A/N: So sorry for the delay in updating. I went through a stretch of busy months at school and barely had time for anything else. Hopefully this chapter was worth the wait. Let me know what you guys think and thanks for sticking with me this long.
Disclaimer: I do not own HP.
The trip to Draco's office seemed to drag.
She was reluctant, as though some wrong move or inflection in her tone would clue him of what she had asked Padma to do.
It wasn't like she wanted to keep secrets, but knowing her friends and knowing Draco, they would have overreacted. She'd have been confined to her little flat and accompanied by 2 aurors for any time she did need to go out.
And she had been honest with Padma.
She wouldn't go anywhere alone.
She'd flooed directly onto the second floor of the lab and walked slowly up the steps to Draco's office.
The closer she got to the office, the less worried and guilty she became over the spelled letter she'd left in Padma's care. Instead, she was worried for the presentation she was about to do.
Really, she shouldn't have been.
Draco had treated her as a near equal the entirety of her time under his tutelage. Though, in her mind she'd been able to maintain a sense of the teacher-student relationship when it came to their academic discussions or reports.
His confidence in her was generous truth be told.
Yet, his high expectations were the reason for her nervousness.
She didn't want to disappoint.
The door to his office had been propped open, and a quick peep into the room afforded her the sight of Draco bent over his desk scribbling something absently in a notebook to his right as his eyes continued to dart back and forth over the open papers in front of him.
She let out a breath before clearing her throat and stepping inside.
Draco looked up quickly before offering her a small smile and standing. Shuffling his papers to the side, he gestured for her to sit.
She forced herself to return the smile before opening her file and spreading her proposal and preliminary results on his desk.
She glanced up at him once more as she sat, noting a faint trace of amusement in his grin before his eyes darted to the pages before him.
"I started out trying to mark the mode of viral transmission and it's downstream effects on a cellular level." She started, "But I quickly noticed this pattern."
She began pointing to one of her spreadsheets.
"There was a certain pattern in the changes of these enzymes after infection, so I did some reading."
Draco snorted, and she felt herself smile at his response as she continued.
"Most of them come from a few pathways and go even further back and there's maybe 4 or 5 receptors that could be implicated in the process."
"And could be vaccine targets." Draco said, pulling her spreadsheets forward as his eyes quickly scanned the columns.
"Or at least therapeutic targets at a molecular level. This is..I…" Draco slumped back in his desk taking more of her papers into his hand as he did so.
"This is big Hermione. The possibility is-"
She let out a breath and nodded her head. "It's all by chance I even noticed-"
"But you did and you tracked it down enough." Draco shook his head, dropping the papers back, "I mean there are still possibilities, but we have a starting point."
"And your proposed protocol…" he trailed off and pulled her notebook forward and began jotting down notes.
"Just here, if you do the reaction under heat then…" He murmured to himself, continuing to write.
A fond smile pulled at her mouth as she watched him shuffle papers with a pen idly in hand as he read only stopping to jot notes down in the margins.
"You really do love this."
Draco looked up, the pen in his hand stilling.
Her cheeks flushed as his eyes drifted up.
"You just-" she bit her lip, "You come alive when you work."
The corner of his mouth twitched as he put his pen down.
"Potion making has- it's always been something I've had when nothing else made sense."
She gave him a soft smile. "You're good, you know. Well obviously, you know. You don't need me to tell you, but-"
"I just have experience." he said, as the faintest color of red dusted his cheeks, "You're going to… get to where I am and probably be better."
She shook her head, an amused smile on her face. "No." She watched as his brows furrowed in confusion, "I'll learn everything I can and complete this Mastery, but," She bit her lip, "It's not the same for me as it is for you. I'm great at picking up information, analyzing, drawing up conclusions."
She trailed off before gesturing at the notes he was already scribbling on her papers. "But I'm not that creative. I can't come up with things from scratch. Modify yes, but to make something because implicitly I know it could work...that's a gift."
She looked up and met his gaze, watching as his eyes scanned her face. She could see him warring with something. What to say...What to think. She had worked with him enough, been with him enough, to recognize when he was having trouble processing and reacting. It was almost funny how often she'd seen that expression in response to something she'd said.
"Granger...Hermione, about the article…"
She shook her head. "Don't. If I cared about anything that they wrote, I'd never leave my house."
He shook his head, brows knitting together as he shifted his eyes across her face. After a moment, he spoke. "It was still a violation, and it won't' be an uncommon occurrence if we," He paused, "If we continue."
