Disclaimer: I do not own Draco (dammit). He belongs to the wonderful mind
of J.K. Rowling. Myself, however, is my very own possession.
Disclaimer: Written for a UR.net challenge: What would your day with Draco look like.
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****Take your Draco to work day****
~Lotte's story ~
___________________________________________________________________________
Today is the 10 of September 2003, and today I've had the strangest day of my life. I still don't comprehend half of it, but I need to write this down. Maybe I will start to believe and understand it after I written it all down.
This is how it all began.
___________________________________________
-*-Getting up: A Routine.-*-
6:30 AM
"Bleep, bleep, bleep."
SMASH!
"Mmooh." Lotte moaned. After she smashed her alarm-clock, she cuddled back under the blankets. A few moments later she realized she had only pressed the snooze button, and the beeper from hell would repeat its annoying message after 9 minutes.
Reluctantly she kicked back her blankets and forced her eyes to open. She turned back to the alarm clock and switched it of completely so as not to wake her mother, who was still in bed.
Lotte hated getting up this early. Normally she could have slept in, but she needed to go to university. Today was the day she would get the grades of her retakes and find out if she could pass over to her second year.
"Why do they have to tell us so early in the morning?" she sighed to herself.
She wasn't expected until 9 o'clock, but because she needed to catch a train to get there and those bloody people at the railways only assigned one train an hour to her destination, she needed to get up this early.
Lotte shook her head and slowly got up. She walked over to her window and opened it, noting it was a slightly breezy day. Then she yawned, stretched, opened her door and stumbled down as quiet as she could in her disorientated state.
Her father was already up and too cheerful for that time of the day.
"Good morning! Having butterflies in your stomach?" he asked.
"Mmmorning," Lotte mumbled, and knowing she wouldn't get him to believe there was nothing to worry about, she completely ignored his question.
Her father always urged her to be nervous over such things and he usually succeeded. She was pretty sure she would pass, but he always took away that glimpse of hope and certainty and replaced it with his own black pessimism.
Lotte walked over to the sink, opened the tap and splashed some water in her face. That helped to wake her a little bit; she turned around and took her place at the breakfast table, pouring some coffee into a mug. She waited until the sugar in it had dissolved, then she stirred it, added milk, and slowly took a sip.
"Aren't you eating anything?" her father asked.
"Yeah, in a minute. Still waking up."
Lotte drunk half her mug before taking a slice of bread. She grabbed the butter and spread some on her slice. Then she took a banana, cut it and put the pieces on top of the butter.
"Uh, what you eat in the morning!" Her father looked disgusted.
"Yeah, well, you're the last person to talk about eating habits in the morning. I'm not the one eating cold pizza. And, anyway, don't you have to go to work? You're train leaves in fifteen minutes."
"Oh...you're right."
He quickly grabbed his coat and bag, kissed Lotte on the cheek and walked towards the garage.
"Good luck today!" he added when he was in the doorway.
Lotte just smiled and waved.
She listened to the gate open and the car door slam. After her father had left for the station Lotte heard a pair of feet stumbling down the stairs. It was her brother Tom. He had to get to school today, but was pretty early.
"Hey." Lotte said.
"Yeah, hey." he replied. He grabbed a chair and started to prepare his sandwich.
They both finished their respective breakfast without saying a word.
At 7 o'clock Lotte got up from the table to dress herself. When she was back upstairs she heard her mother get out of bed and open the window.
"Good morning!" she called.
"Hello," her mother replied.
Lotte rushed into the bathroom, washed and dressed herself and filled her bag with what she needed. She ran back downstairs and looked at the time. It was already 7:20 and she needed to hurry. Lotte ran to grab her coat and put her bag around her neck.
"When is your train?" her mother asked.
"7:45, but I need to get to the station on my bike, and I've noticed there is a lot of wind, so I'll leave now," replied Lotte.
"When do you arrive then?"
"At 8 o'clock, and then I need to catch the bus for another twenty minutes."
"You'll be early, won't you?"
"Yeah, forty minutes early."
"Let me know the results when you find out."
"Okay, got to go now. Bye Tom, bye mum!" Lotte dashed into the garage, grabbed her bike and set for the station.
___________________________________________
-*-The Beginning: At the Station.-*-
Lotte arrived in the station at 7:35, and thus had another ten minutes before her train would leave. She quickly stepped in the line to buy her ticket. As usual, the person behind the counter didn't realise that people were in a hurry, and he took his time. Annoyed, Lotte tapped her foot. She knew that it irritated the people in front of her, but she didn't care.
"Oh, hurry up!" she muttered to herself, but loud enough to be heard.
She turned around and looked at the people behind her, who were probably in just as much of a hurry as she was and she smiled at them.
After what seemed like an age the queue moved, and there was only one person in front of her now.
Lotte looked at her watch - seven minutes to go. She looked around her to prevent from going berserk and fixed her eyes on a poster on the wall, calming herself down by reading it.
And then, suddenly, it happened.
Lotte didn't realize it as she was watching the poster. She blinked.
A boy had just emerged out of the wall she was looking at.
"Huh?" she breathed.
She blinked again, but the boy was still there, looking thoroughly confused.
"Miss!" The strict voice of the clerk told Lotte it was her turn to buy the ticket. She quickly ordered what she needed, but let her eyes drift back to the boy, who was now standing against the wall.
He tried to look innocent, but Lotte saw he was pushing against it as hard as he could.
"Here you go," she said to the clerk, and placed the money on the counter. She looked at her watch again - four minutes. Lotte rushed towards the platforms, but as she passed the wall she couldn't help but stop.
The boy looked oddly familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"Are you okay?" she queried.
The boy jerked his head up and practically shot her with the cold emerging from his eyes.
"I mean, do you need to get somewhere?" Lotte tried again.
"I don't see how that is any of your bloody business," the boy snapped, glaring at her.
"Oh well, excuse me for trying to be helpful!" Lotte snapped back.
The boy looked taken aback, but it didn't last long; the arrogant look returned on his face almost immediately.
"I don't need help from any of your kind!"
"Kind? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Jeez, the people of today! First they appear out of nowhere from a solid wall, then they seem to want to push their way back in, but of course that doesn't work. And then you want to help them and they bite your head off! Well, forget about it," she ranted, but suddenly her eyes widened. The speakers had just announced that her train had arrived on platform two.
"I need to catch my train!" Lotte ran through the doors and up the stairs.
She didn't notice the boy looking at her, very surprised, or that he turned around and followed her.
-*-Acquaintances: In the Train-*-
Lotte quickly jumped in the train and found herself a seat near the window. It wasn't that crowded, so she had plenty of room. She threw her bag on the opposite bench and took off her coat, sighing. It had been a close call. Lotte was only just sitting down when the train started to move.
"You're a good runner," came a voice from behind her.
Lotte turned in her seat and stared into the icy eyes of the boy, frowning.
"Were you following me?" she demanded.
"You're the one who wanted to help!"
"Yeah, but I changed my mind after hearing your charming answer."
The boy sniffed, flung her bag off the chair, brushed the seat off and sat down without asking permission. Lotte looked agitated.
