A/N: I'm sorry I'm not naming names this chapter, but I promise I'll do it
in the next chapter!!!
And here we go.. ****************************************************************
Hermione's POV
"Anna!" I cried into a rectangular contraption, also known as a voice box. Dumbledore had conjured one up to work like a telephone, since owling was not considered a very civilized way to contact people in the muggle world. Also, electronic devices such as laptops didn't work in Hogwarts, so it wasn't like I could turn it on and e-mail my friends on any old day. I heard a chipper voice answer back. "Hermione?"
"Yes! It's me! How are you?? I've missed you so much!!" I cried into the voice box. I could almost see her jumping up and down with excitement from the tone of her voice.
"It's been great!! Oh my god!! Have you heard??? Evan and Larissa started dating!!!!" She gushed.
"WHAT??" I cried. "Tell me more!!!!!" I shrieked. Draco had been sitting beside me throughout the entire conversation and he was starting to look huffy and impatient. Probably because I had promised him an outing together in Hogsmeade after we finished with this.
"Wait, don't tell me yet. The headmaster of my boarding school (as I had been instructed to call it) says that I can invite you and everyone else over here for the weekend!!" I said. Well, actually, cried in an overly hyper, yet at the same time, perky voice.
"Really??" She asked. "But wait.. that's tomorrow. How are we going to get there in such short notice? And WHERE is your boarding school??"
Dumbledore had this all planned out days before she asked this question. Hogwarts was actually two hours from central London, which was where they seemed to be located. Apparently, they were going to take a magical cab, (but they didn't know that) that would arrive right in front of Anna's house and take them for a fifteen-minute drive and end up right in front of Hogwart's main entrance. It was really quite clever if you ask me.
I told her all of this. Except for the part with the magical cab and all that nonsense. "So can you come??" I asked.
"Hold on a second, let me ask my mom." I waited patiently as I heard some shuffling in the background. "YES!!!! And I'll tell Evan and Larissa about it too!!" She answered back finally.
"Okay! And you can tell me ALL about Riss and Ev when you come!! Ahuh.. Mm.. yup, bye!" I said, making amends.
"Well that took forever." Draco commented a bit dryly for someone who was sitting right across from Dumbledore.
I glared at him. "Well sue me for trying to keep in touch with my friends."
Our slight conversation was interrupted by the headmaster.
"I assume that all is well and will go accordingly to plan?" He asked. I nodded, just before he ushered us out.
Draco then slid an arm around my waist and walked with me out the doors, towards the path leading to Hogsmeade. "Summer's coming." He said mildly as we made our way to a new outdoor café that just opened up last week. We sat down across from each other as the waiter came to take our order.
"Um.. you don't happen to have a Strawberry Fizzling Mocha, do you?" I asked. Ginny had recommended it to me. I trusted her entirely, unlike her brothers who just happened to recommend drinks that liked to explode in your face. "Actually we do." The hazel-eyed waiter gave me a dimpled smile.
"And you?" He asked, turning to the occupant across from me.
"Just a regular coffee, with milk and sugar." Cody, as I had noted from his nametag, nodded and was off.
I lay my head on a hand and gazed at Draco with a serene state of mind. "How is your father?" I suddenly asked. It didn't seem to make him darken or shudder compulsively like it seemed to do in the past. Actually, he looked quite calm about it. It seemed to me like we were comfortable enough with the topic and each other to talk about it in a mature manner.
"Not bad. He has tempers sometimes that cause more guards to look over his cell, but he's not suffering. Badly." He answered. A warm shift or air smoothed my cheek.
"Well, how are YOU doing, then?" I asked. He smiled.
"Oh, the usual. You know, thinking about suicide or committing a murder of Pothead or Weasel."
"Draco." I scolded.
"Okay, okay! It's been fine. You know, it's my mother who's really suffering worse than anybody else, in fact. He seems to have grown on her, for reasons she let him, I'm afraid to know. I, on the other hand, couldn't have cared less. It's not like he was an active part of my life actually. Unless you count life threats and all that nonsense, but I can live without those." I laughed.
"But you MUST have loved him somewhat." I told him.
"Oh course I did! He was my father, how could I not? But it was more like a mutual thing." I nodded, understanding, although really, I didn't.
Just then, the waiter, Cody, arrived and placed our orders down. I sipped my fizzy drink through my pink straw. The drink was actually quite good.
