Draco woke up the next morning in the bed, which was far superior to waking up on the floor. Granger had allowed him to share the guest room's sole bed again last night, but this time for the whole night. It had probably helped his case that he had first offered to take the floor. Hermione made some remark about not wanting to aggravate his back and then allowed him to sleep on the other side under strict instructions that he keep to himself.
Instructions she repeated to Draco several times. To make sure he understood, she said.
Draco was technically still on his side of the bed, for the most part, but his feet had become tangled with Granger's. Which she would no doubt consider to be out of bounds. He very gingerly pulled his legs away from hers and climbed out of the bed. He opened the door quietly and left to get breakfast, careful not to wake Granger.
He had spent time last night thinking about the revelation he had as he helped Wendell clean up, as he lay in bed beside the sleeping witch. It didn't matter that he'd realised he liked Granger as more than a situational ally, because Granger did not like him. Hermione hadn't even been speaking to him before they learned about the completely fucked up circumstances that eventually led to them sharing a bed in bloody Australia. Even if she was tolerating him now, any happiness about interacting with him was either an act to convince her father or gratitude for giving her an opportunity to see her father. Granger – surprising history of kidnapping a journalist aside – was too brave and good and Gryffindor to ever be interested in the likes of him. Best he put any thoughts to the contrary aside.
Thinking about the situation, Draco decided he could still enjoy pretending they were more than coworkers making the most of a bizarre family situation. That was fair game. Just as long as he remembered that it was pretend. It was quite fun to tease her, as it turned out. Draco would just have to make the most of the opportunity while he still had it.
Draco, Narcissa and Wendell were almost finished eating by the time Hermione emerged, still in her pjs and housecoat, her sleep tousled hair perhaps the largest Draco had ever seen. He smirked at her as she entered and she stopped dead in her tracks, eyeing him with suspicion.
"What?" she asked.
"Nothing. Your hair looks lovely this morning, darling," said Draco, his voice casual. His mother smiled at him fondly, evidently not picking up the undercurrent between himself and Granger. Hermione did though. As soon as Wendell and Narcissa were looking away, she shot him a murderous glare and flipped him off. Draco smirked in reply. "Truly, Granger. You should always wear your hair like this always." Hermione dropped any pretence and was now openly scowling at him.
"I like it." Wendell injected, clearly having missed the subtext of the conversation as well. "It reminds me of my mother's hair. I also think it looks lovely, Hermione."
Hermione stiffened for a bare moment, before smiling and nodding in Wendell's direction. These moments were still catching Granger off guard, but at least she was getting better at recovering whenever her obliviated father noticed something else they 'coincidentally' had in common. "Thank you, Wendell. It's a bit much to keep contained, is all. I will attend to it after I've had my tea."
She sat down next to Draco with her breakfast. He leaned over and murmured in her ear. "You know I actually do like your hair, right?"
Co-workers could like each other's hair.
She snorted and rolled her eyes at him. "Oh yeah. You've been very clear about your views on my appearance over the years, Draco. Thanks. I've got it."
"I'm being serious." And he meant it too. It would kill him if Granger suddenly had straight-hair. She'd hardly be Grangeranymore, without her mess of curls. "I like your hair. It's very — you." He waved his hand in front of her in a circle as he spoke, encompassing all of her.
She sighed, posture relaxing slightly even though her guard wasn't exactly down. "Thank you, I guess. For what it's worth, yours is better now that you don't slick it back."
Draco felt slightly embarrassed by the — compliment? It wasn't particularly complimentary, so maybe not. Not insult? Whatever. He was just going to roll with it. "Good. Glad we can tolerate each other's hair." He took a long sip from his own tea.
"Imagine what those curls would look like if they were platinum blonde?" Wendell said, with a hint of mischief in his words. Narcissa smiled placidly beside him, making a little hum of interest at Wendell's suggestion and Draco choked on his tea. He'd inhaled a lungful and was coughing so hard that Hermione leapt up to start thumping him across the back, while he fought to get air into his lungs again.
