A/N - Sorry it took so long to get this next chapter out, been a busy couple of weeks. I hope you are all still enjoying the story. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Chapter 21

Adrian had read and reread Hermione's letter half a dozen times. He sighed and raked a hand through his hair thinking of what Tracey had told him about their meeting. He wanted to see Hermione, badly if he were honest. He hadn't slept well since she'd left for Sweden. But he also didn't want to put her in the position of having to lie about his and Anna's whereabouts, to Harry especially. And Adrian didn't want to do anything to put her job in jeopardy. He didn't think St. Mungo's would look to kindly on her being arrested for lying to the Aurors.

Even if she were in Sweden all week and then stayed at the cottage all weekend, she still had to go through the Ministry when she arrived and when she went back. She could easily be pulled aside for questioning. The only way it would work is if she didn't go through the Ministry for her Portkeys. Which would be illegal as well, not to mention dangerous. While plenty of wizards and witches could enchant Portkeys to take them within country, it was quite another to enchant an international one.

There was no good solution. If Adrian knew for a fact that Hermione wasn't going to be questioned, he would have no qualms about telling her where they were. As it was, though, he had no way of knowing that. And no way to find out. Even if Harry knew, Adrian wouldn't put him in that position. Harry had already risked his job enough by telling Adrian about the missing person's report, not to mention letting them stay at Grimmauld Place for those weeks.

"Still brooding over it, are you?" Daphne asked as she sat down across from him in the living room. She tucked her legs up under her and looked at him knowingly.

"I'm not in the mood, Daph."

She sighed. "Adrian, how would it hurt to have her come here? Even just for a day? You could have Tracey Apparate her in. You could even have her blindfolded or something for Merlin's sake. Then, even if she were asked, she couldn't tell them where we were because she wouldn't know."

"But they would know she'd seen us," he said.

"So what? She was in Sweden. How would she know that your father had filed a report?"

"Yes but she knew that my parents didn't let Anna go willingly. What other reason would we have for leaving my flat and going into hiding, Daphne?" Adrian said in exasperation.

"You know, if you'd just report Lowe to the Aurors, you would have a good reason for taking Anna with you. They'd be much less likely to charge you with kidnapping if you were hiding for her own safety."

"I'm not done with Lowe yet," Adrian nearly growled.

"And him going to Azkaban isn't part of your plan to ruin him?"

"Yes, but not yet."

Daphne sighed again. "Look, I know why you want to do this. Trust me, I agree with you. That man deserves everything he gets and more. But it's different now, Adrian. Your father has accused you of kidnapping. Even once Anna's of age, they can still arrest you for it. Are you going to stay in hiding for the rest of your life? Is Anna?"

"I know," he said, closing his eyes and rubbing them with his thumb and forefinger. "But there's also no guarantee they won't arrest me anyway, even with the information about Lowe."

"But you'd have a better chance," Daphne argued.

Adrian didn't respond for a few minutes. He knew that Daphne was probably right but he also had no intention of implicating anyone else in all of this, Daphne, Tracey, Hermione, Marcus, Harry.

"I need to think about it," he finally said. "I just, there's a lot to consider."

"Fine," she replied. "But do think about what I said about Hermione." She stood from her chair and walked past him, patting him on the shoulder as she went.

Adrian rested his elbows on his knees, hands hanging between his legs. Daphne was right, mostly. This wasn't sustainable, the three of them hiding out like this. Adrian knew she only stayed because she didn't want to be questioned about Anna. She didn't care that her parents had disowned her or that her father was furious about the broken betrothal contract. She just wanted to be with Tracey. It was only because of him that Daphne hadn't just gone back to Tracey's flat.

And he couldn't keep Anna here forever. She had too much to offer the world. Not to mention the fact that he was doing the exact same thing that their parents had always done. Keeping her hidden away, albeit for completely different reasons. If only there were a way he could make his father understand that she was worth more than just finding a good Pureblood husband. Then again, if he could make his father understand that, they wouldn't be in this mess in the first place.

At least he knew that his father had broken her contract to Lowe. Marcus had been able to find that out through one of his contacts. He'd told Tracey when she'd brought the next batch of Adrian's instructions to him.

Daphne was right, if Adrian gave all of his information to the Aurors, Lowe would likely be arrested. But Adrian didn't want him to get wind of it before the Aurors were ready to bring him in. Better to have all Lowe's allies second-guessing their relationship with him first. Despite all that Adrian had done so far, Lowe still had plenty of money to flee, even with the fines that had been imposed on him after the audit of his vault.

