Oh, wow, I can't believe how many new readers + reviews I got! I'm amazingly buzzed! (Does that expression even exist?)
And… my story's being translated! Into German! By Angelly94! WOO! I couldn't wait until the end of the chapter to share… I don't understand German, but oh well! It's so exciting that someone wants to translate MY story! Eep! I've been smiling for days, and dancing around… mum's worried… she thinks I'm in love… now I'm worried (mum/daughter talk in the near future…!)
HERMIONE
The next days passed by painfully slow. Every green haired person I saw I'd think that it was Harry. Thank heavens there aren't that many green haired people. But there are quite a few red heads. Which proposed a small problem.
"It's not a Weasley," Malfoy said, though his voice sounded muffled. I don't even know how he saw a red head with his head on the table, buried in his arms. I tried not to turn pink, just in case he saw that too, though I suppose that that idea was preposterous.
We were in a Muggle café in the latest Muggle town we were in. Malfoy used to mind it, but now he just seemed bored. Every now and then he'd stare at people talking on the phone, or he'd think that someone was talking to him when really they were on the phone… I had been forced to explain the whole concept of phones to him, and then he asked me, 'Why don't you ring Potter up?' I had said nothing.
We had managed to get clothes in the sales… OK, so we stole them. But, I was writing down the address of each shop we visited in a notebook (… also stolen.) and I planned on paying everything back when we got over with this. And, I had a new bag that I placed the same enchantment in and… we had money. Don't ask. Just… please. Don't.
"Well, we can't just hang around doing nothing," I mumbled, staring at my coffee that was between my hands.
He still didn't look up.
"That's what you said yesterday. And the day before that… and the day before that." He looked up. Finally. "And the day before that." I would have argued but I didn't see how to. I was waiting for a sign… and it never came. I bit my lip as he smirked. "You know what? I'm starting to think that you do enjoy my presence."
"I was your girlfriend, for heavens sake," was my response. "If I couldn't stand your presence you would never have gotten that far." Of course, I had to bring that up. It always seemed to bother him. Well, at least it shut him up… I suppose…
"Well, what ever sign your waiting for… stop," he mumbled. "I'm bored and I want a reason to hurt someone."
I shot him an accusatory look.
"What? You know, I love you and everything-" I was so used to him saying it I didn't even wince "-but I wish someone could attack you already, I'm bloody sick of all this sitting around. I need to be a White Knight already."
"I'm the one that's been saving you lately, so if I were you…"
"What? I don't mind being the damsel in distress. Of course, that's only if you're the one saving me." I rolled my eyes but I couldn't hold in a smile. Then he pulled a face. "Ugh. I couldn't stand it if Potter saved my life."
"Well, that should do it," he finally said.
"What?" I asked, frowning in confusion.
"Well, I jinxed it."
"You… jinxed what? Without a wand?"
"I jinxed us not being attacked in six days. By saying that I hated the peace and quiet and quality time, we're definitely going to be attacked. And probably saved by Potter. So, celebrate. I've just solved all your problems."
"Why do you want us to be attacked again?" I asked slowly.
"So I can show off," he said. He then seemed to read my mind. " Not so I can get taken back to my friends, though. And so that you can find Potter and Weasel. Oh!" he suddenly said, jumping in his seat. I reflexively looked behind me, fearing an attack, but he tut-tutted from behind me. "I completely forgot to tell you and the trio."
This didn't sound good.
"What?"
"You-Know-Who's real name is jinxed. Really jinxed, though. By magic."
"Pardon?"
He looked around, though we were the only ones in the café, and then he leant forward. I did so too.
"Since the Order and what-not are the only ones going around saying it, they've jinxed it so that they'll know where you are. They said that they were going to do it when they took over the Ministry, and when you, me and Weasel escaped the wedding, and we were in that café, and one of you said his name, and we were attacked…" he leant back. My eyes were wide. "So, yeah."
