It was Rita Skeeter and her camera man, plus a horde of other reporters behind her. It was almost Hermione's worst nightmare come true, after failing all of her classes, of course.
The bright flashes from the photographers made her feel as if she would have a seizure. The blood was boiling in her head, and she started to swoon.
Then steady but gentle hands were there to support her, and they guided her inside Dominic Maestro's Music Shop. Draco cursed under his breath, muttering, "That stupid woman." Ginny firmly shut the door behind them, leaving Zacharias to deal with the army of reporters.
Hermione could finally see straight again. Blinking, she murmured dizzily, "There are paparazzi in the Wizarding world, too?"
Draco chuckled. "That would be them, yes."
"I didn't ever see them following Harry." Hermione said, confusedly. She felt slightly awkward standing there in Draco's arms, but he let go soon. However, none of it was missed by Ginny, who was watching closely for her reaction.
Trying to distract her, Hermione asked, "Are we just going to feed Zach to the wolves? Rita Skeeter and her lot might tear him to pieces!"
"Who cares? The bloody git's enjoying it." said Ginny flatly. "Look, there's that harp Harry and I saw!"
The three of them casually strolled over to the softly strumming harp. The shop was devoid of anything except for instruments, many of them playing softly by themselves, as if showing off for the non-existent customers. As they stepped in front of the harp, an old man with a long white beard to rival that of Albus Dumbledore's popped out of nowhere.
"Hello, hello! Welcome to my shop!" he greeted them enthusiastically, grabbing each of their hands for a quick shake. "I'm Dominic Maestro, and music is my passion! How can I help you lovely young people today?"
Hermione and Ginny exchanged glances, grinning. Dominic Maestro could've been a cute grandfather of some little girl, and he vaguely reminded Hermione of Luna's father, Xenophilius Lovegood, though much more sweet.
Ginny said, "Good afternoon, sir. We're looking for a music player of some sort. We need it to be able to play waltzing music in both slow and fast thee-four time signature."
Draco and Hermione gaped at Ginny. However, she ignored them as Dominic exclaimed, "Then you've arrived at the right instrument! This harp is a graceful work of art that should suit your needs. All its tunes are to an entrancing three-four beat, and you can speed it up," he drew a wand from his pocket, and said, "Propero." The music sped up, the strings on the harp moving as if they were vibrating.
Dominic flourished his wand again. "and slow it down. Retardo." The music went back to its original speed. Hermione and Draco nodded appreciatively, but Ginny asked sharply, "What about volume?"
"Not a problem, miss." beamed the little old man. He pointed his wand at the golden harp again. "Quietus." The music became almost inaudible. "Of course, if you want it to stop playing entirely, you just have to cast 'Muffliato.' Otherwise, this harp will perpetually perform."
"And the charm to make it play again?" Ginny enquired.
"Sonorus." Dominic squeaked, and the music went back to his original volume.
Just then, Zacharias came bursting into the room, his cheeks red with excitement. However, he shut the door quickly, pointed his wand at the knob, and muttered "Colloportus" to lock it.
He strode over to the little group, and stuck his hand out to Dominic Maestro. "Zacharias Smith." he announced himself pompously. The little man shook his hand nervously. "I'm Dominic Maestro. Why'd you lock my door?"
"Sorry, sir. A group of paparazzi headed by Rita Skeeter is waiting outside. I'm trying to hold them off for a bit, so we can buy what we need and get back to Hogwarts."
Dominic stared at him through his spectacles, wide-eyed. "I see." he replied gravely. "But can't they just unlock the door anytime?"
Ginny snorted. "If any of them had brains, I'm sure they could. But we really should get out of here before they figure it out. Do you guys like this harp?"
Draco and Hermione nodded their assent, while Zacharias protested that he hadn't had enough time to form an opinion. Ginny snapped at him to shut up, and Draco asked, "So, how much for it?"
"This little beauty's going to be sold for no less than five hundred Galleons. What say you?" he asked.
"We'll take it." said Draco nonchalantly. The other three students gasped. "Draco!" exclaimed Hermione. You can't possibly have that amount of money on you right now!"
"Actually, I can." he grinned. He fished inside the pocket of his robes, and took out a black velvet pouch bearing the Malfoy Crest. "It just so happens that I have a pouch for Galleons, a pouch for Sickles, and a pouch for Knuts. There are five hundred coins in each. It's my spending money for each year."
Hermione, Ginny, and Zacharias just gaped as Draco poured the contents of the pouch slowly onto the counter next to the harp. "Count them." he ordered Dominic Maestro with an air of indifference.
Dominic Maestro stuttered nervously, "O- O- Of course, there's n- n- no need to, Mr. Malfoy. I trust your word c- c- completely."
"Good." said Draco, sounding bored. "Let's get back to Hogwarts, before those dolts come in."
Dominic Maestro suddenly came to his senses. "Thank you for your business!" he bowed deeply.
Draco grabbed one side of the harp. "Zacharias, come get the other side."
Zacharias obeyed immediately, scurrying over and doing as instructed.
"We Disapparate to my dormitory on three." said Draco warningly. "One, two, THREE!"
Ginny and Hermione were left with Dominic Maestro and the sounds of the paparazzi trying to get in.
"That's a nice young man you've got there." remarked Dominic, looking straight at Hermione. "Very generous, although he puts on an air of arrogance. He looks at you as if you were the most beautiful diamond in the world. You're very lucky to have someone like that, young lady."
