Waiting | Lucius Malfoy

Chapter Thirty-Four | Distance

Thirteen vials of dreamless sleep. Thirteen showers spent sobbing under the warm spray of the water. Thirteen owls from Lucius. Thirteen bouquets of flowers appearing mysteriously in her flat. Thirteen incendios. Thirteen mornings of staring at her lifeless form in the mirror and wondering where she'd gone wrong. Thirteen drafts of letters to Draco. Thirteen howlers discarded; intended for Ginny. Thirteen days where she hadn't crossed the threshold of her flat's front door. Thirteen nights spent sleeping alone.

On the fourteenth day, she decided that she'd had enough of staying indoors. She'd have to leave the house at some point. She found herself in a small coffee shop down the road from her flat, where could safely presume she wouldn't bump into anyone she knew from the Wizarding World. The tinkle of bells signalled her opening the doors, and the older woman behind the counter was drawn from her conversation with another customer.

"Guinevere! I haven't seen you in a while." Karina was an Irish muggle woman in her 40s, who had often doted on her when she'd first started coming for coffee on a Sunday. She'd liked the quiet of the small cafe, where people went about their business and didn't have time to chat. Karina however, always liked to chat, but Guinevere didn't mind much.

"Hi! I'm sorry I haven't been in sooner. How are you?" Karina was quick to shoo the older gentleman she'd been serving from the counter and put all her focus on the young woman, who was now standing in front of her.

"Look at you, gorgeous as ever. How is that man of yours? Dray-" she offered.

"Draco. Oh, we broke up." Karina's face dropped. "Don't worry, everything's fine. I'm fine!"

"I'm sure you are, my dear. What will it be?"

"A vanilla latte, please. Oh! And a scone, if it isn't too much bother."

"Bother? Don't be silly." She began plating one of the fresh scones from the cabinet, grabbing tiny ramekins of jam and butter. "I'm just so pleased to see you, Guinevere. I was so sure you'd moved."

"I did. Well, sort of. But I'm back now."

"For how long?"

"I'm not sure, Karina. I'm trying to figure that out at the moment."

"You still working for the government?" This had been the simplest cover story for Guinevere to craft one morning when Karina had pried about what she did with her weekdays. It wasn't strictly true, but it was the closest fit. She'd moved to a table now, with Karina quickly behind her holding her coffee and one for herself. This was part of the reason she enjoyed the quiet of the shop. Karina could come and go as she pleased. She always had time to chat.

"No actually. I quit. It feels so long ago, but I'm still figuring things out." Karina took a seat by the window, with Guinevere facing her. She took a sip of her coffee and sighed, beginning to slice her scone.

"And what about Draco? How did you figure him out?"

"I'm not sure you'll have time for that story."

"Nonsense. If someone comes in, I'm sure Cheryl will get off her backside and serve them." Cheryl was Karina's daughter who helped out at the weekends, she'd just turned sixteen.

"Well, things weren't good for a while and then I found out he'd been cheating on me. It was all overly complicated, but-"

"But?"

She wanted to tell her about Lucius and how he'd been there for her through it all, but she found herself speechless. Her jaw tightened as she reached for her cup again, swallowing the coffee as though it was broken glass. She picked at her scone and diverted the older woman's eyes.