Chapter 17: UNEXPECTED

"I'm sorry Ron, but I really can't go," she said apologetically, it wasn't faked at all.

Hermione might not really care about Quidditch Final, but she wouldn't refuse any opportunity to leave London for a while and spend her weekend in a nicer weather place – she overheard some guy from Magical Sport let slip that it would be somewhere in Scotland. She didn't share it to anyone of course, not even to Ginny and Ron (Harry might possibly know due to his position as Auror though), because she knew it's supposed to be secret. Sadly, in one of few times she was eager to go to Quidditch match, she got untimely assignment.

Ron sighed in exasperation. "You never fail to make me never regret my decision to leave the Ministry, don't you?"

"Blame Fieldwake," Hermione sniped from the counter table where she sat. "She's the one who gave it at the last second."

If only Fieldwake had sent it three days ago, she could definitely finish it before weekend. But at this rate, she would have to work on weekend – in the Ministry because there's some documents which couldn't be taken outside the building, more so brought it to the match.

"Is there nobody else who can do it beside you? It wasn't even yours, right?"

"Ronan is on leave for the next two weeks," she explained. "But this is not his fault, I know that but I know that he had made sure with Fieldwake that there's no problem in his report. She did this intentionally, Ron. I can't let him become victim in her vendetta."

"What is between you and Fieldwake by the way? It's almost three years you works in the Ministry, shouldn't it get better between you?"

Hermione laughed sardonically. "No. For whatever reason, she's been holding personal grudge against me. It's worse after I outmanoeuvred her on House-Elf Bond."

Her scheme was a huge success. At this point around 90% of House-Elf population in Britain were bonded to their respective house. It really surprised her how mouth-to-mouth gossip between socialite wives could be very effective and better campaign compared to hours she'd spent promoting House-Elf's rights and welfare.

Bonded House-Elves would be more attuned with the house residents so they would cater on their daily necessity without being ordered. Hermione didn't need to make up any excuse on their behaviour change because funnily enough, the first reason that came up into their Pure-blood's mind was that they had enslaved their Elves completely – her chosen wording of the bonding oath and the Elf's cries might had help in planting that idea. Hermione had only tricked two owners and when she'd still thinking of a way to approach her third target, unknowingly the ball had rolled.

What it took was one Pure-blood wife who had gladly gloated to her fellows that she's the first to think of the effective way to 'enslave' their Elf permanently and then later the other had followed quickly – which include five prominent households she's known very well to abuse their Elves before new year arrived. By the time the revised Guidelines had been approved and distributed, more than half had already bind their Elves while the rest followed suit, after knowing that the method was deemed legal by the Ministry.

Everything had looked fine for them in the beginning, until one by one they realised that the little creatures no longer followed their every order with no compulsion to punish themselves. Their loyalty was on the house, no longer on the people lived there. Only when they thought that it was related to the wellbeing of the house, the Elves would always do it flawlessly but if not, they'd defy their (no longer) master. Yet nobody had divulged it openly, they're too prideful to admit that they had made a huge mistake.

All of that information, she gathered it by observation. In her few earlier house visit, some had the audacity to snide at her, how it would be more difficult for her to free their 'servant'. Hermione hadn't needed to act surprise because she actually did, she hadn't expected that it would spread this fast.

Then she noticed that later on, some started to changed their story, telling that abusing House-Elf was old fashion or that they were being generous by giving permanent housing for the creatures after they realised how good their works were – which ironically was the truth. That was how she recognised which had bind their Elves and which had realised their oversight.

Of course it wasn't the case for all. Some had genuinely happy and willing to bind their Elves if it meant they didn't need to deal with them for every little detail while still got the advantage of being served. Because in reality, House-Elf was a shy creature, they preferred not to be seen, and on the other hand, their lack of clothes had made their owners uncomfortable seeing them with no way to dress them better. So the Bond had been welcomed as a good solution. Just like in Hogwarts, the creature would do their job unseen and the residents could just pretend that everything happened by magic, not some creature living in their home, and even when they appeared before them, they were better dressed.

