Hermione Granger
If I remember correctly – which I do – Zabini's office is on the 13th floor of the ministry, meaning it is, in fact, his door that I am pacing back and forth from. What am I meant to do? Barge in and demand that he listens to my apology? I doubt he would even give me a glance.
With no permission from my brain, I felt my legs carry my body into the office. I was instantly met with the unfamiliar scent of masculine cologne and coffee – I never picked Zabini' to be a coffee person, more of a firewhisky? Then again, we are at work and I do believe he has half a brain to not drink such a beverage in his office.
I met his startled eyes with my own frantic ones, searching around the office I came to the conclusion that Malfoy wasn't here. He gave me a questioning look with a lift of his right brow, I opened my mouth to begin on my explanation until he held up a hand and excused himself from his office chair centred in the middle of his roomy workplace.
"I know why you're here, Hermione. Draco already explained the little outburst – I mean, as much as he was willing to. Though I don't understand what exactly happened, I do know it was bad enough to put him in a dreadful mood." He had managed to walk the small distance between us and was now standing directly in front of my small figure.
"I'm under quite a lot of stress at the moment and I'm afraid he just topped it off, I didn't mean to yell at him, really. It just sort of happened – I do feel horrible." My eyes looked at the floor, shame and embarrassment clear on my face.
"Do you know where I can find him?" Without taking my eyes off the floor, I heard Zabini mutter something about a bar and then a manor. I thanked him before exiting his office and then the Ministry altogether.
Why was I suddenly so adamant about apologising to Malfoy of all people? Because I did something wrong and Hermione Granger does not do wrong. That – and maybe perhaps the guilty feeling laying on my subconscious.
Deciding that I would go to the Manor instead of the many bars as it would be much easier, I haven't a clue on what to even say but that's beside the point. Taking my wand from my pocket I walked the short distance to Gringotts and made my way to the apparating point.
After what seemed like little time I felt my feet plant back onto the familiar earth beneath me, taking a moment to steady myself and settle my uneased stomach I took a deep breath in and lifted my hooded eyes to take in the haunting building in front of me.
Swallowing my nerves and apprehension I began to stalk through the gates, pushing the creaky metal to the side I noted the many overgrown shrubs and the lifeless leaves that crushed under the pressure of my weight.
Before I knew it, I was knocking on the badly weathered door, with the slight touch of my knuckles I felt it move. Walking through the hallway I was graced with a seemingly beautiful ballroom, I was both taken aback and shocked at the elegance of this room.
Continuing my walk I physically felt my frame shudder as I felt my eyes scan across the room where I felt a piece of my own soul die, the day Bellatrix Lestrange not only killed my spirit but broke me.
Quickly walking away from the ghastly room, I followed the strong stench of alcohol. Walking blindly into an unknown hallway I was instantly relaxed as I saw the familiar blonde hair and empty eyes, a bottle of the unknown clung to his side.
"Draco" I ceased my actions, not knowing what to say.
"I – I just wanted to ensure you were okay..?" I took an apprehensive step toward the disgruntled figure, thinking of a suitable scapegoat if that's what it came to.
I eyed him as he began to move, the bottle slowly slipping from his grasp and he sat up from his previous laying position.
"I shouldn't have said what I did and I'm sorry" slowly, the words left my lips as I continued to observe him.
"No, you're not. You've always thought you were better than me. Little miss fucking know it all, all you've ever done is think you were top shit at school but guess what, you weren't. You were the snobby little exasperating girl who I couldn't stand, your bushy hair always getting in my way and those insufferable brown eyes that I could never pry my eyes away from." His words were slurred but I caught every single one of them.
"You had every one of those weak professors tied around your grubby little fingers, besides Snape. Oh no, Snape was much too smart to fall for your little façade. That's not even the point, Granger! Fuck!" It was odd, watching the boy I had grown up with just fall apart in front of me. Even though the harsh words that were being thrown at me, I couldn't help but let my legs carry me to the broken man clutching a bottle of whisky like it was the only thing that he could rely on.
"Why did you have to be so much better at everything? Why couldn't you just let me win at something? My father, oh Merlin, my father. Every time he found out a mudblood had topped me in all of my lessons, he would let me know just how little I meant to him. Sure, he never hit me but the words he used were far worse." I watched him take a shuddered breath in as he brought his face to look at me.
"And still, after all these years, somehow you have managed to wriggle yourself back into my mind, you've invaded me without even touching me and I can't handle it. I would rather rip my own skin off than ever see your face again but that's not impossible. You're everywhere, if not in person, in spirit. And I'm done, I can't continue to live my life like this! Fuck Hermione, why couldn't you have just disappeared after the war? Why did you have to crash in and ruin me once again?"
If I told myself I knew what he was talking about I would be lying, I honestly hadn't a clue what he meant by anything he had just said. How could I have ruined him? I barely spoke to him other than the few insults we would throw at one another.
"Malfoy, I haven't a clue what you're speaking about?" I bright my face to level with his own pointed one, icy eyes clashing with soft brown ones.
"You never do, no one does."
YOU ARE READING
Challenge Me
Fanfiction0.1 || Hermione Granger had always had a plan for anything in her life, she never did anything without thinking of one. She knew what she wanted out of life and was adamant about getting it, however, her plans didn't calculate a particular boy with...
