Draco's POV
The next morning found itself more challenging than it should have been. Draco was trying to avoid Granger because he didn't want to give her a choice, and if he were to give any hint to Loxley that he was debating on this, Loxley would put it on himself to kick her out or say something to really offend her. Draco tried not to care about how Loxley treated her, but for some reason he wanted them to get along.
It took half the morning fighting with himself for him to agree that staying cooped up in his room was not going to help anything. Now standing in front of his wall length bathroom mirror, he tried to convince himself he could roam around freely in the Manor. More unwelcome thoughts slipped through his mind as he tried to focus on getting cleaned up and it was Granger's taunting, but attractive chuckle that made its way too easily to the front of his mind. Every time he heard even an inkling of her laugh or voice he splashed cold water over his face trying to ignore it. When he pulled back up to face the mirror, Loxley stood right behind him making him jump. "Blimey, Loxley! Stop!"
Loxley began to huff, "Now, sir, she is being rather difficult and I can't take it any longer. She is being completely irrational and stubborn." He stood tall with his nose in the air.
Draco dried his face off and turned towards his bedroom, "Loxley, do you think she will be anything else? Where is she?" Loxley snapped his fingers and both of them disappeared from his bathroom, and appeared in front of Granger in the living room that held the Christmas decorations.
"Loxley, I didn't mean now!" Draco hadn't changed out of his sweatpants yet and the button shirt he had over him was completely unbuttoned leaving his defined bare chest visible to Granger. Loxley did not seem to care or worry about such things. Draco tried to flatten his hair down and button up his shirt as quickly as he could, making it more obvious than it was to start with.
Granger jumped back and Draco noticed her cheeks were pink again when she noticed his attire, or lack thereof. Granger regained her composure and her pink cheeks were flushed away as she pulled her stare from Draco. Her voice steady, "Your house elf was not answering any of my questions. I feel like he should at least tell me why he thinks he knows me." She gripped her hips tightly with her hands and tapped her foot in frustration and impaitence. Her temper tantrum that she was trying so hard to hold control was being held in just as well as Draco's attractiveness to it. He brushed it off when she raised her voice, "Tell me now!"
Loxley was very composed, "He would be repulsed if he heard how you were acting. There were many great things he raved about, and he sometimes talked about you more than Mr. Potter himself!" Both Draco and Granger stood still and stared at Loxley. "Sir, do you see what I mean?"
Draco's eyes grew just as much as the animosity between Loxley and Granger. Granger whipped her head toward Draco and threw daggers with her looks, "Uh, now wait…" She kept her forceful stare on him and it dug deep into his soul. Loxley slowly started to realize he was losing the fight and anger grew with both of the humans. "Loxley, it might be best if you simply explained."
He took a deep breath in, knowing he had to obey his master, with very gritted teeth he barely said it audibly, "My poor late cousin… Dobby." As soon as he spat out Dobby's name, Loxley vanished.
Draco instantly understood how devastating that was for Loxley. Knowing it would be too hard for Loxley to be traced down, Draco decided to stay in front of Hermione. The awkward silence grew too uncomfortable and they both knew something needed to be said. Thinking too much, Draco was beaten again at responding.
Granger spoke slowly, "His… cousin, is Dobby?" When her eyes hit the floor, they did not come back up until Draco found words to respond with.
He hesitated and chose not to step forward, "Yes, but I didn't know the rest."
She cocked her head, keeping her stare low, "Is that what you owe?" Draco heard the sadness in her question.
"Yes." He couldn't lie to her. "Will you wait here for a moment? Let me finish getting dressed and I will take you to your flat." When she nodded, he hurried away and left Granger with her thoughts.
Hermione's POVHermione tried to breath slowly. "Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale." She repeated this for a couple of minutes and then stopped when she heard Malfoy rushing down the stairs. "Should I tell him?" She chose not to confide in Malfoy when he entered the room now in dark jeans and had his thick black leather jacket on. The jacket contrasted well with his blond hair making it look whiter than usual and his eyes a lighter grey. In that moment, Hermione realized there was never a time where she had actually looked at him. And in doing so, she was slightly shocked to have seen him so bold and striking. She was pulled from her thoughts when he spoke.
