Chapter 19

Even though they had tripled checked the wards and set up new wards and defenses, Draco still walked around the Manor with a sense of unease. The thought that someone had been in his home to cause ill will was unnerving. Even worse Draco felt a nervousness leaving his mother alone in the house by herself. It had not been lost on Draco that he may have been intended to be a weapon against his mother and, ultimately, himself. Draco had never been so appreciative of Hermione and her cleverness, if it hadn't been for her coin and the fact that the house elves took extra precautions then the night could have ended in a horror story.

"Draco, you're stalling. Honestly just go, we'll be fine here." His mother's cool voice came from behind him.

Draco's shoulders sagged as he stood in front of the only open floo in the house. "I'm just concerned, mother. Leaving you here is leaving you vulnerable." Draco felt his mother's delicate hand lay itself on his shoulder.

"Number one, I would like you to remember that I am a perfectly capable witch, with far more experience with magic than you have had in the few short years you've been allowed to practice it. I had an entire life before you, may I remind you. Secondly, it's not like their whisking you off to some place far off, you're simply going to the ministry to make a official statement so they can start a proper investigation. That's all."

Draco leaned his cheek against her perfectly manicured hand, sighed deeply, then nodded. He turned smoothly, gave her a kiss on the cheek and, with a burst of green flames, he stood in the atrium of the ministry. He strode out of the fireplace and towards the fountain at the center of the room, where he noticed Granger waiting patiently for someone. She wore another pencil skirt, this time pairing it with a royal blue blouse.

"Malfoy," she greeted as he approached.

"Am I as lucky to have such a lovely escort on this fine day?" Draco asked her with a charming smile. He was greatly rewarded with a small smile.

"Well, as to lovely I can not say, but escort, yes. I'll be taking you to an interrogation room where we will take the official statement," Hermione answered, trying to avoid Malfoy's flirtations.

"We?"

"Yes, we. I'm your liaison for the program, and Harry will be heading up the investigation," she stated, her tone matter of factually.

"Perfect." Draco hadn't personally seen Potter since their eighth year, but defeating the Dark Lord surely didn't help with his already inflated ego and arrogance for the boy who lived twice, or whatever he was called these days. Draco took a steadying breath. He had grown up a lot since then so maybe boy wonder would be tolerable now that he had matured.

Hermione lead Draco to the lift. While they waited patiently for the next lift to arrive, Hermione's eye rolled over the passerbys, noticing that many of their eyes lingered on the two of them, more specifically Malfoy. She gazed at Malfoy who stood while his hands in his trousers and casually staring off into space, completely unaware of the looks that he was receiving. "People are staring at you," she mumbled to him, leaning in close enough that she caught a whiff of his cologne, again sending rushing feelings to her stomach.

Draco's attention snapped back to the present. He heard her breath hitch as he leaned in close. "They always do," he whispered softly, and her cinnamon eyes turned up towards his and he fought every nerve in his body to stop himself from kissing her again.

The bell for the lift dinged Hermione let go of a breath she had no idea she was holding. She was so caught in those gray eyes. She stepped on to the lift with Malfoy close behind. There were not a lot of people on the lift but it became uncomfortable when Hermione felt their eyes hanging on her and Malfoy. Is it like this all the time for him? Because this would drive me insane. There were six floors between the Atrium and the Auror's offices and the lift stopped for every single level and with every person that got on the lift more eyes fell on Hermione and her companion. Finally they made it to the second level and Hermione and Malfoy stepped off. "I don't know how you stand that," Hermione huffed as they walked down a long hallway.

Draco laughed to himself. "What, you've never garnered unwanted attention being the muggleborn who help defeat Voldemort?" He was thoroughly amused at how uncomfortable the attention made her.

"I was never really that famous. Harry was the one who got most of the attention and he hated it. He refused to go in to public for the longest time because he hated how people stared at him. I do get it occasionally, I guess, but I'm mostly flattered because typically it's little girls who want signatures and aspire to be like me," she explained to him.

"That can't be true. I've seen you in magazines and newspapers all the time; you're very famous," Draco countered back.

Hermione sighed in frustration, "Yes, well that's the media shining a light on me. In my day to day, I'm hardly famous." She paused for a moment a realization dawning on her. "You read the articles about me?"

Draco rolled his eyes, it seemed that no matter how many times he told her, she never believed his long-standing fascination with her. "Yes, Granger, I noticed when you made news articles."

She pushed open the interrogation room door to find Harry standing over the table looking over an open file. His emerald eyes swept up to greet her, and then fell on Malfoy. She entered the room, gestured for Malfoy to enter and take a seat.

Draco's eyes landed on wonder boy, and a irritation rose up in his chest, he tried his best to beat it down. He followed Granger's gesture, but held out a hand for Harry to shake before he sat. "Potter."

Harry gave him a clearly skeptical look but shook his hand regardless. "Malfoy."

Hermione stood in awe; never had she seen the two be so civil. Last time Malfoy offered Harry his hand Harry threw it back in his face. She shook herself from her amazement, closed the door and took the seat next to Harry and the men sat down, though Hermione did notice that Malfoy did wait until Harry was fully sitting to take his seat.

"Okay, this should be fairly simple. We have most of the things we need, we just needed review it one more time to ensure that we have everything," Harry started. He looked up at Malfoy and Malfoy nodded. "Now I'm going to use this memory of the conversation to use later if it is need, do I have your permission share it?"

