It was two days before she was able to get away from her office and see Draco. In between that time, however, the Daily Prophet had been up to its old tricks. Several photos of the unscheduled Quidditch kiss between Aldridge and Hermione had shown up with headlines questioning a relationship between everyone's beloved Seeker and the Briton's brightest witch. Quite a few women demanding the claim be universally dismissed as well as others who approved whole-heartedly had stopped her where she was. There were plenty of Rita Skeeters who stalked her, though she always managed to Apparate before they got too close to ask questions.

Draco had moved his place of residence again, so she was forced to take the train an hour out to get to him. It was a quiet neighborhood and she found his place very easily. He kept the name V. L. Roach, something she always smiled about whenever she saw it on the hotel registry. She was given a key (she always announced herself as Mrs. Roach and had an ID made up to prove it) and then headed up.

He was on couch in the small suite, files and papers strewn about the floor and coffee table. The television, which he had gotten sucked into after going underground, was on but muted and playing a football match. He got to his feet as she locked the door behind her, eyebrow raised.

"I wasn't sure I would be seeing you," he said when she approached. "I thought you would be working all week."

She shook her head, hugging him tightly. "I had to get away," she mumbled into his chest. "It's been a dreadful weekend."

He snorted, returning to the couch with her. "Blaise said you were supposed to go to the World Cup. Can't imagine that being dreadful."

When she did not reply, he frowned and looked at her more closely. "Something wrong?"

Because of his situation, he could not receive any owls and thus did not read any wizarding publications. What news he got was from Blaise, Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and it was infrequent because he was constantly on the move and they constantly had to find him without letting the Ministry know about it. She sighed, wondering if she even wanted to tell him. Craven had not contacted her since the World Cup and she had not attempted to reach him. She still felt strange thinking about him. Her whole body became nervously excited and she had to take a few breaths just to get in control. It was a rush and she did not know why, especially since the kiss had lasted no more than a few seconds.

"Granger."

"Hm?" She looked at him. "What?"

His eyebrow got higher. "Are you feeling well?"

"I…I don't know." She looked at his lips, wondering about Craven's. "Do…do you think you could kiss me?"

Both eyebrows disappeared under his hair. "You're not well, are you?"

"Just answer the question."

"Since when have you had to ask?"

She shook her head, starting to stand. He grabbed her quickly, smirking.

"No, no. It's okay. I'll oblige."

"Draco, I'm trying to be serious-"

This was his way. Draco always had to cut her off with a good snog. Like he did not particularly like hearing her talk. His lips were cool and tasted of the soda he had just consumed, putting a smile on her face. She eagerly responded, loving how tender yet firm he was. Kissing Draco was like waltzing. It was graceful and beautiful. It didn't matter to her if he led the dance because the whole thing left her weightless, breathless, and so very satisfied.

He slowed a little before breaking away, just enough for them to catch their breath. She pulled herself into his lap, tucking her head up against his neck with a gentle sigh of contentment.

"Are you going to tell me what that was about?" he asked after a while, arms around her as he watched the football game. "Not that I'm complaining. I liked that. I was just wondering what's got you all pleasant today?"

"Just some other man."

For a while, she thought perhaps he had not heard her correctly because he did not move. But then he started chuckling and she found herself held out at arm's length.

"What?"

She frowned. "Why are you laughing?"

"Because I want to make sure I heard you correctly."

"Another man."

He laughed again. "That's what I thought you said."

"Why is that funny?"

"It's not particularly hilarious, but…it is keeping me from doing anything rash."

Sighing, she pulled an edition of the Prophet out of her bag and handed it to him. "I should show it to you before Blaise does."

Draco frowned, chuckles stopping as he took in the photo. It was replaying Aldridge kissing Hermione, each time from a different angle except Hermione's, which she found a little unfair. He stared at it for a moment before tossing it on the table.

"So?"

She blinked. "What?"

"Do you want me to react poorly to something that clearly wasn't your doing?"

Her cheeks flushed and she looked away. "Well…"

He turned to her, eyebrow raised. "Well what? That's not the only photo?"

She shook her head. "No, that's not it…that's not the only kiss."

When he did not reply, she looked at him. He had turned from her, staring at the newspaper intently.

"Draco-"

"You're doing a poor job of explaining quickly, Granger."

