A wizard walked by the store. He looked through the shop's window and entered. The wizard was wearing a long black coat over his dark kimono, a set of swords was fastened onto his obi and the flip-flops showed that not only his fingernails were polished. He was barely shorter than Lucius and handsome. His short black hair was long and curly in the front. He didn't look very Japanese. His eyes were charmed to mimic the ocean's waves and his lips were covered with pinkish lipstick. He was stunning and attractive, his makeup didn't make the muscular wizard appear any less masculine.

"Bonjour Cher Monsieur Malfoy. Comment ca va?"

"Bonjour Monsieur Fukui."

"Bonjour," Hermione said.

The strange wizard took notice of her and kissed both her cheeks and her hand. "Mademoiselle Granger."

"Madame Malfoy." Lucius insisted on correcting his 'friend'.

The Japanese wizard praised her and her achievements in fluent French and told her he was hoping to get a chance to meet her ever since he heard she was in the country. He would love to see the bright and beautiful witch more often and suggested to dine together. Hermione blushed under his flirtation and invited him the following day to dinner in fluent French. Monsieur Fukui left as quickly as he had joined them.

"How come you are so proficient in speaking French?" Lucius asked her.

"I had a French Au-pair and took classes at my muggle school. How do you know it and who was that?"

"I have been tutored the basics of it and a few other languages. Apparently attending Hogwarts and learning the family trade was not challenging enough. Fukui-san is the head of international relations with the government. His family is one of the 27. Our paths cross more often than I like. Why did you have to invite him to dinner?"

"I was merely being polite." She took another sip of tea.

The shopkeeper dropped his tools and handed each of them their name seal. Hermione eagerly tried hers. The two kanji looked cute within the red circle. Looking at the characters she finally saw what she had been missing the whole time. 円福. Ma-ru-fu-ku is the Japanese version of Ma-l-fo-y. The sneaky Slytherin never changed his name, he only changed its meaning from 'bad faith' to 'fortune' a coup that certainly benefited his endeavors.

What was worst was that everybody knew it and nobody had warned her. How can his crimes and everything he has done be of no importance to an entire nation? Every witch and wizard on the planet knew about the war and nobody seemed to care that he was a Death Eater, that he had served Voldemort. Thinking back on every encounter they had with locals, they made it appear as if being in Voldemort's inner circle was no different from joining the boy scouts.

Lucius paid and lead the quiet witch to the next store. He once again retrieved the small box. He pulled out a small cubical jade stone with a dragon figure on top of it and asked the shopkeeper if he had something similar only with a tiger for his wife. This seal stamped the Malfoy-crest. Official documents needed to bear both and since they had yet to file their marriage with the authorities, they were a bit in a hurry. The craftsman informed them that it would take some time to carve the stone but they would be able to pick it up in 3 hours.

Wanting to use the time efficiently Hermine bought a pretty box for her seals and curious as she was inspected her husband's other seals. The square-shaped black one was the crest of the Nippon-Ginkou and the other one was for work as well. It read his, well now it was their family name in Chinese characters, the current date, and Ru-shi-u-su in Katakana. Seeing the last Hanko was proving what the young witch already suspected. He was working under his own identity. Was it the famed Malfoy-pride? But why did he bother to use polyjuice if everybody knew who he was anyway?

"We need to acquire a tomisode for you. Lead the way," Lucius said.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do I need another kimono?"

"Because you are a married witch now and the one with the butterflies has long sleeves witch is reserved for unmarried females. Also, you deserve something that accentuates your natural beauty."

They took an elevator to the right area and looked at the posters to see what's on offer. One of the weird things about Japan is that no matter how expensive something is people would still volunteer the information freely. The young witch swallowed hard. She knew kimono were expensive but she had no idea they would cost that much. It took a while to translate the numbers into something she was used to dealing with. Not too few of the festive ones cost about 50.000 £. Some were more expensive others cost less but none of them were near her price range. Who spends 10.000 £ on a long strand of fabric anyway?

