Dinner went by without a hitch. Each carceris – guard – provided Hermione with an update of their respective sanctums and dragons of interest. Draco sat, mostly in silence, and observed their interactions. Although he had taken part in the jest and storytelling during breakfast, Draco decided to take a more laid back approach for dinner.

His intention was to resolve the plethora of 'primary' objectives that he had. At the top of the list, quite possibly the most important thing he could even hope to figure out was why did Hermione Granger suddenly disappear and start a dragon fortress?

Second on his list of primary objectives, but not as important as the first time, was to determine the level of romanticism (if any) that existed between Granger and Weasley. It was evident that what Charlie Weasley felt for Hermione Granger was leagues more than what she felt for him. Draco hadn't the foggiest as to why he wanted to know the extent of their relationship, but his interest was piqued and come hell or high water, he would satisfy his curiosity.

His third 'primary' objective was to understand fully the relationship the guards had with each other and with Hermione. They were incredibly misfit, even all the way down to the Gryffindor alumni, yet they worked in perfect synchronisation. Draco would never have guessed that the five of them would have flawless synergy… and he wanted to know why. Why them? Why have the five most incredibly different Hogwarts alumni band together to run a secluded fortress for a decade?

I have a lot of primary objectives, Draco thought sheepishly as he watched Blaise tell Hermione, animatedly, of a tumble he took in his sanctum.

And primary objective number four… and maybe the most important next to Granger's reason of erecting this fortress: what the hell is going on between those two? It clearly isn't romantic, seeing as Weasley number seventeen hundred wants to shag Granger… so what? I haven't known Blaise to care about anybody other than himself… so why is he risking being thrown into jail for Granger? Draco tuned out for most of Blaise's recount of his day, but was gently brought back to reality thanks to a kick to his shin. His eyes flickered over to Hermione to his left; she wasn't paying him any heed, but he knew she was the one that broke him out of his reverie.

"I won't be mating any dragons tonight." Hermione finally announced at the end of her guards' retellings. "My shipment from Transylvania hasn't arrived."

Neville frowned and Draco watched as he gently placed his fork down. "The fiara de flori isn't here? I ordered those weeks ago…"

Luna, who was sitting on Draco's other side, leaned over to provide him with a brief definition. "Fiara de flori is the beast flower that's native to the Carpathian Mountains bordering Romania. Draconis Dominia requires it to facilitate the mating rituals between dragons."

Nodding in appreciation, Draco returned his attention to the conversation at hand.

"… I should've checked up on it when I was in Romania." The Head Auror tuned in just in time to hear the tail end of Hermione's statement. Draco began to chew slower; he found that he couldn't hear anything over the sound of him mashing food in his mouth. Which is a ridiculous notion, but I can't argue with myself, now can I?

"We can make a short-haul if you want?" Charlie offered but Hermione was quick to decline. Not at all surprising himself, Draco found that he was mildly gleeful at the Weasley's rejection. Scratch that, fucking elated that he was turned down.

"That isn't practical," Hermione murmured, chewing on her thumbnail. "I can't keep flying to Romania… I hardly have my sleep cycle back in order."

That's also because you broke in to the biggest Wizarding bank – for the second time in your life – to steal an egg. But let's not bring that up now, shall we? Draco could only think the snide sarcastic remarks he wished so badly to say aloud. Alas, if he did voice his opinion, he was positive that the great Gryffindor Princess would do more than just break his nose.

"Terra," Hermione's eyes flickered to Neville. "Follow up on the status of our order. I cannot keep waiting; the dragons need to be mated."

Neville nodded, but said nothing in response.

"You available to help out in Magnus Igne tomorrow, mate?" Blaise asked, sitting opposite of Draco. Caught off guard, the Slytheirn alumnus looked confused for a brief moment before smoothly recovering.

"I made an arrangement with Granger that I'd be monitoring her all day tomorrow." Draco advised Blaise before taking a sip of some wonderfully luxurious red wine. He made a mental note to uncover the seller of the product so he could purchase a shite tonne for himself.

Blaise made a sound that was akin to a snort before shoveling scalloped potatoes into his black hole of a mouth. Hermione rolled her eyes, having an unwanted nostalgic flashback of Ronald Weasley attempting to shove an entire chicken drumstick into his tiny twelve-year-old mouth. Though separated by houses with a distinct set of ideologies, the two boys were way more like than she liked.

"Malfoy helped clear out my sanctum, so I have some time to kill." Neville spoke up and Blaise's eyes flickered at his companion's direction. "I can help you?"

"Many thanks mate… I'm behind on my work…"

"And I wonder why that would be?" Charlie cocked an eyebrow and Blaise waved his fork in Charlie's face. Charlie was the eldest out of all them, and the rest of the guards respected him as if he were their elder brother. With respect, however, also came the age-old duty of the 'younger siblings': badger their older brother until he was on the brink of insanity.

