"No. No. You can't just... Whatever help you give the Order isn't worth... You've done enough, Malfoy. You've sacrificed enough. They can't make you...no one would blame you..." Hermione trails off helplessly, begging him to listen to reason. He couldn't stay here. Killing her might make a convincing fiction, but not half as convincing as he needed to be, after all his odd behaviour since acquiring her as a slave. Voldemort was not stupid. If he put thought into it and investigated beyond a simple acceptance of Malfoy's word, he would be bound to discover the truth, and what happened to Malfoy once he did... Hermione shuddered to think. "Please, Malfoy. You can't stay. It's madness to think..."