The Best Sweets In Town

Early in the morning, Hermione wandered down to the beach, just as the sun had climbed above the horizon. It was her favourite moment of the day, when everything was still quiet, only the sound of the waves breaking on the beach and the first seagulls cruising above her.

After another deep breath, she stepped further into the seawater, letting the waves pool around her feet. It was going to be another hectic day, especially now that all the preparations had to be done by the evening, not to mention make sure that Alexis would deliver the drinks on time, at least this time!

Swimming out to that little rock and back to the beach always helped her mind to calm down; it was her daily meditation.

When she came back to the spot where she had left her clothes and a towel, she found someone else sitting there, yawning violently. The tired look made her smirk as she rubbed herself dry.

"You've never been an early bird, Pansy. Why start now?"

"Bloody jetlag," Pansy replied, mocking a scowl, only to end up yawning once more. "But I saw you sneak out, and I was curious..."

"It's the only time in the day I have some peace," Hermione said as she sat down on the towel next to Pansy. "The hotel is always busy, and then there's Sofia and her friends. If I didn't make sure, they wouldn't do what they are supposed to; they are always goofing around."

"It's going to be a great wedding, don't worry so much." Pansy leaned closer for a half hug. "And honestly, the place already looks fantastic! I love what you did with it!"

"Thanks." Hermione brushed her fingers through her wet curls to gently disentangle them before she put a loose band around them.

"I mean it, my dear. It was absolutely worth investing in it, and I love it here. My second favourite place in the world!"

"Gods, you need your sleep!" Hermione laughed and poked her elbow gently into Pansy's side.

"Nonsense!" Pansy joined her in her laughter and let herself fall back with a sigh. "But honestly, are you okay? I mean, do you need anything?"

"I'm fine... I just wish the whole wedding was over already. I mean... Does it have to be such a big thing with a white dress and everything?"

"Oh, honey, a wedding in white is the dream of every girl! Just because you never married–"

"Don't." With an irritated huff, Hermione got up and grabbed her shirt. "I'm perfectly fine on my own."

Pansy sighed and got up as well to follow her. "Hermione, please. You know I didn't mean it like that."

After a few steps through the sand, Hermione turned around once more, tightly gripping the towel in her hand, but finally taking a deep breath. "I know. I'm sorry. It's just... What if he leaves her? I don't want Sofia to go through that kind of heartbreak."

A rustling sound from behind a group of trees not too far away briefly caught their attention, and Hermione thought she had seen a man hiding there, although she wasn't exactly sure.

"Then I will personally hunt him down, okay?" With one last look towards the trees, Pansy hooked her arm with Hermione's and they both turned back to walk down the small path leading to the hotel. "But now, let's have some breakfast."

"I don't–"

"Nah, no wriggling out of that one! You have plenty of time to have breakfast with your best friend..."

"Fine. Maria is probably up already."

..

"Sofia! Where are you?" Hermione shouted through the courtyard of her hotel as she tried to find her daughter. She had promised to hang up the last garlands on the paths around the hotel, leading the way to the garden where they'd be having the feast tomorrow evening. However, Sofia was nowhere to be found. "Pansy is waiting for you with the dress!"

"Mama?" A few seconds later, Sofia leaned out of one of the ground floor windows overlooking the courtyard. "The garlands are all up and working. I did have some help..."

Hermione gasped loudly when she saw the person behind Sofia. For a second, she thought she was hallucinating—it was the same blond hair, the same eyes, and even the same smile. But then she shook her head because it couldn't be him. That boy was far too young.

No, he wouldn't dare coming here!

This was simply a coincidence.

"You're one of Myles' friends, I presume?" She asked after a deep breath, trying to cover her momentary shock with a smile.

The blond boy nodded. "I thought I could help out a bit."

"Thanks." Hermione turned to her daughter. "Sofia, don't let Pansy wait any longer. She said she'd wait for you in her room."

"Okay, I'll be right with her." With an excited smile, Sofia returned to the room where she exchanged a few hasty words with the boy.

Hermione's gaze was glued to him because, Merlin's seven hells, he looked so similar to... With a sigh and a mental note to focus on the wedding, she turned around to go see whether Alexis had finally delivered her order. He had promised it for today, but nothing had arrived yet.

For once, she wanted everyone to just do their job, without the usual local slow attitude when it came to those kinds of things. In the last almost twenty years, she had come to live with it, but today, she just wanted to be sure that nothing was missing and everything was in place before she would go to bed.

..

An hour later, she was hurrying through the main street of the village to pay a visit to the grocer with a list of things that her cook still needed in order to prepare for tomorrow's feast. She still did those trips herself, even though she now had enough staff for those kinds of things. Especially today, since the cook needed the listed things as soon as possible.

