Here is Chapter 7 y'all! Happy to provide for y'all! I'm gonna have a cigarette and write out the next part on paper! We're so close to closing the book on this story, I shall try to get Chapter 8 done tonight, if not, I'll have it done in a few days!
Things were going great for the newly minted status couple.
Draco and Hermione did couples things. They went out for ice cream, went to go see movies and live shows, had take out, nights out, nights in, it was a fun relationship.
Hermione found herself constantly busy but happy.
Her work was starting to pick up as her trip to the Netherlands drew closer and closer. She was going to Gorinchem province, home of the "last" witch trial of Anna Jansdochter Muggen in 1608. Anna hadn't been a trained witch, she was a muggleborn who turned into an Obscurus in her youth.
Truly a sad story.
Nobody knew when she had been born, but she grew up in a strict household, and when her mother discovered that her daughter was magical, she had been approached by the local coven, as a proper school hadn't been established, but Anna's mother rejected the coven's teachings, refused to allow her daughter to practice magic, and Anna became an obscurus.
It was shocking that she lived to her teens, she was executed before she was twenty.
Hermione was going to be studying the coven that had existed around the time of Anna's death. They had a site in the forest marked off for excavation, and hopefully Hermione would be helpful.
It would be a challenge since the runes might have a dialect of sorts, even though ancient runes were pretty uniform, it still might have a Dutch language influence on it.
So she was reading up on Dutch witchcraft, wishing there were more books in the UK about it, she was having a hard time finding any.
Draco had noticed her frustration, and wished that he could give her access to his family's library. They had a small collection on the Netherlands and Dutch witches and wizards, they were related to a few afterall.
Ginny owled Hermione a few weeks after the date that led to Draco "locking" Hermione down.
'Mione
We must get a spot of tea soon. I'm dying to know what has become of you! I never see you anymore!
Stop by tomorrow after 11AM and we'll have some tea and you can give me the gossip!
Tata for now
~Ginny
Hermione smiled and decided it would be good to visit with Ginny. She had become a sort of shut in recently, spending most of her time researching or with Draco. Hermione admitted that she was neglecting her friends.
The next day, Hermione flooed to Ginny's. She dusted the ash off her clothes as she stepped into Grimauld Place.
Hermione was met with a shriek and a mass of red hair as Ginny engulfed her in a hug.
"Excellent! You did come! Come on, I had my mum make us some biscuits to go with our tea!"
"Molly's biscuits are delicious." Hermione replied, following Ginny into the kitchen where Harry was reading the paper.
"Harry, Hermione's here! Say your hellos and then your goodbyes, because she and I are gossiping!" Ginny sang.
Harry put down his paper, stood and hugged Hermione.
"Hello 'Mione. Goodbye 'Mione." He laughed as he left to go to Ron's flat.
Ginny chuckled and the kettle whistled, having been put on earlier.
Hermione sat at the table as Ginny made them cups and levitated all the fixings to the table along with the biscuits.
"Now, spill. I KNOW you're seeing someone new."
"How'd you know?"
"I have good intuition. You're glowing, and you're busy more than usual. You're seeing someone new. Who is it? Spill and don't hold back."
"Well, it's a bit of a shocker. Are you ready to choke on your tea?"
"Yes. Hit me with it."
Hermione blushed, "Draco Malfoy. I found him. In muggle London. Running a tattoo parlor. That's who gave me my cover up tattoo actually. He goes by the name "Draconian" to the muggles. Oh! And he has blue hair now and is COVERED in ink. Quite sexy if you ask me."
Ginny's jaw dropped, and she sputtered over her next few words, "You're playing a prank on me right?"
Hermione shook her head, "Nope. Draco is reformed, he chooses to be left alone for the time being, and I will admit to you, I am falling head over heels for him."
Hermione sighed dreamily, "He's truly amazing Gin. I think you'd like the new Draco. We're not ready to go 'public' yet, just because it would be complicated, and he just isn't ready to face the proverbial wizarding firing squad yet."
"He disappeared years ago, and you stumbled upon him in muggle London?"
"Completely stumbled. I wandered into a tattoo parlor, we hit it off, fucked after my first session, and here we are, officially dating."
"Wow." Is all Ginny could muster to say.
Hermione laughed, "Yeah, it's been a whirlwind of a few weeks. I'm just worried about the Netherlands. I don't know how it'll affect our relationship. I'm scheduled to be there for three weeks, and honestly, I don't feel prepared at all."
"When do you leave again?"
"In about four weeks, I've been preparing as much as I can, but there's a limited selection of books on the Dutch magical world available to me here in the UK. I won't learn more until I get there, unless something spectacular happens."
"Well, you'll figure it out! You are THE Hermione Granger. Nothing can stop you!" Ginny said, trying to build her friend's confidence.
The two friends chatted idly for a few hours, Hermione going into lavish detail about Draco. She didn't hold back as Ginny was her closest girl friend.
They parted a while later, with hugs before Hermione flooed home to return to her studies.
A few days passed, and Hermione was on her way to meet Draco at the shop. He was finishing a session with a client that morning and was planning to take her to lunch afterwards.
Free food. Hermione wasn't arguing.