"Where am I?" he said as if he was speaking to his chauffeur.
"Oh, gee, I don't know. The train?"
"You have a short fuse, don't you?"
"Well, I haven't heard an apology come out of your mouth yet."
"I'm not apologising to you!" he said indignantly.
The boy looked completely appalled as Lotte demonstratively turned towards the window, almost as if to dismiss him.
He hissed in disgust.
"I will not be spoken to in that manner!" he suddenly shot at her, "I deserve some respect, especially if you and all the others are what I think you are!"
Lotte turned back towards him looking furious. "Who the devil do you think you are? The pope or something? I don't need to have respect for you as you clearly have none for me!"
"You'd better watch out! You don't know what I can do!"
"Oh, really now! And what is that, then?"
Lotte crossed her arms and looked at him, expecting a very good answer.
"My father..." the boy began.
Lotte snorted. "Your father? Bah, you sound like my little cousin!"
The boy rose from his chair in anger and towered over her. Brief panic flashed over her face. He did look quite intimidating like that.
"You people have no idea! You think you're so smart, don't you? But you have no idea what's going on in the world, and who is important in it. You Muggles are all alike, and I agree completely to the fact you need to be extinguished!"
"Muggles?" Lotte looked at her knees and bit her lips in thought...
This person ussd that word as if it is real. That couldn't be! No of course not, but then, he did appear out of a wall. Yeah, but no one else noticed that! Maybe I am losing it. I've finally snapped. I'm seeing things that aren't there.
She looked back up and saw that the boy was still fuming.
Maybe...No! Could it be?
Lotte then decided to test something. She took a deep breath and said: "Sit back down, Draco. You're drawing too much attention."
The change in the boys face was remarkable. He hesitated a moment and then slowly sank back into his seat.
"So, I'm right?" Lotte thought to herself, and she inspected the boys face more intently.
"You look exactly as I imagined," she blurted out, then wished she hadn't.
The boy raised a brow. "What do you mean "expected"?" he sniffed.
"Well, err, you are...you are Draco Malfoy, right?"
The boy – or Draco – nodded, slightly bemused. "How do you know that?" he demanded.
"Err, let say I, um, read about you."
"Read? How can you have read about me? You are a..."
"Muggle, right," Lotte finished for him, "But that doesn't mean I don't know anything."
The train halted. They had arrived at the first stop.
Draco started to get up.
"I'm not getting out here," Lotte said.
Draco sat back down, still looking completely stunned.
"So, what happened?" Lotte asked.
"What? Oh, well, I was trying to catch my train to school, but somehow I arrived here," he replied.
Lotte nodded. She had expected that. "So you tried to get on Platform 9 ¾, but the wall brought you here instead," she stated.
Draco looked even more surprised. She could just read the question off his face, "How does she now that?"
Lotte smiled. Let him wonder.
"Am I right?" she asked.
Draco nodded slowly.
"Strange. How come you're the only one then?" Lotte answered her own question. "We don't know that, it could be others arrived there after you...So strange. This place is a long way from where you wanted to be! And probably in a later time period, too!"
"Where am I then?" Draco couldn't help asking.
How much he tried to look okay, he wasn't.
"You're not in London. You're not even on the island. You're in Belgium, and you're sitting in a normal train. And I expect it was the first of September where you were and you wanted to go to Hogwarts."
Draco frowned. He put his elbow on the sidebar and placed his head in his hand. "So, it's not the first of September?"
"No, it's the tenth."
Lotte was actually starting to feel sorry for him. He was rude, but he looked pretty adorable like that.
"What?" Draco looked at her. She had been staring. Lotte blushed, ignored that fact and said:
"Look, I don't have much time. When this train stops again, I need to get off it and then I need to catch a bus. I'm expected somewhere and I really need to be there. You're welcome to come. Within two hours I can try and help you, but not sooner."
Draco shot her an arrogant look. "I'm not coming with you!"
The sympathy Lotte felt toward him only seconds ago disappeared instantly.
"Well, suit yourself! You go and figure out by yourself to get back home! I trust you can find your way back to your starting point? Right."
At that moment the train stopped. Lotte picked up her bag and nearly run out of the train.
___________________________________________
-*-A Soft Spot: In the Bus.-*-
"The nerve!" she grumbled to herself, "That's twice he's done that! But not a third time! Oh, no he won't, I'll make sure of that!"
Lotte rushed down the steps and out of the station to catch the bus.
"Hey, wait!" Draco's voice sounded as if he was running, but she refused to turn around.
He came to a halt next to her, but Lotte did nothing to slow her pace. She spotted her bus and went straight for it.
Suddenly Draco grabbed her arm, and twisted it a bit.
"Aw! Let go of me! That hurts!"
"Well, you wouldn't have stopped otherwise!"
"You got that one right! Go away! I need to be on this bus."
"Look, wait! Wait! Please?"
Lotte stopped fighting him. She didn't know him that well - not at all actually - but she realize that a please very seldom escaped his lips.
He let her go and sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Look, it's true that I don't know what to do. I hate to admit that, and especially not to you. But this is the case. Don't run away now. I'll come with you and then we'll try to find my way back later. Okay?"
Lotte made a noise that could have suited for a yes or a no. Then she reached in her bag and gave him a coin.
"Here. This is the money for the bus."
She then turned around and got on the bus. Lotte paid and found herself a seat without looking back at him.
"God, I'm such a softy..." she said to herself.
"What?"
Draco had managed to pay the bus driver and was now making to sit next to her. Lotte shifted a bit in her seat so he could sit down without them having to touch each other.
"Nothing. I'm just saying you're lucky I saw you! Anyone else would have left you alone by now."
Draco sneered. "Yeah well, it's what you call lucky!"
Lotte looked at him, disgusted, but decided not to respond. She turned around and looked out of the window, trying to ignore him again.
Draco seemed to accept her silence and just sat there looking through the window at the other side.
Lotte couldn't help herself, and she twisted back around to look at him.
"How weird is this?" she thought, "Obviously I'm not the only one seeing him, so I'm not crazy, but how come a book-character is sitting next to me on the bus?"
Draco must have felt her looking at him, because he turned to face her. Lotte quickly shifted her eyes away from him, but he must have seen her looking as a presumptuous grin spread across his face.
"Oh, don't flatter yourself," Lotte snarled.
The grin faded slightly, but it didn't go away completely.
"Uh," Lotte uttered, annoyed.
She turned back around to look through the window. She noticed the next bus stop was hers and she looked up to find a button. Unfortunately the button was on the bar next to Draco's head. Lotte hesitated a moment, sighed and reached for the button.
Draco nearly jumped off his chair and threw her off hers.
"What are you doing?" he yelped.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Lotte yelled as she got up, "I was only trying to press the button."
She turned around and pushed the nearest one. People were staring at them, and Lotte defiantly stared back. The bus stopped and she jump off, slightly embarrassed, Draco on her heels.
When the bus had started again, she turned around to face him. She was completely outraged.
"What in heaven's name did you think I was going to do? You do think quite a lot of yourself, don't you? Well, I'll ease your mind. I'm not intending to jump you! Not now, not ever!" she nearly screamed those last words.
