Chapter 23

Hermione ran her hands through her unleashed mane, as she looked over the papers and photos were strewn long conference table. She could feel her muscles knotting in her shoulders from the stress. So far, all they had was questions. "Do we actually have anything? Any evidence, any indications?" She didn't mean to sound so irritated, but she couldn't help it.

Harry rolled his head, his hands still firmly on his hip as he stood in front of the chalkboard. "Well, both victims have been werewolves, first of all. McMillian's wife says their attacker wore a mask but she could tell it was a man, and around six feet tall. The victims were killed in the same fashion, though Hestia's cut was much deeper and more jagged. Ernie was home sleeping when the killer broke in. He murdered the children first, same MO, one fluid slash to the throat, they were dead before they even woke up. Then he went the master room dragged Ernie out of bed, which woke his wife, and slit Ernie's throat in front of the wife telling her that it was because his blood was tainted. So the message on the wall tracks as far at the purity part." Harry moved around the the room towards Hermione and leaned over her shoulder, shifting some of the papers, stress heavy on his features. "As for Hestia, we think the attacker came up behind her and slit her throat." Harry sighed as he pointed at one of the photo's of Hestia. "Then he laid her down, used her blood to write the message and placed the coin."

"What worries me is the 'traitors will fall'. They must be referring to the traitors to Voldermort, which means we're dealing with Death Eaters. But werewolves were on Voldemort's side, why would Death Eaters now decide that werewolves were impure?" Hermione wondered, looking down at the photo in front of her.

"Voldemort hated werewolves, but they were a means to an end. He thought they were tainted, but used them to terrorize."

The new voice made Hermione jump. She turned to find Draco standing in the doorway. "What are you doing here?" she asked, surprised he was there.

"Well," Draco stepped into the room closing the door behind him, "to everyone else, I'm here to discuss a fundraiser, or at least that's what I told Melody. Really, though, I just needed to see you. You left so quickly last night and I was concerned when you weren't home this morning." Draco eyed how close Potter was to Hermione, the thought of them sleeping together lingered in the back of his mind. He suppressed the jealous dragon within him and reminded himself that they had always been very close friends.

Hermione sighed, she had really meant to send him an owl apologizing for leaving so quickly and then asking if he was okay after his attack last night. "I'm sorry. I just.."

"Had work, I figured. Hence the reason I came to the Ministry." Draco approached Hermione. "I just needed to know you were okay." Draco spun a curl around his pointer finger, then eyed Potter over Hermione's shoulder, he looked back to Hermione. "I also figured you had not eaten since dinner last night, so I came to take you to lunch."

Hermione had totally forgotten about eating, though looking at gruesome crime scene photos didn't help either. Her stomach started to rumble at the thought of food. Hermione bit her lip and looked over her shoulder to Harry, who was smiling softly. "Go, it'll be here when you come back." He smiled. "Besides, Gin packed her famous leftover roast for lunch."

Draco's eyes narrowed at Potter. Hermione was a grown woman, Draco wasn't sure why she seemingly needed Potter's permission to go to lunch. However, when Hermione turned back to him and picked up her coat, he decided that it was a conversation for a different time. Right now he wanted to enjoy lunch with Hermione. He held open the door to the conference room and followed her out, ignoring Potter as he left.

Hermione paused, letting Draco walk at her side. "I thought we were keeping it quiet?" her voice hushed so that Draco could only hear her.

Draco slipped his hands in his pockets, even though they itched to hold hers. "We are. However, people do have meetings over lunch, so as long as we actually talk about a fundraiser, I think we'll maintain a sufficient cover," Draco explained quietly.

Hermione nodded slowly. She wasn't sure what fundraiser he had in mind, she was not aware of anything in the near future. They came to the lift and waited patiently, in painstaking silence, as the dial slowly counted off floors and, much to Hermione's relief, it was empty. She nodded a thank you as Draco motioned her on to the lift. He stepped on after her and chose the button for the Atrium and the door slowly slid closed. Then, as if Draco had read her mind, he spun around and slammed her in to the elevator wall, kissing her with a fiery passion, his body pressed hard into hers as if he was trying to adsorb her into him. His kisses left hot impressions on her lips, and his hands moved up her body and groped at her chest. She moaned delicately into his ear, he was so good turning her on. Her brain was whispering that this wildly inappropriate at work, but her body ignored it, indulging in the sweet distraction from the case.

