Draco's POV (4)

I was having dinner alone in my house (Astoria was at her parents' place) when a large tawny owl fluttered in through the window. It landed on my table and held out a leg. There was a letter attached.

Dear Mr Draco Malfoy, it read. I would like to meet with you to discuss your options in this case. Please come down to the Ministry tomorrow at noon.
Sincerely
Hermione Jean Granger

There was a little splotch of water on the word 'Granger'. Funny, Granger didn't seem to be the type who would spill water on letter.

I looked up, the tawny owl was still there. Then I realized it was waiting for a reply. I grabbed some spare parchment.

Dear Ms Granger,
That will do well.
Draco Malfoy

I gave the owl the letter and I watched it fly out of the window, probably back to Granger.

I turned back to my house. My large, empty house. With a shudder I remembered that Granger had been in here- I had watched her be tortured in here. The very thought made me feel ill. I pushed my food away. I had no appetite anymore.

Who would have thought my life would come to this? Draco Malfoy, sued by his wife. I could just see the headlines.

But maybe my marriage to Astoria was a mistake. We didn't love each other. She was pure-blood, I was pure-blood, so why not, right? Besides, she knew nothing about my past. She still didn't. Maybe that was the reason we fell apart. Maybe that was the reason we didn't have kids. I don't know why, but throughout our 6 years of marriage, the question of children never really came up. Wr were young when we married, I was 24, she was 22. At that time, we were still recovering from the war, picking up the last few pieces, still trying to put our lives back together. Everyone was. Perhaps we both assumed that there would be plenty of time in the future, no need to worry... But that time never came. I didn't regret never having a child or two (my mother seemed more bothered about this than I was) but sometimes, I did wonder, especially when I saw old friends who had a family, what having kids would be like. I wasn't longing for children, but sometimes I thought that maybe if me and Astoria had had kids, we wouldn't be going through an extremely messy divorce, not to mention a lawsuit.

I sighed and turned my thoughts back to the letter on the table. Granger had probably gone to see Astoria's lawyer. I wondered if they had made any deal, but I highly doubted it. Astoria and her lawyer seemed to think they had the case in the bag.

I looked out of the window. It was getting pretty late, the sky was an inky black. I yawned and decided to turn in, wondering what my 'options' in the case were. Something told me there weren't going to be many.

The Ministry was a hive of activity as usual. As I strolled to to Granger's office, I watched as some severely harried looking wizards rushed around, carrying trails of parchment so long they trailed on the ground.

I knocked on Granger's office door and was greeted by her secretary, who was smiling a little too brightly to be natural.

"Ah, Mr Malfoy," she trilled. Merlin, she had a high voice. It sounded like the musical saw was being played by a completely talentless person. "Right this way, please. Ms Granger is expecting you." She was pretty decent looking, actually. If she kept her mouth shut she might get somewhere.

I walked in through the door the secretary was holding open for me. My first impression was that Granger looked ill. Her eyes were red and there were dark circles under her eyes. Her shirt looked like the Whomping Willow had ironed it, and her hair messier than it usually was, which was saying a lot.

"Ms Granger," I said, holding out my hand. Her grip wasn't as firm as before. I sat down. "So what did you need to discuss?"

She got straight to the point.

"What is this pre-nuptial agreement which you did not inform me of?" she asked.

Oh. That. I knew there was something I has forgotten to tell her. Damn.

"Oh, yes, well it says that-" I began, but she interrupted.

"I know what it says. But I would rather have found out about its existence from my client, rather than the plaintiff's lawyer."

There was something missing from her voice. The usual annoying, bossy tone was absent. That, coupled with her general resemblance to a train wreck, made me wonder what had happened.

"Now, is there anything else you would like to tell me?"

"No," I said.

"Are you sure?" she asked.

This was leading somewhere. She thought I was holding something back.

"Yes," I said, with conviction.

"Because Ms Patil tells me that there is evidence that incriminates you."

"Incriminates me in what?"

"Cheating."

"There can't be."

"Why not?"

"Because I never cheated."

She sighed. "Maybe you did and maybe you didn't. But your wife seems to think you did, and there must be some reason for that. What is it?"

