Chapter Text
Late September
While Harry worked, Hermione and Charlie brainstormed how to get Ragnar and the enemy dragon back to Yhalis. The Aurors had quickly secured the human riders, but left them tied up by the dragon while they took witness statements. Draco was questioned for a long time by Robards and Hermione could sense his annoyance at the man.
She did her best to ignore his emotions and instead focus on getting Ragnar home. Ragnar was fairly quiet, his pain no longer all consuming, thanks to some pink powder.
“We can do a hammock?” Hermione threw out.
Charlie snapped his fingers. “Yes! But made of what? Who’s lifting it?”
“And again, where are we storing this other dragon? She can’t be left to roam free in case she still under their control…”
Charlie dropped his voice, since they were so close to several Aurors who were bustling about. “We could just take the dragon to the dungeons.”
Hermione glanced at Harry who was talking to a distraught witch. “It would cause a lot of problems down the line,” she muttered back. “I hate politics!”
Charlie pointed out, “Where are the Ministry even going to store her? They don’t have anywhere. They have some small cages in a store room that requires at least 5 dragon handlers to maintain—and they don’t have any since Kingsley cut back even more of the DRCMC what was it, five years ago?”
Hermione grunted in annoyance. He wasn’t wrong. Kingsley had rerouted money to an education fund about muggle relations, so she could not be entirely upset. But it would have been nice if the money came from a useless department like Magical Games and Sports, and not a department that was chronically underfunded and sought to protect innocent creatures.
Hermione snapped her fingers. “I got it.” She walked up to Robards and interrupted what was proving to be an unnecessarily long interrogation of Draco. Robards glared at her, but refrained from commenting on her rude behaviour. “We should take the dragon,” she said without preamble.
Robards’s moustache twitched. “And why would I allow that?”
“Because Draco has the means to store a dragon humanely. You’d have to use an obscene number of Aurors around the clock and then contract out dragon handlers—which is expensive,” she reasoned. “We’ll do it for free.”
Robards’ eyes danced between her and Draco. “We?” he asked, the judgement clear in his voice.
Hermione grabbed Draco’s hand defiantly. He winked at her. “Yes, we. Besides, we’re already consultants on this entire case. It is not out of protocol.”
“How can we trust you will follow magical law when it comes to imprisonment and interrogation?” Robards threw back.
Hermione did not like his implication that she would abuse a magical creature. “Because I work for an organization that seeks to protect dragon’s rights,” she fired back.
Draco added on, “Potter will supervise.”
Robards turned toward the man in question who was still speaking to the woman and trying to calm her down. “Why would Potter supervise?” he asked, eyes narrowing ever-so-slightly.
Hermione was quick to respond (perhaps too quick for a sharp Auror like Robards), “Because I’ll ask him to and we trust him.”
Robards did not look convinced, evidently now thinking Harry was Dracun. Later, when Robards would read all the reports where Harry was atop a dragon during the fight, Hermione was sure her friend would have some explaining to do. But for now, Robards was enough in the dark to play it to their advantage.
“You know, Granger,” Robards replied. “I really dislike when our paths cross.”
Draco growled lowly in response. Hermione mentally told him to calm down. “I could say the same to you, Gawain.”
The older man’s moustache twitched again. “You may hold the dragon until the Wizengamot rules on how it should be punished.”
“Come again?” Hermione asked sharply.
“It must be held responsible for destroying this village. Two are dead.”
Hermione’s stomach plummeted. “But it didn’t…” she cleared her throat. “When will the trial be held?”
Robards narrowed his eyes again. “Why?”
“I would like to remind you that trials are public information,” Hermione replied crisply.
“It will be announced to the public like all others are, Granger,” Robards replied, sounding annoyed. “Take your dragons, then. But we’re taking the humans.”
Hermione crossed her arms to argue more. Draco cut in. “And we will have access to them, as per our deal.”
If Robards looked annoyed dealing with Hermione, he looked murderous dealing with Draco. Instead of replying to him directly, he jerked his head in what could barely be constituted as a nod. “Potter!” Robards called.
