Convincing Ron to tell her where the missing journal was turned out to be just as difficult as she expected. He wanted in on the case and after much bickering and whining, she agreed. The following morning, he stopped by her office to hand over the journal and glance at the parchment she was writing.

"Can I help you?" she snapped, covering what she'd written so far.

"Merlin, Mione, sorry," Ron said, leaning back. "I just thought maybe it was for the case."

"It is, but I'd rather you not read over my shoulder, Ronald," she replied. Ron gave her a strange look and she sighed. Tucking the parchment out of sight, she apologised softly. "It's just—We only have eight days to solve this case and we're getting nowhere."

"Whatever happened to Nott? I thought you had him as a suspect," Ron said. He stuffed his hands in his robe pockets and leaned back.

"Yeah, but we crossed him off our list," she answered. She ran a hand through her hair and told him, "He had no grudges with Malfoy and a solid alibi."

"We never took an alibi," Ron reminded her. Hermione shrugged.

"I talked with him and checked it out," she promised. "It was solid."

Ron gave her a wary look, but Hermione brushed him off.

"Hopefully this will bring up something," she said, lifting up the journal. "If that's all then, I'd like to be left alone."

"Sure thing, Mione," Ron said with a tight smile. She watched him leave then opened the journal and began reading.

There was nothing of particular interest until she turned the page. The next three pages had been hastily torn out and an entire two days were missing from the journal. It was freshly done, too. Unlike the rest of the journal, the torn edges were still white and hadn't been left to collect dust or lose their colour.

Gathering the journal and its fraying pages in one arm, Hermione grabbed her cloak and hurried out of the Ministry, past the apparation line. As soon as the wards shifted, she whipped out her wand and apparated, landing perfectly in the center entryway she'd arrived the first time she'd visited Malfoy's Syndicate.

This time, she didn't wait for someone to collect her. She shoved through the door and marched into the following room. The sight of Malfoy with his feet up on his desk, talking to Zabini and Nott while he played with a snitch stopped her in her tracks, though.

"Granger," he said, sitting up quickly and pulling his feet off the desk. "Thought you hated this place."

"I got the journal," she announced, shoving past Zabini and standing in front of Malfoy's desk. She dropped it loudly, shaking the quills in front of him. "There are entire pages ripped out and it's fresh."

"And?" Malfoy prodded. Hermione glared.

"Aren't you at all interested?" she asked. Pointing to the journal, she reminded him, "You wanted this journal for evidence and now there are pages missing, yet you don't care."

"I don't care because I can't can't do anything about it," Malfoy said, leaning back in his chair. "You, however, my dear Granger, can. So what are you going to do about it?"

Hermione blanched.

"What am I—What—Is this a joke to you?" Hermione demanded. Behind her, she heard Zabini mutter something to Nott and whipped around to face them both. "Out, the both of you."

They didn't waste a second before heading towards the door, leaving Hermione alone with Malfoy.

"I am working as a double auror on this case for you," Hermione snapped angrily. "You drop by unannounced and you don't want the Ministry to know, fine, but I still have to head this case with Harry and Ron. If you want me to get anywhere, you have to help me out a bit."

"Granger—"

"No, Malfoy," she interrupted harshly. Shoving her hair out of her face angrily, she told him, "No, this is how this is going to go. You are going to figure out what's in this journal and I am going to work this case with my aurors. We have seven days to solve it or Gringotts will end my career, do you understand?"

Malfoy stared at her for a second or two then nodded.

"Whatever you need, Granger," he swore. Hermione nodded sharply.

"Good," she said. She took a deep breath then dropped into the chair across from Malfoy. "I need more information from you, okay?" Malfoy nodded perfectly. "Just—Answer my questions."

"Whatever you need, Granger," he repeated. He pulled out a parchment and quill for her then leaned back and waited.

After Hermione caught her breath and felt like she wouldn't lose her hair again, she asked, "Do you have any idea who could have accessed your vault?"

