A/N: Hey everyone! Hope you guys liked the last chapter. I know it was pretty long, but as I said, two scenes were a bit important. I have been waiting to write this chapter for so long, ever since I started this story, and you will know why soon. Read the A/N at the end to find out when the next chapter will be out. On with the chapter!
Next day.....
"Draco!" Hermione shouted. "Come down, Draco, it is time for breakfast."
She sighed when he still didn't come downstairs. "I will kill him if he is still sleeping. Honestly, I know he is not a morning person, but sleeping till late? That too on a work day?"
"Where are you, Draco?" She yelled after a few minutes. "If you don't come down in two minutes, I will not give you the apple pies I have made-"
Before she could finish her sentence, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Turning around she smirked when she saw Draco coming towards her with Athy in his arms. "Knew you would immediately come downstairs when I threatened about the apple pies. Anyways, sit down and I will-"
"I need to go." He cut her off as he sat Athy down on her chair. "There is an urgent meeting I have to attend today, so I don't have time for breakfast."
"What meeting?" She stared at him in confusion. "I wasn't notified of any meeting, and considering I am your partner-"
"Exactly." Draco interrupted her once again. "You are my partner, just my Auror partner. You aren't my boss or something so I don't have to tell about each and everything I do or plan to do."
"Why are you acting like this?" She furrowed her brows. "Just sit down and eat breakfast. You will only be late by a few minutes, and I am sure Robards and Kingsley will understand. Besides we both know that you aren't able to focus on your work if you don't eat breakfast."
"Oh so now you know everything about me, huh?" He raised his eyebrows at her. "Stop being a know it all, Granger. I don't have time for this." Looking towards his daughter, he bent down and kissed her forehead. "I will see you later, Athy."
"Bye bye Dad!" The little blond witch grinned at him, and kissed her father's cheek before resuming her breakfast.
"I will see you at work, Granger." Draco told her without looking at her, and walked towards the floo after picking up his bag.
"Okay I will bring the apple pies with me when I come to the Ministry. You can eat them after your meeting ends." Hermione said as she went to take out a container for the pies.
"No need." He stopped her from going into the kitchen. "I will just eat something at the cafeteria. Don't trouble yourself."
"But-"
Draco shook his head and took the floo powder, yelled his destination and left before she could complete her sentence.
"-these apple pies are your favorites." Hermione finished and sighed as she looked towards the floo.
As she ate her breakfast, her mind wandered off to the thoughts about her best friend. He had been acting off ever since she had come back home after dinner yesterday night.
A part of her wondered if Draco was acting like this because he saw the Daily Prophet, in which a photo of her and Theo, of their 'date', was printed on the front page.
But then again, why would Draco be jealous if he saw that photo?
Yes, Theo was his best friend, but so was Hermione. So technically, he shouldn't have a problem if they date each other.
But since when had Draco been the one to follow the rules?
Or even think logically or technically?
But that wasn't the point here. The matter that was troubling Hermione was the way Draco had been acting after she had returned from her date. He was fine until that afternoon, when she had left to go to the Potters' house.
But after that?
What had changed? She wanted to ask him. Why are you acting like this?
And she did ask, but of course, he ignored her.
Maybe he was jealous, her mind answered.
"But why?" She asked. "And how did he even know about the date? The Prophet only published it today, and he has been acting off since yesterday night."
You keep forgetting that Theo and Draco are best friends, her mind said. They tell each other every single thing.
"Yeah, it seems as if you are right." Hermione muttered. "But wait, does that mean that Theo told Draco what we talked about on our date?"
Flashback
"Hey Hermione, will you like to go on a date with me?" Theo asked as soon as she picked up his call.
"W-what?" She honestly couldn't believe what Theo had said a few moments back. Why would he ask her on a date? "I don't understand."
"Oh Hermione." He chuckled. "If you just wanted to reject me, you could have done that directly. You don't have to pretend to not understand.
"No I-I... well...." Hermione sighed. "Why?"
"Why?" He repeated. "What do you mean why? Why does a guy ask a girl on a date? Because he likes her. And I like you, Hermione."
Well that wasn't really a lie.
Theo did like Hermione, but only as a friend. He would never like someone whom Draco loved, or has been in love with since their first year, even if the blond ferret wouldn't admit it.
And he really didn't want to face Draco's wrath or get killed by him because of having a crush on his muggle born best friend.
