A/N: So my copy of The Casual Vacancy just arrived in the mail today, and I have no plans of writing again until I've finished it. But don't fret. I read as fast as I write ;-)

"Whoa!" Draco jumped as Hermione came and hugged him from behind.

"I've caught you, Draky-Waky!" she said, squeezing him extra tight.

Draco laughed as he pried her off of him. He took off running around the other side of the lab table in front of them. She followed him and the two ran around in circles for a while, until Hermione got sick of games. She stopped and planted her hands firmly on the table's surface, panting heavily as she stared intensely over at him.

"Why must you tease me?" she pouted. "I love you so much. I just want to please you. Please, just let me please you."

Hermione darted under the table and crawled on her hands and knees until she was at his feet. At first he started to back away, but then she grabbed at his trousers and began to unfasten them. It was then that he knew this game of cat and mouse they had been playing for the last ten minutes was over. She looked up at him with hungry eyes, her breathing rapid as she pulled his trousers down to his ankles. And then she went to work.

"Oh, Mione," he moaned.

Her face illuminated. "Oh, yes, Draco. Say my name again. Tell me you love me. Tell me you love me as much as I love you."

And so Draco repeated her name over and over again, urging her on until he could hardly contain himself.

Two days ago when Draco had pitched the idea of them using Amortentia - courtesy of the large fountain of it in the Love Chamber - Hermione had, of course, said no. That was, until he volunteered to go first. Yesterday had been all about Hermione. But today … today was all about Draco.

While this might have seemed like a horrible misuse of their time, Draco and Hermione were in desperate need of a break. When they had first walked through the door just over a week ago they had had a million ideas about what to expect, but what they found was definitely not one of them.

The main room was nothing special. Just like any other room really. There were bookcases bursting with books. A desk with several journals filled with unfinished notes on spells and potions. And there was the lab table, of course, which Draco's fingers were currently clenching into while his waist rammed against it.

"Oh, Draco, you smell like … like spices and parchment and a warm summer's day … so spectacular!"

"Yes, yes, Mione. Keep going, please," he said, pushing her head back onto him.

There were two smaller rooms located in the back of the chamber. One housed the fountain, of course, and the other housed this weird machine they hadn't quite figured out yet. Hermione had tried to draw a picture of it, but they quickly discovered that Draco was the better artist. Finally, something she couldn't do!

Draco had given the picture to Atticus, who had instructed pretty much the entire staff at the Quartz Library to search every book until they found something on it. Nothing had been discovered yet. Since then it had all been research, research, research. Hence the much needed break.

Draco let out an animal-like growl through gritted teeth. "I can't take it," he said, pulling her out from under the table and tossing her on top of it. He bunched her skirt up until it was at her waist and began to position himself.

"Draco, no! I want to please you! I love you so much! Let me do this for you!"

Well, Draco was no one to complain about a request like that. Hermione jumped off the table and kissed him heatedly before turning them around and pushing him onto it.

She climbed on after and straddled him, stroking his face and gazing adoringly at him before saying, "Those eyes. Those beautiful eyes are the bright silver of the moon on a clear winter's night. So breathtaking."

Hermione kissed him again before shoving her panties aside and guiding him into her. She began moving slowly and rhythmically.

"Oh, Draco," she moaned, never taking her gaze off of those 'beautiful silver moons'. "Oh, you feel so good." Her pace steadily increased. Draco put his hands on her hips to help her move faster, but she seized both of his wrists and pinned them above his head. "No! Let me please you!"

Fine by him.

"Oh … Oh, Draco … So good … Yes … That's it … Merlin, yes … Your eyes … Your hair … Your God-like chest … I love you … I love you!"

Hermione had never been so vocal before, and Draco found himself really enjoying it. Not to say she was quiet or anything, but other than the occasional name drop here and there, her sounds tended to be incoherent.

"Tell me you love me!"

Draco groaned.

Hermione snatched his chin and held it so he was forced to look into her eyes. "Tell me!" she demanded, almost frighteningly.

"I - I love you." Another groan. Merlin, she felt so good.

"My name!" she yelled. "Say my name with it!"

