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Daylight	By : pepperdoc Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 13124 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 3
Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter Universe, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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As the night wore on, Hermione was slowly slipping into an exhaustion that she had rarely experienced since after the final battle. Her bones even seemed weary. She was starving and someone gave her an apple- not nearly enough to satisfy her growling belly. She simply ignored it for now.

Malfoy was still in the makeshift hospital with the children and teachers even three hours later. She realized he must be tired too, and probably just as hungry. But then there was another injury, another time someone told her what had happened at the school.

More people came to the area as the night wore on. Luckily there were no serious injuries, just gashes and broken bones, bruises and luckily only one missing finger.

Primrose was in and out of the camp, apparently looking for someone. Finally she came to talk to Draco in private. The location for their privacy just happened to be on the other side of a screen of bushes outside the tent which Hermione was on the other side of. She debated listening, but in the end couldn’t help it. She was unable to continue the healing spell she was casting over a compound fracture long enough to warn them that she was there.

Primrose told him, “I’ve found out where the Headmaster is, Draco.”

“Good, now we can get a plan-”

“No you don’t understand. He was found under the rubble of the cafeteria. He is dead Draco.” Her voice seemed calm, but Hermione could practically feel the sadness behind her words.

She heard Draco sigh, and imagined him pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration or sadness. “You’re here to tell me I am now acting Headmaster? Fine. And who is my deputy?”

“Well, I believe that falls to the treasurer, Daniel. He was out of town though.”

“For the time being then, go tell Anthony that he better not get himself eaten by one of his blasted animals. He’s next in line for the temporary position.” Draco’s voice sounded grim.

“And what about Hermione?”

“She remains a ward of the Headmaster. Thom made her such yesterday. She stays close by until we can return her to England. Now what about those security measures I put in place…” His voice was receding as he spoke and Hermione realized that they must be walking away.

She thought about what he had said while she moved to her next patient- repairing a boy’s broken arm. She hadn’t bothered to even ask how many were dead. She had assumed that everyone had lived through the attack. The people who had given her reports of their experience of the attack ranged from ‘There was an explosion from nowhere’ to ‘I saw his face and he laughed at my pain’. No one had said a word about a death.

Then there was the issue of her being a ‘ward of the Headmaster’ whatever that meant. If it was anything like a ward from the Muggle world, then it had to do with the Headmaster or his supporters were required to put their lives on the line to protect her. She had not any clue what exactly that would mean for her position.

Finally there were the security measures which Draco had claimed ownership over. She fought the urge to think he might have security measures lax enough to let people into camp, remembering his impassioned speech about her judging him based on the boy he was ten years ago. He had been through the war, too. She assumed that he would be as nervous about security as she was. Probably he had a sufficient amount of experience to be able to make good security measures.

She thought she would probably ask about all three of these things when given the chance. It wasn’t like she was in the wrong for accidently eavesdropping, she was in the middle of a healing spell and couldn’t call out. He would understand…. Right? Anyway, she could offer her help. She could never be the type to simply allow people to fall dead in protection of her. She needed to help.

The moon had set and she’d had a brief nap. It was nearly dawn before she even saw his white-blonde head entering the tent. He was coming toward her. She looked back at the small cuts on a sobbing young witch’s arm she was stopping the blood from seeping out of. She had just come wandering into the tent in the woods saying she had gotten lost in the dark.

She sent the young girl on her way and Draco came up to her with a look of weariness. “You need to sleep, Granger.” He told her.

“So do you, Malfoy,” She answered with a small smile.

He sighed and sat on the ground next to her. They stayed silent for a moment, looking at the sleeping forms of the students in the tent and the adults walking the perimeter in shifts. She decided she needed to ask her questions before she would be able to sleep again. “I have some questions… Do you mind?” She asked, nervous he would reject the conversation and be rude.

“Alright. If I can, I’ll answer,” He said slowly and carefully. His eyes suddenly bore into hers and she felt a strange jolt in her stomach. Sleep deprivation, she told herself.

“A while ago, I was…. Well, I accidentally eavesdropped. I’m sorry. I was in the middle of a spell and-”

“It’s fine. What conversation?” He said briskly.

She lowered her voice, “When Rose informed you of the Headmaster’s status,” She answered.

He stood suddenly, “Come on Granger. We can talk about it, but privately.” He held his hand out to her. She hesitated only briefly in taking his callused hand and allowing him to assist her to her feet. He held out his arm to her like a gentleman escorting a lady to dinner and whispered, “It would be best in no one knew what we are talking about. These things are not known beyond a very few. This will keep them from asking too many questions.”

