Nods to Dramione. Angst/Anxiety/Drama. Enjoy.
Be aware. Rated M for language and romantic interludes.
Previously on A Tale Of Two Wizards: One Step Forward Two Steps Back
Seeking Family Members
Descendants of Caleb Lozi also known as Caleb Lozio inquiring after a line of family members long thought to be lost.
We are seeking information relative to:
Caleb Lozi/Lozio, grandson of Edmund Lozi, son of Ida Lozi and Louis Malfoy, husband of Mary (Grant) Lozi and father of Matthias Lozi, Aya (Lozi) Janssen and Alice (Lozi) Simon.
Last known family location believed to have been in the Walloon and East Flanders regions of Belgium. Edmund Lozi/Lozio also spent some time in England before settling in Belgium.
If you are a descendant, know of a descendant or remember these surnames or given names, please send the information by International Owl to Miss Hermione Granger at DLM Imports, Milan, Italy. We look forward to meeting our relatives who settled in Belgium.
All answers will be held in the strictest confidence.
Hermione made five magical copies. Four to be sent out to the newspapers and a copy for Draco. She set the ads to run for a full week, inserted a cover letter with each ad enclosing a draft for the cost specified by each newspaper. The only hesitation she had was mentioning Louis Malfoy in the ad, but she would deal with that when Draco found out.
Hermione ordered four owls from International Owl Services. Her ads were done and sent long before Draco returned home.
With her job done, Hermione sat on the couch with a glass of wine totally pleased with herself for thinking along Muggle lines, but aggravated that the blasted blood curse seemed to be growing exponentially.
Hermione hoped the ads would turn up some results. Although she refused to think about the outcome when Draco finally had to admit he was related to Emilio.
With a huge sigh, Hermione took a big sip of wine and closed her eyes.
/
Chapter 25: A Fruitful Week
Draco wasn't that long in getting back home and was pleasantly surprised to find Hermione dozing on the couch. Stealthily he leaned in on her sleeping form and whispered. "May I lick you now?"
Hermione stretched as she answered. "I suggest you go lick another witch because the wizard I love will be home soon and he frowns on other wizards taking liberties with me."
Draco flopped down and laid his head in Hermione's lap. "He will have to duel me to make me leave. Bring him on then."
Leaning over, Hermione planted a kiss on Draco's lips. "Do you have something you'd like to tell me because I have something I would like to tell you."
Stealing one more kiss before he sat up, Draco told Hermione he had explained everything to Fausto and Xavier, but they were aware of most of it. All they were waiting for were the names of Emiliano's two accomplices which should be coming through shortly. James had been given the go ahead and should have answered Emiliano with the phrase, For Whom The Bell Tolls. At which time Emiliano would release the names. It was agreed, after they had the information they would set a time to approach Emiliano. They didn't think there would be a problem getting Emiliano to do what they needed him to do. Emiliano Lozier had been a power player in Italy for the last twenty years and certainly realized there were times when he had to go along with the game. Fausto and Xavier knew this was one of those times, especially since cooperating could possibly keep Emiliano from a lengthy prison sentence.
Hermione was thankful. It seemed they would soon have two corners of the triangle under their control and all that remained would be to find the third part.
/*/
It was now time for Hermione to divulge what she had done while he was gone. Without hesitating, Hermione pulled out Draco's copy of the ad she had placed in the Belgium papers and handed it to him.
Draco read through the ad once then he had read through it again before commenting.
Hermione held her breath waiting for Draco to respond because she didn't know which way he would turn. She hadn't checked with him before listing a Malfoy in the ad and that might be a problem for him.
The first thing Draco said was, "I would have liked to be consulted before you listed the Malfoy name in some foreign publication."
Hermione bristled because they were all going through this in order to end something which could affect him for the rest of his life and he was coming off like a prat. However, before Hermione could make any type of retort, Draco smiled and called her a beautiful genius asking what had made her think of running ads.
