"Are you ready Hermione?" The polite tones of Sinclair asked her and she smiled at him from behind her desk. It felt like she should clear most of this before Christmas if she could and so she had been taking what time she could squeeze out to go through her mail and not fall behind on anything she was juggling.
"Yes Sin. Who flooed?" She asked him and wondered at his small frown.
"It was Harry and he asked what we were doing. I told him and he wanted to come. I said yes but then realized I hadn't asked you so came up here to do that. Is it alright?" He asked her genuinely and she could only smile at the youth before her.
He had wanted a haircut so his darker brown curls came down to his jaw and it was the best haircut she had seen on him. After she and Blaise went to a magical hairdresser in Paris she had been on the hunt to get one here. She hadn't found one yet but had found a barber and his family who were looking for a change and so at least the males could get decent haircuts if they weren't willing to venture into muggle London. She had taken him to London for a haircut before but they always wanted it shorter and she didn't like the pressure on Sin to change it.
"Of course. I've already got his present and you asked me to order his so he can come. No doubt the poor guy needs help or something." Sin giggled and then smirked instead. She could only smile and head for the door.
"You've only been home a few days, how many smirking lessons have you gotten?" She grumbled and he smiled winningly at her as they descended the stairs.
"A few. Draco seems to want to know all about me." It was said more quietly and she could hear the question there.
"He wants to look out for us, and I think be a part of the family or whatever we are making. Don't mention that to him or he will probably deny it and sneer, a particularly Malfoy version of it too." The boy's thoughtful sound stopped her and she waited for him to look up at her. They had reached the bottom of the stairs and he met her eyes with his pretty blue ones.
"He also told them, Rowle mostly, that he would look out for us. They worry about us out here. Don't know us very well either and the last time they saw any of us, except visits, was in the midst of a war. If Draco being involved makes him feel better and we get a friend then I don't see the problem. Does it bother you?" She asked him and he turned to the floo room.
"What do you think Harry?" He asked her messy haired friend as if he knew what they were talking about.
"I agree with Hermione." Harry said solemnly to the boy and then looked up at her as if asking if that was acceptable and she laughed.
"Diagon or London first?" She asked Sin and watched him weigh the option.
"London. We can talk there and I can ask Harry's opinion then Diagon and we can get one of those hot chocolates at Hannah's." He answered and she agreed.
"I love them. Wrote you about it didn't I? Let's go then. Maybe fish and chips for lunch while on the muggle side." Sinclair grinned at Harry's enthusiasm and picked up a handful of floo powder before putting it down and reaching for her hand.
An hour later they were sitting in a small English pub eating fish and chips while trying to convince him that the foamy liquid in their glasses wasn't disgusting and laughing at the face Sin had made when he tried her pale ale.
"Alright so no beer yet, though I bet you'll change your mind eventually. Anything changed at school?" Harry asked the younger wizard and Hermione listened as they chatted about potions and Slughorn. The professor treated Sin way differently now and he didn't like it. Maybe Blaise and her should find a new Potions professor. Slughorn wanted to retire but potions masters were rare on the ground here after the war.
"So do you think it's alright to be friends with Draco? He just appeared in our midst and seems nosy to me." Sinclair asked Harry and she nearly choked on her bite of coleslaw. Harry stared at the boy for a moment and then laughed. She swatted her friend and he laughed harder at that and she couldn't help but giggle at Harry's mirth. Sinclair just watched them and then frowned. They weren't taking him seriously and he didn't like it.
"Sorry bud. I mean that was hilarious. Make sure he hears about it, Mione. Blaise at least. So funny. Not your question Sin, it's just that we all went to school together so it's way stranger for us and him than you." Harry explained and then smiled at her.
"When I mentioned him showing up before ten he just said he was a Malfoy and that Granger hadn't mentioned it. Rude, I thought. Narcissa is a Malfoy too and she has impeccable manners." Sin spoke so earnestly, she was trying not to laugh and Harry wasn't hiding his chuckles.
"He asked me about you and I didn't like that either." Sinclair said this in his serious quiet tone. He was curious and serious a lot of the time. He had fun and laughed but he was contemplative and liked to think about things. Make decisions and then observe. Very Slytherin, like Theo in that particular way though she couldn't see many other ways.
"What did he ask you?" Harry asked in return and she was so glad he was here. Casual and less uncertain than either of them.
"I don't think I'm supposed to say. It felt confidential." Sin said and then looked up at her. He was conflicted and she pushed aside her first instinct, which was to be angry at Draco for putting him in this position and then her second, to make it clear that he could speak to her about anything.
"He is best friends with Blaise and I'm sure he knows nearly everything he wants to, that he doesn't have to get from me. That's not much either so he wanted your opinion and maybe to know how you are. Narcissa tried to get you, before I knew about you and has been as involved as she could. You enjoy her company I think." Hermione watched his face and then sipped her beer as he considered. Harry caught her eye and then looked back at the boy and she wondered, as usual, what he thought.
"So maybe it was my point of view he wanted. More than actual information." Sin asked and she nodded.
"Is he a satisfactory flying companion?" This was asked seriously and with direct eye contact.
