Disclaimer:- I neither earn nor own anything from this story except my plot. Harry Potter and his world are the intellectual property of JK Rowling and her associates.

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A/N:- Thank you to you all for your reviews and alerts. I appreciate every one of them. Also thank you to Golden Asp for her beta work this chapter. We're finally starting to discuss the promised content of this story. Onward!

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Chapter Seven – The Genesis of An Idea

Hermione survived the experience of flying out their sitting room window on the back of Draco's broom, and by the time they'd reached Hogsmeade she was not hiding her head in his cloak anymore either.

They'd disillusioned themselves so no one would see them leaving, and as they landed just outside of town, they were surprise to see Harry waiting for them. He turned them to The Hogshead, leading the way.

Since the war, Aberforth and his goats had retired to sunny Spain, and he'd sold his pub to fund it. However, nobody quite knew who'd bought it, and unless you were in the know, it looked like a derelict building.

"In here," Harry encouraged. "This is the surprise."

"Here?" Draco complained.

Harry smiled. "Offending the Malfoy snobbery meter, am I?" Harry cackled. "You're in for a surprise, Malfoy," and he leant in closer to his companions and waggled his eyebrows, but before he could say anything else the penny dropped in Hermione's mind.

"Harry!" she gasped. "You're the one who bought it," she said.

"Guilty," he grinned. "The outside looks the same for a reason. It'll be fixed up once I've left Hogwarts. Come in and I'll explain things to you both."

Harry held the door open and gestured for Hermione and Draco to go through before him.

As soon as they'd entered Hermione stopped, shocked. The interior of the bar was now an elegant sports bar. There was a highly polished circular bar in one corner with sparkling glasses and bottles lined up behind it. The floor was just as polished and there was a leather chesterfield type lounge that lined the opposite two walls with tables dotted along its length, as well a few stand-alone tables in the middle.

The walls were covered in Quidditch memorabilia from all sorts of places, and the only thing that was there from the original Hogshead was the mounted hog's head over the opposite door, but it was sporting a Gryffindor scarf around its neck.

"Oh, Harry, wow," Hermione gasped.

"Yeah, I've got to say, it does have a great atmosphere," Draco agreed, looking around at the mostly Quidditch player patrons.

Harry led them towards a table that was hidden by the bar, greeting the man behind the bar as they walked.

"Hey, Ollie," he called.

"Harry," the handsome Scotsman called back.

"Is that Oliver Wood?" Hermione asked in a whisper.

"It sure is," Harry grinned. "How are you, Ollie?" he said, lowering the hood of his travelling cloak. "He's my manager," he told them, sitting them at the table.

They watched from their table as more people came in for lunch, and Hermione recognised George and Fred with their friend Lee.

"Harry," the group called. "How are you, mate?"

Then they saw Hermione. "'Mione!" and they were coming over and pulling her into one hug after another.

When the Gryffindors had finished greeting each other Harry noticed that Draco was sitting very quietly.

"What's the matter, Malfoy?" he asked.

"Why didn't they try to hex me?" Draco asked.

"Because everyone in here is here as my guest. You have to be approved by me to come through the door, and one of the main things I ask for is discretion. You're sitting at my table, Malfoy, so everyone will just accept that."

"Oh, Harry, this is wonderful. You've made a retreat," Hermione gushed.

"Yes, as much as I hate to admit it, I thought we'd need a place like this when we came back to England."

Hermione pulled him into a hug, but then let him go and started looking around again. "Oh, it truly is lovely, Harry."

"I'm glad you like it. So, what are we all drinking?" Harry asked, catching the waitress' eye.

They watched a tall willowy blonde smile and walk over. "Hi, Harry," she said. "What can I get you guys?"

"I'll have a lager. 'Mione?"

"Do you have wine?" She watched the waitress nod. "Then a glass of the house chardonnay, please," and she looked at Draco.

"What's lager?" he whispered to Hermione.

"It's a Muggle type of beer," she told him quietly. "Not Butterbeer, but hops beer."

"Okay, I'll try that then."

"Very good," their waitress said.

"Okay, so two premium lagers and take the wine from my reserve. What are the specials today, Estelle?" Harry asked.

The waitress conjured menus and handed them around.