"I really don't need a tomisode…"

"Yes, you do."

"But they're really expensive," Hermione said.

"I can afford it."

"We could rent it instead…"

"No, you need something more personal."

"Isn't it overpriced? I mean what could possibly justify spending so much on clothing?"

"How much did your dress cost?" Lucius asked.

"80 £ including value-added tax."

"And how much did that lovely handbag set you back?"

"80 Galleons. Don't tell anyone. I just loved it and we were at war. I just wanted to look good for that one day, I might have never gotten the chance to do so ever again, and it's useful too. I can put all my things in, my med kit, a tent, and my books and all of the boys' stuff as well. I use it every day. I know it's too much and the pearls are magically grown to achieve this size and shape…"

"Although you spent nearly 10 times as much on that handbag even with the lack of VAT in magical Britain, it was still the better deal. Muggles usually produce in countries with low labor costs. That translates into everything you pay for a t-shirt that's above 1 £ is being overpriced."

"This dress was made in Italy," Hermione said stubbornly.

"Wherever you are on the planet, labor-intensive work is usually done in structurally poor regions where people would take any job, regardless of health risks, working hours or payment. Manual workers do not become wealthy. Branding and marketing generate profit, not the actual work itself. Whether you are in the US or Italy, jobs like sawing and butchering are done by people of questionable migration-status who even today live like lepers sharing a tiny room with 7 others, no days off, no health-insurance and close to no contact to their families. If you were to pay the workers fairly throughout the production-line a machine woven dress like yours would fetch closer to what your bag cost, from there to 50.000 £ for a handwoven, not elf-made, silk kimono is not a long jump. And if Japanese were not too proud to accept help, I would gladly pay an extra to keep the craft alive and the weaver would not have to supplement her income elsewhere."

Hermione stood there dumbfounded. Did Lucius Malfoy just win an argument over working conditions? The world has gone mad.

They entered a workshop and talked to a designer. After hours of lengthy talks, a design with a maple tree in autumn and a little tiger playing with a red ball of wool beneath it was set. The design was great and complex charms allowed the leaves to move in the wind. Real gold was being used and the Malfoy-crest was embroidered on the back. As beautiful as the design was, spending that amount of money made her highly uncomfortable. Lucius insisted on having sent all bills directly to his office and none of the craftsmen involved in the fabrication process spoke of the cost of it.

Her husband made them believe that it was in his culture improper to speak about money with a lady present. She felt angry and patronized. Did he really think it would make her feel better if she didn't know the exact number? The price was horrendous. The young witch could not imagine enjoying wearing something that pricy. Not that she could think of an occasion to wear it anyway.

"I do need it finished by the 12th of October," Lucius demanded. Hermione was snapped out of her train of thought by her wizard finalizing the deal.

"Why?"

"It is the day of the bank's founding, we have a ball to attend." He explained.

"Sure," she said rolling her eyes. Why can't he just once ask?

He looked at her the question was obvious on his face.

"Nothing," the young witch answered. They went back to pick up Hermione's stamp. She was about to floo back home when the blond wizard stopped her.

"We need a new set of dishes, after all, we're expecting a guest tomorrow evening."

"Why? We have more than enough tableware."

"But they bear the Inutsuki-crest. You cannot serve a high ranking member of a clan food on someone else's plate."

"We do have neutral ones as well. I picked them for your last dinner guest," Hermione argued.

"Indeed, but none of those bear my crest."

"What's the obsession with your crest? What comes next do you want to brand me as well?!"

The dark wizard instinctively looked at her wrist, ignorance was indeed bliss. "It is crucial that works of art bear not only the mark of the craftsmen but also of the person commissioning it as it is a statement not only of the accumulated wealth but more importantly also of his refined taste."

Hermione exhaled loudly. This must be the least romantic wedding day in the history of marriage. "Fine, but I'm hungry. I want something for lunch first."

"Deal."