Looking at her expensive wardrobe, Pansy tutted and opened her drawers for something a bit more comfortable and suited to the usually soggy Scottish weather and the greenhouse that Neville would undoubtedly host them in. Finally settling on one of her a thick black roll neck jumper dresses that came down just above her knees, she made sure her hair was in place before adding final touches to her make up and heading to put some shoes on. Kyra promised she won't be bored to tears so she finally accepted, honestly glad to have an excuse not to attend another endless business soiree. She grabbed a bottle of Moet and her purse before heading out, apparating from the spot on her roof to the Hogwarts gates.
Luckily she stepped forward to reach for the gate, as just a couple of seconds later, another person landed in the exact same spot. She turned around, startled and hand on her wand before realising it was a familiar face.
"Granger? What are you doing here?" she asked.
Hermione lowered her wand as she recognised Pansy and raised a brow at her question. "I'm visiting Kyra & Neville for dinner. Yourself?" she asked, reaching down to place her wand back into the slim holder wrapped around her thigh.
Pansy couldn't help but let her eyes take the woman before her in, and appreciate the sight of the tight black treggings, a simple black sleeveless top under a lovely thick cardigan that seemed to flick at the bottom as it flowed around the woman's calves. What stood next to her was however quite a bit of a surprise.
"Is that a grim?" she asked, eyeing up the tall black creature.
Hermione chuckled and patted Byron's tall ears, forgetting that Pansy didn't know she had a dog. Kyra was used to him by now, though she initially also thought he was a grim. "No, he's a muggle dog, a German shepherd. His name is Byron, and he's a good boy," she smiled and he whacked his tail happily at the praise. "I hope you're not afraid? I promise he has a sweet nature and never bites," she hoped to reassure the pureblood witch who probably rarely came into contact with them like this.
Pansy shook her head. "I'm sure we'll be fine," she said a bit cautiously, it was a rather large dog after all, but then she leaned down and offered her hand for the dog like she did with the few dogs she met through her friends in the past.
Byron padded closer and sniffed at it before licking her palm and pushing his snout in until she reached up to rub his ears. "Hello Byron, I think we'll be friends," she offered with a smile and straightened up. "I guess we're each other's surprise guest then," she offered and pushed the gate open, their magical signatures registered with the wards for the evening.
Hermione passed through the door as it was held open for her, and they fell in step as they headed up towards Greenhouse two as per Neville's letter, Byron by her side obediently as he sniffed the ground and looked around the new place.
"I would have thought your Friday evenings would be too busy for friendly dinner," Hermione observed, not having seen the woman outside of the work setting just yet, their lunch interview none-withstanding.
Pansy looked at her curiously for a moment before shrugging. "It does save me going to a boring business soiree at the Ministry," she did concede.
Hermione chuckled. "Is there every any other kind of those?" she pointed out.
Pansy had to admit she had a point and as the banter between them flowed, she found herself starting to relax after the long week she's had.
They were greeted at the door to the greenhouse by a smiling Kyra and led inside. Greenhouse Two housed regular herbs mixed with basic magical ones. Most preferred the temperature around sixteen degrees and a daily cycle of sunlight intermittent with muted lighting. That is exactly what they had this evening with the muggle fairy lights installed around that provided a gentle glow for the plants and for the diners. Neville had cleared out the long benches to the other side of the greenhouse and they had a lovely round dinner table with a steaming Chinese hot pot in the centre, surrounded by smaller bowls full of ingredients for everyone to add and sample. It was the kind of sharing food they all loved, and Neville's mushrooms were always spectacular so Hermione certainly couldn't wait to dig in.
Kyra laughed when Pansy offered the expensive bottle of bubbly, and Hermione pulled out a tub of clotted cream ice cream to go with the fresh mango for their dessert.
"You two spoil us! Come have a seat, the table is all set," she smiled and led them to the heaving table set with wooden plates and bowls, Neville's very successful attempt at recycling some of the plant material that would otherwise go to waste.
"These are great," Hermione praised as Neville came in with a plate of prawns and sat down, taking the offered bottle of pinot gris to pour some out for everyone.
"Thanks! I'm working on cups and jugs next. I spoke to Roderick, he recently took over as the care taker, and apparently the forest had to be thinned in a couple of places and not all the wood is going to be absorbed, so we're going to see if we can created a full set of cups for the Hogwarts kitchens,"he offered excitedly.
"If half of us were as enterprising as you are, the world would be a better place," Hermione chuckled and breathed in the spices around her hungrily. "So what do we have?" she asked, looking at the two bubbling halves of the pot.
"Plain veggie stock on one side and spicy chicken stock on the other, to have some variety. It should be ready to start cooking," Kyra encouraged them and they settled into an easy rhythm of picking up bowls with greens and proteins and adding them to both sides of the pot.
As Kyra and Pansy got into a heated conversation about an upcoming expo in Barcelona, Hermione reached down to rub Byron's ears to make sure he wasn't feeling left out before accepting a cup of jasmine tea from Neville with a smile. "How did you know this is what I was missing?" she asked.
Both of them travelled different parts of the world, but China, Japan and Thailand were the tree countries they both visited and shared a love for. With international travel not-too difficult and home ingredients available around small markets in London, they were able to bring a taste of their time abroad to their own homes.
