This is one of my favorite chapters in the whole book. I hope you guys like it too! I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this chapter especially.
The song mentioned here is "Dream a Little Dream of Me," by the Mamas and the Papas. I've been in love with it recently and thought it suited the story well.
Kayla, sorry I broke your heart again with the last chapter! Hopefully, this chapter makes up for it, although it is pretty emotional too.
TinyFox2, 10 points for picking up on the Beauty and the Beast similarities! Lol, I did not plan that when I wrote this but afterward I realized that too. It probably happened because it is one of my all-time favorite stories. Oops! Hopefully, this story is still unique enough in its own right :)
MeAndYouAgainstTheWorld, Yup, she's still looking for a way out! There will be more developments about Hermione's escape plan soon.
Thank you to each and every one of you who have reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. You're the best!
Hermione awoke the next morning to the first rays of sunlight streaming in from a crack in the rich blue curtains. She turned over and checked the time. 6:30 a.m.
Even though she hadn't taken the Dream-Blocking Draught, she had slept well. She was especially relieved that she hadn't had any nightmares because, if she had, Draco would have known she hadn't taken the draught and may have become suspicious.
She pulled off the covers and headed towards the closet. She picked a soft jeweled-tone jumper and slim black pants then went to shower quickly.
After showering and dressing, Hermione headed down to the kitchen and was relieved to find it empty. She pulled open the fridge and began to take out ingredients for an omelet. If her plan was going to work, she needed Draco to be comfortable with her cooking for him.
She flipped on the radio that the house had given her yesterday and smiled when another familiar song rang out. Suddenly, she was transported back to her childhood and felt safe.
As she worked, grating potatoes for hash browns, the sun gradually rose over the snowy white grounds outside the window. Between the view, her cooking, and the familiar music, she found herself singing and swaying along to the much-loved songs of her past.
The music cheered Hermione and she smiled, knowing that she had a possible plan that could help her get home.
When Draco woke up that morning, the first thing he thought was that he felt more rested than he had in ages.
The second thing he thought was that he was relieved Hermione apparently hadn't had another nightmare. She must have taken the Dream-Blocking Draught he had given her.
He recalled her initial hesitation when he had offered it to her. No doubt she had been worried that he had tampered with the pill in some way and it would harm her. He found himself feeling glad that she had trusted him enough to take it.
He got out of bed, showered and dressed, then headed downstairs. When he got there, he was surprised to hear music coming from the kitchen. It was only seven-thirty. Was Hermione awake already?
As he got closer, not only did he hear music playing but he also heard Hermione softly singing along. She, surprisingly, had a nice voice.
Draco hesitated near the entrance of the kitchen. He could hear the movement of dishes and smell onions frying. Hermione came into view with her back to him. As she dropped ingredients into a frying pan, she swayed in time to the music.
Snippets of whimsical lyrics flowed easily off her tongue, ending in a playful request. "Dream a little dream of me," she sang, adding in her own lilts to the alluring melody.
Draco smiled at the sight of her so clearly in her own world. The poetry of the song seemed odd to him, especially coming from her lips, but he decided he liked it and the catchy tune.
Not wanting Hermione to turn around and see him watching her, Draco strode into the kitchen.
"What on earth are you listening to, Granger?"
Hermione visibly jumped and spun around to face him. "Merlin, Malfoy!" she scolded him. "You scared me half to death!"
"Sorry." He gave her a crooked smile, not looking sorry at all. He opened the cupboard and pulled out a coffee cup.
"But seriously, what is this? I've never heard music like this before." Draco motioned towards the radio.
Hermione sighed and returned to her cooking. "If you must know, it's Muggle music."
"Muggle music?"
"Yes, believe it or not, many Muggles are quite talented and they've composed all sorts of music."
He shrugged his shoulders. "Fair enough. But why this song?"
She glanced back at him, as if surprised he hadn't made a disparaging remark about Muggles.
"It's just what the radio's been playing since it appeared. Mainly songs my parents used to play for me when I was growing up." She sprinkled ingredients into the frying pan and stirred, smiling. "They used to say these were the songs the fell in love with each other to."
"Oh." Draco drew his eyebrows together. "And how did they do that?"
Hermione turned around, spoon in hand, looking at him incredulously.
"Are you asking me how my parents fell in love?"
Shrugging again, Draco didn't say anything but continued to look at Hermione expectantly. He had never known anyone who had been in love before. His own parents certainly never had been and he found himself curious.
Hermione seemed puzzled by his request, so Draco just kept looking at her like he was waiting for her to tell him. Surprisingly, she did.
"They met in dental school, actually." Seeing his confused expression, Hermione explained, "dental school is for Muggles who take care of people's teeth."
