A/N: Apologies for posting this late. I will try to be on time for next week! Reviews are much appreciated and very motivating. :)
Draco rested his head on her shoulder. "Life rarely does." Hermione closed her eyes, snuggling closer to him. She felt content sitting here but also strangely segmented, like her life had been divided into "Before Draco" and "After Draco" and she couldn't figure out how the two coincided. Nothing about this made any logical sense but she felt like she was in the right place in a way she hadn't experienced since hunting Horcruxes with Harry and Ron. She'd made her choice and it was too late to go back, even if she'd wanted to.
It was still relatively early, for them, when Hermione started to get up to head for Gryffindor tower. She felt world-weary and more than ready for the day to be over with. All the ups and downs—Luna at breakfast, class, Draco's waitlisting, and now this—left her feeling like she'd lived a year in a day.
Draco caught her wrist as she started to stand, running his fingers down until they twined with hers. Hermione felt a spark of the familiar jitters from when they'd first gotten together. Then he reached behind the couch and pulled out an orchid of the deepest red that she'd ever seen.
It was beautiful, dark enough to be the same color as blood but shimmering in a way that was more reminiscent of fire. Draco slipped it into her free hand and it hit her what he was doing, trying to bring them back to when they'd first gotten together. Before the rest of the world shoved it's way into their secret life.
It wasn't a regression so much as a touchstone. Hermione smiled from the simplicity of it. She'd chosen Draco all those evenings in the library, that night by the lake when she realized how much she wanted him in her life, and every day since then.
Hermione wanted to say something but there wasn't anything left to say. They'd been through so much together and there was still so much to come. Their eyes met and Draco leaned forwards a bit, but didn't cross the distance between them. He waited for her to meet him halfway. Hermione pressed her lips against his, the kiss soft and sweet in a way that they'd been missing for a while now.
It made her want to fall back down onto the couch beside him and stay there forever, but she needed to go. There were patrols to worry about and sleep to catch up on, no matter how much she loved this quiet time in the Room.
Hermione pulled back ever so slightly, resting her forehead against his. "I have to go," she whispered.
"I know." Draco tilted his head to capture her lips in another kiss, fleeting this time but no less powerful. "Good night."
"Good night." Hermione pulled away from him and left before she could convince herself that it would be better to stay.
The next morning, Ginny still hadn't returned to Hogwarts but Hermione also hadn't heard from Neville or Luna so she assumed that Ron's recovery was going smoothly.
Anything else was unthinkable. It didn't matter that they'd broken up or what Ron thought about her and Draco, he'd still been one of her best friends and she couldn't think of losing him completely.
Hermione passed the hours like any normal Saturday, holing up in the library. No one bothered her, and Draco arrived about an hour in. She'd just started to relax into the ease of the motions when someone coughed behind them.
Three Ministry workers stood there all dressed in black robes, simple but formal, with identical sober expressions. Hermione startled, not having heard them approach.
"Mr. Malfoy?" the one in front asked. He was tall, at least a head taller than Draco, with salt and pepper hair and pale green eyes. He seemed to be the leader of the trio, as the other two—a Chinese woman with her long hair twisted into a thick braid and a stout man with frizzy blond hair—deferred to his leadership.
Panic shot through Hermione like a bolt of lightning. What if they were here to arrest Malfoy? They didn't look like Aurors but then again she wasn't sure what Aurors looked like when they went to arrest someone.
"Yes?" Draco replied, his eyes flashing. He moved into a defensive posture, turning towards them like he was ready to run or fight.
"You'd better come with us."
Draco glanced at Hermione. "Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of her."
The leading man looked her up and down, his mouth a tight line. "This information is sensitive. May I ask what is your relationship?"
She froze. What were they? Boyfriend and girlfriend didn't even begin to cover everything they'd gone through. She opened her mouth to suggest that maybe she should leave when Draco answered for her, "She's my girlfriend. Now please just tell me what it is."
"Very well. Perhaps if we could go somewhere a little more private?" His eyes flickered down the shelf rows, where a number of younger students were starting to gather and stare.
"All right." Draco and Hermione packed up their stuff as quickly as possible, stuffing it into their bags. The leader guided them out of the library and down to a tiny, seemingly unused office with the other two flanking them like they might try to bolt.
It didn't make Hermione feel any more reassured.
