It Wasn't Enough
By: Acro
Chapter Nine:
Flirting and Accidents
Malfoy Manor
11:23 PM
Hermione bolted upright in bed, panting heavily, and sweat lining her brow. She'd just had a horrible dream. The same dream that had plagued her off and on since the end of the Dark War. Horrible pictures of dead Weasleys and Potters and other allies seemed to always linger after the sun set on certain nights. She could never force them out of her mind and once she had that sort of dream, she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep for the rest of the night. So, resolutely, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and climbed down onto the soft floor. She exited her room and started down the corridor. The house seemed strangely quiet.
Hermione ambled down the stairs, being very careful about where her foot was as it was so dark. When she reached the foot of the first staircase, she stopped. Her eyes had adjusted to the light, or lack of it for this matter, and she checked to see if anyone, be it Pansy, Draco, or a house-elf, was coming toward her. When she found the coast was clear, she took a few steps forward, and felt around with her foot for the beginning of the next staircase. When she found it, she began to travel down this one as well, this time a little quicker.
When she came to the foot of the stairs and was standing in the lobby, her bare feet against the cold marble floor, she started for where she knew the kitchen was. She pushed the door open to see that there were house-elves bustling around doing jobs. Hermione sighed warily at the sight. She still hated seeing house-elves enslaved. She cleared her throat and they stopped. It was when they stopped moving that Hermione noticed that she wasn't the only human in the room. Leaning against a counter, biting into an apple, was Draco. He swallowed his mouthful of apple and smirked at her.
"Good evening, Granger," he drawled, setting his apple on the counter and stepping aside so that an elf could get through. "Couldn't sleep either?"
"Um, no," she replied, still half-awake. She rubbed her eyes slightly.
"Does Miss want something?" asked a female elf, Hermione stared at her for a moment and then smiled.
"No, thank you," she replied and turned to leave to kitchen.
"Hey, Granger," called Draco after her.
"Yeah, Malfoy?" she replied, looking over her shoulder at him.
"Try this," he said, coming toward her with a tray on his hand and what looked like an éclair in his hand. "It's really good." Hermione took a step back as he came toward her and kept her mouth tightly closed. "Oh, c'mon," he whispered, giving her a slightly seductive smirk. "It's not poisonous."
She reached up to take it out of his hand but he jerked it out of reach and Hermione huffed, indignantly. He grinned at her and opened his mouth in an example, silently telling her that that was what she needed to do. Hermione reluctantly opened her mouth and Draco, moving as slowly as he could, popped the little treat in her mouth. Hermione chewed it, not taking her eyes off Draco.
"Not bad," she said in an unwavering voice. She wasn't going to let him know how much she'd enjoyed the snack. He frowned a little.
"Not bad?" he repeated, the disappointment in his voice extremely noticeable. "Is that all? It's simply 'not bad'?"
Hermione shrugged, trying with all her might not to smile. She turned to leave the kitchen again but Draco grabbed her shoulder and she stopped. She turned to look at him, about to protest, but stopped when she met his eyes. They looked soft, like liquid silver that made her insides feel like they were melting. His expression was serious as he stared at her. His face was barely to inches from hers. She looked into his eyes for a moment, before regaining her sense, sweeping his hand off her shoulder and making to leave again.
"'Night, Malfoy," was all she could manage. Her face was turning slightly pink at the previous situation as she left.
"Bye, Granger," he replied with a satisfied smirk.
Hermione nearly ran back up the stairs and into her room. Her face was still flushed and she rubbed her eyes slightly.
"That look," she mumbled, thinking back to a couple seconds ago when she had a met a pair of silvery eyes she didn't recognize. It had felt like he was looking into her very soul. She shook her head to relieve herself of the image and then climbed back into bed and went back to sleep.
Malfoy Manor
6:27 AM
Draco crept silently into Hermione's room. She was still sound asleep and her form shifted slightly when he closed the door. He moved over to her bed and looked down at her peacefully sleeping face. A few strands of hair were in her face and, without knowing what he was doing, he brushed them away. Hermione let out a muffled and sleepy groan before letting her eyes flutter open to stare at Draco's face. She jolted up in surprise and banged her head against his, sending him staggering backwards, clutching his head.
"Oi, Granger!" he snapped. "What the bloody hell is wrong with you!"
