Morning dawned dull and gloomy, as always. As the sun cast its meager rays across the estate, the occupants began their day, slow and mundane like all others. Narcissa picked out her robes for the day, looked at herself in the mirror, held her head high as though everything was alright, and walked out of her quarters to the sitting room for breakfast. 

"Tibby!"

A pop resounded through the room as a house elf appeared. She was a little thing, smaller than usual, with very large blue eyes, and floppy, bat-like ears. She was dressed in a little white dress that looked as though it had been specially made for her. 

"Good morning, Tibby," Narcissa smiled down at her.

"Tibby wishes Mistress Narcissa a good morning too," the elf said happily, "shall Tibby serve breakfast?"

"I think we'll wait for Lucius," Narcissa said. 

Tibby nodded and disappeared with another pop. Narcissa pursed her lips and sat down on one of the chairs at the small table. It was general custom that breakfast be had in the sitting room at the end of the week, and lunch out in the gardens. Narcissa had stopped doing this after Draco had left, for she saw no point to it. It felt silly to sit in the gardens, eating by yourself, with not even a leaf for company. Soon she had begun skipping meals. With Draco not there to be with her at the time of her panic attacks, she succumbed to them completely, and stayed locked in her room for days on end. She had grown unhealthy.

She was much better now. 

Hermione had said she would meet her the next day, and Narcissa was quite looking forward to it. She enjoyed her time with the girl. 

Narcissa twiddled her fingers in her lap and she waited for Lucius to show up. 

If Narcissa's mother knew that she was twiddling her fingers while waiting for someone, she would get a good earful for being so impatient and unmannered. Narcissa had been raised very proper, to cross her legs while sitting, to daintily dab at her eyes with handkerchiefs when she cried and not to bawl. She could almost imagine her mother looking sternly down at her while giving her an icy cold stare.

It had been teen minutes. Lucius had still not come down from his chambers.

On weekdays, Lucius would have left by this time to the Ministry for his social services requirement. So they rarely ever got to have breakfast in each other's company. On Sundays, he would either ignore her invitations, or say he wasn't feeling well and stay in his quarters until dinner time. The night before, Narcissa had made him vow to come to breakfast. He had merely nodded. 

It was hopeless, really. The chances that he would keep his word and turn up on time were very near nil. Still, Narcissa hoped he would come. 

She felt like a teenage girl again. Waiting for her date to show up on time. She laughed aloud at the bizarre idea. Her teenage self would never have dreamed of waiting for Lucius. She would have dug right in. 

"My apologies for being late."

Narcissa nearly sighed in relief on hearing his voice. But she held back. 

"Good morning," she said with a small smile. He had kept his word.

He inclined his head her way and sat down opposite her on the table. 

Tibby appeared with two plates of food, and a third plate piled with crepes which she placed in the centre. 

"I didn't know you liked those things," Lucius said when he saw Narcissa serve herself two of the freshly made crepes. 

"I didn't know either, actually," Narcissa said, "Hermione made me try some a few weeks back."

"I see," Lucius said tensely.

He was always apprehensive when Hermione was brought up in the conversation, Narcissa knew. But she was trying to make him get past his apprehension. She had even subtly suggested to Hermione that were she comfortable, she could meet Lucius. She had graciously said that she would think about it. 

Narcissa was in better spirits than usual. Lucius had come down to breakfast, tomorrow she would meet Hermione and get to know all about the Halloween ball at Hogwarts, and today Clarissa had promised to come over for evening tea. Without her knowledge, a smile crept onto her face.

"You're smiling," Lucius observed.

"Is it really that hard to believe?" Narcissa said. Her smile faltered.

"No," he said quickly, "but I admit that you haven't smiled in…quite some time. Or perhaps I haven't been around to see you on the occasions that you did."

Narcissa's smile slipped a little more, but she shook her head, "I'm feeling a little better, is all."

They lapsed into silence and ate their breakfast contentedly. Tibby had done a nearly perfect job at the crepes, and Narcissa would have smacked her lips had it not been, once again, for her very proper raising. She settled for giving Tibby extra appreciation.

"Shall Tibby get the Prophet?" the house elf asked once the plates had been cleared.

"Yes," Lucius said curtly, then added as an afterthought, "please."

He was trying his hardest to treat house elves with this new approach of politeness. Narcissa was rather proud that he was trying. 

