When You Loved Me (Druna Fanfiction)

Hiding

Groaning exasperatedly, Draco snatched the quill and parchment that he had unceremoniously swept aside and began completing what he had left off. The wall clock continued to tick, sounding oddly amplified in Draco's pounding ears. His hand worked on its own accords as it glided through the parchment in shaky strokes.

It had been long since his very nerves failed him like this, since everything in his head became a distorted mess. The last time he had felt this kind of feeling, he was at Hogwarts, standing infront the Vanishing Cabinet and simultaneously planning how to kill Albus Dumbledore. But then, it was understandable at the time, wasn't it? Of course, anyone would feel the same ferocious mixture of confusion and anxiousness when they had been ordered to kill.

It was different this time.

Draco had no reason whatsoever to even feel the slightest unease upon the memory of her. He had cut himself from any connection with her when he uttered those words that she answered only by a heart-aching sob. He had put the last remaining pieces of the puzzle that signifies the end between the thing they had when he proposed to the youngest Greengrass. The emerald ring on Astoria's finger had been put on because of that decision and it was that decision that he knew he could never ever change even if he died trying.

He knew because it was him who made sure of it.

Suddenly, as if summoned by his need of a distraction, someone knocked on the door, the sound of it pulling Draco out of his mind's dark abyss.

"Come in." He said automatically, keeping his tone as authorative as possible.

The door opened, revealing a scrawny boy with thick-rimmed glasses that magnified his eyes comically, an 'Intern' tag was pinned on his shirt. He cleared his throat as he stepped inside the room, closing the door behind him.

"G'morning, Mr. Malfoy." The intern gave a brief bow that seemed more to Draco like an odd jerk of the head. Draco greeted back with a curt nod.

"Uhm....you are needed in the, er, Improper Use of Magic office for an urgent meeting. Says it's of immediate importance, sir."

"What's it about?" Draco asked. Normally, he didn't approve of unscheduled appointments as they create holes in his well-organized schedule but he needed the distraction. He needed it for the sake of his remaining sanity.

"It's about them drunk German wizards who set fire in a Muggle farm, sir. Nasty case it was, sir. Madame Penelope Weasley specifically told me to tell you to come as soon as possible."

Draco nodded when the intern had finished speaking. He waved a hand of dismissal which the intern responded by turning on his heels and closing the door as he left.

A sigh escaped his lips. Being the head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation really did had its ups and downs and doing a heck ton of paperworks and attending daily meetings were just one of them. Standing up, he straightened his robes and tried to flatten his platinum blonde hair to his pallid forehead. After his Hogwarts days, he realized that he didn't really fancy having his hair slicked back like it's been glued to his head. However, the new style of his hair tended to make it stick up all over the place like a patch of golden grass which he had given up taming a long time ago.

He strode towards the door, opened it and walked outside. The corridor was packed with buzzing Ministry workers as usual and it proved to be hard work to navigate his way through everyone. Finally, he turned a corner and made his way towards the stairs that went up to the Improper Use of Magic Office.

Draco took the stairs two at a time, glancing at his wristwatch and wondering if the head of the Improper Use of Magic would take his head if he arrived late. He admitted that it was indeed a serious matter; that case with the German wizards had caused chaos in different departments in the Ministry and it was just his luck that his was concerned.