Harry jogged over and Robards began giving him sharp orders. Hermione returned to Charlie. The redhead had been conversing with Ragnar, who despite being quite high, was helpful. He had explained that he had some extra strong construction ropes that would be suitable to lift dragons.
Plan concocted, they waited until the Aurors had finally left the scene and night had fallen on the village. Percy had brought them food and chairs to relax on once he had calmed down from the scare with his family. Ragnar dozed while they waited.
When it was finally clear, the horde was summoned back again. Hermione threw up a powerful shielding charm so that any curious villagers would not see what they were up to nor be able to track their flight out of Willumby.
With some tricky maneuvering, ropes were lashed beneath Ragnar and the other dragon and they were hoisted into the air by four dragons each. Hermione watched from Draco’s back as the horde flew back to Yhalis. She fell asleep in the air, the day weighing heavy on her.
*
Ragnar was brought to the Eastern horde in Noddfa where he was promptly healed properly. The Horntail profusely thanked his healer, though he remained groggy from the drugs. Rolf’s small stitched up tear was likewise healed in a matter of seconds. The healer also fixed the wounded Green’s wing. The Greens were all very wary of the captured dragon, sensing something they could not understand about her. Hermione made the dragon inhale more of the powder to keep her unconscious, then the horde was off again, lifting her into the air and to Yhalis. Ragnar flew behind drunkenly.
With a lot of dragging and pushing and bumping, the other dragon was placed into the bowels of Yhalis behind bars. A guard schedule was set up.
Hermione and Draco dragged themselves to bed and passed out without further ado.
*
Theo woke them far too early the next morning by barging into their room uninvited, his mate in tow. It was lucky that they were not having sex for once, both still asleep.
“Mommy and Daddy,” Theo trilled, hopping onto their bed and weaseling his way in between the two of them. “We have news!”
Hermione grumbled in protest, pushing away Theo and blinking her eyes open.
From the middle of the room Harry said, “One of them talked. The other…” he sighed heavily. “We missed a hidden potion—the other one is dead. Killed himself. But the first one, Doug, he—”
“Doug?” Draco grumbled, his voice thick with sleep. He was batting away Theo’s arms as his second tried to cuddle him.
“Yeah. Said his name’s Doug,” Harry replied with a shrug. “He told us a lot.”
Hermione perked up. “What?”
“You can tell us over breakfast,” Draco grumbled, shoving Theo from the bed. “We’ll be about an hour.” Draco’s horns popped into existence atop his head.
“I thought you’d want to know right away,” Theo complained. “I haven’t even ravished my mate. We came here instead of coming in our bed.”
Harry pulled a face. “Theo,” he groaned in protest.
“I think I should be congratulated for my show of strength. I haven’t seen you in hours. And besides, you did that really impressive sword fighting yesterday that I have not rewarded you for yet.”
“Yes, yes, Theo, you’re very impressive,” Draco grumbled. “Now leave. We’ll be down in an hour.”
Theo crawled from their bed. “Could we make it two?” Theo asked. “If time is not of the essence. And you don’t want to know how the dragons are controlled or that they can be tracked and that the one in our dungeons is a huge risk—”
“What?” Hermione asked fully awake now.
Harry clarified, “It’s fine. We dealt with it. Besides, the wards won’t let anyone in.”
“I need more information than that,” Hermione replied, crawling from the bed. She could feel Draco trying to pull her back into the warmth of her bed, but she escaped his clutches and made it to the edge of their king-sized bed. “Let’s go down now.” Hermione stood.
“Finally, the threesome we’ve all been waiting for,” Theo declared with glee.
In a flash, Draco was clutching her body and growling at Theo. Theo laughed heartily. “It’s too easy to provoke you,” his second teased. “And now look, you’re out of bed. C’mon, the horde is waiting.”
“Don’t people have work?” Hermione asked, rubbing at her eyes as they descended the stairs.
Theo shrugged. “Called them in anyway. I figured it was important.”
“Oh, also,” Harry said, handing Hermione the Prophet.
