Chapter Fourteen: Sweeter Than Honey


Aylows! I'm back! (undoubtedly) but not for long unfortunately, lol leaving again, mais seulement pour trois jours!

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Wait a time to spare these lies we tell ourselves
These days have come and gone
But this time is sweeter than honey

"Shameful! Disgraceful! How dare you call yourself a jester?! Ares! Take him to the dungeons and have him executed within 24 hours" King Titan roared. His usual rosy cheeks and twinkling eyes had long vanished from the face of the earth. Instead, he was a violent shade of reddish-purple; comparable to a plum. His eyes were mirthless and his tone was cold and threatening.

The court jester stumbled over upon his knees before the king, begging for mercy and forgiveness. "Please your majesty! I beg of you! Take mercy upon my wretched soul! My family they-they-, my wife! She is soon to give birth to our second child- and-and my son! My 3 year old son! They-they need me! To feed them, to clothe them, to shelter them!" he cried aloud pathetically pouring out his heart and soul, clutching his four pointed hat to his chest, sobbing and pleading.

The King glared frigidly at the man, his hardened face displayed no signs of mercy.

"Ares!" he bellowed, beckoning the man to his side.

In less than 5 seconds, the pitiable beady-eyed excuse for a human being scurried in, tripping over the red carpet on his way up.

"Y-Yes your majesty! How may I serve you?" He panted, throwing himself onto the floor in a low bow.

"I want this-"he pointed to the colourfully dressed man before him who now had his hat crammed inside his mouth. "- executed by the time Apollo's chariot has crossed the sky. Is that understood?"

Ares nodded, then bowed once more and called for the guards to escort the jester into the dungeons.

Hermione cringed at the sight of the poor man as he literally threw himself at the mercy of the King. The scene reminded her disturbingly of Winky and Mr. Crouch at the Quidditch World Cup. Her heart truly went out to the man. He had a pregnant wife, a son, a family….a life. And the king was going to take it all away from him just because his jesting did not meet his standards. It was completely immoral and she wouldn't stand for it!

"Wait! Stop!" she cried suddenly. Everyone around her froze. "Your majesty, father, please, you can't do this! It's-it's wrong" the king stared at his daughter with a mild look of irritation. "Artemis-"he began. "Please father, hear me out for once." He nodded and she continued. "This, this man. He may not have been the best jester-"the king smirked at her comment. "But you can not kill him because of that! It is immoral and unjust to kill a man for just preposterous reasons! He has a family that depends on him and a life! Just like you do! You can not just take it all away from him. Everyone deserves a second chance. And-and..." her brain searched for more words to defend her argument, "the Gods!" she noticed he suddenly perked up and listened more attentively, "They, they frown upon mortals who…are….immoral and ruthlessness! Please father, please, won't you reconsider?" she pleaded.

The king looked from Hermione, to the trembling jester, and finally to the Contessa who nodded her head and rested her hand upon his own. Hermione's eye twitched involuntarily at the sight.

"Fine….fine then. Due to your persuasive argument, Artemis, I shall grant this man one last chance. But that is it! One chance and if he fails to use it wisely, I will not take mercy upon him" he said defeated and glared at the man who groveled before him.

"Thank you, father!" she cried happily and threw her arms around him in a quick embrace; unsure of whether it was appropriate or not.

"I did this for you remember; not him" he said curtly. Hermione nodded and sat back down in the throne next to his. The Contessa, rather than the Queen herself flanked his other side for reasons of courtesy the king had explained.

"Thank you your-your highness. Bless you. Bless your soul princess Artemis; you are as merciful as you are beautiful" praised the man, clearly feeling relieved.

"I don't ever want to see you again. Get out of my castle now! Before I change my mind!" King Titan bellowed.

The jester bowed a final time and sprinted with the gracefulness of a gazelle towards the hallways leading out to the front doors.

The king turned to the princess. "Daughter, you are truly too kind for you own good" he sighed.

