Disclaimer: All things Harry Potter belong to JKR.

Author's Note:

Hey everyone! Here's another update. I was really having trouble writing this chapter. There are a million directions I could go with it and I desperately want the plot to progress on a sensible timeline. I know what's going to happen next and how the story will eventually come to a close but it's the getting there that's proven difficult. Have patience with me. Read and please leave a review, they really help the writing process.

Mikey

S/N: There is a sexually explicit scene in this chapter. If it's not your style, it begins and ends with a bold sentence so you can skip it. If a little raunchiness is your thing, I hope you enjoy it :)

And please excuse any typos. I've gone cross eyed re-reading this chapter so many times.

Hermione closed her bedroom door and slowly turned around. She had just tucked in Pyxis after reading her a bedtime story. She was surprised at how readily Pyxis had accepted and adjusted to the situation. She was unquestionably relaxed, as if their new living arrangement was already a part of her regular routine. Hermione sat next to her on the bed while she read and Pyxis listened intently. Halfway through the book, Pyxis even rested her head on Hermione's shoulder so that she could read along. Hermione was surprised. She was unsure of how she would feel with Pyxis here initially, but she found that the little girl's presence was comforting and she was not so opposed to having a child around as she thought. Pyxis's arrival was a welcome distraction from Hermione's other worries. Pyxis was innocent and carefree. She was unaware of all the harsh realities of life and her only concern at the time was with being happy. Hermione smiled sadly. She so missed that childlike mentality. She shook her head and stepped further into the room.

Draco was leaning forward on the edge of their bed, elbows on his knees and fingers laced together. His eyebrows were creased with worry and his hair looked as if he had repeatedly run his fingers through it. As Hermione watched him, all her adult fears and concerns came rushing back. Draco looked up from the floor as she stopped a few feet in front of him. Their eyes met and they held each others' gaze for an infinite moment. Then Hermione let out an enormous sigh.

"We have so much to talk about," she quietly.

Draco nodded. "I know."

"I think you should start."

"With what?"

"Pyx-, no Eridanus. Start with him."

"Okay," he said slowly, sitting up straight. "It's like this … Ten years ago Eridanus fell in love with Odette, a muggleborn witch. And you know I know better than anyone how dangerous that can be," he added with a wink. Hermione rolled her eyes at him to show she wasn't amused and he continued. "But they didn't have it as easy as we do now. They had to keep their relationship completely secret because this was right when the Ministry was rounding up all the muggleborns during our seventh year at Hogwarts. But it was even trickier because Eridanus was a Death Eater himself..." Draco stopped as Hermione took a step back from him. She had the oddest look on her face, as if she was trying very hard to remember something important that she had forgotten. Draco reached out as his hand to her and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Eridanus was a Death Eater?" she asked narrowing her eyes.

"Yes …" Draco said confused. "But you know that was hardly a choice for some people." He tapped his left inner forearm lightly where Hermione knew a faded, but still visible, Dark Mark to be.

Hermione shook her head impatiently. "Never mind that, I know him. And Odette. They killed her. The other Death Eaters killed her. They meant to kill Pyxis too … but they were careless. She survived."

"Yes, but how …"

She put up a hand to stop him as the color drained from his face. "You're kidding me, right?" she said to the ceiling. "This is the strangest thing..." She turned back to Draco, who looked at her puzzled. "What's wrong?"

Draco looked at her disbelievingly. "What's wrong? Hermione, you … How could you possibly know … ?"

"I know the whole story. Probably better than you do," Hermione said patiently. "The Death Eaters came for them in the night. Eridanus sent Odette to the baby. To Pyxis," she said, her eyes were far away, as if she was seeing something besides the room they were in. "He begged them not to kill his family. He asked them to kill him instead. But they wouldn't. His friend, he had a friend there. He said it was for his own good." She saw it all again, as vividly as she had seen it in her dreams. Draco just stared as she continued. "And when Eridanus finally went to the room, Odette was on the floor. Lying there m-m-motionless," Hermione choked out. She was surprised to feel tears running freely down her cheeks. She swiped at them and continued. "Eridanus thought Pyxis was dead too. But she was fine … Fine … She looks so much like her," she finally said.

Draco moved toward Hermione slowly, the way you would approach a wounded animal, with extreme caution. He put his hands on her upper arms and spoke calmly, enunciating each word. "You know how Pyxis looks."

"Well I've seen her now but I know how she looked as a baby. She looked just like Odette … Her black hair. Her rosy cheeks. And her eyes. She has the exact same blue eyes as Odette."

Draco's own eyes bulged. He had seen a picture of Odette. Eridanus had shown him one when they first met. But Hermione had never seen Odette in life or in death. Yet Hermione had described her perfectly. "How on earth do you know how Odette looks? How do you know any of this?"

"I've been dreaming about them. Odette and Eridanus. Only I didn't know he was Eridanus at the time …" She regarded him for a moment then said, "You two favor each other, you know. He could be your older brother you look so alike. His hair is a bit darker though." She reached up and ran a hand through his platinum hair.

