Previously on Hideaway:
Draco turned to Harry and explained how they spotted a man threatening a women before placing spells on her and how she just disappeared.
"It was an old article about you and Draco getting married." Anthony paused before continuing. "And there was a big red X across Draco's face with curses written along the article."
Could Krum be the man behind the threat notes from their last year? Could Krum still be tormenting them with scares and threats…..now?
He felt even more pity as he watched Valentina slide the engagement ring off her finger and slid it across the table towards Marc.
"I invited him over into our fucking home! He's just a few doors down and he could be the one making our lives living hell? And he was the one who cornered you and left those bruises? I'm going to murder that jackass-"
"And your mother invited us over for dinner Friday evening. She says she has something important to discuss with us."
"Which one?" he breathed feeling his heart love this women more than possible as a tear ran down her cheek.
"Ara. Ara Malfoy."
The most unexpected people turn out to be your next enemy. Watch your back.
"No it says to 'attach the pieces together as if forming the letter L'."
"This is the letter L!"
"The letter L is backwards you git."
"No it's not!" Draco argued holding the wooden L at a different angle and inspecting it.
Hermione sighed in exasperation and stomped over to where Draco stood and took the wooden post for the crib out of his hands waving it in front of his face. "Tell me, for 7 years at Hogwarts did you write your L's with the lower stick facing the left?"
Draco cocked his head to the side and his face broke out into a bright smile. "My bad, darling." he said taking back the wooden post and reattaching the stick so it was facing the right direction.
"After more than 3 years of marriage you should really know by now that I am always right." Hermione scoffed leaning against the wall as she held the instructions in her hand watching Draco struggle to assemble it the muggle way.
"I'm truly surprised the shame of admitting I'm wrong to you hasn't gotten drilled into my head yet." he said rising panting as he wiped his forehead. "Are we done?"
"I don't know Draco, will our child be sleeping on the air with lovely protection walls around it but no place to lay?" she asked sarcastically motioning towards the bottomless crib.
Draco moved to gather the remaining materials to attach the bottom mattress to the rest of the crib. Hermione felt sudden pity for snapping at him so often lately, it was a wonder how he didn't snap back.
"Sorry for being so hormonal." Hermione whispered casting a cooling charm on Draco as he slid under the crib to attach the rest.
"We wouldn't be Malfoy and Granger if we didn't argue, love." he called back from under the crib. Hermione smiled and went downstairs to get some lunch for them.
She was on her last day of leave of absence since the last time she had the scare in the bathroom. She was returning to work again tomorrow much to Draco's disapproval. Viktor was still staying with them but thanks to Harry, spent most of his day at the quidditch pitch. Draco and Hermione had did everything they could to avoid him at all costs but still had the misfortune to bump into him occasionally in the mornings or meal times.
She returned to the nursery to find Draco's hair mussed up as he crawled out from under the crib. She handed him the glass of lemonade and the sandwich which is gratefully took gulping it down.
She moved to wrap her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek against his back. He ran his hand up and down her arm causing a warm rush to flow through her body. "I really appreciate you physically making the crib." she murmured.
He turned them so they were facing one another. "I wanted do. It shows that I actually care about this baby and that I will go out of my way for her."
"I know you will." she assured brushing their noses together. "Ara is going to love this room."
"She better. Her daddy just spent 4 hours building this damn crib." Draco muttered swaying the from side to side.
Hermione laughed and moved her hand to graze her stomach. "She'll love it. I think we should now buy some more cosmetics to decorate the room for her. Maybe some wooden letters that spell out her name and oh I have to find some good children's books and stock up till she's at least 2. We'll need to find good baby food/formula as well and we need to get clothes now and bibs and oh the baby will need diapers too-"
"You're rambling again love," Draco said kissing her on the lips. She smiled against his lips and kissed back harder. She felt his tongue trace her bottom lip and she happily granted access. She willingly let him take control, enjoying the feeling of his tongue dance along with hers. His teeth tugged gently on her lip causing her to moan loudly.
"Ees anybody home?" a voice shouted from downstairs breaking the couple apart.
Draco groaned and let out a string of vile curses before Hermione called back to Viktor, her hand rubbing Draco's back sympathetically.
Viktor tromped up the stairs and followed her voice back to the nursery. His eyes gazed around the room seeing the new baby furniture and finally landing on the pair embracing in the centre of the room. Hermione gripped Draco's hand and tried smiling at Viktor.
"Hey Viktor, I was just about to start dinner."
"I will help." he offered.
