Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me. They are by J. K. Rowling. I am not for profit.
Draco Malfoy had taken a long trip to New York. He had been tracking Hermione Granger for years. And now, once he had found her in the muggle world, he was lost. For years he had imagined himself in that situation, in what he would say once he saw her and now that he had her in front of him, he had forgotten all about it. He located her in a small cafeteria, but it was difficult for him to recognize her, she no longer had that haughty bearing, that ego that characterized her. She was now trying to be inconspicuous, reading while she drank her tea. Draco smirked. At least there was something left of the Hermione Granger that he remembered. For years he had wondered what had happened to her, what her life would have been like, if there, in the muggle world, she was as successful as Potter in wizarding. He was not surprised to see her have a normal life, but it was not something he wanted for her.
"Good morning, Granger." Draco saw how she flinched. He was not surprising, she was not expecting him and they had not maintained contact after the war. He was amused to see that she was still just as paranoid despite all the years of peace they had had.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, clearly defensive. Draco would be too, if the situation had been reversed.
"I'm here to give you a message from Snape," Draco replied.
"Snape is dead," Hermione replied dryly.
"I know." Draco was still hurting, there isn't a single day that he didn't miss him. "But a lot happened after the war. Your toxic relationship with Weasel, in which you did not stop arguing, your abortion published in the press and your departure from magical London. I should have given you the message earlier, I know, but Weasel would set up a lot of scenes when some man spoke to you and I didn't want to be the reason for the breakup of the most famous war hero couple, after Potter and Ginevra. After you left, it was impossible to locate you. And trust me, I've tried."
"Give me the message and go." Said Hermione.
"Snape was proud of you, Granger," Draco said. There was no point in prolonging this for much longer. He would deliver the message just as he had promised and his conscience could rest easy. Even though he hadn't had fun like this in years, he didn't want to fall into old habits and picking on Granger was still incredibly easy. And he liked that. He had always liked her.-For all the work you did. The potion was hardly noticeable.
And there it was, that telltale panic in Granger's eyes. Draco almost laughed, She still had a lot to learn. That was why she was a Gryffindor, as much as it was rumored among his friends that she should have been in Slytherin.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Hermione replied dryly.
"I think so." Draco continued. "Snape always lacked the same ingredients, for years. Of course the Felix Felicis ingredients were not always missing, that would have been quite suspicious, so I suppose you would buy them before entering Hogwarts or on the exits, although my bet was that you used those secret passageways that Potter, Weasel and you were so fond of buying missing ingredients and only went to Snape's pantry when it was a true emergency.
There was an awkward pause between them, where Draco devoted himself to observing Granger's body language. Really, she hadn't changed at all, what she appeared to be was not an iota of what she really was, anyone who knew her could see it. She was calmer now, that was true, but Draco suspected it was because she didn't have a cause to fight for and that had made her relax. Despite everything, Draco was not one to be carried away by appearances and even less with the woman in front of him, someone he admired and respected deeply, because she had made herself respected, she had earned it hard.
"I did what I had to do," said Granger, without regret. Draco smirked, "I don't regret it."
"Don't be overwhelmed, Granger." He replied. "I'm not here to judge you. I would have done the same in your situation ... maybe sometime I did too. Not that often, or maybe yes, but I always knew how to provide the ingredients. That's what differentiates us. "He paused." People think they know you. You know? There are a thousand articles of war heroes, many of them focus on you, try to analyze you, see how you think, why you act the way you do. Everyone fails, everyone lies, no one really knows you, not even your former allies, those who post things about you, comments, interviews, books, novels. I know it, you know it too."
"We were kids back then, Malfoy." Granger said. "We thought we were the generation that would eat the world, that would do something great, but we weren't even honest with each other, at least not from me. I will make you swear an unbreakable oath of confidentiality."
"I wouldn't expect anything less, Granger." Malfoy replied. "Being in your place I would too. You have a lot to lose if anyone finds out, just like I would lose my reputation if someone found out that I knew this all these years and I didn't report you. We are peers, for the sake of our reputations, we better be quiet."
"I admired him you know," Hermione said after a pause. The bartender had come and Draco politely declined a drink, Hermione suspected it was because Malfoy had no muggle money. "Snape. Practically from the first moment he said you could bottle up fame. I always played by the rules and always ended up alone, that's where I realized that maybe there was another way."
"All the Slytherins admired him, Granger," Draco replied. "And you're one of us."
"I'm not." Hermione said. "The hat classified me in Gryffindor."
"To cover it up, I assure you." Draco hadn't been so sincere in his life. "There have been Muggle-borns in Slytherin, it's true. But back then it was a time of peace, when Who Must Not Be Named was not even born. If the hat classified you in Slytherin, you would have died. We would not have killed you on the spot, but we would have harassed you until you changed schools or committed suicide. We were very cruel back then, but over the years all Slytherins have learned to respect you."
"The Slytherins?" Hermione was really confused.
"That's why I'm here too." Draco replied. "We know it was you who was behind the defeat of the Dark Lord, I know it was Potter who delivered the final blow, but without you he wouldn't have done it. Year after year you have been by his side, protecting him from danger with your cunning, intelligence and bravery. Year after year, you have been overshadowed by Potter. He has taken away all of your accomplishments, making himself the hero when you should have been. Weasel has done it too. They have left you the second, the third, they have made you known as Harry Potter's friend, when they should remember your name. The whole world should remember Hermione Granger. We remember you, we know what you are capable of and that is why we respect you. We also know that you had no choice in letting Potter be the hero for the press, if you had defended yourself by saying it was you, Dumbledore would have expelled you to shut up. Without you, Potter would have died in the first grade. If you ever want to meet people who are like you, to be able to talk about any topic openly, to know our version of the story, meet us. You know where I live, come one day and I'll arrange a meeting with everyone. You and your tricks are missed, Granger. You'll feel right at home with us, I assure you. "Draco got up to leave.
"Malfoy." Hermione said before he walked away. "Have a drink with me, I invite this one."
Malfoy sat up, acknowledging an acceptance of the invitation. This had been postponed too long. Many of his companions had dreamed for years of meeting her personally, without pride of houses in between. If something characterized the Slytherins it was waiting and Draco knew that Hermione would not take long to go find him at Malfoy Manor, she had always been a curious girl and they had a lot to teach her and she had many questions to answer. There were people who said that Hermione Granger wanted to go unnoticed so as not to create so many enemies, so much fame, to be able to act from the shadows. Others said that she had been overshadowed by Dumbledore because he wanted to kill Potter and thus fed his ego, fueling his heroic fantasies to slaughter him.
Someday they would learn the story through the eyes of Hermione Granger and until that day, it would be worth waiting a little longer.