The early morning sun shone through Hermione's bedroom curtains, illuminating the darkness. Groaning with agitation, Hermione squeezed her eyes shut and turned herself over, cushioning her head into her pillow. She may be a hardworking and intelligent individual, but mornings were not her strong suit.
As the mist on her sleepy brain began to lift, Hermione's thought's flickered back to her dream she had the night before. Blank faces, dark silhouettes. She hadn't got a good night's sleep in a while. Another reason why the few extra moments in bed before getting up for work became even more precious on Monday mornings.
The small red alarm clock rang out loudly beside her bed as Hermione mentally ran through her schedule for the day. As newly appointed deputy head of the department of Magical Law Enforcement, the youngest ever at 24, she was still coming to grips with working under the pressure that was expected of her, and had recently been working extra long shifts to clear up some of her workload. When she left for the weekend, her boss had reiterated that her weekly meeting she was scheduled to have with the other departments could be a worrisome one. She had gone home that evening with a heavy heart, every possible scenario running through her head.
Shaking the feeling of dread, and the last fragments of sleep from her eyes she clambered out of bed, stretching out each muscle as she wandered, half awake towards the bathroom, flicking the shower on with her wand.
After a quick, yet revitalizing shower, Hermione dressed herself in a cream silk blouse and black skirt, matching the outfit with a sensible pair of dressy but low heels. As she looked at the clock, she swore loudly, realizing she had slept in a bit more than she had wanted to. "I've got to get myself a better alarm clock," she mumbled to herself as she ran out of her bedroom.
While she prepared her breakfast, a sharp tap came from the kitchen window. Hermione let in the small barn owl that was holding her Daily Prophet, gave it a piece of her toast and popped some money in its pouch. Picking up her breakfast, Hermione knew she would not have time to read the Prophet now, tossing it on her dining room table as she ran out of her door.
It wasn't until later that Hermione found out that two main articles in the Prophet would turn her day upside down.
—
"Mr Malfoy?…Mr Malfoy?"
"Mmmm… sod off."
"Apologies Mr Malfoy, but we are beginning to descend now, it's time to wake."
The strong Australian accent cut through his groggy mind, and Draco opened his full moon eyes directly into the deep brown ones of the pretty flight attendant, smiling happily at him.
Looking around to find his bearings, Draco ran his hand through his hair, nodding at the attendant before she left him in peace, happy that he had woken up.
After glaring slightly at the flight attendants retreating back, angry that she woke him up, Draco stared out the window, watching the early spring morning bloom to life from the air. There were little to no clouds in the sky that was gradually lightening from the deep amethyst shades of night to the blazing blue shades of day. Draco noticed that it was so early, the sun had yet to rise to the height of the plane. I don't think I've ever been up this early. The world was beautiful at this time of the morning. He felt a sudden sense of safety, like nothing bad could happen to anyone so early in the day. But he already knew that wasn't true.
"Please stow away all belongings, we are coming into the airport in the next few moments." Spoke an overhead voice throughout the first-class cabin.
Stretching out his muscles in his leather recliner chair, Draco spied the book that he had been reading before he fell asleep on the floor by his feet. Picking it up he observed it closely, flipping the small paperback over in his hands. It was a simple muggle page-turner that had picked up his interest at the airport.
Draco scoffed at the thought of the airport; he still couldn't believe he had decided to travel on muggle transport. But, he knew the best way to clear his head was on transport that took longer than a portkey or apparation, and for the decision that he had made, he needed all the time he could get.
As the window began to show more detailed clearings of the city below, Draco started to feel nauseated and lightheaded, and closed his eyes, trying to calm his raging heartbeat. Seeing it just outside his window, after so long, it was all becoming more and more real to him. He was beginning to wonder whether he was making the right decision after all, or whether he should've just stayed away, in Australia, and never boarded the flight in the first place.
The plane hit the runway with a shuddering jolt and came to a quick, grinding halt. Draco took one last deep, engaging breath, mustering the courage to open his eyes, before gathering his things, walking off the plane, and into the arrivals terminal at Heathrow Airport.
For the first time since he left seven years ago, Draco Malfoy was returning to London.
—
The Ministry of Magic was always busy first thing on a Monday morning, and Hermione loved it. She maneuvered her way around the large groups of bustling witches and wizards in the marble corridor, and ducked to avoid the crowds of interdepartmental memo's weaving in and out of each office on every floor. As she walked through the lobby to the elevators, her worry ebbed away, happy to be in an environment that she could lose herself in her work.
As the elevator climbed the floors towards her office, it stopped on a floor that took in a memo that flew directly into Hermione's hands. Shocked by its sudden appearance, she dropped it immediately. Once she regained her composure, she picked it up, recognising Harry's untidy scrawl of her name on the front. Running her eyes quickly over the familiar handwriting, Hermione darted quickly out of the elevator two floors early, as Harry had asked for her to visit his office before the meeting they would both be attending that morning.
As Head of the Auror Department, and Harry being her best friend, Hermione worked very closely with Harry within her position, and had spent many a late hour working cases with Harry in his office. So to walk in on her best friend's office in such disarray and to Harry scratching his head in frenzy was not what she was expecting to see.
"Harry… what on earth… is everything okay?" She asked, as she began to pick up some of the large pile of papers sitting by the door.
Harry looked up from his place on the ground where he was sitting, surrounded by piles and piles of files and folders, his round glasses askew, looking tired and disheveled.
