Disclaimer: Ok well I don't know if you know this, but me and J.K.R. are in
some negotiations now and she won't part with Harry, Ron, or Hermione but
I've got my checkbook right here and I'm sure I can make her an offer she
can't refuse for Draco LoL but for now she owns it all grrrr...
Author's Note: Ok well ch.8 is heeere LoL ok this chapter is sorta humor and romance sorta...I dunno this story was like a mix of everything we've got drama, comedy, romance, and horror too wow that's pretty crazy and this chapter adds adventure...sorta o0o well just go along with it hahaha
Slythindor
Chapter 8: Confusion, Contraptions, Clumsiness, and Confessions
Back at the Slythindor common room Harry and Ron were frantic. As far as they knew Hermione was going to spend a few more minutes with Hagrid before following them into the castle. She never showed up though and it was getting late. They had gone back to Hagrid's hut but to their surprise he wasn't there and there was a huge mess in his kitchen. After a visit to McGonagoll explaining the situation they returned to their common room feeling worried and upset.
"You know what, Harry?" asked Ron as Harry responded with a questioning look, "I bet it has something to do with those stupid Swallops!"
"Oh get off it Ron they're just stupid little...wait a sec, they weren't there when we went back to Hagrid's were they? And remember what Hagrid said about upsetting them? Oh no...the mess in the kitchen! You know what Ron I think you might be on to something...but just to be sure we'd better go to the library and see what we can find out."
The library wasn't too far from the Slythindor common room and neither was anything else since as they recently found out, it was conveniently situated right in the middle of the castle. When they got to the library they told Madame Pince what they were looking for since they didn't have Hermione with them and she found for them a book all about Swallops. It was a pretty thin book and had a picture of a rather large looking swallop on the cover, which made Ron a little uneasy. They thanked her and she told them that if they needed any more information they could find it in the Care of Magical Creatures Area. They doubted they would need anything else so they went back to their common room.
"Augh, I HATE this stupid picture!" Ron exclaimed looking darkly on the fat lady in the pink dress who happened to be sitting down.
"Yah, who are we going to compliment this time?" Harry asked looking curiously at the painting, "Hey where's the snake?" The chair that the lady started to shake and she tried her best to stay put but she seemed to have failed as she was sprung off her chair. The snake was sitting on it now and looked rather squashed.
"Couldn't leave well enough alone could you? I had him pinned for a whole hour!" said the fat lady looking very aggravated.
"Erm...sorry. Ron did you think of anything?"
"Yah I've been saving this one for a time when Hermione isn't with us," he said looking around to see if anyone was around them then continuing, "Pansy Parkinson is very uhh...nice-looking." The door to the common room swung open.
"Ron! I cannot believe you just said that!" Harry said looking very surprised..
"Well...she is!" Ron said as his face turned a tinge red.
"Yah I guess so...anyway let's see what this book says" Harry said as he and Ron sat on the couch opposite the fireplace. Most of the book was about their habitats, appearance, and how to take care of them but there was one chapter that caught their attention.
"The Horrific Hoax...," Ron read aloud, "Hmm it says here that if you get a Swallop really angry it will fully inhale and grow really huge. Then it says it will immerse you and the entire area around you with thick smoke and uh oh..the smoke will take a certain horrific form and appear to chase you. Each swallop is different but common shapes include a skull, a dagger, a hand, and several ghastly faces. There are certain limits to where the smoke will reach, and if your lucky enough to reach these barriers, the form will not be able to reach you any longer. But then it says if the smoky shape nears you it will appear to attack you then cause you to lose consciousness (if it hasn't already). And then as it has stricken you with terror it will disappear and the smoke will dissipate completely. These are fairly common creatures and use these methods as a form of revenge. But in actuality it's completely harmless as it is a very complex illusion."
"I don't know Ron, should we worry?"
"Yah, she IS missing but I don't think she's in any direct danger, Hagrid's probably with her and McGonagoll has people out looking for her."
As they sat thinking about the situation they overheard a couple of Slytherin girls behind them talking.
"Hey where's Draco?" asked Millicent who hadn't seen him all night and was getting very distressed over it.
"I don't know...he's been missing for a while now," said Pansy as she frowned, "Oh well you know my Draco, always breaking the rules," she said staring dreamily into space.
"Excuse me? YOUR Draco? Since when has he given you the time of day? He's definitely more mine than YOURS!"
"He is not! What would he be doing with a frizzy haired goon like you?"
"Augh! The question is what would he be doing with an air-headed bimbo like YOU!"
Harry and Ron rolled their eyes and walked away seeing as they couldn't understand what interested them so much in Draco Malfoy. Plus this fight was going to be getting violent in a minute. They found it odd though that Draco was missing also, but didn't think much of it since he was probably just wreaking havoc somewhere. Millicent and Pansy were rolling on the floor now trying to pull each other's hair out and Ron and Harry had decided to worry themselves to sleep so they just stepped over the girls and went up to their dormitory still wondering why a girl would even want to TOUCH Draco Malfoy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione stirred in her sleep as she clutched her pillow. 'Mmm...this pillow is so soft and gentle, but what's with this bed? It's so hard and bumpy,' she thought as she slept carelessly. She opened her eyes a bit and saw the sunlight cascading through the trees and watched as a bird floated through the air. "Wait a second...TREES?!!" She shrieked and opened her eyes completely. 'That was no pillow...it was Draco Malfoy!' She screamed and got up...then she screamed some more. 'That whole time I thought I was holding a pillow..AUGH!' she thought as she kept screaming. Draco stirred then bolted upright. He was wearing that same confused and alarmed face he had on yesterday when she revived him.
