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Chapter Six

Hermione found herself a nervous wreck the next evening. She had made dinner several times for the men in her life, but none of them were anything like Abraxas. She didn't even know if he was allergic to anything or what he preferred to eat. Draco's favorite thing for Hermione to make him was lasagna with home made garlic bread, so she figured if one Malfoy liked it maybe this one would too. She made salad as an appetizer and there was ice cream in the freezer if they were still hungry. That's if I don't throw up from a panic attack first.

She went to set the dining room table, the table seeming much too large for only two people; she transfigured it to a medium sized table for two. Once that was done, she set the places, poured the wine and water since she didn't even know what the man drank, then headed back to the kitchen. Her bare feet slapping against the wood and tile as she walked.

She was putting the final touches on their lasagna plates when she felt a change in the wards, and her stomach twisted in knots. Holy crap he's here. Oh I should have said no to this. Hermione thought as she walked to get the door.

What is it about this man? I can stare Voldemort in the face, but the thought of Abraxas being on the other side of that door makes me want to run for the hills. She reached the front door and took a deep breath. She opened the door and found the source of her anxiety with his fist in the air about to knock. The surprise on his face made Hermione giggle.

Abraxas was just about to knock on the door, but didn't get the chance. He looked at the giggling woman with surprise written on his face, and discretely shifted his eyes to look at her. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a bun, with a few strands that had found their way out, framing her face and shining brown eyes. She was barefoot in an emerald green dress, that made his heart beat faster. She's beautiful. He thought silently as he smiled down at the woman in front of him.

Hermione's breath hitched as she watched Abraxas assess her and when he gave her a heart-melting smile, she almost whimpered. I am in soo much trouble. He was, as always, impeccably dressed. He was wearing a navy sweater that stretched across his well-toned muscles, white linen pants, and tan loafers. Hermione inwardly groaned. He was just so damn attractive. If he didn't look like he had just walked off a runway, this would be so much easier! She blushed as she caught his gaze and gave him an indulgent smile.

"Good evening Hermione. You look lovely." Abraxas said as he grabbed one of her hands and planted a light kiss on her hand. She blushed again, and something in him stirred. This is going to be a long night. He mused silently.

"Good evening to you as well Abraxas. You don't look too bad yourself. Please come inside." Hermione said and moved back so he could enter, and shut the door behind him.

Abraxas stepped inside and took in his surroundings. It was an immaculate house and so large for a girl so small. He wondered if she liked being in a big house all by herself, but then took a large breath and smelled something wonderful. That must be dinner, I wonder if it will taste as good as it smells.

"Hermione the house looks immaculate and whatever it is I'm smelling, is making my mouth water. I'm happy you accepted my invitation and then took it upon yourself to cook." Abraxas said and turned to look at her.

"Thank you but the house isn't mine, but the food is. I just hope you like it, I forgot to ask what you liked or if you had any allergies. Me cooking is no big deal, I did it all the time back home and enjoy it. So having someone else to cook for besides me tonight was fun." Hermione said with a reassuring smile. For the past couple of days she had been making food only for herself, and it was nice that she was going to share a meal with someone other than herself.

"I'm sure whatever you made I will like it and you'll be happy to know I'm allergy free. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." He said with a smile of his own.

"Well I guess there's nothing left to do now than eat. Follow me." Hermione said while walking the short distance to the dining room and flicking her hand so that the salads came floating in as Abraxas pulled out Hermione's seat for her. She smiled and thanked him as he took his own seat across from her.

Now the fun begins. Figuring out who this woman is. Abraxas thought as he took his first bite of salad. Let the questions begin.

"So you can preform wandless magic?" He asked.

"Yes, I learned it a few years ago with a friend at school. It comes in handy, but my wand is never too far away." Hermione replied once she had swallowed her second bite.

"I know wandless magic myself, so I know very well how handy it can be. Did you learn anything else at school that isn't on the curriculum?" Abraxas asked innocently.

"In my seventh year of school, I learned wandless magic, nonverbal spells, and Occumulency. The curriculum we had was easy and I was always weeks ahead. So my friend and I learned other useful things in our spare time." Hermione said. She thought about all the times that she and Draco had gone to the Room of Requirement and felt her heart twinge with sadness. She hoped he wasn't too worried about her.

Merlin, why did she learn so much? Is this 'friend' her former lover? I shall soon find out. He thought, angrily spearing a rouge tomato.

