Chapter Five.

Muggle Wanderings

Hermione could hear Jane's unsubtle comment to him about taking a shower before her feet could be heard going up the squeaky stairs. He came back into the kitchen an apologetic expression on his face.

"She's going to be a while." He said lamely.

Hermione had been around Draco Malfoy before. During classes, in the corridors of Hogwarts, even a few times at the Ministry after the war, but she had never been alone with Malfoy before.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" He kept clasping and unclasping his hands like he was unsure what to do with them. He came further into the room and pulled out one of the metal stools by the counter and held his arm out to offer it to her in the most un-Malfoy, but gentlemanly fashion.

"That sounds nice." She nodded her own head and took a seat on the stool. She could see his nerves, but to his credit his hands were steady when he turned his back on her and went to work, making her a cup of tea the muggle way. She couldn't help but watch him. He was calmer than she had ever seen him, relaxed even. His face didn't hold it's usual sneer, and his body language didn't hold any of its usual snottiness. He looked… good. Really good if she was being honest with herself. He was wearing a long-sleeved white dress shirt, but the top buttons weren't fastened and the sleeves were rolled up just slightly off his wrist. The dark blue dress pants were the same pair that he was wearing the day of his trial, but the day of the trial, she hadn't had the chance to admire the fit of them from behind. He looked well dressed but casual and comfortable.

He turned around and caught her staring. She could feel the blush creeping onto her cheeks and it only worsened when his own blush became visible.

"You seem to be adjusting well." She said clearing her throat awkwardly.

"It's been challenging." He handed her the cup of tea and went to lean against the counter across the room. "I haven't had much of a choice but to learn my way around the kitchen at least. Jane won't let me eat unless I help cook."

She laughed, a real laugh. Draco watched her as she took a sip of the tea, she smiled down at it like she was pleasantly surprised by it. It felt good to see her so calm and at ease around him. The only reaction that he'd ever gotten from her before was her cringing at the sight of him.

"Well, that's a way to accomplish something." She laughed again, and he felt his own face stretching into a smile.

"I'm glad you approve." His voice sounded light even to his own ears, he couldn't remember the last time that his voice had sounded like that. "How have you been doing? You like the new job?"

"Hmm." She said swallowing another sip of tea. "It's been great so far! I've got my own office and everything. I'm in charge of six cases similar to yours, but I have to say you're adjusting to muggle life much better than the other five."

"At least I'm good at something then." A little of his bitterness crept into the statement.

Her smile faltered slightly. "You've always been good at things. You were the next in our class after me and that isn't a small accomplishment."

"And look where I'm at now." He said, gesturing around to the small kitchen around him.

"This isn't because you weren't good at things… it's just a setback because of how you were raised." Her matter of fact tone reminded him of her in their first year at Hogwarts. He had given her a hard time then, but it was to mask the fact he found her obnoxiously cute.

"You're too nice."

"So I've been told." She flashed him a sly smile before finishing off the last of the tea. "You really do make a good cup of tea though."

"Thanks." He smiled at her again. It felt good to talk to someone who knew him. It felt even better to talk to someone without them tiptoeing around him. He knew that Jane was trying to make him comfortable by avoiding taboo topics, but the truth was it just made it difficult to talk to her sometimes.

The sound of feet coming down the stairs grabbed their attention as Jane popped her head in through the doorway. "You guys ready?" Her tone was innocent despite the fact that Draco knew she had taken way longer than usual to get a shower.

"Yeah," Hermione said, taking the cup to the sink. Draco let the girls lead the way out the door. He had been here for a month and had yet to go outside. He could see most of the street from his window, enough to know that this brick house looked like all the rest of the brick houses on the street. He hadn't had much interest in the world outside his room and the kitchen. He kept telling himself that would involve actually caring and he had been tried hard to just grin and bare his punishment without caring too much about it. His feelings changed the second that the fresh air hit his face and he allowed himself a few deep breaths as he walked down the sidewalk towards to small car in the driveway.

Both of the girls got into the front seats, so he slid into the back. He had ridden on trains, he had used the floo network, and he had apparated after he was old enough, but he had never ridden in a car before. He watched the two girls in the front as they buckled a strap over their waists, he turned to see a strap next to his seat as well, so he did the same thing. It took him about five seconds to understand what that strap was for. He wasn't sure what riding in a car was supposed to be like, but from the random gasps escaping Hermione as well, he was sure it wasn't supposed to be like this. They went from the driveway to the empty street, to chaos in what felt like seconds. Draco held the handle on the ceiling above the door and wished that he hadn't eaten such a heavy breakfast.

"Watch out!" Hermione screamed as they barreled down the highway, Jane cutting off at least three people in an attempt to get to the turn-off that would take them into town. When they were finally parked, Hermione gave Jane a weak smile as she unfastened herself and practically leaped from the car.

"How about on the way home, I drive." She said casually as she walked over to stand next to Draco, who was looking extremely pale.

"Sure," Jane said as she ran her hand through her long hair, flipping it over her shoulder. Draco had grown accustomed to the habit, but Hermione seemed to be slightly peeved by it. "Where do you want to go first?"

Draco turned to look up the street. There were cars everywhere, shops lining the sidewalks and muggles everywhere. Draco took another deep breath in and was rewarded with the smell of car exhaust, he wrinkled his nose slightly in disgust. He glanced over at the two women, but they seemed completely enthralled with making the agenda for the day, and he was momentarily forgotten. So he stepped away from them and went to the closest shop window, peering inside. It was a jewelry shop, and it seemed that muggle women liked the same flashy styles that the witches did.

