Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Note: Trigger warning: Mention and discussion of loss.
Chapter 11 - January 5, 2004
The first day back from the holidays, Hermione ensconced herself behind a pile of paperwork, trying to distract herself from the fact that she had passed Ron and Lavender at the tea stand in the Atrium. He had had an arm around her waist and was bending to kiss the top of her head. Hermione hurried along, getting her tea instead from the communal area in the department. Draco was also there when she arrived, stirring his tea nonchalantly and chatting amicably with a very pretty witch from the Beast Division. Hermione added milk first to her cup and began to pour. Unfortunately, she couldn't help overhearing the conversation next to her and tried to look busy as she lingered.
"So, how about tomorrow night, Draco? Are you free?" asked the blonde witch beside him.
"Not sure, I'll have to check my schedule."
"Maybe another time?"
"We'll see."
Hermione chanced a glance and watched Draco smile flirtatiously. The witch giggled and went on her way.
"Morning, Granger." Draco greeted her.
Hermione stood up, stirring her tea. "Good morning." She took a moment to admire his suit. Navy blue with a cream shirt and a brown, teal, and white checker-striped tie. He had already taken off his suit jacket (which was Draco's custom first thing in the morning), leaving him in just the navy-blue waistcoat.
Draco offered her a small smile, still stirring his tea, and Hermione returned it. "What happened to your teapot?" She asked dropping two sugar cubes into her cup.
"Broken." Draco replied. He sipped his tea. "Lunch today?"
Hermione beamed at him now, not knowing where it came from. But then remembered herself and picked up her tea. "Yes, that would be nice."
She then proceeded to her office, cheeks flaming, and hid behind her case files. This was where Harry found her just before lunch, pouring over a thick bundle of documents and making notes in purple ink on a separate pad. Harry stood in the door watching, half amused, half concerned. No doubt she had been sitting here all morning and hadn't eaten anything since breakfast (if she even ate breakfast).
"Hiding?" Harry asked, when he recognized Hermione was pausing.
She looked up as she set her quill down. "Kind of." She tried to smile, but it was faint, and not at all convincing to her implication of 'I'm fine'. Harry walked further into her office, leaving the door open, and sat down in one of the armchairs facing her desk. "Come to check on me?" She asked, folding her arms over the pile of parchment she had been reading.
"Kind of." Harry smiled at her. "I haven't spoken to Ron, but I assumed it was something Lavender said that got you upset the other night."
Hermione looked away over his shoulder for a moment at the back wall of her office. "She…has a way with words." She responded vaguely.
Harry leaned back in the chair. "I suppose that talent serves her well working at the Daily Prophet."
"I suppose." Hermione agreed.
Silence fell between them and Harry let it stretch, looking around Hermione's office as she straightened up her desk.
"Are you ok?" He asked once his eyes came back to her.
Hermione chewed her bottom lip as she worded her response in her mind. "I'm all right." She answered, looking her friend in the eye.
It was simple enough, didn't give anything away. But it sounded just as convincing as she had tried to be earlier. In other words, not at all. It wasn't a complete lie. She was in a better place emotionally than she had been on New Year's Eve. Mentally, she was still dealing with the effect of Lavender's words, which she was going to discuss with her Healer this week at their appointment.
Harry regarded Hermione shrewdly for a few moments. But he stood, apparently satisfied with her answer and conviction. "I just wanted to check on you, Hermione. You're my friend and I care about you." Hermione got up from her desk and walked around it to hug Harry. He had always been a great source of strength for her, and she was thankful for him. "You know you've always got me and Ginny around to run to, right?" He asked as they parted.
"Yes, thank you. I don't know what I would do without you sometimes. Both of you."
Harry reached out this time and pulled Hermione in. "You'll always be a sister to me, Hermione."
They pulled apart this time just as a 'tap, tap' sounded on Hermione's door. Both friends looked to the office entry to see Ron standing there. He lowered his right hand and shoved it into his pocket. Hermione noticed his left one was already buried in the corresponding side.
