AN: Dedicated to Danielle! I love and adore and worship you, Yelly!
*kisses* I love you to pieces! Books! *runs off singing 'books books
books…'* Okay, I'm back, and I've got BOOKS! *runs off singing 'books books
books' again* Okay, I'm back and I've got… déjà vu! Yeah so, love ya Yelly,
and also I'm re-dedicating chapter 10 to *glare* Moon-Walker, Creator
*hiss* and Terra Rei *growl*, all of whom are promoters of eternal world
peace and heaven on earth. And who don't e-poke people. Or poke people in
any way, for that matter. Or punch. And they all finish their stories. Oh
yes. Believe me, they finish all 90-something of their unfinished-I-mean-
finished stories. Mmmhmm. They finish 'em REAL good. Uh huh. Oh yeah.
*crying* IT'S ALL A LIE PEOPLE, IT'S ALL A LIE! DAMN MY SOUL TO HELL! Enjoy
the chapter.
Last Time:
They both nodded, kissed and then leaned back against a limb of the tree they were sitting in, argument forgotten and forgiven as easily as that.
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Naturally, during their bickering Draco and Hermione had forgotten about the taunting voice which had started all the trouble. They lay back in the tree, watching the patterns on each others skin by the leaves waving in front of the warm sun. A light breeze swept the hair off their foreheads and Hermione moaned.
"This is too good to be true!" She said, closing her eyes as a little smile crossed her face of its own accord.
"I know, it's heaven. I wish we could stay here forever." Draco said, equally blissed out as he reclined against the tree. The breeze wafted sweet scent over them.
"You guys are no fun to spy on!" Said the voice, just as they were both drifting off to sleep. Draco jumped, knocking Hermione off of him and both went sailing to the ground.
"OW!" Said Draco.
"OOMPH!" Said Hermione. 'Giggle' laughed a bush nearby. Draco pulled Hermione to her feet. She looked angrily around. "STEPHEN?" She said. More giggling. Draco said in a very assured manner,
"Stephen, your sister and I would appreciate it very much if you would come to where we are so we can all have a discussion. Please." Said Draco, expecting full compliance. What kind of person could reject such a straight- forward request? Apparently Stephen. There was another giggle, a rustle, and ( AN: GAH! Holy cow I just ate a hot wing! My nose is running! Ok, that wasn't part of the story, by the way. Continue reading as if nothing happened. *smiles, revealing red stained teeth* What? Wings do that to you! Hmmph.) then suddenly Hermione and Draco were both drenched by a well-aimed stream of water.
"STEPHEN!" Hermione yelled. Draco was sputtering, and looking for the source of the water.
"Is that some sort of *cough* water fountain?" He asked Hermione. Hermione rolled her eyes. He was still standing directly in stream of water, looking around.
"You dolt, move!" She said, pulling him towards her. Bad move. They slipped and fell down side by side on the muddy ground. Hermione groaned.
"You mean that stream of water doesn't follow you around? What kind of incompetent spell is that?" Draco asked, smiling and sitting up. Another stream hit him in the face and he lay back down.
"It's not a spell, it's a water gun. Help me up, the grounds all slippery." Hermione explained. They struggled up and watched Stephen, who had lost interest in them momentarily, making patterns in the air with the water gun, Charmian jumping into the air and batting at them. Crookshanks and Mr. Milligan stood off to the side, applauding (and yowling). Hermione walked over to her brother and bent down to his eye level, opening her mouth to deliver her speech. He sprayed the stream of water directly into it. Hermione spit the water out in his face, only making him laugh. He dropped the gun, bent down and came up with a handful of mud. Hermione's eyes widened right before the mud hit her in the face. She heard Draco give a disgusted tut behind her, but ignored him. She scooped up mud and flung it at Stephen, yelling,
"MUD WAR!" Crookshanks and Charmian fled into the trees, and Stephen and Hermione let out loud war whoops, then lunged into the mud and began flinging it at each other. Soon they were wrestling. Hermione may have been stronger, but Stephen had watched more TV. He let out a final yell as he victoriously held her down by her hair, then noticed Draco, standing off to the side, looking positively appalled. **that's my GIRLFRIEND!** Stephen narrowed his eyes and flung a handful of mud in Draco's direction. It hit him right in the chest.
"You are defeated, Hermione Defender of the House Elves." He yelled.
"I surrender, Stephen Defender of the Gypsies and Muggles!" Hermione yelled from underneath him, using the nicknames they had given each other years ago. Draco was still standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, one pale eyebrow raised. Hermione got up off the ground, Stephen still holding onto her leg. She was covered in mud, the only part of her you could see was her eyes, which stood out against the rest of her brown face. She mimicked his pose, adding a stuck out tongue. Then she grinned mischievously, and stalked closer to him, managing to look predatory even through the mud. "I think Draco-kins needs a kiss." She purred. Draco laughed nervously.
"N-no…that's okay 'Mione, I don't need a…" He said right before she lunged at him. She lay on top of him in the mud, smiling into his face triumphantly.
"Look who's covered in mud now!" She said brightly before capturing him successfully in a passionate kiss. Their tongues were dueling for control a minute later when Stephen tapped Hermione on the shoulder reluctantly. Hermione pulled away from Draco regretfully. "What?" She asked, a little peeved.
"Ah, you might want to stop swapping spit with Draco there since Dad is headed our way." He said, grinning.
"Since when did you grow up?" Hermione muttered, rolling off Draco and getting to her feet. In the distance she could see her Dad coming toward them. "Parent alert." She said to Draco, who had just gotten up. He was covered in mud, but his face was most interestingly decorated. There were handprints on the sides of his face, and a large amount of mud smeared around his mouth, but the rest of his face was clean. Hermione reached up and wiped his face clean with her already dirty sleeve. His lips were tell- tale red and swollen. Hermione rolled her eyes and smeared mud over them again. "
"Make up your mind, woman." Draco said, trying to wipe the mud off his face again and only succeeding in making it more muddy.
