The next few weeks passed by quickly for Hermione. She and Ron had stopped arguing as much, but she noticed that he started to get tense again once the full moon came around.
"You have to talk to him again, don't you?" He asked after stepping out of the Ministry's fireplace and walking with her to one of the lifts.
"Yes, I need to make sure that his employee has been taking his potion since tonight is the full moon," Hermione answered. "Once he confirms, I don't have to reach out again until tomorrow after the full moon."
"And then it'll be another month until you have to talk to him again," Ron said in an annoyed tone.
She rolled her eyes. "Ron, there's nothing I can do."
"You could ask to speak to the employee instead," Ron suggested bitterly.
"I've already told you, Malfoy won't let me," She said. "Do you really think I haven't tried that?"
Ron didn't answer for a few moments as entered the lift with other people, and he leaned down to say, "I just don't want him trying anything."
"He has a girlfriend, Ron," Hermione whispered angrily. "And it's not like he's going to be coming into my office to talk. It's strictly over letter."
They came to a stop and Ron leaned over to kiss her temple. "I'll see you later."
She glared at his back as he stepped off the lift and the doors closed, looking down at the floor then.
Draco did not want to be in his office that day, but he knew he had to keep up appearances. Thankfully Blaise knew to take over everything in the days leading up to the full moon so that Draco wouldn't be bothered and accidentally snap at anyone, and his office was one hundred percent off-limits on the days of the full moon. Those days, he would sit alone in his office playing soft, classical music with all lights off except for one small lamp in the corner. Most of the time he would sleep, rest up for the upcoming night. But today he couldn't manage to sleep at all.
He was surprised that no one had caught on to his condition yet; though of course, he always made sure to have other off-limits days too to throw off anyone who may have suspected, passing off the time as having migraines so people wouldn't question the lights being off. He groaned as the deep ache in his bones returned and then staved off, like a wave crashing onto a beach and then retreating back. The aching would get worse throughout the day, but he never did anything to ease it.
There was a knock on his door that made him growl. Who the hell was stupid enough to bother him that day? After he thought about it for a few moments, he knew the only person that would dare to bother him would be Blaise.
Sure enough, his business partner walked through the door with a smile on his face and a letter in his hands. "Sorry to bother but you've got a note from Miss Hermione Granger herself."
"What does she want?" Draco asked as calmly as he could while another wave of pain crashed over his body.
"I'm not about to read your letters, Draco," Blaise said, setting the envelope down on the desk next to Draco's propped-up feet. "Remind me again why you keep it so dark in here?"
"Because I have a splitting migraine," He answered, which wasn't entirely untrue. He then peaked one eye open and looked over his friend. "You seem to be in a good mood."
Blaise shrugged. "Things have been good lately."
Draco waved his door shut and barely opened his other eye to look at Blaise skeptically. "Would it possibly have anything to do with a certain Ginny Potter?"
"I prefer to think of her as Ginny Weasley," Blaise said.
"I don't," Draco scoffed.
"Well she can just be Ginny then until she becomes Ginny Zabini," Blaise replied with a grin, leaning against the wall.
Raising an eyebrow, Draco said, "You sound very sure that that's going to happen."
"It's going to," Blaise said confidently. "I have her back now, and I'm not letting her go again."
"She's technically not yours."
"Maybe not in marriage, but her heart is mine."
Draco's face crinkled up in disgust. "That's way too cliché, mate."
Blaise shrugged. "It's the truth. She's not in love with him anymore."
Another large wave of pain hit Draco and he stiffened, trying to breathe through it. Blaise waited quietly for Draco to relax again before saying, "Just go home, Draco. I'll tell everyone it's another migraine and you're not feeling well."
"I may need to," Draco muttered. Then he pointed up at Blaise and said, "We're going to have a conversation after this is finished about your love life."
Blaise rolled his eyes. "There's nothing to talk about; Ginny wants to be with me and that's that."
"She's a married woman, Blaise."
"I'm not stupid enough to do anything while she's still with him," Blaise said. "Come on, mate."
"I'm just making sure." Draco stood up slowly with a groan. "Yeah, I'm going home. I'll see you on Monday."
"You've been taking the potions, right?" Blaise asked.
"Of course I've been taking the potions," Draco snapped.
Blaise didn't flinch though, shaking his head slightly. He was used to Draco's attitude around the full moon, and he knew he didn't mean it. "Alright, well let me know if you need me to get you anything or if I need to drop by."
"Will do."
Draco grabbed the letter from Hermione and quickly apparated to his home before another round of pain sent him down to the floor with a loud yell. He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth while the pain wracked his body, and it took him a few minutes to recover when it subsided.
