Chapter 6: You Don't Belong Out Here

            "Malfoy?" Hermione said, staring down at him in shock and relief.

It was a strange sensation to be actually relieved to see Ferret Boy, but Hermione couldn't help but feel terribly glad that at least she had one person from the future with her….ugh…even if it was Ferret Boy.

Draco cast a wary glance around and saw that Hibbings and the other boys were now far away, working on the lawns. Hibbings had obviously thought to leave him the back breaking work of fallowing the whole herb garden. Draco stood up, he was a foot taller than Hermione and at least that made him feel better.

"Quite the lady of Manor now, aren't we, mudblood?" he said.

Hermione began to turn red. Malfoy was still as annoying as ever.

"Why don't you just give me break?" she said, "In case you haven't noticed, we are stuck together in the past and have bigger problems on our hands than your stupid blood prejudices."

Malfoy gave her a critical once-over and she flinched under his glance. "I must say the past suits you Granger…If I didn't know you were a mudblood, I would almost think you were pretty."

Quick as a flash, Hermione's hand shot out and slapped him across the cheek. Malfoy didn't move, but his eyes were stormy.

"Don't-call-me-a-mudblood-anymore" said Hermione through gritted teeth.

"Or what? You'll have me put in the stocks?" He said, sarcastically.

Hermione wanted to pull his hair and slap him again, but she restrained herself.

"Look, I didn't come out here to argue. I think we should call it a truce and try to get back to our time."

Malfoy gave a short laugh. "And for that I must thank you, M'Lady. You and your wonderful exploding Thyme Eliminus…thanks to you, we both probably failed our Potions NEWT."

Hermine turned white. She had completely forgotten about the importance of the Potions NEWT. "W-What? Oh my god, you are right…"

Draco gave a short laugh. "The two top Potions students in the school…getting 'Trolls' for Potions! Head Boy and Head Girl no less. That should go down into your precious Hogwarts: A History."

How does he know I read that? wondered Hermione.

"Look do you want to talk sensibly or not? We need to find out where we are and plan how to get back. How come we are living alternate realities? What do we do now?" said Hermione after a while. Draco was staring at her in the way he used to at Hogwarts. A kind of penetrating glance, except this time, he didn't bother to hide it at all.

"It's all very well for you, Granger. But if I stand about here all day chatting with you I will get beaten by the Reeve…that fat man over there…" he pointed at Hibbings and Hermione turned to look. "…because if you haven't noticed, thanks to you, I am now a shit-shoveling peasant."

He sounded so angry that Hermione didn't dare to giggle, which she really wanted to, because Draco actually looked better than before as a "shit-shoveling peasant". He no longer looked like a poncy rich brat…his white linen shirt and coarse trousers suited his casual pose and lean build. He wouldn't have looked out of place in an illustrated version of Jack and the Beanstalk. He probably wouldn't have heard of that muggle story anyway.

"Er…okay. How about we meet after your work?"

"No can do Granger. Would you take a look at yourself? You don't belong out here, what would people say if they saw you sneaking out to mingle with peasants? Don't you know how Ladies are expected behave?" He didn't say this cruelly, just practically.

Hermione looked crestfallen. It seemed she wasn't allowed to do so many things that she had taken for granted back in her time.

"Then how will we meet?"

Draco thought for a while. "You have to get rid of those fine clothes for a start. Then sneak out. Don't you have other less flashy dresses? Or a cloak or something?"

Hermione thought hard. Yes, she had plainer clothes and a heavy grey wool cloak.

"Yes. So can I come tonight? Where shall we meet? Do you have a house somewhere?"

Draco thought of his hovel and felt embarrassed. No, he would not meet her there.

"Yes…but it's too far. Why don't we meet at the new barn? It's being built and no one ever goes near it at night I would imagine."

Hermione nodded and looked at the half-completed building where he was pointing. She began to feel excited! At last, they were going to plan how to get back to their own world! And at least, she did have one ally in the world…even if it was Draco Malfoy.

"I'll see you at seven" she said. "The manor is deserted by then."

Draco nodded and bent down to his work. Hermione felt awkward.

"Er…bye." She said, lifting up her skirts to walk off the fallowed garden bed.