"Don't you think we're a little young for that?" Draco croaked, once he was able to breathe enough to speak. Hermione had flushed a deep red and she seemed unable to speak. Which had to have been a first — Granger at a loss for words.
"I think your mother was around your age when she had you, right Narcissa?" Wendell asked innocently. Too innocently.
"Yes, that's correct, dear. And while I am in no particular rush, I would love to have grandchildren while I am still young enough to enjoy them," his mother said serenely.
Hermione was chewing her lip so hard Draco was concerned she might draw blood. He cleared his throat and straightened his shoulders as he faced his mother directly. "Well Mother, I'm afraid you are going to have to wait some time. I am focused on my career at present. There will be time for marriage and a family later." Also, usually Granger didn't associate with him outside the office, so he assumed she probably didn't want to have children with him.
"Oh, when you are with the right person, it all works out. I'm sure you two will figure out a timeline that suits you both." Wendell said kindly.
"How did you two meet?" Hermione asked, voice falsely bright as she aimed to sound casual and change the subject. Although this new topic was also a potentially incendiary. Draco exchanged a nervous glance with his mother.
"Oh! Well, I had just finalised my divorce and I took myself out to dinner at a nice restaurant to mark the occasion. I was alone and the place was packed. I noticed Narcissa was trying to find a table, I offered to let her join me and we hit it off. I felt like I had been waiting for her my entire life."
Hermione smiled, but there was some pain in her eyes. Granger was still deeply troubled by the fact that her parents had gotten divorced in the first place — at least according to her drunken ranting the day they had found out the big news. Draco knew she was also very worried about her mum being alone. Draco took Hermione's hand underneath the table and gave it a small squeeze. She flashed him a grateful smile, but then turned her attention back to her father.
"Excuse me if this question is impertinent, but how did you know you were ready to move on after your own split? A lot of my friends have divorced parents and the experience always looked traumatic to me — at least as an outside observer." Hermione asked, her words strained.
"Oh, my ex and I had a good run — Monica is still my best friend after all and when she's not off on holidays, we still run our dental practice together. We realised that while we will always love each other, we weren't in love with each other. Neither of us were sad about splitting up. So I didn't feel any angst or grief once it was finalised. It was just time for us to move on and then I was lucky enough to meet the person I was always meant to be with."
Narcissa blushed and looked down at her lap. Wendell saw her demurring and he moved to sit beside her, taking her hand in his. "Draco — your mother, mylovely wife — can do anything, I swear. Narcissa can find anything I'm missing. I will look for something forever and she seems to find it in an instant! She manages the whole house while I'm off attending to people's teeth and she makes the whole process seem effortless. But I do the cooking — in that regard your mother doesn't have to lift a finger. And she still has time for her art. She's amazing, your mother."
Hermione laughed to herself softly. Draco sent her a questioning look, raising an eyebrow at her. "I'll tell you later," she said softly. At least it had sounded like genuine laughter and not a hysterical cry for help, so she probably wasn't having a traumatising realisation – which was a relief. Draco offered to help Wendell with the dishes again and the two of them chatted while cleaning up. Wendell washed and Draco dried while also trying to answer Wendell's questions about his life as truthfully as possible without mentioning magic. It was a bit of a challenge — the lying, not drying dishes. That was a Muggle chore Draco could fake without any difficulty.
Afterwards, when he and Hermione were alone in the guest room, Draco remembered to ask Hermione about her earlier laughter. "Oh!" Granger snorted again, remembering. "It's just that my dad's here in Australia living the plot to Bewitched and he has no idea. And that is funny to me. If he could remember himself, he'd also find it hilarious."
"What is Bewitched?" Draco asked, confused.