"I love you -" His teeth clenched as she moved just right, letting almost a hiss escape his lips - "I love you, Mione!" he called out quickly.

Hermione let go of his face and started moving even faster. She could always tell he was close by the way he bit at her bottom lip, so when he started munching on it frantically she climbed off and lowered her mouth back onto him. His fingers entangled in her hair, pulling at it hard as she bobbed up and down. She was even better at this than usual. Clearly, she had been holding back, and he would have to make sure she never did again.

When Draco was just about there he started to hear a clanking sound. It took him a moment to realize someone was knocking on the door.

"Come back later!" he shouted.

The clanking became banging. Draco groaned - and not in the good way. Only one person knew they were down here, and that was the Minister. Damn it.

With the small amount of strength he had left in his limbs, Draco pushed Hermione off of him and pulled down her skirt. "Wait right here, darling," he said before yanking up his trousers and going to the door. "Can I help you, Minister?" he said, barely poking his head through the doorway.

Kingsley gave him a quick glance - flushed face, tousled hair, sneering lip. It was not difficult to figure out what was going on here. "Sorry to, uhh … interrupt," he said, raising an eyebrow, "but Hermione's and my meeting with the Head of Offices has been moved up."

"Moved up? To when?" asked Draco, hearing Hermione shuffling impatiently behind him.

"Now, actually."

Draco grunted. Of course. "Can you give her maybe five minutes?" Less if he would end this conversation already.

"No, I really do need her immediately, Mr. Malfoy. Whatever recreational activity you two are involved in will have to wait for later. I do not have time for -"

Hermione hurled herself through the door and lunged at the Minister. Draco caught her just before her fist hit his jaw. "How dare you! How dare you speak to Draco with such a sharp tongue! He is twice the man you'll -"

Draco threw his hand over her mouth. "Give us just one minute, Minister," he said, dragging her, kicking and flailing, back into the room, slamming the door behind them.

Even though it was a really good door, and potentially soundproof, with his ear up to it Kingsley could just make out the sounds of several things crashing while Draco yelled about something. Hermione seemed to be protesting but then, just as quickly, she was gasping and cursing and Draco was telling her to do something with her wand. A few seconds later the door burst open.

"I am so sorry, Minister! I didn't mean it! I … Oh dear, I'm so embarrassed. I don't know what I was thinking."

Kingsley looked at her curiously. She had seemed a bit ruffled before but, now, her clothes were straightened, the loose wisps of her hair were back in their tight bun, and her breath smelled minty fresh. The wand mystery had been solved.

"That's quite all right, Hermione. I know the signs of Amortentia when I see them," said Kingsley, smiling. "I believe you said there was a fountain of it in there. I can only assume this was some sort of experiment."

Hermione's jaw dropped as her eyes went excessively wide. "Umm … yes. Yes, that's right," she said, which was not a complete lie since it was a 'sexual' experiment. "We were just, uhh … checking its potency?" But that was.

"I see," said Kingsley, pursing his lips. "And was it … potent?"

Draco poked his head out from behind the doorway and grinned. "Yes, sir," he said. "Quite potent indeed."

"Draco, write that down, will you?" said Hermione, trying to play it off as if Kingsley didn't very well know what was going on. "Amortentia in fountain is … quite potent."

"Will do, love," he said with a wink.

"Hermione, we really should be on our way," said Kingsley, already moving for the exit.

"Just one second," she said, taking a step back inside the room and meeting Draco for a kiss. It was only then that she realized why he was still hiding behind the door. "Oh dear," she said, looking down. "Draco I'm -"

"So sorry? Yes, you've been saying that a lot."

"I promise I'll make this up to you," she said, trying to give him another kiss.

Draco backed away. "Probably best if you go before I toss you right back onto that table."

"Right," she said, grabbing onto the door handle. "Don't forget we're seeing Sophie and Phillip tonight. We need to get those two out of that bloody house."

"Don't worry. I won't forget," he said, grabbing the door handle on the other side and using it to push her out.

"Love you!" she called as he slammed it behind her.

