Author's note: This chapter is long-ish, but lighter in content. I felt a nice, fun break was needed after all the new info thrown around in the last chapter. And as a heads up, the spell colloportus closes doors.
Falling into Place
Chapter 3: Sweet Tooth
Draco stares at himself in his bathroom mirror, straightens his tie, and runs a hand through his newly trimmed hair. "Everything's okay." He says to himself. It's been his mantra all weekend since Harry's engagement party. Now it's Monday. Meaning, it's Hermione's first day back at the Ministry. Her first day back in her office. "Everything-is-okay." Repetition calms the nerves.
Before Hermione went away, she and Draco would- unintentionally- floo into the Ministry at the same time every morning, so they'd always end up walking into their department together. He considered leaving earlier today so that he wouldn't run into her, but eventually convinced himself not to. Harry had advised him to 'go on about life like nothing is different'. And as irritating as it is, he's right. Draco can't afford to jeopardize their partnership with unresolved… feelings.
As he gets into the lift and presses the button for his department, his aforementioned friend squeezes in through the closing doors.
"Oh, hey." Draco greets him.
"Morning." Harry responds with a cheeky grin.
"You're here early…" Draco arches an eyebrow. Harry is a lot of things, 'morning person' is not one of them.
"Yeah, I know. But I'm actually running late, I was supposed to meet 'Mione ten minutes ago…" He says nonchalantly as he pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
"You don't seem all that concerned with being late." Draco smirks.
"Merlin, no. Those extra ten minutes of sleep were well-worth the scolding I'm about to endure." Harry laughs.
"Hang on, so she's already here?" Draco backtracks, feeling paranoid that she came in especially early with the intention of avoiding him.
"Yeah, said she wanted to come in early and get resettled into her office- first day back and all." Harry explains.
"Right." Draco feels relieved. He also feels worried for his sanity because paranoia does not suit him.
"You gonna be alright?" Harry eyes him curiously. Truthfully, he's not that worried about his friend. He knows that Draco would never do anything to jeopardize his partnership with Hermione- it's too important to him.
"Everything's okay." Draco states as confidently as he can. He wonders if she told Harry about their conversation and if she's out of sorts just as much as he is… He wouldn't dare ask him, though.
"Right…" Harry says as the lift doors open to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The brand new receptionist, Catherine, greets them.
"Good morning, Mr. Malfoy." Her eyes widen at the sight of Harry. "And good morning, Mr. Potter." She blushes furiously.
"Good morning." Harry greets kindly with a smile.
"Good morning." Draco says, trying to suppress an eye roll. He and Harry walk past the general work area, which is mostly empty save for two or three people. Draco and Hermione always report an hour earlier before the normal work day starts. "Ten years have passed and people still turn to mush when you enter a room." Draco grouses, in reference to Catherine.
"Oh shuttup." Harry rolls his eyes. He loves working at the ministry, but he can't help but feel embarrassed about the seemingly never-ending special treatment. "I wish people would just treat me normally, not like I'm some sort of celebrity…"
"But you are 'some sort of celebrity'. You're the Boy Who Lived Twice. The Boy Who Lived Squared." Draco looks at his friend amusedly, but Harry just barely cracks a smile. "Oh come on, that was kind of funny."
"Hardly." Harry laughs. "The only reason it's any sort of funny is because it's so ridiculous."
"I think he's losing his touch." Hermione appears in her open doorway, leans against the doorframe, and flashes a smirk. "Have I really been gone that long, that your humor has dwindled down to Ronald Weasley's level?" Harry snickers at the jab.
"I could easily shift the blame on you, you know. You're the one who left me stuck with them." Draco counters lightly.
"I'll own up to that." She laughs then wandlessly and wordlessly levitates a tray of coffee cups into her waiting hand.
"How the bloody hell did you do that?!" Harry almost yells, astounded by his best friend's abilities. Draco is also sent into a bit of a stupor because he still hasn't been able to successfully control the levitation of an object without the use of a wand. And he's tried many times...
"Do what?" She asks, clearly confused.
"Wandless magic… You once said that you wanted to train yourself to be able to do a few spells, but that was ages ago…" Harry stares at her in awe.
"Oh." Her eyes widen and her cheeks flush pink. "While I was away, I used my free time to practice… It took me a year to master this one…" She explains, embarrassedly.
"'Mione will you ever stop being brilliant? You make the rest of us look bad." Harry praises.
"Harry, you conjured a patronus strong enough to send away over a dozen dementors at the age of thirteen…" She deadpans. Harry scratches the back of his head, feeling embarrassed for being put on the spot. She laughs and continues, "It just takes a lot of practice. I failed terribly over and over again before I even got close to getting it right." Even though wingardium leviosa is a spell they learned first year, it takes a great amount of effort and control to do it wandlessly. She'd be able to get the object up in the air without any problems, but guiding it through the air to where she needed it… Completely different story.
"We all know it takes a really powerful witch or wizard be able to pull off wandless magic." Draco finally speaks up, feeling both jealous and impressed.
"I'm sure if you both practiced, you'd be able to do it." Her voice trails off as she hands each of the men a cup. "Oh hello, Minister." Hermione says as she spots Kingsley walking down the hallway.
