Disclaimer: I don't own these characters...J. K. Rowling does!
* * * * *
*SMACK*
"That was for pushing your way into my business last night!" she stated matter-of-factly.
Draco's head was cocked sideways and turned from the impact of Hermione's hand with his cheek. A rosy color emerged from beneath his fair skin in the shape of her hand as she stalked out of the common room.
"Damn" he muttered to himself, "she's got spunk. Very few dare to slap a Malfoy...and this is her second time too...even fewer dare to do that. There's that Gryffindor courage of hers." He rubbed his cheek where she had made contact with her hand.
Hermione walked up to the library. Harry and Ron were out on the Quidditch pitch with their brooms, so they were obviously busy. Harry was helping Ron's defenses as a Keeper. He tried every fake and move he knew that a Chaser might try on Ron. A few got past him, but for the most part, he was improving rapidly on his game. He was becoming quicker on his reaction time. As for Harry, there wasn't much he could do to practice except for moving at quick speeds and dives for the Snitch.
Hermione brought her books with her to the library and figured that she'd read up on anything that she could for classes and maybe even start that 12" scroll she had to write for Snape's class. They had finally finished the Polyjuice Potion that it had taken a month to complete and now they had to write about it.
Hermione remained poured over her books for the next hour until she heard a familiar voice.
"Still the same Hermione eh? Burying yourself in all these books..."
She acknowledged his comment with a quick but fierce glance and returned her eyes to the task in front of her. An awkward silence fell among the two and Draco threw his hands up in the air in frustration as he exited the library. Hermione chuckled to herself, knowing that she had got to him, though what was going still wasn't any of his business.
Hermione continued her work through the next hour and a half when she heard Harry and Ron enter the library. They took two seats next to her at the table she was currently occupying and pried her away from her books.
"But I haven't finished Snape's essay!"
"Finish it later. We're going to sneak into Hogesmeade."
"What?"
"Hogesmeade. Come on. Hermione was stuffing her things in her bag rapidly as she was being pulled away from the table. Harry and Ron walked her up to her common room to put her things down and grab some money from her trunk. She wrapped her scarf tightly around her outer cloaks, knowing how cold it would be, and whipped out of the common room just as quickly as she had entered. Her robes swished behind her as the trio sped off through the halls.
Finally they reached the third floor corridor and found the statue. Harry quickly glanced around and muttered an incantation under his breath while tapping the statue three times. It revealed an small hole in the wall behind it and was filled with darkness.
One by one, they allowed themselves to be enveloped by the darkness as they crawled in the hole and Harry being the last one to enter, closed the statue behind them, cutting off whatever little light was remaining. Hermione took her wand out of her robes and shouted, "Lumos!"
Sparks came out of the end of her wand and instantly it lit up the cave so they could see where they were going. They walked that way for at least the next fifteen minutes when finally Ron began to whine and asked, "Are we almost there?"
"Ron, you sound like a five year old."
"Do not!"
"You obviously don't watch much television."
Ron looked at him quizzically over his shoulder.
"There's commercials advertising vans and the kids in the commercials are more mature than you are."
Ron continued to look questioningly at Harry and Hermione looked back at him and just laughed. She shook her head and they finally turned the last turn where light was being emitted from the other end of this tunnel.
The basement of Honeydukes greeted them at the end of the passageway. The streets were busy as they emerged from Honeydukes and they drew their robes tighter around themselves.
The trio wandered into Zonkos to check out the merchandise they had out on their shelves. They figured they could keep Fred and George on their toes, but then again, they probably had the most unique jokes and tricks in their own shop, so they were sure to be on top of the competition between the two shops in the first place, despite the fact of their separate locations. Ron picked up a Ton-Tongue Toffee to give to Ginny. He still hadn't gotten her back for last summer. Hermione had also bought something and she slipped it in her pocket.
Then, the three walked to the Three Broomsticks after and were greeted by Madame Rosmerta.
"Welcome! Can I help you?"
"We'll just sit up at the bar, thanks."
"Ok, well, come on in. It's cold outside."
The three did so and placed themselves sitting at the bar top.
"What would you like?"
"Three butter beers please."
"Three butter beers coming up!"
Madame Rosmerta disappeared below the bar top to grab three glasses and reappeared to fill them. She set each up on the bar and the three students accepted them graciously. The purity and warmth of the drink spread through Hermione as she took the first sip and she was no longer cold.