"What do I have to do to make you shut up?" Hermione asked.
"You could kiss me. That'd be real punishment. I'd never say anything bad again. You know how much kissing scares me." Draco suggested ingeniously.
"You wish." Hermione said, laughing. Robert walked up towards them, managing a tight smile as he looked over the muddy boys and girl.
"What happened?" He said, gesturing to their clothes.
"We fell." The three said in unison.
"All at once." Draco said.
"Right on our faces." Said Hermione.
"In the mud." Said Stephen.
"And then we rolled over." Draco continued.
"So our backs got covered too." Hermione added.
"Yeah." Stephen finished, eyes wide and nodding his head earnestly in collaboration. Robert looked at them suspiciously.
"Al-right… supper is ready, you'd better get changed…" He said, eyes still narrowed. They nodded and set off towards the house.
"So you're staying for supper?" Hermione asked Draco.
"Am I invited?"
"No." Draco looked hurt.
"Oh…well I guess I'm not then. I'd better go…" He said, hurrying off towards the lake where his broom was. Hermione grabbed the sleeve of his shirt.
"I was JOKING! Of course you're invited, Draco. God." Hermione said.
"Don't joke about things like that. "
Why, did I scare you?" Mocked Hermione.
"Yes." Draco replied honestly. Hermione gave him a hug (under the watchful eyes of her father).
"I love you too much to let you leave one second before you absolutely have to." She reassured, noting her father's eyes darkening. Draco looked pleased.
"I love you too much to want to leave one second before I absolutely have to." He said, smiling. They linked arms and walked off toward the kitchens. Hermione cleaned herself with a spell on the way up and Draco did the same. Hermione looked him over critically.
"You need some new clothes."
"What's wrong with these ones?"
"They're all black! Aren't you stifling?"
"Yes, but it's all about the…"
"Evil death eater thingy. I see where you're coming from, but still…come up to my room…"
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Ten minutes later Draco was sitting on her bed and Hermione was rooting through her walk in closet.
"I'm not wearing any of your clothes you know…" Draco called.
"What? You mean you don't like this dress?" Hermione said innocently, holding up a pale pink sundress.
"Ha ha. I like it on you." He said. Hermione smiled and zapped it onto herself. "It looks nice on you 'Mione. You know, at some point when you're doing that spell, you must be naked." Draco said. Hermione scowled at him.
"For like a split second. It's not like you saw anything."
"How do you know? Maybe I did see something."
"OK, then tell me what color panties I'm wearing."
"That's a dangerous question. But red."
"How'd you know?!"
"You just told me."
"ARGH!"
"Pardon me?"
"It was just a guess."
"Yeah, but I can still tell everybody that Hermione Granger changed in front of me. I saw Hermione Granger naked. Hermione Granger wears red panties. " Hermione threw a sock at him and went back to rummaging through her closet. Draco got up and leaned against the doorway, watching her. " What do you think you'll find in there that will be suitable for me?" He asked doubtfully, rather enjoying the view she presented him as she bent over, looking at her piles of shoes. Hermione had an awful lot of shoes. She flung one behind her which hit Draco square in the stomach.
"You were looking at my butt." Hermione explained.
"No I wasn't!"
"Yes you were."
"How'd you know anyway? What, have you got eyes in your ass?" Instead of getting pissed off like Draco expected, Hermione laughed heartily. Laughed so heartily, in fact, that she fell into the pile of shoes, and hit her head on something protruding from wall. Hermione turned over and saw a tiny red button that had previously been hidden by a blue sandal. She pressed it again and the closet made a groaning noise and began to move. Hermione jumped up and ran into her room as the closet started spinning. She clapped her hands delightedly.
(AN: It just deleted a page! Me kill computer! *grunts* Me go get large wooden club! Oogie Boogie! OOGIE BOOGIE!)
"A new secret passage! Well actually, it's not new. Well, I wouldn't call it new unless it had been built less than 2 years ago, and I say it was built before that. Really nothing is new unless it's 'untried', so to say, and whoever made this passage must have 'tried' it, so it's not really new, yet it is new to me… I wonder what's in there? You never can tell in this Manor. I once found a…" Draco cut Hermione off.
"Hermione, if you really want to see what that passage is, it's been open for the duration of your rambling." He said bluntly. Hermione smiled.
"Oh cool!" She said, reaching into the closet and flipping a switch. The light revealed a closet full of men's clothing. On a shirt near the door a note was pinned. Hermione plucked it off and read it aloud.
"Dear Hermione, these are some clothes for Draco. I Saw that he would be staying here sometimes, and what true Richardson could resist an excuse to go shopping? I've Seen that Draco likes black, so I based the wardrobe around that. I threw in a few splashes of color for you though. Wouldn't want you two having a marital spat over a little thing. Enjoy, my darling, Titania" She looked up at Draco, not knowing what to anticipate. Draco laughed.
"Excuse me, what did you just say? Are those men's clothes in your closet? Do you usually have men's clothing in your closet? Did you just say… 'marital' and Draco and Hermione in the same sentence? I think I just hallucinated." He asked, looking dazed.
"Uh, yeah, where'd you get those ideas? I think you did hallucinate, maybe you should lie down…" Hermione said, crumpling the note, slamming the closet door and pushing Draco towards the lavender haven she called a bed at the same time. Draco fell onto the bed but sat up immediately, shaking his head.
"I don't know… what've you got there?" He asked. Hermione threw the note over her shoulder.
"ah, nothing. Yeah, that's all I've got… nothing!" She said, laughing like it was a grand joke. Draco narrowed his eyes.
