Fingers in her hair, pressing her into the wall with her cheek painfully grazing the unfinished brick. That's how she met Draco for the first time after the war. He was nothing but their enemy and she felt her hatred rise like bile in her throat, she wanted to kill him, maim him, get his bloody hands off her.
She was an idiot. She swore under her breath and tried not to give him the satisfaction of hearing her in pain. He kicked her feet apart and she feared the worst, but he did nothing, she simply felt off balance and couldn't find the footing to spin, not even a little against his strong grip on her wrists behind her back and forearm pressing her flat to the wall.
"Let me go! " Her voice was muffled and she could taste the dust.
"Fuck, Granger." She couldn't understand the tone of his voice, but she imagined a sneer on his face. "I should murder you right now. My mates are never going to believe this." Draco drawled in her ear.
It was a cold day in December, the fog was low and heavy that morning, Hermione was sent out on her task of casting tracing spells to gather evidence to continue tracking the Death Eaters. The remaining Death Eaters who thought that there was one last Horcrux and it was their job to find their master. She knew she should have told Harry she was busy. Even Ron had been extra loving that morning, worry in his eyebrows in a way she seldom saw.
But no one worried about her, not really. She was Hermione Granger.
" The Golden Girl of the Golden Trio." Draco smelled of fir trees; deep and woodsy. She filed the information away for later, maybe they could narrow incidents down to forests and find their moving camp. She couldn't think, there was nothing she could do, and she hadn't quite managed to control her wandless magic yet. She was trying, but his presence was throwing her concentration.
"Well?" Hermione was panting now, her cheek and lungs pressed in a way that allowed for minimal breathing along with her twisting and failing attempts at yanking free. Why hadn't she used wards like she normally would? No one was supposed to be here. "Kill me now, Malfoy, or-"
"Or what?" His body was so close to hers now, it felt dirty. She hadn't been this close to another man beside her husband ever. "You going to find a way out of this mess, Granger?"
He was toying with her, and Hermione, seeing that advantage, grabbed it.
"I can help you!" Hermione spat. She was tasting blood in her cheek now and Draco's fingers softened for a miniscule moment before he regripped and yanked her head back by the roots of her hair. She yelped but clenched her jaw. She would not show weakness.
"I don't believe you." Draco's voice was quiet, filled with venom that laced its way down her spine.
"I'll make a blood oath. I'll do an unbreakable vow." Hermione was lying. She felt her wrists bind and Draco released her, she dropped to the floor and air rushed back into her lungs too quickly, she coughed it all out and kept her shoulders from shaking in fear.
"You'll betray me." Draco's voice was further away, Hermione glanced up to see him peeping out the dingy windows.
"No. Listen, they'll be here in a minute. We have coins, like the ones we used at the DA. If I don't check in with Harry in one minute, he knows where I am, he'll come for me." Hermione looked at Draco, willing him to believe her. She saw the silver of his eyes almost white where the light found his face.
"I can take you with me, then he'd never find you." Draco tilted his head, his wand tip had dropped away from her chest and was pointing at the floor. Hermione carefully felt around her back waistband. She gripped the spare wand and did wordless magic, loosening her binds behind her back. She tried not to look relieved as her blood pumped furiously into her head threatening to deafen her.
"Lacking women in the forces, Malfoy?" Hermione taunted him. She wanted intelligence, she needed to know how many of them there were, beside the regular children of the Death Eaters who banded together once they were made Slytherins.
"Nobody would touch you with a pole Granger." Draco grinned, "Maybe if it were covered in bubotubor pus."
She was swift enough, she got her wand around quickly to pull his wand stupidly from his limp hold and restrained him in an instant.
" Fuck ." Draco swore and rolled. "Granger, let me go."
"Like you let me go?" Granger kept a cautious distance before she cast under her breath more powerful magic to find items on him that may hurt her. His hair was falling into his forehead and caged his eyes as he looked around to find her. It was longer than she remembered it, though she had to admit it had indeed been years since she had laid eyes on him. She would have to tell the Aurors to keep updated tabs on the other known Death Eaters in case their appearances had also changed, not counting disguises.
Draco managed to get to his knees and his clothes strained around him. Hermione could see he was muscular, which meant he was well fed, active, and much stronger than she was. The Death Eaters may be hiding, but they're eating well. They were comfortable.
"I'll give you intel." Draco whispered. Hermione heard it too. Crunchy, cautious footsteps coming up the pathway leading up the house set in the abandoned countryside. Hermione eyed him, she didn't trust him. The little rusted metal gate creaked as whomever continued inward. She was thankful they didn't mask their presence, then swore because she had forgotten and got caught. The Auror office was getting sloppy, she needed to have a word with them.
She glanced back at Draco, his eyes soft in the dim light, his hair falling into his eyes with his blond eyelashes batting. He was trying to be charming. He got to his feet and Hermione raised her wand.
"Sherwood. We're in Sherwood." Draco whispered, his eyes on the door now and his body tensed. He wasn't even paying attention to the wand pointed at his chest. She considered him for a moment. He really could have simply killed her then and there. But he spared her. And now, she had intel. If she let him go, maybe he would provide more.
Just this one time.
"Go." Hermione flicked her wand and his wrists dropped free. She tossed him his wand and instantly shielded herself, but he disapparated without a fight, his eyes on her filled with gratitude that made her chest flutter in a way she couldn't understand.
"Mione!" Harry called. "Are you okay!"
"I'm fine, Harry." Hermione walked to the door, placed a hand on her hip and sighed. "For the head of the Auror office, you sure were loud coming in here."
