What I Deserve

The First Few Days

As I walked to my office, I noticed no one at the counter. Malfoy is supposed to be here before I arrive, where is he?

The smell of smoke caught my attention. As I turned around to examine, sounds of flames and stuff falling came from the copy room. The room was in flames! I dropped my bag and grabbed my wand out of my pocket. I ran towards the room and kicked the door down when I arrived. In the middle of the room stupid a baffled Malfoy. I held my wand out in front of me. "Aquamenti!" Slowly, the flames decreased, and there more stood a Malfoy drenched on water. I stared him down. "What did you do??"

The anger I felt was unmatched with the energy. His shirt hung tight to his body. Draco, breathing heavily, ran his fingers through his hair, unintentionally flexing his arm. Before I could start drooling, I snapped out of it. 

"Did you hear me?" I asked. "What happened?"

He shamelessly stared at me. "Don't start with me, Granger," he said. "I could very easily stop trying to be kind and start calling you mudblood again."

I loosened my eyes on him. Whatever attraction there was a second ago, it was all gone. "Well, I know how badly you need this job. And if you were smart, you wouldn't because there's not many places that would hire a former death eater. Follow me to my office once you've changed into dry clothes." And with that, I stormed out of the room.

I slammed the door and paced back and forth. He's already driving me crazy. He just lit an entire room on the floor and yet all I could think about was how he looked when he was drenched. A knock came from the door, interrupting my thoughts that I shouldn't be having. My wake up call. Rolling my eyes, I sat down in my chair facing the door. "Come in." In came Malfoy, still wet in clothes. "I thought I told you to change," I said, quite rudely.

"I don't have an extra pair of clothes," He said, implying I was stupid in every word. It was his way of saying I thought you were supposed to be the smart one.

"Fine," I sighed. "Sit down this instant." Uncooperatively, he slumped in the seat. "What exactly happened?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you," he snapped.

"Well then, I guess I'll have to fire you on your first day," I bluffed.

"Fine!" He yelled. "I saw your To-Do list on my desk and I thought I'd get a jump on things, so I went to go print those paper's you needed. I might have gotten angry when the printer got stuck and used the wrong spell..."

"What spell exactly did you incite?"

"I-incendio," he muttered.

I sighed. What did I expect? That he'd suddenly become the perfect assistant after all those years of torment? That he'd actually grown within these five years, that we'd actually become friends during work? Ugh. "Malfoy, I expect you to be dry and much more patient tomorrow." He nodded. He got up, and took off his shirt, revealing his abs. "W-What are you doing?"

He smirked. "I thought I'd get changing," He replied. "Why? Does the thought of me undressing bother you?" He walked closer until he was right in front of my desk, leaning down, inches from my face. "Don't worry. I won't try to kiss you, mudblood."

He got up and left. Mudblood. The word replayed in my head. No one has called me that in years. Except once.

Flashback

It was the day before I started investigating his affair. He came home at 2:00 in the morning influenced by alcohol and completely smelled of cigarettes and club stench. I yelled at him for his irresponsibility, and he replied with the one word he knew would hurt me. The second it came out of his mouth, he knew he did something wrong and apologized and gave me a kiss on the cheek. That night as I went to the bathroom, there was the kiss Ron gave me, colored in a bright red tint. He had kissed someone else that night, I was sure, because I never wore red lipstick, no matter how many times Ron suggested it. It just wasn't my kind of shade, and here it was, on my cheek.

End of Flashback

I sat in my office, bewildered. I did not just hire a bully. No matter how hard I told myself I would be the boss, that never happened. Especially with Draco, I knew he would have the control. This time, I had to show much more power.

*****

I woke up the next day, tired yet relaxed. I decided to wear a nice blouse and my work pants. I put my hair in a ponytail, leaving a few loose strands.

That day in my office was more of a relaxed day rather than a hectic one. There was not much to do rather than read new elf laws and sign them off, and there weren't that many to sign. Draco came in, looking tired. "Anything else?" He asked after I made him drop off papers to the different elf departments.

"Ummm, yes, I'd like you to pick up a cold cappuccino for me please."

He rolled his eyes. "Fine."

Thirty minutes had passed and i still hadn't received my coffee. Flustered, I opened the door and bumped into Draco, holding a coffee cup. The coffee spilled onto me, staining my blouse and pants. "Oh!

"Sorry," he replied, clearly trying to hold in laughter. I walked myself to the bathroom and proceeded to wipe myself dry. "Tergeo," I said, pointing the wand at my stained shirt.

I returned to my office where an apologetic Draco stood. "I'm sorry," he started. I stared at him, at a loss for words. "I'm sorry, for the coffee, and yesterday. I shouldn't have acted that way towards you."

I scoffed. "You're joking, right?"

"Is it so hard to believe I'm capable of apologizing?"

I stared at him. "Yes!"

He looked at me and scoffed. "So much for second chances, huh?" And he left.

Baffled, I just stood there, accessing what had just happened.

He didn't show to work the next day. I had a harder day, and despite his first two days going horribly wrong, I couldn't help but feel I needed his help.

*****

"..... and he apologized and I laughed at him and said that he wasn't capable of apologizing," I explained the Ginny. "He left and never showed to work today. Was I too harsh?"

"I don't know, Mione," Ginny. "Guys like Malfoy don't just change over night. You have to judge this one yourself, I mean, I haven't seen Malfoy in years."

That night, I laid in bed, thinking of what to do. Should I just fire him? I mean it's only been three days, and it seems he's done the opposite of his job, which is to help me, rather than cause trouble. I drifted to sleep late, still not knowing what to do.