Dramione Chapter 2
Hermione awoke the next morning to Crookshanks purring on her chest. She pushed the beloved ball of fur to the side, where he curled back up on a pillow, unmoved.
Hermione stood, shrugging a bathrobe on over her pajamas before going out to make a cup of tea. It was Saturday; Ron would be busy at the joke shop, and Harry and Ginny had a picnic planned. She was excited to have the morning to herself to read and relax.
Armed with tea and a breakfast of porridge, she sat at her kitchen table, raising the tea to her lips before her fireplace lit up.
She jumped up, realizing she'd have no time to get dressed before whoever came through her floo-
Malfoy?
"What are you doing here? How did you get access to my fireplace?" She asked, wrapping the robe tighter around her. A moment later Theo and Padma popped out as well, though both looked sheepish, as though they were somewhat manipulated into being there.
"Connections are not something I lack, Grangers." Draco said, tilting his head at her in confusion. "What are those things on your feet?"
"...slippers. Surely wizards wear slippers."
"They have ears. Are they enchanted?"
"No! They're just...they're rabbit slippers. It's something muggles wear, though sometimes more as a joke. They...they were a gift."
"Are they made of rabbit?"
"Of course not! Rabbits have ears and so do the slippers - Malfoy why are you here?" She asked impatiently, ignoring a blushing Padma-who must have been having quite a laugh for her bronzed skin to visibly change- and an absent-minded Theo, who managed to find the bookcase she kept in her living room.
"The Notebook? Really Granger, Nicholas Sparks?" Theo said, taking a book out and flipping through it.
"How do you know about the Notebook?" She asked him, confused.
"Someone at work's wife read it. They're making a-what do you call it?" He looked up at the ceiling. "Movie? Those plays that move around on those screens." He pointed at her TV.
"Seriously Theo, your house is wired with electricity, you haven't watched any movies yet?" Hermione replied, rolling her eyes.
"I want one of those flat ones instead of this type but they're still so expensive in muggle money." He said, pointing at the TV she had.
"Well what does it do?" Malfoy looked at the box with curiosity. Hermione groaned in frustration.
"Can we /please/ talk about this later? Why are you in my house?"
"Eat your porridge before it gets cold. Theo show me what this box thing does." Malfoy sat down beside Theo on the couch as Theo reached for the remote on the coffee table, turning on the TV.
"Merlin, Granger, how old is your TV? You know they make much better pictures now, right? Malfoy this is not a great example of Muggle technology, Granger has the furnishings of an old lady." Theo said, before going into a description of how televisions worked in a way even Hermione couldn't articulate. She listened intently while eating her porridge.
"Theo how do you know all this?" Hermione asked, tilting her head as he finished his explanation and was flipping through channels. Theo shook his head.
"Hermione, you're a good friend but a terrible listener. Modifying muggle technology to suit wizard needs is my entire business model, I need to know how it works to do that." He pointed out. Her cheeks reddened - he had told her that before.
"I'm so sorry, Theo, in my defense I haven't had any coffee or tea yet before you came here unannounced." She mumbled, still grumpy with them for barging in to her relaxing morning.
"Always a ray of sunshine, Hermione." Theo replied, the corner of his mouth twisting into a familiar smirk. She rolled her eyes. "You of all people should be interested in my research as a muggleborn, don't you get bored watching Weasel and Potter play wizard's chest and rattle on about Quidditch? I'll make a fortune once I can bring football to the wizarding world."
"You really think it'll be that beneficial?" Hermione asked, looking at Padma and Draco, whose eyes were glued to the TV. Theo had found an action movie, and the screen was full of CGI monsters.
"I mean, don't take this the wrong way, Granger, but the ratio of pureblood to Muggle is going to change drastically with old Wizard families dying out after the war. I really think the cultural bleed will be like nothing Britain has seen before." He explained.
"Because you need the fortune, mate." Draco said sarcastically, though the snark in his voice weakened as his eyes widened, suddenly glued to the screen. "How did they do that with those bugs?"
"The goal is to replace my current fortune, then donate the blood money to get it out of my hands." Theo explained, rolling his eyes at Draco. Unlike Draco, who seemed to accept his aristocratic position despite his father's deeds, Theo had done no such thing. He avoided spending money he hadn't earned. Hermione noticed it throughout the previous school year - Theo's robes weren't as fine as Draco's, and he didn't wear a family crest ring like most of the purebloods.
Ron didn't understand her friendship with Theo and how it'd blossomed over the school year, but it was hard to avoid getting close to him given the amount of time they spent together and her almost sick curiosity of knowing someone whose father was a death eater.
The thought of Theo's father distracted her, and her eyes drifted back to Malfoy. Sitting on her couch, watching The Mummy on a Saturday morning. Oh, Merlin.
She resigned herself to eating. If they didn't plan on leaving, she'd at least need strength to get them out of her house.
"Okay, now that there's a moment," Theo said once an advertisement came on the television, turning back to Hermione. "We came to show you the known curses and wards on Malfoy Manor, and a map of where we think the source of the magic is. It's absolutely fascinating how they overlay without constantly setting each other off."
