A/N: I had intended to have this chapter up as early as mid August but remember when I told you guys I was looking for a job? Well...I found one. Randomly. When I least suspected it. It's really time consuming but by no means do I intend on giving up on this story. I still intend to keep these updates coming as fast as possible. Chapter seven is already half way done. Here's the interesting "sort of "game changer chapter I promised. It's not THE game changer in Draco and Hermione's relationship, (or lack thereof) but it does allow Draco and Hermione to step away from all the hate so they can actually get along more or less. Now onto the chapter!
"I live my life in bitterness and fill my heart with emptiness. There is no crime in being kind. Not everyone is out to screw you over. Maybe they just want to get to know you." - Fear and Loathing ~ Marina and the Diamonds
Cracked Armor
Chapter 6: The Demon's New Perspective
This was officially hell. Hermione sourly sat up in bed as she watched Draco set up his cot. He had purposely placed it just a few feet away from the door, cutting off any and all chance of escape. As if sensing her eyes on him, Draco abruptly glanced at her over his shoulder and grinned like the Cheshire Cat.
"Night, Granger. Don't try anything stupid now."
"Whatever," Hermione muttered before laying down and throwing the covers over herself. She rolled over onto her side and tried closing her eyes, but Draco's presence in her room made her all too aware. Hermione slowly sat up after a minute or so and slipped out of bed, the chain attached to her iron anklet clanking like the deadly tinkling of bells as she padded across the colorful Indian rug.
"May I help you?" Draco drawled with an arm thrown over his eyes, his intent clear on not moving.
"I'm thirsty, I would like to go get some water," Hermione said tiredly.
Draco gave her a flat look and sighed a long, heavy sigh before shouting, "Greg!"
A few moments later, Greg appeared in the doorway, looking ready to carry out whatever command Draco had ready for him.
"Y-yeah?"
"Bring the mudblood some water and bring me a bottle of Sherry, would you?"
"Yeah, sure. Be right back."
Greg ran off in the direction of the kitchen, returning mere moments later with the requested beverages in hand. He handed them to Draco who motioned for Hermione to come for her water. Hermione carefully accepted the glass of water in both hands, staring at Greg's shifty-eyed form curiously.
"I'm just gonna..." Greg shuffled his feet as he avoided looking in Hermione's direction, jerking a thumb behind him. "I'm just gonna go...do that- that thing you told me to do."
Draco nodded without looking at him. "Alright, don't take too long."
"I won't."
With that, Greg closed the door and a familiar 'pop!' sounding just a few feet outside. Hermione glanced at Draco in question, but he was too busy popping the cork of his bottle.
"What was that all about?"
Draco quirked his head in her direction. "I have mentioned before how nosy you are, right?"
Hermione rolled her eyes, moving toward her bed again the best she could with her chain restraint. She drank nearly half of her glass before setting it down on her nightstand. She climbed into bed and pulled the satin quilt around her legs. Hermione glanced at Draco who drank straight from his bottle before reaching blindly into the satchel beside his cot to pull out a book.
"You drink too much," Hermione mumbled, scrunching up her nose in disdain.
"You talk too much," Draco drawled, flipping the pages to wherever he had left off in his book. "Go to sleep before I make you, Granger."
"Right." Hermione shot him a sardonic glance. "That's the thing, I can't sleep with you in here."
Draco took another swig of his Sherry. "Where do you suggest you sleep with me? The villa? The jungle? The beach..." He smirked, never removing his eyes from his book.
Hermione threw one of her pillows at Draco's face, nearly causing him drop his bottle. He wrenched the pillow off his face and threw it back at Hermione, a savage-like scowl transforming his features into something less than angelic and almost demon.
"Get your mind out of the gutter. I meant that I can't fall asleep while you're in the same room as me, you tosser," Hermione hissed, glaring daggers at Draco as she drew her knees to her chest in a protective manner.
"I know what you meant, Granger." Draco rolled his eyes, setting his jaw tensely as he watched her. "But I'm afraid you've run away far too many times. You need a night guard now as well. Believe me, I'm not exactly thrilled to be your babysitter."
Hermione bit her lip, crinkling her brow slightly. "You sure you're not just doing this because of what I said?"
"What did you say before?" Draco hummed. "I tend not to pay too much attention to whatever comes out of that slag mouth of yours," he shot at her.
"You're an arse but we both knew that already." Hermione sighed as she stared out the barred window. "I meant about what I had said earlier about you giving me the benefit of the doubt by trying to get to know me...about getting to know the real me and seeing that I'm not a bad person," she whispered, her voice full of sincerity.
Draco turned his head to stare at her. Feeling his gaze on her, Hermione turned to look him in the eye, never breaking contact even as the silence hung between them.
Draco sighed and shook his head. "You mentioned before about staring into the eyes of a beast to show that you had nothing to hide." A grim smile stretched out across his lips. "As I mentioned before, I wouldn't be satisfied with just that, Granger. I'd need to see your soul bared before me before I can pass judgement to see if you truly have nothing to hide from me," he said darkly. "You'll lie and act and maybe even seduce just to get yourself off of this island." Hermione turned back to look at him with obvious disdain and offense. "I've known women like you before. They act pure and innocent but in the end that's all it is- an act. There's no one that good or pure that exists. Maybe there was a time that I thought otherwise about you from a bystander's point of view. But you proved me right."
Hermione wrapped her arms around her knees and sighed once more. It felt like she had been doing that far too often.
"Malfoy...you're right." At this, Draco arched an eyebrow in confusion. "The world isn't black and white. No one is fully good...but no one is fully evil either." She smiled a tiny smile suddenly, taking Draco aback. "There's good in you. I don't know why you try so hard to hide it. If anyone should know about acting, maybe it's you," Hermione suggested, perching her chin on her palms as she observed him with quiet curiosity.
"There's no acting behind my words or expressions," Draco murmured, looking away from Hermione in favor of staring up at the ceiling. "Especially not when it comes to the media. I don't mask my contempt for those beneath me- I tolerate them. You can't undo the centuries old pureblood idea that's been heavily implanted into someone," he stated, recalling his mother's previous words to him before departing. "That's all we know- that's all I know," he whispered.
Hermione absorbed his words carefully, nodding a bit even though he wasn't looking her way.
"Does that mean you would try to change...if you could, I mean?" she asked tentatively.
Draco still didn't glance her way. "I won't change myself for anyone."
"Not even for yourself?" Hermione's question lowered to that of a whisper.
"...Just go to sleep, Granger." Draco sighed. It seemed sighing was catching today. "I'm not nearly drunk enough to be having this conversation, especially with you of all people."
"I understand." Hermione grabbed her pillow and held it against her chest, pushing back the curls from her face as she did so. "We can talk about something else."
"What I'd really like is for you to shut your yap and get the hell to sleep. That would please me more than you'll ever know," Draco barked.
Hermione frowned. "I told you I won't be able to fall asleep if you're in the same room as me. We might as well talk for a little while. If we talk long enough, I might be tired enough to try to get some sleep. Umm...so what book are you reading?" she asked lamely.
"A good one."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Well, obviously. What's the name of it? What's it about?"
Draco groaned, realizing he wasn't gonna be able to shut her up. "Legend of Legends."
Hermione sat up straighter, leaning forward slightly in anticipation. "Alaric's book- the one you were telling me about before?"
"That would be the one," Draco said dryly, flipping a page.
"Tell me about it...please." Hermione offered another startling smile for Draco. He corrected his baffled expression quickly by twisting it into a look of annoyance. "I was wrong before when I said you drank too much. Drunks are the backbone of society," she stated with a straight face. She giggled a few seconds afterward, not able to keep up the ruse. "Now please tell me about Alaric's book, I'm honestly interested."
Draco couldn't tell if it was the buzz from the alcohol but her words actually pulled a laugh out of him. He gave her a lopsided grin.