"Cool," Harry said. "We'll have a look while you get our drinks." It was then that he saw Hermione's lip stuck between her teeth, and he could just see what she was thinking. He sighed. He felt like he'd let her down since they'd arrived back in England. The last thing either of them needed was more public speculation over their friendship on top of what they'd known they'd be facing with Ron and Ginny, but lately because of the trouble, he felt like he'd even lost her unconditional friendship. Well, he hadn't lost it, it had just been very difficult to have it under the circumstances. He'd been trying to tell her about the place they were currently sitting in for weeks. He'd wanted to surprise her, but it had only been in its planning stages before they'd arrived, and he'd made Fred and George promise not to tell anyone before he'd granted them membership.

The worst thing was though, that he knew that Ron would love this place, and he felt very guilty about not bringing him here. Mind you after this morning… but Harry didn't finish that thought.

Things were complicated with Ron at the moment. They had been since Lisbon, and now because of his attitude towards Hermione, Harry wasn't going to tell him about it until after they'd graduated. Then he scoffed to himself; this wasn't even really about Hermione, he was certain it was about what Ron saw in Lisbon. But as usual poor 'Mione's been dumped into the middle of it. She doesn't deserve that.

As he thought this, Harry made a mental note to make certain that Hermione was away from here before Ron found out about the bar. Harry was pretty certain that Ron would be furious with him once he found out. Of course, that's if he speaks to me again after this morning, but then his anger surged forward again. How dare he accuse Hermione of being a nuisance.

Hermione meant a great deal to Harry. She was like his sister, and he hated seeing her so torn up. His friendship with Ron had strings now, but he knew that Hermione was his lifelong, committed friend, something that Ron no longer was.

He sighed and looked back to his menu as Estelle came back with their drinks and for their orders. Once the waitress had left Harry told them more about the place. "I guess it's really a private club. At the moment, there are wards similar to those that guard The Leaky Cauldron on the front door, not that I have a problem with Muggles, it just screens wizarding passers-by."

"Yes, we have similar ones on one of our businesses," Draco said, nodding.

Harry acknowledged Draco's comment, and then continued, "I don't need to make money, I just wanted a place where people feel safe to socialise without fans hassling them or people bothering them in any way. Since we've been back here I've spent a lot of time here, but I'm glad I've finally gotten to share it with you, 'Mione. I've felt bad that you didn't know, but we've all been so busy, and the night it opened I was having another problem with Ron and you were nowhere to be found. I'd been planning to bring you then and surprise you."

Hermione huffed. "I've spent that much time hiding since we've been back. I'm sorry you couldn't find me."

"How long has it been open?" Draco asked.

"It opened on 'Mione's birthday," Harry replied.

It didn't take Hermione long to figure out that Harry had planned it that way, but that she'd been denied because… and that woke her anger again. "This is exactly why things need to change up at Hogwarts. I hate that I've got to hide away all the time if I want any peace." She gave both of them each a side-long glance. "I knew it would be hard coming back, but I didn't think it would be this hard. I'm still considering leaving, you know."

"Let's hope that it doesn't come to that, Princess," Draco said, taking her hand, then looking to Harry. "We have to carve out a niche for ourselves up at Hogwarts like you have here."

"That would be good, but you two already have that," Harry sighed. "Dodging everyone to get out and then flying backwards and forwards to here all the time is very time consuming. We need a place to study and hang out where we feel safe, and with only people we trust." He thought about it for a moment. "I suppose we should give McGonagall the benefit of the doubt. She might solve our problem for us."

Draco snorted, but remained silent as Estelle returned once more, with their food order this time.

Once she'd gone, he leant forward. "If she manages to come up with a solution—and I'm pretty certain that's a lost cause—she'll only think of being fair for everyone, that's her job. We want somewhere that we've got control over, like you have here."

"Yes, but let's not ruin the mood," Hermione replied, and they turned their attentions to their food.

As they ate, they talked and savoured the peace and quiet, watching the comings and goings of the other patrons.

"This was exactly what I needed," Hermione sighed as she sat back in the corner of the booth. "Thank you, Harry, it has been great."

"Yes, I must concur on that point," Draco added. "It's been like a true reprieve."

"You're welcome, guys. Sometimes I wish I could just live in my office here and only go up there when I had to," and he indicated the hill behind them where Hogwarts was.

Hermione snorted. "Oh yes, please," she sighed. "I would never have thought my panic attacks would come back, and that wasn't even after twenty four hours of being back."

"Have you had anymore, since that first night?" Harry asked, annoyed with himself that he hadn't even thought to ask her. He picked her hand up and caressed her knuckles with his thumb.

