Author's Note: Thank you all for the wonderful support on this story. This chapter has one of my favourite scenes between them. I really hope you enjoy xo
Alpha love as always to the wonderful Kyonomiko. Errors are my own.
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Harry Potter franchise.
Draco brandished his lit wandtip over the opening of the stairway into the earth, and he couldn't see anything but for the first initial steps. Granger's wand joined his as she dried her other palm on her jeans. They fired a few cursory spells down but nothing returned.
"Should we go inside?" she breathed, her chocolate eyes wide.
"What else do we do?" Draco asked with a shrug. "We might not be able to access it another time."
Her eyes caught his. "You go first."
He snipped, "You're the Gryffindor."
"This is your operation," she hissed, her lips twitching.
"Fuck," he cussed, shaking his head. He grumbled as he took the first step into the circular staircase, glancing behind him. "Then you ought to wait up here until I find out what it is. No need for both of us being eaten by some pit-monster."
"There aren't pit-monsters," Granger whispered.
"There could be," he bit out.
"If you get eaten by the pit-monster, I promise I won't follow you down." She flashed him a grin as he shook his head, descending another few steps until the only light was from his own wandtip.
Draco clenched his jaw as he walked, checking the staircase before each step to be sure he wasn't stepping off into nothingness. Finally he reached the bottom, and was enveloped in darkness but for the small light flickering from his wand.
Conjuring a small torch that danced and flared, Draco could see he was in a cavern of sorts. In the orange light of the flames, he could just make out something on the walls, and he walked closer to peer at what appeared to be drawings. He affixed the torch to the wall nearest the staircase.
A breath chased from his lungs as he took in the intricacies painted on the walls – human figures and animals, agricultural fields and ships in the dockyard – and he shook his head, lighting several more torches to properly illuminate the cavern.
On the other side of the large room, there was a circle of ancient looking chairs that might have been used the day before – obviously preserved with magic, and between them a copper slab of a table. The chair at the head of the table was more ornate than the rest, detailed with fine embroidery.
Gaping, Draco shook his head as he returned to the base of the stairwell. "Granger! No pit-monsters!"
He returned to his perusal of the room until she joined him at the bottom with a sharp gasp, blinking in the light of the many flames.
"Look at these paintings," she whispered reaching out a hand and letting it fall. "They tell the story of Lothal."
"Not just Lothal," Draco breathed, staring at a magnificent mural that covered the far wall – a river and people working in the fields. Swirls danced in the air and Draco knew it to be the magic they sometimes felt. "All of the Indus Valley."
Granger approached the seating area, her hands grazing the rich fabric of the chairs. "So this was, what – a council chamber?"
"Something like that?" Draco said. "I have no idea."
"A magical council," she inferred. "Maybe they needed to hide."
"It wouldn't surprise me," he admitted. "Interesting to think that the prosperity across the Indus Valley was attributed to a group of magical sorcerers who worked below ground. Do you think this is where they practiced their magic? Rituals, or what have you."
"Maybe," Granger said, catching her lip between her teeth. "Although you might expect altars and statues of deities, that sort of thing."
Draco stared at an inset alcove along the last wall, a massive carved statue of a human-like figure tucked inside of it – a deity that he recognized from their research. "Like this," he deadpanned.
Granger approached, her brow tight as she stared up at the statue. "Yes. Like that one." She took a step away, her fingers touching the wall. "And look at these."
The section of wall was painted with a series – a herd – of the bull-like animals like the magical figure.
"So, do you suppose they were casting spells on these figures and releasing them?" Draco asked, his stare lingering on the vibrant pigments of the bulls.
"Why?" Granger asked with a shrug. "Were they tired of keeping secret? Maybe they resented the rest of the Indus Valley citizens for not realizing how much benefit the magic provided?"
"I don't know about that," Draco said, shaking his head. "Because it was suspected that there were practitioners of magic, wasn't it? In magical accounts, at least, according to Helmo. If they were helping the Indus Valley prosper, why send magic after its people?"
Granger sat down on one of the lavish chairs and Draco snickered as he joined her.
"Here's a thought," she began, tapping on the copper slab. "The Indus Valley magical council, for lack of a better word, was utilizing all this magic without regard, and without wielding devices like a wand or a staff."
"That we know of," Draco reminded her.
"Right," she said, waving a hand. "But what if no one actively cursed the bull figure – what if they began to deplete the magic and it took on a sentience of its own?" She fixed him with a sharp gaze. "Is that even possible?"
Draco swallowed, holding her gaze. "They were pulling ancient magic from the earth. If you're asking whether the magic could have become corrupted – through overuse or misuse…" he grimaced. "I think the answer is absolutely."
