Chapter 7: Unveiling Shadows of the Past

It was true, Hermione was thanking Maggie the next morning. Hermione was sure she'd feel hungover the next morning, but thanks to the pungent green potion Maggie gave her before running into Lucius, Hermione was spared the headache and the nausea.

'Oh my god, I completely forgot I saw Lucius!' She rubbed her eyes and tried to remember their interaction but parts of it were blurry. 'What did I say to him? What did he say to me?' She remembered the magical umbrella and the smell of fresh rain. The image of Lucius' hand on her shoulder came to mind and gave her fluttering in her stomach. She couldn't tell if she imagined it or if it actually happened.

After putting on a fresh pair of leggings and a big comfy sweatshirt, she retreated to the kitchen to find Maggie sitting at the table like she had almost every morning.

"Look who's finally up!" Her voice was shrill this morning.

'Maybe that green potion didn't fix every part of a hangover.' Hermione thought.

"What time is it?" She sat down across from Maggie and rubbed her temples with her thumbs.

"1:00 pm." She sipped her coffee.

"It's 1:00 pm right now?!" Hermione jolted from her chair and peeked out into the store. The shop sign was set to 'open'. "I'm so sorry."

"Please don't apologize, I'm so glad you let me take you out last night."

Hermione groaned and slammed her head onto the table. She couldn't believe she'd overslept, and until 1:00 pm nonetheless. "Has anyone come in yet?"

"No," Maggie shook her head. "We've only had a couple of delivery tickets come through but I haven't checked any of them."

Maggie sipped the rest of her coffee and rinsed out her cup.

"Thank you by the way for that potion last night." Hermione propped her head up on her hands.

"It works wonders, doesn't it? It's saved my life so many times."

Hermione's head still felt groggy as she got up to make herself a cup of coffee. She mixed in a few scoops of creamer and sugar and sat with the cup between her hands. She took a couple of sips and let the caffeine activate her mind.

"So," Maggie sat back down across from Hermione, "what was going on between you and Lucius last night?"

Hermione felt like a shot of lightning zap through her entire body. Her eyes widened in disbelief. "You saw that?"

Maggie narrowed her eyes and chuckled. "Would you rather I not have seen?"

"No that's not what I meant!" Hermione had a sick feeling in her chest.

"Well?"

"The memory is a little foggy if I'm honest." Hermione dragged her hands down her face. "But when I went outside I ran into him…well he caught me after I almost nosedived into the sidewalk."

Maggie's eyes were fixed on Hermione, and her smile was oddly suspicious looking.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. I just saw the way you were gazing up at him and thought maybe there was something in your eyes." She poked at Hermione and wiggled in her chair.

"Maggie, no. I feel nothing for Lucius Malfoy." She stood up and put her coffee mug in the sink. "Only recently have I started to feel something other than hatred."

"Right," Maggie stood up. "I'm sorry I forgot you'd mentioned him before."

She followed Maggie into the store. The desk had already been polished and the suits were straightened out. Hermione sat on the step stool and Maggie stood across from her. Hermione's mind couldn't let it go. Something inside of her felt the need to retract her statement.

"Back when I started school, Lucius and his family hated me because both of my parents are muggles. Any time he spotted me in school, or on the outside, he didn't hold any of that hatred back."

Maggie leaned against one of the full mirrors and crossed her arms. "What about now?"

"Now, he's so different. It's like he's an imposter."

"Heartbreak can do that to a person."

Hermione shook her head. "I didn't think that was possible for a person like Lucius."

"You didn't think what was possible?"

"For a person like Lucius Malfoy to love anyone in that way. I always saw him as a hateful man."

"What about now?"

She sat for a moment and remembered the sweet smell of sandalwood and pine, the same smell that always filled the air every time Lucius was around. The events from the previous night were starting to become clear; the way Lucius' arms caught her before she hit the ground. The way he gripped her shoulder and reassured her of her decision to leave Hogwarts made her feel something far from hatred. She wondered if the small white rose could have been from Lucius, and if it was, why did he send it to her? After years of despising each other, how could he have changed so drastically towards her?

'It was probably just a nice gesture because it was my birthday.' She thought to herself.

"It's hard to believe that a man like Lucius could be heartbroken, but every time I've run into him since leaving Hogwarts, he's been nice to me. Like, really nice to me.

"You've run into him another time?" Maggie uncrossed her arms and sat on the step stool across from Hermione.

Hermione forgot she didn't tell Maggie about her first interaction with Lucius outside the grocery store. She had the opportunity to tell her and Mrs. Humphrey while they were both helping her with tailoring services, but based on the read of the room she decided to keep it to herself.

