Thud.
Thud thud.
Hermione's eyes flew open.
Someone was in her apartment. She could hear the subdued footsteps, and they were coming toward her bedroom.
She silently grabbed her wand from her bedside table and clutched it under the pillow. Listening intently, she heard the muffled footsteps stop just outside of her door. The door slowly opened. Peering through slits in her eyes she saw a shadow approach the foot of her bed. She had to act quickly.
"Stupefy!" she shouted, bolting upright. The shadow dodged her spell. She was just about to let loose a string of curses when she heard…clapping?
"Well at least you aren't completely useless," a familiar voice drawled.
"Malfoy?" she asked exasperated, flopping back to her pillows. She reached out and turned on the lamp next to the bed. Suddenly, the hangover from her night at the Potters caught up to her. Her stomach revolted against her sudden movements, and her head felt like there was a jackhammer pounding away.
"The one and only," he replied. She could hear the smirk in his voice. She wanted to vomit.
"What are you doing here," she glanced at the clock and groaned "at 5 in the morning?"
"I thought I would see what I was dealing with here," he responded, gesturing to her. "I needed to know how you would react to an unexpected attack."
Hermione closed her eyes, trying to stop the room from spinning.
"Ok, well now that you know, can you please leave?" she asked in the most polite voice she could muster. She really couldn't deal with him this early in the morning and this hungover.
"Death eaters don't stop for hangovers Granger," he tsked.
At that she opened her eyes and sat up, trying to appear as composed as possible.
"Who said I'm hungover," she asked haughtily, "maybe I just don't like be woken up at 5 in the morning by an intruder in my bedroom?"
"You smell like you bathed in firewhiskey Granger," he said with a hint of amusement in his voice. He loved knocking the prissy know-it-all down from her pedestal.
Hermione practically growled "Just go!"
"Don't get your knickers in a twist," he said, throwing his hands up, "I'm leaving."
As he reached the door, he turned around, "By the way Granger, if I were a death eater, you would have been dead before I reached the bed."
"GET OUT!" she all but screamed, throwing a pillow at him. He dodged the pillow and sauntered out like this was an everyday occurrence.
"Who does he think he is?" she mumbled to herself, "You would have been dead before I reached the bed," she mocked, deepening her voice, "well you'll be dead if you do that to me again!"
She angrily turned off the light and settled back in bed to get some more sleep. After ten minutes of angry tossing and turning she knew it was fruitless. With a pounding head she wrenched the duvet off and stomped out to the kitchen. She was more than disappointed to find Malfoy sitting at her kitchen counter casually reading the morning paper.
"What are you still doing here?" She grumbled, walking to her potions cabinet.
"My job," he said slowly as if it was the dumbest question that could be asked.
Hermione rolled her eyes as she continued to rifle through the cabinet for a hangover potion.
"Yes, I know," she said dryly, finally finding the potion she was looking for, "what I meant was why are you still here when I haven't even started the column yet? I'm not in any danger."
"You were in danger from the moment you accepted the position." He said gravely.
"Malfoy, look around, no one is trying to kill me. I think I'll be fine for a day or two," she said calmly, opening the hangover potion and eyeing it wearily. She downed it one gulp, making a face at the taste.
"I'm sure your friend Emma Winters thought the same thing," he reproached.
She looked up sharply.
"That was a low blow. Even for you," she said glaring. He could tell she was angry, but there was more than a little guilt in her eyes too.
"Think of it as a gentle reminder," he said firmly.
She took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
And again.
And again.
Draco was starting to think something was wrong with her when she finally spoke.
"Fine. You can stay. But don't talk to me" she said, making her way to the refrigerator and turning her back on him both literally and metaphorically. He only rolled his eyes and went back to reading the paper.
She set about making herself some eggs and toast. For a moment she forgot all about her unwelcome guest. Until he had to break the wonderful silence with his irritating voice.
"Granger, did you know that in most civilized societies it is considered ill-mannered to prepare a meal and not offer any to your guest?" Draco asked almost innocently.
"Actually I did know that," Hermione responded, taking a rather large bite of toast. "I don't see any guests here though, only an intruder."
