The newlyweds burst into St. Mungo's in a flurry of expensive robes. Draco had waited impatiently until Hermione had climbed out of the fireplace, and took her hand as they ran down the hallway. Hermione idly reflected that they did that a bit too often lately. Draco skidded to a stop just as he got to the counter, and dispersed everyone that was waiting there with a cold glare that he had perfected over the years.
"I'm looking for Narcissa Malfoy and Herman Granger," he said, frantically.
"Third floor," said the lady on the counter, sounding bored. "Room sixteen."
Before Hermione could thank her, Draco had pulled her along towards the elevators. He cursed every two seconds for the thirty seconds they waited until the elevator doors opened. Hermione found herself starting to panic due to his demeanour. Anxiety is definitely contagious,she thought as she watched her husband impatiently tap his foot until they arrived at the fifth floor. The instant the doors opened, he raced out faster than a Firebolt, dragging an exhausted Hermione in his wake. Before she knew it, they had burst through door to number sixteen and to her surprise Draco came to an abrupt stop as he took in the sight in front of him.
Herman and Narcissa were sitting together in adjoining beds, laughing while they ate fruit jelly out of little plastic cups.
"What in the name of Merlin happened here?" Draco thundered, recovering his senses.
"Oh! Draco, Hermione, do come in," said Narcissa airily, with an elegant flutter of her hands. "We had a little accident at dinner, that is all."
"An accident? You both look okay now," Hermione said, her voice filled with concern.
"Apparently someone poisoned my food, but Mungo's caught it in time and gave us both the antidote," Narcissa clarified.
"The hospitality industry, what did I tell you?" Herman winked, much to Hermione's horror. Narcissa gave a tinkling laugh.
"At least we know our dessert isn't poisoned," she grinned, clinking cups with Herman. The newlyweds exchanged a horrified look as their parents collapsed into laughter once again. Hermione discreetly pinched herself; nope, she was definitely not dreaming. Next to her, Draco was glaring bloody murder at her father.
"If mother's food was poisoned, why did you get the antidote?" Draco asked suspiciously.
"I had a bite of her food, so your doctors were simply being thorough, dear boy," Herman said.
"You fed him your dinner?" Draco turned accusingly at his mother. Narcissa looked at Hermione and Draco properly for the first time since they had stormed into their hospital room. The smile slid off her face as she finally registered Hermione and Draco's expressions, and all at once her face turned into the frosty mask that Hermione was used to seeing. From the suddenly cool expression on Herman's face, it would seem that he had realised the same thing.
"Draco Malfoy, just who do you think you are questioning me like that? I am perfectly entitled to have a friend, and besides, Herman is like family now," she said acidly.
Draco balked. Hermione however took over, "I didn't realise you and Narcissa were friends, Dad."
"Well I was forced to lose touch with all my other friends about three years ago Hermione, or did you forget?" Herman asked bitterly, shaking his head.
Hermione coloured, and bit her lip nervously. Draco looked from his father-in-law to his wife in confusion. Taking advantage of the silence, Narcissa spoke again, this time with a little less acid in her voice, "Draco, I know you are concerned for me, but I am old enough to look after myself. Mr Granger and I have a lot in common, we're both of a certain age and quite estranged from all our former friends. I assure you that there is nothing inappropriate," -she wrinkled her nose delicately- "about the nature of our friendship."
Draco grunted and stormed out of the room. Hermione bit her lip, "Are you sure you both are alright?"
"Of course darling," her father reassured her.
"Fine, I'll go have a word with Malfoy. Make him calm down and all that," Hermione said, as she left the room.
Herman and Narcissa looked at each other wearily. Narcissa's slender fingers trembled as she placed her empty plastic cup on her bedside table. Herman, however, was a picture of calm assurance. He smiled at her politely, and Narcissa felt her racing heart slow down. Herman was always so calm and composed, a lot like Lucius. She missed having someone around that was calm enough to help her reign her own rather wild emotions in.
"Are you alright Narcissa?" Herman asked softly.
Narcissa nodded tiredly. "Children, can't live with them, can't live without them."
"You must be tired if you're spouting clichés," Herman joked. Narcissa cracked an honest smile.
