"Good evening, ma'am," said the waitress, who spoke with a thick Japanese accent. "Are you ready to order?"
The teenage girl nodded and handed her menu to the waitress. She took it and placed it under her arm and then stood with her small notepad at the ready. "What will you be having tonight?"
Hermione Granger smiled politely. "I'll have a salmon roll, please. Oh, and a small pot of green tea."
The waitress smiled and dipped her head in a small bow. "Hai. I'll get you your tea straight away."
"Thank you," Hermione replied as the young woman turned and walked away. Just minutes later, the tea arrived at her table and she sat, inhaling it's scent, before taking a sip. As she tasted the bitter liquid on her tongue, she let out a happy sigh, relishing in a rare moment of contenment.
She had been in the Muggle world for little over a week, having fled to her parents' house after Ron's impulsive action. Back from the Australia and Hermione's memory charm, they had settled easily back into their old lives and had welcomed their daughter back into her childhood home with wide open arms. But night after night of sticking close by her parents had worn a bit thin, so she had decided to take a night or two to herself and come to her favourite sushi restaurant, Daikatsu. Coincidently, it was on Charing Cross road, just a few blocks away from the Leaky Cauldron.
Not that she was going to go there.
She didn't want to chance running into anyone from the Wizarding world. Mostly she wanted to get away from reporters; ever since the war had ended, some of Harry's fame had seemingly rubbed off on her and Ron. People apparently were interested in what she was doing with her life, and it had only intensified after her graduation three weeks ago. Plus she didn't want to speak to anyone who might bring up one Ronald Weasley. She remembered the last reporter who had caught her unaware one weekend in Hogsmeade. "Ms. Ganger, Ms. Granger, we just heard the wonderful news of Harry Potter's engagement to Ginevra Weasley...when should the loyal readers to expect your own happy news with Mr. Weasley?" She had ignored the man and practically ran back to the castle, where she had stayed in her room for the rest of the weekend.
'Ugh, was that who put the idea in his bloody head?'
Growling to herself, she tried to concentrate on the hot, bitter tea in her cup. Taking a sip, she felt her shoulders relax.
She just needed a bit of time to herself to think about it, that was all. It had been ten days since the 'Incident', as she called it, and she still hadn't come to terms with it. While she had been staying with her parents, they had kept her so busy with 'family activities' and university tours that she didn't have to think about it. But now that she was on her own, she couldn't get it out of her head.
'How could he do that?' Hermione wondered to herself. 'And in front of everyone? What was he thinking?'
She sighed aloud and put her head in her hands. 'What an idiot!'
"Ahem."
A voice brought her out of her thoughts. It was a waitress, but a different one than the girl who had taken her order. She held out a sake cup.
"This is for you," she said cheerfully, as she placed the sake next to Hermione's tea.
"Excuse me, but I didn't order this."
The waitress giggled. "No. But he did. For you."
Turning around to see who the waitress was discreetly pointing at, Hermione saw the last person in the world she expected to: her one time enemy, Draco Malfoy.
She gasped sharply and felt her eyes narrow.
After the Battle of Hogwarts and he and his family's trial, no one had seen or heard from Draco Malfoy in nearly a year. And here he was, in a Muggle restaurant! She watched as he lifted the sake glass to his mouth and tip it back, swallowing the liquor and placing the cup back on the table. Then he nodded to her. She glared in return and turned her head back around.
'What's he playing at?' She wondered to herself. 'Why is he here? And where has he been all this time?' Her eyes narrowed again. 'Ugh, why do I even care? It's Malfoy after all.' She thanked the girl, who then walked away, and tried to stay calm; to sit and drink her tea in peace without thinking about her old nemisis. But she could practically feel his eyes on her, daring her to turn around. She did, and was greeted with a small smile.
She wasn't expecting that.
She had been expecting a sneer or his trademark smirk. Hermione huffed, angry. Abandoning the pot of green tea and the sake, she immediatly stood up and marched over to him.
"Hello, Granger," he drawled.
There was no malice in his voice; he actually sounded quite cordial.
"What are you doing here?" She growled. She watched as he picked up a piece of sushi, dipped it in soy sauce, and popped it in his mouth. He at least had enough manners to chew and swallow his food before trying to speak, unlike a certain redhead.
"I am enjoying a delightful unagi roll. Eel, you know."
"I know what unagi is, Malfoy," she hissed. "I meant what are you doing here? In a Muggle restaurant?"
He raised an eyebrow and wondered why she was still standing. He motioned to the other side of the booth and Hermione sat down with a noise of aggravation.