"You'd probably try to poison me anyway," he grumbled under his breath.
"Is that all it would take to get rid of you? Here have some eggs," she said sweetly, offering him the plate.
"No thanks. You may want to skip the rest too," he said eyeing her up and down insinuating that she gained weight.
She opened her mouth to retort and then thought better of it. She would not let him get under her skin.
"If we're done here I'm going to go take a bath," She stated. "Unless you think someone might come up from the drain to kill me?"
"I would be more worried about your lingering stench right now than anything else. The water might even recoil from you," he said in mock concern.
"Oh, like women recoil from you?" she asked innocently. She walked away before he could retort.
"Women love me! You would understand if you were one!" he shouted down the hall. She just smiled, knowing she had won that round.
After an obscenely long bath in which she pondered how best to get out of this situation Hermione was ready to face the day. Unfortunately she had been unable to find a way out of the situation that wouldn't lead to her serving a long term in Azkaban. She threw on her typical work day outfit of a button up blouse and black slacks. Wearing muggle clothes every day had gotten her more than a few strange looks at the beginning of her career, but she had never felt truly comfortable in robes. Luckily, more people were coming around to muggle fashion, mostly people her age and younger. Even Malfoy was partial to muggle clothing.
"I was starting to think you had drowned," Malfoy said as she finally emerged, "unfortunately, I'm not that lucky." He sighed.
"Drowning just might be better than being in your presence," Hermione replied, "however, I don't have time to find out. Come along, I have a busy day ahead of me and it's time to go."
She turned on her heel and headed straight out the door, not knowing or caring whether he followed.
"Granger, have you never heard of apparating?" he asked after walking several blocks.
"I prefer walking," she said briskly. He only shook his head and muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like "muggles".
"If you must know, walking clears my mind. I've had some of my best ideas while walking to and from work," she explained reluctantly, "and that won't be changing anytime soon."
The Daily Prophet was only a few more blocks away, but it was in no way a pleasant walk for either of them. As they got closer to their destination they started to get more and more attention. Whether this was due to their uncontrollable bickering or the fact that Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy were walking down the street together, it was unclear.
"It's your fault everyone was staring at us," Hermione stated.
"My fault? You were the one screeching at me!" he replied.
"I was only "screeching" at you because you were being an insufferable git- oh, hello Lila." Hermione stuttered in surprise. Lila leaned against Hermione's desk, looking every bit the formidable editor that she was.
"Draco, Hermione," Lila said, nodding at each of them, "I see that you two did not heed my advice of getting to know one another."
"Yes, well, we already know each other quite well," Hermione explained.
"I can see that," Lila chuckled darkly, pushing herself away from the desk.
"Great! Now that we've got that cleared up, I was thinking I would start by reading all of Emma's old articles. There may be some clues—"
"Go home, Hermione," Lila interrupted.
"Excuse me?" Hermione asked flabbergasted.
"I want you two to take the day and figure out how you are going to make this work. As I said having a bodyguard is non-negotiable and Draco is the only person available. If you can't work with him then I'll have no choice but to remove you from this assignment."
"Remove me? Because of him? Lila, I don't think you understand," Hermione said quickly, her face red in both anger and embarrassment. She felt like she was back at Hogwarts getting reprimanded by McGonagall for something Harry and Ron did.
"I understand perfectly. And Draco, I will be speaking to your superior as well," Lila stated in a tone that signaled the conversation was over. They both looked on in shock as she left the room, closing the door behind her.
"Is it just me or do you feel like we just got detention?" Draco asked.
"Worse, I think we got suspended," Hermione replied, sinking into her chair. She felt terrible. She had never gotten in trouble at work before. It felt like she had failed a test she didn't know she was taking. And it was all Malfoy's fault. Oh, how she hated him. Why couldn't it have been anyone else? Literally anyone would have been better.
The only thing she could think to do now was to solve this case as quickly as possible so she could be rid of him once and for all.
"Come on," she said, determination lacing her voice as she stood from her desk. "If Lila won't give me what I need to get started on this case then I'll get it myself."
