Signum Vitalis (a dramione story)

The Gurdwara

Hermione stumbled into the restaurant exactly at the time they had all agreed to meet. She hadn't had much energy to dress up but had put some mascara she almost never used and had braided her hair so it would be flat enough to wear the shawl Harjeet was lending her. Other than that, she had followed Harjeet's advice and had worn some jeans and a nice blouse that matched the shawl.

Her research last night had been promising and she had left the California library with a lighter heart but one of the floos she took home was part of a potions shop she had frequented fairly often to buy her regular potions. She stepped out and grabbed her usual potion and was already handing it to the cashier before she thought it through. She stepped back and brushed a piece of her frizzy hair out of her face.

"Oh, sorry," she muttered. "I don't take these anymore... habit." She shrugged. "They are actually a tad addicting."

The cashier folded his burly arms over a pot-belly. "Addicting? It's magic, not opium."

Hermione had been trying to escape unobtrusively but her head snapped up at the last comment. She stepped closer and jabbed her finger into the counter as she said, "Just because it hasn't been labeled an addictive substance yet doesn't mean it isn't harming someone's life." She straightened, tugging on the jacket she knew she would need for the subsequent jumps. "Maybe you need a brain beyond what some government corporation tells you."

She left then. She didn't need an argument; she needed to get away from the potion she wanted even though she knew it was bad. She also needed sleep.

However, instead of sleeping, she spent the first two hours tossing in bed alternatively worrying about Draco's career and fantasizing about going back and getting a potion so all this worry would stop. She finally remembered that she had other ways to manage her anxiety and went through the extensive meditations and eventually fell asleep. She may have gotten five hours of sleep in if she was lucky and that was only because she had skipped every morning ritual she had in favor of flooing straight to WiNY.

Things hadn't been this rough lately and arrivaing bleary-eyed at something she was hoping to enjoy just added a little more resolve to Hermione's desire to come to terms with whatever issues she had from the war so she would stop doing this.

Stifling a yawn, she nursed her cup of tea she had bought next door. Around her, Harjeet and Samir rushed around the kitchen doing things that Hermione couldn't quite grasp in her morning stupor.

"Where's Draco?" Hermione mumbled to Harjeet when she slowed enough for Hermione to catch her.

"Hm?" Harjeet stopped and turned to Hermione. "Oh. He went to get a relation of his." Hermione's heart stopped for a second, imagining Lucius stepping through the kitchen door. "A little boy," Harjeet continued.

Hermione's heart started again. "Ari," she supplied in a sigh of relief.

Harjeet nodded. "He says you two have met."

Hermione agreed and then yawned again. "Sorry," she mumbled.

Harjeet patted Hermione's shoulder. "Draco did say you were a tad of a night-owl."

The back door slammed open and Hermione jumped, maneuvering herself slightly in front of Harjeet, while her hand went to a hidden pocket.

Draco stomped through the hallway into the kitchen and Hermione eased back into her normal stance.

"Draco? What happened?" Harjeet asked, stepping forward.

"Where is Ari?" Hermione added.

Draco glared at both of them before deflating. "He isn't coming." Looking at the ground, he sneered, "His father won't let him." He ignored the rest of their questions and didn't meet their eyes. Instead, he interrupted, "Don't you have something I should carry?"