Epilogue

Draco chuckled against Hermione's lips, taking the keys from her hand and opening the front door. "Can I have my own drawer yet, Granger? I spend more time here than my own home."

She was positively breathless, pressing herself against him as he guided her into the house, kicking the door shut behind them and flipping the lock into place. "Why would you need that? You always bring a change of clothes anyway."

Draco pulled back, rolling his eyes. "Oh, yes, and that's gone over so well. You laundered my suit — thank you by the way — but your knickers got stuck to the inside of my jacket this morning. Conveniently fell out in the middle of a meeting, by the way."

Hermione giggled, her hand roaming over his shoulder. "Which pair?"

"Red lace," he groaned as she tugged his hair. "The ones I bought you."

She hummed as his hand cupped her arse through her jeans. "I like those ones."

He snorted, a devilish grin spreading across his face. "Well, now that he knows they belonged to you, so does Goyle."

Hermione pulled away, wrinkling her nose in horror. "Destroy them immediately," she commanded, a shudder running through her. "You can go upstairs."

Someone cleared their throat, startling the pair. "Excuse me," a man stood in the archway of her kitchen, arms folded across his chest. A long white beard hung from his face, and his eyes were twinkling as if he hadn't just broken into her house.

"Who the fuck are you?" Draco barked, hand drifting toward his holster.

The man held a peculiar familiarity for Hermione.. "Have we met?" she questioned, narrowing her eyes.. "Stop, Draco. I've seen him before."

"Forgive me, Miss Granger, for entering your home. I wasn't sure you would listen to what I have to say otherwise. This is yours?" He held up the thin notebook she'd been scribbling in since Tom Riddle's appearance.

She swallowed, nodding slowly. "You were in the police station when they questioned me. I didn't recognize you then, but Harry claimed he hadn't seen you."

"Albus Dumbledore," he introduced himself finally. "You seem familiar with Tom Riddle, judging by your meticulously detailed notes."

Draco deadpanned, "Unfortunately."

"Have you uncovered anything else?" Albus asked, flipping the notebook open. "Are there others?" he read aloud. "There's a star next to this question. I assume you meant to come back to it when you uncovered more? Yet you haven't."

"No," Hermione confirmed, shifting uncomfortably on her feet.

He snapped the book shut, tucking it under one arm and clasping his hands together. "I've found myself with in a bit of a predicament, one closely related to Tom Riddle. There's a body in your examination room, irregular bite marks below the breast - are you aware?"

"Yes, I'm aware of the case. I'm not sure how seeking me out will help you."

Dumbledore's responding smile unnerved Hermione and she felt Draco tense behind her. "You killed Tom Riddle. I'm positive you can help us." He withdrew a large book from the inside pocket of his coat, taking a step forward to set it in her hands. "In this," he tapped the hard cover, "you'll find all you need to know. More about Tom Riddle — to satiate your curiosity — but, more importantly, about a demon by the name of Pettigrew."

Hermione shook her head. "I don't want to be involved in this. Once was enough." Draco's fingers trailed along her spine, a subtle confirmation of his agreement.

Dumbledore only raised his brow, staring at her from behind half-moon spectacles. "It's too late to turn back now, Miss Granger. You became involved the moment you assassinated Tom Riddle." He brushed past her, calmly ignoring her line of tempestuous questions as the door swung shut behind him.

Draco tossed the door open, and Dumbledore was gone, apparently vanishing into thin air. He turned to her, confusion and unease shaking his normally stoic features.

She muttered "If only I could've killed the bastard twice. We won't be going to sleep anytime soon."

Draco pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a long-suffering sigh. "Bring the book to the police station — we'll find out who the fuck Pettigrew is."

She nodded vehemently. "I should re-examine the body."

"Are you fucking kidding me, Granger? It's nearly midnight — have you not learned your lesson?"

Okay, that's a wrap! As you can see, I've left this open. Later (read: way later this year) I have plans to expand this into a WIP after I've finished Kismet (which is my new big thing, not posted yet.) I hope you enjoyed this, and I would be incredibly appreciative if you would leave me your thoughts.

Thank you again to TheMourningMadam for combing through this and fixing all of my mistakes. Thank you to mhcalamas, who probably doesn't realize how instrumental she was in my starting this. I told her I couldn't do the prompt, and she reminded me of a serial killer oneshot I had shared. These two women are amazing.