Hermione simply smiled and stepped down from the platform which they were seated upon. She'd finally won a battle on her own! She may have failed with the house elf liberation, but this-this was even better. She'd saved an innocent man's life. The thought swelled within her. She felt proud. But it was a different proud; different from when she'd received top marks in school. This was different because it'd affected another person in significant ways. Actually, it was more than one person. She'd saved a whole family. It gave her a strong sense of supremacy that refused to be suppressed.

"Princess! Princess!"

Hermione turned around from the direction she was heading. It was Prometheus.

"How can I help you?" she asked kindly.

"Oh, no I don't need anything princess, princess. I just wanted to tell you I really admire your courage and mercifulness" he commended.

The princess blushed. "Thank you, but it was nothing really." she said modestly.

"Ah, but it was," he countered. "You saved man's life. That is truly gracious of you, Princess."

She bowed her head in shyness, "well, then thank you. Again. And please, call me Hermione" she insisted.

"Alright, Hermione." he smiled softly and his emerald green eyes sparkled.

Hermione's heart stopped as her name left his very lips. He reminded her agonizingly of Harry. Not only was this boy exact in the physical resemblance of her best friend, but he also shared the same personality. It pained her to remember her past. Nothing in her past was worth remembering, everything here was…almost perfect with the exception of Malfoy. Everything was so…simple. But still she couldn't help but wonder if she would ever return. If she would ever see her real family, her real friends, her….real life again. Perhaps this was better for her. She would never have to face the prospect pf Harry and….Cho together. No one here would reject her. People actually gathered before her to try and win her heart. She was desired and it made her feel good. Very good. No one here could look down on her.

No one….except Malfoy, but now she was greater than him. More powerful, more influential. She, was the pureblood here. Was it so terrible that for once in her lifetime, she was rich and powerful? No one would scorn her for she had the power to decapitate them; to strip them of their riches and powers. She felt-- all mighty. No one could stop her. No one. She had the power to make or break. She had everything she'd ever want and need; right here.

Perhaps.

Just perhaps--she didn't want to go back.

.:.

Draco twisted and turned throughout the gardens, hopping over shrubs and bushes, and going around various trees making it virtually impossible for him to retrace his steps. Eventually, he stopped and decided to take a break. This was a very different part of the gardens, it was almost a forest but not quite as dense and the landscape was different. Scattered amongst the ground were ripe red apples. Looking up, Draco found himself to be sitting beneath an apple tree. He sat still for moments passing, silence surrounded him. It was rather disturbing how he never encountered wildlife of any sort with the exception of the ducks in the lake. Maybe he just wasn't looking hard enough. As he observed the scenery that shrouded him, he found various other fruit bearing trees; pears, oranges, and even peaches. He assumed this to be an orchard, but why would a king own an orchard? The man was certainly strange. A cold hearted murderer with a garden and an orchard. The thought tickled his insides. Hauling himself up with the help of the tree trunk, he reached up and plucked a particularly large, crimson coloured apple from off the tree. It was surprisingly clean, but still, he found himself rubbing every part of the apple against his shirt, wiping it as clean as he could get it without the help of any water. Inspecting it once more, Draco tossed the apple into the air, then caught it and took a large bite out of it. He sat back down, thoroughly savoring the sweet juices of the fruit that filled his mouth.

He was halfway done eating his apple when he heard footsteps nearing his newfound sanctuary. Feeling irritated at having his serenity disturbed, he leapt to his feet and concealed himself within some nearby shrubs until the stranger had passed on by so he could resume his peaceful alone time.

Bloody hell…must be Thaleia, but how in Merlin's name did she find me…bloody woman…

Must be your animal magnetism. Attracts all females within a 1000 kilometer radius

Of course.

Peering through a clump of leaves, he watched for the passerby. To his surprise and relief, it wasn't Thaleia, but the alternative wasn't any better. It wasn't even a girl (to him at least.)

