A/N. Another DHr scene in this one. It has to be for the story retain realism and be believable.
Chapter 10. The Missing Goblin
It was close to eleven in the evening and the Downtown London office of the Daily Prophet was still bustling with activity. Among the many wizards and witches working frantically to meet the final deadline for the next print run was a pretty twenty-five year old red head trying to nail her editorial on the Gringotts attack.
If the Ministry, at this point, is still unable to provide the public with clear tangible solutions to the recent spate of violence we have been subjected to, then Minister Scrimgeour should step down and let someone else lead.
Ginny Weasley paused, tapping her right forefinger on her wand, thinking the words might be too harsh and could be considered seditious. She would have to clear it with the Legal Department; a pain. And even if it passed Legal, her pro-Scrimgeour Chief would not allow it anyway. She struck out the last few words.
…then Minister Scrimgeour should consider stepping down…
Maybe. More tapping. She looked at the clock. It was going to be close but she felt lucky and bold. They did hire her to write the weekly column a year ago for her 'youthful fearless brazenness'. Another change later, she sent the column off to Legal and her Chief with the original parting remark. If the Chief didn't like it, he could certainly discuss it with her. Then he can run it as is or not run it at all.
Not running it at all would not be a first for her column. Having worked for the Daily Prophet straight out of Hogwarts, first as girl Friday to an eminent political columnist then as a contributing writer, she knew that if not for the popularity of her weekly editorial among Yuppies of the Magical community they would have canned her a long time ago. After all, an opinionated young witch in the still wizard dominated newspaper business was only as good as the profit margin she could positively influence, particularly if her views digressed from that of the Chief's. Sure, she could have worked elsewhere with less adversity but adversity was what drove her to do her best. And there was the satisfaction every time she got one over the fuddy-duddies that she worked with.
She spent a good part of the day at Gringotts trying to gather as much information on the robbery. As a journalist, she had to answer the W's and H but as she looked at her notes, she was worried that it was riddled with too many question marks.
Who : Bellatrix Lestrange - too obvious?
What : Robbery ; Ragnok ?missing or abducted
When ? Discovered 9am at bank opening
Where : Gringotts
Why : Money; ?Ragnok
How ?
She was also pretty sure Argus Filch did not wander into a Gringotts vault intending to curl up there and sleep himself into a coma.
It was a feat that a burglary of that magnitude would escape detection from the tight wizard bank security and not necessitate a confrontation with the MLE. It concerned her not only because the stolen Galleons would now surely fund something reprehensible, but also because of the missing Goblin, Ragnok.
Ragnok was the Goblin-in-charge overnight and had worked for the wizarding back for close to fifty years. Ginny knew him well. Ragnok, like her and Hermione, did volunteer work for the Society for the Protection of Magical Beings. And because she knew him she could not believe that he opened the vaults and left the scene of the crime willingly, just as the other Goblins were accusing he had done.
First Firenze's death and now, Ragnok's disappearance. Maybe she was reading too much into it. She'd remember to mention this to Hermione.
Hermione. She probably wasn't aware of what happened at Gringotts yet because if she was, she would have called for sure. Hermione had not been her usual self lately. It was so unlike her not to be on top of these things and Ginny was really concerned.
Over the years it was quite natural for them to each became the sister the other never had. When they were younger, Hermione was mostly the 'older sis', with the wise experienced advice and the voice of knowing clarity. It was a relief to have someone not red-haired to talk to about almost everything that went on in her life. And, contrary to appearances, Hermione did not know it all either, and through the years their friendship and closeness grew to a point where their roles easily switched as needed. At the moment, though her proud friend would probably be the last person to admit it, Hermione needed her help. And she was going to get help whether she wanted help or not.
Her insistence on continuing these dates with Malfoy despite all reason was quite disturbing. Granted that Hermione was as headstrong as she was, never had she been this obstinate particularly when even she herself admitted it didn't make any sense to her.
What troubled Ginny was Hermione's belief that Malfoy had changed. While Malfoy's intentions were obvious, she refused to see that he was merely yanking her chain and using her to meet a selfish end. Once again, after Malfoy left them at the Ministry that morning, Ginny could not help but belabour the point.
