Slow Burn

Long, Boring

Draco woke up to his small owl chirping cheerfully the way it did every morning when he had work. He sighed and turned over, he he could feel his pillow was damp, probably from tears, or he had another nightmare and it is sweat. His owl, Umbra, kept chirping, he admired her happiness and effort, but he really didn't want to get up.

"Alright, alright, Umbra, I'm up." He said as he pulled himself out of bed and slipped on his slippers. He walked over to her cage and opened it and the window so she could go hunting, the brown owl spread her wings happily and raced out the window. Lazily, he got dressed for work and headed out to the kitchen, Harry worked early today, so he was all alone. He had no motivation to eat, so he didn't. He gathered up his papers, shoved them into his briefcase and walked over to the fireplace, luckily, Harry hadn't put the fire out when he left, it was Draco's prefered method of travel, he didn't trust strangers and most other ways to get around relied on that, so Floo Powder it was.

He grabbed a small handful and clearly spoke, 'ministry of magic.' He shut his eyes quickly so he wouldn't get ash and soot in them. Once grounded again he opened his eyes to see the bustling lobby of the ministry. Draco could feel himself shrink when he stepped into the crowd heading towards the elevators, he used to fine in crowds, now not so much. He didn't want to get bumped or touched or have anything stolen from him. He was lucky to get on an elevator with few people on it. Same old routine as always, nervously ask the others in the elevator which floor they need, then floor nine, his own floor. He didn't like this part of the day, where he had to be around strangers, he was scared that they would attack him maybe, or somehow see threw his sleeves and see the Dark Mark on his arm.

He was the only one left on the elevator as it got to floor nine, Department of Mysteries, for some reason, Draco really liked everything in this department, which he supposed was a good thing since that was his job, but he never got fun out of it, he was always bored of it, he came to learn that having no interest in things was due to his depression, but, he sometimes wished that maybe he could make a friend a work, or at least find interest in what he had to do. Harry worked mostly off site so he didn't really get to see him at work so he couldn't even talk to the only person he considered safe.

The day continued on the same as always, check to make sure everything is there, register new prophecies, filing documents, and so on, he did it every single day, and gods this part bored him to death, now this was not say that the other parts didn't bore him but these parts were possibly the worst.

Finally the day was over and he could go home, he still couldn't see Harry though, on the days he worked early, he also worked late, so he would be home alone, free to do whatever he pleased, which he didn't like. He didn't like being alone and having no one to stop him doing things, but he managed, he went for a run or something like that to distract himself from the thoughts running through his mind.

Draco tiredly walk over to one of the fireplaces in the lobby of the ministry, spoke his address, and was finally home, where the only person he had to deal with was himself.