8th June, Change is Afoot!
It has been little more than three years after the Battle of Hogwarts, which saw the defeat of You-Know-Who and the the wizarding world is continuing to feel the shift in dynamics. With the fall of the Death Eaters came the rise of a new wave of social justice, sweeping through the ranks of businesses, government and families alike. With Harry Potter, the now-twenty year old man whose heroic action at the Battle of Hogwarts saw the Defeat of the Dark Lord, The British Ministry of Magic is continuing to flush out unsavoury long-held prejudices, inequitable laws and the highly controversial attitude of some families simply paying their way out of a difficulty. Auror Ronald Weasley provided a statement in which his team noted there were no fewer than eight families (all of pure blood lineage as was noted by yours truly!) who have consistently denied to cooperate with ministerial direction and the heads of these houses have been taken into custody for further action. Stay tuned dear readers for what's happening next! Things are developing rapidly this week! - Moira Hestington, The Evening Prophet.
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Still no mention of Granger, he couldn't help but notice, as if the absence of her name highlighted the woman's disappearance from society. Draco Malloy couldn't quite believe that this is what he noticed about the latest articles in the Prophet. A small part of him wondered why he wasn't more concerned about the arrests of Mr Goyle, Mr McNabb, Mrs Parkinson, and the other family patriarchs (or family matriarch in Pansy's case) who had been hauled away rather ceremoniously to create the spectacle that Head Auror Robards demanded of his team leaders. Draco couldn't help but feel a sense of relief that his father had chosen to comply with the ministry demands when they first came knocking, realising quickly that emptying a shelf or two in their bank accounts was nothing compared to another stint in Azkaban.
Losing a few cursed family heirlooms was a small price to pay for social redemption, even if it stung a little.
Draco wasn't sure when he first noticed that Granger was nowhere to be found in the social articles or the gossip columns of the papers, but once he noticed, it was hard to not see her absence. There had been a gala at the first year anniversary of the end of the Second War, a mixture of celebration and remembrance. He had gone to it, representing the Malfoy family as his parents were under house arrest at the time. Draco remembered seeing Granger there, dressed up in a simple gown in a deep charcoal colour, her mass of curls lightly pinned away from her face. There had been some relationship breakdown between her and Weasley, the two awkward in stance when they had to stand next to the other for endless photos. After that she seemed to melt into the background until she wasn't present at all.
Potter didn't mention her when they were at work together in the Law offices, scouring through old case files for Robards until they finished their probation, or more accurately for Potter, until he passed the paperwork portion that Draco had gotten flying colours on first go.
The two of them had developed a sort of camaraderie in the file office, sharing the same space with seemingly endless old case files of issues from the past seventy years. Potter would bring him a coffee in the morning, usually brewed at some local muggle cafe, and he would make sure the biscuit jar was never less than half-full. They had gone out to drinks a few times, slowly figuring each other out as workmates and adults in a post-war world, and finding that the two of them had far more in common than their former school rivalry had ever let them learn.
Draco hadn't yet found the courage to ask Harry about Granger, figuring she was also tucked away somewhere in a similarly cramped office, pouring over manuscripts or books like the information in them would disappear any moment.
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27th August, Hear the Bells Ring!
It has been a long time coming, but finally wedding season is upon us! Latest couple to announce their engagement is none other than Ronald B Weasley, of Dorpleyshire to none other than his long-term girlfriend, Miss Parvati Patel. The two reconnected after leaving Hogwarts and have spent the past couple of years working on their registration in their respective fields. Ronald Weasley is considered to be one of the youngest aurors in Britain to achieve full active field duty registration by the age of nineteen, Parvati Patel is finishing her latest book on divination, "The Fields of Tea Leaves of Sri Lanka", which is due out in December. She is also working on her International Mystic and Divination accreditation. The two have not yet announced a wedding date, but this is expected to follow shortly. Family and friends of the happy couple share their thoughts on page 18. - Moira Hestington, The Daily Prophet.
Page 18, Draco noted, had comments from the Weasley family, Harry, the Patels, Longbottom, Lovegood, a few of the auror team who worked with Ron, and some nonsensical additions of far flung mystics who sent well-wishes in the form of phrases such as "the well spring dug deeper for the union" and "Heavens beseech thee both for the source of happiness.". Still, he noted, there was no sign or any mention of one Hermione Granger.
His curiosity had grown about her ongoing absence, and the temptation to ask Harry baldly where she was, had grown to a near-constant itch. Draco had no explanation as to his growing fascination with the muggleborn witch, but she had been such a constant in his adolescence, that her absence in his adulthood felt unnatural. Even acknowledging that their time together as teenagers was fraught with petty fighting (mostly him), and well-placed right hooks of revenge (all her), he knew the smart woman was an intellectual match for himself, and there were times he wished he could replace his probation partner with someone a little more switched on in the theoretical department, after all, Granger would have aced the theory exams first go like himself, instead of Potter stumbling by with whatever help Draco could give.
