Chapter 10: Past Memories and the Future
Draco and Hermione reached the hill near the main office where cars were beginning to pull into the parking lot. Campers were getting out of their cars; most of them seeing their friends for the first time since last summer. Girls could be heard squealing when they saw their friends, and everywhere you turned you could see campers and staff giving their friends hugs. Draco made his way down to his office, but Hermione stayed put. He turned around.
"Aren't you coming?"
"Yeah, I'll be down in a second." She replied smiling at him. He smiled back and continued on his way to greet the campers and their families. Hermione stood on the hill and watched the happy scene before her. It made her miss Harry, Ginny, and the twins even more. She couldn't wait until they visited in two weeks. Looking down at the people arriving, Hermione saw some familiar faces. Two to be exact. Ben Walker and Callie Waters had just driven up and parked. Hermione ran down the hill at top speed toward where they were just getting out of their car.
"Callie! Ben!" she yelled, hoping to get their attention. Ben saw her first.
"Bloody Hell, is that you Hermione?" she nodded and he pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.
"Budge over Walker, she's my friend too!" the very bold Callie Waters said, pushing Ben out of the way.
"Well, I definitely don't think I can call you frizz ball anymore, Jay!" Callie said looking at her now tame hair, and then giving her a hug.
"Good gracious, I definitely can't call you midget anymore! You're a good 3 inches taller than me now!" All three of them laughed.
Callie and Ben were two campers that Hermione had gotten close to back in her days at C.S.R. Callie and Ben had just started their first year at C.S.R. when Hermione was 13. Neither Ben nor Callie knew anyone at the camp, and they were both very shy. (Unbelievably in Callie's case) So that year, Hermione introduced them to each other. They had been inseparable since.
"We should probably go sign in and tell Danny we're here." Ben said to Callie.
"Hold your horses! I HAVE to tell Hermione the news!" Ben rolled his eyes.
"What news!?" Hermione asked impatiently. Callie held up her left hand.
"OH MY GOD!! YOU GUYS TOO!?" Hermione screamed. Everyone who was outside turned and looked at Hermione after her outburst. They soon turned and went back to their own conversations.
"Who else is engaged?" Ben asked.
"Josh and Jessie, and Sarah and her fiancé Nathan." Ben and Callie's eyes grew wide.
"Well, I think you probably should go see Daniel. It looks like that's about all of the campers." Hermione said leading the way inside. After everyone was signed in, and had dropped their stuff off in their cabins, Draco stood up on a picnic table in the area in the middle of all the cabins.
"It's time for dinner, so why doesn't everyone start heading down to the Mess Hall." He said. The mob of campers and staff began to make their way down to the Mess Hall. Once everyone had gotten in and found a seat, Draco stood up once again.
"I would like to welcome everyone back to this new year at Camp Shadow Rock! I would like to give a special welcome to all of our new campers, and a welcome back to all of our returning campers. I have just a couple announcements before you all can go up and get some grub. (that comment got a few snickers from the campers) I would like to explain what going on after dinner. Tonight we're going to play a game of capture the flag! (all of the campers cheered) Everyone will be divided into two teams, and the camp grounds will be divided into two sides, the main dividing line being on the field. I hope everyone brought their best game! The directions pertaining to your activities tomorrow will be given tomorrow morning. Now table 1 can go up and get their food. Everyone else follow in order of table number. Enjoy your meal." As Draco was sitting down one of the campers yelled, "GREAT SPEECH MR.MAPLE!" The Mess Hall erupted with laughter, and Draco glared at all of the staff. After he sat down, Draco turned and looked at Hermione. She was looking at him oddly.
"Are you okay?" He asked her.
"Yeah, it's just that when you gave that speech, you kind of reminded me of Dumbledore." She whispered to him, smiling. Draco laughed and took her hand under the table. She smiled even wider.
After everyone had finished eating, they all went out to the field to play capture the flag. The staff divided the campers into teams, and then divided themselves. Hermione, Sarah, Jessica, Mark, Josh, and Andrew were on the red team along with Ben and Callie. Allison, Megan, Trisha, James, Philip, Kevin, and Daniel were on the green team. Daniel blew the whistle and campers could be seen running across the dividing line, attempting to go and find the other team's flag. Many of them were getting caught and sent to the other team's 'jail', while others had managed to evade their opponents.