"But, you just read aloud from it… it was talking about… and it was from… 'Titania'?"
"Just drop it, Draco."
"I'm not the hallucinating type…"
"Yes you are! You must have hallucinated away all the other memories of you hallucinating…"
"No I haven't!"
"Yes! Yes, you have. Can't you remember the time you hallucinated about us going out? That was weird! Like I'd ever date YOU. Like YOU'D ever date me."
"But, that wasn't a hallucination…"
"Oh no! You're hallucinating again! Go to sleep, that's the only way to stop the hallucination!" Hermione yelled urgently, shoving Draco onto his back and pulling the covers over him.
"You can't stop a hallucination like that…"
"Yes! Yes, you can! Close your eyes you may eventually recover and get your mind back!" Draco obediently closed his eyes but kept talking.
"I really don't think I'm hallucinating!"
"Well, that's a sign of hallucination."
"How d'you now that YOU'RE not hallucinating and I'm not fine?"
"Tell me what your first cousin's name is!"
"Um… I dunno…"
"See! Memory loss! My first cousin's name is Bobby. So there!"
"That's not fair…"
"Yes it is! Go to sleep and save yourself." Draco finally gave in and went to sleep. Hermione walked over to the closet and picked out some clothes for Draco, then pressed the red button and let the closet go back to her side. The shut the door, sighing. This was like living in a movie. Maybe she should tell Draco about her mother… she sat down on the bed, throwing the clothes at the end, and stroked Draco's hair fondly. She lay down next to him and fell asleep.
She'd only been asleep a few minutes when Draco's eyes popped open.
"She thought I'd fall asleep that easily. Ha." He said, fixing his hair. He looked around the room for proof of what had just happened, but there was none. **Maybe I did hallucinate…**
________________________________________________________________________
Robert Granger looked in on the sleeping teens, smiling sadly. He hadn't thought she would go and fall in love, it would make it harder to tell her… oh well. There's no helping it.
________________________________________________________________________
Draco woke in an unfamiliar, very purple place. He sat up, looking around in bewilderment. There was Hermione! Asleep. He looked around the room. His eyes fell on the painting and he went over to it. Strange it looked like… him and Hermione…Draco looked closer at the painting. It WAS them, it couldn't be anyone else. Draco noticed a crumpled piece of paper on the floor and picked it up…
He finished reading the note and opened the closet, but it was the same as it had always been. Draco frowned. Titania must be Hermione's mother, the other clothes must be in the secret passage. Titania must've been a witch then… how else would she know. He sat down at Hermione's desk and looked through the papers on her desk. Nothing interesting. There was the stationary she had used to write that romantic letter to him… Draco laughed, it had been quite enjoyable. Other than that, there was a younger picture of Stephen, a picture of Titania and Robert, a picture of Crookshanks and Charmian playing and a little bowl filled with colored glass stones that shone in the dim light. It was getting dark. They must've slept through supper. He heard Hermione call out to him from the bed.
"Yeah?"
"What time is it?"
"It's late. Get out of bed, you lazy thing. I need to thank you properly for telling me that I was hallucinating. I never would've known… sleep cured it though, just like you said."
"Well, you should be happy that you're so much better. You're really recovering well."
"Thank-you Hermione." Hermione jumped out of the bed and sat in Draco's lap, tilting her face upwards for a kiss. "Oh Hermione, I feel so bad. You don't have to play to my hallucinations anymore. I know we aren't dating. You poor thing, it must have been horrible for you. All that kissing." Draco said, shaking his head, his face perfectly straight. Hermione looked horrified as she jumped out of his lap.
"What? You must have dreamed that, of course we're dating!" She said innocently.
"Oh come off it Hermione! You didn't think I'd actually fall for that hallucination stuff, did you?" Hermione looked half-disappointed, half- relieved.
"I didn't really want a boyfriend who'd fall that easily for any old thing. I mean, someday a guy will come up to you and tell you he's suing you for killing his Grandma in an accident, and you'd just give him the money!"
"Why wouldn't I give him the money? After all, I did kill his Grandma in an accident!"
"You're so gullible!"
"No I'm not!"
"Yes, you are." Hermione said, cutting him off by kissing him briefly and then throwing a pair of jeans and a dark green t-shirt at him.
"Get dressed in something not black, will you." She said before running out the door. Draco called after her.
"What's wrong with black?" But there was no reply. Draco rolled his eyes, looking in the mirror. 'There's nothing wrong with black!' He muttered under his breath before starting to change.
________________________________________________________________________
Hermione and Draco walked into the kitchen. Nobody was in there. Hermione shrugged,
"They must've went somewhere. We'll make some supper." She said, getting things down from the cupboards. She heard a chair scrape and turned around. Draco was sitting in the chair, watching her with interest.
"Oh, don't mind me. Go ahead and do your thing." He said, waving a hand at her dismissively. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"When I said we, did you think I was joking? Get over here and help me make supper!"
"But I don't know how to! Don't be mean!"
"You need to learn! Now move. Or I'll make you."
Ten minutes later they sat down to the table.
"Whew, that was hard!" Draco said, wiping his forehead. Hermione laughed.
"You act like it was physically tiring. We were only cooking for ten minutes!"
"It was physically tiring! What is this stuff anyway. It's pretty good. To think I made it all by myself!" Draco said. Hermione glared. "I mean, to think I made it with the help of the kitchen fairy Hermione…" He added hastily.
"It's Kraft-dinner-with-leftover-ham-from-breakfast-cut-into-tiny-pieces."
"It's a masterpiece! Look at the color co-ordination!" Hermione smiled. Even though he THOUGHT he had gourmet taste… "We should give it a better name."
"Why?"