"You learned all of that in your seventh year? Wow." Abraxas replied. Slowly ease in to her personal life.

"Yes, I know it seems like a lot, but you have no idea how much free time I had." She said. With Voldemort gone she didn't have a mystery to solve or one of Dumbledore's riddles. So she found something else to keep her mind occupied.

"So you mentioned a friend, are you two close?" Abraxas asked.

"Yes, we are very close. I consider him one of the brothers I never had." Hermione answered truthfully. Draco said he never knew his grandfather, so if I say anything about him it won't matter right?

"One? So there's another one?" Abraxas asked. Brother, that's good. But just how many men are in her life? Is there a boyfriend? The thought made him sick.

"Yes there is. He's also the brother I never had. We've been friends since we were eleven and I've always stuck by his side." Hermione said with firm tone as she continued to eat her salad.

"So what are their names?" Abraxas asked. She sounds very loyal and not very fickle. Good qualities to have.

"The first one I mentioned is Draco. We've been friends for almost three years, and the other one is Harry." Hermione smiled.

Abraxas gave her a small smile while continuing to eat. He let the room be silent for a moment before firing off more questions.

"So you are an only child? Or have a sister?" Abraxas asked.

"I'm an only child." Hermione answered and took a sip of water.

"What do your parents do for a living?" Abraxas asked, picturing them as librarians or teachers since they had such a smart daughter.

Crap. If I say they're dentists he'll be confused and I cant tell him I'm muggleborn because that doesn't make sense if I am related to Dumbledore. THINK HERMIONE THINK!

"My parents are healers" She replied hoping that he bought it.

"Healers? Really? I pictured librarian and teacher in my head." Abraxas said with a smirk and a wink.

Hermione laughed, he would think that. "No definitely not. Though, I can see why you would think that." She replied. She knew she had a know-it-all and bookworm personality and was proud of it.

They finished the rest of their salad in silence and then Hermione cleared their places and floated in the lasagna and garlic bread. Hermione crossed her fingers under the table and prayed to Merlin that he liked it.

Abraxas saw the food in front of him and was baffled. How the devil did she know Italian food is my favorite? Is she also a Legilimence?

Hermione saw his face and began to panic. "Do you hate Italian food? I knew I should have asked you what you liked. I can make something else if you would like?" She said apologetically, but when he laughed at her panic, she began to grow more anxious. Why is he laughing?

"Hermione no. I'm wondering if you know legilimency, because Italian food is my favorite. And.." He trailed off as he took a bite and groaned outwardly, "this is delicious." Abraxas said. Hermione blushed at his praise and began to eat as well.

"I don't know legilimency, I just took a guess at what you would like. I'm glad you do like it. It's a weight lifted off of my shoulders." Hermione said.

"Where did you learn to cook?" Abraxas asked in between bites of food. The woman is intelligent, beautiful, enticing, and can cook far better than I've ever tasted. Now all I need to know is if she's taken and if she is I will exterminate the man.

"I learned from my friend's mother. She was like a surrogate mother to Harry and me growing up, she always made wonderful food so I asked her to teach me. She did and it only brought us closer." Hermione said. 's food was renown for being the best, and Hermione was grateful that she had taught her especially after what had happened between her and Ron.

Surrogate mother? "Did you not spend a lot of time with your own parents outside of school?" Abraxas asked wondering why she would have such a thing.

"I did, but there were holidays where my parents were too busy and I felt it was better if I just went to her families house for holidays." Hermione said, Well that much was true if I don't count Australia. Oh bugger. She reached for her wine and took a sip.

When Hermione went for her wine, Abraxas noticed the ring on her finger. His eyes narrowed and he wondered what the ring meant. It looked expensive, but it wasn't on her engagement finger. He made a note of it to ask later, when they were closer in their relationship.

"So, you have brothers, your family, and a surrogate family. Is there anyone else in your life? A boyfriend maybe? "Abraxas asked feigning innocence.

Hermione snorted. "No, no boyfriend."

"A beautiful woman like you doesn't have a boyfriend, I find that hard to believe. "Abraxas said with a raised eyebrow and calm expression. However, on the inside he was jumping for joy.

"I've been on dates and had boyfriends in the past. They just never became anything more." Hermione said thinking of all the miserable blind dates Ginny had set her up on. Then of the only two boyfriends she had, Viktor and Ron. She took another bite of food as she reminisced.

