Just Neighbors

Chapter 20

Hermione had arrived at work in the morning with a small bounce in her step, a smile playing on her lips. Harry had met her in the Atrium and wisely decided to keep his thoughts and opinion to himself about her mood. They rode the lift in comfortable silence, Hermione lost in her thoughts. Her heart fluttered in her chest thinking about the night with Draco.

Harry exited the lift at his level and she continued on to her floor. A smile played on her lips as she closed her eyes, images from the night flooding her mind. He had come to her late, but he seemed like a fallen angel to her. Bathed in the glow of the moonlight, his hair had been silver and his eyes molten pools of steel. His touch had been one of reverence.

She leaned her head back against the wall for a brief moment as she looked up to the ceiling. They had spent hours with other that night, tender and gentle. Her body flushed just at the memories of it.

The lift stopped on her level and the grilles slid open. Theo stood there, casually looking at his nails, "you're late, Ms. Granger."

"I uh..." She tilted her head at him, embarrassed to having been caught in such a reverie of thoughts and asked; "excuse me?"

"I've been waiting for you." Theo stated simply and proceeded to step into the lift, standing in the corner opposite of her. He waited for the grille to close before continuing, "I need to show you something."

She was edging towards the grille as they shut, slight disappointment filled her, "er, why's that?"

While she had appreciated his help the other night with that mess, she wasn't sure she appreciated him finding her at work. She enjoyed her days in her office. Alone. Unbothered. The lift gave a slight jerk and started back up a few floors.

"Trust me," he said in a neutral tone, observing her. He had leaned back against the wall, his ankles crossed.

Hermione hesitated and fell silent as the lift dragged to a halt on the second level and Theo hopped out. He didn't bother to wait for her as his long legs carried him down the hall, and she had to hurry to catch up. She recognized where they were and wondered why they were on the Magical Law Enforcement level.

He paused at a door and opened it, holding it open for her.

At her hesitance, he lifted a brow, "please."

She stepped into the room and he closed it behind her. The room was a plain stone room, with no furniture. The only thing that adorned the dark space was a large fireplace opposite of the door.

The Floo network for the Aurors.

"Harry cleared this for you, but we only have a short window," Theo said as he strode to the fireplace, where he grabbed the vase off the mantle.

"A short window for what?" She walked forward, curiosity overriding her caution.

He spared her a glance and tossed a fistful of powder into the fireplace, "to visit the Malfoy Manor."

He held out his hand to her and held her gaze. His brown eyes were warm and trusting. After a brief moment she took it, his cool fingers closed around hers and he then pulled her into the green flames. The barren room whirled from view.

They stepped out of fireplace into an unoccupied study of Malfoy Manor, and Hermione was grateful it hadn't been the drawing room. Her stomach churned at the thought of having set foot in this place again. Nausea crept over her and she put her free hand over her eyes for a moment. Theo seemed to sense her discomfort and held her fingers a moment longer before dropping them.

"This way," he said softly. He slipped from the study into the hall, and she fell into pace behind him. He led her through the long halls to a set of stairs, which he took in pairs.

"Are you going to explain why we are here?" Hermione asked, her voice coming in gasps as she tried to keep up with him.

"You'll see in a moment," Theo responded as he stopped in front of a doorway, a dragon intricately carved into the wood. He waited until she stopped next to him, trying hard to breath through her nose. She didn't need him thinking she was about to pass out from practically running up the stairs.

Once she had caught her breath, he opened the door and swung it open wide. He gestured a hand inside and she cautiously moved into the room. The heavy green drapes were drawn to keep the sunlight out. She heard him whisper lumos behind her and the room swam before her eyes out of the darkness. The room was large, but bare of most furniture. Shelves ran along the walls, brimming with books. A desk sat along one wall, papers stacked up on it.

She turned a questioning gaze to Theo but he simply gestured with his wand. With quiet steps, she moved to the bookshelves, running her fingers along the spines. School books. She turned to look at the room again with renewed interest.

Draco's room.

He must have taken some of the furniture with him when he had moved into the flat. A faint smile touched her lips as she thought of the elaborate furniture in a small muggle flat.

Hermione let her steps take her to the desk and shuffled through the papers on his desk. The first few sheets were nothing of importance, hastily scribbled notes. But as she dug down she started to see sketches. Her fingers paused on the face of one.

It was her face.

Theo was at her shoulder, holding his wand over the table. The light fell across the papers and illuminated the sketches of various detail.

"You've haunted him ever since that night," his voice was quiet, gentle.

Her fingers traced along the lines of the drawing, feeling an odd tingling through her body. The drawings were done with charcoal, with slow and careful strokes. As if he had been trying to recall her face from his memory.

She felt a knot in her throat as she continued to look at the drawing, "I wish I could say the same."

While it had taken time, her night at the Manor was no longer a frequently nightmare. And while Draco was present in these nightmares, it was usually minor appearance. She hadn't thought of him during these past years beyond that. Theo's hand hovered over her shoulder for a brief moment before he let finally let it settle on her shoulder, soothing her turbulent thoughts.

"I know, Hermione."

They were silent for a moment before he took his hand away and she turned to look at him, "thank you for showing me, Theo."

He gave her cool smile, reminiscent of Draco's smirk, "I know Draco would never let you see this. Fool that he is." She carefully stacked up the papers again into pile again as he cleared his throat, "we need to go."

She gave a nod and followed him out the door, quietly shutting it behind her. She leaned back against the door briefly, storing away the mental images of him bent over a desk with charcoal smudged into his pale fingers. Maybe he had some smudged onto his nose as he tried to recall her image. A smile played on her lips as she let her eyes shut, holding on to that image in her mind before following Theo back down the stairs to the fireplace they had entered in.

Hermione made a mental note to thank Harry for letting Theo do this when they got back.