Chapter 4
"Hey, Malfoy, get off your lily-ass and come to the kitchen this minute! I've got your Owl Post for you! Besides, you need to get ready for lunch at the Grangers. You know my mother's smitten with you!" Hermione yelled from Draco's kitchen. She had been to Diagon Alley and back to get her and Draco's Owl Posts and he was still snoring away. She knew she should have knocked first before invading his apartment but he gave her a copy of his keys and the passwords to his locking charms, so she took that as a sign that she could invade his space anytime she wanted. Besides, she did him a favour by picking up his Owl Posts for him while she got hers, the least he could do was to take her invasion and her shouting as gracefully as he could.
Then she it ocurred to her that maybe he wasn't alone in his room, so she shouted "If there's a girl with you right now, Malfoy, tell her that I'm old maid cousin who has nothing better to do than to pick up your mail and try to command you from the kitchen! Better yet, show her to me, so she can see for herself that I'm no threat!"
"You might not be a threat to my imaginary bed partner, Granger, but you sure bug the hell out of my eardrums." Draco drawled from the kitchen doorway. "Merlin, Granger, it's 9 am on a Saturday, what the hell are you doing up? Lunch isn't for three hours."
"Good morning to you, too, Malfoy" she smiled cheekily at him as she handed him his post. "So, no girls in your bedroom?"
"Contrary to popular belief, Granger, I do not sleep with anything in a skirt."
"Defensive already? But it's too early! You need coffee."
"If you brew a pot while I shower, Granger, I will forgive you for the headache you've caused by waking me up with that shrill voice." He smirked before heading out of the kitchen.
She shook her head and smiled as she went about brewing a strong pot of coffee.
Draco Malfoy was definitely back and it was good. When Hermione met him again six years ago, she was surprised at the change in him, to say the least. Not only was he living in Muggle London, he was working as a waiter in a small cafe in Cheapside -- and seemed to be enjoying every minute of it. But the biggest surprise was the change in attitude. Gone was the sneering, cruel, snide Malfoy who made her life hell during her first six years in Hogwarts. She was glad for that because she never really liked that Lucius Malfoy Wannabe of her younger years. But also gone was the smart-as-a-whip, witty, smirking, self-assured and challenging Draco on her seventh year. The same Draco who had made her term as Head Girl memorable and far from boring with his witty repartee and brilliant mind. No matter how much she abhorred his arrogance in their younger years, she appreciated the deep-seeded pride and self-confidence he had always had. Mostly because that made her feel less apologetic about her own pride and self-confidence. It felt good to banter with someone whose self-confidence was so intact -- there was no way that the littlest jibe would scar him for life. It was fun to debate with an equal -- she didn't have to pull her punches and could just let her mind and her tongue run free.
She never realised how much she missed that aspect of Draco until she saw him that day in Cheapside. She had not realised it immediately, but eventually she mourned the loss of that self-assured, intelligent and articulate Head Boy. Six years ago, Draco Malfoy was whipped, doubting himself and denying his potential. He was lost and unsure. He seemed to be trying to make up for his cruelty during his childhood by being an overly gentle and humble Muggle. Oh she knew that that new aspect of Draco would never really go away. He had gone through so much to turn himself into a gentle and humble creature that he would never regress to his former cruel and arrogant past. And she appreciated it. What she didn't like was his defeated aura, and the loss of the traits that made him uniquely Draco Malfoy.
He had shared with her his inner battle about who he was, his fears about becoming a carbon copy of Lucius Malfoy, and his uncertainty about his innate goodness. Over the past six years, as their friendship grew deeper, they had also been working on his fears and winning his inner battles. The Draco Malfoy six years ago was too afraid to let his true personality shine, unable to tell which aspects of his personality were worth keeping and thus resolving to be the complete opposite of what he was at Hogwarts. It took time but eventually, through endless conversations and projects together, Draco was eventually able to regain his self-confidence as a man, as a good person, as an extra-ordinary wizard. Sharing her half-Muggle / half-Wizarding life with him had certainly helped lead him back to himself. As they worked on developing new spells and charms together and eventually writing "Spell and Charms You've Yet to Try: A Guidebook", while keeping their Muggle life active and healthy, the real Draco Malfoy emerged. That Draco Malfoy was the combination of the good things in him as a wizard - the impenetrable self-confidence, the brilliant mind, the acerbic wit -- and the good things about him as a Muggle - his humility and his gentleness. That Draco Malfoy was confident enough to enthusiatically engage in the verbal sparring and intellectual debate they both thoroughly enjoyed, but was humble enough to never assume that he was better than anyone else by virtue of what he was born with and what he had become.
