Finding Granger
Chapter 3 - In Search of Clues
27 November 11:00
Dusty and focused, Hermione barely heard the doorbell ring when the faint chime buzzed a few times.
Hurrying down the attic ladder and running towards the front door. She opened the door to an annoyed Draco Malfoy.
"About time Granger."
The blond walked passed her and headed for her kitchen, as if he owned her place.
"Hello to you too Malfoy."
Once her door was closed, she followed him into the kitchen to start the kettle.
"I'm in the attic sorting through some of the old stuff my parents and Nana left behind. You could help me find anything that looks odd."
An old peach teapot, sugar bowl and milk jug assembled themselves on a tray.
"Well bring it down here. I'm not crawling around in your dusty old attic." Draco ordered and with a heavy sigh Hermione summoned the boxes into the living room.
Once they moved into the living room with their tea, they stared at the piles of boxes with the faded labels.
"The plan is to go through everything and see if there's any clues that might lead to magic or ancestors."
From the corner of her eye, she watched as Draco pulled off his robes and rolled up his sleeves, revealing the Dark Mark permanently etched across his forearm.
Averting her gaze, she too took off her dusty sweater and began to work. If Malfoy felt comfortable with bearing his marks of war in her home, she wasn't going to be hiding her scars either.
27 November 14:17
The pair had been going through those boxes for a while and Draco wasn't sure what could be found amongst the box filled with notes on teeth.
Fed up with the box,he moved on to the next, a much older and more faded one. To be honest, Draco didn't expect research into one's bloodline to be so… dusty. It had only dawned on him that not every family keeps a family tree tapestry or hold a portrait gallery of their ancestors.
However the more he read and looked into Frank and Elizabeth Granger, the more he began to like them. In one box, he found pictures and memorabilia of Frank playing a Muggle game called rugby. Hermione described it briefly and he had to tell her she's the worst person to explain sports. But a part of him wondered if Frank and him ever met, they might have had a good conversation about the brutalities of Quidditch and Rugby.
The current box he was going through held knickknacks. The things seemed older like it belonged to a previous generation. Opening a faded silver jewellery box, he found a broken piece of ornate wood and a small gold locket.
Holding up the piece of wood, Draco examined it carefully. It was real wood and carved into a twisted piece. The broken end revealed to be hollow inside by a thread's width. Like it part of something bigger, such as a chess piece or perhaps a wand.
"I think I found a clue." He held it up to Granger. Who looked at it with puzzlement.
"If that is a piece of a wand, like I think it is. The question is who does it belong to?" She asked.
Draco pulled out the locket and opened it to show the faded portraits of a man and woman.
"Either one of them, or someone related to them." Her brows furrowed in thought at his answer.
"Let's put that aside and see what other clues are here."
Hermione pulled back an errant curl and continued to rifle through her box. Draco put the jewelry box and it's clues on the coffee table before continuing his wide search. His heart leapt in excitement of a possible lead to solving the mystery of Grangers bloodline. It was a much needed morale booster.
27 November 18:28
Hermione could murder an entire pizza right now as her stomach complained in protest. They had been going through dusty boxes all day and unlike their time in Australia, Malfoy barely complained since he arrived in her house.
"I'm going to get us some food. Do you prefer pizza or Chinese?" She asked to a confused Malfoy.
"How about neither and serve some proper food?" He retorted with a disgusted look.
"Fine. I'll see what I have in the kitchen." Regretting her previous thought on a more pleasant Draco Malfoy, she went to the kitchen in search of some food.
27 November 19:20
Draco had practically inhaled the soup and fresh bread that Granger made. It may have been simple but delicious.
"Granger if you can clean yourself up as well as you can cook, you can date any man you want."
"Yes, because the patriarchy needs more women to be suppressed." She glared in response.
"I wanted to compliment your resourcefulness. How did you make the soup?" Taking another dip of bread into his bowl.
"I opened a can, poured the soup into a pot and heated it up." Draco almost choked mid-sip.
"You mean, you didn't make it from scratch?"
"You didn't want me to order food. So from the kitchen cupboard it is." Hermione drained her bowl and stood up."You can wash the dishes when you're done. I'm going to continue with the boxes."
27 November 20:55
"Granger, pass me that key." Hermione looked at the key in her hand, which she dug out of the musky make up box of her Nana's.
Malfoy took the key from her and inspected it closely leaving no groove or ridge unexamined.
"This is a very old type of Gringotts key."
The revelation surprised Hermione.
"It belonged to my maternal grandmother. I just thought she kept a disused old key."
"I'm pretty sure she's a witch from an old family. This key only belongs to an older vault. One day I will inherit a similar one."
It dawned on Hermione that perhaps now more than ever, she had more in common with her former tormentor than she knew. Having spent so much time with Draco, she learnt that she barely know him at all.
"What was it like? Knowing you will one day inherit the Malfoy legacy."
His pewter eyes bore into hers, revealing his inner truth. Finally Draco answered in a soft whisper.
"It's a heavy burden to carry."