She turned away from him again, and started to march towards the building on the other side of the road. She sensed Draco hadn't given up yet, and noted that he also walked towards the building, a few steps behind her. Just before she got there she turned and Draco had to stop very abruptly if he didn't want to smash into her.
___________________________________________
-*-Arrangements: The University.-*-
"Hey, watch it!" he cried.
Lotte ignored him. "You will have to behave yourself in here, got it? You're not go making scenes like you always do!"
Draco was astonished. His jaw hung open in a most undignified manner.
"How dare you!" he began.
"Yeah, yeah, your father and all. I know that already. Just do as you're asked, for once. It's not only for me, either: you don't want to attract too much attention," Lotte paused a moment and gave him a warning look. "I will tell people you're an exchange student from England and that I need to show you around here. If anyone asks, you're staying in my aunts house and you're name is James Rebecchi."
"Why do I need to change my name?"
"Because I say so!" Lotte snapped, but when she saw the dangerous look he was giving her, she added, "Because Draco is a strange name, and would raise too many questions. And I'm not the only one reading those books..."
She didn't say that last sentence out loud. Her instinct told her it was safer not to tell him he was a fiction-character.
Draco seemed to find the answer suitable, and stopped arguing. He didn't look too happy though.
"People won't speak English in here." Lotte said carefully.
"I figured that much out!"
"Okay. Here goes."
They stepped in the building. Lotte looked at her watch and saw they were ten minutes later then expected. It was 8:30.
Lotte scanned the hall and noticed a group of people she knew. She walked over, quickly glancing over her shoulder to see if he was following.
"Hey!"
Some people greeted her and they started talking about what was about to happen. Lotte frequently let her eyes fall on Draco, who looked annoyed because he didn't understand a thing. Someone noticed him and asked about it; Lotte changed back to English.
"This is James, and he's here from England."
"England? Really?"
Reluctantly Draco nodded. He smiled, but that didn't shine through in his eyes, so Lotte knew he was playing it. She repressed a smile herself.
Half an hour later the students were summoned into the auditorium.
Lotte turned around to follow her friends, but then remembered Draco. She grabbed his arm and pushed him into the right direction.
He snatched his arm out of her grip.
"Don't touch me!" he hissed.
Lotte turned up her nose and restrained herself from sticking out her tongue.
They entered the auditorium and sat down.
The professors started to read from a piece of paper. They ran over all of the names calling out: geslaagd (passed); niet geslaagd (didn't pass).
When they came to her name, Lotte sucked in a breath and kept it there.
"Geslaagd (passed)."
Lotte released the breath and started grinning. Draco watched her with raised eyebrows.
"I passed," she told him delightedly.
He didn't seem to understand what she was talking about, but she didn't explain.
"Hey, Lotte! Congratulations!" one of her friends called as they started to leave the room.
"Yeah, you too!!"
They streamed out of the door and back into the hall again.
"I need to phone home now," she told Draco.
He looked at her as if she was speaking Turkish. "You need what?" he questioned.
"Phone," she repeated and took out her cell out of her bag.
Draco looked at it with suspicious eyes. Lotte started to laugh out loud and shook her head. He looked surprised and a little bit agitated, but he said nothing.
Lotte walked away from him and dialled her home-number.
Her mom picked up. "Hello?"
"Mom? It's me! Guess what?"
"What?" Her mom sounded highly nervous.
"I passed!"
"Oh, thank god!!! You don't know how worried I was."
"I told you not to be."
"I couldn't help it. Are you coming home now?"
"Err, no. We're going to drink something. I don't know when I'll be home. Okay?"
"Okay! Have fun, and congratulations!"
"Thanks! See you tonight! Bye!"
"Bye!"
Lotte hung up and she turned to Draco. He was still looking at her cell with a puzzled face.
"It's a way to talk to someone without actually being there." she tried to explain.
Draco grunted; she didn't explain further.
"Hey Lotte! Are you coming to the café with us? James is welcome to!"
Her friend had invited her in English, so that Draco had understood it. He jerked his head towards Lotte and shot her an angry look.
Lotte caught it. "Err, no, sorry."
"Aww!"
"Yeah, I promised James to show him around a bit."
"Oh, we can come."
"No, that's okay. You go. I'll see you later."
Her friend looked a little disappointed. "Okay then. See you!" She turned around and went back to the group.
Lotte felt sorry. She did want to go. They didn't get that many chances to all be together.
"Happy?" she frowned at Draco.
He just smirked.
"Puh." Lotte raised her chin and went out of the building.
___________________________________________
-*-The journey back.-*-
Outside, Lotte waited for Draco to join her.
"What now?" she asked.
"What do you mean? Go back of course."
Highly irritated Lotte turned on her heels and made it for the bus stop. "We have another bus in 10 minutes, I think."
She reached in her bag and pulled out a crumpled book. Lotte started searching in it and when she found what she was looking for, she groaned.
"Uh, we don't have a train for another hour. The next one is at 10:45. I hate waiting!"
"What a retarded place is this?!" Draco brought his hand to his temples.
"I have to agree with you on that one." Lotte had raged about the trains on several occasions, so she knew how he felt.
Suddenly a flash of light lit the sky.
"Oh, no!"
Lotte quickly ducked into the bus stop to shelter from the rain, which was obviously coming soon. And when it came, it really did come. It was absolutely pouring. Although she was under a roof, Lotte was still soaking wet after five minutes. Draco pulled out his wand.
"What are you doing?" Lotte dreaded what was coming. "You're not allowed to use this here! Not in front of me."
Draco stepped closer to her and gave her one of his ugliest looks. Lotte whimpered. He truly looked as if he was about to attack her.
"Don't worry. I'm not that stupid that I will hurt my only guide."
Lotte sighed in relief. "What will you do then?"
"Nothing. As you pointed out, I'm not allowed."
"Oh." Lotte didn't trust him and kept her eyes on his wand.
Finally the bus arrived. Lotte quickly grabbed two coins and stepped onto the bus, shivering.
"Two please," she said, and placed the coins on the counter.
She then walked further into the bus and sat down. Draco followed her.
They didn't speak again until they were back in the station.
"I guess I will have to buy you a ticket. You're lucky the conductor didn't come this morning, or he would have thrown you off."
Lotte bought the tickets and told Draco they needed to get to platform five. Draco marched in front of her as if he had done this all his live and found a bench near the rails.
Lotte sat down and shivered again. She hadn't expect to be in a shower and wasn't dressed properly for it.
"You cold?" Draco's voice sounded flat.
"A bit." she answered, "Aren't you? You're probably as wet as I am."
"No. My clothes repel the water."
"Oh." Lotte pulled her legs on the seat and hugged them in an effort to warm up.
"It's still thirty minutes before the train arrives," she said, trying to break the uncomfortable silence. "How do you think you'll get back?"
"Through the same wall, I guess."
"Why do you think it will work? It closed directly after you."
"Don't try to understand things like that. You're not capable."
