Diagon Alley
10 years later –
The sun was streaming in through the window, hitting Draco perfectly in the face with a laser beam. He was still somewhere between sleep and consciousness, but he could tell he was definitely not alone. I mean he hardly ever was when he woke up. Smirking, Draco came too and reached for his watch.
8:43 AM – Shit! He was going to be late! Jolting out of bed, he started throwing on his clothes which he had to find from the previous night’s shenanigans.
“Dracooo, come back to bed” A women’s voice drawled.
“Can’t love, I’m late.”
“Well, at least say you’ll come back tonight”
“Ahh, can’t do that as well. You know my rules”
The woman pouted her lips, “Perhaps you can make an exception for me then”
Draco stood to button his shirt and turned to look at the woman in bed. Olivia was her name, and she was beautiful - I mean they all were, he had standards. But Olivia was one of his favorites, so much so that he made seeing her a weekly occurrence in his lineup. She was wearing a silk camisole and looked the perfect mix of sleepy and sexy. Still, he had rules for a reason. He had never been the relationship type and he was not about to start now. No, best to squash those thoughts of hers now.
“I don’t do back-to-backs, you know that,” He said, sitting down at the foot of the bed to put his shoes on. God, he was so late. She was going to kill him.
“You and your stupid rules” She purred, crawling towards him. “You should break one, just this once”
Draco stood finally, leaning down towards her “Sorry, I don’t break my rules…” He whispered, giving her a quick kiss goodbye. “I have a rule about that,” he added as he headed out the door smiling.
Late, late, late he thought. He was 5 blocks at best from Diagon Alley and he still had to pick up coffee! Thankfully, the line was not too long at his favorite café with only one lady– one attractive lady – in front of him. She turned, giving Draco a once over when he entered the shop smiling. He smiled back as she walked away from the counter.
“I’ll have a coffee, black, and a matcha latte with oat milk and 2 pumps of brown sugar syrup, please. Oh, and extra vanilla cold foam. Thanks.” He said to the barista. Paying quickly, he walked over to join the waiting area.
“Hello.” He smiled at the attractive lady.
She smiled back with what Draco could only describe as a ‘come get me smile.’
“Hi, I believe I might have picked up your coffee by accident; my apologies,” She cooed, handing over a hot black coffee to him. With one last smirk, she turned and walked out.
Hmm, that was odd and charming… for some reason. He looked down and it immediately clicked as to why. On his coffee, the woman had written her name and number, with a note that said, ‘Call Me’. Grinning like a cat, he thought, today was going to be a good day.
Grabbing the rest of his order he rushed out of the shop, after all he was still very late. Rounding the last corner at 9:06 AM he arrived at his destination and immediately saw her waiting in the already very long line. She was still about 10 people out from ordering, so hopefully she would not be too mad.
“You’re late” She accused.
“Ahh, but I brought you caffeine.”
Snatching her matcha from his hand, she greedily gulped down half of it. “You’re lucky this tastes perfect.” She said, “So how was your night?”
“Oh, you know, the usual” He smirked
“Pig”
“Semantics – lets get to the more important topic at hand, what do I want to order today?” He asked
“Hmm,” She thought, “An almond croissant with chocolate filling?”
“Noo, not feeling chocolate today”
“A slice of apple crumb pie with whipped cream?”
“For breakfast?! You might be losing your touch.” He scoffed.
“Oh I don’t know, hmm hm hm” She strummed her fingers across her forehead in concentration
“You are disappointing me over here, Granger”
“No….wait, I have it!”
“You don’t have it” He drawled.
“Yes, I do!” She smiled “I so have it”
He signaled for her to elaborate “You want a cream cheese Danish, with a raspberry center!”
Eyes popping out of his head, he smiled up at the witch, “Oh my god, she does it yet again. That sounds amazing! Yes, I will be getting that. Maybe two” He laughed
She beamed at him, “I have yet to lose this game, Malfoy. Face it, I am the pastry guessing champion”
They ordered their pastries - a cranberry scone for Hermione and two cream cheese Danish’s for Draco and started their stroll through Diagon Alley. This had been their Sunday ritual since graduating essentially, meet up every weekend, and talk about their weekly activities – for Draco, his conquests, for Hermione, her work.
After graduation Hermione had accepted a role as a junior researcher for a Geneticist Team who was researching lycanthropy in children. Their main goal was to locate the recessive gene before it mutated during the child’s first shift, but if Hermione was being honest, lately it had felt more like a PR role. The constant need for fundraisers and guest speaking was starting to grate her nerves. She just wanted to do her research in peace.
“Oh! You’ll never guess who sent me a howler” She said
“Ron, no Krum, no... I don’t know, who?”
“RON! Oh god, it was so bad. I doubt he even remembers sending it to me, he sounded so tossed. Droning on about how he misses me and is ready for an actual commitment now, you know the usual” She laughed.
“Granger, please tell me you are not thinking about getting back together with the Weasel! It’s been nearly a year since you dumped him!”
“Ron, his name is Ron, and no of course not! That was a terrible idea, we both know that. But it’s been 19 months, just reminiscing.”
“19 months! You’ve been counting?!”
