CHAPTER 13: PARENTS; EVEN WHEN DEAD, MANAGE TO MEDDLE

It took Hermione a while to compose herself, and by then, Draco had managed to somehow get them inside the Manor again. She wiped away stray tears and found herself shocked at her surroundings.

This morning, the place had been spotless as usual, now the carpet she had been admiring when she had arrived days ago, was stained and torn, obviously taking the brute force of all the broken chine plates and such scattered all over the place. The paintings of beautiful sceneries were ripped from their canvas and Draco's face flushed slightly when he realised that he hadn't cleaned it all up before he'd decided to go Hermione-hunting.

"Did the ministry do this? What happened?" she asked him, picking her way through the mess. Draco ran a hand through his hair and smiled sheepishly.

"Ah, not the ministry, this was all me. When you left I got a bit...but the blue powder stuff that's everywhere, that was the ministry." He covered. There was no way he was going to verbally admit that he'd got upset at her leaving and gone on a rampage throughout his house in anger.

"The blue powder?" she took a closer look at the carpet where indeed a fine coat of blue powder seemed to have coated everything. "That's Trace Glaze. They were trying to see if I was here, weren't they?" she asked.

Draco nodded. "Don't worry thought, I managed to hide your magic in time so they didn't find anything. I was worried about Blaise's house more than mine since you were there last night. But, he got his house cleaned well after the party, so that was a dead end for the Ministry too. You're safe."

Hermione's breath caught in her throat. To have anyone go to such lengths for her was something she wasn't used to. Sure, Harry and Ron had helped her out on occasion with things, but she'd always been the brain the group and the one helping them with their trouble. Of course, she thought to herself, nothing like this would have happened if she wasn't already in this mess. She was causing so much trouble for people just by existing.

"...I'm so sorry for all of this. This is all my fault, I'll fix everything and pay for anything that can't be fixed. I can't believe what I..." she sighed and looked at him dejectedly, "you shouldn't have brought me back here; I should just go before something else happens."

"Granger, what the hell are you talking about?"

"I just...I really am sorry. None of this would be happening to you if I hadn't come here and bothered you. The longer I stayed somewhere, the more trouble that occurs there. I'll go back to Russia or Argentina or something and then they'll leave you alone. Thanks for letting me stay for this long, I really am in your debt." She hesitated and shook her head to herself. Grabbing her wand, she straightened her shoulders and cast a charm that immediately began to fix all the broken things, minus a few paintings that had been too far ruined.

Then, she turned and began to walk out of the front door, only to find it bang shut in front of her. Draco muttered a spell under his breath and a gloss appeared across the front door, he leaned against it casually, allowing it to read his lifeline.

Hermione frowned at him, recognising the same enchantment that had been placed on her own bedroom door upstairs. "I have to go Draco; I can't stay here; I'll just cause you more trouble."

She tried to open the door in vain, only to find a deep voice asking her, "The owner of the house is most content when?"

Hermione let go of the handle, and moved away from it, remembering what would happen if she offered the wrong answer whilst in contact with the wooden structure. Stomping her foot in frustration at the door, she glared heatedly at the door.

"I don't know! How the hell am I supposed to know when Draco Malfoy is happy?" she yelled, glowering at the inanimate object in vain, only to then turn and glare at Draco, her eye flashing.

"Let me out Malfoy, or I swear to Merlin, I'll kill you, and then I'll hand myself over to the Ministry and then I'll die too. Let me out!" she pointed her wand at his throat, though there wasn't as much anger to her action as there had been the first time she'd done this.

"You know how many people have died under my name, why are you keen to add your name to that list too? Don't you think I have enough reason to be selfish enough to want at least one person safe?" her voice trailed off.

For a second she stared at him angrily, wanting to slap some sense into him, but the indifference on his face at her threat made her lean into him, her forehead resting on his chest in resigned bitterness at her situation.

"You said you owe me a debt Granger. Consider it paid if you stay here with me," he finally said, wrapping his arms around her defeated form.

She shook her head, "what if they come back, but this time, they decide to hurt you? I can't watch the people I care about get hurt. It's happened too many times for it to not affect me anymore."

Draco sighed and tilted her face up to face his, wiping away the tears that had begun to soak through his shirt. "Granger. They won't find me, they won't hurt me, and they won't kill me. Do you know how I know that?"

She shook her head hesitantly, looking unsure of his words. He held his head up in pride and grinned.

"Because you're not going to let them find me and hurt me. You're not going to let them kill me. Because you're Hermione Granger and there is nothing in this world that you can't do if you set your mind to it. That's why."