"What brings you three here?"
"We were bored at the castle, so we decided to come for a visit. We went to Zonko's first to check out the competition for Fred and George and then when we're done here, we're off to Honeydukes to get a few little things and then we're headed back to the castle."
"Well, there are a few customers that just walked in and I should go attend to them, but enjoy and hope to see you guys again soon."
As they sat and chatted, Ron glanced back towards the fireplace in the back of the Three Broomsticks and spotted someone he knew. He jumped up out of his chair and ran back to go chat with Lavender Brown. Poor bloke, he still wasn't over her. He slid into the booth next to her where she had been seated alone and started a conversation with her.
This left both Harry and Hermione alone. An awkward silence fell on them so she said the first thing that came to her mind.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?" he said anxiously, hoping for her to say what he wanted her to say.
"Are you alright?"
His face dimmed and he looked at her. He glanced down at her hand on the bar top before he answered her. He awkwardly placed his hand on top of hers and glanced back into her eyes.
"I'm just fine."
Hermione shifted uneasily in her seat. Harry began talking.
"Hermione, I have something to tell you. I should have told you a long time ago." He stared into her chocolate brown eyes. Hermione tried her best to keep them emotionless.
"Harry, please don't do this!" she screamed to herself in her head.
A new costumer became present, which had been signified by the overhead bells.
"Welcome Mr. Malfoy and Miss Parkinson."
Draco nodded his head in acknowledgment toward Madame Rosmerta.
"A booth please...in the back..."
Madame Rosmerta led them to a booth in the back and Draco paid no attention to Hermione as he passed. His arm was around Pansy's waist and he let her in the booth first and then slid in himself. Hermione observed Madame Rosmerta taking their order and then returning to the bar to prepare it.
She bent down and picked up to glasses and filled them with butter beer. Hermione had been ignoring everything Harry had been saying to her.
"Hermione?"
She snapped back to attention.
"What?"
"Have you been paying attention to anything I've said?"
"Hold your thoughts...I will be right back."
She hopped off her seat and approached Madame Rosmerta just as she was about to deliver the orders.
"Here, I'll run them back there."
Madame Rosmerta cocked and eyebrow at her but nodded and handed her the drinks. Hermione took them and then reached into her pocket as she made her way back. She pulled out what she had bought at Zonko's and slipped the small pill into Draco's drink. She walked slowly so it had time to dissolve and approached them.
When she reached the table, Draco removed his lips from Pansy's and looked at her.
"Madame Rosmerta had other costumers that she had to take care of, so I offered to bring these back" she explained. Draco looked at her skeptically and behind her to where Madame Rosmerta was standing.
"There is no one else."
"She got their orders already" she quickly covered up. Draco nodded and Hermione set the glasses down in front of them, making sure to put the one with the pill in it in front of Draco. Draco took a sip from his as Hermione walked away and pulled Harry to the back where Ron was seated with Lavender.
"Mind if we join you? A show is about to begin..."
Ron looked at her puzzled but agreed. They sat down and waited for ten minutes.
"When's this show of yours going to start?" he asked rather loudly.
"In a minute."
Hermione watched Draco take the last sip from his butter beer and watched him resume the tonsil hockey he had previously discontinued.
Pansy really wasn't a bad kisser. She was beautiful, but other than that, he had no interest in her. The one who he had interest in had brought their butter beers over. How ironic? He didn't like providing entertainment for onlookers in public, but Pansy wanted it, so he gave in. His tongue darted wildly in her mouth and suddenly he found himself being able to reach farther into her mouth. A shooting pain went through his tongue and his tongue shot to the back of her throat, triggering her gagging impulse.
Within seconds, Draco's mouth was full of her puke, not to mention his lap and his tongue was falling out of his mouth. Pansy screamed at the sight, as did Draco, though he had a hard time articulating his words. He looked confusedly around and his eyes stopped on Hermione who was trying her best to conceal her laughter with no success. He drew his lizard's tongue back into his mouth and approached the table she was seated at.
"What isssssssss going on?" he asked rather strangely, but it was understandable considering the state his tongue was in.
"Are you accussssing me of sssssssssomething?" she asked.
Draco scowled at her and glared fiercely at her.
"Like the sssssslap thissssss morning wasssn't enough" he stated.
"You deserved it...next time, mind your own business."
