Twice the Discovery
"Great. Now see what you've done?" Ace said, glaring at Draco, Harry and Ron in turn. Ace was sporting a black eye that no one could see because his hand would not remove itself from his eye. God forbid Ace not look gorgeous for more than three seconds.
"What we've done?" Draco exclaimed, his voice rather different because of his bruised upper lip. "Hermione and I were fine until you came along. It always seems to work out that way, doesn't it?"
"Admit it." Harry interrupted. "You both fucked up."
Ron laughed. "I'll agree with you there, mate."
"Would you like my fist in your jaw, Potter?" Draco asked, balling his hand into a well-rounded fist "Because that can surely be arranged."
"More threats, Malfoy?" Ace smirked; he was definitely venturing into forbidden territory once again. Draco could have sworn that Ace was asking for another strikesquare in the eye. Before Draco could say anything, Ace said, "Well, this has been fun, but I think I'll be off. As entertaining as this was, I have much better things to be doing with my time. Ta."
Draco, Harry and Ron all watched Ace leave, equal amounts of disgust plastered over each and every one of their faces.
"God, I hate him." Ron said through gritted teeth. "We've seriously got to do something about him."
"Too right you are, mate." Harry replied, lying back on his elbows with his legs crossed. "But what can we do? He's VP of Hermione's idiotic SPEW."
"He doesn't have to be." Draco disrupted
"Butt out, Malfoy." Harry said, tiredly. "Don't you have somewhere to be? Like back in Azkaban?"
Ron laughed, giving Harry a low high-five.
"I'm going to disregard that comment." Draco said; obviously, he was already prepared to be bomb-barded with Azkaban jokes. Just shrug and let it roll off your shoulder, he told himself constantly. It seemed to be working, too. So far. "I'm completely serious. Believe it or not, I can't stand Ace more than I can't stand you two lightheaded dimwits. I'm willing to put our differences aside in order to get rid of him."
"Lightheaded?" Harry cried.
"Dimwits?" Ron demanded.
"Throw at me what you'd like." Draco said. "Call me dung, call me a loser, I don't give two shits, honestly. I'm trying to make a proposition here. Focus on what's laying right in front of you."
"Think he's trying to make friends?" Harry smirked, speaking in a low voice to Ron.
"I think he is." Ron replied.
"And who do we hate more? Malfoy or McGonagall?" Harry asked.
"I'd say we hate both equally." Ron answered.
"I agree." Harry settled.
"So we've got our answer, then?" Ron asked.
"I think we do." Harry rejoined
They both turned to face Draco, who was attempting unsuccessfully to eavesdrop, and said in unison, "No!"
Draco shrugged, slightly and surprisingly disappointed by their answer. "Okay. Fine. We'll see what you think in a month or two from now when Ace sweeps Hermione off of her feet and the two end up being the most sickening couple in the entire wizarding world. We'll see how you feel, then. Good day, dimwits."
For the second time in ten minutes, Harry and Draco both watched someone who they detested with every hatred bone in their body walk out of Hermione's bedroom.
"He called us dimwits again!" Ron cried, outraged
"Seems a bit insecure, doesn't he?" Harry observed.
"He does. Then again, Hermione's obviously not too happy with him." Ron noted.
"True." Harry said.
Ron laughed. "Malfoy tried to befriend us! Ha! And pigs hadn't even flown, yet!"
"Talk about unexpected." Harry said.
"I guess we're going to need to get used to the unexpected." Ron sighed.
Harry let his elbows fall out from under him so that he was lying on his back. "Too right you are, mate. Too right you are."
The next morning, Hermione woke upstill groggy from the night before.She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and tried with all of her strength not to think about what had happened the night before. After she had made her statement in front of Draco, Ace, Harry and Ron, she Apparated back to Hogwarts, then made her way to the one person who she knew would always be there to help her through thick and through thin, no matter what happened.
"Up already?" Hagrid smiled from the sink, where he was bustling around preparing tea.
"What time is it?" Hermione asked, sleepily
"A bit pas' nine." Hagrid answered.
