Disclaimer: I certainly do not own Harry Potter, as I am certain that I am not J. K. Rowling.
A/N: It has been 10 years since the war. If asked, Hermione and Draco would have considered themselves friendly acquaintances for some time now. After all, Wizarding Britain isn't that large, and they have found themselves with genuine friends in common. This isn't one of those stories where they accidentally got too drunk and had sex. She certainly isn't pregnant. Nor is it a marriage law story where two souls were unknowingly perfect for each other until the government stepped in and solved everything. Because we all know how well extreme government intervention works out in real life. Nope, this is just a story about two people who may have been a bit frightened to admit their attraction for each other because they were sure that it couldn't be mutual. Until the day when one of them got up the guts to ask the other out for a cup of coffee. Two months later, Draco and Hermione realized that they knew so little about each other's upbringing and culture. Hermione suggests they take turns planning dates for each other to show off places or events that the planner has experienced in the past, but the recipient knows nothing of.
I would also like to note that this story is rated M for some very graphic lemons starting in the next chapter. You've been warned.
How Hermione Started A Super-Secret Society, In 2 Acts
"When I was a kid, I believed the theatre to be magical."
"Me too."
"Well, that's ironic," Hermione laughed.
"It is, isn't it?" Draco conceded.
"I'm not sure that this should count, you know. Muggles and wizards both have theatre," he recognized the sound her voice got right before she would pull out parchment and a quill and make a pros and cons list, or some such nonsense, so Draco quickly cut her off.
"The point is the themes are completely different, and there is actual magic used, not just visual effects, like in Muggle plays. The Malfoys have held the same private box for hundreds of years. Although my parents would often go alone on dates during my youth, when allowed to come along, I felt so special. You know what my childhood was like and this is one of my happiest memories of my family just enjoying ourselves, all three together. That's part of what I want to share with you." His childhood sob stories worked on her, he thought as he tried to keep the smirk off of his face. Not that he was lying… just manipulating the truth. He, by no means, remained as bothered by the idea of being a "poor little rich boy" as he sometimes let on.
"Ok, what are we seeing?" He knew it would work!
"It's a production about a phoenix who loses his mate in a tragedy and then, due to his despair, he no longer possesses the power to burn up and be reborn. But, he can't die either, so he is just stuck, growing older and lonelier every year. It has been getting rave reviews," he said with a perfectly straight face. She waited for him to crack, she knew which eyelid twitched when he tried to pull one over on her. The twitch didn't happen. He just kept on looking at her, expecting her to say something.
"What?" she asked in a slightly confused tone, although Draco mistook the reason for her confusion.
"Well, phoenixes mate for life, so he can't find another one. And I think that he tries to commit suicide, but physically can't, because, he's a phoenix, you know. It's a musical too, so there will be singing!" Draco looked so excited.
Hermione quickly glanced around, wondering if George would suddenly pop out and declare this to be a prank. It appeared that was a no. So, she did the only thing she could think of and asked,
"How do I look? Are you sure this gown isn't too fancy?" She asked with a true touch of self-doubt. She wore a princess style silver gown with a fitted bodice, off the shoulder cap sleeves that were made of wispy silver feathers, and there were thick silver vines embroidered across the edge of her bust with one vine trailing down her side towards her waist. The skirt was constructed out of what she suspected were hundreds of yards of silver tulle.
Draco shook his head and told her, "Actually, I don't think it is quite fancy enough," as he pulled a box out of his pocket. He opened it to reveal a necklace with a cascade of diamonds that would fall perfectly into her cleavage. As he placed it around her neck, he whispered in her ear, "Now you look exquisite."
