Chapter Two: Insinuations of the Mind

"MALFOY?!" she yelled.

"Yes me. I'm glad you're up. I've got to treat your burn." Draco replied.

"How on earth did I end up here…with you?" Hermione asked nervously.

            Draco smiled at her as he took out his wand and ran it over her burn. The burn slowly healed and left only a small scar on the right side of her bellybutton. Becoming impatient Hermione snatched his wand and continued to stare at him.

"Don't worry I called your parents and told them that you would be home shortly." Draco replied.

            Hermione stared at him in confusion. Not only had he completely evaded her questioning, he had also managed to heal her without any struggle. She frowned and tried to remember what had happened. The memory of when she left the bar was clear, and she remembered taking a short cut but after that everything became fuzzy and all she could remember was red and then a hooded figure coming and saving her. Maybe Malfoy had been the hooded figure. Well it was worth asking.

"Malfoy-"

"Please, call me Draco."

"Draco…why am I here? Please just tell me."

"Don't you remember?" Draco asked cautiously, hoping she hadn't lost some of her memory.

"All I remember is leaving work and taking a shortcut. Then I remember lots of red and someone in a hooded cloak saving me. Was it…you?" she asked.

            Draco smirked, something she hadn't seen him do since they were in Hogwarts. He tilted his head down and looked at the floor as if trying to hide his smirk. She saw him laugh silently and began to offhandedly wonder about his sanity. He looked back up at her with a smile, a real smile. Her head tilted to one side as he continued to smile at her. After a few seconds he shook his head.

"Gee for being the brightest witch Hogwarts has ever seen you sure don't like to use your problem solving skills do you?" Draco asked haughtily.

            Hermione scowled but then smiled. She guessed he had saved her. Why else would she be in his house? But still she had to wonder why. Even though they had finally made up in seventh year she thought it was hardly enough to convince him to save her life.

"So…why?" she asked.

            Draco shrugged. He truly had no idea why he had done it. He didn't even know it was really her. It could have just been some random girl from the city. Maybe…maybe he had been hoping to see her. Or maybe he just wanted to keep the wizarding world safe.

"I don't know." He answered after a long period of silence.

            After he had spoken a chilling silence fell over the room. Hermione had found a particularly interesting square of fabric on the couch while Draco had found a tile on the floor that seemed to entice him. A soft ringing finally broke the silence and Hermione looked down at her charred jeans. She reached in the pocket and pulled out a cell phone. Draco watched as she answered the phone with a confused look.

"H-hello?"

"Oh Hermione…you're okay! Your mom called us, me and Harry that is, last night and told us you were missing. We've been really worried. Have you talked to her? You should really call her and tell her you're okay I mean if we were worried then your mom must be terribly upset." Ron said.

            Draco looked at the expression on Hermione's face and immediately wondered who she was talking to. Hermione's expression changed from confused to infuriated in a matter of seconds.

"How dare you call me?! After all you've done to me you just assume that you can call and be all friendly after what you said in seventh year. You fucking bastard. What's your excuse this time? 'Oh I was soooo worried!' Yeah right! I-"

"Hermione!" Ron yelled over her. "You have to hear me out!"

"Fine. You have five minutes."

"Look first of all, tell me if you're okay and where you are."

            Hermione smiled wickedly and looked up at Draco who was looking at her curiously. Keeping the wicked grin on her face she stood up and walked over to Draco who raised an eyebrow.

"Oh I'm fine. Draco here has taken good care of me. He really has a gift with…healing." Hermione said sweetly, putting as much emphasis as possible on the word healing.

            Finally Draco had realized what she was doing; she was trying to piss Ron and Harry off as much as possible. She wanted revenge for that fateful night only a year ago. He looked at her and realized that she was looking up at him expectantly. She obviously wanted him to join in on her payback. With a grin plastered on his face he nodded and waited for her to give him his cue.

"Your…at Malfoys?" Ron asked.

"Oh yes. He saved me last night and I've uh…been here ever since." She said as she twirled a piece of hair between her fingers.

"I don't believe you." Harry yelled in the background.

