Chapter 11

It was lively for a Sunday evening, but Draco assumed a lot of it had to do with the amount of people in their party. Draco, Blaise and Theo were the first to arrive at The Hopping Pot in Carkitt Market. Not long after they had ordered the first round of drinks did Katrin and Hermione show up with Ernie in tow quickly followed by Harry and his fiancé Ginny Weasley, who enveloped Draco in a hug before punching him in the arm.

"That's for not writing, tosser." She laughed.

Draco did his best not to dwell on the journal or the conversation he had with Luna earlier that day and to enjoy the banter between old friends, even Harry was being civil after a couple of drinks. Eventually, as to be expected with this particular group, the conversation led to their cases, specifically their unsolved cases and how they have all reached a dead end when it came to evidence or questioning people.

"Mmm," Theo was scratching at the light brown scruff on his chin in a cartoonish way and narrowing his bright hazel eyes at everyone, "So which one of you did it?" He laughed when Hermione threw a peanut at him. "Well, it's got to be someone clever to fool you and Draco. That's all I'm saying." He ran a hand through his wavy brown hair making it stick up in eccentric ways.

"Well if we are going off the swots at the table, it's either you, Hermione, or Draco… So, tell me Theo, where have you been these last few months?" Ginny questioned while taking a drink and making Harry's mouth turn up in a smirk.

"Alas, it's a mystery!" Theo said laughing, bringing everyone else to laugh with him. Hermione, who was sitting between Draco and Blaise threw another peanut at Theo who retaliated. Several pieces of food followed suit until a waitress asked them all to settle down, resulting in more laughs around the table.

Around midnight, the group all decided to call it a night as they all, with the exception of Ginny, had to be into work in the morning. Draco walked Hermione home as they both seemed too pissed to apparate. She looped her arm through Draco's and sighed.

"It's good to have him home." She said. "It's been too long since we've all been able to be together." Her head came to rest on Draco's shoulder as they walked.

"Agreed." The air was cold, and his warm breath was visible as he spoke. He could feel her shaking next to him after they had made it halfway home, so he placed his arm around her shoulders and tried to move his hand to warm her as best as possible. "You really should invest in a warmer coat."

"Why, when I have gentlemen like you to warm me up?" Hermione slurred with a laugh and leaned into him.

"And if I wasn't here?" Draco laughed with her while looking down at her. Her nose was red from the cold and a small number of freckles could be seen from his vantage point that were not visible any other time. Her eyelashes brushed against her red cheeks as she smiled before her deep brown eyes looked up at him.

"Then I would have to find you." She said and winked.

He took a deep breath, hoping the brisk air of the night would help him sober before he did something rash. But as he did so, the smell of her shampoo invaded his senses and he couldn't help but laugh. "You're going to be the death of me." He said under his breath as they rounded the corner towards their steps.

"What?" She asked with a giggle.

"Nothing, Love." Draco smirked when she glared at him while walking her up her steps and stopped at her outside door. "Good night."

"Good night. I'll see you tomorrow." She went onto her toes and kissed him on the cheek before giggling and going inside towards her flat. "Oh, and Draco?" she paused soberly, "If you need to talk, you know where to find me."

Nodding his head, he turned to head for his own when he saw Sebastian watching them from her window with a clenched jaw. Feeling satisfied and unable to help himself, he offered Sebastian a smirk and pulled up an eyebrow with a nod of his head.

The next morning came quickly, and Draco had to down a potion to help with the headache that was currently pounding against his temples. "I'm going to fucking kill him." Draco said to himself thinking about Blaise and Theo, but unsure who exactly it was towards.

Once he was able to function properly after a shower, he dragged himself to the coffee shop across the street then went to the lab early. It was his first day that he was an official Ministry worker and he wasn't quite sure what that would entail. When he arrived, the lab was dark and empty, so he took the liberty of setting the magic window to the same scene Hermione always had on them, but instead of the cellos she typically had playing, he put on the sounds of Beethoven, Chopin, and Liszt.

