Chapter Ten
Crazy Creatures
The first few days in Australia, Hermione and Draco did nothing but explore the beautiful beaches. Hermione had waited a year, she could wait a few more days. They positively thrived in the new country. While neither were terribly keen on swimming, they lazed about in the sand quite contented to appreciate the breathtaking water. Hermione's one goal, other than finding her parents, was accomplished in those first few days, as well. And it brought her much more amusement than she had anticipated.
The young witch had always wanted to see a kangaroo. She understood that her desire was probably what every unoriginal tourist wanted to see, but she couldn't be bothered to care. They had been exploring when she came across a small group of them. What followed would forever remain a precious memory.
Draco had been mystified by the hopping creature.
"What in Merlin's name is that?" he questioned frantically, eyeing the animal warily. Hermione was too busy cooing at the adorable little joey that was sniffing at them curiously to answer him. "Granger," he said. She finally turned to find him looking more than a little worried. "Oh, honestly, Draco!" she admonished, "It's only a kangaroo!"
"A what?"
"A kangaroo. Now come here," she demanded bossily. He shook his head and stepped away from her instead. Hermione raised an accusing eyebrow at him. "It's a common animal in Australia. You're going to be seeing them everywhere."
"Are they dangerous?"
Impatiently, Hermione went and fetched the slightly frightened Slytherin and marched him back over to where the joey remained watching them. "Granger, really, I-"
"It's not going to breathe fire or claw your eyes out or drag you underwater or anything," Hermione promised sincerely. He frowned disapprovingly at her patronizing behavior. Affronted by her tone, he snapped, "I'm not familiar with all your ridiculous Muggle animals, Granger. You can't expect me to be comfortable with them."
He cowered away from her fierce glare. "Draco Malfoy, do you have any idea what kind of creatures that I had to get used to when I got to Hogwarts? Spiders the size of cars, giant three-headed dogs, a basilisk thanks to your precious house, and dragons, Draco! Bloody dragons!" she exclaimed exasperatedly. "So you will stand here with me and look at these kangaroos and find them to be the most adorable bloody creature you've ever seen!"
Draco gulped. Thoroughly chastised, he looked down at the creature with slight distaste. After a few moments of eyeing the animal over, he supposed it wasn't the most hideous thing he'd ever seen. Hermione, to his dismay, had wandered out of sight following another one of the blasted creatures. The tiny thing before him dared to hop closer. Draco froze.
"No, I don't think so. You stay right there," he commanded sternly. Curious brown eyes blinked in response. The joey hopped closer still. "Listen, you mangy fur ball, I am not nearly as charmed by you as Hermione. So…stay back."
Unsurprisingly, the little kangaroo hopped right into Draco's legs. It bounced off them and shook its head, a little confused. Draco felt something stir in his heart as it raised its head up to look at him. He felt an overwhelming and entirely ridiculously urge to apologize to it. "No, no. Stop messing with me. You're the one who hopped into me. As if I'm going to apologize for that."
There was something so, so human, he guessed, in the animal's challenging eyes that he took a surprised step back. The joey followed. Quirking an interested eyebrow, Draco took an experimental step to the side. The baby kangaroo followed suit. A delighted smile spread across Draco's features.
"What do you mean I can't keep him?" Draco pouted in response to Hermione's immediate no. She couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. Draco's wounded grey eyes bored into hers as he held out a hand to draw her attention to the very cute joey bashfully hiding behind his legs. Tiny paws had latched onto his jeans and her heart melted at the sight. "Draco, you can't keep a kangaroo as a pet," she tried to reason as gently as possible. She had really ruffled his feathers by blatantly telling him no. She doubted anyone ever had.
"But we've bonded," he continued as if it were an obvious argument, "I am his wizard and he is my kangaroo. I don't understand you're negativity in the matter."
Hermione burst into a fit of giggles.
Not wanting to admit to anyone who might ask that their first fight as a couple was about keeping a kangaroo as a pet, Hermione decided that she would keep that memory private and precious. Draco continued to pout for the rest of the day, sure his little friend was sorely missing him. No one might ever believe her, but Draco Malfoy was a complete softie at heart.
Shaking herself out of her musings, Hermione returned to worrying. He hadn't mentioned it once, but she knew his birthday was the following day. It was hard to believe that it had been more than a month since the final battle. She had a gift for him, but she was nervous about it. What were you supposed to get someone who had the money to buy everything? She hadn't been sure what to get him until he had met his little friend.