Besides, Theo might already have a crush on someone. A certain blond witch. The one who owned the cafe he and Draco had gone to, and the former had told them about his ex girlfriend.
But nobody needed to know that.
"Theo, look. You are an amazing guy, and I really enjoy your company. But I am so sorry. I-I don't like you in that way, so I won't be able to go on this date with you." Hermione told him slowly, not wanting to hurt his feelings.
Well she obviously couldn't go on a date with him considering she was in love with her stupid, once upon a time foul, loathsome cockroach best friend.
"I knew it." Theo let out a mock disappointed sigh. "Well I can't force you to like me, but it is okay. Though the offer is still there. I mean not of the date, but a hangout. Can we just hangout? As friends, of course."
She thought about it for a moment and then looked at Ginny, who was sitting next to her and listening to everything. "Okay. Just message me the time and place, and I will be there."
As Hermione hung up the call, she was oblivious to the red headed witch, who was smirking while thinking of their plan.
Theo obviously knew that Hermione wouldn't go on a date with him. So he had asked Ginny to persuade the Brightest Witch of Her Age in case she refused to even hangout with him.
After all, they all wanted Hermione and Draco to get together, didn't they?
Half an hour later, Hermione was ready to go on her 'date', no, they were simply hanging out as friends, Just friends.
As she apparated in front of a cafe, and entered it, she realised that it was the cafe that had just recently opened. So there was bound to be a bunch of reporters.
Who would obviously love clicking her and Theo's pictures, and writing delusional articles about them.
"Thanks for meeting me, Hermione." Theo smiled at her as he got up from his chair when he saw her approaching and briefly hugged her.
"Of course." She smiled back at him and sat down. "I am really sorry about rejecting you earlier, Theo. I really don't want to hurt you-"
"Oh it is okay." He let out a dry laugh. "It is nothing new for me. I have gotten my heart broken before as well."
"Theo......" The colour had drain from her face.
"I apologise. I have got a bit of a dark sense of humour." Theo mentally smacked his head. He was here to make Hermione confess her feelings for Draco, not make her feel bad or sorry for him.
He quickly changed the topic of the conversation after they had placed their order. They ate the food in almost complete silence, except for talking a few tid bits about their respective works.
"So....." Theo started as he gestured for the waiter to bring the bill. "Do you fancy continuing this? I mean, just roaming around and all."
"Sure, I would like that." She smiled at him and placed her hand in his, as he helped her up. The two exited the cafe, still engrossed in their conversation, not noticing a certain reporter taking their photos.
Nor did they notice Rita going over and talking to Draco Malfoy, who had just exited the Apothecary, and pointing them out to him. They also missed the glare Draco had sent Theo's way.
Few hours later, as they went back to that very cafe after roaming around, Theo asked her, "So, are you planning to go to Australia any time soon? You know, for the holidays and all."
"Yeah, I-I am planning to do so."
"Perfect." He clapped his hands together. "Then please tell Draco to bring those famous chocolates for me. Salazar, I love them so much."
"Draco?" She asked. "Why will I take Draco with me to Australia?"
"Why won't you take Draco with you?" He asked her back. "You know he likes visiting your parents. Besides, you he always accompanies you on your trip to Australia, even when he isn't feeling like socialising, just like the past few months."
"Theo....." Hermione started but stopped. She obviously couldn't tell him the real reason she was thinking about going to Australia, he would literally tell Draco about the job offer. "I-I am not going there just for spending the holidays."
"You aren't planning on leaving us and going there permanently, are you?" Theo narrowed his eyes at her. If she was, then that meant he had to tell her that Draco had feelings for her, and she could, in no way, leave him. "You do know that Draco loves-"
"I like- no, love someone." She blurted out.
Theo frowned and then smiled a second later. Thank me later for making you two get together, Draco, he thought. "Great then. So you should go back home now and tell this to Draco-"
"And that someone is in Australia." Hermione lied.
"W-what?" His jaw dropped.
"I-I have been exchanging letters with an wizard who lives in Australia for the past few months. We became friends while I was in Australia, and I-I have just fallen in love with him. So along for the holidays, I will also be going to Australia to meet him."
Hermione knew she shouldn't have lied, but obviously she didn't want to tell Theo about the job offer when she herself didn't know what she wanted to do.