He closed his eyes as he felt her fingertips on his skin. Even in this tense situation her touch seemed to calm him a bit. He caught her hand and held it in both of his. "How long have you been dreaming about Eridanus, Hermione?"

"Several weeks," she shrugged.

Draco's jaw dropped. "Why are you just now telling me about this?"

"Draco, darling, what difference would it have made?" she said as she took her hand from him and crossed the room. "Last week you didn't even know who Eridanus was, how was I supposed to tell you that I was dreaming about him? Anyway, I think a better question would be by why have I been dreaming about him."

Draco nodded in agreement. He was silent for a beat then asked, "You're not a Seer, are you?"

Hermione snorted. "Of course not. That's ludicrous."

Draco stifled a laugh. She was clearly offended. "Well, maybe you're no Professor Trelawney, but perhaps you have some Inner Eye sensitivities."

"That's highly unlikely. I've never Seen anything before this. And besides, I'm not seeing the future. I'm seeing the past. And a fat lot of help that's doing anybody," she said callously.

"Do you usually become so abrasive where Seeing is concerned?" Draco asked amused.

Hermione smiled despite herself. "Divination has always been something of a sore spot with me. Harry or Ron could tell you."

"I'll be sure to ask… Ask Harry, that is," he added stiffly.

She ignored his obvious dismal of Ron. "Anyway, let's put all this Seer business on the back burner and discuss more current matters. What was so important that Eridanus had to leave Pyxis with us?"

Draco looked in the little girl's direction, as if he could see her sleeping in the spare room. "Somebody appeared in Eridanus's Foe Glass. It was someone he didn't recognize and he didn't want to risk being caught off guard. So, instead of waiting for him to come again, he went after him."

"Really? You don't think that's a bit excessive?" Hermione said raising an eyebrow. "It might not have been that serious of a threat. He's been hiding successfully this whole time hasn't he? What's changed?"

"Neither of us know. But the fact that something has changed makes his actions perfectly sensible to me," he drawled as he sat down and reclined on the bed. "We Malfoy's have never been known to take threats lightly. And we're inherently paranoid on top of that."

"Still, the whole thing feels a little melodramatic to me. But then again …" She sat down on the bed next to him. "We don't know what could have happened. No one knows what any of our fates will be."

"'I don't believe in fate or destiny … '" Draco recited quietly. "' … I believe in various degrees of hatred, paranoia, and abandonment.'"

Hermione stared at Draco for a long time, a frown forming on her face. Hermione knew Draco's childhood, particularly his teenage years, had been hell. Since they'd been together he hardly let the pain from his past show. She remembered recently suggesting they go back to the Manor and collect some of his things. Draco had freed his house elf upon deciding to stay with her at the flat so Hermione knew that place was also in need of some up keep. But Draco had flatly refused to return. She had tried to discuss his opposition but he wouldn't even entertain the conversation. She couldn't understand why he was so opposed to the idea. But it was moments like this, when he unconsciously let his guard down, that she could see just how deeply he had been effected by his life there. "That is probably the saddest thing I've ever heard," she whispered. "And although I agree with it to an extent, it still hurts me to the core to know that's how you're feeling."

Draco crossed his arms, not looking at her. "The hatred and the paranoia I can deal with. Those things are a part of me. I know they'll never truly go away, but I have them under control. They even work to my advantage from time to time … But abandonment … loss, there's no sense to it. The fear of it alone is crippling. I'm not sure I'll ever come to terms with … I don't know how to deal with that type of pain." Hermione put a hand on his shoulder and he finally turned to face her. Hermione could see every unspoken fear in his eyes. And she was sure Draco saw his fears reflected in hers. "I can't …" he trailed off then took a deep breath and started over. "Just … don't ever leave me, Hermione."

Hermione felt new tears prickling in the corners of her eyes. "Draco..." She threw her arms around his neck and pressed herself to him as tightly as she could. "I'll never leave you," she whispered. She buried her face in his neck as tears fell. She felt his arms wrapped around her as she sobbed. He rubbed her back soothingly as he planted gentle kisses in her hair until she finally quieted. He stared at her until she met his gaze then pulled her face to his, pressing his lips lightly to hers. He kissed her tenderly for a long time, just enjoying the feeling of intimacy they seemed to be missing lately. When they parted, Hermione reached up to stroke his cheek and he awarded her with his signature smirk. That made her smile. A genuine smile that reached her warm brown eyes and lit up her entire face. Draco felt his breath catch in his throat. She was so beautiful that sometimes it physically hurt him to look at her. And the feeling was nothing new. He had always found her attractive, ever since he first saw her at Hogwarts. Big teeth, bushy hair and all. But he was forbidden by his family to mingle with muggleborns and her obnoxious, know-it-all ways had made it all too easy to turn that attraction into genuine disgust. But now as he held her in his arms he couldn't have felt differently. He ran a thumb slowly over her full lips, marveling at everything she made him feel. Letting those sensations take over he leaned toward her and kissed her again, a little more firmly than the first time, placing a hand on the small of her back and pulling her closer. Hermione moaned as her lips parted and he deepened the kiss.