I felt sick, and confused. Voldemort's name was jinxed!
"Why, that's horrible! What if Harry or Ron have said it, or…"
He shrugged.
"How often does You-Know-Who's name pop up in a conversation?"
I stared at him.
"… All the time."
He frowned in annoyance.
"Well… that may be a problem."
"May be?" I stopped trying to argue with him and quickly went through all of the conversations since Bill and Fluer's wedding. Why hadn't any of us said his name since then? It was all too lucky. I ran a hand through my hair, and then I gave him an accusatory glare. "Why didn't you tell us this before?"
He seemed to see that I was angry, and I must have looked pretty angry, because he raised both hands in a not-guilty sign, though he was anything but not guilty.
"It only just came to me, alright?"
"It only just came to you," I repeated slowly.
"Yes," he said, pushing his empty mug of coffee away from him. "It tastes like puke," he added in an undertone whilst I kept on staring at him in disbelief. "Listen, my brain is muddled," he defended. "I randomly just remember things, alright? I randomly just remembered this. Be glad."
"I would be glad! If Ron and Harry knew about it!"
He rolled his eyes.
"We had this great bonding thing going on and then you had to mention them," he said with distaste. My eyes widened.
"No, we had this 'great bonding thing going on' and then you said that just by saying You-Know-Who's fudging name you could get ambushed by a hoard of You-Know-What's!"
"Wasps?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. The way he said it made me remember that we might be in the Muggle World, but there could be spies. I looked around us cautiously before agreeing with him.
"Yes," I said in the most measured voice that I could muster. "A hoard of wasps."
He smirked.
"Have you ever sworn?"
I blinked. The question completely caught me by surprise and off guard. What was he talking about?
"Pardon?"
"Have you ever sworn? Have you ever said a swear word?" he clarified.
I failed to see what this had to do with anything.
"I… yes… many times."
He laughed in a way that made it obvious that he didn't believe me.
"You just said fudge instead of fu-"
"Stop it!" I interrupted him. He seemed highly amused.
"Do swear words hurt your ears or something?" he smirked.
"No, they don't. Ron swore- swears all the time." He rolled his eyes. "You asked for it," I told him.
"Sure. I just begged Weasel to pop into the conversation. So, are you going to swear or not?"
Once again, I was caught of guard.
"What? Why?"
"Because you're so…"
"Don't say it," I warned, though I didn't know what he was going to say. But it couldn't be good.
"Innocent," he finished, ignoring me.
"I am not innocent!" I declared.
"Well, you kind of are."
"No, I'm not! You don't have to swear to be thought of as outgoing…"
"Innocent and outgoing aren't opposites-"
"You get what I mean!"
Well, he seemed to find it amusing.
"I called you a bastard the other week," I reminded.
"True," he said, nodding. "But you were in a rage."
"When is one supposed to swear if not in a rage?"
"I don't know. Put in some casual swears every now and then. It would be funny."
"Funny," I repeated.
"Amusing," he said. "For me."
"I'm not going to swear. Swear words are ugly, and gross, and barbaric-"
"OK, OK. I see what having McGonagall for a role model does to a person."
I turned pink.
"Oh, just shut up."
I brought my coffee to my lips – I hadn't touched it yet. But, as soon as the liquid touched my tongue, grimaced and put the mug back down.
"Told you it tastes like puke."
oOo
GINNY
I was making my way back to the Gryffindor common room, alone, when I was ambushed. By one person. Hardly an ambush, since I knew that he didn't mean me any harm, but oh well. Either way, it sucked. Every time he came near my heart started beating at an alarming rate… because of what Luna had said last week.
"Weasley," Blaise greeted, and I scowled at him.
"Are you stalking me now?" I asked.
"Hardly," he denied. "I'm just looking out for you. Loads of Carrow spies about." He looked around suspiciously and I rolled my eyes.
