The Realization
Consciousness came back to her slowly, it was already dark outside by the time she woke. Hermione had expected the new wards to be draining but failed to account for the fact that she was still recovering. The throbbing of her head was finally starting to subside and her stomach didn’t turn as she moved it.
Sighing, she pulled herself up against her headboard, appreciating the fact that she no longer felt like death personified. She hadn’t expected to find Theodore Nott eating the breakfast remains for lunch at her kitchen table when she woke up, needless to say, her reaction to his presence helped to intensify the pain in her head. His smug refusal to leave while filling his face-hole with whatever food was left nearly caused her to hit the roof. With his bullshit argument of “Sorry, Drake said to stay”, she immediately stopped arguing with him and disappeared into her room.
The controlling bastard decides to break her wards then leave a guard, too fuckin’ bad. She nearly snorted at the memory of Theo’s face as her new wards banished him from the apartment.
Crookshanks jumped on her bed, coming to cuddle with her while meowing for food. She shakily got to her feet and to her relief, it didn’t instigate her remaining injury further. Trying to treat her head lightly, she walked through the kitchen and poured some food into his empty food bowl, checking her kitchen for any more unwanted visitors on the way.
Malfoy’s confession left her feeling rocked. She still had so many unanswered questions, surely he couldn’t possibly mean he was in lov—Hermione immediately stopped herself, stumbling to collapse onto her couch. No. He didn’t lo--, even her mind choked on the word, there wasn’t a chance. Besides, he didn’t even know her. Did he? I mean they’d only known each other since they were, well,.. eleven.
Shit, it didn’t matter. Nothing was going to come of it. She certainly wouldn’t let it go any farther. Hermione threw a glance back towards her bedroom, at least no farther than it had already gone.
She nearly panicked, stumbling towards her bathroom to splash cold water on her face. It was done, whatever it was, it was over. And she wasn’t going anywhere near his toxicity again.
Pulling out a contraceptive potion, she downed it in one gulp, and one more for good measure. Sighing, she could have collapsed with relief, done, she was done with him. Closing her eyes, Hermione pushed him from her mind, resolving to break whatever mental hold she was under, it was time to take care of herself, so fingers crossed, she’d be able to return to work tomorrow.
Hermione began drawing a bath when there was a tapped interruption. The only problem was, it didn’t come from her front door.
Walking to her kitchen she blanched seeing the overly familiar pure-blood leaning on her balcony. She glared at him, she’d fix the wards tomorrow.
Waving her hand, Hermione stayed standing in the kitchen, her magic opening the doors, “What do you want, Malfoy?”
His cigarette flared as his eyes narrowed, “You know, most would consider it impolite not to be asked in,”
She crossed her arms, stiffening her spine, “Yes, well, consider this an end to whatever professional or non-professional interactions we will have, Malfoy,”
Hermione turned to leave, using her magic to push the French doors closed, only for him to get out his wand, magic blowing past her wards to keep it open, “Nothing is done, Granger,” He sneered her surname back at her, pinching the bridge of his nose, “I thought we were progressing past this,” his words came out through gritted teeth.
She sighed watching his frustration, “The answer is ‘no’, Malfoy,”
He scoffed, “Right. And these fancy new wards are supposed to ensure that?”
Rolling her eyes, “Just go—“
“Tell me, did you collapse before or after you were finished casting them?” His eyebrow raised, flicking what was left of his cigarette over the balcony, black robes flowing in the light wind around him.
Hermione felt her face heat, she’d finished the wards, but only just, “I did just fi—“
He stepped up to the border of her wards, “Witch if you finished the wards it was through pure spite, the fact that I’m standing on your balcony shows it. Of all the stupidly irresponsible things you could do, blood wards nearly top the list,”
She rolled her eyes at him, “You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t appreciate a controlling arse traipsing through my flat and assigning his friend to guard me, like I’m not capable of taking care of myself,”
“Well, this would obviously be behavior to indicate that, now wouldn’t it?”
