Chapter 58: The Cafe

"...and I have a meeting with the French Minister of Magic's assistant tomorrow, because she still refuses to meet with me. I've been writing to her every week for three months now, and she still refuses to meet with me! I don't understand it!" Hermione threw up her hands is frustration, nearly knocking the tray of biscuits off the table.

Draco chuckled as he poured himself another cup of tea. "Well you can't blame her, can you? What exactly does she have to gain from these new travel regulations, again?"

Hermione's shoulders slumped in resignation. "I know, I know," she sighed. "But I have to get my assignment done, regardless of how I feel about this deal."

"Right..." Draco replied skeptically, taking a sip from his cup. He looked up the street and waved at Marie, who was just leaving the Gazette office; Claudine had made her work late to rewrite her piece on the upcoming Quidditch World Cup. Claudine waved back before heading up the street to the nearest pub.

Noticing his distraction, Hermione changed the subject. "Right, well, how's work going for you? Any new stories worth knowing about?"

"No, not really," Draco leaned back in his chair. "It's been pretty quiet around here lately."

"Hmm," Hermione grabbed a biscuit and dipped it into her mug, pushing the rest of the plate toward Draco and adding milk to his tea. It was strange how quickly she had picked up on his habits over the past few months.

It hadn't been easy, of course, reaching this state of peaceful coexistence across a cafe table. For the first ten meetings or so Draco had remained icy, still skeptical of her motives and whether it was worth confronting everything he had done in his sixth year. But after a while, it had started helping. He could sleep within an hour now, and Albert said his nightmares had reduced in frequency to only once every few weeks. His mother had pointed out a change in him too, noting how he no longer flinched any time his father's name was mentioned in conversation (although he still was not pleased when he had to hear it). He no longer drank to numb the pain.

"I got a letter yesterday," Hermione said, stirring sugar into her tea. "Bit of a shock, really."

Draco cringed. Hermione, he knew, had not been in contact with anyone from Britain since she had arrived. "Yeah? From who?"

"Harry."

"Potter?"

"Yeah. Can you believe he's got the time?"

"Ah, come off it. You were best friends!" Draco waved his hand dismissively.

"Still are, according to the letter," Hermione shrugged.

"What'd he say?"

"McGonagall's got something for me, I guess."

"What?"

Hermione sighed deeply. "You remember I told you what happened to my parents, right?" Draco nodded cautiously. "Well, she thinks she may have found something to...to bring their memories back."

"Really?" Draco leaned back. "Wow, that's great, right?"

"Yes...yes, I suppose so..." she looked away, her eyes shifting from the store across the street to the floor. She began tapping her right foot furiously.

"What, you don't want to see them? Draco asked delicately.

She sighed again. "I mean...I mean what happens if it works? How...how am I supposed to explain what I did? I mean...what kind of a child does such a thing to their parents? How are they supposed to forgive me?" Her voice broke.

Draco pulled out some money from his pocket and dropped it on the table. "How about we go for a walk?"

Draco's favorite ice cream shop in all of Wizarding Paris was just a five minute walk away, so Hermione and Draco wandered down the street and ordered two scoops of chocolate ice cream each. They wandered around the cobbled streets for a bit longer before Draco finally spoke.

"I abandoned my mother."

"Draco-"

"No, just let me finish," Draco continued calmly. "After the final battle, I left. I ran away the second I had the chance. I didn't tell her where I was going or who I would be with, and I never wrote to her. For over a year. The trial was the first time I saw her since I left. She'd had her own trial by then. She was under house arrest. All alone. I was terrified of seeing her again. But...but parents, they forgive their children so easily, especially when they know that we didn't have a choice." He stopped walking and turned to Hermione, gently holding her shoulders and turning her body to face his. "You didn't have a choice."

Hermione bit her lip and nodded slightly. "I know, but-"

"No," Draco cut her off. "You didn't. And they will understand that. How could they not? You saved the bloody Wizarding World, Granger! How can they be anything but proud of you?" Hermione looked away and sighed.

"Okay, yes, okay, you're right," she finally admitted, turning to face forward and resume walking. Draco followed her as she continued talking. "Okay, I'll...I'll go back. I'll write to McGonagall and go back and try to help them."

"Good," Draco replied, shoving his hands into his coat pockets. "And I'm sure you and Potter will figure it out."

