Hey Guys. I just wanted to say that I am so sorry that this chapter took so long. Also, my writing might not be the best in this chapter. Sadly, my grandfather passed away on Friday, November 19, 2021, and we just buried him yesterday. He meant so much to me and losing him may have affected my writing. So, I apologize if this chapter isn't the best. I do hope you enjoy it, though and please be sure to try to leave a Review.

September 16, 1998

Two weeks into the start of term, Slytherin and Gryffindor were both holding their Quidditch team tryouts on Saturday afternoon. The weather was perfect for quidditch. Light wind, slightly overcast to keep out the glare of the sun and a slight, crisp edge in the air that made it easy to breathe.

Draco and Hermione were walking out to the Pitch, holding hands when Draco spoke up, "Why don't you sit in the Gryffindor stands instead of the Slytherin ones? I know you said that you wanted to show me support but I'd feel better if you weren't up there with…them." He frowned, eyeing the Slytherin spectator's towers. Each were filled with packs of Slytherins.

Hermione looked over at the towers and caught sight of Wolfe with a few of his lackeys and Goyle. The group was watching them from their spots in the green tower.

"All right." She said, nodding as she squeezed Draco's hand.

Everyone enjoyed watching the tryouts to see what happened to the people who turned out to not only be horrible at Quidditch but were barely capable of staying on a broom. When it turned out that two rivaling houses were having their tryouts on the same day, loads of students gathered in the stands to watch, hoping to see action of some sort.

"This should be interesting." Draco muttered, seeing some of the students trying out for Slytherin eyeing the Gryffindor tryouts that were already taking place.

Ginny was fifty feet in the air, with her wand aimed at her throat, magnifying her voice.

"Go ahead, Theesfeld." She told Nate Theesfeld, a fifth year with broad shoulders who hit a Bludger toward Harry as he flew by.

Harry just barely dodged it, but rather than being mad, he smirked and nodded to Ginny, impressed.

Draco kissed Hermione once before jogging over to join Theo and Blaise. Blaise looked at the roster and nodded, "McDuff!" He said, holding his wand to his throat and a rather small fifth year bloke ran over.

"Right here." He said eagerly, "Hunter McDuff, that is." He smiled at them, Firebolt in hand.

Blaise nodded with a raised brow, "You're trying out for Keeper?"

The bloke nodded.

"Why not Seeker?" Blaise asked, eyeing McDuff's small physique.

"I've always played Keeper." Hunter shrugged.

"All right, then." Blaise said, making a note on his board before saying, "Dara Macey?"

A girl, who everyone took a second look at, stepped forward. She was beautiful to be sure, but she also had a fierceness to her that rivaled that of Ginny Weasley. While her dark features were nothing like the only Weasley girl, Macey still had a daring flare in her eyes that was unmistakable.

"Chaser, ey?" Blaise smirked, seeing the edge she had.

She nodded, "Yea."

He grinned, "We'll see how you do." He said, though he had no doubt of her capabilities.

After going through the names, they all took to the sky, hovering near the goal posts.

"Draco, let's give McDuff and this other bloke trying out for Keeper…Angel Vastano, a real workout, yea?" Blaise smirked, spinning the Quaffle on the tip of his finger.

Draco chuckled and nodded.

Hermione watched as the teams both tried out their potential new members. She felt someone sit by her side and looked to see Luna and Pansy sitting there.

"Hey. So how are they doing?" Pansy asked, nodding toward the Slytherin team tryouts.

"They've just started. Right now, they are working on Keepers." Hermione replied.

Pansy nodded, "I get the feeling that Draco and Blaise are going to torment those blokes trying out for Keeper."

Luna tilted her head before nodding in agreement. "It does appear that Blaise is throwing the Quaffle a bit harder than necessary."

Pansy huffed a bit before looking over at where her boyfriend was playing the Keeper for the Gryffindor team. Ron swerved and blocked the Quaffle as a shot was attempted by one of the female students trying out.

"All right! Next Chaser, Birgit Villars!" Ginny said, looking at the group of Chaser tryouts.

Hermione looked away from the sound of her friend's voice and over at the small, distant hovering figure of her blonde boyfriend. Draco was talking to Theo as a girl in their group of tryouts flew over and said something to them.

