Chapter 1

"Back off, Malfoy, let them work."

Harry pushed his partner back, managing to get him away from the nurse he was accosting.

"She's not a damn field agent, Potter; how the hell did this happen?" Draco seethed. "You know she's been on a downward spiral of guilt, and you're what, encouraging her asinine suicide missions now? That woman spent six seven years keeping your dumb ass alive; you think you'd feel obliged to return the favour!"

Harry bit his tongue and looked at the terrified man in front of him. Grey wide eyes and forehead clammy with sweat, his hair sticking to his forehead. When Harry sent his Patronus to Malfoy that evening, he knew the wizard would arrive at St Mungo's in a furry. Draco Malfoy did not fuck around when it came to Hermione Granger.

As the 'boy who lived', Harry grew up with stories about how purely his mother had loved him. He thought he knew love, and he did with Ginny and the familial love he had for Hermione. None of that held a candle to the ferocity in which Draco loved Hermione.

Which was hilarious to most in the beginning. Hermione and Draco still fought like cats and dogs, even after they had returned to Hogwarts after the war. The anger and hatred had turned into bickering and academic competition. After they graduated, it slowly became something else.

Harry could easily recall the day he found his best friend sobbing on her bedroom floor. He finally pried out of her the reason for all her tears, Draco Malfoy. Before Harry could go Avada, the ex-death eater, Hermione set him straight. She had fallen for the blonde and kissed him after another argument. She was crying because she did not think Harry would forgive her for such a transgression.

Harry had held her tight and promised her that if she really fell for Malfoy, she needed to go for it. Harry and Draco had been partners for about half a year at the time, the two even catching a fire whiskey together after a hard workday. They became colleagues.

As the story goes, Hermione had marched into Draco's office the next morning and demanded to know why he kissed her back. When he replied it was to 'keep her from using her mouth for annoying things, like talking,' Hermione had lost it, ranting and raving like she was famous for in their Hogwarts days.

Draco smiled at her and waited for Hermione to run out of words to throw at him. When there was silence to fill, Draco asked her to go out with him; Hermione accepted in a huff and left his office. That was basically the start of them. Though people teased that after the years of foreplay at Hogwarts, a date was way overdue.

Being only three years since the war, there was outrage when news of the couple hit the papers. Mainly from all who supported the dark side, death eaters lying in waiting and Draco's father. The light side did not pay it all that much attention, except for Ron.

Almost eight months later, he was still sour over the whole thing. Eight months and this wizard was already more in love with his best friend than anyone he had ever seen. It was all Harry had ever hoped for, for his sister. Hermione deserved it after everything she had done for him and for the world, all the pain and loss she had suffered.

Now, because of him, she was in more pain.

"I did not go along with anything, Malfoy; I have been in Russia with you these last two days." Harry pushed Draco toward the empty hallway; he did not need a full waiting room gawking at him. "I get home, and there she is! I was apart from you for maybe twelve minutes."

"You said there was a lot of blood, too much blood."

Harry shuttered at the reminder. "She has a head wound; they bleed a lot."

"I knew we should have stayed here; one of us should have stayed with her." Draco licked his lips. "We knew she was not doing well; she's been obsessing, erratic. Hermione doesn't get erratic. She is clearly being targeted, she should not be left alone."

Harry rubbed his forehead, "Someone is rapeing and killing muggles who look exactly like her—even carving that slur into their biceps before ditching the body. It's triggering her. She was staying with Ron at the office; it should have been the safest place for her."

Draco's eyes hardened, "He better not come here. I'm not kidding, Potter; if he shows up here, the shred of control I still have will shatter."

Harry grabbed Draco's bicep, looking into crazed silver eyes. "He'll be questioned for the next couple of hours; I don't expect he'll be showing up here any time tonight. I know the bad blood runs a little too deep with you two, but Ron would not do something if he thought Hermione would get hurt."

"He's backbone is weaker than his duelling skills, she pushed, and he backed down. We both know what happened tonight, she wanted to play investigator, and he fucking let her." Draco clenched his fist. "This is just like how you three were at Hogwarts."

"Mr. Potter?" Harry turned, hearing his name. "Miss Granger has healed just fine; she's asking to see you."

