CHAPTER 8

August 27th 2001

Hermione Granger twisted her engagement ring while she read the parchment spread across her desk. The sounds of foot traffic hummed in the background while she skimmed page after page. Her werewolf case had come to a positive conclusion just last week, and now her office was piling up with thank you letters from those in the Magical Creature community. After over a year's worth of research, she had managed to convince the Wizengamot that there were unfair work disadvantages for those possessed with a wolf bite. As of today, workplaces within the wizarding world were now legally obliged to have at least one werewolf on their staff.

Hermione's head ached from being mildly hungover after a weekend's worth of celebration with friends. Her skin felt dehydrated and her eyes stung. She should have called in sick. A light tap against her office door lifted her attention. Astoria Greengrass smiled from the doorway, revealing her perfectly straight, pearly white teeth as she entered the room.

"I apologise for interrupting Miss Granger. I just wanted to warn you that your Department Head Meeting is starting in five minutes." She spoke softly.

"Oh! Thank you Astoria, I had lost track of time amongst all these letters." replied Hermione, "Could you please do me a favour? If any more letters come in, would you please add them to the pile on the left while I am out?"

"Of course, Miss Granger." Astoria nodded, before walking back to her desk.

Hermione gathered the paperwork she needed for the meeting and headed towards the board room. On her way out she looked into the neighbouring opened-door office that belonged to her Slytherin co-worker. Like every day these past few months, it laid empty.

Disappointed by his continuing absence, Hermione pursued her journey down the hall. Life without Malfoy's sarcastic attitude was propelling to a numb bore. Days seemed to slump past her. Although, now that her werewolf case had closed, she was to begin organising her highly anticipated wedding any day now.

Approaching the glassed windows of the board room, Hermione caught a glimpse of those already in the room. Most people had arrived in preparation, sitting down at the elongated table. One particular person captivated her attention.

Draco Malfoy.

She gasped at the sight of his blond hair sitting at his usual seat at the table. The wizard had not been at work since the day they returned from Romania. The minister had told her that he was taking some personal time to be with his sick father. Hermione was perplexed at the notice of the two Malfoys making amends, or even that the senior of the two was unwell. She came to the conclusion that the excuse was a cover up for a reality she could not figure out.

Three months had passed and Hermione still didn't have any answers. No one knew where he was, or what he was doing. She had tried to visit the manor just to double check if he truly was there but there were too many wards set up by the ministry for her to cross. She assumed you had to have Malfoy blood to come and go. He had not tried to contact her, and she shut down the expectation that he would long ago.

Hermione had presumed their friendship would be awkward after the business trip, but she never thought Malfoy would have run away from it. His father was threatening to kill her, hitmen were following her, and he just disappeared.

And now here he sat, oh so casually at the weekly Department Head meeting, like he never left.

Hermione felt her stomach drop as she stepped through the threshold and into the room. She smiled slightly at the other witches and wizards in the room but avoided looking Malfoy in the eye as she sat down beside him. She needed to settle the frustration building inside her, cautious to not burst out in anger in front of her co-workers.

Taking a seat, and clearing her throat, Hermione kept her focus forward at Minister Kingsley. She could feel those silver eyes burning into the back of her head. It took everything in her to not scream at him that he was an absolute arse for leaving.

Sounds of the meeting seemed to go through one ear and out the other, nothing was keeping her attention. Hermione couldn't stop thinking about what she was going to say to him once they left this room.

"To conclude this meeting, I believe a congratulations is in order for Miss Granger on her victory last Friday with her werewolf case." Kingsley voiced, followed by a light applause that filled the room.

Hermione's cheeks blushed at the attention, seeing out the corner of her eye that he was also clapping.

"Remus would be very proud of your work, Hermione. You have built a legacy in his honour." The minister added.

The compliment made her want to cry. Hermione had worked so hard to fight for the people who were overlooked and laughed at. She knew all too well what that felt like.

