Vigilo Oculus, It was so easy, so simple, yet Malfoy Manor had the damn charm that she didn't even think to look for. She figured she had lost her knack as her last targets were, well… simple minded and being that the charm was old and very seldom used, most didn't take the time to look up that particular charm, therefore, she never looked for it when breaking wards.
Vigilo Oculus was one of the first things she was taught during training and she felt dumb as hell for over looking it. Her simple mistake almost blew her cover and she still wasn't totally sure it hadn't but Malfoy gave up easy enough and he would damn sure never know she was watching again.
She checked her appearance in the cracked mirror once again to make sure her glamour's were holding well and to make sure she was not recognizable. Malfoy was due to meet someone in thirty minutes at a near by pub and she wanted to know why the meeting was so hush, hush. It could be something she could use against him.
Fifteen minutes later, Hermione found herself at the pub, perched on a stool in a central location. She would be able to see Malfoy no matter where he sat and thanks to her early arrival, she was able to charm each table so she could hear the conversations and easily end the charms on tables she wasn't interested in.
"What can I get you?" The short, grubby bartender asked.
"Vodka – straight" she ordered, ignoring the look of mild shock on the bartenders face.
The bartender cleared his throat, "Is the lady sure she doesn't want something a little more… mild?"
Hermione fixed the man with a death glare and she internally laughed when he yelped a bit and walked away.
The drink came quickly and the bartender smirked, fully expecting her to sip it and gag but when she smirked and threw the shot back, keeping a straight face, the man nodded and got her a second.
"You win." He said with a laugh and left the witch to herself.
She looked down to her watch and sighed, Malfoy and whom ever he was meeting were 3 minutes late… she hated when people were late. She waited another twenty, swallowed down her third shot and started to stand to leave when the door opened and Draco walked in.
"Thought you had enough?" The bartender asked.
"Nope, butt fell asleep, just needed to adjust a bit." She answered and ordered another.
Oooooo
"I'm serious!" Draco whispered to the tall, dark man that sat across from him, "I want you to watch her and tell me if you notice anything."
"Mr. Malfoy, Hermione Granger is no threat to you. She has a bad reputation, no one respects her, and no one would ever take her word over yours… If your ex did hire her, she did a sorry job at finding someone who is reputable."
Draco sighed and rubbed his hands over his face, "Then explain why she was at Malfoy Manor under a disillusionment charm, watching every move I made."
"Envy, possibly? With a witch like Granger, there is no telling." The man shrugged and took a sip of his scotch, "I cant even tell you why she actually has a job in the first place, she was black listed everywhere."
Hermione snorted into her glass, Envy? Like hell.
"I want her watched, I want you to follow her regardless of what you think she is or isn't capable of… I have a daughter to protect and if she is on some hell bent mission for revenge or trying to give my ex a reason to keep my daughter from me, I want to know immediately."
"Mr. Malfoy, I have to ask. Why would she want revenge on you?"
Draco looked to his glass and swirled the liquid around, watching it as it raised on the sides in a smooth motion, "I'm still searching but she mentioned that my father did something to her but didn't go into details. I just have a feeling that if my father was involved, it wasn't a good situation for her."
The man nodded, "From what I understand, your father held her prisoner for months until she was found after Harry Potter defeated, you-know-who."
Draco looked up, that was something he didn't know.
"Do you know anything else about it?"
"Nothing. The ministry sealed the records tighter then anything I've ever seen before. Merlin himself couldn't get into them even if he managed to find them."
Oooooooooo
Hermione left the pub shortly after Malfoy and the man did. She didn't know whom the man was but her newest mission was to find out, play with his memories a bit and send him on his way without a clue. If the man followed her at all, she would have to put herself under constant glamour unless she wasn't up to anything and she would have to be even more careful on the Malfoy case then she normally would … she didn't want the stress.
She didn't go home but instead went straight to her office at the Ministry. She would be able to find out who the man was easily thanks to the glass she swiped with his slobber all over it. The man would need to be handled quickly before he had a chance to tell anyone about what he was up to.
