Snippets

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Draco waits exactly one week after Hermione is discharged from St. Mungo's to begin his 'courting' process– well, if she doesn't consider his daily owls checking in on her as the beginning, that is.

It's approximately six p.m. on the Thursday– one week, to the day, from when Hermione was discharged– when Draco shows up at her door.

Hermione is resting on the sofa with a mug of tea and a book when the knock on her door reverberates throughout her flat. She lifts her head from her book (after finishing her page, of course) and stands from the sofa, unsure of who might be at her door, although she believes that she has a fair guess.

Hermione had spent the entirety of her day today resting. Her follow-up appointment with Healer Greengrass had been yesterday and even just traveling to St. Mungo's had worn her out considerably, so she decided that today would be a day of rest.

That said, Hermione hopes that whoever is at her door is someone who won't judge her for her current choice of attire– an old, worn-in t-shirt, a pair of pink, satin sleep shorts and bunny slippers which Ginny had gifted her for her birthday last year as a joke. The fact that they were intended as a joke has not stopped Hermione from wearing them often though.

Hermione unlocks and opens her door and is decidedly not surprised by who she finds waiting for her. What does surprise her, though, is the not one, but two bouquets of flowers which he has gathered into one of his obscenely large hands.

In lieu of a greeting, Hermione raises an eyebrow and leans her shoulder against the doorframe.

"I've come to check in on you," Draco begins, tucking his free hand into his trouser pocket. "And also to ask you to dinner tomorrow evening, if you're feeling up to it."

Hermione's eyes widen in surprise, though she does step back and tip her head, allowing Draco to step into her flat. When he does, she closes the door behind him and locks the deadbolt out of habit before turning back to look at the wizard before her holding the flowers.

"I'd like to take you out on a proper date," Draco states, finally handing the bouquets in his hand over to her. "And I would really like it if you would say yes."

Hermione ignores Draco's ask in favor of a moment of surprise when she takes note of exactly which flowers Draco has brought her this evening.

"Gladioli and roses?" Hermione questions, although she thinks that she knows exactly why he chose those particular flowers.

Draco smiles a half-smile at her, all but confirming her suspicion before he responds.

"Red roses– symbolic of romantic love," he starts with the obvious. "And the gladiolus– symbolic of bravery, strength and courage, a fitting sentiment for their recipient. I also may or may not have heard tell that those are your favorites."

Hermione brushes the tip of her forefinger over a petal on one of the gladioli before narrowing her eyes at Draco.

"I thought that you didn't believe in the language of flowers?" Hermione asks, pointedly ignoring the implication that gladioli are her favorite flowers, as well as Draco's other mushy (but decidedly very romantic) reason for gifting them to her. They are her favorites– have been for as long as she can remember, though she doesn't remember ever telling him that.

Draco smirks down at her.

"I don't, but I thought that I could use all of the help that I could get."

Hermione takes a dainty sniff of the red roses, smiling faintly to herself as the classic rose smell invades her senses before she pads into her kitchen and searches for wherever she put her singular flower vase. She knows that she could transfigure a new one, but this one had been one of the few things which she saved from her parents' old house. It had belonged to her mother, and therefore is one of Hermione's most prized possessions.

Hermione eventually finds it in the cupboard above her refrigerator and she pats her sides and the top of her head where her wand is typically stuck through her bun, realizing quickly that she must have left her wand on the sofa when she got up to open the door.

"Here, let me," Draco insists, placing his right hand on Hermione's back and reaching (barely) to take down the vase for her.

Hermione takes the vase from Draco with a smile of thanks, then heads over to the sink to fill it with water and place the flowers inside.

"So, have I earned that date yet?" Draco wonders, leaning back against the counter beside where Hermione sets the flowers.

Hermione pretends to think for a moment. In truth, she would've said yes regardless of anything he chose to do in an attempt to earn her favor. He already has her favor, and therefore needs not to try.

"You have. Pick me up tomorrow at seven?"

