Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Empire	By : waymay & Alcoholic_Rootbeer Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 12288 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or the characters written in this story; everything belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling. I don't make any profit from these stories!

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
A/N: Sorry for the delay! It's been a pretty busy week/end for me, and I kind of hit a writer's funk for a day before being able to really produce anything. Things are movin' forward with Draco and Hermione (business wise, haha!) and I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. :D Responses at the end!

Chapter 10
Delivery on the Run
It couldn't have been more obvious there was something odd going on with Madoff. His usual confident demeanor was completely taken over by a nervous, fidgeting man who was drenched in perspiration, regardless of how much he tried to dry his face and neck. In his hand, he held a black leather brief case. The actual container strained against the steel handle as the weight of hundreds of galleons burdened it.
Madoff, finding time between dropping his youngest off at daycare and making lunch plans with his beloved wife, managed to Apparate to the top of an undiscovered hilltop out in London's countryside. He glanced around, brown orbs widened with suspicion. These past twenty-four hours were exhausting. It felt as if there were eyes and ears hiding under every leaf, between every blade of grass, and even high above in the clouds.
Watching his footing, the plump man quickly maneuvered his way down towards the bottom of the hill, searching for an item -a portkey.
It was different every time -never the same item and never in the same location. But one thing stayed constant: he would always receive a letter the night before, from an anonymous source. Sometimes the note was on his bed or even a bookmark in his current literature. There were even times his sweet, sweet daughter would hand it to him. The thought of some...strange man handing his child something -commanding her to deliver it to him -scared the living daylights out of him. And after reading the script, it would always destroy itself in a puff of scentless smoke -never leaving a trace.
Madoff wasn't proud of what he was forced to do, but he did it because he didn't want his family in ruins. He didn't want to see his little girl, or his wife, hurt. Though no threats were ever verbally made, one could only imagine... Regardless of whatever scandal the treacherous Malfoy heir held, Madoff still, very much, loved his family.
Aha! There it was! That must be it -a discarded steel tumbler tucked under a berry bush. A brief reflection on the sun's cheery disposition gave away its hiding spot.
Madoff waddled over, lifting his knees up towards his chest as the grass was unkempt and had grown wildly tall over the decades of neglect.
He squatted down, reaching for the portkey with great strain, and, as his fingers grasped around the cup, his entire world seemed to implode as if he was being violently sucked into a black hole. Ugh -he hated this feeling. Portkeys were the absolute worst. His body felt as if it was being stretched and compressed all at the same time; his stomach twisting and turning as he blasted through space. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, seeing nothing but black for a moment, before everything finally slowed down. Madoff blinked, his brown orbs returning to their rightful position, finally seeing starbursts of colors and then shapes.
His legs moved on their own, as if it was second nature, gliding downwards towards the land below him. Being able to land on both feet wasn't easy -those who weren't accustomed to using a portkey were usually flung onto the ground, at times, seriously injuring themselves. It took Madoff years to perfect his descent, and he was always proud to show it off. His chest puffed a tad as he landed safe and sound.
As much as portkeys were annoying and unpleasant, they really did come in handy for long distant travels. In mere seconds, Madoff was transported from London, England to New York, New York.
What many didn't know about the United States was the abundance of wizarding communities in the area. New York, itself, had at least eight different districts. With the amount of people living in the city, it was needed. And it wasn't just the big NYC, itself -Los Angeles had ten, Chicago with six, and Houston housed nine.
He looked around, taking in his surrounding. Madoff visited New York plenty of times, but he could never grow accustomed to the culture change. It was rather different from London. The witches and wizards seemed more in tuned with the muggles' world, such as using technology, such as these kinds of phones people could carry around in their pockets -though, many magical folks complained the little machines were finicky. Magic and technology didn't always mix, unfortunately.