"If 'looking out for me' means 'following me around', it's stalking. And it's unhealthy."
"Fine," he said resignedly. "Really I was looking for you to talk about the new patrolling arrangements."
I frowned. "What, why? Why not arrange a Prefects meeting-"
"Because, I want you to be the first to know. In case you faint with excitement." I snorted in a rather unflattering way.
"I find that hardly unlikely. I'll wait for the meeting. I've got tryouts tomorrow, I'm going to bed."
The fact that the Carrows were taking over the school did not mean that I wasn't going to play Quidditch. Quidditch gave me a chance to chuck large and heavy objects around at an amazing speed. So there.
But he still followed me down the hall casually. I started walking faster, but within a few long strides he was still by my side, not seeming tired at all. Damn.
"Fine!" I said, annoyed. "What is it?"
He smirked.
"Are you mad at me?"
"Yes!" I answered. I didn't even have to think about it.
"Why?" he asked.
"Just… because, alright?" I said. The answer wasn't very convincing. I tried again. "Because you're stalking me!"
"I see… so it has nothing to do with the fact that I walked Loony back to her dorm instead of you?"
I froze. I had completely forgotten about that… I mean, it had happened a week ago. It hadn't even crossed my mind… had it?
"No," I said, though I don't know why I sounded so unconvincing. Weird.
"Well, whatever," he said. "Every day of the week a different Prefect will have to patrol with a Head Boy or girl. You and me have Fridays." I don't know if I was imagining it or not, but… did he just wink at me?
My brain to a bit to react. Wait… I had to spend Friday nights… with him?
"That's unfair," I blurted out. He laughed. I didn't like it when Blaise laughed. It seemed unnatural. "I have patrols with Luna on Fridays. Now what?"
"She's got Pansy," he said.
I thought it through.
"OK, that's a bit more unfair."
Blaise shrugged.
"Hopefully, Luna will drive her insane." He massaged his head and pulled a face. "Why is living with a girl so painful?"
"Living with that girl is painful… wait." I stopped him from walking, putting a hand on his chest. He looked down at it, amused.
"You just called Luna by her real name."
He smirked.
"And…? I thought you were all up for that."
"I am… it's just…"
"And you tend to call people by their first name when they ask you to kiss them."
"I… what?"
He wasn't smirking. He looked serious, in a matter-of-fact way.
"Luna asked you to kiss her?"
I felt a whole lot of confusing emotions in that second. First of them, was confusion, but I supposed that I should be used to Luna's bizarre ways. Then there was anger (I didn't really get that…) and something that felt terrifyingly like jealousy.
He shrugged, and I lowered my hand, as if it had been electro-what-ed.
"Yup," he said, leaning against the wall. "It was strange… she said that it was nothing personal-"
"Wait, what? Why would it be nothing personal? It's a freaking kiss!"
"Whoa, whoa, Weasley," he smirked, backing away. "You're face is on fire."
"I don't ca-… Why do you call me Weasley?"
He raised an eyebrow, but I hadn't been able to stop myself from blurting that out. It had been bugging me for ages. Ever since school started. And I don't know why! It just seemed unnecessarily formal, though, then again, Blaise was always unnecessarily formal.
"Are you angry because Looney asked me to kiss her of because I call you Weasley?" he asked after what seemed like a minute. I had probably been turning red. Dammit. What was that for?
"I'm not… well, yes."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"It doesn't, does it?" I asked, devastated. "Whatever," I brushed it away with my hand, something that earned a confused frown. But I needed to stop straying from the point. "How… exactly did Luna ask you to kiss her?"
He stopped frowning, and started to look amused.