"Why doesn't she just rescind the Regu– Guidelines?" he hastily amended when he saw Hermione opened her mouth to correct him.

Hermione scoffed maliciously. "After she gloats that it was her idea?"

It was the funniest in this whole debacle. After she saw how well the Bond was received, Fieldwake had been quick to claim that its inclusion in the Guidelines had been her idea all along. So naturally, in one way and other, she was the one who received the brunt when its side-effect was revealed. Surprisingly she didn't own House-Elf so it took her awhile for her to figure out the reason of various cold treatments she got in her circle of friends. This 'urgent' sudden assignment was obviously one her many way of revenge.

"And she didn't order you to find the procedure to break it?" At Hermione's disbelieving look, he answered it himself, "Of course, she won't trust you with anything after this."

"Only routine job for me, nothing related to legal. Not that I mind, I have something else that takes most of my time anyway."

Ron shook his head in astonishment. "Since when did you become this devious, Hermione? Such underhanded tactic, it really doesn't like you at all. No, I take it back, you did it to Edgecombe and Umbridge on our fifth year."

"You forget Skeeter," Hermione added. "That was one of my finest moments. You know what, I already have something ready for her if she dares to cross me next time."

There must be something in her smirk that made Ron took two cautious steps backward and she'd like to think that he's not trying to avoid looking at her when he cast his eyes down at the ticket on his hand.

"So what am I suppose to do with this? Now I have two extra tickets."

"Whose is the second?"

"Harry. He'll be on duty so he won't need it."

Ron moved from the window sill, setting an empty box to the side among the other like he usually did after closed the shop. She reckoned she'd be very busy start tomorrow so she left early today, hoping to catch him before he left. She couldn't find Harry at the Ministry today and Ginny was in Wales where she'd go directly to the match from there, hence Ron.

"Amy?"

This was Ron's turn to throw her an incredulous look. "Do you really think a certain someone hasn't given her a ticket? He even gave her three, maybe it's for her parents because Lee knew that we already had our tickets."

"So he confessed?" Hermione surmised.

"Nah. Coincidentally, Ginny suddenly appeared and Amy told her that Lee brought tickets for us as usual and handed her one before gave the other to me! Of course I told her that we already bought ours and then guess what, she apologised to Lee that we didn't told him that we already had ours. Last I know, she planned to ask Hannah or Sally-Anne, you know, to be her chaperone."

"Poor Lee," she grimaced. "Why doesn't he just straightforwardly ask her out?"

"How the hell would I know that? I'm the last person who can give any advice about relationship."

"What about Fleur and Bill? They can use it as some kind of date night, your mother can take care of Victoire in the meantime," she suggested.

Ron dumped a pack of Extendable Ears into its rack then whirled around to face her.

"Hermione, one of the reasons you can't go is because we have to camp out for two nights. I'm sure Mum will be happy but do you think they will leave their baby for that long?" Suddenly he paused, eyes lit up as if remembering something. "Ah, I can give it to Gabrielle and her friend. Even if they don't like Quidditch, they can enjoy the carnival."

"Gabrielle? She's here?"

"Yes, Bill told me that they'll stay for two weeks." He clapped his hands, grinning, satisfied with his solution. "Great, this way I will get more points in Fleur's good side. Don't tell Mum, but her apple pie is heaven!"

She chuckled, amused with her friend's antic. "Why I'm not surprise that your brain never far from your stomach, Ronald Weasley."

A shuffle coming from the back room caught their attention, Hermione jumped from where she sat and both quickly reached for their wand. Stunning Spell was ready at the tip of their tongues when a huge box emerged from the door, a pair of hands encircled its sides and strawberry locks visible over its top.

"Merlin! Are you witch or what? Why don't you use your wand?!" Ron shouted.

