Hey everyone! Computers hate me!
DRACO
When I woke up it was dark. Really dark. I was lying on a leafy floor… and that's when it all began to come back.
I sat up in a jolt and checked my leg. It was as good as new. I closed my eyes… I had actually cursed my own father – not as bad as everyone else, but I had knocked him out.
Then I remembered Hermione.
I felt around the floor and found it – yes! I had a wand!
"Lumos," I whispered, and I looked around by wand light.
A forest – that much I had remembered, so it didn't really help me out that much. I was freezing, too. Summer wasn't that far behind, was it?
But, most importantly, there was no Granger.
I stood up with ease – there was a pain in my leg, but perhaps that was just psychological. I mean, I was pretty sure that there had been bone sticking out of my flesh… I shuddered to think of it.
"Hermione?" I asked tentatively. No answer. I hadn't really been expecting one.
I moved forwards slowly, towards the trees, by the light of my wand.
"Hermione," I hissed. "Come out… now."
This wasn't cool.
I stepped into the trees, lessening the light from my wand.
I kept on going and heard a noise. I froze.
I heard another noise. Something was moving towards me. I turned off the light from my wand and stayed completely still. There was a light moving towards me. Make that a someone.
And then I sighed in relief.
"Granger," I said. She jumped about three miles in the air – I'm not overreacting – and then she ran towards me. I was sure that she was going to hit me when she enveloped me in a tight hug.
"Oh, you're alright! I wasn't sure if you were- I…" she pulled away from me and looked at my face. And then she hugged me again. "Don't break your leg ever again!" she scolded me.
To be completely truthful, I wasn't registering a word she said. I was feeling something extremely wonderful in my stomach that I hadn't felt since sixth year, when we were dating. I made the most of the moment by placing my arms around her, and breathing in the scent of her hair. It smelled like vanilla…
The it ended. She pulled away from me, hugged me again, then she pulled away from me properly and looked at me sadly.
"I can't find Harry or Ron anywhere," she said.
Yes! Great! No Weasel or Potter? Just me and Hermione? Come on… there must be some kind of catch….
"We need to find them immediately. Can you apparate?"
Well, there it is.
"Her- Granger, it's … I don't know what time it is! It's dark!"
"They could be in trouble! Or hurt!"
Hmm… compelling argument. Not.
"Well, I don't think I can apparate," I said.
She frowned in the dim light.
"Are you just saying that because you hate them?"
"I'm not sure… would that work?"
She looked at my leg worriedly.
"Ow! It hurts so much."
She scowled at me.
"Are you really that mean?"
"I'm a Death Eater, sweetypie-"
"Do not call me sweetypie!" she interrupted, but at the mention of me being a Death Eater she paled. Then she turned away from me. "Oh, what am I going to do?" she asked herself. "I'm on the run, wanted by the Ministry, the whole of Britain… with a Death Eater that now has a wand. I should be looking for Horcruxes, but how can I do that without Harry and Ron? And what if they're in trouble? Oh, dear, what if Harry couldn't find the Escence of Dittany, and he's been forced to take Ron to Saint Mungos and has been caught! He surely wouldn't let Ron die, would he?" She turned to me. "Oh, my friends are dead and this is all my fault!"
I blinked and took in her distraught appearance. She ran a hand through her bushy hair.
I loved it when she did that.
But not right now, because she looked as if she were about to break into tears.
"I… I don't have any idea of what Horcuxes are-"
"You selfish bastard!"
I stepped back – these mood swings were not fun at all… in fact, they were terribly frightening.
"Whoa!"
"You're supposed to be comforting me!" she said. "You're supposed to say, 'I'm sorry, Granger, it's all my fault' and then envelope me in your nice, strong arms…" she stopped talking and shook her head. "You suck!" she said finally, and sat down on the forest ground, her face in her hands.
I looked up, completely confused at what to do. Either it was her time of the month or she had finally cracked. I didn't like it.
It was starting to get lighter, it wasn't as dark as it was before. I looked back down at her and knelt down in front of her.