Neville and Blaise held true to their younger-sibling duty. Luna, however, couldn't care less and left Charlie to his devices most of the times.

"I was too busy breaking Draconis Dominia out of jail." At the end of his statement, he shot Draco an obvious side-eye which was maturely ignored by the Head Auror. "I didn't see you run to her heroic rescue."

"That's because Draconis Dominia knew you're the idiot who had any semblance of an idea of how to break out of jail." Charlie smirked wryly and Neville hooted with laughter.

Blaise couldn't help but snicker. "Fine. I'll give you that point, mate."

Hermione's head was ping-ponging between the verbal combatants, but Luna was less than amused. She had used her wand to create a skyscraper from her potato scallop disks. Draco, who wasn't one to ever get involved in nonsense that wasn't his business (unless it had to do with Harry Potter… or Hermione Granger… mainly Hermione Granger), had his undivided attention on Luna's skyscraper.

Having had enough, Hermione decided to give her Guards the orders for the remainder of the night:

"Alright, enough! Aqua, you and Caeli are doing the outdoor rounds tonight." Luna caught Charlie's eyes and they both shared a nod.

"Terra, you're checking the interior gates. Ignis, do an exterior scout from Heaven's Peak… and… Malfoy…" Hermione wasn't going to give Draco the satisfaction of using his makeshift title – Advena. As innocent as a bandit, Draco smiled at Hermione.

"Yes, Granger?"

Hermione ignored the tone of his voice. "You can help me check my drac'ovum."

Almost immediately, the ruler of the Air Sanctum sputtered in disbelief. "But—"

Hermione shot Charlie a look when he began to argue. "Malfoy isn't fibbing when he said he and I are going to spend tomorrow together… I promised him free reign and free reign is what I intend to give him. I will hold no room for argument, understood?"

Neville whistled low. "I don't think I've heard that tone of voice in nearly ten years…"

"And the last time she used it was on Caeli, ironic enough." Blaise snickered which earned him a murderous glare courtesy of Charlie. "What?" Blaise tried to sound offended, but was failing miserably. "I'm just trying to say that some things never change."

"Bloody hell—" Charlie pushed his plate away from him and stood up. "Excuse me." Without waiting for a response, Charlie stomped out of the dining area and towards the direction of his sanctum. All eyes were on him and Draco voiced the thought that was going through everybody's mind:

"What's up his arse?"

"It's that time of month…" Luna snickered. "He has his moments of…"

When she was at a loss for words, Blaise decided to fill in: "Utter idiocy?"

"Thank you, fratello Ignis." Luna winked at her companion and Blaise howled in amusement, his head thrown back.

Appetite lost, as Hermione knew why Charlie was acting difficult, the ruler of the fortress stood up. Caught off guard, all those present turned their attention to her in silence, Draco Malfoy included. With a brief glance at all of them, Hermione took a step back from the table and nodded at Neville.

"Can you ensure he does his evening task?"

Neville nodded. "Absolutely. Are you retiring for the night?"

"I think so. Today's been quite the day… Malfoy, coming? Or do you want to finish dinner before retiring to the Canyon?" Hermione's eyes flickered to her once mortal enemy-turned-lover-turned-enemy again. It was a history she refused to relive, but unfortunately fate had other plans for her. Wordlessly, Draco took one final bite of his now-cold chicken and stood up.

"Lead the way, Granger."

Draco Malfoy knew better than to rile his old friend. Hermione seemed to be seething for some reason and Draco kind of wanted to know why… as he was scheming away of how to pry that information out of Granger, Hermione had led them through a shortcut all the way up to her humble abode; the Canyon.

"We got here quicker than before?"

"I took a shortcut." Hermione glanced over her shoulder. "Weren't you paying attention?"

"Not at all." Draco smirked as he brushed past Hermione to push open the doors to her bedroom. Gawking at him, Hermione picked her jaw up off of the floor and followed him into her room, allowing the door to slam shut behind her.

Draco undid the clasps of his cape and, with a rustle of leather, his cape hit the floor. Hermione had her arms crossed in front of her, watching in distasteful amusement—the prick is still a bloody prick. But… Malfoy did have a certain je-ne-sais-quoi to him; utter confidence that proved him to be a man, not a boy. He was sarcastic, witty, and an utter shithead… but it isn't the same kind of shithead of Malfoy at eleven years old.

"So," Draco was folding his cape when he turned his attention to Hermione. "What's up Weasley's arse?"

As predicted, Hermione had a flicker of annoyance on her face but she masked it as quickly as it came. Draco watched her expectantly but, once again, as predicted she did not reply to his question. Instead, Hermione brushed past him to her glorious wall of dragon eggs and began to inspect them, one by one, with quill and notebook in hand. Draco leaned against one of the posters of her bed and watched her with great intent—he watched the way she bit her lower lip when she studied an egg especially closely….