Startled by his reprimand, Amy almost dropped the box but she managed to stop it with her knee. Her face came into view. "But this is sensitive to magic, right? I heard George told you."

"Oh Amy, I'm sorry you have to be trapped in our sibling's cruelty." He strode to her and took over the box from her hold. "Why are you still here anyway? You should be home by now, right?"

She grinned contritely, glancing to the rows of shelves on her left. "I saw some shelves were empty. Tomorrow I'll be late and I don't want to trouble you and George so I want to make sure that all are stocked," she reasoned.

Ron sighed. "That's very nice of you, Amy." He placed the box on the table, gesturing her to come closer. "Okay, listen here, I'll tell you a secret. You see this?" He pointed to the bottom of the box. "One cross means don't use magic, two crosses means you can use any magic on it, three means only Feather Light Charm. Don't tell anybody, especially George, that I know about this."

"But you always carry it by hand," she disputed him.

"I've been using Feather Light Charm without his knowledge because if he knows that I know, he will change his coding or put something else on it just to make me carry it by hand," Ron explained. "This is his way to make me suffer, so please don't let him know and use your discretion when you do it, okay."

She looked at him, considering, then she nodded. Between Ron and George, it's easy to decide who you could trust, a lesson that she must have learnt during her employment in this shop – though since it's Amy, it's highly improbable that George would ever pulled a prank on her.

"Thank you." She smiled widely. She pointed to the scribes on the box "This has two crosses so is it means I can even use magic to send it to its respective shelves?" she clarified.

"Yes, you can," Ron confirmed. "But leave it to me. I don't want your father to come here searching for you."

"You're sure?"

"Really, it's okay," he insisted. He pointed his thumb over his shoulder to Hermione's direction. "Hermione's here, she can help me."

Amy looked at Hermione questioningly which then was answered by a firm nod.

"Thank you, Hermione." She untied her apron and folded it neatly in her arms. "See you tomorrow."

Both returned her goodbye and just stood watching her retreating form for awhile, only moved when they heard a whoops sound from the fireplace.

"I don't appreciate you volunteering me for extra work this late hour, Ronald," Hermione remarked drily, arms crossed on her chest.

Ron waved his wand, opening the box and sending the contents into its designated shelves. "It's not volunteer, it will be your apology for ditching me despite the hardship I went through to book your ticket."

Her wand firmly clutched in her hand, but she didn't move it. "How bad did you singe your hair to crack the code?" she asked, half curious half teasing.

"Do you forget that I was an Auror?" he quipped. "I was trained to solve more complex problem than this without endangering my life. Compared to Jonas, George is a toddler."

.***.

It was late at night – maybe even past midnight – and here she was, bleary eyes and stiff neck on one of table in the Ministry library. She only had one more form to be crossed check with the Registry, so she'd chosen to just finish everything in one go than went home and returned here again in the morning, but it had more than one hundred entries and she had to do it manually – the Registry was magically protected and she had no credential for it.

Well, at least Fieldwake had not lied when she said that there was discrepancy in Ronan's report – so far she'd found six – because if she did, she would certainly burn her desk come next Monday. But that wasn't her method, she wouldn't make it easy. Instead, Fieldwake just dumped the whole report to her without mentioning what or where the discrepancies were. The report was ten feet long, not including bunch of enclosure. This was war and Hermione would never back down.

She stretched her body, massaging her neck. She had fell asleep for a time awhile ago, but short nap turned out to be good for her because her mind was clearer after. She needed coffee, but of course food and drink were prohibited here and unlike Hogwarts library, there's no way she could smuggle it. The enchantment was stronger than Madam Pince's and was continuously renewed over time, that's why despite no librarian in attendance around, there's no worry of missing collection. And for the same reason, unlike the Third Section, the Second and First Section were open anytime for whoever with the pass.

Around two hours and one misspelt name corrected later, she'd finally done. She exited the library with piles of parchment and file in her arms, straight to lift. Just her luck that it had to be the day she left her bracelet at home.

