DISCLAIMER: I do not and will not ever own any part of the Harry Potter franchise. I make not profit from this, it's just for fun. Any recognisable characters/places etc. belong to their respective owners.
Draco almost laughed out loud – almost. He'd also almost been stupid enough to begin to believe (due to his mother's insistence) that meeting his soulmate could maybe be a good thing for him. But no; he was Draco Malfoy, and if he could ever be sure of anything it was that nothing good ever happened to Draco Malfoy.
And so there he stood, rooted to the spot in that stupid café where suddenly the chattering of people and clattering of coffee cups all seemed a little too jarring, and the smell of fresh brewed coffee turned bitter and unpleasant as he breathed it in. Inhaling deeply to steady himself and his building anger, he turned quickly on his heel and went straight for the exit. Half expecting his mother to intervene before he got there, he was relieved when he pulled the door and it swung open for him. He passed through it as quickly as he could and left the speculative whispers and murmurs behind.
Out on the street, he relished the cool breeze that washed over his tired face as he went steadily in one direction, uncaring as to where he ended up.
As he walked, he thought about what had just happened. One second he had been feeling slightly guilty about his lack of contact with one of his closest friends, and the next second that same so-called friend had said one name he'd never expected to hear.
"You remember Hermione, don't you Draco?"
Stopping suddenly, much to the irritation of an already disgruntled looking wizard directly behind him, Draco emitted a low frustrated growl and looked skywards, as if he would find the answer to his new set of issues written in the clouds that hung overhead. He couldn't believe his luck, his complete and utter awful, horrible, terrible luck. He'd gone into that café just behind his mother, after accepting the fact that whatever was going to happen would happen regardless of what he did. He'd expected some stranger to spill coffee on him, or have someone fall over and land on him or something stupid and predictable. But no, It just had to be Granger of all people, didn't it? Not some witch he didn't know, who he had no history with. It just had to be the girl he'd been beyond a dick to in school. How was it even possible that that same girl could be his supposed soulmate? He hadn't seen her since the end of the war when they were 18, so he could see how it was technically possible – the timer only started after your 21st birthday, so technically it could end up being someone you'd known for years, a passing acquaintance or even just a total stranger – but still.
He continued to walk down Diagon Alley, until he came to a shop selling Muggle books – 'Muggle Scripts for all Necessities'. Perching himself on the wall outside of it, he put his head down in his hands and hoped with all his heart that he was dreaming. There was no other explanation for what had just occurred; it had to be a dream.
He pinched himself hard, and then muttered to himself as he rubbed the self-inflicted sore spot.
"Don't be an idiot Draco, you know you're not dreaming." he said quietly to himself.
"You know, they say that talking to oneself is one of the first signs of madness" said a familiar voice as the speaker came and stood next to him.
Looking upwards he saw the concerned face of his mother, but there was something else in her gaze too. Draco was most displeased to find that it was mild amusement.
"Come to lecture me on everything I did wrong, or on my improper manners? Or maybe it was that I left without –"
"Shush Draco." Narcissa cut him off.
Draco stared up at the aristocratic witch, thoroughly taken aback.
"I'm not here to lecture you," she said plainly, "I'm here to ask you why you left in such a hurry."
"Are you… I mean… what do… are you kidding?" he asked, dumbfounded.
"No dear, I am not 'kidding' – why did you rush out of there looking like you'd seen a ghost?" she enquired, "I mean, I know you weren't too keen on this whole situation in the first place, but surely it wouldn't kill you to show a little decorum and maybe say hello to the girl."
"You do know who that was, don't you?" Draco said incredulously.
His mother looked affronted.
"Of course I do. I don't live under a rock Draco, despite what you may believe."
"Well then you'll understand what I mean when I say that this is either a horrific mistake or an even worse stroke of luck – or probably both!" he shouted.
"Lower your voice, we're in public!" she scolded. She offered him a hand and he stood up, towering over her. They started the slow walk back down Diagon Alley, her arm linked gracefully through her son's. "And actually," she continued after a moment of silence, "I don't know what you mean. I happen to think she would be an exemplary match for you."
He stopped walking to stare at his mother, open mouthed. Narcissa simply reached up, shut his mouth and pulled him along with a little force to get him to continue walking. After another minute, Draco found his voice.
"How, in any universe, would Granger and I be an 'exemplary match'?! You're actually starting to worry me mother – should I make an appointment for next week at St Mungos, or do you think this severe lapse in judgement could be considered a medical emergency?" he said snarkily.
