Title: From the Heart
Author: Seiki
Rating: PG13 (ok, ok! ^-^)
A/N: … … … … … …?
Seiki: Oh my boiling mashed potatoes! [huh?] The authors' notes are missing! Alert the NBI! The navy! The army! The police!
She-who-must-not-be-named: So, it's just a note, not like it was a long letter, you know.
Seiki: (looks suspiciously at she-who… …) You took it!
S-w-m-n-b-n: (grins evilly)
Seiki: (wallops her with a codfish) Hah! Take that, and that, and that, and those!
[Hoo Boy!]
Chapter 5 "A 'Trip' to Detention I"
Hermione woke up to the smell of a mixture of fart and garbage.
"What the hell…"
Her eyes fell on the green—currently turning into a hideous shade of orange—robe which the worm spewed its' sauce on. She stood up and walked over to it. A further sniff informed her that this was where the smell was coming from.
"Damn that Malfoy. He's gonna get his comeuppance sooner or later."
She went out of her room and went straight into the bathroom. There was no sign of anyone having used it yet, for the water was still clean and no footprints were to be found.
That Malfoy's late again. Oh well. What do I care, anyway?
She carefully scrubbed her body, and using the sweetest smelling tap there to rid herself of the horrible smell (which she got from her room) and to remove some green stuff that had also stuck to her.
Damn him. Why an I thinking about him anyway? It's not like he's of any importance to me.
She finished bathing and dressed up.
"I'd just better think of Potions. Wonder who's going to be our housepartner for today. Hope it's not Slytherin. Boiling mashed potatoes knows what will happen if I get to see that ferret face again."
She picked up her bag, which was on the floor and was near her door, and went out of their common room, and went to the directly to the great hall.
~*~
Draco Malfoy woke up sweating. He had just woken from a very bad nightmare.
Flashback
"Mother? Mother?"
A high pitched scream cut through the air like a knife.
"MOTHER! WHERE ARE YOU?"
Another high pitched scream filled the air and then…
end of flashback
He tried to forget about it and tried to fall asleep again. But he couldn't. He looked at the antique clock his mother had given him before he went for his 7th year.
"This clock holds a secret my son. You will know in the right time." That was what she had said.
He checked the time and saw that it was only 7 am.
Granny must still be asleep. Oh well. Better take a bath.
He crept silently towards the bathroom, and when he got there, he sunk into the pool and bathed quickly. He thought of staying in the common room for a while, but decided against it. He'd just better go to the Great Hall. In that way, he might be able to avoid Parkinson. Lately, she had been getting on his nerves.
And I don't want to see what I'd do to her if my patience snaps. I really don't.
~*~
Cassandra Nott sat down in the Prefects common room. She had just come from her room after taking a bath and she was just waiting for Victoria. They had an agreement to meet at the common room today.
Sigh. As usual, Vicky is late.
Someone just appeared behind her. Even though she couldn't see who that person was, she could feel him. It was a certain… …power that she had recently acquired.
"Hello." She said, as she turned around to face that person.
"Well hello too. This is a surprise. What's a pretty girl like you doing here in this hour of the morning? Aren't you supposed to get your beauty sleep or something?" that guy said.
"Thank you for the compliments Zabini. Now cut it out."
"Why, isn't it the girl with knots for brains. Cassandra Nott."
"Look at your face first pimple guy."
"Who're you calling pimple guy, wrinkle face?"
In the truth, all the names that they were calling each other were very far from the truth. Cassandra had shiny, wavy auburn colored hair. Her face was smooth and creamy, pimple-less and wrinkle-free. Her eyes were colored light green that were sometimes mistaken for light blue.
Blaise on the other hand had shiny black hair and dark red eyes [A/N: (Finally, found them!) Ooh! Devilish Look!] which, at first, may seem to people as just black with a tint of red. His face was also pimple and wrinkle-free, his skin was pale, with a bit of a tan.
"Wrinkle face? Ha! That's funny."
"And true too."
"Any more originals Zabini? That one's getting old."
"Uhm, hi guys." A female voice said.
Zabini turned to face the holder of the voice.
"Hello, Victoria, you grow more beautiful each day."
"Why thank you sir." She replied, doing a fake curtsy.
"Vic! I can't believe you! Why did you curtsy to a scum bag?"
"Because I'm not a scumbag?"
"Shut your trap Zabini. Let's go Vicky."
"Bye Blaise." She said, throwing him a sad smile.
"Good bye, Victoria."
