And here comes the next chapter!
I wanted to get this out yesterday, but, things came up so I had other things, not better things BTW, to do.
It's out now, that's all that matters, right? Right!
Chapter 8 of Paintings and Shergar
Night 3
When the six teens finally reached Paris, everyone was tired and, in Ron's case, hungry. It was midnight, and everyone they looked, all the teens could see was lights and people, with quite a lot of shops.
"… 23 …" Pansy counted.
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked, from beside her.
"Counting all the couples I see … Ohhh, look a threesome! ……"
"Right," Hermione said and continued to drive while concerned for her friend's sanity.
"I think we should stay here tomorrow to look at the sites and all," Pansy suggested.
Hermione pretended to faint at those words, car swerving in the process, "Oh my God, Pansy and CULTURE? I thought I'd never see the day!" She said dramatically, as you might expect, Pansy and culture do not get on.
"Culture? Hell no! Imagine all the snogging places around here!" She exclaimed, while eyeing dark, anonymous corners thoughtfully.
Hermione sighed in reply, the day Pansy gets cultured, would be the day Draco sleeps with a woman.
"We're finally here!" Ron said from the passenger seat.
"Finally, we were driving for the whole day! It's mad," Harry huffed.
"At least we're almost there, that's one good thing," Ron said, shrugging.
"We're almost halfway, but we still have to get through France and Switzerland,"
"Where are we going by the way?"
"Vienna, you mean that you didn't even know where we were heading to?"
"I forgot, ok?"
"What if you were driving and everyone else was sleeping in the car, and you didn't know where to go, we'd probably end up in Estonia or something!"
"Estonia?"
"Beside Latvia and Lithuania, joined the EU in 2004 and- wait, why am I giving you an EU history lesson?"
"Duh, it was your special subject on mastermind,"
"I was quite a geek back then, weren't I?"
"Yes," Ron laughed.
"You weren't supposed to say that, Draco is the mean one, you're supposed to be the nice one that doesn't insult me!"
"Yeah, sure, sorry to break it to you, Harry, but I'm not one of your 'Girlfriends', I'm the brutally honest one that always says what's on his mind. And doesn't care shit about the consequences!"
"Yes, you one in a million you are," Harry said sarcastically.
"Damn right,"
"Awww … Draco's sleeping!"
"I knew it was too quiet for it to be true!"
As if on cue, however, the sleeping Draco shouted, "I wanna ride the pink llama!"
That night, the six friends found a nice hotel to stay in, it was better than the other two at least, and there weren't any cockroaches or hairy receptionists at this one. The friends were also able to get a two bedroom room, which they have for two nights, as they decided to stay in Paris for the day. Harry, Ron and Blaise took one room labelled the 'boys' room, and Hermione, Pansy and Draco took the other room labelled 'The-would-be-girls-room-if-Draco-didn't-have-a-penis-but-he's-here-to-gossip-with-us-anyway-so-get-used-to-it' Room. It was altogether very confusing, as no one was allowed to enter the room with out saying the password, which was the name of the room.
"So, tell me, did I miss anything good?" Draco asked, lying down on his bed.
"Yeah you did, guess who the new couple is?" Pansy asked mischievously, while Hermione blushed.
"Who?" Draco asked, sitting up quickly.
"Our very own 'Mione here and guess who?"
"Who!"
"Blaise!" Pansy declared.
"Didn't know you were into the stoner type, Hermione, so what happened?"
"Caught the two of them in a liplock!" Pansy told him winningly.
"You didn't!"
"I did!"
"You whore, Hermione!"
"Like you're one to talk, Draco!" Hermione laughed.
"Excuse me; I am actually quite a classy guy!" Draco said indignantly.
"Right," Both Hermione and Pansy said.
"I am!"
"So do all classy guys shag like rabbits on heat?" Pansy asked.
"Of coursed we do, how do you think we get our kicks? Reading?"
"Oh yeah, I can so imagine you reading, have you finished reading Dr. Seuss's books yet?" Hermione joked.
"Halfway through 'Cat in the Hat' bitch of a story that one!"
"Yeah, it's really challenging, all that rhyming must really hurt your head," Hermione droned, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, poor Barbie here can only read about four words a day," Pansy chimed in.
"Like you're one to talk, what was your last book, ABC for toddlers?"
"Sarcasm is really becoming on you, Draco,"
"I know its part of the package of being in my family."
"Including his ego," Hermione whispered to Pansy, so Draco couldn't hear them.
In the boy's room, the conversation was also about Blaise and Hermione's new relationship.
"So you just kissed her?" Ron asked.
"Yeah, didn't really know what got into me, it just felt right," Blaise answered with a dreamy look on his face as he remembered their first kiss.
"The same with me and Pansy," Ron agreed.
