{ Chapter Five }
Five days later
"I found it!" Blaise shouted triumphantly through the stacks. It had taken the two of them several days to find the second book on her list. Unexplained Deaths through the Ages was nothing more than a notebook where a wizard named MacAffrey had handwritten accounts of strange deaths. Chapter six was titled The Perfect Wife.
"This is definitely it." Draco took the book from his hands and held it closer to the lamp.
"In the late 1800's there lived a farmer named Channing. His family had a long standing rivalry with the family to the North called the Aubrey's. In hopes of joining the families and ending the feud, the Aubrey's youngest daughter was married to Channing. Her brother, who was out of town on business at the time, was outraged.
"Three months into the marriage he confronted Channing. The confrontation turned deadly and Channing was fatally wounded. Aubrey, thrilled at the outcome, returned to Channing's home to retrieve his sister. He searched the house and found her in the kitchen. She was lying on the floor, dead. It appeared as though she was preparing supper and simply collapsed on the spot. Healers could find no reason for her death.
"Upon examination of her personal effects, a journal was found written in her hand. It was determined from her writings that Channing had performed The Perfect Wife marriage rite on his young bride. The cause of death was then clear. After all, The Perfect Wife follows her husband in death."
Silence hung thick in the air as the words sunk in. Neither man spoke for many minutes until finally Blaise broke the silence.
"You know what this means, right?"
Draco snapped the book shut and threw it down on the table.
"Yeah, it means we have to lift the curse before we can beat the Weasel to death with his own dismembered arms."
"Damn. You read my mind. What do you say we get out of here, get some fresh air and a stiff drink?" He didn't give Draco a chance to answer. He just grabbed his arm and disapperated on the spot. When the world stopped spinning, they were standing in Blaise's office at the bar.
"You asshole! You could have splinched me with a surprise apparition like that. Are you completely insane?" Draco had his wand out and pointed at the taller man's throat almost as soon as they landed.
"Relax man. Come on, I'll get the drinks." They entered the bar and Draco sat down at a small table while Blaise poured them each a glass of the strongest fire whiskey they sold.
"You think we can break the curse?" Blaise handed him a glass and sat in the chair next to him. The table they had chosen sat in the corner and gave them a clear view of the rest of the tables in the room, as well as the door.
"I think if there's a way to break it, she would have found it." He took a long drink and set the glass heavily on the table. "There are ten more books on her list. The answer will be there somewhere."
Blaise stared into his glass, watching the amber liquid swirl around the bottom, before running his fingers through his jet black hair and inhaling deeply.
"What if it's not there, Draco? What if she didn't find the solution before she disappeared?"
Draco's gray eyes were as hard and cold as steel as he glared at his friend. His hand tightened around his glass, which he picked up just to slam it back down on the table again.
"Then we keep looking. We pick up wherever she left off and we continue her research."
They stared at each other for a long moment before Blaise nodded in agreement. Despite his initial reluctance to help Draco with this little project, he was slowly becoming invested in the outcome. Draco's determination was rubbing off on him. Despite the fact that he wasn't sure he had ever so much as spoke to Hermione in the past, he wanted to find out what happened to her. He wanted to help her.
The bar was filling up around them as the evening hours drew near. It was Saturday night, and the bar was a hot spot for the young twenties crowd. Draco and Blaise watched the people around them, so they both stiffened as two wizards took notice of them and walked to their table.
"Hey Malfoy. I don't think I've ever seen you in here before. The place is packed tonight. Zabini, right? How's it going?" The two sat down at the table and motioned for a waitress.
"Potter. Weasel. Please, sit down. Make yourselves comfortable." Draco's voice was laced with sarcasm as he motioned to the two across from him.
Weasley glared at him. Harry just rolled his eyes. The two of them had become friends over the last few years of working together, and he was quite familiar with Draco's dry sense of humor. Never mind that he was not joking at all this particular time.
"Thanks Malfoy. Don't mind if we do." Harry smirked as Draco rolled his eyes.
The atmosphere around the table was tense at best. Draco had to make a conscious effort to be civil to the Weasel. Today was not the day for a confrontation. So he chose to ignore the redhead altogether and focused on Potter instead.
"Where's Luna tonight, Potter? Not trouble in paradise I hope."