He set out the files for Flint and Travers on one of the tables and pulled out some books from the shelf Hermione had set up on the opposite side of the room and opened them. He had been going over all the ingredients from the powder for months now and still had not been able to find a potion that would include all of the random items he and Hermione had pulled out of the powder, but it did not mean he was going to stop looking.

Sitting on a stool, his fingers moved to the music as if he were playing it himself and watched the waters of the window view, ignoring the slew of papers and photos spread out before him and thinking about what Luna had said the day before.

"Who is so lost that they have been consumed by the dark in the name of someone that has been taken?"

Draco thought about his situation and why he was out for revenge. His mother. Is that what she meant by consumed by the dark? Was someone else out for revenge for a loved one that died? Flint nor Travers were the best of people, Draco knew that, but he also knew that neither one of them were sadistic enough to kill someone. They weren't even involved in the Battle of Hogwarts, so they couldn't have been involved in a death that way. Both did have fathers in the final battle fighting for Voldemort. Which is the only connection between them besides being in Slytherin while at Hogwarts.

"Focus on the new threat, and others will resolve." Draco muttered, still tapping his fingers on the table. "Do they have something to do with each other?"

"Vhat have to do vith the other?"

"What are you doing here, Gunnhild?" Draco spun around quickly to see Katrin standing behind him with two cups of steaming coffee in hand. Her blue sweater brought out the blue of her eyes and her curtain of white blonde hair was pulled to one side.

"I'm not sure how accurate calling me the Icelandic Mother of Kings is, as I have no children." She laughed and held out one of the cups. "I normally bring Hermione a cup because she's usually the first one in. It seems last night vas harder on her than you."

"Yeah, well when you have an intolerable fuck waffle as a boyfriend, I'm sure that tends to happen." Draco took the cup from her and gave her a nod in thanks thinking of what argument probably happened between the Hermione and Sebastian last night. Knowing he probably didn't help, a small knot formed in his stomach.

"Vhat happened vith you two?"

"Me and Granger?"

"Vell, yeah, but I vas actually asking about you and Bash."

"It's not important." Draco didn't want to go down that dark rabbit hole. He looked her over and noticed the tinge of dark under her bright eyes while she yawned. He was glad he didn't say anything else because Hermione and Harry walked into the lab not long after.

All tired from the night before, Katrin and Harry took off for their office while Draco focused on the prophecy and Hermione went into research mode trying to figure out what the mysterious purple powder could be used for. It wasn't until he heard a soft snore that he looked up from his book and saw Hermione sleeping on her hand with her elbow on the table.

Her bush of curls had broken the elastic band that was holding it, so now it was billowing around her face blocking it from view. Draco transformed his stool into a couch and pushed it against the back wall under one of the largest windows then lifted Hermione onto it. Setting her down gently, he transfigured his jacked into a blanket and pulled it over her before going back to the table.

He wrote the lines of the prophecy down in an attempt to cypher what they meant, having little success. Another small snore grabbed his attention and his eyes darted towards the sleeping woman on the couch and he allowed himself a small smile. Her laying there reminded him of so many times he would find her passed out in the common room their eighth year, books sprawled around her with quill in hand and ink threatening to spill all over her parchments.

He, along with the rest of the returning students, would have to sneak around to make sure not to wake her. Neville Longbottom did once, and she woke up like a hurricane. She was so distraught that she had fallen asleep that she started to yell at everyone for allowing her to sleep, saying she needed to make sure she was prepared for her NEWTS. Theo was the first one to be able to get her to stop yelling, mainly because she was so taken aback by him threatening to throw one of her books in the fire if she didn't take a breath. Then Draco and Theo convinced her she needed some food and actual sleep so she would stop taking out her hunger and exhaustion on everyone else.

Sitting at the table, had tapped his fingers to the tune of the pianos ringing through the air and watched her sleep.