Madoff arrived in a bustling magical community not too far from the main streets of Manhattan. No one looked twice at his arrival as they continued going on about their day. No stranger took notice of the man drenched in sweat, though it was four degrees Celsius. Everyone was too caught up in the holiday spirit, buying presents left and right. With a minor adjustment to his collar, Madoff huffed, breathing out a puff of carbon dioxide before making his way towards a brick wall. It was similar to King's Cross Station in London: walk through it, act like everything was normal, and the muggles so wrapped up in their own business wouldn't even notice. The protection charm helped, too.
His destination, as always, was the Metropolitan Commercial Bank, where all the bigwigs went to deposit their hard earned, or perhaps too easily learned, money. No one would ever suspect a wizard to store their currency into a muggle bank. It was the perfect scam -of course, until the young Malfoy caught wind of his dirty deeds.
An attendant greeted him as he walked through the overly sized glass doors. Her smile didn't calm him, though. In fact, his chest felt so warped and distorted he could have sworn his heart would jump out and run away. "How can I assist you today?" The hostess waited, her fingers linked together as she waited for his response.
The man looked around once more, wary of the amount of people here today. Who were the spies? Did they catch wind of his misdeeds-? Though, what he did before didn't make him any more a saint. Would his family be safe? Merlin, he really needed to use the restroom right now. Madoff squirmed, pinching his legs together as if he couldn't hold on anymore. But he knew better, at this point, he was stalling. The quicker he could get this done and done, the sooner he can move on with his life and out of this hellhole that randomly appeared.
"Y-yes, I'm looking to make a deposit today." His lips twisted up as he tried to plan a smile onto his face. It didn't work. Nervousness got the best of him. Madoff held up the briefcase, showing the woman his reason for the visit.
Another smile made its way onto her lips as she nodded in response. "Of course. Many of our associates behind the counter will be able to assist you today...or perhaps are you looking for something a bit more private?" She held her palm out towards the large individual rooms to the right side of the building.
"A private room, please."
"Certainly -if you'll give me just one minute." She turned to the rooms, knocking on one of the opened doors. A man dressed in a three-piece gray suit gave the woman a curt bob of his head as he set down his pen and stood from his seat. Shortly, the two of them made their way to Madoff as he stood in the middle of the entryway, the nail of his thumb scratching away at the steel handle of the portfolio. "This is Justin Phillips; he will be your financier today."
A smidge of his nervousness went away as Madoff found it entertaining. A financier needing a financier. Where was the irony in that? He wiped his free hand along the seam of his slacks before holding it out to the well dressed man. "Thank you for your assistance, Mister Phillips. Bogrod Madoff. A pleasure to meet you."
"Mister Madoff," Phillips gripped his hand, his face not reacting to the clamminess of Madoff's palm. "If you'll follow me, we'll get right down to business."

A gentle rap of the window pulled Draco from his reading -Building Better Businesses, a book Granger owled him several days back. In fact, she sent him several literatures -all on how to build, run, and maintain a successful line of work.
He never bothered to read much. Draco often found it a waste of time -why spend his day reading, locked inside a room when he could go off exploring and actually experience the things people write about? He'd much rather live his own adventures than someone else's. But, for some reason, he wanted to read these sets of books. Not because Granger adamantly suggested him to, but because there were so much more to running a business than he initially thought.
Draco dog eared the page he was reading, bookmarking, closing, and setting it onto the couch cushion. The tapping against the window continued incessantly as he made his way over. He opened the curtains to a small window and pushed open the pane. A cold breeze gusted its way into the warm apartment, sending shivers coursing down Draco's bones. An owl flapped tirelessly, thrusting its legs out for the blonde man to receive his correspondence.
When he took the scroll, the owled stayed, staring unblinkingly at the man. His grey eyes met large amber ones. "I don't have any snacks for you." And he closed the window. He could hear an irked hoot coming from the avian before the sound of its wings grew distant.
'To Mister Draco Lucius Malfoy,
I have delivered the goods., and as per your demands, I have vacated my office at Malfoy Industries. Thank you for your services all these years. I hope you well.