Hermione blushed furiously as Ginny chortled. "He's not my boyfriend…" she muttered. "That is to say, we're not in a relationship."
Dominic looked confused for a moment, and then abashed. "I'm sorry…" he began.
"No, no. It's fine!" said Hermione. "He's just a very sweet and kind FRIEND." She emphasized the last word for Ginny's sake.
Dominic Maestro bowed yet again. "As you say, miss. Now, you two better follow those young gentlemen, because I think those nasty people are about to break in."
As he said it, the door finally swung open, and in poured reporters and cameramen.
"Hermione Granger, Hermione Granger! The heroine of "The Golden Trio!" Can we have a quote on the new Hogwarts?"
"Ginny Weasley! The girlfriend of Harry Potter! Do you know of his current whereabouts?"
Hermione gave a quick "Thanks" to Dominic before she and Ginny Disapparated and landed behind the couch in Montecino Tower.
Draco and Zacharias had set the harp on the coffee table, and Draco was showing Zacharias its various settings. They didn't look up as Hermione and Ginny strode over.
"Well, hello to you, too." Ginny said grumpily.
"Poor Dominic." Hermione fretted. "I do hope he survives the interrogation."
"Those fools finally got in, didn't they?" Draco snickered. "About time."
"I think Dominic's more grateful to us than he is annoyed." Ginny said. "There was no one in there when we went in, and now, look! There are dozens."
"They weren't very nice people." Zacharias added.
"Thank you for stating the obvious, Smith." Draco rolled his eyes. "What are we going to do about those vultures from now on? They seem to have improved their stalking skills. How did they know we were going out today?"
"I don't know…" Hermione said slowly. "Maybe they all pulled a Rita Skeeter and transformed into bugs?"
Draco chuckled. "I doubt it, but good theory. What are we going to do in the future? You and Ginny seem to be major targets." He laughed at Zacharias's open envy.
"A Disillusionment Charm would probably be out best bet." Ginny said thoughtfully. "Or maybe a Bedazzling Hex?"
Hermione nodded. "Too bad we don't have Harry's Invisibility Cloak, though."
Draco knew that thinking about Harry would only lead to thoughts of Ron, so he tried to change the subject. "Should we leave the harp here, or leave it in the Great Hall?"
Hermione's eyes flashed excitedly. "I know! We can go ask Professor McGonagall about it. And then, we can also make sure she reimburses you for your generosity."
Draco groaned. "Just drop it, Mione. It's not that big of a deal."
"Right. Five hundred Galleons really isn't anything. Nothing at all." Ginny and Zacharias chortled.
"Fine, let's go then." Draco replied sulkily, heading out the door.
"We'd better hurry. Out next class is in about fifteen minutes!" Ginny called.
Hermione made sure they were all carrying their book bags, for another trip up to Montecino Tower could really consume their precious time.
In a few minutes, they were in front of the stone gargoyle.
"Er, does anyone know the password?" asked Hermione timidly.
"No need for a password from you four." the statue spoke.
Zacharias jumped and gave a little yelp, to which Ginny threw him a dirty look.
"Why?" demanded Draco. "The last time you didn't ask for a password was on a certain night in May, when you were crumbling."
"The Headmistress said the Senior Boy, Senior Girl, Head Boy, Head Girl or all of the above are allowed to visit her whenever they need. Just remember to knock on the doors first." he jumped aside, and Draco shrugged, cautiously climbing the winding staircase.
When they reached the great oaken double doors, Draco knocked loudly and clearly.
"Come in." immediately came Professor McGonagall's voice, as if she were expecting them.
Draco and Zacharias each pushed a door and let the girls go in first. I wonder how Draco taught Zacharias to be an actual human being. Hermione thought. Then she shuddered. Maybe I don't want to know… Draco was wonderful and she loved him deeply, but when it came to relations with other people, they had different methods of socializing.
Professor McGonagall was sitting at her desk, writing a letter. As they approached her, she didn't even look up. "Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked bluntly.
As Ginny began to recount all that had happened on their trip to Hogsmeade, Hermione was again struck by her musical knowledge. I really must ask her about that later. she made a mental note to herself.
Looking around the room, Hermione's gaze fell onto the portraits of the previous Headmasters. She saw Dumbledore snoozing in his frame. She thought he looked like an older version of Dominic Maestro in his sleep, very sweet and harmless. Then her eyes fell onto Snape's portrait.
He was wide awake, and as their eyes met, Hermione felt the urge to go speak to the man whose death she had witnessed. She realized he was the first one who had given her the ability to see Thestrals.
Without thinking, and forgetting that she was here to talk to Professor McGonagall about Draco's latest act of idiocy, she walked over slowly to Snape's portrait.
"Hello, Professor." she said quietly. The rest of the people all fell silent, realizing what Hermione was doing.
Snape's expression was unfathomable, and his black eyes glittered. "Hello, Miss Granger."
"How are you doing?" she blurted. How stupid of me. He just died a couple of months ago.
"Fine, Miss Granger. It is a privilege to be able to reside here after death in my first home."
He sounds like Harry. "You were really brave…at the Shrieking Shack. I'm glad Harry made sure your portrait was put here."
"Yes, and I do hope someday, you'll find the same courage yourself." his eyes shifted towards Draco, who was looking at the bookshelves on the opposite wall.
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione almost inaudibly.
"Love him, before it's too late."