.*.

The next morning, Draco woke up because of the lack of interruption to his sleep. He'd expected the manor to be burning down by now, but all was quiet and well and, that managed to scare him even more.

There were no crashes or bangs or smashing of things that belonged to his family for centuries that Hermione decided was worth breaking into pieces. He couldn't hear any screaming or cursing at him and his stupidity or his family. In fact, it was very quiet, peaceful almost...and he didn't like it.

Grabbing his wand from under his pillow, he ran to the living room without second thought, making his way to the sofa that he'd made into a bed for her last night. He'd been aware that only she could remove the charm on her bedroom door now, and not neither of them were particularly keen on standing around outside her door, guessing the answer to her life questions with the emotionally drained girl with him.

Upon arrival at her sleeping arrangement, the sofa bed was made perfectly, not a corner untucked or a crease in the blankets. It looked like no one had slept there at all. The front door was still in one piece, and the enchantment from last night was still in place, so she was still in the manor.

Feeling like an idiot, he sniffed the space, mentally thanking Merlin that no one around to witness that act of weirdness that only he would really understand. The smell of oranges and cinnamon lingered in the air around the bed, faintly though, which meant that she'd been here but had left hours ago. She could be anywhere.

He sprinted to the downstairs library, which was empty, as was her room upstairs and the library on the second and third floor too. Finally running to the dining room, he groaned in frustration as the empty room greeted him again. Where on earth was she? Had she somehow managed to evade the charms on the house and apparate away after all?

It was then that she walked in from the kitchen, her arms full of food as she began to lay out the table. She hadn't seen him yet, since the first thing he did upon seeing her was to run out of the room and hide behind the door, watching in relief as she began to set up the table for three.

Wait. Three? Three people? Who else was she expecting to turn up? What was going on?

She was humming softly to herself a song he didn't know and had a calm look on her face, like she'd come to accept the fact that she was trapped in the house with him. Her hair was down, and damp, she was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a shirt.

"Can you bring the coffee and toast out please?" she called back into the kitchen. What was going on? Who was she talking to?

There was no response from the kitchen, but she seemed satisfied as she glanced at her wrist, where she was wearing a black watch. Her lips pulled into a frown and she titled her head to the ceiling, listening keenly. Her frown deepened and she muttered something under her breath as she walked back into the kitchen.

For a second, nothing happened, and then Blaise strutted through the kitchen door, his arms laden with a tray of coffee and toast that he set on the table, whistling to himself. He was wearing his ministry clothes suggesting that he'd been on his way to work. He seated himself down and began buttering a piece of toast, still whistling out of tune.

What was going on? Why was Blaise here? And Hermione, she hadn't been in disguise either!

Draco readied himself to walk into the dining room to interrogate his best friend when Hermione tapped his shoulder and smirked as he cursed under his breath at the heart attack that ensured.

"How long have you been standing here watching us?" she whispered. Draco gulped and scowled at her.

"Why is Blaise here? Why aren't you in disguise? Why is Blaise here?" he asked, whispering too.

They both glanced at the boy in question who was now trying to fit a whole slice of bread into his mouth at once and not succeeding.

"You can come in and ask him yourself. This is your house, and he is your best friend. Why are you hiding behind the door?" she muttered, rolling her eyes before grabbing his hand and forcing him inside the room.

Blaise looked up and waved like a child when he spotted the two of them coming through the doorway. "Damn, Hermione, I knew you were good at cooking, but I forgot how good you really are! This coffee tastes like heaven in a cup!"

Hermione smiled brightly and sat herself opposite Blaise, waving Draco over to sit next to her.

"Zabini." Draco addressed coldly.

"Malfoy." Blaise nodded back.

Hermione looked between the two of them and sighed. "Blaise, tell Draco why you're here before he pops a blood vessel and dies from jumping to conclusions." She stated calmly, adding some eggs and bacon to her plate to eat.

Blaise grinned. "Oh, I was just passing by and I thought I'd hop in and rub it in your face that I knew it all along that Hermione was in your house and that I'm obviously smarter than you and that you owe me a pay raise for dealing with the Ministry and their goons yesterday." He said, taking a large bite of bacon before nodding in approval.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

Blaise laughed merrily, twirling his fork between his fingers. "I'm not that stupid, Draco. I graduated with honours from Hogwarts too, and if it weren't for you two, I would have gotten first ranking too."

