Adult-FanFiction.org : Harry Potter

Cast No Shadow	By : ColdWaterFairy Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Draco/Hermione Views: 13631 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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A/N: Thank-you to my beta mamacita for taking on both my stories. You've made this one million times better.
Hermione took a deep breath as she stepped out of the elevator onto the busy floor that housed the investigative department of the Ministry of Magic. It was a brand new off-shoot of the Auror Department. It was her first day of work and she was extremely nervous. She fidgeted with her suit jacket; she had purposely chosen to wear a Muggle outfit instead of robes, but now she was starting to second-guess her decision. Taking a deep breath, she opened the glass door and walked up to the witch sitting behind the reception desk.

"I'm Hermione Granger. I'm here to start my first day."

The receptionist, an older witch with a maternal air, looked up at her. "Hello, Ms. Granger, please have a seat. Mrs. Howell will be right out to show you to your new office." She gave Hermione a reassuring smile.

Hermione looked to her left, where two beige couches were tucked into a corner. She walked over and took a seat. She reminded herself again that this was what she wanted, that she couldn't back out now. Especially not after all the trouble Harry had gone to in order to get her this job. She opened her leather attaché and rummaged inside it for her compact to check one more time that her make-up hadn't smudged due to sweat. As she was putting it back she noticed a note with her name on it. As she read it, she smiled.

No worries, you'll be brilliant. I'm so proud of you. Love you, see you at home.

XXOO
Harry

She tucked the note away just as a middle-aged witch came up to her. "Ms. Granger, what a pleasure to finally meet you! Please come this way." She led Hermione down a hallway with little cubicles on each side. As they passed, Hermione glanced into a few and noted people dictating notes, their quills magically moving rapidly over parchment, or consulting notes. Mrs. Howell stopped in front of a medium-sized office. The front was all windows, but you couldn't see in. Mrs. Howell opened the door and ushered Hermione in. "Well, this is it. Not much of a view. Feel free to decorate it any way you want."

Hermione paused to take in the desk, filing cabinets, and other office paraphernalia. She turned back to Mrs. Howell and smiled, saying, "I didn't think it would be this big." Mrs. Howell smiled as she took out quill and parchment.

"I just need you to sign this quickly, dear, and then you can start your day." Hermione glanced down and read a few lines. It was a contract stating that she wouldn't disclose any information about the work of the department or the whereabouts of her superiors—standard fare. She signed and then blinked as magic sealed the document. She was still getting used to seeing magic again after having lived outside the wizarding world for so long.

"Now," said Mrs. Howell, picking up the document, "I just want to go over a few things with you. First, I can't tell you what an honor it is having you join us. I know you'll be a great asset to us. Secondly, you will most likely report only to me. The Head of the department comes and goes. He's very busy, and for security reasons his identity is kept as secret as possible. I'm sure you'll meet him eventually, seeing as you're third in command. Now, my office is three doors down on the right. Feel free to stop by if you have any questions. I'll have Edison bring in some files for you to look over." With that she turned on her heel and departed, leaving Hermione standing in the middle of her new office.

She sat down in the chair behind the desk, getting a feel for her new surroundings. She looked to her left, where a box of books she'd had delivered were sitting. All right then, she thought, getting up, time to get to work. She started taking her books out of the box and placed them on the bookshelf behind her chair. She continued to unpack the rest of her office supplies for the next twenty minutes until there was nothing left to put away. She sighed and sat back down at her desk. Gazing at it, she realized that something was missing. She reached into her attaché and pulled out a picture of Harry. It wasn't a wizard photograph that moved, but a Muggle one, taken a couple of weeks previously when Harry was helping Hermione move from her flat in London to his house near the Ministry. He was wearing a pair of faded jeans and a gray sweatshirt with sleeves pushed up. His hair was disheveled, as it usually was, and there was a sweet smile on his face. In his arms was a box. She smiled at the memory.

"Hermione, no more pictures, please! My face is going to freeze. Anyway, what happened to you helping me move boxes?"

"I am helping," she replied, picking up a stray fork and putting it into the box in his arms. "I'm making sure you don't forget anything."

Harry put the box down and grabbed Hermione around the waist, pulling her to him. He looked into her eyes a moment before saying, "You know how happy I am that you're moving in with me, right?"

Hermione stared back at him. "I'm happy about it, too," she said softly, and she brought her lips to his to give him a soft kiss. His arms tightened around her for a second before he let her go.

Harry said in mock-admonishment, "Are you trying to distract me? I won't have it!" Hermione giggled. She picked up the box on the floor and walked out of the room, Harry close behind her.

She was brought back to the present by a wizard in electric-blue robes dropping a large pile of files on her desk. "So the joy begins," he said, and with a quick grin he turned and headed back out the door. Hermione sighed and reached for the file on top of the stack. She was excited, just a little nervous as this was her first job in the wizarding community. She'd been away for what felt like forever and was afraid she might have forgotten how to work within the seemingly unlimited boundaries of magic.

For the past five years she'd held a job as an independent researcher for various companies. After the defeat of Voldemort and Ron's death, Hermione was left broken. She retreated back into the Muggle world, turning her back on the magical community and the celebrity of being part of the group that had brought down Voldermort. One night she just walked out and never came back, and she didn't tell anyone where she was going. For months afterwards she didn't leave her flat, just lay in bed in a depressed stupor. After about six months of this, she pulled herself together to the degree that she was able to leave her bed but not the flat. After about a year she finally recovered enough to venture outside. Eventually boredom drove her to get a job. She happily went about rebuilding her life, without a single thought for the world she'd known for half her life. That is, until one muggy July night when she let herself into her flat to find Harry Potter sitting on her couch waiting for her.

