3. Chapter 3

Edited 31/3/2020

Original A/N: Hello all! Thanks for all the reviews, favs, follows, so on so forth, continue with that. Thank you, my awesome beta, for editing this so quickly! Just thank you everyone who read and showed the slightest interest. You guys are the best!

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter. I probably never will. Ever. Sad face.

The next day, Draco went back to the Ministry to tell Blaise about his upcoming adventure to the Great White North. He was shivering at the prospect of being stuck in a cold deserted wasteland for several weeks, but he'd deal. It was for the company, after all.

And, he'd gone through much worse.

He walked briskly through the corridors of the Ministry, avoiding the eyes of those staring curiously at him. Draco always expected this, though he didn't like it. He was Draco Malfoy, after all. Even if you took away all the events of the war from his profile, he was still one of the richest people in England.

He sent a swift glance at some of the people eyeing him. Draco mainly saw strangers, with a few faces he recognized from his Hogwarts days. That recognition only made him walk faster, averting his eyes to the floor once more. He didn't want to talk to any of his former classmates. The majority of them hated him. Rightfully so of course, but he didn't want to be beaten up today. He scuttled instead of strutted through the halls, hoping to avert the attention. People weren't really his thing anyway, not anymore.

After several more minutes of scuttling, he arrived at the Auror Department, and hurried across to the door marked 'Blaise Zabini' in gold script. Reaching for the doorknob, he hesitated slightly. He could hear noises from inside. Blaise was talking to someone, that someone's voice unrecognizable through the wall. Since Draco didn't really care what was happening, he walked straight into the office anyway.

He quickly realized he should have stayed outside. What he found in the office was something he had never imagined seeing in his entire life. He stood shocked for a moment, barely comprehending the situation. In front of him sat Harry Potter, head in his hands, bawling his eyes out. Blaise was leaning against his desk, patting the other man on the back, murmuring something that sounded like comfort.

"Did I interrupt something?" he asked, still staring at Potter.

Draco felt completely out of his comfort zone, in the world of the unimaginable and unrealistic. This was a scenario that he would have thought impossible. He never thought he'd live to see the day where Harry Potter was crying. He had seen the guy lose all the bones in one arm, get yelled at by Snape, fall hundreds of feet off a broomstick, even seen him defeat the darkest wizard of all time. He had seen Potter face some of the hardest possible situations in the history of the world.

But he had never ever seen Potter cry.

Potter looked up, his eyes rimmed with red and tears streaming down his face. Draco stared, frozen in shock. He knew the guy had dealt with hardship in his life, that was common knowledge, but he'd always seemed so annoyingly strong, never ever breaking. It was one of the reasons Draco hadn't liked him. Nothing could wreak Potter, nothing could beat him down. He was Harry freaking Potter, after all. The Harry Potter that Draco knew and was annoyed by was definitely not the man sitting in front of him.

Blaise glanced over at Draco, the former's eyes soft and his face sympathetic, which was mind-boggling for a Slytherin. "The lead from the other day, it's a dead end."

He stared at Blaise, comprehension dawning, wishing even more that he had bloody well stayed outside.

"Oh," Draco muttered, still staring at the broken boy wonder. "Granger."

Potter flinched, before looking up at him. His eyes, which had been heartbroken mere moments before, were now made of steel.

"How dare you, you son of a bitch," he said, voice shaking. "You have no right to say her name. NO RIGHT!" Screaming the last part, Potter stood up and suddenly stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him.

Draco turned to Blaise, completely dumbfounded at Potter's rage. What had Draco done that had been that bad?

Blaise answered his unspoken question with a sigh. "It's her birthday."

"What?" Draco asked, still confused.

"Hermione. Today is her birthday. She would have been twenty-six."

"Would have been?" Draco asked, suddenly feeling numb, all strength and emotion draining from his body. He was certain that his face was pale, at least, paler than usual.

"Well, it's not certain," Blaise restated quickly, noticing Draco's ashen expression. "That's why Harry's so upset. I told him that after all this time, she's probably dead, and there's no point in hoping otherwise."

"What happened to not letting him break?" Draco asked, something churning in his chest.

"I thought about what you said the other day," Blaise stated, eyes downcast. "You were right. I needed to tell him the truth."

"You still don't know what happened to her…" Draco started, before Blaise cut him off, as if he hadn't spoken at all.

"The truth is that Hermione Granger disappeared seven years ago, after a war which she was heavily involved in. She was probably killed and tortured by agents of the Dark Lord immediately after her disappearance to get back at Harry for Voldemort's death. I honestly think Harry has to start moving on. If he doesn't, it might just end up killing him."

"She was basically his sister. He's never going to move on," Draco said. He didn't know Potter well, but he knew that much. Potter would consider himself failing her if he ever gave up hope.

Blaise sighed. "I know. But it was worth a shot."

The two stood in silence for a moment, before Blaise raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why are you here, anyway? I doubt your main goal was to interrupt my meeting with Harry."

