Tangled Up in Blue

CHAPTER FIVE: Cigars

Draco and Hermione talked for hours, sharing thoughts and opinions on anything the other said. There was an air of comfort that slowly settled upon them; both felt like they could relax, say anything.

As requested, the conversation started surrounding the farmhouse and it\'s occupants. Draco told her that everyone had reappeared in the same place, quite far from the constraints of the castle, and most had f a w a way to get home. Harry, himself, and a few others felt no reason to do so, and so lived in a collected group. It had been hard on all of them, as they\'d been shocked by the occurrence and shaken over the loss of loved ones... to some, this included Voldemort. All the death eaters had dissolved into thin air, but without the violet snow. It was soon discovered that they were really gone; dead or in purgatory, no one could say, but definitely not of the earthly existence. The small group of stragglers with no family to attend, including Harry, Draco, and many others, looked to each other for stability.

Therefore, they had worked together and combined effort. The farmhouse was purchased, and gradually became a Hogwarts\' alumni bed and breakfast. Although shaky with relationships, the group began to establish a routine and gained a bit more solidity in their collective lives. All thoughts of Mauriz and that situation were put on hold, and it wasn\'t until the fifteenth establishment celebrated its grand opening that anyone spoke up.

Ironically or not, it was Janelle who was the first to even suggest such a thing. Had she been a witch, Janelle would have been well into her third year at Hogwarts when the attack changed everything. Teige, her sister, had graduated the year before Hermione would have, and was a frequent visitor at Farmhouse a la Hogwarts. She felt connected to those hurt and lost in the struggle, and volunteered most of her life to helping them. Teige helped fix up and maintain the farmhouse, provide funds when money was tight, and keep everyone in good spirits. She was a lifesaver.

One day, Janelle had tagged along. Teige had promised to have a look at the pipes in hopes that she would know a spell to stop the rusty water problem they were having, and had fallen to last minute babysitting. So, although she was a muggle (how ever well educated in the ideals of magic), Janelle was welcomed into the home with open arms. Teige fixed the pipes, and they two had stayed for dr. Nr. Neville had solemnly announced the celebration heard on the broadcaster, and all bowed their heads in respect. When the silence passed and someone asked for butter, Janelle stood up.

\"That\'s it?\" she had asked them, gaining the attention of everyone at the table. \"You just think on it for a second and go back to your lives? There are PEOPLE out there, people you KNOW who need your help, and all you do is sit pretty here in your little house? Why doesn\'t anybody DO something?\"

\"Janelle!\" Teige scolded, but Justlinclinch-Fletchley stood in her defense.

\"No, she\'s right. We could do it... we could at least TRY...\"

\"Wait, wait... I don\'t know about this,\" Ron commented, looking quite nervous at the mere thought. Justin turned to him, determined.

\"What would you do to get Ginny back, Ron?\" he asked, and Ron paled considerably.

\"Justin,\" Harry admonished, defending his friend. Ron was now silent, staring idly at the table, but Justin paid him no mind. He turned his heated gaze to Harry.

\"What about Hermione?\" he reminded, voice sharp. Harry looked as if he\'d lost the ability to live; his eyes turned blank, and his face lost all expression. Most of the others chorused disapproving remarks at Justin; it was common knowledge that Hermione was a touchy subject. Especially with Harry. \"Well it\'s true! Why wouldn\'t you want to just try?\"

This was the point where Harry broke away from society. He stood from the table and muttered, \"Hermione... is dead,\" before stalking to his room and closing the door behind him. He didn\'t come back out for days.