It was a shame, but it looked like Draco would have to take care of this on his own, and he'd have to be quick about it. The Love Chamber didn't like to have one of them in it without the other, and would eventually put the person left behind in disarray until they found themselves standing in the center of the circular room with the doors spinning around them. Sometimes it happened within minutes, another time he had managed to stay an entire hour. It did the same thing when someone who wasn't either of them tried to enter as well, only that ejection from the room was instantaneous.

Draco was lucky he had been close, because the room was quick to spit him out today. The key shot out of his palm and he pocketed it. For some reason it was always his hand that it came into, even when Hermione was the last one out. It kind of freaked him out that the thing actually burrowed into him. It didn't hurt; it was just very, very strange.

Now that Hermione had to leave much earlier than expected, Draco was unsure of what to do with the rest of his day. Ever since what had happened with Sophie, she and Phillip had not been into work. Atticus had helped Draco - who was put in charge - hire a larger staff while Caroline worked on finding them a bigger building to house their growing business. Chastity - who was now officially their secretary - was dealing with all of the potential investors, who were growing impatient with how their meetings kept getting pushed off; even though they were all well aware of the circumstances. Phillip told Draco he could take the meetings, but he just didn't feel comfortable choosing someone without Phillip there.

While the rest of them were at a standstill with their tasks, Seth was the only one getting any real work done. All three of the new employees they had hired so far were for his department, and they were currently hard at work creating phones, computers and televisions that would work in the wizarding realm. This way they would have stock the moment they were ready to open for business.

As Draco stood there contemplating where to go, his phone started to ring. It was a number he did not recognize. "Hello?" he answered.

"Draco, it's Chastity."

"Chastity? When did you get a phone?"

"Oh, uhh … Seth just had it made for me,' she said reluctantly, knowing very well what Draco's feelings were on her working there. "But that's not what's important! I need you to come in right away!"

"Why?"

"That potential investor, Dorian Dubois, from Paris is here. You know, the one who is friends with Sophie's father? He says it's now or never and I can't get ahold of Phillip or Sophie. Other than 'now or never' this man doesn't speak a word of English and you're the only one of us who speaks French. Mr. Dubois is at the top of their list, Draco. We can't let him get away."

"Right," Draco muttered, suddenly feeling very nervous. "I'll be right there."

He hung up the phone. Well, it looked like the rest of his day had already been decided for him. Hopefully he wouldn't screw this up.

XXX

Hermione sat in her office after the meeting, trying to get some actual work done. She'd had a hard time focusing ever since they opened the Ever-Locked Room, or - as Draco loved to refer to it now - the Love Chamber. While she tried to do well at her job, it was really difficult when something so important - and obviously time consuming - was waiting for her right downstairs.

She still felt guilty for letting Draco talk her into that whole Amortentia bit. They had better things to do with their time. She just found it really hard to say no to him, especially after he just randomly took some yesterday to get her to go along with it. Hermione might have been angry if it hadn't led to one of the best shags of her life. There was definitely something to this 'all about Hermione' business.

Suddenly, Hermione could hear harsh voices outside of her door. Greta was arguing with someone. "I said you can't go in there without an appointment. Hey! Did you hear me?"

Hermione's door burst open. Inga Utkin barged in with a red-faced Greta on her heels. "Ms. Utkin. What do I owe the pleasure?"

"Mrs. Malfoy, I am so sorry! I tried to keep her out but-"

"It is quite all right, Greta. Ms. Utkin and I are overdue for a conversation, anyhow. You may leave."

"Umm … okay," said Greta, backing out of the room unsurely.

"And shut the door on your way out, will you?"

Greta did as she was instructed, keeping her eye on Inga the entire time. As soon as it was closed, Hermione waved her wand and put up a silencing charm. Her alone in a room with the witch who made a pass at her then fiancé? This could get ugly.

"What is it you want, Ms. Utkin?"

"I've told you on numerous occasions you can call me Inga," she said, taking a seat.

Hermione frowned. "I'd rather not. It expresses a familiarity that I just don't have with you."

Inga blushed. "Look, I understand why you might have a problem with me, but, I promise, you will want to hear what I have to say."

"You tried to feel up my fiancé. I have more than just a problem with you."

"In my defense, I really thought the marriage was just a Malfoy publicity stunt."