"Your stupid charm doesn't work if the person on the outside has a key to getting into your house, Draco. Blaise just walked in and wished me a good morning and asked for breakfast," Hermione stated, "oh, I forgot the pancakes. Be right back!" she ran into the kitchen, leaving Draco to scowl at Blaise alone.

"Okay, explain yourself. Now." he muttered, grabbing the butter knife off the table and pointing it threateningly at his best friend.

Blaise smirked and sat back in his chair. "One, you wouldn't let me flirt with her, two, you were sending daggers at anyone who looked at her for more than three seconds at my party, three, you were totally overprotective, four, you kept tensing every time Hermione Granger's name was mentioned. Adding all these clues together, I figured that the woman you were harbouring in your home was the infamous Miss Granger after all."

Draco gaped at the man across the table who took a bite of the bacon strips again and smiled in satisfaction. "What the hell? What are you talking about?" he asked, feinting indifference.

"Draco, mate, you can lie to yourself and the world but that doesn't mean that the world is going to believe your lies. In all the time I've known you, you've never ever let me not flirt with one of your girlfriends, the only one that I know that you were super protective over was always Hermione, especially in school. You wouldn't leave me alone in a room with her because you were worried I would charm her or something, not that I wouldn't because I'm hella charming, but whatever."

Draco stated at him blankly.

"Furthermore, I heard that you brought a cousin in for the interview with Mr Vaunt, someone called a quill or something and that she spoke fluent French and was totally charming and smart and managed to earn us extra thousands too. Smart and charming is basically synonyms for Hermione. Plus, you've totally in love with her, so it doesn't matter if she kills a man in front of you, you would still offer her a place to stay." Blaise continued, enjoying his breakfast and the confused look on Draco's face completely.

"Finally-"

"There's more crap you want to say?" Draco cut in. Blaise laughed, noting the fact that even though he'd basically called out his best friend on his love for the wanted witch, he hadn't even noticed yet. Whipped wasn't an overstatement.

"Last thing, but it's the best one. You're in your boxers and you haven't even realised. When Pansy was around, you would cover up from head to toe, even in summer, but you were always comfortable around Hermione because you knew she was never affected by superficial things like looks. Literally the only females who have ever seen you like this must be your mother and Hermione. Thus, I rest my case and I'm smart." He finished with a flourish, standing up to bow deeply.

Before Draco could throw the butter knife in his hand at the man opposite him and kill him permanently for his stupidity, Hermione returned carrying a tray of pancaked, smiling brightly at the two men. "Did I miss anything interesting?" she asked, seating herself.

Blaise grinned and opened his mouth, but Draco leaned across and stuffed a boiled egg into his mouth and smirked at the confused brunette. "Blaise was just saying how he has work and has to leave. Now."

"Oh, I see. Well I guess you could come by after work Blaise and we can talk about everything then?" Hermione asked before biting her lip hesitantly. "And I know we were friends in school, but we didn't talk much afterwards, however, I was hoping that you would still look at me as a friend and not tell anyone where I am?"

Blaise smiled, an honest kind of smile that Draco rarely ever saw him use with anyone. "Hermione, if you end up in Azkaban, who am I going to get the best coffee from? Don't worry, I'll keep my mouth sealed until you explain what the hell is going on, but I suggest you be wary of Rita Skeeter. I heard she'd interested in Draco's side of the story...a lot." He shot a wink at the both of them, grabbed a plate of pancakes and before anyone could say anything, ran out of the dining room and the manor in a manner of second, giggling like a school girl.

Hermione stared after the man and wondered if he was mentally stable. Draco stared after his best friend and wondered why he was best friends with an idiot like that. "So, that was interesting, huh?" Hermione muttered awkwardly.

Draco turned his attention back to her as she began to slowly eat, her eyes focused on her plate. She seemed to have brightened up a lot since yesterday, and whether or not it had something to do with Blaise being present wasn't important. She looked better, her shoulders were still slouched and her form still defeated, but the determination and reliance that was always around her like a cocoon of protection was present once again.

"Don't you know it's rude to stare at people, Draco? What would your mother say?" She asked suddenly, sipping orange juice and blinking behind him innocently. Draco felt like something horrifying was going to happen as he followed her eye line and turned around to find the two things in the world he'd avoided for two years straight watching him in high amusement.

"She'd say that she'd thought she'd taught her son better manners than to be an idiot." One of them said calmly. Draco flinched and felt the weight of the world deposit itself onto his shoulders as he faced the portraits of his mother and father set up in the dining room wall.

His mother's eyebrows were raised high on her forehead as she observed him with a slight irritation. His father's face was currently indifferent as he observed his nails like he was checking for dirt.

