Chapter 1
The last place she expected to see him was here. And in a muggle place no less. In fact, she hadn't heard anything about him in quite some time. The last time she had seen anything about Draco Malfoy was in the Prophet in the following months of the Wizarding War and his release. The papers explained that he was to spend several months in Azkaban and then another year on probation. She had spoke at his trial, explaining the events that went down at Malfoy Manor. As she recalled how he didn't identify them to his family, which then allowed them to escaped, she tried not to look at his reaction. Even as Harry and Ron went up to testify, she still didn't want to look at him. She only briefly caught a glimpse of him and gasped at how haggard he appeared, so used to seeing him always pristine in his finally tailored and pressed suits. Once his verdict was given, Hermione quickly left and tried to forget about the whole thing.
She never contemplated why she went to testify for him, other than the fact that she felt it was the right thing to do. She knew him to be cruel growing up, but she knew there was more to the situation than most people wanted to admit. He was just a boy. She noticed him in 6th year when he began to shrivel away. She understood that he was doing what he did to protect himself and his family. Everyone makes mistakes. War does terrible things to people and you do what you can to survive.
She saw when he was released (in the paper of course). She knew that he was doing his probation somewhere in the Ministry, but their path never really crossed. It was fine. After that year, he simply just vanished. There were many rumors and theories that floated around, but no one really knew where he went. No stranger to the rumors of the Prophet herself, Hermione understood to take everything with a grain of salt. Most of the time the Prophet was wrong anyway (even with most of the corruption getting slowly weeded out of the Ministry).
Despite trying to suppress the trauma that was the war, Hermione could still see its everlasting affects everywhere. She tried to dig further and further into her research with the Ministry. Hermione tended to fly around (not literally) to various departments of the Ministry. She worked closely with Kingsley, the new Minister of Magic, to help provided important research and policies to help restructure society. She would occasionally worked within the Auror's office both in research and within the Hit Wizards (and Witches) which specialized in combat and capture. Then when she needed something a bit slower pace, she would focus on Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, researching and support the creatures of the Wizarding world. Despite them winning the war, the prejudices that are deeply rooted in the Wizarding World are still heavily present. Hermione was ran rampant floated back and forth with so much on her plate. Harry and Ginny were constantly telling her that she needed to take a brake or chose something that wasn't so much to juggle. She would shrug it off and say she was fine. She enjoyed the challenge and being able to deal with something new all the time. it allowed her to dabble in everything. She had so much knowledge within her that she wanted to use for good. She was versatile. In addition to that, it gave her the opportunity to contemplate what she wanted to do. After the war, Hermione found that she wan't really sure what she wanted to do. There were so many opportunities there for her, but she didn't really know what she wanted. Plus, it kept her mind busy and it allowed to her to continue helping the world to be better. Just because the war was over, doesn't mean that there wasn't more to do.
After a year, several mental break downs, and a trip to St. Mungo's later, Hermione was ordered to some bed rest. She hated the quiet. While it allowed to have time to read more recreationally, her work was always on the forefront of her mind. Walking around Diagon Alley or hearing about what was going on in the Ministry from Ron and Harry, it made her feel like she was missing so much just sitting at him waiting to be cleared. This is how she found herself in this quaint muggle coffee shop in Nice, France. She needed to get away. Away from the routine she was used to. Away from the people. Away from the ministry. Away from the world that pretended to know everything about her simply because she is the Golden Girl (she hates that name by the way).
Hermione had never done much traveling in her life. Occasionally her and her parents would go on trips in the summer to some of the surrounded places, but never very far. Then, once she was enrolled in Hogwarts, the trips became more and more sparse. She wanted to stay and study and practice more of her magic or she wanted to be able to visit Ron and go to wizarding events. Soon the trips ceased all together.
France was somewhere were she always wanted to explore. There was so much culture and art and architecture to admire. After a few weeks traversing through the city, she decided to travel to more of the coastal part of France. The water was so clear and blue. The small towns so picturesque. For the past three days, she would enter this small cafe and order a coffee (she really need to quit caffeine). She would grab a table and sit and read before venturing out into the town.