"No no. Not necessary, I can help Hermione with dinner, it's not much. You go on and get cleaned up." Draco said smiling sweetly at Viktor. Viktor's face fell darkening slightly before he turned and walked into the bathroom leaving the two alone once more.
"You can't help yourself can you?" Hermione said but couldn't help and grin. "You had to tease him slightly didn't you?"
"If the asshole is sleeping in our home, eating our food, stealing some of my shampoo and flirting with my wife, I damn well will tease him till he goes running back to the hellhole he came from." Draco huffed as they began prepping for dinner.
Hermione laughed as she set the table. "He's not stealing your shampoo. He's just borrowing some while he's here."
"Borrowing is taking how much you need. But when I come back and find the bottle three quarters empty when I first found it full, it's called stealing." Draco said indignantly.
Dinner every night at the Malfoys, plus Krum was always awkward. As much as Hermione tried to make conversation both men could hardly look at each other. Violence had nearly broken loose a few times too when Viktor smiled warmly at Hermione and asked her to pass the peas, before resting his hand on hers. Hermione had obviously pulled away but Draco had nearly flipped the table and drawn his wand. That along with a few snide comments, lead to an infuriated husband and an annoyed ex. She delivered sharp painful kicks beneath the table to both men on several occasions but she couldn't help kicking a bit harder towards Krum.
She didn't know how much more tension she could take between the two but she knew which one was out if the baby arrived. If Viktor was the one who held such a strong hate towards her and her husband, he definitely wasn't hanging around to meet their daughter.
The next morning, similar to her first day of work, she rose early and took extra care to be there on time with a professional attitude back on.
When Draco had ensured Krum had left for the quidditch pitch, he and Hermione flooed to the ministry.
Hermione felt the irritation she felt through the past few weeks dissipate as she returned to work. She looked at the updated charts Harry had left on her desk for her. Nothing much had changed since the last week she had been there.
Valentina was still the first victim to be kidnapped, returned a while later unharmed and claiming it wasn't kidnap. Thalia was kidnapped, witnessed by Percy Weasley who can confirm it was Lestrange the same time Valentina was returned. Draco and herself had gotten a letter informing them to meet at Malfoy Manor where they were both tortured with an illusion of the other being tortured. Finally, she had gotten the scare in the bathroom where she was nearly certain she spotted London, who'd also been missing from work lately but since she is a top auror, was not reported as a true missing persons yet. There was also the women and man who disappeared from the alley the other day.
She headed towards the lab where her team was investigating even tiny scraps of evidence and trying to get the big picture of this whole case.
Hermione made her way to where Anthony stood hunched over a bunch of the missing persons pictures with sticky notes taped alongside each person.
"I think you were right." she whispered as she told a briefer more general version of recent events. "We're going to feign friendliness for now and see if we can catch him in the act, then we can prove him guilty for sending those threat letters."
"That's smart. Let me know if you ever need help." Anthony said. Hermione thanked him before moving to see her other team members. Cho and Susan were using microscopes to try and observe the glass black mark they found along with Thalia. Brianna and Ernie were scrolling through notes on each of the situations each victim was discovered in. Terry was at his desk in the dingy corner fumbling with the small box he had discovered underneath the tub during the first disappearance.
"Any luck? I remember the first time you discovered that you told me it let out some type of gas? Although you didn't know what." Hermione recalled.
"It's so well configured it's nearly impossible to tell what gas it released." Terry sighed rubbing his eyes. "My guess is some sleeping gas or maybe memory gas, which explains why Valentina perhaps can't remember being kidnapped."
"That's the educated guess but once we prove that correct, we're that much closer to solving how Lestrange does all this." Hermione agreed.
After checking in on all of them she headed towards Harry's office to discuss the missing persons case.
"What the bloody fuck? Why didn't you tell me?" a familiar voice yelled loudly.
"Draco, it wasn't my decision. Don't you think I tried to dismiss the notion? I was overruled Draco. The Wizengamot and the law outvoted me, it wasn't my choice. Do you think I wanted things to turn out this way?" Harry asked tiredly.
"Do you understand what this means?!" Draco shouted. "Everything I've worked so hard to pass and forget is gone! Trashed! I have worked years to fix my past mistakes and now…..I'm just starting on expanding my family with Hermione and it's all going to come crashing down! Is there nothing you can do?" Draco continued to yell but turned pleading towards the end. Hermione creaked open the door, but the two boys continued to bicker, her entrance going unnoticed.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked shutting the door and crossing her arms.
Draco rubbed his face angrily and pinched the bridge of his nose pacing back and forth in agitation. Hermione turned just as annoyed to Harry who was watching Draco pace with a look of dread on his face.
