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oo Ma Cherie oo
oo Chapter Four oo
Hermione couldn't resist. As most of her friends say, if she was given a simple question, such as, say, "what is your age" she could never just simply answer it. Hermione even managed to make the most complicated answers out of a simple yes or no question. She dipped her quill into the dark ink that matched the color of the night sky and tilted her head thoughtfully. The age would be easy to answer but to reveal who she was already? No thank you. Hermione was only just beginning to gain the upper hand on this cocky, immature person and to give up whatever mental edge she had on him? Impossible. Hermione Granger knew how to play her cards a little better than that.
An impish smile crossed her face as Hermione was struck with a thought. She started to write on the parchment.
The child of a mischievous creature
whose agile fingers and grace help
to move among skies of green
but what's this?
born of like intelligence and wit
can only mean trouble!
If her mystery man could figure this out, he would most definitely be worth her time. Hermione let herself a satisfied smile as she deftly folded the piece of parchment and went to the owlry to send it.
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"What the hell does that mean?" Zavier asked, as he tried to look over Draco's shoulder, interested in spite himself. Draco scoffed and scanned the letter more thoroughly, his expression melting away into something more pleasant. It was a riddle! And gods know why but Draco enjoyed such things. If Ma Cherie thought that she could outwit him, well just try and let her! She would be surprised at what he was capable of.
Despite his cocky words, Draco was reluctantly confused. Child of a mischievous creature. Was she part leprechaun? Draco shuddered at the thought. He knew only one hybrid of that background and he was quite the troublemaker. The chaos that Johnny created was not just one of light humor but it pushed into something darker, something closer to insanity. Draco did not want to deal with something like that.
Another line caught his eye. To move among skies of green. Skies of green? Draco looked outside. The sky was most definitely a slate blue. He sighed and settled his chin into his hands, almost ready to already admit defeat. But he couldn't do that. He couldn't let his Ma Cherie get away. Skies of green.
A movement by the window caught his eye. It was a tree, tapping against the glass. Of course. A forest where trees grow so thickly the skies appear green!
"Zavier, what animals live in the forest?" he asked, urgently. The other boy gave him a puzzled look.
"A lot, as a matter of fact, Draco," he drawled. Draco cast his eyes on the parchment once more. Agile fingers. Wait...wait. It was almost together. Draco was on the verge of figuring it out. Agile fingers. Fingers as opposed to what? He was on the verge of figuring it out, he knew it. He couldn't let Ma Cherie beat him. He had never been bested once by another when it came to riddles and wit and he wouldn't start now. He would-
"Crap, we have to get to class," Zavier said, slapping Draco on the back with his leather book bag. Draco swore inwardly. The timing... The last thing Draco wanted right now was to go to class. What he wanted was an encyclopedia of all animals that had ever existed, on earth or in a human's imagination, and crack this riddle and the spell Ma Cherie was casting over him.
"Its Mackie and she'll be pissed if we cut," Zavier persisted. Draco grinned sardonically.
"And I'm sure that she's beyond pleased at your nickname for her." Fine, fine. He admitted defeat...for now. But it won't stay this way for long. The minute Transfiguration was out he was headed straight to the library.
Twice in a week? Oh my, Ma Cherie has definitely got Draco under her spell.
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"You know what's weird, Ginny?" Hermione asked, as they walked up to the portrait hole.
"What?"
"That letter, well one of the letters, was posted on the portrait. Whoever's writing to me must know that I'm in Gryffindor and he in turn must be a Gryffindor if they knew that the portrait hole was the entrance of the Gryffindor common room. But then how would he know all of this?"
"Oh don't trouble yourself dear!" Hermione's head snapped up. That wasn't from Ginny next to her; it was the woman in the pink dress, giggling, her scarlet mouth hidden by her feathered fan.
"He doesn't know anything," she said.
"Then how did he...?"
"Well when he was walking by he was just too cute. I offered to hold onto the letter for him and give it to this Ma Cherie he was so crazy about."
"But you didn't know it was me!" Hermione spluttered.
"Well, no," the woman in the pink dress admitted. "But things in Hogwarts have a way of getting to their owners. I wasn't too concerned...and it did! After all, the letter did fall into your hands eventually."
"True," Hermione said, a little doubtful.
"Well, how have you been sending your letters to him?" Ginny asked. Hermione shrugged.
