Disclaimer: All these characters belong to JK Rowling. I'm just using them to create this story.
Draco paced around the streets with his hands jammed into his pockets. He was angry at Granger for no good reason. Why the hell was she pestering me? Damn, that bookworm is good-for-nothing. Geez, why was stuck with her for this damn assignment. Now, where the hell am I? He looked around at his surroundings. There was absolutely nothing that was familiar to him. Oh well, I'll just ask around. It's easy enough. He grabbed the person nearest to him which happened to be someone around his age. "Hey, you, where's the nearest convenience store?"
"Let go of me! I need to get to class."
"Tell me where it is, or do I have to beat you around a little?"
The guy smirked. "You beat me around? If you didn't know, scumbag, I'm the captain of Cambridge's rugby team. I think I would beat you around more than you would beat me around."
"Shut up and tell me where it is."
"What if I don't want to?"
Draco's temper rose again and he landed a punch on the guy's face. "That's what will happen."
People turned around too look at what was happening. Oh shit, I attracted attention to myself. He was about to take off when the guy grabbed his leg. "What the hell are you doing!? Let go of my leg!"
"Not until I break it!"
"Get off of me!"
The guy tripped Draco and pushed him to the ground. Draco's head hit the ground – hard – and he became dizzy. He got back up quickly, but the guy was ready to punch and hit Draco's nose, breaking it. He then heard a familiar voice yelling, "Stop it!" He looked over with his last bit of energy and saw Granger running, eyes filled with worry and concern. He turned back to look at the guy grasping his collar and saw him staring at Granger. What the…? Then, everything went black.
Hermione ran as fast as she could towards Malfoy. Oh Merlin, please let him be okay.
Are you hoping for him to be okay?
Yes, I don't want the Ministry on my back.
Hmmm…doesn't seem like it.
Hermione went to slap the guy holding him for beating Malfoy, but stopped the instant her eyes met his. She knew who he was – he was the captain of the rugby team at Cambridge, Robert Fisher. But why would he have anything to do with Malfoy? She couldn't say anything. "I'm sorry miss for beating your boyfriend. I didn't realize that he was dear to a woman."
"Oh, no, he's not my boyfriend. He's my…brother." Shit, why the hell did I say that? "It's fine, well, no it isn't. But he's always getting in trouble here or there."
"Your brother? Well, you two certainly don't resemble each other."
"He took after my mother and I, my father so we look very different from each other."
"Oh, well, you have my apologies. If there're any medical fees that I need to pay, you can call me. I'll give you my phone number."
"Oh, wait a moment please," she said as she fumbled for her cell phone. "Okay, what's your phone number?"
He told her and she entered it in. "I'm assuming you already know my name, but I would like to know yours miss."
"Oh, how rude of me! I'm Hermione Granger. Nice to meet you. My father's a big rugby fan seeing as he played when he was in the university himself."
"Your father went to Cambridge?"
"Well, yes. That was always his dream school."
"How come you didn't go there?"
"Well, I can't apply until next year since I'm still 17."
"Wow, you're so mature for your age though."
"That's what people generally say," she laughed a little at a loss for words and realized that Malfoy was still in Robert's hands. "Oh, I'll take my brother from you."
"He's probably too heavy for you. Would you like me to accompany you to the hospital?"
"Well," I can't really let him since I need to work on Dumbledore's task and we can get to St. Mungo's here, but… "sure. That would be great. Thank you."
"It's the least I could do after beating on him."
They walked to the subway and Malfoy came to. "Oh, thank god you're okay, Draco," Hermione said putting emphasis on Draco.
Oh shit, he's probably going to call me Granger. "What the hell? Granger? Did you just…?"
She slapped her hand over his mouth and looked at his eyes making it clear that he should not call her Granger.
Draco was confused. So, why can't I call her Granger? Damn, did that mudblood tell him that I'm her…well, boyfriend? Shit, I always knew that she was weird that way. "Yeah, I'm fine. This guy here just slapped me around a bit. Why is he even here, Hermione."
Her face seemed to relax. Okay, I guessed right. "That's good. We're headed for a hospital right now. Anyway, his name is Robert, and he feels guilty for hitting you, so he helped me by carrying you over here."
"Oh, okay."
"Can't you at least tell him thank you?"
"I can't help but think you have feelings for this scumbag."
"Draco! Just tell him thank you and apologize for hitting him."
"No, really Hermione, it's okay. I need to get off at this stop anyway since he seems to be better. It's perfect timing since my school is right down here."
"I'm so sorry Robert. He's just being stupid."
Robert smiled at Draco and Granger. "All right, this is where I get off. Bye! Don't forget to call!"
"I won't," Granger said.
Draco felt as if he had to establish that they were in a relationship and closed his hand around hers. Granger turned around and looked at him in horror. "What? Didn't you tell the guy we were in a relationship?"
"No," she said as she pulled her hand away, "I told him you were my brother."
Draco flushed. Oh SHIT. He didn't know what to do next. She turned to look at him. Draco felt embarrassed for the first time in his life. "Well, I guess we won't have to go to a muggle hospital. We can take the next stop and head on to St. Mungo's."
"I'm fine. I don't need a hospital. What we need to concentrate on now is our assignment."
"What if your nose doesn't heal properly? I don't know much about healing spells so I can't help you there."
"Who ever asked for your help, Granger?"
"I just assumed that you would…"
"Don't assume things, Granger. You're only making yourself look dumb."
"Well, at least I don't assume that we're in a relationship."
"Shut up. Fine, we'll go to St. Mungo's."
