"At the meeting. Everybody does. Anonymity and all that." He reached up to rub his neck. "So, do you mind calling me Draco or me calling you… Hermione?"
His voice hesitated just a little as he said her name. It was awkward, pausing overly long on the syllables. It was like that whenever she met someone new, but she shivered.
"No, I wouldn't mind, Draco."
He gulped and then his shoulders relaxed. "Good." He briefly regarded her and then swallowed again. "I mean… that's good. That you want to."
Once outside of WiNY, the wind whipped against them and through Hermione's cardigan. She pulled it a little closer. Why had he asked her that? Did it mean something beyond the stated obvious? Had he felt, like her, that their use of last names had become awkward? She bit her lip.
Draco looked back at her, observing her gnawed lip and shook his head.
"They are Muggles, Gr- I mean, Hermione." He said her voice in a quieter tone, like he was thinking about it. About her.
"They aren't going to recognize you or me or even Harry Potter. They would just say, who is this chap with the large forehead? Wait, he's just got an abnormally sized head. Oh, and what an ugly scar. Sorry gent, isn't he?"
Hermione giggled a little. "They would not. Harry has a perfectly normal sized head."
"I'm not sure if you should be a judge of that either, Hermione."
Distracted by her name, it took a couple seconds. "Hey!"
He grinned again.
"Oh, and you are a good judge, Mr. I-need-a-whole-separate-atmosphere-for-my-ego?"
He was still smiling but now it was quizzical. "Atmosphere?"
"It's the layers of air between us and space." She pointed above them.
He looked up at the sky darkened with clouds. "Huh. Good one."
They continued on, their conversation light and friendly. As they approached a set of apartment buildings, Draco held out a hand in front of her.
"Samir… he's going to be wearing a sword."
"A sword?" Hermione asked incredulously. "Why would he-"
"He's Sikh. He usually wears a small dagger but on special occasions he likes to wear his bigger one. It's one of the articles of his faith he is required to wear-"
"-yes. I know." Hermione interrupted.
He titled his head towards her and gave her a half smile. "Just don't hex him, Hermione, alright?"
Hermione straightened and nodded, giving him a weak smile. "I think I can manage that."
It turned out that they were both wearing swords: Samir and his wife, Harjeet. It was more obvious on Samir, who wore a blazer over a t-shirt, but Harjeet's sword was almost lost in the loose fabric of her top. Hermione might not have noticed it without Draco's warning and if it had not become her habit to scan people for threats.
After Draco has introduced them to Hermione, Harjeet turned a smile towards her. "It is so nice to meet you, Hermione," the woman told her in a faint British accent. "Draco has never brought a date before."
"Oh, erm," Hermione stumbled. "We're not-"
"Just friends," Draco supplied over her shoulder. "I'm still not dating anyone, Harjeet."
Harjeet turned a speculative eye between the two before leading them into her apartment. It was sparsely furnished but the pieces that were there were beautiful and well matched. Draco immediately was drawn towards the small television in the corner where Samir was adjusting the antenna for better reception.
"American football?" Hermione guessed.
Harjeet followed her gaze and then nodded with a smile. "My husband has converted Draco to the 'joys of American sport' as he calls it."
Just then, one of the players was buried beneath what seemed like the whole of both teams.
"Or maybe there's enough blood and violence to make the sport palatable," Hermione countered, thinking of all the Quidditch injuries she had seen over the years that never seemed to quell Harry or Ron's enthusiasm for the sport.
Harjeet's smile quirked a little. "It seems he will have to fight hard to make another convert of you."
Hermione shrugged. "Sorry, I've never liked watching people get hurt."
Harjeet patted her shoulder and led her to the table loaded with food. Most of it was in line with what Hermione knew of Thanksgiving: mashed potatoes, stuffing, pie and so on. However, there were also some not-so-thanksgiving dishes, such as the fried pastry Harjeet was pointing out.
"I made some samosa as an appetizer before dinner while we waited for everyone"
Hermione gratefully picked one up, not having eaten one since she had come to America. "Everyone?"
She was cut off by the door-bell.
"Excuse me." Harjeet gently placed her hand on Hermione's shoulder before going to open the door.