"What's wrong with me? Why were you standing over me like a madman?" Hermione bit back, also rubbing her sore head.
"I was waking you up," he replied.
"Well, a bloody good job you did of that!" she yelled back. "What do you want?"
It took Draco a few moments for the pain to subside in his forehead and for him to regain his composure, but when he did, he gave Hermione his usual smirk.
"Well, Granger, it just so happens that I'm having company in a few hours," he said. "And since you're supposed to be acting like my personal maid, I want you to do something for me."
"I'm not cleaning your house, Malfoy," Hermione replied, giving him a suspicious glare.
"No, no, of course not," he smirked. "I wouldn't dream of you doing that. I just need you to put on a little act for my friend today." He gave her a grin, which only made Hermione more suspicious.
"What kind of 'act'?" she asked, jumping down off her bed so that she was standing directly in front of Draco.
"Well, it's nothing much, really," Draco began. "When my company comes over, all I want you to do is wear what I bring in for you to wear and come in and ask if we wanted anything to drink. Is that alright, Granger?"
"Depends," replied Hermione, crossing her arms over her chest and growing impatient. "What do you want me to wear?"
Draco grinned evilly and then went back to his room to get there, leaving Hermione I her room, staring at the door impatiently. When he came back, he was holding something on a hanger that made Hermione gasp and protest.
"I am not wearing that, Draco Malfoy!" she yelled, pointing at the offending piece of clothing. "I am not a muggle maid!"
Draco had walked in with a black dress with puffy sleeves and a white apron around, just like the ones Hermione had seen in the movies back home. She looked repulsed at the outfit that Draco was having her wear and kept a good distance as if it were contaminated.
"Oh, c'mon," he replied. "You just have to ask us what we would like to drink, get it from the kitchen, give it to us and then you can change out of it and spend the rest of the day Draco-free, okay? It'll take ten minutes at the most and I'm sure my company would enjoy it."
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him for a moment and then snatched the uniform from him, saying "What time will your company be here?"
Draco smirked at her again and said, "Excellent! They'll be here at 9:15. Be ready then and watch from the kitchens until we enter the drawing room." Draco swaggered out of Hermione, leaving her standing there, staring repugnantly at the maid's uniform.
Malfoy Manor
9:17 AM
Hermione patted and rubbed the imaginary wrinkles out of the maid's uniform as she watched through the cracked kitchen door for a sign of Draco and his guest. Pansy and Draco were still standing by the front door as they had been for the past few minutes. Draco was looking bored and arrogant as always and Pansy was admiring the new, gigantic diamond on her right hand that she'd received from Draco after she'd nagged enough. Not too much longer later, a house-elf entered the lobby, bowed to Pansy and Draco and announced the Manor's visitor.
"Mr. Blaise Zambini here for Master Malfoy, sir and madam," he said, almost snobbishly and with good grammar, as most of the house-elves seemed to have. "Shall I show him in?"
"Yes," said Draco tersely.
A boy that Hermione recognized as Blaise Zambini, whom had been in Slytherin in her and Draco's year, entered the house. His once short, fiery red hair was now long and drawn back in a loose ponytail that somewhat reminded Hermione of how Bill's hair had been, only neater. He had striking green eyes that seemed to pierce the very soul and he was slightly shorter than Draco was. He introduced Pansy as his fiancée with made Blaise smirk and then dismissed the future Mrs. Malfoy out of the lobby and upstairs to her room.
Then the two men strolled across the lobby into the drawing room, Draco glancing quickly at the kitchen door before entering. Hermione waited a good two minutes before exiting the kitchen. She walked silently across the marble floor and stopped outside the door. She raised her hand and knocked, waiting for a reply.
"Yes?" came Draco's drawling voice. Hermione pushed the door open and entered slightly, noticing that both men were sitting on opposite sides of a wizard's chessboard. She received a satisfied stare and nod from Draco and a curious, almost bewildered stare from Blaise.
"May I get you anything to drink, sirs?" she asked them.
"Yes, water, please, Hermione," said Draco. Hermione flinched slightly. He had called her by her first name and she had been caught off guard by it but recovered quickly.
"Um, yes, Master Malfoy," she replied, then turning her gaze to Blaise who was still staring, mouth agape, at her. "And for you, sir?"
