Chapter 15
MALFOY HEIR DESTROYING ALL LINKS TO PAST LIFE
"You can't be serious?" Draco rolled his eyes at Katrin when she handed him the copy of the Daily Prophet when she ran into him in the lifts.
"I vas laughing all day." She looked over at him and gave another laugh to solidify her statement. "Apparently Greengrass is quite spiteful. This is the second veek since your break-up that she's dominated vhat is being published in this trash. I know Creevey is terrible, but this Davis person is just as bad."
"I see Creevey has just as much to say about the department as Davis has about me." He pointed to a different article, not wanting to talk about Astoria or the defamation of character she was getting printed about him.
PUREBLOOD KILLER STILL AT LARGE
"Oh yes," her eyes hardened, "He loves his little smear campaign on the DMLE. I vish ve could find something on that little skíthaus..."
Draco laughed and rolled up the paper. "Don't worry about him, he's not worth the time it takes to translate that word. Although, I will ask Theo later. He seems to be learning your native tongue pretty quickly."
Katrin blushed as they stepped out of the lifts into the atrium. "I don't know vhy."
"Sure." He nudged her with his elbow, and she laughed. "You coming out?"
"I might meet up vith you later." She gave Draco a quick hug before stepping into bright green flames and disappearing.
He took another look at the moving picture of him and Astoria arguing in Diagon Alley. After the first couple of days, the articles all seemed to be the same: that Draco used her until he was bored, that he was a liar and manipulative. Not thinking she was worth his anger anymore, there was nothing else to do but laugh. She was playing the victim, something she could do flawlessly, and turning everything she had done into something that was done against her. He was glad to be done with her drama firsthand. If all he had to deal with was some slander in random newspaper articles, he could survive. He tried to avoid the paper as much as possible in the first place. Tossing the paper into rubbish bin, he stepped into the fireplace and called out his destination.
Stepping out, he had to quickly jump out of the way to avoid being run over by a waitress with a tray full of drinks. The Leaky Cauldron was far busier than he expected, but with it as cold as it was outside and raining, he supposed he should have changed his expectations. He looked around the crowded floor until his eyes landed on a very distinct head of bright blonde curls next to two of the loudest patrons there, Theo and Blaise.
"-be fun! I promise, best night of your life." Blaise was saying next to a laughing Theo.
"Blaise, I'm honored you want me to go with you, but I've already told you," she put a hand on his arm, "I'm going with someone else." She gave him a sincere smile and patted his arm before she looked up. "Hello Draco."
"Give it up mate. She's been turning you down for seven years." Theo laughed and slapped a crest fallen Blaise on his back, giving Luna a wink.
"Oh, it's nothing personal, I just prefer someone a little more … reserved." She stood then and waved at someone behind Draco. "I'll be seeing you all." She gave Draco's hand a squeeze to accompany a knowing look before departing to join Hermione and Pansy across the room.
"What do you think she means by reserved?" Blaise asked as Draco took Luna's abandoned seat.
"Oh, probably someone that hasn't slept with half of the commonwealth." Draco leaned back and laughed.
"Me sleeping with the commonwealth was able to expedite you getting the report back from your profiler." Blaise said holding out a large envelope.
Draco instantly jolted forward and grabbed it from him. "You can't be serious. Does Potter know?" When Blaise shook his head no, Draco instantly broke the seal and pulled out the contents to read. Theo had brought his chair around to read over Draco's shoulder before he put it away.
"Well, for the most part, we were right." Theo said.
"Yeah, I'll get it to Potter or Katrin later." He shrunk it down and put it in his inside pocket. "There's not much we can do with it until Potter gets back."
"Is he still in France?" Theo asked.
"Yeah, I think that's where he is. Katrin and Hermione are losing their minds, no one will tell them what he is doing or how long he will be gone."
