Chapter 3

On sight, Hermione spotted Malfoy sitting at one of the table towards the back of the café. He was dressed smartly in muggle clothes and was sipping his drink as he read the… Quibler? Perhaps, this was too much too soon. Before Ginny and Hermione had the chance to turn around without being seen, Malfoy waved them over. Hermione sent back a lackluster wave.

"Hello, Granger… Weasley." he said as he shook their hands. "How have you both been?"

The brunette turned to her friend for a moment before answer. "Good, Malfoy. You?"

"I've been all right." she said uncomfortably.

Malfoy looked to his companions and said, "Where are my manners? Here, sit!" He stood up and waited for the women to sit before he sat down. A waitress came by to take their orders. When the waitress left, Hermione began her interrogation.

"I just have one question before we start." Malfoy sighed, obviously knowing this topic would come up. "Why change now? You hated Muggleborns. You were on the other side of the war, for Merlin's sake. Tell me why I should believe you!" The last part of her rant came out more loudly than she intended as other customers became alerted to their conversation.

"Right. Sorry, everyone." she cleared her throat, her face reddened with embarrassment. Her audience quickly went back to whatever they were doing before she interrupted them with her rant.

"Now, tell me, Malfoy." Hermione said in a deadly whisper.

Malfoy turned to face Hermione directly. His expression betrayed a pained emotion. He hesitated a moment before he spoke. "Granger, I am utterly ashamed of my former stance and behavior during the war. What I took part in was wrong. I was a bigot and a racist." Malfoy spat out as if there was something distasteful in his mouth. There seemed to be a growing passion in his voice and eyes.

"You are a human being as I am or any other witch or muggle is." he took her hand in his. Hermione was in too much shock to respond or shake of his hand. A stunned Ginny sat across from the blond man. "Your blood bleeds red like mine. I don't know why I didn't see it earlier. I wish others would. Our world is still in trouble. It isn't enough that the right side won the war." He took a moment took catch his breath before continuing.

"These opinions still exist behind closed doors. We need to make it our business to advocate and erase this poor behavior in our children from an early age. What do you say, Granger?"

It appeared Hermione finally realized Malfoy had her hand. He blushed as he put it down.

"Have you taken polyjuice?" asked a skeptical Ginny. Malfoy let out a guttural laugh upon hearing this.

"I just gave you the speech of my life and you ask me if I'm an impersonator?"

Ginny scowled. "You tortured us for years. What did you expect? That we would run into your arms as if nothing happened?"

"No, but I definitely did not expect that response! I am not looking to be your best mates. I am looking for others who share my vision on how to make the world a better place. Are you interested?" He held his hand out for them shake it.

Hermione shared a look between herself and Ginny before taking his hand. "We're in."

Draco was relieved. The meeting turned out better than he predicted. Granger owled him later that day to arrange another meeting to discuss more logistics. They had decided which areas each person would take care of, the departments to contact, and any essential outside contacts. It was apparent that Granger would head up public relations, marketing strategy, and all things legal. No one would take the movement seriously if he was the poster boy for change. Instead, he would be in charge of coordinating meetings, events, and finances. His dream was coming true.

"How did it go with Granger?" Daphne inquired. They had agreed to meet at his home before they began their weekly pub crawl.

"Oh, that. It went well." he said casually.

"You don't appear to have any wounds, so I suppose it did." she said as she inspected his person for any damage.

"Would you stop that! Of course, it went well. We're not children anymore! Besides, I had my wand ready lest she strike me."

Daphne snorted.

"Really, Draco, this is all admirable but what's to say that it doesn't blow up in your face?"

"It won't. I know it won't. With Granger by my side, I've nothing to fear."

"You seem awfully confident of yourself and of Granger." she said, raising an eyebrow.

"I think you are entirely overthinking this. Granger has a boyfriend. I'm working with because she is the only way the Wizarding world is ever going to change."

"Suuure. That's why you made mention of her already having a boyfriend when I wasn't referring to her relationship status?"

"No, I…"

"Face it, Draco. You. Fancy. Granger." she punctuated this by poking him as she spoke.

"Blimey, Daph. That hurt! And no, I don't fancy Granger. I keep telling you this but it doesn't seem to be sinking in.

"When you marry her, I will stand there at the toasts telling you 'I told you so'."

"Argh!" The brunette smirked as she took her friend's hand and apparated.

Ron, although still unhappy about the situation, begrudgingly agreed to support Hermione in her decision. Even Harry surprised her by his support.

"Ginny told how the meeting went. I hate to say this but Malfoy has changed. He hasn't been a git to me in a long while. I think you should go for it."

Hermione beamed. "Thanks, Harry. Your support means a lot to me. It's going to be brill! We've narrowed down what each of us is doing. There's a lot of work to be done but it'll be worth it."

"Anything you do is successful, Mione. You truly are the brightest witch of our generation."

"Cheers, Harry."

"What for? I'm only stating the facts." Hermione's smile only grew exponentially as she hugged her best mate.