Astoria Greengrass was a beautiful woman, physically. No one could deny that. But anyone who knew her personally would readily disagree, if they had any sort of moral system, saying that her personality far outweighed the temptation of her looks. Of course, knowing the people she did, it was easy to find good company. People she held credence with. This often made her goals treacherous ordeals. When she wanted something bad enough, she got it.

And she wanted Draco Malfoy. Very badly.

As she found herself before the large grounds of Malfoy Manor, she was fully prepared to gain what she wanted.

Narcissa would have no choice but to bend to her charm.

Narcissa Malfoy was not expecting company today. So when she was alerted by a house elf of a visitor at her door, she thought it was Draco dropping by for a surprise visit. When she learned that it was none other than Astoria Greengrass, the warning of her son came to mind, and she hummed, suspicious.

Narcissa knew her son was completely set in his decisions once he made them, oftentimes too stubborn, but she respected him for it all the same. It was a Malfoy trait through and through. Though she'd fully expected the relationship to have lasted until talk of marriage, she wasn't daft. She recognized Astoria for the kind of young woman she was.

She wanted no such temptation to come to her son again, and so her first thought was to turn the girl away as he had instructed. Yet at the same moment, she thought back to the possibility of her being involved with the possible follower of Voldemort.

If she were honest, she doubted it. Astoria was young and brash and rueful, not plotting and vengeful. But she loved her son and wanted to help him. And despite his warnings, Narcissa's curiosity overshadowed the possible danger.

The same house elf that had first alerted her of Astoria's presence now brought the younger witch into the common room she'd been lounging in. Astoria looked eager and nervous, which betrayed the regal maturity the young woman so loved to exert. Narcissa gestured a delicate hand to the seat beside her on the plush settee and ordered a tray of tea from the house elf, who bowed and apparated away dutifully with a small pop.

Narcissa started the conversation by asking cheerily, "Ah, I'm glad you've come! I haven't heard from you and Draco for a while."

A look of sudden anger passed over Astoria, but she schooled her features like the Slytherin she was and said distantly, "Oh. That."

The tea arrived a moment later and Astoria quickly sipped to punctuate the silence. Narcissa cupped hers gently in both hands as she let it cool.

"Oh? How are things?" she queried, knowing full well of how they were going.

"Draco is…somewhat removed these days I'm afraid." A breath of hesitation and then, meeting Narcissa's eyes intently, "He removed me from his flat!"

The elder witch removed all expression save for mock surprise and said with a gasp, "But why?"

The brunette's long hair spilled over her shoulders as she bowed her head, tears in her voice, "We aren't t-together…any longer."

Narcissa dutifully frowned and placed a gentle caring hand on her back. Moments passed before she calmed herself enough to speak again. "I'd have him back, Narcissa. Your son, he was everything to me."

Narcissa knew it for the lie it was, knew the damage she'd caused with her reckless spending on their trips to Paris, Moscow, New York. Often she'd borrow money, or even ask to pay her back later. It was quite a disgusting feature for a young woman to have, but she knew it wouldn't ever change. She'd had similar conversations with the girl before.

She searched for something logical to say without damaging his name too much, "My son has needs that he's not ever found quite satisfied. It's difficult for him to keep focus on one thing for too long before he is consumed with the need to find what that certain satisfaction is."

Astoria looked hateful at her words. "But Draco had me. I was enough to satisfy him."

The smallest of frowns graced her lips. "It's eaten at him his whole life. Even when he was a young boy, he always seemed to be searching for something to immerse himself in. It's plausible that your kind of satisfaction was just not the kind of satisfaction he needed."

Silence.

"Astoria?"

The dark haired woman shrugged off Narcissa's hand as she stood briskly and glared angry eyes at the floor. "I am what he needs, whether he knows it or not."

Now Narcissa stood too, her annoyance evident. "Perhaps it is only you who needs him."

Wild eyes met hers. Narcissa felt sorry for her. She just couldn't let go.

"We need each other. And he will recognize that fact."

With that, Astoria walked with heated steps to the wide front doors of the Manor, trying unsuccessfully to slam the door after her—it was charmed to close gently no matter the force put upon it. Narcissa heard an indignant yelp and then there was silence as she imagined Astoria apparating once outside.

Narcissa almost laughed at how the child had thought her so easily charmed. Ignorant.

Sighing, she sat back down and began to sip at her now cold tea.