"And just how are you planning on doing that?"
"We are going to Emma Winters flat," she said resolutely, turning on her heel and walking purposefully out the door. Draco followed, resigned. Why oh why was he the unfortunate sod to get stuck with her?
Once they exited the building, Hermione held out her hand, signaling that it was time to apparate. He lightly touched his fingers to her.
With a pop they appeared outside of an apartment building in a small Wizarding town just outside of London. They made their way up to the third floor, where they stopped outside of a door labeled 3C.
"This is it," Hermione said quietly, some of her earlier bravado gone.
Draco moved in front of her, his wand out.
"Let me check for dark magic first," he said, leaving no room for argument. Hermione crossed her arms, but didn't say anything. It was what she would have done.
After the flat was declared safe, Hermione whispered "alohomora" and they entered. They stepped into a small studio apartment. A bed in one corner, a large window that let in a lot of light, a small kitchen area with a rickety old table, and a desk covered in papers. Hermione gulped. She was suddenly overwhelmed with a memory of coming here for Emma's last birthday. She remembered the smile on her face as she opened the monogrammed leather journal that Hermione had gotten her. A pang of sadness stabbed at Hermione's chest as she took in the space.
Hermione closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had a mission. She would grieve later. Making her way to the desk, she began rifling through the piles of paper on the desk.
"Granger, you do realize that you've broken in to a dead girls home, correct?" he asked.
"I broke nothing, and I have no intention of stealing anything of value," she said flatly. Clearly, she was not in the mood for banter.
She picked up the familiar journal. Attached to the first page were newspaper clippings of all the current death eater stories, as well as a few dating back to before the war. The first few pages were the outlines of the articles that Emma had written. After that several pages were missing, obviously torn out. Hermione flipped through the pages and a letter fell out. It was a warning from the Death Eaters telling Emma to stop writing if she wanted to live. Why hadn't she told anyone of the threats? She might still be alive if she had.
Draco perused the flat as well. He pulled the books from the shelves one by one and flipped through the pages. People often hid things they didn't want found in books. Sure enough, a scrap of paper fell out of one of the books. In a messy scrawl it had only a date and one word. Scotland.
The date was a day after she was murdered.
"Granger, was she working on anything in Scotland?" Draco asked.
"Not that I know of," Hermione replied, coming to stand by him. He showed her the slip of paper. Taking it from him, she looked at it as if it would reveal its secrets if she only stared at it long enough. She shook her head, unable to come up with anything.
She placed the paper in the journal along with any other notes of interest she had found and looked around once more. It broke her heart to see the dishes in the sink, and the shoes by the door. It looked like she had just stepped out. One would never guess that a murder had taken place here. She wondered when someone would come clean out Emma's things.
"Come on," Hermione said, heading to the door, "I have some things to pick up in Diagon Alley and then I'm meeting for lunch with Harry, Ginny, and Ron."
She apparated without waiting for his reply. Huffing, he quickly followed. Honestly, how was he supposed to protect her when she insisted on being so stubborn? There were so many places in Diagon Alley she could have apparated to. Was he supposed to wander around until he found her?
He apparated to the spot he thought she would most likely go first. Sure enough, she was standing just outside of the bookstore Flourish & Blotts. She was about to walk in, but he grabbed her arm.
"Do not do that again," he said through gritted teeth. She yanked her arm out of his grasp, eyes flashing.
"Don't tell me what to do," she stated, deathly calm. She turned on her heel, and entered the bookshop. The moment she entered, she could feel some of her anger and sadness melt away. The smell of books, and the pleasant coolness were instantly calming. She started to head to the back of the store, but was stopped by an unfamiliar voice.
"My my, what do we have here? Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger spending the day together in Diagon Alley?"
Draco and Hermione both turned at the mention of their names. A tall man stood before them, with skin the color of chocolate, and laughter on his lips. Draco narrowed his eyes as he took in the sight of his best friend.
"What do you want Blaise?" He asked, annoyed. He had been hoping to avoid interactions like these for some time.
"Blaise Zabini?" Hermione asked, surprised.
