Hermione's office felt extremely crowded with the three extra people that were inhabiting it. She would look up every so often to glare at the boys who had taken it upon themselves to comment on the amount of books that were on Hermione's shelves, which earned her a grin from Ginny who had promptly sat herself in one of the chairs in front of Hermione's desk. After Hermione decided that she would in fact be going into work the next day, Ginny immediately said she would go in to help. Draco then added he was going to take the time to check out the letter, and since Ginny was going to be there, Blaise wanted to make sure she was going to be alright.

The four of them earned a few odd glances when Hermione had to take them through the visitor's entrance, but the looks were mostly ignored as they made their way to the elevators and to Hermione's office.

"Merlin, Hermione," Blaise muttered, "I thought you already had every book in the world in your personal library."

Hermione scowled at him. "These are for my cases."

Blaise nodded but it was obvious that he was skeptical. Both walls of Hermione's office were practically filled from floor to ceiling with books, ranging from lycanthropy symptoms to the history of house elves in the wizarding community, with every beast and creature in between.

A sudden pop caught everyone's attention and everyone stiffened as they realized that it was Kingsley Shacklebolt who had apparated into Hermione's office.

"Well," He started brightly, looking around as he continued, "It seems as though you have the support you need, Miss Granger."

Hermione smiled at the Minister. "It wasn't entirely my decision, Minister. What can I assist you with today?"

Kingsley waved his hand and said, "Nothing right now; I wanted to make sure you were alright. After the horrific attack two days ago, I didn't think you would be returning for another week at the very least."

She caught Draco's quick glance and said quickly, "Well, sir, the Healers at St. Mungo's were able to nearly completely heal me. And I spent most of yesterday resting, so I felt that I was able to come in today."

Kingsley gave her a skeptical look but nodded. "I'm happy to hear that, Miss Granger. I want you to know that we are working on figuring out who is behind the attacks on both of you. I am happy that you were able to stun your attacker and bring him in, Miss Weasley. That is going to immensely help our investigation."

He smiled at Ginny who nodded in return. Kingsley then turned to the two Veelas hanging off in the back of the office behind Hermione's desk, nodding to them.

"I trust you two will keep an eye on the girls after what happened?" He asked.

Hermione frowned. "Minister, I hope you don't think that Ginny and I are completely incapable of looking after ourselves."

"That is not what I was implying at all, Hermione," Kingsley said, turning back to her and giving her a smile. "I am sure after these attacks you two are going to be on high alert. I was merely commenting that your fiancés are both going to be watching you carefully, given that you are their mates."

Everyone stared at him in shock and he simply chuckled. "Yes, I am aware of your situations. It's not hard to spot a Veela's mark if you know what to look for."

Ginny's hand immediately went up to the pearlescent scar on her neck while Hermione blushed and looked away. The Minister simply chuckled and said, "Well, I shall leave you to your work then. Good day, everyone!"

And with that he apparated out of the office, leaving the four of them in silence. After a few moments, Draco cleared his throat and said, "Well, I think it might be a good idea if I go take a look at that letter now."

He leaned down to press a kiss to the top of Hermione's head while Blaise nodded and said, "I'll join you. We'll be back soon."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at Draco as he left, and he simply smiled as her as he and Blaise walked out of her office, heading to the elevators.

Ginny turned back to Hermione and said, "You should probably warn Harry and Ron."

"Good idea," Hermione nodded. "I don't want Ron jinxing Draco."

"Is he still upset about the situation?" Ginny sighed, rolling her eyes. "I thought he had a girlfriend!"

"Yes, Sara," Hermione said. "But you know Ron. It's hard for him to let go of things, even if he says he's going to."

Hermione closed her eyes and thought of seeing her parents for the first time in years nearly two years ago and smiled, casting her Patronus. The silvery otter scurried around the office for a moment before stopping in front of Hermione and standing on its hind legs, looking at her.

"Draco and Blaise are making their way down to your office to look at the letter, just warning you. Be nice to them."

Ginny grinned at that last part and Hermione sent the otter away. It raced out of the office and disappeared through one of the walls, and Hermione let out a sigh. "At least they won't be so far away that we can't feel their emotions. I don't fully trust that Ron won't threaten Draco."

"I don't either, so we can always apparate to Harry's office if it gets out of hand," Ginny shrugged. "I think they'll be fine though."

Draco and Blaise ignored the stares they were received as they walked through the Auror department, making their way to Harry's office. They finally stopped in the doorway and paused when they saw a silvery otter disappear from in front of Harry.

"An otter Patronus, eh, Potter?" Draco mused.

Harry scowled at him as he stood up. "Actually no, mine's a stag. That was Hermione's Patronus telling me that you were coming down here."

Draco nodded as Harry sighed and ran his hand through his already-messy hair. "I understand you want to look at the letter."

"Yes, I wanted to see if I could recognize the handwriting," Draco said with a nod.

Harry went back to his desk and opened one of the drawers, rifling through it. He finally pulled out a piece of parchment and went back to Draco, handing it to him cautiously.

"So far, Hermione's the only one who's been burnt touching it, but be careful," Harry warned.

Draco nodded and looked down at the handwriting. It was a scratchy cursive that he thought he had seen before, but he couldn't quite place where.

"What are you two doing here?"

The two Veelas turned around to see Ron standing in the doorway, watching them with wary eyes. Draco raised an eyebrow at the red head and said, "How nice to see you again, Weasley."