The changes he had undergone greatly improved his Muggle and Wizarding life. In Muggle London, Draco Malfoy finished a degree in Art History in Middlesex University after earning an academic scholarship with the help of Dumbledore's recommendation and Snape's connections to the Muggle academe. He had continued working for Chip's while he was at uni to help pay his way. Upon earning his degree, he was recruited to work part-time in the Tate Britain Gallery to assist in overseeing new aquisitions and new artists, where he had been working for the past few years. He still remained close to Chip and Mrs. Whipstaff, making sure to have lunch or dinner at Chip's at least once a week. He had made sure as well to include Hermione in his patchwork Muggle "family", often taking her with him during his visits with Chip and Mrs. Whipstaff.
Half of his time in the past six years was spent researching and working with Hermione to invent new spells and charms, although they both had separate projects and research work. Draco was currently working on a Potions book, coming up with new methods to create useful potions, and finding substitutes for ingredients that were becoming harder to aquire.
He had regained so much of his old wizarding talent after he had dared to open the lacquered case where he kept his wand and put it to use again. He had also renewed his ties with Severus Snape, who had always been one of the wizards Draco truly admired. Draco and Snape shared a common history as Slytherins and former Death Eaters, and it helped Draco to have someone who understood the darker memories that lurked in his mind. But there were still some things he refused to confront about his Wizarding life, particularly anything that had to do with claiming his Malfoy fortune and social status. Except for the minimal amount he took when he first left the Wizarding World, he had never touched any of the considerable inheritance left to him by both the Malfoy and Black family as the last heir to the two noble families. Hermione respected that decision, trusting him to know better than anyone else just how much he was giving up and what he was gaining in return for leaving his material wealth behind.
He had moved out of the flat he shared with Mike and Chris when he started attending college. Mrs. Whipstaff had offered him a good deal on one of her properties in exchange for him finding a tenant for the apartment next to it. That's where Hermione came in. Her magical experiments were becoming more and more complicated and complex so she needed a bigger and more private space that the small flat she shared with one of her cousins just did not provide. The two apartments were separated by a common garden, which, to Hermione, was a perfect spot for some of the spells she needed to test. As Draco was becoming more and more involved in her wizarding projects at that time, it made perfect sense for the two of them to live close to each other. So they both jumped at the opportunity provided by Mrs. Whipstaff's generous offer.
Both their apartments were mostly Muggle households. The two of them had come to a tacit agreement that their everyday lives would be lived the Muggle way. That meant that they cooked, cleaned, washed their clothes, and entertained themselves without the use of their wands. Witchcraft and wizardry remained largely an area of study for the two of them, not as a primary lifestyle. They had agreed on which aspects of their lives they would allow magic to be used on. For one, since they both had niggling thoughts of the possible threats they faced for the parts they played in the war against Voldemort, they continued to use security charms to protect their homes and to ensure that they remained unplottable. They had both turned the spare bedrooms in their respective apartments into wizarding labs: Draco's lab was mainly the place where they tried out new potions; Hermione's was where they practiced most of their transfiguration and charm work. They had obscured their garden from prying eyes, using complex charms and spells, so that they could use it to try out spells that required a bigger space in private. When they were in the middle of their experiments, they had cast repelling spells around their homes.
They had made regular trips to Diagon Alley, but never together, to get their Wizarding post, purchase materials and resources they needed in their experiments, and stock up on Sugar Quills to which they were both addicted. They had both gone back to Hogwarts a few times, mostly to consult with Dumbledore, McGonogall and Snape about their experiments, and to use the vast resources in the Hogwarts Library. But they have both made sure that their trips back to the Wizarding World were well planned and thought out so that they would never run into anyone from their past. Thus, visits to Hogwarts were done in the middle of the night, and trips to Diagon Alley, very early in the morning.
