Awaking was a different experience now, all soft edges of awareness and slow, sleepy yawns. Pleasant even. Hermione burrowed deeper in her pillows and shifted her comforter up around her shoulder for warmth before remembering that she had fallen asleep in the wee hours with company. She felt the silence, the lack of a warm body, the loneliness of only her own breath and heartbeat. A glance around found an empty room, one that was slightly cluttered and lit with the soft warm glow of sunrise.
She hadn't expected to fall asleep, with Malfoy curled up in her lap every single nerve of hers on high alert from his presence. Yet, no sooner had she closed her eyes, than sleep had crept in, alertness fading into a warm feeling of safety and contentment. She sighed and stretched lazily, wondering if she had gotten under the covers herself or if Malfoy had been the one to tuck her in. Wasn't that a mental image? Malfoy carefully pulling the covers over her, maybe giving her a gentle chaste kiss on the forehead. On the opposite pillow from her head was a single lovely rose, so blue it almost glowed, the exact shade of her magic.
If the gift made her smile sleepily and gather the slightly dented pillow close to her to breathe in a comforting scent left behind by the boy who had slept there, well no one would know but her. If she lounged in her bed longer than was her habit, cocooned in soft blankets and warm thoughts about a boy, it was her secret. If the thought of seeing that boy again filled her stomach with butterflies and put a giddy smile on her face, well that was her business. If she was a little too cheery for a woman who was planning on taking on the full force of the ministry today, well people could just assume it was confidence in her abilities.
Malfoy had mentioned in his letter that his legal team's challenge to the law was to be submitted today. She'd never actually agreed to the challenge, her concerns had been dismissed at their one and only meeting and she needed to go over the details again before everyone else was awake. She would owl Malfoy's slimy lawyers with her absolutely most reasonable proposal before business hours. Even thoughts of Malfoy's condescending pack of shyster attorneys didn't put a damper on her jaunty good mood.
And that was just the beginning of her jam packed to-do list for the day. She thought longingly of the time-turner she had used in third year to keep up with her schedule as she wiggled into clean clothes, buttoning her blouse smartly and smoothing her skirt so it lay neatly. She was practically bursting with energy, it would be such a perfect day to have three or four extra secret hours to save the wizarding world and get her homework sorted. First things first though, breakfast, she was positively famished.
There was simply no time to get out her journal and deconstruct the night before. She did however make the time to cast a stasis charm on the blue rose and place it in a transfigured crystal vase on her desk. That shade of blue did not exist in nature and she had no idea how he'd managed to charm the flower to match her magic. A quick search in her Floriography informed her that blue roses usually symbolize mystery or obtaining the impossible. She had no idea if he meant to convey some message or if he had picked the colour based on her magic. Either way, it was beautiful and she intended to keep it.
After a moment's hesitation, she decided on a whim to pin her hair back on both sides with the lovely clips Malfoy had gifted her. Who knew if he would read into her use of the gift, or what the Lavender's and Pansy's of the world would think, or what meaning she even wanted to attach to public acceptance of the gift. But to hell with it! They were pretty, and she didn't want Malfoy to think she'd rejected him again. She even put a little smear of pretty pink gloss on, liking the way it made her lips sparkle. At the last minute, against her better judgment, she stuffed the book Malfoy had entrusted her with into her bag. She had no idea when she might have a private moment alone to study it, but luck favored the prepared.
Despite the fact that she had absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about, she still felt self-conscious descending the stairs to the common room, sure that everyone must know how she had spent her evening. It wasn't shame that made her want to keep this to herself. She was just a private person and she needed to get her own mind sorted before she dealt with trying to explain whatever this was to anyone else.
Also, Hermione had long ago admitted to herself that she loved a bit of clandestine adventure, and that was exactly what this felt like. Like an adventure into the unknown. So she was trying to act normal, but she was unable to hide the smile that was breaking out at the corners of her mouth, the little bounce in her step. The thought of maybe running into Malfoy today had her down right electrified. First Business, she told herself firmly. Once she had the lawyer situation settled then she could move on to more pleasurable pursuits.