"What the hell is happening?" Hermione demanded glaring at them.
"Draco it's not a big deal. We can place restraining orders and nothing will go wrong-" Harry suggested.
"Like THAT will stop this! What about every little thing I've worked hard to rebuild? My life, my work, myself, my relationship with Hermione? It's all gone now! What will it take? Money? Artifacts? A mansion? What will make this go away Harry?" Draco asked desperately. Hermione felt her irritation grow as they continued to discuss as if she weren't there.
"It's too late Draco. What's done is done and they've already done it. So there really isn't any point in being upset. The press just found out today. You need to calm down, nothing's going to change." Harry said trying to assure Draco. But Draco was not to be calmed, he was a raging grey storm just beginning to release.
"EVERYTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE HARRY! Don't you see? It's all over now, everything is gone. Our lives are never going to be same! How am I supposed to walk the streets with that name back on my forehead! With that reputation! How am I supposed to sleep at night when I fear for the lives of my wife and future daughter constantly?" Draco shouted in frustration.
"Fear of what?" Hermione interrupted putting her hands on her hips. The men finally turned to face her looking shocked to see her standing there. She rolled her eyes and persisted. "What is going on?"
Draco threw his hands up in the air and collapsed on the couch banging his head on a pillow.
"Your husband is being a big baby." Harry drawled rubbing his eyes in exhaustion.
"If someone doesn't tell me what the big deal is, I'll see to it that the pair of you never have the ability to reproduce again." Hermione warned glaring at them.
Draco tossed her a rolled up newspaper which she deftly caught and flipped over.
"They've released my father from Azkaban."
"Draco! Draco don't! You're going to regret this!" Hermione called struggling to keep up with Draco's long strides as he marched towards their fireplace after work.
"What I regret is ever listening to a cowardly prat like my father!" Draco retorted grabbing floo powder in an angry fistfull. Hermione grasped his arm and yanked it back in desperation.
"Think about what you're doing." Hermione pleaded. "You're going to regret this."
"No I'm not. I'll be ten times more at peace and things will resume the way they're supposed to." Draco argued throwing the powder into the fireplace. Hermione moved to block his entrance and scowled up at him.
"Think about your mother!" she tried searching his grey eyes for any sign of backing down.
"I am! And I'm thinking about how cruel it was of her to keep this from me too! How she let him back into the house like some hero!" Draco snarled.
"He's your father!" Hermione begged as he moved towards the fireplace.
"Like I need reminding." Draco grumbled shouting Malfoy Mansion before disappearing into the fire.
Hermione sighed and followed behind her husband prepared to witness the greatest shouting match of the century. Draco was infuriated because Harry and his mother didn't tell him that his father had been released from Azkaban and had to find out through the Daily Prophet. Then he was also mad because he was quite pleased with the thought of his father having life imprisonment.
She stepped out of the fireplace, letting herself adjust to the swirling it did to her head as she rested one hand on her growing stomach trying to blink away the nausea. She opened her eyes and heard Draco before she saw him.
"HOW COULD YOU?" Draco demanded his voice rising. "How could you let him back into your home like he was some long lost and found father! He is a pathetic swine who ruined our lives! And you kept this from me! How long did you think that could last?"
"I did try to tell you! The night before he was released I invited you and Hermione over for dinner because I had to tell you something important remember?" Narcissa asked desperately.
She followed his voice to dining room where Draco had interrupted Narcissa and Lucius' supper. She watched as Narcissa lowered her head in shame as her son hammered her with accusations.
She felt pity for the older woman and could understand why she kept this from him. His reaction was one thing but she should have known that his reaction would be ten times worse if he found out this way. Her eyes flickered to Lucius Malfoy. Azkaban did not serve him well. His hair was shaggy and lank as it hung beside his face loosely. His eyes had dark circles noticeably visible compared to his pale face. His face was hollow and gaunt, giving the impression of a tired and broken man.
Despite knowing that she shouldn't feel any empathy for this man, she did. She couldn't imagine spending years in Azkaban as your family roamed free feeling like a weight was lifted off their shoulders because you were gone from their lives. Even as it was the case, Hermione watched with sympathy as Draco turned on his father.
"How did you do it?" he snarled his fists clenching in anger.
Hearing Lucius talk was like hearing a voice responding with sand and gravel stuck to their mouth. "Do what?" he asked in a gravelly dry tone.
Draco seethed as he persisted onwards with his rant. "Get out of prison after serving in the Dark Lord's high ranks and committing dozens of unspeakable acts." As if a sudden realization dawned on Draco his eyes widened and his face turned into a deeper scowl. "You bribed them didn't you? You gave them money to get your scrawny no good, ass out of prison?"