Hermione glanced to the time, “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Malfoy, speaking of which, it’s late and I’ve got to be at work early tomorrow, so I’d appreciate it if you vacated my balcony and left me alone from now on,”
“Merlin, Granger, you’re still concussed, the last thing you need to be doing is going to work tomorrow,” He kept pushing at her wards.
“I hardly recall asking your opinion, besides I’ve obviously tipped off my target,”
“Which is exactly why he’s going to attack you again,” he finally threw himself back off her wards, turning his back to her to light another cigarette, “If you had any sense, you’d come to stay at the manor with me until he’s arrested,” Or until he himself was arrested.
She glared at him from the safety of her kitchen, desperately trying to ignore the way his black robes stretched tight across his shoulders, “My statement stands Malfoy, whatever happened between us was a one-night situation and won’t be repeated, please leave me alone,”
He shook his head at her in dumbfounded amazement at her stubbornness, “Fine, witch, enjoy your delusions for now, but that’s not happening, I’ll see you at your office tomorrow, I have zero intention of leaving you alone until this situation is resolved,”
Hermione watched him disapparate in a cloud of black smoke, anxiety filling her chest. It burned to admit he was right, even while staying silent. Dawlish was a desperate man reduced to desperate measures, she had to expect his continued retaliation. And she was foolish to think Draco would stop pursuing her now.
Waving her hand the French doors slammed shut, Hermione turned back to her bathroom, finishing drawing herself a bath. Sinking into the too-hot water, she let the burn settle into her bones, trying her best to center her mind.
This has gotten out of control, she raked her fingers through her hair, Malfoy hounded her every move, she’s tipped off Dawlish who is now potentially behind an attack on her life, and now potentially her only option to avoid all of them, and finish figuring out what in merlin’s name is going on is to tuck her tail go back to Ginny and admit to her that she was right the whole time. Racking her brain for any option available, the only solution she could see would be to leave her flat and find somewhere safe to hide until Malfoy’s infatuation burned out and Dawlish was behind bars.
Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like there were many options, there was Shell cottage, she knew Bill and Fleur would take her in, but they already had two kids and Ginny let her know they were trying for another. Staying on their couch while Victoire and Dominque ran amuck and Bill and Fleur were potentially.. ahem, sticking to their schedule, sent shivers down her spine.
Of course, she could always go and stay with Molly and Arthur, who would welcome her back with open arms, but then she would have to face the never-ending badgering to get back with Ron and reminiscing about their former relationship.
Grimmald place it was. Hermione would rather listen to Ginny’s non-stop gloating about being right and Harry’s well-meaning over-protectiveness than listening to Bill and Fleur have sex or Molly’s nagging about her relationship.
Shit, Ginny would never let her hear the end of it, hopefully, she could just get through the night without incident and contact Ginny in the morning.
By some miracle, Hermione woke from a dreamless sleep and got into her office the next morning without incident.
After a quick word with her secretary to dismiss Malfoy, should he show up, she set wards up within her office to keep anyone from coming in. Taking a deep breath, she sat, staring at a blank piece of parchment, time to swallow her pride. She penned a short note to Ginny and Harry, floating it out to Louise to take to an owl.
Rubbing her temples, and hoping Ginny didn’t send a howler in response, Hermione started to triage the new files deposited on her desk. She was busy until her lunch hour going through her new cases, nothing was crazy or out of the ordinary, and if anything big was happening Kingsley would normally come and inform her face to face.
Weighing her options, she decided to skip lunch and keep working. Less than an hour later, she felt a tap on her wards when someone knocked. Her breath froze, Louise would tell Malfoy to leave but she wouldn’t be surprised if he just ignored her. She stood and opened her door a crack, peeking out to see Roberts standing there, file in hand.
“Roberts, I’m surprised to see you on day shift,” Hermione shifted to open the door wider.
He nodded to her, “Granger, it’s good to see you, I was assigned to tail Dawlish, came in to chat with you, do you have a few minutes?”
Her mouth dropped open, ushering him into her office before quickly closing the door behind him.
