Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and Warner Bros. All fics posted at this community were written entirely for fun, not for profit, and no copyright infringement is intended.

Pairing: Draco/Hermione

Main characters: Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger , Blaise Zabini, Astoria Greengrass-Zabini, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Pansy Parkinson, OC.

Summary: It's been eight years since Draco last spoke with Hermione, and now she has disappeared...

Author's Note(s): This story was hugely inspired by reeby10 In the Beginning A Flame (check it out on AO3)

Lots of thanks to Laura for proof reading this story! Your help is very much appreciated, my dear! :)

Rating: NC-17 (mostly for violence: there WILL be graphic depictions of violence and death, as well as profanity, etc.)

It was a normal Tuesday morning, and Draco was sitting in his minimalistically furnished office on the top floor of his company. He had taken it over when his father had been sentenced to life in Azkaban, and had proven to be rather talented in business matters, divesting all questionable connections and investments, as well as concentrating on research and development of new technology for the wizarding world. Besides that, he had made a point of studying the structures of successful Muggle companies, and implemented similar structures; nowadays, his company was an established household name, not just in Great Britain, but throughout Europe with plans to expand further.

So, that morning he was going through the daily reports from the Research and Development Departments with Astoria, his personal assistant. It was their daily ritual—and as usual, she was sitting next to him for easier note taking.

"There isn't much to report today, it seems. The Research Department still say they are stuck on figuring out the newest technologies. And they claim that they are severely understaffed to achieve anything."

"They always claim this," Draco replied without looking up from his notes; however he pulled up his agenda to check his schedule, and then sighed. "Tell the Head of Department I might have a couple of minutes left tomorrow to discuss his claim. But he hasn't really any reason to complain, his Department already has the most employees..."

"Yes, I told him the same, but he still wants to discuss it. Says he has a few ideas."

"Ideas. I hate that word when it comes from him." Draco groaned, and pinched his nose in an attempt to avoid a facepalm in response to the insistence of his Head of Research Department; he then checked his agenda once more, sighing wearily. "Let's see. Okay, tell him I have some time for him on Thursday after four. Wonder what kind of ideas he has this time..."

"Noted." She checked her Quick-Note Quill to make sure it had penned down the correct information, and then eyed Draco with a worried look. "You okay? You look tired..."

Draco nodded, his gaze still fixed on his agenda, which was always filled with meetings, appointments and other important dates he shouldn't miss. It had kept him busy for the last ten years or so, and he was glad about it—he wouldn't know where he'd be now if he hadn't had the little agenda and the company to distract him from other things he wanted to forget, but still couldn't. "I'm fine, Astoria," he replied, though it wasn't quite true, as he was starting to feel tired—not physically tired, but emotionally. "You don't have to ask me every morning," he added, finally looking up.

"And you know I will keep asking you every morning. Why don't you take a break? Go on a holiday and relax, enjoy the sun a bit in the Caribbean."

"And leave the company alone?" he asked sceptically, and leaned back in his director's chair.

She nodded. "Blaise and I can keep the company running for you. And I'm sure Pansy will help as well. Take a break, it will do you good," she continued with a concerned voice. "Please. You need it. We all think that you buried yourself in work long enough–"

"Is there anything else concerning the Departments I need to know?" he interrupted her, clenching his jaw. Burying himself in work was what had kept him alive all that time. He couldn't allow himself a break because that would mean he had time to think about things he had gone through enough times on sleepless nights.

"Draco, please at least consider it, ma–"

"I think we're finished for today, right?" Draco said, a low growl in his voice as a sign that he wasn't going to accept any further discussion on the matter.

"I get it," she shot back, not in the least intimidated by his growl. "No need to talk to me like that, Draco, okay? I'm your friend, and as such I'm worried about you."

"You always are."

She smiled softly. "Yes. That's what friends are for. To worry about each other, make sure you're okay." With that, she started collecting her Quick-Note Quill and her penned down notes in order to go back to her desk just outside his office. "Don't forget that the Irish Ministry is waiting for your call."

"Thanks." With a faint smile, he watched her get up and leave him to the preparation for the appointment that was scheduled two hours later. He might place the call to the Irish Ministry just before that, it was only to confirm their latest transaction anyway.

.xx.

About an hour after Astoria had left his office, Draco was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of a small owl pecking at the only window that could be opened. He immediately recognised the small owl—it was Maude, Theo's favourite owl for when he wanted to send him a message. Draco got up, smiling shortly at the fact that Theo still refused to use one of the devices his Development Department had struggled to figure out the details for to keep him informed about certain things, stating that the owl was more inconspicuous because he was sending owls all the time, anyway. "Come on in, Maude. Let's see what Theo has this time."

