13. The Best Surprise

Hermione called in sick to work for the entire week; she couldn't bear the humiliation she felt every time she thought of Draco. She had spent the week alone, staring at the wall in her living room, turning into a puddle of fresh tears whenever she thought of what had happened. Hermione couldn't believe it. For weeks, Draco kept up his act, convincing her that he was different, that he had changed. And she, stupidly, believed him. The way Draco had made her feel that night, she didn't think she could ever forgive him for that.

Towards the end of the week, however, Hermione was recovering. She woke up that morning and dressed herself, determined to no longer let Draco Malfoy ruin her life. With her letter of resignation in hand, she walked quickly to her office building, pausing only slightly to wave at Rose, who saw her and started furiously typing on her computer.

Her breath quickened as she thought of Draco in the elevator up to her floor. What would she do if she saw him? What would she say? She didn't know. With her heart hammering as she thought of how she was going to resign, she opened the door to her office.

"Hermione!"

Hermione was floored. Mouth gaping she saw, lounging around her office, Harry, Ron and Ginny, big, beaming grins covering their faces.

She stepped inside and laughed as the ran forward to engulf her in a hug. She sighed, fresh tears bubbling to the surface. They felt like home.

"What are you all doing here!" She exclaimed, stepping out of the hug and wiping her eyes to stop the tears rolling over.

Harry laughed, running a hand through his messy black hair, "Hermione! You never returned my owl! We were worried!"

Ron stepped forward, chuckling, as he threw a ball of crushed parchment at her head, "we thought Malfoy had stolen you-"

"So we came to rescue you!" Ginny finished, engulfing Hermione in another hug.

Hermione laughed, the weight of the past few days lifted off her shoulders as she glanced around the room at her best friends. Harry was now making her pens race each other around the room, laughing as Ron threw a parchment ball straight at Ginny. Before it hit her, she waved her wand and it exploded into hundreds of little sparks. That was when Hermione started to cry, tears streaming down her face. Her friends stopped what they were doing to run over to comfort her. Ron waved his wand and her desk moved to the side of the room to make way for four large, overstuffed armchairs to settle on the ground.

Hermione took a seat and, wiping away her tears, she laughed humourlessly, "I have so much to tell you all."

Draco was pacing his office, something he couldn't seem to stop doing. He was furious when he found out Hermione had taken the week off, he desperately needed to apologise to her.

Banging his fists against his desk, Draco threw himself into his office chair and conjured a glass of whiskey into his hand. He had tried so frantically, all week, to forget how dinner had gone with his Mother. He closed his eyes, pushing his palms furiously into their sockets as the awful memory flooded back.

"Draco!" His Mother whispered dangerously. They were standing in the drawing room, off the side of where they were eating, and kept their voices low, not wanting Hermione to hear. "What were you thinking? She should not be here!"

Draco clenched his fists and tightened his jaw as he quietly spat at her "You promised me Mother! You promised you would try!"

"I can't help myself Draco!" She whispered again, throwing her hands up in exasperation, "She is part of the reason we had to go into hiding! She is the reason the Dark Lord is dead! She is the reason your Father is in Azkaban!" She stared her son in the eyes, refusing to back down.

Draco was furious with her, "Mother, it was years ago! She's not responsible for Father being in Azkaban! His stupid actions put him there in the-"

"Don't you speak of your Father that way." Narcissa growled, stepping closer to him, raising a finger to his face, that was now violently shaking with anger. She continued "You listen to me very closely Draco." He shuddered at her command, dropping his gaze to his feet. "Your Father knows quite few people that still have it out for the Mudblood-"

"Mother please-" he pleaded quietly, but she continued her threat, "I'm sure all it will take is one owl to your Father about this and she stops existing." Draco couldn't believe his Mother, shaking with fury he stepped even closer to her and stood taller "Are you threatening her?"

Narcissa cackled softly, "Don't pretend you care for her Draco! She just another one of your pretty things!" Draco opened his mouth to argue but she pressed on, her voice now a dangerously low whisper. "Draco Malfoy, this is an order. You will go in there and end this right now. If you don't, I'll be sending an owl straight to your Father so he can take care of this mess."

He had walked back in to the dining room, sick to his stomach. Hermione looked small with fear, her big, beautiful eyes wide with uncertainty. He desperately wanted to reach out to her. But instead, he had stood there and broke her heart. He could almost feel it shatter into a million pieces across the room. But he needed to protect her from his own family.

A low ding from his computer brought him back to the present and Draco slowly opened his eyes. Sitting alone, with his head in his hands, he could still smell the faint scent of Hermione's perfume on the sleeve of his jacket. He leaned forward to check the email that had just been sent through to him.

Hermione is here.

-Rose

Draco suddenly shot up. Adjusting his jacket and smoothing down his hair he raced out of the room, determined to fix the mistake he had made.