She looked at the front page that was splashed with pictures of fire, dragons, smoke, and their horde. Someone had captured Harry and Theo, slicing through the dragon’s wing.
“It’s such a good photo, isn’t it?” Theo said with a grin. “I’m going to frame it, over our bed.”
Hermione’s eyes skimmed the article, Draco directing her to the dining room while she paid no attention to her surroundings. It had been reported that there were 15 Dracun and speculation as to their identities abounded. The Weasleys were under scrutiny since Charlie had been with Hermione but by some miracle, there were no pictures of the Dracun shifting.
Draco sat Hermione at the head spot at the table, as usual. The horde greeted each other tiredly. Only Theo seemed to have any sort of energy.
Theo grinned at everyone. “First off, excellent job yesterday, horde,” Theo began. “I was truly impressed with how in sync we all were. Thank you to Ron and Ginny for being such amazing trainers. You prepared us well.” The horde smiled and agreed, cheering them on. Hermione was surprised by Theo, and pleasantly so. Perhaps he was a good second, after all. The energy in the room lifted. “Of course, thank you to Hermione and Charlie for being our formidable healers. You saved Ragnar’s life, no doubt, and even helped Rolf and the enemy. Special mention to Blaise and Ragnar for capturing those humans—who we’ll get to in a moment. Then of course, my lovely, phenomenal, strikingly handsome Auror Potter,” Theo pecked Harry on the cheek. “I think we can all agree he gets best move for the battle.”
“Best move?” Draco scoffed while the others cheered.
“And for being our unending advocate amongst the Aurors, he gets best law enforcement member.” Theo’s eyes glittered as he stared at Harry heatedly.
“How come Harry gets two awards?” Ron muttered.
“He’s the only law enforcement officer,” Ginny protested.
Theo returned his attention to the horde with a broad smile. He ignored the protests. “Finally, to our fearless leader, Draco, for making sure we were all ready for this fight and keeping us safe. You did good, daddy.”
Hermione cheered along with the others. Draco blushed in response. Hermione was shocked, and decidedly turned on by his bashfulness.
“Oi,” George called out as the cheering died down, “What about best Weasley. There’s enough of us, I think we should get our own category.”
Theo winked at George. “Good idea. Let’s see…” Theo hemmed and hawed loudly, his eyes dancing across the Weasleys. “Best Weasley for this fight goes to…Percy!”
“What?!” Groaned all the Weasleys simultaneously, save for Percy who looked smug.
Theo carried on, “For being able to summon us all from so far away.” Theo clapped his hands together to demand silence again. “Okay, now for the less fun stuff,” Theo continued. “Ragnar,” the Viking was slumped on the table, half asleep, potentially still drugged. “You needlessly endangered yourself. You know the rules: no clawing on. You almost died. You worried all of us. Proving your dominance is not worth your life.”
Hermione blinked in surprise at Theo’s seriousness. She so rarely saw it.
Ragnar grunted in response.
“You’re on double patrol for the next two weeks.” Ragnar grunted again, his eyes hazy. “Remember your training,” Theo spoke to everyone. He paused for a moment, letting that sink in. Then, he clapped his hands. “Next, my delicious Auror Potter has news from the interrogation room.”
Theo turned to Harry who shifted in his seat. “Er—yeah. So, they’re both Death Eaters. No question. They had the Mark on their backs again. The first one killed himself with a hidden potion, so we got nothing out of him. But we confiscated Doug’s before he could do the same.”
“Doug?” Fred asked.
“Not the best Death Eater name,” George replied.
“You’d think something like Dulciber,” Fred said.
“Deremitus.”
“Dolux.”
“Dingus.”
“Okay,” Hermione cut in, even though she was smiling along.
“Doug’s been attending meetings via portkey for the past six months. He’s tired of losing out as a pureblood, feels like the world owes him something because it wasn’t handed to him on a platter, blah blah blah, you know the story. Anyway, from day one, the Death Eaters told him he could be a dragon rider and help cleanse the world of muggles, muggleborns, whatever pureblood nonsense. They’ve been training him for only a month—not quite as good as the other ones. He said there’s a talisman they put in the dragons. Meld it into their hearts somehow.” Hermione gasped. “He doesn’t know how,” Harry was quick to say, “But it bends to the will of the Death Eaters—it’s attached to the Mark somehow.”