"I'm on vacation, you see. In Muggle London. And I'm at this particular restaurant because I found that I have a fondness for Japanese food." He poured another cup of sake and drank it down.
"And for sake."
His pale hand shot out and got the attention of a passing by waiter. "Could I get another bottle of sake, please? And another cup."
The man nodded and hurried off to find more rice wine. "Malfoy!" Her shrill voice cut through the air and turned his attentions back to her. "What in the bloody hell do you mean, 'you're on vacation'? Where have you been this last year? What have you been doing? And why did you just say 'please'? I've never heard you say please in my life!"
He smirked at her. "You're in for another suprise, then, Granger. You're about to hear me say 'thank-you', as well."
As if on cue, the waiter returned with a fresh bottle of sake and a second cup for Hermione. "Thank-you," he said with emphasis. The man nodded and left the two alone. He poured some of the chilled sake into her cup and slid it toward her, but she just looked at him with a suspicious gleam in her eyes. "Malfoy, could you please stay focused? Answer my question," she demanded. But he didn't bristle. "Haven't I already covered that? I just told you, I wanted sushi."
"Here?" She all but screeched. "In the Muggle world?"
He raised a pale eyebrow. "Well, wizards in England haven't exactly caught on to the taste, have they?"
"But..." Hermione stammered. "But you hate muggles." He picked up the cup and drank the alcohol in one gulp but she still hadn't even pick hers up. So he drank it for her. "Malfoy, stop. You're going to get drunk." He let out a sarcastic 'ha!' and smirked.
"I'm nearly three sheets to the wind already, Granger. Catch up."
She glared at him as he poured more sake into her cup and for whatever reason, she drank it. It burned as it went down and she coughed into her hand. He let out a quiet laugh as her breathing returned to normal. "Not to your liking?" He asked, evidently amused. She shook her head. "No, not really. I've never really liked wine, anyways." She saw him look passed her and turned her head. The waitress had arrived back at her table with her food and Hermione made the move to get up.
"Don't bother," he told her quietly. He just held up his arm to get the girl's attention and motioned for her to bring Hermione's order over to the table. "Malfoy, what are you doing?" He lifted one shoulder to shrug. "We're both here alone, why not eat together?"
She crossed her arms over her chest. "Maybe I wanted to be alone, did you ever think of that?"
He nodded. "Maybe. But that just means you didn't want to see any of your friends. Since you didn't expect to see me here, I'm not on your list of people to avoid."
Hermione just shook her head. "Your logic is very flawed. Besides, you're always on my list of people to avoid."
Draco let out a chuckle, but Hermione didn't get up. "Why do you even want me to stay here?" She wondered as she picked up her chopsticks and went at her sushi.
He gave a half shrug.
"We can catch up," he told her with a smirk.
Hermione snorted, but Draco seemed to warm to his own idea. "Yes...actually, it'll be fun. We can play a little game."
She shot him a look as if he had just asked her to give him her right kidney. "Are you mad? I'd rather dive head first into an empty swimming pool that plan a 'game' with you."
But Draco just waved her words away. "Don't worry, Granger. I don't know what's in your naughtly little mind, but I wasn't trying to be lewd."
He ignored her icy glare.
"Come on, Granger. It's quite easy. You answer my questions and I'll answer yours."
She raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"It'll be fun," he told her again. "We can bond."
Hermione let out a bark of laughter. "You really are drunk, aren't you?"
He gave her the ghost of a smile and took another sip, looking at her expectantly.
"Fine," she agreed. But I go first."
Draco only nodded at her, knowing what question she was going to ask.
"Where have you been all this time? Why didn't you come back to Hogwarts?"
"That's two questions, Ganger. One a turn, that's the rule."
She rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright. Where have you been?" He picked up a piece of his unagi roll and took a bite. Making her wait while he chewed and swallowed his food put an aggrivated look on her face, and it amused him.
"Hurry up!" She finally snapped and he smirked.
"I've been everywhere," he told her simply.
"Elaborate," she ordered, taking a bite of her salmon roll.
"After the trial, Mother decided that she wanted to get out of Britain for a little while. I've spent the last year travelling with my parents."
"Really? She asked. "But I thought you and your family was on house arrest or something?" He shook his head and told her, "Wait your next turn." But Hermione waved his words away with a dismissive hand gesture.
"Answer it, or I'm not playing."
Before he would answer, though, he poured her another cup of sake, and refused to answer until she drank it. Draco grinned as she grimaced, and poured her another.
