Today's update is brought to you in the middle of my rewatch binge session of Bleach. Any mistakes that have slipped through the cracks are purely my own.

Sleep eluded Draco through the rest of the night, and he never caught up. Luckily, Astoria hadn't returned to the flat by the time he left—he hadn't expected her to. Still swaying on his feet, he climbed into the fireplace and waited for the world to spin.

The second he stepped into the Ministry, boots squeaking against the tile, he was face to face with Potter and Weasley.

He didn't like the look on his partner's face. Granted, Draco had only gotten that look on a handful of occasions. Sometimes when a mission went south, or when his mouth opened before his filter kicked into place.

The one that stood out the most, though, was the day that Robards had assigned them as partners. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that every bloody witch or wizard that worked in the building knew about it.

Draco had been civil, offering his hand to shake while stating they could get along well enough. Potter, on the other hand, had punched him. Just remembering, Draco raised his hand to his nose.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"That's eight years overdue, mate."

It'd been about Granger and the night in the Astronomy Tower.

"You, me—" Potter snarled.

"And me!"

"Lift. Now." He nodded towards Ron.

It was about Granger, Draco already knew as he was steered into the lift. Someone called out for them to hold the lift, but none of them moved to hit the button. As it began a slow ascent, Harry smashed the emergency stop, and pinned him with a glare.

Draco didn't say anything.

"Don't do this." Potter must have reworked his sentence over a dozen times in his head. "Hermione called us last night after you left. She was rattled."

Digging his fingers into his thigh, still hidden in his pocket, Draco grimaced. "I didn't hurt her if that's what you're accusing me of."

"No," Ron said. "I think we all know you wouldn't hurt her, not again anyway."

Draco clenched his jaw. "Careful."

Harry didn't listen, but that wasn't really a surprise. "Why were you there?"

"I caught her crying in her office last week. She was fucking catatonic, alright? It worried me." The words were his and he knew it, but saying them out loud blew everything wide open. He'd been able to shove it down over the years, never dwelling on it for too long, but now—fuck. "Is that what you want to hear? I can't help that I bloody care about her."

There was a wheeze behind him, and Potter rubbed his temple. "You don't get to do that."

"Well, apparently I am. What a fucking surprise, I don't listen to you." If he didn't get out of the lift, he was going to Apparate, damn the wards. At least if he splinched himself, he'd be away from this line of questions that he didn't want to answer.

"We know you never stopped caring," Ron cut in, his voice tight. Made sense, even after finding out about their relationship—which had been after he dumped Hermione fucking Granger—he'd been overly protective.

Like an older brother.

That she used to snog.

Draco snorted, and immediately knew it was a bad move when Ron's brows shot into his hairline.

"In case you've missed this fact, I have both of my hands."

In training, he'd always bested Weasley, but it wasn't the sort of thing he wanted to test in an old lift that constantly felt like it might fall apart.

And the anger that barely simmered might just give the man an edge that Draco didn't want to cut himself on.

"The point is that you are engaged, and you don't get to drop in on 'Mione in the middle of the night. Not because you're goddamn worried about her."

Draco felt the colour drain from his face. "You think I went there so I could try to shag her?"

"I didn't say that."

Potter exhaled. "Guys—"

"You didn't have to. I fucked up with her, I'm well aware of that. No need to remind me."

Ron scoffed. "Apparently, you need to be reminded. Spare me the look, Malfoy. You're not the one who had to console her after you left."

I would have done it if she hadn't shoved me away.

While he didn't know exactly what Weasley read from the slight pinch in his features, Draco knew he hadn't liked what he'd seen. "I didn't mean to upset her. Once I realized why she left the Department of Mysteries, I thought about how upset she'd be." More like how stubborn she was—and he was right—and how she wouldn't reach out for help.

The bell dinged overhead, signalling that others were waiting.

"Why show up? What about Astoria?" Harry crossed his arms. "Come on, you had to know we were going to ask."

"Believe it or not, Granger was my best mate before she was ever my girlfriend." There it was, the outburst that had been boiling without him noticing. "I know her. I know what she's like, alright? I just—"

Ron nodded, squeezing his shoulder. "Missed her?"

