Theme Nine: Drive
"Hermione, I don't know about this."
"You said you wanted to know more about muggles and how I was raised. I'd say this is the perfect place for you to start. Besides, a license could come in handy – makes it easier to blend in, especially if any future little Malfoys need to get to Kings Cross Station."
"I'm probably going to kill us."
Hermione laughed. "Don't worry. I'm here to teach you."
"Then I know we're definitely going to die."
"Hey!" Hermione removed a hand from the steering wheel and punched his arm. The car only barely swerved. "I'll have you know I am both an excellent driver and a superb teacher." He smiled nervously and glanced out the passenger window. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. "It'll be alright, I promise."
Hermione pulled onto a long-forgotten road, surrounded on either side by rolling fields. It was hardly used anymore since a more direct motorway had been built. She parked on the side, smiled at Draco, and climbed out of the car. He sighed and opened his door. It seemed this was really going to happen. He got into the driver's seat, adjusted the rearview mirror, as Hermione instructed, and turned the keys in the ignition. She gave a little cough, and indicated her already fastened seat belt.
"Oh, right." He secured his, put his hands on the wheel where she had showed him, and took a deep breath. He put the gearshift into Drive, but the car didn't move.
"Take your foot off the brake."
"Right." He did this. He pressed his foot to the gas; the car lurched forward, then jerked as he slammed on the brake. This start-stop motion happened several times before Hermione finally noticed the problem.
"No, Draco, just use one foot for both pedals." He did this, and per her urging, gently pressed on the gas.
"That's it," she encouraged. They were crawling along at 15 mph. She reached up a hand and put it on his neck. The muscle under the skin felt stiff and strained. "Oh honey, you're so tense!" She had discerned his nervousness, but only now realized the height of his anxiety. Driving was almost second-nature to her; she hadn't thought that Draco would find it so nerve-wracking. "What's wrong?"
"Just a little stressed," he murmured from the corner of his mouth, his eyes glued straight ahead. Suddenly he pulled over to the side of the road, gravel spitting under the tires. "I can't do this."
Hermione turned as far as possible in her seat, her hand still at the nape of his slender neck. She gently brushed her fingers against his skin, massaging the tension from his flesh. "Tell me what's bothering you."
"It's just feels...like a lot of pressure. I never realized before, these muggle inventions, how much more effort it takes when you can't use magic. How much more dangerous it is, how difficult. I didn't realizing driving would be so complicated. What if I can't do it?" Flying seemed easy in comparison. A broom had always felt like an extension of his own body, light and lithe. He felt awkward sitting in this tonne of metal. All his life he had been taught non-magical persons were inferior - what if he couldn't accomplish what almost all grown muggles had?
"You can do this. You just need to make up in your mind that you can, and you will. The only things in life worth doing are those that seem difficult." She smiled and continued to caress his neck. She could feel him starting to relax. "Much more satisfying, don't you think?" She wanted him to feel the thrill of driving for himself.
"Maybe."
"Try again. I'm right here with you." This thought heartened him. He put the car into Drive once again, and started forward. Hermione noticed that her touch seemed to calm him, so she kept her hand on his neck, as their speed continued to increase. He was hugging the centre line a little, but she was quick to correct him. "You're doing well!" she cheered.
Draco climbed to the speed limit, and soon they were whipping down the back road, the windows down and the air rushing at them. It was an exhilarating feeling – having all that power under his control. He loved it. Hermione was laughing. "I knew you'd get it!"
For hours they drove back and forth along old back roads, sometimes getting out to examine this river or that dale. She even showed him a few tricks, like using the emergency brake to circle 360 degrees, and let him get up to 85 mph. But as dusk began to settle over the fields, their fun came to an end. Though he was doing better than expected, he didn't actually have a license yet, so Hermione took over when they reached the main road. She didn't want to receive a ticket or scratch her parents' car. Their faces were flushed, and Draco was wearing a smile.
"That was great!"
"See, some muggle inventions can be fun."
"I never would have thought." Which was true. He had never thought about driving in his entire life. Hermione had introduced him to so many new things, things his father had always spoken of in disgust. He was beginning to understand just how much he had missed out on. How could Draco ever pay Hermione back for all these wonderful things she had shown him? Each new experience was a gift, sweeter than the last. He would never be able to put into words just how special and amazing that was.
He suddenly remembered something she had mentioned. "Did you mean what you said, about little Malfoys?"
Her face turned the slightest shade of pink. "Well, they would need to arrive at the station inconspicuously, wouldn't they?"
"That's not what I meant."
"I know."
"Would you, I mean, do you think...Would you be the mother of my children?"
She knew her answer without even thinking about it. She had imagined their little blond haired, brown eyed babies a thousand times. "Someday," she smiled. After they had seen more of the world, after she had filled herself with more knowledge and experiences. She reached her hand over the gearshift, taking his in her own. She could feel his excitement, the quick pulse in his wrist. He pressed her knuckles to his lips. "But for right now, I don't see why we can't just keep taking the car out for test-drives."