"Look, it will be fine," Hermione Granger said softly to the blond wizard scowling next to her, though she wasn't certain that it was just to convince him. The pair were seated next to each other at the empty long table in the back of the Leaky Cauldron, waiting for their friends to join them.
"Really? Fine, Granger?" Draco Malfoy asked sarcastically. "Was it fine when you told them last month? When Potter wanted to have you see a mind healer and the Wea-"
"Draco! We talked about this," Hermione warned. The man, looming over her small form even when both were seated, grimaced.
"Right, Ronald Weasley," Draco spat the name out as though it was poison, "didn't speak to you for the past three weeks? You are telling me the way your best friends handled the news was fine?"
"It was just a shock," Hermione said sternly. "We knew it would be hard for them to process, especially because it seemed out of the blue for them. They haven't seen you since your trial and they didn't even know I was your assigned peer rehabilitation mentor."
"And whose fault is that?" Draco asked petulantly, fiddling with his dark robes.
"If you're looking for someone to blame, feel free to call up the Ministry about their NDA policies." Draco glared at her matter-of-fact tone. "They will come around to the fact that we are dating," she reassured him, losing the bite in her voice. "It is different to see how much you've changed in person, compared to just me talking about it." Hermione was confident that once Harry and Ron interacted with Draco, rather than the Malfoy they knew, everything would eventually work out. Even just looking at the man next to her, the extreme shift was clear. Gone were the dark circles under his gray eyes, the semi-permanent sneer, and the haughty tension in his jaw. Even the nearly all black wardrobe was replaced by some color, though it was usually in the form of a gift from Hermione.
But none of that showcased the Draco she'd gotten to know so well in the last year. Following the trials, she'd volunteered to be a peer rehabilitation mentor, which was a condition for most of the juvenile sentences. As a proud muggleborn, Hermione was eager to educate and reform any Death Eaters in training realize the errors in their bigoted thinking. She did not, however, expect to be partnered with her childhood bully, who was equally as dissatisfied by the situation. They started their meetings sitting in stifled silence at Malfoy Manor during his house arrest. The thing that finally got him to talk was a muggle book Hermione gifted to him, The Call of the Wild. He reluctantly read it, but talked her ear off about his opinions during their next meeting. They began to discuss muggle books over chocolate frogs and sugar quills during their Wizgamont-ordered sessions. From books, their focus grew to include music, baking, and art. Slowly she watched the anger and indifference that defined him melt away into the kind, albeit sarcastic and arrogant, man she fell in love with. Draco Malfoy was no longer a hateful, scared little boy backed into a corner.
But Draco was not the only person who grew from their relationship. Hermione learned about what he survived in his own house during the war, about what many of the people she went to school with silently suffered. She began to spend time with Draco's friends, building relationships with them on a blank slate. Draco was the person who pushed her to find her parents and even helped find the obscure spell to return their memories.
"I just don't see why I have to be the bigger person when your ex-boyfriend-"
"Not my ex," Hermione interjected tiredly, kicking herself for not addressing this with him before they arrived. She knew this would come up again tonight, and wondered why she was cursed to be surrounded by men who were not especially emotionally intelligent. Or perhaps emotionally self-aware.
"-is the one who will cause trouble."
"Is that what this is about? You're anxious about Ron?" Draco rolled his eyes at the question, but Hermione knew him well enough to see he was masking the insecurity eating at him with the aloof rudeness he was so reliant on in his youth. "You know we never dated! He is my best friend and I love him very much Draco, but once the dust settled we realized we were just that: friends. There are no lingering feelings on either side, which I know you know because he nearly proposed to Padma Patil before she left for her mastery in America two months ago," Hermione said exasperatedly. She did not want to have a repeat of this conversation, especially when her friends were meant to arrive at any moment. "Please, just try tonight? For me?" Hermione grabbed Draco's forearm and gave him a squeeze as she smiled. Draco sighed halfheartedly, but nodded.
"Ginny will be here. She's been actively advocating for you with Harry, Ron, and the rest of the Weaselys since I told them. You really won her over with all your quidditch strategy talk at tea last month," Hermione said lightly, thankful her best friend would be playing referee. Draco lips twitched at that, which Hermione took as a good sign. "Luna and Neville already consider you a friend, so you have nothing to worry about there. I also took the liberty of inviting Theo and Blaise to put you more at ease," she added.
