You guys should be really proud of me. Here I am, saying I will update a chapter this week, and I actually wrote twice. Bravo to me.

This is my very brave venture to a slightly longer DMHG story. It's not going to be too long or anything, but it will have at least several chapters.

Let's see how you like it. It's a bit different from the usual characterization though.

Chapter One – Over Coffee and Tea Leaves

Sometimes things are best simple, you know.

She likes things that way.

Simple, that is. She was not one for fuss or complication. Her hobbies didn't include rock climbing or skydiving, and she generally preferred not to do risky, complex activities that were life-endandering. (She rather enjoying living a simple life thank you very much). She didn't used to be like that of course, but people change all the time.

No, really, she was a simple person. She doesn't go around being all flashy or flamboyant, nor did like holding important positions. This was, in fact, probably one of the reasons why she didn't accept a high-salary Ministry job like what her fellow peers thought she would have done.

True, that's what everyone expected of her. There was a time she herself thought she would do something like that. But that was all in the past. Now, she would like to be nothing better than her present job.

It was a Tuesday morning in Muggle London, and a rather fine day at that too. The sun was shining perfectly, with just the right amount of wind and rays of sunshine rested on the rocky little streets, making them shine ever so brightly. Puddles splashed slightly from the uneven streets as people passed by in a hurry, and the sound of radios, cars, bicycles could be heard in any direction.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

It was hardly unusual to see then, to spot a young lady sitting by in a small cafe, sipping her drink and reading a novel. In fact, it so happens that this lovely sihouette always sat in this corner of the cozy little cafe everyday, right in the heart of Muggle London.

This beautiful lady sat alone at the table by the large glass window, where streaks of sunlight entered the room. Her long brown hair was simply pulled back by a large butterfly clip, and she appeared to be absorbed in reading a book. So interested was she that her sparkling brown eyes never left the page, except perhaps for that split second when her slim hand turned to the next page. Her lips occasionally curved into a lovely smile, and rarely did a frown graced her features.

She was dressed rather simply too. Today she was wearing a plain white off-shoulder blouse, and a long flowered skirt. She didn't usually wear much embellishments, or any ornaments,but today a thin silver necklace hung around her neck. She sat at the red vinyl seat by the window, reading with much interest and enthusiasm, as several of the passerby turned to give the lovely brunette a quick admiring glance.

Presently this slim figure caught the eyes of a man, who stood across the street, glancing through the window. She didn't register his expression of surprise, nor did she catch his bemused expression, being too much absorbed in her reading to pay attention to anything else. She lifted her porcelain cup of coffee, bringing in to her lips, where she sipped and enjoyed the strong, bittersweet aroma and taste of coffee. Unconsciously one of her hands toyed with the sugar bin on the table, as she licked the rim of her delicate little cup.

The man crossed the road, a smirk spread across his features. The avid reader had yet to notice the blond gentlemen staring at her intensely and perhaps a little too interestedly. After a moment or two this man tapped the window pane twice, and yet the young lady's head did not turn. He sighed.

She heard a sudden faint tinkling of bells, indicating the presence of someone entering the cafe. Any other time she would have turned her head to take a look, but really, Ambrose Bierce was just so interesting. She ignored it, just as she had ignored the increasingly noticeable footsteps that seemed to be getting louder and louder, unable to tear herself away from her book. Finally a shadow eclipse and blocked out the sunlight, forcing her to turn away from her book. She looked up, slightly annoyed, and her cool gaze met a familiar pair of grey eyes.

"Draco," she greeted.

He was much improved. Before her no longer stood the foul-mouth boy she knew at school, but a handsome respectable man. He had finally given up on his hair gel, and had changed his haircut. With his crisp white shirt and long dark trousers, he looked impeccably neat and gentlemen-like, something he definitely wasn't in his school days. Yes, he still had that pride written all over his face, and he had not lost his arrogance, but it was merely softened into an air of confidence.

She didn't know what to say to him, except perhaps how impossibly good he looked.