The bird hopped inside, straight towards the desk, where she knew he had a few owl treats in store for her. She hooted quietly when he joined her at the desk, offering her the owl treats in exchange for the note on her leg.

Draco put the note on the side when he managed to get it off her leg. "One last treat for you, and then you go back to Theo, okay? Bite him in the finger for me..." He offered the owl another treat and then let her out of the window again, watching her fly back towards the Ministry until he couldn't make her out any longer in the grey sky. He liked the bird, she was the closest thing to a pet he had and treated her accordingly—at least one creature he could treat with a bit of love. He used to treat another person the same way, treating her with all the love he had; those happier days were long gone, but he still yearned for them to come back. With a sigh, he finally unfolded the note to read it.

Have you read today's Prophet yet?
I think you should be informed about that.
Theo

"The Prophet?" he let out in confusion, and then realised that he indeed hadn't read through it yet. He hadn't even seen today's edition anywhere, not on his desk, not on Astoria's, and he guessed it was even hidden away downstairs in the entrance hall. Irritated that his friends thought it once more necessary to hide the newspaper from him, he stormed out of the office. "Astoria!"

"No need to shout my name like that," she retorted, looking up from the report she was checking.

"Where's your husband?" Draco asked, a low growl in his voice.

"In his office, as he always is at this time when you both aren't in a meeting or anything similar. What's the matter?"

Draco dismissed her question with a wave of his hand and left to walk towards the stairs that would lead him down one floor to Blaise's office. "Nothing."

"Gods, Theo has sent you another note, hasn't he?" Astoria followed him, struggling to keep up with his fast, angry stride. "I told him to stop that, because it's doing you no good–"

That made Draco stop and turn around. "I know you do everything to keep anything about her out of my sight. I know you filter out my messages, so I need someone else to keep me updated, okay?"

"That's what I mean. How are you supposed to let go if he keeps reminding you all the time?"

"No." He turned back around to continue storming down to Blaise's office, with Astoria following as fast as she could.

Moments later, Draco burst into Blaise's office, letting the door slam into the wall behind it. "Why do you keep hiding the Prophet?"

"Theo has sent him a message, Blaise!" Astoria shouted from the hallway to warn her husband about the reason for this interruption.

With an exasperated sigh, Blaise got up to meet Draco on eye level, his arms crossed on his chest. "Because I need you to be in a good enough mood for the appointment later. You do remember that we're meeting the representatives from Hungary in an hour, right?"

Draco shook his head, ignoring Blaise's remark, and banged the note he received from Theo on the desk instead. "What am I not supposed to know this time?"

"Theo is an arsehole for doing this. We told him both to stop it. And I'm not going to tell you, nor am I going to give you the paper right now," Blaise replied, a warning swinging in his voice. "Let go. It's time."

"No." Again, Draco shook his head, and then pulled out his wand.

"Draco, no!" Astoria tried to intervene, pulling at her friend's right arm. "Please. Listen to Blaise for once."

"Accio Prophet!"

Blaise was fast enough to catch the newest edition of the Prophet when it slipped out of the bottom of his drawer. "I told you, I won't give you the paper right now."

"Blaise, hand it over." Draco stretched out his left hand, pointing his wand at his friend.

"Make me," Blaise retorted, staring straight at Draco.

"I know it's about her. Nothing you're going to say now will make me stop. So, give it to me."

"Yes, because Theo only ever sends you a message when it's about her."Astoria squeezed herself between Draco and the desk, in an attempt to shield her husband from Draco's full wrath. "Please. At least calm down," she continued with a softer tone, placing a hand on his wand arm. "There's no need to point a wand at Blaise. We're just trying to protect you from harm, okay? And right now, you have an important appointment to think about."

Clenching his jaw repeatedly, and switching between Astoria and Blaise, Draco considered his options. Yes, they were trying to protect him from harm, but he didn't want to be protected, he wanted to feel the pain, and more so, he wanted to know about her.

"Please, Draco," Astoria pleaded once more, stroking over his wand arm, which he finally slowly lowered. "Thanks."

Draco inhaled deeply, and closed his eyes for a moment. "A compromise," he then said, "I promise to be in a good enough mood for the appointment with the Hungarians if you hand me the paper now... please."

Astoria turned around to exchange looks with her husband, who was still holding the paper tightly in his hands. "You okay with that?"

