Sereline Palace

The hall was filled with anxious people. Hermione looked around to find a friendly face. Jeanine waved at her, she just nodded back. Harry was nowhere to be seen. "Did he bail on me" small doubt settled in her, but she calmed herself, no Harry won't do that he's a warrior. Soon enough Greyson walked in and people went on to take their seats. Hermione took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and sat down. There were still some chairs empty and Hermione was anxiously watching the door, still no sign of Harry or Ginny. She noticed Malfoy wasn't here either, this couldn't be a coincidence after their meeting he seemed quite certain of joining.

Greyson's voice filled the room. He started his announcement but Hermione was still distracted by her thoughts. She looked at the clock and back at the door. Anxiety settling in, maybe they weren't coming in after all.

"Miss Granger! -" it seemed Greyson had been calling her, she jumped up embarrassed and guilty of missing on important announcements.

"Miss Granger, I was asking if you are certain on joining then do sign the contract provided. "Greyson didn't seem to mind her momentary lapse.

She looked down at the parchment placed in front of her, she took one last look at the door, before proceeding to sign down her name. Suddenly the door burst open, and there they were, Harry, Ginny, and Draco stumbled in. Hermione let a sigh of relief.

"Mr. Potter, Mrs. Potter, Mr. Malfoy" Greyson nodded at the three of them. "It isn't likely for you to join an important meeting late, any particular reason?" He asked sternly, clearly frustrated at the fact that people seem to be taking his announcements and this meeting lightly.

"There something wrong with the transportation, the floo seems to have stopped working and we weren't able to apparate here. We had to take the bus." Harry seemed out of breath while speaking clearly he ran half the way there.

"Yes, same case with me, something's wrong. It's not just the floo to the ministry, it's spread at Diagon Alley too." Draco seemed more composed than Harry. This was however a matter of concern.

"Very well, have someone check the connections, we haven't modified the wards here someone might have tampered with it. Now I suggest you all take your seats and sign your names on the parchment, then we shall proceed for the vow and the details" There was one empty seat beside Hermione, Ginny came and occupied it. It seems Harry was to be seated with Malfoy. The meeting went on, they all took the unbreakable vow to secrecy. Anyone outside the room can't know about the details and their location.

"You all will be moved to a safe house which is equipped with all necessary resources such as weapons, a potion lab, a library, a practice room for duelling, or any charm practice. You all will have your own rooms, and you will get your tasks and information once you get there. Each week we will send an elf to carry any messages to and from your family and friends. As mentioned earlier the messages will be verbal only, no materialistic predicament. Now I suppose it's time for you to go home and pack things, take whatever you feel will be necessary, and you are to meet back here tomorrow morning at 6'oclock sharp. We have a portkey arranged for you." Greyson looked around the room waiting for any queries. A hand shot up.

"Yes, Miss. Dibbon?"

"Are we allowed to bring our pets along, I live alone and my neighbours won't take in my dog." She looked pretty nervous asking it. Miss Dibbon was a healer, more specifically she worked with hexes and nasty wounds which seemed to be a common occurrence among the Aurors.

Greyson smiled. "Yes, if you can assure it won't be a problem to the cause you are welcome to bring along your dog."

Dibbon smiled and nodded at him. "Thanks. " Hermione wondered if it would be good to bring along Orion. She could leave him with the Weasleys, but she would miss him.

Hermione always tended to overpack, this time she seemed to have packed up her whole apartment, into her charmed bag. She looked around her apartment, she was gonna miss the warmth of it, the cozy, homely feeling here. She signed and sat down on the couch. She looked at Orion, his bright blue eyes seem to be watching her intently.

"I'm gonna miss you buddy" She stroked his head, he closed his eyes loving the soft touches. She smiled looking at him, this all felt surreal, one day she was just a ministry worker, living a normal life and now she needs to leave everything behind, go on another quest. Nostalgia hit her, 7th year of Hogwarts, history seems to repeat itself. She looked at Orion for another minute and decided to take him along. Hermione was thinking about the meeting when she suddenly realized Antoine wasn't present there. He didn't even arrive late, perhaps he decided to not go. She was relieved but a bit angry too, he was head of law enforcement he would be valuable yet he decided to not go. She considered asking him about it but then again, their last encounter wasn't much friendly, so she let it be.