"So.." I continued. "What do you plan to do next year?" I asked.
"I'm actually considering taking some Ancient Rune classes and probably a lot of Potion classes. I'm thinking about maybe majoring in Healing." He responded, taking a sip from his coffee. I looked at him, astonished.
"Really?? That's the exact same thing I wanted to do since I was a little girl!" Well, actually not little, but since I enrolled in Hogwarts at ten years old.
He smiled at me, as we continued drinking in silence.
"Anyways, how did your quidditch practice go?" I asked, mentioning his practice that occurred earlier in the day.
"Pretty good, they're considering naming me captain next year."
"You mean your not already captain??" I asked crinkling my eyebrows in confusion.
He looked at me strangely. "You really haven't been paying attention to anything I've been saying, have you?"
I smiled sheepishly and changed the subject. "Well, er.. what do you want to do tomorrow with Anna and them?" I twirled the straw in my mouth mindlessly.
He shrugged. "Show them the pitch?" I shook my head.
"Draco, we're responsible for their physical welfare ALONG with their mental ones. What are they going to say when they see a large stadium field with three hoops on either side?"
He smiled. "Umm.. we like to blow big bubbles?" I reached across the table and smacked him upside the head.
"Hey!" He cried, rubbing the side of his head. "Just trying to lighten the moment."
"And what about those moving pictures and staircases??" I cried in a panicked voice, just realizing the flaws of the plan.
"Relax, Hermione." He said placing a hand on my arm. "I'm sure Dumbledore has a plan. Do you really think he would let three innocent muggles think they were going insane?"
I did not see the humor in that. "Are you sure?"
"As sure as I am sexy." I rolled my eyes. I guess he was pretty sure about that one.
I suddenly realized how long we had been talking. The sun was starting to go down and most of the students had already returned to the castle. As if reading my thoughts, Draco asked, "Want to head back now?" I nodded, as we left the money for the bill along with the tips on the table.
We walked hand in hand back towards the Hogwarts Castle. I think I learned more about him than anybody else might have. I even think he even learned new things about himself. I had one gorgeous day, and I prayed to god that it would only get better tomorrow.
A/N: La de da de daa.. I swear I can hear some soft music floating around somewhere..
And here we go.. ****************************************************************
Hermione's POV
"Anna!" I cried into a rectangular contraption, also known as a voice box. Dumbledore had conjured one up to work like a telephone, since owling was not considered a very civilized way to contact people in the muggle world. Also, electronic devices such as laptops didn't work in Hogwarts, so it wasn't like I could turn it on and e-mail my friends on any old day. I heard a chipper voice answer back. "Hermione?"
"Yes! It's me! How are you?? I've missed you so much!!" I cried into the voice box. I could almost see her jumping up and down with excitement from the tone of her voice.
"It's been great!! Oh my god!! Have you heard??? Evan and Larissa started dating!!!!" She gushed.
"WHAT??" I cried. "Tell me more!!!!!" I shrieked. Draco had been sitting beside me throughout the entire conversation and he was starting to look huffy and impatient. Probably because I had promised him an outing together in Hogsmeade after we finished with this.
"Wait, don't tell me yet. The headmaster of my boarding school (as I had been instructed to call it) says that I can invite you and everyone else over here for the weekend!!" I said. Well, actually, cried in an overly hyper, yet at the same time, perky voice.
"Really??" She asked. "But wait.. that's tomorrow. How are we going to get there in such short notice? And WHERE is your boarding school??"
Dumbledore had this all planned out days before she asked this question. Hogwarts was actually two hours from central London, which was where they seemed to be located. Apparently, they were going to take a magical cab, (but they didn't know that) that would arrive right in front of Anna's house and take them for a fifteen-minute drive and end up right in front of Hogwart's main entrance. It was really quite clever if you ask me.
I told her all of this. Except for the part with the magical cab and all that nonsense. "So can you come??" I asked.
"Hold on a second, let me ask my mom." I waited patiently as I heard some shuffling in the background. "YES!!!! And I'll tell Evan and Larissa about it too!!" She answered back finally.
"Okay! And you can tell me ALL about Riss and Ev when you come!! Ahuh.. Mm.. yup, bye!" I said, making amends.
"Well that took forever." Draco commented a bit dryly for someone who was sitting right across from Dumbledore.