Honestly, I had no idea what she kept banging on about. I really didn't know the reason why Astoria thought I had cheated on her (except perhaps insanity), and I said so.

Granger sighed again and rubbed her eyes.

"Listen, Mr Malfoy. I am your lawyer and I will represent you to the best of my ability. But unless you give me you full co-operation, I cannot help you," she sounded exasperated- her temper seemed to be a little shorter. But since I'd met her all of one time since we'd left school, maybe I wasn't the best judge.

She kept looking at me. "Well, Mr Malfoy? Is there anything I need to know?"

I hesitated. There was something, but I hadn't even told my mother, let alone my lawyer.

"This is not a time to feel embarrassed, Mr Malfoy. If there is anything, I need to know about it now."

I took a deep breath. Well, it was going to get out sometime.

"Well, Astoria and I had had a fight. It was about something really trivial. Well, I needed to get out of the house, so I went to the park. Pansy was there. We started talking, then Astoria turned up. And she saw us together and she kind of... Jumped to conclusions."

Granger put her quill down and began massaging her temples. After what seemed like a long time, she looked up.

"She saw you two together. In the park. What time was it? Was it crowded?" she asked, sounding rather resigned.

"It was night time. And it was pretty empty."

She groaned. The sound of it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up... It was a surprisingly sexy sound. I shook my head violently. This case must really be messing with my head.

"Godric, this is going to be hell to sort out. Look. The first hearing is next week. I'll try to get Ms Parkinson to testify for us. In the meantime, you just stay out of trouble," she snapped.

I felt a little annoyed at this. "I haven't been causing any trouble. And there's no need to take that tone with me," She might be my lawyer, but that did not give her any right to snap at me when I, for once, wasn't in the wrong.

I expected her to yell back, but she slumped into her chair and buried her face in her hands.

"You're right, I'm sorry," she said, her voice muffled.

I was completely flabbergasted. Granger was apologizing to me. Hermione Granger. Apologizing. To me, Draco Malfoy. Clearly, there was something very wrong with her.

"I'm sorry... Did you just apologize to me?" I asked. I was too shocked to care about how that question sounded.

Granger didn't answer. She just continued to sit there, her head in her hands. Her shoulders were shaking. To my horror, I realized she was crying.

I almost jumped up. I looked frantically around, as though a manual on how to deal with crying females would fall from the sky. I should probably have called her secretary, who was probably better equipped to deal with this sort of thing. But I really wanted to find out why she was crying. I had never seen Hermione Granger cry. Ever. Then I realized... The splotch of water on the letter she sent me- it wasn't water. It was a tear.

"Uh... Ms Granger? Are you, er, alright?" I said nervously. Maybe I should go closer. Maybe I should pat her head or something. But before I could decide whether or not to discreetly let myself out and send her secretary in, she laughed.

"Honestly Malfoy," she said, wiping her face with her hands. "Is that the best you can do to comfort a crying woman? No wonder you wife is divorcing you."

My mouth fell open.

"Granger, are you... Are you making a joke? Blimey, I didn't think that was possible."

She giggled. It sounded exactly like a giggle an excited teenage girl might give.

"Yes, Mr Malfoy. Yes I am. And I have made jokes before, you know." She sat up straight. To my relief, she had stopped crying.

"Er... Well, then. I'll just be going, then. I mean, if you are, um, okay now. I'll just... Leave you alone now, yeah?" I edged away from her desk as fast as possible.

"Wait, Mr Malfoy," she called. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For making me feel better," she said, and her face broke into the most genuine smile I'd seen on her face since I'd met her.

The whole room transformed, as if it had become brighter... And Granger herself looked like a completely different person. She looked... She looked very nice, actually, Her eyes especially. They looked so different now that she was smiling. They were so brown. How was it I had never noticed her smile before? Merlin, I told myself. What's wrong with you, Draco? Pull yourself together, man!

"Er, you're welcome? Goodbye, Ms Granger," I said. As I closed the door, I had one last glimpse of her, sitting at her desk, still smiling. She still looked very nice. I closed the door and took a deep breath.

What in the name of Merlin had just happened?