He let out a breath.
"And I know you like your privacy."
She bit her lip before standing slowly and walking around the desk. Draco's eyes followed her and as she came to stand in front of his chair, he spun so that they were face to face.
He was so tall. Even seated, he reached just past her shoulders.
Her fingers cupped around his jaw, tilting his face up as she bent down and slowly brushed her lips against his.
"But I also like you." She murmured, kissing him again slowly, "And I won't give you up because someone else is telling me to. You know I'm too stubborn for that."
He laughed against her mouth before darting his tongue forward and deepened the kiss.
She moaned, and she could feel his lips curl into a smile as he kissed her once more.
"Most stubborn witch I ever knew." He murmured, pulling a breath away.
She hummed in response, letting her fingers comb through his hair before wrapping her arms around his neck.
"So we're in agreement?"
"Well I'm certainly not arguing against you." he said, a finger curling around a loose strand of her hair.
She smiled and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
"Good."
He let out a breath, his eyes fluttering closed and she could have sworn the tips of his ears reddened at the innocent action.
He cleared his throat before opening his eyes once more.
"I think we should get back to this." He gestured to her papers that had been momentarily forgotten.
She stifled a grin at his obvious attempt at a change of subject.
"I think we can go ahead and set up your first proposed protocol as a trial. April, Blaise's student, did something similar. She might be in today." He trailed off before standing and linking their fingers loosely together.
She squeezed his hand tight for a moment before loosening her grip and allowing him to lead her down the hall.
Hermione had given him a breakthrough. Something he hadn't expected to find, but something he had hoped he would.
The idea of completely eradicating lycanthropy had been something he'd allowed himself to toy with after hours or in between the various experiments and potions that took up the majority of his day.
Now that it was a possibility rather than a far off day dream, well…
And because of her.
Another daydream that had become a reality.
He allowed himself a small smile at that as he stepped along the grounds that led to his Aunt's home.
His knock on the front door was quickly followed by a soft, "Come in."
It didn't take long to find his Aunt, who was sitting in one of the window knocks with a book forgotten in her lap as her eyes were trained on the roses just outside the window.
Her head had tilted to the entrance of the room at the sound of his footsteps. A small smile pulled at her mouth as she moved to make room beside her.
"Sit Draco dear."
"Where's Teddy?" he asked after a moment.
"Upstairs, gathering some things to show Sebastian." She gestured above them, "I should warn you there will be some Weasley products in the mix."
He grimaced as laughter broke from his aunt.
"Wonderful." he said.
They lapsed into silence again. Draco dropped his head to lean on the frame of the window and let out a breath. Andromeda reached over and combed her fingers through his fringe.
"You've been too busy lately," She clucked in disapproval, "You're mother's worried."
He shook his head, pulling away out of her reach.
"She's likely talked about more than that."
His aunt turned her eyes to him then, a brow raised as she studied him.
"No I suppose it's been more than just that."
"Then you know why I'm up to my eyes in disaster." He finally said standing suddenly to pace the room. He paused after two steps, rubbing at his jaw before running his hand through his hair. He felt a pressure building behind his eyes. A migraine more than likely. He shut his eyes tight as he moved his occlumency shields around.
Perhaps it would help.
"Draco."
He blinked.
"Dark magic and Death Eaters," She began, "We both know that particular disaster. This is something else, isn't it?"
He paused.
"No."
Again her brow rose.
"It's the same." he faltered under her gaze, muttering a curse under his breath, "It's the same, and I'm caught in the middle of it again."
"It's my name isn't it? My name they're using to justify it. Article 1509. Merlin, but I should have expected… I should have, but then I didn't think they'd have thought it through so well or." He resumed pacing, "I should have-"
"Draco."
He let out a breath, a hand coming to his chest. He could feel the thrum of his heart at the pads of his fingers.
Breathe. Dear Merlin, he needed to get himself under control.
"Draco love."
He could hear her soft footsteps as she came to his side and guided him back to sit at the window seat.
He blinked as he finally sat, his eyes meeting the concerned gaze of his aunt.
"What have you been carrying Draco?" she murmured.
She shook her head when he didn't answer, taking a seat beside him. Silence settled between them and a few minutes painfully dragged before his aunt began to speak.
"I suppose we each have our secrets; heavy as they are," Andromeda began, "but they don't tend to stay secrets for long."
He bit the inside of his cheek, letting his eyes drift to the floor as his aunt let out a sigh.
"You know my daughter, bless her, never could keep a secret. She never did master that particular Black trait for better or worse."
