Aurelian (Dramione)

Chapter 14: Looking toward a new future

Harry ruffled his tousled wet hair, readjusted the belt of his fleece tartan dressing gown, and grabbed his mug of coffee off of the kitchen counter before starting upstairs. His mind swam with many troubling thoughts of the last few days and his sleep suffered for it. He had stayed up late into the night, tossing and turning in bed. When he woke in the morning, he felt even more exhausted than he had before going to bed. He'd trudged into the bathroom for a shower, with hope that it would help revive him. When it didn't, he had asked Kreacher to make a pot of coffee. If that didn't work, the next step was reaching for an invigoration draught.

Harry's feet felt heavy as lead as he trudged up the stairs from the kitchen. He took a sip of his coffee and grimaced.

"Is it to your liking, Master?" Kreacher asked.

"Um, yeah… It's great," Harry lied. Though the Black family house-elf he inherited had become much more pleasant after the war, he also became a lot more clingy. Ever willing to please, Kreacher didn't seem to have enough to do and followed Harry around the house until he was given more orders. Harry tried not to let it bother him, but sometimes it was just too much. He was getting rather desperate for some space and considered either completely dirtying a room that would keep Kreacher busy for a time or sending him to help clean the Burrow.

Harry paused halfway up the stairs and listened intently. "Was that the chime from the fireplace?" he asked. He honestly wasn't sure if it was or if it was his tired mind playing tricks on him because he rarely received company so early, and he certainly wasn't expecting anyone.

"Kreacher thinks so, Master Harry. Should Kreacher check, sir?"

"Yeah," Harry answered distractedly as he wondered who might be calling. He walked back down the stairs and opened the kitchen door.

"Morning, Harry," Hermione greeted brightly.

"Master Harry, you have a visitor. Miss Hermione Granger awaits your presence in the kitchen," Kreacher announced decorously.

"Yes, thank you, Kreacher," Harry said dryly.

"Kreacher is happy to be of service, sir," he said with a bow.

"Uh, Kreacher, do you think you could um…" Harry fished around quickly for a task for the elf, "go purchase some new candles for the chandelier in the foyer? Um, purple ones? We could use some change in color…"

"Of course, Master," Kreacher agreed. With a 'crack' he was gone.

Harry sighed. "I swear the poor old thing gets battier every day."

"Harry!" Hermione admonished.

"It wasn't meant as insult. I feel bad for the poor thing," Harry admitted. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"Nice to see you, too," she chuckled. "I'm here for a couple reasons." Hermione walked over to the long kitchen table and allowed the large heavy stack of files in her arms to thump down onto it. "First, Malfoy owled me last night to tell me that he's not going to be able to help this morning. His dinner with Pansy got moved up to brunch today."

"That's good and that is him helping," Harry said. Hermione nodded in agreement.

"The main reason I'm here, though, is to warn you. I went into the office early today to get the key to the locked file room from Kristof and discovered that Robards is looking for you. If you go into the office today, he's going to corner you," she said seriously.

Harry sighed. "Yeah, I guess I should be prepared for that. He's been getting suspicious with how frequently I'm in and out of the office and that I'm not working with any other aurors. He's seen me working specifically with you, and then specifically with Ron, and then both of you yesterday."