Wow, another chapter up already. Seems like no time at all, eh? Okay... not much to say, so on to the thank you's.
A big thanks to Silent-Serpent (you might not get to see Pansy in a belly dancer's outfit. That would give me nightmares, don't you agree? But I'll try to put it in there.), mandabella, Ayamme13 (This story is going to be near 19 chapters, but I hope to get it done soon. The ending is dumb (in my opinion, anyways) but it is something I haven't seen before, so maybe that's a redeeming quality. We'll just have to wait and see.), oreo69not96 (I'm glad you're back, I missed your reviews. Thanks for the complement!), and CherryBlossomAngel-225 (Yeah, but Harry knows that Hermione wouldn't listen anyways – she's a rock, that one – so he just didn't try.) for reviewing, I really enjoy reading what you think! Okay, read on, faithful... uh... readers!
That week had blown by; classes were preparing to take the NEWTs and OWLs, students were studying like mad, and all the teachers had stopped giving homework so that students could spend more time reviewing.
Draco and Hermione had talked to Dumbledore about making a trip to London to get some costume supplies and he'd told them to take the Knight Bus. It was Friday evening and they were packing enough for a weekend trip; Dumbledore had told them that Narcissa insisted they go for a vacation.
"Mum, I can't thank you enough for asking Dumbledore to let us go all weekend. It's so nice of you." Draco had told his mother countless times that week. Now, as they stood outside waiting for the Knight Bus to pick them up, they said their goodbyes to Narcissa.
"No problem. You two be careful, Lucius is still loose. If you feel scared, take the Knight Bus back right away. Have fun!" She called as the couple stepped on the bus.
"Thanks, Narcissa! We'll write you when we arrive!" Hermione called as the bus shut its doors. Draco told the driver to take them to Diagon Alley and they sat down on the chairs that lined the bus.
"Why do we have to write my mum again?" Draco asked. Clearly, he had never had a parent tell him to 'check in with me when you arrive!'
"Because she needs to know we arrived safely." She smiled at him sweetly. "Honestly, hun, sometimes I think you've gone daft."
"Oh, shut it." He replied in a fake angry tone. They laughed and chatted for the short ride until they reached Diagon Alley, where the bus lurched to a stop and nearly caused Hermione to loose her lunch.
"I'll never get used to that." She moaned. They stepped into a huge hotel, The Fiorella, which had a huge, golden foyer. Draco stepped forward to one of the workers and asked if their room was ready.
"Who is this room for?" The petite young woman asked politely.
"Draco Malfoy." Draco replied.
"We haven't got a reservation under that name, sir." Draco's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"Fine, what's the best room you have?"
"We have theme rooms, if you like, but the best room is the Honeymoon Suite."
"Fine, fine, I'll take that." He realized, moments later, that Hermione might not like that idea. 'Oh well,' he thought, 'at least it's romantic.'
"Of course, sir. Right this way." The petite girl levitated their luggage and proceeded to a large elevator. The couple followed and stepped in just as the doors shut; the elevator shot up into the air and Hermione let out a frightened cry.
"Top floor. Your room is just down the hall. Have a nice stay." Draco took Hermione's hand and led her out of the elevator; their luggage zoomed ahead of them to stop neatly outside their door.
"Hermione, I hope you like this room." Draco whispered to her. She gave him a small smile and he opened the door to reveal a large, dimly lit room. Hermione gave a gasp of pleasant surprise and Draco was simply too stunned to move.
The room was a cream color, with pale pink furniture and a large red area rug covering the hardwood floor. There were candles floating about the room, giving off a light vanilla scent as they burned.
They walked in and sat on the couch, taking in all the sights. After adjusting to their surroundings, they ventured out into the bedroom.
A large, four poster bed sat against the back wall. The walls in here were a deep red; the sheets and duvet in black. All the furniture was in cherry wood, and there was not a single straight edge in the room; everything had simple curves. Hermione blushed a deep scarlet; Draco smirked as thoughts ran through his mind.
