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Chapter 29
Hermione and Draco walk hand and hand along the beach, close enough to the water where they have to dodge the incoming waves. She tells him she is happy they stayed last night so she can see more of the his amazing island home. She sees why he loves his retreat. Periodically Hermione stops to examine a shell or piece of sea glass but doesn't release his hand and stoop to pick one up until they are almost at the restaurant. She wants a souvenir of their time here. Something tangible she can look at when she feels insecure so she remembers their confessions and their connection. She stands so she can examine the delicate shell closely. Both sides are a mirror image, except for a crack that runs through the front of one side. "What did you find love?" he asks. She sighs saying, "I want a memento of our time here," holding out her hands to him, "it's pretty, but there is a crack that ruins it." Draco takes the shell from her hand, examining it. It was once home to scallop. The colors are remarkable, white at the connection, turning into pink then purple. "I think it is beautiful," he responds. Looking at her, he gives her a tender kiss, then softly emphasizes, "Perfect." Casting a quick scourgify on the joined shells he asks, "Would you like to keep it?" She nods thinking, there is beauty and perfection still, even when things are marred. She smiles as she fondly recalls this morning and the crack no longer bothers her. She lifts up on her toes so she can kiss his cheek, then his lips. He pulls her closer to him with his free hand and devours her, only pulling away when he needs air. She steps back and says, "Come on, I'm hungry. Last one to the restaurant buys." Then she takes off at a run down the beach. Draco shakes his head, his appetite for food suddenly gone. That witch will be the death of me. He shrinks the shell down and puts a cushioning charm around it before placing it in his pocket and takes off after her.
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Harry sits in his office with the case file spread out in front of him. He was a little shocked when he got Hermione's patronus. He hadn't expected her to be with Malfoy. He rubs his face not really wanting to admit what he already knows. Hermione and Malfoy – ugh. Why him of all people? I'll kill him if he hurts her. Oh Merlin, what will this do to Ron? He hasn't seen him since Christmas, when he seemed to be doing better. I want Hermione to be happy, but Malfoy? Ron won't handle this well at all. He and Malfoy had put aside their differences and actually worked pretty well together. He thought he had ulterior motives when they started Auror training together, but not anymore. He had brought down too many former Death Eaters and their accomplices. He even invoked his father's wrath. Harry managed to hear part of a howler he had gotten from Lucius before Malfoy had silenced it, yelling he was a disgrace to the Malfoy name. I hope this thing he and my best friend have burns out quickly. He sighs. No I can't think that way for Hermione's sake. He doesn't deserve her, but she deserves to be happy and if it takes ferret face to make her happy, then so be it. Harry shakes his head, not wanting to think about him any longer. He gets back to the case, thankful that at least Hermione is finding out about all the ins and outs of it today.
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Draco and Hermione sit at a table in a quiet, back corner of the restaurant. He insists they eat before delving into the case. "This food is amazing. I could eat it every night." He smiles, appreciating her enthusiasm for something he loves, "That would be easy to arrange." She shakes her head lowering her voice, which he finds humorous since he cast a silent muffliato charm. "Speaking of, does the ministry know you apparate here since we are really only supposed to take portkeys out of the country now?" she asks tentatively. Most cannot accomplish such a long apparation, especially with a side along without splinching. He nods, "Yes, since it is my home, Shacklebolt approved it as my condition of accepting his offer to become an Auror." Taken aback, Hermione speaks before she thinks, "He offered you the position?" Draco's grip on his fork tightens and he frowns. Her comment stings. He looks out the window and hates that his voice comes out sounding so wounded, "You do not have to sound so surprised." She reaches across the table and places a hand on top of the one he has curled into a fist that he dropped on the table, briefly forgetting his manners. "Draco will you look at me?" Reluctantly he turns, not sure what he will see on her face, expecting surprise from his unintentional revelation or pity because he sounded so broken. All he sees is love as she traces the infinity symbol on his hand with her index finger. "I'm apologize that I was surprised at Kingsley's offer to you. I didn't realize he did so to anyone except Harry." Draco looks at her with a confused expression. His voice still a little tight when he says, "Plus you and all the others that fought on the right side." She smiles and shakes her head, "Nope. As far as I know, that honour was only for you and Harry. I had to apply, like everyone else." A smile ghosts over his face and she sees him visibly relax. "Oh," he says and looks down embarrassed, adding a soft, "Sorry." She squeezes his fist and he opens it up and links their fingers.
When they finish their meal, Draco has the waiter clear away the dishes and bring them tea and water, telling him they will be working through the afternoon while the restaurant is closed between lunch and dinner. As the waiter walks away, he tells Hermione, "I thought we might not get as distracted if we worked here," giving her a seductive smile as he looks her over. She had transferred one of his long sleeve green Egyptian cotton shirts to a dress for herself that stops just above her knees and it hugs her in all the correct places. She rolls her eyes at his obvious ogle and replies playfully, "We'll see." He is about to get up and apparate them home, but what she says makes him stop. "Tell me your thoughts about the case." They spend the next few hours discussing every detail. Finally he says, "So what did you do yesterday? Do you have any idea who is doing this?" "I think we should be looking for two people instead of one and one or both has or had access to information on people who were in Dumbledore's Army. When I heard Harry's aunt and uncle were victims, it pretty much confirmed my theory." This makes her shut her eyes and take a deep breath. Opening them she takes a large sip of water before continuing. "Do you want to hear the profile or how I connected the victims?"
