CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: HATCHING A PLAN

Draco couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so at peace. He'd guess before the werewolf attack, but even then he couldn't pin point one exact moment. Hermione stirred in his arms, unintentionally snuggling deeper into his embrace in her sleep. Her wild array of hair was surprisingly soft and he couldn't help but feel protective as he tucked her head under his chin.

Relaxed as he was, he couldn't still his thoughts. He knew for sure Hermione wanted to be with him; he'd made sure of it before he'd started this. He thought his being a partial werewolf would be more of an issue, but so far it didn't seem like it. He knew without a doubt Hermione had to be his mate, but he felt no urge to do anything about the matter other than be with her and protect her. He couldn't tell if that was a werewolf trait or a Malfoy trait. While he'd never been particularly attached to any of his girlfriends in the past, Malfoys were also notoriously possessive. Granted the wolf did seem to have that slightly concerning desire to see her with child- his child. But Draco was relieved he seemed to have enough control to keep that on the back burner. He didn't suspect he'd have to bite Hermione or anything; he didn't even grow canines. He smirked to himself. He was basically a neutered werewolf since he literally could not bite anyone.

When he finally drifted to sleep, he was hopeful in the light of their self-imposed hiding. They might still have to face Greyback, but they were together, and that gave him even more. His family was growing. He had a godson. Hermione Granger was willingly and trustingly sleeping in his arms. Things he could've never even foreseen in his wildest dreams five years ago. It was almost too good to be true.

~o~o~o~

"Draco," a concerned voice called distantly. "Draco, wake up."

The wizard jerked awake from the prompting of the borderline panicked voice. He looked to Hermione whose face looked ashen. His heart dropped. But before his mind could race into a slew of fears about Hermione having second thoughts, his eye caught sight of the large misty stag at the foot of their bed.

"Bloody hell-" he murmured, flinching back.

"Greyback was here, come to the hospital immediately. Bring Hermione."

Harry's message was brief and to the point, but it had both of faltering in terror. Ginny. Their godson. What happened? They were both scrambling out of bed without a word, hastily dressing. When Draco extended his arm to her to apparate them, Hermione's nails dug into his arm.

They found Harry near the entrance of the ward.

"Harry," Draco called out.

"Ginny?" Hermione asked immediately, breathless from their rush over.

"Fine, she's in her room with James," Harry waved off.

"You left her alone?" Draco demanded.

"Of course not, her family's with her," Harry snapped.

"Then Greyback-" Hermione began in confusion.

"Ginny wasn't the target," Harry said regretfully. "Katie was sticking around to keep checking in on Ginny up until she could be discharged home. He caught her by surprise."

Hermione paled, feeling the air leave her all at once. "Is she alive?"

"Yea," Harry quickly assured. "She was supposed to meet Cormac for lunch, so when she didn't show, he went looking for her. He got there right in time..."

"Where is she?"

"Trauma ward," Harry said softly.

Hermione turned on her heel, heading down the familiar halls until she reached her ward. Draco was right on her heels, paranoid enough now to not want to leave her alone even for a second. Snatching up the nurses' chart on their patients, she quickly identified Katie's room.

Walking in, she was met with a sadly familiar scene of Katie curled in the bed. Cormac sat in the chair beside her bed, speaking with her in hushed tones. Katie's arms were heavily bandaged. Her movements were stiff and hesitant, as if she didn't want to move too quickly and hurt herself. She took shallow breaths because it still hurt to breathe too deeply with her freshly healing ribs.

"Katie," Hermione whispered guiltily.

"Hermione," Katie tried to smile weakly.

"Thank Merlin you're alright," Hermione mumbled, walking closer. She reached out and hugged Cormac both in greeting and gratitude. "Thank you for saving her."

Draco clenched his fists by his side. He despised seeing her arms around McLaggen, but he also knew it was not the time nor the place for it.

"I should've gotten there sooner," McLaggen muttered darkly.

"You couldn't have known," Katie reassured him.

"Greyback?" Hermione asked them.

"Escaped," McLaggen bit out. "I could've gone after him but Katie needed help immediately."

"How bad was it?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine," Katie said softly.

"Katie, your lungs nearly drowned in your own blood," Cormac broke in.

