A/N - Thanks for all the amazing reviews, this story has gone down really well and I'm so pleased. We're now heading towards the end of the story, but there's still time to include an appearance from my favourite Weasley.
With the revelation that Narcissa had been robbed, not just attacked, it became apparent that her attacker wasn't going to be caught any time soon. The robberies had being going on for months and just because Narcissa had become a victim didn't mean the case would be solved any quicker. Despite wanting justice the Malfoy's had to accept that it wasn't guaranteed to happen. There was a very good chance that whoever robbed and attacked Narcissa would never be caught.
With no imminent arrest in sight and Narcissa out of hospital, Draco and Hermione had to decide whether to return home or stick around for a while longer. With trusted deputies running Draco's business and Hermione not having to rush back to work they decided to have a few weeks back in Britain. In that time Hermione could get to know Lucius better, they could spend time with Narcissa as she recovered and they could discuss the possibilities of trying to rearrange Lucius's bail conditions.
After spending a few days at the Manor with Lucius and Narcissa, Draco and Hermione decided to head out for the day. Since neither of them had been back to Britain since they moved to France they decided to begin with a trip to Diagon Alley. Despite her nasty experience there the previous week, Narcissa had mentioned that the street was looking good and had several new shops.
"You'd hardly recognise this place." Hermione remarked as the couple strolled down the street admiring the new look Diagon Alley.
"It's certainly changed." Draco agreed. Even the shops that had been there his entire life had been done up and looked brand new.
"Something's haven't though." Hermione chuckled, gesturing to the large purple shop that was Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. The joke shop still looked the same as it had done all those years ago, even though it was obvious it had just been redone like all the other shops.
"Are we popping in?" Draco asked. He'd visited the shop a couple of times after it had opened in his school days, but he'd always made sure that neither of the twins were in when he entered, but now he had no problem with entering the shop and seeing George.
"Of course." Hermione replied, taking hold of Draco's hand and leading him into the bright and colourful shop.
The couple took a good look around the shop, with Draco spotting several products he thought might be fun in the new risqué adult section of the shop. When the couple first entered the shop there was no sign of George, but he soon appeared from the back room carrying a box of stock. Once he'd placed the box onto the floor and left his assistants to stock the shelves, Hermione and Draco made their way towards the redhead.
"Hermione." George grinned, sweeping the brunette witch up into a hug.
"Careful George, you'll make Draco jealous." Hermione laughed.
"He is a bit possessive." George joked as Draco wrapped his arm around Hermione the second George let go of her.
"It's a Malfoy trait." Draco smirked. "We don't share our women."
"No man in their right mind would share Hermione." George said. "She's lovely, and you're a very lucky sod to have her."
"I am." Draco agreed. "And speaking of lucky sods, where's your beautiful wife?"
"Ange is out the back." George replied, grinning at the mention of his pregnant wife Angelina. "We're supposed to be doing a stocktake, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind you disturbing us."
"You're making her stocktake? Shouldn't she be resting in her condition?" Hermione tutted as they followed George through to the back of the shop.
"Never mind resting, shouldn't she have given birth by now?" Draco queried.
"Next month." George corrected the blond.
"What's next month?" Angelina asked, popping her head up from behind some boxes. "Hi, Hermione, Draco."
"The baby." George told his wife as he walked over to her and helped pull her up off the floor. "Draco thought you should have already had him."
"I should be so lucky." Angelina grumbled. "I can't wait to get this kid out of me, he does nothing but kick and wriggle around."
"If he's this much trouble now, think what he'll be like once he's born." Hermione laughed.
"I'm trying not to." Angelina replied. "One things for sure, he'll be living up to his name."
"What are you calling him?" Hermione asked. Last time she'd spoken to George and Angelina they were still debating baby names.
"Fred." George said with a smile. "He would have loved that, us naming a kid after him."
"He would." Hermione agreed with a smile. "He would have loved a little Fred running around the place."
"Talking of little ones running around the place, is there any chance of little Malfoy's any time soon?" Angelina asked mischievously. She knew for a fact that Hermione was beginning to get broody, but as far as she knew her friend hadn't broached the subject with her husband.
"Not that I'm aware of." Draco replied.
"But would you like there to be?" Angelina pressed.
"Yeah, it would be good." Draco admitted. "Although first of all, we need to get my parents sorted out."
"We heard about Narcissa." George said. "Is she okay?"
"She's fine, just a bit shaken." Draco answered. "But it has made us realise that my parents just aren't safe here. There was no real effort made to solve the crime, and even though they now know it was a robbery we're still not likely to get a result. I just feel like this wouldn't have happened in France, or at least if it did that we would have received more help from the authorities."
"I heard you were complaining." George chuckled. "Harry and Ron were not happy."
"Tough." Hermione snorted. "They should have been professional in the first place then I wouldn't have had to complain. Although I am sorry if I dropped you in it and they had a go at you for keeping in touch with me."
"Their ranting doesn't bother me." George shrugged. "In my opinion they've only got themselves to blame for losing you. They have no right to complain because other people valued your friendship and kept in touch with you."
"Enough about the past." Hermione said, shaking her head to dislodge thoughts of Harry and Ron. "I want to hear more about little Fred. Do you have the nursery and everything sorted?"
While Angelina and Hermione settled down to talk about babies and the preparations for little Fred's arrival, George took Draco off to show him some of his new inventions in the adult range. By the time the Malfoy's left Weasley's Wizard Wheezes an hour later, Draco had a pocket full of saucy goodies George had slipped him while Hermione was elated by the fact Angelina and George had asked her to be godmother to little Fred. The two couple's also had an agreement to have dinner sometime before Draco and Hermione went back to France.