Hermione noticed how she flipped her hair as she talked to Draco and could tell, even in the distance, that she was attempting to flirt.

Draco simply nodded and flew over to Blaise. Blaise made some sort of mark on his board before flying down to the ground to speak with another person.

Half an hour later, Gryffindor was done with their tryouts, and they had disbanded.

Harry, Ron and Ginny joined the others in the stands after they took their showers in the Gryffindor locker room.

After another an hour and a half, the Slytherin tryouts were over, and Draco, Theo and Blaise headed to the locker room to take showers.

"What do you think about Mia Birman for Seeker?" Blaise asked from his own shower.

Draco nodded, "She found that Snitch rather quickly every single time and didn't get too distracted with the Bludgers coming at her. I'd say she's a good fit."

Blaise grinned, nodding. "Yea, me too."

"I think Bancroft was the best Beater you could ask for to team up with Theo." Draco said.

"Yea. I think Lucas is a great pick." Theo added, speaking up from his on shower a few stalls down.

Lucas Bancroft was the only other Eighth Year to try out for the team and he was rather shy, but he and Theo got along splendidly. Being that they were dormmates, that was a very good thing.

"So, we've got, Birman as Seeker, Vastano as Keeper, Theo and Bancroft as our Beaters, and me, Draco, and Dara Macey as our Chasers."

"Oh yea. Definitely, Dara. She's like a brunette Ginny Weasley." Theo chuckled. "I think she could kill us with a glare."

Blaise laughed, "I have to agree." He said as he stepped out of his shower and dried off.

"I think McDuff should be the Reserve Keeper and Reserve Seeker." Draco said, as he stepped out of his shower and grabbed his own towel, drying off. "And that bloke…Alexander Rosetti. He should be the Reserve Beater."

"Oh, that one girl, erm…Rodrigo…I think her first name is Justine…I think. She should be the Reserve Chaser." Theo said as he too dried off.

They got dressed while discussing possible plays for the first practice.

"We should use that miniature Quidditch Pitch. Did you bring it?" Blaise as Draco.

The Blonde wizard nodded, "I did. I'll bring it out here tomorrow."

"I was thinking that perhaps we ought to have a double practice next Sunday." Blaise said.

"Oh Merlin, you 're going to be a pain in the arse of a Captain, aren't you?" Draco mumbled, carrying his broom out of the locker rooms.

He was surprised to see Hermione and Luna, waiting for them.

"Hey, I thought you would have gone on up to lunch." Draco said, reaching out to grab her hand as Luna walked with Theo and Blaise.

She shook her head, "No. I wanted to walk with you."

He smiled, "Next time, you should just come into the locker room. Just stay out of the showers." He smirked.

She laughed, "That would really test my friendship with Blaise and Theo. I'd rather not see them naked."

"I'd rather you not see them naked either." He smirked.

She laughed as they entered the castle.

After lunch, Draco and Hermione grabbed their school bags and headed to the library together. They each had a few assignments that they needed to finish.

The couple found a secluded table in the back of the library and sat down. They worked in silence. Draco worked on his Transfiguration Essay, read his Muggle Studies chapters, and studied a bit for his Potions project with Blaise.

When he finished all the things he needed to get done for school, he pulled out the leather binder Rocco had given him and began to research the Magic Restoration Potion.

While he read through the research Rocco and Dario had done, he thought of something that might help and pulled out the MAC from his pocket.

Rocco and Dario,

I've been looking through the research and have found that you never tried to add Fire Seeds to the potion. They promote healing from curses so they might be a good addition.

What do either of you think?

Draco

He slipped the MAC back into his chest pocket and looked over at Hermione. Her brow was furrowed as she read something, deep in concentration.

He smiled to himself and watched her for a moment before standing up. He walked over to the nearest bookshelves and looked to see what books were there.

Hermione, deeply focused on her schoolwork, noticed the movement out of the corner of her eye and turned her head. She noticed him scanning the books and smiled before turning back to her work.

Once she had finished her Ancient Runes Essay and her Advanced Arithmancy Studies Assignment, Hermione put her books up and stretched her arms above her head.

"Are you finished?" Draco asked, looking up from the book he had found about healing curses that affected generations of families.

She nodded, "Yes." Before noticing the leather binder, "What's that?"