That had been an unexpected bonus. Adrian had gotten the audit ordered mostly to irritate Lowe. Adrian hadn't known they would actually find anything. Lowe, of course, had claimed innocence of the Dark artifacts in his vault, saying that since it was his family's vault, they must have been put there by previous generations. It was how he had gotten off with just fines and an admonishment for not inspecting the vault thoroughly when he became Head of the family. And while the fines had been substantial, they hadn't been enough to bankrupt him. By design, Adrian was sure. The Ministry still catered to the Purebloods in a lot of ways.

Sighing, he stood from the couch. He needed to get out of the cottage for a while. What he really wanted was a fly but he'd settle for a walk in the woods for now.

Hermione frowned as the potion in front of her turned orange. That definitely wasn't what was supposed to happen. Another failure. She made a noise of frustration.

Anders looked up from his own cauldron. "What happened this time?"

"It turned orange."

"Ah, too much ginger root."

"Likely but if we decrease the amount, then the armadillo bile might become volatile."

Anders made a noise of agreement and pursed his lips in thought. Hermione ran through the steps of the potion they were trying to formulate. They could adjust amounts but some of the ingredients didn't react well with each other and too much or too little of something else and they'd end up blowing up their cauldrons. There had to be something else they were missing but Hermione had no idea what.

She hadn't heard from Anna, although Hermione knew she was putting an awful lot of hope in a sixteen year old girl who hadn't had any formal training beyond the normal curriculum taught by her tutor. According to Adrian, Anna's tutor hadn't even let her brew potions above her year level during their lessons.

But still, Hermione had seen something in Anna. She completely understood everything Hermione discussed with her and it had been Anna to come up with the premise Hermione and Anders were now trying to expand upon after all. Her intuition about how ingredients worked together and her ideas how to change and improve existing potions weren't something that very many other people could do. Hermione had learned that herself sixth year when Harry had had Professor Snape's old textbook. She would have never even considered most of the alternate instructions that Harry had followed that year.

Anders had been most impressed when Hermione had explained Anna's theory, especially after finding out how old Anna was. He really wanted to meet her. It had been difficult for Hermione to explain as to why that wasn't possible without giving anything away. She still wasn't convinced that Anders believed her half-arsed excuse. But he hadn't questioned her further.

"Perhaps if we-" but before Anders could finish, his secretary rushed into the room and said something to him. Hermione had picked up a bit of Swedish since she'd been here but not enough to understand what the secretary was saying. Anders immediately waved his wand over his cauldron, putting the potion in stasis.

He turned to Hermione and explained that his wife was in labor. She smiled at him as he explained where he was in the process of his potion. They were brewing slightly different versions.

"I'll take care of it," Hermione assured him.

He looked a bit out of sorts and she moved across the lab, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Good luck, Anders. And please give your wife my best." Anders and his wife had been extremely hospitable since Hermione's arrival in Sweden, often having her to dinner.

He smiled widely. "Thank you, Hermione." And then he hurried out of the lab.

Hermione moved to the cauldron, peering inside before cancelling the statis charm. Anders' potion seemed to be going well so far. It was the right color at any rate. Perhaps the slight adjustment in the newt spleens would be more successful than hers had been.

Twenty minutes later, Hermione sighed in defeat. Anders' version of the potion hadn't succeeded either. She made a few notes about what had happened at which step and then vanished the remains. As these were the last two variations they had written up, it was back to research.

Anna sat at the kitchen table, poring over the book Hermione had sent once again. She had a roll of parchment in front of her and Adrian could see copious notes, many of which were crossed out, covering it.

"Hey, Sprite."

"Don't call me that," Anna responded, not even raising her head to look at him.

"Find anything?"

"Maybe," she said, continuing to scribble something down. Adrian glanced at what she was writing but really couldn't make any sense of it. Lists of ingredients and measurements, some crossed out, some with question marks behind, one underlined a few times, it was all just gibberish to him. He recognized everything, of course, but the interactions and measurements, he had no idea.

Still, he was glad that it was keeping her busy. Their lessons in other subjects had pretty much stopped. He didn't have the books here to teach her and while Tracey had offered to bring them whatever they needed, Anna had flatly refused. There was no point, she told Adrian, as she certainly couldn't take her O.W.L.S. while she was in hiding. And there was no real point in taking anything besides Potions, and maybe Herbology, anyway.