Hermione had suffered a war, was someone after her? Or was it someone after him, who had suffered on the opposite side of the same war? If this murderer fell in line with the prophecy as Luna suggested, was he supposed to take it as a personal attack? Or was it just meant for him to figure out alone? Sucking air in through his teeth, he stood and wrote a note to let Hermione know he was going out to Diagon Alley. He needed fresh air.

Draco found himself sitting outside Flourish and Blotts reading a book about newly discovered potions and their uses when he heard the chair across from him scrap. The smell of coffee reached his nose before the sound of the cup being set down reached his ears, the soft wind of the day carrying the aroma further than it typically would wander. He reached for his own cup of tea and took a sip without a word keeping his eyes on his book. There was a new potion to distinguish between different blood samples even if they are the same blood type, and he was fully engaged in memorizing the ingredients needed.

Another gust of wind brought the smell of vanilla to his nose in addition to the coffee, making him finally look over the top of his book, expecting to see Hermione ready to reprimand him for leaving her sleeping in the lab. Instead he saw the pin straight curtain of light brown hair shading the face of Astoria blowing in the wind. She was reading an episode of Witch Weekly playing with her charm necklace as she always did, and it made him wonder why she was here. She had made it clear she avoided Diagon Alley as much as she could, claiming it was too crowded with muggleborns for her liking. Part of the reason he enjoyed spending so much time here.

She didn't seem like she wanted to talk about anything, and he was perfectly fine with that, so he brought his eyes back to his book and continued to read. It was peaceful for a few more minutes, until she made a sound that reminded him of a wounded creature and threw the magazine down on the table between them, demanding his attention.

Slowly closing his book, using a ripped piece of parchment as a bookmark, he set it down and looked at Astoria. Red was covering her cheeks as she pursed her lips and crossed her arms. There was a quick tapping sound coming from her foot as she waited for him to say something to her.

"And what did I do this time?" He finally asked in a sigh.

She picked up the magazine again, bringing it back to the page she had just read, and shoved it towards him to read.

THE FIGHT FOR HIS HEART
Who will become the next Lady Malfoy

He scanned over the page where he saw several pictures of him with different women, specifically, Astoria in wizarding Paris, Luna at her home when he went to visit her just yesterday, and Hermione on their walk home from one of their late nights at the lab. He saw Pansy's name mentioned a couple of times and a small picture of them on one of the outings they had together with Blaise, but it seemed to focus mainly on a love triangle that was apparently happening between Him, Luna, and Astoria. Towards the end of the article, he saw a quote given by Astoria and it made his face flush. His heartrate increased and he clenched his jaw as he deliberately put the magazine down to look at the woman across from him.

Letting out a deep breath, he said, "I don't know how many times I have to tell you this, but I'm going to say it one more time, slowly, to make sure you understand." His voice was dangerously low and the emotion on Astoria's face quickly changed from anger to worry and she started playing with her necklace. "We. Are not. Courting. I have no plans to court anyone anytime soon."

"And I've told you just as many times, it is ridiculous to wait. I'm the best and only option you have with your contract. Lovegood is clearly barmy and we know you won't sink so low as to bed Parkinson again."

"You know nothing of -." He said louder than he intended earning them an odd look from a couple at the table next to them. He adjusted his chair and leaned in to avoid attracting any more attention to them, "Why are you so consumed with my bloody contract?"

She moved her chair where she was now sitting next to him, instead of across from him, and his anger dissipated. Now what he wanted most is for her to answer honestly so they can avoid a fight, especially in a public area.

"Why can you not see that it's better to fulfill it now? Why wait until the last minute?" She put her hands in his on the table.

"I'm not in a rush, Astoria. If we are to end up together, why can it not wait a few years?" he maneuvered his hands to hold hers while he leaned in closer.

