When Draco Met Hermione

Chapter 8: Cold, Hard Mexican Ceramic Tile

As soon as they were seated, they ordered steaming cups of coffee. Draco brought the cups over and handed Hermione her cup. Hermione took a sip and they sat in silence for a bit.

"So tell me what happened to you and Harry? You were the Daily Prophet's couple of the year for what, five years?"

Hermione gave a small smile as she took another sip. She placed both hands around her cup, enjoying the warm feeling that was coursing through her hands to her arms. She looked up and saw Draco gazing at her intently, waiting for her answer.

"Well," said Hermione, taking a deep breath, "I hope you're ready for this, it's a long haul type of story." Draco grinned and nodded for her to begin. "Alright, well, when Harry and I started seeing each other we wanted exactly the same thing. We wanted to live together but we didn't want to get married because every time anyone we knew got married it ruined their relationship, they practically never had sex again!" Draco smirked at the look on Hermione's face, exasperated and bewildered at the same time. " It's true!" Hermione saw Draco smirking at her as if she was making an assumption, "It's one of those secrets that no one ever tells you. I would sit around with my girlfriends who have kids....actually, this one girlfriend of mine, Alicia, I think you might remember her from Hogwarts, her maiden name then was Spinnet, but I was visiting her in London, and she and her husband Lee never do it anymore. She didn't even complain about it now that I think about it. She just said it very matter-of-factly. She said that they were always just up all night with the new lot of kids they've got, triplets if you can even begin to fathom what that's like, they were exhausted all the time from working at the ministry and Lee has this Quidditch Shop that he manages on the weekends...." Hermione trailed off. Draco was tapping his fingers impatiently on the table and she realized that she was going off on a tangent again on her story. "Sorry," she said lamely, "anyways, Harry and I used to talk about it and we'd say how lucky we were that we had this wonderful relationship, that we could have sex on the kitchen floor and not worry about kids walking in, that we could fly off to Rome to a moment's notice. And then one day I had apparated to London again to help Alicia out and I took one of her little girls for the afternoon, the older one, not the triplets, they are another species I swear, but I took the older one, Madeleine because I had promised her that we would go to Notting Hill and shop around a bit at outdoor market that they have there on the weekends, so we were in cab and playing that game, 'Eye Spy,' you know, 'I spy a mailbox, a lamppost,' whatever, and she looked out the window and she saw this man and woman with these two little kids and the man had one of the little tots on his shoulders and Maddy said 'I spy a family.'"

Hermione stopped to catch her breath. Draco noticed she was looking a bit teary-eyed. He had been tempted to interrupt her extremely overdrawn explanation of why she and Harry had split-up, but for some reason, he let her drone on. Hermione finally composed herself, took a sip of her now cold coffee, and finished her story, "I started crying you know. I just started crying. I apparated home later that evening, which by the way, crossing international time zones is hell on one's nerves, and I said to Harry, "The thing is Harry, we never fly off to Rome on a moment's notice......"

Draco gave Hermione a small smile, "And the kitchen floor?"

"Not once," a small laugh escaped from her lips, "it's extremely cold, hard Mexican ceramic tile. Heating and cushioning charms only last so long."

"Oh..." was all Draco managed to get out before Hermione continued to talk.

"Anyways, Harry and I talked about it for a long time and I said 'This is what I want,' and he said 'Well, it's not what I want,' and I said 'Well, I guess it's over,' and he left. And the thing is...I feel fine. I am over him, I mean I really am over him. And that was it for him. That was the most that he could give. And every time I think about it I am more and more convinced that I did the right thing." Hermione sighed into her coffee that was ice cold, but she took a sip nonetheless.

"Boy, you sound really healthy." Draco sipped the last of his coffee. "Yah," said Hermione, a small look of sadness crossing her face. 'Quite healthy in fact, so bloody healthy that I am now single, although over my ex, biological clock ticking, and i'm having coffee with the man-who-lived-to-irritate-me.....'

"Hey, would you fancy a walk?" Draco's voice broke into Hermione's thoughts. She glanced over at Draco, he continued to talk, "I don't have much to do the rest of the afternoon." Hermione thought about it for a moment, then nodded.

~*~

Draco was helping Hermione into her coat a short while later. The leaves had started to fall and it was one of the best autumn days New York had seen in a while. A nice cool breeze, cool enough for a coat, but warm enough to leave the scarf and mittens and hat at home. Hermione nodded and they left the café and walked down the block towards central park. They walked in silence through the park, past a few sculptures and the giant clock. A few people were out and about. Some we strolling like they were at that moment, a few were in trainers and hoodies, running briskly through the park. Hermione was the first to break the silence.

"At least I got the apartment."

Draco laughed, "Yeah, that's what everybody says to me too. I was able to at least keep that monstrosity that my mother got for me ten years back. But really, what's so bloody hard about finding an apartment? What you do is, you read the obituaries in the Post or in the Times."

He looked over and was not surprised to see a shocked look on Hermione's face. He smirked and continued, "It's true you know, you find out who died, then you go to the building and then you tip the doorman. What they can do to make it easier in my opinion is to combine the obituaries and the real estate section." Draco chuckled at the thought, "Then you'd have 'Mr. Klein died today leaving a wife, two children, and spacious three bedroom apartment with wood burning fireplace'."

Despite herself, Hermione laughed along wit Draco at what Draco had just said.

The continued to walk through he park. They passed a playground and Draco caught the wistful look on Hermione's face as she glanced over at the children playing and the mother's wiping faces streaked with tears or dirt. They soon found themselves on the path by themselves.

"You know," said Draco, " the first time I met you I really didn't like you all that much."

"Well, the feeling was mutual Malfoy."

Both laughed and continued to walk. "You liked me, you were just too uptight back then to realize it. You're much softer now." Hermione laughed and punched Draco in the arm. She never thought she would enjoy taking a walk with Draco Malfoy.

"You know I hate those kinds of remarks. It sounds like a compliment, but really it's an insult."

"I take it back, you're still hard as nails."

Hermione began to kick at the acorns that had fallen on the path, "I just didn't want to sleep with you and you had to write it off as a character flaw instead of dealing with the possibility that it might have something to do with you!"

"Well, Granger, what's the statute of limitation on apologies?"

"I believe its ten years," said Hermione with a grin. Draco smiled back, "Great! I can just get it under the wire."

Hermione stopped walking and looked at Draco. "Would you like to have dinner with me sometime?"

Draco crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head to one side, a bemused look on his face. Hermione shook her head and rolled her eyes at his expression. He laughed, "Are we becoming friends now?"

"Well...." Hermione gave Draco a big smile, "Yeah."

"Great!" Draco started to walk again and Hermione hurried to catch up to his long strides. He looked at her and smiled back, "A woman friend....you know, you may be the first attractive woman I have not wanted to sleep with in my entire life." Draco extended his arm to Hermione.

"That's wonderful Draco," said Hermione as she took his arm and they walked out of the park.