Chapter 11: For Auld Lang Syne
Hermione was wringing her hands in nervousness. This meeting would be unpredictable. It had the potential to go south in a hurry, but on the other hand, it might go well. Maybe. She looked down at her wristwatch. He should be arriving soon. Harry said he would make sure there would be no last-minute hitches; his magi-visa would still be good. But that didn't mean someone wouldn't throw a wrench in the process; after all, he had made quite a few enemies before he left.
Five more minutes. Hermione could feel her back begin to break out in a cold sweat. Where was Harry? Had he been delayed? She began pacing in front of the fireplace. The floor was covered with a patterned carpet usually seen in hotel lobbies. A tan background with geometric black rectangles and pine green circles of various sizes all within borders of thick crimson stripes. Garish thing, really.
One more minute. Hermione decided she might need to go to the Ministry when the fireplace lit up with green flames. After the soot settled, out stepped two male figures. The first one was Harry, his dark Auror robes draped over one arm. In contrast, the man following him was wearing a pair of faded coral-colored jeans matched with a light blue tee shirt, white hoodie and trainers. Hermione blinked in surprise. It would appear his time spent in the States had significantly changed Draco Malfoy.
Hermione kept taking peeks of Draco as the three of them walked to the complex where the meeting was to be held. She had made sure to cast a warming charm on him as Draco was not dressed to battle the frigid London air. He was walking with a freedom she'd never seen from him before. And he was talking to Harry in quite a casual, friendly manner. And….what was that? Did he just laugh? Hermione shook her head in wonder. She had never seen a genuine smile on Draco's face before. She stayed in a state of bemusement until they came to the entrance to the apartments. Looking at Draco's expectant face, she stammered, "If you'll follow me…..I'll take you up to her flat."
Before Draco followed her into the building, he stopped to shake Harry's hand and thank him. Hermione dropped her jaw in astonishment, but remembered to close her mouth before Draco could see her.
"It looks like California suited you, Ma…Mal…uh….Draco," she stuttered.
"Yes….it took a few months for me to get used to muggles and wizards living together like they do there, but once I acclimated to it…actually, it was hard to leave. I especially enjoyed the weather there." He pretended to shiver and said, "English winters…..brrrr."
Hermione smiled at his words. "So I take it…your feelings have changed? And I'm not talking about our climate."
Draco stopped in front of the lift. "Hermione," he said seriously. "My feelings changed before I went abroad."
"Oh?" It had not hit her yet that he'd called her by her given name.
He nodded. "They were forever altered….that night at the manor."
Hermione's face turned pale. She looked down at her feet. "Ah. I see." Quickly giving herself something to do, she pushed the up button and said, "She's on the 14th floor."
Draco watched Hermione carefully. Of all the people he had bullied in the past, her face was the one that popped up the most in his mind. "I'm so sorry," he suddenly blurted out.
She looked over at his face. "What?"
Draco looked steadily into her eyes. "I was cruel to you. I was wrong…..about everything."
Hermione's eyes widened at that frank admission but nodded her head. "I…..appreciate that."
Draco nodded back and then looked forward at the elevator doors. Soon the lift dinged, announcing their arrival to the desired floor. They stepped out into a carpeted hallway. The rugs covering the floor were of much better quality than the cheaply made carpet at the floo rendezvous point, Hermione absently noticed. When they reached the correct flat number, Hermione paused before she punched the ringer. She turned to look at Draco; he appeared nervous but determined.
"Alright then?" she asked.
Once again, he nodded. "Go for it," he said.
Hermione smiled at his American expression and rang the bell. Soon the sound of footsteps could be heard on the other side of the door. Then it opened to reveal Draco's mother; but not as he remembered her. While her son had been sent to the US to learn tolerance of muggles, Narcissa's sentence, while similar, allowed her to stay in England. Muggle England, to be exact. Both had been given a six month sentence to live among muggles. The Wizengamot had been lenient with the two of them due to Harry Potter's impassioned appeal.
