Disclaimer: In its use of intellectual property and characters belonging to JK Rowling, Warner Bros, Bloomsbury Publishing, et cetera, this work is intended to be transformative commentary on the original. No profit is being made from this work. Any similarities to other fanfiction stories are completely coincidental.
Draco had left early on Friday morning to make it to his first interview. My hours had shifted so that I didn't start until eight so there was no reason for me to wake up at five with him. I woke up and he'd already left. The bed felt cold and lonely without him in it and the apartment was far too quiet. I rarely ever spent time here without him and now I felt alone. I looked at the clock and groaned. I just wanted to go back to sleep. I got up slowly before making my way out to the kitchen. I made myself a cup of tea and stood in the kitchen, holding the hot mug in my hands.
I slowly sunk down to the floor, leaning against the drawers of the kitchen and looked at my tea. I suddenly felt overwhelmed with loneliness and I couldn't make myself get up off the floor. I just sat there for what felt like hours but could have been minutes. I knew my tea had gotten cold and I hadn't even taken a sip. I barely remember Draco opening the door and rushing over to my side. He had to shake me to get me to look at him.
"Hermione, please, answer me." Draco stared into my eyes and I let out a breath. I didn't even remember breathing. Draco reached up and wiped away moisture from my face. I couldn't remember when I started crying.
"What time is it?" I asked quietly.
"Just before noon." He said gently and I frowned. I had missed work, something I was really enjoying. I was able to acknowledge that I had started sobbing this time. Draco pulled the mug from my hands and set it aside before pulling me onto his lap and holding me close to him. He didn't ask any more questions, he just let me cry it out and soak his shirt, just like before.
"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Draco asked slowly when my sobs had quieted.
"I…I was alone." I tried to keep my voice quiet. I didn't want him to blame himself for having to leave early for an interview.
"I'm going to be leaving before you wake up if I get one of these jobs. What do you want to do to avoid this happening again?"
"I don't know. I don't know." I said and the sobs attempted to start up again. Draco quickly tried to calm me down.
"Hey, we'll think of something. What if you wake up with me or I'll leave you a note in the mornings? I don't want you to feel like I've left you." I nodded and Draco held me close for a while before speaking again. "You need to call Steve. He called me to ask if you were okay."
"I didn't mean to miss work. I really like my job. I just felt like I was frozen and I couldn't move, I couldn't do anything." Draco kissed me on the top of my head to reassure me that it was going to be okay. "I hate feeling like this."
"It isn't exactly an overnight process, Hermione. You will get better and I'm going to be there to help whenever you need me. I'm not going to leave you." I looked up and smiled at Draco after he had said that. I gave him a kiss on the lips and he slowly helped me stand. "Do you want to make it to the last part of your shift?"
I nodded and Draco took me into the bedroom and had me sit on the bed while he picked out something for me to put on. He got me to eat something after I cleaned myself up. After that he escorted me to work to make sure I was doing okay. He was hesitant to leave but decided to go say hello to Steve and then he'd come check on me before he went back to the flat. I told Lucy what had happened and apologized up and down about not calling but she simply gave me a hug and told me that things happen and she was just happy that I was okay. Of course Gabe diffused the situation by teasing me about Draco's good looks.
True to his word, Draco checked on me before he left and told me he'd be waiting at the flat for me to come home. I gave him a kiss and had to physically push him out the door to get him to leave me to my work. I suspected he was contemplating grabbing me a coffee or something just so he could come back and make sure I hadn't had another break down. Luckily, he stayed home and I worked an extra hour to make up for missing that morning. When I got home I saw Draco leaning against the railing watching for me. So I decided to take my sweet time going up the staircase. Draco simply shook his head and pulled me in for a hug before taking me inside to the delicious aroma of dinner. I went to the bedroom and noticed a box with a small bow wrapped around it, sitting on the bed.
"Open it." I turned and saw Draco leaning in the doorway, watching me. I pulled the bow off and opened the box to find a simple pair of black heels. Even though they were heels, they were in a style that I liked and the soles looked like they were comfortable.
"What are these for?" I asked. Draco shrugged and stepped into the room before kneeling in front of me. He grabbed the box and then slipped the shoes on my feet before sitting back against the bed.
"Walk around, see how they feel." Draco suggested so I did and they were remarkable. I didn't stumble and I was right, they were certainly as comfortable as my trainers.
"They're incredibly comfortable. Where'd you get them?" I asked.
"I saw them this morning at a boutique and I remembered you didn't own a pair of black heels."
"Please tell me you didn't spend too much on them." I asked with a worried look and Draco laughed. "These are too comfortable to be cheap shoes."
"If it will make you feel better, I wasn't uncomfortable with the price. And as for why the feel so good, you're a witch so you should be able to figure out what I did." Draco stood and gave me a kiss on the forehead before heading back to the kitchen to serve dinner. I sat back on the bed and did a quick detection charm and soon discovered that the sneaky Slytherin had done a cushioning charm on the soles of the shoes to make them more comfortable along with a balancing spell.
I put the shoes back in the box and placed them on the floor of the closet next to his dress shoes. I made my way into the living room where Draco was setting up the movie for the evening. I sat on the couch next to him and gave him a tight squeeze.
"You don't have to buy me things, you know." I said after he returned the hug.
"It's remarkably difficult not to. My last relationship was all about me saying something stupid and then buying the girl jewelry, flowers, and chocolate as a means of asking for forgiveness."
"Why are you asking for forgiveness?" I asked curiously
"I'm not. I just wanted to get you something. I mean, I have a lot of things to ask you for forgiveness for but that wasn't the point of me buying you a pair of shoes." Draco said. I kissed him on the cheek and then rolled up the sleeve of his shirt and caressed his tattoo.
"What you're doing for me right now more than suffices. Besides, do you think I'd be living with you if I didn't forgive you?" I smiled up at him.
"As much as I don't want to bring it up, we have a lot of bad history and things are going so well that I'm afraid I'll slip into old habits or we'll argue like we did back at school." Draco said quietly, not looking me in the eye. I softly rested my hand on his cheek, tilting his face so he had to look at me.
"Stop it. we'll deal with it when it happens. For right now, let's live in the moment and right now I want to eat a wonderful dinner that you made and then snuggle into your side while watching a movie with Heath Ledger."
"Do I need to be jealous?" Draco raised an eyebrow.
"Possibly, does the sex get better when you're jealous?" Draco rolled his eyes and flicked my forehead. "I'm just saying because it's already phenomenal and I can't imagine it getting any better."
"Just eat your dinner." Draco said while leaning forward to start the movie. I smirked at him, knowing he enjoyed the praise. Dinner was delicious, like always, and he seemed to really enjoy the movie. I even teased him during the sequence where the main actor thoroughly embarrassed himself by singing 'I Love You Baby' for the girl, saying it took my breath away and he simply pushed me into the couch and snogged me senseless then got a smug look on his face when he sat back up, leaving me all hot and bothered.
Lucky for me, the second the movie was done, Draco flicked his wand at the dishes to take care of themselves and then pulled me to the bedroom, disposing of our clothing as we went. Needless to say, I was putting 10 Things I Hate About You on my list of things to buy as soon as possible.
AN: I'm hoping to do daily updates for the next few days because I have another seven to ten chapters sitting ready and I actually am nearly done writing the story (I think, I'm not giving a date where everything will be posted though because I write when the story comes to me). Thank you to the new readers as well as my followers. Please let me know what you think with a quick review.