~*~
Hermione Granger sat beside Ginny Weasley, in 6th year and was Ron Weasley's only sister, who was trying to catch Dean Thomas' eyes. She scanned the hall for Harry and Ron but couldn't find them. Ginny finally caught Dean's eyes. She wiggled her eyebrows and motioned to Colin Creevey. Dean smiled and gave her a 'thumbs up'. Hermione wondered why they were smiling. After a few seconds, she found out why. Colin Creevey gave out a high pitched shriek and stood up, and started to do something that looked like a dance. The whole hall laughed at what he was doing. Colin put his hands inside his robes and pulled out a worm with many short hairs. Suddenly, the hall became silent.
"What is the meaning of this?" came a strict voice.
"H-hi Professor McGonagall. I just found this worm in myself. It just got lost, I guess." He replied while giving her a small smile.
"Very well then, I don't want to see anymore worms getting lost. Is that clear?" she said, while looking at Ginny.
"Yes, Professor." Both Ginny and Colin replied.
Hermione smiled to herself and shook her head. Ginny was known as the second Fred and George in the whole of Hogwarts. She was the female version, and some people considered her better than Fred and George. But Ginny always shook her head and said that Fred and George were greater than her. She said that all she knew came from them, so that made them better. Colin was thought and known to have a liking for Ginny. That was why he always smiled whenever she played a trick on her.
"Granger, Granger, and more thinking and you'll disappear from here. Which would do us a lot of good, actually."
"Why don't you irritate someone else, Ferret?"
"Because your orange juice is dripping on your robes? Your goblet has a hole."
"What the--"
Orange juice was really dripping on her robes. What made it worse was that the orange juice had spread all over her robes.
"You've warned me already, so why don't you get out of here?"
"Because I still have another message?"
"Spill it already."
"Dumbledore wants to see us after our first class."
"Fine. Now scram."
"Whatever Granny."
Damn that irritating, infuriating, filled with hot air Malfoy!
But she had no time to think about that. She had to clean her robes and head out to her first class, which happened to be Potions.
"This is so not my day! Linisio!"'
The orange spot on her robes quickly disappeared. Most of her classmates had already gone out of the hall and were heading towards their respective classes. She had already begun getting all of her stuff when she saw Harry and Ron, rushing towards the Great Hall.
"And where have you two been? I can take points off you guys, you know."
"Oh come on, 'Mione. We just went to..ah...arrange something. I'm sure you'll like it, so don't sass us about being late." Said Ron.
"And, may I get a statement from you Harry?"
"Why? Ron told you everything."
"Do you really think that I'd believe that you two were up to no trouble? Knowing you two, you probably set up Malfoy's cauldron so that it would explode!"
"We did not! Nice idea, though. Let's set that up in our agenda, Harry."
"Sure thing, Ron."
"Quit it you two! I'm really going to take off points!"
"Okay, okay. We'll skip the cauldron thing." Said Harry.
"But we won't cancel what we did!" added Ron.
"Okay, fine, whatever! Just don't blame me if something goes wrong! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to my Arithmancy lesson." And with that, she picked up her things and headed towards the direction of the classroom.
"I hope those two aren't getting into trouble. It's just the second day of school, for goodness sake!" she shook her head and entered the class, only to find it empty.
"What the catfish is going on? Where have they all gone?" [A/N Rhymes!] she exclaimed.
She walked towards Prof. Crumpets' desk, looking for any note that she left. When she reached the table, a magical note popped out.
"Holy baked bean!" Hermione exclaimed again.
Dear Student,
Our class session will be held in the grounds today. It would be such a shame to waste this lovely day inside this room. Please hurry, so you won't be late. For those who plan to skip this class, I have Mr. Filch on patrol, so please don't attempt it. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Professor Jeann Crumpets
What the codfish is going on? Professor Crumpets? Lovely day? Outside?
Professor Crumpets would be the last teacher she'd expect to tell her students to go outside to study—well--apart from McGonagall and Snape.
Waitaminute! Harry and Ron were up to something right? And they said that it would please her… was this what they planned?
"Never mind, never mind about it." She said to herself.
Hermione Granger went to the board and touched it lightly. The board opened up into a portal that was colored black. She tried to see through it, but with no success.
"Oh boy! Here goes nothing!"
She leaned in the portal and felt herself being sucked in. Down, down, down she went, through the blackness of her surroundings, not knowing where she would end up. As her journey progressed, her surroundings became lighter in color. She felt herself being sucked out of the portal. She felt like she was flying, for a moment, when suddenly, she hit herself on something. Headfirst.
"Ow!"
"Granger, Granger, I knew you liked me but you don't have to show it this way." A voice said.