Draco looked at his mother standing before him. Gone was her trademark long blonde hair. In its place, she sported a short, textured pixie cut that brought out her expressive eyes and made her look incredibly like Sharon Stone, thought Hermione. No longer in robes or long sweeping gowns he remembered as a boy, Narcissa was now wearing a fetching pair of plaid lounge pants with a jumper to match.
"Well," she said as she took in Draco's equally changed appearance. "We both have a lot to catch up on, it would seem." Then with a mother's zeal she reached for her son and pulled his head down to give him a kiss on the cheek and a big hug. Draco immediately wrapped his arms around her.
"I missed you Mum," he whispered into her ear. Narcissa hugged Draco even tighter after that. "I missed you, too, my little dragon," she confessed.
Hermione internally breathed a sigh of relief. She had not known how Draco would react to seeing his mother so "muggly" but after seeing his changed appearance and now watching him, she knew there was nothing to worry over.
As the afternoon wore on, both mother and son became more and more comfortable with the changes they saw in the other. Hermione couldn't help but notice their tender touches of affection; their smiles and the sparkle that seemed to glimmer from their eyes when they'd mention a memory or long-forgotten family joke. It hurt her to realize the Malfoys would be forever changed by the loss of Draco's father; but maybe they could go forward and have something deeper. Certainly something better. She had taken their tea cups back to Narcissa's kitchen before she left to go back to her flat when Draco came into the room.
"Thank you for staying," he said.
Hermione nodded. "Of course. But….it was my job to…."
"I know," he said. "To make sure I behaved."
Hermione blushed. "I was hopeful you would. It's just the ministry felt…"
Draco put his hand over hers. "I know."
Hermione gulped. She hadn't expected the touches and affection she'd seen Draco and Narcissa share with each other to extend to her.
"Stay?" Draco whispered. "Mother says this flat will have a marvelous view of the fireworks set to go off tonight. Help us ring in the New Year?"
Hermione looked into Draco's eyes. Blue. Blue eyes with flashes of silver.
"For old times' sake? For auld lang syne?"
Hermione laughed at Draco. "Old times sake? That's not a very good arguing point, you know. We hated each other."
Draco gave a small sigh. "I didn't mean that. I meant our positions. You were first in our year. I was second." He looked down at her, a tinge of pink coloring his cheeks. "I would be happy to continue that with you…..if you would allow it."
"I don't think I follow what you…."
"One thing I learned from my muggle computer studies was the nature of a binary," he interrupted. "1 and 2 need each other to be whole…..," Draco trailed off and gave Hermione a significant look.
Her eyes widened in surprise when she realized what he was saying.
"Stay. And let's see if the muggles are right," he said.
Just then, Narcissa called out from the next room and said, "Draco? Hermione? Do you still want to go to that pub? We can be back in plenty of time for the fireworks.
"Shall we?" asked Draco as he held out his hand.
Hermione looked down at his hand, then looked up at him. "I suppose I can do that," she said as she took his hand. "If you will put on some appropriate clothing first, Surfer Dude."
Draco laughed and nodded. "Old time's sake, indeed. You're just as bossy as ever."
AN: Happy New Year to everyone! This drabble was the result of me looking for a new hair style for this year and seeing a picture of Sharon Stone with a pixie cut….that led me to think, "What would Narcissa look like if she cut her hair like that? And why would she do it to begin with?" So there you go... my mind works in weird ways. As for Draco's clothing in this chapter, they were inspired by a photo I saw of Tom Felton, who played Draco in the movies, wearing coral/pinkish colored jeans. So I had to add that to the story!
For those of you who don't know, I've started a new story entitled Starlight. It will be different from any other story I've written thus far. Very mature themes. Not a fluff bunny will be found in it. But it will have love. And betrayal. And devotion. It deals with the sobering reality of mental illness. But oops, I don't want to say too much! Check it out and let me know what you think.