Three more people were at the doorway and, when they entered, the already small space felt cramped. She was introduced to them: Sam, Abby and Amar, she thought. Everyone started talking about things she didn't know about, their voices loud over the TV on which large men were still knocking each other over. Hermione half-listened but mostly focused on eating her samosa.
Then the doorbell rang again and two more people showed up, Bob and Jack or maybe Dick and Jacob. Hermione just knew there were too many people and not enough exits. It seemed every time she was at a large party the only thing she could think of was Fleur and Bill's wedding. It invaded into her thoughts even as she tried to reason her way out of it. These were Muggles... but, actually, that made it worse. She closed her eyes to breathe through the tension building in her. Almost immediately there was a hand on her shoulder. Her eyes shot open, but she was able to interrupt her hand before it got to her wand.
"Ma-Draco?" She had been expecting Harjeet.
He looked down at her with a small frown. "Out with it."
"I'm fine," she protested, trying to shrug off his hand as she studied the ground.
"Bullshit. What can I do? Do we need to leave?"
Hermione stared at him with surprised awe. "No, no. Just, during dinner, can I sit close to the door with my back to a wall?"
He gave her a single nod before heading over to Harjeet. He whispered in her ear and Harjeet only glanced at Hermione once before nodding and saying something in reply. When Draco returned to Hermione, he directed her towards the seats that fit with her specifications. She was about to protest sitting before being invited when Samir did just that. Draco shoved her down in the chair and then took the one next to her.
"You better be treating your lady nicely, Draco," said the man, the black-skinned one that was either Dick or Jacob.
"I am a perfect gentleman," Draco countered from her other side.
Hermione snorted and both looked at her. "Actually, he is," she hurried to reassure the man. "Not perfect but he is a gentleman, most of the time. He just used to not be at all-"
"Please stop talking Hermione before you destroy any of my reputation that I still have left," Draco said in a slightly strangled voice.
Before anyone could reply, Samir cleared his throat from the front of the table. Once everyone was quiet and looking towards him, he began. "The dear Lord Vaheguru is the Sole Provider for the whole creation. There is no limit to His giving…"
Hermione peeked towards Draco to see his head slightly bowed, his mouth sometimes forming the words. She turned to watch Samir again, his deep voice rumbling over the scripture. "…O Dear Almighty God may Your Name be exalted through Guru Nanak. May all prosper according to Your will."
She listened to the words and thought it an appropriate prayer for a holiday of thanksgiving, despite the foreign terms and names. Everyone was still quiet afterwards, their eyes slowly coming up, but, at a gesture from Samir, everyone began reaching for plates and dishes.
It turned out that the man next to her was named Jacob and the other man that had come with him was his sponsee, Robert. Both of them were business men who had alienated their families to the point that they lived permanently in the city and had nowhere to go for Thanksgiving. Sam's home life wasn't conducive to staying sober and his girlfriend, Abby, had no family on this side of the States. Amar was a young relative of Samir and Harjeet's that had traveled from India recently to help with the family restaurant.
Harjeet did not eat meat and so the turkey had been replaced by a vegetarian cottage pie, which Hermione had mistakenly assumed was a fruit pie.
Overall, once Hermione understood who was who and a bit of their backgrounds, the conversations started to make sense. However, once the conversation turned to her, she wasn't sure what to say.
"She's an old friend," Draco said. At her eye roll, he amended, "Fine, I used to bully her and now we're friends."
There was a murmur of voices.
"I didn't know you were on your 9th step!"
"That's forgiving of you, coming to a meeting and everything. That's why you are here, right?"
"Was he as surly in grade school?"
"No, no to all of that," Draco interrupted. "We ran into each other accidentally at my school. That's it."
"The medical school you are going to? That's quite a coincidence!" Abby said, peeking at both of them from underneath her dark bangs.
Hermione shrugged and said weakly, "It's rather famous in our parts?"
No one seemed inclined to question further than that and the conversation continued through dinner and the actual fruit pies that had been hidden in the kitchen. As the pie was finished and the time for the meeting was approaching, there was talk of bringing pie as the treat for that meeting instead of the usual doughnuts.
