Hermione stifled a tired yawn as she poured herself another cup of coffee. It was breakfast time and Hermione was beginning to think she should have stayed in her room and had breakfast with Draco.
"You look tired." Ginny commented from beside her.
"I was up late studying." Hermione replied.
Ginny was actually the reason that Hermione had chosen to attend breakfast. At the minute the two girls were so busy that they barely saw each other apart from meal times so Hermione didn't like to miss meals. Ginny seemed to spend all her time practising Quidditch now she had a potential career in the sport while Hermione had very little time for her friend between studying and spending time with Draco.
"You work too hard, you need to relax and have fun." Ginny said, biting into a third piece of toast.
Hermione smiled at her friend, while she had been up late studying the reason it had taken so long to get her work done was because Draco kept distracting her. Hermione hadn't complained at the time but she was now regretting letting Draco distract her so much that her homework had taken half the night to finish.
"You're one to talk, I never see you these days you're always practising." Hermione said to Ginny.
"I know, sorry." Ginny said. "Maybe we could hang out this weekend."
"Sure." Hermione said.
Hermione had been pleased when Ginny's family had reacted positively to her decision to sign with the Quidditch agents. The only people to grumble were Percy and Ron, Percy thought that Ginny should be more responsible and get a proper job while Ron had just been jealous of the opportunity his little sister had received.
Hermione was interrupted from her thoughts by Ginny asking what they should do over the weekend.
"I don't know, there's a Hogsmeade trip on Saturday." Hermione said.
"That's Saturday sorted then. I could always stay in your dorm on Saturday night and we could have a sleepover." Ginny said as she excitedly started to plan the weekend.
Hermione listened to Ginny in shock, it was one thing to spend some time with Ginny but she wasn't sure she wanted to spend the entire weekend with her friend and abandon Draco. After listening to Ginny make plans throughout the rest of the meal Hermione told her friend she would think about the idea, before they headed to their first class of the morning.
Arriving in Charms, Hermione slipped into her seat and waited for Draco to appear while Ginny took her own seat near the front of the classroom. Hermione was usually the first to arrive at their first class of the day and her boyfriend would often make it to class with only seconds to spare before the bell went. Hermione was a bit worried when the bell actually sounded and Draco had still not arrived in class, while he often cut it fine in arriving he was never late.
"Miss Granger, do you know where Mr Malfoy is?" Professor Flitwick asked, noticing the blond's unusual absence.
"Um, he wasn't feeling well this morning." Hermione said covering for Draco, not wanting him to get into trouble.
Professor Flitwick nodded and started the lesson, leaving Hermione to wonder about Draco's absence. Hermione wondered if he really was ill, she had only spoken to him briefly this morning. When she had headed down to breakfast he was still in bed looking like he was about to fall back asleep at any minute.
Hermione was distracted throughout the lesson, barely managing to make eligible notes. The second lesson was pretty much the same as the first, Hermione told the Professor that Draco was ill while she was actually wondering what was happening.
As soon as the bell rang signalling the end of class and morning break, Hermione hurried out of the classroom and up to her dormitory.
"Draco." Hermione called out as soon as she stepped into the common room.
Hermione was fairly certain that her boyfriend wasn't actually in the rooms but she still searched everywhere just in case. Less than five minutes later Hermione was standing in the middle of Draco's room, with no clues as to where her boyfriend was. Hermione looked around Draco's room and spotted his bag at the bottom of his bed with the books for the morning lesson's in. There was no sign of his uniform so he was obviously dressed. Hermione was just baffled by where he was as she couldn't find anything out of place in their dormitory.
Before she had time to do any more searching the bell rang and Hermione reluctantly headed to her next class still wondering about Draco. Like the previous two classes Hermione said Draco was ill so he wouldn't get into trouble.
At lunch time Hermione headed straight to the hospital wing, just in case Draco had been taken ill and she wasn't actually lying to the Professor's. Madam Pomfrey quickly dispelled Hermione's hopes as she told Hermione she hadn't see Draco all day.
After leaving the hospital wing Hermione once again headed back to the common room not expecting to find Draco. When she did enter the room Hermione was surprised to see Draco sitting on the sofa with his head in his hands.
"I've been looking for you, are you alright?" Hermione asked, immediately concerned with Draco's welfare as he looked paler than normal.
"I'm fine." Draco said, not looking up at Hermione who had sat down next to him.
"You don't look fine." Hermione said softly. Something was clearly bothering Draco but she wasn't really sure how to approach the problem. "Where have you been?" She asked.
"I went to see Professor McGonagall." Draco said, finally lifting his head and looking at Hermione. "And then I went to see Kingsley."
"Why? Is everything alright?" Hermione asked, wondering if there was something wrong with Draco's probation.
"Not really. I got this letter this morning." Draco said, pulling a letter from his trouser pocket and handing it to Hermione.
