My Magzillasaurus cleaned up this chapter. It was needed. I love her.
Chapter two
A week later.
The six Slytherins arrived together at the departure hall of London's Heathrow Airport and joined the group of twenty students, not solely but majority Gryffindors. Slightly further away, the rest of the NGO's volunteering corps stood.
The snakes let their duffel bags fall with a thud to the ground. The bag contained everything Hermione had forwarded, including strange items to most of the wizards: a razor and shaving cream instead of a decent razor blade and old-fashioned shaving soap. The concept of a condom was probably by far the weirdest, and something the Wizards planned to interrogate Harry about.
Hermione assisted everyone during the check-in, all of them flashing their brand new passports with a huge smile as if they were Auror's badges. With the first and the second she smirked at their antics but after the third, she had enough of it.
"Potter, are you sure the metal bird is safe enough?" Blaise voiced everyone's fear.
"Don't fret so much, Zabini, relax."
But the tanned wizard had one question left, "Your girl underlined in her owl the word condoms. The apothecary gave me a side eye when I bought three packs." Harry let him finish but gave him a half smile. "What are those for?"
"Three? They are for just in case."
"Yes, three Potter, for the boys and me. In case of what?" Harry noticed how all the wizards inched closer to listen, even Ron.
"If you bounce into a bird."
Theo objected, "We have spells for that."
"Not if she's a Muggle." The majority understood the logic. "Don't forget we will be in a zone where the statute of secrecy applies."
Draco followed the whole exchange from a distance. Snatching a bird was not his priority. He already regretted coming along; he had enough on his plate, and he didn't need someone else's misery on top of it.
For now, he had no reason to complain, no one had been rude to him. Potter and the swot even nodded upon arrival. Her annoyed look when he got his boarding pass wasn't lost on him, he suspected he got a seat next to her by the way she reacted.
Either way, Draco planned to take the dreamless sleep vial he carried in his pockets, once he boarded the airplate, and sleep all the flight away. For now, he followed their lead and ask no questions.
Boarding the flight and finding their seat was a walk in the park. The blond stewardess demonstrated how to fasten their seatbelts and all the wizards followed the instructions precisely. They almost took notes on how to react in case of emergency and read the leaflet in the seat pocket, from top to bottom.
Hermione indeed sat next to Draco, ignored the whole litany. "Granger, where's the nearest exit?"
"Behind you, two rows down." She waved her hand behind her.
"Is this thing safe?"
Hermione used her lecture mode, "Malfoy, you have a higher chance of falling off your broomstick, than of this aeroplane crashing."
"Airplate, you mean…"
She blinked a few times, "What?"
"Airplate, you mean airplate. Harry called it airplate."
"I believe you need to have your ears checked. We are inside an aeroplane." She inserted the earbuds with distinctive manners, connected the jack, and faced the window ignoring him further. She stole his window seat, but he was clueless about it. Her move pleased her, thinking, finders keepers, losers weepers.
During take off, the plane picked up speed, and when the nose rose, Draco grabbed her hand in a vice grip hold until the pilot reached cruising altitude. "Now you can let go, Malfoy. You're safe for the next few hours." Hermione wiggled her hand out of his hold and patted his hand, pussy.
"How long?" Hermione wasn't paying attention, and he repeated his question, ticking her on the shoulder. "How long will it take?"
"Oh, just less than 14 hours."
"Salazar's tits, 14 hours caged inside this metal bin?" He looked incredulous. Fourteen hours? What the fuck?
"Do you know the worst part?" Hermione rubbed it in while adjusting her seat into a flatter position. She had no patience for him. "Almost fourteen hours in my company. Your pureblood genes will receive an overdose of my mudblood germs."
"If that's the only thing you have to say, please go to sleep, Granger." He could do without her nagging.
"Aren't you afraid of my dirty blood?" She sized him up. "Be careful, so I can't taint your precious heritage."
"Granger, just stop." Draco rubbed a hand over his face. "You and I need to have a talk, but not confined in here. But spare me the sarcasm."
Hermione gave him one last scornful look, turned the music on and closed her eyes. Five seconds later, a finger tapped on her shoulder. She hissed, "What?"
