A/N: Hey! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in ages, but I haven't had the time. And, yes I will admit, I have been a bit lazy. But loved all the reviews that came in from my last chapter! Thank you all. Now, I won't bore you anymore, I just hope that this extra long chapter will make up for it! Have fun reading.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Harry Potter is not mine and never will be to my utmost disappointment.
Everyone woke up early the next morning and ate a quick and silent breakfast before getting dressed and showered and meeting back in the Kitchen.
Harry stood in front of everyone and held up his hands.
'Are we ready?' He asked the silent room.
They all nodded and Harry gave a slight nod before catching Draco's eye and the man in question came up in front of them and caught everyone's gaze.
'Can all the underage wizards pair up with an overage wizard?' He instructed. Ginny, Sierra and Harry paired up with Remus, Kingsley and Tonks.
'Do you all have your enchanted coins?' He asked. Everyone nodded and held up their coins for the boy to see.
Draco nodded and took out his own. Looking it over, he sighed and placed it back into his pocket.
Draco walked over and stood beside Sirius and they made their way out of the door and into the park opposite, as there were wards up in the actual house against apparition.
In the park, they split up to stand behind trees and out of sight of muggles, but with each other able to see Draco.
Draco counted down on his fingers and, when he reached three, they all apparated to the forest just outside the Malfoy Manor and they gathered deeper into it.
Once there, they all turned to face Draco and Harry. The latter nodded at the former and Draco turned into his animagus before all their eyes.
Snake Draco turned to look at Harry and spoke to him in Parseltongue.
Can you understand me? He asked. Harry nodded his head and Snake Draco nodded his. Harry nodded at Kingsley and he quickly performed the Disillusionment charms on everyone and Snake-Draco nodded his snake head and slithered in the general direction of the Mansion.
Harry and the others followed him quietly, making sure to make as less noise as possible.
At the door, Harry silenced it and opened it, letting Snake-Draco slither through.
The others followed from a distance, but Remus stayed at the front door to keep watch.
Harry stayed far enough away from Draco so that he could only see his tail slide around a corner. At certain intervals, Order members stood at a corner, or along a rather wide corridor.
As they ventured lower, soon only Harry and Snake-Draco were the only ones still walking.
When they reached a particularly evil looking door, Snake-Draco turned to Harry.
Stay here, I'll bring her out. He hissed. Harry nodded, and then remembered that he couldn't see him.
Of course, Harry answered in Parseltongue. Snake-Draco nodded his head and Harry opened the silenced door to let Snake-Draco inside.
As he slithered in, Draco stopped dead at the sight before him.
His father was standing in front of Hermione, with what looked like a knife being pushed against her stomach.
He felt all of his anger bubble up inside of him. Before he knew what he was doing, he turned back into his human form, took out his wand and advanced on his father.
Draco turned the man around and punched hard in the face, making him fall to the ground and pointed his wand at his face.
Before Lucius could take out his wand, Draco yelled the Disarming Charm.
'Expelliarmus!' Lucius looked up into the loath-filled eyes of his son with fear filled ones of his own. Lucius gave a slightly shaky laugh.
'You wouldn't kill me Draco, you're too weak.' Lucius said, though anyone could pick out the worried tone in his voice. Draco's eyes flashed dangerously.
'Try me.' He answered in a dead whisper that made both Hermione and Lucius shiver with fear.
'Never, touch my girlfriend again. Never.' Draco whispered.
Lucius nodded feverently, but before anything else could be done, the man was hit by a bright red stunner and Hermione and Draco looked up to see Harry standing in the doorway, holding his wand out. He quickly pocketed it and walked over to them.
'Now we won't have any troubles.' Harry said.
'Come on, I wanted to do that.' Draco said. Harry smirked.
'Too bad.' He answered. Draco rolled his eyes and they both turned worried eyes to Hermione, which quickly turned to eyes of horror.
'What did he do to you?' Draco asked in a whisper.
Hermione's robes were nearly entirely torn off of her body and scratches and scars of scratches could be seen all over her body under the pieces of robes.
'Oh Hermione.' Draco whispered. He reached forward and touched her face lightly. She flinched slightly at the contact and Draco felt the tears come to his eyes.
He turned to Harry.
'We have to get her out of here. Come on.' Draco said. Harry nodded absently. They both reached up and when they touched the chains that held her up there. They found that they had sharp edges to them and Draco found that the anger that had abated when he had laid eyes on Hermione return. Harry saw his eyes flash again and laid a hand on Draco's shoulder.
'We have to get her out of here, forget about it for the moment. We'll get him back somehow.' Harry insisted. Draco nodded, but still felt the anger of seeing Hermione in so much pain hurt him worse than anything else in the world.
The two of them worked quickly but carefully and got Hermione down as soon as possible. Draco picked her up in his arms and held onto her carefully. Hermione whimpered slightly and Draco thought his heart was going to break.
'Come on sweetheart. We'll be home soon. Just make it home and then you can sleep, I'll stay with you and everything. I'll never let you out of my sight again. I promise.' Draco whispered to her. She just nodded and curled up against him.
Harry led the way back down the corridor and he heard all the other Order members following them.
