antidote ✞ dramione

part eleven

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the two rushed—well, hermione rushed as draco took his time taking as much of the cake he could carry—back to the ministry and hermione wasted no time in finding rabastan and rodolphus' files in hopes of finding any information that may help the case.

"rabastan was supposed to be in azkaban prison but he somehow escaped," she explained, taking a seat at the table. draco stood next to her, reading the file from over her shoulder. "and rodolphus was supposed to be dead too. looks like crabbe wasn't the only one who faked theirs."

draco sighed audibly and when hermione turned her head to him, she frowned annoyedly and rolled her eyes. "you're still eating the bloody cake?"

draco didn't even have the grace to look ashamed. "hey, this is good," he said defensively, spooning another piece of the cake. he held it up to her lips. "try it!"

hermione narrowed her eyes and knocked the plastic spoon away with such force it flew out of draco's hand and landed on the floor. the two watched it for a moment before draco spun his head back to her, a pout evident on his pale face.

"that's so fucking rude," he snapped jokingly, staring down at the plate of cake helplessly. "what do i fucking do now?"

"start being serious, for one," hermione shot back, peeling through the brothers files. hermione sighed and rubbed her temples. "i have a headache."

"want some cake? you're going to have to shovel it though considering you threw away my spoon. don't worry—i won't judge—"

"draco, seriously, now is not the time," she groaned, banging her head on the table for a minute. soon enough she couldn't as draco had placed his palm over her forehead and he was spinning her around to face him.

he had crouched on the floor now so she was looking down at him, both her hands held in his. draco's abundance of rings were pressing into her palms and she couldn't help but smile at the variety of them. oh, gosh, he sure loved his jewellery more than she did.

"hey," he murmured, squeezing her hands lightly. "i know things aren't going so well right now, but come on. they've got you on this case. who better to solve it than hermione jean granger herself?"

hermione's smile slowly slipped as she let out everything she needed to. "but what if i can't," she whispered. "i mean—we know who's behind these attacks. we know the motive. what we don't know is who they're going to attack and when they're going to.

"how many more people have to suffer before we can get the bad guys?" hermione murmured. "we shouldn't just cuffed them the second you managed to sneak in to their meeting."

"yes, we could've done that," draco agreed, smiling at her. "but rabastan and rodolphus weren't there, were they? and who knows who else is a part of the 'rebellion'. we're playing this smart, princess. and to play it smart we have to wait a little bit. just a little longer, so we know the entirety of the plan and how to stop it completely."

"they want to take over the wizarding world," hermione deadpanned. "what else do we need to know?"

"it's bellatrix lestrange," draco stated. "there's always more to her than meets the eye, remember? if there wasn't, she wouldn't be a vampire right now."

hermione sighed dejectedly, blowing a strand of her hair out of her face. "i just hate having to sit back while it all plays out."

"you're nervous," draco commented, brushing the strand out of her face and tucking it behind her ear. "why?"

"i'm going to go see ron and harry," hermione said, shrugging. "i guess i'm just—you know—scared, i guess."

draco was silent for a moment before a smirk grew on his face. "how about this," draco started, getting up from the floor. "you go meet them. and by the time you get back to your place, i'll have a surprise waiting for you. you can count it as date two out of thirty-one."