"Could you please tell me how these work?" He showed her the earbuds. She reacted slightly pissed off, snatching hers off a bit harsher.
"Oh, boy. He does know the word, please. These go in your ears, this," she showed the jack, "goes in here. And with these buttons, you choose your channel and the volume." He followed each instruction meticulously. To piss him off, she raised the volume up with a sneering face. Draco winced, yet he didn't react. Instead, he thanked her and mimicked her seat position, and fell in a slumber, just like she did.
An hour after takeoff, the first service passed through, offering a refreshing towel, drinks and pretzels. Draco accepted them both and kept hers aside, wondering if he should just keep it there or wake her up. Hermione did look tired. Harry, who sat diagonally across them, nodded suggestively. Draco demonstrated a finger across his throat, but Harry mouthed, "Gently."
Carefully, Draco rested a hand on her shoulder, shaking really gently. He whispered, "Granger, wake up." No reaction. "Granger, C'mon, wake up." Very slowly he removed an earbud, realising she was listening to the same classical channel, which played very low. "Granger, please. Wake up."
"Huh?" Confused, she looked around, saw him, and winced. "Wha's the matter?" He offered her the towel and opened her own tray to set her snacks and napkin. "Oh, thank you."
Stretching out with a moan, she sat again upright, using the wet fabric to refresh her face, neck and hands, before opening the bag and shoving two pretzels in her mouth. "It was an early morning. Sorry I was acting cranky."
He was dumbfounded, her moan froze him in place, and now she was apologising for her behaviour earlier?
"I'm always so stressed out until I'm in the air. Checking in, going through security, finding the correct gate and being shoved into this bird? I hate it." He was impressed at the speed she ate her snacks.
"Granger, have you ever flown fourteen hours?"
"No, Malfoy. It's going to be a really long haul."
"I'm glad for this little vial here." He showed her the potion. "I'll sleep through half of it."
"Is that Dreamless sleep?" She pouted, "You'll not drink that."
"Why the hell not?"
"Because in case of emergency, you'll have to be awake. With one of those in your system, not even a bomb will wake you up."
He looked alarmed now, "But you told me flying was safe."
"It's a safe mode of travel, yes, but not infallible." He paled and tightened his seatbelt. Hermione rolled her eyes and loosened up his buckle. "Don't be a toddler." Annoyed with her action, he tightened it up again.
Harry followed the whole exchange with a grin.
A blond stewardess asked with a nasal voice, "Chicken or pasta?"
"Chicken for both of us." Hermione decided for both of them. He frowned and she elaborated, "Are you a vegetarian?" Draco huffed but shook his head. "As I expected. Don't expect a five-star meal. But it's food. Enjoy your meal."
His grunts, for once, weren't unjustified, their meal tasted bland. Luckily for them, their dessert looked much more appealing. On Hermione's tray stood a brownie while he received an apple crumble. Draco sighed, "You have more luck than I do."
Without a word, she traded their cups, picked her spoon and moaned at the fresh taste of apple in her mouth. "Your loss, Malfoy. This is divine." Her tongue licked the back of the spoon.
He had trouble following her mood swings but thanked her for the gesture. Chocolate was his sweet indulgence and he had almost contemplated using Confundo to trade the plates.
Harry took a picture to taunt Hermione later during one of her lectures. Rubbing it in her face would feel so good. He had the evidence in hand of how Hermione fraternised with her nemesis. Halfway through the flight both had fallen asleep. Hermione before Draco, because Harry saw how the blond tucked the blanket around her body and turned off the ventilation. Harry even witnessed how Draco had raised the armrest between the seats because it was pressing against her side. At this very moment, saved for eternity, Hermione slept with her head on Draco's chest, his arm around her shoulder, her hand on his abdomen.
Harry had to admit, they looked good together.
Fourteen hours later their flight touched down. The wizards and witches felt cranky and tired despite the slumber and dreamed of a long bath and a soft bed. However, they landed in a whole different world. One of chaos and destruction. The first lesson in humility stood right under their noses.
Hermione's words sounded on everyone's minds. This mission was far from luxury. Helping in the rebuild would restore them. Through hard work. Merlin help us.