The Inspectorate for Elfish Labour Conditions [Dramione]

5 | Draco

Ever since the war had ended, he had been going through the days without any goal or purpose, and he had never felt so utterly lost and out of place. The downcast atmosphere at the manor he could only escape during a walk through the gardens or on a broomstick ride across the county. Which he had been doing a lot lately. Reluctantly and following a lot of pressure from Potter, his family had been rewarded with an Order of Merlin, Second Class for their important role in the Dark Lord's defeat. They remained social outcasts, however. On both sides of the former parties.

Draco's decision had already been made the instant that he'd noticed the familiar envelope between the other mail on the silver platter. There would be a real possibility that he was going to be avoided in school as much as he was on his rare visits to Diagon Alley, but he found that he didn't care. He felt that he needed the familiar surroundings, the structure, to accomplish something of his own.

"I'm going," he simply stated.

His parents didn't try to stop him.

                         He had missed seeing Granger on a daily basis after their graduation. Draco wasn't afraid to admit it.

Their collaborations in Potions Class had helped in keeping the loneliness at bay, and the memories of the Patronus lessons over the holidays were more precious to him than he would ever confide in anyone. As it had turned out, she of all the people in school had held no grudge against him. In fact, by the time the Patronus lessons had begun, they had long been past the figments of the heroine and the traitor other people ascribed to them, both silently acknowledging the scars that had been inflicted on the other's soul.

It had been only after his return home that Draco had started to realise the major influence Granger had had on his state of mind. Because of her, he could look at himself in the mirror again.

He had been positive his and Granger's paths would never cross again, save for a few chance encounters here and there. It wasn't difficult to keep track of her life. Her picture would often show up in The Daily Prophet, whether it was as a Ministry official in the serious section of the newspaper or on the gossip pages whenever she attended a ball with Potter and the Weasley family. Sometimes Draco attended those balls himself, but the situation never allowed for more than a polite nod at each other from the other side of the room.

About a year ago, however, his family had received a letter from the Ministry informing all families in possession of registered house-elves about new regulations to improve on the working conditions of house-elves. Draco remembered that his father had angrily smacked the letter on the table, furious about what he saw as yet another attack on wizarding privileges, but Draco had only bowed his head to hide his smirk as one name had crossed his mind. Granger.

He hadn't spoken to her in seven years, but it was nice to see that she had actually achieved the goals she had confided in him before anyone else.

                           As Draco had expected, only very few former seventh year students had returned to Hogwarts. He was not surprised, either, that the majority of them were Ravenclaws. The castle had been restored to its former glory, although a few walls had been left a ruin as a reminder of what had transpired here. More than once during his eighth year, he found himself standing there in silent remembrance of those who had fallen.

Few people had noticed his presence up until the Start-of-Term-Feast, which he was silently grateful for, but then the Headmistress chose to welcome them by calling each of their names, and Draco had no choice but to stand up as well. As expected, the warm applause for the Ravenclaws changed into sharp hisses when the other students heard his name. Fixing his eyes to the Head Table he tried to ignore the shocked responses to his presence, knowing that he had to get used to those if he wanted to survive the year. There also was another reason he didn't look around. As he was standing there, the object of whispered indignation, he felt the eyes of one person burning into his back. She obviously hadn't noticed his presence on the train to Hogwarts.