Chapter Four: Puddles

Harry and Ron each shook Drae's hand. When he looked at Hermione, though, he paused and let a smile come to his face. Until then, other than when he was hugging Emelyn, he had a natural smile on his face, one that you have when meeting new people. This smile brought a while new personality to his face. His eyes brightened. His perfect teeth came into view, definitely putting Lockhart to shame somewhere in St. Mungo's.

"Hi," he finally got out.

A small blush came to Hermione's cheeks as she let out a small smile, praying that he didn't notice her blush. "Hi."

"Well why don't Neo, Chase and I go inside and find something to eat," Emelyn said, noticing the instant connection between her best friend and her cousin.

"Don't be silly, Em," Drae said, breaking the connection between himself and 'Amara'. "You and I both know you have a whole container of cookie-dough ice-cream in your freezer that you're saving for tonight." Drae let out a small laugh. It was deep, heartfelt, and made his smile grow and his eyes shine more.

"Oh you!" Emelyn slapped his arm and grabbed Harry and Ron, pulling them inside.

That made Drae laugh. He knew that Emelyn loved pushing people together. There was about this girl, though, that felt familiar about her. It felt like they were always close, yet never together. He would solve this mystery feeling by the end of his stay if it was the last thing he did.

"Come on," he said between laughs, "let's go inside."

Hermione nodded and walked beside him into the house. Drae left his trunk at the entrance, deciding to just grab it later. When they got to the kitchen entrance, Drae pulled Hermione beside the door gently and just looked into her eyes. They weren't like melted chocolate, like Emelyn's. Her eyes looked like a combination of all the colors of fall, his favorite season. They were a hazel with little flecks if you looked closely. The freckles on her face were small, few, and evenly balanced, not taking over her face.

"Let's scare her."

Drae snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Hermione, who was now wearing a devilish smirk on her face.

Drae smiled and nodded his head. He gave her his helmet, which now had his gloves in it, He reached into his jacket and pulled out a human hand! No, it was only fake, but it looked so real. He put it up his sleeve, making it look like it was his hand, which it did. Drae winked and opened the door for Hermione, who was trying to hide her smile.

"How about the-oh, hey He-Amara." Ron rubbed his rib where Emelyn had elbowed him.

"Hey guys, what did you find?" Hermione asked with a smile.

"Tons!" Harry said excitedly from the fridge.

"Emelyn, get over here," Drae said from behind Hermione. Emelyn walked over to him with a reluctant smile. Drae looked at her wolf earring, holding it with the fake hand "Nice earring."

"I wear it every day," Emelyn giggled. "And I see that you're wearing your ear-ow!" Drae's bracelet was stuck to her earring. He began pulling it, only hurting Emelyn more. "Stop, let me." She held the bracelet with one hand and the earring with the other and pulled, causing the fake and to come out of his sleeve, followed by a flow of red, blood-looking liquid. Emelyn let out a small shriek before attacking the hysterical Drae with the wet hand. She turned to Hermione. "Oh big cuz, did you know about this?"

By now Hermione was laughing even more than Drae. She stood up quickly and tried to hide her laughter and smile. Unable to talk without laughing any more, she shook her head no.

"Don't even think that I believed that for a second!" Emelyn laughed as she threw the hand at Hermione.

Hermione ducked and the hand his Harry right in the ear. Everyone began to laugh as they all began to play 'Hit Whoever You Can With The "Bloody" Hand' for the next fifteen minutes. Everyone was covered in the red substance and laughing hysterically. The game had been every man for himself (or every teen for themselves in this case), so everyone was spread around the room. Hermione was a few feet away from Drae, and he had taken every opportunity to catch the hand before it hit her.

"OKAY!" Emelyn shrieked between laughs. "Done for now!"

Everyone laughed at her, but agreed.

"Let's get this place cleaned up before your parents come home, Em," Hermione said, getting up from behind a chair.

"Don't worry Amara," Emelyn said as she got up from behind the island between the pantry, where Ron was hiding behind the door, and the refrigerator, which Harry was hiding beside. "Mom and Dad are at a wedding and won't be home until tomorrow. They said that they're sorry they won't be here and send their love, though, they'll be here tomorrow morning," she looked at Drae, "unless this is the kind that starts to smell."

"To the broom closet," Drae smiled.

It took nearly three quarters of an hour to clean up the kitchen because of the large amount times and places the hand was thrown.

"Okay, you three guys can figure out who showers first, Amara and I will use mine and my parents' bathrooms." Emelyn brought Hermione up to her room. Hermione stopped at the door and took in the beautiful room.

There were five walls, rather than four. The ceiling was covered with pictures, signatures, posters, drawings, glowing stars, little dangling things, and had small lights aimed at the large disco ball hanging from the center. Against one wall was a large Armoire that was opened only an inch. Beside the Armoire was a full length mirror that had pictures stuck into the frame. There was a door leading to, what Hermione assumed was a closet, on the other side of the mirror. The wall was covered in posters of people Hermione didn't recognize.

On the next wall there was a dresser covered in trinkets, picture frames, and goblets covered with wax (memory candles). This wall was covered with pictures of people, animals, and random objects or places. There were a few beautiful pictures of beaches, or yards that looked like they were from a landscape book.

