Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in Harry Potter, as they are all the property of the wonderful J.K. Rowling.
***
Hermione stood, unreasonably nervous, in front of the Ministry official, her hand clasped in Draco’s. George was standing in as the witness, sworn to secrecy by Hermione from telling any of the Weasley family.
“Do you, Hermione Jean Granger, take Draco Abraxas Malfoy to be your lawfully wedded husband by the magical laws, to be together until death do you part?”
“I do,” Hermione murmured, staring deep into Draco’s eyes which sparkled at her words.
“And do you, Draco Abraxas Malfoy, take Hermione Jean Granger to be your lawfully wedded wife by the magical laws, to be together until death do you part?”
“I do,” Draco said confidently, squeezing Hermione’s hand.
“By the power invested in my by the Minister for Magic, I now pronounce you man and wife,” the official said, and with a lazy flick of his wand a glowing golden rope emerged from his wand, binding Hermione and Draco together with ancient and powerful magic. “You may kiss the bride.”
George wolf-whistled as Draco pulled Hermione to him, his lips pressing against hers with all the love and devotion he could pour into the kiss, Hermione returning the feelings with just as much force.
“I love you,” he mumbled against her lips, and she smiled into the kiss.
“Love you, too. Forever and always.”
***
“To Harry and Ginny!”
“To Harry and Ginny,” everyone repeated after George, all sipping deeply from their goblets of wine.
“Thanks, everyone,” Ginny mumbled, blushing bright red as she readjusted James. Harry squeezed her shoulder lightly and smiled at everyone before the group went back to their meals. The room lapsed into silence, broken only by the sounds of cutlery against crockery and appreciative sounds as the meal continued.
Draco caught Hermione’s eye and she nodded, giving him a secretive smile as George, catching this exchange between the newlyweds, winked at him from the head of the table. He picked up his glass and tapped on it lightly with his spoon until all attention was on him.
“Now, we don’t want to steal Ginny and Harry’s thunder or anything, but Hermione and I have an announcement to make,” he said, standing up. The rest of the party looked on in interest. “Earlier in the week, Hermione and I got married!”
The women around the table squealed loudly, jumping up to go and hug the couple. Ron seemed gobsmacked and didn’t make a move to congratulate the couple. Harry, who had had James dumped in his arms at the news so Ginny could embrace Hermione, gave them a warm smile with a promise he’d congratulate them properly later, and Bill shook hands firmly with Draco and planted a kiss on Hermione’s cheek.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Ginny shrieked, and Fleur and Angelina repeated the question enthusiastically before resuming their seats.
“We just wanted something quiet. George was the witness, and we just went into the Ministry and had a really small thing,” Hermione explained.
“Early Christmas shopping my arse,” Angelina laughed, elbowing George playfully in the ribs and he grinned.
“Sorry, love, couldn’t spill the beans!” George said, and the meal went on followed a couple of bottles of champagne.
***
“That went well,” Draco mused as the couple walked hand in hand back from to their apartment from the apparation safe zone.
“Mm, after the hugging and shrieking,” Hermione agreed, cringing at Ginny’s shrill voice in her ear. “At least they didn’t complain that we didn’t have a ridiculously huge ceremony. Molly will probably kick up a fuss when she finds out though.”
“Probably, but what’s done is done,” Draco said, unlocking the front door of the apartment and following Hermione in. As he went to close the door, a silver stag burst through the gap, invisible to muggle eyes, and stopped in front of the two.
“Sorry to disturb you, Draco, and I’m sure you want to spend some time with Hermione, but you need to come into the office immediately. We’ve got some new information. See you soon, mate,” the stag said with Harry’s voice before disappearing. Draco looked at Hermione with a pained expression.
“I’m sorry, beautiful, but I’ve got to go,” he sighed, pulling her close and planting a soft kiss on her lips. “I’ll be back later tonight, I promise.”
“I know, I know. See you later,” Hermione said, trying to hide the frown that was forcing its way onto her face as Draco turned and disapparated with a loud pop.
***
“Hey, sorry about that,” Harry said as Draco arrived in front of him.
“No, forget it. What did we get?” Draco asked in a hushed tone as the two hurried along to Draco’s office.
“The person I sent to Germany is back, with Goyle along with him,” Harry explained once they reached the security of the office. Draco lit the fireplace with a wave of his wand and sat down at his desk, across from Harry.
