Chapter 10
Draco didn't know why he was there. Well, no, he did know why he was there. There was a sale, after all. And he liked books, too. Of course, he had a gigantic library full of books, many of which he hadn't even read, so it wasn't like he needed any more. But a book sale surely couldn't be passed up. At least, that's what he kept telling himself.
It had nothing to do with the fact that he had it on relatively good authority (since she had said so herself) that Hermione would be there, probably all evening, shopping for books.
He could shop for books whenever he wanted, too. She didn't own the bookshop.
Actually, he owned the bookshop. Well, technically, the families of Flourish and Blotts owned it, but he was a major investor. After the war, the bookshop had sadly suffered, like many businesses in Diagon Alley. Unwilling to see it struggle through the recovery period after the war, Draco had channeled thousands of Galleons into the rebuilding and restoring of the quality and quantity of books available once his funds were released to him. After all, when knowledge is scarce or hard to attain the cost to society is always prejudice based on ignorance, a situation which the newly reformed Draco Malfoy found to be intolerable. Flourish & Blotts actually sported a new and robust section on Muggle lifestyle and literature, after a suggestion he had made that had nearly caused the elderly manager onsite to expire of shock right on the spot.
To his chagrin, after recovering from the surprise, both Mr. Bellish and his assistant, Mr. Peck, seemed inordinately proud of him, even more so than when he had arranged their business partnership with Draco as a financial backer. Now they welcomed him rather effusively whenever he came into the shop. It was embarrassing, so Draco frequently placed his orders via owl rather than stepping into the shop and having to see their insufferably large smiles and enduring the affectionate slaps on the back.
Fortunately, all the to-do—the greetings, the offers to find books for him, the brief reports of the business' latest successes—had all been finished before Hermione had stepped into the shop. When she finally chanced upon him, a stack of book in her arms, he was browsing one of the aisles like a normal patron.
"Oh, Malfoy!" she exclaimed, clearly pleased to see him. "Couldn't pass up a sale on books, I see?"
He smiled politely at that. He was Draco Malfoy; he didn't even pay attention to the prices of books when he bought them. But there was no need to remind her of that.
"Have you been here long?" she asked, looking down at his arms, which clearly did not hold any books. "I've only been here a few minutes, and I've already found a dozen books I've been wanting."
Draco already knew this. He knew the moment she walked in, her hair loose and windblown from the strong breezes outside the shop, her eyes bright and seeing nothing but the books all around her. He hadn't known what to say or how to make his presence known, so he resolved to just browse and knew that with her thoroughness, she would bump into him sooner or later.
He didn't answer her question, instead telling her, "You know, you can send your books to the counter so you don't have to carry them."
Hermione seemed surprised to hear this and looked conspicuously around at the other patrons, all of whom were carrying stacks of books in their arms.
Draco grinned at her, knowing that she doubted his word but that she also had no way of knowing that he wasn't telling the truth. He said, "Come on," and grabbed her elbow, walking her towards the front.
"Mr. Bellish," he said, formally, trying to ignore the large grin on Mr. Bellish's face at seeing Draco in the company of such an esteemed personage as Ms. Hermione Granger. "Ms. Granger would like to leave her purchases here at the counter so she can continue to shop unencumbered. Can you please set these aside for her?"
Mr. Bellish gladly took the books out of Hermione's arms. "Of course, of course, Mr. Malfoy! Ms. Granger, so lovely to see you back here again! Send all your books back to the counter and they will be waiting for you when you are done shopping!" He was speaking to Hermione but was grinning at Draco. What he was so pleased about, Draco didn't want to imagine.
Once relieved of her burden, Hermione was excited to see a little gilt-edged card with her name on it magically placed on top of her pile of books. She didn't notice the glances Draco exchanged with Mr. Bellish, or the small crest that appeared on the corner of her card as she walked away, indicating the books had already been paid for. She also didn't notice the way Draco's shoulders hunched, as if he was trying to ward off the inane grin being shot at his back by the highly amused bookkeeper. Especially when said bookkeeper mentioned to their retreating backs, "Don't forget to check out the new section with recent Muggle literature!"
Draco grimaced at this, hoping the comment wouldn't be followed by one indicating that the section had been developed at his suggestion. Hermione must have taken the look the wrong way, because she immediately leapt to the defense of the books in question. "Oh, but Muggle literature is vastly entertaining! Their style and use of words and writing make a fun and sometimes beautiful art form out of what we might normally consider an uninspired and unpalatable plot and characters."
He knew that. Actually, he had a whole collection of books by one Clive Cussler. While he generally thought that most of his books should be utterly ridiculous (based on the summary on the back cover), he had found himself enthralled with the adventures, particularly, of the ridiculously named Dirk Pitt.