"Please don't scream darling," his mother pleaded tears welling.
"I damn well will scream if I want to! How could you keep this from me? And how the hell are you not serving life imprisonment?" Draco yelled glaring with such hate at his father, Hermione was astounded by Lucius' lack of response.
"As much as it stings that you would prefer my life to be spent in Azkaban-" Lucius began before he was once more cut off by Draco.
"It stings? It stings does it? Well it sure didn't cause any pain when you dragged our lives back into your dark screw up!" Draco retorted nastily.
"As I was saying, I was released on a recommendation." Lucius replied curtly.
"A recommendation. Who the bloody hell recommended for you to get out of Azkaban?" Draco sneered.
"It was an anonymous tip but it provided enough information and evidence for the ministry to have to release me." Lucius said.
"What evidence? Who would be so stupid to release a motherfu-" Draco growled.
"Draco!" Narcissa cried tears falling freely. She covered her mouth to silence the sobs. Lucius began moving to comfort her when Draco drew his wand.
"You stay the hell away. How can you expect to just waltz back into our lives after years of making our lives seem like it wasn't worth living?" Draco shouted, his voice hitching. Hermione could tell Draco was growing emotional thinking about the years he spent under his father's cruel and sharp eye.
"I had time to reflect in Azkaban. I understand how fooled I was by the words the Dark Lord used to sway my conscience. I was wrong and I see that-"
"You see that about more than 10 years too late." Draco snapped. "Our lives were just mending but you….you just tore it open again and reduced it back to shards. Then suddenly you were gone, and you left us picking up the pieces. And now….we're finally at peace and you have to return and curse us with your presence again!"
There was a silence as Draco took heaving breaths and the rest took in the harsh words he had just so honestly said. Lucius remained silent as he watched his only son boil with hate and anger towards him.
"Mother I can not express more about how dislike I feel towards you keeping this from me and then you inviting him back into your home. But it is your prerogative who you wish to associate yourself with. But you listen up." Draco sneered, his jaw clenching as he spoke to his father. "I have a life now. A life I am perfectly content with, without you screwing things up for me. You need to stay the hell away from my family and our lives and I don't ever want to see your face again. Once more is once too many and I would rather rot in hell that have to see you again." Draco spat.
Hermione felt her heart clench, feeling shock and horror at the reality of the words Draco spoke and how that was exactly how he felt.
"I know all about your life with the mudblood-" Lucius said calmly. The next few moments were a blur as Draco stormed over and struck Lucius across the face. The smack resounded around the room mingled with Narcissa's shrill scream.
Hermione felt her legs working once more as she ran over and gripped Draco's arm. His chest was heaving as he glared at his shocked father.
"Come on love, let's go. You've said your part. Let's go." Hermione whispered attempting in vain to get him to leave.
"Take that back! You take that back right now and say you're sorry!" Draco roared shaking with rage.
Lucius straightened his back and gazed up at his son. "It will take time to get over this blood purity mindset, and I might not ever but I will not lie to you more about how I feel." his eyes finally landed on Hermione, lowering to her large stomach. "And I feel disgusted by your marriage. Pure revulsion."
Before Draco could strike again, Hermione moved between them knowing he would regret this later. She turned to face him and gripped his shoulders, one hand bringing his eyes to meet hers.
"Ignore it. You don't care what he says, what he thinks or what he does. It doesn't matter and you will walk away because you're a better man." Hermione stated talking directly to him, putting emphasis to get through to him.
Draco's eyes seemed to warm slightly when they set on her as he listened to her words before he turned to face his father again.
"You will stay away from us, if you know what's good for you." he said before spinning on his heel and storming out of the room.
Hermione gazed sadly after him and rested a hand on Narcissa's shoulder before following her husband.
As intense the last hour had been a few things stuck out to Hermione. Things Draco probably hadn't even registered the oddity of, in the midst of his anger.
First of all, Draco may not have noticed it yet, but Lucius looked awful. He was completely wrecked and changed by Azkaban. She believed him when he said he had time to reflect on his mistakes and she saw the possibility of a better person. Possibility. And of course she wouldn't voice this to Draco yet, he was way too moody to hear her thoughts. Second of all, who gave the anonymous tip? Who had evidence to get someone in the Dark Lord's inner ranks out of Azkaban a lifetime sooner? Why did they remain anonymous and why did they want to release him?
The anger Draco felt flooding through his system was to a point he couldn't describe. He would surely go to hell for thinking it, but he was more relieved than he had been in a long time when he discovered his father's lifetime sentence.
