Last Time:
Hermione watched Draco walk out the door. 'Wonder what's wrong with him?' she thought. 'Maybe he's upset about the bunny ears… I should go and talk to him…' Hermione stood up resolutely, and followed him out the doors, barely noticed in the wake of Draco's storm. Barely, that is. Only 3 people smiled to themselves as they watched her follow the ever-indignant Malfoy boy…
________________________________________________________________________
"Malfoy!" Hermione called after Draco, and he stopped and spun around.
"What?" He said tightly. At least it was a response. Hermione smiled winningly and caught up to him.
"What's wrong? The bunny ears getting to you?"
"No!" Draco said angrily, misconstruing her statement as an insult. Hermione rolled her eyes and linked her arm through his, taking him by surprise.
"Listen, Malfoy, I'm not insulting you, I'm just trying to be nice. We're the outcasts now, aren't we? I know being blue is driving me crackers!" She exclaimed, walking towards the castle doors.
"Oh… well, you… we aren't outcasts, really. We still have friends!"
"Yeah, but I'm not eloquent enough to think of a word to describe what I was trying to say… I guess I meant, we're in the same boat."
"Boat? We aren't in a boat…?" Hermione laughed.
"It's a Muggle saying. OK, let me rephrase myself for the 3rd time! I mean, we are in the same situation of weirdness, so we should stick together for a while." She said, smiling at the look of comprehension crossing his features. It was, however, quickly replaced by confusion.
"But, you hate me, and I hate you…" Hermione shrugged.
"Ah well. We'll live. I promise not to curse, hex, charm or trick you."
"Alright…"
"Great!" Hermione said, pulling him out the door of the castle and onto the grounds.
________________________________________________________________________
Ten minutes later, Harry looked up from his refilling plate of peas and said concernedly,
"Ron, where's Hermione?" Ron rolled his eyes.
"I reckon she's gone to the loo, Harry. I wouldn't worry." He said, sighing and winking at Neville, who smiled absently.
"But, she's been acting sort of weird…" Harry scrunched up his face as he tried to remember any instances of Hermione-acting-weird.
"Listen, Har…"
"No, Ron, I think I've got it! I think she's upset about a test!" Harry said, a light bulb going on in his pea-filled brain. Ron shook his head disbelievingly. How could anyone be so smart, so quick, so talented, so brave and yet so incredibly thick?
"Har, we haven't had a test in weeks and we haven't one scheduled for weeks! It's probably the whole blue thing…" Neville said sensibly.
"Blue? Wha… oh right! Why didn't I think of that! That's it all right! Hermione's probably dreadful embarrassed about then whole being blue thing…" And with that he went back to his peas, shaking his head and smiling, muttering something about 'girls and their complexions'. Ron couldn't help but laugh. Harry really was incredibly thick!
________________________________________________________________________
"And so then, we all went back to the shop, but there wasn't any milk left! Well, by now, Mum was really getting her hackles up, so she goes up to the owner of the store… and says…" Hermione laughed, continuing on, oblivious to the fact that she was eliciting a great amount of staring from Draco Malfoy. They were walking around the lake, arms still linked, and Hermione was exuberantly telling Draco funny family stories. Draco just looked down at the girl by his side in wonderment. What in the hell is wrong with her?! Why is she talking to me? What has possessed Hogwarts' Sweetheart to talk to the Slytherin Prince? He thought, using the common nicknames they had earned. He shook his head. Maybe these bunny ears are incredibly sexy… "So?" She asked, waking Draco from his reverie.
"Hmmm?"
"Well, tell me a story about your family!"
"Oh. Right. I don't really have any."
"Well you must have some. Everybody does! It doesn't have to be funny, I guess…"
"The Malfoy's don't have stories that are fit for young ears." Draco said sternly. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"You sound like Snape!" That spurred Draco on. He scowled down at her.
"Once there was a girl named Lissvia Malfoy. She was my Father's sister. Lissvia was a beautiful girl, but though her lineage was pure as a dove, her coloring was not. For some reason, she had black hair and green eyes, instead of the traditional blonde hair and grey eyes of the Malfoy's. One day her father, Ardford Malfoy, was convinced by his friend Garrif that an acquaintance of theirs, Melogden Potter, had gotten his wife Welsha pregnant with Lissvia. He beat Welsha badly, and Lissvia ran away before he could get to her. She lived in the forest with an kind old woman named Magda, until one day, when she was feeding the pigs, the pig called Morgie, always known as a troublesome pig," Here Hermione giggled, received a quenching glare from Draco, and quieted. "Morgie, always known as a troublesome pig, escaped from the pen and ran snorting into the forest. Lissvia chased him, for she did not want to displease the kind old woman. Soon she had gotten lost deep in the forest, and a heavy fog was falling. She sat down on the ground to wait it out, and when she opened her eyes the fog had lifted and there was a handsome boy standing in front of her, holding his wand and Morgie.