Their calm silence was broken as they heard the words "They were poisoned Malfoy! Get your head out of your ass and think about someone else other than yourself for once!" from outside their door. Narcissa suppressed a smile at the thought of her admittedly formidable daughter-in-law giving her son the tough-love treatment.
Herman, however, was slightly worried. "Shall we go rescue young Draco from Hermione?"
Narcissa paused and considered the question just as cries of "I'm going to sue the restaurant that tried to poison my mother's food. No, fuck that, I'm going to find out who cooked it eat him myself!" filled the room. She shook her head decisively. "No, I think Hermione has it all under control, it's about time I stopped mothering Draco."
Outside the hospital room, Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose lightly. Draco had finally calmed down enough to focus on the seriousness of the situation at hand, and not the fact that their parents were eating together or sharing their food. She enjoyed the momentary silence while Draco left to owl his lawyers. Hermione fervently hoped that he wouldn't make good on the second part of his threat. It was hard to tell with Draco sometimes.
"Oh there you are!" Harry spotted Hermione, and ran up to her, Ron following suit.
"How are your parents?" Ron asked, as he took in Hermione's haggard expression. "And where's Malfoy?"
"Our parents are fine, my husband is off trying to sue a restaurant and eat a cook, while my dad made a jibe at me about why it's my fault he doesn't have any friends," said Hermione tiredly, massaging her forehead.
Harry and Ron exchanged a bewildered glance, but decided to let Hermione's incoherency go.
"Zabini was just brought here," Harry explained their presence. "He's being looked at on the ground floor now, but the Healers said he would make a full recovery. We're actually looking for Malfoy because his son woke up while you lot were here."
"Oh no! Where is Juls?" Hermione cried, ashamed that they hadn't thought of him possibly waking up and finding the Manor empty.
"We left him with mum, don't worry," said Ron reassuringly. "Teddy and Victoire were staying over as well, and you know that he loves spending time with Victoire."
Hermione nodded in relief. Before she could say anything else, Draco and a very frantic, pale Pansy walked up to the trio. Hermione blinked in surprise. For the first time in all the weeks Hermione had gotten to know Pansy, the latter woman was disheveled. She had clearly thrown on the first pair of robes she could find, and pulled on the first cloak she located, because she was currently dressed in crimson robes with a bright pink cloak on top. Her hair was mussed, as though she had been asleep not too long back, and on her feet, she had two mismatched ballet flats.
"Wow, isn't she looking just lovely," Ron muttered as the Slytherins drew near.
"Pansy, Malfoy," Hermione nodded to the newcomer. "They brought Blaise here, he's downstairs, and Juls woke up so Harry and Ron sent him to the Burrow."
To Hermione's surprise, Draco simply nodded at the news. "Thanks, Potter, Weasley," he said as he put an arm around a trembling Pansy. Hermione's eyes narrowed at the gesture, something which did not go unnoticed by Pansy, who uncomfortably stepped out of Draco's arm with an apologetic look at Hermione. The entire exchange was too subtly conducted for the three boys to realise what had just occurred between the women.
"Shall we go see Blaise then?" Pansy suggested, breaking the slightly awkward silence.
The unusual group made their way to the elevators, after checking in on Narcissa and Herman. Draco was still seething at the events of the evening; first someone had the nerve to stab his best friend outside his very own home, and then someone had the nerve to poison his mother? This was all turning out to be a bit more sinister for his liking, especially, when he realised with a jolt that the people outside the Manor had been waiting for him and Hermione. He unconsciously glanced at his wife's unruly head and felt a surge of protectiveness. He couldn't help but be thankful that her friends had been there to take care of his son. Even if it was in the Weasley hovel, he had no doubt that the matriarch would keep his little boy safe.
They finally located Blaise's room and entered it quietly in a single file. Thankfully, Blaise seemed to be up and alert, if anything he was almost –flirting with his Healer?
"Oh, you must be Mr Zabini's friends," the Healer finished writing in her clipboard, and looked up at the group. Hermione was taken aback by her sheer beauty, and from the reactions around her, Harry and Ron seemed to agree. The Healer had the most striking face Hermione had ever seen, with large piercing greyish-blue eyes. Her beautiful face was framed by fiery red curls that were several shades darker than the flaming red hair of the Weasleys.
"I'm Healer Perks," the Healer continued, gracing the company with her smile. "But you can call me Audrey if you prefer."