And making up a story about falling in love with an Australian wizard was the only thing that came up in her mind that time.
Though she was thankful when the waitress brought their food over so that Theo didn't get a chance to ask her more about the story.
Not that she gave him a chance to do so later, of course.
On the other hand, Theo was mentally debating what he was supposed to do about this situation now. He had a feeling that Hermione was lying, but he couldn't prove so.
He would have to take the others' help, specially Harry, whom she told everything, an Narcissa, who was the best at planning things.
Flashback over
And if Theo told Draco about that fake love story of yours, and that is the reason Draco's been acting off, then that still means he is jealous, her mind told her.
"Oh Godric." Hermione groaned. "Why does he have to be so complicated? Why can't Draco be like any other normal wizard?"
"Mi?" Athy frowned when she looked up at her. "What happen' Mi?"
"Nothing happened, my darling." Hermione tried her best to smile at her, which thankfully, was enough to convince the little witch. "Just thinking about something."
And also planning to hex Theo if she got to know that he told Draco about that guy.
Oh and Ginny as well, who was initially the one to pester her about her feelings for Draco, and also the one to tell her to ask Theo about Draco, on her meeting with THeo.
----------
Alexander Norwin suddenly stopped while he was going through the lists of the spells that had been performed on the Aurors working there.
He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
A few days back, Kingsley had asked the Healers of St Mungo's to take a test of every Auror who was working there, and find out each and every spell that had been used on them since the end of the Second Wizarding War.
They had gotten a tip that there was probably a traitor among the Aurors in the Ministry, and the first thought Kingsley had was that if there was indeed a traitor, than he had to be an unwilling one, because they checked every Auror's wand secretly once a week, so they would know if that person was a traitor.
But if one was an unwilling traitor, than whichever dark curse he used, won't be registered on his wand, that is, if he was under the Imperius Curse. So Kingsley had made the request to check every Auror to the Healers.
Of course, the Aurors didn't know about it. They just thought that it was a normal check up, but they were unaware of the motive behind it. Finally, the results had come. The Healers had first mentioned the name of the Aurors working in the Ministry, even if they weren't actually from England or were just here because of the programme which was introduced a little more than three years ago. And in the next column, they had mentioned the spells which had been used on them since the past nine years.
Then, the Healers had also made separate files about every Auror, with the list of the spells they could use to find out when and where a specific spell had been used on them.
Coming across certain weird spells had been a normal occurring for Alexander since the past two hours as he was going through the list.
And even seeing a specific spell was nothing new. There were many Aurors on whom that spell had been used.
So he shouldn't have been surprised when he saw the name of that spell next to a certain witch's.
Hermione Granger's.
But the thing that had shocked him was the year in which that spell had been used on her.
For the other Aurors, on whom that spell had been used, it had happened either during the Second Wizarding War, or during their Auror training.
Or in some cases, when they had actually become an Auror and had gone on raids.
But in Hermione's case, the spell had been used on her on neither of the cases.
It had been used on her a year before she was accepted into Auror training, in Australia.
That is, it had happened in 1999.
So that could only mean two things.
One, that the spell had been used on Hermione when she was in Hogwarts, completing her eighth year.
Or the second, that the spell had been used on her when she had spent a year in the Australian Ministry cell, like a prisoner, because of her crimes.
And Alexander couldn't figure out why it had happened, when he thought about both the possible scenarios.
Figuring that Harry Potter would like to know about this, or if perhaps he already knew, then he would be able to help him, Alexander picked up the list and Hermione's file, and made his way towards the Chosen One's office.
But that was easier said than done.
--------
One hour later.......
Alexander had not expected that he would have to stand an hour outside Harry's office because the Boy Who Lived was too busy arguing with Draco.
Which was nothing new, of course.
But it was more bantering than arguing.
Alexander had heard that the two had kind of become friends, them having Hermione as a mutual best friend helping the matters, of course.
Having gone to Hogwarts, and been sorted into Hufflepuff, he sometimes used to imagine what would it have been like if the two Aurors would have been best friends in Hogwarts, since their first year.
Dumbledore's dream of House Unity would have been a success if that had happened.
Shaking his head, he continued standing outside the door. "Honestly, do these two do anything except arguing or fighting with each other?" He wondered, when he heard Draco insulting Harry.