In her sleepy stance she collided with a hard body, causing her to fall on her bump and her belonging scattered around her. It's Hansen from Obliviator Headquarter. They had worked together once, two years ago during Year End Pixie Fiasco in Durham.

"Sorry, Hansen. Last minute report and lack of sleep," she apologised, scooping the nearest parchments into her arm.

Hansen only gave her slight nod in acknowledgement while reached his dropped bag, it's easier for him as most of its contents were only halfway out in one pile. Being an Obliviator, Hermione didn't really surprise to see him still in the office at this hour on weekend, his overtime work must have worse than her.

A 'ding' sound signalled that the lift's door was closing. Didn't want to miss this lift and wasting time to wait for the next, she summoned the rest of her belonging using her wand and jumped inside, right in time before the door closed that she didn't get a chance to say goodbye to him.

After retrieving her bag from her desk, she made a short trip to the break room and drank two cups of coffee to make sure she would be able to Apparate home. All the way to her flat, she cursed why she thought it was a good idea to have Anti-Apparition Charm around her flat that she needed to walk instead of landed directly inside her bedroom.

The combination of coffee and the walk, added with hunger – she hadn't eaten anything since a slice of toast for breakfast day before – had reduced her sleepiness considerably. Fortunately, there's still some meatloaf in the fridge so no need to cook, only had to reheat it in microwave while she made a cup of cocoa milk which usually help her sleep better.

It's Sunday, she could sleep the whole day if she wanted. And the last thing that popped up in her mind when her face touched her pillow was that she hoped all of this would worth it.

.***.

It was definitely worth it.

She waited in front of her office the first thing in the morning so when Fieldwake arrived, she had no choice but to let her in. She didn't offer her to have a seat though, but Hermione didn't really care, she wouldn't stay long there anyway.

So without too much ceremony, Hermione handed the revised report and politely thanked her for saving her from watching the Quidditch match, telling her how she didn't cared much about the vicious game and never enjoyed it when her friends took her to one. But with the assignment, she had valid reason to decline their invitation.

Seeing her barely suppressed rage, Hermione reckoned that it would be very unwise if she showed any indication of satisfaction. Taunting her like that would only make her more unbearable, sadly this was not the last time she would need to work with her. So using house visit as her excuse (which was actually true), Hermione coolly bid her goodbye.

The house visit took longer than usual since it was in Boldburry's, Mr Boldburry was the first Pure-blood she'd tricked to bind their Elves into the house. It appeared that he finally realised her deception, that's why he's intentionally being difficult during the inspection. For once Hermione considered to do what her colleagues usually did, copying the previous report, there should be no significant change from her last visit anyway.

In the end, she got what she needed, but it was close to lunch time when she's done. Deciding that she deserved a celebration, she made a stop at Flourish & Blotts. There's nothing wrong with pampering herself with two or three books, it's been two months since the last time she bought new book after all.

The last book was a hard decision. She already had four books on her hand, but the book was the last on the shelves and if she didn't take it, she had to wait for months for another copy. However, sacrificing any book she'd picked wasn't an option as well. This predicament was a recurring occurrence every single time she's book shopping which always end with the same outcome; she'd cave.

Her excuse this time was that her lunch break was almost over and one more extra book wouldn't hurt. At this rate, she might have to throw away some of her clothes to make more space for her book. The seatback of living in Muggle flat was she couldn't magic extra space on her wardrobe for her books – all shelves were full already.

Too busy convincing herself that she made right decision, she didn't see someone coming past the shelves and they almost bumped into another at the end of the aisle.

"Hermione?"

She blinked. "Viktor!"

She knew that the Final match was between Egypt and Bulgaria, which of course he had played Seeker, but to see him here was still surprising.

The question of how's he doing was the first to come up in her mind but she managed to stop from voicing it, she might sound to be insensitive. Ginny had regaled her how Egypt won the match, that Rawya Zaghloul narrowly beat him when the score was 300 for both teams. Britain soil seemed to bring bad luck for him.

