Door Two: Double Unlucky

It was Sunday morning and the service had just ended in Hermione's church. Almost everyone squeezed through the small doors and some remained to chat. Hermione thought the message was meaningful and while she was passing through the doors, a tall man who was pushed by his short and geeky-looking friend blocked her. She stopped and stared at them as she did not know them at all, waiting for them to speak.

"Hi Hermione, how are you? I'm uhh… Ethan. And this is my friend, Seth.." The tall man with dark brown hair who looked almost like David Beckham muttered and smiled at her nervously.

Hermione nodded politely and shook hands with both of them. Seth nudged him as though he was trying to tell Ethan something.

"He's crazy about you – " He added and Ethan cupped his hands around his friend's mouth so he could not speak. There was a short moment of silence until Ethan spoke.

"Are you free tonight?" He finally blurted out.

"Me? Oh –" A familiar ring tone rang and Hermione dug for her hand phone in her black Prada tote bag and gave an apologetic smile to them. "Can't read my, can't read my, no he can't read my poker face..."

They waited for her patiently.

She whipped her hand phone, wondering who interrupted her conservation. It could be none other than --

"Hello Hermione! What about having dinner in your new house? Harry has this male party with his friends and wouldn't let me crash it," Ginny asked, sounding as though she was pouting.

Hermione looked at the two guys waiting for her and replied, "yeah, sure! See you later" and put her phone away.

"Sorry, I have an appointment… with my friend," she apologised. His friend gave Ethan a look and said, "oh no, that's fine.." looking kind of disappointed.

"But maybe next time!" Hermione smiled, left. "YES!" was what she heard and it was probably Ethan celebrating. She laughed and shook her head.

Hermione ate lunch with her church friends and before heading home, she wanted to store by the supermarket in her residential estate and bought some drinks and snacks for her and Ginny for tonight. They would most probably be cooking something crazy and watching a horror or a comedy to entertain themselves. This was quite common for them whenever they met at each others houses.

So Hermione entered the store and took a few cans of lemon tea and chips and paid at the counter. Her parents had already filled her refridgerator with fruits, vegetables and other cooking ingredients as they knew she normally cooks for herself. A couple entered the store too and grabbed cans of beer. Hermione only knew the blond man who came in was undoubtedly handsome and she took a second glance. Both of them looked like supermodels -- and matching ones.

'Hands off Hermione... These kind of men would only break your heart!' She thought.

The blondie had his arms around the woman and queued up behind Hermione's counter. The woman said, "let's do something fun tonight, Draco."

"Shh!" He hushed her by kissing her.

Hermione froze. Her heart stopped beating and she was stunned.

Draco?... As in Draco MALFOY?!

Still in disbelief, she mustered all her strength to exit after paying and went outside the glass window to confirm her suspicions.

Okay. Blond hair? Check.

Tall and looks extremely loathsome now? Check.

A total womaniser? Check.

How many Dracos are there in this country? I only have came across one in my whole entire life.

URRGHH. JUST MY LUCK.

"That girl back there was acting so weirdly!" The woman came out and told him, clutching his hands.

"Who cares? She was just probably jealous of us." He laughed and they walked down the street.

Hermione hid herself behind the wall and hoped she was just seeing things. She got into her car and drove home, feeling really unlucky to have met that bastard and prayed to God not to let her meet him ever again. It was also unbelievable that he was in the Muggle world as from what she remembered, he was a Muggle-hater...

Later that afternoon, at about 5:30, the doorbell rang.

Hermione opened the door and Ginny, in a bright cheerful, yellow sundress was looking at the neighbour's house, craning her neck as though trying to see something that was far away.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, trying to see what she was staring at and pulled her into her house.

Ginny reluctantly looked back at her best friend. "Well… Hi!" she waved and tried looking out of the door again while Hermione was about to close it. She looked questioningly at her and finally let go of the door for her to close it. Ginny admitted, "You didn't tell me there's a hot guy living next door! Geez, too bad I'm already married…" She heaved a big sigh.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "What 'hot' guy? That stupid neighbour basically ruined my morning and my afternoon! There were really loud noises coming from there and I was about to complain to the police!" She explained and took some drinks from the refrigerator.

