Disclaimer: Although I wish I was talented enough to create such an extraordinary world as the one J.K Rowling has presented to us in Harry Potter, I am not. These characters belong to the mind of a literary genius and I would never take that credit. I simply enjoy playing around with these character's lives.
Special Thanks: I'd like to thank my close friends Magen and Michelle for taking the time to help me make this story better. Their opinions are truly a value to me. So thanks, guys. I appreciate it.
A/N: This story isn't perfect. There may be grammatical errors, and if you catch one, feel free to let me know. Constructive criticism is always welcome. I hope you all enjoy my second Draco/Hermione Fanfiction :)
Rated M: For language and sexual scenes throughout.
Chapter One: A Death Eater Returns
The intense morning sunshine streamed through Hermione's uncovered bedroom window and illuminated her face. With a groan she pulled up her russet colored comforter to shield her eyes and lazily slipped deeper into her bed. She had meant to put up curtains when she moved in but days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and months turned into years. Seven to be exact.
Had it really been seven years since she left Hogwarts? She almost couldn't believe it. She had eagerly thrown herself into the rigorous three year Auror training program straight after graduation and then continued on as a full time Auror at the ministry. In the seven years that Hermione had owned the flat she could only recall spending ten whole days in it. (Even those days were spent on the paper work that her assistant could not sufficiently complete to Hermione's standards.) In fact, she spent so much time at work that her boss, Mr. Robards, told her not to come in for a couple of days. What was she suppose to do if not work? Buying new curtains is an option she thought half- heartedly.
Once she was confident that her eyes could handle the sunlight she sat up and focused on her pathetic excuse for a bedroom. "Some paint wouldn't hurt either," she murmured as she slowly swung her legs off the bed and stood up. Her every day expectation of making a safe trip to the bathroom was let down as a loud pop sounded in the air and Hermione tripped over her cat crookshanks and fell to the ground.
"Damn it," she hissed through her teeth as she brought her hand to the throbbing knot on her forehead.
"Hermione! What are you doing here?" asked a freckle faced, red headed girl from the corner of Hermione's room.
Hermione pushed herself to her feet and shot the girl an incredulous look.
"I happen to live here, Ginny. Why are you here?"
"I'm making breakfast for the twins and I ran out of flour. I thought I'd drop in and check if you had any," Ginny replied, already making her way to the kitchen. Hermione followed her in disbelief.
"You assumed I wasn't going to be here so you thought it safe to come and swipe my food?"
"It was a safe bet. You're never home this late in the morning," Ginny said while looking through cabinets.
"Ginny, it's only eight. How do you know I'm never here this late?" Hermione's voice was drenched with curiosity. Ginny stopped her search for flour and turned to face Hermione.
"Okay, sometimes I come over and borrow your things. Namely food items." Ginny panicked at Hermione's blank stare. "I get so busy with Addie and Lily that sometimes I just don't have time to go shopping." Hermione still stood there without saying anything. Ginny threw her hands up in the air. "Come on, Hermione! You're barely ever here. It isn't like you use anything that is in this kitchen anyway."
This was true. Her unbelievably long work hours caused her to eat her meals at the office or on the go. She could not remember the last time she had bought groceries for the flat. She shrugged her shoulders and hopped onto the counter.
"Take at your own risk. I haven't been shopping in years," She said with honesty as Ginny continued her search with relief.
"Ah well, if it hasn't been opened yet then it can't be that bad," She said with a muffled voice. Her head was deep into a floor cabinet. "Here it is!" She pulled out the bag of flour with a look of accomplishment on her face. "You want to come over for breakfast?"
Hermione looked around the kitchen; Stale cookies in the open cabinet, moldy bread on the counter, and spoiled milk in the refrigerator. It did not look like she would be able to scrounge much of a meal out of that.
She sent a grateful smile to Ginny and said, "I would like that very much."
Hermione and Ginny entered Ginny's kitchen with a pop. Hermione breathed in the inviting smell of fresh biscuits and honey. It brought back memories of summer mornings at the Weasley house when Mrs. Weasley would always prepare generous proportions of mouth-watering food that smelled of heaven. Ginny had inherited her mother's skills and now prepared the same heavenly meals for her own children.