Draco slammed his fist down on the table.
"Don't get mad, get glad!" she exclaimed. "Sing it with me, 'I feel pretty. Oh so pretty. I feel pretty and witty and gay! And I pity any woman who isn't me today!'" Harry and Ron were slamming their fists on the table in laughter and Hermione was just barely holding onto any proper English she had.
He walked away taking long, quick-paced strides and pushed the door open to exit. His robes were left in the booth that was now empty, aside from the puke. Hermione retrieved his smelly robes and the four of them walked back to Honeydukes.
They made their way back through the biting cold and bought some Chocolate Frogs and exited Honeydukes through the basement passageway that led back to Hogwarts.
When they reached the other end, Harry cracked the statue open to make sure no one was around, and just to their luck, Snape was right there.
"Guys, hold up!" he hissed at them. "Snape's there."
At that moment, Snape stopped what he was doing and looked right at the statue. Harry buried himself in the darkness but didn't move the statue open or shut. Snape approached the statue and Harry could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up from nerves. He reached behind him and shoved whoever was there over to the side of the wall where he knew there was a crevice. Judging by what his hand had touched, he guessed it was Hermione; either that or Ron had something he wasn't telling Harry. He heard a soft voice say, "Oof" as she hit the stone and Ron was pulled with her. Ron clutched Hermione in his arms as they were shoved into the crevice. Harry was relieved that it had been her, though not so relieved when he realized what he had touched.
Harry held his breath momentarily as Snape peered in the crack of the opened statue. Snape had his eyes locked on Harry but he couldn't trace Harry's outline through the darkness. Just then, a cry of pain was heard down the hall and Snape's head snapped the other way. As Harry released his breath, Snape slammed the statue shut and Hermione sneezed. He stopped dead in his tracks for a moment and the cry was heard again.
"Good old Neville" Harry sighed to himself.
"Sorry" whispered Hermione.
"He's gone."
Harry opened the statue once more to find no one in the hallway. They tumbled out and closed the statue behind them. Thankfully they were safe...this time.
It had become late in the afternoon and soon the castle was cloaked in darkness, not something to necessarily complain about. The trio walked to the Great Hall to eat dinner. This would be the night. For once Harry was actually eating too, much to Hermione's and Ron's surprise. Harry started a conversation.
"Hermione, I didn't know you had such an impulsive side."
"He deserved it. Six years of bloody hell...he more than deserved it."
"Go 'Mione!" exclaimed Ron.
"I like that side of you."
Hermione smiled uneasily at him.
"I do like to have my fair share of fun every now again. I don't ALWAYS read and study and whatever else everyone thinks I always do. That's part of why Draco had that coming. This morning in the library he made a comment to me of how I'm always studying. He got what he deserved."
"Well, I have to say it was quite amusing, and I only wished I had a camera to catch the image of Malfoy with puke all over him and his tongue hanging out of his mouth."
Hermione silently sat there and thought to herself. She knew what she did was extremely mean, not to mention gross. She supposed she felt jealous to a degree, that he and Pansy were always together, and she suddenly felt the need to split them apart. She hadn't exactly planned on carrying it out in that manner, but hey, whatever works. She would just as soon forget about the incident, though, he had deserved it to a degree as well for all the hell he HAD put her through. She shrugged it off.
After dinner, they went to the Gryffindor common room and hung out for a bit. When Harry decided to retire to his dorm, Ron glanced nervously at Hermione and followed Harry up the stairs. He would leave right after he saw Harry leave and go meet Hermione at her dorm.
Hermione quickly made her way back to her dorm and retrieved the map. She muttered the incantation to activate it and waited patiently for Ron to arrive.
Hermione waited for a good two hours for Ron to arrive, signaling that Harry had left. Ron came running to the common room, pounding on the picture frame.
"Let me in!" he exclaimed.
Hermione opened the portrait and found him there.
"You know the password."
"I do? I do!"
"You alright?"
"Does it look like it? Let's go!"
Ron pulled Hermione by the arm out of the common room and they followed the dot labeled "Harry" on the map, making sure to keep quiet and out of sight. They were delayed by a couple appearances of teachers but avoided any confrontations.