"I could-"
"No, Blaise, I really don't think there is anyone you can sleep with to get this information. Unless you plan to bed the Director of the DMLE." Blaise thought about it for a moment then gave a face of, I wouldn't say no, which caused both Draco and Theo to bust out laughing.
The three friends sat talking and laughing through a round of drinks before Blaise caught sight of Luna again and decided that he would ask her one more time to go to the Ministry Yule Gala with him. When he disappeared into the crowd, Draco took time to observe Theo as he sat there laughing. His sandy brown waves were tossed every which way and being paired with the scruff he kept on his face it made him look like he didn't care about his appearance, but Draco knew him better. He knew for a fact that Theo took longer to get ready than Hermione and was prepared to list several occasions for proof.
Theo had always been the one person that Draco could rely on, especially during school. He had never agreed with the views pushed onto them by their fathers and the two of them often fought because Draco had been, in Theo's words, "a naive little shite." He was always the one person that was willing to be completely honest with Draco and never blew smoke up his arse, especially when it came to the war and the sides they would have to choose. He had been the only person that truly knew Draco and his feelings on what his family had been wrapped up in. He helped when it came to protecting students during the Battle of Hogwarts, even before Blaise was willing to step in. When Draco had been dueling several Death Eaters during that final battle, Theo was the only person to step up and help him protect Ginny as she tried to pull her brother's body out of the debris that had fallen from the ceiling. It was Theo that stood by him when Voldemort brought Harry's body back from the forest, squeezing his shoulder in support.
"Theo, how long have we known each other?" Draco tested his friend's mood. Sometime, when drinking, his mood could change quickly, and he didn't want this to be one of those times where it switched for the worse.
"Hell, I'm pretty sure I officially met you just a few weeks after you were born. Why do you ask?" He took another drink of his beer and leaned back in his chair, rocking it back onto two legs.
"You've always been honest with me."
"Yes." Theo's eyes narrowed but nothing else about his posture changed.
"I want to ask you a question, but I want you to be completely honest."
"Yes, I think you should grow a pair and tell Hermione."
Draco rolled his eyes, "That's not even close to what I was going to ask."
Theo moved his hands in a gesture that suggested he was waiting for Draco to ask, a smile on his face. That was a good sign for Draco, but it still took several calming breaths before he could ask. Leaning forward, he folded his hands on the table and Theo followed suit, mocking Draco's serious expression.
"Spill it blondie."
Draco locked eyes with his oldest friend, "Do you know the name Cassiopeia, or Cassi?" Draco watched for any sign of recognition. Anything that would prove that Draco's sister was alive to more than just him and his parents; that her memory had not been erased from existence from everyone alive. He had tried multiple potions that were supposed to bring back memories to no avail. The problem being the longer the memories had been gone, the harder it was to bring them back. There was a possibility that a healer could help, but he had no desire to go to St. Mungo's if he didn't absolutely need to. The less chance to run into Reeves the better for him.
As he watched Theo's face, all he saw was confusion. "Should I?" he asked. "Who is she to you?" The longer Theo thought about the name the more confused he became. "Was she someone to me?" It was clear to Draco the name seemed to pull at him; familiar to him but no idea why. Now came the difficult part: should he tell him about Cassi and how taken with her he seemed to be when they were children, or just drop the topic all together?
Lucky for him, the conversation was interrupted before he had to make an actual decision on it.
"I didn't realize grown men still had staring contests." Katrin said as she slid back a chair to sit down.
Both Draco and Theo leaned back in their chairs and cleared their face from any confusion or doubt. "I was just trying to make sure he didn't lie to me." Draco smirked, trying to play it off.
"Lie about vhat?" Katrin asked before she ordered a drink from the waitress that came to their table.
"Oh, just a little bet that Blaise and I have against him and his claims of virtue." Draco raised an eyebrow as Theo choked on his drink.
"Bloody bastard."
"I don't think I vant to know the answer to that." Katrin's cheeks flushed.
