[A/N hey guys! i just wanted to thank everyone for adding my story to your watchers list and favorites! it means a lot to me! well, enjoy!]
"You want me to what?" asked Draco.
They were sitting in a rain-dampened parking lot devoid of any sort of civilization. Hermione sat in the driver's seat of her small, worn out car. Her hands rested lightly on the black steering wheel.
"Drive. I want you to drive. There's no one here, and there's not much to crash into, so I can assume my precious car will stay unharmed."
"And we can't do anything else?"
"Well, we could've, but it's just rained so there's not much choice." She confessed. "Besides, it'll be fun to see you drive."
He scoffed. "It's always fun to see me."
"Mm... nope; it's actually not."
"Well, what if I don't want to drive your car?" Cheeky little bastard.
"Then I guess we can go finish our Muggle Week requirements..."
"I would rather go through another car wash than do my laundry without a wand."
"We could make that happen."
"On second thought..." he started.
"On second thought," Hermione echoed, "How about we just drive?"
"Isn't that what you were trying to make me do in the first place?" His pale brows were knitted in confusion and scepticism.
"Well, yes, but I have a better idea."
"Pray tell, Mud-"
Abruptly, she whipped her head around in a flash of curly brown hair. Brown met grey as their eyes locked.
"Don't. Call. Me. Mudblood."
He leaned forward so their noses were almost touching. Then in a deadly whisper, "Mudblood,"
A loud smack resounded through the car as Draco's head collided with the dashboard wiping the smirk off his pale face.
Hermione had pumped the gas on her car and released it in a moment, causing the unprepared Slytherin to jerk forward. A red mark was already forming on his forehead.
"Bitch," he said as her rubbed at the spot.
"Excuse me?" she asked, her foot poised dangerously over the gas pedal. "Are we forgetting who's driving here? I could leave you and your dirty mouth in the middle of nowhere on the side of a road without magic in a second. Let the muggers and rapists get to you. I'm sure they'd consider you quite a catch."
"I knew it." He threw his hands up in the air. "You brought me out here so you could have me all to yourself. I thought we covered this. I don't want you within a mile radius of my-"
"Draco, just shut the hell up about your male parts. It actually makes me want to vomit. Keep talking and I'll never get the mental images out of my mind. They will be forever branded into my memory."
Draco leaned back and twisted so he was half-facing her. He raised an eyebrow.
"You get mental images when I talk about-?"
"Malfoy shut your un-godly, lopsided mouth."
He smiled and nodded. "That makes sense. You watch my mouth often enough to notice how it's lopsided, even though it actually isn't." A pale hand snaked up to her shoulder and patted it. "Join the—ow!"
His hand was pinned between the chair and Hermione's. It was twisted at a strange angle, palm facing up over the right side of his hand. Slowly beginning to turn reddish-purple, Hermione tightened her grip.
Before he had a chance to speak, she clapped her free hand over his mouth.
"You are a pretentious asshole." She said it very slowly as if she were explaining it to a three year-old. "And you suck at making truces. Now, I can only image that this pompous attitude is making up for something you... well, lack. 'Lack' being the operative word,"
Just as Malfoy's tongue made its way across her palm in attempts to free his mouth, a sharp rap on the window jolted both of them.
On the other side of the Mustang's window stood a policeman clad in the standard fluorescent-yellow jacket and black helmet. A dark shadow crossed his face as he looked inside the car.
Hermione snapped back to Draco and ordered, "Keep your mouth shut." She rolled down the rain-splattered window.
The whirring sound of the window being rolled down was the only sound to break the silence. "Hello, officer." She greeted him politely with a smile that she only used on strangers. "Can we help you at all?"
He cleared his throat noisily. "I was just driving through here when I saw your car parked here." He explained in a raspy voice; a smoker's voice.
A small part of Hermione's brain mentally-laughed at the thought of a smoking police officer. Screw doughnuts, I'll take the coughing and lung cancer. She fought back a smile as he continued to explain his reasoning's for stopping.