"You're damn right about that at least." His grin dropped as he studied her briefly, before returning his attention to his book. "But I don't have to tell you anything, you know."
"You might want to if you expect me to get to sleep anytime soon," Hermione pointed out.
"Will a brief summary tide you over?" Draco grumbled.
"It might."
"Alright...fine, whatever. Basically it's about this wizard named Rolden who's been a slave for half his life. His wand was confiscated and day after day, he and other wizards and witches are forced to dig at ruins to find ancient magical items. He finds a time turner and ends up in the past during Merlin's time. Merlin is quite an anti-hero in this story. He has the means to return Rolden to his own time but not without a price. He makes him become his apprentice for a year. During his stay, he meets Guinivere's younger, illegitimate sister, Julianna. Beautiful, free-spirited, sweet."
Hermione smiles. "He falls in love with her."
"He's a guy. He's stuck in a different time. I'm sure he must have thought that if he was going to be spending a year in this time, might as well find a good lay." Draco shrugged.
Hermione gave him a withering look. "Is that what's written or just your own personal opinion?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "Granger, he obviously fell in love with her so why even bother asking? The chit is easy on the eyes and isn't a pain in the ass unlike others," he shot at her, giving Hermione a pointed look.
"Moving on." Hermione gestured for him to keep going. "What happened next?"
Draco closed his book and placed it under his pillow, narrowing his eyes into slits.
"I believe the deal was that I give you a brief summary of my brother's story and then you head to sleep."
"Come on, just tell me a little bit more," Hermione pleaded, hugging her pillow tightly.
"I couldn't tell you anymore even if I wanted to. If I reveal anything else, it would be considered a spoiler." Draco gave a slight shrug as if to say it was simply out of his hands.
Hermione bit her lip and hummed lightly in thought. "Well...I do hate spoilers. Alright, then," she muttered, shoulders slumping in defeat. "I'll just buy my own copy when I head home," she said, lying down on her side and pulling the covers up to her neck.
"There's that self-assuredness again." Draco crossed his arms behind his head, snorting in disbelief. "The confidence that you'll leave this island is astounding."
"Just watch me," Hermione murmured, turning over to dim the oil lamp significantly. "Goodnight, Malfoy."
Draco didn't reply as he watched Hermione burrow her face against her pillow. He slowly fixed his gaze to the ceiling once more. About twenty minutes later, he heard a knock at the door. Draco swung his legs off of the cot and opened the door to find Greg standing before him.
"I brought-
Draco slammed his hand against Greg's mouth and threw a nasty look his way. He raised a finger to his own lips to get Greg to hush, slowly removing his hand from Greg's mouth. He made shooing motions for Greg to back up. Draco glanced at Hermione over his shoulder to see her sleeping soundly. He rolled his eyes. So much for her not being able to sleep in the same room as him. Draco shut the door quietly behind him and motioned for Greg to follow, not stopping until they reached the edge of the clearing.
"I wasn't sure how much to get," Greg said, gesturing at a small wooden crate behind him. "So I just got everything the shop had left over. This is the right potion...right?" he asked, wringing his hands together nervously.
Draco crouched down and picked up a potion bottle for close inspection. "Yeah...this is it. It sure takes me back to our early years in Hogwarts. Thanks, Greg, you did good." He clasped his fried's shoulder good-naturedly before grabbing six extra potions, carefully depositing them into a sack that Greg held out to him. "I'll just take these for now. Throw away the crate and place these in the far back of my closet at the villa. After you put them away, you can have the next few days off."
Greg's eyes widened fearfully. "But Draco, what about-
"Don't worry about it." Draco half-smiled. "Despite some errors, you have always managed to keep the mudblood from escaping. You earned yourself a few days off. Go visit your family, help plan Blaise's bachelor party or just spend the next few days resting. You deserve it, mate. I'll handle things just fine on my own here."
Greg looked uncertain. "But I still don't understand why you want to use this potion. If you use it, Granger will try to take advantage of the situation and just run away all over again."
"That's exactly what I'm trying to see if she'll really do or not. She wanted the benefit of the doubt, well...now she's getting it but we're doing things my way." Draco smirked. "Anyway, like I said, I'll be perfectly fine on my own. If anything happens, I'll owl you. Besides it's not like the potion will physically make me sick, just make it seem like I have all the symptoms of a ill person."
"I talked to Ginny earlier. She told me that Pansy gave her and Harry invitations to her charity ball. She also mentioned that she and Pansy would be meeting up soon to discuss details of the party," Ron said as he walked with his friends along the cobblestoned street of Nocturn Alley.
They had done their share of investigating the day before but civilians had either run from them, answered their questions in riddles or snickered insanely behind their hands. One of them had actually snatched Luna's Veritaserum and Disapparated before they could even blink. So much for that idea. It was Neville who suggested that they take the opportunity to visit Borgin's and Burke's since the owner had returned recently from a business trip. He tended to keep odd hours nowadays, but Neville had been assured by one of his co-workers that he would be in today. Neville opened the door for Luna and Ron, taking the lead once they were all inside the dusty, decrepit shop. The dim light emitting from above them gave off an eerie, ghostly green glow. Neville placed his hands in his pockets as he strode up to the glass counter where Mr. Borgin stood counting his money.
"Excuse me, sir. We would like to inquire about a certain missing woman," Neville explained, amiably enough.
Mr. Borgin arched an eyebrow at him but merely kept counting his money.
Ron snarled. "He asked you a question."
"Yes, he did but I don't reveal information without a price," Mr. Borgin said gruffly, stuffing the money in his pocket. He crossed his arms over his chest as he waited with smug expectancy.
Neville's mouth pressed into a thin line of irritation. "How much?"
"Three hundred galleons."
Neville reached into his pocket and dumped a leather pouch onto the desk. "There's a hundred. You get the rest when you tell us everything you know."
Mr. Borgin smirked. "You're looking for the Granger girl, aren't you? A few of my customers have come in saying a group of wizard folk were trying to find her. Now there's a lot of talk in Nocturn Alley...ss many truths as there are lies but I do have my customers that know everything about everything."
"Cut to the chase," Ron snapped, narrowing his eyes.
"I had one customer in particular who came in about two weeks ago. He was clearly in disguise. He was browsing through my collection of non-enchanted jewelry. I told him about a new line of jewelry made in collaboration between mermaids and magic folk. When he inquired about the owner, I told him the company did not have an official name yet. I had only ever spoken to the owner through letters. I told my client that the man preferred to remain anonymous for the time being until he was ready to release his line internationally."
"What does-
Neville lifted a hand to silence Ron, giving him a pointed look before telling Mr. Borgin to go on.
"The man was so intrigued by these particular jewels. He browsed for quite a bit before buying a ruby necklace. As he was paying, he noticed The Prophet off to one corner. It was none other than Miss Granger at an auction. She had auctioned off the very same type of necklace that this man had just bought. That's when the man bursts out laughing and tells me about how he had witnessed her kidnapping a few days before, telling me whata foolish girl she was and that she had it coming for being a mudblood. Me being always keen for a good story, I listened quite intently. He had seen the Granger girl running through the entryway of Nocturn Alley, and had heard the exchange between the girl and another wizard. He saw her knocked out by him and they Disapparated together."
"Did he see who it was?" Luna inquired, leaning both hands on the counter.
"Chances are he did," Mr. Borgin mumbled with a half shrug. "He told me he was standing a few yards away from behind Hermione Granger, meaning he had to have been facing the wizard himself. He didn't tell me anymore than that but by the way he laughed and praised the wizard for his actions, it would seem that he was familiar with the culprit."
Luna furrowed her brow. "Do you happen to remember this man's name?"
"Even if I did, records of my clients are private."
Neville snorted. "Nonsense, I very much doubt you won't give away that kind of information as well for the right price."
"Exactly but none of you can afford that sort of information." Mr. Borgin smirked. "Now pay up the remaining galleons."
