Chapter 18

It's All Coming Together

Achoooo. A loud sneeze rang out in the otherwise stuffed room, but still some how echoed.

"Damnit, witch! Can't you cast some of your super powers to keep you from breathing in the dust?" Draco growled.

"Shut it, ferret. My magic doesn't work like that. I'm sorry my allergies are causing you such distraction." Hermione said annoyed and rolled her slightly watering eyes.

Draco murmured something as he continued to tinker around with the vanishing cabinet. Then he would shut the door and open it and see that nothing of significance happened. This would continue to happen and he was losing his patience.

"Ugh! I don't understand."

"You did say it was broken. What exactly are you trying to do to fix it?" Hermione asked

"I'm checking for broken pieces of the magic code. I mean it's hard to see so I'm finding a part fixing it and then when I check again I find another. It's like it's sabotaging itself."

"Could it be the other one is broken and it's causing the issues?" Hermione asked trying to ascertain the situation.

"It's been checked. It's fine. This is the one causing the problems." He growled as he kicked it in disgust.

"Can I check? Show me what you are doing and see if fresh eyes can see it."

Draco didn't want to have her look. The idea of her finding the problem and fixing it would severely bruise his ego. Hermione could see the boy's hesitation. She noticed his parchment pad where his sloppy boy writing was all over the page. She was desperate to see what was on the page. But there was nothing to do about that. The lighting in the room was dim at best and it would disappear when Draco needed his wand. He scribbled again and then he flicked his wand and then opened and closed the cabinet with the same result, nothing.

"Ugh!" He groaned loudly and slammed the cabinet in a huff and walked away. Seeing her opportunity she grabbed his notepad and pocketed it. "This is the only logical way to get those bloody witnesses here and I can't get it to work!"

"Let's leave it for now. Your mind is not focused for this anymore."

Draco grumbled what she thought was an agreement. And she lead him out of the room. "He ran his hand through his blond hair, rustling it. She snickered since that was what Harry did when he was embarrassed or frustrated.

"Let's go get something to eat and we can try or I guess, you can try again." She said with a eye roll.

"Fine." He murmured.

They walked to the Great Hall and she said that she was going to go find Severus. He nodded and they went their separate ways.

IPM

Hermione fisted her hands in her tangled mess of hair. She would stand and pace, then grab a bite from her toast. And then returned to the stupid incomprehensible parchment and then repeat the whole process again. She was so distracted that she hadn't noticed Severus walking in and watching her curiously.

He lightly touched her shoulder so not to completely startling her. "Something the matter, love?"

"Oooh. Severus." She said with a smile as she pulled her body into his embrace. Feeling like all her frustration melt away in his arms.

He picked up the pad from the table, recognizing his nephew's handwriting. "What is this?"

"Oh the bane of my existence." Severus chuckled slightly. "This is the notes that Draco is using to try and fix the damn cabinet and he said that when he fixes one issue another one pops up. The Arithmancy looks sound. But I know something wrong since it's not fixed and Draco is getting frustrated."

"Well there is a very simple error here in the first line. That could be why." He said simply as he causally glanced at the page.

"What? No. Where?" Severus pointed to the spot. Hermione looked over the line and it was almost too obvious. She felt gobsmacked.

"Don't be down on yourself, my sweet. I've been looking over Arithmancy equations for many more years than you."

While angry with herself for not looking over the equation better, she stood up on her tip toes and gave Severus a kiss. "Now how am I going to let him know? He'll be mad I pinched this to begin with."

"I'll return it for you." He simply stated

"You won't tell him I stole it, will you?" She asked with big pleading eyes.

"Of course I will." He gave her a half smile and chuckled his amusement when she pouted at him.

"No! He'll be cross with me." She said as she smacked him in the arm. And in a move rivaling a cheetah on the hunt. He dropped the pad on to the table and captured both Hermione's hands in one of his, as the other one tilted her chin up to look into the molten gaze of her mate.

"Did you just take liberties on my person?" Using that silky predatory voice of his that made all manner of butterflies flutter in her belly. The sensation made her squeeze her thighs together to try and relieve the sudden rush of arousal that flooded her entire being.

Their connection being as strong as it was, he could see her passion flair and he scooped her up and made haste for the bedroom. Where they would spend the rest of the evening in rapture together.

IPM

Severus sat at his desk grumbling over the disaster that were his year two reports. When there was knock on the door. "Enter."

His nephew came in "You summoned me?"

Severus opened his desk drawer and pulled out the pilfered note pad and casually tossed it at the boy.

"My notes!" He growled. "She snatched it, didn't she?"

"Of course she did. She's a meddler and you should have expected it."

"Did little Miss 'I'm so smart' figure out the issue?"

Severus being devious as he was decided to torture the boy at his dig at his mate. "She wanted to , be she was otherwise detained last night and she wasn't able to focus on it." He chose his tone carefully and made the rather suggestive image bloom in the boy's mind. He felt giddy as he saw the realization reach the boy and he looked positively green.

"You are very sick man, Uncle." He shuddered with disgust. "I do NOT need that mental image in my mind."

"Then watch your tongue in my presence. I'm not usually a man that 'kisses and tells' but I will make things very uncomfortable for you." The warning was received as Draco gave him a single nod. "Now I did give it the briefest of glances and noticed a arithmancy error in the first line is probably the reason you are experiencing issues fixing the cabinet."

"No! There are no errors!" Draco responded furious.

"Are you saying that I am mistaken?" He asked smoothly.

Realizing his tone, Draco apologized. "No, uncle. I'm not." He opened the note pad and asked for clarification. Severus went over his mistake and helped revise the rest of the notations. Once they had completed the revisions Draco stood to leave.

"Draco, have you been in contact with your mother? Is she prepared for what's to come?"

"Not recently. But I'm sure she is ready. She swore to me that she would be relocating soon." Draco turned to leave then stopped. "Sir, she will be safe there, correct?" The worry was strong in his tone.

Severus rose from his seat, to stand near the boy. "I swear to you, Cissy will be safe and hidden. You need to fulfill your part and then can finally be able to finish this. Can you handle it?"

"Yes." Draco said, surely. As soon as he left the Potion Professor's office he ran to the room and went to work on the repair. His confidence renewed.

He tinkered with the magic and placed the apple on the base of the cabinet and shut the door. Saying a prayer to any deity that would listen for it to work. There was a light flash of magic and then a moment of nothing and then another. Draco opened the door and saw the proof of his success and he fell to his knees in relief and tears flowed from his eyes.

The single bite from the apple all the proof he needed.

A/N: Ok I know this is a short chapter after a long hiatus. I swear my mental scape is getting better and with my kids going back to school it will give me time to work through all the blocks here and get to the meat and potatoes of the story. I am however going to turn my time turner ahead. I have to so I can stop the minor detailing I keep getting lost in. And I want to find a way to write another Fun With Veela Hermione chapter.

I do have a outline to finish. I just need to get there.