On the other side of the door, a blond wizard was feeling like strangling the raven haired Auror who was standing in front of him.
"I am telling you, Potter, Tutshill Tornados are the best Quidditch team in the British and Irish Quidditch League." Draco told him.
"Clearly your assumption or perhaps sense of thinking is very wrong." Harry rolled his eyes. "Holyhead Harpies are the best team in the Quidditch League."
"You are only saying that because your wife plays for that team, Potter." Draco smirked. "And you don't want to face Red's wrath by saying that you support any other team, which is not hers."
"Now I am telling you, I don't get scared of her." Harry admitted, though they both knew what he was saying was a lie. "I can support whichever team I want."
"Oh really?" He raised his eyebrows at the ex Gryffindor. "Then why did you immediately put the Tutshill Tornados jersey back on the shelf when Red and Granger spotted us looking at them?"
"Well....." Harry scratched the back of his neck. He sometimes forgot that the wizard in front of him was a former Slytherin, and an expert in forcing out confessions from people, obviously a damn good one at that. "Whatever. That doesn't prove anything."
"Tut, tut, Potter." Draco chuckled. "You can just admit that I am right. That you are scared of Red or Potterette, or whatever, and that's why you don't admit that the team I support is the best."
"I am not going to comment anything on that." Harry shook his head. "And can you stop calling her by those names? First it used to be She Weasel, then Potterette and now Red-"
"You forgot Weaslette-"
"My point," Harry ignored his interruption, "Is that why can't you just call her by her name? Why think about this stupid nicknames?"
"These stupid nicknames, as you called them, Potter," Draco drawled, "Are actually very creative. And if Potterette doesn't have a problem, then why do you?"
"She is my wife." He exclaimed. "And she is my best friend, known as Granger's, best friend." He smirked. "So technically I can call her whatever I want to. You have got no say in that."
"Oh so are we still playing that game?" Harry raised his eyebrows at him.
"Game? What game? Did you hit your head too hard when you fell from the broom when I caught the Snitch in our last Quidditch match, Potter? I ought to drag you to St Mungo's as a responsible Auror right now-"
"Are you done?" Harry huffed. "Honestly, I feel bad for Hermione. Or well, even for your other best friends, Zabini and Nott. Don't know how they manage to handle you. I would never be able to, of course."
"Yeah well you can't be perfect at everything now, Potter, can you? I even beat you at our last match. I think the score is now Draco- 15 and Potter- 9. At this rate, I could have been the best seeker at Professional Quidditch-"
"Malfoy-"
"I thought I was Draco to you-"
"Fine whatever, Draco-"
"We are currently at our place of work, Potter. You ought to call me Auror Malfoy-"
"Shut up!" Harry nearly yelled at him. "Honestly, Draco, do learn to keep your mouth shut. I really feel like strangling you right now."
"Yeah well I felt like that when you said that Tutshill Tornados suck. No wait, scratch that. I feel like strangling you each and every day. Seriously, Potter, I have never met a more annoying wizard than you. I mean Weasel could compete with you for that stop, but it's not like I have to talk to him everyday so-"
Harry pointed his wand at him and muttered Silencio. He smirked when Draco sent a death glare at him.
"Nice way to deal with you, really." The ex Gryffindor chuckled. "I should really keep my wand pointed at you all the time so that I can use Silencio on you whenever I want to."
But what he hadn't thought about was that Draco still had his wand with him.
Rolling his eyes at the Boy Who Lived, the blond wizard took his wand out from his pocket and said the counter spell while pointing his wand at him.
"Honestly Potter," Draco smirked. "This is why you haven't ever been given the Best Auror award. And also why I have always been ranked before you, and after the Head Auror Robards, in the Most Competent Auror list."
"Well I can't think properly because of your stupid and nonsense rambling." Harry facepalmed himself. "But don't think that you have managed to make me forget what I was talking about. You may be cunning, but I have been friends with you for years now."
"Only because Granger forced me to accept your handshake in our eighth year when instead, I should have rejected it and insulted you like you did to me all those years ago." Draco scowled.
"If you don't shut up right now, I am going to call Narcissa and tell her to send her peacock patronus and make it chase after you in the whole Ministry." Harry threatened him.