"I'm sorry, Granger," I said carefully. She looked up from her hands. "It's all my fault." Uncertain if she was going to scream at me again, I enveloped her in my nice, strong arms. How's that for bravery? "If we look for them, will that make you happy?" And less psycho? She nodded into my chest. "And… if I give you my wand… will that make you feel safer?"
I swear that I could feel her frown. She pulled away from me – oh. There was that frown I was talking about. I looked at her expectantly. She looked confused, unsure and a little nervous. It was her hug all over again. She scooted away from me as soon as she noticed the closeness and wrapped her own arms around her knees.
"I don't know," she said slowly. "I don't know if you would ever hurt me."
Well, no, that wasn't a good thing – ever. I didn't want her to be afraid of me. I suddenly felt disgusted with myself – how could I scare her? She looked so vulnerable, sitting there on the forest floor, her face looking tearstained and confused.
"Here," I said, handing her the wand that I had had for such a little time. But I was refraining myself from snapping it in half. "Give it to me if your in danger. I will help you."
"Even if I'm in danger from him?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, but taking it none the less. My stomach clenched as I remembered my father. I was fifty percent sure that she would talking about him. The other fifty percent was The Dark Lord. Though I wasn't one hundred percent sure over who she was talking about, I wasn't going to let this be last year all over again. Having to stay away from her from fear that I would hurt her. No. That was when I made a decision. The side I was on was unclear – I wasn't sure if I wanted to be on either side – but if anyone came near her I would blow their heads off. I felt a little bit more sure of myself this time, the Dark Mark still on my arm, still burning and hard to ignore, but with her in front of me I couldn't say no.
"Yes."
"You promise?" she asked shakily. I swallowed.
"I promise."
She let out a short nod, and then she stood up suddenly.
"OK, then. Let's go."
My stomach rumbled.
"You're saying that we're not even going to eat…" I pulled a face.
"We'll eat when we find them."
She seemed so sure that I didn't argue.
oOo
HERMIONE
We didn't find them.
"Oh dear, where could they be?" I asked rhetorically, sitting down on a rock. I don't know why I had thought to come to a cliff side. We had gone to loads of places actually. I might have gone a bit crazy over where we landed, but they weren't anywhere.
My stomach let out a loud rumble.
"I'm hungry," Malfoy moaned, sitting down on the floor in front of me. I sighed.
"Me too. But Harry has my bag, with all my provisions."
"We need food," he said. "And I feel dizzy. We've been apparating all morning… if I had anything in my stomach, I would have thrown it up by now."
I ignored him.
Where were they?
"I'm tired too. All the sleep I've gotten has been from being knocked out."
Ugh… did he ever stop moaning?
"Yes, and that's all and well-"
"Don't you know anywhere we can stay?" he interrupted.
"No, I don't."
"What about your place-"
"I'm wanted, Malfoy. Because of what I am. And now, for being spotter helping Harry Potter in the Ministry. Oh, I bet it's all over the news." It probably was. "Besides, I doubt you'd survive five minutes in the Muggle world…" I trailed off.
The Muggle World.
But wouldn't that be where they'd look for me? But surely, a disguise wouldn't hurt…
My stomach rumbled.
Just to get some sleep.
I had money in my bag… oh, that was just peachy.
But maybe a confundus charm…
"No," I said aloud. Malfoy frowned at me.
"What?"
I wasn't going to use a confundus charm on an innocent Muggle.
My head hurt I was so tired.
"I won't do it," I said aloud.
"Are you going to tell me what you're talking about?"
"We need to find somewhere to rest, I'll grant you that."
He seemed pleased.
"So, where to?"
"I don't know… yet."
"Don't you know anywhere-"
"I told you that I didn't!"
"You did, but then you pulled that 'do not disturb, genius at work' face on, and then you started talking to yourself. Are you planning on telling me your plan?"
I blinked.
"Well, I-"
"No, then. Another plan, perhaps? Anything that involves food, please."
I felt myself going red.
"I'm a person!" I said indignantly. "Not some sort of… machine!"
