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Abundance of Feelings, Chapter Seven: Deal
From her place in the sky, Hermione watched the Main Entrance doors open. Light streamed out from inside, illuminating the late afternoon scene. Draco veered down in a smooth line, flying like the experienced Quidditch player he was. A figure was running down the steps to meet them, robes billowing in the breeze behind.
"Hermione!" It was Ron. He grabbed her up in a fierce hug before the broomstick had even stopped, burying his face in her hair as he lifted her up off the broomstick. "It's about time you came back, we were so worried! Where the hell did you disappear to?" He pulled away a few inches to look her in the eyes with a firm, steely gaze. It didn't look right on him.
"R-Ron," she started, gasping for air. "I-"
"Hey, shove off Weasel," Draco cut in, taking Hermione's arm and pulling her away. "Are you trying to suffocate her?" His glare shot daggers at the offending Gryffindor, his voice cold.
"What?" Ron balked at the pair's closeness. "Mione- you- a-and-" he stuttered. "What the bloody hell is going on?!"
The girl tried to get a word in edgewise but was cut off once again. "Mione! You're back!" Harry and Ginny hurried down, but soon stopped short with expressions similar to Ron's.
"Oh, damn," Hermione murmured. Why did this have to happen now? "Draco and I, um, sort of..." she trailed off. "When we left..."
Draco sighed dramatically. "We got closer over the last few days and eventually started going out. Is that what you were trying to say?" He glanced down, and Hermione nodded mutely. "Now, if you don't mind, move so that we can get in."
They were at the top of the stairs before everyone started throwing comments, questions and protests at them.
"WHAT do you mean going out?" "Come back here!" "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER, MALFOY?" At the last one, Draco turned and scowled. "Mind your own business." And with that, he slammed the door shut, leaving them outside.
-x-
"I can't believe those idiots," Draco said, shaking his head, walking with Hermione towards the staircase. They staff had obviously done some major damage control- almost everything was back to normal. There were only a few spots of rubble scattered around, barely even noticeable.
"Hey, watch it," Hermione declared, poking him in the chest. "Those 'idiots' are my friends." She skipped ahead of him, clearly feeling a bit better with the situation.
"And yet I wonder where your other 'friend' is," Draco mumbled, looking around. That stopped her short.
"You're right," she gasped. "How could I forget about him? Where is-"
"Joshua?" came a voice from behind them.
They turned to see a man dressed in expensive Muggle clothes, a black tuxedo complete with a red satin tie. He had dark, curly hair, and seemed to be towering above them from his tall height. His voice was professional, yet he had an air of worry around him at the same time.
"Who are you?" Draco said, stepping ahead of Hermione and thrusting out his wand.
"Do you know anything about Josh?" Hermione piped up.
"Yes, I do," the stranger said. "And I'm Alexander Richardson. Head of Mr. Grierson's security."
"What the- security?" Hermione broke in. "Why-?"
"It doesn't matter," Alexander said impatiently. "He needs your help. He's missing, and I need you to come with me."
-x-
"When are they coming? I'm getting tired of this," said an impatient voice.
"Soon. Very soon."
-x-
'This is insane,' Hermione thought, almost shaking her head in disbelief. Who would've known that the minute they arrived back at the castle, they would be whisked away to go save a classmate from certain danger? 'More than a classmate,' she corrected herself, 'he's a friend.' She hoped that he would be okay after he discovered that she had found herself a boyfriend- Josh had given her dozens of flowers, a secret admirer letter... and she'd hardly been thinking about him when she got together with Draco! Another worry to add to the ever growing list...
"Are you sure that Hermione can't stay back at the castle?" Draco asked Alexander, interrupting her thoughts. Alexander had a hunch that the Rebels were the cause of Josh's disappearance, so they were headed to the Ministry of Magic to report it (however unreliable they might be, they were the only place they knew of to go to.)
"Out of the question," Alexander replied, still walking at such a fast pace that Hermione had to run to catch up with him. They'd used another one of those silver medallions with the Ministry's mark (where were they getting those?) and now were rushing through the place, following Alexander's lead.
"But why is it out of the question!" Draco said furiously. "Most people would bother to give an explanation when-"
"Wait here," Alexander interrupted. They were standing in front of a long, row of secretary desks, all busy with flurries of wizards and witches shouting, trying to get the attention of the workers behind the desks. He swiftly went down to the end of the row, behind the desks, and out of sight.
"I swear, this is impossible," Draco groaned, running a hand through his hair. "He won't even give us half of the information a normal person would! Why does Josh need security? Who the hell is he? And why the hell did he need you, us? Can't he just save that idiot on his own?"
"Would you quit with the idiot remarks?" Hermione said, annoyed. "If Josh is in trouble, then we have to do anything we can to find him. You don't have to be here, you know." It was a remark that made Draco lose himself for a second and stared at Hermione.
"I could really care less about Joshua Grierson. You know that. I'm here because of you, alright? Get that in your head," he said, mussing up her hair. "And-"
"I'm back. And there's a man who can help us," Alexander said. Draco's face turned to annoyance at getting interrupted all the time. Hermione would've laughed if the circumstances weren't so forbidding. A short, Asian man with gray hair was behind Josh's security, clad in plain black robes. His Ministry of Magic badge glinted at them.
"Yes," he said, bowing. "I'm Ito-san. I believe I can help you. You see," he said, not giving them a chance to speak, "I have inside information about these who call themselves the 'Rebels.' I know their location and am willing to take you to them."
"How..." Hermione started.
"Ahh, that's not part of the bargain, miss," he responded, waggling his finger at her. "I only require a small amount of money, I take you to the place, done."
"Done," Alexander responded. He drew out a a pouch full of coins and dropped it into his hand.
"Done," Ito-san said, smiling. The deal was struck.
Hermione wondered what they were getting themselves into.
Author's Note: Alright, sorry about the month-long wait. -.-;; I hope that this chapter made sense. To tell you guys the truth, I'm really not to happy with the last chapter either- I just felt like I needed to get something up. I'll probably redo it sometime...
Anyways! In the next chapter, they're going to go rescue (?) Josh. Always appreciating all the reviews, alerts, criticism, and all of you who voted on the poll in my profile.
Thank you, Sienna-shirou