Chapter 3

~Hermione Granger~

Hermione could count on one hand the amount of times she had been speechless. One of them was when she had literally been petrified and unable to speak. She had never expected one of the most shocking moments in her life to be the complete fault of a Malfoy. Sure, she blamed pretty much everything else on him but this was horrific.

Hermione was frozen in place, no matter how much she willed her legs to move or her mouth to speak the words whizzing about in her brain. Nothing would happen. She stood there with the door hanging open behind her and Draco Malfoy standing bruised and battered in front of her. Her heart beating harshly in seemingly unhealthy speed.

Different shades of purple blossomed along his jaw and over his eye. It looked fairly recent, although he was able to almost fully open his silver eye. There was a cut on his lip, painfully splitting the skin of the bottom in two. Hermione could see his hands, one hanging loosely at his side at an unnatural angle and the other gripping strongly to the back of the now unoccupied chair. Both hands were shaking violently. As were his legs. He looked ready to pass out from the effort to stand. Hermione ached to help him but knew he would be more offended by her than grateful.

His skin was no longer it's Malfoy natural paleness, it was a sickly translucent. Hermione was sure that if she opened the curtains the afternoon light would pass through him in one sweep and he'd disappear. His suit was as expensive and flawless as the last time she'd seen him, except now it looked like the suit was wearing him; the fabric hanging over his fragile bones and thin skin with no substance to give his form more shape.

Hermione suppressed a gasp, pressing her suddenly active hands onto her slack mouth. She knew her eyes were the size of saucers and her shoulders dropped. What kind of hell had he endured? And for a year? What kind of monsters worked at Azkaban? She didn't notice when tears had began stinging the back of her eyes and a lone drop flowing down her cheeks. She couldn't look away from him. How could she have let this happen to him?

Hermione felt like she should have fought harder for a lighter sentence, maybe even a repeal of his imprisonment entirely. Most shockingly, Hermione felt guilty. She was afraid of why he was here. Had he come to blame the Ministry for his obvious mistreatment?

Had he come to blame her?

"Miss Granger, you remember Draco Malfoy I presume?" Kingsley walked briskly around the desk and clasped his hand on Draco's shoulder. Hermione wondered if that was a show of acceptance from the Minister or a way to support Draco and keep him from falling into a pile of bones. The once mighty dragon flinched away from the calloused hand but his face remains passive.

"I- uh, yes. I do, remember him, that is. What is this about, Kingsley?" Hermione did her best to keep her body from shaking. She couldn't help it, seeing him like this- weak and barely able to stand on his own was terrifying. Not only because this was a person she knew but because this was a person who had suffered all of this because of the Ministry's decision.

She remembered how he was in their Hogwarts days, carrying himself with such pride and confidence. Just by looking at him now Hermione could tell that even in his current state he hadn't lost that resilience. Draco smirked at her stutter, even in his presently purpled self he was able to laugh at her? That had to be a good sign for his mental health.

"If she didn't I would be offended, you'd think someone as devilishly handsome as me wouldn't be easy to replaced." He laughed along with Shacklebolt's shaking head, but Hermione could tell it was forced and unnatural.

Huffing out a deep breath into her reddened cheeks, Hermione spoke softly. "I see Azkaban hasn't managed to deflated your ego."

"If it could survive years with you, Weasley and Potter then a few wanna-be prison guards couldn't dream of shrinking it." He said without humor, the spark in his eyes dimming.

Hermione regretted her choice in timing almost immediately. He had just been through something traumatic and she was berating him. There was a time and a place for such things and this was neither. "What are you doing here, mister Malfoy?"

"Am I not allowed to simply stop by and exchange pleasantries with my friendly neighborhood Minister, miss Granger?"

Hermione thought maybe he was finally regaining some semblance of normal but as she stared into his face she could tell there was no lightness to his rigid face, his tone dry. He wasn't the same Draco Malfoy that tormented her as a child. Not the same boy who was forced to join the Death Eaters out of fear. He was a different man and Hermione didn't know if the way he got there was worth it.

A feeling Hermione wasn't familiar with associating towards the blonde settled in her stomach. Worry. For none other than Draco Malfoy. What had the world come to? She would sooner believed that she'd join Harry and Ron in a game of Quidditch than the current swell of anger towards the Azkaban workforce on behalf of one guilt ridden blonde.

"Draco I'm sure you can inform Hermione about your request better than I could. Now off you go, negotiate and whatnot." Hermione knew it was a sugarcoated dismissal. Judging by the pile of magically stacked paperwork she could tell he would be busy for a while. The unfinished work made her fingers twitch, she wanted to help.

"Come on, Granger, let's leave the Minister to take care of impending papercuts and run on sentences." Hermione's protests were cut short as a warm hand grasped her forearm and began to lead her through the doorway and into the hall. Maybe it was the shock of having him move that made her realize he was actually there or the surprisingly warm hand.