"Well, it went like this…" he started, as if about to tell an extremely pleasant bedtime story. "She stopped me halfway, and she said that it was to make sure that I wouldn't be uncomfortable." My stomach squirmed for reasons unknown. OK, not completely unknown… "I didn't know what she was talking about, but she said, 'You know that I'm in love, right?'" He put on a questioning expression, but then he laughed. My heart started beating extremely fast, and I wished that he would just get over with it already. "And I said, 'Well, now I do'." I wanted to ask him to please stop going through it word by word, because it was making me nervous. But then I'd have to admit that it was making me nervous, and even if I did, he'd figure it out and smirk at me in that superior way that I hated. But it turned out I didn't need to ask. "And then she went on saying that when she finally got to kiss this person, she didn't want to be inexperienced, and she didn't want it to be her first kiss. I don't know why." He shrugged. "So, she said that she thought that I was alright, and if I'd like to kiss her."
He stopped talking and leant back, at ease, when I felt the complete opposite. My heart seemed to be drumming against my ears.
It soon became obvious that he wasn't going to tell me if he had kissed her or not. He had that mischievous look in his eyes. It was as if he was daring me to ask. And I didn't want to play.
"Oh. OK, then." I walked away from him pointedly, feeling kind of ill. Why hadn't Luna told me about this?
He seemed to guess that I wasn't going to play his stupid little game, and he looked excited when he caught me up again. In a sick sort of way.
"Alright, then, Ginny."
I froze, and he bumped into me lightly. Gah. He had been following me closely… maybe that's why my name from his mouth sounded so…
I swallowed. He was right behind me. I could feel his breath on my neck. When I looked down, I could see his hands, cupped around my waist but not touching it. This seemed to make my heart beat even harder against my ribcage.
I was about to tell him to please back off (I think…) when Colin slid into view from around the corner. Both Blaise and I stared at him. He stared back.
"What?" I finally choked at Colin. I hadn't meant to 'choke' it. That's just how my words came out. Blaise smirked and stepped away from me. I breathed out – it was like he had been cupping my mouth with his hands… but that seemed slightly disturbing, so I shook my head as if to shake that thought out.
"Seamus said that he would join," Colin said, finally tearing his eyes away from Blaise.
"So you came running to me because of that?" I asked, confused.
"Yes…" he said, sounding scared. "I'm sorry if you were busy or anything…"
I straightened up immediately.
"No. I wasn't busy. Come on."
I grabbed his sleeve and dragged him away from Blaise with me, hoping that Blaise wouldn't follow, but not daring to look back. That would mean looking at his face, his expression, and I didn't think that I could do that until I found a mirror.
oOo
DRACO
"Your jinx didn't work," she said, wringing her hands together. She was sitting on one of the beds, fully dressed, in our latest hotel room. It was a Muggle hotel room, but at least this one was bearable. The one we had been in yesterday had been simply disgusting. What kind of person – wizard or not – thinks that the best design for walls is a colour that you'd only ever encounter in a bathroom? Yeah. That gross.
"Granger, if you want me to press my Dark Mark you should just ask," I scowled at the ceiling. She had woke me up to say that my pretend jinx wasn't working.
"No!" she said quickly, jumping up. I looked at her in disbelief.
"I was joking."
"Oh, yes, of course." I rolled my eyes and continued to look at the ceiling, trying to pretend that that hadn't hurt. "Well, we should probably get going after breakfast," she said, standing up.
"You're the boss," I said. "Where to today? Ottery? Again?"
"No," she said. "Godric's Hollow."
I frowned at her.
"Why?"
"Just because. Are you coming to breakfast, or not?"
I shook my head, keeping my eyes on the ceiling.
"I'm not hungry."
I didn't watch her leave, but I heard the door close.
This was driving me crazy. This whole sleeping-in-the-same-room-as-her thing. I could hear her breathing, hear her talk in her sleep. Hear her role over.
If I wanted to, I could reach out and touch her. But I didn't. I could watch her if I dared turn to look. But I didn't.
Somehow, the mere idea of doing any of those things made everything seem harder.
I was confused… My mind block was still on, but it seemed to be breaking. If it was already so hard, what would happen when it was gone? It was painful, too.
