In the Mind of the Walking Encyclopedia - Chapter 13
Author: tainted black (tainted_black@twistedcandy.org)
Disclaimer: Not mine.
-----------------------------------------
Previous:
"Oh? So you're trying to be a hero?" I brace myself for the pain.
"I--SHIT, HERMIONE, JUST GO!" he yells, trying to push me away.
I suddenly feel a powerful wave of pain go through me. OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! That...really hurt. Its claws are really, really sharp. Clenching my teeth, I say, "I remembered I owe you. I figured...this was a good time as any to pay back." Pain, pain, pain, pain. The nundu slashes at my back again and I scream in pain. Maybe he was right...Gryffindor bravery? It *is* stupidity. I begin to fall forward.
"You're fucking stupid," Malfoy whispers as he catches me.
The last things I hear before blacking out completely is a scream and someone yelling, "Petrificus Totalus!"
--------------
I open my eyes and I see Harry and Ron standing near my bed.
"You're up!" Ron says. "When you weren't there at lunch, Harry and I were really worried. We were going to go find out, but you weren't in Hogwarts anymore and we had no idea where to begin searching."
I sit up, wrapping the thin bed sheet around me. "That's all right. I mean, you guys really couldn't do anything after all."
"And we were going to try to search for you after it stopped raining," Harry adds. "But then Dumbledore said not to worry about you and he gave the impression that you were safe and sound."
"I really wasn't, but I'm okay now." I twist my neck to look at my back. There were no scratches, no pain, no anything. It was almost like the whole ordeal with Malfoy never happened. In fact, -I- would've believed that it was all a dream, except for the fact that my back still remembers the pain and I'm in the hospital wing.
"So what happened to you? How did you survive an entire day with -him-?" Harry asks, jerking his head over at Malfoy's sleeping form.
"He didn't try murdering you in your sleep, did he?" Ron asks worriedly. "Because if he did, I'll be more than happy to return the favor..."
I shake my head, laughing. "No, he did no such thing. Malfoy was actually civil to me. He really isn't that bad."
"Well, he tried to get you lost in the Forbidden Forest!"
"No, he didn't. Who spread -that- rumor around? Preposterous," I say.
"Then what happened?" Harry asks as he takes a seat.
"Do you remember the cabbit project Hagrid assigned us?" I ask. They nod their heads. "Well...our cabbit ran away and I ran after it. But then there was this nundu and it almost ate me. It would've eaten me right there, except Malfoy saved me."
"What happened to your wand?" Harry asks. "You could've used that to protect yourself with it."
I shrug sheepishly. "It caught on fire. And when the nundu revived itself, it fell on Malfoy's wand too..."
"So you were both -wandless-...in the -Forbidden Forest-," Ron finishes, his eyes as wide as saucers. "That's mad. But you were gone for almost two days. What were you -doing- those two days?"
"We stayed in a den," I answer quickly.
Ron's eyes almost pop out of his head and Harry is staring at me with a look of both disgust and disbelief on his face.
"A DEN?!" they shout. "With -him-!?!"
"He really isn't all that bad," I say again. "Not as bad as I believed him to be. Maybe you two can give him a sort of second chance to redeem himself in your eyes..."
"Never," spat Ron. "He already had his chances and he blew them a million times."
I turn to Harry hopefully. Harry was always the understanding one--maybe he'll give Malfoy a second chance! Harry was compassionate, considering, and kind one. Ron was the brash and hot-tempered one. I didn't really expect Ron to agree with me, but my buddy, Harry? Surely he'll say--
"No," Harry states firmly. "After everything he did? Not at all!"
I look down at my lap. "Well... Well, I'll try to be a little nicer to him. I really think you two should as well. Just a tiny bit nicer."
"He must've done something to her," Ron mutters to Harry.
"No, he didn't!" I say. "It was just--"
"You grab his foot and I'll get his arms. We're throwing him out of the window." They move towards Malfoy's bed.
"You guys!" I shout. "He didn't try to do anything to me. Let's just forget about him... Let's talk about what you guys have been doing instead. What did you guys learn? How is the new Dark Arts professor? When's our first exam?"