Blasted Mudblood.

He watched as she casually sat down in the exact place he'd sat down in moments before and stretched out her arms above her head.

She fidgeted uncomfortably, then muttered quietly, "Bloody corset."

Draco chuckled silently, and then quickly reprimanded himself for doing so. His eyes widened in astonishment as she began to unlace the back of her dress. Frustrated, he tried to change his position in order to get a better look but not only were the leaves and part of the tree trunk blocking his way, but her back was turned to him. She may have been a Mudblood, but she was a girl, and he was a teenaged boy.

So you admit she's a girl then eh?

Yea, yea…she's a ruddy girl. Not much to see though…

Slipping off the bodice, she set it aside and began to lace up her dress again. Then, when he least suspected it, Hermione picked up the corset and hurled it over her shoulder into the bushes.

"Bloody hell!"

Horrified, the princess stumbled backwards and shrieked at the voice. Just her luck, she'd hit the prince of darkness square on the head. She watched wide-eyed as he ambled over towards her from within the surrounding bushes tenderly massaging the crown of his head.

"Malfoy you twit!" she hissed angrily, then clutched the front of her dress protectively as she noticed he held her corset in his hand. "You perverted twit!"

He couldn't help but grin at her mortified state. "Relax, Granger. I didn't see anything. But and I quote, 'Even if I did I'm sure there wouldn't have been much to see anyway.'"

Hermione glared at him, but kept her arms crossed against her chest nonetheless. "What the hell are you doing out here anyway? Besides being a pervert of course."

Draco merely shrugged and clasped his hands loosely behind his back, "Free country isn't it?"

She eyed him suspiciously, and tried to mentally figure out his wicked motives. "Actually, it isn't. Have you not seen my…father?"

"Ah…too much of him really…" he muttered embarrassedly, and picked another apple off the tree.

Raising an eyebrow, she questioned him further. "What do you mean by that?"

He felt his apples coming back up just at the thought of it. "I'd….rather not speak of it."

But Hermione persisted, "Come on! Tell me! What are you, afraid?!" Malfoy stared back at her with his lips pressed together creating a thin line, gripping his apple rather tightly.

She gasped in pseudo-horror, "Ferret boy's afraid of something! Besides Moody, werewolves, the dark…" she reeled off a whole list of things until Draco finally broke.

"Shut up already will you, Granger?! I'll tell you. But don't blame me when you get bloody nightmares…"

Hermione nodded and promised, "Fine, fine, just tell me!"

He took a deep breath, then, "Yourfatherishavinganaffairwithmymother."

Staring at him, she appeared to be utterly bewildered at his words; after all, he'd said it all in one breath. "Repeat!"

Shooting daggers at her, he tried again. "Last time. I refuse to say it anymore and if you don't hear it's not my problem!" He saw her nod; rather eagerly too, and continued. "Your father is having an affair with my mother."

Her face was blank, "what? Wait. Isn't he married? And isn't your mother like…" a sudden look of repulsion crossed her face. "NO!"

Draco couldn't have smirked at her realization even if he wanted to. "Yes."

"NO! That's WRONG! That's SICK! That's…that's…" she looked about ready to hurl.

"That's what happened" he said, stepping away from her just in case she did actually hurl.

With her mouth gaping wide, she leaned herself against the tree trunk and began to throw out words, "Disgusting, repulsive, nauseating, revolting, sickening-"

"GRANGER! I get the picture! Now please! Spare me!" he cried, slapping a hand over her mouth.

If she'd been in the right state of mind, Draco was certain she would have slapped him, or perhaps damage his family jewels; but instead, she simply shrugged him off and replaced his hand with her own.

"Bloody hell!" she choked.

"You asked for it." Said Draco, biting into his second apple.

She looked up at him, "How?"

"I….followed the Contessa" he muttered sheepishly.

"Talk about invasion of people's privacy here, Malfoy! And how long has this been going on?!" she asked, no longer clutching her mouth in fear of heaving out her lunch.