Neville slammed down another pouch of galleons onto the counter, about to turn to go when Luna clutched at his coat for him to stay.
"What about the necklace?" Luna asked. "Do you have that same necklace in stock right now?"
Mr. Borgin blinked at her. "Yes, yes I do." He waved his hand for them to follow him over to a glass cabinet where several varieties of sparkling jewel pieces were on display. At the center of it was the ruby necklace on a thin gold chain. "You wouldn't believe how popular this item became after your friend auctioned it off. Are you interested in purchasing this?"
"Yes," Luna replied without missing a beat. "Yes, I am."
Ron and Neville suddenly jerked her away by her wrists. "Luna, what're you doing?" Ron hissed. "We don't have time to waste by shopping."
"I have to agree with Ron."
Luna blinked. "I also didn't plan on wasting time but you heard what Mr. Borgin said, he doesn't plan to show us his records." She glanced at Mr. Borgin quickly before shifting her gaze back to her friends. "While I distract him, you go behind his desk and take his client book. Try to be quick, I don't know how long I'll be able to distract him. He's already looking at us with suspicion. Just walk around and pretend like you're browsing while I speak with him," she whispered anxiously.
"Something wrong?" Mr. Borgin inquired distastefully.
Luna smiled brightly. "Not at all." She strolled back to his side, peering into the glass. "This is so lovely," she said in awe. "May I try it on?"
"Only if you intend to buy it."
"I might."
"Only customers that don't have enough money say that," Mr. Borgin drawled in a bored manner.
Luna grinned. "I guarantee I will purchase something here before I leave."
Mr. Borgin grumbled as he took his key out from his pocket and opened the glass cabinet. Luna watched out of the corner of her eye as Ron and Neville edged closer to the counter, constantly glancing over their shoulders.
"Here we are." Mr. Borgin held up the item with both hands for Luna to take. "What are you both doing back there?"
Just as he was about to turn his head, Luna stopped him by placing a hand over his shoulder.
"Would- would you mind putting it on for me?"
When Mr. Borgin raised an eyebrow, Luna giggled lightly and raised her bitten fingernails for him to see.
"I just got my nails done, you see?"
Apparently Mr. Borgin couldn't tell the difference between 'done' and 'not done' nails sighed as he acquiesced. He made a swirling gesture with his finger for her to turn around. Luna did so, not missing the way he smelled her hair or the way his fingers lingered on her neck long after he had secured the clasp. She flinched away from him and whirled around to face him with what she hoped passed as a smile. She fingered the necklace as she looked into a mirror.
"How Hermione had the heart to auction this off I'll never know."
The sound of something clattering onto the floor was heard suddenly, and Mr. Borgin spun around to face Neville who was kneeling down to pick up some sort of metal staff.
Neville laughed lightly. "My bad. I'm a terrible klutz but no harm done, right?" He put the staff back among the others, leaning casually against the wall with his hands in his pockets.
Mr. Borgin narrowed his eyes. "Where'd your friend go? The ginger?"
"Oh, him? He had to step out for a moment."
"I didn't hear the shop bell ring when he stepped out-
Before Mr. Borgin could inquire more, Luna directed his attention back to her.
"Thank you but I don't think this is really my style. Do you have anything less...extravagant?" Luna asked, smiling widely. "Something like...oh, actually I was thinking something like this over here," she said, pointing at a simple but elegant diamond edged butterfly pendant with a pearl drop that hung from a thin silver chain.
Luna quickly tugged Mr. Borgin by the wrist to the necklace she had pointed at, making quick motions behind her for Ron to leave the shop. Ron, having seen his cue from behind the desk, quietly got to his feet and started fast walking out of the shop. The sound of the shop bell ringing made Mr. Borgin snap his neck around again.
"What was that? Did someone come in?"
Neville smiled. "No, sir, ears must be playing tricks on you. I didn't hear anything."
"What kind of fool do you take me for?" Mr. Borgin asked gruffly. "I'm not old enough for my ears to be playing tricks."
"Do forgive me, then it must be my eyes and ears messing with me because I did not see or hear anyone come in," Neville said innocently.
Before Mr. Borgin could retort, Luna tugged on his sleeve to return his attention back to her.
Luna gave him a ditzy smile. "I'll take it."
The older man grunted in approval and motioned for her to follow him to the counter. As Mr. Borgin gave her back her change, his hand made a quick move to grasp her wrist.
"What is a lovely lady like you doing without a man? Surely, there's something I can do to fix that." He leered.
Luna glanced anxiously between Mr. Borgin and his hand. That was when Neville suddenly strode up to Luna and wrapped an arm around her, effectively yanking her out of Mr. Borgin's grip with an effortless tug.
"She's with me, actually."
"You?" Mr. Borgin scoffed.
Neville nodded as he smiled down at Luna. "Isn't that right, love?"
Luna was gobsmacked for a moment, her lips moving like a fish. "Oh...umm yes! Yes, we are. We're quite happy together." She placed her hand on Neville's chest as she reached up to kiss his cheek. She completely missed the utter look of awe on Neville's face when she pulled away. "Well...we'd best be going."
She snatched the jewelry box off of the counter and let Neville hastily lead her out of the shop, his arm still firmly wrapped around her. As soon as the shop door shut behind them, Neville carefully extracted his arm from Luna.
"Sorry about that," he said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. "I just didn't like seeing that creep all over you."
Luna craned her neck up to look at Neville. "It's alright." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear shyly. "I'm glad you did. He was making so nervous the entire time we were in there," she murmured.
"Can't blame you." Neville cast a nasty look at the shop. "Whata sleazebag."
Ron appeared from the other side of the building with the client book under his arm.
"This might be a reach but if Pansy's ball idea doesn't pan out, we'll at least have this to fall back on. Let's go back to my place and start looking through it."
The heat that invaded her room was what drew Hermione out of her pleasant slumber. She opened her eyes and smiled, humming as she stretched her arms above her. She figured it must have been around eight in the morning. Hermione frowned. That was late compared to Draco's usual five in the morning wake up calls. On rare occasion, he'd wake her up at six at the latest. Her eyes drifted over to Draco's sleeping form at her door, watching his chest rise and fall for a moment. Hermione supposed she could sleep in a while longer, just until Draco woke. Then again, it was hard being awake and not doing something productive. That's when something shiny caught her eye on the floor, a few feet from her bed.
Her eyebrows arched up in surprise. It was the skull key that Draco used that chain her to the bed every night. Hermione frowned. What was it doing on the floor? Draco always made sure to keep that key out of her reach. Hermione glanced curiously from Draco to the key, glinting against the sunlight as if taunting her. Perhaps it had somehow fallen out of his person last night as he slept. Whatever the cause of this strange occurrence, Hermione saw the chance to unchain herself without having to wait for Draco to wake up. She got up, walking as much as the chain would allow her. Crouching down quickly, she scooped up the key with a triumphant smile and let the chain fall away from her ankle.
A tiny sigh of relief escaped her lips as Hermione rolled her ankle around comfortably. A thought suddenly occurred to her and she was suddenly kneeling down on her nightstand, craning her neck as far as she could to try to see through the iron bars. She couldn't see Greg in the kitchen. Since she was up, might as well make breakfast. Hermione climbed down from the nightstand, pausing as she stood in front of Draco. She sighed impatiently as she nudged his shoulder. Draco continued to doze on. Hermione repeatedly nudged him and even slapped his face gently but he still wouldn't wake. She frowned when she noticed he was sweating profusely. Her hand hesitantly hovered over Draco's forehead before gently settling down over it. She gasped and pulled her hand away sharply.