Harry gave Malfoy a look before walking swiftly toward her room, A looming presence behind him. Hermione was sitting crisscrossed on the hospital bed when they entered, all traces of blood gone from her person. Her forehead was still slightly discoloured, headache dully pounding away.

Draco could finally breathe again; Hermione looked fine, physically anyway. Except for the shades of blue and yellow that marred her perfect forehead. He stood back by the wall letting Harry take the lead. Now that he could see for himself, she was awake and breathing; white-hot anger was burning under his pale skin.

"What happened?" Harry asked softly, sitting down on her bed.

"I know who's doing it, Harry, who's killing those women," Hermione spoke low and quiet; the investigation had not gone public in the wizarding world yet. "It's Greyback, Harry."

Which cemented what they had all known, Hermione was a target. Greyback had given them enough evidence in their younger years to confirm that.

"He was killed during the war."

Hermione shook her head. "There was never a body recovered, and I bet if you check the records, he isn't occupying a cell in Askaban either. I saw him that night after he killed Brown. He smiled at me and licked her blood from his lips. He wanted me that night, in Malfoy's manor, he wanted to play, and he never got what he wanted. That's why he's killing those women, either to draw me out or scare me, but it's him."

Arms crossed over his chest, eyes narrowed, and Draco entered the conversation. "How are you so sure it's him, it could be any number of Voldemort sympathizers."

The woman in question shivered, biting her lip. Draco was mad; she knew he would be when he found out what she had done, even more so now that she had gotten hurt. She almost wanted to ignore him and hope the ground would swallow him up so she would not have to deal with him.

"You know how." She muttered in annoyance.

Draco crowed her space, leaning over and placing his hands on the bed beside her hips. Hermione met his eyes; what's done is done. She could not take it back now.

"I suspect you're going to confirm if you did what I think you did. So help me, Granger, you better not say what I think you're about to." His voice was ice leaving his tongue.

"I located him with a spell, and I went to confirm my theory."

Draco chuckled darkly, sounding unhinged. Harry rubbed his forehead; how could she have put herself at risk like that.

"Ron came with me; it was two wands against none. It wasn't a full moon, and he was alone; I'm not an idiot; I did my due diligence."

"You think what you did tonight was smart?" Draco snickered. "Look at where we are, Hermione! You are damn lucky to be alive. Did what he did to those women not scare you enough? I know you saw the photos of the bodies, how brutal he was to them."

"Malfoy." Harry stood up as their partner continued.

"Are you bored?"

"What?" Hermione asked, confused, her head pounding as her headache grew.

"The adrenaline of the war finally wears off after four years, and you're looking for a new psychopath to monopolize your time? I will tell you right now; I am going to be on your ass every second ruining that high. You want adrenaline? I'll take you up on my broom and ride loops until you puke." He stormed back over to her bed. "You are not a field agent; you aren't trained to be an Auror. You aren't even in the damn department, so I suggest you stop fucking around before you run out of lives."

"Woah, ok." Harry got in between them, forcing Draco back a step. "Take a breath."

Hermione had mellowed out over the years, but only slightly. Losing her parents gave her a little more perspective on how precious her relationships are with the people she loves. She had also gotten a lot of patience dealing with her friends over the last ten years. She could see fear screaming in Draco's eyes, his words may not be fair but they were coming from a place of fear, not malice.

If she had to guess, the validity of her life had been in question tonight, and he was wigged. Freakout that he was standing in the hospital and she was the patient, that she could have died and he would have been half away around the world as it happened.

"We need to debrief with the others so we can bring Greyback in. I'm sure Ron's already told them some of it already. Malfoy, why don't you go tell the others? I'll take Hermione to Grimwald place. The wards cast during the war are still there; you can meet us thereafter."

"You go to the office; she's not leaving my sight."

Hermione climbed out of the bed, throwing the blanket violently. "You two don't get to stand there and decide things for me, about me. Harry, I am not going to Grimwald place; my home is just fine. And YOU. I am too annoyed to say anything that is not mean right now, but you will not be breathing down my neck like a bodyguard for the next however long." Her head pounded. "Both of you are going back to the office tonight. Out-of-town cases lead to mountains of paperwork and red tape. Harry, I will see you tomorrow morning for questioning; Draco I'll see you at home later."