This time it was his mother's turn to stop.
"Draco," she said warningly, "I will not allow you to speak to me like that. Regardless of your current emotional turmoil, I'm still your mother and I will be afforded a certain amount of respect."
Draco sighed deeply, looking down at the ground. He glanced upwards and found his mother's stern eyes looking back at him. He felt like a small child whenever his mother told him off like that. He then looked away from his mother at all the people trying to all squeeze past each other and get to where they need to go. He was already attracting some malicious stares from a few of them, and so he said "Fine. But can we please go back to the Manor to talk about this? I'd rather not have all of these nosy buggers listening in to our conversation" he finished loudly and irritably so that the people around them would definitely be able to hear.
As he expected, a few of them hastily walked in the opposite direction and a few others made some very nervous eye contact, and then the Malfoys set off for home.
As she watched her childhood nemesis practically run out of the door, Hermione just wished she'd thought to do that before he had – if she did it now it would look to everyone else inside like she was running after Draco Malfoy.
And Merlin knew Hermione Granger would never run after Draco Malfoy – not in a billion years.
So she sat in that café, staring out into space with her jaw nearly on the floor and Narcissa Malfoy looking at her with a mixture of confusion and concern. Pansy was back in her seat, and she began quietly giggling to herself. The sound snapped Hermione out of her shock.
"Pansy will you shut up," she hissed, "this is not funny."
"I'm sorry Hermione but this actually happens to be the funniest thing so far this year." the raven haired witch opposite her chortled.
Feeling slightly like she was being ignored, Narcissa cleared her throat daintily yet with an air that suggested she'd done it a thousand times before, and both girls looked up at her. Pansy smiled warmly at the woman, but Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly. While it was now common knowledge (thanks to a post-war testimony from Harry and extensive reporting in the papers) that Narcissa Malfoy wasn't actually a Death Eater, and that she had only done what she had for the sake of her son, Hermione couldn't help but be a little suspicious – being on opposite sides of a war could bring about animosity even between the closest of family members, never mind between strangers. Especially, Hermione thought, when one of them had been ruthlessly tortured in the other's living room.
Narcissa however seemed unperturbed by the slight glare she was receiving from the curly haired witch, and instead smiled apologetically at her.
"I'm sorry for my son's behaviour," she said, catching Hermione completely off guard; "I actually warned him this morning that he would be in the deepest of trouble should he be anything less than a complete gentleman when the time came for… well, you know. I hope he hasn't upset you in any way."
Hermione stared for a second and then answered quickly.
"Oh goodness no, I'm not upset at all!" she said, "In fact I felt like doing the exact thing he did."
Narcissa frowned ever so slightly at her words and Hermione was reminded suddenly that she was actually talking to the man's mother, so she rushed to try and explain what she had meant.
"Oh, Merlin, I don't mean that I don't like him – well to be honest I don't really – I hardly even know him, and he was awful to me in school and I just – well – what I mean to say is that –"
She took a deep breath to steady her sudden bout of nerves before continuing. Just because Narcissa intimidated her ever so slightly, she would not behave like a blubbering idiot.
"All I mean is that I decided a long time ago that I was not going to participate in this soulmate business. None of us are bound by contract or bond or any such thing to participate and so I made my decision to not get involved. I was extremely on edge all day, as you can probably understand, and so when what just happened… happened, my first reaction internally was exactly the same as Malf – Draco's." she finished, reasoning that it probably wasn't best to refer to someone by their second name when talking to their mother.
The Malfoy matriarch studied the brown haired witch in front of her for a long while, and Hermione found that she felt the overwhelming urge to squirm in her seat under such a scrutinising gaze - it felt like she was being interrogated, but just in complete silence. When Narcissa finally spoke, Hermione was shocked by the woman for the second time that day.
"No need to explain yourself to me dear, I understand." she said.
She said her goodbyes to Pansy and then made to leave. Before she had gotten three steps away from the girls' table however, she stopped and turned back to look directly at Hermione.
"You know," said Narcissa, "you and Draco are much more alike than either of you probably would like to think."
And with that statement, which left Hermione feeling extremely confused and slightly indignant, Narcissa Malfoy turned and followed her son out of the door.
A.N: sorry this update is so late! I had a lot of family stuff going on - I'll try and get the next chapter up much quicker. I hope you all like the pace and characterisation so far. I love reading your input, so please review! Thanks for reading :)