Yet, something felt off that beautiful morning. Hermione kept checking behind her shoulder, convinced somebody was watching her as she approached the parlour.
She entered the parlour and made idle conversation with Alisha as Draco finished up.
"So how was your travel here?" Alisha asked.
"I don't know Alisha, I felt like I was being followed then watched. I can't shake the feeling that somebody is keeping their eye on me. I think I'm just over reacting though. I'm not sure." Hermione admitted.
"Maybe you've got a stalker." Alisha teased.
"I sure hope not." Hermione replied, suddenly more worried. There had been a few Death Eaters who hadn't been caught, and Hermione was afraid one of them was out for her.
Draco finished up with his client a few minutes later, and after the client left, Hermione went into the studio where she found Draco cleaning his space.
He was done after a few minutes and they shared a chaste kiss outside the parlour as they left to walk to a bistro down the street for lunch.
*CLICK*
Hermione jerked away from Draco. She was convinced that she had heard something click, like a camera. She looked around wildly, trying to find the source of the sound, but saw nothing in immediate sight. She peered into the shadows but still saw nothing.
Draco was confused, "What's wrong?"
"Did you hear that click? Or am I being paranoid? I feel like someone has been watching me all damn day. But I don't see anyone or anything."
Draco scanned the area and found nothing out of the ordinary, "I'm not sure. I didn't hear anything, and I don't see anything. That doesn't mean you didn't hear anything. Let's just be careful on our walk. Wands at the ready of course."
"Of course."
After the phantom click, Hermione eased up. She didn't feel like she was being watched. But there was a nagging voice in the back of her head saying not to let her guard down.
IS THAT DRACO MALFOY AND HERMIONE GRANGER CANOODLING?
The headline screamed at Ginny as she stared at the morning paper. She just happened to be up before Harry and received the owl before he did.
She rushed to the floo, paper crumpling in hand and flooed to Hermione's where she found the woman in question asleep at her desk. Thank god she was home.
"HERMIONE!" Ginny shrieked, causing Hermione to jerk awake.
"What? What's wrong?" Hermione asked, looking around wildy.
Ginny shoved the paper into Hermione's hands. "Look."
Hermione read the blaring headline, that was accompanied with a picture of her and Draco kissing outside of his parlour.
So she wasn't paranoid, she had been followed by a Daily Prophet reporter.
"Fuck!" She swore.
She looked at Ginny, "We gotta get to Draco. Give me your arm."
Hermione side aparated them to the alley next to Draco's shop and practically dragged Ginny up the stairs to Draco's flat, where Hermione banged on the door. In her rush she had forgotten her keys.
There was stirring from inside the flat. A groggy and shirtless Draco opened the door, rubbing his eyes.
"'Mione?" He yawned, the he noticed Ginny, "And Weaslette?"
Hermione barged in, dragging Ginny with her. She was from the corner of her eye that spectators were starting to gather at the front of the shop. One of them noticed and pointed to them before Hermione could slam the door shut, locking it immediately afterwards.
"Draco, you need to see this." Hermione said, handing him the paper.
Draco was taken aback by the headline and scanned the article.
The prophet reporters had recognized him. His disguise either hadn't worked, or they did their research.
"Well fuck." Draco swore.
The article detailed Draco's secret muggle life, obviously the Prophet really dug into Draco's muggle centered past. It talked about his time in Russia, how he became an artist, and of course, mentioned the blueberry hair.
Draco glanced out his window and saw a small crowd of people forming in front of his shop.
"Double fuck." Draco said. He looked at Hermione, "Give me a minute to put a shirt on and we'll figure this out okay?"
Hermione was starting to get tears in her eyes. Everything had been going so well, and now it was ruined.
Draco disappeared into his room to grab a shirt while his mind was racing on how to do damage control over the whole situation. The jig was up, he might as well come out fully. Not how he wanted to do it, but he didn't want to lose Hermione.
He wouldn't go to the Daily Prophet.
No.
Fuck them.
They stuck their nose in his business and he wouldn't let them live it down.
He'd go to the Quibbler, while not reputable, Luna had taken over and would give him a fair interview.
He reemerged from his room and told Hermione the plan. Together, the three of them made a game plan, and Hermione sent a patronus to Luna, asking her to come over to do an interview with Draco.
A hare arrived a few minutes later, telling Hermione and Draco that Luna would be delighted and that it would be published in a few days. She'd be over in an hour.
Ginny waited with them until Luna arrived.
"Would you like to stay at my place for a bit Draco?" She suddenly asked. "With your humble abode being revealed, it might not be smart to stay here."
"No, I'll chase those spectators away. They're about to violate the statute of secrecy with their robes on. If you could call your boyfriend Potter to come dispel them, that would be nice." Draco replied.
Ginny complied, and a few minutes later they heard Harry's voice from outside.
"This large congregation of you lot needs to disperse immediately, we are at risk of attracting the muggles!" Harry called.
The crowd complied, thankfully. How could they not take a direct order from the saviour of the wizarding world?
Harry came up to the flat after he chased the spectators away and they waited in near silence for Luna to arrive.
Harry stared at Hermione quizzically, never fully understanding the girl, but respecting her.
Luna soon arrived, and thus began Draco's tell all to her.
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