He frowned.
"A what?"
"It doesn't matter," I sighed grumpily. I couldn't help but think that if Harry had a mobile phone, this would all be a lot easier.
oOo
GINNY
"So, when's the first…" Blaise winked exaggeratedly to finish his sentence.
I looked around nervously and then slapped him on the arm when I saw that none of the students in the hallway had heard him.
"Would you please care to be more subtle!" I hissed. Luna nodded from beside me. He shrugged.
"But you're just so adorable when your angry," he drawled. I raised an eyebrow. Had he just called me adorable?
"I have to get to class," I said shortly, feeling my face turn red. He shrugged again. Oh Merlin… if he kept on shrugging like that I-I…
"Bye then," he said, and shrugged before he left. Did he know how much it pissed me off?
Luna sighed from beside me. Not a random sigh – a serious sort of sigh. Even though sighs aren't serious… Ugh!
"What?" I asked her.
"How long are you going to keep on pretending?" she asked me.
"Pretending what?"
"Pretending that you don't know that Blaise Zabini is in love with you."
My stomach squirmed uncomfortably and I felt my face heat up. She looked at me with her big blue eyes.
"As long as it takes?" I said guiltily. She frowned and shook her head.
No, I wasn't completely naïve. But maybe ignoring it would…
"It won't help," Luna said. When was she crowned relationship-guru? "It will just make things worse. You should just tell him how you feel-"
"But Luna," I interrupted quietly. "I don't know how I feel. Half the time I'm just pissed off at him. And besides, love is a strong word, it always has been, you need to be with someone for a while to be able to say the L word-"
"I'm in love," Luna interrupted dreamily.
"Oh," I said. "Really?"
She nodded at me.
"Well… that's nice then."
"I think so too."
I kind of just stared at her every now and then for the rest of the morning. And I also had a lot to think about… when would the first meeting be? Come on, Ginny, you came up with the name… Why was this so hard? I mean, it wasn't as if Harry had made it look easy… he had been stuttering all the time, and he had always looked like he had no idea of what he was doing…
"Ginny, you're drooling."
"Huh?" I said, sitting up.
"You're drooling," Luna repeated.
"Oh, silly me," I mumbled, not looking at her. McGonagall was glaring at me. Was it my fault that I happened to be drooling whilst I happened to be thinking of my brother's best friend?
I suck.
oOo
HARRY
I've killed Ron.
Well, I hope that I haven't.
I mean… the essence of dittany hadn't helped at all, and he begged me to take him to Shell Cottage. I told him it was bad idea to apparate him anywhere, but in the end, he stopped breathing.
I was now sitting on the beach, staring at the waves, the Horcrux clutched in my hand. Fluer had told me that I needed to get out of the house, so I was watching the sunrise.
This felt like giving up. I wasn't supposed to give up so easily. I had put Ron's life in danger, I didn't even know if Hermione was still alive. I couldn't help but think that this whole thing would be a lot easier if I had a mobile phone.
But Hermione had to be alive, even though when Bill and I had gone to look for her, we couldn't find her.
I clutched the Horcrux tighter, and I could feel tears in my eyes. This was ridiculous. After about a month, I had already lost Hermione.
She's with Malfoy, I told myself. That's who she had gone back to find. Now, I suppose that it just depended on whether I trusted Malfoy with Hermione or not.
oOo
HERMIONE
"I can't believe that we're doing this," Draco muttered nervously, sounding disgusted.
"Neither can I," I said, pulling a face. And then I slapped him on the arm.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"You simply can't carry on treating Muggles like dirt! They're people, just like you and me!" He rubbed his arm but didn't say much else.
We were at a road side, heading towards the nearest motel. The morning air was cold and biting, and even worse in the clothes I was in. I hadn't been able to change them because… well.
I've never been to a motel. I've only ever camped or stayed at a hotel. But we had both decided that it was our – or rather, his – best chance at…
"I'll stay out here," I said to him, and he looked less nervous than before. He raked his hand through his hair and then straightened his jacked. Then, he pulled a face.