Hermione narrowed eyes, causing Inga to cower in her chair.

"Right. That was obviously the wrong thing to say. Let me try again. Draco has a -"

"Mr. Malfoy."

"Okay," said Inga, taking a deep breath. "Mr. Malfoy has a reputation, which I'm sure you are well aware of. Everyone always assumed he would settle down one day, but I, like most others, was pretty sure it would be when he was around forty and with an eighteen-year-old pureblood wife. No one ever expected the pureblood prince to fall for a Muggle-born, so you can't exactly blame people for questioning it. And you also can't blame witches like me for being curious. I mean, he's Draco Malfoy." She leaned in and whispered, "There are stories."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Yes, I am aware of these 'stories', Ms. Utkin."

"Inga."

"Fine. Inga. But that does not excuse what you did. Publicity stunt or not, he was still taken."

"You're right," Inga said, sitting up straight again. "I apologize. If it's any consolation, I believe the marriage is real now. It's hard to fake that degree of affection he has whenever you're around. Even just at the mention of your name."

Hermione did her best to fight off a smile. She would not give Inga the satisfaction. "So why are you here again?"

"Oh, right," said Inga, shaking her head to refocus her thoughts. "I'm here about Zandicus Thinx. And let me start by saying how sorry I am about your friend, Sophie."

"That didn't stop you from reporting about it the next day."

"If it wasn't me it would have just been someone else, Hermione."

"Mrs. Malfoy."

"I prefer Hermione."

"I'm sure you do." Hermione looked across her desk at the reporter and sighed. "If you're here to defend him I'd rather not hear it. I already know you're his alibi."

Inga chuckled. "I'm not here to defend him, Hermione. I'm here to help you prosecute him."

Hermione blinked. "What?"

"Zandicus came up to me after the trial last week and asked if I could meet him that night so he could give his side of the story," she explained. "He chose the time, the place. He kept me there for hours, drinking firewhiskey like it was the bloody elixir of life and constantly straying off topic. It was all rubbish. I didn't end up using one thing I learned that night in my article. It was like he was …"

"Distracting you?" finished Hermione.

Inga frowned. "Exactly. He was distracting me to keep me there. To be his alibi," she said. "Now, I wouldn't be so quick to jump to conclusions if he didn't finally leave after receiving a mysterious owl. Less than an hour later the Aurors were looking for me to confirm his whereabouts that night."

"So what is it you're thinking exactly? That Zandicus hired people to attack Draco?"

"Yes, that's what I'm thinking?"

Hermione took a deep breath. "I just don't understand. It's Phillip he has this never-ending feud with. I know he threatened Draco and everything, but I just don't see him being Zandicus's target."

"While Phillip might be his mortal enemy," said Inga, "Draco was the one he was angry at in the heat of the moment. He blamed his presence on him losing the trial. Which I can't exactly argue with. If Draco didn't work at Thinx, or wasn't your husband, there is no way Mr. Prior would have won."

"I don't think that's true -"

"It is. That's why you sent that Court Scribe home sick, isn't it?" Inga said. It was not an accusation, just a plain and simple fact to her. She then glanced at her watch. "I have to get back to my office, so I'll have to make this quick." She looked back up at Hermione and very seriously said, "I want to help you get this bastard."

Hermione looked back at her, her mouth agape. "I … I don't … why?"

Inga thought about this. "For many reasons, I suppose. It's the right thing to do." She held up one finger. "If there's going to be a war I want it over and done with quickly." A second finger. "I just plain don't like the wizard." And a third. "But, most importantly, it will make a great story." The last seven popped up.

"Right," said Hermione, who had not expected anything less from the witch. "So what did you have in mind? Some investigative reporting?"

"Exactly!" Inga grinned. "I'm already meeting Zandicus again tonight. I'll owl you tomorrow and let you know if I find out anything." She stood up from her seat and headed for the door. Hermione rose with her and walked out from behind her desk.

"Always itching for a story, even if you have to make it yourself," said Hermione as Inga opened the door. "I really hope you don't see Draco and me in the same way Rita Skeeter did. Just another book to sell."