Oooooooooo
Draco went back into his father's study, a place he didn't visit unless absolutely necessary. The place itself held memories that he would rather not relive and the very idea of what took place inside the four walls made his stomach churn.
Meetings with deatheaters, plans to kill innocent people, Voldemort, himself even made visits in the damn study, nope, not a place he wanted to spend gobs of time in. He had already searched through the desk, the books, the hidden panel that he knew about and turned up nothing. He briefly wondered if she had said those things to throw him off, but then again, Jenkins told him there was some history between his father and Granger so there had to be something.
He searched for another hour, lifting rugs, moving furniture, everything he could think of until he finally threatened all the portraits in the room, hoping one would crack and spill the beans – it didn't happen. The portraits either sneered at him, yelled at him or even had the gull to laugh at him and all flat out refused to say a word about Lucius.
In total frustration, he kicked the old oak chair that Lucius had used for punishment when Draco was younger. The chair was uncomfortable to sit in, hard as a rock and did a number on the occupant backside, young or old, the chair hurt everyone.
When the chair toppled over, the hard seat flapped and closed again. Since when did chairs flap? He walked over, stood the chair back up and fiddled with the seat for a moment before finding a small, brass latch on the underside. He lifted the seat slowly and found a small black book with gold letters HG on the cover.
"This has to be it." He muttered to himself as he walked over to the chair that his father used to sit in and started reading.
Hours, he spent hours combing through the pages of the journal. He knew his father had two sides. One side he displayed to the public. He was arrogant but kept his appearance on the good side so he would remain on the board of Governors and a person of some authority in the wizarding world. The other side was the deatheater side. He was malicious and did whatever he had to do to keep in the favor of Voldemort.
He knew Lucius could be violent, not so much to him and his mother, but to those he was against such as Granger, he could be a down right cruel bastard.
The things he was reading were things he never even imagined his father doing, despite what he was and whom he was serving. The things his father had described were monstrous, more so then anything he had ever witnessed and he understood why Granger would be so jaded… but it still didn't make sense.
He continued to flip through the pages, hoping to find something that would explain why she was so hated today. One would think that she would have been coddled and given a great deal of sympathy, not hated and treated as a leper.
17 OctoberThe Mudblood screamed for hours today. I was amusing to watch as she lost control of her bodily functions and didn't show an ounce of embarrassment. I would have thought she would have cracked by now, but she continues to keep tight-lipped about Potters location and continues to take the torture instead… Only a Gryffindor.
Draco shook his head and flipped the page. So far he had read about her reactions but not about the methods his father used to bring her to those things.
24 OctoberHer skin is burned due to lying in her own urine for days. I would have left her longer but the smell was becoming putrid and I couldn't stomach to even go near her cell. The elves cleaned her up and her cell, but her bath was less then pleasant as I had the elves bathe her in lemon juice. She cried the entire time and didn't even waste her normal glare in my direction as they scrubbed her skin raw.
Draco flipped the page again, he had enough of October 24th, thank you very much.
1 NovemberI allowed her to heal a bit since my last entry, as she was becoming less enjoyable the weaker she became. The Dark Lord is pleased with my treatment and has even encouraged me to take it up a notch in order to get her to talk.
Flip, flip, flip
5 NovemberWho would have thought a dirty Mudblood could feel so good. I did my ego well to watch the fight drain out of her as I took her innocence. I would have thought the Weasley brat or Potter would have gotten there first but alas, that pleasure was mine. I of course had to bathe very well afterwards but…
"What the hell?" Draco almost yelled, "Years I listened to him drone on about never being with anyone less the pureblood, yet he goes to the lowest of the line."
Draco couldn't read anymore. There was nothing explaining why she was treated so badly after she was found and he honestly didn't feel like reading about the things his father had done to find out. He couldn't help but feel a bit of sympathy for her but he would still do whatever it took to stop her if she were trying to get back at him or his daughter for the things his Father had done.
He did, however, want answers and if going to Potter was the only way to get them, he would. He pulled out a quill and parchment and wrote out a quick letter to Harry. He wanted to know and he wanted to know now.