Hermione let a big sigh of relief slip out as she answered, "I just started thinking, what would a muggle do and I had my answer. Now whether or not we see results is another matter altogether."
Draco glanced at the copy of the ad and remarked, "You have laid this out so well, I have to believe we'll get some kind of answer, one way or another."
Hermione laid her head in Draco's lap and smirked, "I am brilliant, aren't I?"
Draco leaned over to kiss her. "Yes love, you are incredibly brilliant. Now may I lick you?"
Hermione burst out laughing and over on the mantle Louis Malfoy let out a loud huff.
Suddenly somber, Hermione commented. "Tomorrow they will be extracting memories from the Loziers. I know Fausto will do everything he can to protect my privacy, but I'm still nervous and embarrassed. Please promise you won't ever look at those memories. I'm not sure what the memories contain, but I don't want you to ever see them."
Draco assured her he wouldn't ever seek out the memories. Then he suggested they go out for tea just to get out of the house. Hermione thought it a good idea and got up to get them both a jumper and also get her wand. She called out to Draco that he should go ask Carmela if she wanted to join them.
He didn't answer. Hermione walked into the living room and looked around.
Louis volunteered, "If you're looking for Draco, he has flooed over to invite Carmela to accompany you on your little jaunt. It is quite late to be going out for tea isn't it?"
Hermione answered that it was only 8:30 and they had no plans to stay out later than 9:30. Then had thanked Louis for his concern.
Draco came back with Carmela in tow and they all went out to enjoy tea and dessert. It was 9:35 when they returned to the house. Carmela wished them a goodnight and flooed straight home.
Draco went into the bedroom while Hermione stopped by the study to straighten up a bit before going to bed. She sat down at the desk with her head in her hands. No matter what was said about her privacy being respected, she was still worried about tomorrow and even more worried about the meeting on Friday. She must have sat in the study longer than she realized because she looked up to find Draco standing in the doorway gazing at her.
Draco walked over, caught Hermione by the hands and led her through to the bedroom where he helped her undress and get into bed. He climbed into bed next to her and whispered, "Please don't over think this love. We can get through anything together."
Hermione sighed as she leaned her head on Draco's chest. "I'll just be glad when this is over.
/**/
Thursday at DLM was so busy Hermione and Carmela barely had a chance to breathe. Five Worldwide Travelers had checked in that morning handing in paperwork and catching up on what product was needed where. Before Carmela and Hermione knew it, the day was over. Hermione hadn't even had time to worry about the memory extractions. She was sure Fausto had called in, but Carmela didn't say anything about the call so Hermione hadn't asked.
Draco had been down in the warehouse most of the day being the shrewd businessman. He had gone down to make sure the weekly Ministry shipment got out as scheduled and had remained to help out. Draco wanted to keep Ministry business, especially if he could keep it and not have to deal with Emilio. He appeared back in the office just as Carmela was leaving for the night.
As it would happen, Ettore stopped by Hermione's office just after Draco came back upstairs. Hermione didn't want anything to seem inappropriate, but she did want to ask Ettore when he would be back in Belgium. He checked his paperwork and replied, "I won't be back over that way for a while Hermione. Is there something you need?"
Draco stepped out of his office and greeted Ettore with a handshake.
Glancing quickly at Draco, Hermione replied to Ettore. "I needed a personal favor, but no matter if you aren't going to be there for a while. Thank you for asking."
Ettore nodded. "I'll make a special trip if you need something. I don't mind."
Hermione declined the offer saying she didn't want to take him out of his way. Then she remembered Ettore must have stopped in her office for a reason. "I think I may have gotten you off track. Did you need something Ettore?"
Ettore shook his head. "I just stopped in to say hello. I'll speak with you later. Goodnight. Goodnight Draco."
As Hermione and Draco prepared to leave for the night, he flippantly stated. "See how calm I can be even when I want to hex a bloke?"
