After enjoying the most delicious meal of their lives, Hermoine, Ginny & Luna leisurely strolled the few blocks to the theater. They were seeing a performance of Shakespeare's: "A Mid Summer Night's Dream". Hermoine assured her two friends that if the wizarding world had such thing as theater, this play would be just as much, if not more of a hit there as it was here in the muggle world.
"So, explain this again... There are muggles whose only job, whose sole purpose in life, is to pretend to be other people on a stage? And these actors, as you call them, are the most famous and wealthy people around?"
"That's right." Hermoine couldn't help but smirk at Ginny's dumbfounded expression.
"Muggles," Ginny mused, "They confound me."
"I came here once with my mother just before she died." Luna asserted, gazing up at the old stone building. "Her parents were muggles, you know." No, they hadn't known, and their jaws dropped upon hearing this information, but still Luna continued, "She loved the muggle world, especially things like the theater, and she wanted to be sure I experienced it before I got my Hogwarts letter. Letting me know I had options, I guess. After she died, my dad never mentioned her muggle heritage again, and I didn't ask. I was happy to stay in his world with him, but I never forgot our visit to this theater."
"I didn't know that about your mum, Luna." Hermoine stated, feeling embarrassed and ashamed she had never thought to have the kind of personal conversation with Luna that would uncover that kind of information.
"Yeah, me neither." Ginny agreed, in a barely audible whisper, also upset with herself.
"Oh, well now you do." Luna smiled. "She would be glad I made it back here, especially with my two best friends."
Ginny wrapped her arm around Luna's waist, and pulled her into at side hug. "I'm glad we're here together, too."
The crowd in front of them dissipated and Hermoine handed each of them their tickets. She led the way, making sure both her friends saw the way she held her ticket out for the doorman to scan.
Once inside, the girls made a quick stop in the ladies' room to freshen up before heading to their seats in the auditorium. Hermoine's uncle had given her the family's season tickets for this night's performance as he was in Ireland on holiday. Her family had had these seats as long as anyone could remember, and she'd been attending the theater with her parents at least once a year since she was five. She politely declined assistant from the attendants, confidently guiding Ginny and Luna to their floor seats. Twelfth row, seats 10-13. She settled in to seat 12, her seat, as the curtain went up, and the warmth of fond memories filled her.
From his private box, he gazed down, not at the stage, but at her. Twelfth row, seat 12. She was here. Finally, after three long months of attending every performance, waiting, hoping, to see her, there she was. Even after the lights went down and the curtain went up, her smile lit her face. It was is if she was her own light source. And he was a moth drawn to the glow.
"Hermoine..." he whispered to himself. Her name felt good on his lips. For so many years, he hadn't permitted it to escape his lips, opting rather to call her by her surname of Granger, or in more desperate times, by the vile insult: Mudblood. He hated the way that word tasted in his mouth, yet he'd used it so many times against her. He deserved feeling the way it made him feel... pathetic and weak. He'd wanted to tell her the truth on their first day at Hogwarts, but Severus wouldn't allow it.
"Get yourself together, boy, or do you want everything we've worked so hard for to come crumbling down?" His godfather snarled when he'd told him he couldn't do it to her. He couldn't be the evil prat they'd spent so many years perfecting. "If our plan is going to work, you have to make everyone believe she's your enemy... that you despise her and everyone like her. Its for her own good, Draco. As much as it hurts you, if you love her, you must stay away from her."
Snape was right of course, just as he had been about everything. About the roll Draco would be asked to play in Voldemort's return. About the side his father, and by default his mother, would take. About how the pain of grief was the best friend of one practicing Occlumency. Snape had taught him everything he knew about being a spy for the Order or a traitor to the Death Eaters, depending which way one looked at it. And it was all to protect the one girl Draco had always and would always love.
12 Years Earlier...
"Now, you'll be sure he's ready for when the Dark Lord returns to claim his rightful place, right Severus?" The Malfoy father, if he should be called that, spat. "He will be expecting perfect obedience, and I won't tolerate for my son not to give it to him."
"Of course, Lucius" Snape lowed, in a tone that didn't betray the disgust he felt for the man. What kind of father placed those kind of expectations on a six-year old? Throwing him to Voldemort with no regard for his well-being or his opinion on the matter. Draco deserved better than the hand he was dealt, and Severus determined it was his duty to see that he got it. Which is why he'd suggested to Lucius private tutoring for Draco, with himself as the tutor.
Narcissa and Draco walked hand-in-hand into Lucius' study. "Draco, dear, just do what Severus says, and be a good boy, alright? We will come visit in four weeks. I will owl you ever-"
"Stop it woman!" Lucius cut across her, "Stop coddling the boy. There will be no owls. He needs to learn independence. He needs to know mummy won't always be there to clean up his messes. He's going with Severus to learn what he needs to be a good soldier in the war that is coming. Soldiers don't need owls from their mummies!"