Thinking of meeting with Malfoy as 'pleasurable' was going to need an entire page in her journal.
She was so focused on looking innocent it took her a moment to realize something was wrong. The silence that greeted her as she came down the stairs was equal parts familiar as it was disturbing. Something had happened. People quickly looked away from her, conversation that had halted when she first arrived started up again stilted and quiet. The paper seemed to be the abandoned discussion topic based on how many students were holding a copy. Dennis Creevy noticed her looking and put his copy guiltily behind his back. Lavender, apparently her new babysitter with Ginny gone on her Honeymoon, took pity on her and snatched up a copy of the paper from the table and brought it to her. Hermione sank into one of the armchairs by the fire as she read the sensational title:
"Heartbroken and Rejected by his schoolyard sweetheart, Ronald Weasley just won't give up on love!"
Risking another family scandal Ronald Weasley has placed his bid on Penelope Clearwater. Previously romantically involved with Ronald Weasley's older brother Percy Weasley, the reason for the demise of the relationship was never revealed. Now we are left wondering if there was something more to the quiet breakup since Mr. Weasley has decided to publicly declare for the lovely Miss Clearwater and outbid several other suitors in a determined petition for her hand. In a shocking move Miss Clearwater immediately accepted his bid and proposal within minutes of Mr. Weasley's high bid leaving the world wondering, just how long has this romance been brewing?
This reporter was certainly shocked and amazed when Ronald Weasley failed to bid for his long term paramour Hermione Granger. Even more shocked when Miss Granger accepted another bid from a wealthy pureblood rival of the Weasley family causing quite the stir around the water cooler. Perhaps there is more going on behind the scenes than we ever expected.
This isn't the first time there has been a love triangle surrounding the lovely Miss Granger, …
Hermione slammed the paper down refusing to read on as the article rehashed what a heartbreaker she supposedly was. Ronald wasn't among the awkward group of students standing about, all pretending not to listen. She wanted to demand a when, a why, and a how; though she wasn't about to ask those questions in a public area. She felt her cheeks burning and was sure that she was thoroughly flushed, so there was no way to hide her upset. So much for her lovely mood. "Rita Skeeter," she hissed at Lavender, loud enough for bystanders to hear, "has some nerve! I've already warned her once about splashing Ronald and I's personal business all over the paper."
There was no reason for the entire castle to speculate on the fact that she had no idea Ron had decided to get his bidding out of the way. As far as the public was concerned, she and Ronald were still thick as thieves, and just doing the best they could with a bad situation. She didn't want any nasty blowback or gossip on top of everything else. It didn't matter anyway. She knew that Ron had to bid on someone, and if he had chosen someone without discussing it with her first, that was his prerogative. He was an excellent strategist and there must have been some good reason for him deciding to act immediately instead of bouncing the idea off his friends first. So she tossed her head and continued her tirade, crumpling up the paper. "Ron will be so upset that she is dragging his family into the spotlight again. I've half a mind to write the paper a letter!"
She glanced about for Ron one more time before storming through the common room in search of him, ignoring the silence that followed in her wake.
She didn't know why she was surprised when all her fancy plans were derailed. This was Hogwarts after all. But still, she didn't expect to trip over Neville Longbottom coming out of the portrait hole. He was folded over dejectedly, slumped over both his knees, twisting a smoke-filled Remembrall in his hands. She almost hurried past with a quick apology till she caught a glimpse of his downturned face. She rarely saw him looking so sad these days. Neville who had earned his place in the Wizarding world, who exuded confidence, who had faced his death and came out the other side with an exuberant appreciation for life. He was no longer one to mope about.
"The password is TwatWaffle, Neville," she tried, hoping his melancholy was simply that he had fallen into his old ways and forgotten the password. And who would want to remember such a vile password anyways? Everytime she said it she had to cringe. The fat lady had decided that to foster unity she ought to use Muggle terms as passwords, unfortunately she only had access to muggle culture by overhearing muggleborns in the hallway. When Hermione found out who had uttered such a foul name in the fat lady's hearing she was going to make sure they got detention.