“Attached to the Mark…so…” Hermione turned to Draco. “Could you control them?”
“I tried, remember?”
“Oh, right. Hm…Sorry, Harry, go on.”
“It probably won’t work for Malfoy because the Death Eaters use their blood with the talisman to help control the dragons and bond them.” Hermione shuddered at that. “All Doug had to do was drop some of his blood onto the talisman before holding it to the dragon’s heart. Then, the dragon was his. Apparently he has no clue how the talisman is made. He did say the talisman is also a tracker.”
“Shit,” Blaise muttered.
“It’s fine,” Theo replied, looking proud. “We dealt with it.”
“Doug was talkative,” Harry supplied. “Probably because of the litre of veritaserum Robards made him drink.” Hermione felt the need to protest on principle alone, but let it go. “It’s easy enough to remove, if the dragon is subdued.”
“Why teach him how to take it out?” Percy questioned. “Doesn’t make much sense to me.”
Harry shrugged. But Hermione replied, “No, it makes sense. Say a dragon rider died while out in a battle and your dragon also died. You could go get the riderless dragon and bend it to your will, then be off.”
“I guess…” Percy seemed unconvinced.
“Regardless of why,” Harry said, “He knew. It’s simple enough; an incantation. But destroying the talisman, that we do not know how to do. And, what’s worse, the talisman tries to re-embed itself back into the dragon after about thirty seconds.”
“So, you took the talisman out of the Green downstairs?” Ron asked.
Harry nodded. “That’s how we found out that it tries to go back inside.” Harry pulled a face. “It’s very unpleasant. Anyway, I just took it and ran as fast as I could, apparated to the Ministry and put it in an evidence box. It fought me the entire way.”
“And the dragon downstairs?” Hermione asked curiously.
“She’s fine,” Theo replied. “But not talkative. Scared, I would say.”
“And we’re sure that she’s not under the Death Eater’s control any more?” Bill asked.
“Fairly positive, yeah,” Harry replied.
“I’ll go talk to her,” Hermione suggested.
“Let’s give her some time,” Luna called from Gryn’s side. “She is scared and confused.”
“I will join when you speak with her,” Gryn said. “She is my kind.”
Hermione agreed.
Ron let out a loud yawn. “Okay, now what?” he asked. “Because I’m fucking exhausted.”
All eyes turned to Hermione. “Uh.” She looked to Draco. “Well, we’ll need to make sure we have more people here than usual—maybe we’ll double up patrol shifts. It’s possible they tracked her to our general vicinity, so be on guard. Our wards are impenetrable, but you know, constant vigilance and all that. We’ll talk to the dragon later today after we’ve all rested.”
Theo tacked on, “Rolf and Luna are on duty today. I’ll have an updated schedule by tonight. Apart from patrol, regular training schedules,” he suggested.
Hermione nodded. “Oh. Molly. You’ve not told her yet, have you? I have to assume you spoke to her or saw her after news of the attack on your village was public, Percy.”
The Weasleys all exchanged glances. It was Ginny who spoke up. “The thing is…”
“Mom’s going to kill us when she finds out,” Fred said.
“Absolutely lose it,” George agreed.
“Crying about how we already fought in a war,” Fred added.
“How we’re just her babies, risking it all, yet again,” George sighed.
“How the last war scarred my beautiful face,” Bill commented gruffly.
“How I almost died once already,” Fred declared dramatically.
“So, that’s a no?” Hermione confirmed. The redheads nodded. “Well, you’ll have to tell her eventually. Wait—” Hermione turned to Charlie. “Why does she think you’re back in the UK?”
Charlie shrugged. “Just told her I needed a vacation.”
“And now that we’ve added outright lying to the list of offenses, she’s really going to lose it,” George said.