"You have my permission." Draco nodded again.

Harry bobbed his head and then cast a memory enhancing charm on himself to ensure that the memory would be precise. Then slowly he had Malfoy go through the memories of the night asking for every imaginable detail, hoping that perhaps something new would surface, Malfoy however, stuck to his previous statements. Malfoy did handed over a detailed list of everyone who had visited to manor in the past two weeks. "Okay, is there anything else that you can think of?" Harry asked as they were wrapping up.

Draco watched them carefully as they took notes and looked over the list. Hermione was uneasy, Draco could tell that much, and Harry seemed to be aloof to the conversation. " There is one more thing. The other day I was in Diagon Alley, picking up some ingredients, and someone started to follow me. And I don't think it's the only time."

This caught Harry's attention. "Did you get a good look at them?"

Draco shook his head. "They kept their cloak hood up the entire time so I never saw their face, but I think it was a man, based on the shoulder width and height. Probably somewhere around six foot, broad shoulders, larger than average body type, and they wore a simple black cloak, looked like they could have got it anywhere."

"Okay, that's all great information. Why did you say you don't think it's the first time?" Harry asked as he wrote down the information.

Draco looked over to Hermione who was now chewing on her lip, staring at him. "Because I've felt like I have been watched for a few weeks. It started at a Quidditch pickup game on the eleventh." Draco gave Hermione an apologetic look. "Then again on our date in the park two Fridays ago." Draco bit back the self loathing as he watched Hermione pale. He never wanted to put her in danger and, as of late, it was all he was seemingly able to do.

Harry looked at Hermione and they exchanged a wordless conversation. "Okay, thank you, Malfoy. We'll be in touch. We have some investigative work to do right now, and in light of this recent information, we'll be posting a bodyguard to you. They won't be invasive, but certainly present," Harry instructed.

Draco sighed, just what he needed: another stalker; there goes any sense of privacy he enjoyed. "Is that all?" When Harry nodded, Draco stood. "Thank you," and he turned to leave. He didn't make it far, however, before Granger was calling his name down the hallway. Draco stopped, already regretting what he was about to say to her.

"Malfoy," Hermione caught up to him. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't think it was anything until Saturday. I thought I was just being paranoid," he pointed out.

Hermione nodded, not truly understanding why Malfoy kept everything so close to the cuff, but that was not the issue right this moment. "You could have told me though, I would have listened."

Draco scoffed. "Oh, 'cause you and I are on such close terms. Really, Granger, this entire time we have been seeing each other, you have kept me at arms distance. I honestly I didn't blame you I understood your hesitation, so I put up with it. But we were nowhere near sharing dark deep secrets."

Hermione was taken back, what was she supposed to say? Malfoy was right. She had been keeping distance between them. "But then why tell me all of that stuff over dinner? I thought that meant something."

Draco hung his head, the fact of the matter was that it did mean something to him. He was not particularly in the practice of sharing his detailed history. "Look, Granger, I told you that stuff so maybe you wouldn't hold me at a distance. I was making an effort, that's what all those conversations were. But we can't do this anymore, you and me. I..." He trailed off, watching her sorrowfully. He couldn't put her in anymore danger. She had already lived through her fair share of peril in her life, she didn't deserve to be thrown back into the fire after her life had become stable and comfortable. "Just can't," he finished slowly. He exhaled, hanging his head and turning away from her.

Hermione refused to just let it go, damn her Gryffindor tendencies. She grabbed the crook of his arm before he could get to far away from her. "No, Draco, that's not enough, you can't just walk away expecting me to accept a 'just cause'."

Draco stopped, but refused to look at her. She had only used his name one other time and it was in similar way, because she was trying to make it a point. There was more Slyhterin in her than she probably wanted to acknowledge. Draco rolled his head back in frustration and then looked over his shoulder so she was standing in his peripheral. "Granger, I can't put you in anymore danger, you have suffered enough." He broke her grip and walked away, his heart wrenching.

"You don't get to decide that for me," Hermione yelled after him, her temper rising, who did he think she was? Some delicate woman who couldn't handle a little danger, did he know anything about her? She stormed after him, grabbing his arm again, this time ripping his arm hard enough that he stumbled back towards her. "I'm not some china doll, do you even realize how skilled I am? Do you even know how many dark wizards I've taken on and held my own?" Her voice loud and antagonizing.

"In case you forgot, Granger, those dark wizards were my family and friends." Draco could feel his temper bubbling under his skin, but he was in public and losing it could be catastrophic. The Malfoy name held a weight and foolish outbursts diminished it, so his voice remained cool and even. "I have never doubted your abilities, however, it is not lost on me that you deserve better. That I suddenly come back into your life and all of the sudden danger is lurking over your shoulder." His eyes never strayed from hers, the world around him lost to the amber orbs in front of him. " You don't deserve that. You deserve rest, and peace, and happiness." He tucked a stray curl behind her ear before he even realized what he was doing. He grimaced, recognizing that he should not have done that, his hand clenching next to her ear, self-loathing taking over again. He took another breath and dropped his hand to his side, his head hung low. "And clearly I'm not giving you any of those things. So I can't, I can't do this and put you in more danger." It was then that he looked up again, to see Potter standing in the distance over Granger's shoulder. Shit, how long has he been there? Draco took a deep breath and turned for the last time, leaving Granger in his wake.