So now here they were, six years of friendship and companionship hanging proudly from their belts. With Draco, Hermione never again felt the loneliness she sometimes felt even in the midst of her Hogwarts friends. True, Harry and Ron and the rest of the Gryffindors were the first friends Hermione had ever had in her life, but all throughout her school years, she had recurring feeling of being an outsider in her own House. She knew that the reason why she stood apart was because of her brains and her bossy attitude. So she learned to be apologetic for those traits, often biting her tongue and stifling her thoughts so that she would fit in. She had kept her passion for studying and learning from her friends, only exhibiting the fruits of her labour when the situation called for it. She remembered the weeks she spent creating the Dumbledore Army Protean Coins, which she had done all by herself and showed only to the members of the DA after the work was accomplished. She had often wondered if she would have been better off in Ravenclaw, where she was sure she could have found other students who were just as passionate about learning as she was. She had longed for a friend like that. Someone who could sit all day debating magical theories and concepts. Someone who would not mind hours spent perfecting a spell or a charm. Someone who would not find her boring and un-fun. With Draco, she had found that someone. He had never made her feel bad for her brains, often complimenting (albeit backhanded) her for intelligence, and exhibiting the same dedication to excellence and perfection.
As he walked back to the kitchen, freshly showered and with a better mood, Hermione couldn't help but smile. She was proud of her friend for what he had grown up to be, and she was proud to be his friend.
"Granger, it's too early for that smile." He said as he helped himself to a cup of coffee.
Yes, Draco Malfoy was back and Hermione Granger couldn't be happier.
~~~~
When he saw Hermione's smile upon his re-entry to the kitchen, Draco resisted the urge to walk back to the bathroom and check the mirror to see if he had something weird on his face. She was smiling like she knew a secret and was never, ever going to tell. He knew her well enough to know that she sometimes had a mean streak that had kept her from telling one of the men she had dated that he had a piece of spinach stuck to his front teeth the entire evening because in the middle of dinner, the pathetic bloke made a sexist comment. So he wasn't putting anything past her. Heaven knows that he had offended her more than three dozens times in their lifetime, and while they had settled their issues and had forgiven each other for their first six years in Hogwarts, they still continued to pull practical jokes on each other in "revenge" for past trespasses. Just a few weekends ago, she transfigured all his jackets into beaver fur, claiming that each beaver fur jacket was in retribution every time he called her Beaver-Toothed in school. It wouldn't have been so bad, but that weekend, he had a date with a woman he had admired from the museum and since she time-locked the spell to last for 24 hours, he had no choice but show up for his date wearing a furry jacket.
While he ranted and raved at her mean streak whenever he could, secretly he was more than happy to see this side of Hermione Granger. He doubted that this aspect of her character was something she let loose on just about everyone else. To him, it showed just how much she trusted herself with him, risking his rare temper tantrums and responding cheekily everytime she pulled a joke on him and it pissed him off. More importantly, this practical-joking Hermione allowed him a glimpse beyond her brilliant mind.
Oh and what a mind it was. As a Muggle, Hermione was a professor at the London School Economics, specialising on socio-economic theories and medieval history. Her grasp of complex sociological theories and her passion for social issues continued to impress Draco. As a witch, she had proven time and again why she was dubbed the Smartest Witch Ever to Come from Hogwarts Since Minerva McGonogall. Her creative mind, coupled with her deep understanding of how magic worked, had resulted in innovative and modern charms and spells. But inasmuch as her brilliant mind was one of her defining traits, Draco was more than aware that she was more than that. She was also a gentle soul, an imp, and a beautiful woman.
He knew that one of her sore spots was the fact that in the Wizarding World, she was simply known as That Know-it-all Muggleborn or The Brains in the Potter Trio. She admitted that it was that reputation that made Harry fail to see her for what she really was: an intelligent young woman who wanted nothing more than to love her best friend and be loved in return. Draco knew that the biggest damage Potter had done to her was not that he failed to reciprocate her love for him; no, it was the fact that his failure to see her as a woman, as someone he could fall in love with, confirmed all her suspicions about herself as nothing more than an undesireable Brain.
If Draco needed more proof that Potter was as daft as a flobberworm, he didn't have to look further than Potter's failure to see just how beautiful Hermione Granger was. Draco had been with his share of women, while in Hogwarts and here in Muggle London, and he had always been able to attract beautiful women. He knew a beautiful woman when he saw one and Hermione is a beautiful woman. Her skin, flawless and begging to be touched. Her curly hair was naturally tousled enough to suggest the notion that she had just been to a quick tumble in bed. Her brown eyes so big and deep that a man would be crazy not to drown in them. And her lips--
Draco halted further thoughts about Hermione's physical attributes. She didn't deserve that. The last thing she needed was to have a man she had trusted for the past six years as nothing more than a friend salivating over her and trying to have his way with her on the kitchen counter. Potter needs to have his eyes checked. He's as blind as a fucking bat.