As they reached the front door, they saw Remus and Narcissa whispering to each other. They looked up when they saw the two of them coming and hurried up to them.
'Is she alright?' Remus asked as soon as they reached them.
'She'll be alright once we get her home and comfortable. Father is stunned in the dungeons; I just thought I'd mention that. We must leave; I don't know how much more she can take.' Draco answered, looking down concernedly at his love. Narcissa put her hand to Hermione's cheek and caressed it lightly.
'Didn't I tell you he would come?' She said, smiling at the hurt girl. Hermione smiled back slightly and rested her head back on Draco's shoulder. Narcissa ran her hand over her hair and stood back.
'Go, now, before anyone comes, and hurry.' She added. They nodded at her and took off for the forest, but not before Draco kissed his mothers' cheek and thanked her for all of her help.
In the forest, they all went as deep as they dared and Draco handed Hermione over to Remus and went over to stand with Sirius. On the count of three, they apparated back into the park opposite Grimmauld Place and immediately went inside and placed Hermione in Draco's bed as Sirius, James, Remus and Mrs. Weasley all started tending to her wounds and helping her to eat and drink. They fed her potion after potion to help her heal and get her strength back.
Professor Snape was asked to come to the Headquarters to give her the potions she needed. He stayed for a short time before heading back to the school where he stayed during the holidays.
Throughout everything, Draco stayed by her side. He only ever left to go get food for both of them and to perform customary hygiene. He would talk to her for hours on end and they would stay up all night, just talking softly to each other and cuddling up close, just to feel each other, to know that they were actually there, and not a figment of their imagination.
It took Hermione a good month to get over what she had gone through at Malfoy Manor and she didn't think that she could ever see Draco in the same light, because his face was so like his fathers. It scared her to think that she couldn't properly look into the face of the man she loved more than anything else.
It took another few weeks for her to clean her mind of everything that happened; though she wouldn't talk about it with anyone, not Ginny, Draco, Sierra, Ron or Harry. It only brought back unhappy feelings and memories that made her eyes water at the mention of them. The bright side was that she could look at Draco properly again. She would just look into his eyes for long stages of time, figuring out the differences between them and Lucius'. It turned out that there were a great many. Draco's eyes were rather softer, were as, Lucius' eyes were hard and cold; Draco's were silver, rather than the steely grey of his fathers. You could see into Draco's soul when you looked into his eyes. You could see nothing but hate, malice and steel when you looked into the eyes of one Malfoy Senior. All in all, she no longer saw Lucius Malfoy in his sons' eyes. She felt secure once again with Draco's arms around her.
Many of the people in Grimmauld Place still gave her worried looks when she walked down the halls, as if she was just about to burst into hysterical tears, or cry out in pain. She ignored it mostly and tried to act normally around them, not that it worked well, they still noticed her seclusion.
Draco was the only one that she would talk to the most out of everyone in the house, other than Ginny. They all knew that it would take her some time to get back to normal again, after all that she had been through.
Two months later, everyone was still looking at her the same way, and Hermione was getting sick of it. She was pretty much back to normal, she could talk properly with all of the people in the house and was acting normally.
Hermione was sitting on Draco on the couch in the living room talking with all of her friends. But there was one problem; only Ginny and Draco were actually acting as the usually would.
Harry and Ron kept shooting Hermione worried looks and would talk to her in an unusually gentle voice. Hermione thought that she was about to crack.
Then it came, the comment that made her crack. Ron had said that in her "current condition" she shouldn't be doing any work to help out Mrs. Weasley.
'Ronald Billius Weasley! I am not a two year old! There is nothing wrong with me! I am fine! I have been fine for almost a month now! Stop treating me like I'm some doll!' She screamed. Ron and Harry both stared at her in horror as she stood there in front of them fuming. Ginny wouldn't have been surprised if smoke had come out of her ears.
Draco still sat down on the chair and sniggered to himself. He was wondering how long it would take before Hermione cracked from being treated like a baby anymore.
Hermione stood screaming at them for another minute before Draco thought he better put a stop to it.
He stood up and walked up behind her.
'Hermione, love, they're only trying to make sure that you're alright. Please stop being so harsh on them.' Draco whispered lovingly in her ear, sliding his arms around her waist and kissing her neck lightly. He shot a look at the expression on the boys' faces and they glared at him when they saw the mirth in his eyes.
'But they get me so annoyed!' Hermione cried in frustration. Draco let go of her waist and grabbed her hands.
'Love, be nice. They only mean well.' He said again. Hermione sighed and Draco attempted to lead her out of the room.
'Why don't we get away from here for a while? Let's head up to your room.' He offered. Hermione nodded and Draco turned to smirk at the other boys' and girls' in the room. Harry and Ron shook their heads at his antics and Ginny and Sierra rolled their eyes. Draco led Hermione back up to her room, and needless to say, neither one of them was seen until dinner, and when they did come down, they looked horrible. Draco came down grinning and Hermione was slightly more modest, having a slight tinge of colour on her cheeks and sat down quietly beside Draco. Harry and Ron exchanged knowing grins with each other.
