"Well" Ginny said after a moment "good thing it wasn't a date"
Hermione had spent the past hour describing every movement and every word that had led to Narcissa and her having lunch together. Luna had kept silent, while braiding Ginny's hair as a mean of calming her down. The redhead slowly seemed to accept the idea that Narcissa Black was no longer the woman she had thought her to be – and that she might never have been.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, if it had been a date, you would have totally blown it." Ginny stated knowingly.
Luna only nodded fervently and resumed her braiding.
"How? What did I do wrong?" Hermione wondered, running a distressed hand through her still perfectly styled hair.
"For starters, you got mad nearly every time she was teasing you."
"But she was being so rude!"
"And that's clearly her way of flirting. I mean, if a woman like her, who doesn't seem to care about anyone, takes the time to learn how she can push your buttons, she must really like you."
Hermione stared at Ginny blankly. Had Narcissa truly been flirting with her this entire time? How? Why? She was just ... Just what? A Muggleborn? A child? Narcissa had stated that she had never been the pureblood supremacist that everyone took her for, and she herself had blossomed into a young woman. Nothing tangible was standing in the way of Narcissa liking her. Yet it still sounded so surreal.
"What should I have done differently then?"
"You could have teased her back. Not as violently as you did, though. Teasing her about her hair is okay. But teasing her about not having an actual job and going to therapy? Not cool."
"Well, when you put it like that, it does sound like I was being fairly rude ..."
Ginny rose her shoulders as to say told you so, and Luna beamed at Hermione reassuringly, for she was done braiding Ginny's hair.
"And what now?" Hermione asked after a moment. It was getting late, past midnight surely. She was tired from her long day at work, from her lunch with Narcissa, from this discussion with the girls. She now remembered why she had stayed single for so long after Ron and she had broken up; dating was so bloody tiring and complicated!
"It depends" Ginny pondered as she leaned forward to pour them all a new cup of iced tea "Do you like her?"
"How would I know? We've really only talked once as for now ... And she's so very unsettling. I'm not even sure that I know anything about her!"
"Valid point. Easier question then: do you want to see her again?"
"I guess I do, yes. I did have fun on some parts of our lunch. And there are so many things that I want to ask her ..."
"Then you have your answer" Luna concluded, for she knew where Ginny was headed.
"Being?"
"Next time she flirts with you, you flirt back and see where it takes you." Ginny clarified.
Even though Hermione woke up very late on the next day, the weekend seemed to go on forever. She received an owl from Harry with a Muggle postcard from Normandie, where he was staying to pursue his mission. Ron had also signed at the bottom but he had not said anything himself. The mere thought of him knowing anything about her lunch with Narcissa gave Hermione a headache. He was still so protective of her, even after everything they had been through with their breakup. She had never seen him more concerned than on that day at Malfoy Manor. She could not even imagine the fit of rage he would fall into. Nor did she want to.
She answered the boys and sent them a small box of chocolate frogs, hoping they would not melt on the way. The food was probably much better where they were anyway. She kept herself busy during the afternoon by cleaning the house and reading a couple papers from her colleagues, but her mind really was not at it. Ginny's advice was racing through her head, and she could not make much sense of it. Flirt back. How? As far as she knew, she had never flirted with anyone. Victor and Ron had just found to her, somehow, without her really trying. Obviously, Narcissa's case was different. She was a very sophisticated woman. She would not pursue her in obvious ways – if she was indeed pursuing her. Moreover, she was probably waiting for something in return. Hermione had to do better if she was interested in her in any way.
On Sunday, she took a Floo to Hogsmeade and had tea with Minerva at the Three Broomsticks to discuss Joy's case. Hermione had not been around Hogwarts for a couple years now, and it felt somewhat strange to sit in this room, where she had had butterbeers with the boys on so many occasions. She could not help remembering the time they had seen Ginny and Dean snog in a far corner. Ronald had gotten so angry. And she had flirted with him. But back then, Ron had been the one who had not noticed it. Which meant that, in a way, she was capable of flirting.
The meeting with Minerva went well, just as Hermione had expected it. She was still struggling to call her former mentor by her first name, despite the older witch's insistence, but aside from that, they were able to agree on nearly everything. Minerva agreed to inform every teacher of Joy's proper pronouns, but she refused that he moved into the boys' dormitory before he had his transfiguration. Instead, she proposed they offered him a prefect's room and excused him of sports until he turned of age and had his procedures done. Hermione could not ask more of her.
On Tuesday, she was more than happy to share this news with Joy, who was beside himself with joy. He rambled on about how jealous his friends would be of him having a personal room and bathroom, and how good he would look next summer, in his bathing trunks in the Black Lake, after his transfiguration. He was the happiest Hermione had ever seen him.
For some reason, even though she knew that her appointments were always on Fridays, Hermione expected to see Narcissa that day. However, the only people coming in were her new patients – who she had learned to call by their last name. Both Anselma and she had now about ten patients, even though the clinic had opened less than a month ago. While they had lunch together and wrote their monthly report for the Ministry, they started discussing adding a full-time therapist to their clinic.
"It would really be good if we could keep the clinic open all week. Some of my patients have been complaining about the lack of choice in appointments." Hermione agreed.
"At this rate, it might even be better to have two colleagues working here while we're at the Ministry." Anselma added. "Any ideas?"
"I thought about Bethany, but she's probably too busy with her own projects already."
"Indeed. Plus, we need to find someone who actually reads our work and understands our project." the older witch said.
Hermione instantly thought of Narcissa, but it was preposterous. She was one of their patients – well, one of Anselma's patients.