"Hi, Ron." She greeted him cordially.
"Hey. Am I interrupting?" He looked between the two.
"No." Harry answered. "I just came by to see Hermione. I'm about to head to lunch. Did either of you want to join me?"
Ron shook his head.
"I've got plans already. But tomorrow, or another day this week."
"Plans with who?" Ron asked, sounding perturbed.
"A friend." Hermione answered, her tone already turning defensive.
"Who just so happens to also be a former Death Eater." Ron snapped.
Oh no, Harry thought. "Ron, this really isn't…" He started to say, but Hermione cut across him.
"So, what if he is, Ron? It's not your business."
"I just don't want to see you get hurt, 'Mione. His family…"
"See me get hurt?" Hermione half-shouted
Harry released his wand from its arm holster and flicked it at the door, which shut itself, then flicked it again to place a silencing charm on the office just as Hermione gathered more steam.
~S~
Draco had been watching the clock all morning, mostly because he was hungry, (he had skipped a short break to work on the chest), but he was also looking forward to seeing Hermione. He told himself the excitement stemmed from her enjoyable company, and the intriguing conversations they engaged in over the midday meal. In actuality, it was his attraction to the muggle-born witch. He'd already conceded that there was no point in denying it any longer. They weren't best friends, but that didn't mean he didn't want to get to know her better.
Because he did.
And what better way than to do so than over drinks? The attempt from the blonde witch who tried to ask him out this morning was laughable. But Draco was not raised (by his mother) to be rude. And so, he had spoken politely with her without promising anything. His focus then turned to Granger. And while his intention had been to invite her to accompany him out for an evening, (perhaps to a muggle pub where they were less likely to be disturbed or recognized), it came out as a question asking if they were going to have lunch together today.
Glancing at his clock again, Draco noticed it was now nearing one in the afternoon. He placed a stasis charm on the chest so that the neutralizing spells he was utilizing had a chance to continue in their progress, and locked it in a box that he spelled shut. He removed his dragonhide gloves and left them on top of the box so that he would be sure to put them back on first thing before proceeding after lunch. As he rounded his desk, he noticed a very familiar head of red hair enter the department and turn in the direction of Hermione's office.
Feeling skeptical about Weasley's intentions, Draco exited his office and took the now familiar route to Granger's office. He heard shouting as he approached, not to his surprise. What was, however, was Hermione's office door swinging shut as he rounded the corner, and the familiar sudden quiet from within indicative of a silencing charm.
~S~
Harry hated being stuck in the middle between Ron and Hermione. He'd been there so many times in all the years the trio had known each other and been friends. Acting as a go-between when they were arguing and refusing to speak to each other. He was uncomfortable at best and unwilling at worst. However, he thought as he watched Ron and Hermione exchange verbal blows now, it was never this bad.
"If you don't want to see me get hurt, Ron, then why did you just stand there the other night and let your wife," Hermione practically growled the word, "insult me?"
"I tried to stop her, Hermione. She didn't listen to me."
"That's a pathetic excuse, Ron, and you know it. And how could you let her say that? Did you tell her what happened?"
Harry looked between the two. He wasn't sure if they had forgotten he was still there with them. What in Merlin's name was Hermione referencing? Surely not their break up. The entire wizarding world knew about that.
Ron fumbled for words in the wake of Hermione's accusation. He hadn't told Lavender the specifics. Just vented about Hermione's lack of interest in his own desires for their future. Looking back, he probably shouldn't have said anything. But the damage was done, and Lavender had taken advantage of the knowledge he chose to impart. And hit Hermione where she knew it would do the most damage.
"I didn't tell her anything personal." Ron retorted.
"But you did say something? Is that what I'm understanding?"
Ron didn't bother to try and meet her eyes.
"Ron, how could you?" Hermione pleaded. "We promised to keep it between us. That it was too painful to put everyone else through. It was too painful for us to go through."
Harry suddenly had an inkling of what had happened. And he prayed to Merlin he was wrong. To know that Ron and Hermione had suffered in such a way and chose to never tell anyone. He didn't know what hurt more. That they had kept whatever happened from their friends, or the agony they went through together. A memory tickled the edges of his mind.
