CHAPTER 1
The smallest potion apothecary in Diagon Alley opened as usual at 9am. Draco unlocked the doors, checked the cash register and made sure all the items were in the inventory. Ready for another day without customers.
He sighed as he looked at the few wizards passing by his window, but no one came in.
His mother had insisted he would take over his father's business, but he didn't feel like doing work that would never be his own. It would always be his father's broom business. Instead, he opened up an apothecary with Goyle a few years ago.
It had everything an apothecary should have and more, but the apothecary stayed empty. He considered removing his name from the shop, but that would feel like cheating.
Just as he walked to the back, he could hear the bells jingle from the entrance. It was Goyle.
"Mornin'", he said.
"Good morning, Gregory," he said and went to fill the dragon hairs.
"Have you read the Daily Prophet lately?" Goyle asked as he hung up his robes behind the counter.
"Just the front pages and Quidditch section, why?"
"Looks like that Granger girl from school is taking over the Muggle film business," Goyle said as he grabbed the Daily Prophet and opened it on the counter at the Entertainment section.
"Film?" Draco asked as he walked towards the counter.
"Yeah, it's like a book, but then people act out the story. And other people can watch that, like at home or in a theatre. As many times as they want."
Draco questioned how Goyle would know that, but this thought was quickly abandoned when he saw the photograph of Granger. On the photo she was stepping out of a rather long vehicle, he recognised it as a car, in a shimmery dress and lots of camera flashes surrounding her.
"Woah."
"I know right?"
Goyle walked away to help out a new customer, but Draco was entranced by the photo of her.
He hadn't seen Granger in ages, only at some benefit galas with the Weasel and Pothead, who were weirdly absent in the photo and article.
HERMIONE GRANGER MAKES FILM DEBUT IN MUGGLE WORLD
Hermione Granger, 1/3 of the Golden Trio and Brightest Witch of Our Age has recently made her film debut in the Muggle World with the film "Silent Halls".
For those of you who have missed their Muggle Studies classes at Hogwarts, films are like plays or books but acted out. This is recorded in such a way that Muggles can watch it at a cinema (like a theatre but with a big screen where the film is shown) or at home.
'Oh, so that's where Goyle got his knowledge', Draco thought.
Miss Granger has played in many more films, so it seems, but this is her debut. Many reviews praise her performance and she is being recognized on the Muggle streets daily.
The film itself "Silent Halls", is about…
Draco got distracted by the photo once more and stopped reading.
She looked positively radiating, he thought. Her smile was genuine as she waved to some fans and photographers.
"Not like the girl we knew from school, right?" Goyle commented and Draco absentmindedly nodded at him as he tried to pry his eyes away from the photo.
"Where do you think Pothead and Weasel are, though?" Draco asked.
"Ministry work I expect. Probably some Auror career. Not likely that they've joined her over there."
Draco nodded and closed the paper, but the photo was still fresh on his mind.
"I forgot to get tea, by the way, do you mind getting some? My hands are covered with dirt," Goyle asked as he showed his hands.
"Sure," he answered and went to grab his robes. A good walk would make him forget the photo and all would be back to normal.
As he went to walk to the Leaky Cauldron to get some tea to go, he tried to think of the last time he had seen Granger. Two years? Maybe even three?
His walk to the Leaky Cauldron was short and in no time he had the two tea's in his hand and was walking back towards the apothecary.
Turning the corner, with the name of the apothecary already in sight again, he considered again to change the name for more clientele. He hadn't noticed the person turning the corner on the other side and bumped into her, tea first.
"Oh my god!" the person screeched and Draco winced as well, as the tea had hit him in the chest area as well.
Draco looked up to see who he had hit and his widened.
None other than Hermione Granger. The woman he had been staring at on a photograph, just 15 minutes ago.
She was frantically wiping her chest and her arms and he could see that a bag of books was soaked as well.
"I-I'm so sorry, Granger?" he said as he looked at her and willed her to make eye contact with him.
Granger looked him in the eye and her eyes widened in shock as well, as she hadn't seen who she had bumped into.
"Malfoy," she blurts out, "it's you."
"It is, and although this reunion is quite unexpected, we need you to get dry and some ointment on those burns," he said and grabbed her bag of books to help her.
"No, no, it's fine. My robes will dry and I'll tend to the burns myself," she said as she tried to grab the bag out of Draco's hands.
"Granger, I know we weren't the best of friends back at Hogwarts, but I just poured hot tea over you and my place is just over there."
He thought it best to not bring her to the apothecary, or the Daily Prophet would have a field day as Goyle was particularly bad at keeping secrets.
"What do you mean, just over there?"
"Literally, just over there." He pointed at his house and saw her eyes follow the door just across the street.
She blushed and nodded, "Fine then."
Together they walked across the street and Draco opened the door for her.
"Uhm, if you walk up the stairs to the right you can do a change of clothing. I wouldn't dare put a drying spell or a Scourgify on those expensive clothes," he chuckled and she merely nodded.
As he watched her walk up the stairs he couldn't possess how surreal this whole situation was. A hand went through his hair and he tried to tidy his house a bit, but it was almost impossible if you have Theo Nott as a roommate.
After Astoria had left him for another only last year, he was forced to get a roommate to pay the rent of the house. Selling the house was not an option, as it was so incredibly close to his friends and the shop.
Draco heard Granger come down the stairs, now clad in a skirt, a tank top and a leather jacket. Obviously Muggle clothing.
"Thanks. So where did you have that ointment?" she asked shyly.
"Oh, uhm, right here," he walked forward to put it on her but she grabbed the bottle and put the ointment on herself.
"That's better," she sighed and handed the ointment back to him. Their hands touched briefly and he looked her in the eye.
They held eye contact but she looked down after a few seconds.
She held out her hand for him to shake.
"Thanks, Malfoy, for everything," she smiled and Draco felt something stirring in his stomach as the smile resembled the picture in the Daily Prophet.
"I'll walk you to the door."
Draco led her to the door and they stood there for a few seconds, looking into each other's' eyes.
"Excuse me," he said as he opened the door for her.
Hermione walked through and gave a last smile before he closed the door.
He sighed as he walked into the living room and went to change his robes as the doorbell rang again.
Confused, he walked to the door and opened it.
There she was again.
"Forgot the books," she chuckled
She walked past him and grabbed the bag of books that he laid out on the chair.
"What would Hermione Granger be without her books?" he chuckled but then could smack himself.
Stupid comment.
To his amazement, she managed to chuckle at his comment.
They stood in front of the door again, facing each other.
Without a warning, Hermione stepped forward and pressed her lips to his.
He was so shocked at this, that he almost forgot to kiss her back. But just when he wanted to circle his arms around her waist, she pulled back.
"Bye," she smiled and she opened the door and walked out.
This left him even more flabbergasted than earlier. He couldn't do anything else but blink and gape at the spot where he had just kissed the Gryffindor Princess.
Or rather, where she had kissed him.
When he had all his thoughts in order again, he remembered his own wet robes from the tea.
The tea!
The apothecary!
He quickly put a Scourgify on his robes and slathered some ointment on his neck and arms.
In no time, he was at the apothecary again.
"There you are, what took you so long?" Goyle asked as he waved goodbye to an old witch.
"Busy," Draco mumbled back and he went to straighten some jars in the shop.
"Where is the tea then?" he asked.
"Oh, they uh- ran out of tea," he made up.
He would not let anyone know that he had just kissed Hermione Granger. That would be between him and Granger.
"Ran out of tea? This is England!" Goyle shook his head and Draco could only chuckle at this.