He was scalding! Hermione stared at Draco wide-eyed. He seemed perfectly fine the day before. How could he have possibly gotten a fever? She wondered if there was any kind of potion or medicinal herbs she could use. Hermione groaned as she recalled how she had destroyed all of Draco's potions the day before at the villa. Pursing her lips, Hermione placed one foot on one side of Draco's cot before placing the other on his right side. She turned the doorknob and quickly climbed down from the cot, not knowing that Draco had cracked an eye open and was watching her go. She raced across the expanse of the clearing toward the outdoor kitchen, climbing up the short steps in two long strides. Hermione stumbled forward in her haste, barely catching herself on the sink counter.
She open the cabinet doors, biting her lip when she could only find Earl Grey and some spices but no medicine in sight. She sighed. Looks like she was gonna have to help Draco the old-fashioned way. Hermione grabbed a dish towel and filled a bowl with cold sink water. She glanced back at the Earl Grey in the open cabinet. Perhaps she should prepare some tea since he wouldn't be able to eat any solids. She poured water into a kettle, keeping the heat at medium. Herimione fast-walked back to Draco, holding the bowl carefully in both hands so as not to spill a drop. Quickly climbing over Draco, she placed the bowl of water down beside her as she kneeled next to Draco's sleeping form.
Hermione paused as her hand submerged the dish towel inside the bowl, before her eyes passed over the dusty chair in the corner of the room. She had never once used that chair not even when she was alone at nights. It sounded silly to think of a simple chair, but every time Hermione glanced its way, she felt a terrible wave of loneliness emitting from it. It forced her to once again think about who else had used this room before her. Sometimes if she stared at it long enough, she could almost envision a grainy black and white vision of a person's silhouette sitting in this chair and staring out the window, its back hunched down sadly. Somehow it almost felt like this room was waiting for its prisoner to return.
The room had looked like it hadn't been used in years when Hermione had first entered it as evidenced by the dusty, cob-webbed chair. It was as if time had frozen still in that corner of the room. Hermione knew that Draco had meant to keep it that way. It was common for parents to leave their children's room untouched when they died, sometimes even letting dust collect. For Draco it was similar with the loss of...Hermione's eyes widened in realization. Alaric...could this possibly been Alaric's room at one point rather than just some random hostage of Draco's? It would certainly make sense if she thought about it.
Draco had told her before about how Lucius had taken extra measures to keep anyone from finding out he had fathered the son of a whore by never letting Alaric leave the Manor and sending him to Durmstrang under a different last name. And this was the Malfoy's island she was on right now...would they bring Alaric along? If anything, it wouldn't have made sense for him to stay with the Malfoys in the villa. What if this room had been constructed specifically for Alaric himself?
She dipped the dish towel in the water for a bit before wringing it. Hermione folded it twice before gently pressing it down along Draco's forehead and cheeks.
"I hope Goyle shows up soon," Hermione murmured. "Maybe he can run out and get something for you."
She watched his sleeping face, placing a gentle hand behind his head, while her other hand cupped his cheek to press the cool wash cloth against it. Hermione's hand wavered as her eyes lingered over his undisturbed expression, thinking he looked much better like this. Gentle and unguarded. She preferred it to his usual scowl. His long white eyelashes fluttered against his pale skin. Hermione frowned. He really did had enviable eyelashes along with great hair. 'Why did the snobby rich had to be born with all the great features', she thought sullenly. She removed the washcloth and placed it back into the water. Draco's eyes watched her curiously through hooded eyes as she squeezed the water out of the dish towel.
When Hermione turned back to Draco, his eyes had closed once more. Once more, Hermione lifted the back of Draco's head as she gently moved the dish cloth along his face. When she heard the sound of the kettle, she folded the dish towel twice and draped it over Draco's forehead to rest there.
"That would be the tea. I'm gonna go prepare something for you now- something light like porridge or soup maybe. You just rest, I won't be long," Hermione chirped.
She ran toward the kitchen and poured the steaming kettle of water into a mug along with the tea bag. Hermione placed the covered bowl of porridge and mug of tea onto a metal tray and began carrying it to her room. She frowned when she realized she couldn't climb over Draco without spilling the food on him. She tried to lean over him as best as she could without touching him. Just another centimeter or so and she would be able to place the tray down gently.
"Granger, what the hell are you doing?"
Hermione yelped, slipping forward, her stomach landing horizontally against Draco's stomach, knocking the air out of Draco in the process.
"What the fuck?!"
"Sorry, sorry," Hermione cried out, quickly scrambling to get off of him. "I'm glad you're awake so that now I can ask you to let me move the cot against the wall. Having it and you in front of the door is too inconvenient for me."
Draco snorted. "Did I ever once give you an impression that I cared for your convenience?"
Hermion rolled her eyes "Whatever. You know, you're far more tolerable when you're sleeping. Anyway, get up so that I can move this thing." At the dirty look Draco gave her, she sighed. "It will only take a moment and then you can go back to resting."
"You're such a pain in the ass," Draco said, rising from his cot to stood against a wall, watching Hermione as she moved the cot. She was careful not to knock over the food and tea as she did so.
"There, Your Majesty," Hermione said sarcastically, gesturing at Draco's bedding.
Draco shoved past her to lie down. "So what kind of peasant food have you made for me to choke down?" he asked, narrowing his eyes in disdain at the tray of covered food.
Hermione picked up the tray and moved it closer to Draco's cot. "Simple porridge. I put a little honey in it."
"No one asked you to do that."
"I thought you might like it," Hermione said primly.
"Well, I don't."
"You're honesly telling me you've never had honey with your porridge. A strange childhood you must have had," she mumbled. "Either way, I especially made this for you so please eat it."
She grabbed the bowl and dipped the spoon into it, blowing gently on it before moving it toward Draco's mouth. He rolled his eyes and firmly pushed her hand away.
"I can feed myself well enough, mudblood."
Draco tried to grab the bowl away from Hermione.
"Malfoy, you're gonna spill it!"
Sure enough, some of the porridge landed on his shirt. Hermione tsked and shook her head.
"See what you get for being so stubborn about letting people help you. Take off your shirt," Hermione ordered sternly. "I'll put it to wash after you finish eating."
Draco stared at her for a long moment before removing his shirt and handing it to her without a word. Hermione's shyness returned for an instant and Draco did not fail to notice this. He didn't understand how she could be shy about something like that if she had been with many men before as his brother's journal had vividly claimed.
"You really insist on keeping up this charade, huh, Granger?"
Hermione blinked. "What charade?"
"That thing you do where you pretend to be embarrassed. You can only keep it up for so long. Hey...look at me." When Hermione refused to obey, Draco grabbed her chin and forced her to face him.
She looked up slowly at Draco through the veil of her lashes, feeling pink start to stain her cheeks.
"I've asked you this before but surely you've seen other men shirtless and wearing far less. Weasely for example."
Hermione felt a sting at the mention of his name. "I told you before it was none of your business." She turned away and hastily searched through Draco's bag and pulled out a random green V neck. "Put this on so you can eat."
"Such a prude." Draco chuckled. "Completely contradicts what Alaric wrote about you but that's exactly what you want me to believe, right?" He sneered at her before puling the shirt over his head and arms.
"Excuse me for not gawking like a idiot." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Oh, please feel free too since you'll never get to experience anything with me." Draco arched his eyebrows up suggestively.
Hermione glared at him. "You're such a slimey little toad." She handed him the porridge and got up, dusting the knees of her capris. "Feed yourself. I'm gonna go wash your shirt.
"Hold on, Granger. Shouldn't you take responsibility?"
"How is this my fault?" she cried out incredulously.
"For continuously giving me a hard time!" Draco shouted.
"I've had enough. You clearly said you could feed yourself so go right ahead."
Draco laid back down and crossed his arms behind his head, his annoying smirk plastered on his face.
"I changed my mind. I want you to feed me."
"I really am not obligated to do anything you order me to under your condition." Hermione raised her hand before Draco could argue back. "Let me finish. I said Im not obligated to. I, however, would feel more inclined to help you if you said 'please'."
"For what?" Draco snorted.
