"What are you doing here Malfoy," Professor Snape asked monotonously, not even looking up from what he was marking.
"Good afternoon Professor Snape! Well, Granger and I are doing this project, an experiment if you will, and we realized that we needed some Gillyweed. And, well, naturally, I knew that you were the teacher we needed to come to," Draco said easily.
Hermione was surprised by how convincing he sounded. Snape raised his head, clasped his hands, and rested his chin on them. He stared at the two of them intensely, as if he was trying to decide whether or not one or both of them were lying. Hermione smiled and nodded her head, reassuring what Draco had said.
"And what exactly is this project all about Ms.Granger?" Snape asked with a smirk on his face.
"Well, it's uh, you see we're using it to test…something, uh, it's effects on, umm…cats, yes, it's effects on cats," she lied.
"Right," Draco agreed.
"Cats are a very important species and quite intelligent, imagine what would result in cats being able to breathe underwater!"
"Fascinating Mr.Malfoy," Snape said, summoning the ingredient from his storage cupboard.
"Now take the Gillyweed and get out of here before I take points from both of you for not being able to come up with a better lie about what you are really doing."
Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but Draco was already pulling her out of Snape's office.
"I think that went rather well," Draco said.
"I just LIED to a teacher! I can't believe this! And CATS! What the hell was I thinking!" Hermione fretted.
"Yes, what were you thinking? Oh don't worry, you'll get used to it, it's not so bad being dishonest scum!"
Hermione glared at him.
They made their way down to the lake, the sun sinking lower in the sky.
"Alright, so we got this far, now what?" Hermione demanded.
"That's easy," Draco said, taking his robe off.
"I'll have some of that weedy stuff and go down and find it."
"I don't know about this…" Hermione hesitated.
"Look, all you have to do is stay up here and wait for me," he said, kicking of his shoes and socks.
"No."
"What do you mean no!"
"I mean I'm going with you," Hermione said, taking off her own robe.
"Like hell you are!'
"I don't think you heard me, I said I was going and that's it. It's dangerous and if something happened, I'd have no way of knowing or helping you."
Hermione pulled off her own shoes and socks.
"Since when did you ever care what happened to me?" Draco inquired.
"Since I grew up two years ago and stopped holding on to these stupid house grudges!" Hermione spat angrily.
"Look," he started.
"I…oh forget it," he mumbled.
He didn't need to prove anything to her. He knew that he wasn't the same anymore, things had changed. His opinions had changed, and so had his outlook on life. He wasn't the same little boy who had first entered Hogwarts seven years ago, but no one would ever see the man he had become, he'd sworn on his life that he wouldn't let them. He didn't want to be that man, that man was weak and Malfoys were never weak.
"You're not coming," he repeated.
"Oh shut your trap and eat some of this," she said, thrusting some of the Gillyweed into his hand.
He almost protested, but it was too late, she was already eating it. He did the same and immediately began to feel the change. She raced towards the water and he followed her. It was dark and they tried to keep sight of each other. Draco kept looking around him, keeping a close watch for he knew that dangerous things lurked in these waters. The merpeople were especially not to be toyed with. It was becoming difficult though, Draco's paranoia was making him see shadows everywhere and he began to swim closer to Hermione.
It felt like it had been hours when finally Draco thought he spotted something shiny and glossy in the dark. He grabbed Hermione's arm and pulled her with him. It was the picture alright, Hermione grabbed the picture and Draco thrust it into his pocket quickly. They had a long swim to the surface and he didn't know how much longer this plant was going to hold out on them. They had only been swimming for a few minutes when Hermione felt a vicious tag on her arm. Draco was beginning to change back. The Gillyweed was wearing off. She grabbed him under his arm and began kicking wildly towards the surface. They were almost to the surface when he became a dead weight under her. Hermione's arms were beginning to ache with the weight and her Gillyweed finally wore off. She surfaced, gasping for breath, and hauled Draco, soaking wet, up onto the bank.
"No, no, no," she whispered.
"Damn it."
She listened for breathing, nothing.
"Shit!" she swore out loud.
"Come on Draco, don't do this to me!" she said and began doing compressions on his chest.
His body gave a sudden lurch and he began coughing up water.
"Thank God," Hermione breathed and collapsed in a wet heap on the ground next to him.
"Here," he rasped. Hermione sat up and looked at him. He was holding out her picture and still choking out water. Slowly and silently, she took it. She sat for a moment and then draped his arm around her neck.
"Come on," she whispered, helping him up.
"You have a date in an hour."
There it is, FINALLY!! Sorry it took so long, I've been soooooooooo busy with problems at my job, that don't concern me, yet I have to take care of them. Anyway, thank you to those of you who stayed faithful and reviewed! It was very much appreciated; I promise the next chapter won't be as long of a wait!
Adelaide: Thank you for always reviewing and I know you love Draco and Orlando, we all do! LOL! I LOVE the pics! LOL! So good you super stalker! Oh, good fun! And I will try to have fun at work!
water-princess123: Thanks for the review, you are so faithful and it is much appreciated. I know you want them to get together, I do too, but sadly, *tear* it's not that easy! LOL! Don't worry, I promise it will be good when it does happen, or I'll try to make it good at least!
Avelynn Tame: You are so sweet! You always write such nice things in my reviews! I'm so glad you are enjoying reading it as much as I am writing it! There are definitely more surprises in store for these two, and I promise I won't take so long for the next chapter!
Fashiondiva: Thanks so much for reviewing! My friend actually nicknamed me Bootylicious, so I laughed when I read that because it reminded me of her! Your reviews are always a ton of fun! Glad you like it, hope you enjoy this chapter just as much!
koolcatt: Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like how I portray Draco, after all, everyone has a conscience! LOL! I wouldn't like him if he was so sappy though! It's just not him. Hope you like this chapter!
Agent Dream X: Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for reviewing! I felt sorry for Hermione as I was writing it!
mila: So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for saying such nice things and for reviewing! Hope you enjoy this next chapter just as much!
Ok, I was a little unsure about this chapter, so please, good or bad, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not sure whether or not to continue because it's been so long and I hope I haven't lost my reviewers! Well, I hope that you do read and review! Thanks!
Ciao!
~*Arwen5*~