He continued, "Imagine, you running away while screaming loudly like you did in our first year, while the peacock, which isn't even real, will run after you. But wait, what about a real peacock? That would be better won't it? I am sure Narcissa and Lucius won't mind if I take one of their peacocks to do that-"
"If you don't shut up right now, Potter, I am going to kill you and I will place the blame on Nott and nobody will suspect me." Draco narrowed his eyes at him.
"Wow that's really detailed. But why Nott though?"
"Because he loves irritating and frustrating me just like you do." Draco shrugged. "And he is a freaking unpredictable git."
"Why would you say that- oh wait." Harry's eyes widened as the realisation dawned upon him. "It's because of the article which was published in today's Daily Prophet, isn't it? It's because Theo went on a date with Hermione, right?"
"If you think I am jealous of Theo because he went on a date with Granger, then you are really very wrong, Potter. Besides, I know that Granger doesn't even like him in that way."
"Well that's true. How can she like him when she clearly loves you." Harry shrugged.
"Can you stop, Potter?" Draco rolled his eyes at him. "I was saying in a general way. Not only Granger, but also no witch likes him in that way. He's bloody irritating."
"Ah ha, jealousy doesn't look good on you, Draco." He smirked. "And before you deny it, I know you are jealous. And I also have Veritaserum here so you can't deny it-"
"You aren't allowed to use Veritaserum without the permission of the Head Auror, Potter. It is the first rule you learn when you become an Auror. Really, I have no idea how you become an Auror. Maybe it's because of you being the famous War Hero and all, though I remember giving my wand to you and you still haven't thanked me yet." Draco shook his head at him.
"If you are done then I will like to continue my discussion now. So as I was saying, are you still playing that game?"
"What game, Potter? I only play and like Quidditch-"
"The game where you and Hermione are just pretending to be best friends. Though you are the one who's playing it right now." Harry told him. "When are you going to stop playing that game and just admit that you two are in love with each so we all don't have to talk about this everyday? It's honestly getting tiring."
"It's no game, Potter." Draco glared at him. "It's the truth. We are just best friends, nothing less, and nothing more. End of the story. Hope you enjoyed it."
"No, I didn't." Harry told him flatly. "Because this story is full of lies, and you two are hurting each other as well." He sighed and continued, "Look Draco, you may think of it as a joke, but I care about you. You are my friend, after all. And so, I don't want you getting hurt. And Hermione neither. You two are just hurting each other's feelings by pretending to not have feelings for each other. I know why you are hesitating to confess your feelings, Draco-"
"You don't even know if I have feelings for her, Potter-"
"-but that doesn't mean you won't feel hurt or sad if you don't tell her the truth. You will regret that decision, Draco."
"Listen here, Potter. I don't know why you all think that Granger and I have feelings for each other, but we clearly don't. If she did, then she wouldn't have gone on a date with Theo-"
"Um guys," The two stopped when Alexander Norwin poked his head in, "I have been standing outside for an hour now. If you two are done, then can I come in."
"See Potter," Draco told him, "You just had to start that an argument, didn't you? Being unethical at work like always."
"Oh please." Harry rolled his eyes. "It was you who started rambling-"
"Guys? I am still standing outside." Alexander told them.
Harry sighed and told him to enter. "So how can I help you today, Alexander?"
"Uh well....." He glanced at Draco. It wasn't that he didn't trust the blond wizard, but he thought that the thing he was about to ask should be first told to Harry in private. "I need to ask you something, Harry. So can I talk with you? Alone, that is."
"Of course." Draco nodded. "I need to go back home to get a file, anyways. Granger forgot to bring it here and I am afraid I can't accio it here because only she knows where she kept it, so I will have go and search."
"Why don't you tell her to accio it here, though?" Harry asked him as Draco stood up from his chair. "You don't have to go and search it for yourself."
"Well I assume she is busy now so I wouldn't want to disturb her." Draco said, which wasn't really a lie as he didn't want to talk with Hermione right now. "I'll see you later, Potter, try not to miss me too much."
He nodded at Alexander on his way out and shut the door behind him.
"Wow you two really argue a lot." Alexander remarked. "You would have gotten regular detentions because of that if you two had been like this in Hogwarts."
"Well we only became friends because of Hermione." Harry smiled lopsidedly at him. "Anyways, so did you need anything?"
"Yeah well, I wanted to ask you something." Alexander said as he put the list on the paper, and opened the file on the required page and kept it next to it.