Then he apparated them to the designated room within the grand old theatre. As they stepped away from the area, he steered them towards the bar. Along the way, he saw people he knew, and felt obligated to chat with certain ones briefly for business or political reasons. She suffered no such compulsion and just wanted to take it all in. With a glass of champagne in hand, she proceeded to people-watch. She felt surprised to see Daphne Greengrass across the room. They had never spoken more than a few words to each other over the years, so Hermione supposed she shouldn't be surprised to see her in any particular setting, since she really didn't know the woman at all. They both politely nodded at each other in mutual recognition and broke eye contact. Hermione turned to Draco, asking, "Do we have time for one more drink before heading to our seats?"
They ran into Daphne outside of their box - Daphne readying to enter the one next to it. Draco, ever the gentleman, introduced the women to each other like they may not know one another. The house lights flashed, warning patrons that the start of the play grew imminent.
"Let's have a cocktail together during the intermission and catch up," Daphne said as they entered their separate boxes. Draco agreed with Daphne, but Hermione experienced uncertainity regarding what they could possibly have in common to talk about, and silently lamented that it would ruin her people watching time.
The first act of the play turned out to be worse than Hermione ever imagined possible. Way worse. The plot proved to be as awful as the description that Draco had given her sounded. The female phoenix died within the first five minutes. Why the female proved able to die, but the male couldn't, apparently warranted no explanation. Like everyone was just supposed to ignore that major plot hole. Hermione wondered if the playwright had seen the movie "Groundhog Day". The male phoenix tried everything he could think of to kill himself, but every morning, he just woke back up, whole again. And the dialog, oh Merlin, the dialog. Thank the gods that Draco turned out to be incorrect and it wasn't a musical after all. Hermione did admit to herself that the use of magic in place of special effects excited her. The wizard playing the lead role boasted what appeared to be real phoenix feathers growing out of him, some in interesting places…
Near the end of the first act, a husband and wife team of wand makers appeared in the phoenixes' land looking to gather feathers. The wizard fell to his death while climbing up to a nest. The witch also fell, seriously injuring herself and became stranded; luckily the protagonist found her. 'Wonder what is going to happen?' Hermione's sarcastic inner voice asked. With a sigh, she exited the box with Draco, noting that he seemed to be enjoying it.
This level of the theatre contained a separate bar for the private use of the occupants of the boxes. As they walked towards it to meet with Daphne, Hermione couldn't help but overhear other patrons gushing about the first half. Two witches stood together, actually crying a little about the "tragedy of it all". Draco spotted Daphne waiting near a bar height table, saving them a handy spot to stand comfortably. "I'll get us all some wine, if you want to head over to Daph," he motioned Hermione towards the other witch.
"So, what do you think of it so far?" Daphne immediately inquired.
"Ummm… The transfiguration on the lead actor is an amazing bit of magic, isn't it?" Hermione hedged.
"Oh, thank Circe, it isn't just me! It's awful isn't it?!" Daphne stated in a quiet undertone, with obvious relief. "I thought that I might be the only one! Stori saw it last weekend and was just gushing about it. My sister is such a twit."
"Is all wizarding theatre this bad?" Hermione discovered herself quickly taking a liking to Daphne.
"Pretty much. There is an occasional diamond in the rough."
"Muggle theatre is infinitely better."
"I've never been," Daphne admitted.
"Why not?" Hermione was more straightforward than the Slytherin woman was used to, but she found it refreshing.
"No one to go with, and I am too nervous to try it alone," Daphne discovered herself confessing.
"Want to go see a play with me? Well, me and Hannah Abbot. Her grandparents on her mother's side were Muggles and took her to plays sometimes when she was growing up. My parents did the same. Now she and I try to see a play together once a month. We plan to see Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" in a few weeks. Have you ever read anything by Shakespeare?" Hermione knew she was rambling a bit, nervous what the other witch whom she barely knew would think of the invitation.
"I would very much like to see a play with you. Should I read something by Shakespeare before we go?"