Hermione looked around at the bustle of activity that had overtaken Lothal as soon as the team had arrived on site that morning. Aurors and Unspeakables were investigating the pillar with the crescent form carved into it, the hidden entrance and stairway, and the cavernous chamber itself.
Malfoy was in the chamber with Dean, and another pair – Unspeakable Young and Auror Elias – and Hermione made her way down to convene with them.
By the time they had made it back to the hotel the night before, it had been morning already, and she was straining to keep her eyes open. The burning heat glaring down at them already wasn't helping matters; she was attempting to access the trigger to see anything that might have happened in the chamber, but her brain felt too fatigued.
"How is it going in here?" she asked, approaching the group. Malfoy's gaze flickered to her, his lips twitching.
"Fine," he said. "We've been chronicling all the features down here, including the murals on the walls. Searching for lingering evidence of magic."
"After so long?" Hermione asked, her eyes squinted.
Unspeakable Young shrugged, exchanging a glance with her partner. "It depends on the source."
Auror Elias broke in. "Do you suppose there are chambers like this in Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa? If the entrance was so secretive, we could have easily missed them."
Hermione fidgeted with her beaded bag, staring at the floor. "If we go back, I might be able to see something along those lines. The only reason we found this one was because of the full moon interacting with the crescent carving."
"So the crescent carving in Mohenjo-Daro – that could be significant too?" Young stared around at the group, looking somewhat abashed.
Malfoy huffed a harsh breath beside her. "There was a crescent in Mohenjo?"
"It was in the reports," Elias commented, "but there was a lot of irrelevant information in the reports. It didn't strike us as important until we heard about the carving here this morning."
"Yes," Malfoy choked, his grey eyes wide, "that might be important."
Hermione felt her breath quicken as a thick tension hung over the group. "We'll have to go back to Mohenjo-Daro, then. Was there anything like that in Harappa?"
"Not that we saw," Young said with a shrug. "But it wouldn't hurt to scour back through the reports. One of the other teams might have filed something along those lines. There are so many small details in these excavations – it would have been easy to miss something like that."
"And covering such a large area in a short time," Hermione said, her mind abuzz with thought. Had they missed something so vital in Harappa?
Malfoy tugged her aside as the other three continued their investigation in the cavern, ducking in. "I haven't heard anything from Randall or Hikari yet. I'm going to Portkey to St Mungo's and check in."
"Okay," Hermione breathed, tense with nerves. "Do you want me to come?"
Through her peripheral vision, she could see Dean watching them, and he gave her a knowing smile when she looked his way, before turning back to his work.
"If you want to," Malfoy said, and there was a stiffness to his shoulders belying the flippancy of his words. "Or you can stay here and lead the investigation. I just – need to know. Whether Hikari's been infected."
"Of course," she said, a tilt to her head as she observed him. "I'll come. It sounds like we'll be going back to Mohenjo-Daro tomorrow, or at least in the next couple days."
"The trail seems to suggest as much," he said, plucking his Portkey from his lapel. "I'll let Thomas know."
He walked back to the other three, who were scanning the large statue for signs of enchantments, and then returned to Hermione a few minutes later. Wearing a tight grimace, he offered her the Portkey and they were gone.
It was still early in London, and St Mungo's wasn't the hub of energy they were used to. Draco slid his hands into his pockets, slowing his deliberate gait to keep up with Granger's shorter legs.
He could see the trepidation in her posture, though she stowed it carefully beneath a stoic facade. He wondered at what point he had learned to see through her so well. He trailed his fingers along the length of her lower spine, to ground himself as much as anything.
Even after they had returned to the hotel from Harappa early in the morning, he had been unable to find much sleep, and he felt the strain behind his eyelids, especially given they would still have a long day of research ahead of them with the new discovery in Lothal – and the subsequent knowledge of a similar carving in Mohenjo-Daro.
Perhaps the magical councils were more ubiquitous than they had first thought.
"We could visit the Ministry while we're here," Granger mused. "Inform Burke and Robards of what we've learned."
"Good idea," Draco nodded. "Although they might not be at the Ministry yet."
"Burke will be," she snickered. "Sometimes I wonder if he even leaves at night or whether he just sleeps in his office."
"Sometimes I wonder the same about you," he teased, nudging her in the shoulder.
"I have a flat, thank you," she sniped. "With a cat. Although he is staying with my neighbour right now."
"I don't have a cat," Draco returned, shaking his head. "But I do have a flat."
Her gaze snapped to stare at him. "You don't live at the Manor?"
Draco stopped mid-step in the hallway, turning to her. "No. Didn't you know that?"
Her brow was furrowed as she took in the thought. "There are a lot of things I don't know about your life." Her gaze met his with a sort of heavy significance. "I guess I thought you would stay in the ancestral home."