'How was your time calming Hermione down Draco?' Harry asked with a little too much innocence. Draco shot Harry a glare.
'Perfect.' Draco replied. Hermione's blush became more furious on her cheeks. Ginny and Sierra raised an eyebrow at each other and smirked.
'Are you all calm now Hermione?' They teased. Hermione glared at the two witches and went back to waiting patiently for her meal. The two girls' smirks just widened.
The adults all looked at both the teens with confused and amused eyes (Sirius, James and Remus amused; everyone else confused.).
Mrs. Weasley sent the food over to the table from the Kitchen bench and sat down next to Mr. Weasley as everyone started ladling food onto their plates.
Hermione was silent for most of the way through dinner and rarely spoke to anyone. Ginny and Sierra still snuck her sly looks and their smirks could be seen even though they were eating.
After dinner, everyone sat around the table and talked until they saw fit to go to bed.
They all headed up to their rooms and entered their separate rooms.
'So, Hermione how was it?' Ginny asked after they had gotten changed into their pyjamas and laid down on their beds.
Hermione rolled her eyes and sat up.
'You really want all the gory details?' She asked disbelievingly. Both girls immediately sat up in their beds and looked at her expectantly. Hermione sighed and started with the details. She really didn't know why they wanted to know.
After she finished, both stared at her with wide eyes. Hermione rolled her eyes again.
'Gin, stop acting like I haven't told you about this before. I told you about Victor and my first with Draco, and you still act shocked.' Hermione stated.
'I know, I know, but wow.' Ginny said. 'You never really elaborated.' Sierra and Hermione laughed at her comment and Hermione threw a pillow at her.
'What?!' Ginny yelled. All three girls started giggling uncontrollably and soon fell asleep from too much laughter; all with smiles on their faces.
Hermione's last conscious thought was why Ginny wanted to know so much.
When Hermione woke up the next morning, she realised that it was her last day of the summer holidays. She sighed happily and sadly at the same time. The end of the holidays was always sad because she had to leave all those that she loved that she couldn't see at Hogwarts, but she loved it because she would be able to go back to school and learn again.
She got out of bed quietly and traipsed down stairs.
In the lounge room, she saw Draco sitting on one of the couches and went to sit next to him.
'You're up early.' She stated as she sat. Draco smiled up at her and took her hand quickly in his and started massaging it. Hermione smiled back at him and looked at him curiously.
'You are too.' He retorted. Hermione laughed lightly at this.
'That I am. I couldn't get back to sleep.' She answered. Draco laughed at this.
'Neither could I.' He answered. Hermione smiled and shook her head.
'Harry, Ron and Ginny like their sleep. They won't be willing to get up until they absolutely have to.' She said. Draco nodded.
'So why are you up so early Mr. Malfoy?' Hermione asked suddenly, turning to face him.
'I just had to think a couple of things through.' He answered, avoiding saying what. Hermione could tell by the way he spoke that he wasn't about to give up any answers as to what it was he was thinking about yet, so she didn't press him for answers.
Thank Merlin she isn't pressing me. I really don't want to mention that letter yet. Draco thought. For that was what he was thinking about; his mothers' letter and how to tell Hermione about it. He was contemplating telling her that day, but that could make matters very awkward for a long time during school. Unless, perhaps, she didn't care? Draco had asked himself this many times. What if she didn't care about it?
But it could still make a fair sized dent in our relationship. Draco thought. He came to this conclusion every time and he just couldn't figure it out. He figured that he should just make the most of the time he had with her until he absolutely had to tell her.
'Hello, earth to Draco? Are you still with me?' Hermione teased gently. Draco started and looked down at her, narrowing his eyes.
'I don't like that look Draco.' Hermione said nervously. Draco smirked.
'You shouldn't.' He answered and Hermione suddenly got a little scared. Then he pounced. Hermione shrieked as Draco pushed her onto her back and started to tickle her without mercy.
'Draco! No! No! Stop! Please! Stop!' She screamed. Draco shook his head with a crazed look on his face.
'Nope, nothing doing.' He answered. Hermione shrieked with laughter until they both fell onto the couch breathless from laughing so much.
'I haven't laughed so much in ages.' Draco said.
'Lucky I silenced the door when I came in.' Hermione said. Draco laughed again and soon Hermione snuggled in closer to him.
'I love you.' She whispered to him. Draco looked down at her.
'I love you too.' He whispered back and rested his head back against the arm of the couch. They lay in silence for a while before they decided to go outside and check to see if anyone else had decided to make an appearance.
They entered the Kitchen together and James, Sirius, and Remus sitting around the table, all bleary eyed and eating breakfast.
'What's up with you lot?' Draco asked he and Hermione sat down opposite Sirius and James.
'Full moon last night.' Sirius answered. Both Draco and Hermione looked at Remus with pity and sympathy before starting on their own breakfast that Kreacher had placed in front of them.
'Thank you Kreacher.' Hermione said. The elf walked away grumbling and muttering to himself like always and took no notice of Hermione's thanks.
'I don't know why you bother.' Sirius commented. Hermione shot him a look.