"The one and only," Blaise said, flashing her a crooked smile. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Sod off Zabini," Draco said.
"Now really, is that any way to treat your oldest friend?" Blaise asked.
"When said friend is an annoying git, yes," Draco replied.
Hermione watched this exchange with interest. She couldn't tell if Draco and Blaise actually liked each other.
Blaise shifted his attention from Draco back to her.
"No longer the frizzy haired bookworm, are we Granger?"
"Er…no, I suppose not," she responded, unsure if that was a compliment or an insult.
"A compliment, I assure you," he said as if he could read her mind, smiling charmingly once more, "I have no intentions of starting a fight with such a stunning woman."
Hermione couldn't help the blush that creeped up her cheeks.
Draco groaned.
"Zabini, must you flirt with every woman you meet?"
"But it's so fun, you would know that if you ever tried it" Zabini retorted laughing. Hermione couldn't help it, she laughed too.
Draco glared.
"Some friend you are," he muttered.
"So what are you two doing here together? I must admit, this is a pairing I never expected,"
"I'm not sure if you heard, but one of the reporters at the Daily Prophet was killed a few days ago. And then my flat was broken into. My editor is worried, what with all the Death Eater activity recently, so she insisted on a 'bodyguard' for the time being," Hermione explained.
"And she thought Malfoy was the man for the job?" Blaise asked, perplexed.
Hermione laughed.
"My thoughts exactly," she agreed, "but it was that or no job, so I didn't have much of a choice."
"At least it's not your job to protect someone you would like nothing more than to strangle in their sleep," Draco said.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"I must admit I was hoping for something juicier," Blaise said, "Maybe an accidental marriage that can't be annulled for a year, or a one night stand resulting in an unexpected pregnancy, or even a secret love affair. This is just so dull in comparison."
"I can assure you that none of those will ever happen" Draco said, a look of disgust on his face. Hermione had a similar expression on hers.
Blaise laughed once more, "I think I may have found something you two finally agree on. With that, I must bid you adieu," he said, tipping an imaginary hat.
They watched him walk away with confused expressions on both of their faces.
"He's…interesting," Hermione said, once he was out of earshot.
"That's one word for it. Personally, I would choose annoying," Draco said.
"I thought the two of you were friends," Hermione said, bemused.
"We are," Draco shrugged, "doesn't mean he's not annoying."
"You have an odd way of treating your friends," she said, shaking her head, and resuming her walk to the back of the store.
"Perhaps you are the one that treats their friends oddly," he countered, "the niceness, the…hugs?" he shivered exaggeratedly.
"It's called affection Malfoy, but you wouldn't know that if you were hit over the head with it," she replied haughtily.
"Affection hitting me over the head would be a bit counterproductive, don't you think?" he asked. She sighed in annoyance and stomped away.
Draco smirked. This was too easy. Sure, she was annoying as hell, but he had to admit that getting under her skin was its own type of fun.
After another hour of bickering, insulting each other, eye rolls, and long uncomfortable silences, it was time to meet Harry, Ginny, and Ron.
"Malfoy, I need half an hour alone," Hermione said as they made their way to Florean Fortescues.
"As much as I would like to get away from you and your grating voice, you know I can't do that," he replied.
"Harry will be there, a trained auror just like you," she stated. He started to reply, but she cut him off, "I don't care if you stand across the street but you can't be there until after I've told Ron."
Ron had always had a hot temper, and she knew without a doubt that he would not react well to this news. Working with Malfoy was one thing, but being with him all hours of the day was another. Although their breakup had been mutual, she suspected that he still harboured some feelings for her, and having Malfoy practically live with her would not be good for his jealousy issues. She desperately did not want to witness a fight today.
"Weasley can go fu-" Hermione cut him off.
"Do not finish that sentence," she said, holding up a hand, "Half an hour or I will hex you into next week. And don't think I won't." Her eyes flashed menacingly.
Hermione was a formidable witch, but she didn't frighten him. While he never wanted to find out who would win a duel between them, he didn't believe for a second that she would do anything to him. With that thought in mind, a devilish idea came to him.
