A/N: Over the past month I have written and then completely scrapped this chapter twice. Third time's the charm, right? Thanks for those of you leaving reviews, it really has been inspirational for me. I appreciate them and try to reply to every person who is kind enough to take the time to write words of encouragement. My beta, 89JadedPictures, says that as a self-proclaimed "history whore" this story always leaving her saying, "Hm! Very interesting!" Hope you feel the same.
You Are What You Eat (AKA, Severus' Legacy)
"Have you ever been to Japan?" Draco asked out of seemingly nowhere upon their return to her flat after their fishing trip.
"No…"
"Would you like to go with me? I think I could get us a one-day spot on a potion ingredient gathering excursion. We'd spend the morning harvesting ingredients, the afternoon preparing them for the use of students, and the evening in a cooking class. I'd love to show you the school I attended there."
Hermione's head whirled. Draco went to school in Japan? When? Why?
In what appeared to be a tangent, Draco continued with, "Did I ever tell you the little-known fact of Severus Snape being my godfather? Goes back to when he was still a Hogwarts student and assigned to my father in a sort of mentorship. Oh, right, I suppose you don't want to hear about Death Eater initiation shite. Bollocks. So yeah… they went way back… close friends. My parents named him godfather upon my birth," this constituted the worst verbal diarrhea of Draco's life and he couldn't get it to stop. Merlin's beard, why couldn't he just stop talking?
"And Severus always looked out for me. Pledged an Unbreakable Vow once to protect me. Not that it did any good in the end. I've often wondered how much guilt one person can handle. Probably part of the reason why he signed me up for a potions class on the other side of the world." It was getting ridiculous now. He pictured turned his own wand onto himself to cast a Silencio.
Hermione considered Draco acting so… verbose. She felt disconcerted, to say the least. She just wanted her usual quiet, calm Draco back; the one who thought raising both eyebrows at the same time too much communication.
"So, will you go to Japan with me?" There, he took a breath, feeling he could stop now.
"I'd love to. Just an overnighter, right? I can be in my office on both Friday and Monday? I have a huge project I'm working on right now. I can't say anything about it yet… But, I'll need your help on it too." Everything about Hermione's statement perked Draco back up. She agreed to go. He hadn't scared her off. And she wanted his help with her work! He'd tried to push her for more information on the work bit; she just kept pushing back to get him to tell her more about Japan.
Draco undertook his eighth year at Hogwarts in as quiet of a manner as possible. After spending an oppressive summer with his mother barely able to look him in the eye without either tears or pity, or a mixture of both, and his father's unending speeches about needing a plan. Malfoys always had a fucking plan. School turned into the young wizard's plan - an escape. He spoke only when spoken to. So what if that primarily consisted of talking to professors? His fellow students ignored him, looking right through him. He kept his head down, working hard to be prepared for his N.E.W.T.'s. The following summer, not long after receiving his test results, another owl arrived with an unexpected missive. It seemed that before his death, Severus Snape signed his godson up for a prestigious potions class in Japan. They'd received a copy of his N.E.W.T. scores and wanted to extend an invitation to their fall 2000 session, a little bit more than a year in the future. Severus already paid for the class; all they needed was a confirmation. With nothing better to do with his life, he'd quickly replied yes, relieved to have something to look forward to.
A year later, Draco left England unsure of what the future held for him, but he knew without a doubt he didn't want to sit around his manor all day long staring at knick-knacks while sipping expensive alcohol. The only good to come out of his year of self-exile between Hogwarts and Japan became the decision to pursue the field of Alchemy. Even before leaving home, he found a mentor willing to take him on for an Alchemical Mastership following completion of the potions class. The Japanese program didn't grant a full Potions Mastership, but rather a three-month-long supplemental focus on oceanic and ancient Orient ingredients. The class stood as a stepping-stone to acceptance into Mastership programs world-wide, boasting a 100% acceptance rate; Draco wondered if he'd have found a mentor without it.