The office was dim and dusty inside, probably belonging to a professor that had long since retired. It was bare of furnishings except for an empty bookshelf, a small desk, and a trio of rickety chairs.
"I'm Auror Blackthorn," the man told them, waving his wand to remove most of the built-up grime from the room before settling down behind the desk. Hermione sat on a chair in front of the desk and Draco stood beside her. "We're representatives from the Aurors' Office. A team of ours was attacked while tracking a group of Death Eaters a few days ago." Hermione immediately thought of Ron and her breath caught in her throat. "Your mother, Narcissa Malfoy, was helping us attempt to track down those that got away. She was separated from the rest of the group and hasn't been heard from since."
Hermione moved her gaze from the man to Draco in time to see him turn whiter than the Bloody Baron.
"There's no reason to believe that she's in any particular danger…" Blackthorn continued, seeming not to notice Draco's distress.
"Where is she?" Draco cut him off, his voice tight. Hermione could see the cold fury rising inside of him, the way his muscles stiffened and his silver eyes went dark. His grip tightened on the back of her chair until the wood started to creak.
"Unknown." Blackthorn was unmovable. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared back at Draco.
"I'm going to find her." Draco started to turn around, like he was going to do it right now, but Hermione rested a hand on his arm until he calmed back down.
"You can't do that. She could still be tracking the Death Eaters and if you were to alert them…" She heard the unspoken threat in his words, that if Narcissa had deserted and joined the Death Eaters, they weren't about to let him join her.
"She's my mother."
"You have our sympathies, but until she contacts us or we find her, the best thing for you to do is stay at Hogwarts." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of magical handcuffs, setting them on the table. The threat was unmistakable: refuse to obey and you'll join your father.
Draco dropped into the remaining chair. "Just find her." His voice cracked in a bit of a whine. Hermione hoped that she was the only one who heard it.
"We will do our best, Mr. Malfoy." Blackthorn stood up again and shoved the handcuffs back into his robes. "If she contacts you in any way, let us know immediately."
"Of course," Malfoy replied, scorn blanketing his voice.
The three of them disappeared out the door of the office as quickly as they had arrived. Silence fell, blanketing the room like the coat of dust. Draco didn't move, barely seemed to breathe.
"Your mum's going to be okay," Hermione said.
Draco was slumped in his seat, his eyes staring unfocused at the cracked surface of the old desk. He still looked extremely pale and Hermione questioned the urge to cuddle closer to him. She wished that she could offer him reassurance without having to worry about it being too much.
"Draco, she's going to be fine. I'm sure she's just having trouble getting back to the Ministry."
"We're wizards, Hermione. She can Apparate." Eyes flashing, he stood up so hard that his chair flipped over backwards. "I have to go," he added abruptly.
"Where?" Hermione moved to follow him.
Draco waved her away. "I'm not going after her, if that's what you're wondering. I…just need to get outside. I just can't stay here." His eyes roamed the room like a caged predator.
She nodded. "Do you want me to come with you?"
"I'm fine. Don't worry about me. I'll see you at dinner."
"Okay." She watched him go with a deep sense of foreboding. Hermione trusted him not to risk everything in going after his mother, no matter how much he wanted to, but she couldn't help worrying that he might try something reckless. Despite her reassurances, she was worried about Narcissa. Hermione knew that Draco's mother could take care of herself, but what if something had happened? What if the Death Eaters had her?
What if the Aurors were right about their caution and Narcissa had managed to fool them all? What if she'd switched sides once more?
Hermione shook her head. No, that wasn't right. Something was probably preventing Narcissa from returning to the Ministry. Maybe she was still on the Death Eaters' trail or maybe she was just lost. It was hard to Apparate when you didn't know where you were going.
The hours passed like snails stuck in mud. She returned to the library, but it was quiet and lonely without Draco there beside her. She had Ancient Runes translations, a Potions essay, a Transfiguration essay, and six chapters of Charms to read and yet she couldn't bring herself to pay attention to any of it.
With a heavy sigh, Hermione packed up her stuff and went looking for Draco. He wasn't in the Room of Requirement, which formed itself into an empty room smaller than a broom closet when she went to check. Hermione scowled before she realized that she didn't know what she needed from it. The room was just simply giving her what she was looking for: the knowledge that Draco wasn't there.