She sighed and fell back onto the cushy pillow, wishing that the day would end instead of just begin. She had fallen asleep on Hagrid's couch only fifteen minutes after she had arrived, so Hagrid did not know why she was there. "Sleep all righ'?" He asked, still smiling warmly.
"Yes." Hermione answered.
"I don' want ter pry, Hermione, but do yeh wanna talk about what's goin' on?" Hagrid asked carefully, passing a mug of tea to Hermione before seating himself in the armchair across from her. The armchair was about two sizes too small for Hagrid's large size, but he managed to squeeze himself in somewhat comfortably.
Hermione sighed. Honestly, she didn't want to tell Hagrid what was going on, but she felt that she owed it to him because of his kind hospitality. "It's just... boys." She said, lamely.
"Boys!" Hagrid exclaimed, laughing. "Well o' course its about boys! Yer growin' up, Hermione. Yer gonna have them troubles sooner or later, it jus' seemed to happen sooner fer yeh."
Hermione managed a smile as she wrapped her hands around her steaming tea. "Yeah, that's what I thought, too. But it seems to be more complicating then what I had imagined, you know?"
"What do yeh mean?" Hagrid asked, confused.
"It's just... Draco." Hermione answered, heat rising to her cheeks. "And Ace. And Harry and Ron. They're just so immature. I'd have thought that they'd grow up seeing as their seventh year is almost over. But no, of course they haven't. They're so frustrating, sometimes I-"
"What do yeh mean Draco?" Hagrid asked. "Malfoy's in Azkaban!"
"Not anymore." Hermione answered. "He was released yesterday."
"Why!" Hagrid exclaimed. "He's a Malfoy! The on'y safe place fer them is behin' bars!"
Hermione fell quiet and kept her eyes focused on a tiny, black speck on the floor, not wanting to look Hagrid in the eye for fear of crying.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Hermione." Hagrid said, sympathetically. "I didn't know yeh was so close with him. I saw yeh around with him a lot, and I read the stories in the Daily Prophet, but I didn't know it was so serious. I though' it was jus' some teen drama."
"I'm sorry, Hagrid." Hermione apologized. "I never bothered to come visit you much this year, did I?"
"Don' think twice about it." Hagrid grinned. "Yeh're here now, righ'? An' don' worry about them boys. Yeh're the nicest, sweetest girl I know. If the wizards of the pas' love yeh, then yeh'll be all righ'. It'll all turn out all righ' in the end. Yeh just watch."
"Hermione smiled. She sat up and leaned over to hug Hagrid. "Thanks, Hagrid. I hope you're right."
Hagrid continued to grin as he pulled away from Hermione; he held her shoulders and couldn't help but feel proud of her. "Now, yeh go talk ter Malfoy, all righ'? Get things fixed up with him. Goodness knows yeh could use some happiness in yer life righ' about now."
Hermione smiled as she wiped away the tear tricking down her face. "I'll do that, Hagrid. Thanks a lot. For everything."
"Don' mention it." Hagrid said, giving Hermione one more hug. As he went to stand up, he dropped the cup of tea in his hand, then watched it fall and crash onto the hardwood floor, the tea spreading in every direction. Hagrid grinned, bashfully. "Fang! I got a task fer yeh!"
Hermione smiled once more, internally deciding that yes, she would talk to Draco; after all, what did she have to lose?
"Fucking Ace." Draco muttered, pacing around the empty atrium of SPEW. He had slept on the comfortable, two-seated sofa in the entrance and his sleep had not gone dreamless. His dream involved only Hermione and Ace; they were about to be wed before Dumbledore and all of their friends, and both seemed happier than they had ever been in their entire lives. It was enough to literally make Draco sick. "He's going down. He is so going down."
"Draco." A sharp, harsh voice called. After a few moments of wondering who had spoken, Draco finally clued in. He reached deep into his pocket and withdrew a small mirror. Instead of showing his own reflection, it showed his mother, Narcissa's.
"Yes, mother?" Draco asked, obediently.
"How did your first night go?" She asked, getting right down to business. "Have you found a way to destroy SPEW, yet?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "I haven't even been released for twenty-four hours and you're already badgering me, mother."
"I'm just asking!" Narcissa exclaimed, defensively. "The sooner we get this done, the better. Oh, and guess what?"