"Good morning, all." Kingsley greets, approaching them.
"Good morning, Minister." Draco and Harry say simultaneously.
"I'm glad you're here, Harry, I wanted to speak with you about something. But I have to say, you're here uncharacteristically early." Kingsley comments.
"That's what I said." Draco says, chuckling.
"I'm not that bad, alright? I can wake up early." Harry defends himself.
"With a little bit of help, I'm sure." Draco looks at him pointedly. "How many times did Ginny have to shake you awake this morning?"
"I'm betting on three." Hermione chides, linking her arm with Harry's.
"Really? The number five kept popping up in my head," says Draco.
"I was thinking two." Kingsley offers.
"Well at least someone has some faith in me." Harry says in reference to Kingsley. "But Hermione knows me best… Three times." He slumps his shoulders in defeat and Hermione responds by gripping his arm tighter.
"We kid because we love, Harry." She says and the four of them have a laugh. "I'm not overlooking the fact that you were late, though. Don't think I've forgotten."
"Damn." Harry clicks his tongue. "I tried my best?" He looks at her sheepishly.
"You always do." She grins. "Next time I ask you to meet me early, I'm adding the ten minutes you owe me." Harry goes to object, but she cuts him off, "Alright, get out of here, Minister wants to discuss something with you and Draco and I have work to do." She unlinks their arms and gives him a small push.
"We do?" Draco asks.
"You need to catch me up on what you've been working on." She says as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.
"Of course I do." He jokingly gives a little eye roll. "Gentlemen, if you'd excuse us." He says to Kingsley and Harry.
"Have a good day, you two." Kingsley says.
"I'll see you later." Harry gives Hermione a kiss on the cheek and shoots Draco a knowing look from over her shoulder.
"Bye." Hermione says as Kingsley and Harry head down the hallway toward Auror headquarters. She immediately feels the shift in atmosphere. It's easy to act normal around Draco when other people are around, but now that they're alone, she's become hyper-aware of herself- the way she's standing, her outfit, the depth of her breathing… Her eyes insist on looking everywhere but him. It's ridiculous because she can't waste time feeling nervous. Work needs to be done, for Merlin's sake. She summons her Gryffindor courage then finally looks up at him. His eyes meet hers as they have hundreds of times before, but this time it feels… Different. Like there are so many words hiding behind both their eyes that are being left unsaid. They never really got to finish their conversation at the party…She left shortly after dessert was served because she had to visit her parents. "Catch me up." She casually instructs and walks past him to enter the office directly across from hers.
He smiles at the back of her head because, year and a half gone or not, she's still as controlling as ever- entering his office uninvited. "You actually have impeccable timing, I haven't started working on this yet." He places his cup on his desk and retrieves a file from his drawer. As he does this, she sinks into the chair in front of his desk and casts a charm on his coffee so it'll stay warm. "Thanks." He says without looking up. "Something old that Kingsley wants to be made new- the Trace." He hands her the file.
"Ah, it's about time. It's needed some serious tweaking." She quickly reads over the cover page.
"I agree. This is long overdue." He leans back in his chair and runs a hand through his hair. She takes note of its shortened length.
"You cut your hair." She comments and decides that he looks especially handsome today in his navy blue muggle suit.
"I did. You can't be the only fit one at work." He deadpans, much to her chagrin.
"Oh shuttup." She rolls her eyes and he smirks.
He then uses his wand to levitate the file from her lap to his desk. "How the hell did you manage to train yourself to do this wandlessly…" He mutters mostly to himself. Without a wand as a conduit, he can't control his power in a such a precise manner.
"I promise you, you can do it if you practice."
"I've tried…" He admits.
"Have you really? Here I was thinking that I was crazy for wanting to learn…" She tilts her head. "But you are just as much an overachiever as I am… What can you do?"
"Why do you think I'd be able to do something without a wand?" He asks.
"Because I know you. And there's a reason why you and I were at the top of our class." She responds with an arched brow, challenging him to prove her wrong. He smirks.
"Scourgify, alohamora, and colloportus." He finally answers as he organizes the papers into different piles.
"I was able to get alohamora and colloportus down pact… But scourgify? That's genius… I should really learn how to do that one… I managed to learn muffliato as well, since I used it so much all those months hunting horcruxes." She quickly transfigures a book into a small side table to create more room so they can further spread out the papers.
"Alright. so shall we work on the limitations first?"
"Yeah. They definitely need the most attention." She eyes the largest pile. "It's quite daunting, is it not?" She laughs.
"You'd think that with all this paperwork, it wouldn't need any tweaking… But there are still so many gaps within this bill."
"I know…" With a flick of her wand, the pile divides itself in half. "Meet back in two hours to discuss notes?"
"Sounds good." He watches as she exits his office, the pile of papers steadily levitating behind her. He returns the small table she transfigured to its original form and notices she left her coffee on edge of his desk. "Typical." He mutters to the coffee cup and sighs loudly. Cup in hand, he walks across the hall to her open door. She's already hard at work, so he leans his shoulder against the doorframe and observes her for a moment. Her hair is a little too short to fashion into that signature top knot, so she's opted to clip half of it up and away from her face. Either way, seeing her at her desk like this- it's like she never even left. "Your coffee." He says, announcing his presence. She startles at the sound of his voice.