"Hi Audrey," chirped Ron brightly, as Draco and Hermione simultaneously rolled their eyes.
"Pansy didn't come?" Blaise asked, doing a quick headcount of his visitors.
"She was just here–" Draco mumbled in confusion, trying to locate their missing friend. Hermione sized up the situation immediately, and seized control.
"I'll go get her, she must've just stepped outside to give us some breathing room," Hermione said quickly, with a look to her husband that warned him not to say anything further. He nodded mutely, still confused, as Hermione slipped out of the door and walked towards the door that led out to a terrace. She had a sneaky suspicion as to where Pansy had gone. She pushed the red button that opened the glass doors, and stepped outside into the cool night air. Sure enough, there was a bright pink figure outside, with a spiral of smoke rising above it's mussed dark head.
"I always suspected you smoke muggle cigarettes," said Hermione, as she walked up to Pansy, who started. "I smelt a lingering trace on your hair once or twice."
Pansy nodded. "Pathetic isn't it? The way I ran away from there because I was too embarrassed to be compared to her."
"Not pathetic," Hermione insisted.
"Blaise has always had really high standards," said Pansy, as she took a deep drag of the cigarette. "He's never easily impressed. I know I cannot possibly live up to someone like her, but to meet her looking like this?"
"Pansy," Hermione started carefully. "Blaise cares about you, you know that, right?"
"I know he cares," said Pansy bitterly, as she blew out a plume of smoke. "I will always be the pug-nosed little girl that ran after him and Draco back at school. He cares for me like a brother, because no matter how hard I try, I will never be good enough for him. All of his ex girlfriends and even casual dates have been stunning, each better than the last."
Hermione deliberated on whether to make Blaise's feelings clearer, but decided not to meddle. Too much. "I'm sure Blaise's feelings run a little deeper than that."
Pansy scoffed, as she exhaled another plume of smoke.
"No really," Hermione persisted. "He asked about you when he saw you weren't with us."
Hermione finally had Pansy's attention. Pansy turned to face her with an incredulous look in her eyes, "You mean he noticed?"
"Of course he noticed," said Hermione. "Now how about we go back in there and face him? You and Blaise have a long history, you can't just let it all go."
Pansy hesitated. "I don't want to go in front of her looking like this."
"Maybe, maybe I could change the colour of your cloak?" Hermione suggested tactfully, as she took in Pansy's appearance.
"You can do that? Oh of course you can, you're Hermione Granger! Yes, yes please," said Pansy happily. Hermione smiled and promptly changed Pansy's bright cloak to a more suitable black one. She also quickly transfigured one of Pansy's green ballet flats to match the black one. In the mean time, Pansy swiftly pinned her hair up in an elegant up do while Hermione transfigured two small pebbles on the balcony floor into tasteful pearl earrings.
"Nice," said Pansy, obviously impressed. "Real pearls?"
"No, unfortunately."
With her confidence back, Pansy drew herself to her full height and followed Hermione back to Blaise's room. As they entered, Blaise and Audrey were laughing over something, while Harry, Ron and Draco were sitting in uncomfortable looking plastic chairs by Blaise's bed watching the flirtatious scene in front of them.
Hermione cleared her throat loudly. "Look who I found."
Blaise immediately stopped laughing with Audrey as he looked over at Pansy. His cheeks coloured slightly as he took in the stony expression on her face, but he stared at her almost defiantly. Draco, who had twisted around in his chair to greet Pansy, could always be counted on to wreck a moment.
"Pans! There you are, oh did you get cha–?"
He broke off as Hermione discreetly elbowed him in the ribs. With a warning glare of her eyes, Draco finally understood some of the undercurrents of tension that were currently in the room. Audrey, however, was completely oblivious to all of it and smiled charmingly at Pansy, who smiled politely back.
"Well Mr Zabini, you seem to be fine, but I would prefer if you would stay the night," said Audrey as she consulted his chart and absent-mindedly twirled a copper ringlet around her finger.
"You want me to stay the night now, do you? My Healer Perks, you move quickly," Blaise winked.
Hermione and Draco winced. Blaise would do well to remember the old adage about scorned women.
