Australian Opal
"We need to get a lot better at choosing films to see," Draco complained as they stepped back into Hermione's parents' house. "That one hit a little close to home."
"I'm sorry! The newspaper gave it good reviews!" Hermione took off her jacket and hung it up. She and Draco had seen the film Sunshine, starring Ralph Fiennes, but the themes of Nazism and Soviet rule had been unfamiliar Muggle concepts that felt a bit too heavy so soon after Voldemort's defeat. Hermione sighed as Draco kicked off his shoes, and she asked, "How about something to drink? My mum's favourite is gin and tonic, so I can make a million of those."
"Gin and tonic. Sure." Draco followed Hermione through the sitting-room and into the kitchen, and he watched as she took out two tumblers from a cupboard. She moved smoothly then, putting a few ice cubes from the freezer into each glass, pouring four parts tonic water from cans and then three parts gin from a big glass bottle. She frowned and noted,
"I haven't got lime… wait. There's lemon."
She took a lemon from the refrigerator, put it on the counter, and pulled out her wand,
"Lima!" she exclaimed, tapping the lemon five times. It Transfigured into a lime, and she peeled off swirls of it with a few careful Diffindo charms. She handed Draco the finished drink, and he smiled as he said,
"Funny to see you use ice from a Muggle kitchen appliance and then magic to finish off the drinks."
Hermione shrugged and said, "Life for Muggle-borns is always about bridging two very different worlds. It's even worse for Squibs, as I'm finding out through interviews."
She leaned back against the counter and sipped at her drink. Draco took a sip, nodded with approval, and asked,
"How many interviews have you done?"
"Are you actually interested in my work for Squib rights?" Hermione gave him an immensely sceptical look, but Draco didn't seem a bit offended. He nodded and said seriously,
"I'm interested."
Hermione took a bigger drink then, realising she'd made the gin and tonics a little strong. She cleared her throat and said thoughtfully,
"I had a woman in my office two days ago who's our age. She prefers woman instead of witch, obviously. Anyway… she's a Mulciber. She was sent to the Borrows Home when the rest of us went to Hogwarts."
"Oh. Tilly Mulciber. I remember her… when we were little, our families ran in the same circles. She disappeared. I suppose it never really mattered to me why she wasn't on the Hogwarts Express."
Hermione dragged her thumb over the rim of her glass and then took another sip.
"Well, Tilly told me that the Borrows Home teaches basic History of Magic, that the literature is half-wizarding and half-Muggle, but that they do a fair job of teaching practical Muggle skills like cooking and cleaning by hand. The problem is that it's entirely residential, which allows families - mostly Pureblood - to simply dump their unwanted Squib children and pretend they don't exist."
"I'm sure that happens quite a lot," Draco nodded. "If I were in her shoes, I reckon I'd just want to go live as a Muggle."
"Well, as soon as she aged out of Borrows, that's precisely what Tilly did. She only came to the interview because I practically begged her in a letter I sent by Muggle post. She works in a Muggle factory; she makes parts for luxury automobiles in a high-tech assembly line."
"I don't know what that means," Draco admitted, looking a little ashamed. Hermione smiled just a bit and said,
"There are expensive brands of car, just like expensive brands of broomstick. The factory that manufactures luxury bits spends more time on them, and the same person makes the same piece over and over so they do it right."
"That sounds awful." Draco swigged at his glass, and Hermione shrugged.
"She has a happy life with a Muggle boyfriend. They have a dog and a cat. She's taking Muggle university courses part-time; she wants to go into business. She hasn't spoken to her parents since before the war ended. And when I made the suggestion to her of Squibs opting out, of them erasing all record of their existence from the wizarding world if they want, she seemed very enthusiastic."
"So the idea," Draco said, tipping his head, "is that those who lack the ability to participate fully in the Magical world should be able to leave it entirely without the Ministry or others tracking them."
"Right." Hermione drank again, starting to feel the dull buzz of drink as she reached the bottom of the tumbler. She didn't feel like getting drunk tonight. She dumped out the ice cubes in the sink and rinsed her glass, filling it with cold water that she drank. From behind her, Draco said quietly,
"You're bloody brilliant, you know."
She smiled down into her glass of water and turned slowly to face him. He set his mostly-empty tumbler down on the counter and pursed his lips.
"I wish I didn't have to wait until your birthday to give you the gift I bought you. I've other plans for your birthday, you know. A very nice date with no fake butter or anything. But I bought you something, and I want to give it to you now. I don't want to wait a week."
Hermione laughed a little and stepped closer to him, snaking her arms up and around his neck.
"You, Mr Malfoy, have always been an impossibly impatient creature. Always very, very eager to get what you want."
"What I want is to give this to you." Draco sounded frustrated as he reached into his pocket. He pulled his fist out and opened it, and on his palm lay a silver chain with a round pendant of beautiful blue opal. Hermione gasped quietly and picked up the necklace, studying it carefully. Draco seemed humiliated as he confessed,
"It's just sterling silver, I'm afraid. I haven't got the sort of money I used to… anyway… it's Australian. The opal. I thought it might be a sort of reminder, but if I've miscalculated, then -"
"You've calculated perfectly." Hermione's hand shook ferociously around her glass of water, and Draco took it quickly from her. He set it down beside his gin and tonic and asked,
"It's all right, then? Sorry I couldn't wait. I was nervous."
"Nervous," Hermione whispered, shaking her head. She held the circle of blue Australian opal in her palm, and suddenly she was taken back to the moment she'd found her parents. She'd walked into Granger Dentistry, a freshly-owned clinic in Melbourne, and had stared her mother straight in the eyes.
'Have you got an appointment?' her mother had asked, and Hermione had just shaken her head and raised her wand and had begun the immensely complex process of restoring her mother's memory.
Melbourne, Australia. The place where she'd found her family again.
Draco had limited funds these days, she knew. His salary from the Ministry was enough to buy him a home and food and clothes, but he wasn't fabulously wealthy like he'd been growing up. This was a simple necklace, but he'd probably had to scour Muggle shops to find one that had real Australian opal. And Hermione could tell, too; it looked just like the stuff that had been on offer in tourist shops in Melbourne.
"Draco," she whispered, feeling dizzy all of a sudden.
"I ought to have waited to give it to you," he was mumbling. Hermione dragged her fingers over the opal and shook her head again, but Draco continued, "I can never wait for anything; I have to practise waiting for what I want, but I was terrified you'd hate it or something."
"Hate it?" Hermione raised her burning eyes to him. "I adore it. I adore you."
He smiled then, looking genuinely happy, and he carefully took the necklace from her hand. Hermione shoved her hair out of the way as he laced it around her neck and fastened the clasp. Then she let her hair go and touched at the opal sitting on her collarbone, and she whispered,
"I'm in love with you, Draco Malfoy."
He gave her a little smirk as he took her face in his hands and gently kissed her lips.
"Happy early birthday, Granger."
Author's Note: Sorry for this suuuuuuuper short and fluffy chapter, but I have basically no writing time today, and the next chapter has some conflict (*cough cough* Harry, Ron, and Ginny *cough cough*), so I wanted to go ahead and pop this lil' fluff ball of a chapter up. Thanks as always for reading.