Chapter Text
"Should old acquaintance be forgot…" Hermione hummed to herself as she caught sight of someone that she hadn't seen in a long, long time. And if she was completely honest, she hadn't even thought about Lavender Brown in years - not since the blonde had been in a relationship with her now ex-husband, and yet now she was there in a coffee shop that Hermione had never been in before but for some reason she had felt drawn to today.
They were adults now and it was easy to push away the animosity that they had felt all those years ago. She'd eventually won, after all, and even though her marriage to Ron had gone up in flames, she had that to hold over Lavender. But as the blonde approached her, she found that she didn't want to.
"Hermione. Long time, no see." The blonde said with a smile as Hermione picked her coffee cup up off the counter. She didn't really want to talk to any old school friends, especially not any old school 'friends' that had bullied her back in the day, but she knew that if she dared to run or make an excuse to skip out now then Lavender would know that she was scared. Hermione couldn't explain what she was scared of, especially considering that she was now the Minister of Magic and relatively untouchable. The things that had happened to her during her school years shouldn't still matter, and yet they did.
"Uh, yeah, it has been." She hummed, not sure how she was meant to have a conversation with someone that she didn't even like to talk to back in the day. She knew that she had to be amicable now though, if not for herself but to save face for the Ministry and the career that she had worked hard to build. "How have you been?"
It was a big question, she knew that, and there were so many ways that Lavender could have possibly answered it, but she seemed to appreciate that Hermione was trying as she had a smile on her lips as she said "not as well as you, obviously, but I'm sure you've seen some of my work with the Werewolf Relations department?"
Hermione blinked a couple of times before she put two and two together. She had known that there was a lot of progress within that department and the reformation of the werewolf registry. She did remember seeing a Brown being listed on the paperwork, but she hadn't realised that it was Lavender Brown who was behind it. Now that she thought about it, it made perfect sense, of course. Hermione had heard about Lavender's condition, of what had happened to her during the Battle of Hogwarts, but the fallout from that war had her rather busy trying to piece Ron back together again after the loss of his brother - an impossible task.
"Of course!" She said cheerily, perhaps too much so - Lavender would be able to see through her facade so easily, she just hoped that the woman would at least allow her to pretend that she wasn't at all rattled. "You're doing great things. Lupin would be so proud."
There was silence for a beat as the two women remembered their fallen teacher, the one who had introduced them all to the world of lycanthropy even when that had been the very world that he was trying to shield them from in the first place.
"Thank you." Lavender's voice was a little softer now, her eyes just that little bit darker. Hermione knew that the other students in their year hadn't had the same sort of relationship with Remus as she, Ron, or Harry had, but that didn't mean that she wasn't affected by his death. He had been one of the better Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers that they had had, and Hermione realised that Lavender probably felt that she was more connected to him now that she had the same affliction.
"So are you just a career girl or?" Hermione found herself asking as they migrated their way over to one of the booths in the coffee shop. She hadn't intended on staying, but it seemed rude to leave now when Lavender seemed to be looking for a friend.
Lavender sat down on the bench across from Hermione as she gave a slight shake of her head. "No, not quite. I mean, I've never been married or anything, but I do have a son."
Hermione blinked again. She didn't mean to be rude but she hadn't expected that - and she was pretty sure that Lavender was the only werewolf she had ever heard of giving birth. She knew that Lavender had probably never even experienced a transformation, but it was still unheard of for werewolves to have biological children - Teddy had been the first recorded case and it was his father that had been the werewolf. Hermione had always figured that there was something in the wolfsbane potion that rendered females infertile. While she was good at potions, she hadn't done any research on wolfsbane at all. It wasn't her area of expertise, and so she hadn't really had the resources to be able to investigate it.
"You have a son?" She managed to make herself ask. She hadn't at all expected that, nor had she expected the swelling of jealousy that she felt in her chest. Hermione had always wanted children, but she was a career woman and her job as Minister for Magic had to come before everything else.
"Yeah, I do. His name is Bryce." A fond smile flickered across Lavender's lips. "He's two now."
Hermione couldn't help but let out a soft sigh. Two years ago was when her relationship had started going south with Ron and she had lost the only stable adult relationship that she had ever had, and while she knew that was for the best, she still couldn't deny that it hurt that someone she had once known was doing so well in life while she only appeared to be.
"I'm happy for you, Lavender." She said softly as she made herself give the woman a smile. It was weird, but at the same time Hermione was sort of enjoying getting reacquainted with the person that she had once known. She and Lavender had never been friends as children, but she almost felt as if they could be friends now as adults if they gave each other a chance - and based on the fact that Lavender had been the one to strike up the conversation in the first place she felt like the blonde wanted to be friends too.
"Thank you." Lavender said with a smile before she paused for a moment. "Well - um - I'm sure you're very busy, but if there's a chance that you might want to meet up for coffee or something another time? I...They never tell you how lonely being a parent is going to be.. I've sort of lost touch with pretty much everyone since having Bryce. The only ones I've stayed in contact with are Seamus and Dean, but it's a little weird hanging out with them and being the third wheel all the time… and I'm babbling on." She stopped herself and gave a laugh but Hermione just gave her a kind smile and a nod.
"I'd like that." She didn't want to admit it, but Hermione didn't have that many friends either, especially not any her own age or outside of work, but she was willing to attempt to change that. "I'll send a memo to arrange a time?" She asked as she glanced at her watch. She'd spent most of her coffee break chatting to the blonde, but that didn't at all seem like a bad thing, and the prospect of having coffee again, properly, another time was definitely inviting.
"Perfect." Lavender pressed a kiss to Hermione's cheek by way of a goodbye. "I'll see you then." She said as she flashed Hermione a grin before she left the coffee shop. Hermione let out a soft hum as she thought about the strange events that had just unfolded, but it didn't seem all that strange in hindsight.