"It might be too big for you, but it's better than freezing from the possible snow," Malfoy handed Hermione a jacket, and it was softer and lighter than what he had on.
Hermione took it with hesitation, and told herself freezing to death because of pride would be completely stupid on her part. She sighed and gritted her teeth as she put it on. The scent of cinnamon had wrapped around her and rushed into her nostrils - immediately reminding her of how he smelt when she fell on him the night before. She could feel her cheeks getting hot from the memory and rushed out of the room hoping he wouldn't catch wind.
"It's all from a false feeling anyways - there's nothing to ponder on…"
It made her very uncomfortable wearing another man's jacket, but with a second sigh she forced herself to think that none of this was a betrayal towards Ron; or at least that's what she was told to tell herself. The betrayal was more with Malfoy as a whole and less with the jacket she had to wear and a manly scent she kept getting whiffs of. Hermione couldn't come around to find a way to forgive Malfoy for what happened to Ron, but she knew thinking about it was at least a start. She pushed past her sorrow and tried to get home, whatever it took.
She followed Malfoy outside and waited as they stood in the large botanical garden in front of the Malfoy Manor. Hermione tried to dissect what was going on in Malfoy's mind as he took in the view of the whole Manor, but for the first time, she was at a loss. The chilled wind brushed his hair out from his troubling eyes and he seemed incredibly tense. It was obvious to her that he was on the brink of releasing whatever it was he was holding onto inside, but she wasn't sure how to approach the subject.
Her gaping stare broke from his face when his hand grabbed hers; and shockingly enough it wasn't as repulsive as she thought it would have been. "It's only because I miss Ron, and my emotions are crazy." She tried to push any far-fetched reason into her thoughts, and as she started to pull away, but his grip only tightened.
Malfoy turned towards her, "Don't you want to go?" She didn't hear the excitement in his voice that she had hoped for. Wasn't he holding his breath to get rid of her? When she nodded with approval, she kept her hand in his as they Apparated into Diagon Alley.
The Alley was filled with busy stores and crowded streets, and everyone around them seemed to be in a hurry. It was Christmas break for students and all the shops were holding some sort of pre-holiday sale hoping to gain more income and business. Hermione was pulled through the crowd by Malfoy as they weaved back and forth trying to get to their destination. When they reached the shop before Hermione's, she stopped in her tracks yanking Malfoy to a halt. She looked down and let her hand go when she realized they were still holding them together, and then pointed towards the shop.
"Malfoy, the Ministry is at the shop!" Knowing Malfoy had recently been accused and then stated innocent by law, Hermione knew it didn't mean he was safe from any misconduct by Aurors– simply because of who he was.
Malfoy shook his head in disapproval and stepped to the side of the crowd. "Go, do what you need, but meet me in the little alleyway between the sweet shop and Olivander's in a little bit," he was annoyed but knew it was for the best. Hermione was honestly stunned by how none of that had turned into an argument.
Hermione brushed it off and shoved through the rest of the crowd and went up to a young Auror standing in front of her shop and identified herself. He reluctantly gave her permission to freely pass into the shop. There was tape stretched across the front of the building blocking any passengers from strolling into her own crime scene, but no one seemed to be bothered by her presence. As she slowly meandered the cleaned up side of her shop, she bent down to put a book back on the shelf, but was ordered not to touch anything else.
"Oi! Ma'am, stop touching the evidence of the crime scene!" The voice was familiar and easily recognizable. She stood back up and turned on a dime with a wide smile.
"Neville!" She ran to him with open arms. "Look at you!" He gladly greeted his old friend with a hug. He was just as lengthy as she had last seen him a year and a half ago. "It's great to see you, but definitely not under these circumstances." When she pulled back from him, she was amazed that he was now Head of the Auror Department for the Ministry of Magic.
His lips went flat, "Yes, Hermione, we need to stop meeting on such somber occasions." He then realized what he said and apologized profusely. "Oh, sorry Hermione, I mean, we need to see each other more often outside of these circumstances. Golly." He rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.