"I bet I smell," he muttered with disdain.
"Oh, just get in there," I snapped, pushing him forward. The person at the desk was a woman. A young woman. In her twenties. Draco stood up straighter, and looked like he was much better acquainted with the plan now.
"My breath may be bad, want a test-run?" he asked me, stepping closer. I stepped back.
"Get in there!" I repeated, ignoring the fact that my cheeks were turning pink. With a ridiculous hair flick, he stepped into the orange, run-down building.
I waited outside for what seemed like eternity, rubbing my arms for warmth. I was seconds away from marching in there and shouting at him to hurry up when he came out, looking truly and thoroughly snogged.
I swallowed to keep my nerves in check (I don't know!) as he took a deep breath. I waited, and he showed me some keys. I raised an eyebrow.
"That wasn't too bad," he said.
I wanted to slap his arm again, but I didn't have much reason to this time.
It was one of those outdoorsy motels that I only thought existed in American films, so I didn't have to be seen by the young woman at the desk. I didn't want to see her.
He lead the way and I followed. We didn't talk. It was quite awkward.
We climbed some stairs and entered room 102.
I closed the door behind me, not daring to look at him. Obviously, the lack of attention was doing something to his self esteem.
"My leg still hurts a bit, you know, Granger," he said. I grit my teeth.
"I'll have the first shower."
He pulled a face but I couldn't be bothered to argue. The bathroom was tiny, there was only so much space. And it also smelled rather horrible. And there was no lock on the door.
I thought about kicking it, but that seemed extremely counter productive and horribly unlike me.
"Don't come in," I limited myself to say. He didn't answer, which made me nervous, so I ended up casting a charm on it just in case.
I stared at the door for a second, and then I turned my head ninety degrees to look at my reflection in the mirror. I looked horrible! There were dark circles under my hair, my hair was even bushier than normal, there were twigs in said hair, I was covered in dirt…
My eyes were watering.
Oh, honestly!
I scowled at my reflection before I started getting undressed.
I was slightly afraid of the shower at first, because it did not look safe, but at least hot water came out.
"Hey, Granger," a voice said from outside the bathroom. I jumped so hard that if I had slipped I would have broken my neck. The bathroom should be a Malfoy-free zone!
"Malfoy, go away," I said, my voice coming out high-pitched and squeaky. Stop talking to me!
"I'm sorry. About … your friends."
Today was an odd day. Malfoy was being strangely polite… first the wand, now this…
Yes, I did date him. Yes, he's a freaking Death Eater. I'm not dating him anymore. Even though I never said that we were over… did he… he tried to kill me! I don't love him anymore! I mean, I never loved him, but… oh!
"You should be," I answered in a measured voice.
"Just trying to be polite…"
"Stop it. It's scaring me."
I heard a resigned sigh from the other side of the door, and breathed out slowly through the steam when I realized that he had stepped away.
And then I heard a loud thud.
"Ah!" Malfoy groaned. I turned off the shower right away and stepped out.
"Malfoy?" I asked, grabbing a towel.
"What the hell are you doing, charming the fucking bathroom door!" a voice groaned in pain.
"I… you were trying to get in!" I accused angrily.
"Let me in, she's here!"
"Who?"
"The desk girl! Hide me!"
I hesitated before opening the door. As soon as I did, he barged in and closed the door behind him.
"Wh-why is she here?" I asked, trying to ignore how close he was. Why on Earth was the bathroom so damn small? "Wasn't one snog good enough for her?"
"I'm irresistible, you should know that," he smirked at me. He seemed suddenly aware that I was only wearing a towel.
"You'll turn around if you know what's good for you," I said, ignoring the fact that my cheeks were turning pink.
"I don't."
"I'll hex you out of here and you can go snog your Muggle girlfriend some more!"
He seemed midly surprised, but I think that it was my glare that made him turn around.
"Girlfriend?"
I could see his face in the mirror. He seemed very amused.
"You know what I mean?"
"Yes, I do. You're jealous. Of a Muggle."
