Facing The Maze

One

Six months after graduation, November 24th, Draco disappeared. It had been a normal afternoon. We both arrived home together, we had teach taken a half day from work to go to Diagon Alley for some wedding preparation. We wanted to marry at Christmas, it was something we were both keen on. We changed our clothes, drank some tea and then flooed to Diagon Alley. We tasted wedding cake samples, booked entertainment for the evening and put a down-payment on the tent that would accommodate our wedding. Things were fine, they were great. At 5pm Draco said he had to be somewhere, that he would meet me in the Leaky Cauldron in thirty minutes time. This wasn't unusual, we often took trips into Diagon Alley, and often he would have to be somewhere to do with work. He had been offered a job working alongside Harry and Ron in the Auror department at the Ministry of Magic. Kingsley Shacklebolt thought that he would make a good Auror, and during his trial run, had decided that the three of them worked really well together. Work was going well for him, there was the odd time when he would come home with minor injuries, scratches here and there, but nothing that would make us worry for his safety.

I had taken a job at the Ministry too. I was assistant to the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I enjoyed my life with Draco. We woke up in the same bed, ate at the same table, went to work together and came home to the same apartment. I know he didn't just do a runner, it wasn't cold feet. I know this because I made sure this was what he wanted. I wasn't forcing him to marry me. He wanted it just as much as I did. But I couldn't understand why he was gone. Harry and Ron had lead a search team, the whole department had been focusing on locating him, and they had spent a whole two months doing so. They still searched for him, but they couldn't continue putting all of their resources in locating one person. I was angry of course, but in the end I knew that they couldn't do it forever.

I stayed in the apartment for the first month, expecting him to come home any time. But he didn't, so I moved back to my parent's house. My boss had understood the situation, I was given two months paid leave, but I had to return. Ginny was a huge support to me. She and Harry had put off their own wedding, which was due to take place two months after Draco's disappearance. Draco, along with Ron and Neville, was to be Harry's best man. Their friendship had really unfurled over the months that we had together. We had one night each week where we would be at our own apartment, with Harry, Ginny, Ron, Emma and Neville around for drinks or a meal. We had changed it up one week we would be here, the next at Harry's. Ginny stayed with me most nights when I had been at the apartment. But she had her own life, I couldn't expect her to be there all the time. They tried to get me to stay with them, but I couldn't. I couldn't be around another happy couple when I had no idea where my Draco was. I felt as though my life was cursed. There was not one year, in the past nine years where something drastic had not happened.

So now, today, I have decided that I must return to our apartment. One year on, one lonely year. Our wedding date last year, was one of the hardest things I had ever had to go through. We were meant to Marry on Christmas Eve. Draco had disappeared exactly one month before our wedding day. And now today was exactly one year since he had gone. I have not been to the apartment since I moved out ten months ago. Harry had been going around twice a week to check things were okay. I know it will be hard, but I have to continue to live my life. I still don't know whether Draco just ran from me, or whether something worse had happened. But I can't continue to grieve for what happened, or what could have been. I'll still keep looking, I won't forget about him. I spent enough time crying every night over him, I love him still and just want him to come home, but it doesn't look as though he will.

I open the door to the apartment. Everything is as it was when I left. No sign that he has been back at all. Dragging my suit case along behind me, I make my way to the bedroom, knowing that I will want to cry when I open that door. I open the door, seeing the shirt belonging to Draco that I had spent weeks sleeping in after he had disappeared. My first instinct is to pick it up and smell it. It still smells of him. Like fresh green apples. Being strong is not going to work for me. I can feel myself begin to crumble, and sure enough the tears start rolling. How can one person feel so much for another single person? I never knew my heart could hold so much love. I wish I was back in our secret room at Hogwarts, what I wouldn't give to be back there. But we are not, I am here, and he is, I don't know where.

I'm trying to pull myself together, standing up and wiping my face when I hear the doorbell ring. Harry and Ginny know I am coming home today, perhaps they want to make sure I am okay. Checking myself in the long mirror on the back of the bedroom door, I tell myself, "They need to think that you're strong, they need to be able to leave and plan their wedding without worrying for you. Don't be selfish." I pull the door closed behind me and make my way down the hall to the front door.

Harry, Ginny and Ron are standing there. "Hi guys, come in." I say to them. They come in, but they all look a little off. I make the tea, whip up some sandwiches and place them on the table that has not been used in almost a year. Everyone sits down. "How are you, Hermione?" Ginny asks. Reminding myself of my earlier chat to myself, I reply with, "I'm actually very good. I think I am ready to move on." I try my absolute best to give a genuine smile. This makes them look very uncomfortable. I feel my face fall. "What is it?" I blurt out immediately. Harry leans forward in his chair. "Well, as you know, the ministry and the Auror department haven't actually stopped looking completely for Draco?" I nod. "Well, they think, that they might, that they might have a lead on his whereabouts." I feel my stomach drop this time. I had thought that if I had ever heard those words I would be bursting with emotion. But upon seeing Harry's face, it's not happiness I feel. Panic, worry, frightened. Does this mean that Draco is alive? Or is he dead?