Harry intercepted Draco and Hermione on their walk back from the brook. He took in Hermione's splattered clothing, her flushed face –and Draco's smug one – along with the heavy scent of roses. They were walking hand-clasped, an aura of intimate familiarity around them. Harry resisted the urge to jump out and say "Aha!", channelling his inner Ginny instead, and electing tact.

"Harry!" Hermione called out, as they noticed his grinning presence. "What are you doing here?"

He held up the tiny metallic bird, its wings fluttering wildly against his palm. "Look at what dropped by."

"Finally!" Draco exclaimed, as he held out his hand for the little bird to attach itself to. "Took it's sweet time."

"It was trying to get in for about fifteen minutes before I noticed it," Harry added, beaming. "Had to take down our wards to let him through."

"Is the Portkey time-bound?" Hermione questioned.

Harry shook his head. "There was a note explaining that the Portkey is the bird itself, and will activate when we tap it with a wand. Malfoy, would you like to do the honours? I packed up the tent."

Hermione and Draco exchanged an astounded look. "You mean, we're good to go home right this second?" Hermione asked, hardly daring to believe it was true.

"Right this second," Harry confirmed with a grin, as he indicated to the garter in his other hand. Draco stiffened at the sight of the familiarity Harry appeared to have with Hermione's underthings, but chose to ignore it in favour of extracting his wand so that they could all get back to their lives. Even though it had only been four days since they left, none of them was eager to prolong their stay.

Before Draco could do the needful to activate the Portkey, the air was filled with cracks of people Apparating. Draco had barely blinked when Harry's war-attuned reflexes had thrown up protective shields around them. Harry debated whether to activate the Portkey and flee, or to try take them down so that they had some suspects for questioning back at the Ministry. From their split-second advantage, they saw that they were up against three people, but Hermione being down a wand was going to prove problematic. Though, it was still a fairly even match, and who knew how many they would have to face the next time?

The others seemed to have come to the same conclusion, since they had both mimicked Harry's stance; ready to pounce.

There was no other way. "Accio err– mutilated table leg thing–" Harry started, but on catching sight of Hermione's livid face, hastily amended, "Hermione's homemade wand."

Draco snickered. "Smooth Potter."

"Is this really the time?" Hermione hissed, as she snatched her makeshift wand from Harry's hands.

They watched as the three hooded figures threw curses at them which bounced off the shield. "How much longer will this last?" Draco asked, as he added another layer of protective shields.

"Perhaps a few minutes," Harry ran his hands through his hair. "Problem is, we can't attack them while our shields are up, nor can we hear them to predict which spell will be the one to break through."

"On the plus side, they can't hear us," Hermione added, as she scoped the surroundings.

Draco twirled his wand between his fingers. "I've always thought a good defence is an offence."

"It's settled then. Malfoy and I will stun, and Hermione, try levitate the rocks around us to strike them," suggested Harry, as he subtly shifted his weight to his heels.

Hermione looked doubtful. "I don't know how accurate I will be, so watch out."

"Brilliant," Draco muttered.

"On three?" asked Harry, as the other two nodded. "One... two... three."

Narcissa's sharp ears picked up on the slight sound, and the cards she was holding fell from her hands. She turned her head sharply and saw the three very pale figures that had just appeared in the middle of the Manor's living room. Narcissa was out of her seat in a rustle of silk robes before Herman and Andromeda had even glanced up from their cards.

"Draco!" Narcissa swept to her shaken looking son and pulled him tightly to her. The three of them looked highly irregular, what with the boys both wearing matching pajama bottoms and Hermione's clothes half wet. Each of them carried something most peculiar in their hands: Harry, a risqué black garter; Draco, a glass jar; and Hermione, what looked like it had once been the leg of a table. They were all pallid, bruised and had bloody smears over their faces.

"Mother," Draco gently disengaged her arms, and she noticed for the first time that he and Harry were supporting a weak Hermione between them.

Herman was by their side so swiftly that it seemed almost as though he had Apparated there. "Hermione, what the hell happened? Someone, bring her a chair."

"Daddy–" Hermione started weakly, before she was ushered into the chair that Narcissa conjured.

