Hermione Granger nee Weasley stopped tapping her foot as soon as Harry Potter greeted her. She wore an open black robe, showing a white blouse, a pencil skirt just past the knee and loafers. She had her arms laden with a stack of parchments, and more were rolled up in her open satchel that hung from her shoulder, and she dumped it all where she stood. "Oh, Harry," She rushed forward, bumping Draco Malfoy to the side and hugging him tight. "Draco.." She said just as heartfelt as she had called for Harry and swiftly turned around to hug him next.

Draco froze at the hug, only rarely did Hermione hug him and he simply wasn't used to it but appreciated the thought. "Hermione." He acknowledged softly.

She stepped back, unceremoniously giving the blond a push back towards Harry because she very well knew she'd broken their moment. That earned her a snort of humor from both men as they locked hands and she smiled wildly. "I hoped you would've called for me yourself Harry," She said and shook her head. "You know I can help. I had to find out through my husband note, and-"

"I'm sorry." Harry said truthfully and that was all that needed to be said. Just like that, it was waved away. That's when Nichola Robinson awkwardly cleared her throat.

"Ahh," Harry sighed and fully let go of Draco. He apologized for the disarray his department was in. "Please, have a seat," He pointed at the small seating corner by the chessboard and waved at the people in his office. "If you don't mind waiting? I've got-"

"It's fine, Sir."

Turning around and looking into his office, he saw Seamus Finnigan and Susan Bones talking softly amongst themselves, side-eying him and Hermione was uttering things under her breath he couldn't hear as she gathered her stuff from the floor. Then, Harry looked at Draco and decided he didn't care, he just needed one moment. Tucking on their still locked hands, Harry hugged Draco close again. No words, just a loving hug with Harry affectionately burying his face in Draco's silken hair. The moment was broken by a flash.

Harry reeled back in shock, eyes wide when he saw the camera, letting go of Draco, who turned around fast. He folded his arms and with an accusatory look on his face, was ready to bite into someone sharp tongued. Harry, too, opened his mouth for some choice words but they were both beaten.

"Seamus!" Hermione shrieked. The papers she had just gathered landed once again on the floor. Both Harry and Draco looked at each other, eyebrows raised and silently agreed to let Hermione handle it. Both men were well aware she could do a better job than them together in explaining to Seamus he crossed a line. They just stood watching, the same with Nichola. She sat on the edge of her chair, fiddling with the hem of her robe again, and wide eyes darting between the occupants of the room, probably wishing she wasn't there.

"The invitation came for a favor," Hermione pursed her lips, waving the smoky fumes from the camera away. "Taking photos was not it!"

"It was a great opportunity," Seamus shrugged. "Nothing personal."

Susan just tapped his leg in a silent proud move. "Can't fault him for doing a good job."

This caused some more glares in their direction but neither Seamus or susan seemed particularly bothered by it. Hermione clucked her tongue. "Can you hold off?" She bit sharply.

"Hold off on what?" Seamus asked.

Hermione laid it down quickly, even if that was met with protests from both Harry and Draco. But she did tell them all about Draco's predicament. It was obvious to Harry she'd read the report on his desk. Even Nichola was listening attentively to it, much to the men's dismay. Surely it would be all over the Ministry now it was all confirmed by a trustworthy source.

Seamus was nodding along, with Susan making notes until Hermione drew a deep breath. "That's it. You're going to hold off from publishing this for the next twenty four hours."

"It's the perfect scoop," Susan said, obviously not ready to give into Hermione's demand. "We're the first, and probably only, who have a full view instead of a handful of rumors."

"Hold off and Harry will grant you the exclusive on this, with interview, and you may publish that photo, even pose them for another one-"

"I, what, no!" Harry balked, drawing the attention. "I can't. What if-"

"You will," Hermione said slowly in her most no nonsense voice. "Because if you do, they," She pointed at Seamus and Susan. "Will prevent any other media outlet from spreading this. It'll buy you time to work this out without any media attention."

