Realising the woman could hear, but not see them, Hermione jumped up and covered herself with the blanket. Draco tried to keep a cool demeanour, reaching for his discarded boxers and slipping them on. They could hear his mother's steps approaching fast, the heels clicking quickly on the floor. Hermione, on the other side, was definitely panicking. Standing in the former home of the woman, only covered by a thin blanket, wasn't exactly how she imagined to meet Narcissa Malfoy again. Admittedly, she had envisioned the encounter with Draco's mother to be strictly formal, and not involving her wearing an undoubtedly 'freshly fucked squirrel-expression' (Juliet's words). And what a happy squirrel she was. "I honestly hope you didn't open one of the remaining Lafite-Rothschilds. It would be a shame to waste them on some cheap witch-" Narcissa stepped through the branches and trees, her eyes quickly scanning the interrupted pas de deux in front of her. "Well, Mother, she already spilled her blood here; I thought an expensive wine and a fantastic round of shagging was the least I could offer her." His words dripped of irony. ' -For tonight. Not to forget a thoughtful piece of jewellery.'
Narcissa looked like a deer in headlights for a split second before she fell back into the poised ambition which had made Lucius Malfoy go down on his knees. And her, to Draco's utter horror. Tha t had been a sight years ago he still wanted obliviated. "Miss Granger, what a-surprise. I hope you enjoyed your taste of something so rich-" To Hermione, it was obvious she wasn't talking about the wine . "If you would kindly excuse us? I've got business to discuss with my son, which is, if I may be so bold, not yours." Draco winced. He feared for the precious plants around him that would burn in the surely upcoming duel. "You are excused, Narcissa ." Hermione stretched the blonde's given name, deliberately overstepping the boundaries of politeness. "It was delicious. The best I ever had.
But I feel tired now and will head to bed. It's the third corridor on the left from here, isn't it, Draco?" She closed the distance to the dumfounded wizard next to her and gave him a kiss on his nose, what strangely appeared more intimate than on the lips. Her head held high, barefoot, and the blanket still clutched around her, the brunette witch strode out of the arboretum. Draco was alone with his mother now, and just a tad intimidated in the face of the discussion that had to come up inevitably, in fact, he could already hear the words in his head; ' What were you thinking? Fooling around with a mudblood in our house! And Hermione Granger on top! Why can't you find yourself an adequate pureblood to spread her legs! You better thought of a contraceptive-spell. I won't have disgusting half-blood, messy-haired children running around the Manor!' But, to his utter astonishment, Narcissa's lips curled into a distinguished and barely visible smile.
"Well, better her than that dumb blonde who couldn't even remember to close her blouse's top buttons." If that wasn't enough to make his world crumble, she added, "Tell Miss Granger to meet me for tea in my office next week, yes?" Draco didn't know where it came from, but he automatically corrected, "Actually, it's Doctor Granger." -DHDHDHDHDH- "Can't you go without me? I mean, my job with him is done; he's awake, isn't he?" Hermione hovered in front of the familiar door in the wizarding hospital, a bit peeved Draco couldn't be there. After he talked with his mother the previous evening, he had come to bed with the cogs in his head turning. She had already been asleep when he crawled into his expensive sheets behind her, snuggling her until morning. It was hard for Hermione to admit, but waking up with a Draco-blanket all around her was something she became used to very fast. "Mione." She scowled at Ron's nickname for her. "You saved his life. Again. He won't curse you." She snorted. "Ron, that's not what I worry about.
Harry may be a famous Auror and all, but I can still overpower him in a duel." A training session with Draco had proven that she was still very much capable. The Head Auror had tears in his eyes upon learning of her scores. "It's been easier to meet you again. You matured a great deal, and you admitted that you made mistakes. We're nowhere near our old friendship yet, but I feel-content around you." Ron beamed at her words. "Ginny has been more difficult, but Harry? He betrayed my trust, and essentially handed me over to a pack of angry foxes. I still don't regret what we did, but him, revealing our secret, and not standing up for what was our mutual decision- that broke my heart. I've risked my life for him several times, but he can't admit he wanted to have sex with me?"
