Chapter Five: Vacated
Draco Malfoy haunted her dreams once more that night, but this bedtime fantasy was nothing like the prior one she had received. There was hardly a touch of feeling looming in her mind, every sense she viewed in was very delayed as well as being slightly obscured. It was like she was watching a silent movie in slow motion. The sound of what appeared to be similar to the light crackle that the old movies gave, was really the pounding of rain as she watched herself stand solemnly in an illusion. Thunderous rain fell from cloudless skies and fell onto what was supposed to be the ground. She was standing on clouds, about her ankles danced a thick vapor of cloud! It was as if everything had reversed in some way. She looked up to behold the rain falling from a thick black nothing, blurred by sheets of rain, and the ground being the sky…odd.
As the dream progressed, she found herself standing…just standing, in the downpour, watching… Watching what? She could not tell. But that was what she was doing as the rains fell, soaking her body in an intense chill. She did not mind, however, despite the fact every exhale she gave her breathe was visible in the winter chill, because what she watched had captured her interest and made her quite appeased. There he stood, and like her, he was transfixed. He stood a short distance from her; rains drenching his pallid features, running out of his hair and dripping on his cheeks that were slightly colored from the piercing chill. He was captivating, his beauty like that of a Veela and his radiance shone even through the abundant shower of rain. His lips were turned up ever so slightly as he watched her, matching her expression but with more of a smirk than she held. His clothes clung to his tall lean form; the white linen dress shirt was slightly transparent as it clung to his torso, giving him even more allure. Draco smirked a bit more, and turned away from her, but he beckoned her to follow him, which she willingly obliged. He was running from her, wanting her to chase him, so Hermione broke out into a full sprint, the cool vapor clung to her bare feet as she made her way towards him as swiftly as possible. He ran into an area where the cloudy grounds were no more, and cold hard asphalt replaced it. Large puddles had formed and she splashed through them, some of them were deep enough to soak her mid calf. Draco finally turned around, silver eyes glinting, and slowed his pace so she could catch him. When she finally caught him, she flung her arms around his neck at full force, knocking him over into a large puddle that gave quite a large splash. He lay his head down into the shallow puddle; his wet, white-blonde locks stuck to his forehead, which Hermione brushed away with her left hand. With her other hand, she unconsciously ran her fingers lightly upon the semitransparent sleeve on his forearm, where his seemingly perfect skin bore a horrid mar of a black skull that possessed a snake protruding from its open mouth like a tongue. Her gaze lingered on the Dark Mark, which was quite apparent through his thin, wet dress shirt. She licked her dry lips and returned her stare to his silver gaze and simply said, "Death Eater."
It was still dark outside when she awoke, the digital clock she had by her bedside read in vibrant red numbers "4:38 AM" which was nearly a half hour before she normally started her day. She knew she would not be able to retreat back into sleep; it would take far to long for her to fall to sleep once more, and she was not sure if she even wanted to if Draco Malfoy would haunt her in her sleep!
She let out a sigh of discontent of the occurrences of last night reappeared in her thoughts. Draco Malfoy was dead, she, apparently, hated him the most, the Death Angel granted him a last chance at life by letting him haunt Hermione until she went completely mad and began to miss the little ferret!
He would haunt her forever; she knew it! That was just how he was. And if she eventually gave in and "missed him", he would rub it in her face when he "returned" to life.
But what if she made things so incredibly difficult that he would no longer wish to live? It would be difficult, and probably take an extremity of time, but if it meant no more Malfoy period, well, that was something worth working towards.
She smiled lightly. No more Malfoy meant she could quite Malfoy International, which meant she could have a job she actually enjoyed, anywhere in the Wizarding world! She would then have enough money and time to start Medi-Witch schooling, get her degree and become a trained Healer, or perhaps a teacher at Hogwarts, or Ministress of Magic!
While her hopes and dreams ran rampant, she began her morning rituals that normal people went through, such as shower, dress, etc. She quitted her bedroom in high spirits, reflecting on all the positive factors of the death of Malfoy, as blunt and awful as it sounded, but it was true. Thank heavens he was dead.
Once Malfoy left her alone, which at some point he would now that she was in control of his life (literally!) she would be able to have the life she had always wanted! As she thought about it, the thought crossed her mind that she might actually enjoy having a dead ferret in her home.
Oh who was she kidding! Draco Malfoy always found some sort of way to manipulate a situation to his liking, and this circumstance was no different.
Hermione could never win, and it drover her mad.
Well, at least she could quit her job.
At 5:21 am, the office of Draco Malfoy was deprived of the common noises one hears in a wizarding business such as Malfoy International. There were no quills scratching against fine parchment, no swooping of owls exchanging the latest mail, no ongoing reports of the small businesses under the Malfoy's insane monopoly control, just absolute quiet.
Blaise Zabini enjoyed quiet; perhaps that was why he was a morning person. But this morning he loathed the stillness about him. It was the sort of silence that was deafening, as contradictory as that may imply, but it simply was an unnerving silence. Perhaps it was just because he was in a foul mood when he read the morning's paper, denying all facts that Draco Malfoy died over the weekend. Lucius had fled the crime scene, and several sources stated that he had left England too. There was no trace of Malfoy's body, which was hardly surprising. Lucius was a master of the Unforgivables, and his killing curse had nearly obliverated the office on the fourth floor. Blaise did not even know why there was an investigation, it was quite obvious that Draco was murdered, and would not be coming back. If, however, some miracle had occurred and Draco would have come out on top, he would be strutting about, proclaiming how he saved the wizarding world from his deranged father.