"It's the magic word I mentioned before." Hermione smiled.
"That's ridiculous. I do not tell mudbloods 'please'."
"There's a first time for everything," Hermione deadpanned.
Draco gave her a long leveled look. "I'd rather do things my way."
"Do it your way and you'll just exhaust yourself. You should be resting, not arguing with me." Hermione sighed. "Honestly."
"Fine then please hurry up and feed me."
Hermione chuckled. "That's about as good as you've got, huh? Very well then."
She picked up the porridge and kneeled down next to Draco again, grabbing the spoon and realized that the porridge had cooled during their argument. She lifted it to his mouth and Draco opened it warily, watching her closely as she dipped the spoon back into the bowl for another scoop.
"So tell me about yourself this time," Hermione said.
"What?" Draco arched an eyebrow at this.
"When you were really drunk at your villa before, you told me- excuse me- 'Imperio'ed me to tell you about myself." Hermione gave him a dry look before continuing. "Why don't you tell me about you this time?"
Draco harrumphed. "Now why would I go and do something thing like that?"
"Well, we are stuck like this until you feel better." She placed the back of her hand against Draco's forehead, making him stiffen at her touch. She frowned softly and sighed. "Which, doesn't look like it will be soon. We might as well do something to pass the time by filling the silence."
"Does silence frighten you, Granger?"
Hermione stared at Draco for a long moment before opening her mouth. "Well, I'm not scared per se. But it does make me feel uneasy. So what do you say? Can you tell me more about the devious mind of Draco Malfoy?" She chuckled, raising a spoonful of porridge to Draco.
Draco accepted it quickly. "Weren't you the one that said that you would come out as horribly twisted as me if you entered my mind?"
"Yes, luckily enough, I won't actually have to see inside your mind." Hermione grinned.
"Why should I have to tell you anything?" Draco snorted and looked away.
"You don't. You have the choice to tell me more or not...but I would really appreciate it if you did."
"Why?"
Hermione sighed heavily. "Merlin, Malfoy. Is that the only word you know, 'why'? You shouldn't be so paranoid. I honestly just want to get to know you. Please talk to me."
"...If it will help pass the time as you said." Draco sighed. "I don't even know where to begin."
"Anything. A hobby. A memory." Hermione shrugged.
"Well...when I was sick, it was always a house elf that took care of me, though my mother would check on me when she had the time."
"I see. It must have been difficult for her to leave you in the care of someone other than herself," Hermione said softly, raising the spoon to Draco's lips.
"I rarely got sick, though. I could run around in the rain all day and I wouldn't get so much as a sniffle."
"Did you act the same way you did as a child before I met you in Hogwarts?"
Draco smirked as he turned his head toward her. "You mean if I was still as charming and adorable as I was in first year? Why, yes I was."
Hermione gave him a flat look. "You know what I mean."
"Yes, I do. And I was actually quite different until I was seven."
"What happened?"
"Not telling you. It was just the year I opened my eyes."
Hermione took a moment to consider what that could possibly mean, before deciding that it had to have something to do with blood status.
"Go on," Hermione implored.
"I hate tomatoes. I like to watch the sun rise often. I'm an art collector. I like to travel. I've been to different places around the world but I think my favorite place to visit is Rome- the people, the food, the culture. It's all really something."
Hermione smiled. "I'm afraid I've never been anywhere outside of England."
"Why's that?"
"Well, as hard as it is to believe, Malfoy, not all of us have the means to go wherever we want." Hermione rolled her eyes.
Draco was thoughtful for a moment before making a non-committal sound in his throat.
"Well, you could have always married into a family of wealth."
"What?" Hermione squawked, eyes wide.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Don't act like it's such an unimaginable thing. Honestly. You could do so much better than the Weasel."
"One, don't ever talk about Ron that way ever again. He's always been good to me. Second, I'm not a gold digger." Hermione scoffed. "I would rather live in a decrepit shack and marry the one I love then have everything and be married to someone I can't stand."
"Then that makes you a stupid woman." Draco gave her a cold look as he shifted to sit up. "Not everyone can afford the luxury of love. Sometimes you need to focus on your own comfort and security."
Hermione thinned her lips in irritation. "I've never known that way of life. You and I..." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "We live in two entirely different worlds. As you keep reminding me with your favorite insult, you're a pureblood and I'm not."
"Whether or not you have the privilege of being a pureblood, you do have the option to change your fate." Draco snorted. "Salazar forbid that thinking of your well-being once in a while should be a bad thing. You could save yourself from this endless slavery of debt you've shackled yourself too." Hermione squirmed in discomfort as he eyed her up and down slowly before raising his eyes to meet hers again. "Looking at you more carefully now, I see you're not entirely a lost cause in the looks department. Contain that bird's nest you call hair and wear sexier clothes, and you could have some wealthy bloke falling all over himself for you."
"Look, it's disgusting to even insinuate that I should flaunt myself at some man just for his wealth like some sort of sport," Hermione cried in indignation. "Don't tell me you get off on women chasing you for your wealth."
At this, Draco tossed his head back and laughed. "Listen, Granger, I don't have to rely on my wealth to get women." He smirked.
"Your arrogance is nauseating." Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Confidence."
"Arrogance," Hermione fired back.
"No, confidence. There's a difference. If I were arrogant, I'd be certain I could bed any woman. Seeing as how I haven't bed you, obviously that's not the case," Draco stated flatly.
Hermione was going to argue back that he'd never sleep with her for many obvious reasons, one of them being the fact that he thinks she murdered his brother, but she wisely chose to keep her mouth shut. She didn't want to ruin this temporary truce they seemed to have going for them right now.
"That would be arrogant indeed to assume," Hermione quietly agreed.
Draco gave her a leveled look. "You wouldn't know about confidence, would you?" He raised a hand to his chin pensively. "Tell me, when was the last time Weaslebee made you feel confident in your looks or your...abilities? When was the last time you felt truly desired?" he asked darkly. "Or better yet, when was the last time he actually made you feel like a woman at all?"
Hermione's face flushed at his words. "How- how can you ask about those kinds of things so casually? I told you before that our relationship is none of your business!"
"The fact that you continue to avoid the question makes me believe he doesn't make you feel any of those things," Draco voiced, a hint of intrigue in his tone. "Does he?" he pressed.
"I don't have to answer you," Hermione ground out. "You're the last person I have to prove anything to." She stood up sharply, shoulders squared and hands balled into fists. "I've had enough. I'm going to go wash your shirt."
She grabbed Draco's stained shirt and strode out of the hut, ignoring his shouts to come back as she did so.
"Seriously, what have you and Draco been up to?" Blaise asked off-handedly. "I haven't heard much from either of you lately."
Greg glanced up at his friend in surprise, biting his lip as he chose his next words carefully. He hadn't thought he'd be spending his much appreciated time off doing anything other than sleeping in. That was when he had received Blaise's invitation earlier that day to join him and Astoria for dinner. So far he had managed to take the conversation as far from the topic of Draco as he could during the first few courses of dinner. But there was no stopping a curious Blaise and Astoria. It was natural that they would be curious, but Greg had to decide what he deemed most appropriate for him to tell his friends.
They were currently sitting in an elegant restaurant, crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling as well as several Greek maiden statues scattered throughout the place. White thorny roses sat as center pieces against red velvet tablecloths. Greg's ran his fingers along the edge of the cloth, staring at it with a faux keen interest, trying to buy himself some time.
"Oh umm...I've just been helping Draco with that new business he's started up." Greg glanced up at Blaise when he finished but quickly shifted his eyes away when he saw Blaise's penetrating stare fixed on him.
Astoria hummed as she raised her wine to her lips. "It's been nearly a year and he's still so secretive about it."
Greg grinned. "All will be revealed in due time," he said, placing a forkful of chocolate cake in his mouth.
"Whatever kind of business he's concocted, I hope he knows what he's doing. I've seen many businesses crumble over some half-baked idea."