"So we don't have to say… what you just said… every time we serve it."
"Ok."
"How about… Ham and Cheese Pasta?"
"Too typical."
"Ok, Pasta a la Malfoy?"
"What about me?"
"Find something else to name. This one's mine." Draco said defensively. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"You're so childish."
"Am not. I just don't get to cook all the time. You're lucky, you can do it anytime you feel like it. Invent something else."
"Yeah, lucky all right. Fine, keep your name." Hermione said. A few minutes later she asked, "Do you want to get a movie?" Draco looked up from his 'Pasta a la Malfoy'.
"A what-ie?" He asked, totally confused. Hermione smiled and rubbed her hands together.
"Draco, you're about to get introduced to the world of Muggle entertainment…"
TBC
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AN: I've been really busy, because I've got tests all over the place and I'm trying to bring my average up to A+, so far I'm just an A. I'm also applying for a scholarship to a really fancy-ass private school, and it was Dylan's birthday, and I had choir and Ruhi class, and there's homework being neglected to write this, so be thankful for this chapter, I'm totally drained. I look like I'm half-dead. Pale with big dark circles under my eyes. Blech. Where's that concealer? I gotta go do other stuff, like eat and study crazedly, right now.
Ok, here's a really good quote, "Duffman says alotta things…" -Duffman on the Simpsons. Nigel *waves* Hi Nigey! Does a perfect impression of that. Hee hee. Are you all sufficiently scared now? Good. I'll go away…but for how long? That is the question, my dear monkeys. MWAHAHAHAHA! MWAHAHAHAHA! MWAHAHAHAHA! I'm a review glutton, so appease the almighty author and REVIEW! And then you'll be thanked! See? Look down. Thanks to Reviewers:
ChibiFuu Malfoy- What's your favorite? I'd love to go read it (I'm always on the lookout for good fics, don't worry, I'm not out to fic-bash…)
porkypop- I'm glad SOMEbody liked that foreshadowing…
Moneeky785- leather pants… I may try later in the story…
firecat- Why thank you kindly!
Eowyn- thanks for the recommendation, I'll definitely check it out.
Jess- thanks, I don't know if this story will go that far ahead, but maybe I'll do a sequel.
Witchblade- SHRIEK! BOMB? WHERE? Oh, wait… I get it now…
PoPs- every time I read my reviews and see yours, I nearly have a heart attack. I'm like 'Oh no, my life is over… no it's not! Phew!' You've given me an awful scare though…yeah typos. I've never actually read any of this story, only written it. What that means is that I haven't checked/proof- read it at all. It's fresh off my brain, and I'm always so busy! I'm thinking that I'll start checking now though, I've just gotten through an onslaught of tests and presentations… blech. I might even go through all my old chapters!
G*Ness- It was Nancy Drew for me. I've read every classic Nancy Drew book currently in print, a few years ago. I hate the new stuff, but the old ones are wonderfully written. Yeah, I would hate to have Draco dead, he's too sexy to die! Sexy people shouldn't die! Jk, jk. I can NEVER think of retorts until I'm tucked away in my bed thinking vengeful thoughts. I can't believe you think it rocks, I'm so proud! Fluffiness forever!
Steele- Listen, I love my Daddy, but I would NOT any under circumstances want him to know about a boyfriend (especially not the one I have now… don't tell my parents or I will kill you all! Well actually I won't, I'll just send curses in your general direction and stop writing this story). He would probably ignore me for two weeks. Hermione isn't really afraid of him physically, more like she thinks either he'll yell or make her feel guilty. My Daddy is way overprotective, and that's how I picture Robert Granger. Hermione also has the sort of character traits that imply a sheltered life with doting parents…
Naurhen- I love giggly stories too *giggle*
hellsong- Yayfulness and joy right back at ya! Honestly and no offense meant, I can't really stomach Hermione/Snape… it makes my tummy hurt. I'm not exaggerating, it actually causes me physical pain, can you believe it? And now I have to go jogging, more pain! Oh joy, oh bliss!
Icy Stormz- Ok, well gypsy-Seeing is different! They don't look into balls and tea leaves and all that snuggleguff! Mwahahahaha mwahahaha mwahahahaha! Who got the last laugh, eh? Mwahahahaha! Sorry. Couldn't help myself. I'll update soon if you update soon!
kat- *grumble*whine* I was gonna do it this chapter anyway! Honestly! It's just such a chore…
Moon-Walker- *cheering* VIOLENCE! VIOLENCE! Heheh, just kidding. Peace on earth. Nicknames? Once again I probably didn't notice… wasn't paying attention. What? I've only known you since October! Was I supposed to notice your names in that short period of time? *pokes back* I'm 2 up on you now! I am the queen of poking! Boo yeah! Sane, yeah, that's a good one. *laughs hysterically, occasionally yelling 'Sane? Ha!'*
Sucker For Romance- Yes, poor fathers worldwide.
franthephoenix- You seem a bit 'fran'tic. Aha! Ahaha! Why aren't you laughing, that was a joke! Get it? FRANtic? *screen shows people all over the world cringing* Well hmmph.
Kim Weasley- Reviews are grrrrrrrrrrrreat!
kat- *giggles insanely for10 minutes straight* Sorry, I think all the praise has finally gotten to me… *more insane giggling* The 7th time! I haven't read it at all yet! Ok, to answer your questions, Mr. Milligan WAS the same one from the plane, I have no intention of telling you who he is (especially since I have no idea myself yet), Hermione didn't leave after the warning of her mother because she has a logical mind and it was just a nightmare, Draco didn't stay over night, Hermione did Draco about the letter, I dunno about Stephen being a Seer…, so glad you LOVED! I love that house too, my dream house *sigh* Thank-you for the major bliss out session and for blowing my head up another few sizes! Mwah to you, dahling.
boycrazie548- Oops! I'm so embarrassed! That was a big typo and I'm ridiculously pleased that you pointed it out to me! How embarrassing! What I meant to say (type) was
"Harry, Ron and Ginny sat in the otherwise empty Gryffindor common room,…"
Somehow, God knows how, I managed to replace Ginny with Hermione! I'm so sorry for the confusion it caused you and any others.
