"Ouch!" Hermione cursed as she finally drew blood from her lip. Well, one would think that chewing on your lip would be painful. She sucked on her lip and pouted. Could her life get any worse? She felt like everything was going down the drain. And Harry and Ron weren't even in London this week to cheer her up. She sighed and put her head in her hands as she pondered over the same thing for the umpteenth time that day. Should she go?

Hermione hadn't heard from Malfoy since saturday night. And today, being Monday, she wondered whether she should go to the little cafe like they did every weekday. She wondered whether he would be there. Whether he would come. She doubted it, though. Since he had not made a single attempt to contact her since that night, she could hardly believe he would come to the cafe. But there was something inside of Hemrione that told her that he might just show up. And if he did, then she couldn't just leave him all by himself, could she?

Groaning, she realized how awkward it would be to see him again. She wouldn't know what to do or to say. She bit her lip. Seriously. What was she to do? And of course there still was Brent in the whole equation. She had to think of him, too. After all he was still her boyfriend and she did cheat on him. The more Hermione thought about it, the guiltier she felt. She had let herself get into a situation that she had not wanted to be in. She had a wonderful boyfriend, and she went and ruined everything with another man who didn't even have the decency to talk to her after they had done the deed.

Maybe, Hermione thought. Maybe, he really was busy this weekend. I mean maybe he likes to work on Sundays. Or maybe he had something going on involving the bank. Hermione thought it was easier thought than believed. She couldn't help but shake the feeling that he was avoiding her. But she wouldn't be sure until she went and checked if he would show up, would she? I mean maybe he really had been too busy to contact her. She knew the answer now. She would go.

Gathering her things rapidly, Hermione was quick to leave her office. She was speeding down the hall and all the way to the cafe. The second she entered, her eyes automatically went over their usual table. She bit her lip.

It was empty.

She sighed and walked slowly over there, her head hanging low. Maybe he would come. Maybe he was just being held up at work. Surely it wasn't because he didn't want to see her. Or trying to avoid her. After getting her coffee, she went and sat down at the table and checked her watch. He would probably show up any minute now, walking in with a smirk on his face. The first thing he'd say would probably be a comment about Saturday night, which would make the the whole awkwardness about it fly out the window. He would woo her again with his charm and make her fall for him deeper then she already had.

Right.

Draco glared at his assistant as she poked her head through the door. "What is it?" He spat at her.

"There are about ten memo's outside right now and they keep pecking at me, Sir. Do you still don't want them to come in your office?" She asked, not intimidated at all. She was used to his temper by now.

"Send them in." He sneered. She gave him a quick nod and in came ten memo's whooshing through the door. He groaned at the sight of them. Why couldn't people just leave him alone? He had enough on his mind as it was.

He checked his watch. It was about lunch time. He inhaled a deep breath and held it. She was probably not going to go, so why would he? He didn't need to. Of course not. He had to stay away from her, remember? He couldn't see her. In fact, why was he even thinking about her in this moment? Seeing her would be absurd and completely useless? I mean, he got what he wanted, right? He got to bed her again. That's it. That's all he wanted from her just like with every other girl.

But of course.

Draco tried to distract himself for the next half hour, reading memo after memo, wondering when in the world he would be able to answer all of them. But his mind kept drifting back to a little muggle cafe right around the corner from the ministry. He checked his watch for the umpteenth time and ran a nervous hand through his gorgeous blonde hair. His leg was now shaking impatiently, telling him to get his arse off the chair and run to the cafe, and catch her and talk to her. His heart was pounding and he gave in.

Finally.

He ran out of his office and down the hall. He cursed at the elevator for being so slow and the same with the telephone booth. When he was finally outside he ran as fast as he could towards the cafe. The closer he came, the more excited he felt. He was sure she would be there. Finally he reached the door.

Hermione sighed and got up, checking her watch. It was half past eleven. She had been waiting for thirty minutes now. By now she knew he wouldn't show up. Trying hard to fight the tears which were threatening to fall, she walked over to the garbage can and threw away her cup. With one last hesitating moment she walked across the store towards the door.

He grabbed the handle and swung the door open and rushed inside.

She slowly opened the door and sighed. She put on a determined and proceeded to walk out.

His eyes scanned the place, automatically falling on their table.

She looked around one last time, making sure that he wasn't just running towards the cafe, coming to apologize for his tardiness.

His heart dropped. She wasn't there. He ran his hand through his hair in a frustrated way and walked over to the counter to hold on to, trying to catch his breath from running so much.

"Sorry, son." The lady at the counter told him apologetically. "You just missed her." He looked up at her with big eyes and quickly ran towards the door once again.

She cleared her throat to stop the tears. She knew he wasn't coming. Turning around, she determinedly walked away from the little shop.

Opening the door, he rushed outside and looked around, scanning the whole square. His eyes dashed everywhere, looking for a familiar figure walking away from the cafe. But he didn't see any.

Draco let out a loud groan. At that moment he felt like banging his head against a hard surface over and over again. Maybe that way he would gain some sense. Still breathing hard, he slowly lowered himself on the ground right outside the shop and sat with his back to the wall behind him.

Nice screw up, Draco.