Ron's face paled beneath his numerous freckles. "I know. We caused you pain because we were selfish and unreasonable. But so many years went by, and we've been inseparable once. Don't you think our friendship deserves another chance?" Hermione realised something important then. "I would give it another chance, though we aren't the same people anymore. Let's see where this discussion leads us too and how Harry's view is on things." With a move that was more decisive than she felt, Hermione opened the door but let Ron walk in first. From behind the tall redhead, she could see the third part of the Golden Trio, his back propped up by some pillows. He was still pale, but his eyes were wide open and directed at the incoming visitors. "Ron, mate! So glad you came!"
Ron smiled at him and greeted him with a friendly slap on his shoulder. "Yeah, had nothing else to do at the joke shop. Still too early. But look who I brought with me!" He gently pulled Hermione from behind him, his hands supportive on the witch's arms. "Hermione?" Harry's voice nearly broke. "Merlin, you're the Doctor Ginny and the Healers have been telling me about? The one who found the antidote?" On Hermione's wish, her identity hadn't been revealed to him yet. She nodded her head, torn between the professional urge to check his condition and an emotional reaction; whether that'd be screaming or crying-she didn't know. Uncomfortable silence ensued. "I should've come looking for you, to….to apologise, I guess," The Man-Who-Lived-Again mumbled awkwardly. Hermione glared on. Oh, she wanted him crawling in the dust. Okay, maybe she channelled her inner Slytherin a bit. "I should've stood up for you, correct the impression I gave them. Not leaving them believing you seduced me." She waited half a minute to react, pondering if she could jump over own shadow and forgive him. Summoning all her Gryffindor courage and a good dose of Hufflepuff loyalty, she spoke, albeit tense,
"Damn right, Mr. Potter!" She straightened her back. "Did you know how hard it was for me to go back to the muggle world? How devastated I was? And how much chocolate I ate because of you two dunderheads? And then you have the outrageous insolence to get yourself nearly killed - again I might add- in a way where only I could help you?" She could hear the two men chuckle at her rant, which was so typical Hermione that it was ridiculous. Harry tugged on her arms then, forcing her to sit down on his bed and enveloped her in a strong hug. Ron placed himself behind her and together they shared an awkward minute of sobbing and back-patting. Hermione felt her heart healing again, though she hadn't thought it damaged anymore. She knew, of course, that they couldn't go back to point where they had been in the past, but that their friendship had to be built anew. "Godric's pants, one could think you three are pregnant ladies with how emotional you behave, not me!" Ginny had entered the room without their notice. She appeared much more relaxed now, in fact, it was the first time Hermione saw her smiling again. The brunette wiped her eyes from the tears that ran over her cheeks, and inquired Harry,
"So, a fourth child- seems you're awfully busy, even behind closed doors." Harry blushed at Hermione's remark. ' Ha! Hit the target four times and STILL blushes at the mentioning. And they called me a prude when at Hogwarts!' she thought. "I'm actually quite proud of them all. Lily turns three this month, and she and the baby will have a good distance in age, you know? The boys don't know yet, but I'm sure they will love their new sibling from the start." Ginny beamed at him now, her fears of Harry's reaction clearly had vanished, making space for happiness. "And Ron and Lavender are also working on their third child," now it was Ron's turn to blush, "And it would be nice if there's a cousin in his or her year at Hogwarts, wouldn't it?" He paused his embarrassed rambling. "But what about you, Hermione? Have you got children? Or a husband? I have no idea what's going on in your life!" "No to both questions, I was married to my work and couldn't imagine having children with anyone in the past years." Somehow, this felt less to her now. "A boyfriend, then? Or a girlfriend?" Ron asked. Third member of the Golden Trio with a pink flush on its face? Check. "Well, uhmmm. There is a man in my life. But that's a very recent development, and I'm not sure if you want to know about it." She learned that Draco and Harry were partners, thus getting along amicably, but what about Ron? He got them the tickets for the Quidditch game, but did that count as a casual friendly gesture?
