Malfoy raked his hands through his hair in frustration. "How the devil are we supposed to find a creature that doesn't bloody exist?"

After three days of searching, they seemed to have hit another dead end, though she did not know how. The Ministry library stretched on for miles. They could not have looked through the whole thing already, but every book they opened seemed to take them further from their research rather than closer.

Hermione closed her book, equally annoyed. "We ask someone who knows creatures."

Malfoy glanced up. Apparently, he had not expected her to answer.

"What?"

Hermione placed her book among the many stacked to the side. Really, they had to have half the library right here. She was surprised the table did not groan in protest.

"We find someone who knows a thing or two about creatures. Someone who has worked in the field with them instead of searching through books that don't seem to be doing any good." She huffed, looking over the little bit of notes they did find, but still coming up short. Usually the answers were always waiting in a book for her; one just had to know where to look.

"Surely, you're not talking about that big oaf of a groundskeeper?" Malfoy sneered.

Hermione slammed the notes down, and glared at him, heat rising in her face. "No, I am not, you git. And if you expect me to help in any way, you will refrain from speaking about my friends like that."

A streak of emotion crossed his face. She hoped he was remembering third year.

Like a toddler pouting, he leaned back in his seat, arms folded and scowl in place. "If not him, then to who are you referring?"

"Luna Lovegood."

Malfoy's brows came together. "Who?"

"A friend from Hogwarts who just happens to run about chasing strange creatures with Rolf Scamander."

His eyebrows shot up, clearly impressed before realization clicked.

"You mean Looney the Ravenclaw girl whose head was always shoved in the Quibbler?"

Hermione bristled. "The Quibbler is a very respectable paper, I'll have you know! Luna's father is cheif editor and works hard to find the truth in his stories."

Hermione felt odd defending the old man; she was still quite sore at him for trying to hand Harry over to Voldemort years ago, though she knew his reasons.

Malfoy, however, was not buying it. He gave a pointed look to Hermione's copy of the Daily Prophet, which sat next to her mug of tea. She ignored him and continued.

"Luna has made a name for herself since leaving Hogwarts, especially among the Magical Creature Society. She is very well known for her travels with Rolf, unravelling new beasts and beings all around the world. She even rediscovered Knargles, creatures previously thought to be figment of imagination. I can show you the documentation if you'd like."

She calmly picked up her tea and brought it to her lips only to grimace and put it back down. She felt just in defending Luna, since she herself had doubted her so often before.

Now she relished the opportunity to talk to her friend and find out her input on such a fascinating, if not difficult, case.

Back in her office, Granger took a small container of floo powder and sprinkled some on the fire.

Draco remained doubtful but did not say anything as she stuck her head in. He always thought it odd - almost humorous - the way witches and wizards left their bums in the air to talk. Ridiculous, really. Though there was something to be said about plum slacks. His eyes trailed slowly down her backside.

Heat rose to his cheeks as he realized what he was doing. Great Salazar! Goggling Granger. What's next? Kissing the Weasette?

He buried himself into one of the books they had brought up.

"Luna? Luna, are you in?"

Granger waited a moment then pulled her head out. There was no reply. She crossed her arms.

"Maybe I should owl instead. There's really no telling if she's home or when-"

"Hello, Hermione."

Granger gave a small jump and turned around. Draco leaned over to look around her. A small head peered dreamily through the fire.

"Luna. Hi. I thought you might be out."

"No. Rolf and I were looking in the attic for Chyropeera. We thought we heard some screeching last week but you know they only come out when the moon is wanning, so we thought it best to wait..."

Draco tuned the rest out as she droned on about the creature she thought they had. He had never really heard the woman talk before and found her airy tones a little grating.

"Are you coming for a visit?" She asked suddenly. "You could help us find him. It would be really nice to have another set of eyes, if we can see him that is. You know they sometimes become transparent when directly looked upon. It really is fasinating, so long as he don't blind us with his saliva. That would be unpleasant."

"Actually, Luna, I - that is to say, we -" She gestured behind her. " - need your help."

The woman's face turned towards Draco but she displayed no emotion.

"Hello, Draco Malfoy."

Draco did not know she knew his name and to hear it from her with such familiarity was odd.

"Hello."

"What do you need help with?"

Granger told her about the deer-like creature and their almost nonexistent case.

"You see, we just don't have enough to go by. We have already exhausted our unicorn theory and it does not seem to match up to any other lore from the wizarding or muggle world. To go by its genus could work if we knew what it would be categorized as. Is it from the Cervidea family or the Monokeros family? Maybe neither."

As she spoke, Granger folded her arms and tapped her fingers to her elbow. Her words came out fast and exasperated. Luna Lovegood listened with a serene look.

Draco found himself listening too. He realized, with sudden insight, that while they hadn't found exactly what they wanted, they had actually crossed out a few dead ends. Maybe the research was working after all.

Granger, however, did not come to the same conclusion. Her lips were pursed a little in a small pout. Her eyes burned in anger. Her hair, if at all possible, seemed to fluff up.

"You should go see it."

Luna Lovegood's voice drifted up, cutting Granger off mid-rant.

"He has tried looking for it already." Her fingers quit tapping and she raised a hand in the air, gesturing as she spoke. She was a lot more animated than Draco had known. He always pegged her for a stick in the mud that was too tightly sprung. "A few glimpses here and there aren't doing us any better than the library did-"

"Hmm. Yes, I quite agree. Camping out is a wonderful thing when searching, though. You can find many interesting things about the creature."

Granger blinked.

"You mean go back to the manor?"

"Yes. We really didn't get to see much of the place while we were there. I imagine they have lovely gardens."

Granger cut her eyes at in Draco's direction. He did not miss the slight tug at her left sleeve.

"Luna, I don't know if that's such a good idea. I mean camping to find creatures works nicely for you and Rolf but -"

"You can't move from the past if you don't face it."

Draco's head whipped towards the fire at the blunt reply. An uneasy feeling crept into his stomach, swirling with regret as memories flashed through his head. He glanced at Granger.

She stared into the fire without seeming to see Lovegood. Suddenly her face became hard. She closed her eyes for a second and sighed.

"Maybe you're right."

"What?"

The word was out before Draco could stop it. Both witches turned towards him. He cleared his throat and tried again.

"You want to camp out in my backyard to find this thing? Are you sure about this?"

Granger raised her eyebrows and gave him a mocking look, though her eyes twitched nervously back to Lovegood.

"What's wrong, Malfoy? Afraid to get your trousers dirty?"

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.