Tibby reappeared a few seconds later with The Daily Prophet folded neatly, and placed it on the table in front of Lucius. He nodded his thanks.

Something caught Narcissa's eye.

At first she ignored it.

But when Lucius paled and laid the paper back down, she turned her full gaze upon the front page of the Prophet.

 The Fiend Reappears: Slip up or Deliberate Move?

In the late hours of Wednesday night, Draco Malfoy was seen with none other than Hermione Granger, escaping from an apartment which is claimed to be property of Miss Granger. They apparated to unknown locations and have not been seen since. 

Ronald Weasley, who was the one to send the message to the Ministry, says in his statement, "She wasn't Imperiused, I'm sure of that. She's doing it of her own will. She's as much a criminal as Malfoy is." Sources report that Ron Weasley left Harry Potter's office with a black eye and bruised face that afternoon. This leads us to think whether the Chosen One himself is involved in the case somehow.

Draco Lucius Malfoy, the Malfoy heir, had disappeared two years previously, a mere two weeks before his trial. He is wanted for his open attack at Gringotts Wizarding Bank. He had been on the run for the past two years. His sudden reappearance had led many to speculate on whether he had been taking refuge with Granger, who would never have been suspected of such heinous misdoings. 

Hermione Granger is considered a war hero and role model to many young witches and wizards. Her involvement with Draco Malfoy has led to mass unsettlement amongst the people. Nobody had expected her to have a part in any of these events. Society is highly unsettled by her involvement, and are wary of believing even the Chosen One lest he be involved too. It is not uncommon knowledge that Harry Potter and Hermione Granger had been close friends at school, and form two thirds of the Golden Trio. The betrayal of Hermione Granger is a serious blow to society morale.

Minister for Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt has organised a team of trained aurors for the search. Rena Podmore, head of the auror representative department of the Department Of Magical Law Enforcement, is rumoured to have given orders that state Granger and Malfoy are required dead or alive.

Will they be caught before they can commit any atrocities that harm our world? We at the Daily Prophet sincerely hope so.

At the top of the page, were two large photographs of Draco and Hermione. 

"He's alive!" Narcissa's hand flew to her mouth and tears of relief welled up in her eyes. 

Then the relief was gone. 

Hermione had known. She had known and had not told her. After all Narcissa had shared with her and after all the time they had spent together, Hermione had kept the most important thing from her. Narcissa felt betrayed, used, and extremely saddened. How could she do that? When she knew how much she worried over Draco. 

"Hermione would never," Narcissa didn't care what the papers said, she had come to know the girl over the past few months, "she would never do anything of the sort. There must be something wrong."

"Cissy, the facts are plain and clear," Lucius said dejectedly. Although miserable, he did not let go of his logical thinking. Narcissa hated that ability of his, of remaining calm and collected in any given situation. 

"She would never!" Narcissa couldn't help her raise of voice, "I trust her, Lucius, she knows how much I worry over Draco, she would have told me!"

Lucius only blankly stared at her, his face unreadable. 

"There must be something wrong, this isn't right at all!" she was shrieking now, "Why wouldn't Draco come back?"

"If he came back, what were the chances that the Ministry would let him be?" Lucius said, "His attack at Gringotts-"

"That's another thing!" she stood and threw her hands into the air, completely losing control, "My boy would never ever do anything like that, no matter what. I know him, you know him as well, he would never do anything of the sort."

"He is not the little boy he once was," Lucius said coldly, "I don't know why you can't see that. He is not the same innocent-"

"And who's fault is that?" Narcissa stopped and stared at him incredulously, "Our fault, Lucius, ours."

"His choices are now his own," Lucius said. His voice broke off at the end of the sentence. 

This wasn't right. None of this was right at all, nothing made sense. The only thing Narcissa knew, was that Hermione would never have done this to her knowingly. 

"I'm going to the Ministry," Narcissa said firmly.

"To do what?" he asked with feigned coldness. She could tell that he was just as agitated as she was.

"To meet Mister Potter," she said firmly, leaving no room for argument. She turned and stalked out of the sitting room. 

"Tibby!" she called when she reached her chambers, "I'm heading to the Ministry, would you please retrieve my maroon robes?"

"Of course," Tibby nodded enthusiastically, and was back with the requested attire in under ten seconds. 