Wringing her hands, Hermione heard Ginny giggling. The three others' confused looks even adding to it. "Sorry, honestly! But Hermione, as a Doctor you know that my olfactory sense is better in the pregnancy?" The red-haired witch winked. Then it came to Hermione. "My perfume! You could smell it on-him?" Ginny shrugged her shoulders as an answer and gave the other woman a smile. The conversation made Ron's and Harry's ears perk up with interest. "So, it's someone we know and Ginny already met closely, but you don't feel overly comfortable naming us?" Ron summarized. Silence. "Noooooo, Hermione, seriously?" Harry doubled over in laughter, his voice still slightly hoarse. Ron, as always, was a bit slower on the uptake. "Who? Come on, tell me, mate!" "Our Hermione here as snatched the Number One of the half-official "Sexiest Auror Alive" list!" 'Where is a wormhole when you need one?' Hermione thought. '
Gods, that's worse than telling the parents. Wait- does getting caught barely inter-coital count as telling? ' Now, Ron's owl dropped the mail. "Malfoy?" he puffed out, apparently trying hard not to laugh again. Hermione's cheeks were still pink, but she set her face in a strict doctor's 'I'm not interested how that got in there, we're using the biggest pliers to get it out again'-expression and said, "It's remarkable you two manly-men know of that, but yes. Draco and I are a couple. And somehow, it's your doing, Harry." Maybe she exaggerated a bit, but without Harry getting attacked, Draco wouldn't have gotten her back. Concerning the boys (children of their own, Order of Merlin, and Auror badges aside, males who giggled like that couldn't be considered as adults, could they?) this comment apparently did the trick, as they now gaped at her jaw-slacked. Ginny, in turn, who had puzzled the story together in her head, giggled even louder at the sight of her husband and her brother. "Interested in a story?" Hermione sat herself down on a nearby chair, gesturing Ginny and Ron to do the same. "Well, it started when I was telling Mr. Billings about the difference between wild ramson and lily of the valley…"
If anyone saw Draco Malfoy now, pacing his office, his purple robes discarded on a chair, and his platinum hair constantly ruffled by his own fingers - he'd still make every straight woman salivate. However, for once he didn't care how he looked; he was too concentrated on the notes and photos pinned on the wall in front of him. Occasionally, he connected names or places with coloured yarn, symbolizing a supposed connection. The talk with his mother had made Draco thinking. " Draco, someone had the audacity to steal from the company! I was doing the half-yearly inventory and some things are missing inexplicably.
Things my Slytherin-instinct and an intimate knowledge of potions consider as very suspicious. Oh, don't look at me like that-try living in a house with Severus without having potions-recipes as a bed-time story! All together, it sounds like a spiked Polyjuice! Anyways, I talked to Blaise today and he was quite shocked. He asked me to inform you immediately and personally." Oh, he'd have a nice little conversation with Blaise surrounding the meaning of the word 'privacy', preferably with Blaise's mother around and some embarrassing memories about his Italian friend in a pensieve. However, he was sure Jackie wasn't the criminal mastermind, but whoever was behind it had relations to certain places or events: ' The Quidditch game '- where Harry was attacked. ' The fundraiser' - where he and Hermione had been drugged. And ' Malfoy Inc. ' - where certain - Morgana's Touch-relevant - ingredients had disappeared from the inventory. He arranged those events, written on blue paper, in a big circle on his wall. Next came the yellow papers, in a smaller inner circle, with suspicions over the villain: ' Headquarter of some sorts in a close walking distance of Knockturn Alley .' -
They had caught Georgie there, who evidently hadn't apparated after he bought the drug from the dealer. ' Connection to Jackie' - he was quite confident that the blonde and the villain knew each other personally. ' Connection to Hermione' - Jackie's motives were obvious: she wanted the Malfoys' traditional engagement ring on her finger and the cradle in the Manor's nursery filled. But Hermione? She appeared after the attack on Harry, thus she was drugged with a personal touch, if the carefully measured dosage of substance was any indication. On orange sheets came the characteristics the responsible person most likely possessed for such a criminal planning. ' Cunning', 'semi-intelligent' 'vindictive', 'certain aim '. Paper with white background marked the timeline above the artwork: Georgies first capture, Harry getting attacked, Hermione coming back. "Damn. There must be a person who had their hand in all of this…" He slammed his hand on his desk angrily, sending some papers flying down. Draco remembered on how Hermione had searched for relevant files on her own crowded desk the other day, right before she showed Krum's letter to him.