"You did what?" Draco exclaimed, anxiety clear in his voice. "That is a terrible idea, Granger!"
"You should really try to call me Hermione in front of our friends. I think it will make it easier for them to see you differently."
"I like calling you Granger," Draco said simply, though Hermione was now well acquainted with the look of humor in his eye. "But you know Blaise. Even Theo could cause trouble with this group."
"We both know we should be the most worried about you out of that little trio." Draco smirked before quickly schooling his features into indifference. Hermione laughed at the shift, making Draco rather put out at being caught. "You'll notice I did not include Pansy. I think we need to build up to her. Besides, the worst thing I think Blaise will do is flirt with Ginny, who will put up with exactly none of it. Or maybe he'll flirt with Harry to make him uncomfortable. Perhaps make some pointed comments to stir the pot, but nothing terrible. Theo, on the other hand, is an absolute sweetheart." At this Draco scoffed. "I was actually thinking maybe he and Luna -" Just the witch's name left her mouth, the slender blonde appeared at the table.
"Hello Hermione, hello Draco," Luna Lovegood smiled dreamily at them, the witch practically glowing. Hermione noted that her usually pale skin was lightly tanned and healthy looking, nicely set off by her white robes. Luna had her blonde hair braided into a halo on her hair, looking practically angelic. Of course, that effect was thrown off by the large necklace she wore, if one could call it a necklace and Hermione was not entirely sure she could. Rainbow beads were slotted between slabs of cork, the middle one long enough to reach Luna's midsection.
"Hi, Luna," Hermione greeted happily. "Please, sit. You look quite well, how was your - erm - research trip?"
"Greece was lovely. It was the perfect place to collect more information for my book," Luna said, her large eyes dancing with excitement as she sat across from the couple. "We were able to see cerberi and Apollo's ravens, but spent most of our time looking for the Teumessian fox, Myrmekes, and wojiflies." Hermione nodded along, familiar with a handful of the beasts she mentioned, though she was certain that Myrmekes were only myths and wojiflies were entirely made up.
"And did you find any?" Draco asked, amusement heavy in his voice. Hermione elbowed him hard in the ribs, but Luna did not seem to notice.
"Unfortunately the wojiflies were especially elusive, but I found this interesting stone," Luna said. She pulled a small stone out of her pocket and held it out in the palm of her hand. It was nearly the size of her small palm, smooth and flat. But it was a strange sort of purple, seemingly radiating the color from the core. Feeling drawn to it, Hermione reached out cautiously, her fingers skimming the top of the rock. At her touch, the color seemed to pulsate. Draco's fingers followed the pattern she traced, both of them staring deeply at the rock. "Yes, it does that," Luna murmured.
"Draco!" A deep voice shouted, breaking them out of their trance. Luna nearly dropped the stone, but quickly pocketed it before Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott walked up to the table. Hermione mentally decided to ask about the stone tomorrow, curious what it could be and why Luna would be allowed to walk around with it. "Evening you tosser," Blaise greeted as he reached the table. Theo shyly nodded hello at the three in their seats before the pair of wizards sat down.
"Zabini," Draco responded harshly, though his expression betrayed him as a relieved smile split his face. "Glad you two could make it to this little soiree," he drawled, raising his eyebrows at the last word.
"When the Golden Girl," Theo drew out the nickname, making Hermione wrinkle her nose, "demands your presence, you show up." Despite herself, she chuckled with the boys. While Hermione liked all of Draco's friends, Theo was the first to bridge over to being her friend too. The quiet cursebreaker was just as inquisitive as she was, eager to soak up as much knowledge as he possibly could and tinker with his various hobbies. He'd originally joined their little book club last year, finding himself especially interested in poetry.
"We also have a bet on who starts the fight," Blaise smirked. "Five galleon buy-in, Luna, should a beautiful witch like you want to stoop to our level." He flashed her his charming smile and winked, while Hermione scowled at him.
"Oh, I don't think anyone will win that kind of bet," Luna said airily. "Hermione, I think you've attracted some wrackspurts," Luna trailed off as her fingers ghosted Hermione's ear. Before the brunette could push her hand away, there was a crash by the bar that drew the entire table's attention.