"Why can't you see it? He wants revenge for all those years in Hogwarts. Malfoy is sniggering each time you agree to go out with him. He's laughing at you, at how you're falling for all his lies, hook, line and sinker," Ginny said to her, hoping that the graphic suggestion would remind her of the kind of person Malfoy was and is. "He's just using you."
"What if he's not? What if he has changed?"
"This is Malfoy we're talking about. He is not capable of change. He was conceived and born a hatred-filled bigot and he will die that way."
"That's just it. I don't believe that," Hermione pointed out. "He didn't choose to be born a Malfoy. How do you think he would have grown up if he was raised at the Burrow? He was just a kid and he didn't know any better than to live the life of hate and selfish supremacy that he saw everyday."
"We were just kids, too," Ginny replied, "And none of us ever thought of killing the School Headmaster."
"Then we were lucky."
"This is worse than I thought. You actually pity him."
"The kid who wanted to kill the Professor, yes. Draco right now, no."
"This is such a bad time for you to start being gullible," Ginny scolded, "You shouldn't trust the ferret! Do you really, deep down inside, think that he has changed?"
Hermione insisted, "I'd like to believe that someone like him can and that something good came out of Professor Dumbledore's death. He has changed in a lot of ways."
"Stop selling him because I'm not buying," Ginny reiterated, "If you want to give him the benefit of the doubt, that's fine. But must you go out with him, over and over again? I know what he wants out of this. What exactly is in it for you?"
"I'm no better than he was if I don't even give him a chance to prove that he has changed."
She was so obviously not answering the question.
"You could go out with other men more interesting, with less baggage and with a lot less bad history than Malfoy. Why him?"
Hermione frowned, thinking. Ginny wasn't sure if it was because she didn't know or because she knew but just couldn't admit it. Ginny pressed on.
"Do you have a good time with him?"
"I guess."
"Do you like talking with him?"
"Surprisingly, yes. We actually have a few laughs."
"Do you see yourself kissing him again?"
"He's not a bad kisser but I've been kissed better before."
"I'm sure you have and considering that you can count the number of men you've really snogged with one hand, I guess it wasn't very good."
"We were both nervous."
"Good God! That's a yes then."
"I guess it is," Hermione was becoming a bit annoyed at herself.
"Do you want to kiss him again?"
"Not really."
"Do you want to have sex with him?"
"Not really."
"Wait, stop," Ginny didn't like what she was hearing, "'Not really' is not really an answer."
"Since when?"
"Since right now that it's really important you be dead honest with yourself," she repeated her last question, "Do you want to have sex with him?"
A pause, then an answer, "Not really."
"Hermione Jane Granger!"
"Fine, I don't! Of course not! I don't want to have sex with Draco."
"Let me conjure a chastity belt."
"You're not helping!"
"Why? Because you're finding out truths you're not prepared to accept? To me 'not really' means an eventual yes that you can imagine yourself having to deal with. 'Not really' means Roy Hunt."
"Roy Hunt was meant to be a one time thing."
"Which makes this thing with Malfoy even worse! You're not capable of one timers!"
"You think I'm falling for him."
"Yes. Though for the record I hope I'm wrong. It's going to be ugly, during and after. I'll tell you right now I won't let up about him ever and you'll end up not talking to me. And when he's satisfied toying with you I dread to think how much of you will be left."
Ginny made her promise to know by the end of their night why she continued to go out with Malfoy. It was eleven and it worried Ginny that Hermione had not called. It could only mean that Malfoy was still with her.
An intervention was definitely in order.
As she went through what she dubbed as Plan A of the anti-ferret operation, Ginny knew it could only work one time, if at all. She was hoping that after Plan A, Hermione would permanently regain some of the common sense she seemed to have lost, so Ginny wouldn't have to go to Plan B. Plan B was the last resort and at the moment, Plan B did not exist.
Ginny wished she could blame Hermione's current emotional and mental state all on Malfoy but she had seen it happening since Ron's tragic death. She suspected that this difficulty with Malfoy was due to the fact that Hermione was as fragile now as she was when it happened. The old Hermione would have never allowed something like this to occur.