Adrian tried to convince her otherwise but Anna wouldn't budge. Deciding that he didn't want to make their time here miserable, he finally gave in. She now spent her time either researching or cooking.

Honestly, Adrian couldn't complain about the food Anna made. Once Tracey had explained all the particulars to her, it turned out that his sister was quite talented. The volume of things she made however, was beginning to be a problem. And whenever she seemed to hit a snag in her research, she baked. Biscuits, cakes, scones, tarts, whatever she had the ingredients for, she made. Adrian thought he had probably gained half a stone in just a week.

Thankfully, Anna had gone through most of the baking ingredients and Tracey could only buy so much. Daphne and Adrian's gold was limited with no access to their vaults. Thank Merlin Marcus hadn't gotten wind of Anna's new hobby yet. He would indulge her ridiculously, Adrian was sure. He rolled his eyes just thinking of the sacks of food Marcus would send with Tracey.

Suddenly, Anna stopped writing and looked down at the parchment. She grabbed another book from the table, one on rare herbs and plants that Tracey had brought her from Flourish and Blotts, and flipped through the pages. She read something quickly, then went back to the book that Hermione had sent. Anna glanced between the two books and then looked up at Adrian.

"I think I might have found something," she said excitedly.

"Really, what?"

Anna looked at him for a few moments then shook her head. "Sorry, Ade, it would take too long to explain. But I have to write Hermione."

Anna pulled a fresh piece of parchment from the stack in front of her and began to write. Adrian watched her for a few moments, unable to help his smile. Anna was definitely in her element and he would be beyond proud if whatever it was she'd found led to something with Hermione and Magnusson's research.

"When is Tracey coming?" Anna asked as she wrote.

"Tonight, for dinner, like usual," Adrian replied.

Anna huffed. "I wish I could just send this out now."

"It's only a few hours," Adrian said.

"I know but the post office will be closed by the time she goes home. If she even does. She spends the night more often than not. It won't go out until tomorrow now. And you know how long international owls take."

Adrian squeezed his sister's shoulder and tried not to laugh. "Only a day."

"Still," Anna said with a sigh. "It will take another day or even longer for Hermione to get back to me about what she thinks. I wish we had an easier way to communicate."

"I know," Adrian said echoing his sister's sigh. There was no Floo in the cabin, not that they would have let it stay connected if there were. It would have defeated the purpose of being in hiding. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to keep apologizing, Adrian," Anna said. "I wanted to leave as much as you wanted me out of there." She grabbed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. "Stop feeling guilty."

"Can't help it," he said with a small smile.

"Well, I'm glad. Especially after what you told me about Malcolm." She shuddered and Adrian felt his anger rise at the thought of what Lowe might have tried to do to his sister had Adrian left her with their parents.

"I'm still sorry," he said. "For all of it."

"I know," she replied. Then she went back to her letter, signing it and then letting the ink dry before she rolled it up and addressed it to Hermione. She tidied up her books and notes, stacking them on a corner of the table before rising and going to the pantry. She rifled through the contents for a few minutes.

"I think there's enough left to make another batch of sugar biscuits," she said, grin on her face. Adrian groaned.

Hermione smiled as she left the hospital room after visiting with Anders, his wife, and their new son. The baby was adorable and looked just like his father, in Hermione's opinion. She had given Anders a quick synopsis of what had happened with his version of the potion and the research she'd done since. As she hadn't found anything new and Anders planned to take at least a week off, he encouraged Hermione to set the research aside for the time being and go home for a visit. She hadn't been back to England for two weeks.

While she would like to see Harry and Ginny, and probably would go home for a couple of days, there wasn't anything else keeping her there. She'd heard nothing back from Adrian and assumed he was still sticking by his decision not to tell them where they were. She hadn't heard from Anna either, although it hadn't been that long since Hermione had given Tracey the book. Research took time, not to mention Anna had no formal training in Potions beyond what her tutor had taught her. She had read plenty on her own, of course, as well as had that innate talent, but still, she was only sixteen.

Sighing now, the joy of seeing the new baby mostly gone, Hermione continued to the Floo to go back to her hotel.