I'm not an idiot. My normal self would definitely be with Granger again. That kiss in the bathroom could have been the rebirth of our relationship – but the word rebirth sounds creepy. Anyways, she had kissed back.
And it had felt as if someone had wrapped a lemon around a brick and then tossed it at my head. Lemon? Weird. I know. But it was as if everything I ever remembered had crashed into my vision at once. I know that I'm unimaginably strong, but that was too much for even me. And it sucked. So, I had to keep Granger at a certain distance, and I suppose that it's kind of for the best. It will give her a chance to really fall in love with me. And that's fine by me.
I got out of bed, got dressed in the main room – normally I'd be forced into the bathroom, but if Granger stepped in, so be it – but she still hadn't showed up.
And that was when I felt it.
A tugging sensation on my forearm, tugging, and then burning.
"What the… Ow!" I grabbed onto my wrist. I didn't want to touch it. "Shit!" The Mark hurting reminded me of mother, and of aunt Bella, and of what I had been ordered to do last year but had never fulfilled… Then my head started hurting. The lemon-brick was making a comeback. It was my lucky day.
And then – get this – I heard screaming from the corridor.
"You have got to be kidding me," I said, gritting my teeth and heading towards the door. I fell over on the way there, but the important thing is that I got up again and managed to open it.
"What's going on?" I asked a passing Muggle.
"Men, in hoods," he said, shaking his head and running down the corridor.
"Okay…" I said. Take that Granger. Granger. Hermione!
Time to play White Night.
Why did it have to be now? The brick was knocking me in the head! Sheesh!
"I'm coming…" I said in a slurred voice, running down the staircase. This was kind of my fault, for jinxing it.
People kept on pushing me out of the way. I didn't understand how going upstairs could help them get out of the hotel any faster, but oh well.
There were signs leading to the eating-place-thing (my head hurt, alright?) so I followed them, thinking that that was were Hermione went. As I got closer (the banging and shouting got louder) I got an increasing feeling of panic in my stomach, and my heart started to beat faster. My vision was getting cloudier, and I couldn't think straight – the pain in my head hurt too much. It was when I was standing in the doorway of the eating-place-thing that I realized that I didn't have a wand.
The pain in my head was deafening me now. My knees were getting weaker. This wasn't fair! But I didn't see anyone in cloaks – standing up.
And that was when someone with green hair knocked me out.
oOo
HARRY
"Harry!" "Hermione near enough shrieked, running towards Malfoy. "What was that for? He was trying to help!"
"I just felt like it, OK?" I answered, staring at my child hood enemy, that was lying on the floor. Hermione stared at me in bewilderment. "He could have got here faster, couldn't he?" I said.
She blinked and then bent down next to Malfoy.
"You knocked him out."
"You turned my hair green."
"What? That doesn't make any…" She looked up at me and her eyes widened. "Harry!" she gasped in amazement, as if she only just realized that I was there.
"Hermione!" I said, mimicking her tone, but I couldn't hide a smile. She smiled back, and then she looked behind me, and her face fell.
"We just defeated all of those Death Eaters," she whispered.
"Well, to be fair, there were only four – but yeah, we are pretty awesome."
She fought a smile. She couldn't deny it. "Harry, as soon as they wake up…"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," I sighed, bending down next to her and helping her pick Malfoy up. This was so wrong in so many ways. "Should we try to clean up?" I asked her.
"Oh, of course!" she said, turning to the room – a weird pink colour that reminded me of Umbridge – and pointing her wand at it. The tables and chairs were put back up, and the free buffet table got it's food back – well, part of it, anyways.
"What about the Death Eaters? Is it wise to leave them hanging about with a load of Muggles?" I asked her, shifting my weight. Malfoy was bloody heavy, and I was sharing his weight.
Hermione frowned worriedly at the four unconscious Death Eaters, and then made a decision in her head.