Hermione knew the term "life-changing" could become cliché faster than a snitch. She also knew from Draco that his time spent in Japan could only be described thus. Even beyond what he learned from the war. Everyone in the program was there on merit, not because of their name, status, money, or influence. In fact, he told her, no one in the class knew the last name Malfoy. After having been brought up to believe his last name meant everything, imagine the shock when it meant nothing. Severus Snape bestowed upon Draco more than a classroom education with this last gift, he'd given him a new lease on life. Japan came to pass as the place where Draco shed his snake skin. Kind of. As much as a Malfoy could.
Hermione remembered thinking Draco fell off the face of the earth after Hogwarts. For a while she didn't even notice, being too wrapped up in her own life. She lived in Rome for a year after graduation, then returned to England to begin working on building her own business. When she spotted him at a Ministry Gala almost five years later, the whiskey-eyed witch realized the last time she saw him was while they both sat their Charms N.E.W.T. in the Great Hall. She found herself instantly curious about where he'd been, but didn't know whom to ask. Over the intervening years, she'd discovered he had attained a Mastership. It was hard to miss after he'd published multiple studies in one of her favorite journals. Finally, Draco revealed the full story.
They arrived in Japan early in the morning local time, wearing swimsuits under casual wear, with knapsacks thrown over their shoulders. Draco spoke a small amount of Japanese from his time spent there. He kept up with the courtesy phrases - anything for an edge in business deals. He knew he'd won a contract or two over other international competitors due it.
"Ohayōgozaimasu," he greeted the witch in the international travel receiving office as they handed off their used portkey – an empty flower pot. Hermione couldn't help but wonder why ministry offices all over the world used junk for portkeys. Obviously, you wanted to use inconspicuous items for travel originating privately – most Muggles weren't in the habit of picking up random pieces of rubbish. But, couldn't they use nicer items when the portkeys never left the inside of government offices? She cataloged the thought for later investigation.
Draco grabbed his witch's hand, and apparated to the school, landing just outside the gates. It was situated on a bay, with an incline on one side leading to some small cliffs, and woods on the other two sides. In front lay the ocean; two boats tied up and swaying on either side of the dock going out into the sea. The water appeared peaceful. All around the school, inside of the wards, were greenhouses.
Draco saw Hermione inspecting the greenhouses as they walked in that direction. "We grew many of the items we needed for our classes ourselves. Herbology lessons occurred interspersed with the potions lessons every day. There are staff members whose job it is just to care for the plants grown on site, but the students were still expected to help with harvesting. We also went on rambles, searching for native items, learning to recognize them. Mostly around here, but also other places on the Japanese islands. Right there is where I saw my first Kappa," he pointed to where the forest opened up a bit, allowing the sun to dapple the earth beneath. "We rarely went out on the boats. Just a handful of times during the term. Fishing was left up to the day-trippers. People like us today," he explained. Draco had, in fact, already told most of this to Hermione over dinner a few days ago, but gestured to the areas in front of them as he spoke, making it tangible.
The school itself was not large. A mere 12 students were accepted per term. A small dormitory with individual rooms containing en suites for each boarder, along with accommodations for staff, took up one wing. Students mingled directly with instructors and staff at meal times in a cafeteria type setting. There were six class blocks during the day, six days a week, one for Herbology activities, four with different professors specializing in various aspects of potioneering, and one for independent study. The building also contained a small library. In all, that meant only about ten rooms, not counting the dorms.
As they walked up to the main door of the building, a man stepped out. "O hisashiburi desu ne," he said with a small bow to Draco. Draco bowed back, a bit deeper, returning the greeting. He introduced Hermione to the school's chief administrator, Hayato Ito, switching to English. Hermione remembered to also bow at a bit more of an angle than the older wizard, as a sign of respect.
"We will wait here for the other two couples joining you today to arrive. We'll head out on the boat immediately, where I will teach you the spells needed to attract today's catch. We have three areas to fish; when we drop anchor at the third one, there will be time for lunch before you dive. There are facilities on the boat, but you are welcome to use the ones here now before we board." Hermione listened to him give basically the same speech to both of the other couples when they arrived.
