Evermore

VII.

I hope you all like this next chapter...

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Hermione sat back and watched as the remaining portion of the liquid she had found in the stables simmered inside the small, pewter cauldron. She had tested it for three of the most common types of poison in the wizarding world and she had already crossed off hemlock and belladonna. Chemicals were out of the question since wizards didn't really dabble in them - too Muggle. That's why she focused on natural poisons.

She actually wished that her intuition was wrong because if she was right, then someone out there was trying to kill Draco.

Hah! As if you didn't wish it yourself before, Mudblood!

She grimaced as she thought of what Draco would've said. Yes, they were enemies, long-time enemies, in fact. And he'd hated his guts. But that was before!

Now...

Now, she didn't know how she felt about him...

Dammit, Hermione! Have you gone daft? You DON'T feel anything for him!

Oh, shut up, hypocrite!

A hand slapped against her forehead when she realized what she was doing.

Sweet Merlin! I'm arguing with MYSELF! This is NOT GOOD!

Jumping up from the stool, she glanced at the walls of the lab to distract herself. Who knew that the Malfoys had their own laboratory in the dungeons?

A portrait of a young Draco caught her eye making her walk over. It was of an 8 or 9 year old Draco tinkering with phials and colored liquids. He was mixing them all in the same small pewter cauldron that she was now using, glancing self-consciously every now and then at the camera. Picture Draco stirred the concoction in the cauldron as it gave off steam that changed colors. When the smoke turned pink, Draco reached inside with a pair of tongs and took out a beautiful, red rose. He smiled widely as he held up the rose in triumph.

Hermione wondered what he was doing. She'd never come across a potion that could produce a rose before. Perhaps he was using an old Potions Playset. She had helped Ron buy one for Teddy's birthday. They argued about it, of course, Ron saying that Teddy would much prefer a Play Broomstick. She won the argument, naturally, when she pointed out that a harmless color-changing, water-based, make-believe potion had less chance of making a five-year old boy fall and break his bones.

The hissing sound coming from her own cauldron made her run back to it. Her blood ran cold when it started giving off bitter-smelling, green fumes.

Damn! Sometimes I really hate being proven right! We need to talk, Malfoy!

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She found him in the kitchen, surrounded by about a dozen house elves. She didn't know that he had so many. Well, considering the size of the estate, he really should've had more.

Most of the elves were looking up at him with wide, fearful eyes. Some were either sniffing loudly or glaring at the floor in anger. Tinder looked like he'd taken the death of Luli personally. Hermione feared what the old elf would do if he came across his friend's murderer.