Aurelian (Dramione)

Chapter 20: Bait

Hermione glanced up at the clock on her mantel and continued to anxiously pace her small living room. It was nearly noon which meant that she had been pacing her flat for over an hour. At one point, she had gone to the kitchen and made herself a quick lunch, but she had only taken two bites. She was much too nervous to eat. She reminded herself that this mission she and Draco were going to do was a rather simple one. It was nothing compared to some of the things she had done over the years. But even with all of her positive thinking, she was all nerves. She hadn't done any missions since the war. She tried to tell herself that it was not like anything in the war, it was more like when she, Harry, and Ron used to sneak around Hogwarts when they were students. But then she remembered that even all of the petty rule-breaking they had done had made her sick to her stomach. She sighed and looked at the clock again. Just as it began striking the hour, her fireplace chimed. She stopped and watched as Draco stepped into her living room.

"Hi," she greeted. She could tell just by the way he held himself that he was as anxious as she was.

"Hi."

"Are you ready to go?" she asked.

"Yeah. Where's Potter? I thought he was supposed to be here with the cloak. He said he'd be waiting while we're gone."

"He stopped by a couple of hours ago with the cloak," Hermione said, picking the invisibility cloak off of the sofa. "He talked to Bill yesterday and had a meeting set with a few goblins at Gringotts for eleven. He was hoping he'd be back before we left, but he told us to go even if he wasn't. He'll be here waiting for whenever we get back. He has Ginny's mobile phone in case of an emergency. Ron has his, as well. I'm sure we won't need them, but it's extra precaution."

Draco nodded. "Well, we know the plans. Are you ready?"

"Yes. Let's go over the signals once more though. Two taps?" she asked.

"Wait."

"Three taps?"

"Go ahead."

"Four or more taps?"

"We leave."

"Good," Hermione said, sounding satisfied.

"And you stay close. Behind me at my elbow at all times," he reminded her. "I don't want to lose you."

"I know," she replied. "So… no point waiting any longer."

Hermione threw the silvery flowing cloak over herself and disappeared under it. Draco heard her footsteps, but even with as close as she was to him, he couldn't tell where she was and it made him tense. "Where are you?"

"Right here," she answered from his right side. She reached out and touched his right shoulder.

"Put your arm out so that I can Apparate us to Diagon Alley," he ordered a bit more harshly than he meant to. He was edgy and things often came out as a bark when he felt like that. He reminded himself not to take it out on the person standing next to him. They were partners today, voluntarily, and he needed to remember that she was anxious, also. She removed her hand from his shoulder and he reached out, blindly groping for her arm. He felt her raise her arm to meet his hand and lower it to its previous position. He tried to remember its height. He needed to be very conscious of her. He looked over to her again. It was a strange sensation to feel her small forearm in his grasp, to feel the silky material under his palm and feel her heat through it, yet be unable to see any of it.

"I'm ready," she told him.

"Okay." Draco led them onto the front stoop of her home, closed his eyes, and after a deep breath, Disapparated.