother him. He rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Uh, hello there, Ms. Granger, where are you headed?" came a chuckling voice from nowhere. Then a white head of hair popped into view through a window behind Draco's head, attached to a short, wiry wizard with a look in his eyes that said he'd been left in the dark a little too long. He was sitting in what looked like a control room, but there was only one big green button.

"Where do you think?" she snapped, not for a moment enjoying the humor he found in his question when there was only one place this one-stop point would deposit them.

"Yes, that'll be Azkaban then. Hold on tight!" He gave her a crazy grin and gleefully pressed the button.

After the uncomfortable sensation that accompanies Apparating, they arrived in a room similar to the one they had just left. Hermione led Draco out into another corridor. They walked for twenty minutes in agonizing silence before arriving at the end of the tunnel, which intersected with a track. A car appeared in front of them and they got on. A small wizard with white eyes sat in the car. "Where to?" he asked.

These people have a sick sense of humor, thought Hermione. But then, they did escort the condemned to a place of utter horror, so it might be assumed they went a little skewed in the head. "Diagon Alley; where do you think?"

The wizard chuckled and shook his head. The cart began to move, slowly at first, then at a ridiculous speed. Draco thought he'd be sick from the constant jostling.

When they reached a relatively smooth part of the ride, Draco looked at Hermione, who was looking everywhere but at him. "Are you scared of me, Granger?"

She turned to look him up and down. He was certainly intimidating, with the nasty look on his face that was his constant companion, and the way he carried himself that just radiated power and superiority. But she knew better. "Not in the slightest," she said dismissively, and turned to stare at the wall again.

"Why not? You really should be," he said casually, leaning back against the edge of the cart, baiting her with his words.

"Why not? Because I can see through your little act, the one you've been keeping up as long as I've known you. I know that deep down you're just a scared little boy whose daddy never told him he loved him."

Draco's mask of indifference fell instantly, replaced with pure fury. He leaned as close as he could get to Hermione without actually touching her; she could feel his breath on her face and see the angry glint in his eyes. "Don't you ever speak to me of my father, do you hear me?" He hissed through clenched teeth. "If you do, I will see to it that you never speak again. You know nothing of what you say, and if you know what's good for you, you'll shut up."

Hermione recoiled at his harsh words, but she refused to break from his gaze. She held it until he looked away to resume his pastime of wall-watching. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Okay, she thought, so maybe there was a little part of her that was scared of him.

A few minutes passed in silence. Then Draco spoke again, lightly, as if the outburst about his father had never happened.

"I bet you're wondering what Potter and I talked about."

"Can't handle silence, Malfoy?" she quipped.

He shrugged. "Whatever.

More silence.

"Too bad Potter can't tell you," he drawled. "Of course, I could tell you, you know. All you'd have to do is—"

"Spare me, Malfoy. I really would rather not know."

"As you wish," he said.

Hermione looked toward the wall, her mouth firmly set, refusing to be baited. They rode the rest of the way in silence. She spent the time thinking about that which he wanted to get her to beg him for: what he and Harry had discussed. She distinctly remembered hearing Malfoy say he had no intention of spending time in prison, yet here he was, being carted off, literally. Her curiosity was so great she thought she might burst. But just wait, she told herself. Harry would give her details later. Or would he? There was that Vow he'd taken, maybe he wouldn't be able to tell her anything. Malfoy was the only conduit to the information she wanted. But her pride was stronger than her curiosity, and Hermione resigned herself to possibly never knowing. She comforted herself with knowing that Harry was in control of the situation, whatever it was.

As they neared their destination, the ride became more uncomfortable. When they stepped off the cart, Draco had to steady his lunch before he could go on.

"Couldn't we have just Apparated?" he asked crossly.

"Sorry, that just wouldn't make good sense would it? Allowing Apparition into a prison. Really Malfoy, even I thought you were smarter than that."

He scowled but said nothing. He didn't bother to point out that he of course knew one couldn't Apparate into the prison. He had simply been complaining about all the work required to get there.

Hermione and Draco walked down another corridor and finally into a small square room where two guards sat reading the Prophet.

"What's this?" Draco asked.

"Security," Hermione replied, handing the guards the instructions Harry had sent with her. She looked around the room and saw the privacy curtain and was suddenly quite happy that she was the one bringing him here. She looked at Draco with such an odd expression of elation it reminded him of what he imagined the Cheshire Cat would look like. He shuddered. Then Hermione spoke.

"Strip." Malfoy went white—well, whiter—and his eyes got wide. She cast him a smirk to rival his own. "Behind the screen, of course," she said as innocently and deathly sweet as she could. He glared at her and went behind the curtain. "And put these on." She handed him the typical prison garb—grey pants and top. He emerged after a few minutes.

"My, how the mighty have fallen," she quipped, smiling.

"I'm so glad you're enjoying this," he said, handing her his clothes and cloak.

"Oh, I am. Immensely," she said. She gave his clothes to the guard but held onto the cloak. "Wow, this is a really nice cloak, Malfoy. It's so soft and made of such fine material." She made a fuss over touching the material and examining its quality. "I think I'll keep it. My cat needs a new scratching post."

