Draco seemed surprised by the plate of food waiting for him in front of an empty chair at the table. He nodded his thanks silently to Hermione before taking a seat. As tempted as she was to begin immediately asking him a dozen questions about his activities over the previous few days he'd been gone, Hermione held her tongue. She didn't want to scare him off before she learned anything. A few awkward minutes of silence passed with only the sounds of the clock above the fireplace ticking and the scrape of a utensil on his plate. To Hermione's surprise, Draco was finally the one to break the silence.