When Hermione thought she had a chance, she ran over to the green team's side trying to help her team find the flag. She didn't get very far before she was tagged by Draco.
"GOTCHA!" He said.
"Crap." she responded.
"Come on, you get to go to jail." He sad taking her hand. "It won't be so bad. I have to escort you to jail, so you can hold my hand and no one will think anything of it." He said smirking at her.
"Who said I wanted to hold your hand?" she said, jerking her hand out of his and running back toward the red team's side.
"HEY! I tagged you!" he yelled chasing after her. He caught up to her and lifted her up off the ground, and then throwing her over his shoulder.
"DANIEL MARTIN! YOU PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT!"
"Hey, you're the one who had to be difficult." He replied coolly. All of a sudden, cheers could be heard from the red team, as Mark and Josh came running across the line with the green team's flag.
"GAME OVER! WE WIN!" Josh yelled. Draco then put Hermione down, and went over to the center of the field.
"All right everyone! That was a great game, but now it's time to go and head up to the cabins so everyone can get to unpack, and kind of talk with your cabin mates before lights out!" Draco said. Everyone turned and migrated toward the cabins, excited to talk with their friends and set up their rooms. Draco and Hermione walked very slowly behind everyone else. Once everyone was out of sight, they held hands and took a walk through the woods, just to be alone. When they reached the cabin area, about half an hour later, everyone was inside.
"Thanks for walking me up here Draco." She thanked him quietly.
"No problem." He said.
"I'll see you in the morning." She said to him. She kissed him on the cheek, and then turned to go into the cabin.
"Hermione wait!" he called out. She turned and walked back to where he was standing, giving him her full attention. "Um, I saw that both of us have a free day on Saturday, and I was wondering if you wanted to spend the day with me, and kind of just go places and stuff?" he asked timidly. Hermione smirked a little at his shyness. Then she thought about what he was doing. He was asking her out, like an actual date! Was she ready for that?
"Draco, I need a little time to think. Could I give you and answer in the morning?" she asked.
"That's fine with me." He replied. He gave her a hug and she went inside.
Draco knew that this was going to be a little weird for her, but he liked her, a lot. The more he got to know about her, the more his interest in her grew. He knew that they didn't have the best history, and that the whole he and Harry being sworn enemies thing was going to be more than a bump in the road in their relationship. He also needed to think about some things, so he headed up to Tony's secret spot.
Hermione entered the cabin and flopped down on her bed. She let out a sigh. Life was so complicated. She loved Ron, but now she was starting to have feelings for his biggest enemy, not to mention his family's enemy. Harry Potter is her best friend, and she's starting to fall for the one wizard he hates almost as much as Voldemort! She pulled out her CD player in an attempt to relax, because music always calmed her down. After a while, one of the songs came on that cause many memories to flash before her eyes…
Hermione was sitting with Harry and the Weasleys at Ron's funeral. Mrs. Weasley could be heard sobbing quietly as Mr. Weasley held her. All of Ron's brothers were silent, and trying to appear strong, even though they all were as grief-stricken as their mother. Hermione sat, tear stains very visible on her face, and to her it felt like they would be there forever. She felt as if no one would be able to make the pain within her heart stop…
Hermione walked up to his coffin. She gazed upon his face and saw more tears welling up behind her eyes. Harry tried to come with her, but she felt as if this was something that she had to do alone. His hair was still as red as ever, and the funeral home had done a good job of fixing him up. She realized she would never look into his bright blue eyes and see him looking back at her lovingly. She would never see his ears flood with color when he was embarrassed. She would never feel his kiss or his touch ever again. She touched his face one last time, and then turned and walked away. She didn't look back…
The bad memories weren't the only things to come to mind, she remembered happy things as well.
"Hermione, wait! I have to tell you something." she looked at him expectantly. "Will you go out with me?" he said shyly.
"Really? I didn't think you liked me like that! Of course I will!" she said.
"Well, okay if you don't want to... WHAT! You will!" he asked, astonished at her answer.
"Yes, because I love you! I've loved you for I don't know how long. You were always there, and even though we fought, there was always something about you that I loved. I love being the one you turn to for help, even though I may come off as annoyed. I just love being around you because you give me that warm fuzzy feeling inside." she said smiling.
