Chapter 7
“I can’t take this any more, I quit!”
“Theo, you have to pay Malfoy, you’ve landed on Mayfair,” Hermione chided.
“No! In fact, this whole situation is entirely unfair! I refuse to believe that Muggles would willingly play such a ridiculous game. This is clearly actually a sick form of torture. You know what? I won’t pay him! That’s right, you can’t make me! This entire thing has been down to luck. If I’d rolled a three or a five, I would’ve avoided this! Pansy has missed my properties every single time she’s been around the board!” Theo gestured wildly at the Monopoly board on the dining room table between them all.
“Life isn’t fair, Nott. Pay up.” A smug smile curved Malfoy’s lips. He leaned back in his chair, arms crossed low over his chest.
“How much is it?” Apprehension flooded Theo’s expression.
Blaise leaned forward, reading Malfoy’s property cards over his shoulder.
“One thousand and four hundred galleons.”
Hermione cleared her throat.
“Pounds,” Blaise corrected.
“Granger, this is a terrible game.” Theo scowled.
“You’re only saying that because you’ve been terrible, Theo.” Daphne rolled her eyes. “I don’t think it’s so bad.”
“You’ve been cheating, of course it hasn’t been bad for you! If we played again and you stopped promising Blaise sexual favours in return for waiving the fees when you land on his properties, you’d be the one in this position!”
“You can’t blame me for using the tools at my disposal. Why don’t you try offering Malfoy a quick blowie? I’m sure Granger won’t mind you using her spare bedroom.”
“To be fair, I don’t think the official rules allow sexual favours as bribes,” Hermione tried to leap to Theo’s defence, ducking her head to hide her grin at the indignation on his face.
“Don’t start taking Theo’s side just because you feel sorry for him, Granger, that’s what he wants.” Daphne raised an eyebrow. “Besides, I didn’t miss you letting Malfoy off in return for the promise of a pastry from that Muggle café you both love.”
Hermione’s cheeks heated.
“I can’t pay you,” Theo said to Malfoy, rifling through his messy pile of colourful money. “I can’t afford it.”
“You have to mortgage your properties.” Pansy peered over the rulebook. “Although, I’m not sure that would give you enough, either.”
Theo dropped his head into his hands, groaning.
“Why don’t we just say I’ve won and leave it at that?” Malfoy offered. “It was inevitable. We all know I’m simply superior.”
Hermione and Pansy rolled their eyes in unison.
“I have other games we can play. Why don’t we try something a bit different?” Hermione suggested, hoping to maintain the peace and prevent Theo from destroying her home in a fit of rage or despair.
“Another game like this?” Pansy asked.
“If you’d like. Or we can play one on the telly. I have a Nintendo sixty-four. I can introduce you to the wonders of Mario Kart.”
The Slytherins exchanged blank looks.
Malfoy was the first to break the silence. “It doesn’t matter what we play. I’ll win.” He shrugged.
Hermione managed to resist rolling her eyes for the second time in a minute.
“I’ll make us a fresh round of drinks while you guys pack Monopoly away, then I’ll set it up.”
She stood, stepping away from the dining table they were crowded around and making her way across the hall into the kitchen. A flick of her wand had their mugs floating behind her.
As they settled on the counter, she refilled and turned on the kettle.
“Need any help?”
Turning, she found Malfoy leaning his shoulder against the doorframe, arms crossed.
“Sure.” She smiled. She didn’t really need his help but didn’t mind the company.
Tonight’s game night had been her idea as a way to introduce Malfoy and the other purebloods to some of the more fun Muggle creations.
Although they’d been sceptical at first, they embraced the evening eagerly after a quick game of Uno revealed their competitive streaks. It had taken six more rounds before Hermione had convinced them to try something different. She introduced them to Monopoly, which caused just as much bickering. Theo had yet to win a game but perhaps he would have a hidden talent for video games.
“You have a lovely home,” Malfoy said, approaching the kitchen counter Hermione stood at and adding tea bags to the last few mugs she hadn’t yet reached.
“Thank you.”
“I envy you having the place to yourself,” he said, unaware how the words made her heart clench. “I’ve wanted to move out of the manor for years but I know my mother would hate living alone.”
“It can be lonely sometimes,” Hermione admitted. “I spend a lot of time visiting friends, to be honest. I’ve been thinking about getting a cat to have some company, but I just don’t really have enough time away from work for it to be fair to a kitten.”
“Did you move here after Hogwarts?”
She shook her head. “No, I grew up here.”
“Did your parents move out?” Malfoy frowned.
Pain flared in her chest. “Yes. They live in Australia now.”
His eyebrows raised. “That’s quite a distance. Do you get to see them often?”
She kept her eyes on the counter, drumming her fingers on the wooden surface.