Harry and Ron exchange a look.
"Let's throw him," they say in unison.
I stand up and grab their hands, pulling them away from Malfoy. "How many times do I have to say that he meant no ill will to me? If he did, do you think I would be stopping you right now? And anyways, I would like to know who saved us from the nundu. I was certain that I was going to die."
"I believe that would be me, Miss Granger," Professor Dumbledore says as he walks into the room slowly. "Hagrid and I had only just left the Forbidden Forest after our attempt to search for you and Mister Malfoy, when we heard you scream. We ran back and arrived just in time to see Mister Malfoy shove you away from the nundu. And instead of scratching you, it scratched Mister Malfoy. I immediately used the Full Body Bind on it, and Hagrid and I carried the two of you here."
"Thank you, Professor," I say. "And what about the nundu?"
"I believe Hagrid," Ron, Harry, and I shoot each other worried looks at his name, "will be taking care of the nundu."
"Oh," I say. "Well..."
"Hmm..." Madame Pomfrey inspects me over meticulously. "My healing charms have done its work. You're perfectly fine Miss Granger. You may leave now."
"Thank you Madame Pomfrey," I say as I climb out of bed.
"Hey, the Great Hall just started serving dinner. You should grab some," Ron says.
"That sounds like a good idea."
"But maybe you should--what is -that-?" Ron points to the center of my chest.
"What is what?" I look down. Malfoy's silver and green tie is still around my neck...uh, oh.
"Is that his -tie-?" Harry asks. "Please say that's not his tie."
I feel myself blushing profusely. "It is his tie," I say and I hold up a finger before they can start shouting obscenities, "but I can explain."
"What explanation can you have for wearing his -tie-?" Ron exclaims. "It's his -tie- for crying out loud! You might as well be wearing his pants or belt! How -could- you?" He looks at me desperately.
I put a hand on my hips. "For crying outloud, Ron, it's just a -tie-!" I send a pleading look towards Harry. "It was about hunting for food and I said that men are the providers and that he was the one with the tie and pants. So he, erm, kind of tricked me and put the tie on and I couldn't get the bloody thing off. It's really that simple!"
Harry rubs his temples. "And what about the robe? It has the Slytherin emblem on it."
"Mine caught on fire," I explain. "And he lent me his robe..." Okay, so he didn't -really- lend me the robe. But it sounds a thousand times better than using it as a blanket!
Harry says something that I can't quite make out to Ron, and Ron seems to have cooled down a bit.
"So nothing happened?"
"Not a single thing," I say, shaking my head. "Let's just go get some dinner, hm?"
Ron smiles reluctantly. "Okay."
------------------
After a nice and quiet dinner... Who am I trying to kid? It was a boisterous dinner. A lot of girls were throwing jealous looks at me and more than once did a piece of dinner fly my way. To say it simply...it was definitely not the most civil dinner I've had at Hogwarts.
"I don't get it, why is everyone so jealous?" I ask to Ginny as we walk out of the Great Hall.
"Incoming--corn," Ginny says.
I duck and the corn hits the wall.
"You don't know why?"
"No, I don't. All I did was get lost in the Forbidden Forest. Why would they be jealous of -that-?" I say, frowning.
Lavender appears by my side. "Because of who you were with! Draco Malfoy..."
"Did you actually spend all that time with him?" Parvarti asks.
"People are throwing food at me just because of -Malfoy-?" Imagine that. There are people who actually want to spend time with him.
"What did he do?" asks Lavender, looking at me seriously. "You were with him for two days! Tell us!"
I return her look just as seriously. "He fell on an animal and killed it."
Ginny, Lavender, and Parvarti stare at me and I smirk inwardly.
"How manly!" Lavender squeals, her hands on her chest.
... Falling on an animal is manly? ... Erm. Right.
"I've been meaning to ask you, Hermione..." Parvarti says slowly.
"What?"
She leans forward. "How did you go the loo? Did you see..."
I blanch and run to the prefect dormitory before she can finish asking the question.