"Fine. But this is the only time I will do this," he conceded.
"I would say thank you, but…it's you, so I won't" she said, turning away, and entering the ice cream shop. He could see her select a table on the patio in a small patch of sun. She turned her face to the sun and closed her eyes as if she could absorb it. A few moments later he saw the other two thirds of the golden trio arrive, plus Ginny Potter.
Hermione greeted her friends warmly, hugging each of them in turn.
"How's the head today?" Harry whispered, hugging her.
"Nothing a hangover potion couldn't cure," she whispered back.
The four of them took their seats and placed their orders. Ron was talking about his most recent travels with the Chudley Cannons, but Hermione wasn't listening. She could see Draco across the street watching them. He had a strange expression on his face that she couldn't quite figure out.
"Hermione, are you alright? You look a bit peakish," Ron said, interrupting his own story. She snapped her attention back to him.
"Er…well, I have something to tell you," she said nervously. Suddenly, she saw Draco walking toward them. No! He wouldn't dare!
"Have you told them yet?" He asked her innocently, pulling up a chair and placing it between her and Ginny.
Hermione stared at him in shock and anger. He leaned back in his chair, looking to the world as if he were as relaxed as one might be at the beach.
"You said you would wait," she growled, glaring.
"Oh, did I? Hmm, must have forgot," he said, examining his fingernails. She could see the slight smirk gracing his lips and wanted to throttle him. Ginny noticed this and scooted her chair ever so slightly away, not wanting to be in the path of destruction.
"Hermione, why is Malfoy here?" Ron asked with forced calm. The tips of his ears were already turning red. A sure sign that an explosion was soon to come.
"Well…er…you see, the thing is," she started, pausing, unsure quite how to explain the situation.
"Oh merlin, you're DATING him aren't you?" Ron exclaimed. He looked as if this was the worst possible thing that could happen.
"What? No! Of course not!" She answered quickly, a look of disgust crossing her face.
"She could only be so lucky," Draco muttered, but everyone heard him. Ginny glared at him in a manner that clearly said shut up.
"I got a promotion of sorts, but it's dangerous, so my editor is insisting on my having a bodyguard," Hermione explained.
"And she chose HIM?! He'll kill you before ever protecting you. How are you two so calm about this?" he asked, turning to Harry and Ginny.
"We found out last night," Ginny said quietly. She knew how much her brother hated being the last to know.
"Oh I see, and you all thought I needed to be handled," he said angrily.
"Clearly they were wrong," Draco said sardonically.
Ron glared at him, itching to throw himself across the table and pummel him. Draco, for his part just looked bored.
"I don't have a choice Ron. It's either him or I don't take the assignment," Hermione said, bringing the conversation back to the matter at hand.
"Then don't take the assignment, Hermione. You know who his father is, you know how he treated you in school, how could you agree to this? Hell, he's probably the one behind all the recent attacks I've been reading about."
"If you're done speaking about me as if I wasn't here I'll have you know that I'm the best auror the ministry has –"
"Ahem, second best" Harry muttered.
"The best, and I wouldn't jeopardize my career over your little girlfriend, so give it a rest. And you'd do well to remember that I have paid my dues, and been cleared of any wrongdoing. Another snide remark against me or my family and I'll hex you before you can even say 'galleon'. As in 'I wish I had even one galleon to my name'"
The table was silent for a beat, and then Ron lunged himself at Malfoy, ready to fight. Luckily, or unluckily depending on your viewpoint, Harry sensed this coming and blocked him before he could do any damage.
Keeping him away from Malfoy he said, "Ron, that's enough. Just ignore him, he's only trying to provoke you. How about you take some time to take in these recent developments and you can contact Hermione when you've calmed down?"
Ron looked at his best friends and his sister. He opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it and disapparated.
An uncomfortable silence fell over the group. Hermione stared at the spot Ron had been standing. She had murder in her eyes. Harry alternated between glaring at Draco and giving pitying glances to Hermione.
"Well, that went swimmingly," Ginny commented, breaking the awkward silence that had settled over everyone. "Swimmingly indeed"