12th November 2006, 3.21 pm
Hermione chuckled as Roxy ran ahead through the park gate. The weather was not too cold yet and the sun was out, a perfectly mild day for a walk through the city. Hermione had picked Roxy up in her magical preschool and took her out for a meal in one of the Italian restaurants for the little one's favourite, spaghetti bolognese. And since there was a park on the way, she couldn't say no when Roxy asked to be taken for a walk to prolong their time together.
"Not too far, Roxy!" she called and quickened her step to catch up with her.
Roxy was already on the swing, her bag by the swing pole and her little legs trying to kick out to get moving. "Will you help me Mimi?" she asked hopefully.
"Of course," she smiled fondly and unbuttoned her light coat to get a better swing in.
"Mione!" someone shouted, startling her badly and her wand was aiming at the possible offender as she turned around, covering Roxy from sight.
She blinked in surprise and lowered her wand. "Harry? What are you doing here?" she asked suspiciously.
"Just taking Teddy out for a walk. Teddy, this is Hermione Granger, my friend," he introduced her, the words making Hermione nearly twitch at the presumption.
"Hello miss Herminee," he extended his small hand to her politely.
She shook his hand with a smile, seeing the eyes of Remus Lupin staring up at her cautiously. "Hello Teddy, nice to meet you. And this is Roxy," she waved at the girl who had jumped down from the swing.
"Hi Rox," he grinned.
"Hi Teddy," she beamed, all pretty smiles.
Hermione raised a brow and Harry shrugged. "Same preschool," he explained.
"Alright, Teddy, would you swing Roxy up on the swing?" she suggested and watched as he enthusiastically nodded. "Alright, we'll be just here, watching carefully. And don't step in the way of the swing," she reminded as the two dashed for the swing again and in moments Roxy was shining high up with a happy laugh.
Harry came to stand beside her and cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Did you uhm…get my letter?" he asked cautiously.
"I did," she said simply, without taking her eyes off the kids, her wand in her sleeve at the ready just in case they hurt themselves.
"Okay," he shuffled his hands into the pockets of his jeans and rolled back on his heels a bit, a nervous habit he had kept from teenage years.
Hermione sighed and decided to give him a break. "You have five minutes of my time, shoot," she said and waited to hear what he wanted to talk about.
Harry studied her for a long moment, surprised by the steel in her tone and her cold demeanour. They occasionally caught sight of each other in the halls of the ministry but very rarely. And the prophet never wrote about her anymore really, which he found odd cause they were still on his and Ron's tail any moment they could. His once best friend has changed drastically. She looked more filled out, rosy in the cheeks, skin almost glowing in the autumn sunshine. Her once shoulder length crazy curls were still wild and untamed but now reached midway on her back, looking healthy and glossy. And she was wearing a dress, something he didn't see her wear often when they were younger. She looked good, but different. Her whiskey eyes were hard as steel, guarded, and there was a lithe, dangerous aura around her. She was on edge around him and he was saddened to know their easy friendship was lost because of him.
"Four minutes," she broke him out of his thoughts and raised an inpatient brow.
"Umm yes," he cleared his throat again and turned fully towards her. "I'm sorry. After the war I was sick of everyone telling me what to do and in between the funerals, I was loosing too many friends. I didn't handle the split between you and Ron well," he said cautiously but with true remorse in his words.
Hermione nodded. "That I can forgive, despite it being selfish of you. What I find difficult to accept is the fact that you haven't made any effort whatsoever to make amends for years. Almost eight years of working in the same place and yet no word of apology, or even a hello," she said firmly. "So why are you trying to make apologies now?" she prodded, wanting to know his true motives.
Surprisingly enough Harry blushed. That only made her more intrigued. "Out with it. You have two minutes left," she reminded.
"I'm dating Draco," he blurted out.
Hermione looked at him incredulously. "You're…oh that sneaky ferret," she chuckled, suddenly finding the whole situation hilarious. So that's why Draco was walking around like the cat who got the cream. Her filthy mind provided a visual to that metaphor in very realistic terms and she scrunched up her nose, not exactly keep to imagine their sex life.
"You don't mind?" Harry asked, trying to gage her reaction.
Hermione shrugged. "If that's what you and Draco want, then what does anyone's opinion matter? I hope you will be happy together," she said simply, most definitely not about to judge her good friend and her once best friend if they wanted to hit it up. "Just no details please, from either of you," she snickered.
"So you do work together," Harry grinned. "He doesn't discuss work but I recently took up the Head Auror post and got a briefing folder on the cooperation of our units. I had a feeling you had something to do with Unit 25, you both do," he said nearly triumphantly.
