Chapter 10

(Dec.1998)

"Did they catch them at all? There've been many sightings, yet nobody can seem to catch them. We need everybody working around the clock or at least in shifts. Sightings have been happening in the muggle black market. That tip came from the muggle media." Harry spoke as he ran frustrated hands through his hair.

They had been trying to get them for months, yet they had only been able to glimpse said Death Eaters. They knew that Goyle was working with them now since they had absolute proof.

He hadn't shown up at the Auror HQ since they sent out an owl asking to meet or else. Snape had gone with them searching as well, but it seemed futile. They were either one step ahead of them or not there at all.

We were currently in the living room of my home while mum was in the kitchen with Narcissa. I was weary of leaving mum with her, even if it was just in the other room.

Leaning back in the armchair, I looked down at my fingers. I didn't want to, but they needed me. Harry paused in his rant while Ron walked behind my armchair and rubbed my tense shoulders. Harry was staring at me with a bit of caution.

He knew it was scarier when I was quiet.

"I think I'm going to have to help you all. I have some ideas, but you definitely won't like them. But I also want to live without fear of being hunted or confined in my home." I declared as I stood up from the armchair. I had already been aiding but not directly.

Saying it out loud changed nothing.

Harry shot to his feet. He was red with sudden anger. Ron had let go of my shoulders and walked around the armchair to stand in front of me.

"No, Hermione, we can't let you," Ron whispered as he took hold of one wrist. His eyes held a muted pain so deep I had to look away.

A bit of anger bubbled up inside. I knew Ron meant well, as did Harry. But I didn't like to be told what I could and couldn't do.

Harry cleared his throat, seeing my irritation. He nudged Ron to the side and pulled me into a hug. He rubbed my back, soothing my anger away.

"You don't think I fear for your safety too? I lay home at night thinking of the missions you're on and if you will come back unharmed, much less alive?" I said as I wrapped one arm around Harry and used my free one to tug Ron.

He flashed her a smile and joined our hug.

Ron was about to say something when I felt him stiffen and back away from us. I looked at the large mirror on the wall, which showed me what had him pulling away from me.

Nott had come in with Malfoy, and both were staring at us. Both bore similar looks of blankness.

I stepped away from Harry and turned to face them. It was odd to see all four boys in one room. Especially Harry and Malfoy. Ron's short temper had usually kept Nott away, but Malfoy had never acknowledged him.

Both pairs of boys were different. But the one thing in common they had was me. And the war.

I had a feeling they would never be close. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Ron pulled my hair slightly from behind, "I'm heading back to work. I'll let Kingsley know about what you said."

"I'll let you know when we're going on the next mission," Harry said as he turned to follow Ron.

Ron stepped through without a backward glance. I rolled my shoulders, shrugging off the tension.

Too much testostrerome.

I was going to head upstairs to change out of my jams when Malfoy spoke up, "So you're going to go on missions now?"

I stiffened up at his tone, which was a bit flat and mixed with something I didn't want to name.

I casually walked up to Malfoy, aware of how close all three of us were. I looked up into Malfoy's face.

"I am," I said as I stared into his cold grey eyes.

"Granger-" I stopped Malfoy with my hand. "You might as well call me Hermione. We are living together."

That hadn't wasn't part of my plan.

I don't know where that came from, but it was too late to take it back.

Fuck.

Malfoy looked away from me and said, "Hermione. Please use my name as well."

No. Not yet.

Too sudden.

I gazed down at his hands which he fisted once before hiding them in his pockets.

Nott stepped up beside me, "I never did have a problem with you, Granger. We were in different houses. Things might've been if I was in another house."

I silently agreed.

I looked away from Malfoy to meet Nott's intense stare. His eye colour reminded me of morning seeping through a forest.

"I know. I always saw you alone in the library, but it didn't look like you were lonely on purpose. I never went up to you since I've never known your view on purebloods and mudbloods."

Plus, most, if not all, Slytherins barely tolerated half-bloods. Mudbloods were a given.

Malf-Draco became stiff as I said that and turned his body away from us.

"I don't hate you, you know. I brushed off your comments after the first few times. It was irritating to me how you couldn't see past my blood," I said as I turned away from them, "Before the war, my blood was just that, blood."

I could feel their eyes on me. Burning with something I wasn't ready to acknowledge.

It was probably nothing. Maybe.

"I didn't hate you either. I disliked you because you were the very thing my father told me to hate but only because of your blood. Over the years, you changed my mind. The war only forced me to see you."