I gasped.
"My mother is a Muggle! Stop saying it as if it was something degrading!"
I heard a bang on the room's door, and we were both silent.
"This is ridiculous…" I whispered.
"Blaise," a sickly sweet voice shouted. "I saw you coming in here with another woman!"
"Whoops," he whispered.
"Blaise?" I asked, shifting uncomfortably and pulling my towel further up my chest.
"It was the first name that came to mind, alright?"
"That's not a good sign…"
"Shut it," he said, putting a hand on the mirror and a hand on the shower – the room was small enough you could touch the opposite walls with ease. "Shit," he suddenly said, and took his shirt off. I'm not joking. I stared at him in shock.
"What are you doing?" I squeaked, backing against the wall that wasn't very far away. He turned around.
"She's coming in. Hide yourself with a charm."
"I'm terrible at that kind of…" I trailed off as he started unbuckling his belt, and as soon as I realized what he was going to do I grabbed my wand and clothes from the sink and turned around – no matter how hard that was – to look at the wall. I waited for an inappropriate comment as the shower turned on but it never came… the bathroom door swung open and a gush of cold air came in. I pressed my clothes against me and closed my eyes tightly, as if that could help me hide myself, but I had cast the charm. For some reason, the image of Malfoy's bare chest was burning in my mind.
I blinked angrily as Malfoy said, "Whoa, whoa!" and I heard the curtain being pulled. "What are you doing?" he asked, his voice squeaking. If only I knew that he was that bothered over showing off his body.
"Where is she?" the girl at the desk asked. "I want those keys back."
"I'm having a shower. I don't know what you're talking about."
"Fuck you-"
"Whoa!"
She was extremely rude! And by the looks of it, she didn't seem to be leaving.
I had been against the idea of using magic on a poor defenceless Muggle. I had even formulated this ridiculous plan in which Malfoy charmed his way into getting us somewhere to sleep. But I was freezing! And she was seeing way too much of my ex-boyfriend!
With one eye closed – the one that hid Malfoy from me – I turned around and cast a silent confundus charm at the young woman.
She blinked a few times before saying, "Where am… I'm sorry sir!" and leaving.
I sighed a sigh of relief as I heard the room door close.
"Nicely done, Granger. You wouldn't be peeping, would you?"
"You wish," I muttered, but I was extremely tempted. Stop it! Before I could do anything that I would regret later I turned back towards the wall, and making the most of being invisible, got dressed, no matter how hard that was in the small space. By the time he was out of the shower, I was the one that was dressed and he was the vulnerable one. I waited until I was sure that he would have a towel around him before turning around and making myself visible.
"See anything you liked, Granger?" he asked. Thank god he was wearing a towel around his waist.
"No," I answered truthfully, but I was finding it rather hard to look at his chest- I mean, face! Face face face!
"Then why haven't you left the bathroom yet?"
I blinked. Why hadn't I left that bathroom yet.
"I… move so that I can leave." I couldn't be blushing. That wouldn't be fair. This wasn't fair!
He wasn't moving.
So I made to move around him, unable to stand any longer in his presence, but he grabbed my right arm with his bare left arm.
I felt my heart stop as soon as I saw the Dark Mark. He seemed to realize that he had made a wrong move, because when I looked up at his face, his jaw was clenched, and he was staring at it too.
When he looked at me, at my face, he seemed mildly surprised, and he let go of my arm, and moved out of the way, up against the sink. In the same second that I leant towards the door, he grabbed my arm again and kissed me.
I'd forgotten how good it felt to kiss him. And even though that may seem completely impossible and preposterous, it was sadly true. And even though I knew that I shouldn't be doing this at all, that I shouldn't even still be there, I leant into the kiss. First, it felt forced, but then it didn't. Then it felt… perfect.
Then he pulled away, looking uncomfortable, something that I would have though impossible because he always seemed so sure of himself with me, with flirting with me, with kissing with me. Now he looked ashamed.
