A/N: This is my first ever Dramione oneshot (and will most likely remain a oneshot), and while it is a gift to LadiePhoenix007, it is also a tribute to my love of tea. Sit back, relax, and make sure you drink a cup of tea while reading (and leave a review!).
The Tea Caddy
In a commonly ignored corner of the Great Hall, there lay a shabby tea caddy on a cart that was frequented by tea enthusiasts of all the four Houses. A kettle, ornately and delicately designed, was charmed to keep the water warm throughout all hours during meals and in between them to allow for midmorning, afternoon, as well as midnight tea breaks. The kettle never whistled, hissed, shrieked, or even scalded the water. Instead, water was consistently kept at the just-right temperature for a cup of tea, not too hot and not too cold, allowing for the sort of perfect monotony that is required in the art of tea brewing. Occasionally, the kettle adjusted itself to a certain drinker's palette that perhaps was better suited to a different water temperature. This was only on the occasion that a student did not want black tea, which was, in and of itself, extremely rare.
The idea for the teacart, of course, had belonged to Professor Dumbledore, since no other professor viewed a tea caddy as an essential to the student body. Professor McGonagall, who undoubtedly held tea in very high regard, as should be expected, did not think that tea bags or even hot water would be necessary for a student who wishes to indulge in a cup of tea. In her opinion, every witch and wizard in Hogwarts even worthy of drinking tea would be able to heat their hot water with a simple charm and then transfigure their water to tea. Having taught his students how to charm water to boil, Flitwick couldn't be bothered enough to counter her logic, and neither could any other professors, and so Dumbledore was forced to take his own initiative.
It is without a doubt that preceding Headmasters and professors had once had as much enthusiasm for tea as Dumbledore, and Hogwarts had a long history of sharing tea with its students. But the teabags and sugar cubes that Dumbledore adorned his tea caddy with varied greatly from the various herbal, remedial, and somewhat traditional teas that Dumbledore's predecessors had offered to Hogwarts students. In terms of Hogwarts history, the teacart that Dumbledore had created was quite revolutionary, showing his vast acceptance of the Muggle community. All this, of course made former Headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black roll in his grave.
However, the Black family was not a family that had been completely untainted by Dumbledore's antics. Of course, there were the almost out-of-the-book cases of Andromeda Tonks (neé Black) and Sirius Black. Unfortunately for the aforementioned Phineas, Narcissa Malfoy (neé Black), a supposed beacon of light in an era of dishonor, had a weakness, and that weakness was for Muggle tea. She loved the simple pleasure of seeing black teas seep into hot water, and found candid joy in stirring her two sugar cubes and teaspoon of milk slowly into her tea until everything had converged into one entity. To Narcissa, this was almost metaphorical. As the tea steeped, it showed the formation and fortification of the Ancient and Noble House of Black, but as she added milk and sugar, the tea was no longer black or bitter and the House name was tainted but not destroyed, and Narcissa felt comfort in the assurance of the House's destiny to change. All this she kept secret, and as any good mother would do, she passed her secret on to her one and only son, Draco Malfoy. He quickly developed a taste for tea as he grew older, which made his mother immensely proud.
The Grangers, as a Muggle dentist family, believed in going against traditionally black Irish and English breakfast teas for the sake of their own dental health. The proven health benefits of the antioxidants within teas didn't hurt either, and so Hermione Granger grew up falling asleep to the soothing taste of chamomile, easing a sore throat with ginger and honey, and cleansing with a refreshing jasmine or green tea. Often times, she even opted for tea on the rare occasion that they offered her soda, and her parents could not have been happier for her fondness of tea.
Whether by unforeseeable coincidence or fate, history left both Hermione and Draco as the only first years to ever frequent the tea caddy on a daily basis. And it was there, at the caddy during the Welcoming Feast, that the pair first engaged in conversation.
"Hello, I'm Draco Malfoy. You're a first year too, aren't you? I thought I'd be the only first year drinking tea. Is that herbal tea that you're drinking?"
Hermione glanced up from her cup of jasmine green tea at the small, pale, platinum blond boy before her. Looking at his silver eyes, that were wide with true curiosity, Hermione didn't realize this might have been the last time in her Hogwarts career that Draco would not look at her with true malice.