"What happened?! And God could you stop bloody screaming for a minute I've gone completely deaf in my right ear already, please be so kind as to spare me the left one will you?!"
"What are we still doing here? I thought...I thought you were...," Hermione couldn't continue what she was saying but she did continue screaming. Draco got up irritably and Hermione turned around and walked over to a rock that was opposite them. She stopped screaming and as calmly as she could she sat down.
"We have to think this out," she said as she took deep breaths, "Okay I remember up until...until I was caught in the vines...and...and you helped me." She looked up at him with an appreciative glance, but he evaded her eyes. "Do you remember what happened after that?"
"No, I...I can't remember a thing; just forget it. We're here now so let's just concentrate on getting out," Draco said abruptly still avoiding eye contact.
"But wait, how did we get away from the skull? I remember now, we had ripped up the vines then the skull had caught up with us and it was right above me...hey look!" she said as she bolted off the rock and ran several yards behind them. Draco trailed behind curiously.
"See look! Here are the vines I got out of yesterday, see they're all shredded! But how did we get all the way over there? Malfoy, there's something you're not telling me!"
"You passed out and the Skull ate us okay? Are you happy now?"
"The Skull did WHAT?!"
"Forget it, we were in the same place where it attacked us when we woke up so it doesn't matter."
"So it didn't really do anything! Oh God it must have been some sort of hoax...but wait if you knew where we were before it attacked us then you DO know how we got all the way over there!"
"Just shut up Granger you're starting to irritate me. I think I might know the way from here so I'm leaving," he drawled as he walked past her. Draco was getting more irritated with HIMSELF. What did he do all that for anyway? He remembered that her words were sounding in his head as he turned back the day before. It had struck him hard when she had said that she was the one that shattered the glass. She saved his life in more ways than one. She broke the glass, indirectly put the body-binding spell in his head, used the transparency spell, led him to safety, and then fixed his ribs before he died. Talk about a full-scale rescue, not bad for a mudblood. He heard her running after him and after she had caught up with him she started walking at a normal pace a few steps behind him.
"Umm...Malfoy? I think I owe you an apology," Hermione said as she caught up and walked next to him. He turned to her with a smirk on his face.
"Oh really? I don't need any apologies Granger; what did you do? Make a mini replica of me and sleep with it at night? I'm sure your guilt's been eating away at you but just save it."
"If your referring to Pansy's 'Draco Doll' I can assure you I've never touched it and she doesn't sleep with it EVERY night just when she feels lonely...," she said grinning as Draco's eyes had widened and he had on a disgusted look, "Anyway...I was referring to that fight we had with the whole 'worthless excuse for a witch' deal. I said something to you about being a death eater then you rather harshly denied it. I have to admit I didn't believe you and after what I saw at the cabin I felt really guilty about calling you that...and I'm sorry,"
Draco stopped and looked at her. Her eyes sparkled with sincerity and it moved him in a way beyond words. Then he stiffened as his stubborn pride returned to him.
For a second Hermione could have sworn she saw his gaze become warm but a few seconds later she saw it become icy again. She knew he was going to spit back some nasty comment at her so before he could open his mouth she decided to finish what she had to say.
"I just felt awful for misjudging you and you seem to have a lot to deal with, with your father and all, and all this stupid arguing with me isn't making it any better. So, let's make a truce until we get out of here okay?"
He studied her a minute and decided that it wasn't such as a bad idea. He might as well make the best out of being stuck with a mudblood.
"Fine," he muttered.
They walked and walked for what seemed like hours in silence. Hermione swore if she had a knut for every tree they passed she'd be a millionaire.
"Malfoy, are you sure you know where you're going?"
"Of course I'm sure, what did you think we walked all that way for nothing?"
Suddenly Hermione screamed and pointed.
"Draco Malfoy! You know the way huh? These shredded vines look AWFULLY familiar! We've walked in a complete circle! Lovely little stroll you took us on around the ENTIRE perimeter of the forest!" Hermione shouted from exasperation. She went over to the rock she sat on that morning and rested her head in her hands. Draco had just dropped and sat on the ground from frustration and was in the middle of aimlessly throwing rocks when he heard a splatting sound and then some sort of moisture on his head. Hermione had been watching him and was now absolutely doubled over with laughter. He gave her a questioning look as he touched his head.
"You...you...hahahahaha...the bird pooped on your head!" she said while rather uncontrollably pointing and laughing.
"What?! Augh my hair! That's repulsive!" Draco shouted as he was freaking out. Hermione was absolutely hysterical as she watched as he was trying to find something to wipe it off on. He refused to wipe it off on any of his clothes so he was absolutely frantic. So, seeing as how he was so sensitive about his hair Hermione decided to mess with him...
"You know I heard bird waste damages your roots Malfoy, better get it off before your hair starts falling out..!"