He shrugged and threw the apple to the side, no longer feeling hungry. "About a month now as far as I know."

"Well!" she said in a rather high pitched voice most unlike her own. "That's certainly….interesting. I knew he was eager to have a son….that would strip me of my right to the crown….but…the Countess…really now…"

"Isn't the Queen pregnant?" asked Draco curiously.

"I think so" she replied uncertainly. "Either that or she's just really, really, er…large." Hermione then turned her back to him and attempted to reach for an apple but found herself just inches too short.

Draco snickered and walked up behind her, picking down the very apple she'd been aiming for.

Hermione's eyes widened. What's this? Malfoy being helpful?

Draco watched her with the corner of his eye as he plucked the apple and wiped it off on his shirt, then raised it to his mouth. Her eyes narrowed and she huffed indignantly at him.

"What? You really think I'd help a bushy-haired Gryffindor?" he said coolly. Hermione glared back at him and jumped up to try and get her own.

Draco rolled his eyes at her destined to fail attempts and sighed loudly.

"What?" she cried, still unfailingly glaring at him.

"You're pathetic you know" he sighed, shaking his head only to receive an even harsher glare from her. "Here, take it I'm not hungry. I just wanted to bug you."

Hermione stared suspiciously at the fruit in his hand, then back to him.

Draco rolled his eyes yet again. "I didn't poison it you know. That would have been physically impossible for the obvious reason that you saw me personally pick it from the tree. Now are you going to take it or not?" he asked feigning exasperation.

Cautiously, she reached over and snatched the apple from his hand. "Thank you." She said stiffly. As she brought the fruit up to her lips, her eyes never left his. She watched closely at his reaction, probing him mentally for some sign of his dastardly ways. It was centimetres away from her mouth when a smile crept its way onto his lips and she abruptly stopped.

"I knew it! You did do something to it didn't you!" she cried victoriously, pointing an accusing finger at him.

"Please, Granger, I have better things to do then go around trying to poison you every five seconds" he said lazily.

"I'm sure you do, Malfoy" she said sceptically. "It's a known fact you want me dead not only because I'm a muggleborn, but because I'm friends with Harry AND so that you can steal my place as top of the year!"

He rolled his eyes yet again, he'd done it so many times in the last few minutes he was sure they were going to fall out any second. "Granger, I'm thoroughly offended! Listen; if I wanted to kill you I'd do it in a much more sophisticated fashion; say…a hired hit man; so please, don't insult me."

Hermione laughed in spite of herself.

"What?!" he cried testily, crossing his arms against his chest.

"You can never do anything yourself can you? Always getting other people to do the dirty work for you" she said looking at him shamefully, yet grinning inwardly. She knew very well this irked him.

"Shut up, Granger, I know you're jealous because I have enough money to get other people to do it for me," he retorted.

"Yes, Malfoy. That's the reason. You keep telling yourself that!" Hermione said perkily as if she were talking to a four-year old and patted him with some difficulty on the head.

Draco stared at her, aghast. "You-you! You can't do that!" he sputtered, swiping her hand away.

"Aw! Iddy Biddy Dwaco's upset! Did wittle iddy biddy Dwaco not get his nappy time?" she cooed.

"Stop that! Stop talking to me like that!" he cried furiously, "I'll have you know I am a fully functional 16 year old male and I do NOT I repeat do NOT need a nappy time!"

"Oh no!" she gasped holding her hands to her face. "Rich wil Dwaco's getting cranky!"

Draco stared at her in horror and began to spit out parts of words. "Ah-tu-fa-da-you!"

"That's right wil Dwaco! Sound it out! You can do it!" she cheered.

"Granger! I demand you stop this childish nonsense this instant!" he cried clenching his fists.

"Calm down wil Dwaco! Take a deep breath, now, exhale." Draco glared at her and childishly stomped his foot. "Aw! Don't be cranky wil Dwaco! Would wil Dwaco like a yummy sweet for his tummy?" she asked reaching for one from inside her secret stash in her dress.