“What was Goyle’s reaction to the information given?” Draco questioned, summoning a bottle of firewhisky and two glasses over, and pouring a glass of the amber liquid for each of them.
“Apparently he seemed pretty excited about it all, and couldn’t wait to get started, the sicko. There’s a meeting on tonight, and he’s attending it. The next meeting is on Wednesday night, and I think you should attend that one,” Harry suggested, gulping down the drink.
“What? Attend the meeting on Wednesday? It’s a bit soon, don’t you think?” Draco felt the liquid burn on its way down his throat, but at the same time a warm feeling spread to his fingertips.
“My informant told me that the group is getting angry, and they want to start taking action as soon as possible. The sooner we can get you integrated into their society and as soon as you gain their trust we can bring them down.”
“It shouldn’t take too long for me to get their trust. After all, I am a Malfoy,” Draco said, putting on his most pompous accent.
“Excellent work, Mr Malfoy,” Harry laughed, pouring two more glasses of Ogden’s firewhiskey. “From Wednesday onwards you’re going to be working long days, so you might want to tell Hermione that you won’t be home much.”
“You’re probably right. She’ll get worried if I just don’t come home one night.”
“I wonder why,” Harry said wryly, and Draco grinned. “Ugh, I should probably go get some more work done on this case,” he sighed, taking another drink.
“No, go home to your son, Harry. The work can wait until tomorrow,” Draco said encouragingly, and Harry frowned before nodding. “See you tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I’ll give you some more information on the situation then, okay?”
“Sounds good. See you then,” Draco waved, and his fireplace glowed green as Harry vanished.
Following in his friend’s footsteps, Draco approached his fireplace, took a handful of powder that sat on the mantelpiece and stepped into the grate before disappearing in the green flames.
***
Draco groaned as his alarm went off, wishing nothing more than for the constant blaring to disappear. He went to pull Hermione closer to his body, but found the bed empty of her presence. His eyes snapped open and he grabbed his wand, rolling out of bed and landing on the floor stealthily. Then he heard the retching.
“Hermione?” he called out, keeping his wand aimed and ready as he crept towards the ensuite where the sound was coming from.
“In here,” said a feeble Hermione, and Draco’s wand clattered to the floor as he sprung forward. Hermione bent her head over the toilet again, retching once more, and Draco’s hands pulled her hair up and out of her face, away from her neck to let the cool air touch the clammy skin. After a few more minutes, Hermione pushed herself away from the toilet, instead leaning up against the bathtub. Draco got a cool cloth and put in on her forehead, and she gave him a soft smile. “I wanted to surprise you with some breakfast, but a couple of minutes after I got up I needed to throw up. I think it might be food poisoning or something,’ Hermione frowned, and Draco planted a soft kiss on her cheek.
“Don’t worry, love, I’ll take care of you,” Draco said, and Hermione’s head tilted to lean on his shoulder. They sat like that for a while, not speaking, and slowly the colour returned to Hermione’s cheeks.
“I think that I’m feeling better now,” she murmured, leaning on the bathtub for support as she stood up. Draco followed her lead however he simply stood in a quick motion, and wrapped his arm around her waist.
“Breakfast?” he suggested, and she bit her lip, contemplating whether or not she could keep a full meal down before nodding her head. On their way to the kitchen, Hermione glanced at the clock.
“Draco, you have to be at work ten minutes ago,” she said with a frown, and Draco cursed.
“I’m sorry, love, but I’ve got to go. Harry has some new information on something. If you feel sick, floo Ginny,” Draco called out as he ran back to the bedroom, emerging a few minutes later in a crisp black suit and some folders in his arm. “I’ll see you tonight, okay?”
“Alright, see you,” Hermione said as Draco planted a kiss on her cheek before disappearing with a loud crack. She sighed and waved her wand, too tired to be bothered making breakfast by hand. The kettle began to boil and a large mug came flying out of a cupboard, landing on the countertop just as a heaped teaspoon of coffee was poured into it. The kettle whistled loudly and with another wave of her wand, Hermione made the water pour into the mug. Soon the aroma of enticing coffee filled the kitchen, and Hermione smiled as her hand curled around the mug.
