When they emerged from the green flames, he noticed Granger looking out at the rushing Ministry employees while she fussed with her sleeves. She seemed nervous.

He watched her shimmy the hem of her dress down, smooth her robes, fiddle her sleeves up to the elbows and back down again before huffing and balling her fists up.

"I highly doubt they notice us together, let alone at all," he muttered to her. She didn't seem to hear him. "You're fine," he insisted, softer. She blinked up at him, clearly suspicious.

"We meet the Auror in my office this morning, apparently," Granger said suddenly. With a final fretful look around the entrance, she started steadfast towards the lifts.

"Thank you, Draco, thank you so much for the compliment, Draco. You look fine too," he muttered to himself as he hurried after her.

The lifts were thankfully empty. Granger seemed to calm on the ride up to her floor. It was a short walk to her small office, an even shorter wait for the Auror, who was rather plainly named Paul. The man was tall, well built with curly brown hair that fell around his face. He talked in a dull manner, befitting everything else about him. Draco regarded him with a stale air, not really wanting to discuss babysitting times. That's what it felt like for him, he wondered how Granger thought of it, being watched. Draco would have been revolted at just the thought of it if it was him in this situation.

Paul spoke in that same lifeless tone as when he'd greeted them, "I assume you will floo with her in the morning now?"

Draco went over possible obscurities in his schedule. Granger and he arrived at the same time anyway for work, and he suspected things with Astoria wouldn't last much longer. There would be no variance there. He was free as far as he was concerned. He nodded and said, "I'll simply floo her every morning then? What about lunch?"

Hermione made an awful gagging sound at that and pinned an affronted look on him, "I hardly need a guard at lunch. I eat in my office usually anyway." Draco rolled his eyes; of course the bookworm ate lunch in her office.

Paul spoke up, "If you do indeed decide to leave work for lunch then you contact either of us, I still would recommend one of us or a friend eat with you." As for after work I'll escort her home, should you be busy. I'm only here to fill in the gaps. I'll set up wards today; I'll require both of your help, naturally. I'll collect you both on the main floor after lunch." He shot them a strange curling of his lip, and it took a moment for Draco to realize it must be his attempt at a smile. He sneered back at him, casting as much insincerity into it as he could. Granger's lips quirked up despite herself, though she hid it behind a sly move of her hand.

Paul left her office, leaving them alone once more.

Draco turned to her, the height difference making her tilt her head back to meet his eyes. She said defiantly, "Don't worry. I won't make you eat your meals with the mudblood." And although she had said it with a laugh, Draco cringed at the word. He hadn't ever heard her use it before. It didn't sound right. She seemed to notice his silence and rambled on. "I often work through my lunch anyway, so no skin off my bones."

"Well, I guess that's a good thing then," he told her, not quite understanding what she meant. He figured it was a muggle thing.

Then the awkwardness was back, dragging out for longer than either of them preferred. Being the clever Slytherin that he was, Draco ended it by saying, "Perhaps we should today, work through it I mean. We'll have to meet the Auror, dud that he is, to set up wards at your house besides."

"He is a bit plain isn't he? I'll be lucky if I don't die from boredom, never mind the possible wizards after me." Her eyes went lackluster for a moment, but she hid it well in the smile she wore. Draco didn't think much of it. He knew what it was like to have people hunting you down, and he knew she was as used to it as he was, back in the last year of when they were supposed to be in school.

The thought of her four years ago, face scratched and bloody, hands shaking in the ruins of the great hall came to mind. He pushed the memory down and fought to bring the levity back to his voice. She was trying so he'd try to, if only to make this bearable.

"Though he is an annoying idiot, Weasel won't let that happen. Potter will barely be able to hold him back from jumping to your rescue what with those puny arms of his."

"Harry is lean, not puny, and Ron isn't an idiot…mostly. I doubt those initials were mine in the first place, though a muggle murdered by a wizard is a very serious matter. Whoever did such a horrible thing will be caught, though." She said it confidently, proud of her friends, albeit obviously distant these days. Draco scoffed at her tone though it amazed him she could have such pride in two dimwits like Potter and Weasley. They would likely be too headstrong to see clearly when it came to one of their own.

Draco was more competent than the two of them combined, and—and he didn't really know where he was going with that thought. He was more than capable of protecting her. His schedule was clear. There was nothing standing between him and her besides an old feud he'd long ago decided was pointless.

So why was he suddenly nervous thinking about it?

"I'll see you later Granger." With a faint nod he turned and left her office, closing the door gently behind him. He bit the inside of his cheek, thinking about how this case would turn out.

If she was indeed the target, which he had a gut feeling she was, then they both had bigger problems to worry about.