Draco nodded then poured himself a cup of coffee, looking back up at her intently. Slowly, she went on.
"They were both vying for a very important grant that would allow the winner to finish school for free. So I guess you could say they were in competition with each other over that.
"Anyway, my dad says he always had a thing for my mum since he met her, but he was too shy to say anything." She stopped and smiled. "He's a bit of a quiet one, my dad."
Draco found himself smiling too, over the idea of a Granger not being able to express what they were thinking. Hermione clearly hadn't gotten that quality.
"My mum had a boyfriend at the time and didn't really take much notice of my dad, even though they had some classes together. She's more of a free spirit, my mum, and I don't think she thought my dad was her type. Too scholarly and serious, I suppose.
"Well, my mum's dad—my grandfather—got very sick and she had to spend a lot of time taking care of him. She was an only child and her mum had passed away when she was a teenager. Basically, she was having a really rough time—juggling classes and work while caring for my grandfather.
"My father ended up winning the grant they both wanted, but when he found out my mum was the second runner-up, he declined it."
"Why?" Draco asked, puzzled.
"Even though he didn't know my mum that well, he heard from friends that she was going to have to drop out of school to care for her father. Without the grant, she couldn't afford to care for him and pay for school—let alone have the time to work and take classes.
"My dad didn't want her to find out, but he quietly declined the grant and they gave it to my mum instead."
Draco was impressed. Even though he didn't exactly know what a grant was, it sounded important. Hermione went on.
"But my mum did find out and, as you can imagine, she was very surprised. Like I said, she didn't really know him well at the time.
"So, she went to his apartment to thank him and ask him why he had done it, and they ended up talking all night. My mum said nothing felt as natural as talking with him that night did. They just clicked.
"My mum broke up with her boyfriend, who I guess was a bit of a prat anyway, and it took a few weeks for my dad to get the hint, but he asked her out. The rest is history." Hermione smiled, clearly enjoying remembering the story she had just told.
Draco frowned, trying to piece everything together.
"So, she fell in love with him because he did something nice for her?"
Hermione began dishing the food onto plates.
"Well, I think it helped but I don't think it was the whole reason. Although, it certainly made her notice what type of man he was." She handed Draco a plate.
They walked to the table together and sat down, while Hermione went on.
"After I got my acceptance letter to Hogwarts, mum thought the reason I had magic was because of what my dad did for her. She said that his act was so unselfish—the act of true love. She said it was magical, and it carried over into me." She smiled. "I'm not sure if I believe all that, but it's a nice theory."
Draco remained quiet, lost in thought, and Hermione realized he was probably horrified at her last statement. After all, he had always said that Muggles born with magic were freaks of nature, not miracles. She held her breath, waiting for a biting comment, but it didn't come.
Another minute went by without Draco saying anything. He looked perplexed, pushing food around on his plate, eyebrows drawn together, so Hermione broke the silence by asking awkwardly.
"So, uh, what about your parents? Do you know how they fell in love?"
Draco looked up at her as if she had just started dancing ballet on the kitchen table. Then he shook his head.
"They didn't fall in love. They had an arranged marriage." He said it as if it were the most normal thing in the world, then took a bite of food.
"Really?" Hermione asked incredulously. "That's archaic!"
Draco shrugged. "It's what all Pureblood families do. It ensures the purity of their bloodline."
Hermione shook her head. "That sounds awful. You know, most Muggles haven't practiced arrange marriage for over a century. It's really outdated."
Draco was silent and kept eating with a blank look on his face.
"So, do you have an arranged marriage?" Hermione's curiosity got the better of her and she couldn't help but ask.
Draco took a sip of orange juice and looked at her.
"Not currently in place, but it's always been assumed I would when the time was right." He said it as if he were talking about something as commonplace as picking out a new shirt at the store.
Hermione thought about that for a minute, as she chewed. "But doesn't that bother you? I mean, to not have any say who you marry? It's so…cold."
"Not really," he answered and shrugged. "It's always been a fact of life. I know many wizarding families have given up the practice, but my father was very insistent that I would uphold the Malfoy name by marrying someone he thought proper."
"Of course, he did," she said sarcastically, then looked at Draco's serious face and felt a slight twinge of sorrow for him.
"But don't you want to marry for love?" she asked softly.
Draco gave a contemptuous laugh and rolled his eyes.
"I don't exactly think love is in the cards for me, do you?"
Hermione regarded him then shook her head sadly, now realizing why he had asked her about her parents.
"I think everyone is destined to find love if they're open to it," she replied honestly.
Hermione's words surprised him and Draco stared at her with an odd expression on his face. He had expected her to come back at him with a biting of comment about how he was so horrible he didn't deserve love, or that it was his own fault no one would ever love him.
