Chapter 25

"'Mione! Where are you?! What the hell is this?!"

"Ron, she and Harry have been working all night, for Merlin's sake! You can throw your fit when she's had at least enough sleep to think!"

"No, Ginny, she kept this from me! She told you and Harry but not me?!" Hermione could hear the fury in Ron's voice. She groaned into her pillow and checked her clock. It was just before noon, so she had only been asleep three hours.

"Can you blame her, Ron?! You come storming in to her house like this and you wonder why she didn't tell you. Seriously, Ron, grow up! We're not teenagers anymore!" Ginny bellowed back at Ron. Clearly Ron went to consult Harry and found Ginny instead.

Hermione toyed with the idea of just letting Ginny handle Ron, she had far more experience than Hermione did. Guilt took Hermione over though, this was her issue with Ron not Ginny's. She let out an exasperated breath. I should have taken Draco's offer, she thought to herself woefully as she got out of bed. She left the confines of her room, finding Ginny and Ron still fighting in her living room. "It's okay, Gin, I can take it from here." She stifled a yawn.

"Hermione, you've been working all night, he can wait," Ginny admonished, pointedly glaring at Ron.

Hermione smiled softly, she truly cherished Ginny. "Gin, just go home, I'm sure James needs you. I'll be fine, really."

Ginny bit her lip, contemplating whether to leave. "Fine. Ron, keep it brief, she needs sleep," Ginny lectured as she roughly poked her brother in the chest.

Ron just rolled his eyes at his little sister and waited for her to leave before he spoke again. "Malfoy? Really? And why didn't you tell me?"

Hermione sighed. "If we're going to do this right now, I need tea." Hermione brushed by Ron, heading for the kitchen.

"'Mione, you're avoiding answering me," Ron growled.

"No, Ronald, I just have had three hours sleep in the last twenty-four hours. If you want to have this conversation, I need some caffeine." Hermione angrily slammed the kettle on the stove top, and pulled out the Earl Grey from the cupboard. She heard Ron huff behind her but she ignored it, as she patiently waited for the water to boil.

"Merlin's sake, Hermione, you're a witch, use your bloody magic." Ron flicked his wand at the kettle, which instantly brought the water to a boil.

Hermione took a deep breath, trying to keep herself from lashing out a Ron. One of the things about Ron that drove Hermione insane was that he had no concept of satisfaction of doing things by hand, but that was an old argument, and to bring it up now would be counterproductive. So instead, Hermione grabbed the kettle and poured the tea for herself and Ron, then sat down at the table. "Sit, Ron." Ron's jaw clenched, but he sat down anyways. Hermione took another deep breath. "I was going to tell you," she started, "but this thing with Draco," she watched as Ron bristled when she used his first name, "is still new. I'm not sure where it's going yet, and I wanted to know for sure before telling you."

Ron crossed his arms and scoffed. "What, you didn't think I could handle it?"

Hermione bit the inside of her cheek, her mouth pursing. "Well, forgive me, Ronald, you haven't had the best record with Draco. I didn't see the need to drag you through all this over nothing."

"So, it's nothing?" Ron mocked her.

Hermione swore that if she inhaled in more air, she might float away like a hot air balloon. "I told you, I don't know what it is yet."

"Hermione, he teased you, he insulted you, and threatened you!" Ron pressed. "You shouldn't even be thinking about what this is!"

Hermione huffed in frustration. "I don't need a recap on all the terrible thing he's ever said and done to me Ron! I was there!"

"Well, apparently a wrackspurt or something got into your brain and made you forget! Hermione, this is mental! He's a Death Eater, for Merlins sake!"

"No, Ron, he's not, he never took the mark, what we thought was the mark was his bite! Do you even read any of the memos sent to you at work!" Hermione yelled back, this argument was escalating quickly.

Ron locked his jaw for a moment. "It doesn't matter Hermione," his voice becoming a quiet rage. "I listened to your screams as that psycho carved those letters into your arm." He stood up and crossed the tiny kitchen. "I screamed my bloody lungs out calling to you. I still hear your screams in my sleep. He let that happen, he stood by as she tortured you, he let you scream."

Hermione fought back tears, the entire memory always brought up raw emotions, and she knew that both Ron and Harry still had night terrors over it. She did too. The worst part about it was that he wasn't wrong, Draco did just stand there and watch. "Ron, he was terrified, he had his entire family bending to the Dark Lord's every whim, he lived in that house, with that thing."