With that final thought, Draco turned his attention to the stack of envelopes and rolls of parchment that Hermione had gotten for him at Diagon Alley.
"Thanks, Granger."
"Ah, he's awake and he's got his manners back." She said distractedly as she went through her own post.
"Ah, she's awake and she's still bitchy" he countered.
"Ah, he's awake but he left his originality in bed."
"Ah, she's awake but she left her witty pills at home."
"Ah, he awake--" she stopped talking as she opened an official looking envelope, her eyes going wide and her face going a bit pale.
"Granger?" Draco looked up to why she stopped. When he saw her face, he panicked a bit "What's the matter, Granger?"
He stood up but Hermione shook her head and handed him the letter. She watched him as he read the letter, biting her lower lip, clearly anxious.
Ms. Hermione Jane Granger,
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Cordially requests your presence at the Retirement and Turnover Gala
To be held at The Great Hall on 15 July.
This event will conclude Albus Dumbledore's Fifty Years as Headmaster to
the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
and
Officially begin Minerva McGonogall's term as the New Headmistress
and
Severus Snape's term as the New Deputy Headmaster.
The Great Hall will be opened at exactly fourteen minutes after seven that
evening.
Attire: Formal
Please find the attached guide to transportation and apparition options for
the event.
Aside from the attached transportation and apparition guide, two other pieces of parchment were attached to the invitation:
Dear Hermione,
This is a personal request for your presence at the Gala. You have always been one of my most treasured students and you have been a constant reminder to me as to why teaching is such a joy. I do hope you won't miss this very special event in my teaching career. It won't be the same without the one of the best Head Girls from Gryffindor in the history of Hogwarts. As your friend, I hope with all my heart that you would stand beside me during this important event -- the way you stood by me during my recovery from The War.
I will eagerly anticipate your presence.
sincerely, Minerva McGonogall
The other letter was from Dumbledore:
Dear Hermione,
I'm sure Professor McGonogall has written a personal invitation to you to attend this important event. Let me add my own. I do hope you can make it, Hermione. This is a historical Hogwarts event that happens only once in every fifty years, you deserve to be there. You have earned your place in the Wizarding World's history, and your absence will surely darken this happy event for me. So please, humour an old codger like me one more time?
with much hope, Albus Dumbledore
Before saying anything, Draco looked at his stack of post and saw a similar envelope. He opened it and found the same invitation addressed to him. In addition, he had personal invitations from Dumbledore and Snape.
Dear Draco,
I trust this message finds you well.
As the one student that has made me truly proud to be the Head of Slytherin House, your presence at this occassion is important to me. Thus, I urge you to be there and stand with your fellow Slytherins in welcoming the new age of the Slytherin House, one that is more tolerant, living up to excellence without the old reputation that has defaced our noble house for so long.
As your friend and mentor, not to mention the man who has saved your ass too many times to mention, I would appreciate your presence in this event. I am quite nervous about this new post and I will require you to let me know that I deserve this new title.
Severus ps: If Ms. Granger reads this, please spare me the knowledge that she has indeed read this message.
Draco chuckled as he read Snape's invitation and handed it to Hermione to read as he opened Dumbledore's message:
Dear Draco,
Professor Snape requires your presence during the Gala as I fear that he will faint before he is officially granted his new post without you to tell him to calm himself down. You know you're the only one who is brave enough to approach a nervous Professor Snape.
As for me, Draco, you have always been one of the few students that have shown me that great men can emerge from adversity and cruelty. I have constantly drawn strength from your life when it seems that the world as we know it will never change for the better. I would be most happy if you could be at this event, taking your proper and much-earned place in the Wizarding World.
It is time to come out of hiding and show our world what Draco Malfoy has become, don't you think?
looking forward to seeing you there, Albus Dumbledore
They were silent for a few minutes, both lost in common thoughts.
Should they go? Could they really risk their mentors' disappointment at their absence? Could they live with themselves if they were not able to return their mentor's support by turning down their personal invitations? How would they explain their absence? How would they face their old friends and schoolmates? What would it mean for the well-arranged lives they've lived for the past six years if they were to show up at the Gala? Were they ready to give the Wizarding World a glimpse of what they've become?
Hermione snapped out of her thoughts sooner than Draco "Well? What do you think?"
"I don't know. Should we do it?"
"I don't know."
"Me, too."
Hermione stood up and opened one of his kitchen drawers, taking out a pencil and piece of paper.
"It's time to make a list."
