Apologies to everyone who tried to read this chapter already. I have no idea why it started showing HTML codes but I have deleted and re-uploaded the content now so hopefully you can all view it fine!
Astoria Greengrass and Hermione Granger were becoming good friends.
Hermione still felt slightly bad about her whole debacle with Draco (this is what her and Ginny chose to call it these days) but Astoria was a genuinely nice girl and with Daphne having become so close to Ginny and married Ron, she was often around. She was also very intelligent and did not indulge in quidditch, so the two witches had instantly formed a bond.
It was due to this new friendship that she didn't know quite what to feel when Astoria flood into her office at the Ministry to tell her that she had gotten a job…in her department. Astoria was going to be working in a newly restructured department for creature healing. It would sit between St Mungo's and The Department of Care and Magical Creatures. Since Hermione was Head Liaison for the Care of Magical Creatures office, Astoria would be her deputy.
She knew the girl was qualified, having done a prestigious healing internship in Canada on top of her outstanding CoMC marks at NEWT level. No wonder Hagrid had spoken so highly of her.
"It's a dream job!" she practically squealed. "I never thought I would get to combine healing with creatures!"
"Congratulations, it certainly seems like you've earned it" Hermione told her genuinely. She wanted to be excited for Astoria, truly. But she also knew that this would mean Draco coming back to England. For the first time she couldn't help but wonder what he would be doing.
"So will Draco run Malfoy Holdings from the Manor like his family did before?" she asked tentatively. Astoria gave her a strange look.
"Hermione, Draco hasn't been running Malfoy Holdings since, well, ever, he handed that Job to Blaise as soon as they left Hogwarts. He never wanted to do pompous business dealings all day like his father" she laughed.
"Oh" Hermione said, feeling stupid. "So what does he do then?"
"Well he's one of the top healers in Toronto!" she announced proudly, "I can't believe you didn't know"
"Draco is a healer?" her jaw dropped, and her mind flashed back to when he had rescued Ginny from Theodore Nott. She couldn't help but feel proud of him.
"Yes, he specialises in Potions and Trauma, and now that he has the trust I think he's quite excited to come back to England." She smiled happily.
"The trust?" Hermione queried.
"The NAF, surely you have heard about it in The Prophet, it's been in the works for a while?"
"You mean the mind-healing foundation specialising in post-war trauma in children?" She asked faintly "But…hat's Neville Longbottom's venture, I remember him telling me that he was naming it after his parents."
"Of course, he's Draco's partner on the project, I forgot you were in Gryffindor together weren't you. Do you know him well?" Astoria was still sat politely in front of her desk. Clearly, she did not know the brunette well enough yet to tell when her mind was spiralling. "If I'm correct I believed they did name it after their parents. The N stands for Narcissa, the A for Alice and the F for Frank".
"let me get this straight. Draco Malfoy disappeared from Hogwarts, handed his business over to Blaise, at some point he landed in Canada, where he trained as a mind-healing specialist for children with trauma and then he set up a charitable foundation with Neville?" Hermione's voice had got feinter and feinter as she had continued.
"Well yes that about sums it up. I suppose I wouldn't have believed it myself from the way he was at Hogwarts though, so I guess I can see why your surprised. I just assumed Ginny would have mentioned it."
"Congratulations on the job Astoria, I look forward to working with you" Hermione smiled tightly before leaving her office for the day.
What in Godric's name was happening to her life and why must it always have to do with that bleach-blonde, slimy-haired, ferret-faced- "OOF" she groaned audibly as she realised exactly who she had smacked into.
Draco grabbed hold of Hermione to steady her without thinking and immediately regretted it. It only made him want to kiss away the confusion etched onto her face. "Torie? Are you there?" he called, looking away from her.
"Coming" the blonde bustled out shortly after Hermione. "I'll see you on Monday Hermione" she smiled, oblivious to the tense atmosphere.
"Wait!" Hermione called…" you forgot…" her words died in her throat as she realised exactly what had fallen out of Draco's bag.
How did he get this? She wondered.
It was impossible not to recognise the hard-backed journal, given that she had crafted the constellations and runes herself. It was to be Draco's birthday gift their last year at Hogwarts. She trailed her fingers over the twinkling stars that made up the Draco constellation, thinking back to the hours she had spent in the Hogwarts library trying to get them perfect. She had charmed the journal so that only he and she could read it, this had been before they had decided to go public of course. Not that they ever got the chance.
The question was, how did he get it? And could she bring herself to do the right thing and return it.
Is anybody starting to feel a little bit sorry for Draco that his platonic fiance and his ex-soulmate are going to become besties?
What do we think of the N.A.F foundation and Draco and Neville being partners?
What do you think is written in Draco's secret journal?
Please review, I love to know what you all think!