"I didn't know you two were closeted romantics," Harry laughed watching his two friends fanaticise about their first kisses with their girlfriends.
"Didn't know you were a closeted gay two years ago!" Ron said.
"So you're getting me back then?"
"Of course, I've been know to hold a grudge (Urgh, that movie terrified me!) For quite a long time,"
"I'll keep that in mind. I was just saying though, that I'd never thought I'd see the day when you two start getting all drooley over your girlfriends," Harry finished.
"And you and your 'girlfriend' are any better?" Blaise asked, using bunny ears when saying girlfriend.
"I do not dream about kissing him like you tow!" Harry argued.
"No you'd rather stare at his arse whenever he walks in front of you," Ron stated.
"I do not!"
"Harry, you do, we've all seen it, stop denying it!" Blaise said, sounding kind of like a therapist.
"I'd rather not talk about this," Harry said, trying to deflect the conversation.
"I'd have to agree with Harry with that one, my favourite topic is not exactly Draco's arse," Ron shuddered, visibly shivering at the mental imagery (Probably the only one, however!)
"So what do you want to talk about?" Blaise asked Ron.
Ron thought for a moment … "Food!"
"Goodnight Ron," His other two friends said.
It was about three in the morning and Draco, Pansy and Hermione were still up, and this time, they were leafing through the numerous magazines that they had brought with them.
"Ohhh, look at this! '10 things you must have for summer'," Pansy squealed.
"Err … Pansy, its autumn, summer is over," Hermione told her with a knowing shake of her head.
"Yeah … I knew that …" Pansy said, not making eye contact with Hermione.
"What are you reading Draco?" Pansy asked after noticing how engrossed he was in a magazine.
"The 'Personal Problems' section," He answered.
"You're a sick bastard, Draco, you know that? I want to read it!" Pansy said.
She reached over and tried to take the magazine of him, but Draco, who was still reading intently, kept a firm grip on it. Then Pansy tried to pry his fingers off, but failed. Then for about a minute she stopped and sat back down to read again. Draco kept an eye on her, knowing full well that she was plotting something. But after another minute, he let his guard down and continued to read. The next thing what happened was totally unexpected by both Draco and Hermione. Pansy, noticing how Draco went back to reading, pounced on him while making kung fu noises, and tried to tackle the magazine off him. After about five minutes of arguing like toddlers over the last building block, Pansy had finally got the magazine, having beating Draco into submission.
"Yes! I got it!" She yelled from where she sat straddling Draco's chest, effectively pining him down.
She started the read the problems section only to let out a grumble, "Bah! I've already read this one; here you can have it back."
She tossed the fully ripped and creased at Draco where it landed about a metre away from him.
"Wow, great throw, Pansy," Draco said sarcastically, still trying to get her off him.
"I'd like to see you do better, you weakling," Pansy defended, watching with glee as Draco tried to get up but couldn't.
"I'm not a weakling!" Draco yelled.
"Yet, you can't get a girl off you."
"I'd never had the chance to see if I could!"
"Well, then you shouldn't have been gay in the first place."
"That means nothing!"
"Yes it does, I once heard my dad say that when people are gay they trade stuff like their 'manly' strength and crap to God."
"That makes absolutely no sense what so ever."
"I know, but it's funny to hear him at it though, he absolutely hates you, you know that? He only lets me hang out with you because he works with your dad."
"Actually, that makes a lot of sense. Every time I walk into your house, I always get that feeling that a big blade or something was about to swoop down and kill me!"
"That's because it's true!"
"Could you get off me now, I'm starting to go numb."
"Get me off then!" then she thought about what she had just said, "Actually, no, just … no."
Draco visibly cringed at the thought.
"If you were straight, we'd probably be making out right here on the floor at this stage." Pansy stated.
"Great, thanks for the visual."
"You're probably the only person in the hotel, except Harry of course, who wouldn't get excited about being this close to a girl."
"Isn't that a pity." Draco said sarcastically. He squirmed some more.
"Please get off me! Please!"
"I love it when they beg."
"You sadistic bitch!"
"You love it."
Draco continued to struggle some more, but found it fruitless.
"It would be easier if you were lighter," Draco sneered.
Pansy gasped and jumped up off Draco, with a scandalised look on her face.
"No way did you just say that!" She said horrified.
"Finally I can get up," He said rubbing his sore backside.
Next thing he knew, he was pined up to the wall by an angry Pansy. Hermione in all of this continued to read blissfully oblivious to what was going on around her.
"Did you just call me FAT?" screamed a panicked Pansy.
"No, I just said that I can't get you off me that easily because you're heavy, that does not mean you're fat," Draco said trying to defend himself.
"YES IT DOES!" she screeched back, eyes flaring as her grip on him tightened.
