All rights to J.K. Rowling. Thanks to camnz.
Chapter Twenty-Three: Magic
"Let me in, Granger, or I will blast this house to pieces," snarled Pansy Parkinson from the doorway.
Hermione breathed a sighed of relief. The wards were holding. Pansy hadn't actually entered.
"Or I can always blast your Muggle neighbors' houses to pieces," Pansy threatened.
Hermione scanned her home quickly. She wanted to isolate Pansy from her Muggle neighbors and her children at the same time.
"Why, Pansy Parkinson, fancy meeting you here," Astoria drawled.
"Cut the act. I know who you really are, Hermione Granger." Pansy looked furious, very unbalanced. "Now, let me in."
Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin, thought Hermione, but when Pansy waved her wand to destroy the beautiful weeping willow in the front yard, she changed her mind.
"Certainly, let me just lower the wards for you," she said hospitably. And she did lower the ward to the front door, but not before she had waved her wand whispering Protego Totalum to cast a shield around the spacious entryway and added a quick Fianto Duri to strengthen it. There was no way she would permit Pansy to reach her children. Pansy was now trapped in the entryway of the Granger house, and Hermione was trapped with her.
"However did you find me?" she asked Pansy.
Pansy grinned with self-satisfaction, "I'm much smarter than you know, darling Astoria. I know this is Hermione Granger's old home. It took me awhile, but knowing your true name made it easier."
Keep her talking. She might forget to use her wand.
"Deprimo!"
No such luck, thought Hermione as an explosion caused the walls to fall inward. Wait... inward?
"Mura Erecto!" she counteracted. The walls lifted back into place. That was the spell she thought she should have tried when the chimney fell on her ten years before, ending her life as Hermione.
"How did you find out who I am?" Keep her talking, she thought again.
"Draco let it slip in the office. It was the day the magazine first came out," Pansy smiled smugly.
"Confringo!" She attempted to zing Hermione with sparks of fire from her wand.
"Protego!" The sparks bounced back to explode on Pansy.
Hermione was beginning to put it all together.
"So, have you also been acting as Suzette Jones, Pansy? It looks like we both have two identities, don't we?"
"Obscuro!" Drat! Now Hermione couldn't see!
"Stupefy!" Hermione knew she would miss her target since she couldn't see Pansy anywhere. She pointed her wand at herself. "Finite Incantum!" Ah, much better.
Pansy waved her wand and Suzette Jones stood before Hermione.
"Draco wants me, Astoria, so you can leave now." Then she lifted her wand.
"Avada-"
"Expelliarmus!" interrupted Hermione quickly. Pansy's wand flew into her hand. She breathed a sigh of relief, but Pansy shrieked and ran toward her, hands out to grab Astoria's hair, neck, wand, whatever she could hurt.
Hermione heard a pop and another pop. Draco and Harry had arrived in the kitchen. They ran to Hermione with their wands drawn. Unfortunately, both Draco and Harry bounced off Hermione's shield and landed on the floor. Hermione might have laughed, except Pansy was in her face. She stunned Pansy. She added a Petrificus Totalus for good measure. Then she called out Partis Temporus to open the shield for Draco and Harry.
"It's Suzette Jones!" said Draco in surprise as he gazed on his wife's attacker, now stiff as a board on the floor.
"That's what you think. Specialis Revelio!" Hermione pointed her wand at Suzette Jones, and she began to transform back into Pansy Parkinson.
"Pansy is Suzette? Did she take Polyjuice Potion?" Draco's shocked face made Hermione laugh. Harry's jaw dropped as well.
"I don't know. Maybe she used glamour charms. It makes sense, though. Suzette was arm in arm with Mr. Parkinson at his house party, gossiping away about the guests. How would she know those things unless she was Pansy? It also explains why Suzette didn't care about losing her job. She wasn't really Suzette. And it explains her desperation to publicly get into bed with you, Draco. This woman is something else."
It also explained Draco's strange, almost blind trust in Suzette's abilities and integrity. He had known her. And she had known him. Pansy had been one of Draco's oldest friends.
