Chapter 17: Evidence

I had just enough time to look through everything, both assessing what was there and double-checking that all pictures were stationary. We apparated back to Pocatello with minutes to spare. Starbucks was surprisingly crowded, but Draco and the muggle that had taken him in noticed us immediately. She grabbed Draco by the collar of his shirt and began dragging him away.

The two appeared at the front of the restaurant, freed of their aprons. The woman sighed. I really don't want to like you, but if nothing else you saved us from that crowd." She stuck out a hand. "I'm Cora."

I shook her hand firmly. "Hermione Granger. And this is my friend Hazel."

Cora shook Hazel's hand as well. "Well, let's go find a quiet place to eat and… discuss."

I don't remember the name of the place, but it was lovely with a fantastic potato soup. (I was in Idaho after all.) After we ordered our food, there was a tense silence around the table.

Clearing my throat, I pulled out the most recent picture of Draco, a newspaper article detailing his disappearance. (I had decided it wouldn't have helped matters to bring the articles about Draco's death.) This picture was the clearest I had of him, a strong, stoic figure with intimidating silver eyes. "Your name is Draco Malfoy," I said, sliding the article across the table for both to see. "You're twenty-three years old, and you work in your family's business, managing most of the company."

To back this up, I pulled out several more newspaper articles talking about this "business." (It had taken a lot of magical tampering to make it muggle-worthy.) All included similarly intimidating pictures of Malfoy.

"Okay, he looks like this missing Draco Malfoy," Cora said, crossing her arms. "But why should I trust you with him? For all I know you're just a rabid fan of his."

"We went to school together, a special private school in Scotland. I was a scholarship kid, so we didn't necessarily get on when we first met," I said, pulling out the one photo I had of Draco and I together. It was a blurry one of us in our third year. I had been posing for Colin Creevey with Ron and Harry. (We had obliged him only because it was the first day back to school and Colin promised not to ask for anymore pictures until after Christmas.)

Moments before the picture was taken, Malfoy had noticed and decided to stroll behind us. I secretly loved this picture because Malfoy's sneer simultaneously reduced me to giggles and made it impossible for newspapers to use when reminiscing about the "golden trio."

"Draco and I were in different… classes all throughout school, so we didn't have the same friends. This is me with my best friends, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. We were all thirteen in this picture," I explained.

Once Cora had her look at the picture, Draco examined the picture inches from his face. "I look like such an unpleasant child."

I coughed. "Your father raised you to look down on the scholarship kids like my friends and me, but you grew out of it as we got older. Because of all that I don't have many photos with Draco, but I did talk to one of Draco's best friends before I left England, and he had photos of the two of them."

As I pulled out Blaise's stack of photos I began explaining the relationships Draco had had with each person in the pictures. Cora merely looked at the pictures to compare the younger versions of Draco Malfoy to the man sitting next to her. Draco, however, studied each picture with intensity and near-desperation.

Glancing back in the bag of evidence, I grimaced slightly at some of the things Blaise had included. We would have to review what was and what wasn't muggle-worthy.

"Draco has a skull and snake tattoo on the inside of his left forearm. It's starting to fade, and I'm fairly sure he prefers it that way," I said, watching as he rolled up his left sleeve to display his dark mark.

Placing the Malfoy family ring on the table, I said, "This is the Malfoy crest. This ring has been passed down for generations. Before today I have never seen you without it on."

Cora barely had time to look at the ring before Draco snatchied the ring and slid it onto the middle finger of his left hand, the same finger I had always seen it on before.

"It feels like it fits," he said quietly. "More than fits, it belongs."

Looking at Draco intensely, Cora asked, "Has it sparked any memories?"

"No," he said reluctantly, "but it feels right. Everything she's said… clicks."

"You're not just trusting this chick because she's got the same accent as you, right?" Cora asked.

"No, I trust her because this is the first thing someone has told me that makes sense," Draco said. There was more confidence in the lines of his face than I had seen on him all day.

Cora reluctantly said, "She certainly has enough proof and knowledge of you."

Even though the woman believed me, I could tell she was worried. Pulling out a notebook, I started scribbling onto the first page. "This is my phone number. Feel free to call me for updates on Draco. Once we're back in England we can get Draco's phone number to you."

"Thank you," she said quietly, accepting the the paper. She promptly turned and slugged Malfoy in the arm. "If you don't call me I'll beat you."

"I promise, Cora," he said, discreetly rubbing his arm.

"So how are you getting back to England?" Cora asked.

"I have just enough money to get both of us plane tickets back," I said. "I work for the government so I'm not rich, but I've got the money. Besides, Draco's parents will doubtlessly insist on paying both of us back."

"I don't care about that, I just want to make sure he's safe," Cora said flatly.

"That's all I want as well," I said.

"When will you go back to England?"

"The soonest flight with open seats is early tomorrow morning. I would stay longer, but I need to get back to work as soon as possible," I explained. I hesitated a moment before asking, "Did he have anything with him? When you found him, I mean."

"Just the clothes on his back," Cora said.

"And that stick you said was weird," Draco reminded her.

My heart hammered in my chest. "A stick? Was is black? Looked like a wizard's wand from a fantasy novel?"

"You know about that stupid thing?" Cora groaned. "Just how lame are you, Draco Malfoy?"

I smiled to cover the anxiety flooding through me. Draco's wand had always seemed volatile to me, and I didn't want it to obliviate Cora because she had mishandled the wand and it blew up her house. "Draco was a bit of a Dungeons and Dragons fanatic when he was younger. He made that wand to replicate his character's wand," I lied.

As Cora groaned Draco looked embarrassed. "What's Dungeons and Dragons? It sounds barbaric."