"I've had a few, but Severus has kept me supplied with Calming Draught, and it really helps." But then she snorted. "It's kind of weird having him looking after me so well. Nice… but weird," she added, smiling as she thought about it.

"Hey, have you ever thought of having a dancer here?" Draco asked.

Harry suddenly grinned at Hermione, but he appeared to go off on his own train of thought. "I wonder if performing might be the key to the problem?" Harry asked, and when she gave him a thoughtful look, he added, "Do you think that might be why the attacks disappeared while we were away? Every time you were stressed you would perform."

"You, performed? How?" Draco asked.

"Burlesque," she answered plainly.

Harry cocked an eyebrow. "Might be time for your alter ego to make an appearance again," he said.

"Germany is a long way away at present, Harry," Hermione laughed. "I'd need to prepare, practice again. Raven doesn't just happen you know."

"Raven?" Draco asked, he was becoming more and more interested.

"Yes, and that's not for public consumption, Malfoy," Harry stated seriously.

Draco smirked. "The same rules can apply as they do behind our office door, mate. Do tell me more," he insisted.

"There's nothing more to tell, Draco. When we came back to England I decided that Raven—my performance persona—needed to take a holiday too," Hermione told him, then she turned to Harry. "But you're right, it used to get rid of a lot of my stress, and not feeling able to cut loose here has been hard."

"So just reinvent yourself, Princess," Draco stated, like it was that simple.

Her head swung back around to Draco, and she smiled at him. "It's not that simple, Draco. Here is not the right place for something like burlesque." She turned back to Harry. "Don't get me wrong, Harry, this place is amazing, but it's not right for…"

"It's okay, love, I know what you're saying," Harry said, chuckling. "And you're right." Then he turned to Draco. "And it's plain to see that you do not even know what we're talking about."

"So show me," Draco returned.

Harry took Hermione by the hands. "We could owl Franz and tell him that Raven will make an appearance on New Year's Eve."

"But Harry, my costumes are packed away. Where could I rehearse? I haven't performed for months."

"Snape has a whole duelling space. It's got mirrors and everything," Harry replied.

"You said yourself that we needed to involve him," Draco added. Uncertain of exactly what was going on, but fairly confident that he was being handed the key to something amazing.

Harry and Draco's faces registered great excitement, and to Hermione it looked like a runaway train gathering speed, and she felt like she needed some control. "What are you guys planning?" she asked warily. "I'm fairly certain that wizarding Britain is nowhere near ready for clubs like we've seen on the continent, and I would not be comfortable with people outside our group knowing who Raven is."

"Your true identity could be hidden, but it's a fabulous idea," Harry replied. "It would be like a gentlemen's club," he enthused, becoming carried away with the idea, even if he was vaguely wondering if he was making a deal with the devil allowing Draco to be involved.

"I've got an old warehouse at the other end of Diagon Alley, off Maple lane, and Blaise and I had been considering opening an exclusive club of some kind." He looked at them and smirked smugly. "And I think that perhaps I've just heard exactly what we need. I want to learn more."

"I was just thinking of one performance, Draco, not a whole business," Hermione warned.

"Yes, Princess, and I'm looking forward to your one performance, but I think Malfoy Zabini Incorporated may have just found the project we're looking for."

"Make it, Potter, Malfoy, and Zabini and you've got yourself a deal. I'd like in," Harry told Draco.

Harry saw Hermione sitting there with her brow furrowed in consternation, and he said, "Come on, what do you say, 'Mione? We could show the filthy rich men who want to open a club for other filthy rich guys how it works?" he laughed.

Hermione considered it for some moments but then nodded. "Okay, it might be exactly what we need," she smiled. "So, what's first?"

"Well I vote that over the Christmas break, the five of us head for the continent and check out how they do it," Draco proclaimed. "I've got nothing better to do over Christmas."

"Five?" Hermione asked.

"Yes, you, me, Potter, Blaise and Severus." Then he took in her confused expression. "Oh, you two don't know, do you? Severus is my business mentor at present," and he sighed. "Since Father is indisposed and Mother is not well enough…" but he paused to glance at them. "If father ever gets out then he'd…" He suddenly stopped talking and looked uncomfortable. "Would that be a problem?"

"From what I saw just before the Final Battle, your father was a different man to the one I met in Flourish and Blotts just before second year," Harry said. "The question is, is he likely to ever get out?"