"Don't worry, I won't bore you with those details. I will, however, hand this over to you." Draco pulled out the envelope he received from Blaise and handed it to her. She began to ask if it was what she thought it was and when Draco nodded her face lit up as she enlarged it to normal size and read the profile. Once she was done with the report, her face fell slightly.
"It's not much different than vhat ve already knew." She slumped.
"No, but we now have an official report that we can give out to the rest of the department from a professional that shows we know what we are talking about." Draco held up his glass in a toast before drinking it which made her smile.
"Kat, do you have a date to the gala?" Theo asked abruptly. Draco knew he had been trying to ask her this question for several days now but had always ended up talking himself out of it, finding excuses of being at work or her being around people she needed to impress.
Katrin's cheeks turned a bright pink and she looked down to play with the condensation on her glass. "I do, actually. Ginny set it up."
"Of course." Theo tried to hide his disappointment and Draco felt bad for the guy. If Ginny had set up the date, he knew it was likely a famous quidditch player and with Katrin's feminine but muscular physique, it was likely going to be a mountain of a player that all of the female fans drooled over. "You're beautiful and smart and funny and of course you already have date." Theo was muttering under his breath where Katrin couldn't hear him.
"I'm sorry, Theo. I didn't know…"
"No! Don't be sorry, just, umm, save me a dance?" He gave a playful smile after clearing his throat. Draco tried not to watch the scene unfolding in front of him, it was like fourth year all over again. At least this time Theo actually was able to get the question out instead of stuttering and running to hide in their dorm.
Just as Draco looked up, having a clear shot of the bar, he saw the last person he wanted to see walk in. He was about to look away when he noticed that Sebastian's arm was wrapped around a witch's waist, but that witch wasn't Hermione. He had seen this kind of action from Sebastian before, except this was a different witch from even the last time he had seen him. How Hermione could put up with this, he didn't know, but he wanted nothing more than to take out all of his anger on the man laughing at the bar.
He saw red. Pushing his chair back and standing, his head jerked around the room looking for the head of busy curls he could spot anywhere, and that is exactly what he did. Her back was to him, but Pansy was facing him, and he caught her eye. He knew legilimency, but he was not nearly good enough to use it across a crowded room such as this with her that far away. Luckily, Pansy knew Draco enough to catch on that something was wrong and looked at Hermione quickly. When he nodded, Pansy immediately knew and grabbed her hand.
"Aren't they still together?" Theo asked when Draco's attention was back on the wizard in question.
"Yes, they are." Katrin hissed and went to get up, but Draco grabbed her arm, shaking his head. When she turned and saw Pansy bringing Hermione to them, she understood and sat back down with him. He could see the white of her knuckles as she gripped the glass, and so did Theo because he put his hand on hers to get her attention, trying to distract her so she wouldn't break the glass.
"Draco! I haven't seen you since I caught you in Hermione's flat the other week." Draco's head snapped to look at Pansy with wide eyes. He could feel his face warming, but he doubted it was anything compared to the color of Hermione's at the moment.
"Pans, I told you, nothing happened." Hermione whispered and Pansy laughed.
"I know. I just wanted to see Draco blush." Pansy laughed as she pushed Theo closer to Katrin and brought up a chair before sitting Hermione down next to Draco and sitting on the other side of her. Pansy knew how to manipulate every situation, and it took her no time to figure out how to do just that. And Draco had to admit to himself, this was one of the only times he didn't mind her specific skill set.
It did not take long for Hermione to look up and see him. Sebastian's face was nestled into the crook of the witch's neck and she was laughing as he pulled her into him. Without saying a word, Draco slid his drink towards her, and she took it in both hands before draining in one gulp.
"I already knew." She whispered to Draco before standing up and walking out, leaving the whole table in shock.
Draco watched her walk out the door with wide eyes before turning back to see three pairs of eyes staring back at him. He pulled his eyebrows in confusion and Pansy smacked him in the back of his head.