"Mother? Father? What are you doing here? No, wait. How long have you been here?"

His father finally looked at him and sighed, "long enough to realise that I did in fact raise an idiot. You've been in the room for almost half an hour, had a conversation with Blaise Zabini and are only noticing the fact that we've been here now?" he rubbed his forehead in deep pain, "perhaps idiot is too nice a term for you?"

What was happening? Why was this happening?

"But...I put you in my office." He stammered, distressed at the fact that they'd heard everything that Blaise had said. Even the ridiculous part about him being in love with Granger. He was not in love with Granger, but his parents didn't know that! What were they going to do? Could portraits curse the living daylight out of someone?

Blaise was so dead.

"Yes, that terrible room has no windows and you never come in there. It was giving me a headache and since you blocked off all the other frames, I couldn't leave either. So when Miss Granger happened across the room early this morning, I asked her to put us somewhere else. She even put up a few pathways for us so that we can walk around a bit. Do you know how hard it is to be stuck in a picture frame for so long?" Narcissa Malfoy asked, crossing her arms.

Draco glanced at Hermione who smiled innocently and turned back to her plate, her face flushing slightly. She'd done this? She was the one who was to blame for the embarrassing conversation that he was having with his dead parents right now?

Lucius looked down at his son and heaved a sigh. "Draco, what are you wearing? You're having breakfast with a lady, and you're walking around in your underwear?"

Draco winced as he realised that he'd forgotten Blaise's words already. He was just in his boxers, something that he'd started to do after Pansy's death and something he realised had become normal, even with Hermione present.

Dear Merlin, was Blaise right after all? Was he that comfortable around her that he didn't mind walking around almost naked in the house with her? Hermione snorted and clasped her hand over her mouth, pressing her lips together to stop herself from laughing at the dismayed look on Draco's face as his mother shook her head impatiently at him.

Draco looked like he was contemplating burning down the house to avoid this conversation right now, and though it was her fault, Hermione found herself immensely amused by the family.

She'd been shocked when they'd acted civilly with her when she'd first happened across them this morning after she'd left Blaise to look after the pancakes for a while. She'd expected yelling and cursing but all she got was a request, and worded kindly too. It appeared as though dying and being alive only through the limited world of a wizard painting had managed to change them. Narcissa, at least was warm as she could be, Lucious Malfoy still seemed a bit unsure on how to respond, though he seemed to enjoy embarrassing his son in front of her.

Draco felt like he was stuck in a nightmare and grabbed a strip of bacon, stuffing it into his mouth to avoid conversation. "And what were you doing this morning in the living room? I walked past and saw you sniffing the place. Are you feeling alright?" Lucius asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Draco chocked on his bacon; and Hermione burst into laughter again, amused by his actions. He huffed and stuffed another piece of bacon into his mouth. He wanted to be angry at Hermione for bringing his parents down from their confinement in his office, but the bacon tasted far too good.

"How are you so calm about this? Aren't you upset that she's here? I expected a lot more yelling from you both." He said, motioning his head at Hermione who stopped eating.

Narcissa looked over at her husband and smiled brightly before leaving her frame completely. "Draco, your mother and I are dead. We don't have any control over what or who you decide you want in your life. All that is behind us now and does not concern us anymore. It's because of Miss Granger and Mr Potter's actions that we managed to live a free life for a few years before we passed away. If anything, we should be thankful that she is here to keep you from being anymore of an idiot than you are." Lucius said, his voice and tone even before inclining his head at Hermione and leaving after his wife.

There was a moment of silence that Draco took as an opportunity to narrow his eyes and turn to face Hermione. She flushed slightly again and looked away, avoiding his eyes. "I hope you don't mind me bringing them here, they asked nicely if they could be moved and I couldn't just ignore them." She bit her bottom lip anxiously.

Draco watched her carefully and let out a heavy sigh, "never mind them, how are you feeling, Granger?" he asked her quietly, not wanting to break the peace, but knowing he had to.

She looked surprised by his words, but shrugged, "I'm fine. A little worse for wear, but I know there is no point in moping around and crying about things that go wrong in my life. The only way I can move on is if I find the real person responsible and make them pay for what they did. Until then, I can't lose my head to sorrow or pain."

She was strong, she really was. Hermione Granger was the strongest person in the world, she was far too good to be true and Draco wondered how Potter could be so stupid as to believe that she was capable of taking the life of anyone.

If Draco was an idiot, then Harry Potter clearly needed help. Also, Blaise was so dead.