Hermione could never think at moments like this. Every thought seemed to come and go as she was wrapped in Draco's embrace. Feeling his hands run over her skin, the warmth of his body next to hers... It was heaven and time seemed to stop. So much so that she had somehow missed both the turning off of the lights and the removal of her clothes. When she regained her sense of self, Draco was placing kisses down the length of her neck and was still fully, and inexcusably, dressed. But now that she was aware of herself, Hermione would see to that. Without saying a word she pushed Draco onto his back and was pulling his shirt over his head before he could object. An eyebrow raised at her unusual aggression but he didn't stop her. In fact, he seemed to like it. He helped her unbutton his pants and she had them off completely in seconds. Hermione paused for a moment to look at him. She ran a hand down the length of his chest while she inspected his magnificent body. His flawlessness never ceased to amaze her and she took an enormous, almost animal-like pride in the fact that he belonged to her and no one else. Not just physically, but emotionally as well, in all the ways one soul could belong to another. She sobered, raking her eyes up his body and back to his. He seemed to be surveying her similarly. He poked her in the navel when their eyes met and she giggled at simple, childlike gesture. "What are you thinking about?" he chuckled softly, grey eyes sparkling in the dark. She leaned over him, dragging her bare breasts along his chest. He felt her nipples harden against his skin and shivered. When her face was inches over his, long brown hair to cascading over his body, she whispered into his ear. "I am so in love with you."

Draco felt his heart swell in his chest and he was glad he didn't wear his emotions on his face. It wasn't that he didn't want Hermione to know how strongly he felt for her, he was sure she knew how completely she had him. He could show her easily how much he loved her. But he just wasn't accustomed to someone feeling so much for him. And it was hard to accept. As much as he wanted, needed to be loved by her, it was still an alien concept. Hewould probably never get used to it. And he thought that was okay. He reached up and brushed her hair over her shoulder so he could look at her properly. "And I with you," he said softly. He held her gaze as the mood changed from light and sweet to lusty and amorous. He ran his hands languidly down her neck and along her sides and over her hips. He slipped a hand between her thighs and she parted them to allow him better access. As his fingers played in her wetness she couldn't help but moan.

After a few minutes of torture she whined, "Draco... Please."

He didn't respond, instead he lifted her until she was hovering over his erection and with one swift movement entered her.

Hermione threw her head back and moaned in ecstasy. There was nothing like sharing this feeling with Draco. Everything they felt for each other was magnified by the overwhelming pleasure they experienced when their bodies were connected. For Hermione, it was almost too much to bear. She leaned back, placing her hands on his knees to brace herself while she rode him. Draco increased the pressure on her hips as he met her strokes, soft moan's escaping his lips as he dug into her. When Hermione's legs began to tremble he flipped them over so that he was on top, skillfully remaining inside her. As he continued to move within her, Hermione's need intensified and she wrapped her legs around his waist to take him in further, her hands roaming endlessly over his broad back and shoulders, and her lips whispering his name over and over again as their bodies rose and fell. Hermione gasped and moaned as he penetrated her more fully and his pace increased. She felt her eyes roll to the back of her head and she knew she wasn't far from completion. Draco, so familiar he was with her body, knew too. He tightened his grip on her and teased every bit of her he could reach with his mouth, gently biting and sucking her skin. It wasn't long before he felt her muscles contract around him and her orgasm hit. Her nails dug into his back while her body convulsed and the sensations brought him closer too. He locked his arms around her and thrust into her rapidly until he came crashing after her. He held her to him as waves of pleasure washed over them both. Slowly, when he regained his motor skills, Draco rolled onto his back taking Hermione with him so she was resting on his chest. They laid that way, wrapped in each others arms panting, waiting for their heartbeats to slow and their heads to come down from the clouds.

Draco wove his fingers through Hermione's and laid their laced hand over his heart between them. For a long moment neither of them said anything. Occasionally, one would kiss the other on the neck, or stroke a cheek, but their communication remained nonverbal. Finally, moments later, Draco spoke. "You promise?" he said quietly, staring at the ceiling. "No matter what, you'll never leave?"

Hermione placed a kiss on his collar. "No matter what. I promise."

He smiled to himself. "All right. I'll hold you to it," he said yawning. Then he kissed her temple and closed his eyes.

Hermione stared into the darkness. She knew her promise wasn't much. And she knew that he knew it wasn't much either. But in her line of work it was all she had to give him. Her promise. That and every fiber of her being, for as long as she had them to give. She snuggled into him a little closer and let her heavy eyelids close.

"Didn't you have something to tell me?" Draco asked all of a sudden. "It seemed like there was something else on your mind earlier."

Hermione bit her lip in the darkness. Perhaps now wasn't the best time to tell him that she was planning to use herself as bait in an abduction investigation, she thought. "Nothing important. Just mundane work stuff."

"Are you sure?" he asked sleepily.

"Yeah. Everything's fine."