"What the fuck was that for? Did any of you know she knew he was cheating on her?"
"That's not vhat it vas for. Go after her!"
"Bloody women." Draco pushed back his chair and ran out the door after grabbing his coat, earning him a look from everyone he ran past, including Sebastian. "Granger!"
She was walking at a brisk pace, and because she had no coat her arms were wrapped tightly around her with her head down because of the rain pelting its way down from the clouds. He knew that she could hear him, he could tell by the way she turned her head, but she chose to ignore him.
"Bloody hell, Hermione!" He ran to catch up to her, but she still didn't say anything. "Why the hell are you just allowing that to happen?" He yelled. Her magic was rolling off her in thunderous waves giving away how angry she really was, even with her obviously trying to hold it back. And instead of confronting Sebastian, she was letting him do whatever he damn well pleased. This wasn't the Hermione Draco knew, and he wanted to know what Sebastian had over her that made her accept his behavior.
He reached out and grabbed her arm, gently pulling her to a stop. He wrapped his coat around her shoulders and held it there trying to get her to look up at him. Her hair was already soaked, and the blue knitted sweater she wore was swelling from the rain exposing just how small she was, despite her curves.
"Will you talk to me?"
She kicked at the water forming the puddle they were standing in but didn't raise her face. Frustration ran through him and he wanted nothing more than to shake her. He remembered her punching Blaise in the nose for lying to someone in order to sleep with them, and her stringing Weasley up in the hallway when he kissed someone else and they hadn't even been officially dating at that time. She was always defending those who were being used or cheated on, so why was she not doing the same for herself?
With the rain it was difficult to tell, but he was almost positive she was crying, so he took his hand and put it under her chin to lift it so their eyes could meet, and his suspicions where confirmed. "Hermione, what's going on, Love?"
"Don't call me that." She choked out.
"I know the condition." He gave her a sad smile, "What's going on, Love?"
She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "It's complicated."
The urge to shake her returned, so he took a deep breath, pulled his lips in and looked up for a moment to let the rain wash over his face. "That's not going to be good enough. You don't deserve this."
"Draco, you have no idea what's going on. I…" she paused and bit her lip to keep herself from saying more.
"I swear if you say you love him, I'm going to lose my shite." Draco's eyes turned hard as he prepared himself to hear those words coming from her. He knew how complicated love could be, and how you had absolutely no control over who you actually fell for. But it never condoned allowing someone to treat you like you're disposable and he was prepared to tell her just that.
His heart was beating hard in his chest, he was sure she could hear it over the pounding rain.
She laughed, and he almost dropped his hands from her shoulders in shock. "Like I could love a monster like that." She spat the words out like she had been holding them back for too long.
"Then… why? I don't understand."
"I told you, it's complicated." Her eyes were sad, and she didn't even try to force a smile while she looked at him. Her hands came up and grabbed his that were rested on her shoulders once again. "How is your hand." She turned her head to look at the hand in question.
"It's fine. You should know, you healed it when Theo mucked it up. Don't try to change the subject."
She gave a huff of a laugh, "That was pretty clever of you." She looked back at his face and pushed the hair that had started sticking to his forehead out of his eyes, "Clever to find a way for me to see in a way I couldn't deny it. But it was also extremely embarrassing." The fire Draco had been looking weeks for was finally lit and it was directed at him. Not exactly what he was expecting, but he was glad to see it none the less.
"That wasn't –"
"I know, but next time, maybe grab me by myself."
A challenge played across her eyes, but he had no idea what that might be, and it made his heart stutter. "There shouldn't be a next time, Hermione."
"You're using my given name."
"Don't change the subject."
"Why do you care?" she tried to step away from him, but his grip on her shoulders tighten enough to keep her in front of him.