So she took his arm. She felt her hands shaking as she was forced to walk in close proximity to him. He led her up a path and was challenged four different times. Finally, he led her to a break in the trees at the top of the same cliff Primrose had taken her to the day before. They stood within the tree line, though.

She looked out across the valley and was saddened to see in the starlight that a big portion of the Mission was missing, some parts of the walls were collapsed and the wall surrounding the courtyard was destroyed on two sides. She stared at it for a long moment, not realizing at first she had tears running down her face, nor that she was still holding Malfoy’s arm.

“You haven’t seen it yet. That madman did this. He killed two students and the Headmaster. Now I’ve become Headmaster, temporarily. He may come after me to get to you. Thom had made you a ward of the Headmaster, which makes you my ward now,” He said softly. His voice was sad in the darkness.

She slipped her arm from his, finally remembering it was there. “What does that mean? Being a ward, I mean.”

“It means I have to protect you. If you are not within thirty meters of me, I will begin to get ill. Previously the distance was further, but now that we have been in danger… I tried to get to the mission, but it began to affect me. It’s my responsibility to see you home safely as soon as possible. It’s like a life debt, Granger. I have no choice but to protect you.”

She tried not to let that hurt her feelings. She shouldn’t expect any more from him. It was her tired and hungry mind playing tricks on her. Resolved, she asked, “And what about the students? What will happen to them now that the school must be rebuilt?”

“The kids don’t need to know the Headmaster is dead right now. They are being taken home in the morning. The teachers and I will stay. Aurors should be here by morning. The decision has not been made for what we are going to do.”

She turned to him in the growing light, “I need to help, Malfoy. What can I do?” She looked up at his face which she could barely see in the grey light of pre-dawn.

He sighed. “I knew you would say that. I need to keep you close. We need to figure out what Finch-Fletchley wants with us and what our perceived ‘war crimes’ are. I’ve spoken to Luis and Primrose and instructed them to not tell anyone about his accusations. Other than the Aurors, that is. I barely remember the boy, what about you?”

Eager to help, she racked her brain trying to remember anything. She answered after a second, “Hardly anything. He had a problem with Harry a few times, but that’s all I can really think of.”

“If he comes back….” There was the sound of a twig cracking behind them. He pulled her into an embrace and suddenly his lips were on hers. She was completely shocked. His lips were dry and warm and his hands were loosely wrapped around her back.

She tried desperately to remember that he was trying to keep their conversation a secret from the people who were now his temporary employees. Her face was warm, she was sure she was blushing. She moved a half step closer and put her hands on his chest, trying to convince herself that it was for the sake of keeping up the ruse that they were snogging for real and not playing pretend.

Definitely it had nothing to do with how much she wanted him to deepen the kiss. Her eyes were closed, she suddenly realized, who closes their eyes in a fake kiss? His hand spread across her lower back and pulled her firmly closer to him- she forgot what she had been thinking. Her hands slid- all by themselves, she was sure- loosely around his neck.

She gasped and his tongue shyly entered her mouth. She forgot to pretend that it was a real kiss and met his tongue with her own. It was a real kiss for a moment. He stroked his tongue along hers and she whimpered into his mouth. His silky hair was in her hands, how did that happen?

A throat being cleared broke them apart. She felt slightly dazed from… lack of sleep. That’s all. She glanced up at Draco. He was looking into the gloom and she felt a pang of disappointment that he wasn’t looking at her. If he was looking at her, she might be able to admit that the kiss had really just happened and it wasn’t fake when he had stroked his tongue across her lips. When his hands had clenched in the back of her shirt after her voice had snuck out of her throat.

“Identify yourself,” His voice was rough and commanding; she felt an unwelcome clench of desire from deep inside herself.

“Anthony Drilb,” Came the sardonic drawl from the shadows.

He released Hermione from his embrace without stepping back and turned toward the shadows, “Well, hurry up. What is it? I’m in the middle of something, here.”

“I can see that,” Anthony said with a laugh. “The Aurors’ve started showin’ up. Figured you’d want to know.”

Draco sighed loudly, “I’ll be right there.”

The cowboy made little noise as he walked away. Draco looked down at her once more. The rosy light of dawn had begun to spread along the sky. It painted his pale skin in a reflection of its dusky pink. “You can help by staying close by.”

For a moment she had no idea whatsoever what he was talking about. Then the conversation from before the kiss returned and she nodded once. “I promise I will,” She said absently.