"I don't like guessing games." Draco said, grumpily.
Narcissa grinned, not allowing her son's negative attitude to get in her way. "I've spoken with the Parkinson's."
"Ooh, goody." Draco replied, sarcastically.
"You know, I'd have thought that you'd be more respectful to the person who got your ass out of jail." Narcissa snapped, angrily.
Draco sighed. "You're right. I just had a tough night, that's all. So, what about the Parkinson's?"
"We've sorted out all of the details, and we've arranged to have you wed to Pansy! Isn't that wonderful!" Narcissa gushed, thrilled at her own news.
Draco was at a loss for words. Completely speechless. She must have been kidding. Must have been. "I'm sorry, what?" Draco said after a few moments had passed. Yeah, she had spoken wrong. It was all a misunderstanding.
"You're going to marry Pansy!" Narcissa exclaimed. "The Malfoy's are going to stay pure! I'm just so ecstatic!"
"Mother, I'm not marrying Pansy." Draco said. No way would he marry Pansy.
"Oh? And why not?" Narcissa asked in a dangerous tone.
"Because... because then our plan wouldn't work." Draco replied, thinking quickly. "I need to be acting as Hermione's boyfriend in order to get into top-security things at SPEW. This was your plan, mother."
"Well, that's fine." Narcissa said, disgusted at Draco for saying the mudblood's first name. "You and Pansy will marry after this whole awful ordeal is over. After SPEW has been destroyed. After the mudblood is cowering in iciness alone beneath a bridge on a bitterwinter's night with only a garbage bag to wear. And you mark my words, son, that day will come soon enough."
"Mother, please, I-"
"You what?" Narcissa interrupted in a deathly quiet tone. "Don't you dare defy me, boy. You and Pansy will marry. The Malfoy's will remain pure. And that bitch will go down. I am Narcissa Malfoy. I get what I want, and if you want to step in my way or try and foil my plans, then you will go down, as well. Do you understand me?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Draco could see Hermione walking towards the building. Walking towards him. "I've got to go, mother. Someone's coming. Good-bye." Without waiting to hear his mother's reply, Draco stuffed the mirror back into his pocket, then smoothed his hair and attempted to make himself look half-decent in the short time that it took for Hermione to get from where she was to where Draco was.
"Hello, Draco." Hermione said as she entered the SPEW Headquarters. She looked weary and exhausted, as though she hadn't slept all night.
"Hey. Where've you been all night?" Draco asked, getting straight to the point.
"Not here." Hermione answered, shortly. "Look, Draco, I'm thrilled that you're back, I really am. But I can't have you doing this. Ace is an employee for SPEW, whether you like it or not; he's here to stay and I would really appreciate it if you'd just attempt to be civil with him, especially if you're going to be around here a lot."
"I actually wanted to talk to you about that." Draco interrupted, changing the subject. "I would also like to work for SPEW. I have nothing better to be doing, and if I were to work here than you and I could be together every day. Hell, I can even move in with you."
Hermione's eyes lit up; Draco's idea could not be more perfect! As angry with Draco as she was about the night before, Hermione still loved him deeply and she would have loved nothing more than to be with him every day and every night for the rest of her life. Draco, on the other hand, had absolutely no wish to work in that god-forsaken place. He still believed that house-elves were only good as servants, and he had no wish in promoting their existence as superior, useful magical creatures. However, it was the only way that he could remain out of Azkaban. He needed to find something – anything – that would demolish SPEW. Draco hated to do it, but he had to for his freedom.
"That's brilliant, Draco!" Hermione exclaimed, thrilled at the suggestion. "Just brilliant! SPEW could use some help, too. I was looking into hiring more people, since there is still a few months left before Ron and Harry and everyone else can come and work full-time. Your help would mean the world to me! And we'd get to live together! How incredible is that?"
"We've done it before." Draco noted, not seeing why Hermione found this so exciting.
"Yeah, but that was different. Things are going to be perfect, Draco, you wait and see!"
Draco cleared his throat, a surge of guilt washing over him. "So…um, what would I be doing?"