"What's this?" Harry asked, oblivious to the test that had been conducted on them a few days ago.
Alexander looked up at him, and asked, "Harry, did you know that Hermione Granger had been obliviated once?"
---------
Draco sighed as he exited the Floo and entered his living room. His mind was still on what Harry had told him towards the end of their conversation as he walked forwards.
"Stupid Potter." He muttered. "Lecturing me about confessing my feelings to Granger. He doesn't even know for sure if I even have feelings for her."
But you know that pretty well, don't you? His mind asked him. You know that you have feelings for Hermione.
"Nobody asked your opinion, dear mind of mine." Draco rolled his eyes. "Great, I am going mad now, talking with my mind."
Don't try to change the topic, Draco Malfoy, his mind warned him. I am your mind, therefore your tactics or tricks won't work on me.
"Well it was worth a try anyway." He shrugged. "Now you can stop pestering me so that I can search the file."
Not until I remind you that you do love Hermione. You have been in love with for months now, even if you just recently admitted it to yourself, his mind told him.
"You don't have to remind me that every second of every bloody day, you know? I am quite happy to forget that fact." Draco said.
But what if you don't admit your feelings and Hermione starts liking Theo?
"She would never like that idiot. Besides, I am pretty sure that Theo has a crush on Looney- I mean, Lovegood."
But what if she does? Then you will keep brooding like you are doing right now when you see her with him, his mind taunted him.
"Hey, how dare you?" Draco hissed. "I do not brood. And what is the guarantee that she will stay with Theo? He isn't the perfect or most suitable wizard for her."
Right, and you think you are?
"Well I never said that, but I guess yeah." Draco sheepishly admitted. "I mean, it is just that Granger once told me that I understand her the best. So I would like to think so-"
Perfect! Then why don't you go and tell her that you love her-
"-But that doesn't mean I want to be with her."
You stubborn idiot, his mind sighed, if that was even possible. So what if she finds the perfect wizard and goes back to Australia with him?
That was enough to stop Draco in his tracks.
"What did you say? Go back to Australia? Like hell she would do that. She would stay here, in England." He stubbornly said.
And why is that so?
"Because Adam told me-"
Adam said that more than two years ago. And tell me one thing, why should she stay here? What reason does she have?
"Well....." Draco hesitated. "She has Potter, Potterette, their children, future Zabinis, Weasleys, Nott, my parents, Athy and well me."
But does she really have you, Draco?
"S-She does. That's why she stayed with me for the past year, and is still living here-"
She stayed here only to help you, Draco. And she only cam back because of the Auror programme. And what if it ends? What's stopping her from going back to Australia?
"She has a reason, I know she has." Draco said, trying to convince himself more than his mind. "She won't leave us. She has a reason to stay-"
No, she doesn't. She doesn't have a reason to stay, Draco. And unless you give her one, nothing is stopping her from going back to Australia. Don't let her go, Draco, only you can stop her from leaving England, his mind told him.
"Only I can stop her." Draco whispered to himself.
Suddenly, pushing her away didn't seem like an important thing anymore right now to him. She was more important to him.
Hermione had always been more important to him.
But that doesn't mean he has to go and confess his feelings, because he wasn't going to do that in any case.
No.
He will find a reason for her to stay. He will convince her to stay here, but that won't be because of him or his feelings.
With that in mind, Draco nodded to himself, and climbed up the stairs.
He knew that file would be in Hermione's room, but exactly where, he didn't know that. And he knew that she must have placed a few spells on her room, so he won't be able to accio it either.
Conclusion?
Draco will have to snoop around her room.
And if Hermione got mad at him for that, he will blame her, because if it weren't for her to forget bringing it to the Ministry, or place spells on her room, he would have easily got the file.
And if she asked him why didn't he ask her to accio the file, he would simply tell her that he didn't want to disturb or bother her.
Such a responsible and kind best friend Draco was, wasn't he?
He quickly opened her door and started searching the drawers and then the desk. When he still didn't find the file after a few minutes, he decided to bent down and look under the bed, in case she had kept it here for secrecy.
Sure enough, he saw a small trunk like box kept there, and he pulled it out without any second thought.
But there was a problem.
There was a lock in front of it, which required a password.
Now what could be the password?
It obviously wasn't anything basic. And it had to be something special.
A thought crossed his mind and he entered Crookshanks, but it wasn't the password.