\"Well,\" stated Morag MacDougs shs she stood and began to clear the dishes. \"Who wants dessert?\"

~*~*~*~

\"That\'s how it all started,\" Draco said as he sat beside Hermione, gazing toward the open window at the stars, sharp against the night sky. \"After that, we started sending out men, mostly e ine in lower years without much connection to anything, but there were a good number of us who had been neutral, Hufflepuff mostly, and we sent them out as well. For the longest time all we could hope to do was gather information; see how everything worked, find out who was being harmed and for what... things like that. The thing was, we didn\'t have a lot of manpower back then. It was just our class and a few who had already graduated: a lot of Weasleys. All the younger students went home to their parents... and then went back off to school. We started fighting back after about a year, and that left us with just ourselves and a few undergrad orphans who thought more of the cause then their education. Ginny\'s class was half way through their seventh year.\"

\"Hm...\" ioneione answered softly, eyes trained on his face. He looked serene, speaking monotonously. \"I actually think I understand. I read a book like this once...\" Draco chuckled softly, a smile contorting his lips.

\"You\'re sounding more and more like I remember every time you speak.\"

\"I\'m sure I sound exactly the same,\" Hermione retorted, smiling softly at the cheery atmosphere. \"You hardly knew me.\"

\"Of course, I can\'t argue. What was this book about? Perhaps it coulove ove useful,\" he asked, partially out of interest, and partially to turn the conversation away from old farm life. It hadn\'t been as peaches and cream as he had described, and he hardly wanted to relive it.

\"Oh, I don\'t know. Something about evil children lost in a forest of candy canes... and they started a thousand fires, which the adults tried to put out, but it was ironic because the demon arsons were more organized than the adults, and there were some casualties,\" she said softly, trying to remember more detail. Draco sighed when she finished, but not out of boredom or spite.

\"I\'m surprised at you, honestly. I was expecting more than a plot summary.\"

\"Well, forgive me. I haven\'t read anything but the label on my spoon since I shut my transfiguration book and made my way to the great hall,\" she said sadly, as if speaking of a lost relative. Draco had no input to such a comment and therefore remained silent, hoping for something to break the tension. \"What I don\'t understand,\" Hermione said, dismissing her sadness. \"Is how you all got to be such good mates so quickly.\" Draco debating feeling relieved. He didn\'t want silence, but he most certainly didn\'t want this either.

\"It didn\'t happen overnight... it was more complicated. There was Harry, me, Zabini, Goyle, Crabbe, Neville, Ron after a check-in at the burrow, and Justin Flinch-Fletchley left with no where to go. Well, and a lot of other Slytherin, but they all either went home with someone else or found another relative. Some of them were lucky: take my parents for instance; they were both full-fledged, dark marked, blood thirsty deatheaters. Pansy Parkinson\'s mother, however, was not, although her father was. Therefore, she remained when her husband dissolved.

As Slytherin are definitely evil blood sucking death traps who cannot under any circumstances be trusted, Justin teamed up with your boys and we had ourselves a Hogwarts\' style separation of powers. However, we were all each other had. Therefore, because most of us were dead broke, we had to work together to avoid sleeping in public shelters. Once we spent the night at Harry\'s uncle\'use.use... just so we could scare them into lending us some money. We did pay them back, although everyone but Harry said we shouldn\'t have.\"

\"Wait, wait, wait...\" Hermione interrupted, holding up a finger. \"You were broke? You have to be kidding me! What about...\"

\"Technically, there was no proof that any of the deatheaters had died, therefore, I, as well as my comrades, received no inheritance from such an occurrence. Harry\'s Gringotts account was our primary source of revenue. He himself was honestly too depressed to care about anything, much less who his money went to, but the rest of the Gryffindor and Justin refused to give us much of anything. True, they were Gryffindor, so they couldn\'t let us just starve to death, therefore we were sure to employ elsewhere and contribute to the pot, earning ourselves equal share.\"

\"You worked?\" Hermione asked, eyes bright. \"That\'s priceless... where?\"

\"Me? I had the most honorable duty of mucking out the Diagon Alley Owlry four nights a week, for almost a year. Terrible, isn\'t it?\"

\"Oh, lord yes!\" Hermione agreed, but succumbed to laughter a moment later. \"What happened then?\"

\"Well, after a while, more people caught on and those who left for home returned to help us. Once we had well over enough, we bought the farmhouse. It didn\'t really take long, what with everyone contributing everything. Then, people started visiting... a lot in the summer, less during school. Gradually, people moved out and people moved in. We\'re a pretty big group now.\"

\"Hm...\" Hermione thought aloud, wheels tinkering in her mind. \"That still sounds fairly easy. I doubt I\'d have trusted you after you\'d only given your word and spared a paycheck once a week.\" Draco sighed again, this time in mild frustration.

