"Come on, let's take you home." Hermione said smoothly as she stood and took the mans arm off side of the bench.
"Home?" He asked, confused.
He looked up at her with blood shot eyes, momentarily forgetting who she was and why she was there, a feeling of hope and longing of his own home crawling into him.
Hermione restrained herself from saying 'Oh Draco' in a patronising voice, and instead opted for ruffling his sticky hair with her hand and saying she meant her home,
"...you have to stay with me, remember?"
"Oh..." He looked heartbroken, his pained eyes flickering from hers as he sighed inwardly.
"It's not forever though..." She said hopefully, still trying to prise him up off the bench.
"If it is forever, then forever is fine." He looked back up at her with that same pleading look.
Hermione didn't understand the statement, but tried not to let it show on her face as she tried to think of a suitable response.
"Well, I'll take that as a compliment," she said with a small snort before adjusting the heavy folders she was holding in her arms,

"Oh shit!" She announced heavily as a look of annoyance flooded her face.
"What?" Draco asked, blinking up at her through tired eyes.
"Will you be okay coming into the Ministry with me? I have some work to catch up on..." Hermione trailed off, somehow knowing it was a big ask.
"I don't know..." He looked down, a hand automatically reaching for his left arm as he rubbed the mark of his tattoo over his jumper.
"Please? I don't-" The words "I don't want to leave you" hung in the air as Hermione momentarily scolded herself for the insensitive statement, "It won't be for long? You can sit in my office while I quickly finish up?"
He didn't look convinced.

"It's not like you haven't been in the last few months..." She said it more to herself then him, the sentence coming out quite bitter as she thought of him looking through her details.
"I know but-" He couldn't really think of an argument; he just knew how rough he was feeling and a thousand eyes on him wouldn't help right now.
"Come on, it'll be fun." Clutching at straws, Hermione lifted her voice and plastered on a smile.
She really didn't want to leave him to either stay out here or to apparate home alone; it wasn't a thing of trust, more the fact she was too worried what would happen if he was alone again. His mind wasn't in a good place right now.
"Fine." Draco spoke after a moment, standing up with a roll of the eyes and a large sigh.
"Thankyou!" Hermione breathed out, standing up fully and clutching her folders tighter to her chest.

"Sorry about this." Hermione whispered into Draco as they reached the entrance of the Ministry of Magic.
"Don't mention it." Malfoy grumbled, his head low and his shoulders hunched as he continually ran his hand through his hair as they walked further in.
"My office is on the third floor. Magical Law Enforcement. Meet me there." She said quietly before quickening her pace away from the man.
She was gone before he could comment a short, 'you've done well for yourself'-which was true, she had. Draco was impressed.

He watched her from behind as the woman, plaid in a tight suit with a skirt that was just short of her knees. She had a hand to her face, brushing away any remaining tears she self consciously thought where still there, not that he knew that. And at last, the woman was gone, her wavy brown hair rounding a corner was the last thing for him to see of her before she was out of sight.

He knew his way around the Ministry, it wasn't that that made him keep to the walls of the large building, or made him check over his shoulder awkwardly every through seconds. He had unfinished business with a few people here; people that didn't think Death Eaters should have got away without a sentence in Azkaban. The fact his father had didn't excuse him or his mother, according to some.

The thought of his past made his tattoo tingle, it was in his head, he knew, but something about the small burning sensation made him feel uneasy. The doctor had commented on it when he'd had his first scan; she seemed to like it, not that he knew why, nothing about it seemed "cool". To him it was hatred and a life he was forced to live against his will. The images of death still haunted him in his dreams. No, nothing about how it looked or what it stood for was anything to call positive.
But some people didn't want to listen to him, didn't want to believe that he had repented and forever now hates and disowns his past. To them, it's 'Once A Death Eater, Always A Death Eater'. No turning back.

And that's just how it used to be, there was no way out.

Draco reached Magical Law Enforcement quickly, managing not to bump into anyone who might wish to have a 'quick word' with him.
He knew Hermione was right, and that he had been here in the past two months to see her details and check where she lived, but he'd done that when the Ministry was closed, the hallways dark and empty as he walked alone through the large space. Nothing like peek time, where wizards stalked the haunted corridors without stopping, mulling around in groups as they worked and walked or met for idle chatter.

He turned into a long corridor with a sigh and checked the names on the doors that lined all the way down the narrow walls. Granger's was the second to last identical door on the left. Her name plaque was paved in gold with her manager title scrawled neatly underneath. Truth be told, Draco had wanted a job at the Ministry as soon as he had first been old enough to go on a day trip there with his father; and seeing Hermione's large office room now made him all the more envious. He opened the door wide and stepped over the threshold, keeping his steps light as to not to disturb the tranquility of the place. There was a desk and three chairs sitting neatly in the middle of the room, inviting him in, but Draco couldn't help but divert from comfort and look around the endless walls.