Cassondra- thanks!
Last Time:
They both nodded, kissed and then leaned back against a limb of the tree they were sitting in, argument forgotten and forgiven as easily as that.
________________________________________________________________________
Naturally, during their bickering Draco and Hermione had forgotten about the taunting voice which had started all the trouble. They lay back in the tree, watching the patterns on each others skin by the leaves waving in front of the warm sun. A light breeze swept the hair off their foreheads and Hermione moaned.
"This is too good to be true!" She said, closing her eyes as a little smile crossed her face of its own accord.
"I know, it's heaven. I wish we could stay here forever." Draco said, equally blissed out as he reclined against the tree. The breeze wafted sweet scent over them.
"You guys are no fun to spy on!" Said the voice, just as they were both drifting off to sleep. Draco jumped, knocking Hermione off of him and both went sailing to the ground.
"OW!" Said Draco.
"OOMPH!" Said Hermione. 'Giggle' laughed a bush nearby. Draco pulled Hermione to her feet. She looked angrily around. "STEPHEN?" She said. More giggling. Draco said in a very assured manner,
"Stephen, your sister and I would appreciate it very much if you would come to where we are so we can all have a discussion. Please." Said Draco, expecting full compliance. What kind of person could reject such a straight- forward request? Apparently Stephen. There was another giggle, a rustle, and ( AN: GAH! Holy cow I just ate a hot wing! My nose is running! Ok, that wasn't part of the story, by the way. Continue reading as if nothing happened. *smiles, revealing red stained teeth* What? Wings do that to you! Hmmph.) then suddenly Hermione and Draco were both drenched by a well-aimed stream of water.
"STEPHEN!" Hermione yelled. Draco was sputtering, and looking for the source of the water.
"Is that some sort of *cough* water fountain?" He asked Hermione. Hermione rolled her eyes. He was still standing directly in stream of water, looking around.
"You dolt, move!" She said, pulling him towards her. Bad move. They slipped and fell down side by side on the muddy ground. Hermione groaned.
"You mean that stream of water doesn't follow you around? What kind of incompetent spell is that?" Draco asked, smiling and sitting up. Another stream hit him in the face and he lay back down.
"It's not a spell, it's a water gun. Help me up, the grounds all slippery." Hermione explained. They struggled up and watched Stephen, who had lost interest in them momentarily, making patterns in the air with the water gun, Charmian jumping into the air and batting at them. Crookshanks and Mr. Milligan stood off to the side, applauding (and yowling). Hermione walked over to her brother and bent down to his eye level, opening her mouth to deliver her speech. He sprayed the stream of water directly into it. Hermione spit the water out in his face, only making him laugh. He dropped the gun, bent down and came up with a handful of mud. Hermione's eyes widened right before the mud hit her in the face. She heard Draco give a disgusted tut behind her, but ignored him. She scooped up mud and flung it at Stephen, yelling,
"MUD WAR!" Crookshanks and Charmian fled into the trees, and Stephen and Hermione let out loud war whoops, then lunged into the mud and began flinging it at each other. Soon they were wrestling. Hermione may have been stronger, but Stephen had watched more TV. He let out a final yell as he victoriously held her down by her hair, then noticed Draco, standing off to the side, looking positively appalled. **that's my GIRLFRIEND!** Stephen narrowed his eyes and flung a handful of mud in Draco's direction. It hit him right in the chest.
"You are defeated, Hermione Defender of the House Elves." He yelled.
"I surrender, Stephen Defender of the Gypsies and Muggles!" Hermione yelled from underneath him, using the nicknames they had given each other years ago. Draco was still standing there with his arms crossed over his chest, one pale eyebrow raised. Hermione got up off the ground, Stephen still holding onto her leg. She was covered in mud, the only part of her you could see was her eyes, which stood out against the rest of her brown face. She mimicked his pose, adding a stuck out tongue. Then she grinned mischievously, and stalked closer to him, managing to look predatory even through the mud. "I think Draco-kins needs a kiss." She purred. Draco laughed nervously.
"N-no…that's okay 'Mione, I don't need a…" He said right before she lunged at him. She lay on top of him in the mud, smiling into his face triumphantly.
"Look who's covered in mud now!" She said brightly before capturing him successfully in a passionate kiss. Their tongues were dueling for control a minute later when Stephen tapped Hermione on the shoulder reluctantly. Hermione pulled away from Draco regretfully. "What?" She asked, a little peeved.
"Ah, you might want to stop swapping spit with Draco there since Dad is headed our way." He said, grinning.
"Since when did you grow up?" Hermione muttered, rolling off Draco and getting to her feet. In the distance she could see her Dad coming toward them. "Parent alert." She said to Draco, who had just gotten up. He was covered in mud, but his face was most interestingly decorated. There were handprints on the sides of his face, and a large amount of mud smeared around his mouth, but the rest of his face was clean. Hermione reached up and wiped his face clean with her already dirty sleeve. His lips were tell- tale red and swollen. Hermione rolled her eyes and smeared mud over them again. "
"Make up your mind, woman." Draco said, trying to wipe the mud off his face again and only succeeding in making it more muddy.
"What do I have to do to make you shut up?" Hermione asked.
"You could kiss me. That'd be real punishment. I'd never say anything bad again. You know how much kissing scares me." Draco suggested ingeniously.
