I didn't see Draco at the Ministry so I decided to go home and wait for him there. I waited, hour after hour, but he didn't come. I eventually gave up and figured he had been offended by my reaction to him casting the memory charm.
After my epiphany today, I knew it would be hard to sleep without him. I rummaged around in my cabinets and boxes and found some tea but I sighed. I already knew it wouldn't be as good nor would it calm me as Noah's tea had. I brewed the tea, sitting absentmindedly in the process. I poured myself a cup and inhaled the steam. It was just a plain chamomile tea but it would do the job of helping me sleep well enough. I quickly walked back to my bedroom to prepare for sleep and came back only to put my empty cup in the sink.
Standing there, in my kitchen, was Draco. I saw a flash of the empty-eyed Draco from my nightmare and dropped my cup onto the floor in surprise. It was like deja-vu when I heard the cup shatter beside my feet and I just stared at Draco, watching his reaction.
His eyebrows pulled together in pain and he slowly pulled out his wand, pointing it at the shards of ceramic.
"Reparo," he said quietly, only taking his eyes off me to concentrate on the cup. The tiny shards flew together as if they were magnetic and quickly mended back together, lifting off the ground and setting itself carefully on my counter. Draco looked back up at me but didn't make any movement toward me.
"I didn't think you were coming tonight," I say.
"I wasn't sure if I should," he admitted, "but I wanted to see you." The way he said it hurt my heart and I took a step toward him, testing his reaction.
"I wanted to see you, too. I waited for you for a long time," I say and his pained expression softens a bit. He takes it as permission to close the space between us, quickly pulling me into him so my face rests against his chest.
"I'm sorry I scared you," he says, holding me tight.
"I was just surprised to see you," I reply, only slightly lying. He wasn't the one who scared me, it was my nightmare that scared me. I looked up and he shook his head.
"I meant at the restaurant, when I had to do... what I have to do," he says and I lean my head back into his chest. He meant the memory charm. So he did know that it had affected me.
"It wasn't your fault, Draco."
"That's debatable," he sighed, "But I want to talk about something important." I look up again and see that he's actually smiling. I want to ask why he's smiling, and why he even looks excited, but he leads me to my couch.
"Y/N, I talked with Fudgel and I'm going to leave the Obliviators," he announces and my mouth falls open in shock. It takes me a moment to recollect myself.
"You can't leave!" I argue, "I know that you're an Obliviator and I'm sorry I reacted the way I did. I'm going to work on it. I'm going to get better-" Draco cuts me off by covering my mouth with his hand. He smiles softly at me.
"Just listen," he says and drops his hand, "Have you ever considered that doing that spell hurts me as much as it does you? It kills me every day knowing what I did to you and having to do it as a job is haunting. I hate it." He pauses to consider something.
"If Weasley can leave the Ministry, so can I," he says.
"So what will you do then?" I ask and his smile grows wider.
"Nothing," he answers and I raise my eyebrow, "Y/N, I've told you before that my inheritance is enough to live off of." I nod, taking in the information. I wouldn't see Draco at the Ministry anymore which was the majority of the time I got to see him during the weekdays.
"I'll miss you," I say and he lets out a loud, careless laugh.
"Well you won't have to miss me if you... if you leave, too." My eyes widen in shock.
"Draco! I certainly can't leave the Ministry! I don't have an inheritance like you do!" I laugh, thinking he must be joking but he just keeps smiling.
"Y/N, I want you to move in with me"
"At the Malfoy Manor?" I ask, the horror of the idea evident on my face.
"Of course not!" he chuckles, "I can use my inheritance to buy a house. We can go looking together and get the one you like the best. I can take care of us. We won't have to worry about the Ministry anymore or all of the trouble. I can see that it hurts you to be reminded of all the bad things that happen. We can be free of that." He grabs my hands and stares into my eyes, his own eyes filled with hope.
"Draco... I can't quit the Ministry. I've come so far and I think... I think it's my purpose. At least for the time being," I say and his face falls a little bit.
