Chapter 2 – The Ministry Business
It was a clear, sunny day in the middle of December 2004; the snow was meter-deep and the thermometer in Draco's kitchen window showed –8° C. Dressed in heavy boots, a lumber jacket, a black bomber hat and accompanied by Nessy (his brindle farm cat) Draco was busy carrying tree logs into his woodshed. When he got back to the logs and pile of branches and sticks he found Nessy staring intently at his courtyard. Draco followed her gaze and saw to his surprise that a car had pulled up. A young woman with long, curly brown hair dressed in a black coat and black ankle boots stepped out of the car. Curiosity immediately filled Draco. Even though he hadn't seen this woman in person in five and a half years, there was no mistaking that it was no one other than Hermione Granger who'd just stepped out of the car. Draco watched bemused as she made her way through the meter-deep snow with quite some difficulty.
"Oh my, who's this sweetheart? You must be Nessy!" Hermione exclaimed happily and gave Nessy a scratch on her head to which Nessy purred content. "What happened here? Was there a tornado I wasn't aware of that brought down the trees?" she grinned when she was within earshot.
"My my, Granger. Aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" Draco gave her his most Malfoyesk smirk. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Sorry to say I'm here on Ministry business. There've been reports of unicorns around here, something quite unusual in these necks of the woods. Unfortunately as this falls under the category of unusual creature behaviour and it's now my job to figure out if it's true, and if so; how come." she frowned. "As long as I'm here I though I should pop by. See how you're doing, you know."
"You mean to question me about it as I happen to be the only known wizard registered to live here within miles?" Even though he tried he couldn't quite hide the annoyance in his voice.
"Well, if you happen to know anything about that it would certainly be a bonus." she kicked a log loosely. "So, how are you doing?"
Draco shrugged. "Can't complain. Only got six months left."
Hermione nodded slowly.
"How about you? You and Weasley split up, how's single life treating you?" he asked.
"Can't complain." she grinned and squinted at him as the sun hit her face.
"And judging by the looks on your face you're doing better than well." he smirked.
"So, how are you getting on? You told me business is going well." she changed the subject.
"Yeah, Tom is a decent bloke, despite being a muggle. That's his house you see there just across the field." Draco stepped behind Hermione and pointed over her shoulder towards Tom's house on the other side of the field.
"Was he the one who cut down the trees for you?" she asked.
"Yeah, told you, he's a decent bloke. Speaking of being decent; these logs are bloody heavy. Mind giving me a hand?" he arched a suggestive eyebrow.
"No." she said. "On the one hand it's against the law since your neighbour is a muggle and you're asking me to do magic right in front of his house. And on the other hand, and more importantly; I don't want to levitate logs into your woodshed."
"Just as well. You could never guess how fit these muggle-chores have made me. I've got abs now, Granger, abs!" he patted his stomach over the many layers of clothes.
"Good for you, Malfoy. I'm just going to have to take your word for it." she smirked, something which Draco found suited her better than well.
"Too bad you didn't come in August. You'd see me moving these logs shirtless and wouldn't been able to resist me." he smirked.
Just then Tom walked out on his porch and waved to Draco and Hermione.
"That's Tom right there, wave and say hello." Draco instructed her and raised his hand.
Hermione, too, raised a hesitant hand herself and waved.
"He's coming over." Draco observed as Tom started making his way across the field in their direction. "How should I introduce you?"
"Well, I'm a Ministry worker here on official business to see you. Protocol says you can introduce me as you wish." Hermione said with a plastered on smile as Tom neared.
"Really?" Draco smirked.
"Within reason, obviously!" she hissed just as Tom got within earshot.
Tom was a tall handsome man, about the same age as them, dressed in a dusty black overcoat. His hair was dark blond with a short undercut.
"Alright there, Draco? Still got a lot of work with the logs I see." he grinned as he stepped over the sticks on the ground.
"Yeah, you were decent enough to lend me your chainsaw but not decent enough to help me sort the leftovers." Draco smirked.
"Well, I'm helping you now, that's why I came over." Tom said and grinned. "So, who's your friend?" he turned his grin to Hermione.
"Well Tom, this is Miss Granger. Miss Granger just came over to ask me to employ her as my butler." Draco answered, unconcerned with Hermione's dropping face.
"Eh!" Hermione spat out.
"Really? Is that right?" Tom asked and made huge eyes at Hermione.
"No, unfortunately not. Granger is a mate from school. She was just in the neighbourhood on business and decided to stop by and say hello." Draco said.
