A/N: Thank you for all the reviews/favouriting/following goodness, it really makes me happy! Draco's testing results are below as promised :D Happy reading!

For the reviewers: StBerryFan22 [Thanks for sharing, I do enjoy reading everyone's predictions! Results are below!]; MalesClaceWessaSydrianDramonie [Yes, babies are still a possibility :D]; flame55 [Thanks!]; Chester99 [Results ad Draco/Hermione goodness below - enjoy!]; patty cakes rock [Cuddles will return shortly!]; Neurotic-Martyr [Thank you! Results are below!]; and LittlebigmouthOK [Tired Draco will get his rest soon and never fear, his results will hold up... maybe XD].

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter etc etc. Please don't sue me!

Please review and let me know what you think!

By the following day, Draco had managed to finally finish his urgent testing and was holding the results in his hand as he made his way to Potter's office in the early afternoon.

Nearing the door, he heard a shout, no doubt Potter's: 'Damn it, Angelina, it must be him!'

Draco slipped through the door into Harry's office, sliding onto a chair quietly, so he didn't interrupt the argument. He was curious to know what had the Golden Boy so wound up.

'Harry, there is nothing I can do. I've looked and looked and I am telling you that I don't think Lestrange created the box,' Angelina snapped, obviously short of patience.

'But he must have! Pennyfeather was quite possibly the worst at charms in the entire history of Hogwarts. He barely passed the bloody course, only got through on extra credit and because the head of Ravenclaw was the charms professor. And he has no reason to break the engagement between Molly and Lestrange or get Bellatrix to marry Lestrange instead! It's Lestrange, I know it!'

'Shout all you like, Harry, it won't change the facts, just my ability to hear.'

'Well, what about Diggory then?'

'What about him? You already put him in the unlikely category.'

'Oh, so now this is my fault is it?' Harry snarled.

'Harry, I don't know what has crawled up your ass, but you are being ridiculous. The research has led to a dead end, so we will just have to interview them all.'

'Brilliant,' Harry snapped back sarcastically. 'Can't wait for that.'

'I hate to interrupt this methodical and unbiased discussion,' Draco drawled, 'but I have the results on the four suspects' magical signatures.'

'About bloody time!' Harry snapped.

'Settle petal,' Draco scolded with a smirk at the scowling male Auror, but it was ruined by a yawn. 'You did, after all, only manage to get them to me on Monday.'

'And it's now Thursday,' Harry bit back.

'Yes, which is actually a very quick turnaround, given the complex spells I had to cast. Now, are you going to keep interrupting me, or can I tell you the results?'

Harry glared, but stayed silent, while Angelina looked on curiously.

'The tests ruled out two of the wizards,' Draco began delicately, knowing Harry was going to blow his top in a second. 'The other two wizards had very similar magical signatures and so the results showed fairly equal similarities to the signature on the Carterate Box – an exact match not possible given the thirty odd years since the spells were actually cast.'

Angelina and Harry nodded.

'The two wizards who were ruled out were Diggory and Pennyfeather. The two close matching wizards where Lestrange and Weasley, Lestrange's signature was a slightly higher match, but that is not really significant due to the result closeness.'

'You're sure about the results?' Harry questioned.

'One hundred percent,' Draco confirmed.

'I knew it was Lestrange!' Harry muttered vehemently.

Draco's eyes flicked to meet Angelina's, she rolled her eyes in response.

'Like I said,' Draco began, 'the magical signatures were a match for Rodolphus Lestrange and Arthur Weasley.'

'Yes, yes, but come on, Arthur Weasley. He is hardly anti-Muggle. I caught him playing with a kaleidoscope the other day!' Harry exclaimed with a roll of his eyes.

'I'm not going to tell you how to do your job, but the results are with Horthworth and he will be passing them to your department officially through Shacklebolt,' Draco replied. 'So you might want to question them both.'

'We will be,' Angelina said with a sigh.

'But Lestrange first.'

'Of course, Harry,' she replied. After a pause, she turned towards Draco and asked, 'Given the close match, is it possible for either wizard to do the unlocking spell on the Carterate Box?'

'No, definitely not. Only the wizard who made the box can do it. If someone else tries, the souls may be destroyed,' Draco answered firmly.

'Right, let's go see Lestrange. Ready, Angelina?' Harry asked.

'Sure,' she replied, standing and waving at Draco as Harry strode out the room with a determined look. 'See you later.'

'Good luck!' Draco called after her.

When Draco arrived home he flopped on the sofa. He made a half-hearted attempt to kick of his shoes, before giving up and letting his feet dangle over the side instead.

By the time Hermione arrived home ten minutes later he was snoring lightly. She sniggered at her husband, waving her wand to remove his shoes. With the lightened weight, his feet automatically retracted back onto the sofa, curling under a cushion. With a smile, she went upstairs to shower and change.

As she rinsed the shampoo from her hair, she contemplated her day.

When Nurse Stevens, the deputy's loyal sister, barricaded her path at nine o'clock in the morning, she could have sworn the day would be awful. But, the little witch quietly said that she had spoken to her brother, and after much nagging had gotten the truth from him: he had lied. The nurse apologised for her behaviour and promised to right the damage she had caused within the hospital, swearing to counter the initial misinformation she had spread. Hermione had been doubtful such action would actual work, but it had. While it was a work in progress, the attitude towards her from the other hospital staff had altered considerably over the course of the day and she was once more feeling part of the team rather than an intruder.

It was a great relief, as working in such an environment had been wearing her down considerably: she had been stressed, sleeping poorly and becoming increasingly irritable and impatient with everyone around her. Of course, it hadn't helped that Draco was working in the office, but from his slumped form on the sofa, Hermione figured he must have completed the urgent work.