"We weren't under house arrest, as you call it. We were simply being watched very closely by the Ministry. But my mother, the pushy woman that she is, wanted to get away from everything. So she set it all up. The Ministry decided it would be safe enough, provided that we agree to a few conditions."
"Like what?"
"Tracking spells on both us and our wands and a group of Aurors had to follow us wherever we travelled. Ajoining rooms in the hotels and all that."
Hermione absently took a sipe of her sake while she studied him. "You don't seem angry about it. Having a group of people always within sight of you. Watching you."
Draco shrugged. "There were times when I did get angry. We hardly had any privacy. But then I would realize I could have been in Azkaban, and suddenly they would seem alright." Hermione looked around the restaurant warily. "Does that there's an undercover Auror here right now?" Draco shook his head. "No. It was decided that we three no longer needed constant human supervision. I still have the tracking spells on me and my wand, but tonight is my first night Auror-free."
Hermione felt her mouth turn up into a small smile. "Congratulations."
"Thanks, Granger. My turn."
"Wait, I wasn't done!"
But he shook his head. "Too late. My turn."
Hermione let out an irritated breath and nodded, waiting for his question. "Why are you here tonight? Alone, that is. Seemingly avoiding all of your little friends who may now be residing in London?" He could have sworn he saw her blush, but it may have been the shot of sake. "I've been staying with my parents for the passed week," she told him. "After graduation, I wanted to spend some time with them now that they're back. Especially after the past year. But..." She stopped talking, wondering how to say the words without making them sound too harsh. "Out with it, Granger," Draco ordered. "It's me. I don't care how bad it sounds. You needed to get away from clingy parents, is that it?" Her brown eyes went wide. It's like he was reading her mind. She almost laughed at the thought and nodded. "I just needed to be alone for a bit, that's all. I wanted a few nights to myself."
Draco looked at her. "What do you mean, now that they're back?"
But Hermione smirked at him. "Wait until your next turn."
He glared at her and growled something under his breath. "Don't like your own rules, Malfoy?"
He just took a sip of sake.
"Where did you go? And don't say everywhere." She asked.
Draco thought back. "When we left England, we went to France, and from there we went to Italy. I got to visit with Blaise for a time." Hermione nodded. She knew that Blaise Zabini had fled for his ancestral country shortly after the Battle of Hogwarts. He had been neutral in the war, or so she had been told. "How is he?"
"Good. Now that he's turned eighteen he was able to get into his trust funds. The entire time I was there, all he did was party and buy books to add to his collection. It's massive." He looked at Hermione and saw the jealousy in her eyes. He laughed and continued. "Then we spent some time in Egypt. Bloody hot and dusty. Then over to Japan."
"Japan?" She hadn't been expecting that.
He nodded. "Speaking of, did you know that one never pours their own sake? It's your job to see that my glass is never empty, and vice versa. New rule." Hermione just rolled her eyes and let him continue. "We settled there, if you could call living in a hotel 'settled'. Was there for almost all of the school year." He heard a quiet gasp from her side of the table.
"What?"
She blinked hard at him, but Draco couldn't tell if it was confusion or sake that made her do it. "Does that mean you didn't graduate?" She said it so fearfully, as if not graduating was the worst thing that could happen. "Of course I did, Granger. A Malfoy doesn't let a little thing like being out of the country get in the way of their education. McGonagall let me redo the last year through correspondence."
"She did?" She sounded relieved. "How nice of her."
Draco nodded. It was, especially since she had absolutely no reason to do him any favours. "She told me, all the while giving me a rather pointed look I might add, that everyone deserved an education."
"She's right," Hermione agreed, as she tried to think of another question for her next turn.
"My go," Draco told her. "What did you mean when you said 'now that your parents are back'?"
Hermione bit her lip. "I sent them away," she told him honestly. "Just before I left to hunt for Horcruxes."
Draco's pale eyebrows shot towards his hairline. "Sent them away?" He echoed. "Where?"
"Australia."
"And they just went?"
She glanced down at the table, looking somewhat ashamed. "Not on their own. I erased their memories and gave them new ones before I made them leave. I made them forget me." She was expecting Draco to ask why, but to her suprise, he already knew the reason. "It was to keep them dafe, wasn't it? Safe from the Death Eaters, in case we tried to get to you through them."
Hermione nodded slowly.
"Yes. If someone tried to look for them, they wouldn't have succeded. For a while, Helen and Nicholas Granger just didn't exist."