He watched the way her index finger tucked a stray lock of her bangs back behind her ear…

He watched her nose scrunch up, ever so slightly, when a bout of confusion hit her.

So, basically, she hasn't changed from when she was seventeen. Just brilliant. Draco pushed himself off of the poster and approached Hermione, standing close enough beside her that their shoulders were touching.

"Forget Weasley then." Somehow, his voice sounded an octave deeper. "Why are you so upset?"

"That isn't your business." Hermione muttered, but Draco wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"He seems to annoy you… sometimes."

Hermione had to inhale deeply to calm her nerves. "He doesn't annoy me, Malfoy. He is one of the guards of my sanctums. None of my guards annoy me… besides," She whirled unto him. "Why are you so curious?"

Draco shrugged one shoulder before leaning forward to pluck her quill and notepad from her hand. Hermione gasped in surprised and, when reaching for her possessions, found that Draco wasn't going to give her back her things anytime soon. While Hermione thought he was going to simply put her items out of reach, giving her more of a headache than anything else, she was pleasantly surprised to see that he began to glance at her notes and imitate them; examining her drac'ovum for her.

"Must I be honest?" He spoke without looking at her. Instead, he was closely studying a blue egg with red swirls. The shell of the egg was pulsating, mimicking the hatchling's heartbeat inside.

Hermione's breath caught at the sound of his voice; husky… and almost sultry.

"Yes." She wanted to kick herself for sounding like she was waiting with baited breath to hear his next words.

He didn't look at her but continued to make notes on the eggs. "You went missing for so long, without rhyme or reason." Hermione noted that he stopped writing and her eyes travelled from his stilled hand to his stony face. He still wasn't looking at her.

"We… dated, Hermione."

Her heart slammed against her ribs and stilled. It was the first time she heard him say her name in a very long time. And it made her blood race the same way it did the first time he whispered it.

"We dated, albeit for a short period of time… but dated nonetheless." Finally, he turned to look at her and his stormy grey eyes were filled with confusion, and emotion. "Then you break up with me just before the Closing Ceremony Ball but still did with me what we did as a couple."

Hermione's tongue was caught. She had nothing to say, and no way to respond. She could count on one hand how many times she was rendered speechless… and this was one of those moments.

"Then things get nasty between us and, lo and behold, a fortnight later you disappear without a trace." He turned away from her and resumed taking notes. "So pardon me for being more than just a little curious… I had a bloody heart attack when I saw you breaking out of Gringotts, atop a dragon… I thought, like the rest of the world, that you were dead."

Hermione's eyes were downcast. She didn't know what to say…

"I… get where you're coming from," she finally opted begin with. "And I wish I could tell you why. But I can't."

"Which is fine," Draco interrupted and her head shot up to catch his gaze. "My research here will give me the resources to learn of that reason, which I can assure you. What I want to know now is why Charlie Weasley annoys the living daylights out of you when I can tell you two have been fucking."

"MALFOY!"

"Am I wrong?"

"You are such a pig!" Hermione snatched her belongings from him and shoved him out of the way, causing him to laugh in amusement.

"Fine. Fine. I can tell you aren't going to tell me about you and Weasley…" Pausing for a brief moment, Draco approached her drac'ovum and leaned forward to study the very egg Hermione broke into Gringotts for. "But… do tell me about this dragon egg that you deemed special enough to break into a bank a second time for." Draco gestured at the charcoal black egg with shadowy wisps surrounding it. He noticed that every time Hermione examined her eggs, she gave that particular egg special attention… to say that his curiosity was piqued would be an understatement.

As an afterthought, Draco added: "Or can you not tell me that either?"

Hermione sighed in resignation and placed her notepad and quill down on one of the drac'ovum shelves.

"I can tell you about the egg," she muttered. "But this is Sanctuarii confidential information—once you leave the fortress, you cannot repeat anything I tell you. I said you were going to get free reign on the fortress and the dragons, so I intend to give you all of that. But after you leave, all information goes with you to your grave."

"I promise."

"Malfoy's honour?"

He nodded, extending his arm to shake Hermione's hand. "Malfoy's honour."

Hermione caught his outstretched hand and shook it twice before letting go. Ushering for him to sit on the sofa, Draco and Hermione moved to sit on either side of the couch. When comfortable, Hermione began to explain the history and significance of her quad-elemental dragon.

"That dragon is a perfect hybrid of the four cardinal elements—its siring drakon is a fire and air hybrid, and its dame drakaina is water and earth." Draco's eyes were locked on Hermione's and he only shifted his head slightly when she paused, silently informing her that he had no questions.

