Hermione stood outside the tea shop in muggle London, hand outstretched towards the door. She lingered there, still questioning if lunch with Narcissa would be worth the trouble. At a minimum, it couldn't be worse than her disastrous working session with Malfoy last week. Taking a deep breath, Hermione steeled herself and pushed through. She had originally been surprised when Narcissa suggested a muggle place to meet, anxious that this was some strange ploy to showcase how accepting she was. However, when Narcissa mentioned in her note that she and Andromeda had been meeting here regularly following the war, Hermione felt a bit more comfortable.
"Hermione," Narcissa warmly greeted her from the corner, a high tea spread ready for them at the small table. Perhaps comfortable was not the right word.
"Narcissa, hello," Hermione plastered on her polite smile and sat down. The older witch across from her looked polished as ever, her robes transfigured into a muggle sheath dress and her hair slicked back into a neat twist. Hermione felt excessively underdressed in her jeans, kicking herself for not talking to Theo before leaving the manor.
"I hope you don't mind, I ordered the full spread for us. I thought it might be a bit of fun to do a real ladies tea," Narcissa said as she poured a cup for Hermione.
"I haven't done high tea since I was a child, so this is a lovely treat." Hermione eyed the scones, hoping Narcissa couldn't hear her stomach gently rumbling. She realized she'd been so caught up in her Nott research, she hadn't eaten anything since lunch yesterday. Hermione had hit a dead end with personal journals and was trying other books in the private library, looking for hints about the memory curse in Dark magic tomes she'd never have access to in any other location.
"My mother took all us girls out for special teas too. Of course not in muggle London, but this place brings me back to those memories just the same."
"That sounds lovely," Hermione said politely, hoping not to discuss her sisters in further detail. The simple mental image of a child Bellatrix was jarring enough.
"Did you go to tea with your mother?" Narcissa asked after taking a dainty sip from her teacup. Hermione did her best not to grimace at the mention of her mother. She'd anticipated small talk with Narcissa, but hadn't considered that she'd dive into her most painful secret immediately.
"Yes, the last time we did a formal tea like this it was for my grandmother's birthday. Usually my mum and I go to plays and museums for our mom-daughter outings. Neither of us are particularly good at sitting still."
"That sounds lovely. She must have fostered your love of learning from a young age with those kinds of trips," Narcissa sighed wistfully, breaking her eyes off to the window next to them. "I love Draco dearly, but every so often I find myself jealous of mothers who get to do all sorts of feminine things together. It leaves me wanting, I'm afraid. I hope you don't mind." Hermione nodded, not wanting to think of her own mother right now, stuck in a magical coma in Australia. "Do you still spend time with your mother?"
"Yes," Hermione answered quickly, hoping her refusal to elaborate would prompt Narcissa to move to another topic.
"And you had a happy childhood?" Hermione was put off by the question. She knew of Narcissa Malfoy's reputation as an artful conversationalist, using subtlety as her sword. But now the elegant witch was using bluntness as a weapon, but Hermione couldn't figure out her goal. To simply unsettle her? To push her away from the Nott fortune and back to her parents? To obtain intimate details she'd pass over to Rita Skeeter? Why would Narcissa Malfoy care about Hermione's childhood?
"Yes, very much so. My parents are currently living in Australia. I was lucky enough to spend the last few years with them there, I wanted to be with them after - well, war tends to sort out your priorities," Hermione paused, letting her gaze linger a bit on Narcissa at her mention of the war. If she meant to unnerve Hermione, the young witch wanted to hold her own. But Narcissa's unperturbed expression remained intact. "But I haven't seen them since we got the news two weeks ago."
"And how did they take the adoption news?"
"I haven't told them yet," Hermione looked down at her hands. She sat in silence for a moment, waiting for a reply. When none came, she looked back up at Narcissa, who quirked a pale eyebrow. It surprised Hermione to see this beautiful woman looking like a mirror of her son when she wore that expression. Hermione never thought they looked that similar before, with Draco a carbon copy of his father. And in a flash, she too schooled her face back to the cool indifference she typically wore.
"Of course, I'm sure there is a lot for you to sort through personally before you bring it to them. I do hope you'll invite them to the charity ball, if you share it by then. I'd love to meet them."
"Oh, I hadn't thought about it. If I have the chance to talk to them prior, I will invite them," Hermione smiled sweetly, finding comfort in the unlikelihood of that situation. Even if she fixed her parents in time, she would never bring a pair of muggles to Malfoy Manor, no matter how reformed Narcissa claimed to be.