They hadn't discussed it any further, but he really hoped he made his point clear: he didn't approve of the Cannon's recently acquired Seeker, who appeared everywhere one looked. Literally everywhere. Draco threw a glance at Jackie's biography; She visited Durmstrang. Normally, Draco wasn't common enough to swear like a muggle, but now it seemed the appropriate choice. "Fuck! The git was parading under our nose the whole time. Viktor Krum, apparently you have more between your big ears than a fluttering Snitch." An unpleasant chat with Jackie later and an urgent call to 's to Harry to carry his pretending-to-be-sick-arse in their damn office immediately, his partner and Hermione discussed Draco's deductions. Of course the stubborn witch had to convince herself of his logic. After throwing an angry fit on the criminal energy of men (and recounting statistics and studies about the gender- inequality in different crimes), her face suddenly showed a smile which made Harry scowl. "Oh no, I recognize that expression. Next thing she's riding a dragon out of Gringotts." Draco really wanted to insert a snarky quip how good she was at riding his dragon, but Hermione was faster. "Gentlemen, I have a plan."
"Don't bullshit me, Draco Malfoy! I know you're sleeping with this blonde, big-busted bitch!" Hermione was screaming- so loudly, in fact, that the female Aurors in the Department smiled secretly; this sounded like Draco would be looking for female company again, soon. "Don't curse like that- it's very unbecoming." Draco's voice, in turn, sounded annoyed in a way that reminded them both of their earlier Hogwarts years. Old habits die hard. "Unbecoming? Now I'm unbecoming ?" The girly princess and the inner slut formed an alliance called 'pissed-off Drama Queen', who was having a field day. The alpha female sat in the front row and ate popcorn. "What are you molding me into? Your muggleborn mistress?" It seemed Drama Queen had a liking for alliterations.
A dirty smirk showed on Draco's features. "Oh, you can play my mistress anytime, pet." 'Sixty sentences for sassy situations by L.A.M., page 37' he recited in his head. The office door opened without knocking, and in came an intrigued looking Viktor Krum, holding the note Draco sent to him earlier, which demanded his presence. "Am I intervupting?" Viktor asked. Hermione shook her head vigorously, her cheeks still flaming."No, we're just finishing ." She stared at Draco, eyes blazing. "I'm no one's mistress! Though, it seems I'm no longer worthy of your precious pureblood prick as you've already replaced me with a warmed-up, wanton witch!" With a domineering posture that sent hot shivers through Hermione's lower body, Draco closed the distance between them, stepping directly in front of her. But instead of capturing her lips and bending her over his desk as his inner alpha wanted him to, despite the unwelcoming audience, he simply traced his long index finger over the emerald snake circling around the Aesculapian staff, which bore ruby eyes now. "We both know you won't keep your hands off of me for long," he drawled, just loud enough for the other two people in the room to hear.
"Not that it matters. Go waste your muggle-breath elsewhere, you're nothing more than a wand-polishing harlot for me." SLAP! The sound of Hermione's hand coming in forceful contact with Draco's face resonated, and one second later she fled the room, tears running down her face. She made it some way down the hallway before she collapsed against the wall, sobbing. A witch coming out of Auror Malfoy's office, crying and cursing the wizard, was not really a premiere for the Department, so nobody stopped or cared for her. Except Viktor, who patted her knee reassuringly. "I- I really thought he changed. That he was a better man, now," she wailed, clutching Viktor's sleeves as he helped her up. "But he is still de arrogant bastard he vas! Stay avay vrom him, he is dangerous," Viktor insisted. Hermione wouldn't stop. "I thought he would care for me, protect me…" her alpha female gagged at the damsel-in-distress-display she lowered herself to. "Will you help me, Viktor? Please. You did so wonderfully when I was down so many years ago."
The alpha female slammed her head into the nearest wall. "Of course. Vat can I do vor you?" The Bulgarians tone was hopeful. "Normally, if I have a very bad day, my friends from the hospital and I would knock back a drink or two at home, then go to a bar and get very drunk. But they are on the muggle side and wouldn't understand! And I don't want to get sloshed at the Three Broomsticks, I'm too well known for that. Where can we go?" She batted her lashes, asking herself if she wasn't acting too out-of-character. Though, the muscled man in front of her didn't mind and steadied her stance with his arm around her shoulders, leading them towards the floo. "Don't vorry, Hermione. Ve are going to my place, dere's alvays a bottle of vodka vaiting vor you."