"It's jasmine green tea. My parents- they're dentists, you know- don't want me to drink black tea because it's not good for my teeth. What kind of tea are you drinking?" Hermione said eagerly, hoping to make a new friend that had an equal fondness for tea.
"I drink black tea, always with a teaspoon of cream and two cubes of sugar. My mother says it's the best that way; you should try it some time. See you here tomorrow, yeah?" Draco said, and he stirred his tea and began to walk away. Returning to his table smiling, he left a small space for the girl that he met by the tea caddy, eagerly hoping that, she too, had been sorted into Slytherin. When she didn't come, he began sadly searching the Great Hall for her, and, to his dismay, he found her head of bushy hair at the Gryffindor table. He knew that their next encounters at the teacart could never be the same.
The next morning, Hermione got to the tea caddy early to make herself a rare cup of black tea, as Draco had suggested. She figured she could indulge in some caffeine on the morning before classes officially started, but she could also show her new friend her willingness to try new things.
She stood there for a while, absent-mindedly stirring her tea, until the blond-headed boy walked over to her, eyes glued to his shoes. Hermione perked up excitedly, ready to interact with her new friend.
"Hey, I'm trying black tea today! Two sugars and a teaspoon of cream, just the way you like it. I was waiting for you to take my first sip and determine whether or not it really is the best tea that there is… are you okay, Draco?"
He shuffled his feet and poured himself a cup of water before replying, "I know that only Muggleborns have dentists for parents."
Confused by his remark, yet still offended by his tone of voice, Hermione grasped her teacup and took a step back. "What?"
Draco put his teabag into his cup. "You're not of pure blood, so my father doesn't want me to associate with you. Plus, you're in Gryffindor, so we aren't supposed to get along. You're a lion," He retorted rather distastefully. It was then that Hermione noticed his green robes.
"Well, I'd like to think we could still be good friends. After all, we are the only first years who drink tea."
"I don't think it's possible," Draco mumbled, and with a turn of his heels, he headed back to his table.
"Wait! You didn't add any cream or sugar!" Hermione yelled after him, but Draco kept walking, his ears reddening slightly.
Sadly looking at her cup of tea, Hermione walked to her place, alone, at the Gryffindor table to give the tea a taste. Hesitantly, she brought the mug to her lips and took a sip. As the warm liquid made its way down her throat, she decided that she had never had a drink quite as good as this one. It was like a small dosage of ambrosia for her soul. She looked over at Draco, who was staring at her intently across the room, and smiled.
After that encounter, Draco planned his day around purposely avoiding Hermione at the tea caddy. Hermione got the message, but she still stayed at the teacart for prolonged periods of time in order to get a second with him. As expected, she never got it. Eventually, he began teasing her in class and in the halls, and she gave up, getting her tea quickly before each meal started. Eventually, they fell into a sort of rhythm of Hermione getting her tea and Draco following shortly afterward, once he was sure that she would not return.
It was a morning in their third year that Hermione left her teacup, which Draco had seen that she had only taken a single sip out of, next to the caddy and practically disappeared out of the Great Hall. When Draco realized that she wouldn't return, he made his way over to the tea station. Looking over at her teacup, he realized it was made just the way he made it- black tea with two sugar cubes and a teaspoon of cream. Glancing around to make sure no one was looking at him, he took the mug of tea with him to his table, getting a small taste of Hermione with his tea. It was a good day- until she punched him in the face.
Hermione didn't leave her tea sitting on the cart after that day, but Draco doubted that she knew that he had tasted any of it. They fell back to their normal rhythm and this way it stayed, until the middle of sixth year, when Hermione decided that she would rather transfigure her tea. She knew it didn't taste the same, but she had found herself too pressed on time to brew it on her own.
When the war was over and his N.E.W.T.s were completed with the help of a private tutor, his mother guaranteed him a job in the Ministry (with a little bit of negotiation). He was ecstatic upon hearing the news. Given the results of the war and the reparations placed on his family, he didn't think that he would've been able to get hired anywhere. But when his mother gave him the full details of his position right before he left for his first official day, his mood dampened. While a job in Magical Law Enforcement was ideal, his position was in a sub department that concerned itself with creatures and beings that could not advocate for themselves. These were the terms that his mother had negotiated with the Minister, and there was not much he could do about it. He would begin with the financing and accounting of the Department, which required little to no political involvement, a fact for which he was glad. He went about each day, mostly to himself, following the instructions he was given by various members of the Department. He sent messages to various other Ministry departments and dutifully monitored the budget. It was a simple job, and Draco was glad for its monotony.