“Did you find something?” she quickly dropped into her chair, clearing her desk of the other files as Robers gave her the report.
His face was tense as he nodded, “Well, I managed to start following him around seven PM after the order was issued,”
She nodded, opening the file to start examining the report with hour-by-hour updates.
“Overall, he obviously knew to lay low, but I was able to follow him to a muggle pub that evening, he met up with someone, around nine”
Hermione quickly examined the report, her heart dropped to her stomach, the subject he met with was unknown, blond-white hair, approximately two hundred cm in height, black peacoat.
“Shit, Roberts, was this a muggle?”
He shook his head, “He grabbed Dawlish and apparated out of the bar, the trace was on Dawlish, so I couldn’t follow them,”
Dawlish drank three glasses of whiskey during the fifteen minutes they spent in the pub, appeared nervous.
“What was your take on the meeting?” Roberts delivered the report in person for a reason, he knew she would have questions.
“He was nervous,” She raised her eyebrow, “Ok, he was more than nervous, red, sweaty, and he clung to his wand like he was scared of something,”
She nodded silently, pausing, eyes reading over the description of the unknown subject over and over, “And the unknown subject? Any ideas on who it might be?” her voice was nearly a whisper in the quiet room.
Roberts looked pained, grimacing at her before running his hand through his hair, “Hermione, your involvements have never been secret with the Prophet constantly dogging you, I-I don’t want to speculate,”
Her breath left her lungs in an exhale, “Roberts,” She snapped, “Who did you see?”
He squirmed in her reading chair, “I only know one line of wizards who match that description, Hermione,”
She ran her hands across her face, shit.
Roberts looked immediately sorry, “Hermione, I-I might be wrong, you know him better than I do,”
Hermione looked at him, “What?”
“Well, from the Prophet, it seems like you finally, you know, found someone. A-and with how he’s been showing up at your offic-,”
She leaned back in her chair, groaning, “Roberts, we’re not an item,” she interrupted him.
He stopped with his rambling looking at her confused.
Sighing, she leaned forward, trying to pick her words carefully, “What the prophet saw was Malfoy informing me of his intentions, he has made it clear his plan to pursue me and I have informed him multiple times to stop,”
His eyebrows pinched together, “But, he was with you when you were attacked,”
She shook her head, “No, go back and read the statements, Malfoy showed up after the attack, and it explains how he knew where I was and what was happening,”
He paused, staring at her mouth gaping, “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make assumptions, it just seemed like – at the scene, I mean – that you two were..” he nodded his head.
Hermione shrugged, shaking her head again, “I was coming down from adrenaline, and he was there,” Roberts nodded like a light bulb went off in his head.
“And because of his intentions towards you, he’s been spinning the Prophet stories,”
She nodded her head, grimly, “Exactly. Ginny warned me about his family and the reality of what that meant coming from a Malfoy, but I fear I didn’t take her seriously enough,” She rubbed her chin and lips, trying to think any thoughts past his eyes boring into hers and the feel of him inside her, “And to make it worse, he showed up at my flat after giving his statement,”
Roberts collapsed back into the plush chair, “Shit, what’re you going to do?”
Tipping her head back and forth she picked up the file again, “Well, to start, I sent a letter to Ginny taking her up on the offer to stay with her and Harry,”
He nodded, “And then?”
Her eyes met Roberts’ “And then, I figure out exactly why Malfoy is meeting up with Dawlish,”
She’d no sooner walked Dawlish out of her office than a howler landed on her desk from Ginny, demanding she show up to Grimmauld place immediately. Refusing to incur any more of Ginny’s wrath she closed up her office, taking her work with her. On her way out Louise caught her, “Miss Granger, Mr. Malfoy came by while Roberts was in, he didn’t seem happy,”
She rubbed her temples, quickly closing her wards behind her, “Did he leave a message?”
“No, but he left a letter, and I had to threaten to get the Aurors to get him to leave,”
“Thanks, Louise, I appreciate the help with him,” She took the letter from her secretary.