The man laughed at her as he slid into the opposite seat. "Hermione Granger, surely after one and a half years you would be able to give me a better greeting?" He shot her a roguish grin, and laughter escaped her. The ice was broken, and she relaxed.

"Well, at least I know that after one and a half years, you finally learn how to call my name." She replied, putting down her beloved volume, now finding more interest in him than books. He grinned again, shrugging his shoulders.

"Figure I might as well learn."

"Ah."

"You know, its common courtesy to ask the person opposite you if her or she could join you."

"I believe you already done that." She said with a brief smile.

"Ah."

He grabbed the menu nearby, and started flipping through its contents. "I think I shall have a drink shall I?" Draco flipped and stopped to another page, before proceeding to the next page. "What shall I have?" He said, rubbing his chin. It was the type of question no one really expect an answer to.

Hermione just raised her eyebrows, cocking her her head as she observed the young man opposite her.

"You are observing me, Miss Granger." He commented, not bothering to glance at her.

"I'm fond of watching interesting people."

"So you think I'm interesting."

"Tell me, what would you think if somebody who used to be your so-called enemy suddenly have decides to have a drink with you?"

At this Draco look up, a let out a deep, long laugh.

"I would say be careful with your coffee." He finally said, wheezing from all the laughing.

"That's why I'm not touching the sugar bin."

"Which sounds better, Earl's grey or Darjeeling?" he asked, expertly changing the topic.

"Why not try the coffee?" Hermione recommended.

"No thanks. I'd rather have tea."

"Up to you. If you ask me, the tea sounds rather bad."

"I will take my chances then. How bad can tea be?" With that, he motioned lazily for the waitress to come over.

"I would like the Earl's Grey tea, please." He said to the waitress who had rushed over.

"But sir--" the waitress began, her eyes wide and darting looks to his lovely female companion.

"Give the tea to this man. He rather take that than coffee." Hermione told her, and with a nod, the waitress hurried away while scribbling on her pad.

"Rather a strange place to meet you isn't it?" Hermione began, curious to find out why on earth was would Draco Malfoy be here.

"What do you mean?"

"You are the last person I expect to meet here."

"Again, I have no idea what you are talking about." He said quizzically.

"I thought it would be the last thing on your list to visit somewhere Muggle."

Hermione had spoken rather hesitatingly, fearing that she would offend her companion, but again was surprised by his reaction. He smiled widely, and his grey eyes twinkled.

"I thought my stand on the war proved otherwise." Draco said merrily, gazing at her.

She had to admit that was true. But his sudden reappearance had shocked her, and she hadn't seen him for so long. Perhaps he changed.

"What have you been doing then, over these years?" he asked Hermione, seeing that she was speechless.

"Not much. Traveling really. I have been to several places. South of France mostly, I guess, enjoying the sand and beaches."

"Yes. The sea air has done you much good." He said approvingly, glancing at her and nodding. What did he mean by that, she didn't know, but Hermione didn't think more about it. Instead she spoke.

"What about you?"

"Me? Well, about the same too I guess. Traveling, a bit for business but mostly for leisure. Italy, Spain, Argentina, Columbia... But now I am settled down here."

"Ah, yes. I've been there too... Wonderful coffee." Hermione said, reminiscing her past few months, absently sipping her cup of Columbian coffee. She had enjoyed her few months of traveling. She was interrupted though, by the reappearance of the waitress and Draco's order.

"Your tea, sir!" she squeaked and practically run away. Draco looked puzzled.

"She seems terrified of me."

"I thought everyone was supposed to be terrified of the Malfoys." She said coyly.

He laughed again.

"True," he said, " Except you," he added as an afterthought.

"Let this cup of tea be my treat then, as a punishment for my lack of cowardice."

"With pleasure." Draco agreed, and lifted his cup.

"No sugar? It helps with the taste."

"No, I prefer it unadulterated.."

With that, he took a sip of his tea... And spat it out. Hermione burst into peals of laughter.