"An old Muggle television show from America. A — oh I think he was an astronaut, or maybe I'm getting that mixed up withI Dream of Jeannie. I haven't seen that many episodes but it's one my dad watched when he was kid. Essentially, a Muggle is married to a witch, but he wanted her to give up magic so they could live 'normally.' The plot mostly revolved around her trying not to be caught performing magic by her husband. Like your mother 'somehow' being able to find whatever he's lost. When it comes to his belongings, my father is the most forgetful person I have ever met. Your mother is probably whipping out her wand to perform summoning charms whenever his back is turned."
Granger aimed a wry smile in Draco's direction. "No wands though in the TV show though. The 'witch' — I want to say Samantha? She'd wiggle her nose to perform magic. Just nose wiggle —" Granger put her finger on her nose and moved it back and forth. "— and poof! Something would change or appear. Except Samantha didn't have to use her finger to move her nose."
"She could just move her nose? Without any actual magic?" Draco was having a hard time picturing it.
"And without moving the rest of her face! Something the actress could do that was unusual, but perfect for the role."
"How?" Draco had his finger on his own nose, moving it back and forth. Next he tried to do it without his finger and it was impossible. He could feel all of the muscles around his nose moving, but his nose didn't seem to wiggle much at all.
Hermione laughed out loud at his attempts. "See, it's not something most people can do." She also tried wiggling her nose without touching it and mostly just scrunched up her face and looked ridiculous. If that's what he looked like, no wonder she was laughing at him. It wasn't particularly dignified.
She did look adorable, though.
"I think it's like rolling your tongue. You either can or cannot do it. Not something you can learn," said Hermione.
"What do you mean?" Draco asked.
"Well, like this —" she stuck her tongue out at him, but with the sides rolled up, forming a sort of tube.
"I cannot believe you just stuck your tongue out at me, Granger. So childish." Draco affected a tone of snobbery and disapproval that he did not mean.
She smacked his shoulder lightly. "Prat. Can you do it?"
He shrugged and stuck his tongue out at her as well. No luck. His could not roll the same way as Granger's. "I guess not."
"Well then you definitely just stuck your tongue out at me. You weren't demonstrating anything. Very uncouth. Who raised you?"
They looked across the room at the door, outside which lay the rest of the house that their parents lived in, together somehow, and snickered.
Hermione's face turned serious. "They seem to really love each other, don't they?" Her tone was somewhat wistful.
"That they do. I don't know what it was like for you growing up, but I didn't know my mother could smile this much. Did you notice that she has dimples? Because it's the first time I've ever seen them." Draco shrugged. "Seriously, Granger. Mother has never seemed so light or happy. Not once in my entire life. I always knew she loved me. I had thought she loved my father. Or at least, liked him enough to tolerate him. Now I'm not so sure. Your dad though? Him? She definitely loves him."
Hermione nodded, her face pensive as she chewed on her lip before speaking. "My dad is happy with her as well. Similarly, I had thought he was happy with my mum — at a minimum, they seemed content with their lives in the years before I sent them to Australia. At least as far as I could tell when I was home from school. I didn't get to spend a lot of actual time with them, after I went to Hogwarts. My parents have always had a lot in common with each other. They always seemed to enjoy spending time with one another. But he never looked at my mum the way he looks at Narcissa."
"Is that a bad thing?" Draco asked, his own voice tentative. This situation was more complicated for Hermione than it was for him. His mother was happy and her husband was a good man who loved her. That was enough for Draco. Granger had different challenges.
Hermione sighed. "No. Not on its own. I just — I'm worried that what I did to them — changing their minds and their identities — I'm worried that I took away their ability to ever truly make their own choices. The more their lives go off track from before I interfered, the worse I feel about it. Worry might actually not be the right term here. It's more like soul-crushing guilt. I removed myself from his life as much as was humanly and magically possible. It doesn't matter that I had a good reason. It doesn't even matter that according to your mother, I was right. I took their memories — I took their pasts — and I have to live with the consequences of that. What's troubling to me is that as happy as the Wilkins appear to be, if he had known he was Richard Granger when he met Narcissa Malfoy, things would have gone differently."