"Merlin, Draco, don't scare me like that." She claps a hand over her heart then looks to the cup in his hand. "I'm sorry, I feel like I always forget my coffee in your office."
"You do always forget your coffee in my office." He approaches her desk and just before setting the cup down, he casts a warming charm on it.
"Thanks." She smiles up at him. He lingers for a bit in front of her. "Did you need something?"
"I just feel like we didn't get a chance to finish our conversation at the party, what with you leaving early and all that." He slips his hands into his trouser pockets. The sheepish look is rather cute on him and she hates that.
"I get that feeling too but, truthfully, I'm not sure what else there is to say." There's actually plenty for either of them to say, but none of it would be appropriate, given the circumstances. "I didn't expect you to wait for me." She knows that was a half lie. "It's your life, Draco."
"Right…" He runs a hand through his hair again. She knows this is a nervous habit of his, which inadvertently makes her nervous. "Anyway, I just want to make sure we've cleared the air. Because well, this partnership is important to me… so I don't want things to be… weird."
"The air is as clear as it needs to be. We're okay." She offers the most genuine smile that she can because they are okay. It might not feel like it yet, but it will. It needs to… "Now get to work. Just because I'm back and you no longer have to do everything yourself, doesn't make it okay for you to fall behind." She warns.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." He waves her off. "See you in two hours."
"Seriously? You don't think they should be allowed to use their magic in Hogsmeade?" He asks incredulously.
"No, I don't think they should be allowed." She takes a bite of her blueberry muffin.
"But it's a Hogwarts trip. They're still technically in school." He lightly tosses a green apple between his hands. They've been comparing notes for several hours- trying to iron out all the kinks of the Trace's limitations and so absorbed in discussion that they almost forgot to eat.
"But they aren't properly chaperoned."
"Alright, but they're third years. They have a decent handle on their abilities. And clearly, Hogwarts deems them old enough to go galavanting around the village without adult supervision, so why shouldn't they be allowed to use their magic?"
"I don't think it's a good idea." She shakes her head and opens her container of fruit salad.
"You can't honestly tell me that you didn't enjoy being able to use unsupervised magic in Hogsmeade." He challenges. She offers some fruit to him but he declines and takes a bite of his apple.
"I suppose I did." She shrugs.
"So can you finally agree with me?" He raises his eyebrows and looks at her expectantly as he takes another bite.
"Fine." She concedes with a huff. "The Trace won't follow them into Hogsmeade." She pauses and purses her lips. "As long as it's during the school year."
"Fair." He makes a note of it while she packs her plastic container away.
"Other people would wonder what both of you are still doing here, but I'm not the slightest bit surprised." Kingsley walks into Draco's office. "I'm ecstatic to see my two star employees settling back into their routine."
"Potter isn't your star employee?" Draco asks with a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"Well, he's my star Auror. It's different." Kingsley barks out a laugh.
"You should know by now- there's a different set of rules that apply to Harry Potter. One of the perks of saving the wizarding world." Hermione jokingly reminds.
"Damned Potter and his eternal glory…" Draco mumbles which earns a giggle from Hermione. "Anyway, Minister, what can we do for you?"
"Just checking in." He looks amusedly at the mess of papers scattered all around Draco's desk.
"We're working on the Trace. Almost done with its limitations." Hermione explains.
"About time, am I right?" Hermione and Draco nod. "Everything looks to be going well. Save for the fact that you two are just eating now. It's half past four."
"We were so engrossed in talking that we almost forgot." Hermione says. She and Draco didn't even set time aside to eat a proper lunch, they're just snacking on whatever they happened to bring in for breakfast.
"Get your arses out of here. Harry has been waiting for you since four. I warned him that you'd probably be a while, but he insisted."
"Did he say why he needed to see us?" Hermione asks worriedly. She doesn't want Harry to wait any longer but they're so close to completing these limitations… Kingsley shakes his head.
"I know why he's waiting." Draco offers. "Over the weekend, he mentioned wanting to have dinner together since it's your first day back at work. But he didn't say anything else so I thought he might've changed his mind."
"I suppose we should go, then." Hermione begins restacking the papers she had in her lap. "We can finish this tomorrow." Draco nods and puts his notepad into a drawer.
"Enjoy." Kingsley smiles then uses wandless magic to put everything back in its proper place, leaving Draco's workspace immaculate. "See you tomorrow." He bids, taking his leave. Draco stands to gather up his briefcase and suit jacket.
"Let me just grab my things." Hermione announces. She straightens out her pencil skirt then looks over at him with a curious expression.
"What?" He asks cautiously.
"Mustard." She flicks her wand and he feels as if something is wiping the corner of his mouth.
"Oh. Thanks." He wipes at his mouth anyway.
Without thinking she says, "See? I can help clean food off your face without kissing you." He stares at her with wide eyes- clearly taken aback by her bold comment. As she quickly turns to leave, she feels an unbearable heat rush to her face. Perhaps that was too flirtatious… She didn't mean for it to be… What on Earth compelled her to say something like that?!