“No,” She chuckled, “It was in his howler!”
“Vile,” He said, pulling them into his favorite antique store for perusing. Today he was on the prowl for a few new additions to his apartment. One of the downsides of being a lady’s man was that sometimes, on occasion, items in his apartment would get broken. Either by the escapades themselves, or in the morning when Draco showed them the door… For some reason, they were not always so amiable to that. But honestly, what was a guy to do? I mean, he had just been named ‘Wizarding World’s Most Eligible Bachelor’ this year, and it was not his fault he was devastatingly good-looking and dripped charm.
“So, what are we redecorating today, Malfoy” Hermione asked
“Well, I will definitely need some new glass wear” He grimaced as he recalled his china decanter and whiskey glass set being used as target practice for his head… “And perhaps a lamp or two”
“Oh no, was it the Tiffany lamp I got you for your 25th birthday!? That was the perfect addition to your office, Malfoy! When are you going to grow up? Many antiques are suffering the consequences here!” She exclaimed.
Draco casually reached out and grabbed an eyelash from her cheek, as if he did this every day. “It miiiggght have been the lamp you got me, but hey! Now you have something to get me for my 28th!” He beamed at her.
Taking a step back to resume perusing, he did not see the slight blush that appeared on Hermione’s cheeks for the whole exchange.
“What about these” he held up a pair of amber crystal glasses for her to examine.
Clearing her head, she answered “Very groovy of you”
He laughed and immediately put them back on the shelf. They shopped for a little while longer and managed to have only one rather heated disagreement over what present to get his mother for her 55th birthday. Draco was convinced that a mid-century painting of exotically proportioned shapes was the way to go, and thinking he was joking, Hermione had peeled over in laughter. As it turned out, though, he was not joking, and it had taken her nearly 20 minutes to convince him that his mother was much more into the renaissance era. Thankfully, they decided on two ornate crystal glasses to replace those in his whiskey set and one industrial lamp for his bedside table, which was much heavier than the last one. Draco didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing with his track record.
They walked up to the small older lady who was working the cashier “Ah, these will be a lovely addition to your home” she said to Hermione.
“Oh, no, uhm, these are not for me. I mean we are not” – coughing and clearing her throat, “We are not together like that I mean” Hermione blushed.
“Wow, Granger, with a speech like that, it’s no wonder you are highly sought after for guest lectures.” He laughed.
“Ha ha, Malfoy”
Minimizing his purchases to fit comfortably in his pocket, they headed back out into Diagon Alley.
“Funny you should bring up my guest lectures, as I have a bit of news I’ve been meaning to share with you.” Hermione paused
“Well don’t keep me waiting for long Granger, I have dinner plans”
Rolling her eyes, “I’ve been asked to be a guest lecturer at Ludwig in Munich for the graduate class there as they are studying Lycanthropy genes.”
“Oh.. Munich..Germany?”
“The very one”
He paused, then smiled, “Well that’s great! Sounds like you are getting back to your roots with Lycanthropy - which is what you’ve been wanting to focus on right?”
“Yes” Smiling back at him now, “you’re right, it will be fun.”
“So, when do you leave, and how long are they keeping you for?”
“Tomorrow and 6 weeks”
Grabbing her arm to stop their walk “TOMORROW and 6 weeks!? I’m not going to see you for 6 weeks?!”
Titling her head to the side, she smiled nonchalantly, “Honestly, you probably won’t even notice I am gone with all your ‘dinner plans,’” she laughed.
“This is unacceptable, tell me you’ll floo home or apparate”
“Draco, you know I would have to submit paperwork to have an international floo installed, and apparating makes me queasy! It’s 6 weeks, not a lifetime. I believe you will live.” She giggled and continued their walk.
“I fear you may me be right, but alas what will I do without my Granger.”
“Ah, here comes the drama.”
Jumping up onto the bridge wall they had been walking across, Draco continued his rant, “I’ll do it, Hermione; I’ll jump if you leave me.” He threatened
“DRACO! You are making a scene. Get down before I hex you!!”
Draco continued as if she hadn’t spoken “How am I to fare with your absence?” He shouted to the world.
“I will write to you at least once a week you prat! Now get down before people start gathering” She pleaded.
Shrugging his shoulders, “Okay, that will do.” he jumped down off the wall and continued on their walk as if nothing had ever happened. They made their way back to her flat, which was located on the outskirts of Diagon Alley. Hermione lived on the 3rd floor of an old building that had been converted to a loft. It was the perfect space for her since on the ground floor attached to her building was a bookshop. Draco also lived near Diagon Alley but opted for the more posh side of town, which had newer and more modern buildings.
“Well, I believe this is you,” He said, spinning around to look at her.
“Yes, I won’t keep you further from your elusive dinner plans” She teased
“Hey, hey, hey” Sticking out his arms and stacked one hand above the other and said “My rules are always, Hermione Granger over dinner plans any day”
She smiled “I will miss you too Draco”
He leaned in to give her an all-consuming hug, which she breathed in. He placed his mouth against her ear and whispered “Don’t forget about me, yea?”
“Impossible” she whispered back.
Pulling away, he gave her one last look over and turned to go.
After all, he did have dinner plans – wink.