Hermione sat at her desk with her hands on her head. He tried to use her fingers and palms to block out the light that as streaming through the blinds coming from the window next to her cubicle.
Her head was pounding. She didn't have any pain relievers in her purse despite digging hopelessly in all of the small pockets of her purse and even frantically looking in each of her desk drawers.
The headache had just gotten worse as the day wore on. She felt like the veins in her head were going to explode. She had checked the time reflecting on her office phone several times hoping to make the time pass faster.
Her day had started off well enough. She had gone to the quaint coffee shop that was down the road from her office. The barista had smiled at her and he winked as he handed her the cup of cappuccino.
Hermione found him to be cute. He frequently flirted with her and every time she went in there , which was quite frequently. When he did she felt a blush creep on her face. HE was much younger then she was though, she wasn't sure how young but she was guessing her was in Uni. She didn't take his flirtations too seriously because she figured he must flirt with all of his customers.
As soon as she sat at her desk she was overwhelmed with people asking her to complete tasks. First it was her manager, asking her to run down to another department to get the reports from the statisticians. Then her coworker, Sam asked her to come to his office to help him with a computer issue. She was typically the go to person whenever a issue with someone's computer came upas her company didn't have an IT department. Hermione was able to troubleshoot the issue most of the time.
As soon as she sat down at her desk and took a sip of her cappuccino she was disappointed. It was luke warm, definitely not hot enough to be enjoyable.
Then while pushing herself to finish analyzing the reports from the statisticians the headache started creeping up. At first it was tolerable, until it wasn't.
When a colleague came up to her and started speaking, the blood rushing to her head drowned out the sound of their voice.
By noon, she was about to just call out sick and go home. She wanted nothing more to crawl into bed and wrap her hands around her knees in a dark room.
Just as she was about to pick up the phone to call her boss, she noticed that she had a text.
It was from Draco. He had sent it about an hour before she noticed it. She hadn't. She wasn't shocked that she couldn't hear the buzzing noise with her head pounding.
'Can you meet me at Fitgerald's print shop on Norris Street after work around 5:30? Giselle gave me a deadline of tomorrow to pick out the invitations and thank you notes for the weeding and she left yesterday on a business trip to Hamburg. She won't be back until next Wednesday. The printer told us it would be at least 6 to 8 weeks to get the invitations back so she wants to get the order in today.'
Hermione rolled her eyes. She didn't understand why Draco wanted her to help her pick out invitations for his wedding. The cake tasting was ridiculous enough.
She wasn't sure if he just didn't know any other females that he felt comfortable enough asking their opinion about. Or maybe it was that he was asking Hermione to help him plan the rest of his life with another woman out of some type of self serving redemption from guilt that he felt for bullying her as a child.
If the latter, Hermione wasn't really excited to even respond to Draco much less see him again. After years of physical and emotional woe by his hands she wasn't going to just forgive him easily even if he was trying to include her in his life plans.
She didn't know if she could forgive him for the emotional scars he left on her heart and in her head.
A bitesize taste of divine cake that melted in her mouth or being asked for her opinion of what script would look best against what texture paper was not going to heal those scars.
She didn't know if she could forgive him. It was easier just to forget him then forgive him.
She grabbed the phone.
'I don't think that's a great idea for me to be there with you at the print shop. Maybe take some pictures when you are there and send them to Giselle so that she can help you to pick them out'.
She sent the message and threw the phone to the side, not intending to let her phone distract her any linger.
She picked the phone back up to dial her manager when she noticed her mobile phone was ringing.
She put down the receiver of the office phone and answered her mobile.
"Come on Granger, I really need your help with this task. You're the only one I trust to help me make the best choice. I really thought that you made a grade A choice with the cake. Your insights were so helpful. ", Draco asked.
Hermione let out a deep sigh.
"Don't make me beg. You know that's not a becoming look on me", he said laughing.
"No, begging is never a becoming look on anyone actually. Ok, alright fine. I really need to take a pain reliever right now or I will not make it through the day without turning into a sobbing mess as my headache has just gotten worse throughout the day.".
"Go to the corner store by Wexler's bakery, hey always have a selection of medications by the register.", he told her
"Oh, thank you I'll go during my lunch break. I just..wait..how did you know where I worked in the city. I don't think I told you that information, did I? ", she exclaimed.
Hermione could hear Draco taking a few deep breaths before he spoke again. "Its not hard to look you up on Linked in and google the address of your business address. I was just curious is all after our conversation at the bakery. I am not a stalker, I swear", he mumbled.
Hermione smiled. Stalker wasn't the first word to come to her mind. A little creepy, definitely. If he followed her home though or just showed up at her place he would move into stalker territory though.