“Should I ask for someone to be stationed up here?”
Hermione sighed, “I don’t know yet, if you could give this to Kingsley, I’ll be working from home the rest of the week, so please, let my meetings know, and if anyone needs something urgently send me a letter and I’ll floo as soon as I can,”
Louise nodded as they walked towards the elevators together, “I’ll let him know,”
She approached the bottom floor with the public floos, feeling her anxiety rise, hopefully, the press had dispersed, and she could get to the floos. The great entryway into the ministry was still bursting with foot traffic, Hermione put her head down, speed walking towards the floos. Her head on a swivel, looking for anyone remotely fishy.
As soon as she passed the threshold of the Ministry atrium, she saw him. Fuck, her short legs with heels were no match for his, but she refused to interact with him again. Nearing the floos, she peeked over her shoulder to see his blond head closing in, nearly running the last few steps, she slid into the fireplace and shouted for 12 Grimmauld Place.
Malfoy’s furious face was overtaken by green flames, just to be replaced by the fiery redhead that was her best friend.
Draco slammed his fist into the marble floo. He needed to be near her, needed to yell at her for risking the public floo, for letting another man into her office. He didn’t know if he wanted to throttle or kiss the irresponsible witch.
His nostrils flared staring at the empty floo, she warded him out of her office. It didn’t really matter, he could have broken them in an instant, but her secretary telling him off left Draco in a mood, at least he knew she was going somewhere safe. Straightening his jacket, he looked around, no one seemed to notice him as he followed her into the floo, he had other things to do in the meantime.
Ginny faced her, hands on her hips, she looked ready to yell.
Sheepishly stepping from the floo and dusting herself off, she braced for impact, “Hull—“
“Don’t ‘Hullo’ me, Hermione Jean Granger, what happened?”
She stepped further into the living room, tapping the floo to lock behind her, “I’m totally fine, Ginny, I promise,” As soon as the words left her, she knew she said the wrong thing.
“Promise? Hermione, explain to me why we heard about an attack on you when Harry showed up to your office for lunch yesterday?” Her face was turning as red as her hair, normally Hermione knew not to test her fury, but she couldn’t see a way out with this one.
“Well, I-I may have been a bit concussed and forgotten to owl you,” she winced, that wasn’t going to make anything better.
“Concussed?!” Ginny very nearly threw Hermione into one of the couches, glaring down at her, “Story. Now.”
She sighed, running through the gist of the story to Ginny, conveniently forgetting the part where Malfoy nearly killed someone.
“And what? He just magically knew where you were?” Ginny looked ready to kill, “ ‘Mione he was in your flat! You can’t stay there now,” Finally satisfied with her explanation, she shoved a cup of tea into her hands, pacing around the room, “And Dawlish, ugh, I always knew something was off about him when Harry was working under him,”
Hermione took a relieved sip of her tea, thankful not to be on the receiving end of Ginny’s anger anymore, “I know if you and Harry are still ok with it, could I take the spare room for a bit?”
Abruptly stopping, Ginny looked at her, “Of course, you know you’re welcome here, I already do all the shopping, there’s no reason for you to leave until Malfoy gives up,”
She grimaced as soon as Ginny turned away. It didn’t matter, motherhood had taught her a few new tricks.
Ginny spun on her heel to face her again, pinning her with a glare, “What?”
She shook her head, “N-Nothin-“
“Hermione, I know you better than that, what did you do?”
“I-I promise, I’ve already rectified my mist—“
“Granger, I will hex you, what did you do?” Ginny spoke through gritted teeth, glaring down at her.
Hermione’s mouth opened, then closed again, how did she say this without getting hexed? “I may have let things progress farther than they should have when I found him in my flat,”
Ginny looked like she’d frozen over, “You fucked him?! Are you out of your godsdamned mind, Hermione?!”
She snapped her mouth shut, there was no getting out of this one.
