Chapter 2
A/N: Hello readers! Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed and to irianaceleste for betaing!
To Summerful21: Yes I could update more than once a week right now, but it takes me forever to edit and I wouldn't be able to keep up that schedule. I didn't want to promise something I wouldn't be able to keep up for the whole story. So once a week, possibly more if I edit quickly. Thanks for the review!
To snowy owl: Thanks for the review! Sorry, I can't just post the whole thing. It's not edited. Trust me, you want the chapters edited.
~Frosty
Hermione woke up the next day feeling as if she hadn't slept a wink. Judging from the dark bags marring the pale skin under Draco's eyes as he trudged into her office, he hadn't slept much better.
As she sat at her desk frowning at all the paperwork that had accumulated in her time off, Draco watched her. While she'd mumbled a greeting to him without looking up from the parchment in front of her when he first arrived and Draco had responded in kind, that was the extent of their interactions.
Normally, she would be frustrated that he wasn't saying anything to her when he was clearly in the wrong, but there was something very worrying in her files that had her distracted. Apparently, magical creatures all over the world were getting sick without any explanation.
"I'm going to get some tea," Draco eventually muttered, clearly too tired to even muster up a properly snarky remark.
Hermione was so engrossed in reading her file that she barely even acknowledged him. She was of course going to investigate immediately after her partner got back with his morning tea. It went without saying that Draco wasn't going to be happy about a field trip already, and she certainly wasn't going to listen to him whinge all day because he didn't get his morning tea.
A tiny whisper of sound had Hermione putting down her notes and tilting her head to the side as she focused on listening. Had Draco been there, he probably would have told her that she looked like a spaniel and teased her about it for the rest of the day. She had been upset with him for less than twenty four hours and she had seen him, yet she was missing him.
He was her partner and an integral part of a normal day. They'd been through a lot, but it was still a little overwhelming how much their relationship had changed in such a short amount of time. Missing him while still seeing him was something new, and she had a feeling it would take her a while to really get used to the shift in their relationship.
Pushing aside her irritation with Draco, Hermione focused on listening.
It happened again, drawing Hermione from her chair and out of her office. Something was calling her name in a strange whisper that seemed to come from far away. Hermione normally wouldn't let something so small distract her from important work, however there was a pull to this sound that she found she couldn't resist. Hermione was almost certain that there was magic behind the strange whisper.
The corridors were empty. It was late enough in the day that everyone already in their offices, yet not so late that people were starting to take their lunch breaks. Considering the number of different offices in the Ministry and the different hours a lot of them kept, it was interesting how, at certain times during the day, there was just no one to be found wandering the corridors. Hermione suspected that it wasn't a coincidence that this sound found her at just such a time.
She followed the sound all the way down to the atrium, which was just as empty as the rest of the building had been. It seemed like one of the fireplaces designated for Floo travel was what was calling her.
Hermione was confused but continued to follow the sound. Now that she was so close to the whisper, she realised that it didn't sound like a human voice. There was a certain quality to the speaker that left no room for disobedience. There was also something familiar to the voice.
A woman was in the hearth, but Hermione knew for a fact that the Ministry had disabled Floo calls in the atrium. To keep the occasionally high volumes of travellers using the Floo network moving at a reasonable pace, it was forbidden to stop traffic just to make a Floo call. It would take either very complicated or very powerful magic to get around the ancient enchantments on the fireplaces.
Hermione didn`t need to know that it would practically take a god to use the Ministry`s fireplaces as their own personal Floo because she recognised the face looking out at her from the flames.
"Artemis," said Hermione with some surprise. "To what do I owe this pleasure?" There was a little more sarcasm than necessary in Hermione's voice, but she just couldn't bring herself to show genuine enthusiasm towards the goddess who had been so involved in the disaster of a case that ended up with a human statue in Draco's back garden.
"Hermione Granger," Artemis said imperiously. "You were helpful to me before, so I'm here to warn you. Aphrodite is tenacious and vicious. I've subdued her for the moment, but she is not so easily cowed. She is not happy that you've helped me and will most likely target you. Be on the lookout."
Hermione nodded gravely. She should have known that they weren't done with the gods just because Kate had been brought to justice. "Thank you for the warning."
Regally, Artemis inclined her head.
"Is there anything else you can tell me about what she might do?" Hermione asked. It was better to get as much information as she could while Artemis was offering. Usually, the gods were as closed-mouthed as possible. They seemed to prefer to let mortals to just muddle through on vague hints as they did their best to avoid being killed.
Artemis stared over Hermione's shoulder while footsteps echoed around the atrium. When no one appeared, she turned her full attention back to Hermione.