As soon as they disappeared though the green flames, Harry came around the corner, hasting towards his shared office. Thanks to the Healer's stasis charms on his muscles and Hermione's care, he was back at the Auror Division again, merely one week after he woke up. Bolting through the door, he found a smirking Malfoy leaning at his desk, his grey eyes fixated on a blinking light on a newly installed screen. "Did it work? Did you activate the tracker?" Draco rolled his eyes. "No, I'm following the light on the screen because I can't do anything else since Hermione fucked my brains out.- Of course, it worked!" Harry didn't take the bait, knowing his partner and his quips. "Remarkable that we were able to integrate a GPS-tracking-device into that snake necklace! Where are they at the moment? I want to prepare the team." The blonde Auror's scowled; it still annoyed him that things fit so obviously well together. "The Onyx Thunderbird."
Hermione plopped down the giant sofa in the vast living room, while Viktor fetched the vodka and two glasses. "So, you're living in a hotel?" "Yes. A vriend's vather is de owner. Mr. Stevens vas so generous to let me live 'ere." 'Clever,' Hermione thought, 'Hotels have big kitchens. Kitchens that need temperature-controlled storage rooms. Ideal to store delicate potion ingredients.' If their plan worked out correctly, they would find the stolen goods in the hotel. It took her the better part of one week, but in the end Hermione managed to manipulate all regular Polyjuice substances in Malfoy Inc. to express green fluorescent protein.
This useful little protein, GFP for short, would glow under UV-light like a Slytherin Christmas tree and thus prove its origin. "Stevens you said? Is he related to Jackie?" she prodded, inwardly cheering that she found a connection between Viktor, Jackie and the hotel that presumably served as the headquarter of the drug dealer. 'Some new coloured notes on Draco's wall.' She admittedly found his Sherlock-tendencies unbelievably drool-worthy. Viktor's eyes narrowed slightly. "Yes. I know her vrom Durmstrang… -But enouv about me. How's your 'project' at de Ministry going?" He opened a bottle and poured them two shots of iced vodka. An expensive brand, Hermione noticed. 'The bottle was sealed before, it should be safe.' she hoped. "Well, why don't we drink first?" she raised her glass, toasting to Viktor. Both emptied their drinks. What took Draco and his team so long? She decided to buy some time. "My work is very interesting. I get the chance to refresh my knowledge about many things in the wizarding world. Potions and healing, to be exact." Draco and Harry had told her to stay as close to the truth as possible when lying. "Jackie told me you are vorking on tis drug, vat's its name again?"
"Morgana's Touch, yes. And Jackie shouldn't have told you that- it's confidential." She tried very hard to give her voice a reluctant tone, but Hermione Granger was many things, and reluctant wasn't one of them. "Come on, you can tell me, Herm-i-one. Ve're very old and close Vriends, avter all." He refilled the vodka while talking and inched quite close to her whilst handing her the glass. They toasted, they drank, and Hermione started to wonder if she could keep up with Viktor liquor-wise. She already felt the dizzying effect of the alcohol. "Oookay, but just the summary for you, Mr. Wronski-feint." Viktor grinned at that, unaffected by the strong beverage. 'No wonder, men have a higher tolerance of alcohol because of their different body-fat-rate,' the librarian inside her explained. Though, this part of her personality only was naughty when Draco was nearby. Viktor's hands, which were now resting on her thighs, wouldn't challenge her. Even the inner slut had been Draco-rized, as she was busy choosing the next evening's lingerie. "Drug components discovered, Georgie captured, Jackie's a bitch, your silly arrow found, Harry's awake…" 'Fuck. ' She said something she shouldn't have, right?
