Warning: This part is a little choppy and very short, and I may come back and revise it a little when I have more time, but I hope that you enjoy it as is, even if it is a little rough.
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Aftershock: Part Seven
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Draco spent the next few days doing work outside the office, and it was starting to get on his nerves. Fate seemed to be trying to keep Hermione away from him, but only when he really wanted to see her again. He had been kicking himself since she dashed out his front door for not finding out where she was staying. Then maybe he could see how far this new … feeling between them went.
His dreams had been getting worse. No longer did he only have to contend with being so in love and so content and so peaceful in his dreams only to wake up alone in his bed. Now, he dreamt of losing her. Of the Death Eaters making one last come back, and taking her away. It was a fear that gripped him through the day, every day since the notion had occurred to him.
He knew that when he was at school the world had been safe from his father because everyone knew that Lucious Malfoy had worked for Voldemort, curse or no curse. Nobody had trusted Lucious after that, even though he still had had influence. Suspicion had saved the world from anything that the Malfoys could do. It was the ones that nobody had suspected that had caused the most damage. The Moody imposter during fourth year, Peter Pettigrew being attached to Voldemort at all, Percy Weasly… Harry had dragged Draco to the Ministry headquarters after that revelation. It had been during the "There are better things than Power" lessons, and it had been painful.
He shuddered and shied away from the memory, and finished his lunch. So far he had found five reporters using the dark artifacts of spying to get information. It was their luck that these artifacts weren't particularly powerful or particularly harmful. They had been classified as dark because of their ability to remove inhibitions. Kind of like being drunk Draco mused. The behavior of the people under the influence was about the same too. He had finished gathering the Scarf of Speech which compelled a person to keep talking while they were wearing it, the Ring of First Thought which removed a person's impulse control, and the Scroll of Endless Adventure that was helping a reporter make her columns more interesting. And he'd done it all in the last three days. He was busy deciding whether or not having people so scared of him was a benefit to his job.
As he walked down the avenue of shops, Draco felt a bit of nostalgia wash over him. It often did when he was alone with his thoughts, but he had tried to keep the memories restricted to his time at Hogwarts. Now, he remembered the first time he had been at Diagon Alley. He had been allowed to go with his mother when he was six, and it had been wonderful. Things had been so big and strange in every shop that they went into. He remembered the first time he had seen a racing broom in a shop window. It had been love at first sight.
A smile came unbidden to Draco's face as he drifted through the memory. His pace slowed, and he felt like window shopping, just to see how much had changed, and what was new.
"How'd you talk them into letting you go Malfoy!?" A shout came from behind him. He didn't need to look to see who it was. George Weasly had become the single most recognizable voice in the Wizarding world, thanks to damage done to his vocal chords in the terrible months. Draco took a deep breath and tried to decide if fighting back would be worth it.
"I didn't." Draco replied and tried to continue walking. George wasn't done with him yet, though.
"Yeah, so why are you out here, a free man while my brother's locked up in Azkaban like a Death Eater!"
Because he was a Death Eater. Draco thought as he turned to look into rage-filled eyes. Old hate and rage were emotions that Draco understood very well, and he knew that no matter what he said, George would never believe him. The Weasley's would never stop hating him.
"Answer Me!" George advanced a step, and Draco prepared for the beating. He deserved it for so many things that he had done, but it was only fitting that he be punished for something that had been out of his control.
"I can't." He looked into George Weasley's eyes, and discovered that he was strangely calm. He had always thought that this would be harder, coming back to a world that thought he had tricked his way out of the Dementor's Kiss. But he was calm as George's hands clenched into fists and he advanced again.
"George Weasley, take two steps back right now." The voice boomed, and Draco was tempted to duck for cover. Looking around, his eyes met the worried brown gaze of Hermione as she stood next to a pale Molly Weasley. Suddenly it looked too much like one of the fights at Kings Cross station, outside the Hogwart's Express, and yet not enough.
George was looking down at his feet, muttering the explanation that his Mother had demanded. When he was finished, Mrs. Weasley walked up to where draco was standing, and looked like she was trying to say something. Draco hoped that it wasn't what he thought it would be. Mrs. Weasley had been the only one to apologize to him for the behavior of her children, no matter how much he had deserved the treatment. He had sneered at her before, but respected her for it now.
"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley." He tried to beat her to the punch, knowing that whatever words he could possible say would never be adequate. It did stop her train of thought though. She looked at him expectantly. "For...everything..." He had to stop, search for words. Nothing was coming to him, and he began to panic, the fear that should have come with George's actions flooding him in the face of Mrs. Weasley's calm regard.
"I know Mr. Malfoy," and wasn't it just fitting that she said his name the same way Snape had said Potter's in class, "I also know that if it weren't for you, my son would have gotten nearly half of our forces killed before the battles had even begun." Draco had to look away, a strange mix of guilt and pride filling him, as it did usually when he thought about the terrible months. "I also know that you did it without having any idea who you were trying to expose, and that you couldn't have possibly framed my boy. For exposing Pearcy, and for only that, are you forgiven." Her voice was cold, lacking even the disdain that Snape had shown Potter. Draco nearly lacked the courage to look up, but finally met her eyes.
"It's more than I'll ever deserve Mrs. Weasley. You are a great Lady." She nodded, looked pointedly at her son, and walked away into the sparse crowd that was pretending not to notice them.
Draco sighed, and turned to leave too, only to see Hermione still standing next to him. There were tears running down her face.
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End Part Seven
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Sorry for the lack of length, and that I won't be getting back to Draco/Hermione interaction until the next part. I hope that you like it anyway! And to Seeress (the only person to send me comments on part six) I'm afraid that midterms got in the way of updating quickly, but I'll be wrapping this story up in a part or two. Would you like to pick the setting for the big revelation? (Hey, I reward commments!)