----------
"Hermione," Hannah greets me. "Heard -all- about the Forbidden Forest. You should really get some rest... After a day like that, you -must- be tired!"
Sleep -does- sound nice. I nod my thanks and walk to the bathroom slowly.
"Wait, not that one!" Hannah begins to yell, but it's too late--I had already opened the door.
And there stood Malfoy with a towel wrapped around his waist, his bare chest glistening with water. "Fancy meeting you here. Now will you kindly get -out-?"
I take a step back out and close the door. Eyes wide, I turn to Hannah.
"I was going to warn you..."
"Why wasn't the door locked?!"
"Terry broke the lock on accident yesterday," she replies. "Someone is supposed to come in an hour to fix it. Sorry."
The door opens again and Malfoy steps out dressed in black bathrobes. Hannah and I stare at him.
"It's free," he says simply before walking to his room.
"Wait, Malfoy!" I say.
"What?"
"I'm sorry about your robe," I point at it feebly.
"Is that all?" He raises an eyebrow. "Since it's already ruined, you can have it. -I- have no need for it anymore."
"And I have your shirt..." I pull it out of the pocket and hand it to him.
Malfoy takes it back, looking at me. "I didn't know you had this."
"You left it on the ground. And...erm..." I pick up the end of the tie and shake it at him. "How do you get this bloody thing off? It's causing enough trouble as it is!"
He smirks and puts the shirt under his arm. "I told you so."
Hannah watches at our exchange curiously, but she doesn't say a word.
Malfoy leans over and unknots the tie slowly. "You're pathetic. Pathetic and stupid."
"Hey!" I protest.
Ignoring me, he continues. "But I guess I have to thank you for your stupidity. Or as you like to call it, 'Gryffindor bravery.'"
That was unexpected! Malfoy actually -thanked- me for something. Wait a second. He also insulted me at the same time. How should I take it?
"You're welcome," I say coolly.
"Hm." Malfoy slips the tie off and continues his walk back to his room.
As soon as the door closes, Hannah turns to me. "That's something I don't see every day. You guys seem to be on okay terms with each other."
I look at her. "He insulted and thanked me at the same time. You call that okay?"
"It's better than before."
I turn my gaze to Malfoy's door. "Maybe."
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4.3o.o3 - I know, I know...the chapter was going to be longer, but I decided to make the other half of this into a new chapter. I think it would be weird to add it to this because it's another day. And can you believe it has only been -three- days in this fic? Three! . Anyways, in the next chapter... Draco and Hermione go to Diagon Alley. ^_^
And I'm sorry, but real romance won't come for a while. I imagine it will take a LONG time for Draco to start liking Hermione and vice versa. There will of course be moments every now and then, yes...but no wild make out scenes, and I'm not sure when they will even begin to behave nicely to each other, much less -kiss-! You can read my "Right Kind of Wrong" if you want something rather pointless like that. If that's not to your taste, I can direct you to plenty of fics with them kissing before the thirteenth chapter.
I know my updates are not the greatest, and so...if you want me to e-mail you when I update, please say so in your review. :D I will gladly add you to the list.
Thanks to (wow, again... all these reviews!): Krissy, Sunshine Stargirl, Ellie, b0ing, Sailor Moon Rose (*blinks* Lol. I don't even have the book... And interesting shower head... ^^; ), Nadeshiko (don't worry--next time you can cheat, too, lol), cherie (that sounds pretty cute), Milady the Bloody (a real porcipine? ... dang), Dragyn, Says Who? (He doesn't swear -that- much in this, does he? ^^; Oh, and I had no idea about the nundu thing--I looked it up on some websites...but they didn't tell me much. Thanks for telling me! :D It's a baby nundu, then, heh), HarryPotterWanter (*smiles* I really like your reviews! *squeal* It's the same nundu), MoshiMoshiQueen, Dreaming One (heh! MUCH MUCH thanks), Aniiston (Lol, now I know why people prefer past over present tense.... Thanks!), Jenn-chan, Manuela (yep, he did! too bad she didn't decide to press on it here. *frown*), Anna-Maria, dana, and Madame Moony.