He kept his eyes trained on the floor before him.
"It really was only a matter of time when she started receiving letters from a 'cousin' that I figured out the plot."
He let out a breath, lifting his chin and finally bringing his eyes to finally meet his aunt's.
"I never thought she would write back." he murmured.
"I don't think she did either," Andromeda smiled wryly.
"I was just trying to do the right thing." he muttered, "It wasn't even close to enough."
"And what would have been?" she said, turning to him and cupping his jaw, "We all think we could have done more."
Silence settled between them, and for a moment Draco believed she would let them matter drop. His aunt was a Black though, and they were a tenacious bunch.
"What else do you think you should have done?"
He looked up, studying her face. He cleared his throat and sat back with his back pressed to the window.
"There," he swallowed, "there was a lot that happened that year; during those revels...I never told them about, and I'm worried that I've let things slip through because of that."
She hummed thoughtfully before standing.
"Then you know where to start." she said then, leaning down and pressing a kiss to his temple. "And for the love of Merlin Draco do not do that alone."
"Aunt Andromeda-"
She shook her head, "Better I not know, yes?"
He bit his lip before dipping his chin in a nod.
She sighed, and gave him a weary smile. "I'll get Teddy for you." she said.
"Thanks." he murmured.
She patted his shoulder before heading up the steps to Teddy's room.
"So Draco will be there?" Sebastian asked gazing up at her for about the fifth time since Hermione had picked him up that afternoon.
"You know I told you that he would." She said, raising her brow as she pulled him along toward her apartment where they would then floo to Theo and Padma's.
It would have been nice to simply aparate, but she'd never done that with Sebastian and wasn't sure how he would react. It would be quite the let down if it made him feel poorly when he was looking forward to seeing Teddy again.
-And Draco. As he'd repeatedly reminded her for the past 20 minutes.
The thought brought a smile to her face.
"Just making sure." Sebastian said.
She rolled her eyes even as her smile remained stretched across her face.
"So are you and Draco-" She glanced down as Sebastian waggled his eyebrows at her with a mischievous grin on his face.
"Stop. Where did you- No. Nevermind, I don't want to know." She snorted as Sebastian broke out into laughter as she pulled him along.
They made it to her flat without further incident and sorted Sebastian's things for the weekend. When it came time to floo, Sebastian came to a stop before her fireplace. His face was scrunched up in thought as he continued to stare at the fireplace.
"What's the matter?" she asked, "You remember how to floo, don't you."
He scoffed, "Of course."
She tilted her head to examine her brother before recognizing the look he was currently sporting.
Apprehension.
"Teddy still remembers me right?" he asked then.
She smiled softly, taking a few steps back drawing her brother to her side.
"He remembers you two playing and causing mischief at the Burrow." she confirmed.
"With Victorie." he added then, biting his lip.
She nodded. Merlin and above, it was like she was seeing herself in her brother just then. That buried deep need of acceptance that was constantly challenged by the doubt and fear that it would not be given.
Sebastian, in a way, had been fortunate.
When she'd felt the first beginnings of magic in her brother, she had dug deep into the literature of accidental magic and basic control that most magical families used to help their children after their first displays of magic.
It had helped of course. Their parents weren't drawn to any oddities, at least nothing to the extreme that she had put them through, but with that feigned muggle normalcy there was still that sense of being...different.
No doubt Sebastian was battling the same concerns she had once upon a time.
That she'd never quite fit in either world.
"Draco told me Teddy was really looking forward to today." she said softly.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." she confirmed.
A large grin broke out on Sebastian's face and suddenly he was tugging at her hand clambering for her to hurry up and let them through the floo.
She swallowed her laughter, a knowing smile on her lips as she grabbed a hand of floo powder and threw it in the fire.
When they emerged from the floo, she was quickly greeted by the sound of footsteps and an exclaimed, "Mione."
She quickly caught the blur of blond in her arms as Teddy threw himself at her.
"Umph, Hello Teddy."
"Hi Mione!" Teddy said, pulling away from her and turning quickly to Sebastian. The two boys seemed to quickly fall into conversation. She smiled to herself at the chatter only frowning when she heard the words 'Weasley' and 'products'. Before she could warn the two against using anything without her approval, they had quickly run off to another room.
She shook her head, crossing her arms against her chest. Turning, she walked away from the floo room. A few steps into the hall and she picked up the sounds of conversation coming from the kitchen.