"Hold him for a second, please." I wasn't surprised that, when she stepped away, Malfoy didn't get any heavier. I had been doing all the work. Pft. "Keep a look out," she then ordered. I flicked my wand and the doors closed. She seemed impressed. Maybe she had forgotten that I could do magic too.
Don't get me wrong. I was unbelievably happy to see her, alive and well. I suppose the impact hadn't softened the blow – the blow being that Malfoy was still hanging around, and she still didn't seem to hate him. Well, I was probably being a bit bitter, and that was Ron's job, but…
She levitated each Death Eater and sat them each on a chair around one of the tables, and then obliviated them. I thought that aprons would be nice touch, you know, and a cup of tea, but one of them was stirring. And then, Hermione did someone that completely surprised me – she elbowed him in the head. He stirred no more.
"What?" she asked, and I reminded myself to close my mouth.
"Um… that was… totally in character," I managed to say. She raised an eyebrow, and then she sighed.
"Cursing people doesn't seem satisfactory enough sometimes," she explained. "He burnt my hair."
I nodded slowly, finding it harder and harder to ignore that a rather heavy Draco Malfoy was unconscious on my shoulder.
"Alright then. Let's get out of here."
oOo
GINNY
Luna didn't say anything.
I know, right?
Merlin. You would have thought that she would at least hint at it… actually, to be truthful, I wasn't completely sure if I believed Blaise. I mean, Luna had never been secretive – I don't think she saw the points in secrets. I didn't either. Well, unless it was a good one.
But all doubts were removed from my mind when I was late for the DA reunion – I know, I know, shame on me. But oh well.
Anyways. I opened the door, and then I closed it again and debated on whether to get out of there or not. I decided yes, but someone stopped me.
"Ginny?" Colin asked, and I turned around. Busted.
"Colin!" I greeted, and he frowned at me. And then I launched forward and grabbed his hand, that was outstretched to push open the door to the Room of Requirement. "No! Don't go in there! Yet… don't go in there yet."
"Ginny, you're scaring me."
Well, at least he was honest.
"Weasley, Creevey."
Blaise turned the corner and waved at us. I avoided his gaze rather determinedly.
"Why aren't you two going in?" Then he pulled a face. "Ugh, you weren't making out, were you?"
I looked at my hand, that had grabbed Colin's hand, and within a second I had let go.
"No!" I said quickly. Colin shook his head frantically from next me.
"I wouldn't make out with someone with a boyfriend," he said bravely. My face contorted into a rather convincing frown.
"What?" Blaise and I asked at the same time.
"Oh, ignore him," I told Blaise, all to quickly. He looked a bit too smug.
"She just told me not to go in there," Colin told him. They both looked at me.
"I… well… why is everyone late?" I demanded as Seamus showed up.
"I was in detention!" he said, raising his hands.
"Oh, sorry," I apologized.
"The cruciatus curse isn't fun," he said, rubbing the back of his neck sorely. He sounded confident, but you could also sense the pain in his voice. "So, are we going in or not?" he asked awkwardly.
"Let's wait for Lavender," I offered.
Yup.
Lavender Brown was on our team. Just… don't, okay?
"What's in there?" Blaise asked, raising an eyebrow and putting his hand on the door. That was where it all went wrong. In an effort to not let him touch me, I jumped away, and he succeeded in pushing it open (Colin and Seamus both frowned at me, but thank Merlin Lavender wasn't there yet).
Inside, Luna and Neville were sitting in front of each other, engaged in a seemingly polite conversation. Well, Neville was looking slightly confused, but that was expected from a conversation with Luna.
Anyways, that was not what I had seen.
Blaise, Colin and Seamus all gave me a strange look before going in past me. I all but face palmed myself.
oOo
HERMIONE
"It worked," I whispered to myself, completely and utterly amazed. I was staring at Harry. Hard. He noticed.
"What worked?" he asked after a confused second.