Draco felt his eyes burning, and clenched his jaw in determination to not let any tears fall as his mother quickly hugged him, before going to stand next to his father.
"Shall we," Snape inquired, extending his arm for Draco hold.
Draco looked only into his mother's eyes as he placed his hand on his godfather's robe, hoping to convey with that single look the gratitude he felt for her secretly being the kind of mother he needed, despite Lucius' demands she not be. A single tear rolled down her cheek as he felt the uncomfortable pull behind his belly button, and then she was gone.
Severus' house was not cozy, but it was functional, and to Draco it felt much more like a home than the manor ever would. There were no house elves, so it wasn't exactly tidy, but it was organized, and Draco learned early on not to move things, because his godfather knew right where he wanted everything, which is right where everything was.
Draco was sure he would never get used to apparating. It made him nauseous, and he had to excuse himself to the bathroom. When he emerged nearly 15 minutes later, he was surprised to find Snape had traded his black robes for a pair of muggle jeans and a jumper.
"Sit, Draco," Snape instructed, "We have much to discuss."
It was just days later that he saw her for the first time.
That was the first of five summers Draco spent "studying" under Severus Snape.
Current day...
The play was over. The curtain call was complete. Everyone around them had exited their seats. Yet, the girls remained. Ginny was struggling to find the right words to describe the experience. Amazing...no. Wonderful...no, again. Incredible...just wouldn't do it justice. It was... it was Bloody Brilliant!
"I've never... I mean, I can't... Wow. Just WOW!" Ginny stammered. "Wizards have no clue what they are missing! If its the last thing I do, I will get mum and dad to come here. Sure, they'd feel awkward at first, but...Damn, they have to see this! Everyone should see this. Why are the muggles not shouting praises from their rooftops?!"
"I guess, its a case of: 'you don't know how good you've got it, til you don't have it'" Hermoine offered, as they finally made their way up the aisle.
"I've noticed muggles tend to take many things for granted," Luna added. "Nature, each other, electricity, running water, clean water... In the wizarding world, you have to make an effort to send a message. Muggles simply send a text. We appreciate and cultivate the natural world around us, where they believe it is disposable. I could go on, but I think you understand what I mean."
"Right you are, Luna." Ginny chortled, linking arms with the blonde. "Right you are."
Hermoine trailed just a few steps behind, happily watching her friends, glad they were able to have this time together. Smiling to herself that the reason they were free to enjoy girls' night out was because they along with many of their other friends and family had fought the Dark Lord together, and they had won. So much had changed in the past three months, and for the first time, she wondered why she was even returning to Hogwarts. She'd already been accepted into Auror training. (Let's be honest, she was begged to join). Then she remembered who she was, and realized she couldn't live knowing she'd left school incomplete. If she didn't go back now, she'd be the only 40 year old student Hogwarts had ever had.
She had amused herself with that thought, and bowing her head, she giggled as she followed Ginny and Luna up the few stairs leading from the auditorium to the lobby. She wasn't expecting someone to walk between her and her friends, and she knocked right into a very solid male chest. Before she knew it, strong arms were wrapping around her, saving her from tumbling back down the steps. As she caught her balance, she saw Ginny and Luna staring at her. Ginny looked shocked. Luna, however, looked rather pleased.
She turned to face the man holding her. That familiar platinum hair. The tailored, black suit. Those eyes, like swimming pools of molten silver. "Draco!?" She fumbled, pushing herself out of his uncomfortably affectionate embrace. "What the...? How the...? What are you doing here?" She spat, more fiercely than necessary, but before he could respond, she answered herself with, "You know what, never mind. It doesn't matter. And I really do not care to know. (Although, she was a slight bit curious). If you'll please excuse me." With that, she joined her friends. They disappeared into the London night, but not before Luna gave him a discreet wink and a small thumbs up.
He'd snuck out of the theater just before the play ended. He couldn't take the chance of running into them. Of running into her. It wasn't like he'd be missing anything. He had sat through eight performances this month already. He was ten blocks away before realizing he'd left his wallet on an empty seat in his box. He would have left it, and gone back tomorrow, but it contained the key to his flat, and he didn't really want to sleep on the street tonight. Of all the muggle things he'd been able to get used to, carrying that blasted billfold was not one of them.
"Surely they'll be gone by now. The play ended nearly an hour ago. They can't possibly still be there." Draco ran these phrases on a loop in his mind, psyching himself up to return. Hoping against hope that she would (so he might catch one more glimpse of her in that dress) and that she wouldn't still be there.
