A/N: Hey guys! Hope you all liked the last chapter. There were a few hints about what Draco did, and it was a bit confusing, I guess. I am sorry for that. There will be a few things mentioned about the Australian Ministry of Magic in thic chapter, and they are completely made up by me. Read the A/N at the end to find out when the next chapter will be out. On with chapter! 

Draco's jaw touched the floor when he saw that file. 

Oh, and he should probably thank Steven for that. He was the one who sent him to the Criminal Record of Ministry's Employees room to see someone's file. 

If it hadn't been for him, Draco probably would have never seen that file. And would have never got to know that Hermione had a criminal record. 

It's not like she would have told him, is it? 

But unfortunately, Draco wasn't able to read the file as he was accompanied by an Australian Ministry worker to that room. And he couldn't very well read her file in front of him. 

So, the next day, he requested Hermione to come to the Ministry with him, as he wouldn't be able to enter without her. 

As he had expected, Hermione was hesitant to come with him. 

"B-but, why do you even want to go there?" She asked him.

"Because." He simply said. 

Hermione glared at him. "Draco." 

"Fine." He sighed. "I just saw a file about something I am working on there yesterday, and I figured that someone in the Australian Ministry of Magic would have been working on that case as well. I could use a little bit of help, you know?" 

Thankfully, Hermione seemed to believe that reason. Because he definitely wasn't thinking about a good reason to make her come to the Ministry with him all night. 

He was thinking about it in the morning as well. 

"Why don't you owl that person to share their work with you? And, you two can meet here if you want. I don't think my parents would mind." She told him. 

So, she hadn't believed his reason completely yet. But Draco was a Slytherin through and through. 

"Tut, tut, Granger. I thought you knew me really well." Draco shook his head. "What is the first thing I look for in a room when I want to work?" 

"Uh... Books?" 

"Correct. And where will be the books related to the case?" 

"In the Ministry but-" 

"Is it allowed to bring the Ministry books to your home?" 

"No-" 

"Is there a guarantee that the Minister will give us the permission to use those books anywhere else other than the Ministry, and even if he does, how many days it will take to get that permission?"

Draco smirked as Hermione huffed. She won't be able to deny accompanying him now. 

After all, Draco was quite smart, wasn't he?

"Fine then. Give me five minutes, and we will go." She walked towards her room, and closed the door.

------------

Few minutes later...

Draco had run towards the Criminal Records of Ministry's Employees room as soon as he entered the Australian Ministry of Magic. 

He knew it was only a matter of a few minutes until Hermione realised that the person who was working on the same case as Draco was on leave, and wouldn't come back until next week. 

"Malfoy! Where are you going?"

Draco turned around to see Adam walking towards him. "Unspeakable Adam, I was just going to the Criminal Records room."

"I don't think you will find anything useful there. Perhaps you should go the the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to find something that will help you on your assignment."

"Oh no, I actually completed the assignment yesterday." Draco told him. "I-I just... I wanted to see how the room looks like. I think there should be a similar room in Wizarding London as well."

Adam narrowed his eyes at him. "But you went to the room yesterday, didn't you? One of the workers here saw you and Jack going there."

"Ahh right." Draco muttered. He had to come up with an excuse quickly. "I needed to see someone's file."

"Whose?"

Draco sighed. Might as well tell him the truth. Well, not the whole truth anyways. "Auror Grnger' file."

"Granger's? Why do you- hang on. Did you take the Minister's permission to see her file?" Adam asked him. 

Draco was confused. "But why will I take his permission? You can see anyone's file right? I don't think there were any rules stopping me from doing that."

"Well, there is no such rule stopping you from seeing anyone's file, but-" He sighed. "Granger's file is an... Exception, I guess. You will need the permission, and I don't think the Minister will allow that. The file is exclusive."

"But why? It is just a file right? And... I need to see it. It is important." Draco said. "There was an attack on Hogwarts three months ago, and we still haven't caught the person responsible. While I know that Granger is not responsible, the Ministry doesn't. Nobody knew where she was until a few days ago, and she is one of the suspects."

"I just can't go and ask her if she had used an unforgivable or not. And Veritaserum can be tempered with as well. But, I know that those criminal files have nothing but truth in them. I have studied a bit about criminal files, and I know that they list every dark spell you use, and also your every single crime, whether or not you meant to commit them or not. So, I just need a proof that she hasn't done anything, and that's why I want to see the file." He finished. 

It wasn't really a lie. There was an attack on Hogwarts, but of course, Hermione was not one of the suspects.

"You won't be able to see the file. It is not allowed. Nobody can see her file." Adam told him.

"But why? I just need-"

He cut him off. "You are from Wizarding London, aren't you? And her best friend as well? Figure it out then. I have heard you are quite intelligent."