\"I\'m not going to lie to you; it was a bitch. The Gryffindor took it upon themselves to be the primary superiors, and seemed to think we were just freeloading. No matter what we said or how we acted, they wouldn\'t believe that we were taking the defeats just as hard as they were. And, if they did consider it, their replies were always \'Oh, poor Slytherin, lost your little Dark Lord. We offer endless condolence.\' And, well, that\'s not what we wanted. This caused a problem, because, as you probably know, most of my housemates and I have pretty quick tempers. I\'ll admit there were a few black eyes and bloody noses.

I\'m not knocking the Gryffindor for being cautious; I\'m just saying they didn\'t give us a fair benefit. Even if ninety percent of us wouldn\'t admit it, even under imperious, most of the Slytherin respected Dumbledore. If they didn\'t, we\'d all have been suspended. To tell you the truth, there were a bunch of us who used to talk about what it would be like if Voldemort DIDN\'T take over... and if that was really worse than the surefire life imprisonment in his ranks. When it happened, then, our immediate choice was to cooperate with Dumbledore. Don\'t look at me like that, I\'m not making this up. Think about it... there\'s this guy who we\'ve been taught to respect and look up to for our en liv lives. He\'s like our god, he can do no evil. Then, this new power comes in and completely destroys our Lord. Despite the fact that his intentions are our exact opposite, the man still defeated the only being we saw as immortal. Our basic line of thinking was, if he can do that to Voldemort, what\'s he going to do if I step out of line? Not that we really feared Dumbledore... old coots harmless unless provoked, we just didn\'t want to cause trouble. If Mauriz hadn\'t turned around and killed the bloke, wizarding peace may very well have been a possibility. Of course, saying that every Slytherin thought this way is absurd, but a lot more than you\'d think did.\"

Hermione remained silent through his ramblings, simply listening, with fierce attentiveness. Her mind absorbed the information and placed it in the folder she marked for extra special memories. The day Draco Malfoy told all. Secrets of the Slytherin. Dungeon Disclosures.

\"So, you wouldn\'t have conspired and taken down the light world?\"

\"Probably not. Most of us evil gits aren\'t as ambitious as Voldemort was. *I* was almost sick of seeing him come back every time someone killed him... it\'s just not right, honestly. And if I were in that rough of a shape, I\'m sure I\'d have killed MYSELF and saved everyone else the trouble,\" Draco admitted, and Hermione let herself enjoy his humor, laughing lightly. \"But, what I\'ve told you doesn\'t really support my point... let me try once more,\" Draco said, and Hermione smiled as she waited for him to continue. \"For future reference, my point is that the Slytherin were just as effected by the takeover as the Gryffindor. Now, why? Because, as I\'ve said, with Voldemort gone we looked up to Dumbledore. He was the one person looking after us, protecting us then. And Mauriz turned around without a word and killed the last bit of decency we had left. Obviously, we were quite touched by this. And then, he attempted to kill all of us. This did nothing to improve our thoughts ofhim.

Now, the Gryffindor didn\'t believe us because we weren\'t all sappy and depressed. Almost none of the Slytherin women were good enough to stay with him, and therefore most of us knew no one in any of the establishments, so we had no reason to be poignant. Instead... we were angry. And rash. And, at times, dangerous. This did little to boost our moral. While they hugged, we\'d piss and moan and punch things. All and all not very polite or courteous.\"

\"So basically... once Mauriz took over, you lot were stranded, broken into separate groups, had a glorious feud in which you both paid each other, and then slowly became friends and now live like a prayer group in your own little motel?\" Hermione summed up, and Draco laughed.

\"I suppose, yes, although that\'s an interesting point of view,\" he agreed, turning toward her. Draco\'s first thought was how completely exhausted she looked; as if it were a chore to remain conscious. \"Are you all right?\" Hermione nodded quite convincingly, running her thumb over a drooping eyelid.