The things he said to his father, were all true and things he had felt over more than 20 years of his life. It had been bottled up for ages, waiting to come flooding out and damn, it felt good to let it out.
He was sitting on the stairs leading to the upper level, leaning against the wall with his feet on the second step below from where he sat. He only snapped out of his daze when Hermione perched on the step where his feet rested. He turned to face her slowly, feeling a lecture for his behaviour coming on.
"You've been holding on to all that haven't you? For years?" she asked softly rubbing slow circles on his thigh.
He leaned his head back and squeezed his eyes shut. "It feels so good to finally let it out."
She nodded sighing and meeting his gaze. "Let's just go to bed. I don't want to talk about anymore of this drama until tomorrow. Or never. Whichever I'm blessed with." she said dragging him by the hand up the stairs and into their room.
She changed before clambering into bed and flopping between the blankets. Draco cracked a dry smile before slipping in next to her and pulling the covers over them.
"I just don't underst-" Draco began wrapping his arms around Hermione, resting on her stomach, spooning her so that her back was to his chest.
"Shut up love." Hermione groaned turning her head over her shoulder to smile lazily up at him. "As much as I love you, can we just sleep? This stress is not good for the baby. Or exhaustion." she added yawning.
Draco finally felt the shame overcome him as he thought about the worry he must have been putting his wife through the while shouting episode. And of course his father's return wouldn't add anything but stress. He silenced himself and buried his face in her unruly hair taking in the first moment of peace of the night.
Draco woke the next morning to discover Hermione was coming out of the shower.
She smiled tiredly up at him before moving to her closet. Draco felt shame overwhelm him again as he watched her dig through her maternity clothing. He walked over to her and spun her around so that she was facing him. He sank to his knees and kissed her bare stomach lovingly, caressing the sides gently.
"Hello Ara, my darling. I'm sorry for the shouting, I promise you I'm nothing like the person I was yelling at and he won't ever bother us." he whispered drawing slow circles on the stomach. "Ara love, we're so excited to meet you and we love you. So, so so so so much." he murmured glancing up at Hermione who had tears welling, her hands tangled in his messy bed hair.
Hermione gasped the same time Draco did as they locked eyes with wonder and awe. "She did not just…..?" Hermione asked a tear slipping.
"She did!" Draco laughed kissing the exact spot where his daughter had just made her first kick.
Hermione groaned through a smile brushing her fingers over the spot. "She kicks hard."
"Perfect. She'll be an expert at taking off in quidditch." Draco grinned pecking her stomach once more before rising.
"In your dreams Malfoy. She is NOT flying till she's at least begun Hogwarts." Hermione scoffed. Draco laughed pulling her in for a swift kiss before heading downstairs for breakfast.
His bad mood last night, raised by his daughter's first movements was brought back down again when he met Krum gulping down pancakes.
"Goof morming!" Krum said through mouthfuls. Draco nodded in response pouring himself some coffee.
"Any plans fer the weekend?" Krum asked wiping his mouth and grinning crookedly. Draco struggled to refrain from strangling the man.
"Not yet no," Draco replied through gritted teeth as he began packing for work. Thank Merlin, Hermione came down to divert the attention elsewhere. Actually nevermind, he didn't. Draco couldn't describe how it annoyed him to no end watching Krum flirt endlessly and tirelessly with his wife.
"You look lovely tuday Ermyonie." he said sweetly. She smiled weakly before running upstairs to grab something she forgot.
"How's work?" he asked turning his attention back to Draco.
"Alright. Nothing exciting." he shrugged desperate for Hermione to hurry up so they could leave. "You have another shift at the pitch?"
"I don't know why Harry assigned me everyday there." he said furrowing his brows in confusion. "Trying to run me tired?" he laughed in a loud bark.
Or keep you the hell away from Hermione. Draco thought laughing along with Krum.
Once Hermione returned the pair flooed over to the ministry and parted their separate ways.
Draco spent the next three hours of work moving in a zombie state through sheaves of notes from various aurors. He detested this time of month. Towards the end he had to write up an updated report on each auror under his supervision and submit it to Harry. There came a knock on the door at 11. The door opened tentatively as Harry peeped his head in.
"You can come in. Unfortunately, we're at work so I can not beat the crap out of you. And you're my boss." Draco drawled snapping a drawer shut.
Harry rolled his eyes and shut the door before moving to sit in front of Draco. "I heard about your meeting with your father last night."
Draco sighed and stretched his tight limbs. "That woman can't keep a secret can she?"
Harry chuckled. "She's worried about you. I think she was a bit shocked at your reaction at Malfoy Mansion. Probably scared her a bit mate."
