Damaged Goods by slytherin_after_dark

Chapter 17

- NOT MY STORY!! ALL CREDITS TO @slytherin_after_dark ON A03!!
-
Odd didn't begin to cover it. She was standing in Draco Malfoy's personal hospital after he had just healed an injury she had gotten from a pretend-Death Eater assassin.

"The Ministry is either covering up something or they're directly involved with these murders," Hermione said and Malfoy nodded.

"Why in hell did you go to Hobson's house by yourself?"

She had been waiting for him to ask that question.

"How did you know I did?"

"You're not answering my question."

She crossed her arms in front of her. "Fine. Because I'm tired of the secrecy. The two of you don't trust me with all the information and I want to be done with this assignment already."

"Ah, and heading to a former crime scene by yourself seemed like the way to do it. I guess it would have ended your assignment one way or another."

He was infuriating. "I answered your question. Now answer mine. How did you know where to find me?"

"I was looking for you and when you weren't at any of the three or four places your sad life normally allows you to be, I assumed something was wrong. Then I saw Hobson's case file on your desk with his address circled in red ink."

"So, you followed me?"

He let out an exasperated breath. "Yes, that seems to be my crime, Granger. I followed you as a group of assassins descended upon you. But not to worry, you had the stupefy spells at the ready."

She groaned. "Give it a rest with the stupefy spells."

He flashed her a grin. "Only if you will."

She rolled her eyes. "What do we do now? Do we have trusted sources inside the Ministry we could ask about this?"

"Don't you dare say Potter."

There was a sudden sting in her chest when she realized she hadn't even considered Harry. It wasn't that she didn't trust him. She was just worried he might have a blind spot when it came to the Ministry.

"I wasn't."

"I didn't exactly make friends at the Ministry."

"Shocking, given your cheerful personality."

He shot her a look. "At this point, we don't have anything concrete. We need to keep looking."

"How do we get to your super-secret lab from here?"

Silver eyes narrowed. "Why?"

She fished the vial out of her pocket. "I want to take a closer look."

It felt strangely familiar being back in his lab. Without hesitation, she took the equipment and started getting to work.

Malfoy leaned against the desk, crossing one ankle over the other, watching her closely. She used clarifying potions and then placed the contents under the microscope.
"Huh," she said surprised.

"Let me see," he said impatiently and didn't even wait for her to step aside when he leaned over the microscope. "What am I looking at?"

"I believe it's celeritas. An ancient ingredient used for certain potions. It hasn't been used in years."

Was Hobson experimenting with it? Was that why he was killed? Only Hobson didn't seem like the type of guy who played around with ancient potions.

Malfoy was deep in thought. "What does it do?" He finally asked.