About four years ago, Ron had come in after the weekend looking ashen and exhausted. Harry had noticed and asked his best friend if everything was all right, Ron had replied that everything was fine, except that Hermione had come down with a very bad flu and he had had to take her to St. Mungo's. She was supposed to be released the following day, and he asked if he could leave early to take her home. Harry had granted the time off and offered to drop by the next evening, but Ron told him it wasn't necessary. Harry didn't give it a second thought. Hermione returned to work by the end of the week. She looked a bit more diminished from the illness, but still had a smile for him.
Now that Harry concentrated on that memory, he realized her smile had been tight, and she had been walking with a slight limp.
"I didn't go into specifics, Hermione." Ron's voice stated, pulling Harry from his reminiscing.
"It doesn't matter what you didn't tell her Ron." Hermione shouted.
"Well, who else was I supposed to talk to?" Ron shouted back.
Harry was sure now that they had forgotten he was still in the same room with them.
"You shut down on me. It was months before we had a real conversation again."
Hermione looked as though Ron had struck her. "You...You were seeing Lavender then?" She asked, her voice shaking.
"I wasn't sleeping with her yet."
Harry was appalled by Ron's response. He was certain his friend hadn't meant it, and it had come out in anger. But Harry could tell from the look on Hermione's face that she was never going to forget this revelation.
"That doesn't make the situation any better, Ron." Hermione struggled to speak as her voice broke on each word. "Please tell me you weren't seeing her when you proposed to me."
"Not at the time, no. You and I were good then."
"So, she was something you kept in your back pocket just in case things went south between us again?"
Harry winced.
"What was I supposed to do, Hermione? You didn't talk to me! You lost interest in everything! You lost interest in me!"
"We lost a child, Ron!" Hermione screamed now, tears streaming down her face.
Harry fell into one of the armchairs, the wind knocked out of him. The sound of the chair scraping across the floor seemed to snap Ron and Hermione from their standoff. They both turned to him with matching expression of surprise and embarrassment.
"Oh, Harry. I forgot you were here. Oh no." Hermione covered her face with her hands.
"How could you not tell anyone?" Harry whispered, unable to meet her eyes.
"I…we…" Hermione looked to Ron, but he was still staring at his best friend.
Ron took a few deep breaths, glanced at Hermione, and switched his focus back to his best mate. "It happened very quickly." He said quietly. "We didn't know how to react."
"But running to Lavender seemed to make sense." Hermione snapped.
Ron ignored this.
"I did everything I could think of, Hermione. You didn't want to talk. Or try."
"Ron, that's not fair." Harry tried to interject.
"No, he's right." Hermione conceded. "I didn't want to talk. But neither did you, Ron. You didn't make the effort either. Thinking and doing are two different things. The blame goes both ways. You can't pretend to be the solitary victim. It affected both of us. And when we finally did start working together again, you were already seeing Lavender. Or were you sleeping with her at that point, too? Well, now you have her, and have everything you ever wanted." Hermione ranted, her voice growing louder and louder as she went on. "You have a happy marriage and a child on the way. The family you always dreamed of. Something I…I failed to give you. And you let her rub that in my face." She ended with a deep breath and a forlorn look at her friend. "I'm so sorry, Harry." With a last glimpse at Ron, Hermione brushed past him and through her office door.
Draco jumped out of the way just in time as Hermione rushed by him. She had her arms crossed over her chest, holding herself tight. Tears ran down her face as she hurried past. Draco remained on the other side of the door when he heard movement inside the office. Potter's and Weasley's voices drifted out to him, which meant the silencing charm had been negated when Hermione opened the door.
"Why didn't you both say anything?" Harry asked, his voice heavy with confusion and disappointment.
"It was too personal. And too soon after the war ended. We agreed at the time it was for the best."
"I suppose. We all had so much we were still sorting through emotionally."
"Do you think she'll ever speak to me again?" Ron asked.