Draco surveyed the curious assortment of people that were currently present in his living room with some surprise. Blaise and Audrey had been conversing by the fireplace in hushed tones, Lavender, Luna and Ginny seemed to have been half-heartedly reading aloud from a thick tome on mythical creatures, while his mother had leapt up from what appeared to be a poker game with Herman and Andromeda. The other occupants had only just registered their presence, and all at once there was a flurry of activity as Harry and Hermione were hugged by their tearfully relieved friends.

Ginny conjured Harry a plushy armchair and pushed him down on it. "You and Malfoy are bleeding, what on earth happened to you three?"

Draco touched his temple, sure enough there was a thick trail of crimson across his fingers. "We got attacked just then, probably because we let down the wards to allow the Portkey in."

A burst of chatter broke out through the room, and it seemed that everyone was trying to talk over each other while crowding the three returning hostages. Hermione looked about as panicked at the sudden crush of loved ones –and hugs– as Draco felt. Ginny appeared to be demolishing Harry's hands as she planted kisses all over his overwhelmed face, while Herman kept touching his daughter's unruly head as though he was shocked she was actually back. Draco numbly felt his mother's tender fingers ghosting over his face for injuries, while Blaise clapped him on the back in affection.

"Everyone," Audrey's calm, melodious voice rang out with a firm ring of authority Draco had never heard before. "We're all very happy to see them back, but please step away and give them some air while I look them over. Blaise, my bag–?"

Audrey gently led Draco to an armchair that Narcissa conjured and examined his temples with gentle, professional fingers. "Nothing too bad," she assured Narcissa, who looked to be on the verge of tears. "I just need a bit of Dittany to fix the skin, and perhaps a mild dose of some Blood-Replenishing potion before bed. He seems to be slightly in shock, but he'll feel better now that he's sitting."

Blaise rummaged through Audrey's bag and held out the bottle. "Draco, mate, are you feeling all right?" he asked cautiously, keeping a safe distance so as not to hinder the Healer's ministrations.

"We're fine, really," Draco finally found his voice. "I accidentally got hit by a wayward rock."

"I'm really sorry," Hermione spoke up feebly. "I did warn you that my aim would be off."

Harry laughed, much to everyone's shock. "And at least she didn't turn you into a cockroach."

"Thank Merlin," Draco said dryly, as Audrey dabbed the Dittany across his temple.

"All better," said Audrey with a small smile as she stepped back and turned to Harry. "Did you get hit by a rock too?"

"Err no," Harry answered flushing. "I sort of tripped over Hermione's stupid table leg thing–"

"Don't start," Hermione said crossly, her face regaining some colour. "My makeshift wand took one of the attackers down, which is more than what you or Malfoy managed."

Draco smirked. "Only because you hit him over the head with it."

Hermione huffed, looking affronted.

"Will any of you three explain what in the name of Merlin happened?" Ginny asked, running her hands through her hair. "We've been worried about you lot for days. Where the hell were you?"

Harry gestured to Draco to speak, who cleared his throat unsure of where to begin. "Well, we worked out that Granger's champagne glass was a Portkey, and we all got accidentally transported with her because we were clinking glasses at the time. We got taken to this secluded forest, and we couldn't Apparate or Portkey out because they wards all over the place. So, we sent the bird hoping an external Portkey would work, and we set up camp–"

"Camp?" Blaise interrupted. "Like, with actual tents?"

Hermione grinned weakly. "Let's just say, I'm always prepared."

"Thank Merlin for that," Harry winked, as he waved her garter aloft.

"Harry," Ginny said, sounding strangled. "Did you just wink at Hermione while holding her lingerie?"

"Err–" Harry had the grace to look ashamed, and immediately tossed the garter to Hermione as though it was a particularly repulsive Flobberworm.

"Anyways," Draco smirked, buoyed by the fact that the Boy-Who-Lived-To-Dig-Himself-Into-Holes was no longer manhandling his wife's underthings. "Granger was down her bag –and wand– so we set up the tent and some wards of our own and waited for the bird to get back with the Portkey. We finally got it back tonight, and as I said before, Potter dropped our wards to let the bird in, then he came to find us–"

Ginny rounded on Draco. "You left Harry alone? Where did you and Hermione go?"

Draco and Hermione exchanged a furtive look that was not lost on Narcissa. "We went for some fresh air by the brook," Draco said lamely.

"Must have been a scenic walk to have rose petals caught in Hermione's hair," Andromeda winked.