As Kingsley dismissed the meeting and employees began their exit from the room, Hermione held her breath, not moving from her chair. She wasn't sure why she was so nervous to talk to Malfoy. Perhaps it was because she craved for someone to meet her intelligence level again, or because they left on bad terms, or simply because she missed her friend. Whatever the answer was, it was keeping her frozen in her seat.

Hermione eventually became the only person left in the room.

She couldn't do it. She couldn't move.

A memory flashed through her mind of a morning tea with Malfoy a long time ago…

"How come you never speak about your personal life?" Hermione asked her blond co-worker.

"I do not feel the need to." He replied, sipping from his cup.

"But I share my personal life with you."

"That is because you never stop talking. It was inevitable you were going to run out of work subjects and babble about your miserable life."

"I wouldn't say it is miserable."

"Next time you complain about the idiotic laziness of your weasel boyfriend, I will quote those words." He grinned.

"Alright, settle down. How about I ask you three questions, and you ask me three questions?" She suggested.

Malfoy took another sip of his tea, returned the cup to the desk and placed his arm around the back of his chair.

"Fine," he agreed, "I will go first."

"Okay."

"What is Weasley like in bed?"

Hermione choked on her tea, shocked by his perverted question.

"I am not telling you that information." She growled.

"If you do not answer me, Granger, I will not answer you. I can see the mechanics of your brain trying to come up with the most revealing questions."

"Fine," she surrendered a little too quickly, "I would not know the difference, he is the only man I have made love to. But I enjoy being with him."

"Made love to? Merlin, Granger, you are pathetic. Follow up question, what is your favourite position?"

"You just wasted your second question, are you sure that is what you want to ask me?" She rolled her eyes at such sex driven conversation.

"Positive." He snarled,

"You are disgusting. I am not fussed, I just love the intimacy."

"You have got to be kidding me, Granger." Malfoy chuckled, throwing his head back in laughter.

"What!?" Hermione snapped.

"You only have one position, don't you?" He continued laughing at her.

"I did not say that!"

"Oh but you did. A woman who only knows missionary says 'She enjoys the intimacy'."

"That- that is- you are- ugh!"

Wiping a fake tear from his cheek, Malfoy stopped his cackling.

"Ask the last question." Hermione pressured.

"Do you ever wish that you did not come to know your talents as a witch and lived a simple life as a muggle?"

Taken back by the seriousness of his last question, she took a moment to find the right answer.

"During the war there were times where I wondered if my life would have been easier as a muggle teenager. But now I know that without such sorrow of losing my friends, I would not have known what true joy felt like."

Malfoy didn't say anything in return. He just looked at her.

"Okay, my turn," Hermione broke the silence, "How old were you when you lost your virginity?"

He raised his eyebrows at her provocative question. She didn't want to come across inferior and scared of sex talk, so she equaled the playing feild.

"15." He answered bluntly.

"Did your Dad buy you into the Slytherin team in second year?"

"No."

"Do you ever think about running away from your family's reputation and becoming a muggle?"

"Yes."

Hermione was angered by his short responses. The game had not worked in her favour but it gave a small insight into his personal life. She now knew he was actually good at Quidditch, but felt burdened by the gossip of his surname that probably helped him to be Seeker.

The witch felt sorry for the wizard.

Coming back to reality, Hermione began to start twisting her engagement ring again. The habit eased her.

During Malfoy's time away, she had simply assumed that he had run away to be a muggle. That would have been the easiest option, to leave his life of being in constant fear of his father's wrath. To fall in love with a nice woman and have children who weren't weighed down by the expectations of a pureblood. Maybe he had actually made amends with Lucius, and helped him as he fell sick.

Hermione's complex need to know the answer to everything is what drove her to finally leave the board room. Storming out of the glassed area, she charged down the hall to Malfoy's office to seek answers.