"It's nice when a witch has choices," cheeked Hermione.
"As if," replied Draco.
/*/
As soon as they stepped into the house, Louis loudly remarked. "Owls have been banging against the window for hours. I'd think by now the wizarding world would have found a better way to communicate. All that pecking is very annoying."
Draco ignored Louis and went straight over to open the window for the owls. As soon as Draco removed the messages, the owls flew away seemingly angry over having to wait so long to deliver their messages.
Hermione smiled when Draco growled. "I'm surrounded by nothing but foul creatures."
The envelope for him was from Xavier. The other was for Hermione from The Belgium Chronicle. Draco handed Hermione her envelope before he sat down to read the message from Xavier.
Draco,
Have the memories in hand. You and Hermione were targeted. Emilio Lozier and Celia Lozier will be held accountable. Ilaria Lozier has been released. We used one Memory Retrieval Witch who viewed, authenticated and stored the memories. We had to prove to a Trial Judge that showing the physical memories would cause injurious harm to Hermione and Gaspare, which we did. Our MRW is certified to testify in lieu of memories in certain cases, so she will testify as to certain memories at Gas' trial Monday which should have him out before 10:00 am. She will also testify to other memories at the trials of Celia and Emilio Lozier next week. Lozier's solicitor has demanded that it be a closed trial which made Fausto and me very happy. A closed trial means no reporters, no nosy Nelly's. I think you get my drift. Gas' hearing will be closed to those without authorization as well.
Anyway, we just wanted to let you know all is well. I will be sitting in on Gas' trial with Fausto. I'm sure we'll see you and Hermione there.
Regards,
Xavier Cross
/*/
Hermione sat twisting her envelope in her hand as she watched Draco read his message. She was nervous about what Xavier had written. To Hermione it seemed she had been sitting there for an hour before Draco looked up smiling and handed her the message.
Hermione eagerly read and reread the message before finally looking up and smiling at Draco. "This is good news. I can finally breathe and things look bright for Gas as well."
Draco sat beside Hermione and was running his fingers through her hair. "We have that settled, so let's take a look at what's in your envelope."
Hermione had just about forgotten the envelope she had thrown aside to read Xavier's letter. She opened the message to find her receipt of payment and a copy of the ad which looked perfect in print. Now all they could do was wait.
"We need a distraction." Draco said, as he nuzzled Hermione's neck. "Let's pop out for a bit of dinner and maybe a few cuddly dances. Tomorrow will probably be stressful for everyone, so we might as well get in a bit of relaxation tonight. We don't have to do anything fancy, just something to get out of the house. Get your bag. I've had an idea. We'll step through to London and have a bite at the Leakey Cauldron."
"Good idea love. What good is an international floo if we don't use it?"
Hermione and Draco stepped into the London flat with Draco taking care of the alarm while Hermione looked around her old flat. She was a bit surprised that the little knot which had formed in her stomach when she previously visited the flat didn't materialize. She could only think she had finally come to terms with living in Italy and not being homesick any longer. It was a strange feeling because she was a London girl and never figured her adopted country would ever feel more like home than home. Hermione shrugged and turned to find Draco watching her. Smiling, Hermione grabbed Draco by the arm. "Nostalgia time now over. Let's go eat and dance."
Smiling back at Hermione, Draco followed her outside so they could apparate over to the Leakey Cauldron.
Hannah gave them both a big smile when they walked through the doors. She came over to give them both a hug and sit down with them at their table. The three friends chatted for several more minutes before Hannah excused herself to see to their orders.
Draco nudged Hermione's foot under the table and whispered, "Your good friend just walked through the doors."
Hermione turned to see Ginny Weasley, Marie Kinsley and Amber St Clair walking through the doors. Turning back to Draco she said. "At one time I was very angry at Ginny, but not so much any more. She actually did me a favor. Who knows how long I would have stayed with that arse Emilio if she hadn't interfered. I'm long past having any bad feelings for Ginny."