"You weren't the only one missing it," he explained and took a sip of his own cup. "Don't get me wrong, nothing beats a cup of Earl Grey on a rainy morning, but sometimes I still crave the jasmine, the Szechuan spices, and the street food," he admitted.
"Don't even get me started on the street food cravings," Hermione chuckled, glad to have someone understand her traveler's itch.
They discussed everything from the current politics, upcoming expos and conferences on skincare and potions, as well as Neville's research and plant cross-breeding practice. It was then that Kyra mentioned their plans to experiment with both known ingredients and new plants for the scar treatment.
Pansy listened with great interest, as potions truly were not her strongest suit but she instinctively recognised the potential value in what they were discussing. "So you mean to tell me that we could be looking at something that is a single plant combining the best of two other plants? Like, I don't know, rosehip and aloe vera?" she asked, trying to grasp the potential and the risks with something like this.
Hermione took a sip of her wine before nodding. "Essentially yes. By cross-breeding plants, we are altering the plant's DNA," she tried to explain, realising Pansy may not know what that was.
She just waved her the brunette to go on. "Their essence and properties will therefore combine, but do we know how? Can we predict it? And if we were to use them, would we know how they would interact with other potion ingredients if we were to replace the traditional ones in the recipe with the cross-bred?" she asked, getting the hang of this.
"Precisely, that is the question!" Kyra grinned. "We've made an initial list of all the ingredients that we know that could help with scar appearance, but the older the scars, the more stubborn. Neither potions, nor any know cosmetic products can completely reduce or heal them at the moment. Not to mention cursed scars like creature bites and scratches. Every single ingredient has been tested separately and in conjunction with others. We began with reship and finished with the most potent, dittany, and still no progress. Perhaps there is something yet undiscovered, a herb, a root, a flower, a seed, something that hasn't been yet grown by nature or herbologists that could help. So we thought we can work on most of the line while we leave this strand completely experimental and work with the best herbologist in the country," she smiled fondly at Neville who was clearly just as smitten.
Hermione observed their de facto boss as she processed all the information swiftly and nodded. "Without mentioning the social impact of this work, it will require initial investment but the profit were you to succeed with this venture would be unsurmountable," she summarised. "I'd like to see a new proposal and budget estimation for this work, as it's quite different from what we initially agreed," she suggested.
Kyra nodded. "We'll prepare one for you next week, and I'll draft an amendment to our contracts under the patent clause?" she suggested, as this invention would bring all of them quite a bit of profit.
Pansy nodded as she pulled a prawn out of the bubbling broth. "I look forward to it," she promised and they tucked back in, not forgetting Byron who got to enjoy some delicious cooked pork as well. "Would you pass the beansprouts please?"
As she was nearest, Hermione picked it up and went to hand it over. Pansy was just taking a sip of her wine and wasn't paying as much attention as she should have, and her fingers slipped slightly on the rim of the bowl. The dish wobbled and her panicked gaze snapped to her hand, knowing she would never catch it properly. Hermione's retrieving hand suddenly shot back out and gripped the dish and Pansy's fingers tightly to steady it, the movement but a blur to the regular human eye.
All conversation ceased for a moment, Pansy's startled eyes flicking to catch the brunette's gaze. What startled her more than the fast, almost inhuman reflexes, was the sudden darkness of the usually whiskey coloured eyes. They were so dark, nearly as black as her own. And then she blinked and they were back to normal, the only sign of anything having happened was the slightly faster rise and fall of their chest from the shock of the situation. She could feel the woman's touch keenly, her arm breaking out into gooseflesh as her senses tingled in warning and pleasurably at the same time.
Hermione felt the creature within her surge before stamping it down, her shoulders quaking slightly with the effort to keep her wings in. What in Godric's name? She quickly dropped her grip on Pansy's hand and made sure her hand was back under the table before flexing her fingers, her skin still tingling.
Neville dropped another prawn into the hot pot with a splash. "Shall we add those beansprouts?" he asked, trying to break the tension. While Hermione never confirmed what happened, he sensed the change in her after what he assumed was an attack by the ferocity of the wounds on her cheek. And yet he never saw it react like this before. Perhaps his observant other half guessed right that these two may be better suited to each other than they knew.
Pansy passed him the dish before taking a larger sip of her wine than was necessarily proper or polite. Kyra started them chatting again, eventually drawing everyone back to the conversation but the tension never quite left the group.
Hermione said good night early with the excuse of settling Byron at home, and headed for the nearest apparition point where she could get them both home. Once the tired pup was settled by the fireplace, she locked up and pulled on her pyjamas, opting for a strappy top which would be comfortable. Once settled on an ottoman near the fire, she carefully flexed her neck and shoulders before allowing her itching wings to come out. She flexed them gently, careful not to upset the rest of her living room before looking down at her hands. They looked the same as always, and never has she had a reaction to someone's touch like that. It wasn't that the harpy within her was upset or repulsed, it was more surging forward, being drawn out of its usual human confines, and that she found dangerous.
Until she could figure out what this meant, Hermione resolved herself to simply avoiding Pansy Parkinson, her touch in the least, as much as she could. Perhaps her creature was simply reacting because she hadn't let it out in such a long time. Perhaps she could even test the theory if her wings would allow her to fly, as she never tried to do so before. Formulating a plan in her mind, she thought there just might be someone she could ask for help. As she set her empty mug in the sink and headed to her bedroom, she yet had no idea that the most difficult challenge was yet to come.