Plot: (Hermione is on vacation at Wizards Resort in the French Alps, it's the winter after the fall of Lord Voldemort, but there's one small problem, the trip is not only on Malfoy but he's on the trip as well. When Harry decides to pay for the Weasleys, Neville, and Luna to join him on his trip there as well, Hermione must disguise herself so her friends don't find out about Hermione's other friendship)
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A Different Kind of Friend
As I threw my Ski instruction manual into my favorite purse, one of my best, and most annoying friend, Draco burst through my door into my room.
"Hey, have you seen my ski mass-what the heck?"
"What?" I asked, afraid that I had missed something or perhaps over packed.
"What's with the purse?"
"What? Oh." I looked down at the sparkly purple purse that I had had since first year. "My mom gave it to me. It's my favorite."
He stared. "It's hideous. The color…it's so…bright…"
I rolled my eyes and make a gentle swing at his head with said purse." Oh lay off it will ya?"
"I would," he laughed, dodging out of the way, his hands flying up protectively, "but it's just too bright! It's practically begging me to make it duller. Here, give me it, I'll rub it in some dirt."
"No!" I pulled it away from his reach. "My purse," I said childishly.
He smiled. "Hey, I got you something." He handed me a small box. When I opened it and tipped it on to my palm, a small shining jewel fell out.
"In case you get lost." He said.
"Very funny," I muttered. "Just what I've always wanted. A flash jewel, the wizard form of a flash light."
Gotta love that, what's the Muggle word for it? Oh yeah, technology.
Honestly, Draco was a pain in the butt. But he was also one of the coolest people I knew, and he was rich. And not a couple thousand gallon rich, as in a couple thousand Vaults of Gallons rich. Filthy, stinking multibillionaire rich…richer than Donald Trump rich, and he was paying for my ski-trip in the French Alps. Not to say that I was using him for the ski trip. Believe me, I wasn't. He really was one of my very best friends. It just happens to be highly convenient that he was so stinking rich.
"Speaking of dull, what have you told Crabbe and Goyle?" I asked.
"I'm going to visit Aunt Andromeda." He replied. "Zambini knows the truth, but he's got his Gryffindor girlfriend, Mira, I've been helping him keep secret, so he's going to cover for me."
"Ahhhh... Blackmail, always the safest way to go." I said teasingly.
"Well, it is! What's your excuse?"
"That my mother and I are going away for a while as a "Girls Night Out" only a month long. In my case, Chrissie knows that truth, but, she's not going to tell on me. See, effective without blackmail. But, I'm in luck. Ron and Harry and Chrissie are going away themselves."
Draco was one of those people that you like because they bug you to no end. He had changed sense the war, his platinum hair was shaggy and down to his shoulders, also he was more mature and less uptight. We had one of those bazaar relationships where you can't tell if you like or hate one another.
"Draco," I asked. "Do you miss her?"
"Miss who?" he replied.
"Oh, don't give me that, you know very well who." I said. He had changed, as I had said before, but it had happened more rapidly after his breakup with the Pug-Faced Parkinson.
"Umm...Err…I'm going to go get something to drink...you want anything?" He made a move towards the door and hurried to open it.
"Draco." I said quietly.
That stopped him in his attempt to leave. I could see his shoulders slumping forward as he turned to face me. "Alright, I miss her. Yes. I do, I admit it, but that's the past."
It was one of those moments that I felt really sorry for Draco; both his parents were in Azkaban and his girlfriend of eight years had walked out on him because he chose to fight against the Dark Lord when the time came to fight. It made me realize he probably would give all of his money to have had things go differently. I know this may sound selfish of me, but I'm glad they didn't because if they had we wouldn't have become friends.
For you see, as much as I tried to prevent it, I was actually starting to like him for him. Me. The bookie, smart, know-it all, befriending the bad boy, really cute, school-ditching-enemy-gone-soft. It was unnatural, practically against every law written in the universe, wrong…freaky even.
There was one other problem, he, Harry and Ron hated each other with a passion. But I needed all of them. Without them, my friends, I was lost, sure I had Chrissie, but even she, my own cousin, was bothered by my relationship with Draco to an extent.
"C'mon the Next Knight Bus to the Alps is departs in five." I said. Draco shrugged and grabbed his wallet out of his back pocket.
"My ski mask." He stated, remembering why he came up in the first place. I tossed the Slytherin Green goggles to him and he tucked them inside the pre-historic wallet, and I eyed him skeptically.
"What?" he asked.
"And you complain about my purse?"
"What," He said defensively. "It's less likely for someone to look for something valuable in something this rickety." I rolled my eyes and gave him one last blow from my purse before we set out for the Knight Bus.
"You," I told him as we boarded the bus, "are undoubtedly, the largest insufferable prat I've met yet."
"Why thank you Miss Granger, how very kind." Was his Droll and Debonair reply.
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"Are you sure this is the right one?" Chrissie Parker asked, gesturing at the sign post that pointed in various directions and stated bluntly things like: 'Walk on', 'Walk: 10 Miles', 'Good Luck Road: The opposite of whatever direction you're traveling', and finally their pointer, 'Here'
"Yeah, see?" Harry Potter said. "It says, 'Here' and that's where we are."