As she stepped into the hotel lobby and then made her way to the lift to go back to her room, Hermione realized just how much she missed her flat. St. Mungo's had gotten her a suite, at least, so she had a small kitchen and living area in addition to her bedroom, but it was still just a hotel room. She missed her own things and her friends and Adrian. And if she could only have two of those things if she went home for a visit, well, it was better than nothing.

The lift arrived but instead of getting on it, Hermione turned and went back to the Floo. She called out for the Swedish Ministry intent on arranging a Portkey to England the next day.

Hermione landed in the British Ministry and handed the used teacup to the attendant in the Portkey office.

"Welcome back, Miss Granger."

"Thank you," Hermione said, wondering, as she always did, if the attendant knew who she was because of the list he held in his hand or because of her role in the war. Shaking her head, as it didn't really matter either way, she left the arrival room and made her way through the Ministry to the Auror offices. It was nearly lunchtime, a bit past for her, and she hoped Harry was available.

She was surprised to find the corridor to the DMLE mostly empty. Usually, people were bustling about from place to place. Hermione hoped that there wasn't some kind of emergency.

As she neared the Auror department, a man swept out of the offices. He looked vaguely familiar but she couldn't place him. As the man walked towards her, she could see that he looked furious. That familiarity hit her again and she was annoyed that she couldn't put a name to the face. He walked past her without acknowledgment and Hermione continued on towards the Auror department. Before she reached it, however, she felt a hand clamp down on her arm and spin her around.

Hermione's wand was immediately in her hand as she faced the threat. It was the man she had just passed in the corridor. She shook off his hand and pointed her wand at his chest.

"You dare to raise your wand to me?" he spat.

"When I'm assaulted I tend to do that," she said calmly although her heart had sped up. She scanned the corridor in her peripheral vision but it remained empty. Where the hell was everyone?

"I did not assault you," he said in disgust.

"Putting your hand on my person and forcibly yanking me around constitutes assault in my opinion."

"Where is my son?"

As soon as the words left the man's mouth, Hermione realized who he was and why she had thought she recognized him. Despite the fact that she had never actually met him, Aldon Pucey looked very much like his son.

"Sorry?" she said.

"Don't play stupid with me," Mr. Pucey. "I know that you know where he is. And lower your wand."

"I don't, actually. And I'll lower my wand when I choose."

He took a step towards her so that her wand was nearly touching him. He looked down his nose at her. "I will have you brought up on charges if you do not tell me where they are."

"What charges would those be? And who is 'they'?"

"Aiding and abetting in a kidnapping. And you know perfectly well who I am speaking of."

Hermione snorted. "Sorry to disappoint but I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Do not think that I am not aware of your previous…dalliance with my son."

"Since that dalliance, as you call it, is over, what makes you think I'd have any idea where Adrian is?"

"As if you were not the reason that he broke his marriage contract," Mr. Pucey spat.

"Perhaps he broke his contract because he was tired of you controlling his life."

He stared down at her for a few moments, jaw working and face red with anger. "When I find out just what you had to do with the disappearance of my daughter, I will thoroughly enjoy exposing the supposed war heroine for what she really is. Mark my words."

Then he spun on his heel, leaving Hermione standing in the corridor, her wand still pointing after him.

"Hermione?"

She turned her head to see Harry staring at her in confusion.

"What are you doing here?"

Lowering her wand and sticking it back in the holster in her sleeve, she sighed and rubbed her forehead with her fingertips. Harry was at her side, a look of concern on his face.

"Why did you have your wand drawn in the middle of the DMLE?"

"Adrian's father," she said.

Harry's eyes widened as he glanced around the now empty corridor. "What happened?"

"I was coming to find you, see if you wanted to get some lunch and he came out of the Auror department and accosted me."

Harry's mouth hardened. "What did he do?"

"Nothing, just grabbed my arm. He asked me about Adrian."

"He was here reading Robards the riot act because we haven't found them yet. And then Robards took out his displeasure on all of us." That explained why there had been no one in the corridor. They were all getting a dressing down by their superior.

"He told me he was going to enjoy destroying me when he found out how I was involved in Anna's disappearance," Hermione said.

"He threatened you?"

"Don't worry about it, Harry," she said with another sigh. "I wasn't even in the country when he filed his report."

"Welcome back by the way," Harry said as he hugged her. She clung to him for a few moments and he squeezed her tightly. "Why are you back anyway? Did you figure it out?"

"No," Hermione said into his shoulder. "Anders' wife had the baby and he's taking time off."

