Author Note: I apologize for the delay in update. I've been dealing with a lot of personal problems. Hopefully you all will enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think.

A special thanks goes to: Legolas' Girl 31, zoesheppard, LightofEvolution, pgoodrichboggs, Kathrynrose42, Chester99, I'amour perdu and HarryPGinnyW4eva for the wonderful reviews.

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Chapter 11:

"Is that any way to greet me?" Pansy asked with a cross of her arms.

"You shouldn't be here at all." Draco muttered just as she passed him to walk into his flat uninvited.

He noticed that she was eying every single inch of the place. She was looking for something that much was obvious. He hoped that Hermione wouldn't be angry with him after it was all said and done. There was so much going on in his mind and didn't really have the patience to deal with his ex at the moment. "So where is she? I know she's here...that little mudblood..." Pansy stated turning around to face her former lover in the eye.

"Don't call her that. She is one of the reasons your not enslaved by the dark lord, Pansy. You should be grateful."

"Grateful? For what? It was Potter who kill the dark lord, not the muggle bitch."

"Jealousy is ugly on you."

Her eyes narrowed almost instantly. She didn't like how he was defending someone he once bullied in school, nor did she like the fact that she knew that he had a thing for said woman. It was the talk of the underground as of late. 'Draco Malfoy takes in war hero after devastating fire in her apartment building'. That was the headline in all the tabloids. Her question was why? "So where is she?" She asked again.

"Not here."

"Why don't I believe you."

"What do you want from me, Pansy?"

"I think you know the answer to that."

Of course he knew. She wanted him. She made that very clear the last time she came there. The same night he had kissed Hermione for the first time. "I told you already...I'm not interested in you anymore. Those feelings are gone. Now, would you please do me a favor and leave." He said sternly, not hesitating a single second.

"Do you think your parents don't know about what you're doing?"

"I don't really care what they think they know about what's going on. I stopped caring what they thought after the war."

"You'll regret you're decision eventually."

"Doubtful...now get out."

Pansy sharply turned her head away and walked out of the apartment with a huff in breath. Draco closed the door behind her and let out an annoyed sigh before locking it. The sound of a door opening alerted him to Hermione's presence. He looked up to see her standing in the junction between the kitchen and the living room.

By the look on her face, he could tell that she had heard every single word said between them. There was a glazed over look in her eyes and told him that she had been crying again. "I'm sorry that I cause so many problems for you." She said softly holding herself with her arms.

"Don't...you did nothing wrong."

Draco crossed the room and unwraped her arms from around herself and pulled her into his. His chin rested on the top of her head gently. She was stiff in his embrace, nothing like their moments together on the couch right before the interruption by Pansy. "She's right, you know. There is no way your parents don't know that I'm staying here. The death threat is public knowledge to the magical world now."

He pulled her out of his arms and held into her shoulders firmly. He looked her dead in the eyes. "I don't really care what they know. My father has made more headlines for his behavior than anyone I know. My mother isn't the same as she was when it comes to her views. It shouldn't matter." He said with such assurance.

Hermione turned her head. She didn't want him to see the turmoil conflicting in her eyes. She was thankful that he had been willing to let her stay with him while the whole death threat thing was being investigated. Now there was an offer to teach a class while Hagrid was taking care of some personal things. She didn't know what to do or where would be the safest place to be. She didn't want to die. There were so many things she wanted to do with her life.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" He asked softer than his prior statement.

"No...you actually know how to make me feel better about things..."

"Isn't that a good thing? Why are you pushing away?"

She couldn't help but think about Janey and what she went through. The fact that someone wanted her head and killed an innocent woman because she was close to her really didn't make her feel good about getting close to someone else, no matter how they made her feel. "I think I need to go for a walk to clear my head." Hermione stated taking several steps back away from Draco.

"Do you think that's a good idea?"

"I won't be gone long. I'll be fine."

He couldn't suffocate her by telling her no. He also had no idea what she was feeling, because there was a lot going on that she probably took a lot of blame for. She stepped passed him to walk towards the door. Slipping into her coat, Hermione pulled up the zippers on her knee high boots and made her escape towards the outside.

Draco let out a sigh while running a hand over the top of his head. He couldn't but feel a nagging uncertainty when it came to her safety. The words of Harry Potter echoed inside his mind as well. He couldn't decide if he should follow her or just leave her be for the moment. It didn't take long for the decision to be made for him. At least for the time being.

A dark colored owl came to the large window and pecked at the glass. Moving across the living room, he opened the window and caught the chilled wind against his face as he reached for the letter attached to the bird's talon. Without even looking at the parchment, he knew who had written him. His parents haven't gotten with the times and invested in a phone.

The words came as no surprise. His mother knew of Hermione staying with him and asked why he never wrote to her telling her why. She was concerned about him being drawn into the issue of her death threat. The part that surprised him the most was the fact his mother offered for them to stay with her until the person was caught.

