All Characters belong to JKR

A Kiss Goodnight

by
Anne M.

Chapter 1 - A Cup of Coffee, and A Wave:

Sitting in the corner of a bright little café, reading 'The Daily Prophet' and drinking a cup of hot black coffee, Draco Malfoy was unhappy. Normally, reading his paper and drinking his coffee made him very happy indeed. Not today, for it was only 10:10 am, and Draco was already having a seriously bad day. His mother had called him just that morning to remind him of the 'blind date' she set up for him, with the niece of a very good friend of her hairdresser, who apparently was some type of pureblood heiress from France. Lucky him.

Also, adding to his bleak day, was the fact that his father owled him to remind him that he expected him to come to the yearly board meeting that afternoon, and a 'no show' would certainly lead to Draco being disinherited.

Nevertheless, the main reason Draco was having a rotten day was because Marcus Flint, his business partner, had arranged to meet with a curse breaker from the firm of Weasley and Weasley, to discuss the appraisal of an old artifact that they had recently acquired. The person he was waiting for was the last person in the world he wanted to meet. Damn, Flint! He made the damn appointment he should keep it. Who cares if he had appendicitis? They removed the stupid thing yesterday. Surely, he was well enough to meet her today.

Yes…her. The person Draco was dreading meeting today was a 'her', and not just any her, but a certain her. A 'her' he had not seen for six years. Hermione Granger, Harry Potter's best friend. The last time he saw her was during the battle of Hogwarts. He never thought he would have to see her again. Now because of Flint and his stupid burst appendix, Draco had to meet her, and he was not pleased.

He was not even sure why he was not happy about it. She was just someone from his past. No, that was a lie. She was someone from his past with whom he had never gotten along, whom he bullied and terrorized, and all of sorts of 'bad blood' had passed between them. Why did the meeting have to be with her? Why couldn't it be with one of the Weasleys? After all, wasn't the damn company called Weasley and Weasley?

The thing was that Hermione Granger did not even know she was meeting with Malfoy. He told his assistant not to inform her. He merely had his assistant tell her that the meeting had been changed from their office to the café. Draco did not want to meet her in his office as it was too confined. Here in the café, there would be many people around. He did not know why, but he thought that would be prudent, just on the off chance that she hexed him or something. She might arrive, see Draco instead of Marcus, decide to leave, and before leaving, choose to hex him. There was the off chance that she may decide to be the bigger person, give them her appraisal, tell them if there were any dark curses on the item, and then say thank you and leave. Well, Draco could always dream.

Draco rubbed his forehead with his long slender fingers. Yes, he was having a bad day indeed, and as soon as Miss Hermione Granger walked in, it would become one thousand times worse. As Draco sat there, his paper no longer open, his coffee neglected, and his fingertips still massaging his head to waylay the headache that was forming, he recalled that it hadn't actually been six years since he had seen her. No, he saw her two years ago at some big celebration commemorating the end of the war. Every year there were celebrations on the anniversary of the defeat of Voldemort. Everyone celebrated, partied, and the Ministry even declared it a National holiday. Two years ago, there was a big party at a nightclub, and Draco happened to be there just as Harry "The Saviour" Potter, Ron "The Weasel" Weasley, and Hermione "Mudblood" Granger, came walking in the place, like the conquering heroes that they were. The truth was all three seemed embarrassed at the displays of praise and adulation. Draco tried to make a hasty retreat, not having any desire to see or talk to the golden trio, when who would have thought, she walked over to him.

That was a lie.

She did not walk over to him, but she did walk in his direction. He ducked his head, but when he looked back up, she was even closer, she caught his eye, and she actually smiled and even more shocking, she waved her hand in acknowledgment. What game was she playing? He did the only thing he could think of doing that night. He frowned at her, stood up from his table, and left.

And now, here it was, two years later, and he was going to have to sit across from her, be civil and kind, all the while knowing how much she must hate him. He looked down at his watch. She was exactly two minutes late, for they were to meet at 10:15. Not very professional of her. Of course, since Marcus Flint could not be profession enough to keep his obligations, why should he expect anything more from a Muggle-born like Hermione Granger?

He was about to fold his paper and walk out, when he saw her enter. For some reason, he opened his paper back up and ducked behind it. He wasn't hiding from her so much, as he just really wanted to finish his paper.

He should let her know he was there. He really did need to find out what she found out about their artifact. Marcus and Draco were in the acquisition business. They would acquire old estates from Wizards who had no family or had families that needed quick money. They would then re-sale the items, at an incredibly inflated price. The item she was hired to examine was an 18th century tapestry, denoting all the pureblood families of all of Europe. Not only was it several centuries old, but it undoubtedly had black magic associated with it, as it came from a family that was know for their love of the dark arts. Hence, the reason for Hermione Granger's assistance. They needed to clear the item from all the dark magic before they could even consider selling it.