"Where to now?" Draco asked as they exited the shop and emerged into the bright sunlight.
"How about we grab some lunch and head into the muggle world." Hermione suggested. "It's been a long time since I've shopped in muggle London."
Draco was more than happy to go along with his wife's suggestion and after they'd ate the pair headed into muggle London. While Draco was used to muggle France, he'd never really ventured into the muggle world in his home country so he let Hermione take the lead. After showing Draco a few of the tourist sights, the pair ended up looking around the shops.
After visiting a lingerie shop, where the couple had spent a small fortune, the pair were strolling along hand in hand when Draco abruptly stopped. Looking at what had captured her husband's attention, Hermione found they were outside of a small independent jeweller's. Thinking he'd just spotted a piece of jewellery for either her or his mother, Hermione took a look at the display in the window. Instantly she spotted what had caught his attention. Right in the centre of the display was a silver and sapphire bracelet that looked exactly like the one Narcissa had stolen from her.
"I think that's Mother's bracelet." Draco said.
"It might just be a similar one." Hermione said, unsure of what Narcissa's bracelet was doing in a muggle jeweller's.
"It might be, but there's only one way to know for sure." Draco answered. "We need to have a closer look at it."
"Will that tell you if it's Narcissa's?" Hermione asked.
"It had the Malfoy crest engraved in one of the sapphires." Draco said. Every bit of jewellery he bought had the Malfoy crest on them somewhere, even if it was hard to spot unless you knew where to look.
"Did you tell the Aurors that?" Hermione checked, hoping her husband hadn't been holding back information just because he didn't like who they were dealing with.
"Of course." Draco nodded. "Now we need a plan before we go in there. If it is Mother's bracelet one of us needs to go and get the Auror's, while the other one needs to stay here."
"I'll go for the Aurors, you stay here." Hermione said. "But you are not to go around accusing this muggle of theft, until we know the full picture. He could be completely innocent and bought the bracelet in good faith."
"Don't worry, I won't accuse him of anything." Draco reassured his wife. "I just want to make sure he doesn't sell the bracelet to anyone else."
"Okay, we go in and you ask to see the bracelet. If it is Narcissa's we act like we want to buy it but you pretend you've left your wallet at home. I'll volunteer to run back home while you stay in the shop." Hermione said, laying out the plan to her husband.
"You came up with that plan quickly." Draco chuckled.
"I'm married to a Slytherin, I'm used to cunning plans." Hermione replied. "Now let's go."
Heading into the shop the couple played out their plan perfectly. Draco asked to look at the bracelet in the window, and when the jeweller let him examine the bracelet he found the Malfoy crest in one of the sapphires. Telling the jeweller he wanted to buy the piece, Draco then made a show of not having his wallet with him. Considering she was carrying shopping bags, Hermione couldn't claim to have also left her purse behind but she claimed not to have enough money to purchase the bracelet. She then mentioned that they lived nearby and she would pop home and get Draco's wallet.
Leaving Draco with the jeweller, Hermione exited the shop and quickly found a back alley. Checking she couldn't be seen by passing muggles, she pulled out her wand and apparated to the Ministry. Once at the Ministry she got permission to head to the Auror Department, where she found Harry and Ron sitting going over some paperwork.
"Hermione." Harry looked up in shock as their former friend appeared beside their desks. "We didn't expect to see you again."
"This isn't a social call. I made my feelings towards the pair of you very clear, I have no desire to reignite our friendship." Hermione said, causing the hopeful looks to fade from the faces of the two Aurors. "I've just come to inform you that Draco and I have found Narcissa's bracelet. We were in muggle London when we spotted it in the window of a jeweller's."
"How can you be sure it's the same one?" Ron asked moodily, still stinging from the brush off Hermione had just given them. "The bracelet isn't a one-off. We checked and there was a whole series of them made."
"But only one has the Malfoy crest engraved into one of the stones." Hermione said. "We're not stupid, we went inside and Draco looked at the bracelet. It's definitely Narcissa's."
"Where's the bracelet now?" Harry asked.
"Draco stayed behind to make sure it wasn't sold." Hermione said.
"Since we're heading into the muggle world we'll need a few minutes to get some stuff together." Harry said to Hermione. "But once we get there, I want you and Malfoy to leave. I promise we'll be in touch when we've investigated, but you need to leave this to us."
"That's fine." Hermione nodded. She trusted Harry and Ron to do a good job this time as now they had their first lead in the robberies and it could lead to them solving the case.
Hermione had to wait for nearly ten minutes while Harry and Ron got ready. Once they were sorted, she apparated them back to muggle London and led them to the jeweller's. At the jeweller's she took a complaining Draco away, leaving Harry and Ron to question the jeweller and investigate what he was doing with Narcissa's bracelet.
"Why are we going?" Draco asked his wife as she hurried him into an alley so they could head back to the Manor.
"We're not Aurors, Draco. Let Harry and Ron handle this."
"And you trust them? After the mess they made of the initial investigation?" Draco queried.
"It's different this time. This isn't just about Narcissa's bracelet, this is about a spate of robberies that have affected lots of people. They'll act on anything they could give them a lead in the case." Hermione said. "Harry promised to keep me informed, and if he doesn't I can always speak to Kingsley again."
Agreeing that Hermione was right and the pair of Aurors had more motivation to investigate properly, Draco headed back to the Manor with his wife where the couple informed Lucius and Narcissa of their discovery. Hopefully things would now get moving with the case and they might just see justice served after all.