"What are you- STOP! What-?" he stopped, as she jammed the sweet into his mouth, successfully shutting him up.

Hermione smiled with satisfaction as she watched him suck contentedly on the honey sweet.

"This is demeaning you know, Granger. But tell me, what is it?" he asked.

"Sugared horse spit" she replied nonchalantly.

The calm collected Slytherin boy choked at her words and immediately yanked the candy from his mouth and began to spit. "At least if I poisoned you it wouldn't be as disgusting!" he hollered.

The princess burst out laughing, "You nitwit! It's just a sweet! Why would I carry around sugared horse spit now! Really Malfoy! And I quote, 'please, don't insult me'"

Draco eyed her warily and put the sweet back into his mouth. He rather liked it. "What is it really then??" he asked again.

"Just a sweet, made from honey. Why? Don't you trust me, Malfoy?" she asked innocently as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Oh yeah, I trust you alright, Granger. I trust you as far as I can throw you! Which judging by your size isn't very far" he replied smirking.

"Well, I'm sor-ry, Malfoy if I don't weigh 10 poungs like all those little sluts you mess around with" she countered, tossing her hair over her shoulder in a haughty fashion.

"Excuse me-" he began.

"Yes, Malfoy, you are excused" she cut in.

"Shut up, Granger. Don't interrupt me. And they do not weigh 10 pounds. You're just jealous that you won't ever be able to achieve their physiques" he spat.

"Pul-ease, Malfoy. As if I would want to look anything like those….girls you date. Speaking of them, they're rather pathetic you know. Not only in the sense that they'd even want to date you, but the fact that they practically worship the ground you walk on!" Hermione scoffed.

"You just wish you had a fan club like I did. But, alas, perhaps you're lucky not to have one. It is rather difficult keeping track of them all" he said pompously.

Hermione sniggered. "I'm sure it is, Malfoy. I mean, with the hundreds of girls after you, I'm surprised you're not taken yet."

"Oh, now, I wouldn't want to disappoint anyone. I like to keep them all happy you know" he said lightly.

"Malfoy, Malfoy, Malfoy, what a wondrous human being you are, trying to keep everyone happy. You truly are worthy of worship you know" she said patronizingly.

"I'm glad we finally agree on something, Granger!" Draco said approvingly.

"Yes, yes, worthy of worship by bloody rats!" she snorted. "Or, maybe just Parkinson."

Draco groaned, "Please don't remind me of her."

"Oh come on, Malfoy, she isn't that bad now is she?"

"How would you like it if every bloody time you went to go and shower, she'd sneak into the prefect's washroom, and start groping at you while you're naked !" he cried.

Hermione cringed, "Ugh, I'm glad I'm not you, Malfoy."

"Sometimes, I wish I weren't either" he muttered under his breath.

"Pardon?" she asked despite the fact she'd heard him, she'd just wanted confirmation.

"Never mind. Have you figured out a way to get out of this place?" he asked, changing the subject.

Hermione's eyes widened, "Um, no. I have to go now, Malfoy" she said hastily.

"What? Why?" he questioned suspiciously.

"I just do" she said snappily.

"Fine, fine. Later, Granger" he said offhandedly, sitting back down under the tree.

Startled at his words, she finally replied,"Later, Malfoy." Before turning away. Then she stopped in her tracks and looked over her shoulder at him sitting quietly by himself with his eyes closed. "Malfoy?" she asked.

"Yeah?" he replied without opening his eyes.

"Thanks" she said starting to walk away again.

"For what?" he asked, opening his eyes, bemused.

Hermione never replied, but he distinctly heard the sound of her biting into the apple. Draco leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes.

He found himself grinning.


So close - Evanescence

Dunno how well i edited this, I'm getting rather lazy with that but if you find any mistakes do tell me so I can fix it

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