She playfully punched his shoulder, "Oh, I know what you mean! But since we are here," she still wanted to change the subject, "how did you know to come out here?"
"Someone called it in and gave a description of a blond slender man lurking around late at night and when we came to check it out, we saw your place ransacked and you missing. We were going to get more concerned about you missing tomorrow morning," Neville's structure stiffened up when he talked about his profession.
Hermione thought this description would be too close to Malfoy and it fit the story, but she couldn't tell anyone this, especially Neville. He was the one who accused Malfoy about a year ago, and Neville has felt Malfoy's charge was corrupted and wrongly appointed. Not knowing the complete details in the strain of their relationship, she still knew Neville would never understand the truth unless hard facts stared at him in the face, but even then, he might go blind with rage over Malfoy.
"What else have you come across?" Hermione wanted to dig deeper on if they had any more leads on suspects.
"Nothing else so far. Once we search deeper into what's happened here, we can really narrow it down. But don't worry! We will catch this guy one way or another." As Neville finished explaining his plan, Hermione was covered in worry. "Oh, dear, I didn't mean to frighten you, I just wanted you to be aware of what will happen. We are going to start digging tomorrow after the crowds die down, and less interruption can occur."
Hermione shrugged, "Oh no! I am fine, promise. The break in just startled me, but knowing there is great help on my side will keep me at ease!" Neville smiled with confidence.
She tried to leave so she wouldn't get stuck with any more cases of worry but Neville called out to her. "Do you need a place to stay? I know Harry and Ginny have left, but I am sure I can find something suitable for you!"
Panic brewed inside of her, "Yes, I will contact someone, I grew close to a friend who frequently comes into the shop and I can ask them." She smiled a wide and fake smile, "Thank you, though! I need to go now." Hermione hurried off before she was cornered by Neville's questions again.
It was only a short amount of time that she spent at her shop, and Hermione wished hard that Malfoy was ready to go. She passed a couple of alleyways headed towards the sweet shop, but she then stopped as she saw something in the corner of her eye. The alley walls she was standing in front of were covered in wanted posters. She scanned what she could see and recognized the moving witches and wizards among these posters were all former followers of Voldemort; Hermione recognized some being Death Eaters and a few of them she didn't recognize at all. As she began to step closer toward a wanted poster that had two people in its picture, something crawled up her spine.
Hermione turned from the alley opening and took a few steps into the crowd. Trying to blend in, she felt as if she was being followed and watched. After strolling through the crowds and then throughout a couple of stores –still with no sign of Malfoy – she was able to pick out the two men that constantly stayed far enough away to not cause panic. They were wearing large brown robes that screamed the Ministry."Would Neville really send people after me?" Hermione continued to stop in random stores and buy a couple of light weight items, to convince her followers she had legitimate goals while traveling throughout Diagon Alley. There were a couple of times where she would lose them, but then out of nowhere she would notice them right behind her. Then the light flashed on in her head as bright as the Lumos spell as soon as she saw a Wizarding & Muggle clothing shop and crossed the street to enter it.
Hermione grabbed a couple pairs of jeans, a few shirts and a jean jacket. Not wanting to admit it, but if she were to stay at the cold Manor, she needed the correct attire (might as well kill two birds with one stone.) She knew the more clothes she put in her arms, the more time she could stall in the changing departments. As she searched the clothes racks, she knew her plan worked when the two men didn't step foot into the store. However, she could see them casually pass the window with a crowd of people - trying to stay close.
Jumping into a changing stall and locking the door, she then started to hear how hard her heart had been pounding. She was nervous about how to get out of Diagon Alley without being traced back to the Malfoy Manor. There was also an inevitable feeling of worry for Malfoy, himself, if Hermione would be spotted with him. No matter how much evil had tainted his name, from what she heard, he was supposedly innocent in the most recent account, but the Ministry of Magic doesn't seem to forgive and forget that easily anymore, especially towards a Malfoy.
Could she forgive and forget certain events that dealt with him? Hermione had noticed the amount of changes Malfoy had made, but something was still holding her back from completely giving into the forgiveness she thought was possible.
