AN: Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to all my lovely new followers, the favorites, the kudos, and the reviews you guys left! They seriously brighten my day every time :) This chapter was a bit more filler than I would've liked but I made it a little longer to make up for it. I hope you all liked it! As always, love you all and let me know what you think!
They did not, in fact, go get their boys.
Just as Hermione, Luna, and Ginny were planning out how they could track down the missing wizards, the bell at the front of the shop caught their attention, and in walked two very weary looking men.
"Please tell me you've installed a floo connection," Harry pleaded. He collapsed face down onto one of the couches and sighed. "Never mind, this is good."
Hermione chuckled. "Ah yes, the infamous Potter ability to sleep anywhere."
"Anywhere?" Luna tilted her head and got a dangerously curious look in her eyes.
"Come on, Luna, let's help him home." Ginny grabbed the blonde's hand and winked at Hermione. "We'll see you later, Mione."
Hermione waved them off with a smile. She chuckled quietly as Ginny levitated the tiredly protesting Harry out the door. Luna trailed after them asking Harry if he had slept in various places.
Draco slowly ambled his way over to her and leaned heavily on her counter across from her. "I know you keep saying no to them, but could you please install a floo connection? For me and my tired old body?"
She laughed and leaned across the counter to give him a quick kiss. "For you, I will think about it."
He grinned cheekily at her. "That's good enough for me."
"How was your trip?"
Draco sighed and set his forehead against the counter top. "Exhausting."
Hermione hummed in sympathy, gently combing her fingers through his hair.
He felt himself begin to relax at her soothing touch and his stress slowly leave his body. "We got the answers we were looking for but it only led to more questions. I have to wait for our contact to send me a letter with more information before I can do anything else."
"I imagine that must be frustrating."
He lifted his head so he could squint skeptically at her. "You love finding answers to questions, so I'm sure that must have been sarcastic."
"It was," she said with a smirk. "But I know you like to think you know everything and have no patience, so I'm sure you're frustrated."
Draco rolled his eyes and let his forehead fall back to the counter top with a soft thud. When her fingers didn't immediately return to his hair, he grumbled quietly under his breath and huffed.
"Do you want to talk about it? I might be able to help."
Lifting his head to look at her again, Draco sighed. "I appreciate it, Hermione, and I don't doubt your ability to find answers to any question, but can we please talk about it later? I'd rather forget about it all for a bit."
Hermione tried to swallow her frustration. She wished Draco would just tell her what was going on with his father. She understood why the investigation needed to be kept quiet, but nothing frustrated her more than being kept in the dark.
Draco could see her warring emotions flash across her face and swallowed against his own frustration. "I'm sorry."
"No, I understand." She said reassuringly. "I can be patient so long as you know you can talk to me about it when you're ready."
He gently cupped her face between his hands and smiled down at her. "I promise I do." He kissed her forehead sweetly and allowed his lips to linger for a moment. "I've never trusted someone so much," he murmured against her skin.
Hermione felt her heart swell in her chest. She was often caught by surprise with just how quickly she was falling for Draco. It was rare for him to say such sweet things, so it made her heart flutter all the more when he did. "I missed you," she said softly, hoping to convey her feelings to him.
"I missed you too." He leaned in and kissed her again. "I found a place for us to vacation to, though."
"Did you?"
"Oh yes. A little town in Ireland that is the perfect getaway. The scenery is breathtaking, and the town is the epitome of quaint. You'd love it there, especially the marketplace."
Hermione grinned as he continued to describe where he'd been. The fact that, in the middle of a top secret investigation involving magical terrorists and psychotic fathers, Draco had thought of her filled her with warmth. "We should definitely go. Although preferably when it's warmer and there's less chance of rain."
A flash of annoyance passed over Draco's face at the reminder or Ireland's dreary weather. "I couldn't agree more." He stood back from the counter and groaned as he tried to stretch the kinks out of his body.
Hermione took the chance to admire him, raking her eyes over his body. His grey jumper fit snuggly around him and accentuated his shoulders quite nicely. She bit her lip as he raised his arms above his head and exposed a sliver of his pale stomach.
Draco caught her eye and smirked. "See something you like?"
"Mm, very much so," she said with a wink.