Blaise shook his head slightly to pull himself out of the daze, gave her critical look that made her feel that he was judging her, and then responded with a quick, "Coffee."
"Yes, sirs," managed Hermione. "Right away."
She back out of the room and toward the kitchen, reminding herself that she had to be careful and not read too much into Draco calling her Hermione, since it was, of course, her name and he was only playing the part he needed to play to be believable. She entered the kitchen, asked a nearby elf, very politely, to please give her a glass of water and a mug of coffee.
The elves moved very quickly through the kitchen and soon they approached her with a tray. On the tray were the water and the coffee. Hermione took the tray and started out the door. She was nearly to the drawing room, when she moved to quickly to the side, eager to get her job over with, and tripped over a protruding table leg and went flying. The mug and glass went flying off the tray and crashed the floor, shattering and making a racket.
"Oh no!" she cried, getting to her knees and hurrying over to the mess of liquid and glass on the floor. She knelt down and began picking up the broken shards of glass.
Draco and Blaise, having heard the commotion outside the door, went to see what happened. Draco reached the door first and pulled it open a little more forcefully than he'd meant to. He looked down to see Hermione kneeling on the floor, her eyes turned away from him as she picked up the glass. Her fingers burned when she touched the scalding coffee and she had a few cuts on her fingers from the broken glass. Blood was mixing with the water and coffee and soon, so were silent tears.
Hermione had tried with all her might not to cry but in the end failed. She felt like such a klutz, and what was more, she'd done it in front of Draco's company. She felt horribly embarrassed. Her face was red and tearstained and her fingers were sore and burned. Coffee was stained all over her apron and she looked like a mess. When she finally had calmed down enough to speak, she opened her mouth.
"I-I'm terribly sorry, sirs," she murmured. "It was my fault. I wasn't looking where I was going. I'll have it cleaned up very quickly."
Draco let out a breath and then knelt down to help her. He put the pieces of glass on the tray next to Hermione's. She looked at him when he began to help but dismissed it quickly continued to finish picking up. When the floor was glass-free, Hermione used Scourgify, and then hurried back into the kitchen where she used Repairo on the mug and glass and filled them with water and coffee once more.
She was still crying slightly when she slowly and cautiously entered the drawing room. She set the coffee down next to Blaise on a coaster and the water next to Draco on a coaster. She bowed quickly to them and ran out of the room and up the stairs. She removed the maid outfit, tossed it in the hamper, put on a long T-shirt and shorts, and then bandaged her sore, numb, cut, burned fingers. After that, she dropped down onto the bed and began sobbing heavily.
A few moments later, the door opened and Pansy entered, looking smug and haughty. She was smirking with victory at Hermione. She took a few large strides into the room and stopped at Hermione's bedside, where the brunette was still crying.
"You stupid mudblood!" she snapped, though a smile was still firmly planted on her face. "I can't believe Draco helped you! You didn't deserve it. It was all your fault! You're lucky I don't hex you right now for being such a goody-two-shoes! I wish you would just leave me and Drakie alone, you stupid, filthy, ugly, muggle-loving mudblood!"
Pansy taunts succeeded in making Hermione feel even worse. She buried her head deeper into her pillow and began to wail louder than before, making Pansy take a weary step backward before continuing on with her savage insulting. Pansy was just getting loud and annoying when Draco arrived.
"Pansy!" he yelled and Pansy jumped, looking over her shoulder and her fiancée.
"Oh, hi Drakie," Pansy replied, apprehensively. "I was just, um, talking to Granger."
"Leave us," he said flatly.
"But Draco—"
"I said, leave!" he repeated, a bit louder and more annoyed than before.
Pansy scuttled out of the room and Draco's face softened slightly as he heard Hermione's muffled sobs from where she lay on her bed. He moved over to her slowly and sat down on the edge of the bed. Hermione raised her head from the pillow to look at him. He gave her a very half-hearted smirk and she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes.
"I-I…I'm s-s-s-sorry," she managed through a sob. "I r-ruined every-th-th-thing!"
"Nah, not really," comforted Draco. "I mean there was that little incident with the coffee and water, but that's not that bad. I mean, it was eventful. Usually these get-togethers with Blaise are a real snore. You livened it up a little, I guess."
Hermione let out a little laugh and Draco smiled, feeling a little better than he had when he walked in.