His smile however waned when Hermione gave him a sharp look. "And that is all you will ever know about Unit 25. Don't expect to learn who we are or what we do. You would need special permission from Kings himself," she said quite frankly, unimpressed by his gloating over figuring out their jobs.
"You're right, sorry. I just wanted to know how you are, and to once again say sorry," he said and rolled back on his heels again nervously.
Hermione bit back more sharp remarks and sighed. "Apology accepted. But if you want to be friends again, you have a long way to go to persuade me about it," she sad finally, making up her mind that she would give him one more chance.
"Thanks Mione," he grinned.
"That is not my name," she said sharply, having hated that nickname since Ronald instated it in their first year.
"Sorry, Hermione," he backtracked, seeing he had to get to know this new woman that was once his best friend. "Maybe we could do a double date, if you are seeing someone?" he suggested to get back the easier atmosphere.
"I don't date, but tell Draco I'll be your fag hag for the night," she grinned, knowing Draco will be snickering himself silly when Harry tells him she called herself a fag hag. His sense of humour was dry as a bone but gay jokes never bothered him and Hermione never used them with malice, only as jibes. He was always teasing her for hear beast of a hair in return, so tit for tat. Really she was happy to see her friend so happy.
"I will," he nodded and looked at his watch, knowing they had to go to make time for dinner. "I'll see you around, yeah?"
Hermione waved them off and took Roxy's hand. "How about a visit to the bookshop and some hot chocolate?" she suggests, laughing when the energetic little girl nearly took her arm off in her haste.
7th December 2006, 9 pm
The rickety wooden doors to the stall opened and a new customer came in. The young man looked hesitantly around at all the satin and brocade and the tarot cards. The sounds of the surrounding funfair permeated dully through the wood of the old stall, and the scent of a woody burning incense tickled his nose.
"Take a seat," the words floated from behind one of the curtains, spoken near sensually. He looked at the small table with its two bare chairs, a pack of large tarot cards placed neatly on a square cloth on one side. He sat across from the painted deck and waited as instructed.
He didn't have to wait long. The dull sound of heels on wooden boards could be heard as a woman with a head full of black curls rounded the corner. Her skin was the colour of caramel, her ruby skirt was voluminous and twisted around her legs as she walked, and a corset narrowed her waist into a controlled hourglass shape. She was exactly what he imagined she would be, for every funfair had a gypsy fortune teller.
"You have a pressing question," she said as she sat across from him, reaching across the table and waiting for him to touch her hand.
He nodded and offered his hand palm up, watching as she traced a few lines etched into the skin. "Ah, yes. Your woman, she passed to the spirit realm recently," she said gently, looking at him with companionable sorrow. "Do you wish to know whether you will once again feel love? Or whether you will have an heir? Or have you come seeking questions about what future holds for you in general?" she asked, awaiting his response.
He took his hand back and took a deep breath before nodding at the cards. "I want to know what future holds for me," he replied, his words slightly accented with a French lilt.
The woman motioned at the card deck. "Shuffle the cards and choose three that feel right. Place them down as they are," she instructed and watched him do so, placing down his past, present, and future.
She picked up the first card and turned it over, revealing the card of Death. "Your past has been very changeably, most notably changed by the passing of your late wife. This card usually indicates a general unhappiness in your work life, and stress that results from it. You have been balancing your life for a long while, neither letting go of what is weighing you, nor pursuing something new," she looked up at him and turned the middle card that indicated his present.
The Judgement in reverse. "You are a man who tends to jump to conclusions where there is no need. It impacts your work life and also personal life in terms of relationships. You are in the process of changing, as may be someone close to you, a family member or a dear friend. Find your feet, allow for the changes in you and your close ones to settle and then decide whether to work on the relationship or let it go," she interpreted before turning the last card, his future, showing the Empress.
"The Empress is an archetype of feminine power; mysterious, fertile, and sexual. She augurs a need for us to be in touch with our feminine side, to listen to our intuition, and to give priority to our emotions and our passions. She can signify coming abundance, most definitely a positive card for your future. The Empress will bring you fortune in your finances and work life, as well as a new balance in your spiritual life, and your love life. This will be time for love, your future will hold someone new, a true love," she read before taking the cards and putting them back into the deck, cleansing it over a burning candle of the man's touch.
The man sat there quietly, stunned by the words he didn't expect to hear. This was supposed to be a simple mission, deliver the message and go. He didn't expect to have his life read and advised on in such a manner. Was it a fluke or did she truly possess the magic to divine his future and the path his life was taking? He shook himself and looked at the smiling woman across from him.