Hermione stopped walking. "What?"

Draco stopped a few paces ahead of Hermione and turned back to face her. "He's going with you, isn't he? That's why he wrote, right?"

Hermione shook her head slowly. "No, no he's not. He's...he's forgiven me but I don't think Ron and Ginny would forgive him if he came with me."

"Are you serious?" Draco asked, shocked. "They're still upset that you helped me? Even after everything you've done?"

Hermione shook her head again. "No, it's not that. Well, they are upset but that's not the main reason. I, er...I broke off my engagement about a year after the war, right before your trial. And since Harry married Ginny and is now officially part of the Weasley family, it's made for a bit of an awkward situation." She took a few steps forward. Draco felt an odd sensation in his chest. Not jealousy, but something else, a feeling he couldn't quite name.

"So, you're going to go alone?"

Hermione let out a watery chuckle. "Guess I don't have a choice, do I?" She hugged her elbows and continued walking. "You know, I think I should head back to my flat now," she said, glancing up at the darkening sky. "I've got that meeting tomorrow, you know."

"Right," Draco replied, quicker than he had intended. "Want me to walk you back?"

"No, that's alright. I have to stop by the bookshop down the street first anyway." She paused. "See you next week, then?"

"Yeah," Draco said, his chest suddenly feeling empty. "Right, see you then." He turned on his heel and Apparated back to his flat.

That night, Draco couldn't sleep. He couldn't help but feel guilty. Should he have offered to go to Australia with Hermione? No, no, it was far to soon. They weren't friends yet. They were just...helping each other. She just needed someone to talk to. Since her friends had cut her off and all. Something still didn't sound right about that whole situation to him; Potter, Granger, and Weasley had been inseparable at Hogwarts.

That weekend, Draco went over to Theo and Dom's for dinner, or at least what he thought was going to be dinner.

"We're having a baby!" Dominique exclaimed as she threw the door open, revealing a room full of streamers and balloons.

"What? Really?!" Draco took a step back. "Congratulations!" He exclaimed, his face breaking into a smile as he pulled Dominique into a tight hug. "That's amazing!" He kissed her cheek.

"Thank you!" Dominique beamed, resting one hand on her stomach. "In four months your godchild will be here!"

"Dom, that was supposed to be a surprise!" Theo exclaimed, walking into the room with a tray of cookies.

Draco laughed. "You really expected her to keep both secrets? For this long?" He pulled Theo into a hug as well, causing a few cookies to fall to the floor.

"Well, a man can hope," Theo grumbled, waving his wand to return the cookies to the tray. Draco laughed again as he took off his coat. As he was putting it away in the coat closet, there were several more knocks on the door, and when he returned to the drawing room it was full of people: the LeRouxs, Blaise, his mother Albert, Callum, and the rest. The usual chaos ensued- eating, drinking, dancing, and talking until everyone's voice was hoarse. Surprisingly, Dominique had the most energy of all of them, pulling Theo up off the couch and forcing him to dance with her when he was practically falling asleep. Finally, at 3 in the morning Draco and Albert staggered through the fireplace and collapsed on the living room floor of their flat, still clutching bottles of champagne.

On Monday afternoon, sober and tired from a long day at work, Draco sauntered down to the cafe to see Hermione for their weekly meeting. Much to his surprise, upon his arrival he found their usual table empty, save for a note and a plate of biscuits. Draco picked up the note as he dropped his bag into a chair.

Draco-

Sorry for letting you know so late, but I'll be leaving for Australia in a couple of hours and I needed some time to pack. I'm not sure when I'll be back, but I'll owl you when I know. If you don't mind, I've asked the Minister's assistant to write to you if the Minister is able to meet with me any time soon. Thanks.

Sincerely,

Hermione Jean Granger

Draco read the note again, feeling his heart sink to his stomach. He knew what he had to do. He picked up his bag and ran down the street as fast as he could, knocking the suitcase out of Hermione's hand as he raced up the steps to her flat.

"Draco, what-"

Draco leaned over, panting, hands on his knees. "Wait," he wheezed, catching his breath. "I'm...I'm coming with you."

A/N: Just wanted to let you know that the next chapter won't be coming for a couple of weeks...I'm going out of town and I also need some more time to finish the final chapters! :) lmk what y'all think so far, and i'll see you soon!