I THINK THIS IS WHERE WE LEFT OFF...SHALL WE CONTINUE NOW...

Chapter 9

Hermione was intrigued. She couldn't deny that much. She wanted to know about the woman that broke Draco Malfoy. What was she like? What did she look like? What did she have that Hermione didn't...well his heart for one, but what else?

"Mr. Malfoy, I would love to listen to your story, but I have a show tomorrow. I really need to sleep."

"Perhaps, just another ten minutes. We both know you weren't sleeping. You would've never called if you were. I mean, it is 3am."

She laid down on the couch, "Okay. So tell me."

He chuckled nervously, "Where do I start? Hmm.."

"Try at the beginning," she huffed.

He hissed, "It's my story. I shall start wherever I want."

"Sorry."

"..The first time I saw her," he smiled, "she was something else. Her hair, her clothes-, she walked around like she owned the world. Always with so much attitude. She thought she was better than everyone else, well I guess, she really was."

"Does she have a name?"

Everyone knew who Hermione Granger was. He couldn't give this woman, Ella, her real name. He had to protect what little he had left of her...of them, "It isn't relevant."

She wanted to push the subject, but she also wanted to hear the story. Maybe she could get it out of him later, "Okay, no names."

"I didn't see her again. Not for a long time anyways."

"Did she move away?"

He hissed again, "Do you want me to stop after every sentence to answer a question or do you want to hear my story?"

"Sorry, go on."

"The next time I saw her, she had grown into a beautiful woman. I almost didn't recognise her, but she remembered me...and how cruel I had been to her."

Hermione's mind raced to fit the clues together. He knew this woman as a child and then again as an adult. She was ignorant and snobby. She was beautiful and thought she was better than everyone else. He had mistreated her as a child. It sounded like Pansy Parkinson. Could it be her? She remembered Pansy chasing Draco throughout their school years and he had treated her like shit, but she also knew that they had reconnected after the war, all the clues fit.

Draco continued, "At first it was just casual, we had alot in common. We were both highly motivated and successful. Then it became something more, I don't know how it happened. It was something neither of us saw coming."

It was Pansy. They did have alot in common...being purebloods and rich among them. She had her own fashion line and was very successful. He was Malfoy Enterprises.

"But eventually, she wanted more."

Oh my god, Pansy cheated on Harry? No wait...Harry and Pansy have only been together for a year. Perhaps this had happened before they got together. Yes that must be it. But that meant he was still in love with Pansy.

Hermione needed more clues, "What did she want? What did you want?"

He was getting irritated, "Can I continue?"

"Sorry."

"As I was saying, she wanted more from me. I wasn't sure what I wanted. I guess, I just didn't see it," he went silent.

"What?"

"Anything...and everything'" he whispered, "I couldn't see why she would want me."

She felt a pang in her heart. She too knew what it was like to feel inadequate. She always felt that way around him.

"Alot of women want you, Mr Malfoy. You're rich, handsome and rich."

He laughed, "You said rich, twice."

She laughed too, "That's because you're at least twice as rich as anyone I know."

"Well, not as rich as I used to be. I'm sure you have seen the news."

Yes, she had. He was going bankrupt, no, Malfoy Enterprises was going bankrupt.

"Mr. Malfoy, pardon my asking, but I happen to know that you could save your company, on your own. You have a huge inheritance. Why do you not use it?"

He thought about how to answer this. Oh what the hell, he was already spilling his guts, "I haven't talked to my parents in years. The only thing I have taken from them is my childhood home. They were going to sell it."

"Why?"

"They moved to America 4 years ago."

Lucius and Narcissa were gone?

"Why did they leave?"

"A fresh start is what I was told. I guess they wanted to be somewhere no one knew who they were. It sounds nice. To be able to start over..sometimes I wish I could do that too...but..."

She pressed the phone closer to her ears, "But?"

He changed the subject, "Malfoy Enterprises is all I have left. I don't know what I would do if...I need it to survive."

"Why does it mean so much to you?"

He got up and grabbed another bottle of whiskey, "The truth is, it's where I saw her again. It brought her back to me. Everytime I walk through the door, I can see her...sitting on my desk or standing in my door way. When I am there, I feel like she is right there with me."

"Why not just go and get her back?"

He took a long sip, "If I thought she would take me back, I would give up everything."

His revelation shocked her. He would give up everything for Pansy. He really did love her. Of course it was her. He had told Hermione once that Pansy was his best friend. She was always visiting and hanging around his office. Why hadn't she seen it before?

"So she left you?"

"Yes. And I didn't stop her."

"Why?"

He sighed, "Because, that is the kind of man I am. I am...and always will be, just me."

She had heard those words before. He had said them to her. Hermione Granger.

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