“No. I…” she took a deep breath, “I removed their memories of me and sent them there during the war to keep them safe so no Death Eaters could link them to me and hurt them,” she blurted, the words tumbling from her lips.
Malfoy said nothing. How harshly would he judge her actions? She risked a glance at him, swallowing. His face was pale.
“Granger…”
“You don’t need to say anything,” she interrupted. “There’s not much anyone can say, anyway.”
“Have you tried restoring their memories?”
“I’ve spoken to experts. The chance of success is slim and the process would likely be very traumatic for them. I haven’t decided whether to risk it.” She stared down at her hands, flat on the kitchen counter. “I think I’ve already accepted that I’ve lost them, deep down. Isn’t that strange—grieving someone who isn’t dead?” she admitted, sickening guilt tainting every word.
She’d never spoken these feelings aloud, not even to Harry and Ginny. They’d both worked so hard to move on from their own traumatic memories of the war, why bother them with hers?
Malfoy laid a hand over hers. His fingers were long and slender, his hand dwarfing her own. She was surprised to observe the small markings that marred his fingers—scars and hints of calluses. What was the story behind each mark? Would he tell her if she asked?
“I’m sorry you had to do that. I know it’s no comparison, but I understand something of what you must feel. I feel the same about my father.”
Although Hermione had advocated for Malfoy and a few other of her fellow students during the post-war trials, she had not stuck around to witness the trials of any adult death eaters, desperate to distance herself from the war as soon as she was able.
As far as she’d heard, Lucius would spend the rest of his life in Azkaban, and that life might be considerably shortened if data about other inmates was anything to go by. She hadn’t stopped to consider how Malfoy would feel about that, even since they’d started working together.
“Do you miss him?” she asked, keeping her eyes on their hands, listening to the buzz of the kettle and the muffled voices of the other Slytherins.
“Sometimes. Although, I feel just as guilty about that, after everything he did. Part of me is glad he isn’t around. I spent years trying to live up to his expectations, to make him proud, and he put our entire family in danger according to the whims of a psychopath. His absence is freeing. I feel like I can finally decide to do things because I want to, not because he would expect it.”
Her heart squeezed with sadness for both of them, for every child and young adult in their generation who had been caught up in a war that never should have touched them.
“My home hasn’t felt the same since the war, either. Some of the things that happened there—I can’t—” he swallowed. “I know what it’s like to feel out of place, to feel lonely, at home, even when it seems like everyone else has been able to move on.”
He spoke like he could read the emotions clear on her. She looked up and met his gaze. Sadness and regret shone in his eyes, as they always did when conversation moved to the war. Did he see something similar in hers?
The kettle clicked off, steam billowing from the spout. Both of them startled at the sound. Malfoy pulled his hand away, freeing Hermione to pour boiling water into each tea cup. She swallowed as she did, blinking away the tears in her eyes.
Malfoy cleared his throat. “So, can you give me any tips on how to win the next game?” he asked, changing the subject.
Hermione raised her eyebrows, clutching at the opportunity to forget the pain of her parents. “Trying to cheat already?”
“Just being strategic to secure my win. I have a reputation to uphold.”
She snorted. “And how am I meant to beat you if I share all of my secrets?”
“I’m certain you’ll find a way.” He grinned.
“True, I may not be brilliant on a broom but I certainly know how to excel in a virtual car.”
She stifled a smile at Malfoy’s baffled expression.
Hermione relocated the other Slytherins to her living room and left Malfoy to hand out their drinks while she crouched in front of the TV and turned on her games console.
Though they were chatting behind her—teasing one another as usual—she didn’t miss how the purebloods watched her every move, curiosity consuming them as they observed the Muggle technology.
“This is a television,” she explained as she set everything up. “Muggles use it to watch shows or films.”
“Films?” Theo asked.
“Like stories with moving pictures the entire time.” She sat back on her heels. “I’ll arrange a movie night for us all and show you some of my favourites.”
She switched the TV input with her remote and the familiar sound and sight of the game appeared.
“Is that… is that tortoise driving a car?” Malfoy asked.
Hermione grinned at the welcome screen, pushing the start button to begin setting up.
“He’s called Bowser. I think he’s technically a dinosaur. You can choose him as a character if you like him. You can even make him drive a motorbike. Only four people can play at once, but we can take it in turns.” She quickly flicked through to the character selection screen.
“I want to be Peach, she’s hot!” Blaise exclaimed, grabbing a controller from Hermione.
“I want to be that mushroom one!” Pansy snatched up a second controller.
Theo and Daphne took the other two, leaving Hermione and Malfoy to watch the first round. After explaining the basic controls and aims of the game, she moved to sit beside Malfoy on the sofa and settled in to watch the carnage unfold.