"FALLING OUT?! That's preposterous...that couldn't possibly happen. Oh my god is that a hair in my hand?!"
Hermione was laughing her head off as Draco's eyes bulged and he took his school robe off and instantly wiped it off.
"Your hair is completely chaotic Malfoy!," she shouted still practically falling off the rock from laughter, "Look it all hanging down the side of your face, why I've never seen you without it slicked back."
"Oh and I suppose yours is in impeccable shape? You with that branch on your head!" he said finding himself grinning at the sight of her hair.
"What?" she asked looking puzzled, but as she felt around her hair she pulled out a twig. Then she started taking out a couple of leaves as Draco was just staring in confusion. She was still laughing uproariously at him but then at herself now, as she seemed to be pulling out the contents of a tree from her head.
"Why I've got a tree in my hair! Or quite a few look I've got maple leaves, oak leaves, and look here's a birch leaf!" she said between laughs while Draco's expressions turned from confusion to one of amusement.
"Get a hold of yourself Granger for God's sake," Malfoy said still staring at her but as soon she fell right off the rock couldn't take it anymore and found himself actually laughing. Hermione looked up at him, watching this rare turn of events and stopped what she was doing. She just stared at him until he stopped, which was after a record of 15 seconds. He turned serious again though as he realized that all the pride he had was soiled just like his hair. He cleared his throat, got up and started walking again. Hermione went after him.
"Malfoy, I have to say I've never seen you genuinely laugh before."
Draco scowled at her and mumbled, "First and last time, mudblood."
Her face fell, "You know you're a real prat Malfoy," she said crossing her arms and frowning at him. They walked in silence for a while trying to take different paths than last time. Hermione had been carrying a weight the whole time since she had woken up and she decided to lift it before it was too late.
She caught up with him and broke the silence and with a soft voice said, "I don't know why you did it Malfoy, but thank you for turning back and helping me get out of the vines."
His body visibly stiffened and he stopped in his tracks then turned his head, "Forget about it Granger," he said rather abruptly and started walking again but she grabbed his arm.
"You better not be doing this so that I owe you something Malfoy, I saved your life too you know."
"I know," he said looking plagued as if disgusted at himself.
"Well, you don't have to be so revolted by it Malfoy, I know your not exactly used to doing 'good deeds' but they're not so horrible."
"What're you going to give me a crash course on ethics Granger? 'Morals 101'?
"No, but you could sure use it. But at least now I got a compliment for the common room door!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Draco Malfoy actually has some morals!"
"WHAT?! Don't you dare say that, and especially with people around you, you'll ruin me!"
"Nobody pays any attention to that anymore anyway people just want to get through the blasted door, Slythindor is a complete wreck you know."
"It was all that senile old coot's idea, it'll never work."
"You shouldn't say things like that about Dumbledore, he IS trying to make the best of things. You're right though, I don't think Gryffindor and Slytherin will ever get along."
"Of course they won't."
"Well, at least we agree on something," Hermione said grinning.
"Well isn't that just FANTASTIC! Let's celebrate!" Draco said smirking.
She gave him an irritated look, "Hey, do you think people are worrying about us?"
"Probably, you're weasel boyfriend and scar face have most likely hung themselves by now without their precioussss," Draco hissed alluding to the Lord of the Rings.
"He's not my boyfriend! Nor a weasel at that! And since when do you read J.R.R. Tolkien's novels?"
He shrugged, "Other people read good literature Granger, what you think I sat and read books on the Dark Arts all day? That series happens to be my favorite."
"Really? That's so weird it's mine too!" Hemione admitted, "I liked the Two Towers the best, what about you?" They walked along for a while more talking about it surprisingly without killing each other. That is until Draco said something about Sam having homosexual tendencies.
"Sam follows Frodo as if he was some sort of God, I would have ditched him from the beginning."
Suddenly Hermione started giggling.
"What is it NOW?"
"It doesn't sound familiar at all to you?"
"Absolutely not, what are you talking about?"
"Well I was just thinking how frantic Crabbe and Goyle must be without their 'love stud.'"
"What?! Have you gone mad?!"
"No, don't you think they spend a little TOO much time near you? You're the God of their idolatry for Pete's sake! And Pansy oh God, she's probably squeezed the stuffing out of her doll by now!" Hermione managed to say before continuing to giggle uncontrollably.
"Do you miss her?" Hermione asked after a while when she had finally stopped laughing.
"Who?"
"Pansy of course."
He looked at her as if she was giving Voldemort a bear hug, "Have you gone DAFT?! That girl's got a 'For Rent' sign in her head where her brain's supposed to be!"
Hermione laughed, "Oh wow I thought you guys were you know an item, seeing as how she worships you and all...guess she's just disturbingly obsessed. No wonder why she's got all that stuff in that drawer she's devoted to you. She's got hair samples from one of your hairbrushes she stole, TONS of pictures, a toothbrush that supposedly belongs to you, and several other items of yours she kleptomaniacally took or bought from people. Oh yah and there's a spot on her hand that she never washes 'cause you kissed it one time at the Yule Ball when you had to in one of the dances. I'd get a restraining order if I were you."
Draco looked absolutely horror-struck.
"It's odd though, I'd have thought Pansy was your type."