I glared at him. "Well sue me for trying to keep in touch with my friends."
Our slight conversation was interrupted by the headmaster.
"I assume that all is well and will go accordingly to plan?" He asked. I nodded, just before he ushered us out.
Draco then slid an arm around my waist and walked with me out the doors, towards the path leading to Hogsmeade. "Summer's coming." He said mildly as we made our way to a new outdoor café that just opened up last week. We sat down across from each other as the waiter came to take our order.
"Um.. you don't happen to have a Strawberry Fizzling Mocha, do you?" I asked. Ginny had recommended it to me. I trusted her entirely, unlike her brothers who just happened to recommend drinks that liked to explode in your face. "Actually we do." The hazel-eyed waiter gave me a dimpled smile.
"And you?" He asked, turning to the occupant across from me.
"Just a regular coffee, with milk and sugar." Cody, as I had noted from his nametag, nodded and was off.
I lay my head on a hand and gazed at Draco with a serene state of mind. "How is your father?" I suddenly asked. It didn't seem to make him darken or shudder compulsively like it seemed to do in the past. Actually, he looked quite calm about it. It seemed to me like we were comfortable enough with the topic and each other to talk about it in a mature manner.
"Not bad. He has tempers sometimes that cause more guards to look over his cell, but he's not suffering. Badly." He answered. A warm shift or air smoothed my cheek.
"Well, how are YOU doing, then?" I asked. He smiled.
"Oh, the usual. You know, thinking about suicide or committing a murder of Pothead or Weasel."
"Draco." I scolded.
"Okay, okay! It's been fine. You know, it's my mother who's really suffering worse than anybody else, in fact. He seems to have grown on her, for reasons she let him, I'm afraid to know. I, on the other hand, couldn't have cared less. It's not like he was an active part of my life actually. Unless you count life threats and all that nonsense, but I can live without those." I laughed.
"But you MUST have loved him somewhat." I told him.
"Oh course I did! He was my father, how could I not? But it was more like a mutual thing." I nodded, understanding, although really, I didn't.
Just then, the waiter, Cody, arrived and placed our orders down. I sipped my fizzy drink through my pink straw. The drink was actually quite good.
"So.." I continued. "What do you plan to do next year?" I asked.
"I'm actually considering taking some Ancient Rune classes and probably a lot of Potion classes. I'm thinking about maybe majoring in Healing." He responded, taking a sip from his coffee. I looked at him, astonished.
"Really?? That's the exact same thing I wanted to do since I was a little girl!" Well, actually not little, but since I enrolled in Hogwarts at ten years old.
He smiled at me, as we continued drinking in silence.
"Anyways, how did your quidditch practice go?" I asked, mentioning his practice that occurred earlier in the day.
"Pretty good, they're considering naming me captain next year."
"You mean your not already captain??" I asked crinkling my eyebrows in confusion.
He looked at me strangely. "You really haven't been paying attention to anything I've been saying, have you?"
I smiled sheepishly and changed the subject. "Well, er.. what do you want to do tomorrow with Anna and them?" I twirled the straw in my mouth mindlessly.
He shrugged. "Show them the pitch?" I shook my head.
"Draco, we're responsible for their physical welfare ALONG with their mental ones. What are they going to say when they see a large stadium field with three hoops on either side?"
He smiled. "Umm.. we like to blow big bubbles?" I reached across the table and smacked him upside the head.
"Hey!" He cried, rubbing the side of his head. "Just trying to lighten the moment."
"And what about those moving pictures and staircases??" I cried in a panicked voice, just realizing the flaws of the plan.
"Relax, Hermione." He said placing a hand on my arm. "I'm sure Dumbledore has a plan. Do you really think he would let three innocent muggles think they were going insane?"
I did not see the humor in that. "Are you sure?"
"As sure as I am sexy." I rolled my eyes. I guess he was pretty sure about that one.
I suddenly realized how long we had been talking. The sun was starting to go down and most of the students had already returned to the castle. As if reading my thoughts, Draco asked, "Want to head back now?" I nodded, as we left the money for the bill along with the tips on the table.
We walked hand in hand back towards the Hogwarts Castle. I think I learned more about him than anybody else might have. I even think he even learned new things about himself. I had one gorgeous day, and I prayed to god that it would only get better tomorrow.
A/N: La de da de daa.. I swear I can hear some soft music floating around somewhere..