Chapter 2
Dinner Invitation
Hermione awoke suddenly covered in sweat. She had been having the same dream every night since the end of the war. She had been falling into darkness. Just falling, nothing beneath her or above her. This time it seemed different though. She closed her eyes and tried to remember the dream. There was a hand reaching out. That had never happened before. She had always been alone in her dream. Never had there been anything else. Just darkness. She wandered for a moment why it had changed. Then she willed herself to get up and get ready for the day.
It was Saturday and she didn't have any plans. She had brought the medical text home hoping to work on it some more. She had been working on it for two weeks with no success, so she stopped at the library for a couple of books on code breaking. She had stayed up late the night before copying down spells she wanted to try.
Hermione sat at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and the Daily Profit. News had slowed down considerably since the war ended and the day's cover story was about an old witch who had accidentally given her granddaughter bunny ears and a white fluffy tail. She wasn't sure why she still subscribed to the Profit.
A knock on the window interrupted her perusal of a Madam Malkin's advertisement. Hermione walked over to see a barn owl from the apartment owlery waiting patiently for her to let it in. She opened the window and took a roll of parchment, handing the owl a piece of crust from the toast she had eaten for breakfast. It was a letter from her parents asking her to come for a visit. She though longingly of the books waiting for her in her study, but then scribbled a reply that she would be by around 10:00. The books would have to wait. She had not seen her parents in over a month and she could not make an excuse again to not go.
After a shower, she threw on some clothes and a pair of trainers. She charmed her hair dry and pulled it back in a pony tail. She grabbed her bag, throwing both the medical book and the books from the library in it, and then apparated to an alley near her parents' house.
She walked to the house she had lived in as a child and the first thing her mother did when she saw her was ask her if she had been eating well.
"You look like you have lost weight since I saw you last. Have you been ill? Would you like some tea? A sandwich? I think I have some leftover stew in the refrigerator. I could call your father and have him pick up some take out on his way home from the office. He had to go in for an emergency root canal."
"Mom, I'm fine. Some tea would be great, and no I have not been ill."
Hermione and her mom sat at the kitchen table and talked about everything from Hermione's Aunt Betty and her ungrateful daughter, to her mother and father's dental practice. Whenever her mother would ask about her work, Hermione would just say that things were fine and then change the subject. Her mother also asked her about any potential boyfriends.
"Mom, I am much too busy at work right now to worry about entertaining a boyfriend."
"But honey you are getting older and your father and I do want grandchildren."
"Mom, I am only 23 years old. I have plenty of time to find a husband. I just don't have room in my life right now to worry about someone else."
Hermione gave her mother a look that said the discussion was over and asked if the plans for her parents' holiday to Australia were finalized. This seemed to distract her mother, and they talked for a half hour about what her parents were going to do while in Sydney. Her parents had fallen in love with Australia when they lived there during the war. At 11:45 Hermione was finally telling her mother goodbye.
"Give Dad a hug for me. Tell him that I am sorry I didn't get to see him and I promise to visit sooner next time."
"Ok, honey, and please make sure you get plenty to eat."
Finally back on the street, Hermione thought about going to the office, but her boss had threatened that if she did not take the weekend off she was going to demote her to answering interoffice memos. She had skipped the holiday she was supposed to take a couple of weeks ago when she came across the medical text. She did not really want to go back to her flat as she worked better surrounded by noise. It must have been the years of studying in the Gryffindor Common Room.
The rumble of her stomach alerted Hermione of her hunger, and she found herself walking toward the coffee shop she had stopped at the last time she had visited Muggle London. Hermione entered the shop and headed to the same table in the corner that she had sat at during her last visit. She pulled the books out of her bag and whispered a concealing charm on the spell books making them appear to be various forms of medical texts. She was sure she looked like a medical student from the university.
The bell above the door chimed and Draco glanced to see who had entered. His heart seemed to stop and then speed up when he realized who had walked in. It was Hermione Granger. He had thought about her nonstop since she had come in the café two weeks ago. He drew up his courage and walked over to take her order. She had the same medical text that she had the first time she was in the shop, but she also had several others that seemed to be more up to date.
"Interested in medicine?" he said startling Hermione. She quickly glanced up at him and then forced a polite smile.
"Um, yeah. I am thinking of becoming a doctor." She had at one time considered becoming a Healer. It crossed her mind for about five seconds in fifth year, but the thought of having to deal with disfigured limbs due to poor wand use all the time made her quickly change her mind. It was a wonder that she worked so closely with Healers in her current job.
Draco raised his eyebrows in disbelief, but then asked what she would like to order. She ordered half a sandwich, a small garden salad and a cup of coffee.
"Two sugars, and no cream, right?" Draco replied. She nodded, a little surprised that he remembered. He must have had tons of customers, and she had only been in there one other time.
Draco brought her coffee and gave the order to the cook. Hermione turned back to her books. She had taken out a pen and paper and was copying things from the books. He walked over to give her her lunch and she quickly moved to hide the paper but not before he got a glance of what she had written. It appeared to be exerts from the older medical text, and also words that looked like parts of spells. He asked if there was anything else she needed and left her with her lunch.
Draco walked around the shop refilling coffee cups and then stepped behind the counter. He leaned against it and unconsciously watched Hermione as she ate and read. He didn't hear Jack come up behind him and was startled when he heard his voice.
"Just go ask her out, man."
"What? Oh, no I can't."
"Why? She's hot. Just go over there and ask her."
"I can't. I mean why would she want to go out with me?"
"Man, are you daft? Everywhere we go the girls flock to you. Having you as a friend has seriously hurt my dating life. I don't know what they see in you. I mean I am so much more better looking than you."
"You wish. Of course there is always the bartender at the sports bar. She has it bad for you."
"Yeah, too bad she could beat me in an arm wrestling contest. Come on, ask her out. You haven't taken your eyes off her since she walked through that door."
"She reminds me of someone I knew at school."
Draco did not know what had gotten into him, but before he could stop himself, he was standing in front of her with "Wouldyouliketogooutforcoffeewithme?" coming out of his mouth. He grimaced. He sounded like a third year back at Hogwarts. Since when did he have trouble asking a girl out? And what was he doing asking her out in the first place?
"Excuse me," she said looking at him with concern at his sudden curious behavior.
"Uh, would you like to go out for coffee with me?"
"Well, we are in a coffee shop," Hermione said gesturing to the cup in front of her.
"Oh …yeah. How about some ice cream then?" He completely expected her to say no and mentally prepared himself for rejection. He had not actually asked a girl out since he was at Hogwarts.
"Sure."
"That's ok. Um, I'll just … what? Oh, ok … uh, I get off at 5:00. We could get some dinner first if you want, but I understand if you don't want to. Where do you live? I could pick you up or we could meet somewhere or …"
"Why don't I just meet you here at 5:00? And dinner would be great. I better be going, but I will see you this evening."
"Great. I'll see you then," and he watched her walk out of the shop.
Draco suddenly felt ill. What had he been thinking, asking Hermione Granger out? What if she found out who he really was? He had worked so hard to make a new life for himself. He couldn't go back to the wizarding world. He couldn't face what waited for him there.
