Breakfast at Natalie's

The next morning, Malfoy sat up stiffly. It was Sunday; most of his department wouldn't be at work today, at least not this early. He looked around, wondering why he had fallen asleep in his office. Then he recalled last night's events and everything was clear. He yawned and sat down at his desk, dialing his home number.

"Hello?" said Hermione, snatching up the phone almost as soon as it rang.

"It's me," he said, stifling another yawn.

"Oh," she said coldly. "Why didn't you answer your mobile?"

He fumbled in his pocket. "Sorry, I must've forgotten to turn it on."

"Where are you?"

"At my office," he replied.

"Oh. I didn't think of calling there," she said irritably. "Well, are you coming back or not?"

"Where's Natalie?"

"At work, remember? But when are you coming back?"

"Right now, if you want me to." There was silence on the other end. "Okay, okay. I'm coming."

He hung up and changed back into his clothes, rolled up his sleeping bag, and Disapparated home.

"Finally," said Hermione, opening the door when he knocked. "I suppose you haven't eaten yet."

"No," he said, reaching for a coffee mug.

"Let me guess: wheat toast, marmalade, scrambled eggs, and coffee. Black."

"Yeah. How did you--"

"It's the same thing you used to eat at Hogwarts," she said, smiling wryly. "You really haven't changed much."

"Not always," he said, popping slices of bread into the toaster. "Sometimes I had bacon. Or oatmeal."

"Whatever," she said, sitting down at the small table and folding her arms.

"Where are the kids?" He sat down across from her.

"Playing Exploding Snap in your room." She glanced towards the closed bedroom door. "I think they've singed the carpet."

"That's okay. I can fix it later," he said. She watched as he ate hungrily, practically inhaling his food.

"So," she said, as he finished eating. "I wanted to talk to you." He wiped his mouth on a paper napkin and looked up at her expectantly. "I don't think I should stay here."

"What?" he gasped, his eyes watering as he chocked on his coffee. "Why not?"

"You don't have much room here, and it's just too much trouble. When Joseph finds out tomorrow, he'll come looking for me. I don't want anything to happen to you." She looked down at her lap.

"That's--that's ridiculous!" he blustered. " The first place he'd look is in the hotels, and of course, you're not in a hotel. He'd never find you here. What would he do, go door-to-door to every apartment in London? As for the space issue, that's easy to solve. I was planning on finding a bigger place anyway. I've accumulated so much stuff over the years that I've got nowhere to put it all."

"Stop making excuses, Draco."

"No," he said vehemently. "You stop making excuses. I'm not letting you go back there to be abused by your husband. What kind of friend--what kind of person--would I be then?"

"I never said I was going back to him," she replied. "I'll be honest with you, Draco, like you never were with me." Her words stung him. "I just don't think this will work out. I don't want a repeat of what happened before. I think that being in close proximity to you will trigger--"

"That's bullshit."

"I--excuse me?"

"That's bullshit," he repeated. "I can't believe you're still holding that against me. Weren't you the one who told me to "Let it go" when I tried to apologize?" He paced around the kitchen. "Do you really think that either of us is going to let that happen again? Do you think that you could take the pain? Because I know I can't."

"Well, you're not the only one who has feelings around here," she countered. "Do you know how much I've suffered?"

"It's not my fault you married dear Joseph."

"Don't bring him into this," she said, fuming. "You don't even know him."

He laughed mirthlessly. "What else do I need to know about him besides that he makes you miserable? I don't think he could possibly have any redeeming qualities, and even if he does, nothing could ever excuse what he's done to you."

"Whatever," she said, standing up. "I'm not staying."

"Where will you go?"

"I'll find a place," she said, tossing her hair behind her shoulders defiantly.

"The kids?"

She hesitated. "I'll make it work out."

"You can't do this." He put a hand on her arm. "I won't let you."

"You won't let me?" She laughed derisively. "You're nothing to me."

His face crumpled. "Hermione," he said softly, "don't you see how much I care about you? I've never stopped loving you. Never."

She turned away so that he couldn't see her tears. "It's time to move on," she said, her voice thick with emotion. "I need to start over."

"You can start over here, with me. Forget everything that happened." He came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. "I can't let you go wandering around London. Cassie and Riley are too young. Stay here, Hermione."

She shook his hands off her shoulders and barricaded herself in the bathroom.

----------------------

Natalie came back a little after three and found Malfoy asleep in front of the television; Hermione was reading a book at the kitchen table.

"When did he get back?" whispered Natalie, not wanting to disturb his slumber.

"Around seven in the morning," said Hermione, not looking up from her book.

At six, they had dinner, a mostly silent affair. After the kids had scampered off to play, the three adults remained seated at the table. Hermione and Malfoy avoided each other's eyes.

"What's the matter with you two?" asked Natalie, noticing the tension between them.

"Nothing," said Hermione stoically.

"Don't insult my intelligence. There's obviously something wrong."

"She doesn't want to stay," said Malfoy after a long moment.

"Why not?" asked Natalie, surprised.

"There isn't enough space," she said, shrugging.

"That's no--" began Malfoy.

"I was just going to bring that up," interrupted Natalie.

"I could get a bigger place. It's no trouble at all," said Malfoy immediately.

"That's not necessary," said Natalie. "I've thought about it, and I think we should move into my father's house. We'll need to do a fair amount of cleaning, but there's certainly enough space. What do you think?"

"That's actually not a bad idea," agreed Malfoy.

"What about Joseph?" asked Hermione. "I know he's going to come looking for me."

"Joseph's her husband," explained Malfoy. "He doesn't know she's here."

"Well," said Natalie, after a thoughtful pause, "I do have anti-Muggle and anti-Intruder spells around the place, so there shouldn't be a problem."

"Then it's settled," said Malfoy with a triumphant smile.

