Chapter Four:
A Great Design by Black Marble
November 6th, 1999
It takes Hermione a few days to truly cool off. She spends Halloween weekend locked in her room reading and avoiding the whole house.
By the time the next weekend rolls around, she's ready to be social.
Melody and Luna are the first ones up and they sit together on one of the chairs in the living room.
"I know Melody is an unregistered animagus," she blurts out and Melody's creepy cat eyes widen.
"I know you know. I'll tell everyone else eventually, she just prefers to be around people this way and there's nothing wrong with it." Luna gives a shrug scratching behind one of Melody's satellite dish ears.
"You at least have to tell Harry, he has the right to know."
"I have the right to know what?" They all turn to the stairs, watching as Harry descends into the living room. He's in his auror robes, but is missing his badge.
"That Me—"
"That I found your badge. It's in the kitchen," Luna manages to cut Hermione off before she can get another word out. Harry disappears into the kitchen and Luna looks at her sternly.
"I'm not ready to tell people yet. Give me a little more time." Hermione's mouth forms a thin line but she nods, disappearing back up into her room. Done with the day before it's even started.
Hermione flops onto Ginny's bed, watching her hover two dresses in front of a standing mirror.
"Which one do you like better?" Ginny asks, quirking a brow. Hermione can see her face through the mirror, she's deep in thought, moving the dresses in front of her, then away towards her collection of shoes, then back to her.
"What's Harry wearing?" Hermione asks, Ginny shrugs.
"Hopefully something nice, but I'm not holding my breath. Gawain has been working him and the other trainees like crazy…" Her voice softens and she can see it in her eyes, the fear, the worry. This didn't sit well with any of them. "...Honestly Ron making the Cannons seems to be the best decision he's made in a while. At least he gets to sleep a little." Hermione gives a snort.
Ginny isn't wrong. This past week she's seen Ron more than Harry.
"Do you want to be my date tonight? I think Harry may choose sleep over a sponsorship dinner," Ginny asks, taking hold of Hermione's hand. She seems nervous.
"Oh Gin, I'd love to…but I'm working on underwriting a new policy I want to put in place. Beatrice has offered to prime me for a promotion within the Department of Magical Law Enforcement." Hermione thinks Ginny looks disappointed. "I promise I'll be your date to the next one."
"With my playing lately…I don't know if there will be a next one…"
"I thought things were going well?"
"I thought so too! But Gweong pulled me aside after practice yesterday. She wants to bench me for fear of us falling below ninth place. She thinks I'm going to get us relegated." Ginny looks gutted, letting go of her hand. Hermione does her best to remember what relegation means and why it seems so serious.
"I can't see you being the only reason the team might be relegated…I know it's going to be hard for you to be nice to Gweong tonight. Maybe you should get her drunk, she could change her mind." Ginny snorts and Hermione knows she's feeling a little better.
Ginny finishes getting ready and Hermione tells her all about work. How she's feeling inadequate because everyone is so much older than her. She spent three days going over and logging in evidence only to find out that it had been contaminated on the scene. One of the trainees touched the dragon egg with her hands instead of charming it to float.
She knows Ginny doesn't fully understand the minutia of evidence logging and categorization when it comes to her department, but she's patient. Asking questions, attempting to understand what Hermione does. It makes her think how Ron doesn't do that. He just nods and smiles. Pretending to care.
There have been an alarming amount of dark creatures coming in for cataloguing and she's convinced herself it's just because of the reopening of all the Death Eater cases.
"That might be true, but who keeps a manticore as a pet?" Ginny decides on a forest green dress that comes just to her ankles. She looks stunning in the off-the-shoulder neckline, but seeing her in green is odd.
"You look–"
"I know it's weird seeing me in Slytherin green." She makes a face, crossing back to her bed to get her heels on. "Are you sure you don't want to be my date? You can wear the red one, get a little Gryffindor charm in there."
Hermione walks her to the front door and wishes her luck before she disappears down the drive. Harry comes in the door not long after, looking a little more alive than when she saw him this morning.
"I'm just about to make something to eat, do you want some?" He gives her a look she hasn't seen in a while, and it frightens her. "What's wrong?"