"Mr Zabini! You are incorrigible," Audrey admonished, while colouring up prettily. She smiled warmly at the room again before exiting. Pansy walked over to Blaise, murder flashing in her dark eyes and pulled something out of her handbag; if Pansy had been a muggle, Hermione would've bet that it would be a gun. Pansy dropped the object on Blaise's chest and walked off. Draco closed his eyes in anticipation of his friend's death. A second passed, Blaise appeared to still be alive.
"That passive aggressive bitch!" exclaimed Blaise, as he surveyed the object.
"What is it?" Hermione asked curiously.
"Back at Hogwarts in our fourth year, I found Pansy in tears because one of the Durmstrang boys had broken her heart. We were walking through the grounds and I used a crystallisation spell on one of the forget-me-nots to remind her that no matter what, I would never forget her or leave her alone. And she just gave the bloody thing back to me."
Hermione turned to Draco, "You stole the idea for the flower you gave me from Blaise?"
"You stole my idea?" Blaise sputtered
"You gave Hermione a flower?" Ron screeched at the same time.
"Uh how about you both go check on your kid," said Harry quickly. "Ron and I will be here with Zabini till he goes to sleep. We have to discuss the new developments on the case after tonight's attack anyways. We'll meet you two back at the Burrow and brief you when we're done."
Draco never thought that there would be a day when he was grateful to Harry Potter. He seized the chance and dragged his wife out of the hospital room before anyone could (rightfully) accuse him of anything else.
Draco put down the large coffee mug on the shabby wooden dining table and leaned back in the surprisingly comfortable plushy armchair. He idly looked over at Hermione and Molly chatting animatedly about knitting patterns. Draco wondered if it was possible to die of boredom, and somehow, he had the sinking feeling that he was getting close to finding out. In a corner of the small room with peeling paint that the Weasleys' called their kitchen, his son was kneeling on all fours and playing excitedly with a cardboard box of all things. To make matters worse, he was playing with, Draco assumed, what had to be one of the Weasley grandchildren. He vaguely recalled being informed that the boy's name was Teddy and he was Julius' age.
"Oh look, the boys are coming home," Molly broke off mid-sentence and glanced at a clock that appeared to have hands for all the extensive members of the Weasley family. Sure enough, the hand that was clearly Ron's changed from "Hospital" to "Travelling". Seconds later, Draco heard the two Aurors Apparate outside the house.
"We're home," Ron called out as he walked through the door. "Oh good, they're still here Harry."
"How's Blaise now?" Hermione asked, as she gave Ron a tight hug. Draco narrowed his eyes.
"Fine, fine, he kicked us out so he could get some sleep," said Ron distractedly as he tried to source some food. Molly immediately jumped to her feet to heat them the leftovers from dinner.
"Evening Mrs Weasley," Harry said politely as he came through the door. "Sorry I took so long, Ginny wanted me to grab the Quidditch gloves she left in the shed the next time I was over."
"No problem dear, are you hungry?" Molly asked affectionately as she set the potatoes peeling in the sink.
"Yeah, actually, I'd love some food," Harry admitted, as he sank into an armchair next to Ron. Both boys looked completely exhausted. Draco almost felt sorry for them. Hermione got to her feet to help the Weasley matriarch in the kitchen, leaving the boys sitting in almost comfortable tired silence.
"So, did you find any more information for us Harry?" Hermione enquired as she cast a heating charm over the remainder of the stew.
"I'm too tired to think, I'll let Harry tell you," mumbled Ron sleepily as he yawned widely. "Wake me up when the food is ready. The way we're going, I don't know when I'll eat next."
"Well, we spoke with a few people actually," said Harry as he rubbed his bloodshot eyes. "Turns out that your parents made the reservations under both their last names, so it's looking like someone mistook it for you two. Which I guess is an easy mistake to make, because who would've thought that your parents would be eating together? No offense."
"None taken, I assure you," Draco said darkly.
"How would they have known that their parents had reservations?" asked Molly.
"We don't know at this point," admitted Harry, as he ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "Perhaps someone is intercepting owls? Or maybe the restaurant made the same mistake, and tried to call the press to get a candid shot of you both or something? There are a few theories, but they're all far fetched. If someone was intercepting owls, why intercept Narcissa's and not yours? And if the restaurant leaked the reservations, why were there no reporters? And how did the people that are after you find out about it?"
"Perhaps the reporters realised we were nowhere to be seen and left?" Hermione suggested, as she stirred the steaming pot of stew.