'Kreacher may not be human but he deserves to be treated with some respect. He does do all your jobs for you.' Hermione pointed out. Sirius shrugged. He wasn't up for the argument today.
'So, when are you lot going back to school?' James asked.
'Tomorrow.' Hermione answered. Draco was stuffing his face with breakfast.
'Train or Floo?' He asked.
'Train. We've never taken the floo back to school before.' Hermione said.
'Really? I always used to floo to school. Of course I ended up in McGonagall's office. I only had to do this because I usually caused trouble on the train. My parents were getting sick of finding out about it so they sent me to school via floo.' James explained between bites of breakfast. Hermione and Draco nodded and they continued to eat in silence when a bang went off upstairs.
Both teenagers were on their feet in seconds with their wands out and pointed at the door. It was futile though, from what they heard next.
'FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY!! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!' Mrs. Weasley screamed. They relaxed visibly but were still a little tense and alert.
Remus and Sirius sighed while James looked slightly confused.
'You haven't been around Fred and George very long. They haven't been around a lot lately. Molly has been very wary of them. They are pranksters that the Hogwarts teachers say rival the Marauders.' Hermione said. James perked up at that last part.
'No one has ever out pranked the Marauders.' He said with defiance. Hermione sniggered.
'You'd be surprised at what they have done. They stole the Marauders' Map from Filch in their first year.' She said. James looked shocked.
'They're the ones that got that?' He asked. Hermione nodded.
'Then they gave it to Harry in our third year so he would be able to get into Hogsmeade when they thought that Sirius was going to kill him.' Hermione answered. James nodded. He was glad that his son eventually got the map.
'Good.' James said with a nod. Soon after, two well-roused at Weasley twins entered the Kitchen and took their positions beside James.
'What did you two do this time?' Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.
'You sound like Hermione; no wonder you two are in love. We just happened to set off a couple of unauthorized products from our new business, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. We haven't been able to get to seel them yet and they are only prototypes, but we decided to test them, then mum came in and saw us. I'm amazed you couldn't hear her scream at us. She must have silenced the door.' Fred muttered to himself. Hermione rolled her eyes and Draco sniggered.
'What product?' He asked interestedly. Fred and George smirked at each other.
'Well, it's actually a Decoy Detonator. It's used to create a decoy when you need to make a get away without anyone seeing you or get in somewhere without people seeing you. It's quite a marvellous invention actually.' George answered.
'You know, that is a good invention. I mean, Aurors and stuff could use them.' Hermione commented.
'Was Hermione Granger actually complimenting us on something that we did for pranks and jokes?' Fred asked with sarcastically, staring at his brother in mock amazement.
'I think it was Fred. I think it was.' George answered, just as sarcastically. Hermione rolled her eyes and made a face at them. They sniggered and started to eat the breakfast that had been placed in front of them.
Just then, there was a flash of the fireplace and 8 envelopes flew out and in front of the people they were meant for.
'Hey look, it's out Hogwarts letters.' Hermione exclaimed. They all tore into them and ripped out the sheets of parchment out of their envelopes and read them through quickly.
'I got prefect again.' Harry commented.
'So did I.' Draco and Hermione said in unison. They smiled at each other and laughed, pulling out their badges and looking at them.
'What's on the list for this year?' Mrs. Weasley asked. They all handed up their sheets of parchment with the book list and other requirements on it and turned back to their breakfast.
The others soon joined them and they had a very rowdy breakfast.
'What are you all planning on doing today while I go into Diagon Alley and buy all this stuff for you for school tomorrow?' Mrs. Weasley asked the room at large. They looked thoughtful for a while.
'Why don't we take them to see a movie at the local cinemas Harry?' Hermione asked the muggle-raised boy. Harry started to choke on his Butterbeer and looked up at her once he finished choking.
'Why?' He asked after he had gained his breathe.
'Well, they haven't exactly seen one before, have they? It would be a new experience for them and there are some good movies out lately. I checked when I was at my parents' house.' Hermione explained. Harry sighed in resignation.
'Fine, but where is the local cinema around here? I didn't think that there was one.' Harry added. Hermione winced visibly.
'Well, the closest one is in Surrey.' She said hesitantly. Harry jumped and looked at her with wide eyes.
'No, no, no, and a thousand times no.' Harry said. He got up and went to put his dishes on the sink for Kreacher to do later.
'Come on Harry! Please; it's not like you're going to see anyone there. Like the people you know there are going to be at the cinemas. They'll most likely be in a house watching the TV or over at a friends place playing computer and video games.' Hermione reasoned, getting up and following him. Being the only muggle-raised people in the house, the others watched them both with confused eyes.
'No! I will not submit myself to torture if caught!' Harry yelled. James perked up at this.
'What?' He asked. Hermione sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose while leaning on the desk.
'He didn't mean literal torture. He won't be hurt in any way. He's just being over dramatic.' Hermione said.
'No I'm not! If they catch me I'll just be asked why I didn't come back this summer. I really don't think that the answer of, oh, my father randomly came back to life is going to satisfy them, do you?' Harry asked.
'You are such a melodramatic. If they are there, then you will have all of us to back you up. Please?' Hermione begged. Harry glared at her.