“Of all the stupid, irresponsible, things you could possibly do, Hermione, he’s never going to leave you alone now,” She shook her head, collapsing back onto the sofa across from her.
“I told him to leave me alone, we had a conversation last night—“
“Last night? He came back to your flat?” Ginny fixed her with another glare and Hermione grimaced.
“He left Theodore Nott there, and I had to set new wards to keep him out,”
Ginny’s nostrils flared, “What type of new wards?”
“I set up blood wards, I had been meaning to do it for ages,”
“Blood wards?” She repeated, “While concussed? While you’re still concussed?!” She was yelling again, “Hermione, those are dangerous for wizards who aren’t incapacitated!” Ginny rubbed her temples, “And you talked to him through the wards, and told him to leave you alone?”
Hermione nodded silently.
“And what did he say?”
Hermione gulped, “ ‘No’,”
Ginny threw herself back, “There it is,”
She stayed silent, unsure of what to say.
“Was it at least worth it?” Ginny’s head poked up from where it rested on the back of the couch.
She blushed with the implication.
“It was, wasn’t it? Was he the ‘Slytherin sex-god’ girls talked about in school??”
The rumors had been true, more than true, she nodded her head.
“Merlin, you’re speechless, he must’ve been better than the rumors,” Ginny collapsed back onto the couch, giggling like they were school girls again. She finally broke down and laughed with her, falling onto her back to stretch out on the couch across from her.
Ginny finally sobered, staring at the ceiling, as if struck by a thought, “You were careful though, right?”
Hermione’s laughing trailed off, “Of course,”
“Good, after the rumors about how his parents got together, I wouldn’t try it again,”
Her ears perked up, frowning at her friend as she propped herself on her side, “What do you mean?”
Ginny turned to her, “His parents?” she nodded, leaning to take another sip of her tea, “Well, obviously, we don’t know the full story, but right around the time Mum and dad got together, there were all types of rumors from mum’s friends that Lucius Malfoy got Narcissa pregnant while she was engaged to another man,”
Hermione’s eyebrows went up, “Doesn’t that go against all pure-blood traditions?”
Ginny giggled again, “Of course, but as the story goes, Lucius saw her and just knew she was meant for him, allegedly, he 'wooed' her away from her betrothed and took a fertility potion to ensure the outcome wouldn’t give her a choice but to break off her engagement and marry him instead,” her hands waving through the air dramatically with her air-quotes.
Her eyes widened, It’s always been you, his words flitted across her mind.
“’Mione?” Ginny sat up.
“W-we don’t know that for sure that’s what happened,” her words left her in a breathless whisper.
Ginny’s eyes widened, “N-no, but..” she trailed off.
Hermione sat up, her widened eyes taking in Ginny’s stunned expression, “But what?”
“..But Draco Malfoy was born surprisingly heavy and well-developed for a premie baby,”
Her heart stopped, dropping into her stomach, he wouldn’t dare, but she knew he would, “Fuck, there’s no way,” Her thoughts sped up and she began to hyperventilate.
Ginny jumped over the coffee table to hold her friend, “Calm down, it’s Ok, there’s an easy way to tell,”
She waved her hands at her friend unable to speak. Ginny raced across the room, fumbling with her wand until she was able to stutter out the spell. The magic burst from her wand in a pink glow that settled on her lower stomach. Hermione stood stock still while staring down at it, no pulsing burst forth and she gasped in a breath she didn’t know she was holding.
Ginny collapsed back down next to her, “Merlin, that was a close call, but at least you’re not..” she couldn’t even say the words.
Hermione released a shaky breath, “No, I’m not,”
“You –“ Ginny cut herself off, “Do you think he would..”
Her face dropped into her hands, “I don’t know,” her voice came from between her fingers, “I don’t remember him taking any potions, i-if he did, do you think it’s still possible it just hasn’t hit the right point yet?”
Her hands rubbed down Hermione’s back, “I don’t know, it depends on the potion and how it works, we can look up some specifics to try and avoid it,”
Her hands came down, looking at Ginny, research was good, something she could take control of.