Hermione blanched. This was worse than she expected.

"But I'm fine now." Katie seemed to have a heartbreakingly accepting air to her, and Hermione knew then that this was probably nothing compared to what she went through during the war. Did Cormac not know about that night?

Before anyone could say anything else, Harry walked in with Theo on his heels. The scene was eerily similar to the one just a week ago.

"Katie, you're up," Harry sighed in relief.

"Theo, why are you here?" Draco asked in surprise.

"Potter summoned me." His words were brief and light, but he watched Katie carefully.

"Yes, we need to move Katie somewhere safe as soon as we can." Harry spoke up. "I'm taking Ginny back home right after this too. I don't think it's safe for any of us to just be out and about for the time being."

"You need Theo for that why...?" Hermione wondered.

"We don't have any more safe-houses right now, and I need Nott to place wards on whatever location we pick for Katie.

"Why can't I go home?" Katie broke in hoarsely.

"Greyback knows where your house is; since you've clearly become an easily accessible target for him, we need to move you somewhere he wouldn't expect." Harry told her regretfully.

"But where?" Katie asked.

"That's what we're going to figure out," Harry reassured.

"You know you're welcome at my place, Katie-bell," Cormac said affectionately. "But my private life doesn't really stay private for long with reporters always looking for a new headline."

"Right, famous Quidditch player and all that," Katie murmured.

"You can always stay at Malfoy Manor," Draco offered. "It's empty anyway, and it already has stronger wards than anything we could manage to scourge up now."

"I don't know..."

"That's an awfully big place for her to stay alone," Hermione defended her friend, picking up on her discomfort.

"We can assign you an Auror." Harry proposed.

"I can do it," Theo spoke up.

Everyone's heads turned to the dark haired wizard in dumb silence. Theo had always been relatively neutral in whatever he did. While no one could deny his brilliance with curse breaking and wards, but he'd never been particularly invested in anything. He always showed up whenever he was needed, yet never volunteered for anything out of turn.

"What? I'm already familiar with the manor, and I'm one of the few people in loop with the girls' new security details."

Draco grinned. "He's right, he's been going to the manor since we were kids, he knows it just as well as I do."

"But you're not a trained Auror," Hermione pointed out.

"I can promise you Granger, I'm perfectly capable of holding down a duel," he drawled.

"Would that be okay with you, Katie?" Harry inquired, already feeling more relieved at the easy solution. Given the circumstances, Harry clearly was not concerned with Theo's technical credentials- or lack thereof.

Katie studied Nott for a loaded moment. He met her gaze unflinchingly. Something important seemed to pass between them- an understanding of sorts.

"Yes," she finally said. "That works for me."

"Okay, we'll need to move soon then," Harry clapped his hands.

Cormac stood at that. "I suppose this is my cue to leave."

"Thanks for coming," Katie said, reaching for his hand.

"Wouldn't be anywhere else," he squeezed her hand. "Why did you want to meet for lunch anyway?"

"Is it so bad I want to keep in touch with an old friend?"

"Of course not," he leaned over her, pressing a soft, affectionate kiss to her hairline. "Floo check on the lunch, we'll have to make it a regular thing."

"I'll hold you to that," Katie warned with a weak smile as Cormac pulled away, heading for the exit.

"How long will I have to stay at Malfoy manor?" Katie asked tiredly after a brief pause.

"Until we catch Greyback," Harry said apologetically.

"Have you made any progress?"

"No," Harry bit out. "The bastard is good at hiding away until he wants to be seen."

"How long are we just going to keep doing this? I appreciate the protection, Harry, I do. But I have a career, I can't just stay in hiding."

"Focus on healing first," Theo spoke up. "Hopefully they'll get Greyback by then."

"No she's right," Hermione spoke up. "How long will we keep doing this? We all have lives to get back to, we can't be scared of whether Greyback will come after us indefinitely."

"There's no question of whether he would," Draco said in a hard voice. "He's made it clear he's after you. Katie was just a warning because he could no longer get to you."

"So let's use that!" Hermione said eagerly. "We know he'll come after me, so create a controlled setting to trap him."

"You mean use you as bait?" Harry frowned.

"No." Draco bit out.

"It wouldn't be the most dangerous thing I've done, Harry, you know that."