Hermione started to read the letter from Narcissa. Hermione was confused as to the problem when she first started reading, Narcissa just seemed to be checking Draco was okay, but suddenly the tone of the letter changed as she mentioned Lucius. Hermione read on in shock as Narcissa informed Draco that Lucius would be released from Azkaban within the next three months.
"How?" Hermione asked in disbelief.
After the war Lucius had cut many deals and given the Auror's a lot of valuable information regarding Voldemort and his Death Eaters in exchange for a lighter sentence. While the actual time he was going to serve in Azkaban was unknown Hermione found it hard to believe it would be under a year, as was indicated in Narcissa's letter.
"That's what I went to find out." Draco said. "When I came back to school the negotiations were still on-going but father's lawyer said he would be serving a minimum of three to four years, that was apparently the best case scenario."
"But if he's out in the next three months that makes it less than year he's served." Hermione said, still shocked by the news.
"It will be, when I spoke to Kingsley he expected father to be released in early May. He's given them some new information apparently, so they've agreed to release him with one year's house arrest before total freedom."
Hermione was still stunned that Lucius could get off so lightly, but she was now wondering why Draco was so upset over it. Draco very rarely spoke of his father and Hermione knew things were difficult between them after everything that had happened but it was obvious to her that Lucius was still very important to Draco.
"Isn't it a good thing your father's getting released?" Hermione asked tentatively.
"Not really." Draco shook his head. "I wasn't planning on having to deal with him so soon, he could cause problems for us."
Hermione suddenly realised why Draco was so upset and she couldn't stop herself wondering if Lucius' release spelled the end of her relationship with Draco. There was no way Lucius would allow his son to get serious with a muggleborn witch and there was a lot more he could do about it now he was free from Azkaban.
"Would he disinherit you for being with me?" Hermione asked. She knew that Lucius would probably do more but she knew that title and money was very important to the pureblood community.
"Maybe, although all he can really stop me getting is the Manor, his businesses and his money. I've already had a large inheritance from both sets of grandparents, so I've got more than enough money to do what I want." Draco said. "It won't be something that would bother me so he probably wouldn't do it."
"What else do you think he'll do?" Hermione asked, slightly worried about what Lucius could potentially have in store for them.
"I'm not sure, despite the war he still has a lot of power and influence so he could potentially make our lives difficult." Draco admitted. "He'd also try and split us up."
"Would he succeed?" Hermione asked. She knew Draco loved her she just wasn't sure if he would pick her over his family.
"Never." Draco grabbed Hermione's hand in his as he reassured the witch he wasn't leaving her. "I love you and nothing father can say or do will change that. You're stuck with me until you decide you don't want me."
"That'll never happen." Hermione said, she already couldn't imagine her life without Draco in it. "I love you far too much to ever let you go."
Draco smiled and gently kissed Hermione. He had been worried that at the news of his father's imminent release from Azkaban Hermione would decide things were too complicated and would leave him.
"We should get something to eat." Draco said, reluctantly tearing himself away from Hermione's soft lips.
Hermione agreed and the pair of them headed into the small kitchen alcove to see what they could find. Settling on sandwiches and pumpkin juice, Hermione and Draco made their lunch and headed back to the sofa to eat.
"What did I miss in class this morning?" Draco asked. The atmosphere in the room was heavy and serious and Draco wanted to forget about his father for the time being, he had plenty of time to worry about Lucius later.
Hermione immediately started informing Draco what he had missed in Charms, Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. While she had been slightly distracted during lessons she was clever enough to have still taken in the lesson and understood what had been going on around her.
Draco listened to Hermione, trying desperately to forget about his father which was easier said than done. Draco still wasn't convinced that Lucius couldn't destroy his relationship with Hermione. Despite his girlfriend's protestations, Draco wasn't sure Hermione would stay with him when they had Lucius out to destroy them. Draco had been hoping that by the time Lucius was released his relationship with Hermione would be more permanent and they would be more settled so that Lucius would have had little option but to accept them.
"Are you coming to afternoon classes?" Hermione asked one they were finished lunch and she was tidying up.
"Yes, I just need to go and get my bag." Draco said, heading upstairs to get his stuff.
When Draco came back the couple headed off for afternoon lessons. While they didn't mention Lucius all afternoon the thought that he would soon be out and able to interfere with their lives was something both Draco and Hermione were acutely aware of all afternoon.
When dinner time rolled round, Draco stayed in their rooms while the only reason Hermione went to dinner was because she knew that Ginny would be concerned that she hadn't shown up at lunchtime. Hermione was immediately bombarded with questions from the redhead and after reassuring Ginny she was fine, Hermione ate a quick dinner before excusing herself and heading back to Draco.
On the surface Hermione and Draco's evening was no different to any other, they did they homework, chatted happily together and indulged in a couple of hot and heavy snogging sessions. But there was an underlying tension in the air that neither one wanted to address. When it was time for bed they ended up curled up in Draco's bed like normal but as they drifted off to sleep they were both worrying about Lucius and the effect he could have on their relationship.