“But,” Ginny continued, “That’s not the only methodology..” Her voice trailed off as she watched Hermione’s horrified expression develop, “That’s not to say any of it is going to happen!”
“Ginny!”
“Shit, I don’t know how to make you feel better now,” Ginny rubbed her temples.
“What’re you talking about?” She shook her head, stress rising.
“Well, umm, I don’t know any specifics, but Lucius Malfoy wasn’t the first in his family to take it to such extremes, actually, according to the rumors, he was rather moderate, compared to his grandfathers,”
Hermione’s mouth dropped open, “’Grandfathers’? There were more??”
Ginny nodded, getting up to pour more tea and pace around the room, fingers running through her disheveled red hair, “The Malfoy family has been infamous for taking advantage of their wealth and bending laws to their advantage for generations, includ-- especially the laws surrounding marriage,”
She shook her head, “I thought they were all expected to fulfill arranged marriages,”
Ginny nodded her head back and forth between her shoulders, “Yes, and no. From what I’m aware they’ve all been involved in arranged marriages of one type or another, like Draco, in particular, was betrothed to Astoria Greengrass,” Hermione recalled the vapid blond from Hogwarts, nodding, “But after the war, the Greengrasses called off the engagement due to the negative press, the Malfoys were still richer than Merlin, but their family name would have suffered being attached to them,”
She watched Ginny pacing around the room from her spot on the couch, “And his Grandfathers?” she anxiously awaited the answer.
“The earliest I know of was Nicholas Malfoy, after his wife died in childbirth, he wasn’t obligated to any marriage or arranged betrothal any longer,” Ginny was rambling now, trying to get all her thoughts out at once, “And he took an interest in the daughter of a man who owed him money,” The picture began to form in Hermione’s mind, “He blackmailed the man into marrying him to his daughter and forgave the debt that was owed,”
Hermione breathed another sigh of relief, “Well, that’s not going to happen, I don’t owe the Malfoys anything,”
Ginny kept pacing, “Yes, but Brutus Malfoy, after him, ignored his arranged betrothal altogether, and impersonated his wife’s betrothed using polyjuice potion until the potion wore off halfway through the bonding ceremony, and she was already bound to him,”
Her head spun, “Merlin, they’ve sunk so low?”
Ginny shook her head with disappointment, “Yes, the story goes they ended up having quite the happy marriage, and while Malfoys have been infamous for their methods, they’ve shown themselves to be absurdly committed to their families, I mean, the enchantments on the wedding bands are the stuff of legends,”
“The wedding bands?”
Ginny nodded, finally setting a fresh cup of tea in front of her, “It is actually a touch romantic because of them if it weren’t so controlling. The wedding bands date back farther than the family itself, there’s, of course, the basic enchantments, fidelity, tracking, that sort of thing, but not only does the wizard’s wedding ring do the same thing, but it’s said they act as an emotional link between the two wearers, causing pain to the unaffected partner until the other’s distress is resolved,”
Hermione appreciated the warm tea heating her shaking hands, “So, they’re committed?”
Ginny nodded, “It’s thought that the Malfoy magic nearly compels them towards a specific person, but there’s nothing to indicate that’s actually true,”
Hermione’s eyes widened, “And they pursue that person to the point of near obsession?” she could feel herself beginning to panic again.
Ginny wrapped her arms around her again, rubbing a hand down her back to calm her down, “There may have been a tiny case of kidnapping along the way as well,”
“What??” Hermione turned her panicked gaze to Ginny again.
“Well, it was a different time, I think..” Ginny’s eyes went to the ceiling, trying to calculate it in her head, “A-Abraxas Malfoy was..., Shit, I think he was Lucius’ father,”
Hermione collapsed onto her side again, nearly dropping her tea before Ginny’s fingers caught it, “Hey, ‘Mione, it’s not so bad, we’ll just keep you hidden here until Malfoy.. gives up,”
She pinned her friend with a glare, she knew as well as Ginny did that the likelihood of him ‘giving up’ was nil.
