In the dream

It was the incessant knocking that finally woke him. Growling he slide off the piles of mattresses and pillows he'd gathered from several of the manor's bedrooms just to be able to sleep comfortably, as this form tended to wear out the mattresses fast. Silently he stalked towards the sound hoping it wasn't a thief.

It had happened several times over the years, people stopped fearing the Malfoy family, and with it came looters looking to profit from their downfall. But usually, the house elves and especially Kiki stopped them before they could even enter the house. So, he followed the sound his ear twitching in all directions finding the noise was coming from just one direction. Jumping down the three-story hole in his home he landed in the basement. A loud crash came out of his old potion's lab followed by a swear from a voice that sounded far too familiar for his liking.

"Granger!" He roared as he moved into the room barely fitting into the door.

"Shit!" She swore again turning rapidly as she glared at him, waving her wand with a silent reparo as she carefully placed the large glass vial on a stand before placing her wand on the counter next to an odd beaded bag. "You scared me!" She shouted as she turned back to her bag and pulled out a large square box that shouldn't have fit into the small bag she had.

"What are you doing here?" He growled glaring at her as she continued to pull things out of her bag.

"Well, you were concerned about what I'd do with your blood. So, I brought what I could here so you can watch me work. But of course, your potions lab had to be in the basement. Snape had way too much influence here," she muttered the last part under her breath as the beast across from her huffed as his shoulders shook. Recognizing the action, she narrowed her eyes as she asked, "Why are you laughing?"

"This isn't Severus's fault. Most potions labs are in the basements for a reason," he said with unusual mirth in his voice.

"What?" she scoffed reaching down into her bag internally cursing as she knocked over a stack of books. Growling she stomped her foot as she reached down into her bag, her entire arm disappearing in the beaded bag before she pulled out a white box of empty vials.

Draco stared at the witch in confusion as she reached back into the bag again before he explained. "Several high-level potions are sensitive to light and heat during processing. Potion's labs are generally underground," he offered the answer stunned that she didn't know something.

"Slughorn never taught in the basement," she huffed in annoyance as she realized he was enjoying her ignorance.

She never would have taken her NEWTS in potions if it had not been for the fact that Snape wasn't teaching it, she had always planned on finishing her mastery in it after Hogwarts just to spite the man, but with him dead and her getting a dual degree in Law and Medicine, and Kingsley bribing her into ministry service with her own department that she could create. The idea had fallen to the back burner.

"Yeah well, old Sluggy wasn't as skilled a master as my godfather. There's a reason both the Dark Lord and Dumbledore were interested in him," he offered as he looked around the room, every shelf and surface seemed to be covered in dust.

"Whatever," Hermione huffed as her nose twitched, "Why the hell is there so much dust in here?" she asked.

"How do you expect me to be able to make potions when I look like this?" Draco sneered as he gestured to his large claws.

"True enough," she said brandishing her wand before casting a spell to remove the dust before pulling out a syringe. "Now will you let me help or not?"

"I didn't know you were so domestic Granger," He spoke as what she assumed was a smile breached his face though it looked more like a grimace with the large canines he had.

"Yes well, Ginny tricked me into accompanying her to her pre-marriage homemaker lessons her mother forced her to take," she growled at the memory. She loves Molly, she honestly does, but there are times when she is glad that she would never be that woman's daughter-in-law.

"So, what you learned how to be the perfect Weasley housewife?" Draco scoff before he found himself pinned to the wall unable to move.

Hermione smiled as she stalked forward, swishing her wand over his arm more fur disappeared, you could almost see the pale skin underneath. Reaching into her back pocket she pulled out a red rubber rope which she tied just above his elbow.

She tapped his arm three times before a sharp pinch ran up his arm.

"Damn it, Granger!" he roared as Kiki popped into the room.

"Oh, be quiet you, big baby," she hissed as she attached a vile to the end of the tube. His blood filled the tube and in quick order, she exchanged out the tube placing the filled one on the rack to her left.

"Is master okays?" Kiki asked tugging at her ears looking between Draco's face and Hermione as she worked.