Before Draco could say anything, Adam walked away from him. But not before telling the guard standing outside the room to not allow Draco to enter the room.

He groaned as he saw the guard glaring at him. 

Draco will find a way to see her file. 

The Ministry rules be damned. 

-------

Harry was peacefully drinking his coffee when suddenly Hermione's patronus appeared in his office. 

"Harry, Draco requested me to take him to the Ministry. And he ran away from me as soon as we apparated there. What if he found out about him?" The otter said. 

Harry choked on his coffee.

"Freaking Malfoy. Ruining my coffee and morning. I swear I will kill him some day." Harry muttered and dialed his best friend's number. 

"Harry!" She exclaimed as soon as she picked up her phone. "I don't know what to do. What if he found out? What if he saw the file? What if-" 

"Okay, okay, breathe, Hermione." He interrupted her. "Just calm down for a second, and then tell me everything that had happened." 

And so, she told him everything about their assignment, the way Draco was acting strangely when they had left the Ministry yesterday, and his reason for going back there. 

Harry was silent for a few moments. He took a deep breath, and said, "Who all know about him and that file?" 

"Uh...well the Minister knows about them, but I don't think he will say anything. And..." Hermione faltered. 

"Who? Hermione, answer me." 

She sighed. "Unspeakable Adam." 

"Okay." He nodded. "Then what is the problem? You trust Adam, right? And he is kind, and supports you as well. So, obviously-" 

"Someone told me that they saw Adam talking with Draco a few minutes ago." She told him. "And, Adam was looking a bit angry." 

"Hermione, I don't think Adam will tell him anything. He treats you like his sister, and you know that you are important to him, right? I am sure he won't tell anyone anything." 

She nodded. "I know. I think I just panicked when someone told me that. Anyways, what is going on there?" 

"Oh the usual, you know." He shrugged. "Nothing much happened today except- wait, there is something you should know. She is coming back here today." 

"Really?" Hermione asked, having no doubt who 'she' was. 

"Yes. I just received her letter a few minutes ago. She will come to the Ministry after a few hours, to visit you and Draco." 

"But why me?" She asked him. "I thought she would hate me because the way I talked to her son the night before I left. She has every right to hate me." 

"Oh Hermione." Harry chuckled. "You do know that she loves you, right? I think she loves you even more than she loves Draco. I won't be surprised if she hugs you when she sees you, and maybe scolds her son." 

"Shut up, Harry. She is a very kind woman, and yes, she may scold her son for not informing that I came back. Anyways, I think we will come back to London in half an hour, or an hour at the most." She told him. 

"Okay. You should probably go and find Draco now. Do you know where he is?" 

"I think I have an idea." Hermione said, looking at the corridor that led to the Criminal Records room. 

--------

It had been three minutes since Draco had been standing there, when he saw someone coming towards him.  

"Hey, Draco!" He waved at him. "I didn't know you would be here today. Didn't you and Hermione complete your assignment yesterday?" 

It was Darian, the Ministry worker who had accompanied him to the Criminal Records room yesterday. 

"Oh, we did, but then I wanted to do some extra research as well, so I came here with her. What about you? What are you doing here, Darian?" Draco asked him. 

"The Head of the Department assigned me a new case today. It is about an ex Ministry worker who attacked the Wizarding village a few weeks ago. I came here to look at his file since we can't take any file outside this room." 

"Okay." He said, and suddenly, he got an idea. "Um, Darian, can you do me a favor?" 

"Anything, Draco. You have helped my younger brother, Adrian, a lot. And I owe you for that." Darian smiled at him. "What do you want me to do?" 

"I can't enter this room, the guard won't allow me to do that. He said that the Death Eaters aren't allowed here-" 

"What? He said that?" Darian interjected. "You just wait, I will talk to him right now-" 

"Oh, no. There's no need for that." He stopped him before he could do anything. "You have the permission slip from your Department Head to look at the file, right?" When he nodded, Draco continued, "I want you to write my name alongside yours, so it will look like your Department Head told us to look at the file." 

"What? Draco, that's illegal. I cannot do that." He shook his head. 

"Darian, please." Draco requested him. "We both are Aurors, so I don't think the guard will be suspicious. I know writing someone else's name on the permission slip is illegal as those files are very important, but please, I need to look at one of the files, and the guard won't allow me." 

"We can complain about the guard to a Department Head, Draco, and I am sure you will get the permission then-" 

"No! It will take a lot of time, and I have to go back to England soon. Please help me, Darian. You don't how important it is." 

Darian sighed. "If I get sacked, I will kill you." He took out the slip, and wrote Draco's name next to his, using his wand to change his handwriting. 

They walked towards the room, where the guard stopped Draco. "He is with me, and I have this permission slip. Allow us to go inside." 