Hermione lowered the shield and repaired the remaining damage in the entryway with her wand. Harry moved to secure Pansy with magical bindings and then checked to see that Hermione was fine.
"Do we have to modify any Muggle memories?" asked Harry.
"I don't think so. I tried to keep everything contained in this room."
"You haven't lost your touch, Astoria Malfoy," said Harry with a glance at the petrified and bound Pansy Parkinson. Draco grimaced and turned to reset the wards.
Hermione grinned back at Harry, twirled her wand, and stuck it in the back pocket of her blue jeans. "It's been awhile." Then she added, "Come back here as soon as you can, Harry. I have something really important to show you."
They said their good-byes, and Harry left with Pansy. It looked like Azkaban was in Pansy's future now. In relief, Hermione threw her arms around Draco. Now that all the action was over, she was beginning to shake. Draco held her tightly and bent to kiss her, but she quickly stopped him.
"Draco, which message did you receive first? The text, the phone call, or the Patronus? I want to know which is the most reliable."
"The Patronus, of course. I ...um...forgot to turn on the Muggle Smartphone."
Hermione laughed and pulled him back into the kitchen.
"Draco, come see the next magazine. You have to give your approval."
Draco sat down in an armchair near the window and began examining Magical Parenting Today thoughtfully, turning pages very slowly. Hermione left to go upstairs and find the children, Anna, and Roy. She discovered them with trembling wands in hand, ready to defend the secret fort. Relief spread over their faces when they saw Astoria's smile.
The two fell into each other's arms, and the children rushed into their mother's.
"All clear. Harry Potter just apprehended Pansy Parkinson," announced Astoria.
The fort in Cassie's expandable closet was very large and very secret, a wonderful place for imaginative play. Of course, right now the children weren't playing. They had been sitting quietly, a bit scared from the shouting and loud noises downstairs; fortunately, Gemmie had slept through it all. After hugs and kisses, Hermione invited the children to have cookies and milk downstairs. She turned on the baby monitor, but changed her mind and picked Gemmie up instead. She really didn't want to leave her baby alone upstairs right now. She wanted to hold her close. Hermione led the way downstairs with Anna and Roy following behind her children. She was surprised when Draco began a conversation with Roy.
"Thomas? Any relation to Dean Thomas? He was a Chaser for Gryffindor, I think."
"Yes, sir. He's my father."
"Your father? Was he a kid when you were born?"
"I guess so," responded Roy, blushing.
"So, you are the genius behind this magazine, eh?"
"Not really, I just do the layout and graphic design."
"That's what I mean. And apparently, you write as well." Draco indicated the article on Muggle technology. "I might have some advertising work for you, Thomas."
"You can't steal Roy from me! Tell us, what do you think of Magical Parenting, No. 2, Draco?" queried Hermione, holding the baby in one arm while feeding the children their cookies and milk with the other.
"Hmph. I wouldn't have thought it was Zabini's type of thing."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Did you see the Pureblood etiquette article? Cho wrote it."
"I cannot believe my mother would give her permission to have her photograph appear in this magazine. I cannot believe my father would approve."
"Maybe it's more damage control." They both sighed at the thought of the horrid Witch Weekly expose'.
"We could delete Mrs. Malfoy's photo, but I believe she gives the article credibility," piped up Anna.
"I can't stand it, but who am I to complain? Let's check with my mother. I wish we had a bloody floo here."
"Now that Pansy has been captured, we could return to the Manor, right?" They looked at each other with relief.
"Draco, did you see my name as executive editor? Should we drop it?"
"I don't see why you should drop it. Everyone knows that Astoria Malfoy is the brains behind this project anyway."
Hermione's eyes widened. He said yes! Astoria Malfoy's name could be listed as editor! "And did you read the Muggle technology article?"
"Of course. I'm okay with printing it."
Was this Draco speaking? Hermione's face lit up. She began to beam. "You don't think it will be dangerous?"