This did not improve Draco's mood as he felt worse for letting her see him that way. Just as Draco was about to respond, an owl came pecking at the window.
Harry opened it and handed it to Draco. "If this is what I think it is, maybe we should track where this owl returns to."
As Harry reached for the owl, it exploded in a burst of flame that consumed the shrieking creature before all that was left were the ashes. Harry's eyes widened as he nodded for Draco to open the letter.
Happy family reunion with a new addition on the way.
Happy family reunion with a murderer for a son and father even in the old days.
Happy family reunion with a mudblood stray.
Happy family reunion, screaming, cursing, crying-the Malfoy way.
The rude little poem ended with a photograph attached. It was taken last night while Draco was meeting his father again for the first time. A side shot, getting his mother and Hermione in the picture too. Draco dropped the picture letting it flutter to the floor, he rubbed his hand through his hair feeling like yanking out each strand.
"We'll do a search. We'll open a case and get a search party there right away." Harry said chewing on the inside of his cheek as he gazed at the photo.
"Look at the back." Draco mumbled incoherently.
Harry flipped over the picture and read out the tiny p.s. "If Malfoy birdy tweets, another birdy dies."
Harry flipped it back to the front and noticed after looking a second time a large X and a ? over each of the other Malfoys, an extra one beside Hermione's stomach.
"Still think we should open a case?" Draco asked groaning into his hand. "I can't tell Hermione this! But if I don't and she finds out, she'll bloody murder me."
"I do but given the circumstances and how far Lestrange is willing to go, this looks like it'll have to be a private matter." Harry agreed.
"Or Krum. Remember Anthony's warning? Him cornering Hermione in the alley?"
"You think Krum followed you to your parents?" Harry asked clasping his hands.
"I guess I'll have to find a way to find out. And find a way to tell Hermione calmly." Draco sighed.
Draco spent the remainder of the day in a haze thinking about what seemed like everything. He found there were many days he spent, his mind bursting with thoughts and worries. It almost made him wish to be 16 again.
He apparated home at 6 to find Hermione home already sitting on the couch, with her feet propped up and a large bag of ketchup kettle chips in her lap. She looked up and smiled lazily at him.
"I'd come over and kiss you but my feet are killing me." she said holding her hand out. He took her hand and flopped down next to her.
"I guess I'll have to come to you." he grinned kissing her deeply. It was as if she could read his emotions and thoughts, as she pulled away she played with his hair and gazed at him hard.
"I don't even want to hear whatever's wrong now. I'm feeling too tired and I just want to kick off the weekend with some takeout and a movie." she said seriously.
Draco threw his head back and laughed, feeling his stress disappear into nothing. He kissed her forehead and nodded. "Whatever you want. Why don't you order the food? I'm gonna get changed." he said before heading upstairs.
His father returning, Krum back, Krum possibly sending those letters, the missing persons case….it was all too much. There was also the oncoming threat letters, they were receiving. Not how he imagined his 20's.
So for once, in a long time, he just wanted to sit at home like a normal person and eat takeout with his wife. Couldn't the world give him that much?
Hermione shifted uncomfortably under Draco's arm as they ate the delicious Greek food they ordered.
"What's wrong?" Draco yawned pulling a blanket over the pair of them.
"The baby is kicking like she's throwing a tantrum inside the womb." Hermione complained laying her head back against the couch. Draco moved a hand to soothe the baby as he rubbed slow circles on her stomach.
"Ginny's due in one month. Crazy isn't it?" Hermione asked mixing her rice, souvlaki and tzatziki together.
"Harry's having the same mental breakdown like he did with James." Draco commented gazing at the fire. "I wonder what I'll feel like, becoming a dad."
"You'll feel amazing." Hermione assured. "James turns 3 in two months it's crazy. And it's Christmas in like two weeks." Hermione laughed.
"Which will bring us to month 7." Draco crooned kissing her stomach lovingly.
"Draco?" Hermione breathed gripping the blanket tightly. "Draco!" she called when he continued to talk quietly to her daughter.
"Hmm?" Draco asked raising his head questioningly gazing at her.
"What time is it?" she asked her eyes narrowed and mind whirling.
"10 pm love. Tired already?" he teased kissing up her neck gently.
"Draco stop….where's Viktor?" she breathed her eyes widening. "He never came to dinner and he didn't come back….my wand tracks where he is when he's in the house and not in his room remember?"
"Calm down." Draco said wracking his mind for conclusions. "I'll check his room."
"Not alone you aren't." Hermione scoffed standing and wobbling slightly as her head adjusted to the sudden movement. Draco steadied her and eyed her warily.