It cut through him, and the lift began to crawl upward again when Potter pulled his hand back. Yeah, he'd missed her, and he'd done a good enough job ignoring that up until now.

"If you want to repair that relationship—and if you even try to step over the line of friendship without permission from her—I'll help you." Weasley said it all in one breath. "If you ever tell her I said this, she'll unleash those fucking birds on me again, but I'm pretty sure she misses you, too. Probably more than she lets on, but it's buried."

The hope that maybe it was true twisted viciously in his chest. "I was going to tell you before the interrogation that I'm going to end my engagement. Not for whatever is currently going through that pig-headed brain of yours. Not a word about it."

When the lift doors slid open, Weasley made a show about all the troubles he had with the thing every day, airing complaints that it needed to be replaced.

From the corner of the DMLE, just outside the Head Auror's office, Robards caught his eye. The man didn't look like he believed them at all.

Typical.

Outside the Ministry, aurors patrolled the perimeter to keep the organized protests from rolling into full-scale riots. Fortunate enough not to be tasked with that, Draco almost regretted dodging the assignment as he sat behind his desk. Even though it came as no surprise, neither Harry nor Ron had completed their last round of reports.

Potter might be his partner, but Weasley continually rotated with them since his own partners tended not to last. Hard to see why, he grumbled internally while sifting through the disorganized mess. The man was a good auror in the field, but fuck if his paperwork had ever improved.

A knock sounded against the door before Bea poked her head in. "Auror Malfoy, your father sent this." She crossed the room and slid a parcel wrapped in brown paper onto his desk. "He said it was urgent, and that you might like to see it. Also, he mentioned that you ought to show it to Aurors Potter and Weasley."

His brows knitted together and his glasses slid down his nose. "Is my father still here?"

"No, sir. Last I saw him, he was talking to Head Auror Robards, but I believe he's left already."

He nodded. "Thank you. Shut the door behind you?" Draco leaned back in his chair and waited for the sound of the door before tearing open the package. It was The Daily Prophet, but the date was for the next day.

The moment he pulled it out, his breath lodged in his throat. It was a picture of Granger, the same photograph that was on a chocolate frog card.

He skimmed the text, clenching his jaw until it ached.

According to an inside source inside the Ministry, Hermione Granger developed the compatibility charm…

What had Weasley said? That he didn't get to care anymore?

No, it was that he didn't get to drop in uninvited.

Well, too fucking bad.

Barely dodging Potter was lucky. He had just stepped out of the lift as Draco neared it. Considering the conversation this morning—which had been odd, when he stopped to think about it—Draco had severe doubts the man would appreciate his actions regardless of how well-meaning they were.

It wasn't only that he was worried about Granger, he maintained. Though he was. Just thinking about the photograph of her—she'd been smiling for it, her nose crinkling as she laughed—made his stomach twist that much more, and while he was worried, he also knew that she could possibly be in danger.

Croaker had told her the reaction of the public would be more than what the Ministry could do to her for breaking her silence on the entire thing, and as someone who had been subjected to rabid mobs that had too much to say, Draco's stomach sank even lower. The rational thing would be to report it to Potter.

Then to Robards.

Still, he shoved his way past the crowd that poured out of the lift, and stepped inside, ignoring the slight shake it gave. Metal grates slid together before the doors closed over them, and he jammed the button down. He probably only had a few minutes of a start on Potter before he spotted The Daily Prophet on his desk, and landed outside Granger's flat.

He hurried out of the lift, through the atrium, and stepped into the public Floo. It was common knowledge that you couldn't apparate into—or out of—the Ministry for security reasons, but that had never irritated him more than it did then. Draco stepped out of his own fireplace, and spotted Astoria on the sofa.

She didn't get the chance to get a word out before he curled his fingers around his wand and vanished from the spot.

Granger's flat wasn't far from where he landed. The ground was solid beneath him when Draco cast a glance in both directions. There weren't any crowds.

