Chapter 18: Goyle's Gaffe Part II

O-o-o-o-o-o-o

Hermione rolled over Sunday morning with a smile on her face, peeking out from the covers. She was burrowed into Draco's plush bed, the half-naked boy beside her still asleep. She draped an arm over his body and cuddled up next to him. He readjusted slightly, an arm coming down around her shoulders and his head flopping to the other side, but he didn't wake. She closed her eyes again, not yet ready to let the night be over with. A few moments later a knock at the door startled them both and Hermione dove her head under the covers while Draco sat straight up in bed.

Lucius opened the door, "Draco, I was wondering if you could pop into town this morning," he said, before noticing the human sized bulge in Draco's blankets and a bra on the floor. He eyed it before flicking his gaze back to Draco coldly, "There's an item Madam Malkin set aside for me that I'd like to have picked up. I'll be in the main dining room when you are dressed."

He shut the door and Draco pulled back the covers, where Hermione was curled in a ball, looking up at him. His look of shock broke into a wide smile as he laughed hard. Hermione sprawled herself back out, covering her head with his pillow and groaning into it.

Draco grabbed the pillow off of her and pulled her to him with a long kiss, "Wasn't expecting that wake up call."

"I'm just glad I was dressed," she said, looking down at the green silk pajamas Draco had given her. Their "visitor" pajamas they kept on hand. Everyone had that, right?

"Would you like to come into town with me?" He asked, "Grab coffee, pick up a package at Madam Malkin's? Good start for a successful work day," he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Yes that sounds nice," she smiled, "We do have to get to that file review, but it shouldn't take overly long and I'm in no immediate rush. Let's just try to be quick, better to get the work done sooner rather than later when we get back."

They had another awkward exchange with Lucius as they entered the main dining room. His disapproval of her presence was apparent, but he didn't say anything, simply looked her over and turned to Draco with more instructions on the dress robes he was picking up, imported from Italy, woven with unicorn hair accents and tailored special by Madam Malkin. Hermione kept her head high with confidence, not wanting to let Lucius think she was uncomfortable.

Once they arrived in Diagon Alley, Hermione turned to Draco, "I don't love how your father looks at me," she said as they started down the road to their first stop.

Draco sighed, "I can't imagine he'll ever entirely let his feelings on purebloods go," he shook his head, "But he's not as bad as he used to be. At least he doesn't say anything offensive anymore."

"He doesn't have to say it," her tone was a bit brash, "It's just frustrating to know that your father will never accept me as a suitable companion for you."

"He wouldn't accept most people," Draco looked over at her, "I'm sorry if he upset you this morning, I am more than pleased that you choose to be seen with me, what my father thinks should be no matter of ours."

Hermione huffed audibly.

"Do you think your friends will ever think I'm a suitable companion for you?" he asked conversationally, trying to get her to see the other side.

"When they get to know you," she said offhandedly.

"Not sure you even believe that," he put his hands in his pockets, "We didn't choose the easiest path, Granger, but it's still a path I'd like to walk down."

She sighed, "Well as a wise man once said, 'Soon we must all face the choice between what is right, and what is easy.'"

Draco gave a small chuckle, "Who said that?"

"Dumbledore," she smiled at him, pushing open the door of Madam Malkin's. There were a few people milling about, and she noticed some eyes following them as they entered.

They picked up Lucius' order and Madam Malkin sent well wishes to his parents, who had always kept a good bond with the Malkins over their years of purchasing fine dress robes for the family.

They left the store, heading for the local cafe, "Quite a few nosy people in there," Draco commented.

"You just have to ignore them," Hermione waved it off, "Coffee is on me today."

They ordered their drinks and a couple of pasties and Hermione made sure to leave a sizeable tip, as Draco had done. They walked back outside and sat at one of the tables on the patio. It was a cloudy day, but a warm one.

"I think I'm going to be getting myself a pair of silk pajamas," Hermione said, thinking about the ones she had borrowed the evening before, "Those were quite nice."

"Emerald green suited you well," Draco told her, "Though I'm sure no pajamas would have suited you just as well."

Hermione felt herself blush and their eyes locked as she gave him a look of feigned scolding.

He grinned, pushing the strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face back behind her ear, "I was just saying."

"Draco, is that you?!" They turned their gaze and saw Blaise walking down the street, looking back and forth between them with a broad smile on his face.

"Probably should have let you know we were popping in," Draco stood up to greet his friend, "How are you getting on?"

"Quite well, managing the store today," he said, turning to Hermione, "Good morning, Detective Granger, on the clock right now?"

Hermione glanced at Draco, "Not exactly," she said, "We'll be doing some work later."

Blaise paused, "So what, are you two on a date?" he said jokingly.

They both looked amusingly lost for a response.

"Wait, are you on a date?!" Blaise said again in shock.

"You can call it that if you'd like to," Draco said smoothly, "Best to keep it between us for now, with the case and all."