He wasn’t wrong. But it wasn’t really her problem. The Weasleys would tell their parents when they were ready—or when they were outted. Whichever came first. Hopefully there would be no more attacks to prompt their secret being revealed.
“Okay. Just let us know when you do. So we know how to talk to them.” Hermione paused, her mind racing through her to-do list. “I’ll need to see the talisman and start working on dismantling it,” Hermione said more to herself than anything.
“I’ll help with that,” Bill offered.
“Yes, that would be great,” Hermione replied. “We’ll have to work on it at the Ministry…”
“Hermione, love, you can take a break,” Draco said softly. “Let Bill do what he’s good at. You’re working too hard.”
Hermione blinked at him. He had a point. But she wanted to know about the talisman and it was entirely up her alley. “I’ll take the morning off,” she countered.
“Deal.” Draco turned to their horde. “I’m proud of you all,” he said and the horde smiled at him. “Get some rest.”
Draco stood and picked Hermione up from her chair. She snuggled into his chest as he carried her back up the stairs and into their bedroom. He kissed her softly until she fell asleep.
*
Hermione awoke from her nap groggy and aware that she had not slept enough. Despite that, all the worries and the thought of her never-ending to-do list had the sleep receding from her mind quickly. She felt her shoulders tense with the weight of it all. It was unfair that after such a stressful childhood, her life had not yet slowed down. (Though, she recognized she would not know what to do if her life was truly relaxing, hence her chosen field of work.)
Hermione shifted in Draco’s arms as he breathed deeply, wrapped around her back. She snuggled into him for a moment longer, relishing in his warmth, the safety of his presence.
Hermione then did her best to try to get out of his arms so that she could shower and start the day—there was too much to do.
Draco’s arms only tightened around her. Hermione frowned in response. Her eyes darted to the clock hanging above their door. Really, she ought to start working.
Hermione tried to move again, Draco’s arm was like steel around her waist, trapping her in place. He brought his free hand to her breast and squeezed it gently. Hermione released a breath through her mouth.
“Not yet, love,” Draco complained behind her, his voice heavy with sleep.
Hermione tried to remove his hand, well used to his tricks by now. Draco would never let her leave a bed if he had his way. Not that she usually was one to complain about that. But the dragon in the dungeons needed talking to. And then there was the talisman, plus she had to send a an owl to a contact about selkie migration…
Draco’s lips grazed her neck. Hermione held back her shudder, not trying to encourage him. He might fall back asleep if she remained still. Draco seemed to do just that, his lips pressed to her neck, his breath heavy in her ear. After a few moments, his arm relaxed.
Hermione tried her hand at escaping again. Draco’s arm shoved her back against his chest.
“Where are you going?” he groaned in annoyance. His lips started their dance on her neck again.
Hermione did her best to ignore her slowly growing desire for him. “We have to talk to that dragon,” she replied.
Draco nipped at her ear lobe. Hermione’s breath hitched. “Do we?” he asked deeply, his voice gravelly with sleep.
Hermione nodded. His hand moving down her stomach and slithering underneath her short nightgown did little to relax her. His strong fingers teased her clit. Her breath shuddered.
“Right this instant?” he asked, his fingers working her in sweet tortuous circles.
“Mmm,” was her only response, knowing full well she had lost this round—well really, it wasn’t a true loss. Not with the way his fingers were working her.
Hermione ground against his hand. Draco chuckled darkly in her ear. With some shuffling and bumbling, Draco was sliding into her from behind, Hermione’s legs pressed together, making her clamp tightly around his cock. His fingers remained on her clit, barely moving his hips and instead opting for shallow roll of his hips.
“You feel incredible,” Draco murmured, shifting his hips delicately.
“So good,” was the only response Hermione was capable of making.
Draco nipped at her neck. “Not in such a rush now, are you?” he teased.
Hermione shook her head, a whimper falling from her lips as her hips jerked against his. She was so full of him at this angle.
“Are you going to come on my cock?” Draco teased, his fingers pushing on her clit.
Hermione’s hands clutched at his arm, her hips dragging and pulling against his, seeking him endlessly. “Yes,” she groaned.
