Author's Note: Sorry guys it took so long to get this chapter up but my family and I just moved, and we only just got the computer up and running in thelast week or so. But there is good news in the long wait, the next chapter is almost done so you'll only have to wait a day or two for the next installment. I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Harry Potter legacy and my sincerest thanks to JKR for gracing us with the great stories.
The days drug by as Draco and Hermione spent every waking moment to figuring outthe riddle that Dumbledore had set. Tension had also been steadily rising since the episode in the kitchen. Granger kept quiet for the most part. When she did open her mouth to say something it was strictly just on the task before them. It bothered Draco to be stuck, not only in the disturbingly sinister Black House, but with nothing at all to ease the heaviness of the silence.
Time didn't seem to carry the same weightin the Black House as it did in the real world. He guessed that he had been there about a week. Then again it could have been a day or a year. There was really no telling. The dream still came to him every night. The new cuts on his arm told him that it had been about a week.
The musty air of the house was stifling and stagnant. All he wanted was to take a walk. He hadn't tasted fresh air since the night that he had arrived. He couldn't concentrate on finding answers in his current environment.
He closed the copy of Advanced Potion Making he was studying with a snap. He stood up and stretched. Glancing at his only companion on enemy territory, he shook his head. She was beating herself up over the whole situation. Of course that's what would happen. She was never at her best when Potter and Weasel didn't agree with her. He wanted to do something about it, just to make his close quarters with the girl more bearable. Maybe she needed fresh air too… Maybe he'd be able to talk her into a walk. She looked like she needed it. Everything about her gave the impression that she was wilting like a flower that was lacking seriously of sunlight.
"Granger, why don't we take a break? We've been going over these books over and over and there is nothing yet that we've uncovered that's going to get us anywhere."
"We can't take a break. We've got to be close to finding something. Maybe you over looked a potion that could help you."
"If I have over looked a potion, you've over looked the potion about twenty times, Granger. Maybe there are some books that the Blacks have that are somewhere in this damned house. I doubt that what Dumbledore had in mind was in some school book. Take a break."
Anger flashed through Hermione's eyes. She slammed the book shut, "I'm not some house elf that you can just order around, Malfoy. Do I have to remind you that you came to me for help? If you don't like it, please, walk out the door. It sure would be a load off my mind if the Death Eaters find you."
"You were the one to agree to this whole mess. It's just as much your fault we're in this predicament as it is my fault. Take a break, maybe with a clear head we'll find something. Or maybe we've already found something and we're too worked up over finding it that we haven't realized it yet. I'd like a walk myself, I don't know about you."
Hermione paled, but the fire didn't quite leave her eyes, "You can't take a walk. Not outside at least. I know that you don't really want to hear it but you sound like Harry when you put it like that. He's always on my case about me working too hard. Okay the house should be empty. Who ever isn't on duty for the Order is at Bill Weasley's wedding. I doubt that there are any books here from when the Black's lived here. We've just about wiped the place out of their old things… but I guess it wouldn't hurt to look."
Sure enough the house was quiet. There wasn't a soul around but for the two of them.
"You know, Granger, I've been thinking," Draco started.
"Malfoy, really, you shouldn't think, it's bad for your pureblooded brain," Hermione interrupted.
"I'll get you for that. But as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted: I can't believe that you'd be so cruel to a Muggle and trick them with Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. I mean you didn't know I was me when you did that. If I had been an average boring Muggle you could have really scared me."
The Gryffindor cracked the faintest hint of a smile, "It was just a bit of fun. You got to see a part of me that very few people see. With all the things that's going on in the wizarding world. When I'm out of school and detached from the Wizarding world I have to get away, forget, or something. I'd fall apart at the seams if I didn't have fun at my parent's house, and then I'll be no help for anyone. And it's not like it really was that bad. I could have always passed them off as a joke brand of jelly beans."
"No, I think I would have really been scarred for life if I were a Muggle."
She just shook her head in reply. Granger led the way into a sitting parlor that Draco hadn't seen before, however, that wasn't surprising seeing as how after the incident in the kitchen the week before he hadn't left the room unless it was truly necessary. The room was scantily furnished with things that maybe fifty years ago would have be nice, but now the couch was torn at the seems threatening to spill out the padding. The drapes hung miserably on the windows that were so dingy it was hard to tell what color they originally were. There was a pair of empty glass fronted cabinets on either side of a large fireplace.
Draco was wondering what on Earth could have been in the cabinet before the Order of Phoenix ransacked the Black's house for their own purposes, when Hermione said, "So here are what's left of the books that were in the house." She motioned to two bookshelves on the adjacent wall. "Be careful with handling the books I'm not so sure if we ever did get all of the nastiness out of the shelves. Or if anything has reclaimed them."
The two went diligently to the task of looking the shelves for anything that could remotely help in their search. At first, it looked like the quest would turn up nothing new, and luckily the only thing that had reclaimed the shelves were a few harmless spiders. However, after nearly an hour of looking Draco came across a book on the uses of blood and bloodlines. It seemed far fetched, but seemed worth a shot. Hermione, too, had found a few books that looked somewhat promising.
With a renewed hope of finding answers the pair made their way to the kitchens upon Draco's request. Well more like a demand. A change of scenery was vital for his spirit. Of course he really wanted outside, but with things as they were, his life was more important than fresh air. And with Granger's short temper it wasn't good to press the matter. He had pressed it as far as it would go for the time being. Living with her had hindered his instincts to push her until she broke.
Actually he was surprised that he was getting along with the bushy haired Gryffindor as well as he had been. Maybe the month or so that he was masquerading as a Muggle really ruined me, he considered. That couldn't be right. He actually felt that he had done the right thing. Dumbledore had complicated his life with the riddle and offer of help; however, this was where he was meant to be. He could deal with whatever his future held on his terms. That wouldn't have been an option if his father hadn't got locked up in Azkaban. Maybe he had something to be thankful for from Lucius, after all.
Draco looked at Hermione. He really did owe her so much for her help.
"So I can't believe that Fleur Delacour married a Weasley," he said breaking the silence finally while they were making their lunch.
"What do you have against the Weasley's, Malfoy?"
"It's just the fact that they have red hair...and Weasel is a jackass."
The girl rolled her eyes, "You realize that you're on our side of the war now?"
"Does that mean I have to like them?"
"You could at least be civil."
"Yeah, being civil isn't in my nature."
"And neither is asking for help."
"You're right. However, seeking help is in my nature if it'll save my neck."
"You are insufferable, Draco."
"I know."
Hermione smacked Draco's arm in almost a playful way, "I don't know why I agreed to this."
"Because you're secretly in love with me."
"When I have feelings of love for you Malfoy I'll kiss Buckbeak."
"Who?"
"The hippogriff that tried to kill you in our third year."
"Didn't that hippogriff get killed?"
"Please use proper grammar."
"Seriously though, didn't the Ministry kill it?"
"No, I saved Buckbeak, right after I smacked you. The hippogriff is in one of the bedrooms upstairs."
Draco's eyes got as big as saucers, "It's what?"
"Yeah, I'll let the two of you catch up on old times if you want. He misses you."
"Shut up, Granger."
To his complete surprise his companion laughed. He was astonished to find that he missed hearing her laugh. The sound was infectious he was laughing, too.
