~The Curse That Went Awry~
~Chapter Seven: Didn't We Knock?~
…to reveal what could only be the owner of the cottage, who was tall, impossibly blonde, devastatingly handsome and…reminded Draco remarkably of himself. Draco heard Granger catch her breath, but was distracted by the (no, please don't let it be) angry look on the man's face.
"Who are you? What are you doing in my house?" Great. He was only suspicious, he didn't seem that angry yet.
"Uh! I'm—Draco Malfoy, sir, and this," Draco looked over to Granger, only to find, to his surprise, that she didn't seem coherent. To say the least. She seemed almost…dreamy, wistful. It reminded Draco greatly of his second year at Hogwarts, when all the Slytherin girls had gone absolutely bonkers over that twit Lockhart. Come to think of it, it reminded him greatly of that disgusting look that appeared on Pansy Parkinson's puggish features every time he walked into the room. "This is Hermione Granger."
"Hi," said Granger softly, dreamily. She looked to be completely caught up in the gaze of the stranger. Draco couldn't see what was so great about him, besides the fact that he resembled himself mightily. But this guy had none of Draco's…charm. Really.
"And…what are you doing in my house?" prompted the man, now seeming a little bemused at the situation.
"Well, what happened was," began Draco, "we were thrown off the train to our school by these two buffoons that I am ashamed to call my friends—"
"What's a train?" asked the man.
"Never mind that. Anyway, we were walking along when all of a sudden the ground fell open, and we wound up in this cavern, and I touched this weird thing—"
"That was so you, Malfoy," Granger snapped out of her spell to accuse him, but promptly fell back in, smiling at the stranger.
"And we wound up in the middle of this fog, and we were walking and walking—"
"And walking, and walking," put in Granger.
"It was your idea to walk in the first place, Granger. Anyhow, then the fog cleared and there was this giant plant, and I had to bloody save Granger—"
"Hey, I thanked you for that!"
"And then we were walking some more, and we were really hungry and tired and then we spotted your cottage, and it was the first civilization we'd seen for days, and anyway…that's how we got here."
"Around here, people knock before they go into other people's houses," said the stranger haughtily.
This gave Draco pause. He turned to Granger, who dragged her gaze away from the stranger, looking a little cross-eyed. "Didn't we knock, Granger?"
"What?" She shook her head to clear it. "Oh. No. I told you to knock, Malfoy, but you said something about how Malfoys never had to knock, and—"
"Look, I knocked! I know I knocked!"
"No you didn't, you just opened the door and went inside, and then we got distracted 'cause of the food on the table, and—"
"Granger, are you trying to say that I have no manners?"
"You don't! You just flounced right in here and—"
"Malfoys do not flounce! And besides, you came in too, didn't you, you big hypocrite!"
"All right, fine. I guess we didn't knock," concluded Granger, turning back to the man, who was looking rather amused at the two of them.
"My name," said the man before pausing dramatically, "is Aldren. And I suppose my house recognized the two of you as friendly if it let you in and gave you food, no less."
"Your house fed us?" How undignified. "Like we're some kind of pets?"
"Shhh, Malfoy," Granger shushed him. Draco thought it was also very undignified to be shushed by anyone, much less Granger, and he was about to continue talking when the man said,
"You two have magic, do you not? I can almost smell it on you."
So of course Draco had to say in an offended tone, "Just what exactly are you implying, sir?"
"We have magic, Aldren," said Granger, seeming dreamy once again. "I'm a witch, and I guess you could conceivably call him a wizard."
"Hey! I resent that!"
"You would, Malfoy."
Draco chose to ignore this comment in favor of seeking assistance. "Listen," he said to Aldren, "do you think you could possibly help us get back home? Because we've been having a bugger of a time, here, and I'm sure people are at least missing me," here he shot daggers with his eyes at Granger.
"I don't know if I can help you get back home," said Aldren carefully, "but I think I know of someone who can. You say you're from another world?"
"Yes," acknowledged Granger breathlessly, now propping her chin up on her palm.
"God, why don't you two just get a room?" muttered Draco.
"We're in a room," said Aldren helpfully.
"Yes," said Draco. "Yes, we are. You were saying?"
"I have a map that will lead you to Portaldoing." Draco raised an amazed eyebrow at this. "That's a city. There's a man there known as the Bellhop of Portaldoing."
"Bellhop?" asked Granger, snapping out
of her daze.
"What's a bellhop?" asked Draco.
"Never mind," said Granger, settling back onto her hand and staring at Aldren. "Don't stop talking."
"The Bellhop of Portaldoing is said to be very knowing about matters of other worlds. He'll probably be able to help you."
"You said you have a map?" prompted Draco.
"Ah, yes," said Aldren, turning away to search for it. Granger released a soft sigh of disappointment. Draco released a soft groan of exasperation. "And I assume you'll be needing supplies?"
"Yes, please," said Draco.
"Thank you," sighed Granger with a goofy smile, as Aldren turned back around to walk past them into the other room. The sounds of rummaging could be heard.
"Granger, what is wrong with you?" hissed Draco, as soon as he thought Aldren might be out of earshot.
"What is wrong with me, what is wrong with you?"
"Well, what did I do? You're the one who's sitting there drooling at him!"
"I am not drooling! I'm just—amazed. He's quite a gracious host."
"Gracious, my left knee! I'm sure that's why you're staring at him that way!"
"I'm not staring at him at all! Besides—you're the one who's being rude!"
"How am I being rude, Granger?!"
"You asked him for help! We barely know him!"
"Oh, come on, Granger, it's not as if you weren't dying for his help a minute ago!"
"What do you mean by that?!"
"Oh, you know what I mean," said Draco, leering suggestively.
Just then, Aldren walked back into the room carrying two backpacks filled almost to bursting. "I've put some food and water and the map into these. Portaldoing is clearly labled on the map, you should have no trouble finding it if you have as much magic as I think you do. Would you care to spend the night here?" At this point, Draco raised his eyebrows at Granger, and she scowled at him. "I assume—"
"No, I'm afraid we must be going."
"What?!" said Granger, spinning to Draco.
He eyed her coolly. "The sooner we go, the sooner we get home."
"But there's no guarantee this Bellhop guy will get us home!"
"There's even less of a guarantee that staying here will get us home."
"Don't you want to sleep in a real bed? For one night?" pleaded Granger.
Draco would have none of it. They really needed to get on their way. "No." Turning to face their host, he said, "Thank you very much for your help."
Aldren was silent for a long moment, fixing Draco with an incomprehensible glare. Then, with slowly building ire, he said, "That's it?! I give you food, I give you supplies, I give you directions, I help you find your way home, I welcome you into my house, and all you have to say is 'THANK YOU VERY MUCH?!'" Aldren's hair burst into flame, and his canines grew about six inches. The room seemed to grow darker, and he seemed to get a lot taller. His eyes flashed dangerously, and all of a sudden, Aldren had claws. "I'LL KILL YOU!"
The only two things Draco could think of to say were, "I told you he was no good, Granger," and "AHHHHHHHHHH!" He didn't say either, but Granger said the latter. Then he shouted, "RUN!"
They bolted for the door.
*********
A/N: This chapter wasn't as funny as the previous ones, we know, since there wasn't as much arguing. But it was important, 'cause it moved the plot along. And now…ta-da! Destination: Portaldoing! That is, if they live. We'll make up for the lack of comedy in the next chapter, don't worry. Or if not that one, the chapter after that. Anyone who reviews gets beautiful balloon animals that spontaneously burst into flame. :D