A/N: Thank you for all the reviews! You all are being so nice! However, I must remind you that I'm not afraid of constructive criticism, in fact, I want it (or even flames, if you're into being an unnecessary dick like that, I get a good laugh anyway). But, I suppose if you just want to say you like it that's cool too smiles like a dork.
Also, to address a few reviews specifically, the wedding won't be for about 10 more chapters, which is ridiculously fast if you think about it in real time, especially since the majority of the magical community doesn't even know about it yet! I'd like to make it feel like their engagement was a little more believable in length, but I highly doubt y'all want me to kill time with Draco and Hermione's sexual tension for 40 chapters while 3 months go by, that'd get a bit tedious. I do want to put Draco and Hermione through a few more things before they become man and wife though, which is why the wedding is in a few weeks, plus I was thinking of letting Narcissa throw an engagement party because I am nice to her like that.
By the way, are the flashback/dreams confusing? I mean they should be a little bit, but I don't want it to be impossible to comprehend. They are out of chronological order, and so far they've only been Hermione's dreams/memories, so it's only been what she perceives to have happened. Soon other perspectives will develop.
Finally, I want to brag. I finally figured out all the little hidden tricks on J.K.'s official website, therefore I rule. And, I saw the coolest rare HP stuff! Y'all should check it out, her site is really funny and cute.
Anyways! Thanks for reading, and thanks you in advance for reviewing this chapter! (Because I know you will, right?)
P.S. Thank you to everyone who offered to beta for me, but knivesgirl346 is already kindly doing it for me. You can still critique me though!
… … …
Hermione awoke to her second morning at Malfoy Manor at noon with a great big yawn, shaking away the uncertainty of her dreams. As if waiting, Bubsy immediately approached the side of the bed.
"Something to eat miss?"
"Hermione…" she corrected, rubbing her eyes.
"Miss Hermione…" said Bubsy, looking nervous.
"Country omelet? …Lots of cheese?" Hermione asked.
"Of course," Bubsy squeaked
"And some wheat toast…" she cried after Bubsy as she hurriedly turned to leave, "…with raspberry jam!" The door closed behind Bubsy.
Hermione swung herself out of the tall bed and made her way to the balcony once again, because the view was just that beautiful. With the soft breeze and the bright sun, she wondered how many pure families had an entire forest as their backyard and her heart longed for camping outdoors… something her and her father made sure to do at least once every summer holiday.
Bubsy quickly returned and left again, and Hermione enjoyed her meal alone. Leaving the tray on her bed she took another shower. When she was finished she made her way to her closet to see that the tray was gone.
'Those elves sure are crafty,' she thought to herself as she looked through the closet once again. Though the ensembles were still just as stunning as the night before, Hermione wished there was a larger selection of more casual outfits, and finally decided on the most comfortable looking thing she could find, a slim fitting gray skirt and a pale pink blouse.
She exited the closet and stopped in the middle of the room. What was she supposed to do now? There was a soft rap on the door. Hermione sighed, 'I should have enjoyed the peace while I had it… now I'll probably have to go see Narcissa!' she thought incorrectly.
"Sarah," she said as she opened the door.
The young girl had a measuring tape in her hand, "May I come in?" she asked softly.
Hermione said nothing but smiled small and gestured her in.
Sarah awkwardly held up the measuring tape, "I've been asked to fit you… for your wedding dress."
"Oh," Hermione said, her arms going limp at her sides, "Very well then…"
"I'll try to hurry," said Sarah.
"Oh, well take your time…" Hermione said awkwardly, nervous that she scared the girl. It wasn't Sarah that upset her; it was the ever-growing reality of the wedding.
Hermione extended her arms out as Sarah made slow circles around her, taking note of her body's proportions.
"So…" Sarah said softly after awhile, "Any ideas on what kind of dress you want?"
Hermione scoffed slightly and then rolled her eyes, "I could care less," she said.
Sarah looked uncomfortable once again but could sense Hermione was trying to be friendly. "Well, your dinner last night then," she said, "Did you have a good time?"
Hermione thought it was bittersweet that the little servant girl recognized Hermione's misery and was trying to cheer her up. "Well the restaurant was great," she answered, "And I suppose Malfoy could've been worse."
Sarah huffed and smirked as she measured Hermione's leg, "Well that's the most unique answer I've ever heard a girl say the day after an evening with Draco Malfoy"
"Really?" asked Hermione.
"Well yes," said Sarah, "They're positively giddy afterwards, it's hilarious. The only bad thing I suppose is having to deal with them after Draco hasn't talked to them for a few days, they don't take it too well, its hell actually…"
"And this happens often?" asked Hermione.
"Oh all the time," said Sarah, and then she paused slightly, "or perhaps I mean it used to happen all the time right?" then she laughed a little, "Everyone is surely going to hate you, that's for sure."
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione, of course the Malfoy's and the other death eating families hated her, but she got the impression that Sarah meant everyone everyone.
"What do you mean what do I mean?" Sarah said laughing, "Draco is the most eligible bachelor in all of wizard Europe."