'Fine, but it's your fault if I'm caught and I will be forever angry if something horrible happens.' He said. Hermione smiled triumphantly.
'Thank you Harry! I owe you one.' She said, hugging him and running upstairs.
'What was all that about?' Draco asked. Harry could see the jealousy in his eyes and had to try and contain the smirk from flying across his face.
'It turns out we are going to Surrey. Go get dressed in some good clothes.' Harry told them. They looked at each other with confusion, but still went and got dressed. The adults watched with a little apprehension.
They all met back down stairs a few minutes later and Hermione got out something that none of the purebloods were able to determine.
'What is that?' Ron asked, pointing at the phone.
'Oh, this?' Hermione asked, holding out the phone. They nodded. Hermione smirked. 'It's a mobile phone,' she answered, 'I'm using this to call a taxi.'
'Why don't we just take the Knight Bus?' Draco asked.
'Because that thing makes me nauseous.' She answered. They all agreed and Hermione called the taxi.
It took about ten minutes for it to arrive, but they all clambered in and they made their way to the town centre of Surrey. Harry kept his head down for nearly the whole ride; ducking whenever he thought that he saw someone that he knew.
'Oh, would you stop it Harry! You're making me all jumpy!' Hermione yelled at him.
'Sorry! I just don't want to be seen!' He answered, ducking again.
When they got to their destination, Hermione paid the driver and they all got out.
'Where are we going now?' Ginny asked, looking at Hermione. Hermione shrugged and looked at Harry. He sighed and rolled his eyes.
'Follow me.' He drawled and started to lead them down to the cinema complex in the town. He kept his head down and his face covered by his hair and his hands in his pockets the entire time. Hermione started to get annoyed by it. She extracted herself from Draco's arm wrapped around her and poked him rather hard in the back.
'Ouch! What the hell!?' He asked, whipping around and glaring at her while walking backwards.
'Don't slouch Harry, It's bad for your posture.' Hermione teased. The others smirked as he glared at her again and turned around. Sierra walked up beside him and put her arm around his waist. Harry sighed and put his arm around her shoulders and kissed her forehead. Draco also got his arm quickly back around Hermione and she hugged him tighter as they walked.
Soon they were at the cinema and they looked at the movies, well, Harry and Hermione were, the others didn't know what was going on.
'What the hell is this place?' Ron whispered to her. Hermione rolled her eyes.
'This is a cinema Ron. This is where muggles watch movies. Movies are kind of like our moving photographs, except the make sound, loud sound.' She explained. Ron nodded absent-mindedly and looked up at the posters advertising the movies.
'That one looks interesting.' He pointed out to Hermione quietly. He was pointing at Blood Diamond. She raised her eyebrows at him.
'Only if you like lots of blood and gore. I think we see enough of that in our everyday lives.' Hermione pointed out. Ron snorted his agreement and amusement before looking at the other movies.
'Hey Mione, how about this one?' Harry asked. He was pointing at Ocean's 13.
'Hey yeah, I've seen the other ones, they are completely funny. Have you seen any of them?' She asked him. Harry raised an eyebrow at her and she had enough tact to look apologetic.
'Sorry, curiosity.' She explained. Harry nodded his disbelieving gratefulness and turned back to the first topic.
'Do you have the money? I sort of was never given any by the Dursley's, so I won't be able to pay for anything.' He said.
'You are so lucky that I have a very full bank account. I had enough time to take out some muggle money last time I was at home. Like, last summer.' She added. 'I'll pay for you all.'
She walked up to the cashier and asked for the right tickets and walked back over to the others.
'Ocean's 13, 10.00, cinema 3.' She explained, giving them their tickets. 'We still have ten minutes. What do you lot want to do?'
'Lay low?' Harry suggested hopefully. Hermione rolled her eyes at him.
'Only if you're a good little boy and stop annoying me.' She teased. Harry glared at her and they exited the cinema.
'Hey, there is an ice cream parlour next door, why don't we go and get some?' Ginny suggested. They all nodded and headed next door and into the parlour.
'What do you all want; I'll go up and get it.' Harry said. They all told him what flavours they wanted and Harry went up to the front to order.
'Hey, can I have two vanillas, three chocolate and one spearmint, please?' Harry asked the guy at the counter while counting out the money that Hermione had given him to pay.
When he looked up, he saw that he knew the guy at the counter.
'Hey Greg.' He greeted. The boy looked up.
'Hey Harry, I haven't seen you around here for a while. Where have you been?' Greg asked.
'Boarding School.' Harry answered, pulling a face. Greg laughed and handed over the ice creams as Harry gave him the money.
'You might want to watch out Harry; you're cousin was just seen around here a couple of minutes ago; he shouldn't be that far away.' Greg warned in a low voice. Harry's face went grave.
'Thanks, I'll be careful. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a friend to tell off.' Harry said, collecting the ice cream and walking off. He sat down beside Sierra and leaned in over to Hermione.
'I'm going to kill you.' He said. Hermione was rather taken by surprise at this and stared back at him.
'Why?' She asked. She was totally confused.