Two weeks into the job, Draco had found a rhythm that he could stick to. He was more or less accustomed to his position. On a particularly quiet Friday, he decided he could use some tea, and asked one of the interns within the Department whether they knew where he could get some.
"We have some coffee and premade tea on this floor in the corner near the main office, but if you ask me, the best tea is on the floor below us, where members of the department work on the most serious legal cases."
They pointed him to a staircase that he could take. He mumbled a curt "thank you" and was on his way.
Entering through a small doorway, Draco realized that he was immensely glad not to work here. Papers quite literally flew between desks, wizards and witches hunched over large stacks of paper writing notes frantically, and, somewhere in the room, a Muggle telephone constantly rung.
Spotting a tea caddy in a corner opposite him, Draco maneuvered his way around the bustling room, avoiding as many people as he possibly could and keeping his gaze down at his feet. Of all places to be recognized as a Malfoy, Draco knew that this particular office was not an office in which he would be welcomed. Once he reached the teacart, he planned to quickly brew his tea and be off.
Unfortunately, he realized he had not brought a teacup with him. On a whim, he took a lightly used handkerchief out of his pocket, scourigified the dirt off of it, and then transfigured it into a sizable mug. Smiling at his work, he poured hot water into his mug and waited the couple of minutes that were needed for his tea to steep. He intently watched the tea brew in his mug, which made him oblivious to the witch that was watching him from a nearby desk.
After the appropriate amount of time had passed, he removed his teabag, and reached for the sugar. But it wasn't there.
"Looking for the sugar, Malfoy?"
Draco looked behind him, and there she was, the only other true tea enthusiast that he knew from his year. She began to make her way over.
"I had it on my desk because I had brewed some of my own tea earlier, only to realize I had run out of my own stash of sugar cubes. I had fully intended on bringing it back as soon as I was done, but you looked so happy without it."
Placing the small bowl in front of him, she spooned two sugar cubes out and placed them inside of his cup.
"I assume you still take your black tea with two sugar cubes and a teaspoon of cream, right? I would add the cream for you as well, since you appear to be much too flabbergasted to do it yourself, but it seems that it is just out of my reach."
Silently, he moved to grab the cream, pouring just a teaspoon into his mug. As he was about to place it back down, her hand fell slowly on his.
"If you'll excuse me, I need to add a teaspoon of cream to my tea as well. It's funny, ever since the day that I tried it, it seems that I cannot stop drinking my tea the way your mother recommends."
As she turned around to make her way back to her desk, Draco breathed for the first time since she had said his name. Slowly, he began to stir his tea as he watched her go, her hips swaying in a beautiful rhythm. She sat down and began her work. Draco grabbed his cup of tea to make his way out of the office and away from the malicious stares that he was receiving from her co-workers.
"Oh, and by the way, I know this fantastic tea shop in downtown London that I think you should try. I slipped the address into your breast pocket. I'll be there at one o'clock tomorrow. See you then, yeah?" Hermione said across the room, and then went back to her work.
Draco's ears reddened, and he quickly dashed up the staircase and out of the office. He was thoroughly embarrassed, and was glad to get away from the myriad of stares and to his own office, where everyone kept to him or herself. Sighing and sinking into his chair, he drank his tea and let his hand drift to his breast pocket. There was, in fact, a small piece of paper. He decided he would look at it when his shift was over. Gulping down the rest of his tea and getting back to work, his mind drifted to a certain head of chestnut curls as he worked mindlessly on financing and menial organization.
The next day, Draco found himself in Muggle London, standing outside a rather ornate café. He leaned into a nearby wall, hoping to fall into it and disappear. Not much time had passed before a hand grabbed his, dark and tanned skin contrasting his own paleness. Looking up, he found himself gazing into honey-speckled brown eyes and a smiling face.
"I'm so glad you decided to come. I think we have a lot to tell each other, Draco."
And into the teashop they went, hand in hand, not leaving until the sun had all but set.