They all awoke when they felt the car moving and about to fall. All of them immediately noticed they were on top of a tree and dangerously about to fall off.
"I thought it was just a nightmare!" Draco tried to wriggle off the car but was failing miserably.
"Please tell me we're still at Hogwarts.." The Ravenclaw Patil whined. Wow, she never whined before. Padma and Blaise were also trying to get off the car but also stopped in defeat. Theo hopped off the back and jumped down the tree broom in hand. Hermione and Luna did the same.
"Well, aren't you going to help us?" Blaise asked in a surprisingly calm tone.
Hermione sighed in frustration. She climbed back up and tried to pull Blaise off. Luna and Theo helped her and after many hard tugs and several muttered curses, they were able to get him off. 'This is ridiculous!' Hermione had said. The down side was, Blaise's favorite black jumper got ripped. "At least I'm free." he tried to console himself.
All four of them proceeded to free Padma. It took a lot less time and effort to get her off the car. Then five of them to pull Draco off. Hermione saying something about the heaviest should be the last because it should take at least five people to pull them off the truck. Draco answered that he was slim and fit. But the only Gryffindor insisted he was the heaviest because of his big head.
"Ha-Ha. Very funny, Granger." he rolled his eyes but smirked nonetheless. "But I must say, you ARE far heavier than me."
"And why is that, Malfoy?" Hermione asks, humoring him.
"It's because of that bush on your head. That must weigh at least ten pounds."
Hermione practically growled and made to launch herself at Draco. But Theo and Blaise fortunately held on to her. Preventing her from attacking the smug blonde.
"Children," Blaise softly chastised. "play nice." at this, Hermione huffed and yanked her arms away from the two Slytherin buddies. She turned and walked to the opposite direction. She wasn't usually this violent, Draco thought. It must be the tiring journey that made her this irritable and easily angered.
Blaise went to look at the silent and guilty Ravenclaw girl looking on the ground. "Lovegood," he started quietly as to not scare her off. "Why, I mean, why did you do this?"
Luna looked up with big and guilty eyes. "I'm sorry. It's Wrackspurt season and I just want to see if they're planning something dubious." At Blaise's blank look, she continued. "You see, they escaped from the Ministry Elfin' Safety Enquiry and they're dangerous. As you can witness, Hermione is affected." both Draco and Blaise turned to look at Hermione smashing a long and thick tree branch on the ground while screaming something. "Wrackspurts are invisible. They come in through your ears and make your head go fuzzy. You can only see them if you wear Spectrespecs. Most of the students in Hogwarts were acting weird today. So I suppose it's Wrackspurt Season." she pointed at Padma and Theo arguing about something. "They're also affected."
"Oh-kay." Draco sang. "I think I'm going to stop Granger from hurting herself." As he passed by Blaise he muttered a, "Good luck with Looney." And continued on the raging Gryffindor.
Hermione looked up to see Draco coming over to her but ignored him and continued smashing the tree branch on the ground like all of this is its fault. Poor thing.
"Granger,"
Hermione didn't look up this time and kept hurting the poor tree branch.
"Granger, stop it."
"Go away, Malfoy. Or else I won't think twice about hitting you." She said through gritted teeth.
Draco sighed and instantly knew what was wrong. "This isn't just about Lovegood, is it?"
Hermione still didn't look at him. Still hitting the ground like it would eventually surrender.
"Look, what you saw was nothing. Come on, love. Stop hitting the Earth."
This time, Hermione's head snapped up and she glared daggers at the blonde. "Don't you dare call me that, you filthy liar!"
"Hermione.." Draco says softly. Too soft that only Hermione could hear him. "Hermione, listen-"
"Is everthing alright?" it was Padma. She was behind Draco, It was the first time she looked worriedly at Hermione. "Did you hurt yourself, Hermione?"
"No, I'm alright." the golden girl answered. Padma nodded and turned back to where she came from. "Just stay away from me, Malfoy."
"Why did you leave me out there waiting, Padma?" Theo whispered so softly that if Padma wasn't listening she wouldn't have heard him. "I was there for hours. If you weren't planning on showing up, you could have just said so." He must have sensed she was about to answer back, and would probably argue just like earlier. "And don't tell me 'This isn't the time to talk about this, Nott.' again." he added, mimicking what the Patil twin had said.
Padma just sat there, head buried in her arms and knees. She didn't know what to tell him. She did go there. But when she saw Theo walking over carrying his broom, she lost her nerve and went to hide. She climbed up a tree with very thick leaves so the other boy won't see her.
"I mean, I was really excited you finally agreed to meet me, and then after a few more hours, I know you'd never show. I was humming all the time I was floating there. Trying to make the pain go away. I was so disappointed." she felt Theo sit right beside her and saw between the space in her arms that he was playing with the grass. "But then, I saw you got stuck on that truck. And I realized you planned to show but was just too afraid." Padma knew he was looking at her now. "Why?" she finally looked up to see him staring seriously at her. She was about to open her mouth to answer when she heard Hermione scream something.