Just in case, he would use the side door. Sneak in and sneak right back out. Be seen by no one. That was the plan. But, honestly, he was never that great at making plans. When he entered, the lobby was empty. He was able to run up to his box, and retrieve the wallet without being seen. As he ran back down, he heard voices. Their voices. Weasley and Lovegood were going on about how they'd never take each other for granted, and that they had each other's permission to hex the other if they ever did. They didn't see him. He quickly looked, but didn't see her. Where was she? "Oh, to hell with it," he thought. "I'm just going to sneak behind them, and back out the side door."
He ducked his head, and made a break for it when, suddenly, the wind was knocked out of him. He threw his arms out to steady whomever had run into him. Then he saw her. Hermoine. His Hermoine. Before she had the chance to recognize him, he pulled her close, in what he knew might be the only embrace they ever shared. He didn't care that it was one-sided or that she didn't even know he considered it as such.
She wasn't trying to get away. She hadn't recognized him yet. She smelled like lavender and books. Her eyes met his. Her molten chocolate eyes. They looked at him, without any fear or hatred, if only for a moment. "Draco!?" It was his name. His given name, not the surname that he despised. And it came from her voice. She struggled against him, and he released her, looking immediately at the ground in between them. She tried to ask him what and how, but, much to his relief, decided she'd be better off not knowing.
It really was better that way, because he was sure that had she pushed him, he would have hastily told her everything right then and there, and now wasn't the right time. He didn't know if there would ever be a right time. He watched the three girls exit from the corner of his eye. For some reason, Luna winked at him, then gave him a thumbs up. His spirits lifted just a touch. Maybe there would be a right time. Maybe he'd get the chance to tell his side of the story. Maybe he already had an ally.
"No, Malfoy. Stop right there," he told himself. "You're misinterpreting her. She is Loony - stop that, Luna- Lovegood after all. No one understands why she does the things she does. Maybe she saw a nargle or wrackspurt behind you. Don't let yourself read into it. What you must do now is move forward. There is no way she will forgive you, EVER. Optimism is a luxury you can't afford."
"Was that who I think it was? Did we just see...?" Ginny rambled when they were out of range of the theater. "I mean, that was him, right? Not just someone who looked like him?"
"It was him." Hermoine confirmed, glad it was dark so neither of her friends could see her flushed cheeks.
"What is he doing here?" Ginny questioned.
"I think the same as we are... Enjoying the theater." Luna answered matter of factly.
"But he hates this world!" Ginny clearly wasn't going to let this incident slip quietly into the night. "Why the hell would he be here in London?... The muggle part of London." She added under her breath, glancing from side to side to be sure they were alone.
The truth was, none of them had the answer. They discussed it at length during the walk back to their hotel, but each idea, most coming from the red-head's conversation with herself, was more outrageous than the last.
"Maybe he was visiting friends." Hermoine offered.
"Muggle friends?!" Ginny answered incredulously, shaking her head. "There's no way!"
"Maybe, its a condition of his probation. You know, he has to spend a certain amount of time in the muggle world in hopes he will see the good non-magic folk have to offer."
"Or, maybe the Ministry thought it best for everyone's safety if he was obliviated and relocated." She realized a flaw in that idea instantly, and corrected herself, "But they wouldn't relocate him somewhere so close, somewhere that provided a good chance someone from his past life would recognize him. They would have sent him somewhere like the US. No, relocation isn't it."
She was really on a roll now...
"Maybe he has a twin no one ever knew about." Ginny nodded slyly. "Maybe the twin is a squib, and rather than face the humiliation, Lucius shipped him off to live a muggle life. Or, ...or maybe, Narcissa didn't even tell Lucius she'd had twins. She gave him Draco, and set the twin up with a muggle family in the attempt to give one of them a normal life."
"I guess its also possible he had a mental break after all his family went through, what with the Dark Lord taking over their home and their lives, Lucius receiving the dementor's kiss and Narcissa withdrawing into herself so far she had to be placed in St. Mungo's. It seems as likely as any other solution that he just flat out lost it."
Ginny darted in front of her friends, eyes wide as she turned to face them, stopping them in their tracks. "What if he doesn't even know who he is?" she asked her voice low and full of drama.
"Enough, Ginny," Hermoine finally interjected. "He knows who he is, and he knows what he's doing. I saw recognition in his eyes in the brief moment ours connected. I don't think he had a mental break. I think he just needed a break. Like Luna said before, he's probably doing the same thing we are... enjoying a short holiday. Now, if you'd please, I'd rather not spend any more time discussing him. It's bad enough I literally ran into him on what was supposed to be a magical, non-magic, evening, but talking about him for the past half hour has put me over the edge."
"Alright, one more thought, and my lips are sealed," Ginny conceded. "I understand how he would want or need a break, but that doesn't explain why he's muggling."
Luna, as always, joined the conversation just as it was wrapping up with her signature insight. "There are probably many things about Draco Malfoy that won't be explained until he decides to explain them himself."
And with that, the girls entered their room, wasting no time retreating to their beds. It had been an exhausting day after all.