Lotte flushed in anger. "How do you know what I'm capable of? You always talk as if you're so much better then all of us, but you're not! Not here! No one knows who you are, and who your father is. They couldn't care less! So if I were you, I would start to be a little friendlier, 'cause if you're stuck here for a while, you won't get anywhere around here with that attitude!"
"It worked with you!"
"Well, have you ever-"
"Enough!" he barked, "I won't start this again. We're stuck together until I get home, so we'll try to be civil."
"Like hell we are stuck! I could leave you here and never look back!"
"But you won't!"
Lotte couldn't hide her indignation. She opened her mouth to snap something back, but closed it again.
"You look like a fish," Draco snorted.
"Aargh, you are so annoying!" Lotte finally managed to holler.
"I don't see you walking away."
"Don't push it, mister Malfoy! One more word and I will do so!"
Draco snorted, his arrogance quite obvious. "At least you know how to call me."
"What? That wasn't..." But she stopped. "Oh, I give up. You're so high on yourself! I can't win with you!"
Draco smirked, amused.
Finally, the train arrived. Lotte jumped up immediately. Draco got up a little slower and walked after her, quite at ease.
He found her on a seat.
"Not here," he said.
"What?"
"We're not sitting here."
"Oh. And where does his majesty want to sit, then?" Lotte replied, sarcasm dripping out of her voice.
Draco walked on and Lotte unwillingly got up again.
"Breath!" she told herself, "It'll all be over soon."
Draco had found them seats a few benches further. Lotte didn't see the difference, but she knew better now then to say something.
Draco nodded approvingly.
She raised a brow and hoped he would understand not to go much further with this "I'm higher placed then you"-attitude. She wouldn't be able to endure it for much longer.
The train ride wasn't that long, luckily, and Lotte had never been so glad that it was over. Her clothes were still damp and she repressed a shiver as she stepped into the open air.
___________________________________________
-*-The End: Farewells.-*-
"You're still cold," Draco noticed.
"Yeah. But my clothes are almost dry."
"If you hadn't stopped me at the bus stop, you wouldn't be cold."
Lotte looked flabbergasted. "What?"
Draco ignored her question, and made his way down the stairs. Lotte ran after him, highly surprised of what he had just admitted.
"You would really have helped me?" She was too curious not to ask.
Reluctantly, Draco nodded. "I was going to put a drying spell on your clothes. I'm glad I didn't though. That would have cost me my place in Hogwarts. And don't mention what my father would have done."
A smile broke out over Lotte's face. "Maybe you're not that heartless after all," she told him.
He weakly returned her smile.
Having found new energy Lotte walked to the wall it had all begun and started investigating it. After a few minutes she realized she was the only one doing so and she turned to search for Draco.
He was standing a few meters behind her, his arms crossed and an amused expression on his face.
"Now what?" Lotte asked aggravated.
Draco grinned. "Nothing. I was just wondering what you were doing."
"Trying to help you. I don't know why, really!"
"Oh, don't get mad again. I'm not saying anything bad!"
"Yeah, but I know your thinking it!"
"You're a mind reader now, too, are you?"
Lotte stuck out her tongue. She knew it was childish, but it was the only suitable expression to make without being very rude.
Draco laughed a bit.
Surprised Lotte watched the first real expression he had made all day.
"Maybe you're human after all. There is still hope." she teased.
Draco stopped abruptly and corrected himself. It was now Lotte's turn to laugh.
"What time is it now?" he asked.
"A quarter past eleven."
"I think the gate will open at twelve."
"Why is that?"
Draco sighed and started to say she couldn't know, but he changed his mind: "Because twelve is a magic number."
Lotte's eyes twinkled. "Oh." she winked. "Are you hungry?"
"Mm, a little bit, but I can wait."
"Our food isn't contagious or anything." Lotte rolled her eyes. "And we still have to wait for another forty-five minutes."
Draco sight. "Okay then."
"There is a little bakery shop just around the corner. Are you coming?"
"Yeah, I'm not staying here. It stinks."
Lotte laughed.
"Yeah, well, it is a station."
She led Draco to the little shop. "Here it is. What do you want?"
"Some pumpkin juice and a blueberry cake."
"Err, the blueberry cake I can manage, but I don't think they'll have pumpkin juice. They have chocolate milk though."
"Okay, that's fine."
Lotte entered and held the door for him, but he waved at it as to point out he was staying outside.
Five minutes later she was back with two paper bags and two bottles of chocolate milk.
"Here's your cake," she handed him the bag. "There are some benches over there." She pointed them out.
"Wouldn't you rather sit inside?"
"Why, Draco! So considered!"
Now Draco's rolled his eyes. Lotte pushed her elbow in his side. "Oi, I'm only joking!"
They ate there cakes quietly. When both of them had crumpled the paper bags and had finished their milk, Lotte looked at her watch.
"We better go back. We have another fifteen minutes."
Draco nodded and got up. To Lotte's utter bewilderment he turned around, grabbed her sleeve and pulled her up. He avoided her eyes, walked towards a bin and dropped his bag and bottle in it. Lotte followed his lead and then they marched back to the station.
At the wall again, they looked at each other. Lotte was the first to speak.
"I'd love to say it has been pleasant meeting you, but it wasn't. So just let us keep it to, err, interesting." She tried to look serious, but her eyes betrayed her.
Draco smiled a bit. "I totally agree." he managed to stay as serious as Lotte had wanted to be, but then he winked. "I must admit a muggle like you wasn't as bad as I expected."
"Ah, so you changed your mind about us, then?"
"Absolutely not." He paused, "Let's say you're the occasional exception."
"I'll take that as a complement." she warned him.
Draco shrugged.
Lotte looked at her watch.
"Five minutes." she said.
He nodded and walked to the wall and leaned against it.
Lotte felt uncomfortable. This had all been so weird. She would probably never see him again, so what was the point of getting sad? But she couldn't help it. She did feel a little sorry it was over already.
She looked at him again. He looked a little sad, too, or was she imagining it?
"Well, it'll soon be over," she said.
He didn't' react.
"Hope you'll get to school okay."
Draco looked up.
"You're not worrying are you?" he teased.
Lotte was going to say something nasty, when she realised it was a joke. He was catching on to her sense of humour. She smiled.
"No," she answered.
He opened his mouth to say something, but half his body suddenly disappeared in the wall.
Lotte only just stopped herself from shrieking in time.
He gave her another look.
"Bye!" she said.
He was gone.
She turned around, left the station, found her bike and started to make her way home.
___________________________________________
-*-At Home-*-
That's it. That's my story. All this well and truly happened to me today. I'm at home now, sitting behind my desk.
Now that I have written it all down I feel a bit calmer, but I'm not feeling any wiser. I guess I will never understand what happened, and I don't think he'll come back to explain it to me. It's like he said: I'm not capable of understanding that sort of thing.
Well, maybe I am, but not without a proper explanation.
I'll just look upon this as my magical day, no questions asked.
**The end.**
___________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Thank you very much Reems and Char for reading this through for me!! Ever grateful!!
A:N: I tried to use html tags to make thing a little bit easier to read through but they don't work for me. This is what I get if I want to put blabla in bold: /b. If anyone knows what I'm doing wrong I would appreciate a lot if you told me!! Thanks!
