Author's Note:

Just quietly pushing the plot along. ;-)

And yes, Hermione is struggling to stay patient and keep calm while her creature screams in her head...

Again, many thanks to MusicLover19 for beta-reading!

..

Chapter 35:

Minutes before Narcissa would arrive for their afternoon tea, Hermione nervously paced up and down through Draco's living room. She knew that his mother had remained civil the last time they met because of his presence, but she didn't know what to expect of today's meeting.

"Tilly, have you–?"

The house-elf stood quietly in one corner, waiting for their guest to arrive; her brief sigh showed that she didn't like repeating herself every two minutes. "Yes, Tilly made sure to have the favourite biscuits for Mistress Malfoy. And the tea is ready to be served, just as Mistress Malfoy likes it. After all, Tilly has served the Malfoy family for decades..."

Hermione threw her head back and sighed. "I'm sorry. Of course, you have everything prepared. I just don't know what to expect..."

"The Mistress is here to talk because the Mistress is still worried about Master D–"

At that moment, the fireplace activated with its usual green flames, startling Hermione who had to take a deep breath to keep her nerves under control.

A thin but still polite smile on her lips, Narcissa stepped out of the fireplace, studying Hermione for a second before acknowledging her with a nod.

"Welcome," Hermione said, straining to keep her voice normal as she stepped forward to greet her guest. "I'm glad you accepted to meet here."

"I guess it was my son's idea?" Narcissa asked coolly and dust the soot off her robes with measured strokes. After one more disapproving glare in Hermione's direction, she moved towards the seating area, choosing the two-seater.

Meanwhile, Hermione remained frozen in her spot for several more seconds before she was able to take a deep breath and move over to the armchair to sit down.

"I want to be clear about this," Narcissa started, finally breaking the heavy silence between them; she sat as upright as Hermione remembered her, although her crossed arms and the slight, almost imperceivable scowl made her disapproval apparent. "I warned my son about rekindling any kind of relationship with you because I am concerned that you will break his heart again, and I don't think he'd survive a second break-up. He's been through hell because of you–"

"I know," Hermione replied, her hands fisting the fabric of her trousers to keep the control over the slowly growing panic. "We... I apologised, and we talked a lot with the help of Dr Pendry. He knows the full truth, has seen everything. I never asked for anything beyond that..."

Narcissa clicked her tongue in disapproval at her words. "You knew full well that he still loves you–"

"Yes." Now, Hermione crossed arms too in a defensive move. "You have no idea how painful those sessions were with Dr Pendry, neither of us holding back about their pain and hurt caused by the break-up. It was his choice to forgive me, or even go as far as giving me a second chance. I didn't ask for it, because I know what I've done. So, I do try to make it up to him every single day. Maybe I don't deserve it, but–"

"Oh no," Narcissa spat out with a dismissive glare before she rose to her feet. "You are right, you don't deserve it. You've caused too much pain–"

"Believe me, I know." Hermione got up as well; she was shaking by now, a mixture of anxious thoughts and the creature's angry shrieks filling her mind. It took all of her strength to stay focused on her guest without losing it.

"You don't know anything!"

"I've been through hell too, Narcissa!" Hermione cried out, the creature's anger creeping under her skin, taking a hold on her. "I gave up on the love of my life because I thought he'd deserved someone better than me, someone who doesn't have my condition, someone who could give him what he wanted–"

"Did you really think so little of my son?" Narcissa's tone was sharp, edging on cold and cruel. "You made him happy. You of all people!"

Hermione wanted to hurl back a retort in the same sharp tone, but instead, a wave of panic took over. It had been threatening in the back of her head, and now it was forcing her to stumble back on the sofa to avoid crumbling to the ground. The noise in her head blended out everything else around her for the longest of moments.

She just kept taking deep, regular breaths, letting the panic attack roll through her until her vision cleared once more. Opening her eyes, she startled when she saw Narcissa kneel in front of her, the previous spite and disapproval replaced by simple worry.

"I-I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Are you okay?" Narcissa asked, her voice taking a comforting tone. "It wasn't my intention to cause a panic attack, they can be horrible."

Reluctantly, Hermione nodded, relieved for the attack to fade to a manageable level. "It's-It's better now."

"Are you sure?" Narcissa smiled faintly when Hermione nodded affirmingly, only to raise up again and turn around. "Elf!"

Startling Hermione, Tilly Apparated into the living room with a loud crack, an expectant look on her face. "Yes, Mistress Malfoy?"

"Bring some water and whatever the young Mistress needs to calm down."

"Narcissa, please, it's okay. I'm fine." After one last deep breath and with a clearer head, Hermione sat up. To her surprise, she felt much calmer, now that emotions have been let out, although she was still ever so slightly shaking.