When it finally did, he slowly got up and made his way to the kitchen where he grabbed the last one of the wolfsbane potions that he needed to take that day. After chugging it quickly and grimacing, he immediately poured a glass of firewhiskey and went to the couch, lying back on it with a sigh. He had moved out of Malfoy Manor shortly after taking over the family business from his father, and his manor wasn't too far from his parents. It was quite a bit smaller too, but considering it was mainly Draco there anyway, he didn't mind.
]He stared down at the letter from Hermione, wondering just what she could be writing to him about. After taking a drink of firewhiskey, he ripped the letter open and read it.
Draco,
I just wanted to reach out and make sure that you've been taking your potions. Since you are now a client of mine, I will be reaching out before and after the full moon to check in and make sure everything is alright as I do with all of my clients.
I also want to make sure that you have a proper way of keeping yourself and others safe while you are changed. I'm sure you do, but this is just something I need to make sure of. I will be checking in tomorrow as well to make sure everything went smoothly, and please let me know if you need anything.
Sincerely,
Hermione Granger
He read the note over a few times before setting it down and staring at it. She clearly took the time the make sure her clients were settled and had everything they needed, which he appreciated greatly. It made him feel guilty for even thinking that she wasn't capable of handling everything on her own when it came to him and the others inflicted with lycanthropy. She clearly had made sure that she did everything she could to help them, and that small act of reaching out meant more to him than he thought it would.
He also found it interesting that she signed it with her maiden name. Did she not change it when she got married to Weasley? He wasn't sure why that interested him so much, but at the same time he had actually come to find her much more interesting lately.
It started when his now ex-girlfriend, Simone, had pointed out that Hermione was pretty. And when he had seen her the next day out at lunch, he actually noticed that she was in fact very pretty. She managed to tame her mess of curls and the past few times he had seen her, she was always wearing her hair up which allowed for her face to be seen. She dressed very nicely too, and in clothes that accentuated her figure. Why she ever married someone like Weasley who was nowhere near her level of...well, anything, he had no idea.
Hermione sat at her desk rifling through paperwork when she heard a tapping noise from the window behind her. She knew it was a letter from one of her clients, most likely in response to the check-ins that she had sent out earlier that day. But when she saw the black envelope, she knew immediately who it was from.
After giving the owl a few treats and sending it off, she returned to her desk and set the letter aside as Claire appeared in her doorway.
"The Minister requested a short meeting with you," She said.
"Alright, did he say what time?" Hermione asked.
"Just whenever you have a moment," Claire said. "He said it would be only a few minutes."
Hermione nodded at that. "Alright, please let him know that I'm available now. Thank you, Claire."
The blonde nodded and left from the doorway, and Hermione decided to go ahead and read the letter from Draco while she waited for Kingsley.
Hermione,
Thank you for checking in, that actually means quite a lot to me. I wanted to first off apologize for ever assuming that you weren't one hundred percent invested in your job, or that you wouldn't take our needs into consideration when making your decisions. I see now that no one else would be better in your position than you.
I have been taking my potions, and have just taken the last one before writing back to you. The basement of my manor has been outfitted to hold me during my moods, so containment is not an issue. I can assure you, I've had years of practice making sure I don't go anywhere.
Thank you again for taking all of this seriously. Have you been eating?
Draco
She stared at the last sentence in shock. But she didn't have time to process it as the Minister suddenly entered her office.
"Good afternoon, Hermione," He greeted pleasantly. "How are you doing?"
"I'm doing fine, Minister, how are you?" She asked as she quickly set the note aside.
"Very well, thank you." He sat down in one of the chairs and smiled at her. "How is the new plan working out?"
"It seems to be doing well," Hermione nodded. "I haven't had any complaints from my clients about the potions, and I should have a better answer for you tomorrow after I've checked in with all of them."
Kingsley nodded in return. "Good, I'm happy to hear that. Please let me know if you have any problems that come up tomorrow."
Hermione nodded again, understanding what he meant. Kingsley was one of the few in the Ministry who was surprisingly comfortable discussing lycanthropy with her and wouldn't look down upon those inflicted with the condition. She had a feeling that it was because of his friendship with Remus Lupin, but she never asked.
"Well," He said then as he stood up. "I just wanted to come in and make sure everything was going smoothly. Let me know if you need anything, Hermione."
"Thank you, Minister," She said with a smile.
He nodded and left the office, and Hermione cast a glance over at Draco's letter again. She debated whether or not she really wanted to respond, but in the back of her mind she remembered that this wasn't the first time he had shown concern for her. After all, the last time he was in her office, he made sure that she wasn't alone and he threatened Ron when he tried to be controlling. He wouldn't have done that if he didn't care at least a little bit for her.
What confused her though was why he was acting like that. They had never been friends, and he was still a prat. And yet, he showed concern for her.
She shook her head and rolled her eyes, realizing that she was just overthinking it. After all, she nearly fainted in front of him. That's the only reason he was checking in on her.