Blaise grinned at him, "I knew you'd end up with a damn gryffindor, someone to keep your ego in line."

"I do try," Hermione told him honestly, "I wouldn't say I've been overly successful."

Blaise shook his head with a laughed, "I can't imagine you have. Takes years of practice," he turned back to Draco, "Hey, I've got to get back to the store but I wanted to come say hi when I spotted you. I'll come by the Manor soon for a Quidditch weekend, owl me some dates that work for you."

"Will do, Blaise, See you soon."

"Good to see you, Granger, good luck with him," he winked at her, waving at both of them as he left.

They finished their breakfast and apparated back to the Manor. The afternoon proved more productive than Hermione had originally anticipated as they reviewed Goyle's first interview and talked through the good points and bad and how to change the narrative for her interview on Monday. By the time she took her leave later that afternoon she felt prepared.

O-o-o-o-o-o-o

"Good morning, Gregory," Hermione said, shutting the door behind her and taking her seat.

"Detective," he looked at her with what she was sure was supposed to be a menacing scowl, but he looked much more like he was just confused.

"We've been informed that you were more important to this case than we originally thought. I'm actually shocked that we overlooked it the first time," she took her seat across from him.

Goyle tilted his head ever so slightly at her.

"Another Death Eater let it slip that you were on your way to becoming higher in rank within the new Death Eater hierarchy than even you might know. You were trusted by the most powerful of them," she looked at him seriously, "When we first met I missed it. I didn't see the powerful dark wizard sitting before me that I do now."

Goyle sat up a little straighter, but still didn't say anything.

"He spoke highly of you earlier, you know," Hermione said.

"Who?" Goyle grunted.

"Your father, of course," she told him, "We interviewed him again."

Goyle's eyes lit up, "Of course he did."

"If we'd known the plans they had for you… we would have realized sooner what a staple to this whole charade you really are."

"What plans?" He couldn't help himself.

"You were to rise to one of the top spots. You were to help them carry out the big plan and take a seat next to your father," she shook her head, "I should have sensed your power earlier."

"I have ideas, you know," the words spewed from his mouth, "They pretended not to listen, but maybe they were."

"Oh they were listening," Hermione goaded him, "Your father said he believed in your ideas and was doing his best to push them through when he was caught."

"I know he was," Goyle said, his confidence rising, "They implemented one of them years ago. I… I'm not sure if they've listened to many since then, but I had one of the brightest. They'll all thank me one day."

"We know what it is," Hermione said softly, "He told us everything. I think he was bragging about you."

Goyle sneered, "Did you catch her already, then? Is that what this is about?"

"Not yet," Hermione said, trying to figure out how to keep him talking, "We're not sure where to find her right now."

"Well if she's already fled the Ministry, she's likely apparated far from here," he said.

Hermione quickly connected the dots, "I'm still in awe that it was your idea to get someone inside the Ministry," she said, her voice even.

"I tried telling them that if they wanted the plan to work, we had to play the long game. Like that traitor Snape did. We made her go to Auror training and everything. It was hard enough finding someone who would qualify for the position, but we did it right under your noses. My plan worked right under your noses."

Hermione sat a moment, taking in what that meant, "I'm incredibly impressed," she said, and part of her meant it, "But I can see you won't tell us anything new, so they'll be taking you back to Azkaban now."

She stood, walking from the room and closing the door behind her. Alden stepped out at the same time from the watching room and they looked at each other knowingly.

"Go to the Auror Department," Alden said quietly, "Find your friends that work down there and tell them you want to get lunch. Come right to my office."

"Yes, sir," Hermione breathed, walking off towards the elevators in a rush. Ron may not be very happy with her right now, but this was more important than all that. She walked into the Auror office, scanning the room for them and spotted Ron's red hair from afar. She tried to be casual, walking up to them, "Good morning!" She said brightly.

Ron and Harry both looked up at her. Ron was stone faced, and Harry looked uncomfortably at her, he surely already knew what had happened the other day, "Morning, Hermione," he said.

"I was hoping we could get lunch," her tone was still friendly as if everything was normal, but her eyes were wide, trying to alert them that it was important.

"I'm rather busy today," Ron said harshly, looking back down at the paper in his hands.

"I have some news I really wanted to share with you," Hermione said, a smile on her face still.

Harry tilted his head at her and she gave him another crazy stare, "I think we should go," he nodded, "Of course we'd love to have lunch."

She let out the breath she'd been holding, "Great! I found this wonderful little spot in London."

Ron looked at Harry, annoyed, but saw the look he was giving him and finally caught on that it wasn't lunch they needed to discuss.

"Alright," he sighed, still avoiding eye contact, "Let's go."

As they walked outside the Auror office, Hermione tried to fill the time, "How is your day going?" She said to no one in particular.

"It's going just fine," Harry responded, "Where are we headed?"

"Oh I just need to grab my bag from my office," she smiled at him.

Ron was looking pointedly in the opposite direction and a heavy tension hung between them all as they got into the elevator.

