Juvenile Idiots

After a few silent moments of weeping with her arms wrapped tightly around Draco, Hermione finally pulled away and wiped all of the tears off of her rosy, pink cheeks. She stared into his dark, gray eyes, unable to select the right words to say. Finally, she asked, "How… how are you here?"

Draco smirked once more as he gazed into her eyes, unable to believe that he had been away from such a beautiful girl for so long. "I was released from Azkaban."

"W-what?" Hermione stammered, hardly daring to believe it.

"Yup. Fudge signed to it earlier this morning. He needed a bit of convincing, of course."

"Convincing by whom?" Hermione asked, her heart still racing uncontrollably.

"My mother. Narcissa. Who'd have thought that she'd come through for me?" Draco asked, grinning.

Hermione's entire insides felt about ten times less heavy the moment he smiled; that smile was breathtaking, bottom line. "I'm so sorry, Draco. If there was anything that I could have done-"

Draco pressed two of his fingers against Hermione's lips. "Shh. Don't bother drudging any of this up. I know you would have done anything humanly possible in order to get me out of that god-forsaken place. Mother has power, that's all."

Hermione immediately fell quiet. She pulled away from Draco's fingers. Ace had just kissed those lips not even five minutes earlier. How could things change so drastically in such a short amount of time?

"I see you've been busy, though." Draco noted, completely oblivious to Hermione's evident change in mood as he traced his finger along Hermione's desk. The desk that Ace and I just made out on. Oh, god, she thought.

Hermione nodded, attempting to seem positive. "Well, I needed something to get my mind off of you. Do you have any idea how heartbroken I was? How much I longed foryou to be here?"

"I didn't want to be in Azkaban, Hermione." Draco said. "It's not as though it was my fault-"

"What do you mean it wasn't your fault?" Hermione exclaimed. "You killed someone, Draco! Murder! That's a huge offense, even in the muggle world."

"I'm not here to argue!" Draco interrupted; obviously, he was angry that Hermione was already pestering him. After all, he had expected a non-stop cry-fest, as well as to be showered in love and attention from her. "I can leave, if you want."

"No!" Hermione cried. Then, more softly, she repeated, "No. Please, just stay. I … I really missed you, Draco. I wasn't sure if I'd ever see you again."

Draco sighed, absolutely dreading the mushy scenario he was in, but also feeling compassionate towards Hermione because he had been in the exact same situation. "I was in the same boat." He admitted, glancing down at the floor. "I would have given anything to get out of that appalling place; not for my freedom, but so that I could be with you."

Hermione's eyes began to well up again. She stared at Draco, still hardly believing that he was standing there before her. All of a sudden, Hermione had an unexpected urge to be with Draco in every way possible. After all, he was the man that she was destined to spend the rest of her life with. She had truly believed that there was a possibility that she'd never see him again, and now that he was here with her, she wanted – no, needed – to be with him. A single tear trickled down her rosy cheek as she offered her hand to Draco. He took it with a puzzled expression on his face.

"I need to be with you." Hermione whispered as she gazed into his eyes, determinedly.

Draco's eyes widened as he looked rapidly around the room. "What, here?"

Hermione shook her head, a tiny giggle escaping her mouth. "I live on the top floor."

"Ah." Draco comprehended. Then, grinning, he allowed Hermione to squeeze his hand tightly before they both Apparated at the same time. Before they knew it, they were in the middle of Hermione's large, one-bedroom apartment. Draco wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist and leaned in for a kiss; Hermione could have sworn that she had felt a spark the moment that their lips had met. They stood in that spot kissing for quite some time, Hermione playing with Draco's white-blond hair and treasuring every passing second. Soon enough, Draco began leading Hermione over to the large, queen-sized bed. Hermione dropped onto the mattress with Draco on top of her, their kiss growing more and more passionate. Hermione nibbled Draco's bottom lip; when she pulled away, she was grinning.

"I love you, Draco." She whispered, her eyes never leaving his.

Despite himself, Draco grinned as well. "I love you, too."

Just as Draco leaned in to continue the infinite, tireless war-of-the-tongues, there was a loud, banging knock at the door.

Both Draco and Hermione immediately looked alarmed, but for different reasons. Draco's first reaction was that there was an intruder in the building; after all, who would be in a corporate building after eleven o' clock at night? Hermione's first reaction was completely different, though. The last that Hermione knew, there had only been one person left in the building, and that person was Ace.

"Don't get it." Hermione whispered. "If we don't answer it, then the person will just go away."

Draco shook his head. "What if it's a psycho person or something? We can't risk it, Hermione." Draco stood up and reached for the fire-poker that sat near the fireplace.

"Draco, don't!" Hermione hissed.

Ignoring her, Draco slowly tip-toed towards the door, where whoever was on the other side was still banging incessantly. The fire-poker was held high over his head, and Draco was ready to smash it over the person on the other end of the door. Reaching for the door handle, he rapidly pulled it open. Sure enough, it was Ace.

