Pavlova and Wine
That night she sat with Astoria enjoying a glass of wine and some homemade gnocchi. Astoria was on a cooking kick and with Pansy out of town for work she insisted on Hermione coming over to taste test her dish.
Hermione wasn’t sure how to bring up Malfoy, but she wanted the opinion of someone who knew him well. And while she didn’t think there was any bad blood between them after Astoria coming out of the closet with Pansy Parkinson effectively ending their bethrothment, she didn’t know how much contact they had these days.
“I can hear your mind working from here. What’s going on?” Astoria’s voice floated across the table.
Astoria had a kind heart and was a true empath, one of the things that first drew Hermione to her nearly six years ago.
Hermione had been trying on dress robes in a new shop on diagon alley for the upcoming ministry gala when Astoria and Pansy walked by the window. As they passed Astoria did a double take and stopped Pansy. It was clear they were having a tense exchange. Before she knew it Astoria was dragging Pansy into the shop and marched her right in front of Hermione.
Hermione was leery that she was being set up, and was surprised when Pansy began to offer her an apology. Sharing that she had been putting off contacting Hermione because she didn’t think she deserved forgiveness and that Astoria was helping her work through her atonements from the war. Pansy then offered to specially design Hermione’s gown for the upcoming gala free of charge. Years later she admitted to Hermione her offer wasn’t purely altruistic as she was making a name for herself in fashion and knew dressing Hermione would come with free publicity…sneaky Slytherin.
After the apology, Astoria began inviting Hermione out for drinks and over for dinner. Before long they discovered a mutual love of books and museums and fell into an easy friendship.
And while Pansy was still blunt and took no nonsense from anyone, Astoria helped soften her sharp streak and Hermione found herself bonding with Pansy over her ambitious takeover of the wizarding fashion scene implementing Hermione’s research and advice of eco-friendly material sourcing. Pansy’s empire quickly expanded beyond London into to Paris and New York.
“I ran into someone recently.” Hermione tentatively started while taking a bite of the gnocchi. “You really are getting quite good” she said motioning with her fork.
Ignoring Hermione’s lack of manners Astoria nodded and took a sip of wine. “Hmm yes how is Draco’s business coming along?” She said with a smirk.
“You knew! You didn’t just invite me over as a taste tester, did you?”
“Oh no darling, and thanks for the compliment. But yes, Draco has a standing lunch appointment with Blaise on Fridays and he canceled today. Blaise pushed and he admitted that he was hoping to have lunch with you. Blaise complained to Daphne and Daphne told me. I figured you’d need some company to work through the situation.” She finished smugly.
“Well yes, but it wasn’t a planned thing. We ran into each other last week and he forgot his scarf. I went back today hoping to catch him and return it.”
“And…”
“And it was surprisingly pleasant. He’s different and he apologized for the past so ya know hell can freeze over now.”
“Hmmm. Not to mention he is incredibly charming and fit..even if he isn’t my type.” Astoria laughed.
Hermione’s blush was sign enough that she agreed. “He offered me a job.”
“Oh good. Are you going to take it?”
“I don’t know. Like what if it’s awful I mean sitting together for lunch in short spurts is one thing but could we actually get along and work together? And he is just starting his business what if it doesn’t work out and I have nothing to fall back on?”
“But what if it’s great? You’ve been stuck for years in your job totally going through the motions. What if this was your opportunity to really enjoy your life?”
“Ugh maybe. It’s just a lot to think about…” Hermione groaned running her hands through her curls, catching a particularly nasty knot.
“It’s not a decision you have to make tonight. But I think you should at least investigate it. You and Draco actually are a lot alike, and I think you could do good work together. Both of you have a need to prove yourself and a desire to make life better for those around you. Draco doesn’t show it but he is fiercely loyal and would do anything to protect the ones he loves. He actually convinced me to come out to my parents and promised that he would take care of me financially if they cut me off. It was a really hard time at first for Pansy and I and he never turned his back on us. Not only did he support us in getting an apartment I know he paid off the papers to make sure stories about us were positive. Once my parents saw the positive public reaction and how Pansy and I were sticking by one another they loosened up about the situation. Don’t get me wrong they still aren’t thrilled but they at least are kind to Pansy and have stopped pushing me to meet with eligible bachelors.” She finished with an eye roll.
“You never told me that.”
“I guess it never really came up. So tell me how are things with Harry going?”
“About the same” Hermione replied with a shrug. She wasn’t sure how their relationship got so off track, but as their careers grew they frequently found themselves on opposite sides of cases. While Hermione didn’t take her work personally, Harry took every argument and loss as a personal slight. And before she knew it their weekly lunch dates began fading off her calendar and they didn’t see each other on the weekends. When they did see each other their conversation was stilted and left her uneasy.
Hermione desperately wanted to repair the friendship, something Astoria fully supported and Pansy fully did not understand. But she was at a loss for how to approach the situation. And when Ron left the auror’s office years ago to help George at the joke shop he was able to keep a stable friendship with Harry. He tried to bridge the gap but even he couldn’t fully gloss over the awkward feeling in the air when they were together. Ginny couldn’t help the situation either, often taking Harry’s side and admonishing Hermione for failing to recognize the dangers of her husband’s occupation arguing that auror’s were given and bad name and needed all the support they could get.
Hermione just couldn’t understand Harry’s obsession. He seemed utterly miserable and burnt out by the job. And she couldn’t comprehend fully supporting the ministry after its corrupt track record. Sure Kingsley was an improvement as minister for magic but the corrupt underbelly was still there and thriving. And while she generally supported the department of magical law enforcement she witnessed first hand over the years serious misjudgment by several high up aurors. Infringing on people’s physical safety and rights. She shuddered thinking that those same aurors were tasked with training the next generation into hardened enforcers taking swift action first and asking questions later. As time ticked by she watched her best friend become a right fighter categorizing everything as black or white without acknowledging the shades of grey.
“Maybe getting some distance from the legal world will help move things along.” Astoria said sagely.
“I know what you’re doing.” Hermione warned. “But you might have a point…” she admitted.
“Of course I do.” Astoria smiled as she levitated the plates towards the kitchen sink in the other room. “Now, just wait until you try this pavlova I spent all afternoon perfecting.” She gushed as she levitated the dessert to the center of the table.
***
After sleeping in to rebound from her wine headache, Hermione spent the rest of her Sunday doing chores around her apartment and obsessing about Malfoy.
Resigned that she really did need to fully investigate the opportunity she sat down to send him a letter requesting a tour that upcoming Friday. She even offered to pick up his favorite sandwich on the way.
Her owl returned with his response not long after it’s departure. Confirming that Friday would work with his schedule and providing an address to the business.