Songs of Choice for today's Chapter:
9 Crimes by Damien Rice
Lost by Michael Bublé
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The witch looked at him as if she wanted to deny it as if she wanted to fight him for all she was worth; but then her emotions mutated into that disturbing calmness that comes with resignation and she simply stood and asked: "would you like some tea?"
"Are you being serious right now?" he raised one of his eyebrows sardonically and wondered whether his blunt statement had somehow broken the witch's mind.
"There are two things I never joke about, Draco Malfoy," she said seriously "Books and tea; it'd do you well to remember that."
"I see," he could feel his eyebrows reach for his hairline. "Sure, tea would be lovely."
"Join me in the kitchen, then" something about the way she didn't bother to see if he followed or not gave him a peculiar feeling. He wasn't sure if it was the fact that she was so relaxed around him or the fact that she gave him her back without fear; whatever the case, he found himself riveted. "You can sit if you wish," she gestured at the countertop. He looked at witch then at the countertop. After careful consideration he decided to call her bluff and, with the grace that characterized all snakes, he leaped in the air and softly landed with his bum on the space she had signaled. Her eyes were wide and her mouth agape.
"Didn't think I would do it, did you?" he said as a deep laugh burst from his belly. For some reason, this made the brunette really angry.
"Stop it!" her yell did the trick, what had he done? He studied her expression closely and that seemed to irritate her further. "Really, quit it! Enough of this nice and normal act, it is starting to weird me out."
"What in the world are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about you, with your creepy reptilian head twisting and your laughs and the completely out of character behavior." What had started as squealing was now a frustrated whisper.
"Hmmm," he pretended to consider her rant, "I think I understand what is happening here." He vacated the countertop and stood; he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and stayed like that.
"W-what are you doing?" she stuttered.
Instead of answering her question, he squared his shoulders, straightened his spine and fixed his features into a snarl. When his eyes opened they showed nothing but contempt for the witch like they had for years. Hermione instinctively took a step back.
"Tell me, Granger," he spat her name as if it was an insult, "did I see you leave your wand in the living room?" he snapped as his own slid out of his sleeve and into his awaiting hand.
"I…" he could see the panic take over her features as he smiled knowingly.
"Accio!" Soon Hermione's wand landed on his open palm. "Scared, Granger?"
"Never!" she cried defiantly as her Gryffindor spirit took over.
"Then why," he said as he deflated and came into a relaxed stance, "do I terrify you when I act normal? And what is this ridiculous talk about me pretending? I thought I had explained it all last time we saw each other."
"I…" he saw shame and embarrassment in her eyes as her cheeks flamed. "I don't owe you any explanations!"
"Maybe so," he shrugged as he turned over the second wand to its rightful owner. "I didn't think I would have to say this to you of all people, but your wand should never be more than a thought away." For some reason that made her laugh. "What is so funny?"
"Hold this?" she said returning the wand.
"I thought I just said—" suddenly he saw a kettle fly onto the stove, which proceeded to turn itself on. He had to duck when the flying cups almost hit his head on the way to the counter. "You are non-verbal as well," it wasn't a question but she still nodded.
"A thought away," she smiled.
"You are quite brilliant, you know that?" he could hear the admiration in his words, but he chose not to think about it too much. "I guess that if I do have to marry someone, you are not that terrible of a choice."
"Why are you so certain it will be me?" he had to hold in a laugh when she did the 'creepy reptilian head twist' as she considered him closely. "Is it because we are both intelligent? Do you really think it will come down to something as ridiculously elemental as that?"
"Bloody hell… Don't sound so despaired, Hermione," he reprimanded. "Intelligence is tremendously important, do you imagine yourself sharing the rest of your days with some like say, that Finnegan boy, who went about life exploding things instead of charming them?"
"Hey!" she tried to complain but in the end laughing won out. "That's my housemate you are talking about, snake."
"Whatever, my point still stands." He said returning the wand to the witch once more. "Nevertheless, no; that's not why I think we will be paired. At least it's not the main reason. I just think it would be the right political move, especially if you take into consideration the conference."
