Chapter 18
December 1997
The Galleon warmed. He was contacting her again!
Teaching Malfoy the Patronus charm must have engendered quite a bit of good will. Hermione was grateful for such an excellent opportunity since she frustratingly hadn't gotten anywhere with Kingsley on Draco and Narcissa's pardon; he said it was still too early.
The rest of the Order leadership had been extremely happy with the Rowle plans though, and the information they had gotten from Rowle himself. Apparently, the Death Eater was in charge of - among other things - leveraging the Dementors through the Ministry. Remus and the Aurors helping to train the Order reacted by beginning to train everyone in casting a corporeal Patronus.
Hermione wondered if coming into contact with the Dementors was the reason Malfoy had asked her to teach him the Patronus Charm.
I want to bend you over.
Hermione felt a brief twinge of heat at the thought of him doing precisely that to her. The Galleon communications really seemed like flirting now. It was different when she couldn't stand Malfoy and simply dealt with him because she had to.
But now she was… curious.
There was nothing between them. That would be absolutely ridiculous. But the faint attraction she was starting to feel made these short missives seem like a betrayal of Ron.
Which was stupid. There was nothing to betray him with.
And even if she found some other bloke attractive, it didn't mean anything when it wasn't acted upon, right? Harry and Ron both found Fleur attractive, but they wouldn't do anything with her. And they found that Muggle woman she had Polyjuiced herself as attractive. But she had to admit, finding Draco Malfoy attractive wasn't the same as finding Fleur attractive, or the Muggle woman.
Hermione sighed in resignation. Regardless of how wrong it was, she had a role to play as his handler. If anyone found his Galleon, or hers, it would look like they were communicating about sneaking off to have sex. It was a good cover, even if it made her uncomfortable. And to be honest, a small part of her got a thrill out of it. A very small part.
She looked down at the glowing letters on the Galleon and smiled wickedly.
So you're done stroking your wand?
There was a brief pause.
I'd rather you stroke it for me.
She couldn't help it. The images came unbidden. She thought of herself walking up to him while his fox was bouncing around the room and reaching into his pants. He'd look down at her with that smirk of his…
She squeezed her eyes shut. Enough.
Half hour.
She went to the loo to wash her face and changed out of her pajamas and into a standard jumper and jeans like she always wore when she met him. It was fine. There was nothing unusual about any of this. So Malfoy was a bit attractive. So was Charlie Weasley. So was Bill Weasley. So was Oliver Wood. So was Victor Krum. Aside from the fact that they were all Quidditch players at one point, it didn't mean anything. Ron found other women attractive but still wanted to be with her. She found other blokes attractive but still wanted to be with him.
Malfoy was simply one of the many, many, many blokes that she found attractive.
No more, no less.
Definitely less.
She Apparated to her bedroom.
Malfoy was already there. Wand on the bookshelf. Laying on her bed. Always on her bed. Always looking at her with those stormy grey eyes.
Why did he have to lie down on her bed and look at her like that?
Tonight, his eyes were curious and guarded at the same time.
He gazed behind her in the direction of her desk.
Hermione turned around and was excited to see another rolled up set of parchments. She walked back to sit in the chair and unfurled the roll. Nott Manor. Again, she had asked for Lestrange but he gave her Rowle and now Nott.
Why?
She skimmed the plans. Hermione was far from an expert like Tonks, but even she could see there was an incredible amount of detail included in these plans that weren't in Rowle's. Theo Nott was Malfoy's friend, it made sense he'd be more familiar with the layout of the estate and its wards.
"Satisfied, Granger?"
The low tone of his voice made her imagine he was referring to something else entirely. Or maybe her dirty mind simply recalled their sex talk of only a few minutes ago.
She glanced up at him. "These are excellent, Malfoy."
He reached behind his prone form on the bed and held out a jar with red liquid inside.
She peered at it with morbid interest. "Is that blood?"
"Yes. It'll get you right through the wards in the southeast corner without detection. Nothing in the house can hurt you if you perform the Hearth and Home runic protection spell on everyone going in."
She thought back to Ron's close call, and to Angelina and Colin. This would prevent all injuries resulting from wards or other dark magic in the house.
She wondered if it was Theo's blood or his father's that she was looking at, and what Malfoy had done to acquire it. She scanned the parchment for the southeast corner of the estate and saw that he had indicated precisely where they could enter without detection. He really knew a lot about the area.
Hermione set the plans down on the desk, stood up and walked across the room to take the jar but he pulled the blood away, just out of her reach. She stood over him, staring down into his eyes while he lay below her on her bed. It was a strange position to be in with Malfoy, and her stomach twisted nervously. Aside from feeling uncomfortable from their respective locations, she wasn't sure why he would offer the blood only to pull it away. She made to lean over his body and grab it when he spoke.
"Only if you tell me when the raid is."
She sputtered and backed away. "I can't give you that information! It's bad enough you already know that's what we're planning to do!"
He shrugged. "Then no blood. Theo can't be there."
She considered summoning the jar. He wouldn't be able to stop her, but that would be a breach of trust. If Malfoy couldn't trust her, he'd stop coming. Or he would refuse to relinquish his wand during their meetings.
But what exactly was he asking for? He wanted a promise from her to ensure Theo's safety and he trusted her not to break that promise.