A full week had passed since Hermione stayed the night. Little did she know that that night he'd been outside warding his home against possible intruders. The risk was too great to ignore. And in an unexpected moment of thoughtfulness he'd eased her into his arms and, only allowing himself a moment to enjoy the weight of her against him, carried her to his room and promptly tucked her in.

His bed had smelled like her for days.

At first, he'd been nervous of waking up and smelling like her, and he practically showered in his own cologne the first morning. But he'd grown to like it, expect it. It had become something close to comforting.

He'd spent an embarrassing amount of time carefully slipping in and out of his own bed in an attempt to preserve the scene. He was becoming pathetic.

The made him glare at nothing in particular as he watched from afar Hermione walk down the hallway in front of Theo's desk in Files. Theo bobbed his head at the familiar face and he smirked at whatever it was that Hermione was saying to him. He wondered absently if Theo noticed how good she smelled.

She is quite beautiful.

Out of nowhere Theo's words played in his head. He was surprised and then he narrowed his eyes at it, closing them to the onslaught of the memory of their meeting, trying to shove everything else out of his mind besides the task at hand. He couldn't afford to be distracted now.

They had waited a week to avoid all suspicion before they enacted their plan, well her plan. She would lure Theo away with words of Draco needing to speak with him about some such matter. Then, she would search for any useable DNA for the Polyjuice potion. Draco would speak with him about matters at hand, possibly any files on Zabini that he had. It would be an earnest query and Theo would readily believe him.

At least that's what they hoped.

Draco could see from his spot behind some cabinets that Hermione was speaking avidly about something. She swept her hair behind an ear, something she almost never did. Theo seemed enraptured, and when she leaned on her right a bit, as she had a tendency of doing, he rose and nodded to her, before walking past her in the direction of Draco's office.

Quickly, the blond entered his office and bolted for his chair before the short walk placed Theo at his door. Draco greeted him and closed the door with a flick of his wand, locking it.

As soon as Draco's door shut, she went to work. Hermione hurried as she stepped behind Theo's desk and began to scour the surface for any signs of loose hair. Unfortunately, there were none, the man ran a clean work area. Determined, she opened each and every drawer that was underneath that deceivingly small counter top. Time seemed to drag on endlessly over the space of time it took for her to thoroughly search every drawer.

Nothing. Huffing out an impatient breath, she whispered point me to her wand and waited as she felt a tug in the right direction. She sneakily edged around the corner of a row of filing cabinets and found herself within the depths of endless rows of cabinets and shelves packed to bursting.

Two rights and a short left later, she was in front of a door. She raised a brow and quietly opened the door without making any noise and entered. It was a small break room, she assumed where Theo ate his lunch every day. It occurred to her that he must get lonely eating by himself all the time, but she was too distracted by the duffel bag in the corner of the room on the floor to really think much of his woes. It was his bag.

She felt no pull in any other direction, so she pocketed her wand and began to rifle through his things. For anything.

Hermione smiled widely when she found a comb with a few of his hairs on it, they were short, but it was definitely Theo's hair. She magically bagged them and stuffed it in her pocket for later.

But would it be enough?

As she hastily fled the Files department, she could only hope.

They wiry man leaned against Draco's office door as he questioned silently why he'd been summoned there. Draco thought for something to say, pushing it to its absolute limit of time before he answered.

"I was just curious if you have any files on Zabini."

Theo quirked a brow and eyed the blond carefully before he replied, "I have files on everyone, Draco."

"Yes, and even Zabini?"

"Indeed."

"I was wondering if there's any way I could take a look at them?"

"You still following him?" Theo asked.

"I simply want a little backup information," he said, glaring at the man.

"Of course you do. But what lengths are you willing to go through to get it?" Theo threw back at him.

Draco wasn't sure if that was a rhetorical question or not, so he simply held his tongue as he continued to stall for time. Hopefully Hermione was finding what they needed.

"You seem odd today."

Draco's eyes snapped to Theo's. "What makes you say that?"

His dark eyes bore into him, all intensity. Long minutes passed as they stared each other down.

Finally, "I'll give you the files tomorrow. Auror files are always more difficult than the rest to…acquire."

Draco didn't like the way he said that, and made him remember that Theo was an incredibly insightful person.

Theo turned to leave the door at exactly the same time there was a rapping on the outside. He said without turning, "I hope Granger found what she needed, Draco."

All Draco could do was smirk at his fellow Slytherin's statement. The man was clever, something he never ceased to prove when in the presence of others. Though he wasn't worried about their plan being found out. Something told him that Theo wouldn't say anything of it, not even to Zabini. Despite being reluctant to trust him, he just couldn't seem not to.