"Hermione have you seen my boxers?" Draco said from a distance away.

            Hermione bit her lip to keep herself from laughing as Draco pretended to search for the imaginary boxers. The silence on the other end told her that they had bought the lie. She waited a few seconds and hung up on them. A fit of uncontrollable laughter took over her as she fell backwards onto the couch. Draco shook his head and laughed along with her.

"I can't believe they bought it! They are so fucking retarded!" Hermione said through laughs.

"Well I was pretty convincing…" Draco said.

"Oh shut up!"

            Ron dropped the phone when he heard the click and dial tone on the other end. His jaw hung open as he turned around to see Harry casually sitting in the recliner like nothing had happened. Of course he hadn't heard Hermione and Malfoy talking. Harry looked up from his seat and raised an eyebrow when he saw Ron's mouth open.

"Well?" Harry asked expectantly.

"She…she…" Ron said.

"She what?"

"Malfoy…she…" Ron groaned.

            Harry's eyes widened in realization, he needed no further explanation. He looked sympathetically at Ron who was still in shock. He knew Ron had liked Hermione, even if he never told him or even made an effort to tell her. As he watched, the expression on Ron's face changed rapidly to angry. Harry knew that Ron wanted revenge now.

            Hermione and Draco sat on the couch trying to catch their breath. Every now and then one of them would laugh a little and trigger another fit of laughter. Finally, when they both stopped laughing, Hermione stood up and grabbed her jacket. Draco gave her a funny look and stood up as well.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I've got to get home. I hate to admit it but Ron was right about my mom. She must a wreck." Hermione said quickly as she headed for the door.

"You know you could just use Floo powder right? It would be a lot easier than walking." Draco said as she reached for the door handle.

            Hermione turned around and smiled. She followed him as he led her over to the fireplace and took down a jar of the fine powder. She took a small bit between her fingers and waved one last goodbye before she threw the powder down and yelled "Granger home!" The familiar green flames shot up around her and she could feel herself being taken through the fireplace, swirling around and around until finally she stopped and was thrown out into her own living room. She heard her mother scream and then a pair of arms wrap around her.

"Oh Hermione! I'm so glad you're safe! I've been worried sick! Why didn't you call or anything? That strange man called this morning and he said you were okay but I didn't know if I should believe him…" her mother said worriedly.

"Mom." Hermione began, still trying to decide whether to tell her mother about the dragon incident. "Last night I tried to take a shortcut home. I knew it led into the magical world but I didn't know that there was a dragon in the alleyway. It attacked me and Draco saved me. I had passed out so he took me to his house and healed me up. I'm fine now." Hermione explained calmly.

"Well your friend uh…Ron I think called and said to watch out for that Draco character, said he was a bad man." Her father said.

"Yeah well Ron's a liar. And he's not my friend." Hermione said angrily.

            Her mother and father looked at each other in shock. They remembered when Hermione would come home from Hogwarts and tell them all about her two best friends Ron and Harry and all the fun stuff they had done together.  They also remembered when she would cry because Draco Malfoy had called her a Mudblood. Perhaps her views had changed since Hogwarts. And there was a lot that they didn't know about her life. A lot they didn't know about her feelings.

"Alright sweety. Well Ashley and Katherine are upstairs waiting for you. They don't know you've been gone." Her mother said.

            Hermione nodded and headed up the staircase that led to her wing of the house. She smiled as she admired the house. Both her parents were dentists so she was fairly wealthy.  She heard two voices and recognized them as her best friends immediately. Unlike what everyone thought about rich people, not all of them were stuck up and snooty. She opened the green door and walked in to see a brunette and a raven haired girl sitting on her bed and smiling at her.

"Hey Hermione!" Ashley and Katherine said happily.

"Hey guys." Hermione replied a little less enthusiastically.

            Ashley and Katherine looked at each other with and eyebrow raised and looked back at Hermione with the same look. Being her friend for at least eighteen years, they had a certain bond between them. They knew something was wrong even though they knew she wouldn't say anything about it. Hermione saw them looking at her and shook her head. They were always trying to figure out what she was feeling.

