¿Mixed Chemistry?

Chap

Hermione quickly knocked on Mrs. Ortiz’s door. She wanted to check up on the kids one last time before meeting Draco. She had already changed into a black knee length dress and a pair of two inch black high heels.

Mrs. Ortiz had whistled as Hermione entered the apartment. Hermione couldn’t help blushing. Dray and Manny came running towards her. She kissed each child on the forehead before the two went to play with their toys.

“Oh, Hermione, tengo algo para tí,” Señora Ortiz said as she pulled a small box off her desk.

Hermione was a bit surprised at the small gift. She closed her eyes. She had forgotten all about it. Mrs. Ortiz had remembered her birthday. “Señora, you didn’t have to,” Hermione began as she slowly opened the box.

She took in a deep breath. It was a beautiful pin; a golden lion with a long stemmed rose in it’s mouth. The rose was a beautiful red ruby.

“¡Feliz año cumple!” the older woman hugged the younger one.

“It’s beautiful,” Hermione said as she pinned it on her left side of her dress. The gold contrasted well with the dark dress. She smiled again.

“Bueno, ¿A qué hora vais a salir?”

Hermione looked at her watch. “Oy, ahora, él va a llegar pronto.” She kissed the older woman on the cheek again.

“Oye, Hermione. Puedo cuidar a los niños hasta mañana,” the older woman smiled.

Hermione rolled her eyes playfully at the older woman’s joke about being able to watch the kids until the following morning. She exited the apartment. She turned to see that Draco was already at her door. She froze for a moment.

Draco took in a breath. He had never seen her in a dress like that before. It was as if he couldn’t breathe for a moment.

“Hi,” she broke the silence.

“Hi,” he almost whispered.

“We should get a move on,” Hermione said already halfway to the lifts. Draco had to shake himself out of it. He almost had to run towards her to catch up to her. She was blushing as she saw the look he had given her.

He joined her in the lift. “You look amazing, Hermione.”

“You look great, too,” she said smiling. He had on a dark blue Armani suit.

“So where are we headed off to,” he asked as they exited the building and started following her up the street.

“It’s a tapas bar,” she said.

“A what?” he asked smiling.

“It’s a muggle restaurant just around the corner. They serve appetizers, basically,” she said looking at him. “I figured we shouldn’t be seen together in a wizarding establishment, what with all of your friends running around.”

He smiled, “Touché.”

She led him into a small restaurant that was quite busy. They found a table to the rear of the establishment. Flamenco music played in the background and everybody seemed to be in conversation with everybody else.

The waiter quickly came around with their menus and two glasses of water. “So what’s good,” he asked her.

“Everything is good,” Hermione smiled.

“So you choose, then,” he said smiling at her.

The waiter came back and asked what sort of wine they would like with their tapas that evening. Hermione looked at Draco. Draco looked up at the waiter.

“Um, red?” Draco said looking over at Hermione. She just smiled.

“Are you ready to order?” the waiter flashed the couple a smile.

“Yes, we’ll try everything.”

“Muy bien, pues,” the waiter smiled and left the couple.

Draco smiled at her. He couldn’t stop looking at her. “You look beautiful, Hermione.”

“You’ve already said that,” she said blushing.

He looked down smiling, “I think I said that you looked amazing earlier.”

She smiled still blushing. “I almost forgot how good you were at flattery.”

“Ah, but you remembered that about me,” he smiled as the waiter poured them both a glass of wine and brought their first tapa, a plateful of garlic pepper shrimp. “So, why is this called a tapas bar?”

“These places used to just serve drinks and a piece of toast as the tapa or cover so that patrons could place it on their drinks so that the flies couldn’t land in them. Eventually they used to place other food items on the toasts,” she said as she took a sip of her wine.

He smiled at her as he, too, took a sip of his wine and took a bite of the garlic shrimp. It was scrumptious.

The whole night was filled with taste testing small dishes that wowed his palette. As they chatted and ate, he gazed at her. He was amazed at how much she had changed since he had first met her.