"No way, she's a maniac and she just graduated to psycho now after what you've told me."
"But don't you like girls that are fawning over you like that? You seemed very well entertained with Millicent in Potions."
"And when exactly did you ever catch me voluntarily within 10 feet of her? It's always fun of course, but she's definitely not the kind of girl I'd want to be around."
"And what on earth kind of girl would that be?"
"Well, for starters she can't be horribly ugly, plus even though nobody has a high level intellect as myself she has to come fairly close," he said smirking as he thought about the rest slowly, "And it has to be someone I can trust, too. But most importantly she can't expect me to become a death eater," he finished but he was staring into space by this time. He had looked deep in though at the last thing and he said it very slowly and with difficulty. He shook his head and snapped out of it as he saw Hermione giving him a surprised glance.
"Well Malfoy, all I can say is you just ruled out every girl in Slytherin," Hermione said with a laugh, "Hey, what's that?" she said as she noticed something sticking out from beneath a pile of leaves on the ground in front of them. She leaned down and picked up a very odd looking object. It resembled a magnifying glass except the handle was made of purple crystal and was rimmed with emeralds around the base. The glass was thick and cut intricately so that when you looked into it you saw a hundred of what you were looking at.
"Looks valuble...better let me hold it," Draco said reaching for it, but Hermione jerked it away.
"You wish, I think I'll keep this and maybe figure out what it is. You'd just take it to the local pawnshop," she said as she put it in a pocket of her cloak. Draco watched her as she did this and suddenly stopped.
"My knife! It's missing, I just remembered I was looking for it last night when you were tangled in the plant and I didn't have it. But wait it was in the gray cloak...oh no Granger what did you do with the knife?!"
"The one with the snake on it? I tore the cloak with it I didn't have anything else.." she said before he interrupted her.
"But what did you do with it after that?" he asked sharply.
"I...I don't remember. I had other things on my mind you know!"
"Like what?!"
"Like saving your life! I wasn't too concerned with a stupid knife!"
"That is NOT a stupid knife it's a goddamn family heirloom father is going to kill me!" "I'm sure you can find another one like it..."
"NO it's one of a kind! Augh great and I thought this hellhole couldn't get any worse! I'm stuck with a mudblood in the middle of the Forbidden Forest and now I haven't got the knife," he said with his face in his hands from frustration.
"Well, if you think about it, you got yourself into this mess! I didn't CHOOSE to come here! You came her voluntarily god knows why!"
"Do you think I had a choice? If Lucius Malfoy tells you to meet him somewhere you GO! Do you know what it's like having him as your father? Being forced into a life you never chose to have, being judged by who your father is and who people think YOU are because of it, and living up to it...you have no idea," Draco said with an almost somber voice while staring into space again.
"Living up to it? Malfoy is that why you're always so...unpleasant?" she asked bluntly as it dawned on her an explanation why he was always so nasty and malicious.
"I don't know...it's been like this since as long as I can remember," he said then finding himself in a daze again he shook his head. He looked at her and her eyes sparkled as she gave him an understanding look that made him feel comforted in a way he'd never thought possible. Her eyes were warm and reassuring, but he couldn't take it for much longer. He was infuriated with himself for telling her all this and he felt a sudden feeling of disgrace. He looked away from her angrily, "It's nothing a stupid little mudblood would understand anyway...," he muttered as he started walking again.
"Malfoy we had a truce! Augh it's useless with you anyway. And where do you think you're going? I'M leading this time!" she said, almost shouting from frustration. They walked on for a little while longer still not knowing where they were. Suddenly Hermione tripped on something but managed to maintain balance and didn't fall. But Draco wouldn't let her get away with that, of course.
"Can't you walk Granger? That's not the first time I've seen you fall, I do recall that's what got you into that mess yesterday," he said mockingly in his usual drawling voice. Hermione turned around to retort but as soon as she did Draco tripped on a rather large tree root, knocking her over and landing right on top of her.
"You were saying Malfoy?" she said grinning. Draco struggled to get up but realized that his foot was caught beneath the root. Hermione was struggling to get out from under him and was trying to push him off.
"Stop, that's not helping," he said but then he noticed that her arms and hands were all scratched and bruised, "What happened to your hands...they're hurt," he said as he held them still. He found himself running his hands gently over her cuts, which were many along her arm. He looked into her eyes again and she looked into his with an anxious look. He'd never realized how pretty she was before.
"You know what Malfoy? I like your hair better like that...all hanging down the side of your face. And another thing..," she said, "You're cutting off my air supply!"
"Oh...right, sorry," he said as she started to struggle again and managed to get out of his shoe and free his foot. Just then though, they heard a voice.
"Hermione? What in bloody hell's goin' on here?"
I am an evil minion of satan and I have been built to create havoc with torturous cliffhangerss hahahaha ok well this chapter definitely didn't take me as long as ch.7 and I really don't have much else to say but PLEASE PLEASE PPLLEEEEASEE REVIEW!!!
Who's caught them in a very compromising position? What will happen once they get back to Hogwarts? What's everyone going to be up to on the Hogmeade trip?
