Carpathian

Two Weeks Later - Thursday, 5:32 pm

Hermione had never felt more lost at work.

When she Flooed into the Ministry the Monday after returning from Romania, it was like stepping back in time. To a different version of her life. To a different version of her.

The emerald tiles shimmered just as brightly, the updated Statue of Magical Brotherned flowed just as brilliantly, the lift to her windowless office rocked just as bumpily. Harry escorted Hermione through her department where the same people behind the same desks completed the same monotonous paperwork.

"I'll be right outside," Harry said after he unwarded her office.

The door-to-door protection was overkill, but Hermione didn't have the energy to argue. It's standard Ministry protocol, Harry and Ron had both insisted. But since when did standard protocol have to remain the norm? What happened to fighting against what the Ministry said when it didn't make sense? Hermione was perfectly capable of defending herself. What could Harry and Ron do that Hermione couldn't?

Nothing. Nothing was the answer. But Hermione also knew that Harry and Ron were so alarmed by what had almost happened to her that they made it their mission to follow every guideline that the Romanian and British Ministries had established to prevent the Seven Brothers from enacting revenge. They guarded her door while she worked, cast protective charms on her flat, and read the updated Auror reports from the sanctuary.

Neither Harry nor Ron had yet to mention Draco.

After Robards had personally escorted her from the British Auror office back to her flat, Hermione had awoken to a disgruntled delivery owl who had not appreciated her unexpected absence the past several days. She paid the owl nicely then unfolded the Daily Prophet , only to discover her face on the front page. The headline had made her skin crawl.

Villainry in Verdell: War Hero Hermione Granger Thwarts Attacks Against Romanian Dragon Sanctuary

It shouldn't have surprised her. The Prophet's sources inside the Ministry always seemed to work quicker whenever she, Ron, or Harry was involved. Of course they'd plaster her name in big letters every opportunity they got. Nevermind the fact that such a headline despicably minimised the role everyone else had played. Charlie, Julia, Markus, and Aurel weren't mentioned as participants in the battle. Yet the article hadn't waited to mention Draco. His name was prominently featured—though with none of the reverence the Prophet had given Hermione.

Seeing his name so inextricably linked back to his Death Eater past made her heart feel like it had been stomped on by a Ukrainian Ironbelly. But what struck Hermione most was the image they chose.

There, in black and white, was Hermione on her knees, scrambling to stop Draco's bleeding. Even in the grainy photograph, she could see the desperation in her eyes. The urgent need to keep Draco safe, to keep him alive, now on display for the entire British Wizarding population to see.

Her eyes scanned the rest of the page with its accompanying sub-headlines. The Daily Prophet was having a field day.

Dragon Sanctuaries: Institutionally Important or Dysfunctionally Dangerous?

Strong as Ever: Harry Potter and Ron Weasley Vow to Protect Other Third of Golden Trio

And, of course:

Draco Malfoy: The Complete Post-War Timeline of the Infamous Death Eater

The timeline, predictably, was nowhere close to complete. It recounted his acquittal (despite public dismay) due to minor status when assigned the Dark Mark, his return to Hogwarts while his father awaited trial, and his sudden departure from British society without an apparent trace. All the things Hermione had known about Draco prior to arriving at the sanctuary. But the Prophet dug deeper, uncovering old public records and turning bombshells out of trivialities. They called into question the legitimacy of the Wizengamot for permitting Draco to complete his N.E.W.T.s early. They speculated what other former Death Eaters Draco may have contacted and what heinous intentions he had for working with dragons. They accused him of still being a potential threat, claiming ulterior motives for saving Hermione Granger's life. Because how could the public believe that maybe, just maybe, Draco Malfoy was no longer the enemy they once perceived him to be? Why ask the people involved for their accounts when the Daily Prophet could continue to spin together loosely woven tales that unravelled with any semblance of honest research?