"Pretty weird that you guys were just sitting here in an abandoned parking lot. First I thought you guys might be waiting to throw a deal down, but then I noticed that there were two of you. Then I thought that maybe you were—erm, exploring witheach other." A slight flush rose up from the man's neck as Draco gagged and Hermione followed suit in the pantomimed action.
"No, sir, we weren't... exploring, as you put it."
"No you certainly weren't." The hard mask that all police officers seemed to carry returned, covering the earlier blush. He crossed his podgy arms. "Is there any violence going on here, today?"
"I wasn't doing anything to her-" Draco started, throwing his hands up in a gesture of surrender, but the man cut him off.
"No, my boy, I know you weren't." Malfoy didn't seem too pleased to be called 'my boy' by the round man. "It was you I was worried about. Was she hurting you in any way, young man?"
"No!" Yelled Hermione as Draco yelled "Yes!"
He raised an eyebrow. "I trust you, young man, for you were the one who was pinned to the chair. If you wouldn't mind stepping out of the car please, Miss,"
Her eyes widened to the point where they looked like dinner plates.
"But I wasn't-!"
"I don't want to have to use force on you ma'am, but I will if I have to. Now step out of the car."
Malfoy sat in his spot laughing silently to himself. Hermione hesitantly stepped out onto the slick pavement. Her light-blue canvas shoes squelched noisily.
"Malfoy!" Yelled Hermione, pointing viciously at the laughing boy in the car.
The officer grabbed her outstretched hand and brought it behind her back. A metallic click-click-clicking matched by the cool feel of metal against her wrists brought to her attention that she was being cuffed.
"But I didn't do anything!" she protested. "He was beaking off and I just covered his mouth to stop him! Look at him! He's laughing!"
Years of hiding emotions happened to work to his ability. In the blink of an eye he went from a chortling schoolboy to a stone-faced victim.
"Hermione, why would I be laughing? Do you think this is a joke for me?" he asked, feigning hurt.
"Ma'am, would you mind coming into the back of my cruiser, please? You, too, young man. I have some questions for the both of you."
"But what about my car?" asked Hermione frantically.
He pursed his lips.
"Could you please lock her car, boy?"
"Absolutely,"
The faint beep of the car locking echoed throughout the empty parking lot. Hermione was guided into the back of the police cruiser, her hands still cuffed uncomfortably behind her back.
The car smelled of leather and cigarette smoke. A thick Plexiglas window separated the back portion of the cruiser from the front. Papers upon papers littered the passenger seat, along with a pack of cigarettes.
The officer's face burned crimson as he flicked off the pack, but not before Hermione and Draco got a good look at them. Keeping up his pretence, Malfoy slid inside the back of the car with Hermione, but sidled up close to the door as if he was afraid of her.
Her hands were shaking. If she hadn't been restrained, it would've been third year all over again. She would get him back one way or another.
He continued to laugh silently when she attempted to turn around and give him the single-finger salute.
Instead of watching him cackle away, she turned to watch the city go by.
Buildings didn't individually stand out, but rather blended into one big rush of grey and black. The city seemed to have absorbed her mood and the rainstorm. Pedestrians walked to and fro on the crowded sidewalks. Trash bins overflowed with the days load and puddles reflected the height of the blurred buildings.
A good ten minutes passed before they arrived at the station. Rows upon rows of police cars, not unlike the one she was currently seated in, sat in the lot in front of the bleak building. A few stray officers sat outside in dreary chairs with a box of doughnuts between them.
Of course, scoffed Hermione mentally.
She was led by the arm, none too gently, into the station. To her right was another Plexiglas window featuring many different scary looking people, all of whom were in handcuffs like her.
Unwillingly her heart began to beat faster. Are they going to put me in there, too? She worried.
A girl looked up at her through the thick window and directly into her brown eyes. The strangers black hair was matted and tangled atop her head. Cuts and bruises swelled on her pallor face. Black makeup streaks ran from her sorrowful eyes down to her jaw line. Her eyes lit up only to see that it wasn't who she was looking for, causing her to look dejectedly back down at the floor.
