A/N: This story popped into my head as I was delivering cookies to my local fire station and I couldn't get it out of my head, so here it is. Enjoy!
It's a family tradition she has always loved.
When she was little, her parents would take a day off work and pull her out of school to bake cookies all day long. The baked goods were then packaged in silver holiday-decorated tins and the Granger family of three would visit the nearby fire stations, police stations, and hospitals to bring a little holiday cheer.
The tradition continued on, even when Hermione went to Hogwarts, though they did change the tradition slightly. She couldn't bear to miss classes and wanted to stay on top of her studies, so they pushed it back until Hermione got home from Hogwarts for holiday break. They never missed a year. Well except the year before last when the war happened and then last year, when things were just getting back to normal and she was trying to get her life in order.
She wondered if her parents even as Wendell and Monica Wilkins, would have the inkling to do something similar during the holiday season in Australia.
The sound of an alarm rang through the room. Hermione smiled as she got up from the sofa in the living room of her flat to make her way towards the kitchen. The entire flat smelled like Christmas. She grabbed the two oven mitts by the kitchen counter, opened her oven, and took out two trays of freshly baked ginger cookies. She set the trays on the counter and as she waited for those last two trays to cool, she took the other cookies she had already cooled sitting on the counter and put them into the silver tins she bought last week.
Fifteen minutes later, Hermione walked out into the brisk December day in Muggle London. She smiled remembering the look Ron and Ginny gave her when she told them that she was moving to Muggle London after the war. They didn't understand why she would want to live in the Muggle world, especially since her parents were no longer living there. Harry though seemed to have understood why she needed a little break from the magical world. Not that she was giving up magic or anything crazy like that, she just wanted a break or more like a balance between magic and non-magic.
Hermione took a deep breath as she continued her walk down the street. The closest fire station to her was a couple of blocks down the road. The wind was picking up and as winter drew closer, the evenings grew darker faster. She sped up, rounding the corner of the street to come to a lit building, Fire Station #108.
She quickly walked up the walkway towards the front door. It looked pretty dark and she wondered if she came too late. She buzzed the front door twice as she shivered from the cold.
"Of course they're not here," she muttered to herself shaking her head. She debated what to do: leave the cookies on the doorstep or just come back another day. "I guess I'll just come back tomorrow."
She proceeded to turn away from the door and slowly walk back the walkway to the street. As she turned the corner, she heard the hum of a vehicle approaching. She glanced back to see two fire trucks coming and turning into the fire station. Hermione grinned and thought about how lucky she was that they showed up just in time. Cookies, as everyone knows, is just better when it's fresh out of the oven. She quickly turned back towards the station again. As she approached the station, she could make out figures coming out of the truck.
She quickly walked up the walkway towards one of the trucks parked on the driveway. She saw someone in a firefighter uniform retrieving things from inside the truck. She made her way towards the person and cleared her throat as she stood a couple of feet away.
"Excuse me, " Hermione called out.
The man turned his head towards her to see who was there.
Hermione gasped. "What are you doing here?" she sputtered as she walked closer. Her eyes were wide and in her shock, almost dropped the tin of cookies she held in her hand.
The blond figure in front of her raised his eyebrows and smirked as he nodded his head towards her. "Granger," he greeted. "Fancy meeting you here."
"Hermione," she instinctively corrected.
He gave her an amused look and repeated, "Hermione."
She blushed and shook her head. "Sorry, you never answered my question. What are you doing here?"
The man in front of her shrugged his shoulders, "I work here."
"Sorry come again? Did you just say you worked here?"
"That he does," another voice piped in. She looked to her left to see an older man approaching them. "Hello ma'am, my name is Sam and I'm the Fire Chief of this station." The man held out his hand for her to shake, which she took. "You know Draco over here?" he gestured his head towards the blond.
"Uh yes, we went to school together, she answered glancing back at the blond. "I have not seen him in over a year since we uh finished school."
"Two," Draco countered. "It's been two years." Hermione looked at Draco and their eyes met. She quickly looked away and nodded.
"Small world isn't it?" Sam commented chuckling. "Draco here has been with us for the past year and a half. He's one of the best firefighters we have in the unit!"