As Hermione sat at her desk three days later, she realized that Harry had won … For now. She couldn't tell Draco about her "half-assed" plan, not with Pyxis's current involvement in their lives. Pyxis was the sweetest little girl but for two people unaccustomed to living with children she was difficult to adjust to. Draco was having such a hard time getting work done with Pyxis bouncing around, her 8 year-old attention span withstanding all forms of entertainment, that he was forced to put aside his work completely. He notified his superiors that he needed a few days off and his assignment was given to someone else. Hermione on the other hand, absolutely could not afford to be away from her job, not when lives depended on her expertise in particular. So for the time being, her plans to use herself as bait would be put on the back burner and she would think of another option. Hopefully Eridanus would not be gone for much longer, she thought. She brushed her chin with the feather end of her quill while she looked over the information they had already gathered. They had four crime scenes, one half-formed motive for the abductions, and very, very little else. She wished there was a way she could glean more information from what she had. What she really needed, she thought, was something to trace from the sites of the abduction back to the kidnapper. But there was nothing to trace. This wasn't a muggle investigation. There were no fingerprints. No blood. No database with information unique to only one wizard. Hermione could think of only one thing wizards and witches commonly used for identification and that was a wand. However there was no way of tracing a wand to an owner without the actual wand, she thought. Or was there? Did they really need the wand? Wouldn't they just need to know the make up of the wand? Considering no two wands were identical and no two wizard's magic exactly the same … Couldn't the magic itself identify the wizard? But that begged the question, could magic be traced? Did cast spells leave a "fingerprint" like hands do? She had to believe they did. If you could test objects to see whether or not they had been magically tampered with then certainly magic must leave its mark. Was there a chance that residual magic could somehow remember the wand that cast it? If there was they would be that much closer to finding their man. Hermione's mind was reeling.

She knew what she was considering was some seriously advanced magic. There would certainly be a lot of wandlore involved and there were only so many wizards and witches that were knowledgeable in it. In fact, she could only think of one and she wasn't sure if he'd be up to the task. What she was proposing, a way to trace magic, could takes months and months to develop. But she was determined to see it done faster than that. Even if she had to spearhead its creation herself. She gathered her cloak and let the department secretary know she would be out on the field.

Minutes later Hermione was standing outside of Ollivander's in Diagon Alley. She walked inside and it was just as she remembered it as a child. There were boxes and boxes of wands stacked up to the ceiling and the stagnant air seemed to be buzzing with magic. She smiled faintly at the memory.

"Mr. Ollivander?" she called out.

There was a shuffling somewhere in the back of the store, then she heard him approach. He gave her a friendly smile when he saw her.

"Ah, Miss Granger," he said taking her hand as she held it out. "10 and three quarters, vine wood, dragon heartstring core. Still serving you well, I presume?"

"Yes, very well. Thank you." Hermione said smiling.

"Then how can I assist you today, Miss Granger?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could use your expertise on a special... project," she finished.

"Special in what way, my dear?" he asked quizzically.

"Special in the way of top secret procedures with lives depending on difficult, if not completely impossible magic."

Ollivander took a moment to consider this and then nodded. From across the room he flipped the "Open" sign in the window to "Closed" with a silent spell and said to Hermione, "Follow me to the back. We can discuss this further."

Hermione followed Ollivander through the towers of wand boxes, through an impossibly narrow hallway and then through an even narrower doorway. He conjured up a chair for her in front a tired work bench and after moving several tools and wand making materials from his seat, he sat down. He folded his hands in front of him on the work surface and addressed Hermione.

"Now what exactly are you trying to do?"

"Uncle Draco?"

"Yes, Pyxis."

"I'm soooo bored," she told him for the fifth time that hour.

"I'm sorry, Pyxis," he told her again in response. "What would you like to do?"

"I don't know," she sighed.

Draco sighed too. This had been apart of their exchange for the last hour too. He realized he was not the best companion for an eight year old girl but he was really trying. He had sat down with her and her stuffed unicorn at their make-believe tea party. He moved all the furniture in the living room and watched her perform her jazz-tap routine, which he enjoyed more than he expected. He even played dress-up with her, allowing her to attack his face with Hermione's makeup, but only after she pinky promised not to let word of it leave the flat. At this point he was pretty much played out and he didn't know what else he could do for her. What she needed, he thought, was someone her age to play with. He slapped the palm of his hand to his forehead. Of course. "Hey Pyxis. How would you like to make some new friends?"

