A/N: This is OC and AU! But I guess that's what makes it a FANfiction, right?
After the war, it was a joyous time, but it still left a hole in many a chest among the witches and wizards involved. Watching someone die is a feeling so horrifying that it never really leaves you.
However, besides the downtrodden 'heroes' of the war, every other citizen of the magical world was feeling great. Their economy was recovering, their birth rate was up, and more people were laughing and smiling in the rebuilt streets of Diagon Alley.
I suppose it was no surprise then that 'heroes' had to cope with everyone's happiness. After all, what is happiness without pain and suffering?
And, to date, what was Hermione Granger without drugs?
'A stable Hermione Granger,' she thought ruefully, as she locked the door to her flat, throwing down her bag of work. She did her 9-5 everyday, but she would be damned if she did anything else beyond that. Once crowned the 'brightest witch of her age', she no longer cared about career achievement. She was hooked. She had found the fountain of eternal pleasure, and she had fallen in and drowned.
She saw her reflection in the hallway mirror, and it stared back at her, a slow smirk rising on her mouth. Her hair tousled from the activity of the day, still brown and curly, but much less unruly. Her eyes still brown, but more tired looking, and a lot more dull. No more spark of genius behind her eyes. Sure, it was there still. She hadn't switched brains with Ronald, but she had since tucked away the know-it-all, and replaced it with something different. Something better.
She went into her room and changed into shorts and a tank top, and went out to sit on her sofa. She leaned back, and turned her stereo on, letting the intense bass beat from the electronica rock the flat. She used her magic to mix herself a cocktail, martini, straight up, and crumbled the small pill into it. She had come to know personally that X stood for Ecstasy.
She lay back again, got comfortable, and sipped the drink. As the beat pumped faster, she found herself flying in a Technicolor array of lights that were sounds, and she smiled, really smiled, for the first time all day.
Yes kids. X had zero on magic.
Draco stalked the streets of Diagon Alley, heading towards the new coffee shop. If he didn't get his morning cup of coffee, with a jolt of caffeine straight into his bloodstream, he wasn't sure he could function. The barista, Chloe, had taken a liking to him anyway. She always gave him a discount as long as he came in during her shift. She was cute, not sexy, with bright bubble gum lipstick and a short blonde bob. He could stand to look at her, but unless he was going to be desperate in the near future, he couldn't contemplate fucking her.
Chloe smiled as she saw him walk in the door. She was already with a customer, but he could tell she was trying to hurry her away so that she could talk to Draco. Draco thought that the young woman in front of him was more his type than Chloe though, although he could only see her slightly wavy hair, but from the looks of her ass, Draco approved. It's not every day that you see an ass that has two perfectly sculpted apples, curved just right, waiting for you to grab onto them.
It surprised Draco immensely when the woman in front of him said, without turning around, "Is there someone quite interesting standing behind me? You haven't wrote down my order yet, but you're trying to make it, all while staring past my shoulder."
Chloe visibly blushed, "Err… I'm quite sorry ma'am. One of my regulars, and I enjoy talking to him."
"Mmm I suspect you'd like to do more than talk," she said, a smile in her voice, "Well who is it then?"
The woman turned and met Draco's gaze. They both stared at each other for a few seconds. Both were dumbfounded, and then surprised, and then her eyes registered a small amount of shame. She turned around, facing Chloe again, "I'm quite surprised to see Draco Malfoy out prowling for coffee like a commoner."
Chloe looked surprised for a second and then she broke out into a grin, "He comes every morning! He's quite grumpy until he's been served by me!"
Hermione Granger turned to face him again, this time with a coy smile on her lips, and one of her eyebrows arching up, asking a question.
"Served, eh…?" she chuckled, her face trying to keep an ounce of innocence, but at the same time, Draco could see her implication, unspoken.
He visibly paled. Was this really Hermione Granger? He was caught between feeling very intrigued and feeling very concerned. Did someone make a polyjuice potion and turn into Granger and then romp around the Alley, making snarky remarks and flashing flirty grins?
She turned back to Chloe, grabbed her drink, and made her way to a booth. Draco ordered his drink, paying no attention to Chloe, and went to join Granger.
"Granger, do you mind if I sit?" he asked, standing awkwardly next to her booth.
"Do I mind? Why, certainly not. Do I mind if you sit with me? I suppose it depends."
"Depends on what?"
"Depends on if you make me regret letting you sit with me."
"I'll try not to purposefully piss you off."
"I suppose that's all I can ask of you. Please, Draco, sit."
Draco? When was the last time he saw Granger? He tried to recall. He shivered. The last time he could recall was when she was getting tortured in Malfoy Manor. That's not an experience to put you on a first name basis.
He sat down anyway.
"I don't recognize you at all," Draco said, decided to be blunt, "Should I be worried that you're not really Granger, and that you have a polyjuice potion hidden somewhere on your person?"
Granger laughed, throwing her head back, a few of her curls falling behind her shoulders.
"Thank you Draco, I hadn't laughed in some time," she said, her smile fading slightly, but still on her face, "I'm afraid I'm the real deal. No other Hermione around. At least, none that I know of."
She took a sip of her coffee, and started eating a biscuit.
"May I ask, in the kindest of ways, if you've had a lobotomy?" Draco asked.
She laughed again. It sounded like magic. Draco was slightly ashamed, and increasingly surprised, at how he had ever found her unappealing. She looked a little worse for wear, but we were both 10 years out of school, and busy. He could remember her from the Manor. He felt wholly disgusted with himself when he had gotten slightly aroused from hearing her screams that night. That only happened when he wasn't witnessing the torture, but when he had fled the scene, he had heard her screams faintly from another room, and his imagination had warped them into soft moans.
Just thinking about the past sent goosepimples crawling up his arms, and he felt bile rising in his throat.
'Never think about those things again. You agreed you would never think about those things again!' he chanted silently.
"Draco?" Hermione asked, but she seemed far away. He snapped back to reality when he felt her cool hand on his cheek. He snapped back, feeling repulsed that she would touch such a monster. Only whores touch him anymore. He won't taint another innocent female.
"Are you alright? You suddenly went very white, and your face was ice cold," Granger said, looking slightly concerned from across the table.
"Ah…em… I'm sorry. I had a moment," Draco coughed, feeling ashamed again, "I didn't mean to alarm you."
"Would you like a biscuit?" she smiled, holding up a biscuit to him.
"Er, no thank you," Draco said, "I'm not hungry."
Granger shrugged, and returned the biscuit to her plate.
They sipped their coffee in silence for a time. Draco lost track of time, but it passed amicably. Therefore Draco almost jumped out of his seat when Granger started to speak to him, albeit a little softer than last time they spoke.
"Hey, Draco," she said, scooting a little closer to him, as if she wanted to speak privately. He scooted forward too, as not to be rude, "Do you have…a hole inside of you? A black hole that eats the rest of your feelings? That makes you feel…empty?"
Draco felt his pulse quickening. Was he transparent? He felt himself panicking, "I-I don't…I don't know…"
"Shhh…" Granger whispered, trying to get closer, manic in her eyes, "I have it. You have it. I've been wanting to try this for awhile… If you're game, I'd really like to know if two wrongs make a right."
Draco felt his face go slack. Was she for real?