While traipsing down to the dock, Draco reached into an outer pocket of his knapsack and pulled out two vials of a sunshiny yellow potion. "Anti-nausea," he offered one to Hermione. She pulled the cork out and quickly tipped it back.
The two other couples on the trip turned out to be from South Korea and somewhere in the Middle East; Draco didn't pay attention to where they said. Everyone spoke English, but mostly kept to themselves. Draco felt completely comfortable on the boat. It was a fairly simple fishing vessel – mostly operating by Muggle means. It kept sticking to the Statue of Secrecy while out in International Waters easy; the school could never be sure of who may come upon them while fishing in the middle of the ocean.
Hermione watched her perceptions of Draco crumble over the past few years. Recognizing and acknowledging her own prejudices did not come easy. Being righteous, always believing her answers to be the correct answers – those came naturally to the witch. Harry accepted Draco first, and slowly others began to follow. In a shocking role reversal, Harry prodded and nagged and rolled his eyes at her for months. Not that Hermione was being outright rude to Draco; she liked to think of her pattern of ignoring his existence as more of a "live and let live" attitude. Until the day Harry said in a familiar undertone, which he liked to pretend you weren't meant to hear, but he pitched it perfectly for you to hear him, "More like 'Live and let die'." It took Sir Paul to make Hermione sit up and realize the seriousness of the situation.
How embarrassing, in retrospect. And not just because Harry took further pleasure in mocking her with horrible nasally imitations of her voice from ten years ago saying things like, "I'm not sure, Harry…" and "Oh Harry, not that again," behind Draco's back whenever the blonde was around. The git who masqueraded as her best friend managed to time it just right, making sure Draco found Hermione flustered and blushing when he looked her way, while the Man Who Lived To Torture Her nonchalantly sipped a drink, looking completely innocent. The Sorting Hat really should have put him in Slytherin. Yet, trust Harry to effectively get his point across by reminding Hermione that once upon a time Harry himself had been obsessed with seeing the worst in Draco, while Hermione had been willing to give the Slytherin a chance.
Obviously, Hermione finally gave Draco a chance, and found a man still working on bettering himself, not perfect, but not the boy she remembered from her first six years of school, nor even the shell of a person she vaguely remembered from their Eighth Year. And now she stared at him as he stood near the prow of the boat as it made its way out to sea, the wind tousling his hair, the rising sun lighting up his face. Had she ever seen him look so carefree? Even when playing Quidditch, the look on his face was different from now; the pressure to find the snitch as he concentrated on the win. She attributed the transformation she witnessed today to the lack of any constraints set upon him by the outside world. No press or photographers watching him, no one on the boat but her knowing what the last name Malfoy meant, no three-piece suit subconsciously dictating his actions. It's amazing what wearing a pair of swim trunks could do for the psyche.
Draco felt Hermione's hand slide into his and out of the corner of his eye he watched the wind whip her curls around her head in a beguiling fashion. He continued to drink in the sun rise and the scent of the salty waves as she cast a spell to plait her hair and secure it. Draco adored the times when Hermione's hair got as wild as he knew his witch could be. As the sun shone down on both their faces, Draco began to daydream of ways to liberate her locks.
"The first fishing excursion occurred during my second week of school here. I'd ridden on a yacht off the coast of Italy before, but you can imagine how Blaise's boat differed from this experience. We spent the first two hours learning how to operate the motor, the navigation system, and the sonar as a precaution for emergencies. I was secretly aghast at the completely Muggle contraption. I was scared," he confided quietly, so no one besides Hermione heard him. "Only a week had passed, but already every day here held something drastically different than anything I understood in my life until that point. There was the comfort in all of it still being within the magical realm. Now I was being told we would spend a day basically being Muggle peasants."
Hermione's brow furrowed with thought. "You acted like you never fished a day in your life when we went ice fishing. Explain," she quizzed him.
"You'll see once you learn the spells. This is experience is fairly hands-off after all is said and done," he answered.
Two wizards crewed the boat, in addition to the school head being aboard. The wizard in question, Mr. Ito, walked up them now, holding out two cups of steaming coffee. "Please join me in the cabin, I will teach you the incantations we will be using today," he advised them.