"How did they take it when you brought them back?" He wanted to know. For a brief moment she wondered why Draco even cared, but she shook it off.
She sighed and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I'm not sure. At first it seemed like they were...afraid of me. They've never seen me do magic before, not really, and then I go and tamper with their minds. They know I only did it to protect them, though; they're grateful for that. And they were angry with me for rushing so eagerly into danger."
"Understandable," Draco defended. Hermione shrugged. "I suppose. They had the year to settle back into everything while I was in school, though, so everything's alright now." Draco studied her face. She didn't look sure about it, but he wasn't about to question her. After all, what did he know about how happy families?
He took a sip of sake and waited for her to ask her next question.
"Draco, did you really want to become a Death Eater?"
She held her breath, waiting for him to snap at her that she should mind her own business. But he just shook his head.
"No. Hard as it is to believe, I never did. I used to tell myself I was a coward for thinking that way, but after the war and after we left England, I began to see that I had been right in not wanting to join them. I realized that my father had been wrong all this time. Even he's begun to realize he was wrong."
Hermione scoffed as she drank her sake and Draco scowled as he filled it again. "It isn't as if he's running around with Muggles as his new best friends," he shot at her. "But when we were in Japan, we couldn't help but be surrounded by Muggle technology. He was actually fascinated by it all. Reminded me of Weasel's father, to be honest."
Her cheeks reddened at the name, but Draco didn't comment.
"He was actually going to buy himself a...what's it called again? A mobile. But mother pointed out that nobody he knew had one, so it would have been pointless." Hermione giggled at the thought of Lucius Malfoy standing there with a mobile phone in his hand. "All my life he had told me that because they didn't have magic, Muggles had these awful lives, and that was because that's what his father taught him. Neither of us had even been to the Muggle world until we had both left Hogwarts. I suppose we both thought we were above them all. But after spending so much time in their world, I know now that I was wrong."
Hermione was left staring at him as if he had grown another head.
"You're not joking, are you? You have actually changed?"
He nodded.
"I never thought I would see that! So you don't still hate me for being a Mudblood?"
"I didn't hate you because you were a Muggleborn," he admitted. "That was always my father speaking. I hated you because you were a annoying know-it-all who beat me in nearly every subject."
"And now?"
Draco wanted to smirk, but he found himself actually thinking about her question. What did he think of her now? "Well," he told her after nearly a minute of silence. "I'll always think you're a know-it-all."
Hermione smirked and took a drink of water.
"What about me, Granger? Still wish I had stayed a ferret?" She giggled at the memory. "No. I think I like new Draco enough to keep him in human form. For now."
He grinned before put the last piece of sushi in his mouth and washed it down with sake. 'Merlin, this is strong,' he thought to himself. He was getting quite plastered and he wondered how she was faring. 'I want another salmon roll. Oh, it's my turn isn't it?' Hermione waited patiently as he flagged down the waitress and put in another order, and she marvelled at two things. One was how much she had drank. She hardly ever drank alcohol, and she was coming very close to becoming intoxicated. The other thing was how good of a time she was having with Draco Malfoy of all people. She was glad to see that he had changed from the git he was in school. He was actually pleasant to talk to. Who would have thought?
"What do you want to do now?" He asked suddenly as she drank more sake. "In life, I mean." She noticed his speech slurred a little at the end of the sentence.
"Now that we're finished Hogwarts and out in the big, wide world, you mean?" Draco nodded and noticed a strange look come into her eyes. It was a mixture of sadness and...was that fear? "I have no idea," she admitted softly. "No bloody clue."
Draco was shocked. "Are you serious? You? How do you not know what you want to be?"
Hermione didn't say anything, she could only shrug. He thought perhaps she trying to gather her thoughts into a logical answer. "I suppose," she spoke at last, "It's partly because I was never completely sure I would make it out of Hogwarts at all." Draco sipped the last of his sake and pushed his cup towards Hermione. Filling it back up, she absently pushed it back and watched his thin fingers grasp it and bring it to his lips. "But you're the 'brightest witch in a century' or some bullocks like that. Surely you could walk into any department at the Ministry and ask for a job, and you'd get it!" He poured her more sake and motioned for her to drink, watching her brows settle themselves into a look of confusion as she did. "But that's just it. I have absolutely no idea. I've spent all these years fearing for my life, thinking that one of these days Voldemort would succede in killing me just to get to Harry, and now it's over. I have the rest of my life ahead of me to find a career that I love, but I haven't the faintest idea of what I'd like to do and that scares me."
