Title: What You Don't Know, Can't Hurt
Summary: Blaise asks an owed favor and Draco complies. What Draco doesn't know is that Blaise's intentions for a certain girl will end up being the girl Draco wants for himself. Will conflicts arise? You betcha!
Disclaimer: No, I do not own Harry Potter and Co.
A/N: I want to make a few things clear on this story:
1. It's post Hogwarts.
2. Draco's father is in Azkaban. But there is a very good reason why Draco can't stay with his mom, you will just have to stay tune to know.
3. It will be a light sort of fluffy story. Because I want to try something different. If you want a dark story, check out my other story: Last Chance for Redemption.
4. For those who are confused it is a DM/HG story and if you're confused about something else, let me know so I can clear it up for you on the next chap.
If things are going too slow/fast please let me know but don't worry too much about it cause the characters will stay in character…I hope!
Chapter 2: At the Inn
The shabby inn was dim, filled with pipe smoke creating a dark setting. After three months of innovation, the inn was re-opened for all, which brought a lot of business. More business meant more workers for Tom, the Inn keeper. And more workers meant he wanted young out-of-school witches and wizards to work for him. The problem with Tom was he couldn't trust adults. But he had a lot of confidence in his new employee. Just at that moment he was thinking about her, she walked through the doors wearing a long black cloak and carrying a Daily Prophet Newsletter.
She gave him a smile and stepped in his office where she came to pick up her apron and name pin in order to begin her daily routine of bookkeeping, feeding the guests, washing and sweeping the floor and checking in for any shipments that came in for the day. It may seem like she did most of the work, leaving Tom with nothing. It was for this very reason why he was so keen on her. She took more of the workload then necessary. It was the workaholic in her that caused him to shake his head as he continued to do his paperwork in his office when she left.
He trusted Hermione Granger.
Hermione, on the other hand, enjoyed the favoritism he gave her over the other employee's but that wasn't her concern. She needed the money and she needed something to keep her busy during her days off of Auror Training. It was too much for some, yes but if one didn't work they wouldn't have anything to really live for. That was her motto anyway.
She sat down at the front counter pouring an old wizard a Sherry drink. He naturally thanked her and she continued on with reading the Daily Prophet. It was the first time she had picked this newspaper up in weeks but the cover was something no one can just pass up.
Apparently, Narcissa Malfoy was fretting over her missing son. For some strange reason, Draco Malfoy left the house with a note simply stating he'd be back in a few months time while taking the entire family fortune with him. No one had any news of where he was but then again who would want to search for a death eater and why not let him rot and die wherever he may be? Just because he proved that he was forced by his father to join the ranks of Lord Voldemort's loyal servants and had never killed a single soul, didn't mean he wasn't capable of being evil.
Hermione knew he was and she had no idea why Dumbledore would let him off so easily. No body really did. With a sigh of confusion, she threw the newsletter aside and looked up to see her best-friend walk in. His messy red-hair was covered in white snow while his face flushed from the blistering cold she had encountered minutes ago.
"Hello Hermione!"
"Hey Ron, what brings you here?" She asked.
"Well I don't start work in like ten minutes so I thought I'd come and say hello." He stated with a shrug. She glanced down at his dark red cloak and noticed a Daily Prophet slightly poking out of the pocket as he made his way over to a seat by one of the near tables.
"So you read today's news?" She asked while joining him.
"Yeah, nothing interesting." He stated wearily.
"What do you mean? Haven't you seen Malfoy's mom plea for the Ministry to do a thorough search for her son?" Hermione stated in shock.
"Like I said nothing interesting. Who care's if the physco disappeared?"
"Of course it is interesting. Why would Malfoy leave a grand mansion like that and leave his mother by herself? Last time I checked, he was pretty keen on her."
"Hermione, however weird or bizarre that sounds, I'd rather have him gone from this civilization then have someone like him around to stir up some trouble. When we get our Auror certificates, I don't want to be catching him over and over and over again."
"If he ever did something heinous, one capture is enough. He'll be fed off to the Dementors in no time. Why would we be capturing him over and over again?"
"Because…" Ron said then leaned in to whisper to Hermione. "They've caught Lucius about to escape and the only reason why they caught him was because he was weak. Imagine someone young like Malfoy? He'd be out in a snap."
Hermione's eyes widen in horror. "Are they going to feed him to the Dementor's kiss?"
"Eventually," Ron stated then looked over at the crooked clock. "Got to go, I don't want Fred and George having a fit."
"See you later." Hermione said as she watched him leave and she went off to think about what she heard. Of course the Daily Prophet would not want to mention something that dangerous to the community; it would only frighten everyone all over again. And although Harry had won the final war in their last year in Hogwarts, it didn't mean something as evil and monstrous as Voldemort can't rise again.
But wherever Draco had run off to, couldn't be that bad. He was smart enough to take his fortune with him. Maybe he went off to live somewhere nice like the Bahamas. Hermione then gave a snort, yeah right. Whatever it may be, he stated he'd be back and he probably would be.
"Hermione, get over here. Take this upstairs to the Madame Flurry in Room 21." Tom yelled from the front desk. Hermione put her thoughts of Draco's absence behind her as she carried out her order.
An hour later…
The familiar door bell rang as two men in heavy cloaks entered the room with large hoods covering the majority of their faces. Hermione looked over her shoulder after washing the table and thought nothing of it as she walked off to the front desk. She patiently waited for them to make their way over since she presumed they wanted a room or maybe something to eat or drink. But that wasn't the case. They seemed to find themselves at a far off table for two and began talking secretly. Hermione would have considered this suspicious if it was her first week working here but now she was use to men like them; men who hung about Knockturn Alley.
After half an hour of no communication, she left the front desk with one of the other employees while she headed off to clean the floors. When she had made her way around their table, one of them looked up at her. From what she can see, he gave her a grin. Not an evil, distrusting grin but a smooth, friendly one. She felt she had seen this grin before but couldn't quite place her finger on it so she settled for a friendly hello.
The man took the opportunity to nod his head but had no reply whatsoever. Hermione didn't say a word because she was already getting a sense of uneasiness from the other man who stared at her. If she could see through the black veil, she assumed he would be glaring at her. Hermione didn't know why.
"Is there anything I can get for you?" Hermione asked the man who had smiled at her a second ago.
"Yeah you're bo—"
"No." The other one replied sternly, cutting off the first. Hermione decided not to bother these two creeps after all and walked off. But half way down the room, she could have sworn she heard one of them say, "What was that about blaze?"
Unfortunately she couldn't be bothered with that because there where meals to be served to the Inn guests.
A/N: 'blaze' wasn't spelled incorrect. I did it intentionally. So don't send me any reviews about that.