Starting from the very beginning, Hermione asked Malfoy every question she could think of and even some that she doubted would be any help. By the time her parchment was filled, she had a list of all the wards on the Malfoy vault (even the illegal ones), a very short list of possible suspects, and an official invitation to an apology dinner.

"You don't have to pity me because I exploded at you, Malfoy," Hermione grumbled. She neatly folded the parchment and tucked it in her robes anyway.

"Think of it more as payment for the pizza night," Malfoy replied. He took his quill back from her then stood up. "If that's all you have at the moment, I'll show you out. I'm sure Zabini and Nott are eager to come back in."

"Oh, Merlin," Hermione sighed, remembering how she'd ordered them out of the room over an hour ago.

"They won't care, Granger," Malfoy assured her, walking with her to the far wall. He pressed on a wallpaper flower and a door appeared. "I'll owl my official apology and the journal by the end of your shift."

"Yes, thank you," Hermione said, shifting slightly awkwardly. She scurried out of the room and gave Malfoy a small smile before apparating back to just outside the Ministry.

She worked in her office privately until Harry and Ron joined her for lunch. The first few minutes were silent, then slowly they started to talk about the Gringotts case and what they ought to do.

"I think we arrest Nott," Ron suggested, not for the first time. "He's our only real suspect and as long as we have something, Gringotts can't get too upset, right?"

"He didn't do it, Ron," Hermione said again. She twirled her fork in her food and sighed. "I want a lead as much as you, but Malfoy swears there's no—"

Hermione stopped herself immediately, looking up sharply as both Harry and Ron looked at her with wide eyes.

"You've been speaking with Malfoy?" Harry asked slowly. Hermione didn't answer. "Hermione, you've been in contact with him and said nothing?"

"He didn't want me to, Harry," she said, setting her food on her desk. "We've been writing owls back and forth. He's never visited," she lied.

"But you've been keeping evidence!" Ron exclaimed. Hermione glared at him. "How do we know he hasn't been leading you the wrong way?"

"It's his vault that was broken into, Ron," Hermione said drily. Ron shrugged, seemingly unfazed.

"So? Maybe he staged it," Ron suggested. Hermione rolled her eyes and Harry avoided looking at both of them. Leaning forward, Ron said accusingly, "Did he even mention Crabbe? Surely he would have known about a body that was there before the break-in."

"How do you know about Crabbe?" Hermione asked suddenly. She hadn't told anyone else about Crabbe's death actually being before the break-in and Ron was never one to cross-check things with Ministry records.

"I just—I meant that he should have known Crabbe was dead, right?" Ron fumbled, looking at Harry to help. Harry looked nothing but confused.

"What's happening?" he asked.

"Crabbe didn't die during the break-in, but I didn't tell anyone that," Hermione told him shortly. She turned back to Ron. "How did you know Crabbe was dead before the break-in? What's really going on here, Ron?"

"You can't think I did it," Ron exclaimed. Harry's eyes widened and Hermione's narrowed.

"I didn't before," she said warily. "But you won't answer me, Ron. How did you know?"

"How did you know?"

"Hermione said she was talking with Malfoy," Harry said, defending her. "It makes sense she would know."

"Malfoy not reporting a body in his vault is suspicious," Ron announced. Hermione groaned and dropped her head to her desk. "I say this has Malfoy written all over it, but you just have to blame me!" Ron accused, glaring at Hermione. "What? While you were writing to him, did you fall in love?"

"That's ridiculous, Ron, and you know it," Hermione snapped. Ron's glare didn't waver. "Just tell us how you know about the body."

Her office fell into several seconds of uncomfortable silence as Ron glared and Hermione looked at him desperately. She really didn't want to arrest her friend, but with inside knowledge like that, they'd have to do something.

"Ron, tell us," Harry said quietly. "Or we'll have to arrest you."

Ron pursed his lips, yet said nothing.

"Ron, please," Hermione begged, looking at him desperately. "I don't want to arrest you, but I will if I have to."