The first stop promised the capture of Maguro (Tuna). The people of Japan began eating tuna over 10,000 years ago; learning that wizards developed a spell specific to attracting tuna left Hermione unsurprised. Mr. Ito tasked each couple with reciting the incantation together until they landed a fish, insuring three caught today. He taught incantations to butcher the fish, with the eyes, gills, spinal cord, swim bladder, and pyloric caeca set aside for potion making. The Kama O Toro (the cheeks) would specifically be separated out for their dinner later in the evening, the rest of the edible pieces saved for the students and staff. Mr. Ito assured the participants the cheeks were a delicacy rarely served outside of Japan.
The second stop was planned for a spot where Fugu (blowfish) could be caught. Blowfish were famed for their deadly poison, which is exactly why they were needed. Healers sought the poison contained in the liver and ovaries for its ability to counter Dark Curses when carefully brewed in the correct potions. Draco obsessively spent the first two years after finishing his Alchemical Mastership working specifically with blowfish poison in the hopes of removing the Dark Mark from his arm. His hope of purifying his body (and, he secretly felt, his soul) never yielded the outcome he desperately wanted. By the third year of his experiments, he fell tired of what he perceived as failure. His results and similar follow-up experiments were published in scholarly journals beginning just three years ago. He kept a private lab to tinker with new ideas as they struck him, but he moved on to more successful ventures with his company. Today, in addition to collecting the poison, they were also tasked with setting aside the flat bones of the fish – prized for their high concentration of gelatin. Culling of the fish was achieved by sending a sonic wave into ocean. When the fish puffed up rather than hightailing it, Accio summoned them into the boat.
The final destination entailed modified scuba diving. The participants wore wetsuits, however, they'd cast bubble head charms, rather than dealing with oxygen tanks. If all went well, they would return to the surface with Ika (squid), Aka-gai (red clams), and Anago (conger eel). From the squid, the chromatophores, ink, beak, eyes, all three of its hearts, and suckers needed to be set aside. In addition, if they caught a male squid, its penis was valuable for use in infertility potions. Giant squids boasted the second longest penis in the world - prized for the success rate of the potions created with the organ. Draco couldn't resist stage whispering to Hermione something about comparing sizes. She promptly allowed her brain to forget whatever predictable tripe he spouted as she rolled her eyes at him. The clams donated their shells to be ground up later, and the eels were wanted for their oil.
The first two catches went off without a hitch. The ease with which they caught their prey and harvested the needed items showed Hermione exactly why Draco came to her a fishing novice. The witches and wizards accomplished the entire endeavor with magic; nary a hand got dirty. The enormous tuna had been a sight to behold – they utilized Leviosa to transfer the fish out of the ocean and onto the vessel. The blowfish elicited a giggle and a remark on how strangely cute they were from the Middle Eastern witch. The crew dropped anchor at the diving spot just as the sun climbed directly overhead. One of the Japanese wizards offered a light lunch of miso soup, nimono, and green tea.
Draco once again talked quietly to Hermione, sitting a bit separate from the others. They both sat on the deck of boat, cleaned of any fish remains with a Scourgify. Draco leaned his back against the rail, his left leg stretched out before him, with his right knee bent up and his right arm draped casually atop it. His finished food was set aside and he slowly sipped his tea. He picked up almost where he'd left off earlier in the morning, "I'd never really seen Muggle technology before that day. Sure, I was aware of airplanes occasionally flying high over our estate from a young age. However, a sharp rap on my knuckles from my father's cane assured I never spoke of their existence with anyone after the first time. I didn't realize the Hogwarts Express started out as a Muggle train – my parents kept that fact from me." Hermione rolled her eyes, but didn't interrupt. It never ceased to amaze her when she rediscovered over and over she may be the only person in the world who read Hogwarts, A History. Draco continued, not even noticing, "To suddenly be told I may have to work a motor, and to be shown a two-way radio for emergency communication was a shock." He laughed sardonically, shaking his head as he thought of the near boy he'd still been eight years prior. "I thought about quitting. As much as I hated the seclusion I'd felt at home the prior year, it was comfortable. Mr. Ito doesn't even know it, but he became the deciding factor for me to stay. As we motored back to the school grounds, he took a moment to smile at me and clap a hand on my shoulder. He told me how proud he was of me. Proud of me. My own father wasn't proud of me for nearly giving up my life to his cause, yet an almost stranger voiced pride in me for a bit of fishing? I refused to let the man down." A call to return their plates and prepare to dive interrupted further conversation.