Draco scowls, ignoring her question he broods, "Potter should have made the connection." Hermione shakes her head, "Maybe not." Draco is about to argue but she stops him short when she says, "I noticed several victims had the same last name as people in the DA, but didn't check my hunch until I saw the name of a cousin to the Weasley family. Harry wouldn't have known the name. The only reason I did was because Molly's had me post several cards to him. He's a squib that lives in the muggle world. You know Harry has phenomenal instincts, but isn't so great with details. He probably dismissed the names as coincidental when there were others he didn't recognize. I owled the ministry and got a list of every living relative of people from the DA. There is a victim from each person's family, except those who died during the war, for me, Luna Lovegood and at the time, I thought Harry." Neither said what both were thinking, that her parents are probably victims. He knows he needs to write to Zellina when he returns home with this news. Draco sighs, not wanting to upset her but he is frustrated with Scarhead so he exclaims, "We might have been able to warn them if he had thought a little harder!" Thoughts of his best friend and the odd blonde he is dating come to mind, "Speaking of, we need to warn Lovegood."
Hermione pulls herself out of thoughts of her parents, smiling at his concern for her friend and continues, "I warned Luna yesterday. She confirmed that her father is her only living relative and he never leaves their home since rebuilding it after the war. She assured me they have good wards." He smiles, "Of course you did. Do you think he or they might go after Theo since they are dating?" She think for a moment. "I don't think so since it would go against their standard M.O., but if they can't get to her father or her, they might. We should probably warn him. If you'll let me borrow your wand again I'll send her a patronus." He hands it over to her without a second thought and it makes her feels warm and fuzzy. When she completes the task he asks, "What is M.O.? "Oh sorry," she replies, "It's the abbreviation for modus operandi." He gives her a quizzical look, "Latin for method of working?" She smiles, "Yes, it's a term used by muggles for the method in which a crime is committed. For our case, the standard M.O. for the victim is to be related, even distantly, to someone in the DA." She takes another sip of water before continuing. I also warned Arthur and Molly since only one person from their family has been targeted so far and there were four family members in the DA. Fred is gone so that leaves two more possibilities. It would make sense that more might be taken from the Weasleys."
Hermione swallows down more water and notices her shaking hand as she tries to control her emotions. Although thoughts of her parents being victims had crossed her mind, she quickly dismisses them. If I haven't been able to find them, these people wouldn't be able to. Draco thought otherwise, he knew she had waited several months after the war before searching for her family, that would have given the bastards plenty of time to find them. They were both wrong, the Grangers had been found long before that.
Heremione begins, "I also completed a profile of the criminals. There are two people working together with one dominating the other. The subordinate doesn't realize he is being controlled. The dominate could be male or female and the subordinate is male. They are both narcissistic, but the dominant is more intelligent and is able to manipulate mainly by using a pseudo relationship between the two, allowing the submissive to think he is the dominant. Both are in their late teens to early twenties and were negatively impacted by the war and blame those in the DA as being responsible. The dominant is a psychopath, feeling no empathy for the submissive or victims. The submissive would have never come up with the plans on his own and feeds off the dominant's lust for revenge. The submissive is insecure, hiding behind a false bravado. He feels stronger when he thinks he is controlling and protecting the dominant by doing his/her biding, especially since he thinks it is his idea. One of them has access to gain information on relatives of those in the DA, more than likely through the ministry. So the next step is to see who has access to those files. I also know it isn't someone who knows Harry very well. If they had, they would have gone after more of the Weasleys, since Harry sees them as family, not his relatives."
Draco looks at her stunned. He knows she is good at her job, but this is amazing. "All that from the case file?" She nods. "I think I should have brought you the case notes sooner." She grins and raises an eyebrow at him. "There's more. I think they are keeping the souls as trophies since they are not killing the victims. I think I have an idea on how they are doing it and we might be able to restore them if I am correct. I need access to a books that we don't have at the ministry." She had already asked the unspeakables for the book she needs yesterday with no luck, so she knew the next best location to find it would be at the Malfoy Manor library. Their books had been catalougued after the war, but short of burning the books or the Manor, there was no way to remove them from there due to blood bonds that had been placed on them, many over a century ago. The books of dark magic had been bound to the bookshelves. He and Shacklebolt made an unbreakableble vow with Hermione as witness and binder. Draco can access them if they are needed for a case. He sighs, "You know I hate the Manor, probably at least, if not more than you do. Can we at least eat dinner before we go?" She stands up and stretches. They had been working for several hours without stopping. She walks over to him giving him a long lingering kiss. She looks outside and the afternoon sun is hanging low in the sky. "I think we can wait until tomorrow morning." He pulls her into his lap, kissing her breathless. Finally stopping he asks, "Let's get dinner to go and no more talk about work?" She nods, kissing him lightly, then gets up and makes her way to the loo. He adjusts himself before standing and making his way to the kitchen to get their dinner together, looking forward to the rest of the evening.
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