Hermione talked about how she and Ron once visited Sevilla on holiday. So she had decided that it would be a nice place to get away from things as the war waged on. He nodded, hypnotized by her. She told him about teaching Chemistry at Lorca.

“So, Professor Snape’s lectures weren’t wasted on you, then?” he said laughing.

“I guess not,” she smiled back.

“So tell me about this Juan guy?”

She gulped. She took a breath, composing herself. Don’t lie, just don’t tell the whole truth, Hermione. “Juan Carlos Torres. J. C. for short. He teaches History at the school.”

He nodded. They were lovers and colleagues he thought.

“He’s from a wizarding family,” she said softly, “A pureblood.”

“Great,” he said nodding as he took a bite of deep fried squid.

“How about you? I’m sure you’ve got some young witch ready to walk down the aisle pretty soon,” she said a little upset at her own curiosity.

He just smiled. “I’m seeing somebody.”

She smiled looking down at her small plate of ham. Of course, he was seeing somebody. He was Draco Malfoy. Any witch would want to be dangling from his arm. It was just as well.

He couldn’t stop smiling at her. The golden pin on her left side caught his eye. “That’s beautiful,” he said pointing out the pin.

“Señora Ortiz gave it to me tonight for my birthday. I forgot about today,” she said looking at the pin.

Her birthday, he thought. He took a deep breath. He didn’t have anything to give her. The music was low. He looked up at her. “Would you like to dance?”

She looked curiously at him. Then she smiled. She got up slowly and took his outstretched arm. She took another deep breath.

They slowly came in closer to each other as the music played. Hermione fell into his arms. She shuddered. She hoped he hadn’t noticed. They danced number after number. It was as if they had been on the dance floor forever.

She smiled up at him. He knew it was late. He nodded towards their table. He paid the check in Euro cash and nodded towards the waiter as they exited the establishment.

“I must admit those tapas were very good,” he said as he sneaked a sideways glance at her.

“Well, I’m glad you’re getting used to muggle food,” she said smiling, shivering a little.

“Here,” he said as he took his jacket off and placed it around her shoulders before she could decline.

They walked in a beautiful silence. They watched the late night couples heading home. It was nearly two a.m. “It’s Saturday morning. Are you planning on traveling by floo or apparating?”

“I’ll probably apparate later on this morning,” he said looking into her eyes as they walked towards her apartment.

She looked down at the pavement, afraid of what she wanted to ask him. “Do I know her, Draco?”

He looked up at her and smiled.

“Never mind,” she said picking up her step, “I shouldn’t pry.”

“It’s all right,” Draco said catching up to her. “Um. Roxanne Sterling. You probably don’t know her.”

“She was a Slytherin during our year. I remember her,” she smiled.

He gulped. “She’s a model now.”

“Blonde, blue eyed and famous. Sounds like her all right,” she said. “I’m sure you two turn everybody’s head when you walk down Diagon Alley together.”

“Hermione,” he said looking at her as she stopped in front of her apartment building.

“This Torres fellow?” he began looking at his shoes. “He treats you right, doesn’t he?”

She gulped. “Yes of course,” she said looking up into his grey eyes.

“Good,” he said looking into her eyes. He leaned in. She closed her eyes and took a step back.

“It’s getting late,” she said. “The kids will be waiting.”

“Right,” he said getting his composure back, “Of course.”

She removed the jacket and gave it back to him. Their hands brushed. Both of them shuddered.

He leaned down, hesitated and then kissed her cheek. “I’d better get a move on,” he said walking down the front steps. He turned. “Hey, don’t be a stranger, all right. Come up to England once in a while.”

She nodded. “Right back at you,” she smiled. “Just don’t tell the other Death Eaters, all right.”

They both smiled at each other. Draco watched as she entered her apartment building. He had wanted to kiss her but held back. They were both seeing someone. She had stepped away from him. She was loyal; he knew that. She never turned her back on Harry or Ronald; he remembered this from school. He knew she would never cheat on her lover, even if he were out of town.

He shut his eyes and smiled at the great night that he had shared with her. He headed back to Café Olla where he would safely apparate. He had so much to tell Harry when he would get back to England.

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okay, pause for a while. what do you guys think?