Hermione was going through the motions at work because not only was she distracted by trying to solve Draco's case, which she could only do at home; she was now distracted by Draco! She moved the yellow file on her desk for the hundredth time and sighed. Why couldn't she stop thinking about him? Why? Nothing had changed so why couldn't she concentrate?

The one piece of good news was that she had actually found out something that might help with the case. If Draco retrospectively put in a clearance request that was then approved, the case could be dropped. This was a very well hidden loophole that existed purely to help the Ministry itself when it needed something quickly which was often the case because they regularly needed equipment at the last minute. Hermione had found out about this well kept secret by ploughing through hundreds of receipts and ledger entries.

This would only solve the problem if Draco's clearance request was approved and that was where she was now stuck. There was no way that the items Draco had bought would be cleared so she still needed a way around this.

The letter arrived at lunch time and Hermione put all her other post to one side to open it.

Dear SB,

This time she stopped reading because she knew what the letters stood for. Sexy bookworm! He had a bloody cheek. She was determined to feel insulted by this nickname but it didn't harm her ego that Draco Malfoy was calling her sexy.

Dear SB,

I feel the end of our last date was a little rushed

Hermione rolled her eyes. A little rushed? That was one way of describing it!

I need to be able to gaze at you, uninterrupted, enjoying the night air.

Our old friend Marcus' uncle has a point about the moon and stars.

See you there - midnight.

WMEB

Hermione read the note three times and then put it down. An old friend called Marcus? Draco and she had no mutual friends so the use of the word old implied someone from school. Marcus Flint? Surely Draco couldn't mean that Slytherin oaf? She read the note again - it said Marcus' uncle. Who was Flint's uncle then? Hermione was about to dig out a reference book when another memory popped into her brain.

There was another Marcus at Hogwarts. Marcus Belby - he was in Ravenclaw and had come to the meetings with Professor Slughorn. So if he had been invited to Slug Club that implied he had a famous or rich relative. Draco's note indicated that the famous relative must be his uncle but Hermione couldn't remember what his uncle had done.

She grabbed a large book from her shelf and began scanning the index. Baker, Beetridge, Belby. Her finger stopped on the name and she turned to the indicated page. As soon as the page was open the words jumped at her as she remembered. Of course! Damocles Belby - he invented Wolfsbane Potion! As with a real jigsaw once you get a couple of pieces right the rest start to fall into place and the same happened now as Hermione linked the clues together. She re-read the note.

Marcus' uncle has a point.

Damocles Point was on the outskirts of Hogsmeade. It was a high ridge of rocks that gave great views of the town and surrounding countryside and it was named after Damocles because it would be an ideal place for a wolf to come and howl at the moon.

That must be where Draco wanted to meet her and it made sense after the almost disaster at Madam Puddifoots. The problem was that Hogwarts students weren't allowed there so Hermione had never been and it was difficult to apparate to somewhere you couldn't see in your mind. She closed the book and took another one down from the shelf, flicking through it until she found a picture. With this picture in her mind, hopefully the apparation would work.

''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

Midnight seemed a long time coming, especially as Hermione hadn't had much sleep the past few nights. She'd been staying up late to work on Draco's case so it was with a yawn that she got ready to apparate.

The night air hit her as she arrived at Damocles Point although it wasn't cold and the air was still and clear. Hermione looked around but she couldn't see anyone, which didn't surprise her. The view however was breathtaking. The whole of Hogsmeade was below her, some lights still on and in the distance were the woods and the valley.

She turned around again and to her surprise she saw Draco, sitting on a flat rock a little higher up.

"I didn't know you were there," Hermione said.

"Come up here," Draco said and Hermione climbed up to sit by him. "Has anyone bothered you?"

Hermione turned sharply to him. "No. Why?"

"I'm just checking - things are heating up a bit," Draco explained.

"Are they suspicious of you?" Hermione asked.

"I don't think so but to be honest, it's hard to tell. Everyone is slightly suspicious of everyone when it comes to this."