Demons continued to haunt Hermione. So far, she refused to face her past and Ginny had not really pushed her to do that, trying to give her space and time to do that on her own. But it was almost a year after; Hermione continued to avoid the one thing that she obviously had to do and she couldn't think straight about Malfoy. The goal for Plan B was to nudge her towards facing her past and hopefully to get her old self back. The need to do that now appeared to be urgent and Ginny's problem was she still didn't know exactly how she was going to put Plan B in motion.
Focusing back on Plan A, she opened her bottom desk drawer and pulled out her personal phone book and a mirror. What she was about to do was admittedly underhanded and she was certain Hermione would be livid. But it had to be done.
xxxxxxxxxx
Hermione was on the passenger seat of Draco's blue MINI convertible, staring out at the passing streetscape, mind racing. The night was almost over and she had no real answer to Ginny's question yet. Not only that, she now had to make a decision about the rest of the night. Should she invite him into her flat?
A conversation with Ginny from earlier that day popped up in her head.
"Do you want to have sex with him?"
"Not really."
Ginny was right. It was definitely a Roy Hunt type of 'not really'. If she could think it, then it could happen. It probably would if she invited him in. Actually, it definitely would, seeing how Draco had been feasting on her cleavage without any real attempt to conceal it and his attention was making her flushed. It was late, the wine had her primed, she had not had sex in a while and the fact that the man whose company she had enjoyed for quite some time actually found her desirable was making her all warm and fuzzy inside. It was a feeling she had experienced before.
Hindsight was always twenty-twenty. She really should have chosen a less revealing attire and taken that potion. It was too late for that now.
Ginny's voice of caution sprang into action, talking snippets of what she said to her in the past and adding a few that she would definitely say, as her conscience took a life of its own.
"He's using you to meet a selfish end. He's definitely laughing at you."
Hermione glanced over to the driver's side and met Draco's authentic smile. He steered his gaze back on the road as they had turned into her street.
"If you allow this, it's not going to be just once. He won't stop until he gets revenge and then some."
They were three blocks away from her flat.
"Malfoy will visit Ron's grave just to gloat about his conquest."
Not that she was blaming Ron but this wouldn't have happened at all if he stayed alive. She could only imagine how Ron would react and it was a good thing Ron was dead.
Two blocks…
"He'll find Harry and rub it in his face, too."
And for the first time she thought about how Harry would feel about her going out with Draco. She wondered if he actually really cared that she was dating again apart from the fact that he hated the man she was going out with. There was no use dwelling on that.
One block…
"If you do sleep with him, just make sure you know where your knickers are all the time. He'll want a souvenir for proof."
Yeah, secure underwear in safe location immediately upon removal. She'd definitely remember that.
Draco disrupted her thoughts with a somewhat surprising statement.
"If it's taking that long to decide then the answer should be 'no'."
She replied, just now noticing that they were outside her place, "You think so?"
"You're not ready if you think that by inviting me in you're betraying him."
Actually, considering what he did, betraying him was kind of an enticing idea if she was vindictive.
"No, it's not that."
Too bad she wasn't feeling particularly vengeful. That would have been a great answer to Ginny's question. Draco was about to say something when he was interrupted.
A phone was ringing. Her cell phone. It was her Mum. There must be something wrong. Her Mum and her, well, it was complicated. But she definitely wouldn't call unless there was a compelling need to.
"I'm sorry," she apologized to Draco, "I have to take this."
"Go ahead."
"Mum, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
She listened, feeling relieved that her Mum was fine but curious what brought about her unexpected call. Their talk was strained.
"I'm okay," she replied to her question, "I was just surprised."
She was on her way to France, with her boyfriend. Surely she didn't call just to tell her that.
"Yeah, it is coming up," Hermione confirmed, then tried to reassure her, "I'm fine, really."
Her mention of Ron's upcoming first death anniversary caught her off guard, particularly when she asked how she was coping.
"No, you don't have to cut your trip short to be here for that," she had to stop her before...too late, "I don't know, Mum, we haven't talked in a while… I will when I see him…Mum, I really have to go…yes, I'm with someone…no, you don't know him…yes I will and take care of yourself, too."