"Well come on then. We need to practice." Hermione said as she ushered them into the next room.

            The two girls got up and followed her into the room. Hermione picked up a blood red guitar and threw the strap around her neck. She looked at them expectantly and each went to their instruments. Ashley sat down at the drum set and Katherine picked up a bright green bass guitar. Hermione began to strum the first notes to a song and the others sat and waited for their cues. Then Hermione started to sing.

"This is the place where I sit

This is the part where I love you too much

This is as hard as it gets

'Cuz I'm getting tired of pretending I'm tough

I'm here if you want me

I'm yours you can hold me

I'm empty and aching

I'm tumbling I'm breaking

'Cuz you don't see me

And you don't need me

And you don't love me

The way I wish you would

The way I know you could

I dream a world where you understand

But I dream a million sleepless nights

I dream of fire when you're touching my hand

But it twists into smoke when I turn on the lights

I'm speechless and faded

It's too complicated

Is this how the book ends

Nothing but good friends?

Ashley and Katherine readied themselves and began to play along with her.

'Cuz you don't see me

And you don't need me

And you don't love me

The way I wish you would (way I wish you would)

            The break in the singing allowed them to look around at each other and smile. Ashley gave Hermione a thumbs up and Katherine nodded enthusiastically.

This is the place in my heart

This is the place where I'm falling apart

Isn't this just where we met

And is this the last chance that I'll ever get?

I wish I was lonely

Instead of just only

Crystal and see through and not enough to you

'Cuz you don't see me

And you don't need me

And you don't love me

The way I wish you would

'Cuz you don't see me

And you don't need me

And you don't love me

The way I wish you would

The way I know you could…"

            The music faded and everything was quiet for a few seconds before someone started clapping. Hermione looked at Ashley and Katherine questioningly and both shrugged in reply. Ashley, being the bravest of the three, walked through the doorway that led to Hermione's room to see who was there. Hermione rolled her eyes and began to adjust the tunings on her amp for the next song.

"Hey 'Mione come here. You've got to see this!" She heard Ashley yell from the other room.

            Rolling her eyes again she headed to her room to see exactly what Ashley needed her to see. She leaned on the doorframe and looked at Ashley expectantly. Ashley pointed towards her bed so she let her gaze travel there to see a familiar person sitting there. He smiled at her and she looked back at Ashley.

"Can I talk to you for a second Ashley?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah."

            The two walked into the other room and Hermione rubbed her forehead. Ashley looked at her quizzically so she spoke.

"Do you even begin to comprehend how bad this is?" she asked.

"Umm…not bad? I mean you've got a total hottie sitting on your bed. What's bad about that?"

"Ash…do you know who that is?"

            Ashley opened her mouth as if to speak but then shut it and shook her head. Hermione walked back into the other room only to see that another person had come. The two were glaring at each other menacingly until she walked in the room and then they both smiled at her. Her eyes traveled from one to the other over and over. Ashley and Katherine walked in and saw both of them and started giggling like mad. Hermione began mumbling to herself and all the people in the room stared at her.

"Well 'Mione…aren't you going to say hello to your friends there?" Katherine asked.

"Shut up Kat just…just wait in there." Hermione replied.

            Katherine and Ashley shrugged and walked into the other room and Hermione shut the door behind them. She turned and glared at both of the boys who now occupied her bed. The smiles that they once had now faded a little under the furious glare she was giving them.

"Exactly what were you thinking when you came here? Both of you. Why are you here?" she asked crossly.

A/N:dun dun duuuuunnnn! Cliff hanger! How'd you like that? Bet you already know who the two that are there are. Or do you? Maybe I've put some unexpected twist in. Maybe not. You don't know though do you??? MWAAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!!!!!!!!!! This is why I love writing these, you guys don't know but I do! Well you guys give me some predictions. Who do you think is there? What relevance do Ash and Kat have to the story?? I want feed back before I continue to write! Well I would like to thank those few of you who reviewed. I LOVE YOU GUYS! Well until next time!

                                                                 Emma