Chapter 8

Alone in the house, Lilah asleep, Hermione decided to have a look around. It was wrong to snoop. Draco would tell her all that he wanted her to know in time. Still, she couldn't reign in her curiosity, nor her know-it-all urges. No one seemed to have any answers regarding the private life of Draco Malfoy. Pansy merely speculated, but had nothing concrete. Hermione wanted something concrete.

She stood outside of his closed study door, debating whether or not to enter. The decision was made for her when the floo inside activated. Quickly, she hurried away and entered the nursery. Standing close to the crib, she pulled her wand from her shirt sleeve and aimed it at the door as she heard approaching footsteps. "Who's there?" she called out.

Adrian Pucey stepped into the nursery and smiled. "Hermione Granger, lovely to see you again," he greeted her with a mix of gentlemanly courtesy and playboy smarm. "I guess we have more friends in common than I previously thought."

"I...what?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Never mind," he murmured. "Is Draco here? I need to talk to him, but he wasn't at the office."

"No, he's not here," she informed him. "Can I give him a message?"

Hands raised, he entered the nursery. "Could you lower your wand?" he asked. "I have no intention of hurting you or Lilah. She is my goddaughter after all." Amused by the shocked look she wore, Adrian continued speaking. "Draco likes to make it seem like he's completely alone in this world. He very nearly was after everything that happened. Some of us just couldn't bring ourselves to abandon him."

"That was nice of you," Hermione replied as she tucked her wand away. "Perhaps we should let her sleep. It took a good deal of effort to get her down. Let's not undo all that hard work."

Smiling, Adrian waited for her pass before following her down to the first floor. "So, Draco mentioned that you're good friends with Pansy Parkinson," he said, taking a seat on the sofa. Hermione nodded, but divulged no further information. "She's not talking to her parents, is she?"

"She hasn't spoken to them in years," she replied.

Adrian nodded, relieved by the news. "Good," he muttered. "After what her father did, I'd kill her myself if she did."

She never thought she would agree with Adrian Pucey, but there was a first time for everything. Being disowned by her parents was the best thing to ever happen to Pansy. Her father was an abusive alcoholic who whole-heartedly followed Lord Voldemort, and her mother turned a blind eye whenever Pansy became the target of her father's anger.

"She's okay now," Hermione assured him. "Happy even. She's waitressing you know."

Adrian laughed, having a hard time picturing a society witch taking orders and clearing tables. "Do you think she'd mind if I stop around?" he asked. "I promise not to tease her for living like a muggle or anything. We were just really close until she left. I miss her."

Hermione nodded. "I think she'd be okay with that," she replied. "So, um, about that message for Draco?"

He looked at her, confused for a moment before he remembered his reason for stopping by. "No message," he said. "It's private. Just let him know I came by."

"I'll let Pansy know you asked about her as well," Hermione promised as she watched him rise and cross the room to the floo.

"Thanks, Granger," he replied with a nod of his head. "I think I'll try Draco's office again. Have a good day."

He stepped out in Draco's office and breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted his friend at his desk. Glancing up, the blond frowned. "You can't possibly know anything already," he said.

Adrian shook his head and sat down across from him. "I don't," he agreed. "Look, I just talked to Granger, and I don't think it's a good idea to investigate her."

"That's what you do for a living," Draco reminded him. "Private investigation. Why would you back out?"

The older wizard shrugged. "Sometimes it just feels wrong," he admitted. "Investigating Granger would be wrong. Let her keep her secrets. Wouldn't it be worse if she found out that you were doing this? And trust me, she will find out."

"She's my employee. I've put her in charge of my child," Draco reasoned. "A little background investigation isn't wrong."

"It is when you want me to pry into her personal life," Adrian argued. "Anything you really need to know about her would be public record. She's never been convicted of a crime. She passed all of her psychological evaluations required by the Ministry for employees who fought in the war. What more do you really need to know?"

Sighing, Draco leaned his head against the chair. "I don't know," he confessed. "What if the secret she's keeping is something horrible though? Don't you think I have the right to know what it is?"

"Then talk to her," Adrian advised. "Keep in mind though that she may be keeping her secrets for the same reasons you are. I'm sure you haven't been forthcoming about Lilah's mother."

"You know I haven't," Draco muttered. "No one knows. Well, you do, but you swore you'd never tell anyone."

Adrian nodded. "And I won't," he promised. "I just...I don't know. What's the big deal? So Granger knows. She doesn't seem like the type who'd judge you for what you did. Think of all the things you've done to her that she seems to have forgiven. Plus, you've taken responsibility for Lilah. She seems like the type who loves responsibility."

Unable to stop himself from laughing, Draco nodded in agreement. "She's already outdone me in the parenting department," he said. "Not that that was a difficult task to accomplish."

Not amused by Draco's attempt to steer the conversation away from his task, Adrian frowned as he said, "Just tell her."

Sighing, Draco nodded. "Okay, okay, I will," he promised.

"You know you have nothing to worry about," Adrian assured him. "I doubt knowing who Lilah's mother is will cause her to quit. Granger probably won't care."

Draco knew he was right. Hermione wasn't one to judge, and she had forgiven his past misdeeds against her. Lilah's parentage was really none of her business, but he found himself wanting her to know. They were friends; Hermione had said so herself. It was a secret he had kept for so long, and it seemed like the time to get it off his chest.