Hermione walked out of her office at the muggle ministry and lifted her head to the clear blue sky above her, the warmth of the late May air hitting her face in the gentle breeze. It had been a killer of a day and she just wanted to get home and make herself some Mac and Cheese, the muggle kind, from the box. There really was nothing quite like it, and while her parents hadn't let her have it save for special occasions or nights when they were extraordinarily busy, she was full on addicted to the stuff and always had a few boxes stashed in her pantry. She glanced at the portable phone she carried for her muggle communications and it read 5:10 PM. She only had 5 minutes to get to the underground or she'd have to wait another 15 minutes for the next train that went all the way to her flat.
After the war, Hermione decided she did not want to live in one world or the other, she wanted to be an active member of both magical and muggle communities. Her goal was to not have to hide magic from muggles forever. She believed adamantly that it would be possible to integrate the two worlds together and for magical and non-magical people to live in peace with each other. She knew this was a difficult task and her work may never come to full fruition, but in the meantime she poured her heart and soul into legislations in the ministry of magic that aimed to create equality between magical, non-magical, and all creatures with the ability to create their own civilizations. Originally her goal had stated "all creatures" until her colleagues pointed out that offering a dog equal standing to a human was not feasible as animals such as dogs did not have the ability to contribute to society in any meaningful way. Hermione thought that being companions to people was meaningful, but she understood the issues her colleagues took. Now the legislation she was working on deemed anyone (human or otherwise) with the ability to better the world through their work on equal standing.
The main targets of her legislation were muggles, wizards/witches (regardless of blood status) centaurs, goblins, house elves, werewolves, and giants. The giants, unfortunately, were being written out of the process in the coming week because they refused to comply with sending ambassadors to the hearings discussing the legislation. Hermione had convinced at least one member of each of the aforementioned groups to attend a series of hearings to discuss the logistics and try to come up with a government that suited everyone, without completely disrupting the world as it is. All things considered, Hermione had accomplished a great deal in the 5 years since the war.
Hermione got to the platform of her train about 30 seconds before it arrived. She got on the crowded train car and held onto the handrail to steady herself as the train lurched forward. Everytime she mentioned the underground to a magical colleague, they always asked her why she didn't floo, or apparate, "It's so much quicker!" But Hermione enjoyed the time to observe people and occasionally have conversations with strangers. Her commitment to being a part of both worlds meant that on days when she was working in the muggle ministry (just one day a week at this point) she used muggle transport and no magic unless there was an emergency.
Hermione walked off the train when it reached her stop and climbed the stairs to find that it was dusk. The sun was setting and the sky was darker than it had been when she left work. She walked three blocks until she reached the foot of her building. She lived on the top floor of a 34 story building in central london. Her view was incredible as there were no buildings quite as tall nearby. She unlocked the door to her flat and raised her wand arm in a type of salute as she walked through the door. It was an idea she had taken from the death eaters, though it involved using a person's magical signature instead of a magical tattoo meant to summon and track. It ensured that no one could get into her apartment without her being present, something that brought her great comfort after the onslaught of threats that poured her way after the war ended from death eaters and sympathizers of Voldemort's cause.
She put her work bag down on the kitchen table and slipped off her heels, she would never understand why people bothered with the impractical things, but in the muggle world she was just an intern and needed to look as professional as possible, even if it made her feet ache. She grabbed a box of macaroni and cheese from the pantry and set a pot of water to boil on the stove. She preferred doing all her cooking without magic. It was more satisfying and required more skill. As the water heated she opened her laptop on the far side of the kitchen table, if it was too close to the ward on her door, it wouldn't work properly. She opened the internet search engine and went to One of her work friends at the muggle ministry had mentioned that she could find a dating partner using the internet. Hermione, not being able to tell her friend that the people she was interested in weren't using the internet, humored her and made an account. She went on every Friday when she finished her internship at the muggle ministry just to entertain herself and see who she might date if she didn't want a magical relationship.