'It turns out that Dudley has been seen around here just a couple of minutes ago. I'm rather friendly with one of the guys at the counter and he told me about it. Dudley is never seen around town without his stupid goons to back him up and laugh at his dumb jokes.' Harry whispered harshly.
'Well, you have actual friends here to help you if he does come up, and a girlfriend, which I doubt Dudley has. You are higher up than Dudley in this case. He has nothing against you.' Hermione answered in the same low voice that Harry was using. She sat up and started to eat her ice cream and talk with the others. Harry rolled his eyes and joined in the conversation, but all the while kept a wary eye on the door of the parlour.
After 5 minutes, they headed back over to the cinema and went into their theatre. On their way up, Harry noticed something, or someone.
'Shit!' He whispered and hid behind Draco and Hermione. They all looked at him strange for a second before sitting down. Then they noticed a girl look back at the group and they all saw her eyes go wide.
'Harry!' She called out in a whisper. Harry looked up and grinned at the girl. She gave a hesitant grin back before having a quick look at Dudley and his gang before looking back at Harry.
'Dudley's here! Be careful!' She whispered. Harry nodded and bent his head. He pulled the hair in front of his face and put his feet up onto the seat in front of him.
'Who was that?' Sierra asked jealousy thick in her voice; which Harry noticed.
'Don't worry love. She was one of my only friends here in Surrey. She always helped me out with Dudley whenever I had a problem. I haven't seen her in years though. I'm glad she remembered me and warned me. But I did see the bastard before.' Harry explained, slinging an arm around her shoulders. Sierra nodded and curled up into his arms more before giving the girl one last look and turned her attention to the big screen.
'What's going to happen?' Draco asked Hermione, who grinned at him.
'There are going to be pictures coming up onto the screen, in a moving sequence; kind of like our pictures, except these ones have sounds. They will also take up the entire screen.' Hermione explained. Draco nodded absent-mindedly while looking at the screen and faced her.
'Muggles really do think of the strangest things.' He commented. Hermione snorted and started laughing, drawing attention to them from the people sitting a couple of seats in front. Harry, who was sitting next to Hermione as well, clamped a hand over her mouth and shushed her.
'Do you want my cousin to notice me or something?' He asked. Hermione gave him a confused look and took his hand off her mouth.
'He's here?' She asked in amazement. Harry nodded his head and shot a look down to where they were sitting chucking popcorn and lollies at each other.
'Shit! I'm sorry; I didn't know he would be in here! And you picked the movie so you can't pin this entirely on me.' She whispered. Harry rolled his eyes.
'Just be quiet and we can all get out of this alive.' Harry whispered. Hermione nodded and then the theatre went black and the movie started.
After the movie was over, they waited until Dudley and his friends had left before leaving the cinema themselves and heading outside.
'Does anyone need to go to the toilet before we go?' Hermione asked them. They all nodded and Hermione took the girls' into their toilet while Harry led the boys' into theirs.
Upon entering the boys' bathroom, the first thing that Harry heard was the loud voice of his cousin and his friends. Ron noticed it too, having heard the voice before and stopped dead with Harry. Draco gave them both a funny look and kept walking into the bathroom. Harry and Ron exchanged scared looks and ran in after him; only to find him standing up to Dudley.
'Draco! What the hell?' Ron asked, walking up to him and grabbing his arm. 'That's Harry's cousin, we have to get out of here. Now.' Ron muttered. Draco shot Ron a look that plainly said, 'OH MY GOD!' But at that moment, Dudley seemed to remember who Ron was.
'Oi, aren't you part of that freak family that came to our house last year to pick up Potter to go to that funny football match type thing?' Dudley asked. Ron stood up tall, which was at least a couple of centimetres above Dudley himself and looked down at him.
'Yeah, so what if I am? And if you ever call my family freaks again, you will regret it.' Ron all but hissed.
Harry, who had been hiding in the shadows behind the wall, but decided to come out and face his cousin, because he knew Ron's temper when he got angry. There was this old muggle joke that he knew from school. "How do you anger a re-head? How? Talk to them!" It was said to every red-head in his primary school, and he knew that certain things set Ron right off.
Harry took a deep breath and put on a strong face. He walked out from behind the wall and went to stand beside Ron and Draco.
'Leave him alone "Big D"; you've probably done your fair share of bullying people today. How many 10 year olds this time? 20?' Harry asked. Dudley smirked.
'Well, well, well, look who it is. The disappearing Potter.' Dudley tormented.
'Shut up Dudley.' Harry hissed. Draco and Ron put their hands on Harry's shoulder when they heard the girls outside.
'Harry? Draco? Ron? Come on! We have to get back! Padfoot, Moony and Prongs will be looking for us!' They heard Hermione call.
'Shit.' Harry swore under his breathe.
'Who's that Potter, your girlfriend?' Dudley taunted. Draco stiffened.
'No, she's mine.' He replied, his voice full to the brim with anger.
'I bet, Potter couldn't get a girlfriend without having to pay a whore.' Dudley spat. At this, Harry cracked. The punch he threw at Dudley must have broken his nose because Harry and his friends heard a sickening crack and Dudley fell to the ground. Harry bent down and grabbed a fist full of the front of Dudley's shirt. He put his face so close to Dudley's so that the vulnerable boy could see the fire in his eyes.