Draco had to admit he was lucky to know Molly Weasley. There was nothing about children she didn't know or didn't like so when Draco popped up at the Burrow unexpectedly with Pyxis she was delighted. The word "niece" had barely left his mouth before Molly grabbed Pyxis up into a tight hug and started pouring over how adorable she was. She barely waited for the rest of the explanation. She was in front of the fireplace a second later Floo-ing Tonks' mother, Andromeda, and her sons, Bill and George. About twenty minutes passed and three children came tumbling out of the fireplace. The first was Teddy Lupin, Harry's godson. Teddy, like Pyxis was eight. He had sharp, wolf-like eyes set in his kind face and his hair today was a brilliant electric blue. According to Molly, this meant he was excited. Next, dainty Victoire, who didn't so much tumble as float out of the fireplace, appeared. She very politely greeted her grandmother with a kiss to on both cheeks, ever the spitting image of her mother Fleur, except for her hair, which was a fiery strawberry blonde. Victoire was a year younger than Teddy and Pyxis. Last to come out was little Fred II. He came jumping out onto the hearth and immediately ran to give his grandmother a big toddler's wet kiss. Fred II, the son of George and his wife Angelina (formerly Angelina Johnson), was barely four years old. Molly took him in her arms then lovingly rubbed a soot smudge from his caramel brown cheek. Until James' birth, he had been Molly's youngest grandchild and she had spent the best of his four years doting on him at the Burrow.

As they arrived, Pyxis stood slightly behind Draco holding tightly to his arm. Draco was surprised at her shyness. At home she chatted constantly, and very nearly bounced off the walls with energy. But now she seemed to be intimidated. He nudged her forward. "Go on Pyxis. Say hello."

"Hello," she mumbled into his side.

Draco found himself smiling. "Don't be shy, Pyxis. Go make friends." She shook her head reluctantly.

Teddy didn't seemed too concerned with her discomfort. "Wanna play with the gnomes in the yard?" Teddy asked looking around at the other children.

"Alright then," Victoire said in her smooth voice. The two ran off and Fred looked after them wistfully from Molly's arms.

"Wait for us!" he cried wiggling out of his grandmother's embrace. He jumped to Pyxis's side and grabbed her hand, all sense of shyness evading him at his young age. "Come on!" he said tugging her along. Pyxis gave Draco a nervous look, but allowed the little boy to drag her to the backyard.

"Yes, I see why you would think to come to me..." Ollivander said. "But much of what you are proposing involves spell invention, which, outside of the necessity of my craft, I am not skilled in. You've invented a few spells of your own, have you not?" he asked.

"I wouldn't say that I've invented spells," Hermione answered. "I've more so... modified existing ones. To suit my purposes..."

"That, my dear, is often more difficult than creating a new spell altogether," he said smiling. "To modify a spell you must understand each of its components..." He put his pointer finger and thumb together for emphasis. "... and individually manipulate the parts you want to change. If you are capable of all this, especially in the case of complex spells, you are more than capable of creating a spell from scratch."

Hermione considered this. "I suppose you're right," she said after a while. "What I need from you then, is information about how wands conduct magic, and specifics about the properties of the wood and the magical cores used to make wands."

Ollivander nodded. "Wandlore is not an easy study Miss Granger... But I am sure," he said looking at her, "that you are already more than aware of the fact. Let's begin."

Over the next couple of days, some sort of normalcy had been established. Draco found that a couple hours a day with little Fred II put her in a good mood (Pyxis didn't seem to get along with Victoire like he had hoped and although Teddy was a nice enough kid, Victoire was obviously his preferred playmate). Pyxis usually came back from the Burrow happy, and thankfully exhausted, so that she enjoyed a long nap when she got home and Draco enjoyed some uninterrupted work time.

One afternoon while Pyxis was asleep in front of the television in the living room, Draco let out an uncharacteristic sigh from the in home office. He pushed sheaves of paper away from him and placed his head on the cool surface of the Hermione's desk. He was starting to think that this hex was a lost cost, that he had only been only assigned this case as busy work. Or maybe they were waiting to see how long he would struggle with it before he gave up and asked for something else. He glared at a dusty book angrily. The documentation of the curse previous to his research was shoddy at best. There was no mention of Hecate's hex previous to its first reported case, which only noted that it occurred. Where was the documentation behind the hex? What were the circumstances? What type of curse was it and who named it? And who was Hecate for that matter? Draco had sharp suspicions that he had heard the name before, in connection to another person. Draco sat up straight and pushed several parchments aside to uncover a seldom used computer keyboard. Hermione had introduced Draco to the internet during the first week of his stay with her and he was begrudgingly impressed by its capabilities. He drummed his fingers impatiently as he waited for the computer to start up. And after a few quick clicks and several much slower keystrokes he pulled up an online encyclopedia. When he found what he was looking for he read the passage aloud to himself.

"Hekate or Hecate, Greek goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, the moon, ghosts and necromancy."

Well there was something. More than he had managed to find in the months of research he had done. Was it possible that the muggles had got it right and actually recognized an actual witch for what she was? He thought back to long hours in Professor Binns' history of magic class at Hogwarts and he could only vaguely remember one ancient Greek witch that dealt in the dark magic of ghosts and necromancy and that was Circe. Was that where he had heard of her? Had she perhaps gone by another name in the ancient muggle societies? Draco couldn't be sure but he hastily reached for a piece of parchment and scribbled down "Circe" and "necromancy" with instructions for his secretary to send him any titles from the Unpleasant Curse and Poison Center's library that contained either term. He rolled up the parchment and grabbed a piece of string to tie it with. He walked purposefully to the kitchen and opened the window peering around. He had not seen his eagle owl Strix in days. He knew that he hated Crookshanks from day one and refused to occupy the apartment for that very reason. Even so, Strix was usually around when Draco needed him. Draco leaned slightly out of the window and called, "Strix! Strix, you get back here you ridiculous bird!"