"Was I?" Harry looked at his feet. "I thought I heard someone apparate."
"It was me." Hermione shrugged. "I was following a trail. I think I picked up some trail to Sherwood. We should get a team together and be prepared this time. No crunching up to camps and announcing ourselves before we can capture anyone."
Harry touched her cheek and Hermione felt her dry blood snag on his fingertips. "You're injured."
"A branch got me on the face, it was stupid really." Hermione ducked her head. She conjured a mirror, mended her skin, then grinned at Harry innocently.
"Sherwood." Harry repeated. Hermione nodded. "Let's go."
When they got there, it was abandoned. There was enough of a camp left that Hermione knew Draco warned them in time, but not enough time that they could cover their tracks. She might be able to keep tracing them with the information and magic trails left behind. Maybe.
"I'm sorry, I know you're busy in your law department, so thanks for coming out and helping us today." Harry bumped her shoulder. It was almost ten at night, the stars above peeked through the leaves where the trees all bent to meet them. Hermione was exhausted, but she wouldn't tell Harry the truth. Ever since Ron had decided to leave the Auror office, Harry had gotten depressed in a way. Having Hermione continuing to support the Auror office seemed to cheer him up.
"Do you want to come back to Ron's and mine for a nightcap?" Hermione offered, hoping he would say no.
"Ginny would be waiting." Harry sighed. He shot her a smile and ran his hand through his hair in that careless habitual way he did as a teenager. "Thank you, Mione. Really."
She leaned her head onto his shoulder for a moment before she walked to the dedicated apparition spot and returned home to Ron, asleep, dinner cold on the countertop. She ate in silence before she stripped, showered, the memory of Draco's hand against her neck flashing through her and his breath in her ear. She curled up against Ron's back and inhaled the comforting smell of him then fell into a restless slumber.
Months passed and the leads they got from Sherwood proved to be fruitless. Hermione was relieved when Harry told her not to worry about it as he had teams following her intel and he promised he would keep her informed. She knew it was the bruises on her cheek that worried him, but she was grateful nonetheless.
Months since she saw him again.
The next time, there had been some interesting, but unconcerning activity in a muggle village in a valley. Harry, after having sufficient time to recover from his worry for Hermione's wellbeing, asked her to take it because his teams were chasing leads through France, Spain, and Morocco. Dealing with international borders had made their tasks go from one week, to four.
There was a small house that reminded her of the Potter house at the end of Godric's Hollow. Caved in instead of exploded, abandoned and overgrown with vines, the hot summer air caused Hermione's curls to frizz so much she had it magicked into a bun. She remembered this time to shield herself, silence her steps, wards to make her less noticeable.
She paused when she saw blood in sputtered dots; the person was injured and limping by the beat of it. She raised her wand and cast homenum revelio . Immediately there was rustling inside, a groan, and a sliding sound ending with a thud.
She, fully prepared to stun the occupant, froze mid spell at the sight of him, collapsed in a heap, his hair dark from the crown. It was blood.
"Malfoy?" Hermione asked cautiously. He was an injured Death Eater, she was being stupid for not restraining him immediately. She kept her wand on him. She could feel her heart beat in her throat and swallowed thickly. Blood was trickling down his wrist where his hand lay limply at his side. Hermione couldn't see his face because his hair, much longer now, hid it.
"Rennervate." Hermione whispered. Draco woke with a gasp and immediately coughed. He was pale as a sheet, all the blood draining out of him before her eyes. Her throat tightened and she was still frozen. She didn't know what to do.
Draco's eyes looked around wildly and he seemed to realise he was on the floor in a puddle of his blood. He smiled, blood coated his teeth. "Granger, good to see you." He slumped against the wall holding his ribs and coughed weakly.
"What happened?" Hermione looked around the room and saw fresh splinters littering the dirty floor. Water was dripping from the gaping hole in the roof and light made the shadows inky black so that Draco's paleness contrasted alarmingly like death.
"Vampire." Draco grinned again, bloody. Hermione realised he had to be drunk from blood loss. She approached him, then when she was sure he wouldn't hurt her, she began casting diagnoses spells across his body. She found three broken ribs, a concussion and laceration, and three long slices into his forearm.
"Where is it?" She asked as she wove wounds back together and applied topical potions for the poison in the lacerations. "I assume they're dead."
"Unfortunately." Draco hissed as his rib cracked back into place, then the other. He inhaled deeply when the final rib mended. He looked relieved at the sight of her and Hermione let her eyes linger on his for two seconds too long before she stood. "I was trying to recruit him. I heard rumours there might be one living here, feeding off the folk of this poor little village."
Hermione eyed him. Was he really here to recruit it? That was difficult for even Voldemort to achieve, let alone anyone wanting to join their society as fractured as they were.
"I was sent here to see about that," Hermione murmured. "It was like you said, a rumour."
"Can you kill a vampire, Granger?" Draco sounded impressed and curious. "Are they not protected beings in that bill you're writing?"
Hermione lifted an eyebrow and Draco shrugged, still slouched against the wall where he sat. "I read the news."
"I wasn't going to kill him. I was tasked with capturing him." Hermione looked around the room and found it finally, black ash that disappeared in the shadows. "He was hiding her in the day, and hunting at night, it seems."
"Are you going to capture me, Granger?" Draco slowly got to his feet, Hermione watched him without helping, her wand still pointed at him.
"Do you have any intel for me?" Hermione asked, tilting her head in an imitation of his arrogance. Draco grinned and leaned heavily against the wall, his breathing laboured. She knew he would be sore for some time, and his blood loss would make him too weak to apparate or duel.
