Always Remember

VII.

I didn't see Draco at the Ministry so I decided to go home and wait for him there. I waited, hour after hour, but he didn't come. I eventually gave up and figured he had been offended by my reaction to him casting the memory charm. 

After my epiphany today, I knew it would be hard to sleep without him. I rummaged around in my cabinets and boxes and found some tea but I sighed. I already knew it wouldn't be as good nor would it calm me as Noah's tea had. I brewed the tea, sitting absentmindedly in the process. I poured myself a cup and inhaled the steam. It was just a plain chamomile tea but it would do the job of helping me sleep well enough. I quickly walked back to my bedroom to prepare for sleep and came back only to put my empty cup in the sink.

Standing there, in my kitchen, was Draco. I saw a flash of the empty-eyed Draco from my nightmare and dropped my cup onto the floor in surprise. It was like deja-vu when I heard the cup shatter beside my feet and I just stared at Draco, watching his reaction. 

His eyebrows pulled together in pain and he slowly pulled out his wand, pointing it at the shards of ceramic.

"Reparo," he said quietly, only taking his eyes off me to concentrate on the cup. The tiny shards flew together as if they were magnetic and quickly mended back together, lifting off the ground and setting itself carefully on my counter. Draco looked back up at me but didn't make any movement toward me. 

"I didn't think you were coming tonight," I say.

"I wasn't sure if I should," he admitted, "but I wanted to see you." The way he said it hurt my heart and I took a step toward him, testing his reaction.

"I wanted to see you, too. I waited for you for a long time," I say and his pained expression softens a bit. He takes it as permission to close the space between us, quickly pulling me into him so my face rests against his chest. 

"I'm sorry I scared you," he says, holding me tight.

"I was just surprised to see you," I reply, only slightly lying. He wasn't the one who scared me, it was my nightmare that scared me. I looked up and he shook his head.

"I meant at the restaurant, when I had to do... what I have to do," he says and I lean my head back into his chest. He meant the memory charm. So he did know that it had affected me. 

"It wasn't your fault, Draco." 

"That's debatable," he sighed, "But I want to talk about something important." I look up again and see that he's actually smiling. I want to ask why he's smiling, and why he even looks excited, but he leads me to my couch.

"Y/N, I talked with Fudgel and I'm going to leave the Obliviators," he announces and my mouth falls open in shock. It takes me a moment to recollect myself.

"You can't leave!" I argue, "I know that you're an Obliviator and I'm sorry I reacted the way I did. I'm going to work on it. I'm going to get better-" Draco cuts me off by covering my mouth with his hand. He smiles softly at me.

"Just listen," he says and drops his hand, "Have you ever considered that doing that spell hurts me as much as it does you? It kills me every day knowing what I did to you and having to do it as a job is haunting. I hate it." He pauses to consider something. 

"If Weasley can leave the Ministry, so can I," he says.

"So what will you do then?" I ask and his smile grows wider.

"Nothing," he answers and I raise my eyebrow, "Y/N, I've told you before that my inheritance is enough to live off of." I nod, taking in the information. I wouldn't see Draco at the Ministry anymore which was the majority of the time I got to see him during the weekdays.