Sincerely,
Bogrod Ofidan Madoff'
The corners of his lips twitched upwards as he read the letter. The deed was done, and he wouldn't have to deal with Madoff anymore -hopefully. Draco crumbled the letter, tossing it to the side before he pulled out his own parchment, quill, and ink. He checked the time - six thirty in the evening. Good, it wasn't late.
When he finished writing, the wizard made his way into a smaller room connected to the living room. It was his owl's room. Yes, Draco's owl had its own office. As the door opened, the owl shifted slightly, opening an orange eye, seeing who it was before opening the other. A gentle hoot came from the Eurasian Eagle Owl as it greeted his master. "Good evening, Bubo Bubo." Draco scratched the top of the owl's head, and the feathered horns on its head twitched with content. "Need you to take this to Hermione Granger," He tied the scroll around its leg and another hoot came from the creature, confirming Draco's command.
Once the letter was secured and Draco stepped back, the owl stretched its brown and beige wings, almost emulating a human's movement as they extended their muscles after a long slumber. With a small hop off its perch, the owl swooped out the already opened window, quickly fading into the evening's backdrop.
xxx
Draco was, once again, nose deep into the business book, sipping on a cup of tea -a huge change for once, before Bubo Bubo returned. It hadn't been thirty minutes since the bird left, and he returned with another scroll. The bird stuck its leg out, allowing its master to take the parchment, before dipping its beak into the warm liquid the man was drinking.
'I'll be over once I finish cooking dinner.'
It was all she wrote -but that was good enough for Draco as he used the letter as a bookmark for his literature. A childish smirk threatened to write itself across his lips, but he tried very hard to look as if the note hadn't just made his evening. With a clear of his throat, the owl flapped its wings and returned to its room; the door magically shut itself once the bird entered. He picked up the tea cup and dumped out the rest of the beverage.
With a wave of his hand, Draco activated the Floo network in his fireplace, eagerly awaiting the witch's arrival.
xxx
"Malfoy -I'm here." Granger stepped through the hearth about an hour later.
Draco, who had been reading to pass the time, dozed off about thirty minutes after he'd received her letter, impatiently waiting for her arrival. He snapped his head up quickly, blinking away the sleepiness and glared at her. "About time you graced yourself in my presence -what were you doing? Making dinner for the entire Weasley family or something?"
Draco set the book down, still using her note as a bookmark, and glanced up at the brunette as she stepped further into the living room. Though he shot a quip at the newly arrived witch, his tone said something completely different -he was excited to see her, but he made sure she couldn't see it on his face.
With a roll of her eyes, she huffed. "Actually, I like to prepare all of my meals in one go. That way, I don't have to cook all the other days, so I can focus on all my other works." Her comment almost seemed as if it was normal to cook over twenty meals in a day. "Anyway -I brought you some food." Granger set a black container onto the dining table. "Hope you're hungry."
"Oh," he glanced at her then towards the food, unsure how to respond. "Thank you, I guess." Suddenly, he felt bad calling Granger out on her tardiness. Draco reached over, pulling the box closer towards him and popped off the lid, the aromatic smell of seared salmon entered his nostrils, and his mouth watered. He eyed the fish, its flesh plump and pink, though slightly burnt on the edges, sprinkled with red chili flakes. Roasted potatoes, carrots, and broccoli were tucked between the fish and brown rice. "This looks delicious. Have you eaten?"
Her cheeks reddened at the compliment as her eyes stared at her freshly made entreè. "I haven't." Granger held her own container, showing it to the man seated on the couch. "Shall we?"
A loud growl erupted from his stomach as if it was answering her question. Embarrassed, Draco chided, "I hope you cooked the salmon all the way through. Merlin knows I can't afford a Healer to visit on account of food poisoning."
"Oh! Really -If you don't want it, you could have just said so!" Granger quickly moved over towards the table, attempting to snatch away her hard work and, obviously, hurt by his comment.
But Draco was quicker -he grabbed the container, pulling it towards him, and held it close. "No, I want to eat it. I'm hungry."