"Hey, Malfoy, get off your lily-ass and come to the kitchen this minute! I've got your Owl Post for you! Besides, you need to get ready for lunch at the Grangers. You know my mother's smitten with you!" Hermione yelled from Draco's kitchen. She had been to Diagon Alley and back to get her and Draco's Owl Posts and he was still snoring away. She knew she should have knocked first before invading his apartment but he gave her a copy of his keys and the passwords to his locking charms, so she took that as a sign that she could invade his space anytime she wanted. Besides, she did him a favour by picking up his Owl Posts for him while she got hers, the least he could do was to take her invasion and her shouting as gracefully as he could.
Then she it ocurred to her that maybe he wasn't alone in his room, so she shouted "If there's a girl with you right now, Malfoy, tell her that I'm old maid cousin who has nothing better to do than to pick up your mail and try to command you from the kitchen! Better yet, show her to me, so she can see for herself that I'm no threat!"
"You might not be a threat to my imaginary bed partner, Granger, but you sure bug the hell out of my eardrums." Draco drawled from the kitchen doorway. "Merlin, Granger, it's 9 am on a Saturday, what the hell are you doing up? Lunch isn't for three hours."
"Good morning to you, too, Malfoy" she smiled cheekily at him as she handed him his post. "So, no girls in your bedroom?"
"Contrary to popular belief, Granger, I do not sleep with anything in a skirt."
"Defensive already? But it's too early! You need coffee."
"If you brew a pot while I shower, Granger, I will forgive you for the headache you've caused by waking me up with that shrill voice." He smirked before heading out of the kitchen.
She shook her head and smiled as she went about brewing a strong pot of coffee.
Draco Malfoy was definitely back and it was good. When Hermione met him again six years ago, she was surprised at the change in him, to say the least. Not only was he living in Muggle London, he was working as a waiter in a small cafe in Cheapside -- and seemed to be enjoying every minute of it. But the biggest surprise was the change in attitude. Gone was the sneering, cruel, snide Malfoy who made her life hell during her first six years in Hogwarts. She was glad for that because she never really liked that Lucius Malfoy Wannabe of her younger years. But also gone was the smart-as-a-whip, witty, smirking, self-assured and challenging Draco on her seventh year. The same Draco who had made her term as Head Girl memorable and far from boring with his witty repartee and brilliant mind. No matter how much she abhorred his arrogance in their younger years, she appreciated the deep-seeded pride and self-confidence he had always had. Mostly because that made her feel less apologetic about her own pride and self-confidence. It felt good to banter with someone whose self-confidence was so intact -- there was no way that the littlest jibe would scar him for life. It was fun to debate with an equal -- she didn't have to pull her punches and could just let her mind and her tongue run free.
She never realised how much she missed that aspect of Draco until she saw him that day in Cheapside. She had not realised it immediately, but eventually she mourned the loss of that self-assured, intelligent and articulate Head Boy. Six years ago, Draco Malfoy was whipped, doubting himself and denying his potential. He was lost and unsure. He seemed to be trying to make up for his cruelty during his childhood by being an overly gentle and humble Muggle. Oh she knew that that new aspect of Draco would never really go away. He had gone through so much to turn himself into a gentle and humble creature that he would never regress to his former cruel and arrogant past. And she appreciated it. What she didn't like was his defeated aura, and the loss of the traits that made him uniquely Draco Malfoy.
He had shared with her his inner battle about who he was, his fears about becoming a carbon copy of Lucius Malfoy, and his uncertainty about his innate goodness. Over the past six years, as their friendship grew deeper, they had also been working on his fears and winning his inner battles. The Draco Malfoy six years ago was too afraid to let his true personality shine, unable to tell which aspects of his personality were worth keeping and thus resolving to be the complete opposite of what he was at Hogwarts. It took time but eventually, through endless conversations and projects together, Draco was eventually able to regain his self-confidence as a man, as a good person, as an extra-ordinary wizard. Sharing her half-Muggle / half-Wizarding life with him had certainly helped lead him back to himself. As they worked on developing new spells and charms together and eventually writing "Spell and Charms You've Yet to Try: A Guidebook", while keeping their Muggle life active and healthy, the real Draco Malfoy emerged. That Draco Malfoy was the combination of the good things in him as a wizard - the impenetrable self-confidence, the brilliant mind, the acerbic wit -- and the good things about him as a Muggle - his humility and his gentleness. That Draco Malfoy was confident enough to enthusiatically engage in the verbal sparring and intellectual debate they both thoroughly enjoyed, but was humble enough to never assume that he was better than anyone else by virtue of what he was born with and what he had become.