However, Narcissa shook her head as she kneeled back down. "You just had a panic attack, Hermione. I remember mine well enough. And Draco had them too."

"Did he... Did he have them too after I... you know?"

Narcissa only nodded, her lips turning into a thin line.

"I'm really sorry for everything," Hermione said in a low voice, yet holding Narcissa's gaze. "I wish I could take it back, but I can only apologise and hope to make amends. All I want is to see him happy and safe."

"As his mother, I want the same. He's my only child, after all. And I'm really scared you'll hurt him again. So, I'm not sorry to say that I wished he'd find someone else to be happy with."

"I-I get that."

With another crack, Tilly re-appeared, balancing a tray with a glass of water and a small vial containing a dose of the prescribed Calming Draught.

Despite being startled once more by the sudden sound, Hermione smiled at the elf as she leaned forward to take the vial. "Thanks, Tilly."

The elf nodded, placing the tray with the glass of water on the lounge table. "Tilly will return to her quarters now."

Playing with the vial between her fingers, Hermione watched the elf Apparate out again; thankfully, this time, she didn't startle at the sound. Maybe, she should mention it to Draco at some point.

"I guess, Tibby is at–"

"My place, yes." Hermione nodded, her fingers trailing the lid of the vial to keep them from fidgeting too much. "You know, you're not the only one who is against... against us for fear of me making the same mistake again. All I can say is, that it really was his choice, but I'm not going to give him up again. He had it in his heart to give me a second chance, so I try my best every single day to make amends, to be there for him, to find ways to protect him."

Narcissa sighed and then nodded. "I might not be happy with his choice, and I'm really scared it might not be a wise one, yet I'm also glad that he isn't completely alone in these trying times."

With a bang of guilt in her chest, Hermione finally took the lid off the vial to ingest the Draught in one gulp. How could she possibly tell her that she was the reason for the trying times? That Draco was paying the price for having rescued her?

"The Daily Prophet is vicious," she said, swallowing once more to make sure the Draught did all go down her throat. "They don't hold back anymore, bringing all the Death Eater stuff back up..."

Shifting gracefully, Narcissa sat down on the other end of the sofa, letting her anger shine through for a moment before she collected herself again. "It's horrifying, yes."

"I don't want to promise anything, but I'll try anything to get him through."

"Thanks."

..

The following days, Hermione tried her best to calm and distract Draco, to give him the energy he needed to hold on just a little longer—just until she found something she could use to make them stop.

She had to make them stop, no matter how!

Thursday evening, Draco came home late; she could hear his deep sigh of relief upon stepping out of the fireplace while she was in the kitchen, preparing something small for him to eat.

Without any words uttered, he came up to her, looking exhausted and the now usual hint of despair in his eyes. Within moments, he had his arms wrapped around her waist, his face buried in her shoulder; his magic was beyond frantic when it connected with hers, momentarily overwhelming her until she could take a deep breath.

Putting the knife, she had just used to cut up some vegetables, down she closed her eyes and focused on expanding her own, much calmer magic until it was completely wrapped around him, drowning everything else out.

She had discussed her need to help him through those trying times with Dr Pendry, because his situation occupied almost all of her thoughts—be it when she managed to get into the Ministry and continue her research on The Organisation to finally find even just the smallest detail she could use against them, or be it back home when she watched over his sleep at night.

Only after endless minutes did his magic calm down to a less frantic level, inhaling her soothing presence with every wave and breath. After another deep sigh, he started moving again, loosening his hold on her waist while he kept his face buried in her shoulder for a few more intakes of air.

"Thanks for being here." His words were just a tired whisper, murmured against the fabric of her cardigan covering her shoulder. The soft touch of his lips as he placed a kiss on the free patch on her neck, just above her cardigan made her shiver.

Smiling faintly, she stroked his hand that was now on her stomach, twining their fingers briefly before she continued the chopping. "Hungry? I was just preparing something for you."

He shook his head as he leaned against the counter next to her; he slouched, letting his exhausted frustration shine through, probably for the first time today. Yet a small smile graced his lips as he watched her finishing her chopping and putting everything into the frying pan where she was already simmering tomatoes and bacon. "I'm not really hungry, but it smells good."

"Have you even had lunch?" she asked, stirring in the pan to make sure that everything mixed properly. "Even if it's just a sandwich or a salad."

"Hermione–"

"I'm just worried, okay?" She added a soft smile to appease him, turning to face him while still keeping an eye on the pan. "You need the energy."

His arms crossed, he lowered his gaze to the floor, the smile from before vanished into a faint line. His only answer to her words was another sigh, although barely audible this time.