Please review!
Author: tainted black (tainted_black@twistedcandy.org)
Disclaimer: Not mine.
-----------------------------------------
Previous:
"Oh? So you're trying to be a hero?" I brace myself for the pain.
"I--SHIT, HERMIONE, JUST GO!" he yells, trying to push me away.
I suddenly feel a powerful wave of pain go through me. OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! That...really hurt. Its claws are really, really sharp. Clenching my teeth, I say, "I remembered I owe you. I figured...this was a good time as any to pay back." Pain, pain, pain, pain. The nundu slashes at my back again and I scream in pain. Maybe he was right...Gryffindor bravery? It *is* stupidity. I begin to fall forward.
"You're fucking stupid," Malfoy whispers as he catches me.
The last things I hear before blacking out completely is a scream and someone yelling, "Petrificus Totalus!"
--------------
I open my eyes and I see Harry and Ron standing near my bed.
"You're up!" Ron says. "When you weren't there at lunch, Harry and I were really worried. We were going to go find out, but you weren't in Hogwarts anymore and we had no idea where to begin searching."
I sit up, wrapping the thin bed sheet around me. "That's all right. I mean, you guys really couldn't do anything after all."
"And we were going to try to search for you after it stopped raining," Harry adds. "But then Dumbledore said not to worry about you and he gave the impression that you were safe and sound."
"I really wasn't, but I'm okay now." I twist my neck to look at my back. There were no scratches, no pain, no anything. It was almost like the whole ordeal with Malfoy never happened. In fact, -I- would've believed that it was all a dream, except for the fact that my back still remembers the pain and I'm in the hospital wing.
"So what happened to you? How did you survive an entire day with -him-?" Harry asks, jerking his head over at Malfoy's sleeping form.
"He didn't try murdering you in your sleep, did he?" Ron asks worriedly. "Because if he did, I'll be more than happy to return the favor..."
I shake my head, laughing. "No, he did no such thing. Malfoy was actually civil to me. He really isn't that bad."
"Well, he tried to get you lost in the Forbidden Forest!"
"No, he didn't. Who spread -that- rumor around? Preposterous," I say.
"Then what happened?" Harry asks as he takes a seat.
"Do you remember the cabbit project Hagrid assigned us?" I ask. They nod their heads. "Well...our cabbit ran away and I ran after it. But then there was this nundu and it almost ate me. It would've eaten me right there, except Malfoy saved me."
"What happened to your wand?" Harry asks. "You could've used that to protect yourself with it."
I shrug sheepishly. "It caught on fire. And when the nundu revived itself, it fell on Malfoy's wand too..."
"So you were both -wandless-...in the -Forbidden Forest-," Ron finishes, his eyes as wide as saucers. "That's mad. But you were gone for almost two days. What were you -doing- those two days?"
"We stayed in a den," I answer quickly.
Ron's eyes almost pop out of his head and Harry is staring at me with a look of both disgust and disbelief on his face.
"A DEN?!" they shout. "With -him-!?!"
"He really isn't all that bad," I say again. "Not as bad as I believed him to be. Maybe you two can give him a sort of second chance to redeem himself in your eyes..."
"Never," spat Ron. "He already had his chances and he blew them a million times."
I turn to Harry hopefully. Harry was always the understanding one--maybe he'll give Malfoy a second chance! Harry was compassionate, considering, and kind one. Ron was the brash and hot-tempered one. I didn't really expect Ron to agree with me, but my buddy, Harry? Surely he'll say--
"No," Harry states firmly. "After everything he did? Not at all!"
I look down at my lap. "Well... Well, I'll try to be a little nicer to him. I really think you two should as well. Just a tiny bit nicer."
"He must've done something to her," Ron mutters to Harry.
"No, he didn't!" I say. "It was just--"
"You grab his foot and I'll get his arms. We're throwing him out of the window." They move towards Malfoy's bed.
"You guys!" I shout. "He didn't try to do anything to me. Let's just forget about him... Let's talk about what you guys have been doing instead. What did you guys learn? How is the new Dark Arts professor? When's our first exam?"