Draco didn't reply.

That wasn't so bad. Hermione thought. He's still being an idiot, as usual, but at least he really wants to get back to our time as well. And I suppose it's terrible going back in time as a shit-shoveling peasant… She grinned to herself.

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            "Leave me" said Hermione, to her maidservants. The three ladies who had come to help her get ready for bed exchanged glances.

            "M'Lady, do you not need our assistance?" ventured one of them.

            Hermione shook her head and smiled sweetly at them. "I wish to write an important letter and I want to do it in private."

            The three maidservants curtseyed and left the room.

            Before she had come to the room, she had glanced at the clock in the Great Hall. It had said 6.45. Hermione reckoned it was sometime near seven now.

            Quickly, she threw off her outer dress of green embroidery and selected a dark grey silk gown trimmed with pearls. She put it on and fiddled with the ties and buttons down the back. Smoothing down the skirt, she walked to her enormous oak chest and took out a dark grey cloak. It was soft and woolen and fastened at the neck with a silver leaf brooch. It reminded her strongly of her Hogwarts robes and she felt a pang of homesickness. Taking a hurricane lamp which she had secreted up from the kitchens earlier from her sideboard, she lit it with a candle and closed the catch. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door of her room quietly and made her way down the deserted hallways of the manor to the kitchens.

            She was pleased to see the kitchens were empty. The servants must have all gone back to their cottages. She noticed that in these late medieval times, people stopped work at the first sign of darkness. That suited her fine. She hurried through the kitchen to the little corridor and unlatched the wooden door at the end of it. Although it was May, the night air was still chilly…she remembered what Mary had said yesterday- summer would be late this year.

            She walked as quickly as she could toward the barn. It was dark. There was a nearly full moon in the sky and she squinted to try and make out any movement near the barn. She thought she saw a movement.

            "Malfoy?" she whispered.

            It was creepy out there at night. No street lamps, no cars, just empty land for miles…

            A shadow emerged from a corner and walked towards her. She held her hurricane lamp up and was relieved to see it light up the tall figure of Draco Malfoy.

            "I'm sorry I'm late" she said.

            He shrugged. "I don't know what time it is anyway. I don't have a watch."

            "Then how come you're here?"

            "I said I would be, didn't I? So I just waited here after work…I figured you'd be along soon."

            Hermione couldn't help but have her gaze wander over him in the lamplight. His clothes were soiled with the sweat and labours of the day and he smelt like horse dung. Her eyes rested on his and they both blushed. He turned away and signaled for her to follow. It must be so hard for him to have me see him like this, she thought.

            There was a stack of wood in the corner and he sat down on the end of a log. She stood awkwardly before him.

            "Have a seat, I don't bite you know," Draco said, pointing to a log opposite him.

            Hermione sat down on a log and placed the hurricane lamp between them. It threw a cozy glow over everything.

            "Right, let's get down to business" said Draco, taking charge. "First question is, how do we get back to the future?"

            "No…first question should be, is this real? Are we really in the past and if so, why am I a Lady and you a peasant? Where are the people whose places we took? Don't people notice anything different about us?"

            "That's four questions. And they're not important, what's happened has happened, Granger."

            "Well, it might not be important to you, but I really want to know." She said, stubbornly.

            Draco rolled his eyes. Little miss know-it-all. "I think this is real because if it wasn't, my hands wouldn't have bleeding blisters from shoveling horse manure. I have no idea why you are a lady and I a peasant…I can only assume it's because you cursed your Thyme Eliminus to play some awful trick on me. And I don't know why nobody's noticed yet….maybe we look a lot like the people whose lives we're sharing. Right, can we now try and figure out how to get back to the future?"

Hermione put her face in her hands and stared into the light of the hurricane lamp. "I didn't curse the potion. It just happened. I just feel like if we understood everything properly, we'd be able to come up with a better solution." She said at last, without looking up. Draco was mesmerized by the light cast by the lamp dancing over her face. God, Granger was even more beautiful than when she was back at Hogwarts- and he had already thought her beautiful then. Her skin looked so soft in the lamplight…

            "What do you think, Malfoy?"

            "Huh?"