The rain had slowed, but only enough to allow them not to yell to hear each other, and the wind was tearing at him but that wasn't what caused the chill to run over him. Her words cut him deeper than she probably ever meant them to. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out, so he closed it again. Why did he care? He cared because she was Hermione Granger. She was brilliant, brave, loyal, kind and fearless. She was a friend and had been there for him when he needed her, just as he was for her, or he had been, until he wasn't. Until he left. That did not mean he didn't care about her, that was why he had left. She didn't know that though.
"We made a vow to each other," Draco finally said, and he lifted his hand up to her cheek letting his thumb wipe away a drop of water, "I vowed to never lie to you, and you did the same. I did that because I care about you and I know you deserve the truth. Reeves is not being truthful to you, or faithful. Honestly, he is the biggest fucking prick I have ever met, and I knew that before I found out you were dating him. You deserve more than him. You deserve someone that will treat you like a queen. You deserve someone that wants to be deserving of you."
"And is that you?" her eyes locked into his, unwavering.
For the second time he almost stepped back from her in shock, but the warmth her magic was radiating kept him close to her. Before he could stop himself, he said gently, "No. I could never deserve you."
She narrowed her eyes at him but didn't say anything. Again, her hand grabbed his and as if without her permission she closed her eyes and pushed into his hand on her cheek. When she opened her eyes, they focused on his forearm.
He had been so focused on her, he forgot he was wearing a white shirt and the rain was making it all but transparent. The faded lines of the Dark Mark were now visible, and he tried to pull his arm away, but she held it there before bringing her other hand up to trace the edges of it. The feeling of her fingers sent shivers down his spine that the rain could never do, and he wished more than anything he could know what was going on inside her ever-working brain.
"Just… leave it. Okay." She said as she released his hand and stepped away. Before he could stop her again, she turned on her heel and disapparated.
He turned to head back into the Leaky Cauldron and met the eyes of Theo who was standing under the awning waiting for him with a glass of whiskey. Once under the awning himself, he cast a drying spell and a warming spell to stop his shaking that wasn't apparent until Hermione left. He grabbed the whiskey and swallowed it in one gulp warming him further. Theo was leaning against the wall with one foot up and crossed arms as he looked at Draco with a lifted eyebrow.
"She's planning something, but she won't tell me what it is." Draco ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know if anyone knows what it is, the way it's weighing on her."
"There is only one person she might have told."
"And he won't say a bloody word."
"Speaking of that person, he sent word. Looks like he's back and got pulled into a crime scene."
"Hermione?"
"It looked like she needed the day off, am I wrong?"
Draco just shook his head and headed inside. Once he was able to grab the equipment needed to process the scene from the lab, he and Theo apparated to the edge of a quidditch pitch on the outskirts of Holyhead. The stands were clad in dark green tapestries with golden stitched talons and giant signs that spelled out Harpies were flying behind both sets of goal posts.
"Tell me it's not Ginny." Draco held out his hand when Theo began to walk toward the pile of abandoned brooms at the opposite end of the filed.
Theo's face was pale, but he didn't say anything, and Draco was sure his face wasn't much better. The bottom of his stomach dropped out when he saw Harry stepping out of the locker room with Ron Weasley towering next to him. The redhead was grown several inches and put on more muscle than he thought would be possible. He supposed working with Dragons would do that though.
Draco was plunged into a tunnel of frozen wind as he walked towards the only other people he could see in the stadium. The selfish part of him wished he still had his coat, but the thought was quickly dismissed when the image of Hermione holding it close to her flashed before his eyes. Casting another warming charm over himself, he came to a stop when he was within talking distance of Harry and Ron.
Theo greeted them both as old friends, but Draco was still being given a cold shoulder by Harry and if it was Ginny that was attacked, he didn't see that changing at all. Now that he was closer to Ron, he could see several new scars covering his hands and face, as well as a large burn that covered his right arm. He had grown his hair out and the resemblance he had to his oldest brother Charlie was uncanny.
