CHAPTER 9
August 30th 2001
"You either want me in your life or you do not."
Draco Malfoy could not get those words out of his head ever since Granger had said them. It was like she had put the argument that was going on inside his head for the past few years into an actual sentence. Did he want her in his life or not?
Draco stood within the shelves of the Malfoy Manor library, scanning binders to find the book he was looking for. This room had become his silent solitude over the previous three months, a space where he could run away from his reality, just for an hour or two. The oak book stands towered twenty feet tall, divided by several aisles and decorated in novels of numerous colours. One would have to use their wand to pull down the majority of collections held here.
A pop startled Draco, one of the manor's house elves had disapperated beside him. He missed the clumsy elf, Dobby, that helped raise him as a child. He never crept up on his masters. This elf was assigned to the family once his father was sentenced to house arrest. She was more airheaded than all of the Hogwarts kitchen staff combined.
"Fuck me, Dippy. Come through the door next time, please." He asked a little more harshly than he meant to.
"Dippy is sorry Master Draco, sir. Your father is requiring of you in his office, sir." She whimpered.
"Thank you, Dippy. You may go."
The elf disappeared as quickly as she arrived. Draco sighed, giving up on looking for his book and put off the inevitable of going to see his father. He left his sacred hiding place and headed to Lucius' office in the west wing. He didn't bother to knock on arrival, but walked straight in.
"Ah Draco, there you are. I was beginning to think Dippy had lost her way. Sit down."
Lucius had become frail after many months of being unwell. The dark curses that were cast on him throughout two wars had bore down on him unkindly. From where he sat on his leather throne you could see all the damage. His skin was more pale than the thinning hair on his head, the whites of his eyes were a shade of yellow, and his cheekbones were very prominent.
"Let's make this quick, father. I have friends to attend to." Sighed Draco.
"Keep using that tone with me boy, and see what happens." Lucius growled.
This was an empty threat, and they both knew it.
"These past few months have been very promising, my son. You have done well to return to your family, and bring justice to the Malfoy name. However, I am growing impatient over your delay in leaving that pathetic ministry job. As far as I was concerned you had informed me that you were going to hand in a letter of resignation at the beginning of the week."
"You will have to drown in your impatience for a few more days, father. If I were to leave suddenly it would cause suspicion and send Aurors over here before the bat of an owl's wing. Is that really what you want?"
Draco embraced his authority when it came to his father. Any show of weakness and the old prick would smear him over a piece of morning toast.
"I do not wish for you to fail me, Draco. You are needed in the family business in order for it to succeed." Lucius sneered through his teeth.
"Do not fret, father. I will return wholeheartedly very soon."
Draco inherited his lying skills from both his parents. Their ability to bounce back after Voldemort's disappearance when he was a baby, could only be done through a deliverance of seamless fabrication.
The younger Malfoy had decided to play his senior at his own game the day that he and Granger returned from Romania. Whilst Draco understood and respected the fact that Granger could take care of herself, it was selfish of him to put her in a situation where her life was at risk.
Seeing the way that she ran into Weasley's arms, it made him realise that he was ruining her well deserved happy life. Granger had earnt her simple dull existence of going to work at 9, coming home at 5, marrying her childhood sweetheart, and raising red-headed Gryffindor spawns. Everyday that Draco chose to be near her, he was taking that beautifully boring dream away.
He knew he had to come up with a plan to end his father's evil schemes.
Draco returned home to Malfoy Manor the next day.
His strategy of earning Lucius' trust back, and staying far away from Granger was going swimmingly up until his heated discussion with her a few days ago. He felt convicted for leaving her in the dark.
"You either want me in your life or you do not."
Draco came to the conclusion that he wanted her in his life, now more than ever.
Informing his father he needed to leave to meet with friends for a drink, Draco left the west wing office and headed for the floo. Upon exiting the fireplace located within his planned destination, he was met with two sets of wands poking into his throat.
"Settle down, boys. Settle down." Mr Crawford chuckled, "The boy has an appointment."