Hermione's cheeks went scarlet as she examined the floor with the intensity she usually reserved for textbooks. She cursed her impossibly curly hair that somehow always ended up as a frizzy net to catch objects with. There had been several bugs, butterflies, broken quills and leaves that had managed to find a secure home in her hair over the years.

"And why do all your adventures with Hermione end in her getting wet?" Blaise teased, as he pointed to Hermione's half soaked skirt.

"It got boring being cooped up in a tent all day," Draco growled, his own eyes on his grass stained boots. "And Potter was happy to stay in," he added, for Ginny still looked mutinous.

Harry nodded fervently. "You know how Hermione gets when she's cooped up somewhere, she was subjecting us to all these awful experiments with this table leg she had carved–"

"You were experimenting with a table leg?" Lavender cut in, revealing to the room just how filthy her overactive imagination could be. "What sort of experimenting was that?"

"Nothing even remotely close to what you're thinking," said Hermione frostily, as she sipped the Butterbeer Andromeda handed her. "I was down a wand, I was experimenting channelling magic."

"Moving right along," said Harry, taking over before the conversation could escalate. "I let down our wards, packed everything up and went to find them. Our wards couldn't have been down for more than twenty minutes when these three hooded figures Apparated in. We threw up shields and debated about escaping, but then we would be no closer to finding out who was after us, so we decided to take them on–"

"And you approved of this… Gryffindor plan?" Blaise asked Draco in disbelief.

Draco looked an amusing cross between horrified and indignant. "It was a good plan."

"We lowered the shields unexpectedly and attacked them," Hermione defended. "It worked quite well initially, but then after Harry tripped, one of them cornered him, while the other cornered Malfoy and disarmed him–"

"–but, Granger managed to aim a decent sized boulder at him, knocking both his and my wands out of his hand," Draco supplied. "So the idiot wrestled me–"

"–and I hit him over the head with my makeshift wand, knocking him out," added Hermione proudly.

Harry and Ginny looked up with identical looks of horror. "You both sound like Fred and George," Harry managed, sounding strangled.

Hermione was torn between disgust and a shock, for a second there, they had… Oh Merlin.

Draco cleared his throat, managing to keep himself impassive. "All of that aside, the third attacker tried to throw a hex at Granger when her back as turned, and she was so furious that she turned him into a cockroach." He held up the small glass jar he had been carrying to reveal a particularly disgusting looking cockroach attempting to crawl it's way towards the sealed lid. "On seeing that, the remaining conscious attacker grabbed the one Granger had knocked out and Disapparated."

"How did you do that without a wand Hermione?" asked Blaise, as he looked up from the notes he had been taking.

"Accidental magic," Hermione shrugged.

"Aren't you a bit too old for accidental magic?" Andromeda asked, looking at Hermione in surprise.

"She most definitely is," Audrey frowned. "Has this happened before?"

Hermione flushed. "It happened for the first time while we were away, I err got a bit shirty with Malfoy."

"Wait, you've never had a bout of accidental magic before?" Lavender asked, sceptically.

"No, never," Hermione confirmed, feeling uneasy.

"Are you sure?" Narcissa was frowning too. "Perhaps you were too young to remember?"

Everyone turned to Herman expectantly. "I believe she's correct," Herman supplied thoughtfully. "Believe me, we would have noticed anything out of the ordinary. There were a few times Hermione did things that were… odd, but they were deliberate."

"Would you mind explaining what sort of things?" Audrey asked politely.

"Well, the first time she did something strange was when Maia –her mother– forbade her to read past her bedtime, and placed her reading light out of her reach. But, the next morning we found her asleep with the reading light by her bedside table, and we couldn't for the life of us fathom how she managed to do it."

"Trust Hermione to find a way to read," Ginny muttered, as the room filled with titters. Hermione threw her a dirty look.

Herman gave his daughter an indulgent smile before continuing. "She was always very controlled, there were no odd incidents that happened without her express wish."

"I was a bit like that too actually," Harry admitted, running a hand through his hair. "I managed to end up on a roof and grow my hair back, but I never lost control until I was thirteen."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but has everyone else magical in this room lost control of their magic as a child or young adult at least once?" Audrey questioned, as the occupants nodded.

"Does it matter?" Hermione asked uncomfortably.

Audrey gave her a guarded look. "Maybe, maybe not, but just to be safe –if you are agreeable of course– I could set you up an appointment with a Mediwizard who is skilled with accidental magic. There is surely no harm in getting yourself looked at."