"Draco, is this the Honeymoon Suite?" She asked him quietly. Thoughts ran through her head at lightning speed as she wondered why Draco would reserve this room.
"Well, yes, but it isn't the room I reserved. They said they hadn't had a reservation under my name, so I asked for the nicest room. They girl said it was this room, so I just took it. Trust me, I never meant anything by it." He looked at her, expecting her mouth to open wide and her voice to fill the room will angered yells. He was quite surprised when she set her lips on his and kissed him passionately.
"It's beautiful, and I wish you had meant something by it." She gave him a sly wink and dropped down on the bed.
"Oh, look at the time! We should go start shopping." She gave him the smirk he usually used on her – years of mimicking him had helped her immensely in recreating this look – and walked over to the door, leaving Draco to jump up and run after her.
Hermione walked into the large jewelry store with Draco by her side. Tables and tables of ancient looking jewelry sat on delicate velvet cushions for all patrons to see. The golden were laid on a piece of red cloth; the silver on a green; the colors oddly matched the two student's house colors. Immediately, Hermione went to walk over to the table of gold and red, but in her minds eye she knew that this was wrong.
'I am not going to need Gryffindor colors; I need those of Slytherin today.' She constantly reminded herself; it didn't help, though, because a number of times Draco caught her stealing looks to the other side of the room.
"Honesty, Hermione, we need silver and green jewelry! Please, stay and look at this, and keep your mind here as well!" Draco muttered to his girlfriend after she began to wander away.
"I know, I know, but the Gryffindor part of me wants me to go over there." She pointed clear across the room. Draco let out a sigh as he realized what she meant. 'If I had to shop for something the opposite of my colors, I couldn't concentrate either.'
"This is pretty, try it on." He handed her an antique necklace that was glittering with diamonds and emeralds. A thick, black velvet choker with a silver clasp sat on a little green pillow in the middle of the table. On the center, low and behold, was a green and white snake made of diamonds and emeralds set in silver. Her eyes bulged. 'So now I'm wearing the Slytherin mascot, too?'
She lifted her long, black hair and Draco slid the choker around her throat and did up the clasp. She turned to see it in the mirror and smiled at her appearance.
"Not too bad." She muttered.
"I like it. Very Slytherin of you, darling." He mimicked the saleswitch's voice, who sound very nasal and complemented everything a customer tried on. He picked up the other jewelry and showed Hermione, whose face lit up in joy. There was a matching armband of a long snake that swirled around her upper arm; a ring that did the same; two dangling snakes that curled and hissed as they hung from your ears.
"Miss? We'll take all of these." Draco called out, and Hermione was about to tell the lady her Gringotts safe number when Draco pulled out his pouch of Galleons.
"How much will that be?" Draco asked the lady, whose voice had gone high pitched out of shock.
"Draco, you've got to be kidding me! You can't pay for all this!" Hermione whispered fervently.
"I can and I will, Hermione. Consider it another gift." He laid out the money on the counter for the saleswitch and interlaced his fingers in Hermione's.
"But I would like some pay back." He murmured, and at once a small, wicked grin crossed Hermione's face.
The rest of trip went rather uneventfully; the couple had gotten out and about in London and eaten at the most expensive restaurants. Hermione took Draco to some muggle places for sightseeing; he'd scoffed at the idea, but quickly ate his words at the sight of Buckingham Palace.
When they returned to their hotel and collected their things on the night they were returning to Hogwarts, a strange note was found lingering on their bed.
"Draco and Hermione,
Regardless of what you have heard, I am not after either of you. I have heard the prophecy, not in its entirety, but enough to know which couple to attack. I thought, since you are Harry Potter's sister, you should know before hand. I will attack, tonight, upon Hogwarts and kill Harry Potter and the annoying Weasley brat. Hope you get there fast enough, you should be a casualty of the war.
Good luck trying to stop me, you pitiful fools.
Lord Lucius"
The couple glanced at each other with terror in their eyes before a bright light consumed them and they soared, hand in hand, through the air.