Pansy Parkinson stood, pink robes soaked and mouth twisted into a sneer, in front of an embarrassed Neville Longbottom, a mess of glasses at their feet. As he performed a drying spell on her, Hermione could tell the witch was complaining, her eyes narrowed at him and her arms on her slender hips.
"What is Pansy doing here?" Hermione hissed at Theo. He gave her a sheepish grin before looking at Blaise. "I told you I wanted tonight to go well. She isn't able to keep her opinions to herself!"
"Lighten up, Granger," Blaise said. "It isn't a good time without her. Plus, my money is on Weasley and I have a feeling the lovely Miss Parkinson will tip our wager in my advantage." Hermione looked expectantly at Draco who grimaced back at her, offering nothing in terms of intervening. Thoroughly irritated, she turned her attention back to the bar, where Pansy was buying both herself and Neville drinks. The tall, thin witch shoved the butterbeer into Neville's chest before storming over to the table.
"Ciao, bella," Blaise greeted, standing to give Pansy kisses on each cheek. She could hear Pansy whisper something back in Italian that sounded bitter, but made Blaise bark with laughter. She greeted Theo and Draco in kind before sitting down next to Hermione. Neville quietly took the seat next to Luna before pulling her into a hug.
"Well, why am I not surprised that my best friend didn't invite me out tonight?" Pansy sighed dramatically, flipping her short black hair and tapping her perfectly manicured fingers on the table. Despite their issues in school, Pansy had quickly latched onto Hermione as she integrated into their group, citing a lack of feminine companionship with many of her close friends leaving the country following the war. Draco assured Hermione it wasn't just that, but that Pansy would never admit that she genuinely liked Hermione. He was wrong, with Pansy declaring the two of them best friends within a few weeks. Hermione was awkward around the polished witch at first, but quickly found her to be a kindred spirit to Ginny Weasley, kind and loyal to those in her circle, though far frostier in how she dealt with all others. Just as Hermione opened her mouth to respond, a familiar voice cut her off.
"Hermione!" Ginny Weasley could be heard above the lull of the bar's patrons. Moving through the now crowded bar, the redhead had a pensive Harry Potter on her arm. Ron Weasley trailed Harry and Ginny with a frown on his face. Hermione sighed at the sight of her two best friends, but steeled herself; she knew this wouldn't be easy.
"Hello everyone," Ginny greeted brightly. The table bid the three welcome as they settled in.
"Hello to my favorite Harpy," Draco said with a lopsided grin. "How are you feeling about the new line up?" he asked Ginny with interest, thankfully sticking to a safe topic for the group. Most of the table perked up at the mention of the sport, with only a sulking Ron and an uninterested Hermione not particularly paying attention. As the evening wore on, Hermione began to feel more at ease. Her two groups of friends were meshing well, talking and joking happily. Even Pansy was laughing with Ginny; getting her to shed her chilly exterior could be a feat. The only exception was Ron, who was frowning into his firewhiskey.
"Ron, did you end up wrapping up that case you were working on?" Hermione asked, hoping getting her best friend to talk about work would cheer him up. He loved his job, and was brilliant at it. The DLME recognized his strategic skillset, utilizing him often for potentially dangerous missions. Ron brightened drastically at her question, launching into the story of how he, Harry, and their team took down a ring of unicorn smugglers last week. As he spoke, Pansy turned to Luna and quietly asked her about her necklace, which Hermione could hear her compare to some Italian designer. Luna began to talk about her vacation and Hermione returned her attention to Ron, and now Harry, who was interjecting with extra aspects of their mission. The brunette dropped her hand onto Draco's knee below the table and shared an easy smile with him. When she tilted her head towards Ron, Draco's smile faltered and he shook his head stubbornly. Hermione gestured again, causing him to roll his eyes, but relent.
"So, any other interesting cases you're working on?" Draco asked Ron as he finished, his face indifferent. Hermione recognized that was probably the most effort she'd get from Draco for now. Across from her, Luna was still talking to Pansy about her vacation. She brought the mysterious stone back out, placing it on the table so Neville could get a good look at it too.
"Why, worried we'll be arresting your friends?" Draco rolled his jaw at the insult.
"Ron," Ginny and Hermione chastised, looking at each other with concern.