He dropped his chin. "I chose to leave, after eighth year. Too many bad memories there."
"And your mother?" Granger asked, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips. "Has she moved as well?"
Draco shook his head. "No. She's chosen to stay – but she spends a lot of time with Andromeda and Teddy. They've been… attempting to make amends."
A tight breath chased from Granger's mouth and she clapped a hand over her lips, shaking her head. "That's good. I forget, sometimes – that you and Tonks..."
He clenched his jaw, averting his gaze. "I guess you knew my cousin better than I did. I was never allowed to meet her."
There was something in Granger's expression – a deep well of despair and loss. Her voice was no more than a whisper as she said, "Tonks was lovely. You'd have liked her – it was impossible not to." She swallowed, steadying herself. "I'm relieved to hear your mother has been spending time with Andromeda. We've worried about her, after losing Ted and Dora –"
"Right," Draco agreed, feeling at odds with the conversation. He'd never known either of them, and he still didn't know Andromeda that well, either. He gave a sort of uncomfortable shrug. "I like spending time with Teddy."
"Harry visits with him too," she breathed, and her eyes were glossy as they flickered up to fix on the ceiling. "I'm sorry – it's just…"
"I know," Draco said, swallowing a thick lump in his throat. She nodded, pressing a hand to her mouth again. "I know, Granger." Cognizant of the empty hallway, he tugged her closer, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Her hands clung to the planes of his back like a lifeline, her face buried in his chest. He breathed into her hair, "He took so much."
"So much," Granger echoed, her voice muffled against his clothes. She drew back, blinking, and her cheeks were tinged a dull pink. "I apologize for –"
He shook his head, cutting her off. "Don't apologize. None of it was your fault."
A breath hitched as she stared at him, her eyes shining again with anguish and tears. "Some of it was." She took a deeper breath, her gaze dropping to the floor. "My parents – that was my fault. Harry says it wasn't, but –"
Draco blinked at her, scanning the recesses of his mind, through the occurrences he tried to keep buried. "Your parents?"
He couldn't remember hearing anything about her parents during or after the war.
She nodded, sliding her pointer finger beneath the curve of her eye. "Yes," she whispered, catching her bottom lip between her teeth. "That was my fault."
When she wasn't forthcoming with any further information, Draco blinked, feeling a frisson of foreboding chase through him. There was a bench in the hallway and he tugged her towards it, taking a hesitant seat beside her.
An emotionally vulnerable Hermione Granger wasn't something he was altogether familiar or comfortable with.
"What happened to your parents?" he asked, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm afraid I didn't hear anything about that."
"You wouldn't have," she finally said, a bittersweet smile tugging at her lips. "They're in Australia. They'll never remember I exist."
Draco swallowed, feeling a tightness clutch at his chest. "You altered their memories?"
She nodded, staring at the bench as she dragged a finger between the wooden slats. "I didn't want anyone to go after them for information about where I'd gone, when we went on the run." She fell silent, drawing patterns on the bench. "I didn't know whether I'd be able to reverse the spell after, but – I couldn't see them die because of me. And they had no way of defending themselves against all that…"
He felt cold, staring at her. The war was over but the battle was still going on, within everyone who had had the misfortune of being involved.
"Granger," he breathed, shaking his head. A horrific sense of despair choked his words; she was forlorn – she had lost her parents – and he had been a part of the cause. He managed to whisper, "I'm so sorry."
Her fingers closed around his own. "It wasn't your fault. It was a decision I made, and one I'll live with for the rest of my life."
Draco didn't even have words as he gaped at her. "I can't believe you –"
"I couldn't see them die," she said, looking up at him. "Do you know what I mean? I can see them living a different existence – it hurts, but they're alive. I couldn't have lived with myself if the Death Eaters went after them."
He'd made bloody jokes about her Sugar Quills. He had poked fun at her parents being teeth Healers. He felt hot and cold at once, but all he could think of was the way she still held his hand, even as she told him these world-shattering truths that had been weighing her down for so long.
He had been one of the Death Eaters she'd feared.
"Granger," he whispered again, his words sounding hollow and empty. He had nothing he could offer her.
But she shook her head, her eyes shining with moisture. "It's okay." She glanced away again, taking a tight breath. "Thank you for listening. I just… thought you should know. I don't have any parents to introduce you to."
"Fuck," he gasped, clutching her hand tighter. "I have a father in Azkaban and a mother in denial."
She let out a watery laugh. "We're quite the pair, then."
He could only stare at her and marvel at her strength. To wonder at the thought that he had been so wrong about her. His face twisted as he shook his head, his eyes fixed on hers. "I think you might be the best person I know."