"Aphrodite has friends among the gods, friends more than willing to help her get back on me and the mortals who assisted me in her humiliation. I do not have time to watch over you, but I did owe you something for your assistance. We are even now." She looked over Hermione's shoulder one more time and her eyes narrowed slightly. The footsteps were definitely louder now, someone was almost right behind Hermione.
Artemis disappeared from the flames just as Draco came up behind Hermione.
"What are you doing down here?" Draco asked. He was watching the fireplace suspiciously, probably having caught a flash of Artemis before she'd disappeared. His mind was probably jumping to the same conclusions that Hermione's had; it was most likely something divine that had interfered with the Ministry's ancient enchantments on the fireplaces.
Standing up, Hermione brushed some dust and a stray leaf from her knees. It was nearly impossible for the Ministry to keep such a high-traffic area clean. She turned to face her partner and the tilted her head slightly. Just from a quick glance, Hermione could tell that something was off, but she didn't ask him right there. Instead, Hermione backed away from the fireplace, jerking her head in the direction of her office for him to follow. She didn't want to talk openly about the gods where they could so easily be overheard. One never knew who or what was listening in, especially in a place so infused with magic.
Back in the office, Hermione explained Artemis' warning to Draco. His response was to tiredly run a hand through his hair and stare into his tea meditatively. Both of them had been counting on things getting easier once the gods were done with them, but it was starting to seem like the gods may not ever be done with them.
"I'm going to have to send Mother away," Draco finally said. "I refuse to have her caught in the crossfire if this gets out of hand."
Hermione understood his concern. Already, Narcissa was more involved than she should be. Living so close to the statue of Kate and with Sylvester the winged horse was more exposure to the divine than any mortal with any sense wanted to have. Kate had brought the quarrel with the gods too close to home when she'd left Artemis' prized golden doe in Narcissa's rose garden and Hermione knew that Draco would never show even the tiniest bit of remorse for Kate's fate. Distant relative or not, she had put Narcissa into indirect danger and Draco would never forgive her for it.
"How do you plan on getting your mother to leave the Manor for such a prolonged period of time?"
Narcissa was a force to be reckoned with when she wanted to be, and Draco was the type to bully everyone except his mother. He was going to have to have a pretty persuasive argument to get her out of the house. After raising him, Narcissa had a pretty well-developed sense of when her son was attempting to deceive her.
"I bought her and her annoying friend – the French one who always pinches my cheeks – tickets for a magical cruise. It was supposed to be her birthday present, but I can always just get her something else."
Not for the first time, Hermione was surprised by how thoughtful Draco could be when it came to his mother. If only he could have the same consideration for everyone else. Hermione couldn't help but think that Draco would never have ruined her lunch with Harry and Ron if he had respected her like he did his mother.
Hermione shook her head slightly, knowing that she was being ridiculous. Ever since the war, Draco had treated his mother as if she was breakable and made of glass, and Hermione knew that it would drive her insane if he treated her that way as well. She much preferred that the treat her like a grown woman who was more than capable of taking care of herself.
"Granger?"
She looked over at Draco to see that he appeared to be waiting for some kind of response to his plan.
"That would work," she murmured. Snapping out of her musings, Hermione got a better look at Draco, once again seeing that there was something bothering him. She spitefully thought about maybe just not asking what was wrong, because he'd been so cruel to her friends. Unfortunately, that just wasn't in her personality. "What's got you looking all haunted and mentally scarred?"
"Nothing," he said immediately. The response was suspiciously quick and she didn't believe it for a second.
Hermione just raised her eyebrows.
Apparently it had been really bothering him because Draco didn't take more prodding than that. The haunted look in his eyes worsened and he hunched his shoulders up slightly, something the proud Malfoy heir never did. Hermione had seen him face down terrifying magical creatures and vengeful gods out for his blood without even batting his eyes, but whatever had happened while he was getting his tea had clearly made a larger impact than that. It must have been truly terrible.
"There was a new beverage slave at the coffee cart," Draco started, "This time, a man. When he tried to give me green tea instead of orange pekoe, I put him in his place, and do you know what he said? When I called him a beverage slave he told me that he'd 'be any kind of slave I wanted him to be.'" The statement was followed by a shudder of horror. "Then he licked his lips really slowly and winked."
For a full minute, Hermione didn't say a thing, just stared at Draco with a completely blank expression. She was cherishing the mental image of Draco cowering in fear from a beverage slave just because the man had been forward with his interest. The man deserved some congratulations, something Hermione would be sure to do the next time she took a trip down to the beverage cart.