-Malfoy Manor-

"Mother, are you gonna be okay? The manor will seem so empty maybe you should consider going to Uncle Lenior's place" Draco was worried about leaving her alone in this enormous house, the memories placed in this place wasn't very happy, he has insisted on demolishing it down and erupting a new mansion, but Narcissa was eager to keep the mansion, this is where she lived happily with her once loving husband, where she gave birth to her little boy. The mansion had seen many happy moments before Voldemort's shadow fell on their family. Breaking it down wasn't an option. "Don't worry dear, I'll keep myself busy, I was thinking of decorating the manor. Replacing the gloom feel with something more elegant. When you come back you will feel as if you are walking in on your childhood home, the way it used to be, a happy place you call home." She smiled at him and touched his cheek lightly. She was proud of the ma that her son has grown into, he had been dragged into a lot of evil as a teenager, and she could do so little to protect him then, but seeing him going on to protect people, doing such a brave job it made her heart soar. This is what she always wanted her boy to become. A man of honour, a brave man. A single tear left escaped her eyes. Draco's face fell seeing it. People may think him to be a carefree person, not giving much heed to what everyone feels or thinks, but his mother meant a lot to him, at all the dark times he went through, his mother was a beacon that he held onto. Leaving her was going to be quite difficult.

After packing all necessities Draco sat down to have dinner with her one last time, heaven knows if he will be lucky enough to come back alive here. Bixy, the house-elf set the table for dinner. Bixy was a great cook and she loved making different kinds of dishes for the Malfoys. After the war Draco set free all his elves but on one particular mission, he found Bixy in a household, being treated horribly, he rescued her and gave her a new welcome home, he even gives her pay and holidays. Looking at the life that Malfoy lived right now, it was heavens different from what he was taught all his life by his father, and he was proud to not become like his father.

Retiring for the day, Draco kissed his mother on the cheeks and she looked at him momentarily, sighing that she has to bid him goodbye tomorrow, for god knows how long. She pulled him to her chest and let a few tears fall. She smiled at her boy and kissed him goodnight on the forehead.

Draco hardly had any sleep that night, his mind was rumbling with thoughts. Tossing and turning he decided sleep is futile, he got up and started reading a book. Soon the sunlight peeked through the curtains, it was 4'oclock. He got up to take a shower and started looking for any last-minute packing. Narcissa was up early too, by 5 they had tea and Draco was ready with all his bags brought down. He hugged Narcissa and promised her that he would do his best. He went to the floo, but just like the previous day, it wasn't working. He tried apparating to no avail. Anyway, he was up early so he decided to take the bus.

At the ministry, there were hardly any officials this early. Only a few people caretakers, cleaning the floor. He went up to Hall 5, people were already there, everyone with their bags. He searched for Blaize and found him sipping coffee and walked up to him.

"Hey Malfoy, seems like the floo is still down" Blaize nodded at Draco.

"Yes, apparition too."

"So, you ready for the grand mission"

"Yep born ready" Draco's eyes scanned the room and fell on a brunette, who was fumbling with her bag. "Wow, Granger seems to have packed for whole London" He chuckled looking at her.

Blaize turned to see what he was talking about, Hermione Granger standing there with three bags, all charmed ones, and her owl cage. Harry walked towards her holding two cups of coffee.

"Here Mione" He handed her the cup.

"Thanks, so how you feeling?" She asked while taking a sip.

"Well, seeing as Ginny is coming along too, I'm relaxed yet scared at the same time." He said smiling at her.

"Have you seen Ron? He isn't here yet" She scanned around the room, no sign of a redhead, instead she saw Malfoy staring at her, as soon as she caught his eyes, he looked away.

"Ginny is coming with Ron, Molly probably is smothering them with food before letting two of her kids go to raging war." Harry chuckled while saying it. Molly has been a mother to Harry since he first met the Weasley family, as for Hermione, they practically adopted her to the family. Hermione smiled thinking of her.