"See anything you like?" Granger's voice sounded from next to him.

"Just thinking that maybe muggles aren't so different than us after all. I'm pretty sure that my mother has a few pieces that look almost identical."

She laughed a little as she took his arm and pulled him along with her, and so the day started. They had decided to shop for his mother first. They wandered in and out of stores for hours, Hermione asking him a thousand questions about his mother. Her likes and dislikes. What colors did she favor? Did she have a favorite kind of tea? Favorite snacks? What kind of clothes did she like to wear when she was just at home relaxing? Draco knew that Hermione was trying hard to be kind to his mother, so he tried hard to keep the fact she was overwhelming him out of his voice. She seemed to catch on to the fact anyway and stopped asking so many questions. She even let him sit undisturbed on one of the benches outside the last women's shop she wanted to go in.

He soaked in the peace as he stretched his long legs out and people watched. All the muggles were dressed so differently than he was used to people dressing, but despite their attire, he noticed a lot of the same things he would expect from the magical community. Children playing and joking around, young couples flirting and holding hands, older people talking to one another and laughing. He smiled a little as he thought that with or without magic, people were really just people.

He glanced back at the storefront to see Hermione and Jane looking through the racks of clothing inside. He took the fact that the two women left him outside unattended as a good sign. They both seem to have relaxed more around him today. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of people talking and cars driving by on the road behind him.

"Alright!" Jane said as the two of them emerged. "Now it's time to shop for you."

He let a mock groan escape from his throat as they both grabbed a hand and hoisted him up off of the bench. Jane let go and started up the sidewalk, but Hermione looped her arm with his and they followed behind her, side by side.

"You need to get some short sleeved shirts today." She said quietly, "You're going to burn up in long-sleeved shirts all summer."

"The long sleeves don't bother me." He hoped that would be the end of it, but of course, she didn't care if he was comfortable with the topic or not.

"It doesn't matter if you mark shows." She cut her big brown eyes up at him, he glanced down at them.

"Says the person that doesn't have one." They both were surprised at how calmly he made the statement. He could tell that she was mentally prepared for him to go off on her, but he just couldn't. She was being so kind to his mother, and to him too, she deserved his kindness in return.

She didn't say anything back to him, instead just kept looking up at him, her eyes seeming to get bigger with every passing second. Damn, he thought. "Alright…" he growled down at her. "If you can find some short sleeved shirts that I like… I will get them."

"Yay!" She hugged his arm a little before letting go and rushing forward to catch up with Jane. The two of them were already making a list of things that he needed and seeing how he had a total of three outfits at home, that list was long. Just like the rest of the day. Muggle shopping was completely different than any kind of shopping that he'd done before. No one was there to measure him or to fit the clothing magically. There were just racks and racks of clothes, and it was a guessing game until they figured out what size he wore, and then all bets were off. They two women darted around putting together outfits for him to try on and tossing different styles of shoes into the dressing room with him. He ended up with much more than he needed, and he wasn't even sure where the money for everything came from. He caught a glimpse of Hermione handing the clerk a small rectangular card before they left the store but had never seen anything like it before.

They had both insisted that he wear one of the new outfits out of the store, so he was now in a tighter than he was accustomed t-shirt, blue jeans, and flip-flops. He was one hundred percent sure that if his father saw him right then, he wouldn't recognize him, but something about that thought made him feel good.

As agreed upon earlier, Hermione drove on the way home, and it went a lot calmer than Jane's driving on the way there. Her being distracted with the task gave him a chance to really look at her too. She had her hair down, and the once untameable mess on her head was now perfectly tamed ringlets that fell to the middle of her back. She didn't look like she was wearing makeup, but her cheeks seemed to naturally have a pretty color to them, and her eyes were framed with gorgeous long eyelashes. He watched as she leaned closer to the steering wheel to look both ways before turning off the main road back onto the road that led to the house. Even though she had gained a little more weight she was still thin, and her figure was perfect. He only tore his gaze off of her when she pulled the car into the driveway, and he risked getting caught. Even though he was pretty sure he had caught her checking him out earlier, he didn't want her to know that he was doing the same to her.

It took several trips to get all the purchases in the house and sorted out. Hermione put all of the bags that belonged to his mother in the study and all three of them grabbed his bags to tote upstairs to his room.

"You want to stay for dinner?" Jane asked casually, throwing a smirk Draco's way.

"Oh gosh… I would love to, but I have to get going." She glanced down at her watch. "I already told Mason to expect me before seven and I know that Narcissa is going to be dying to hear about him." She jerked her head towards Draco. He couldn't help but feel a little put out that she was talking about him like he wasn't there. "Another night?"

"Oh yes… another night." Jane gave her a smile but turned to raise an eyebrow at Draco as soon as Hermione's back was turned to them. He ignored her as they all filed back downstairs.

"Well. I don't know about the two of you, but I had a great time today." Hermione said as she turned to look at both of them in turn. "We have to do it again."

"Absolutely!" Jane walked forward and gave the other woman a quick hug before turning and heading towards the kitchen. "I'll be looking forward to it," she called over her shoulder as she disappeared from view. Even though she was out of sight Draco was positive that she was eavesdropping.

"It was good to see you Draco." Hermione's smile touched her eyes, and a warm sensation seemed to sweep through his whole body.

"You too Hermione."

She rushed forward and gave him a quick hug before she went into the study, she didn't look back at him as she situated all the bags on her arm and turned on the spot, leaving him standing the living room alone.