"Now, I promised you a Draco free day if you did what I asked—"
"But I didn't do what you asked! I ruined it!" Hermione protested.
"Stop saying that," Draco laughed. "You did fine. So instead of a Draco-free day, how about a Pansy-free day? Want to come with me to the Ministry?"
Hermione was hesitant. She wasn't sure what to do. Since when had Draco Malfoy, the Slytherin Prince, ever been nice to anyone? Yet, he was being relatively nice right then. The thought of not having to deal with Pansy was a really nice thought, so Hermione took him up on his offer and then shooed him out so she could get dressed.
A/N: Okay, a fairly longer and randomchapter than usual, hm? I had many ideas for this one that probably could have been split up into 2 chapters. Oh well. Anyway, R&R as always and I'll update soon.
Acro
Reader Replies:
WannaBArtist: If only I knew how to spell certain jinxes, I would have been more detailed. Oh well. Thanks for the compliment.
Gentileschi: Yup! Hermione just blew up! Man, I did that to my sister once except minus the jinxes and she was screaming like a little girl (and she's seven years older than me). It was priceless! Pansy is a word that I cannot say but she is crucial to the story. pout Oh well. And as for Hermione being on Draco's bed, I doubt that will be the last times she'll ever be on it. (Get your minds out of the gutter!)
Sabi4ever: Wow! Thanks for the enthusiasm! I LIKE IT TOO! Lol. Thanks for the review! Hope you continue reading it.
Emma Barrows: huggles Emma because she's so awesome Thanks for all your awesome reviews and support! It makes me so happy!
spicy-eab: Don't thank me! I should be thanking you! It's my job to update frequently! I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Keep reading!
maryo1: Um, sure, have at her. hands Pansy to maryo Have fun!
SiriusJamesRemus'sgirl: Well, yeah, of course he likes Hermione better! I mean, just what kind of an author would I be if I didn't show some interest. (A really crappy one?) yeah, Pansy does need to be dropped…of a cliff somewhere! shudders I despise Pansy. I think I might start a Pansy's hate sight called "Petition to re-release Pansy Parkinson into the wild (where she belongs)!"
runaway mental patient: Hmmm…not a bad idea. But I'm not getting rid of Pansy until chappie 13 so I guess you'll have to wait! Thanks for the review!
"My only love,
Spawned from my only hate…" –Romeo and Juliet
Bix: Well, I certainly am glad that you were in the right place at the right time! I mean, what would an author be without their precious reviewers? Anyway, thanks so much. I'm glad you like my sorry! My friend was all like "It's about damn time she did something about the stupid snob!" Glad you like it. Hope you keep reading. Thank you, come again.
pixie: Why thank you!
kay345: Thanks. I can't wait until I finally get rid of Pansy, no matter how well I portray her, as I'm sure most of my reviewers are.
Monday Morning: Yup, though he could tell her off better and he will…eventually.
Angelic Night Goddess: Thanks. Doesn't everyone hate Pansy?
HPaggie09: Gladly.
Red and Gold: I'm glad you love my story, but keep a respectable distance. I don't need to get a retraining order, do I? LOL. Anyway, thanks for all the great reviews, R&G. I hope you keep reading!
gcho: I will, soon!
secretdragon: I'm sure he will eventually. I guess we'll just have to wait, hm?
c-dog: Heh. Well, I hate Pansy and you hate Pansy and well hate Pansy! Isn't that enough for her and Draco never to be together?
Tears-That-Fall: Yes! I have a habit of writing really fast until I get bored with what I'm writing.
dreamaker13: Thanks. I hope you keep reading it! -
kerry: Yeah. Some people need to get it that we really wanna know what happens next. There' this Herm/Draco story I'm reading called Second Time Around, by SnOgFeSt and it hasn't been updated in a while! I'm beginning to lose hope.
bellgirl: Thanks for the reviews. I hope you keep reading! I'll update soon, kay?
Hermione-Granger-420: Thanks! I doubt I'm the best but thanks. Not sure if I'll kill Pansy off or not. Be alert for it okay?
23 reviews! Man! I'm so grateful to all my beautiful reviewers! Thank you so much! I mean, I never had so many reviews for any story I ever wrote! (Does no one like OC's?) Anyway, I love ya'll, in a mutual way! Keep reviewing!