Hermione never tried scuba diving before. Sure, she'd been underwater in the Black Lake for almost two hours during the TriWizard Tournament (counting the time the four prisoners spent there before the task officially began), but she'd been put in a magical stasis for it, so she remembered nothing. Draco remained next to her to talk her through it, calming her nervousness. The six participants practiced their spells one last time before going in. They would use a modification of a revealing charm once they reached the sea floor, inserting the Japanese name for each creature they sought. They'd be deep enough to become chilly, so each placed a warming charm on their partner. The depth also meant filtered light, not true darkness, necessitating wands lit with Lumos. They were instructed to find the clams first, followed by the eels, finishing with the squid. The clams went in a sack tied to each of their waists. Eels needed to be placed in a separate container, and then floated to the top. The squid would be the tricky one; suggested spells included stunners and Incarcerous, while spells like Bombarda were ruled out - no need to worry about damaging the creature. Once they subdued the squid, the entire team worked in tandem to bring it up to the surface. It should not be dispatched until everyone exited the water as a precaution against attracting sharks. The chances of them finding more than one squid was low, as the larger species tended to be solitary.
Once in the water, Draco held Hermione's hand as they descended. It looked nothing like the tropical documentaries she'd watched on the tele. No schools of brightly colored fish flitting about, nor did she see any coral. When they came to the bottom, Draco, the Arab wizard, and the Korean witch led the way, familiar with the protocol, if not this exact spot, from their time at school. The clams were scooped up and the bags tied tight once full. Four eels were found and trapped into the crate before sending it up to the waiting boat.
Then all hell broke loose.
The squid saw them coming before any fired off a single spell. It shot ink, and then swam straight at them through the murk. Draco knew they needed to worry about both the tentacles and the sharp beak. He also knew Hermione would put up the Protego. The unknown factor was how the other four might react. They fled. Successfully. Thanks to Hermione's powerful shield and Draco's well aimed offensive. He'd quickly rejected Difindio as an option, although it may have protected them from the legs and tentacles. As fast as lightening, Draco's mind cataloged and dismissed spells until he settled on Deprimo. His aim need not be exact while trying to create a powerful blast of wind underwater, just in the general direction of the beast. He cast it and the squid was blown back from its advance. It gave him time to cast a Confundo and Incarcerous in quick succession. The large creature was now effectively tied up and confused long enough for Draco to turn back to Hermione.
He observed her heaving chest and dilated pupils. Her wand hand began to shake. 'Shite,' he thought, 'she's having a panic attack 100 meters underwater.' In the Muggle world, this would be classified as a technical dive and necessitate a special gas mixture, but the bubble head charm took care of the issue. 'Thank Merlin decompression won't be necessary,' Draco thought. Draco grabbed Hermione around the waist, reached over and took hold of a rope end hanging from the trussed-up beast, and started towards the surface. Halfway up he felt a tug behind him; he paused to recast the Confundo. With about a quarter of the way left to go, he observed Mr. Ito and the South Korean witch heading back down towards them. 'About fucking time,' he wanted to scream. He handed off the rope to the wizard and continued up with his girlfriend at a faster pace.
They broke surface and he countered the spell for the bubble over her head before his. Her panting was now audible. "Look at me, Hermione. Look at me," he begged her to focus her vacant stare on him. He treaded water, she did same, seemingly on autopilot. She kept looking around, what she searched for, he couldn't fathom. He put his hands on either side of her face, forcing her swiveling head to still. "Please, Hermione, just look at me. I'm right here, with you. I promise you're safe. I promise I won't let anything hurt you. I promise, love. Let's breathe together. Focus on me," he murmured to her. He was familiar with panic attacks, having his own for the first time at age 16. He'd suffered them frequently, starting the summer before his Sixth Year, continuing for many years after. Draco knew on some level that some witches and wizards his age might endure them also; he'd never witnessed Hermione in the throes of one. He continued with his soft words to her, while working with her to sync up her breathing with his controlled breaths in and out, until she no longer gasped, and her pupils returned to their previous size, even as he gently guided them to the side of the boat.
