Bring Me Calm

Another chapter! Yay! Hopefully a bit longer again this time, there's a lot I want to put in this chapter so I am hoping I will do it justice! Thank you LadiePhoenix007 for your reviews they mean so much!

DISCLAIMER – I own nothing you recognise.

Chapter Ten

DPOV

He decided to just get on with it, her mood seemed to have switched with his refusal to talk about himself and he sensed that he had better get his questions out there quickly before she became emotional again and left in tears or worse, decided to act on their earlier hostility again.

"So Granger, why don't we start with the biggest question and work from there? What have you been up to since the war ended?"

She nodded slowly and put her plate back down on the table, clutching her half empty beer bottle to her chest.

"Do you mind if I curl up?" she queried, gesturing to his sofa. He shook his head and she kicked off her shoes before curling back in to the corner of the chair so that her body was facing towards him at the opposite end.

"Well Malfoy, where to begin? I'm sure that you won't be surprised to know that I was heavily involved in the arrest and trials for a lot of the death eaters. I provided a lot of evidence to the ministry, for the crimes against me and other muggleborns. Then of course was all the funerals, oh, so many funerals. It seemed never ending, I lived in black for about 3 months while everything was organised and people prepared to bury children that I had grown up with, friends and enemies alike. I made sure to attend them all, to remember them all for better or worse."

Her voice shook as she spoke and he found himself wanting to know more about who she had buried, why she was so very affected even after all these years but he didn't dare interrupt her now that she had started.

"After the funerals there was the country-wide effort to rebuild those areas worst affected by the war, primarily Diagon Alley and Hogwarts. With all of this going on, it was a good year and a bit before I had any time that was truly to myself. Once Hogwarts was rebuilt I briefly contemplated going back to complete my education... but then the nightmares started. I realised that I couldn't go back to Hogwarts for a whole year, walking around halls without the people I expected to see, without Professors that I expected to work with. So I took my NEWTS during the summer as a special favour from McGonagall. With my results I went to work in the Ministry under the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.I worked my way gradually up the ranks to Deputy Head, until around 2 and a half months ago when I decided to quit and moved to muggle London."

She seemed a bit wobbly as she finished up, he could see her trembling slightly and her eyes seemed a little brighter with unshed tears. It hadn't escaped his notice that throughout her explanation that she hadn't gone in to particular detail about anything and had gone so far as to not mention any personal relationships at all. His curiosity was sparked, she had done so much in the last few years and to seemingly give it all up for no reason? He wanted to know why and he had a feeling that whatever it was would be the reason why she was currently clutching her beer bottle like a lifeline and looking like she seriously regretted coming to his house that night.

Before she could make a run for it he asked the next question.

"So what about relationships Granger? Surely you don't expect me to believe that you haven't had even one?"

She frowned at him, her ire at his snarky tone prompting her to forget her doubts and open her mouth.

"Actually Malfoy, for your information I had a very successful relationship! Me and Ron started dating just after I took my NEWTS. We took things slowly, dating for a few years while I started at the Ministry and he started to build his Quidditch career. Then he got signed to the Chudley Cannons-" at his snort she rolled her eyes and he noticed her eyes were watering a lot now, "he proposed at the celebratory drinks and we married 6 months later. We were... happy. So gloriously happy. Our relationship was passionate and we both climbed in our careers until finally I was Deputy Head of MLE and he was the much lauded Keeper for the Cannons and had led them to the league final of this year."

Her lip was being chewed to within an inch of its life and her tears were actually flowing gracefully down her cheeks now. She seemed to be physically shrinking in on herself and he could almost see how this story was going to end and he didn't want to ask but dammit now he had to!

"Granger..." He prompted gently.

"He was in the final against Puddlemere, everyone was there..." she started, the tears streaming down her face now as she seemed to recite the story in an almost trance-like state. Her voice was strangely blank and he thought that maybe she had detached herself from this evidently painful part. "It was so sunny, he was so, so happy. We were all cheering him on as the game started, thousands of fans cheering his team, the team he had supported all his life as he played for them. He had people chanting his name as all his closest friends watched him play in the league final. I was so proud I thought that my heart would burst! Then, 27 minutes in to the match, a stray bludger caught him off guard. He took a full hit to the back of the skull and fell off of his broom straight to the floor. No-one even thought to cast a cushioning charm. I was in shock, the happy mood had evaporated in the blink of an eye, in the single moment that it took for him to hear me scream for him to duck! The cheers had turned to screams as I ran down to the pitch with the medics."

She was all but sobbing now and he could definitely see where this story was going now but he could no more stop her than she could leave the story.

"We rushed him to St Mungos but the damage was severe, the bludger all but caved in his skull... his arms, pelvis and leg had fractured from the fall and the healers gave him just a 5% chance of survival... we kept him on life support for 3 weeks before the healers recommended he be allowed to pass on... He was surrounded by his friends and family as he took his last breaths. As he left me behind..."

She buried her face in her hands, empty beer bottle forgotten on her lap as she fell to pieces. He wasn't sure what to do, what he could do that would help her.

He had never expected Granger to have gone through so much, sure she looked a bit tired when he saw her but not 'love-of-my-life-died-in-a-freak-accident-leaving-me-a-broken-shell' kind of tired. He could see now that that was what she was right now, a barely pieced together shell trying to retain a sense of normalcy. Her reaction to his barbed comment the other night no longer seemed so extreme and he found himself sorrier than ever for reverting to being a pretentious ass the second he was in her presence.

Carefully scooting closer to the sobbing woman, he plucked the finished beer from her lap and put his arms around her shaking frame and held her as her sobs became even louder. He gently rocked her back and forth, murmuring useless platitudes as she bore her soul to him.

So there we go, OOC Draco, like we expected anything less right? So, let me know what you think! There is obviously more to be revealed, like Draco's past... but that might wait a few more chapters maybe? Thank you for your continued patience and for reading this far!