So instead, she chose a very obvious question. "Are you looking for a book?" This was so lame, they were in a bookshop, so what else he'd been doing then.

"To be honest, I'm hiding, Hermione."

This was similar to their first encounter at Hogwarts. "Your fans are very persistent, I see." Showing her books, she added, "And like before, you'll find me with books in my arm."

He chuckled, only for a second, but his feature was less stern than before. "How are you, Hermione?"

"I'm working in the Ministry, dealing with House-Elf." She tugged a loosen curl behind her ear to buy time. In polite conversation, this was her turn to return the question. She was saved from blurting another lame question as Viktor spoke again.

"So ..., are you on your way to visit your boyfriend, Hermione? I saw he works at one of the shop around here."

The way he said it reminded her to when he'd asked her to the Ball, awkward and ungainly. It took her a bit longer than usual to grasp his insinuation.

"You mean Ron? No, he's not my boyfriend," she brushed it off, it was an old news. Even when Skeeter still on rampage with her articles, it was now relegated to a small corner in the gossip column of Witch Weekly.

The smile was back on his face, this time there was even glint in his eyes. And she finally realised it.

"You can say my name correctly." He did say her name in his every sentences, she wonder whether it was intentional so she would notice. "And you're English is better too," she noted.

She could swear that he grinned, it was just for a short moment but enough to stun her.

"The past two years I play in America," he mentioned to her. That would explained it. The fact that he practised to pronounce her name correctly flattered her too.

They had been pen pals for quite long time, it would be nice if they could converse, but sadly she already had an engagement this afternoon.

"I'm sorry Viktor, I don't mean to be rude but my break is almost over, I need to go back to the Ministry," she said apologetically.

"Oh, sure." He nodded. "Er, Hermione?"

Hermione stopped her movement, looking at him in confusion and waited.

He sputtered. "Would you ... Can we meet for coffee or tea sometime, to catch up? I'll be in London for awhile."

"Of course," she quickly consented. Actually she also thought of inviting him, but she didn't want to assume that he'd be in England for long, the match was over after all. "Oh, I promised you that I'll take you to Muggle London once, right? We really have to do it. Owl me when you want to meet, I'll clear my schedule for you."

He was in high spirit when they parted and she couldn't help to smile even until she arrived at her desk.

She only needed her note, but she ended up taking out everything from inside her drawer onto the desk. Too tired and in hurry, she just dumped all her notes into it yesterday. It wasn't her style to be untidy so while looking for her calculation for the Isolation Magic, she could rearrange it as well, there's still some time before her appointment with Nigel and Martin.

As she sorting it, she found a piece of yellowish paper with a sketch of something like gate made of an elaborate stone structure. It looked familiar, she'd seen it somewhere, tough she's sure this paper wasn't hers. Then she recalled the incident in front of the lift, she must have accidentally took it from Hansen.

Thinking that she could make short visit to Level 3 after meeting Martin and Nigel, she put the paper into her bag along with her notes. Sure she could just send it, but she wanted to make sure that he received it in case it's important – she had this strong feeling that it was.

Coincidentally, as she passed the oak doors lead to Auror Headquarter, she saw him talking with Harry so she headed to them.

Harry noticed her first, stopped whatever conversation he had with Hansen and greeted her. "Oh hey, Hermione. What can I do for you?"

"Nothing. I'm actually here for Martin."

He frowned. "You didn't know? He's in St Mungo's, Dragon Pox."

"Really? Poor him," she lamented, their project would face another seatback then. Remembering her reason to approach them, she took the paper with the sketch of stone gate from her bag and proffered it to Hansen. "Here, I think this is yours. I accidentally took it with me."

Hansen stared at the paper then moved to her face with a puzzled look. "Pardon?"

"Yesterday," she started to explain. "When we collided in front of the lift. I think this mixed into mine and I accidentally took it with me."