"Why are you always alone?" Draco stared unblinkingly at her and Hermione wanted to swat his gaze away. She felt exposed somehow, even though she towered over him, uninjured.
"Because they trust me." Hermione said simply. And she didn't get along well with others, especially if others weren't Harry. She found that they often just got in the way. Draco lifted his eyebrows.
"Yes, fine, but what does trust have to do with having someone to watch your back?" Draco asked, again, unblinking.
"Are you offering to be my back up, Malfoy? What would your mates say about that?" Hermione couldn't stop the tease from flying out of her mouth.
"Are you flirting , Granger?" Draco's mouth lifted in a one sided smirk and Hermione grinned.
"You are truly starved for women if you thought that was flirting." Hermione retorted, still grinning. Colour was coming back to his face but Hermione wasn't sure if to replenish his blood or take him in. She was still undecided on the matter, because Draco hadn't tried to kill her yet.
"You could tell Potter to stop wasting his time overseas." Draco inhaled sharply and Hermione watched his jaw clench. She could tell the concussion would be the worst of it. He really couldn't travel with that, he would end up splinched. "We sent trails there to disperse the forces, but our plans fell through anyway, we didn't get what we needed."
"And how do I explain to him that I know this information." Hermione rolled her eyes, halfheartedly because she still wanted to keep her eyes on him.
"I'll write you a letter." Draco said simply. "It will be coded so, my side, if they intercept it, won't be easy to know it's from me."
"And I don't suppose you can save me the trouble and give me the key?" Hermione was beginning to feel restless. She was stagnant too long, and she was becoming antsy, overly cautious because why was no one trying to find Draco?
"You're a smart woman, I'm confident you can figure it out." Draco attempted to stand without the aid of the wall and he stumbled. Hermione reflexively reached toward him and quickly dropped her arms, but he had already noticed. He grinned toothily and Hermione's stomach gave a weak flip. His hair, still bloody, was tucked behind his ears and parted roughly down the middle. "Do you care about me, Granger?"
"It was a reflex. Don't flatter yourself." Hermione's mouth twisted derisively.
"Why are we still here?" Draco was unsteady on his feet now but he was trying valiantly. Hermione watched him test his balance and steadiness. "Why haven't you rounded me up and taken me back?" Hermione didn't answer. She didn't have an answer. "I'm clearly useless right now."
She watched as he turned sharply but aborted midway. Then again. On his third attempt, Hermione realised what he was trying to do.
"Draco-!" She reached to him in a futile attempt to stop him, but his name in her mouth stopped him as effectively as a spell. He tipped over. Hermione caught him with magic this time and lowered him to the floor.
"Drink this." Hermione pushed a small mouthful of replenishing potion into his hand and uncorked it for him after he struggled. He swigged it back and colour flooded Draco's cheeks and ears. It was only a half a pint worth, but it seemed to work. His breaths were shaky and gradually, they evened out.
"Why are you helping me?" Draco didn't lift his chin in an arrogant way. He was watching her mouth, like he wasn't sure he had heard his name.
"You're not good intel if you're splinched in two and dead across England." Hermione said in a huff. He didn't push further thankfully. And too late, Hermione realised she had her hand on his shoulder to steady him. She pulled away quickly and ignored the now ever present feeble flip in her diaphragm whenever his eyes caught hers.
"There are werewolves contemplating defecting from a pack and joining us." Draco murmured. "They're allowed to be Death Eaters now, at least in name, because the Dark Lord is dead."
"You think he's dead?" Hermione's eyes whipped back to meet his, despite knowing the flip would disrupt her thoughts.
"I do." Draco nodded. Hermione felt the coin heat in her pocket and panic flooded her system.
"You need to go. They're coming." Hermione ran to the window and peered down the lane where three bodies, one looked to be Harry, were marching silently toward them. "Shit, I was stupid, I didn't check in."
"Granger-" Draco was standing steadily on his feet and he was close behind her. The warmth of him in her space moved the weak flip from her stomach to a weird thrum in her chest.
"Go!" Hermione hissed at him, she placed a palm to his chest and he froze at the contact. He looked down to her hand and then back to her eyes, a crease between his eyebrows.
"Tell those assholes to stop sending you on dangerous-" Draco held her wrist to stop her pushing him. Electricity zapped through her and she yanked her hand away.
"Would you just leave! " Hermione was desperate now. Draco towered over her, his strength returned and for a panicked second, she thought he would kill her.
He stepped back, turned, and was gone.
"Hermione!" Harry's voice yelled as he charged in.
"I'm fine, Harry." Hermione gave a startled hands up motion. "Merlin's beard, what's wrong?"
"You didn't check in!" Harry pointed his wand around, the two Aurors whipped past him and searched the house. "I thought-"
"I am fine. I just got carried away again. I found a vam-" Hermione smiled, and she was alarmed at how easy it was now to lie to her best friend.
"A vampire!" The young Auror called down to them. "He seemed to have gotten caught in the sun."
Harry looked at Hermione and she shrugged. "He was like that when I got here. I went looking for the coven, if there was one. I thought it better to be safe than sorry before we ended up with one entirely drained village." Hermione didn't bat an eye.
Harry's eyes began to roam her face and body, looking for signs of injury. Hermione sighed. "I'm alright, no damage, I swear." He was only satisfied once he had a good look at her and dispatched the two accompanying Aurors to write a report. Hermione filled in the details for them where necessary.