"Wonderful! Let's jump into some of the things you'll need to know for the ball." Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, a feeling that would be short lived. "I assume Theo referred you to our etiquette teacher? When do you start?"
"I really don't think that is necessary. I-"
"Oh Hermione, you must get that scheduled immediately," Narcissa interrupted, scolding her gently. "I know it seems silly now, but as someone on the other side I can see five different things you are doing right this instant that are undermining you." Hermione shifted uncomfortably at the comment, looking at her place setting to analyze where she'd gone wrong. "We can't have that. Once you've started the lessons, we will schedule a fitting for both your ball gown and work robes."
"I'm not going into work at the moment."
"But eventually you will," Narcissa brushed off her concern with a perfectly manicured hand. "That brings us to today. I think it would benefit you if we discussed your Diagon Alley duty, as well as your duties to the Nott family, to get you started."
Narcissa launched into the various expectations society would have for her, and the obligations she had to the Nott name. While the pair got into a few minor stumbles surrounding the Nott house elves, Narcissa quickly left the topic alone once Hermione mentioned that she and Theo had devised a schedule for the elves. After the pair drained five pots of tea together, they decided to meet again for the fitting in a few weeks.
"Thank you for indulging an old witch with her desire for feminine companionship," Narcissa said, patting Hermione's hand and looking anything but old. "I must say that I'm jealous your mother gets to do this all the time with such lovely company." Narcissa smiled warmly at her before giving her a nod goodbye.
"Thank you Narcisssa. I look forward to our next meeting," Hermione said as she walked away, feeling that lie weigh heavy on her with each step.
The next few weeks blended together as they passed, thankfully free of any more stilted, yet informational meetings with Narcissa. Between working diligently on the updates to the Wolfsbane Act and studying all things their father left behind with Theo, Hermione felt like she finally might be read out. Adding in the sporadic and awkward charity ball planning meetings with Draco in the Nott library and the weekly etiquette lessons with a witch that reminded her too much of Umbridge, Hermione was desperate for a break.
Since the dinner at the Burrow, Theo had been working on Hermione to convince her to get their closest friends together. Hermione was hesitant, doubtful that they could make it through a dinner without a full blown duel breaking out among their friends. After multiple weeks of begging from Theo, finally Hermione relented. The pair worked to find something private to avoid any headlines, but were stumped on how to keep things from getting too awkward. Finally Hermione, against her best judgement, suggested they have a friendly game of Quidditch.
"I can't believe you convinced her to do this," Harry shook his head in disbelief at Theo, as they stood on the green behind Nott Manor a few days later.
"It was Hermione's idea, actually," Theo's voice was muffled as he struggled to pull his athletic robes over his head. "She said since everyone except me and her played at Hogwarts, it would be a fun activity."
"Hermione being in charge explains the time of the match," Blaise muttered, looking irritated to be pulled out of bed earlier than 10 in the morning on a Saturday.
"It's July! I thought it might be a tad stuffy to play in the afternoon heat," Hermione said, trying to look cross at his insult. His charming smile in response melted any offense, despite her best effort. "Ginny told me her team always practices earlier in the summer."
"If you think this is rough Zabini, you should try doing two-a-day practices," Ginny said, levitating the box of equipment to sit next to him. Hermione admired how tough Ginny looked in her quidditch gear, suddenly feeling silly that she'd worn a sundress while the rest of the group was in their athletic robes.
"Where were you at Hogwarts, Theo? We needed someone to get Hermione excited about quidditch!" Ron slung his arm around Theo, both men chuckling with each other.
"Oi Weasley, I hear your brother is married to that Veela from Beauxbatons! Is that true?"
"I'm shocked Nott even noticed Fleur- I don't think he looked at her once the entire night when he came over," Ron laughed. Theo flushed red while the group around him dissolved into snickers.
"Ron, let's not forget who made a fool of himself asking her to the Yu-" Ron shut Harry up with a punch to the arm, which did nothing to remove the mischievous grin from Harry's face. Ginny muffled herself by laughing into Harry's other shoulder.
"Draco, way to make a late entrance, mate!" Blaise shouted, looking over the shoulders of the group. Hermione watched the grins slip from the faces of her best friends as they grew on the other two men. The hot summer air around the group cooled immediately as Malfoy walked onto the lawn, lacing up his left glove with his hand and his teeth.