She recognized the voice, but she couldn't see who the person was, due to all the stars that were appearing in her eyes. She caught a flash of blonde hair before she passed out.
~*~
"Miss Granger, Miss Granger? Are you alright?" said a very anxious voice.
Hermione's vision was foggy, and she could see a flesh colored… …thing (that she thought was supposed to be the person's hand) that was waving in front of her.
"Wha-what happened?" she asked.
"You hit Mr. Malfoy, my dear." Said another voice which she recognized to be Madam Pomfrey's.
She sat up very quickly when she heard that.
"I hit Malfoy?"
"Yes you did my dear." said the first voice again.
Her vision was getting less foggy in seconds and she saw who the beholder of the voice was. It belonged to Professor Crumpets!
"Professor? May I ask you something?"
"Yes dear?''
"Who brought me here then?"
"Oh it was Mr. Malfoy, bless the lad, he didn't appear to be hurt by your fall on him, so we--" she paused, looking at Madam Pomfrey, "—decided that it was okay to let him go."
"But what about our lesson? Did I miss a lot?" she said, her voice filled with anxiety and worry.
"Oh, never mind my dear, lessons are not important—compared to the students' health that is. And don't worry about your classmates; I gave them the lesson off. So you didn't miss anything." The professor replied.
"Just one more question, Professor."
"Fire away."
"Why did you want to spend the lesson outside?" she asked, her face filled with curiosity.
"Well, it was due to two students--" the professor stopped as the Hospital Wings' door suddenly banged open, revealing two red-faced, out-of-breath students, namely, Harry & Ron (who were waving and shouting "'Mione, 'Mione!" while running towards them) [A/N: let's just imagine that the wing is really big and that 'Mione's bed is near Pomfrey's table which is at the far end of it.] "That I'm going to have to send to detention for giving me such a weird idea on how to spend the day--" "And for making one heck of noise here in the Hospital Wing." Madam Pomfrey finished for her.
When Harry & Ron reached Hermione's bed, they immediately badgered her with questions.
"Are you alright 'Mione?"
"What happened?"
"Has this something to do with that disgusting ferret?"
"Hey, why didn't I think of that?" (That came from Ron)
Professor Crumpets coughed loudly.
"Oh, hi Professor! Tell us 'Mione--"
"Harry! Shush!" said Ron.
"Ron, don't you care about 'Mione?"
"Harry… …the professor… …"
Harry turned his head slowly towards Professor Crumpets.
The professor glared at the two of them and said in an angry tone,
"The two of you will be given detention for three reasons. #1, you two made such a loud noise, here, in the Hospital Wing, of all places, and disrupted the quietness of this place. (Madam Pomfrey nodded in agreement.) #2, you two did not show respect to the teacher, who was in front of you. #3, you two gave me that absolutely crazy idea, which resulted into this accident. I will inform you later on when your detention will be. Now get out of this wing, for as you can see, clearly, Miss Granger needs rest. Miss Granger--" she paused, turning to face Hermione, "I will also leave now, if you don't mind, for I still have a class with the fifth years. Good bye, and get well soon!" with that, the Professor, along with Harry and Ron, took their leave.
Hermione leaned back on her pillow and sighed.
This was going to be a long rest. Harry and Ron still have their next classes and—
"Holy Baked Bean! I was supposed to meet Professor Dumbledore! Oh pudding, pudding, pudding! [A/N: that was supposed to be s*it, but I can't type it because. My mom's behind me. ^-^]
"You called, Miss Granger?"
Hermione spun to her right and saw Professor Dumbledore, with his usual smile, and Malfoy half-hidden by the curtain that separated her bed from the other bed/s.
"Professor! What are you doing here?"
"We decided to do the conference here, after all, as Mr. Malfoy said, it would be much more of a convenience if we went here rather than you go to us."
Hermione turned to look at Malfoy, whose face only revealed a blank expression, as of one that does not wish to reveal any. Expression or feeling, that is.
"So, Professor, what did you want to talk to us about?" she asked.
"I just wanted to remind you two about the quickly upcoming Halloween Hop. I'm sure you two, with the help of the prefects, if you wish, can plan up another wonderful Hop. You have two weeks, in approximity, to plan and put your plan into action. And of course, after the Halloween Hop, comes the annual Yule Ball, which only you two, are allowed to work on. You must submit the plans for the Yule Ball at the end of November, no more, no less, to Professor McGonagall, she who will, in turn, forward your ideas to me." He replied.
Malfoy gave hi a quick nod, to show, with no doubt that he understood.