Draco followed her line of sight and nodded, "That's the research Rocco Reid and Dario have done on the Magic Restoration Potion. I came up with an idea and sent them a note a moment ago."

"How?" She asked.

"Dario gave me a MAC. He connected his MAC and Rocco's to mine so that the three of us can contact each other whenever and no one else could see." He replied

"What did you find?"

"Well, you know about Fire Seeds, right?"

Hermione nodded, "Yes, of course. They're known for being used in the Antidote to the Uncommon Poisons. Do you think they would be a good addition to the potion?"

He nodded, "They emit a certain type of magic boosting energy along with their heat. I think they may help the potion. I hope they are the answer though I'm not sure."

She smiled, "That's wonderful, Draco." She said, "You truly are going to make a brilliant Healer, love."

He smiled, blushing slightly, "Thank you."

The couple gathered their things and headed back to the Eighth Year Dormitories.

During Dinner that evening, Warden Ashford asked Draco and Hermione to follow him to the Headmistress's office.

They both followed without question, ignoring the confused and curious looks from other students.

When they arrived in the office, they found Narcissa in there with Professor McGonagall.

"Mother." Draco said, surprised, "Are you all right?" he asked with concern.

"Oh yes. Quite all right, dear. I've just brought this box of things from Jean and Hayden. They believe these items could help with the search." She said, placing her hand on a cardboard box that was set on top of the desk.

Hermione nodded "Thank you, Narcissa." She said, eyeing the box curiously.

"Of course, dear. I want to help in whatever way I can." She said, hugging Hermione before hugging Draco, "I need to get back to the Manor. Do let me know if this helped. I'll be going to the bookstore we discussed tomorrow morning."

Draco nodded and grabbed the box as his mother disappeared into green flames.

They bid farewell to the Headmistress before going to the Eighth Year Dorms, wanting to look through it immediately.

When they got to Draco's room, they set the box on the table and took off their cloaks.

Draco set his wand on the bed while Hermione put her hair up in a ponytail to keep it out of her face. She was nervous but eager to look through the box and potentially find answers.

Draco opened the box and recognized the top item. It was the framed picture of Hermione and her Grandad making the fierce lion faces at the camera. She had shown it to him while they were at her house during the summer, when she had first explained to Draco how close she and Leonardo had been.

He held it out to Hermione and her lips formed a small, sorrowful smile.

He turned towards her and touched her arm, "We'll find him, love."

She nodded and set it on the table before looking back in the box. They looked through the paperwork. One piece was a receipt from a storage unit that Leonardo had rented, however it had expired.

"If the lease has expired, they would have sold the storage unit." Hermione explained, "Along with everything it contained. He wouldn't have hidden it somewhere like that. Not with it being as important as it is."

Draco nodded and they continued to filter through all of the items and paperwork.

"There's nothing here." Hermione sighed an hour later when they had finished looking through the box.

Draco shook his head and looked once more at the framed picture of the younger Hermione and her grandfather. They did have a similar energy, even in the still, muggle photograph. His smile was just as bright as the six-year-old's that was sitting on his lap.

"Well, perhaps there's something at Timeless Tomes that mother will find." He said.

She sighed, nodding but didn't feel much hope for that possibility.

Hermione went to bed that night with the framed picture on her bedside table. Her dreams were filled with memories of the happy times she had as a child, playing with her grandfather.

September 17, 1998

During the first Slytherin Quidditch Practice on Sunday, Draco and Theo were helping Blaise demonstrate a play when they heard someone shout, "Bloody hell, that's Viktor Krum!"

Draco turned his head and sure enough, Viktor Krum was walking over to the other side of the pitch, where Hermione was sitting with Ginny and Pansy. Krum was carrying a bouquet of pink roses and a wrapped gift.

Draco clenched his jaw as he watched the scene from the air. He couldn't hear them, but he hated the view.

Krum walked over to Hermine and smiled, "Hello Hermione."

Hermione couldn't believe that he was actually there and with flowers no less. A gift was too much to begin with, but for him to bring her flowers all the while knowing that she was in a relationship…she was completely taken by surprise. An unwelcome surprise at that.

"Viktor, hi. I erm…I can't accept these but that's very kind of you."

He shook his head, "Please. We always said that I'd see you on your birthdays. I couldn't show up empty handed."

She swallowed, grateful that Ginny and Pansy remained by her side.