"I'm hoping so," Draco replied. "You're correct, Potter, he really has learned his lesson." He felt Hermione thread her hand into his and her head come to rest on his shoulder.

Harry looked at the pair of them and said, "Look, I'm really interested in this idea, but I've got some business to attend to, so I'll catch you later, yeah?" and he leant across and kissed Hermione on the cheek.

She pulled him into a hug. "Thanks, Harry, I've enjoyed this lunch. How about we all meet up in our sitting room after dinner, and later you can sleep on our lounge if you don't want to go back to Gryffindor Tower," she said, glancing at Draco.

"Yes, that's fine with me," he agreed. "When we get back I'll owl Blaise and speak to Severus too," he added.

"Great," Harry replied. "Now I feel like I've got some purpose," he said, smiling.

"We'll get back up to the castle so Hermione can start organising herself," Draco said, lacing an arm around Hermione's waist.

"Cool, see you both at dinner," Harry replied as he got up.

xox

Draco and Hermione arrived safely back in through the same window, and as soon as they were off the broom, Draco smirked. "Well, I kept you safe, now come on, dance for me," he commanded.

"Oh, I see, blackmail," she laughed.

"You bet," he grinned.

"No, I'm not going to do anything until I'm properly prepared, besides you've got to owl Blaise and talk to Severus."

"Smart girl," he told her. "Want to walk to the owlery with me?" he asked.

"I need to change, and I want to start working out a new routine for New Year."

"I could assist you with a different kind of workout," he said suggestively pulling her closer.

"Tease!" she laughed and pulled away as she batted his arm. "Out!" she told him smiling. Then before he could answer she was running up the stairs to her bedroom to look through her drawers for workout clothing. Mind you, she did stand there for a minute smiling. What had she gotten herself into?

Hermione had always loved dancing and singing. She'd taken lessons until she'd gone to Hogwarts, and of course then she'd only been able to practice during the holidays. However, after the war she'd started practicing again to keep the physique she'd gained running around the country side.

Then once they were away from England she'd found a dance studio that taught dance with some gymnastics and circus tricks and she'd really loved it. It had been her teacher there, Marta, who'd taken her to her first burlesque club and she'd instantly wanted to try it for herself, and that had been when Raven had been born.

She sighed and sat on her bed. Wow, where could this new opportunity lead? and she decided not to think about it, and went back to finding her stockings and leotard. While she'd been here at Hogwarts she'd not had anywhere to dance, she'd been taking regular walks and three times a week she ran from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade and back again, but she'd not danced.

Her bedroom really didn't have enough room for dancing activities, but she went out into the middle of the space now and started stretching. As she did so she thought that she should owl Marta and see if she could catch up with her over Christmas to take the rusty edges off whatever routine she came up with.

xox

As he walked to the owlery, Draco decided that he was actually a coward. He was willing to send an owl to a good friend who was in the same building just because he didn't want trouble with the witch who was chasing him. He hadn't told Severus—or anyone else yet—but the witch had tried to dose him with a love potion on Thursday.

He laughed to himself. Stupid bint, doesn't she realise that all Malfoys are inoculated against such things. However, he was starting to think that being here was not worth the trouble, and if that were true for him, then a troubling thought occurred to him, and he wondered how Greg Goyle was coping. He hadn't seen his friend much since they'd returned; he'd tutored him a couple of times, but more often than not he hadn't been turning up. Draco knew that he'd joked with Hermione about it, but he and Blaise had promised Flint that they'd keep an eye on the boy.

Poor Greg, he never was the brightest candle in the box. His description made him snicker softly. Greg really wasn't a candle at all, but still, Draco did feel guilty for not keeping up with his house mate. He'd realised some time back that Greg and Vincent had turned into the thugs they'd been because of his influence when they'd first started at Hogwarts.

Vincent had lost his life because of it. Draco sighed. It didn't matter that they'd all been products of their fathers' misguided beliefs, everyone deserved a fair go in life, and at that moment he realised just how much of his godfather had rubbed off on him. That was one of Severus' sayings. Must have been a Muggle thing.

Snape had a very brilliant head for what Muggle concepts could be adapted to work in the wizarding world, and he also seemed to know what would help people who seemed to be unreachable because of their circumstances. It had been Severus' idea to buy the old ware house on Maple Lane, as well as the property next door, and with his help they had opened a duelling establishment.