"How long are you back for?" Harry asked as he released her.

"Not sure, a few days at least."

"Good, I've missed you," Harry said with a grin.

"I missed you too," Hermione said surprised to find her eyes welling.

"Are you sure you're all right?" he asked in concern.

Hermione forced a smile. "Now I am. So, lunch?"

"I was just on my way out, so yeah." He slung an arm around Hermione's shoulders and she leaned into him as they made their way out of the Ministry.

Hermione stared into the fireplace in her flat, lost in thought. She'd spent the last two days with Ginny, as the other woman had the week off from practice. They'd shopped, lunched, even went to the new spa in Diagon Alley. Ginny had even convinced Hermione to come to dinner at the Burrow. It had been nice to see everyone. And she'd met the newest Weasley, Dominique had been born just a few weeks previously. Last night, they'd met a bunch of the old D.A. members at the Leaky.

She'd had an owl from Anders, letting her know that he was also taking the following week off and would then be back in the lab on a part-time basis. Hermione didn't know if she was going to stay in England that long, however. As much as she enjoyed spending time with her friends and liked being back in her own space, she couldn't just sit around doing nothing. Perhaps she could go into St. Mungo's on Monday and see if there were some short-term project Mr. Ashcroft needed her to work on.

What she really wanted to do was contact Tracey Davis and see how everyone was doing. She was concerned that she hadn't heard from Anna and it had been over a week now. Although, they would have sent the owl to Sweden and if it had arrived after she'd left, then the letter would be on her desk when she got back.

She could go back and check. She had a standing order at the Ministry for a Portkey to Stockholm whenever she requested one. But it would be a wasted trip if Anna hadn't responded. There was a faster way to find out since Davis had to send the owl for Anna anyway.

Before she could change her mind again, Hermione grabbed a piece of parchment and scribbled out a note asking Davis to meet her in the same café this evening. Then she put on her cloak and stepped into the fireplace, calling out for the Leaky Cauldron so she could mail the letter from the post office in Diagon Alley.

"Granger," Davis greeted as she joined Hermione at her table in the café. "Didn't know you were back in country."

"I got back a couple of days ago. My research partner's wife had a baby. He's taking some time off."

"A couple of days? You didn't get Anna's letter then?"

"No," Hermione said, sitting forward eagerly. "When did you send it?"

"Two days ago," Davis said.

"That's the afternoon I came back," Hermione said. "Do you know what Anna found?"

"No, but she seemed rather impatient to get in contact with you. Asked me if I'd mail it that night," Davis said. "And she's asked me every night since if I've heard back from you yet."

"I need to speak with her," Hermione said. "Please."

"I can't just take you there," Davis said, looking apologetic.

"Then, please, please talk to Adrian and let him know how important this is."

"I can take her a message," Davis said.

"We can't keep communicating by owl," Hermione said impatiently. "I need to talk to her in person."

Davis sighed. "I'll talk to him but-"

Hermione reached across the table and grabbed the other woman's hand. "Please, Davis."

Tracey stared at her for a few moments before she sighed and stood from the table. "Come on then."

"Sorry?"

"I'll take you."

"Wait, but you said-"

"I know what I said," Davis interrupted. "But in the time it would take for Adrian to pull his head out of his arse, you might have been able to solve this thing ten times over. So, he can just deal with it." She started to walk towards the door. "And call me Tracey would you? We're not in school anymore."

Hermione stared after her, mouth hanging open.

Davis, Tracey, turned around and rolled her eyes. "Are you coming or not?"

Hermione quickly followed her to the door.

Adrian was sitting on the sofa reading when he heard Tracey's crack of Apparition outside. He stood and glanced into the kitchen. Anna was making dinner and teaching Daphne to cook. Daphne met his eye and nodded. Tracey was a bit later than usual, although it wasn't as if it hadn't happened before. Likely got stuck late at work or something. Still, he drew his wand and waited for the door to open.

When it did, Adrian stared, gobsmacked, at who walked into the cottage behind Tracey. Hermione looked at him apprehensively, obviously unsure as to how he was going to react to her presence. Tracey, on the other hand, just walked past him into the kitchen and greeted Daphne and Anna with no explanation for Hermione's presence whatsoever.

Hermione and Adrian stood staring at one another for a few moments until Adrian finally took three long strides across the room, pulled her into his arms, and kissed her. She melted into him almost immediately, wrapping her arms around his neck as he pulled her flush to his body.