On the opposite side of the chamber was a huge man. Easily three heads taller than her sitting down, his arms were comparable to those of a champion body builder. Lank, greasy hair hung down the sides of his face, the same color as his scraggly beard.
His eyes pierced through Hermione, causing her to gasp aloud. He smiled at her creepily, revealing two rows of disgusting teeth.
She looked away from the frightening man in search of somewhere else to look. Unfortunately her gaze happened to land on that of Draco's.
He smiled grandly at her behind the officer's back.
She returned his smile with a threatening one of her own.
"Just you wait," she mouthed. Shaking her head slowly with the smile still on her face, she watched in delight as his grin faltered if only for a moment.
They were being led into a cold, grey room. A single fluorescent light flickered overhead. Hermione shivered at the cold atmosphere of the room.
She was placed in a metal chair next to Malfoy who was in another, comfier looking chair.
There was a desk opposite of the pair with a cracked leather office chair. The chair was empty.
At that precise moment, a loud clacking suggested that a high-heeled woman was entering the room. Unable to get a good look at her face, the two watched a swirl of perfume and black cloth pass them and settle into the chair.
Hermione silently thanked Godric. A woman she could deal with. Surely she could understand annoying men.
The faceless lady sat down in the chair, earning a small squeak from the piece of furniture. Hermione tried her best to keep her face emotionless.
She had been expecting some sort of run-down, weathered, stick-up-her-ass woman. The female that sat behind the desk couldn't've been more different.
Long, golden locks curled around her delicate face, pinned up behind her ear on one side to show off her silver earrings. Her golden skin-tone resembled the same color as her hair. Chin ending in a delicate point, her face could've only been described as heart-shaped.
Big blue eyes sat in the center of the heart, framed by perfectly plucked brows. Her lean shoulders were covered in a short sleeved, satin blouse, the color of a sapphire stone. One or two buttons more than usual were left undone, leaving a little less to the imagination. A black high-waisted skirt highlighted her tiny waist.
Hermione instantly slumped against the hard chair. It wasn't fair. She was in law. She should have had greying hair that be permanently fixed into a tight knot at the back of her neck. Maybe a little podgy from all the sitting. Perhaps a crooked nose, too, like Snape.
Hermione turned to look at Draco. He was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, eyes bright. He sub-consciously ran a nimble hand through his platinum hair. A few pieces escaped from the lightly-gelled-'do and fell to frame his face. He licked his lips. She watched as his eyes dropped from her mouth to her chest, to her mouth, to her chest and back.
Then she spoke. "Okay. So, can anyone tell me why we're here today?"
Hermione couldn't help it. She burst out laughing. The woman may have been gorgeous, but she had the voice of a Gringott's troll.
Deep, manly and scratchy, it sounded as though it had been Mr. Ollivander who had spoken, not this perfect female before them.
She whipped her head to look at the bushy-haired girl and raised an eyebrow. The Gryffindor was able to contain herself before it got even more out of control.
She snuck a glance at Malfoy. He was sitting back in his chair instead of leaning anxiously forward. His arms were crossed and instead of being silvery and bright, his eyes were dead and dull as the storm clouds that had previously been hanging over the city. Abruptly disinterested, he looked at her with the same expression as he looked at Hermione or a flobberworm.
"This is all just a big misunderstanding, Ms..." she caught sight of the nameplate. "Ms. Severus."
She choked on her own spit at the name. Her coughs were too loud. They ricocheted off the cement walls and amplified.
After regaining a normal breathing pattern, she started up again.
"Anyways, Ms. Severus, as I said this is all just a big misunderstanding. You see, Draco here was being quite inappropriate, so I felt the need to defend myself to a certain extent. I didn't even injure him!"
Ms. Severus nodded slowly before turning to Draco.
"And you?" she asked in her masculine voice.
"I was simply stating the facts of the matter when she attacked me. And yes, Hermione, you did injure me. See?"