Harry and Ron exchange a look.
"Let's throw him," they say in unison.
I stand up and grab their hands, pulling them away from Malfoy. "How many times do I have to say that he meant no ill will to me? If he did, do you think I would be stopping you right now? And anyways, I would like to know who saved us from the nundu. I was certain that I was going to die."
"I believe that would be me, Miss Granger," Professor Dumbledore says as he walks into the room slowly. "Hagrid and I had only just left the Forbidden Forest after our attempt to search for you and Mister Malfoy, when we heard you scream. We ran back and arrived just in time to see Mister Malfoy shove you away from the nundu. And instead of scratching you, it scratched Mister Malfoy. I immediately used the Full Body Bind on it, and Hagrid and I carried the two of you here."
"Thank you, Professor," I say. "And what about the nundu?"
"I believe Hagrid," Ron, Harry, and I shoot each other worried looks at his name, "will be taking care of the nundu."
"Oh," I say. "Well..."
"Hmm..." Madame Pomfrey inspects me over meticulously. "My healing charms have done its work. You're perfectly fine Miss Granger. You may leave now."
"Thank you Madame Pomfrey," I say as I climb out of bed.
"Hey, the Great Hall just started serving dinner. You should grab some," Ron says.
"That sounds like a good idea."
"But maybe you should--what is -that-?" Ron points to the center of my chest.
"What is what?" I look down. Malfoy's silver and green tie is still around my neck...uh, oh.
"Is that his -tie-?" Harry asks. "Please say that's not his tie."
I feel myself blushing profusely. "It is his tie," I say and I hold up a finger before they can start shouting obscenities, "but I can explain."
"What explanation can you have for wearing his -tie-?" Ron exclaims. "It's his -tie- for crying out loud! You might as well be wearing his pants or belt! How -could- you?" He looks at me desperately.
I put a hand on my hips. "For crying outloud, Ron, it's just a -tie-!" I send a pleading look towards Harry. "It was about hunting for food and I said that men are the providers and that he was the one with the tie and pants. So he, erm, kind of tricked me and put the tie on and I couldn't get the bloody thing off. It's really that simple!"
Harry rubs his temples. "And what about the robe? It has the Slytherin emblem on it."
"Mine caught on fire," I explain. "And he lent me his robe..." Okay, so he didn't -really- lend me the robe. But it sounds a thousand times better than using it as a blanket!
Harry says something that I can't quite make out to Ron, and Ron seems to have cooled down a bit.
"So nothing happened?"
"Not a single thing," I say, shaking my head. "Let's just go get some dinner, hm?"
Ron smiles reluctantly. "Okay."
------------------
After a nice and quiet dinner... Who am I trying to kid? It was a boisterous dinner. A lot of girls were throwing jealous looks at me and more than once did a piece of dinner fly my way. To say it simply...it was definitely not the most civil dinner I've had at Hogwarts.
"I don't get it, why is everyone so jealous?" I ask to Ginny as we walk out of the Great Hall.
"Incoming--corn," Ginny says.
I duck and the corn hits the wall.
"You don't know why?"
"No, I don't. All I did was get lost in the Forbidden Forest. Why would they be jealous of -that-?" I say, frowning.
Lavender appears by my side. "Because of who you were with! Draco Malfoy..."
"Did you actually spend all that time with him?" Parvarti asks.
"People are throwing food at me just because of -Malfoy-?" Imagine that. There are people who actually want to spend time with him.
"What did he do?" asks Lavender, looking at me seriously. "You were with him for two days! Tell us!"
I return her look just as seriously. "He fell on an animal and killed it."
Ginny, Lavender, and Parvarti stare at me and I smirk inwardly.
"How manly!" Lavender squeals, her hands on her chest.
... Falling on an animal is manly? ... Erm. Right.
"I've been meaning to ask you, Hermione..." Parvarti says slowly.
"What?"
She leans forward. "How did you go the loo? Did you see..."
I blanch and run to the prefect dormitory before she can finish asking the question.
