As Hermione enters the room, Harry all but runs over to her and throws his arms around her. She squirms for a moment in his embrace, clearly still eager to exact revenge on the person who had kidnapped her. Or, at least Harry presumes that is who she wants revenge on, rather than Susan.

Speaking of Susan, she had followed Hermione out to the main room and is now standing awkwardly by the mouth of the corridor.

"You really ought to rest," Susan says. "I don't know how long you've been unconscious for." In his arms, Harry feels Hermione sigh.

"What's the date?" she asks.

"December twenty second," Draco says and Hermione gasps and sags in his arms. A sob escapes her lips.

"The last thing I remember is Hannah and Ernie's Halloween party," she whispers. "Oh my god. Poor Rose." And then she starts to cry. Harry holds her and looks around the room. Pansy has clapped a hand to her mouth and Susan looks as if she too is about to cry. Draco gestures towards one of the sofas and Harry nods. He steers Hermione to the seating area and gently lowers her down.

"How is Ron?" Hermione asks once her sobs have subsided somewhat. She looks at Harry, her face streaked with tears.

"He's worried about you."

"Can you bring him here?" Harry thinks for the briefest of moments about protocol but then he banishes it from his mind. He nods and stands up. Pansy shifts her weight from one foot to the other before sitting down next to Hermione, taking Harry's place. Hermione doesn't hesitate, but falls into Pansy's outstretched arms.

"I should go," Draco says quietly to Harry, walking with him to the stairs. "Ron doesn't know I work for the Ministry."

"Good point."

"I'll see you at home then?"

"Sure." Harry nods distractedly and makes his way out into the ice cream parlor.

Since Halloween. Hermione had been missing since Halloween. How had Harry missed that? By being away for over a month. The timing of their trip now seems awfully suspicious and Harry wonders if the Simurgh Society sent them away on purpose. The more that he thinks about it, the more sure he becomes that they did just that. The timing — two days after the Halloween party? And the fact that they were in Zermatt for several weeks before Massi had shown up? Was Massi in on it? Is the Simurgh Society international?

But he is getting ahead of himself. There will be time enough to discuss this with the others once he has reunited Ron and Hermione.

He arrives outside of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and quickly makes his way inside. A quick glance around the store indicates that Ron is in the back, so Harry waves briefly at George before heading there.

"Ron?" he calls. The back of the shop is as much of a mess as it had been the last time Harry was here. But he supposes with the Christmas season upon them, they wouldn't have had much time to tidy.

"Harry?" Ron calls back. "Is that you?" Ron emerges from behind a stack of boxes and Harry's face breaks into a grin.

"We found her."

"What?"

"Come with me."

"What?"

"Just—" Harry doesn't bother to finish his sentence, merely grabs Ron's hand and pulls him out of the back room. After a moment, Ron begins to move of his own volition. They wave at George as they pass him and while he raises his eyebrows at their abrupt departure, he doesn't say anything.

"Is she ok?" Ron asks as they emerge onto Diagon Alley.

"She's fine. She wants to see you." Harry realizes that he is still holding Ron's hand and drops it. Ron continues to walk beside him. After a moment he asks,

"Where are we going?"

"Florean Fortescue's."

"Your ice cream parlor?"

"The one and same."

"Why?"

"I'll explain when we get there." Ron, to his credit, just nods and continues to walk. He doesn't question it when Harry leads him to the back room, but his eyes go wide when Harry puts his hand to the secret panel and the door to the Cooler opens.

"Holy shit," Ron says as he walks inside, but then any other feelings he might have about the room are forgotten when he sees Hermione.

"Ron," she says. She is still crying. Ron almost falls down the stairs in his haste to see her, but once he's on the bottom floor, he runs to her.

"'Mione," he whispers. He drops to the ground in front of her and wraps his arms around her. Pansy edges slowly away as Ron leans in and fiercely kisses Hermione. "I was so worried," he says as he pulls away.

"You were?"

"Of course I was."

"How is Rose?"

"She's fine. She's two." Ron shifts and moves up onto the sofa next to Hermione. His hands never leave her, as if he's never going to let her out of his grasp again.

"Where is she?"

"It's Monday, so she's with my mother."

"And you're sure she's ok?"

"Yes." Hermione's eyes close for a long moment and then she nods.

"Good," she says. "Are you ok?"

"I am now."

"Good," she says again. She closes her eyes again and leans against Ron's shoulder for a moment before she straightens up. She takes a deep breath and takes Ron's hand in hers. "Right then. Which one of you is going to bring me up to speed on what's been going on?"