"I know what the password is, Hermione," he sighed and climbed to his feet. "I just don't want to go in there and face everyone's pity."
"I've missed something," Hermione admitted since she had no idea why anyone would want to pity Neville. He was admired and liked by most everyone. Neville started walking and Hermione joined him, relieved to be moving.
"Just the humiliating fact that Hannah would rather give up her magic than marry me." He muttered, scuffing the floor as they trundled along at a tragically slow pace.
"Hannah abjured her magic?" Hermione asked, horrified. She had realized in the back of her mind that some people would leave the magical world rather than comply with the Armistice Act but she hadn't expected it to start happening so soon.
"Well no one knows, do they? She's disappeared. Right after I bid on her. Third student gone missing without a trace this week. I thought we were friends, would be compatible. It's not like I have a whole lot of options close to home that score low enough. You're taken, Clearwater has paired up with Ron, Robins is being courted by Macmillian. Now I guess I'll have to start looking outside of Hogwarts, grandmother will not be thrilled…" Neville trailed off, suddenly uncertain as he got a look at her distressed expression.
"Oh," he said awkwardly, scuffing his foot once more and looking like he wanted to be anywhere else. "You didn't know."
"No, I've heard" she admitted, her chest contracting painfully as she forced air into her lungs. "I just haven't had a chance to talk to Ron, and no one else is currently talking to me."
The real disturbing thing was that she was a lot more overcome with worry about what may have happened to those girls than about what was going on between her and Ron. It seemed outrageous to fervently hope that they had somehow managed to flee the wizarding world rather than consider the alternative that they had been snatched by nefarious people in response to The Armistice Act. The news immediately called to mind the months she and the boys had spent in hiding while pursuing horcruxes, terrified of being found, preferring to be cold and tired and hungry rather than captured. The memory was overwhelming and she had to bite back tears at the thought of those girls out there, possibly alone. Or worse, held prisoner.
She forced a smile onto her lips. "Except you of course," she linked arms with Neville to continue their walk, keeping her step light and airy. "Who would have thought that Neville Longbottom would end up being one of the most fearless blokes in all of Gryffindor, maybe everyone else will follow your lead and quit treating me like some sort of leper."
"I don't know about fearless," Neville barked out a laugh. "The Malfoy's of the world might not scare me anymore, but my grandmother still makes my knees quake together and she is not going to be happy to learn I was rejected by all of Britain and now have to advertise in the paper to find someone to give her grandchildren."
"Well to be fair, a dragon would cower in fear of your grandmother," she quipped, resisting the urge to turn tail and run off and find Ron and find out if he knew anything about the missing girls. Not to mention get the low down on his supposed engagement. Just because it was in the paper didn't mean it was true, she had certainly experienced libel printed in The Daily Profit enough to know better than trust anything they printed. "Besides, this law will be overturned and you can take your time finding a girl that can hold her own at your family table."
She remembered Penelope Clearwater of course. She had graduated maybe three years earlier. Three or Four. Ravenclaw, stellar grades, she'd dated Percy Weasley. She was a brain, highly intelligent, neat and tidy. What could the two of them possibly have in common? Quidditch? She seemed to recall the girl being an enthusiastic fan, though surely she had outgrown her fascination with Quidditch players, she was too smart for that. Maybe Ron just liked girls with curly hair…
"I wouldn't have even told Grandmother about this at all, but I had to borrow money to place a bid so now it's going to be a whole family drama," his feet were dragging again, his step slow, his face downturned. "At least I'll get the money back, in 7-10 business days."
"I'm sorry she turned you down Neville." She said, patting his hand as they walked with as much compassion as she could muster.
"It wasn't even that she turned me down, she burst into tears and ran. Like marrying me was the worst thing she could think of. I tried to find her to see if I should withdraw my bid or if there was something I could do, but she's gone and disappeared. I can't find her anywhere and no one seems to have seen her for days."
