As the wall closed behind her, Hermione cast a hot-air charm on her clothes and hair before starting down the cobblestone street.

Hermione started to pull out her robes so she could hide her stained shirt, but was interrupted by a voice.

"Well, what do we have here?"

Her hand paused in her purse at the all too familiar tone. She directed a baleful glare at the blonde man who had spoken. He was wearing a casual robe, his usual sleek appearance more ruffled, but his smirk bordered on a smile. Seeing him in such a pleasant mood irked her.

"What do you think?" she asked sharply before she continued walking. Hermione heard Malfoy start to follow her.

"Actually I was thinking-"

"That was rhetorical, Malfoy."

There was a pause, and then Malfoy spoke up again, "Granger, do the-"

"I said-" Hermione interrupted.

"-colonies dis-"

"Bugger off!"

"-agree with you?"

Hermione paused and glanced back at Malfoy, a few steps behind her.

"Did you always have this cheery disposition or shall we blame the Yankees?" he rephrased and really smirked this time. Hermione knew he was mocking her but couldn't pin down why she was so irritated.

"I'm going to blame you," she said petulantly.

He glanced off over her shoulder and tilted his head as if thinking. "I can't see why... I'll stick with the Yank theory."

Hermione rolled her eyes and started down the road again. Malfoy continued to follow her. She waited for several seconds to see if he would leave; however, each step with Malfoy behind her back made her clench her teeth and hands harder.

"Malfoy, stop following me."

"Hmf, I'm not following you. You're the one in the way of where I want to go," he still managed to say it arrogantly despite its ridiculousness.

"Clever," Hermione responded sarcastically and tried very hard to ignore him again. They continued to walk down the streets of wizarding New York. The passing shops had a very distinct Victorian influence and looked newer than London's.

Eventually, Malfoy spoke up again. "Granger, where are you going? The Tuneful Brew?" he guessed as it came into view.

"What's it to you?" she said without turning around.

"How silly of me not to guess the great Hermione Granger would be early even to a lunch date."

"I actually came early for a break by myself, alone, before everyone else showed up."

"You should rethink that and spend it lion-taming instead."

"Excuse me?" she rounded on him.

Malfoy merely pointed his long finger lazily at her hair. She reached up to touch a much puffier mess than she had had that morning. She groaned as she remembered the hot-air spell.

"And I know you're a muggle-lover, but it's taking it too far if you won't even use a charm on that." His finger trailed down to point at her blouse. She had never gotten her robes on to cover the stain because she had been interrupted by a certain blonde git.

"Honestly, take a little pride in your appearance. I'll show you a spell-"

Her wand was out and at his throat before she had thought about it.

"Don't you even think about pointing a wand at me, Draco Malfoy." He swallowed visibly. "And don't you dare insult my appearance ever again. I'm sick of having those petty and childish taunts thrown at me. You understand?" Hermione could feel the sparks of magic dancing along her fly-away strands of hair.

"I get it, Granger. Now remove your wand before I feel the need to retaliate." Hermione hadn't realized how friendly his voice had been until that tone disappeared. Malfoy stared down at her, his lips a thin line.

She huffed angrily and removed her wand. "As long as we understand each other," she gritted out. After a good glare to make sure he didn't do anything else stupid, she disappeared into the cafe to follow his advice, however loathe she was to admit it.

There went her precious time with her book.

Hermione assessed the damage in the mirror and concluded it wasn't salvageable with magic. She dampened her hair and cast a spell to pull it into a tight plait. As it didn't interfere with the nature of her hair, she hadn't had a problem with that spell. She rummaged around in her purse in hopes of finding a random shirt. Eventually she pulled out the Holyhead Harpies jersey that Ginny had given her shortly after she had joined the team. Hermione pulled it on. It was rather baggy and the colors were a bit gaudy, but it would work. She banished her stained shirt to what she hoped was the dirty laundry in her apartment. Fixed in under five minutes. She nodded proudly at her appearance and her stomach grumbled in reply. Food and book, here she came. She pulled her robes on and went to hunt down the cash-register.

…

"Hey! Hermione!" John half yelled from the cafe door.

Hermione, still caught in her book, glanced up and gave him a half smile.

"You look really different from school." Hermione assumed he meant her hair pulled back and the casual attire. "I didn't recognize you- Draco had to point you out to me."

"Oh," Hermione didn't really have anything to say. She marked her place and slipped the book into her purse.

"In fact, he seemed like he knew exactly where you were. Are you sure there weren't any not-so-chance meetings-?"

"Are you trying to make me gag or do you really not see that we hate each other?" she asked, her patience spent for the day.

"Um…" John paused a few seconds before he clapped her on the back. "I'm joking. Of course, I'm joking." He turned back towards the cafe, "Hey guys, I found her!"

From the cafe door spilled the rest of their school group. Shandra had opted for a much more muggle wardrobe with several beaded necklaces and a peasant top but the blokes didn't look any different than normal.

