Yellow! How was your weekend? I'm almost done with this semester, finally! Summer time!

Hope you enjoy the update!

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Harry Potter. If I did, I would have bought an island by now.


Year 2003, June
The Ministry of Magic

"Why is it taking so long? For someone who seemed so adamant to talk, he sure has a lot to say."

Lupin merely shrugged at her question.

"I mean, surely it must have ended by now. Why hasn't Kingsley reported back to us?"

Again, a shrug.

"Don't mind giving your opinion any time soon, Lupin. I'm doing just fine rambling all by myself." Hermione said sarcastically.

He looked at her from the chair he was seated on. He had one of his arms on the armrest, his hand holding his head, as he seemed to be in deep concentration. Or, from another point view, incredibly bored.

"I don't have anything to say, Hermione."

"Fine." She scowled, still pacing restlessly in front of her desk, in her office. "We'll just have to wait then."

The older wizard didn't respond, returning to his apparent moping.

Hermione sighed softly, knowing he must be taking this sudden Malfoy appearance, rather badly. After all, Malfoy's family was partially responsible for the death of his wife; for family you'd assume Bellatrix. Hence this brooding and scepticism. She was surprised on how he managed to keep quiet during the entire interrogation. She knew Lupin. She knew he was this amazing, serene man, with a lot of deep insight about anything and everything. The fact that he didn't even once express his opinion, since this all ordeal started, was baffling. But then again, she also knew that the murder of Tonks had changed him completely, leaving a scar so deep it would take years and years to heal… and it would never scar completely, she knew that.

The first few years had been really tough on him, even with little Teddy there to give him some support, one way or another. But Lupin would hardly go anywhere, would hardly talk to anyone. Until one day, he just snapped and let himself change.

He disappeared during the full moon, no one knowing where he had gone. She remembers how Harry tried desperately to track him down, to prevent him from doing a horrible mistake. She remembers how she had stayed home, with little Teddy, Molly by their side, trying to sooth him. He was months old, thankfully unable to remember how his father had gone temporarily insane one time, leaving him all alone in their house, during the night. Luckily, he had transformed after he'd gone. What knows what could have happened if Lupin had transformed still inside their house. Hermione's heart tighten just thinking about it.

They found him later that night, hunting in the woods, howling like a beast in pain. Fortunately, no one got hurt and they managed to capture him with barely a few scratches, Neville being the worst with a broken wrist. They contained Lupin back at the Ministry and for three nights he remained incarcerated. Hermione could still remember the loud, painful, cries.

Even in his werewolf form, Lupin was still grieving, rather agonisingly, the death of his beloved.

He had howled and howled for three days straight, until the morning of the fourth day, when they had encountered him, on the floor of his cell, where he had fainted due to the exhaustion, back to his human form.

Hermione knew that besides carrying the pain of the loss of his wife, Lupin now carried the guilt of having left his son. And that had changed him, forever.

Of course, after the incident – if you could call it that – Lupin devoted himself entirely to his son, making sure little Teddy knew everything he could know about his late mother and embraced his role as a full-time daddy. And that made him really happy, truly. Hermione adored them and their relationship. Lupin saw Tonks in Teddy and he loved his son so deeply, it sometimes hurt to watch. But she also knew Lupin needed something more in his life. He needed his companion, the love of his life who was so unfairly taken away from him. Lupin had become a damaged man and even after five years since the final Battle, he was still fully grieving.

She honestly thought that this deal with Malfoy, would spur him up a bit, even if he became upset or angry. Lupin deserved some closure, even if he felt he would never get it. Hermione believed that he had wanted to avenge the death of his wife, but Molly got to Bellatrix first. Part of him doesn't hold it against her, obviously, but there was still a tiny part of him that had wanted to Avada Bellatrix into hell. And it vexed him that he couldn't.

He was accepted as an Auror, in the Ministry, after his brave performance in the final Battle, a job he didn't want to accept at first, but felt compelled too, to pay a certain homage to Tonks. And he had become a fine Auror, one of the best. He and Harry made the perfect team, even if Ron kept saying Harry always preferred to work with him, but Hermione had a feeling that some tint of jealously was present in Ron's statement.

Still, Lupin's behaviour at the interrogation had confused her.

He was one of the first ones to always leap forward to his tasks, without any hesitation or fear. And recently, he had seemed to be returning more to his old self again, Harry mentioning his little flirt with the maid. He even cracked a few jokes, something which was very rare nowadays, the only time that would happen would be when he was around Teddy. Yes, Lupin seemed to be finally starting to move on with his life and accept his loss.