He let his eyes lazily wander over her which made her painfully aware of the very plain outfit she was wearing. The heat in his gaze, however, made her feel as though she was wearing nothing at all. She fought the blush trying to rise to her cheeks as he purposefully prowled around to her side of the counter.
He trapped her between himself and the counter and leaned in close, chills danced down her spine as she felt his breath in her ear. His hands slid down to grab hold of her ass as he left a trail of open-mouthed kisses down her neck.
"Draco," she said breathily. "I have an appointment soon."
He continued worshiping her neck and mumbled, "Cancel it."
Hermione's breath quickened as his lips found her pulse at the base of her throat. "But without clients I can't make a living."
Draco reluctantly pulled back and gave her an absolutely sinful look. "You can't sacrifice one appointment?"
Hermione shook her head in disappointment. "I'm afraid not."
He made a show of tapping his finger against his chin in thought while Hermione fought not to smile. "What if I could find you a new client to fill the appointment?"
"That might work." She tugged him a little closer by his belt loops and looked up at him coyly through her eyelashes. "Who did you have in mind?"
"Only the Wizarding World's most notoriously retired bachelor," he said smuggly.
"I didn't know Blaise was coming by."
Hermione giggled while Draco groaned dramatically. "Nothing kills the mood faster than the name of another man."
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist." She grinned up at him and slid her arms around his neck. "I really do have to get to my appointment but meet me after I close, and I'm sure I can pencil you in."
"I'm afraid I have dinner plans with the unfortunate delinquents I call friends." He smiled apologetically down at her. "But tomorrow I can be all yours?"
Hermione gave him a lingering kiss. "Sounds perfect."
He stole a few more kisses and lingering touches before watching her teasingly walk back into her office, a noticeably exaggerated swing to her hips causing him to curse his friends and their plans.
Draco left Virago and, after making a quick stop by his flat to change, apparated to a club in Wizarding London that Blaise was known to frequent. Just as he had expected, he easily found his friend sitting at his usual table in the back corner. From the looks of things, Blaise had just gotten there and was thankfully not too far into his drink. Draco motioned towards one of the bartenders for his usual and slid into the booth across from Blaise.
They both sat in silence for a few moments, watching the band on the stage and waiting for Draco to break the silence. The bartender swiftly brought Draco his drink, and Blaise put up a privacy ward after he left.
Draco took a steadying sip of his drink and stared at the amber liquid as he swirled it gently in his glass. "Is Theo here tonight?"
"He should be back from the loo any moment now," Blaise answered, eyes still on the band.
Not a moment later Theo appeared and slid into the booth next to Draco, drink already in hand. "The band is decent tonight."
Blaise nodded absentmindedly. "Quite the surprise for this place."
Draco opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Pansy gracefully appearing in the booth next to Blaise. "The drinks here are terrible. Why couldn't we meet at one of our homes instead?"
"It was Blaise's turn to choose the location," Theo said quickly hiding his smirk behind his drink.
Blaise gave him a betrayed look and avoided Pansy's attempt to swat him with practiced ease. "The drinks are decent enough, Pansy, you're just pretentious."
"If by pretentious you mean I have actual standards, then yes," she hissed at him. Her glare quickly slid from Blaise to Theo as she tapped her long, red nails against her glass. "At least at this one everyone is clothed."
Theo's face flared red. "That was one time," he protested. "I hadn't been there before and was going off of someone else's suggestion."
"A shite suggestion really," Draco drawled.
"Oh and your brothel was any better?"
Draco scoffed indignantly. "It wasn't a brothel. Don't be so uncouth."
A waiter came by with refills for the group allowing the argument to end.
"How is your mother?" Pansy asked quietly.
Blaise frowned and took a large swig of his drink. "About the same, really. She refuses to leave Italy and keeps spending money as if we can't run out. She'll bleed me dry if I'm not careful."
"The Greengrasses are having the same problem," Theo said. "Almost as if their father is attempting to drink away their inheritances."
Pansy shook her head and sighed. "I never thought we'd all have to grow up so quickly."
"Some more than most," Draco said with a scowl.
She gave him a soft look, pity lighting her eyes only for a moment. "How was your trip?"
He snorted. "Eventful."
Blaise waited barely a moment before protesting, "Is that all you're going to say?"