Draco rocked against her, not speeding up, but keeping the same level pressure against her. Hermione moaned. She needed more, but he wasn’t giving it, keeping her right on the precipice. Draco didn’t usually tease her—far too desperate to give her everything she ever wanted. But he was teasing her now.
“More,” Hermione begged, “please, Draco.” Her nails dug into his pale skin.
Draco bit her neck. “You can only come if you promise to sleep longer,” he declared.
She whimpered. “But—there’s so much to do,” Hermione protested.
Draco’s hips began slowing.
Hermione panicked, pushing against him more aggressively. “No. Don’t stop,” she begged. “Please. Oh, God. Fine. Fine. I’ll—we can sleep longer.”
Hermione could feel his smile against her neck. “That’s a good girl,” he rumbled against her skin.
Hermione clenched around him in an almost orgasm, that danced out of her reach. Draco chuckled. His hips sped up and Hermione sighed in relief, her crest approaching again very quickly. But then, Draco stilled entirely. And pulled out of her.
Hermione gasped at the movement, her core pounding, her brain foggy, her body greedy. “Draco?”
He rolled her to her back and wedged himself between her thighs. Hermione’s arms gripped his biceps as he settled between her.
“I want to look at your face as you come all over me,” he informed her.
Hermione felt her face flush further. Draco, however, did not enter her. “Why are you…” Hermione tried to ask through her scattered brain.
“You have to let me take care of you, Granger,” he said to her sternly. “You do so much for me. For us. You are indispensable. And you need to take care of yourself.” Hermione felt distinctly like she was being scolded. For some reason, she felt even more slick between her legs. “And since you won’t take care of yourself, love,” Draco said with a disapproving brow, “I will take care of you.” Hermione’s core clenched around nothing. She canted her hips, silently begging him to enter her. “Okay?”
Hermione nodded. Really, she would agree to anything he had to say at that point. “Yes. Yes. Now, please. Draco.”
He teased his cock at her entrance. “Yes, what?”
“Yes, you can take care of me.”
Hermione tried to sink his length into her. He stilled her hips easily. His eyes were that luminous silver they became when his dragon was close to the surface. “So, you’ll stay in this bed for another two hours?” he pushed.
Hermione frowned and glanced at the clock again. “I…” he pulled away from her. She huffed in frustration. “This feels like coercion.”
Draco smirked at her and Hermione hated how devastatingly handsome he was doing it. “I am a Slytherin, love.” His hips too far away from her own, Draco asked again, “You’ll stay in bed for another two hours?”
Hermione bit her lip. She looked at the clock. “Fine. Fine. Yes. Two hours. Then—”
“Then, you’ll have a shower and eat a hot meal.”
Her nails dug into his corded arms. “I ate only two hours ago,” she rebutted.
“If you don’t want to come, that’s your choice, Granger,” Draco said pulling away from her.
Hermione wrapped her legs around his hips and pulled him back to her aggressively. He smirked again. Damn Malfoy.
“Okay, yes. I’ll do what you want.”
His eyes shimmered in delight. “You should say that more often.”
Hermione rolled her eyes at him but all trace of annoyance disappeared as he slammed into her in one swift stroke. Hermione keened. Her walls hugged him as he slammed into her, no longer teasing, just demanding, and heady, and gorgeous.
Hermione trailed her nails over his chest, canted her hips against his, and purred in delight. Her whole body was tensing, clenching, seizing around him as she spun up and up. And up.
“Dear God,” she moaned, her eyes rolling for an entirely different reason.
“That’s it,” Draco grunted, his hips slapping obscenely against her own. “Come for me.”
Hermione came undone. Her body pulsed with the shocks of her orgasm. Draco slowed his hips, praising her headily for how well she had done. It took Hermione coming back to reality to realize he was still hard within her.
“How are you still hard?” she wondered limply.
Draco scooped her up and laid her on her front. With the help of a few pillows, her ass was in the air. He cupped her appreciatively while Hermione still tried to get a handle on reality. He slid into her cunt with ease. Hermione whimpered. Draco was relentless, pounding his hips into her heat. Hermione gripped the sheets so tightly her knuckles went white.
