Title: Enough
Category: Books » Harry Potter
Author: Scorpio219
Language: English, Rating: Rated: M
Genre: Romance/General

-Previously-

Before Hermione had a chance to question Pansy on what she was referring to, the doors to the Hall opened and Pansy whose line of sight was facing towards it gasped. And as Hermione span round she had that sudden feeling of immense displeasure, 'Shit, fan, hit' was her last thought before she was rushing out of the hall towards the fresh air found in the Gardens.

"Granger!" Blaise and Pansy shouted together trying to stop her retreat, which in turn garnered Draco's attention across the hall. The blond watched as she made a hasty exit via the double doors situated in front of her before he turned around to face where he realised the majority of the rooms eyes were captivated- the entrance doors, and looking that way made Draco see red, quite literally.

Chapter 34:

-Thirty minutes ago-

Draco stood talking to Dennis Creevey getting the younger man to show him the photographs he had taken of himself and Hermione, to say he was impressed was an understatement, the first photograph he had to admit captivated Hermione in a light that Draco could only get to see if he removed a sliver of a memory from his head and placed it in a Pensieve to view countless times over and over.

It was purely unique and Draco turned to face the woman in question as she straightened his Son's bowtie before he glanced back to the young Gryffindor he was stood closest to examining the photograph again.

The precise moment captured was the moment they became visible as the hearth's flames receded, projecting a green glow behind the couple, Hermione's arm was snugly linked into the crook of his elbow, her eyes were ablaze with mirth as she rejoiced at something he had said about being jealous if another man got to have the first dance with her. He himself was staring intently at her, clearly a serious expression on his face- he was after all not joking and yet she was still finding the humour in his statement.

And then just like that the photograph was replaced by the one they had modelled for as Dennis clicked a button to show the next image on the slide. "I will agree with you Creevey sometimes photographs as a surprise just capture the moment much better"

"Thank you Mr Malfoy"

"Can I have a copy of both of those ph-"

Draco was cut off as Hermione garnered his attention stating she was going to enter the party, and though he was a tad disappointed they were not going to enter together he was aware that for appearances sake she wanted to give a statement of intent that reporters would not be able to keep this strong willed woman down for long.

Once she had turned and walked down the corridor Draco turned back to Dennis, "Can I have a copy of both of those photographs?" the younger man nodded, "What is this Creevey foundation you spoke of?"

Dennis pulled a quill and parchment from his back pocket jotting down Draco's order as he answered the blond, "It's to give the students of Hogwarts the chance, if they want to, to learn the basics and more specific nature of photography, both the Wizard and Muggle technology. People don't often have pieces of artwork commissioned anymore so it could be a popular trade in a few more years not to mention I wanted to give back to a community that accepted both me and my brother, and what better way than through something we both loved doing, photography"

Draco nodded taking all of Dennis' points on board when something suddenly sprang to his mind- the articles documented photographs. Pansy had been unable to confirm their exact source having somehow managed to get her hands on the originals all avenues seemed to point to the Brown girl- or as Draco preferred the Brown whore.

"Creevey is there any way to track who produced a photograph?"

Dennis pulled a face, "That's all dependent on the type of photograph, Wizarding or Muggle?"

"You tell me" knowing his house elf would be much faster than he at retrieving the photographs Draco called for Miffy before asking for the photographs and dismissing her after she had handed them over.

Draco passed them to Dennis allowing the expert to make his own opinion. "Definitely forgeries" Draco huffed knowing he could have said the same thing, "Because this is my own photograph, with a picture of your manor house in the background to change the setting. It's a shabby piece to any amateur photographer, and they, whoever developed it left a calling card in the bottom right corner during the developing process, clearly had no tongs to remove to parchment from the developing agent."

"A calling card?" Draco asked confused.

"Sorry" Dennis apologised realising he had dropped a Muggle phrase into the conversation thus confusing the blond, "A fingerprint, everyone's are unique"

"So you are telling me we cannot identify the developer without their fingerprint?"

Dennis shook his head, "Normally no, but I know for a fact only Hermione had bought that photograph of the pair of you, it's in her Hogwarts Scrap book, or was, come to think of it she asked me to acquire one of your manor house as well" Confused as to why Hermione wanted a photograph of his ancestral home Draco was stunned into silence. "But one thing is for sure…" Dennis continued, "The person who put the two together and had managed to get a hold of both of those photographs from Hermione must have had access to her year book recently" Dennis summarised, proud of his Taggart style deduction skills.

Draco came to the conclusion that he needed to ask the brunette where she kept said scrap- if she still had it anymore- and do a bit more deduction skills from there, unless of course he could get some form of confession. After all Draco did not want to be wasting his time on getting revenge on Lavender if she was the perpetrator 'It's all for Hermione' he reminded himself, 'Of course any revenge I get on either the nitwit or the whore is going to be worth it, there was no limit'.

Speaking of whom Draco really needed to get into the party lest people believe that he had no intention of showing up, turning to the younger Gryffindor he spoke again, "Thank you for the help Creevey, if you send me an Owl tomorrow, I may have some work for you to do" Draco extended a hand, to which Dennis looked sceptically at the appendage "Don't worry, its nothing invasive, I just may be in need of a photographer for my new range with the Puddlemere team" satisfied Dennis accepted the handshake, before watching as Draco excused himself to join the festivities.