"Oh, Hermione thank Merlin. Take a seat where you can find one. I'm so sorry about the mess. How was your weekend?" He asked, fixing his glasses, and placing some of the papers he had in his hands aside, fixing his attention on Hermione, who had sat down on the small blue couch in the corner of the office.
"My weekend was okay thanks, rather relaxed compared to yours by the looks of it… have you been at home to sleep at all Harry?" She asked, concerned for her friend.
Harry looked up at his friend with a warm smile. "For a couple of hours to sleep and play with the kids, yeah, but apart from that I've been here, working on these cases we've all been given," he said, rubbing his forehead with worry.
"We've been rushed with so many unsolved cases lately that just have no leads on, hence why they have been given to me. Which is why I needed to talk to you, actually," Harry said, looking pointedly at Hermione, who had begun to sort out the papers beside her on the couch.
"Sure thing, I'll do what I can to help, what is it?" She asked.
"Some of these cases, they seem connected, but have no leads. Once I've properly sorted them, can you please have a look through them for me? I just think having a brilliant and objective eye such as your own look at this would be really, really helpful for me." Harry asked, a pleading look in his eye as he looked up at Hermione. Hermione smiled down at Harry, grasping his hand for support.
"Of course I'll lend you a hand Harry, I'd be more than happy to help. When they are ready, owl them to my office and I'll look them over and take some notes," she replied happily.
Harry got up and gave her a large hug, in which Hermione reciprocated. "Thanks Hermione, that really means alot. This new position… well, it's great, but it's hard work," he said, as he collected another file off his desk.
"Talking about new positions, how is yours going, miss Deputy Head?" Harry asked, giving Hermione a cheeky smile.
Grinning back, Hermione looked up from the case she was reading. "It's going really well. A lot of work but I am powering through it, and finding new things to make me love it more everyday. Though, this meeting today does have me a bit concerned," she started, absentmindedly picking off bits of fluff off the sofa. "Quincy said that the meeting was going to be a worrisome one. I'm just concerned that it could possibly be about me," she said quietly. It was something Hermione didn't want to voice out loud. Hermione had been doing everything she could to succeed in her role but she knew it was a tough one to start in.
Harry shook his head. "Hermione, I really wouldn't worry too much about that. Your doing a fantastic job! If these cases are anything to go by, I'd say the worrisome aspect will be we've had an increase in cases appear in a small period of time. Don't freak out." Harry said, smiling at his best friend and colleague, before looking down at his watch. "Anyway, we should be heading to that meeting now. Shall we?" Holding out his hand for Hermione to take, as they left Harry's office for the elevators to take them two stories beyond.
When Harry and Hermione arrived in the meeting room, the group was only waiting for the head of the department, Mr Hugh Quinn to arrive. They greeted the eight other heads briefly before taking their seats. Their head waltz in several minutes later, and took his seat, waiting for the group to quieten.
As they went over the general meeting information that they usually went through every week, Hermione began to get impatient and her mind began to wander. She really wanted to know what the bit 'worrisome' part of the meeting was about, and she was tapping her toes in impatience. Harry had to slide her short looks to stop the tapping so her boss would not notice.
Finally, the meeting sparked Hermione's interest. "So, for those of you who didn't know, the auror department have been smashed with a large amount of cases over the past two to three months," Quincy began, looking very seriously at everyone in the meeting room.
"A lot of the cases given to the auror department are to do with the disappearances that are beginning to arise again. Witches and wizards that are well-known and well celebrated in our world are going missing right before our eyes and no-one in our department has any clue as to why. We have no leads, no clues, absolutely nothing." He said, looking down at the table before him. There was silence in the room. Hermione was stunned. This was not what she was expecting the meeting to be about, at all.
"This is a big problem. It wasn't big public news until it came out in The Daily Prophet today, and now people are beginning to panic. We know You-Know-Who is gone for good, but there is something else that is starting to surface. This is to be kept on our radar, and to be the Auror's number one priority. If anyone hears anything, let Miss Granger know, as she will be personally running this operation." Quincy finished, sitting down in quiet defeat, and wrapping up his papers, indicating the end of the meeting.
If she wasn't flabbergasted before, she was now. Hermione sat in her chair, staring at the table. Celebrated witches and wizards were disappearing and she was in charge of running the operation to figure out the reason behind it and who was causing the disappearance in the first place.
"Wow," Harry said, interrupting Hermione's thoughts.
"Yes. Wow, indeed. Did you know about all of that?" She asked, turning to look at him.
Harry shook his head. "Not all of it, no. Some of the disappearances are in the files, but not to the extent that we were just told. And no public knowledge? Trust the Prophet to divulge something like this. Oh," Harry began, looking uncomfortably at his hands. Hermione looked at him.
"Hmm? What's up?" She asked.
"Talking about the Prophet, there was another article in there that I think you should know about." Harry said, as he grabbed the Daily Prophet off the table, passing it to Hermione.
Opening to the front page, two articles flashed out at her;
Deja Vu Disappearances- New You-Know-Who? Hermione rolled her eyes at the irony.
But the smaller, less ironic article made her gasp with surprise.
Draco Malfoy Returning to England after Seven Years Away
"Wha… Malfoy? He's… coming back to London?" Hermione scoffed loudly at Harry.
"Sounds like it, and, even more than that, that the Prophet doesn't know about, but I know, is that he will be working under your department when he returns." Harry said, before darting out of the room, not knowing how his best friend will react.
Hermione sat down once more in shock, having to take in the news. It was going to be a looong day.