She knocked on the frame of the doorway, and Padma quickly broke away from where she had been bent over the stove and greeted her in an embrace.
She murmured a greeting sharing a look with the other before she turned and greeted Theo before her eyes drifted toward the third figure in the room.
He'd stood from where he'd been seated at the island and she felt her feet move of their own accord toward him as he met her halfway.
He snaked a hand around her waist, pulling her close and pressing a kiss to her temple.
"Long time no see." She murmured, tilting her chin up to better level their eyes with one another.
"I tried to control Teddy, but -"
"I'm more worried about the Weasley Wheezes Products those two are testing out."
He let out a low laugh, "Believe me I know."
"We've already set up wards." Theo quipped up from behind them.
"Thank Merlin." She muttered.
It was nice to relax. They'd fallen easily into conversation that was, thankfully, neutral. Padma had talked about the recent charms that were under review in her department, and Theo had managed to talk about some of his work as an Unspeakable.
That he was considering leaving his post had certainly been news to her, but Draco, who had been sitting beside her, had barely even flinched. It seemed it had been a decision a long time coming.
The constraints of secrecy and lack of communication with other Ministries around the globe had left much to be desired and only served to frustrate.
She'd wanted to ask more, but they'd been interrupted at that point by a bang upstairs that had led to Theo and Draco bolting up the steps and confiscating a set of rather potent exploding snaps from the boys.
It had all been so blissfully normal.
Like this was something that they could continue to do in the future.
Future.
Even thinking the word had brought a blush to her cheeks as the conversation resumed and turned to focus on Theo and Padma's upcoming nuptials.
When Padma had announced she had details to show her about the decorations and flowers all the while sporting a knowing look, she knew the other had something to tell her regarding her earlier request.
Draco and Theo were quick to excuse themselves at that. When she could no longer hear their footsteps and the hushed murmur of their conversation, she'd turned back to Padma with barely contained apprehension.
Padma sighed as she leaned her elbows on the table and ran her fingers through her hair.
"It looks like two signatures.I checked them against my collection and they aren't from any recent Auror inquiries as far as I can tell."
Hermione frowned, shaking her head.
Two.
Two signatures complicated things. One signature and she could convince herself it was a one off from some pureblood purist targeting her over her newfound "closeness" with Draco. Two signatures meant a plot that had been thought out.
It meant expertise and wanting to cover tracks by confusing an Auror's cursory detection spells.
She rubbed her temple feeling a headache building as her thoughts continued to race.
"And the Auror's are the only ones with access to the full archive for magical signatures right?"
Padma nodded, "The other way to do it would be by comparison of wand core, but you'd need a wandmaker for something like that."
"Well, I remember a book -"
"Even if we started teaching ourselves about wand making tonight, we wouldn't know nearly enough to back dissect a magical signature to its corresponding wand core." Padma interrupted.
Hermione clenched her jaw.
"You could do a trace on the letter."
"Absolutely not." Padma hissed, "We'd be tracing a signature back to who knows what kind of situation."
She shook her head, dropping it to rest in her hands as her head throbbed.
Fuck.
Padma was right.
Wand lore was complicated in it's own right and required years of study to master it, and tracing the letter had been a terrible suggestion by her standards.
They could easily walk right into the belly of the beast and be captured or killed.
She shuddered.
"You should go to Harry." Padma said, her voice softer, "Before you get another one with a curse layered onto it."
She dropped her hands away from her face.
"You think I'll get another?"
Padma shot her a look and she understood without the other having to speak.
Of course she would, the real question was when.
"Those two are plotting." Theo said as they reached his corner study and shut the door behind them.
"And it's not about your wedding." Draco muttered in reply as he flicked his wand to cast a silencing spell.
Theo grunted in reply before he went to the cabinet to the right of his desk and rummaged around before pulling a bottle of what appeared to be muggle scotch. He held the bottle toward him, gesturing if he wanted any.
He shook his head, and Theo shrugged before pulling a glass for himself and pouring a drink.
"Have you told Padma?"
Theo shook his head. "I wouldn't need to. That emergency meeting, the news...anyone who lived through this before can recognize the signs."
Draco rubbed at his face tiredly. "Right." he sighed.
He dropped into a seat and leant his head back as his aunt's words of warning seemed to echo in his head.
"What have you been seeing Potter for?" Theo asked then his eyes glued to the glass in his hand as he swirled the dark amber liquid.
He didn't bother asking how Theo had deduced that much. He'd long accepted that each of them had their ways of pulling information and piecing it together.
"You know why." Draco finally said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees.
