June 11th

Monday morning began just like every other morning. Hermione was finally settling into something resembling a routine. She shared a tense, quiet breakfast with Antonin just like old times. He didn't return again until very late the previous night when she was already in bed. Never one to share too much unless he'd been drinking, he gave her no details about his trip to the castle or what happened when he was finished. With a perfunctory kiss to her cheek, he left only minutes before Hermione headed to the Ministry.

She was thankful to have an excuse to get out of their home even for just a few hours. It was beginning to suffocate her, make her long for the days and months she freely roamed the country. The weekend had been surprisingly eventful and emotional. She missed the times she had nothing else to worry about but where to sleep and what to eat. Lingering so long in Hogsmeade after so long on the run moving from place to place was making her antsy. She was anxious to complete her mission. Unfortunately, there were still weeks to go before the polyjuice potion would be ready. Even with the added bonus of being able to sneak Harry's Invisibility Cloak out of her basement, she couldn't push her plan ahead of schedule.

Rabastan was missing again from the office. In the past she might have been concerned or overly curious about what he was up to, but she honestly couldn't be arsed to care. Loitering in the Ministry pretending to have an actual interest in her former career was much easier when he wasn't around to watch every move she made. Somehow he was aware that she had an interest in the fate of Aberforth Dumbledore. She could've cursed herself for not being as secretive as she thought she had been. Clearly, she was out of practice in playing the game. That was not a slip-up she would've made in the past.

Their department's official concern was figuring out who was responsible for the explosion at the Leaky Cauldron. Captured Resistance members, even those assumed to be high-ranking within their rebel organization, were to be handled at a later date. Besides, there was little reason for her to be concerned that Rabastan's absence meant he might be doing Aberforth harm in one of the interrogation rooms in Level Eleven. She got the impression that he was going to wait for her before he did anything to that particular prisoner. Maybe he would force her back into her sadistic duties once again just for the pleasure of determining whether or not she had loyalties to Dumbledore.

She tried to push that thought out of her head before it upset her. If she was forced to interrogate Dumbledore before she was able to help him escape, she would deal with that issue when it came up. There was no sense worrying about a possibility that might never happen. But, it would be just like her Co-Head to do something so diabolical. She knew he was concerned that she'd lost her edge. He wasn't wrong. What used to excite her about her job now only brought dread and fear. If she was forced to torture another person into giving up their secrets again, she didn't think she could do it. Before she ran, it was hard enough. There was a reason why she'd been drinking too many illegal potions during that time of her life. Some days, that was the only reason she was able to make it to the next. What she had been tasked to do was unpalatable. Somewhere in the past twenty years she'd begun rediscovering her conscience.

Rabastan was always looking for her weaknesses. From the very first day they were assigned to work together in the same department, he'd been trying to find reason to take control over the entire office. If he insisted that she return to more practical applications of her skills in the office, he would discover what he'd been looking for. Perhaps then he wouldn't want her anywhere near his group determined to prevent her husband from ascending to the Dark Lord's throne. The assumption that Rabastan was working with Theodore Nott made very little sense to Hermione. She'd never seen the two of them as potential allies. It made her wonder how many different factions actually existed out there. Would their world crumble when the Dark Lord finally died because there were so many splinter groups scrambling for power?

She couldn't focus on her work. Not that there was truly all that much to do. During the lunch hour, when the other workers in her department were gone for their midday meal, Hermione slipped out of the Ministry. There were no point remaining there pretending to work. Not when she had a potion she was more concerned about to check on.

Polyjuice potion was a fickle brew. She learned that the hard way when she was in second year. It still amazed her that she was able to brew it successfully at such a young age. Many tried and failed to disastrous results. She was fortunate that she didn't end up killing her best friends. Her unexpected visit on Saturday prevented her from checking it one day that weekend. To her relief when she was able to slip out of her house on Sunday for a few minutes, everything was as it should be. She wondered if Draco made a visit to the crumbing townhouse in her absence. Or if he might stop by again when she showed up that day.

Only three or four minutes into her arrival at Number Twelve, she got her answer. Only able to just glance at the potion to make certain that it was bubbling and the right consistency, she wasn't surprised to hear the front door open. Steps down the rickety stairs to the kitchen basement soon followed. Draco's smile proved that he was glad to see the witch.