He sat there for a few minutes until he finally got an idea.
New beginnings, new chances.
It had been Hermione's favourite quote during their eighth year, and Draco knew that she still liked it.
He immediately opened the book and started rummaging around. He finally found the file, but as he pulled it out, a few letters, which were kept on top of it, dropped on the floor.
Now, Draco wasn't interested in reading others' letters, let alone his best friend's.
He knew how to respect someone's privacy.
But when he saw his name written inside one of the half opened letters, he couldn't help but grab it, and open it completely.
It was written in Hermione's handwriting.
He would have thought that it was a simple letter, but he had no idea that a single piece of parchment would be enough to change not only his, but his best friend, Hermione's, life as well.
Dear Astoria
"Tori?" Draco asked himself. "Why would Granger write a letter to Tori?"
I am in a bit of a hurry as I write this letter, so I am afraid that I won't be able to tell you much right now. However, at the end of this letter, I will be mentioning a date and a place where we can meet, so owl me back and mention a suitable time.
I searched a few things about the Blood Malediction in the books that I already have, but they weren't of much use. However, I am planning on buying more books, and also asking McGonagall to tell Madam Pince to lend me a few books from the Hogwarts library.
One thing that was a bit useful was the fact that blood malediction can only happen because of a curse, the blood curse. Either the curse has to be placed on you, or on one of your ancestors.
But since because of your report, we know that the curse wasn't placed upon you, it has to be because of one of your ancestors. In this case, you need ask your parents to show you the family book.
As for the solutions, I don't if there is any. I borrowed Draco's potions book, not telling him the real reason of course, and I am currently going through it.
It also has a few important details, which can affect you as you have blood malediction. Number one is that you cannot ever touch the rare venomous tentacula.
It is very dangerous on it's own, but when combined with the blood curse, then it has no cure. And whether the curse was placed directly upon you, it doesn't matter.
Secondly, we also need to look into Black family history, They were known to be great potioneers, and there should be something useful.
Look, I need to go now. Draco is heading towards me, and I need to hide this from him. The date and place is mentioned on the book. Do let me know the time.
Hermione
"Astoria had a blood curse?" Draco whispered in disbelief. "And Granger knew about that, yet she didn't tell me?"
As he re read the letter, a sudden bout of anger surged through him. He balled the letter up, after crumbling it, and threw it on the wall. "I could have saved Tori, Granger!" He cried. "I could have saved her if you had told me."
As a child, he had been made to learn both the Malfoy and Black histories by his tutors, and he had always been interested in potions. So the Black family book always fascinated him because of the potioneers that were mentioned in it.
"I will never forgive you for this, Granger." Draco vowed as he looked at the letter, tears glistening in his eyes. "You are the reason Tori isn't here today, and I am not going to forgive you for taking her away from me, Granger."
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Later that evening......
Draco's mind was a whirl of emotions when he came back to his home from the Ministry of Magic. He wasn't even sure if he was capable of thinking about anything when he leaned against the wall of his living room, seeing no one present there.
Of course, he thought as he looked at the clock, which showed past midnight, his daughter and best friend must be sleeping right now.
He was so tired, that he literally forgot everything about the letter he had found a few hours back. He forgot the anger he had felt after reading it.
"Draco?"
His head snapped to see Hermione, who was slowly coming down the stairs. "What are you doing up at this time? Shouldn't you be asleep, Granger?"
"Whar are you doing in the living room at this time?" Hermione retorted. "I didn't know you were coming back late today."
"I didn't know either." He brushed his hair away from his forehead and walked towards her, handing her his suitcase as he loosened his tie.
"Did something happen at the Ministry?" She asked when he came closer and a bruise was clearly visible on his cheek.
"Nothing special." He shrugged. "Got into a fight in Potter's office-"
"You fought with Harry? Draco, how many times must I tell you two to not fight with each other-"
"Pay a little attention, will you, Granger? I said that I got into a fight in Potter's office, not into a fight with him." Draco rolled his eyes. "I had a panic attack in the office today, when we were discussing about my time as a Death Eater, and someone just commented that I had become one for gaining glory and for pride and all that. I lost my control, and punched him square in the face. Of course, he punched me back and that was the beginning of our first fight."
