Theo's Owl
Suggested listening: soulDecision - Ooh It's Kinda Crazy
Shacklebolt motioned for Hermione to step inside his office. "I must say I'm very impressed, Hermione. We had little hope that the Werewolf legislation would pass so quickly. But your impassioned debate and in-depth research really swayed the Wizengamot."
She nodded brusquely. "Thank you. Why do I get a sense that there's a 'but' coming?"
The Minister for Magic chuckled. "Ever perceptive. Not really a 'but,' but a hiccup. You know about the wolfsbane potion?"
"Of course," Hermione said. "It's a crime that the ingredients are so expensive. Those who are afflicted need the potion to function in society. If they can't get access to the ingredients, they can't maintain a job. If they can't maintain a job, they can't afford the potion. It's a vicious cycle that keeps those downtrodden staying that way."
"Yes, precisely. I think we have found an amenable solution to this."
A dark, bushy eyebrow arched. "Oh?"
"Have you heard of Potions 'n Parchments?"
Hermione sat across from the couch with Neville who worked with her in the Regulation and Care of Magical Creatures department, while she explained to him what was to come next week. "So we have a meeting with Theodore Nott and Draco Malfoy later this week."
"No shite!", he chuckled. "Haven't seen them in years. Are you ready?"
"I've done my research. I've practised my speech in front of Lynx hundreds of times. Isn't that right, Lynx-y poo?"
Cat!Draco peered above the couch cushions, wanting to jump up and listen in.
[Image: A white and orange cat looks over a cushion.]
Hermione lifted him up onto her lap. He purred.
"Who's going with you?"
"Shacklebolt."
Cat!Draco's tail curled around her wrist and he buried his face in her stomach. He didn't want to look at Longbottom. And Granger's tummy gurgled in a way that calmed him.
[Image: A white and orange cat burrow its head into a person's chest.]
"Do you want me to come too? I know things didn't ... end well after the War." Neville looked at the scars on her exposed forearm.
Cat!Draco's ears immediately perked up.
"Does it still hurt?"
"Not so much anymore. More like phantom pains. Sometimes it bleeds, usually after a panic attack or a nightmare. It's something I just got used to."
Cat!Draco turned in her lap, put a paw on her wrist, and began laving at her forearm.
Neville smirked. "Sweet. It's like he knows."
"No, Lynx. That tickles." Hermione shook her head and pushed her sleeve down. "It didn't end at all. It's not like Malfoy owed me anything. Not really. We were barely classmates. Definitely not friends. We were ... in a War and—" A lump grew in her throat.
Neville kneeled in front of her, clasping her hand. "It's okay to feel hurt, even if you feel like it's irrational. We don't need to intellectualize every feeling."
Hermione paused, chin quivering, "And we all had to look out for ourselves. I haven't seen him in almost ten years."
"Did he ever try—"
"I got an owl from him, a few months, maybe a year, after we graduated. It was short. Seemed standard. Said he was sorry for what transpired and that he wished things turned out differently. He also said he didn't believe in Blood purity anymore, said he was stupid, and apologized for calling me a Mudblood. It probably was one of the terms to make reparations for his parole sentence."
"Did you write back?"
"No. There was no return address, and I'm pretty sure the Malfoy Manor was repossessed for reparations after the War. Good thing they had a few across Europe. It was all in the Prophet. I felt bad about that. Imagine all your most personal details getting splashed out on the papers. Anyway, I'm not gonna chase Malfoy down to tell him I accept his apology," she scoffed.
"Do you?"
"Do I 'what?'"
"Accept his apology?"
"The owl was pretty paint-by-numbers," she shrugged.
They sat in comfortable silence while they finished their tea. Neville put down his cup, "I have to go. I'm gonna finish drafting the budget for this. Nott and Malfoy will definitely go for it. Brewing and ingredients at cost while they rehabilitate their family names? Fair trade."
"I'll walk you out," Hermione said, putting Lynx down.
TAP!
TAP!
While Hermione was at the front door, saying her goodbyes to Neville, a dotted brown owl tapped on the glass of the backdoor to the yard.
TAP!
TAP!
The owl was insistent.
TAP!
TAP!
"Meow!", Cat!Draco snarled, going through the kitty door that Hermione installed for him a few months after he moved in.
When the horned owl detected him, it dropped a piece of parchment in front of him, then flew to the nearest branch, dropping some guano next to his letter, daring Cat!Draco to chase him.
[Image: A Great Horned Owl in a tree glares at the camera.]
Unmistakable, bombastic handwriting. It was Theo's.
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