Chapter 5: Sfumato

"This place is amazing. We don't have anything like this in Richmond." Mary Caroline walked down the street with Virginia and Mione, dodging the London foot traffic. "I've always imagined London, but it wasn't like this."

"I'm sure Gin will show you the other parts later. Right now if we don't hurry we'll be late for the appointment." Mione walked purposely, slightly in front of the two witches, her low heels clicking on the pavement. "I'm sure Gaston can squeeze you in too, Mary Caroline. He owes me a favor. He'd never made it to the last match if I didn't give him tickets."

As the three women rounded a corner several men were working on the street. One of them whistled and called after the women, but Mione just gave him a rude hand gesture and kept walking. After going down another block Mione abruptly turned and walked down an alley. Almost at the end there was a little door with a sign that said 'Improvements, Ltd.' Mione opened the door and everyone followed her inside. They walked down a somewhat dingy, non-descript hallway until they arrived at a counter where a bored old woman knitted. Mione walked directly to the counter, turned the clipboard so she could read it, and found her name. "Hermione Malfoy. I have an appointment with Gaston."

The old woman waved a knitting needle at her and then rang a small bell. Behind the counter a bookcase moved aside, revealing a bright blue door. Mione walked directly towards the door, opened it, and when Gin stepped through she smiled. Typical magical establishment, hiding in plain sight of the Muggles.

Gleaming rows of hairdressing chairs stood in front of mirrors, and witches in expensive clothing sat in various stages of follicular improvement. A large man with long dark hair walked towards them purposely, his dark green robe billowing slightly.

"Hermione, my dear, always good to see you." He gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Your owl said it was an emergency, but I'm not seeing it." He lifted up the ends of Mione's hair. "Quidditch does quite a number on it, but it looks fine to me."

"Not me, her. Um, them." Mione pointed back to Gin and Mary Caroline. "This is my sister Virginia. You remember me telling you about her. Give her the 'I Fucked Up and Need to Get My Fiancée Back' style, please. As for Mary Caroline, whatever she wants. My tab."

Soon the three witches sat in chairs next to each other, Mione in the middle, and their stylists began working. Mione didn't take long as she just wanted her hair styled for the night, and she figured that she'd drop her plans on Gin while Gaston had sharp implements next to her head.

"We're going out tonight. No, stop it, don't even try, we're going out. It's Friday night, we're showing Mary Caroline the town, and you're going to talk to Hugo."

Gin tried to look at her sister but Gaston moved her head back into position. "How do you know he'll be there, Mione? You didn't owl him, did you?"

"He's always there on Friday nights. He'll be there." Mione took a look at her reflection in the mirror. "I want something that will make Scorpius drool. Can you do that?"

"Definitely." The witch began moving strands of Mione's hair with her wand.

Mione smiled at her reflection in the mirror, happy to be able to, for once, make her sister squirm instead of the other way around. She remembered one too many 'incidents' with Gin's Slythein friends. "After you get humanized again Virginia I'm taking you to Drum. You definitely need some new clothing. If you want to crawl back into Hugo's good graces, you'd better look good doing it."

Virginia watched as Gaston sliced inches off her hair. It felt so odd to be here in London in a salon when just a few days earlier she'd been Leda, painting in Richmond. It was all so surreal, picking up the pieces of her former life, even though in the back of her mind she knew that it would have had to happen eventually. And Mione? Mione was a trip, completely the confident, cocksure Mione of old, only amplified. Being a professional Quidditch player definitely seemed to suit her. As Gaston took even more hair off of her head she felt drained. Was she really ready to see Hugo again? What would happen when he saw her?

Gin stood before a mirror in one of Mione's guest bedrooms, putting the final touches on her makeup. She'd decided to go for what Gaston called a 'smoky eye.' The dark shadow around her eyes seemed to draw out her eyes even more, just as he'd said it would. She ran a hand through her newly-shortened hair, watching it effortlessly cascade back into the sharp, razor style. He'd kept her long bangs, as she'd asked, but instead of having hair down to almost the middle of her back it swept forward from the nape of her neck into deep sides that leveled out slightly below her chin. She'd never had her hair that short in her life, and she rather liked it.

After finishing the rest of her makeup she reached into her bag and pulled out a gold necklace with a bas-relief image of Leda and the swan. She'd picked it up somewhere, long before she'd assumed the name Leda as her new identity in America. After fastening it she stood up, bangles jangling slightly, and judged her appearance. The black silk top came to a daring v-shape, showing entirely more cleavage than she'd ever dared. She smoothed the sides of her figure hugging but not obscene grey skirt, adjusting the hemline so it rested just below her knees. The shoes? Oh, why had she listened to Mione on the shoes? They were very plain in color, solid black, but the heels were about an inch larger than she'd ever worn before. All in all though, as she looked at herself in the full length mirror, it was a massive improvement from earlier.

