Now You See It, Now You Don't – Chapter Three
Roses are red, violets are blue, I don't own and you don't sue! ï enjoy...
Ah yes and big thanks to gyrlfrend for the tip about reviews hehe. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, I'm glad you like it so far, and I hope you carry on liking it
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CRACK!
Hermione woke with a start and sat bolt upright. It was pitch black; she must have fallen asleep at least four hours ago.
"Lumos," she muttered, only to realise she didn't have her wand. She quietly stood up and padded into the hallway. She could hear somebody moving around in the kitchen but the light was not turned on. Slowly and silently she pushed open the door and slipped inside. She waited for her eyes to adjust to the light (or lack thereof), until she could see a dark figure moving towards her.
Not thinking, she grabbed a carving knife she knew to be near her hand and flipped the light switch to find herself facing a very shocked Malfoy.
He leapt back when he saw the knife and assumed a fighting stance, but when he realised it was Hermione he relaxed slightly (not totally due to her still wielding the knife).
"Christ woman what the bloody hell are you doing!?" he hissed.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WHAT AM I DOING'? WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Hermione yelled, waving the knife in his face.
Malfoy eyed the knife warily and took another step backwards, holding his hands at shoulder height. "Ok, let me explain-" he began.
"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO GO HOME!"
"I did go home! But-"
"WELL THEN WHY ARE YOU HERE?! WHAT'S THE MATTER, DID YOUR PARENTS NOT WANT A FERRET AROUND 24/7? WELL NEITHER DO I SO-"
"HERMIONE, SHUT UP!" yelled Malfoy.
Hermione was about to reply when she stopped. Did Malfoy just call her 'Hermione'? Something must be wrong...
She forced herself to speak calmly. "What are you doing here Malfoy?"
"Right. Well, I ...do you think you could put the knife down please?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes and glared at Malfoy. He didn't seem to be in a dangerous mood. In fact, it was only now that she noticed his shirt and face was spattered with something pink, and he looked more comical then anything else.
Not taking her eyes off the blonde boy, she placed the knife on the counter behind her, making sure it was as far away from Malfoy as possible.
He nodded and sank down into a chair at the table.
'Make yourself at home, why don't you?' thought Hermione as she sat opposite him. She glared at him, waiting for him to explain.
"OK, so I apparated home, and -"
"Oh yeah, where did you learn to Apparate? We're not supposed to be able to do that for..."
"Granger," Malfoy interrupted. "Shut up. That's not important right now."
Hermione opened her mouth to protest but Malfoy quickly continued his story. "Anyway, I apparated home, only, home wasn't there."
"What?"
"Malfoy Manor has disappeared."
'Uh-huh, because I'm so going to believe that.' "Maybe you just...got lost?"
Malfoy looked at her ironically. "Don't you think I know where I live?"
"Well, yeah,"
"Thank you. I'm telling you it's just not there. The land is, but there's no sign that the Manor has ever been there!"
"And you're absolutely sure you were in the right place?" Malfoy arched an eyebrow. "I'll take that as a yes. But that's really weird. All of our stuff disappears, and then your house disappears..."
"Manor," Malfoy corrected.
"Whatever. There is something seriously weird going on."
"You don't say. But that's not all; when I found, or rather didn't find the Manor, I tried to Apparate to Hogwarts to see what's going on. But something weird happened. I ended up...well I don't know where I ended up, but it wasn't Hogwarts. Last time I checked Hogwarts didn't accept little kids that throw pink stuff at you!" he pointed at the pink stains on his shirt.
Hermione stared at him. "You guys are unbelievable!"
"What?"
"How many times do I have to say it; you CAN'T Apparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts grounds!"
"Well you could've told me that before -"
"You should've read Hogwarts: A History! Honestly, are you telling me you've been at Hogwarts for 6 years and you haven't read that book once!?"
Malfoy looked at Hermione nervously and shifted in his chair slightly, then his expression became cool again. "Of course I've read it, Granger. But that's not the point; the point is that everything magical is disappearing."
'Yeah right. You've read Hogwarts: A History and I'm a Blast Ended Skrewt. Hang on, back track, what was that about everything magical disappearing?' "It...is?" Hermione said uncertainly.
Malfoy smirked. "Obviously. How else do you explain our stuff being gone and the Manor not being where it's supposed to be?"
"Um..." Try as she might she actually couldn't explain that. "I don't know."
"Never though I'd see the day when ultra-smart Hermione Granger doesn't know the answer to a question."
"Shut up ferret-face. You're obviously forgetting whose house you're in!"
Malfoy raised his eyebrow at the word 'house' but didn't say anything.
"So you're saying that everything's gone? As in everything?"
"Yes," said Malfoy slowly, as though talking to a small child.
"But...but...it can't be! It...no. I refuse to believe that."