Seeing that should have been enough of a reassurance for him to leave. Clearly, Granger wasn't in any trouble, but he put one foot in front of the other anyway, determined to see her with his own eyes. Climbing the steps two at a time, Draco had had a feeling that this was a bad idea.

A terrible one, honestly, but it wasn't as if he'd had very many good ideas lately.

Even when he did see Granger, it was solely for his benefit. That was hardly fair considering how unhappy she'd be to see him.

They had talked last night, though, and it had been just like before. Maybe he didn't want to remember how easy it was to talk to her after burying it so deeply, but there were some things that couldn't be forgotten.

He knocked on the door once, but there was no answer.

Then twice, but it was the same.

By the third time—the loudest of them—Draco wondered if she was home, intentionally ignoring him. He heard some noise behind him and turned around.

"What are you doing here?" Granger stared at him over an armload of groceries, tilting her head to the side. "You don't know how to stay away, do you?"

Draco was pretty sure she'd said the exact same sentence in what felt like a lifetime ago, under extremely different—more favorable—circumstances. "I get that you're irritated—"

"That's the word I would use." Her brows lifted. "Why are you here again? Haven't I already told you enough?"

Not nearly.

"Actually…" Draco cleared his throat. "I'm here to check on you. I won't ask you any questions."

She set her bags beside her door and turned to him. "Check on me? I don't know why, I'm not in the mood to talk about my," she sighed,"my feelings again."

"Especially not with me." Draco clenched his jaw. "I know."

"With anyone." She turned her keys over in her hands. "It's not all about you. If I were going to talk about this, it'd probably be with you given that you already know and I don't want to explain it to anyone else. However," her voice hardened, and he suspected the shift in her tone had everything to do with his smirk. "I don't need anyone to check on me."

Granger couldn't possibly know yet then. It was only a matter of time. Advance copies were leaked so often, it was impossible to keep headlines like this concealed for long.

It left him with two options: he could tell her why he was there or he could leave without giving her a heads up—like a coward.

He'd had enough of acting like a coward.

Draco shoved his hands into his trouser pockets and leaned back on his heels. "Granger, I'm not here because of what you confided in me. While I am worried about that, this is…" Technically it was about the story she had shared with him.

"Are Harry and Ron okay?"

"What? Yes. They're fine. I would have told you immediately if it were that."

Granger rested her knuckles under her chin. "Then you're afraid to tell me."

His mouth was dry and swallowing only made it worse. "I'm not afraid."

"Then you're trying to spare my feelings." Her hands fell to her sides. "Malfoy, just spit it out. The sooner you do, the sooner you can leave."

"The Ministry publically named you as the one who created the charm."

Her face crumbled, and he wanted to pull her into him. "Oh."

It would be so easy to slip an arm around her waist, and tuck her head under his chin while he rubbed her back. "I saw the copy that will run tomorrow, and knew it wouldn't be long before protesters camped outside your flat."

"I knew this would happen." Granger shrugged, but he could see the way her eyes began to water. "It was nice of you to check in, but really, it's—"

Draco reached for her, and his fingers curled around her elbow when she didn't step away from him. "That doesn't make it any easier to hear. I'm sorry."

She wouldn't meet his eyes when she nodded. Granger kept her gaze over his shoulder. "I am, too. Thank you for telling me."

"Do you have any idea what you'll do now?" It wasn't his business, and Granger probably wouldn't give him a response. "You and Krum…?"

That earned him a sharp laugh. "No." She shook her head. "I don't want to marry Viktor. I don't want to marry anyone."

An agreement was on the tip of his tongue, but he kept that to himself. While he doubted Granger would let that information slip anyway, the next person he needed to admit this to had to be Astoria.

"If they want to see me married, they'll have to match me when the deadline comes."

It was exactly what he'd expected, and it scared the shite out of him. "One of your friends will step up." Draco heard the words as they left his mouth, and watched the corner of her lips twitch into a smile. "Potter wouldn't let you be paired with someone you didn't want. Neither would Weasley."

"Ron's been seeing someone for several months now. He hasn't told me who the witch is, but I suspect we'll know soon enough."

"You think he'll marry her?"

"If she says yes." Granger bent down to pick up her bags, and glanced back at him. "Thank you for coming by. I realize it probably wasn't ideal for you."