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It took him exactly three days post-Weasley's engagement announcement for Draco to break and ask Harry in their tiny office where Granger was. He had partially prepared a casual conversation starter, even a quiet query of her location, but he snapped his head to look at Harry after flicking closed a case file of a cursed Montgomery family ring that caused some grievances in the 1960s, and loudly asked "What happened to Granger?" Right as Harry had stuffed a maple biscuit into his mouth.
A spray of crumbs, a loud choking sound and a hacking cough later saw Harry finally able to turn to Draco in surprise, his eyebrows raised
"She left the Wizarding World two years ago a few days after the Gala." He started,pausing for a moment as he gauged Draco, "She found out she couldn't undo a memory spell she'd put on her parents before we went on the run. That broke her, I think. She'd spent a year on the run with me, then had a very weird and intense relationship with Ron that went bad quickly, then found out about the spell damage to her parents was irreversible. It just sent her to a bad place, so she packed up her life and went back to Muggle England."
Draco sat still in his seat, stunned at the easy confession from Harry. He had known that Granger and Weasley weren't a good fit, the red-head too tactical at work and tactless with anything else meant that the highly intelligent woman would be side-lined in real life unless it was beneficial to his career. Even in a different world, he couldn't imagine Granger being content as arm-candy to ministry functions.
"Do you still see her though? I don't imagine she could cut herself out of this life entirely, she spent eight years learning to be part of it. If her parents have irreversible spell damage, I'm guessing a memory modification given what was happening, then they won't know who she is, which also would mean you're the only family she's got."
Harry smiled at him as Draco put the puzzle pieces together on Hermione.
"Yeah, see her most mornings, she's doing some Muggle university course training to be a classical historian in some old muggle belief in magic, lots of alchemy stuff and books from the Bodleian Library. She's also got herself a job, she's taken up a morning shift as a barista."
Draco looked across at Harry again, "what the hell is a bari-star?"
Harry puffed out a small laugh through his nose, "A bar-is-ta is someone who specialises in making hot drinks, using a special muggle machine. She's been making your coffees on the daily for the past year and a half since we were shunted into this office."
Draco nodded, and let his eyes fall on the now-empty coffee cup from his morning drink. Harry followed the direction of his gaze.
"You know, you should come with me to the shop where she works sometime in the mornings, you two can talk books and manuscripts and I can eat my pastry in peace for once."
Draco considered Harry's offer, knowing it might be a sliver of a chance to see Granger, and see what the Prophet as missing out on reporting on such a clever person.
"Yeah, alright mate, but your shouting me a pastry too, I'm sick of you rocking up here each morning with crumbs everywhere and nothing but the coffee. I keep you stocked up on Maury's treacle biscuits, the nice thing to do would be to return the favour."
Harry laughed at the ribbing before lobbing a paper ball at Draco's head, only missing because he ducked.
"Fine, how about breakfast tomorrow? I get to see Hermione surprised for once and you might actually stop being a surly little night owl when you get a conversation partner at your level."
Draco could only nod.
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12th January, House it Going?
The world was taken by storm by this week when heir-apparent of the Malfoy family, Draco Lucius Malfoy announced he would be taking a sabbatical from living in the historical Malfoy Manor. Located in a key location along several Ley Lines, Malfoy Manor is best known for it's beautiful sprawling gardens, under the careful attention of the current Mrs Malfoy. It is a building perhaps more infamously known as being a place where Death Eaters commandeered the property under the demand of their master during the Second War, post Mr Malfoy Snr's release from Azkaban on charges of trespassing in the Ministry.
Mr and Mrs Malfoy have declined to comment on their son's decision to take leave of the family household seat for the interim, but were happy to announce that they too will be away from the property for some time as it undergoes significant renovations that Mr Malfoy had proclaimed were long overdue.
It seems that Mr and Mrs Malfoy will be undertaking a ministry approved sabbatical in south France where other smaller properties belonging to the family are located. Mr Draco Malfoy declined to comment on the location of his chosen household, but was keen to indicate that it was not in the wizarding world. In a statement sourced by yours truly, it seems that Draco Malfoy may have found something he has deemed worth his time and presence... in the Muggle World! Speculation is rife, with some commenters indicating Draco Malfoy is losing his magic post-war, whereas others seem to think Mr Malfoy may have met his match in someone outside of the Magical community. Stay tuned folks, time reveal all. - Moira Hestington, The Daily Prophet