Summary: Hermione spots a familiar, always mischievous-looking face at a muggle fair and determined to find out why they were there, finds herself in more trouble than she first bargained for. Draco is framed for murder and Hermione, surprisingly, agrees to help.
AN: I'm back with another HP fic and I really hope this is as good, if not better, than my first one. Unlike the other one, this one wasn't made multi-chapter last minute so hopefully things flow much better. I was super inspired for this and I hope it shows! Reviews and favorites are very appreciated.
My beta for this fic is JWaylett and she's super cool. She helped me out a ton with editing this and I'm super grateful.
Chapter One
"The Murderer"
Vast rows of books surrounded her, the mixed colors and sizes overwhelming her. Her eyes darted to the right, of course attracted to the thickest leather-bound novel in sight. The harsh scent of nutmeg and dust rushed into her nose and she sneezed violently into her forearm, fighting the oncoming onslaught of a sneezing fit for as long as she could. She roughly wiped her irritated nose against her sleeve and returned focus back to the book. "History of Technology and its Impact on the Modern World," she read aloud. The title was a mouthful even for her, but the binding was enchanting and she resolved to at least give it a go. She was unsure of the material other than it was some kind of leather. It was soft to the touch, almost like some kind of silk, but only in that sense. She was usually against spending money so frivolously, especially on things she had no real use for, but she couldn't help but tuck the large book under her arm and head towards the checkout.
The cashier was kind enough, smiling as would be expected and handling her (precious) new find with moderate care. She smiled back, taking her receipt from the cashier and placing it neatly into her wallet along with her credit card. The card carried quite a few scratches, she duly noted. As expected, as it hadn't been long since it had first arrived in the mail. Not long after the war, she had returned back to the muggle world in search of whatever she felt was missing. Before, she had always thought she would end up working in the ministry and-as one of the Golden Trio-it wasn't difficult to get a position, but after a few months of that, the flavor went bland and she was off to the next task at hand.
It was so unlike her, but after everything was said and done, she couldn't help but feel like there was an empty spot inside her. She had lost so many things because of the war, she wasn't exactly surprised that was how she felt. Not that she took any of that theorized mumbo-jumbo to heart, but she knew enough about muggle Psych to know it was a sign of something more deep-rooted. She shivered, be it because of the weather or her thoughts, and adjusted her scarf snugly around her neck. She had tried a lot of different occupations in the wizarding world, but just as the first, they never felt quite right. After a lot of hard thought and tears, she made the decision to leave everything she once knew and return back home. Or what should have been home.
Her wallet near empty of cash, she pointed her wand, which had been hidden up her jacket's sleeve and duplicated herself some more pounds. She had felt bad the first few times she had done it, but she needed a way to support herself, and she didn't think galleons would be easily convertible to pounds. The streets were busy as there had been a street fair going on in the background. One thing she had always loved were bright lights and she had definitely enjoyed the bright displays from the fair on one hand, but on the other, it made her stomach clench. It reminded herself too much of the world she had left behind. And somehow it had also reminded her of Ron.
She hurried away, deeper into the fairgrounds. Faceless bodies bumped into her as she passed, and the noisy chattering around her was nothing but silent, moving mouths. She wondered how Ron's family was doing. When she had left, their mourning for their lost brother had mostly died out externally. Anyone could still see the sadness in their eyes and wobbly voices when his name was brought up, but they had tucked it away enough to get through everyday. She tried not to think about the day she had decided to leave and the look on Ron's face, but the memories rushed through her mind, replaying like it was just yesterday. Hermione wasn't one to just do things. Before the big leave she told him time and time again about her plans only to have them quickly dismissed. He had said they weren't practical. He had tried to say she felt nowhere near as much pain as he had because of the loss of Fred. Maybe he was right, but he had no right to dictate how she lived her life and so she left without him. She hadn't imagined him to come in the first place, but she had hoped they would at least part ways on good terms.
"What do you mean you won't accept my money?"
Her head snapped up, and she realized she had wandered off the main street. She caught the glimpse of a pure white hair filled snippet of the side of someone's head through the hole of a wooden crepe stand. Hermione gasped and quickly took cover behind a small shrub. It couldn't be him? And realistically it shouldn't be, considering who it was she thought he looked like. He, or his father at least, absolutely abhorred muggles. He had enough sense not to put himself in a position where he had to breathe the same air as large bodies of them for at least his father's pride.
"I'm sorry, sir. I'm not familiar with this type of currency."
"It's solid gold, you idiot. Will you at least take it for it's worth in that?" With that she was convinced, it had to be him.