"Trust me, Blaise. Draco has it all figured out down to the last detail," Greg stated, sounding absolutely proud.
He paused his fork at his lips when he saw a certain raven-haired woman with a pair of older folk sitting a few tables down from them. So caught up in his conversation with Blaise and Astoria that he had somehow failed to notice the beauty he had been infatuated with for some time now.
"What is it?" Astoria asked, craning her neck back to see what he was looking at. A sly smile crossed her lips. "Oh, I see. Greg, why don't you just talk to her already?"
"Who?" Blaise asked, sounding the slightest bit interested.
"Pansy Parkinson," Astoria replied, one side of her mouth lifting up smugly. "Come on, Greg, you've had a crush on her for the longest time."
Greg put his fork down and pushed his cake away. "I can't. I mean, I'm not exactly a stud."
"What're you talking about? Ever since you lost all that weight, you've been looking better these days," Blaise said bluntly.
Astoria rolled her eyes. "Greg, you've always been a decent-looking guy but that's not even the point. A lot of women may go for looks but they stay for a bloke's personality."
"I'll give you a hundred Galleons if you go talk to her, mate," Blaise drawled.
"Umm...I-I don't know."
"You won't go for a hundred?" Blaise hummed lightly. "Two hundred then?"
"I can't." Greg gave Blaise a hopeless look. "I wouldn't know what to say."
"Three hundred galleons."
Greg rolled his eyes. "Blaise, I'll just make a fool of myself."
"Four hundred." Blaise gave him a leveled look. "The best things in life are worth going after. You just have to believe you're worthy. That and she's getting up to leave so you'd better make a decision fast." He snapped his fingers to emphasize.
Greg poked at his cake absently as he processed Blaise's words, peering up to see that indeed Pansy and the older folk had gotten up. She hugged and kissed each of them on the cheek. They appeared to give their goodbyes as they each went their separate ways. While the older couple exited the restaurant, Pansy reached into her purse to pay for their meal. Astoria reached out and took his plate away, eliciting a sound of protest from Greg.
Astoria smirked. "You're not getting this back until you go talk to her. The worst she can do is tell you no but you'll never know unless you go for it. If she tells you no, it doesn't mean no forever. It just means not at the moment."
"Five hundred." Blaise dumped the bag of galleons in front of Greg. "Now get your formerly fat arse up and talk to her before she leaves."
"...Al-alright." Greg stood up ram-rod straight with his palms resting against the table. "Alright, I'll go to her...am I moving yet?" he asked sheepishly.
While Blaise rolled his eyes, Astoria merely laughed as she stood and turned Greg in Pansy's direction.
"Just go!" She giggled, giving him a little push forward.
Greg started walking slowly toward Pansy, watching as she grabbed her purse and was turning to leave. He lifted a shaky hand and placed it on her smooth, milky white shoulder.
"H-hi, Pansy."
Pansy turned around and smiled brightly. "Oh, hey there, Greg. How are you?"
"Great, just...great," Greg said lamely, shifting from foot to foot. "It's been a while, huh?"
Pansy chuckled. "I'll say. You look fantastic, by the way," she said, gesturing at his bulky figure.
Greg's eyes widened. "Seriously?"
"Seriously," Pansy stated, her eyes roving over his face quickly. "Who's the lucky girl who's stolen you from bachelorhood? Surely, there must be someone," she flirted.
Greg blushed before he could help it, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I don't have a girlfriend but...there is someone I've sorta had my eye on for a while."
"How nice."
"Well, I wanted to ask you-
"Oh, I'd love to stay and chat longer but I have a date tomorrow so I have to go shop for a whole new outfit." Just as she started to walk away, she paused and grinned at Greg over her shoulder. "Right. Before I forget." She reached into her purse quickly and pulled out a small envelope with a red wax seal, a 'P' carved into its center. "I'm throwing a charity ball. I hope you come, it will give us all a chance to catch up." As she said this, she waved at Astoria who waved back pleasantly. "Everyone is invited but the ones with special invitations like these get to take mystery party bags home with them. There's a different surprise inside for each special guest. Here, give one to Draco as well if he's not too busy," she said, pulling out an extra for him to take.
Greg who was too stunned by Pansy having a date that he merely took the invitation without a word. Pansy got on tip-toe and planted a quick kiss on his cheek.
"Don't be a stranger now. Save me a dance, alright?" She winked.
Greg nodded as he watched her sashay out of the café. He started walking mechanically back to Blaise and Astoria's table. He sat down, dropping the invitations unceremoniously down in front of him.
"She has a date...she has a date and she kissed my cheek," he said glumly.
"Yup," Blaise said, making the 'p' pop. "We all saw."
Astoria gave him a sympathetic look. "Oh, don't give up, Greg. Pansy has always had a string of flings but that's all they've ever been- flings." She gripped his wrist and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Maybe this party is your chance to sweep her off her feet."
"Not in that suit he isn't." Blaise snorted, pointing his fork in Greg's direction.
Astoria glared at him evenly. "If you have such an opinion on everything then why don't you go help him pick suitable attire for the ball, then."
"Uhh that's OK, Astoria." Greg laughed lightly, going back to eating his cake. "I'm sure I'll manage."
"No, you're hopeless. Besides, it's not just the suit that makes the man. Like Astoria said earlier, a woman stays for a bloke's personality in the end. Once you have the suit, you'll need to know the proper way to talk to a woman."
"That's it, Blaise! You should prep Greg for the party!" Astoria grinned, excitement rolling off of her in waves.
Greg nearly choked on his cake. "W-What?!"
Blaise raised a lazy eyebrow at his fiancée's suggestion, sighing after a long moment of watching her hopelessly hopeful expression.
"Alright, I suppose it wouldn't hurt."
"Are you seriously going to prep me?" Greg gawked.
"If I don't, I know Astoria will never let me hear the end of it," Blaise said dryly. "In exchange, I better get a fucking good bachelor party from you and Draco."
"No strippers," Astoria said straight away, frowning in disapproval.
"Where's the fun in that?" Blaise smirked as Astoria slapped his arm. "Easy. I'm just kidding. But the same goes for you. Tell Pansy and those other silly friends of yours not to hire a male stripper for your bachelorette."
Astoria rolled her eyes. "They know me better than that."
"Alright then." Blaise placed both hands on the table. "If we're doing this, we should go now."
"Now?" Greg's eyes widened.
"No better time than the present, mate."
Astoria smiled. "I'd go with you both but my mother and I are wedding planning together. I suppose I'll just have to be as surprised as Pansy will be." She stood up and grabbed her small purse. She kissed Blaise briefly, giggling a bit when he pulled her in for another one. She turned to Greg with a smile and squeezed his shoulder encouragingly. "Good luck, I'll see you both later."
Blaise stood up from the table, leaving a small pouch of Galleons on the table. "Let's get going. We only have an hour or so before the shops close."
"But..." Greg looked longingly at his chocolate cake.
Blaise rolled his eyes as he hauled Greg out of his seat, barely giving him enough time to grab the Galleons Blaise had given him earlier.
"Come on!"
"Let off enough steam?" Draco muttered when he heard Hermione re-enter the hut. He cracked one eye open and then the other as he studied her curiously. She had only returned briefly to drop off a plate of food for him and grabbing some clothes before disappearing once again. "You've been gone over two hours. How long does it fucking take to wash one shirt?" he spat.
"I took a hike through the jungle to get to your villa. Decided to have dinner there and take a shower while I was at it. I was quite happy to take my time. Afterward, I thought I'd take a look around to double check and see if there really were no healing potions around for you. No such luck." Hermione sighed. "I did find this, though," she said, dumping her beaded purse onto the bed, rifled through it quickly before withdrawing a small plastic container with some sort of yellowy clear substance inside.
Draco gave the container a wary glance. "...What is it?"