Harry studied Hermione closely, while Draco merely watched them incredulously.

"No," he insisted. "Absolutely not!"

It was like he hadn't even spoken.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked her again.

"Hermione..." Katie called out concernedly. "You don't have to do this, I'm sure they'll catch him either way."

"It's not just for you, Katie. I'm tired of waiting for him to pop out of the shadows, I can't keep living like this. And yes, Harry, I'm sure."

Hermione felt Draco stiffen beside her but kept her eyes on her best friend.

"I won't allow this," he said again, his voice deadly calm.

"It's not up to you," Hermione told him softly, almost apologetically.

"I'm still an Auror. I don't think this is a smart move for our department or you."

"Actually Malfoy, you're not technically allowed to participate in this case so..." Harry grimaced as his partner turned a cold glare on him- he hadn't seen that since their Hogwarts days.

Draco let out a sharp exhale as he turned away from the group abruptly. Hermione almost thought he was about to punch the wall but he merely paced away, tugging his hair in frustration before forcing himself back.

"I'll work on crafting a plan with our strategists," Harry told Hermione. "We'll make sure everything is planned for."

"Only the best strategists, Potter." Draco told him meaningfully.

"Agreed," Harry nodded. "We need to get Katie to the manor-"

"Nott can escort her." Draco said curtly. "I'll be taking Hermione to the cottage, go check on your wife and get her home."

Before the others could respond, Draco had his hand around Hermione's, pulling her out of the room and towards the main lobby, the only place in the hospital you could apparate.

"Draco-" Hermione tried placating him.

"Not here, Granger."

He didn't even look at her or touch her beyond his grip on her hand. Even then, as soon as they apparated back to the cottage, he dropped her hand like it was hot metal.

"Draco," Hermione whispered to his back. "I'll be fine, I promise."

He didn't respond.

Hermione stepped up to him, wrapping her arms around him and hesitantly resting her head on his back. He immediately stiffened, his hands coming up to unclench hers and remove them from his body.

"Draco-"

"No." He bit out, as he spun around. Hermione gasped, taking a sudden step back. His eyes were as silver as they were on the night of his first full moon. "No, you don't get to do that."

"What-"

"We just found our way to each other," he huffed in frustration. "Years and years of just watching you from the shadows, and we're finally together. Now you want to offer yourself up to bait that monster?"

He advanced on her steadily as she took measured steps back cautiously.

"I will be fine, you have to believe that," she told him.

He snatched her arm, dragging her to him. "Why would you even risk it?" He pleaded.

"Draco," Hermione cupped his cheek soothingly. "Don't underestimate me. I may be a Healer now, but I've never forgotten how to fight. Besides, with you and Harry in charge of the Aurors I have no doubts I'll be back home safe and sound."

Draco forced himself to take calming breaths, taking solace in Hermione's warmth in his arms. She watched patiently, drawing soft circles near his hair as she watched the silver recede from his eyes.

"There's no talking you out of this is there?" He asked resigned.

"You're learning already," she smiled cheekily.

~o~o~o~

"I need to go back to Ginny, will you two be alright?" Harry asked Katie and Theo.

"Don't worry Potter," Theo said. "I've got this."

"Right. Be safe."

The door closed behind him, throwing the room into a baited silence.

"Why are you doing this?" Katie asked him.

He merely looked at her. "Why are you?"

"The others trust you," she shrugged. "I see no reason not to."

Theo sighed, straightening his robes absentmindedly. "I didn't do anything last time; I figure this was my chance to finally do something."

Katie sighed, looking away. "You don't have to feel... indebted to me, Theo. I know the truth now, I forgive you."

"You shouldn't."

"Beg your pardon?"

"I was a coward that night, and even if I eventually did the right thing doesn't mean you should forgive me so easily."

"Theo," Katie studied him curiously. "It was a long time ago. Besides you've clearly grown since then. Not forgiving you would not only be a burden on you but me too."

"So let me do this," he asked. "Let me do something to earn that forgiveness."

"If you insist," Katie shrugged. "But it's Greyback... if he gets to me there might not be much you can do..." She seemed resigned, like she'd already accepted the inevitability.

Theo's eyes hardened.

"He's not getting anywhere near you- not on my watch."