"I think I'd prefer the lips." He mumbles to her retreating figure then runs a hand over his face and rolls his shoulders back. He's glad things aren't awkward between them but no matter what he does, he can't seem to stop thinking about kissing her… Something's made her look particularly snoggable since she's returned.
Of course, there is a certain fascination in wanting things you can't have…
"Finally." Harry calls to his friends as soon as he sees them approaching.
"You didn't tell us you'd be waiting." Hermione gives Harry a pointed look.
"I didn't want to rush you." He explains. "Come on, then. Ginny's already waiting." Hermione and Draco follow him out of the Ministry to an empty alley. Harry takes Hermione's hand and apparates them to the sidewalk in front of 12 Grimmauld Place. Draco appears immediately after them.
When they enter the living room, they're greeted by a large banner- no doubt crafted by Ginny- that says, 'Welcome Home!', hanging over the fireplace.
"Goodness." Hermione gasps. Just then, Ginny enters the room, clad in an apron and oven mitts.
"Hi, sweetheart." Ginny greets her fiancé.
"Gin, we discussed this. Not while Harry's around." Draco hisses.
"Shut it." Ginny rips off an oven mitt and chucks it at Draco's head. And it would have hit him if he wasn't so quick to dodge.
"You've got quite an arm. Have you thought about playing quidditch professionally?" Draco bends to pick up the mitt.
"Malfoy, I will hex you." She chucks the other oven mitt to him, as opposed to throwing it at him. He catches it. "Make yourself useful and take the lasagna out of the oven. Cover it with foil and then put the cake in."
"Oh my, the use of my surname means business." Draco taunts but does as he's told. He knows better than to test Ginny. Tucking the oven mitts under his arm, he heads for the kitchen and quickly gives Ginny's shoulder a squeeze as he passes her.
"Thank you." Ginny calls after him in a sing-song voice. "How was your first day back in the office?" She asks, redirecting her attention at Hermione.
"It was fine! Same as usual…" Hermione answers, peeking around Ginny to see the extensive dinner spread on the dining room table. "Ginny, you didn't have to do any of this."
"Of course I didn't. But someone insisted." She darts her eyes in the direction of her fiancé.
"Even though she showed up completely unannounced," he gives a pointed look at his best friend, who just laughs in response to his expression, "she still deserves a proper 'welcome home' celebration." Harry justifies from his seat on the couch.
"He missed you more than he ever let on." Ginny whispers- rather loudly- to Hermione. "Couldn't compromise his masculinity by admitting to it."
"I missed you too, Harry." She sits next to him and rests her head on his shoulder.
"We all missed you." Harry adds with a light kiss on the top of her head. He then puckers his lips at his fiancé, who meets his waiting lips with hers. "How was your day, Gin?"
"Eventful, actually. I was offered the position as captain of the Harpies." She dusts her apron free of flour.
"That's wonderful, Gin!" Hermione jumps up from her seat to congratulate her friend with a hug.
"Took them long enough." Harry yawns and rubs his eyes. "When do you start?"
"Well… I deferred the offer for a year." She shrugs. Harry, who seemed very tired just a second ago, is now at full attention.
"Why would you do that?" He asks, concern lacing his voice. "You been waiting for so long."
"I wanted to put as much focus as I could into the wedding… Being captain would take up more of my free time and I can't afford that."
"Gin, no…" He hates the idea of her giving up her dreams for him. She loves quidditch and she's brilliant at it. And he's met her teammates- no one deserves to be captain more than her.
"It's alright, sweetheart." She perches herself on the arm of the couch and ruffles a hand through Harry's hair. "I was told that it will be waiting for me when I'm ready. Our current captain refuses to step down until I'm ready to take it."
"If it's really what you want…" He reaches for her hand.
"It is." She smiles. "Don't you worry. I'm just really excited to marry you." She gives him another quick kiss. Hermione smiles at the couple.
"Could literally vomit all over everything you own." Draco reappears in the living room, oven mitts still on his hands.
"Did you do what I told you?" Ginny snaps at him.
"Easy, Red. The lasagna needed another five minutes before I could put the cake in."
"Good." Ginny huffs and stands.
"You look so domestic." Harry smirks at his friend.
"At least I can manage to handle Ginny's food without dropping it." Draco spits.
"That was one time." Harry groans.
"Yeah, that 'one time' ruined the entire meal. Why did you feel the need to levitate everything at once?" Draco arches an eyebrow.
"Idunno, I thought I could manage! And I probably could have, if Ron hadn't distracted me."
"Ron didn't do anything to distract him," Ginny begins to explain to Hermione, "he simply walked into the room without warning and scared Harry so much that he lost focus of the spell and dropped everything." Hermione giggles then watches as the three of them bicker about whose fault it was. She has no idea when this incident happened or why anyone trusted Harry with their meal, but she can't help but feel like she missed out on so much… And she can tell that they've gotten so much closer while she's been gone. It doesn't make her jealous- it makes her more determined to make up for lost time.
They hear the front door open and the sound of clumsy footfalls.
"There's Ron." Ginny says, hopping up to meet her brother in the hallway
"That explains the copious amount of food on the table." Draco comments.