Her worry rose by his defeated demeanour, the sheer exhaustion radiating from him. So she lowered the heat under the pan and stepped in front of him, gently placing her hands on his hips to which he responded with lifting his head, although his eyes didn't meet hers. "What's... What happened today?"

"I think," he started, only to rub his eyes and cheeks before running his hand through his hair, messing it up in the process. "We're doomed, Hermione. Sales numbers are the worst ever, and more and more countries are forcing us out... Today it was Spain who not only raided our local branch and confiscated every single file but also legally required us to withdraw any investments and drop any further plans. And France is on the verge of it as well, from what I heard."

Hermione tried to swallow the knot of guilt growing in her throat; she was the reason why he endured all those problems. And she couldn't even tell him that everything would be okay in the end. The Organisation didn't stop until they had what they wanted, either his complete destruction or him handing her back. "I'm sorry."

He did open his arms to pull her closer, his own hands coming to rest on her waist, her legs between his. "It's not your fault, okay? It was just a hard day with lots of bad news..."

"You only had bad news all week, my brave dragon. First, the Hungarian Ministry disapproving the deal, and now the Spanish Ministry also acting up–"

"Don't forget the press printing lies about us still believing in pureblood ideology or wanting to take control of the wizarding world, like we are some secondhand Dark Lords or something. We get so much hate mail and bad reviews thanks to this, it's hard to deal with sometimes."

She let him pull her closer until his arms were around her shoulders and his chin carefully resting on her head. "Molly was ranting about it too when I was at the Burrow this afternoon. She finds it insulting what they write about Ron and Pansy... How they dared to insinuate that she as a former Death Eater would manage to seduce a member of the Golden Trio and trick him into marriage. No one insults a Weasley, and for her, Pansy is one now."

"Yeah. She doesn't speak about it, but it is getting to her. I wouldn't want to be her assistant these days..." He rubbed her back with absent-minded strokes, playing with some curls wherever he could reach them. "Imagine what they would write if they knew about us?"

She turned her head to the side, holding him tighter in his arms as if she could protect him that way. A quick look over to the stove showed that the contents of the frying pan were still sizzling quietly, with no sign yet of being overcooked. "Would it help? I mean, letting everyone see that we are together again, reminding them that you actually did the noble thing of rescuing me?"

"I know you want to help, but I'm not sure it is a good thing to expose yourself right now."

"You'd be my bodyguard," she replied, nudging him gently in the back. "And I haven't been out in the streets for weeks now, not even for my appointments with Dr Pendry. We could do a group date, you know? With Harry and Ginny... No one wants to mess with a protective Ginny anyway, and you'd have the Head Auror keeping an eye on me too. Just a drink or two, let ourselves be seen in Diagon Alley, holding hands and maybe a kiss to make it clear."

"Fine. I'll think about it," he conceded and let go of her, his hands moving back to their previous position on her hips. "And yes, better not mess with Ginny."

"Thanks." With a soft smile, she pressed a kiss on his lips before she stepped back, taking his hands in hers. "How about you change into something comfortable and I finish cooking? And I'll talk to Harry about that group date when I see him tomorrow."

"My lioness."

"My brave dragon."

With a heavy heart, she watched him stroll out of the kitchen; the creature in her wanted to maim and kill those who dared to hurt him like this. It was hard not to give in to its anger, to keep a levelled head for his sake.

But if she did find those responsible for his problems, then Merlin have mercy with them!

..

Hermione did pay a visit to Harry's Auror department the next day, but it wasn't just for a friendly chat between friends. Her research had given her a much better understanding of The Organisation, reminding her of the Mafia a lot, although much more successful at infiltrating society, taking over pivotal positions and building a growing web through bribing and threats.

It just didn't give her an idea of how to get back at them for what they had done to her and for what they were doing to Draco and her friends now. The Organisation hid their trails too well, she already had to dig deep to find what she had now.

But today, Harry had allowed for her to sit and interrogate Barsky, the shopkeeper they still had under arrest. However, this was as far as he would go; he was still sternly declining to let her even near Riverside, despite sharing the sentiment of wanting him to pay.

"You don't need the file?" Theo asked when they were in front of Barsky's cell, waiting for it to be opened by the guard.

Hermione shook her head and took a deep breath, checking her arm holster for her wand, just as the door was opened. "No. I'm fine."

They entered after the guard bellowed into the cell for Barsky to stand back for him to place chairs in the small room. Barsky himself looked wary, watching them from his spot in the corner with tired eyes; he had stubble from not being able to shave regularly, covering a rather ashen face. Nothing was left of the previously confident man who led a store.

Barsky only sat down on his cot after the door of his cell was closed again and Hermione, as well as Theo, had taken their respective seats on the chairs; his gaze was fixed on Hermione as if he was trying to remember her. "What do you want?"