He pushed up his left sleeve and wasn't even able to conceal the surprise that danced across his face. He stared open mouthed at his forearm.
A serpent wound itself around a hollow skull, tainting the creamy skin of his inner arm.
Hermione gasped loudly at the Dark Mark decorating his skin. Draco stood abruptly causing the chair to clatter loudly behind him. He yanked down the sleeve of his white shirt and spat,
"Drop any charges you might've had. She didn't do anything." And left the room, leaving behind a confused Ms. Severus and a stunned Hermione.
"Can you please undo my cuffs?" She whispered.
The lady took out a small silver key from the left-most drawer in her desk. With a short click-click her hands were free. She rubbed her wrists where the metal had cut into them.
"Thank you," she said quietly before following after Malfoy.
"Dra-!" she began to yell when she ran headlong into a seemingly solid object. "What the-"
A loud grumble came from the thing she'd just hit. Tentatively she looked up. ...Into the face of the huge, terrifying man she'd seen earlier behind the Plexiglas window.
"Watch where you're going," He growled dangerously.
The Gryffindor inside her puffed up. "Well don't just stand there, next time."
His eyes widened considerably. He took a step towards her with a malicious look on his face. Where were the police?
She vaguely saw two officers in the corner conversing in low voices unaware of the small tussle that was unfolding rapidly.
"Wanna say that again, bitch?"
"I-"
Suddenly the man's cold eyes rolled up in his head. He swayed dangerously on his feet. As if in slow motion, gravity began to take over. The huge fellow tipped over the edge of his toes and was hurtling towards Hermione. She was going to be crushed.
Just then a white hand reached out and snatched her out of the falling man's path. Hermione said nothing as she allowed Draco to pull her out of the station none too kindly. He threw her hand down violently.
"Where is your car?" he spat.
"Draco, let me see your-"
"Where is your car, Granger?"
"Back in the parking lot..." She said tentatively, awaiting the explosion. Draco swore colourfully in what sounded like several different languages.
"How are we supposed to get back to your house?"
"I-" then she stopped. She hadn't thought about that. The officer had driven them away leaving her car abandoned in the parking lot.
"You're of age, are you not?"
"Yeah, I'm seventeen... Eighteen in a month or two," she explained. "Why?"
"Because we're going to Disapparate to your car. I don't care if it's Muggle Week. They didn't say anything about Apparating so keep your mouth closed."
"Won't they detect us, though?"
"No, because I'm above age. Really, Hermione, you would think that even you would know that."
"First of all, you just called me Hermione. And second of all, I thought you were only seventeen."
"Birthday was last week. It's a shame you missed it." He said dryly. "So you're going to have to Disapparate with me." Draco didn't seem too pleased at that.
"Oh yes, quite a shame I missed it. Happy belated, all the same." She retorted. "Do you remember what my car looks like?" Hermione doubted it.
He sighed heavily as though she was holding him back. "Light blue '96 Mustang, fuzzy dice on the mirror, rust along the bottom of the doors and a chip on the front window,"
Hermione blinked at him. Impatiently he held out his left arm for her to take. She grasped his bicep lightly.
Draco chuckled softly. "Granger, you're going to get splinched if you don't hang on any tighter. Honestly, I'm not going to kill you here and now."
"But I might," she joked quietly. Her other hand wrapped itself around his forearm, where the Mark was shining through the thin material of his long sleeved shirt.
"Ready? Too bad if you're not." And with a loud crack they disappeared into thin air.
"Agh!"
"Hermione, what are you doing on the ground?" Malfoy looked down at the Gryffindor who was currently splayed on the wet pavement.
"I fell, you stupid prat."
"Told you. You should've held on tighter." He started to head towards the Mustang. Hermione's small hand shot out and grabbed Malfoy's leg. Unprepared, he felt hard to the ground. She pushed herself off the cement and said,
"Did I hang on tight enough for you, Malfoy?" and started to walk away. I hope he bruised his rib or something.