"You ready? Your sister says our reservation is at eight." Mary Caroline stood in the doorway, wearing a simple green dress that accentuated all the right spots. "Damn, girl, you look good. If Chance could only see you now. Oh no, I'm sorry."

As soon as Gin heard Mary Caroline mention Chance's name her shoulders slumped. "Yeah, I know."

Mary Caroline came over and hugged Gin. "It's ok, sweetie. It'll be ok. And if this Hugo guy doesn't go for this, I think he might be gay. Hell, you're making me a little gay right now, you look so good."

Gin laughed and elbowed her friend, causing the two of them to separate. "Funny, very funny. You're not my type. I go for the gingers."

The two of them headed downstairs to the sitting room where Scorpius was reading The Daily Prophet, Mione next to him flipping through Celebrity Wizard Weekly. Scorpius dipped his paper and when he saw the two witches in front of him he couldn't help himself.

"Bloody hell, you two look beautiful!"

Mione elbowed Scorpius. "That's my sister, you gnome." She put the magazine down and stood up. "Besides, what did you say when you saw me?"

Scorpius blushed. "You know I can't repeat that."

"Good." Mione smiled. "Ok, who's ready to go to Victus?"

The restaurant was crowded, as it was Friday night, but as they walked to their table Mione informed Gin that it was usually that way. Reservations had to be booked at least a month in advance, but Mione assured her being family had its privileges, making sure to emphasize the word family. When they arrived at the table Gin knew exactly what Mione was talking about, as her brother and his wife were already seated, sipping wine.

After hugging HR and Lily, and introducing Mary Caroline, Gin sat down quickly, keenly aware that HR had made sure she sat next to him. After pouring the wine and fielding comments on her hair, Gin took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry to have kept you in the dark for so long. I've heard an earful from Mione…" She glanced over at her little sister, who gave her an arched eyebrow in return "…but I know I've deserved it."

"We're just glad you're back, Gin." Lily took HR's hand. "But as for not hearing an earful you should really thank your brother for that."

"I just told Mum you had some stuff to figure out." HR adjusted his glasses. "Since you're back now, I take it you've come to some sort of decision?"

Before she could answer the waitress came over and distributed menus, and it was obvious that she was nervous serving not only her boss, the owner of the restaurant, but the some of her family as well. Lily motioned for the waitress and whispered something in her ear, causing the witch to immediately relax.

After the witch had left Lily looked at Mary Caroline. "I told her to treat me like anyone else, and unless she managed to set fire to the table she'd still have a job tomorrow." Lily's smile faded when she looked at Virginia. "I take it you're all dressed up to see Hugo?"

"That's the plan." Mione ignored her husband's rolling eyes. "I told Gaston to give her the…"

"Yes, Mione, I know. The crawl back to your fiancée style. Enough." Gin took a sip of wine. "I do want to see Hugo, Lily. I'm just not sure how it will go. HR, he's one of your best friends. You too, Scorpius. What's he said?"

The two men looked at each other as if they'd been told to recite the entire History of Magic text. Nude. "Um…" Scorpius looked over to HR. "He's said a lot of things. Not sure if he's really meant them or not."

"I'm not going to pull punches, Gin, you hurt him. Badly." HR took a deep breath. "But if you two really want it to work you'll find a way. Now, I'm hungry. What's good here?"

Lily smacked him with her menu. "Honestly. Nice try on changing the subject. Mum and Aunt Hermione are worried about him. Dad didn't tell his parents, but he picked him up a while back wandering down Diagon Alley, drunk as a skunk. From what I've heard he's been drinking quite a bit."

All of the sudden Gin felt that the Victus silverware was the most fascinating thing on the planet. She followed the gentle curve of the edges, how they folded over on each other until they smoothed out, becoming one solid piece of metal. Eventually she felt a tap on her arm and saw Mary Caroline looking at her worriedly. "I'm fine. I'm fine, really. Has anyone heard from Minnie? Al said she's engaged, but I don't know a thing about him."

HR looked at her from the corner of his eye and nodded slightly. "He's a nice guy. A little bookish, maybe, but that shouldn't surprise you. He teaches Transfiguration, they met at Pryderi. She brought him over to meet Mum and Dad, and they both like him, Dad especially, as he likes cars. I think they're coming over from Wales soon, you can meet him then."