That's all in the next chapter and btw EVERYONE MUST READ The Mistake They Can't Deny and I'm With You they're both by SweetWater TRUST me they're REALLY good and also read Draco Malfoy the Amazing Bouncing...Rat by Sharon Armstrong it's hilarious kk I'm just givin u my personal recommendations LoL cyaa
Author's Note: Ok well ch.8 is heeere LoL ok this chapter is sorta humor and romance sorta...I dunno this story was like a mix of everything we've got drama, comedy, romance, and horror too wow that's pretty crazy and this chapter adds adventure...sorta o0o well just go along with it hahaha
Slythindor
Chapter 8: Confusion, Contraptions, Clumsiness, and Confessions
Back at the Slythindor common room Harry and Ron were frantic. As far as they knew Hermione was going to spend a few more minutes with Hagrid before following them into the castle. She never showed up though and it was getting late. They had gone back to Hagrid's hut but to their surprise he wasn't there and there was a huge mess in his kitchen. After a visit to McGonagoll explaining the situation they returned to their common room feeling worried and upset.
"You know what, Harry?" asked Ron as Harry responded with a questioning look, "I bet it has something to do with those stupid Swallops!"
"Oh get off it Ron they're just stupid little...wait a sec, they weren't there when we went back to Hagrid's were they? And remember what Hagrid said about upsetting them? Oh no...the mess in the kitchen! You know what Ron I think you might be on to something...but just to be sure we'd better go to the library and see what we can find out."
The library wasn't too far from the Slythindor common room and neither was anything else since as they recently found out, it was conveniently situated right in the middle of the castle. When they got to the library they told Madame Pince what they were looking for since they didn't have Hermione with them and she found for them a book all about Swallops. It was a pretty thin book and had a picture of a rather large looking swallop on the cover, which made Ron a little uneasy. They thanked her and she told them that if they needed any more information they could find it in the Care of Magical Creatures Area. They doubted they would need anything else so they went back to their common room.
"Augh, I HATE this stupid picture!" Ron exclaimed looking darkly on the fat lady in the pink dress who happened to be sitting down.
"Yah, who are we going to compliment this time?" Harry asked looking curiously at the painting, "Hey where's the snake?" The chair that the lady started to shake and she tried her best to stay put but she seemed to have failed as she was sprung off her chair. The snake was sitting on it now and looked rather squashed.
"Couldn't leave well enough alone could you? I had him pinned for a whole hour!" said the fat lady looking very aggravated.
"Erm...sorry. Ron did you think of anything?"
"Yah I've been saving this one for a time when Hermione isn't with us," he said looking around to see if anyone was around them then continuing, "Pansy Parkinson is very uhh...nice-looking." The door to the common room swung open.
"Ron! I cannot believe you just said that!" Harry said looking very surprised..
"Well...she is!" Ron said as his face turned a tinge red.
"Yah I guess so...anyway let's see what this book says" Harry said as he and Ron sat on the couch opposite the fireplace. Most of the book was about their habitats, appearance, and how to take care of them but there was one chapter that caught their attention.
"The Horrific Hoax...," Ron read aloud, "Hmm it says here that if you get a Swallop really angry it will fully inhale and grow really huge. Then it says it will immerse you and the entire area around you with thick smoke and uh oh..the smoke will take a certain horrific form and appear to chase you. Each swallop is different but common shapes include a skull, a dagger, a hand, and several ghastly faces. There are certain limits to where the smoke will reach, and if your lucky enough to reach these barriers, the form will not be able to reach you any longer. But then it says if the smoky shape nears you it will appear to attack you then cause you to lose consciousness (if it hasn't already). And then as it has stricken you with terror it will disappear and the smoke will dissipate completely. These are fairly common creatures and use these methods as a form of revenge. But in actuality it's completely harmless as it is a very complex illusion."
"I don't know Ron, should we worry?"
"Yah, she IS missing but I don't think she's in any direct danger, Hagrid's probably with her and McGonagoll has people out looking for her."
As they sat thinking about the situation they overheard a couple of Slytherin girls behind them talking.
"Hey where's Draco?" asked Millicent who hadn't seen him all night and was getting very distressed over it.
"I don't know...he's been missing for a while now," said Pansy as she frowned, "Oh well you know my Draco, always breaking the rules," she said staring dreamily into space.
"Excuse me? YOUR Draco? Since when has he given you the time of day? He's definitely more mine than YOURS!"
"He is not! What would he be doing with a frizzy haired goon like you?"
"Augh! The question is what would he be doing with an air-headed bimbo like YOU!"
Harry and Ron rolled their eyes and walked away seeing as they couldn't understand what interested them so much in Draco Malfoy. Plus this fight was going to be getting violent in a minute. They found it odd though that Draco was missing also, but didn't think much of it since he was probably just wreaking havoc somewhere. Millicent and Pansy were rolling on the floor now trying to pull each other's hair out and Ron and Harry had decided to worry themselves to sleep so they just stepped over the girls and went up to their dormitory still wondering why a girl would even want to TOUCH Draco Malfoy.
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Hermione stirred in her sleep as she clutched her pillow. 'Mmm...this pillow is so soft and gentle, but what's with this bed? It's so hard and bumpy,' she thought as she slept carelessly. She opened her eyes a bit and saw the sunlight cascading through the trees and watched as a bird floated through the air. "Wait a second...TREES?!!" She shrieked and opened her eyes completely. 'That was no pillow...it was Draco Malfoy!' She screamed and got up...then she screamed some more. 'That whole time I thought I was holding a pillow..AUGH!' she thought as she kept screaming. Draco stirred then bolted upright. He was wearing that same confused and alarmed face he had on yesterday when she revived him.