Knocking on his door aggressively, she did not wait for an invitation to enter. As the door flung open, she saw Malfoy sitting at his desk, quill in hand. They both looked at each other from across the room with wide eyes, unsure of what was about to happen next.

"Hi." She greeted.

"Hello." He returned.

Hermione quickly shut the door behind her before marching over to his desk.

"You are a foal git, you know that? I thought you were dead! Or worse, a muggle! No note, no warning, nothing. We were being hunted in a strange country, and you just disappeared. Where the bloody hell were you!?" She yelled at him.

"Good to see you too, Granger."

"Are you taking the piss right now?" She hissed.

"Alright, alright, sit the fuck down, would you?" He pleaded.

Hermione huffed as she sat on the chair behind her.

"Well?"

"I was with my father. He has fallen sick. I took the opportunity to sort matters out and neither of us are in danger any longer." He answered calmly.

"You really expect me to believe that?"

"I do. It is the truth."

Hermione squinted her eyes and turned her head in suspicion. Something didn't add up. Why couldn't he just have owled her and told her where he was. His explanations felt like they were rehearsed knowing that she would have barged in here and demanded answers.

"Why didn't you tell me what was going on?" She asked with less strain.

"I do not feel an obligation to keep you up to date on my relationship with my family, Granger. I wrote to Kingsley and gave him permission to tell you my whereabouts."

She was hurt by his words, though he had a point. They were just co-workers who had developed a small friendship over the years, and he did not have to share his personal life with her if he did not want to.

A part of Hermione was saddened by the fact that she had thought they had made progress in their companionship, and Malfoy did not. He had risked his life for her, but was closed off more now than ever. She guessed that something happened while he was away for three months. Perhaps Lucius had convinced him that mudbloods were not worth pursuing friendships with.

"Is your father well now?" Hermione asked, embarrassed by her outburst.

"He is doing fine."

This animosity was killing her.

"Did you do anything for your birthday in June?" She wondered if a lighter subject would brighten the mood.

"I did not."

Bugger.

Malfoy sat across from her emotionless, but Hermione had learnt over the years when her rambling was starting to annoy people. Having her fiance tell her to shut up often did the trick.

"Right. Well, I had better get back to my office." She said standing from her seat, "It is nice to have you back, Malfoy."

He nodded at her as she turned to walk towards the exit. Feeling like she hadn't quite finished what she wanted to say, she spun back around.

"I don't know what happened between you and your father, Malfoy. But I am sorry that he has hurt you, and I am sorry that you feel the need to hide your pain. For what it is worth, I know you deserve so much more than someone who only loves you conditionally." She confessed.

Malfoy absorbed her words slowly. "Why do you think there is good left in me, Granger?" He asked quietly.

"Do not play yourself off to be the cliche victim of a death eater who made bad decisions when he was 17." She encouraged. "There is so much more to you than that cold Slytherin exterior you portray."

"Your ignorance to wrongful people astounds me."

"I am not boosting your ego in order to fix your insecurities by telling you that you are not a bad person, Malfoy. But if you would lift the veil from your eyes you would see that not everyone is against you all the time. Especially me."

Hermione refused to give into the pity party he was throwing for himself. He knew deep down he wasn't evil, he was just tormented by the people who were supposed to love him the most. She was not going to be one of those women who pretend to make the men of this world feel better about their poor actions.

"As long as you keep this wall up, I do not wish to be your friend. I deserve better than that." She warned.

"I did not ask you to be my friend, Granger." He pushed back.

"Not through words. But bringing me tea every week, and throwing me to the ground to block a curse, tells a different story. This is your choice to make, you either want me in your life or you do not."

Not wanting to stand on this merry-go-round of an argument any longer, Hermione walked out of Malfoy's office with her head held high. She enjoyed the company of the wity pureblood, and felt like she could conquer the world with him at her side, but the witch knew the value of her own worth. A friendship was not forced, it was earnt.