"But, Unspeakable Ada-" 

"I don't like repeating myself, Eden. Either you allow us to go inside, or I'll complain about you to my Department Head." Darian narrowed his eyes at him.

The guard, Eden, nodded and stepped aside. As soon as they entered, Draco turned to Darian. "Thank you so much, Darian. And if you get sacked because of this, I'll take the whole blame and make sure that they give you the job back. I owe you." 

Darian smiled at him and walked away, searching for the file he wanted to see. 

Draco was about to search for Hermione's file, when he saw something written on the paper attached to the wall. 

Instructions: 

None of the files are allowed to be taken outside this room. They are listed in alphabetical order, and should be returned back to their original places after the work is done. 

The files according to the number of crimes: 

1. If the person has committed ONE crime, their file will be of PURPLE colour.

2. If the person has committed TWO crimes, their file will be of WHITE colour. 

3. If the person has committed THREE or MORE crimes, their file will be of RED colour. 

Draco turned around and walked towards the aisles. Luckily, three minutes later, he found Hermione's file. He gasped as soon as he saw it. 

Hermione Granger had a red coloured file. 

He looked back at the wall, where the instructions were written. 

Three or more crimes. Red file.

"What did you do, Granger?" Draco whispered, and grabbed her file. 

The first page included the basic details. 

Hermione Jean Granger, Muggleborn. 

Born on: 19th September 1979

Attended Hogwarts from 1991 to 1999.

Fought alongside the Order of Phoenix in the Second Wizarding War, and given Order of Merlin First Class afterwards. 

Started working in the Australian Ministry of Magic in 2000. 

Auror. 

Crimes committed: Three. 

Draco turned the page. 'Crimes committed', was the head line of the next page. 

He hesitated. Should he read it? What if it changed everything? What if he discovered something about her and would have to tell the Ministry? Will she go to Azkaban? Will she ever forgive him? Will he get to see her again? 

Draco sighed, and made his decision. He will read it, and as for telling the Ministry about this, he will think about it later. 

He had just read the first word, when he heard her voice. 

"Draco!"

He turned around to see Hermione standing near the door. 

He quickly closed the file, and kept it back in its place by the time Hermione walked towards him. 

"W-what are you doing here?" She asked him. 

"Oh well Darian, my friend, was coming here, so I offered to accompany him. I was actually coming to your office." He told her. 

"Okay. Did you look at the file?" 

Draco froze. How did she know about that? 

"Well, I-I was... I didn't want to, but..." He stuttered. 

Hermione, who wasn't fazed by his stuttering, said, "Someone told me that the person who was working on the same case as yours, is on leave. But he left his file here. Did you look at it?" 

He sighed in relief. She didn't know that he was looking at her file. "Yeah, I looked at it. I forgot that he was on leave, but I was able to look at the research he had done, and I think it helped me a bit. How did you know I was here?" 

"Adam told me." She said. "He said that he saw you coming here, and then the guard told me you were inside. But what are you doing here, in this aisle? Darian is looking for the file there." She pointed at the aisle Darian was. 

Thank Salazar she didn't see what I was doing here because of the aisles blocking her view. He thought. "Nothing. I was just roaming around while Darian searched for the file." 

"I think we should go back to England now. We have to report to Kingsley as well." She told him. He nodded, but before he could walk away, she grabbed his arm. "Draco, I want to tell you something." 

He nodded, thinking she was finally going to tell him everything, or at least, something about the file. 

But Hermione Granger is one of the most unpredictable people, isn't she? 

---------

They were at the fireplace of the Ministry, from where they would floo back to England, when someone called him. 

"Malfoy!" He turned around to see Adam walking towards him. "Can I talk to you? Alone?" He said, looking at Hermione. 

"I will meet you near the fireplace. Goodbye, Adam." Hermione smiled at them, and walked away. 

"What do you want to talk about?" Draco asked him. 

"I know you went in the Criminal Records room even after I told the guard to not allow you to do that. And yes, I know how you did that." Adam said before he could interrupt him. "I must say, you are quite smart, Malfoy." 

"I don't think you just wanted to compliment me." Draco narrowed his eyes at him. "What do you want? Will Darian lose his job, or will he be punished? It's not his fault. If you want to punish someone, you can punish me, or just tell Kingsley about that. But please, don't do anything to Darian-" 

"Darian is fine, Malfoy. He will not get punished, nor lose his job." Adam cut him off. "Almost all of the Ministry workers have broken a few rules, but haven't lost their jobs. Nobody knows what you and Darian have done except me, and I am not going to tell anyone." 

He continued, "Did you look at her file?" 

Draco shook his head. "No. She came there before I could read it. But I know that her file is red, and what that means." 

He nodded. "Then I just want to tell you this, believe her. I am sure she will tell you when she wants to, but don't pressure her. Also, if someone else tells you, don't trust or believe them unless Hermione tells you what exactly is in her file." 