"What happened?! And God could you stop bloody screaming for a minute I've gone completely deaf in my right ear already, please be so kind as to spare me the left one will you?!"
"What are we still doing here? I thought...I thought you were...," Hermione couldn't continue what she was saying but she did continue screaming. Draco got up irritably and Hermione turned around and walked over to a rock that was opposite them. She stopped screaming and as calmly as she could she sat down.
"We have to think this out," she said as she took deep breaths, "Okay I remember up until...until I was caught in the vines...and...and you helped me." She looked up at him with an appreciative glance, but he evaded her eyes. "Do you remember what happened after that?"
"No, I...I can't remember a thing; just forget it. We're here now so let's just concentrate on getting out," Draco said abruptly still avoiding eye contact.
"But wait, how did we get away from the skull? I remember now, we had ripped up the vines then the skull had caught up with us and it was right above me...hey look!" she said as she bolted off the rock and ran several yards behind them. Draco trailed behind curiously.
"See look! Here are the vines I got out of yesterday, see they're all shredded! But how did we get all the way over there? Malfoy, there's something you're not telling me!"
"You passed out and the Skull ate us okay? Are you happy now?"
"The Skull did WHAT?!"
"Forget it, we were in the same place where it attacked us when we woke up so it doesn't matter."
"So it didn't really do anything! Oh God it must have been some sort of hoax...but wait if you knew where we were before it attacked us then you DO know how we got all the way over there!"
"Just shut up Granger you're starting to irritate me. I think I might know the way from here so I'm leaving," he drawled as he walked past her. Draco was getting more irritated with HIMSELF. What did he do all that for anyway? He remembered that her words were sounding in his head as he turned back the day before. It had struck him hard when she had said that she was the one that shattered the glass. She saved his life in more ways than one. She broke the glass, indirectly put the body-binding spell in his head, used the transparency spell, led him to safety, and then fixed his ribs before he died. Talk about a full-scale rescue, not bad for a mudblood. He heard her running after him and after she had caught up with him she started walking at a normal pace a few steps behind him.
"Umm...Malfoy? I think I owe you an apology," Hermione said as she caught up and walked next to him. He turned to her with a smirk on his face.
"Oh really? I don't need any apologies Granger; what did you do? Make a mini replica of me and sleep with it at night? I'm sure your guilt's been eating away at you but just save it."
"If your referring to Pansy's 'Draco Doll' I can assure you I've never touched it and she doesn't sleep with it EVERY night just when she feels lonely...," she said grinning as Draco's eyes had widened and he had on a disgusted look, "Anyway...I was referring to that fight we had with the whole 'worthless excuse for a witch' deal. I said something to you about being a death eater then you rather harshly denied it. I have to admit I didn't believe you and after what I saw at the cabin I felt really guilty about calling you that...and I'm sorry,"
Draco stopped and looked at her. Her eyes sparkled with sincerity and it moved him in a way beyond words. Then he stiffened as his stubborn pride returned to him.
For a second Hermione could have sworn she saw his gaze become warm but a few seconds later she saw it become icy again. She knew he was going to spit back some nasty comment at her so before he could open his mouth she decided to finish what she had to say.
"I just felt awful for misjudging you and you seem to have a lot to deal with, with your father and all, and all this stupid arguing with me isn't making it any better. So, let's make a truce until we get out of here okay?"
He studied her a minute and decided that it wasn't such as a bad idea. He might as well make the best out of being stuck with a mudblood.
"Fine," he muttered.
They walked and walked for what seemed like hours in silence. Hermione swore if she had a knut for every tree they passed she'd be a millionaire.
"Malfoy, are you sure you know where you're going?"
"Of course I'm sure, what did you think we walked all that way for nothing?"
Suddenly Hermione screamed and pointed.
"Draco Malfoy! You know the way huh? These shredded vines look AWFULLY familiar! We've walked in a complete circle! Lovely little stroll you took us on around the ENTIRE perimeter of the forest!" Hermione shouted from exasperation. She went over to the rock she sat on that morning and rested her head in her hands. Draco had just dropped and sat on the ground from frustration and was in the middle of aimlessly throwing rocks when he heard a splatting sound and then some sort of moisture on his head. Hermione had been watching him and was now absolutely doubled over with laughter. He gave her a questioning look as he touched his head.
"You...you...hahahahaha...the bird pooped on your head!" she said while rather uncontrollably pointing and laughing.
"What?! Augh my hair! That's repulsive!" Draco shouted as he was freaking out. Hermione was absolutely hysterical as she watched as he was trying to find something to wipe it off on. He refused to wipe it off on any of his clothes so he was absolutely frantic. So, seeing as how he was so sensitive about his hair Hermione decided to mess with him...
"You know I heard bird waste damages your roots Malfoy, better get it off before your hair starts falling out..!"
"FALLING OUT?! That's preposterous...that couldn't possibly happen. Oh my god is that a hair in my hand?!"