He turned back on himself and closed the door with a simple shut, there was no creek of the hinge or moan on the polished wooden floor. Everything about this room echoed Hermione; the two walls lining the door were streamed with books. Old to new were stacked without a single dust mark on them, a library of her own creation spanning the entity of two large antique bookcases that towered the wall, ostracizing the tall man as he walked around the space silently.

The far wall, opposite the brown wooden door, held filing cabinets and two large chalkboards either side of each other, scrawled all over with notes and equations that could still be made out under the newer editions that had yet to be edited.
An open drawer of the wooden filing system led him in the path of the woman to the desk, where an open folder lay sprawled open, the contents spilling out in an orderly fashion across the table. Draco allowed his feat to lead him to the chair that was obviously Hermione's, looking out onto the other two, which were most likely used for interviews and the such. There was an empty chocolate frog packet laying at the side of the folder-it's card placed face down. Draco drummed his fingers slightly on the hard wood before reaching over and looking at the face of the card.

The man let out a small "hhmf" as the figure of Ronald Weasley stared back at him with a smirk. Without reading the description, Draco set the card back down in the same position and opened the bottom drawer underneath the desk. As he assumed, it was filled to the brim with a variety of sweets-Hermione probably bought them for any children that may come in, but by the looks of the several empty packets, it was probably only the woman herself who ate them. Draco pulled out a packet of Fizzing Wizzbees with a grin and opened them without a second's thought as he began to read the lines of work that Hermione had left in front of him.
After the floating sensation left him back in his seat, the man started intently at several pages of words that didn't seem to end, letters jumping out at Draco, mixing up on that page and becoming blurred. No matter how hard he tried to concentrate and read, the typed writing just became one big mess to his vision, and he was forced to retire and put his head in his hands.
"Malfoy?"
Draco's head snapped up the moment the voice reached his ears.
"Get out!" He snarled, putting his head back down and massaging the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb, in order to relieve some pressure in his head. This was all he needed.
"No," the figure of Ron Weasley took a step into the office with confidence, his eyes bearing into the man who was not looking.
"This is Hermione's office and I have come to speak with her on Ministry business." Ron spat out the words with a snarl, all formalities gone for a woman who held power over him.
"I didn't hear you knock." Draco spat back with just as much venom, lifting his head up slowly in order to glare at the tall man through narrowed eyes.
"Well, I did," The man standing in front of him told him defiantly, taking another step forward to make him seem taller, "and I'd appreciate it if you would please tell me what you are doing in here."
"Oh please," Draco said, rolling his eyes before pushing back the chair he was sitting on away from the desk and standing up and walking towards Weasley, "Hermione," he said her name sarcastically, making Ron wince slightly under his ever nearing gaze, "Hermione," he repeated, straightening up,"asked me to wait her for her."
"And why would she do that?" The other man asked, standing his ground as he took another step further into the room, the handful of files under his arm shifting slightly as the door behind him shut firmly closed.
"Because she's busy." Draco spat out the words as he came away from the desk and nearer to Ron.
"She didn't seem it last time I spoke to her." Ron scoffed, taking another step into the centre of the room.

"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just that acting like a little girl and running away crying doesn't seem very busy, now does it?" Ron snapped sourly, his eyes wavering away from Draco's momentarily.
Draco seemed taken aback, at a loss for words as he felt chills run up the side of his back. He hadn't known she was crying. He hadn't properly looked at her, but if he thought back to the hour or so before, when she first found him, she had been crying.
He felt an unusual drop fall in his stomach as he thought of her pale face with tears streaming down. He'd seen her cry before, but knowing it was something else-someone else-that had upset her so, made him feel strangely protective and hurt for her.
"And why was she crying?" Draco asked once he had found his voice again.
"How am I meant to know?" Ron answered defensively, curious as to why Draco seemed so upset about the obviously new news of Hermione.
"What did you do to her?" he snapped angrily, rounding on the man.
"N-Nothing!" Ron backed away as Malfoy's angry face came closer to his own, "We just had a sort of argument." He answered hurriedly as he instinctively reached for his wand, sending the variety of folders crashing to the floor as he did so.
"Why? What about?" Draco asked angrily, his temper rising with every step he took towards the red-head.
"A-about the past, I guess." the man stuttered, stepping over one of the forgotten folders in order to back away further, his wand drawn to his chest as he watched Draco quickly take out his.