"Malfoy," Harry stepped forward, greeting Malfoy with a neutral face. Hermione was surprised at the gesture, given how Harry tended to wear his emotions so clearly. Ron, predictably, was not as friendly, frowning at the wizard.
"Potter, Weasley...s," Malfoy added when Ginny popped out from behind Harry. Ginny smiled at him before catching Hermione's eyes with a "let's see how this goes" look. Malfoy nodded at his friends before Hermione felt his eyes on her.
"Not playing with us Granger?" Malfoy asked, looking pointedly at her dress with an amused expression. Hermione cursed her outfit for the second time that morning.
"I'm the official scorekeeper and referee," Hermione said, holding up her clipboard and whistle solemnly. The edges of Draco's lips twitched, but he said nothing in response.
"Hermione apparently won't even get on a broom," Blaise laughed.
"Aren't you supposed to be one of the brave ones?" Theo asked.
"She'll ride a dragon, but a broom is too scary," Ron said, his eyes twinkling, sending Harry and Ginny into giggles. Theo, Blaise, and Malfoy looked at her in shock.
"No, surely that part was just a rumor! Right? I thought it was an exaggeration," Theo yelled. "Hermione?"
Hermione ignored Theo and looked at her clipboard, putting on her best Madam Hooch impression. "Considering Theo is the only one who did not play in school, I thought he could be paired with Harry and Ginny. That way we could have two Weasley Keepers and match the professional with a novice?"
"If anyone needs the help of a professional, it would be Theo," Blaise goaded. Theo gave his friend a light shove, while Malfoy shook his head.
"Right, so one Seeker, one Chaser, one Keeper. Theo and I transfigured the hoops already and made the field slightly shorter given the smaller teams." Harry wandlessly turned their jerseys red, while Draco turned his team's green. "Actually, I was thinking of a different color scheme," Hermione said, quickly turning Harry, Ginny, and Theo's jerseys blue and Draco, Ron, and Blaise's jerseys yellow. Hermione fought a smirk when Draco glared at her, but lost the battle. "Oh, yellow is a nice color on you, Malfoy. Do calm down."
The game started well. Hermione called out the scores, happily cheering for both sides. Ginny outshined them all, despite trying to downplay her skills, which frustrated Ron from across the field. Harry and Draco spent a majority of the game looking for the snitch, side by side on their brooms, talking occasionally. This was a mark different from their brutal encounters on the pitch at Hogwarts. Hermione decided that pickup games were far preferable to the aggressive and competitive matches she'd watched before.
As Draco chased the snitch, Ron drove his broom forward, knocking the end of it directly into Malfoy's shoulder. Draco nearly fell headfirst off his broom, but grabbed the broomstick with one hand before landing on the green.
"Ronald Bilius Weasley!" Hermione screamed, running towards the grounded blond.
"Fuck you, Weasley!" Malfoy roared up at the grinning ginger, cradling his arm. Hermione could see his pained grimace as she made it to him.
"We are on the same team!" Blaise yelled, jumping off his broom and checking on Malfoy. The rest of the group landed shortly after.
"Bloody hell!" Ron howled, clutching his arm and glaring at Theo.
"Oh really now, Theo? Stinging spells? Are we still in school?" Theo had the decency to look sheepish at Hermione's admonishment. "Blaise? Harry?" The two boys nodded, and grabbed their respective friends by the shoulders, walking them in opposite directions.
Ginny rolled her eyes. "I'll go talk to my git of a brother too," she muttered, stalking off towards him.
"Are you ok?" she whispered, moving closer to take a look at Malfoy's shoulder.
"Do I look ok?" the pale man spit out, shifting away from her.
"You weren't terribly good at handling pain in school either were you?" Hermione chuckled, thinking of his over dramatic reaction to Buckbeak.
"You have no idea how I handle pain," Malfoy practically growled at her, turning his shoulder away from her. Hermione mentally smacked herself, remembering who he lived with during the war.
"I'm sorry, Malfoy," she said softly, to coax him back toward her. "This was supposed to be a way for all our friends to get along," she continued calmly, still advancing on his injury. "Ronald shouldn't have done that. He ruined our chance at everyone being civil to each other. Like us." He stopped inching away and looked at her for a moment, nodding once as a sign that she could help.
"Would it kill you to have witch friends, Granger? We could've gotten drinks at the pub with pretty birds instead," Draco said loudly as she put her hands on him. He groaned as started mumbling healing spells.
"Oi!" Ginny yelled from behind them.