Hansen still looked confuse, but Harry's expression quickly turned into alarm. Hermione opened her mouth, intending to jog his memory since he must be more exhausted than her that night to not remember it, but Harry jumped in.

"Wait, you mean you saw him here in the Ministry yesterday?" he asked, harsher than he normally did.

Taken aback by his tone, Hermione gave a cautious confirmation. She could sense that something wrong must have happened the way his eyes widen and the alert look he had.

"Hansen, I know you've been relieved, but can you not going home for now. Take a rest at the break room if you want, I know last yesterday is crazy but I will need you later," he instructed in rapid succession. "And Hermione, you come with me."

It's clear from his urgency that this was serious so although both were a bit peeved with the way he ordered them, they conformed.

"Harry, what–?"

"Not here," he cut her. He gestured her to follow him, but stopped instantly as he saw Draco coming. Whatever question he had, Draco answered him with a head shake before it was voiced. He let out a frustrated sigh. "Is Robards in?"

"No. Maybe still arguing with Croaker somewhere," Draco responded flatly, but there was an edge in his voice as well, though it was better disguised than Harry's.

Harry nodded. "Interrogation Room then," he said, then strode passing him, followed by Hermione, but only for two steps because Draco snatched his arm, stopping him.

"What she's doing here, Potter?" he hissed.

"She's our witness."

That seemed to be the only answered he'd give, Draco shifted his glare to her, demanding an explanation. However she was as clueless as him, probably more, so he only got a confused frown from her in return before she trailed her Auror friend.

"Okay, now can you tell me what's going on?" she demanded impatiently once she's seated on one chair in that empty plain room. Harry sat on the other side of the table while Draco stood, glowering.

"You're here in capacity as witness so I'm sorry I can't tell you anything, Hermione." The short walk between his cubicle and this room had given Harry ample time to regain his composure, his voice was steady and stoic. "Your statement will be used in our investigation, so please answer in detail and as clear as possible."

From his intonation, she understood that he meant business – this wasn't between friends – and she would cooperate.

"So, can you elaborate the circumstance you've mentioned earlier with Hansen, when and what's exactly happened."

Hermione inhaled deeply, a complete story would take awhile. "I got a prompt assignment from Loretta Fieldwake which required me to work overtime on weekend if I want to finish it on time," she began.

"Some references I needed can only be read on spot so I was in the Ministry library, in Second Section to be exact, from Saturday morning until Monday early morning. It would be 17th August but you have to check the logbook if you want the precise time of my arrival and leaving because I was too tired to care what time it was."

"You were in the library from morning to morning the next day?" Harry remarked incredulously.

Hermione huffed, crossing her hands in defensive stance. "Yes, Harry. I wanted to finish it at once and I overslept somewhere in between," she retorted sharply. Even she could tell that Draco suppressed his snigger. What happened with professionalism?!

Harry cleared his throat to control his chuckle. "Sorry, my bad," he said repentantly. "So, about what you said to Hansen earlier?"

"I bumped into him in front of the lift, I was too sleep deprived that I didn't pay attention when he exited the lift as I walked straight to it."

She noticed that Draco straighten his back on her last statement, his jaw went rigid. This was getting suspicious, something must have happened that night and Hansen was related in some ways.

"Are you sure? You said you're very tired and very sleep deprive. Maybe you mistook him for someone else."

"No, Harry. We literally collided. I had a stack of documents and it scattered on the floor. There was at least one minute I was with him when I gathered it manually before I used my wand so I had plenty of time to see whether it was him or not," she insisted ardently.

"It's impossible. You said it works, Potter," Draco bristled accusingly.

"It does, Malfoy," Harry snapped. "You were there when I checked it."

"Harry?" Hermione queried apprehensively.

He let out a loud sigh before he answered, his sound was grave. "Hansen was on duty during Quidditch World Cup. To prevent the similar riot like eight years ago, enchantment was placed around the area so nobody could come or go using any means possible from Friday night until Monday morning, except by using emergency Portkey that could only be accessed by Auror and none was activated. Besides, Hansen was with me around the time you supposed to bump into him."