Draco winced. "You told your parents about me?" It was less of a question and more of a statement of resignation. Well, the Grangers wouldn't have heard anything good about him, that much was certain.
"Well, I could hardly tell them everything about what went on at Hogwarts. I had to downplay a lot of the more dangerous aspects. So while I couldn't tell them I was petrified by a legendary monster in second year, I could tell them about the boy who bullied me because my parents weren't magical."
Draco looked at the floor. "You know that I am still sorry for how I treated you, right?" He had apologised to her after the war and she had accepted it. And his remorse had been sincere. But he hadn't let himself dwell on how much his actions at school had affected her life. If Draco could throttle his younger self, he would. He had been a complete prat when he started off at Hogwarts. It was no wonder she barely tolerated him at the office.
"I know you are. And I am sorry for what I've done to my parents as well. Doesn't make it not have happened. Doesn't remove the consequences for either of us. And I only know what's going on with my dad! I still don't have a great handle on what's going on with my mother. Who knows what those consequences look like? Hopefully I won't have to do a repeat version of this with her. Although I cannot imagine who my mum could possibly marry that would be more awkward than this."
"Lockhart?"
"Oh, fuck you," she glared daggers at him.
"I don't know Granger. I vividly recall you swooning over the pompous git in second year DADA. Maybe your mum has similar tastes?"
"I do have a weakness for blonds, but given the available evidence, I suppose it's possible I got that from my dad. I can only hope my mum has greater sense."
Draco nearly tripped at hearing Hermione say she had a weakness for blonds, even though he was standing still when she said it. She had to be joking, right? Hermione saw his reaction and laughed. "Shall we go see what the Wilkins have in mind for us today?" she asked.
"I suppose we should, but I'm not up for much." Draco was still feeling the effects from the time change and he hadn't slept well the night before. Maybe he could just convince his mother to come to England next time? Perhaps if he got a place to stay in that wasn't the Manor, so Wendell could come with her? He doubted Hermione would enjoy spending time at the Manor either — in case they were pretending to be a couple next year as well.
Granger made as if to leave, but paused with her hand on the door knob, turned to Draco and asked, "Is your mum trying to fix us up for real? Or just really trying to help us sell this 'relationship' to my dad?"
"Oh, who the fuck knows?" he said. Hermione raised her eyebrows at his response. Draco was done trying to predict what his mother was thinking or doing. The witch had up and married a dentist in Australia, who also happened to be Granger's father. Clearly Draco had no idea what his mother was capable of. But Draco had noted that his mother seemed a bit more enthusiastic about the idea of them dating than would be strictly required for the purposes of their cover story. He'd have to impress upon her the degree to which Granger was uninterested the next time he had a moment to speak freely with her.
They went downstairs and found Narcissa and Wendell in the television room. Wendell caught Hermione stifling a yawn as they entered. Her father tilted his head to the side before saying to her sympathetically, "You both must be pretty tired."
"Yes. I'm so sorry to be yawning at you! I had no idea the time change would hit this hard." Hermione said, blushing.
That was an outright lie. Granger had been to Australia several times post war; first in an attempt to restore her parents' memories, and later in efforts to check in on them. While they were planning this trip, Hermione had relentlessly detailed to Draco all of her experiences travelling to and from Australia — as well as everything she knew about Muggles in Australia. She spent quite a bit of time telling him how brutal the time change had been on her sleep schedule and Granger had not exaggerated. Draco didn't feel like he was up for much of anything today. The trip was physically draining, to say nothing of the emotional exhaustion that came from remembering what he could and could not say in front of Wendell. Interacting with Muggles for any length of time was a lot tougher than he had realised.
"I was thinking we would just have an easy day. Watch movies all day and just get takeaway for supper. How does that sound?" asked Wendell.
Hermione nudged Draco, so he answered for them. "Sounds great, Wendell. What do you have in mind?"