"Just stay here. He's probably out for a drink or maybe he found his damn friend who has suddenly returned." Draco sighed helping her sit down before exiting the room. Once he was out of sight, he pulled out his wand and began creeping up the stairs.
This is so damn stupid. Why should he have to be afraid and cautious in his own house? He crept up the stairs silently nevertheless and made his way down to Viktor's room. He knocked on the door but there came no response.
He turned the knob quietly and peeked in. The room was neat and tidy not much difference from when they first gave it to Viktor.
Against his better judgement, he entered the room and began opening drawers silently. He found two filled with what little clothes Viktor had brought. Nothing piquing his interest as he flipped through his clothes trying to keep it as it was before. At the bottom of the drawer were some condoms swaddled in his underwear. Draco wrinkled his nose in disgust as he shut the drawer softly before heading over to the bed which was messily tucked in. Nothing on the bed, nothing under. He finally reached the desk where there was a container of spare pens and paper. He pulled on the drawer but it was locked. This was Viktor's doing because they hadn't locked any drawer in the guest bedroom.
He knew he probably shouldn't snoop but he did not like Krum and he was suspicious of him, with that he unlocked the drawer and pulled it open. Inside was a messy pile of letters crumpled and crinkled with a rushed scrawl on each.
He flipped through them his eyes widening as he read through. "Get close to them. Find the girl. Watch them. Don't be unfriendly. Be discreet. Find everything."
Those were the simple lines not giving away much of who the sender was or why they were sending it. Whatever the reason, Draco felt realization down over him. This is why Viktor was staying with them wasn't it? To get close to them for whatever reason? And the girl was Hermione, no doubt. Draco quickly duplicated each letter and stuffed them into his pocket before relocking the drawer and exiting the room.
Draco entered the master bedroom to grab some novels before heading down when he stopped short.
Viktor was creeping inside the bedroom, hastily sifting through various drawers and cupboards, doing exactly what Draco had done in his bedroom. Draco grit his teeth and watched as Krum found the spot under behind a picture frame where Draco stashed the threat letters.
"Stupefy!" Draco cried firing the spell at Krum. Viktor turned at the last moment and managed to dive out of reach.
"Crucio!" Krum shouted returning the shot from where he scrambled to right himself from behind the bed.
"What were you doing going through our stuff?" Draco demanded holding his wand out in front of him.
"I have my orders like you have yours." Krum sneered. "Let's just let Krum think we're his friends so we can keep an eye on him and catch him in the act." he mimicked sarcastically.
Draco shot another spell towards Krum which rebounded off of the bed post. "Were you the one sending threat letters our last year of Hogwarts?"
"Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't." Krum snarled shooting the death curse towards Draco, narrowly missing his head by inches.
"What are your 'orders'?" Draco asked launching some ropes at him which Krum successfully flicked away with a wave of his wand.
"I hardly think you're in any position to ask such personal questions." Krum retorted using his buff body to slam against Draco's toppling them both hard onto the ground.
It quickly became a physical fight as Krum used his weight to keep Draco beneath him. Draco was not however helplessly weak, he right hooked Krum in the underside of his jaw causing him to tilter backwards.
Draco felt his knuckles split open as he aimed a sharp kick to the groin, Krum shouting in pain as he landed on his back. Draco didn't even reach for his wand as he delivered a few more painful punches to the face leaving him bloodied and bruised. Krum kneed Draco in the ribs with such force, Draco was sure he felt some ribs break. This momentary winding left Krum time to deliver a sharp blow to the head causing Draco to fall back. Draco managed to elbow Krum painfully in the nose, watching as blood spurted like a water fountain from his nose.
Krum pulled out a sharp long blade out of nowhere and brought it down smoothly against Draco's vulnerable side. Draco cried out feeling the cold surface of the blade tear deeply into his skin. He punched Krum hard in the gut as he wrestled for the blade turning it towards Krum and just managing to puncture the spot above his knee cap. Krum howled with pain as threw the blade randomly as he shrieked from his own pain. Draco had no time to dodge as the blade dug nicely like an arrow into his shoulder.
Draco peeled his eyes open weakly as he watched Krum hover above him also in a bad shape from Draco's blows.
"I did not send those threat letters. But you are a death eater scum and would do well to stay away from Ermyonie." Krum sneered before turning and limping out of the room.
Draco winced as he tried to move, feeling his chest break out into painful splinters of sharp agony. "Hermione!" he shouted as loudly as he could feeling blood leak from several places as he crawled towards the door. "Hermione!"
