Chapter 9: Daylight Confessions and Midnight Roses

Hermione weaved in and out between village goers until she burst through the door of Maggie's Tailoring.

"Hey, how did everything go?" Maggie looked up from the desk but managed only to catch the back of Hermione's head.

"Everything went great." She said as she eagerly hopped up the stairs and into her bedroom. She couldn't face Maggie right now. She shut the door behind her and stood against the frame. She could hear the rush of blood pulsing through her body through her ears. She put a hand over her heart and took a few deep breaths. She could hardly move her feet to her bed, the images from an hour ago kept creeping into her mind, blinking back and forth replaying each second.

She flung her satchel onto the blue couch at the end bed and plopped down. This was the moment where she wished her mind would go blank, for a spontaneous disassociation so that she wouldn't have to think about what just happened. She put her hands over her face and tried to think about anything other than the kiss between her and Lucius. She still had to go back down to the store for the rest of the workday, but she didn't know how she was going to explain things to Maggie.

A sudden knock at her bedroom door caught Hermione off guard. "Come in!" She called. The knob slowly turned and the door clicked open as Maggie popped her head in. She closed the door behind her and sat next to Hermione on her bed.

"Hermione? Is everything okay?" Hermione could see a wave of concern wash over Maggie's face. Her eyes fell to her knees, deciding whether or not she should tell Maggie the truth. She didn't want to lie, they had just spent the entire day yesterday learning about each other and Hermione had finally opened up about her relationship with Ron. But this was different.

She had shared a kiss with Lucius Malfoy, one of the most prestigious wizards in all of the Wizarding world, and a man who used to despise her existence and whom she used to hate. It felt so impossible to explain. While her world was spinning a dull ache began to pound in the back of her head. She had to tell Maggie. It was the only person who might understand, and it was all too real of a possibility that Maggie could figure it out if Lucius were to ever tell someone. And she wanted Maggie to hear it from her first.

Hermione stood up and walked over to the bay window and looked down. The streets were busy as normal, but no one looked like they were about to come into the shop. She spun back around to see a worried Maggie, studying her every move.

'Just spill it out and get it over with!' She thought.

She sighed. "I kissed Lucius."

If it were possible for a human to spontaneously combust, Maggie would have been the world's biggest human explosion by the amount of pure shock and almost horror displayed across her face. She covered her now gaping mouth. Her hazel eyes seemed frantic as they followed Hermione back to the bed beside her.

"Well, actually he kissed me and I froze."

'Liar.' She thought to herself.

"Ugh. I didn't freeze I just—

"Hermione, just tell me what happened." Hermione knew if she kept everything to herself, she'd pop. So she told Maggie everything, from the moment she arrived at Lucius' house to the moment she got back to the store. The whole time Maggie fought to keep her mouth closed, and as Hermione described the moment she and Lucius shared a kiss, Maggie's eyes seemed to glisten as if she was about to cry.

"I'm so sorry, Maggie. I never meant for this to happen. I understand if this means I'm fired." Maggie patted the top of Hermione's hand, giving it a small squeeze before tossing a few loose curls behind her shoulder.

"I'm not going to fire you." She said. "I'm glad you told me, and I'm sorry all of that happened while you were out on your own for the first time."

Hermione wondered why Maggie would be apologizing to her. However thankful she was that Maggie wasn't going to fire her, she didn't understand why Maggie seemed so apologetic. She wondered if Maggie thought Hermione hated the kiss. Wait, did she hate the kiss? Her skin felt fuzzy and warm every time her mind brought her back to her wrist in his hand, and her belly cramped with excitement every time she thought of his soft but firm lips.

But the idea alone made her head pound with more pain. The very thought that she would enjoy a kiss with Lucius Malfoy turned the sky upside down, made the sun the moon, and turned a flame into water. It just didn't make sense.

"Maggie?" Hermione brought her knees to her chest, her toes now gripping the side of the bed. Maggie scooted back and faced Hermione. She continued. "I didn't exactly hate it."

"Hate what?" Maggie asked. "The kiss?"

