Hermione sipped her mocha cappuccino; chuckling at the story that Draco had just told her.
"I still can't believe that little Jacob had asked me that question to this day."
"I bet it was one you will probably never forget…" Hermione smirked. "You always had a very good memory for things like that."
"Why, thank you. Now, you have to tell me a story that you won't forget."
Hermione shook her head. "No, no, you won't get it…its not really that funny anyway, but you'll laugh…"
"Oh, come on…I told you a story that I never laugh at and it made you laugh.."
"All right, all right…" Hermione sipped her cappuccino, then began to tell her story.
As she wove her tale, Drano sat there, taking it all in. He laughed at the moments he was supposed to laugh at, gasped at the shocking moments, and applauded at the points where applause was needed. He was watching her with amazement…she never used to be this animated.
"Well, there you go. That's my story. It still brings a tear of laughter to my eye to this day, and I will never forget it. Does it meet the criteria?"
Draco was silent, still staring at Hermione with a thoughtful expression upon his face.
"Draco? Earth to Draco?" She waved a hand in front of his face, grinning.
"Huh? Oh, I'm really sorry…I am so tired nowadays. I never get any sleep and if I do, it's fitful."
"Do you sleep on the ground?"
"Usually."
"Don't ever do that…it hurts your back. That's why you are always so tired…I figured that out when I was on a mission last year. I was keeping an eye on Hogwarts for about four months, and I had to sleep outside because they wouldn't allow me to sleep inside. It was horrible. I needed a back massage every single day for a week."
Draco grinned. "No wonder you have perfect posture."
"I always had perfect posture…well, most of the time."
"Most of the time?"
"There were times when I slouched slightly…I don't do it anymore…makes me crazy if I don't sit right."
Draco laughed. "You were born perfect, weren't you?"
"Shut up! I'm not perfect!"
"Oh, sure…Miss I Always Have Perfect Posture…you people who always have to be perfect all the time…"
"I am starting to loose my perfectionism. About two years ago, I was the same way I was at Hogwarts!"
"You used to be a perfectionist?"
Hermione nodded. "I used to have to have everything perfect. I had to have perfect grades, perfect lifestyle, perfect personality…I started to loose it after I became your friend."
"So I fixed you?"
"In a sense."
Draco punched his fist in the air. "Yes! I changed you! WAHOO!"
"Is this something to celebrate about?"
"Yes it is! You aren't a perfectionist anymore because of me!"
Hermione blushed. "Well…I'm not completely changed…there are some things that I still have to have perfect."
"Well, it's a start! Spend more time with me and I may end up making you the most non-perfectionist that the world has ever seen!"
"You are really into making me a non-perfectionist, aren't you?"
"I just don't like when people have to have everything perfect. It drives me crazy."
Hermione turned away. "My mother turned me into a perfectionist…I used to think that that was the only way a person could be. I started to realize that she was one her entire life and that's why she wanted me to be one. She wanted me to be just like her. My father always opposed it…they used to fight about it all the time when I was younger. I still remember my mother sitting me down in front of the piano every single day and making me play…"
"You know how to play the piano?"
"Yes…it's a skill that I wish I never kept."
"How good are you?"
Hermione turned to Draco. "After ten years of daily practice and then I practiced every single moment I was home for Christmas holiday, which is a grand total of eighteen years of practice, I do think I'm pretty good."
Draco turned and looked around the small coffee shop. "There's a piano over in the corner there. Play something for me…I want to see how good you really are."
"Why do you want to hear how good I am?"
"Because I don't know if you are putting yourself down…Miss Perfectionist."
Hermione got to her feet, walked over to the piano, sat down at the soft velvet chair, and began to play a Mozart concerto.
Draco watched her play, her fingers flying across the keys faster than he had ever seen anyone play. The music flowed with a rhythm much like a true pianist would play it.
Others in the coffee house began to turn and watch her play that beautiful tune in amazement. Some kept the beat with their hands by gently tapping their fingers on the table; others tapped their foot on the ground. But Draco just watched her in silent awe.
As she carefully hit the final notes to finish off the piece, the entire coffee house applauded her. They whistled, cheered, clapped, and did everything in their power to make her play another song.
"Thank you, thank you…this was just a song to prove to a friend of mine that I was better than I said I was."
Someone yelled, "Are you kidding? You're bloody brilliant! Where did you learn how to play so well?"
"Eighteen years of practicing."
A mother turned to her young child, saying, "I told you practicing paid off. See, look at that young lady. She practiced for eighteen years before she got to the point she did."
Hermione noticed the young child and she walked over to him. "Truth be told, my mum forced me to practice, but it did end up paying off in the end. What do you play?"
The boy shuffled his feet. "The flute…"
"Ah, you look like a flute player…keep practicing, and you may end up becoming an amazing flute player."
"You think so?"
"I know so."
Draco's mouth went wide. He said the exact same thing to Jacob when he asked him if he would become a good Death Eater…and he said he would become the best Death Eater the world had ever seen.
What a liar he was.
"Here, let me give you some advice: The only way you will ever get better is if you keep on telling yourself that you want to get better. You want to become the best flute player the world has ever seen…you want to become someone every single person knows."
"I do…I want to play for the London Symphony Orchestra…"
"See? You already have a dream! Work on that dream and you will go places with that. If you don't get in the London Symphony Orchestra, but you end up going…oh, I don't know…the orchestra in Sydney, Australia; you have to take what you can get in life. If you don't like what you get at first, stick with it. You may end up finding some amazing results."
Draco was amazed at her words of wisdom. The young boy immediately took out his flute and began to play his flute as he walked off down the street. Hermione's smile was the best part of it all. She was so proud of giving that young man the best advice you can give someone who does not want to stick to their dreams, but they really want to achieve it.
Hermione turned to Draco. "Come on…I think I see Eagle walking down the street towards this coffee house. Do you have a cloak to cover yourself?"
"Yes." Draco threw his cloak about his shoulders, pulling the hood over his face. The beautiful midnight blue color of his cloak made Hermione wish she had a cloak such as his. Hers was a forest green color, but it was nothing like that midnight blue…he could blend in anywhere in the night.
"I love your cloak…"
"Thank you. I like yours. The forest green color looks nice on you…"
"Why, thank you. Come on. We'd better start walking before he notices us."
And with that, Draco followed Hermione out of the coffee shop and down the street into the setting sun.