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She wasn't sure exactly what it was that made her realize, maybe it was his self-assured tone or his confident shrug, but Hermione could all of a sudden see why Draco Malfoy was so certain of their pairing.
"YOU!" she pointed at his neck with her wand, "it was premeditated, wasn't it? How very convenient for you that everyone was there to witness your sweet apology!"
"Now, now, Hermione," he spoke to her as if she was an angry Hungarian horntail, "don't you—"
"Don't? Don't, what?" she said pressing her wand where it rested on his jugular. "Don't blow you into little pieces? I would get away with it, you know?"
"I have no doubt you would," he said pushing the wand away with two fingers. "I also have no doubt that you wouldn't condemn some innocent witch to go slowly insane wondering every day if that day is the day I will kill her."
"Oh, you snake…" she said flustered, "that's low, even for you."
"I'll say what I have to say so we don't end up reenacting our encounter from third year." She tried to hold it in but failed miserably. She laughed a good, heartfelt laugh. "I don't find it funny in the least, I had to use a makeup charm to hide the bruise!" If he'd said that to deter her laugh, he'd failed because soon she was doubled over as unladylike cackles and gasps for air left her. "Are you about done now?"
"I will be, someday," she said sighing and drying her eyes as she turned toward the hissing kettle and moved it out of the fire.
"You know," he said conversationally as he hopped back on the countertop "the first time I saw a non-maj make tea, I was mystified by it and asked a lot of question; which of course brought me a whole lot of trouble."
"What do you mean?" she questioned as she poured the hot water over the tea bags she had pulled out of a glass jar by the blender.
"I mean that Drake Black, the British backpacker from London had to give a lot of explanations for his ignorance in the tea brewing department."
It was only a couple seconds of distraction, the blink of an eye really, but it was enough time for Hermione to miss the cup and instead serve the boiling hot water on her hand.
"AH!" she jumped letting the kettle fall to the floor "Blimey O'Reilly!" she wailed as she jumped all over the kitchen holding her injured hand. "Oh, Godric."
A swift flick of Draco's wrist cleaned the mess up off the floor, and then he was next to her looking at the burn "Hermione, stop fidgeting, please. I cannot help you if you do not hold still." He looked closer at her hand and cursed under his breath as small boils started to appear. "Come on," he said trying to move her in the direction of the sink, but not getting anywhere. "Hermione, I'm serious, move or else it will leave a scar, come on."
"Am I supposed to trust you now?" the skepticism in her voice was almost palpable, "and anyway how would you know what to do?"
"Growing up with Lucius is not something I want to ever talk about, but if it is the only way to get you to listen I will." He said picking her up as if she were a bag of groceries and setting her down by the sink. "Would you let me heal your hand in exchange for a horrible story from my traumatic childhood?" when she got over the shock, she placed her hand in his.
"What are you going to do?" she whispered the question, but he didn't answer.
"Aguamenti!" the stream of cool water leaving his wand made her wince at first, but not long after the pain gave way to relief. "Do you remember when we were in second year and you managed to figure out what beast hid in the chamber of secrets?" the girl nodded. "Do you remember how you found out?" she seemed confused for a second, but then she spoke.
"I had been researching for hours in the library and was about to call it a day. As I stood to leave a book fell from one of the shelves and some of its pages tore off." The kitchen had disappeared from in front of her as she traveled back to that day, "I remember picking up the pages that had fallen, the one at the top was the page on the Basilisk. As soon as I read it, I knew that was the answer to my questions but I had to be careful. I wrote on the paper a simple 'pipes', and then conjured a mirror so that I wouldn't die if I came across the bloody beast. Good thing, too, or this conversation wouldn't be happening."
"Right," he said with a nod as he ended the charm and apparated a thick healing salve. "Do you remember where you were the day you met my father?"
"I was at Flourish and Blotts," she rolled her eyes, "but what does that have to do with your childhood or the Basilisk?"
"I'm getting there." He dabbed the salve onto her skin and the relief was immediate, "What do you remember about that encounter with my father?"
"I remember your bloody father dropping Tom Riddle's diary on Ginny's cauldron," she said angry still after all this years.