"Well, I have most of the classics. Narcissa hasn't seen many movies — my understanding, Draco, is that your lot is so fancy that you're a bit above something so common as the cinema. But my personal favourite Christmas movie is Die Hard, which is admittedly a bit controversial."
Hermione snorted and Wendell looked at her, clearly ready to defend his choice. Draco wasn't sure what was going on, but he thought 'Die Hard' seemed like an unusual title for something that was a Christmas movie. Hermione put her hands out in front of herself in a placating gesture. "Sorry. My father's favourite movie is — or was, I suppose — Die Hard. You just caught me off guard," she smiled at Wendell encouragingly.
"Oh, I'm sorry dear. Is your father no longer with us?" Wendell's question was so gentle. Tears filled Hermione's eyes and Draco felt so bad for her that he wanted to cry. Instead, he reached out and put his hand on her shoulder. Hermione looked over at him, blinking, as she put her own hand on top of Draco's briefly, before letting it fall to her side.
"Ah, yes. I'm afraid I lost both my parents several years ago." She took a deep breath and continued, with a forced smile on her face. "However, I love watching Die Hard, so if that's your choice for the movie, I'm game. Has Narcissa seen it yet? I know that Draco hasn't."
Narcissa shook her head, a sympathetic smile on her face as she regarded Hermione. Granger nodded in acknowledgement before continuing. "Well, it's a very violent movie with many graphic deaths shown on screen. There is a lot of swearing and at least one moment of brief nudity. Is that going to be okay for you?" Her eyes moved between Narcissa and Draco, a questioning expression on her face. Hermione seemed worried about this. Did she not think they would be able to handle a Christmas movie?
"It's fine, dear. Wendell has been so looking forward to watching this movie at Christmas." She nodded at her husband and he beamed at her in return. Wendell was very excited to get out something called a DVD, which from context Draco gathered was newer, more impressive Muggle technology for watching movies. Wendell proudly showed Hermione the case, seeming to enjoy having solidarity with the other confirmed fan of the film, before walking over to the television and poking at one of the black boxes connected to it.
"Are we all ready? Because it's time for the first annual Wilkins-Mallory-Granger Die Hard Christmas viewing!" Wendell smiled expansively at Narcissa, Draco and Hermione, barely able to contain his glee. Hermione looked slightly queasy.
Draco leaned in closer to Hermione on the loveseat. Granger had repeatedly asked him to behave as an attentive boyfriend in front of Wendell. And the only thing she had specifically prohibited in the name of that ruse arse-grabbing. Well, arse-grabbing in front of their parents. But otherwise, Granger had left no instructions, leaving him free to improvise.
"Mallory-Granger, eh? Like the sound of that, do you?" His voice was pitched so that everyone in the room heard him. He winked at her and she huffed, flustered. Honestly, it felt so natural to try to get the best of her — Draco couldn't help it.
Hermione blushed and shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "Well, I suppose it would be Granger-Malfoy. Er, shit, I mean Granger-Mallory," she winced, embarrassed either by her error or by his teasing. Draco wasn't sure. Probably a combination of them both. Plus she just swore in front of both their parents. She'd be irritated with herself for doing it and him for provoking it.
Hermione turned towards Wendell and spoke with an air of self-deprecation. "I suppose that doesn't bode well. Can't even get his name right."
Wendell laughed. "Believe it or not, Narcissa's slipped and said something similar in the past. The name 'Mallory' appears slippery —somehow. Prone to being mispronounced."
Narcissa nodded beside him. "Granger-Malfoy also sounds lovely, dear," she said slyly.
Draco eyes bulged at his mother's words and he turned to stare at her intently. What the fuck was that?Narcissa wouldn't meet his eyes, but she was smirking. The last thing he needed was his mother overtly playing bloody match-maker. The situation with Granger was tense enough. Hermione laughed, slightly too high and nervous sounding to be plausible as sincere, but at this point Wendell must just be assuming she was a bit high-strung. Draco patted her on the knee. "Relax, Granger. Only joking."