"I think there's something going on. At the Ministry. With the Aurors." His voice is clipped and she takes a seat in one of the arm chairs, Harry follows suit, getting that look in his eye he always does when he's struggling to piece something together.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I think there's something happening... I went along with Gawain today, on a case, and I don't think he realised what he was taking me on…" he trails off like he's gathering his thoughts together, piecing them together, afraid of what he's about to say.
Hermione waits patiently.
"We raided a house today, Hermione. They raided Blaise's home. Gawain said we were going to raid a Death Eater hideout."
"Blaise?" She asks sceptical about the information and Harry nods. "He has nothing to do with the Death Eaters?"
"I don't know what they're planning, but I don't think it's good…"
"Wasn't Theodore Nott just on trial? Wasn't he let out?" The words tumble from her mouth and she faintly remembers Malfoy's grey eyes looking at her in the bookstore. Something needling in her gut, does she feel bad for him? Does she pity Malfoy?
She thinks of how his ego must have been bruised, picking up Theodore and paying for his bar tab. All those patrons watching as he carried his friend out. She thinks about the Malfoy she knew from school, the one that always held his head so high.
She thinks about the Malfoy from sixth year with an impossible task, him and his mother sitting at the Slytherin table with all the other Death Eaters. The relief on Narcissa's face that her family was still intact.
Her arm begins to burn again and it takes everything in her not to pick at the skin beneath her sweater.
"He was let off. Made to pay restitution, again, but he doesn't have to serve a sentence in Azkaban."
"But his father is still incarcerated?"
Harry nods, "Along with Lucius and Crabbe and Goyle's fathers."
"So they're targeting the children of Death Eaters?"
"I can't quite figure out why…" Hermione doesn't like the look in Harry's eye. It reminds her too much of their first few years at Hogwarts.
Hermione is in the living room when Ron comes home that night. Harry fell asleep hours ago listening to the Puddlemore United against Yorkshire game. She can still hear the commentators' shrill cries as the seekers battle it out for the snitch.
Beatrice gave her a stack of books to read through and she has just gotten to a section regarding the bias muggle-born children face when being prepared for school. She's deep in thought when the door opens, startling her.
"I didn't expect anyone to still be up…" Ron's voice is quiet, the sound of the radio crackling as the service falls in and out.
"I had some reading I wanted to finish before bed." She's curled up in one of the large leather chairs, a wool blanket pulled tightly around her body. Harry had a fire going earlier but she neglected to cast a stasis charm so it died out, but she didn't mind.
"You know you've graduated, right? There are no more due dates, no more assignments?" Ron is towering over her trying to get a good look at the title.
"Some of us do enjoy learning, you know," she says dryly, she can see his face sour. They haven't spoken much since the Halloween blow out a few weeks ago. To be truthful, she still didn't want to talk to him right now. She's still furious with him because he gets to move on, to keep going. His life is just what it is and he's happy with it, while she…
"I'm sorry, Hermione, I'm really sorry." He rakes his hand through his hair and the silver skin of his scars looks so pale in the dim light of the living room.
"I don–"
"I just want you to listen, just for a moment and then you can tell me to sod off." He looks at her, waiting for her nod before continuing. "I wanted to tell you…I wanted to tell you the second it happened, the second the scout showed up when we were playing." She tries her best to control her breathing, to let him speak but her palms are sweating. She tries to see his side, to understand where he's coming from.
He continues, "But the scout showed up on your birthday and I didn't want to come in and blurt it out, but you have to understand, they're my favourite team. It's always felt like you and Ginny and Harry have all been able to follow your dreams and make a difference, but I was just settling at being an auror. Truthfully, I wasn't very good at it, Gawain was always on my case. But this is something I'm good at, something I'm passionate about…" His voice trails off.
He's holding her hand, perched on the arm of the chair and he seems so sure of himself. She's reminded of the battle, of the panic and how he wanted to make sure all the house elves got out alright. He's serious about this, about what he's doing. He's trying.
"I forgive you, but you aren't allowed to lie to me ever again." He smiles, a full blown grin that crinkles his eyes and she can't help but smile too. They share a look for a minute, there's something turning over in his head, Hermione narrows her eyes in suspicion.
"I want to take you on a proper date," he blurts out.
"You what?"
"We've never been on a real date. We're dating and we've never once gone to dinner, or sat in a café. What are you doing on Friday?" He's looking at her and she has to close her mouth that's been hanging open.