'If you ever speak like that about Sierra again, I swear I will cast any number of illegal curses on you that even most of Voldemorts Death Eaters would never even think about using on people they have their worst grudges against.' Harry whispered menacingly in his face. Dudley nodded quickly and Harry let go of him, letting his head hit the floor. Harry got up and brushed himself off before turning around and walking out. Draco and Ron exchanged looks before following him out.
'Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, have you ever actually punched him before, or is it just because he called Sierra a whore? I must admit, I was ten seconds off doing that myself, but damn, I didn't know you had that much strength in you.' Draco said, nearly having to run to keep up with him.
'If he even dares to try and touch her I'll kill him.' Harry said menacingly. Ron braced his shoulder and turned him around, grabbing both his shoulders and not letting go.
'No you wouldn't, you don't have it in you to kill Harry. Voldemort is the exception because you have to kill him or he will kill you. But you won't kill a member of your own family, no matter how much you hate them. You're no murderer Harry.' Ron said seriously. Harry just looked at him then off over his shoulder.
'Then I'll make sure he's bashed to a pulp.' Harry said, before wrenching himself out of Ron's grasp and walked over to where he could see the girls over at the door.
Behind him, he could hear Draco and Ron following him and Dudley's group trying to help him out of the toilets without anyone noticing his broken and bleeding nose.
The girls were staring behind them at Dudley and his gang when they noticed how stiff Harry was and how pale Draco and Ron seemed to be. They all rushed over at once and Sierra immediately looked at Harry's right hand, which had drops of blood on it. She looked up at him with wide eyes and he just took her into his arms and hugged her tight.
Hermione hugged Draco and turned to face Harry while still in his arms.
'Harry,' she asked gently, 'what happened?'
'We met Dudley in the bathroom and since Draco had no clue who he was Ron went in to stop him from doing something stupid, then, when Dudley remembered Ron from last year when the Weasley's came to pick me up from the World Cup, he started terrorising Ron about his family. Then I stepped out and told him to shut it and back off. That's when we heard you telling us to hurry up because of the adults. He asked if you were my girlfriend, Draco got rather peeved at this and said you were his, and then Dudley said the only girlfriend I could get was a paid whore, so I punched him the nose and told him never to talk about Sierra like that again unless he wants a long, painful death.' Harry explained. The girls all stared at him with wide eyes and then shot a look at Dudley, who was still trying to make his way out of the cinema foyer without being seen dripping blood on the carpet.
Sierra looked up at him and hugged him tighter.
'Oh Harry.' She whispered. Harry held her tight and kissed the top of her head before resting his chin on her crown.
'Come on, let's go home.' Hermione said. They nodded and walked out passed Dudley and his friends.
'Hold on, there's something I want to do.' Harry said. He pulled Sierra by the hand to a stop and dipped her into a passionate kiss. Dudley and his friends stood stock still in utter surprise. Harry and Sierra surfaced and flashed Dudley a triumphant look before picking Sierra up again and slinging his arm around her and walked away with all his friends laughing behind him.
They signalled for a taxi and Hermione told him where to go, and they were soon home and walking through the door, laughing their heads off at the look on Dudley's face when Harry snogged Sierra.
They entered the Kitchen and sat down, ready for a snack before dinner was started and they had to enter their rooms to avoid being given any work to do for it.
'Well Hermione, we took what would have been a horrible day in Surrey and made it a brilliant one. One with a cousin with a bleeding nose, who was also embarrassed beyond belief, and we saw an awesome movie. I think we are going well.' Harry said. They laughed again and James, Sirius and Remus entered the Kitchen.
'How was your little outing?' James asked, sitting beside Harry and opposite where Sirius chose to sit beside Remus.
'Pretty good if I say so myself; considering I wasn't overly happy about going.' Harry conceded. James grinned at him.
'What made it that great then?' He asked.
'Well, Dudley got a blood nose, that's my cousin, just in case you didn't know; and he lives in Surrey, that's why I didn't want to go in the first place, you ate ice cream and watched a brilliant movie. How much better could a day get?' Harry asked.
'Why did Dudley get a blood nose?' Remus questioned, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. Harry at least had the audacity to look at least a little remorseful.
'He made a crack about Sierra being a prostitute to go anywhere near me, well, it was more like he didn't think that any girl would go out with me except for prostitutes, but it was like he made a crack about her, so I punched him a threatened him a little. It was funny when I kissed her though and he just stared at me like a stunned mullet.' Harry grinned. James ruffled his hair and Sirius laughed. Remus didn't look too impressed though.
'He really said that?' He asked seriously. Harry's smile left his mouth and he nodded.
'I think it's about time we had another talk with the Dursleys,' Remus said, 'Are you two up for it?' Sirius and James nodded enthusiastically. But then James grew thoughtful.
'Aren't I supposed to be dead to them though?' He asked confusedly. That's when Remus finally grinned.
'I think it's about time we told them.' He said. Then they all heard Molly come into the hall and they all jumped up and started to walk out of the door. They just passed her in the hall when she called out to them.