Hermione came to a stop, thinking it through lightning fast. "I'm sure it wasn't you. It was just this law Neville. The truth is that you would have never even asked Hannah if your options were not so limited," she fished around in her bag for the brief she had put together for Harry and Ginny. "I've put together a brief, we could modify it slightly for your circumstances and submit it to the ministry. I want to challenge the methodology for determining the pureblood score, we could expand the parameters and also argue in the alternative that the spread for acceptable partners is too narrow to be practical."
Neville took her paperwork and leafed through it absently, clearly not reading it. "Why can't we modify it to include everyone, Hermione? Don't they do legal cases with a lot of people involved?"
"You mean like a class action?" Hermione snatched back her petition and grabbed his arm excitedly, altering their aimless direction to instead beeline towards the library. "You are brilliant Neville! We can include everyone's grievances and get down everyone's signature. Maybe we should have a meeting…"'
By the time she had charmed flyers regarding her meeting and sent Neville to disburse them throughout the castle she had almost no time to pen a quick note to Malfoy's lawyers that she'd like to have another meeting before any legal action was submitted. But Neville had a lightness to his step when he left the library that left her feeling like she had really accomplished something of substance beyond squabbling with the Ministry. If she didn't dawdle there was just enough time to get to the Owlery and still grab a bite before her first class. The book in her bag and a 'chance' meeting with Malfoy would have to wait till afternoon.
It was karma's kiss to see Ronald waiting anxiously in the hall for her when she came out of the library. She broke into a big smile at the sight of him, equally anxious to find out what was going on and let him know she wasn't upset about the Clearwater situation. She could hardly throw stones from atop her glass tower, he'd found out about Malfoy from the paper as well. She was quick to link arms and start towards the Owlery telling him to tell her all about Penelope.
Apparently Ron had bid on her as a favor to his brother and was equally livid about the trash printed in the paper about the development. Percy might have moved on and be engaged to a lovely clerk from the Ministry but he still cared deeply for Clearwater and asked Ron to bid on her so that she would be safe from Death Eater clutches.
As if Ron would ever deny his family his help.
Of course it made perfect sense and he did the right thing. She kept waiting for the knife twisting jealousy to surface in response to Ron confirming he was set to marry someone else. Instead, if she was honest, she was actually feeling quite relieved to have Ron squared away so nicely. Even if he was blushing all the way to the tips of his ears everytime he said the girl's name. She had no right to be jealous. After all she had just admitted, if only to herself, how fond of Malfoy she had grown. Glass houses and all that. Still, she was surprised at her calm reasoned reaction.
What was really interesting was that Ron was in on the disappearance gossip. Since no one was talking to her, she hadn't heard anything until Neville had filled her in. However, Ron was right in the thick of the gossip. Hannah Abbot, Sally-Anne Perks, and Daphne Greengrass had all apparently disappeared without a trace. Daphne being the latest missing student, last seen just two days ago leaving the West Garden alone.
"Did Malfoy have anything to do with it?" she whispered, glancing around making sure that there were no listening ears following them.
"Why do you ask? Is he acting suspicious?"
Wasn't he always acting suspicious? Certainly injured at least twice in the past two days, showing up at her window insisting on secrecy, telling her she needed plausible deniability when it came to knowing what he was up to; these things added up to extra suspicious behavior, even for Malfoy.
"I saw him," she disclosed. "With Daphne in the courtyard, two days ago."
Ron shrugged. "I assume he's been questioned by the Aurors. The disappearances are serious business. They might be fleeing the law, but it might be something more sinister. Daphne's family has resources, maybe they squirreled her into hiding, but the other girls that are missing have no money, nowhere to go, and their families are frantic."
Before they could speculate further she heard furtive voices and abruptly pulled Ron into a nearby alcove. You had to love Hogwarts with all its gothic architecture. The two of them snuggled in next to a gargoyle statue and listened as the voices drew nearer. And you had to love Ronald as well, he always knew when to go to ground. She had a passing thought that Malfoy might not be too pleased to find her huddled up close with another boy, but she felt not a twinge from her magical vows so she mentally shrugged and pulled him a little deeper into the cramped space.
"Don't mind Mr. Malfoy, he's questing. The ministry might find this whole marriage law a bit of a joke but the boy does take his family traditions quite seriously." Headmistress McGonagall's voice drifted down the hall and Hermione shrank back into Ron hoping not to be seen.