"Yes. Harry agrees right?" She asked and they both looked at the green eyed man watching them with a small smile.
"Yeah. He is good. Technical too. I think you will like how he approaches it. We can fly around together or play pass and Draco can work with Ginny on the more drill focused stuff." Harry gave her a look for making him speak of his quidditch nemesis fairly but then answered and Sin sat back and nearly licked his fingers like they were doing before picking up the napkin and giving it a look that said he wished it was a linen napkin. He was a bit of a snob and it was funny.
"Someone not Ginny for you to chase the snitch with too." She needles Harry and laughed at his scowl. Sin laughed too, it was common for Ginny to berate him for not being willing to push her or even block her. It was funny and cute. Even Ginny thought it was cute but she didn't like winning unfairly.
"Alright. He gave me a look when I came through with my broom two nights ago. His mother had him at the table with fabric and paper." Harry had started out reluctantly but was grinning at the end. Smugly too, the prat. Narcissa wasn't to be trifled with and if she had instructed Harry to sit down and chose plaster then he probably would have. Draco would have been as smug though so it was equally bad behaviour.
"So I can trust him then?" Sinclair asked and Hermione watched him finish his second huge piece of fish. The boy could eat, despite his smaller size. Though he had grown an inch since she got him a year ago and a well balanced diet had been stressed last summer and he had taken it to heart. She caught Harry's eye quickly and saw the question there.
"I think so. I do anyway. Not like Blaise or Harry but if I needed something I would ask him and certainly he can fly with you or be in our home." She answered and watched Sin wipe his face and nod at her before looking to Harry for his answer.
"I don't know how to answer. Hermione can more easily live in the now, is more confident in herself. I trust him to catch me if I fall off my broom. To be alone with Hermione. To come to her defense if he sees something dangerous." Then he stopped and looked at her. "Actually he would tell her and then assess if he could help or should just call in back up. I know he is a gifted wizard. I haven't seen much of it at all but in class they could only touch each other. No one got close, until sixth year and Hermione was so angry that something was preventing him from living up to his potential." He smiled at the boy who smiled back and looked like he had never been so interested.
"So with school or magic he is a good choice. Not that you lack people around to do that with. Your house is regularly full of brilliant people. If you want to know what I really think, for myself then I will tell you." Harry waited and got a nod. Then met her eyes again and she was as interested as Sinclair was. Harry had talked about Draco and knew she saw him often. He hadn't been concerned and hadn't teased her much either. He was interested and observant though so she wondered what he thought or had decided.
"This is the first time Draco Malfoy has been able to decide much of how he lives or even behaves. I'm not sure he knows who he is or who he wants to be. That doesn't take away from who he was before though. I'm not the same as I was and neither is Hermione. Are you? The same as you were before you came to us?" Harry asked and she watched Sinclair think about it while Harry finished his plate and wiped his hands with the napkin.
"No. Being with you has changed who I am. What I think and what I do." Sin answered, looking at her now. She nodded and waited. Wondering if that was enough, not wanting to push their pasts onto him at all.
"Is he like either of them?" Sinclair asked her and it took a second for her to understand. He meant Rowle or Josh. She couldn't answer immediately. Trying to decide if there were similarities but Sinclair looked to Harry who looked grim.
"I don't know either of them. Have never spoken to them not in a quidditch game or once, across wands." Harry answered honestly and she knew how much this bothered him. He had gleaned what he could but he didn't know her brother or the man she would marry and he didn't like it at all.
"You will. I don't know either one very well but other than the fact that they fly and are all Slytherin in one way or another I can't see very much. Traditionally raised and maybe have more of the same values than personalities. Josh is more the stoic version. Like Theo." She offered and Sinclair thought that over. "Not so cold though. Or at least you haven't met Theo when he was happy so that's not a very good example either." She floundered and Sinclair smiled a bit and then frowned.
"Alright. You have more visits and have been trying to explain them so I will hope to understand better when it is closer. Rina is sure her brother will delight in tormenting us, even you, and I'm not sure about that." Just like that he was twelve and Harry grinned at the small pout and so did she.
"It might take a while for him to get comfortable and we could come up with some strategies or revenge plans. We do a fair bit of it ourselves." She answered and he nodded then and grinned at her, remembering their escapades this summer.
"It's fun too. I got Cor twice since the year started. Once with the solidify charm, he fell out of the tapestry after it timed out. And once he stepped into a pile of hippogriff dung that I had charmed see through." He said and they laughed at his satisfied smile. All three quieted while the waitress came and they paid. As they walked out into the cold air, Harry spoke again.
"Did he get you back?" Harry asked and Hermione already knew the answer.
"Yes. Both times." Sin didn't stop smiling though as they headed toward the last shop before the temperature charmed Alley.
"What did you tell the kids?" Pansy asked her as they sat on a settee and waited. It had been minutes of silence after Pansy didn't answer her attempts at small talk.
"That you needed my help. They waved me off and Harry shot me a look that said call if I need him. Everyone thinks we are helpless Pans." She muttered and the witch gave a wry smile.