Inga groaned. "Everyone says I'm the next Rita Skeeter because our writing styles are similar, but, unlike her, I don't need to make things up to write a good story," she said. "With you and Draco as subjects, the truth is interesting enough. While I do see the two of you as a great way to advance my career, not to mention my bank account, I don't plan on doing that with lies. So, if there ever is a book, I can assure you it will only be filled with the truth." She winked.

Hermione rolled her eyes and gave the reporter a half-smile. "Have a good day, Ms. Utkin."

"Inga," she corrected before walking out of the office. Greta kept a close eye on her as she strutted passed her desk, not looking away until Inga was well out of view. Clearly, Hermione wasn't the only one who didn't quite trust Inga Utkin.

XXX

That night Draco and Hermione met Sophie and Phillip at their place. Ever since Sophie had been released from St. Mungo's, neither of them had really left the house. Only for necessities. Every time Draco and Hermione would stop by, he would peek into the baby's room, and every time the bear would be somewhere different.

But tonight they were refusing to let their friends sit at home and sulk. They had already agreed to go out for dinner and drinks, but once Draco and Hermione arrived, they suddenly changed their minds.

"No! We're not letting you do this again!" said Draco, picking Sophie up. He walked towards the door while Hermione tried to push Phillip along, which was much more difficult than carrying a one-hundred pound witch, but he was less likely to fight back against her than he was against Draco.

When Phillip wouldn't budge no matter how hard Hermione pushed, Draco turned back around with Sophie wriggling on his shoulder and said, "How about we just go somewhere familiar?"

"Oh, yes!" said Hermione, coming out from behind Phillip. "How about the Leaky Cauldron? The four of us have such good memories there."

"Eef I say okay, weell you put me down?" asked Sophie, clawing at his back.

"Absolutely, love," he said, giving her a little spank.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'm right here, Draco. Have you no shame?"

"Ah, don't worry, Mione. I'll gladly give you a much better spanking later tonight. I'd say you deserve it after what you left me with this afternoon."

Another eye roll. "So what do you say, Phillip? Will you come?"

Phillip looked at Sophie as Draco put her down. The two locked eyes and she nodded at him. "All right," he said. "I suppose Draco and I should talk about what happened with Mr. Dubois today, anyway."

The four of them took the Floo network to the Leaky Cauldron, since Phillip and Sophie's minds were too distracted to apparate properly. When they got there they grabbed a table and were more or less silent until the barmaid arrived.

Hermione looked up at her familiar face and smiled. "Hannah! I didn't know you worked here."

The future Mrs. Neville Longbottom smiled back at her. "Yeah, well, Tom is an old friend of my grandfather's and I wanted to get a second job to earn a little extra money for the wedding."

"Have you decided on a date yet?"

"Not yet, but we're thinking sometime next spring."

Hannah glanced sideways at Sophie and Phillip and gave that sorry look the two of them got everywhere lately, and absolutely hated. That was part of the reason why they never wanted to leave their house. Everyone was constantly reminding them of what had happened with their pity-filled looks. Phillip pulled up his menu and hid behind it while Sophie began picking at her nails. Anything to avoid those eyes.

Hannah took their orders and disappeared into the kitchen. Their food seemed to come out extra quickly. While they ate, Draco talked about his earlier meeting with Dorian Dubois. It had gone well and, after a great deal of charm and ass kissing on Draco's part, Dorian had agreed to stop by again when he came back to town in two weeks to see more of their company.

"Thanks for covering, Draco," said Phillip when Draco had finished. "Since we haven't been in to have Seth charge our phones, and he hasn't found a way for wizards to do it in their homes yet, we've sort of been out of touch."

"That's all right," said Draco, deciding it best not to mention that Chastity had also sent them an owl and Caroline went over and banged on their door for an hour. It seemed they'd also locked all of their windows and put a silencing charm around their house so no one could disturb them. Not even their friends.

The back door to the Leaky Cauldron opened and all of them could feel a pair of eyes land on their table. They looked over and saw that Zandicus Thinx had just entered with Inga Utkin. Draco looked at Hermione, who had told him all about her meeting with Inga earlier that day. While he agreed that her motives were questionable, at least she hadn't been lying about meeting Zandicus later.