"I heard that, Malfoy." Ron enters the living room. "Sorry I'm late- shop got busy right before George came in. And I had to pick up Lav before coming here." Lavender walks in behind Ginny, who is now carrying a basket of fruit.
"Sorry to intrude, but Ron insisted I come." Lavender apologizes. Ron nods his head at Draco and Harry as means of greeting them.
"Hey, 'Mione." Ron greets her properly from afar. He still isn't sure how casual to act around her so he approaches slowly.
"Hey, Ron." Hermione responds not quite as tentatively with a friendly smile. Once he's close enough, he envelops her in a hug.
"Ron told me you like fruit, so I put a little something together." Lavender says good-naturedly and gestures to the basket that Ginny has placed on the coffee table.
"That was very thoughtful of you." Hermione responds with another smile. She's surprised that Ron brought her because these dinners are a sort of sacred tradition between the five of them…
"Might I use your bathroom before dinner gets started?" Lavender asks Ginny.
"Yes, of course. Upstairs, third door on the left." Ginny points in the direction of the staircase.
"Thank you."
As soon as she's out of earshot, Ron says in a hushed voice, "I know it's weird that I brought her but I figured I should let her spend more time with you guys…" Hermione was told that he hardly brought Lavender around before, so she wonders.. Why now?
"Why now?" Draco asks bluntly. It startles her at first because how the hell does he do that? She looks over at him gratefully for being able to ask what she was thinking… He feels her gaze almost immediately- his eyes lock with hers for a split second, he smirks ever so slightly, then returns his attention to Ron. The whole exchange happens so quickly that Ron hasn't even begun to answer yet.
"Idunno… Because I've waited long enough to do this?" Ron replies and scratches the back of his head.
"You've been together a year, Ron. I can count the number of times you've brought her around on my hands." Ginny speaks up.
"It's me, isn't it?" Hermione questions, looking intently at Ron.
"I…" He begins.
"You want me to like her." She interjects. "Because you don't want things to be weird between us." She uses her finger to gesture between herself and Ron.
"I… Yeah." He admits. "I don't… Expect you to like her… I just want you to see she's not all bad…" His face reddens from embarrassment. "I really care about her." His confession makes her insides cringe, but she can see the effort he's putting into this- it's important to him, which means it should be important to her.
"And I care about you." Hermione says and lightly touches Ron's arm. "It's just gonna take some adjustment. For everyone involved. I'm glad you feel comfortable enough to give us the chance to get to know her."
"Thanks, 'Mione." Ron exhales as if a huge weight has finally been lifted off his shoulders, and smiles. Draco observes their conversation from across the room in awe. He didn't think a person could be as loyal to their friends as Hermione is to hers. If he was in her place, he probably would have given his ex hell. He's also in awe of the fact that she seems so unafraid to face discomfort. How does she manage do it?
"Shall we eat then?" Hermione announces once Lavender re-enters the living room.
"Please. I'm starved." Harry agrees and leads them all into the dining room. Ginny prepared a lovely meal of mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables, oven-roasted chicken, lasagna, and garlic bread. "This all looks delicious, Gin."
"I hope the lasagna turned out well. It's the first time I'm trying a recipe that isn't my mother's." She moves the lasagna from its original position to a place closer to the center of the table.
Out of habit, Draco moves to pull Hermione's chair out for her. This time, however, he catches himself doing it so he glances up at Ginny. She pretends like she didn't see a thing, but he notices the little twitch of her stifled smile. Harry, on the other hand, shoots Draco a less than subtle smirk.
"Thank you." Hermione says, looking up at him after taking her seat. This simple, kind gesture from him always manages to make her stomach flutter- she should be used to it by now, but she's not. Not even close. And with what's going on- and not going on- between them, her mind is racing double-time.
"No problem." He answers rather quickly and mentally slaps himself repeatedly. She eyes him curiously, feeling confused by his strange behavior. "I'm going to grab the wine from the kitchen. And might as well check on that cake."
"The wine. How could I have forgotten? I didn't even put the glasses out." Ginny scolds herself and follows Draco into the kitchen. "Thanks for reminding me about the wine." She says to Draco then levitates a bottle out of the wine shelf and signals for him to take hold of it. "It's 'Mione's favorite." She explains her choice. "Harry bought it for Easter last year, but when she owled saying she wasn't coming, he saved it and refused to open it until she came home."
"This is her favorite?"
"Her favorite red. It's the only one she'll drink."
"So that's why it's only wine we ever have at dinner. Not that I'm complaining." He admires the bottle. "She has good taste."
"Well, she let you kiss her so that's debatable." She casually arranges six wine glasses on a metal tray. He feels his jaw slack while his eyes dart back and forth between Ginny and the very open doorway to the dining room. "You failed to mention that little snippet of information."
"Could you maybe talk more quietly about this?" Draco whispers sharply. "And besides, I knew the whole topic would come up in Harry's and your nightly pillow talk."