"It's not like any of them would be interested in you, Malfoy," Blaise joked from the other side of the field.
"I'm irresistible," Draco tossed over his good shoulder, pasting on an arrogant look before wincing again.
"And so modest," Hermione teased hesitantly. When he didn't react, Hermione grabbed his good arm and yanked him up. "Come on, let's get you to St Mungo's. We can floo."
"No, just take me inside and grab my bag," Malfoy argued.
"You can't walk this off," Hermione chided, rolling her eyes at the unbelievable arrogance of Draco Malfoy.
"Look, if you could just grab my bag, I have something for this."
"Skel-grow?" Hermione was surprised he'd have healing supplies on him, but kicked herself for not stocking up before the game.
"Always so nosy," he groaned as she lifted him to his feet, though it wasn't clear if it was from pain or frustration at her. "Not exactly."
"I'm sorry about Ron," Hermione said as the pair walked into the manor.
"You already said that," Draco dismissed the additional apology as he sat in the sitting room armchair. "He's always been bloody violent. Though usually it was deserved," he shrugged as he grabbed a small vial out of the bag next to his feet.
"What is that?" Hermione looked at the liquid, trying to decipher from the lilac color what it could be. She'd never seen anything healing that color before.
"Potion of my own design," he said as he uncapped the vial and downed the contents. She looked at the empty vial for a few moments, trying to figure out what he would've made and taken in this instance. As she turned the thoughts over in her head, she caught herself staring at his hands. Much like his mother's, they were perfectly maintained. But his palms were marred with callouses, likely from broom riding she guessed, and the hand that had caught his fall was a faded cherry from the friction burn.
"What does it do?" she asked, furrowing her brows as she looked back up at the injured wizard.
"It heals broken bones faster," Draco answered as he rolled his shoulder, apparently healed in just a few moments. He turned his wand to heal the gash, but Hermione jumped up to avoid potential complications from self-healing.
"No, let me," Hermione said, crouching next to him to heal the cut. She ignored his stunned face, eyebrows arched high in response to her offering to help again. "I didn't realize that you brewed potions." Hermione focused on the gash as she guided her wand over it, surprised he was creating anything. She'd assumed he lived off his family money. "I remember you being quite good in class though."
"Yeah," Draco replied nonchalantly as he put the empty vial back in his black satchel at his feet.
"Well, you should share this with someone," Hermione suggested, staring through the dried blood on his torn sleeve at the shoulder in question, impressed at how quickly the potion had worked. "It could help a lot of people."
"It's set to go on the market soon," Draco looked surprised at her response.
"Oh, Theo didn't mention you were starting a business," Hermione finally stood, moving away with a few steps backwards. Draco stood too, slinging his bag over his shoulder and signaling they should head back outside.
"I've had the business since we graduated basically," Draco said, holding the door open for her. "It's under a non-descript name so there is no connection to me. It's called Dragonborn Potions."
"Wait, I've bought that before," Hermione glanced at him, shocked that Draco was behind the brand. "They are all healing materials, aren't they?" Draco nodded, eyes trained on the group talking on the field in front of them. "Are you interested in becoming a healer?"
"No, I can't do that again," he said quickly with a glance at her. When Hermione cocked her head at him at his use of "again," he sighed. "I started learning healing to help my parents when the maniac lived with us. But it was too," Draco looked at his feet as his voice cracked. "I just can't do that. But potions are easier. You can help people without having to witness their pain."
She pulled her head skyward as she worked through that new development. Draco Malfoy was helping people anonymously. Draco Malfoy acted as a healer in some capacity during the war and wanted to keep helping people in his free time. Draco Malfoy was, perhaps, a different person than who she remembered. But his horrified face staring at her while she withered on his floor made significantly more sense now.
"Anyway, thanks for the help." Draco said as they stepped on the lawn where the rest of the group was waiting. "Theo, Blaise, see you Thursday. Potter, Weasley, good game. And bugger off Weasel."
"Wait!" Ginny shouted before pushing Ron forward towards Draco.
"I'm sorry, Malfoy," Ron ground out, looking at the ground. "It was a mistake and I'm sorry you got hurt."
Draco considered the ginger for a moment. Hermione saw Theo tense, likely bracing himself for the Draco Malfoy verbal beatdown she also expected.
"Me too," Draco said with a nod before picking up his broom and apperating away. Hermione caught Blaise and Theo sharing a curious look, indistinguishable to her, but clearly significant.