"If it's all the same," Susan says. "I would prefer if you ate something first." She is wringing her hands together in front of her, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

"McLaggen," Harry says. "Can you run upstairs and get some ice cream?" McLaggen nods.

"On it." He hurries away.

"Harry," Hermione says once he has left. "What the fuck is Cormac McLaggen doing here?" Beside her, Ron snorts in amusement.

"We have a lot to catch you up on," Harry says. "McLaggen's on the team now."

"Like hell he is," Hermione mutters.

"Dempsey approved it," Pansy says. Hermione presses her lips together in annoyance.

"Um," Susan says. "May I take your vitals? I get the feeling that I shouldn't be here for this conversation but I want to make sure you're alright before I leave." Hermione leans back on the sofa cushions.

"Of course, Susan," she says. "I'm sorry that I ran away from you earlier."

"That's alright," Susan says. She walks forward and perches on the sofa on Hermione's other side. She takes the stethoscope from around her neck and uses it to listen to Hermione's chest. Then she gets out her wand and waves it over Hermione, muttering under her breath all the while. Then she pulls some parchment out of her pocket and points her wand at it. The parchment fills with words and Susan scrunches up her forehead as she reads it.

"Oh," she says, surprised.

"What?" Ron asks. His voice is loud with worry. A pink flush makes its way up Susan's face. She glances quickly around the room.

"Do you mind?" she asks, looking at Harry and Pansy.

"What?" Pansy asks. Susan makes a shooing motion with her hands. "Oh, right. Of course." She stands up and makes her way towards the stairs, grabbing Harry by the arm as she goes. He follows her up the stairs and they run into McLaggen in the corridor leading to the storeroom.

"Does she not want the ice cream?" he asks.

"Bones is giving her the once over," Pansy explains. Harry nods absently. He is worried about the way that Susan had said "oh". He hopes there is nothing wrong. He doesn't know how he could live with himself if there were. Again, he asks himself how he had not noticed sooner that there was something off with Hermione? How could he have let this happen?

"Harry," Pansy says sharply.

"What?"

"Stop pacing. There's little enough space in here as it is."

"Sorry."

"This ice cream is melting," McLaggen says.

"So bloody use a cooling charm on it," Harry snaps.

"Merlin, don't get your knickers in a twist," McLaggen says, but he performs the cooling charm anyway.

"We should think about how best to lure the fake Hermione here," Pansy muses.

"What?"

"We can't jolly well leave her to keep going about her business."

"No," Harry agrees. "Of course we can't."

"Why don't we just tell her we have something at the Cooler we want to show her?" McLaggen asks. Harry nods.

"Then we'll ambush her as she walks in."

"You can use your patented Expelliarmus on her," McLaggen says with a wink. Harry glares at him. He is not in the mood for any sort of levity. He wants to know what is wrong with Hermione; he wants to know what Susan exclaimed about. The knot of worry in the pit of Harry's stomach is getting tighter and larger with every minute that passes.

Finally, what seems like hours later, the door to the Cooler opens and Susan steps out.

"You can go in and see her," she says.

"Is everything alright?" Harry asks. He is unable to keep the panic from his voice.

"Everything is fine," Susan says with a smile. "She's healthy. Which means that I will be going now." Harry nods.

"Thank you for your help."

"Anytime." She walks out of the store. Harry wastes no time in opening the door to the Cooler and running downstairs.

Ron and Hermione are still sitting on the same couch where he left them. Ron's arms are around Hermione and he is holding her tight against his chest. The knot in Harry's stomach, which had loosened when Susan had said she was fine, tightens again.

"Hermione," he breathes. He rushes to her other side and she smiles at him. She extends a hand and lays it on his arm.

"We have some unexpected news," she says, her eyes bright. Ron squeezes her close. Harry wonders if Ron will ever feel like he can let her out of his sight again.

"Is everything alright?" Harry asks. Hermione turns her head to look fondly at Ron before she turns back to Harry.

"I'm pregnant," she says.

Subduing the fake Hermione proves easier than Harry would have thought. He had sent her a message on his watch saying that he needed to see her in the Cooler and twenty minutes later, she had walked through the door and right into their portable swamp. Harry had disarmed her, McLaggen stunned her and Pansy had caught her from behind as she had fallen down and liberated her of her watch and purse. As a team, they had transported her to a cell and sealed her in, activating the magical faraday cage on the off chance that she was proficient in wandless magic.