"Yeah well, I should have heard from you." She picks up the tray carefully so that the glasses stay perfectly still. "Harry and I are not some hermaphroditic blob." Draco knows she's absolutely right. Harry is his best friend and Ginny is a very close second. She's clever, can be a manipulative pain in the arse, and doesn't have much of a filter. Merlin knows why she didn't end up as a Slytherin… But her blunt honesty is one of his favorite things about her- it's an invaluable quality that's hard to find in people.
"I know, I should have been the one to tell you, but contrary to popular belief, I don't usually 'kiss and tell'." Even if he did, he'd want to keep that particular kiss as much a secret as possible. Hermione would definitely hex him into the next millennium if she found out that he blabbed. The oven beeps indicating that the cake is done. He carefully takes it out and sets it on the counter. "Let me take that." He then says to her and balances the tray of glasses in one hand with ease. His other hand is wrapped around the neck of the wine bottle. "Cast a cooling charm on the cake." Ginny takes his suggestion and wordlessly casts the charm. Hopefully it'll cool down enough so that she can decorate it after dinner. She leads them back into the dining room.
"Ah, we can finally open this." Harry takes the bottle.
"He's been saving that bottle for you, 'Mione." Ron says to her.
"You didn't have to, Harry." Hermione says embarrassedly.
"This stuff is expensive. You're mad if you think I'd drink it without you." Harry states. He pours the wine and Ginny levitates each filled glass to each person's seat. Harry raises his glass and everyone follows suit. "Welcome home, 'Mione. You've been greatly missed."
"Hear, hear." Ron says happily and they all take a sip.
"Merlin, this is never not good." Hermione mumbles and takes another satisfied sip. Draco, having heard what she said, chuckles quietly to himself. She would be picky about her wine.
Harry officially initiates dinner by carving a piece out of the chicken and putting it on Ginny's plate. Then, as usual, he carves up the rest of it to make it easier for everyone else. Ron carefully serves some mashed potatoes to Lavender then happily slops a large mound of it onto his plate. Without exchanging any words, Draco passes the bowl of vegetables to Hermione while she simultaneously hands the plate of garlic bread over to him. They're so used to eating together that the give-and-take of their work partnership has extended into mealtime. While it's commonplace for them, it's oddly entertaining in the eyes of their two best friends. Harry and Ginny shoot each other a look. He has a hard time stifling his smile and she has to feed herself some chicken to curb the laugh threatening to escape her mouth.
"Can't even tell the difference between yours and mum's cooking." Ron praises, his mouth full of potatoes. Hermione, Harry, and Ginny all cringe at the sight of him talking with his mouth full.
"Ron's horrid table manners aside, I agree completely." Harry says, making Hermione and Ginny laugh. Lavender giggles and pats her boyfriend's arm as he shoots Harry a glare.
"You'll have to give me this lasagna recipe, Gin. It's to die for." Hermione chimes in while gesturing to the half-empty dish.
"Absolutely. Just remind me later."
The rest of dinner goes on as it usually does. A comfortable atmosphere among friends. Much to Hermione's surprise, Lavender's presence doesn't take away from it. She's much quieter than she used to be and is actually incredibly amiable. She complements Ron well- better than Hermione ever really could, now that she's thinking about it. And though that stings a bit, she's happy to see him so happy.
They all learn for the first time that Lavender works at Madame Malkins as a tailor and, for certain clientele, as a stylist. Draco is shocked to hear that his mother is one of her regulars.
"Your mother never said anything?" Ginny asks.
"Never. Not that I expected her to. No offense, Lavender, but she probably has no idea that we were in the same year."
"None taken." Lavender responds. "Truthfully, I was surprised to find out she's your mother. It's obvious that you do have some of her features, but I would have never guessed she had a child my age. She looks wonderful."
"I accept that compliment on behalf of my mother. She'd be happy to know that someone- other than her son or husband, that is- thinks she hasn't aged a day over thirty." Draco chuckles.
"Your father used to accompany her all the time, but I haven't seen him in quite a while… How has he been?"
"Oh, uh. He's been alright." Draco answers awkwardly. "He-"
Before he can continue, Ginny intervenes. "Perhaps we could serve the delicious fruit Lavender brought us. What do you think?" Ginny looks over at Lavender and her brother. Ron catches on quickly enough.
"Sounds great. Lav, why don't you help Gin?" Ron smiles at his girlfriend then shoots a glance at Draco, whose face almost immediately floods with relief.
"Of course." Lavender joins Ginny as she stands.
"'Mione, since Lavender and I will be preparing this fruit, would you mind decorating the cake? It's a bit unconventional for the guest of honor to decorate their own cake, but I don't think you'll mind." Ginny gives her a cheeky grin. Draco notices it's much like the one Harry gave him this morning. This woman is becoming such a bad influence on his poor, unknowing friend that it's almost laughable.
"I don't mind at all." Hermione says, laughing. She offers Draco a sympathetic smile as she passes him on the way to the kitchen. He finds comfort in her concern.
"Sorry about that, mate. Didn't mean for you to be put on the spot like that." Ron apologizes quietly. Ron found out about Draco's father long after Harry and Ginny were told. Draco wasn't trying to intentionally keep him in the dark, it's just that he and Ron aren't particularly close. They get along fine, but it wasn't always like that. The first time Harry brought Draco to dinner, a lot of profanities were thrown around exclusively by Ron. This was probably due to the fact that he didn't see it coming- Harry did a pretty good job of hiding his budding friendship with Draco.