Draco shook his head, stepping in her way, grabbing onto her wrist for good measure.

"I'll meet you back at the office, Potter." Draco's eyes remained on Hermione as he dismissed Harry.

Her green-eyed friend looked back and forth between the couple for a few minutes, deciding whether he was going to listen or not. In the end, he decided leaving would be best for all of them. Draco would never harm Hermione; in fact, he was more worried for the blonde in this situation. Hermione could get wicked if she was pushed too hard.

"They won't let you work this case, you know, not now that you're emotionally involved," Hermione told him as a matter of fact.

Draco released her wrist, "Oh, I'm working the case."

"You're in rare form tonight."

"While considering the love of my life's existences was endangered tonight by a psychotic rapist who fancies her. Ending with her alone and bleeding out, needing to be tended to by healers in a hospital, excuse me if that set me off."

"Ok, but I'm here fine, standing right in front of you. Take a breath and relax."

Draco clenched and unclenched his jaw. "Come, I'm taking you home."

"You don't need to escort me; I know where we live." Hermione was annoyed and embarrassed about how the night turned out.

"Oh, shall I let you escort yourself? Better yet, let's get Weasley to have your back again; he did a brilliant job last time."

Hermione pointed a finger at him, "Ron did protect me-"

"Don't cover for him after all he's caused, and I don't just mean tonight."

"That is not fair; stop bringing up things we have already put to rest."

"It can't be put to rest when you keep bringing him around!"

"He is my friend. God! You know that, and you knew what had happened between us when you asked me out in the first place. You can't use it to start arguments with me when I've done nothing wrong."

"YOU HAVE DONE NOTHING BUT WRONG TONIGHT. You've been out of your mind all week, and this is the result. And you are damn right. I know what happened between the two of you; I was the one you came running to, to get away from him. He took advantage of your pain and your need for direction; you followed him because, for the first time, you could not trust yourself."

"Shut up."

"You trusted him, and it led you wrong. We're both fools because I trusted him, too, with your safety. Believe me, Darling, I will not be making that mistake again."

Hermione crossed her arms, she was exhausted, and her head hurt. She just wanted to get the hell out of here.

"You don't even know what happened tonight. You'll just have to wait till tomorrow to hear it with the rest of your department because I'm done talking to you."

She picked up her wand and walked swiftly into the hall, leaving her jumper behind. It was ripped apart; she did not care enough to put in the effort to mend it.

"Hermione, don't you dare. Granger!"

Before he could grab onto her, Hermione had made it out of the room and apparated. Draco growled, placing his fists against his forehead.

"Fucking stubborn." He breathed out to try and calm himself; it had little effect. At least he knew she was home; he could feel it as she entered their home. For now, she was safe; even before the bodies started to pile up, Draco had set up hundreds of wards to keep their home safe and private. Harry, Blaise and Theo were the only three wizards who had direct access to their home uninvited.

With little to no options in front of him, Draco returned to work; Hermione was right. There would be a lot of paperwork to get done before getting involved with this murder case.

.

Potter was waiting in their office when he arrived; he had put a good dent in his paperwork while Draco had been at the hospital.

"Stop looking at me like that." Draco snapped, sitting down at his desk.

"You seem more or less like how I left you; Hermione didn't mess you up too bad."

"She's impossible."

Harry smiled lovingly. "She's Hermione. She is so pure at times that it seems to override her brain, and she stops thinking. She is the smartest person I know, but her curiosity and desire for an answer is what leads her most; it can get her in trouble."

"Killed Potter! She was almost killed tonight." Draco threw down his quill; he was not going to get any work done tonight. "I know she's brilliant, brave and whatever other adjective starts with B you could come up with. She works to protect magical creatures! She should not be going on unsanctioned recon missions!"

Harry cleared his throat, "Technically; she's only working there; for now, Kingsley let her work there until she could pass her wellness test. Unlike the rest of us, she refuses to take it, claiming she is happy where she is. Which I think she is; Hermione always wanted to make sure everyone gets treated fairly. Kingsley and Hermione got really close during the war; he would give her any position she wanted. He'll even let her be involved in this case if she asks."