It struck Hermione that the antagonism was diminishing between her and Draco. This short conversation was one that two friends would have and she felt less like she had to act in such a strictly professional manner. She had it in backup though because she was sure this unspoken truce between them wouldn't last long.

She pulled her notes out of her bag. "I've found a loophole," she said. She saw Draco's face and held up her hand. "Don't get too excited yet - there's still a problem."

"What's the loophole?"

"You can apply for clearance of magical items retrospectively."

Draco's eyes opened wide. "Really? Why does no-one know about this then?"

"It's used primarily by the Ministry when they need items quickly. Understandably, they don't want it broadcast," Hermione fumbled with the pile of papers that she was having to hold awkwardly on her lap.

"How did you find out?" Draco was sitting forward, obviously pleased with this news.

"Oh – about sixteen hours of ploughing through every receipted item in the last three years…." Hermione said, her voice betraying just how tedious this task had been. "I had about three hours sleep last night."

Draco was staring at her in a strange way and she stopped speaking and stared back. He started to speak quietly. "Hermione….."

The use of her Christian name surprised her and she momentarily lost her grip on the papers she was holding. The light breeze took them from her and suddenly they were flying around above them.

"Merlin!" Hermione exclaimed. Draco leapt up and started trying to grab sheets randomly but Hermione put her hand on his arm to stop him. He turned to look at her puzzled so she raised her wand in front of his face by way of an explanation. She waved her wand and the paperwork immediately settled in a pile on the nearest rock. Hermione went to pick them up and then turned back to Draco. "Did you forget?" she asked with a smirk.

"Did I forget what?" Draco asked.

"That you are a Wizard?" Hermione grinned at him, teasing him for trying to catch the paperwork manually.

"Very funny," Draco responded, quickly. "Maybe you should learn to keep hold of the paperwork in the first place."

"You surprised me," Hermione said. She made a show of gathering the papers again because she wasn't quite sure why she had just confessed that. She should have just ignored his use of her name.

Draco frowned. "How? What do you mean?"

"You called me Hermione," she saw the look on his face and continued. "I know it's my name before you remind me. What I mean, is I've only been Granger up until now." Draco stared for a second and then he gave a little nod and sat back down. Hermione walked back over to join him, wishing she hadn't mentioned it because it had obviously made Draco uncomfortable. She sat down and continued her explanation about the loophole. "So, the loophole exists but so does another problem. Retrospectively or not the items you bought are going to be difficult to get clearance for. We need to come up with a really good reason for why you needed them or I'm not sure if I can get them cleared anyway."

Draco was looking down at his feet and for a moment she thought he hadn't heard her. When he did speak his answer wasn't anything to do with what she had just said. "You were born to be a lawyer, weren't you?"

Hermione stared at him again, surprised by the personal comment. "Actually, I really wanted to be a teacher but this just sort of happened. Harry pulled a few strings and…" she stopped and smirked again, "and here I am sitting on a rock in the middle of the night with Draco Malfoy!"

She was pleased to see Draco smile as she said this. "Hogwart's loss – my gain," he said and Hermione was glad it was dark because she felt herself blush. He meant his gain because she was helping him and not in any other way but nevertheless it was a compliment from someone she never imagined would ever compliment her.

"You said things were heating up?" Hermione asked, quickly to change the subject.

"As always I don't have any details but the day before yesterday I was invited out with two of the suspects. It was all very sociable and casual but they were definitely more open than usual and I now know what they're doing."

"What?" Hermione sat forward, eager for this piece of news.

"They're creating a new spell."

Hermione gaped at him. "A new spell? Why? What sort of spell?"

"You must have come across this before? Are they actually breaking regulations by even trying this?" Draco asked. "I thought that new spells could only be created at the Ministry."

"Of course – the Department of New Magic. They have a whole team of Wizards working on new spells but the last time a new one was registered was about five years ago. It's supremely difficult to create a new spell from scratch but Wizards are always trying to. It's a bit of a nightmare with no end of accidents and arrests," Hermione said. "It's illegal to use a new spell and anyone trying to create one is skirting on the edge of legality. I'm not sure it's enough for us to blow your cover and dive in to arrest them though. It would only be a minor charge."