She smiled as he glared daggers at her. "That cloak is worth more money than you've ever seen."

She appeared to think hard about something. "Hmm… then maybe I'll keep it for myself. You don't mind, do you? Having a Mudblood touch it? You can have it back once you're out, of course. But, now that I think about it, I'm not sure you'll be able to get it clean enough."

He continued to glare at her. "Just remember, Granger, I won't be in here for very long, and I will see you very, very soon." He smirked as her smile faded just a little.

"True," she said, trying to sound undaunted. "We will see each other soon. But I'll be on one side of the glass, and you'll be on the other." She gave him a smug look then turned to speak with the guards. The head guard signed the transfer papers and returned them to Hermione.

"We've got him from here," he said, nodding to her politely.

"Thank you. Feel free to knock him around a bit," she said cheerily as she headed for the door to return to the Ministry.

The guard frowned. "Sorry, Miss Granger, but we've been given strict directions to ensure he remains unharmed. Physically, at least."

Draco now returned the smug look and winked. "Later, Granger."

The guards led Draco Malfoy, the most wanted man in the Wizarding world, into Azkaban.

As soon as the door shut behind them, Hermione's knees buckled and she sank to the floor, shaking. She took several deep breaths before she felt confident to stand again, and then took a few more just to be safe. When she felt ready to get up, she did, collecting the parchments Harry had sent with Malfoy. Then she made her way back to the Ministry, lost in thought the entire trip.

Her mind swirled at the impact of seeing Malfoy after so many years. The last time she'd seen his face was the night Dumbledore had been killed. Well, in truth, she'd seen his face on countless wanted posters, but they were all pictures of that sixteen year-old boy. Today she saw the man he'd turned into, and there was surprisingly little change. She cursed him for the good genes that gave him flawless skin and perfect hair. But she had seen some change, mainly in the lines of his face. They were harder and sharper, with more edge to them. She wished she had looked into his eyes to study what she found there, but she would have had to stare intently at him while he allowed her to do so, and she highly doubted he would eagerly oblige.

With a frown, Hermione went through the events of the day as she made her way back to the Ministry. Nothing made sense to her, and she was so emotionally frazzled that she decided to let her mind doze for the rest of the trip. After thirty minutes, she found herself in the last tunnel leading into the Ministry. She called the lift and rode it to Level two where she went directly to Harry's office and plopped herself in a chair.

"Hey," he said kindly. "How did it go? Did he give you any trouble?"

"Not really, just the usual 'holier than thou' act. Nothing I couldn't handle. Got him back, too, in the security office. And I kept his cloak." She lifted it for Harry to see.

"Looks nice," he said.

"Yeah. Don't know what I'm going to do with it, I just did it to get a rise out of him."

"Did it work?"

"Yeah," she said, grinning tiredly.

"Good."

Hermione then handed Harry Draco's paperwork. "Everything's in order, Harry. Although I don't understand why you forbade the guards from messing with him. Seems perfectly harmless to me."

Harry chuckled. "I need him at his best is all I can say."

Hermione leaned onto Harry's desk. "Harry, what can you tell me about what happened today?"

Harry looked at his friend. "Not much. We made an agreement, per Ministry policy, with terms and everything. Moody signed it. The rest will have to come to you as Malfoy wants it to."

"Why would he want to tell me anything? What could he have said that would in any way affect me?"

Harry shrugged, looking at her from the corner of his eyes. "He'll tell you if he wants to, though I don't think he'll be too eager at this point. He'll have a few opportunities to talk about what was said under the Vow, since you have to go see him now and then."

She groaned. "Oh, must I, Harry? Can't someone else go?"

"No, I'm sorry. Not possible. I really, really appreciate this Hermione, and I owe you big time, all right? Just name it, I'll do it for you."

She eyed him skeptically, then smiled. "Okay, Harry, but I will cash in for that favor."

"Anytime," he said warmly. Then he sighed. "I'm beat. It's been—an unbelievable day. If someone had told me Draco Malfoy would walk into my office today, I would have sent them to St. Mungo's for a head check."

"I know. So has anyone talked about it at all?"

"Well, a few of them came to ask what was going on, but I told them as little as possible with the assurance everything was fine and it was all good Ministry business."

"When do I have to go back?" she asked.

"How about tomorrow?" he said, ducking to avoid whatever he expected her to throw at him.

"Tomorrow!? But I've so much work to do with my other assignments, Harry. How can I fit it in?"

"Consider this your primary assignment from now on. When you're to work on something else, I'll let you know. For now, Malfoy is the biggest thing we've got."

She nodded. "Okay, Harry. Since you say I must."

"Thank you, really. Now, go home, and have a pleasant evening."

"You too; see you tomorrow, Harry."

He waved to her as she left his office, then sat down and pulled out the Walk-In Agreement he'd made with Malfoy. He read through it one more time to help convince himself that it was real, then charmed it to be readable by him alone and put it in a white envelope which he sealed so only he, and in dire need Hermione, could open it. He knew she'd be able to break the charm on the agreement rendering him the only permissible viewer. Then he tucked the envelope into his robes and headed home himself.

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A/N: Please R&R! It just makes my day to see that little number go up:)