He offered her his arm again without a word. As they walked back down the path she was having a debate with herself. Obviously he did not want to kiss her. It was all a ruse so no one would realize what she knew. It was easier to explain to others that he was attracted to her than to have them questioning what they had been talking about.

But that kiss was not wholly pretend, she argued against herself. It was unnecessary for him to clench her back so tightly when she had made a noise. That was a genuine reaction. It was unnecessary for him to even deepen the kiss, she realized suddenly. He could have made it appear convincing to an outsider without… she blushed as she remembered his velvety tongue stroking against hers. Stop thinking about it. He made it clear it was a ruse. You’re trying to convince yourself to see something that isn’t there. Stop.

They entered the nearly empty location for their camp- aside from sleeping students- after being challenged for identification four more times. Malfoy didn’t say a word to her. After the second challenge, she avoided thinking of him whenever she could for as long as she could. She threw herself into trying to remember the boy she had barely known from school instead.

A tall brown-haired man approached them. He held out his hand to Malfoy, “Mr. Malfoy, I’m Head Auror Avery. This is my assistant, Marlene Flynn.” He gestured to a small woman standing slightly behind him. She had large glasses and a notepad in her hands. Her magnified eyes looked terrified to Hermione, perhaps it was her first assignment.

“Nice to meet you both. My… friend, Hermione Granger,” His hesitation was minute, but Hermione caught it. Avery made no sign that he had noted it. “Tell me what you need and I will assist as much as is possible.”

“Thank you.” He had nodded to Hermione in greeting. “I need statements from as many as possible. Starting with the first people to see the attacker. What’s being done with your students?”

“We need to send them to their homes where they might be safer. Can you spare Aurors to escort them?”

“Yes. We have brought the team which usually transports students to and from the Mission. What about your teachers?”

“They have elected to stay to rebuild. Do you have any information about Miss Granger?”

“Nothing new. Is this attack related?” Avery’s eyebrows shot up in the gathering light.

“We think so. You’ll understand our reasoning once you get our statements.”

“Then let us begin. Who was the first to see the suspect?”

“If he is the same man who attacked the Muggle town, then me.” Draco said.

“Well, let’s get your statement in private.” Avery said with a frown.

Draco crossed his arms and his face became arrogant while his voice sounded like he was speaking to an insolent child, “Miss Granger is officially designated as ward of the Headmaster. I’m sure I don’t need to explain what that means. I am acting Headmaster. I take it- given the situation- you can understand my reluctance to do anything in private at the moment.”

Avery raised his eyebrows but did not say anything about Malfoy’s attitude. “Alright. Tell me what happened.”

Malfoy told him about travelling down the path and arguing, hearing explosions, entering the town and being attacked by an unnamed Wizard- who, Draco noted, had a similar voice to the one which had sent him here nine years ago. He finished by telling the Auror about pulling Hermione from the rubble of the building and making sure she was alive before throwing her over his horse’s neck and racing away from the town. “The wizard did not follow me, though which I realize is strange now, but at the time was just a relief. He seemed frightened by the Muggle sirens, perhaps. Maybe he’s never heard them before. He Apparated away when the vehicles began entering the town. However, one cannot Apparate into or out of this valley, the wards go to the edges of the natural landscape.”

Avery nodded during several parts and his assistant was jotting down what Draco was saying. “In the near future we will want more information about the wards, I think it wise to treat the attacks as by a single perpetrator for now. More evidence is needed before we separate them. Anything to add Miss Granger?” Avery said when it became apparent Malfoy was done speaking.

“Nothing of import.” She said, noticing her voice was wavering slightly.

“You did not see the wizard, I take it?”

“I don’t know. There’s a memory of turning in my saddle and seeing a man in robes shooting a spell at me, but it is more likely a false one, as Mr. Malfoy was kind enough to point out to me earlier.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm as soon as she began to speak about Malfoy.

His grey eyes focused on her briefly and she thought she could see cold fury in his expression before he masked it. She nearly felt bad; he had misunderstood her intention- for the thousandth time it seemed. She mentally shrugged it off. It was not important. She remembered something suddenly and was about to inform Avery, but held back inexplicably. She decided to speak to Malfoy about it first.

“I believe that Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez were the first ones to see him at the school. I’ll have my Deputy fetch them for you,” He turned and Hermione saw that Anthony was standing beside Draco. He nodded to his now-boss and unfolded his long arms before silently walking into the woods. “And then, if it helps, I think that Anthony was the next to see him.”