Disclaimer: Written for a UR.net challenge: What would your day with Draco look like.
___________________________________________________________________________
****Take your Draco to work day****
~Lotte's story ~
___________________________________________________________________________
Today is the 10 of September 2003, and today I've had the strangest day of my life. I still don't comprehend half of it, but I need to write this down. Maybe I will start to believe and understand it after I written it all down.
This is how it all began.
___________________________________________
-*-Getting up: A Routine.-*-
6:30 AM
"Bleep, bleep, bleep."
SMASH!
"Mmooh." Lotte moaned. After she smashed her alarm-clock, she cuddled back under the blankets. A few moments later she realized she had only pressed the snooze button, and the beeper from hell would repeat its annoying message after 9 minutes.
Reluctantly she kicked back her blankets and forced her eyes to open. She turned back to the alarm clock and switched it of completely so as not to wake her mother, who was still in bed.
Lotte hated getting up this early. Normally she could have slept in, but she needed to go to university. Today was the day she would get the grades of her retakes and find out if she could pass over to her second year.
"Why do they have to tell us so early in the morning?" she sighed to herself.
She wasn't expected until 9 o'clock, but because she needed to catch a train to get there and those bloody people at the railways only assigned one train an hour to her destination, she needed to get up this early.
Lotte shook her head and slowly got up. She walked over to her window and opened it, noting it was a slightly breezy day. Then she yawned, stretched, opened her door and stumbled down as quiet as she could in her disorientated state.
Her father was already up and too cheerful for that time of the day.
"Good morning! Having butterflies in your stomach?" he asked.
"Mmmorning," Lotte mumbled, and knowing she wouldn't get him to believe there was nothing to worry about, she completely ignored his question.
Her father always urged her to be nervous over such things and he usually succeeded. She was pretty sure she would pass, but he always took away that glimpse of hope and certainty and replaced it with his own black pessimism.
Lotte walked over to the sink, opened the tap and splashed some water in her face. That helped to wake her a little bit; she turned around and took her place at the breakfast table, pouring some coffee into a mug. She waited until the sugar in it had dissolved, then she stirred it, added milk, and slowly took a sip.
"Aren't you eating anything?" her father asked.
"Yeah, in a minute. Still waking up."
Lotte drunk half her mug before taking a slice of bread. She grabbed the butter and spread some on her slice. Then she took a banana, cut it and put the pieces on top of the butter.
"Uh, what you eat in the morning!" Her father looked disgusted.
"Yeah, well, you're the last person to talk about eating habits in the morning. I'm not the one eating cold pizza. And, anyway, don't you have to go to work? You're train leaves in fifteen minutes."
"Oh...you're right."
He quickly grabbed his coat and bag, kissed Lotte on the cheek and walked towards the garage.
"Good luck today!" he added when he was in the doorway.
Lotte just smiled and waved.
She listened to the gate open and the car door slam. After her father had left for the station Lotte heard a pair of feet stumbling down the stairs. It was her brother Tom. He had to get to school today, but was pretty early.
"Hey." Lotte said.
"Yeah, hey." he replied. He grabbed a chair and started to prepare his sandwich.
They both finished their respective breakfast without saying a word.
At 7 o'clock Lotte got up from the table to dress herself. When she was back upstairs she heard her mother get out of bed and open the window.
"Good morning!" she called.
"Hello," her mother replied.
Lotte rushed into the bathroom, washed and dressed herself and filled her bag with what she needed. She ran back downstairs and looked at the time. It was already 7:20 and she needed to hurry. Lotte ran to grab her coat and put her bag around her neck.
"When is your train?" her mother asked.
"7:45, but I need to get to the station on my bike, and I've noticed there is a lot of wind, so I'll leave now," replied Lotte.
"When do you arrive then?"
"At 8 o'clock, and then I need to catch the bus for another twenty minutes."
"You'll be early, won't you?"
"Yeah, forty minutes early."
"Let me know the results when you find out."
"Okay, got to go now. Bye Tom, bye mum!" Lotte dashed into the garage, grabbed her bike and set for the station.
___________________________________________
-*-The Beginning: At the Station.-*-
Lotte arrived in the station at 7:35, and thus had another ten minutes before her train would leave. She quickly stepped in the line to buy her ticket. As usual, the person behind the counter didn't realise that people were in a hurry, and he took his time. Annoyed, Lotte tapped her foot. She knew that it irritated the people in front of her, but she didn't care.
"Oh, hurry up!" she muttered to herself, but loud enough to be heard.
She turned around and looked at the people behind her, who were probably in just as much of a hurry as she was and she smiled at them.
After what seemed like an age the queue moved, and there was only one person in front of her now.
Lotte looked at her watch - seven minutes to go. She looked around her to prevent from going berserk and fixed her eyes on a poster on the wall, calming herself down by reading it.
And then, suddenly, it happened.
Lotte didn't realize it as she was watching the poster. She blinked.
A boy had just emerged out of the wall she was looking at.
"Huh?" she breathed.
She blinked again, but the boy was still there, looking thoroughly confused.
"Miss!" The strict voice of the clerk told Lotte it was her turn to buy the ticket. She quickly ordered what she needed, but let her eyes drift back to the boy, who was now standing against the wall.
He tried to look innocent, but Lotte saw he was pushing against it as hard as he could.
"Here you go," she said to the clerk, and placed the money on the counter. She looked at her watch again - four minutes. Lotte rushed towards the platforms, but as she passed the wall she couldn't help but stop.
The boy looked oddly familiar, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
"Are you okay?" she queried.
The boy jerked his head up and practically shot her with the cold emerging from his eyes.
"I mean, do you need to get somewhere?" Lotte tried again.
"I don't see how that is any of your bloody business," the boy snapped, glaring at her.
"Oh well, excuse me for trying to be helpful!" Lotte snapped back.
The boy looked taken aback, but it didn't last long; the arrogant look returned on his face almost immediately.
"I don't need help from any of your kind!"
"Kind? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Jeez, the people of today! First they appear out of nowhere from a solid wall, then they seem to want to push their way back in, but of course that doesn't work. And then you want to help them and they bite your head off! Well, forget about it," she ranted, but suddenly her eyes widened. The speakers had just announced that her train had arrived on platform two.
"I need to catch my train!" Lotte ran through the doors and up the stairs.
She didn't notice the boy looking at her, very surprised, or that he turned around and followed her.
-*-Acquaintances: In the Train-*-
Lotte quickly jumped in the train and found herself a seat near the window. It wasn't that crowded, so she had plenty of room. She threw her bag on the opposite bench and took off her coat, sighing. It had been a close call. Lotte was only just sitting down when the train started to move.
"You're a good runner," came a voice from behind her.
Lotte turned in her seat and stared into the icy eyes of the boy, frowning.
"Were you following me?" she demanded.
"You're the one who wanted to help!"
"Yeah, but I changed my mind after hearing your charming answer."
The boy sniffed, flung her bag off the chair, brushed the seat off and sat down without asking permission. Lotte looked agitated.
"Where am I?" he said as if he was speaking to his chauffeur.
