Hermione knew that Draco Malfoy was now a full grown man. He was slightly taller than she remembered him being and from what she could see from his broad shoulders under his blue wool peacoat, more muscular. His hair was cut shorter, buzzed on the sides and longer on top, with a few hairs brushing the top of his eyebrows. His jawline was more pronounced and his hands that she had caught a glimpse of before he shoved them into his coat pocket, appeared to be larger.
Even though she knew she was seeing the grown-up version of Draco before her, all she could see was the version of him that she remembered being up in her face, mocking her. The adolescent version that never ceased with his torment. The boy that never relented on finding her weak spots and digging his finger in the wound of every one of them.
Hermione shook her head to clear her thoughts before addressing him. She had thought about what she would say to him if she ever saw him again after she had graduated from Hogwarts. How she would turn on her heels and walk away from him or say something that made her sound brilliant but showed her level of maturity.
However, those thoughts had long passed. She hadn't thought about Draco in many years. She hadn't wanted the memory of him to invade her new reality.
Now here he was, invading her reality after ten years of her freedom of having to face him again.
"Hello Draco, yes what a coincidence that we shop at the same supermarket. Well, I must be going now. Take care", she fumbled out her words. She nodded at him and then turned to walk away from him.
There, she thought, it's done. I will leave this store and hopefully never have to see that dreadful man again. The chances of her bumping into him again in the city were slim. It was all just a giant coincidence that they had picked to go to the same supermarket at the same time.
She had taken five steps away from Draco when she heard a female's voice from behind her.
"Hi, honey. There you are, I've been up and down every aisle looking for you. I just had to go pick up some brioche rolls for tonight's dinner. Good thing that I went when I did, I grabbed the last pack of rolls that were there.", the voice said sweetly.
Hermione turned around, curious as to what type of woman would possibly be standing beside Draco, calling him honey and talking about making dinner. She was surprised to find a tall , tan and fit woman with her straight platinum blonde hair pulled tightly into a high ponytail. She was wearing workout gear and had a cheery smile upon her face.
"I was just catching up with an old friend from school", Draco responded to the woman.
Hermione cringed upon hearing the word 'friend' associated with her name. She most definitely was not his friend and never wanted to be.
"We were classmates", Hermione corrected Draco. "We haven't seen each other in more then a decade but it feels like just yesterday that I heard his voice". Hermione shivered a little at the thought of his voice. That voice had never made her feel comfortable and right now she wanted to run away. She didn't want to be there in front of him any longer then she had to be.
Draco drew the woman closer to him so that her shoulder was pressed again his shoulder, she turned to look up at him and smiled before turning to Hermione.
"Oh it is soooo nice meeting a former classmate of Draco's. I really haven't gotten to meet many of his friends and he hasn't introduced me to his family, beyond his mother. I am sure he was a real heartbreaker in school, wasn't he?", the woman asked.
"Umm, heartbreaker isn't exactly the word I would use", Hermione responded.
Draco shot her a warning look. A look that she thought said 'Don't say any more because I don't want to look bad in front of my lady friend'.
"Hermione this is my fiancé, Giselle. We met at the gym off on Broadway Street where she works as a trainer. We've been together ever since, for four years", Draco stated. "Giselle, this is Hermione Granger, we were in the same year at the academy we graduated from.
Hermione had to stifle a giggle. The mere thought of Draco working out at a gym just sounded hilarious. However, judging from his broad shoulders and how tight the coat appeared to be around his arms, it did look like he spent a decent amount of time working out at the gym.
The fact that this woman had been with Draco for four years also floored her. She couldn't imagine that he'd changed that much to keep a steady relationship with anyone much less one with a muggle.
She also noticed that he didn't state the name of the Academy that they had graduated from. That likely meant that Giselle was a muggle and Draco was keeping the fact that he was a wizard from her. He as obviously fitting right into the muggle world, his clothing choice looked like he stepped out of a LL Bean catalogue, with his dark denim jeans, pea coat and red and black checkered flannel peeking out from under his coat. Judging from the groceries in his cart, he was also cooking healthy, plenty of fruits and vegetables and lean meats were stacked up in his cart.
Hermione hadn't really learned to cook until after she graduated from college and working full time plus overtime meant she had limited time to cook so she stuck to basic meals that could last a few days or be frozen.
She laughed to herself, well wouldn't that be quite a surprise for her to learn she's engaged to a man that could turn her into a frog with a simple wave of his wand.