Primrose and Luis were ushered back to where they waited quickly, apparently they had been having a good snog in the woods by the look of Rose’s flushed face and swollen lips. She gave Hermione a saucy wink as she approached. While Luis and Primrose told the Aurors what they had seen, Hermione poked Draco in his firm bicep and whispered that she needed to talk to him soon. He nodded and then she listened to the conversation fully.

Their story went that they had been going for their daily after lunch stroll through the woods and had been coming back after an hour in the woods at around 3 pm. Hermione considered the times not adding up- lunch had ended at 1- but dismissed it. They were probably going for an outdoor romp and had lost track of time.

Just outside the mission’s courtyard wall, a man came running up to them from the grass screaming incoherently. They had both drawn their wands but a powerful spell had exploded the wall next to them. Primrose had dropped her wand when she jumped out of the way and in retaliation she threw herself into his racing figure without hesitation. Her fists had been bloodied and she needed to clean her engagement ring still as it was covered in his blood. The Aurors took the blood from the ring and put it into a vial for an identification potion.

Luis had unfortunately been hit by a portion of the wall when he had tried to jump out of the way of the explosion. Seeing his wife fighting, he found enough strength to escape the debris which covered him and jumped in, trying to restrain the slender man. They had been thrown clear of his body by a repulsion charm and rendered immobile by a Full-body Bind Curse. Then Anthony joined the fight, pulling his own wand.

Anthony took up the story and informed the Auror’s that the boy- roughly the same age as Hermione and Draco- had thrown hexes and Anthony had blocked them and thrown a few of his own. The boy steadily advanced and had entered the courtyard easily. Anthony told them that he tried to block the boy from coming any further by gluing his feet to the floor, but had missed. The intruder had then begun casting explosive spells, which Anthony blocked as much as he could. One of the spells thrown by the intruder had ricocheted and knocked off part of the wall of the mission. That wall had fallen on Anthony and it had taken him far too long to escape from it.

The stories from the teachers all seemed repetitive after a while, Hermione was nevertheless inspired by their bravery and dedication to keeping the children safe while trying to stop the deranged man from advancing. He was apparently an excellent duelist. He was lucky that he had only met one teacher at a time, with the exception of Luis and Primrose. It was unfortunate that the narrow staircases caused more of a hindrance than a tool. Hermione thought the layout was more useful to the residents when an army attacking rather than a single man.

The Headmaster was apparently caught on the third floor down. He was found below a large section of wall, still alive. The Potions Master, Albadius Smith (‘Al’ as he insisted everyone call him, was a very fat man with a rosy complexion and was sweating profusely even in the shade of the trees) had found him. He reported that the Headmaster’s last words were ‘Rebuild, protect the children’.

Finally the barrage of questioning was over with. The Auror’s assigned to the task had been escorting the children in pairs or triplets to their homes by using a portable Floo. There was no word on where the intruder was now. They took one memory from Luis as he’d had the longest look at him, so they could begin making ‘Wanted’ posters and alerting the news media.

It was nearly noon by the time they were finished. Hermione was keeping her mouth shut, knowing she was getting grumpier as she got hungrier. Her stomach let out a loud growl just as she was bidding the Head Auror good luck in researching. They had tried to force Hermione to go into hiding, but she and Draco had decided that she was safer there.

The Auror handed her a picnic basket he took from one of his underlings. “Replenishes itself once you close it. Undetectable spells from the outside.” He handed Draco a piece of paper and told him, “Approved list of spells. The wards have been altered going towards the mission. Only these spells will work within the courtyard. If he comes back, he can’t do anything dangerous. Aurors now have an Apparition point just inside the courtyard walls. If he comes, use the spell here and the Aurors will come right back.”

“And the identification potion will take how long?” Draco asked calmly.

“Four hours once the lab has the blood. We should know by nightfall,” Avery answered.

The Aurors left. Draco touched her arm and made a motion towards the tent with his head and she followed him into it. Now that the students were gone, the tent was filled with teachers and some staff. There was some quiet talking but mostly everyone was silent and tired looking.

Hermione opened the basket and handed Draco a sandwich before tearing into one of her own. Anthony took the basket at Malfoy’s request and began handing out provisions to the remaining teachers. Once everyone had begun talking over the events, Draco raised his voice and asked for everyone to gather round.

“We all need to sleep,” He said loud enough for the thirty or so staff members to hear him. “The Auror’s have changed the wards of the courtyard, we will move camp to there after this conversation.” He relayed the information about the approved use of spells, making copies of the list with his wand. “No one is to allow any stranger into the courtyard. The Aurors will be sending us information about our attacker by nightfall.”