Now she had to spill the beans. "My second night here I ran into him outside the grocery store. Literally, I ran into him and all of my bags went flying and I fell backward but instead of the usual insults I usually hear any time I saw Lucius, he offered to help me."

Maggie gasped and her jaw dropped. "How come you never told me?"

Hermione shrugged. "I didn't know how you felt about Lucius or the Malfoys. Not everyone has had the same experience as me. And like I said, it was my second night here and I didn't want to potentially ruin our relationship by talking negatively about a high-ranking wizard."

Maggie smiled like she understood what Hermione was talking about. Like there was nothing Maggie couldn't understand. She has always been very understanding of Hermione and her situation, she felt silly for not realizing it earlier.

"You don't have to keep anything from me, Hermione. I'm a girl from a farm in Yorkshire who wanted nothing more than to live in a big city filled with magic. Once I learned that my father was a former student of Hogwarts, I begged him to let me go to school here."

"I had no idea that you attended Hogwarts!" Hermione was elated, she had so many questions. Like who her favorite teacher was, or what class she excelled the most in.

"You see, I didn't end up going to Hogwarts once the Ministry of Magic found out my mother was a muggle, and the mayor of my hometown. The Malfoy family had a lot of say in who attended Hogwarts back then, and unfortunately, professor Dumbledor could only vouch for me so much."

That old hatred was now boiling in the back of Hermione's throat. She knew if it were up to the Malfoy's, the entire school of Hogwarts would be filled with pureblooded students. If it were up to Lucius, Hermione would have never gone to Hogwarts. She could feel her fingers begin to tremble as she fought back the horrible thoughts about Lucius because Maggie was right—Lucius Malfoy had definitely changed.

"Wait, if you never attended Hogwarts, how do you know how to use magic?"

Maggie laughed and glanced around the outside of the store, and Hermione did the same to see if anyone would be coming in to shop or for a fitting. "After I was denied, my father made sure I knew how to use magic. He taught me everything he knew, and I taught myself a couple of things too."

Hermione adored her. Maggie was one of the purest souls she'd ever encountered, and she couldn't imagine a younger Maggie with big wondrous eyes being denied to attend the school of her dreams. She was resilient, and Hermione hoped one day to be even a sliver as strong and positive as Maggie.

The store was empty for the majority of the day, other than a few robe drop-offs for pressing and cleaning. Hermione and Maggie chatted with each other for the remainder of the workday, joking and learning about each other. Once 6:00 pm hit, Hermione turned off the open sign and locked the door to the store. She was relieved that the day was over after her first day of being late to work, and after admitting to Maggie her complicated feelings about Lucius.

Maggie opened up about her hard relationship with her mother, being that her mother was the mayor of her town back home and was always busy. She opened "Maggie's Tailoring" after her father passed away, leaving her a large amount of inheritance money. She moved from her hometown in Yorkshire to Hogsmeade, which she felt was the closest thing she'd get to being at Hogwarts.

Hermione finally opened up about Ron. She told Maggie everything, from the beginning when the rumors started to the end when she packed her things and decided to leave.

"It's funny," Maggie started. "I would give anything to attend Hogwarts, and you couldn't stand to be there." She looked content with that conclusion, but there was pity in her eyes. "I'm sorry about you and Ron. I know how hard that can be."

"It hurts but over time I've gotten numb to the pain." Hermione picked the skin on the edges of her thumb and pictured Ron playing chess in the Great Hall.

"Shoot!" Maggie stood up abruptly from the step stool, went up to the printer on the front desk, and pulled out three sheets of paper. "I completely forgot about tomorrow's delivery orders!" She smacked her forehead with her palm.

"How many are there?" Hermione followed Maggie to the desk.

"Three, but two of them managed to request the same 9:00 am slot."

Hermione thought for a moment about her first delivery service to Mrs. Humphrey's. The delivery went smoothly and now she knew how to take measurements and complete adjustments. She knew this would be easy.

"I can take one of the 9:00 am slots if you'd like." She glanced at Maggie, wondering how she felt about the two of them going solo for the first delivery services.

At first, Maggie looked skeptical. In no way did she think Hermione was incapable, but it would be her first delivery service out on her own. With her eyes now fixed on Hermione she asked: "Are you sure you want to go out on your own? I can always call to reschedule one of the deliveries for a different time so we can both go together if you'd be more comfortable with that."

Hermione held up her hand in protest. "I'm sure, Maggie. I'll take the first delivery." She gave Maggie a reassuring smile, but that quickly faded once Maggie examined the delivery details further. "What's wrong?"

She handed Hermione the first sheet and pointed to the delivery information down at the bottom. "The first delivery is for Lucius Malfoy."