The fool.
Blaise sneered. He utterly despised the Malfoys, but he tolerated their presence. It was a wise business choice, and Draco was too thick to notice the enmity Blaise held for him. Well, thick was not really the appropriate word choice, nor was daft. Blaise had always had a way to blend in with everyone else in his school days. That was how he liked things, he got what he wanted by focus, and by causing a stir by being turned into a white ferret was not his first priority in making it in the world. Blaise knew what he wanted and would stop at nothing to achieve what he wanted, even if it meant tolerating the Malfoy family.
Blaise Zabini wanted power.
It was not if his family was not a distinct name, but it was not as high as the Malfoy's. Blaise was never one to care much for social status; he wasn't really social. He did however have a keen interest business and knew what to invest in. The reason Malfoy International had gotten so big was because Blaise had monopolized small Wizarding businesses under the M.I. name. Blaise was the brains, and Malfoy was the money, but of course, Malfoy got credit for both.
That was the starting point to Blaise's extreme distaste toward Draco Malfoy.
That, and he hated the way he drank coffee every morning. He was an Englishman for Merlin's sake, not some lazy American who can't wake up with out a fix of coffee! He preferred his tea to anything else, and he expected his tea precisely when he arrived to work, no matter what the time. He liked things that ran on his schedule, and if his employees did not know his schedule, they could consider life a living hell from that moment on.
Granger had not prepared his morning tea on time.
She would be punished for that. Severely.
His eyes were fixated upon the large double doors that were to the opposing side of him, waiting for the brass handle to click open revealing some poor soul who he could unleash his wrath upon.
It gave him enormous satisfaction to see Granger enter the door at that moment, holding a coffee cup in each hand. "Oh," her eyes went wide, "I didn't expect you to be here so early sir," she smiled, "I brought you coffee!"
She was trying to suck up, he could tell. And all those memories of teacher's pet Hermione Granger came flooding back.
Blaise sat quite rigid in Malfoy's plush leather chair, not once enjoying the materialism Malfoy so adored. His deep blue eyes narrowed as he gazed upon her. He knew she would be surprised to see him there, Malfoy never entered the building for another hour or so, he was convinced that the world revolved around him, and that the company would only start on his command. Blaise had a similar preference, though he was not as arrogant about it. "You're late Miss Granger." He growled.
She frowned, "the company doesn't start until six, sir, I just have the key because I get here early a lot and-"
"You're wasting my time Granger with your unnecessary blubbering. You are late and that is final." Blaise suddenly felt like he was Professor Snape and had the sudden urge to take off fifty points from her house. But this wasn't school anymore, this was real life, and he could fire her. "Mr. Malfoy is dead, Granger, and I expect you to learn how I run things. When I say you are late, you are late, I suggest you get up extra early to beat me to the office," he grinned maliciously, "I'm an early riser, and I like my tea immediately when I arrive."
He could almost feel the anger and frustration radiating from her, he could now see why Malfoy loved antagonizing the girl, it was just too easy. He relished the idea of how much agrivation he would cause her in the future.
"Sir, I suggest you find a replacement for me," her voice shook slightly, "I'm quitting."
Now that was something he hadn't quite expected off the bat. He didn't realize that she would actually have the audacity to actually quit. He was actually quite surprised that she had done so, and he hated being surprised.
"So you're giving me a two weeks notice then?" He scoffed, regaining his intimidating poise. There was no way she'd last under his control for two weeks if she already wanted to quit. She has just showed him a weakness he planned to exploit for his own sick pleasure.
He then realized that she must have already thought of this, because she immediately replied, "My two weeks are up, I would tell you to ask Malfoy, but," she grinned slightly, "he's dead. I just need to get some things from my office and I'm gone."
Blaise felt his blood boil, he wasn't ready to let her go so easily, but before he could say anything else, she had left to get her things.
He hated losing.
Hermione shut her office door and set her coffee cups on the desk beside her, and let out a sigh. She had planned on staying for a full two weeks, like she was supposed to, but she somehow found herself lying to Blaise about already submitting one to Malfoy. She bit her lip, feeling guilt flow over her. She hated lying, even if it meant avoiding someone like Zabini, she had too much of a conscience she supposed. It was always like her to be such a goody good. She let out another sigh, deciding it would be best to quickly pack her belongings and get out of the MI building before Zabini could chew her out again. Once she was finished, she apparated back to her flat, not quite anticipating what Malfoy would think of her sudden decision to quit his company.
Heh…heh…I'm alive guys…just barely survived a massive writers block…right! Heh.
Okay. I lost interest I love the idea of this story, and I have soooo many more ideas for the plot I want to finish, it's just, I've been way swamped with writing in my advanced English coarse, it just sucked all the fun out of it! I'm sorry if the last part of this story seems rushed, with Hermione quitting and all…It's supposed to be sudden, it's kinda hard to get the full detail of what was going on in Hermione's head w/ out it being in her POV, and I was writing Blaise's. There will be an explanation of what she was thinking in the next chapter, I promise…I just don't know how long it will be till I post…heh…don't hurt me please! Many thanks to all who reviewed, I absolutely love reading your reviews! They do motivate me, I'm just extremely lazy lol.
Once again, I'm sorry if the ending of this is rushed, I really want to post and…I'm sick of this chapter. If I don't post now, it won't get posted for another few weeks most likely, I'm just horrid like that lol. 3 to reviews!
By the way, I'm changing the tittle, I absolutely HATE it. So yeah, I've changed my penname and the tittle! Woo!