"I've already shared Harjeet's pie with all of you punks, I'm not going to share it anymore," Samir said as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
That was met with general laughter. However, as it turned out, Harjeet's pies had never been in danger as she had a store-bought one on hand 'just-in-case.'
"That's Harjeet for you," Jacob said as she left for the kitchen. "Always saving all our butts."
There was a chorus of agreement and everyone started clearing plates and preparing to leave.
Everyone except Amar had planned to go to the AA meeting. Amar mentioned he was needed back at the restaurant and left before everyone else. By the time the rest of them had left the apartment, it was well and truly night and the chill that Hermione could ignore earlier had settled into something that went straight through her cardigan and made her teeth chatter. Draco pulled off his jacket and made to drape it around her shoulders.
Hermione tried to wave him off. "Give me a moment to cast a spell. I'll be fine," she whispered.
"It's going to look very suspicious that way and besides, you've already had my manners questioned once today," he whispered back pointedly, their faces close as he readjusted the jacket to be behind her again.
She made a face and angled her arms so they slid into its sleeves. She pulled the jacket and his warmth around her. "You are a gentleman, Draco." She continued to speak quietly. "Even if you are still rather rough around the edges."
His eyes widened and he swallowed visibly. "Er, Hermione…"
She stepped closer to him as an idea occurred to her and Draco twitched as if he wanted to back up but didn't.
"Just shield me for a second while I cast a spell on you, then," she said. She slipped her right arm out of its sleeve and pulled out her wand under the protection of the jacket Malfoy held tented from her to his chest. With a quick hand gesture and muttered word the spell was done and then everything was set to rights.
"Come on, lovebirds!" someone called, Hermione thought it might have been Sam.
"Sod off!" Draco yelled back as she tucked her head in embarrassment. He reached out for her hand and squeezed it. "Those prats just like teasing me."
The AA meeting was held in a red brick church with stately pillars surrounding its entrance.
Beyond the group that they arrived with, there was a handful of others settling into the hard-backed chairs. The newcomers were mostly older than their group, some well-groomed but others with scruffy hair and ill-fitting clothing.
When the time came for the meeting to begin, Hermione wasn't surprised to see Samir standing at the front.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. This is the regular meeting of the New York Inter-group of Alcoholics Anonymous. My name is Samir and I am an alcoholic and your secretary. Let us open the meeting with a moment of silence to do with as you wish followed by the Serenity Prayer."
The moment observed, Samir continued, "And now, the prayer."
Most of the group joined Samir as he began. "God, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference."
Samir continued to introduce the meeting with an emphasis on needing only the desire to stop drinking and that it is working the steps that is essential to recovery. After that, Harjeet read the 12 steps from her AA book and then continued to read what sounded like a summarization of the first few chapters Hermione had managed to read from the book: "We were alcoholics and could not manage our own lives. No human power could have relieved our alcoholism but God could and would if sought. Any life run on self-will can hardly be a success."
As Harjeet read on, Hermione felt herself becoming stiffer and stiffer. She had survived her whole Hogwarts career and the war through self-will and her own magic. What did they call all her late nights in the library? The chilly woods night-watch using her will to ward off the Horcrux necklace's pull on her mind?
Samir's voice cut through her darkening thoughts. "We have one new member. Hermione, would you introduce yourself?"
Hermione stood stiffly and gave everyone a small wave towards the group. "I'm Hermione Gr- I'm Hermione."
There was a chorus of "Hi, Hermione," from the attendees.
"I'm from Britain." She trailed off and saw Draco raise both eyebrows.
"Just say it," he mouthed.
"And… I might be an addict." She finished before quickly sitting down.
"Might?" he asked sarcastically.
Hermione pulled her shoulders back. "Might," she returned.
"Thank you, Hermione. Since we are small enough today, we'll do a discussion meeting with the focus on the first three steps. I'll ask you to limit your share to under five minutes."
A/N: I've known Sikhs but I don't know very much about Sikhism. So, if any of you would like to educate me on anything, I'm very open to it ;)
On another note, I'm still a long way off, but I'm actually attempting to plot out the rest of the story. Are there any story threads that you are especially interested in seeing resolved?
As always, looking forward to your guy's reactions and opinions on the most recent chapter! *hugs* CR