With new clothes on her back, she was able to brush off her concern for him, and started writing a letter with a secret divination code embedded in it. As she finished and sealed it, she hoped Malfoy paid close enough attention in the wacko Trelawny's class to understand what a coded message would look like.
As she blew it away with a spell, she had it flutter out with the outgoing mail that were also flying on their own. The two followers paid no attention to any of the papers. She smiled wide at her accomplishments, and exited the stall with new clothes, and then zapped her old clothes back to the Manor. Hermione let her hair down and clipped it back as she peered around the corner of the changing room and watched the two men attempt to blend into the crowds outside, she noticed they were formulating a pattern leaving every fourth group unchecked. Hermione stepped outside with another witch that began to rave about her new Muggle pants that had front pockets. They continued to walk and Hermione led the way, joining the crowd that didn't have a follower in it. She checked over her shoulder and noticed the coast was clear. She bid farewell to the witch and Hermione began to jump through the hordes of witches and wizards. As she weaved in and out of the streets of Diagon Alley, she successfully lost the two very obvious Ministry workers.
Turning to find the sweet shop and Olivander's, she was stopped when she felt a pair of hands take a hold of her waist. Freezing with fear, then wonder, she stood still. She only thought for an instant that it possibly could be one of the Ministry workers, but disregarded that notion when she somehow noticed the grip was familiar and shockingly comforting. As the pair of hands adjusted around her waist, she started to melt when she heard Malfoy's voice from behind her.
As he whispered in her ear, she uncontrollably released the tension of fear and eased into his arms, almost resting the back of her head on his shoulder. "Ready?" She went to grab a hold of his wrists, but misjudged her placement and instead grabbed a hold of his hands. Hermione widened her eyes and held her breath when she felt his thumb slightly rub her own. Before she could analyze what actually happened, they had Apparated when three other people had done the same, creating the perfect escape.
In a flash and after a couple of twists of reality, Hermione stood in a familiar dungeon room with Malfoy still holding onto her. Feeling the warmth from his breath on her neck and tender touch on her waist, she instantly thought of Ron. In a hurry she peeled herself away from Malfoy and scanned the room for an exit of any type. It was just as she remembered, closed in. Her breaths became shorter and panic started to settle.
Hermione tried to justify her actions and feelings by exclaiming, "They were following me. I tried really hard to shake them off. Why are there no windows or doors down here? How did you live like this all of your years at Hogwarts? Man, it's hot in here right?" Hermione paced in zigzag paths trying to get her bearings. Trying not to worry about everything at once, it came up unwillingly, "Wait, what if they saw us?" She was thinking completely of Ron at the moment, "They will find us here, and I can't let that happen. I can't do that to him, he doesn't deserve it, any of it." As an edge of a table stopped her from going any further, Malfoy walked to the other side of it, standing in front of her, but she couldn't bear to look at him.
She continued babbling, "How did you find me and why did you bring me here? How were you able to Apparate here? He can trace us down here…if they or he knows the spell. I mean they, if they know the spell." Her mouth was now dry, but she was trying to control herself and get back to reality. Malfoy stood his ground in front of her, adjusting his posture to make her make eye contact with him. "They know about this place - he does." Hermione didn't try to hide her emotions as she leaned her weight onto her curled knuckles that forcefully found connection with the top of the wooden table.
Hermione somehow felt that Malfoy knew exactly who she was referring to, even if she was trying to fight it. It struck a nerve with her once he opened his arrogant mouth to speak, "Let it out, Granger. I understood your note, I shockingly understand you now."
There was a wash of clarity that she was able to feel, but it was only for an instant. He wanted to know her thoughts, her worries; he wanted to push her overboard for some reason it was as if he wanted to care for her. But then, the instant was gone and that nerve that was struck before had been refueled; Draco Malfoy was about to witness Hermione Granger's reaction to being thrown overboard.