Nott cleared his voice, "I didn't feel much of anything. I knew who you were. I knew you weren't weak. I never hated you."

I wanted to turn around and yell at Malfoy for being a coward and not standing up for himself. But that wouldn't have changed anything. It wouldn't change the past.

As for Nott-

I wasn't sure what to think when it came to him.

I spent most of the day in my room working on the list of residences that the Aurors had crossed out and gone over several other things.

I skipped lunch and jumped when a loud knocking filled my room. Putting down the files and pens, I walked over to the door and opened it.

Malf-Draco was standing there with a tray of food. He looked so out of place here.

His hair was a little unkempt, but that didn't make him look bad. He had on a soft ochre-coloured knitted sweater with some slacks. Looking dishevelled only added to his looks. Just because I hadn't been on his radar didn't mean he had never been on mine.

No, we had just been on two different sides of the war, and now we were here.

"Your mother sent me with food since you skipped lunch," he said as he looked down at the food, "She said to eat it all."

I looked down at the tray, which had two cups of tea instead of one, plus sandwiches and dried grapes. The extra cup must be for himself.

I don't know why my mother thought I'd want to share a cup of tea with him.

Opening the door fully, I pointed to the table by the window, which had two club chairs on either side.

"Give me a moment. I need to wash my hands. Sit."

I walked inside my bathroom, conscious of him. I could hear him walk over and put the tray down.

My blood ran cold for an instant before a flash of heat ran through my body, knowing that he was in my room. I only ever had Harry or Ron in here by ourselves.

Teddy didn't count.

I walked out to see Malfoy sitting on the chair and skimming over the book that Poppy gave me.

I had left it on the table this morning but had forgotten about it.

I sat on the chair on the other chair and grabbed a sandwich from the plate. Malfoy looked down at the plate but didn't choose any and instead went for the tea.

He sipped from it a little before putting it back down. I took a bite and stared outside. The sun was setting, so it casts different shades of grey with hints of red and orange. I couldn't see much else, the trees blocked most of my view, but it still looked serene.

I finished my sandwich, turning to look at Draco. He was staring fixedly at me.

I brushed away a few crumbs and picked up my teacup. It was warm enough to heat my cold fingers.

"I never really looked at you this close-up. You have freckles," Draco remarked, eyes tracking the small number of freckles that ran across my nose.

It startles me.

I did have freckles, but not many people ever commented on them, aside from Harry and Ron.

"You have a scar on your forehead near your hairline," I stated as I skimmed his face closely for the first time.

It was his turn to be surprised.

"I got that fourth year when I tried running away from Pansy. I ran into one of the armours near the dungeons."

That startled a laugh from me as I imagined him running from his girlfriend. He looked pleased for a second and almost smiled. I had wanted to ask why he had been running from her but stopped myself from asking.

"It feels kind of weird to sit here with you. I never thought I would ever be doing this with you." I said, pushing the tray with the leftover food to the side.

"I am sorry. I still have nightmares of what I had seen and yet that day you were there keeps repeating, over and over again." he leans forward with a frown.

His walls went down as his emotions spilt forth. He ran his hands up and down his pant legs.

Draco looked to be frustrated.

I didn't know what to do as I sat there, watching him show me more emotion than he had probably ever shown anybody else.

At least to somebody that wasn't his mother or his close friends.

Like Nott.

I couldn't believe that he was doing it in front of me.

Especially me.

"Draco, listen to me. I don't blame you. I think I did right after it happened, but you lied for us. I think that was enough. I still have nightmares too. But they don't keep me up a night. I suffered far less than others have. I didn't lose a family member during the war. I don't turn into a wolf once a month. I didn't get captured for months and raped during that time. I think I was one of the luckier ones. Yes, I got hurt and will carry those scars for the rest of my life. Yet, there are worse things that could've happened."

I'd kept my eyes locked to his, so I noticed the instant they widened, dropping his guard.

Draco Malfoy wasn't as cold as he portrayed himself to be. There was a wealth of emotions hidden deep within.

I was barely catching a glimpse of them.

I hadn't realized how far across the table we were both leaning when I heard somebody knock. I took a deep breath, straightening my back.

"Come in."

Mal-Draco moved back slowly as he turned to look at the door. It opened, revealing Nott holding a thick envelope in his hands.

"Something came in for you," Nott said as he stood by the door. His piercing gaze appraised the room, taking in the tea cups.