While she waited for the site to fully load the login page, she dumped the pasta into the now boiling water. She walked back to the laptop and logged into her profile. There were 50 new potential people since the previous week who she could message if she so desired. She used the name "Hermione Wilkins" on the site, a tribute to her parents whose memories she was unable to recover after she had sent them into hiding during the war. She browsed the eligible gentlemen, amused by some, disgusted by others until she saw something that caused her jaw to fall open. A picture of a haughty looking blonde man, under the name of "Draco Smith" was staring back at her. There was no possible way it was for real, someone from the magical world was probably pranking Draco Malfoy and trying to set him up with a muggle as a joke, the exact kind of thing she was advocating against in her work at the ministry. She opened the messaging function and wrote a curt message. "Whoever this is, I'm sure Draco wouldn't approve of you using his picture and name in such a way, I would encourage you to remove this profile immediately." She hit send and waited for a response, the odds that whoever had made the account was online were low, but she still wanted to wait. She got up to drain her pasta and add the cheese powder, milk, and butter.
She returned to her computer a few minutes later with her hot mac and gaped in surprise at the message waiting for her.
"I'm not so sure I wouldn't approve, Granger, or should I say Wilkins? I find that despite my upbringing, muggles are interesting enough to be with, not to mention how willing some of them are ;)."
Hermione stared at the last bit trying to figure out what the semi-colon and parentheses meant, after a while she saw that it was a slight modification on the colon and parentheses smiley face to look like one eye was winking at her.
"Oh please, you expect me to believe that Draco Malfoy is on a muggle dating website, I've heard less ridiculous things from Harry's two year old who can't speak more than 100 words yet."
"What would convince you Granger?"
"Tell me something that only you would know about."
"I have a scar on my arm from where that hippogriff hit my third year at Hogwarts, it's shaped vaguely like a horseshoe."
"Oh please, the entirety of Slytherin and Gryffindor saw that happen to you, and you complained about it to the rest of the school so anyone would know that."
"Alright fine, you're right, and I lied anyway, that was healed instantly by Madam Pomfrey, how about this. I have a bump inside my nose from where a snooty know-it-all punched me in the face, I was too proud to go to Madam Pomfrey so it never healed correctly if you put your finger in the right spot you can feel where it broke. Also, you, Potter, and Weasley saved Goyle and Myself from the room of requirement when Crabbe set it on fire using the Fiendfyre spell."
Hermione didn't know what to say. Both of the things just mentioned were things only she, Ron, Harry, Malfoy, and Goyle knew about. She knew Ron and Harry wouldn't do this, and frankly, she doubted Goyle was smart enough. "Okay I believe you."
"Good, I would start questioning your identity too if you hadn't first messaged me with that pompous bullshite about someone impersonating me, that was too textbook Granger to mistake for anyone else."
"Save your snark for someone who cares, Malfoy, now that I know you're not being impersonated, I see no reason for us to continue this pointless conversation."
"This is coming from the person trying to unite all magical and non-magical creatures, I guess you don't draw any lines about hypocrisy do you?"
Hermione felt a lump in her throat. It was so frustrating that he was right. She was looking right through him because of his past when she was promoting the inclusion of all people and creatures regardless of their past actions. "Okay, you're right, I apologize for being curt. I meant that you and I aren't friends, so it doesn't seem to be logical for us to continue conversing."
"Meet me for coffee sometime, Granger. Let's put the past behind us and just see if maybe we can be friends now. I have a lot I need to apologize to you for and I would much rather do that in person. What do you think? Sunday at 9AM? I know you were always a morning person. I am too. There's a coffee shop in downtown London called "Abrewcadabrew" meet me there?"
Hermione didn't know what to do. She really didn't want to have a reconciliation with this ghost from her past. She had once been imprisoned in his house and he didn't help her. He had called her filthy names and bullied her and her friends for years. However, if she expected the rest of the wizarding world to change their views on magical creatures they believe to be savage and cruel, she couldn't let herself discriminate against someone who she believed to be cruel, it would be inconsistent. If he wished for reconciliation, she would give him a chance to apologize and see how she felt afterwards.
"Okay, I'll do it. Sunday at 9AM. I'm familiar with the coffee shop and I'll meet you there."
"Until Sunday then, Granger."
"Goodbye, Malfoy. See you Sunday."
What had she just signed herself up for? Hermione finished her bowl of macaroni and cheese and decided to go for a long walk to think. Having coffee with Draco Malfoy in less than 48 hours was not something she had anticipated adding to her schedule, but here she was.
A/N: I don't have a beta so sorry for grammar/other errors. This is a new idea and will eventually turn into a BDSM themed story, it is based on my own journey in the lifestyle. Please R+R let me know if there's anything you'd like to see in the story and I'll try to incorporate it best I can. Thank you for reading :)