"Oh, gee, I don't know. The train?"
"You have a short fuse, don't you?"
"Well, I haven't heard an apology come out of your mouth yet."
"I'm not apologising to you!" he said indignantly.
The boy looked completely appalled as Lotte demonstratively turned towards the window, almost as if to dismiss him.
He hissed in disgust.
"I will not be spoken to in that manner!" he suddenly shot at her, "I deserve some respect, especially if you and all the others are what I think you are!"
Lotte turned back towards him looking furious. "Who the devil do you think you are? The pope or something? I don't need to have respect for you as you clearly have none for me!"
"You'd better watch out! You don't know what I can do!"
"Oh, really now! And what is that, then?"
Lotte crossed her arms and looked at him, expecting a very good answer.
"My father..." the boy began.
Lotte snorted. "Your father? Bah, you sound like my little cousin!"
The boy rose from his chair in anger and towered over her. Brief panic flashed over her face. He did look quite intimidating like that.
"You people have no idea! You think you're so smart, don't you? But you have no idea what's going on in the world, and who is important in it. You Muggles are all alike, and I agree completely to the fact you need to be extinguished!"
"Muggles?" Lotte looked at her knees and bit her lips in thought...
This person ussd that word as if it is real. That couldn't be! No of course not, but then, he did appear out of a wall. Yeah, but no one else noticed that! Maybe I am losing it. I've finally snapped. I'm seeing things that aren't there.
She looked back up and saw that the boy was still fuming.
Maybe...No! Could it be?
Lotte then decided to test something. She took a deep breath and said: "Sit back down, Draco. You're drawing too much attention."
The change in the boys face was remarkable. He hesitated a moment and then slowly sank back into his seat.
"So, I'm right?" Lotte thought to herself, and she inspected the boys face more intently.
"You look exactly as I imagined," she blurted out, then wished she hadn't.
The boy raised a brow. "What do you mean "expected"?" he sniffed.
"Well, err, you are...you are Draco Malfoy, right?"
The boy – or Draco – nodded, slightly bemused. "How do you know that?" he demanded.
"Err, let say I, um, read about you."
"Read? How can you have read about me? You are a..."
"Muggle, right," Lotte finished for him, "But that doesn't mean I don't know anything."
The train halted. They had arrived at the first stop.
Draco started to get up.
"I'm not getting out here," Lotte said.
Draco sat back down, still looking completely stunned.
"So, what happened?" Lotte asked.
"What? Oh, well, I was trying to catch my train to school, but somehow I arrived here," he replied.
Lotte nodded. She had expected that. "So you tried to get on Platform 9 ¾, but the wall brought you here instead," she stated.
Draco looked even more surprised. She could just read the question off his face, "How does she now that?"
Lotte smiled. Let him wonder.
"Am I right?" she asked.
Draco nodded slowly.
"Strange. How come you're the only one then?" Lotte answered her own question. "We don't know that, it could be others arrived there after you...So strange. This place is a long way from where you wanted to be! And probably in a later time period, too!"
"Where am I then?" Draco couldn't help asking.
How much he tried to look okay, he wasn't.
"You're not in London. You're not even on the island. You're in Belgium, and you're sitting in a normal train. And I expect it was the first of September where you were and you wanted to go to Hogwarts."
Draco frowned. He put his elbow on the sidebar and placed his head in his hand. "So, it's not the first of September?"
"No, it's the tenth."
Lotte was actually starting to feel sorry for him. He was rude, but he looked pretty adorable like that.
"What?" Draco looked at her. She had been staring. Lotte blushed, ignored that fact and said:
"Look, I don't have much time. When this train stops again, I need to get off it and then I need to catch a bus. I'm expected somewhere and I really need to be there. You're welcome to come. Within two hours I can try and help you, but not sooner."
Draco shot her an arrogant look. "I'm not coming with you!"
The sympathy Lotte felt toward him only seconds ago disappeared instantly.
"Well, suit yourself! You go and figure out by yourself to get back home! I trust you can find your way back to your starting point? Right."
At that moment the train stopped. Lotte picked up her bag and nearly run out of the train.
___________________________________________
-*-A Soft Spot: In the Bus.-*-
"The nerve!" she grumbled to herself, "That's twice he's done that! But not a third time! Oh, no he won't, I'll make sure of that!"
Lotte rushed down the steps and out of the station to catch the bus.
"Hey, wait!" Draco's voice sounded as if he was running, but she refused to turn around.
He came to a halt next to her, but Lotte did nothing to slow her pace. She spotted her bus and went straight for it.
Suddenly Draco grabbed her arm, and twisted it a bit.
"Aw! Let go of me! That hurts!"
"Well, you wouldn't have stopped otherwise!"
"You got that one right! Go away! I need to be on this bus."
"Look, wait! Wait! Please?"
Lotte stopped fighting him. She didn't know him that well - not at all actually - but she realize that a please very seldom escaped his lips.
He let her go and sighed, running a hand through his hair.
"Look, it's true that I don't know what to do. I hate to admit that, and especially not to you. But this is the case. Don't run away now. I'll come with you and then we'll try to find my way back later. Okay?"
Lotte made a noise that could have suited for a yes or a no. Then she reached in her bag and gave him a coin.
"Here. This is the money for the bus."
She then turned around and got on the bus. Lotte paid and found herself a seat without looking back at him.
"God, I'm such a softy..." she said to herself.
"What?"
Draco had managed to pay the bus driver and was now making to sit next to her. Lotte shifted a bit in her seat so he could sit down without them having to touch each other.
"Nothing. I'm just saying you're lucky I saw you! Anyone else would have left you alone by now."
Draco sneered. "Yeah well, it's what you call lucky!"
Lotte looked at him, disgusted, but decided not to respond. She turned around and looked out of the window, trying to ignore him again.
Draco seemed to accept her silence and just sat there looking through the window at the other side.
Lotte couldn't help herself, and she twisted back around to look at him.
"How weird is this?" she thought, "Obviously I'm not the only one seeing him, so I'm not crazy, but how come a book-character is sitting next to me on the bus?"
Draco must have felt her looking at him, because he turned to face her. Lotte quickly shifted her eyes away from him, but he must have seen her looking as a presumptuous grin spread across his face.
"Oh, don't flatter yourself," Lotte snarled.
The grin faded slightly, but it didn't go away completely.
"Uh," Lotte uttered, annoyed.
She turned back around to look through the window. She noticed the next bus stop was hers and she looked up to find a button. Unfortunately the button was on the bar next to Draco's head. Lotte hesitated a moment, sighed and reached for the button.
Draco nearly jumped off his chair and threw her off hers.
"What are you doing?" he yelped.
"Oh, for crying out loud!" Lotte yelled as she got up, "I was only trying to press the button."
She turned around and pushed the nearest one. People were staring at them, and Lotte defiantly stared back. The bus stopped and she jump off, slightly embarrassed, Draco on her heels.
When the bus had started again, she turned around to face him. She was completely outraged.
"What in heaven's name did you think I was going to do? You do think quite a lot of yourself, don't you? Well, I'll ease your mind. I'm not intending to jump you! Not now, not ever!" she nearly screamed those last words.