"I'm going to trust your gut feelings that it will be safe. If you are wrong, then yes, you'll be in danger. From me." Draco sounded threatening, but there was a twinkle in his eye, so Hermione smiled back. Anna and Roy were looking uncomfortably from Draco to Astoria trying to figure out what exactly they were hearing, but Scorpius and Cassie grinned at their parents from the table. Orion and Leo were oblivious to the conversation since their cookies were currently dueling at the table.
"You can't print it yet, though. Give me a week. Maybe two."
"Why do you need a week, Draco? What are you going to do?"
"I'm launching a new business."
"You are?"
"WizTeC. Wizard Telephone Communications."
"What?" squealed Hermione as she glanced at Anna and Roy, "Are you joking? Why?"
"I've had the Muggle Smartphone and your friend's article for a couple of week now. I've had some time to think about this. Thomas, do you want to remind my wife about the dangers of the Muggle Smartphone?"
Roy Thomas took a deep breath like a schoolboy before reciting, "Muggles have the capability to track the witches and wizards who have used Smartphones, and they could potentially infiltrate our world or witness our magic through the camera or facetalking calls. Our privacy and secrecy would fly out the window."
Draco broke in, "However, if we start up a Wizard business for Wizards' Smartphones, we could use Muggle technology, but keep our information and locations magically protected from the Muggle population. I plan to run three ads for the new business in your magazine this issue and also in the Daily Prophet, but first..."
Hermione squealed and threw herself at Draco. "I can't believe it! I can't believe this! Why are you changing your mind? Do you really think it's worth all the fuss of the past few months? Do you really believe in it? This is amazing!"
Draco smiled grimly. "Look at it logically, Astoria. If Malfoy assets are frozen, I need to make money somehow. This is an opportunity too good to pass up." To Roy and Anna, he said pointedly, "Astoria is right about one thing: it all boils down to the latest trends."
Anna looked confused. "But if your money is frozen by the Ministry, how can you afford to start a new business?"
The Malfoys stared at her blankly. Roy poked her with his elbow. "They've hidden money from the Ministry," he whispered to Anna.
"Oh," Anna looked embarrassed.
Just then Harry apparated back in. "You wanted to show me something, Mrs. Malfoy?"
"Harry Potter!" shouted the children, running from the table to hug him. "Can Albus and Lily come to play?" Draco eyed the stampede with distaste.
"Soon. Not today, children, but soon," Harry promised.
"Come over here, and Harry, get a load of this! I've already shown this to Roy and Anna." Hermione opened her laptop to Earthwatch and located her Muggle home. It showed up with a view from the sky and one from the street. Next she located Malfoy Manor. Draco blinked and turned pale, if that were possible. She tried Number 12 Gimmauld Place, but it turned out to be just a terribly skinny house squeezed between Numbers 10 and 14. Diagon Alley was just a small thin lane. Everyone oohed and aahed over her shoulder, but Hermione said, "Hang on, watch this..."
She zoomed close to Hogsmeade and then floundered around a bit before latching onto Hogwarts! Hermione clicked to make the fuzzy castle shrink into the mountains, then Scotland, then the UK, then Europe, then the world. She zoomed back into Europe, the UK, Scotland, the mountains, then Hogwarts! It was blurry, but undeniably their old school.
"Harry, Muggle technology can find us. The International Statute of Wizard Secrecy has been violated, and it's our own fault. Wizards haven't been paying attention to Muggle advances in technology."
Harry whistled. Draco looked impressed, but also anxious. He did not at all like the fact that Malfoy Manor could be seen from Earthwatch. Anna's eyes were large, but Roy was unsurprised. He nodded his head and joined the conversation.
"What the Ministry needs to know is that the castle is exposed to Muggle satellite photos," Roy said. "They can't make Hogwarts invisible to satellite if they don't even know the Muggle technology exists. This is a picture from space. We need to put up more magical shields to hide our Wizarding communities from those cameras."
"I'm going to the Ministry of Magic with this," declared Harry. "I think the Minister will be very interested in what you four have to show him."