Draco's eye blazed; he would not actually let an untrained wizard do that would he? "I don't want her involved."

"And I do? She is my sister, and I love her more than anything. We can't stop her from being involved if she wants to be; all we can do is watch her back and protect her the best we can."

Draco shook his head, scowling down at his lap. How had this happened? Three weeks ago, they were happy; they were progressing. These murders were already affecting her; she was acting different, quieter and keeping her thoughts to herself.

Watching Malfoy from across the room, Harry could not help but feel sorry for him. Hermione was stubborn, and she was not afraid to die for what she believed in or believed to be right. Harry had already talked to Kingsley when he returned to the office, pleading his case and explaining how strange Hermione had been acting. Kingsley nodded and thanked him for his input but did not give Harry much hope in keeping her off this case.

"For three-fourths of my life, I had people dying and willing to die for a fight that was mine, or what felt like it was mine. Every death felt like my fault; all the people we lost felt like my responsibility. I imagine Hermione is feeling that way now; those girls are being killed because they are muggles but mainly it is because they resemble Hermione; we both know that. When we got caught that easter Greyback had been inappropriate with her, smelling her and touching her. We both know it's him. Hermione is not going to sit back and do nothing because she feels like this is her fault."

Draco's mouth thickened with saliva; he wanted to gag with the image Potter created in his mind. If he were honest with himself, he remembers Greyback being rather depraved that spring. Remembered how he offered to play with Hermione after his aunt was done with her.

While he heard what Potter was saying, he could not understand how Hermione would feel responsible for the muggle girl's death. Greyback was the source, not Hermione; even if they did look like her, she was not at fault. It did make him understand her behaviour a little more, why she seemed to not be thinking things threw logically. No matter what she had claimed earlier.

"I won't lose her over this." Draco proclaimed.

"We'll protect her, Malfoy."

That was not exactly what he meant. Hermione was no doubt not going to back off or drop this; she was going to push to be involved in some way or another. Sure she could die, and that would take her away from him, Draco; Draco was also considering their home life. He did not want her anywhere near this, and it was going to put a wedge between them. He would be mean and sneaky and lie if it would keep her alive, but it could be at the cost of their relationship. Could Hermione even forgive him for something like that? He could not live without her.

He might be less prat-like than when he was a young schoolboy, but he still was possessive over what was his. He would adore and covet her until his dying day, which might be sooner than he planned if she kept up these half throughout stunts.

"Let's just get this done and get out of here." He did not want to leave Hermione home alone for too long after the night she had.

.

He knew she was here, he could feel her within his wards, but he could not find her for the life of him. He had been home all of eighteen minutes, and he was unable to find her. Their home was nice but not big enough that it should take almost twenty minutes to find her in it. Draco was just about to lose his mind when he caught sight of her out their bedroom window.

She was out lying in the grass; while it was nice outside, it was a rather chilly evening. The coldest they'd had yet. Hermione had moved in with him two months ago following the incident with Weasley. she had yet to spend time out in the yard. Most of her time, she stays in the bay window of their library.

She must have had a warming charm placed around her; when he walked close enough to her, there were no goosebumps on her bare legs. She was in her small exercise shorts and a big cozy-looking hoodie Ginny had made her last Christmas. Her hair was down, spread out in the grass and her thick fuzzy shocks came up to mid-calf, keeping her feet warm.

Her eyes flickered to him when Draco got close enough and then back up to the stars. Her face was blank of emotion except for the tiny frown on her forehead.

"You can be mad all you want, Hermione, but I'm not going to be sorry for caring about your safety." Her eyes fluttered closed.

"Another girl was killed today; she was only 14. The things he did to her... That is why I got hurt, I did not expect him to be in the middle of- she was already dead, and he had his mouth wrapped around her thigh. When he saw me, he frenzied, all I could see was her pale face. Ron pulled me backwards, and I fell, hitting my head on something. He flung Greyback away and then got us out of there."

She opened her eyes, feeling Draco sit next to her. "I was confused, and I needed to be alone; I meant to come here, but I thought of home and then Harry. I ended up at his place, and I passed out before I could lift my wand. I woke up later at St Mungo's; they said Ron was being questioned. I was lucky he was there, Draco; I would have been worse off without him."