She slowly moved in closer, still maintaining her hidden position behind various, large body-sized mounds. Now in a better position, she had a better view of his side. He stuck out like a sore thumb in the mess, dressed in fine silks and dark velvets, a true wizard's wardrobe. If he was trying to go inconspicuous, he was doing a horrible job at it. She snorted, drawing bystanders attention to herself. Here Draco was really out of his element and at a complete disadvantage, much like she had been at Hogwarts so few years before.
"Sorry, but it's not the middle ages. We don't take trades. You're going to have to take that somewhere else."
"Fine then, see what I care! Bloody muggles, I loathe the whole lot of you!" Draco Malfoy threw the coin at the man and huffed away.
The crowd that had formed around them had began to slowly disperse, and the disgruntled man shook his head wearily as he shuffled away back into what she assumed was his small eatery. She hadn't spent much time in the area but from the little she had, she had she learned the particular street she was on was filled with family-owned businesses. Only pity filled her head at the sight. Oddly enough, it was for both of them. She could justify it for the business owner for having to deal with a twat like him, but why for Draco?
She thought over it once, found nothing, then thought over it again. Eventually she found a reason passable enough for her to go with. Draco was an insufferable idiot but he at least deserved food. If he was here, there had to be a good reason, and as part of the famous Golden Trio, and one of Harry Potter's closest mates, she supposed she owed it to the collective community to find out why. She contemplated turning straight around and walking away. It would be the smarter decision considering how he stood for all she was trying to escape, but curiosity was calling her and it was the one thing about herself she had no control over.
"Hello, Draco," she spat, stopping him before he headed down the next street into a back alley. From behind he had looked exactly the same as he had the last time she say him. He was just as tall and lanky as ever. His head shot back and his eyes went wide in a mixture of emotions as they crossed his face. His arm shot to his side where his wand was hanging and he threw it in front of him, preparing to cast a spell. Shocked, Hermione threw her arms in front of her. "What are you doing?"
Sensing something from her, he groaned and slowly shot his arm back down. After a few moments of studying her, he slid his wand back away. "What do I owe you the pleasure?"
Hermione was still on edge but had calmed down enough to respond. It really wasn't the time to consider his appearance but now that he was faced properly towards her, she could see the difference in him. They were only slight, but the deep, Snape-like circles under his eyes told tales of his current state. It looked like he hadn't slept in ages. "Considering what just happened, I feel like you at least owe me some of an explanation. I truly thought you were smarter than that, waving your goddamn wand around a street of muggles like a-," she paused for a moment to think, then started up again, "I don't know! A moron, a buffoon, an imbecile."
"I get it Granger, it was stupid! Lay off it," He looked away, contemplating, then quickly paced away.
"Malfoy! Wait, please!"
He stopped with a huff and turned back around. "What is it?"
"Why are you here?"
His eyes widened again then narrowed, "You mean you don't know? It should be all over the news by now."
"Know about what?"
Draco rolled his tongue around in his mouth, "Ah, that's righhht. You ran away from Weasel in the middle of the night before the accusations came out. I'm somehow not surprised."
"I did not run away from him! I actually had thought about it a lot before, so it wasn't like it was out of the blue!" He smirked and the old Draco had returned right before her eyes. She found it comforting in a strange way. A lot of things have changed over time, but at least Draco's snide teasing had not. "And you're dancing around the question. What do I not know about?"
At first he looked against telling, pursing his lips tightly against one another, but after more thought he rolled his eyes once again and proceeded anyway. "As you probably already expected, my family has a lot of enemies. You can only imagine. After the war-"
"Let's not reopen old wounds," She could really do without hearing the war from a former Death Eater's point of view.
"Fine, have it your way, Granger." He paused to dramatically roll his eyes, "Well, I don't know all the details of it, but out of the blue, a murder charge was slapped on me. I was having an otherwise good day before that, if it matters to you at all."
"A murder change? Who was murdered?"
"Some ministry bloke and now I'm on the run with no place to go. My parents were already framed for a similar charge but I-I didn't expect them to come after me next. They tried to warn me to run while I was ahead but I wasn't sure if-I should have listened." Hermione had half the mind to report him that minute, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. As he explained himself to her, he had looked genuinely scared. She hadn't seen him this worried since the Voldemort days. Her heart sank and she felt compelled to help him. It would make sense, a lot of people were indeed after his family. Not everyone knew Draco had played a big part in helping her escape the manor, but she couldn't say much for the rest of his family.
"Surely they will have it sorted out if you go back and-"
"Are you mad?" He spat, balling his hands into tight fists. "They will have me imprisoned more like! Beheaded!" His eyes darted around, and he started off again, rushing the the other direction. "Forget it! I don't know why I even bothered!"
"Wait!" Hermione jumped forward, grabbing onto his cloak as he hurried away. "I can help you."
He stopped abruptly, causing Hermione to jerk forward into his back.
