Sour Grapes

Chapter 36 - Missing

Draco was agitated.

It was Monday evening and Hermione had not yet arrived. He'd sent Astoria to the ministry to surreptitiously pass her a small package containing a portkey to his flat, but when she'd gone to do so, Hermione hadn't been in her office. The secretary had assured Astoria that she would deliver the package as soon as Hermione was back from her meeting.

Worry pooled in his stomach. Had she received it at all? Perhaps she hadn't come back to the office. It wouldn't be wise for her to owl him if she couldn't make it there, but he hadn't predicted that she simply wouldn't show up.

"You are going to wear a hole in that floor, mate," Blaise said as he emerged from the spare bedroom and caught sight of Draco pacing. "Granger is a big girl, I'm sure she's fine."

"Are you? With my maniac Father traipsing about England unencumbered?"

"He can only visit the Manor, Draco, he told me so himself. Don't go making this all more fucking terrifying than it already is."

"Well what would you suggest I do, then? Play fucking gobstones with you on the balcony and soak in the warm summer air?"

Blaise looked over to the balcony and raised his eyebrows.

"Don't say it sounds like a great idea, you prick. Any response from Potter?"

"I told you, Draco, he's off on another mission out of the country, he'll be gone all week."

Draco grumbled an incoherent reply and went back to pacing the room. Something did not feel right about this; it simply was not in character for Hermione to neglect to communicate.

The evening progressed slowly, with Blaise making varied attempts to calm Draco to no avail.

Eventually, Blaise had retired to bed with Gabrielle, leaving Draco to pace and stew alone in his living room.

* * *

"Bloody hell, mate, have you been awake all night?!" Blaise exclaimed as he re-emerged from the spare bedroom the following morning, wearing only boxer shorts.

Draco sat on the couch, elbows on knees, staring at the floo.

Looking over at his friend through heavily lidded eyes he said, "she never came."

Blaise's eyes went wide. "Yes that's pretty fucking apparent, but why didn't you go to bed eventually?"

Draco turned back to the floo and shook his head, making no reply.

"Mate, it looks like you were stood up for a date at the very worst. At best, she never got the message, will you please take your head out of your arse and-"

"He knows," Draco muttered. "My Father knows it was you and not me on Saturday night. He knows I've been with Hermione after he forbid it. He's taken her."

Again, Blaise's eyes went wide.

"That's quite a whacking conclusion to come to, don't you think?"

Draco glared at him, his voice suddenly sharp. "Prove it wrong."

Blaise held his hands out at his sides and let out a low laugh. "And how would you have me do that, Draco? It's not as though I can go strolling into the Ministry to see if she's turned up for work with this damn trace on me. It just doesn't make sense Lucius has her. Much more likely she had some meeting and never returned to the office."

Draco was hardly listening. He had been doing mental acrobatics all night to create and then review the ways in which his Father might play his hand. Would he simply do away with her and never say a word about it? Would he use her as a hostage in order to get Draco to do some sort of unspeakable things on his behalf? No matter what conclusion he came to, they all involved Hermione being hurt in some way, or worse...