Traces of Draco Malfoy went completely undetected.
Her birthday came on a chilly night at the end of summer; she sat between Ron's legs as the fireplace warmed them. She had a book open in her lap and Ron was listening to her read, commenting and laughing in all the right places. When he fell silent and his breathing became deep and even, she shut the book and with magic, aided him to bed. She returned to the kitchen to clean up and found an owl waiting patiently by the window.
It was past midnight. Did the owl get lost on the way here? She let the little thing in and unrolled the tiny letter. Elegant handwriting formed two sentences. Hermione's heart was in her throat.
I heard it was someone's birthday. I'll be at the creak until the moon sets at the horizon.
Was this code for something? She flipped it over and it was blank. The owl was asleep on the desk, unmoving like a doll. Hermione left the window cracked. How long did it fly, she wondered.
Until the moon sets at the horizon. At the creek. Hermione loved the creek, she spent almost every day of summer there if only for a walk, and weekends for a dip. Was he watching her? The moon was already hovering over the horizon, preparing for its goodnight kiss. She didn't think.
Goosebumps broke out on the surface of her skin as she urged her feet toward the creek. The moon was large and yellow, she could see the craters. She was going to be too late. But there he was, pale as the moonlight, hair whipping around his face in streaks of lightning. He was on his feet and had begun to turn to leave, then he saw her and froze. A grin, that stomach swooping one, split his face and Hermione, suddenly hesitant, paused.
The water trembled between them, a gentle white noise filled the air where the surface broke over pebbles and rocks. All she had to do was cross it.
"I didn't think you'd come." Draco said, his hands in his pockets. He was very relaxed, and Hermione had to force herself to release her wand in her pocket. This had to be the stupidest thing she had done in her life, and she drank Polyjuice Potion and turned into a cat.
"I…" Hermione looked around and found them utterly alone. She wanted to feel uneasy, but didn't. "I didn't get your owl til five minutes ago."
"Ah. I suppose it is my fault. I sent the owl from Scotland and the poor thing flew all day. She might have gotten delayed in the thunderstorm." Draco dragged his hand through his hair in a failed attempt to keep it from his face.
"How are you here?" Hermione took a half step forward. He did look like an apparition. She was exhausted from the day; dinner with the Potters, afterparty drinking, unwinding with Ron.
"I came to see you. To thank you for saving my life." Draco slid his hand from his pocket, and a small bottle glinted in his palm as he held it out to her despite her being ten feet away.
"On my birthday." Hermione added. She couldn't tell what the bottle held, but it swirled and glimmered, even from this far away. The moonlight changed the colours or everything, so she couldn't be sure.
"I have something for you." Draco said softly enough that the stream took his words away. She dipped her bare feet into the creak and began to cross. It was cold but she expected it; it only went to her ankles anyway.
"You got me a present for my birthday." Hermione stood two feet from him now and she looked up at his silver eyes instead of the potion. He leaned toward her slightly, unconsciously.
"This is a thank you for saving my life." Draco said again, his voice was low and Hermione could feel it in her fingertips. His hand met her palm and their fingers curled together as their eyes remained locked. He was warm where she was cold and she wanted to get closer to him.
She was married. She looked to her palm at the potion and started.
"This is-" Hermione stared at the dancing liquid, more silver than gold in the moonlight.
"Felx Felices. It's all I had left. A little less than a day's worth." Draco smiled at her.
" This is how you've been out on your own and never getting caught." Hermione stared incredulously.
"This is how I met you." Draco said softly. Like he was afraid to say it. "Use it when you're out, okay? Half a teaspoon would do."
"I-" Hermione didn't know what to say. No one had gotten her anything so extravagant. Not that she expected it. This was too much. This was Draco Malfoy.
"They will be missing me, Granger. I have to go back." Draco smiled. He stepped toward her in one swift movement and the coolness of his windbit lips met her forehead briefly. "Happy birthday."
She blinked, and the crack of his disapparition disappeared in the rustle of the leaves.
She returned home to a snoring Ron, tucked the potion carefully into her bookcase, and sunk into bed. She thought sleep would take her easily, but her mind was reeling, replaying the sensation of him on her skin, again, and again, and again.
She heard the birds before she remembered darkness.
The bottle remained untouched until the end of winter, when snow melted and the world had turned to mush in an attempt at renewal and rebirth. It was then that Harry had approached her to follow a lead; rumours of a recruitment camp. He would have an Auror team infiltrate them, except they were so biassed, he was afraid they would be found out before any intel was gained.
She took it like medicine and found herself in a busy carnival on a seaside town, giddy to the tips of her toes like she was three butterbeers deep. The ocean waves crashed and sent salty spray into the air. It reminded her of Shell Cottage, the smells and sounds. But polluted by people and lights of a fair, bursting with laughter and scents not found on the seaside unless invaded. She strolled in and had the urge to go to the house of mirrors. There was no line as people entered as they wished. It was massive, Hermione thought. She giggled at the possibilities.
Despite the liquid warmth in her limbs, her mind was suddenly sharp but her thoughts remained rounded. She tucked her wand away and dragged her fingertips across the glass that reflected warped versions of her.
She stopped abruptly as two young boys whispered furiously around the corner. They didn't notice her.
"I don't want to join the Death Eaters!" One with brown hair was saying.
"Come on, they aren't going to be real. And if they turn out to be real, that would be a bonus!" The other with gold glasses was whispering furiously back.
"Merlin, you're going to get us killed one day." The brown haired boy said before they continued their trek through the tunnels. Hermione followed them, her wand still tucked away even though she saw that one of the boys had a wand in his hand.