"Don't you dare call me that, you filthy liar!" this worried her and made her forget what she was about to tell Theo.
"Excuse me." she says. Stalling they're confrontation.
"Okay."
"Is everything alright?" Theo heard Padma ask. "Did you hurt yourself, Hermione?"
"Luna," Blaise called. Luna just stood there staring into space. "Lovegood. Hey, are you home?"
"Yes, Blaise? What is it?"
"Did you even hear what I was saying?"
"Sorry. I didn't." Luna looked up at him under her lashes. That same guilty stare directed at him.
"Stop looking at me like that. I'm not mad. And as you can see, they aren't either. So stop feeling guilty. That was what I said just a moment ago." as Blaise finished, Luna took a sit on a large rock. Hugging her knees to her chest just like what Padma did.
"That's the problem," voice muffled by her knees, she explained, "they are not mad because it's normal for me to do something this weird. Like they expected this to happen. Like they expected I'd mess up."
"No, Luna." the dark Slytherin contradicted, and sat down next to her. "That's not how they, we feel. We accept this happened because this is you. Not in a bad way. They are a little mad, yes. And if this happened under my hand too, they'd also react like this, you know?" At Luna's silence, he took this as a sign to continue. "To emphasize this more, we already know your fascination about mystical creatures. The point is, however, is that they didn't get mad because they think you're weird and this is not unusual, but because you're their friend. You get what I'm saying?"
Luna nodded and smiled slightly. "Draco doesn't want to be my friend."
Blaise scoffed and chuckled. "That idiot? He wouldn't even admit Theo and I are his friends. Don't be offended by that." when Luna's smile widened, he knew he did something right for once in his life.
"So.. where are we again?" Draco asked. It was peculiar they didn't question where they were. When they landed, which the group barely even remembered, they were acting strange. And were oddly feeling depressed, angry even. Maybe it really was Wrackspurt season.
"I told you it's the season of the Wrackspurts." Of course, Luna would voice out what they were all thinking. "Are you all feeling fuzzy?"
Draco, surprisingly, was the only one who answered. "I do."
Luna gasped, eyes widening. "Then that's dangerous! In order to get the Wrackspurts out of your head is to think positive and happy thoughts!"
From her left side, Hermione snorted. "For Malfoy? He doesn't have happy thoughts. Or, positive thinking." oblivious to Draco's tense posture, she continued. "The only close thing to happy thoughts he could conjure in his mind is while kissing that pug Pansy."
Draco bristled from his spot beside Blaise. The other Slytherin saw a flicker of hurt on his face but it quickly morphed into anger. "Too far, Granger."
"What's too far, Draco?" Theo inquired with sarcasm albeit not in an insulting way. "You don't get mad that easily before." then a thoughtful expression crossed his face. "Hmm. I'm starting to believe in these Wrackspurts."
Draco almost growled at Theo. "Shut up, YOUNG Nott." at Theo's eye twitch, Draco knew he hit a nerve. "Oh, still not over that issue, eh? My apologies, Young Master Nott."
Blaise, who knew what was going to happen next, shook his head in frustration. Theo pushed Draco hard. This Slytherin apparently did growl at the other one. "What the fuck, is your problem, Malfoy?!"
Draco also didn't know why he said that. He knew Theo never wanted to hear that nickname again. He and Blaise promised not to bring this up. But he did, anyway. Now he feels like a total asshole. He held up his hands, fighting back the stinging in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Theo. I don't know what came over me." then he promptly left. Turned on his heel and just went in to the dark forest.
Hermione looked at Draco's retreating form with a forlorn expression. As if she wanted to follow him, but held her ground. This did not go unnoticed by her four companions.
"I don't know what the issue here is, but I think we are brought here for a reason. Sorting out our problems, perhaps?" Padma pointed out. Then all of them looked at Luna. Except for one honey-eyed Gryffindor.
"What?" she said with big innocent eyes. "I was just looking for Wrackspurts."
Padma looked at her skeptically, but didn't pursue her theory. She scowled when she saw Hermione still gazing at the direction Draco disappeared to. "If you want to follow him, Hermione, you should go. I think he's not coming back anytime soon." she says, waiting for the curly-haired lass's reaction.
What she got from Hermione satisfied her curiosity. When Hermione's eyes met Padma's darker ones, they looked worried, unsure, afraid. Then as fast as it appeared, it was gone and was replaced by anger. Her shield. "Why would I want to follow him? I'd probably be the happiest girl in the world if he doesn't come back." she bit. Not knowing her answer just clicked something in Padma's head.
Interesting, the dark-haired Ravenclaw thought. She's really defensive. The voice in her head added. "No need to be so defensive about it." she doesn't know what came over her when she voiced out that last thought.
"I'm not being-" realizing how ridiculous she was being, Hermione decided to just shut the fuck up. "never mind. Excuse me." just like what Draco did, Hermione turned on her heel and left. But not in the direction Draco disappeared to.