Draco licked his lips, "The thought of being indebted to Weasley for anything is unthinkable, but having you alive is worth the annoyance."

Hermione rolled her eyes, pulling the cuffs of her sweater over her hands. Her warming charm kept the cold from seeping into her bones. She was doing it out of comfort and because she felt like she was in trouble, which she kind of was.

"I know you don't understand it, but I needed to go to Greyback's tonight."

Draco shook his head. "There were Aurors down the hall. Harry and I were coming back in mere hours. You went because you know that you would not have been allowed to go if you told anyone else or got suitable backup. It's against the law, as much as you think so your pal Kingsley can't just ignore that fact. Gods, Hermione, you could have been killed. Despite saying it, I really don't think you recognize that."

Hermione bristled, sitting up and maneuvering to face him head-on. "Please, my magic would have knocked him on his ass; I could have brought him in-"

"But you didn't! You are the most stubborn women I have the pleasure of keeping company with. You did not put him on his ass. Your 'back up' put you on yours. You were not ready. You were not trained to handle it; you saw one dead girl, and you lost the ability to function."

"A naked, bloodied, brown curly-haired human girl. This one even had brown eyes, vacant brown eyes that stared downward like they were watching him commit acts on her when she died. All I could see was Shelly, Marissa, Lily and Taylor on her face. Five girls in only a week and a half; he is not going to stop until I stop him. I already thought out a plan; I'm going to go to Kingsley with it tomorrow."

He tried to smother his temper, but it was rising. "You might remember from the trials that Greyback visited the manor almost weekly. Always bringing muggleborns to be thrown at Voldemort's feet or for the death eaters to play with. Sometimes he would not wait to be out of the manor to start 'playing' with them. I've heard the screams that rip from their throats; what in any scenario makes you think I would want the same for you?"

"Who says the same would happen to me?"

Draco shot to his feet, pinching his nose. "Oh, for the love of-."

"If you wanted some twit to live in the manor with you. Someone who would plan tea parties with your mother and shop all day buying things she doesn't need, you should have married Astoria." Hermione climbed to her feet as well. "It's not like I'm behaving any different now than I ever have. If you wanted some pureblood princess, what the hell did you even start dating me for!"

Draco shook his head, confused. "What?"

Since when were they talking about Astoria? He had not seen the girl since sometime last fall at a Ministry ball; he was pretty sure she was engaged to someone else now.

"Look, if you're not happy being with me, you're going to have to say so."

He grabbed and spun her around. "I'm pretty sure everything I've said since returning home is contrary to that fact."

"I'm not like her; I don't do what you say; I don't enjoy dressing up in those god-awful heavy dress robes. I don't get on with your parents; they would much rather I not be tainting their son. I am not a housewife; I enjoy working and making a difference in the world. I've never been one of those girly girls."

"What gave you the impression that that is what I want you to be? I love that you work and have more than two brain cells to rub together; I love that you are with me despite the flaws I'm still trying to rid myself of because of my upbringing. You are everything that I want; I am enamoured with you and the life we are starting to build together. Which you need to be alive for us to do."

Hermione would not look at him though she had been listening. She felt so silly; she had promised herself she would keep her interaction with Astoria yesterday to herself. She was not those petty girls who fight over a guy. If Draco did not want her, she was not going to be one of those girls who stuck around and fought for his attention.

"I'm not going to let this go. The aurors have more of a chance of catching Greyback if I'm involved." Hermione took a step back, but Draco's hands dropped from her biceps to catch her hand.

"Let us unpack that thinking tomorrow; I'm trying very hard to remind myself that you are presently safe at home with me. What I'm currently focusing on is the fact that I've clearly somehow made you think I'd rather Astoria's company to yours."

"You haven't. I'm- tired, and I still have a headache from earlier. I need some sleep."

"Hermione..."

She started walking toward their home, Draco following, not releasing his grip on her hand. What the hell was going on in that head of hers?

What do we think? Do we like this? Do we want to see more, or do we feel like this is very been there done that got the notifications to prove it?