Chapter 4
“Dammit,” Hermione cursed under her breath. That Sunday she’d woken up with an appetite for pastries from her favourite coffee shop and so set of into Muggle London. As she’d approached, she saw the shop was closed, and on further inspection saw a little sign in the window saying they were closed for refurbishment. Still with her brain firmly fixed on the breakfast she had in mind, she wandered a little way until another coffee shop took her fancy.
She settled into a booth towards the back of the room and buried herself in her book, enjoying the moment, glancing up from time to time when someone came in. She’d always been a bit of a people watcher. The third time the door opened she almost dropped her coffee in shock.
Lucius Malfoy had just walked into the coffee shop. What?
Shaking herself from the shock, she quickly lifted her book to hide her face. She didn’t want him to see her, not because she would mind, but at that moment she just wanted to observe. Lucius was wearing an impeccably cut Muggle suit that she couldn’t help but notice he cut a very impressive figure in. His long blonde hair was pulled back at the nape of his neck with what looked to be a black hair tie, as opposed to the black ribbon he used to wear. Yes, I imagine that would have raised some eyebrows in the Muggle world.
She watched as he approached the counter and gave his order, not smiling, but not sneering either. She wished she was closer so she could overhear. He made his way to a table and pulled out a book, but she couldn’t see the cover from where she sat.
Sipping her coffee she watched him, unable to tear her eyes away while he read. It was an entirely unremarkable thing to watch someone doing, but in this case, that’s what made it so remarkable. He looked completely at ease - or as at ease as she could ever imagine someone with the aristocratic air of Lucius Malfoy being - in a Muggle coffee shop, as though it was the most normal thing in the world. Like he was just another regular. What in the name of Merlin is happening right now?
Hermione finished her coffee and reluctantly, very reluctantly, realised she had to leave or she’d be late to The Burrow for lunch. Her heart sped up as she gathered her things and made to stand, knowing he’d likely catch the movement and see her. She wasn’t wrong.
Lucius looked up and their eyes met across the room. If possible, he looked even more uncomfortable to see her now than he had at Malfoy Industries, his jaw clenched as he froze for a second. Quickly, he looked away, but then back at her as she started to cross the room towards the door, his expression uncertain. Hermione offered a small, timid smile as she passed. Once outside the door, she glanced surreptitiously back through the window to see him still watching her. Her heart jumped to her throat, and she hurried back home, reeling from the unexpected encounter.
An hour later, she arrived at The Burrow to find it already in chaos. Sundays at The Burrow were a regular occurrence, with most of the family in attendance.
“Hermione!” George came up to her while she was greeting everyone and wrapped her in a hug. “How goes it?” He asked, letting her go and rocking back on his heels. Before she had a chance to answer they were joined by Ron and Bill.
“Not bad, you? How’s the joke shop?”
“Didn’t Ron tell you? We got broken into last week?” They all looked quizzically at Ron who rubbed the back of his neck.
“Shit, sorry ‘Mione. I’ve been a bit distracted.” Yes, that’ll be all the letter writing you’ve been doing. She gave him a knowing nod and a smile but pressed on with more concerning issues.
“What happened? Was much damage done?”
George shrugged, “Not really, it was a bit weird, to be fair. Only a couple of bits were taken, a bit of a mess made, but nothing that took more than ten minutes to set right. It was quite impressive actually.”
Bill shook his head. “Only you George, would find someone managing to get through your wards impressive.” Hermione looked between them, wondering what was going on, although she wasn’t particularly surprised to find George seeing things from a different perspective, as it was a common occurrence.
He shrugged again, and addressed his words to Hermione, having obviously made the point to his brothers already. “Well, they only took the disruptive stuff, you know, Instant Darkness Powder, Decoy Detonators, that kind of stuff and they didn’t take much, it didn’t seem as if any real harm was meant by the break in, so I reckon it was just a couple of kids messing about.”
“And that’s impressive why?” Hermione furrowed her brow in confusion.
“Because they got through the wards! I mean, ok, so they weren’t the strongest wards in the world but breaking any wards is no parlour trick, it takes skill. Trust me, I know.” He winked. “To be honest, if I ever find out who did it, I’d be interested in hiring them.”
“George Weasley, how many more times? You cannot hire the person who broke into your shop!” Molly walked over, clearly exasperated, before bestowing a motherly hug on Hermione. “Hello dear, it’s lovely to see you. Make sure you get a drink soon and don’t let George run away with his nonsense.”
“What, it’s not nonsense! I might even put a sign up in the window, offering them a job if they step forward.” George was clearly enjoying provoking his mother, but Hermione had a worrying feeling that he might be serious.
She piped up just as Molly looked like she may set a wooden spoon to beating him around the head. “Maybe you should think about getting the wards reinforced. You were lucky this time, but now you know the wards aren’t strong enough, you may not be so lucky the next time.”
George sobered a little at this. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“Blaise is head of the security department over at Malfoy Industries and specialises in unbreakable wards. Get in touch with him, tell him I sent you.” Hermione sais with a smile.