For a few seconds, their gaze held, each of them trying to get a better understanding of the other.
Draco cleared his throat then looked down at his plate. "This is very good, by the way. Did you really do all this without a wand?"
Hermione laughed. "Yes, believe it or not, I often cook without my wand. I find it relaxes me."
"If I wasn't so desperate for a decent meal, I would make fun of you for that," he teased with a smirk.
She made a face, but a tiny smile played around the edges of her lips.
"So, did the Dream-Blocking Draught help last night?" he asked, getting up to clear his plate.
"Yes, I slept much better. I'm glad you gave it to me."
As Hermione finished her breakfast, Draco started cleaning up the kitchen. He frowned slightly. The food had been fantastic but she had made an unbelievable mess.
"Good Godric, Granger, does trashing the kitchen while you're cooking relax you too?"
Hermione turned to survey the chaos and winced. It was quite bad.
"That's the part I do use my wand for," she said, and they both laughed.
After Draco finished restoring the kitchen to its previous state of cleanliness, he made his way to the library. He had come across a particularly helpful book that talked about theories on how to destroy Horcruxes, and he was interested to learn more.
Hermione had put on her winter gear from yesterday and headed outside for a walk. He wondered if she was out there testing the containment charms again. After all, he knew her to be persistent.
As he worked, Draco sensed movement outside one of the picture windows and looked up to see Granger walking across the snow-covered ground. Fresh snowflakes fell around her as she ambled, hands in her cloak pockets, hair blowing in the wind.
Gazing at her, his mind went back to their conversation this morning and the question she had asked him about whether he wanted love. Even now, the idea seemed ludicrous to him.
Sure, he had been with his fair share of women, but that had always been purely physical. What she had talked about—her parents and how her father had sacrificed so much for her mother, not wanting anything in return from her but her happiness—Draco had never felt that way towards any woman and didn't think he ever would. He wasn't sure if he was even capable of it.
As he gazed out the window at Hermione, he admitted to himself that he felt drawn to her. From the moment he had spotted her at the Christmas party, he had acknowledged that she was beautiful, but it was more than that. After being with her these past few days, he felt an attraction to her that he didn't quite understand. A physical attraction, yes, but also an attraction to her spirit.
For a moment, he found himself wondering what it would be like to have her, all of her, but he banished the thought quickly from his mind.
That was absurd. Besides the fact that she would obviously hex him into oblivion, even without a wand, if he dared try anything, he realized he could never do that to her.
She was different than the women he had been with. With them, it was always clear that it wasn't, and never would be, anything more, and they were fine with that. But with Hermione, he knew that would never be right. She had a goodness about her that needed to be cherished. She deserved love, even if he didn't.
Much like a specter, she walked on in the swirling snow and out of view. Draco shook his head and returned to his reading.
Hermione had gone outside after breakfast. This time not to try to find a break in the barrier but to enjoy a walk around the beautiful grounds.
As she walked, her footsteps made crunching sounds in the snow and a light snowfall began.
Her thoughts were busy recalling her and Draco's conversation that morning.
It was probably the oddest conversation she had ever had in her life. Partially because of the subject matter but mainly because she had it with him.
Draco had surprised her immensely when he asked her, with genuine interest, about her parents.
The way he had listened to her story reminded her of someone trying to put together the pieces of a puzzle they couldn't quite see.
If she didn't know any better, she would think that Draco Malfoy had just asked her to tell him what love was.
But that was ridiculous. Surely even if he had never experienced it, he could recognize it in others.
Although the way Draco had responded when she had asked him about his potential arranged marriage made Hermione wonder. He had been so casual and resigned to the idea of being paired with someone not of his own choosing for life, purely for the sake of duty. It was like the thought of it didn't really bother him at all.
Suddenly, she felt a twinge of pity for him. She wondered for a moment what it would be like to go through life knowing she would never be able to fall in love. Or if she did, she would not be allowed to be with the man she loved. Would she be as cruel and heartless as Malfoy if her parents raised her that way?
That thought, and all its connotations, made Hermione feel so uncomfortable she dismissed it. She was nothing like Draco Malfoy.
Instead, she wondered who his future bride would be—perhaps Pansy Parkinson or another Pureblooded Slytherin girl. Whoever she was, Hermione didn't envy her.
Even though he had been the object of many a teenage witch's infatuation at Hogwarts—Hermione even remembered hearing his conquests bragging to other girls about being his choice of the week—Hermione could only imagine how cold and joyless a marriage with him would be.
She shivered, more at the thought of that than the cold wind, and walked on.
I'm a bit emotionally attached to this chapter so I would love to hear your thoughts on it! ;)