"And that required all three of you to come to my house first thing in the morning?"
"Well, no, but I'm pretty sure me coming alone might have been frowned upon, and Theo and Padma were already together so it worked out for the best." Malfoy said. The smile on his face waivered slightly – as though he realized he said something he shouldn't. Both Theo and Padma's eyes were downcast.
How curious… Hermione thought, taking a sip of coffee as Malfoy pulled out a scroll from a small wallet. He must have an expanding charm on it. She didn't know expanding charms could be done on objects so small. She'd have to refresh her research on the topic.
Despite herself, she glanced down at the documents Malfoy laid on her table before her, eyebrows raising in surprise.
"Did Merlin himself put these wards on the Manor?" She asked in astonishment, noting each complex charm. The way they were set, she could find no weakness or blind spot.
"Allegedly, though I doubt there's any authenticated record of it." Malfoy said without a hint of irony, sitting at her table with her. "This is part of the problem – if we disable one of them, all the others should go off and potentially blow us all out of the water, figuratively speaking. We have to determine if there's a chink in the armor."
Hermione frowned, needing something to write with. She'd have to use trigonometry to determine the range, angles, and potential overlaps of each of the wards. It was, indeed, a puzzle. And she did enjoy puzzles.
"Besides, Hermione, I wanted to add to my boy's attempts to sway you to work with us on this." Theo said, also coming over to the table, though not before pouring himself a cup of coffee from the pot she'd prepared. He seemed to know where the mugs were by pure instinct.
"And what do you think would convince me?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest. Padma paid them no mind, having picked up The Notebook from the bookshelf and in the middle of the first chapter.
"Well, Hermione," Theo cleared his throat, "first off, I think the money would be beneficial for you. While you could accomplish anything in the world, you want to work at the ministry making peanuts for wages, and I respect that. But the funds would give you options. You could start a foundation. You could prepare a grand wedding with that Weasel – erm, Weasley of yours. You could buy Crooks here the world's tallest cat tower." He gestured towards Crookshanks, who was viewing Draco with suspicion as his feet tapped the floor.
"Financial security is always a positive factor." Hermione said neutrally, trying to determine where Theo was taking this conversation. While she knew Theo and Malfoy were friends, it interested her that he also seemed so invested in this task.
"Secondly, dealing with these wards are a skill that the three of us uniquely have, and frankly, I think that honing these skills will give you more flexibility when it comes to future endeavors. Again, if you decide to start popping out red-headed offspring, this sort of contract work would fit the lifestyle of someone with a family more than a standard 8-5 Ministry job." Theo took another sip of his cup. Hermione rolled her lips between her teeth in thought.
"And finally," Padma came over, sitting at the fourth and final seat around Hermione's square kitchen table. "We miss you. And this is a fun project we could work on together again, before things…change." She said, a pregnant pause hanging in the air before the word "change."
"What would change?" Hermione asked, looking at the fidgety Padma.
"I'm engaged." She said, finally meeting Hermione's eyes. "He didn't go to Hogwarts, he's a family friend. I'm moving to South Africa after we get married, probably in a year or so."
Hermione tried to hide her surprise. She didn't remember Padma ever mentioning having a boyfriend, let alone a fiancée. Besides, what about that awkward moment earlier? Had Padma and Theo not been together this morning and last night?
Draco had said nothing throughout all of this, his eyes still fixated on the drawings. Theo looked at Hermione, but his expression was unreadable – if he felt anything about Padma's engagement, Hermione couldn't tell by his expression.
"Okay." Hermione said finally, taking another sip of her coffee, trying to keep all memories associated with Malfoy Manor at bay. "I'll do it."
"Wonderful!" Draco said, pulling out the magical wallet again and writing a note. "I'll send an owl to Gringotts to begin the first transfer to your bank account."
"We haven't decided on a fee. And I haven't done anything yet."
"Semantics. We'll worry about that later." Draco said with a waive of his hand. "Besides, I now owe Theo a skinny box." He gestured towards the TV as Theo smirked. Bloody Slytherins.
"Theo you could have just told me you made a bet and saved yourself the big speech." Hermione huffed as he stood up to make more coffee, having finished off the pot.
"And take all the fun out of the game?" He teased, grinning at her. She couldn't help but smile back – Theo so rarely gave genuine smiles. Bloody bastard.
She expected them to leave, but god forbid they avoid overstaying their welcome. They left the kitchen and went back to the couch, continuing to watch the movie to the end despite having missed most of it. Draco commented on the film the most – Theo and Padma now both back to their more typical, stoic nature. Once the movie ended, the three stood up to go back to the fireplace.
"Well, Granger, we don't mean to intrude on your Saturday." Draco said, his voice void of irony. She rolled her eyes. "I thought perhaps we could meet at the Manor next weekend, perhaps Saturday or Sunday morning to your preference. I'll send an owl midweek to iron out a day and time."
Padma disappeared through her floo first, followed closely by Theo. Malfoy lingered a moment, locking eyes with Hermione. It was odd, looking him in the eye. It felt personal in a way she didn't expect.
"Good day, Granger." He said, tipping his head before disappearing into the fire.