He also wasn't in the Owlery (not that she expected him to be, considering there was no one for him to send letters to), any of the passages, or anywhere else that she could tell. Without the Marauders' Map there was no way for her to check the dungeons and she wasn't about to ask Harry for it.
The grounds were her next stop, blanketed by snow as they were. It wasn't until she wandered down to the lake that she spotted Draco's familiar shock of white hair and his green winter cloak.
Hermione walked over, her heart heavy, and sat a few feet away from him. He was crouched at the edge of the lake, tossing handfuls of rocks into the water. She wrapped her cloak tighter around herself and settled into the snow.
She saw Draco glance her way out of the corner of her eye, but he didn't say anything.
Neither did Hermione.
For what seemed like ages, they sat there, the only sounds the whisper of the trees and the steady plop-plop of the splashing rocks.
"Draco," Hermione whispered. He turned towards her, his eyes blank. Seeing him like that rocked her to the core. "Please don't lock me out."
Wordlessly, he pushed himself over until he was sitting next to her, so close to the edge of the lake that the bottom of his cloak floated in the water. Hermione stayed still, hardly daring to breath as he put his arms around her and rested his face into her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," she said.
Draco merely shook in response. His face was too deeply buried in her cloak for her to see the tears that she was sure streamed down his face.
Hermione's heart crashed against her ribs as it hit her how much she loved this boy next to her. She wished there was something she could do to make it all go away, a map that extended beyond the borders of Hogwarts. A tracking spell that would tell them where Narcissa was, and whether she was all right.
But even if such a spell existed, doubtless Narcissa would have protections to repel against it. If Hermione could find her with a spell, that meant the Death Eaters could too.
Gradually, Draco's shaking stopped and his breathing evened out again, but he left his head resting on her.
"If something happens to her..." Draco didn't have to finish. Hermione hugged him a little closer and rubbed soothing circles on his back with her thumb. Narcissa was the only one that Draco ever really had. The only one that had fought to protect him. The only family he had left.
"Nothing is going to happen to her."
"I wish that I had half your conviction." His voice was raw from crying and strangely shaky. Hermione didn't know quite how to react to this fragile Draco. Even when he was terrified, he still attempted to keep the air of confidence that he'd always used in the past, that same arrogance that kept people at bay.
Hermione and Draco stayed sitting on the banks until their faces went numb and a cold wind kicking across the lake drove them inside. It was well after dinner and Hermione was surprised when her stomach rumbled its displeasure at having missed it.
"Why don't we go down to the Room and I'll fetch dinner from the kitchen," she suggested.
Draco shook his head. He was more steady now, more himself, but she could still see the faraway look in his eyes. Wherever his mother was now, his mind was with her. "I think I'm going to bed."
"Okay." Hermione grabbed him by the collar of his cloak and placed her lips over his. "I will see you in the morning?"
"Breakfast. I promise."
She kissed him once more and let him go, watching as he retreated down to the dungeons. Sighing with worry, Hermione headed off in the opposite direction. Even though he'd shown her a part of himself that few—if any—ever witnessed, he still hadn't really opened up to her.
Food and then she would patrol. Maybe a nice wander of the passageways and a few errant first-years would take her mind off things. Draco stayed on her mind the whole night, even as she went to bed. She snatched the map out of the depths of Harry's trunk, just to reassure herself that Draco hadn't left. But there he was, in the Slytherin dormitory safe and sound. Guilt gnawed at her as she put the map back in its place and crawled into bed.
She cared for Draco so much, and yet she couldn't bring herself to fully trust him. The thought grated in her mind until the early hours of the morning when she finally drifted off to sleep.
In the morning, Hermione went down to the Great Hall and Draco stumbled in when she was halfway done with her food. His hair was shaggy and scruff covered his chin.
"Mail in yet?" Draco asked, his voice anxious.
Hermione shook her head and the familiar rush of wings sounded over their heads. Owls swooped in, circling around the ceiling until they spotted their owners. Draco stared up at them with searching eyes but within minutes they'd all swooped out again.
He slumped into his seat, looking more lost and broken than she'd ever seen him before. She rested her hand on his arm, trying to convey that everything wasn't gone. She was still there and she'd do whatever she possibly could to make everything all right again. Hermione didn't know how much more of this she could take before she was tempted to leave Hogwarts and hunt Narcissa herself.