Gin listened to the rest of them discuss Minnie's fiancée, whose name she had promptly forgotten, something Irish sounding, and soon became wrapped up in her own thoughts. She was the one who had been engaged the same day as Mione and Scorpius. She'd responded with a lackadaisical 'sure' when Hugo asked her to marry him, denying him the large romantic gesture that she knew he enjoyed. Yes, the big flowery movie type productions made her almost physically ill, but if she'd just gone along with the plan she would be sitting here with her husband, not wondering if her former fiancée would actually want to talk to her. Once everything had been so clear, but now everything seemed wreathed in smoke, hard to see. To see…her mind went back to Rosie's prediction, her vision, and even though Rosie said she only saw possibilities Gin had never believed her. She knew that Rosie's visions always came true, in some way, shape or form.

The arrival of the first course interrupted Gin's reverie, and she wondered if anyone had noticed that she'd checked out for a few moments. Luckily Mary Caroline was holding the table, talking about Two Chop, the magical section of Richmond. She was recounting the story about how in the old days two hatchet chops on a tree facing a certain direction led to the entrance when Gin noticed HR give her a small, firm smile. Of all her siblings she could always count on HR. Hopefully his smile was a portent of good things to come later that night.

When they arrived at The Doornail Gin looked at her brother nervously. Once again he gave her the same small, confident smile that seemed to buoy her hopes. The line to get in, though, was not making her nerves go away. They stood in line next to a group of women who chattered loudly until Mione had finally had enough. As she walked purposely towards the man at the little velvet rope barrier Scorpius sighed.

"I hate it when she does this."

"Does what?" Mary Caroline looked over at him, confused. "Isn't she just asking how long it will take to get in?"

He shook his head. "Oh no, that would be the polite thing to do. Right now she's telling him that she's Hermione Malfoy of the Wimbourne Wasps, and it would be in his best…and now she's waving at us to join her. Right."

Gin chuckled at her little sister's boldness. Obviously some things hadn't changed while she was away. She ignored the irritated looks of the women and men in line as she walked behind her little sister into the bar, and as soon as she took it all in she understood why everyone was waiting in line. Lights flashed and the music thumped, originating from the band onstage on the far side of the club, playing what must be the latest wizarding music. Deep booths lined the walls, and the circular bar held five separate bartenders. Gin looked up at HR, as usual the tallest person by far.

"So, I take it you come here all the time. Seems like your sort of place."

HR shook his head and leaned down so she could hear him. "If it wasn't for you and Mione I'd never set foot in here. Rather be at The Leaky."

They made their way towards the open section of the bar and had almost made it when Mione was suddenly surrounded. Gin was elbowed aside by a rather tough looking guy who held a bar napkin in his hand, obviously angling for an autograph. It still shocked her that her sister was famous, but then again, Quidditch players were almost royalty. The crowd began growing steadily until a large man waded into the mass, moving people aside. Before she could ask what was going on Lily grabbed her arm, and she followed everyone to a room that was set off to the side, once again cordoned off with a velvet rope.

After entering the room Gin noticed that the noise was much quieter in the room, obviously the result of some spell. She joined everyone at a table and soon the waitress was over to take their orders. Gin knew she would need some liquid courage so she ordered a double firewhiskey and a Flaming Dragon. Ignoring the small talk Gin could only wonder if Hugo was actually there, and if he was there, what was he doing? The earlier comments about his drinking worried her, as she knew that while she could drink most people under the table Hugo was good until he hit a certain level, and after that almost anything was possible. She laughed quietly to herself as she remembered the first time they had got good and pissed after he'd returned from the war, how he'd threatened to get a tattoo of her face on his arse. It had taken her the better part of an hour to keep him from marching into the nearest tattoo shop, and only the fact that she had flashed her breasts at him in the middle of the street had kept him from going through with it.

That had done it. Before she'd been nervous, but now she was determined. She had to talk to Hugo. Even if he wouldn't take her back she owed him a proper explanation, even if she didn't know all of the reasons. But what about what had happened, would she have the nerve to tell him that? She tapped HR on the arm. "Can you come with me? I need to find Hugo, and you're the tallest…"

He nodded. "Figured that would happen." He leaned down and whispered in Lily's ear and after a brief moment she looked over at Gin and nodded. Gin decided that it was now or never, so she drank the firewhiskey in a single go and picked up her Flaming Dragon. After passing the velvet rope the music increased in volume and she reached over and took HR's arm. If he was here, the time had come.