Severus was a crack dueller, and he'd trained Marcus Flint and Miles Bletchley as instructors. Now, wizards who fancied themselves as duellers could come and train, and learn. They had even gained a training contract from the Aurory recently. Then a security firm had developed alongside the duelling business.

Straight after the war everyone had wanted extra wards and safety measures, so Severus had met demand. The business was called 'Flintlock' and with Lucius' blessing, it was Malfoy Industries' first forage into the security business. Of course, most people would run screaming if they knew that the Malfoys were the ones supplying security to their businesses and homes, so they were silent partners, and Marcus Flint ran it.

He was now on his way back from the owlery and he ducked into a shortcut one floor below his rooms, as his thoughts turned from business to Hermione. He was really looking forward to seeing her dance. She came across as such a straight laced witch, and even though he'd seen behind that façade now, he still couldn't wait to meet Raven.

He'd just started deliberating on how much of the story to divulge to Severus, and was deep in thought not taking any particular notice of his surroundings, when he suddenly found himself hung up by the ankle from the ceiling.

Once he had his bearings, he listened into the sudden silence, as it was a very badly lit corridor, and his blood ran cold. There was no noise, and that meant that he was not dealing with Gryffindors; he had allowed himself to be taken by surprise by Slytherins.

"Let me down!" Draco commanded.

"No," said an obviously angry voice. "I'm sick of you ignoring me, Draco!" It was Astoria, and she was having a complete hissy fit, and he wondered who had goaded her into doing this.

"I said, let me down," Draco repeated, trying to organise himself enough to get a hand to his wand. He managed to touch his wand, but the answer to his question came in the form of a stinging jinx.

"Oi, stop that," he said, managing to move his upper body so that the jinx sizzled past his ear. "What the hell are you doing?"

More jinxes followed and her screechy banshee voice abused him with every one of her hexes. "I'm going to make you marry me, you know. You're not going to get to keep your Mudblood whore either. I'll see to that. I'll fix her."

Draco was listening to the madness spewing out of her mouth as his eyes were madly scanning the hallway looking for movement, and finally he saw something. "Incarcerous," he shouted, and heard a satisfying thud.

"Bastard!" she yelled. "Untie me this instant. This is no way to treat the witch who's going to be your wife."

"Silencio!" Draco spat the silencing spell, and started trying to work out how he could get down. His head was starting to feel really heavy, and he was having trouble breathing deeply, but even if he used magic, he knew he would crack his head open if he tried to release himself from the sticking spell, there was not enough room between his head and the floor to turn before gravity did its job, and he couldn't see what might be in the way either.

xox

Hermione had come down into their sitting room to have more room, and as she stretched herself out after her workout she wondered why Draco was not back, but then she thought, he must be having a good talk with Severus. She went back up to her room and had a shower and changed, before starting down towards dinner.

As she went through the office she met Severus coming out of his quarters. "Oh," she said, "Draco's not with you?"

"No," Severus replied. "Is he supposed to be?"

"He was going to send an owl to Blaise, and then he was coming to talk with you."

Severus shrugged. "Well, perhaps he decided to visit Blaise instead."

"Maybe," Hermione replied.

They walked out into the hallway and saw Blaise coming up the hallway. "Draco sent me a note," he said. "So I thought I'd come and give him my answer while we walked down to dinner."

"So you haven't seen him either?" Hermione asked. "Oh," she said turning to Severus. "I don't like the sound of this."

Severus nodded. "Indeed," he replied. "He was going to the owlery, you said?"

"Yes," Hermione replied, now obviously concerned.

"I will take a walk to the owlery and see if he's gotten lost somewhere," Severus chuckled.

"I want to come too," Hermione said.

"Yes, me too," Blaise agreed.

"I'm sure it's nothing. You two go to dinner, I'll find him," Severus said, waving them off.

Hermione's lip slipped between her teeth, but Blaise placed a hand in the middle of her back. He could read his former head of house better than Hermione could, and he saw concern pass across the man's brow, and he knew he would be better getting the little witch to go to dinner with him. "Yes, the professor is correct. He'll just have lost track of time somewhere," he told her. "Come on, we'll go to dinner."

After watching Severus walking away in the direction of the owlery, his robes billowing out behind him, Hermione finally nodded. "Okay," she said, but her stomach felt like it was in knots and as hungry as she was she knew she'd never be able to eat anything.