The four who were left standing in the middle of the clearing watched Hermione depart with raised eyebrows.
"What the fuck is happening?"
"Don't worry, Theo." Padma comforted, sarcastically. Blaise noticed Padma used Theo's given name instead of his family name. Neither of them noticed. "Nothing your small brain couldn't handle."
"What?" obviously confused, Theo whipped around to look at the girl. "Wait, is this about something I said? Padma, you should know better." again with the first name basis.
Padma's nose flared. The younger Nott's confusion only intensified. "Oh, just because I am from Ravenclaw, I should know better? That it? You're the one going around telling people they're cowards!"
"Padma.." Luna whispered beside her. "Don't let it take control of your brain. It's just the Wrackspurt talking. Just think positive-"
The furious young lady swung around to face the blonde girl. "Shut up, Luna! This is all your fault!" with a deep breath, she added, "If someone is to blame here it's you! And even if these Wrackspurts really do exist, it's still your fault for going out and looking for them, dragging us all down with you!"
"That's enough, Patil!" Blaise roared, clearly angered.
Padma Patil, looking very beautiful even angry, turned abruptly to face Blaise. "And you! You think I don't know about your girlfriend?!" at Blaise's shocked look, she smirked despite her anger. "We all have secrets, Zabini. Some bigger than others." and with that, she too also disappeared in the forest.
A few moments of silence past and Theo cleared his throat. "Who else is going to walk out?" after he said that, Luna turned and walked away. Seconds later, Blaise followed. Only he went the other way.
"Thanks, guys."
As it turned out, they never went out of the Hogwarts grounds. All six of them realized it, albeit separately, with surprised relief. Fortunately, the six students made it into the castle before curfew. But the only thing that's holding them from going straight to their own dorm rooms was their neglected patrol duties. With a unified sigh from all over the castle, they proceeded to patrol their part of the school. All of them, except Luna, thinking about going to bed. You could just guess what the other blonde was thinking.
The next morning, they decided they should just forget what had happened last night. It's kind of odd that all of them thought of the same thing, just oblivious about the fact.
Padma felt bad about snapping at Luna. The younger Ravenclaw was just trying to help. She felt even guiltier about what she had told Blaise. In her head, that was a form of blackmail. Even if she didn't threaten him to tell the whole school. She wasn't like her sister. And she felt most regretful for the way she had shouted at Theo. What has gotten into her? She knew he didn't meant it that way. Maybe it really was the Wrackspurt.
Hermione was no better. She had insulted Draco in the most hurtful way. Why oh why had she said that? Should she apologize? Of course she should! Just because she saw him kissing the pig-faced Parkinson doesn't mean she should fulminate the blonde by saying he doesn't have happy thoughts. With a heavy heart, she blamed those stupid Wrackspurts.
Draco awoke with a foul mood. How dare she? How can he explain what happened when she didn't even give him a chance to defend himself. That cow Pansy was the one who threw herself at him and proceeded to snog him senseless. Well, of course you couldn't blame the girl. She doesn't know he was taken. The whole school doesn't. So she shouldn't have blamed him for what had happened. He had been caught off guard. And the fact that he insulted his long time friend just because he mentioned something not worth getting mad at. Damn those Wrackspurts.
Theo and Blaise refused to think about what had happened last time. Only Theo could think that thinking about yesterday and last night so early in the morning will give you gas. And only Blaise thinks that bringing up their problem could give him wrinkles. For a guy who had seven step dads, he sure was girly.
Luna blamed the Wrackspurts for making her friends' heads go fuzzy.
When lessons started that day, All five of them were in the same class together. Trying to ignore the bad feelings, they just sat there and waited for the lecture to begin.
Hermione was just thinking of what to do about their stupendously dramatic situation when a wooden stool hit her back. "Ouch." she muttered and looked behind her, she saw Draco. Who does this guy thinks he is? Hermione glared at him. If her eyes held lasers, Draco's back would already be burned to ashes. She knows he knows, that he hit her with that wooden stool. "Rude much?!" she whispered to herself. "You could've at least said sorry. Git." she added.
Moments passed, they listened to Professor Vector drone on and on about something she already finished reading. Bored and out of her mind, Hermione was 'this' close to falling asleep but restrained herself from doing so.
"Excuse me, Mr. Malfoy..." their professor said with an irritation in her tone. She was looking straight at the last row in the back.
"Yes, Professor?" he replied.
"What exactly are you doing, Draco?" Professor Vector asked him again. "You are supposed to pay attention, not write all over your classmate's face." the whole class started laughing. Even Padma couldn't hold her laughter. Hermione noticed that Theo was out cold on the seat beside him. With doodles drawn on his entire face. Hermione bit back a snicker. She was still mad at him.
"Sorry, Professor." Draco says, straightening his position on the chair. He caught Hermione staring at him and she avoided his stare as fast as she could.
"Stupid Jerk." she mumbled again to herself. She can feel her cheeks heating up, hating herself for feeling this way.