"No! Really?" Groaned Chrissie. "I never would have guessed."
"Not very descriptive, is it?" Ron Weasley asked, pacing around the sign, trying to find something that would hint at where the Flu network was.
Chrissie groaned again. "I've been trying to figure out for seven years if you guys are geniuses gone wrong, or just plain stupid. I have now determined that you guys are just plain stupid." She dropped her bags on the ground and heaved herself up on the only rock in sight.
"I don't get it. It's supposed to be here." Ron's sister stated
"Yeah," Chrissie muttered, "but do you SEE anything?" She got off the rock. "'Cause I don't. But that's just me."
Luna and Neville leaned against the rock. "A trip the French Alps all …" His voice trailed off as the rock suddenly broke in half with a deafening "CRACK!" and opened to reveal a stone fireplace with the title "Grand Sphinx Luxury Resort and Spa" imbedded in the mantle, roaring with bright green flames about three feet into the ground.
"Well." Chrissie said tightly, her eyes wide. She recovered herself. "There it is."
"I…Knew it was here all along." Ron said smugly, still somewhat unnerved.
"Yeaaaaaahhhh… SURE yah did." She stated, rolling her eyes, as she stomped down the steps, at the same time Ginny muttered "Right foul Git..."
"Watcher Gin; Mum would be none too happy to hear about your foul mouth." Ron warned.
"Oh, and she love's hearing about yours." Ginny Muttered.
"Oi, Enough you two." Chrissie said plainly. "I've met Death eaters more pleasant then the pair of you!"
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Blaise Zabini; if you looked up 'depressed' in "the Wizards Ever Changing Dictionary", you would have seen his face there on the date of December 19 that year, and again next to the words 'unfortunate', 'pathetic', and 'sap'. His thin Italian features shallow and his emotions blurred. It was known to his friends as "the Malfoy Blues". The symptoms, excess of Crabbe and Goyle, with a serious lack of Malfoy to keep them entertained.
"A get-away, sure… now if only I could 'get away' from the people that are coming with me." Blaise muttered testily to himself, as he landed in the fire place at the resort. "Some trip this'll be. Me and the dullest Grads in Hogwarts History alone in the Alps…if they die, I am not to be held responsible." He walked up to the check-in counter. "Hello, I have a suit reserved for three under Zabini." The girl at the front desk had a similar appearance to that of Fleur Delacour.
"Merci." She said. "'ere is your Room Key, Monsieur Zambini, I am Gabrielle Delacour, pleez send an owl if you need any zing."
"Thanks, Ms. Delacour, I hope to see you around." And he walked away, key in hand, to wait for Crabbe and Goyle. If he had been observant he would have noticed his sworn enemy appear in the very fire place he had just moments before, along with a large number of friends from their school days. But hey, this is Blaise Zabini we're talking about, and while he was still dating Mira Mason at that.
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Draco looked distractedly at someone walking by. "Who was that?" I asked Draco.
"That" he said "Was Blaise 'I have a death wish' Zabini."
I nodded and headed over to the check-in and approached the familiar face at the desk. "Hey, Gabrielle! I didn't know you worked here. It's so good to see you again."
Gabrielle smiled brightly at me. "Zeet eez good to see you too!" She handed me the key to room 503 then caught sight of Draco standing behind me. Her eyes grew wide and she reached behind the desk to grab another key, not taking her eyes off him.
"I'm with her." He gestured to me, and Gabrielle's eye grew even wider.
"Of corz, I am zoorry." She handed him a duplicate key and logged our name in the roll book. "Your room eez right up zose stairz."
Draco nodded and turned away. "She's terrified of me, isn't she?" He asked incredulously. I rolled my eyes. Draco's face turned to a mask of fake contemplation. "I wonder why..." He murmured. "My father is only the best know Death eater that's still somewhat sane in Azkaban."
We walked up the stairs more or less in silence before I said, "Why would Blaise be here?" Draco stopped dead in his tracks.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Are you really that Daft?" I asked in disbelief. "He's here for a reason, obviously." I just kept walking, Draco was frozen in place.
"Blaise is my best friend." Draco said. "How can you even think of saying that?" I didn't mean to do it, just like I didn't mean to when he'd done something Vile towards me in school.
"You're a right foul Git…you know that?" I said as I burst into tears, "You are the MOST Foul Loathsome Evil Little Cockroach I've had the miss fortune of meeting! Why don't you go and rot with your Slytherin friends in Azkaban and leave me well enough alone! The only reason I ever even talked to you was because I felt sorry for you! I hate you Draco Alexander Malfoy to the very core of my being!" And on that slightly insane note I ran full force up the stairs and to our room.
As soon as I slammed the door, I knew I was wrong to yell at him. After all, I DID just accuse him of not knowing his best friend, and I accused his friend of not being loyal, and then I accused him of being the worst person on earth. All together, I guess I was just a tiny bitharsh. Then again he was being a prat and did disserve it...
"Mione come on...open the door and let me in a sec...I'm sorry I got so defensive Hermione...forgive me? Please?"
I closed my brown eyes and sighed of course I forgave him, everything was my fault anyhow.
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