The pile of parchment sitting on the corner of her desk seemed to multiply all on its own. Everytime she closed her eyes and wished them away, she would peek through her lashes and see that the stack only grew. Mocking her pleas for it to go away.
Normally, she would tackle her to-do list out of pure fear of being overwhelmed, but today she was past fear, she was past being overwhelmed. Hermione Granger sat at her desk with her chin in her hands staring at her ever growing list of work to complete and didn’t so much as attempt to tackle the work that was, quite literally, piling up in front of her.
When Hermione first started working at the Ministry, she was so full of hope and determined to make a difference. However, every day since she began her position in the Magical Law Enforcement Office, she had struggled to stay motivated. She never did more than the duties outlined in her job description anymore.
If Hermione was known for anything besides being Harry Potter’s best friend and Ron Weasley’s… whatever she was, she was known for going above and beyond just for the love of learning or helping others.
Still staring at her mountain of paperwork, Hermione longed to be home, wrapped in a blanket, hidden in a dark room where no one could find her. She was brought back to her unfortunate reality by a knock at her door.
Without speaking, she waved her hand at the door to unlatch it and allow the visitor to enter. Bright orange locks peeked around the door and Hermione sighed, knowing that Ron was probably here to tell her that he, Harry, and Ginny were all off early today for some reason or another and they were going to get a table at the pub down the road.
“Hey ‘Mione.” Ron entered the room with his hands in his pockets and head dipped slightly, like a nervous first year trying to ask her to the Yule Ball.
“Yes, Ronald? Can you make it quick? I have a lot of work to do.” She replied sharply. She pretended to busy herself with the parchment that was on top of her stack to emphasize her point.
Ron shuffled his feet and buried his hands deeper into his pockets. “Uh, yeah. I just wanted to let you know that Harry and I are headed to the pub.” Yup. I knew it. She thought.
Hermione checked the clock on the wall. “It’s just now two o’clock. How are you already headed out for the day?” She tried to keep her composure since this wasn’t an uncommon occurrence around the department, but the fact that the boys got to come and go as they pleased and she was stuck with the work piling up on her desk, her anger boiled under the surface.
“Well, you know, Harry being the boss and all.” Ron shrugged.
“So, there is no legitimate reason for you to be leaving three hours early on a Tuesday? It’s just because you and Harry want to pop off early and get to the pub? Are you serious?!”
She couldn’t hold her rage in anymore. She was furious with their childish antics. Just because Harry Potter was the “Chosen One,” didn’t mean that he could just skimp on his responsibilities as Head Auror. And then there was Ron, who followed Harry around and reaped the rewards, while Hermione literally kept them alive since they were all eleven.
Hermione’s chestnut brown curls started to spark at the ends as her magic responded to her rage. Ron’s eyes widened at the sight, knowing full well what she was capable of when she was angry.
“Uh, I -” Ron muttered.
“GET OUT!” Hermione screamed. The books in her office started flying off their shelves toward Ron’s head. He ducked, barely avoiding a particularly large tome and headed for the door as fast as he could.
When he made it safely over the threshold, he poked his head back in through the crack in the door he was using as a shield. “What’s the matter with you?!”
Hermione stood behind her desk. Her hair was standing on up, the ends still sparking with magic, and her eyes were blazing with rage. Without lifting her hand or her wand, all of the books that had collected on the floor rose simultaneously and floated in mid air. They were waiting for the command to attack the red head hiding behind the door.
Hermione made her way around to the front of the desk and faced him head on.
“I said, Get. Out.” She spoke with an eerie calm and laced each syllable with venom to make her point. When Ron still stood dumbfounded in the doorway, she sent all the books flying at their intended target accompanied with a scream. Ron slammed the door shut and all the books thudded to the floor.
“Crazy witch!” Ron’s muffled words drifted through the cracks in the door.
That was it. Hermione shattered.
She collapsed to her knees and sobbed. This was more than just crying after a rough day, this was her breaking point. Hermione screamed and ripped everything off her desk. She grabbed her wand and sent spell after spell at random objects, obliterating anything she could. Books, memos, paintings on the walls, even precious family photos - nothing was safe, every explosion throughout her office mirroring the way she felt inside.
She didn’t know how long she screamed and cried and trashed her office, but eventually there was a soft knock on the door.
“I said to leave me alone, Ron!” She bellowed at the person behind the door.
The knob started to turn and Hermione moved into a defensive stance, ready to hex the shit out of him as soon as he crossed the threshold of her office. When the door widened enough for someone to walk through, Hermione was shocked to see platinum blonde hair instead of the orange that she was expecting.
Draco Malfoy stood leaning against the door frame and scanned the room, ending on the crazed witch ready to hex someone. Her hair was still sparking but only slightly as she began to calm down. Her breathing was ragged and her eyes were red and swollen.
“Well I was going to ask some ridiculous question like ‘are you alright?’ but you obviously aren’t.” Draco spoke softly, stepping into the room and gently closing the door behind him. He discreetly locked the door and put up a silencing charm so no one would overhear their conversation.
“Malfoy, I -” She started to defend her actions, but Draco raised his hand to silence her.