"Don't worry, Kiki," Hermione said as she exchanged the tube again. "Draco was just throwing a little temper tantrum."

"I don't throw temper tantrums," he growled as Hermione scoff.

"Please, I know toddlers who are better behaved than you," she laughed exchanging out the tube again.

"How much of my blood are you going to take?" Draco growled as he tried to get out the spell that kept him still.

"Just one more you big baby," she hissed removing the last tube and releasing the spell she had used to keep him still.

Draco watched with narrowed eyes as she moved about the room. Humming to herself she picked up an odd-looking device that she pushed into the top of one of the tubes. Three drops fell into his blood she shook it and placed it into a rack. Two vials went into another odd machine, a lid closed on it before it began to spin quicker than a snitch in flight. She then quickly placed the other two in stasis before turning around. She jumped at the sight of him blinking wildly before speaking.

"What are you still doing here Draco?" she asked annoyance clear in her voice.

"You just took my blood Granger and I want to know what the hell you've done with it," he growled low in his throat.

"Well I put a personally designed potion in one that will allow me to see the magical effects in your blood, and two went in the centrifuge, the other two are for back up and control," she spoke waving her hand in annoyance, she hadn't had to explain herself in a while.

"What the hell does that mean!" he roared.

"I am trying to determine if the spell changed your DNA or if it is just mimicking a physical transformation," she answered quickly as she moved over to one of the microscopes she had set up and began her inspection of the hair samples that she had collected yesterday.

"Why does that matter?" Draco questioned as he stared down the witch annoyed at the fact that she seemed put out by him being there at all.

"Because if it has changed your DNA, I can treat this spell like a retrovirus, honestly it's just narrowing down the options," she spoke quickly as she jotted down notes on the pad next to her without even moving her head from the eye piece. Absentmindedly she adjusted to the lens and continued her evaluations.

"DNA, Centrifuge, Retrovirus what the hell are you talking about Granger!" Draco huffed in anger. Hermione jerked up in shock at him finally turning her attention back to him. "I mean I know you're just some know it all swot, but really there is no reason for you to make stuff up just to make me feel inferior!"

"Draco I'm not" she began as he growled stopping out of the room.

"Oscar! You are to make sure none of that blood leaves this house!" he bellowed as a second house-elf popped into the room. He began staring intently at the vials of blood but began holding his head and groaning as he tried to keep up with the centrifuge.

"That didn't go well," Hermione huffed turning back to her notebook and jotting down a few notes she had as the potion in the blood began working as a small white board began to have rune appear on it with the preliminary results. "Honestly I can't believe he forgot all those classes he had to take for his parole,"

"Master never took no classes," Kiki said quickly snapping her fingers as a tray of tea appeared.

"What! But… but he's in violation of his parole," Hermione gasped dropping the pen in her hand as she whipped back towards the elf.

"He was cursed as he walked into his first class. Teacher refused to teach him after that," Kiki sighed stirring her tea. "Ministry say that he's not having to take classes until curse is lifted,"

"Great now I feel bad," the witch sighed as she began preparing her cup of tea.

Later that night Draco stalked around the manor. He knew Granger had gone and that she had left Oscar with instructions to contact her if anything happened to the stasis charm she had placed around the lab. He growled in anger thinking about what had happened today. In his honest opinion, he knew that she wasn't one to just make things up, but she just had to talk over his head. Rolling his eyes, he heard his foot knock over something that shouldn't have been there.

Looking down he found a stack of books, all of which had been enlarged so they fit into his hands better. A Wizard's Guide to Modern Muggle Medicine, The Modern Muggle World and How to Survive It, where the first two titles he had seen and on another was a note. Maybe these will help you understand better. If you have any questions you can either ask me or look it up in the dictionary and Magical to Muggle reference book I have included on the bottom.

The writing wasn't unfamiliar and a sense of almost joy filled him at the thought of having something new to read, while the Malfoy library was large, after six years and an inability to not only use magic but to access his vaults the books in his family library held no more joy for him. Quickly he scooped up the books before disappearing so he could begin devouring them.