Hermione was laughing her head off as Draco's eyes bulged and he took his school robe off and instantly wiped it off.
"Your hair is completely chaotic Malfoy!," she shouted still practically falling off the rock from laughter, "Look it all hanging down the side of your face, why I've never seen you without it slicked back."
"Oh and I suppose yours is in impeccable shape? You with that branch on your head!" he said finding himself grinning at the sight of her hair.
"What?" she asked looking puzzled, but as she felt around her hair she pulled out a twig. Then she started taking out a couple of leaves as Draco was just staring in confusion. She was still laughing uproariously at him but then at herself now, as she seemed to be pulling out the contents of a tree from her head.
"Why I've got a tree in my hair! Or quite a few look I've got maple leaves, oak leaves, and look here's a birch leaf!" she said between laughs while Draco's expressions turned from confusion to one of amusement.
"Get a hold of yourself Granger for God's sake," Malfoy said still staring at her but as soon she fell right off the rock couldn't take it anymore and found himself actually laughing. Hermione looked up at him, watching this rare turn of events and stopped what she was doing. She just stared at him until he stopped, which was after a record of 15 seconds. He turned serious again though as he realized that all the pride he had was soiled just like his hair. He cleared his throat, got up and started walking again. Hermione went after him.
"Malfoy, I have to say I've never seen you genuinely laugh before."
Draco scowled at her and mumbled, "First and last time, mudblood."
Her face fell, "You know you're a real prat Malfoy," she said crossing her arms and frowning at him. They walked in silence for a while trying to take different paths than last time. Hermione had been carrying a weight the whole time since she had woken up and she decided to lift it before it was too late.
She caught up with him and broke the silence and with a soft voice said, "I don't know why you did it Malfoy, but thank you for turning back and helping me get out of the vines."
His body visibly stiffened and he stopped in his tracks then turned his head, "Forget about it Granger," he said rather abruptly and started walking again but she grabbed his arm.
"You better not be doing this so that I owe you something Malfoy, I saved your life too you know."
"I know," he said looking plagued as if disgusted at himself.
"Well, you don't have to be so revolted by it Malfoy, I know your not exactly used to doing 'good deeds' but they're not so horrible."
"What're you going to give me a crash course on ethics Granger? 'Morals 101'?
"No, but you could sure use it. But at least now I got a compliment for the common room door!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Draco Malfoy actually has some morals!"
"WHAT?! Don't you dare say that, and especially with people around you, you'll ruin me!"
"Nobody pays any attention to that anymore anyway people just want to get through the blasted door, Slythindor is a complete wreck you know."
"It was all that senile old coot's idea, it'll never work."
"You shouldn't say things like that about Dumbledore, he IS trying to make the best of things. You're right though, I don't think Gryffindor and Slytherin will ever get along."
"Of course they won't."
"Well, at least we agree on something," Hermione said grinning.
"Well isn't that just FANTASTIC! Let's celebrate!" Draco said smirking.
She gave him an irritated look, "Hey, do you think people are worrying about us?"
"Probably, you're weasel boyfriend and scar face have most likely hung themselves by now without their precioussss," Draco hissed alluding to the Lord of the Rings.
"He's not my boyfriend! Nor a weasel at that! And since when do you read J.R.R. Tolkien's novels?"
He shrugged, "Other people read good literature Granger, what you think I sat and read books on the Dark Arts all day? That series happens to be my favorite."
"Really? That's so weird it's mine too!" Hemione admitted, "I liked the Two Towers the best, what about you?" They walked along for a while more talking about it surprisingly without killing each other. That is until Draco said something about Sam having homosexual tendencies.
"Sam follows Frodo as if he was some sort of God, I would have ditched him from the beginning."
Suddenly Hermione started giggling.
"What is it NOW?"
"It doesn't sound familiar at all to you?"
"Absolutely not, what are you talking about?"
"Well I was just thinking how frantic Crabbe and Goyle must be without their 'love stud.'"
"What?! Have you gone mad?!"
"No, don't you think they spend a little TOO much time near you? You're the God of their idolatry for Pete's sake! And Pansy oh God, she's probably squeezed the stuffing out of her doll by now!" Hermione managed to say before continuing to giggle uncontrollably.
"Do you miss her?" Hermione asked after a while when she had finally stopped laughing.
"Who?"
"Pansy of course."
He looked at her as if she was giving Voldemort a bear hug, "Have you gone DAFT?! That girl's got a 'For Rent' sign in her head where her brain's supposed to be!"
Hermione laughed, "Oh wow I thought you guys were you know an item, seeing as how she worships you and all...guess she's just disturbingly obsessed. No wonder why she's got all that stuff in that drawer she's devoted to you. She's got hair samples from one of your hairbrushes she stole, TONS of pictures, a toothbrush that supposedly belongs to you, and several other items of yours she kleptomaniacally took or bought from people. Oh yah and there's a spot on her hand that she never washes 'cause you kissed it one time at the Yule Ball when you had to in one of the dances. I'd get a restraining order if I were you."
Draco looked absolutely horror-struck.
"It's odd though, I'd have thought Pansy was your type."
"No way, she's a maniac and she just graduated to psycho now after what you've told me."
"But don't you like girls that are fawning over you like that? You seemed very well entertained with Millicent in Potions."
