Snow Storm - D.M , H.G

22. The home hunt

Draco spent the next few days considering how he could prepare for life outside of Hogwarts. Graduation was only a few months away, and there were two things Draco wanted to accomplish before then. Firstly, they needed a home. Draco had made contact with a real estate witch who he trusted (perhaps threatened) to keep the secret that they were purchasing a home, and had plans to meet with her the evening of Saturday, March 6th. Second, he wanted to bring Hermione's parents home. This would of course be a much greater challenge, which was why on Saturday morning Draco had asked to meet with his most unlikely ally, Harry Potter.

Draco slipped out of bed, his very tired girlfriend sleeping soundly next to where he'd just been. She looked so peaceful, he almost felt bad that he was sneaking around, but it was a good thing. He didn't want her to know what he was doing, in case he failed, but she'd be forced to forgive all his omission if and when he did succeed. He dressed quietly and left the dorm as soon as he could before she could wake.

Down in Hogsmeade Draco grabbed a table in the corner of the Three Broomsticks and waited for the soon to be made official Auror to join him. He hadn't told him about his plan, not wanting Hermione to by chance see the letters between them.

Harry was surprised when he received the letter from Malfoy, wanting to meet up. He only hoped that he hadn't gotten himself into even more trouble, Harry wasn't sure he wanted to keep bailing him out if it became a habit. But he decided to meet with him, see what he wanted to talk about. If it was about Hermione, good or bad, he wanted to know.

Harry arrived at the three broomsticks, and after scanning the room, spotted Draco in a corner. He walked over, sitting across from him. "How's life on the outside? I hope you haven't managed to get into more trouble." Harry said, his way of greeting him, and also giving him a bit of grief. He felt he had earned the right, considering their recent history.

Draco could laugh about it. After all, if it wasn't for Harry, he'd still be rotting away in a jail cell in Azkaban. "No, no trouble, I promise," he said. "This favor is for Hermione. And she can't know about it unless we can make it happen. I won't let her be disappointed if we fail." He felt strongly about this. She missed her parents, even if she didn't talk about it, he knew it was true. Her guilt from losing them had led her to a drug addiction, one that had put her down a dangerous path, and almost resulted in the death of their unborn son. Draco took a deep breath, and as he released it, he cut to the chase. "I want to find her parents."

Harry laughed, glad to hear there was no trouble, and even more happy to hear it was something he wanted to do for Hermione. When he told him he wanted to find her parents, Harry was silent for a moment, in thought. Hermione had told him why she had started the drugs, it had been because she had looked all summer and was unable to find them. "I think that's a great idea." He finally said, "But it won't be easy." He added. He was sure Draco knew this, if he knew about her parents at all, he likely knew that Hermione had gone in search of them.

Draco nodded. "I know, that's why I need your help. You have connections now. Surely there must be some way of tracking them down? She was too scared to go to the Ministry for help. She thought she'd get in trouble for using magic on them." Draco took a drink of his pumpkin juice. "Can you help?"

Harry didn't even take time to think about it, he simply nodded. "Of course, I'll do anything I can to help." He agreed. He wasn't sure exactly what measures he could take, but he would figure that out. "There has to be a way of tracking them down, it'll just take some time." He said, his mind already working to come up with ideas.

"Of course." If Hermione, the brightest witch of their age, couldn't figure out how to find them, it was clearly something of a challenge for lesser witches and wizards, even if they had resources Hermione did not. "It's really important to me to do this for her. I don't want her to miss out any more than she already has. She's going to want her mother when she has this baby. And I want her father's blessing..." Did he want to marry Hermione? Yes, he'd known that for a while now. She was the mother of his child, and he didn't want his child born out of wedlock. He wanted his child born into a loving family. But he didn't want to propose unless he'd done everything in his power to bring her parents home, to ask for her hand.