“I don’t need to know the details, Granger.” He approached her slowly, gently pushed her wand hand down, and placed her wand on the desk behind her. He brought his hand back up and placed it delicately on her cheek, noticing her skin was burning.
Draco wordlessly cast a cooling charm over her and her eyes fluttered shut at the sensation. “Are you hurt?” He asked in a whisper.
Hermione shook her head.
He looked around the room at the destruction she had caused and when he looked back Hermone was also looking at the disarray before her. A few tears escaped her already swollen eyes.
“Hey,” Draco said, wiping away her tears. “It’s okay. Do you feel better now at least?”
Hermione looked up at him, brown eyes locked on silver, and she nodded.
“Then that’s all that matters.” He said.
She let out a breath that she didn’t realize she had been holding in and her whole body collapsed from over exertion. Draco caught her by the elbows and helped her to her desk chair.
“You need to go home and rest, Granger.”
“I - I can’t. I have too much work to do.” Her voice was hoarse from screaming. She tried to swallow and clear her throat, but nothing was helping.
Draco conjured a glass of water and placed it in her shaking hands. Then, conjured a straw for her to sip from, making her huff a small laugh. He let the corners of his lips turn up at the sound of her laugh. He knelt down in front of her and spoke gently to the witch in front of him.
“You need rest. Don’t worry about the work. I’ll go find some low level intern to do it for you.”
When she opened her mouth to argue, he continued, “You are so much better than sitting in a dingy office doing paperwork, Granger. When will you realize how much you're worth and stop letting these idiots dump all their shit on you?”
Hermione just sat and stared at the cup of water in her hands as she processed his words. When she didn’t move for a moment, Draco placed a hand on her knee and shook it slightly to get her attention.
“Come on, I’ll take you home. Then I’ll call Tippy to bring you her famous chocolate chip cheesecake. I swear she uses actual potions when she makes it because it cures every ailment you can think of.” Hermione just stared at him, too tired to even protest his use of a house-elf at the moment, but the cheesecake did sound delicious.
Draco helped her stand from the chair and took the glass from her hands to place it on the desk. “Why are you being so nice to me?” Hermione asked suddenly.
“Because you deserve to be cared for and if Scarhead and Weasel won’t do it, then I would be honored to fill the position.” He was genuine with every word and Hermione could feel it as he spoke, so she let him wipe the stray tears that escaped her eyes and kiss the top of her head.
He opened the door to the office, but before he could cross the threshold she stopped him. “Wait.” She said and he turned with one blonde eyebrow cocked in question. “I just - I just need a second.”
Hermione took a deep breath, filling her lungs completely, before releasing it back into the world. She squared her shoulders and nodded to him; she was ready now. Draco smiled softly at her and nodded back.
He opened the door for her to walk out, but before he closed the door behind himself, he glanced around the room one more time and mumbled “Reparo.” With a quick swish of his wand, Hermione’s office returned to its previous state. No sign of devastation to be found.
—
As promised, Draco took Hermione back to her flat and called for Tippy’s famous cheesecake. The pair sat on her sofa and ate and talked long into the evening. They found that they had a lot more in common than either of them had ever imagined.
They shared stories from their Hogwarts days, during the war, how they started at the Ministry, and even their childhoods. Hermione couldn’t help but smile as she felt like this could be a hopeful start to a wonderful new friendship or maybe even more.
Draco checked his watch and whistled. “I didn’t realize it was so late. I better be getting home. Mother will be worried.” He stood from the couch and moved toward the fireplace to Floo to Malfoy Manor. Hermione stood as well and followed him.
They stood in silence for a moment, neither one of them wanted the evening to end. Finally, Draco did with a simple, “See you next week, then.”
“Next week? What are you talking about?” Hermione asked, confused.
“I might have submitted a time off request for the rest of the week on your behalf before we left the Ministry.” Draco smirked.
She smacked his arm. “Why would you do such a thing?!”
“I told you, you need rest. I also told you, you deserved to be cared for.” Hermione blushed at his words. “Before you are willing to accept that, you might need to be cared for against your will, you stubborn witch.” He said in a teasing tone.
Hermione started fidgeting with her fingers. “What about all the work I have to finish?” She said sheepishly.
“I got it covered.” Draco gently placed his hand on her cheek stroking his thumb back and forth. “Just rest, yeah? I’ll see you next week.”
He moved to grab the Floo powder and step into the fireplace. But just before he was able to say his destination, Hermione found her voice.
“Thank you, Draco.”
“It’s my honor… Hermione.”
He dropped the powder and felt the whirl of magic as the Floo network took him back to Malfoy Manor. He hardly had time to greet his mother with a kiss and make his way to his bedroom before the distinct tapping on the window from an owl demanded his attention.
Draco smiled as he saw the horrible scratch of Hermione Granger’s handwriting on the outside of the parchment. He broke the seal to read the short note that said, “I just wanted to let you know that I will get very lonely in this flat during my mandatory rest. If you have the time, and also want company, my Floo will be open for you. Love, Hermione.”
“It’s a date, Granger.” He smiled down at the note.
Draco placed the parchment on his bedside table and climbed into bed. Instead of going to sleep right away, he just smiled up at the ceiling, thinking about a certain stubborn bushy haired witch. A witch that deserved so much more than she knew, and he would do anything and everything to prove it to her.