Her breath caught as the realisation shank in. "You mean to tell me that someone has broken into the Ministry as Hansen. Likely using Polyjuice?" she stated. "It's impossible, Harry!" she echoed Draco's earlier sentiment. "We tested it with every kind of shield and Charm. I even checked the Fountain this morning and it works fine."

"I did it too, Hermione. But that's the only conclusion since Hansen was definitely at Wales around the time you've mentioned," Harry asserted firmly.

Before Hermione could refute, Draco interjected, "Granger, you said you were from the library when you bumped him, right?"

"Yes, I ... " She looked at Draco in horror. "The Balcony!

It's not clear who moved first but the next second, Hermione and Draco exited the room running. Hermione was heading to the lift but when she saw Draco turned to the door leading to the stair, she changed direction. It's hard to race with Draco's long legs, she clearly needed to restarted her weekend exercise again. Once arrived in front of the store room, Draco didn't waste time to do the sequence of the door opening.

"What are–?" Harry finally caught up with them, ready to bombard them with questions, but stopped shortly when the door opened, showing ascending stairs instead of a room full of stationeries. "Bloody hell!"

The other two paid no mind of his reaction, Draco climbed the stair with Hermione right behind him. If Harry was surprised with the stairs, he was in to bigger one when he reached upstairs. And he did.

His loud gasp was predictable. "Okay, can any of you please explain what – where are we?" he demanded, wringing his hand to the buildings around them.

However, once again, he was ignored.

"Do you think it's possible?" she directed the question to Draco.

"Only one way to know." And he Disapparated.

Knowing that her friend was quickly losing his patience, Hermione swirled around to face him, sighing. Sure enough, his glare was accusing and his lips had already formed a thin line.

"Harry, we are on the rooftop of Banqueting Hall, Whitehall – London," she started. "This place is called the Balcony and is connected to our Ministry down below by that stair. You can only access it if you open the door in specific sequence, other than that it will only lead you to the store room."

"And how you and Malfoy know about this?"

"It's in the Ministry's blueprint, Potter." A lazy drawl answered, a moment after a faint 'pop' sound.

Draco's return proved their suspicion.

"Right," he sniped scathingly. "And do people know about this place except me?"

"I don't think it's public knowledge, Harry. Very few will be interested to read an old book regaling the history of Ministry of Magic Building. As far as I know, several times I was here, there's nobody around."

She avoided glancing at Draco. Technically she didn't lie. This past 4 weeks alone, Draco had not been here when she came. It was not the right time to reveal her secret rendezvous to her best friend anyway, they had more important matter on hand.

"We can try to detect his Trace, there should be some residual magic left since whoever he is, he Disapparated from here," she suggested, stirring the conversation back on track.

Concentrating on common simple spell had brought significant progress on their project, Apparition had been one of their earlier focus. Currently they were working on general solution, but the basic one was ready to be implemented for real case. In fact, if it's approved, they planned to train it to Law Enforcement personnel, particularly Investigator.

Harry perked up. "Can you do it?"

"Potter!"

"Martin is sick, Nigel is away, she's the only one who knows how to perform it. I'll take full responsibility," Harry barked heatedly, glaring at his partner.

"I promise I won't speak about this to anybody and you don't need to tell me anything, I'm not going to be privy."

Considering that it was Harry and Draco – both were Auror – who handled this and the fact that nobody seemed to be aware of the break-in, Hermione guessed that this was classified. She wouldn't deny that she was curious yet she wasn't part of DMLE, she knew her boundary.

His scowl was a good indication that Draco didn't agree, with a noticeable scorn he backed off.

"I will need something for comparison, if you can get anything," she stated. "I was here and have performed magic in this place before, there might be somebody else who did it too."