"You wish." Hermione said, laughing. Robert walked up towards them, managing a tight smile as he looked over the muddy boys and girl.
"What happened?" He said, gesturing to their clothes.
"We fell." The three said in unison.
"All at once." Draco said.
"Right on our faces." Said Hermione.
"In the mud." Said Stephen.
"And then we rolled over." Draco continued.
"So our backs got covered too." Hermione added.
"Yeah." Stephen finished, eyes wide and nodding his head earnestly in collaboration. Robert looked at them suspiciously.
"Al-right… supper is ready, you'd better get changed…" He said, eyes still narrowed. They nodded and set off towards the house.
"So you're staying for supper?" Hermione asked Draco.
"Am I invited?"
"No." Draco looked hurt.
"Oh…well I guess I'm not then. I'd better go…" He said, hurrying off towards the lake where his broom was. Hermione grabbed the sleeve of his shirt.
"I was JOKING! Of course you're invited, Draco. God." Hermione said.
"Don't joke about things like that. "
Why, did I scare you?" Mocked Hermione.
"Yes." Draco replied honestly. Hermione gave him a hug (under the watchful eyes of her father).
"I love you too much to let you leave one second before you absolutely have to." She reassured, noting her father's eyes darkening. Draco looked pleased.
"I love you too much to want to leave one second before I absolutely have to." He said, smiling. They linked arms and walked off toward the kitchens. Hermione cleaned herself with a spell on the way up and Draco did the same. Hermione looked him over critically.
"You need some new clothes."
"What's wrong with these ones?"
"They're all black! Aren't you stifling?"
"Yes, but it's all about the…"
"Evil death eater thingy. I see where you're coming from, but still…come up to my room…"
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Ten minutes later Draco was sitting on her bed and Hermione was rooting through her walk in closet.
"I'm not wearing any of your clothes you know…" Draco called.
"What? You mean you don't like this dress?" Hermione said innocently, holding up a pale pink sundress.
"Ha ha. I like it on you." He said. Hermione smiled and zapped it onto herself. "It looks nice on you 'Mione. You know, at some point when you're doing that spell, you must be naked." Draco said. Hermione scowled at him.
"For like a split second. It's not like you saw anything."
"How do you know? Maybe I did see something."
"OK, then tell me what color panties I'm wearing."
"That's a dangerous question. But red."
"How'd you know?!"
"You just told me."
"ARGH!"
"Pardon me?"
"It was just a guess."
"Yeah, but I can still tell everybody that Hermione Granger changed in front of me. I saw Hermione Granger naked. Hermione Granger wears red panties. " Hermione threw a sock at him and went back to rummaging through her closet. Draco got up and leaned against the doorway, watching her. " What do you think you'll find in there that will be suitable for me?" He asked doubtfully, rather enjoying the view she presented him as she bent over, looking at her piles of shoes. Hermione had an awful lot of shoes. She flung one behind her which hit Draco square in the stomach.
"You were looking at my butt." Hermione explained.
"No I wasn't!"
"Yes you were."
"How'd you know anyway? What, have you got eyes in your ass?" Instead of getting pissed off like Draco expected, Hermione laughed heartily. Laughed so heartily, in fact, that she fell into the pile of shoes, and hit her head on something protruding from wall. Hermione turned over and saw a tiny red button that had previously been hidden by a blue sandal. She pressed it again and the closet made a groaning noise and began to move. Hermione jumped up and ran into her room as the closet started spinning. She clapped her hands delightedly.
(AN: It just deleted a page! Me kill computer! *grunts* Me go get large wooden club! Oogie Boogie! OOGIE BOOGIE!)
"A new secret passage! Well actually, it's not new. Well, I wouldn't call it new unless it had been built less than 2 years ago, and I say it was built before that. Really nothing is new unless it's 'untried', so to say, and whoever made this passage must have 'tried' it, so it's not really new, yet it is new to me… I wonder what's in there? You never can tell in this Manor. I once found a…" Draco cut Hermione off.
"Hermione, if you really want to see what that passage is, it's been open for the duration of your rambling." He said bluntly. Hermione smiled.
"Oh cool!" She said, reaching into the closet and flipping a switch. The light revealed a closet full of men's clothing. On a shirt near the door a note was pinned. Hermione plucked it off and read it aloud.
"Dear Hermione, these are some clothes for Draco. I Saw that he would be staying here sometimes, and what true Richardson could resist an excuse to go shopping? I've Seen that Draco likes black, so I based the wardrobe around that. I threw in a few splashes of color for you though. Wouldn't want you two having a marital spat over a little thing. Enjoy, my darling, Titania" She looked up at Draco, not knowing what to anticipate. Draco laughed.
"Excuse me, what did you just say? Are those men's clothes in your closet? Do you usually have men's clothing in your closet? Did you just say… 'marital' and Draco and Hermione in the same sentence? I think I just hallucinated." He asked, looking dazed.
"Uh, yeah, where'd you get those ideas? I think you did hallucinate, maybe you should lie down…" Hermione said, crumpling the note, slamming the closet door and pushing Draco towards the lavender haven she called a bed at the same time. Draco fell onto the bed but sat up immediately, shaking his head.
"I don't know… what've you got there?" He asked. Hermione threw the note over her shoulder.
"ah, nothing. Yeah, that's all I've got… nothing!" She said, laughing like it was a grand joke. Draco narrowed his eyes.
"But, you just read aloud from it… it was talking about… and it was from… 'Titania'?"
"Just drop it, Draco."
"I'm not the hallucinating type…"
"Yes you are! You must have hallucinated away all the other memories of you hallucinating…"
"No I haven't!"
"Yes! Yes, you have. Can't you remember the time you hallucinated about us going out? That was weird! Like I'd ever date YOU. Like YOU'D ever date me."