And then idiot Malfoy came along.

And Lupin seemed so indifferent about it, so pensive. Maybe he was trying to block it all out. Maybe it was easier this way, to just shut down Malfoy's presence and ignore him.

Even though Lupin didn't held Malfoy directly responsible for the murder of his wife, he surely held some kind of grudge against him. It was Malfoy, son of Lucius, nephew to Bellatrix, Death Eater of Voldemort's army. But, Hermione knew that Lupin still had this powerful sense of honour and respectfulness. If anyone would ever truly forgive Malfoy for everything, she believed it would be Lupin. He was a good man, better than any of them and she would say that proudly, to anyone.

She looked at the clock on the wall, near the window in her office. It was almost noon and no sign of Malfoy or Kingsley. Ron and Harry had disappeared off to Merlin knows where, probably too crossed to stay and wait for anything at all. Robards went back to his office, cursing all the way there. And Malfoy was left alone in the interrogation room with Kingsley, just as he had suggested.

After returning from the Auror department, where her resolve to try and make amends with her husband turned up blank, she decided to go and wait in her office. Midway there she found Lupin in one of the corridors staring blankly at a wall. She compelled him to come with her so they could keep each other company. The thought of having someone there with her made her feel slightly better and the chances of once more breaking down and having one of her hyperventilating sessions dissipated. It was for the best.

At least this way, she had to keep herself focused more on what was truly happening and not on her feelings.

Hermione knew that seeing Malfoy again was somewhat… She couldn't even find the word for it. Seeing him again had been tough. It had been emotions dancing all around. It had been raw, exciting and puzzling all at the same time. She had no idea how she managed to still keep a straight face after being just about two feet from Malfoy. But she had, she did it. No one noticed her, too busy cursing Malfoy's existing or trying to ignore him completely.

And the way he had been looking at her legs...

She shivered involuntary.

Draco Malfoy was at the Ministry, talking about Death Eaters and looking at her legs. How did it get so fucked up?

And why would he even stare at her legs? It had been years since that last happened! Years since she had seen him, talked to him, touched him. Years since all of that came crashing down on her, since he left without a word. Years and years and more years.

And now he was back. And he had stared at her, directly into her eyes and Merlin, how much had he said with just one look. Just one look from Malfoy and she was gone. Vanished. Just one look and it was enough for her heart to double its pace, for her palms to start sweating, for her head to start spinning, for all her questions and unresolved answers to start infuriating her brain. And all it took was one look. One fucking look.

"How does he do it?"

"Sorry?"

Lupin's voice brought her back to reality. Here she was, thinking aloud again, her mouth moving on its own accord. Fucking Malfoy.

"Nothing! I mean… how does he do it? Just turn everything upside down?" she tried to cover it up.

"Draco always seemed to have that ability." Lupin responded, smiling slightly at her question.

Yes, he did. Draco Malfoy was a fucking pro when it came to manipulating and turning a situation into his advantage. Hermione had witnessed it many times and she herself had been caught in the crossfire.

She shivered again, memories long repressed trying to pry out.

Get it together. This isn't about you or Malfoy or anything alike for that matter. So, keep focused.

There was a slight knock on her door and it opened slowly, revealing a frowning Harry Potter. Hermione immediately went into work mode, stopping her pacing and waited anxiously for anything he had to say. But Harry said nothing, as he quietly took a seat next to Lupin's. He was alone, Ron nowhere in sight. Hermione figured he was still pissed off at everything, especially at her, so she didn't find it weird that Harry had come alone.

The three of them kept in silence for a few moments, before Hermione's impatience took the best of her.

"Any news?"

Harry looked at her, still frowning and shook his head.

"And Ron?"

"Went for a walk. He was… angry."

She snorted "Go, figure."

"Well, he had everyone reason to, don't you think?" Harry asked, rather harshly she noticed.

"Excuse me? How is Ron's anger my fault?"

"Oh, come on, Hermione! Malfoy right down humiliated him and you joined the party."

"I did no such thing! Ron was acting childishly and you and I both know it. He bloody well knows who we are dealing with. It was very unprofessional of him to lose his temper like that."

"And there you are again, defending that fucking wanker!" Harry exasperated "Seriously, Hermione. Sometimes I wonder on why you shield Malfoy so much, especially after what happened at the Mansion, at Hogwarts, at –"

"I don't fucking shield him!" she argued "I'm simply stating that Ron has to learn how to be the bigger person and not step down to Malfoy's level. Malfoy will always be a dick, doesn't mean my husband has to act the same way."