"And moving in together..." I take a moment to think it through. The nightmares got better when I was with him and having him every night could maybe make them go away. I thought about the mornings, the afternoons, the nights. I thought of all the simple household things we would do together and it made my heart swell. But I also thought about the commitment of it. It could be perfect but it could also go terribly wrong. If we didn't work out... I shook the thought from my mind.
"I have to think about that still," I finished and he smiled.
"You can have as long as you want to think about it," he says, satisfied, and pulls me into a deep kiss. A kiss that makes me feel decided that I do want to live with him. A house with just the two of us...
_
The next morning, I'm sitting in my office at the Ministry. I had to go through the extended reports of yesterday's incident and how the other muggle witnesses who got away were handled. Obliviated, of course, and I wondered if Draco had to participate in that.
"Hey, Y/N, can I come in?" I hear after a quick knock and my door opening a crack. It's Noah.
"Sure," I say and he opens the door all the way, walking in with a cup in hand. He sets it down in front of me with a smile.
"Harlow tea?" I ask and he nods, still smiling.
"Thank you so much for bringing this for me. I think this is the best tea I've ever had," I say, picking it up to take a sip.
"No problem. I figured you needed some more after... yesterday. Harlow tea just fixes everything," he chuckles and I laugh, too. He starts to walk back out the door but he pauses and turns back around.
"Actually, that's not all I came here for," he says and I lift an eyebrow and let him continue.
"I'm wondering if you'd like to go to lunch today. I know you were busy yesterday but I'm about to go on my break so if you had time too we could grab something quick to eat and talk a bit," he finished and I'm reminded of him asking me to lunch yesterday. I did tell him that we could go another time so I shouldn't go against my word. Besides, I'm sure Draco wouldn't mind. It's just a quick lunch with a colleague. I glance at the clock and realize that I'm due for a break as well and I'm a little hungry.
"Yeah, we can go now," I reply and Noah's face lights up. His eyes seem to sparkle with youthful enthusiasm and his smile displays perfectly straight, white teeth framed by full lips. I look away.
"Awesome! I know a place nearby," he says and I follow him outside my office. As I follow him a guilty feeling starts to grow in the pit of my stomach. I think of Draco and my assurance that he wouldn't mind starts to fade. Maybe Draco would mind that I was having lunch with Noah, another boy, especially one that wasn't very polite to him. My steps start to slow with my hesitation.
Noah turns around, noticing my slowed steps but smiles again. I make effort to not look up at his lips again but the look in his eye is enough to erase all the hesitation I feel. It's just lunch and he's always been nice to me. It's nothing for Draco to worry about.
_
I'm sitting across the table from Noah at a small cafe. It's one I've never been to before but it's quiet and there are much fewer people than there are at the cafe I used to go to with Draco. A server walks up to our table.
"Noah! How are you?" the server, a middle-aged woman asks excitedly.
"I'm doing good. How about you Mrs. Loughty?" he asks politely.
"It's always a good day on the job," she replies dreamily, "Now are you going to stop being rude and introduce me to your pretty friend?" Noah blushes a bright red.
"This is Y/N Y/L/N, from the Ministry," he answers and I turn to him with widened eyes. I was pretty sure she was a Muggle. Why would Noah tell her about the Ministry?
Noah and Mrs. Loughty exchange glances when they notice my shocked expression and laugh.
"Sorry, Y/N, I forgot to tell you. Mrs. Loughty is a Muggle but her son is a wizard and a good friend of mine. This cafe is actually mostly frequented by Muggles with magic family members," he explains and I look around. It makes sense there wouldn't be as many people but seeing all the Muggles that know about the secret was still an odd experience. There was also a sense of comfort here. There was no need to watch my words or hide who I was. I have to bring my parents here sometime.
"Well, it's nice to finally meet you, Y/N. Noah's talked about you quite a lot. He was so excited to finally get a chance to work with you," Mrs. Loughty says after I've taken in my surroundings. Noah blushes again and Mrs. Loughty laughs.