"How did your last serious relationship end? If you don't mind me asking. I just can't comprehend what wizard in their right mind would let you escape their grasp." Abraxas said with an honest expression on his face. It moved Hermione that he was being so nice to her despite the fact that he didn't really know her.

"No it's fine. Draco and I went to visit my last boyfriend at his flat when he had stopped writing me for weeks when I was at school. I brought Draco with me so he could hold me back from murdering the idiot, but it never got that far. When I opened the door to his flat, we saw him shagging a woman on the couch. When he saw us standing there, he jumped off of her and starting spouting the usual rubbish, ' it didn't mean anything' and 'this isn't what it looks like' which I have to say has got to be the stupidest thing you can say in that situation. He even had the audacity to tell me he loved me for the first time, while the woman he was shagging was naked on the couch. I walked out of that flat and haven't questioned him since. I didn't cry, I just moved on." Hermione said in a calm manner. It's been almost three years, you are fine.

Abraxas was appalled, how anyone could do that to the beyond enticing woman sitting across from him had to be clinically insane. "Hermione whoever he was I could murder him for what he did to you. How any wizard could treat you so poorly is beyond me, I think he must be barmy. Did you do anything to make him retaliate by sleeping around?" Abraxas asked, curious to know why the idiot in question would do such a thing to her.

"The last thing we talked about was the fact that I was still in school and didn't want to have a sexual relationship until I graduated. He apparently didn't feel the same way." Hermione said.

Now Abraxas could truly say he had NEVER met anyone like Hermione. In school, girls couldn't wait to have sex and didn't hide that fact. Well, the girls he had been forced to be around felt that way. Now he was meeting a woman who had wanted to wait and she had been cheated on because of it. His respect for her continued to grow and he also wondered if that meant she was untouched, the thought made his member grow harder.

"So you wanted to wait and he cheated. What a bloody idiot." Abraxas said with a sneer that reminded her of Draco when he acted the same way. It made her giggle and it was like music to Abraxas' ears.

"I just wanted to wait until I had graduated, and was moved out of my parents house like a responsible adult. Quite frankly I'm glad I caught him when I did and not months later." Hermione said finishing her food. Abraxas had finished minutes before her but didn't comment on the fact.

"Well since we're both done with our food. I didn't make desert, unless you want some ice cream in the freezer?" Hermione asked.

"No, I'm far too full to eat anything else. You my dear are an amazing cook and I'd like to spend more time with you if I may. We could sit in the living room and talk a little more." Abraxas asked hopeful that she wanted to spend more time with him.

Well you can't really feed him and then kick him out can you Hermione? Plus why would you want to he's obviously interested in you. YOU KNOW WHY! YOU'RE NOT FROM THIS TIME PERIOD! Oh shut up!

"Alright, lets go into the living room and talk some more." She rose from the chair, and flicked her hand so the plates would go into the kitchen and wash themselves.

Abraxas rose from the table, delighted that Hermione wanted to spend more time with him and followed her into the living room.

They talked for hours about anything and everything in the living room facing each other on the couch. They talked in detail about their lives and their families. Abraxas was an only child as well, which Hermione already knew. He was also single, and it surprised Hermione greatly that a witch hadn't snatched him up yet. The subject of friends came up and Hermione went into a little more detail about Harry, Draco, and the rest of her friends. Though she didn't tell him everything because of what could happen to the timeline. In turn he told her about Jack and some of his other friends, which in itself brought up the issue of blood purity.

"Hermione, how do you feel about blood prejudice?" He asked casually. Personally he didn't care, but he was wondering if she did. Surely not, she seems so caring. She couldn't be another prejudiced bigot.

"I feel it's idiotic. People do not get to choose what bloodline they are born into, yet they are treated like they do. People also do not help who they fall in love with, so who is anyone to judge how other people make their lives happy? If you have magic then you have it, and if you don't you don't." Hermione said simply and fought against a yawn. She had fought prejudice her entire life, but now back in her time things were beginning to change for the better. It made her sad that she had now been thrust backwards where the prejudice was at its peak. From what Draco had told her about his family over the years she already knew that Abraxas felt the same way about blood purity. She was thankful he hadn't had to become something he hated yet.

"My family and I feel the same. I'm glad you do too." Abraxas said with a smile and grabbed her hands and intertwined them in his own. It's late and she's tired. I just want to know that I'll be seeing her again.