"Oh, so that makes it okay then?" Ron recoiled. "He was scared to disappoint mommy and daddy and that why it's okay that he stood there?"

Hermione felt a rogue tear run down her cheek. "His father was abusive, Ron, beat both him and his mother, they were just as much prisoners as we were. The only difference was that he endured it for seventeen years."

Ron stepped back, he never handled crying women well. "Look, 'Mione, you know who he is, who he fought for. Why are you even toying with this?"

She could see that Ron was starting to calm down, Ron was a hot head for sure, but maturity enabled him to cool down much faster than when he was a kid. "I didn't, at first, I thought it was some cruel trick, but he's grown up just as much as we have. And unfortunately, the war was not as black and white as we thought it was as kids, our side was not the only side that was hurt by it. I mean, look at Pansy, we couldn't stand her at Hogwarts, and now we both work with her."

"That's different, we had to be nice to her, and vice-versa." Ron sighed. "Besides she's still a pain."

Hermione grimaced. "Yes but less so, and we've come to tolerate her. That's how it started with Draco. I decided to give him a chance and I've been so surprised." Hermione smirked more to herself than Ron. "I mean, I thought he was this terrible human being, but it just turned out that he was just put into a bad situation and made bad choices, which is human. If we held everyone accountable for their mistakes, I would have never forgiven you for dating Lavender." Hermione didn't like speaking ill of the dead but she had a point to get across.

Ron let go of a deep breath. "You know me 'Mione, I just care about you, and I really don't want to see you hurt."

Hermione nodded, she knew this was going to be the root of the issue, Ron still very much cared for her and she him. "I know, Ron, but if things do go badly, I have you, and Harry, and Ginny, and my parents, and the rest of your family. I will be okay, I have no shortage of people who care. I just need to give this a try." Hermione eyebrows knitted together seriously. "Draco is different, there's something there and I'm so intrigued. He's unlike anyone I've ever known," she paused "and I just have this gut feeling that..." she trailed off this time. She wasn't sure what this gut feeling was, but it was there, sitting in her stomach, pulling her towards Draco.

Ron watched her as she started to drown in her thoughts. "Hermione, please don't. He's dangerous" he pleaded as he tucked a stray crule behind her ear. "He doesn't deserve you."

Hermione smiled meekly, "he doesn't think so either, but Ron, I have too." She stopped, "I want too, and he can't hurt me anymore then I already have been."

Ron gritted his teeth, "I'm not going to be friends with him, and I'm not going to be happy about any of this."

Hermione frowned slightly, "I'm not asking you too, I'm asking you you let me figure him out. I know you're concerned, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, we didn't think the prophet would catch on so quickly."

Ron grimaced. "Well, you know that Skeeter woman," his voice annoyed at the thought of her.

"I do," Hermione nodded in agreement. "Either way, I'm sorry."

Ron sighed. "Me too, I really should have let you sleep.

Hermione smirked. "Well yes that would have been nice, but I understand."

Ron bobbed his head. "Well, I leave you to get back to sleep then," he said slowly standing. "I'll see you soon?" His voice hesitant as he mussed up his hair.

Hermione sighed. "Yes, Ron, you'll see me soon and we're okay," she assured him again.

"Okay, good," Ron gave her a long reassuring hug, before they walked back the living room and he stepped in to the floo. "See ya later, 'Mione," he bid her goodbye and, with a flash of green, he was gone and Hermione went back to bed.

The next morning Hermione was back at work. There was a soft knock on her door and she knew it was Melody. "Come in," Hermione's voice rang.

Melody poked in her head, her long hair falling over her shoulder. "Miss Granger, I just heard from one of my friends in the Auror Department that there's been a break in the case."

Hermione snapped her head up from her paperwork. "What?! And no one came to tell me?"

Melody bit her lip. "Uh...no. I just found out from through grape vine and assumed you'd like to know."

Hermione got up to her feet clamoring to grab a few files. "Thank you, Melody."

"Of course! Now hurry, because from what I heard, Mr. Potter is heading out soon." Melody held open the door for Hermione to rush out.