"It can't hurt, Granger," Draco agreed. "Maybe that's why you've been so tired and nauseous lately."

"Hermione's been nauseous?" asked Narcissa immediately, a wicked gleam in her eye as she exchanged a significant look with Andromeda. "And tired too?"

"And she almost fainted at the Ministry Ball," said Draco, not realising that he had dug himself into a hole until Hermione glared at him.

"I'm not pregnant," Hermione forced out through gritted teeth, determinedly not looking at her father. "I assure you all. I have just been overworking myself."

Lavender gave her a wicked grin. "Of course."

"What's been happening while we've been away?" Draco asked quickly, changing the topic before the women in the room could start knitting booties for their supposed spawn. He could almost see the visions of tiny socks and rompers dancing around their eyes. Any second now, there will be a series of spontaneous lactations. Madness.

Blaise massaged the back of his neck, looking as though he had aged at least ten years since they had last seen him. "Far too much, Pansy was beside herself with worry about you two, and then Parker got attacked yesterday–"

Draco sat bolt upright. "Parker? Merlin, is he alright?"

"He was at Mungo's overnight, but he's recovering at home now. That's where Pans is, can't bear to tear herself away."

"Obviously," Hermione murmured sympathetically. "Poor Pansy. Who were the attackers?"

"They got away," Blaise muttered bitterly, as he pressed his fingers to his temples. "Weasley and I have been taking turns guarding their house, he took over so I could come here and check in. I'm due back fairly soon, I'll give them the good news that you both are intact. Apart from that, we have no new leads on who created the Portkey, but we did work out that it was definitely intended for Hermione alone."

Hermione frowned. "How did you figure that?"

"There was an Aversion charm on your bag –which we retrieved safely, don't you worry– and it has led us to believe that someone obviously wanted Hermione alone and wandless," Blaise said, with a slight grimace. "It's a bloody good thing you guys got taken along, otherwise Hermione could've been in serious trouble. From what you've said, it seems the only thing that stopped you from being attacked were your wards."

"That could be why I fainted," said Hermione defiantly. "I felt better as soon as Malfoy took my bag from me."

Audrey nodded pensively. "That is definitely a sound theory, resisting an Aversion charm drains the body's resources."

"It has to be the same people that…" Draco started, and then trailed off realising that Herman had never been explained about the motivations behind their marriage. As pleasant as the man was, Draco had strong doubts that he would keep up his cordiality if he knew that his daughter had been coerced into their marriage.

"I'm surprised to see all of you here," Hermione interjected quickly.

Herman put a caring arm around Hermione. "Narcissa has been kind enough to let us stay here. We were all, naturally, quite concerned about your safety."

"You've all been staying here?" Hermione asked, surprised, as she glanced over at Ginny, Lavender and Luna.

"Oh yes," Luna answered dreamily. "It's been much better than last time. The guest rooms have less Pundlebergs than the dungeons did."

"Good to know," Draco quirked his lips slightly.

Harry stood up from his armchair. "Well, I suppose I should report to Podmore, he will want to know the new developments. Plus, we have a hostage to take care of." He gestured to the glass jar that was perched next to Draco on the couch.

Ginny stood up firmly, hands on her hips, proving that she had inherited more than her flowing red hair from Molly Weasley. "You will do no such thing, you three will rest. Blaise or Ron can report to Podmore, and Blaise can take the… hostage with him."

"I agree my boy," Herman said gently. "We have all been tremendously worried, Ginny especially, and you would do well to spend some time with her before you took off again. Your Ministry has already given you and Hermione time off."

"We had best be off, Audrey is starting her night shift soon," said Blaise, rolling up his parchment. He took the glass jar from Draco with a gruff pat on his back and dropped a kiss on Hermione's head. "I'm really glad you three are back in one piece, I'll go tell Pans and Weasley before reporting to Podmore. I will owl you both tomorrow to arrange a meeting so that we can discuss the events in more detail."

Narcissa spoke up. "Thank you Blaise, you've been a great comfort."

Blaise gave her an embarrassed smile. "No problem," he managed thickly, before disappearing into the fireplace closely followed by Audrey.

"Well, we should all get to bed," said Narcissa firmly. "None of us has managed to sleep well over the past few nights. I will not hear of any of you leaving the Manor tonight, Mr Potter, I trust you will have no objections staying in Miss Weasley's room?"