Hermione leaned back in her chair, returning the inspecting gaze for a few more seconds. "I'm here to talk to you, Mr Barsky. I do understand that you've been questioned thoroughly by my colleagues, but I'm looking for a different kind of information, and you seem the right kind of person to provide it."

Barsky only kept looking at her, his gaze unwavering, although he narrowed them slightly. "Is that so?"

Hermione shared a look with Theo who let out a quiet, disapproving cough, briefly drawing Barsky's attention on him. After another breath, she leaned forward to bridge some of the distance between her and the prisoner. "Mr Barsky, I was one of the victims who ended up in a fight pit thanks to your little shop–"

"Oh no!" Barsky's eyes widened, and he straightened up on his cot. "You're the Auror they were trying to find... Granger, right?"

"Yes–"

"Thank the gods that they found you alive!" Barsky let his previous wariness fall, replaced by a hint of relief. "And I'm sorry for what you've been put through. I'll try and answer any questions you may have, but I'm afraid it might not be much anyway. Nothing you couldn't read up already in the reports."

"I know. I've read it all," Hermione replied, a brief smile curling up her lips at Barsky's sudden change in tone when he recognised her. "However, I'm after something else. They are trying to destroy everyone I hold dear, and I want to get back at them. I need any details you might know that could help me. Anything."

Barsky nodded, crouching once more, with his elbows back on his legs. "Just promise me that my family is still safe after all this–"

"Your family?" Hermione asked confused and turned around to Theo who shrugged and leaned towards her.

"As far as I know, Draco is housing them in his other place in London. Never uses it, and he is the Secret Keeper of it."

"Wait... What?"

"Miss... Granger, it's true," Barsky said with a brief smile. "I helped him get in contact with the right person to get into the pits as a patron in return for keeping my family safe."

For a few seconds, Hermione switched between the two men before she took a breath and turned back to face Barsky. "Given how heavily Mr Malfoy wards his estates, I can assure you that your family is indeed in safe hands. But now, what can you tell me about The Organisation? Any weaknesses? How do you recognise each other? The smallest detail could help."

Barsky lowered his head momentarily as if he was gathering courage like someone who was facing their executioner. "I'm not high enough to know any weaknesses, but every member gets branded."

Hermione's eyes widened when she saw the tattoo revealed on Barsky's arm as he pulled the sleeve of his prisoner robes back; it looked like a rolled-up ferret or weasel, but she couldn't tell from the distance.

"I can't remember how many times I tried to get rid of it. It wakes up when I get called in for special assignments, which are thankfully rare enough." Barsky scratched over the tattoo in another futile attempt to get it off but then stopped with a sigh. "The higher ranks are also decorated with a ring that looks like a small ferret, though I'm not entirely sure about that, I've only seen it a few times."

"You're not the first one to regret the decision to get a mark or similar," Hermione replied, hiding the sudden flashback to her standing in The Hungarian's office with him fingering his ring behind a rather forced smile. A glance to Theo showed that he was unconsciously rubbing over his left arm as well. "But I'm sure that your willingness to help us will be taken into account..."

..

On their way back out more than an hour later, Hermione followed Theo a few steps behind, trying to sort the information Barsky had just given her. It hadn't been much in the end, as Barsky indeed was just a small cog in the wheel, but it was still useful information, and she felt as if she found the detail she was looking for, just couldn't name it yet.

Moments later, she noticed that she was passing Riverside's cell and stopped in front of it to have a look at him. To her dismay, he was sleeping, or at least lying in bed without moving.

The creature screeched loudly in her head, angrily demanding control as it wanted revenge for their captivity at the pit. The anger and the screeches drowned out every other thought, even encouraging her own simmering anger to the point that she was gripping her wand so hard that her knuckles went white.

He deserved to be put into the same fight pit and see how long he survived against even just one of the creatures she had been put up against, that she had to kill to survive. He didn't deserve to lie still in this cell...

A touch on her shoulder pulled her from her spiralling thoughts, just in time before she would have given in to the temptation of entering Riverside's cell and give him a taste of what she had gone through.

It was Theo who had noticed that she hadn't followed him out of the area. "He's not worth it... We'll make sure he gets what he deserves, I promise."

"Just five minutes and he'd be begging for his life." Her words came out in a growl. But then she took several deep breaths and concentrated on the feel of the air running in and out of her lungs to calm down, even swallowing hard once to push the growing disappointment back down.

"Yeah, he wouldn't stand the smallest chance against you," Theo said with a reassuring smile, nodding towards the exit of the cell area. "Let's have a cup, we can do the report later, okay?"

She nodded and finally turned towards the exit, still gripping her wand hard, although her knuckles were no longer white. "Cup sounds nice."