"Can't quite say the same, Malfoy," Ron answered, scowling. "Again, what are you doing here?"

"While I realize that you are an Auror, Weasley, that doesn't give you the authority to demand information from me unless I have committed a crime," Draco said, looking away and back down at the parchment. "But if you must know, I'm here to see if I can help."

"I think we can handle it, thanks," Ron said coolly.

"Ron, stop," Harry said exasperatedly, glaring at his friend before looking back at Draco. "So do you think you recognize it?"

Draco continued to analyze the handwriting but he was still annoyed that he couldn't quite figure out whose it was. "I certainly recognize it but I can't place it."

Ron snorted from behind them. "Some help."

Draco turned to glare at Ron. "Why exactly are you here, Weasley?"

"To make sure you don't step out of line, Malfoy," Ron retorted. "And frankly, I still think you're connected to this somehow."

"You really are an idiot, aren't you?" Blaise said finally from the other end of the room where he had been leaning against the wall, causing the other three to look at him. He ignored the other two as he glared at Ron and said, "You don't know the first thing about Veelas. If the mate dies, the Veela dies. Why would Draco knowingly allow an attack on Hermione that was meant to kill her, if he was going to end up dying after she died?"

Ron glared at Blaise. "I don't remember asking for your input, Zabini."

"No, but you certainly needed it," Blaise said angrily. "You seriously still think that Draco is willingly going to be a part of that when Hermione is going to be at risk? Get your head out of your ass, Weasley, and accept the bloody truth already."

Ron opened his mouth to argue but closed it immediately at Blaise's glare. Ron glared in return before looking away at Harry.

Harry shook his head and looked back at Draco as he gestured towards the letter and said, "We've been running it through all of our records of known Death Eaters to see if we can match handwritings and we haven't been able to connect it to any of them."

"Do you think maybe they can alter the handwriting with a spell?" Blaise asked, stepping off the wall and looking over Draco's shoulder at the letter.

"I didn't think of that," Harry groaned. "Hermione's the one that normally comes up with those ideas but I don't think it would be wise to have her come into contact with that letter again."

"No, probably not," Draco agreed. Then he rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "I know I've seen this somewhere."

"What about your father?" Harry asked.

"What about him?" Draco looked up at Harry in confusion.

Harry nodded towards the letter. "Do you think he would recognize the writing?"

"Possibly," Draco said, rubbing his chin. "I could ask him, though I don't think he'd be very welcome in this department, considering the warm welcome we received."

As he said this he shot a glare over his shoulder at Ron, who returned it. Then Draco nodded towards Harry and gestured with the letter. "Mind if I borrow this for a day so I can take it to him?"

"Only for a day," Harry said sternly with a nod. "It's evidence so I don't really want it leaving the premises but considering the situation and the information you father might be able to offer us, I'll allow it."

Draco nodded and rolled up the parchment, gently placing it in his coat pocket. "I'll have it back to you by tomorrow. Now, there is actually another matter that I wanted to discuss with you, and I'm sure Blaise is going to agree on it."

Blaise raised an eyebrow at Draco but didn't say anything as Draco began pacing slightly. "Considering that Blaise and I cannot be around the girls constantly to make sure they are alright without them hexing us, I was hoping that maybe you two could keep track of them, make sure no further accidents happen."

Harry thought on it for a few moments before nodding. "That's probably a good idea. I can keep an eye on Hermione while Ron watches Ginny."

"Why would I have to watch Ginny?" Ron argued from the doorway.

"Because it's probably not best if we are in charge of watching our respective ex-girlfriends," Harry said in an exasperated tone. "The girls are already going to be on edge; I think if they realize that their exes are practically stalking them, we'll both get hexed."

Ron huffed but didn't argue further. Harry rolled his eyes and looked at Draco and Blaise. "He'll watch Ginny and I'll keep an eye on Hermione here. Though I thought you were both able to feel their emotions?"

"Oh we can," Blaise said. "But I think Draco is wanting to make sure that someone is going to be there immediately. With the distance between our office and the Ministry, the connection is faint, and when Ginny is in Wales for practice I can't feel her at all. After Ginny's attack, I'm sure she would be focused on looking out for other Death Eaters, but there's only so long she can keep her attention on the ground instead of her practice."

Harry nodded and Draco nodded in return. "Thank you, Harry."

Draco and Blaise then made their way to the door, and Ron moved out of the way, still glaring at Draco. Draco paid him no mind and the two Veelas left Harry's office.

Harry looked at Ron and said, "Are you ever going to stop being a prat to him?"

"I've accepted the fact that I'm not getting Hermione back," Ron said in a low voice. "But that doesn't mean that I have to accept that she's with him."

Harry shook his head and sighed. "Ron, they're mated together, like Bill and Fleur. It's not something that can be helped, and you're only going to hurt Hermione in the end if you keep trying to ruffle feathers with her future husband."

Ron frowned at that term but let out a deep sigh after a few moments. "It's hard accepting it, Harry."

"And you think it was easy for me to accept that Ginny was mated to Blaise?" Harry asked, softening. "I know it's not easy but constantly arguing and fighting against it isn't helping anyone."

Ron  sighed  and  Harry  clapped  him  on  the  shoulder  slightly.  "Things  will  get  better,  but  right  now  we  have  to  focus  on  the  girls  and  their  safety."