"No it doesn't, you're what, a size ten?" He tried, absolutely terrified that Pansy was about to castrate him.
"STOP IT, A SIZE 10 IS FAT!"
"That's not fat, that's curvy, and I'm sure you know how much boys love curvy girls over those stick thin girls, like take … me for example, I wouldn't want to be your best friend if you were like a lollipop stick, and the same goes for Hermione too, you two are the prettiest girls I know because you are everything a woman should be! And Pansy, you would not believe how many boys watch your ass when you walk!" Draco said, grovelling was certainty needed to get out of the hot seat.
"Really?" Pansy asked, loosening her grip on him.
"Yes, I was counting, I wouldn't want my Pansy to just go to anyone now, would I? Did you know that Ron asked me first if it was ok to ask you out?"
"You serious?"
"Dead serious, the same goes with Hermione, You two don't know this but I'm always watching out for both of you."
"Awww, that is so sweet!" Pansy said and then enveloped him into a huge hug, Hermione, who was listening also joined the hug. They stood there for about five minutes hugging.
"Hey, it's like we have our very own personal bodyguard!" Pansy said.
"Yeah, our very own gay bodyguard," Hermione corrected.
"I'm not gay!" Draco told them.
"Sure you're not, you just learned how to give mind shattering blowjobs by reading 'Playboy' magazine," Pansy said.
"What?" Draco asked totally confused.
"Draco, darling, don't think we've never heard yourself and Harry when you think you're alone," Pansy continued.
"You're all perverts you know that?"
The next morning after breakfast, the six teens went out to the beautiful city of Paris. It was about midday and the sun was shining, and the ground was littered with read and golden leaves from the trees.
"Isn't this lovely!" Hermione exclaimed, even after only getting about 5 hours of sleep or so, Hermione, Pansy and Draco were wide awake.
"Yeah, but do you know what would be even nicer?" Pansy asked.
"What?"
"SHOPPING!" both Hermione and Pansy exclaimed.
"The amount of shops here, Hermione, you wouldn't believe it until you witness it for real!"
"Yeah, I went here when I was thirteen, but back then, shopping didn't really appeal to me," Hermione confessed.
"But I can remember all the shops I would pass to get to the bookshop."
"Typical, really, Hermione you're in the city of love, and you read," Pansy scoffed.
"I was thirteen remember?"
"When I was thirteen I had already felt a boy's balls."
"That's because you're a whore Pansy."
"And damn proud of it!"
And with that they ran off to where the first row of boutiques was.
"Aren't you going with them, Draco?" Harry asked.
"No."
"Why?"
"They need to spread their wings and fly!"
He gained worried looks from the three other boys.
"Fine, I couldn't be bothered to go with them."
Ron almost fainted, "Did you hear that? Draco Malfoy doesn't want to go shopping, in Paris!" he exclaimed.
"Don't make a big parade of it, I just don't feel like it," Draco defended.
"Somebody call a doctor quick!" Blaise said placing a hand on Draco's forehead while pretending to dial 911.
"What's the big deal about me not wanting to shop," Draco asked, brushing Blaise's hand off.
"Draco, love, listen to what you had just said," Harry told him.
Draco seemed to think about it for a minute, facia expression changing from wonder, to realisation, to surprise.
"That is just so out of character for me, it's unreal," He told them after a while, and with that he ran off to join Pansy and Hermione.
"One day, Harry, one day," Ron soothed, as Harry sighed and took out his wallet.
Hermione, Pansy and Draco spent all morning buying clothes and accessories, on their boyfriend's expenses. Despite the fact that both Draco and Pansy were rich, if felt necessary for both Ron and Harry to buy them at least one nice thing. That one nice thing, however, mutated into one hundred nice things. They were now at a little café, where they were having lunch. All the shopping bags were brought back to the hotel rooms as the amount of cloths bought would have filled up the rest of the café.
"It's half five, can we do something else but shop?" Ron asked Pansy, who was snuggled up to him.
"I'm sure we could, Hermione suggestions?"
"Well, we could go to the Louvre to see the Mona Lisa," Hermione suggested.
"Ohhh, I've always wanted to see that painting! Can we go Harry, please?" Draco asked, surprising everyone, by saying that.
"Ummm … sure, we can get a bus to there after lunch." Harry agreed, basically because he was sick of shopping.
When they entered the Louvre, all six teens were blown away by the size of it, and that was just the entrance. They decided against getting a guided tour, seeing as Hermione seemed to know everything about the Louvre without the need of a guide book.
They spent the first hour or so looking at the sculptures and the architecture.
Then they moved on to where the paintings and drawings were to go see the Mona Lisa, which they found was packed full of other tourists hoping to see the painting as well.
"Wow, I'd never thought I'd see this many people in a museum," Pansy noted.