Still, he let Hermione drag him to the new section and didn't dare interrupt while she waxed poetic about the various attributes of several of her most favorite authors. The pile of books on the countertop steadily kept growing, and Draco actually found himself looking forward to reading several of her suggestions.
He had doubts about one Robert Jordan, as each of the books seemed inordinately long, and he was certain the man could know nothing of true magic, rendering the reading insufferable and insufferably unending. But Hermione's enthusiasm convinced him to purchase the entire set, and the look on her face when she told him he had to be sure to tell her what he thought of them as he was reading, ensured he would, in fact, read all of them. And probably right away.
Hermione truly loved books of all kinds. Her interests were wide and varied, and she might pick up a book simply for having a beautiful binding. He was fascinated with watching her choose, and could find no rhyme or reason to which books she sent to the front and which she replaced on the shelf. Sometimes, she opened a book and spent several minutes reading the first chapter or the reviews. Frequently, she just grabbed a book off the shelf and simply sent it to the counter. More than once she would trace the gilt lettering on the cover and smile a small smile to herself. He noticed she particularly would do this in the Muggle classics section. He wanted to ask about each one, but since it seemed very personal to her, he simply noted the titles for another conversation.
In the sections with recent findings and discoveries in Potions and Transfigurations, they got into several arguments on the validity of the researchers' methods and ethics. Hermione continued to advocate for the rights and dignities of all living creatures, magical, sentient or otherwise, and Draco generally sided with the need for solutions and answers for the Wizarding World. During one particularly heated moment, Hermione slapped a book against his chest and suggested he read it before spouting any more ignorant ideas.
He just grinned at the fire in her eyes, enjoying baiting her about subjects she was so passionate about. And the book went to the very top of the pile of books with his name on it at the front counter. It looked like Robert Jordan and his time wheels would have to wait.
It was late in the evening when the announcement was made that Flourish & Blotts would soon be closing, and Hermione and Draco came out of the conversation they'd been absorbed in, this time on the preservation of Wizarding World rituals and customs. Strangely, they were on the wrong sides of the conversation; Draco leaned more towards forgetting the ugly past and moving forward into the future, but Hermione argued about the need to keep grounded in history, and to save what can be saved while modifying the beliefs that had caused such extreme damage. He was surprised, and touched, to hear her defend some of the ideas he had been raised with and had lately felt so ashamed of, simply for them being part of pure-blood culture.
But it was closing time, so Hermione sent one last book to the counter before they made their way to the front to finalize their purchases.
To her surprise, there was only the last book that she had sent on the counter. Mr. Bellish gave her a kind smile and said all her other books had already been boxed and sent to her home and that she would find them waiting there for her. He handed her the last book to take in her hands, and stunned, she protested, "But I haven't paid yet."
Mr. Bellish just waved it off with a twinkle in his eye, "Oh, the proper accounts have already been charged. Go home and enjoy your new books. Just don't forget to come up for air and eat sometimes."
She smiled at him, placing her last book into her bag. "Of course! Goodnight, and thank you for your wonderful selection of books."
Turning to Draco, Mr. Bellish said, "And Mr. Malfoy, we hope to welcome you here again very soon. It has been too long between visits!"
Draco acknowledged this with a slight incline of his head. But then Mr. Bellish added, "And be sure the young lady arrives home safely," and Draco had to prevent a scowl from forming on his face, lest Hermione think it was because of her. Meddling bookshop owners.
As they left out the door—together—Mr. Bellish turned to Mr. Peck who closed the door behind them, and said, "It does warm my heart, Mr. Peck, to see young Malfoy with a friend."
Mr. Peck snorted at that, and said, "More than a friend, it seems to me."
Mr. Bellish just smiled, pleased, and replied, "I do hope so, Mr. Peck. I do hope so." As he turned back to the till, he added, "Especially as she's a rather expensive book buyer." They both laughed at that, enjoying how their two best customers had outdone even themselves by shopping together.
Once arriving home, after Draco had responsibly made sure she arrived safely at the apparition point, Hermione was excited to see so many large boxes of books waiting for her. She couldn't wait to dive in and enjoy her weekend with some new and old friends. But first she checked her vault account to confirm the damage she had done, and was surprised to see there were no charges from Flourish & Blotts except for the book in her hands.
Confused, she began to open all the boxes of books to see if there was a receipt inside. At the very bottom of the very last box she found a card with the Malfoy crest on it. Turning it over, she read the note that said, "You'd better read all of these, Granger, or I'm putting them in my own library."
She sat on her wood floor, slightly stunned. Draco Malfoy had just bought her several hundred Galleons' worth of books.