Now there's nothing left to do but wait for the polyjuice potion to wear off.

Harry had sent Ron and Hermione home before any of this had happened, though Ron had tried to fight him on this.

"If there's anything wrong with my unborn child," he'd said, shaking his fist.

"She's going to prison either way for impersonating an Unspeakable," Harry had assured him.

So now it is just the three of them in the Cooler. They are discussing Harry's surveillance idea. Of course, Hermione's pregnancy has thrown a doxy in the works as Harry refuses to put her in harm's way.

"I can do it," Pansy says.

"What?"

"I can pretend to be Hermione."

"Don't be daft. We need you need to be you."

"I can do it," McLaggen offers. Harry shakes his head. He is increasingly starting to think that it's going to have to be him.

"Why do you need me to be me?" Pansy asks. She crosses her arms in front of her chest.

"You're Draco's other handler. You need to be at Flourish and Blotts with him." Pansy rolls her eyes.

"Make him do it," she says, pointing at McLaggen.

"What?" McLaggen splutters. "Why not let me impersonate Hermione?"

"I know her better," Pansy snaps. "And knowing you, you'd use the excuse to feel her up."

"Do you really think that lowly of me?" McLaggen asks. He sits up quickly in his seat, his eyes flashing.

"No," Pansy says with a quick eye roll. "But all the same, I don't think Hermione would want you to be the one impersonating her."

"What about Malfoy?" McLaggen suggests and Harry's heart constricts.

"Oh yes," Pansy says sarcastically. "Let's just send the Reliquary into the heart of the secret society."

"Where is Malfoy anyway?"

"Shit, I should bring him back here," Harry says. He jumps up from the couch. "I'll be back."

He knows that he could just send Draco a message on his watch, but he wants a moment alone with his thoughts, which he isn't getting with Pansy and McLaggen around. He takes the stairs two at a time and then makes his way leisurely down Diagon Alley.

The street is packed with people all doing their last minute Christmas shopping and Harry is glad that he and Draco did most of theirs in Italy. As he walks, he concentrates on his breathing. He is still tense from earlier, but now that he knows everything is fine, he can start to relax again. He rolls his shoulders up to his ears and down again before tilting his head from side to side to stretch out his neck muscles. Then he allows himself to smile.

They did it. They found Hermione before Christmas and though crime never takes a break, Harry thinks he can reasonably expect to have the next few days to relax and enjoy the holiday. He is nervous about lunch with Draco's parents, but so long as he is with Draco, he feels like he can handle anything.

He feels as light as a cloud by the time he walks into Flourish and Blotts, buoyed by holiday cheer and relief. He finds Draco towards the back of the shop, talking to Greg. He doesn't look particularly busy, so Harry sidles up to them and then plants a kiss on Draco's cheek. He wraps his arms around Draco from behind and Greg rolls his eyes.

"Hiya Harry," he says. "Does this mean I should leave the two of you alone?"

"Yes please," Harry says. He leans in and nibbles Draco's earlobe and Greg walks away muttering about public displays of affection.

"Does this mean Ron has gone?" Draco asks, turning in Harry's arms until he's facing him.

"Yes." Harry leans forward and presses his lips to Draco's. "But it also means I want to kiss you."

"Those two things aren't related?"

"'Course not," Harry mumbles against Draco's lips. "Now stop talking and kiss me."

"Harry," Draco says, pulling back. "I'm working."

"Sure you are."

"I need to inventory the stockroom."

"Do you want company?" Harry asks, raising one eyebrow in a way that he knows Draco finds attractive. Harry blames his sudden lasciviousness on the fact that he is relieved that Hermione is safe.

"Are you asking what I think you're asking?"

"What do you think I'm asking?"

"You're very obviously asking if you can help me catalogue the new inventory. Why? What did you think I thought you were asking?" The corner of Draco's mouth lifts in a smirk and Harry can't help but press a kiss to it.

"Exactly that," he says.

"Great. Let's go then."

Once they're in the stockroom, Harry pulls out his wand and points it at the door. He shoots a colloportus at it. Draco rolls his eyes.

"You know Greg's very proficient at getting through those," he mumbles as Harry grabs him by his hips and pulls him close.

"I did not know that," Harry says, his lips ghosting over Draco's. "But I feel rather confident none of your other coworkers are that good at it and Greg will likely leave us alone." Draco almost laughs, but that doesn't seem to fit the mood.