Draco arrives at precisely seven p.m. the following evening, not that Hermione is surprised by his punctuality– rather, she finds his eagerness quite endearing.

"Where are we going?" Hermione asks as she slips her feet into her shoes, unable to hide the half-smile which is tugging at her lips at the sight of the handsome blonde wizard in her doorway.

Without responding– unless Hermione counts a smirk as a response– Draco reaches out and takes her right hand in his left.

"You'll figure it out soon enough," Draco replies, tugging Hermione along with him as soon as she is ready and closing her flat door behind them when they leave.

Hermione had assumed that Draco would release her hand after leaving her flat, but he doesn't– instead he threads his fingers through hers and continues to hold it tightly.

"Are we apparating?" Hermione asks quietly, wondering if Draco is planning to side-along. That would explain his reasoning for holding her hand, anyway.

Draco shakes his head.

"No, we're walking."

It's with that response that Hermione figures out to where Draco is planning to take her, and she can't fight the smile which tugs at her lips.

Hermione walks beside Draco, reveling in the warmth of his hand around hers, silently thankful that he hasn't released her yet. She doesn't plan on telling him that, but she supposes that she can enjoy holding his hand silently.

"I thought it only appropriate to come here as this is where our first civil conversation as mature adults happened," Draco laughs, squeezing Hermione's hand once as he reaches with his right hand to open the door to the pub when they approach it.

"Sentimental, are we?" Hermione wonders because for some reason, the idea that Draco Malfoy is sentimental in any capacity seems surprising to her.

"A bit," Draco says, with an uncharacteristic waver in his voice– and if Hermione didn't know any better, she would think that she sees a slight blush tinting his cheeks.

Hermione allows herself to be directed to the back corner booth– the same booth in which she and Draco had sat when she first told him about her visions.

A waitress sees them quickly and approaches the table, introducing herself as 'Sally' and dropping a couple of menus down in front of them. She also takes their drink orders before disappearing back behind the bar again.

"I would like to propose an idea," Hermione decides, speaking before her mind as a chance to catch up with her mouth.

During their walk over to the pub, Hermione had realized that while she and Draco know each other quite intimately– both physically and emotionally– they don't really know the little things about one another. Evidently, Draco knows Hermione's favorite book and her favorite flowers– and quite possibly, the fact that this pub is one of her favorite places to order from after a long day at the office– but she doesn't know those things about him.

In fairness, she knows how the death of his wife had made him feel, and she knows what he sounds like when he comes, but she doesn't even know what his favorite color is, for Merlin's sake.

"Oh? Please, enlighten me."

The waitress returns with their drinks and Hermione hastily orders her go-to meal from this pub while Draco orders something which she doesn't hear before the pair return to their earlier conversation.

"I'd like to get to know you better," Hermione responds, taking a sip from her glass to hide her sudden nerves.

Draco smirks and eyes her darkly in a way which makes her throat run dry, despite her recent drink.

"I'd say you know me pretty well, Hermione," Draco states and Hermione can tell by the tone of his voice that his thoughts have just dipped into the gutter.

Hermione shakes her head and laughs lightly, willing her own brain to not follow Draco down that particular rabbit hole right now.

"I meant– I want to know other things. Tell me about you," Hermione explains, rolling her eyes a bit and attempting to fight the smile tugging at her lips.

Draco seems to think for a moment before responding. He leans his elbows on the table and licks his lips, twisting his Malfoy signet ring around his thumb slowly.

"Draco– middle name redacted– Malfoy. I like long broom rides, firewhiskey and randy women. Does that about cover it?" Draco replies, his tone playful as he smiles broadly at Hermione from across the table, his left cheek dimpling in a way which she has never noticed before. "Oh, and my favorite color is Slytherin green."

Hermione kicks Draco gently under the table, but her laugh bubbles up out of her chest before she can contain it.