The soles of his boots scraped against the cement. "That's not true."

She froze in the doorway, one foot already inside as the door swung open.

"Both of your friends would have my head if they knew I'd come here again. Probably will—especially Weasley—when they find out. Truth is, I wanted to see you—to know if you were okay—because I thought of you crying again makes my blood boil."

Pretty brown eyes widened, and her fingers curled around the trim of the door. Her lips parted, and his name passed them in a quiet rush.

He stepped backward, holding the back of his neck before remembering what she had said about it being a tell. "And I don't know what that means, Granger."

"Yes, you do."

Draco squared his shoulders. "There's no love lost between you and I." Except, maybe, that's only on your side. "But I'm not sorry I came here."

But I'm sorry for everything else.

"We're adults." She swallowed. "All of that was a long time ago. If you're worried out of pity, spare me, Malfoy."

Somehow, Draco was certain Granger knew that wasn't the case and she'd only shut the door to get out of an even more difficult conversation.

Even if it had continued, he had no idea what he could have said.

At the end of the day, Harry caught him in the room they shared as an office. "You went to her flat again."

Draco nodded, his lips pressing together as he slid his report into the file before stowing it away in his desk. "That took you long enough. I figured you would have cornered me immediately after you spoke to her."

"I haven't talked to her." Harry dropped into the chair opposite him. "I saw that cover though, and when I fire called her, there was no answer."

"She probably wanted to be alone."

"Right." His partner dug his fingers into the arm rests as he stood. "Since you probably bollocksed it up, I'm going to go check on her."

"Good luck. Where are the reports you finished?" The door swung shut, but it didn't do much to hide the loud laugh from the other side. "Potter!"

He arrived home much later than normal thanks to the extra paperwork he'd had to complete, and apologized to Astoria immediately. "I had to get somewhere in a hurry and I couldn't apparate."

"Where were you going? Obviously, it wasn't for work."

Fuck. "I had to check on a friend."

Astoria didn't believe him.

He wouldn't have believed him either. "I realize that's vague."

"Is this friend a witch?" Her fingers tightened on the cup in her hands. "Surely, it's someone I know."

"Not well," Draco answered. "Yes, it's a witch, but before you accuse me of anything, she's in danger. Technically, it will be a concern for the DMLE. I just happened to learn about the issue before anyone else, that's all."

"Do you want to marry me?"

His stomach dropped. While he hadn't figured out a good way to admit that yet, Draco hadn't expected her to come out and ask him directly.

Astoria squeezed her eyes shut and inhaled. "You're not happy, and neither am I." Her thumb brushed against the rim of her cup. "I think we could be though… If we wanted."

Malfoy, just spit it out.

"No, I don't want to marry you," Draco said all at once, without a breath, without trying to soothe the blow because doing so would make it harder than it needed to be. "I'm so sorry."

The cup shattered as it slipped from her hands, and tumbled off the dining room table. "If you don't marry me, who will you marry?" Astoria seemed too calm, she didn't even look at the pieces of the cup, or the tea that rolled across the floor.

"I don't know."

"You would rather marry a stranger than me? We have a relationship."

"I think we both know it's not much of one."

Her teeth cut into her bottom lip. "Who will I marry? Don't look at me that way. I will not marry you just to avoid this. I can see when I'm not wanted, Draco."

His chest ached. "I'm so sorry. It wasn't my intention to let it go so far, and I hoped that I would…"

Astoria ripped the ring off her finger and threw it at him. "I'll arrange for my belongings to be moved out."

Draco was part way through a bumbling apology that wasn't even good enough—and it would never be good enough—when a Patronus burst into the room.

"Maybe you could marry your auror credentials." Astoria shot to her feet. "Seeing as they come before anything else!"

Even before the stag spoke, an overwhelming sense of dread swept over him. "Hermione's gone. She fled the country."

Woop, we're getting into the thick of it now. I hope all of you are staying safe out there! If you want to talk to me, or leave me your thoughts, comments are always welcome and you can always message me on FFN or visit me on tumblr at mrsren!