Was that so terrible?
Again, in lieu of a pardon… Hermione felt so guilty for stringing him along like this.
Tonks and Remus would never approve of her giving him raid details, she knew it. They'd deem the trade too risky and worry that he'd betray their plans to Voldemort. She bit her lip in thought.
What if she told him anyway? Malfoy studied her while she thought through the ramifications of what he'd offered.
She couldn't hide something so important from the Order. But then she remembered how Kingsley had made his own judgement call about the Legilimens, not informing Tonks that he had access to one that could help with the interrogations, and allowed her to torture Dolohov instead.
Maybe Hermione needed to make her own judgement call here. The blood would surely prevent injuries or worse. The wards at Nott Manor were more complex and more deadly than at Rowle's Estate. She saw that clearly in the plans.
Sometimes, it was better to ask for forgiveness than request permission.
"Thirty-minute warning," she replied, and held her breath.
Enough time to warn Theo. Not enough time to plan a counter raid.
Malfoy shook his head and her shoulders sagged in disappointment.
"That would be too obvious. Let me know as soon as you know. I need a good reason to get him out of the house that no one would trace back to me. Or him."
Generally speaking, she couldn't trust Malfoy. But on this particular issue she knew that she could. Hermione was well aware of his predicament in the Astronomy Tower, and that his motivations all sixth year had been to save his parents. It wasn't beyond the pale that he wanted to ensure the safety of his friend. In fact, it was completely in character with what she knew about him. She felt a grudging respect towards him. Those were motivations she could understand and empathize with, even if he was on the wrong side.
But then why not give the Order someone else's house plans? Why put Theo in that position at all? Why not send them MacNair's? Or the Carrow's? And why hadn't he given them the full Inner Circle list to begin with? There were a few like Snape and Mulciber that she knew were in the Inner Circle that he hadn't mentioned at all. Why Rowle and Nott right now?
She felt the weight of responsibility acutely. Hermione knew she was missing information, and she didn't want to make a partially informed decision. If she was wrong, she was endangering the lives of those sent to pick up Nott Senior. If she was right, an extremely dangerous raid would go smoothly. The Order could sneak into the manor without setting off any alarms and have another highly placed source of information.
It was critical she make the right decision. She wished she knew what Malfoy's motivations were.
He watched her mull through the pros and cons of his ultimatum. Adrenaline raced through her veins and her heart thudded against her chest while she considered her choice. She took a deep breath; it was like jumping off a cliff. Hermione hoped she was correct.
"Alright."
Wordlessly, he held out the jar and she took it. She walked back to sit on her chair at the desk, thankful to be further away from him and his grey eyes.
Hermione sank into her chair holding the jar with both hands. It was strange. She felt relieved after having made the decision, but still had no idea as to whether or not it was the right one.
Malfoy studied her. Something else was going through his mind. She didn't understand the expression on his face. He seemed pensive and curious when she Apparated in. Also wary.
She wondered why he always lay down on her bed when he waited for her.
Draco Malfoy in her bed.
It was unsettling, seeing his long legs stretched out, his head propped up on his elbow, considering her.
What else did he want?
Hermione knew he came to her room without her being here. But she didn't know how often and she didn't know when. Her stack of CDs was a messy pile now. Her desk was a mess. Her books were… piled upon her shelves vertically of all things. If he had tried to hide the fact that he was looking through her room before, he certainly wasn't now. That meant something, didn't it? Malfoy didn't care if she knew anymore. He trusted her with his exploration of Muggle life, and now he trusted her to warn him of the raid ahead of time.
Going through her things while she wasn't here was the elephant in the room. Hermione knew Malfoy was exploring her Muggle house. He knew that she knew that he was exploring her Muggle house. And neither one of them ever mentioned it at all. Maybe that's why he had trusted her to teach him the Patronus. She hadn't used the knowledge that he was going through her Muggle house against him, so she wouldn't use his memory against him either.
There was a confidence of sorts between them. Hermione felt even better about her decision to take the blood.
She supposed she should have felt unsettled by the fact that Draco Malfoy was going through her things, but now she didn't. Even if he did make a bit of a mess. Now, she was more curious as to what he thought of Muggles. Ultimately, it was encouraging, the fact that he was looking around, the fact that he was interested. It meant he was questioning the world he was brought up in, didn't it? If she could help him undo his bigotry, he might be more motivated as a spy. Wouldn't he?
"Granger," Malfoy asked slowly. "If you were me, why would you think Mudbloods were inferior to pure-bloods?"
Chapter end notes:
I've read enough fanfics that have Hermione brow beating Draco and trying to turn him away from bigotry. As you all know by now, I think of him as someone that would not like being lied to, having information withheld from him, being manipulated, having his future mapped out – especially after that terrible sixth year.
Again, props to Cheryl Dyson who wrote Draco: Phoenix Rising - that OG pretty much cemented how I think of Draco. Yes, she's also the one that came up with the DA Galleon plot device. Genius.
So the realization that information had been withheld from him, or that he had been lied to – intentionally or not – would drive him to find out more and initiate the discussion with Hermione, rather than the other way around.
The bit with blood runes was inspired by Finders by Everythursday.
Coming up, another debate.