"Granger," he pointed out. "We're only eighteen. We still have years to figure out what we want to be when we grow up."
"But what if I don't?" Her brown eyes had taken on the doe-eyes look, a look that Draco secretly had a weakness for. "You will. Trust me."
"What about you?" The waitress arrived at the table and she was suprised to see that he had ordered another salmon roll for her; she had finished hers a little while back and was still hungry. They took a break from speaking to eat and a few moments passed before Draco answered.
"I have no idea either."
Hermione dropped a piece of her sushi and it landed back on her plate with a splat. She stared blankly at him for a few seconds before throwing her head back and laughing. 'He doesn't know what to do with his life either?' She found this incrediblely funny...or myabe it was just all the sake she had drank. Either way, she continued to laugh, ignoring the glare he sent her way. "What is so bloody funny about that, Granger? I try to comfort you and you dare laugh at me?" Hearing his words, her peals of laughter died down as she shook her head. "No, no, Draco, I didn't mean it like that."
"Then how did you mean it?"
"It's just...us...you and I...we were the top students of our year...we could do anything...and look at us. Drunk in Muggle London with no career plans." She gave a drunken snort when she saw Draco's frown turn into half a smile and then a full out grin. He let a chuckle slip out and before long, Draco Malfoy was laughing with Hermione Granger, so hard in fact that tears were streaming down her face, and his normally pallid face was flushed with red. Eventually the laughter died down and Hermione cocked her head to the side.
"Do you know, I don't think I've ever seen you laugh. Like, a real laugh." Draco shrugged, as if her comment was irrelevant. "I didn't have too much to laugh about when I was growing up."
She could only nod.
Draco looked awkward for a moment before deciding on impulse to tell her his secret. "I'd really like to become a Healer though," he told her. "Oh!" Hermione exclaimed. "That would be excellent. You're definitely smart enough for it." But he just sighed. "Too bad I'd never be accepted into the program."
"Why wouldn't they accept you?"
He looked up at her and she could see the regret in his silver eyes. "Would you let me heal you, Granger? Or your children? After all I've done?" He scoffed, at himself as much as to Hermione. "No," he told her. "I don't really see that happening." Before she could say anything to contradict him however, Draco forced the sadness from his eyes and looked at her. "So what happened to you, anyways?"
"What do you mean?"
He rolled his eyes. "I mean, why were you here all alone instead of cosying up to Weasel somewhere?" Within seconds her face was aflame. "What?" Hermione grumbled something and shot Draco a look. "I'm not going to tell you. You'd only say something nasty." Draco glared at her. "Granger, we've been sitting here for..." He checked his watch. "Nearly an hour and I have yet to say anything nasty. Out with it."
Her response was to remain tight lipped.
He had to refrain from rolling his eyes again. "Granger, I swear on my now tattered honour as a wizard that I won't say anything cruel or nasty."
Hermione sighed. "Swearing on the tattered remains of something isn't the best way to go." But she told him anyways. "Ron asked me to marry him." Draco nearly choked on his sake when she let the words leave her mouth.
Nearly.
Swallowing, he let out a shallow laugh. "Are you joking?"
Hermione shook her head sadly. "Right in the middle of his family dinner!" They sat in awkward silence for a moment before Draco asked, "What did you say?" She let out a strangled laugh. "I didn't say anything. I couldn't! He was staring at me, and his parents and everyone else were just looking at me with these big grins...I couldn't say no. It would have been humiliating."
He was aghast. "You didn't say yes?"
Hermione shook her head. "No. I ran upstairs to where my things were and I apparated away to my parents' house." She gave a great sigh and put her head in her hands.
"Good," she heard from across the table.
"Beg your pardon?"
"I said 'good', Granger. You can't marry Weasel. How utterly perdictable would that be?" Her head shot up to look at the blond. She shook her head rapidly, unable to speak. He poured her more sake and she drank it in a daze. "What do you...what are you..." Draco leaned forward in his seat, resting his arms on the table. "Tell me Granger, why didn't you say yes?" Hermione blushed again. "I don't know. I just...I just couldn't."
"But haven't you been in love with him since Third year or something?" She gulped. "I though...I mean I felt...I kissed him the night of the battle...and I thought that I loved him, and I do, but since then..." She broke off and closed her eyes. "But he'll be so dissappointed."