"What about a healer?" Hermione then proposed, "They seem to think that they are being unrightfully excluded from our project anyways."
"That could actually be very good idea; it might even add to our credibility." Anselma consented, and Hermione saw that small glimpse of pride in her mentor's grey eyes. "Do you know any good healers?"
"Well I know of Luna Lovegood and Draco Malfoy, but both of them are … very singular people. Each in their own way, but still quite singular."
"In a good or in a bad way?"
"Hard to tell … Luna just thinks very differently and had the strangest beliefs, but she is very empathetic, and her oddness might be relatable for some people. As for Draco … He has changed a lot since we were at Hogwarts, but I still struggle to imagine him willing to help anyone – even though that is his actual job now."
Anselma took a thoughtful sip of her post-lunch coffee, thoroughly thinking the situation over. Hermione loved to see her mentor think; she always wished she had learned legilimency and could hear every move her brilliant mind made. Anselma was one of the very few people whom Hermione truly looked up to.
"I trust your instinct. Let us leave Mister Malfoy on the side for now and interview Miss Lovegood as soon as possible. While it would be good to have a man working in our team, it probably wouldn't be sensible for this man to be one of our patients' child; it might unsettle her."
Right, Draco was Narcissa's son. Imagine having him around while you try to flirt with Narcissa. That might just be as unsettling as things could get.
"Agreed. I'll owl Luna right away and ask her when she could come by."
Luna came by their Ministry office the next day, which was ideal, considering new owls kept arriving. Anselma seemed unsettled by Luna demeanour at first, but at the end of the interview, she offered her the job. Luna would only be able to join them in September, considering she had to give St Mungo's prior notice, but the timing was still ideal, since it meant that Luna would start right when Anselma had to leave. Which also meant that Luna might be able to take over Anselma's patients while she was away – including Narcissa. Hermione had indeed come to the conclusion that having Narcissa as her patient would be wildly inappropriate.
Yet Hermione had been so focused on Joy's case and finding a new associate that she had not thought about what she would say to Narcissa when they would meet again. She did spent the entirety of Thursday evening browsing through her closet though, for it suddenly seemed to her like none of her clothes were good enough any longer. She finally settled for the short-sleeved red summer dress that she had worn on Harry's birthday party last summer. Feeling slightly overdressed, she chose to wear white cotton sneakers with it and to lift her hair with a bobby pin.
She once more arrived very early on Friday, and Anselma did not miss the opportunity to tell her that when she arrived at the clinic, nearly an hour later. Hermione had already had three coffee by then, and she was nervously pacing through the breakroom, unable to sit down. Whether it was due to the caffeine or her nervousness was unclear. Now she was sweating from all the pacing around, and her hair was falling out of her bobby pin. She seriously considered rapidly apparating home to take a quick shower when the elevator doors suddenly opened on Narcissa Black's petite silhouette.
Overdressed. Hermione had really feared that she would be overdressed. How could one ever think that when Narcissa Black was to be in the same room? There the blonde stood, in her high-heeled strappy dragon skin sandals, tailored wide-legged cream trousers emphasising her endless legs, a crisp white shirt tucked into her trousers stressing her thin waist, her lips painted red, her eyes smoky, and her blonde mane brought down in elegant curls. She was aiming for the kill.
"Dc. Granger" Narcissa greeted her, and Hermione had considered her title sexier.
"Please, call me Hermione" she answered, trying to sound laid back.
"Please, do not" Anselma snapped, cutting short to Hermione's daydream. "This is a place of business."
Narcissa pursed her lips to keep in her laughter, as the Gryffindor could not help blushing. For a minute, she had forgotten that a third person was standing in the same room. When Anselma walked past them to lead her patient to her office and could therefore not see them any longer, Narcissa quickly drew a heavy package from her purse and dropped it on the counter behind which Hermione was standing. "For you" she whispered, "you look dashing, by the day"
"You're one to talk" Hermione answered, unable to diminish the wide smile that was stretching her lips.
Narcissa then winked at her at took off towards Anselma's office, and Hermione could have sworn that she was swaying her hips more than usual. To which point she noticed that she was staring at her rear very intently, and that the blonde could very well be listening to her thoughts at the moment.
When her heartbeat had finally lowered, Hermione retreated into the breakroom to open her gift. The first thing she saw was a purple paper, on which Narcissa had written the following words in black ink: you seem to need it more than I do. Hermione frowned and put the paper aside to read title of the heavy book on which the note laid. Manners: a matter of respect. The Gryffindor both growled and laughed at the title, which seemed to scare Nathan in the hall, who therefore did not dare announcing his presence. Hermione could therefore browse through the heavy tome for a few minutes, detailing the posture sketches and the many discussion topics the books offered, before she finally noticed that it was time for her first morning session.
Nathan had finally decided that he would ask to be removed from his current mission and that, if that meant the end of his Auror career, he would be at peace with it. He seemed sure of his choice, and Hermione could not help hoping that Nathan's case would open the Auror's office's eyes on their barbaric methods. By the time their session was over, Hermione's next patient was already there, and she therefore could not hope seeing Narcissa on her way out. Patients just kept coming in until her lunch break had finally arrived, and she could breathe a little.
Anselma seemed to have gone out already, for she was nowhere to be found, and Hermione considered ordering some food in to work on her reports in her office. Yet someone cleared her throat right then, and Hermione was certain that it would be Narcissa. But it was not. It was Ginny, and she did not seem very happy.
"Just to be clear, this is not a date. This is you getting your butt kicked at lunch for having Luna quit her safe job at St Mungo's to work in your weird therapy thing."
We'll see more of Narcissa in the next chapter, no worries.