Hermione looked down at their mingled hands and then at the man sitting adjacent to her. His grey eyes were glittering with some emotion she couldn't place, and his thumbs were rubbing circles against her hands. She blushed and squeezed his hands a little tighter. No one had ever made her feel this way and it scared her terribly.

"Hermione it's getting late and I've had a wonderful time with you. When can I see you again?" Abraxas asked.

"Abraxas we shouldn't. One day I'll have to go back to America and I don't want to lead you on." Hermione answered honestly. She didn't want to give him false hope that she would be staying forever.

"You aren't leading me on and as for America goes we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Now then, when can I see you again?" Abraxas said with a small smile.

This is exactly what she had been afraid of. She knew by saying yes to tonight that he would push for more, she could tell by the way he looked at her that he wanted more than friendship. She was torn between being rational and irrational, she had already broken her own rules by having dinner with him, by wanting to name a time and date to see him next. She was flying too close to the sun and knew she was going to get burned eventually. She took another moment just to take everything about this man in.

The way he looked. The way he smelled. The way he said her name in that baritone voice that made her heart beat faster. Those deep grey eyes, that mesmerized her. She was crossing a line from which she couldn't return. She was falling for him and she just couldn't help it.

So she did what she knew would cause her pain later. She let herself fall.

"Abraxas whenever you'd like to meet is fine with me." Hermione said as his smile widened.

"Tomorrow I'm meeting with Jack so I don't know how long that would run. How about Tuesday? I could come here around two, then we could decide what to do from there." Abraxas asked, ecstatic that she had even agreed in the first place.

"Okay Tuesday it is." She said with a smile. If she was going to break the rules, she was damn well going to enjoy it.

It was a rainy Monday morning at the Leaky Cauldron and was somewhat dark for one in the afternoon. Weathered candles in hanging chandeliers were dripping hot wax down the sides, causing the light to bounce across the room. There was an eerie silence that covered the room, but the patrons who littered the area didn't seem to care.

He was hidden in the shadows of the poorly lit pub. A pot of tea sat on the small table along with a few pieces of concealed parchment. Jack had been in the pub only for a few minutes, but was served rather quickly because of the lack of customers. He was wary of Abraxas' arrival, knowing that if the witch he had been gushing over the previous evening rejected him, Abraxas would be difficult to be around. He rolled his eyes and took a sip of his tea as he saw his best friend come into the pub with a small smile on his face. Well at least he isn't going to pout the whole afternoon. Jack thought as he waved his friend over.

"Jack I don't know why you like to meet here. It's positively ghastly at this time of day." Abraxas said while sitting in the empty seat across the small table. He ran a hand through his jet-black hair and gave Jack a smile.

"Well there's your answer. Its quiet, and when you muffle a conversation here, people know to not bother you. Then there's also the fact that if we go to the Three Broomsticks or Hogshead, we will have to avoid witches like the plague. I hate buying randy witches drinks, its idiotic." Jack said with a sneer as his friend laughed at his snarkiness.

"Well brother, I'm glad we didn't agree to meet there, judging by your attitude I think you might have made some poor woman cry if we had." Abraxas said amused.

"If I made anyone cry then they weren't worth my time now were they? So tell me, did dinner go well with the Green girl?" Jack said. Judging from his mood it must have.

"Yes, it went very well. She made a fantastic dinner, and then we spent most of the night talking." Abraxas said with a smile, remembering her giggle when she opened the front door.

"Sounds like you had quite an evening. Now when do I get to meet her?" Jack said. Spent the night talking? She must be something if he spent the night just talking with her.

"Soon. I'm meeting her again tomorrow and maybe after that you two could meet." Abraxas replied while taking a sip of his own tea.

"You're meeting her again tomorrow? Doesn't that seem a little desperate? You just saw the woman yesterday." Jack said.

"Like I told you yesterday, there is something about this witch I just can't seem to leave her alone. I want to spend more time with her. Plus she agreed so there. Now you've been dancing around the subject from the moment I got here. Start talking, where have you been for the past two weeks? "Abraxas said with a firm tone and a serious expression.

"I was in France, working on something." Jack replied, while waving his wand to cast a muffling spell on them.

"France? What were you working on there?" Abraxas asked. What is he hiding from me?

"I am working on an Apothecary shop and I was looking at flats." Jack said.

"What? Are you moving there?" Abraxas asked, panicked that his best friend might be leaving him.