Draco shifted from where he stood, but Harry stopped him. "You stay here, Malfoy. I don't think Croaker will like to see you down there."

He moved aside from the door, giving way to Harry. But instead of returning to his initial position blocking the door, he sauntered to his usual bench.

For the first time since they started meeting in this place, the air between them was stiff. Or maybe it's only Hermione who felt that because Draco sure looked relax sitting there. Perhaps it was the setting, that although they were alone, this was in work capacity, not some stolen solitude they usually did. So even if he was the same person and this was the same place, she had no idea how to conduct herself. Though if she ended up make fool of herself, this wouldn't be her first faux pas in front of him.

Eventually, she decided the best bet was to just do what she was asked to do here. Hermione started waving her wand to narrow down her search, murmuring the spell to detect the magical residue so she'd know where she needed to concentrate her observation, intentionally avoiding his bench.

"You haven't told Potter," Draco remarked, breaking the silence. He didn't specify on what it exactly but Hermione knew what he meant.

Still with her back on him, she replied, "You've sworn me to secrecy, remember?"

She only heard his scoff, but she knew it would be followed by a sarcastic smirk of his.

"You're lucky you weren't napping here, Granger."

His tone was softer than in his first sentence, so she added some levity in her response as well. "Or maybe if I was here, I wouldn't need to this because he would have been in custody already, thanks to my quick reaction."

Nevertheless, the side effect for that scenario remained the same, this place would no longer become their secret. This place will be known, more people would come to be investigated. She couldn't come to this place to hide or to get an uninterrupted nap. So do Draco.

"Seems like we will need to find new safe haven. That if you still need it," she expressed her thought. Finally she turned around, offering him a smile. "I'm happy to see you socialising again, Draco. Living like a hermit didn't suit you. Maybe you can start dating next." She said it genuinely, though she had no idea what made her said the last part.

Draco smirked, reclining comfortably. "I don't date, Granger," he said drily.

Hermione scoffed, "Said the man who had Pansy Parkinson clinging on his arm for years."

"Is that what you call dating?"

"You went to Yule Ball with her and everyone who had eyes could see that she's never far from you after that," she retorted snidely.

He shrugged. "Well, she's offering and I would look stupid go to alone. Why she's following me around after that is not my problem."

Her jaw dropped, frown etched on her forehead. She couldn't believe how easy he said it, full of arrogance and unrepentant, like it was such an obvious reason she should know without asking.

"You're despicable!" she scolded him with her most stern voice which could make Ron dropped on his knees, prostrating. "Is that the case for all women you've been parading around as well?"

But Draco wasn't Ron, her tone could only manage to make him raise an eyebrow. "What women?"

"It was on papers, with pictures! You were always seen with different woman these past months."

Surprisingly, her further accusation only made him more amused. "Oh, so does it mean that Potter and Weasel are indeed your boy toys? Who is next in your collection, then? Longbottom? I'm amazed that you read that rubbish, Granger." He shook his head with mock disdain.

Hermione clammed her mouth shut. How could he spin this conversation into a gossip about her?! Fortunately her memory swiftly provided her necessary comeback.

"Now that you mention it, I know it's you who fed Skeeter that rubbish back then, Draco. I found out that she's Animagus, and I put her in a jar for months for what she did," she expounded sweetly. "If my memory serves me right, I haven't taken any retribution from you, Draco."

He blinked, intrigued. "For what, Granger? I only told her that you never left Potter's side. Everyone who had eyes could see that you're never far from him."

How she hated the way he threw back her words at her like that. And he wasn't done yet.

"It's out of my power what she wrote about that," he added matter-of-factly.

"You're the most insufferable person I've ever met, Draco Malfoy!"

"I'm honoured, Granger." He even had an audacity to bow.

Although she had a very strong urge to strangle him or maybe just chopped his head just to remove that annoying smirk from his face faster, but when she turned her back, the corner of her lips twitched. She didn't know why, but her chest felt lighter and there's a warm feeling on her stomach.