There was silence and then she lifted her head to meet his eyes. No tears were being held back, even though she looked miserable enough to sob. Her lips flattened, "You killed him…" She continued after taking a deep breath. "He was here. A silly and stupid mutual friend of you guys had convinced him to come and hang out with his school mates and go to your Christmas party the year after the war. You wanted it to be here because you wanted to lie and show everyone how fake you were... I mean are." She began to mock him, "Oh, I'm Draco Malfoy and I was a Death Eater, but now I am good. Let's party." She continued in her normal angry tone, "I never got the second gift he promised me because they couldn't find it in the bottom of the lake he drowned in because he just had to drive the stupid car that night! If you hadn't thrown a party, he wouldn't have left that party, and he wouldn't have drowned!" After staring at Malfoy -who stood with arms crossed and completely silent - Hermione had finished with a full yell. "Come on then! Throw an insult, or are you too much of a coward?! You didn't even have the courage to show up to his funeral!"
Hermione punched the table as hard as she could and instantly had a shock of pain shoot up her arm, but she tried not to wince when she released the pressure of her knuckles off of the table. Malfoy clearly saw the pain she had caused herself and whispered a phrase, "Frenzy Potions." The pieces of stone that looked obviously different from the rest - layered the wall behind Malfoy - started to shift and create an opening. "I'm sorry this has happened to you, Granger." Hermione felt the sympathetic tone, but ignored all the good components it held and took it as a grain of salt. She rushed out of the room breathing a lot easier when she reached a small and quaint study that had a window to the outside.
The new room was a lot smaller compared to the rest of the Manor and it looked homier, well used. The excitement of anger and grief rolled out of her when she was able to collect her thoughts by exploring the bookshelf on the opposite wall from the secret dungeon entrance. Little by little, flashes of angry segments came back to mind when she yelled at Malfoy, and the more they flashed the more she regretted how her anger controlled her. She was expecting, hoping rather, Malfoy would be behind her in moments, but he never showed. The stone door closed, blocking her off from the path of reconciliation.
She tried to lift her spirits by examining everything in the room and keeping her mind occupied with other thoughts. There were two shelves in the room and only one large leather seat in between them, sitting in the corner. The large wooden shelves stood as tall as the ceiling and carried more than just books. Peculiar artifacts and bottles were arranged in no particular order, and Hermione felt the need to organize everything. Deciding to let her organizational temperament drive her, she placed similar items together and then continued to organize each individual item within their groups by size and then by color. She recognized most of the potions and artifacts, but there were some that she had never come across before. Next she worked on the books, and it didn't take long for them to be organized by genre and then by thickness because there were so few of them. She noticed the majority of these books were never available to her at Hogwarts, and she remembered always wanting to read them but never wanted to explain why she needed a note to check out 'The Creation of Dark Matter' from the restricted section. When Hermione had them in her grip, she found herself wanting to desperately find the interest in the knowledge rather than the knowledge itself. When she traced the book's spine with her fingertips, all she could feel was apathy.
Shoved in between the pages of the last book she picked up, Hermione pulled out a wrinkled recent picture of Malfoy and his house elf, Loxley, standing in front of the Manor on a sunny day. Both standing there casually, Hermione noticed Malfoy was oddly trying to position himself as an equal next to his servant rather than a master. Keeping the picture in her hand, she put the book back on the shelf and went to sit on the window sill contemplating on how to clean her slate with Malfoy.
Chilled air had seeped through the window's lining and warned Hermione of the drastic temperature drop. Dark clouds started to fill the sky teasing her with the hope of a light snow further into the day. She absentmindedly rubbed the picture with her thumb as she leaned against the window. When the cold invaded her mind, it helped her thoughts break through the pounding headache she couldn't shake. "I can't go back, and Neville is expecting me to find a suitable place to stay until the investigation is finished." She shot up when she remembered Neville and the rest of the Aurors will be sweeping through her place in search of any evidence tomorrow morning. No matter how many clues the real culprit left, as soon as Neville found anything that led him to Malfoy, Hermione knew he would only focus on the wrong suspect. "After everything I said to him, everything I have bottled up for the last couple of years… " She felt her stomach churn when she thought of what had to be done. Hermione Granger had to apologize to Draco Malfoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or anything, just the plot. I'm not that good!
Thank you all for the follows and staying with the story! I really hope you're enjoying it. This chapter is one of my favorites!