Hermione looked at Draco who looked down at his feet at the praise. "Let's not tell lies now Chief, you know that Erin is the best in the unit."
Sam chuckled again as he clapped Draco in the back, "Hey, I did say one of not THE best."
Draco grinned. "That you did," he agreed.
Hermione stared in amazement at the conversation in front of her. Here he was, Draco Malfoy, joking around and with a Muggle nonetheless. Not to mention he apparently was a firefighter, for the past year and a half. It was like she was in a twilight zone.
"Alright there Hermione?" a familiar drawl pulled her out of her thoughts. He was smirking at her, while the chief looked at her amused. She blushed. "Oh sorry, I was lost in thought."
"What can we do for you Miss?" the Sam asked.
"Oh! I almost forgot why I came!" She thrusted forward the silver tin she had in her hand, "I made these for you all. They are ginger cookies, I hope you like them."
"Homemade cookies? Lucky us!" The chief took the silver tin from her. "Thank you, we appreciate it. Wait until I tell the rest of the team, I'm sure they would love some homemade cookies after a long day." He turned towards Draco and gestured him towards the station. "Why don't you get on out of here? Maybe you two would like to catch up?"
Draco nodded and turned his head towards Hermione, "What do you say? There is a café nearby if you would like to grab some coffee? But if you don't…" his voice trailed off. Hermione shook her head. "Of course, coffee sounds great in this chilly weather."
Draco nodded again. "Let me just put some of this stuff away and I'll be back." Hermione just nodded as he took a couple of things from the truck, smiled at the Chief and made his way back towards the station. She had just agreed to grab coffee with Draco Malfoy. Shaking her head she looked at the chief who looked back amused. "You seem surprised to see him here."
"I am," she agreed. "I haven't seen him in ages and uh, he looks and seems different."
The chief snorted in amusement, "You mean he's not a gangly little thing anymore? Oh he was when he first applied. Don't tell him I told you, but he failed the first time. It was like he got up one morning and decided 'I want to be a firefighter'." Hermione giggled as she was not at all surprised. The person she knew, who hated anything Muggle related, would know nothing about what it was like in this world, and even more what it takes to be a firefighter. "But he came back a couple of months later, more serious, more prepared and passed all the tests with perfect score." The chief shrugged, "And he has been with us since. He really is one of the best. Really."
Hermione shook her head and laughed. "It's not that I don't want to believe you, he was just a completely different person when I knew him in school."
"Oh? How so?"
"I was an ass." A voice interrupted their conversation. Hermione turned her head to see the blond walking towards them from the station. He had changed, out of the uniform and into a hoodie with "LONDON FIRE BRIGADE" lining the front in white block letters. She couldn't help but to notice how different the boy in front of her looked. She couldn't help but blush noticing how fit Draco has become.
"Don't doubt that. You still are sometimes." Chief laughed clapping him on the back once again. "Miss…"
"Granger, but you can call me Hermione."
"Miss Granger. It was a pleasure, but I should really get inside." The chief gestured towards the truck and then the station. "I will let you two catch up. See you tomorrow morning Draco."
"G'night Chief." Draco looked at Hermione. "Shall we? I know a café nearby…" his voice trailed off.
"So you said. Lead on Malfoy."
"Draco." Hermione blinked in surprise. "If you want me to call you by your first name, don't you think you should be doing the same?" he asked teasingly.
"Draco Malfoy, you have changed." Hermione fell into step beside him as they walked away from the station.
"Couldn't be a villain all my life I suppose," he responded as he shrugged his shoulder.
She shook her head at his comment to disagree."I don't think you are a villain or were for that matter. Maybe misguided and cocky and a bit of a bully." He pointedly looked at her, not at all believing what she was saying. "What? Sorry to say Malfoy, I think you would win the award for the worst Death Eater on the planet." She said giggling.
He snorted, "Can't say that I tried very hard to be the best. I was shitting my pants ninety percent of the time." They turned into a busier street and he led her to a small coffee shop, the red open sign still lit up at the front.
