|::| Rediscovered |::|
"You said you love me. Did you mean it?" he whispered again, holding her tighter, and she went stiff.
Hermione pulled back a little to take a look at his face, his arms still around her. She was about to say something when someone flooed in. The roaring sound made her jump, and they heard Ronald and Harry arguing and approaching towards their room.
Hermione put her palm on Draco's chest and pushed him lightly. He got the hint and moved out of her personal bubble to create some space between them. By then Harry stormed into the room, Ron closely behind.
"I swear I tried to stop him!" Ron exclaimed from the doorway, "but he wouldn't listen."
"'Course I wouldn't stop. Malfoy looked like he could murder someone when he left the Leaky!" Harry shot back, walking towards them in the middle of the room.
Hermione looked at Draco to find his face paling. This hurt her heart. He was reliving the horrors he had been through. She ground her teeth and looked at her best friends, who were the ones causing him distress.
"Do you even realise what you are implying Harry?" she said, her voice raising with her temper. "Draco would never hurt me, the same way you'll never hurt Ginny." she saw a flicker of guilt when she mentioned Ginny but then it was gone. His face hardened.
"Are you even listening to yourself Harry Potter? This man is my fiancé and he will be my husband in a couple of days. How could you even -" she was interrupted by her best friend.
"Fine! Yes! I did think he might hurt you Hermione. Even after all he has done for the past three years. I know we've been friendly since you two came out (as a couple). But I have my reasons Hermione," Harry continued in a fiery tone as Ron too moved from the doorway and came inside.
"I doubted he might hurt you because Draco here hid an ancient cursed box owned by the Malfoy family, filled with Willow Cannabis that might cause every witch or wizard in vicinity to lose their magic," Harry spat out.
Hermione was shocked.
"What?" she whispered.
"I'm sorry 'Mione. Even I didn't know about this before yesterday," her best friend moved forward to hold her but she stopped him at a hand's length.
"Do you have any prove?" Hermione inquired.
"'Course we do!" Harry frowned, "This information comes from an extremely reliable source. He will give us the actual evidence next week as he is in hiding now."
"So you haven't seen the evidence, which I'm guessing is the box, with your own eyes?" she probed further.
"Well no. But the informant is close to Kingsley, and we trust Kingsley, don't we?" Harry was now looking at her weirdly.
"We do, yes. But I trust Draco more than Kingsley's allies. I don't believe he did anything of that sort," she stared down at her friends and with her left hand she took Draco's right. "Now, if you two don't mind, I'd like to go to bed, before either of you come up with another of your fictions to blame my fiancé."
Harry and Ron were both bewildered. Draco was confused at her behaviour. The duo decided to give their best friend some time to absorb the information. But no matter what, Harry swore to himself that he would find the truth, whether the former Slytherin was guilty or not.
"Is it true?" she said once her friends left.
"They don't know everything," Draco said.
"Tell me what they don't know then," she demanded.
"As I told you once, you don't need to know everything Hermione. It's my family heirloom Potter was talking about. Hence, making it my problem. You stay out of it," he turned his back towards her and looked out through the window.
It was full moon. The soft moonlight streamed through the glass window and fell on the marbled floor, making it glaze.
"Am I not your family?" she didn't try to cover the hurt from her voice, which made Draco turn back towards her. He sighed and pulled her into a hug. He hugged her tightly.
"You are!" he assured her earnestly. "But it's nasty business Hermione. It's better for you to be ignorant."
"Since when do I want to be ignorant of something that screams nasty business?" she hugged him back. She took a whip of his smell.
He smells so good. I can smell him all day. Why does he smell so good? she thought as she rubbed her nose along his neckline and sniffed him. Draco didn't notice the action though.
"Since never," he chuckled.
They sat on the carpet in front of the fireplace. Leaning against the bed, Draco had crossed his legs by the ankle and his hands behind his head. Hermione sat Indian style beside Draco with her hands clasped together on her lap.
"Tell me, Draco. It's the same thing you hid in that tree trunk that night, isn't it?"
"Yes," he replied quietly.
"What is it?"
"It's exactly what Potter said it is. It's Willow Cannabis. I found it in father's study that day. Didn't touch it though, fortunately. Couldn't trust the ministry with that stuff. 'Cause, even after the war, there were people in the ministry who'd use these drugs in a heartbeat to take away magic from people who they thought are beneath them. So I just.. took it upon myself to hide them," Draco finished, "There you go. That's the whole story. The truth. Happy now?"
Hermione was stunned, but she nodded slowly. Then in an abrupt move she envolved Draco in a bone crushing hug. He was unprepared but he returned the hug equally tightly.
A/N : Please give a big shout out to my beta MargaeryB. Also, I'm sorry for the short chapter.