Hermione looked at him ruefully. "I have a lot of opportunities to get you back, so perhaps don't make me want to?" She smiled sweetly, but he could see the underlying steel to her words. It wasn't an empty threat, but Draco was not afraid of Granger.
Mostly.
Draco smirked at her. "We'll see."
Initially, when the movie began, Draco felt like he had a decent enough idea of what was going on. The main character — this John McClane — was on a plane and he didn't like flying. Draco found this very relatable. But the longer the movie continued, the less confident Draco was that he followed the plot. There were so many characters to keep track of and he wasn't sure who was important yet.
"That man looks like my father," he remarked softly to Granger, nodding toward the long-haired blond man who was currently gracing the screen.
Hermione made a murmur of agreement and whispered back. "Yes. That man is the most significant secondary villain for this movie."
Draco snorted "Of course he is." A villain and also not in charge, just like dear old dad. But that tosser was nothing compared to the man who followed after him. Draco's jaw dropped a moment later when a man who was a dead ringer for their old potions professor appeared on the screen. Draco tapped Hermione excitedly. "Granger! That guy looks just like Snape!"
Hermione looked away from the television, responding to Draco's prodding. "Maybe? That's Hans Gruber. He's the main villain."
Draco focused his attention on the man. 'Maybe' his arse. That guy looked eerily similar to their deceased teacher. Then the character spoke and Draco felt like he was in some sort of weird parallel universe pensieve. "Granger, he even sounds like Snape! You don't seriously don't see the resemblance?"
Hermione shrugged, seemingly unconvinced despite the bloody proof laid out before her on the screen, in front of her own eyes. "Eh. Maybe without the beard. Shush, Draco."
Draco simply didn't understand how she could miss the clear and striking resemblance. He stopped trying to convince her of anything and instead focused on the movie. Hermione was pretty good about whispering explanations in his ear whenever he was really confused. Draco was curious as to how much of this made sense to his mother. She'd been living with Muggles for a lot longer, but Wendell wouldn't be explaining things to her in as much depth. Wendell thought his wife was just an out-of-touch former aristocrat, when in reality the woman he married hadn't known about the existence of electricity until a few years ago – they had both been so sheltered from all things Muggle.
Much to Draco's profound embarrassment, the brief nudity Granger had warned them of occurred. Draco could not help but blush, seeing some strange woman on screen with her tits out as he sat in the same room as his mother. "Were they shagging in that office?" he whispered to Hermione, incredulously. He couldn't believe that Richard Granger used to knowingly watch this with his daughter. Muggles were apparently much more permissive than Draco had realised.
"You say that like you didn't personally find Terrance Higgs with our department secretary during last year's Yule Ball. Now hush." Granger was getting irritated with his interruptions. Draco tried to keep track of his questions that weren't critical to his understanding. He was going to have a lot of things to ask Hermione about later.
They watched the rest of the movie, with only a few more whispered questions and answers between the two of them. Draco became engrossed in the story. He could see why Wendell liked this movie so much, although he couldn't understand how the hero was able to stand up by the end of it – seeing how he didn't have the aid of healing potions or charms. Bloke was the toughest man Draco had even seen. Although Draco would have to say that the experience hadn't seemed especially Christmas-like.
"That is your idea of a family Christmas movie. A violent attack on a vault, with explosions and so many murders?" he murmured in her ear, moving her hair aside to make sure she was the only one who heard him this time.
"Yes. Please don't be disrespectful about the customs of my people." Then she stuck her tongue out at him. Draco couldn't help but laugh, and without thinking too much about it, he brought her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head. It really wasn't hard to pretend to be her boyfriend.
"What did you two think?" Wendell asked Draco and Narcissa, expectantly. It was clearly important to his new step-father that they like this movie.
"A great movie, Wendell. So exciting!" Narcissa said fondly, with a gentle smile for her eager husband.
"I've never seen anything like it." Draco said truthfully.
"If you'd like, tomorrow we can watch the sequel. Are you a fan of that one too, Hermione?" Wendell asked.