"You must remember that all your plans and works will have to be approved by the board of censors--" his eyes twinkled merrily "—namely me, Prof. McGonagall, Prof. Snape, Prof. Flitwick, Prof. Sinistra, Prof. Lupin, Prof. Crumpets, and so on and so forth. Better not make your ideas too outrageous, or they will be censored. Why I remember James and Lily's idea, Professors McGonagall and Snape promptly censored it after they had first seen it!--"
Hermione leaned forward in anticipation. She had known, from Harry that his parents were Heads in their school years, but she knew nothing about their reign in Hogwarts.
"—they had proposed that the teachers of each house have someone, in the faculty or not, to go with in the dance. And instead of the Prefects and the Heads lead the dance, the teachers of the four houses would! Professor Noddinghood, our old Defense of the Dark Arts teacher, and former head of the Ravenclaw House, asked Professor Sprout, then and there. So James and Lily asked Professor Snape to go with Professor McGonagall to go with each other, seeing that Professors Noddinghood and Sprout were going to go together, and they said that it was to show 'school spirit' and the 'unity' of the Houses. They had immediately turned down the idea, and James and Lily had to re-write and re-do their plans in an hour! But it all came out okay anyway, they had proposed for everyone to wear a mask that cannot be taken off until midnight. If I do remember clearly, Mr. Malfoy--"
Malfoy snapped his head back up and looked at the Professor.
"—your mother and Lily wore the same mask to fool everybody! They fooled everyone! Lily danced with Lucius and Narcissa danced with James! It was a pretty sight, when the masks fell off! Lucius swore like crazy and so did James! And you should have seen their faces! It wasn't a pretty sight!"
Dumbledore began to chuckle.
Hermione tried to hide her laughter.
Dumbledore's began to laugh.
Malfoy suddenly laughed out loud, tears streaming down his face.
Hermione was stunned.
Malfoys didn't laugh, right?
"What do you find amusing, Mr. Malfoy?" asked Dumbledore, with an amused look.
"Gra-Gra-Granger's face!" he replied, shaking with laughter.
"What is so amusing about my face, Ferret?"
"Your face is all so red, a-and shaking a-and--" Malfoy stopped speaking, for he was shaking, again, with laughter.
Dumbledore laughed out loud, probably, getting Malfoy's point.
"That does present a funny picture, Draco."
And the two of them resumed laughing.
"Hmph! Boys." Hermione remarked scornfully.
The two laughed even louder.
~*~
Draco stood in front of the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore's office.
His collision with Granger had caused an old wound in his chest to open up again. And it hurt. A lot. Crumpets and Pomfrey wanted him to stay, but he had to meet Dumbledore, and besides, Malfoys did not cry. Lucius had taught him that. Men, especially Malfoys, did not cry or show weakness to anyone. It was one absolute, horrible sin.
"Mexican Jumping Beans!" he said to the Gargoyle.
The Gargoyle nodded and sprung aside to let him enter. Once inside, he found himself inside a circular corridor.
"Wait—there are no stairs!" he exclaimed.
And so it was. The circular corridor was composed of stones—particularly the ones used to build the castle—and the floor. There was no ceiling, only an extending blackness upstairs. But there is one part of the room that he overlooked. The floor, if he had noticed it earlier, had a circular stone mark—it was a portal, but he didn't know it yet.
"What in salmon copper fillet* is this?" he questioned.
[A/N: I got the 'salmon copper fillet' expression from ''The Dragon's Rose'' under Draco/Ginny category, so don't sue me! Read her/his story, by the way!]
He traced the line of the circle and stepped back. The line had begun to glow, and after a second, a violet-black color filled the circle's inside.
"Holy wow! It's a portal! I should've known!" he said, while laughing.
He took a step back and jumped in it. He had used many portals before—his father had not known, obviously, for he had forbidden them to use portals. He believed that portals were for wusses and weaklings—and knew that if any part of you touches it, you will be immediately sucked inside. And he also knew that if you only put one foot in, you had a 99.9% chance of hurting yourself. It was better to go there using your own two feet. He felt himself going two-dimensional*—for a minute—and went back to his original form, a second later, in front of Dumbledore's door. He knocked three times on the door.
[A/N: It's pretty much the same as tesseracting, is my spelling of it correct?]
"Come in, Mr. Malfoy." Came Dumbledore's voice.
He opened the door and proceeded to one of the chairs that were in the circular room.
"And where is Ms. Granger?" the professor inquired.
"She is in the Hospital Wing, Professor. She had a… …minor accident a while ago."
"Um hm… …"
"Um, Professor, sir? Can we just have this meeting in the Wing? Because it would be more convenient and all, you know…………"
"Yes. And I believe so too."