Draco sat down at the kitchen table with a huff, but he didn't have to wait long. Strix came soaring through the open window only five minutes later, looking decidedly angry for an owl, as if he had heard Draco's verbal abuse. "That was quick. Here," he said tying the scroll to Strix's outstretched leg. "Take this to my secretary at work. Don't let her try and give you the books unless she's shrunk them, the useless woman." Draco patted him on the head and he seemed to warm up a bit. "Off you go then." Strix hooted in an annoyed sort of way and took off again. Draco got up to watch the owl disappear into the sky. Strix didn't have that long a journey so if his secretary was on her game he would be back in an hour or so.

Still, he wasn't sure how anxious he would be to pick up with his work again when Strix returned. He had the feeling that he would be no less pleased with the new direction his research was taking.

Meanwhile, Hermione had received a two-day crash course in wandlore and was now working tirelessly in her office at the Ministry to create a spell that traced an individual's magic.

After hours of theorizing, Hermione pushed her notes aside. She had just had a break through. She pointed her wand between two quills she had charmed to stand up on their own. One she had charmed when she came in this morning. The other she had charmed only ten minutes ago. She focused on her concept and said, "Magicus Vestigium." Hermione's wand started to glow a brilliant blue and vibrated in her hand. She moved her wand to the left, toward the quill she charmed first. The vibrating turned into a slow pulsing, like a steady heartbeat. When she moved her hand to the right the tempo of the pulsing positively raced. There seemed to be a direct correlation between how long ago the spell was cast and the vibration of the wand. Hermione wasn't sure what the blue glow meant yet but she would figure that out later with more tests. She felt a smile erupting on her face and tried to reign in her excitement. She still needed to conduct some more preliminary tests. But she was definitely on to something. Hermione sat down to scribble down her new findings when her stomach began to grumble. She looked at the clock on the wall and she realized she had skipped lunch. Again. She sighed as she realized how much she had been neglecting herself lately. She looked at her notes and decided she should take a break, just to grab something to eat. She jotted down a few more lines then made her way to down to the Atrium.

After several stops on the way down, the lift stopped on the 8th floor. The grates opened and she walked purposefully towards the Apparation points when she saw a familiar face coming out of the lift across from her. It was Rick Reed. Hermione saw Rick every so often. Usually, here in front of the lifts. Ever since their "discussion" a few months ago he had been perfectly cordial. And for this Hermione was eternally grateful. She couldn't deal with Rick's unrequited love on top of everything else going on in her life. Their occasional small talk never got any more personal than the weather or what the special was in the Ministry cafeteria. So when he caught her eye today and approached Hermione didn't have any reservations.

"Hello Rick," she said amiably.

"Hermione," Rick said smiling. "I haven't seen you down here in a while. Where have you been?"

"Chained to my desk unfortunately. How's the Unspeakable treating you?"

"I couldn't tell you," he said with a wink. "You look like hell," he added conversationally.

Hermione sighed. "I know," she conceded. "It's been one of those weeks. I haven't slept in days it feels like. You seem to be in a good humor though," Hermione said suspiciously.

Rick shrugged. "Just having a pleasant workday I guess. You say you haven't slept in days, huh? You look like you haven't eaten in days either …" he said slowly. "Could I maybe treat to lunch? As a friend, of course," he added quickly when Hermione's eyes narrowed.

Hermione considered this for a moment. It couldn't hurt. And she was dreadfully hungry. She was about to open her mouth to accept when she was interrupted by two new comers.

"Reed, just the man I was looking for!" said a portly, cheery-faced man. After a moment's thought Hermione recognized him as John Combely. He was an Unspeakable, like Rick. He gestured to the other man with him. "Mr. Hiyashi, this is Rick Reed. Reed, Mr. Hiyashi. He's our foreign consultant for Project 613. I just was telling him about your amazing work on it. Oh! Excuse me, Ms. Granger! I didn't see you there!"

Hermione smiled politely. "Never mind me, Mr. Combely. I was just leaving."

"Please, call me John and just a moment! Take this!" He reached into the pocket of his robes and handed her a small plastic card. "It's an M.O. Mini-Owl. Reed here just designed this himself, an idea he got from you I'm told," he said nudging Rick in his side. Both Rick and Hermione colored. "It's a communication device modeled after the Protean charmed coins you used back at Hogwarts. Only these cards are for more direct communication. Tap it with your wand, state the recipient's name and then the message and voila! The message will appear on the recipient's card instantaneously! You can set it to a sound or a silent vibration, for those sticky situations. I'm told it works much like what muggles call texting. The message travels much faster than a Patronus, which was our fastest form of communication up until now. But more important than being fast, the M.O. is discreet. You can't send a Patronus gallivanting into a room with sensitive information if an Auror is in hiding or undercover, so you can see how a M.O. would be preferable. Anyway, in a moment everyone in your department will have one of these, but you can have this one now. It's the first complete M.O. ever. All the other ones are copies of this one. They're exact copies, of course, but you have the honor of owning the original! Just between us," he added conspiratorially.

