Chapter Text
“Oh.. more black. How exciting.” Theodore Nott pulled his glasses to the bridge of his nose and scanned my outfit top to bottom. “ a little color wouldn’t kill you, ya know. They love color in the muggle world.” He motioned to his own outfit, a mix of reds and greens and a shocking amount of denim.
I glanced down at my black jeans and fitted ink black T-shirt. The shirt was imported from Italy and my pants were made of fairy spun forest grass but apparently that wasn’t enough “flair” for Theo. “I’m being drug out of my home at an unseeming time of night to go to muggle London with two slightly unhinged wizards for Merlin knows what. This is what you’re getting.” I shrugged, fully exhausted and rung dry from todays final appearance with the Greengrass family.
My divorce from Astoria was finalized today, she received absolutely nothing from the Malfoy line after breaking the marital contract and it had been nothing but familial meeting after familial meeting. Her father was holding firm that their family was owed half of the vaults even though Astoria had been unfaithful and was currently pregnant With a baby that was certainly not the Malfoy Heir. Lucious had decided to take it to the Wizengamot and it had been decreed the contract was void and the Greengrass family would leave with nothing.
Five years of a cold, lifeless marriage to end like this. I was by no means the ideal husband, I was distant and I worked too much. My family’s status and reputation had been absolutely obliterated by the war and my parents were a lot to handle. But I tried, I booked vacations, bought gifts, wrote notes to Astoria. I tried to be the perfect Lord of the manor but she was never interested. She was pure blooded through and through and my families newfounded acceptance of Muggle culture always seemed to disgust her. Eventually I stopped trying, somewhere during all of that she’d found someone else, a pure blooded wizard 7 years younger.
It was all very dramatic.
Narcissa was beside herself.
Lucious was disgusted but vindicated.
And I.. well I felt.. useless.
I truly could do nothing right. All my life I had done everything to fit into the mold my parents had worked hard to build for me, piece by piece welded together, finally ending exactly where they wanted me. Married to one of the sacred 28, running the manor, working under the Malfoy name heading the trading business my great, great grandfather had built from the ground up. All that was left was to produce an heir and I’d failed at that miserably, unable to sleep beside my wife let alone with her.
The war had inevitably given me horrific night terrors and after our honeymoon Astoria had violently refused to sleep in the same bed as me. Five years of cold sheets and dark rooms.
Marriage was not what I had thought it would be.
But that was over now.
I’m single, a divorcée. And I’m currently being toted around London like one of Mothers expensive American handbags.
“Theo, Muggle women love the tall, dark and mysterious vibe. He’ll be fine.” Blaise smacked me in the shoulder as we walked through a darkened alley leading up to a heavily guarded nightclub.
“Where exactly did you say we were going again?” I nodded towards the bouncer who slipped us in without a word. The bar was musky and dark, lights flashing and music pounding through the walls. It smelt like sweat and cologne and the dance floor was so crowded you couldn’t tell the men from the women. Theo was practically bouncing with excitement beside him, and Blaise was already scanning the room for his newest conquest.
“There’s a room in here. It’s very private. A total “you have to know someone” type of thing.” Theo shouted over the music, perfectly straight white teeth glinting against the neon lights.
“What muggle do you know?” I tugged him backwards before he slammed into a group of barely legal women swaying next to the bar.
“My hair lady is married to a muggle born and she says this is the place to be. It’s called the “Magic Room” and there’s a woman who sings in there and apparently she’s phenomenal. That’s why it’s so hard to get into, buttt..” he grabbed someone’s shot off the bar and pressed it into my chest “it’s your first day back as a single man so you deserve the best!”
“I’ve heard about her too. Pansy has been desperate to get in and hasn’t been able to. She’s going to absolutely kill us. We had to give fake names just to get in.” Blaise nodded towards the gold lined black door, pulling a numbered tag out of his pocket and handing it to the bouncer.
A group of men in expensive suits were arguing with another security guard in the corner as they walked through the door. Draco was almost certain the group were wizards but he couldn’t tell entirely. It was incredible how integrated Wizarding society was now a days.
The room was smoky and warm, cast in a theatrical glow of soft lighting. The booths were velvet and when they sat in their designated table a bottle of aged wine was placed in front of them by an older gentleman with white hair.
“She’ll be out in just a minute, gentlemen.” He smiled.
Theo skipped off to the bathroom, rushing past a group of older women desperately trying to get his attention.
Blaise reached across the table and clapped a hand over mine. “So how are you really doing? No bullshit.”
I felt my shoulders deflate, suddenly very tired
“I don’t know. I’m angry, not even at Astoria. I’m more angry at myself that i sat by so long and let it get to this point. I could have left her, i could have saved my family all of this embarrassment.”
Blaise shook his head, eyes firm but sympathetic
“You know it’s not that easy. Those contracts are blood signed, you’d have had to break it by cheating and then you’d be in a worse position than you are now.”
I sighed, staring at my fingers
“Well maybe I could have tried harder. I didn’t really do much on the intimacy front. I pushed the whole heir issue to the side when she told me she wasn’t interested in having sex with me. Maybe that was her way of testing me? To see if I could change into someone she wanted?”
“Ahh, what a lovely marriage. I hear changing yourself entirely really sets the basis of a healthy relationship.” He raised a brow expectantly.
And Blaise was right, there really was no saving that marriage. I knew that and so did my now ex wife. She was more than happy to spend my fortune but anything else was not part of the handbook. She was by my side at galas and events with a smile and an expensive gown and she loved to boss my staff around at the manor. Truly that was all that was required of a pure blood wife and I’m not sure why I expected more.
The lights on the stage dimmed slowly and Theo slid back into the booth. A shadowy figure appeared on stage and took her place at the piano.
“Are you kidding? I can only see the back of her.” Theo whispered.
Her auburn hair was pulled into a low bun, curls escaping to the back of her neck and brushing the skin of her back left bare by the backless black velvet gown she was wearing. The fabric draped and pooled at the curve of her spine, a smooth expanse of olive skin with the finest spattering of freckles.
The crowd in the room was practically buzzing with excitement and suddenly she began playing, soft and yet so commanding. She was talented on the instrument, her hands moving effortlessly on the keys with practiced ease.
And then she began singing.
“Master manipulator
God, you're so good at what you do
Come for me like a savior
And I'd put myself through hell for you
Hear all the rumors lately
That you always denied”
Her voice was like velvet, so silky smooth and full. It felt so familiar, like I’d heard her before somewhere. Theo and Blaise were just as captivated, leaning forward as if they could get closer.
“ And I fell for you like water
Falls from the February sky
But now the current's stronger
No, I couldn't get out if I tried
But you convinced me, baby
It was all in my mind”
No. It was familiar, too familiar. That voice was different and yet so achingly tuned to my memories, I could point it out in a crowd. But I couldn’t figure it out. I couldn’t place it.
“ And now you got me thinking
Two plus two equals five
And I'm the love of your life
'Cause if rain don't pour and sun don't shine
Then changing you is possible
No, love is never logical”
Oh. Oh it couldn’t be.
I stood immediately, sliding out of the booth and completely ignoring my friends protests as I squeezed between booths before standing directly in front of the stage.
Apparently it could be.
Fully immersed in her own music, hands stroking the piano and voice carrying through the room was none other than Hermione Granger.
The Golden Girl who had disappeared two years ago never to be seen again.