"What?" Draco started. Why was he here? His mind was still processing what he had just seen. After a moment, he remembered. "Oh yeah! I'm going to Canada for a few weeks."

"Canada?" Blaise asked, confused himself now. "Why?"

"Apparently opening an office there would be beneficial to the company."

Blaise snorted. "Have fun with the beavers."

Draco laughed as well. "I'll try."

"When are you leaving?"

"Now."

Blaise gave him a once-over. "And you're wearing that?"

"What's wrong with this?" Draco asked, looking down at his jeans and black t-shirt.

"Mate, it's Canada. It's freezing there all year round."

"Oh," Draco muttered. "Whatever, I'll just buy a parka when I get there."

"Good luck, mate," Blaise said, slapping him on the shoulder.

"See you in a few weeks!" Draco waved, walking out of the office. As he walked towards the elevator, his eyes drifted to the door marked 'Harry Potter' in golden script. He felt the direction of his feet change unconsciously, and before he knew it, he was standing outside of his schoolyard enemy's office. He stared blankly at the door for a moment.

"I'm going to regret this," he muttered. He knocked on the door.

"Busy!" replied Potter's hoarse voice. Draco ignored him, as usual, and walked in anyway.

Potter had his head on his desk. He was still crying. He looked up in confusion when he heard the door open, but his eyes quickly narrowed.

"Piss off, Ferret," he snapped.

Draco didn't leave. He walked over to the desk so that he was standing right in front of the Chosen One.

"Listen Potter, about earlier. I just wanted to say…sorry."

Potter blinked at him. The anger had quickly disappeared, and his tear-filled eyes had filled with confusion.

Draco continued. "I know she wa…is your best friend, basically your sister. I'm sorry if my statement made this any harder." Merlin, that felt unnatural to say.

Potter stared at him. "Thanks, Malfoy," he said tentatively, as if testing the waters of this new step in their relationship. An apology from Draco to Potter? The gods were shaking. "I'm sorry that I yelled at you."

Draco shrugged, nonchalantly. "It wasn't the first time."

Potter gave a watery chuckle, another tear falling down his face.

"Well, I best be off," said Draco briskly, feeling increasingly awkward. "See you, Potter."

"Bye, Ferret."

Draco chuckled. It seemed that name was going to stick with him forever.

As he headed to the elevators, he reflected on his conversation with Potter. He had no idea why he apologized to the guy. The poor bloke had just seemed so…devastated.

Draco shuddered. What was going on? He, Draco Malfoy, felt sympathy Potter. He, Draco Malfoy, cared that the guy was upset. This was not natural. Maybe it was Granger's name that was affecting him. Draco shuddered once more. The very idea of Granger's name affecting him was completely and utterly absurd. He had barely known the girl, besides tormenting her.

It was amazing to Draco how she had suddenly stormed back into his life. He hadn't laid eyes on her in years, since she'd gone missing so long ago. But now, it seemed like she was everywhere: the file, the lead, the nightmare, the paper, and Potter's brokenness. It was strange. He hadn't thought about the girl in years before the incident with the file a few days prior, and now, she occupied so many of his thoughts. Draco shook his head. He seriously needed to get Granger out of it. He wondered if they sold Hermione Granger mental blocks. Maybe he could pick one up at the Apothecary.

When he got to the atrium, he dropped by the front desk, where he had checked his suitcase. If Blaise was right about Canadian weather, he would have to buy a whole new wardrobe. That was slightly depressing. He grabbed the suitcase, tossed a galleon in the direction of the concierge and focused all of his thoughts on the address Seamus had given him. Quick as a flash, Draco apparated across the Atlantic, all the way to Canada.

Draco suddenly found himself in the middle of a large city. He was momentarily thrown, and thought that he had misapparated. He checked the address again. Nope, he was in the right place. His eyes widened as he took in his surroundings.

This definitely didn't look like the Canada he had imagined. There were no igloos, no ice, real buildings, and it was decently warm. Not a single parka in sight. Strange, he thought, and entered the building he had apparated to.

It was a nice building, decently sized, four floors, a good conference room, and a brilliant view of the large neighbouring lake. It was perfect for a Malfoy Industries' office. There were a few transfers already there, setting up. Draco walked in and got their attention. He quickly greeted them all, and they got to work.

Getting a new office ready wasn't easy. He helped with the physical office itself, painting, setting up chairs, and mundane jobs like that. He sent out job offers in the Toronto Prophecy, the name of the wizarding newspaper for the area to try and get some local wizards on board. He met with various locals to understand what Canadian wizards wanted in their friendly neighbourhood corporation.

As the moon made him aware of the time, he went to go find a place to stay. He easily got a room at the Feathered Quill, the biggest wizarding hotel in Canada, just a few blocks away from the office. Falling into his new bed, his mind went blissfully blank after the exhaustion of that first day.

At the moment, Hermione Granger was the furthest thing from his mind.

Original A/N: Review. Good, bad, just let me know. Reviews of any nature make my day.