"What do you mean what am I doing on Friday? I'm working." Her brows knit together as she tilts her head, not knowing how she feels about this.
"Take the day off. We're going on a date," he says with finality before leaving her in the living room. She stares for a moment at the spot he was standing in.
Ron's never been this direct before.
Her and Ron have been dating for just over a year now, he asked her to be his girlfriend in August just before she went back to school. The letters were weird and uneventful, and when she went to the Burrow for Christmas last year, they avoided all forms of affection in front of his family.
Then more letters, mostly about school and work and training. And Quidditch, lots of Quidditch, but she always skimmed those sections.
There's a commotion on the radio and an eruption of applause. The announcer's voice yells loudly that Puddlemore has beaten Yorkshire and has caught the Snitch.
Harry springs to life, sitting up on the couch like a vampire waking from a coffin. He pulls on his hair that's all standing on end before his eyes land on Hermione.
"Puddlemore won." He nods at her for a moment, not really knowing what to do with this information before deflating onto the couch once more.
Hermione gathers her books, turns the radio off and tucks him in on the couch before disappearing up the stairs.
"Someone on the team knows the owner, they were at the opening…" Ron holds her hand as they walk down Diagon Alley. It's a chilly November afternoon and they're going to a new Italian restaurant that just opened on the corner.
Hermione pulls her scarf tighter, tucking it into her jacket as a swift wind blows through an alleyway. It's quiet for a Friday, not many people walk the streets and a lot of the shops are empty. She likes it that way, no one pestering them for photos, no awkward interviews or having to tell reporters they don't want to be bothered.
The streets may be quiet, but the restaurant is loud when they enter. It seems like everyone has decided this is where they're having lunch today and it makes Hermione nervous. The cacophony of voices rising and falling sets her teeth on edge.
The restaurant itself is nice, with dark hardwood floors and matching tables. White linens and beautiful bone china with rings of periwinkle blue and gold on the edges. There's barely an empty table in the place.
They're seated near a window overlooking the street and she's almost glad she can see outside, it makes her feel a little less panicked.
Ron is going on about drills and practice, they're supposed to play Puddlemore on Sunday and he's nervous because of their recent win against Yorkshire.
"I mean that's kind of good, nowhere to go but up!" She tries to sound cheerful and Ron's face falls.
"What do you mean?"
"Haven't the Cannons not won a single game this season?" she says and he flushes.
There's a beat of silence and she fiddles with her napkin, staring at the menu.
"Would you like to hear our specials today?" The server appears and she jumps. "I can leave you alone for a minute to have a look at the menu?"
"No-no, please tell us the specials…" Hermione wants nothing more than for someone else to be speaking.
For some reason her heart is fluttering in a terrible way, but not with love or adoration, just panic and anxiety.
They end up ordering and Hermione gets a fancy cocktail, hoping it will quell the shaking in her hands.
Ron has picked up the conversation once more, asking her about work and she doesn't really know what to say about it. She tells him about the influx of dark creatures and his response is not as jovial as Ginny's.
"What do you mean by dark creatures?" He sounds nervous and she can understand why. His hand moves instinctively to the scars below his wool sweater.
"I was analysing manticore saliva just last week because they found one in someone's basement."
"I bet you it was in Malfoy's basement." Ron nearly spits, his eyes trained to somewhere distant across the street. "Speak of the devil."
She whips her head around, craning her neck to see Malfoy in a smart-looking black wool coat with leather gloves and black trousers. He's carrying a rather large bouquet of white peonies.
Who are those for?
She feels herself flush violently, her arm burning as she fiddles with the napkin.
"What's he doing here?" Ron mutters as their food arrives, the server making herself scarce as soon as she can. Hermione tries to bite her tongue, thinking of how annoyed he seemed in the bookstore.
"He's shopping Ronald, just like everyone else." The look Ron gives her makes her heart sting.
They eat in near silence, the sound in the restaurant starting to overwhelm her, the thought of all the people around her causing her hands to shake once again. She catches a group of witches at a table attempting to take a discreet peek at them. Their server is clearly bragging to her colleagues.
As she looks out the window, picking at her food, she sees Malfoy once more, ducking out of Flourish and Blotts with a book-sized package.
She hopes it's Belinda's new book as those grey eyes seem to find hers.