"Perhaps," Harry agreed. "Still doesn't explain why there were people waiting outside the Manor."
"Any information on whom they were?" Draco asked, starting to feel as weary as Harry looked.
"No, and we didn't get a good look at them either," Harry said. "Cloaks and hoods." he added in response to Draco's questioning look.
"Keep your voice low dears, we don't want the children to overhear," reminded Molly as spooned the food into various plates and bowls. Draco looked over at Julius, who was clearly lost in his own little world of cardboard boxes and equally aged friends. It wasn't often that he got the chance to play with other children, a fact that Draco sorely regretted.
"Food's ready," said Hermione as she levitated the steaming dishes to the table. Draco was surprised to see that she had set the table for four.
"I made plenty for everyone in case you and Hermione were hungry," Molly explained, as a smile crinkled her eyes. "I gave Julius and Teddy some food earlier, and I think I might take them upstairs so you four have some privacy to discuss everything. We wouldn't want the little ones overhearing too much."
"Thank you," Draco said politely, ignoring the astounded looks from the Golden Trio. It's like they think I never learnt manners. Yes, the Weasleys are dirt poor and they live in a hovel, but I'm still standing in their hovel, while they take care of my son and make me dinner. Surely they can't be too shocked that I acknowledge that fact?
"Don't mention it dear," said Molly as she patted Draco affectionately on the arm. She quickly gathered the two boys and their box, and left the former classmates to their very late meal.
"Well, sit down and eat up," Hermione said, to diffuse the tension from Draco's thanks. The boys quickly took their seats and dug into their food. Despite eating his fill at their dinner, Draco found that he was quite hungry after the events of their night. He sampled the stew that Hermione had ladled into his bowl and was surprised at how delicious it was. Who would've thought that Molly Weasley could be a good cook?
"So after tonight, is there anything new that we know?" asked Draco, as he spooned his pile of mushrooms onto Hermione's plate, and speared one of her tomatoes with his fork.
"What the hell was that?" Ron asked in disbelief, his ears going red.
"What the hell was what?" asked Hermione in confusion as she added another tomato to her husband's bowl.
"That!" Ron stood up and pointed at the tomato accusingly. "What the hell is that?"
"A tomato?" Hermione answered in confusion.
"No, what the hell is that tomato doing on his plate? It was given to you, and seconds ago it was on your plate. How is it now on his plate?" thundered Ron.
"Perhaps we should ask the tomato why it changed sides," suggested Draco with a smirk. To his shock, Harry chuckled.
"Oh grow up Ron," Hermione rolled her eyes. "We have a killer on the loose and you want to discuss what my tomato is doing on his plate?"
"Yes," said Ron and Harry together, but for very different reasons.
"I don't like mushrooms, Granger doesn't like tomatoes. I love tomatoes, Granger loves mushrooms, following so far?" Draco answered patronisingly as he spooned another mushroom onto Hermione's plate.
"You're sharing your food," Ron said in horror.
"It isn't the only thing we're sharing," Draco winked suggestively and calmly took another mouthful of his stew. This was fun. Next to him, Harry couldn't control his laughter at Ron's inappropriate rage and reactions.
"We're also sharing a psycho who is out to kill us," said Hermione acidly. "So if we're done discussing my tomatoes, can we get back to the issue at hand?"
"Fine," muttered Ron as he sat back down and gulped down his food, determinedly ignoring any further vegetable exchanges.
After mapping out every single possibility for whom the Arisen One might be, the four of them eventually admitted defeat and decided that it was best if they just went to bed. Harry and Ron promised to keep Hermione and Draco posted about the progress after they had a meeting with their head and Blaise. Draco politely shook Molly's hand once again to thank her for the hospitality and for looking after his son, and the Malfoys Disapparated to their home for some well deserved rest.
A/n: Thank you so much for the reviews, favourites and alerts. From the reviews and private messages, more Blaise/Pansy action has come on top, followed by some Narcissa/Herman and Hermione/Ginny/Luna. I will be incorporating them slowly into the next few chapters. Unfortunately, I have hit a slight writer's block with this story and even though I know exactly where I want to go with it, the words just won't come. I have the next two chapters written but have struggled with chapter fifteen for almost two weeks. If anyone has any advice or encouragement, I would love to hear it. Hope you have all enjoyed my work :)