"McGonagall!" Draco exclaimed, immediately lowering the fire-poker. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

……………………………………

"Do you think Hermione is still at the spew headquarters?" Ron asked, anxiously glancing at his watch for the thousandth time that night; it read 11:32, one minute past what it had been the last time he had checked.

"It's SPEW." Harry corrected, laughing. "And of course she's still there. She lives there, you know. Why does it matter to you so much?"

"Yeah." Hannah agreed. "Why does it matter to you so much?"

Harry, Ron, and Hannah were all sitting in the Head Boy and Girl dormitories; Ron was unusually agitated, but even he could not explain why. Technically, Harry was not allowed to be there, but thanks to his father's Invisibility Cloak, dodging rules was no problem for him.

"It doesn't!" Ron exclaimed, defensively. "I'm just worried about her. I don't like the fact that she and Ace are in the same building almost all the time. You know him; he's a dirty little scumbag. We can't trust him as far as we can throw him."

"Hermione's a big girl, Ron." Hannah said. "She can take care of herself."

"Maybe Ron is right." Harry agreed, gradually growing as disconcerted as Ron. "Ace can't be trusted."

"So what do you want to do?" Hannah asked, crossing her arms. "You want to sneak out of the school and Apparate to SPEW headquarters just to check up on her?" She laughed at her own suggestion.

Both Harry and Ron's eyes lit up. Ron said, "That's brilliant! We should Apparate to SPEW headquarters and check up on her!"

Hannah glared at Ron, furious at his motivation for making sure that Hermione was alright. "I was joking!" Hannah cried. "You're pathetic, Ron. Hermione is a big girl. If you two want to be idiots and make complete fools of yourselves, then you go right ahead. I'm staying here. Good night." Hannah abruptly stood up and stalked off angrily towards her bedroom without another word to Ron.

Ron did not even give a second thought to Hannah's furious departure; instead, he said, "Shall we go, then?"

Harry nodded enthusiastically, too excited to make fun of Ron for messing up once more in his disintegrating relationship with Hannah.

………………………………….

"Did you hear me, shithead?" Draco pressed, glaring at Ace's smug expression. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

Hermione closed her eyes and fell back on the bed, horrified that this was happening. Why did Ace always show up at the most inappropriate moments?

"I think I could ask the same of you." Ace smirked, looking Draco up and down. "Unless I'm mistaken, I was under the impression that you were locked up in a cold, dirty cell in Azkaban. Exactly where you belong."

"Go fuck yourself." Draco growled. "You are mistaken. I'm here for good. Now, let's try this again. What the fuck are you doing here?"

Ace peered over Draco's shoulder to see Hermione lying on her bed, obviously irritated by his presence. "Well, I would have thought that our dear Hermione would have told you, but it looks like you guys have been too busy, eh?"

"You better tell me what you're doing here before I shove this fire-poker down your throat." Draco threatened in a deathly quiet voice.

Ace tutted. "If I were you, I wouldn't be making threats. You never know who's going to take it seriously and report you to the Ministry of Magic. Your ass will be thrown back into Azkaban so fast that you won't even get to fuck your girlfriend once."

"Oh, that's it." Draco said, throwing down the fire-poker. He lifted both of his fists and said, "Let's go."

Ace laughed. "You're seventeen, buddy. I'm not going to hit someone so young. There must be some sort of law for that."

Before Ace could see what had happened, Draco punched him square in the face. "Come on, shithead."

"Draco, don't!" Hermione cried, the scenario looking all-to memorable. An unfamiliar room, two boys who had liked her, one about to get seriously injured…

"You really don't want to do this, buddy." Ace said quietly, the smirk wiped off of his handsome face.

"Wanna bet?" Draco said, grinning menacingly. He drew back his fist, ready to throw another punch.

"Draco!" Hermione screamed. She leaped off of the bed and flung herself in between Draco and Ace. Draco released his arm, but immediately stopped it as he noticed Hermione's presence; his fist wasn't even an inch away from Hermione's head.

"What the bloody hell, Hermione!" Draco cried, pissed at her interference.

"Do you not remember what happened last time you fought over something stupid and insufficient?" Hermione demanded, equally angry. "You just can't control yourself, can you?"

"Hermione, don't start-" Draco began.

"She's got a point." Ace smirked.

"And you!" Hermione exclaimed, rounding on Ace. "Go home! Seriously, what are you still doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you about what just happened." Ace hinted in a superior tone; obviously, he did not care if Draco knew about what had happened between the two of them.

"Ace, not now." Hermione warned, forebodingly.

"What happened?" Draco immediately demanded.

"Nothing." Hermione replied, instantly. "Just an argument we had. Ace, we can talk about it later, okay?"

"Are you sure?" Ace persisted. "Because I'd love to talk about it now. It was a – er, steamy – conversation. Best we get it out of the way immediately, don't you agree?"