"I think I have to be. I seriously can't use him all grumpy during that meeting." Blaise slowly opened his arms, and returned his gaze to Draco, who was waiting for an answer. "I swear if you don't behave in that meeting we're going to have a serious talk between friends–"

"I said I will behave," Draco interjected impatiently.

"We'll see about that." And with a defeated sigh, Blaise finally handed the newspaper over to Draco, who immediately unfolded it to read the front page.

"WAR HERO GRANGER MISSING!
Is the Ministry incapable of finding their most famous female Auror?

Hermione Granger, still famous for being a member of the Golden Trio, and a remarkable Auror, has gone missing while on a case abroad, apparently following a lead in her latest case. Despite several inquiries for a statement about Ms. Granger's disappearance, the Ministry officially refuses to make a statement just yet, maintaining the stance that she might be undercover for the case; however, this reporter knows that they don't have any way of contacting her, nor do they know where she is. According to our source, especially Head Auror Harry Potter is desperate to find any clue–"

The more Draco read on the front page, the more his heart sunk. He didn't really know what he had expected to read about her, but definitely not this. Not wanting to continue reading—the rest of the article was only speculation anyway—he placed the paper on Blaise's desk, only now noticing how his friends were silently watching him. He rubbed his face, and then raked his hands through his hair.

"You okay?" Astoria asked, sounding even more worried this time than during their morning briefing.

Draco nodded. "When is the next meeting with the British Ministry?" he asked quietly.

"I would need to check your schedules, but as far as I remember, you're supposed to meet up with the Auror department on Friday, and the Vice Minister early next month," Astoria replied, exchanging looks with Blaise once more.

"Thanks." Draco tried to put on a faint smile, though he felt like having been hit by a Mountain Troll. "Could you contact Potter for me to rearrange the meeting for this afternoon if possible? If not, tomorrow..."

Astoria checked with Blaise first, who simply nodded. "I see what I can do. Though I doubt he'll have the capacity to just twist it for you. And I will have to re-arrange your schedules as well..."

"Then remind him that I might just delay the delivery of his new security vests he is so eager about if he doesn't agree."

"All right. I'll try, but I won't make any promises," Astoria conceded. "But I think you now better leave it to Blaise to call the Irish Ministry about that confirmation," she added with another look to her husband and an apologetic shrug.

"I'll take care of it," Blaise concurred with a nod, watching them intently. "As always."

"Thanks." With that, Draco started to turn around to leave Blaise's office for his own again. This had been a blow he hadn't expected at all. He had been used to occasionally read about her successes in the newspaper, or about speculations concerning her love life which usually turned out to be just that, speculations. In his mindless walk back, he didn't notice Astoria carefully following him.

"I'm sorry about that blow," she whispered when she had caught up with him. "Blaise wanted to tell you after the appointment with the Hungarians, you know?"

Draco nodded absent-mindedly. "Can you leave me alone for a moment?"

"Of course..." Astoria smiled in understanding, and watched him slip back into his office. "I still have some of that modified Calming Draught the Healers prescribed you, if you need it for the appointment."

"Thanks." Letting out a deep sigh, Draco closed the door behind him, and broke down on the floor.

The re-arranged meeting with the Auror Department at the Ministry was the following day, as Astoria had coaxed Harry long enough until he finally relented and agreed to meet earlier than scheduled, despite having other, more urgent problems on his plate.

"You have some nerve asking for a rearrangement right now, Malfoy," Harry greeted him when he picked his visitors up in the foyer. "And you brought company as well. Hello everybody." He offered his hand to Astoria, then Blaise.

"Well, right now is part of why I wanted the meeting rearranged," Draco countered coolly, making sure his visitor's badge was hanging correctly.

"Is Nott in?" Blaise asked, shaking Harry's hand.

"He should be, he has desk duty at the moment. Let's go." Harry beckoned them to come along; they ended up with Draco and Harry walking in front, and the Zabinis at the rear. It was a mostly silent walk to Harry's office at the Auror Department.

"I see, desperate was putting it nicely," Blaise commented when they arrived at the Department, walking through the desks towards Harry's office at the end. Every single available Auror was working on the same case—Hermione's disappearance; the mood in the big room was bordering on frantic, as they were either discussing the scarce information they so far had collected or were trying to tap into their sources to find any clue, however small.

Harry turned around, smiling sadly. "You have no idea." He pointed to one of the desks. "That's Nott's desk if you need to speak to him."