"And when exactly did you ever catch me voluntarily within 10 feet of her? It's always fun of course, but she's definitely not the kind of girl I'd want to be around."
"And what on earth kind of girl would that be?"
"Well, for starters she can't be horribly ugly, plus even though nobody has a high level intellect as myself she has to come fairly close," he said smirking as he thought about the rest slowly, "And it has to be someone I can trust, too. But most importantly she can't expect me to become a death eater," he finished but he was staring into space by this time. He had looked deep in though at the last thing and he said it very slowly and with difficulty. He shook his head and snapped out of it as he saw Hermione giving him a surprised glance.
"Well Malfoy, all I can say is you just ruled out every girl in Slytherin," Hermione said with a laugh, "Hey, what's that?" she said as she noticed something sticking out from beneath a pile of leaves on the ground in front of them. She leaned down and picked up a very odd looking object. It resembled a magnifying glass except the handle was made of purple crystal and was rimmed with emeralds around the base. The glass was thick and cut intricately so that when you looked into it you saw a hundred of what you were looking at.
"Looks valuble...better let me hold it," Draco said reaching for it, but Hermione jerked it away.
"You wish, I think I'll keep this and maybe figure out what it is. You'd just take it to the local pawnshop," she said as she put it in a pocket of her cloak. Draco watched her as she did this and suddenly stopped.
"My knife! It's missing, I just remembered I was looking for it last night when you were tangled in the plant and I didn't have it. But wait it was in the gray cloak...oh no Granger what did you do with the knife?!"
"The one with the snake on it? I tore the cloak with it I didn't have anything else.." she said before he interrupted her.
"But what did you do with it after that?" he asked sharply.
"I...I don't remember. I had other things on my mind you know!"
"Like what?!"
"Like saving your life! I wasn't too concerned with a stupid knife!"
"That is NOT a stupid knife it's a goddamn family heirloom father is going to kill me!" "I'm sure you can find another one like it..."
"NO it's one of a kind! Augh great and I thought this hellhole couldn't get any worse! I'm stuck with a mudblood in the middle of the Forbidden Forest and now I haven't got the knife," he said with his face in his hands from frustration.
"Well, if you think about it, you got yourself into this mess! I didn't CHOOSE to come here! You came her voluntarily god knows why!"
"Do you think I had a choice? If Lucius Malfoy tells you to meet him somewhere you GO! Do you know what it's like having him as your father? Being forced into a life you never chose to have, being judged by who your father is and who people think YOU are because of it, and living up to it...you have no idea," Draco said with an almost somber voice while staring into space again.
"Living up to it? Malfoy is that why you're always so...unpleasant?" she asked bluntly as it dawned on her an explanation why he was always so nasty and malicious.
"I don't know...it's been like this since as long as I can remember," he said then finding himself in a daze again he shook his head. He looked at her and her eyes sparkled as she gave him an understanding look that made him feel comforted in a way he'd never thought possible. Her eyes were warm and reassuring, but he couldn't take it for much longer. He was infuriated with himself for telling her all this and he felt a sudden feeling of disgrace. He looked away from her angrily, "It's nothing a stupid little mudblood would understand anyway...," he muttered as he started walking again.
"Malfoy we had a truce! Augh it's useless with you anyway. And where do you think you're going? I'M leading this time!" she said, almost shouting from frustration. They walked on for a little while longer still not knowing where they were. Suddenly Hermione tripped on something but managed to maintain balance and didn't fall. But Draco wouldn't let her get away with that, of course.
"Can't you walk Granger? That's not the first time I've seen you fall, I do recall that's what got you into that mess yesterday," he said mockingly in his usual drawling voice. Hermione turned around to retort but as soon as she did Draco tripped on a rather large tree root, knocking her over and landing right on top of her.
"You were saying Malfoy?" she said grinning. Draco struggled to get up but realized that his foot was caught beneath the root. Hermione was struggling to get out from under him and was trying to push him off.
"Stop, that's not helping," he said but then he noticed that her arms and hands were all scratched and bruised, "What happened to your hands...they're hurt," he said as he held them still. He found himself running his hands gently over her cuts, which were many along her arm. He looked into her eyes again and she looked into his with an anxious look. He'd never realized how pretty she was before.
"You know what Malfoy? I like your hair better like that...all hanging down the side of your face. And another thing..," she said, "You're cutting off my air supply!"
"Oh...right, sorry," he said as she started to struggle again and managed to get out of his shoe and free his foot. Just then though, they heard a voice.
"Hermione? What in bloody hell's goin' on here?"
I am an evil minion of satan and I have been built to create havoc with torturous cliffhangerss hahahaha ok well this chapter definitely didn't take me as long as ch.7 and I really don't have much else to say but PLEASE PLEASE PPLLEEEEASEE REVIEW!!!
Who's caught them in a very compromising position? What will happen once they get back to Hogwarts? What's everyone going to be up to on the Hogmeade trip?
That's all in the next chapter and btw EVERYONE MUST READ The Mistake They Can't Deny and I'm With You they're both by SweetWater TRUST me they're REALLY good and also read Draco Malfoy the Amazing Bouncing...Rat by Sharon Armstrong it's hilarious kk I'm just givin u my personal recommendations LoL cyaa