The changes he had undergone greatly improved his Muggle and Wizarding life. In Muggle London, Draco Malfoy finished a degree in Art History in Middlesex University after earning an academic scholarship with the help of Dumbledore's recommendation and Snape's connections to the Muggle academe. He had continued working for Chip's while he was at uni to help pay his way. Upon earning his degree, he was recruited to work part-time in the Tate Britain Gallery to assist in overseeing new aquisitions and new artists, where he had been working for the past few years. He still remained close to Chip and Mrs. Whipstaff, making sure to have lunch or dinner at Chip's at least once a week. He had made sure as well to include Hermione in his patchwork Muggle "family", often taking her with him during his visits with Chip and Mrs. Whipstaff.
Half of his time in the past six years was spent researching and working with Hermione to invent new spells and charms, although they both had separate projects and research work. Draco was currently working on a Potions book, coming up with new methods to create useful potions, and finding substitutes for ingredients that were becoming harder to aquire.
He had regained so much of his old wizarding talent after he had dared to open the lacquered case where he kept his wand and put it to use again. He had also renewed his ties with Severus Snape, who had always been one of the wizards Draco truly admired. Draco and Snape shared a common history as Slytherins and former Death Eaters, and it helped Draco to have someone who understood the darker memories that lurked in his mind. But there were still some things he refused to confront about his Wizarding life, particularly anything that had to do with claiming his Malfoy fortune and social status. Except for the minimal amount he took when he first left the Wizarding World, he had never touched any of the considerable inheritance left to him by both the Malfoy and Black family as the last heir to the two noble families. Hermione respected that decision, trusting him to know better than anyone else just how much he was giving up and what he was gaining in return for leaving his material wealth behind.
He had moved out of the flat he shared with Mike and Chris when he started attending college. Mrs. Whipstaff had offered him a good deal on one of her properties in exchange for him finding a tenant for the apartment next to it. That's where Hermione came in. Her magical experiments were becoming more and more complicated and complex so she needed a bigger and more private space that the small flat she shared with one of her cousins just did not provide. The two apartments were separated by a common garden, which, to Hermione, was a perfect spot for some of the spells she needed to test. As Draco was becoming more and more involved in her wizarding projects at that time, it made perfect sense for the two of them to live close to each other. So they both jumped at the opportunity provided by Mrs. Whipstaff's generous offer.
Both their apartments were mostly Muggle households. The two of them had come to a tacit agreement that their everyday lives would be lived the Muggle way. That meant that they cooked, cleaned, washed their clothes, and entertained themselves without the use of their wands. Witchcraft and wizardry remained largely an area of study for the two of them, not as a primary lifestyle. They had agreed on which aspects of their lives they would allow magic to be used on. For one, since they both had niggling thoughts of the possible threats they faced for the parts they played in the war against Voldemort, they continued to use security charms to protect their homes and to ensure that they remained unplottable. They had both turned the spare bedrooms in their respective apartments into wizarding labs: Draco's lab was mainly the place where they tried out new potions; Hermione's was where they practiced most of their transfiguration and charm work. They had obscured their garden from prying eyes, using complex charms and spells, so that they could use it to try out spells that required a bigger space in private. When they were in the middle of their experiments, they had cast repelling spells around their homes.
They had made regular trips to Diagon Alley, but never together, to get their Wizarding post, purchase materials and resources they needed in their experiments, and stock up on Sugar Quills to which they were both addicted. They had both gone back to Hogwarts a few times, mostly to consult with Dumbledore, McGonogall and Snape about their experiments, and to use the vast resources in the Hogwarts Library. But they have both made sure that their trips back to the Wizarding World were well planned and thought out so that they would never run into anyone from their past. Thus, visits to Hogwarts were done in the middle of the night, and trips to Diagon Alley, very early in the morning.