Ginny sighed, taking a sip of her tea, “Fair enough, we’ll figure this out,”
The front door slammed against the wall in the hallway before they heard the elephant stomps of James running through the house. Harry poked his head through the door into the sitting room, the baby strapped to his chest, bundled against the cold “Ginny, Hermione! Is dinner – “ He paused, seeing Hermione’s tear-streaked cheeks, “Is everything Ok?” He pushed the rest of the way into the room, Ginny and Hermione looked at each other deciding silently how much to tell him about.
“We’re Ok,” Hermione sat up, rubbing her hands down her cheeks to get rid of the remaining tears, “Just still a bit concussed,”
Ginny giggled into her tea, ignoring the confusion on her husband’s face, “Get cleaned up, we’ll take care of dinner, Hermione has agreed to stay here until the craziness clears up with her case,” She dragged Hermione up with her to the kitchen as Harry handed off the baby to her. After a quick hug for Harry, Hermione got pulled into the kitchen with her and little Lily before the door was slammed in Harry’s face.
They turned to each other before collapsing into laughter and tears, Hermione dropped into one of the chairs around the table before Ginny dropped Lily into her lap, the baby giggling along with them.
She ran an exhausted hand down her face, “Maybe, we don’t tell Harry about how bad the situation with Malfoy has gotten,” Ginny said quietly, sobering up after their manic laughter.
She absent-mindedly bounced the giggling baby on her lap, “That’s for the best,” She said quietly, “But, I’m afraid outright ignoring him isn’t in the cards right this second,” Ginny spun from the stove where she began dinner, “He’s involved in the investigation now,”
“Shit,” Ginny whispered.
“Roberts came to my office just before I left, he was seen meeting up with Dawlish just before I was attacked,” their eyes met, “I’m going to have to meet with him to question him about why,”
Draco apparated outside the Scottish pub where Theo landed next to him, their black coats swirled around them and Theo continued to struggle with styling his scarf like a muggle.
Draco dutifully ignored his friend and second in command, he’d been in a shit mood since Hermione disappeared into the floo and to the Potters’ home. He’d been lucky enough to find and hire several ex-Aurors for Hermione’s protection and they were currently stationed outside of Potter’s home with orders to report back on any comings/goings of the Potters and Granger. They were in place as of an hour ago and he was still sans report of her leaving the residence, chances were the she-weasel was aware of his family’s history or at least the rumors of it. The pure-blooded witch was still, unfortunately, all too aware of the rumor circles swirling around him and the Malfoy family since before their fall from grace.
Regardless, his employment of Theo was paying off, he’d already located a new Dragon egg supplier and he was amenable to meeting the Scottish Pubs Draco preferred.
They quickly walked to the building, Draco propping open the door for Theo as he finally stopped struggling with his scarf, opting to let it drape over his shoulders. There was only one other person sitting at the bar, turning to look at them along with the grizzled barkeep. Draco dropped a quick nod to them before letting the door shut behind them and joining Theo at the bar.
The bartender was already pouring as Draco turned to Theo. Theo gave a nod to the bloke at the end of a bar, whispering to the tender to drop a drink for him as well.
He didn’t seem too slimy at this point, maybe on the gruff side, his beard untrimmed and short coat stained with substances he couldn’t identify. The bartender dropped the drink and Draco nodded towards the man, tipping his tumbler in the stranger’s direction.
He could appreciate the supplier’s assessment of him and Theo the same way he’d run through his own judgments.
They all sat in silence across the bar from each other for a decent amount of time until the supplier drained his glass and approached him. “Malfoy?”
He gave a small nod, draining his scotch as well, “I assume you’re familiar with my associate Nott already?”
The supplier jerked his chin in Theo’s direction, who nodded back, “Yes, we’ve written each other a bit,”
“Perfect, and you can supply for us?” The bartender walked over, dropping fresh glasses for each of them.
“Nott, told me about your stipulations, and I can appreciate a potion’s master looking to source more ethical ingredients,”
Draco nodded with his words, no-nonsense type of man, he could appreciate that.