Someone near the back of the group shouted, “Where is the Headmaster?”

There was some murmuring among them, Draco spoke over them, “Mr. Greene was unfortunately killed from injuries sustained during the attack, so I hold his position temporarily.” There was a collective shout of dismay at the information. Draco looked sadly around at them. “We are all saddened, I know. Now is not the time to give into it. We have to get to the courtyard at least.” There were nods from those who had already known the Headmaster’s fate.

The trek back to the school shortly afterwards was a blur for Hermione. Her mind was beginning to shut down in her exhaustion. She walked next to Anthony who was silent company. They arrived and set up the tent again. Someone realized that bathing would become a necessity. Hermione blearily lay down on a cot and passed out without hearing anything else.

She woke in a cool room, covered in a blanket, freshly bathed and in different clothes. Draco was staring at her from the bedside. She asked him groggily, “What time is it?”

Draco glanced away from her and put his hand out to someone with a shake of his head. “It’s around 7 AM,” He answered hoarsely.

“But it was…”

“We arrived at the school yesterday afternoon around 3:30.”

“And now I’m… where?” She looked around the white walled room. There were privacy screens. She was under a non-descript blue blanket, white sheets were on the bed. A hospital.

“In the hospital wing of the Mission. Most of the school has been rebuilt.”

She looked at him for a few seconds, noting the frown on his face, the tenseness of his face. “You were worried about me,” It was almost a question, but her voice didn’t rise in the right inflection, and she felt an eyebrow quirked in half-humor. She wondered briefly if she had been given some kind of potion. She felt disassociated with her emotions.

He sighed and covered part of his face with his hand. “I can neither confirm nor deny that.”

She smiled weakly, realizing for the first time exactly how tired her body felt. “Can I have something to drink?” She asked.

He sighed and waved over the Mediwitch. She poked and prodded at Hermione, disbelieving that she had been asleep for fifteen hours straight. She bothered Hermione looking for potential poisons she could have come into contact with. Draco sat in his chair with a smirk on his face the whole time. She could strangle him, he knew she had been awake for a ridiculous amount of time and that she was ok, but he didn’t say a word to the Mediwitch. Finally, the woman gave her some coffee and an egg and cheese concoction wrapped in a flatbread. Hermione’s stomach gave a happy lurch at the sight of the food and Draco waited for her to finish.

She sat back against her pillows and asked him, “What’s happened? The Aurors? Teachers? Has he been caught? What abou-”

He cut her off with a laugh. “Hang on, one at a time. The Auror’s have released his name to the media. He lied about his name, it wasn’t the Hufflepuff after all. It was the son of a Death Eater. The boy’s name is Mothifinn Rowle, his father was Thorfinn. Something about their names reflecting the Norse mythology,” He waved it away as though unimportant. “He’s access to Polyjuice- it showed up in his blood. I suspected it, previously. However, no one saw him leave. We are testing everyone currently. We have a lockdown right now, no one in or out. The Minister’s office has declined your permission to Apparate to England, citing a ‘Clear Security Threat’. Until he’s caught you’re stuck here. He is an international criminal now.”

She was mulling over what were some intense emotions as he finished informing her of her position. She was stuck in America for the foreseeable future. Some Death Eater’s son wanted her dead. The killer was likely inside of the school where she sat. She took a sip of the coffee, and searched for how to describe how she was feeling or at least how to sum up the situation. “Shit,” She said after a moment.

His mouth dropped open, “Did you just curse?” He asked, sounding surprised.

She closed her eyes and took another drink of her coffee. “Yes. I believe I did,” She cracked an eye and mimicked his signature smirk, “Problem?”

He chuckled and gave her a full smile, showing off his dimples in the process. She never even knew he had dimples, and the smile wiped away any remaining worry on his face. “None at all. Care to get up? I do have other things to do. You promise you would keep close and then you sleep for fifteen hours,” He shook his head pretending to be disappointed. “We have to keep an eye out for the face Rowle is using currently. I’ve analyzed everyone’s behavior, but… they are all grieving, no one is acting normally…”

She smiled and drained her cup, and looking down at her clothes she realized they had changed her clothes while she slept. “Uh, were you… here when they….?”

He smirked, “You really want to know?”

She felt herself blushing, “Tell me you weren’t,” She felt utterly mortified.

“No Granger, I wasn’t.” He looked at her for a moment, as though trying to figure her out, “I really wasn’t. Come on.”

A/N: So… uh, gonna move this weekend. Next update will hopefully be Monday, maybe Tuesday.

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Daylight