"It's only the nerdiest game ever," Cora said. "Maybe that explains why you have so much useless knowledge about fantasy worlds, but you don't know how to use a toaster."

"I know how to use one now," Draco said defensively. The two bantered back and forth similarly until Cora glanced at her watch.

"We need to get back to work," she said, pulling out her wallet.

"Lunch is on me," I insisted. "How do you want to do this? Shall I pick Draco up after work?"

"I can drop him off wherever you're staying," Cora said. "We'll be working fairly late."

I suspected Cora really just wanted a chance to say goodbye, so I nodded before giving the name and number of my hotel.

Once those two were gone, Hazel and I found a secluded alleyway to apparate from. At the hotel I sincerely thanked her. "You have no idea how much I needed you," I told her honestly.

Our conversation was interrupted by an indignant horned owl tapping on the window. I opened it to receive an official-looking envelope sealed with the official MACUSA seal.

I opened it to find an international apparition license in gold ink.

Hazel's eyes went round. "I've never seen a gold one in person."

"It's pretty, I suppose," I said. "What matters is it makes it legal for me to do what I need to."

"No, this is the apparition license. They're lifelong and valid in almost every country. They're usually only issued to country leaders and the like," Hazel said in awe. "Can I- can I touch it?"

I handed the paper to Hazel, which she held reverently. "It says you were awarded this for your contributions to world safety and medical developments in the wizarding world."

She looked at me intently, as if expecting me to be overcome with emotion. After a long moment I said, "Nice." Thinking on it a little longer, I smiled. "Ronald will be furious."

Hazel was a little worn out and she really needed to get back to Alabama, so soon after I said my goodbyes before falling into my hotel bed.

I almost immediately fell into a dream, almost like the dream had been waiting for me. Or more likely, I was so sleep deprived that these were the hallucinations I'd somehow staved off until now.

I was barefoot in a meadow glistening with morning dew. The sky was indistinct, merely white light. It was peaceful, serene, unlike most things in my life. I simply basked in the feeling, along with the sensation of dew-laden grass under my bare feet.

A voice shattered the silence. "You found him, Miss Granger. You found him."

I twirled around to find Narcissa Malfoy daintily crying with Lucius standing stoically by her side.

"See Granger? I knew you could do it," said another voice, one belonging to Blaise Zabini who stood directly behind me.

More and more people joined them to congratulate me for finding Malfoy, people like Harry and Ginny, Neville, Luna, some of my coworkers… Before long I was surrounded by all of the people I cared for in the wizarding world.

A green light flooded my vision and when it cleared, every one of those people laid lifeless on the floor. Standing over Harry's body was a Death Eater in a full rove and silver mask.

"You can't hide from us forever, Hermione Granger, nor can you keep the young Malfoy from us. He will either take his place among his brothers and continue what the Dark Lord began, or he will be slaughtered with the rest of the resistors," the hooded figure said.

Tears burned my eyes as my heart pounded like a bass drum. "We won when you had far more support than you do now," I said with far more confidence than I actually possessed.

"And you need to remember that," said a voice I'd never heard before. It belonged to a man that looked familiar, but I couldn't think of where I had seen him. He continued, "Miss Granger, you must keep the young Malfoy safe and secret at least until his memories return."

"I had already planned on that," I said distractedly. "Who are you? Will Death Eaters truly murder all of my friends?"

"It's impossible to say, Miss Granger. But I can say that you'll play a vital part in this," the man said regretfully. "If there were any other way… I'm sorry Miss Granger, but it must be you. For now, though, it's time you wake up."

And I did. My eyes snapped open, the sight of the hotel room slowly replacing the image of my loved ones lying dead.

There was a knock coming from the door, so I rose to get it, silently wondering about the state of my hair.

Cora and Draco stood there, a mix of emotions exuding from the two. Cora cleared her throat, "Those are the clothes I found him in, and here's his sentimental stick or whatever."

I carefully accepted Draco's wand from her. "Thank you. I know it means a lot to him. I promise to keep you updated on him."

Cora nodded stiffly before turning to Draco. "I guess this is it, kid. Take care of yourself." She shot me a look that clearly said if I mistreated Draco she would hunt me down. Then she abruptly turned on her heel, stalking away without once looking back.

"Come on in," I said, distracting Draco from staring down the hallway that Cora had walked down. As he followed me in, I nervously twirled his wand in my hands, debating on what and how to tell him about everything. We would have to apparate home, that much was obvious, I didn't have a passport or any kind of identification (which I would be eternally grateful that Cora overlooked). I felt like the longer we spent in America the more we were asking to be found by Death Eaters. I longed for my own bed and extensive wards.

I handed Draco his wand. "This is yours, but I fibbed a bit about it to Cora. You don't own it because you're a Dungeons and Dragons enthusiast, in fact I doubt you've ever heard of Dungeons and Dragons before."

"So why do I have a 'sentimental stick' then?" Draco asked skeptically.

I took a deep breath. "Because it's a real wand. You're a wizard, Draco, and I'm a witch. I couldn't tell that to Cora because she's a muggle, a non-magical person, and we must keep the wizarding world a secret from them."

Studying Draco's face to see how he was taking the information. I worried for a few heartbeats that he would chase Cora down, demanding not to be left with me.

Instead a relieved smile spread across his face. "Oh thank Merlin, I'm not a nutter."


A/N: I'm so sorry, this is an entire week late! I started not one, but two summer jobs, so I barely have time to sleep. let alone write. I'm going to make it a goal to post once a week like I have been, but I can only do what I can do. As always, let me know what you think. This is still an exercise in improving my writing skills, so feel free to tell me what you like, what could use some work! Till next time, lovely readers!