"Weasley. Potter." Draco nodded after they had shaken hands with Theo. To his surprise, Ron gave him a warm smile and held out a hand, which Draco took. He could feel calluses on the man's hands and the grip was probably harder than necessary.
"Hey Malfoy." Ron said. "Been awhile, I'm sorry about your mum."
With the lightness of his tone, Draco concluded the victim could not have been Ginny and a weight he hadn't realized was there lifted off his chest. "Yeah, thanks." He responded.
"What's going on? Where is Kat?" Theo asked while Draco was looking between his two school enemies with unease.
"Through here." Harry said and pointed towards the guest locker room. "Katrin is dealing with an annoyance." The displeasure in his voice was clear and Ron laughed.
"Oh, come on, you should be used to it. Him and his brother always followed you around in school."
"Doesn't matter." Harry said with a scowl and held open the door for the three men to follow.
The smell hit him before he could see the body and both him and Theo took a step back. "Could've warned us, mate." Theo said through a pinched nose.
"Sorry. Ron found him and until Ernie gets here, we can't know for sure how long he has been here."
The sight of the decomposing body slumped against the wall of lockers was enough to churn Draco's stomach. He was glad in that instant for the potion he had taken before leaving the Ministry. In the line of work he was in, it was normal to see terrible things, but this was one of the grisliest bodies he had seen. The smell was worse the closer he got, and he had to cast a bubblehead charm to be able to work, leaving Ron, Harry, and Theo at the door. He could hear Katrin's voice in the distance yelling at someone. And when he heard her threaten to boil his eyeballs in one of his developing potions, Draco couldn't hold in a laugh even as he bent to look at the peeling flesh.
"Has anyone touched the body?" Draco asked to no one in particular.
"No." Ron answered, "As soon as I smelled it, I knew something was wrong. I looked around the corner then didn't go any further. I remember some things from when I worked with Harry." Ron said with a small laugh. "The rest of the family was here. We were going to play a quick game before heading back to The Burrow with Ginny. I sent them home, but they are prepared to come in and give statements." He added the last part towards Harry who was taking notes.
"Ernie should be here with Penny within the next twenty minutes. It takes them longer because they have to bring that stupid van." Harry said as he walked up next to Draco. When he was within whispering distance, he knelt down and asked, "Where is Hermione?"
Draco turned to look at him and sighed, "She saw Reeves at the Leaky with some other witch."
"I fucking hate that prick." Harry said as he clenched his fists.
"You and me both." Draco turned back to the body, "This wasn't fire." He said pointing to the melted skin. "It's some form of muggle acid or a potion that mimics it."
He continued to look over the body. Part of the robes the victim was wearing had melted to the skin and the face was nothing but bits of muscle on exposed bone. Knowing he couldn't actually touch the body until the medical examiner and photographer got there, Draco moved his focus to the scene around them. He cast a spell over the lockers, benches, spare booms, even the doors to look for fingerprints or any other form of DNA but found none. There were no footprints aside from those belonging to Draco, Harry, and the victim and there was no evidence of the bottle that the potion or acid might have been kept in. Stepping back to look at the body from across the room, he saw the lockers had been moved by the scrap marks on the stone floor, he marked it for Penny to take photos of when she arrived and moved on. It wasn't until he stood on top of one of the long benches that he saw it. Shimmering on the top of the locker that had been moved was a pile of purple powder, linking this with the rest of the murders they had found. Upping the body count for the murderer to eight.
When Ernie arrived, they collected the body and took the necessary photos that allowed Draco to collect the powder into a vial and notated anything else that might have been pertinent. Once the body was gone, and Katrin was able to get rid of Creevey, the three aurors, Ron, and himself took a portkey back to the Ministry. Several hours later, Harry came to collect Draco and asked him to come into the observation room with him.
Following him into the small room with a large window, he kept his guard up. Never had there been a reason for Draco to watch an interview, outside of listening to Astoria being questioned by Katrin, and he wasn't sure why Harry was asking him to do so now. When he saw Katrin in the room with Ron it set his curiosity on fire.