"No they don't. He didn't demand to come. Just wants to know that whatever you didn't explain isn't something insane. It could be just something like this but it could be some insane ritual or meeting a fugitive or adopting a kid. Anything." Pansy's tone was reasonable and Hermione couldn't help smiling at the witch's dramatic eye roll.
"He was there when you and Luna froze yourselves solid and needed a healer to figure out what had happened. I think you told us Luna needed help and it wouldn't be long. Then the elves popped in and Zavi was cursing My. Potter said he had never been so confused. Then the elf took him to your bathroom and that's what he found. The poor guy had to floo Blaise and explain he didn't know how to contact your healer. The hero was panicked." She said and Hermione let her list things that were embarrassing and reason Potter should be concerned. Reasons they should all be concerned.
Pansy was nervous and wearing jeans with her favourite black top and Ugg's. Her black hair was done and she did have some makeup on but it wasn't dramatic at all. Pansy had talked this all out with her.
No one knew until Hermione realised Pansy wanted her to come with her to meet Warrington and she wanted to do it at the Escape. Someone needed to bring Warrington. That meant telling Blaise. She offered Blaise or Harry and it was Pansy's choice. Of course he wouldn't do it until she told him she would be there.
Pansy had gone to him herself and he hadn't been alright with it until Hermione herself had been summoned to them and verified that she would be there. Sometimes these things were ridiculous. No one wanting to say anything but people around them not trusting everything was alright.
Then she and Blaise had talked about it privately. Agreeing her elves could be here before and after. During, if Pansy wanted them to leave her here with him. Blaise had been less concerned when she explained a bit. Or hinted since Pansy didn't want her to say. Implied was the better word and the dark eyes had raked her again then, assessing her. She felt better knowing he would meet Warrington first. Before her or Pansy. Not much of import or the man had been in those monthly letters.
A soft pop interrupted the regained quiet.
"Master Blaise brings him Miss." Zavi said and she nodded her consent. Pansy straightened beside her and she did too, not wanting her to feel out of place. She had sock feet herself and both of them had their feet propped on the coffee table in front of them.
Blaise walked into the room first and he didn't smile but he was relaxed and Hermione felt better. Then a man she barely recognized entered and stopped in the door. Hermione didn't like the open scrutiny of her friend but Pansy didn't seem bothered by it so she sat back a little and waited. Blaise walked over and stood behind her, resting his warm hand on her shoulder.
"Thank you for agreeing to see me." Warrington's words were low and Hermione looked up at Blaise. He looked down at her and squeezed her shoulder. Alright, they would wait until Pansy dismissed them.
"I'm sorry it took me so long. I needed it though." Pansy's tones were even and sounded pretty normal. Hermione couldn't see her face but her shoulders hadn't tensed and her feet were still on the coffee table.
"It's fine. I saw you in the papers and then there was the article with the four of you laughing in the Irish pub. I thought you looked happy and free. You looked better and it was in public. I hoped it meant you might be ready and I thought it maybe meant you didn't want me to come." Hermione's eyes flicked to the wizard still standing by the door and was impressed. She was a stranger and Blaise was here. Still he had spoken what she thought were honest words and Pansy shifted beside her.
"I hadn't told anyone. I'll tell you about what happened and how I coped later. Hermione thinks it won't be better if we ignore it, or she thinks I should do what I think is best for me. This is what I think is best. Can we wait for a while, date maybe? You can spend time with me, see us all and we can get to know each other." Hermione felt pride roar in her chest. Pansy was so brave and so sensitive. Not to all things but she wanted to be loved and to be happy. More than anything her friend wanted a home and family. A life full of the things she didn't have and Hermione could only encourage her to fight for it.
Admitted herself that it was one of the few decisions she had made, to try. This was who they had but no one said they couldn't fall in love. Couldn't be happy and keep the happiness they did have. It was emotional and she felt that someone understood her situation better. Pansy also believed it could happen, really did believe, and still she was scared. Scared of letting someone into her life like that.
"Yes. I've sent my things home and we can do whatever you want. Your life seems private and That gives us more choices." Warrington answered and smiled a bit then, Hermione decided he was handsome. His eyes were a light blue and his hair nearly a copper colour. He was striking and so was her friend. He was also looking at her with interest and other things. Things that Hermione thought boded well.
"Come in. I'm glad to meet you." Hermione stood and hoped this would lead to her leaving them alone together. Introductions weren't necessary and she wanted the indication of the lack of formality between them. Wanted to make it easy for him to come here. Be around her. It was important to both Pansy and her.
"Thank you. You too Zabini." Warrington exchanged nods with Blaise and Pansy caught her eye for the first time. Determination was all that showed on Pansy's face and she let some of her own emotions show. Pansy smiled a bit and then blanked it. A win for sure. Then she nodded and Hermione knew she was dismissed.
"See you whenever Pans." She said vaguely and she and Blaise walked to the door.
"Sangria Granger." Was the last thing she heard before the door clicked shut behind them and Blaise chuckled at the indication of what kind of chat Pansy thought it would be.
Sangria was a slowly sipped and thoughtful kind of drink. They didn't lounge when they drank it either.