"It's a salve commonly used for colds and fevers in my world. Before you complain about using something muggle-made, you should know this will cure your fever in no time," Hermione stated matter-of-factly, removing the top of the container.
"You sure it's not some type of poison?" Draco asked, giving her a withering look.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're so paranoid..." She froze suddenly, biting her lip as she cast her eyes down.
"What's with you?"
"I...need you to take off your shirt again, please." When Draco arched an eyebrow, she sighed. "Traditionally, it's supposed to be applied to ones chest so...please take off your shirt."
Draco gave her a long look before lifting his shirt over his head and dropped it down beside him. Hermione kneeled down next to him, scooping up a generous amount of salve before placing her hand flat against Draco's chest, gently spreading the salve all over the sharp planes of it. The intensity of his gaze made her uncomfortable as she smoothed it out against his lean muscles. She could feel the steady beat of his heart beneath her hand, making her pause momentarily over it.
"Merlin...you have one after all."
"Have what?" Draco asked flatly.
"A heart." Hermione smiled genuinely. "You have a heart."
For a long moment, they merely stared at one another other as if they'd never seen each other, before Hermione realized her hand had lingered too long on his chest. Hermione made an embarrassed sound in the back of her throat, quickly jerking her hand away as she did so.
"Sorry umm...well, it's getting late. I should wash the dishes."
Draco suddenly grabbed her wrist as he looked up at her. "I want hot chocolate."
Hermione blinked. "Sure. Just give me a minute."
Hermione tugged on her wrist and Draco slowly released it, watching her as she walked out of the hut. She fought the urge to touch her wrist. It still tingled slightly where Draco had touched it. As soon as she walked into the kitchen, she boiled a kettle of milk and searched the cabinets for packets of powdered chocolate. Hermione sat at the picnic table with her chin perched in her palms as she waited for the milk to heat up. She had been surprised that Draco had been so willing to let her touch him...then again he had declared before that he wanted her to take full responsibility by taking care of him in every way.
Hermione rolled her eyes at this. Typical of him to blame her for something so mundane. The screeching of the kettle pulled Hermione out of her daze. She hastily grabbed two mugs and poured an equal amount of milk and powdered chocolate into them. She beamed when she found just enough whipped cream and caramel for the both of them. They were precariously put on a silver tray, before Hermione made her way back to the hut. Gently putting the tray down on her nightstand, she turned around to face Draco who was looking at her expectantly.
"Do you need help sitting up?" Hermione asked.
"I can manage."
Draco slowly sat up, placing his pillow against the wall as he reclined back. His legs dangling from over the side of the cot. Hermione stepped forward with his hot chocolate. Their fingers brushed together accidentally as she handed Draco the mug. Hermione quickly retreated to her bed and grabbed her Jane Eyre copy she had recovered earlier from her beaded bag. She sat cross-legged on the bed as she flipped to the page she had bookmarked. Draco could hardly argue about her reading while in his condition. And to be honest, it had felt like far too long since she had read a good book. She was at the part where Jane had saved Mr. Rochester after discovering that his room was on fire. Hermione smiled and shook her head at Mr. Rochester's changeable nature, telling Jane to go only to ask 'Are you leaving me?' moments later.
"I assume that must be an interesting book," Draco mumbled, holding his cup up to his lips as he stared at her over the rim of it.
"Quite. It's one of my favorites."
"What's it about?"
Hermione bit her lip before speaking. "It's about a woman named Jane who has lived with a horrible family all her life only to be shipped off to boarding school under the stern ruling of an evangelical man named Mr. Brocklehurst. She lives out the rest of her childhood there until she's eighteen and is finally free to go and do as she pleases. She immediately begins seeking employment, shortly finding herself a job as a governess in a place called Thornfield Hall where she is to teach the child of Mr. Rochester, her employer."
Draco smirked. "I can sense some sort of forbidden love between governess and employer brewing up, am I right?"
"That's right but what Jane doesn't know is that Mr. Rochester is harboring a dark secret."
"Doesn't everyone?" Draco deadpanned. "What person can say they're not keeping some sort of secret, especially from the people they love most? Like you hiding your financial problems from the Weasel."
Hermione thinned her lips. "Goyle told you, huh? Well, what's your dark secret then?" she asked snidely.
"You're mine."
Hermione gave Draco an odd disgruntled look, feeling anger blossoming in her chest at the possession she sensed in his words.
"You're my dark secret, I mean." Draco chuckled. "I had to lie to my mother in order to bring you here. Told her I was going away on a business trip...with my girlfriend."
Hermione scoffed. "Don't tell me I'm the girlfriend in your pathetic story."
"Don't worry, Granger. I told my mother I had some impossibly beautiful girlfriend. She'll never suspect I was talking about you."
Hermione arched an eyebrow. "Out of curiosity, what name did you give her?" she asked, ignoring his earlier comment.
Draco rolled his eyes. "What do you care? Anyway, I couldn't think up of a name so I just told her my girlfriend would have to be a surprise...but now that I think of it. I could have used your middle name. What was it...something a J?"
"Jean," Hermione said, canting her head.
"Yeah...that's it." Draco smirked. "Jean definitely sounds a lot nicer than Hermione, that's for sure. Were your parents drunk when they named you or something?"
"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione growled, slamming her book shut. "It comes from a Shakespearean play, not that you would know. It may not be the most conventional name, but it's the name my parents gave me so I love it all the same."
"Ah, yes," Draco drawled. "Your muggle parents. What were they again, denters?"
"Dentists."
"Do you aspire to follow in their footsteps?"
"When I was a child, I suppose I did." Hermione half-shrugged. "I used to go with them to work once in a while and watch them work. They were my tooth fairies." She laughed lightly. "They paid me generously for my teeth."
"Tooth fairies?" Draco crinkled his forehead. "I've never heard of such a thing."
"They don't actually exist," Hermione clarified with a shake of her head. "Where I'm from, parents tell their children stories about a fairy that comes to collect their teeth and in exchange for their teeth, she would leave a coin or money under their pillow. My parents always paid me up front, though."
"You muggles are strange. Who would leave money in exchange for teeth? That's just stupid." Draco snorted.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's just a story. Weren't you ever told bedtime stories or did your parents just tell you the stuff of nightmares?"
"My parents wouldn't but whenever my grandfather, Abraxas would come over, he'd tell me all sorts of stories up 'till the time of his death. He died just months before I received my letter to Hogwarts."
"For a child in mourning, you had a funny way of showing it." At the glare she received from Draco, she shrunk back against her pillow shamefully. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. You must really miss him."
Draco tilted his head back as he stared up at the beige cross-hatched ceiling. "No, not really. If you lived my life, you'd see that death is something you get used to very quickly."
"We don't have to talk about your family if you don't want to, Malfoy." Hermione bit her lip. "Maybe...maybe you can tell me about what sort of career you're interested in."
"I already have a career."
"Really? What is it?" Hermione smiled encouragingly.
"You might find out sooner or later." Draco sighed. "Maybe. It all depends on what kind of situation I'm forced into."
"Or you could just tell me."
"Or not." Draco gave her a flat look. "Only Greg is aware of my business. I haven't event told my mother yet."
Hermione's eyes widened. "How could you not tell her?"
"Because it...it involves a matter we would disagree on. It's just complicated, alright?"
"Alright." Hermione nodded, licking her lips as she wondered what they could talk about. "Alright so we can't talk about your family or your career...what would you like to talk about?"
"Nothing. I'm gonna head to sleep." Draco laid down and set down his empty mug beside his cot.
"Really?" Hermione couldn't help but feel disappointed. She and Draco had actually been getting along more or less today.
"Yup," Draco said dryly.
Hermione dimmed the oil lamp as she watched Draco settle back under his covers. She watched how his face relaxed against the moonlight streaming in from the barred window, making his alabaster skin glow. She shook her head with a smile as she grabbed her Jane Eyre book once again and picked up where she had left off. For the longest while, she was absorbed by the tale. Hermione was now at the part where Jane and Mr. Rochester had professed their passionate love for one another, before running back to Thornfield hall to get out of the rain.