*~*~*
Draco lay on his back on his bed, wondering what she had meant by, "Don't forget about tomorrow!" His tongue had finally returned to its normal state, and though he was angry about it, he somehow couldn't be mad at her. His curiosity was now peaked and it got the better of him. Then he heard Hermione's door open, the franticness of her running down the stairs, and a pounding on the portrait that led to their room. She heard Ron's voice and the room fell silent after they had exited.
His was curiosity peaked now more than ever and he rose out of the position he was laying on in his bed. He raised his eyebrow skeptically in front of his full length mirror and reached into his trunk for something. It was a velvet cloak. He draped it over himself and he disappeared.
He followed quietly as they made their way down the hallway, craning their neck over something between them. They reached the fourth floor and went to the exact spot where Harry had disappeared on the map. They looked at the wall and Ron stuck a hand through it and found that they could walk through it, though they weren't sure who or what they'd find on the other side. Hermione stuck her head through to find no one there and Ron followed her.
Hermione and Ron, did not however, know they were being followed. Draco pushed through the wall and remained quiet, hidden in shadows under his cloak. Hermione wasted no time in observing what was in the room. She stepped right into the middle of the contraption that was there and observed it from the central pad. Draco stood right next to her, doing the same thing, though he went unnoticed.
A keyboard of lights and buttons and electronic configurations took Ron's interest and he stood there, observing the lights flashing and wondering what it all meant. His eyes were wide open in awe and he spotted a rather large and unusually shaped button.
"So this is what he's been working on" she whispered to herself. "Wonder what it does..."
At that moment, her questions were answered, thought she hadn't realized it yet. Ron had pushed the large and irregularly shaped button out of fascination and not using common sense.
"Ron, no!"
Hermione saw a series of blue rings ascend from the platform she was occupying and they surrounded her. There was a bright flash of light as Ron ducked behind the keyboard and Hermione felt her feet leave the floor.
* * * * *
A/N: The plot thickens! Muahahahaha!!!! Where'd she go? What happened? I had quite a bit of fun writing this chapter. I was complaining all day yesterday of writer's block and then a brilliant idea hit me for this story...so chapter nine will be up shortly and I'm pretty sure what you have all been waiting for will happen...yes, I'm talking to u Kinky Girl. Sorry bout the cliffhanger here, but I Had to do it or it would ruin it...please keep reading and reviewing!!!
* * * * *
*SMACK*
"That was for pushing your way into my business last night!" she stated matter-of-factly.
Draco's head was cocked sideways and turned from the impact of Hermione's hand with his cheek. A rosy color emerged from beneath his fair skin in the shape of her hand as she stalked out of the common room.
"Damn" he muttered to himself, "she's got spunk. Very few dare to slap a Malfoy...and this is her second time too...even fewer dare to do that. There's that Gryffindor courage of hers." He rubbed his cheek where she had made contact with her hand.
Hermione walked up to the library. Harry and Ron were out on the Quidditch pitch with their brooms, so they were obviously busy. Harry was helping Ron's defenses as a Keeper. He tried every fake and move he knew that a Chaser might try on Ron. A few got past him, but for the most part, he was improving rapidly on his game. He was becoming quicker on his reaction time. As for Harry, there wasn't much he could do to practice except for moving at quick speeds and dives for the Snitch.
Hermione brought her books with her to the library and figured that she'd read up on anything that she could for classes and maybe even start that 12" scroll she had to write for Snape's class. They had finally finished the Polyjuice Potion that it had taken a month to complete and now they had to write about it.
Hermione remained poured over her books for the next hour until she heard a familiar voice.
"Still the same Hermione eh? Burying yourself in all these books..."
She acknowledged his comment with a quick but fierce glance and returned her eyes to the task in front of her. An awkward silence fell among the two and Draco threw his hands up in the air in frustration as he exited the library. Hermione chuckled to herself, knowing that she had got to him, though what was going still wasn't any of his business.
Hermione continued her work through the next hour and a half when she heard Harry and Ron enter the library. They took two seats next to her at the table she was currently occupying and pried her away from her books.
"But I haven't finished Snape's essay!"
"Finish it later. We're going to sneak into Hogesmeade."
"What?"
"Hogesmeade. Come on. Hermione was stuffing her things in her bag rapidly as she was being pulled away from the table. Harry and Ron walked her up to her common room to put her things down and grab some money from her trunk. She wrapped her scarf tightly around her outer cloaks, knowing how cold it would be, and whipped out of the common room just as quickly as she had entered. Her robes swished behind her as the trio sped off through the halls.