"But, that wasn't a hallucination…"
"Oh no! You're hallucinating again! Go to sleep, that's the only way to stop the hallucination!" Hermione yelled urgently, shoving Draco onto his back and pulling the covers over him.
"You can't stop a hallucination like that…"
"Yes! Yes, you can! Close your eyes you may eventually recover and get your mind back!" Draco obediently closed his eyes but kept talking.
"I really don't think I'm hallucinating!"
"Well, that's a sign of hallucination."
"How d'you now that YOU'RE not hallucinating and I'm not fine?"
"Tell me what your first cousin's name is!"
"Um… I dunno…"
"See! Memory loss! My first cousin's name is Bobby. So there!"
"That's not fair…"
"Yes it is! Go to sleep and save yourself." Draco finally gave in and went to sleep. Hermione walked over to the closet and picked out some clothes for Draco, then pressed the red button and let the closet go back to her side. The shut the door, sighing. This was like living in a movie. Maybe she should tell Draco about her mother… she sat down on the bed, throwing the clothes at the end, and stroked Draco's hair fondly. She lay down next to him and fell asleep.
She'd only been asleep a few minutes when Draco's eyes popped open.
"She thought I'd fall asleep that easily. Ha." He said, fixing his hair. He looked around the room for proof of what had just happened, but there was none. **Maybe I did hallucinate…**
________________________________________________________________________
Robert Granger looked in on the sleeping teens, smiling sadly. He hadn't thought she would go and fall in love, it would make it harder to tell her… oh well. There's no helping it.
________________________________________________________________________
Draco woke in an unfamiliar, very purple place. He sat up, looking around in bewilderment. There was Hermione! Asleep. He looked around the room. His eyes fell on the painting and he went over to it. Strange it looked like… him and Hermione…Draco looked closer at the painting. It WAS them, it couldn't be anyone else. Draco noticed a crumpled piece of paper on the floor and picked it up…
He finished reading the note and opened the closet, but it was the same as it had always been. Draco frowned. Titania must be Hermione's mother, the other clothes must be in the secret passage. Titania must've been a witch then… how else would she know. He sat down at Hermione's desk and looked through the papers on her desk. Nothing interesting. There was the stationary she had used to write that romantic letter to him… Draco laughed, it had been quite enjoyable. Other than that, there was a younger picture of Stephen, a picture of Titania and Robert, a picture of Crookshanks and Charmian playing and a little bowl filled with colored glass stones that shone in the dim light. It was getting dark. They must've slept through supper. He heard Hermione call out to him from the bed.
"Yeah?"
"What time is it?"
"It's late. Get out of bed, you lazy thing. I need to thank you properly for telling me that I was hallucinating. I never would've known… sleep cured it though, just like you said."
"Well, you should be happy that you're so much better. You're really recovering well."
"Thank-you Hermione." Hermione jumped out of the bed and sat in Draco's lap, tilting her face upwards for a kiss. "Oh Hermione, I feel so bad. You don't have to play to my hallucinations anymore. I know we aren't dating. You poor thing, it must have been horrible for you. All that kissing." Draco said, shaking his head, his face perfectly straight. Hermione looked horrified as she jumped out of his lap.
"What? You must have dreamed that, of course we're dating!" She said innocently.
"Oh come off it Hermione! You didn't think I'd actually fall for that hallucination stuff, did you?" Hermione looked half-disappointed, half- relieved.
"I didn't really want a boyfriend who'd fall that easily for any old thing. I mean, someday a guy will come up to you and tell you he's suing you for killing his Grandma in an accident, and you'd just give him the money!"
"Why wouldn't I give him the money? After all, I did kill his Grandma in an accident!"
"You're so gullible!"
"No I'm not!"
"Yes, you are." Hermione said, cutting him off by kissing him briefly and then throwing a pair of jeans and a dark green t-shirt at him.
"Get dressed in something not black, will you." She said before running out the door. Draco called after her.
"What's wrong with black?" But there was no reply. Draco rolled his eyes, looking in the mirror. 'There's nothing wrong with black!' He muttered under his breath before starting to change.
________________________________________________________________________
Hermione and Draco walked into the kitchen. Nobody was in there. Hermione shrugged,
"They must've went somewhere. We'll make some supper." She said, getting things down from the cupboards. She heard a chair scrape and turned around. Draco was sitting in the chair, watching her with interest.
"Oh, don't mind me. Go ahead and do your thing." He said, waving a hand at her dismissively. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"When I said we, did you think I was joking? Get over here and help me make supper!"
"But I don't know how to! Don't be mean!"
"You need to learn! Now move. Or I'll make you."
Ten minutes later they sat down to the table.
"Whew, that was hard!" Draco said, wiping his forehead. Hermione laughed.
"You act like it was physically tiring. We were only cooking for ten minutes!"
"It was physically tiring! What is this stuff anyway. It's pretty good. To think I made it all by myself!" Draco said. Hermione glared. "I mean, to think I made it with the help of the kitchen fairy Hermione…" He added hastily.
"It's Kraft-dinner-with-leftover-ham-from-breakfast-cut-into-tiny-pieces."
"It's a masterpiece! Look at the color co-ordination!" Hermione smiled. Even though he THOUGHT he had gourmet taste… "We should give it a better name."
"Why?"
"So we don't have to say… what you just said… every time we serve it."
"Ok."
"How about… Ham and Cheese Pasta?"
"Too typical."
"Ok, Pasta a la Malfoy?"
"What about me?"
"Find something else to name. This one's mine." Draco said defensively. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"You're so childish."
"Am not. I just don't get to cook all the time. You're lucky, you can do it anytime you feel like it. Invent something else."