They got off the subway and used the telephone booth to get into St. Mungo's. After his nose was healed, they left and stood on the street. Hermione was left to find which bus to take back to where they were. Malfoy stood on the sidewalk waiting for her. "Hurry up, Granger. We don't have all day."
"Stop being such a prat Malfoy. Why don't you try finding the right bus to take us back after you caused all of these problems by beating up some random guy?"
"Fine, but seriously, we don't have all day."
The bus finally stopped and they both clambered on. Sitting in different chairs, they didn't look at each other. Draco didn't say anything and continued staring out the window. "Hey, Malfoy. Why did you think I told Robert we were in a relationship?"
Why does she have to bring this up now? His mind darted quickly for an answer. "You seemed like you liked him…so you wanted to make him jealous and make yourself more desirable."
He turned around to see her reaction. Her face flushed and she turned to Malfoy. "You're right about me liking him, but I would never do something as horrendous as that. That's just disgusting."
"Well, good. I'm glad we agree on something."
There was something in his heart that was unsettled when she admitted that she liked him. He ignored it and turned back to look outside the window. The bus stopped and they both got off. As soon as they got off, there was a convenience store standing right in front of them. "So, we should check here."
"No, let's go somewhere else, Granger," he said sarcastically.
They walked in and saw a man with graying hair and as he turned around, Hermione saw the bright pale blue eyes in the photograph. The man without even looking at them welcomed them, "Welcome, if you need any help…"
"Malfoy," she whispered, "that's him."
"Are you sure?"
Hermione spoke up. "Yes, sir, we would like help finding something…or more of someone."
The man turned around in alarm and stole a look at them. "No, I won't go with you. You'll have to tell Dumbledore to find someone else."
With that, he apparated, leaving Hermione and Malfoy in the store. "Do you think he could be a Metamorphmagus? But, Dumbledore told us he was a muggle. How could he apparate if he was a muggle?"
Malfoy looked at her. "Maybe he is an unregistered wizard. Damn, that'll just make our job that much harder."
Hermione opened the book and took out a fountain pen. "What the hell is that Hermione?"
"The book?"
"No, that thing that you're holding in your hand."
"Oh, this was the closest thing I could find to a quill. Fountain pens use ink, but the ink is already in a bottle which is the in the pen, so it's like a quill, but not. Anyway, I found that this book only takes quills so fountain pens are the only things that you can write with in this book."
Malfoy walked over to observe the pen. Wow, how does he always smell this good? Oh gosh, I have to concentrate on my writing. She looked at what she had written: Dumbledore, we found the man you were looking for and he always smells good. She quickly scratched it out in embarrassment and looked at Malfoy. He was smirking. "What's so funny, ferret?"
"Oh, I think I know why you wrote he smells good."
"Oh really? Then why?"
"You were thinking about Robert, weren't you?"
He smiled mockingly as if he thought he was correct. She smiled too. "Well, I'll just let you think that."
"So I was wrong?"
"Maybe, maybe not."
"How did you ever get so"
Hermione smiled. He was at a loss for words. "So much like you? I guess I was around you too much for these past few weeks."
Hermione looked back down at the book. Smell? I don't know so much about his smell. I congratulate you for finding him. Now, if you would please come back to school. Hermione saw Malfoy's expression when he read that they should go back. Why is he so angry? Malfoy grabbed the pen and book from her. "How do you use this pen?"
"Just write normally", she said feebly.
She watched him write furiously into the book. We found him but he ran off. Where do we go next? We need more instructions, sir. I thought our goal was to find him and actually bring him back. Hermione was very curious as to why he wanted to continue pursuing this trip. She took the book back from him immediately and began writing. Well, sir, I thought our goal was just to locate him and make sure that he did not leave the country. We will return soon. Should we go to the Leaky Cauldron for now? Malfoy stared angrily at her. "Are you afraid that Weasel king is lonely without you? Or do you want to check up on Potty head?"
"Shut up ferret! I don't understand why you don't want to go back! Weren't you the one complaining about this task in the beginning of the trip? Weren't you the one who didn't want to come with someone like me?"
"Oh, you mean a mudblood? I would never want to go anywhere with you."
"Then why do you insist on pursuing this man. We have completed our task and now we can return to Hogwarts. Unless, you really like all this alone time with me."
"Like hell. I just want to execute this task properly, unlike you. I thought Miss Bookworm was a perfectionist."
"I am! And I want to get back to Hogwarts as soon as possible because we're really falling behind in our studies. We have NEWTs to take!"
"Is that really the reason, Granger? I knew it. You are in love with Weasel."
"Fine, I am. Now what's your reason for wanting to stay here on this arduous journey. Do you love me something? You never said anything about liking this trip."
"Stop repeating points you've already brought up. I don't enjoy this trip, but, like I said earlier, I want to execute this task properly. And don't flatter yourself, I would never allow myself to fall in love with you."
They both looked down at the book desperately waiting for Dumbledore's reply. Finally, they saw words being written. I'm sorry Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy. We will have to delay your return to Hogwarts. I would like you to find him for me. Seems that I have been lying to you as well – He isn't a muggle! Sorry for the inconvenience. When I hear more news of him and his new form, I will write in the book. Hermione closed the book and sighed. "I guess you win Malfoy. We're staying for another day. Hello, Malfoy?"
Malfoy was staring straight ahead with fear in his eyes. "Granger, turn around and walk with me slowly and when I say run, run as fast as you can."
"Malfoy, what the hell? What's wrong?"
"RUN! I'm telling you run!"
Hermione saw bright lights appear from wand tips and she fell to the ground.
Author's Note: Wow, I haven't written this in a long time. Well, tune in to find out what happens next!