            "I asked you a question. I asked you if you thought time was passing in the real world as we sit here in the past."

            "Oh…er…no idea." Said Draco, looking away.

            "Why are you always staring at me?" Hermione asked suddenly.

            "What are you talking about?" Draco said, defensively.

            Hermione leaned forward, "For the last term…you've been watching me. Don't deny it Malfoy…I've seen you. Harry and Ron've noticed too. Is it what you said to me in the library? That I ruined your life because of the whole mudblood revolt thing?"

            "Just forget it okay? I don't know what you're on about." Draco said, knowing full well and wishing she hadn't brought it up.

            "I can't understand why you hate me so much. Does it really matter that I'm a muggle-born? I don't get in your way…there are other muggle-borns in Hogwarts too and you can't be bothered with them. And the revolt….I didn't lead it. I helped out when Harry was in trouble with the Ministry, that's all. I know your father's in prison and your mother's not well…"

            "Shut up, Granger." said Draco in a low voice, staring at a point in the distance.

            But Hermione wouldn't stop there… "…and I'm sorry for that, I am. But your life being ruined? What are you talking about? You're miles ahead of Harry, Ron or me in life. You're rich, you're a pureblood, you're going to get married…"

            Draco got to his feet and started towards Hermione. She leaned back and nearly lost her balance. The look on Draco's face was so pained. He leaned in right close to her.

            "I said….shut up." He hissed.

            But something about time-travel must have emboldened Hermione because, unlike at Hogwarts where she would have turned away from him or made some rude comment to end the conversation and have him feel bad, she got to her feet, never taking her eyes off him.

            "What are you so scared to tell me?" she said. "What is it you're hiding? Do you really think I'm such a foul creature that even when we're all alone, five hundred years in the past, you still won't treat me like a real person?"

            They stood, like they had yesterday morning in the library, each rigid with rage, staring at each other.

            I will not be the first to look away, thought Hermione. In Draco's eyes, she was surprised to find sensitivity and depth, not just coldness like she had expected.

            "You will never understand," he said at last, and dropped his gaze. Hermione felt like they had crossed a threshold, but she didn't know what path to take beyond it.

            He turned and kicked the woodpile behind him.

            "How do you know I won't?" she said quietly.

            "When I think you can understand, I'll talk to you." he said at last. That was so much like Malfoy, always insisting on his own terms.

            Hermione sat down again and wrapped her cloak around her. Wasn't Malfoy cold in that outfit? She wondered if he owned a warm coat.

            "Malfoy….let's get back to discussing the plan to get back to the future."

            But Draco shook his head. He was looking at the stars outside.

            "Why don't we talk another day?" he said.

            Hermione got up and joined him looking up at the stars. It was like they were back in Hogwarts, in Astronomy class.

            "Vega" they both said at the same time, and stared at each other.

            Hermione wanted to smile at him, he looked so troubled. She was a kind girl at heart, and a fair one. Nasty as he was, he was clearly going through something difficult at this point in his life. But she didn't know if it was the right thing to do, so she didn't smile.

            "Can I keep the lamp?" asked Draco.

            Hermione thought of the long, dark journey back to the castle. Fortunately, the moon was nearly full and she could just about make her way back. She thought of Draco's cottage being far away and all that distance across the fields…

            "Sure" she said.

            "We'll meet here tomorrow then, Granger" he said. "Try to think of a plan, all right?"

            She nodded.

            "I'll walk you as near as I dare," he said. Hermione looked surprised. "It's dangerous out here at night, don't want you dead or anything" he said quickly.

            Awkwardly, the two of them headed back towards the castle. Hermione felt so odd to have Draco helping her do something that she focused all her attention on her shoes. It was dark outside, and very quiet. She was actually very glad to have him walk with her.

            When Hermione turned around to thank him, Draco was gone.

A/N

To all my readers, thank you so much for your reviews! As you will have noticed from The Blood of The Dragon, I don't really have the habit of listing and thanking all my reviewers…It takes too much valuable time…time which could be spent WRITING! I am truly grateful to you all, your comments are terribly encouraging and useful. I will repay you all in the best way I can…by faithfully updating! Have a great weekend.