On the morning of his birthday, Draco woke up to a barrage of kisses. He couldn't help but laugh joyfully as Hermione showered his face with chaste kisses. It was bliss. It wasn't long, however, before he directed her lips onto his and gave her a mind-blowing kiss that left her utterly disoriented. When he finally released her, she couldn't quite remember what she had been meaning to say to him.
"Good morning," she greeted in a bit of a daze. Draco shot her a cheeky smile. "Good indeed."
After a few moments of simply marveling in the fact that the absurdly handsome blonde that couldn't keep his hands off her was hers, Hermione remembered why she woke him up in the first place. "Happy birthday, Draco," she murmured with a kiss to his cheek. He looked at her in surprise. "You remembered?"
"Of course, silly. I know all my friends' birthdays!" She watched as his brilliant smile faded. "What is it?"
He played with one of her curls shyly before saying quietly, "I'm not just a friend, though, am I?"
Hermione shook her head vigorously. "Of course not! You're so much more."
"But what more?"
She couldn't resist. "Draco, are you asking me if we're official?"
"Official?" he echoed, adorably confused.
"Boyfriend and girlfriend."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"So…are we?" he wondered in a low voice, not quite meeting her eye. It struck her then that he was afraid she would say no. "Draco," she said seriously enough that he braved meeting her glance, "If you think for one minute that I'm not crazy about you, then you're mad. I've been waiting for far too long to be able to call you my boyfriend."
She wasn't the slightest bit surprised when his lips came crashing down on hers.
"Go on, open it!" Hermione urged, eyes bright with childlike anticipation. Draco was bemused by her excitement over him opening his gift. His birthdays had never been much of a joyous occasion, but it was clear they were important to her. With a wary smile, Draco dug into the bag.
"It's a kangaroo!" he cried happily. Hermione never thought she'd see a day when Draco Malfoy would be hugging a plush animal so gleefully. "There's more in there," she informed him with a pleased grin. His face lit up as he removed the remaining gifts. A little crease forming between his brows as they knit together, Draco read the paper aloud. "Certificate of adoption. This certificate acknowledges that a symbolic adoption of a kangaroo by a Draco Malfoy has been made with a generous contribution to the World Wildlife Fund to protect species and their habitats."
He looked to Hermione in wonder. "Do I-do I own a kangaroo now?"
"Symbolic, sweetie. A symbolic adoption," Hermione clarified in amusement. Draco nodded slowly. Then, with a shrug, he simply said, "I'm going to believe that I own a kangaroo."
"You're ridiculous."
"That may be, but I'm yours," he said in satisfaction. "And you're mine and I own a kangaroo."
"Okay, what do we have to go on? I'll make a list. It might help us decide where to start," Draco suggested, grabbing a pen and paper. When Hermione first showed him the writing utensil, he had a ten minute rant about all of the time and labor he'd wasted on ink and parchment. He didn't like the way her lips curled downwards as she thought. "I've already told you. I have nothing to go on."
Draco ran a hand through his blonde hair, momentarily distracted by how long it had gotten. She hadn't said anything about it, but he could tell she liked it when it was all mussed up. The urge to comb it into an ordered submission was still strong, but Draco was trying to figure out who he was without the haughty pureblood society dictating what was right. He was realizing it was okay to not be in control of every little thing, and his hair seemed a simple enough place to start. "Well, when you modified their memories what memories did you give them?"
"They would definitely still think they're dentists. I made sure that they were happily married, believed they had no children, and dentists who's life dream was to move to Australia," Hermione recollected sadly. He hated to see her so down. "So, we're absolutely looking for dentists. And Mum and Dad would always work together, whether at their own place or not. The problem is…"
"What? What's the problem?" Draco urged, leaning forward expectantly. With a dramatic sigh, Hermione flopped face first onto the mattress. Draco, who had been perched on the edge of the bed, was sent into the air. He let out a soft chuckle before following her lead. He reached a hand up and brushed her wild curls away from her face. "Hermione, what's the issue?"
She mumbled something into the powder blue comforter. Draco rested a steady hand on her back and teased, "I'm sorry, but I don't speak mumble." When she still wouldn't look at him, he used his hand to gently roll her onto her side. "Now tell me what's wrong."
Unable to deny his patient request, Hermione explained, "Their names. I tried to give them the names Monica and Wendell Wilkens. But the spell wasn't exactly perfect. I have no way of knowing if I was able to make them remember something that specific. When I was researching the spells, I gathered that they would retain their old memories, just without me in them. And it was easy enough planting the idea of Australia. But names are so specific. I'm not sure I did it well enough for them to stick."