So now here they were, six years of friendship and companionship hanging proudly from their belts. With Draco, Hermione never again felt the loneliness she sometimes felt even in the midst of her Hogwarts friends. True, Harry and Ron and the rest of the Gryffindors were the first friends Hermione had ever had in her life, but all throughout her school years, she had recurring feeling of being an outsider in her own House. She knew that the reason why she stood apart was because of her brains and her bossy attitude. So she learned to be apologetic for those traits, often biting her tongue and stifling her thoughts so that she would fit in. She had kept her passion for studying and learning from her friends, only exhibiting the fruits of her labour when the situation called for it. She remembered the weeks she spent creating the Dumbledore Army Protean Coins, which she had done all by herself and showed only to the members of the DA after the work was accomplished. She had often wondered if she would have been better off in Ravenclaw, where she was sure she could have found other students who were just as passionate about learning as she was. She had longed for a friend like that. Someone who could sit all day debating magical theories and concepts. Someone who would not mind hours spent perfecting a spell or a charm. Someone who would not find her boring and un-fun. With Draco, she had found that someone. He had never made her feel bad for her brains, often complimenting (albeit backhanded) her for intelligence, and exhibiting the same dedication to excellence and perfection.
As he walked back to the kitchen, freshly showered and with a better mood, Hermione couldn't help but smile. She was proud of her friend for what he had grown up to be, and she was proud to be his friend.
"Granger, it's too early for that smile." He said as he helped himself to a cup of coffee.
Yes, Draco Malfoy was back and Hermione Granger couldn't be happier.
~~~~
When he saw Hermione's smile upon his re-entry to the kitchen, Draco resisted the urge to walk back to the bathroom and check the mirror to see if he had something weird on his face. She was smiling like she knew a secret and was never, ever going to tell. He knew her well enough to know that she sometimes had a mean streak that had kept her from telling one of the men she had dated that he had a piece of spinach stuck to his front teeth the entire evening because in the middle of dinner, the pathetic bloke made a sexist comment. So he wasn't putting anything past her. Heaven knows that he had offended her more than three dozens times in their lifetime, and while they had settled their issues and had forgiven each other for their first six years in Hogwarts, they still continued to pull practical jokes on each other in "revenge" for past trespasses. Just a few weekends ago, she transfigured all his jackets into beaver fur, claiming that each beaver fur jacket was in retribution every time he called her Beaver-Toothed in school. It wouldn't have been so bad, but that weekend, he had a date with a woman he had admired from the museum and since she time-locked the spell to last for 24 hours, he had no choice but show up for his date wearing a furry jacket.
While he ranted and raved at her mean streak whenever he could, secretly he was more than happy to see this side of Hermione Granger. He doubted that this aspect of her character was something she let loose on just about everyone else. To him, it showed just how much she trusted herself with him, risking his rare temper tantrums and responding cheekily everytime she pulled a joke on him and it pissed him off. More importantly, this practical-joking Hermione allowed him a glimpse beyond her brilliant mind.
Oh and what a mind it was. As a Muggle, Hermione was a professor at the London School Economics, specialising on socio-economic theories and medieval history. Her grasp of complex sociological theories and her passion for social issues continued to impress Draco. As a witch, she had proven time and again why she was dubbed the Smartest Witch Ever to Come from Hogwarts Since Minerva McGonogall. Her creative mind, coupled with her deep understanding of how magic worked, had resulted in innovative and modern charms and spells. But inasmuch as her brilliant mind was one of her defining traits, Draco was more than aware that she was more than that. She was also a gentle soul, an imp, and a beautiful woman.
He knew that one of her sore spots was the fact that in the Wizarding World, she was simply known as That Know-it-all Muggleborn or The Brains in the Potter Trio. She admitted that it was that reputation that made Harry fail to see her for what she really was: an intelligent young woman who wanted nothing more than to love her best friend and be loved in return. Draco knew that the biggest damage Potter had done to her was not that he failed to reciprocate her love for him; no, it was the fact that his failure to see her as a woman, as someone he could fall in love with, confirmed all her suspicions about herself as nothing more than an undesireable Brain.
If Draco needed more proof that Potter was as daft as a flobberworm, he didn't have to look further than Potter's failure to see just how beautiful Hermione Granger was. Draco had been with his share of women, while in Hogwarts and here in Muggle London, and he had always been able to attract beautiful women. He knew a beautiful woman when he saw one and Hermione is a beautiful woman. Her skin, flawless and begging to be touched. Her curly hair was naturally tousled enough to suggest the notion that she had just been to a quick tumble in bed. Her brown eyes so big and deep that a man would be crazy not to drown in them. And her lips--
Draco halted further thoughts about Hermione's physical attributes. She didn't deserve that. The last thing she needed was to have a man she had trusted for the past six years as nothing more than a friend salivating over her and trying to have his way with her on the kitchen counter. Potter needs to have his eyes checked. He's as blind as a fucking bat.
