Draco decided to take matters even further. As if breaking up with Hermione was not enough, he made the decision to leave England. He felt the need to drown himself in work in order to feel he was doing something useful. He also wanted to catch the Dark Wizards that still plagued the country.

When Draco told Harry about his plans, the raven-haired man exploded. He threw his quill down, splattering the papers with ink.

"Do you really have to go that far, Malfoy? Wasn't enough that you broke up with her? Harry asked impatiently, then added in an undertone "along with braking her heart."

Draco glared at Harry. He did not appreciate someone reminding him of what he did, especially if that someone was Hermione's best friend. It was bad enough he could not forget it or forgive himself for it.

"Are you really that stupid, Potter?" Draco spat, completely ignoring Harry's offended look. "These guys are vile, and they clearly have something against me and my family. If they found out how much she means to me do you think they would just sit still and do nothing?" he finished, slumping down on a chair, frantically brushing his hair with his hands.

Harry looked at him for a moment, unsure of what to say. He couldn't entirely blame Draco for this decision. Judging by what they knew, these Death Eaters had it bad for the Malfoys, so it wasn't impossible to see them using Hermione to get to Draco. He slammed his fist against the desk, making Draco jump. The beautiful white owl perched on Harry's chair hooted indignantly. Harry was sadly reminded of Hedwig.

"Those bastards! I'll get them and make sure they pay for every crime they've committed." Harry said through gritted teeth.

"Let's find them first, Potter, before you go about saving the world again. It's been almost a month since we interrogated the guy and we haven't found anything useful yet." Draco said tiredly. "And talking about that, I want a transfer."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise.

"A transfer? What are you talking about, Malfoy? You're my partner."

"I know that, but I want to go north. I want to investigate Scotland and the area where the Aurors found that lunatic who..." Draco stopped, swallowing his words.

Harry knew he was about to say, 'the lunatic who brought about the break up between him and Hermione', but knew better than put salt on an open wound. Instead, he surveyed Draco for a moment, pondering about what that meant.

"You know I can't go with you. There is still a lot to do here, decisions to make. We need a plan before we do anything." Harry said unenthusiastically.

"I know, and I don't expect you to go with me. For three years I have managed on my own, I think I can do it again." Draco said sarcastically.

"Suit yourself, Malfoy. But trust me, killing yourself over Hermione would only make her hate you more." Harry said with a knowing smirk.

Draco fought back a curse. He made a grimace, pushing himself out of the chair. Harry got up as well and went around the desk, stopping in front of Draco.

"Are you sure you won't regret this, Malfoy?" he asked in a serious voice, boring his eyes into Draco's. They looked like steel: icy cold and determined.

"Malfoys don't regret things, Potter." Draco replied with his trademark smirk.

"Sure they don't. They just go on suicide missions to show how much they care." Harry mocked.

"You're pushing it, Potter." Draco said warningly, narrowing his eyes.

Harry shrugged, shooting a smirk at Draco. He continued speaking while waving a hand dismissively.

"I'll ask the Head Auror to assign you a partner for the mission. How would you like McKinley? He is Scottish after all, so he might be helpful."

"I'm afraid I don't work well with people, Potter. It was hard enough with you." Draco scowled, walking to the door, and opening it. He stopped when he heard Harry chuckle.

"Wow, Malfoy. Didn't know you liked me so much that you can't get yourself another partner."

Draco glowered at him and snapped the door shut, just as Harry started laughing.

"Damn git." Draco growled as he headed away from Harry's office.

Blaise did not take his friend's departure any better than Harry did. He scowled and glowered, throwing cuss words at Draco the entire time. Eventually Draco had to threaten him with his wand to make him stop.

"Zabini, I swear, you are acting like a spoilt brat." Draco snapped, finally having enough of Blaise's attitude.

"No, Malfoy! YOU are acting like a spoilt goddam brat." Blaise snapped back, scowling furiously. "Do you know how stupid it is what you are about to do?" he continued with a hiss. "It's mental!"

"I don't know what it is you are imagining I am doing. The truth is that I am doing my job. I am a consultant Auror for Salazar's sake. It's my job to go on raids and catch Dark Wizards." Draco said exasperatedly .

"The truth is that you are an idiot!" Blaise retorted, crossing his arms.

"Not more so than you are." Draco smirked.

"Well don't expect me to patch you up every time you come back with a wound." Blaise spat, throwing his hands in the air. With that he turned and left Draco alone in the common room.

Hearing Blaise's door snap shut, Draco felt grateful to his friend. Being this upset was proof that Blaise cared, and that meant the world to Draco. For a short moment the lonely feeling he had in his heart lessened somewhat. Then Hermione's face appeared before his eyes and a pang of pain shot through his heart, making his stomach lurch.

Damn fool, there is no point in regretting it now. No crying over spilled milk, Draco, you know the rule.

***

The next few weeks were a blur for Hermione. She went to work, then came back home. For a while, she refused visits from anyone, especially from Harry and Ginny. Even though she knew they had wanted to help and protect her, she still felt their lies acutely. Slowly, though, her feelings turned more positive towards her dear friends. After all, they had faced a war together and they cared for each other too much to let this come between them.