"Hey!" Wrenching her arm away Hermione rubbed it gently. "Hands off."

"Scared of the big bad Slytherin Death Eater?" She could easily read the bitter undertones in his voice, the hurt and anger buried beneath the words he spoke.

"Not even slightly. It's just that, being an Auror, past experiences of touching usually lead to Unforgivables being tossed around." Hermione didn't know why she was trying to cheer him up. She believed it was guilt, that she was responsible for all the pain and suffering he'd endured over the past year. Maybe she blamed herself more than she deserved but looking at his bruised face, she thought maybe not enough.

Their slow ambulant was cut short as Draco spun on his heels to face her. For the second time since she walked into the Minister's office she really looked at him and he looked amused. Hermione quirked her eyebrow, what did he find so funny?

"I think it's absolutely brilliant."

"What is?" Crossing her arms over her chest Hermione leaned over the wall next to her office door. Pushing it open Malfoy strolled in, swinging his arms wide. He looked like a bird trapped in a cage.

"This! I've tormented you since we were children then we spent months dancing around in a murderous game of hide and seek. To top it all off you're an Auror, one of the best or so I'm told, and here you are. Walking and talking with a recently released Azkaban prisoner and media portrayed criminal mastermind. Again, don't you find this absolutely hilarious?"

"You're insane." Hermione whispered shaking her head. He was right of course, it was quite entertaining for an onlooker but watching the blonde in front of her, Hermione could tell he was angry with himself for the past. Their past. The hurtful words and terrible actions he chose to take to protect himself and his mother. Everything they'd gone through.

"Aren't we all, Granger? Some of us just happen to be better at hiding it." He said, running shaky fingers through the coarse strands of hair hanging over his marred face. For the first time Hermione felt something akin to admiration for him. He'd gone through hell and had the scars to prove he'd survived it. The ones she could see and the deeper ones she couldn't. It seemed today was a day of firsts when it came to her former enemy.

"Why are you here? You could be anywhere now that you're free." She quirked her eyebrow in question.

"Anywhere in England. You forget, after a year in Azkaban, I have to serve two years of probation in a Ministry department or I go back into solitary." Her lips forming an 'o' shape. She had forgotten that it was part of his punishment. She thought about the trials less often than he probably did but that detail had escaped her attention.

"Which department are you thinking of joining, anyways?" If he were in the archives or perhaps in Magical Equipment Control then the backlash he'd received would be minimal. An angry complaint or two but not anything too serious. Unlike the Department of Mysteries, they were still pissed at everyone for the whole veil ordeal.

"That's what I was talking with the Minister about. I want to be an Auror."

Hermione was unable to hide her surprise. "An Auror?"

"Yes, Granger, an Auror." He spoke like she was a young child. "I would think you know your own job description."

Maybe it was his sarcasm or the lack of decorum he held when he spoke to her but Hermione's face heated. Her chest stretching with her angering breaths.

"Don't be smart with me," She snapped quickly, stepping towards him. "I'm not about to let you become an Auror so you can rebuild the Malfoy name using us as a stepping stone. I get that your reputation is in the dumps and I'm sorry about your time in Azkaban, you didn't deserve that. However, this is my work, my life, everything I've ever worked for to make our corner of the world a better place." Lifting her hand she jabbed a finger into his chest. Momentarily forgetting about his bruises. "You will not manipulate it for your own gain."

"Why do you always assume the worst of me?" Hermione dropped her arm to her side, taking an exhausted breath into her overworked lungs.

"Because the majority of my childhood was spent being bullied and scared of you." She drew out the words thickly. "I had the ugly nickname of 'mudblood' since I was twelve and I was never good enough in your eyes to even be allowed in the witching community because purebloods decided they were superior. Even though they are ridden with genetic diseases because of inbreeding…"

It didn't escape either of their attention that Hermione didn't include Draco in the bunch of defective purebloods. What surprises her is his choice not to comment on it.

"I'm sorry," He looked bashful for a moment before narrowing his silver eyes at her. "I'm not here to gerrymander anything. If I wanted to climb back up the ladder of society I could marry, hell, I could work at my mother's company for the rest of my life and be just as high as I was before the War. I want to be here because I want to help people. I don't want to fight in another war ten- or twenty years from now because another psychotic Dark Lord rises." He stopped to take a deep breath and slowly let it out, whispering, "I want to make amends."

Hermione closed her eyes and considered her options. Draco rubbed the back of his neck and watched her as the wheels in her head turned.

She could kick him to the curb, no one would blame her. Draco would work in his family business and continue being the spoiled rich boy. Shacklebolt would probably sent her copious amounts of disappointed looks but they were all things she would get over.

She could hand him off to another Auror who would make him earn the position with mountains of paperwork. He'd get his chance to help people eventually, if he wasn't saddled with one of the more hateful career oriented partners.

She could pass him off to another department for his probation. There were plenty of other places that needed interns and filing assistants.