"None whatsoever," Ginny answered for him, as Harry went red.

Narcissa smiled. "Goodnight everybody, I will have an elf wake you all up in time for breakfast."

Everyone bid each other goodnight and made their way to their rooms. Ginny was clutching onto Harry as though she would never let him go, and to Hermione's surprise everyone seemed quite comfortable with being at the Manor. Her father gave her a tight hug before he left, and even got away with affectionately tousling Draco's hair. Hermione and Draco climbed up to the master suites, too exhausted to carry on a conversation. They both fell asleep as soon as their heads touched their soft pillows, their arms coiled around each other.

Any embarrassment that Draco and Hermione might've felt on waking up entangled together was drowned out by the eager boy jumping on their bed. Julius was overjoyed on seeing both his parents back safe and sound, and consequently did not stop chattering or let go of either of them all morning. Throughout breakfast, he insisted on sitting in Draco's lap while tightly clutching Hermione's arm with his free hand. Ginny and Harry were similarly excited on being reunited with Teddy, and spent several minutes admiring the drawings he had made for them. Ron dropped by especially to eat with them all, insisting repeatedly that Pansy was in good hands with Blaise. Draco had watched Hermione leap up and hug Ron, with a dispassionate gaze that was disturbingly similar to Lavender's. For the umpteenth time, Draco was struck by how close the trio was as he watched their unashamed display of emotion on being safely together once again. The only partner that was no longer fazed by their firm bond was Ginny, who greeted her brother with a swift nod and went back to her conversation with Narcissa. Draco was particularly displeased when he saw Herman rise up and give Ron an affectionate hug peppered with effusive thanks for his support during the time they had been away. He idly wondered if Herman had been privately disappointed to realise that Hermione had ended up with someone other than Ron, especially since Herman seemed to be on such excellent terms with all the Weasleys. However, one look at Hermione's mildly disgusted face as Ron shovelled sausages into his mouth had put Draco's fears at rest.

After the busy breakfast the guests started to disappear in small groups. Harry, Ginny and Teddy were the first to leave, eager to take the little boy out to the park. Herman had given Hermione an apologetic glance before taking a Portkey to his office to salvage his work day. Ron and Lavender had both left shortly after Herman, presumably to also go back to their respective jobs, while Andromeda and Luna had Disapparated to Luna's house to continue their discussion on some creature that no one else had ever heard of. Once her duties as hostess had been exhausted, Narcissa had excused herself to the study under the guise of reading, but Draco was unsurprised to see his mother's owl fly past the living room window not long after. It had only been Hermione's warning hand on his arm that had prevented him from confronting his mother about her writing exercises.

True to his word, Draco was determined to do something nice to make up their absence to Julius. Hermione found herself being dragged through every broomstick store in Diagon Alley until a jubilant Julius finally selected his first toy broom. Julius had been too excited to sit still through their abbreviated lunch, much to Hermione's chagrin, and she spent the rest of her afternoon reading in the back gardens –trying not to panic about the fact that Draco and Julius were practising flying not ten feet from her. To her pleasant surprise, she was joined by Narcissa, who ordered tea.

"It's wonderful to have you three back," Narcissa said, as she stirred a dollop of cream into her cup.

Hermione smiled sincerely. "We missed you all immensely."

"Forgive me dear," Narcissa started, her cheeks strained with colour. "But I can't help noticing that things with you and Draco have been different since you both returned."

"We're a bit closer, yes," Hermione answered cautiously, as she sipped her tea.

Narcissa put down her teacup and leaned forward. "Just a bit closer?"

Hermione hesitated.

"I didn't mean to pry," Narcissa withdrew instantly, an apology in her eyes. "I was just wondering if you needed any advice that is all."

"What would your advice be?" The words tumbled out of Hermione's mouth before she could stop them. She busied herself with stirring more sugar into her tea to avoid the knowing stare of her mother-in-law. In the periphery of her vision she could see Julius' tiny toes skimming the blades of grass as Draco held his arms aloft, ready to catch his son in case the need arose.

"I would recommend that you stop fearing that Draco will hurt you," said Narcissa blandly.

"How would you–?" Hermione looked up in surprise.