"I think he just moved in. By the way, thanks for coming through the front door. I don't want my neighbours to be shocked by that girl who never came in went out."

"I understand, but I apparated at the nearby park where there are a lot of shady trees. I merely followed the couple here." She revealed and added, " it's quite sad that he's taken..."

Then, Hermione got reminded of seeing Draco Malfoy at a convenient store but she kept this piece of news to herself so that it would not ruin their evening. Besides, she was not exactly sure whether it was really him. It would be almost impossible.

"Your house is amazing! It looks like a six-star resort!" Ginny jumped into the large couch and switched on the television. Being Hermione's best friend, she had already 'mastered' at learning how to operate muggle appliances and gadgets. This delighted her father very much.

Hermione thanked her and opened the recipe book, "hmm... what should we cook today?" and conjured up a few ingredients.

"Let's see…" Ginny ran over to her side to browse through the thick book.

"Pasta!" They both said at the same time and laughed together.

***********

Late that night after Ginny left, Hermione changed into her pyjamas and went to sleep. Even though she looked mature on the outside, she still had child-like traits. For instance, wearing 'child-like' pyjamas was one of them. But of course, this is Hermione and I'm sure everyone has at least one sweet childhood memory.

She tucked into bed and fell into a deep sleep.

**********

"LET'S PAAAAARTTTYYYY!!!!" Draco yelled and the crowd cheered. He took a big gulp of the beer and poured the rest on others.

"This is absolutely the best housewarming party ever!" Blaise Zabini told Draco while he put his arms around four pretty women sitting around him.

"Yeah I know," Draco replied and took another gulp to drown all his unhappiness and kissed one of the girls he hired randomly. He organised this party and only his old Slytherin friends were invited.

There is always a dark side left unspoken for everyone. Thus, the reason why Draco had turned out like that happened almost a year ago when he was married to woman named Alice.

After the Dark Lord was defeated, Draco managed to get a job at Gringotts even though his family name went to the depths of mud. His father passed away in Azkaban as he could not adapt to the miserable and filthy life there. The Dementors especially, were merciless to him. It was worse than hell.

Hence, Draco inherited all his assets and some were given to his mother, Narcissa Malfoy. While working at Gringotts, he got to know Alice, who was very helpful to him and compassionate albeit he was very unpopular there as he and his father were notoriously famous. He gradually fell in love with her as his heart was touched by her. Draco then proposed to her after knowing her for five months, who was sure she was the one. Their blissful life carried on for about a year until he began to realise some things had gone missing from their house. For example, his watches, antiques and a few crystal ornaments.

Draco knew there was a thief in the house but was not sure who he/she was. He trusted his house elves would not steal as they have been very loyal to him since he was born. Eventually, Draco found out why his wife had been acting strangely around his house. He went to Gringotts to check his safe and sure enough, records showed that a total of five million galleons … was stolen from it. He apparated home and saw Alice dressing up unusually pretty in their bedroom and he stormed into the room.

"What have you done?!!" He pulled and shook her with all his strength as his eye were filled with rage and betrayal.

Seeing him being so furious, she already knew what he discovered.

"Surprise," she smiled, prying his arms away from her shoulders forcefully and put on her earrings.

"I just need some cash for me and my darling, you can be so gullible sometimes," and caressed his face with her pale hands.

He took her hand off his face angrily, "so you used me? Is money all you want? You never loved me at all?" He hollered and pushed her away.

"Aww… You just realised? What a pity…" She replied and smirked.

"You dirty hypocrite! Take all you want and LEAVE. I do not want to see your face ever again!" His voice trembled with fury slammed the doors.

Nothing but a pack of lies!

She packed her things and left without a word. Poor Draco felt stupid to have married such a horrid woman without suspecting that she cheated on him. Those memories were all lies… Fortunately, Draco did not lose all his assets. Some percentage of it was given to his mother to keep and majority was in the family safe, only to be accessed by Draco and his mother.

From that day onwards, he had never trusted women and did not dare to remarry again as he was fearful that the scenario would repeat. He believed women only love wealth and he was a fool to believe his ex-wife's 'undying love' for him. Thus, he was a bachelor again and was famous to have many women by his side for all the while. However, just like the old times at Hogwarts, he was never serious with any of them. They were for his entertainment. (Not that the author of this story supports this xD)

He went to pubs all day and drank with them. No one could stop him, not even his mother. He was repeatedly being stalked by spies hired by his mother and he could not take it anymore. He had to move somewhere else... somewhere where no one could find him.