Harry scowled but resumed his silent frowning after that.

"I'm sorry he feels like I didn't stand by his side, but I can't back him up when I think he could have done things differently."

"That is not the point, Hermione. If you and I both know Malfoy is wanker, we also know that Ron loses his temper quickly, especially when provoked. It is not your duty as his wife to make him feel worse, but to try and understand his reasons."

"His reasons? There were six other people in that room, including Malfoy and my husband was the one that got tackled to the ground. I'm sorry if I'm not capable of getting tackled alongside him."

Harry sighed heavily "Fine, whatever. It is none of my business, anyway. Just talk to him, ok?"

"That is what I plan to do." She said defiantly. And next she added "And you are right. It is none of your business."

They exchanged a weary look between them, both of them too tired and anxious to be having this conversation, in the first place. Harry seemed to let it go for now, clearly not pursuing the discussion.

She hated to fight with Harry. He was like a brother to her, someone she could talk to and someone she knew would always be there for her. But he was very much like Ron sometimes and acted rather irrationally, not really capable of getting his personal feelings and thoughts out of the way. She knew Harry despised Malfoy, even though he was perfectly capable of having a civilized conversation with his former rival. That is until Malfoy started to throw some punches and when that happened, Harry would lose his patience rather quickly. Fortunately, he made the decision to leave, but the stress and resentment were pretty much evident on his face. He wasn't happy with this situation. He wasn't happy at all.

If Malfoy had somewhat been able to obtain information about these supposed gatherings, Harry would be the first one to put the blame on himself, firstly for not knowing about these assemblies in the first place and secondly for not being able to stop them in due time. And she also knew he felt rather frustrated that it had to be Malfoy, off all people, to bring this situation to his attention. This meant he wasn't doing his job right. Neither he nor his entire department. And that was enough for the boy, who always had the fate of the Wizarding World on his shoulders, to feel like he had failed, once again, in his duty to protect everyone. Which was ridiculous, she knew that. Harry was not responsible for any of this, but knowing him like she did, she wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't blaming himself right now, for this entire situation.

If he had been more careful, he would have noticed something unusual. He would have seen something, heard something. He would have done something to prevent it and this whole ordeal could have been avoided. Malfoy would have never come here and everything would go back to normal by now. But who was he kidding? These things were bound to happen, especially with a society with so many flaws and problems like the Wizard one.

Hermione was proud of being a witch, but she knew some wizards and witches could act pretty stupidly, especially when it came to Muggleborns or power and money. Harry just had to accept the fact that peace was short lived and even if they could all live in peace forever, there would always be some kind of bad loophole that would keep repeating itself, over and over again. And they had to deal with it. That was simply life. What goes around, comes around.

Silence filled the room again, the three of them not knowing what to say or do. Lupin had closed his eyes and seemed to be snoozing out, Harry just sat there looking at his feet and Hermione was now reclined against her desk, too nervous to even sit down. What is taking so fucking long?

She looked at the clock again and it was signalling a little past midday. Malfoy had been in there for more than three hours. What could he possibly have to say that would take so long? Was he really that informed? Did he have massive amounts of information? And that was good, right? It meant he knew about things and could be of assistance. And if that was true and if he seemed to know so much about it, how come this completely slipped past the Minister's radar? How was that possible? And for how long? For how long had they been ignorant about this whole situation?

Merlin, she was getting a headache.

She knew Malfoy really liked to hear himself talk, but this was too much. How the fuck does he –

"What was he like?"

She looked back at Harry, not sure if he was addressing her.

"What?"

"Malfoy." He said more firmly this time, still looking pensive at his feet "Back when we went to look for the Horcruxes, during the year right before the Battle… What was he like?"

Hermione's heart clenched impossibly.

Oh, Merlin. Why was he asking her that? What did it mean? Did he notice something? Was it her? What was happening?

"You know what he was like, Harry. Same old Malfoy, insufferable and evil."

"Yes, I know, but you never did told me what made him change… What made him change his mind, his beliefs. Everything."

Hermione took a deep breath, forcing her face to collaborate with her "I told you, Harry. He regretted it, all of it. Dumbledore, Voldemort… all of it."

"I know, but…"

"But what?" she interrupted. If there was one conversation Hermione Granger absolutely loathed, this was it. "I already told you. He was scared and confused and went down the wrong path. There really is nothing more to it."

"And why is he back? After the war, after he…"

Harry went silent and Hermione's heart clenched once again. It had been doing that a lot these past few days and it made her apprehensive about possible complications. Can someone die from a strained heart?