"Why'd he apologize?" Ron wondered, still looking to the disapperation spot.
Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance. "Perhaps it was a bigger apology," Hermione started. "Malfoy apologized to me for his past behavior. I think he knows that since I'm around, you two will be around too. Maybe this is a fresh start."
Ron seemed deep in thought. "Right..."
"I'm very impressed by your apology, Ron," Hermione offered with a smile. Though he'd needed a bit of prodding, the Ron from a few years ago never would've apologized for hurting Malfoy.
"Ginny threatened to break her Bat Bogey hex back out if I didn't," Ron looked sheepish. "But I do regret it. Old habits die hard, 'suppose. Sorry Nott, sorry Zabini."
"Next time we hang out it will be at a bar - and you'll buy the first round," Theo slapped him on the back, eager to put the ordeal behind them.
"And if we ever play quidditch again, I want the other Weasley on my team," Blaise muttered, making everyone but Ron laugh.
"That could have gone better," Theo said hours later after everyone went home, handing her one of the two butterbeers he held in the Nott library.
"It also could've gone much worse," Hermione countered, remembering their encounter with Malfoy during the Battle of Hogwarts and taking a sip.
"Did you even take a break from the journals? This must be your third read through at least," Theo motioned to the books stacked next to her as he took a seat.
"It is my fourth actually. I'm just getting so frustrated!" Hermione slammed the book down, harder than she meant to. "We've been through all of his belongings! We've spelled them for hidden messages. Did my biological mother mean so little to him that he couldn't be bothered to mention her? Did I mean so little that there is nothing, no mention?" Hermione's voice cracked as she unleashed her frustration. "And no jotted down notes of memory spells either. It's been months of this now!"
"Considering he was cheating on my mother, I'm glad he wasn't writing love poems in the margins," Theo muttered, causing Hermione gasp in embarrassment about her insensitive rant. "Sorry," he added quickly, running his hand through his hair and blowing out a breath. "I don't know where that came from."
"We can chalk it up to the stress of today's events," Hermione said, giving him an apologetic look. "But I do understand. We haven't really talked about the role of my mother in all of this and focused on the memory charm instead. I want to get Mum, my real mum, back so badly. But a few weeks ago Malfoy said something, and I've just been wondering where my biological mother fits in here. Sorry for upsetting you."
"I understand," Theo said, grabbing her hand and squeezing twice. "We will figure her out next. But if these journals aren't helping, maybe we can burn them and say goodbye to the bastard for good."
"Theo!" Hermione scoffed at the idea of destroying the final clues he had into their father's twisted mind.
"Fine," Theo conceded. "I knew that'd set you off. Perhaps just get the frustration out a different way?" Theo cocked a dark eyebrow, looking mischievous.
"What do y-" Hermione was cut off when Theo grabbed a journal from the table between them and threw it, full force, at the wall behind him.
"Theo! Stop!" Hermione balled up her fists and put them on her hips, like she did when she scolded Harry and Ron when they were still in school.
"No!" Theo said as he threw two more, grinning like a maniac as he did.
"I never!" gasped a naked goddess from a painting from the adjoined wall. "Rude little shite."
"One more?" Theo asked, holding out a journal to her. Hermione dithered for a moment, trying to ignore her inner voice lecturing her on treating books well in favor of a bonding opportunity with her brother. She took the book and chucked it at the wall with all her might, feeling a bit of the weight on her chest lift.
"Excuse me!" the painting yelled again, prompting the pair to double over with laughter. When they caught their breath a few minutes later, Hermione wiped the tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes and walked over to pick up the journals. As she did, a page hanging out from one of the journals caught her eye. That internal voice that warned her before was now lecturing her on the consequences of mishandling books. As she bent down to pick it up, she realized it wasn't a page from a journal at all. Hermione snatched the parchment up and practically ripped it open.
"Theo! Come here - this letter fell out of one of the books!" Hermione waved him over, still looking over the parchment.
"How? Didn't you read all of them?"
"I think it must've been hidden with a notice-me-not spell or something. We can figure that out later. But look here. It is written in runes, which we can translate. And this rune here is a slightly altered one, but I've seen it before."
"Where?" Theo asked excitedly, practically jumping up and down.
"In this library...somewhere..." Hermione trailed off as she looked at the book lined walls, realizing she'd at least flipped through nearly all the books the library held. She sighed as she looked at her brother, who was starting to lose some of that enthusiasm. "It's going to be a long night."