Hermione hadn't got her last word out good when she looked up into Ginny's face. Ginny smiled and asked if she might sit down. Draco nodded in Ginny's direction and told Hermione he would be at the bar. Ginny took Draco's place across from Hermione and played with the strap on her bag for several seconds before softly telling Hermione how sorry she was for what happened with Emilio.
Hermione reached out and put her hand over Ginny's. "Thank you for the apology Ginny. I appreciate it. I can't say I look fondly on someone I thought to be my friend chatting up my boyfriend, but all that is in the past. I may be the one who owes you a nod of thanks. Turns out that breaking up with Emilio was one of the best things to happen to me. I wouldn't want to go through something like that again, but the breakup and getting out of London only served to set me on the right path. How's everything with you? How's your mum and dad? Give Marie and Amber my regards. Does Marie still cast stones?"
"Mum and dad are fine. Everything is going well. Fleur is pregnant again and Weasley's Wizard Wheezes is doing fantastic. I've been seeing a bit of Dean lately. Nothing serious. Just a bit of fun. I'll tell Marie and Amber you said hello and yes, Maries still casts. In fact, she's gotten so good she's scary. I was hoping to get an invite to Milan to check out some of those luscious Italian wizards."
Hermione laughed. "We'll have to set something up. Maybe we can get together in a couple of weeks and paint Milan red. There are tons of good looking guys working at….."
Draco interrupted Hermione's sentence. "I'm hoping the finish of that sentence wasn't going to be DLM because that would make me think my fiancee is casting her eyes about at the blokes she sees almost every day. You don't want me to go back to Milan and clean all the blokes out of DLM and bring in all pretty little birds. Do you?"
Hermione pulled Draco down beside her and kissed him on the cheek, "Try it Malfoy and you'll lose your bollocks. Ginny was asking about cute, Italian guys and I was explaining that we work with a few. Nothing to do with me because I have the handsomest wizard of all."
"Trying to wind me up Granger?" Draco asked as he pushed Hermione's hair back over her shoulder. "Hannah says the food is ready. So we should eat if we're going to get a few dances in."
Draco held up his hand and the barmaid brought over three plates of pasta and a dish of bread and butter. "I took the liberty of ordering you a plate Ginny. I hope you don't mind."
"Thank you, but I'll just eat this over at the bar and leave you two to your privacy. Thank you for understanding Hermione. I'll see you before you leave."
Hermione and Draco finished their meal and were saying goodbye to Hannah when Ginny, Marie and Amber came over. Draco stood off to the side while Hermione caught up with the girls. Ten minutes later, they were standing outside the Leakey Cauldron trying to decide if they really wanted to go dancing or go back home. They decided to go back home. With the use of the Hermione's lovely international floo, they were back in their living room in Milan by 10:00 pm.
/*/
James Wooley had received the message he'd been waiting for. Actually, the message Ministry Services had been waiting for. He held in his hand exact instructions from Emiliano Lozier giving names, account numbers and how the Euros and Galleons should be dispersed. His orders from Xavier Cross had been to do everything exactly as Emiliano requested as quickly as possible. For that reason he was at the wizarding Bank of Italy waiting for the manager to return with the receipts to his transactions.
The manager came rushing toward James apologizing for keeping him waiting and assuring him that everything had been done to his specifications. James thanked the manager and took his leave. His final job in this mess was to get everything to Ministry Services and then hopefully he would be done.
James looked at the receipts in his hands and marveled that two of Italy's best known officials, Desi Galluzzo and Aroldo Matteri were willing to help Emiliano Lozier…..for a price. It was nauseating to think these men were held in high esteem by most of the Italian population.
James hurried back to the office so he could get this information to Cross and Maida. After that, it would be up to them to finish it. James couldn't help but wonder what Galluzzo and Matteri had to do for this kind of money. He inserted everything into the special envelope which Xavier had given him and called for a delivery owl. A sense of relief came over James as he watched the owl take off. It was done. Now, he could think about his options.