"Actually, of the first two — the second one is my favourite."
"What? You wound me, child." Wendell dramatically clutched his hand to his chest, feigning injury.
"It's close. But I've thought a lot about it and I like the second one better."
"Bold declaration. Why?"
"Well, for starters, the random nudity is a man and that felt more progressive. And to the extent that the original tries to keep the action scenes within the realm of possibility — which admittedly is not that much — the sequel doesn't even bother. Far more audacious action sequences. The explosion after he ejects from the plane alone! And I like the sub-plot with the army guys. Plus Holly gets to use a taser on that smarmy journalist in the second movie. Honestly, it has a lot to recommend it."
"You make some good points. We should watch it tomorrow and see if you can persuade me further."
Hermione's answering smile was sincerely happy. "I'd like that, Wendell."
Wendell seemed pleased. "But that's tomorrow's movie. I'd like to know more about your opinions for this movie first. Who's your favourite character, Hermione?" Wendell asked. It was clear he was happy to have another Die Hard enthusiast to discuss the film with.
"Oooh. That's a tough one. Of course, I really like John. And Holly has a good story arc of her own. And I also love Hans Gruber."
"You love the villain?" The question flew out of Draco's mouth without thought. That was surprising.
"I'm obviously not in love with him, Draco. What I mean is I really enjoy his character. He's a very competent villain. A lot of movies just make the villain's plan implausible and that's how he's ultimately defeated. Poor planning. This movie has a competent villain who's beaten by a more competent hero. That's the kind of plot I like to see in action movies. Lots of explosions are just a fun bonus."
"Can you expand on that Miss Granger? The contrast between the antagonist and protagonist." Wendell was now speaking to Hermione as though he was her professor. Judging by Hermione's answering grin, this may not be a new phenomena. It felt like the two of them were reenacting a script from Christmas past, with only Hermione aware that it was a repeat performance.
"Absolutely, Mr. Wilkins. Now, I'm not necessarily proud of this from a moral standpoint, but personally I am almost as bothered by incompetence as I am by, well, evil. So when a movie has a villain that has a well-thought out plan that not only has a reasonable chance of success, but a clever idea as to how to get away with it scott free? I like that — as far as a film plot is concerned. I wouldn't say I have no notes on Gruber's decisions in the film, but he has a solid, defensible plan. Contrast that with John McClane, and you have a very different kind of competence displayed — the kind you show when you are thrust into an impossible situation. While Gruber is all in-depth planning, McClane has no ability to plan, no knowledge of the situation on the ground and no resources. I mean, the man doesn't even have shoes! He has no help. Even the people who are supposed to help McClane — the local authorities — don't and he's left to do everything by himself. With very little, he manages to outlive and outsmart a much more impressive force andsave the day. What's not to like about this movie?"
Draco was dumbfounded. Granger could have been talking about her own experiences from the war. As she and her friends went on the run with essentially no resources and no help, only to defeat the Dark Lord and all his assembled forces in the end. No wonder she liked this movie. John McClane was like a Muggle Hermione Granger.
"And your notes for Mr. Gruber?"
"Oh! Well, he shot Holly's boss way too soon. That was hardly even an interrogation and then — boom! He's dead and can't answer any questions. I mean, the man still had all his toes. There was a lot more that could have been done in terms of questioning him before foreclosing that avenue forever."
Narcissa leaned over and murmured in Draco's ear. "I can see how her side won the war." He just nodded, feeling slightly awestruck. Draco shifted in his seat. He really liked it when Granger displayed her ruthlessness.
They spent a couple of hours discussing the movie they had watched, eating pizza and generally just talking about their lives. Pizza was fucking amazing — he was definitely going to get his house elves to learn how to make this back at the Manor. This was the most relaxed he had felt since he had learned of his mother's remarriage. Granger seemed happy and relaxed too — or as relaxed as she could be in the circumstances. The odd awkward moment with her father would sneak up on her unexpectedly and she'd look distant for a bit before she recovered. But Hermione was much more at ease than she had been earlier in the day as she smiled and laughed with the three of them. No, it was not hard to pretend to be her boyfriend.