"Hmm," Hermione thought. "Whatever you want, I suppose. There's pretty much every position available with the exception of president and vice president. Actually, you know what? You can be president with me!" Hermione's eyes grew wider as her idea began to form in her head. "We can run SPEW together! You and me, presidents of a major business corporation! Would you have ever thought that to be possible?"
Draco grinned, thinking that Hermione's enthusiasm was absolutely adorable. "No, I wouldn't have. But I would love to run SPEW with you, Hermione."
A lump began to form in Hermione's throat, because she was so incredibly happy. But then a thought crossed her mind. "You'll be fine with Ace, right? And Ron, and Harry?"
Draco tried not to make a face or a rude remark; instead, he said, "Yes, I'll be fine with them. Don't you worry about it. Like you said, everything is going to be perfect. Just like you."
Hermione blushed. She walked towards Draco and slid her arms around his neck. "I love you." She whispered, before pulling him into a deep, luscious kiss. She pulled away and hugged him; thankfully, she could not see Draco's incredibly guilty look. He was lying directly to her face, he planned on destroying SPEW, and he was set to marry Pansy Parkinson. Hermione was not going to be too thrilled with him if she ever found out any of this.
……………………………….
"There must be something here." Draco murmured, sifting through the piles of parchment spread out on Hermione's desk. It was after midnight, and Hermione was sound asleep in the penthouse that she and Draco now shared. Draco, on the other hand, was not. He had already begun searching for anything that would puncture SPEW, if only a little bit. His goal was to find something that would harm SPEW only enough that it would be in the Daily Prophet, but not enough that Hermione could not work it out and have SPEW standing back on its feet. However, so far, he had no luck whatsoever. He wasn't expecting to, of course; after all, SPEW was not even officially established. All he could find were ideas, written and drawn, but nothing that would substantially impact SPEW.
"Ace!" Draco cried, then slammed his hand over his mouth and silently cursed himself for being so loud. Ace, of course! He must have something that will create havoc for this stupid corporation! Grinning maliciously, Draco strolled across the room and made his way down the long corridor until he reached the vice president's office. He reached for the door handle and turned it, then quietly pushed it open only an inch so that he could peek in to make sure that Ace was not present. Draco did not expect him to be, since it was well after midnight, but all the same, it was better to be safe than sorry. Since Ace was nowhere in sight, Draco pushed the door all the way open and strode inside, not stopping until he came to rest at Ace's desk. It was covered in advertising ideas for SPEW, some pictures in color and some in black and white. Not bad, considering they're drawn by someone whose brain is half the size of a pea, Draco thought. He then smirked at his spur-of-the-moment insult before rummaging through the advertisements to see if there was anything underneath them that may have come in handy to him.
"Nothing." Draco muttered, picking up the advertisements and throwing them back down on the desk. He sunk into Ace's chair, incredibly angry with himself for allowing his mother and Fudge to force him into betraying Hermione so cruelly and callously. It was sick. Just plain, disgustingly sick. Draco stood up, ready to leave and completely forget about the bargain between himself and his mother and the Minister for Magic. He just couldn't do it, not to the woman who he was in love with.
As he went to leave, he caught flicker of light in the corner of his eye. He turned and saw a dark cabinet in the far back of the office; the office was so dark and shadowed that Draco did not even notice it. The light began to grow even brighter, and Draco walking towards the cabinet was proof that his curiosity had gotten the better of him. He reached out to pull the doors open, but they were locked. Sighing, Draco took out his wand and muttered, "Allohamora". The doors unlocked, and inside were two shelves; one held a sheaf of parchment, and the other held something that Draco's parents used to own before his father died. His mother had been so tragically distressed and enraged at his father's death that she had thrown it across the room and smashed it to pieces. It was a Pensieve. Draco had never taken any interest in it or in its brightness, and he was not about to begin now. Who cared what Ace's thoughts and experiences were? Certainly not Draco. Instead, he focused on the sheaf of parchment that lay on the shelf above the Pensieve. He pulled it out and began sorting through it, and with each passing parchment his eyes grew wider and wider. The first was a terrible, juvenile drawing of the SPEW building burning with a stick-figure that definitely resembled Ace floating above the building with his wand out and aimed at it, laughing hysterically. The second was a list of things that Ace hated about SPEW, numbering from one (house-elves are meant to serve wizards and witches and nothing else) to twenty-eight (Fucking Malfoy's gonna get a job). Draco dropped his jaw; obviously, Ace had been there and updated the parchment recently, since he only found out about Draco's return the day prior. Flipping through the remaining parchment, Draco had a huge grin on his face. This stuff was gold. This was what was going to allow him to finally be free. Free of Azkaban forever, but also free of Ace. Preparing to shove the parchment into his pockets, Draco had a sudden thought. She's going to hate me forever after this. There's no way I can hide it from her. Of course, he already knew that he would be in the doghouse with Hermione if he were to find any incriminating evidence, but now that he had it, it was a guarantee. Hermione would never speak to him again. SPEW was obviously her new baby, and Draco presenting the Minster for Magic with Ace's coarse drawings would have been basically ripping SPEW from her grasp. Draco could actually picture Hermione's expression once she discovered that it was he who had done it, and he knew that their relationship would be over.
