Chapter four: A Sudden Breakthrough

Droplets of rain tapped against the glass windows of the cottage. Hermione was curled up on her sofa under a warm fleece blanket. She had decided to take a break from her research that morning as she already knew every detail regarding the case. As she finished the last page of the book she was reading, her mind wandered to the events of the previous day, when she had been standing in the same room as two men who she regarded in very different ways.

There was Ron, a man whom she once called her best friend during their childhood, a man whom she once fell in love with, and thought she would marry. There was Draco the man who tormented her in school, who used to call her mudblood, who had fought on the other side during the war. In only five years her opinion on them had changed dramatically.

Ron now disgusted her. After the war they dated for two years, but their relationship was not meant to be. When it didn't work out it had been as if every tie that once bonded them together had been cut through by the harsh reality of their futures not forming the roles they each thought they would have. It was Hermione who made the decision to walk away and Ron never forgave her for it. He now treated her with almost the same disdain that he did Draco.

Draco. How he had changed into something she would have never foreseen. He had his flaws, his harsh exterior being one of them. However, he had worked tirelessly after the war to prove himself worthy of the second chance that he had been giving. He donated a small fortune to the war recovery efforts. He and his mother had held numerous charity events to benefit the many children, including his young cousin, who had been orphaned. He assisted the aurors immensely in their hunt for missing death eaters, not to mention how hard he had worked for the MLE. He was a changed man, though Hermione believed he had always held a good heart, but it had been hidden behind years of having gross intolerance drilled into his head by the tyrant he once called father.

Then there was the matter of yesterday. They had laughed at each other, though not the calloused laughter that had consumed much of their youth. This was different. It was something cheerful, they had made jokes at one another's expense, but the interaction seemed to lighten the pairs defenses. Maybe it was nothing, merely a product of a weeks worth of shared company. Perhaps it was the years of contempt for one another finally slipping away. She couldn't be sure which of the two it was, but she surprisingly hoped for the latter.

A moment later, the familiar green flames engulfed her fireplace as the voice of her former classmate filled the air "Hermione? Are you home?"

She all up but jumped out of her seat, sticking her head into the emerald flames. "Good morning Neville" she said with a warm smile.

"Morning love. I know I said I would owl but this is something you may want to hear in person. Do you mind if I come through?" he asked.

She felt her heartbeat quicken at the possibility of new evidence. "Of course Neville, you're always welcome in my home." she said before ducking out of the fireplace, dusting the soot off of her clothes as she rose to her feet.

Seconds later, Neville was stepping inside her living room. "Its good to see you Hermione" he stated as he placed a friendly kiss upon her cheek, pulling her into a warm embrace.

"You too Neville." she said. As she pulled away she flashed him another smile. "How is everything at Hogwarts Professor Longbottom?"

He laughed "Four years and I'm still not used to that title you know? They're excellent though, plenty of learning going on with our lot not being there."

The two smiled at one another before a more serious expression took over the man's face. "I wish I had better news, but unfortunately, I did find something of mine missing."

"Have a seat" she said, gesturing towards the sofa. "What was it Neville?"

He hesitated before beginning. "At first glance it would appear to be nothing more than a common magical gardening book" he reached into his satchel and retrieved a small text. "Here" he said, handing her a tattered and worn book titled 'Importance of Placement in A Wizards Garden'.

Hermione looked over the text, flipping through the pages, taking notice of the multitude of scribble in the margins. "I don't understand. If it was stolen, how did you-"

"Right, probably should have led with that. I have, well had, two copies. This one though." he pointed to the old text. "This was Professor Sprouts. She gave it to me when I started. I believe this was what they were looking for, not the copy they got."

"But what is so important about it?" she seemed puzzled.

"You see, herbology may seem fairly safe. But you have to remember, when you are planting inside of a greenhouse you can have multiple species of plants in close proximity to each other, where as in the wild, they wouldn't naturally grow like that. Anyway, certain magical plants cannot be stored within a confined place together as they can become dangerous. Some can release a toxic gas when they are introduced, mix certain ones pollen or sap together and it can be poisoness, combine others and they can explode. A lot of these can be common, usually harmless plants. Professor Sprout had came across other mixtures or remedies over the decades that she would make note of to keep students safe, however, she kept this book locked away so that this knowledge wouldn't be well known. But if this copy landed in the wrong hands, that person would be very dangerous."

She took a moment to process this new information. "What about without these notations? What could someone accomplish?" she asked.

Neville released a sigh "its hard to say really. It would depend on what they already know of magical plants. Possibly nothing. On the other hand, if handled in the right way, some combinations could be, controlled in a sense, weaponized worse than any potion on curse."

"Neville, may I hang onto this for little while? I will keep it locked in my office for safe keeping. I just need to cross reference a few things." she asked.

"I figured as much, that's why I brought it. Did you have any other questions? I hate to cut things short, but I am so rarely able to come home during the school year, and would like to spend as much time with Hannah as I can." he stood from his seat next to his old friend.

"Of course you would. That should be enough for now, if I have any other questions I can send an owl. Go home and see your wife Neville, I know she misses you." she said.

"I did get quite lucky with her didn't I? I'll be back around the holidays, I do hope we can find some time to catch up." he said as he grabbed a handful of floo powder.

"We will, do send Hannah my love." she smiled, giving his arm a light squeeze.

"Good luck with the case Hermione." he dropped the powder in the fireplace and was gone in an instant.

Hermione immediately grabbed the book off of the coffee table, retreating to her library. She sat at the small desk that was perched beneath a tall window. The rain still tapping softly on the glass. She retrieved a few pieces of parchment and a quill, opened the book and began scouring the pages, hoping to find something, anything that could provide some answers.