"Fair point," he says instead. Then he closes the gap between them, pressing his mouth to Harry's. Harry's lips part and Draco slips his tongue inside Harry's mouth. Harry moans softly and Draco slips a hand behind his head, tangling his fingers in Harry's hair. Harry gently maneuvers them until Draco is pressed up against a pile of boxes.

A thrill goes through him as he remembers where they are and how he should most definitely not be doing this in the stockroom. But Harry's mouth is traveling south now and before Draco can even stop to think about it, Harry has Draco's trousers down to his knees. Draco hadn't even noticed Harry undoing his belt. He starts to protest, but he is quickly distracted again, this time by Harry tugging down his underwear.

He gasps as Harry wraps his mouth around the head of his cock, which had taken very little time to get hard. He is briefly disappointed when Harry lets him free, but it is only so that he can shift from a crouch to a proper kneel. Then Harry's hands are on his arse and his head is bobbing up and down and Draco has to grip the boxes behind himself so as not to fall over.

He thinks he hears a rattle on the door handle and the reality of their situation crashes over him again. But if anything, it makes it more exciting. And it's not as though Harry is stopping. In fact, he's increasing his rhythm and has added a hand, which runs along Draco's shaft in time with his head.

"Oh god," he says. He looks down at Harry and reaches out to run a hand briefly through the tangle that is his hair.

The door handle rattles again and another thrill of excitement goes through Draco. The pressure on his cock increases as Harry sucks harder and though he wants this to last longer, his orgasm has other ideas. It crashes over him and he bites his lower lip to stop himself from crying out. He grips the boxes behind him as his knees go weak. Harry swallows it all down and then pulls his mouth off of Draco slowly. He grins up at him, the look on his face a strange mix of mischievous and affectionate. Draco's heart melts, the way that it always does when Harry looks at him like this.

He revels in the feeling for a moment before he bends down and pulls up his trousers. Harry picks himself up off his knees and they manage to somehow look completely presentable when Greg breaks through their colloportus a few seconds later. Draco's even holding a packing slip.

"I've been thinking, and I think it should be me," Harry says. He and Draco have now returned to the Cooler and if Pansy and McLaggen thought anything of his long absence, they haven't mentioned anything.

"No," Pansy says. She slams her hand down on the table and Harry jerks back in surprise. "I won't let you."

"Why not?" Anger flares in his chest. He's perfectly capable of imitating Hermione in an undercover mission.

"You're Draco's cover," Pansy says immediately. Harry frowns. He thinks there might be more behind what she's saying she's playing her cards close to her chest.

"We could say we broke up and I'm at a retreat getting over him."

"And what happens when you get back?" Pansy challenges.

"It turns out I couldn't keep away from him."

"How about," Draco interjects. "We don't pretend to break up? I would much prefer it that way." Harry glances at him. Draco is pale — paler than usual — and he mentally kicks himself. Of course this conversation can't be easy for him.

"I still say I should do it," McLaggen says.

"No," Harry and Pansy say in unison. McLaggen puts his hands up in defeat and rolls his eyes.

"Fine. Don't say I didn't offer."

"I could?" Draco starts to say, though his voice is uncertain.

"Draco, darling," Pansy says. "If you really think we're letting you out of our sight, you're a bigger idiot than I thought." But she says it affectionately.

"Pansy," Harry says. "I think I should be the one to impersonate her. I know her best."

"Circe, Harry," she snaps. "How many times do I have to tell you no?"

"And why the hell not? Huh? Give me a goddamn reason." He is raising his voice now, and he knows he shouldn't, but he can't help it. They only have a short amount of time before someone has to report as the fake Hermione.

"Because you're not expendable," Pansy yells back.

"And you are?" he challenges.

"Yes," she says, a little sadly.

"If that's your reasoning, I want to put McLaggen back in the running."

"Fuck you, Potter," McLaggen says.

"Pans," Draco says. "I don't think you're expendable."

"I—" she starts to say before she pauses. She takes a deep breath and collects her thoughts. "Thank you, Draco. But Harry, I'm going to pull rank here." Harry's eyebrows shoot up. "And I think if Hermione were here, she would agree with me. I'm the better fit for it. I'm a woman, and while I know polyjuice potion can be used to swap sexes, it's going to be easier for me to imitate her than it will be for any of the three of you." Harry opens his mouth to speak but Pansy cuts him off with a glare. "It's going to be me. End of discussion."


I know, it's Hermione's unexpected news, but I've titled all the chapters as Draco Versus and I didn't want to change that.