What Happened Next?? (Dramione)

Ch. 08 - Why Are You Here?

Hermione forced herself to continue going to work and functioning as highly as she could, feeling this was the best way to avoid suspicion. She was already on edge having told Pansy, despite being far more good natured than she had ever been in schools she wasn't exactly known for keeping secrets.

Returning from a harrowing days work, after almost losing a young child who found one of their parents wands lying around, Hermione was greeted by several letters. She tossed aside the bills making a mental note to pay them later she opened the first of four handwritten letters. The neatest was as expected from Rose who kept most of what she said brief but did go on a bit about the dreamy quidditch commentator who also played for her house and was the year above her but had offered to help her with her ancient runes  homework as it was the one area she struggled in. Hermione smiled genuinely while reading the letter, reminding herself of her first crush.

The letters from her other children included Scorpius having won every game they'd played this year, Blair being yet more irritated that Slytherin were still winning the house cup and the first years having blown up the girls toilets and finally Kaitlyn having come top of her class in the defense against the dark arts practical and earning 50 points in one week.

Opening the fifth letter that lay on the table brought Hermione tumbling out of her temporary bubble of happiness and crashing back to the reality that her husband was missing, having most likely been take by the recently released father to her first child.

"I already told you, he's ill, I don't know when he's going to be well enough to come back in," Hermione exclaimed frustrated at the letter she'd received from Draco's work. Two weeks after his initial disappearance it was becoming much harder to convince his office that he was too unwell to come in. He was never ill and even when he was he still insisted on going to work or at least close to overdosing on healing potions so he'd be off as short as possible. His logic being he had his own office, he wouldn't be breathing on anyone he'd be fine.

Hermione quickly wrote yet a another letter explaining that Draco would be back in work as soon as possible and the fact that their profits were dropping was not in fact his fault if they don't know how to do their jobs.

A sharp knock at the door brought Hermione's furious writing to a halt. She slammed her quill down onto the table and walked to the front door. She flung it open, she was greeted by a face that was almost unrecognizable. His face sunken and far more angular than it ever was before. His frame tall and lanky. His eyes were deceptive, exuding what one would only interpret as forgiveness and apology.

Yet there was no way Hermione could bring herself to interpret what she saw as true or real, he'd taken Draco and she new it.

"Well?" He asked in a near to accusing tone, "are you going to invite me in?"

"No," she replied smartly keeping a level voice and head, "I didn't plan on it."

"I doubt you predicted I was coming so you couldn't have planned for anything," he pushed her aside and wondered in as if he owned the place.

"I think it's best if you leave now," Hermione informed the ginger who now stood in the archway to her living room. Knowing if she accused him of anything she'd just be putting herself in unnecessary danger.

"But I think it we would benefit more from a warm drink and you telling me what you have been up to these past fifteen years," Ron replied not doing as good a job as Hermione of removing his true emotion from his voice, but he took the time to speak properly as if trying for the first time in his life to appeal to the academic in her.

"What I've done is entirely none of your business and anything worthy of gossip has probably been spread across the front page or at least a double page spread and is perfectly obtainable."

"I am aware of that, however I would never know what parts are true and what parts have been plucked from the sky."

"Then I suggest you make and educated guess," Hermione replied ending the conversation before activating one of the many wards surrounding the house which then forcefully escorted Mr Wealsey of the property and out of sight, for now.

Quickly Hermione moved to check the other safety precautions Draco had spent hours inventing and testing, including one that wasn't past the test stage yet that would hopefully give them the power to track any guest that stepped foot in the house, wanted or not.

Unfortunately the tests would have been important as there was no trace that he ever entered the doorway.

'Unless he knew they'd be able to do something and had attempted and succeeded to avoid it, perhaps he convinced Draco to yell him how in exchange for not hurting him?' Hermione tried to rationalize the situation in her head.  'No, he'd take whatever pain was thrown his way to protect me, he swore he would when Ron was released. So he must have threatened to bring harm to me without a way to enter our home.  Magic could possibly explain his well mannered and well spoken demeanor as that matched nothing I know or remember of him.' She finished her train of thought fiddling with the ring sitting on her finger wishing she could find him.

<a/n sorry for the long time between updates homework and writers block>