She ripped her hands away from him and sat back in her chair with crossed arms. "I'm tired of these other women thinking they have a chance with you. Why are you always with them anyway? Especially that mudblood pie-"

"Enough!" He yelled and slammed his hands onto the table making several people around them jump as well as Astoria herself. His anger came back with a vengeance as she moved away from him. Standing up, tired of the conversation, he growled, "I refuse to sit here and listen to you disrespect her or anyone else by using that word. I am not seeing anyone else and if you bring this up one more time, I will no longer be with you."

Grabbing his book off the table, he left Astoria sitting alone with her mouth hanging open. He checked his watch then headed towards the Leaky Cauldron. Making his way past the first throng of tables, he went to the bar to get access to the floo network but before he was able to take his small pouch of powder to the fireplace, a firm hand grabbed his shoulder and squeezed.

"What now?" he asked to no one in particular before he turned to see who the hand belonged to. "Oh, brilliant."

"You're in a hurry, Malfoy." Sebastian slurred. "Why not grab a drink." He motioned towards a table that sat several others already.

"I'm good. Thanks." Draco said pushing the hand off his shoulder.

"Too good to have a drink with us lowly healers?" he suggested, the smell of whiskey spilled from him as he spoke. Before Draco could stop it, a large hand cupped the back of his neck, squeezing hard, and guided him towards the table. Sebastian introduced Draco to two healers and a medi-witch before he slid next to the witch and put an arm around the back of her chair. Draco narrowed his eyes at the motion, watching the body language between the two.

"We have a handle we need to finish, and you look like you could use a stiff drink." Sebastian said pouring a glass and sliding it across the table towards where Draco was standing. "You've needed one since the day I met you."

"No, thanks." Draco went to turn but was stopped by a chair that Sebastian had kicked in Draco's path.

"Sit." The man commanded. "I have something I need to say to you." His words were still slurred but it was clear they were meant to be threatening.

"I have nothing to say to you." Draco said as his eyes bounced between him and the blonde witch who was leaning into him and rubbing his leg comfortingly.

"I don't know what you think might happen between you and 'Mione, but you need to stay away from her."

Draco laughed dryly, "You're kidding." His small laugh turned into genuine laughter when he saw Sebastian's eyes harden. "You're fucking mental."

Again, Draco turned to head towards the fireplace, but was stopped this time by Sebastian grabbing the front of his coat and pushing him against the post holding the stairs. "Really think about your next move." Draco whispered; wand pressed against the bottom of Sebastian's chin where no one around them was able to see it. His eyes were ice as they fixed on Sebastian's reddened face. Almost black eyes were showing signs of bloodshot and Draco felt he might become drunk from the smell of Sebastian's breath. "It didn't work out well for you the last time."

Draco could see that Sebastian was debating if he wanted to test if Draco was bluffing but seemed to decide the risk was too great and let go. "Good choice." Draco pulled down on his coat then his sleeves to straighten them. He looked Sebastian up and down with a calculating stare before he decided it wasn't worth his time to say anything else and left, without issue this time. Not noticing the flash of a camera from the opposite corner of the pub or the feminine shadow that followed him inside from the street.

Ah! I know I know! I've gotten off my posting schedule completely, but I do hope you don't mind me posting a chapter early every once in a while. I'm making my way through this story and get so pulled in before I even realize how many chapters I've actually written. That being said, it makes it where I don't want to hold out on all of you!

As always, Thank you everyone for reading. Writing this has been truly amazing for me and I'm so glad to see that there are those out there that love reading it as much as I have loved writing it. Now, please take note that the outline I had at the beginning of this story was roughly about 30 chapters, but I have gone so far off that outline, it might be a different number. But I promise, the continue to update as frequently as possible.

I have started a new job and am working nights with an odd schedule set up, so there will be times where I work all weekend or have the whole weekend off. Meaning, I may post two or three chapters a week or might only be able to post one. Either way, I do hope you all enjoy.

Finally: I do have an IG account that I utilize for this story and will use for any future stories I may write. Go check it out CRMcCarthy. Feel free to message me on there and ask me any questions you may have.