"And how could you do that?"
Truthfully Hermione hadn't the slightest idea of what to say, but she was good enough at making up things on the spot to come up with something. "I'm only one of Harry Potter's best mates who helped take down Lord Voldemort. They have to at least hear what we have to say as a unit. And it's definitely something that would make headlines!" After the words came out she smiled. Her problematic childhood running around at Hogwarts really had come in handy finally.
"I don't care what you say, I'm not just going to waltz into the Ministry with you. Yeah, I believe it'll be in the headlines, but in whose favor? Everyone hates me and my entire family, Granger. They all want me dead and I might as well be." He was a sentence short of saying he should already be dead, and she could feel it hanging at the tip of his tongue. As he began to part his lips again, she cut him off, afraid to hear the words escape him.
"There's always something we can do."
He demeanor quickly changed and she was glad, "Oh Merlin, save that self-righteous Gryffindor garbage for someone else. We'd have to get the evidence ourselves since I know for fact no one seated in the ministry now is out seeking justice for the Malfoys."
"Then let's do that," Hermione rubbed her chin, trying to get together a quick game plan in her head.
First things first, she would have to take Draco back to her place and get him fed, then get him real clothes that wouldn't make it so bloody obvious he was of magical descent, and then lastly relocate the next few cities, if not countries, over. She didn't blame him for his unpreparedness since, from what he explained, it was a miracle he even made it this far, but all she could think was how lucky he was to have her coming up with the plans now. He was unsurprisingly just as useless as the other two boys she use to hang around with.
She thought of how much garbage Harry and Ron would give her if they knew the trouble she had gotten herself into already and laughed. Actually, she thought, it would make a lot of sense to get them all involved. They would have to wait until they found a steady and safe place to hide to have the ability to send a message undetected to them though, but in the meanwhile, she could get herself up to date with current affairs in the wizarding world. She had briefly read news articles in the paper about the ministry increasing their security levels to prevent anything suspicious from going on under their noses. Everyone knew it was a load of rubbish, but there wasn't much anyone could do. The ministry had been long overdue for some serious reforming.
Hermione assessed the area and when she decided it was closed off enough to depart from, she took Draco roughly by the wrist and they were off. The area around them spun, kneading them in and out of space. When they arrived at the destination, Draco jumped forward, crashing into a nightstand and knocking over a lamp. Hermione quickly grabbed the lamp before it shattered against the floor and firmly placed it back onto the table. She shot him and glare and ran to the dresser, pulling out the contents and throwing them across the floor. Draco shot her back an equally annoyed glare and ran his fingers through his hair.
"Granger?" he asked looking around. The room itself hadn't been big and it gave her about the same amount of space she had to herself in the Gryffindor dorm rooms. It had a nautical theme going on with all the light sand beige, and light blues tones mixed all over the room. The slight yellowing of the paint on the wall only added to it. This hadn't exactly been a beach town, but there was definitely a beach and a very clear view of it outside the window. Hermione had always loved the ocean which was the main deciding factor in this being the first place to stay. Somehow though, she had a feeling Draco wasn't appreciating how simplistic the room was.
Hermione sighed, "What is it?"
"Well, where are we?" He picked up one of the discarded items of clothing off the floor then quickly dropped it in disgust.
"My hotel room, where else?" She responded back sharply, finally finding what she had been looking for. She pulled the small satchel out of the drawer and then stuck her hand inside and began digging again. Draco sat back on the bed, leaning his head on the wall.
"What on earth are you looking for?" His question was met with a bundle of cloth tossed into his face. He unrolled the pile, finding an outfit prepared for him. "Please don't tell me these are the weasel's clothes, really?"
"I packed for two, just in case. You should consider yourself lucky I had." She cleared her throat and walked towards him. She pinched the old fashioned wizarding robes he had been sporting, "What are these?"
"Hey!" He tugged it out of her grip, "I had to get out of the wizarding world unnoticed somehow. Isn't my fault I didn't have a lot of time to pack."
Looking at the mess around her, Hermione grimaced and waved her wand. First the curtains closed themselves, then her belonging began to pack themselves into the satchel. The room slowly cleared itself out until it was back in the same condition it had been when she had first checked in. She turned to Draco, watching him. He noticed her attention on him but payed no mind. His eyes flickered and eventually fell completely. She smiled, he reminded her of a toddler in the midst of a tantrum but too tired to continue throwing it. Finished packing, the satchel fell. Hermione took it and slowly regained her footing. She hadn't wanted to wake him but they had to get going. She called his name softly, brushing her fingers across the comforter. He threw his head forward and nodded, his calmed expression returning back to the sunken, greyed one from earlier. She waited for him at the door and he gradually made his way over, maneuvering through the furniture in his path. He looked exhausted, and guilt filled her again.