"I…we went for a walk on the grounds. It was just a walk-" He snorted here, standing up to pace. "Draco, don't do that. I'm telling you because I promised I wouldn't keep anything from you. And he kissed me both times, so don't you get that…that! That look, don't look at me like that! You don't honestly believe I would-"

Draco glanced at her before shaking his head, sitting in a chair opposite her. "No," he said after a minute of watching her carefully. And he did not seem like he questioned her fidelity. He just seemed…annoyed.

"Draco-"

"What happened? The second time, what happened?"

She hesitated, that strange rush returning to her. It was so powerful this time, however, that she held her stomach as the world spun for a moment. Draco frowned, coming to crouch down in front of her.

"Are you okay?"

"I feel…I don't know, Draco. It was really confusing."

"So you liked it?"

Her eyes widened and she shook her head furiously. "No! I…" She took his face in her hands. "Do I even have to tell you how I feel about you?"

A wan smile came to his face and he kissed her softly.


"Are you going to tell me what this afternoon was about?" she asked as soon as the servants had taken away their coats. Craven looked through some letters before turning to her.

"Excuse me?"

"The lunch this afternoon. How-"

"Do I know the Muggle Prime Minister?" Craven smiled the Devil's smile and started into the study. "I don't see how that concerns you."

"He knows I'm Muggleborn," she snapped, following him. "I think that concerns me a good deal!"

"What he knows about you isn't your concern, either." He sat behind his desk, watching her closely. "You really are curious, aren't you?"

"I think I have a right to know."

"Well, all in good time. Right now, I want you to be a good witch and go call Goya. I want some of your items sent to Hadley's wife tomorrow."

"Craven-"

His sharp gaze stopped her, but she did not move. He glanced over her before smiling again.

"I suppose you have behaved yourself, haven't you?" He stood, coming around the table. "You should probably be rewarded for it." She instantly wished she had left when he had told her to. She started for the door, but a wave of his wand shut it and locked it. Her hand instinctively went for her wand and he chuckled.

"Do it," he whispered, approaching her slowly. "I want you to do it. Give me a reason."

She hesitated and that was all he needed. He had her by the throat and against one of the pillars in the room in a single action, lips pressed hard against hers. When his tongue plunged deep into her mouth her stomach threatened upheaval of lunch if she did not quickly numb herself up.

A knock at the door saved her the trouble. He pulled away, glaring at her as he continued to grip her at the neck.

"What?"

"Letter from the Ministry, sir."

Frowning, Craven released Hermione and opened the door. She watched as he read the document carefully and was surprised when he glanced at her with some annoyance. He handed the letter back to his man before gesturing to Hermione.

"Go do something to her," he muttered, snapping his fingers. A house elf appeared with his coat. "I won't be back until late, so entertain yourself until then."


Ron looked up from his desk with a smile. "Hello, love."

Adrianna leaned over to give him a quick kiss before settling down in a seat. "I wanted to see if you'd be getting off for dinner. I know you've been working a lot and hoped you'd at least be free tonight."

Ron sighed, gesturing to his desk. "Sorry, love. Too much work. Harry and I are still working those two murders and, if we don't make any headway this week, we'll be pulled off."

She frowned, coming around the table. "You promised."

"I know! But we just finished finding something worth moving on and the case is so damn complicated that we…well, Harry and I are keeping everything pretty close. I can't get away."

Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she pouted a little. "You've been gone every night for the last two weeks, Ron. I wanted to spend time with you."

"I know and I will make it up to you as soon as we get a new lead-"

Rolling her eyes, she pushed him back in his seat while throwing her leg over onto the other side so that she was straddling him.

"I was thinking something more immediate."

His eyes widened and he shook his head, glancing nervously at the door as she started unbuckling his pants while planting kisses down his neck. "Ady, the office is monitored-"

"Then we'll give them a show, hm?" she whispered, pushing the shirt away to kiss his chest. "I need you, Ron. Do you understand what that means?"

"Adrianna!" he gasped when she pulled off her shirt.

"It means I have fifteen minutes before all the fun leaves me and I turn into a frigid bitch for a solid year."

Ron immediately pushed her skirt up. "I have ten minutes."

"Ron, I think I found-SHIT!"

Adrianna gasped, snatching up a shirt to cover herself up. Ron swore, glaring at Harry.