She giggled, "Oh I didn't think that but just promise me that you will never show up here at my place of business unannounced, ok? I'll see you at 5:30 ok at the print shop. I can't stay too late though. I am taking a class for this professional certificate I am getting and I have to finish a paper that's due in a few days"
"Sure no problem, It shouldn't take too long. The manager, Mr. Jordan let me know that he already picked out about five selections because on Giselle and I's preferences that we indicated online.", he reassured her.
Hermione ran down to the corner store about an hour after she got off the phone with Draco and picked up two packs of aspirin. She took the medication with some water. She hoped that the medication worked fast to relieve her pounding headache.
It took another hour of having to hide her head in her lap, trying to block out the light with her arms but her headache finally subsided.
By the time that Hermione left work, she was 15 minutes late and tried to hurry to the print shop, knowing that by the time she caught the tube to the stop by the shop, she'd be at least 10 minutes late in meeting Draco.
He was standing outside the wooden door of the shop, looking down at a brochure in his hand, strands of hair had fallen by his eye, obscuring Hermione's full sight of his face. However, she thought she saw for a moment a concerned look pass over his face before the hair fell down over his eyes.
Hermione came up to him , out of breath from running down the street, three blocks from the station.
"I'm so sorry that I'm running late. Its been quite the day and I apologize for making you wait."
He flashed a smile at her. "Its fine. I wasn't waiting long. I was just looking at the list of prices that Mr. Jordan just handed to me before you got here. How are you feeling? Does your head feel any better?"
She nodded her head. "Yes, thank you. I feel so much better. Thank you for the corner store recommendation. I had no idea that they sold medications there. I thought I would have to run to the pharmacy after work."
He gently laid his hand on the small of her back to guide her inside as he held the door open with one arm.
Mr. Jordan greeted them as they walked in. "IS this your future wife Mr. Malfoy?", he asked.
Draco shook his head and raised his eyebrows at him. He stiffly grinned at Mr. Jordan. "This lovely lady is my schoolmate Miss Hermione Granger. Shes here for moral support".
Hermione playfully jabbed him in the ribs, "Moral support? I told him that he would be fine picking the stationary out on his own without his wife to be but he insisted that I be here so here I am".
Mr. Jordan led them around the shop. Showing them different options from save the date cards to programs. Then he showed them the options for the invitations and thank you notes that Draco had intended to look at.
A flash of concern crossed Draco's face. "You forgot about the programs and save the date cards?", she teased him.
"Do I really need to get those things? I don't think that our budget covered those things, I mean look at how expensive they are for just 150 guests. ", he said.
Hermione patted him on the back and giggled, "There's always just store-bought invitations. No one is going to judge you if you go with generic invitations"
Draco took a few steps back after she touched his as if he burned her. He hadn't had that reaction when he was touching her briefly but the moment that her hand was on his back , she felt him flinch.
He nodded at her and held out the price list for her to scan. "Look at these prices. This is the shop that was highly recommended by Giselle's married friends. They all used it. Its not even about the money as much it is about rather wanting to spend money on stuff that matters, that I will remember like the honeymoon or a down payment on a future house. What do you think?", he questioned.
Her eyes glazed over the prices and looked around the shop at the fancy ink bottles and cardstock.
"I didn't ever think I'd be sitting here agreeing with you but I do. I'd rather spend less on the little things that others will see and more on things that I will see. Although some things I'd allow myself to splurge on such as my dress. That's the one time I would want a dress that makes me feel beautiful. I want to be seen at my wedding"., she told him.
Draco looked briefly at the floor and then his gaze met hers. "I think that's wise. I can understand why the wedding dress would be important for the bride.".
"Its not about me though, it's you and Giselle's day. I'm just here for 'moral support' after all.
"Nonsense. I value your opinion. I always have even if I didn't show it. I should have just told you that a long time ago instead of being such an ass to you in school", he stated.
Hermione looked down at an ink stain on the carpet. "It's in the past. We can't change it"
He took a shuddering breath. "No, we can't change it but hopefully we can move past it, at least one day.
He held the door open for her. "Shall we go? ", he said as he waved goodbye to Mr. Jordan who had just walked out of the stockroom.
As they walked down the stairs of the shop he turned to her and rushed forward, awkwardly hugging her as she stood stiffly in his arms until he released her and took a few steps back on the sidewalk.
"Thank you for your help today. I really appreciate it. You made me realize what should be important to me "
Hermione waved to him as she turned and started walking back to the tube station, heading home.
She was still reeling from his tackle like hug. She hadn't known how to react to his embrace so she had kept her arms down and didn't move as he squeezed her. It had been awkward but at the same time, comforting.