'Were you looking for this pig?' He asked. Lissvia nodded and took Morgie.
'His name is Morgie. He ran away. My name is Lissvia and I am lost, do you know the way to Magda's hut?' She asked him. The boy nodded and led her back to the hut. They talked and both felt they were falling in love, but Lissvia didn't ask the boy his name before he ran off into the forest. The next day, she deliberately let Morgie loose so she would have to chase him, and she ran into the forest eagerly. After only a little while, Morgie led her straight to the boy, who was playing a whistle by a stream. He stood when he saw her.
'Lissvia, you look beautiful!' He exclaimed.
'What is your name, I never did find out.'
'My name is James Potter, son of Melogden Potter!' the boy said, proudly, and Lissvia was horrified as she realized he was her brother. But she could not bear to tell him, or to leave him. So they met in the forest every day, and fell deeper and deeper in love. Until one day, when James proposed to Lissvia. Before she could stop herself, she had said,
'YES!' and James was deeply happy. But once he went back to his Father's house to tell him that he had found a wife, she was overcome with grief. The next day, when James came back to tell her that Melogden had approved of the marriage. What he found broke his heart. Lissvia had committed suicide by hanging herself, and had left a note saying only,
'I am your sister, and so cannot marry you, though my heart longs to. I shall remain yours forever, and shall wait for you in heaven where such earthly matters do not matter. Love, Lissvia.'
James ran back to his house and demanded that his Father Melogden tell him if this was the truth. Melogden said,
'Son, I have thought that you had more sense than this! If you did, you would know that we had not even emigrated from Germany when Lissvia was born! It was simply a misunderstanding between my good fellow Ardford here and myself. We have long since forgotten and forgiven, and the poor man has been looking for little Lissvia for months.' James already broken heart was shattered with the news, and that very night, he attempted to jump out his window. But Lissvia came to him in her angel form and told him that she would be waiting for him in heaven, and that she wanted him to live a happy life without her, because she had made a foolish mistake. James begged that she let him join her, but she refused, floating away into the night.
Months later, James met a girl named Lily, a redheaded schemer who had good goals and bad ways of achieving them. She seduced James and got pregnant, forcing him to marry her. He eventually committed suicide when his only son was a few months old, right before Voldemort attacked his house. And so ends the story of James Potter and Lissvia Malfoy, I suppose they were together in the end." Draco finished with a flourish, feeling much cheered. Hermione looked up at him with tears streaming down her face.
"Oh, Draco, how tragic! Poor Lissvia! Poor James! Never ever tell Harry, it will break his heart!" She begged him. Draco stared at her in bewilderment.
"Hermione… for the love of God! It's not true! Do you think a Malfoy would ever associate with a Potter! Good God no! I made it up." He said, laughing. Hermione gaped at him.
"Wha… you mean, you just made all that up off the top of your head, and made me cry for no reason?!"
"Well…" Draco shrugged uncomfortably. "Ehm, you asked for a story, so I gave it to you! I…" He trailed off, and there was an awkward silence as they continued their walk around the lake.
"Well, finish it then." Hermione said after a long while.
"It is finished!"
"You forgot to tell me what happened to Morgie!"
"Oh. Well it turns out Morgie was actually a prince. One day, the kind old woman kissed him in relief when he came back after running away. He turned into a prince and transformed her into a young lady, and they skipped off into the sunset holding hands." Draco said.
"Now that's more like it!" Hermione exclaimed, a dreamy expression on her face. They looked at each other and burst out laughing. Soon they were clutching at the trees for support, and the giant squid came up to watch them with interest. "Cheers to Morgie then!" Hermione exclaimed, and they laughed more.
TBC
________________________________________________________________________
AN: OH GOD I AM SO HORRIBLE! I feel like such a prat for not updating for a month! That's so horrible. I'm terribly horribly ashamed. But I had to finish Pain is Bitter, or my friends would've killed me. If you're back here, I guess you didn't give up, and I'll try to update WAY more often now that I'm back in swing. On the other hand, I'm coming down with Strep throat and exams in a month, then I'm off to New York, then boarding school…EEK! Thanks to:
Lady Caite- no no, you weren't moronic in the least!
Mione G- Much thanks, I assure you!
Rina- Thank you. Good and sweet is what I need to write right now since I just finished 'Pain is Bitter' which is like some sort of angst-athon!
BabyPopstar- Yay! Glad you liked it!
Arwen-Undomiel- Ok… here you go! Look up, up… there!
Danny- thank-you darling!
Shadowflame- yes, I like the Bridget Jones books lots!
ChibiFuu Malfoy- the gal with the cool name! Kisses! What'd you think of the PiB finale?
Tommygirl- couldn't resist the pleading, here you go…
