Harry Potter - Series Fan Fiction ❯ To Find You Again ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

To Find You Again

By Suseh

Chapter Four

As Hermione made her way back home, she found her thoughts straying once more back to that single moment seven years ago. It should have been one of the happiest days in their lives but the moment she had found Astoria in their bed naked and her husband having gone to the bathroom for a shower, she felt every piece of her heartbreak. It had taken every inch within her not to retrieve her wand and hex Astoria into the seventh levels of hell. Instead, she closed the door quietly and walked to her dressing room, packed her bags, and left without another word. She had no doubt Astoria was probably pleased that Hermione was finally out of the picture. That woman had been after the title of “Future Lady Malfoy” ever since she could remember. Astoria had never been thrilled with the idea that Draco had married Hermione.

A stray tear raced down her face and Hermione’s hand reached up to brush the tear away. It had hurt so much to see Draco again. Even now, she had to admit, even if it was to herself, that she still loved him. Draco had been the only man who could awaken such desires in her. Ron, bless his heart, had tried to be everything to her but she felt he held no passion. Not in the way Draco could set her heart and body on fire. Perhaps it had been the reason that he sought out Lavender Brown. She never held it against him for turning to someone as he did.  

As the cottage came into view, Hermione eased her car slowly into the driveway and turned off the engine. She opened the door and slid out of the car, making her way up the stone walkway. She paused for a moment to glance around to make sure that no one had followed her before sticking her housekey into the hole and unlocking the door.

With a quiet turn of the knob, Hermione entered the house and found Luna waiting for her in the hallway. She placed a finger to lips and motioned for Hermione to follow her to the small living area. Removing her heels, Hermione followed her friend barefoot across the tiled floor. She paused in the doorway to drop her shoes in the corner and closed the French doors to allow the two of them to talk without waking Rose.

“How did it go?” Luna inquired softly. “I was not expecting you back home until later on.”

Hermione mulled her next words unsure of how exactly she wanted to tell her friend, but she knew there was no reason for her to pretty it up in her delivery.

“I saw Draco tonight,” she said finally sinking down onto the nearest chair.

Luna was not expecting this at all as she too sank down into the couch and looked over at her friend with a worried expression.

“He knows, Luna,” Hermione replied as if having sensed her next question, “He knows I am Jean Logan.”

This was not the news she had wanted to hear. Luna was concerned now what would happen if Draco managed to break through the barriers to find he had a daughter. Luna shivered. She had seen Draco angry once and it had not been a pretty sight. Thankfully, it was not she on the near to his wand. Instead, she had been a mere spectator watching on the outside, but Draco had years now on him and she worried Hermione, who hardly used her wand unless necessary, could hold up against her estranged husband.

“Let me make us some tea,” Luna offered rising from the couch and hurriedly ran to the kitchen. She grabbed the box of chamomile tea and began making the tea as Hermione entered the kitchen, pulling one of the chairs out and taking a seat. Luna could only watch as her friend placed her face in her hands. She could only surmise that seeing Draco again had caused so many emotions to bubble up to the surface again.

Once the tea was finished, she poured two cups and set them in front of each of them. Luna took her seat watching her friend grip the cup as she took a sip.

“Did he confront you?” Luna wanted to know and the look on Hermione’s face told her that he had indeed done so.

“In a sense he did,” she answered setting her cup back down, “but he sent Blaise to do it for him.”

“Blaise?” Luna’s blue eyes widened. It had been so long since she had last seen him. Briefly, flashes of she and Blaise together played out in her head. She shook her head, shattering the images. It was a long time ago, she told herself angrily, and it had been left there. She should feel nothing more than anger toward him.

Hermione had been watching her friend. She could see the emotions dance upon the face of Luna that seemed to confirm her suspicions of long ago. She had thought there had been something going on between both she and Blaise but when she had asked Draco, he seemed a bit surprised by it. Still, she wondered what had happened between them that caused their break-up.

“I already know, Luna,” Hermione spoke finally. “I have known about you both for quite some time, but I could never prove it. I had thought –“

She paused not wanting to go further into the past nor did she want to pry into Luna’s life at the moment. She knew her friend would eventually tell her everything when the time was right.

Luna smiled, grateful for Hermione not asking questions. “We both are hiding so much, aren’t we?”

Hermione returned the smile. “We are, indeed.”

“But we need to return to the root of the matter: what did Blaise say?” Luna directed the question once more to the night at hand.

“I think he was trying to stall me as best as he could, but I begged him to let me go,” she sighed softly. “The only reason I think he let me go is that I told him Astoria had her hand in it. I won’t be surprised if he started putting things together the moment he let me go.”

Luna would not put it past Blaise to do so. “So, what do we do now?”

If only Hermione had the answer to that.

Blaise Zabini placed down the folders on the desk and waited for Draco to finish up his call. It had been nearly a week and he had gathered as much as he could on Luna Lovegood’s life. It had not been that difficult for him but when he tried to retrieve information on Jean Logan’s life, he found himself up against a wall. The files on her had been mysteriously misplaced. The records clerk in Ministry could find not a single file on her and had inquired if Blaise had heard the name wrong.

Of course, this was not exactly what Blaise had been expecting and he could only surmise that Luna’s meddling had helped her friend out in keeping her life more private than he expected. So, this led Blaise to believe that there was something more to this whole story. He briefly wondered if there was a reason behind so much secrecy. There had to be but what exactly? Blaise did not know.

“I see you found Luna’s file,” Draco acknowledged flipping through the file and papers, “and what about Jean Logan?”

“Her files are missing,” Blaise replied sitting on the edge of the desk.

Draco slammed the files shut in cold fury. “I want her found, Blaise. I want her found quickly.”

“Does this mean you are giving me permission to go after Luna?” Blaise raised a brow.

Draco Malfoy waved a dismissive hand. “Do what you must but I want progress within a week.”

It was then that the door to the office opened again and in stepped Astoria Greengrass.

“Hello Draco, Blaise,” she greeted entering the room without an invitation.

Blaise narrowed his eyes at the intruder. Astoria Greengrass had never been his favorite person in the world. He preferred the company of her sister, Daphne. At least the older girl had known her place and never bothered to set her claws into ending a marriage. He should have known Astoria would have had her hand in something like this. It had her smell all over it. He could still see the pain in Hermione’s eyes when he inquired about her. It had been like watching a heart shatter into a million pieces before his eyes. Now he was curious as to what exactly had caused Hermione’s departure and once he did, he planned on seeing to it that Astoria’s dreams of becoming Lady Malfoy were crushed.

“If you will excuse me both, I have someone to find,” Blaise spoke up grabbing the files from the desk in front of Draco and taking them all with him as he headed out the door. He did not want Astoria to know what he was up to. No, she would know later when he found Hermione again and brought her back to Malfoy.

Oh, how he was looking forward to that day. He planned on having a front seat to the spectacle.

But first, he had a former lover to find.

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End Chapter