Draco had not been back into work and he had adjusted the wards on his estate to allow nothing and no one in. It had been six days since his meeting with Hermione Granger in The Department of Mysteries. He couldn’t bear to do much more than eat, sleep, and bathe. He felt lost, as though time had no bearing. The minutes could have felt like hours or hours like minutes, it made no difference to him in his state of grief. He felt hollow and empty. He felt adrift, no fully formed thoughts or emotions but unending grief and sadness. After everything, after all this time he had hoped just as Hermione had that Harry had left to find his peace and happiness out in the world, even if it had meant leaving them all behind. 