Hermione put her head between her knees, absolutely hating the words as they spilled like tea from her lips. "Yes." She said. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I sort of liked the kiss." Even though she couldn't see Maggie, she could tell by the feel of the room that she was stunned.

"I know that seems ridiculous." Hermione continued. "But it's true."

"I don't understand, I thought you hated Lucius."

"I did, but yesterday when we were talking about him and the nights I've run into him, I guess the idea of not hating him became appealing. That night at Mrs. Humphrey's while you two were discussing Lucius and Narcissa, I thought it was absurd to think a man like Lucius Malfoy could be anything but evil." Hermione's throat tightened as tears began to well up in her eyes. "I thought it was impossible for any member of the Malfoy family to feel love to the point of heartbreak. It reminded me a lot of me and Ron, and the pain I have been feeling since leaving school." She was letting the tears fall now, not bothered by the dripping from her nose or even caring to wipe the tears away.

As she sobbed, Maggie rubbed her back and leaned her head against Hermione's shoulder. Hermione struggled to catch her breath with her head between her knees the way it was, but she felt too embarrassed to let Maggie see. They sat there together for a few minutes, as she let Hermione cry for as long as she needed to. She got up to grab a few sheets of toilet paper from Hermione's bathroom.

She assured Hermione that she could take the rest of the day to rest, but not without protest from Hermione. They shared one last hug before Maggie returned to the store to finish the day. Hermione's once dull headache was now a full-blown migraine. She sipped on a glass of water and lay down on her bed. She couldn't think anymore, her mind felt fried. She fell to the mercy of sleep and drifted into a sweet darkness where her brain didn't have to work anymore.

The sky was almost black when Hermione sat up from her bed. She massaged the back of her neck, thankful that her headache was gone. She wondered what time it was. Realizing she was wearing the same clothes she wore to Lucius' house, she changed into sweat shorts and a sweatshirt and headed down to the store to find Maggie. The cold wood felt amazing on the souls of her feet as she peeked into the kitchen to see Maggie sitting at the dining table.

"I made us some soup for tonight. It was my father's recipe. He made it for me after my first boyfriend dumped me for my best friend in high school so I thought there would be no better time to have some." Hermione had to admit that the kitchen did smell amazing. She ladled some of the soup into a bowl and sat across from Maggie. She brought the bowl to her lips and slurped down a wonderful gulp of hot soup.

"Feeling any better?" Maggie asked.

Hermione nodded. "Did closing go okay?"

"Of course. We hardly had anyone come in today. Just a few late ironing requests but those were easy."

Hermione and Maggie sipped on some soup together until Maggie retired to her bedroom for the night. Hermione sat at the dining table and stared out into the streets of Hogsmeade before heading back up the stairs and into her bedroom. As she walked into her room she noticed something different. There was something on her dresser that wasn't there before. As she got closer, she could see a beautifully glowing white rose resting peacefully on the top of her dresser.

She looked around her room, then back down at the rose. It reminded her of the radiant rose bushes outside of Lucius' home. Suddenly she realized the rose must have been from Lucius. It had to be some kind of magical spell he used to manifest them for her. Then she realized it must have been Lucius on the night of her birthday who sent her the magical rose that seemed to appear out of thin air. Gently, she brought the rose to her nose, taking a deep breath in. She couldn't understand what it meant. Was it an apology? Was it a thank you? Could it be both?

She had so many questions. Maybe their kiss was just a pathetic attempt at filling a hole. They've both gone through a horrible breakup recently, Lucius more than her she figured. He had been married, and created a family with Narcissa, just to have her leave him after being caught in an affair. Her heart ached for someone else for a change. She couldn't imagine living through something so painful and figured that it was no wonder that Lucius sought out affection.

She tossed and turned that night remembering the way her heart thundered in her chest, the way she wanted to feel the tips of his hair to see if they were as soft as the skin on his chest or the skin on his lips. If it wasn't for the tiny shrieking voice in the back of her head, would their kiss have ended? Would it have become something more? Would Lucius have asked her to leave if she didn't push him away?

It was no surprise that she dreamt of her kiss with Lucius that night, only having the dream end just when she pushed him away. Sadness ached in her chest, wishing the dream could have taken her to the place her thoughts were too embarrassed to go.