Addie and Lily were sitting at the kitchen table when Ginny and Hermione arrived. Addie was covered in what looked like flour from head to toe and resembled a human shaped marshmallow.
"Addie, what happened to you?" Ginny demanded.
Addie looked up at Ginny, her piercing green eyes sparkling with innocence.
"We found the flour, mummy, but the bag broke," She stated matter of factly.
Ginny stared at her child and wondered how someone so small could have found something that she herself could not find.
"Where is your father?"
Just as the question slipped from Ginny's lips Harry Potter slowly rounded the corner. His face was hidden in the daily prophet and he did not seem to notice that he was the center of attention.
"Harry!" Ginny exclaimed with irritation.
He obliviously looked up from his newspaper and sent a questioning look to his wife. "What?"
"You were supposed to watch the twins while I was at Hermione's!" She grilled.
"I turned my back for one minute to get the newspaper off the front porch. They couldn't have gotten into much trouble while I was gone," He said as he put the newspaper down.
"They're three years old! They get into everything," Ginny said and forcefully pointed her finger toward Addie. Harry turned and let out a laugh. He bent down and picked up Addie, getting flour all over his black work robes in the process.
"We were going to surprise Mummy with the flour, remember?" He said as he sat her down on the counter.
"I know, but Lily wanted to hold it too and when we were fighting over it, the bag ripped," She said as tears started to run down her cheeks, leaving streaks of mucky white.
"Why are you crying, Addie?" Harry asked gently while he whipped the tears off her cheeks.
"Mummy is mad at us now!" She stuttered through her tears.
Ginny walked over to the counter and lifted Addie into her arms. She kissed the top of her head and smoothed out her flaming red hair.
"I am not mad. It was very sweet of you to try and help," She said, soothing her daughter's grief.
"I helped too!" Lily declared anxiously from the kitchen table.
"I know you did. Let's go get cleaned up," Ginny said and led both children out of the kitchen.
"They've grown up so much since the last time I've seen them," Hermione said as she turned to face Harry.
"I feel the same way every time they wake up in the morning," Harry confided. "And everyday they look more and more like Ginny."
"But they have your eyes," Hermione said.
Harry turned and pointed his wand at the cabinet and two coffee mugs flew into his hands. "Yes, but the rest is all Ginny. You like your coffee black right?"
Hermione nodded in affirmation to his question and Harry passed her a mug.
"I never understood how you could drink coffee. Your insides must be black," Harry said and sat down across from Hermione.
"I'm sure my insides are fine," She said into her cup.
Harry took a sip of his pumpkin juice, set it down on the table, and looked directly at Hermione.
"I have something to tell you, Hermione."
Hermione looked at Harry with a cautious gaze. This could not be good. The last time a conversation had started like that, she had found out that her assistant went missing with a weeks worth of Hermione's paper work. It turned out she had just taken a spontaneous vacation to Tahiti, but Hermione had to go through hell and back to track down those papers.
"What is it?" She asked warily.
"Robards is holding an Auror meeting in about an hour. He said something about bringing in someone new." Harry paused and Hermione took a sigh of relief. Maybe this was not going to be as bad as she thought.
"And he's introducing a new assignment," He said.
"Do you know what it is?" She asked curiously.
Harry looked down into his cup of pumpkin juice and studied the way the orange liquid hit the convex walls of the glass. He looked at it so intently Hermione almost believed there was something important hidden beneath the juice. But then he looked up and what Hermione saw made her worry.
"Harry, what is it?" She whispered. His eyebrows were creased with apprehension and his eyes practically screamed danger. Hermione grew angry with Harry's silence and stood up suddenly.
"I know that look, Harry. You forget we've known each other for fourteen years. You don't have to protect me. I can handle whatever it is, dammit, just tell me what's going on!"
The bold voice in the corner had Hermione and Harry turning their heads. "Draco's back." Ginny was leaning one side against the kitchen door frame with her arms crossed over her chest. "He showed up yesterday with his father-" Ginny was cut off by the muffled shriek that came from within Hermione's throat. Ginny spoke up
"Dead. Lucius is dead. Draco brought his body to the ministry last night."