They exited somehow, through the back. Except it wasn't an exit but a wider room with mirrors for walls and a curtain at the end. Hermione watched the boys approach it and disappear without a sound.
She wasn't wearing a disguise, she wondered if she would be recognised. Shrugging, she adjusted her hoodie and walked into the curtain as though she was invited.
The two boys were at the far end of a room, whispering furiously again.
"They're not here!" The brown haired boy hissed. "We should leave before we get in trouble with the Ministry. My mother's going to kill me if I get my passport taken."
"You're such a coward." The boy with glasses rolled his eyes. They pushed through a flap where Hermione saw light seep through then she was left in darkness.
This was their recruitment then. She had found them. But where was everyone?
"This must be our lucky day." Hermione's wrists came together roughly behind her back and she spun to look at the spellcaster.
A young boy, only 17 by the looks of him, acne dotted his forehead and his arm was shaking slightly as he tried to steady his wand.
"Release me and I won't hurt you." Hermione said calmly, unfazed. There was a rustling behind her where the boys had disappeared and she turned and met Draco's eyes. They opened in surprise briefly.
"Oh, bugger." He flicked his wand and the boy crumpled to the floor. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"I came to find the recruitment camp." Hermione stated. She felt her wrists free and was gesturing with her hands unknowingly. "I found it."
"We move around the Carnival so we won't be found easily. Gives us a warning in case-" Draco touched her chin and tilted her head. Hermione grinned. "You took Felix. That's why I found you."
"How many of you are here?" Hermione took her chin back and looked over his shoulder curiously.
"Too many of them for you to handle." Draco growled. "You need to leave."
"I can take it." Hermione moved to go past him but he grabbed her.
"Take the kid, get him out of this mess. He knows when and where the next recruiting is happening, use that." Draco held both her shoulders and spoke firmly. Hermione nodded. "I'm going out there to clear them out, I'll tell them you captured Thomas."
"Okay." Hermione nodded some more. His lips looked so pink, she wanted a closer look at them.
"Hermione." Hermione looked up at the sound of her name. "I will kill Potter for putting you in harm's way like this. Is he stupid?"
"I have this, Draco. Go on now, set your friends free." Hermione pushed at his chest and it was solid and warm. She left her palm there. She touched the coin and checked in, calling Harry with a cycle of two heat pulses. "Harry's on his way."
Hermione watched his throat work as he swallowed, hesitating to leave her space.
She was blown sideways into the tent which caught her landing. She brought her wand up instinctively and shielded herself from anything more. Draco was on his feet quickly, dust suspended in the air around them hid them from whoever cast the spell.
His eyes screamed at her to leave, to do anything but be where she was. She had landed beside the unconscious Thomas, and in one swift movement, she dove, grabbed his arm, and apparated hoping he wouldn't get splinched. She felt blood trickle hot down her temple before it went cold as it stopped. She looked around and found Thomas intact beside her. She was in a field. She pressed the coin two times, paused, then a third time. Harry found her there unmoved after ten minutes.
She was lucky, they said. The explosion injured two muggles and blew away the back wall. It was a fryer, they said. The metal shrapnel had all missed her, all but one that nicked her forehead. It was easily fixed. Thomas was unhurt and immediately taken to the Ministry for interrogation and first aid.
Harry was furious with himself, Ron was furious with Harry, Hermione could only remember the fear in Draco's eyes.
Ron insisted on staying up until she fell asleep. So she pretended. When his soft, slow breathing was even long enough, she rolled off the bed and entered the kitchen for some tea.
A little owl was again at her window. She let it in and unrolled the scroll, not breathing.
Find me like you did, when the moon kissed the horizon.
She looked up to the sky and found the moon hidden safely behind clouds. She wouldn't be late because the moon set at sunrise.
It was all she could do to keep her feet at a walking pace. She was alive, survived an explosion, felt his solid chest against her palm, seen the fear in his eyes. Her pace quickened.
She found him immediately, sitting comfortably on a slab of rock, his feet in the cold water with hair whipping around his face. He looked up after a moment and he didn't smile. He looked utterly enraged, a fire in his eyes that sent a shiver down her spine. He was cold and quiet fury.
She approached him as he stood and he didn't say a word. He took her face in his palms and tilted her head, his thumb stroking her cheek as he inspected her. Slowly his eyebrows unknit.
"It looked worse than it was. Felix saved me." Hermione said, her face warm in his palms. "What about you? Do they think you're a traitor?"
Draco was quiet, his hands dropped away and he shifted. He tried to tuck his hair behind his ear and failed. Hermione was patient, content with the sound of the creek behind them.
"I am a traitor, Hermione." Draco's mouth twisted in a kind of sorry expression. "I don't want this."
"So why haven't you come to us? Why didn't you come to us sooner and we could have helped-" Hermione stepped toward him, she could feel his warmth and she wanted to hug him, but he looked so frightened, she was afraid he would turn and never look back.
"I don't want to be saved, Granger." Draco spat.
"I'm Granger again?" Hermione asked as her body went stiff.
"I don't know what you are!" Draco nearly shouted. "Fuck!" He swore as he turned away from her.
"I'm just someone whose life you saved." Hermione countered softly. She stepped toward him again, craving his warmth, wanting him to calm down.
"I want to kiss you." Draco whispered, sorrow in every syllable.
"So do it." Hermione bit her lip. What was she saying?
"You're married, Granger." Draco spun around and was alarmed at her proximity, he stumbled back.