'Can any of you help with dinner tonight?'
'Sorry, we have to clean out our trunks Mrs. Weasley. Get them ready for tomorrow, you know.' Hermione called out behind them as they mounted the stairs.
'What about you three?' She asked the older men. Sirius turned around slowly.
'Molly, we have to talk with the Dursley's about some things that have been happening. Don't wait up for us, we'll be there to see you lot off tomorrow, bye!' The three men raced up stairs and grabbed their cloaks before coming back down waving goodbye to everyone and walking out the door. Draco, Harry, Hermione and the rest just glared at them as they left and went up the stairs to get away from Molly Weasley.
Dinner came around soon and again they filed down the stairs.
'Hurry up you lot!' Mrs. Weasley yelled.
'We're coming Mum!' Ron yelled back. 'Bloody woman.' He added. They snorted in laughter and hurried down to the Kitchen.
'There you are! You couldn't have come quicker could you?' Mrs. Weasley chastised. Ron and Ginny rolled their eyes and sat down with the others.
'Sorry we took so long, Mother, we were busy.' Ron said. Mrs. Weasley gave them a funny look and started ladling out the soup that was for dinner.
'What type of soup is it Mrs. Weasley?' Harry asked.
'It's Chicken and Corn.' She answered, giving him some. It smelled beautiful.
'It smells delicious Mrs. Weasley.' Hermione complimented. The older woman smiled warmly at her in response and continued what she was doing. As she was pouring the soup into the bowls, Fred and George waltzed into the room.
'How is everyone?' Fred asked. They grunted in response and Fred and George shook their heads.
'Not a very happy bunch of people here are there George?' Fred asked his twin brother.
'Not very happy at all Fred.' George answered him. They took their seats at the end of the table beside their parents and started digging into their soup. It was gone within one minute.
'Got any more soup mum?' Fred asked innocently.
'Plenty; go get some from the stove.' Mrs. Weasley answered. The twins both got up and served themselves some more while everyone else started (or finished) their firsts.
'I can't believe that it's the last day of the holidays.' Hermione commented.
'I know. I would have liked it for them to be longer.' Draco added. They all sighed in resignation.
'What do you plan to do with your life Hermione?' Harry asked. Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment.
'Well, I thought about Mediwizardry, but I don't think I'll be able to stand the sight of all those diseases and everything like that. I really don't know what I want to do. It could be anything so far.' She answered.
'How about you Draco?' Harry asked the blonde. Draco took even longer before answering.
'I think I want to be an Auror. That life sounds exciting enough. But most of all I just want a normal life. Well, normal enough for a wizard of my family name. I'm not trying to be big-headed or anything, but the Malfoy name is pretty high up in stature.' Draco said, raising his hands in innocence while the others laughed at his comment. 'I really just want a family. You know, some people to actually care about, that I'm related to that I actually like.' Draco added.
'How about you Harry; you must have some aspiration in life other than destroying the Dark Lord.' Draco pointed out.
'To tell you the truth, I haven't really thought that far ahead. I know that I want to live to see after the war, but I don't know what I want to happen after it.' Harry answered.
'You have no idea at all?' Sierra asked him. Harry could see the slight disappointment in her eyes and took her hand.
'Whatever I do, you'll be part of it.' Harry whispered to her. This made her smile really big and she gave him a rather awkward hug since they were at the table and sitting side-by-side. The rest of dinner was eaten in silence, until Mrs. Weasley announced that they had to go to bed.
'You have to get up early to get ready on time for the train.' She explained. They all trudged upstairs and bade each other a tired good night, but Draco held Hermione back.
'Hermione, wait a second.' He said, taking her hand and pulling her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.
'What is it Draco?' She asked. Draco sighed into her neck and pulled away from her just enough to be able to rest his forehead against hers.
'Whatever I do after this war is over and I have a free life, will have you in it. I couldn't stand it if you weren't part of my life from here on out.' Draco whispered to her. Hermione smiled up at him and gave him a tender kiss on the lips.
'I couldn't imagine my life without you being part of it either.' She answered just as quietly. Draco smiled at her too and pulled her close again.
'We'll get married and have little kids running all over the house and we'll take them to their first day at Hogwarts and we'll love them. I want all of this with you and only you.' Draco whispered. Hermione could feel the tears running down her face and onto his shirt.
'You mean it?' She asked through her tears. Draco took her face in his hands and wiped away all of her tears.
'Of course Love. I've never been more sincere.' He whispered. Hermione gave him a watery smile and kissed him tenderly on the lips. Draco responded with such gentleness that Hermione though that she was going to melt.
As Hermione broke the kiss, she stared up at him lovingly.
'I love you Draco.' She said.
'I love you too, my dearest Hermione.' He whispered back. He kissed her one last time before giving her a huge hug and let her go.
'Let's go to bed Love. I'll see you in the morning.' He whispered down to her. She nodded back to him and gave him a quick peck before turning and going into her bedroom and closing the door.
A/N: Now it is time to thank everyone who reviewed. Remember, if you want your name here, you have to review or do something of that sort. Thanks!
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