"Why didn't anyone fucking tell me?!" Ron exclaimed, narrowing his eyes at the blonde sitting across from him. "I can deal with the niceties at Ministry events… and if I happen to run into him in Diagon Alley or something… but this? I wasn't aware that we were planning to get all chummy with him."
"I don't particularly appreciate being referred to in the third person when I'm sitting right here." Draco spat.
"Cry me a fucking river, Malfoy." Ron spat back.
"I'll cry a river only if you agree to drown in it, Weasel." Draco challenged, effectively causing Ron to rise angrily from his seat.
"Ron, you know he's different now. You know how much he's done to help the Aurors. You were there for a majority of it." Harry said calmly.
"Yeah. I know. But professional relationships are completely different from personal ones. At work, we could keep each other at arm's length. Now, he'll be in what we've always considered to be our safe space." Hermione couldn't agree more with that sentiment. Allowing Draco into their personal lives was risky- it's much easier for the claws to come out behind closed doors.
"I'm clearly not wanted here, Harry. I should probably go." Draco said in his cool drawl.
"No. This is absolutely ridiculous." Ginny said loudly, startling everyone. Her voice suddenly took on a grave tone. "Draco, stop being a prat by egging him on. Ron, sit your arse down. If neither of you can find a way to act civilized, I suggest you both leave and not come back until you're ready to do so. We are not children anymore." Ron sat down obediently, which Draco found interesting at the time- he didn't know Ron Weasley to be the type to back down so easily. He had heard rumors of Ginny's fiery personality but he had never experienced it firsthand. Within a month's time, he'd find out just how frightening Ginny Weasley could be. "Now, this is not exactly the most comfortable situation for any of us, Ron, so don't you go playing the victim. I had my reservations about Draco as well, but judging from all the good things Harry's had to say about him over the years, he's worth giving a second chance. Or do I need to remind you who it was that armed Harry with the wand that defeated Voldemort?"
"Switching sides last minute doesn't make him any less of a slimy git. If anything, it makes him more of…" Ron muttered. Draco literally had to bite his tongue to keep from saying something that would get him thrown out for sure.
"Ron, please." Hermione said. She was by no means thrilled to be sitting next to Draco Malfoy at their sacred weekly dinner, but she was doing her best to trust Harry's judgment and Ron was being unreasonably stubborn. The one quiet request from Hermione placated Ron almost immediately.
"Fine." Ron conceded and relaxed back into his seat. Draco eyed the pair curiously. As far as he knew, they had broken things off a few months ago- it was all over the front page of every wizard tabloid. And while he didn't usually believe gossip, Granger did attend the last Ministry event alone. The Weasel clearly still had a soft spot for her. "I'll be nice if he does."
"I'll be nice." Draco agreed.
It took the two men six months- that's twenty four meals together- to finally go one night without arguing. They still have a good row every now and then, but it's never about anything serious. Thankfully, it's only ever about quidditch. Draco actually finds Ron rather funny and Ron is appreciative of Draco's mild protectiveness over his sister.
"It's no problem. She has no idea." Draco responds to Ron's apology.
"Well, at least we don't have to help out in the kitchen." Ron says happily.
"Yeah, but you know that means we're on dish duty." Harry reminds.
"Shit." Ron groans, which makes Draco chuckle.
"I wonder if I'm exempt since I took the lasagna out of the oven. And put the cake in." Draco leans back in his chair.
"That's only two things!" Ron barks out a laugh.
"Hey, it's two more things than you did." Draco smirks. "I also reminded her about the wine. I should be rewarded for that."
"Shut it." Ron rolls his eyes. "Did you read about last night's game?"
"Merlin, no. I completely forgot." Draco was too preoccupied with his uncharacteristic anxiety this morning to read the paper.
"Apparently it was a nail biter." Harry chimes in as he stacks the dirty dishes with his wand. "Back and forth between the Canons and Puddlemere all night."
"Well, who won?"
"Canons." Ron answers proudly. "Hiliariously enough, one of Puddlemere's beaters fell off his broom."
"That guy we hate?" Draco asks. Ron nods. "Tosser."
"You only hate him because he was all over Ginny at that party she brought us to last month." Harry says laughing.
"Well, yeah. Why don't you hate him?" Ron furrows his brow in confusion.
"Seriously, Harry, that guy is always up to no good. On and off the pitch." Draco begins to help Harry with the dishes. "Remember that game we watched last year? He knocked one of Gin's teammates right off her broom."
"He was so drunk at that party And besides, you know how much I enjoy watching Gin destroy the hopes and dreams of desperate men." Harry replies.
"You just like seeing the look on those poor guys' faces when she tells them that she's with the Harry Potter." Draco grouses.
"Yeah, pretty much." Harry says with a shrug. Ron snickers.
In the kitchen, Ginny and Lavender are cutting up fruit with their wands and arranging them on a dish. Hermione is icing the cake by hand.
"You're really good at that, Hermione." Lavender praises.
"Cake decorating was one of my mother's many talents, so she taught me a few things." Hermione explains. "My father used to joke about how many past lives she must've had to be able to excel in so many things."