"Who gives a shit?" He snorted and drank more sake. She chanced opening one eye and looking at him. "You don't understand, Malfoy. It's almost like everyone expects us to get together. Harry and Ginny did, and now it feels like everyone is just waiting until we do as well. Especially after I kissed him. But we were about to fight Voldemort!" Both eyes shot open and she stared at him. "We didn't know if we'd make it or not! And so I just kissed him. And now..." She wished now that she hadn't drank so much sake, because now all of her feelings were spilling over and she couldn't stop talking. "And now he loves me and he thinks I feel the same, and of course I love him, but it's not that kind of love. He's like a brother to me, he has been since we were eleven, and there's no way it could be anything else, but I had to go and kiss him! And it isn't even as if we've been properly dating! I've been at school and he's been busy with Auror training, so we didn't even see each other on weekends or anything." She sighed. "If I tell him I don't want to marry him though, he'll hate me." To her dismay, she felt tears work their way into her eyes. "I've ruined everything. The only way to fix it is to..."
"Bullocks," was Draco's inturrupting reply. "The only way to fix it is to what? Be stuck in a loveless marriage for the rest of your life? Granger, you've always been predictable. For the most part, anyways. But this shouldn't be one of those times. So what if everyone thinks you're going to shack up with Weasley? That isn't exactly a good reason for marrying someone. Besides, it would only end badly."
Hermione was stunned. The only thing she could get out was a quiet, "Why do you say that?"
"Because I know him, Granger. I know the type of bloke he is. He's the type to want a little wifey to clean his house and look after his brood of ginger children and greet him with a kiss when he gets home from work. And I know you. You couldn't settle for that, it'd kill you. You'll find a job that you love and you'll want to work ridiculously long hours and maybe only have a kid or two, but eventually you'd fight about it, maybe even for years. And I've seen the way you two fight. Divorce is inevitable."
"Hold on just a moment! How do you know I don't want..."
"You're an only child, Granger, just like me. Neither of us could stand to have more than one or two underfoot." Hermione was astounded. He was right! "How do you know all this about us?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "I've watched you both very carefully over the years," was all he said. There was silence for a moment.
"A very drab picture eh, Granger?"
She was trying very hard to keep her drunken tears at bay, and her throat felt tight. "Yes," she whispered. Draco let her struggle and finally overcome her emotions as he sat and watched her. Rubbing her eyes, she mechanically took a drink of sake. "But how am I ever going to tell him?" She whispered, half to herself.
"Easy," he told her as he refilled her cup. "Courage, Granger. That's how you tell him. You work up the courage and tell him. Use that Gryffindor bravery I've heard so much about." They sat in silence for four minutes and seventeen seconds before Hermione chose to speak again. "I'm hungry again. I want another salmon roll." Draco laughed and flagged down a waitress and ordered two more salmon rolls and another bottle of sake. "Should you really order a fourth bottle? I'm drunk enough as it is." But he only shrugged.
While they were waiting for their food, Hermione tried to change the subject. "So you only want one kid?"
He shrugged again. "Yeah. I don't know. Maybe."
Hermione was able to laugh at his answer. "Girl or boy?"
He scoffed. "Boy. For the love of Merlin, I can't have a girl. She'd grow up and marry a bloke like me and I couldn't stand that." He had meant it as a joke but it came out serious and sad. When the words came out of his mouth, they hit Hermione's ears like a slap to the face. "Malfoy," she began. "You're not...you're not a 'bad guy' anymore, you know that right?" He seemed to sober up for an instant and she could see clearly into his eyes. They were filled with guilt and sadness. "Granger, don't kid yourself. This isn't a fairy tale. I'll never be the plucky hero." He smiled sadly. Hermione blinked. "No. But you won't be the villan, either."
He stared hard at her for moment before his face seemed to deflate right before her. "Granger, I need to get out of here. Now."
"What? Why?" Hermione was beyond confused, and a little hurt. She thought that had been having a good time for the most part, and now he just wanted to leave? Her face must have betrayed her thoughts, because Draco shook his head rapidly. "I need to speak with you privately. Away from people. Is there somewhere we can go?" Swallowing, Hermione nodded. "My...my hotel. I rented it for a few nights when I came to London. We can go there. I can Apparate us there." Draco just nodded and threw some money onto the table before standing up, their food forgotten. He silently led Hermione toward the front doors, ignoring the hostess as she bid them goodnight. Walking briskly down the street, he didn't seem to notice that he still had Hermione by the hand. Glancing around the street to see if anyone was in sight, Draco pulled her into a dark alcove. He moved his hand up so he could have a firm grip on her upper arm, and he said nothing to Hermione other than to give her a sharp nod.