"I…" I looked at Malfoy's unconscious form on the camper bed behind Harry, and shook my head. "Nothing," I smiled.
"Alright then."
We were in the tent. I know, right? Victory! He brought my bag! My dear, dear bag, with all my books in and… We had just put up all the enchantments around the tent – we were in the woods, where I used to go for walks with my parents. Malfoy was in bed, he was alright, just unconscious (…that's alright, right?), Harry and I were just standing there and… that was pretty much it. I should feel relieved, having him with us, but I still felt anxious, and tense.
Harry started staring at me.
This was really awkward, I finally decreed.
So, I decided to break the tension.
"Oh my God you're alive!"
I rushed into him and hugged him so hard that he groaned in pain. But all that seemed to matter was that he was really there, that I wasn't dreaming, that he was with us, that he was alive-
"So are you!" he managed to choke.
"Stop being sarcastic!" I said into his shoulder. "I can't believe that you…"
I let go of him and grabbed his arms urgently, staring into his green eyes.
"Don't say You-Know-Who's name."
He frowned.
"What? Why not?"
"It's jinxed," I said, trying to explain it. "Since the Order are the only one that says his name, it's there way of finding us…"
He raised his eyebrows and studied me for a second.
"It's true!" I said, slightly angered at having to defend what I had just told him. We had only been apart for seven days but he didn't seem to trust me like he had then. "Dra- Malfoy told me."
He looked even more unconvinced. "Malfoy told you."
"Oh, come on, Harry. He wouldn't lie to me."
Harry shook his head and sat down.
"OK, Hermione. I'm trusting you on this. Besides, I don't think not saying his name could bring any harm… it's just kind of degrading, you know?"
I shrugged and sat down in front of him.
"It's better than being found out. By the way, how did you find us?"
He shifted uncomfortably.
"Actually, it was a complete accident. I was just passing by, because I needed food. I figured, Muggle town, no one will recognize me…"
"And someone did," I finished.
"Well… yeah. Oops. Where have you been?"
"Oh, around. A different town a month. I suppose we're better at camouflaging than you are," I shrugged.
"Oh, yeah, blame it on my poor camouflague skills…"
He took my hand, to my surprise.
"But, I'm really glad that I was attacked by all those Death Eaters if that meant that I found you again."
I smiled.
"I'm glad that you were attacked too. And that you decided to run into my hotel…"
"It was a really creepy coincidence, by the way."
I looked at Malfoy.
"Yes," I muttered. "Really creepy."
There was a silence, and when I looked back at Harry, he was looking at me in that way that he does when he needs to tell me that he had a nightmare about You-Know-Who, or like when he tried to tell me that Malfoy was a Death Eater. I decide to voice the words that I've been to scared to say.
"Ron isn't…"
"No. He's alive," Harry said quickly. "He just … didn't come along. He's sick, resting at Bill and Fluer's place. That's where we've been."
"Oh," I said, because Harry looked guilty. He would tell me if there was something really wrong with Ron… wouldn't he?
"So now what?"
I bit my lip.
"Well… I've got my books back…"
"And I've got my librarian back…"
I scowled at him, but he smiled. Then I remembered something.
"The Horcrux!"
His eyes flickered towards Malfoy's unconscious form before he dug into his shirt.
"You really shouldn't be wearing that…" I started, but I stopped talking. I hadn't realized how horrible the little locket was. It seemed to glare at me, but that's ridiculous.
"I can't drop it if it's around my neck," Harry shrugged before tucking it into his shirt. "Here," he said, handing my little beaded bag. Reunited again! Oh, alright, so I was getting a bit over enthusiastic. I grabbed it off of him and opened it immediately. "Everything's still in there," he told me, but I still found it hard to breath until I brought out every single book I had in there.
"Now I feel better," I sighed in relief. He laughed and shook his head. "Should I make dinner?"