Her eyes rolled once more, but this time, it was accompanied with a slight twitch at the corner of her pink lips. Perhaps she saw through him, realizing his jab wasn't mean to hurt her at all, but rather to cover up his chagrin over his silly bodily function. Granger plopped down next to him, sinking into the couch, but not before jumping back up with a squeaky yelp as her bottom connected against something solid. "What- Oh!" She exhaled a laugh, grabbing the Building Better Businesses book. "You've been reading this? How far into it are you?" The witch flipped through the pages, automatically stopping at the marked page.
Before she had the chance to respond, Draco snatched it away, a scowl set on his face. "Haven't your parents teach you to ask before touching other people's belongings?" He didn't want her to see he used her letter as a bookmark.
"I do believe I purchased this book for you." Granger arched a brow, a tad miffed she wasn't allowed the opportunity to see where in the book he was. She shook it off as a whiff of pan-seared salmon caught her attention.
He turned to look at his food. "It does look quite appetizing."
xxx
Draco patted his belly which protrude just a tad. During the course of their meal, he must have paid the witch several compliments while scarfing down his dinner, forgetting table manners and proper etiquette as he asked if there were seconds and thirds. It'd been quite some time since anyone's cooked for him -he'd forgotten what it was like to have a warm, home cooked meal.
Sleep was next on his agenda, but Granger, of course, had other plans. With a wave of her wand, the dishes floated into the kitchen and out came the sponge and soap, which Draco never knew he had, cleaning the dirty utensils on its own.
She, then, conjured a large white screen hanging down from the ceiling, and an incantation later, a map appeared onto the display, a red dot blinking repeatedly on the center of the screen. "Red dot indicates where the tracker is currently located." Granger sat back down next to Draco, this time a little closer, though she took no notice, staring at the still image. "Looks like... it's still at the bank."
"Right -did I not mention the package was dropped off just a few hours ago?" Draco shrugged, cocking his head towards the side with a not-so-innocent smirk on his face. "I don't know exactly when it'll be picked up."
Granger tucked a stray ringlet behind her ear, pursing her lips. He could see she was a little irked at the misinformation. She'd assumed it was already en route. "So, you mean, the pickup could happen tomorrow or the day after?"
"Possibly -but you don't want to miss out on the big reveal, do you? What if it happens now? You would be missing out on the heist of the century." Draco leaned back into the couch, stretching and resting his arms against the top of the cushion. He knew Granger didn't like being left out on things -especially if it was her own idea. Getting her to come over was easy. Not that he wanted her around that much. He just wanted to make sure she felt included, after all the running away she's been doing.
"I highly doubt of the century," she stifled a laugh, shaking her head side to side, causing her bouncy curls to gracefully follow along with her movements. "But I must say, I'm curious to see where it goes to."
The two of them made idle banter, and their eyes never really left the blip on the screen. There would be moments when he would steal a glance, but as he turned to focus on the red dot, her eyes would trail over, never exactly meeting.
"I...haven't actually looked into location," Draco shifted, pushing himself upwards from the couch, making himself slightly more comfortable while the space between him and Granger grew smaller. His arm, still resting atop the couch cushion, reached across her shoulders now, and his fingers grazed lightly against her curls. "I figured anywhere on the main street in Diagon would be nice."
She nodded. "Agreed. Lots of foot traffic." A pause settled between them as her head twitched to the side, noticing the gentle caress of his digits. A dash of pink spread across her cheeks as she quickly brought up another subject. "The, um, manufacturing company is working on beta designs now. I think in about a week, they'll be ready for testing."
His eyes lit up at the reveal, and Draco smiled, looking down at his lap for a moment. "Yeah? That's great news." His forefinger entwined itself in a single curl, playing with her hair. "I was thinking, perhaps we could get them tested by professional Quidditch players? They'd be able to give us honest feedback and maybe even some publicity."
"I think I can pull some strings." The tinge on her cheeks grew deeper as his ministration continued.