Following the routine as normal, Hermione entered the same cafe. She slipped into an empty table with her coffee, chocolate croissant, and current read and sat down. Taking a sip of the warm and bitter coffee, she took a look out the window to admire the gorgeous blue sky and the crashing of the waves. She contemplated sitting at one of the outdoor tables, but thought the occasional breeze might make it harder to read and opted to stay at the indoor table instead. There were not many people in the small yellow cafe, but Hermione still found it fun to people watch. This is how her eyes landed on the infamous Draco Malfoy. He hadn't changed much since the last time to she saw him (other than the fact that he no longer had dark bags under his eyes). He also seemed to be in better shape. His lanky frame she was used to seeing has seemed to be a bit more broad and structured. Despite the fact that he was sitting down, his tall height was evident by the fact that his legs stuck out the other side of the table. His icy pale eyes are focused on the current book in his hands (The Great Gatsby maybe? A muggle book). His skin, still strikingly pale, stands out amongst the Parisian crowd. His pointy features that were once an annoyance have actually grown to be sharp and angular. Rather attractive. Hermione immediately shook the thought out of her head. She opted to ignore him rather than continue to ogle him.
She opened her book (Rachel Ignotofsky’s Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World). Occasionally sipping her coffee and taking bites of her croissant, she became engrossed in the life of women throughout history who changed science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. She forgot about the fact that her childhood bully was merely a few feet away from her and just enjoyed being a women in a coffee shop.
Taking a look at her watch, she realized that she had been at the cafe for two hours. She figured she should at least try to enjoy the scenery. She closed her book and grabbed her bag and started heading towards the door. She shoved her book into her bag, not really paying attention to where she was going. With a 'hmmph' she smack right into someone shoulder who then ran right into the cracked door.
"Pardon, excusez-moi," Hermione explained. She gasped when her cocoa eyes met chilly blue irises. Malfoy's eyes widened upon recognizing her. Of course she had to run into him. Hermione's mouth bobbed up and down.
"Uh-sorry."
"You should watch where you are going Granger, might bump into someone who's not so forgiving," Malfoy smirked.
"Sorry," she said sheepishly.
He smirked again. "You said that already."
She chuckled in response. "Sorry," she laughed again realizing her mistake. She drew a hand up to cover her face in the hopes that she wasn't too red.
Malfoy merely rolled his eyes and smirked again. He held the door open for her and gestured her out the door. She nodded and walked out. Once out the door, she turned around to thank him to which he simply nodded back as a response. He was about to turn and walk away when before she knew it, she shouted wait! She didn't know why she did it. He stopped and stared at her expectantly.
Hermione gripped the strap of her bag tightly and shifted her feet. She hadn't planned this far ahead.
"How um, how long are staying?"
Malfoy's hands were in his pockets. "In Nice?" His brows raise up questionably. She nods.
He shrugs, "Not really sure. You?"
Hermione bites her lower lip. "Um, not really sure."
A playful grin appears on his face. He folds his arms across his chest, staring at her. All of sudden the grin is no longer on his face. His eyebrows furrow in thought. He appears more serious.
"Would like to have dinner tonight?"
Hermione flinches back, not expecting the invitation. "Uh," she contemplates, "sure."
Malfoy nods, "Meet me here? Say 7:00?"
"Sure."
He nods, "Ok. See you then." He turns around and walks away.
She lets out a sigh and relaxes her hand that had been gripping her bag so harshly that it now hurts. The indent of her fingernails are marked deep in her palm. She turns to the opposite direction of Malfoy and walks along the canal. I cannot believe I just agreed to have dinner with Malfoy, she thinks. What would Harry think? Ron? Ginny? Why would he possibly want to have dinner with her? They hadn't seen each other in almost two years. They had barely spoken to one another on the rare occasion they would see each other at the Ministry. Usually it was just small talk.
Hermione rolled her eyes at herself. Why was she so anxious? It was only dinner. What's the worst that could happen?
As she walked through the town and in the little shops that lined the streets, the only thing she could think about was, what was she going to wear?