Chapter-1

It began with a single conversation with Dumbledore's portrait just after her Twenty second birthday.

And then, the next thing Hermione knew, she had enrolled herself, along with her best friends for the Auror examination.

Perfect Newts, Countless wounds, and three near-fatal assignments later, Hermione had found herself and a nearly mummified Ron in the St Mungo's hospital.

Soon afterwards, Harry Potter had paid them a visit and announced rather proudly that the two of them had made it into the aurors, but they would be expected to take on a lot more responsibilities also, with them being war heroes and hope of the recovering wizarding world.

Oh, and he was thinking of running for minister.

Hermione had felt a strange feeling. A reckless, obnoxious and irresponsible feeling. She had grinned at Harry and nodded to everything he said.

Now she wondered why she even bothered.

Hermione grimaced as she disappeared under a bridge, trying hard to stay within the shadows, while her mind kept reminding her why she was in this predicament right now. Really, she had only herself to blame for this.

After passing her exams three years ago, she had been assigned a permanent post as the department of mysteries medical and forensic expert, which was exactly what she had wanted.

She had been ecstatic that she was going to be working directly under the minister for the majority of her duties.

However, the continuing conflict between Wizarding Britian and several minor guerrilla troops (which included remaining death eaters, rogue werewolves, vampires and other fanatics) meant that the Aurors ranks had been depleted, which resulted in her reassignment to the field a few months ago.

The shock of being on the field was almost too much but she had gotten used to it since. Not that she had much of a choice. The Minister needed all the Aurors he could spare, after all.

That was how she found herself on this assignment.

She had been sent to provide medical cover to a new unspeakable squad cell, whose assignment was to trail and rescue the last surviving heir of a certain ancient and prominent French pureblood house, who had been kidnapped by suspected remaining death eaters.

The plan was simple, rescue the boy gifted with a unique bloodline magic and incorporate him into the British forces as soon as possible.

It had gone fairly well until their presence was detected by one of the werewolves guarding the boy, and then all hell broke loose.

Outnumbered and taken by surprise, they had been hard-pressed to hold their ground, especially when the full moon had arrived. In the end, Hermione was the only surviving member of the three man squad cell.

She had done the only reasonable thing then.

She ran.

Panting heavily, Hermione pulled off her black pointed hat and wiped the sweat off her brow as she continued to glide apparate along the steep valley.

The hat was soon jammed back into her trusty beaded bag and she pulled out and wrapped herself in a long flowing muggle cloak, trying and failing to look like an uninteresting tourist.

She could still sense the presence of the werewolves somewhere behind her, so she did not slow down.

She was far too outnumbered to even consider fighting.

Spotting the outline of what looked like a forest in the distance, Hermione made a beeline for it, hoping to find a deserted area from which to apparate to safety without giving away her position.

The moment she reached it, Hermione felt herself relax. The forest was filled with dense trees and trails and was not new to her, after all, having spent nearly a year in exile during the war.

Hurriedly, she pulled out a broom from her bag.

She continued to distance herself from her attackers, but this time above the ground. Soon, much to her relief, their foul magical signatures gradually diminished.

Weary from the combat and the run, she shrouded her presence and rested on a wide tree limb. She had to plan again, she decided.

Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to rest, casting a strong cloaking spell around her. She needed to recharge and be ready for moonset by which time the werewolves will be at their weakest. It will be her only chance to salvage this assignment.

It was not long afterwards that a sense of… something… pricked at the edge of her conscious.

She froze in position. Immediately on edge, she tensed straight into battle mode and scanned her surroundings quickly.

What she saw made her breath catch in her throat.

A tall thin figure, with a head full of platinum blond hair.

Malfoy…

Her heart gave an odd lurch and her breath left her in a rush. It had been so long since she had last laid eyes on those pointy Malfoy features that she could only stare at him.

She had not seen him in what? Four years?

He looked different now. His hair was long, falling to partially cover his silver grey eyes, which were devoid of any emotion at the moment. He must have let it grow after they had parted ways all those years ago.

And then the anger began to bubble within her.

So many things had happened because of the man standing there, and while she could overlook and forgive most of them, there was one that she simply could not accept.

God help her, if he was involved in this kidnapping after all what happened.

She recalled what his actions in the past had ultimately led to, and her temper began to boil. The urge to jump down from the tree to attack him, to physically pound him into the ground, was almost overwhelming. Her body, strung taut with emotion, was practically trembling with rage.

The next instant, her auror training kicked in, reminding her to calm down her emotions, to push them to the back.

This was no time to dredge up her personal issues with Malfoy. The position she was in was potentially dangerous.

For all she knew, he could be the enemy.