They were gathered around a short while later, with Ginny and Harry joining them, catching up and talking about the last few weeks.
“So, Ron, when were you going to tell us about your date?” Ginny spoke, drawing everyone’s attention. Ron quickly went a violent shade of red.
“You have a date, little brother?” Bill asked with interest.
“What poor unsuspecting fool have you managed to convince to go on a date with you? Are you paying her? Didn’t know you made that much money in the Auror department.” Ron glared at George and then at Ginny, for throwing him under the bus.
“He’s got a date with a Slytherin!” Ginny was almost bursting with glee as everyone shouted at once and started trying to guess who it was.
As much fun as it was to watch Ron squirm, Hermione wasn’t particularly in the mood for all the company and noise, so she made her excuses a short time later, and headed home to further contemplate the day’s earlier events.
The week went on quietly. On Thursday afternoon, she received an owl at work from Draco, saying he had no news on the work-related issue, but did have some thoughts on the other matter they’d discussed. She headed to see him at the end of the day, finding him in his office as usual.
“It’s always amusing to see how quickly you get here after information is dangled in front of you, Granger.”
“I’m not sure my thirst for knowledge will ever stop being a source of amusement for people, will it?” she asked wryly.
“It’s highly unlikely, to be honest. It’s like a natural phenomenon.”
“Hmm…anyway!”
Draco laughed, before he told her what she wanted to know. “So, I spoke to my father, and he was of the opinion that if it’s not just a hoax, then it’s quite likely that the Death Eater himself could have sent the message.”
“What? Why?”
“To see what the reaction would be. Possibly just to give the Aurors the run around, to get everyone panicking or possibly, and of slightly more concern, to see how and if security would tighten. As reconnaissance, so to speak.” Draco spoke plainly, clearly not particularly happy with what he was saying. “That said, that was very much an if. It didn’t strike my father as something very likely that any of the remaining Death Eaters would do, though it did occur to him that it could be someone who isn’t a Death Eater, using this note for the same purposes.”
He leaned back with a frown and Hermione mirrored him. “Do thank your father for me, please.” Draco nodded. “I suppose, frustratingly, there’s little more we can do for now but wait and see if anything else happens.”
“Unfortunately not,” Draco conceded, with a sigh. “Just keep your guard up, Granger. I know you can look after yourself and all that, but you’ll always be a target after the part you played in the war. Make sure you’re not an easy one.”
“Constant vigilance,” she promised, thinking back to Mad-Eye with a fond smile.
As she left, Hermione wondered why she hadn’t said anything to Draco about seeing his father at the coffee shop over the weekend. She’d considered mentioning it, but something held her back. She just wasn’t sure what.
She arrived home to find Theo sprawled on the couch. “What’s for dinner, Princess?” It was the third time he’d stayed that week, even going to the Potter’s for Wednesday dinner with her. He’d managed the Monday night alone after Neville had left for the first week of his seminar, but that was as much as he could take. Theo didn’t cope well left to his own devices, as it didn’t take him long without distraction to begin to fall into dark memories.
“Let me guess, I’m cooking?” Hermione left her bag on the armchair and headed towards the kitchen to see what she had in. Not much as it turned out, so she decided to order pizza.
“Thank you, I’ll pay.” Theo told her, placing his arm around her as she settled next to him on the sofa. “I don’t mean to be a nuisance, hanging around here while Neville’s away.”
“Theo!” Hermione sat up so she could look at him. “Don’t be ridiculous, I love having you here. To be honest, it’s nice to have some more time with you. I used to get all your attention before Neville stole you from me.” She gave him a sly smile making him laugh.
“It is nice. I miss that we don’t get the time together we used to. I suppose that, much as I hate it when he’s gone, it’s a good thing that I married someone with a love affair with plant-life if it means I get more time with you.” He wrapped her in both arms and they sat silently, enjoying the comfort they found in each other.
Hermione never really considered herself lonely, but it was nice to have physical affection with someone once in a while. God knows she never got it any place else. She’d dated over the years, satisfied the physical desire when she felt the need, but no one had ever really captured her attention for any length of time, certainly not long enough for her to contemplate something serious. She sometimes wondered why she’d never found that connection, but she never dwelled on it as she was quite happy and content with her life as it was.
The weekend rolled around, and Hermione met with Ginny, Pansy, and Padma for lunch. She’d made a point to invite Padma after her resolution the previous week to include her more. It was Pansy’s date with Ron that night so she was a little nervous, which told Hermione that she must really like him as she was usually very confident.
As Hermione sat at home that evening, watching the last of the setting sun through the window, she finally let herself admit that she’d been willing the week away in anticipation of Sunday. She’d decided to go back to the coffee shop, in the hope that Lucius would be there again, and this time she would try to speak with him.