"Hermione, you still haven't told me what the hell he's doing here." Draco interrupted.

Hermione inhaled deeply, preparing herself for Draco's angry reaction. "Ace works here." She finally answered.

Angry reaction was an understatement. "WHAT!" He exploded. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE WORKS HERE?"

"He funded SPEW!" Hermione exclaimed. "We needed him! We couldn't afford anything without him!"

"I'M A MALFOY!" Draco roared, completely disregarding Hermione's reasoning. "I COULD HAVE FUNDED YOU!"

"That would have been difficult, seeing as you were in Azkaban!" Hermione shouted, heatedly.

"YOU COULD HAVE FOUND SOME OTHER WAY!" Draco continued, not bothering to lower his voice. "BUT NO, YOU FELT THE NEED TO BE WITH THIS NON-WORTHY PIECE OF SHIT!"

"Excuse me?" Ace butted in, angry that his name was being dragged threw the mud. "I've kept quiet, but I won't have you insulting me in my own place of business!"

"Well, it's your place of business no longer." Draco said, calmly. "Pack your stuff and get the fuck out. You're fired. I'll be funding SPEW from now on."

Ace laughed as though Draco was joking, even though he knew that he wasn't. "It's not that simple, buddy."

"If you call me buddy one more time, I swear to God I'll rip your fucking head off." Draco stated. "And yes, it is that simple. Hermione, fire him officially." Draco turned to face Hermione; he crossed his arms and stared at her expectantly, waiting for her to tell Ace to get the hell out of the building. However, Hermione remained quiet.

"I'm afraid Ace is right." Hermione said quietly after a few moments had passed. "He's signed a contract, Draco. That contract entitles him to at least five years in SPEW unless he decides to quit."

"Why would you create such a fucked up contract!" Draco cried.

"It was his idea!" Hermione explained, pointing accusingly at Ace. "He wanted to make sure that I wouldn't fire him after all of the gold had been used up!"

"You shouldn't have done this in the first place!" Draco shouted, changing the subject and placing the blame on Hermione instead of Ace.

"Look, I don't like having to answer to you!" Hermione interrupted. "You come back from Azkaban after such a heinous crime and expect me to allow you to run my life? Come on, Draco!"

"Why the fuck are you throwing that in my face every two fucking seconds!" Draco exclaimed. He was so angry that Hermione could almost see the steam pouring out of his ears. Where all of this anger had come from, she couldn't understand. They'd just been fine five minutes ago, hadn't they?

"The whole 'heinous crime' may have something to do with it." Ace answered, smugly.

"Oh, that's it." Draco muttered, rolling his sleeves up and glaring menacingly at Ace. "Let's go, shithead."

"You know, I don't usually fight." Ace said, giving both Draco and Hermione the impression that he was not about to get down and dirty with Draco. "But in your case, I'll make an exception."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Ace threw a punch in Draco's direction; however, Draco was too quick for him and dodged it instantly.

"You're good." Ace complimented, grinning at Draco.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Draco replied. Then, both boys engaged in a full-blown physical fight.

"Grow up, you two!" Hermione screamed over the loud blows that were being exchanged between one another. "Stop it!"

"Hermione!"

Hermione swiveled around to see the owner of the voice, and never had she been happier to see Ron and Harry than she was at that moment. "Break them up, please!" She begged.

"Malfoy's back!" Harry exclaimed, outraged.

"Why is he back?" Ron asked, angrily baffled.

"Maybe they'll finish each other off," Harry suggested, hopefully.

"Shall we sit back and relax?" Ron offered.

"I say we should." Harry grinned.

"Harry! Ron!" Hermione cried. "Break…them…up!"

Ron and Harry exchanged looks, but decided that it was best not to sit back and watch; otherwise, Hermione would probably have had a field-day. So, they both jumped in to the fight, attempting to get between Ace and Draco.

"Pothead! Weasel!" Draco exclaimed, shocked to see them. "Get out of my way!"

"No." Harry replied. "Break it up, you two!"

"You think I'm going to stop because you're here?" Draco asked, laughing. Then, Draco had thrown a punch at Harry; it was not meant to initiate another fight, but to get Harry out of the way. After all, Harry was a weak, half-blood in Draco's eyes. He wouldn't fight back.

"Oh, now you've done it!" Harry cried. What happened next was expected, of course. Harry became part of the fight, and Ron, defending Harry, jumped in as well. Soon enough, it was a silly, childish physical fight between four full-grown male wizards. It was enough to make Hermione sick.

"Oh, come on!" Hermione screamed; suddenly, as though a light bulb had popped on in her head, she withdrew her wand from inside her robes and aimed them directly at the mob of boys, yelling, "Stupefy!"

Instantly, the room fell silent. Every last one of them had been stunned, putting an end to their juvenile brawl.

"You're all sickening." Hermione said quietly. Then, without another word, she left her own apartment, also leaving behind four boys who now had a lot to think about.