"I don't know. You certainly didn't give her reason to just now."
"We tried…for the longest time. We tried and we fought so hard to make things work. We were doing so well when I proposed."
"Then why, Ron, in Merlin's name did you cheat on her?"
Ron sighed audibly. "I don't have a good answer. We failed each other so many times after she lost…" His voice broke and he stopped.
Draco heard a chair move and footsteps cross the office. "Stop, Ron. You don't have to say it. Look, I'm going to go find Hermione and take her home to Ginny."
"I really fucked up." Ron groaned.
"We'll talk about this later. I need to process it myself. It's just…I really can't believe you never told us."
There was another sniff, followed by more footsteps. Draco waited until both wizards left the office, the door closing behind them, before moving away. Weasley and Potter walked off without noticing him. Their conversation had not been much to go on, but Draco was clever enough to put the pieces together. And the reality of it hit him in the chest like the Cruciatus Curse.
He wanted to go find Granger himself, but Potter would know better on where to look for her. Best to leave him to it. Draco returned to his office, his appetite forgotten in the wake of what he had just learned. He knew the next time he saw Hermione it was going to be difficult to keep the knowledge of what he heard out of his eyes when facing her.
Perhaps he should obliviate himself?
But Draco decided against that as soon as the thought crossed his mind. The only thing he could do was settle in to work for the rest of the day and hope that Potter was able to locate Hermione.
Draco didn't see Hermione for the rest of the week. She returned to the Ministry the following Monday in a navy-blue pencil skirt dress and mint green cardigan. Her hair was wild and curly, even though it was pulled back in a bun. She wore little makeup and look exhausted, but she had a smile for him when he stopped by her office.
Draco knocked on the open door, taking in the teetering stacks of files on her desk and the open cabinet behind her. Hermione was completely absorbed in the notes she was scribbling that she told him "one moment" while she finished writing, and then set her quill down She obviously had not been expecting to see Draco in her doorway, because her eyes widened and her face broke into a smile when she looked up.
"Draco, hi." She got up from her desk and walked over to hug him.
Draco hugged her back, slowly because he hadn't been ready for it, then dropped his arms when Hermione pulled back.
"Hey. Welcome back."
Hermione blushed and thanked him. "I wasn't feeling well for a few days. But I'm better now."
"Good."
"Did I miss anything?" Hermione asked as she sat back down.
"Nothing exciting. At least from what I've gathered. My end of the department is quiet most of the time."
"That's good. I don't usually skip work. But when I do something exciting always happens." Hermione moved a few things around on her desk then folded her hands on top. "What's up?"
"I just wanted to come by and say hello." Draco leaned in the doorway. I missed you. The words rolled around on his tongue, but didn't leave his mouth. "Welcome you back."
Hermione smiled and dropped her eyes in embarrassment as a blush filled her cheeks. She was usually not so demure when paid a compliment, or shown concern or consideration. It was just so unexpected coming from Draco Malfoy. It made her feel almost…uncomfortable. But it felt good at the same time.
"I also wanted to ask if you would like to accompany me for a drink after work tonight." Draco asked next.
Hermione's blush deepened, but she didn't look away this time. "Where?" She inquired, intrigued.
"A place I know." Draco hedged, smirking.
Clearly, he wasn't going to divulge. Either because he couldn't remember the name off the top of his head (unlikely), or because he wanted to surprise her. That thought filled Hermione with a thrill and the corners of her mouth threatened to expose another smile. She didn't want to appear too anxious or excited. She schooled her expression into one of pleasant surprise and accepted that she was not going to get the information out of him until they arrived at the location.
Assuming you say yes.
What was she thinking?
Of course, she would say yes.
"Ok. What time should I be ready by?"
"Around six. I'll come collect you."
"Can't wait."
Draco let the corner of his mouth twitch up into a ghost of a smile, then pushed off Hermione's office doorway and left.