"You spiked it!" He accused, pointing a finger at her.

"I didn't." She replied, unable to suppress her smile.

"The tea taste so bad!"

"You say, and I quote, 'How bad can tea be?'."

"How on earth did you know that the tea would taste so bad!" he sputtered.

"I should... I own this place."

It was now Draco's turn to look surprised.

"You... own this place?"

"Yes I do. And to be fair I warned you the tea was bad."

"You ownthis place, and you still allow the tea here to taste bad?"

"Well not on purpose, of course. It just so happens there had been a slight mishap at the tea leaves shop. Seems they mixed up our orders and we ran out our usual. Besides, I'm not much of a tea chooser." She explained to him, sighing.

"No wonder you offered to buy me tea. You own this damned place."

"I thought we already went through that. Yes, I own this place."

"I always thought you would end up working in the Ministry or something." He said in awe.

She frowned, and stared into her coffee while swilling her cup.

"It isn't the place for me." She just stated, wishing to elaborate no more.

"Ah, too much stress?" A familiar grin now replaced the shock on his face.

"I aim for simplicity."

"I too, do not covet working at that sort of environment. Office politics don't seem to agree with me."

"You worked in the Ministry?" Hermione asked, looking up once more.

"For a while. But then the janitors weren't very happy with me and they threw me out." Draco said while leaning back in his seat, seemingly happy about his plight.

Strange. Years ago Draco Malfoy would have thought that no one dared to fire him from anything, yet now he didn't even seem to care about it. Then again, no one in the Wizarding World could have imagine the both of them sitting down together and have a civil conversation, let alone laughing.

So maybe miracles do happen.

"The janitors?"

"Yeah. Apparently it doesn't look good with the department if you keep making the toilets explode."

"You sound almost like Fred and George." she commented suspiciously.

"Met them a couple of times in their joke shop. Thriving business, I must say. Borrowed a few of their ideas now and then," Draco said, chuckling.

"So what do you do now?"

"Dealing with artifacts."

"I heard it brings in big money." She said wisely.

"It's more of a hobby really, not that I needed the money. But I don't like to idle you see." he replied.

Hermione felt her respect for Malfoy suddenly increasing.

"Pass the sugar and milk." He suddenly told her, breaking her of her thoughts.

"I thought you prefer it unadulterated," she mocked, unable to hold a smirk.

Draco glared at her as she passed him the sugar and milk. She couldn't resist saying that.

"How are Weasley and Potter ?" he started politely, dumping liberal amounts of white sugar and milk in hopes of disguising the taste of his drink.

"I thought you said you worked in the Ministry."

"For two weeks."

"Harry's an Auror now, you know. One of the best in his department. Ron... Well, he's middling along in the Improper Use of Magic. Still doesn't understand why students can't play around with their wands in the summer break. "

Draco rolled his eyes. " Typical." he muttered, before downing his tea. " And you, the smartest one out of the lot, are down here selling coffee while your friends are having high-post jobs."

"Yes, there's nothing wrong with that is it?" She said defensively.

"No. In fact I like you better this way." He replied, winking at her.

"Glad that you approve." She said, her tone dripping with sarcasm.

"Now I must go, seeing as I have some unfinished business to do." He stood up, and drank the remaining dregs. " Lovely to see you down here."

"Now I can finish my book in peace."

"Wonderful book that one is. He is an interesting writer."

Hermione stared at the slim volume. He read it? He read something Muggle?

"You surprise me Malfoy." She told him, shaking her fine head.

"As always."

"Thank goodness you will be gone."

"Oh no, Hermione, oh no. You are not getting rid of me so easily, even if you want to." Draco said, smirking directly at her, giving her a last wave as he swung open the door. " Oh, and the next time we meet, let's hope you can find some decent tea leaves."

And with a wink and a swish he was gone, and the last Hermione saw was him crossing the busy street before disappearing among the crowd. She turned back to her book once more.

Her cup of coffee was now empty.