"Sorry," he said. I tried not to gape at him, but he hardly ever said sorry… And, before I knew it, I was standing outside of the bathroom, listening to him getting dressed inside.
oOo
GINNY
"So, this is our first meeting," I said to Colin, Neville, Luna and Blaise. Colin looked eager, Neville looked serious, Luna looked seriously dreamy and Blaise… is it possible to look both amused and bored?
"I think we should hand out sweets to all those that have lost someone," he then said, sitting up. I glared at him.
"Leave all sarcasm for the end of the class."
I ignored Colin's put out expression. Blaise shrugged and sat back. The Room of Requirement had given us arm chairs, so I supposed we didn't really have to do much training. Just tactics.
"What we need to do is somehow get word around that this is a safe place for people being treated badly by the Carrows without getting ratted out."
"Magic sweets," Blaise said.
"Not helping," I told him. He smirked.
"Well, there are five of us," Neville said. "Surely there are enough of us to see someone in distress. We could just help them out-"
"And hand out smiley faces," Blaise muttered under his breath in a sing-song voice.
"Shut up!" I snapped. He was getting under my nerves, and it had nothing to do with what Luna had said this morning.
Luna let out a loud sigh.
"Isn't love wonderful?"
The four of us stared at her, even Blaise seemed confused.
She nodded.
"I'm in love," she explained before looking at me. "Carry on."
I squirmed uncomfortably before looking down at my clipboard, mostly just to hide my face with my hair. I had been reminded of Hermione as I had been making notes and stuff, arranging them into (more or less) neat little categories… and stuff.
"And we should probably find trustworthy allies," I continued.
Blaise smirked as I said the word 'allies' but I did my best to ignore him.
"I think Seamus would be glad to help," Neville said, glaring at Blaise out of the corner of his eye.
I nodded in agreement. "Yes, I think so too… but as for everyone else… we can't be too sure. We should probably make a list of old members of the DA, cross out the ones that aren't here this year and … well. Yeah."
"I vote for sweets," Blaise said, raising his hand.
"Can you please be quiet about the sweets?" I asked, trying to keep my temper in check. "There are no sweets."
"Exactly why we should get some."
"I… I want sweets," Colin spoke up slowly.
"I'll look into it," I growled, looking at my clipboard, but I couldn't seem to read any of it. This was ridiculous. Only Neville seemed to be in his right mind… ish. He kept on looking at his Mimblus Mimbletonia…
"How about Hannah?" he then asked.
"Pardon?"
"Hannah Abbot," he said. "She seems trustworthy."
"Well… I don't really know her…"
He turned red.
"It's nothing. Nothing, forget I said anything."
"Okay…"
Blaise was smirking cruelly. I glared at him.
"You can leave," I reminded him.
He shook his head.
"No, this is fun."
"You're just here to piss me off, admit it," I said angrily. Colin was watching me carefully.
"I'm not denying anything," he shrugged.
"I told you to admit it, not deny."
He shrugged again.
"OK, this is ridiculous," I said, standing up. "Leave."
He seemed amused. I wish he would stop doing that.
I took back that rubbish about him being my new best friend. I'd take Colin over him any day. He was now my new best enemy… if that makes any sense.
"You don't want me to leave."
"Um, yeah, I do. Why do you think I'm asking you to leave?"
"Because I'm making Schlongbottom uncomfortable."
I opened my mouth to speak but then closed it. Neville looked indignant.
"You are not!" he said.
"You're making me uncomfortable," Colin whispered. Blaise smiled at him. I breathed in slowly. This wasn't going to work.
"OK, this meeting is over," I said, trying to stay calm. "Neville, you hint at Seamus, but don't directly ask him in case he feels as if he has to accept. I want to know that he really wants to be a part of this. And Hannah… we'll put that on hold for a while. Colin, make a list of possibles, Luna just… do your thing." She nodded. I supposed that she knew what her thing was – I sure didn't. "And Blaise," I said, turning to him.
"Sweets?" he asked innocently. I pursed my lips.
"No. Just find a way to be less-"
"Intimidating?"
"Annoying," I finished.