The hard part was remembering that it was just pretend.
When it was getting close to the time for them to turn in for the evening, Wendell cleared his throat and spoke to them all. "I grew up with the family tradition of having matching pyjamas for Christmas and I was very excited to finally be able to share that with Draco and Narcissa. I was quite worried when Hermione arrived, because I didn't have a set for her and I would hate for anyone to be left out. But Narcissa managed to find a matching one for you as well, my dear, because my wife is spectacular. I'll go get it for you to wear tonight."
Hermione raised an eyebrow at Narcissa, who shrugged. "Gemini charm," she said by way of explanation after Wendell had left the room.
"I thought you were going to only use magic for emergencies, Narcissa. Now I'm wondering how expansive your definition of 'emergency' is?" Hermione was clearly pleased, even as she affected a disapproving tone. Draco knew what that sounded like when she genuinely disapproved and it was far grumpier.
Narcissa dismissed the younger witch's concerns with a wave of her hand. "Nonsense. It was an emergency. Can't leave a family member out."
Hermione started to blink rapidly. "Thank you, Narcissa."
"Any time." She looked over her shoulder, making sure that Wendell wasn't behind her and spoke too quickly to Hermione. "He might not remember, but I know that you are his daughter and I will never cut you off from him. I hope you know that."
She nodded, unable to speak. Wendell came back with the pjs for all four of them, striped red and green. Hermione snorted when she saw them, before thanking Wendell and Narcissa for their thoughtfulness in including her. She hugged them both in turn, going through the motions quickly before she lost her nerve and excused herself to go to bed. Draco kissed his mother on the cheek, offered his hand for Wendell to shake and then went upstairs to join Granger in the guest room.
Hermione was in the bathroom when he arrived, but she came out a moment later in the green and red striped sleep clothes, looking like a candy cane with very curly hair.
"Why did you laugh at the pyjamas?" Draco asked.
"Oh — I'm dressed in the colours for both Gryffindor and Slytherin and I find that very amusing given who I'm spending Christmas with."
Fair enough. Draco got changed as well and then climbed into bed beside her. They lay on their respective sides for a moment, with an uncomfortable silence now permeating the air.
"What did you really think of Die Hard?" she asked after a long moment.
"I think it's completely mad that you watch that as a sentimental family favourite. But — I also think I have a better understanding of how it was that you came to ride that dragon out of Gringotts."
She chuckled beside him. "Listen, sometimes you just have to improvise."
He snorted. There was another pause. "Are you doing okay, Granger? With everything?"
"I guess. Better than I expected. A lot better than it could have been. Your mum's a lot nicer to me than I had anticipated."
"She's definitely loosened up post-war."
"As you said, it's nice to see her happy. Even so for me, and I didn't give Narcissa Malfoy's emotional well-being a great deal of thought beforehand. I just — I don't know."
Draco sighed and it turned into a yawn. "Spill it Granger. I can barely keep my eyes open at this point."
"She's happy — as you say — post-war. Which is good for her and also my dad since they married each other. But, I — I guess I just feel like I'll never be able to be that much 'post-war.' I still carry so much of it with me. All the time. Especially what I did to my mum and dad. I guess I envy her ability to move on. I wish I could."
Draco swallowed roughly, grateful that Granger wouldn't be able to notice his watery eyes. "Me too," he said simply. It's not like he had escaped unscathed, either. He had done and witnessed too many terrible things to ever feel free from it. But he deserved to feel awful about the war and his part in it. It felt criminally unfair that Granger had done everything right and she was still suffering from the aftermath.
After that, they stopped talking. Eventually, Draco heard Hermione's breaths become deeper and slower. She was either sleeping or really committed to faking it. He let himself drift off — the sound of her breathing lulling him into a relaxed state before sleep took him as well.