She inhaled deeply and forced herself to study him and the situation impassively, even though the perspiration dampening the inside of her cloak told her that she was anything but impassive.

Covered in a black, unmarked cloak, Draco Malfoy stood on the ground, staring up at her. He did not move, appearing outwardly relaxed, but she knew that if he wanted, he could attack at any moment.

She also knew that despite her brief rest, she did not have enough energy levels to last even minutes in a battle with him.

He was in a league of his own when it came to such things, the sneaky little ferret.

Her other option was to run, and once again, that seemed like the best course of action. Would he chase her when she ran? She swept her eyes over her surroundings again, this time attempting to find safe route out of her predicament.

When her eyes landed back on the former Death-eater, she found that he still had not moved.

Was he waiting for her to initiate something? Did he recall how they had parted? What was she to him now? Just a shadow in his past? An enemy?

No, she would not think of him in those terms. It was too personal. He was just Draco Malfoy, a former death eater, missing and presumed dead.

Slowly, she straightened up from her reclining position until she was standing on the tree limb, her wand at the ready and her entire body fully geared for battle. She had to be prepared for anything.

Still, he did not react.

She shifted forward and allowed herself to drop to the ground gently, her knees bent slightly to absorb the impact and to allow her a better chance of shifting directions.

And yet, he only continued to stare silently at her.

For an indeterminate span of time, both of them stood facing each other across the twenty feet which separated them. She could not help but wonder if she should simply walk away, but something stilled her.

Something kept her standing there, staring at those Malfoy features. He was thinner than she remembered, but he carried himself haughtily, like the well-born wizard he was.

"Malfoy…" she breathed out before she could stop herself, her voice was barely audible.

But he had heard her, and bowed his head in acknowledgement. "Granger." he returned.

Her breath stuck in her throat, half in panic, and half in relief.

Granger… He'd called her Granger.

It sounded as if he had been deliberately impersonal.

There was a burst of something inside her, something which bent dangerously close to hysteria. How could he talk to her so? What if this was just his way of messing with her head?

No, she had to remain calm.

She knew what she had to do. The protocol was clear.

If she was to find herself in a situation where she knew she could not win, she was to retreat and report the incident to the nearest base. Especially when it involved suspected death-eaters looking for revival of the old ways.

She swallowed hard as she made up her mind to do exactly that.

Chances were, they would never meet again. Her wand crackled at her fists at the very thought.

It was best that way, so that she did not have to be reminded of the part he had played in everything. Besides, she stood no chance against him, even though she wanted him to pay for what he had done.

So, she spun around away from him, briefly catching a glimpse of his look of surprise, before she turned.

It was only when she had apparated for miles that it struck her that he did not give chase.

.

.

Dawn broke through the clouds, just as Draco finished binding the last of werewolves and calming a very frantic boy, who was no doubt the missing lord of Clement, who ancestors could be traced back to Merlin's own sister.

After administering a calming draught and offering sanctuary and protection, for as long as needed, the boy finally showed signs of relaxing a bit and they started the long walk back to his mansion.

Aside from the occasional huts dotting the land, the valley was utterly devoid by human occupation.

The view was spectacular and just as Draco loved.

After all, he had been residing in this secluded part of the world for a while now, having relocated after the horrifying war and trails after that.

His brief time spent with a certain healer of the DOM also had to do with it.

Suddenly, Out of nowhere, they were facing a group of aurors.

On hindsight, Draco should have disappeared elsewhere by now. For if he had done so immediately after encountering Granger on the grounds two days ago, he would not be standing there with four British Aurors facing him with wands raised.

The boy lord held himself admirably, but Draco placed himself firmly between the aurors and the boy.

Clearly, Granger had reported his existence to the aurors, wherever they had set up base.

Draco grimaced. But it was a price he had paid for his carelessness. For letting his guard down.

"Draco Malfoy" a male auror spoke, his hair and face suggesting that he was one of the Diggorys, "You are supposed to be dead."

Draco simply raised a brow.

The auror took a step forward. "Please step aside and release Lord Clement to our custody immediately."

Draco's eyes met Granger's in a flat stare, before sliding to the Diggory, "that is not possible," he murmured softly, "Lord Clement in under my protection."

"Protection?" the auror echoed, sounding mildly puzzled. "And who are you to offer protection, Mr. Malfoy? You are trespassing into matters that do not concern you."

Draco's voice softened with a touch of amusement, "This valley and several villages around it belong to my family. It is you who are trespassing, not me."