\"Rather late for me, is all,\" she admitted. \"And what with all the excitement today...\"

\"Why don\'t you run off, then? We\'ll have plenty of time to talk tomorrow, if you still have questions,\" he suggested, not at all opposed to entering a place where his eye wouldn\'t sting so badly. Hermione looked confused.

\"You\'re not going home tomorrow?\" she asked, and Draco chuckled, shaking his head.

\"No... I can\'t very well go walking around with a black eye, can I? Can\'t have people thinking you\'d done it... and in theory, I\'m not supposed to leave.\"

\"Oh... right. Harry said something about that,\" Hermione remembered, chewing lightly on her bottom lip. There was a silence obstructed only by the crackling fire, and Draco watched his wife curiously. She was simply sitting there, as if in a different world.

\"Hermione? Any time you\'re ready,\" he reminded, and she turned to him slowly, not at all startled.

\"It\'s just so odd...\" she said softly, and Draco gave a lop-sided smile.

\"I know. I\'m sure it\'ll be better in a few weeks, when everything settles down and we think of something to do.\"

\"How long, do you think?\" Hermione asked, and Draco\'s face grew sad.

\"I wish I could tell you. It took a year to overcome Ginny\'s establishment... but that was with a thousand less men and no experience under our belts. But, at the same time... this IS Mauriz we\'re talking about,\" he leveled, gesturing with his hands at the weight of each factor. \"Well,\" Draco continued, adding some imaginary pellets to his first hand. \"At the same time, Harry\'s more worried about you than the aspect of getting rid of Mauriz... he might do something stupid. There\'s too much going both ways; I hardhardly give you an estimate.\" Hermione nodded softly and stood from the bed, moving slowly toward the door. \"Goodnight, Granger.\" She stopped in her step, for a moment overcome with nostalgia.

\"Goodnight, Draco,\" Hermione granted, before finishing her trip to the door and slipping soundlessly into the hallway.

~*~*~*~

Hermione was startled awake the next morning by the high pitched cling of her summoning bell. With barely any emotion, she went through her mediocre routine. She hadn\'t showered or done anything more than dressed, anxious about being late. When she stepped up to Draco\'s door, she knocked politely.

\"Come in,\" he called from inside and, although slightly surprised, Hermione did as requested. Draco was sitting Indian-style on his bed, surrounded by piles of paper and parchment. He was concentrating hard, reading a document covered with notations by the inch. He paid her nearly no mind, except that he seemed to be rushing through whatever it was he was studying, and Hermione was allowed to apply all sense to the scenery. Her first reaction to entering the room, was a strong urge to cough, brought forth by the potent aroma dispersed in the room. Draco looked up as he heard her stifle a tiny convulsion, although his finger was placed an inch or so above the bottom of the page. Hermione stood still in the doorway, hand over her mouth as she fought to break out in a fit, with teary eyes. \"Oh, I\'m sorry,\" Draco said and abandoned his parchment, swinging his legs off the bed. He was already dressed and primed, although Hermione knew as of the night before that he had nowhere to go and no one to see, with the trivial exception of herself.

Draco shuffled across the room to the table by his chair, which was now almost half as full as it had been before. Hermione, always perceptive, concluded that he had been sifting through the documents laid there when he had returned from his meeting with Harry.

When he reached the tiny table, Draco was quick to extinguish the three burning cigars that rested there, dripping their ashes into the glass bowl they were stationed within. He turned back to Hermione then, smiling sheepishly, but she frowned at him.

\"You shouldn\'t smoke, you know,\" she said, however softly, and removed the hand shielding her nose. \"It\'s terrible for you.\" Draco smiled genuinely as he made his way back to his bed-top perch.

\"I don\'t,\" he informed, scanning his half finished document to find the place he\'d stopped. \"I just burn them; it calms me.\"

\"All in the same,\" she corrected him, voice trailing down. It was then that Draco noticed she hadn\'t moved since she\'d arrived, standing neatly in one spot as if waiting for instructions.