In the wake of Minister Lozier's detainment, several Heads had inquired after him. They were interested in having him on their staff, but James was cautious and hadn't given anyone a firm answer. He had built a good reputation and didn't want it to seem as though he was deserting the Minister in his time of trouble, but it was good to have alternative choices. For the time being, he was going to continue to do what was required of him and wait to see how the chips fell. James sat back in his chair and sighed. Then he pulled a stack of parchment toward him to see what needed his attention most.
/*/
On Thursday, 10/21, Matt Lozio received three owls almost in succession including one from his brother Seth. Each owl asked if he'd seen the daily paper because there was an ad seeking descendants of the Caleb Lozi/Lozio family. Matt owled each person including his brother that he hadn't seen the paper yet, but was on his way to get one.
Matt opened the paper to the ad and read it over three times. After all this time, relatives were looking for his line of the family. Matt didn't know how to feel about it. He knew there was a line of wizards named Lozier to whom he was distantly related and he had heard of another line of Lozis to whom he was possibly related as well, but what could anyone want with him after all this time. He and Seth had even met a girl named Celia Lozier once while she was attending school in Belgium. Once had been enough for them. The girl was a total bint and had acted like she was a princess and they were serfs. They had been glad to see the back of her.
Matt Lozio had lived his all his life in East Flanders. His family had been there for generations after moving house from Walloon. Matt thought there still might be a few cousins scattered about Belgium and specifically in Walloon. He had heard stories of how his ancestors left Britain because of some feud and had ended up settling in Belgium, with the patriarch of the family separating himself from Matt's line. The stories he and his brother had been told weren't pretty and they had put them down to folk tales. There was old talk of a mother dying in childbirth, a blood feud and a grandson who had been treated very badly and thrown out into the streets when he came of age. He and Seth were supposedly related to the grandson who had been turned out to fend for himself. He and Seth knew there was another line of Lozios in Belgium, but they stayed far away from his line. Matt guessed that time evidently didn't heal all wounds. Now he was standing on the street reading an ad placed by one Hermione Granger in Milan who was looking for his family.
Seth was waiting on the doorstep when Matt came back from picking up the paper. He had copies of two other publications that were running the same ad.
"What do you think this is about Matt?" Asked Seth "Do you think some long lost relative has gold they want to share with us?"
Matt looked skeptically at his brother. "I doubt it. If there was gold to be shared, they would have shared it long before this. Some dying old fart probably wants to look in the faces of the family he didn't give a toss about while he was upright and healthy."
"Whoever this Hermione Granger is, she's looking for us," said Seth. "After I saw the ads, I went to look through mum's old papers because I'm sure when dad wasn't around, mum mentioned some of these names. Most of mum's papers are so old they almost fell apart in my hands, but it appears we are descendants of the Caleb Lozi they are looking for. It would also seem that the story of Caleb Lozi is true. His mother Ida got preggers by this Malfoy bloke, but the Malfoy patriarch wouldn't let Ida marry their son. Malfoy literally had the Lozis run out of Britain. When Ida died having Caleb, our descendant Edmund Lozi called a blood feud on the Malfoys that was supposed to last until the last Malfoy was dead or disgraced. In addition, Edmund treated Caleb as an outcast because his only daughter had died giving him birth. If mum's papers are correct, until we have sons, we are the last remaining Lozis from that line."
"That's crazy," muttered Matt. "All that shite is old wives tales."
"They aren't," snapped Seth. "I found all this information in mum's papers that have been handed down. If you don't believe me, read them for yourself. I've left them out on the table in the kitchen. I was surprised to find that your namesake Matthias had two sisters who chose to remain in Walloon when Caleb moved family to East Flanders. Just like it says in this ad they would have had the surnames of Janssen and Simon because they had married out of the Lozi family. But, there are notes which state that sometime in the 1800's a lot of families in Walloon were wiped out by a quick moving fever plague including the Janssen and Simon families. This is wild Matt. I'm twenty five and you're twenty seven and we are the last remaining sons of a dynasty."