Even as she snickered, she gave him a sad smile. "I know that isn't true." She smacked him in the arm. "I'm just Granger." Her head tilted as she stared at him; there must have been something in his face because her smile dropped. "Merlin, Malfoy, make fun of my hair or something."
"I can't." He swallowed, a deep furrow in his brow. "You've gone through all this – why in the name of Merlin would you ever want me?"
Her hand squeezed his again. "Because you're more than you think you are." Her voice was soft as she carried on. "And it took me a while to see it – but I'm sorry for how I treated you, when you first showed up in my doorway."
Despite himself, he released an incredulous laugh. "I cussed you out – you don't have to apologize for that. We didn't know each other at all then."
She laughed, a smile on her face when she looked at him again. "Look at us – we were here for a reason and I've gone all sappy. I appreciate you listening."
He frowned. "Of course, Granger."
Her smile was genuine as she said, "Good." Tugging his hand with her, she rose from the bench, swiping at her eyes with her free hand. "Let's go find Hikari."
Hikari, as it turned out, was irritable and ready to get to work when they found his room.
"They haven't concluded the testing yet," he informed the two of them when they arrived, a wrinkle to the bridge of his nose. "Despite that I've told them numerous times I'm feeling better."
Hermione glanced at Malfoy, who raised a brow. "You're feeling fine?"
Malfoy clicked his tongue, settling into a chair at Hikari's bedside. "The Aurors felt fine too when the first signs of the magic showed up. When did they say they would have the results?"
"Soon," Hikari said with a shrug. "What am I missing in Lothal?"
Hermione blinked, and she would have been surprised at his rational attitude if it weren't for the fact that he was an Unspeakable, and therefore trained in dealing with strange and malicious magic.
She tucked herself into the chair beside Malfoy, folding her feet beneath her. Together they explained the discovery of the chamber beneath the warehouse, and Hikari listened with rapt attention and wide eyes.
"And Young and Elias thought they saw a similar carving in Mohenjo-Daro?" he asked, scratching at the fresh stubble on his jaw. "Auror Thomas and I saw so many carvings in random places… it's easy to see how one could have been overlooked."
"Right," Malfoy said, exhaling a long breath. "So we'll be heading to Mohenjo-Daro once our avenues in Lothal are exhausted. Although with this new discovery, it's hard to say whether we'll ever have found absolutely everything that might offer some value. It was by luck and timing we found this cavern in the first place."
The three of them glanced up as two Healers filed into the room, their faces grim but unreadable, followed by Healer Randall, who looked surprised to see her and Malfoy there.
"Unspeakable Granger," Randall said, "and Auror Malfoy." She nodded, approaching with a clipboard, and fixed her gaze on Hikari. "I have good news – you don't show any signs of the magical signature we've found relating to the illness."
Hermione released a tight breath. Malfoy's hand grasped her wrist on instinct. Hikari held his hands up, letting out an exaggerated exhale.
"So I can return to the investigation, right?" Hikari asked, peering over his glasses at the Healer.
But Randall raised a hand. "Just because we haven't found the magic doesn't mean you haven't somehow exposed yourself, and it's yet to manifest strong enough to be measurable."
"But surely he wouldn't have felt any physical symptoms yet if the magic was so low," Malfoy reasoned, letting go of Hermione's wrist.
Randall nodded in acquiescence. "It's most likely nothing. Or as you suspected, Unspeakable Hikari, a case of heat stroke."
Malfoy flashed her a grin, and she could see the relief in his expression. "So we aren't all going to drop dead."
"I don't imagine so," Randall said, her lips twitching with humour. "And if you do, it won't be because of this magic. But do keep in mind, we don't know enough about it to say that you won't still expose yourselves – the deeper you dig."
"Noted," Hermione said, sharing a quick glance with Malfoy and Hikari.
She couldn't help but wonder whether, the more they delved into the earth, and the more they explored and pushed forward, the more they chanced angering the ancient magic that existed in the Indus Valley.
But Malfoy clapped his hands together. "Are we good, then?"
"Yes," Randall admitted, a smile rising on her lips. "I am glad to finally have some good news for you."
"Believe me," he returned, with a grimace, "so am I."
"Excellent!" Hikari exclaimed, already rising from the hospital bed in which he had been sequestered. The two Healers approached to begin the process of his discharging.
"There is one more thing," Randall said, turning to Hermione. "If you'd allow me to run some tests while you're here – there has been a lot of unusual brain activity since you've begun activating the trigger of the memories, and I'd like to take a look."
She glanced at Malfoy, who shrugged. "Yes, that would be fine." Turning to the blond, she added, "Then we can go to the Ministry?"
He gave her a tight smile. "Sounds like a plan, Granger."