Draco didn't even notice the familiar feeling of side-along Apparition; as soon as they were in the hotel room, he sat down on the edge of her bed and put his head in his hands. Hermione stood in the middle of the room baffled beyond belief. Draco Malfoy was in her hotel room! Why had he asked her to come here? Was it because they were both drunk and he expected something to happen between them? 'No, that couldn't possibly be it.' Clearing her throat as quietly as she could, she took a step forward. "Draco," she began tentatively, but his sudden words made her stop.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. His voice was hoarse.
"What?"
He looked back up at her and she could see pure agony on his face. She knew now why he hadn't said a word as they left; it was a way to stop his emotions from boiling over. "Oh Merlin Granger, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!" His chest was heaving and tears erupted in his eyes. "Everything I've ever said or done to you...I'm sorry."
Shock paralyzed her. "Draco...you don't have to..." But he didn't seem to hear her. "Granger, you have to believe me...if I could take it all back...I didn't want to do it...I didn't want any of it..." He stared straight ahead as if she wasn't even there. "I may have hated you back then, but I wouldn't have wished that on anybody! When Bellatrix had you and she was cursing you, I wanted to do something, I swear I did! I wanted to Crucio her right back, but she would have killed me!" Tears began sliding down his pale cheeks and Hermione was frozen. "I never thought it would get that far! I never thought...I didn't know..."
He sobbed into his hands and Hermione slowly walked over to the bed and sat down next to him. She didn't really know what to do, having touched him only once before when she had slapped him. But slowly, gingerly, she put her arm around his lean shoulders and pulled him close. He sat sobbing in her arms, and Hermione didn't even bother to think how surreal it was.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry...you were laying there and she was cursing you over and over and you were screaming...Merlin, I can still hear it when I sleep! I didn't do a bloody thing!" He sobbed loudly and Hermione was suddenly afraid. "Draco," she whispered. "Draco, calm down, it's ok!" When she said his name, his sobbing quieted down but his tears still came. Hermione had seen and done many things in her life. She had gone back in time, she had faced Voldemort and his Death Eaters, she had even had a silver otter come out of her wand. But of all the things that had happened before her very eyes, nothing had ever seemed so strange than Hermione Granger trying to comfort a crying Draco Malfoy on a bed in a hotel room.
"Draco," she tried again a little bit later, after the worst of his crying seemed to be over. "We would be dead right now if it hadn't been for you, you know. Harry, Ron and I would be dead if you hadn't lied about recognising us at your house. They would have killed Ron and I on the spot. But you...you saved us, really. You saved me."
"But I..."
"It doesn't matter," she inturrupted. "It's in the past. You've made mistakes but you've also attoned for them. Your mother, she saved Harry too. He told me about it." He let out a great breath and nodded. "That's why my family and I aren't rotting in Azkaban right now." Both of them went silent.
"Draco?" She said softly after a few minutes
"Yeah?"
Hermione licked her lips. "I would let you heal me, you know. If I got sick or hurt, I'd want you working on me." He turned his head to look at her and found himself staring into her brown eyes. He leaned as close as he could and for a minute, Hermione thought that he was going to kiss her. But instead he put his arms around her and hugged her tightly.
"Thank you, Granger," he whispered into her ear. His breath was warm on her skin and it sent shivers down her spine. They stayed in that position for what seemed like forever before he kissed her on the cheek and broke apart. Hermione let ut a tiny gasp and stared at him. When his lips tounched her cheek, she had felt a jolt run through her. She had never felt anything like that before, not when Viktor Krum had kissed her and certainly not when she had kissed Ron.
"Granger, are you..."
"Quiet," she interrupted as she grabbed him by the shoulders. 'I can always blame the sake,' she thought to herself as she pulled him in for a hard kiss.
She kissed him until she ran out of breath and Draco was panting slightly when the broke apart. The hotel room was crackling with electricity as he jumped up from the bed and stared hard at her.
"What the hell was that?" He demanded. She stood meekly before him and could only shrug.
"The alcohol?"
He threw his head back and laughed before bending down and taking her face in his hands. He placed a chaste kiss on her lips. "Come on," he said, sitting back down on the bed. "Let's continue our game, shall we?" Hermione smiled and nodded before they settled themselves against the cushy pillows at the headboard.
She awoke the next morning when the sun shone through the windows and into her eyes. Blinking the sleep out of her eyes, Hermione stretched and rolled around, expecting to see Draco awake and smirking at her. Instead she found an empty half of the bed. Letting out a suprised gasp, she sat up, letting the covers slip down her body.