They were nearing the end of October and the weather was changing rapidly. Cold hard winds kept blowing on the streets and icy cold rain was falling once every other day. Hermione soon came back to her usual life, the one before Draco. There were days when she thought of him, sometimes with fondness, sometimes with resentment, but nevertheless, he was never completely out of her mind. Despite that, she furiously tried to make her life normal again, to find happiness in the things she used to. She focused on her work harder than before, started meeting up with friends and even went out twice with Ginny and Luna.

Another person who was more often than not present in her life, was Robert McKinley. For some reason, he and Hermione kept bumping into each other on the corridors of the Ministry or outside on the street walk. That allowed her to talk more with the man, and she soon discovered a kindred spirit in him. He loved books and knowledge and he spoke highly of many accomplished wizards, such as Dumbledore and McGonagall, as to make Hermione like him more and more.

Seeing Hermione looking so down, Robert McKinley tried to be a good friend to her. One day he invited her into his office to show her the books he had. Some were very old and out of print, while others were new and untouched. She stared at them in amazement, wondering how could an Auror have so many books. She could not help but think about Harry and Ron and their aversion to reading, but then another person popped into her mind, one that loved books just as much as she did. A blonde man, with cold grey eyes, who until recently meant so much to her. Surprising herself while having these thoughts, Hermione quickly shook her head, earning an indulgent smile from Robert.

"I dare say you're impressed." Robert said, in a pure Scottish accent.

He was leaning against his desk, his muscled arms crossed against his chest. He was wearing a wide smile on his face, one that, Hermione noticed with a flush, illuminated his entire face. It highlighted his beautiful features, and although manly, he still looked beautiful. But it was a different kind of beauty than Draco's, Hermione realized with a pang. While Draco looked like a fallen Angel, angry, moody, with eyes like molten steel, Robert McKinley looked like the sun itself, irradiating warmth, and positive energy. His green eyes looked like the hills and pastures during summer.

How can two people be so different? Hermione asked herself, feeling baffled.

"Something the matter?" she heard Robert's voice closer than before.

With another shake of her head she snapped out of the daze and noticed Robert was now standing right in front of her, his broad chest looming over her. His stature looked quite intimidating but somehow she did not feel threatened. If anything, she felt protected. Seeing him staring down at her, made her flush, her cheeks suddenly brightening.

"I must say I am impressed indeed." She finally said with an intake of air.

Seeing him raise his eyebrows at her, she quickly gestured towards the racks filled to the brim with books. He let out a joyful laugh and stepped back from her. She continued her survey of the books, until one of them attracted her attention. It was on a lower shelf, near the window and the light made its yellow cover glitter like gold in the sun. Curiosity took hold of Hermione and she took the book out of its place, carefully examining it. The cover looked as if it was made out of pure gold, with a big title engraved in red ink. Alchemy, Ancient Art and Science it said, the scarlet letters glinting up at Hermione. She brushed the tip of her fingers on top of them, breathing rapidly the same way she always did when she found a beautiful and enticing book.

"Oh, I see you've found yourself a favorite." Robert chuckled from behind her. She smiled.

"It is a very beautiful book indeed. And looks so well taken care of." She said, turning the book in her hands, examining its back as well, then slowly opening it and looking at the pages.

"Don't let the aspect fool you. That book is older than it looks." Robert said, with a strange glitter in his eyes. "See here" he said, closing in on Hermione and opening the book at the beginning. "The author himself wrote this, many years ago."

Indeed on the front page of the first chapter, there was a small but beautiful writing.

May you continue my work and never give up. Truth will out!

Hermione stared at the words, not understanding their meaning. Then, as if that could answer her question she looked for the name of the author.

"Argus Pyrites." She read quietly.

"The very man!" Robert exclaimed grinning. "He was a bit mental, the poor bloke, but he thought himself a genius in Alchemy and Ancient magic. He made some discoveries that the Ministry didn't recognize, but that didn't make him give up. He kept trying until his dying day."

"Try what?" Hermione asked in confusion, her eyes growing wide. She had never heard of this man and that was saying something. There weren't many people like this Argus Pyrites that she hadn't read about.

"Try to find out the truth." Robert replied with a nod, as if it was obvious.

"The truth?" Hermione repeated slowly. "The truth to what?"

"Well that remains a mystery to this day. He never got to tell us what exactly he was searching for."

Seeing her flabbergasted expression, Robert laughed and shook his head. Hermione laughed as well. His cheerful and easygoing manner were really rubbing off on her.

Thank you all for reading this story! I hope you enjoyed the interactions in this chapter. As a FYI kind of thing, Argus Pyrites actually appeared shortly in one of JK Rowling's early drafts of the first chapter of Philosopher's stone. He was a character that never made it to the final version obviously, but I found his name by mistake and I thought it curious. The link below explains more. Have a wonderful day! ^_^

http://web.archive.org/web/20090204152639/http:/www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/extrastuff_view.cfm?id=1