I know, technically it's Sunday, however I had to travel for five hours to get to the in-laws' place because of the hurricane warning in the United States. Here is the next chapter. Better late than never :)
Chapter Twenty-One: Rumours and Leads
"Damn fame. I hate being famous!" Hermione exclaimed loudly. She banged her fists on the table angrily.
Draco walked into the kitchen and looked at her curiously. "What happened? I don't mind the fame. It's something you have to get used to." He told her. He grabbed a mug and sat down at the kitchen table.
"Good for you, enjoy your fame. At least your fame isn't causing the whole wizarding world to know that you are currently going to get a divorce from your husband!" She cried out. She slammed down her own mug and threw the latest edition off Witch Weekly at him.
"Trouble in Paradise" was the headlines. He opened the magazine and the first thing he saw was a picture of Ron and Hermione. She was wearing a white wedding dress and a big smile on her face. He was wearing a set of sophisticated black robes, something Draco didn't know the Weasel could even afford.
He tore his eyes away from the picture and read the article.
"Ron and Hermione Weasley, three time consecutive winners of the Witch Weekly Cutest Married Couple Award, are rumoured to have split up and are now filing for divorce after merely three years of marriage. The Hogwarts sweethearts got married after a year of dating, much to the delight of their family and friends who knew that the couple were meant to be. The couple was always seen in public together until a year ago when Hermione Weasley landed a high position in the Ministry and issued this statement a year ago when asked about that development: What my husband and I do are not the concerns of others, I simply ask that you don't bother us just because we are not seen in public together as often as we used to be."
A ministry worker, who wished to remain anonymous confirmed the rumour that the couple were divorcing. He states: "While the divorce has not been finalized, we confirm that there have been problems in their marriage, and have indeed filed for a divorce. Ron has yet to sign the divorce papers."
A close friend of Hermione's told Witch Weekly, "While I'm not sure of the reasons for their divorce, I can confidently say that the couple are not living together anymore." The couple's muggle landlord confirms that Hermione and Ron have not been seen entering or exiting the flat for a whole month now. Reasons for the divorce is unknown. Ron and Hermione have yet to issue a statement."
"Have they nothing better to do other than follow people's lives? I just want to live a private and simple life away from prying eyes. Is that too much to ask for?" Hermione continued with her tirade.
"That's the price you pay for helping to save the wizarding world, I suppose." Draco shrugged.
Hermione narrowed her eyes. "You might be used to all of the attention, but I don't like it." She told him angrily.
"You think I enjoy the attention I get? I've had to deal with the press hounding me in regards to my father's arrest and his connections to the Dark Lord. I don't like that sort of attention, thank you very much for making me seem shallow." He retorted.
Her eyes softened. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you got that sort of attention. You were always named Witch Weekly's most eligible bachelor, I thought you enjoyed that."
"Ha!" He scoffed. "Right, I enjoy all these crazy woman and girls running after me and my money, especially after father died and you helped to save my name. I never did thank you properly for that, by the way."
"Well with you bragging about your money all the time, how can woman not notice that?" She countered.
"Tell me, Hermione, when was the last time I bragged about my money?" He asked her, feeling slightly hurt.
She thought about that for a minute. "I'm not sure actually…" She conceded.
"I'm not the same Malfoy I used to be. Surely you've realized that." He said softly.
"You're right, I'm sorry." She said sheepishly.
"No need to be sorry. Now what are you going to do about that article?" He asked her.
"Well I can't get it pulled back. It has already been circulated." She said flatly.
"Are you going to issue a statement?"
She looked at him with a funny expression on her face. "Why would I do that?"
Draco sighed, exasperated. "You really don't know how the media works do you? You issue a statement in order to clarify any misconceptions." He explained.
"Why not just let them believe what they want?" Hermione asked, confused about how this all works. In her opinion, allowing them to believe what they want would be better than them skewing what she says.
"Because then more rumours surface, and they will never leave you alone." Draco replied.
"Well I for one don't care what anyone thinks. Let them believe what they want." She said ending the conversation. Draco shrugged and continued to drink his coffee while reading the magazine. After a while, he got bored of all of the gossip so he turned to Hermione who was quietly working on a contraption she called a 'laptop'. "What are your plans for today?"
Hermione looked up at him. "I'm going to try to finish my book. I want to get it submitted as soon as possible." She told him. :What about you?"
"I have to help Potter." Draco stated.
"You might want to call him Harry you know. Can you two get over your childhood rivalry?" she asked him, shaking her head.
"No." He stated simply. He stood up and gave her a kiss on her cheek. "I will be seeing you later." He disapparated before Hermione could say anything else to him. She growled quietly before turning back to her manuscript.
"Malfoy, great. I'm glad you're here." Harry said as soon as he saw Draco heading to the auror department.
Draco nodded in acknowledgement. "Are there any leads?" He asked, walking alongside Harry.
"None unfortunately. We know he is definitely out of the country though." Harry mused.
"How'd you come up with that conclusion?" Draco asked, slightly interested.
"Well we managed to figure out his magical signature. We looked through his file and we found the trace from his apparating license test. I'm so glad there are strict laws regarding apparating, otherwise this might have been more difficult." Harry told Draco.
"Great. We know that the Weasel isn't in England. That narrows our search down to… Oh I don't know… The rest of the world?" Draco said sarcastically. They arrived at Harry's office, where Harry opened the door and allowed him entry.
"Malfoy, I don't appreciate your sarcasm." Harry said, slightly angry. "We are trying hard to find Ron."
"Well try harder." Draco said simply.
Harry sighed, exasperated. "Yes because this is so easy."