Narcissa gave her a tender smile of understanding. "Malfoy men are not so different across the generations. Draco has never truly been loved by anyone that wasn't his family, and even then, his father showed the stoic Malfoy restraint which Abraxas taught him. Draco has never really had many friends while growing up. For all their closeness now, Blaise and Draco were never particularly close when they were at Hogwarts. If I understand correctly, it was Pansy's long standing friendship with both of them that drew them closer. Unfortunately, despite all their time at Hogwarts, Draco was never Pansy's only friend, the way she was his, and he rather enjoyed her caring affection almost as a substitute for mine."

Hermione nodded. "I can see that."

"Pansy and Draco's friendship grew most solid in their final year at Hogwarts, but by then my little boy had all but completely grown up. Draco has never known the love of a partner, of an equal. I suspect, my dear, that he is just as afraid of being hurt by you as you are by him."

"That's ridiculous!" Hermione exclaimed.

Narcissa smiled indulgently. "Is it really? Should Draco have no fears about putting his heart in the hands of an attractive and intelligent witch whom he wronged for most of his life?"

"I suppose it's not that ridiculous," mumbled Hermione, blushing at the praise.

"Trust him with your heart Hermione," said Narcissa firmly. "I promise you he will treat it like the most fragile porcelain. After all," Narcissa broke off with a smirk, "he has never broken a single of my bone china teacups."

"No one would dare to," teased Hermione.

"And rightly so, my dear." Narcissa leaned back smugly.

They finished their tea in pleasant silence, while watching Draco and Julius fly. Both males were in unusually exuberant moods when the four of them retired inside for dinner, entertaining Narcissa and Hermione with stories of their tribulations with flying. Hermione beamed so brightly at Draco when he told her of their safety precautions, that he almost dropped his fork in surprise. Narcissa turned her head away to hide her wicked smirk, after all, if anyone knew the power of a few well-timed words of reassurance, it was Narcissa Malfoy. And, to keep herself true to her promise to Lucius, it wasn't matchmaking, it was a chat between women over tea. Nothing wrong with that now, was there?

And it was only while Hermione and Draco were getting dressed to go visit Pansy that Hermione realised Narcissa had failed to give any mention of Aurelia. It was almost as though she had never been in Draco's life as anything more than a fleeting presence, a painful skeleton in the ornate Malfoy armoire that was eager to be left to rest.

"Hermione! Draco! I'm so glad you both came to visit!" Pansy swept the slightly startled couple into her arms in a tight hug. They had just barely Apparated to the front stoop of the Parkinson Manor when Pansy had flung the door open, Blaise hot on her heels, and had enveloped them in a breath-constricting embrace.

"Of course we would visit," drawled Draco, as he extricated himself from Pansy's clutches.

"Let up Pans," Blaise grinned affectionately. "You will choke them before they even make it through the door."

Pansy drew back. "Sorry sorry, come on in."

Hermione beamed. "It's great to see you Pansy, how is your brother doing now?"

"Parker's well, but the Healers said he needed plenty of rest," said Pansy, her face tightening. "It was lucky he had a friend with him, or he would've been outnumbered."

"No further clues on who did it?" questioned Draco, as he sat down on one of Pansy's armchairs.

Blaise shot him a dirty look. "No further clues from last night, when I told you we knew nothing, you mean? None. We're working as hard as we bloody can."

"We know that," soothed Hermione, in a placating tone.

"I'm very happy you both are fine –and Harry too," Pansy said earnestly. "Blaise filled me in on what happened, I'm so relieved that you were relatively unharmed for most of your time away. Shall I serve tea, or something stronger?"

"Firewhiskey," Blaise nodded, as Pansy left the room. "She's been quite upset," explained Blaise in undertone. "First you three disappear, and then Parker gets attacked. Don't even get me started on what a mess my personal life has become ever since I've been spending all this time with her. I spent practically every waking minute in her company until Parker was attacked."

"You and Audrey seemed well though," said Hermione, dropping her voice.

Blaise sighed. "Yes, she's been a miracle worker."

Hermione placed a small palm on his shoulder. "You'll work it all out eventually, the important thing is that you were there for Pansy when she needed you. Just like a good friend should have been."

Pansy returned, and the whispered conversation ceased. "I collected the Daily Prophets for you both," she smiled, as she placed their drinks and a slim stack of papers in front of them. "I figured you would want to see the coverage of your little disappearance from the Ball. The press pretty much had a field day."

"No doubt," scowled Draco, as he picked up the topmost copy.