"Hermione, my dear! No need to hurry!" an older man told her as she passed him with a smile. As always, he was sitting outside his house on a bench, watching the street and always happy to have a chat with anyone joining him on his bench.

"Not today, Christos! But don't forget to come to Sofia's wedding tomorrow, okay?" And with a wave in his direction, Hermione turned around the corner, onto the village's main square that seamlessly changed into the port area.

Passing the few trees providing shade to another set of benches, she waved at the elder men sitting there. "Angelos, how great to see you're up again! I hope to see you all at Sofia's wedding tomorrow!"

"We'd never miss the wedding of your little angel," Angelos replied with a smile before he gently poked the man next to him to continue their daily gossip.

The solidarity of this little community was one reason why she had stayed on Chalki—the whole village had helped her raise her daughter, not afraid of the fact that Sofia showed magical talent early on. And those three men she had just passed on her way to the grocer had loved playing grandfather to Sofia, spoiling her with stories and the occasional treat.

"Thank the heavens, Agatha!" Hermione let out when she arrived at the grocery store and saw the owner sit just outside, having a smoke. "You're the one I need right now."

Agatha got up, a smile on her lips and ready for a brief hug. "How's our little angel doing? Nervous yet? Does she have her dress now?"

"She's excited, and Pansy finally brought the dress. They are fitting it right now." After letting go of Agatha, Hermione held up the list of things the cook needed. "But I'm here on a mission..."

Agatha reached for the list and checked it closely while exhaling some smoke. "Your cook really needs to learn how to manage his kitchen better. Every Greek woman can do it better."

"Yeah, I know." With a shrug, Hermione inspected the fruit next to them, a nice array of peaches and some locally grown fruits to keep the prices reasonable. "How long do you need to put everything together? I don't mind waiting."

"For you, half an hour. Why not sit in Demetrios' café? He wanted to know what you think of his choice as wedding cake..." Agatha nodded towards the small place just next to her shop, before stomping out her cigarette with a smile to get back inside.

Hermione didn't mind a short break over a coffee from Demetrios and possibly one of his small sweets he always added. "I'm sure Sofia would love it!"

..

Shortly after, Hermione was seated outside Demetrios small café, indulged with a piece of cake next to her coffee. Her mouth was already watering from just looking at the piece of cake, knowing how delicious they always were.

Demetrios was a master of sweets, so, of course, she had asked him to make the wedding cake, based on Sofia's favourites.

The first bite in her mouth, she let out a small satisfied moan; Demetrios had outdone himself for the occasion. And for a moment, she felt at peace amidst the trouble of the wedding preparations.

Sipping some of her strong coffee, she looked out over what she could see of the square, framed by the sun glinting on the sea. However, she stopped sipping when she saw a familiar blond head cross the square, looking as if he was trying to find a street, talking to someone just outside her view.

It was the boy from earlier.

And again, he reminded her of someone else she had thought to have finally forgotten. Although it had been nice of him to help out with the garlands, so maybe he really was just one of Myles' friends she hadn't met yet.

But then she finally saw who the boy was talking to, causing her to choke on the coffee she was just trying to swallow.

Him.

Still coughing, she immediately got up and stormed over. How could he dare to show up today of all days! He had no right to disturb Sofia's wedding...

At the exit of the street onto the square, they walked into each other—or rather Hermione let him bump into her as she refused to move out of the way.

Draco gasped and immediately stepped back when he recognised her. "Sorry. I-I didn't see you–"

"What in Merlin's fucking seven hells are you doing here?"

"We were told we'd find the best sweets here," the boy replied with an unsure shrug.

Hermione responded with a glare towards him before she returned her attention to Draco who was still in front of her, his arms crossed by now. "I mean on this island!"

"I have every right to be here and enjoy a vacation," Draco retorted, clenching his jaw. "I didn't know the hotel–"

"Vacation, my arse." Hermione made a step forward. She flexed her fingers to avoid hexing him into oblivion. "You can't stay on this island. You shouldn't have come at all. Not today, not ever!"

Draco moved to respond to her words, but the boy stopped him by grabbing his arm. So instead, he took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair to brush them out of his face.

For a second, Hermione longed to run her fingers through it, through those silky strands and play with them, just as she used to all those years ago. But then she got a grip on herself, remembering that the situation had changed between them. "You better leave. I do not want you to disturb my daughter's wedding–"

"Hermione–"

"No. For the last twenty years, you didn't care at all. You JUST left! Going back to that stupid girl–"

"Don't! You have no idea what it was like–!"

"So don't think you can just come to her wedding and play dad all of a sudden."

"Oh please, you didn't even tell me!"

"I'll go check whether they have ice cream, okay?" the boy said, looking confused and a bit out of place.

"And who's he?" Hermione said, pointing towards the boy who walked down the streets to Demetrios' café.