Finally they reached the third floor corridor and found the statue. Harry quickly glanced around and muttered an incantation under his breath while tapping the statue three times. It revealed an small hole in the wall behind it and was filled with darkness.
One by one, they allowed themselves to be enveloped by the darkness as they crawled in the hole and Harry being the last one to enter, closed the statue behind them, cutting off whatever little light was remaining. Hermione took her wand out of her robes and shouted, "Lumos!"
Sparks came out of the end of her wand and instantly it lit up the cave so they could see where they were going. They walked that way for at least the next fifteen minutes when finally Ron began to whine and asked, "Are we almost there?"
"Ron, you sound like a five year old."
"Do not!"
"You obviously don't watch much television."
Ron looked at him quizzically over his shoulder.
"There's commercials advertising vans and the kids in the commercials are more mature than you are."
Ron continued to look questioningly at Harry and Hermione looked back at him and just laughed. She shook her head and they finally turned the last turn where light was being emitted from the other end of this tunnel.
The basement of Honeydukes greeted them at the end of the passageway. The streets were busy as they emerged from Honeydukes and they drew their robes tighter around themselves.
The trio wandered into Zonkos to check out the merchandise they had out on their shelves. They figured they could keep Fred and George on their toes, but then again, they probably had the most unique jokes and tricks in their own shop, so they were sure to be on top of the competition between the two shops in the first place, despite the fact of their separate locations. Ron picked up a Ton-Tongue Toffee to give to Ginny. He still hadn't gotten her back for last summer. Hermione had also bought something and she slipped it in her pocket.
Then, the three walked to the Three Broomsticks after and were greeted by Madame Rosmerta.
"Welcome! Can I help you?"
"We'll just sit up at the bar, thanks."
"Ok, well, come on in. It's cold outside."
The three did so and placed themselves sitting at the bar top.
"What would you like?"
"Three butter beers please."
"Three butter beers coming up!"
Madame Rosmerta disappeared below the bar top to grab three glasses and reappeared to fill them. She set each up on the bar and the three students accepted them graciously. The purity and warmth of the drink spread through Hermione as she took the first sip and she was no longer cold.
"What brings you three here?"
"We were bored at the castle, so we decided to come for a visit. We went to Zonko's first to check out the competition for Fred and George and then when we're done here, we're off to Honeydukes to get a few little things and then we're headed back to the castle."
"Well, there are a few customers that just walked in and I should go attend to them, but enjoy and hope to see you guys again soon."
As they sat and chatted, Ron glanced back towards the fireplace in the back of the Three Broomsticks and spotted someone he knew. He jumped up out of his chair and ran back to go chat with Lavender Brown. Poor bloke, he still wasn't over her. He slid into the booth next to her where she had been seated alone and started a conversation with her.
This left both Harry and Hermione alone. An awkward silence fell on them so she said the first thing that came to her mind.
"Harry?"
"Yeah?" he said anxiously, hoping for her to say what he wanted her to say.
"Are you alright?"
His face dimmed and he looked at her. He glanced down at her hand on the bar top before he answered her. He awkwardly placed his hand on top of hers and glanced back into her eyes.
"I'm just fine."
Hermione shifted uneasily in her seat. Harry began talking.
"Hermione, I have something to tell you. I should have told you a long time ago." He stared into her chocolate brown eyes. Hermione tried her best to keep them emotionless.
"Harry, please don't do this!" she screamed to herself in her head.
A new costumer became present, which had been signified by the overhead bells.
"Welcome Mr. Malfoy and Miss Parkinson."
Draco nodded his head in acknowledgment toward Madame Rosmerta.
"A booth please...in the back..."
Madame Rosmerta led them to a booth in the back and Draco paid no attention to Hermione as he passed. His arm was around Pansy's waist and he let her in the booth first and then slid in himself. Hermione observed Madame Rosmerta taking their order and then returning to the bar to prepare it.
She bent down and picked up to glasses and filled them with butter beer. Hermione had been ignoring everything Harry had been saying to her.
"Hermione?"
She snapped back to attention.
"What?"
"Have you been paying attention to anything I've said?"
"Hold your thoughts...I will be right back."
She hopped off her seat and approached Madame Rosmerta just as she was about to deliver the orders.
"Here, I'll run them back there."