\"You can have a seat, Hermione... just move something,\" he said, triumphantly placing a finger on a word and silently trailing it along the row as he read the statements. Hermione, not about to be inhospitable, pattered toward the bed and moved only a single folder, taking its place softly, as if not to disturb him. She hadn\'t given herself much room and was barely on the bed, but was seated nonetheless. Hermione waited patiently as Draco finished his document and every so often made minor notes on a separate sheet. When he did finish, he looked up at her again, placing the letter on a growing pile beside him. \"Hate to leave things unfinished,\" he explained, but said nothing further, merely sharing eye contact and smiling pleasantly. Hermione, a bit uncomfortable in such a warm silence, averted her eyes. She herself was confused; last night she had been so comfortable with him, and today she was jumpy and nervous. Perhaps it was the night-induced drunkenness that allowed her to be calm.

\"Why did you call me?\" she asked softly, with none of the malice or anger she had the previous day. Draco raised his eyebrows, as if surprised.

\"Oh, right. A couple things, actually,\" he admitted, sitting straighter. \"First, please know that you are not obligated to come at my beck and call. Think of it as less of a summoning and more of an invitation; if you\'ve other things to do, donbothbother. If you don\'t come I\'m not about to call again, unless it were something important... and I don\'t expect you to be here within seconds; take your time.\" Hermione, although surprised, was not about to object. \"And, if you ever would like to see me, don\'t hesitate to just come up. My door is always open.\"

\"Thank you,\" she stated, and Draco nodded his reply.

\"Next, I plan on staying in this room for quite some time without chancing a leave again, but I of course have to know what everyone is planning, therefore we\'ve secretly had this fireplace here linked to the flue network, so I may send and receive information. This, however, leaves the pathway open for domestics as well.\"

\"What do you mean?\" Hermione asked, understandably confused at Draco\'s eluding way of explaining their situation. He grinned and shrugged a shoulder nonchalantly.

\"If I can send things to Harry, why can\'t you?\" he stated, making his proposition all the more clear, and Hermione quickly frowned. Her heart fell into her stomach with a deep thud.

\"What?\" she asand and Draco mistook it for befuddled excitement.

\"He\'s probably waiting by the fireplace as we speak,\" he said, plucking a blank piece of paper from yet another pile and sacrificing the quill he had been using. He passed the things to Hermione, who took them slowly, as if in a daze. \"Thirdly, breakfast. From now on, I expect you to take your meals here, wit. No. No need to go malnourished if it can be avoided,\" he demanded, but lightly, as if he expected her to oppose. Hermione, however, did nothing but nod; she was staring at the blank piece of paper as if it were embodied with evil. Draco picked up on this. \"Hermione? You all right?\" She looked up with moist eyes.

\"What do you think Harry would say if I didn\'t send him anything?\" she asked innocently, the quill quaking in her fingertips. He lifted an eyebrow.

\"Honestly? I bet he\'d accuse me of detaining you and come here with a death warrant,\" Draco answered, to which Hermione bend her head as if in shame. \"...Why?\"

\"I just don\'t know what to say...\" she explained, voice soft and weak. Draco shrugged his shoulders.

\"I\'d say you can take your time; he\'ll understand that.\"

\"But...\" Hermione started, but shook her head before continuing. \"Yes, of course. Just take my time.\" Draco eyed her curiously, as if unsure of her intentions. \"May I go?\" Hermione asked hopefully, looking up at him and Draco\'s eyebrows flew high.

\"I... I don\'t see why not. But you haven\'t eaten...\"

\"I\'m really quite full from last night,\" she elucidated, standing from her slim perch on the bed. \"And I\'d like to dress first, anyway.\" Draco gave a single nod as he watched her walk toward the door, holding the paper and quill to her chest.

\"Feel free to return if you get hungry,\" he reminded, and Hermione turned back for just a moment to give him a thankful smile. She then left him to his paperwork, a cloud of dread above her head, shaped oddly like Harry Potter.