Hermione sat back contemplatively as she half-listened to Blaise and Pansy bicker over something or the other. They had elected to sit on the same two seater sofa, despite a comfortable armchair being vacant right next to them. Clearly, something had happened while they had been away, but if Blaise was still with Audrey surely there was more to it than met the eye. Next to her, Draco was furiously perusing the Daily Prophets, his brow furrowed in a frown.

"Everything okay?" Hermione lightly touched his arm and leaned closer.

Draco stiffened, his body instantly aware of hers. "Fine," he managed, forcing himself not to lose control over her proximity. "Just their usual tripe. 'Draco Malfoy was seen dancing with his new wife, war heroine Hermione Granger, with passion simmering in his soulful blue eyes'" he quoted, with a snarl. "Who makes this crap up? My eyes are grey, you blind bat, not blue." He spat out the word as though the colour had committed a great crime against him.

Blaise laughed. "At least they spell your name right. I often feel like sending a mass owl to all the writers saying 'it's Zabini not Zambini you illiterate twats', but I doubt that would go down well."

"What rubbish, 'young Draco's beautiful white-gold hair gives him the aura of a fallen angel'," Draco read out viciously. "Fallen angel? I don't know what is wrong with women everywhere. If they absolutely had to compare me to something, why couldn't they pick something less effeminate than a bleeding angel? Do I look like something you would put on top of your fucking Christmas tree? And why a fallen angel? Of all the fucking angels out there, why do I get stuck with the clumsy one?"

Pansy, who had heard Hermione's own 'fallen angel' descriptions of Draco's hair when he slept –revealed after a glass too many of Firewhiskey– caught her eye and grinned.

"Some of their remarks are so inflammatory," Hermione said hastily, hoping to stop all further talk of angels, fallen or otherwise. "I've had to stop myself from writing essays justifying my actions every single time they write about me in their bloody paper."

"I don't know what you're all on about myself," Pansy smirked, with a toss of her dark head. "I have never been called anything but pretty."

Hermione frowned. "While I got the flattering description of 'the plain but ambitious girl', fantastic really."

"Tripe," Draco repeated, as he tossed his copy onto the coffee table and picked up another.

The headlines caught Hermione's eye. A large picture of herself and Draco twirling on the dance floor at the Ministry Ball accompanied the poorly phrased headlines 'Potter disappears with Malfoy and Granger!', which made her wonder just exactly who thought it was a sound idea to phrase it as though Harry had personally abducted the couple. She picked up the paper and skimmed through the article.

Potter Disappears With Malfoy And Granger!

In a shocking twist to the Annual Ministry Ball, our Boy Who Lived disappeared into thin air in the midst of a toast with war heroine Hermione Malfoy née Granger and her juvenile Death Eater husband Draco Malfoy. Malfoy and Granger had been wed in a quiet ceremony earlier this year, as has been the case with the Malfoy weddings. His previous marriage to the prestigious Aurelia de Nazelle –a distant relative to the prominent aristocratic French family– took place quietly almost unknown to the British public. Evidently, the Beauxbatons alumnus' unfortunate death during the war was not the last tragedy the Malfoy family will undergo now that Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger have vanished. Blaise Zambini, senior Auror and close friend of the young Malfoys, stated that their department was conducting a thorough investigation. Potter's colleague and long time friend, junior Auror Ron Weasley (brother to Potter's girlfriend Ginevra), is also assigned to their case.

Hermione felt her heart race with adrenalin as she read and re-read the article with shaky hands. She finally had a full name to go on.

A/n: Another long absence, apologies! My muses have not been friendly to me lately. If it weren't for all your kind reviews, this story would have been in dreadful danger of being abandoned. I hope that you have all had a lovely Halloween! I dressed up as a fallen angel myself :P I'm sure Draco would have been suitably horrified.

Thank you, as always, for your lovely reviews, alerts and favourites. You all keep me going! I hope that you have enjoyed this chapter, despite the lack of outward Dramione interaction. Patience is a virtue, and the deepening of their relationship is most definitely on it's way. If you dislike my work, feel free to give me some polite concrit, thanks.

I was also wondering if anyone else hates the annoyingly common mistakes in Dramione fics that I touched on in my last section? Personally, the blue vs grey and the Zabini/Zambini errors reduce me to frustrated tears. I'd love to hear about some of your pet peeves too!

Reviews make me smile, so feel free to put a giant cheesy grin on my face :)