Haha hello everyone, I couldn't bear to continue the chapter after this. The next one should come rather quickly, but I had to split this one in half because I rather like leaving you all with a dramatic ending bit. I tied the Obscuro charm in here because I thought it'd be cute if she'd learned it from Draco and then used it in the canon. So this is where I'd like to think she'd gotten it from. Anyway, here's Draco and Hermione on their way to...somewhere. Does anyone want to chance a guess as to where? (;
Hint: No hints.
Summerlites--You're a dear. Thank you so much.
Inkbird and BlueSkyShyMoon08, both of your reviews made me smile a lot. I reread them quite a few times each.
The answer to the question posed in Chapter 19 really is a lot simpler than it seems. The hint for that one is that it's more for super observant folks, and the answer's stuck somewhere in the first few lines of the chapter itself. (;
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns my entire life.
"Right," Draco said, flashing a calculatedly winning grin in her direction. "Let's move on, shall we?" Hermione shot him a questioning glare before hoisting herself into a kneeling position.
"What are you on about?" she inquired deliberately, rolling the syllables carefully off her tongue.
"Well, you don't expect us to stay huddled up back here all day, do you?" he responded nonchalantly, peering casually down at his fingernails before extending his daintily muscular hand in her direction. To his surprise, she first pressed herself up onto her knees and then lowered her palm into his, graciously allowing him to hoist her the rest of the way to her feet. Her expression, however, still held utter distaste.
"And where the hell are we going to next?" she asked, voice dripping with annoyance. Draco tutted.
"Patience, love. Patience. I can assure you, however, that we'll not be riding dragons or bludgeoning trolls or anything of the sort." He grinned at her again, this time to slacken her uneasiness. In response she tilted her head away from him and narrowed her eyes.
"If you bring me within ten feet of your room, I'm going to kick you in the penis, I swear to God." He frowned at her.
"Well there goes that plan," he muttered to himself. Hermione shot him a glare venomous enough to cause him minor discomfort. "Come on," he urged darkly. She followed immediately after him.
"What now?" Hermione sighed, bringing one arm up to rest on the curve of her hip. Draco met her eyes and raised one eyebrow with a devious little smirk. She frowned at him. "What?" she repeated, frustration edging the question.
"Obscuro," he responded, and a seam of silk shot out of the tip of his wand and tied itself over her eyes. Hermione cried out in alarm and her hands flew to the back of her head, fumbling with the impossible square knot in desperation.
"Draco Malfoy, undo this spell!" she commanded, stamping her foot when she had had enough of attempting to remove the blindfold herself. He laughed openly.
"Trust me?" he asked innocently, wrapping his hand around hers. There was a silence that lasted for all of three seconds.
"Never again," she answered defiantly, scowling as she intertwined her fingers with his. His heart sank as he felt his face do the same, and he was suddenly uncountably grateful for the Obscuro charm he'd discovered while actually reading a book for pleasure. The "Never," he could have dealt with. He would have scoffed at "Never." But the "again," was almost too painful for him to bear. So she had trusted him in the past, and he had slept with Amber Fisch, and he had kept it a secret and she had found out and so she would never trust him again. Never again. That bitch. He adjusted his features into a cold sneer and gripped her hand a little more tightly, edging the castle doors open and leading her carefully inside. He had the sudden urge to allow her to smack her sweet little Gryffindor face into the mahogany doors, but he resisted just long enough to pass them (though a part of him regretted it). He glanced down at the exposed parts of her face and did a double take when he found her smiling.
"What?" he asked her, his voice betraying a touch of cruelty. She either ignored it or didn't notice.
"I've never heard of Obscuro." As she confided this to him she wrinkled her nose, her little smile expanding into a widespread grin. Draco suddenly felt as if he had just witnessed a kitten kissing a mouse. His head swum with admiration and he found himself grinning in response.
"I've known it forever," he told her, careful to keep the smile out of his tone. "And it works on nearly anything, really. Portraits, as well."
"I'll remember that," she murmured, and the corners of her mouth fell slightly. He realized that she actually was memorizing the spell for later use and rolled his eyes. Then, suddenly Draco's heart leapt into his throat as he spotted a flash of red hair through his peripheral vision. He whipped around and found himself locking eyes with a redheaded Ravenclaw of little importance. His heartbeat quickened nonetheless and he soon recognized, with nothing less than utmost fear, the fact that the foyer was filling up rather quickly with students. He noted offhandedly that Hermione's mouth and eyebrows expressed mild concern. Obviously she was able to hear the chatter of various hungry teenagers spilling in and out of the Great Hall. Draco conjured his little clock and winced. It was just after ten.
"When do your friends come down, again?" he whispered breathily into her ear, leaning down within two inches and giving her hand a little squeeze to alert her to his presence.
"Er, different times each day," she announced worriedly. "Around nine-thirty, I suppose? Considering it's--" Rather than letting her finish, Draco cast a Disillusionment Charm and she shivered visibly with the sensation. "What are you doing?" she whispered.
"You're gone, love," he told her. "Though I do look a bit batty now, my hand out and holding nothing." He squeezed her hand again and he grinned at the thought that she was probably blushing even though he wasn't currently able to see it.
"Would you just lift the spell so that I'll be able to walk on my own? Whatever this is, it can't be much of a surprise, Malfoy, seeing as I already know we're in the castle. I can probably work out where we're going, honestly."
"We'll be taking the staircases, Hermione," he answered, and paused at the bottom of the steps to let her adjust to her surroundings. "Hold the banister," he warned. After a moment he added, "Well, are you holding it?" She didn't respond and he repeated himself, more annoyedly this time. "Are you holding it or not?!"
"I nodded!" Hermione yelled back.
"You're fucking invisible!" Draco reminded her, half-dragging her up the staircase.
"Well, if you'd just take this bloody blindfold off--"
"People would see you anyways, so you'd still be invisible!" he finished for her.
"Well, I don't see why I even have to be invisible in the first place!" she retorted angrily. He heard her angry footfalls on the red carpet and it only served to raise his own temper. He yanked her to the top of the staircase and addressed the crowd gathered into a little pool on the stone tile about thirty feet below him.
"Here, Hermione, why don't I just lift the Disillusionment Charm here? Then, while I'm at it, I can anoint your head with my semen and hold you over the banister like Simba! How about that, Hermione?!" he whispered angrily, gesticulating with the hand wrapped around hers so that she could feel his movement.
"Oh, shut up! I don't even know where we are!" she responded snippily.
"We're in front of fucking everyone!" Draco bellowed. More than a few students looked up towards the spot where he was standing and he flipped them all the bird before reattaching himself to Hermione and dragging her up the connecting staircase once more.
"Why are you so rude?" she prompted angrily, stomping her foot again. "Just take this blindfold off already!"
"Goddammit, Hermione, this is supposed to be romantic!" Draco yelled over his shoulder at her, yanking her sharply so that she matched his pace.
"Yeah, Draco, this is definitely what every girl dreams of!" she screamed.
"Just--" he began furiously, fisting one hand into his blonde locks before his eyes wrenched open and his lips were quelled into silence.
"Just what, then?" she prodded loudly, matching his rage with her own. Her vice-like grip on his palm had become almost unbearable but he barely noticed.
"Nothing," he answered quietly, allowing a longer pause than was necessary and allowing himself to smile ever so slightly.