Draco sat at his kitchen counter with a cup of coffee and some of the case files. He was working on a list of questions to ask Jeffries. While he didn't agree with Hermione on this, if she did get her way. He wanted to be prepared. He too was feeling unsure of their reactions to one another the prior day in his office.

Did he really joke that she wanted to shag him? Yes, he did. It's not that Hermione wasn't an attractive woman, even Draco could admit she was beautiful. They simply had too much history. He felt a deep remorse for the hatred he had shown her during school, and while she had forgiven him, the damage was already done. He had expected her to slap him, but she laughed. She laughed at him without malice, and for a brief moment, their past seemed miles away.

After making a few more notes, he made to venture upstairs to change, as he was still in his pair of black plaid lounge pants, as well as a loose grey t-shirt, when the sound of his floo being accessed stopped him in his tracks. He turned to see Hermione now standing in his living room. Her face pale, her eyes wide as she glanced around the room. Her eyes met with his and he could see the terror behind them.

Draco came back down the few steps he had made it up to and quickly approached her. "What is it Granger? What happened?" he asked.

"Neville...something was taken...it's...Malfoy this could be bad. This could be really bad." she said in a frantic tone.

He became a bit unnerved by her state. This had to be bad if it had her this shaken up. "What are you talking about Granger what went missing?" he asked.

"A book. A herbology book...the plants...if they know...we have to stop them...this could be so bad." she trailed off.

Draco grabbed both of her arms. Not harshly, but enough to get her attention. "Granger, you need to calm down, your not making any sense. What happened? What about the plants?" he urged her to explain.

Hermione took a deep breath to help calm herself "I'm sorry, I came here as soon as I figured it out. Neville came to see me this morning." she glanced down at Dracos hands that were still gripping her arms.

Draco released her and motioned to the couch. "Sit down." She nodded and took a seat, Draco following after her "I thought he was going to owl you." he said.

"He was going to, that was until he discovered what was missing. You see Neville had two copies of this particular book. The one he lent me was a copy that Professor Sprout had given him. He suspects that was the copy intended to be stolen, but they took the wrong one." she said with her head resting on her palm, her arm perched on her knee.

"What kind of book? Why is this so bad?" he was getting frustrated at her lack of answers as to why this was such a development.

"Were you aware that when storing wild magical plants, certain species should never come in contact with one another? That they can become extremely dangerous?" she asked.

"Vaguely, my Mother had a small greenhouse at the manor, I can remember her saying something about it before." he answered.

"Well, if someone is very careful, they could control the effects to a point and create a sort of weapon. I poured over that book, and what I discovered...I read it over and over...and then the notations indicated what I feared. I thought there was no way they would know...if they..." she trailed off.

Draco pushed her to continue. "What did you find Granger? If they know what?"

"The stolen plants. The book said how if gillyweed were to come in contact with a pulled petal of a fire flower, just a single drop of water could cause a massive explosion. The opposite properties of the two, one fire one water, they become unstable when introduced."

Draco stared into her panicked eyes. "But for someone to create that effect, they would have to be standing right next to it. That would kill them." he pointed out.

Hermione stood and began frantically pacing across his floor. "I thought that too, but then I read the notations further. Apparently a colleague of hers had discovered a way to utilize it. He wanted to use it for demolition purposes, but abandoned the idea when it proved to be too unstable. Essentially, you could fold the flower petals inside a leaf of gillyweed, then coat them in a sort of bonding agent. With the bonding agent, you could drop the water onto it, and have enough time to get away before the explosion would occur." she explained.

"And did the notes describe a bonding agent then?" he asked.

She stopped and turned to face him. "A paste made from the fruit of a shrivelfig."

"Fuck." he said. "But they took the wrong book, and they went to take it after they had all of the ingredients. How did they know what they would need?" he asked.

"I don't know, but this can't be a mere coincidence. Draco they were wearing a death eater mask. Do you understand the magnitude of this?"

"Of course I understand stand the fucking magnitude of this Granger!" he yelled causing her to flinch. He wasn't angry with her, he was just so fed up with these insane Voldemort fanatics, destined to carry on his legacy. He realized he didn't need to speak to his partner like that. "I shouldn't have raised my voice to you like that. These fucking fanatics need to stop. This is ridiculous." he said. He stood with his hands on his hips, his eyes gazing out the front window.

"Malfoy...I know you don't want to do it, but I think we need to question Agatha. If I am right, whoever is doing this could be making a bomb. Whether we think she is involved or not, she is the only possible source we can go to for some possible answers at this point."

He could tell by her voice that this time he would not win, but with this new development, there was no reason to argue. "You're right. I'll have to handle some paperwork first, but we will speak with her this week." he said.

"Malfoy, we have to find out who is doing this." she said in a serious tone her arms folded across her chest.

"We will. They won't hurt anyone okay?" he had no way of knowing for certain but he was determined to catch whoever was responsible for all of this. "I need a drink" he said as he made for the kitchen.

"It isn't even noon and you going to start drinking?" she asked.

He stopped and turned to face her. "Our case just went from petty theft, to someone potentially making a very large, very lethal bomb. I think you can excuse me for having a drink." he resumed his way to the kitchen.

"Malfoy?" she asked.

"Yes Granger?" he said slightly annoyed over his shoulder.

"Pour me one too." she said.

The duo disappeared into the kitchen. Both unaware of how the events of the upcoming week, were to change their lives forever.

-x-

So, things are beginning to unfold. I hope you all are enjoying this story so far. Reminder this is my first try at a fanfic.

Please review and let me know what you think.

Thanks again for reading