When he finally pulled away, he rested his forehead against hers. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to talk to Anna."

He took a step back and looked down at her incredulously. There was a small smirk playing about her lips. He shook his head with a snort and then drew her to him again, kissing her once more.

"I'm sorry I convinced Tracey to bring me here," she said when they parted once again. "But I missed you."

"I know I should be angry with Tracey for ignoring what I said but," he paused and pulled in a breath, trying to calm himself a bit. "I'm not. I'm not angry at all. I missed you so fucking much." He wanted to kiss her again but knew that things were getting perilously close to going too far with everyone else in the cottage just in the next room. Instead, he just pulled her to him again and hugged her.

"I'm sorry we disappeared like that."

"You did what you had to do," Hermione said into his chest. "I do wish you would have let Tracey bring me here from the start, though."

"I didn't want you to have to lie for us."

"I know," she replied. "I didn't say I didn't understand why you did it, just that I wish you hadn't."

"They haven't questioned you, have they?" he asked in concern.

"No," she said and then looked away from him. He could tell there was something she wasn't saying.

"Have they asked to question you?"

"No and Harry hasn't said anything about it."

"What is it then?" he asked.

She looked at him worrying her lip between her teeth. Then she sighed and pulled away from him. "I ran into your father at the Ministry."

Adrian stared at her, his jaw already working. "And?"

"He confronted me and demanded that I tell him where you are."

"What did he do to you?"

"Nothing, just tried to intimidate me. Which didn't work, by the way." She had looked up at him as she said it, but her eyes shifted from his.

"Hermione," he said, a bit of warning in his voice. He knew she wasn't telling him everything.

She sighed again. "He sort of threatened me."

"Threatened you how?" Adrian growled feeling his hands form into fists.

"He just said that he was going to enjoy destroying my reputation when he found out that I had something to do with Anna's disappearance."

"Fucking bastard," Adrian snapped. He raked a hand through his hair and actually took a few steps towards the door before he remembered himself. As much as he wanted to go storming out of here and punch his father in the face it wouldn't do Anna, or himself for that matter, any good.

"He's not going to find anything," Hermione said soothingly, obviously seeing his distress. "If he were, he would have by now. And now that he's confronted me, he probably won't insist the Aurors question me."

"He's not just going to let this go. Fuck, Tracey shouldn't have brought you here."

"First of all, I don't know where 'here' is," Hermione said. "I kept my eyes closed until I stepped inside. I know we're in a cottage and it's obviously out in the country somewhere since it's so quiet, but that's it."

Adrian stared at her in surprise. She smirked. "And second of all, despite what you may have heard about my know-it-all reputation, I've managed to fool quite a few professors in my time. So, I don't see, short of Veritaserum, which, as we both know, can only be administered in specific circumstances, how anyone could get me to tell them anything I didn't want to."

"Legilimency."

"I'm an Occlumens," she said. "I learned after the war." She looked rather smug when she said it and he chuckled again, then drew her back into his arms.

"I'm sorry about my father."

She shrugged. "I've been threatened by much more fearsome people, trust me."

He snorted again and then sighed into her curls. As happy as he was to see her, he still worried about her safety. He was just glad she was going to be in Sweden the majority of the time. Which made him wonder what she was doing here during the week.

"Wait, why are you here now?" he asked.

"Anders' wife had the baby," she said with a smile. "He's taking some time off so he told me I should as well. I was just going to come home for a couple of days to see Harry and Ginny but," she trailed off and looked up at him.

"I really don't think I'm going to be able to let you leave after a couple of days," he said, unable to resist kissing her again. She was the one that pulled back this time but by the look in her eyes Adrian guessed that she was having just as much problem as he was.

"I really do need to talk to Anna," Hermione said a bit breathlessly. He chuckled and released her.

"Come on then. They're all in the kitchen."

Dinner had been delicious. Hermione was thoroughly impressed with Anna's cooking prowess, especially as she'd never done it before a couple of weeks ago. Anna's comparison to Potions was a fair one though. Hermione wondered if the younger woman would eventually become one of those people that could just throw ingredients together without a recipe and have it turn out amazing. Something Hermione had never been capable of doing.