Sharing a look with Draco, who nodded to confirm Hermione was right, Harry still asked Susan if they could truly do that. Susan nodded as well and took some sheets of parchment out of her bag. "The wizarding media is small Harry, we all work together. If you sign this," She slid the papers onto the desk and towards the edge in Harry's direction. "It'll mean you're given consent that the exclusive is ours and it'll automatically update all outlets the story is ours. They cannot publish about it until the Prophet does."

Harry scowled. He was being put on the spot and he hated it. Despite that, he still moved towards the papers, grabbing a quill from the desk and did so while ignoring Draco's cry for not actually reading it. Still, he hastily put down his signature at the bottom and sighed deeply when he put the quill down. "Get out of my office." He tried to say confidently but it sounded just tired. "I'll be down at yours when.."

Harry gulped. "When.. Once.. I know the outcome."

Right then and there, did it truly hit him. He might lose Draco. Might lose him forever and it hurt. Everybody saw the fear fluttering into his being and that was the point where both Seamus and Susan decided at the same time, it was best to leave. They stood in unison and power walked out of the office, spurred on by Hermione's glare.

Harry moved to his chair and let himself fall into it. Mere seconds later, Draco stood right behind him, massaging his shoulders, leaning over a bit to whisper into Harry's ear. With that, Hermione knew she might've gone slightly overboard. Here was her best friend ever probably about to lose the love of his life and she struck him a deal with the press. Hermione bit her lip, unsure if she should apologize or not when Nichola cleared her throat, loudly. When she caught the attention of the room, she blushed brightly.

"Right," Harry sat up and pinched the bridge on his nose. "Records, yes, moving on.."

"What do you need of us, Sir?" Nichola questioned.

"Records.." Harry said ruefully. He leaned back, took hold of Draco's hand and just held it close, pressing it against his chest. "Any and all names of the current wizarding population in Britain."

"That's quite the bookwork, Sir." Nichola answered but confirmed it was possible.

"I don't know how to diminish the pool of subjects, just yet." Harry admitted. Silently begging in his mind that the perpetrator actually hailed from their community and not registered from another country. He looked up, silently begged Draco for help. He was an potion expert, he should have more of an idea than him.

"I do," Draco murmured and squeezed Harry's hand. "I suspect you want me to read off names in hopes I hit the right one, am I right?"

Harry nodded. "I still have to clear this legally but, yes, if there is a slight possibility, we have to embrace that chance."

Draco nodded back, and let go of Harry. Thinking out loud, he paced the space behind Harry's chair. "This potion is expensive, a bag of galleons at the very least. People with money. The book, it's rare, it's banned so there aren't all that many copies going around but that's hard to track down as copies may have been hidden or illegally traded hands, however, the ingredients.."

Draco's mind was running a mile a minute. "I need.. The Sacred twenty eight, the rich and the wealthy, all potion masters, and.." He hummed. Draco took one of the more fancy quills from Harry's desk and began to furiously jolt things down. Harry, and Nichola were watching it happen, and Hermione quickly stood by Draco's side. She read as he wrote and threw suggestions out in a hushed but excited voice. Draco hummed in various ways, noises Harry easily identified to be either agreeable or denying suggestions and couldn't stop the amused smile. He let them at it, and turned his attention to Nichola. "With a list like that, how fast can your department pull together names?"

"Do you have a priority clearing?" She asked back.

Harry eyed her, thinking. "I'll get that, so how long?"

"Well.. Fast. If we distribute it between all staff it should be compiled uhh.. Fast?" Again, she flushed. "I can't put an exact timing on it, but, you know?"

"You all will be working as fast as you can, I get it." Harry said. He got up, smacked a kiss on top of Draco's head, and disappeared through the floo.

Nichola looked confused. "Where is Head Auror Potter going?"

"Getting that clearance." Hermione answered, not looking away from Draco's writing.