Hermione struggled to get her key into the lock. She giggled, thinking maybe she should have turned down that last flaming pumpkin shot. The door opened without her having to turn the key. Odd, she thought. She was pretty consistent about locking her door. You could never be too safe in London. She shrugged, remembering that she'd been running late, so she probably just forgot. She stood in her entryway taking off her high heels. Damn, she thought. My feet are killing me. I should have taken a cab instead of walking.

She had hoped that walking the few blocks back to her flat would sober her up some. Dropping her bag and keys on the little table, she turned and locked the door behind her. She reached out her hand, looking for the light switch, as she had also forgotten to leave a light on. Once the lights were on she moved further into her flat, heading towards the kitchen to get some water and pop a few Advils before heading off to bed.

But she never made it to the kitchen. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a figure rise from her couch. Hermione froze. She was so scared she couldn't breathe. The figure moved into the light.

"Hello, Hermione."

She was still frozen, but now she could breathe. She sucked a huge breath into her lungs. A million thoughts were running through her head, most of them nonsense. She uttered the one that seemed most pressing at the moment. "How did you get in?"

Harry walked towards her slowly, knowing that he'd caught her completely off guard. "I told your neighbor I was your brother and I'd come for a surprise visit."

Hermione made a mental note to have a chat with her upstairs neighbor about her key privileges. Harry had stopped about a foot away from her—enough space so she wouldn't feel overwhelmed, but it didn't help. She stumbled to the couch he had vacated and sat down. She'd known that eventually he would find her. She was one of the few people other than Ron who loved and supported him unconditionally. With that thought she felt a stab of pain and guilt. She had left Harry to deal with everything alone. She just couldn't stay at the time; she'd felt like she if she had, she would die from the pain and horror of it all.

Harry walked back over to the couch and sat down at the other end. He just looked at her. She started to panic a little. How could she explain to him why she'd left him and all her other friends? Why she hadn�t contacted anyone in six years? Suddenly sobs started to rack her body. She was horrified and embarrassed that this was the reaction Harry was seeing.

He said nothing but inched closer to her until he could wrap his arms around her, holding her to a chest that was so familiar but foreign at the same time. Harry, too, had changed in the six years they'd been apart. He had lost all vestiges of youth. He had grown into a man, with an air of power and sadness about him. Hermione let herself relax into his embrace; she knew the best thing was to let her tears run their course. For the first time in six years she knew she was safe. Eventually her tears stopped and her breathing returned to normal. She didn't pull away from Harry but stayed with her face buried in his chest, scared of what she would see on his face.

Finally Harry was the one who pulled away. He looked down at Hermione. Because her head was down he was unable to see her face, so he put a finger under her chin to bring her eyes up to his. Hers swam with pain and guilt, telling him how sorry she was to have hurt him, begging him to understand that she'd done what she had to in order to survive.

He'd practiced a million and one times what he was going to say to her when he finally saw her again. But looking at her he realized that she'd been just as broken and scraped raw as he had, just as lonely and terrified of not being able to make it though another day. Tears swam in his own eyes as he said, "It's okay now, I'm here, you're not alone any more." Her hands grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and she clutched him as if she was drowning. He held her and reassured her. They stayed like that until morning.

Hermione shook herself out of her flashback. After that they had started to rebuild their friendship. It had been hard at first, each still licking wounds that had not completely healed even after all the time that had passed. The more time she spent with Harry, the more she wondered how she'd survived without him. He had given her new strength.

Then one night six months ago, after having dinner, they had been lying on the floor of her flat drinking wine and telling each other about the relationships they'd had in the past five years.

Harry propped himself up on his elbow and, looking at her, said, "I never felt complete with any of the women I was with. Then one day I realized I never would, until I found you." Hermione looked up into his green eyes. She didn't think, she just felt. She reached up, twining her fingers in his hair, and tugged him down to her lips. Their first kiss was soft and chaste. He pulled away from her, looking at her lips. He seemed to be trying to make sense of everything.

"Shhhh," she whispered. "Don't think. Feel." He brought his lips back down to hers and this time the kiss was anything but chaste. Her mouth opened up beneath his. His tongue tentatively swept her mouth, exploring her tongue with his. He shifted his weight so his body aligned itself with hers. He pressed kisses to her jaw, her ear, and her neck, traveling down to where her collarbone was exposed by her top. Hermione's hands had left his hair and traveled down his back and were now exploring the hardness of his chest.

They broke apart from each other, panting, his eyes asking her if everything was okay. It felt so right, her shaking hands lowered to the fastening of his trousers and undoing them. When her eyes meet his again she saw surprise and lust there. Reaching up, she cupped his face in her hands. "Love me," she had said, and he did, her first time being one of bodies joining gently together and of hushed words. The next day when they had awoken, it wasn't awkward. It seemed they had both found peace at last.

They had continued to see each other, falling in love with the new people they had each become. Then one day, six months after that night, Harry had turned to her in bed, lifted her hand and kissed it, and asked her to move in with him. She had known it would mean going back to the world she'd left, but for him she was willing to do almost anything. So she'd packed up her apartment and moved in with Harry, and he had pulled some strings to get her this job. An exciting job where she was third in the chain of command; she had a chance to make a difference in the community, and that was what was important to her. She shook her head, still thinking of the craziness of it all. She smiled as she bent her head once again, concentrating on the file in front of her.
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Cast No Shadow