Hermione wracked her brain for another quarter second before she did something she knew Ron and Harry wouldn't approve of in a hurry. She stuck her slightly shaking hand out to him and spoke slowly, choosing to overlook the startled look in his eyes. "Then make amends."

Draco's eyes were a deep liquid as he stared at her offered hand. For a moment Hermione wondered if he wouldn't take her up on her attempt at diplomacy then his warm palm grasped onto hers. She repressed the urge to look down and inspect his hand- although she was the one who put forward the metaphoric olive branch, she hadn't really expected him to touch her.

She knew he would have had to change in his time behind bars but it was still surprising to her to feel his skin sliding against hers. It was shocking and strangely comforting to her. His hand was rough and calloused and Hermione thought it was humanizing.

"Why are you letting me work with you?" Releasing her hand Draco wrung his thin fingers together, pretending not to notice as Hermione's eyes widened when he didn't wipe his hands on his trousers. "If anything I would have thought you would be the biggest challenge for me." Hermione thought about his words, tossing them around in her head.

He looked worse for wear, brittle bones that could be seen through too bright skin, weak, but Hermione refused to believe that he was. She wouldn't look at him with pity. If it were her she wouldn't want to be looked at like a broken toy.

"I'm not letting you do anything- this isn't an opportunity handed to you on a silver platter. You have to earn it. You aren't going in the field until I know you'll have my back." Draco nodded with her conditions.

They were practical- unsurprising for the woman standing in front of him- the platinum haired man was shocked at the lack of bitterness in her tone, the missing ridiculous punishments that others would enforce upon him. Hermione nodded towards the chairs stationed crookedly in front of her cherry wood desk.

They sat uncomfortably for several moments before Draco finally leaned forward. Sitting across from her crossed legs. "Why did you become an auror? I always pictured you teaching arithmancy or heading SPEW in some corner office, Granger."

Hermione thought about the question and the too personal answer. She was choosing to give him a chance but she wasn't about to share her life story with him. "What makes you think you're privy to that information?"

He studied her and slowly replied. "My mistake, ma'am."

Hermione rubbed the back of her neck and stared at him with false indignation. "Suddenly I feel as though I've aged twenty years."

"Look at that, she has a sense of humor." Draco laughed and Hermione joined him. Soon they were avoiding each other's eyes again and sitting in the awkward silence that enveloped them. It wasn't easy to talk to him, he was her childhood tormentor and she was trying to forgive him but she didn't know if she could forget.

Draco rose to his feet and stretched out his hand towards her once again. Hermione hesitated for a second and she knew he noticed but she quickly picked herself up from the chair and shook it. "I should be heading out."

"I'll walk you out."

~o.O.o~

People gave them strange looks. It wasn't just rare to see Hermione Granger walking down the hallway with Draco Malfoy by her side, it was a sign of the apocalypse. The two didn't say anything to each other but Hermione subconsciously walked closer to him incase he needed help. She wasn't entirely certain this was all really happening. A part of her honestly hoped that Harry had spiked her morning coffee and this was all a strange hallucination.

"Everyone is staring." She mumbled in a daze.

"Way to state the obvious, Granger." Draco carried himself like he was ready to pounce on anyone who looked at him wrong. He glanced down at Hermione and sighed, "You didn't have to walk with me, now you're going to have all of this on your head and I haven't even started working yet."

They were nearing the floo and the crowd was starting to become heavier with foot traffic moving in every direction. "We're burying the hatchet, might as well start simple."

"You call this simple?" He paused to let a man with an elephant strapped to a trolley roll by. He watched the stranger for a while before noticing the lack of reaction from his companion and continued pressing forward.

"I don't call any of this simple." She was looking around the crowd like she was searching for something. When she spotted it, her eyes lit up. "Come on." Hermione grabbed his wrist and not unkindly yanked him in the direction of the unoccupied floo.

"Thanks." Hermione nodded as he stepped inside the black fireplace. "For the walk and the chance." He elaborated before bursting into a brilliant green flame and disappearing.

Hermione rubbed her temples on the walk back to her office. She had paperwork to complete, more now that Malfoy was entering her department and becoming her partner. She had dinner plans to cancel because there was no way she could finish all of the papers before eight. Most importantly, Hermione had a migraine that couldn't be rescheduled rearing it's ugly head.

What in the holy hell had she just gotten herself into?

To be continued...

Okay! This is actually my last update of October! I also just started a new story... It's a Divergent one this time. Go check it out and tell me what you think if you are in that fandom.

I'm sorry this is so short. Honestly I'm totally blocked author-wise, that's a lie, I'm totally blocked human-wise. I don't know what I'm doing with my life anymore. If I ever did. Guys, it's 3 in the morning on a Monday. Do you think I have my shit together?

Leave me a review because they make me happy! And Jesus knows I need that joy because I've got nothing else going for me.