Quarrels & Loves

A Gamble With Polyjuice

Summary: It's been a long day—week—and Hermione is so close to closing this murder case, so of course polyjuice has to get involved and land her face to face with Lucius Malfoy and an empty flat.

Stepping out of the Floo and into Draco's flat was the most relieving thing Hermione did all day. She immediately shucked off her cloak, sending it to hang beside the fireplace as she slipped off her shoes. Following the muffled sounds of someone moving around the kitchen, she crossed the living room and poked her head around the corner just in time to see Draco focusing very hard on pouring soup into two bowls.

"Hello, love," he said, not taking his eyes off the pot in his hands. As soon as all the soup was safely poured, he set down the pot and turned to look at her with a warm smile. Reaching a hand out toward her, he asked, "How was work?"

"Productive," she replied, smirking slightly. "Funny how that's always the case when my partner has the day off." She stepped forward, taking his hand and letting him pull her to his chest. "How was your appointment with Luna?"

Draco's smile wavered and Hermione frowned, reaching up to cup his face with one hand.

"That bad?" she asked softly. Her thumb brushed his cheek and Draco turned his head to lightly kiss her palm.

"It's never good, love," he reminded her. Hermione pursed her lips. "It was part of the deal, though, and Lovegood is as understanding as any of them, I suppose."

"If you ever need me or Harry to throw something at the Wizengamot about it, just let me know," Hermione said. Draco's lips twitched into a short smile before he dropped his head down to kiss her.

"I'll keep that in mind," he promised. He kissed her again then let her go so he could grab both of the bowls he'd filled with soup. "However, I am interested in hearing about this oh-so-productive day you had at work."

He handed her a bowl and together they took a seat at the dining room table to eat. Hermione filled him in on the closing paperwork she'd submitted for their previous case and the new one they'd been given that morning. Despite Draco being gone, Harry had refused to give the sensitive case to anyone else which is how Hermione had ended up as the head auror on a case that very clearly was dealing with a blood purist.

"Potter gave it to you?" Draco asked, frowning at her. Hermione nodded, taking a sip of the soup. "He received a call that a muggle had been murdered and that morsmordre was cast over the body, so he assigned it to you?"

"Well, he technically assigned it to us, but yes," Hermione said. Draco's frown deepened. In an attempt to make him feel a little less upset, she said, "Draco, it's okay. This isn't the first Death Eater case we've taken and it certainly won't be the last. There's a reason those cases are always given to us."

"Perhaps he should have a little more preservation before sending you out alone on one," Draco grumbled. Hermione reached for his hand and he immediately settled down. He pressed a warm kiss to the side of her head then leaned back in his seat. "Alright, so we have a new case and it's definitely with Death Eaters. Do tell me more."

Hermione rolled her eyes but did, telling him everything she'd found when she had arrived at the site and the brief rundown she'd been given beforehand. There really hadn't been much to go off of other than the body and the morsmordre floating above it, but Hermione had spent all day figuring out the victim's identity and finally found something just before leaving the office.

"Harry's keeping an eye on it, but I think that's just until you're back in the office," Hermione told him, rolling her eyes at the thought. "You both know I can handle these cases, right?"