"'Mione is just like her mother." Harry's voice fills the room. He and Ron carry the plates of unfinished food while Draco levitates the dirty dishes into the sink.
"He's exaggerating." Hermione rolls her eyes and hands Harry a spoon covered in icing. He takes it excitedly.
Ron eyes the spoon greedily, then says, "Hey, could I-" Hermione doesn't even give him a chance to finish his sentence because she shoves another spoon covered in icing in his face. He grins from ear to ear.
Before long, he and Harry joke around with Ginny and Lavender by smearing icing on their respective significant other's face. The women squeal and try to do the same to the men. Hermione laughs at the sight of four grown adults run around the kitchen acting like teenagers.
"I don't suppose you want one." Hermione waves the off-set spatula she's been using at Draco.
"You know I don't." He chuckles then casts a spell on the sink and tableware so it'll wash itself. He leans back on the counter.
"I know you don't." She cuts a small slice out of the cake, picks up two spoons, grabs an untouched green apple from the basket, and walks over to him. She offers a fork and holds the cake slice out. No questions asked, he takes a bite out of it then places the used fork with the rest of the dirty dishes. After a quick scourgify, Hermione immediately gives him the apple then hoists herself up to sit on the other side of the sink. "You know, my parents would like you based solely off your perfect teeth."
"You think I have perfect teeth?" He arches an eyebrow and takes a satisfied bite out of the apple.
"Oh shuttup. You're so full of it." She stabs the slice of cake frustratedly and he smirks. She's been making a bad habit of speaking before thinking when it comes to him and it needs to stop.
"Your parents are…" He pauses so his brain can search for the right word. He vaguely remembers Harry telling him once but he can't be sure. "...dentists?" He drags out the syllables, not feeling very confident in his answer.
"Yeah." She confirms and widens her eyes a fraction because she doesn't remember ever telling him.
"What exactly is a 'dentist'?"
"They're doctors- I'm sorry, healers- that tend to people's teeth. It's a strange concept- someone caring for the inside of another person's mouth- but I assure you, it's very important in the muggle world." She explains and his face contorts into an expression that reads disgust.
"Very strange…" He doesn't understand why someone would willingly poke around a person's mouth. "But I suppose it makes sense since there's no magic to fix cavities and the like. Speaking of, I can feel myself getting a cavity just watching those idiots." They've somehow managed to get icing all the counter.
"Were you deprived of sweets as a child so you never grew a sweet tooth?" She chides, taking one more bite before putting the unfinished cake slice on the counter.
"I was deprived of sweets, yes. But in truth, it made me want them even more. Our first Halloween at Hogwarts, I ate myself sick with sweets."
"You're joking." She giggles.
"I'm not. Madam Pomfrey owled my parents and everything. Father was furious, of course." He lets out a quiet laugh. "I loved Hogwarts when I was growing up. It was home- somewhere I felt like I could be a normal kid. But then the war made things complicated."
"We had to grow up too fast."
"I know… But not fast enough, apparently." He jerks his head toward their friends, who are now attempting to clean the icing off their faces and fingers. They both laugh then fall into a comfortable silence.
It's sweet, really. She had no idea Draco felt that way about Hogwarts, considering he was always bad-mouthing Dumbledore and the rest of their teachers. But Hogwarts was home for so many of them.
She looks over at him watching their friends in amusement and sees him try to hide a smile behind his apple. There was a point in time when she thought it impossible for him to smile so sincerely… It's a wonder why he didn't do it more often- with those perfect teeth, no other expression is better suited for his face. Strike that. His smile is rivaled only by that annoyingly charming smirk.
"Oi, you four." Draco calls out to them. "Hurry your arses up. That fruit isn't gonna eat itself." He knows Hermione has been waiting patiently to try some of it.
"You're no fun, Draco." Ginny calls back.
"I'm plenty fun." He defends himself but it's completely lost on Ginny because she's already refocused on the glob of icing in her hair. He shakes his head and pushes off the counter. Making his way over to the platter of fruit, he picks up a small bowl on the way. He fills the bowl with strawberries, blueberries, and grapes and returns to his spot by the sink. "You're better off starting without them." He offers the fruit to Hermione. She stares at the bowl then at the expectant look on his face.
"How did you know what I wanted?"
"You offer me fruit every single day, do you really think I wouldn't have figured out what you normally eat?" She finally takes the bowl. "The cantaloupe wasn't cut up, though. I didn't know what to replace it with."
"Watermelon. I like watermelon." She tells him.
"So do I." He levitates two triangular slices of watermelon toward them. They each take a hold of one.
She takes a bite out of her slice. It's delicious. "Sweet."
He surveys his surroundings. The couples have finally calmed down- Ginny is sitting in Harry's lap, sharing a slice of cake, and Ron is gently wiping the last bit of icing off Lavender's nose. Hermione is perched on the countertop, swinging her legs back and forth and smiling to herself. She soon catches him staring. He bites down on his watermelon then repeats in agreement, "Sweet." She meets her eyes with his and smiles the kind of smile that makes his heart beat loud in his chest. Sweet. Very sweet.