"What—oof!" She was on the ground again.
"Should've seen that one coming, Granger. I mean, really, look at—ouch!"
Her foot connected with his shoulder causing him to release his grip on her foot so he was able to cradle his kicked shoulder. She heaved herself off the ground and sprinted away from him as fast as possible.
Her short legs were no match for Draco's long ones. He caught up easily. Reaching for her wrist, he ended up grabbing her waist. His attempt to pull her down to the ground failed, causing him to just pull her towards himself instead of down.
As soon as her back made contact with his chest, she jerked an elbow backwards and caught him in the sternum. She tried to get away again, but he still maintained contact with her waist. Pulling at her sweater, he turned her around so she was looking at him.
Her face was masked with shock.
"Malfoy!"
"It's your own damn fault-"
"No, Malfoy, look!"
He followed her line of sight down to his forearm where the sleeve of his white shirt had slipped down. His bare, smooth, un-marked forearm. He released her immediately and ran his hand over the skin. Nothing. Not a scratch. Not even a freckle. Rapidly flipping his over and then back again, he continued to stare in disbelief.
Hermione unconsciously reached out to run her fingertips over his smooth arm. Realizing what she had just done, she yanked her hand back, her face flaming.
Draco didn't even seem to notice.
"What the hell?" but it sounded like a statement, not a question.
"Did we imagine it?"
He snorted. "My imagination was wiped clean from the moment I was born, Mudblood."
Instead of reacting to the cruel nickname, she shook her head.
"That's impossible."
He sighed impatiently. "I'm not saying it is possible. I don't know how the Mark got there!"
"No, no, not that! It's impossible to not have an imagination."
He squinted at her. "Granger, you're starting to sound like Loony Lovegood."
"Whatever. Can we just go home now?"
They started towards the car.
"You're parents are home tomorrow, yeah?" he asked somewhat rudely.
"No, they're not going to be here at all while you're staying." She looked glum.
"I thought they were." Inside he was secretly cheering. Yes, yes, yes! No Muggle interactions for me! Ha, take that McGonagall!
"Their plane got delayed for a couple days, so I won't even be able to see them." A few moments of silence passed.
"That's why I flipped at you when you started making pervy comments this morning." She explained. Then, almost inaudibly, "Sorry,"
Draco's eyes shifted back and forth. What was he supposed to say to that? Oh yeah, sorry, too. I don't know what got into me. Yeah, right. This was Mudblood Granger he was talking about, so instead he just said, "Mhm."
The rest of the journey home was driven in silence, interrupted every now and then with the sharp sound of a car horn or a passing ambulance.
They stepped into her warm home quietly. The light flickered on with a small buzzing sound.
"Do you know why that huge guy just kind of fell over onto me?"
To Hermione's ultimate surprise Draco actually—dare she say it?—blushed.
"What did you do?" she half-yelled, half-giggled.
"I stupefied him." He sniffed with great dignity.
"But you don't have your wand!"
"You learn a lot when Voldemort lives in your home, Granger. That includes undetectable, wandless magic."
She remained silent, unsure of what to say to that.
"Well, thanks I guess." She said awkwardly. "It's not like the police were gonna do anything about it."
"Yeah." A smile grew from cheek to cheek on his handsome face. "But they sure as hell did when I told them you were abusing me."
To Draco's ultimate surprise, she laughed. "Ms. Severus," she said simply. "Looks like you had the hots for her, didn't you Malfoy?"
His face lost the smile, getting replaced with an expression of disgust. "She sounded like Mr. Ollivander."
"That's what I was thinking! And by the way, you are terrible at keeping truces. Twenty minutes into it and I'm in cuffs for no reason. But don't worry," she said with a smile. "I forgive you." And patted him on the shoulder.
He had no idea what was going to come of him when they got back to Hogwarts. Hermione grinned.
[ooh. revenge-Hermione. a little obscure, i know, but they need some more adventures before going back to school! so thanks for reading guys! don't be scared to review! takes thirty seconds! (:]