Therefore, there was only one place where no one could find him.

The Muggle world.

He consulted a few of his relatives who owned a few houses where they previously used for hide outs and asked them to do the unbreakable oath so they would not tell her mother his whereabouts. They showed him a few pictures of their houses that were vacant and asked him to select one; Draco wanted something that he usually would not want to live in. He randomly picked one. The house he chose looked like a cottage which was most certainly, something his mother would not find him in. He smirked. Draco called up a Muggle-moving company, despite having some difficulty using the telephone to move some of his belongings so that his neighbours would not be suspicious of him. Draco wanted to live a low-profile life there, where he could start all over again without anyone knowing his tragic past.

Even Pansy, his ex-girlfriend heard of his divorce and visited him today somehow. Telling how much she missed him -- as a friend. She was dating some rich businessman in Switzerland and came by Britain to see how he was doing. Draco appreciated her 'thoughtfulness' and hoped she would not come back to visit him again as he found her annoying. Nevertheless, he was grateful to her support and concern when he was studying (or having fun) in Hogwarts. Their relationship fell apart years ago was probably because of the fact that they knew each other too well and were playmates since childhood. Meeting up once in awhile was fine (to him it would be once in 5 years), but Pansy would destroy his vacation if she stayed longer.

He invited his friends over the years from Hogwarts for a housewarming party to liven things up. He paid Muggle women to come and entertain them.

They are really interesting... Not the same as the ones we had in the wizarding world. They are so... irresistible and flexible...

He thought as he played a few games with them. The loser drinks the beer. Soon, he was drunk.

**********

Hermione prepared for bed after Ginny had left and turned off the lights.

"GIRLS?! ARE YOU HAVING A GREAT TIME????"

"Yesssssss!!!" They all shouted and giggled girlishly.

Hermione sat up. Looks like my new neighbour is not cooperative at all...

Anger was building up inside of her as the noise level increased. Unable to take it anymore, she grabbed her coat and went out of her house to the next door.

Hermione rang the doorbell. The door opened seconds later.

"Ahh... Hi. Are you the stripper?... Guys! Did you ask the stripper to wear her pyjamas???" A lady with dark red hair in a black mini dress asked the people behind.

"Whoizzat?.. " A blond man came up to the door, apparently drunk.

Hermione stood there lazily and noticed that he was oddly familiar. Her eyes suddenly lit up and she was awfully stunned!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" She cried out and rubbed her eyes, hoping it was a dream.

Draco went to the door and grinned. He did not seem to recognise Hermione or heard her yelling.

The lady stared at her ridiculously, "he's the owner of this house!" She replied, rolling her eyes.

Desperation overwhelmed Hermione as she could not believe her eyes. She was stuck to the ground as fear struck her.

"Hey pretty lady! Are you here for the party as well? I don't think I sent you an invitation... But you can join us." He winked. Blaise and Goyle came to the door to see what the commotion was all about. They stared at the brunette outside. "Isn't she...?" Blaised questioned. Goyle understood him, "but it can't be..." and shook off their suspicions.

"Hmm... Is that a sponge cartoon I see?" Draco laughed. Hermione looked down swiftly and saw her Spongebob Squarepants pyjamas was not totally covered. Everyone suddenly heard him and laughed at Hermione. Feeling absolutely embarrassed, she pulled the coat closer to her, shouted, "-- sick, perverted idiot! You... You better stop stalking me or... I will call the police!" and walked away hurriedly, but truthfully she almost broke into a sprint.

When she entered the house, Hermione locked her door instantly.

"Oh my gosh... This is not good. That ferret living next door?!!" She was on the verge of tears.

"He would make my life like hell. Partying with all his friends... Harry and Ron would definitely oppose!" All the bad memories of her school life all came rushing into her head.

Mudblood... kept playing repeatedly in her mind.

I have to leave... I got to leave!

Author's note:

Sorry for the really late update =x but PLEASE REVIEW!!! Hope this chapter is fun to read and my portrayal of the characters are fine!

:DDD