A Surprise Encounter
Hermione wasn't sure how she wanted to furnish her new flat in Diagon Alley, but she knew one thing. The atrocious red magical lanterns had to go. They looked like they belonged in the Gryffindor dorm or a brothel and neither really suited her fancy at this point in her life.
Ron had decorated their shared flat overwhelmingly in either Gryffindor colours or Chudley Cannons merchandise. Post-divorce, Hermione wanted to leave that immature decorating behind. She already had made three of the four walls in her sitting room into floor to ceiling bookshelves and had unpacked all her books for the first time since before she'd made the undetectable extension bag.
She'd charmed the bookcases black and filled all the empty spaces with plants, laughing as she considered that she'd turned the room into a cross between the Slytherin and Hufflepuff common rooms. She couldn't escape from Hogwarts even in her home decorating it seemed. Hermione still wished she'd been able to visit the Slytherin common room even once. She hadn't been conscious under the Black Lake during the Triwizard Tournament and always wondered about the view from the snake pit.
She needed to stop thinking about the Slytherins like that anyway. Ginny's divorce from Harry last year and subsequent relationship with Pansy Parkinson of all people had shown Hermione that there were plenty of lovely members of Slytherin. And Ron's reaction to Pansy had been the end of things with him honestly, and for that Hermione had to be grateful. She wasn't about to cut off her best female friend, his sister for Godric's sake, because she was dating a Slytherin. Even Harry had taken it better than Ron, although Hermione suspected that Theodore Nott, Harry's new Auror partner, had something to do with that.
Ron's inability to control his anger and desire to control Hermione's relationships with others had been the death knell for their marriage, although the Chudley Cannons sheets really should have done the trick.
She walked through Diagon Alley enjoying that her new flat was so centrally located. She would be able to pop into Flourish and Blotts whenever she wanted without anyone complaining about how long she spent or how many books she purchased. She could have ice cream for lunch and no one would complain about how she was putting on weight. She honestly wasn't sure why it had taken her so long to leave Ron now that she started thinking about these sorts of things. A little separation had given her a great deal of clarity.
Flimflam's Lanterns was a shop specialising in lighting devices, located in Horizont Alley in an archway leading to Knockturn Alley. Hermione was honestly overwhelmed. She was in love with some of the chandeliers, but she wasn't sure that they would fit in with her decor. A lamp that looked like a giant bluebell flower caught her eye, but she thought she would need to get a chaise lounge to match so she could pretend to be a fairy princess while she read. Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing. She was examining it with a more critical eye when she heard a voice she recognized from the next aisle over.
"Mother, I swear, I can handle choosing the lighting for Scorpius' nursery, but you can go to see if there is any nursery furniture in the Black vault if you like," Draco Malfoy sighed deeply, "But maybe no green, no snakes etcetera."
Hermione's curiosity was piqued so she looked through the haphazard stacking of lamps and could see Narcissa Malfoy with her hand on Draco's forearm, whispering something to him.
"I swear Mother, I can handle this. Please."
Narcissa kissed him on the cheek and then left the shop. Malfoy looked deflated after she left and unsure.
Hermione realised that even with all the socialising she had been doing lately with Pansy, Millicent and Tracy that she had no idea what Draco Malfoy was up to these days. She knew that Pansy still saw him on occasion, but she was very tight-lipped about it.
No coward, and well aware that befriending Draco Malfoy would piss Ronald off to no end, Hermione grabbed the bluebell lamp and went around the corner as though she had accidentally come across the former Slytherin Prince.
"Oh hullo Malfoy," Hermione said in fake surprise, "Fancy seeing you here."
"Granger," Draco Malfoy looked at her in surprise, "This is a surprise. And that is an interesting lamp."
She smiled, "Isn't it?" Here you go, Hermione. "I just got my own flat for the first time, in well, ever, so I get to decorate it like I want."
Draco's brow furrowed, "Your own flat? I thought you were with Weasley?"
"Nope," Hermione popped the "p." "I'm a free woman these days."
"Same." Draco said, tonelessly, his eyes gone blank.
"You're a free woman?"
He laughed, and Hermione realised she had never heard him laugh before, not really. "No. My divorce was just finalised this week. And I decided to move out of the Manor so I'm decorating a new flat as well, here in Diagon actually."
"Oh," Hermione said in surprise, wondering if his flat was in the same building as hers, "I hadn't heard." How old was his son? She'd heard that he'd had a child a couple years ago. "How's your… son taking it?"
"He's only three and Astoria was never particularly interested in him especially after his condition became known."
"Is he alright?" Hermione asked, concerned.
"He's fine," Draco said, sighing, "he's a disappointment to Astoria and my father though because he's a Squib. I had been keeping it hush but Astoria is telling people now and it's sure to be making the rounds soon. She's convinced his condition is my fault. I don't know why I am telling you all this Granger. You can't possibly care about my marital collapse and Scorpius."
"Actually with my own marital collapse as you put it and spending so much time with Ginny and Pansy, I think it's nice to hear about someone else's drama for a bit."
He laughed again and she liked it even more the second time. "I had forgotten that you are a fixture at Pansy and Ginevra's. They keep inviting me for your Sunday brunch outing, but I don't think I want to be the only bloke and what would I do with Scorpius?"
"You should come," Hermione smiled, "Bring Scorpius. The girls would all coddle him. And isn't Pansy his godmother?"
"Yes, thank Salazar. It was nearly Daphne and what a mess that would have been considering." Draco moved down the aisle and looked up at several lamps that were clearly for children's room with dragons and brooms and one shaped like a snitch.
"We do switch off and go to brunch in Muggle London," Hermione offered as Draco floated down the lamp with different types of Dragons charmed onto the glass. "Perhaps that would be good for Scorpius and for you to get more comfortable."
"Yes," Draco turned to look at her with more scrutiny. She'd taken a step closer to him and she could smell his cologne. She caught her eyes flickering to his lips, and her breath caught in surprise. "It's part of why we moved here. So I could get Scorpius more used to the Muggle world…Do you…would you…I mean…I know it's a big ask, Granger, but do you think that you could show Scorpius and I around sometime? I have one of those new cards from Gringotts so I have access to Muggle money, but I have no idea what I'm doing."
Hermione smiled as they walked toward the register together, "Malfoy…Draco, I'd love to."