"I just send them off on owls and I guess someone's been receiving them if I'm getting replies."
"Exactly," the woman said, snapping her fingers, her nails painted a bright vermillion.
"Well, if anyone else comes by wanting to give a letter to...to Ma Cherie, could you hold onto them too?" Hermione asked. The lady laughed charmingly, fanning herself with the array of pink and white feathers.
"Of course, dear. I won't object at all if it's that cute boy again." Hermione good-naturedly smiled and the portrait swung open, letting her and Ginny enter the common room.
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"Fingers," Draco muttered. He was sitting amongst vast volumes that all had names such as, "Mammalians in their Habitats" and "Animals of the World." He had brought nearly all the books that the Hogwarts Library had to offer on animals and he was disappointed to find that half the books were children's picture books. What were they doing here in this library? Hogwarts accepted students at the age of eleven, not one.
Then again, Draco reconsidered, remembering Goyle had carried around "Animals of the World" with him for about a month. Draco had, at first, thought Goyle might have been admiring the detailed water color illustrations but no. It had taken him a month to read the text that consisted of one sentence on each page.
The page was flipped to the "G" page where there was a picture of a gorilla that bore a striking resemblance to Goyle himself. Draco smiled slightly and chuckled to himself. Then he froze. He picked up the picture book that he had deemed useless only thirty minutes ago and studied the picture. The gorilla was holding a banana. It was holding a banana in its fingers.
Why hadn't he realized this before? Of course monkeys have fingers! Hell, they even have opposable thumbs! Child of a...monkey! And...and was Ma Cherie calling him a child of a monkey as well? Obviously he hadn't understood the letter...or perhaps he just wasn't finished solving the puzzle.
Draco stretched and his back cracked. He studied his watch and did a double-take. He had been in the library for two hours. Before this, he hadn't even been in the library for hardly two minutes and he spent a whole two hours here without even knowing it. Draco gave an appreciative yet apprehensive glance at the letter from Ma Cherie. This girl had completely unglued him from who he was. Draco wondered if she knew this.
He finally let himself out and walked down the hallway, mulling over the letter. He was so deep in thought that he shouldered a girl and she yelped in surprise. Draco shook his head and mumbled a sorry when a hand grabbed his arm.
"If you're going to apologize, say it like you mean it," said a shrill voice. Draco tried to place the girl. She was a...Gryffindor? No wait, he knew her. Not personally, of course, but she was one of the Patil twins. He couldn't tell which one though he would hardly associate with ether of them. Slytherins did not particularly mix well with either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. Or with Hufflepuff for that matter. They were a solitary group of people.
"Oooh," the Patil twin said, realizing who she was looking at. "Oh hello Draco, I didn't see it was you. I'm terribly sorry that I ran into you." Sure she was. So sorry, in fact, that her eyes were fluttering with unshed tears. Or perhaps they were just fluttering.
"Sorry..." Draco said.
"Parvati," she supplied. Ah yes, it was the Gryffindor. And she wasn't alone. She was with her equally silly friend Lavender.
"Well, Sorry Parvati." As Draco walked away, he could hear Lavender say, "Well, as I was saying Professor Trelawney said that people with my sign tend to be indecisive so I should really-"
"Oh it doesn't matter Lavender. I just made body contact with Draco Malfoy."
Draco couldn't suppress a little egotistical grin as he walked away then suddenly stopped in his tracks. Sign. He made a little u turn and ran all the way back to the library. The librarian cooed at seeing him again.
"Oh hello again dear, what do you want to look at this time?" she asked, her hand flapping around her neck.
"Signs. Astrological signs. Or the Zodiac. Just something, anything, having to do with horoscopes or yes, please give me a book on the Chinese Zodiac." In a record of two seconds flat, the librarian had set Draco down at a table with a thin book on the Zodiac. Draco flipped through the pages until he came across the sign of the monkey.
The sign of the Monkey represents great intelligence and wit. Because of its extraordinary nature and charisma, the Monkey is oft well-liked. However, people born under this sign have a tendency to guard against opportunity and distrust people. Lose the suspicion and the Monkey can succeed in any field s/he desires.
That was it. The year of the Monkey was the year Draco himself was born in. And thus, his question was finally answered. She was a seventeen years old, just like him. Draco smiled. This just kept getting better and better.
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