Come Find Me | Dramione

Chapter 4: Hidden Away

After nearly a month of working with Granger, Draco was sure of one thing.

She was hiding something.

There were subtle hints at first. The swift change of subject whenever he would ask about her personal life. The way she would lose herself in thought so often, dissociating from her surroundings, and the minuscule shake of her hands when she was writing.

Until one morning when she had unknowingly gotten ink on her chin. He had had a good laugh at the sight until he finally took pity on the woman, harmlessly leaning in to wipe the ink away with his hand. But when he reached for her face, she flinched away almost violently. The look on her face made his heart stop. She looked absolutely terrified.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean – it's just, you have ink on your face and I–"

"Oh. No, no. I'm sorry, I'm just a bit jumpy today," she whispered with a forced smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. He brushed it off.

A week later he came barreling into their office, his temper flaring after a debate with that idiot Hufflepuff, Ernie Macmillan, over his and Granger's werewolf protection proposal.

"The fucker barely knows his left from his right, what gives him the right to comment on a project that's not even his?! As if he's done even half the research you have!" He paced the length of their office, running his hands through his hair in frustration.

He didn't remember the string of offenses that spilled from his mouth, but when he finally looked over to Granger, she was cowering in the corner of their office, her entire body shaking and her eyes tightly closed.

"Granger, what's wrong? Are you alright?" He panicked, taking a few timid steps towards her. He suddenly realized she had been frightened by him, quickly lowering his tone and apologizing.

"I didn't realize. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean–"

"It's alright," she croaked, her voice unsteady. "I'm sorry, I've had a stressful day, and I just – um, I just have a bit of a headache is all."

He didn't believe it. But decided it wasn't his place to push further.

He went home that night wondering if she really was scared of him. Maybe she still held that night at the Manor all those years ago heavy in her heart. Maybe he was nothing but a walking reminder of one of the worst days in her life. Maybe his mere presence was a trigger for repressed memories she desperately wished to forget.

It was safe to say he didn't sleep well for a while after that. He returned the next day and kept as much distance as their jobs would allow. He made a point to speak soft but detached, in an effort to make her feel comfortable around him. He let her control the conversation, never steering from her lead.

She had seemed put off with his behavior, and even went out of her way to engage him in warm and light hearted discourse. When she invited him to share lunch with him one Tuesday, he was thoroughly befuddled. Her ambivalent attitude had him questioning his reasoning.

He accepted and things went back to normal by the next day. But his curiosity lingered like the string from a hex, and it was going to get him in trouble.

He was amazed he had somehow been able to convince Granger he was a decent bloke. He didn't want to push the boundaries, he knew their relationship was strictly professional. But there was something deep in his stomach that kept him wondering.

Draco let his head fall to rest on the back of the black leather sofa in his downtown flat, letting his copy of Dragons Throughout History slip from his hands into his lap. He had decided after graduation that the Manor was simply too big and lonely to live in full time, so he purchased a smaller three bedroom flat in Muggle London. He converted one of his spare bedrooms into a study for himself and the other into a library – with the help of a few Undetectable Extension Charms to hold his rather sizable collection.