Chapter 10: Reacongnization
She moved away from Draco to sit on the bed. Harry and Ron conjured up chairs to sit on, and the three began talking about what they had been doing over the summer. Draco listened for a little while, but soon began exploring Hermione's room. He opened up her closet, and looked through it, finding many revealing clothes he decided he wanted to see her in. He walked over to her window, where a black box was sitting on the ledge, with many buttons. Draco looked at it for a while, and then finally pressed a red button. Draco and Ron both jumped when loud, pounding music began blaring out of it. Harry and Hermione laughed at their shocked expressions, and the fact the two both had their wands pointing at it. Harry leaned over and turned it down, noticing that it was on CD and not radio.
"You like that song "Dip It Low" by that American girl Christina Milian?" he asked.
Hermione nodded, and the three went back to talking.
Draco, deciding that the box was evil, and would eat him in his sleep, wondered over to Hermione's bookcases to have a look. He tilted his head and began reading titles. The first shelve had all of Hermione's school books, so Draco skipped over that section, and looked at the other shelves. A Midsummer's Night Dream, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing... is old stuff all she read??? Draco thought. at the very end of the row, Draco noticed a thick black book without a title. He pulled it out, and after making sure the box hadn't moved from the window, he leaned against the bookshelves and opened the book. Draco looked at the contents, and grinned mischievously. Draco had found her photo album. He flipped through the pages nonchalantly, so he wouldn't draw attention to himself, or the book he was holding. For some reason, most of the girls he knew never let him see pictures of them when they were younger, let alone any age, and he didn't want to take the chance if Hermione was one. Her slaps across the cheeks hurt like hell.
He flipped back to the first page to go through it slowly. The first picture was of Hermione at the beach, when she was younger, about four. She was looking at the photographer and smiling, but Draco noticed an odd, almost scared look in her eyes. In the next few pages all the pictures of her held that same haunted look, and Draco couldn't help but shiver slightly. It was unnerving. He turned to one of her parents and her, and judging by what the cake in front of the said, it was her sixth birthday. She was sitting in between her parents, and Draco was relieved to see that the look had almost disappeared. He looked down at her parents, trying to figure out who she took out the most. He noticed that she didn't seem to take after either of them. Where she had brown hair and brown eyes, her parents had blonde hair and blue eyes. Hmm..Weird. Draco thought, turning the page. He continued looking through it, until he was almost at the end, and stopped on a page with a close up of her parents. He stared at it. If I didn't know they were muggles, I would have said these were some of dad's friends. They look oddly familiar though. Where have I seen them before??? Draco flipped back through the book, and stopped at every page her parents were on, studying them.
He studied them, them realized something odd. He looked up at Hermione, trying to decide if he wanted to risk giving the book up or just ask the question and hope she was to busy with her conversation to notice it. He chose option two.
"Hermione," he said. "Where are your baby pictures?"
Hermione looked over and blushed at him. NO! Please don't take the book! Please, please, please...don't take it!
"I don't have any." Oh, thank Merlin! She didn't take it! What a minute...
"Why not?" he asked, confused. Don't all families take pictures of their kids when there younger? Like first steps, first birthdays.???
"Well mum says she was camera shy when she was pregnant with me."
"Well that's great and all. But why aren't there any of you between the ages of birth till about four?"
"I honestly don't know, Draco. Why are you asking?"
"Just struck me as funny I guess. You know, not having a picture of your first steps, your first birthday, you know, that kind of thing."
"Oh, okay then," Hermione said, turning back to continue her conversation with Harry and Ron.
"Hermione?" Draco asked again, after studying her parent's picture for a while. "Where are your parents right now?"
"Oh, they went to a dentist convention or something in the South of France."
"The South of Where?!" Draco shouted, everything suddenly clicking.
"France. Draco, are you okay?" Hermione looked at him worried. His face had paled and he was looking around Hermione's room like something was after him.
"Hermione, we need to get out of here, as soon as possible," he said, whipping out his wand.