"Nah. She's out of town with her father. They're searching for nargles in Australia." He laughed and rolled his eyes. His wife's eccentricities were often cause for laughter. Despite that, Luna was actually one of the most perceptive people he had ever met.
"That's right. I forgot you married Lovegood." Blaise laughed as he leaned closer to Harry. "So just between us guys, what's she like, you know?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Draco, sensing the discomfort coming from Harry's general direction, jumped in to help his friend.
"You know, that's an excellent question Blaise. I always wondered myself. I bet she's a tiger in the sack, isn't that right Potter?"
"That is absolutely none of your business." Harry drank down half of his beer before setting the bottle on the table. "However, I will say this. Luna has very few inhibitions. I'll leave it at that."
Draco and Blaise laughed. Ron groaned.
"What about you, Malfoy? When are you going to settle down?"
Draco shook his head no while Blaise laughed.
"His mother keeps trying to set him up with Daphne Greengrass, but he's blown her off like ten times now."
"Daphne is not my type, okay? I keep telling Mother that, and she keeps setting up these dates. She knows I'm not going to keep them."
"Daphne Greengrass isn't your type?" Ron asked incredulously. "She's a pureblooded heiress; she sounds exactly like your type."
Draco's eyes narrowed in on him and he had to take several deep breaths before he trusted himself to speak.
"She's an airhead and a bimbo. I want a woman I can actually have a conversation with." His words sounded casual with only a trace of the pure hatred that he was feeling laced in his tone.
"Speaking of, whatever happened with Anna?"
Draco turned his glare from the Weasel to Blaise. Why the hell would he bring up Anna at a time like this?
"I'm only asking because she's at the bar and she's glaring at you."
All four men at the table turned to see the blonde witch that was leaning against the bar. She was wearing a black skin-tight dress and four inch stiletto heels. Her blue eyes were narrowed and she was glaring at Draco. When his eyes met hers, she set her bottle down on the bar and sauntered over to their table.
"Fuck." Draco managed to murmur under his breath before she got there.
"Well, well, well. Look who managed to leave the library. You should really get out more. You're looking a bit pale these days."
"Anna. Always a pleasure. You look lovely as always." He laid on the charm, smirking at her in the way that always worked with the ladies.
"Save it, Draco." She rolled her eyes at him. "That charm of yours won't work tonight. I just wanted to let you know that I'm seeing someone else."
There was a chorus of "ooh's" from around the table, but Draco merely shrugged.
"I figured as much. Did you think I expected you to wait around for me?"
Her eyes narrowed further and with a muttered "fucking asshole" she turned and walked away. Draco released a breath and took another drink from his glass. Anna had been a good distraction and a means to release pent up energy, but that's as far as it was ever going to go. He didn't have the time or the energy to devote to a relationship right now. He was too busy obsessing over a missing woman that in all likelihood he would never see again.
"So Weasel, what about you?" Blaise broke the silence as he poured himself another round.
"What about me?" Ron's eyes were narrowed, not trusting the former Slytherin's that sat across from him at the moment.
"Is Granger a lion in the sack? Man, I used to fantasize about her in the library. You know, with her school uniform on and her hair up in pigtails." Blaise waggled his eyebrows dramatically.
"Oh, nice visual man." Draco groaned. It was a nice visual. He was picturing it right at that moment. He shook his head violently to dislodge the image. This was certainly not the time.
"You know she would kick your ass just for thinking about that, right?" Harry laughed and rolled his eyes. "I can hear her now. 'What do you think you're doing, Ronald? This is a library, not a bedroom. Keep your hands to yourself and read something. Honestly.'"
They all cracked up laughing at Harry's spot on imitation. Even Ron was getting a kick out of it. Draco, realizing he may have had a little too much to drink at this point, took another long drink of the fire whiskey in his glass.
"It's true. She's a nightmare. Always so prim and proper. Thank Merlin for Lavender, that's all I can say about it." Ron took another drink from his bottle, completely oblivious to the mood shift around the table. Harry and Blaise were both glaring at him. Draco squeezed his glass tightly in his hand. So tightly that it shattered into sharp slivers that scattered across the table.
"Oye, Malfoy! What the hell is your problem?"
Draco waved his wand a few times to clean up the mess he had made, and then returned his glare to Weasley.