They had discussed Anna's findings and what she had sent in her letter. Hermione was intrigued by everything Anna told her and knew that Anders would be as well. After Hermione had explained the most recent failures with the Potion, Anna had retreated to her room to pore over her Potions books. Hermione had volunteered to clean up the dishes and hadn't been bothered when she found out they weren't using magic. She normally did dishes the Muggle way at her own flat. It made her feel closer to her parents and soothed her somehow. Adrian had stayed to help her and he had just finished drying the last plate and set it in the cabinet.

Hermione had wiped down the table and was setting the dishcloth to dry when Adrian grabbed her around the waist and began kissing her neck. She leaned back into him and he tightened his arms around her. She hummed in appreciation, tipping her head slightly to the side to give him better access.

He maneuvered his hands under her shirt and they traveled up her torso to her breasts. Hermione hitched a breath and pressed back against him, quite aware of just how much he had missed her.

"Fuck," he whispered as he ground against her backside.

"Adrian," she managed. "We're in the kitchen."

Instead of stopping, he spun her around and pulled her into a drugging kiss. He had her backed up against the counter a few seconds later and was snogging her for all he was worth.

"Wait," she said ripping her mouth away from his. His lips immediately went to her neck and sucked at the juncture between her neck and shoulder.

"We have to, hmm, gods, we have to stop," she breathed out. He groaned and pulled back from her, his pupils blown wide with desire.

She took a few steps away from him, not trusting herself either. But Anna was still awake and researching. Tracey and Daphne were in the living room snuggled up on the couch. Shagging Adrian in the kitchen was not a good idea, despite her body vehemently disagreeing.

Adrian scrubbed a hand down his face and adjusted his trousers. Hermione forced herself to look away as her own libido flared once again. She pulled in a deep breath and let it out, attempting to calm herself.

"Let's go to my room," Adrian said roughly.

"But Anna," Hermione began.

"Will be involved with her research for hours, trust me."

"Yes, but," Hermione paused and bit her lip. There were so many people in the cottage and it was much smaller than Grimmauld Place had been. Not to mention that not using magic meant no silencing charms. She could be quiet if she had to but she had no idea how thick the walls were here. She felt her face heat at the thought of Tracey and Daphne or, Merlin forbid, Anna, hearing them.

Adrian smirked as if he could read her mind. "There are silencing charms on all the bedrooms. Daphne and I cast them when we first got here. We figured it was one piece of magic we would rather risk than deal with the consequences of not having them. Tracey's here nearly every night you know."

"Oh," Hermione said. Adrian walked towards her and pulled her into his arms again.

"So," he said as he nuzzled her temple with his nose. "My room?"

"Gods, yes," Hermione said.

Adrian grinned and grabbed her hand, pulling her from the kitchen.

After a quick good night to Tracey and Daphne, ignoring their knowing smirks, he led Hermione to his bedroom. He then knocked on Anna's door and poked his head inside, telling her that he and Hermione were going to bed. She waved at him to show that she'd heard but didn't look up from her books and parchment. Adrian chuckled as he shut the door.

When he walked into his room, Hermione was lounging on the bed. She smiled at him as he quickly crawled towards her. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him down to kiss him. He rested most of his weight next to her on the bed as one of his hands moved back under her shirt to her breast.

"Missed you," he mumbled as he continued to kiss her, swallowing her gasps and moans as his hand moved to the waistband of her jeans. A quick flick had them unbuttoned and he pulled down the zipper before he delved into her knickers.

She broke the kiss, her head falling back as he continued his ministrations. "Gods, I missed you too."

Having little patience to wait any longer and knowing that she was more than ready for him, Adrian quickly rid himself of his clothes as Hermione did the same. Moments later, he was sliding into her with a groan, burying his face in her neck to try and calm himself a bit. Her arms came around his shoulders as her legs wrapped around his back and she thrust upwards. Not needing to be told twice, Adrian began to move until he was pounding into her.

She met him thrust for thrust as he rose up on his elbows so he could reach between them. Seconds later, she froze and he could feel her tightening around him. Even with the silencing charm, she seemed determined not to make much noise as she let out a small moan, her fingers digging into his shoulders. Adrian thrust into her once more and stilled as he reached his own peak.

He collapsed onto her panting against her collarbone as she ran her fingers up and down his back, humming in satisfaction. After a few minutes, he rolled to the side and gathered her to him, their legs intertwined.

"I love you," he said, tightening his arms around her.

"I love you too," she said as she kissed his chest and sighed happily.