"Fat lot of good it did for us to be part of a dynasty." Matt growled. "Dad worked himself to death and mum was sickly right up until her death."
Seth took a deep breath before he replied to his brother. "Mom was only sickly because dad wouldn't stay out of her knickers. Every baby she lost took a little more out of her each time. We would have had five sisters if all mum's babies had lived. Maybe Edmund's blood feud reared back on us and mum wasn't allowed to have girls. What else could it be? We survived."
"Stop being a bloody prat Seth. You're reading more into this ad than there is. If you want to contact Miss Hermione Granger, be my guest, but stop talking fucking nonsense. It's been you and me against the bloody world and it's going to be you and me until we die or get married. Whichever comes first."
Seth laughed at his brother and Matt laughed at himself.
The brothers hugged with Matt telling Seth to contact Hermione Granger to see what she wanted.
"I'll only contact her if you're in this with me. We do things together or not at all."
"I'm with you. When haven't I been?"
"Yesterday, the day before, last week," cheeked Seth. "Shall I go on?"
Matt laughed and told his brother to go send the owl.
/*/
It was Thursday afternoon before Sal remembered to owl Blaise and Theo asking if they could postpone their visit until the following weekend because Gas had got himself in a problem and he really didn't feel like entertaining anyone. Sal didn't hear back from Blaise or Theo, but he was sure they had received his owl. Sal didn't like to put his mates off, but this just wasn't a good weekend to have guests.
/**/
Friday morning, Hermione let out a huge sigh as she got out of bed. Today was the day they would be going to Ministry Services to review findings on her case. Whatever the memories had shown would determine how Celia and Emilio would be charged. She took her shower, got dressed then woke Draco on her way to the kitchen to put on tea. It was early, but she wanted to get in early to tidy up some things before they saw Xavier Cross.
Draco was yawning as he sleepily sat down in a chair. "Give me tea witch. I need something to help open my eyes."
Hermione grinned as she put the tea in front of Draco. "Get a move on git. We should get in early because we'll have to leave the office by 9:30."
Draco yawned again, "Where are we going? Oh Merlin, today is the day Ministry Services sets the charges against Lozier and Celia." Draco jumped out of his chair heading to the bedroom. "I'll be ready in fifteen minutes. If you want to go ahead, I'll meet you at DLM. Willem has already been advised that the office will be closed from 9:30-11:00 and he will be in charge of the building. By the way, Willem will be sitting in on Gas' trial with us. There won't be anyone at DLM to look after things on Monday morning. I'd like to keep the entire building closed until noon. What do you think?"
"I think that's the right thing to do, but I also think if you keep talking we won't get to DLM until 10:00."
"Coming love. While you're shouting at me, I noticed your bag, wand and jumper are still in here. I suggest you worry about your own pretty arse instead of mine."
"I'll remember that tonight when you're trying to get inside my knickers, you prat. Now hurry up."
Draco came out of the bedroom holding Hermione's bag, wand and jumper. "Let's go love. I'm ready."
The few hours they had before they were due at Ministry Services literally flew by. Hermione, Draco and Carmela were on their way out when the mail witch hailed Hermione to tell her she had an international owl marked private which she would put on her desk. Hermione waved and followed Draco and Carmela outside.
The trip to Ministry Services was uneventful and Xavier met them in the hall. He quickly explained they would be in front of a Magistrate who would rule as to which way this case would go. "The Magistrate has been briefed and the Memory Retrieval Witch has already given testimony. The Magistrate may or may not ask you a few questions Hermione. Don't be nervous. I'll be in the room. If he asks you a question and you don't remember or don't know, just answer I don't remember or I don't know. We are really only here to determine the case. It shouldn't take long. Do not speak unless addressed by the Magistrate. Draco, Carmela, he may ask your names, but that will be all. Let's go inside and have a seat. We should be starting soon."