Silence fell between them as their conversation died down. The red blinking light remain unmoved. And, unsure what else to talk about, Granger quickly stammered out, "Maybe-Maybe you can just Floo me whenever you see something moving on the screen?" She glanced over at the blonde, who now looked at her, his brows creased. "It's late -and I didn't...bring any of my work with me." She stood, pulling herself away, and the strand of hair he played with fell back in place with the other locks. A dash of disappointment worked its way across his face, but just as quickly, it faded away as she turned to look at him. "Anyway -it's not like I can get any work done here... I get so... distracted. I don't know why."

Two very long days passed before Hermione heard from Malfoy.
The blonde wizard popped out of her Floo at the joke shoppe, and with no tact, shouted out her surname, nearly scaring the wits out of the busy woman. Her papers scattered all over the office as she looked up, bewildered. Ink spilled on her desk, but she managed to gather herself and spelled it away before the black liquid seeped into any important documents.
Malfoy didn't notice the mess. He was too busy climbing out of the fireplace, his hair was messy, nearly windswept as he was a rush to get to Hermione, but at the moment, his appearance didn't matter -he was much too excited for something else. "The red dot is moving! Let's get a move on!" And without another word, he hopped right back into the Floo and back to his apartment. His head popped in a second later, "Come now!"
She snorted a laugh, covering her mouth before she gathered everything, the papers (even the ones fallen on the ground) stacked themselves nearly into alphabetized piles. Hermione stepped onto the hearth, and with a quick wave of her wand, her 'Out of Office' sign moved itself to the front side of the door. She locked it, just in case Ron decided he was going to ignore her notice -as he often did.
When Hermione arrived at Malfoy's apartment, the man was seen sitting on the edge of his settee with wide eyes staring at the screen. Another amused laugh came from the witch -if he was so enthralled at a slow moving screen on a project, watching a movie would, quite possibly, blow his world. His childlike reaction was refreshing, though. It really humanized the man who was once so cold in Hogwarts.
Her eyes followed when he didn't respond to her presence and carefully seated herself next to him. Though it hadn't been much, the red blinking dot did, indeed, move. A comfortable hush fell as they focused their concentration onto the screen. The map would move a few centimetres before pausing for a moment and moving once more.
Perhaps it was the screen trying to update the dot's new location, or maybe there was some sort of lag due to the great distance between them. Technology and magic hardly ever mixed; Hermione was even amazed that it worked.
After a minute or so of watching the red blip's snail-like pace, it, finally, began to pick up. Actually -it moved across the map at great speed, opposite of what it was once. The streets on the map nearly blurred at its momentum.
Excitement grew between the two as they watched the entire thing unfold. The map would change from time to time, beige and yellow for the roads and blue for the water -most likely rivers or lakes. Hermione conjured a cup of tea for herself while Malfoy followed her action, except he fetched himself a tumbler of scotch. They sipped at their drinks, watching in eager silence, curious where the final destination would be.
But then, the dot stopped. Hermione checked her watch: not even ten minutes passed. She glanced over at Malfoy, now frowning at the screen. Why did it stop suddenly? Perhaps the person was at a light? That couldn't be right -the blip wasn't by an intersection. Perhaps it...reached it's destination? In the middle of the street? On a bridge? That didn't seem right, either.
A minute passed, and still, there was no movement. "Is there anyway we can go...check it out?" It was almost as if he read her mind, but then again, anyone would come to that conclusion; it was the most logical one, after all. "But I don't know if there are any communities we can Apparate into -given that I've never been there -have you?" He peeked over at her for a moment before focusing his attention back onto the blinking blip, just in case it did move again.
"Not really," she pinched her chin, thinking. "Oh -maybe we could create a portkey? It'll help us travel there."
With both brows raised, he peeled his eyes off the screen, "Portkey?" His surprise was warranted as portkeys were usually created through the approval of the Ministry. Doing so illegally would result in some sort of punishment.
But she shrugged in response. "Unless you have little spies in your apartment, there's no real way the Ministry can monitor the creation of a portkey. Plus, it's the fastest way of traveling such great distance."