"He's my son, Scorpius. And he has absolutely nothing to do with what happened between us, so leave him out of it." With another sigh, Draco moved to the side in order to pass her to follow his son. "But I'm not going to leave just because you want it. I'm a paying guest, and I intend to enjoy the stay."

"Don't you dare show up at my daughter's wedding–"

He stopped a few steps away from the café and turned around again; she could see a hint of hurt flicker over his face before he covered it with a forced smile. "What if I did? She has a right to meet her father!"

"Oh, the guts you have! Showing up here after twenty years!"

Draco groaned briefly and rubbed his face before crossing his arms again; she thought he was trembling slightly from the tension. "Look, I'm not here to cause problems. And I do think we need to talk, but I didn't imagine meeting you like this. I saw you early this morning and I was about to approach you, but then Pansy showed up..."

"That was you then behind the trees!"

He nodded slowly, biting his lip. "I know that you're hurt, and that it wasn't easy for you... I just wish you'd give me a chance to explain everything, but I don't think you'd be willing to listen right now. So, I'm just going to check on Scorpius and then we'll return to the beach, leaving you and the whole wedding thing alone."

With that, he entered the café, leaving her outside with a head full of questions and a heart that was still hurt and longing at the same time. For a split-second, Hermione considered following him inside, only to shake her head and sit back down in her original spot.

No piece of Demetrios' cakes would ever be good enough to lift her mood now. So, she just pushed it away and leaned her arms on the table before hiding her face in her hands. Tears were threatening to well up, but she didn't want to cry.

Seeing him stroll through the street had brought back the memories of the summer they had shared, the intimacy between them, and all those whispered words of love he had always repeated between kisses.

When he had left, she had felt used, like a summer fling before he'd marry the appropriate girl. She had felt ashamed that she had believed his words, that she had fallen for it.

And then she had found out that she was pregnant.

It hadn't been easy, raising Sofia on her own while trying to build up the hotel in a country that wasn't her own. But she had managed it. Gods! Sofia couldn't possibly know that Draco was her father, even though their faces were so similar, she just had to notice. And he would only disturb everything, she was sure of that!

To her relief, Agatha came back out of her shop with a big box of everything on the list. Once she saw her all slouched on her chair, she came over and claimed the opposite chair. "What's the matter? You look like you heard the worst news ever..."

"Nothing I can't handle."

..

Back at the hotel, Hermione let herself fall on the lounge chair next to Pansy who was tanning at the pool. Scolding the cook for being the usual unorganised idiot hadn't helped her venting her frustration at all; she still felt like smashing everything to the ground, and even more so smacking him as hard as she could.

Pansy turned her head towards her, an eyebrow raised in confusion. "Honey? What's wrong?"

"He's here, Pansy." Hermione sighed and ran her hands over her hair to pull an obstinate strand out of her face. "No messages for twenty years, and now he just shows up today of all days–"

"Who?" Pansy sat up and turned fully around. "Don't speak in riddles–"

"Who do you think? Draco of course!" Hermione cried out, barely able to hold back a growl. "He leaves me without any note to marry that stupid girl, and then he doesn't even care about Sofia–"

"Honey..." Pansy reached for her hand, calm as always. "You never told him either, so how could he know? And maybe it really is just a coincidence that he is here."

"I-I don't want him here," Hermione whispered as her voice suddenly gave out. "He has no... He has no right to just return as if nothing had happened. I mean... doesn't he understand that... that... Pansy, it still hurts thinking about those days after he left."

"Hey..." Pansy moved her lounge chair closer before lifting Hermione's head, gently wiping away a tear that had dared to roll down her cheek.

"Sofia can't know about it! We did well enough without him..."

Pansy's sympathetic smile softened as she leaned an inch closer. "Believe me, it's going to be okay. And the wedding is going to be great. Don't worry about him, okay? He doesn't deserve any attention..."

With a sigh, Hermione nodded. She was glad for Pansy's presence because she was always calm and helped her return her focus to the things that mattered. "Did Sofia like the dress?"

"She did! And you will love it, my dear." Pansy leaned back a bit, a soft smile on her lips. "But we need to do something about your hair. How about you have that lovely boy over there at the bar mix us a couple of drinks and I see what I can do with your mane–"

"Pansy, I don't have the time! There are still a million things to do and to fix–"

"Let Sofia and Myles deal with it. They are capable enough, and the hotel will survive without you supervising everything. If you want them to take over one day, they need to learn it now... But above all, you deserve to look great too!"

After a long moment, Hermione nodded, a small smile curling up her lips. "Right. Let that idiot see what he missed."

"That's the Hermione I know!" Pansy laughed and reached for her towel. "Now, for that drink."

..

Chiquitita, you and I know

How the heartaches come and they go and the scars they're leaving