"Holy shit! Sorry. You've never read anything by Shakespeare?! Sorry, again. I am not trying to be rude here. I am just thinking about what the curriculum for Muggle Studies at Hogwarts should contain." Hermione took a deep breath and started over with, "What I mean to say is that I would be happy to lend you a copy of a few of Shakespeare's plays, including the one that we will be seeing. I will owl them to you tomorrow. My name actually came from a character in one of his plays, "The Winter's Tale."" Draco walked up with three glasses of red wine right at this point.
"I thought that you were named after the daughter of Helen of Troy," he said as he handed a glass to each witch.
"My parents said that both Hermiones were inspiration for my name, but in the end, they always possessed a desire to name their child after a Shakespearean character. So, that is the one that I usually refer to."
"Pretty good production, don't you think?" Daphne asked Draco without a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
"I am excited to see if the second act is as good as the first," Draco answered. He turned to look at Hermione and Hermione caught the smirk on Daphne's lips behind his back.
In a totally predictable storyline, the second act proceeded with the witch and phoenix trying not fall in love with each other, because that would be wrong (as if this entire play wasn't wrong!), as the phoenix nursed the witch back to health. The phoenix grew too old and weak to be able to fly her to safety, like Fawkes had done with Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Lockhart in the Chamber of Secrets. The two fought against the inevitable in formulaic fashion, until they could no longer deny their love.
The play concluded with the phoenix bursting into flames to be reborn, and then flying into the sunset with the witch holding tight to his tail.
The entire theater came to their feet with a standing ovation.
Hermione suspected that she needed to stand and clap along; people may actually notice if she didn't, and that was not something with which she really wanted to deal. As she limply brought her hands together the minimum number of times she thought she could get away with, she realized she could see Daphne around the divide between their boxes doing the same. Daphne turned to look at her and when their eyes met, both hid their small smiles.
Back outside in the hallway, they all met up again. Someone called out Draco's name and he moved away for a moment to say a word. Hermione thought that she recognized the wizard as a Wizengamot member. Daphne inclined her head towards the bar that remained open and Hermione nodded. Both were busy eavesdropping on snippets of conversations around them that seemed to only contain complimentary reviews of the play.
"…when he cried tears onto her ankle to heal it, I nearly cried too…"
"…and how she collected ten tail feathers from ten different birds to create ten wands to honor the ten years she had been married…"
"…my favorite playwright, he never disappoints…"
"…never expected that ending…"
The women quickly got wine and proceeded to use the glasses held against their lips to hide their giggles.
The next morning, Hermione owled over some of Shakespeare's plays to Daphne; her owl returned with a perfunctory thank you note tied to its leg. Two days later, Hermione received an effusive thank you note from Daphne with a request for more plays, if possible. Hermione discovered that Daphne's appetite for the written word may rival her own.
Three weeks later, when Hannah, Daphne, and Hermione attended the performance of "Much Ado About Nothing", Daphne left speechless. Afterwards, the three went out for drinks, Daphne regained the use of words, and they talked about theatre until the bar closed, forcing them to part. Hannah had trouble believing the other two witches when they tried to explain how awful wizarding plays were. Daphne offered to host them in her family's box for the next production that the theatre put on.
And so was born a secret society with just three members, an unlikely trio of a Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin, who met up twice per month. One time, to get tipsy at the wizard theatre and lambast the tripe that it produced, always being careful to not be overheard and to keep up the appearance of being true patrons of the arts. The other time, to attend exceptional theatre in Muggle London, waiting until afterwards to drink a bottle, or two, of wine and debate the finer points of the production. None of Daphne's other friends knew that she snuck out to Muggle London with the other two women on a regular basis.
When Hannah read that there were going to be open try-outs for a Shakespearean Festival with "The Winter's Tale" on the playbill, she and Daphne talked Hermione into auditioning for the part of her namesake. Although Hermione made it through the first round for a call back, she knew that her acting abilities truthfully were not good enough to even be an understudy. She did think of the experience as unforgettable.
Draco liked to brag that he introduced Hermione to the wonders of magical theatre. He never really understood what the three women got up to on the nights they went out to plays.