Blaise nodded, then looked at Draco, who had turned around as well. "We'll join you in a moment, mate. Astoria and I need to have a word with Nott first."

"Go on," Draco replied, and then watched them walk over with a smirk. Theo was in for a surprise if those two decided to corner him as a couple, they could be surprisingly intimidating if they wanted to.

"Okay, Malfoy, let's get it over with," Harry said, smirking as well when he saw his colleague cornered by his former fellow House mates. "I'm pretty sure you prefer talking about why you really wanted to come without them."

Draco nodded, and followed Harry into his office. He wasn't surprised to find it in the same systematic chaos as he always did—maybe even more chaotic this time because of the frantic search for Hermione. He sat down in the visitor's chair, while Harry let himself fall into his office chair on the other side of the desk.

"I'm probably right if I guess that's about Hermione, right?" Harry asked after eyeing Draco for a moment. "The vests aren't that important to rearrange the schedule, but she would be."

"Yes." Draco nodded. Hermione still was the most important person in his life, even if they weren't talking any longer. "I wanted to offer my help. You know I have other means that you can't even consider."

"Why?" Harry asked, leaning back, his eyebrow raised. "I mean you two haven't talked in years–"

"Doesn't mean I don't care about her," Draco interrupted him sarcastically. "I still do, that's why I am here."

Harry took his glasses off, and rubbed his nose bridge. "Look, I don't think this is a good idea. I already have every Auror working on it; and we are going through every detail of her last cases she was working on."

"What was she working on?" Draco asked, not taking his eyes off Harry. He tried to hide the fact that he didn't like the rejection of his offer, because he really wanted to be part of the search for Hermione.

Harry just shook his head. "Still no."

"Potter, I've left her in peace for the last eight years, but I never stopped caring about her. I want to help–"

"How do you think you could possibly help?"

Draco shrugged. "You'd be surprised about the contacts and the options I have. You seem to forget that I own a company with business connections around at least half the globe. I can reach faster, and further than you can with your official ways..."

"I have my own network–"

"I know. But it isn't as deep as mine. Let me help."

"Why?"

"Because it's her. And I promised her once that I won't ever give her up. Let me help."

"Still no." Harry shook his head, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Why? You don't trust me, right?"

"Oh, I do trust you enough—after all, Hermione trusted you once too—or I wouldn't let the Ministry make deals with your company. But I do not trust you enough to let you take part in the search. We will find her, these are the best wizards and witches that ever worked as Aurors. You're still too involved, and you would just risk the whole operation."

Draco couldn't stop himself from sneering at those words. "I'm good enough to make deals, all right. But you won't let me take part in the search for my ex-girlfriend, who—as you probably know—still owes me a proper explanation as to why she left me in the first place." He noticed Harry's quick downward glance. "Oh, that's rich! You know why she left me and that's why you don't want me to take part. Am I right, Potter?"

"I don't know why she really left you. Maybe it was because she finally realised you two do not fit as perfectly as you thought, and it's not even mine to tell anyway," Harry retorted, straightening up. "I simply do not want to risk the operation with a civilian acting out of bounds."

Draco shook his head in disbelief, and then raked through his hair. "I can't believe it. Seriously, I'm offering you a way to act outside of your official channels, and you still reject it. Still a Gryffindor to the bone. Hermione wasn't afraid to bend the rules if needed–"

"Something she took up from you."

"Not really, no–"

A knock at the door announced a visitor, and seconds later, Blaise stuck his head in, greeted with stares from both current inhabitants. "You guys finished talking business?"

"We just got started on the vests, haven't we, Potter?" Draco replied, turning his attention back to Harry. "And I think I might just need to up the price for them, given the circumstances."

Blaise entered, shooting a short glance towards Harry. "You know how the game works," he said, handing a file to Draco.

"Yes," Harry replied, with a tired smirk. "Not the first time I deal with you guys. And definitely not the first time I deal with someone who didn't get what he wanted."

"Okay, let me know if you need anything else. You know how to reach me; but I think I'll better take my wife back to the company before there's nothing left of Nott."

Harry and Draco both nodded; the latter already checking the file for anything that might be missing, but it was complete, as always. And Draco was in the mood to make this meeting as tedious and annoying as possible for Harry, just to get a little satisfaction from pissing him off for rejecting his offer of help.

TBC

Author's Note:

I plan to update this story more or less regularly, about twice a month—it depends, however, on my other projects, my speed as a writer, and the speed of my beta reader. :-)

Please, do leave a review/comment if you liked this first chapter, it is always appreciated a lot! Thanks!