"Ah, the mystery private school in Scotland Draco never talks about? You went there? I almost thought is was a lie!" Tom laughed.
"Yeah, yeah I went there. That's how we know each other." Hermione said.
"Well then, I'd very much like to pick you brain! Draco never tells me anything about his mysterious past!" Tom said and gave Hermione a pleasant smile.
"I'm sure that'd be great, but I've got to be on my way soon. Business, as Draco said." Hermione was obviously not comfortable using Draco's given name.
"So, how long are you in town for, Granger?" Draco asked.
"How did you know I'm staying in town?" she asked and turned towards him.
"Well, you obviously rented a car and drove here. You didn't just pop by, as I expected you would have done if it would have been a short visit." Draco replied emphasising the pop (the sound one makes apparating).
Hermione blushed slightly catching his drift.
"Well, depends on how well my little investigations goes. And on how much use you think you can be to me, Malfoy?" she said.
Draco took a deep breath and gave Hermione a long probing look. Ever since giving up sneering as his favourite facial expression he'd now adopted a more neutral and blank mask as his go to.
"Tom, would it be alright if I asked you to go in and put on a kettle of coffee?" Draco asked Tom, but his eyes were still fixed upon Hermione.
"Right, yeah. I'm on my way." Tom said and hurried off.
"So I'm a part of this investigation, am I?" Draco frowned when Tom closed the door into Draco's house behind him. "You know I really rather not."
"Well, couldn't you think of it as a chance for some more excitement in your life for a few weeks? Isn't that what you want?" Hermione suggested.
"Do you take me for a man who wants a complicated life?" he drawled.
"I didn't say complicated. I said excitement. Huge difference." Hermione said icily.
Draco didn't answer but just kicked a log loosely.
"All I'm asking you to do is to help me understand how these rumours got started, and maybe show me around the forest a bit, yeah? That's it. Promise." she grinned.
Fuck. He contemplated his options for a while. On the one hand spending time with Granger could never pan out well for him. On the other hand having her snooping around unsupervised was a potential risk. Now, which one was the lesser of the two evils?
"Fine." he sighed and put his hands behind his head. "I'll take you out into the woods and if I hear something I'll give you a hint, but that's it. Alright?"
"Thank you, Malfoy. Really." Her smile reached her eyes and made them glitter in the sun.
Just then Tom popped his head out of the door.
"Coffee's on its way, mate." he announced as he joined Draco and Hermione again in front of the large pile of sticks, branches and logs. "Will you be joining us for coffee?" he turned to Hermione.
Hermione looked hesitantly at Draco for a moment before she answered. Draco narrowed his eyes at her, giving her a warning look.
"It would've been lovely, really. But, if you'll excuse me, gentlemen, I have business to attend." Hermione said and gave both men a forced smile.
"Right, good to see you again, Granger." Even with his neutral mask his voice betrayed him; telling he really did think so.
"I'll be in touch shortly." she told Draco.
He gave her a quick nod.
"Well, it was nice to meet you." Tom smiled.
"Likewise. Good luck with the logs." Hermione said and nodded towards the enormous amount of wood spread across Draco's yard.
She then gave both men a kind smile before she turned on her heal and made her way through the snow back to her car.
"Wow, she's fit, that one." Tom concluded when Hermione started the engine and backed out from the courtyard.
"She's off limits." Draco stated flatly.
"Nah, she's not my type anyway." Tom said, airily.
"Figure of speech." Draco muttered.
"You fancy her?" Tom grinned.
"It's complicated. Just take my word for it and don't get too close to her, alright?" Draco turned to face Tom. "I reckon we can expect to see more off her. She can't know about our business, Tom."
"'Course she can't. But why is she off limits? Did you already shag her or do you want to?" Tom asked.
"Does it matter?" Draco countered, annoyed.
"It does so matter, mate!" Tom exclaimed.
When Draco merely raised an eyebrow as response Tom clarified;
"If you're already shagging her then great. But if you're not shagging her it's obvious you want to. And that means I've got to be the best wingman I can ever be. That's a huge responsibility resting on my shoulders, mate."
"What if shagging wasn't neither here nor there?" Draco asked. "Would you take my word for it and just accept that she's off limits?"
"Well, you can tell me all you want she doesn't strike your fancy, but I've never seen a lady melt your frozen heart like she just did." Tom grinned.
"Sod off!" Draco sneered.
'If he's calling that melting my frozen heart, how bloody frozen does he think I am?' Draco wondered silently as he and Tom made their way into his house for coffee.
'No, the bloke is bloody mental! That's what it is!' he concluded.