"When do you want to move in?"

"As soon as possible," said Malfoy. "I'll start putting notices up for this apartment. It shouldn't be hard to rent out, seeing as it's in a prime location."

"Is that alright with you, Hermione?" asked Natalie.

"I guess so," she replied grudgingly.

----------------------

When Malfoy walked past Miranda's desk the next morning, he was startled to find a stunning blonde sitting at the desk.

"Good morning!" she said in a peppy voice.

"Er, good morning," replied Malfoy, momentarily dazzled by her beauty. "Where's Miranda?"

"She's sick. I'll be taking her place until she gets back."

"Oh...okay."

"I'm Amy Brightwater," she said, smiling widely to show off her perfect teeth. She held out her hand.

"Oh, um, I'm Draco," he said, shaking her hand. "Er...Draco Malfoy."

"Well, it's very nice to meet you, Draco," she said pleasantly. She stood up and smoothed her skirt. "I was just going to get a cup of coffee. Would you like to come with me?"

"I was actually just..." She fluttered her eyelashes at him, and the rest of his sentence melted away. "I...sure. Sure, that'd be great."

He accompanied her to the lounge and poured them each a cup of coffee.

"I met your friend Charlie earlier today," she said, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

"Oh," he said. "Did you?"

"He was a very nice fellow. So polite." They sipped their coffee, and Malfoy looked around desperately for an escape route; there didn't seem to be one. "I'm new to this part of London," she continued. "So I was wondering if you could show me around, if it's not too much trouble..." She said this hesitantly, as if she was afraid of being a nuisance, but Malfoy could tell she was flirting with him.

"Er..."

"You don't have to, of course. It's just that I don't know anyone, and I'd probably get lost if I went out on my own." She twirled a strand of her honey blonde hair. Malfoy was currently noticing the tightness of her clothing and how they accentuated her figure quite nicely, so it took him a moment to reply.

"Oh...I...it's no problem."

"Oh, thank you!" She set down her coffee cup and flung her arms around him in an enthusiastic hug.

"Um, you're welcome?" he said, trying not to spill his coffee.

She pulled back and looked at him with her emerald green eyes, and he found himself asking her to dinner. By the time they left the lounge, it had been determined that he would be taking her to dinner at seven that night.

"So, what do you think?" asked Charlie, as Malfoy wandered into his office and perched himself atop a stack of newspapers.

"Of what?" he said blankly. He brought the coffee cup to his lips and realized it was empty. He set it down on the edge of Charlie's desk.

"The new secretary," said Charlie, chuckling. "I can tell you've met her by the dazed look on your face. She's quite a looker, eh?"

"Do you think she's part Veela or something?" asked Malfoy.

"Maybe," said Charlie. "Why?"

"When I was talking to her it felt like I wasn't controlling my brain. I mean, I just asked her to dinner."

"Why wouldn't you? You're single, she's gorgeous and single--this is the perfect opportunity."

"But I'm not looking for a girlfriend," said Malfoy. "I don't need one."

"Aww, c'mon, Draco, don't lie to yourself. I know you're still hurting about what happened at Hogwarts, but that was years ago." Malfoy cringed. Charlie had convinced him to spill all the details about Hermione when he'd gotten drunk at a party a couple years ago. "You need to move on. Trust me."

"But I don't want to," he protested weakly.

"There's something seriously wrong with our society if a woman like that is single," said Charlie, shaking his head. "But let's not get carried away here. Kingsley wants us to do some investigating."

"What is there to investigate? We have no suspects, no leads, no nothing."

"Actually," said Charlie matter-of-factly, "we do. Someone's reported suspicious activity. And guess where it is?"

"Where?" asked Malfoy tiredly.

"The BR."

"What? The Billiards Room? You're bluffing."

"Nope, not bluffing. We've got an undercover agent working there, and he's tipped us off. Apparently, there's been a group of shady looking men who keep booking the back room. Our Mackinnon's agent has similar news. So we're supposed to go to both places. But I have to warn you, this might be a late-night job, if not an all-nighter."

"Well, I'll just have to cancel my dinner date then," said Malfoy in a hopeful voice.

"Actually, it's probably better if you bring her. You know, just so we don't look suspicious. I'd bring Liz along if I could, but she's going out to see a movie with her girlfriends."

"Fine," he said. "I'll bring her. When do we start?"

"Kingsley said to start whenever you got here, so I guess that means now."

They Apparated to a street near where Mackinnon's was located and began to walk in that direction. Malfoy pulled out a bundle of papers.

"What's that?" asked Charlie.

"I'm trying to rent out my apartment," said Malfoy, dividing the bundle n half and handing one stack to Charlie.

"How come?"

"Help me post these up and I'll tell you." As they walked slowly along the street, they adhered the papers to signposts and wherever else there was space. They finally arrived at Mackinnon's and hurried inside, glad to be out of the cold. They sat down at a table in the back and ordered drinks.

"So," said Charlie, "why are you moving house?"

"Well, you remember Natalie?" He began describing the visit to Madam Morisette in detail.

"So she's your...half-sister?" said Charlie, thoroughly amazed.

"Yes, but she's not the only person living with me at the moment. Hermione--you remember her--and her two kids are staying with me as well."

"Why?" asked Charlie curiously. "I thought she was married."

"She is," he replied. "But she's, er, having some marital issues at the moment."

Charlie nodded sympathetically. "So basically you have five people crammed into that tiny place of yours?"

"Pretty much, yeah," said Malfoy. "So you see why I have to move now?"

"But where are you going to live?"

"We're all going to live in the house Natalie's father left her. She wants us to."

Charlie let out a low whistle. "I still can't believe the thing about the psychic lady. That's just crazy."

"I swear I'm not making this up," said Malfoy, and they both laughed.