Dramione: WANTED

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

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.