Pansy elbowed him sharply in the side while Theo gave him a disapproving look.
Glaring at Blaise, Draco downed the rest of his drink and growled, "Lucius is using pixies to communicate with someone outside of the prison."
All three balked, and even Blaise managed to pale despite his olive complexion. They exchanged panicked glances, each afraid to voice their questions.
Draco spared them and continued, "That's all I know for now. I'm waiting on a contact for more information, then I'll interrogate Lucius myself."
"Are you sure that's a good idea," Pansy asked quietly. She reached across the table and rested her hand on his, a rare sign of affection for her which made it all the more meaningful.
He tried to give her a reassuring look, but he was sure he failed. "I'm the only one he'll speak to."
"If you need anything," Theo said and rested a hand on Draco's shoulder. "Don't hesitate."
"Yeah, mate, we're only a floo call away." Blaise slid an extra drink in front of Draco and tipped his own glass in salute. "Never venture alone where the snakes are willing to go."
Draco nodded in appreciation and raised his own glass to him. "I know I've been less than informative with you lot about the whole thing, but going forward it will be a family matter. You'll be the first to know."
Pansy gave him a smile that didn't quite meet her eyes. "And whoever is causing you trouble will be handled by the family, that is a promise."
-..-
"Hermione, darling, I'm so glad you stopped by. You would not believe the kind of day I've been having," Miranda exclaimed as she dramatically threw herself onto the bed. "This woman came in earlier demanding to speak to the manager - not even responding to my 'good morning' mind you - and throws an ungodly fit when I tell her Jacob is out. Apparently her daughter had come in to get a tattoo, you know the one. It was that beautiful watercolor hummingbird Jacob did. It was a work of art I tell you, but this woman made it sound like we'd had a demon possess her daughter!"
Hermione hummed from the desk chair she was sitting to let Miranda know she was listening.
"I tried my best to calm her down, but this woman was an absolute banshee I tell you. So I said, 'Karen, I'd love to help, but your daughter is an adult and can do as she pleases.' Gods above was that the wrong thing to say! She starts waving her finger in my face, and I was just seconds away from biting it when Jacob finally showed up. Bless him for being so calm, but I really think the woman just wanted to get into his pants because she did a complete one-eighty when she saw his face."
"Sounds about right."
Miranda sat up on the bed and gave Hermione a hard look. Her head was resting on her fist, and her eyes were completely glazed over. If they'd been closed Miranda would have sworn Hermione was asleep. "Hermione?" she asked gently. "Are you alright?"
Hermione startled and looked quickly over to Miranda. "Oh, I'm sorry, Mo," she said, a guilty expression clouding her eyes. "I didn't mean to tune you out."
"Oh pish," Miranda said while waving her hand dismissively. "There will always be another Karen. What's got that big brain of yours all muddled?"
"It's Draco." She gently massaged her temples and sighed. "I'm trying so hard to be patient with him, but I feel like there's this wall between us."
"Because he won't talk to you?"
"Exactly. How is our relationship supposed to grow and work if he won't talk to me about something that is clearly important to him?"
Miranda frowned and tilted her head to the side in thought. "I don't know, honestly. You're both in a unique situation, to say the least."
Hermione snorted. "That's an understatement." Her eyes glazed over once more as she stared off into space, her mind trying to make sense of everything. "There's too many random puzzle pieces for me to be able to put it all together. His father is in prison, but something about him had Draco traveling to find answers, and in Ireland of all places."
"What's in Ireland?"
"I don't know," Hermione grumbled while shaking her head. "I don't know what's there, who he met with, or what information he needed. I don't know anything!"
"That's not true," Miranda argued. "You know it involves his father, and that your other friend Harry is involved. So at least he has help." She shrugged. "Maybe you should be asking Harry about it."
"No, I can't go behind Draco's back like that no matter how curious I am. Maybe I can convince Draco to show me the letter he's waiting on when it arrives. It's supposed to contain more information from whoever he met in Ireland." She gave Miranda a sullen look. "I just want to help."
Miranda smiled at her and raised an eyebrow skeptically. "You mean you just want to know."
"That too."
"Stop stressing about it. I'm sure Draco will tell you when he's ready."
Hermione sighed. "I hope so."