Zandicus's eyes kept darting between Sophie and Phillip as Inga guided him over to a table on the opposite side of the room.

"I'm going to get a drink," said Phillip, standing up.

"I'll come with you," said Hermione, doing the same.

He nodded and looked down at Sophie. "Do you want anything?"

"A geenger ale," she said instinctually. "Oh …" Her eyes dropped, obviously remembering that it was no longer necessary to avoid alcohol. The others all tried really hard to pretend they didn't notice. "A butterbeer and whiskey weell be fine."

Phillip leaned down and kissed her cheek before heading over to the bar, with Hermione at his heels.

While Draco and Sophie sat there, he kept noticing her glance at something behind him. She seemed to be captivated with it. He turned and looked over his shoulder, his heart stopping when he saw Pansy sitting at a table with a laughing Blaise and Daphne. Damn, this place was busy tonight. He could tell his ex was trying really hard not to look at Sophie.

"Zat ees your ex-girlfriend, ees eet not?"

Draco turned back around and took a deep breath. "Yes, it is. From back when we were in school."

"What does she do now?" Sophie asked, now looking at him.

"I'm not sure," Draco shrugged. "Not much of anything, I think."

"And ze others … are zey … are zey always together?"

Draco raised an eyebrow. "I suppose they are often enough. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," said Sophie, her gaze drifting behind him once again.

"Sophie …"

Her eyes did not move.

"Sophie, what … did you … did you see something?"

Suddenly, her eyes flashed back to his. "Why are you asking zat?"

Their gazes remained locked, each of them seeking something the other was obviously trying to hide, neither wanting to say anything until they knew for sure. Then, the sound of Pansy forcing a giggle resonated in their ears, and Sophie broke their gaze to look back at her. That was when Draco knew his suspicions were correct.

"Did you tell the Aurors?" he asked in a whisper.

Sophie sighed as she looked at him once again. "No."

"Why not?"

She shrugged. "I would 'ave eef eet was just 'Arry, but I deed not know zat other man. Wiz a war starting you can never be sure who to trust." She paused. "Wait. 'Ow do you know, Draco?"

Now it was his turn to sigh. "She came to the hospital. I guess she wanted to … to check on the baby. I saw her there and got a confession out of her."

"I 'ope you ruffed zat beetch up a bit."

"You know I did." He tried to smile.

"Why deed you not tell ze Aurors, Draco?" she asked, looking back at the table behind him.

"Because she didn't tell me who the others were," he said, looking back over his shoulder. He kept trying to see if Pansy would ever look over at Zandicus's table, but she never did. "Don't get me wrong, Soph. I want her to suffer for what she did to you, but she's our only lead in this thing. She would never tell them she confessed to me, so they won't know to shun her. If we watch her then maybe …" He took a deep breath … "maybe we can find out more."

"I agree," she said.

He looked at her surprised.

She tried to smile. Another failure. "Zat ees why I deed not go to 'Arry immediately after my release. Do you zink … do you zink 'e would 'elp us?"

"Potter?"

She nodded.

"Well, he does have this nauseating need to help everyone. And since Hermione's involved -"

"'Ave you told 'er?"

Draco shook his head. He had been meaning to, but there had never been a good time to bring it up. And there probably never would be.

"Good. Don't," she said. "She and Phillipe … zey would never understand. Zey would demand immediate justice. But you and I … we can see ze big picture. Turning 'er een now would do nozing but 'urt our cause. Eet would scare zem eento 'iding, and we do not 'ave time for zat." Sophie took a deep breath. "She weell get what ees coming to 'er. Just not today."

The door to the Leaky Cauldron opened again and Goyle entered. He noticed Draco and Sophie immediately, and attempted to smile discreetly. Draco watched closely as he walked past them, heading right to Pansy, Blaise, and Daphne's table.

He kept staring at him, his lips slightly parted. "How many did you say were there again?"

"Four," answered Sophie. "Two men and two women."

Draco continued to stare at them silently. Sophie called his name several times before he finally turned around.

"Draco, I do not zink … I mean, I am sure …"

"Don't finish that sentence unless you are positive."

Sophie sighed and nodded. She kept her mouth shut.