"What if the spell is an Unforgivable one?"

"Spells have to be registered at the Ministry. It's decided then what category a spell falls into but as you know there are only three Unforgivable Curses and they were categorized 300 years ago."

"From the little I know, this one would fall into an Unforgivable one," Draco said.

Hermione leant even closer. "Go on," she prompted him.

"It destroys the recipient's magic," Draco said.

"Destroys?" Hermione asked. "Do you mean permanently? As in unable to do magic ever again?"

"Yes - permanently." There was a tone in Draco's voice conveyed how he felt about this – terrified but also slightly in awe. Exactly the emotions Hermione was feeling.

"Surely they didn't tell you this?" Hermione asked.

"No. They told me they were creating something from scratch that would change everything. It was capable of shifting the balance of power," Draco explained. "It was one of those conversations when everyone knows exactly what's being asked but no-one actually says the words. I was basically being told to decide if I was with them or not because pretty soon there will be no more sitting on the fence."

"What did you say?"

"I told them to count me in but I wanted to know more details," Draco sighed. "They're not stupid. They'll want to check me first so I wasn't told anything in depth last night but when I left the room that's when they discussed it."

"How do you know?"

"I set up my wand as an amplifier so I could hear what they were saying. They thought I was out of the way," Draco nodded.

"Sneaky."

"That was pretty much the whole point of me being there!"

Hermione blinked rapidly her face showing her horror. "If they really have created a spell that destroys magic we have no chance! How can we fight that?"

"We need to stop them before they have a chance to use it. You need to ask Potter if he thinks it's time we took action or if we need to wait longer. It's a fine line because if we jump in too soon we won't be able to prove what they are planning," Draco sighed.

"I'll speak to him as soon as I get back – I'll go around to his house and wake him up," Hermione said.

"He'll think he's finally got lucky," Draco said and Hermione had to marvel at his ability to instantly switch back to his sarcastic self.

"No he won't because unlike you he doesn't have a one track mind and he's capable of being friends with a member of the opposite sex!" Hermione retaliated. She knew she should just rise above it but she couldn't.

"Doesn't sound like fun to me," Draco said and his face broke into his trademark smirk. Hermione tried her very best to keep her face straight and not show her amusement but after only a few seconds she failed and she gave him a small smile, her mouth twisting as she tried to stop.

"You're not funny," she said, despite her expression telling him otherwise.

"Why are you smiling then?" Draco asked and his smile widened into a grin. "I think you agree with me by the look on your face."

"I do not!"

"So exactly how many men do you have as friends then?" Draco asked, raising his eyebrows.

"A few."

"How many?"

"Harry, Ron, Neville….."

"Other than those who were at school with you?" Draco pushed his point and she sighed.

"I told you – I have a few."

"Liar."

"I am not a liar!"

Draco leant forward and Hermione got a delicious waft of his cologne again. She was going to have to start casting a spell before she met him to stop his wonderful aroma affecting her so much. Draco's face was close now and she could see the flecks of silver mixed with the deep grey of his eyes. She had a flashback of them kissing and felt a wave of heat flush over her. Draco spoke and his voice was quiet but firm. "Let me tell you right now that no red-blooded male could consider just being friends with you so you're totally fooling yourself if you think that's the case!"

Hermione was finding it difficult to breathe, let alone speak. His words and their implication made her feel a little light headed. Was he flirting with her? Was he suggesting that she was so irresistible that men would only want one kind of relationship with her? She didn't believe it but that was how it had sounded! She had no idea how to respond so she just stared at him until he abruptly stood up and ran his fingers through his hair. His next words sent a chill down her spine but in a totally different way to how he'd just made her feel.

"Eliminata Faculti."

"Pardon?"

"Eliminata Faculti," Draco repeated. "That's the spell that stops you being a Wizard forever. The spell that turns you into a Muggle. The spell we have to stop.

Mmm - so anyone think Draco might be starting to like Hermione? Let me know how you think the story is going. I don't want to rush their relationship (that's not how I do things is it?) x