Malfoy looked at her and arched an eyebrow. "OK then, what exactly has happened then?"
Hermione faltered. "Well, um..." The kitchen clock struck midnight and Hermione stood up. "I don't know, but I am sure there is a logical explanation, only right now I'm too tired to work it out. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to bed. I'll think of what to do in the morning."
She walked towards the door, then turned back to Malfoy, who was still sitting at the table watching her, his icy blue-grey eyes boring into her.
"Er, do you wanna...stay here?" she asked uncertainly. She wasn't sure if he would agree, but she would feel mean if she didn't offer.
Malfoy weighed his options in his mind. He didn't really want to stay in the Mudblood's house, but at the same time he had nowhere else to go. As long as he didn't have to sleep on the sofa, no way. Also, although he would never admit it out loud, Hermione was smarter than him, and would probably think of a good plan to sort out this mess, so it would be a good idea to stay near her.
"Um, yeah alright."
Surprised by his answer, Hermione took a moment to reply. "Oh...ok. You can sleep in the spare room. C'mon. Oh, wait!" she stopped and handed Malfoy a towel, indicating for him to wipe his face clean. He took it and began to scrub off the pink sticky substance.
'Blasted kids,' he thought.
He wondered what to do with the towel, so just placed it on the table and followed Hermione up the stairs. Again, she turned left at the top of the stairs, only this time she stopped at the second door on her right. She pushed open the door and Malfoy looked into a cream-coloured room which was quite spacious. He also noticed that it was opposite Hermione's room. She walked in and he quickly followed.
"Bedding," said Hermione, opening a drawer under the bed and dumping its contents into Malfoy's arms. He looked at her blankly.
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you've never made a bed?!"
"Um, only a couple of times," he replied quietly.
The girl rolled her eyes and grabbed the bedding back, and set to work making the bed. She carefully made sure the sheets were secure under the mattress, and that the duvet was flat inside the cover, and that the pillows were fluffed up and smooth. Malfoy silently watched her work. It didn't take her long, thankfully, as Malfoy was beginning to get tired. Finally Hermione finished and faced him.
"Oh yeah, bathroom's next door, it's the door directly in front of you when you come up the stairs. Night." She left the room, yawning. Malfoy watched her leave and just as she was about to close her bedroom door he said, "Thanks for..." She smiled sleepily at him and closed her door. He copied, then pulled off his shirt and collapsed on the bed, falling asleep the moment his head touched the pillow."
The next morning Malfoy walked into the kitchen yawning and rubbing his eyes. He noticed Hermione standing in front of the fridge, inspecting its contents, and cleared his throat. She didn't even jump.
'Darn,' he though to himself.
"Do you always sleep this late, Malfoy?" Hermione asked, shutting the fridge door and turning to the counter, still not looking round at Malfoy.
"Huh?" He glanced at the clock; it read 10:30. "Late? What are you talking about? It's only half ten!"
Finally Hermione turned round to face Malfoy, but noticing he was shirtless, blushed and quickly looked at her feet.
Malfoy smirked at her reaction, then slowly and deliberately stretched, showing off all of his well toned stomach and chest muscles. He noticed that Hermione's cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink. She had obviously been looking up at him through her eyelashes.
'Not such an innocent goody-goody after all then, eh?' Malfoy thought. He debated asking her if she liked what she saw, but figured it probably wasn't the best of ideas.
Hermione took a deep breath and composed herself. She looked up, but determinedly stared at a spot on the wall to Malfoy's right, not daring to look at his body again.
"And what do you call half past ten if not late?" she asked. "I have been up since 7:30!"
'Well then, more fool you,' "Er...normal...ish?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. 'Lazy arse,' she thought. "Fair enough. Erm, do you want some breakfast?"
'Finally, thought you'd never ask!' "Yes please. What do you have?"
"Cereal, cereal, more cereal, or you can have toast, bacon. I dunno. What do you want?"
"Toast sounds good." he replied.
"'kay." Hermione grabbed some bread and put it in the toaster. Malfoy watched her curiously; why was she putting his breakfast in a piece of metal? Did it somehow make it taste nicer? And how was toast made, anyway? Hermione pushed down the button on the toaster and turned back to Malfoy, trying to suppress a giggle at his confused face.
"Do you...want a cup of tea or...anything?" she asked.
"Erm, please," He wondered where she was going to put this.
But Hermione just filled the kettle with water and switched it on, where it began to make a quiet but shrill whistling noise. Malfoy unconsciously took a few steps away from it. Hermione then went to the fridge, took out the milk, poured some into a mug, returned the milk to the fridge, and then finally added a teabag to the mug.
"Right, when the water's boiled pour it into the mug and stir the teabag round 'til it's strong enough for you. If you want sugar it's in that cupboard...oh and when the toast is done you'll find margarine in the fridge and other fillings in that cupboard. Okay?"