A crooked grin appeared on Malfoy's lips as he briefly nodded, impressed with her way of thinking. "I've never known a Gryffindor to be so sly. Are my Slytherin charms rubbing off on you?"

The two of them managed to transport themselves onto the streets of New York City, relatively close to where the blinker was located. Granger turned the projector screen into a tiny hand held device tucked away in her pockets. Luckily for them, it was late in the evening, now. No muggles walked the streets, otherwise they would have had to Obliviate them before moving forward.
"Ugh, disgusting." Draco blanched, looking around him, grossed out by how filthy the streets were. From crumpled up newspapers to discarded bottles of liquor, the road had it all. He stood on his toes, carefully trekking his steps, his eyes never leaving the ground. His didn't need to accidentally step on gum and bring it into his apartment. Gross.
Though New York City was known as a busy city, the part of town they were in was, surprisingly, dead. As a precaution, though, Granger cast a protection charm around the surrounding area, deterring any muggles from entering while they conduct their search.
"This seems odd. It can't be a drop point for the money." The curly haired witch tsked as she made her way onto the bridge. The tip of her wand lit from lumos.
Draco shrugged at her comment, following suit with his own lighting spell. "Isn't that the point? They don't want to make it obvious." He remained optimistic, though he could tell Granger carried her own doubts. He just wanted an easy end to the whole shindig. This ordeal was already complicated enough. "Maybe the money is hidden under a pile of leaves." Though he suggested it, he wasn't about to go digging into a pile of rotting frond. Nope. His eyes trailed over towards an abandoned trash can on the walkway of the bridge, and he blanches once more. Yeah -that wasn't going to happen. A pureblood would never stoop himself so low as to dig through garbage. Muggle garbage, no less.
With no luck of finding the parcel, Granger changed their search to simply focus on finding the tracking device. The witch tried an assortment of spells, from finding hidden doors to disillusionment charms to transfigured objects. She even managed to force Draco to look under several piles of leaves, and of course, he didn't do it without complaining the entire time.
Frustration was building up between the two of them as he groaned loudly, kicking an empty bottle of beer. He nox'd his wand, and just as he did, a sudden ear piercing shriek blasted and bounced off the invisible barrier, amplifying its sound. Draco nearly dropped his wand, shouting, surprised at the intrusive noise.
Quick to respond, as Granger was probably used to dealing with all sorts of pranks going on at the Weasley's store, she lowered the noise. She kept it loud enough for them to track the gadget, though quiet enough for their ears not to bleed. "Ugh," she frowned, rubbing the tragus of her ear as she followed the noise. "I was not expecting that."
"I'm pretty sure I'm deaf now. I can see why Johnson was so terrified at the noise. Sounds like a fucking banshee coming at you."
She let a 'ha!' slip out of her mouth before covering it up. Though she silenced herself, her eyes laughed, shaping itself into half crescent moons. "It, certainly, scarred her for a while, terrified of all the ghosts at Hogwarts, thinking they were out to get her."
"What?" Draco picked at his ears.
Another chuckle escaped her lips as Granger shook her head, looking down at the ground, trying to find the invisible device. With her wand pointed, she cast the revealing charm. And lo and behold, the tracking gadget was sitting there, still screaming at the two of them as it rapidly blinked on and off. "Well-" She rested her hands on her hips.
Surrounding the tiny apparatus were blots and splatters of siren's ink.
Someone, somehow, figured out their scheme and tampered with it, but not without suffering the consequences first.

@Tinyreader: Thank you for your comment! :) And I'm glad you're enjoying the slowness between them. xD 'Cause I plan on taking it painfully slow -'cause I'm evil like that.
@Anon: I'm so glad you read all of 'em in one go! That's super flattering, you have no idea!
@HarryGinny4eva: Hehe, I love your review! Ginny and Blaise are hilarious, aren't they? They're working so hard to pair off Hermione and Draco. They're all for the Dramione pairing, too!
@Sherlocked17: :D I love the shyness and awkwardness! I'm glad you do, too!
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