"Um, Professor?"
"Yes, Draco?"
"Do we have to travel by portal again?"
Dumbledore gave out a loud laugh.
"No, we will travel via window."
"Via window?"
"Yes, watch."
The Professor tapped the wall to his right three times. Draco watched in amazement as the wall magically turned into a window, big enough for the both of them to pass. In the window he could see Granger talking to Crumpets, then Potter and Weasley barging in, and then all of them going out.
"I think it is time, Mr. Malfoy."
Draco nodded to the Professor.
"Just walk through the window."
He nodded again.
"Understood?"
He nodded again.
"Okay…go first."
He nodded again, but did not move.
"Mr. Malfoy?"
His head snapped up suddenly.
"Ye-yes?"
"Go in, now." The Professor told him, smiling.
Draco tentatively took a step forward, and slowly walked through the window.
It didn't hurt, and he didn't feel like he was being two dimensioned, it was just like passing thru………a door. Except for the fact that the frame of the door was glowing brightly. The light blinded him for a moment, but nothing bad happened to him. They ended up behind the curtain that separated Granger's bed from the other beds.
After a few minutes, he heard Granger curse out: "…pudding, pudding, pudding!"
"You called, Ms. Granger?" said the Professor.
"Professor, what are you doing here?" she exclaimed.
He tuned them out of his hearing. Sure, he was still hearing them, but he wasn't listening. Instead, he was observing Granger.
They were talking about him, his subconscious mind told him. Granger suddenly looked at him, seeking his face for information, he guessed. But he was putting on his usual mask, The Malfoy mask which is devoid of all emotion. Or, in other words, blank. They held eye contact for a fraction of a second. But that was enough for him to notice the warm golden brown color of her eyes. Then she turned away.
Dumbledore was saying something about the Ball…but he couldn't catch it. He was still mesmerized by the look in her eyes. So he just nodded.
He continued to look at her, to notice how soft her skin was, how she leaned eagerly when she was interested at something, how her eyes were filled with—"…Mr. Malfoy,"
He snapped his head up and nodded.
Now Dumbledore was saying something about their parents. He watched as Granger tried to keep from laughing but was failing. Her face was turning all red-like and was swelling slightly. She reminded him of what Pansy looked like when Goyle accidentally spilled a swelling solution on her face. He couldn't help it any longer. He had to laugh or he was sure that he'd fart it all out. [A/N: Ya' know all those air trapped in you? And if ya' can't release it from the mouth, it comes out the other way!]
He let out one loud burst of laughter that was quickly followed by other bursts, and tears that were streaming down his face.
The Professor looked at him with amusement while Granger looked at him with stunned wonder. Most people would think that Malfoys didn't laugh. And she did too. He could read it using her aura. It was as clear as crystallized water.
"What do you find so amusing, Mr. Malfoy?" Professor Dumbledore asked.
"Gra-Gra-Granger's face!" he replied, shaking with laughter.
"What is so amusing about my face, Ferret?" she questioned.
"Your face is all so red, a—and shaking a—and--" he stopped speaking again, because he was shaking with laughter.
Dumbledore started to laugh also, probably, finding Granger's face funny too.
"Hmph. Boys." Granger said.
~*~
Blaise Zabini sat in his chair, that was in his room, that was in the Prefect's Dorm, which was facing the fireplace.
He thought about Cassandra Nott, the prettiest and most attractive girl he had ever seen.
She kept on avoiding him, but he'd get her. Somehow. Someday. And he wouldn't stop. 'Till he had her. 'Till She would be his. 'Till the end of time.
"Just wait for me Cassandra. Just wait."
A/N: Ya' I know, pretty messy Chapter. Just email or R/R me (the latter, preferably) if there are any questions!
Disclaimer: … … … … … … … ?
Seiki: You are so unfair! First you get my notes, now you get my disclaimer! ::bawls::
S-w-m-n-b-n: Do you really want to get back your disclaimer?
Seiki: Yes!
S-w-m-n-b-n: Now be a good author and bark!
Seiki: Yip! Yip!
S-w-m-n-b-n: Roll Over!
Seiki: (rolls over and in the process pushes She-who… … out of the wide open door-like window in the process.)
S-w-m-n-b-n: AAAAAAUUUGGGHHH!
Seiki: And give me that! (Snatches her disclaimer back and looks at it)
Holy baked macaroni {yum!}! I forgot to write my disclaimer! Oh well, this would do! (hastily scrawls something)
Brand New Hastily Scrawled Disclaimer: Sue She-who-must-not-be-named instead!