"Breeding a perfect quad-elemental is difficult; both parents need to be an even fifty-fifty split with their elemental genes." Hermione looked away from Draco to stare at her drac'ovum. "In a typical hybrid dragon, one element is always dominant over the other, so to have a fifty-fifty even split is rather difficult to conceive."

"Let alone two?" Draco offered.

"Let alone two." Hermione affirmed. "But once you have two perfectly even elemental dragons and breed them to create one perfectly even quad-elemental dragon, you are more than half-way in to breeding the fabled Chaos dragon."

Draco's eyebrows shot up. "Come again?"

Hermione looked away from her eggs and returned her gaze to meet Draco's eyes. "A Chaos dragon is a perfect split between all four elements that can only be tamed by the one-true master… the Verum Dominium…"

"So you?"

"No… I'm just a tamer, but there are many. All of the guards are tamers… the owners and guards of other dragon fortresses are tamers… it could be anybody; but the one that the dragon accepts as his tamer is known as the one-true master…" Hermione began to whisper, unintentionally, "The Master of Dragons; the tamer that can train any dragon."

"So you have to find this person if it isn't you…"

"Exactly." Hermione nodded.

"And what will happen otherwise?"

Hermione's features softened. "The Chaos dragon is the harbinger of the end times… it will wreak Armageddon unless otherwise tamed."

"So basically it's the dragon form of Voldemort."

Hermione laughed, despite herself. "Essentially, yes."

"And nobody's bred one before?"

"Not that any of us has heard of, no." Hermione shook her head. "Like I said, creating a perfect hybrid is hard enough… nobody has ever managed to breed two perfect hybrids and then manage to breed them together to create the Chaos."

Though the situation didn't call for it, Draco decided he needed to be a little sarcastic. "You are Hermione Granger, the bloodiest perfect witch in all of Hogwarts history… if your arse couldn't breed this damn egg, I don't know who else could."

"Ever the Malfoy with your backhanded compliments."

"At least they're compliments."

Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed herself off of the couch. "It's rare to breed one of these… dragons cannot be traded with other sanctuaries," Hermione plucked her notepad and quill off of the shelf and continue to make notes. Draco remained at the couch, but watched her intently. "The dragons of a sanctuary will only accept the ruler of that fortress to be their master. So if I had a perfect hybrid dragon, but the fortress in Romania had the opposing hybrid dragon, we couldn't cross-breed them. They wouldn't listen to us."

"So each tamer has to breed their own hybrid." Draco concluded and Hermione nodded without looking at him.

"Precisely."

"And why are you trying to create the fucking harbinger of end-times?!"

Hermione let out a shaky laugh. "Who isn't?" She retaliated. "All tamers are, but as of now nobody could. Nobody has… until now."

"I feel a little better knowing it's you who bred it and not a loony that's trying to follow in Voldemort's footsteps." Draco revealed while reclining into the couch. "But what if, worst case scenario, your true master is a wacko who ends up destroying the world anyway?"

Hermione paused long enough to glance over at Draco. "The caveat is that the one who kills the true master obtains the title for themselves."

"So you have to murder somebody?"

"No. The tamer needs to commit a crime that goes against Drakon laws. If all dragons can see that the true master isn't acting on behalf of their best interest, then they will accept the bringer of retribution as their new tamer."

Draco groaned. "This is getting more and more confusing as you explain it to me."

Completing her examination, Hermione tucked her notebook away and came to a stop in front of an extremely comfortable Draco. "Good. Then I won't expect you to actually remember anything—anyway!" She waved her hand in front of him, leaning down low enough for Draco to catch a glimpse of her cleavage.

Dammit, Granger! Hide those milk-jugs, will you?!

"What are you planning on doing now?"

"That depends on you." Draco sat up straight which forced Hermione to stand up again. If she were in that position for a minute longer, Draco would've ended up fucking kissing the woman.

"What are you planning on doing?"

"A follow up on the guards' tasks." Hermione revealed. "Then I typically engage in my nighty ritual of mediating and practicing magic before retiring for the night. Am I to anticipate a hiccup in my ritual?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "Yes. Because I need you to show me all entrances to the fortress."

Hermione narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "… why?"

"Do you not want to know how somebody snuck into this place and stole your bringer-of-end-times-egg?!"

Caught off guard, Hermione was at a loss for words. Rendered speechless again.

"That's what I thought," Draco spoke before Hermione could recover. "So let's get your nightly ritual out of the way so I can get to auroring."

Involuntarily, Hermione took a step back to allow Draco space to stand up. He paid her no need as he retrieved his cape and reattached it to his dragonhide chemise. "Coming?" He threw over his shoulder when he saw that she was still standing in the same spot whereas he was at the foot of her bedroom door.

"Yeah," she replied, sounding almost unsure of herself. Without a second look back, Hermione followed Draco out of her room and missed the way her charcoal egg pulsated.