He had stayed that night and they had spent hours talking about anything and everything. They had told each other stories from their childhoods and spoke of their favourite Hogwarts memories. He had told her more about the countries he had visited and she had made him swear to at least apply for the Healer academy. It had been around three in the morning before Hermione had begun to fall sleep. She had heard Draco chuckle, and he had shifted their positions so that he was behind her with his arm around her slim waist and he had pulled the blanket up to cover them both.
Getting out of bed, she walked over to the closed washroom door. Feeling a little silly, she knocked gently. "Draco?"
No answer.
She knocked again and then opened the door. The washroom was empty. "He's gone?' She thought to herself. She stood on the spot, unable to move as several different emotions flooded through her at once. She was confused. Embarrassed. Disappointed. And mad! How dare he pull something like this? You don't just spill your guts to someone in their hotel room, stay the night curled up like cats together in bed, and then leave before sunrise! Tears came to her eyes but Hermione wasn't quite sure why. She let out a deep breath.
"I suppose last night was a huge mistake for him," she said to the empty room. "He couldn't take the embarrassment of speaking to me the next morning, so he just left." A heaviness settled in Hermione's chest and she wanted to cry.
"That would be sadness."
Sitting on the edge of the bed, she struggled to rein in her emotions. She refused to cry. Especially since she didn't have a reason to. No, there was no reason at all. So they had had dinner together, not to mention what seemed like her body weight in rice wine. So he had drunkenly poured his heart out to her and then slept with her in his arms. That was no reason to think anything had changed between them. They weren't friends now.
She let out a harsh laugh. 'He's probably going to threaten me at some point for me to keep quiet about him bawling.'
As if on cue, something tapped on her window. Turning her head, she saw a medium sized tyto owl tapping at the glass. "Why is that here?"
Thoughts of Draco gone, she rushed over to open the window and let the bird fly inside. It landed on her bed and held out a leg, dropping a small brown box from its talons. Cocking her head to the side, Hermione studied it. She didn't know anyone who owned a tyto owl. It could have been from the Ministry, but who was it and what could they want? Leaping from the bed to the headboard, it watched her as she just stood there.
"I'm sorry, I don't have any treats for you," she told it. "I could get you some water if you'd like?"
But the owl didn't do anything; it just looked back and forth between her and the box. If owls could look impatient, this one looked like it would be tapping its foot on the floor and looking at its watch.
"Alright alright."
Picking up the box, Hermione pulled at the gold string and the lid popped off. A folded up piece of parchment fell out and she picked it up and unfolded it.
"Oh Merlin!" It was from Draco. She hadn't expected that.
Dear Hermione, it began.
First off, I should appologize for not being there when you woke up. I know how it must seem; that I was ashamed of what happened last night and had to get away. I did have to get away, but only because I wanted to pick something up. (You aren't allowed to look until you're finished the letter.) I will admit that I am completely mortified about what happened, but not in the way you might think. I'm glad that we ran into each other, I'm glad that we got smashed and mostly I'm glad I could appologize to you. I meant it. I just wish I hadn't have cried in front of you.
Hermione giggled.
Anyways, I just wanted to get you something to say thank-you. For what, I'm not sure, to be honest. And I was also wondering if you'd like to get together for a drink sometime? I was thinking tea this time, perhaps. You can help me with my application essay. You can send a reply with Archer if you wish, but there's no rush.
It was signed D.M. at the bottom, along with a post script.
Ps. Remember what I told you: Courage, Granger.
Hermione re-read the letter and when she was done, there was a small smile on her face. Putting the parchment gently to the side, she picked up the box and looked inside.
There, sitting on gold velvet, was a necklace.
Letting out a breath, Hermione picked it up and held it in her hands. It simple, just a thin silver chain with a round pendant. She looked at it closely. It looked as if someone had poured out a small bit of molten silver and pressed a seal into it. The seal was of a griffin, its eagle wings curving up near its lion head. There was writing along the outer edge and she had to squint to make it out.
"Courage sans peur," she the French read aloud. "Courage without fear."
She sat with it in her hands for some time before putting in on.
"I think tea sounds lovely," she said, to Archer as much as to herself. Hermione scrambled to one of her suitcases to find a pen, and she flipped over Draco's letter to write a response. "But first, I need to go speak with a certain redhead."
Archer just stared at her as she re-tied the letter to his leg. She opened the window for him, and he again leaped from his current perch to the windowsill. Giving him a soft pat on the head, Hermione watched as he spread his wings and flew away.
And she smiled.