Viktor had become regal somewhere in her last sentence. " My arrow?" The man oozed danger now, his dark eyes boring into hers. Before Hermione could answer, many things happened at once. The door was blasted open, and Draco and Harry, along with their team, wands wielded, came bursting in. In the same second, Viktor pulled Hermione onto him, her hand lost grip on her wand, and a shouted Expelliarmus! sent Viktor's flying into Auror Miller's hand. But the villain was prepared. With one smooth move, he pulled a knife from his belt. When the noise began to settle, he held Hermione in a death-grip and the blade on her throat. The Auror's grouped around him in a half-circle, giving him no chance to escape. Oh, how Hermione hated to be the damsel-in-distress for real . Draco analysed the present situation, trying to distance himself from the fact that it was his little witch being threatened by a blade.
Again. It didn't work very well, as he felt his protective instincts roaring. The blade. The villain. The witch. The Aurors. No way to escape. A thin trail of red blood trickling down Hermione's throat. Draco was eerily reminded of a movie he watched with the brunette witch the other day. 'Kobayashi Maru' they had called a situation like this in it, a test he couldn't possibly win. Lest he cheated. He had mentioned the similarities to his House then, and she had commented, sarcastically impersonating the Sorting Hat, "Captain James T. Kirk, you're sorted into Slytherin!" Damn, she shouldn't be in a situation like this. She was a doctor, not an Auror, for Salazar's sake! But, naturally, Hermione Granger, being the most stubborn witch on the planet, got her way.
Both men had been tricked by her deep brown, doe eyes. Potter because of the guilt trip she had subtly hinted at ("Harry, I'm not sure if I can already trust you again!"), Draco because of the thing she did with her tongue gliding over her lips when Potter wasn't looking. He was cursing himself for following her suggestions now. His cock had made the decision for his brain, apparently. Meanwhile, Harry, the good Auror he was, started talking. "Hello, Viktor. Long time no see. How are you doing?" Draco nearly snorted. Leave it to Potter to take the Auror Rules to the letter ( 'Pretend you are really interested what the hostage-taker has to say. Make small-talk as your colleagues carry through with the plan') .
"Busy." The Bulgarian snarled. "Pray tell. With what?" Harry really succeeded in being convincingly interested. "Business." "I heard from my brother-in-law that elf-races are quite popular in Bulgaria. Can you tell me something about it?" The green-eyed Auror wanted to know ('Make up some irrelevant details to distract the villain. The weirder, the better') . Strangely, he seemed to hit a sore spot with it, as Krum's arm tightened around Hermione's body and his jaw set. "True. It's very vunny and you can make much money vith it. Or you lose much. Like me." The only inclination that Harry realised he was close to a discovery was a slightly slower blink. Draco stood still as a statue, waiting for a realistic chance to interfere. "That sounds bad. How much did you lose?"
"Everything. And more. Made debts vith the vrong people, dos still living in de old vays. I owed them much more money dan a Quidditch Player gets paid in my country." Curiously, Viktor answered the Auror's questions. Draco and Harry knew from experience that this was a critical point in a hostage-situation. The longer the villain talked, the more probable it was that he made mistakes, giving the Enforcement the opportunity to free the captive: Hermione. Harry still appeared like talking to a long lost friend. "Oh, this was why you came to England? I was wondering. I mean, you're sponsored by Malfoy Inc., I wouldn't want to be associated with that name." Draco ignored the jab at his family name and concentrated on Krum, because that was something he'd given much thought about in the last days, too. "The captaincy for the Cannons vas pervect. De people I owed money still believe Malfoy is just a mole in de Ministry.
And vorking for the vamily means protection in my creditor's opinion. Protection vrom their unvriendly demands vor payback." The Malfoy heir didn't give a damn what people thought about him or that Krum must have lost abhorrent sums in gambling. All that mattered to him in this moment was the witch across the room, who showed a remarkable coolness. Her pupils were dilated, and her breathing a bit ragged, but otherwise, she appeared relatively unaffected. He guessed doing surgeries and rescuing lives for years helped here. Viktor continued with his monologue. "I met Jackie in de bar of dis hotel again. Her vather owns it, and de poor girl was drinking alone and pining vor this blond guy. It didn't took me long to realise she vas talking about him." The sharp nod of his head in Draco's direction caused the entire team to twitch. But it wasn't enough, yet. "She vas desperate. And so I overed her help to get him. A plan dat helped me, too." "So, you two sat together and developed a plan that involved the design of a new drug?