"It's a book. 'Hogwarts, A History' First Edition." He said with a grin, "I thought you'd like it and I know how much you love roses."

"I think she's partial to the roses that Draco gives her, mate." Blaise said, landing by the girls in a protective manner that no one usually saw from him. "Since he is her boyfriend. You on the other hand are not her boyfriend."

Krum furrowed his brow, confusion turning into another emotion that resembled anger.

Draco quickly flew over and landed nearby. "Blaise." He muttered, knowing his friend well.

Blaise shook his head, "I think Krum here is trying to bust in on your relationship, Draco."

Hermione couldn't believe what she was seeing. Blaise never acted this way or well, she had never witnessed it even though Draco had always said Blaise was rather protective. Seeing it was an entirely different experience.

"I've got it, mate." Draco muttered to his best friend.

Blaise glared at Krum for another moment before meeting Draco's eyes and nodding.

Blaise backed away but not too far.

Hermione stepped forward, "Thank you, Viktor, but like I said, I can't accept these."

Krum sniffed angrily and nodded, "Well, I suppose I'll just see you in class then." He said with an edge Hermione had never heard from the wizard before. Krum had always been kind to her but the tone he currently used was anything but.

"What do you mean?" Hermione asked.

Krum met her eyes before looking at Draco, "I'll be guest-teaching the Flying courses all week." He replied before looking back at her, "See you then." He added, turning on his heal and going up to the castle.

"Bloody fucking hell." Blaise muttered, "I do not like that bloke."

Draco inhaled deeply and clenched his jaw as he watched the Bulgarian Seeker strut off.

Hermione swallowed and stepped closer to Draco while Ginny and Pansy backed away a bit.

"Draco." She said, nervously.

He turned his head, meeting her eyes. He could see the concern there and winked, "It's okay, love." He said, reassuringly. "Blaise and I have Herbology during your Flying Class on Wednesdays. This week, our lesson is outside of the greenhouse. We're searching the grounds and identifying different species of plants. I really think Professor Sprout is about ready to retire. She's just looking for ways to get us out of her hair." Draco explained

"But that does mean that we can crash a certain Flying Course." Blaise remarked, seeing where his friend was leading.

Draco nodded, looking at Krum's shrinking back as he neared the castle entrance. "And I think we just might do that."

It was nearly seven that evening when Draco and Hermione got back to Draco's dorm. Draco pulled her close and kissed her deeply as she threaded her fingers through his hair.

Without either intending to do so, they ended up on the bed. Draco was above her, kissing her lips passionately as she hummed and kissed him back with the same intensity.

Draco's right hand moved to her hip and gripped it right before they heard footsteps nearing the door. Hermione grabbed her wand from her pocked and waved it. The curtains quickly shut around them, encasing them in a cocoon of darkness.

They listened as the footsteps grew closer, Hermione biting her bottom lip. She watched Draco, whose eyes were tilted upwards, concentrating on the sound of the footsteps, hoping to Merlin that it wasn't Blaise.

They both let out a breath of relief when the footsteps continued past his dorm.

He leaned back into her and kissed her lips, tilting his head as his hips unintentionally ground into hers.

She moaned and his jaw clenched in arousal.

His lips trailed along her jaw, down her neck and to her collarbone.

"Dra…Draco…" She said before swallowing, "Wait."

He pulled back, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…"

"It's okay." She said, quickly cutting him off, "Trust me. I'm not stopping you because I dislike it. I'm stopping you because I want to wait until Tuesday night." She said and Draco felt as if his magic had stuttered a bit.

"What?" He asked, feeling like a fool.

She smirked, "I want to wait until Tuesday. You had said that Blaise would be sleeping somewhere else, so we'd have the entire dorm to ourselves all night. I don't want to rush like we'd have to right now."

He swallowed, clearly still struggling before he finally nodded, "Oh…okay then…yea…yes, I mean. Okay."

She smiled and cupped his jaw, "You can breathe, you know." She said with smirk forming on her lips.

He blushed and nodded, swallowing before speaking coherently for once, "What erm…what would you like for dinner on Tuesday?"

She smiled and looked thoughtful before shrugging, "Don't get me wrong, romantic and fancy meals are great, but I really just wasn't to relax in here with you and then…I want you."

And once again Draco was at a loss for words.