----------
"Hermione," Hannah greets me. "Heard -all- about the Forbidden Forest. You should really get some rest... After a day like that, you -must- be tired!"
Sleep -does- sound nice. I nod my thanks and walk to the bathroom slowly.
"Wait, not that one!" Hannah begins to yell, but it's too late--I had already opened the door.
And there stood Malfoy with a towel wrapped around his waist, his bare chest glistening with water. "Fancy meeting you here. Now will you kindly get -out-?"
I take a step back out and close the door. Eyes wide, I turn to Hannah.
"I was going to warn you..."
"Why wasn't the door locked?!"
"Terry broke the lock on accident yesterday," she replies. "Someone is supposed to come in an hour to fix it. Sorry."
The door opens again and Malfoy steps out dressed in black bathrobes. Hannah and I stare at him.
"It's free," he says simply before walking to his room.
"Wait, Malfoy!" I say.
"What?"
"I'm sorry about your robe," I point at it feebly.
"Is that all?" He raises an eyebrow. "Since it's already ruined, you can have it. -I- have no need for it anymore."
"And I have your shirt..." I pull it out of the pocket and hand it to him.
Malfoy takes it back, looking at me. "I didn't know you had this."
"You left it on the ground. And...erm..." I pick up the end of the tie and shake it at him. "How do you get this bloody thing off? It's causing enough trouble as it is!"
He smirks and puts the shirt under his arm. "I told you so."
Hannah watches at our exchange curiously, but she doesn't say a word.
Malfoy leans over and unknots the tie slowly. "You're pathetic. Pathetic and stupid."
"Hey!" I protest.
Ignoring me, he continues. "But I guess I have to thank you for your stupidity. Or as you like to call it, 'Gryffindor bravery.'"
That was unexpected! Malfoy actually -thanked- me for something. Wait a second. He also insulted me at the same time. How should I take it?
"You're welcome," I say coolly.
"Hm." Malfoy slips the tie off and continues his walk back to his room.
As soon as the door closes, Hannah turns to me. "That's something I don't see every day. You guys seem to be on okay terms with each other."
I look at her. "He insulted and thanked me at the same time. You call that okay?"
"It's better than before."
I turn my gaze to Malfoy's door. "Maybe."
--------------------
4.3o.o3 - I know, I know...the chapter was going to be longer, but I decided to make the other half of this into a new chapter. I think it would be weird to add it to this because it's another day. And can you believe it has only been -three- days in this fic? Three! . Anyways, in the next chapter... Draco and Hermione go to Diagon Alley. ^_^
And I'm sorry, but real romance won't come for a while. I imagine it will take a LONG time for Draco to start liking Hermione and vice versa. There will of course be moments every now and then, yes...but no wild make out scenes, and I'm not sure when they will even begin to behave nicely to each other, much less -kiss-! You can read my "Right Kind of Wrong" if you want something rather pointless like that. If that's not to your taste, I can direct you to plenty of fics with them kissing before the thirteenth chapter.
I know my updates are not the greatest, and so...if you want me to e-mail you when I update, please say so in your review. :D I will gladly add you to the list.
Thanks to (wow, again... all these reviews!): Krissy, Sunshine Stargirl, Ellie, b0ing, Sailor Moon Rose (*blinks* Lol. I don't even have the book... And interesting shower head... ^^; ), Nadeshiko (don't worry--next time you can cheat, too, lol), cherie (that sounds pretty cute), Milady the Bloody (a real porcipine? ... dang), Dragyn, Says Who? (He doesn't swear -that- much in this, does he? ^^; Oh, and I had no idea about the nundu thing--I looked it up on some websites...but they didn't tell me much. Thanks for telling me! :D It's a baby nundu, then, heh), HarryPotterWanter (*smiles* I really like your reviews! *squeal* It's the same nundu), MoshiMoshiQueen, Dreaming One (heh! MUCH MUCH thanks), Aniiston (Lol, now I know why people prefer past over present tense.... Thanks!), Jenn-chan, Manuela (yep, he did! too bad she didn't decide to press on it here. *frown*), Anna-Maria, dana, and Madame Moony.
Please review!