A few minutes later she stepped through Alden's office door with Harry and Ron in tow.

"What's really going on?" Ron asked as she waved her wand to shut the door behind them.

"We've got a situation on our hands," Alden told them, hands clasped on his desk, "Someone has infiltrated the Ministry. They've been there somewhere between 2-3 years, not sure what the age range is, but they're female. Does this match many people?"

"A few," Harry nodded, "There was a decent influx in the years after the Battle of Hogwarts with everyone who wanted to stand with the Ministry."

"Too many to detain?" Alden asked.

"I think it may be better not to alert anyone yet," Harry said slowly, "If we can do some research first, look at who's joined in the last few years that matches the description and look into some backgrounds, maybe we can narrow it down first. Does anyone else know what was said in that interview?"

"Just us," Hermione said from behind them.

"Alright, give us 24 hours and then we'll move," Harry said with determination.

The door opened and Chantel popped in, "Mr. Northcott, your eleven thirty appointment is here," she said, "Would you like me to have them wait outside?"

"I can't believe you got that out of Goyle," Ron said quietly to Hermione as he and Harry stood up to take their leave, trying to focus on the development and not on his emotions, "Do you think it'll be someone our age? From Hogwarts maybe?"

"That would be my best guess but he didn't give me any more details. I was trying to sound like I already knew unfortunately."

"Who's the appointment with?" Alden asked Chantel, hands on his hips.

"It is a Ms. Lizzie Scamander," she responded, "Illegal creature case that Ms. Johnson is handling, she requested to speak with you."

"In our own department," Ron said with disbelief, looking over at Harry who was shaking his head, "Unbelievable."

"I'm just glad to have your insight on this one," Hermione told them both.

"Oh right, I keep putting her off, Yes, can you just have her wait outside for a minute while we wrap up?" Alden asked Chantel, who looked quite like she'd like to get out of the middle of their conversation.

"Of course," she smiled and hastily closed the door.

"Alright, thanks for your help with this," Alden looked at them all, "I would obviously keep it between us for now. Let's meet end of day tomorrow and discuss what you've found. If you need offices to look over files, you can use Detective Granger's."

"You should both stay up here about an hour, so it doesn't look odd that you're back from lunch already," she said, "I'll have Chantel grab us something to eat and we can pull some files from my office, I should have most of the Auror files up here."

O-o-o-o-o-o-o

Hermione left the Ministry late that evening, apparating to the Manor to tell Draco about the development. She'd made a list with Harry and Ron of all of the Aurors that had started in the last 3 years. There were 12 females on the list, about 9 of which were around their age. Harry had been right that there was a noticeable influx of Aurors right after the Battle of Hogwarts.

If nothing else, the new intel had been a great way to transition back into cordial conversation with Ron, even if it was just about work. She could feel that he was still a little cold with her, but his cooperativeness told her that it should blow over once they were able to sit down and talk about it.

As she and Draco settled onto the couch in the den, she told him what they'd learned and handed over the list.

"He's an idiot," he said, listening to her story of the Goyle interview and shaking his head as he skimmed the list.

"Anyone look familiar to you?" she asked.

"Yeah a couple, actually," Draco furrowed his eyebrows, "Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass, they were Slytherins in our year, and Lisa Turpin, she was a Ravenclaw but she hung around with Blaise sixth year."

"She was friends with Blaise?" Hermione asked.

"I wouldn't say they were friends, but they certainly spent some time together," he remarked and Hermione rolled her eyes in understanding.

"Any of them in particular you'd suspect of being involved with the Death Eaters?" She grabbed the list back, putting it back in her briefcase for safekeeping.

"None of them jump out but I didn't know them well."

"I'm going to send Harry an owl with the names," Hermione said, "He was still at the Ministry when I left."

She scribbled a note to Harry, and Draco came back in with one of the Malfoy owls. She recognized it as one of the owls that adorned her windowsill a few months prior. They sent the owl off and collapsed back on the couch, Draco throwing his arm over her, pulling her back into him.

"Can't believe Goyle did something helpful for the Death Eaters," Draco commented, "Although he also ruined his own plan so I guess that's in line with expectations."

"We should be able to catch them off guard at least," Hermione said confidently.

She went home that evening and could barely sleep in anticipation for what the following day would hold. She knew once she went through what Harry and Ron had found on the three names, they would pinpoint the imposter and finally have a win for the Ministry.

However as Hermione arrived to the entrance the next morning, she was met with a large crowd of people standing in a circle, voices whispering urgently in shock, some pointing at the sky, others pointing into the middle. She looked up, hovering above the crowd was the Dark Mark. Her heart dropped as she paused for a split second before pushing through the crowd to the front. Lying on the ground was the motionless body of Tracey Davis, which she recognized from her Auror file. Her eyes were open, empty, and yet somehow still full of surprise. Hermione ran up to the body. There was a note pinned to the front of her jacket:

They will remember our mark. The Dark will rise again.

O-o-o-o-o-o-o