Hermione was flipping through the files Malfoy had given her for a little over ten minutes when Harry walked in, closing the door halfway behind him. She tried to slip it closed before sliding it beneath thicker, less conspicuous S.P.E.W. case files to her left. At the look he was giving her, she knew he hadn't missed it and likely had some idea what she was up to. Hermione noticed the shift in his posture and was grateful when he didn't ask about it. She motioned with one hand for him to sit, and he took the chair in front of her desk.

"Harry, has something happened with the case?"

He shook his head. "No, unfortunately. I have Ron working with a team of specialists on the scene examining any traces of magic left, though so far there hasn't been much other than what we already found."

Hermione voiced what she had been wondering since this whole mess started, "Was it dark magic, Harry?"

The way his face fell just slightly answered her question before he opened his mouth. "It was." Harry reached a hand out over the short space between them to grab hers. He squeezed her fingers. She tried her best to look unbothered by the news. It only served to further confirm the possibility of her being the H.G. on the note.

"I actually came for something else," he said, withdrawing his hand.

She shifted in her seat. "Oh?"

The mood lightened considerably when Harry smiled. "I came here to invite you to a lunch with Ginny and I this weekend. We have an announcement. Most everyone will be there!"

Hermione's wonderings about what exactly the announcement could be were sidelined when she realized what everyone meant. "Who is everyone exactly?"

"The Weasley's. Well most of them anyway…I'm inviting a few friends from the old days, and a few around work. You're free to invite anyone you want as well." Harry's voice lowered at the end, pointedly leaving out one unavoidable detail.

"You mean Malfoy?" she offered, her brown eyes narrowing. She leaned back in her chair, folded her arms.

Harry shifted in his seat, eyes turning pleading. "'Mione, you know it's mandatory he be with you when you're outside of work and your flat. Ginny and I want you to be there, and as your friend and as it's my job, I want you to be safe. It's just until this case is solved."

She pointed an accusing finger at him. "That's very easy for you to say, but in practice, for me, it's a little hard. And I know you know exactly what I'm talking about, Harry Potter."

He leaned forward in his seat and his eyes were doing that cute I'm the boy who lived thing she knew he used to get an extra shot of espresso when he grabbed coffee at lunch.

"I'm sure I'll be fine being surrounded by a bunch of wizards and witches, and more than a few Aurors. Malfoy hardly needs to be there to babysit. I doubt anyone would try anything with so many around, especially with you there. I'm just wondering what Ron will do."

"I'll keep an eye on Ron. He knows the situation."

"Harry," she pleaded, trying one last time.

Harry sighed, "It has to be this way, I don't want to risk anything. Your safety is the most important thing right now. I won't lose another friend," he said, voice hard. She sighed as he smoothed a hand over his robes. "Until this all settles down the two of you are going to have to get along with each other. I thought things were better now?"

Hermione made a noise in the back of her throat. "They are. But he's still a Malfoy. No matter what he says or does now doesn't erase all the years of torment he put me through. We're walking on eggshells with each other as it is, and the fact I can't even walk outside alone by myself will eventually stop being so…novel."

Harry chuckled and said, "It's already been a full day and a half and you two are still alive. You'll butt heads eventually, you butt heads with everyone." He offered her a shrug. "But I think he's changed since the war. We all have."

Hermione turned thoughtful, knowing no one who went through what they did left unchanged. "I suppose he has."

Harry hesitated slightly before saying, "Have you?"

"Have I what?"

"Moved on? Let go?" He said, cautiously eyeing her.

Hermione answered truthfully. "Honestly, it's been almost easy getting along with him. I learned a long time ago it's better to move on instead of dwell." Suddenly she could hear every breath she took, feeling too loud. "Ron taught me that, after what we went through. The past is the past even for Malfoy, so I'm grateful for that. But I guess I won't know until something happens. I know he's still a git underneath all that pomp."

"Pomp tends to lead to git. If he does anything, I'll get Ron to beat the ferret out of him, I'm Harry Potter after all, I can do that." He smiled cockily and wagged his eyebrows at her. Harry always knew what to say to make her feel like the world wasn't balancing on her shoulders.

She leaned back in her chair, blinking at the ceiling. After a long sigh, she slumped in her seat. "I just hope this is over soon. Before anything worse happens." Harry nodded, looked at the place where Malfoy's file was sticking out beneath all the others. "Malfoy gave me a list of names of possible suspects. Victims. I'm going through it, seeing if there's any clues. Any other people with the initials of H.G."

Harry nodded in understanding. "Just like the Hermione I know and love. It's fine with me if you go over names but remember no field work."

She rolled her eyes. "As if my body guard would ever allow fieldtrips."