I stood up. Draco followed along, picking up the cups and setting them on the tray. He balanced the tray one-handed. Eyes moving back and forth between Nott and me.

I walked over to Nott and grabbed the envelope. I couldn't help but look up into Nott's blank face.

While Draco was blank out of self-preservation, Nott's emotions were not as complicated.

We had no hateful history. No angst.

Draco brushed past us without a word and walked out. I followed his retreating back noting the slender muscles under his rumpled shirt.

Nott raised an eyebrow when he caught me looking but chose not to comment.

Nott followed after him, and I closed the door.

My heart was thumping loudly, pounding against my ribcage.

I felt hot, palms damp.

Nott always looked directly into my eyes, and if it were anybody else, I wouldn't have a problem with it.

But something about Nott made me question things about myself.

My interests. My wondering eyes.

And why I was even thinking about him and Draco in the same tone. I shook my head, trying to erase the thought.

I didn't have time for that.

I looked down at the envelope, which I knew had come from Viktor since it had his familiar handwriting on the front of it. I had asked him to send me several lists of places known to foreign wizards for shady dealing that wasn't Knockturn Alley.

Like a black market specifically catering to wizards.

It'd been a hunch, a small one, that I had. That Viktor would know. I'd written to him, asking if he had any connections to that part of the world.

Besides his note, I found the reason for the thick envelope.

I couldn't help the grin that stole across my face. I knew who'd sent it. It could only be one person.

Iskra.

She had been the only female attending Durmstrang when she had attended. I met her through Viktor months ago. We often met up when we could.

She loved to travel.

Her father, Lazar Georgi, was the headmaster for Durmstrang. Karkaroff's death had opened the seat for Georgi.

Iskra had graduated two years after Viktor. I was the same age as her only because of her time-turner stunt during my third year.

That made us twenty. Not that Iskra acted like it. But that was okay. I adored her regardless.

Opening the package, I found a file with several suspected and confirmed locations that would be good to investigate.

A small note caught my attention.

Iskra wanted to personally come with me to visit the locations in the file. She just wanted an excuse to snoop around.

Because to Iskra, these places were not shady. It would be like visiting Diagon Alley. A walk in the park.

Sitting down heavily on my desk chair, I gripped the parchment tightly. I sometimes forgot that the school Iskra had attended practised dark magic, and they didn't flinch away from the darker side of magic.

Dropping the note onto the table, I quickly realized that I was supposed to meet Iskra in an hour!

Bugger.

I briefly looked at the list of places Viktor had sent me. I added them to the file. I checked the time and cursed. I went into my closet and pulled out dark jeans and a black jumper I'd gotten from Ginny before fetching the dragonhide boots Iskra gave me for my birthday.

I showered quickly and dressed within thirty minutes.

I grabbed a leather purse which I transfigured into a hip bag, strapping the bottom of it to my thigh so nobody would try and steal it without me knowing.

Walking over to her wooden cabinet, I pulled out several items I'd need, both types of currency plus a few emergency kits.

Strapping my wand holster on my wrist for easy access, I grabbed a cloak from the closet and walked downstairs, french braiding my hair as I did.

Walking into the living room, I saw Nott and Draco by the fireplace reading books while Narcissa and my mother sat on the couch, deep in discussion.

Mum got up when she saw me, looking me up and down with a frown. "You missed dinner, honey."

I smiled as I hugged her. "I know. I was busy doing some extra work. I lost track of time. I'm going to meet Iskra for a late dinner since I haven't seen her in a while."

As soon as I mentioned Iskra, she beamed, "Oh, Iskra? Next time tell her to come here for dinner."

Mother doted on her since Iskra always stuck like glue to her, following her around like a duckling.

Iskra was tall and fair-skinned with no freckles. She had straight black hair that was impossible to curl even with magic, according to her.

Knowing where she had attended school and seeing her in person, plus talking to her, made your head spin in circles. She could be nice but flatten you in an instant if you talked down to her. She was always happy when she met my mum but cussed like a sailor when provoked.

My mother threatened to wash out her mouth with soap more than once. Iskra thought it was hilarious.

I could feel two separate gazes, but I chose to ignore them.

I said a quick goodbye to Narcissa, nodded in the general direction of Nott and Malfoy, and walked out the front door.

The smell of freshly fallen rain hit me instantly. It calmed some of the nerves I hadn't realized I had.

I walked over to the willow tree and apparated to Diagon Alley.

I didn't look back at the house, but if I had, I would've seen the light turn on in my room.