Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to JKR and Warner Bros. I am merely doing my best to use the characters and have some fun.
A/N: Yes, my fine feathered fans. An update has finally arrived. I have to say that reading Deathly Hallows sparked my muse- I am one of those who loved the book. Seems that most either love it or hate it. But I won't spoil anything for anyone. I hope you enjoy. Next chapter should be up sometime in August.
Draco stared. He couldn't help it. Out of all the bloody people in London, he was standing in front of Hermione. Try as he might to appear to not recognize her, he found himself falling into the liquid pool of her brown eyes the way he always had in school. She was positively ravishing in black, not that seeing her wear black was anything unusual when he had known her last, but under the dim lighting of the ballroom, he couldn't help but find the overall effect rather pleasing.
He watched her eyes change in an instant from shock to anger.
"What a surprise to find you here." Hermione said, not able to disguise the menace from her voice.
Mrs. Pembroke was shocked. She had never heard Hermione Granger utter a mean word towards anyone, let alone make a scene in a room full of people. "I gather that you know each other?" Penelope chocked out.
Hermione continued to glare at Draco. "You could say that, but this swine would probably deny it."
Before anyone could stop her, Hermione drew back her hand and slapped Draco across the face as hard as she could-- so hard that the red print of her hand was left behind on his cheek. When Draco didn't react, but simply stared at her like a bizarre cross between a lost child and a cocker spaniel, she stormed out of the ballroom-- heels tapping on the marble floor like gunshots.
It was only when the sound of her footsteps faded away that Draco moved at all.
"Oh Mr. Alexander, I am so very sorry. Had I known that you knew each other, I never would have put you in this position." Penelope wrung her hands in distress.
Draco turned to Penelope. "My dear woman, don't fret. You have done me a great pleasure."
Penelope looked at Draco questioningly.
"You see, Hermione Granger is the woman I've loved all my life. And it is you who has brought me back into her life. For that, I am profoundly grateful." Draco swept down into a bow and kissed Penelope's hand.
"Oh shush." Penelope said. "Now, I believe that you have some explaining to do, young man."
Draco laughed and pulled a white card out of his breast pocket. Carefully, he took out a gold pen and scribbled quickly across the back of it. "Now, Ms. Pembroke. If this information is leaked to the press, I will hunt you down within an inch of your life, am I understood?"
Penelope laughed. "My boy, don't be ridiculous. Of course I wouldn't loose this." She said after pocketing the card.
"Very well. Call me tomorrow, sharp at three. We will make plans from there." Draco told her.
"Plans for what?" Penelope asked, but before she finished her question, Draco was already walking out of the ballroom, lost to the evening's festivities. Penelope did only what she could do in that sort of situation, she directed the attention upon herself.
"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Penelope said loudly while striking a spoon against her wine goblet. "Please follow me. Dinner has been served!"
Penelope couldn't help herself but wonder what the morrow would bring. One thing she knew for certain, she would not be bored.
Hermione threw her heels against the wall of her bedroom. "That lousy good-for-nothing snake! I can't believe that he had the nerve!" She sat down hard on her bed and yanked off her hose hard enough for them to tear.
It wouldn't have been so bad, but she had waited all those years to see what would happen if she ever saw him again. It was positively atrocious that he turned out to be the novelist she had dreamed of in her bed at night. It just wasn't fair. Now all her fantasies had been ruined.
She got up from the bed and stalked across the room to her bookcase and yanked book after book off its shelves. Then she collapsed onto the floor and cried. "Why!" She blew her nose on a tissue. "Just why did it have to be him?" She wailed and picked up the first book from the pile. It had been the first book that "Devin Alexander" had published. She took a deep breath and opened the book, fully intending to rip the book to shreds, but she just couldn't do it. Her eyes fell onto the inscription she had read a million times, but never thought it pertained to her.
To the girl I left behind, I hope that you forgive me for
the mistakes I made, and know that I have never forgotten
the happiness you had given me.
Carefully, Hermione pulled herself back up onto the bed, no longer caring if her dress was ruined. She knew she just couldn't do it again. She couldn't let him hurt her. And she wouldn't let him do it. He had broken her heart, and never seemed to even try to make amends. All he did in school was avoid her, he never even bothered to wish her goodbye.
She curled up around her pillow and wept.
The following day, Penelope sat down on her ornate desk chair and waited for the minute hand of her Rococo clock to reach three. Part of her was energized, but more so, she was completely nervous about calling Mr. Alexander. Somehow, she knew that she had gotten herself involved in something that was way over her head, but it was too late to back out now.
She picked up the receiver and dialed the number as the minute hand struck three. The phone was answered on the third ring.
"Hello?" A male voice said.
Penelope took a deep breath. "Mr. Alexander?" She asked.
"May I ask who is calling?"
"It's Penelope Pembroke. Mr. Alexander said that he wished to speak--"
"Ah yes, Penelope. I'm here." Draco said.
Penelope sighed in relief. "Oh, Mr. Alexander. I am ever so glad that I caught you."
Draco laughed. "I'm not sure that you will say that once I give you the full story. What day are you free?"
Penelope was shocked. She never expected a private meeting with the man. "Hold on a moment, I must check my calendar."
"It is not a problem." Draco said distractedly.
Penelope scrambled and rummaged through her desk until she found her planner. She looked over it for a moment. "Mr. Alexander?"
"Yes."
"Would this Thursday be alright?"
Draco couldn't stand it anymore. "First of all, enough of this formality. It reminds me too much of home. Call me Draco."
Penelope's eyes shot wide. "Draco?"
Draco laughed. "Now you see why I need a pen name? At any rate, Thursday is just fine. Why don't I send a car for you at... oh say 11:30, will that be alright?"
"Oh, that will be perfectly fine, Mr... ah... Draco."
Draco laughed. "Until Thursday."
"Oh, Draco?"
"Yes."
Penelope took a deep breath. "Can I ask you what this is all about?"
Draco smiled his patented smile into the phone. "What is the fun in that Penelope? Let's just say that I need your help. You will learn everything on Thursday, alright?"
Penelope couldn't help herself. She loved his sarcastic wit. "Yes, of course. That will be fine."
Penelope hung up the phone and leaned back into her chair. This was proving to be an interesting situation indeed.
Draco hung up his phone. He couldn't help himself. He somehow knew that with Penelope Pembroke on his side, Hermione didn't stand a chance.