"Do you have wards set up to inform you of visitors?"

"What do you think?"

She hated to admit that she liked the cheeky side of the wizard. If he'd shown more of that during their school years instead of his cruelty, they might have had a much more enjoyable time at Hogwarts. His arms slipped around her waist from behind; his hands rested on her hips.

"Don't want to run the risk of missing you when I have the time to pop in, do I?"

Satisfied that the potion was progressing as it should, she turned around in his arms to look to see if there was sincerity in his face. Before she could get a good look, his lips were pressed against hers in a heated kiss. She knew it was wrong to encourage him, especially when she was still unsure what his true motivations were, but she found him to be a pleasant distraction. Instead of pressing her against the kitchen table as he did on his birthday, Draco took her by the hand to lead her up the stairs.

"Which room did you used to sleep in when this was the Headquarters?"

Intrigued, she told him. Minutes later after climbing the decrepit main staircase, they were inside the small room she used to share with Ginny. Nothing about it changed in the years since she'd been there last. Beyond the fact that everything inside was crumbling to dust, it was the same. Draco led her over to the bed she once slept in, not even caring that it looked to be about to fall to pieces. A simple cleansing spell cleared it of the dust and cobwebs that had accumulated from over twenty years of neglect. It was far from the luxurious backdrop of his flat, but she'd certainly done equally naughty acts in much less desirable locations.

Their coupling was fast and rough, as different as possible from the tender passion she shared with her husband only days earlier. Frustrated that she allowed her mind to wander to thoughts of Antonin in that moment, she closed her eyes and tried to ignore everything but the feel of Draco on top of her. It was by a sheer miracle that the bed didn't collapse. When they'd each found their release, they remained on the narrow bed catching their breath.

"I wish you would come back to my flat with me."

Time apart from the wizard helped clear her mind of some of the confusion she had when she was still on the run. No longer afraid that her husband was out to capture and murder her, she was able to relax and actually think.

"You don't expect me to believe that you really care about me, do you, Draco?"

He rose up on his elbow to stare down at her with an incredulous expression. His acting skills were getting better over time. Before he could stammer out an acceptable response, they were both startled by the unmistakeable sound of the front door creaking open.

"Malfoy! Where are you?"

She might have only heard his voice for the first time back in the launderette in Edinburgh months earlier, but Hermione was certain that she would never forget the sound. Especially not considering the number of times William Wood threatened to kill her. How did he know where to find Draco? Why was he there? She knew there was always a chance that Draco would betray her at some point. Fearing that she had been deceived, she jumped up from the bed. If she had to, she was going to fight. She reached for her wand first, then worried about her clothes.

"Stay here. I'll get rid of him."

Draco pulled on his trousers before stepping outside the room. With the door cracked open, Hermione was able to hear everything the two men said. She dressed quickly.

"What is it, Wood? I'm not alone."

The older wizard scoffed.

"I can tell. Couldn't find a better place than this dump?"

"She's married. There could be a scandal if we went anywhere else."

"I don't care about your sex life, Malfoy. Your presence is requested. Just come to the village as soon as you can find the rest of your clothes."

He didn't return to the bedroom until they both heard the front door shut behind Wood. Fully dressed and furious, Hermione demanded to know how the man who wanted to murder her more than apparently all others knew how to find him. Though reluctant to tell her at first, he finally sighed.

"I taught him some of my tricks a few years ago."

How William Wood was able to find her in London suddenly made a great deal of sense. She knew it couldn't have been a coincidence. No wonder he was so confident when she turned the corner on that dark street. He knew where she was.

"You're the reason he almost caught me in London."

"No, that's impossible. The tracker has to have something in their possession that belonged to their subject for the spell I use to work. How would he even get something you own?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. This was the wizard that almost bested her in many of their classes?

"Maybe from the tent full of possessions I left behind in the village he wants you to meet him in?"

There was no possible way he could argue against that. Once he was dressed, Draco kissed her with promises that he would make sure Wood stayed away from the house long enough to allow her an escape back to Hogsmeade. She waited several minutes after he left, each moment passing growing more and more furious.