Madame Rosmerta cocked and eyebrow at her but nodded and handed her the drinks. Hermione took them and then reached into her pocket as she made her way back. She pulled out what she had bought at Zonko's and slipped the small pill into Draco's drink. She walked slowly so it had time to dissolve and approached them.
When she reached the table, Draco removed his lips from Pansy's and looked at her.
"Madame Rosmerta had other costumers that she had to take care of, so I offered to bring these back" she explained. Draco looked at her skeptically and behind her to where Madame Rosmerta was standing.
"There is no one else."
"She got their orders already" she quickly covered up. Draco nodded and Hermione set the glasses down in front of them, making sure to put the one with the pill in it in front of Draco. Draco took a sip from his as Hermione walked away and pulled Harry to the back where Ron was seated with Lavender.
"Mind if we join you? A show is about to begin..."
Ron looked at her puzzled but agreed. They sat down and waited for ten minutes.
"When's this show of yours going to start?" he asked rather loudly.
"In a minute."
Hermione watched Draco take the last sip from his butter beer and watched him resume the tonsil hockey he had previously discontinued.
Pansy really wasn't a bad kisser. She was beautiful, but other than that, he had no interest in her. The one who he had interest in had brought their butter beers over. How ironic? He didn't like providing entertainment for onlookers in public, but Pansy wanted it, so he gave in. His tongue darted wildly in her mouth and suddenly he found himself being able to reach farther into her mouth. A shooting pain went through his tongue and his tongue shot to the back of her throat, triggering her gagging impulse.
Within seconds, Draco's mouth was full of her puke, not to mention his lap and his tongue was falling out of his mouth. Pansy screamed at the sight, as did Draco, though he had a hard time articulating his words. He looked confusedly around and his eyes stopped on Hermione who was trying her best to conceal her laughter with no success. He drew his lizard's tongue back into his mouth and approached the table she was seated at.
"What isssssssss going on?" he asked rather strangely, but it was understandable considering the state his tongue was in.
"Are you accussssing me of sssssssssomething?" she asked.
Draco scowled at her and glared fiercely at her.
"Like the sssssslap thissssss morning wasssn't enough" he stated.
"You deserved it...next time, mind your own business."
Draco slammed his fist down on the table.
"Don't get mad, get glad!" she exclaimed. "Sing it with me, 'I feel pretty. Oh so pretty. I feel pretty and witty and gay! And I pity any woman who isn't me today!'" Harry and Ron were slamming their fists on the table in laughter and Hermione was just barely holding onto any proper English she had.
He walked away taking long, quick-paced strides and pushed the door open to exit. His robes were left in the booth that was now empty, aside from the puke. Hermione retrieved his smelly robes and the four of them walked back to Honeydukes.
They made their way back through the biting cold and bought some Chocolate Frogs and exited Honeydukes through the basement passageway that led back to Hogwarts.
When they reached the other end, Harry cracked the statue open to make sure no one was around, and just to their luck, Snape was right there.
"Guys, hold up!" he hissed at them. "Snape's there."
At that moment, Snape stopped what he was doing and looked right at the statue. Harry buried himself in the darkness but didn't move the statue open or shut. Snape approached the statue and Harry could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up from nerves. He reached behind him and shoved whoever was there over to the side of the wall where he knew there was a crevice. Judging by what his hand had touched, he guessed it was Hermione; either that or Ron had something he wasn't telling Harry. He heard a soft voice say, "Oof" as she hit the stone and Ron was pulled with her. Ron clutched Hermione in his arms as they were shoved into the crevice. Harry was relieved that it had been her, though not so relieved when he realized what he had touched.
Harry held his breath momentarily as Snape peered in the crack of the opened statue. Snape had his eyes locked on Harry but he couldn't trace Harry's outline through the darkness. Just then, a cry of pain was heard down the hall and Snape's head snapped the other way. As Harry released his breath, Snape slammed the statue shut and Hermione sneezed. He stopped dead in his tracks for a moment and the cry was heard again.
"Good old Neville" Harry sighed to himself.
"Sorry" whispered Hermione.
"He's gone."
Harry opened the statue once more to find no one in the hallway. They tumbled out and closed the statue behind them. Thankfully they were safe...this time.
It had become late in the afternoon and soon the castle was cloaked in darkness, not something to necessarily complain about. The trio walked to the Great Hall to eat dinner. This would be the night. For once Harry was actually eating too, much to Hermione's and Ron's surprise. Harry started a conversation.