At 10:00, the Magistrate called the room to order. He asked Hermione, Draco and Carmela to stand and state their names, after which he began to speak on his ruling. "I have reviewed all information pertaining to this case and have heard testimony from the Memory Retrieval Witch. This case makes me physically ill not only because of how it was done, but because it was carried out by a sitting Minister of the Italian Ministry. I find he wasn't alone in this and therefore rule this case will move forward as a kidnapping/assault/conspiracy with a possible minimum sentence of five years to a maximum sentence of fifteen years. I have scheduled this case to be heard on Wednesday, 10/27 at 9:00. This will be a closed session case. No reporters, no onlookers. Miss Granger, you and your witnesses will have a chance to address the court on that date. Please have a list of your witnesses to the court by Tuesday, 10/26 at noon. Thank you for your time. Have a pleasant day."
With that the Magistrate stood and left the room. When they were back in the hall, Xavier looked at Hermione. "That wasn't so bad eh?"
Hermione smiled. "No Xavier. It wasn't. Thank you. Will it be up to me to get a list of witnesses to the court.?"
Xavier smiled at Hermione. "From this point on I can't advise you, but I am handing Draco a list of solicitors who can be trusted. You will only need a solicitor if you feel you need someone to speak for you. Otherwise, you can let the court address you directly. I recommend a solicitor. It will keep your stress level down."
Turning to Carmela, Xavier explained about Gas. "We have been able to get Gas' case heard here at Ministry Services instead of in court. Which is good. What you saw in there is what Gas will go through except there may be a few more questions and he will be allowed witnesses to speak on his behalf. We have already had certain of Celia Lozier's memories read into the record. Gas will have an open session, but we have worked it so the press is not allowed in. I've been doing this for a long time. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I believe Gas will be exonerated and free to leave before noon, so don't worry. I have to get back. Thanks for coming down."
Draco shook Xavier's hand and thanked him. Xavier said lowly, "Get her a solicitor today." Stepping away from Draco he waved at Carmela and Hermione and walked back down the hall.
Draco put an arm around Carmela and Hermione as they walked to the door. Once outside, they had apparated back to DLM in short order.
Carmela was optimistic now that Xavier had let her know Gas' case would be heard at Ministry Services instead of in a Ministry courtroom. She even had a smile as she sat down at her desk to call Willem to tell him they had returned.
Draco had immediately gone to his office to call a solicitor. When he came out to Hermione's desk, he had an appointment for 3:00 that afternoon and the solicitor had agreed to meet at DLM. Draco kissed Hermione on the nose and asked who had sent her an international owl.
Hermione had forgotten all about the international owl. It was somewhere on her desk and she had to move a few parchment before she found the letter. She looked at the front and back to see if there was any return information. There wasn't any. The possibility of someone answering her ad this quickly never crossed Hermione's mind, so it was quite a shock to see the signature Seth Lozio at the bottom. She read the entire letter….twice and shouted for Draco who came striding out of his office.
Draco didn't know what was going on and by this time Carmela was at Hermione's desk as well. Hermione handed the letter to Draco to read. He finished the letter with a big smile on his face. "My brilliant fiancee. What would I do without you? You are amazing."
Carmela read the note out loud.
Miss Granger;
My name is Seth Lozio. I read the ad you posted in the Belgium papers. I believe my brother Matt and myself are the descendants you are seeking. As far as we know, we are the last two remaining Lozios as our mother and father are deceased and we have no other siblings. My mum has saved a wealth of information regarding our relatives. We have sent copies of some of the documentation. They were hastily copied so I hope you can read them. We have the originals if you or your agent cares to come to Belgium to view them.