Hermione grew anxious as she waited for Draco to return from his search of Viktor's return. She was about to get up to look for him when she heard his footsteps returning from his hunt.
"Did you find him?" she asked skeptically. "Honestly, I really think we should just tell him if his friend hasn't returned by next week, he's going to have to leave."
Hermione felt the hairs on her back stand as she slowly began to turn her head. The footsteps had stopped but she could feel someone standing behind her. "Draco?"
She felt a strong grip clamp over her mouth and nose with a mask filling her lungs with the most dizzying and intoxicating scent ever. She tried screaming but all she could inhale was the draining gas being forced upon her. She kicked out crying but the attacker from behind held her head to the mask tightly. She reached her hands behind her trying to loosen the grip to no avail. The grip was vise like around her.
The struggle was short as she felt unconsciousness consume and overtake her.
Draco fell down the stairs in his attempt to walk landing hard at the bottom. "Hermione," his raspy breath whispered as he dragged himself along the floor.
He grunted as he sat up with extreme difficulty and pain. He looked around, feeling fear as he saw no sign of Hermione.
He shouted once more for her before just managing to reach the fireplace. He knocked down the bowl of powder grabbing a handful and shouting out Potter Manor in a wheezy breath before letting the dizzying flames teleport him.
"James Potter you get yourself over here right now! I don't have time to chase you around constantly at every hour of every day!" Ginny shouted.
Draco heard laughter and little footsteps come thumping to wear he lay in the fireplace.
"James go get ready for bed." Harry said sternly also chasing their little one around the house. "This isn't funny James! It's late and way past your bedtime!" The tiny footsteps skidded to as top before he screamed out in horror.
"Uncle Dwaco!" James said shrilly pointing a shaky finger at the fireplace.
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked tiredly as he too entered the room. He stopped short behind his son before snapping into action. "James get into bed now. We'll be right over."
James didn't argue this time as his tiny feet scrambled away. Harry followed rushed towards Draco followed by Ginny who helped Draco out of the fireplace laying him down on the couch.
"What the hell happened? Where's Hermione?" Harry asked.
"Shut up Harry!" Ginny snapped grabbing floo powder. "He needs medical attention not auror interrogation!"
Harry helped Draco to the fireplace before they arrived at St. Mungos. Everything was a blur for the next 4 hours as he was rushed to the ER and healed painfully from the broken bones as a serum was rubbed leaving a burning sensation on all his cuts.
Draco awoke again finding Ginny talking to some healers and Harry sitting in a chair beside his bed dismissing some aurors.
"What happened?" Harry asked seeing Draco was awake.
"Where's Hermione?" Draco demanded sitting up painfully. "Where is she?"
"What? You're not making sense Draco." Ginny said kindly pushing him back down. "You're making your healing ribs overwork. Lay down."
Draco felt fear overwhelm him, a fear he hadn't felt in a long time. Panic overtook him as his eyes darted around anxiously. "Hermione, we need to find her."
"Explain, Draco." Harry glancing at Ginny as Draco attempted to jump out of bed.
"No you don't," Ginny said shoving him back down. "You were badly injured."
Draco sighed in frustration as he hastily explained going through Viktor's room, to finding Viktor searching in their bedroom, to their fight to not finding Hermione downstairs.
"We sent aurors to your home to see if we could find any sign of what happened while they were operating on you." Harry began.
"And? Goddamn it! Where is Hermione?" Draco said in hysteria watching as Ginny and Harry shared another glance.
"Krum and Hermione were gone." Ginny said softly.
Draco felt the world pass in a blur as he sat back against his bed. He then struggled to jump out of his bed searching for his wand as he hastily fought off Harry and Ginny. He just had to find Hermione.
"Draco I know you want to find her but you need to rest. We'll figure something out." Harry said trying to mask his own panic.
Draco couldn't hear a thing as he struggled to stand wobbling slightly as he walked clumsily towards the door. Harry attempted to pull him back as forcefully as he could without injuring him further. Draco protested with all his strength as he forced his way towards the door.
A healer entered the room carrying an envelope before using her wand to gently force Draco back down in bed. "This came for Draco Malfoy."
"From who?" Harry asked taking the letter and handing it to Draco, one hand ensuring he lay where he was.
The healer shrugged. "Some cloaked man dropped it off before flooing away."
Draco all but tore open the letter as he yanked out the parchment.
One two, I see you.
Three four, lock the door.
Five six, I have what you'll most miss.
Seven eight, she's in the place you most hate.
Nine ten, will you see them again?
Author's Note
I know. I'm awful for the long wait. And for the cliffy…. :)
What do you think so far?