My stomach rumbled. How had the day gone by so fast? Well, I suppose that we had gone to buy hairdye (he was going to let me try again!), food and toiletries in the next Muggle town with an unconscious Malfoy. Sure, it turned a few heads, so we then decided that a disillusionment charm was probably the best idea, so, to a Muggle, Malfoy had looked like an extremely large sack. Harry had wanted to ask questions about money, I could tell, but he hadn't.
This was all so sudden… this morning I had been contemplating another week or maybe more of Malfoy's company, and it had been cut short. I had found Harry again! Well, he had found us… kind of… we had found each other!
So… why did I feel so… disappointed?
As Harry headed into the kitchen (well, we had decided to call it the kitchen, really it was just the side of the tent with a stove), I stared at Malfoy. He looked like he was having a nightmare. Suddenly, I felt as if I needed to be at his side, stroke his hair and tell him that it was all going to be OK. But that seemed terribly unlike me… but I still had to stop myself from doing it.
"Is he alright?" Harry asked, following my eye-line.
"I don't know…" I said unsurely, fidgeting in my seat.
"You should probably check on him."
I didn't stop to think how unlike Harry that sounded, or to hear how much it strained him to say that. In fact, if I had looked at him, I would have seen how uncomfortable he looked saying that. But I saw my chance to get next to Draco and I didn't even seem to think – I can't even remember going towards him, I was just there, at his side, my hand on his forehead.
I gently brushed strands of platinum blond hair out of his eyes, and this alone made his face soften. He really was handsome. Especially when he wasn't smirking or sneering at me.
I stroked his forehead, and it seemed to calm him down some more. Somehow, soon I was stroking his cheek. He mumbled something under his breath, and that seemed to bring my back to a little place that I like to call Earth.
I brought my hand away from his face reluctantly and he let out a relaxed breath.
"You really like him, don't you?" Harry asked from behind me. I jumped and stood up, turning to face him. He didn't look angry. He just looked as if he couldn't compute.
"I… I don't know."
"Well, you lied to us about him being a Death Eater for an entire year, so you should have it pretty sure…"
"But I don't."
He looked at me, confused, and I pulled a face.
"I'd prefer not to talk about it, OK?"
He looked hesitant, but he finally said, "OK. There's bacon sandwiches for dinner."
oOo
DRACO
First: I'll get Potter back for this. He punched me! Blah. Twat.
Second: what the Hell is a Horcrux?
Third: she's really falling for me. And Hard.
Excellent.
Do you know what isn't excellent?
All of my memories… and emotions are on full blast.
Hey guys, if you're wondering how Blaise got a bit more intense over Ginny, blame The Mortal Instruments. JACE! Lol He (Jace!) inspires me. JACE.
Aaaanyways…
Welcome new readers with obscenely long and flattering reviews!: ilovedraco12 (I don't know when you'll get to this chapter, but here you are!), MissGinevraPotter, JACE! (he's not really a new reader, he's just awesome, OK?) OBLuvr13, Rei Sakura (your praises made me feel all bubbly inside :D and constructive criticism is cool) and, of course: Angelly94, who's gonna translate my story into German! Whoop, whoop!
I know, I was going to reply everyone's reviews, but I can't today because THERE ARE SO MANY! And that's an amazingly good thing - Jace!
Aaaaaaanyways…
Also thanks to Jessica682 (I will explain the Ginny forgetting everything in one of the next chapters! Nice to know that you haven't forgotten :D), ooh shinyyy, tablekorner, Martina Malfoy Lestrange, shygirl04 (Misfits is a TV series… lol never mind, I was wrong, your name is just an uncanny coincidence), Meegan, nevermissme, Mimpy, and elizaII!
Jaaaace.
I'm going to try and do weekly updates because all you guys are awesome reviewers! It's the best I can do, so I'm gonna try! See you guys next Thrusday!
:D
(…
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Jace.
Sigh.