My brother and I look forward to meeting the part of our family we never knew existed.
Best Regards,
Seth Lozio
Matt Lozio
Rte 515
East Flanders
Belgium
"Oh Merlin." Hermione couldn't contain her excitement. "We have to go to Belgium. Draco. Should we go this weekend? Do you think they'll come here? I'll bet Matt is named for Matthias. Helena on a Horse, we have found them."
Draco laughed as Carmela set a cup of tea in front of Hermione. "Drink this please."
It took Draco thirty minutes to calm Hermione down and she only calmed down when he told her straight out. "Do not get your hopes up until we find out what's what."
There was still an edge of excitement in the air at 3:00 when the solicitor arrived for the appointment. Draco decided to take the appointment alone while Hermione decided what they were going to do about Seth and Matt.
By the time Draco and the solicitor finished their appointment, Hermione had a plan in place. She allowed Draco to explain what had gone on with the solicitor and he tried to discuss it, but Hermione's mind was somewhere in Belgium.
Draco gave up and asked to hear her plan. It was a very short plan. Hermione had them going to Belgium, signing into a hotel in or near East Flanders and contacting Seth and Matt from there.
Draco shook his head. "Slow down Hermione. Really. Slow down. Why don't we first owl them back to ask if we can visit. Depending on their answer, we go from there."
That was not what Hermione wanted to hear. She wanted Draco to be as excited as she was, but Draco's words did serve to calm her down and piss her off at the same time.
"My apologies," she snapped. "It was my impression that we wanted to get to the end of this bloody feud. If I've overstepped, please forgive me. It was damn silly of me to get this excited over something that has nothing to do with me."
Both Carmela and Draco were caught off guard by Hermione's tone. Draco tried to catch hold of Hermione's arms, but she pulled away. "I want to talk to Willem and then I have some Travel Reports which need to be reviewed. If you'll excuse me."
Hermione left the office and headed to the lift with Draco hot on her heels. "What's got you so upset? If you disagree with what I've said, we can discuss it in my office or when we get home. I find it rude and offensive you would talk to me in that manner in front of Carmela. Do you want to sit in my office and calm down so we can discuss this?"
"There's nothing to discuss Draco. Do what you will."
Hermione stepped into the lift and pressed the button leaving Draco standing there in amazement.
Draco went directly to his office and closed the door. Carmela felt helpless. The last thing she wanted to see was her two friends at odds with each other. Hermione hadn't come back upstairs by 5:00 so Carmela left a note.
Hermione,
If you need to talk, come over the house.
C.
Hermione got back to her office at 5:20. Carmela's note lying in the middle of her desk served to remind Hermione of her behavior. She had time to think while she was down in the warehouse. Yes, she was excited about getting this settled, but she had acted like an arse because Draco hadn't immediately agreed with her plan. She had been way out of line with the way she spoke to him, especially in front of Carmela.
She got up from her desk to go apologize to Draco. She knocked on his door, but didn't get an answer. She opened the door only to find the office empty. Draco must have gone home without her. Hermione went back to her desk, grabbed her purse and jumper and headed to the floo.
She was home in five minutes, but the house was empty. Now she didn't know what to do. She and Draco were always together, so she didn't have any idea where to look for him outside of home. She didn't think he would be at Carmela's because Fausto had to be at Ministry Services for extended periods of time, but she had to check. Hermione threw a bit of powder into the floo and called out for Carmela. When Carmela stuck her head into the floo, Hermione asked if Draco was there. Carmela said she hadn't seen Draco. Hermione thanked Carmela and wished her goodnight.
Hermione took a shower then tried Draco on his mobile, but the phone just rang and rang. She fixed herself a sandwich then didn't have appetite enough to eat it. All the excitement and elation from earlier was long gone. All she felt was foolish as she got herself ready for bed. Just as she was about to drift off, it came to her that this was the first night she and Draco had slept apart since they became engaged.