Theo let out a breath, "Blaise figured it was something like that. Pansy went to him after Julia went missing and he started digging." He paused before pouring more scotch into his glass,"The chatter is easy to hear when you know where to look. They're already exploiting old channels. People are being threatened to pay for neutrality again."
Draco bit the inside of his cheek.
"They're going to try to overthrow the Ministry again, aren't they?" Theo said, before taking a swing of his drink.
"Article 1509."
Theo choked, coughing as he set the glass on his desk. When he seemed able to breathe again, he shot an incredulous look at Draco as his eyes frantically searched his face.
"Well fuck." Theo muttered before running a hand through his hair, "No wonder they haven't approached me to solicit my vote."
He let out a hollow laugh at that.
"They're setting you up." Theo continued.
Draco scowled before standing then and rummaging for a glass in Theo's cabinet and pouring himself a drink.
"They're using me as a pawn." he said in disgust as he gulped down a generous drink.
"Hardly new."
Draco let out a tired sigh. "No." he agreed, "But using that law is more...elegant than the Dark Lord's method."
He took another sip. "I could see Rookwood coming up with something so obscure."
Theo eyed him before taking the bottle from his hands.
"I'm guessing you haven't told Potter the details of that law and what's going to happen if the rest of the Wizengamot approve the article."
"And damn myself even more than I already am?" he snorted before leaning against Theo's desk and setting his glass to the side.
He folded his arms and pressed them against his chest.
"The only thing that doesn't fit is the wolves." he murmured.
Theo stilled. "Wolves?"
He shook his head. "They've pulled Greyback's old pack into it somehow."
Theo furrowed his brows, "Dolohov or Rookwood would never broker a deal with the wolves for support. They hated Greyback."
Draco nodded, rubbing his temples. "I've gone through it in my head so many different ways, and even if one of the at large Death Eaters went to the wolves and offered them a chance at revenge, they wouldn't do it this way."
"Unless they're also setting up the wolves." Theo finished for him, paling as he realized the implication of such a thought, "But even if that was the case, the wolves aren't stupid enough to fall for it. If they wanted revenge for Greyback they got it at the battle."
"The wolves still think the Aurors killed Greyback."
Theo frowned. "What are you saying Draco?"
It had been so chaotic. Fallen rubble and the haze of fire cut by the occasional bright light of spells. He'd barely recognized the twisting tortured form where two others had him pinned to the ground. One holding the stunning spell and the other holding the Cruciatus.
He shook his head in some fruitless attempt to shake the memory out of him.
"It doesn't matter. All that does is that the wolves' anger is being misdirected and made them easy to manipulate."
Theo blinked before narrowing his eyes. "Why are you coming clean about this now?"
"Greg's been pulled into it." Draco bit his lip, "And they're starting to recruit kids."
He shuddered then as he continued, "And you were there...at the Christmas revels."
Theo's jaw went slack as his eyes widened.
"You think that's what this is about?"
"Maybe partly, " he squeezed his eyes tight, "Anyone with moderate clot in this new movement now could spin their own need for retribution and use it as a condition for their loyalty. It certainly fits with the pureblood mania that will drive people into the movement."
"It's motive for sure." Theo said, his voice practically a whisper, "All those people who were turned...or slaughtered by-" his voice broke.
"I know." he breathed, "And if the Aurors start looking into any of them, they'll bolt and we'll lose our only real connection to getting to Dolohov, Rookwood, and who knows who." He dropped his gaze to his shoes as he paused to collect his thoughts even as his chest constricted painfully, "I didn't want to ask...involve you anymore than you would be just by the vote- I mean you all were on the outskirts before and-"
"Did you really think we would let you shoulder all this yourself again?" Theo interrupted, "It nearly drove you into the ground."
He winced. Nothing he could say would take away the truth from Theo's words. How many times had he wanted to end it then?
How many days had he woken up with only the pain and fear of destroying his family had kept him from running away or walking straight into the lake on the Malfoy property?
Or after.
When he'd been released from Crabbe's clutches and held pieces of glass too close? Drank until he couldn't see? Willfully dodged appointments?
He knew what Theo had seen when he'd been at his lowest, and he knew Theo enough that he would work without question to prevent it from reaching that point again.
"Cassius Warrington, Terrence Higgs, Flora and Hestia Carrow, Tristan Murton," He wet his lips, "Marcus Flint and Adrian Pucey." He looked up and met Theo's determined gaze. "We need to know what they've been up to for the past few years."