"You just keep surprising me today," Hermione commented as she walked in and Draco trailed behind her. He looked at her questioningly. She gestured around her with her hand, "The Fix. I come here every afternoon, they have the best fu-"
"Fudge brownies," he filled in. "I know I come here every morning for one and a cup of coffee." They made their way to the counter to put in their order before sitting down at a table by the window.
"How is it we've never bumped into each other around town? You know I live just a couple of blocks away from the station."
He shrugged, "I don't go out much. I'm here really early in the morning and then I go straight to work. Then after work I go home."
"Do you not visit…" she started, but looked around to see if anyone is listening in on their conversation. "I mean to ask, if you still visit the Wizarding World? I don't think I've heard about your whereabouts ever since, um well."
"Ever since the trial," he confirmed. "To answer your question, no I have not visited for quite some time."
Hermione felt her jaw drop. "What do you mean you have not visited? Do you mean to tell me that for the past 2 years, you've been solely in the Muggle world?" she sputtered, her voice rising in surprise.
"Shh, keep your voice down," he hissed as he saw the barista look over to their table. "You do remember the Internal Statue of Secrecy don't you?"
She rolled her eyes, "Of course I remember. You do know I work in the Ministry right?"
He shrugged, "Vaguely. I think I remember reading it in the Prophet somewhere."
"And there is nobody around,: she pointed out. The café was empty, they were the only other people inside other than the barista. "Okay stop stalling, explain," she told him.
He smirked at her, "Explain what exactly?"
She huffed in annoyance, "Stop being a jerk Malfoy You know what I mean."
"Don't get your knickers in a twist Granger," he drawled. She rolled her eyes again at his comment. "I don't know what you want me to say? I haven't been back for some time. I would give it about a year and a half or so, after I've started the job." He nodded down towards his hoodie.
"Why?"
"Father is Azkaban. Mother is with Andromeda, I'm sure you are aware," he started. Hermione nodded her head confirming that she indeed was aware.
After the Final Battle, all remaining Death Eaters were taken in and put on trial in front of the Wizengamot. Almost all, which were few to begin with as most were killed during the battle, were put away to Azkaban. Lucius Malfoy was amongst those put away, though his 10-year sentence was short compared to the others. It was determined that he quietly changed allegiances at the end, though the Wizengamot could not overlook all his previous crimes leading up to those moments.
Narcissa Malfoy was spared Azkaban due to Harry Potter's testimony. He argued that he would not have been able to defeat Voldemort if she did not lie when asked if he was still alive or not. She was given a sentence of 10 years under house arrest, her wand confiscated for half those years. On good behavior, she would be able to get her wand back after the 5 years have passed. As the Ministry confiscated the Malfoy Manor, Andromeda offered to take her sister in to live with her.
Draco was also put on trial and after hearing testimonies from multiple parties, the Wizengamot decided that he would not be put away in Azkaban nor be put under house arrest. Although, due to the attempted murder of one Albus Dumbledore and other minor charges, they decided to confiscate his wand for 2 years. They said that it would make him learn the consequence of the improper use of magic and to appreciate those he was raised to hate, Muggles and Muggleborns.
"There was just no real reason for me to visit," Draco explained.
"But your mom?" Hermione questioned.
"Owls," he answered. "A couple of days after the hearing, I decided to leave and I ended up here."
Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Your first thought was to come to Muggle London?" she asked incredulously.
He shrugged. "Didn't have anywhere else to go. No manor, no family really. I also needed to get away from you know…" he trailed off.
"Everything," she finished for him nodding her head.
"Yeah. People had opinions, asked a lot of questions. Reporters would always find me somehow. Besides, I didn't have my wand. What better place to be than here?" Draco continued.
She was quiet for a moment and shook her head in disbelief. "Draco Malfoy. In Muggle London. Godric, if someone told me that 5 years ago I think I would have told them to go to to get a check up."
He chuckled, "I probably would have checked into St. Mungos myself, if my father didn't get to me first."
She laughed. "And tell me about this," she gestured at the front of his hoodie. "The Fire Brigade? Really?"
Draco opened his mouth to answer, but the barista stopped with their drinks and a couple squares of fudge brownies. After a quiet mutter of thanks, he turned his head towards her once again. "What about it?"
"A fire fighter Draco? I would have pegged you to be a banker or do something like in real estate," Hermione said.