"Sorry to embarrass you, sweetheart," she tells Noah, playfully ruffling his black hair. He looks up at me through the strands of black hair that covered his eyes and I feel my heart skip a beat. The deep green of his eyes. The slight pink on his cheeks.
The sound of a bell disturbs my thoughts and I watch as two men walk in the door.
"Hey mum!" one says, throwing his arm around Mrs. Loughty.
"Mrs. Loughty," the other nods at her, smiling.
"Oh, it's like everyone's here now!" Mrs. Loughty tells me excitedly and Noah laughs.
"Y/N, meet David Loughty and Christopher Walker. They were good friends of mine at Beauxbatons and moved to the UK to help during the Second war. After that, they just decided to settle in," he explains and I look them over. They were obviously a bit older than me and Noah and their participation in the war was still evident on their faces. Although they appeared care-free and happy, it was still in their eyes. A look that everyone who survived the war had.
"It's really nice to meet you two," I say, smiling.
"So this is Y/N?" Christopher asks mischievously but Noah shoves him away quickly.
"Alright, guys! We're trying to have a break here!" he says, exasperated. David and Christoper back off but continue to throw up glances, occasionally whispering something and laughing. Noah looks back over to me, the pink in his cheeks seemingly permanent.
"I'm sorry about that. I guess I was really enthusiastic when I told them all how excited I was to work with you," he says and I laugh.
"No, they seem really fun. And I'm honestly really surprised about their history. I never really heard about foreigners traveling here to help with the war. It was very brave of them," I say and he smiles.
"Yeah, they're some of the bravest people I know and that's why I admire them," he pauses, "Same goes for you."
"Me?" I laugh.
"Yes, you!" he laughs, "I don't think you realize how many people look up to you outside of your friend group but you've helped a lot of people. You know that, don't you?" I blush at the unexpected praise but he laughs. He points back over at Christopher.
"Christopher is a Muggleborn wizard. His sister, a Muggle, has a 3-year-old wizard son. The gene must have skipped a generation for her. But when the Billingsgate incident was going on, and everyone was scared about being targeted, you provided a plan to keep them safe. No one else was quick enough," he then gestured to the many people in the cafe, "Many of these people sought refuge at Hogwarts during the incident. All these people were guaranteed safe because of you."
"I just did the best I could but... I hope you know that Billingsgate had been planning to use Hogwarts to his advantage. I didn't know at the time but it could've turned out to be a big mistake," I admit and Noah looks shocked for a minute before smiling again.
"But you stopped him before that could happen!"
"It wasn't just me. I only suspected him and helped with a plan to catch him but the plan fell through and I was the one who ended up having to be saved!" I argue again, rejecting the praise. I know I hadn't done much of anything, I just did my job the best I could.
"You're too modest, Y/N. Really, the Muggleborn community adores you," he says, looking deep into my eyes. I look back and I feel a connection between us. A community for Muggleborns. It was a nice thought, having people around who knew what it was like to have been in an unforgiving time for Muggleborns. For a long time, I only had Hermione.
"We're going to be heading out, Noah. You're still coming tonight, right?" David asks, slapping his hand on Noah's shoulder.
"Of course, it's still starting at 6 right?" he asks and David nods.
"Say, Y/N, you should come, too!" David suggests and I look over to Noah.
"Come to what?" I ask and he shrugs.
"It's just this kind of meeting we have every month or so. Muggleborns, half-bloods, Muggle family members. It's kind of a space for us to process everything that's happened in the past. There's a lot of Muggle family members who lost their children in the war and they need to be around other wizards and witches to feel closer to them. It's a community we made for ourselves. We all help each other," Noah explains darkly, his eyes looking down.
"Geez, Noah, way to be convincing," Christoper adds then turns to me, "It's not all gloomy, though. It's a lot of fun. We eat, we talk, we get to know each other. We're like a family."
"You should definitely come," David says. I look back at Noah and he gently smiles at me.
"Tonight at 6?" I clarify and he nods, "I'm in."