Hermione hung up breathing a sigh of relief. That was the longest civil conversation they had since they had a falling out when she and her father separated last year. If her father had accepted it, maybe it was time that she did, too.
"Your Mum?" Draco broke the silence. For a moment, she forgot he was there.
"Yes, she's in Italy and wanted to say hello."
He nodded. Where were they?
"You were about to say something?"
"Yes, I was just about to say…" her phone rang again, preventing him from finishing.
Molly? A phone?
"Hermione?!"
"Yes, Molly, I'm here," she answered, holding her phone a couple of inches from her ear as she met Draco's amused grin. She remembered how Ron used to do that. "When did you get a telephone?"
"Yesterday! Don't know why but the children prefer it over the mirrors! They want me to be able to reach them anytime!"
No doubt. She should tell Ginny that a phone lesson was a definite must.
"Can I call you back, Molly?"
"Is this a bad time?! You're not out with that awful Malfoy boy again are you?!"
She cast Draco an apologetic look. Considering that he had heard it, it was difficult to lie to the woman who had been the closest person to a mother she ever had and who had almost become her mother in law.
"Actually, yes. I am with Draco," she said before realizing that she should have just fibbed.
"Hermione! I've known you almost all your life! You are like a daughter to me! My poor Ron! If he could come back from the dead he would have already! He would never forgive me if I don't speak on his behalf!"
She knew she couldn't interrupt even if she attempted to, and all she could do was wince in anticipation of what was about to come. A phone equivalent of a Howler.
"That boy is evil! Ron would have wished you all the happiness in the world but I'm sure he would rather you die alone if that wicked boy was the last man alive!"
There was a pause.
"Molly, are you okay?" she asked, hoping the older witch had not worked herself up too much to cause injury to herself.
"I'm fine! It's you I'm worried about and you should be worried about yourself too!" Molly replied, her tone with caring and loving concern but still screaming over the top of her lungs. "The first year is the hardest! The first year after Arthur died I cooked all the time to stay sane and I made it through!"
Not sure what she was supposed to gleam from Molly's experience, she said to her, "I appreciate your concern."
"Don't do anything foolish you will regret!"
"I won't, Molly."
"Now, let me talk to the Malfoy boy! I want to give him a piece of my mind!"
"I think he heard," actually, more than a piece of it.
"Good! Now, you will come to the Burrow for Ron's death anniversary, right?!"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," she answered, and talking about the family coming together to remember Ron and his life seemed to calm Molly down. She barely listened as Molly rattled off her plans and who was or wasn't going to be there, thankful when she finally said goodbye. Harry was apparently coming.
"I couldn't stop her," she tried to explain to Draco though he really didn't want an explanation.
"I understand," he replied, unperturbed by what he just heard, "I wouldn't have attempted either."
There was a momentary silence as they looked at each other, still trying to recover from the bizarre phone call from Molly before he finally asked her.
"Is it worth it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Considering how your friends and family disapprove, is it worth it? Why do you go out with me?"
Great! Him, too. He should just get in line.
Deciding against admitting that she didn't have a clue whatsoever, she countered, not lying, "Because you keep on asking. Why do you ask me out?"
"You mean, aside from wanting to get into your knickers?"
Draco had this boyish mischievous grin that she'd never seen from him before. She kind of liked it. She didn't even notice that he had closed the gap between them.
"Yes, aside from the obvious," she replied, amused at his candour, the earlier troubling conversations with her Mum and Molly now seemingly a distant memory.
Hermione saw his expression slowly change into one of genuine seriousness it was impossible to look away.
He said to her softly, "I'm not quite certain but it may have something to do with the fact that I like the way you make me feel about myself."
She could certainly relate to that, wanting to be with someone who made you feel good about yourself. She had not felt good about herself for a long time.
As he began leaning closer into her ever so slowly, Hermione hoped and prayed that she would have an answer to Ginny's question soon, one that was different from what she had in her mind.
Ginny asked 'why him', and at the moment, all Hermione could come up with was 'why not'.