Hermione awoke the next morning with Draco's arm wrapped around her. His breath warmed the back of her neck and comforted her.
"Wait, think about this Hermione!"
"What Draco?" asked Hermione out loud.
"You know I'm not Draco! You know I'm your conscience Hermione! You know that everyone has a nice angel conscience and a pure devil conscience! I'm that nice, sweet, happy, smart, adorable side to your conscience! You need to talk to Draco; your feelings are going to distract you if you don't. Think about what you have to do. If you don't concentrate on finding a reversal potion for this, you might be stuck around the two boys in tights for a long time!"
"Don't sweet talk her, you creepy little perfect freak!" came a new voice inside Hermione's head. "Don't listen to anything this sassy princess tells you Hermione!"
"How dare you! You evil, denying, filthy whore-like little hypocrite!" Shouted the sweeter sounding voice.
"Oh!" cried Hermione in a tired and clearly annoyed voice. "Will you two shut up? I don't care what or who you are! I don't care that you're two, loud, obnoxious voices inside my head! Just shut up!"
"What, Hermione?" rang Draco's voice as he sat up looking slightly confused.
"Sorry Draco, I mean…Malfoy…or….umm…" answered Hermione. "Listen Draco, we need to talk!"
"Sure Hermione! But first can I ask you a question?"
"Sure Draco! You can ask me anything!"
"Hermione, I know this is kind of sudden but… umm… will you go out with me? There is a Hogsmead trip today!" At this very moment Hermione forgot all about talking to Draco about what had happened the previous night.
"Of course Draco!" she exclaimed. This time Hermione was the first one to make a move. She ran her fingers through his hair and tilted her head slightly upwards to gaze into his dreamy eyes. Slowly she closed her eyes and gave Draco a kiss that both of them would remember forever. Hermione now had Draco's hands on her slim hips pulling her closer and closer to him.
Suddenly from out of nowhere someone came running and pushed Draco to the ground.
"My dearest one…my lovely flower…my woman!" came a voice that could only belong to Ron.
"You must not kiss Malfoy! He is our sworn enemy, not your lover! Choose from Harry and I! Pick a worthy, nobleman as your true love! Stay away from he who must not be tolerated!
"Ron! You and Harry are the only ones who as you put it 'must not be tolerated'! It's because of you two that I finally realized that I like Draco! He's sweet, kind, forgiving, and strong willed! Just stay away from Draco and I! Go and play with Harry's mind instead of mine! You've made me realize that all you two will ever be to me… is a couple of friends! But right now, you're slipping into "don't ever talk to the assholes in tights" category!"
"But you're our princess, our queen, our wonderful maiden!" replied Harry and Ron in unison.
"Do you see me in a floor-length gown? I am not your anything!"
"But Hermione, dearest…"
"I'm not a princess, and I'm not wearing a…"Hermione trailed off. Looking down, she saw herself wearing a beautiful gown. It was sky blue, with a golden 'belt' like material tied around her waist. Peering at the edge of the floor-length dress, she saw a pair of dainty golden slippers on her feet. Her hair was in ringlets and to top it all off there was a diamond studded tiara sitting on those perfect curls.
Hermione brought her fingers up to her mouth and just as she was about to chew nervously on them, she realized she had an elegant French manicure.
"Oh come on! I can't walk around in this!" she exclaimed in an annoyed tone of voice.
"It's all the better for us!" replied Harry. "Get her!"
"Hermione!" came Draco's voice, and for what felt like the tenth time in nearly 24 hours he grabbed Hermione. This time, however he pulled her up into her arms and started to run. Hermione didn't usually like being picked up or carried, but in a situation where she was wearing a dress that was difficult just to walk in she dismissed it from her mind.
"If we get onto the quidditch I can get brooms from the broom cupboard. Us Slytherins store our brooms in the one with the letters S.S engraved on it. Potter and Weasley can't follow us!
"They have brooms too! And Harry has a firebolt!" answered Hermione.
"They don't anymore, or at least they won't be able to find them. After the last match Crabb and Goyle stole their brooms and threw them at the Whomping Willow! I promise that I'll pay them back later, but right now we shouldn't worry about them!
Five minutes later, they had both mounted brooms and when Draco signaled they pushed off from the ground. Wind blew across Hermione's face and blew her hair behind her. Draco seemed to know where they were going so Hermione flew slightly behind him. Hermione was not fond of brooms but did not remember this detail until her stomach turned.
"I feel like throwing up!" she whispered to herself.
Nearly an hour later (or so it felt like) Draco started a descent closely followed by Hermione.
"Draco?" she asked as soon as they had landed and un-mounted their brooms. "If my guess is right…are we going to the Leaky Cauldron?"
"Yes Hermione, we are. You look tired, and we need to get a good night sleep. I'll send a letter to Headmistress Magonogal." The rest of the night was a blur of sleepy words and actions.
Next morning, Hermione awoke in a small rock-hard bed. Looking across the room, she found Draco sleeping on another small bed identical but if not smaller than hers. She heard a tapping on the window and turned her head to see a small brown owl. Hermione sat up and walked over to the small window to un-latch it. As soon as she removed a piece of fresh parchment she recognized the writing. She un-rolled the parchment to reveal a short paragraph of wording.
"Mr. Malfoy and Miss. Granger," Hermione whispered as she read, "I have received word that you are in some potion involved situation. However I will not intervene seeing that you are of age and the potion in question in not a hazard to your health. I know you feel like I should be helping, but this is just another part of life where you need to learn from your mistakes. However, you should have questioned professor Slughorn on this matter. I'm sure that he could have resolved the situation in an instant. I would also like to let you know that I will be docking 100 points from Gryffindor and 100 points from Slytherin. I have attached a list of all the school rules you have just broken.
Being out of bed after hours
Leaving the castle after hours
Stealing from another student
Using magic in the corridors and between classes
Leaving school grounds after hours
Leaving school grounds without written consent of a parent or teacher
Stealing from a teacher (professor Slughorn's private ingredients storage cupboard)
Oh this sucks!" Hermione finished reading and threw the letter to the side. "I'm going to take a shower!"
It didn't take long for Hermione to find the bathroom so before she knew it she had undressed and stepped inside the dusty shower. Already in the shower were miniature shampoo and conditioner bottles. Hermione glanced at the shampoo label to see 'Wilma's instant curl shampoo formula'.
Hermione heard the door open. "Draco? Is that you?" she asked. Footsteps came towards the shower and Hermione shivered. The curtain was pulled back. There stood Draco…wearing...nothing but a pair of green and gold boxers!