As she got comfortable in a lounge chair, glad that it was her day off, and picked up her old and rather worn copy of Tales of Beedle the Bard, the same book she had inherited from Dumbledore before they went hunting for the horcruxes. Even though it was a book of tales for children, Hermione loved to lose herself in the simplicity of the stories. She didn’t have to concentrate too hard or wrap her mind around difficult concepts; instead she could just read The Fountain of Fair Fortune and relax, which is exactly what she did that morning.
After a second cup of coffee and an almost complete re-read of the book of fairytales, Hermione decided that she should probably do something more productive, so she reluctantly uncurled herself from the chair and put her book and mug on the coffee table.
As she stretched, she felt her stomach turn and burn, and she ran to the bathroom, reaching it just in time as she bent over the toilet and threw up yet again. When she finished, she pushed herself away from the toilet, leaning her head against the edge of the bath instead. She wished that Draco wasn’t at work, and that he was there holding her hand. These thoughts filled her mind as she, once again, moved over the toilet and retched once more.
***
“You’re late, Malfoy,” said an annoyed voice, and Draco turned to face his boss, Fenwick, who was glaring at him.
“Sorry, sir, my wife wasn’t feeling well this morning, so I was looking after her. It won’t happen again,” Draco explained wearily, wondering how Hermione was feeling.
“Good, it better not. Potter wants to speak to you in his office, so you better head up there.”
With a swift nod Draco headed to his own office where he put some files away before turning to the fireplace and calling Harry.
“Draco, where have you been?” Harry asked when Draco’s head had appeared in his fireplace.
“Hermione was sick this morning, so I was with her. Do you want me to come up?”
“Yep, that would be preferable,” Harry responded and his office was illuminated in green light as the flames glowed brightly before Draco stepped out, dusting some soot off of his suit.
“So, what’s the whole story?” Draco asked, taking a seat across from Harry who looked as though he had suffered from too many sleepless nights, no doubt because of the new baby.
“You know the basics. A few of Voldemort’s followers who got off from going to Azkaban are trying to start his work again. They’ve formed their own little group, and they’re after some of the old Death Eaters to help them with their work. Goyle had been hiding out since the end of the war because he managed to escape before we could get any Aurors on his trail, which was a pain. Anyway, he’s back in England now and in hiding with the group. That’s where you come in.
“Your father’s ties to Voldemort make you a very valuable asset to them. Unfortunately, your rather public relationship with Hermione will make them suspicious if you join them, but with some acting and lying you should be able to get into their good books. Just act how you did before our sixth year at Hogwarts and you’ll be fine.
“The meeting is on Wednesday night, and you’ll be travelling with another undercover Auror to get there. He will introduce you to the group, tell them that you’ve got good potential, and then we’ll see how we go after that,” Harry said, watching for Draco’s response.
“So basically, all I have to do is act like a stuck up git and I’ll be fine?” he asked after a moment, smirking.
“Precisely,” Harry laughed. “Come here at five o’clock in the afternoon on Wednesday, dressed in your darkest robes.”
“No problem. Is that everything?”
When Harry nodded Draco flooed back to his office, wondering just how this case was going to work out.
***
“Ugh, I’m starving,” Hermione complained, resting her head against a pillow as Ginny rushed around her.
“No wonder. You’ve eaten nothing today except for coffee, which, by the way, doesn’t constitute as food, and then you’ve gone and thrown up anything else you’ve eaten in the last day! I’ll get you a sandwich or something,” the red-head said as she bustled around the kitchen. As soon as Hermione had felt well enough, she had flooed Ginny who had wasted no time in giving James to her mother before turning up at Hermione’s apartment. Since then she had set Hermione up on the couch with a blanket, pillows and a cup of tea, and was now in the process of making a cheese sandwich for her friend.
“I don’t know what it is. I must have eaten something bad,” Hermione frowned, sipping at the tea. “D’you know if anyone else got sick after George and Angelina’s?”
“I don’t think they did. Harry and I felt fine afterwards. Maybe you just got a flu or something. I’ll get mum to whip you up a potion. Until then, eat,” Ginny said, forcing a plate into Hermione’s hands and flopping down on the couch next to her.
***
A/N: Wow, that took longer than I thought it would. Sorry about that! I just haven’t really had much of an inspiration hit for a while, and I’ve been working on some original fiction of my own as well. Anyway, please review! The song which this chapter is titled after is "Be Here Now," by Oasis.
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