Hermione stared up at the large building she had just apparated in front of, Malfoy & Zabini Industries. Even though she and Draco had been together for a few months now, she had not yet been to his office.
Taking a deep breath, she walked up the stairs and tightened her grip on her bag as nerves raced through her. She didn't even know why she was nervous; she was just going to surprise Draco for lunch.
As she walked through the lobby towards the elevators, she ignored the few stares she received with her head held high. She didn't relax until the elevator doors closed, and even then she still felt somewhat nervous. But she quietly reminded herself that she had checked the floor listings a thousand times and that she knew she was going to the right floor, which for some reason did not make her feel any less nervous.
The elevator then came to a stop faster than she expected and they opened to a nearly empty floor. The first thing she saw was a desk with a very pretty young witch sitting behind it, sorting through papers.
As Hermione approached, the other witch barely even glanced up before asking, "Do you have an appointment?"
"Um...well, no," Hermione said sheepishly.
"I'm sorry, you're just going to have to wait then," The witch said in a very bored tone. "Mister Malfoy and Mister Zabini are both very busy-"
"I'm here to surprise Draco," Hermione interrupted then.
The witch finally looked up at her and her eyes widened after a few silent moments. "Oh my Merlin, you're Hermione Granger!"
Hermione gave her a half-smile before shifting her weight from one foot to the other and asking, "Is Draco busy at the moment? I was hoping to surprise him with lunch."
"No, he shouldn't be very busy!" The witch stood up then and quickly moved around the desk, excitedly reaching out for Hermione's hand. "I'm so sorry! My name is Veronica, I am such a big fan of yours! And of course, you and Mister Malfoy are all over the Prophet! Such a beautiful couple!"
"Well, thank you!" Hermione laughed nervously. "Um...can I see Draco, please?"
"Absolutely!" Veronica let her away towards an office in the back, one that had the shades drawn all around so it was impossible to look into. "Mister Malfoy should be in there!"
"Thank you, Veronica," Hermione said with a smile, causing Veronica to beam excitedly as she walked away.
As Hermione raised her hand to knock on the door, the sound of voices suddenly caught her off guard and she paused with her hand raised in the air.
"...Might not be ready in time for the next cycle," A man said.
"The full moon is next Friday, the tenth." Hermione recognized Draco's voice instantly. "Is it going to be ready then? This is supposed to be a one-time potion and this is the first time the brewing was actually successful."
"I understand, sir," The first man said politely. "But we cannot guarantee that the potion will work even with a successful brew."
"That's fine," Draco said. "I just want to make sure that we're closer to a solution than we were before."
Hermione stared at the door in confusion. A one-time potion?
"Hermione?"
She whirled around to see Blaise staring at her with wide eyes, and she waved nervously. "Oh, hi Blaise!"
"Wha-what are you doing here?" He asked as he quickly walked towards her.
"I just wanted to surprise Draco with lunch since he's been taking me out to lunch nearly every day," She said.
"He's not expecting you though," Blaise said, nervously glancing towards the door.
"Well no, that's kind of the point of a surprise." Hermione narrowed her eyes and then asked, "Blaise, are you trying to hide something?"
"Absolutely not!" He looked down at her then and gave her a smile. "Why would you think that?"
She raised an eyebrow. "You're acting very nervous, seeing me here outside of Draco's office, and I can hear voices inside the office."
The color nearly drained from his face. "What all have you heard?"
"Enough to think that you two are hiding something from me," She answered then while raising her chin. "What is going on?"
"What? There is nothing going on!" Blaise tried to maintain a lighthearted tone but faltered slightly under her gaze. "Look, Hermione...it's not my place to tell you."
Hermione eyed him for a moment before shrugging. "That's fine."
She turned then and grabbed the handle, quickly opening the door to Draco's office. Draco's head snapped up as did the heads of the two other men standing in front of him.
"Who in their right bloody mind- Hermione?" Draco's expression changed from anger to shock as he realized just who was interrupting them. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to surprise you with lunch but it appears you have other plans," Hermione said, nodding towards the other two men and giving him a stern look. "Draco, are you hiding something from me?"
"What?" Draco stared at her with wide eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Mate, you might want to just tell her," Came Blaise's reply from behind Hermione.
"Oh, Merlin..." Draco put his head in the palm of his hand, rubbing his face slightly. "How much did she hear?"
"She is standing right here," Hermione said firmly. "And I heard enough. I'll ask again: what's this about a one-time potion? And what does it have to do with the full moon next Friday?"
There was absolute silence in the office for a few moments before Draco sighed and looked at the two men. "Please excuse us, gentlemen."
They both nodded before disapparating and Draco stood up from his chair. "Hermione, it's nothing to worry about."
"Draco, I've been standing outside of your door long enough to hear something about a one-time potion that's supposed to be close to a solution for something," Hermione said sternly. "If you weren't trying to hide it from me, I feel like you would have told me already considering I'm nearly as smart as you are at potions."
His eyebrows shot up in surprise and he looked over at Blaise. "Did she just say that she's nearly as smart as I am at potions?"
