What happens when Hermione disappears off the face of the earth for 20 years and returns as a completely different person at the Hogwarts reunion? Chaos ensues as Hermione, her kids, and her husband hatch a plot to hide who Hermione married for the...
Draco stared at the newspaper in his hands with a huge grin on his face. This was it; this was the final clue he needed. He had finally tracked down Hermione's location: now all he needed to do was actually go and see her.
Now, you might be wondering why Draco Malfoy of all people would be looking for Hermione Granger. And no, it wasn't with malicious intentions; those days were long behind him. Rather, it was exactly the opposite.
Draco had been Head Boy to Hermione's Head Girl during their redo year. During that time, he had apologized for everything and slowly, they became friends.
Unfortunately, after they graduated, Hermione had started dating Weasley and they lost contact.
Draco didn't understand why this had hurt him so much until he heard the news of their breakup and Hermione's disappearance off the face of the earth.
According to the newspaper, Hermione had suddenly broken up with Weasley, out of the blue, on their anniversary. He knew that Hermione wouldn't do that without reason, and that the Weasel must have done something.
Anyway, this was when Draco realized he had fallen in love with Hermione, and had been in love with her for quite some time now, maybe even all the way back in third year when she had punched him.
This is also when he realized that he had to track her down if it was the last thing he did, because he wasn't about to let the love of his life slip through his fingers.
Now, how did he do this? Well, it took a long time, and quite a few random guesses.
First of all, he figured that she must be somewhere in Australia, since she had told him about wanting to restore her parents' memories.
Second of all, even though it was a long stretch, he started looking out for new fashion companies. She had told him once in a moment of complete vulnerability about her secret dream.
He didn't catch a whiff of anything until about 9 months after her disappearance.
That's when he started hearing about a budding clothing designer starting out in Australia. Apparently, this mysterious person was picking up a lot of popularity, and fast.
But he didn't learn much info until about 3 months after he first caught wind of it, as the fad hadn't traveled to England yet.
Which brings us to today - the Daily Prophet had published a full-page article on it, and here is the clincher; what sealed the deal that Draco had finally found her.
The company's name; he remembered that her favorite flower ever - she loved the scent, loved the look, loved everything about it - was a bright red rose.
The company was called the Scarlett Rose.
~***~
Hermione pursed her lips, looking at the model in front of her.
The gorgeous dark-haired girl was modeling a sapphire-colored gown, but something wasn't right.
Then it clicked for her - it needed a jeweled waistline and an open back.
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(The finished product of the dress)
As Hermione fixed the dress, the bell rang in front of the shop. She yelled out a quick "You can come on back!" before magicking the dress off the model and onto a dummy next to her.
The model left just as a customer appeared in the doorway. The man whistled. "Whoever gets to wear that is one lucky woman."
"Thank you," said Hermione, turning around. "Now, how may I..." she broke off staring at the man before her.
"What? Surprised to see me?" Draco said with his signature smirk. Hermione broke out of her trance and ran up to him, jumping up and hugging him.
"Draco! I missed you!" she squealed. But then she stepped back and frowned. "No one's supposed to know where I am. How did you find me, and why?"
"Doesn't matter," said Draco quickly. "But I was wondering... any chance you're free at lunch tomorrow?"