Sighing once more, Draco decided to return the sheaf of parchment to its original place. If SPEW is going down, it's not going to be me who is the cause of it, Draco thought. Perhaps he would show Hermione the drawings and list, if only to get Ace in some serious trouble. She couldn't fire him, but Draco was sure that she would think of some creative way to punish him. Nonetheless, for now Draco decided to just leave everything as it was and go to bed a happy man in love with the perfect woman. It was all that his conscience would allow him to do.
As he went to close the cabinet doors, however, he once again caught something out of the corner of his eye. Swirling in the Pensieve was Hermione, hard at work in her office. Curious as to why Hermione would be in Ace's Pensieve and what kind of situation they could have been in, Draco put both hands around the rim of the basin and peered in. She looked so focused but lost at the same time, as though she was so unsure about the work before her but determined to complete it. After a few moments, Ace walked into the room where Hermione was working. Draco stared harder; suddenly, it felt as though a brick had dropped to the bottom of his stomach. Something was not right about this. It looked like nighttime, so what was Ace doing there? He and Hermione began exchanging words, and their conversation looked serious. Hermione looked sympathetic, and Ace looked rather anxious. At that moment, Draco's fears were confirmed; Ace had pounced on Hermione and drawn her into a luscious kiss, and Hermione did not protest. Instead, they fell onto her desk and began to kiss even more passionately. Draco watched on; he did not want to, but his eyes could not move away. He felt nothing inside. Absolutely nothing. Hermione and Ace stopped kissing, and Hermione looked panicked. Ace then disappeared, and not even two minutes after he Apparated, Draco himself appeared in the Pensieve.
It was talking place the day before. The day he returned. Two minutes before he had confronted Hermione, she was making out with that good-for-nothing, piece-of-shit scumbag. An intense anger suddenly rose in his chest. It was an anger that he had only felt one time before, and that was the moment right before he had stripped Will of his life. Before he knew what he was doing, he picked up the Pensieve and thrashed it against the wall, causing it to smash to the ground in pieces and the silvery substance to spill onto the floor. How dare Hermione do that? How dareshe make out with such a foul thing like Ace when Draco was rotting away in Azkaban, longing only for her? How dare she? Draco kicked the cabinet door so hard that it swung off one of the hinges, not to mention cause a searing pain to shoot through his foot. Wanting to throw something else, Draco reached for the first thing in sight: the sheaf of parchment. The small thing that could have destroyed SPEW. Grinning menacingly, Draco picked it up and stared at it. "Want to feel what it's like to have a knife in your back, Hermione?" He said, talking to no one in particular. His eyes were red and burning, and it was obvious that he was trying not to cry. Who would have thought that anyone could actually cause Draco Malfoy to cry? Crying was like bleeding. No one made Draco Malfoy bleed, and certainly not cry. No one. Draco shoved the parchment in his pocket and kicked the cabinet door one more time, causing it to fall off altogether. One thing was for sure: he wasn't sleeping in the same bed as Hermione that night. He couldn't even stand to look at her. If he did, God only knows what he would do. Hermione and Ace were going to pay for fucking around with Draco Malfoy, that was certain.