With that final thought, Draco turned his attention to the stack of envelopes and rolls of parchment that Hermione had gotten for him at Diagon Alley.
"Thanks, Granger."
"Ah, he's awake and he's got his manners back." She said distractedly as she went through her own post.
"Ah, she's awake and she's still bitchy" he countered.
"Ah, he's awake but he left his originality in bed."
"Ah, she's awake but she left her witty pills at home."
"Ah, he awake--" she stopped talking as she opened an official looking envelope, her eyes going wide and her face going a bit pale.
"Granger?" Draco looked up to why she stopped. When he saw her face, he panicked a bit "What's the matter, Granger?"
He stood up but Hermione shook her head and handed him the letter. She watched him as he read the letter, biting her lower lip, clearly anxious.
Ms. Hermione Jane Granger,
HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY
Cordially requests your presence at the Retirement and Turnover Gala
To be held at The Great Hall on 15 July.
This event will conclude Albus Dumbledore's Fifty Years as Headmaster to
the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry
and
Officially begin Minerva McGonogall's term as the New Headmistress
and
Severus Snape's term as the New Deputy Headmaster.
The Great Hall will be opened at exactly fourteen minutes after seven that
evening.
Attire: Formal
Please find the attached guide to transportation and apparition options for
the event.
Aside from the attached transportation and apparition guide, two other pieces of parchment were attached to the invitation:
Dear Hermione,
This is a personal request for your presence at the Gala. You have always been one of my most treasured students and you have been a constant reminder to me as to why teaching is such a joy. I do hope you won't miss this very special event in my teaching career. It won't be the same without the one of the best Head Girls from Gryffindor in the history of Hogwarts. As your friend, I hope with all my heart that you would stand beside me during this important event -- the way you stood by me during my recovery from The War.
I will eagerly anticipate your presence.
sincerely, Minerva McGonogall
The other letter was from Dumbledore:
Dear Hermione,
I'm sure Professor McGonogall has written a personal invitation to you to attend this important event. Let me add my own. I do hope you can make it, Hermione. This is a historical Hogwarts event that happens only once in every fifty years, you deserve to be there. You have earned your place in the Wizarding World's history, and your absence will surely darken this happy event for me. So please, humour an old codger like me one more time?
with much hope, Albus Dumbledore
Before saying anything, Draco looked at his stack of post and saw a similar envelope. He opened it and found the same invitation addressed to him. In addition, he had personal invitations from Dumbledore and Snape.
Dear Draco,
I trust this message finds you well.
As the one student that has made me truly proud to be the Head of Slytherin House, your presence at this occassion is important to me. Thus, I urge you to be there and stand with your fellow Slytherins in welcoming the new age of the Slytherin House, one that is more tolerant, living up to excellence without the old reputation that has defaced our noble house for so long.
As your friend and mentor, not to mention the man who has saved your ass too many times to mention, I would appreciate your presence in this event. I am quite nervous about this new post and I will require you to let me know that I deserve this new title.
Severus ps: If Ms. Granger reads this, please spare me the knowledge that she has indeed read this message.
Draco chuckled as he read Snape's invitation and handed it to Hermione to read as he opened Dumbledore's message:
Dear Draco,
Professor Snape requires your presence during the Gala as I fear that he will faint before he is officially granted his new post without you to tell him to calm himself down. You know you're the only one who is brave enough to approach a nervous Professor Snape.
As for me, Draco, you have always been one of the few students that have shown me that great men can emerge from adversity and cruelty. I have constantly drawn strength from your life when it seems that the world as we know it will never change for the better. I would be most happy if you could be at this event, taking your proper and much-earned place in the Wizarding World.
It is time to come out of hiding and show our world what Draco Malfoy has become, don't you think?
looking forward to seeing you there, Albus Dumbledore
They were silent for a few minutes, both lost in common thoughts.
Should they go? Could they really risk their mentors' disappointment at their absence? Could they live with themselves if they were not able to return their mentor's support by turning down their personal invitations? How would they explain their absence? How would they face their old friends and schoolmates? What would it mean for the well-arranged lives they've lived for the past six years if they were to show up at the Gala? Were they ready to give the Wizarding World a glimpse of what they've become?
Hermione snapped out of her thoughts sooner than Draco "Well? What do you think?"
"I don't know. Should we do it?"
"I don't know."
"Me, too."
Hermione stood up and opened one of his kitchen drawers, taking out a pencil and piece of paper.
"It's time to make a list."
