Harry Potter, Dramione
He had been a wreck. Sure, he betrayed Voldemort, but the initial damage was irreversible. He had had a crush on one girl since the start of his second year, and he had gone and ruined it. Of course, she had to speak to him. Of course, he had to get flustered. And of course, he had to use the worst insult he could think of on her. He recalled it like it was yesterday, "No one asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood."
Nine years later, he was still thinking about her.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he strolled out of the fireplace with a lazy smirk on his face. Memos gliding in above his head, Draco Malfoy stepped into the lift at the ministry. Stepping off at his level, he brushed the dirt off of his robes and briskly walked towards his office. He stopped short as a head of brown curls whisked past him, laughing. She dragged along with her a laughing redhead. Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley stopped in front of a door, knocked, and entered. "Harry! You'll never guess what happened!"
Draco, curious, slid to the side of the now empty hall, inching his way toward the door. When he was almost visible, he stopped, turning his attention towards the conversation. "Hermione! Ron! What's up?" Harry Potter's voice drifted into the hallway.
"Tell him, Mione." The deep voice of Ronald Weasley said. There was a whisper and an audible gasp that followed, then a laugh from Harry Potter.
"Harry... You... Are... Squeezing... Too... Hard... That's better," Hermione gasped.
"Congratulations! When is it?"
That was all he needed to hear. They were getting married. Draco straightened himself out, sighed quietly, and walked into his office. He sat down forcefully in his chair, his hand absentmindedly reaching into his pocket. Fingering the ring he kept there, which he dreamed of giving to Hermione, he sighed. He had no one to give his grandmother's ring to. No girlfriend, no. No one even liked him anymore. Not since he became a Death-Eater.
A knock on his door shook him out of his daze. He straightened, grabbed a stack of paperwork, and acted like he had been doing the work. "Come in."
The door opened, and there stood Weasel, Scar-head and Hermione. "Can I help you?"
"Oh, sorry," she apologized, "I didn't realize you were working. For some reason Harry insisted we tell all his co-workers." She turned to Potter, "Why would they even care, Harry?"
"It's exciting! It's an exciting time for you, Mione!" He exclaimed, "You should want the world to know!"
"Fine!" Turning back to Malfoy, she stated, "I am going to be a big sister." He sighed in relief. They weren't getting married.
"Congratulations," he said, trying to act passive.
"Malfoy? Are you okay?" The incredibly tall redhead man asked.
"Uh... Yeah? Why?" He responded with a tone that screamed 'are you insane?'
"Well, you looked a bit pale when we walked in, and now you look relieved," his eyes caught movement and were drawn to Draco's hand, which had gone back to his pocket when he relaxed. With an air of suspicion Ron asked, "What's in your pocket?"
"Ronald!" Hermione scolded, "That is none of your business!"
"Oh, sorry, mate. That was rude of me. Sometimes I just blurt without thinking," he scanned the room, his eyes brightening at the sight of Draco's always-stocked, magically-refilling candy bowl. "Are those Bertie Bott's?"
Draco, who was observing the interaction between the two for any hint of romance and distracted by Ron's use of the word "mate," started. "What? Oh, yeah, help yourself." Mate? They weren't friends.
As Ron reached for the sweets, Hermione, with a raised brow, posed a question. "Are you sure you are feeling alright?"
"Uhm, yeah. Just a bit distracted this morning." When Hermione's -rather cute, if he should say so- facial expression didn't change, he added, "Mum's not feeling too well."
"Alright, well send her our well wishes. Come on, guys." Hermione walked out the door with her two male best friends, brown hair swinging. Her head popped around the doorframe again, and she said, "Oh, and by the way, in case you haven't heard, Ron and I got engaged last month!" She promptly left.
Draco sighed. Great.