He scoffed, "Boring. This is more fun. Besides, I need to put this to use" Draco grinned as he lifted both his arms to flex.
She rolled her eyes. "Bugger off. A little birdie told me that you failed when you applied for the first time," she smirked her eyes twinkling mischievously.
Draco narrowed his eyes at her again. "For your information, I was not prepared the first time I applied. I didn't know what the process was like."
"So I thought," she confirmed. "And how did you prepare the second time?"
"I used a computer," he told her. "To get insights on what the entire process was like. Then I got myself a gym membership and trained hard the next couple of weeks."
She stared at him in awe. "How in the hell did you figure out what and how to use the computer?"
He shot her his signature smirk. "Why your favourite place of course, the library."
"You have got to be joking. You are telling me you now know how to use a computer? Like a real Muggle computer." Hermione sputtered clearly still in disbelief that the man in front of her is capable of doing just that.
"I've been living in Muggle London for more than a year now. Do you not think I would learn these things?" he asked pointedly.
She shook her head, "My head hurts. Next you're going to tell me you have your driving permit and know how to drive a car."
"Ha. I actually do have my permit and love my Jag thank you very much," he said as he took a one of the brownies in front of him and took a bite. "These brownies are killer."
She smiled and nodded her head in agreement. "You never answered my question you know?" she pointed out.
"Hm?" he took another bite of his brownie and closed his eyes to savor it.
"Why you joined the Brigade?" she asked.
He sighed as he opened his eyes to look at her. "I needed a job. I needed a job and I needed something that would take my head off things. Something completely different than what my Father did and something that will let me make up a little bit of the horrible things I've done in my life." He turned his head away in shame. "I didn't get to say thank you."
She looked at him confused. "For what exactly?"
"For testifying on my behalf. I apologize for all the terrible things I did in school, I was and still am an ass. But I hope you know that I don't believe in that blood purity rubbish," he scoffed. "I'm not sure I believed it in the first place. But I-"
"Did what you needed to do to survive," she finished for him. He looked up and locked eyes with her brown ones. She gave him a small smile and reached out to grab his hand on top of the table. "I've forgiven you a while back Draco. I meant what I said, you're not evil."
"Just an arrogant bully right?" he gave her a small smile in return. She squeezed his hand gently and pulled her hand away.
"Right," she agreed while chuckling. They sat and continued to talk. Hermione didn't remember the last time she laughed this hard, listening to Draco telling her of the stories of his time transitioning to living in Muggle London. She grabbed her phone from her pocket and glanced at the time. "Oh wow, I didn't realize it was getting late! I have a meeting tomorrow morning with the French Minister."
He raised his eyebrows questioningly. "Oh, it's some nonsense about one of the treaties we are working on. I uh work in the Magical Cooperation Department," she explained.
"You'll have to let me know about it sometime," he told her.
Well then, it seems that they might be meeting again. Hermione smiled, "I'd like that." Draco reached into his pocket to take his phone out as well and confirm the time. He looked up and saw her looking at his phone. He shook his head at her and she laughed. "Sorry, I'm still trying to get used to you using all these gadgets." They both got out of their seats and made their way to the door.
"Would you like me to walk you home?" he asked politely as they stepped out into the cold. She shivered and shook her head. "That's okay, I'll just apparate back to my flat." She glanced at him, "Would you like me to take you back to the station?"
He shook his head, "Nah. I'll walk, it's not too far from here."
She smiled, "It was really nice seeing you Draco."
He reached over and grabbed one of her hands. He lifted it to his lips and gave a kiss on the back of her hands. He looked up and saw colour filling her cheeks. "Hermione. It's been a pleasure." He gently dropped her hand. "You know those cookies you gave, I'm not going to get any," he dramatically sighed.
"Guess I'll just have to make more then," she said sending him a small smile.
"The next tin will have to be just for me," he told her as he slowly backed away to make his way back to the station. "Later Granger," he called as he rounded the corner and out of sight.
She shook her head. What a night it was. Hermione couldn't help but smile to herself, already looking forward to their next meeting. She looked around, saw nobody within sight, and disapparated into the night with a crack.