A/N: Hey! Chapter 4 is up! I'm quick, aren't I? The song along with this fanfic is "Cups" by Anna Kendrick from the movie Pitch Perfect! The cup thingy is really hard – it took me a long time to get the hang of it. If you haven't listened to the song then please do – it's great.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Cups, but the muffins are mine.
Chapter 4 Why not I sing and you dance?
Draco/POV
He kept her words in his mind – those about him not getting in touch with the magic world.
So after work today, he threw on a black cloak, hiding his head under the hood, and disapparated to the magic world. He didn't dare to expose his face – he didn't want the Ministry people to have any reason to escort him to their headquarters. He wandered, walking around aimlessly for half an hour, not knowing where he was heading, until he eventually found what he wanted – a stack of rotten Daily Prophet dumped next to a trash can.
He quickly picked up the top one and flipped it to the headline.
DOLOHOV ON LOOSE, MINISTRY FAILED TO CAPTURE EX-DEATH EATER, the headline screamed, with a large picture of Dolohov under it.
"Dolohov?" he said to himself in disbelief. "Wasn't he dead?"
He grabbed another newspaper, and this said: DOLOHOV RECRUITING EX-DEATH EATERS AFTER THE FALL OF YOU-KNOW-WHO, WIZARDS BEWARE.
And the next one said: DOLOHOV CLAIMED HIMSELF AS THE NEW YOU-KNOW-WHO, THE MINISTRY IS GOING DOWN.
He felt his heart beating faster and faster. What the hell! Granger didn't tell him anything!
Frantically, he flipped over the stack of Daily Prophet, finding all of them had Dolohov dominating the front page. Eventually, one single piece of article caught his eye. With shaky hands, he held it up to his face and squeezed his eyes.
DOLOHOV FOUND DEAD. MINISTRY: THE WORLD IS SAFE NOW! THANKS TO OUR AURORS! A picture of a bunch of Ministry people were opening champagnes and celebrating.
He gave a relief sigh, and tucked the newspaper in his pocket.
"Hey."
It was late. The café was empty, except for Draco, who was still drying some cups at the counter.
He turned his neck within a split-second. It's been a whole week since her first visit.
She smiled at him.
"Hey… I thought I'm never going to see you again." He breathed.
"I gave you such an impression, huh?" She grimaced, and sat down in front of the counter.
"Anyway, I was paying attention to the magic world and I found this." He pulled out the newspaper article he'd discovered the other night.
Her expression was hard to comprehend. "Oh, that."
"That?" he said, raising his eyebrows. "Granger, this guy took over the magic world! Give me some details."
She sighed deeply, and looked up.
"Yes, but it's all in the past now, right? What's the point of mentioning it again?"
"I-I just can't believe I missed out so much." He said, clapping a hand to his forehead.
"It's a good thing you missed that." She said darkly.
"Yeah- right…" He looked down at the article again, lost in thought.
"Don't think about it. Don't be ridiculous." Quickly, with the speed of light, she grasped the article away from him, crumpled it, and threw it into a trashcan near the counter. He widened his eyes at her.
"I know you're off from work, but can I get a hot chocolate?" she quickly asked.
"One hot chocolate coming right up," He grinned and went into the kitchen.
"You know, I'm pretty good at cups." She called.
"Cups?" He returned with a mug and a chocolate muffin, and handed it to her.
"Yeah," she took a sip of the chocolate, and put it down. "Like this. Watch."
She took a plastic cup he had been drying, and started clapping and tapping it with a rhythm. He gazed at her swift movements in amaze as she began to sing as well.
"I got my ticket for the long way round, two bottle a' whisky for the way. And I sure would like some sweet company; I'm leaving tomorrow what-do-you say…"
And he lost himself in her beauty...
She finished her song way too soon, before he knew it.
"That was great, Granger."
"What are you thinking?" she asked.
"About how nice your song is, about how nice your cup-tapping is, about how nice that chocolate muffin is, about how nice the world is without Dolohov-"
She interrupted immediately. "Why not I sing and you dance?" She asked, her eyes shining.
Okay, she didn't like the mention of Dolohov at all.
"Sure."
"I was just saying- you do know how to dance?" She asked, amused.
"Yes. Now watch and learn."
Her eyes broadened with wonder as he danced – boy was he light on his feet!
He finished with a bow.
"Was that cha-cha?"
"Yes." He replied and held out his hand. "May I?"
"I have no idea how to dance."
"Then I'll teach you."
She grinned and gave him her hand, and immediately he pulled her close.
"Forward, back, forward, back… nice, now hold out your hand, and twirl…"
All night long, they sang and danced in their private bubble of happiness.
Her singing and dancing was the most wonderful thing he has seen, and surely he could no longer think of Dolohov or anything evil.
Hermione/POV
"I think I'd like to quit," she whispered into the darkness.
"Quitters never win."
"I know, but- "
"Winners never quit."
Draco/POV
She's been visiting him every Friday night for two months now – and her visit was what he kept him going through life. Everytime she would come at ten thirty, after all staff and customers have gone, then he would greet her with a hot chocolate and a muffin. Then, sometimes they would just sit down and chat, or they would sing and dance all night long until they couldn't move a limb.
They knew much more about each other now. Draco told Hermione all about his childhood – how his father treated him mercilessly and was the awfully strict parent that nobody wanted, how his mother kept spoiling him and mending both the mental and physical wounds that his father gave him, and how he was taught never, ever, ever to get in touch with muggle-borns.
She, then, filled him with her childhood as well – how her parents were dentists and never had much time with her, how she always studied alone just to kill time and "accidentally" became the best student of the year, how isolated she felt when people at Hogwarts never did like her nerdy and proud attitude except for Harry and Ron… and when she mentioned her best friends, there were tears in her eyes. She had no problem telling him all about her early years, but it was not the first time that she appeared sad when mentioning people or things in recent years.
"What's happened?" He asked with concern.
"Oh, nothing." She quickly said.
"Tell me," he urged.
"It's okay." She said quietly. "I'm fine."
"They're not happy with you being a model?" He asked.
"Huh? What model?" She blinked, and when he raised his eyebrows at her, she hastily said, "Right! Oh, yeah, they thought I'm wasting my talent…"
He secretly agreed that her rare intelligence was going to waste, being a model that required no brains at all just didn't suit the brightest witch of her age. But looking at her sad figure, he didn't dare to voice that out loud.
"So how are Potter and Weasley doing lately?" He asked, trying to distract her casually.
"Can't you see I'm sad? Why can't you just let me be sad?" Angry tears suddenly gushed out from her eyes as she gathered her things and stormed out of the café suddenly, leaving him gob-smacked helplessly.
When he snapped back to reality and chased her out of the store, she had disapparated.
Hermione/POV
The very next week – the second week of February – Hermione stepped inside the café Draco worked at. The café, from the looks of it, was empty. The lights weren't on, and Draco wasn't standing at the counter waiting for her. It was strange. He never missed their meetings. He usually stood behind the counter scrubbing cups, greeting her with a grin. She explored the café with her lit wand, but failed to find anything. Was he mad at her sudden tantrum last week? She felt her pulse raised, and cold sweat at the back of her neck. What happened? Hermione Granger was panicking – for the first time after the war, Hermione Granger was scared.
Just when she decided to exit the café, something grabbed her waist from behind, and she dropped her wand in fright and screamed.
A/N: Do you like the cha-cha? I've learnt it before and it was great fun! Anyway, review please! :)