Chapter 3 -The trouble with Maisy.

"Ohhh bugger!" Hermione plodded to the breakfast table and placed the empty milk carton down. Draco looked up from overflowing bowl of cereal and milk.

"What?" He said in a muffled voice.

"Somebody used up all the milk!" Hermione snapped "I can't think who it was!"

"Hmmm." Draco shrugged and spooned another milky portion of breakfast into his mouth. Hermione flopped down on one of the wooden chairs and glared at him. Draco stared back at her, the spoon suspended before his mouth. "I can't eat with you watching me!" He said at last.

"That's funny. I can't eat either, what with no milk and all!"

Draco picked up his bowl and tipped it over the milk carton, dribbling sugar sweet cereal milk into the container and onto the table. "There. Milk!"

"Waaaaaagh what are you doing?" Hermione jumped up as a trail of milk raced across the table and started dripping onto her lap. Five minutes later Draco was being chased out of the house, a tenner in one hand and a shopping list in the other.

"Bread, milk and sugar! And I want five pounds change out of that tenner!" Hermione shouted from the door before she closed it. Well she had sure recovered from her 'Black Shuck' phase. Only yesterday she had been quiet, timid and jumpy. Draco had been enjoying the peace, and was half tempted to perpetuate the myth just the keep her that way. But soon Hermione's common sense kicked in and she was back to her usual bossy self, saying Black Shuck was a 'load of tat' and that Maisy was 'always a little liar.' Draco smiled, he didn't mind her being back to her normal bossy-ness that much he guessed. That's why he fell for her in the first place. Following the wooded track back the way they had come a few days before, Draco passed through a lonely and shaded pathway for a few minutes before finding (at last) the picturesque churchyard. He quickly paced through here and finally found his way in the small muggle town. Alone! Hermione had never sent him to the shops alone before. Maybe this was a breakthrough in their relationship. Trust! Or maybe it was because Hermione was still in her dressing gown and in a bad mood. Either way, progress! He grinned like the Cheshire cat, and with the shopping list grasped in his hand he marched off towards the first shop he came to.

For so early in the morning this place sure was packed. Fat women with pushchairs blocked the aisles, slow doddering old men titivated in the bread section and generally pissed Draco off, and kids ran about yelling. Finally, balancing bread and sugar in one arm and fighting the desire to blast the muggles with his wand he reached the fridge section and the milk. And just in time too, only one left! As he grabbed the milk in his spare hand. Another hand, not his own, materialised from the masses of shoppers and grasped the milk also. Draco tugged, the hand tugged too. Draco wrestled his hand from side to side, the hand fought back and clung to the milk like a vice.

"Do you mind young man?" A shrill voice cried and a thin and nasty looking woman stepped into view and pulled again on the milk. "This milk is mine!"

"What?" Draco pulled the milk his way "That's a load of bollocks, I had it first!" He snapped.

"Well I... Mind your language boy! I shall call the manager!" The nasty looking woman's eyes narrowed and she glared daggers at Draco, who was quite happy to glare them back. Draco swore again, and much to the delight of the shoppers a small scuffle ensued. An assistant in a blue uniform dashed quickly into the fray and was promptly told to 'sod off' by both parties.

"What's going on here?" A man cried, a small badge with the word 'Manager' was pinned to his chest. The crowd parted to let him through, where he found a young lad and an old woman locked in mortal combat over a carton of milk. The manager, being the chivalrous sort and always believing in the ladies first rule shouted "Let go young man, and leave my store before I call security!"

"All I wanted was some sodding milk!" He cried "And I had it first!"

"I'm calling security now son. You had better just leave the store!"

Draco scowled at the woman, who was grinning smugly at him. He smiled back and grabbing the carton in both hands squeezed until it exploded. The old woman stood dumb struck and dripping milk. Draco was forcefully ejected from the premises, also dripping milk.

"Well sod you then!" He yelled at the shop as security dusted their hands and went back inside. Passers by in the street gave him a wide berth. Draco was now in a very sour mood. No milk? Hermione wasn't going to be happy. The shops security had taken the bread and sugar off him too, before kicking him out.