She turned away from him again, and started to march towards the building on the other side of the road. She sensed Draco hadn't given up yet, and noted that he also walked towards the building, a few steps behind her. Just before she got there she turned and Draco had to stop very abruptly if he didn't want to smash into her.
___________________________________________
-*-Arrangements: The University.-*-
"Hey, watch it!" he cried.
Lotte ignored him. "You will have to behave yourself in here, got it? You're not go making scenes like you always do!"
Draco was astonished. His jaw hung open in a most undignified manner.
"How dare you!" he began.
"Yeah, yeah, your father and all. I know that already. Just do as you're asked, for once. It's not only for me, either: you don't want to attract too much attention," Lotte paused a moment and gave him a warning look. "I will tell people you're an exchange student from England and that I need to show you around here. If anyone asks, you're staying in my aunts house and you're name is James Rebecchi."
"Why do I need to change my name?"
"Because I say so!" Lotte snapped, but when she saw the dangerous look he was giving her, she added, "Because Draco is a strange name, and would raise too many questions. And I'm not the only one reading those books..."
She didn't say that last sentence out loud. Her instinct told her it was safer not to tell him he was a fiction-character.
Draco seemed to find the answer suitable, and stopped arguing. He didn't look too happy though.
"People won't speak English in here." Lotte said carefully.
"I figured that much out!"
"Okay. Here goes."
They stepped in the building. Lotte looked at her watch and saw they were ten minutes later then expected. It was 8:30.
Lotte scanned the hall and noticed a group of people she knew. She walked over, quickly glancing over her shoulder to see if he was following.
"Hey!"
Some people greeted her and they started talking about what was about to happen. Lotte frequently let her eyes fall on Draco, who looked annoyed because he didn't understand a thing. Someone noticed him and asked about it; Lotte changed back to English.
"This is James, and he's here from England."
"England? Really?"
Reluctantly Draco nodded. He smiled, but that didn't shine through in his eyes, so Lotte knew he was playing it. She repressed a smile herself.
Half an hour later the students were summoned into the auditorium.
Lotte turned around to follow her friends, but then remembered Draco. She grabbed his arm and pushed him into the right direction.
He snatched his arm out of her grip.
"Don't touch me!" he hissed.
Lotte turned up her nose and restrained herself from sticking out her tongue.
They entered the auditorium and sat down.
The professors started to read from a piece of paper. They ran over all of the names calling out: geslaagd (passed); niet geslaagd (didn't pass).
When they came to her name, Lotte sucked in a breath and kept it there.
"Geslaagd (passed)."
Lotte released the breath and started grinning. Draco watched her with raised eyebrows.
"I passed," she told him delightedly.
He didn't seem to understand what she was talking about, but she didn't explain.
"Hey, Lotte! Congratulations!" one of her friends called as they started to leave the room.
"Yeah, you too!!"
They streamed out of the door and back into the hall again.
"I need to phone home now," she told Draco.
He looked at her as if she was speaking Turkish. "You need what?" he questioned.
"Phone," she repeated and took out her cell out of her bag.
Draco looked at it with suspicious eyes. Lotte started to laugh out loud and shook her head. He looked surprised and a little bit agitated, but he said nothing.
Lotte walked away from him and dialled her home-number.
Her mom picked up. "Hello?"
"Mom? It's me! Guess what?"
"What?" Her mom sounded highly nervous.
"I passed!"
"Oh, thank god!!! You don't know how worried I was."
"I told you not to be."
"I couldn't help it. Are you coming home now?"
"Err, no. We're going to drink something. I don't know when I'll be home. Okay?"
"Okay! Have fun, and congratulations!"
"Thanks! See you tonight! Bye!"
"Bye!"
Lotte hung up and she turned to Draco. He was still looking at her cell with a puzzled face.
"It's a way to talk to someone without actually being there." she tried to explain.
Draco grunted; she didn't explain further.
"Hey Lotte! Are you coming to the café with us? James is welcome to!"
Her friend had invited her in English, so that Draco had understood it. He jerked his head towards Lotte and shot her an angry look.
Lotte caught it. "Err, no, sorry."
"Aww!"
"Yeah, I promised James to show him around a bit."
"Oh, we can come."
"No, that's okay. You go. I'll see you later."
Her friend looked a little disappointed. "Okay then. See you!" She turned around and went back to the group.
Lotte felt sorry. She did want to go. They didn't get that many chances to all be together.
"Happy?" she frowned at Draco.
He just smirked.
"Puh." Lotte raised her chin and went out of the building.
___________________________________________
-*-The journey back.-*-
Outside, Lotte waited for Draco to join her.
"What now?" she asked.
"What do you mean? Go back of course."
Highly irritated Lotte turned on her heels and made it for the bus stop. "We have another bus in 10 minutes, I think."
She reached in her bag and pulled out a crumpled book. Lotte started searching in it and when she found what she was looking for, she groaned.
"Uh, we don't have a train for another hour. The next one is at 10:45. I hate waiting!"
"What a retarded place is this?!" Draco brought his hand to his temples.
"I have to agree with you on that one." Lotte had raged about the trains on several occasions, so she knew how he felt.
Suddenly a flash of light lit the sky.
"Oh, no!"
Lotte quickly ducked into the bus stop to shelter from the rain, which was obviously coming soon. And when it came, it really did come. It was absolutely pouring. Although she was under a roof, Lotte was still soaking wet after five minutes. Draco pulled out his wand.
"What are you doing?" Lotte dreaded what was coming. "You're not allowed to use this here! Not in front of me."
Draco stepped closer to her and gave her one of his ugliest looks. Lotte whimpered. He truly looked as if he was about to attack her.
"Don't worry. I'm not that stupid that I will hurt my only guide."
Lotte sighed in relief. "What will you do then?"
"Nothing. As you pointed out, I'm not allowed."
"Oh." Lotte didn't trust him and kept her eyes on his wand.
Finally the bus arrived. Lotte quickly grabbed two coins and stepped onto the bus, shivering.
"Two please," she said, and placed the coins on the counter.
She then walked further into the bus and sat down. Draco followed her.
They didn't speak again until they were back in the station.
"I guess I will have to buy you a ticket. You're lucky the conductor didn't come this morning, or he would have thrown you off."
Lotte bought the tickets and told Draco they needed to get to platform five. Draco marched in front of her as if he had done this all his live and found a bench near the rails.
Lotte sat down and shivered again. She hadn't expect to be in a shower and wasn't dressed properly for it.
"You cold?" Draco's voice sounded flat.
"A bit." she answered, "Aren't you? You're probably as wet as I am."
"No. My clothes repel the water."
"Oh." Lotte pulled her legs on the seat and hugged them in an effort to warm up.
"It's still thirty minutes before the train arrives," she said, trying to break the uncomfortable silence. "How do you think you'll get back?"
"Through the same wall, I guess."
"Why do you think it will work? It closed directly after you."
"Don't try to understand things like that. You're not capable."