"Do you know what is there in the file?" He asked him. 

"I do. My parents are close friends with hers, and she told me a few weeks after she came here. Do you trust her?" 

"Yes. I trust her with my life." Draco told him. 

 "Then wait for her to tell you. She has gone through a lot, Malfoy, even after the war ended. She was a mess when I first saw her. And now? I think she is happy. And if I get to know that you hurt her, or made her sad in any way, I won't hesitate to hex you into oblivion." Adam threatened him. 

Before Draco could say anything, he walked away, but not before saying, "Trust her, and I am sure you will get your answers." 

---------

A few hours later...

Draco was working on a case, when his assistant told him that Blaise had left a message for him. 

"Hello Drakey. Yes, yes, I know you don't like that name. Should I call you 'My Dragon'? I should thank Narcissa for telling me about that name. Okay, before you make the decision of hexing me, I just want to tell you that I will probably come after a few minutes to visit you and Hermione. Pansy is currently visiting her parents, so she's not free. Oh and, there is someone else who will visit you both as well." His message said. 

He sighed. It has been five years since Blaise had seen Hermione. Draco just wished that his best friend won't tell her anything. 

Not that he had any doubt that he would tell her what Draco had done, of course. He trusted him with his life. 

Blaise and Theo had been his best friends ever since they were five years old. When they had come to Hogwarts, they had refused to follow his orders, or bully people. So, he started talking with Crabbe and Goyle. And then, in their sixth year, Blaise and Theo had confronted him, and he had told them everything. His mark, the task, Voldemort threatening his parents, everything. Since then, those two had stayed with him. 

They had made a promise to tell each other everything, but there were certain things that Draco hadn't told them. 

Like the thing he had done that day. 

28th April 1999

Nobody knew what Draco had done that day. Not even Blaise, who knew more than Theo, and thought that he knew everything that had happened. 

Draco still regretted doing that on 28th April 1999, and he would never stop regretting that. 

He just hoped Hermione won't find out about it. 

And if she does, he hoped she won't hate him. 

--------

"You can't stop me from visiting my son at work, Lisa." She glared at him. 

"B-but Mrs Malfoy, he is currently working on his case, and you don't even have an appointment. Let me just ask him-" Lisa started, but was cut off. 

"Oh please, as if he would deny meeting me. I am sure Draco won't mind that his mother is visiting him. I haven't seen him in three months." Narcissa said, and walked into Draco's office. 

"Lisa, I told you to knock before you enter- Mother?" Draco looked up from his file to see his mother standing in front of his desk. 

"I should put up a sign on the door, telling everyone to knock before entering." He muttered and stood up to greet her. 

"Hello, Mother. How are you?" He hugged her tightly. 

"I am good, Draco." She smiled and hugged him back. "How are you, my Dragon? It's been three months since I last saw you." 

"I am fine. I told you and father not to move to France, Mother. And- wait, did you threaten my assistant again, Mother? She is literally scared of you." He said as he looked at his assistant, Lisa, with an apologetic look on his face. "You can't threaten her everytime she stops you from coming to my office." 

Narcissa scowled at him. "Nobody can stop me from visiting my son. You don't mess with the Malfoys, remember? Anyways, where is Hermione?" 

This time, it was Draco's turn to scowl at her. "Did you really want to visit me, or you just wanted to see Granger?" 

"You know the answer to do that, Draco. It's been years since I have met her. And you didn't even tell me she was back. Luckily, Blaise informed that Hermione had come back here." 

Draco shook his head. Trust his best friend to tell his mother everything that going on in the Ministry. 

"Anyways, when you will stop calling her 'Granger'?" Narcissa asked him. 

"She will always be Granger to me, Mother. And, I think she is busy right now." He said as he looked at his watch. "You can visit her later." 

"Nonsense, Draco." She waved her hand. "I am sure she will be happy to see me. Let's go to her office now." 

He nodded, and closed his file. He led her out of his office, and told Lisa he was going somewhere, and would be back after a few minutes. 

"Oh, and Minnie- I mean, Minerva told me that she wants to visit Hermione as well. Maybe we all can go to Hogwarts soon?" Narcissa asked him. 

"I know you call her Minnie, mother. And that she calls you Cissa. You do remember how many times I have walked in on you two talking, right?" He rolled his eyes. 

"I can't wait to meet Hermione." She grinned at him.

A/N: That's it for this chapter. It was 3800+ words. Hope you guys liked it. Did you really think that I would tell to all what was in that file in this chapter? *laughs* But, I promise you, it will be revealed soon. I hope the chapter wasn't boring. Random question: Who's your favorite out of these two: Draco or Harry? Answer in the comments below. Vote, comment and please share my story. Reviews are always appreciated. Thank you! 

Next chapter on 23/8/20(Sunday). 

Until next time.