She was soon bounding back down the stairs to say hello to her husband. Although as she neared, her smile fell. He was still snoring away in his slumber.

Drat, I was looking forward to unwinding in his arms.

Deciding to wake him in a way that would be less suspicious, she headed into the kitchen and cast a silencing charm to ensure he wasn't woken by the noise, she then began to prepare a delicious smelling dinner. Opening the window to let a breeze travel through the room and into the lounge. Just for fresh air, she justified with a mischievous smile, it has nothing to do with getting the smell of dinner to wake Draco. A new voice in her mind - which sounded suspiciously like her Professor McGonagall - lectured never lie to yourself. Hermione paused to consider the new voice's message.

Fine, I'm opening the window to hopefully wake up my slumbering husband, then she pushed the window open wider. What was that saying about letting sleeping dragon lie again?

Soon everything was almost ready and the aroma filled the kitchen. She heard shuffling and turned around to see her husband standing in the doorway, yawning.

When she removed the silencing charm, she asked, 'How was your day?'

'I finished the testing on the item I'm working on and had to tell Potter—'

'Harry.'

Draco made a dismissive motion with his hand. '—and Angelina. They are now down to two suspects and your friend is entirely focused on only one of the suspects.'

'Do you think he is wrong?'

'I didn't say that. I just think he is letting personal relationships get in the way of his job.'

'Harry could always be rather blind to things when he had a theory.'

'Like when I was marked and he followed me around the school constantly.'

'Yes, although you have to admit he was right.'

'He got lucky,' Draco replied as he stretched languidly, 'if he just goes with his gut he will get in trouble one day, be it from getting the wrong person convicted or with the lawyers trying to prosecute.'

'And why do you care?'

'I just want this case wrapped up and done, if he does his job by the book, it is more likely to be concluded quickly, hanging threads and all.'

'Two suspects isn't bad. Can you say who they are?'

Draco frowned and shook his head. 'Well, Potter's gut seems to have an uncanny knack for being correct… except in the situation with your departure, so I suppose it shouldn't be too much longer.'

'Should I be giving the hospital notice that I might be leaving soon?'

'No, best wait until the souls are freed. Besides they hardly deserve the warning.'

Hermione gave him a chastising look which he ignored.

'I'll let you know the minute the souls are freed, although they will probably contact the hospital anyway to ensure there are healers on stand-by in case there is a backlash from being released – being controlled for thirty odd years is likely to do that. But don't mention anything, you already know far more than you should.'

'Okay, give me a heads up if you can, so I can volunteer my services to help the victims. Dinner is almost ready, can you set the table?'

'I have a better idea,' Draco replied, as he sauntered towards her, pushing his body against her and pressing her into the counter. He cast a stasis charm on the food and lifted her onto the benchtop while kissing her passionately.

'You're incorrigible.'

'I love you too,' Draco mumbled against her lips, before making her moan.

Later that evening, Draco and Hermione were intertwined on the sofa watching a Monty Python movie, laughing loudly at the witty and rather ludicrous skit. Hermione smiled contently as she felt her husband's laugh reverberate her.

I missed this so much, I'm so glad we have our time together back again.

As the movie wound to an end, Draco said, 'So, Deputy Stevens has a lesson coming his way.'

'Yes, my lawyer served him with papers on Monday - I can't believe I haven't had the chance to tell you that earlier. Anyway, we received a reply today saying he would agree to our terms: the monetary settlement to the equality organisation I chose and also to act as a volunteer doctor for another rights organisation for the remainder of the year.'

'So, now all that is left is to learn what women actually face before he volunteers in the rights organisation, to hopefully alter his perspective?' Draco concluded.

'Yes.'

'Hannah sent me his address…'

'She did!?' Hermione replied with surprise.

'Mm, I guess she figured I'd be more vindictive than you… does she know what you did to Skeeter?'

'Of course not,' Hermione chided.

'Thought not. Well, anything particular you would like to do to him?'

'Hmm, not sure. Do you have any ideas?'

'I thought we could give him an empathy heightening potion combined with your memories of the investigation.'

'You aren't suggesting turning him into a woman for a period of time?'

'No. I think this will help him understand what he did and why it was so wrong. As much as I want him to suffer for his abominable actions, I don't think turning him into a woman to experience inequality first hand is the way to do it – that would be cruel in any country of the world.'

Hermione smiled at Draco. 'Okay, I think that will work well. Do you want to help me find a potion?'

'Have you already forgotten about my Slytherin Book?'

'I never forget a book! Is the potion in there?'

'Yes, I'll go and grab it while you get the cauldron and potion ingredients.'

Hermione jumped up and skipped out of the room, glad for a chance to teach the sexist Deputy a lesson without subjecting him to abuse.

They quickly created the potion and joined the memories. Hermione prepared a small gift basket and placed the potion inside, labelling it with a message she was sure would work to convince Deputy Stevens to drink the potion.

Sending the gift basket off to the Deputy's address with their temporary owl, she felt herself relaxing as Draco wrapped his arms around her.

I love my husband so much, he has truly grown into an excellent man.

A/N:
I know many wanted to see the evil Deputy suffer with much blood and pain, I did too, but when I thought about it a bit more, I realised it would be horribly cruel and very unlike Hermione (Skeeter was just stuck as her animagus and not physically or mentally hurt) and Draco (well, he has grown up to be a much better man and the ferret incident probably gave him more empathy in such transformations) to do such a thing.
Ah, the results, well I never said answer XD
As always, if you see any Oxford English punctuation/grammar corrections, please PM me so I can fix them up. Otherwise, reviews and favouriting make me ever so happy :D