I avoided meeting Luna's eye, in case she said something like, 'I'm in love' or 'Blaise Zabini is in love with you'. I really couldn't be bothered with that right now…
"I'll walk you back," Blaise suddenly offered as soon as we were outside of the Room of Requirement. I looked around surprised. "Yes, you, Weasley."
"We can walk her back," Colin said, frowning.
"Yes, they can walk me back."
"We can take a detour, if you want," Blaise whispered to me, leaning in.
I frowned.
"No," I answered, confused. He shrugged and leant back.
"Another time then."
"Not likely," I said.
"Very likely," he grinned in his un-Blaise way. I fought the desire to step back.
"No, not likely at all," I repeated.
"Very-"
"Oh, just go to bed already!"
"I'll walk you back," he suddenly said to Luna, putting his arm through hers. I exchanged glances with Neville and Colin as he pulled her down the hallway.
"Is that safe?" Neville asked me uncertainly.
"I think so…" I answered.
"He's your friend," Colin reminded me.
I grit my teeth.
"Indeed he is."
oOo
HARRY
"Do you think that 'Mione will be alright without her stuff?" Ron asked as soon as I went into his room. Fluer had told me that he was awake. He was sitting up in bed, and he seemed to be refusing to accept the fact that Hermione was gone. "I mean, we've got her bag…"
"She'll be fine," I assured him. "She's really smart."
"Yeah…" Ron said, trailing off. Then he looked at me. "Why did she go back again?"
I opened my mouth to speak but then closed it again.
His expression fell, and he looked away from me.
"Well… as soon as you're better, we're putting the Horcruxes on hold and looking for her."
"And Malfoy."
"And Malfoy," I agreed nervously.
Ron reached for the bedside table, groaning a bit in pain and picking up Hermione's little bag.
"She's got a tent in here and everything," he told me.
"Yeah, she's smart," I repeated.
"Look what else I found," he said, putting his good arm into the tiny bag as I watched him uncertainly. He was acting strange.
"You really shouldn't be rummaging through a woman's purse-" I started, but he pulled something golden out. For a moment, I thought that it was the Horcrux, but that was in my pocket. He held it up for me to see, and I saw that it was a necklace of some sort, but it had a gold lion and a … snake? "That's incredibly cheesy," I said before I could stop myself.
"Isn't it?" Ron grunted.
I shifted uncomfortably.
"Ron, they were dating…"
"But why did she keep it?"
"Well, it looks really expensive…"
"Save it, Harry," he said, shoving the necklace back into her bag. "Here." He thrust the bag into my hands and lay down, facing the wall. "I'm tired. I'm gonna go to sleep."
I looked at the bag in my hand. Well, it hadn't been hard convincing him to stay here, and wait until he got better before starting out again. It had been easy. Too easy.
"If we're going to go through this again, I might not bother waiting for you," I said, annoyed, and I stood up. This was ridiculous. He said nothing, so I left the room, the small bag in my hands.
When I went downstairs, Fluer was in the kitchen and Bill went upstairs to see his brother again. I sat on the sofa and opened the bag, and started rummaging around. Hypocrite? Maybe. But if only Ron had seen the photo of me, her and him, laughing, from our first year, if only he had seen that she had folded me out of it.
oOo
HERMIONE
"We need food," he said as soon as he woke up. I had been awake for hours. I had barely slept. I couldn't help but worry about Ron, and Harry, and Ron, and Harry, and… the kiss.
He had said nothing and slept on the floor, which was extremely strange. I had expected him to put up a fight for the bed, but nothing like that had happened. But now he seemed to be acting like his old self.
"And if you say something like 'I'm not going to hex a poor, defenceless Muggle' I am taking your wand off of you and doing it myself," he said, standing up and stretching. We had both slept (well, he had slept, I had stared at the ceiling) in our clothes. "And I need some new clothes," he then said, as if reading my mind. "Let's go."
"Malfoy, it's-"
"I know it's half one in the morning, but I'm wide awake and starving. So, apparate us to the first place that you can think of that involves food." I glared at him. "Please," he added in a mock tone.
