Searching- a Dramione fanfic

Chapter 5- All Things Muggle

All Things Muggle

The cafe was buzzing like it normally did on Saturday mornings. The silver bell on the door constantly jingled as hurried muggles walked in and out. I walked quickly across the busy street from the alley to the sidewalk just in front of the cafe. I glanced at the window but Draco Malfoy wasn't sitting there. I wondered if he was just somewhere else in the cafe or if he didn't get here this early.

I waited for a man in a tan jacket to step out before I slid inside. I walked strait to the seat by the window without ordering coffee. I felt disoriented and scared. I hadn't even remembered my book, which was something that did not happen often.

My hands shook. I tried to steady them by sitting on them, but then my legs started bouncing which shook the whole table and made the metal napkin holder ring. I picked at my purple nail polish and fiddled with a fray in my jeans, anything to keep my mind calm. I watched the red and purple leaves fall from the trees on either side of the building. They twisted and danced across the sidewalk in the wind.

What was I going to say when Malfoy showed up? Hi? I hate you? I can't stand to be in your presence? I want to punch you in the face again like I did in third year? Help? In my head I went over possible ways the conversation could go for ten minutes or so. I didn't pay attention to the beehive around me. I just stared at the grooves in the table and got more and more agitated every second that Malfoy didn't show up. After all, he did say he would be here, and I was, not too happily, taking his offer.

"Excuse me, miss,"

I looked up into the brown eyes of the woman standing over my table. Her hair was long and mousy brown and fell over her shoulders like a blanket. She had on a blue and white striped apron over a black shirt and knee knockers.

"If you don't order anything, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave. We need the space," She had a slight Irish accent which made her sound apologetic even though she looked board.

"I'll have a coffee then," I said, but then I changed my mind. I'd been there long enough and Malfoy seemed to be a no-show. I glanced at the door to make sure he wasn't about to walk in any second. I felt a twinge of anger and disappointment when I realized he wasn't. "Actually, never mind," I slid out of the seat and shimmied out of the crowed cafe and onto the less busy sidewalk.

The wind was crisp but smelled like wet leaves and dirt and pumpkins, the smells of autumn. I walked down the sidewalk to the shop next to the cafe. It was a small drugstore where I sometimes went to by snacks that I still enjoyed from my days before I learned I was a witch.

I loved living a double life like this. I was fond of going to muggle shops and cafes but I still loved living in the wizarding world. Analiza was a half-blood so she'd always grown up living like that and she still liked going to muggle pubs over wizard ones. She understood my need to be around muggles every once in a while.

I pushed open the glass door and picked up a green basket from the pile next to the door. I sauntered down the aisle dropping the occasional bag of crisps into the basket.

I tried to keep my mind from how angry I was at Malfoy, again. I don't think I'd ever not be angry at him, even just a little. I couldn't believe he blew me off like this! It almost made me want to cry. It took everything I had to come down here and see his face. I wouldn't have even gone if I wasn't so desperate to find my parents. But I guess he'd always been a prat so what did I expect?

I walked to a bin in the corner that had a big red sale sign over it and a bunch of DVDs stacked inside. I picked through them to see if there was anything good. It had been a long time since I'd watched a movie. Sometimes Analiza and I would take out the mini telly I had and make fun of movies that had what muggles thought magic was like in them. We invited Ginny over one time, but she had never seen a telly before and she went nuts trying to figure it out how it worked and almost wound up taking it apart

Most of the movies were pretty old, that was probably why they were on sale. I found one with a black background and an old green woman in a witches hat and a long black dress on an old broom. I giggled at it and turned it over to read the description.

"Isn't it odd in here?"

I jumped about ten feet from the voice behind me. Whirling around, I touched my wand in my pocket, ready to whip it out if I needed to. And believe me, when I saw who was standing there, I wanted to.

"What the hell?" I yelled at Malfoy before I could stop myself. "Where were you? I waited forever!"

His eyes got wide and apologetic, but he had the biggest grin on his face which annoyed me even more to see that he was glad I was here. I wanted to slap him.

"What's that?" He said pointing to the DVD in my hand and completely ignoring the question.

"It's a movie." I said tossing it back into the bin.

"What's a movie?" He walked over and picked one out to look at it.

"I'll tell you if you tell my why I sat in a cafe for twenty minutes and you never showed up when you specifically said you would."

"So you read my letter then?" He looked at me with his light gray eyes, but they were shiny enough to be silver.

I looked away. "Of coarse I did!" I exclaimed like I hadn't been about to burn it just thirty minutes ago.

His eyes lit up like a child's when they hand you a scribble on a piece of paper that is suppose to be an elegant drawing of you and you tell them how wonderful it is. "So you know how sorry I am?" He dropped the DVD he was holding and took a step toward me, his eyes piercing mine the whole time. "You know how I didn't mean it?"

I stepped backward but bumped into the wall behind me. I felt hot, like Malfoy's one step closer made it warmer in the shop.

"Ya, but like you said, I'm not about to forgive you." I said.

He looked down at his shoes, a few white strands of hair falling out of place and into his face. "So you will accept my help then?" He asked hopefully.

"I want to know how you're going to help." I said.

He looked at me again. This time I tried not to look away. I'd never paid much attention to his eyes before, but they were stunning. The silver in them seemed to reflect the light in the room to make them shine and they where sprinkled with flakes of shimmery coal.

"Can I buy you a coffee?" He asked holding up his hands.

I looked at him in disgust. "No!" I said.

He looked down at his shoes again and dropped his hands to his sides in disappointment. "That's okay." He said.

"I'm tired of coffee!" I exclaimed. "I'd much rather go for a sandwich!"

Malfoy looked up, happy. Really happy. Not the kind of happy I'd ever seen in him before.