Disclaimer: Nothing but the plot is mine

Love Sex and a Bottle of Vodka

Chapter Six

Draco was sitting on the unmade covers of his bed, brooding, something he was particularly good at. His white gold eyebrows were pulled together as if tied by an invisible string and his forehead was a network of tiny wrinkles.

If only I could remember¸ Draco thought, but I needed to get Hermione out of there and out of there as soon as possible. Still, it wasn't hard for Draco to mentally kick himself several times. He wished that he could have seen the guy with Hermione. If the club hadn't been so dark…if Draco hadn't felt as if he had to take Hermione away right away… Something was going to happen, Draco knew it, and by the way Hermione was acting earlier when they had danced he knew that she wasn't herself, whoever the hell that was. Draco lay back on his velvet covers. Why had he suddenly taken Hermione as his very special pet?

It must be the eyes, or the hair, a voice somewhere inside of him answered.

No no, another argued. It's her trusting soul. Draco rolled over onto his stomach, his hot cheek pressed against the cool satin pillow. He let the clashing arguments roll over and over in his head, as if he was tasting it, like a delicacy.

"It's both," Draco realized, out loud. Draco had prided himself on being one of the sharpest people around. He hated stereotypes but he knew that he fit into the rebel 'I'm too good for school' persona but what the hell? He hated school, full of controlling, self-important teachers who only cared about their minimum wage paying jobs and stuck up students who checked and rechecked their applications into whatever yuppie college they could get into. All of these things were true and Draco's ego was bruised. He hadn't even realized he was falling for Hermione. And what would that do to his reputation?

Draco groaned and buried his face in his pillow. How could such a bookworm change his life? Hermione's face swam in front of him in his mind. He still didn't know what it was about that face. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the face to leave his mind…and he wasn't sure if he wanted it to.

"Hey um, Draco?" asked Hermione. They were both sitting on opposite sides of the dining table, picking at their foods, too absorbed in their own thoughts to even think about eating.

"Yeah?" He lifted his eyes slowly and heavily.

"You don't happen to have a phone do you? I know since it's a muggle invention you probably won't have it but.." Draco tossed her a small phone.

"While I'm crashing on my own, I like to get the full muggle experience, you know, living it rough? I made sure the magic wouldn't mess up the phone." Hermione rolled her eyes and grinned as she caught the small phone.

"You don't know what rough is Draco," she said. Draco started to say something, an indignant look on his face, but Hermione silenced him by raising a thin index finger.

"I have to call someone," Hermione said. Draco frowned. As Hermione retired back to the room that she was staying in, she could hear Draco mutter, "I know what rough is…"

Hermione quickly dialed a number into the phone, enjoying the sound of the familiar beeps. She might be a witch but underneath it all she was still just a human. The phone rang several times until it picked up and a soft voice said, "Hello?" Hermione was overwhelmed with emotion and familiarity and a sense of longing as she tried to find her voice.

"Hello?" the voice asked again. Hermione took a deep breath. Come on, she thought. Gather yourself up.

"Hi Harry."

Draco stirred the soup in his bowl over and over again. Who could she be calling? Her parents? A muggle friend? Draco didn't like overly nosy people and didn't like being one but he couldn't help wondering. He made a mini whirlpool in his tomato soup with his spoon, amusing himself with little things. He sighed and picked up their plates full of uneaten foods and loaded them in the dishwasher. He poured out some white powder and turned on the dishwasher. He really was getting the full muggle experience and truthfully, he didn't think it was too bad. The magic world always thing they are so superior to the muggles but truthfully, Draco thought that how far they've come with technology was pretty interesting. His father begged to differ.

Draco ambled into the living room where he collapsed on his couch and looked for the remote. He located it squished between two cushions and he turned on the TV. He was in luck. He caught a couple of dramas and a comedy, letting his mind go comatose as he watched the colorful pictures appear on the front of the box. For once his mind dared to wander away from Hermione. His old self gave a sigh of relief. Maybe now Draco will come to his senses. But the new Draco, the one that had let himself fall in love with a mudblood, disagreed and his old self gave a sad sigh of resignation.

"Hey," replied Harry. "Hey, is something wrong?" Hermione could have just listened to his familiar voice for an hour or just listened to him breathe, that was how desperate she was to hold onto something that was old. A wave of nostalgia washed over her and covered her like a blanket.