"I never said it was. But surely you can narrow things down, after all, he is YOUR best friend." Draco sneered.
"You think I haven't considered all possibilities? I've sent out more aurors than usual for a case, despite protests from the minister. This leaves a limited amount of aurors for other cases, such as the Fenrir case that Hermione was working on. I'm trying as hard as I can to locate the prat." Harry said raising his voice.
Draco sighed. "What can I help with?"
Harry calmed down. He reached his desk and sat down. He motioned for Draco to sit as well. "I've decided to question my other in-laws, so I need you to stay here and should any more leads come in or other witnesses, I need you to take care of interviews. I'm going to France tomorrow morning."
"France? Going on holiday are you?" Draco asked feeling confused.
"No you twat. I'm going to question Bill and Fleur Weasley. They bought a house there shortly after the war in order to be closer to her family." Harry explained.
Draco briefly remembered the part veela girl from the Twiwizard tournament. He was not, however, aware of the fact that she had married a Weasley. "Right well good luck with that. Tell me if you come up with anything." He nodded at Harry, his form of acknowledging Harry, and made to walk out of the office.
"Hang on, watch out for Hermione will you? I hate that she's coming back to work, but I suppose she must. Also, tell her for me, that I will be away for a bit and to check in on Ginny every so often." Harry asked Draco.
"What do you mean 'away for a while'? Surely it doesn't take that long to question someone? I visit my mother in Bulgaria easily enough without being away for a while." Draco said, feeling confused yet again.
"France has specific laws. One cannot simply apparate and disapparate as they wish." Harry explained. "You might want to take note, as Co-head of Magical Sports and Games, these are the sorts of things you have to know."
"Right right. I don't need a lecture on how to do my job. I merely asked a question." Draco growled.
Harry shook his head, and rolled his eyes. He nodded once at Draco and disapparated. Draco walked out of the office and headed towards his own office. The good thing about his job was that his presence wasn't actually required in order to have the work done. He could simply have his workload delivered to his house, which is what he has been doing for the last month or so. He was glad that no one, including Tiffany, was around at this ungodly hour. He went to his office and just sat there thinking. Many different scenarios played out in his mind. What if his mother had not been sick, would she have suggested he find a girl, Hermione more specifically, to marry? Would he have been helping her right now? Would she currently be living with Potter? Life had a funny way of opening and closing doors.
Somewhere in the middle of his thoughts, his eyes grew tired and heavy. He knew he had to go back home but he was too tired to do anything about that. Moreover, he was to lazy to pick himself up and go over to the fireplace since he would surely get splinched should he try to apparate. His eyes clouded and soon enough he fell asleep at his desk.
"Good afternoon, Sleeping Beauty."
Draco opened his eyes. The first thing he realized was that Hermione stood in front of him with an expression of disapproval, worry, and amusement.
"Wha- what time is it? I'm sorry I meant to go home." He apologized to Hermione.
"It's one P.M. Do you know how worried I was when you didn't come home last night? I was ready to send aurors out to look for you." She said disapprovingly.
"Geez Granger, could you act anymore like my mother?" He asked sarcastically. Hermione glared at him. "I was just kidding." He said quickly.
"What were you doing? You fell asleep here?" She questioned him.
"Yes. Potter went to France to ask the floor girl and her husband about the Weasel, so I came back here just to think, and I must have fallen asleep." He explained.
"Floor girl?" Hermione asked, that was the only thing that processed in her head.
"Yeah, the French girl, the part veela." Draco said, feeling annoyed.
"You mean Fleur?" Hermione asked laughing.
He rolled his eyes. "I don't take it upon myself to remember those people's names." He scoffed.
"Whatever Draco. Anyways a letter came to you from Harry." She said throwing an envelope at him.
"So soon? He said it would take a while to get to France." Draco said, opening the envelope. He pulled out the letter and began to read it.
"Malfoy,
Bill and Fleur swear that Ron has not been here since they moved in. Seems like this was a negative. I'm flying to Romania now. I'll owl you if I come across any more news. Also I don't trust you yet, so I will remind you to tell Hermione to visit Ginny every so often, as Romania is further away and will take me longer to get there. As a matter of fact, just show her this letter. 'Mione, I hate leaving Ginny alone in her condition, and despite her protests that she is a grown woman and can take care of herself and our child, I care for her too much to simply leave her alone. Will you visit her for me please? Take care of yourself.
Love (to Hermione of course.)
Harry."
"Looks like part of this is for you." Draco said handing Hermione the letter. "Good thing he reminded me, I forgot." He admitted.
She rolled her eyes. "Well I'll go see Ginny and have lunch at her house. I'll see you around. Unless you wish to tag along?" She asked.
"Go to the Potters' house willingly? No thanks. I'll have to pass on that wondrous opportunity. I'll have lunch by myself." He smirked.
"Keep that up and you'll have every meal by yourself." Hermione warned him.
"Ouch, you hurt me so, 'Mione." He said playfully.
She laughed and rolled her eyes. She gave him a quick hug and apparated to Grimmauld place.
I'll give you a quick preview just because I feel generous.
Harry shook his head. "We honestly don't know where he could possibly be. It's mind boggling really. Who would have thought that Ron would be this good at hiding?"
Charlie hesitated. "Well… I neglected to tell you this... But he did come up here. He was just here yesterday."
"He what? Are you serious?" Harry asked in disbelief. How could Charlie have omitted that small but crucial detail?
"I think I know where he is."
Hehe. Make what you will with that snippet. But I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Don't forget to leave me lovely reviews, just as you have been doing. Oh, and also, I created a graphic for this ff, it's on my profile, check it out if you want.
-Cadi