That was a dangerous thing.

Hermione gallantly slapped down a small baggy of minuscule hair fibers of one expected Theodore Nott before Draco on his desk. A proud smile was wide on her face as she beamed at him from where she stood. He couldn't fight a smile of his own.

"All of ten minutes. I thought I was going to run into either of them any minute, my heart was pounding so terribly!" Anxiety made her breathless, but she was happy.

Draco examined the bag of the few hairs she'd found, light brown and medium length. "You're sure they're his?" he asked skeptically.

She snatched it from him and sat down in the opposing chair. "Positive. His hair is the same tone and it was in his duffel."

"True, it is the same color. But how can you be sure it was his bag?"

"Because," she said, confidently, "It was in the break room, and he's the only one working Files."

Draco eyed the bag but didn't argue with her. He was giving her that look again, the one that sent chills up her arms and raised the hairs on her neck. This time, she chose not to break the eye contact, and a pleasant warmth spread through her when he held it.

"How long before the potion is ready?"

She shifted her weight and answered a thoughtful, "I have bicorn horn…and knotgrass. I just need fluxweed and boomslang skin, that's easily collected in time. Another two weeks before the full moon, and then a full month to brew for the potion to be effective."

He nodded and, casting his eyes down he frowned. "A month and a half then."

Seeing his disappointment, she said, "It'll be slow going, but it will allow time to do further research, and there might be new developments in the case itself."

His brows pulled together and he seemed to be grimacing at a thought, but he spoke before she could question it. "Theo's getting me Zabini's file tomorrow."

The subject having changed, Hermione was pleasantly surprised. "How'd you manage that?"

Draco delayed only a moment before saying somewhat carefully, "He was accepting of what I had to say to him."

Lowering her voice, she asked, "You trust him?"

"Just barely," he muttered.

Hermione watched as the blond stood and tiredly ran a hand through his already tousled hair. He seemed ragged and emotionally drained.

He handed her back the bag and nodded as he said, "You work on your potion, then. I'll focus on Zabini until you're finished with it. I don't want to miss it if he does anything out of the ordinary."

"So I'm stuck with Paul for the next month and a half?"

Draco met her eyes before flicking his gaze down to where she felt her jaw flex. His stare lingered before he said, "No. That dud isn't a suitable guard." There seemed he had more to say but remained quiet.

She smiled at that and almost laughed, but he arched a brow at her as if to say don't even question it. His grey eyes gazed intently into hers as she continued to smile up at him. She felt her face heat under the scrutiny.

A shadow of a thought surged within her as the air shifted around them. Into something deeper. Something darker, unknown.

They were standing very close she suddenly realized, and they were alone in his office together. It seemed suffocating but at the same time like a door had just opened to left a wind whirl inside That shadow of a thought gripped her and she couldn't for the life of her rid her mind of it.

It was a dangerous urge, one she knew she had no business having.

And as he blinked at her, she was afraid he would see her every thought. So she only nodded, turned and walked out of his office with a quiet farewell. She wasn't entirely sure what the look on his face was, or what he thought of her abrupt departure, but she couldn't risk him sensing her moment of absurdity.

Anxiety set her heart thudding as she thought of how easy it would have to just lean forward and kiss him.

That wasn't a good thing.

Right?

Draco Malfoy had seen many amusing things in his life. But never had he seen Hermione Granger blush so vividly in his presence. Something about seeing her so excited so proud, filled with a rush he was certain she felt flying from one adventure to the next in school gave her—was delightful. His head swam when she finally turned away, but with her leaving his smile had faltered.

It set alight within him something he had not known was quite there.

Perhaps he had been denying it.

But he couldn't ignore that he had only one thought at that moment, standing so close to her. Close enough to feel her breath on his chin. Close enough to see the light freckling on her nose and cheeks. Close enough to see her brown eyes flicker with something he knew well but hadn't ever seen on her before.

Uncertainty.

He wanted to find out why.

Somewhere within him, he already had some idea…but that was his own secret to keep. He couldn't project that onto her. But…

But it was an undeniable fact that he had barely restrained himself from lowering his head and kissing her. She had seemed so happy looking at him, like he'd been a part of her Golden Trio, a look he hadn't ever thought he'd wanted directed at him. But in that moment, it had lit him up inside and he felt, in that moment, like it would have been alright. Alright to kiss her. To touch her.

Draco huffed at himself, tiredly settling into his chair. He hoped he'd be able to rest and sort out at least some of the thoughts radically throwing themselves about in his head.

He could only hope.