Draco’s groans were loud from behind her, though she could barely see him from her angle.
“Touch yourself,” he ordered.
Hermione was quick to oblige, her fingers shoving against her clit desperately.
“Just like that,” Draco growled. “I love seeing you take me.” Hermione heated beneath him. “So greedy for my cock.”
His filthy words only fueled her fire. She was once again at a crescendo.
“You feel…” Hermione tried to say, her sentence being cut off by a high-pitched moan tumbling from her lips instead. “You feel—”
Hermione whimpered as her world exploded in colour again. She clenched around Draco whose moans of ecstasy blended into her own. They panted together for long, sweaty moments.
Draco pulled out of her. She looked over her shoulder to see him staring at her dripping core. Hermione flushed. He smirked.
“You look so good like this,” Draco muttered pushing some of his come back into her. Hermione gasped weakly in response.
Sometime later, Draco removed the pillows and gently laid her back down on her side. He cleaned them up with magic, then wrapped himself around her again. “Sleep, love,” he said, fatigue brushing his own voice. “I’ll make you come again in the shower.”
Hermione turned and placed a kiss on his lips, soft and gentle. She snuggled into the pillow and fell back asleep.
*
Hermione, Luna, Draco, and Gyrn were gathered in the large dungeons. All of them were in their dragon form, except Hermione, of course. While the fortress was built to accommodate a dragon walking its halls, having 3 large ones definitely pushed the limits of comfort. The imprisoned Green watched them with evident fear in her eyes.
“Hello,” Hermione called. The Green stared at her. “My name is Hermione. This is a few members of our horde.”
“We are Dracun,” Gryn said, “Though, I was once only a Verdes like you. I am Gryn. This is my mate, Luna.” She blinked at him. “We mean no harm. It was our people who removed the evil talisman. You are safe here.” They all remained quiet for several long moments. “Do the evil humans still control you?” Gryn asked.
“We just need to make sure you’re safe before we let you go,” Hermione said softly.
More silence greeted them. When it was clear she would not talk, Hermione simply put some meat into the cell with the dragon, refilled her water, and the horde left her be.
Hermione was disappointed the dragon would not speak to them, but unsurprised. Not only was it rare to speak to humans—let alone a hybrid species—the dragon was evidently traumatized.
*
Draco went to the Ministry with Hermione, but left her to work on the curse breaking with Bill. Hermione knew he hated the Ministry and he had to go work at the apothecary for once, since Theo was spending the day with Harry and their employees were all busy.
He wished her a good day and left.
The talisman was a circular solid silver disk. It was etched with concentric raised ridge patterns. In the centre were two dots connected by a line. It was around five pounds and no matter how much they touched it, cold to the touch.
Bill and Hermione poked and prodded at the talisman for hours, completely unaware of the time passing them by. It was only Draco returning late that evening that made them break for the day.
*
Hermione’s next few days followed a similar patten: she was alternately railed and sweetly loved by Draco in the nights, then she worked at SPERMC for a few hours in the morning, and met Bill in the afternoons at the Ministry, hoping to unravel the dark talisman. Draco would force her to eat hot meals, shower, and entice her to stop working by handing her a book (and not academic books, but instead bodice-rippers). It was incredibly endearing.
At SPERMC, Oliver popped by and ask her question after question about the Dracun, most of which she was happy to share (after he swore an unbreakable with Rolf as the witness). It was a nice change to be back at work again, talking to fellow dragon and magical creature nerds. Though, she did miss Draco fiercely.
Late one evening, frustrated and exhausted, Hermione left Bill in the Ministy interrogation room where they were working at the talisman to go pee. She needed a break more than anything. Draco was right, she was working too hard. But the mystery of the talisman had to take priority—the dragons would keep hurting and be hurt otherwise.
Her mind in the clouds, she did not notice someone else was in the silent Ministry hallway with her until it was far too late. As Hermione turned to greet whoever else was burning the midnight oil, her legs gave out and her vision clouded, her body numb as it landed on the hard marble floor.