What Do A Lion And A Wolf Share?

Wounded and Healed

Hermione stood outside the tea shop in muggle London, hand outstretched towards the door. She lingered there, still questioning if lunch with Narcissa would be worth the trouble. At a minimum, it couldn't be worse than her disastrous working session with Malfoy last week. Taking a deep breath, Hermione steeled herself and pushed through. She had originally been surprised when Narcissa suggested a muggle place to meet, anxious that this was some strange ploy to showcase how accepting she was. However, when Narcissa mentioned in her note that she and Andromeda had been meeting here regularly following the war, Hermione felt a bit more comfortable.

"Hermione," Narcissa warmly greeted her from the corner, a high tea spread ready for them at the small table. Perhaps comfortable was not the right word.

"Narcissa, hello," Hermione plastered on her polite smile and sat down. The older witch across from her looked polished as ever, her robes transfigured into a muggle sheath dress and her hair slicked back into a neat twist. Hermione felt excessively underdressed in her jeans, kicking herself for not talking to Theo before leaving the manor.

"I hope you don't mind, I ordered the full spread for us. I thought it might be a bit of fun to do a real ladies tea," Narcissa said as she poured a cup for Hermione.

"I haven't done high tea since I was a child, so this is a lovely treat." Hermione eyed the scones, hoping Narcissa couldn't hear her stomach gently rumbling. She realized she'd been so caught up in her Nott research, she hadn't eaten anything since lunch yesterday. Hermione had hit a dead end with personal journals and was trying other books in the private library, looking for hints about the memory curse in Dark magic tomes she'd never have access to in any other location.

"My mother took all us girls out for special teas too. Of course not in muggle London, but this place brings me back to those memories just the same."

"That sounds lovely," Hermione said politely, hoping not to discuss her sisters in further detail. The simple mental image of a child Bellatrix was jarring enough.

"Did you go to tea with your mother?" Narcissa asked after taking a dainty sip from her teacup. Hermione did her best not to grimace at the mention of her mother. She'd anticipated small talk with Narcissa, but hadn't considered that she'd dive into her most painful secret immediately.

"Yes, the last time we did a formal tea like this it was for my grandmother's birthday. Usually my mum and I go to plays and museums for our mom-daughter outings. Neither of us are particularly good at sitting still."

"That sounds lovely. She must have fostered your love of learning from a young age with those kinds of trips," Narcissa sighed wistfully, breaking her eyes off to the window next to them. "I love Draco dearly, but every so often I find myself jealous of mothers who get to do all sorts of feminine things together. It leaves me wanting, I'm afraid. I hope you don't mind." Hermione nodded, not wanting to think of her own mother right now, stuck in a magical coma in Australia. "Do you still spend time with your mother?"

"Yes," Hermione answered quickly, hoping her refusal to elaborate would prompt Narcissa to move to another topic.

"And you had a happy childhood?" Hermione was put off by the question. She knew of Narcissa Malfoy's reputation as an artful conversationalist, using subtlety as her sword. But now the elegant witch was using bluntness as a weapon, but Hermione couldn't figure out her goal. To simply unsettle her? To push her away from the Nott fortune and back to her parents? To obtain intimate details she'd pass over to Rita Skeeter? Why would Narcissa Malfoy care about Hermione's childhood?

"Yes, very much so. My parents are currently living in Australia. I was lucky enough to spend the last few years with them there, I wanted to be with them after - well, war tends to sort out your priorities," Hermione paused, letting her gaze linger a bit on Narcissa at her mention of the war. If she meant to unnerve Hermione, the young witch wanted to hold her own. But Narcissa's unperturbed expression remained intact. "But I haven't seen them since we got the news two weeks ago."