As the last syllable left Ginny's lips, a crack sounded in the air, and Hermione was no where to be found.
When Hermione's body materialized in her apartment she sunk into the loveseat and put her head between her knees. Her heart was beating so quickly she thought fainting was inevitable. Her knuckles were white as she gripped the cushion in preparation for a sudden stress induced escape from reality, but emerald flames shot through her fire place and she quickly sat up. Mr. Robards stepped out of the fire place and hastily brushed at the ashes on his shirt. He took one look at Hermione's sickly pale face and knew that this was not going to go as easy as once hoped.
"I take it you've heard," he said reproachfully.
"What I want to know is how the ministry handled it," she said as she picked anxiously at her nails.
On a frustrated sigh Mr. Robards spoke. "I've got an office full of confused Aurors waiting for their assignments so I'm going to give it to you straight, Hermione. We've hired him."
Hermione shot up from her chair in complete and utter shock.
"What! You willingly hired a known death eater?"
Robards put both his palms in the air as if putting a stop to the tirade that was sure to come.
"Now now, Hermione, just hear me out. He knows the location of over hundred death eaters and he is going to help us find them-"
"How do you know that? He could be lying! He is a liar!" She yelled, cutting him off.
"We gave him veritiserum-"
Once again, Hermione cut him off with a yell. "You can't just slip him veritiserum and think he won't know. He's smart! That's how he managed to slip under our radar for so many years," she paused for a moment and looked up at the ceiling in frustration. "I cannot believe this! You should know better. The ministry should know better!"
"Just hold on, Hermione. I am still your boss and you will show me respect-"
"So fire me," she said simply.
Robards rolled his eyes. "Let's be real here. Firing you would be like shooting myself in the foot. Just sit down and listen to me," he commanded forcefully.
Hermione reluctantly lowered herself into the chair as he continued to speak.
"Draco willingly took the veritiserum. The minister told him the only way he would not be sent to Azkaban with a pending investigation was if he took the serum. He took it, we asked him what needed to be asked, and believe it or not, his intentions were good." He could see Hermione was going to say something and he stopped her.
"I knew you were going to ask what the questions were so here," he said as he pulled out a stack of bound papers and dropped it on the coffee table. "Those transcripts cover the last five years of his life."
Hermione felt absolutely defeated. Those sheets of paper held the answers to the questions that had been plaguing her for what felt like forever but suddenly she did not want to know.
"Why didn't you just wait to tell me when I got back?" she asked weakly as the fire ran out of her.
"Well, as I said before, Malfoy knows the whereabouts of over a hundred death eaters that are still working to keep Voldemort's legacy alive and he is the best way we know how to take them down," he paused and took an unsure breath. When Hermione did not say anything he continued. "But he needs help, Hermione, and that means he needs the best."
Hermione's eyes grew wide with disbelief. She stood up and started towards the kitchen.
"You know what, I've gotten used to the idea of vacation. I was thinking maybe a visit to Italy or Greece would really loosen me up," She said nonchalantly as she headed towards the coffee pot. Robards followed her into the kitchen.
"Hermione please just hear me out. I need you. The ministry needs you. We have to find these people and you are the best," he pleaded at her back.
Hermione pointed her wand at the coffee pot and the drip drip of black liquid started to fill the glass bowl. She watched the steam rise off the top of the pots surface and anger flooded her veins as she wondered how she would ever be able to deal with Draco after everything that happened in the past.
"Why not Harry?" she asked point blank. "I mean he did kill Voldemort."
"Because Harry and Draco take the same approach and having the both of them working together would be unnecessary. You see the other side of the fight. Draco goes in with blind anger and you see the fine details. It has been five years Hermione. It's time to get over whatever happened then and focus on what needs to be done. I don't have time for wallowing. I need you in the office tomorrow," he demanded.
Hermione pressed her lips together in thought. She could say no. She could quit and take the teaching position she had been offered at Hogwarts. She could put her self outside of Draco's reach but she owed it to Robards and the ministry.
"What time tomorrow?" she asked submissively.