"Sit down, everyone! Looks like Hermione already got her lunch!"

They pushed together two of the patio tables and everyone settled down around them. Everyone arranged their food across the tables and began to eat. Pleasant chatter of several conversations weaved in and out of each other; Hermione closed her eyes and let them flow around her, content to enjoy her food silently.

"Hey, Hermione, you didn't grab a drink. Don't you like tea? Their iced tea is amazing," John said as the conversation lulled. "Isn't it, Shandra? She got some sort of fruit tea."

Shandra made an agreeing noise but didn't attempt to continue the conversation.

John seemed to actually expect an answer from her, so Hermione replied dryly, "I've had enough of tea for one day. I've got some water in my bag, thanks. Anyways," Hermione continued on in an attempt to escape anymore of John's awkward conversational attempts. "Daryn, were you guys talking about the music here?"

"Yes, well, we were talking about the gig my band has."

"What type of music do you play?"

"We've been described as similar to The Rhythmic Runes… or the Dave Matthews Band if you listen to muggle music."

"I think I've heard of them," confirmed Hermione, vaguely recalling the name.

"Oh, I really like that band! It's nice that wizards are drawing from modern music," Shandra joined. "I can't wait to hear you live!"

"Yeah, it's just some of my high school band friends," Daryn said modestly.

"Hey, we could all go together!" John joined in. "When are you playing?"

"We're playing at the bar down the street tonight."

"Sounds sweet, bro. What do you think, Draco?" John swung his arm around Draco.

Malfoy shrugged it off. "I don't go to pubs."

"I'm sure it's a nice place if Daryn is playing there," Shandra joined in.

"I don't care how nice it is, I'm not going," Malfoy said flatly. Shandra and John shared a look and John shrugged behind Malfoy's back.

"Is anyone else playing at the bar?" John continued on brazenly, despite the sinking mood.

"There's an older group who play some wizarding classics like 'Magic Works' and 'A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love.'"

"Oh, gag!" Shandra exclaimed. "Those songs are horrible! We'll have to make sure to escape before they start. How can a decent place still play that stuff? Civilized witches and wizards don't like that outdated pureblood crap!"

"Would you stop insulting purebloods?" Hermione almost hissed when Shandra finished.

Shandra scoffed. "You're the last person I would expect saying things like that. Besides, everyone thinks like that. Purebloods are awful for what they did."

"Stop talking about things you don't understand!" Hermione said angrily. "Some of my best friends were purebloods and fought for the Light! During the- they were... some were ki-kil- ...and the others- they-" she sputtered. Flashes of that night came unbidden to her. She gritted her teeth as she started to cry and rushed on quickly, "If you assume all of them were the same just because of blood you are exactly like those purebloods you always insult!" She stood up quickly, her chair clattering to the ground. Hermione barely registered Shandra's mouth hanging slightly open. She had to get away until the memories stopped. She rushed towards the gate that lead out to the main street in wizarding New York.

"Hermione!" Daryn called when he caught up to her. "Hermione, are you okay?"

"I just- too many things today. S-sorry," instead of looking at him, she hunted for a tissue in her bag, hoping he would just leave.

"Is talking about the War still hard?"

What an understatement, Hermione thought, but she only nodded. She gave up fishing in her bag and wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand.

Daryn patted her back with his hand a little awkwardly. That just set her off again, tears spilled down her face and snot running out of her nose. She sniffed and rubbed it with the back of her hand, acutely embarrassed.

"Um…" Daryn summoned a tissue. "Here."

"Thanks," she half-sobbed, desperate to get control of herself again.

"Listen, if you ever need to talk."

She knew he was being sincere, but how could she take up an offer from a young man she had barely met.

"Thanks, Williams. I'll let you know if I feel up to it."

"Williams?"

"Oh, sorry, Daryn."

"Old habits die hard? Draco was grumbling about that the other day."

"About old habits?" Hermione asked, wondering about what sort of old habits Malfoy would complain about. Surely he didn't just talk about his old Death Eater ways to blokes off the street?

"No, the last name versus first name thing."

"Oh."

"Listen, about Shandra…"

"Tell her I'm sorry I snapped."

"She's just voicing a pretty prevalent viewpoint of the war from this side of the Atlantic. Don't be too hard on her. Most people are ignorant, but she's also clung onto it to help her cope."

"Cope?"

"Sorry… I should probably let her tell you about that."

"Erm… okay. Good luck at your gig tonight, I'll try to make it to your next one but-"

"I understand. Hope you feel better, Hermione."

Hermione nodded awkwardly and they parted ways.

A/N: Another chapter! My brain is pretty exhausted from school so it's been harder to write even when I have the time.

Thank you again for the reviews! I really love you guys for your support so far! I'd love to know what you thought of the chapter! Have a lovely weekend :)