Lotte flushed in anger. "How do you know what I'm capable of? You always talk as if you're so much better then all of us, but you're not! Not here! No one knows who you are, and who your father is. They couldn't care less! So if I were you, I would start to be a little friendlier, 'cause if you're stuck here for a while, you won't get anywhere around here with that attitude!"
"It worked with you!"
"Well, have you ever-"
"Enough!" he barked, "I won't start this again. We're stuck together until I get home, so we'll try to be civil."
"Like hell we are stuck! I could leave you here and never look back!"
"But you won't!"
Lotte couldn't hide her indignation. She opened her mouth to snap something back, but closed it again.
"You look like a fish," Draco snorted.
"Aargh, you are so annoying!" Lotte finally managed to holler.
"I don't see you walking away."
"Don't push it, mister Malfoy! One more word and I will do so!"
Draco snorted, his arrogance quite obvious. "At least you know how to call me."
"What? That wasn't..." But she stopped. "Oh, I give up. You're so high on yourself! I can't win with you!"
Draco smirked, amused.
Finally, the train arrived. Lotte jumped up immediately. Draco got up a little slower and walked after her, quite at ease.
He found her on a seat.
"Not here," he said.
"What?"
"We're not sitting here."
"Oh. And where does his majesty want to sit, then?" Lotte replied, sarcasm dripping out of her voice.
Draco walked on and Lotte unwillingly got up again.
"Breath!" she told herself, "It'll all be over soon."
Draco had found them seats a few benches further. Lotte didn't see the difference, but she knew better now then to say something.
Draco nodded approvingly.
She raised a brow and hoped he would understand not to go much further with this "I'm higher placed then you"-attitude. She wouldn't be able to endure it for much longer.
The train ride wasn't that long, luckily, and Lotte had never been so glad that it was over. Her clothes were still damp and she repressed a shiver as she stepped into the open air.
___________________________________________
-*-The End: Farewells.-*-
"You're still cold," Draco noticed.
"Yeah. But my clothes are almost dry."
"If you hadn't stopped me at the bus stop, you wouldn't be cold."
Lotte looked flabbergasted. "What?"
Draco ignored her question, and made his way down the stairs. Lotte ran after him, highly surprised of what he had just admitted.
"You would really have helped me?" She was too curious not to ask.
Reluctantly, Draco nodded. "I was going to put a drying spell on your clothes. I'm glad I didn't though. That would have cost me my place in Hogwarts. And don't mention what my father would have done."
A smile broke out over Lotte's face. "Maybe you're not that heartless after all," she told him.
He weakly returned her smile.
Having found new energy Lotte walked to the wall it had all begun and started investigating it. After a few minutes she realized she was the only one doing so and she turned to search for Draco.
He was standing a few meters behind her, his arms crossed and an amused expression on his face.
"Now what?" Lotte asked aggravated.
Draco grinned. "Nothing. I was just wondering what you were doing."
"Trying to help you. I don't know why, really!"
"Oh, don't get mad again. I'm not saying anything bad!"
"Yeah, but I know your thinking it!"
"You're a mind reader now, too, are you?"
Lotte stuck out her tongue. She knew it was childish, but it was the only suitable expression to make without being very rude.
Draco laughed a bit.
Surprised Lotte watched the first real expression he had made all day.
"Maybe you're human after all. There is still hope." she teased.
Draco stopped abruptly and corrected himself. It was now Lotte's turn to laugh.
"What time is it now?" he asked.
"A quarter past eleven."
"I think the gate will open at twelve."
"Why is that?"
Draco sighed and started to say she couldn't know, but he changed his mind: "Because twelve is a magic number."
Lotte's eyes twinkled. "Oh." she winked. "Are you hungry?"
"Mm, a little bit, but I can wait."
"Our food isn't contagious or anything." Lotte rolled her eyes. "And we still have to wait for another forty-five minutes."
Draco sight. "Okay then."
"There is a little bakery shop just around the corner. Are you coming?"
"Yeah, I'm not staying here. It stinks."
Lotte laughed.
"Yeah, well, it is a station."
She led Draco to the little shop. "Here it is. What do you want?"
"Some pumpkin juice and a blueberry cake."
"Err, the blueberry cake I can manage, but I don't think they'll have pumpkin juice. They have chocolate milk though."
"Okay, that's fine."
Lotte entered and held the door for him, but he waved at it as to point out he was staying outside.
Five minutes later she was back with two paper bags and two bottles of chocolate milk.
"Here's your cake," she handed him the bag. "There are some benches over there." She pointed them out.
"Wouldn't you rather sit inside?"
"Why, Draco! So considered!"
Now Draco's rolled his eyes. Lotte pushed her elbow in his side. "Oi, I'm only joking!"
They ate there cakes quietly. When both of them had crumpled the paper bags and had finished their milk, Lotte looked at her watch.
"We better go back. We have another fifteen minutes."
Draco nodded and got up. To Lotte's utter bewilderment he turned around, grabbed her sleeve and pulled her up. He avoided her eyes, walked towards a bin and dropped his bag and bottle in it. Lotte followed his lead and then they marched back to the station.
At the wall again, they looked at each other. Lotte was the first to speak.
"I'd love to say it has been pleasant meeting you, but it wasn't. So just let us keep it to, err, interesting." She tried to look serious, but her eyes betrayed her.
Draco smiled a bit. "I totally agree." he managed to stay as serious as Lotte had wanted to be, but then he winked. "I must admit a muggle like you wasn't as bad as I expected."
"Ah, so you changed your mind about us, then?"
"Absolutely not." He paused, "Let's say you're the occasional exception."
"I'll take that as a complement." she warned him.
Draco shrugged.
Lotte looked at her watch.
"Five minutes." she said.
He nodded and walked to the wall and leaned against it.
Lotte felt uncomfortable. This had all been so weird. She would probably never see him again, so what was the point of getting sad? But she couldn't help it. She did feel a little sorry it was over already.
She looked at him again. He looked a little sad, too, or was she imagining it?
"Well, it'll soon be over," she said.
He didn't' react.
"Hope you'll get to school okay."
Draco looked up.
"You're not worrying are you?" he teased.
Lotte was going to say something nasty, when she realised it was a joke. He was catching on to her sense of humour. She smiled.
"No," she answered.
He opened his mouth to say something, but half his body suddenly disappeared in the wall.
Lotte only just stopped herself from shrieking in time.
He gave her another look.
"Bye!" she said.
He was gone.
She turned around, left the station, found her bike and started to make her way home.
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-*-At Home-*-
That's it. That's my story. All this well and truly happened to me today. I'm at home now, sitting behind my desk.
Now that I have written it all down I feel a bit calmer, but I'm not feeling any wiser. I guess I will never understand what happened, and I don't think he'll come back to explain it to me. It's like he said: I'm not capable of understanding that sort of thing.
Well, maybe I am, but not without a proper explanation.
I'll just look upon this as my magical day, no questions asked.
**The end.**
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A/N: Thank you very much Reems and Char for reading this through for me!! Ever grateful!!
A:N: I tried to use html tags to make thing a little bit easier to read through but they don't work for me. This is what I get if I want to put blabla in bold: /b. If anyone knows what I'm doing wrong I would appreciate a lot if you told me!! Thanks!