"This painting is a very famous painting Pansy, loads of people would come here to see it, heck, that's why some people go to Paris!" Hermione explained.
"So some people don't go here to shop?"
"Yes," Hermione nodded.
"What a crazy world we live in," Pansy shook her head in agreement.
"Some people are cultured, Pansy, and to some people, material possessions aren't the basics for living!" Hermione snapped.
Pansy raised an eyebrow at her best friend, Hermione had never snapped at her before, and this new Hermione was quite scary.
"Listen. I'm sorry 'Mione, I can tell that this is important to you," Pansy apologised.
"That's alright, it's just that I've always wanted to see this painting," Hermione explained.
"Oh no, I understand perfectly, I wouldn't like it if I wanted to see something that was important to me and then to have my best friend get all huffy because she wanted to do something else."
"Thanks Pansy."
"Any time!"
"Hey, guys did I ever tell you about that time when my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, Tobias Malfoy, stole the Mona Lisa?" Draco asked.
"WHAT?" His five friends questioned.
"You're telling me, that it was your family that almost burned down that painting?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, it's just a family thing, Leonardo de Vinci was the best friend of Tobias, but then they got into a fight over something … I can't remember, anyway, so Tobias, because Leonardo was a better painter, stole Leonardo's latest painting, the Mona Lisa, who was actually the wife of Francesco del Giocondo, just to spit him. Then he hid the painting underneath his desk where no one could find it. Now, one cold night, Tobias set a fire to warm up, and of course he fell asleep, which meant that the fire went unattended. The next thing he knew, the whole room was totally alight with flames. So when people came to put the fire out and Tobias was rescued, of course they found the painting. But before Tobias could be imprisoned he committed suicide by slitting his throat with his wife's kitchen knife, the painting was returned to Leonardo, who then finished it," Draco finished.
"Wow, is that true?" Blaise asked.
"Yeah, my grandfather thought it necessary for me to know about what my ancestors had done in the past, and as you can guess, that story was one of the more covered up story," Draco explained.
"Why was this never in a history book?" Hermione asked.
"Like I said, It was all covered up, even the fire," Draco told her.
"Creepy, so I assume your family has done other things like this before?" Hermione asked again.
"Yeah, my great-uncle stole Shergar!"
"He stole the 1981 Derby winner? Nobody ever found him again, heck people are still looking for him! Where did your great-uncle take him?" Hermione asked.
"We're not sure, he was disowned because his father, my great-great uncle always used to bet on Shergar on races, so naturally when Jebidiah stole him, he was furious. We haven't seen him since."
"Family histories can be so seedy!" Ron exclaimed.
Draco laughed in agreement, "I'll probably have to assonate some world leader to uphold the 'Family Honour'," Draco said, using bunny ears on the words Family honour.
"I really wouldn't put it past you," Ron said.
"Thanks Ron!"
Finally the crowds moved and the six teens were able to see the infamous painting.
"Awww … it's so small, I was expecting it to be bigger!" Ron complained.
"Just because things are small doesn't make them insignificant," Hermione told him.
"Kind of like Draco!" Pansy said brightly.
"It she happy or sad?" Draco asked, having not heard the comment Pansy made on his height again, while he peered at the painting.
"No one knows Draco," Hermione explained.
"I reckon she's happy, look she's smiling!" Draco said.
"You're wrong, she's obviously sad, she's frowning!" Blaise corrected him.
"Well, you're wrong, does she look sad to you?" Draco asked Harry.
"Well," Harry said peering at the picture, "She does look a bit happy."
"There, see I told you!" Draco said, while doing a victory dance around Blaise.
"But she also looks sad," Harry finished, Draco instantly stopped dancing and turned to face Harry.
"You were supposed to defend me!" Draco told him.
"I agreed with both of you!" Harry defended.
"No you didn't, first you agreed with me, but then you changed your mind and said that she was sad!"
"I think she's sad too," Ron said.
"I can't believe this! She is so obviously happy, look at her, she's smiling for heaven's sake!" Draco pointed out.
"She's frowning Draco, get over it," Blaise said.
"She's not, look," Draco pointed at the painting.
"Maybe, but look at her eyes, she has a sad, pining look in her eyes that is so obvious that anyone, except you, can see it!" Blaise argued.
"She has a happy glint in her eye which makes her look happy!" Draco argued back.
"Wow, who'd ever though we'd see the day when those four argue over a painting," Hermione whispered to Pansy.
Pansy laughed in agreement, "Well, this proves one thing."
"What?"
"That boy's can fight over anything!"
Wow, long chapter for you all, 3,600 words and 9 pages, feel honoured!
Please R&R, without all of you, this would be a crappy one-shot with no plot and no humour!
And thanks to everyone who reviewed so far! Love you all!