Draco silently followed her lead, his heavy footsteps echoing through the hallway. The exit stood straight ahead of her but she had other plans and took a sharp turn to the right and down another hallway. The way the narrow halls were decorated made it look like a maze; everything was exactly the same throughout the building aside from the digits on each door. Over the last few weeks she had come to know it well, but every now and then, she still made the mistake of taking the wrong turn here or there. Finally reaching her destination, she rushed them both inside.
There were tables of food, just as she had been told. One of the things that made her choose this long-term stay hotel was because of the free meal events they hosted in the main dining area. She hadn't really made a point to attend one though, always having other plans for the day. Spotting an empty spot with enough seating for the both of them, she quickly made her way over, trusting Draco to his own devices. She sat down and watched him stare at the tables lined with food. She could tell there was excitement in his eyes, for he had been hungry, but also hesitance and disappointment. He must have not been use to all-you-can-eat buffets. She stifled a laugh. After making a couple rounds around the tables, viewing all his options, he plopped a couple items on his plate and hurried over.
"This food is absolutely revolting."
"Just eat. After the scene you made today, it would be best to stay out of the public for now." She couldn't exactly take him to a five-star restaurant, even if she wanted to, and maybe it would be better for him to get him out of his natural environment. He needed to experience the real world somehow, that wasn't just fancy, elite pureblood dinner parties, or whatever pureblood families did in their spare time. He gave her a look then dug in. He started slowly, fearful of the slop he was ingesting, then after tasting it, shrugged and stuffed his mouth.
Hermione hadn't grabbed anything. She wasn't in the mood to eat. All the new information she had to process, it had killed her appetite. She let him eat for a few minutes before addressing her concerns from earlier.
"Is there anything I should know about before we start using magic all willy-nilly?"
"If you mean ministry-wise, then no. The owl network is being monitored, so you can't ask your loser friends for help if that's what you were thinking earlier. I don't think they'd be very keen on helping me out anyway." That certainly complicated things for them.
"Or your loser friends more like," she muttered under her breath, "Ron and Harry would be helpful at least."
Draco didn't answer, and continued stuffing his face. He cleared his plate before he spoke up again. "Well, I'm done. What now?"
"We choose the next place to lay low at."
"I'm sure anywhere would be better than here."
Hermione shushed him, avoiding glaces from the hotel staff. "Okay, then. I'll choose." She rolled her eyes in thought. There had been a town not too far from here that she had already been planning on heading to eventually. It more of an orchard field then anything, filled with seemingly endless acres of sunflowers. She only knew of it from a road trip pit stop she had taken with her family once before and she didn't think anyone would expect her there, much less chaperoning Draco Malfoy. After confirming the details in her head, she shared them with Draco. He wasn't fond of the idea of heading to yet another small muggle town but went along with it begrudgingly. All she had to do now before they could leave was check out.
It seemed silly, but she felt like she owed the complex owner that at least. It would also be irritating if they decided to charge her any late fees despite having the ability to generate as much money as she needed. Hermione had always wanted a credit card but never got the chance to until now for obvious reasons. She wanted to be as responsible with it as possible. Hermione briefly filled Draco in on where she was going and told him to wait there for her. The office was in the front, conveniently on one of the busiest streets in the town. She didn't want to risk him being seen, even if that meant having to leave him behind for however long it took. She could tell he was getting annoyed with being handled like a child but there honestly wasn't much he could do in his situation. The muggle world was a brand new thing to him, plus he was a wanted man. He was at an extreme disadvantage and he needed her help, it was fact.
Hermione stood in front of the front desk, waiting for her turn with the clerk. There was one other person in front of her but she didn't pay them much attention. She glance at him long enough to pick up on what he was wearing; a plain black business suit and a bowler hat, but her eyes were quickly pulled to something else. The room was incredibly dull, and when it was finally her turn to speak to the man behind the counter she was happy to finally get a move on. The man moved to the side and Hermione eagerly took his place. She quickly exchanged the necessary information with the man. He took her room key and went to the backroom. Hermione stood still, feeling someone's eyes on her. Her eyes darted to the side and she tightened her clutch on the wand hidden up her sleeve. The man with the bowler cap had never left the room and his presence had become unbearably obvious. There was a light thud as he stepped forward. Hermione spun around, sliding on her heels and holding out her wand in offensive position.
He threw his arms up, wand in hand, just as she suspected. "Please, Ms. Granger. We just want to speak to you. I'm from the ministry."
"We?" She spat, slowly pacing herself back towards the hallway. Draco, she thought, her mind running wild.
"Yes, we. It came as quite a shock when we hear you were harboring-," she tilted her wand forward threateningly and he jumped back. "Please, we just wanted to ask you some questions."