The owl waited patiently as he sat down to write his mother back. It was obvious his mother knew his intentions better than he knew them himself. Maybe she had seen something in him from the past or maybe he just heard things from the underground like Pansy had. It didn't matter either way. Hermione was important to him in more ways than one.

"Mother,

I appreciate the offer and will mention it to her. The Ministry to exploring almost every resource in attempts to figure out who wants her dead. So far, we've come up with nothing. A friend of hers was killed in the apartment fire. She devastated and I honestly don't know how to help her.

Draco."

He attached the letter to the foot of the owl and the dark bird took off almost instantly. Hermione was on his mind and began to pace along the living room floor until he finally sat down on the sofa. His legs twitched and became restless. Groaning out loud, he stood up and stormed to the front door grabbing his coat from the hook by the door.

Using his wand to shut the lights off, he stepped out of his apartment and proceeded to follow Hermione. The uneasy feeling in his gut just wouldn't go away.

XxXxXxXx

Hermione turned down the alley that would lead her to Janey's apartment. It wouldn't be the first time she broke into a place to look for something and it probably wouldn't be the last. She wanted answers and had a feeling that looking inside Janey's things would hold some of those answers. Standing in front of the door, she dug out her wand and touched it briefly on the knob while whispering the words to get it to unlock from the inside.

Hearing the click, she opening the door and caught the scent of apple cinnamon from the candle by the door. "Lumos." She whispered, bringing light to the tip of her wand. The glow was just enough to get her to see her surroundings.

Eying a desk with folders scattered upon it, she made a point to check it first. Sifting through the papers for anything of relevance and when she got to the end, she found a folded up piece of parchment tucked inside a book. Opening it up, the words dumbfounded her. Quickly folding it back up, she stuck it in the inside pocket of her coat to read it better once she got back to Draco's flat.

She turned away to see the hallway. Janey's bedroom was at the end of it. Stepping inside it, she sucked in a gasp of air. Pictures of her were littered across the wall, with small captions at the bottom. It made her wonder why the Ministry hadn't searched her apartment yet. Reading the captions, she realized that they weren't there to harm her; but help her. She was watching over her. Towards the bottom of the mirror, a photo of Draco was also taken. "Were you watching him to?" She asked out loud.

Sitting her wand down, she reached for every single photo hanging up. Grouping them together, she tucked them inside her coat pocket for later viewing when she could actually see better. Turning to walk back out of the room, her eyes locked with a frame picture of Janey with a two people who were more than likely her parents.

Tears stung her eyes as she forced herself to walk away. Outside of the apartment, she let of the breath of air she had been holding in. "Did you find what you were looking for?" Draco's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"I found enough..."

"Come on..."

He didn't ask her what she found, because he could tell that she was fragile as it stood. She began to walk next to him silently. Her eyes kept forward, refusing to meet his gaze. She wanted to know how he had found her; but thought better of it. On some level, she was happy that he had gone after her. It proved that he did care about what happened to her.

Once they made it back to his apartment, she took everything she had found and laid it on the counter for him to see. His eyes widened a little at first and then scrunched down to examine everything better. "She obviously knew of your death threat without being told about it, because I was the only person Harry told at the time of her death."

"I think she knew who it is." Hermione said leaning forward against the counter.

"Why do you say that?"

Digging into the pocket on the inside of her coat, she pulled out of the folded letter. "This is why." She said handing the small item to Draco as she hung her coat back up on the hook. He glanced down the at the letter and then quickly looked back up at her with an uneasy expression cast over his eyes.

"This is your last warning.

You were told to finish the job and you've yet to bring me any relevant information that will help me get my revenge. I've paid you decent money and you've come up with nothing. Bring me something of use or the consequences will be severe."

The was no name at the bottom; but there didn't need to be one. Janey knew the person and since she didn't do what she was asked to do, she paid the price with her life. Draco quickly walked around to the other side of the counter and took Hermione's hands into his own, brushing his thumb along the delicate skin of her knuckles. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." He said softly and then pulled her into his arms.

"I don't want to die. There are so many things I want to do. I want to help people in magic and make the world a better place. I want to make peace with my friends and I... want to understand my own emotions when it comes to you..."

Draco allowed her to pull out of his arms, only for her to stare up into his eyes with such longing. Her emotions were all over the place, which was something he could definitely understand. "You'll be able to do all that, I promise." He said, trying not to sound so thrilled about her wanting to understand her emotions towards him.

"Thank you...for everything..."

"You're welcome."

She leaned up to kiss his cheek before walking back to the room he offered to her. He stood alone, wondering what to do with all the new information she found illegally. Gathering it all up, he shoved it into the top drawer under the counter. Placing a spell on the drawer to lock it from outsiders, he moved to turn lights off in the kitchen and then finally retreat to his own bedroom for the night. He had plenty to do in the morning, including mentioning to Hermione about the offer his mother had given them.