"Draco....." Hermione sighed. She touched his cheek and wandlessly healed it. "You know that this will badly affect your career. That stupid Auror, whoever he was, will definitely tell this Robards, and you know that he clearly dislikes you, because of his history with Lucius."
"I-I was in a bad state when I was in that meeting, and it affected whatever happened after that." When she opened her mouth to say something further, he held up his hand. "Look Granger, if you are going to lecture me about that, don't waste your breath. What's done is done."
Hermione nodded and followed him as he climbed up the stairs, and stopped in front of his daughter's room. "She is asleep, right?"
"Yeah." She nodded. "She cried herself to sleep."
"What?" Draco's eyes widened his shock and he opened the door to peer inside. "Why did she cry herself to sleep?"
Hermione sighed as they entered the room, and stood a few feet away from the bed. "She...... Well she was asking about you. She wanted to play Dragons with you before she went to bed, but you were at the Ministry. When I told her that you are busy at the Ministry, she refused to eat dinner and go to bed. You know how stubborn she is, thanks to you and Astoria's stubbornness."
Draco fondly rolled his eyes and ran his hand through his daughter's blond hair, bending down to kiss her forehead.
Hermione continued, "I refused to let her have her favourite dessert until she listened to me, and she kept screaming and crying until I took her to bed and she fell asleep just like that." Suddenly aware of what she had done, she added, "I am so sorry, Draco. I shouldn't have done that. I should have called you, or Narcissa-"
"Granger, it's fine-"
"I overstepped my boundaries-"
"You didn't do that, Granger-"
"I am so sorry, Draco, I will apologise to Athy as well in the morning-"
"Hermione." Draco stepped towards her and placed his hands on her upper arms. "It's fine, Hermione. I would have probably done the same. You did nothing wrong, don't apologise."
Hermione smiled softly at him and nodded. "Okay. And also- wait, have you eaten dinner? Godric, I can't believe I forgot to ask you-"
"I already ate dinner at the Ministry, Granger. Potter ordered some food from the Leaky Cauldron and so we ate after Potter stopped the fist fight."
The two were suddenly aware of close they were standing, but neither of them were willing to move away from each other.
"Granger?" Draco whispered.
"Yeah?" She, too, whispered.
"You will never leave me, will you?" He slowly brought one of his hands up to her cheek. "You will stay here with me, won't you?"
Hermione didn't know what to say. On one hand she wanted to say yes, shout that she would never leave him, she had never wanted to do that.
But on the other hand, she thought about the job offer the Australian Ministry of Magic had sent her. Her dream job. But was a job more important than her best friend?
Her best friend whom she was in love with. Did she have enough courage to leave him?
"Answer me, Hermione. You won't ever leave me, right?"
"I don't want to leave you, Draco." She confessed. "I didn't want to do that all those years ago as well. The moment I was in Australia, I wanted to come back here. I wanted to come back here and apologise to you and ask you to forgive me."
"You could have asked me to come there, Granger. And I would have. There's no doubt about that. I was just a floo call away."
Hermione slowly brought up one of her hands and placed it on his chest, directly above his heart. "I couldn't disrupt your life, Draco, I didn't want to be that selfish."
"You wouldn't have been selfish if you had done that, Granger." Draco took a step closer to her, his other hand placing itself on her waist. "You have no idea how much I missed you. I missed you every single day, Granger. I used to look at our photos, vowing that if I ever met you again, I won't let you go then."
"And now?"
"What? What do you mean by now?"
"You said that if you ever met me again, you wouldn't let me go. Then what about now? I have been back in England for more than three years now."
"The vow is still there." He whispered as she stepped closer to him. "I won't let you go, Granger. Even if I have to follow you all the way to Australia or wherever you go, and then drag you back here. I won't let you go, Hermione, I swear."
"I don't want to go, Draco."
She didn't know who moved first.
He didn't know why he didn't pull away.
But a second later, Hermione leaned up and Draco leaned down, and their lips touched.
The two felt at home as they kissed each other. Something they haven't felt in a long time.
A/N: That's it for this chapter. It was 7200+ words. Hope you guys liked it. So was Hermione really obliviated? And they finally kissed. Well they have kissed before but it was in the flashback scene. Random question: Where would you like to go in the Diagon Alley? Answer in the comments below. Vote, comment and please share my story. Reviews are always appreciated. Thank you!
Next chapter on 7/2/21(Sunday).
Until next time.