Draco was satiating himself in Hermione's lips, seeing her and Potter so close drove the jealous little boy inside him slightly insane. He needed to reaffirm to himself that she wanted him. After all, Potter was Potter, the literal opposite of himself and, if Draco was being honest with himself, everything that Hermione's actually deserved. Draco leaned into Hermione harder when the thought sneaked its way through his mind, as if pushing further into her would shove the whisper of his mind. It was then that the ding that Draco had been dreading interrupted their snog. Draco growled in frustration and pressed away from her, thankful she was not the type of woman to wear lipstick. He straightened his shirt and gave her a sly smile, as the doors slid open and a tall dark haired man stepped on the lift, he nodded at Hermione and gave Draco a curious look. The three of them rode down in the lift in awkward silence until the door slid open into the Atrium and all three exited the lift.

Hermione and Draco walked to the floo system, Hermione stood in line at the nearest one, and Draco followed pursuit. She leaned back and mumbled over her shoulder, "where are we going?"

Draco chuckled at how ridiculous she was acting. "Leaky Cauldron, there's a sushi place I want to try." He leaned forward. "And relax, you're making more of an issue of it by trying to be sneaky."

Hermione shot him a dirty look over her shoulder and stepped up to the floo, called out the Leaky Cauldron and in a moment she stepped out into the dark musky looking bar. Draco stepped out of the floo next to her. The bar was fairly busy, it was a Monday and lunch time. The Cauldron was popular for the working crowd. Draco nodded at the bartender, who was looking at the pair of them suspiciously and walked to the door to the streets of London as if nothing was askew. Hermione quickly followed him, astounded at how good he was acting nonchalant. She followed him out to the heart of London. They walked a few blocks, not saying much to each other. Then, to Hermione's total surprise, Draco took her hand into his and kissed her knuckles. "How can you do that?" Hermione wondered as his gaze turned to her.

"Do what?" Draco looked at her as if she asked him to grow wings and fly.

"Act like there's nothing between us, and then just turn back on this side of you," she asked, shaking his hand in hers.

"Oh." He smiled softly at her. "Well, lets just say when you grow up around masks, you learn how to wear them." He ran his free hand through his hair.

"How do I know you're not just wearing another mask around me then?" The fear that everything was a ruse started to settle on her heart again. She was so invested in him now, to have him faking it all of this would hurt. A lot.

Draco sensed her distress and took his hand from hers and pulled her into him, his arm now wrapping around her. He pressed a kiss into the top of Hermione's head. "You're the only person I've let see my face, Hermione," he mumbled into her wild curls.

Hermione looked up at him in shock. "Where did this Draco come from?" she asked without actually intending too.

Draco scoffed. "Let's just say a lion chased it out of me." Draco opened as door to a small, nondescript restaurant with a neon sushi sign, he then waited to for Hermione to go in. Once inside, a tiny little Asian girl greeted them, and then sat them down at the track that wound its way around the restaurant, little plates with covers drifted lazily by on the track.

Hermione looked at Draco perplexed. "What do we do?"

It was now Draco's turn to look shocked. "You've never been to a sushi track?"

Hermione shook her head. She had not really had sushi, both Ron and Harry had found something fundamentally wrong with eating raw fish.

Draco laughed. "Well, it's simple, really. You just pick the plates off the track that you want eat and then eat it."

Hermione looked at the little conveyor belt carrying various pieces of sushi around the bar. "How do you know it's fresh?"

Draco shrugged. "You hope the chef is good at his job" Draco picked a spicy tuna off the track and uncovered it and started to eat.

Hermione pursed her lips. "How do you know what's what?"

Draco gave her grin. "I think that's rather part of the fun of it, you get to try new things and the surprise is the best part."

Hermione furrowed her brows. She was not fond of the idea of not knowing exactly what was going in to her mouth. "What if I don't like it?"

Draco laughed. "Then don't eat it." He grabbed another roll off the track, this one looked like a deep fried roll with a spicy Japanese mayo. "Besides, if the chef is any good you won't have that issue, and since Blaise was the one who recommended this place and he has a flat in Tokyo, I think he'd know where the good sushi is."

Hermione took a deep breath, watched the sushi, one by one, pass her by. She finally got up the guts to grab a random dish and uncovered it. The roll was wrapped in salmon, which was a good sign, she liked salmon, and had what looked like crab, cucumber, and cream cheese in the center. She picked up her chopsticks and took a bite, and damn it if Draco wasn't right this was the best sushi she ever had, not that her experience was extensive, but it was really good. She smiled at him mouth still full of fish and nodded.