When the minute was up, she burst into laughter, her head thrown back and tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. After the stress that had been building since her warning from Artemis, it was nice to just let go and laugh for a moment. She ignored the growing displeasure on her partner's face. Draco had had this coming for a long time.
"It's not that hilarious," he snapped when he was finished watching her laugh. Draco didn't like to be all pathetic and soppy and he would never tell her, but he loved to watch her in those rare moments when she let herself laugh.
Hermione managed to stop the laughter, but she couldn't stop the occasional snicker that snuck out while she tried to talk. "It's karma finally getting you for years of abusing the coffee cart girls. It sounds like you've finally met your match."
He chose not to dignify that with a response.
In a few big gulps, Draco finished off his tea. He lazily pointed a finger towards the stacks of files on her desk. "Am I correct in assuming that we're going to be leaving because there's some helpless little furry somewhere that needs our assistance?"
She nodded. "There's some kind of magical creature pandemic. We're going to ground zero as soon as possible."
Draco threw his empty paper cup in the general direction of the rubbish bin and left the room without saying anything. Assuming that he was getting ready for their trip and possibly giving his mother her tickets while he was at it, Hermione went back to familiarising herself with the files.
Hermione had been partially correct in her assumptions; Draco was going to see his mother, give her the tickets and gather the stuff he needed to go out in the field, but he had a stop to make first.
Draco could count the number of times he'd been in Potter's office – none of them willingly - on one hand. This time was no different. If he wanted to make up for the - in his opinion - hilarious stunt he had pulled at Granger's little lunch, then he was going to have to speak to Potter.
Draco knocked on the door, reflecting that he would rather be lodging splinters of bamboo under his fingernails than visiting Potter. Even worse, Granger probably wouldn't even be thankful because technically this mess was his fault in the first place.
"Come in," Potter called from inside the room.
Warily, Draco did as he was bade. He even withheld the snarky comment that was on the tip of his tongue.
Potter was sitting behind his desk, probably poking his nose where it didn't belong. That's what the bastard was best at, getting himself tangled in messes that weren't any of his business.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Potter was even more hostile than usual, though Draco supposed that this was reasonable considering the stupid blighter believed that Draco was abusing Granger in some way.
Disregarding the hostility, Draco sauntered into the room and plopped himself into one of the two visitor's chairs in front of Potter's desk. He couldn't help but notice that Potter's chairs were considerably less comfortable than the ones in Granger's office. Hers had padding and were cushy with armrests, ideal of long days spent sitting there watching her work. Potter's chairs on the other hand, were straight backed, armless, wooden chairs; all business, like the man himself.
"I'm here to correct a misunderstanding," Draco finally said after sprawling his legs across the floor, the only way he could be remotely comfortable in the unforgiving chair. His position had the added bonus of making him appear completely nonchalant, as if his sex life didn't hang in the balance of this conversation.
"Which is?" Potter seemed eager to parade Draco out of the office. Suspicious.
"You left Granger's little lunch with the wrong impression. She's in a spot of trouble, but it has nothing to do with me – I'm in just as much trouble as she is." Not his most well worded sentence, but it got the point across just fine.
"And you're here because you want me to help?"
Draco snorted. "No, I'm here because I want you to keep your nose out of things that aren't any of your business. I can keep Granger perfectly safe without your interference."
Green eyes narrowed as Harry studied the blond that had invaded his office. "I'm supposed to just take your word for it that you're not hurting Hermione? What possible reason could I have to believe you?"
"How about you trust the fact that she's not the type to just take abuse from someone? She'd kick my arse if I ever tried such a thing – not that I ever would."
Potter was completely unimpressed with the statement.
Having been prepared for this but hoping it wouldn't be necessary, Draco leaned forward. "You're a Legilimens, yes?" Harry nodded. "I'll drop my barriers and let you rifle around in my head to make sure that I've never laid a violent hand on her."
Being the nosy bastard that he was, Potter was very eager to take Draco up on his offer.
Draco held up a long finger. "I have some stipulations first. You don't go fishing for information that isn't relevant to Granger. If I feel you starting to search for something about the statue in my garden, I'll shove you out of my mind and we'll both have to deal with migraines for the rest of the day, and my vengeance for that will be severe regardless of Granger's thoughts on my revenge schemes."
"I'm not a Slytherin, Malfoy. If I say I'm only going to look at anything other than your interactions with Hermione, then I'm not going to."
Draco bristled at the slur against Slytherins, but he didn't start an argument about it - even though Potter was a lot more "Slytherin" than the wanker wanted to admit. Starting an argument would only prolong the time he spent in Potter's office and Draco wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
Leaning forward, Draco focused on dropping his mental shields. "Let's get this over with then."