"Then arrest me, Mione," he said, leaning back in the chair. "Because I won't tell you anything."

With tears in her eyes and the determination to prove Ron innocent, Hermione arrested him. He didn't argue and he didn't fight. She asked him over and over again to tell them how he knew, but he was still uncharacteristically silent. Even when Hermione burst into tears, begging him to just tell them why he knew so they didn't have to arrest him, Ron refused.

Shortly after Hermione returned from filing his arrest warrant, Malfoy's owl arrived with his official apology and dinner invitation.

Seeing the tall, white owl sitting on the back of her chair hadn't made things worse, but Hermione wasn't sure if they made them better. She untied the letter from the owl's leg and fed it a treat. It stayed put on her chair, however, so she carefully sat down and unrolled the scroll.

This is my, Draco Lucius Malfoy's, formal and sincerest apology to Miss Hermione Granger. For being difficult to work with, a downright arse, and making you do more work than necessary, I am sorry.

Join me for dinner? - D. M.

Hermione let out a short laugh and tore off a corner of parchment to write a short reply, accepting his apology and agreeing to meet him anywhere after 19:00 so long as it was nowhere the press would see. After attaching her note to the owl's leg it took off through the window and Hermione was left to finish up her work.

"You know," Harry said from her door frame, jarring her out of her thoughts. "You never did say why you knew about Crabbe's body either."

Hermione sighed and tucked Malfoy's letter in the dedicated drawer.

"Malfoy told me after he stopped Crabbe's obituary from running," she explained quietly. She leaned back in her chair and folded her hands across her stomach. "I checked the Ministry records just to be sure, but he was telling the truth."

"And he didn't say anything about how the body got there?" Harry asked.

Hermione shook her head. "Nothing."

"Perhaps that is a little suspicious, right?" Harry asked, fiddling with his wand. "I mean, maybe Ron checked the records too, right?"

"Harry," Hermione sighed. Harry sighed as well and walked into her office so he could sit across from her. "Why won't he just tell us? We're his best friends."

"I know, Hermione," Harry muttered, reaching across the desk to take her hand. "He's with the Unspeakables now, so we'll know soon enough, I imagine."

"I just wish it didn't have to come to this," Hermione grumbled. Harry nodded and they let the office fall silent.

Almost half an hour later, an Unspeakable knocked on Hermione's door and walked in holding the written transcription of memories they'd searched for in Ron's head. Harry thanked the Unspeakable for them both while Hermione scanned the report. Her hand covered her mouth and she stopped breathing as she read.

"What? What is it?" Harry asked, hurrying around her desk. Hermione let him take the parchment out of her hand and a second later, he leaned back against her desk, shoulders slumped.

"He did it, Harry," Hermione whispered, looking up at him as he eyes watered. "Ron did it."

"That's—This is to be fake," Harry said, dropping the parchment onto her desk. "Ron couldn't have broken into Gringotts."

Hermione wanted to agree with him. With all her heart, she wanted to. But then she was remembering a conversation she'd had with Ron over two months ago about the research she'd done on the Gringotts' alarm system and instead of blowing her off, Ron had listened intently. He'd asked questions and she'd done more reading just so she could answer them. At the time, she had no idea he'd been planning on breaking into Malfoy's vault.

"Oh my god," Hermione said, staring at the parchment.

"We'll talk to him," Harry said, grabbing her hand and pulling her out of her seat. "We can go down and ask why, okay? Maybe there's more to it."

"We can't, Harry," Hermione reminded him. Once a suspect was placed under arrest, the only visitors allowed through were those directly involved in the trial. "We put him under arrest and now they've found proof."

"We can visit as family," Harry promised, kissing her forehead as tears formed in her eyes. "First thing in the morning. After the twelve hour restriction has passed, we'll go and we'll ask why he did it, okay?"

Hermione just nodded and hugged Harry tightly. Merlin, what had they done?