"Middle name redacted?" Hermione wonders, although she fears that she knows exactly why Draco would say such a thing. If she remembers correctly from Hogwarts, his middle name is Lucius…

"That is decidedly not a first-date conversation," Draco warns, reaching for the first time to drink from his own glass.

Hermione crosses her arms defiantly and raises an eyebrow at her tablemate.

"Well, seeing as we've already spent a considerable amount of time together and slept together once, I think perhaps we're a bit past the usual first-date etiquette."

Draco's eyes narrow in contemplation for a moment.

"Technically, I think we slept together twice that night, if I remember correctly," Draco corrects, leering at Hermione suggestively. "And I do remember it– fondly and often."

Hermione feels her cheeks heat, but decidedly does not take Draco's bait.

"Fine," Draco pouts in jest. "My parents and I don't exactly see eye-to-eye anymore– more my father than my mother, but they're equally guilty in my book."

Hermione's shoulders deflate. She had expected that, but that doesn't make it any less sad to hear the confirmation.

"May I ask why?"

Hermione knows that it's really none of her business why Draco and his parents aren't as close as they seemed to be a decade ago, but she also can't help but be curious.

Draco sighs, carding his left hand through his hair before he speaks again.

"It started with Astoria. Her tolerance and the fact that she would never be able to produce an heir due to her illness made her 'an inappropriate match', according to my mother. I don't think my father said more than two words to Astoria in the five years that I was married to her."

Hermione frowns. That must've been incredibly difficult for Draco– her heart breaks for him. She knows how he used to idolize his father when he was young, so it must've been painful to experience that rejection.

"From there, the relationships deteriorated quickly. I moved out of the Manor after Astoria passed. I've rarely been back since."

Hermione squeezes the tip of her left ring finger in her lap. He'd gone back in order to procure the books from which they'd studied together for her.

"I'd wondered about the townhouse," Hermione admits. "I'm sorry about your parents."

Draco tips his head in acknowledgement of her condolences and looks off into the distance for a moment before coming back to himself.

Hermione decides then that that was probably enough heavy conversation for one evening.

"So, fondly and often, you said?"

Hi, friends! Happy Tuesday. I, once again, forgot that it was Tuesday. Sorry. Lol.

Before we get into anything here, I just wanted to let y'all know that the month of October is going to be weird. Uploads may be a bit off. I'm having surgery soon and I can't imagine that it won't effect my upload schedule. Especially for the first couple of weeks. So, I just wanted to let y'all know so you can be aware. I will try to upload as consistently as I can do, but I also need you all to be patient and understanding, please. Thank you. (:

Also. Y'all. We're almost done. We have six more actual chapters and three epilogues and then Snippets will be over. )': To be fair, that's still nine weeks, plus however many I miss due to surgery, so we have time, but still. It doesn't feel real. I'm going to miss this fic so much once it's over. I haven't been writing much just because of a lot of stress I'm currently dealing with, so I don't have anything planned to upload after Snippets. It's entirely possible that inspiration will strike and I will have something, but no promises.

As some of you may know, I am working on a Fremione multi-chapter. Y'all. It's almost done. I'm writing the final chapter now, but it's taking so long due to lack of inspiration and wanting to get it right. So, it's coming, but I dunno when. Hopefully this Friday? But I can't promise that. In any case, it would probably go live on Fridays, so keep an eye out. If it's not finished by next Friday (09/20), SEND HELP. Lol.

Anyway. As always, thank you so much for spending a bit of your time here with me this week. It truly means so much to me, especially in a time such as now when I just need a bit of extra patience and care. Knowing that there are so many of you out there who routinely come back and read every chapter and even follow me over to other works when I publish other things means more to me than you could ever know. I am so grateful. So, so grateful.

If you feel so inclined, please leave a review. Reading your reviews genuinely makes me so happy and I reread them constantly. I love reading your thoughts, opinions, observations, whatever you have for me. (:

Thank you again. I truly appreciate you being here.

See you next week. (:

ETA: Yes, there was a Supernatural reference in there. Let me know if you found it. :P