"Stop calling me that." Hermione jutted out her chin defiantly.
"Ah, that's right. It's Weasley now?" Draco smirked but it didn't meet his eyes.
"I kept my name." Hermione shrugged. "But I'm not Granger to you."
"Tell me what you are then." Draco allowed her to approach him again, allowed her to tilt her head up, and for them to share air.
"I'm the moonlight." Hermione whispered. "Here in the darkness whenever you need me."
"That's ridiculous." Draco's laugh was a soft puff of breath. His fury had melted, his eyes thawed. "What if I need you during daylight?"
"You're the sun, Draco." If she moved a millimetre, she could kiss him. "All you have to do is rise."
"You're not making any sense." Draco laughed again and Hermione could feel it through her ribcage, against her breast; warm and filling. She kissed him.
Before he could deepen the kiss, she pulled away and grinned. Draco looked dazed. Hermione pulled off her sweater, then her pants; standing almost bare as his eyes traced her outline.
"What are you-" Draco looked helpless. Hermione had undone her bra and let it fall to the heap at her feet. Then she slid out of her underwear.
With a preemptive scream, she ran to where she knew the water was deepest and plunged into the cold water.
"I should have cast a warming charm!" She giggled into the night. This was ridiculous, wasn't it? She couldn't decide. Skinny dipping with her childhood enemy, the man who was supposed to be her enemy now. Her body warmed and she blinked the water away to see Draco cast the same spell on himself before stripping off his clothes. She looked unabashedly at him, lean but muscular body, muscles you get from physical work and not curated for beauty. The cut of the muscle at his hip where it curved downward and disappeared into the water. Because Draco walked in to meet her and he pulled her to his chest pressing her breasts to him as he found her mouth with his.
Pleasure coiled in her pelvis at the lick of his tongue and nip of his teeth. She brought her arms up and grabbed fistfuls of his hair, white veins of it tangled through her fingers.
He was hard against her stomach and she tugged his hair to earn a throaty moan. His hands travelled down her waist where he had grabbed her, pleasure and pain, hate and need, greed and confusion all wrapped into one. He let his hands wander and finally cupped her supple flesh. The water was midway up his stomach, the buoyancy helped when he lifted her and she wrapped her legs around him.
She should stop kissing him. She should stop memorizing the taste and feel of him, the scent of woodiness and musk, some lavender and sage. She should stop herself from sliding onto him and moaning into his mouth as he sank into her, hot and needy. When the water didn't allow for more purchase, Draco walked them out, still connected, and laid her on the creekside, a bed of grass cushioning them.
She opened herself wider and watched as he disappeared into her, over and over, his breaths coming faster with every thrust. She arched her back and felt the pressure build inside her. He kissed her when her mouth opened to cry out his name and she sobbed as she collapsed around him, trembling with shocks of pleasure splicing through her nerves.
When she felt his hips begin to stutter, she locked her ankles and Draco buried his face in her neck kissing her name into her flesh as his warmth filled her.
"I can't have children." Hermione whispered as she stroked his hair. He had turned to slide out of her but she turned with him; now they lay intertwined in the grass, warmth still coating their limbs from Draco's spell, despite their damp and sticky bodies.
"I'm sorry." Draco kissed her temple.
"It's fine." Hermione shrugged. For some time it wasn't, but being with Draco like this, now, she meant it. It was fine.
"I have to go back." Draco murmured into her skin.
"When can I see you again?" Hermione found herself asking. She flushed from embarrassment. She turned to pull on her clothes, somehow now very conscious about being naked in a public space. They were dressing like they wanted to avoid the awkward morning after, rushed and without making eye contact.
"I don't know. We've had too many run ins lately. They want to lay low for a while. And I'm out of Felix, so I can't keep sneaking away," Draco looked at her and there was the fear again, this time laced with sorrow.
"Draco-" Hermione didn't know what she wanted to say. That she loved him? That would be absurd.
"I know." Draco said before she was forced to finish. She nodded. He stepped toward her, fully clothed again, and kissed her on the lips, soft and lingering. "I'll find you in the moonlight."
With a muffled crack, he was gone.
Spring came with blooms of lavender that prickled tears from Hermione when she let herself relive the creek, then Summer killed them. Ron had stopped touching her, and for a sickening moment, Hermione thought he knew. But she realised he was too afraid to treat her as anything but delicate. And Harry followed suit.
She was left out of Auror work for months. Autumn threw coloured confetti to the wind and Winter covered it all up.
It wasn't until a bad case of Black Cat flu got around to all the Aurors was she asked to help again.
And really, Hermione hated doing Auror work. But alas, Harry needed her wits and she had agreed that they could use her in the field for difficult or necessary cases.
Which is how she found herself in an abandoned house in the countryside, wards protecting her and disillusioned. She would not make mistakes like she had with Draco. It was like every other place the Death Eaters occupied. Almost untraceable, all evidence of their occupation, gone
She was about to leave when she heard a sound, like an impatient breath. She wondered if to call on Harry who was in a nearby village when a spell bounced off her general warded area. It gave her position away and with a flick, the wards dropped.
She remained disillusioned.
Her lungs screamed as she held her breath and stepped away from her revealed spot. She didn't know who it was. Draco wouldn't hurt her. But she was disillusioned, he wouldn't know it was her.
Suddenly the floorboard gave way and someone yelled fuck ; Malfoy materialised against the wall, his leg bleeding where the floorboards anchored him.