"Let's get up there, and get you in a towel and maybe have a cuppa," he soothingly told her when they maneuvered themselves next to the boat's ladder. She nodded and turned to grasp a rung to begin pulling herself up.
"I'm so embarrassed," was the first thing she told him when they stood topside together.
Draco wanted to laugh, not at her, but at the idea her actions contained anything to be embarrassed about. Instead he calmly said, "Not a single person on this boat is judging you for saving lives today. Your shield gave the others time to escape, and gave me the ability to take care of the attacker. If anything, the other four should be ashamed." He whispered the last sentence to her, not wanting the others to hear it.
Hermione stood with a large warm towel wrapped around her shoulders and a steaming mug of tea cupped between both hands. She still shivered, whether it was from the cold or possibly from a mild case of shock. Analytically, she recognized her own irrationality. Fear is irrational, though. She felt a desire to explain herself to Draco, to prove she wasn't crazy.
"The ink. It was the fucking ink. It reminded me of Death Eaters, of the way Voldemort, Snape, and some others turned themselves into wisps of black smoke, flew through the air, and then materialized again." Draco knew exactly what she meant, he'd seen his own father do that particular trick, and couldn't believe he hadn't made the connection himself. Bloody hell. "Seeing the squid come at us out of the ink," a shudder tore through her body, "It brought forward memories from the war. Suddenly I thought I was on the back of a thestral, hanging onto Kingsley for dear life - Voldemort coming straight at me. But then he wasn't, he veered off, where did he go, would he return for me?" Hermione lost Draco when she started in on the bit with the thestral, and oh yeah, calling her good friend, the Minister for Magic, by his first name, but it didn't take a genius to know this wasn't the time to ask her to elaborate. She continued, "I'm not even sure how I managed to cast my shield. I barely remember anything after the ink," she relayed this in a quiet tone – no reason to let the people around them in on it. Draco put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his chest in a sideways hug, putting his chin on her soaked curls. There was nothing else he could say to her. He felt a bit of tension escape her body at his touch. She let out a large sigh. Draco let go of the breath he hadn't realized he held.
As the boat set course for the school, the other passengers took turns coming up to Hermione and Draco to thank them. This was, admittedly, new territory for Draco. He wanted someone to announce, "Thanks to Mr. Draco Malfoy's cunning use of spells, 50 points for Slytherin." Alas.
Only Mr. Ito alluded to Hermione's evident panic attack, when he offered, "We have calming draughts onboard." She shook her head in the negative, politely saying, "Thanks."
The guests were responsible for carrying the potions ingredients inside to the proper storage areas, while the three school employees took the edible portions to the kitchen. Any pieces not needed for brewing potions, or parts which couldn't be eaten, were summarily tossed overboard in the ocean on their return trip. Hermione followed Draco, feeling better already as her feet traversed solid land. The storage facilities for the ingredients amazed Hermione. She noted many rare ingredients, some she'd never heard of before today.
"Your labs are cataloged in similar fashion to this," Hermione noted to Draco, regarding the full tour the brunette recently enjoyed of his business.
The blonde smirked, "Well, you already realized my labs were not patterned on Hogwarts, yeah?"
She had noticed the difference, although it wasn't something she'd articulated to him while there. At the time, she assumed he came up with the changes. After already spending most of the day appreciatively oohing and ahhing over his company headquarters, she let some things slide. His ego was inflated enough as it was. Knowing him, he would have taken the praise and not let on the true source, Slytherin nature winning out. Two could play at that game.
"Yes, I congratulated Theo on his superior organization skills later that very same day," she said with a wink. Hermione honestly had wondered if, as Draco's COO, Theo Nott was responsible for the high level of orderliness present, along with the overall design.