When Hermione rushed out of the office and into the hallway she realized the lift door were starting to close. "No, wait! Hold the door!" she yelled down the hallway, startling a man standing just inside the lift. He held the door open as Hermione dashed into the already crowded lift. "Level two, please," she panted as she caught her breath from the sprint form her office. The lift stopped at every floor between hers and Harry's, and her frustration grew with each floor. Finally the cool voice called out level two and the doors slide open and Hermione leapt out of the lift, sprinting towards Harry's office again.

"Miss Granger!" Harry's secretary called out as Hermione burst through Harry's office door, only to find it empty. Hermione spun around. "He's in the conference room."

Hermione huffed in frustration. "Of course he is. Also next time, please inform my office when cases that involves us get new leads." Hermione did not give the woman time to respond before she was racing towards the conference room. She pulled open the door to find Harry pulling on his Auror gear. "There's been a break in the case?"

Harry looked up at her, startled to find her in front of him. " Yeah, one of the bartenders from the bar that Hestia was at came forward this morning and, with some legilimency, we pulled the identity of a man who happened to be a death Eater, and, apparently, from some of our underground contacts, very anti-werewolf. We weren't sure it was anything until the muggle investigators pulled a bloody fingerprint off a window in a alley and were running it against their systems, turns out he's killed muggles too and been on their radar too. So we know he was there, has motive, killed before, and at one point had Hestia's blood on his hands."

Hermione picked up some of the spare gear on the table and started putting it on herself, "And we know where he is then?"

Harry cocked an eyebrow. "Hermione, I know you're just as invested in this investigation, but you can't come."

Hermione gave Harry a searing look. "You know I can defend myself."

"It's not that, Hermione. We're taking in a special tactics team. If you come, you'll be in the way because you're not trained in tactical. You'll be a liability and they don't need that, they need to focus," Harry's voice stern.

Hermione chewed on her lip. She really wanted to see this to the end, but she also did not want to mess it up. If the guy got loose it could be Draco he was after next. "I want to interrogate," she compromised.

"Hermione, I have to go, we'll negotiate when I get back." Harry put on the last bit of his gear and kissed her on the forehead. "And I'll be safe, I promise." He chuckled as he jogged out the door to catch up with the tactical team.

Hermione followed him out of the room, watching as he directed the team in to departing groups and going over the plan again. She crossed her arms and leaned against the door. Harry was no longer the boy she knew at Hogwarts, he had always been a good leader, but he used to do it with hesitation back then, now he was sure of himself. He was proud, strong, and, most of all, humble, but what she came to realize over time was that this was always Harry, he just needed to come in to his own. Here he was, a sure confident man who had bore all the world's troubles on his shoulders and defeated them. Harry had done a lot of growing since Hogwarts, and Hermione was extraordinarily proud to call him her friend, she was proud of who he'd be come. Harry turned around again to give her a farewell smile and wave before he and the other Aurors apparated away, now there was nothing to do but wait.

A few hours slipped by with no word from the tactical team and Hermione was just starting to worry when she heard pops from the conference room where she had temporarily set up shop to work while waiting to hear from Harry. Hermione rushed out of the conference room again to find a group of Aurors congratulating each other, with Harry standing among them. Hermione rushed forward and Harry caught her in his emeralds. "We got him," he smiled at her.

Hermione let out a laugh of triumph and she flung her arms around Harry. "When can we interrogate him?" she asked over his shoulder.

"Well, he pretty much gave a full confession once we snagged him, but the interrogators are working on him now. Seems he's been behind almost every attack against werewolves." Harry let go of her. "I know you wanted to interrogate, but there's protocol in place."

Hermione sighed, she had looked in to the protocol while they were gone and quickly realized, because she was merely a liaison, she had no say in the actual interrogation. "I figured. I'm glad we got him. Draco will be glad to be rid of his guard," she chuckled.

Harry smiled. "Yeah, my guys will be glad to be off Malfoy duty too, apparently he can be a real pain."

Hermione let out a deep breath as she stepped out of the fireplace into her flat. With the murderer caught, there was a mountain of work on her side: she had to type up a letter that would go out to the all the werewolves informing them of the good news but still warning them to stay ever diligent in personal security, review new policies with Bateman about attack prevention, and how to quickly and more efficiently inform the community. She then had to brief the liaisons on questions and concerns they may get from the their wards and the new policy changes. All in all, it was an extraordinarily tiring but rewarding day, one of which she was very happy to have had and that was over.