Draco turned around one final time to look at them. Blaise winked at him. If it were not for Sophie putting her hand on his arm, Draco would have leapt right out of chair and pummeled the bastard. While he wasn't sure about Daphne and Goyle, there was no doubt in his mind that Blaise was there, and probably the one Pansy had been talking about.

"I didn't do it."

Draco and Sophie, who had both been too distracted to notice anyone approach, looked up to see Zandicus standing over their table. Sophie gasped.

"I didn't do it," he repeated more urgently. Inga came up behind him and tried to guide him away, but he just pushed her off. "Tell me you know I didn't do it." He was looking at Sophie.

She said nothing, her eyes darting between his and Draco's, unsure of what she was supposed to do. Draco stood up and stepped in front of her. "You need to leave."

"But I didn't do it! It wasn't me!" he shouted. "I wasn't there, I didn't hire anyone, I have absolutely no idea who it was! I need her to believe me."

"Hey!" Phillip was across the room in two seconds with Hermione just behind him. "Get the hell away from her!" He pushed Zandicus, sending him back several feet.

"I didn't do it!" he repeated again. "You have to believe me! I would never …" he gulped … "I would never do that to a child."

"Zey were not zere for me," Sophie said under her breath.

"Mr. Thinx, I think it's time we leave," said Inga, grabbing at his arm.

He pulled it away. "No! They need to hear this. They need to know they're wasting their time investigating me."

His eyes drifted ever-so-slightly to the Slytherin table. It was the first slipup Draco had seen all night and it was enough to push him over the edge. He lunged forward and punched Zandicus in the jaw, hard enough to knock him to the floor.

"How dare you!" Zandicus sprang to his feet and came after Draco, but Phillip was right there to hold him back. "I hate you!" he shouted with flames in his eyes. "I hate the whole lot of you! But I didn't do this! My threats … they have nothing to do with violence! I will ruin you, Draco Malfoy, but I will not send someone to bloody torture you!"

"Get the hell out of here!"' shouted Phillip, pushing him back again.

This time Zandicus listened. He gave them all one last cold look before storming out the door. Inga ran after him.

Phillip sank down in the chair next to Sophie and comforted her while she tried really hard not to cry. Draco looked back over at the Slytherin table and saw that only Blaise looked amused. The others all looked sick. Pansy was the first to get up and leave, with the others just behind her.

Draco and Hermione sat back in their chairs, unsure of what they were supposed to do. A second later Hannah came by with the drinks they had left at the bar. Sophie grabbed hers and chugged it down in three large gulps. When she was finished she looked at Hannah and said, "A bottle of firewhiskey for ze table, please. And make eet fast."

Hannah nodded solemnly before heading to the bar. She was back with the bottle less than a minute later. They had barely poured their glasses when someone ran into the pub screaming, "Someone help! Please help! There's a body in the alley! Someone's dead! Someone's dead!"

Draco and Phillip locked eyes before jumping up and sprinting out the door, along with a few others. When they got outside they found Zandicus standing there, staring down at the lifeless body of Inga Utkin.

He looked up at them, his eyes blank for a moment before going wide, clearly recognizing the accusation in their faces. "I didn't … No! I just got here! I -"

Phillip grabbed for him, but Zandicus jumped back and disapparated. Phillip did the same. He was not going to let the bastard get away.

Draco stood there, staring mindlessly at the body at his feet. There were no cuts, no bruises, no blood … no signs of a struggle of any kind. The obvious work of a killing curse. While he did not care for Zandicus, Draco had a hard time believing he would be stupid enough to do this after the show he had just put on inside. Talk about digging your own grave.

"Oh!" Hermione threw her hands over her mouth. She had just pushed through the crowd and was now standing beside her husband. He put his arm around her and pulled her head into his chest.

The two of them stood their silently, unmoving until the Aurors arrived. If Sophie's attack had not marked the start of a war, then this definitely did. Inga Utkin may have been a nuisance, but she hadn't done anything worth getting killed over. Other than trying to help them. It was a shame that it took something like this to let Hermione and Draco know her motives were probably pure. She had wanted to help. And now she was dead because of it.