Hermione secretly wondered if he had used any love potions on Giselle. She used that theory as a rationale of how despite his lack of charm or a conscious he could snag a woman that looked like Giselle.
Giselle extended her hand to Hermione, showing off a giant diamond ring on her ring finger of her hand. Her fingernails were perfectly manicured, and she had bright red nail polish on. Which was a stark contrast to Hermione's fingernails which were chewed down to the quick out of nervous habit.
"Charmed to meet you Hermione. Any friend of Draco is a friend of mine.", she stated.
Hermione bit her bottom lip hard and tried to control herself from laughing and rolling her eyes.
"You should come to dinner with us on Friday night at Chez Nous. It's absolutely to die for and my brother is in town for our engagement party. You should meet him. He has a soft spot for pretty brunettes. We have a reservation for 7 pm. It would be fabulous for Draco to catch up with an old friend. Plus, you never know, you may meet the future love of your life there", Giselle said giggling.
Hermione touched the end strands of her hair, she hadn't thought of her hair color as brunette before, more like caramel blonde but maybe light brown was more accurate. She tried to think of ways out of the situation. She could just politely decline. She didn't know Giselle and she could make up a litany of excuses and get away with it. Now was her chance out of the situation, away from having to see Draco again, worse yet to sit at the same table with him.
She glanced over at Draco, who was shuffling his feet and looking down at the ground. She tried to catch his eye, but he wouldn't look her in the eye.
"Umm, sure. You are welcome to join us. It would be nice to catch up on what has been going on in your life for the last ten years since school ended. It will be nice to reminisce", he said stiffly, avoiding eye contact.
Hermione was about to laugh in his face when she thought better of it. This dinner may present an opportunity to embarrass Draco in front of his fiancée and her family. He will be forced to act politely , while she will be free to rail him with insults. The opportunity to make Draco Malfoy feel as small and helpless as he used to make her feel may be a positive thing.
She took a deep breath and put on a fake smile for Giselle, "I'd like to come, it sounds like a lovely idea. She smiled at Draco, catching his eye for a few second before he looked away. "I'll see you both Friday night".
Hermione waved at the both of them before pushing her trolley down the aisle and finished her shopping.
When she got back home she threw her coat on a kitchen chair and proceeded upstairs to her bedroom. She got down on her knees and reached under her twin sized bed that was pushed against the wall. She pulled out a shoebox sized cardboard box that was hidden under the navy blue and white striped comforter.
She opened the top of the box and pulled out a stack of polaroid's and other photographs. She hadn't kept much from her school days but the cardboard box held most of her precious memories. It held her first wand, a small pouch full of polished rocks that Ron Weasley had given her during year 10, he had sworn that they were good luck. She held the pouch in her palm, shuffling the stones in her hands.
She also had a diary that she had kept and a bag of bertie botts beans that Harry Potter had bought for her on the train during their train ride home during their winter break.
The stack of photographs covered all of the years from Hogwarts and she smiled as she went one by one through the pictures.
There were so many great memories that she had forgotten about, not having looked at the photos since she placed them in the box after she graduated.
She stopped suddenly when she spotted a group photograph that Draco was included in. She couldn't mistake the shock of whitish blonde hair of the boy that was sitting behind her. She guessed that it was taken during their last year, right before graduation. She squinted at the picture and noticed something that she hadn't realized before.
She remembered posing for the photograph and one of the younger students taking the picture.
Draco had his right hand placed upon her shoulder and he was looking down at her, his gaze falling to the top of her head. Curiously, he didn't seem to have a scowl on his face. Rather he seemed to have a dreamy look and a glint in his eyes. She recognized it because it was the same look that Ron has as he gazes upon her from the other side.
Hermione gently puts the photographs back in the box and shoes it back under the bed. She shakes her head in confusion.
As she slept that night, she tried to think of a reasonable explanation of why Draco would have been looking at her the same way Ron was looking at her.
A horrific realization hit her for a fleeting moment, that maybe he had had a crush on her and she just hadn't realized it. She pushed that thought back to the deep depths of her mind.
That thought was ridiculous. Draco Malfoy had obviously hated her guts back then as much as she grew to hate him.
Hermione struggled to sleep that night. She didn't want to remember the past but seeing Draco again was bringing those memories to the fore front again and her past was coming crashing back upon her.
For a moment she thought she would just not show up to the dinner but that desperation to give Draco a taste of his own medicine kept pushing into her thoughts.