"Don't drag me into this, please," Blaise said shortly, holding up a hand.
Hermione, meanwhile, watched Draco quietly for a few moments before it suddenly hit her. "You're brewing an alternative to the Wolfsbane potion."
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly. "Have I mentioned that I love that big brain of yours?"
The scowl he received in response made him falter slightly as he held up a hand defensively and said, "I know, I know; now's not the time."
"Should I leave you two alone to sort this out?" Blaise asked from behind Hermione.
"No, you might as well come in too," Draco shrugged with a sigh. "She's already basically figured it out."
Hermione shot Blaise a glared that the wizard cowered under as he shut the door behind him and glared at Draco. "Great, now she's mad at me too."
"I won't be as upset if someone would just explain what exactly is happening!" She said exasperatedly.
Blaise looked at Draco expectantly, and Draco simply rolled his eyes before looking up at Hermione.
"I wanted to keep this somewhat quiet because it's been rather unsuccessful so far," He began, sitting on the corner of his desk. "After you announced that you were hoping to better societal relationships between werewolves and non-afflicted persons, I thought, why stop there? Why not actually try to find a cure instead of letting people suffer?"
Without pausing, Draco then nodded towards Hermione and went on: "I came up with the idea after you had told me about your research papers and your plans to help those like me. I know you said that it might be too obvious if my notes were submitted with your paper regarding my experience and that it might expose me, but I didn't want to just do nothing."
Hermione stared at him in stunned silence. Words finally came to her as she quietly said, "So it's not just an alternative...you're actually working to cure lycanthropy."
"Trying to," Draco sighed. "It's been rather unsuccessful so far. At least until this last batch. This is the closest we've come to a successful batch."
There was silence for a bit while Hermione's mind went wild with one thought after another. A sudden question hit her though and she looked back up at Draco.
"How exactly were you planning on testing this potion?" Hermione asked slowly, though she feared she already knew the answer.
His mouth formed a thin line as he didn't answer. She immediately shook her head and said, "No. Absolutely not."
"Hermione, it's the safest way," He started.
"No!" She glared at him. "There is absolutely no way that I am letting you test that on yourself!"
"Then who would I test it on?" He asked exasperatedly. "I don't want to give false hope to another werewolf only for it to not work! And I don't want them to be hurt in the process!"
"So you're willing to possibly hurt yourself?!" She exclaimed. "What if you get seriously hurt? What if you die?!"
"Well..." He rubbed the back of his neck and then gave a half-hearted laugh. "I guess then we know that batch didn't work."
She gaped at him, a mixture of anger and frustration racing through her. On the one hand, she thought that his initiative to find a cure was very admirable. But the sheer stupidity of him testing it on himself overruled his good intentions.
After forcing herself to take a deep breath, she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay...please send me a list of the ingredients used in this batch as well as whatever notes the brewers have. Including what process they have done to brew this batch."
"Hermione, I've gone over it with them already," Draco started, shaking his head.
"And you know that it never hurts to have another pair of eyes on something like this," Hermione said firmly. "I'm not just going to stand by and let you do this to yourself. Not without knowing that I've done everything I can to make it as safe as it can be for you."
He looked at her, realizing just how worried she was about this. About him.
"Hey," He said quietly, grabbing her attention and reaching a hand out to her.
She slowly took it and he pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms around her as she leaned fully against him. He kissed her temple and said, "I promise everything is going to be alright. The brewers are going to be there when I take the potion to make sure that nothing happens."
"I want to be there."
He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "No."
"Then you're not taking the potion."
Draco shook his head. "Hermione..."
"Draco, I am not letting you take that potion without me being there." She pulled away and gave him a stern look. "You may be my boyfriend, but you're also my client. And I am not letting one of my clients stupidly make themselves a guinea pig."
He gave an odd look at the phrase but she didn't even bother explaining as she pulled away further. "I'm going to be there when you take this potion whether you like it or not. I will find a way to be there. Or I can find a way to make you not take that bloody potion, and you know I can."
That statement paired with the mixture of fear and desperateness in her eyes sent a shiver down his spine. His shoulders dropped then as he knew he wasn't going to win this argument and he nodded before looking over at Blaise.
Blaise sighed as well and looked up at the ceiling. "Yes, I'll be there too."
"Thank you," Draco nodded. "I know she can take care of herself but it's a just-in-case sort of thing. We don't know if this potion will actually work."
"I'll be taking the same precautions as last time," Hermione said. "If anything, I'll add a few more defenses on top of the ones I used."
"Like the dog whistle?" Blaise asked then in an attempt to lighten the mood.
This made Hermione giggle slightly while Draco glared at his business partner. He then looked back at Hermione and took her hand again, looking her in the eye.
"I want you to promise me," He started quietly but firmly. "If things go badly, I want you to leave immediately. Don't worry about anyone else; just get yourself out of there."
She hesitated for a moment before nodding. "I promise."
A/N: So happy to finally get this chapter up!! I've been dying to get to this point in the story, and I'm excited for the next few chapters to come. Hope you all enjoy! Love you all! <3