"Bloody hell, Harry!"

Harry scrambled out of the room, face red as he tried to unsee his partner in the midst of…He shook his head furiously.

A few minutes later Adrianna slipped out, blushing too much to meet his gaze as she hurried away. Harry waited a few more minutes before going in. Ron had his face in his hands, cursing away.

"You okay?" Harry asked cautiously and was immediately assaulted with a series of hexes.

"You couldn't bloody knock, could you?" Ron yelled. "Five minutes! That's all I needed! You tosser!"

"You should have known better!"

"That you were going to walk in on me shagging my wife?" Ron cursed him several more times before Harry managed to wrestle the wand away from him. "Two weeks, you realize that? Lord, I will kill you Harry."

Harry managed a smile before tossing a file on the table. "I came to tell you that I found something."

Ron gave him one last dark look before turning to the file. "Financial statement?"

"Yeah, Lakely and Matterson's. Notice anything."

"Yeah. Every time one makes a withdrawal, the other makes a deposit. Same amounts every time. How are we just now getting this?"

Harry rolled his eyes, leaning against the desk. "Gringotts' has been stonewalling, like everyone else. You know goblins. When I threatened to shut down Diagon Alley, they finally handed over the statements, though as you can see, it's been edited."

Ron nodded. "Right, but they didn't get everything. The dates are still here. Looks like they've been trading money for quite some time. Three months, you think?"

"They wouldn't give me more that three months back, but we can assume that it's probably been going on longer. Thing is, why were they passing the money around? If what the goblins left in the statement has any credibility, we can assume none of it ever actually left Gringotts."

Ron pointed to Matterson's statement. "Yeah, but look. Looks like something over…Lord, I can't read this!"

Harry snatched the parchment, peering at it closely. He waved his wand over it and some ink marks appeared. "They tried to make it smaller." He handed it back to Ron, as he couldn't read it the goblins' financial language. Ron frowned.

"Looks like Matterson transferred over ten thousand galleons into some account."

"Name?"

"I can't make it out-"

A knock interrupted them. They looked up to see Craven in the doorway. Harry's eyebrow rose.

"Craven? What are you doing down here at this hour?"

Craven laughed. "That's a good way to greet visitors."

Harry smiled. "Sorry. Come in, of course. We didn't think anyone would still be hanging around."

Craven shrugged. "Came by to see you on my way out. They said you'd be over here with Ron. How are you, Ron? Saw your wife a minute ago. Looked a little pink in the face. She alright?"

Ron flushed and glared at Harry. "She would have been," he grumbled. Harry blushed a little.

"Yes, she's fine. What was it that you needed?"

Craven offered a wan smile. "I won't lie. I'm curious. Matterson was a friend, so…"

Ron nodded. "Right, you two were mates, hm? Sorry, I forgot. Well, we're getting on, but you know how this death business is. Nobody wants to come forward and say, 'I did it.'"

"That would make things easier, wouldn't it?" Craven said with a laugh. "I understand you have to keep things to yourselves. I was just hoping you had made some progress. I know his wife would love some closure on the whole thing."

"We're doing our best. It was quite a little mess, so we're still trying to clear some things up."

Craven nodded in understanding and headed to the door. "Well, I won't keep you. Hope you solve it soon. I know the Ministry is in a hurry to get passed it, but thorough is better than quick, hm?"

Harry smiled. "Glad somebody understands that. We'll be seeing you, Craven. Say hello to Hermione for us."

"I'll make sure she gets the message. Take care."

Once Craven had left, Ron sighed. "Lord, everyone wants to know about that damn case. You know, the bloody head of Magical Transportation came up here asking about it!"

Laughing, Harry gestured to the parchments. "What do you want to do about this?"

Ron's face twisted. "I hate to say it, but we may have to go talk to Parkinson."

Harry's lip curled. "I don't think it's that bad."

"Yeah, but we don't have a lot of options in who we can take this to, you know. Parkinson's in with…well, she's in with Zabini, and Luna seems to like her, so I suppose we should go see her."

Harry groaned and Ron smiled. "I'm sure it won't be so bad."

"She hates me."

"I think she's got a crush on you."

"Yeah, like a black widow kind."

Ron laughed, gathering up his things. "Let's go see her before her floor closes."