"Yeah, lucky all right. Fine, keep your name." Hermione said. A few minutes later she asked, "Do you want to get a movie?" Draco looked up from his 'Pasta a la Malfoy'.
"A what-ie?" He asked, totally confused. Hermione smiled and rubbed her hands together.
"Draco, you're about to get introduced to the world of Muggle entertainment…"
TBC
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AN: I've been really busy, because I've got tests all over the place and I'm trying to bring my average up to A+, so far I'm just an A. I'm also applying for a scholarship to a really fancy-ass private school, and it was Dylan's birthday, and I had choir and Ruhi class, and there's homework being neglected to write this, so be thankful for this chapter, I'm totally drained. I look like I'm half-dead. Pale with big dark circles under my eyes. Blech. Where's that concealer? I gotta go do other stuff, like eat and study crazedly, right now.
Ok, here's a really good quote, "Duffman says alotta things…" -Duffman on the Simpsons. Nigel *waves* Hi Nigey! Does a perfect impression of that. Hee hee. Are you all sufficiently scared now? Good. I'll go away…but for how long? That is the question, my dear monkeys. MWAHAHAHAHA! MWAHAHAHAHA! MWAHAHAHAHA! I'm a review glutton, so appease the almighty author and REVIEW! And then you'll be thanked! See? Look down. Thanks to Reviewers:
ChibiFuu Malfoy- What's your favorite? I'd love to go read it (I'm always on the lookout for good fics, don't worry, I'm not out to fic-bash…)
porkypop- I'm glad SOMEbody liked that foreshadowing…
Moneeky785- leather pants… I may try later in the story…
firecat- Why thank you kindly!
Eowyn- thanks for the recommendation, I'll definitely check it out.
Jess- thanks, I don't know if this story will go that far ahead, but maybe I'll do a sequel.
Witchblade- SHRIEK! BOMB? WHERE? Oh, wait… I get it now…
PoPs- every time I read my reviews and see yours, I nearly have a heart attack. I'm like 'Oh no, my life is over… no it's not! Phew!' You've given me an awful scare though…yeah typos. I've never actually read any of this story, only written it. What that means is that I haven't checked/proof- read it at all. It's fresh off my brain, and I'm always so busy! I'm thinking that I'll start checking now though, I've just gotten through an onslaught of tests and presentations… blech. I might even go through all my old chapters!
G*Ness- It was Nancy Drew for me. I've read every classic Nancy Drew book currently in print, a few years ago. I hate the new stuff, but the old ones are wonderfully written. Yeah, I would hate to have Draco dead, he's too sexy to die! Sexy people shouldn't die! Jk, jk. I can NEVER think of retorts until I'm tucked away in my bed thinking vengeful thoughts. I can't believe you think it rocks, I'm so proud! Fluffiness forever!
Steele- Listen, I love my Daddy, but I would NOT any under circumstances want him to know about a boyfriend (especially not the one I have now… don't tell my parents or I will kill you all! Well actually I won't, I'll just send curses in your general direction and stop writing this story). He would probably ignore me for two weeks. Hermione isn't really afraid of him physically, more like she thinks either he'll yell or make her feel guilty. My Daddy is way overprotective, and that's how I picture Robert Granger. Hermione also has the sort of character traits that imply a sheltered life with doting parents…
Naurhen- I love giggly stories too *giggle*
hellsong- Yayfulness and joy right back at ya! Honestly and no offense meant, I can't really stomach Hermione/Snape… it makes my tummy hurt. I'm not exaggerating, it actually causes me physical pain, can you believe it? And now I have to go jogging, more pain! Oh joy, oh bliss!
Icy Stormz- Ok, well gypsy-Seeing is different! They don't look into balls and tea leaves and all that snuggleguff! Mwahahahaha mwahahaha mwahahahaha! Who got the last laugh, eh? Mwahahahaha! Sorry. Couldn't help myself. I'll update soon if you update soon!
kat- *grumble*whine* I was gonna do it this chapter anyway! Honestly! It's just such a chore…
Moon-Walker- *cheering* VIOLENCE! VIOLENCE! Heheh, just kidding. Peace on earth. Nicknames? Once again I probably didn't notice… wasn't paying attention. What? I've only known you since October! Was I supposed to notice your names in that short period of time? *pokes back* I'm 2 up on you now! I am the queen of poking! Boo yeah! Sane, yeah, that's a good one. *laughs hysterically, occasionally yelling 'Sane? Ha!'*
Sucker For Romance- Yes, poor fathers worldwide.
franthephoenix- You seem a bit 'fran'tic. Aha! Ahaha! Why aren't you laughing, that was a joke! Get it? FRANtic? *screen shows people all over the world cringing* Well hmmph.
Kim Weasley- Reviews are grrrrrrrrrrrreat!
kat- *giggles insanely for10 minutes straight* Sorry, I think all the praise has finally gotten to me… *more insane giggling* The 7th time! I haven't read it at all yet! Ok, to answer your questions, Mr. Milligan WAS the same one from the plane, I have no intention of telling you who he is (especially since I have no idea myself yet), Hermione didn't leave after the warning of her mother because she has a logical mind and it was just a nightmare, Draco didn't stay over night, Hermione did Draco about the letter, I dunno about Stephen being a Seer…, so glad you LOVED! I love that house too, my dream house *sigh* Thank-you for the major bliss out session and for blowing my head up another few sizes! Mwah to you, dahling.
boycrazie548- Oops! I'm so embarrassed! That was a big typo and I'm ridiculously pleased that you pointed it out to me! How embarrassing! What I meant to say (type) was
"Harry, Ron and Ginny sat in the otherwise empty Gryffindor common room,…"
Somehow, God knows how, I managed to replace Ginny with Hermione! I'm so sorry for the confusion it caused you and any others.
Cassondra- thanks!