"I never thought I would hear you say that! I love you too. I love everything about you. You're smart, sweet, and beautiful. You're everything I've ever wanted. If I ever lost you I don't know what I would do. You're one of the things that make my life worth living; every morning I wake up thinking of when I get to see you. You were always there for me, in more ways then you'll ever know, and I love you." Hermione ran into Ron's arms and whispered "I love you, too" in his ear…
It was a cold Christmas Eve. The wind was howling and the clean white snow was falling slowly inch by inch as Hermione Granger looked out the window of her small flat just outside of London. It was a beautiful day, but the tears were slowly running down her freckly pink cheeks. Christmas was always a hard time for her after the last battle. Voldemort had been gone for 3 years, but the thought of that fateful day always brought tears to her eyes…
Hermione and Ron were laying outside on the Hogwarts' grounds by the lake. They were watching the clouds pass by, and enjoying their last day together at Hogwarts.
"Hermione, I need you to promise me something." Ron said to Hermione.
"Sure anything." She said looking at him with a very concerned look on her face.
"Harry, you, and I are going off to get rid of the most evil wizard on the planet. I don't have such a great feeling about all this. So I want you to promise that whatever happens to me, know that I love you, and I want what's best for you. So no matter what you do, always be happy, for me, okay?" Hermione's eyes began to well up with tears and she gave Ron a hug.
"You can't go into this thinking like that Ron…"
"Promise me!" He said to her forcefully.
"I promise." She said.
As soon as the song ended, Hermione jumped out of her bed. It was just then that she noticed that the lights were out, and everyone was asleep. She quietly picked up her hoodie and without a sound, she exited the cabin to go see Draco. Unknown to Hermione, Sarah had seen her leave and went to follow her. Hermione made her way to Draco's cabin, but when she entered it, there was no one there. So she went to the next place she thought he could be, the secret spot.
She followed the path up to the rock. When she got there, she saw platinum blonde hair shining in the moonlight. He was lying on the grass right next to the rock. She quietly went over and sat next to him. When he didn't move, she noticed that he was asleep.
"Draco." She whispered.
"Draco." She said a little louder.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy, wake up!" she said louder.
Behind the bushes, Sarah was in complete shock. If that was Daniel's real name, he probably did go to Hogwarts.
At the sound of his entire name, Draco shot straight up and looked around. He was very panicky. When he saw Hermione he relaxed.
"Bloody Hell, Hermione! For a second I thought that you were my father! You scared the shit out of me!" he told her. Hermione had to suppress a giggle.
"Sorry, I just wanted to talk to you." She said.
"In the middle of the night?"
"Yeah."
"Well, go on!" he said.
"Well, to answer your question earlier, I would love to spend Saturday with you!" she said giving him the biggest smile that she could. His eyes lit up like a child on Christmas morning. He stood up and pulled her into a huge hug.
"Really?" he asked.
"Really." She replied. Their eyes met for the second time that day, and he took her face in his hands. He pulled her lips to his, and when their lips met, it was like magic. She slid her arms around his neck, and his settled on her hips. They stood together in the moonlight, not realizing that every moment they were together their love grew.
Sarah was once again in absolute shock at the sight of them kissing in the moonlight. She felt out of place, and silently made her way back to the blue jay cabin. She went in and lay on her bed, only thinking of what the others would think about this.
Draco and Hermione had parted, and began to make their way down the trail from the rock. They walked hand in hand to the Blue Jay cabin.
"Hopefully Sarah hasn't noticed that I was gone." Hermione said to Draco.
"Yeah, that would not be too good." he replied.
"Well here we are." She said. Hermione turned and gave Draco a peck on the lips. "I'll see you in the morning. Why don't you meet me at the picnic tables about 30 minutes before breakfast starts?" she asked.
"That sounds great. Well, Goodnight, Hermione."
"Goodnight." She turned and silently entered the cabin and slipped into her bed. She drifted off to sleep feeling happier then she had felt in years. She was beginning to accept the past, and move forward with her life. The memories no longer pained her as they used to, and she could think more about her future, and how Draco Malfoy was slowly becoming a part of it.
A/N: The parts in bold are different snippets of things from Hermione's past. Just to let you know :