He peered around his paper. She was frowning, looking all around for Flint. She ordered a coffee, and sat down at a table near the front of the café. She looked around the room once more and saw him. He hurried and raised his paper again.

"Draco Malfoy?" she said. She was standing beside his table.

He winced. He lowered his paper. "Yes, do I know you?" he asked. He felt stupid the moment it left his mouth, so he decided to cover for his faux pas. "Just, joking. Hello, Hermione Granger." He stood up and offered his hand to her. It surprised him when she took it. His hand was suddenly clammy. He hoped she didn't notice. Her hand was surprisingly warm.

"Have you seen Marcus Flint?" she asked.

"Who?" he asked. Another stupid thing to do, he knew, but it was too late. He already said it. Perhaps he should sew his mouth shut, that way he would not keep saying stupid things.

"Your business partner, Marcus Flint, have you seen him?" she asked, smiling.

When she smiled at him, it was as if he was transported back to that nightclub two years ago, and she was smiling at him, and waving, and he was rude, and frowned at her and left. He was reliving the embarrassment of that day all over again in a flash of a moment. Perhaps she did not even remember that day. He was surprised he remembered it.

She made her way around to the side of his table and sat down. He sat back down as well. "Yes, well, Marcus had some minor surgery yesterday, so I'm taking his place today."

"Oh, no, is he going to be okay?" she asked. She really seemed concerned. It was not fake or apathetic, or dripping with disdain. It was a genuine, concerned question. He did not know if he liked that. Who was she to be concerned for Marcus 'the wanker' Flint?

"He's fine. Appendicitis. They removed the little offensive organ yesterday," Draco explained. "So, Granger, tell me, did you have time to examine our item?"

"Yes, I did. I had Bill Weasley look at it as well. I'll tell you something, Mr. Malfoy, that item is full of charms, dark magic, the works," she stated.

"Mr. Malfoy?" he asked. That seemed to be the only thing he heard.

She laughed and said, "I'm in business mode now. Sorry, I could call you Draco, if you would rather."

"I would rather you call me Malfoy," he grimaced.

"Really? I don't usually call people by their last names. It seems curt and disrespectful. If you don't want me to call you Draco, I can stick with Mr. Malfoy." She smiled.

Why was she being so nice? Charming even. It shocked him. Didn't she remember who he was? What he used to stand for? How he used to treat her?

After his extended silence, she said, "I could call you some foul name, like I did in school, but I would be afraid of what you might call me in return."

"Draco. Call me Draco. We'll just use our proper names. So, about our item?" he prodded.

"Yes, well, it's going to be a while. Charlie and Bill are still examining it. It may cost you more money to remove the dark magic from it than you'll recoup by selling it. I just wanted to give you the option, in case you want us to stop our work on it," she said. She took a drink of her coffee.

"I can assure you, I already have some very large offers for the blasted thing, so go ahead and do what you must," he said. He leaned back in his seat. She smiled again. Why did she keep smiling? Why was she so happy? Why did she look so pretty when she smiled?

She stood up, this time offering her hand to him, which he took. "Well, we'll carry on then. Tell Marcus I'm dreadfully sorry about his illness. Perhaps I'll go see him in Hospital."

"Oh, no, he doesn't want any visitors, he told me that," Draco said, letting go of her hand, and standing up as well. Why did he just lie?

"Well, goodbye, Draco. By the way, should I just report back to you, or to your assistant?" she asked.

"Me, report back to me," he said quickly.

"Very well, it was nice to see you again. I'll have more to report the next time I see you. Goodbye." She waved, just as she waved at him two years ago. This time, he waved back. She was almost to the door of the café when he jumped out of his seat, and ran up to catch her.

"Hey, Granger?" he called. She turned around.

"Hermione," she reminded.

"Hermione," he corrected, "I have a few other items from the same estate. Do you think you would be able to examine these as well?" He wanted her to say yes.

"Of course, where are they?" she asked.

"They're still at the estate. We acquire the whole bloody house. There's a lot of junk to go through. Some of our employees are sorting through the mess as we speak. Perhaps you could arrange to come see some of the items in a couple of days?"

"Sure, have your assistant owl me with the time and place. Bye, Malfoy." She said his last name exaggerated, because he had called her Granger. She smiled, for the hundredth time that morning and left.

Heaven help him, but Draco Malfoy thought he might be smitten with…it cannot be true…Hermione Granger. Yes, he was having the day from hell.