The wall across from where she was, the wall that was on the one with the mirror's other side, just had a few windows with a few shelves, some sticking in and some sticking out in random places, each with different things in them. It looked like whatever wasn't on the shelves was on the dresser.

Beside the windows, in the corner, was a low desk, covered with books, papers, and a green, old fashioned phone (like from the 1960's…I think). A few feet from the table on the next wall was a low, circle bed, covered with pillows, stuffed animals, and pink, yellow, and black and white patterned blankets, all in disarray. On top of the blankets was a white laptop, covered with stickers.

The last wall was short, but Hermione's favorite. It was a large bookshelf that looked like it was carved into the wall. It was filled with all sorts of books that she couldn't wait to look at. Some at the top looked like journals or sketchbooks.

The walls were all painted different shades of blue, all light, and the carpet was a light purple.

"Hope you like it, cuz," Emelyn said, snapping Hermione out of her thoughts.

"This is the most amazing room I've ever seen," Hermione let out softly. She was dazed.

"Thanks," Emelyn tossed a towel at Hermione. "The bathroom's out the door and to the right."

Hermione took a long, relaxing shower. She took her time to let the soap cleanse her body. She slowly and gently massaged the shampoo into her hair, filling the room with the aroma of lavender, perfectly combining with the scent of the French Vanilla soap. The conditioner flowed through her hair and Hermione felt it softly break through every knot there may have been. She finally got out of the shower when her hands began to prune and wrapped her hair in a towel before wrapping one around her body. Hermione realized then that she had forgotten her clothes in her room and walked into Emelyn's hoping to find a robe.

When she got into the room, Hermione couldn't help but look at herself in the mirror. Her creamy skin had become a few shades darker, blending together in every visible place. Her legs were toned and made her body look shapelier than she had ever noticed. She liked the way she looked in this mirror.

"Like what you see?" Hermione whipped around and saw Emelyn giggling as she entered the room.

"I was just looking to see if I needed to wash my face," Hermione lied. "I don't like the way it feels when it gets oily."

"Sure, but I think that you look hot. You have tiny pores, and a nice ass." Emelyn slapped Hermione's butt, making her jump slightly. "So what're you here for?" Emelyn asked as she took a black bra and thong out of the dresser.

"Oh, I forgot to bring a change of clothes so I was wondering if you had a robe I could wear upstairs," Hermione explained.

"Oh don't worry," Emelyn said as she put the bra on over her towel. "Those two guys are like your brothers, by the looks of it, and think of Drae as a gay roommate. That's what I do." Emelyn giggled at the blush that came to Hermione's cheeks. "Don't think I didn't see that thing you two had going on before. Actually, walking up in just the towel might just help you."

Hermione rolled her eyes and left the room, not wanting to admit that that's what she wanted.

Hermione walked out of her room wearing a knee length skirt and T-shirt. Her hair, now almost completely dry, was in a braid. She walked down the hall to talk to Harry and Ron, hoping that they were in the same room.

"Y'know, you might want to fix up that outfit if you don't want Emelyn to throw a hiss fit," she heard from behind her. It was a deep voice that she could get lost just listening to. She turned around and saw Drae in just a towel with his hair all over the place. He was sopping wet, leaving a small pool of water below him.

Hermione tried to look up at his face and not let her eyes wander all over his perfectly sculpted, toned chest, abs, no, she had to stop thinking like this.

"Oh, um, thanks," Hermione turned to go to find the guys. Maybe they could talk some sense into her.

Before she could get away, though, she felt herself being pulled gently into a hard surface that felt as soft as a baby's skin. A spicy, intoxicating scent filled her nose. Hermione felt the back of her shirt get wet, but she didn't care as his strong hands just gently led her into him.

"Save me a dance tonight?" He whispered.

Hermione nodded as she felt her face grow hot. She turned to face him, but instead saw his retreating back head into his room and close the door. Hermione sighed, but then remembered why she was in the hallway. Suddenly, though, she heard a soft giggle come from the staircase around the corner.

Hermione rushed over and looked to find Emelyn with her back against the wall. She was wearing a pair of tight jeans that were torn in all sorts of places and a very low-cut, v-neck halter that looked like a second skin, only it was a dark green. Her hair was straight (naturally), and cut in angles with a few wisps falling over her eyes like at the airport. She was only wearing her wolf earring and several gold bangles.

"H-how much of that did you see?" Hermione asked.

"Enough to know that I have to talk to this gay roommate of our's, haha." Hermione's face grew redder than before.

"Please don't let Harry and Ron find out, they'll never let it go, but not before killing Drae," Okay, that was not what she had meant to come out.

"Don't worry about it," Emelyn assured her, finally stopping her laughter. Unfortunately, for Hermione, this caused Emelyn to notice what Hermione was wearing. "Is that what you're wearing tonight?"

"Yes, why?" Hermione asked, becoming self conscious.

"Well, are you sure you want to go to a club tonight?"

"Erm, no, but I want to give it a shot," Hermione forced a smile, which Emelyn ignored.

"Okay then," Emelyn began slowly, "but if you're sure, then you might want to come with me." Before Hermione could protest, Emelyn had taken her by the hand and led her to her bedroom.