The next day Harry left for the flat straight from the Ministry. He felt very anxious about having to talk to Hermione, but Ginny's words still resounded in his mind. Hermione had to find out from him. She deserved that. She was his friend, his best friend, not a child that needed protecting by being lied to or by having things concealed from her.
'She must have had her reasons for not wanting to talk to me about what happened. Malfoy said she thought I would worry. Well, she was right about that.'
With those thoughts in mind, Harry sent his Patronus ahead to let them know of his visit. A few minutes later, he materialized in the common room of Hermione and Draco's flat. The image that waited him there shocked him out of his words.
Hermione and Draco were glaring at each other, the only obstacle between them was an armchair. They both had their wands raised at each other and because of the yelling they hadn't noticed Harry arrive.
Harry simply gaped at them, unsure of whether to call out to them or wait a little longer for them to finish their fight first. He had a bad feeling that this argument was precisely because of what he came there to talk about.
"You foul… evil… How could you do that?! I told you not to do it!" Hermione was yelling at Draco.
Her hair looked bushier than ever and her eyes shone bright with fury. She sent a curse in Draco's direction, but he easily deflected it with a lazy wave of his wand.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Granger." Draco drawled, in all appearance looking relaxed, but Harry knew better.
The way Draco was holding his wand at the ready, as well as his posture, showed that he was ready for everything Hermione was about to throw at him.
'At least he's smart enough not to underestimate Hermione.' Harry thought.
"Don't play stupid, you bloody Slytherin." Hermione bit out.
"For sure, I do not know what my house has anything to do with the reason you are so angry." Draco replied, frowning slightly . "I thought house differences were resolved after the war and everyone lived happily ever after at Hogwarts."
"Stop trying to play smart, Malfoy." Hermione snapped.
"Oh, first I'm stupid, then I'm smart. Would you decide already which one I am, Granger? You're confusing me." Draco sneered at her.
In response, Hermione threw another curse at him.
The white flash came at Draco so fast that he was barely able to dodge it intime. The curse landed on the wall behind him, leaving a deep dent.
"I told you not to tell Harry. You promised you wouldn't." Hermione said with an angry huff, her eyes narrowing even more dangerously at Draco.
She started walking, slowly trying to go around the armchair. But Draco mimicked her, keeping the same distance between them.
"No, you told me not to call him. And that I didn't. You never said anything about not talking to the bloody Chosen One afterwards. I never broke any stupid promises." Draco said, now angry as well.
"Yes, you're right. There was never a promise between us. It was my fault for believing your word would mean anything." Hermione bit out.
Draco's eyes darkened. He and Hermione shot glares at each other for a moment before shouting at the same time.
"Stupefy!"
"Stupefy!"
"PROTEGO!" bellowed a third voice.
Harry had moved from his spot and got close enough to cast the shield charm between them. Both their curses hit the shield, and, with a small flash of white light, they disappeared.
"Harry! What are you doing here?" Hermione exclaimed, completely stunned.
It was obvious that neither she, nor Draco for that matter, had heard or even seen Harry's Patronus.
"Saving Malfoy's life, apparently." Harry said with a grin.
Draco scoffed and crossed his arms in response.
Hermione, on the other hand, lowered her wand and stared at Harry intently. Her eyes began to narrow and she took a few steps towards her best friend.
"Harry…" she began in a calm, dangerous voice.
"Y-yes, Hermione." Harry stuttered, taking a few steps back to maintain a safe distance from Hermione.
"You don't know anything about this now, do you?" she said in a rather silky voice, but her eyes still blazed with fury.
"About what?" Harry asked in a small voice, taking another step backwards.
"Oh, I don't know." Hermione mocked, pretending to think. " About people lurking around the neighborhood, wearing invisibility cloaks. You don't know anything about that, do you, Harry?"
'Bloody fools! Ginny was right.' Harry winced internally.
"Now Hermione, please calm down. I will explain everything. You see…" Harry tried to say but he was interrupted.
"So you actually put people to stand guard around here? To follow me everywhere? Without telling me?" Hermione shrieked.
Draco snickered in the corner where he had retreated after Harry intervened. That earned him a glare from Harry, but Draco didn't seem to mind. He leaned back against the wall, arms crossed against his chest, wand still in one hand. He was looking at the scene unfolding before his eyes in mild amusement.
"I was planning on telling you… eventually." Harry said quietly. "I just came here now in order to talk to you about the whole situation." Harry added hastily seeing Hermione's nostrils flaring.
Hermione huffed but it was Draco who spoke.
"A bit too late for that now, Potter." he said with a smirk. "She already knows." he continued, gesturing with his head towards the fuming Hermione.
"Shut up, Malfoy. You're not helping." Harry said through gritted teeth.
"Not trying to." Draco retorted with a shrug, his smirk still in place.
"Why you bloody…" Harry started to say under his breath.
"Enough!" Hermione snapped at both of them. "I can't believe you were both in on this."
"Hey, don't lump me up with this git." Draco gestured at Harry. "I didn't know what he was planning on doing. I just told him about the attack and gave him a hint or two. Everything else is all Potter."
"Still, I can't believe you two talked about this behind my back." Hermione insisted, appearing considerably calmer.
The fact that Harry and Draco allied with each other for once was nothing short of a miracle.
"I was really worried about you." Harry said softly, wanting to keep Hermione as calm as possible now that she had stopped shouting. "When Malfoy told me, I went straight to the office and gave orders for the area to be guarded around the clock. We also checked for other suspicious activities."
"And?" Draco asked, ignoring Hermione's surprised look.
"No dark wizards have been caught recently and no one knows about any rogue Death Eaters planning something. We asked everyone that might have information on this."
"Not everyone." Draco said under his breath.
"What?" Harry asked in bewilderment. "Who?"
"My father." Draco replied simply.