Draco circled the property again. Maybe the thing had left.
Or maybe its damn good at camouflage, he thought bitterly. So much for getting an aerial view.
He turned his broom around.
As he landed on the patio, Narcissa strolled through the double glass doors.
"Did you find it?" She asked, settling herself into a chair under the umbrella. Draco plopped down beside her. Dotty, their House-Elf, ran out with a serving tray of lemonade and cut cucumber sandwiches.
"Thank you," Narcissa bit out.
Dotty's eyes widened at Narcissa's words and she scuttled away with a low curtsy.
A new law had been passed by the Ministry for the equality of human-like creatures. Centaurs now had the right to land or reservations. Werewolves could (supposedly) find employment without discrimination. And House-Elves were now to be considered servants with pay and time off instead of the slaves they once were.
Draco could only imagine which witch petitioned for that law; he remembered S.P.E.W. buttons littering the trash bins in the boy's lavatories quite often. Still, it was slightly amusing to watch his mother become accustomed to such a ridiculous idea. He hid a smile behind his glass.
Narcissa pursed her lips and turned expectantly to her son, reminding him of the question and his foul mood.
"No, I haven't found it yet. Seems like the creature disappeared since my last sighting. One can only hope."
"Hmm." Narcissa bit into a sandwich.
Draco looked out to the garden, absently wondering about taking a walk. Maybe be would have better luck on the ground.
His attention was brought back when a giant black owl landed silently on the vacant chair beside him. It extended it's leg to drop the Daily Prophet onto the table. Narcissa paid him and it left as silently as it came.
Draco picked up the paper, shaking a bug loose from the top. He scanned the Quidditch page before turning to the obituaries. It had become habit to look.
Narcissa did not keep close tabs on Lucius, though Draco knew she looked too. She had kept out of Azkaban by the skin of her nose, merely enduring house arrest and magical limitations for five years post-Voldemort. During those years, she had grown apart from her husband, who had been sent to Azkaban almost immediately. Unfortunately for the Malfoy family, he could not deny the many proofs of his being a Death Eater.
Draco felt a twinge of relief and folded the paper back. His mother would want to look in private, like she always did.
Not wanting to draw out her wait, Draco downed his lemonade and stood.
"I am going to look some more," he informed her. She merely nodded, pretending not to look at the paper, though her fingers inched towards it instead of the sandwich plate. He bent down to kiss her cheek and strolled off. Behind him, the paper rattled as it was opened again.
"Wait. You mean the ferret came crawling to you for help?" Ron barked out a laugh.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Really, Ron. He didn't crawl. Besides, it is part of my job. He didn't have much choice, now did he?"
Ron's smile did not waiver as he looked around the kitchen. "Well, yeah, but come on. Malfoy asking part of the Golden Trio for help. That's almost as rich as him asking Harry himself."
Harry looked mildly concerned for a moment as he had missed part of the conversation. James was sitting on his lap and was trying, very insistently, to steal his father's glasses.
"I think Hermione has a bigger problem than who is asking for her help," Ginny cut in, reaching to take James. She sat down at the table and waved her wand to summon his baby food.
"How are you gonna figure this one out, 'Mione?" Harry asked, straightening his glasses.
She sighed. "Honestly, I'm not too sure. I had mentioned looking through the Ministry library, so I guess I can start there. Maybe I can find some sort of lead."
Ron jumped onto the counter. "You could check the Ministry pensieves. I bet they have some memories stored on creatures and stuff." Ginny threw him a look and he slid back down.
Hermione's eyebrows knitted together as she mulled over the idea. "You know, that may actually work. Ron, you're brilliant sometimes!"
Ron's face and ears burned bright red but he stood straighter, his chest puffed out just a bit.
Hermione barely registered any of this. Her mind was already miles away. She jumped up.
"I have to go."
She ran to kiss James on top of the head and ran down the hall to apparite on the front step.
"Don't forget about dinner on Friday!!" Ginny hurriedly called after her. Hermione waved a hand to show she had heard and closed the door behind her.
* * *
Sixteen hours and many memories later, Hermione pulled herself from the pensieve yet again. She fell back into her chair and quickly picked up her quill. She was exhausted. The memories were interesting, some even chaotic, but none were very helpful so far. Parchment scattered across her desk, each jumbled with quick notes, paragraphs referencing creatures, or tid bit information she had found interesting.
The quill slipped from her hand and her eyes closed without her realizing. Ink trailed down the page. Her head nodded back, her bushy unkept hair giving her cushion. She slept like this for several minutes.
The door opening woke her. For the second unexpected time, Draco Malfoy walked through. He cocked an eyebrow at her appearance but spared her the snide words. She rubbed her eyes roughly with the palm of her hands, thinking she was still out of it. He stretched out in the chair across from her.
"Early morning?" He asked casually.
"Late night, more like. Malfoy, what are you doing here?"
"I thought it best for us to get an early start, but I see you already began without me."
"I wasn't expecting...I'm sorry, but what are you on about? Us? What exactly are we doing?"
Malfoy heaved a sigh and began speaking slowly, as if he had to spell it out for her. "The Ministry library. Our search for information on the creature currently invading my home. Trying to identify and, more importantly, remove it."
Hermione raked her hands over the top of her hair. "I hadn't realized that you were under the misimpression of searching the library with me. Do you have Ministry clearance?"
His eyebrows furrowed. She closed her eyes briefly, fighting both a headache and sleep.
"You do realize, don't you, that not just any wizard off the street can waltz into the Ministry's private collection of information at any given moment? There are ways of doing things here, to keep order. Ways that you seem to assume beneath you. You need proper authorization to access the library."
Malfoy leaned back and folded his hands in his lap, unfazed. "Then give me clearance."
Hermione opened her mouth and closed it. She did have the ability to grant him access, given the specifics of the case. And having another person looking would make things go faster. She simply could not think of a way to refuse his request, as annoying as it was for him to just assume charge of everything.
She ground her teeth, a habit her parents found infuriating.
"Okay, fine." She began clearing her desk. She used the tip of her wand to scoop the memory back into its bottle and placed the bottle with the rest. She blew on the spilled ink and rolled her parchments up, placing all of it in a drawer. Lastly, ignoring Malfoy's exasperated look, she carefully picked up the pensieve and placed it on the shelving unit behind her desk. She purposely took her time with each task, wanting to annoy him as much as his presence was annoying her.
Finding nothing else to do, she ran her hands over her hair again and rolled her shoulders. The clock on the wall read seven-thirty. She turned back to him.
"Before we do anything, I am going to have breakfast. And a large mug of strong tea." She muttered the last bit to herself as she went for her purse.
Malfoy stood, pulling his button up shirt to smooth the wrinkles. "Good. I will join you." He did not wait for an answer but strolled out, leaving her gaping after him.
Author's Note:
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Harry Potter series. Those rights belong to JK Rowling. I am only borrowing her beautiful creations.
I still like this chapter as is so no editing. I hope ya'll enjoy! Feedback and reviews are always welcome.