"Anything else?"
"Aside from you being a world class git and partaking in property destruction—" she stopped and looked him in the eye, shocked beyond belief. "You tore off a page from a book and hid it in your pocket before anyone else could see it!"
"I did," he nodded, "and it cost me the integrity of my back when my father figured out it had been me who had planted that page in the book that mysteriously fell at your feet."
"Draco," it was as if she was looking at him for the very first time, "you saved us all," she was mystified but he ignored her.
"Lucius was quite inventive when it came to fire magic," his eyes became haunted as he stared off into the distance "he punished me for an entire week because of my interference. Each day he would destroy my back and, at the end of the day, he would call on my personal elf, Nym, to cure me; just so he could start again the next day."
"Oh, Draco" she surprised both of them when her arms wrapped around the blonde and she cried into his chest, "I am so sorry, Draco. Merlin, You were just a child!" She felt his hand softly pat her shoulders.
"It's okay, Hermione," he whispered, "please, don't cry. I don't know what to do when witches cry." She let out a sad laugh at that but continued to hold him.
"I'm sorry, Draco."
"It wasn't your fault, love," as soon as the endearment left his lips he went stiff, "I mean—" she cut him off.
"Hush, you muppet," she didn't know how long they stood like that, but when they finally came apart she smiled at him. "I think you were right about what you said earlier."
"I usually am, but what are you referring to specifically?" she returned the smile on his face as she patted his chest.
"If I do have to marry someone, you are not that terrible of a choice."
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Ginny was at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor for what felt like the tenth time that week. What could she say? Her days were a bloody mess lately, and today was no exception. When she had seen the damned letter from the Ministry she had grabbed the closest thing she could get her hands on and hurled it against the farthest wall; which had resulted in the shattering of a vase that had been in the family for generations, and a very angry Molly that had told her to stay away from the burrow until she could control her temper.
Once she had gotten enough ice cream to send her into a peaceful and merciful death, she began exiting the store just as someone tried to enter. Of course, the result of such an encounter was that she fell on her bum and her ice cream cartons were sent sprawling all over the floor.
"Bloody fantastic!" she yelled letting her body fall into a starfish position.
"Are you okay there, Weasley?" lowering her gaze from the ceiling, Ginny's eyes came to rest on Blaise Zabini as he rubbed his chest.
"This day keeps getting better and better," she said as she repeatedly hit her head against the floor.
"Should I take you to St. Mungo's?" the wizard seemed concerned.
"No," she dusted herself as she stood up, "but you could use the amazing skills you learned as a death eater and blast me to death." Zabini's eyes went wide as he frantically looked around the shop.
"Okay, first of all," he whispered angrily, "have you gone completely mental? Second, I worked really hard to keep my family away from that mess and I'd like to keep it that way, and third, I never took the mark, so no death eater skills here."
"Really?" her surprise must have annoyed him because he started rolling his eyes, "why didn't you?"
"Okay, that's it," he said taking her by the arm and pulling out his wand, "we are going to St. Mungo's."
"I'm fine," she complained brusquely pulling her arm out of his hand. "The only problem I have is that my ice cream is now a bloody puddle."
Taking in the size and the multitude of colors that formed the puddle, Zabini felt compelled to probe, "Just how much ice cream were you planning on having?"
"Whatever amount would take away the awful taste left over from getting dumped and being forced into marriage in a two-week period" she deadpanned. The wizard seemed to consider what she said and then turn to the witch handling the store who was currently busy cleaning the multicolored lake of melting ice cream.
"Sorry for mess," he apologized sincerely. "Could I please have the exact same thing that Miss Weasley had just gotten, but doubling the amounts?"
"Of course," said the annoyed witch, "as long as you promise to not spill it all over the floor too."
"You have our word," He nodded. "Please put it on my open tab."
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Hello, amazing readers!
Another day, another chapter :) I hope you are enjoying reading this fic as much as I am enjoying writing it. I am SO VERY HAPPY to report that I am getting more followers for this story and each time I see a hike in the number I want to cry and hug you guys because WOW! It really means the world to me that you think my crazy ideas are worth reading.
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