Draco scoffed, "That wanker would take credit for my ideas."
Hermione decided it was far too much fun not to correct him on his assumption she was telling the truth rather than teasing. Playing the long game on this one may yield interesting results when Draco remembered to confront Theo. She hoped she was present for that conversation.
To Draco's relief, Hermione seemed recovered from her earlier shock. The two Brits, plus the four others with them, moved about the storage areas, working carefully to correctly preserve and label the items for the students' use.
The visitors were shown to their overnight accommodations and given time to freshen up before dinner. Hermione still felt tension sitting in her shoulders and neck – the perfect solution proved to be a hot shower, with the water beating down on her as she held tight to Draco's silky hair while his mouth was buried between her thighs. He refused her offer to return the favor, telling her he could wait until after dinner. With a final kiss to his lips before she exited the shower, she promised to make it up to him.
When they met up in the kitchens with the other two couples, they found a chef prepping for their dinner. An informal sushi bar and cooking area were set up with six chairs and various beverages. The guests were encouraged to participate in the making of the food, if they wanted.
The first offering turned out to be the Maguro O toro, served as sashimi, with soy sauce for dipping. Draco moaned when the first buttery-textured piece practically melted in his mouth. "Oh sweet Circe," Hermione joined in when the tuna hit her tongue. Next came thinly sliced squid in miso sauce with rape blossoms. When served, the clams resembled flower blossoms, starting out white at the base and turning bright red at the pointed tip. Hermione tended to shy away from eel when eating sushi; she found it too oily. Knowing the excess oil was already removed, she sampled the roasted Anago set before her. The sweet sauce paired with it was divine. The final dish, called Tetchiri, consisted of a hot pot with Fugu, tofu, and vegetables which simmered on the table as they sampled the other seafood. The chef offered the Tetchiri with ponzu sauce. Hermione feared she was ruined for life in regards to eating Japanese cuisine elsewhere.
In between the heavenly fare, Draco kept up with conversing about himself, Hermione was enthralled.
"I couldn't help but think about Severus time and again while studying here. Some days it drove me round the twist, wondering why he'd gifted this to me. Was it merely a gesture one should expect from a godfather upon matriculation? Did he intend to mentor me in the field some day? He was qualified to grant Masterships. Or was it as I suspected – a guilt-driven idea to try one last effort to save me? Eventually I had to let it go and accept what I chose to get out of the experience was more than enough, no matter his agenda. And yes, the man always had an agenda," he finished, agreeing with Hermione's unvoiced rumination.
"I inquired and was told Severus also attended this program. Not straight out of school, as I did, but rather about five years into his teaching position. He took a sabbatical for a term to travel here. My thoughts turned to what that would have been like for him. A reprieve, perhaps? Possibly the only one he ever received? I vowed to make the most of my gift and better the world with it. I tried, I really did. Do you think Severus can see me from the other side of the veil? Is he disappointed in me?" Draco's voice was steady, but his eyes belied a moment of vulnerability.
"I promise you that the only thing Severus Snape would find disappointing about you is that you stopped imitating his penchant for wearing all black," Hermione dryly assured him.
When Hermione and Draco returned to their room later in the evening, Hermione reminded Draco that she "owed him one". As if he would forget her earlier promise. She commanded him to sit in a chair and shut his eyes. No peaking. He heard rustling before he detected a change in his clothing. She had transfigured his outfit. Without his eyes open, he guessed that he may be wearing a suit with robes over it. What in name of Salazar was she up to? He heard furniture being moved around before she bade him to open his eyes. His chair was facing a desk and before him perched his goddess on the edge of it, attired as a Hogwarts professor. He looked to down to find his estimate at his own clothing close to the truth – he sported a replica of his old school uniform, complete with the Slytherin green tie.
"I believe some Slytherin house points and a reward are required after your heroic actions today, Mr. Malfoy," the goddess he called his girlfriend purred. He briefly wondered if she were a Legilimens before his other head took over thinking for him.
A/N: You know that a Muggle adventure is up next. And I promise it is a good one.