"That was pretty smooth." Said a familiar voice. Draco looked about to see Maisy standing there, shopping basket in hand. Draco was about to tell her to piss off when his eye caught sight of a carton of milk in her basket. His eyes lit up.

"Hey.. Uh. Missy." He said.

"Maisy."

"Huh?"

"My name is Maisy. Are you alright? You seemed to a little bruised and milky."

"Hermy sent me out to buy milk, and I ran into a little trouble in the store." He said, a little moodily.

"Let's get you inside, and clean you up!" She said, steering him towards a nearby pub. The Unicorn. So early in the day the pub had nobody inside, save for the barman who looked quite unsavoury. Maisy sat the still dripping Draco onto a stool and ordered two rum's. The barman didn't even look twice, Draco looked older than his age and could easily pass for an 18 year old. Maisy grabbed a few beer towels off the bar and thrust them into Draco's hands. "Here, you can dry up at least."

"Hmm. Thanks." He said dryly, wiping his face on the smelly cloth. The barman eyed him oddly then went back to his newspaper (the Daily Sport, which is just a cheap excuse for soft porn). Draco looked at his drink.

"Its rum. It always calms me down after a tough day." Maisy said, raising her glass in a salute and downing the contents.

"But, it's the morning." He said. The barman nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, and already you are having a crap day. So drink up!" Maisy laughed, ordering two more drinks. Draco drank his rum and coughed. He was used to the very mild alcohol in butterbeers, but this was positively vile. And hot! Maisy grinned and pushed another into his hand. "Look, I feel sorry for you, and I know how much of a Dragon that Hermione can be. So I'll give you one of my cartons of milk. How's that?"

Draco looked up from his second drink and gawped at her. "Why?"

"Because I'm helping out a fellow human being in need."

"Oh. Right. Well thanks then!" Draco grinned, tipping back his second drink and grabbing the milk. He got up, staggered a bit, and then headed for the door. "See you later then!" He said, slamming the door open. He heard the barman shout 'hoi!' from inside but he didn't care much. Maisy watched him go and grinned.

The alcohol kicked in as Draco was making his way through the forested pathway. Damn that stupid Maisy. Draco had never drunk rum before, and it had gone straight to his head. Hermione was going to kill him. He groaned at the thought and stamped on. As he stumbled a bit he heard behind him footsteps out of synch with his own. Draco was a little light headed, but not pissed. He held his hand near his pocket, ready to grab his wand if need be. Suddenly, and silently a black shape bounded out of the forest and scared Draco witless. Pulling his wand out he shouted a curse before he could think, and watched sadly as a deer fell awkwardly to the ground, dead. Damn. Why was he so jumpy? He didn't believe all this stuff about a Hell Hound. He bent down to make sure the deer was really dead, and was knocked sideways as something large and heavy ploughed into him. His breath knocked out of him, and his head spinning from the alcohol Draco was dazed. He scrabbled for his wand but was bashed again and sent heavily into the side of a large tree. Whatever it was seized his leg and trashed its jaws side to side, a crazed growling issued from its throat. Draco cried out, and kept his eyes closed fast. Maisy's story still fresh in his mind. Those who look at it are cursed to die. Then again it looked like he was going to croak it anyway. He opened his eyes and saw a vast beast hunched over him, its eyes truly where endless pits fire, huge like saucers and burning bright and terrible. Draco gagged in shock, even at home he never saw a beast with such soulless and terrible eyes. His head swam as he saw the tatters the animal was making of his leg. At least grabbing his wand he thrust it deep into the creatures eye. It howled and the noise pierced Draco's heart. Then with a pitiful snarl it tore away into the woods. Draco was stunned. What the fuck was THAT? Wavering into a groggy sleep he shook his head and cast a healing spell on his leg. "Shit." He said. And he staged and tried to stumble to his feet. Falling back he cursed and then jumped in fright. He saw it, a figure melting into the shadows. This was too much. He didn't care about that right now, He had to get back and make sure Hermione was safe. Grabbing the milk (he didn't want to get in trouble with his girl) he made a very shaky and difficult journey back to the house.

**~** Ohhhhhhh. Scary ^_^ Poor Draco, is it me or does trouble follow this guy about like a bad smell? More soon! Oh, and SORRY about being such a lazy loser with updating fics. Im a bad person ( **~**