A loud pop startled Hermione from her thoughts and with a "Huzzah!", Draco belted out with excitement as he popped open a bottle of champagne. "Congratulations on catching the Huntsman!" He gleefully proclaimed, pouring himself and her a glass in lovely flutes that he must have brought with him.

Hermione grimaced, a joyful Draco was a rare sight, he was not one for smiling very often, which made the moments when he did worth savoring but the fact that he used the presses nickname irked her. "I had actually nothing to do it with it," she admitted flatly as Draco crossed the room to hand her a flute.

Draco smiled softly at her. "Hermione, your part may have seemed small, but I'm sure you deterred the killer from getting to anyone else." He clinked their flutes together. "Besides, if nothing else, we're celebrating the fact that I no longer have a security detail."

Hermione took a sip. She was not sure that what Draco had said was true, Hestia was still dead, her preventive measures surely failed her, and it seemed like the Aurors discovered the killer's identity by sheer luck. Though Harry did tell her that's how many murders were solved was pure dumb luck. Something still felt off to Hermione though, like this entire thing was just too easy. "I don't know Draco, I really feel like it was just chance that the Aurors got him."

Draco shrugged. "Who was it? The letters your department sent out didn't say anything and the papers are saying the Aurors aren't releasing the identity yet?"

Hermione sighed. "Harry's planning on releasing the name tomorrow, they just had a few loose ends to tie up before taking it public. It was Jeremy Jugson. He was in the first war and an escapee from Azkaban during the second. Apparently, he was one of the many Death Eaters that just disappeared after the Hogwarts Battle."

Draco face fell. "Shit, I knew he was anti-werewolf, he always had negative things to say when Grayback was working for Voldemort, but I didn't think he would ever act on it."

"He fits perfectly. I mean, he flew the country after the war, said he spent time in South America and that's where he first started killing. There's a big issue with drug cartels over there they just assumed it was gang related, I guess. It wasn't until last year that he came back and started targeting people here, and he confessed to all but a few of the attacks and both murders." Hermione sat down, watching Draco as he sat next to her.

Draco sighed "We just assumed he was dead. A lot of the Death Eaters after the war skipped town only to get themselves killed somewhere else." Draco leaned back in to the lounge and eyed Hermione carefully. "What's wrong?"

Hermione gave him a pitiful look, "I'm very happy we got him, he's admitted to everything and thus far all the information he's given us checks out, but," she took a small breath, "it just seems to easy, like he was just waiting for us to catch up to him."

"Do you think he's a puppet?" Draco cocked an eyebrow at her.

"No, that's the thing, he has every indication of being a loner, I just feel like we're missing something." She rolled her head back. "Or maybe I'm just overthinking this. Maybe my brain doesn't want it to be this easy. I grew up reading mystery novels, like Sherlock Holmes, and there were always these crazy tiny clues that lead to the murder." She laughed when she saw Draco's confused face. "Sherlock is a famous muggle detective in books."

Draco smiled again. "Of course, Hermione, what I think you're forgetting is that real life is far less dramatic and exciting than books. Besides, Jugson was never a master mind, the fact that he got away with it for this long is amazing. Take your wins where you can get them, life doesn't give them out often." Draco placed his flute on the coffee table and wrapped his arms around her. "I know all too well how life loves to kick you in the teeth, but when it hands you good things," his stormy eyes grasping Hermione's "you have to hold on to it."

Hermione knew there was more laced into what he was saying, she knew that he wanted to tell her more. A part of her wanted him to elaborate, the other was terrified of what he would. She wasn't sure if she was ready for those words, for that commitment with him yet. She had so easily and quickly given her heart to Ron and that had ended in broken hearts.

Draco could see the worry and thoughts in Hermione's eyes. If he was honest with her now that could send everything into a tailspin, but he did love her. He could see himself with her a hundred years down the road with her. If he was honest with himself it was her, had always been her. He tried to tell himself it was a fascination, an infatuation, though he had always known what it truly was. He had managed to contain it, lock in a box at the back of his brain when the emotion for her put his life on the line but the last two months with her, laying in bed, watching her laugh at his humor, the way she glared at him when he made a rude joke about her friends. All of it brought his love for her to the surface, and he wanted her to know, he wanted to tell everyone that he met just how incredible this woman was and that she had chosen him. Making it a reality, however, terrified him. She had only been with him for two months, the idea that she loved him back was ludicrous, especially given their past. Draco instead kissed her softly. He would tell her eventually, when the time was right.