She didn't say anything as Harry seemed to lose himself in this thoughts. She didn't want to and she didn't dare to. She knew why he was so confused. If she was confused herself, with absolutely no idea what made Malfoy come back – or at least hoping she didn't know – she imagined Harry was ten times worse.

Hermione never explained to them specifically, what made Malfoy turn to the other side. What made him forget about his father and Voldemort and his beliefs. All they knew was what she told them at the time: that Malfoy had seen the error of his ways. That Snape had played a huge part in that and that he had helped Malfoy see some kind of light. That Malfoy had come back to Hogwarts and that he was a changed boy/man.

And he later proved her right. Draco had fought side by side with them during the battle, going against everything he once believed in. And she was so very proud of him. So, so, very proud.

Well, at least until he took out her heart from her chest, stomped on it, made it into a bloody mess and left without a word. But that part she left out, for obvious reasons. As she left out all of her previous interactions with Malfoy prior to the Battle.

And that was the piece that was missing, to why Malfoy seemed so willing to come back and help them again. She suspected that Harry saw his role on the final Battle as a one-time thing, as something he did out of necessity to not get condemned or sent to Azkaban. Harry thought Malfoy simply switched sides to save his own skin and not really because he had changed his ways. Hermione knew otherwise, but that was something she couldn't explain properly without omitting important details that would only fuel their anger.

Sometimes she wondered why she shouldn't just come clean. Why she couldn't go to Ginny or Harry and say "Hey look, I got involved with Draco during my final year. He turned into someone very special for me and I'm really proud of the man he became. But that is all in the past and he left and that left me heartbroken and I have moved on and I'm happy now again. Anyway, want some cake?"

She should be able to say that. They were her friends. And it happened ages ago… She was married now. She had this new life and Malfoy wasn't even a part of it. So why couldn't she just come clean? Why all the secrets?

Because it would destroy them. And your husband would never forgive you.

She exhaled deeply, the mere thought of Ron hating her guts too much to handle.

She could deal with this on her own. She had done it once before, after Malfoy had left and she had stayed back to pick up all the pieces of her heart, her friends', of everyone. Hermione trembled at the thought of those subsequent months after the battle. It was a dark period. Everyone was grieving their losses, even though they had won, it hardly felt like a victory.

She took a glance at Lupin who was still quietly sitting next to Harry. He lost someone very special to him during that battle. They all did. Everyone did. But she couldn't talk about it. Not with anyone. She was fated to silence. She would grieve Fred, Tonks, Snape, everyone. She grieved alongside with her friends and family. She grieved loudly, surrounded by people who understood all of her losses, more than anyone. But her heart was also grieving for someone else… and she couldn't grieve him publicly. So she was confined to her own space, her own head. And it almost destroyed her. If she wasn't Hermione Granger, she highly doubted she would have been able to come back from it all. But she did. And here she was, years later, working hard, living her life, married and surrounded by her loved ones.

So, she kept quiet. There was no need to dug up the past. She had worked very hard to come to be where she was now. And she would be fucking dammed if she would let Malfoy come in the way of that.

"Fuck this. I'm going to take a walk."

Harry shot up from his chair suddenly, looking quiet stressed. Lupin barely nodded in agreement at his little outburst and Hermione kept her arms crossed, not really having anything to say.

Just as Harry was about to open the door, the door opened from the other side and in came a very pissed looking Robards.

Hermione quickly changed her stance, uncrossing her arms and standing up straight, looking inquisitively at Robards. How did he know they were all gathered up here? Merlin, never mind that Hermione. Just ask him.

"Any news?" Harry beat her to it.

"Kingsley wants to talk to us. He is in his office." Robards answered with disdain.

Lupin got up quickly from his chair and with a curt nod to Hermione, joined Harry as they made their way through her office door. She started to follow them out, when she was promptly stop by Robards.

"Us doesn't mean you. This has nothing to do with you Weasley." He scowled.

"Excuse me?" she asked, feeling a bit disconcerted by being called by her actual last name.

"Are you a fucking Auror? Get back to your pets and leave the handy work to some proper wizards."

As she was about to retort Robards loudly slammed her own door on her face.

Well, that was rude. That was extremely rude.

Hermione stared angrily at the door, debating on whether to hex him out or demand she'd be present in their meeting, but he was right to some extent. It didn't concern her, at least, not directly.

And so she stumbled back to her desk and once again, waited.


Thank-you for reading! I'll try to keep updating at least once a week :)

Wherever you are, have an amazing day!