Very smart, Viktor." Harry, again. "Potions vas the only class Jackie vas brilliant in. We used that talent. She vanted Draco to shag her and make her pregnant. I needed money, because the Cannons don't pay enouvh. We'd both made provit from an unknown, addictive and mind-altering substance. And Georgie vas dumb enough to be our guinea pig." The puzzle formed a picture in Draco's head with just some fragments missing. He hoped his partner saw that, too. "Still a very complex plan. Very intelligent." Potter was following the rule 'Compliments help to wane the hostage-taker in security' . "And stealing the ingredients from the Malfoy business was as easy for you, I guess?" "Very easy, if you know 'ow to charm de right witches into telling the passvord to de vaults for a snogging session." His lips curled into a creepy smirk. "But why did you attack me? I had know idea you were behind Morgana's Touch." "I didn't know dat. The moment I saw your name on de guest list, I panicked. It took some persu-va-sion," he stumbled over the word,
"But Jackie vas able to modify de recipe. And it worked very good, as you know." Now Draco stepped in, as previously agreed upon. "I caught up with your story, Krum, but one thing doesn't make sense to me: Why did you drug Hermione on your own when your goal was selling drugs?" From the corner of his eye, the blond wizard saw his partner making subtle movements with his hand. Viktor's expression was one of satisfaction when he answered. "Herm-i-one vas- vhat do you Englishmen say?-she vas de icing on de cake. I couldn't let de opportunity pass to rekindle an old flame. And Hermione vas alvays very… pliant in bed, avter a vodka or two. The plan vas to pull the wand vrom her arse and get her into my bed again." Draco didn't like the dangerous gleam in the man's eyes one bit and dashed forward verbally to keep his limbs were they were, in duelling stance on the floor. "Oh, I didn't know she was into tha t kinky stuff. I'm used to putting my wand in her mouth or her cunt. But well, I love her, and I'm open for everything."
After that too tempting quip, Draco knew Viktor must come to the realisation that the whole thing had been a setup. Even Malfoys didn't insult their witches when they loved them, like he did back in the office. But for Krum, the proverbial Snitch was caught too late. With a fast turn of his head to the left, Viktor spotted the arrow flying towards him. Harry directed it with his wand, and after a split second to react, Viktor released Hermione with a hefty push to the floor and dove for the nearing arrow. However, he hadn't calculated with the Slytherin-share of the successful Auror-team. With a fast flick of his wand, Draco sent the second propofol-loaden arrow flying, approaching Krum from his back. With a satisfying thud! the weapon hit its target. Not daring to move as not endanger Hermione, who lay sprawled on the carpet, Draco counted the seconds in his head as his witch had told him. 'Three Mississippi, two Mississippi, one Mississippi-'
The -undoubtedly former- Seeker and Captain of the Chudley Cannons collapsed into a narcotic sleep, courtesy of a Hermione-pimped-propofol-arrow. The tension in the hotel room ceased on the spot. Draco smirked at his partner. "I have waited so long, but it's so worth it: Finally, I beat you at something Quidditch-related, Potter, for it was me who made the catch! Don't you agree, Hermione?" Still grinning, the Auror turned to the witch, which was still huddled on the floor. His face fell as he saw blood seeping from under the hand she clutched to her side. For the second time in the past week, Draco gave in the urge to curse heavily. "
Fuck ! Harry, Hermione is hurt!" He ran to her side and checked her for further injuries. The wound below her ribs seemed to be the only one, though the blood flowed quickly out of it. "What did he do?" Harry kneeled down on her level. "Knife," she wheezed. His hands covered in his girlfriend's blood, Draco made a fast decision. "I'm going to apparate her into St. Mungo's." Knowing the shock would come later, he settled her in his arms, his back barely protesting upon the unhealthy angle he used. She whispered something, and Harry and Draco lowered their faces to understand her. "I love it when a plan comes together." Then the world turned black for Hermione. Without wasting a thought how much attention he'd draw, Draco apparated into the waiting area of the magical hospital. The reporter of the Daily Prophet, who happened to be present because his two-years-old son had lost a fight with a garden gnome, thanked Merlin when the Malfoy heir, clad in full Auror gear, materialized in front of his eyes, a bloody war heroine tight in his arms, and yelling for medical help for his witch