"No, just trying to bring up the only interesting thing about you," Draco said quickly, that familiar sneer back on his face. Blaise smirked beside him, looking hungrily between the two men. Hermione vowed to hex him after they diffused this situation. "But if being impressive were gold, you'd be even poorer than you are now. Which is obviously saying something!"
"Draco!" Hermione and Theo admonished, Hermione's voice significantly louder and angrier now.
"Malfoy," Harry warned at the same time, his hand twitching above the wand sticking out of his robe pocket.
"Listen, you ferret fuck, if you don't shut your mouth -" Ron roared as he stood, his face red with anger and embarrassment now. Hermione cursed herself for thinking tonight was a good idea, realizing what a large miscalculation that was.
"You'll what, Weasel?" Draco spat back, standing across from him and leaning over the table. "Ask Saint Potter to defend you?" Ron began to climb across the table, but Harry grabbed his shoulder and kept him firmly on the ground.
Confined to his spot, Ron drew his wand, and Draco followed. Before anyone could intervene, they both threw out wordless hexes that met midair. The clash of their spells hit the stone laying on the table, causing an explosion of sparks. Everyone except Luna jumped up from the table, away from the sparking stone. Both wizards dropped their spells at the sight, focusing their wands on the stone. As the sparks died out and the bar around them began to talk again, Neville was the first to comment with a simple, "Huh."
"'Suppose I thought something else would happen," he said simply, shrugging, as the others stared at him. Almost immediately a burst of wind seemed to eject from the stone, pushing the group back forcefully. A deafening howling, like what Hermione imagined a tornado would sound like, overtook the bar. Harry sprung into action, pointing his wand at the exploding rock and yelling out "Protego!" Hermione was the first to notice and repeated the action. Quickly, Ginny, Ron, and Neville joined them.
"Draco, throw a shield up around it!" Hermione yelled at the wizard next to her over the growing noise. Draco nodded, raising his wand again and shooting the shield charm at the stone. Next to him, Theo, Blaise, and Pansy followed suit.
Seemingly unmoved by the wind and the noise, Luna looked curiously at the stone from her seat, peering deeply as if she could see something. She began to reach her hand out to touch the screaming stone.
"Luna!" Yells rang out from around her, coming in desperate, frightened, and anxious varieties. Ron reached towards her as he struggled to keep the shield spell up, trying to grab her before she reached it. Just as her delicate fingers reached it, there was a flash of light, blinding Hermione before she felt a pulling, almost like she was free falling. When the light faded, she landed hard on her bum. Hermione blinked rapidly to clear her eyes before realizing they were in a forest and it was daytime. She felt a hand reach out for her chin, cupping her face, as Draco came into view.
"Are you okay? Hermione?" Draco asked urgently, examining her limbs with concern. She nodded, pushing the blond off wordlessly and checking on Ginny, who was rubbing her wrist in discomfort next to her.
"I'm okay," the ginger grumbled as both Hermione and Harry fussed over her. "Blimey, I'm okay. Check on Ron."
"You owe me five galleons, Nott," Blaise groaned from behind her. She saw Draco throw a rude gesture at his friend.
"Where the bloody hell are we?" Ron's asked hoarsely, looking around. Hermione scanned her other friends, making sure everyone was still alive and not gravely injured before starting to analyze the surroundings and grabbing her wand. "A portkey?" Hermione wondered internally, realizing they couldn't be in the UK given the trees that surrounded them.
"Not in Kansas anymore, Toto," a rough voice answered in an American accent. A boy around their age, who looked a bit like Harry, stepped out from behind a tree and stared at them. Hermione noted that while the resemblance was striking, his messy hair was jet black and he didn't have glasses. His sea-green eyes were hard as tightened his grip on his weapon.
"Is that a sword?" Pansy whispered loudly, incredulous at the sight of the stranger. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Ginny move in front of Pansy as Theo put his hand on her shoulder to silence the raven-haired witch. Blaise, Draco, and Neville had already drawn their wands, while Luna was staring just behind the boy into the forest as though she could see someone there. Hermione caught Harry's eye and they nodded at each other before repeating the process with Ron. She tightened her grip on her wand; this was not how reintroducing her boyfriend to her friends was supposed to go.