Robards clapped his hands together and said, "7 o'clock. You, me, and Malfoy can talk logistics before the Auror meeting. Which-"he began while looking at his watch, "I am horribly late for. I have to go, but I look forward to seeing you tomorrow."
He hurriedly walked over to the fire place and stepped in.
"Oh yeah, after all of this is over I'm sure a vacation to Greece would not be out of the question."
He threw the floo powder down, the emerald flames engulfed him, and once again Hermione was alone to process the fact that her life had begun an unexpected tailspin.
That evening, when Hermione finally found her mind at enough peace to fall asleep, thoughts of Draco began to cloud her dreams.
"I don't know, Ginny. It doesn't seem all that serious. You and Harry always fight over this and it never goes anywhere," Hermione said to her best friend as they walked down the flight of steps that led to the great hall. All of a sudden Hermione felt a hand grip at her ass cheek and her eyes went wide.
"Nice ass, Granger," said Draco as he whispered it harshly in her ear.
Hermione spun around and let a smirk play across her features. She swiftly moved forward and grabbed a hold of his package.
"I would say the same thing about your assets," as she emphasized the word assets she gripped at him harder. "But I'm afraid they're a little too small for my liking," she finished frankly and then pushed him away. She ignored Ginny's gasp of surprise and turned to walk into the great hall, but not before noticing Draco's features crumble in pain.
Later that night Hermione snuck out of Gryffindor tower and tip toed her way down to the forbidden forest.
"Malfoy!" She forcefully whispered. "Malfoy, where in the bloody hell are you?" She whispered again while pushing away branches and looking deeper into the forest. Once again she felt a hand grip at her ass cheek, but this time it was pleasure that sparked.
"You and your nice ass are in so much trouble," Draco said huskily as he bit at her earlobe.
"Oh and why is that?" she asked coyly as she inched herself backwards so his mouth would meet her neck.
"My dick had a pulse all the way through breakfast and potions," he growled. "And not in a good way."
Hermione turned to face him, breaking the contact.
"I couldn't possibly let Ginny think I enjoyed that bit of sexual harassment, could I?" She asked playfully.
He grabbed her arm and pulled her toward him. She unzipped his jeans and softly stroked him. She smiled as he rapidly became harder under her grip. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and let out a guttural moan of ecstasy.
"I guess that means apology accepted." She said on a laugh.
In reply he roughly drug her to the ground and pinned her hands above her head with the wave of his wand. She wanted to touch him, feel him move over her but could not break free. He tortured her with a trail of opened mouthed kisses down the center of her torso. Her stomach muscles quivered under his lips and it sent a jolt of white hot heat down his middle.
Her head was clouding as he fumbled at the button on her jeans, but a subtle pain in her lower back brought her gliding back to reality.
"Stop, Malfoy," she murmured. When he did not seem to hear her she raised her voice. "Malfoy! Stop."
"What is it?" he asked irritated.
"This just is not how I pictured it is all," Hermione answered meekly.
"Pictured what, Hermione?" he asked as waved his wand to untie to arms.
She felt herself get angry at his oblivion. She stood up and brushed the leaves off her clothing and buttoned her jeans.
"The first time. I didn't quite picture it like this," She stated angrily.
"Are you kidding me? Are you fucking kidding me, Granger? You're going to stand there and not finish this because this isn't the way you pictured it? You're a bloody tease that's what you are!" Draco ranted.
"No Malfoy, I'm not kidding. I'd rather not be lying in a pile of sticks when I have sex for the first time! I can't believe you don't care about this!" She shouted irately.
"You are not going to be the first girl I sleep with, Hermione, and certainly not the last so no, I don't care where we do it!"
"How fucking romantic." Hermione paused and drew her eye brows together in disgust. " I am not one of your whores, Malfoy," Hermione snapped. She pushed past him and walked back to the castle.
Hermione rolled over in her sleep and one single tear slid down the slopes of her face.
A/N: In my world Ginny and Harry have twin girls, as you already know. Also, I wanted to make it clear that this dream did not reveal the whole past between Hermione and Draco. More will be revealed throughout further chapters in dreams, flashbacks, and conersations. Please stay tuned :)