"You can't be serious!" an unfamiliar voice responded with a hostile undertone that immediately put Hermione on her guard. She felt Ron tense behind her and breathed in the solidarity of his presence.
"Dead serious. He was in the infirmary this week for a dozen minor injuries. Seems he managed to get on the wrong side of a dragon in Romania of all places," the headmistress scoffed. "Of all the stupid things he could possibly do this year, he's decided to bid on Miss Granger and get himself killed preparing for a marriage ceremony that most likely won't take place. And don't even get me started on the howlers I've received from his father, Merlin knows who provided him with the necessary charmed parchment. Or the ridiculous requests from his mother for my guest list. Draco Malfoy is up to his ears in absurd shenanigans all right, but nothing this investigation needs to concern themselves with."
The Headmistress and a tall man dressed in Auror leathers whisked by them. He wasn't a very good Auror, he didn't so much as glance around at his surroundings as he passed them. Hermione felt McGonagall may have glimpsed them, she twisted her head forward to look straight ahead, but she didn't acknowledge them and Hermione sighed a bit in relief. She didn't really want to explain why she was hiding in order to eavesdrop on an overeager Auror.
"He was seen with the latest missing girl, and his sticky fingers are over every dodgy occurrence for the last twenty years." The Auror argued.
"Don't be dramatic Peers. Young Mr. Malfoy has only been head of the family for a short time and honestly I've found him nothing but cooperative." McGonagall's voice faded as they turned a corner but they waited till the click of footsteps faded before leaving the alcove.
Questing. Hermione had read about it of course. That some old wizarding families had traditions for the heirs that must be met before they could be wed. But her engagement was a ruse, a ploy to buy them time to dismantle the law . Draco had no intention of going through with being married. The ring on her finger seemed to catch the light and reflect extra bright for a moment and Hermione ran her thumb along the back of it as she exchanged a wide eyed look with Ronald. She had a book in her bag and a letter on her desk that felt awfully genuine. Her stomach churned unpleasantly with unease.
They ventured out of the enclave once again heading towards the owlery. "Rumor has it that Jimbo Blishwich lost a testicle on his betrothal quest and that's why he never produced an heir. The more scandalous whispers implied that the supposed quest 'accident' was an elaborate coverup to give him a reason not to ever bed his harridan wife who had the wrong plumbing for his tastes," Ron gave her a salacious wink as he revealed this bit of silly gossip.
Hermione let out a delighted chuckle. "Does your family do any pre-wedding rituals?"
"Not anything so elaborate as a quest. I guess it's a family tradition that we write love letters the night before the wedding and don't read them till the first anniversary."
"Oh, that's sweet," Hermione answered halfheartedly, horrified to notice herself chewing on a lock of her hair absently and tossed her hair back over her shoulder with a smile towards Ron hoping he hadn't noticed her not paying attention.
"I think most families do that though."
"I've never heard of it," Hermione said honestly, secretly planning to adopt the lovely practice no matter who she married.
"So that explains Malfoy's shifty behavior at least," Ron ventured, giving her a sidelong look, silently prompting her for more information. He'd certainly gotten better at being subtle. She wondered if he'd been given another advice book from his brothers.
Hermione pictured Malfoy in her mind's eye. Standing but teetering, hands out defensively, blood spattered and worried. McGonagall clearly knew about his supposed questing so there was no need for his desperate insistence on secrecy. The ingredients in his bag might indicate some sort of quest, but there was definitely more going on. Still, he had gifted her with his trust and it wasn't her secret to tell, so she shrugged her shoulders in noncommittal agreement and hurried into the owlery to send her missive.
~ Armistice ~
Big Thanks to Larrissa, who is keeping me on track. Lailah, for taking time out of her busy schedule to do a grammar run through. And special warm hugs to pyrotechnicist for helping to get me over a writers hurtle. And finally, all my readers, thanks for all your support. Going through the comments on this always gets me motivated to write. I apologize that I'm such a slow writer. If it was possible for me to write faster, I would, for you.