Unbeknownst to them, the oak tree they had professed their love under had been split in two by lightning, foreshadowing the hardships that were to come. That was when Hermione heard thunder, making her jump up and let out a squeak. She quickly glanced at Draco to see that while she hadn't woken him, his face was twisted into a scowl of anguish as his hands clenched his blanket. Hermione watched him uncertainly for a moment, before getting up to stand over him. ''
"Draco," she whispered over the sound of heavy rain fall. "Draco, you're having a nightmare," she said, gently placing a hand on his shoulder.
The second he felt her hand on him, he lashed out and pulled her down. Hermione yelped as she fell on top of Draco, her hands coming to rest on either side of his head. She raised her head and watched him wide-eyed through her curtain of curls. Draco's eyes fluttered half way open a few times, looking at Hermione as if he wasn't really seeing her. Just as Hermione tried to climb off of him, he rolled them over so that Hermione was now laying on her side this time, his arm anchoring her waist in place.
Hermione pressed her hands against Draco's chest, clenching against the fabric fearfully, all the while wondering if he would really try to take advantage of her despite their circumstances. Draco blinked as he studied Hermione's face. It was then that Hermione realized their faces were only centimeters a part. She could feel Draco's warm breath against her lips, making her stare down at his mouth instinctively. Hermione's gaze quickly retreated back to his eyes- those demon eyes on the face of an angel.
"Are..." Hermione swallowed, trying to put some distance between them by pressing on his chest again but to no avail. "Are you alright? What were you dreaming about?"
Draco blinked sleepily. "Alaric," he murmured.
Hermione bit her lip as her brows drew together sympathetically. "I'm sorry...is there anything you need? Do you want to talk about it maybe? Do you want me to bring you water or tea?"
"Just stay."
Hermione's heart lodged in her throat at his request. "But I-
"Stay," he said again, slowly removing his arm and settling it back to his side.
At that moment as she watched Draco slowly drift back to sleep, Hermione couldn't deny him. She grabbed the covers and pulled them over herself. She pillowed her head on one hand, watching Draco sleep pensively. Never would she have thought that she would be in bed with a Death Eater, albeit a former one, and definitely not under these kind of circumstances either. 'First time for everything', her earlier words at Draco echoed inside her head. Hermione sighed as she laid down as well and drifted off to sleep.
A/N: Hope you guys liked it! Plz R/R. :) A lot of tension as well as sweet moments in this chapter. I really enjoyed giving Draco the opportunity to drop his guard around Hermione and actually taking her advice by getting to know her. O.O I really wasn't expecting to have a NevillexLuna scene but the idea of the couple made sense, especially since I found their hand holding scene in the Deathly Hallows Part 2 to be so cute. XD I swear sometimes these scenes write themselves. In the next chapter, we'll have one of the girls masquerading as Hermione while Draco goes to investigate Pansy's ball to see if he really kidnapped the wrong Hermione or not.
I feel like chapter seven will be very necessary seeing as how I can't imagine the gang being able to sit still until they can perform their next Summoning Spell. It just wouldn't make sense for them to be idle when there's other things that can be done in the mean time to try to bring Hermione back. It's going to be very exciting to watch them get super close to the truth! Not to mention exciting for Hermione to be out in the real world again with a higher chance of escaping but we'll see how that goes...So stay tuned and plz R/R! You awesome readers are what keep me going.
Now onto the preview I promised I'd be giving every chapter starting with this one:
Chapter 7: The Doppelganger
Greg came dashing into the hut, his hands clutching both sides of the threshold as he stumbled forward.
"Draco! " Greg shouted.
Draco's glower faltered as he shifted his gaze away from Hermione to Greg. His shoulders were still tense but he slowly unballed his fists.
"What is it?"
Greg's chest heaved up and down as he stared at Draco with wild eyes.
"There was- there was an article about Granger in The Proph-"
Draco ground his jaw, moving it side to side a bit. "Yes, yes. I'm quite aware of that article." He grabbed The Prophet and threw it onto the floor in anger, the front page revealing an image of Hermione in a glamorous gown at a charity ball of all things. "Things have changed drastically."
"So..." Greg swallowed. "Is- is she really the wrong Granger?"
"That remains to be seen," Draco murmured darkly, crossing his arms as he watched Hermione. "She knows Occulemsy and there's that damn potion she invented to fight against Veritaserum. I'll never know if she really speaks the truth or not. The only way is to go to the charity ball and investigate myself. We're going. All three of us," he said with a finality that made it clear it was not open for discussion.
"What? No, that's too risky! I can't let you do that!" Greg cried out, striding up to Draco. "Potter and everyone else will definitely be there."
"I have no choice," Draco said through grit teeth. "I can't let this die if I have the wrong girl."
"I told you you had the wrong girl." Hermione glared daggers at him. "From the beginning, that's what I've been trying to tell you."
Draco suddenly turn on her with narrowed eyes. "Let's say for one second you're not Granger then why did you take her place? Why charm yourself and take over Granger's identity?"
"It's not like I have a say in what she wants. I'm just a doppelganger she created to protect herself," Hermione lied through her teeth, giving Draco a smug look.
"And from whom would she need to protect herself from exactly?" Draco asked quietly. "From me?" Before Hermione could speak, he laughed darkly and said, "She can't protect herself from me, love. If what you say is true, I'll get my hands on her very soon. The only reason she would use a duplicate of herself as a decoy is if she knew I was coming for her for something she knew she did wrong."
At this, Hermione eyes widened. Of course, he would jump to that conclusion. Hermione groaned inwardly, trying to think up a quick retaliation.
"She intended on using me to aid Harry in his Auror missions soon," Hermione said breezily, surprised at how natural that lie sounded.
Greg glared daggers at Hermione. "We can't trust anything she says. Just 'Imperio' her to tell you the truth and have it be done with?"
"Because my wand inspection with Potter is coming up soon." Draco growled. "I used the Imperius Curse on Granger while I was drunk and then again when she was magically bound to the tree. It's going to look suspicious if I keep using it. You're also a close link of mine so I can't risk you using the Imperius as well."
Greg cursed under his breath as he started pacing back and forth. "What are you gonna tell Potter?"
"That I used it in self-defense."
Hermione scoffed. "You're pathetic."
Draco rounded on Hermione. "You really don't want to cross me right now. You'll pay if I find you made me waste my time searching for a fake Granger at this ball."
"You're despicable, Malfoy," Hermione hissed. "Lying to me like that, pretending to be ill! And for what? To mess with me? To make me...to make me feel sorry for you?!" She stood up from her bed, the chain attached to her iron anklet clinking with every step she took. She prodded a finger against his chest, getting right in his face. "I thought I felt sorry for you and I hated myself for it! You have no idea how confusing it is to feel pity and hate and hope for your redemption all at once. It's so damn overwhelming! I can't take it anymore," she huffed, her chest heaving up and down in exertion.
Draco grabbed both of her wrists and forced them down against her sides as he stared her down through narrowed eyes.
"I tend to have that affect on people," he confessed with a cocky tone, squeezing her wrists. "Be careful, Granger. If anyone heard your little outburst just now they might just mistake it for love. You did confess your love for me once before even if it was under false pretenses."
Hermione laughed dryly. "I'm not playing the 'I love you' game. The first time was a joke not so many mornings ago over breakfast." Her jaw set tightly. "Believe me when I say there won't be said a second time, joke or not."
"I'm afraid you'll have to." Draco leaned down close to her face, his eyes holding a dangerous glint. "You will dress yourself pretty for tonight, hold onto my arm and act the part of my lover. I know that's something you'll hate more than anything so I can't imagine a better punishment for all of the trouble you've caused me."