Chapter Two
"Drinks in Hogsmeade, or in London?" Blaise asked, pulling his scarf on over his business robes.
"Neither. We'll go to the Manor. Even the bartender at the Leaky Cauldron can't know this, Blaise."
Hermione Granger looked over the stack of paperwork that an owl had just delivered to her office, not quite believing what she was seeing. After almost seven years, it looked like a couple of the more notorious Death Eaters might be getting released from Azkaban. She shuddered, and quickly wrote a message.
Harry, can you meet me for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, say, about one? Something's just come up you might want to know about. Hermione
Sealing the note, she wrote, Mr H. Potter, Auror Office, Ministry of Magic on the front, and handed the note to Swift, the owl that was her favorite among the ones for use that those witches and wizards who didn't own owls for mail at the office. After the note was secure, the small golden brown owl took off.
Within ten minutes, Swift flew in her office, a note tied to her leg. Only after giving Swift a treat did she untie the note.
Okay. Are you sure you don't want to tell me about it now? Never mind. Leaky Cauldron at one, and if I'm late, get me a butterbeer, please. Harry
Blaise sat down on one of the plush sofas in the study at Malfoy Manor, doing his best to figure out what Draco had in mind. At twenty-four, and still single, Draco was more than likely getting the same kind of pressure that he himself was: to find a wife and produce children. But Draco had never been swayed by family pressure before. If he had, he likely would have married Pansy Parkinson straight after graduation.
"Well, Draco, what did you need to discuss that we had to be completely private?"
Draco, sighing, looked at his old school friend with more than a bit of trepidation. If Blaise didn't agree to help, he didn't know what would happen.
"I need you to help me persuade someone of something that I'm almost certain she'll refuse."
"You just said 'she', Draco. It's about a woman? And since when have you ever had trouble in convincing any woman to do something before?"
"Until now, I never have, but this time is different. She has no reason to want to help me with anything."
"Draco, will you stop going around the block and tell me what you're trying to say? Because I have to tell you, mate, you aren't making any sense."
"To put it bluntly, Blaise, my fortune, and maybe my life, are in jeopardy if I can't convince this woman to help me. I've gotten a message from someone who says he has something in his possession that will either bankrupt the Malfoys or kill me if it isn't resolved by July first. So I need this woman's help, badly."
"Blimey, Draco, just whose help do you need? Who's threatening you?"
"As to who is threatening me, no clue yet, but I have people trying to find out. But the woman I need help from is none other than Hermione Granger, and with the way I treated her in school, as well as what happened during the war, she would sooner spit on me than help me."
"You're putting me on about this, right Draco? You need me to help you convince Hermione Granger to help you because someone wants to either bankrupt your family or kill you. This is a joke, right, mate? Pretty poor taste in jokes, Draco."
"No, Blaise, I'm not putting you on about this. I've never been more serious in my life."