"Get your filthy wands off me." Draco spat.
The two body guards hired to protect Mr Crawford lowered their weapons hesitantly before letting him walk to the VIP lounge that the businessman sat in, cigar drooping from his mouth. Draco took a seat directly across from him on a red velvet couch. The slimy club was thick with the smell of whiskey and smoke. Young women danced on the hips of wealthy wizards throughout the room. Draco repulsed the atmosphere.
"What can I do for you, boy?" Crawford rasped.
"I am going to need you to meet your end of our deal sooner than we agreed upon, Mr Crawford." Draco replied.
"How soon?"
"By the end of this week."
The heavy built man laughed deeply while inhaling from his cigar and puffing out ringlets.
"Trouble on the homefront, I see." He spoke through his inhale.
"For lack of better words."
Crawford set his cigar down tilted in the ashtray on the low levelled table between them. Draco waited for the inevitable extra galleons to be added to the original asking price.
"10, 000 galleons and it's done by Sunday."
"Deal."
"Slow down, son. You should consider what you're asking for here."
"I know what the consequences are. Take the galleons or I find someone else to do the job." Draco theatrened, becoming impatient of not seeing his plan come to light quick enough.
"Alright, we've got ourselves an agreement. Come Monday morning the Daily Prophet will be covered with the story of Lucius Malfoy's passing." Crawford sneered.
"I have one requirement." The blond added, "My father's death needs to look like he has passed away due to an illness. It is a story that I plan on following through with."
"Consider it done."
August 31st 2001
"Come in!" Granger invited from behind her office door.
Draco pushed the door open gently, careful not to piss her off with his visit. She sat behind her desk with her hair tied in a bun, strands falling down to frame her sun-kissed face. Paperwork was scattered all around the room, piles in corners, piles on the floor, even piles on her guest couch.
"Hi." She greeted.
"Hello." He returned, "I-uh-I brought tea."
"Oh." She was clearly surprised by his drop by.
"May I come in?" He asked softly,
"Of course, please, take a seat amongst the assorted chaos."
Draco entered the office levitating the tray of tea behind him, avoiding slipping on loose parchment on the floor. Setting the silver dish on her desk, he lifted a pile of paperwork on his seat and put it on the floor.
"Should I ask as to why there is a plethora of parchment adorning your office?"
"Most are 'thank you' letters from the werewolf community, and their families. Some are complaints from businesses who do not wish to hire magical creatures within their companies, and the pile on the couch are my wedding plans."
"I see."
"Why are you here, Malfoy?" Her tone was hard.
"Can a gentleman not simply have tea with one of the women he loathes most in this world without having an evil objective?"
Draco had hoped that using inside jokes would ease the tension in the room, but the frown on Granger's brow told him otherwise.
"I have come here to apologise," He yielded, "I know that I am an arrogant arse who has not been willing to understand the inner workings of a proper friendship. My tendency to use manipulation against you, and build a wall around my feelings was wrong. I am sorry."
Granger squinted her eyes, and deepened her brow.
"That," she started, "sounded like it came from a Mind Healer textbook on abusive behaviour."
"I may, or may not have read up on appropriate ways to apologise to people who have been hurt by emotionally traumatised wizards." He confessed, looking down at his lap.
"I thought so." She chuckled, leaning back on her chair to a more relaxed position.
"They may be plagiarized, but I mean every word, Granger."
Draco hoped that this was the first brick to come down from his wall blocking people from seeing who he truly is. Well… blocking her from seeing who he truly is.
"So… Are you going to tell me where you really were for the past few months?" She asked suspiciously,
"I knew you wouldn't be able to let that go." He rolled his eyes,
"Tell me the truth, Malfoy."
"Fine, fine. I did go home to the manor, and my father was sick, they were not lies. My reasoning behind returning those dark gloomy halls has more depth to it, however."
Draco tried to sew together the right wording so he didn't set off the ticking bomb that was before him.
