Who Are You?
Chapter 4 : The Favor
Hermione turned up the CD player as loud as it could go and started pacing, talking to herself. It was about an hour and a half later when she heard knocking. She chose to ignore it. After about five more minutes, she turned the music down slightly to a reasonable volume, and picked up one of Roxy's books. When she was through reading The Night I Disappeared, she turned the music off completely and lay down. Ten minutes later someone knocked again. She went to the door, and took several deep breaths. When she opened the door, however, no one was there. Hermione was about to go back into the room when her stomach growled. She glanced at a clock on the wall and saw it was around 11:30 a.m. Just about lunchtime, no wonder she was hungry. Hermione decided to go downstairs and have lunch. So she closed the door behind her and went to the kitchen. You could imagine her surprise when she saw her beloved headmaster rooting through the fridge, and Draco calmly sitting at the table with a dazed look on his face. So, in excellent Umbridge fashion, she cleared her throat. Draco immediately snapped his head in her direction, and then refused to look her in the eye.
"Ah, Hermione, so good of you to come down. I was just searching for lunch, but alas, I must admit I'm rather lost." With his eyes twinkling, she sighed.
"Is macaroni and cheese okay with some sausage and broccoli?"
"Yes, that would be delightful, thank you. I'm sure Draco could help you some."
"No, no – that's quite alright. You can sit down."
Hermione set about the kitchen, getting a box of Kraft out of the cupboard, finding some sausage in the fridge, and some broccoli in the freezer. Everything was ready by noon, and she set the table. Once she had gotten some pop out of the fridge, she sat down with a sigh.
"Thank you very much Hermione, it looks simply wonderful. Please, be the first to serve yourself."
"Thank you, Professor."
With that the meal began, and was silent except for the scraping of silverware and sounds of chewing. Finally everyone was done, and the food had all been eaten. Hermione stood up to clear the table, but Draco jumped up, taking the plate from her.
"Please, let me. You made lunch."
Hermione looked dumbstruck, and slowly sat back down. So, with Dumbledore chuckling and Draco clearing the table, Hermione was at a loss. Five minutes later, they found themselves in the living room once again.
"Hermione, did you happen to bring along your school books?"
"Well, yes of course. I'm staying the whole summer, well, until August anyway, but you knew that."
"Could you bring them down so Draco can take a look at them?"
"Well…yes…I suppose." She said rather reluctantly, looking at him. After all, it was her school stuff.
There was silence while she was gone, and Draco was surprised to find she had to make two trips for all of it. So he started sifting through it all on the coffee table, Hermione watching on anxiously.
"Those are the books, notes, and all the assignments that were handed back. Please, try to keep them in order."
"Yeah, sure. No prob."
"Hermione, could I speak to you in private?"
"Sure, we'll go in the den. Again, keep everything in order."
With that last comment, she left her precious schoolwork with her sort of ex-enemy. They got there and sat down.
"Hermione, I have a favor to ask of you."
"Yes?" Hoping against hope he wouldn't say what she thought he was going to say.
"Would you be able to set aside your differences with Draco and help him this summer?"
"What? Professor, I'm sorry, but I just can't forget all he's done to me. He's still Malfoy."
"Normally you are right, Hermione, but not this time. The person we both knew at Hogwarts is not the same person who is currently sitting in the other room. From what he's said, all the influences he's had here are wonderful. I firmly believe that he regrets ever being so cruel to you, even though he can't remember it, and to be honest I think he's rather taken with you. You must understand Hermione, he is different. Granted, he may look and sound the same, maybe even walk the same, but he is not Draco Malfoy."
Hermione knew it was a losing battle, but she would not give up yet.
"Professor, how could I help him? I'm not even allowed to do magic."
"Talk to him. Get to know him. He'll need a friend when he comes back to Hogwarts."
"What? He's coming back to Hogwarts? But Professor, if what you just said was true, how can you expect him to go back to the Slytherins? They'll eat him alive."
"I had no intention of doing so. I think a few spells should change him up a bit, and I do believe this will be the first time my dear old hat will have to sort someone twice."
"You're going to re-sort him? And change his looks?"
"Yes, that is the plan. Hermione, please reconsider."
"But what about Grimwald place? I'll be going there, and…"
"I was thinking he would accompany you, and get reacquainted with some friends of ours. I don't think we should tell very many people until we know why someone tried to erase him from his life, but not kill him. I find that very interesting."
"Yes, I too. But…well all right. I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you Hermione."
There was something different in his eyes. Hermione couldn't figure it out, but she got the feeling he knew something that she didn't. And she didn't particularly like it. They both went into the living room again, where Draco had questions ready and waiting. Hermione sighed, and thought to herself 'This sure is going to be a challenging summer, spending all that time with Malfoy.'
Then again, Hermione always did love a good challenge.
See, what'd I tell you? I updated, and rather quickly too. Well, I'm off to target to see if I can find a large hat to cover my wounds. I wonder if school will let me wear a hat? Oh well, I'll certainly be asking. It looks horrible. Anyways, hope you like it so far, and I already have the next two chapters written, I just have to type them up. So, I'll be seeing you later. Bye!
Vamoose! BAM! SwooshSwift! $arah
Oh, I almost forgot. If any of you want to read 'The Night I Disappeared' it's by Julie Reece Deaver. Here's the passage on the back:
Something scary is happening to 17-year-old Jamie Tessman. Ever since she and her mother arrived in Chicago, she's been plagued by freaky mind-slips and vivid daydreams about her sort-of boyfriend, Webb. When Jamie's inner world starts taking her hostage and keeping her imprisoned for longer periods of time, she becomes terrified that she is slowly losing her mind.
Jamie's mom doesn't seem to notice anything is wrong. No one does – until Jamie meets Morgan, a new friend who's had her own "brush with nuttiness." When Jamie disappears into her inner world one night and can't find her way out, Morgan sees to it that Jamie finally gets help. Morgan's aunt, a psychiatrist, breaks through Jamie's paralyzing fear and helps her unravel a tangle of long-forgotten, horrifying secrets in her past.
Doesn't that just sound fascinating? I thought so. It's one of my favorite books. Ok, this is really the end now. Bye!!
