The Case of the Fake Ferret || 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞√

𓊈 N i n e t e e n 𓊉

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"𝓦𝓮𝓵𝓵, 𝓘 𝓰𝓾𝓮𝓼𝓼 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝔀𝓮𝓻𝓮 𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽, 𝓜𝓼. 𝓖𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓻 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓜𝓻. 𝓜𝓪𝓵𝓯𝓸𝔂, 𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓫𝓮𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓲𝓷𝓷𝓸𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽 𝓪𝓫𝓸𝓾𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓼𝓾𝓼𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽𝓼, 𝓷𝓸𝓽 𝓫𝓪𝓭," praised the minister of magic, giving the pair a rare smile.

Turns out, they had found Pansy Parkinson during the duo's search for Ronald Weasley, and got her to tell the truth with some Veritaserum.

Weasley and Parkinson were arrested afterwards. Hermione and Draco had been given a promotion and a raise, much to their delight.

"Look, I'm not going to beat around the bush, your apartment was small, cramped and pitiful. So, how about you come live with me? I've plenty of rooms in my manor, besides after my mother gets the surgery she'll need female company. How about it?" grinned Draco, hope shining in his eyes.

"Surgery? What surgery?" Hermione looked at him, concern written all over her face.

"Oh, I didn't tell you, right... Well, my mother has cancer, and you know how expensive chemotherapy can be, that's why I decided to spy on you for Weasel, so-,"

"You were spying on me for Ronald?!" People were starting to glance curiously at the two.

"Oh, Merlin, keep it low. People are staring. Look, I'm sorry, alright? I needed the money and Weasel paid me handsomely for the job, again, I'm sorry," he apologized.

"It's...fine, I suppose, but I'm only forgiving you because you did this for your mother! And, you know what? I've saved enough money to buy an apartment that's not so cramped, thank you for the offer, though, I appreciate it," she sighed, turning to leave.

He suddenly pulled her back by the arm, "I-I need to talk to you, in private. 8 pm tonight? Can we meet up after work before the entrance?". Confused, she nodded.

He let go of her wrist, bidding her farewell.

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𝓐 𝓷𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓫𝔂 𝓬𝓱𝓾𝓻𝓬𝓱 𝓫𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰 𝓪𝓼 𝓪 𝓼𝓸𝓯𝓽 𝓫𝓻𝓮𝓮𝔃𝓮 𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓿𝓮𝓵𝓵𝓮𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓻𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓭. Hermione walked out, only to see Draco was already there, waiting for her.

He pulled her to one side, grinning nervously at her.

"You wanted to see me?" He nodded, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well... Do you know why I bullied you so much during our school days?"

She shook her head, clearly confused by his question.

"Because you hated me, of course,"

"Of course not! You see, as I grew up, my parents told me to hate muggles and blood traitors. They told me muggles and blood traitors deserved no rights and place in the magical world. So, since I was just a kid, I grew up on that stereotype.

"Therefore, I constantly kept bullying you, Potter and Weasley, I didn't know how hurtful that was back then, but I do now. The reason I hated you was that I was brought up that way. But the moment I saw you, I was confused. Little me couldn't understand how a muggleborn could be so intelligent and breathtaking," he took a deep breath.

"I was scared of my own feelings, I was scared of what you were doing to me. I tried to ignore my emotions by covering it up by throwing insults at you. I thought, if I was cold and rude to you, you would distance yourself from me and I could finally stop questioning everything I knew. But you suffered from my treatment and I became depressed. I wanted advice at what I should do, but I knew, if I went around telling the people in my life, who were all toxic and prejudiced, I would be saw as disgusting and would be cast out. I'm sorry. I know this took me 19 years to say, but... I love you," he looked at her, nervously fidgeting with the hem of his coat.

"Draco...," before any of the two could process what was happening, they finally closed the space between them.

Their lips fit together perfectly, almost like a puzzle piece. Like any of the others before, this wasn't awkward or forced, but soft and sweet.

They pulled away to breathe, "I-," Hermione stuttered, looking up at him.

"Damn it," Draco cursed as he pulled her in once again, kissing her squarely on the lips. Hermione's right hand travelled up his neck to his head, playing with his platinum blond hair, as Draco grasped her waist, pulling her closer to him. Draco didn't know how long it was, but Merlin, her lips were addictive.

Other people's stares bore into them as the passerbies threw awkward looks at the couple.

Hermione was never a fan of PDA, but now, she didn't care where she was as long as Draco was the one kissing her. Heck, she would even kiss him in a sewer and not care!

His lips made their way down, trailing down her jaw and peppering kisses all over her bruising neck, as she moaned out in pleasure.

They had somehow gotten from the entrance of the Ministry to the Malfoy Manor. Her breath was shaky, and her heart beating faster than ever.

Blood rushed to her face as she felt the disgusted stares of Draco's ancestors.

She slapped him on his head, causing him to break the kiss, which slightly disappointed her.

She blushed as she saw how his whole face was a mess, his hair sticking out unevenly, and how his lips were bruised from the intense kiss.

Draco looked at her, confused, until he heard a few whispers around, only to scowl at the sight of the portraits running to and fro to the other paintings, obviously to gossip about the kiss Hermione and Draco had shared.

"Don't let them stop you," he leaned down to kiss her again, only to release a groan as her hand formed a barrier between their lips.

"That's enough, Draco, I'm getting this weird feeling in my stomach,".

It was true, it felt as though butterflies were invading her stomach, fluttering wildly around. She had read about it, it was when you're in love.

But she had never felt something like that during her kisses with Ronald Weasley.

She quickly shook her head, clearing her thoughts about that lying, cheating piece of scu-

"Hermione?" she quickly snapped out of her daze, narrowing her eyes on the blond-haired beauty in front of her.

Hermione felt someone staring at them from behind, turning her head, she spotted a pale woman in a blue-white dress, looking quite amused at the sight before her.

"M-Mum! It's not what you thin-" Draco denied, a horrified expression on his face.

"I knew it! Oh, Miss Granger, you do not know how in love my Draco was with you! This is amazing, Draco! I've never seen you look at someone like that ever! I'm so proud! That Pansy girl was horrible, I knew from my first glance of her that she was not the right one for you, but that Lucius...," she trailed away, noticing the flushed expression that her son had, "Oh, don't be like that, Draco, you love her, she loves you!".

-∆-

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟏𝟏𝟕𝟔 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