Soon, two redheads walked in holding their bags and stood beside Harry. It was almost time; everyone was gathered waiting for Greyson. As the clock struck 6, Greyson walked in, though he looked as if something was clearly bothering him.

"Welcome, everyone. I hope everyone is already here so I'll cut to the chase. We have some bad news." Whispers spread through the room, everyone looking at him.

"The portkey that we arranged, it seems that along with the floo, and apparition points, even portkeys have stopped working. Our Magical Abnormality Handling department has been at it since yesterday, someone does seem to have tampered with the connection, and it will take days to fix. " He looked around the room gauging their reaction.

Dibbon raised her hand, anxiously. "Is the thing cancelled, sir?"

"Oh no Miss Dibbon, we have already arranged a train to take you there, it would be less secure but it is of utmost importance of the team to reach as soon as possible. Now it is important that you blend with the rest of the passengers. We have arranged everything, we have your tickets here, the train leaves at 6.30, after you reach there, a certain Mr. Aiden Fowlin will be there with further instructions. So I suggest you all leave for the station now. I hope your journey is safe. You are our biggest weapon in fighting the situation. Give it your best" He looked at everyone proudly.

Hermione looked at the ticket in her hand, the destination was not written, they were good at this secrecy thing. Taking a deep breath she boarded the train. It felt like boarding the Hogwarts Express for the first time, not knowing what lies ahead, scared but still excited. Just like old-time, she took a cabin with Harry, Ron, and Ginny. Harry and Ron seemed to be sleepy having woken up earlier than usual, they fell asleep soon after they settled in their seats. Ginny and Hermione spend some time talking but they too fell asleep after a while.

The train jolted to a stop, Hermione woke up and saw outside, it was snowing and the scene outside looked beautiful. She woke the others and they got ready to get down the train.

At the station, a tall man, with a long black beard greeted them. He had a rumbling voice, and many scars on his face, he seemed to be in his thirties. A pretty handsome face, seeing as most of the women present looked at him rather interestedly. "Ello everyone," His accent was quite sexy too. "I'm Aiden Fowlin, I hope Mr. Greyson told you about me. Now if you will have, I have arranged carriages for you all, gather up and board." Hermione looked at Harry skeptically. "Does this remind you of our journey to the Hogwarts castle? Train and now carriages?"

Harry smiled at her "Yes it does, I just hope our safe house is as beautiful and homely as Hogwarts." He took Ginny's hand and placed their bags on a carriage. Hermione and Ron followed them. Ron seemed unusually quiet the whole time, not that Hermione minded it, but it was unlike him. she decided to strike a conversation.

"So, Ron, how is everyone at home"

"Mom was crying by the time we left, so I'd say not so good." His tone was snarky and Hermione didn't want to deal with this attitude right now so she focused on the scene around. It was beautiful, all the trees were covered with snow. The road was cleaned for the carriage to go on. After a while they reached a Gate, it was huge iron clad and the walls around here very high. It would be impossible to climb up those walls.

They got off and Aiden walked up to the gate and murmured something.

The gate opened and everyone walked in. The sight inside was one to behold. It looked like a palace out of the books. A huge garden, with four parted roads. Fountains on either side of the building. It was made of white marble and shined in the sunlight. It looked like a palace made of glass. Judging by the walls around, there was lots of space behind the building as well. Everyone was looking around in awe. It was one of the most beautiful structures Hermione had seemed to date. Orion seemed to like it too as he was hooting excitedly at her. Even Dibbon's dog Rufus was barking excitedly was wagging his tail.

Aiden walked in upfront of the group and spoke rather loudly.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I welcome you all to Sereline Palace."

Sorry I kinda got carried away with the chapter. I hope it is okay to drag the story out a bit, though it has been just 4 chapters. I have always loved a slow burn story; it makes the end more satisfying and gives the characters and their relations a certain dept. So, hope you guys been enjoying the story till now because it will pick up the pace from now. And I promise you Dramione moments from the next chapter.

anyways love ya all, XOXO

oh and review plz!