She had him restrained quicker than he could hide again. His wand clattered to the floor which she bent to retrieve. He sank to the floor, his shin still lodged. His hair was longer now, he had it tied into a lazy bun at the base of his skull but strands still fell into his eyes.
"Why do they always send you to do their dirty work?" Draco scratched his jaw, if he were in pain, he didn't show it. Hermione heard the invisible stubble under his fingernails.
"Why can't you stay out of trouble?" Hermione eyed the free flowing blood and wondered if to mend it. She would have to get him free, which meant an easier escape.
"And risk not getting to see you again? Come in, Granger. You know me better than that." Draco smirked.
Hermione stooped so their eyes were level and pointed her wand at his chest, Draco eyed it warily.
"Careful, Granger." He tilted his head exposing his neck. "Are you flirting with me?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, redirected her wand, extricated his leg and mended him.
He stood with a groan and Hermione retreated.
"Are you okay to travel?" Hermione asked. He nodded, a little solemn. She threw his wand at his feet then inhaled steadily before his bonds disappeared. She wanted yet again to hug him. It had been more than nine months since she saw him.
"You sure?" Draco asked as he flexed his fingers and brought his wand up.
"Do it." Hermione nodded.
"They're a bunch of cowards. I'll make them pay for putting you in harm's way." Draco glowered and Hermione wanted to kiss him. She didn't.
"We're running out of time. Do it." She commanded. Draco glared defiantly, then swallowed.
" Stupefy ."
Everything went black.
She woke in a hospital room to Ron holding her hand. He kissed her lips with half a sob lost in his mouth and Hermione squeezed her eyes shut hoping Draco got away.
She wished she had told him she loved him. Before everything went black.
She had to find him.
She couldn't wait for him anymore. She didn't know what she would do when she did find him. Was she leaving Ron?
She should have left Ron a year ago. When she was no longer aware when he walked into a room, or lifted her head for him to kiss her like he always did. When he stopped telling her about his day or she stopped asking.
She didn't care about any of it because Draco was caught in a limbo he was bound to fail at. The flaming rod would burn away at him as he failed to get out from under it and he would die.
The intel that Thomas provided, conveniently never mentioning Draco stunning him, proved to be enough to find a pattern of movement. The Death Eaters were being rounded up; groups and groups every month.
There was no Draco. Hermione felt sick.
Before Ron's birthday, before spring could bring anything new full of hope and happiness, Hermione was gone. She found a flat and left her things in boxes. She fidgeted with her wedding band before finally removing it, abandoned on the counter of the unused kitchen.
Harry couldn't speak to her. Ron was inconsolable. Ginny only came around once. Hermione couldn't find it in her to care. Somehow she knew she had forsaken them all the moment she kissed Draco at the creek. There was no happy ending for her.
Harry and Ginny eventually had her around for dinner, and cautious that they were trying to repair her marriage, she almost said no. But she missed her friends because it turned out, months with only a wedding band for company would make a person lonely.
They ate dinner, and Harry or Ginny attempted a joke, the laughter would last a minute before the heavy silence settled like a blanket across them.
As she was leaving, sliding her shoes on at the door, Ginny stared unblinkingly. "Why'd you do it?"
"Do what?" Hermione looked up as her fingers worked on the lacings.
"Leave my brother." Ginny's arms were folded tensely across her front.
"We weren't working anymore. I thought it would be unfair to him-" Hermione sat up.
"Don't give me that bullshit. You've been weird for a year. Did you fuck someone?" Ginny's jaw was clenched and she looked dangerously like an angry George.
"Gin, really." Hermione got to her feet now and she would feel ashamed, but she didn't. "We were together as children, and sometimes that doesn't last."
"Harry's ready to forgive you, but I still need some time." Ginny left her to see herself out and her chest tightened very slightly before she swallowed and it was gone. Hermione suspected Harry was willing to forgive her because he needed her brain and skill. It would be a shame if that was all their friendship had amounted to.
Hermione was on a sabbatical, it was granted easily when Kingsley heard of her impending divorce. Parvati was handling her work load while she was gone. Which left her with time to track him. She almost always never found a trace of him. A strand of blond hair caught in the floorboards, or a sprig of lavender, dried and on a windowsill. That was all she had. She used all of Felix to find him and was left with one more dose. She cradled it, the last of him against her sternum.
Harry would invite her out, she said no more often than not, sometimes because she was not in London. He woke her one night with angry fists against her door; she woke with such a start, adrenaline made her giddy.
"Hermione, you have to help." Harry pushed past her into the apartment.
"What time is it?" Hermione rubbed her eyes. She was in her underwear and oversized t-shirt but Harry never looked at her that way.
"I think we found the lot of them. The purebloods." Harry paced in a tight circle, his hair splayed untidily in every direction from all nervous swiping of his hair.
"What do you mean the lot of them." Hermione's heart was in her throat. "I thought you were rounding up the Death Eaters because Thomas was a good lead. How-"
"We got them. Nott. Zabini. Goyle." Harry looked manic with happiness. "Malfoy."
Hermione went cold. "What do you need from me?" Hermione was going to go with him. She had to.
"Ron would kill me if I took you with me, but I don't have anyone better than you to watch my back." Harry mumbled more to himself than Hermione.
"Take me with you." Hermione realised she sounded eager, and she smiled at Harry. "I mean, we haven't been together on the field in ages, and this is important. You're right. We're a team."
"You'd do this for me?" Harry thread his fingers into his hair, his eyes wide and green and trusting. Love poured from him that Hermione seldom got from him lately and she soaked it in, riding the waves of it to get her foot in.