Draco grinned. They spent the next hour picking out plates, trying each other's food and daring one another to eat crazier looking rolls. All of it had been amazing. Draco leaned back smiling, sucking on a piece of pickled ginger, too full to have anymore. He looked at Hermione, who was also had a contented smile. "Well?"

She sighed heavily. "It was amazing. I can't remember when I enjoyed my lunch hour so much." Her smile fell again when she thought about how she had to now go back to work and talk about gruesome murders.

"Something wrong?" Draco asked, concerned with how quickly her mood shifted.

"Just been a rough day, I guess, and it didn't help that it started last night," Hermione admitted softly.

Draco grimaced. "What happened?"

"There was a murder last night, Hestia Carrow." Hermione sighed. "And it was..." She trailed off. Was there a right word for last night? It was not the first person she'd seen dead, but something about the poor girl and her ghostly skin horrified Hermione. "Gruesome," she finished. Draco suddenly wrapped his arms around her, holding her firmly to his chest. She felt the dam that was keeping all the stress, guilt and remorse back suddenly break. His embrace had torn down her walls and emotions flooded her. Hermione sobbed into his chest and he just held her tighter. It was several minutes later that Hermione was able to gather herself enough for him to pay so they could leave.

As they strolled down the streets of London, Draco gripped Hermione's shoulder tightly, holding her firmly into him. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked," breaking the enduring silence.

Hermione shook her head. "No, I actually feel much better now." Hermione looked at Draco. "Are you okay? You knew Hestia."

Draco stopped and frowned, he should have been more upset but he was rather unaffected by the news. "She was a few years below me, I barely knew her."

Hermione looked down. "Oh," was all she could manage. Was she just overreacting then? But before she could give it more thought, Draco lifted her chin up to look at him and then kissed her sweetly.

"I hate to to cut this short, but if we go much further, we may be recognized," he consoled.

Hermione looked up and, sure enough, they were just a few blocks from the Cauldron. "Oh, well are you just going to leave at the Cauldron?"

"I think it would be best. I have some things to pick up in the alley anyways," Draco said.

Hermione nodded. "Okay. Well, thank you for lunch. I really did enjoy myself and I really needed to get away from work." Then it dawned on Hermione. "Wait, where's your detail?"

Draco let out an annoyed huff. "I insisted that they stay behind at the ministry. I really wanted to just spend time with you. They are quite bothersome, you know? Having them around all the time."

"Draco!" Hermione exclaimed, frustrated. She had already had one murder on her hands. She couldn't handle it if she had Draco's too. "They are there to keep you safe!"

Draco rolled his eyes, which was exactly the wrong thing to do because Hermione turned a violent shade of fuchsia. "Hermione, I'll be fine, I swear. Believe it or not, I'm capable at defending myself."

Hermione's blood began to boil. "You don't think that Ernie or Hestia couldn't defend themselves? Whoever this is sneaks up on their victims, not giving them a chance."

Draco was becoming annoyed with her lack of confidence in him. "I dealt with Death Eaters and the Dark Lord himself, I can handle whoever this is." Draco kept his voice as even as possible, doing everything in his power not to lose his temper with her.

"It's not about your ability, you knitwit. If you get murdered, then it's on me. I couldn't stop them. I will find them, but if they get to you and kill you first," her eyes pleading with him, "I couldn't handle that." Tears of frustration started falling down Hermione's cheeks. "Please, Draco, I don't want to lose you yet."

Draco recoiled, how could she think this is her fault? "Hermione, it's not your fault." Suddenly why she was so upset over Hestia clicked in to place in Draco's mind.

Hermione's lip quivered. She was fighting with every fragment of herself not to fall apart again. "It is, though, Draco, it's my project. We were supposed to protect her and we failed. It's on me." She angrily wiped away the frustrated tears. "And if they get to you, it will be on me too. So, please, for Merlin's sake, put aside your pride and let your detail do their job."

Draco pursed his lips and conceded. "Fine, but only because it will make you feel better, not because I need it." He crossed his arms.

Hermione couldn't help but giggle, it was like the eleven year old Draco was standing in front of her all over again. She smiled and kissed a very confused Draco on the lips. "Thank you."