"Just because you're in a vile mood-"
"Then I'll go by myself."
"Where? Where will you go?"
"Oh, I don't know, to see Sarah, the motel-owning maniac."
"You know her name…" I acknowledged. I hadn't meant to say it out loud. He stared at me oddly, and I resisted the urge to shift my weight, just to do something.
"No, I don't. I just made that up in case it made you feel better. That whole affair was disgusting."
I felt hurt. I couldn't be entirely sure whether he meant our affair or his and Sarah's. I wanted to ask what was wrong, but then again, I didn't want to know.
I got up from bed, exhausted but not tired (if that makes any sense) and tried to flatten my hair. I didn't go into the bathroom to look in the mirror because then I'd be annoyed for not having a hairbrush with me.
"My head hurts," he told me. I looked at him.
"OK…"
"It really hurts."
"I believe you, but I don't really want to point my wand at your head."
He nodded and closed his eyes tightly.
"Why did you kiss me?" I suddenly blurted out.
He opened one eye.
"Because I love yo-"
"Don't say that, for some reason, it's creepy. Why did you kiss me yesterday?"
"To compare," he answered simply. I opened my mouth but then closed it again.
Before we left the room, he suddenly said, "I'm going to stick with Muggleborns."
Jessica682: I hope that this chapter answered some of your questions; and Ginny blackmailed Blaise into helping her with messing with Hermione and Malfoy with the (implied) knowledge that Blaise liked a certain muggle-born… XD
Dewdrop1998: Thank you! I was completely nervous at changing J.K.'s version, but it's a Dramione and there isn't much Draco in DH… I mean, he got like… 6 minutes in the Part One movie? Talk about underrated… I'm glad to know that there were 'Lots of funny bits' I changed it to romance/angst when it got slightly darker with HBP, but it IS humour too (I'd like to think so anyways) its just you can only chose 2 categories… and I like to think that there's a bit of everything, but oh well. I might change it back to romance/humour after your comment though! I hope you liked this chapter as much as the last one!
4SnowWolf: Thanks a lot! When people drag out a word like 'sooooooooooooooooon' I know that I'm being appreciated! XD
Martina Malfoy Lestrange: It's so awesome that you reviewed even though the review button was bust! Extra awesomeness! It means a lot to me, it really does! So I'll ignore you calling me an evil person lol
RealmWeaver: Same to you! Thanks for PM-ming! I'm glad that you thought that the chapter was amazing! I know that Astoria is awesome, I kind of feel sorry for her, IF she doesn't get with Draco (IF) I'm gonna need to match her up with someone else… who oh who could it be… And you've read PjatO AND The Hunger Games too? Me and my friend have only got one library card between us, and, since it's hers, she gets to read them first, and now she's just pissing me off and telling me what happens! -_- I'm waiting for her to finish the second one, but I'm so getting the third one before her!
(and I do know that you can't hear smirks, referring to previous reviews, but if you ever saw/heard my brother smirk you'd be as doubtful as me!)
ooh-shinyyy: Hey! It's been a while, hasn't it? Yeah, Blaise is awesome, I'm having the same problem as you… Blaise/Ginny or Harry/Ginny? Gah, life is so complicated! And I'm writing the thing… Oh, and update your story as soon as you can!
ZoneSystems: Heyyy! I've missed you as much as a cyber-writer can miss a cyber-reader! You're reviews always make me laugh, even though you insist on them being shorter and stuff… I just like hearing about you squealing at updates :D Awesomesauce!
tablekorner: your review doesn't give me much to say but SORRY! Computers hate me, they all turn against me, they've formed a mutiny so that whenever I finish a chapter, they die. And then, when I was finally ready to update, fanfiction broke on me! D:
shygirl04: Yay! A new reader! *does giddy dance* I'm glad you like the story and, I just have to ask... does your name have anything to do with Misfits?
But please review this chapter, I'm pretty nervous about it... and the nervousness is worse since I couldn't just update already!