"I'd do anything for you, Harry." Hermione's mouth was smiling, but her insides were thrown into disarray. "When?"
"Tomorrow." Harry whispered. "I'm sorry it's so short notice. The blokes back in the office didn't want you-"
"Yes, they're intimidated or whatever. It's fine." Hermione grinned. She conjured two glasses of cheap whiskey and hovered Harry's to him. "To finally getting the last of them." Hermione raised her glass, so did Harry. He slung it to the back of his throat, and Hermione slid the glass onto the countertop, untouched.
"We're coordinated to begin at midnight, their activity is low then." Harry nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow for the debriefing."
"Thanks for having me along, Harry." Hermione caught his forearm in her hand. He paused, then pulled her into a hug. She lifted her arms to his back and inhaled the familiar grassy smell of him from his days training with Ginny for Quidditch. She let go before she gripped him tighter and told him everything in a moment of insanity.
He pressed a kiss to the crown of her head and disappeared as quickly as he came.
It was bad. They had the mansion surrounded. The would be abandoned house was indeed a mansion, restored by magic and occupied by the last of the purebloods. It wasn't exactly subtle, and Hermione wondered if Draco wanted to be caught. For it to be over. He would get himself killed.
The debriefing explained as much. Use force as necessary, priority is capture, but injury cannot be helped. These are powerful men, they would not be granted a chance to display that power. Hermione clenched her fist around the last of Felix and readied herself. Portkey was used to land nearby, apparition in such big numbers would have tipped them off. Hermione knew the odds, twenty Aurors against maybe ten Death Eaters. She had to find him before anyone else did. Felix lit her limbs like embers and urged her in.
She flew into the mansion in fury when they were given the greenlight. No one bothered with wards or disillusionment. She deflected spells and ran past them, tearing through the unfamiliar house just looking for him .
She stunned someone, but he wasn't blond so she moved on. A spell grazed her cheek and blood spilled there, she cast a powerful pulse and a body was thrown backward. She stunned and bound him and continued upward. He wasn't anywhere. Other Aurors were looking at her then giving her a wide berth when she approached them.
The chaos continued in minor scuffles and Hermione heard something. The garage beside the house, overgrown and unoccupied; she hadn't checked there.
She approached it cautiously end edged the side door open with her foot. It was dark and musty, the air was bitter and the scent of iron wafted toward her.
"Granger." Draco's voice was wet and strained. She could barely hear his breathing. There was a gurgling sound with every intake. Hermione looked over her shoulder and saw Aurors leading Death Eaters out in various states of consciousness.
"Garage is clear, I have Harry with me!" Hermione called loud enough so that at least two people acknowledged her. "Checking for dark items."
"Understood!" Someone called back.
She shut the door behind her. Harry was crumpled on the floor, face down.
"Draco?" Hermione couldn't see him immediately.
"Here." His voice was still a wet gurgle. It sounded worse the nearer she got. "I knocked him unconscious, but not before he-"
"He tried to kill you." Hermione finished for him. She cast diagnoses spells and had to swipe at her eyes to read it. His lung was punctured, there was blood in his airway. He had a laceration to his femoral artery. His leg was broken. His clavicle was shattered. He was bleeding out.
She didn't have any replenishing potions, they were all back in the medicare truck. They didn't want the Death Eaters having access to their potions and risking escape. She was screwed. Draco was fucked.
Tears were streaming freely down her face now and she touched his cheek; it was icy under her palm and let a sob past her throat.
"Now, now Granger." Draco brought his thumb to her cheek and brushed at the blood there. "That won't do."
"You're dying." Hermione mended what she could see with the spells she thought would work. "I can't make your lung- I never could master the internal injury reparations. If I tried, I could easily kill you." His leg was broken in splinters, she couldn't simply mend it. He needed skelegrow.
"That's alright. I feel much better already, now that you're here." Draco gave her a valiant grin and she kissed him.
"Hold on, I can still save you." She cried against his lips. Her tears were hot and mingled with his blood on his chest. She held her wand like a blade to her forearm.
"No!" Draco coughed from overexertion. He shifted and groaned in pain.
"Let me do this." Hermione said sternly. Draco's eyes were glassy. He gave a curt nod.
Hermione swallowed her sobs, her wand slicing evenly through her fleshy forearm where blood began to flow in a red line into Draco.
She looked around as the red thread connected them. Harry still unconscious, and blood. There was blood everywhere. There was a pool. She managed to sew his outer wounds closed but there was still a pool of it.
He needed this transfusion if she meant to save him. Muggles did it, and in hard times before blood replenishing potions were a staple at hospitals, they took donated blood and injected it into patients. It's the same thing. She could save him.
But he lost so much blood. Draco wheezed; he was looking at her with dull eyes. Draco tried feebly to stop her, his grip gentle instead of firm. It wasn't working, Hermione was beginning to feel lightheaded.
"Stop." He coughed the word, blood speckled his chin; he swallowed with difficulty, then tried again. "Stop. I'm not the sun. I am insignificant."
Hermione's shoulders shook with silent sobs. She could hardly see him through the tears.
"You ruined me." She blinked the tears away but they flooded her sight again. "Even if you were the sun, I'd blind myself just to look at you."
"Rise." Draco whispered, blood now trickling from his mouth. His eyes shut, and he smiled. Hermione told him then, to rise. Was this entire mansion a planned suicide? To end the Death Eaters? She couldn't stop crying. She was running out of air. He inhaled one shallow breath and expelled in a whisper, "Hermione, I love y-"
But even the sun sets.