Diggory stiffened slightly and nodded in understanding, "We apologize, Mr. Malfoy. But there was suspected death-eater activity occurring-"

"It is already dealt with," interrupted Draco, waving his hand gracefully, "there is a safe house towards the east in which you will find two unconscious men who had kidnapped Lord Clement. Also several bound werewolves on the way as you go. Granger's team mates are receiving medical help as we speak."

The aurors studied him in silent astonishment.

Draco slid his eyes towards the Hermione again, noticing the slight stiffening of her form.

So, she had thought he was somehow involved in all this even though she knew what he had given up to be here.

How typical.

Hermione glided forwards and ignoring Draco, she spoke to the boy lord directly, "Lord Clement,"she said with a slight bow, "we have come here to rescue you on the orders of our Minister. If you comply we will take you back with us to Britain and offer full protection of an auror detail for as long as needed."

"Forgive me, Miss." Lord Clement spoke, "But I vould like to remain wiz Lord Malfoy."

Hermione simply nodded and said nothing else.

Draco held on to the boy's arm preparing to apparate them both to the manor, "please remove the evidences of your prisoners and yourself from my grounds in twenty minutes. After which the French äurors will remove it for you."

Then they disappeared in a pop.

.

.

Percy Weasley sighed as he glanced out of the window of the Minister's office, feeling rather wistful that he was stuck in this office instead being of out and about, overseeing cauldron reports and what not and sending notices to the Weezes about banning their dangerous products and keeping the rest of his siblings in line too.

And it was such a beautiful day for a visit to the Borrow and hassle his mother into smothering him with her well made ham and chicken sandwiches with extra extra mayo.

Percy sighed again.

Well, as much as he wished to be anywhere but here, he held the post of the head-advisor to their newest, laziest and craziest Minister.

(The rumors are not untrue precisely. The legendary Boy-who-lived had changed a lot since the Final battle.)

So he had no choice but to be here, listening to all manners of reports, complaints and meetings.

Sometimes, he wondered if Harry Potter was even awake half of those times. It was kind of hard to tell with that hooded face, heavy-lidded eyes, and especially when the top half of his face was covered by all that long disheveled hair and too-big-for-his-face-rock-star glasses.

Percy straightened slightly when a knock sounded on the door.

Without looking up, the Minister (Seated cross-legged on his large table, amidst reports) called out for the visitor to enter. The door opened to reveal the rotund figure of Millicent Bulstrode, who stepped in, closing the door behind him.

She looked grim, but then again, that was how she usually looked these days.

Percy didn't offer her a seat nor did the minister. If Millicent Bulstrode wanted to take a seat, she would take a seat.

Without preamble, Bulstrode dropped a report on the Minister's desk and announced, "Draco Malfoy has been spotted."

Percy's brows furrowed as he absorbed this information.

Not far from him, Bulstrode settled herself against a wall, and lit a cigarette as she waited for the news to sink in.

Several seconds later, Harry Potter finally looked up from the book he had hidden behind a large report, his emerald green eyes sharpening with interest.

"By whom?" Harry enquired mildly.

Bulstrode's expression tightened. "Hermione Granger and her unspeakables."

Harry asked in a harder tone, a frown marring his forehead "He is not involved in the kidnapping business right?"

"Of course not," scoffed Bulstrode in some surprise. "Apparently he saved the unspeakable lives and even captured the death-eaters and werewolves. The Lord Clement is under his protection now."

"Who else knows of his existence?" Percy asked, as Harry leaned forward to snatch the report from the desk.

"Diggeroy's squad. They went to back up Granger when she sent a distress signal."

Harry frowned, looking concerned. "She's alright?"

"Yes. St Mungo's cleared everyone," Bulstrode rolled her eyes, "just read the god-damn report, Potter."

Harry read the entire report and handed it to Percy looking thoughtful.

That was always dangerous.

Percy pushed aside his stirrings of anxiety and quickly scanned the report.

Hmm, so Hermione's team dispersed after their first encounter with the werewolves and it being a full moon night, they each believed others had died.

Hmm, Hermione encountered Malfoy while taking cover and immediately sent a distress signal. She had always been a sensible girl. In the meantime, Malfoy had found her remaining team and submitted them to a healer and after getting the mission parameters took it upon himself to rescue Lord Clement.

Hmm.

"It is all very interesting." Percy said.

"Especially after what we have just found in the Lestrange's manor," Bulstrode pointed out.

Harry nodded, his eyes closed in a deep meditative pose.

They waited in silence for several anxious seconds that told Percy quite plainly that he was to be ordered to do something he would immensely dislike.

And true enough, Harry opened his eyes, green orbs twinkling manically, a sight that always made Percy fear for the Wizarding World.

"Milli, Percy, start planning." Harry said,"We need to bring Draco Malfoy in immediately."

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