"I'm just wondering if you started fucking around on your wife before or after she left you."
Ron's face tinged red as he realized that he had just confessed his infidelities to the rest of the table, most of whom were not friendly towards him. He should have stopped drinking then, instead he took another long swig.
"Don't you worry about it, ferret. I hardly think it's any of your business."
Draco sat back in his chair, his arms crossed over his chest, and he glared at Ron. Harry and Blaise exchanged looks that clearly said "uh-oh" and they both prepared to draw wands if need be.
"Since we're all getting nice and personal here, Malfoy, Zabini, let me ask you a question." Ron's words were starting to slur together from all the alcohol he had drank. Harry eyed him skeptically, not sure at all what he was about to say, but pretty sure it wouldn't be good. "Why in Merlin's name are you fantasizing about a mudblood, huh? She's beneath you lot."
The noise of the bar did not quiet down any, but the table was coated in a thick, stunned silence. Draco searched the words for any sign of sarcasm. He found none. Anger surged through his body, a white hot rage that was barely controlled. He looked at the man sitting across from him and realized he had no idea who Ron Weasley really was. Harry and Blaise shared his look of complete shock and disbelief.
"Ron, what the hell is wrong with you?" Harry pushed his chair back, distancing himself from his friend.
"What? It was just a question." Ron seemed genuinely confused. He didn't even realize that what he had just said was highly offensive.
"You need to refrain from using that kind of language in my bar, Weasley, or you won't be welcome to come back." Blaise was keeping an eye on Draco, sure that he would snap at any moment.
"What? Mudblood? Malfoy uses that language all the time and he's still here."
Draco's fist shot out and connected hard with Weasley's nose. The redhead crumpled to the floor in a bloody heap. Draco jumped up and pushed the table out of the way, intent to hit the Weasel again. Two sets of arms tried to hold him back, but he broke free.
His knee landed on Ron's stomach and his hand wrapped around Ron's throat. He forced the bloody man on the floor to look at him.
"Listen up, Weasel. I haven't used that vile word in five years. Not since the night that I had to watch it being carved into the flesh of one of the bravest women I know." His hand tightened around Ron's throat. "I changed sides in the war that night, and I never looked back. You don't know me. Don't assume that you do."
Raw power was crackling in the air around him. The people in the bar had made a wide circle around the two wizards. They all watched, too captivated to move.
Harry and Blaise were the only two in the bar that were close enough to hear what Draco had said to Ron. Harry swallowed thickly as he remembered in vivid detail the sound of her screams echoing down the stairwell and into the dungeon.
Blaise took a step forward and clapped his hand on Draco's shoulder. He leaned over and spoke in a low tone, one that only Draco could hear.
"You can't kill him, Draco. Not yet. Remember? We have to lift the curse first."
Draco's hand immediately relaxed around Ron's throat and he staggered to his feet. Ron lay on the floor catching his breath for several moments before sitting up.
Draco considered saying something else, but didn't trust himself to say something without having to back it up with his fists. His arms were still shaking in rage as it was. It was probably best to just remove himself from the situation as fast as possible. With one final glare to each Blaise and Harry, he walked away.
The crowd parted for him as he made his way towards the door. As he stepped outside, he wasn't surprised to see a tall blonde witch waiting for him.
"Are you okay, Draco?"
"I'm fine, Anna. Go home to your boyfriend, okay?" He inhaled the chilly night air deeply, clearing his head just a fraction.
"We both know there isn't anyone else. That was me attempting to make you jealous." She batted her eyes at him and trailed her fingertips up his arms to his shoulders and neck. "You need some stress relief. Why don't you come back to my place and let me make you feel all better?"
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his lips to hers, kissing him deeply.
He allowed the kiss for a moment, responding to her in kind, but it didn't take long for him to realize that he wasn't getting any enjoyment from it. It was simply a motion. There was no spark. With Anna there had always been spark, but it was gone.
He pulled away from her with a sigh and took a step back, preparing to apperate.
"Go home, Anna."
He could see the hurt in her eyes, but it was soon replaced with understanding and she actually smiled a small smile at him.
"She's a lucky woman, Draco, the one who's captured your heart." She winked at him, and then she was gone, leaving him to wonder what the hell she was on about.