"No, nothing's wrong," said Hermione. She laughed slightly. "Actually no, that's the biggest lie I've ever told." She could imagine Harry's face wrinkling into his concerned frown. He didn't say anything and Hermione knew that he wouldn't. She knew that Harry would listen to her without overwhelming her and he would also not try to pry things out of her. He just waited and she waited also, trying to carefully pick her words so she wouldn't overwhelm him.

"It's a long story," she started, hesitantly. "It's been a long summer." Harry still said nothing. He made a small encouraging sound but other than that he was silent.

"It started with a muggle friend of mine," said Hermione. "She and I go out sometimes." She found that as the more she talked, the easier it was. She now just had to be careful she wasn't babbling. Not that someone like Harry would care but Hermione had an inane fear that people would tire of her.

Harry listened like a true friend and only interrupted once with a sound of amazement when she told him where she was staying. After her story was over, there were seconds of silence that felt as though it were hours instead.

"Well, that is a long story," Harry finally said. Hermione laughed, quietly but truly.

"Help me Harry," whispered Hermione, her tone serious. She had tried to keep an uplifting tone when she was telling her story to Harry but now she was tired and realized her situation. "What do I do from here? I don't know what to do now." She heard Harry sigh on the other end.

"I think you know what to do," he finally said.

"But I don't!" Harry knew Hermione well and eased into the habit of waiting out Hermione's lies.

"I'm afraid," Hermione finally said. "I feel like I made a solid friend, Harry, but I'm afraid that when we go back to Hogwarts all of this will change again and he'll go back to who he was."

"That's out of our hands," said Harry. "That's up to Draco to decide how he should act when we go back." They were silent again.

"It'll be our last year," Hermione said softly. "Our seventh and final year. Time really does fly you know." Harry was quiet for a while.

"It'll be the end of Hogwarts," Harry finally said. "But it won't be the end of us. You'll always have me Hermione. You'll always have me, Ron, Ginny, all of us." Hermione smiled into the phone, knowing Harry would sense it.

"I love you Harry," she said. It was easier to say it without the intensity that she had said the same phrase to him only a year before.

"Same," said Harry, easily. The awkwardness that they endured was gone, shed like an old sweater. "You take care, Hermione, I'll see you soon, okay?"

"Yeah. Thanks for everything."

"No problem." Hermione listened to the click on the other end before she turned off the phone. She sat there, emotions thick in her throat. How much things had changed. It was like they had turned in a full circle. Friends muddling into something confusing, maybe something more, and then back around to friends. But they were closer, tighter, their foundation was solid. Hermione smiled. How lucky she was to have a dependable, strong guy like Harry.

The next person Hermione wanted to contact desperately was Ginny. She gnawed on her thumb wondering how she could meet the redhead.

"Hey Draco, you don't happen to have an owl around here, do you?" Draco shook his head.

"Is it just you or are all girls so demanding?" he asked, reaching into a golden cage. He drew out a large brown owl.

"I don't know," Hermione said, truthfully. "I think it's just me. I'm not usually this demanding, you know." Draco offered her the owl.

"What's its name?' asked Hermione, accepting it. Draco looked away.

"My mother named it," he said.

"That's great, what's its name?"

"It's sweet really, if you were a girl," he said.

"That's why I'd like to know," said Hermione, getting impatient. She's worked with lots of different owls and she's come to learn that usually knowing their names helped her coax them and help them do their job quicker.

"Prince Charming," said Draco, quietly. Hermione looked at the large owl then at Draco. She started to laugh.

"It wasn't my idea!" said Draco, angrily.

"It's sweet," said Hermione. "Prince Charming? Do you have a rat too that you call Cinderella?" Draco shoved some parchment into her hand.

"Go do whatever," he said then hesitated. "Would you like to eat dinner with me later?" he asked, oddly formal.

"Sure, I'm hungry," she said. Draco brightened. Hermione was sure that ever since she realized Draco was helping her in some unknown way, she's started to become hungry again.

"You must be sick of being in the apartment all the time, I'll take you out," said Draco. He started to leave the room, to give Hermione some privacy.

"Draco?" said Hermione, right before he walked through the doorway. He turned around.

"Thanks, you know, for everything." He grinned and raised a hand.

"It's nothing. You'd do the same for Potter or Weasley or any of your friends right?" Hermione was quiet. She somehow conjured up the courage to say,

"I'd do it for you too, you know." Draco looked surprised.

"I'll see you in a bit," he finally answered. "Thanks." And he was gone. Hermione smiled to herself then realized she was still holding the parchment and she still wanted to see Ginny. She started to write.