"Wow. Thank you, John," Hermione said looking at the card appreciatively.

"Not at all," he said waving a hand. "Not at all. I hope you find it useful. But now Mr. Hiyashi and I have business with Reed so I do apologize for stealing him away. Good day to you Ms. Granger!" he called as he steered Rick and Mr. Hiyashi away by the arm.

Rick looked back at Hermione with an apologetic smile. Hermione waved goodbye and placed the card in her pocket.

Minutes later Hermione was settling down into the outside seating at Florean and Fortescue. She was waiting on someone to come take her order when she noticed Luna walking down the street. She was wearing a bright turquoise summer dress with daisies under a bright yellow jacket. Hermione noticed she was wearing her infamous radish earrings and smiled. She called to her as she passed.

"Hey! Luna!"

Luna looked around bewildered until she spotted Hermione. "Oh! Hello, Hermione. Having lunch?"

Hermione got up to greet her with a hug. "Yeah, a short one. You should join me if you have a minute."

"Actually, yes. I've been meaning to owl you anyway," she said as she sat down and a waiter poured them two glasses of lemonade.

Hermione's eyebrow went up. "Really? What about?"

"Well, I wanted to get a start on finding a wedding dress but I need to make sure both you and Ginny were available before I set a date."

"Oh, of course." Hermione mentally chastised herself. She had completely forgotten about Ron and Luna's upcoming nuptials. She had been so consumed in her work that she was becoming one of those people who had no idea what was going on in their friend's lives. She had definitely been neglecting Ron, Ginny and Luna. She hadn't spent any real time with any of them in weeks. And if she was honest with herself, she probably wouldn't see Harry very much either if they did not work together. And she couldn't even remember the last time she phoned her mum. But that all needed to change. She smiled at Luna and promised herself she would make up for it. "You have no idea how excited I am," Hermione said earnestly. "I'm clearing a whole day just for you."

Luna returned the smile. "Great. I know the boys are planning a surprise birthday party for you this week on Friday so let's shoot for that Saturday," she said jotting it down in her date book.

Hermione, who was taking a sip of her lemonade, nearly choked. "Birthday party? What are they thinking? My birthday isn't until the 19th of September!"

"Today's the 15th , Hermione … Have you walked through a swarm of Gymbols lately?" Luna asked looking concerned.

"Gymbols? No … no," Hermione said slowly as she counted back the days. Luna was right. Where had all the weeks gone? She was turning twenty-six in three short days. Another year closer to thirty. Wonderful, she thought. Hermione sighed and then shook her head as another detail sunk in. "Surprise birthday party? Luna, if it was a surprise then why did you tell me about it?"

Luna shrugged. "Didn't see the harm. I was thinking neon colors for the bridesmaids' dresses. How do you look in tangerine?"

Hermione made a face as she seriously considered this. She imagined how all the Weasleys would fair in neon orange with their bright red hair and pale skin. With some difficulty she held back a laugh. "You know what, Luna...? Not too shabby," she said grinning.

Hermione entered the Ministry in a considerably better mood and was on her way back to her office when she heard a familiar voice calling her.

"Hermione!"

She turned around to see Harry walking briskly towards her. "Harry. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, I was just about to ask you the same... I ran into Rick earlier. He said you guys had a nice little chat before you went to lunch," Harry said nonchalantly.

Hermione looked at him suspiciously. "Yes, we've actually been getting along quite well. I think he's finally gotten over me."

"Hmm... well, that's good, right? He's a nice guy..." Harry said watching her carefully. He seemed to be trying to gauge her reaction but Hermione couldn't imagine why. "Anyway, what have you been doing all day? I was sure you'd come see me with some developments by now."

"Well, while you have been busy polishing your wand, or whatever it is you do in your office," she said raising an eyebrow and smirking at him, "I have been making magical history."

"Polishing my wand? I'm shocked at you, Hermione. You know I don't polish my wand in my office," he said with a wink. "But what has the amazing Granger come up with this time?"

"I am on my way to creating a magical trace spell. I figured that what we needed for our abduction case was something to tie a particular spell to a particular wizard."

Harry's eyes widened and put a hand over her mouth. "Don't tell me anymore here," he said looking around. "Let's talk upstairs."

Hermione followed Harry to the lifts and up to his office. Upon entering, he performed the usual privacy charms on the room and Hermione made herself comfortable in her usual chair.

"So," Harry said sitting down behind his desk. "What is this you're telling me about a trace spell?"

Hermione smiled. "I'm creating a spell that can identify magic. Well two spells actually. They're just derivatives of the same thing. One sort of measures the strength of the spell and the other identifies the castor."

"And how will that help us without knowing without having something the kidnapper has magically altered?"

