Up until that point, Draco had been having a decent day.
His bookstore, A Novel Idea, had been flourishing in Trollkarls Alley- the Swedish equivalent to Diagon Alley; he had joined an adult recreational Quidditch team (in which he dominated- of course), and he would end the day with seeing his favorite- and only- honorary nephew, Seaton.
Seaton was one of the best things in Draco's life. When the Slytherin first moved to Sweden and settled in Trollkarls Alley, he was surprised that his old friend Theodore Nott had done the same. Seaton was Nott's son, and since the single dad was gone a lot, Draco got the pleasure of taking care of Seaton in Theo's absence.
"My teacher is super nice!" Seaton exclaimed when he and Draco walked to the portkey point by the school.
"What's her name?" Draco asked, fondly looking down at the young boy.
"Her name is Ms. Granger." This made Draco stop in his tracks. Seaton looked back at him. "What, Uncle Draco?"
"Seaton, you wait here for a second, okay? I have to check something out real quick." Seaton replied with an okay, and Draco strode back to the school.
On the way he tried to reason with himself. There are plenty of Grangers, right? He thought to himself. Surely she isn't the only one. Once you go in there and see that it isn't her, you'll be content.
Draco rapped smartly on the door with his knuckles. He could hear the soft footsteps of someone coming, and the door opened. And there she was.
He guessed he knew in his heart that it would be her, and her astonished, "Malfoy?" was proof.
"Granger," he said in a dry voice. "A pleasure to see you again." Draco looked the witch over. Her long brown hair was in a plait, robes rumpled from a long day of teaching, and her wand was held loosely in her right hand. He was pleased to see that she probably wouldn't be using it to hex him anytime soon.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, taking a step back. Then Seaton came running towards them, and stood next to Draco. "Are you his…?"
"No! No. I'm his-"
"Uncle," Seaton said. "Not really, but he's my Daddy's friend, so I call him Uncle!"
"Wow," said Hermione, and she slapped out of the dazed mood she was in. "That's… great."
Seaton pulled Draco's hand. "Can we go home soon? I'm hungry."
"Sure," the wizard said, looking down at his nephew, and back up at Hermione. "Well, goodbye then."
"Bye," Hermione replied, and Draco and Seaton walked away. Then Draco heard hurried footsteps rushing towards him. He turned around to find Hermione shoving a small piece of parchment into his hand with a crooked smile on her face.
"In case you want to owl me." And she was gone.
Draco unfolded the scrap of paper. Granger's scrawl filled the page.
It seems as if we have a lot of catching up to do.
Gyllenkrooksgatan 3 Stockholm, Sweden
Hermione Granger
Draco smiled, shoved the paper into his pocket, and continued up the hill.
His day had become great.
###
Later, after Seaton returned home, Draco sat at his desk, in his apartment that was situated above A Novel Idea, trying to write to Hermione. He wanted to meet with her, explain that he wasn't who she thought he was anymore. He had changed.
But still, the parchment stared up at him. So did his owl, Hyperion, who he had called over ten minutes ago thinking that he would have written the note by then.
Granger, he wrote. We both have things to explain, so would you meet me at the Coffee Café in Trollkarls Alley at 12:00 on Saturday? Malfoy
He tied the note to Hyperion's leg, and sent him out the window. The grey eyed wizard settled into his armchair in front of the fire, and opened Triwizard Tragedies. He was hardly absorbed in the book, instead listening for the steady flap of wings that signaled Hyperion's return, hopefully with a reply.
A few minutes later, his wish was granted.
Malfoy,
I will be there on Saturday, but you might want to disguise yourself. I am the Mudblood, remember. See you there.
Granger
Draco frowned as he read the slur that he had called Hermione for all those years at Hogwarts. He wasn't like that anymore, he wanted her to know he wasn't like that anymore. They had both gone to finish their Seventh year in Hogwarts, and while there, Draco started the long road to changing his ideals. He no longer wanted to be associated with the Malfoy family exemplar. This is why, when nearing the end of the war, he defected to the Order's side, and fought the last few battles with them. The blonde man no longer believed in blood prejudice, and now prided himself on having values different from his family. At heart, he was no longer a Malfoy.
Fantastic, he wrote. I'll see you there.
###
Saturday came slowly, much to Draco's vexation. On Saturday morning, he excitedly stocked shelves, waiting for noon to come. It did, quickly, and Draco soon found himself closing up shop, and walking down the street to the café. The nice September air required no coat, and Draco strolled down the bustling marketplace in peace.
The bell above the door chimed as the wizard walked into the quaint Café. He spotted Hermione immediately. The witch was settled at a table in the corner near a window, a full coffee cup next to her as she read a book proclaiming the title, Pride and Prejudice. Must be a muggle book, Draco thought. He went to the counter, got a tea, and wound his way back through the other tables until he approached hers.
Draco cleared his throat, and Hermione looked up, surprised. She put her book away in her bag, and beckoned for him to sit.
"Hi," she said sweetly, taking a sip of her coffee.
"Hello," he replied, doing the same. "Thanks for meeting me."
Hermione laughed. "It's no trouble. I didn't have anything else to do." She winced at her words. "Sorry, that's not what I meant."
"I get it," Draco said. "So, what have you been doing since Hogwarts?"
"Um, I travelled a little," she sighed. "To be honest, I needed a break from the magic and the fame. I actually spent about six months in a Muggle town. I couldn't do it though. Came back."
"Wow," Draco replied, amused.
"I know, Mudblood, going back to the muggle world. I should feel right at home, right?" Hermione raised her eyebrows at Draco. She said the aspersion like saying hello, like it was not horrible stereotype.
The conversation lulled for a minute, a warm breeze blowing between them. "Why do you say that?" Draco asked abruptly. He now hated how even her, a Muggle-born- to whom it should be a horrible insult- uttered the slight without batting an eye.
Hermione cocked her head to the side. "Isn't that what you call me?"
"Used to, and even if you're a Muggle-born, I'm a Death Eater."
"Former."
"What?" Draco said, taking another sip of his drink.
"Former Death Eater." The brown-haired witch smiled. "I'm not blind, Draco." It was the first time in years that she had called him by his first name- the last time being at Hogwarts. "I saw you at Hogwarts, in our last year. You weren't mean or cruel, you hardly talked to anyone, and you never said an insult. But you did talk to me, sometimes," Hermione said, remembering. "I didn't have many friends, only really Luna and Ginny; but you would say hi, sometimes in the halls, like, "Hi Granger". And that one time that we were partnered up in Transfiguration, you weren't mean at all. Why?"
Draco sighed. "I guess… I had a change of heart. I didn't want to be lumped in with my father's image anymore, you know?" Hermione nodded. "I changed my beliefs. After Hogwarts, I needed to get away, so I moved here, started my bookstore, and I… I really like it here."
Hermione gaped. "Wow. But I didn't know you had a bookstore!"
Draco laughed. Of course, Hermione had always had a never ending love of books. "Want to see?"
"Of course," was her excited reply.
The pair walked back to the shop, and Hermione was awed as she walked in.
"This is fantastic," she said, running her hand down the rows of books. "I'll bet you get a lot of costumers."
Draco nodded. "I guess."
"And I just love the name."
"Yeah," he said. "So how's it going with you and the weasel?"
"Oh," she paused. "We broke up. What about you and Astoria?"
"The same."
"I've had a great time today Draco," Hermione said, smiling at him. "Thank you."
"Me too. You're welcome."
They spent the rest of the day inside of that bookstore.
And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed. My counterpart is going to be MIA for a few weeks, so don't expect a chapter soon.
I am also a beta now, so you can look at that.
Please review, feed the muse!