She arrived a little later this time, hoping he would already be there. She didn’t want to give him the chance to walk in, see her and leave. She had a feeling he wouldn’t, but wanted to tip the scales in her favour if she could. She walked in and saw him sitting in the same spot as before. They briefly made eye contact before she carried on to the counter. She thought he may have been expecting her arrival today as his face didn’t betray the usual signs of shock when he saw her.
Collecting her order, she took a deep breath. For heaven’s sake, get your big girl panties on and get on with it. Hermione strode over to Lucius’ table, hoping she looked more confident than she felt. He looked up at her approach, wary and guarded but not actually hostile.
“Miss Granger.” He acknowledged, with a slight tilt of his head.
“Mr Malfoy. May I join you?” After a pause, he acquiesced with a stiff nod, and she sat down across from him. For a few moments, they sat in a silence that Hermione found so awkward she almost began to squirm before Lucius put her out of her misery and spoke.
“How is your work going, Miss Granger?”
“Oh, yes, well…” Gods, get it together, Hermione! She tried again. “It’s going quite well, thank you. It’s been pretty quiet for the most part, of late.” Better.
“I see. My son tells me he sees quite a lot of you in relation to your work.” Hermione felt herself tense. Despite everything she knew (as facts) about Lucius, she couldn’t help herself but wait for the reprimand, even as she reminded herself that was silly, she was talking to him in a Muggle coffee shop for crying out loud. “He speaks very highly of you.”
Hermione felt her shoulders sag a little in relief, finally feeling confident enough to make proper eye contact. It was the first time she’d done so since sitting down and she wasn’t prepared for the jolt that seemed to shake her to her very core. Lucius’s eyes widened almost imperceptibly as she held his gaze for a few seconds before dropping her eyes to her coffee. Hermione had never before felt so exposed by a look and had no idea what to make of it. Speak, Hermione!
She looked again, this time braced against the eye contact. “I’m very pleased to hear it. We don’t socialise much, but I consider Draco a friend.”
“I don’t believe Draco socialises much at all.” Lucius responded, the faintest look of disappointment crossing his features.
Hermione’s mouth opened before she could stop it and she heard the words coming out with horror. “Funny, he says a very similar thing about you.” Fuck! Did you actually just say that? You moron!
Lucius shifted uncomfortably, his brow furrowed slightly. “Yes, well, be that as it may, he’s a young man who should be enjoying himself from time to time.”
“I couldn’t agree more. I do try to encourage him.”
“I don’t doubt that Miss Granger. I’m all too aware of how stubborn my son can be.” Lucius gave a smirk so slight Hermione almost missed it.
“Hermione, please.” She smiled softly.
“Very well Hermione.” He drank the last of his coffee. “I apologise, but I must be leaving now, I have somewhere to be.” He made to stand and, as he did so, the movement caused his scent to wash over her, so intoxicating it made her practically lightheaded.
“I…erm…okay, well take care Mr Malfoy.” Hermione stuttered.
Lucius peered down at her, looking slightly confused. Probably wondering if you were always such a bumbling bloody fool. “Lucius.” He nodded before turning and leaving.
Hermione sat for a further few minutes trying to gather her thoughts before taking the short journey home. When she arrived, she was surprised, but very happy, to see Theo in the kitchen making tea.
“Theo, what are you doing here? Has Neville left already? I thought he didn’t go until Monday.” He turned and leaned against the counter, looking despondent.
“Yes, he left me already. Apparently, there’s a ‘bonus’ session this afternoon,” he rolled his eyes. “The only time of the year that some such fucking plant flowers.” Theo waved his hands about as he spoke, before folding his arms and pouting.
“Oh dear, guess you’re stuck with me again then. Did you have nice time up until he left though?”
“It was pretty perfect, I must admit,” he began to smile as he spoke. “We just stayed home, locked the world out. Spent plenty of time in bed…” Theo raised his eyebrows suggestively.
“Doesn’t sound like you have much to be sulking about to me. Anyway, are you finishing that tea or not?” Hermione gestured to the forgotten cup behind him. Making tea was one of the things Theo liked to do for himself as he was so ridiculously picky about it. He turned and pulled another cup from the cupboard.
“So where were you?” He asked over his shoulder.
“Having coffee with Lucius Malfoy in a Muggle coffee shop.” Theo spun round so fast he almost tripped over his own feet. Hermione burst out laughing.
“You…what? Are you serious? You are bloody serious, aren’t you!”
“Finish making that tea and I’ll tell you all about it.” Hermione turned on her heel and headed for the sofa. That was fun.
“Right. Talk.” Theo demanded putting the cups on the coffee table and sitting at the opposite end of the sofa. And so Hermione spoke; she told him of both her visits to the coffee shop in the last week and he listened with rapt attention.
“Wow, Princess! I mean…wow…” he trailed off. “Of all the things I thought you may be doing this morning, that certainly wasn’t one of them.”
“No, I guess not.” She giggled.
“I know Lucius has changed completely, but I still never would have imagined him in a Muggle coffee shop.”
“Me neither Theo, me neither.”