Hermione considered this for a while. She hadn't thought about that much. She was so anxious to create the spell that she hadn't stopped to think about what they would use to test it. But there had to be some detail she was overlooking.

"Hey, Harry," Hermione said slowly. "What exactly is the procedure for getting into the classified personal files? The ones that were broken into?"

"Well, first you would have to have the clearance, which I personally administer. There are six people who have direct access to the room. Anybody else has to come to me with a request. You can't just walk in there. Then after that you have to use the right spell to gain access. And this is an extremely complex charm. If you are not using your own wand, one you bought or one you acquired properly through a duel, the door won't even open. Now once you get in, you'll find the room itself is empty. There is a single scale that you must place your wand on. If you have clearance, the scale will register the fact and the files will appear to you."

Hermione nodded to herself. "With all those procedures and security measures in place it seems unlikely that an unauthorized person could just walk in there... So if I'm following you, they would not only have to completely avoid being seen, but they would have to use the wand of someone with the clearance to get in."

"Yes. And I've already been through everyone with clearance. None of mine were in there that day and nobody is missing a wand."

"It doesn't matter that they didn't go in, one of their wands did, Harry. We just need to find out who's wand went through, then we'll know who the kidnapper is using to do his dirty work."

"But how will we determine which wand was used if they've all cast the same spell to get through the door in the past?"

"It's the spells we're looking at, Harry. All spells leave a mark. Most spells that are cast will eventually wear off over time, depending on the strength of the castor. My trace charm will be able to distinguish between individual castors, as well as measure the strength of the spells cast on the door. Since we have all the authorized personnel's last visits accounted for, we'll just need to have them each unlock the ward with their wand and compare their most recent cast to their last. Now the spell cast by the kidnapper will be different from that cast from the wand owner, even though it's the same spell and the same wand."

"How is that possible?"

"Easy. You and I could cast the same spell using your wand for example, but the two spells won't be exactly the same. Because our individual magic is different. The magic that flows through each witch and wizard is completely unique to that person. So, if I have designed this spell correctly, it will be able to tell which wand cast the spell last and whether or not that spell belongs to the original wand owner. We'll just have to examine the spells cast on the door and compare them to the spells of those with clearance. Once we have that information we'll know who the kidnapper used to get in."

Harry shook his head. "That all sounds extremely complicated."

Hermione smiled. "It's really not. You'll see. Once I have the kinks worked out on this spell we'll find those women in no time... The difficult thing will be conducting our investigation without tipping off the kidnapper. If he's still watching whoever he used, he'll know we're on to him."

"You let me worry about that part," he said darkly. "What I need you to do is to continue to work on that spell until Thursday. You're taking Friday off."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "And for what exactly?"

"Dinner at the Burrow."

"I don't have to take the entire day off for that."

"Yes, you do. You have other things to take care of."

Hermione scoffed. "What could possibly be more important than doing my job and finding these women? It's my responsibility to-"

"Yes, and it's also your responsibility to take care of yourself and the people in your personal life too. I know our work is meaningful and lives depend on us, but sometimes we need to take time out and save our own lives. You'll go mad if your sanity depends on the work we do inside this building," he said looking at her seriously. "I've been talking to Draco... And he's worried about Pyxis. Naturally, he came to me seeing as I'm the only person he knows with kids," he added proudly. Hermione couldn't help but smile at him. "But we talked for a while and I figure that what Pyxis really needs is to spend some quality time with you."

"Me? I can't imagine why you'd think that," Hermione said uncomfortably. "If anything, I imagine she would want her father. Why would she want to spend quality time with me?"

"Because she's been growing up without a mother and now her father is away for an undetermined amount of time. You and Draco are all the family she has now and I think she needs to spend some one-on-one time with you. It's hard growing up without parents, and it'll only get harder as she gets older." He paused. "I know having Sirius for the short time that I did made all the difference in the world... I really needed him... I still do from time to time." Harry said looking away. Hermione reached out and took Harry's hand over his desk. He squeezed her hand in return and continued. "It may have been worse losing him. I can't work it out in my head, but I think it hurt more. Having actually known him... But I digress... I know Pyxis may only be under your care for a short while in the grand scheme of things, but she can never have too many people in her life that care about her. She needs to know she has people in her corner."

Hermione looked at him for a long time. Of course she agreed with him. She had just said earlier today that she had been widely ignoring her life outside of work. And now after hearing Harry say it out loud she felt absolutely terrible for not taking a greater interest in Pyxis. In fact, she couldn't imagine what Pyxis must think of her. She hardly saw Pyxis at all in the few days that she had been with them. She chastised herself. "You're right, Harry. You know I get tunnel-vision when it comes to my work. I forget." She put a hand to her forehead frustrated. "God, I swear. I'm not this cold person..."

"Hey, hey … Look at me, Mione." He waited until she looked up at him and met his stare. "You are the most compassionate person I know. But it's like Ron's been saying for years. You need to work on your priorities," he said smiling. "Now for Merlin's sake, please go home before Draco sends me another owl crying about how I'm keeping you at work all hours."

Author's Note: Finished reading? Did you like? Leave a review!