"Thank you, Tibby," Narcissa said kindly. Tibby beamed and carried out a little curtsey, then left. Narcissa hurriedly changed into her robes and went to the living room fireplace. She took a pinch of floo powder and tossed it into the fireplace, clearly pronouncing her destination. 

Once the swirling feeling had stopped, she stepped out into the Atrium, not bothering to brush some soot off her shoulders. She ignored the curious glances that were thrown her way, and walked with her head held high. 

"Where are you goin'?" a young, freckled man asked her, holding out an arm to stop her from moving forward. 

"I need to meet Mister Potter," Narcissa said. Such a nature of demand was in her voice that the man couldn't find it in him to argue. He stepped aside. 

"Which way to his office?" she asked.

"Second level, you can't miss it," the man said. Narcissa headed to the lifts, and rattled away to the second level. 

The carpeted floor quieted the click-clack of her heels as she walked. On reaching a set of glass doors, she spotted a mass of wiry black hair she was all too familiar with. She stood, contemplating whether to knock or not. 

Just when she was about to raise a hand and knock, Harry looked up from his papers. His tired eyes fell on Narcissa. She didn't miss the bags under his eyes or how he looked distressed beyond explanation. 

He hurriedly walked to the doors and pulled them open before ushering her inside. 

"Mrs. Malfoy, is everything-?"

"Hermione would never do that," Narcissa said, standing up tall, "there must be a reason she did this. None of this makes any sense, Mister Potter."

The boy looked stunned for a second. He blinked at her stupidly, and looked over his shoulder once. When he realised she wasn't joking or mocking him, he motioned for her to sit down. 

"I think the same thing," he admitted, "I wanted to go check her apartment, but Rena has forbidden anyone from entering it other than the members of the team she has put together."

Narcissa was extremely relieved to find out that Harry supported her statement. 

"Have you read the Prophet?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Yes, it's the reason I hurried here," she said.

"Something doesn't add up, but I can't tell what it is," he stood up in his frustration and began pacing. He was too worried to care about maintaining his composure in front of Narcissa. She felt a hint of pity for him. After all, she knew how much Hermione meant to him. 

"What has Shacklebolt said?" Narcissa asked.

"Kingsley is with Rena," Harry said indignantly, "after all the Order has been through, I can't believe he believes that Hermione is guilty!"

"What about the Weasley boy?" Narcissa asked, "he seemed bitter about her. I don't mean to pry, but weren't they-?"

"They ended two years ago," Harry waved his hand through the air, "he's the one who heard them talking in her apartment. He said that by the way they were talking, they seemed to be…"

He trailed off. Narcissa gazed at him curiously. 

"I didn't mean to spring it on you, but Ron said they sounded as though they were, well, together," Harry explained uncomfortably.

"That is not of consequence at the moment," Narcissa said sternly, "we have to find out what she couldn't tell us, before that Rena girl's team can get their hands on either of them."

"We?" Harry raised an eyebrow. 

"I refuse to sit silently while my son is being hunted down," Narcissa's voice quivered, "not to mention that over the months Hermione has become a dear friend."

Harry looked her over, scrutinising, and Narcissa knew he was assessing her statement. She assumed he was used to doing this. 

"I can't do much in my current position, with all the crap they're telling the people in the Prophet," Harry said frustratedly, "if I get my hands on the author of that article…"

"Pansy is a reporter, is she not?" Narcissa askes suddenly.

"Yes," Harry said, pausing his pacing to look at her, "Merlin, I can't believe I didn't think of this before."

"I can contact Pansy," Narcissa said immediately, "I hope that's alright."

"Absolutely," Harry nodded, "I'll inform Ginny, she'll be elated."

"Is there anything else we can do?" Narcissa asked.

"I desperately want to search the apartment, I'm sure I'll find something there," Harry said, "but I can't get through the wards they placed on it. I could go illegally but-"

"No, you're needed to be here, to keep an eye on the Ministry ongoings," Narcissa said.

Harry nodded, "Thank you very much for your help, Mrs. Malfoy."

"Of course," Narcissa stood up, "I'll contact Pansy as soon as possible, and I'll owl you once I do."

"That sounds great," Harry nodded. 

Narcissa turned to leave, but paused at the door, she turned back around, "Mister Potter, I know that after all me and my family have done to you it may be hard for you to forgive me. But I will ask-"

"I forgive you," he said without hesitation, "I've put it behind me."

Narcissa smiled with gratitude, and left.