"Your life is truly on a good path despite your past troubles and current tension. Believe in yourself and trust your judgement," were her final words of encouragement. "Now, that will be £20," she pointed to the little sign, reminding the customer of the price for her services.
"Oh, right," he pulled out the folded £20 note and handed it over, looking her in the eyes for a moment longer before leaving without a word.
The woman saw there were no more customers and headed back behind the curtain. She put the travel kettle on to drown out the rustling sound and unwrapped the bank note to find a written note inside.
SUSPICIONS CONFIRMED, TRANSFORMATION HAS TAKEN PLACE. 55.1848° N, 30.2016° E
She quickly closed down the stall and apparated back to her flat in London. It would be a bit longer before the polyjuice wore off but Hermione knew this was priceless information. She picked up some floo powder and shouted out the address to Draco's house in Belgravia, London.
She came out of the floo and quickly spelled away the dust, looking around the flat. He would still be awake without a doubt, judging by the bottle of wine on the coffee table.
"Draco!" she called, heading for his kitchen to get a cup of tea from his peppermint stash. He usually drank half of her rose tea when he visited, and she liked to get some of the fresh peppermint leaves from his window sill.
She was just about pouring the water over the leaves when Draco came into the kitchen, a bathrobe haphazardly wrapped around his clearly nude form, and a grumpy frown on his forehead. He noticed she wasn't whom he expected and Hermione found herself with a want pressed into her pulse point. "Polyjuice still in effect," she explained.
"What did I ask you to get for me three weeks ago in muggle London while I was away on a mission?" he asked a question only she could possibly know.
Hermione snickered. "A pair of breast-shaped chocolate lollipops from one of the sex shops, as a prank gift for Padma's Christmas stocking. To be fair I think she'll actually find them hilarious and share them with Kai," she winked.
Seeing it was really Hermione, Draco pocketed his wand and relaxed a bit. "This better be good, woman," he grumbled and accepted a steaming cup as well.
"Oh it really is," she handed over the note before getting back to her cuppa, adding some honey in to soothe her sore throat.
"Coordinates? To what?" he frowned in thought.
"Judging by the numbers, I would guess somewhere near the boarder between Russia and Belarus. I received this from our friends in Brussels, they've been monitoring the shifts in the realms of magical creatures. They've confirmed Sasha has been turned into a vampire and these coordinates are his new headquarters. He might have taken over someone's nest, expanding his territory and power," she explained before taking a sharp breath, feeling the change coming on.
She set her cup down quickly and tried to breathe but couldn't, the corset cinching too tight on her more voluptuous figure. "Dray…" she gasped, motioning at her corset.
He didn't hesitate and cut through all the lacing in with one simple severing charm, puling the corset off and supporting her on her feet while the change shifted her features. Her hair once again lightened to its chestnut colour, the black long sleeve top she had worn under the corset filled out with her curvy shape, and the skirt tightened just a bit on her waist, the band thankfully adjustable.
"Alright?" Draco asked, and helped her over to a chair.
"Yes, fine," she wiped the perspiration from her forehead and gratefully accepted her cup. "I'm just a bit tired. I've spent three hours in that bloody thing," she pointed at the corset, flicking the ruined lacing into the fireplace flames and pocketing the shrunken corset itself.
Neither of them noticed that they've had an audience this whole time until Harry finally piped up. "So this is what your job looks like," he said, looking somber and tired, but there was a rosy tinge to his cheeks.
Now that she looked at both of them, they were equally naked under their bathrobes and sporting a soft satisfied glow. "Right, this is my cue then," she went to get up but she had to grip the chair at the vertigo that overcame her.
"Nonsense, come. My guest room is yours for the night," Draco wrapped an arm around her waist and Harry took her teacup, both of them helping her settle down in bed and watching her succumb to rest the moment her head hit the pillow.
Once the door was close, Draco turned sharply to his lover. "Not a word to anyone. How much did you hear?" he asked firmly.
"Enough to know my best friend is still the bravest person I know," Harry said simply, his gaze never wavering and perfectly honest.
Draco relaxed and wrapped his arms around his neck. "That I can agree with. Now, back to bed, I wasn't done with you yet," he winked.
Harry hesitated. "It's a bit awkward with Hermione here, no?" he asked, this whole thing still new to him.
Draco snickered and led him back to the master bedroom. "Trust me, Granger and I have so much dirt on each other, we don't really care anymore. And she will tease you over breakfast either way, once she's in full form again," he grinned, still glad for the silencing charms snapping into place once he closed the door.