When Draco entered the Hall no one paid him much mind except his parents and Son, the latter of which began making his way towards him. As his son reached him he searched the crowd for the brunette who was the main player in many of his dreams. He found her easily enough, somewhat irritated- if the pulling back of her shoulders was any indication- as she strode away from the youngest Weasley sibling, and straight towards Blaise.

"She's a bit of a hellcat is she not Draco my boy?" Draco's musings were cut short as he found himself stood next to Lord Ardenbrook.

"Why that she is Lord Ardenbrook, very feisty indeed" he smirked turning fully towards the older man who had his hand outstretched in greeting to the younger man, to which Draco quickly shook. "Though I have a feeling you know her much better than you originally let on"

A kind of twinkle found its way onto the irises of the Lord, "It was never my story to tell you Draco." He glanced around as if looking for someone, before he suddenly said "Good game earlier" seconds before he was joined by the aging Professor McGonagall. "Dear you remember Draco, we were just discussing today's match"

"Mr Malfoy" his old professor greeted him, "You played very well today"

"Professor, it is nice to see you not with your claws out, or should I say in cat form" he smirked as the Professor narrowed her eyes at him, "It is also nice to know you are on my side supporting my team."

This time it was his professors turn to smirk, "Of course Puddlemere are my team, who do you think mentioned a talented seeker such as yourself to Harry in the first place?" here she paused watching his reaction to her next words, "Unsurprisingly it was Hermione who first brought it up to him, I just confirmed you were a very good, naturally gifted player, so he went to scout you out." She let her sentence hang in the air.

Turning towards his Son Draco asked him to go and get him a glass of firewhiskey while he spoke to his old professor, offering the aging tutor a brief introduction to the awestruck young boy, this distraction allowed Draco to turn towards Hermione as he felt her eye shift over his form. Catching her gaze for a second Draco sent her a small smile from across the room before she turned back towards Pansy and Blaise.

"Then I owe you both a big thank you." Here he paused weighing up whether he was able to ask his next question to his professor and boss, knowing what they meant to the muggleborn witch.

"I suggest you just ask whatever it is you want to answer Mr Malfoy" he looked up staring at his professor before looking away slightly intimidated by her straightforward nature.

Steeling his nerves Draco looked up again staring at both of his elders, "Hermione has mentioned that the pair of you and her are very close, so I wondered or rather guess wanted to get a positive confirmation from the both of you on whether I would be able to you know…" her he paused unsure on how to voice his next words eloquently, "Would you allow me to court her?"

His professor seemed to weigh up his question causing Draco and Lord Ardenbrook to eagerly await her reply, "It is up to Hermione at the end of the day Mr Malfoy, perhaps she isn't ready to take on a serious relationship just yet. And what makes you think you are worth her? She is a very unique Witch"

Draco seemed to pause again, "If I am truthfully honest I am far from worthy of having any kind of relationship with her but she means a lot to me, I lo-"

"Granger!" the sound of his two oldest friends shouting that particular name had Draco turning on the spot mid-sentence only to find that said Granger was making a hasty retreat out of the back doors.

Turning towards where Blaise's eagle eyed vision was locked Draco realised the cause of Hermione's distress, and it made his blood boil, not only had the nitwit turned up with a date to this party, but they had the nerve to cause a massive scene upon their entrance, her dress doing nothing to hide the baby bump, though that may have been more noticeable because Draco knew, but either way as the git leaned down to kiss her Draco had seen enough.

His long strides got him there in milliseconds, ignoring the protests of his old Professor as she had an inkling about what he was going to do.

As Ron's head straightened up and his smirk began to form on his face as he looked around realising everyone had noticed their arrival Draco pulled back and let rip, his right hand coming into contact with the gits nose throwing him off balance before his left rounded onto the redheads right cheek, before a right handed uppercut had the other man stumbling backwards.

Draco had a few more punches left in him but was hauled off the redhead by at least two other men who each had an arm holding him back. "Malfoy" Harry Potter's voice filtered in from his left hand side, "Calm down"

From his right hand side the voice of his best friend spoke up, "Drake, mate, this is not the time nor place" as Draco's shoulders sagged Blaise spoke again, "I've got him Potter"

"You sure Zabini?" the Italian nodded hauling his friend another foot away from the youngest Weasley Son.

"I've got it" then he turned his attention back to the blond, "What happened to out smarting him?" Blaise asked tapping Draco's temple, "What will Granger think?"

The mention of Hermione's name seemed to snap Draco out of it as he turned to his best friend, "Hermione, I need to see her" Draco struggled against his friend's restraint.

"Pansy and Daphne followed her out"

Draco shook his head, "I need to see her" at the desperation in his voice Blaise let his arms go and watched stunned as Draco didn't even give Weasley the time of day before he was sprinting out of the hall in some hope of being able to find Hermione.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed, and please do let me know if anything doesn't make sense, I've re read over it a few times, but being dyslexic- which I know isn't an excuse- I have a tendency to see it wrote and understand it without seeing the flaws.