The rest of his morning (and majority of the afternoon) was spent cataloguing a collection of Dark artifacts recovered from the Lestrange vaults. Rabastan, the last living family member, had died thirty-three days ago inside Azkaban. The Ministry waited the required thirty-one days for any family members to come forward and claim the property inside the vaults (four in total spread across Bellatrix, Rabastan, and Rodolphus). But none did. After the waiting time expired, the vaults, and all their contents, were released to Gringotts. There were several small family keepsakes and a large quantity of gold that was listed in the will of Bellatrix and Rodolphus that went first to Rabastan as the next male heir, and then to Narcissa as the last living Black and direct family member of Bellatrix. Everything else was confiscated by the goblins.
Curse-breakers were employed to move any items carrying Dark spells and transport them over to the Ministry for analysis. It was now Draco's task to catalogue and remove these spells so the items could be handled by the goblins and placed within one of the three treasure vaults. He knew he was about to spend weeks on this, which was fine, since his team would be in Italy for the next three months.
Draco was not particularly keen on going through his late aunt's belongings, and decided to save those items for last. Instead he started with the collection from Rabastan's vault. One glance at the list of the contents told him he had made the wrong choice. This was going to take days.
The sheer volume kept him busy until well past when he normally would break for lunch. He received a memo (a purple one this time) around three in the afternoon from Hermione inquiring if he had eaten today. Draco chuckled. She must have come by at her usual time and found him eyebrows deep in cataloguing. He wrote a reply on the opposite side of the memo and sent it back across the department.
By five-thirty Draco was ready to quit. Only half the vault's contents were recorded, including the enchantments he would have to remove. He had not even begun to consider what spells he needed to neutralize the Dark curses on everything he'd seen today. Thankfully, Gringotts had set up a room to store the items from each vault while Draco was working on them. He simply needed to summon the next item as he banished the previous. He was able to summon up to three pieces at once and keep only one at a time in his office overnight.
Draco was perfectly fine with this. His office, while neat as a pin and not cluttered, was still rather small and cramped. He had two tall filing cabinets in one corner that he had inherited from Jenkins, two glass cabinets behind his desk where he kept his own collection of items, and locked away objects that he was currently removing curses from. A wide bookcase took up most of the remaining space on the wall in front of his desk. He had two chairs facing him for whomever decided to grace him with his or her presence, not that they were frequently occupied.
Draco glanced out his office door into the Goblin Liaison office. It was empty and quiet, and beyond that the Department proper was also quiet. Another glance at the clock on his desk told him it was now fifteen minutes to six. He had requested that Hermione be ready between five and six. If he lingered any longer he would be late, and there was no denying that his brain was scrambled at this point. He should just quit now.
Draco closed his notebook and put it away with the list for Rabastan's vault. He banished one of the two items on his desk and locked up the other, (a particularly beautiful orb made entirely of silver, inside which something else was concealed, he was sure) in the glass cabinet behind his desk under a stasis charm.
He was just straightening up his desk when he heard footsteps (more accurately the click of high heels) entering the Goblin Liaison office. He looked up just as Hermione appeared in the doorway. "You look ready to drop." She observed
"I am." Draco confirmed.
"We can do this another night." Hermione offered.
"No, I want to. I need to." Draco stood and began patting his pockets and waistcoat. "I just need to find my…" He began, and started lifting papers on his desk in search of his wand.
Hermione, figuring this was what he was seeking given that his sleeves were rolled up and the holster on his right wrist was empty, walked over to his desk and picked up his hawthorn wand from where it lay beside his journal. Draco rolled his eyes and took the wand from her. "Thanks, Granger." He snapped it into place in his holster and fixed the sleeves of his shirt.
"We match." Hermione noted as Draco pulled on a navy blue suit jacket over his shirt and waistcoat.
Draco looked down and, realizing she was right, chuckled quietly. "Yes, we do, indeed. What a picture we'll make." He shrugged a winter coat on for warmth and muttered, "Nox," causing the lights in his office to all turn out.
"Ready?" Hermione asked once Draco finished locking his office.
"Ready." He held out his elbow enough to indicate for Hermione to take it.
Which she did. Smiling brightly.