Harry chuckled as he rose from his seat, saying, "I'll tell Ginny to expect you and Malfoy this weekend. I'll owl you the time tonight."

Her smile faded as he left the room with a little wave.

Hermione sat in silence, trying to picture an entire afternoon at the Weasley's with Malfoy following her every move. She wrinkled her nose thinking about it. After a while she began to pour over the list of names she'd already memorized. She circled everyone with the initials of H.G. as she went with a red marker. There were so few. She was determined to finish this before lunch so she'd have something to discuss with Malfoy.

She wasn't sure how much longer this peace between them would last, so better to have a productive meeting than one where the past could come up.


The pleasant hum he'd had vanished as soon as he entered his own office. Strangely, as soon as Granger was out of his sight his mind had gone directly to Astoria and the mess they were currently in. Teasing Granger took his mind off his private life, a relief in a way. If guarding Granger made him forget Astoria if even for a second, he was perfectly happy with his new job.

But now his migraine was coming back. He was alone in his office, staring at annoyingly neat stacks of files and papers, a bookshelf so tediously organized he wondered how he hadn't disliked it before now. A clean and perfectly organized office was so deep in contrast to his life he didn't think he'd be able to stand looking at it much longer.

He buried his face in his hands until he saw stars, tiny pin pricks of white and grey dancing around behind his closed lids.

He needed to end things with her. Astoria was going above and beyond with the spending and even though he had more than enough to live off of from his family vault, his money was his alone. He earned it. It wasn't his father's or his mother's. Astoria had shown on more than one occasion that she didn't care, and lately was only with him for his money.

Any affection he'd felt for her before had gone away, around the fifth or sixth time his wallet had too. As Theo had once so elegantly put, There's only so much someone can give before you're wasted and shagging random chicks you don't even know. Draco had been there before and he really had no desire to go there again. It was better to move on before things got even worse than they already were.

So, tonight. He'd go home, and end things between them. His mother wouldn't be happy about it, but he'd cross that bridge when he got to it.

He stared at his bookcase. Tried to take a step towards his desk, where he knew the new day's work would be. He had mail to open. He had meetings.

Draco turned back around and heading for the array of floos lining the Ministry's entrance.

He would do it now. It was better for both of them and ending things after work would likely mean hours of fighting and a sleepless night. She had her entire pureblooded family to fall back on if she needed money, and she knew that full well.

He was greeted by Astoria sitting on his bed, reading. This he was surprised to see. Astoria never read, at least not in front of him. He locked eyes with her and watched as she sat the book down, cover up on the bed sheets in front of her. Party Planning, Witch's Guide to Elegant Banquets. Really?

He could tell from the subtle sadness and resolve in her eyes that she had a hint of why he was here when he should have been working.

His voice was steady when he told her, "Get out."

At her affronted look and choked sob he waved his hand at her 'book', "I can't keep letting you steal from me. Yes, it's stealing Astoria. My money is my own, and you have your family's. And if you're going to say you'll stop one minute and then go and pick up a damned party-planning book the next there's no point in arguing with you anymore. It's done. I'm not going to put up with it anymore."

Astoria's puffy eyes had swelled again with tears, brimming over the edges and spilling too easily down her cheeks. She was a quick crier. This had been coming for a long time. A good cry and a few hundred galleons would cheer her up and she'd be back to normal in no time. He just needed her out of his life, as soon as possible.

"Astoria, I need you to gather your things and leave," he told her, taking a step back when she sat up on the edge of the bed.

She let out another sob and said, shakily, "Y-you're breaking up with me, Draco?"

Holding his arms out, he shrugged. "I thought that was clear."

More sobs and her hands fisted in his sheets in rage and sadness, "D-Draco, we w-were going to get m-married! How can you b-break up with me?"

He ignored the marriage comment, not once had he ever brought that up. Narcissa probably put that in her head. "It's been a long time since we've been together for a reason besides sex and money. I'm just sorry I didn't realize it earlier." He felt calm, even when faced with her dramatics. She was acting like a child.

"I loved you." Her voice steadied, and she said it so fearfully final, eyes full of anger now. She stood and gathered the book in her hands, threw it at his chest and locked eyes with him as it fell to the floor in a flutter of pages.

Draco didn't budge. After a breath he steeled his voice, "I want you moved out before I get off work."

He didn't miss the way a sneer stole across her face. There was hate in her eyes, and he didn't recognize the Astoria he'd once wanted so badly at the start of all this anywhere in them.

As Draco headed to the floo, throwing the fistful of powder in, he ignored how Astoria stomped after him. Tried not to focus on the way the green flames made the shape of her flicker and fade before whisking him away.