A/N: I am not one for long drawn out author's notes but I wanted to take a moment and say thank you for the reviews, follows and wonderful support so far. I wanted to say also that I will be posting the remaining chapters weekly each Sunday evening. Thanks again!

Chapter 4

Several weeks had gone by and Hermione had successfully managed to avoid Draco Malfoy for the most part. Despite the digging she had done, she could find nothing suspicious about Compton Enterprises and their current planned project with Frankford Foundation but that did not rid her of continued suspicions. The company's public image was impeccable. Founded in the United States, they specialized in potion and technology innovation. What she did find interesting in her research was that they had developed a patent for a new Wolfsbane potion.
Sitting in her home office, there was a tapping on her window that interrupted her reading. She opened the hatch and let in the familiar owl that belonged to her boss. The beautiful barn owl dropped an envelope on her desk as it flew to the nearby perch for a rest, giving out a soft "hoo hoo" in greeting.
She recognized the scrawling penmanship of her boss's secretary, reading:

Hermione,

Meeting at the office, 5 tonight. Need to go over new rehabilitation project .

- Z. Frankford

Nodding to herself she wrote back a confirmation and sent the owl on it's way. Hermione put the case files she had been working on in her desk and locked them up. The meeting was not for a couple more hours so she took a shower and changed into a pair of black slacks and an ivory silk blouse. Forgoing any make-up, she straightened her hair with a quick spell.

Satisfied with her reflection, Hermione took off. She arrived at the Apparition point just outside building shortly before 5 o'clock. Unfortunately, Draco had apparently arrived at the same time. She should have known when her boss had sent the message concerning the project he would have been invited as well.

"You again," she said disapprovingly.

"Is that excitement I hear in your voice? Say, have you been missing me, Granger?" he remarked. Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed past him as they made their way to the elevator. She would have tried to shut the doors, forcing him to ride separately but Draco must have sensed as much and was too quick for her to press the button.

When the doors parted, Hermione stopped in her tracks at the sound of commotion. She heard guttural screams that abruptly stopped in equally disturbing silence. Instinctively she reached for her wand and noticed Draco had done the same.

The sounds of snarling echoed in the empty floor but they were coming from Frankford's office. The wizard and witch made eye contact before silently moving forward, wands poised as they approached.

Hermione moved until she was crouching just outside the door frame of her boss's door. From her line of vision Hermione saw a trail of blood and the lifeless body of Zachariah Frankford. His dead eyes were still open wide with terror and Hermione had to look away from the terrible sight.

"Don't move," Draco breathed in her ear. To her surprise, Draco quickly stood upright and put himself in the door, putting himself between her and whatever still lurked in the room.

Hermione didn't listen and got behind him. She gasped and Draco staggered back slightly. The former occupant's lamp had been pushed off the desk, casting sharp shadows all through the room. In the corner stood a cloaked figure. Hermione could not make out it's features save for the glowing yellow eyes peering back at them. The witch could feel the hair on her arms stand on end, adrenaline pumping through her veins.

The figure lurched out the of the way just as Draco yelled out, "STUPEFY!"

The spell missed its target, who's reflexes supernaturally fast. There was a deafening roar and an unseen force knocked both of them backwards and off their feet. There was no time to recover, suddenly the figure had Draco pinned against the ground. Using his knee to push back against the creature, there was just enough space for Hermione to cast an incendio spell without him getting caught in the attack.

A jet of fire ensnared the being and it doubled back in pain, swatting at the flames. In its rage, it lifted up the nearby office desk and threw it at them. Draco tackled Hermione to the ground as they both dodged the hurtling furniture. The massive desk hit the nearby wall and splintered into pieces.

And then they were alone.

"Harry, I promise I'm fine," Hermione said although she was visiblily shaken by what had just transpired. She didn't remember calling for the Aurors and assumed Draco must have been the one. When the team of wizards arrived, Harry and Neville were among them.

The pair were standing off to the side of the scene while a blur of commotion around them ensued as professionals of various departments came in to take care of the bloodbath inside her late boss's office.

"When we got the word that the crime location was your office, Neville and I got here as soon as we could," Harry said. His green eyes shone with relief but as his gaze shifted to Draco across the room instantly narrowed. "What was he doing here? Did Malfoy have something to do with this?"

She shook her head, surprising herself by the truth. She told Harry about the meeting and the attack, adding, "He actually tried to protect me. Whatever it was that attacked was very quick, I'm not sure what would have happened if he had not been here."

Hermione could see two mediwitches hovering over Draco as he swatted them away. Another Auror was beside him, asking questions for the crime scene report.

"What was it that attacked you?" He asked. "Did you get a look at his face?"

Hermione closed her eyes and the scene flashed across her mind. She tried to remember the details but there was nothing. There was only one thing she could recall. "It's eyes, they were a glowing yellow. But that's all I could see, it kept to the shadows and wore a cloak. It was over so quickly."

Harry nodded. He could tell that there was nothing more his friend could offer and so instead he gave her a tight hug, still relieved that she was unharmed. She bit back the urge to cry, the full acceptance of her boss's murder hitting her as she realized it almost very nearly was her laying dead on the floor beside him.

That night, Harry and Neville escorted Hermione home where Ginny, George and even Ron were waiting for her. Surrounded by her friends, she felt safe that night.

But before Hermione left the office she had glanced around for Draco, who had slipped away when she wasn't looking. Despite her inclinations to generally despise Draco, Hermione still found herself now wondering where he was and if he too had someone to keep him company after such a hellacious evening. The concern she felt was unexpected and continued to linger even as the hours crept on into the night.

What Hermione could not have imagined though, was that elsewhere in the city, Draco was having the same thoughts of her. Sleep had evaded him as it did on most nights and while his bed remained untouched, the bottle of firewhiskey on the nearby bar cart did not. It wasn't the best remedy for his nightmares and episodes of panic but it helped dull their intensity.

His spacious flat had a large window that spanned an entire wall. From it, he overlooked all of downtown London. The busy lights of traffic were comforting to him, reminding him of the fireflies that used to dance outside his room back home. Very few people knew Draco had taken up residence in the city, least of all that he would have chosen a place so congested with Muggles.

But there were also even fewer people Draco called friends, noting the slow wane of social invitations from his former schoolmates over the years. When Draco made his return to the UK after years abroad it had not even crossed his mind to reach out to anyone from his past.

He sighed quietly, feeling the heavy burden of his memories mingle with the stress of what had happened earlier in his evening. Once he had been thoroughly questioned and cleared by the overly eager mediwitches, Draco had slipped away unnoticed. He saw Hermione being comforted by Harry Potter and the sight of his childhood nemesis made heat rise up his neck with a mixture of annoyance and discomfort.

Saved for some singed hair from Hermione's incendio spell and bruises from the fall, he was otherwise fine. Draco knew that it could have been far worse. He was reluctant to admit the thoughts that had crossed his mind in those moments of terror.

Protect her. Protect her at whatever cost.

He wasn't sure of what origin the conviction sprang from only that it possessed Draco to put himself between the creature and the woman he had once fought against. The same witch he had once said such horrible things to, speaking words that now carried the burden of shame. He was not one to typically throw himself into danger, preferring to weigh the costs in his head before acting.

And yet this impulse overrode his nature. Draco mulled over his thoughts, unwillingly to identify the emotions that were stirred.