"After coming home from Romania, I had an epiphany of sorts. A moment of realisation that I was putting yours and your little gang of war heroes live's on the line. It sounds pathetic, I know this, and I am very aware of the fact that you can take care of yourselves, but if anything were to happen I don't know if I could live with it. Therefore, I thought my only option was to see my father and fold my cards."
"Need I remind you, Malfoy, that I have put my life on the line for the sake of a brighter wizarding world more times than the amount of galleons in your Gringott's vo-"
"Yes, Gr-"
"I am not finished. Just because Voldemort is dead, doesn't mean that I stop fighting to see the good prosper. People who your father hated won the war, making him a loser to the fight he tried to lead. You are just the middle man stuck between an ongoing battle of light and dark. If Lucius is going to kill me for being in your life, Malfoy, then he is welcome to try. You do not have to face him alone."
Draco had never thought of it that way. Granger made him feel like he didn't have to carry such a heavy burden on his back. Perhaps his father was just ashamed that his son had turned to a lighter shade of grey in a dark world where he refused to. Why did she make it all seem so easy?
"What do you suggest I do then, Granger?" He asked in a low tone.
"Stand up for what you believe in, and stay standing." She answered simply, "You may be a Slytherin, but you're not a coward."
He scoffed at the compliment.
"That night in Romania, you didn't even hesitate to push me out of the way. I love to break it to you, but there is a little more lion than snake inside of you these days."
"Please, do not associate me with your pansy Gryffindors." He urged in distaste.
It had appeared that they both had forgotten about the tea perch on the desk. Taking out his wand, Draco reheated the pot and began to pour some into each of their cups. He remembered she liked a dash of milk and a spoonful of honey. The wizard could feel the witch's eyes watching him in silence. Handing Granger her cup, he blew on his own to cool the boiling water.
"Speaking of pansy," Granger began, "I hear that Parkinson and Nott are engaged."
"That they are." He replied, "You very well may have to beat her to death over prime ceremony locations."
She laughed into her tea. He liked her small smile, it was so much nicer than the frown she usually gave him.
"I shall remember to steer clear of her wrath."
"I owe you congratulations on your werewolf case last week." Draco changed the subject.
"I believe that I also owe you a thank you." Granger replied.
"Whatever for?"
"I know that I was not invited by the minister to come to Romania, Malfoy. If you had not brought me along, as an attempt to keep an eye on me, I would not have gathered all the testimonies that worked as evidence in court." She grinned.
Fuck.
"It was that obvious, was it?" He asked shamefully.
"Admittedly, no. Madam Varga believed I had invited myself. It was not hard to connect the dots from there."
Taking a sip from his drink, Draco cursed himself for not covering up his tracks well enough.
"I have something to give you." Granger spoke, pulling open a drawer below her desk, "I did not know your address in order to owl it, so a hand delivery will have to suffice."
Granger placed a white envelope into Draco's hand with his surname written in curvy lettering on the cover. Ripping it open he pulled out a thick piece of parchment with gold and red inscription. Turning it the right way he read that it was an invite to her birthday/engagement ball next month. His stomach dropped slightly.
"A ball, hey Granger? I do hope that Weasel-bee wears his aunt's dress robes for a special night like this." He joked quickly on his feet, attempting to cover up his sudden sadness.
"He will, and I am still struggling to find a gown that matches, so if you know of anyone…" She smirked.
Draco had missed their witty conversations. Dippy was not the most liberating company over the last three months. He put the invite into a pocket on the inside of his jacket, tucking it so the corners didn't fold. Grabbing the quill sitting in front of him, he began scribbling on the back of a thank you letter.
"What are you writing?" She asked.
"This is the address to my apartment in London. Now you know where you can owl me, if needed." He replied.
Another brick down off the wall. Granger's smile spread wide as he handed her the parchment. It made him feel giddy. What the fuck was getting into him?
"As much as it is going to pain me to be in a room full of Gryffindors again, I will be at your party, Granger."
"What a mighty good man you are, Malfoy."
Draco suddenly felt like he was doomed.