Shades of Grey

Chapter 12

Hermione perked up Wednesday evening upon hearing a knock on her door, the odds being Malfoy or takeaway.

She'd take either honestly, having not seen one or the other in several days.

To her disappointment, it was only Ron.

"What?" she asked annoyed, fist on one hip, as he stared down at his trainers.

"I came to apologize," he mumbled, eyes downcast.

She snorted resulting in him looking up confused. "It's not me you should be apologizing to."

It was his turn to look annoyed. "You want me to apologize to another baby?"

"Stop offending them then."

Ron threw his hands in the air. "I wasn't expecting you to be all cozy with Malfoy, alright? And - And you only broke up from not wanting kids and -"

"That's not the only reason, Ron," she interrupted, his expression taken aback. "You expected me to start popping out kids and be a stay-at-home mum and housewife. That's not who I am but you wouldn't listen. You wouldn't listen to anything I wanted honestly."

"Mione..."

A pop of apparition made them jump only to see Malfoy approaching impassively, though she could tell he was barely concealing his anger.

"Am I... interrupting?"

"Yes."

"No."

Hermione and Ron scowled.

She suddenly perked up at a familiar scent. "Is that Pad Thai?"

Draco looked only slightly abashed as he held it out to her.

Hermione side-stepped Ron curiously.

"It's a bargaining chip," Malfoy drawled looking amused when he lifted it suddenly as she went to grab it.

She pouted slightly when he held it out of her reach. "For?"

His expression turned serious, glancing at Ron. "Another one was found."

"Oh," she said quietly, chewing her bottom lip.

"Thought we could sit and chat about the case..." he suddenly smirked coldly over at Ron. "If you're not busy."

"Mione -"

"Until you've done what I've asked, there's nothing more to be said," she said primly, raising a brow.

Ron snorted but she stayed firm.

"Seriously?"

Her expression didn't change.

He huffed indignantly and disapparated.

Hermione rolled her eyes and reentered her flat, Malfoy following closely behind.

She accio'ed two forks and they sat together on the couch.

"It would appear as suicide if we didn't know better," said Malfoy quietly, scratching Crookshanks absentmindedly behind the ear when her familiar swaggered over to greet him.

"But the Healers found out something peculiar with these last two victims."

He held out the report he'd just enlarged, handing the file to her.

"We know Turk was bit several times," he started as she began to read. "But what we didn't know is he was bit several times over the course of a few days by different species of snakes. Some of the snakes he was bit by didn't even have enough venom to kill a human."