Malfoy nodded slowly, trying to remember everything she had just said. He made a mental note to tell her not to speak so fast.
"Good. I'll be back in a bit." Hermione hurried out of the kitchen and Malfoy heard her run up the stairs.
Malfoy walked over to the kettle and bit his lip. How would he know when it was boiled? He reached out a hand and touched it...but recoiled quickly due to it burning his finger. He swore, then jumped when he heard a loud 'ding' and the sound of something flying into the air. He turned round in time to see his toast begin its descent and leapt forward to catch it. This was one of the times he was extremely grateful for being a Seeker in Quidditch. He quickly put the toast on the plate Hermione had left on the table and retrieved the margarine from the fridge. He put it on the side and removed its lid. Right, now how to get some from the tub onto the toast.
He glanced around the kitchen hoping for a sign. He thought back over all the Muggle conversations he had overheard; why had none of them been about spreading margarine on toast?
Growing impatient he decided to go without margarine and took a bite out of his toast. He was just about to sit down at the table to finish eating when the kettle started whistling even louder, and he turned round to see steam billowing from it.
"What the...!?" he cried, jumping up from his seat and nearly knocking it over. He moved closer to the kettle cautiously. After about 20 seconds, it seemed to calm down.
"Does that mean it's boiled?" he murmured. Shrugging, he decided to take his chances and carefully lifted it out of its holder and poured the water into his mug. He quickly returned it to the holder, before it could go crazy again.
Hermione re-entered the kitchen, her hair now practically dry, to see Malfoy idly stirring his tea and munching on toast.
"Ah, you got it all sorted out alright then?" she asked as she helped herself to some orange juice.
"Yeah," Malfoy replied after a slight hesitation.
Hermione nodded and leant over the counter to plug in the radio.
"What's that?"
"What's what?" she asked
"That...square-ish thing, with those things sticking out of it." Malfoy pointed at the object he meant, knowing he wasn't explaining it particularly well.
"Oh you mean the plug? It's..." Hermione wasn't sure how to explain the fine art of how plugs and sockets worked so that Malfoy understood, so she decided to go for the simple and easy way out. "When you put them in the plug socket, that's that hole in the wall there (she pointed at it) it makes the appliance you're plugging in work."
She hoped this helped, although it wasn't a very clear description. Shrugging, she tuned the radio to her favourite station and sat at the table with pen and paper. She scowled slightly when The Cheeky Girls came on.
"Er, Granger, can you hear that?" Malfoy asked after a while.
"Hear what?" Hermione tilted her head slightly, trying to listen past the god-awful song.
"I can hear...well...voices..." Malfoy was a little embarrassed by admitting this, after all, it wasn't a good sign if you could hear voices, but it was very worrying, especially considering what they were telling him to do.
"You can?"
'Wait, is it just me or does Granger seem concerned?' "Yeah, they're telling me to...to take my shoes off. But I'm not even wearing my shoes!"
Hermione didn't even try to hide her giggles this time; she burst out laughing, which annoyed Malfoy to the extreme.
"What? What's so funny? Stop laughing at me!" Hermione still didn't stop laughing, so Malfoy slumped back in his chair with his arms crossed, a pout dominating his features.
'Aww big bad Draco's upset!' Shuddering with silent laughter, Hermione wiped the tears of mirth from her eyes. "I'm sorry...its just, it was funny!" She stopped when he glared at her. "It's the radio you can hear, more specifically a song called "Take Your Shoes Off". I can hear it too!"
"Oh. So...I'm not going mad?"
There was an obvious hesitation before Hermione replied, "Nope," which Malfoy did notice but chose to ignore.
"What's a radio?"
"It's that machine there, you know, that I plugged into the socket. It plays music and stuff."
"Like your...what were they, CD's?"
"Yeah, sorta,"
Malfoy thought about the noises made by the kettle, toaster, and now the radio. "Does everything you plug into a socket thingy make a noise?"
"Er, pretty much, yeah." 'If you count whistling and whirring in that.'
The doorbell ringing broke the awkward silence, and Hermione hurried out of the kitchen, leaving Malfoy sitting at the table thinking, absent-mindedly twirling a fork he had found on the table in his fingers.
'I wonder what noise a fork makes when you put it into a socket?' Malfoy thought. Curiosity getting the better of him, he rose from his seat and crossed over to the counter. He reached forward to push the fork's prongs into the socket when suddenly...
"Malfoy, no!"
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So, did ya like?? Personally this is my fave chappie so far; a lot of fun to write lol. Sorry it took so long to post, but there was this whole thing where I went away for a week and forgot to take the first half with me and then wrote the second half while I was away, then I thought I'd lost the second half and....ANYWAY, please r&r chankie doodles