"It was a conflict of interest to have me interview him." Harry said looking out the window.
"And it wasn't when I came in?" Draco spit, still bitter being blamed for the murder of Marcus.
"Kat asked you the questions initially." Harry argued. "The director asked me to be there. I didn't want to be anywhere near you after you left without a word." Harry admitted crossing his arms.
No response was needed, so Draco just nodded and looked forward. Katrin was impressive, he noticed. She was several inches short than Ron and a good 50 kilos lighter, but she still demanded the room they were in, and if Draco didn't know any better, it was clear Ron was nervous around her. Not for the first time, Draco compared Katrin to his own mother and how he knew she had been able to take control of certain situations.
"Why am I here?" Draco asked after ten minutes of silence between him and Harry. "I have work to do."
"Did 'Mione tell you what she's been up to?" He asked, still staring into the room.
"No." Draco's head snapped to look at the man next to him. His dark hair, as always, was a tossed mess and his robes looked like he'd been wearing them for at least a day. Dark circles were prominent from his profile and his shoulders were hunched, making his chin sit below level of Draco's shoulder height. "Do you know?"
"No." Harry's hand rubbed the back of his neck before he stretched it and several audible cracks could be heard, making Draco cringe. "I'm worried."
"That's obvious." Draco directed his attention back to the room where Katrin had pushed her hair over one of her shoulders and crossed her arms to glare at Ron. Running a hand through his hair, his thoughts went to Hermione and the fact that Harry had a very good reason to be worried for her. She was still with Sebastian, and Draco had no idea how he was going to tell her everything. Much less have her understand that Sebastian was someone she needed to avoid rather than someone she should try to save. He was as manipulative as Astoria but ten times as deadly, especially knowing who his parents are. With a sigh he said, "You should be."
The two of them looked at each other and he could see pure fear in Harry's face. Fear he hadn't seen since the war and it made his anxiety kick into high gear.
"What do you know?" Harry asked.
His eyes narrowed as they stayed locked onto bright green. Hermione was likely in way over her head and Draco was also worried for her. Harry was not always the most observant person but if he was capable of seeing that something was wrong, it might be time to bring him up to speed, just as he had done with Theo and Blaise. Harry, next to Ron, were the people that knew her best and would know how to get through to her. Blaise and Theo had said to flat out tell her, something Draco knew would not work well. And showing her that Sebastian was cheating on her did not have the desired effect. Not to mention, it would likely be easier for him to get information on people than it would be for Draco.
Then again, did he really want to collaborate with The Boy-Who-Lived more than necessary? As he stared at Harry, Draco could see the protectiveness he had over Hermione come to the surface. It had always been there, and Draco knew at least one instance from the war that would strengthen the resolve to protect her as much as possible. Thankfully, Harry as well as Ron both knew what he had done for her during the war and not just at the Manor. They were also fully aware of her episodes and how he had helped her through them. It had been what helped them get over their petty school rivalry… until he left.
He placed his hands on the ledge of the window in front of him and watched Katrin work, letting his thoughts drift. When the prophecy played across his mind, he turned and looked at Harry again, who was standing next to him with arms crossed also watching Katrin. Narrowing his eyes, he came to the conclusion he needed to do whatever it took to get Sebastian thrown into Azkaban and protect Hermione.
"There is something you need to know about Sebastian Reeves."
AN: Man oh man! This was a fun chapter. Thank you so much Blueeyedsue for helping me overcome obstacles and making sure this chapter was as close to perfect as possible before posting it!
I must apologize again for the sporadic postings but I hope it doesn't detour you all too much. To all of you that are still reading and sticking with me through this... Thank you all so much! I love hearing your thoughts and your theories! Even a simple comment of "I like it" goes a long way to keep me motivated and to keep going with the story!
I hope you enjoy!