"Let me guess, you were blaming her?"
"I don't actually think it has anything to do with you, Malfoy." Ron stood his guard, finding all the courage within him to talk back to the man who loomed over him.
"Actually, now we're on the subject, why exactly is it that you and Hermione broke up? She hasn't got around to telling me yet." Draco smiled cruley, wanting to give every impression that he and Granger were currently dating behind the man's back.
"Well…I…er," Ron stumbled, his cheeks turning red as he fought for something to say, "You haven't told me what you're doing here anyway." He shouted, raising his wand higher in defense to any action Malfoy may or not take.
"Why, me? I'm just waiting for my," he paused before saying the word that refused to come from his lips, "girlfriend to be ready to come home after a stressful day at work," Something flickered in the Ron's eyes as he said the words, his wand arm wavering slightly as he looked crestfallen at his defeat.
"Then the plan is to visit a nice little expensive restaurant that you could only dream of visiting, Weasel." Draco added with a sneer, digging the knife in further as he watched Ron's blush harden.
"She didn't say anything to me about you." The man glared, a spell on the tip of his tongue as he lifted his wand slightly, aiming for Draco's chest.
"And why would she need to say anything to you about me?" Draco frowned as he noticed Ron's arm itch to cast a spell on him, "not so fast, Stupefy!" He roared, flinging the hex at the man's chest. It was common knowledge that he had always been a master at flying spells in under a second, and Ron was mad to try and think he could beat him.
"Impedimenta!" Ron screeched once he got some in back in his lungs.
Draco was knocked back into the chairs behind him, causing him to crash to the floor with them; a loud groan issuing from his mouth as he was flung involuntarily to the floor, his head bashing back onto the wooden desk.

Ron simply laughed as he watched the blonde try and scramble to his feat, his arms and legs tangled in the chair legs as his head pounded inside of his skull. On his way to his knees, Malfoy pointed his wand to Ron's legs, breathing out "Locomotor Mortis" as steadily as he could, standing up slowly as he checked the back of his head for any blood that he could swear he could feel trickling down his hairline-even though evidence suggested against this.
Ron moaned as he tried to move his legs out of the curse, tumbling over himself and having to stare up at Draco, who was smirking intently at the man,
"Maybe you should think twice about hurting my Hermione from now on," Draco snarled, seeing red as he stepped over the wriggling body of Ronald Weasley beneath him, a groan coming from the latter as he stepped onto his hand forcefully, "I could always do a lot worse,"
Draco stood on Ron's mouth now, pushing the man's face into the floor, "here's one I learned from your old pal Harry Potter," Draco spat out the words, before lifting the pointed wand to his shoulder before bringing it back down "Sectums-"

"Draco!" The sound of Hermione's high pitched scream shrilled through the room, echoing off every wooden surface as Draco looked from her shocked face, to the grappling form of Ronald Weasley under his shoe.
Immediately, but all too slowly for Ron, Draco took is foot off the man and took a few daised steps backwards, his hands reaching for his face as he breathed deeply, trying to clear the fog building inside of him. He watched through someone else's eyes as Hermione lifted the leg-locker curse off her ex-lover.

"I'm…I'm so sorry." Draco breathed out as he dropped his wand, apologizing more to Hermione than Weasley.
"You were about to kill him!" Hermione shrieked, her eyes wide as she helped a shaking Ron to his feet.
"I-I don't…" He started, his feat still backing away from the pair.
"What was he doing here in the first place?" Ron gulped finally finding his voice as he started open mouthed at Hermione.
"I asked him to wait here?" The statement came out more as a question to herself than an answer to him.
"Maybe next time, you should ask your boyfriends to wait, oh, I don't know, maybe outside?" Ron twisted the words sarcastically, giving Draco a snarl before brushing himself down and making a quick exit towards the door before Hermione could question his phrasing of her relationship to Draco.
"What was all that about?" Hermione questioned, her voiced still high as she gestured to the floor.
"I really don't know." Draco could feel the start of tears build up inside of him now the anger had cooled down inside of him.
"And girlfriend?" Hermione asked exasperated, taking a frustrated step towards the tired man, "Did you say that to make him jealous?"
"Maybe…" Draco answered after a while, hanging his head slightly in shame as he avoided eye contact with the woman in front of him, who he was so sad with disappointing.
"Did it work?" Hermione's voice turned soft and mischievous, part of her glad to see Ron so bedazzled-even if she was, at first, scared for his life.
Draco looked up at her, a small smile creeping up on his lips as he saw her smirk.
"What do you think?" He asked with raised eyebrows, his smile widening with malice.
Hermione bit her lower lip playfully as she tried to stop herself from smiling back, red rushing to her cheeks as she turned her head away to hide her smirk.
"You can't hide that joy from me, Miss Granger." Draco teased as he reached for the hand that was now covering the woman's flaming cheeks.

And then they were looking at each other with smiles on their faces and mischief dancing in each other's eyes. Grey meeting the shining brown that he had only ever seen sparkle in his dreams.
Draco suddenly realised he was holding onto her hand, and his heart started pounding so hard in his chest that he was worried that Hermione would be able to feel it traveling through him. His smile faltered, and suddenly he was looking at her lips.
Hermione's breath caught short in her lungs as she calculated how long he'd had hold of her hand. And he hadn't let go. She locked her eyes onto his before breathing out the breath she didn't realize she was holding.
Somewhere within him wanted to close his eyes and take her burning cheeks in his hand and to rub his fingers against her smooth skin and to count every freckle on her fragile face, and then kiss her chapped lips like they were the most expensive thing in the world.

Draco let his hand fall from the lose grasp and looked away as Hermione straightened herself out, letting the moment hang in the air between them as they awkwardly gathered up their feelings inwardly, before turning off the lights and heading home together.