"Hermione, I didn't know you had such an impulsive side."
"He deserved it. Six years of bloody hell...he more than deserved it."
"Go 'Mione!" exclaimed Ron.
"I like that side of you."
Hermione smiled uneasily at him.
"I do like to have my fair share of fun every now again. I don't ALWAYS read and study and whatever else everyone thinks I always do. That's part of why Draco had that coming. This morning in the library he made a comment to me of how I'm always studying. He got what he deserved."
"Well, I have to say it was quite amusing, and I only wished I had a camera to catch the image of Malfoy with puke all over him and his tongue hanging out of his mouth."
Hermione silently sat there and thought to herself. She knew what she did was extremely mean, not to mention gross. She supposed she felt jealous to a degree, that he and Pansy were always together, and she suddenly felt the need to split them apart. She hadn't exactly planned on carrying it out in that manner, but hey, whatever works. She would just as soon forget about the incident, though, he had deserved it to a degree as well for all the hell he HAD put her through. She shrugged it off.
After dinner, they went to the Gryffindor common room and hung out for a bit. When Harry decided to retire to his dorm, Ron glanced nervously at Hermione and followed Harry up the stairs. He would leave right after he saw Harry leave and go meet Hermione at her dorm.
Hermione quickly made her way back to her dorm and retrieved the map. She muttered the incantation to activate it and waited patiently for Ron to arrive.
Hermione waited for a good two hours for Ron to arrive, signaling that Harry had left. Ron came running to the common room, pounding on the picture frame.
"Let me in!" he exclaimed.
Hermione opened the portrait and found him there.
"You know the password."
"I do? I do!"
"You alright?"
"Does it look like it? Let's go!"
Ron pulled Hermione by the arm out of the common room and they followed the dot labeled "Harry" on the map, making sure to keep quiet and out of sight. They were delayed by a couple appearances of teachers but avoided any confrontations.
*~*~*
Draco lay on his back on his bed, wondering what she had meant by, "Don't forget about tomorrow!" His tongue had finally returned to its normal state, and though he was angry about it, he somehow couldn't be mad at her. His curiosity was now peaked and it got the better of him. Then he heard Hermione's door open, the franticness of her running down the stairs, and a pounding on the portrait that led to their room. She heard Ron's voice and the room fell silent after they had exited.
His was curiosity peaked now more than ever and he rose out of the position he was laying on in his bed. He raised his eyebrow skeptically in front of his full length mirror and reached into his trunk for something. It was a velvet cloak. He draped it over himself and he disappeared.
He followed quietly as they made their way down the hallway, craning their neck over something between them. They reached the fourth floor and went to the exact spot where Harry had disappeared on the map. They looked at the wall and Ron stuck a hand through it and found that they could walk through it, though they weren't sure who or what they'd find on the other side. Hermione stuck her head through to find no one there and Ron followed her.
Hermione and Ron, did not however, know they were being followed. Draco pushed through the wall and remained quiet, hidden in shadows under his cloak. Hermione wasted no time in observing what was in the room. She stepped right into the middle of the contraption that was there and observed it from the central pad. Draco stood right next to her, doing the same thing, though he went unnoticed.
A keyboard of lights and buttons and electronic configurations took Ron's interest and he stood there, observing the lights flashing and wondering what it all meant. His eyes were wide open in awe and he spotted a rather large and unusually shaped button.
"So this is what he's been working on" she whispered to herself. "Wonder what it does..."
At that moment, her questions were answered, thought she hadn't realized it yet. Ron had pushed the large and irregularly shaped button out of fascination and not using common sense.
"Ron, no!"
Hermione saw a series of blue rings ascend from the platform she was occupying and they surrounded her. There was a bright flash of light as Ron ducked behind the keyboard and Hermione felt her feet leave the floor.
* * * * *
A/N: The plot thickens! Muahahahaha!!!! Where'd she go? What happened? I had quite a bit of fun writing this chapter. I was complaining all day yesterday of writer's block and then a brilliant idea hit me for this story...so chapter nine will be up shortly and I'm pretty sure what you have all been waiting for will happen...yes, I'm talking to u Kinky Girl. Sorry bout the cliffhanger here, but I Had to do it or it would ruin it...please keep reading and reviewing!!!