"I am investing in an Apothecary shop because once I complete my Apprenticeship with Slughorn, then I can open my own shop." Jack said crossing his arms in front of him and leaning back into his chair.

"Okay, but are you going to move there? What about your friends? "Abraxas asked. What about me?

"I would live in France part time. I can't commute until I am done with Slughorn, which wont be for another eleven months or so. My house is paid for and hidden, so it's still safe. I would rent a flat so I could continue work down there. I met someone that is working on some interesting things that I want us to be apart of. As for friends, you know you are the only one I care about brother. My family is dead except for you, which is why I want you to invest in the Apothecary and stay apart of my life." Jack said as Abraxas' eyes widened.

"Why not just stay here and start an Apothecary? Who and what is your friend working on?" Abraxas asked. What the bloody hell is going on?

"I am moving to France so that when the day comes when the shit hits the fan here, I will have somewhere to run Abraxas. My parents were murdered months ago because of fucking Death Eaters and you know it. I didn't want to join their moronic cult so they killed my parents as payback. Do you really think two wizards were beaten to death by muggles? No, they weren't and if the Ministry doesn't recognize that, then I don't want to be here for whatever else they don't start recognizing. There have been more murders, and the Ministry has been keeping them quiet. I'm afraid of what is to come. So I want to have an escape route, and you investing in the Apothecary can give you one too if you ever need it. I want us to remain close and this will give us a way to do so." Jack said with a grim look on his face.

Jack's parents had been found dead months ago in an alleyway in Muggle London. He was devastated and hadn't stopped crying for days. It had been the only time Abraxas had seen his friend so broken. When Jack had been approached by the Death Eaters and told them to piss off, they had thought that was the end of it until Jack had been called about his parents. Both Jack and the Malfoy family were outraged at the Ministry's claiming of muggles for the deaths of his parents. There was no way that two grown wizards would have been taken down by a couple of muggles, it just wasn't possible. It was clear there was something wrong in the Ministry and that the subject was better left alone.

"So you want me to invest in this shop, so I have somewhere to run if I need it. You are going to commute to England and France, so what's the catch?" Abraxas asked, weary of his friend's idea.

"I am not using my real name to open the Apothecary and you wont either. I want a safe place, free from them. So when the time comes we will talk about it. That is all you need to know for now. I just need you to trust me 'Brax. I know how it sounds, but I just want to be prepared. I wasn't prepared for my parents' deaths and I won't let that happen again. Now then, I have some parchments for you to sign, so if you want to look them over and give them to me that is fine." Jack said while pushing the parchments towards him.

"Okay Jack, I'll do it. I trust your judgment and if this plan makes you feel safer then fine. I'll have to look all of them over, but if this is what you want I'll do it." Abraxas said pocketing the parchments.

"Good I'm glad. I'll owl my friend and let him know you have agreed." Jack said with a ghost of a smile and put his hands in his lap.

"Who is your friend and what are you two working on?" Abraxas asked curiously.

"His name is Nick and you wouldn't believe me if I told you. So I am going in October to see him and to start looking on what we'll need to be done to the shop. So you will come meet him for yourself and give me your input on the shop." Jack said while running a hand through his shaggy hair.

"Why October?" Abraxas asked

"That's the next time Slughorn will let me take a vacation. I can come and go as I please for now, but when school starts up again it will be more difficult because he'll have me grading all his bloody stuff while he's off drowning himself in booze." He sneered.

"Tell me, why did you agree to be his apprentice again?" Abraxas asked, since he knew Jack couldn't stand the man.

"He's the lesser of all the evils. He makes me do his grading, but doesn't monitor my brewing. I just had him in my potion and he signs off on it. Sure I have to attend all of his ridiculous functions, but he leaves me alone when it comes to the important things." Jack said.

"I still can't believe Dumbledore allows him to hold those functions." Abraxas said, remembering all the horrible dinners he had to go to as a student.

"Neither can I. The man is a damn people hoarder and it is borderline on creepy. I shudder at the thought of what he does with all the pictures he takes." Jack remarked with a fake shudder that caused Abraxas to laugh.

"Oh Jack, you never fail to amuse me." Abraxas said with a smirk.

"Yes, yes, I'm a hoot. So tell me all about your date with Hermione. I need details man." Jack said with a smirk of his own.

The two friends then fell into a deep conversation over the details of Abraxas' dinner with the mysterious and enticing Hermione Green.

This would have been up yesterday, but the site was updating or something. Please Review.