"So, back to the list of things we know for sure…1. Australia 2. Dentists 3. Remains to be seen?" Draco said. Hermione groaned and buried her face in the blanket again. "Hermione!" Draco laughed sympathetically, dragging her into his arms comfortingly, "Sure, it's not much to go on, but we've got something! We're in the right country, for one. And we know we only need to look in dental offices."
Hermione, for once succumbing to her childish side, pouted. "So, what? We're just going to personally visit every dentist office in the whole of Australia?"
"I can't believe we're personally visiting every dentist office in the whole of Australia," Hermione grumbled miserably under her breath. By some strange twist in fate, Draco was the one full of sunshine while Hermione was the rain cloud. He grinned at her, positively beaming. "Well, if someone hadn't been so unbelievably successful in making them untraceable, then we wouldn't have had to resort to such measures." He caught the hand that tried to swat at him.
He couldn't really blame her for her grumpy behavior. In comparison to the few feeble rays of sun, the heat was sweltering and the sun scalding, and it did not agree with the pasty complexion of the English couple. Hermione's hair, wild before, was an untamable beast in the new climate. She had taken to wearing it up in a thick bun to keep it out of her way. Draco secretly loved it as it reminded him of her hair at the Yule Ball when he fell completely and utterly under her spell. Like all the veterans of the most recent wizarding war, the two had also had several sleepless nights in the wake of terrible nightmares. They pulled through them together, but it still took its toll on their moods. And her foul mood was, of course, most influenced by the fact that they had just left their tenth dental office with no sign of her parents.
When they realized how impossibly daunting the task before them truly was, Hermione and Draco reluctantly agreed that, crazy as it sounded, they only had one plan of action. As he was perfectly content now that he was at Hermione's side, Draco wasn't too terribly frustrated by the slow progress this option made. Hermione, on the other hand, once again incensed with a purpose, a goal, was driving herself mental trying to find a more effective search plan. And so far, she had nothing.
"We'll find them, love, don't worry," Draco reassured her yet again. Hermione glared at his sunny disposition. It seemed to be masking a nervousness should couldn't explain, one she hadn't seen since the first days of their friendship. Narrowing her eyes, hands on her hips, she questioned, "What's going on with you. You've been in a far too good mood all day and yet you seem nervous too."
His silver eyes widened comically and he shook his head a little too defensively. "Nothing, nothing at all. Just enjoying the weather, is all."
"Draco," she drawled out warningly.
She watched in fascination as his arrogant façade instantly faded away. Cheeks tinged a light pink, Draco shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at his feet. "Nothing. It's just that I had a thought the other day."
"About?" she encouraged, looping her arm around his as they started down the sidewalk.
"Well, at this point, it's obvious that we're going to be in the country for the foreseeable future," he started slowly. When he trailed off, Hermione prompted him to continue. She didn't know if she was going to like whatever thought he seemed so uncomfortable voicing. "Are you tired of staying in hotels?" he asked abruptly.
"Hotels? What?"
Draco sighed and fell to a stop. Hermione stepped away from him to take him in. "I was thinking that we should find a place that we like and rent a flat there," he finally said, careful to avoid her confused expression. We've been at this for a few weeks now, and I can tell how much each disappointment crushes you. I figure that, maybe if we had a place of our own to go back to, it wouldn't be so completely awful. I mean, that way, no matter where we end up, we can easily apparate and be home."
He risked a glance up to gauge her expression only to be nearly tackled to the ground with a hug. "Hermione?" he choked out, staggering under her sudden weight. "Sorry, sorry," she apologized, relaxing her grip. Her hazel eyes, disappointed just seconds ago, were bright with joy. "Who ever said you weren't the most thoughtful guy in the world was crazy!"
Draco grinned sheepishly. "No one's ever said anything like that. But you're the crazy one for keeping me around."
She smacked him in the arm. "No self-depreciation. We've talked about this, idiot!"
"Somehow calling me an idiot doesn't encourage that no self-depreciation idea of yours."
She rolled her eyes at his cheeky wink. With a thoughtful smile, she said, "What I wouldn't give for that Time Turner I had in third year." At Draco's wary expression, she grinned devilishly, "I'd go back to visit your foul, loathsome, evil little self and rub it in his face that in just 5 years he'll be asking me to move in with him!"
Shaking his head in disbelief, Draco chuckled. "Those are the kind of thoughts that should've sent you straight to Slytherin."
A/N: Thank you so much to all of you who have been leaving me reviews! It means so much that you like this story, and it makes me really excited to write! :)