“I have a sanctuary that’s been struggling a bit, because of the Ministry’s refusal to allow the selling of eggs, even un-fertilized ones, we haven’t been able to dig ourselves out of the debt building up,” The supplier gave a sigh, running his large hands through the grey mop of hair covering his head.
“The ministry’s laws have resulted in a number of struggling sanctuaries and creatures in recent years, it’s unfortunate their refusal to update laws based new research,” he handed the tumbler of scotch over to the stressed sanctuary owner.
He happily accepted the glass, “Would you be Ok to take a walk to the sanctuary and talk terms?”
Draco nodded to Theo, who slapped down the muggle money for the drinks and grabbed his coat to walk the Stranger to the door. Outside the door slapped shut again and he took Theo’s shoulder, holding his arm out for the strange wizard while palming his wand.
They landed together outside the sanctuary, a Welsh Green flying overhead.
“Now that we can speak plainly, I’m Zol Gooselander, this is the sanctuary,” Zol started his way over the rolling hills, heading to a small shack across a field, “It’s warded, naturally, against muggles and poachers, and we mainly have Hebridian Blacks and Welsh Greens here,” Draco nodded as he followed, Nott scanning the hills for any unknown factors or wizards closing in.
He cast a few spells, turning up blank, “Clear, Drake, we should be alone,”
Invaluable assistance as he listened to the elder Wizard, “The Blacks eggs are preferred, but any potions I focus on should be able to work with Greens eggs too,”
Zol opened the door to the shack, welcoming them inside. It had been extended to provide him a living space with a small fire burning in a place next to the kitchen, “I have a few guys hired to help me out, they only come in a few times a week, but the meat for the dragons adds up, you ken?”
Draco removed his coat and scarf, “Of course, for the eggs, verified to be infertile, I’d be willing to pay a comparable price, especially for a consistent supplier,”
Zol nodded, “I monitor the eggs myself, they’re all incubated for at least a month to verify the fetal activity levels, do you have any use for unfertilized eggs?”
They followed Zol through his living area to an incubating room, there were a number of incubators lining the walls, the flames licking the eggs inside, “Some potions can use them, others can’t it just depends on the potion,”
Zol licked his chapped lips, “Sure, so these,” He pointed to one of the incubators on the left, “Are the unfertilized eggs, we end up destroying them after the incubation period,” walking around the wall, he stopped again, “Here are the fertilized and non-viable, most of these have already been in here for a month, we’ve got a destruction day scheduled for next Tuesday,”
Nott poked around near the back of the room, “Do you have to provide proof of destruction to the Ministry?” Draco asked, examining the non-viable specimens.
Zol nodded solemnly, “After every destruction, we have to provide the specimens back to the ministry, or just send them to the Department whole to be destroyed, but shipping them whole is expensive,”
He walked around the room, “And how likely are you to mix up any of the specimens,”
Zol frowned at him, “I don’t mix up the specimens, Malfoy,”
Draco chuckled, “Forgive me, a bad experience makes me ask now,”
The tension from the question broke as Zol laughed along with him, “Unexpected dragon hatchling?”
“Very unexpected,” Draco agreed with a grin, “So, I can offer you business on a need-by-need basis, one-hundred-fifty galleons for each fertilized non-viable egg and one hundred for each non-fertilized,”
Zol rubbed his beard, “And the destruction required?”
“We can provide the left-overs back to you to prove destruction,” Draco pulled a coin bag from his pocket, “And of course, Nott, will be happy to ferry them back and forth as needed, and I’ll be happy to provide a sizable donation to the sanctuary to ensure it’s longevity,” Nott perked up from the corner, giving a silent nod.
Zol let out an exhale, “T-this is much more generous than I was expecting,”
Draco nodded, holding his hand out, “I find it’s better to invest in the protection of species providing important ingredients rather than poaching them,”
Zol let out a chuckle before taking his hand, “You got yourself a deal,”