Hermione took the news with private shock as to not look foolish. Apparently everyone knew that, but to Hermione it was absolutely ludicrous. Girls would be jealous of Her? How hysterical. She'd trade them places any day that's for sure.
But still, she couldn't believe she didn't realize it earlier. Of course not everyone knew how horrid Draco really was, just like the ministry didn't know how evil Lucius really was. They were liars. And people believed it.
She had to confess though, if Draco wasn't associated at all with the dark arts then maybe, just maybe, she could admit he would be kind of appealing. He was very physically attractive, there was just no denying it, beautiful face, eyes, hair, amazing body… plus he had always been a not so distant second to Hermione in class rank. Suck up or no suck up, it did take lots of intelligence and hard work to pull that off. And it was very possible to misinterpret his arrogance as outgoingness and confidence, which she supposed were attractive qualities. No wonder naïve and young wizard girls wanted him so.
Hermione couldn't help but wonder if young Sarah herself had a little crush on Draco; she was interested in how his dates went after all. She didn't seem too jealous of Hermione though, perhaps she had come to terms with the age difference between them to know all it could be was what it was, a crush. Not to mention the station difference also put a damper on their possibilities.
Besides, for some reason Hermione got the impression that Sarah didn't hate her like the rest of the household did, in fact she seemed even to like her a bit.
"Well," said Sarah, "I'm all finished here. Since you don't really have any preferences, I hope you can trust me to see to it that your dress is beautiful."
Hermione smiled again, "Well that's very nice of you, but don't lose any sleep over it, it's not that worth it."
"I hope you change your mind when you see it, goodbye Hermione."
"Wait!" Hermione called after her.
Sarah turned and looked at her.
"Uh… do you know… what it is I am to do?" Hermione asked.
Sarah looked at her funny, "Not that I know of…"
"So I am to stay here all day?" asked Hermione, her shoulders slumping slightly.
"Well, you are allowed any where within the gates I would assume," she answered, "but I didn't really think you'd want to go to the north wing, Narcissa generally spends the day there… Although, guests your age seem to prefer the south wing anyway, most entertaining I suppose. It's a big house, and since you live here now, perhaps you'd like to do some exploring? Up to you though, I must be going." And with that Sarah left.
Hermione stood in the middle of her room, alone once again. She sighed and returned to the bathroom, where she fixed her still damp hair into two lose braids. She could only play around with her appearance for so long before it got dreadfully dull though, and she found herself once again back in her room.
Nothing to do there either. Hermione was surprised, her second day and she was honestly bored silly. "Exploring it is then," she thought as she exited.
After opening door after door, save for Draco's, Hermione discovered she shared her side of the hallway with countless guestrooms, each furnished and grandly decorated. Hers though was the biggest and most beautiful.
Across the hall, the first room she entered was some kind of study. There were tables and a large desk. The tables were cluttered with bottles of potion ingredients, vials, and cauldrons of various sizes. In the corner was practically an entire apothecary. Hermione figured Draco must do his work here, he did love potions after all.
The next room was enormous. It was filled with all kinds of entertainment, billiard and poker tables, wizard's air hockey and chess, a jukebox, dartboard and then in the corner numerous couches arranged around a large screened television in the corner. Hermione didn't even know wizards had TV and wondered what Lucius thought of the muggle invention being in the house.
Hermione ventured over to the other corner, which was a nook, designated to an icebox and cupboards and what appeared to be butterbeer on tap. She opened the shelves to find them filled with sweets, lollies, crisps and the like. In the fridge she discovered her Mountain Dew, 'So that's where the house elf put it,' she thought.
She had just decided that this room must solely exist for Draco and his friends when she heard the doorknob turn.
Not sure why, Hermione felt the urge to hide. If it were Draco, surely it would anger him that she was in his rec room. She darted to a door that she thought was a closet, but it actually was an entrance to a completely different room. She swung around and closed the door, pushing her body against it. Boys' voices could be heard entering the rec room.
"…Should've been at Blaise's last night. Pansy got so piss drunk, she was all over him, slobbering even. But then she'd suddenly start crying and even asked him if she could call him 'Draco'," Hermione recognized Crabbe's voice.
"It was a riot," said what sounded like Goyle, "Don't worry though, Blaise didn't touch her. He'd never do that to you… want to play some chess?"
"No," Hermione heard Draco, "I'm not too keen on winning within two minutes every time, thanks. And just for the record, I could give a rat's ass if Blaise had Pansy; she's not really my girl alright?"
"Alright," said Goyle apprehensively.
Draco spoke again, more firmly in order to stress his seriousness over his disdain for Pansy, something his peers couldn't seem to get through their thick skulls, "Even if I didn't have to take the muggle out last night, I still wouldn't have gone to Blaise's lame party."
"Oh yeah," said Crabbe, "I saw the photo in the Prophet! How was it really?"
'Photo in the Prophet?' thought Hermione, but then continued to listen, crouching down to peer through the keyhole, surprisingly interested in Draco's account of the evening.
"Boring," said Draco.
"Boring?" repeated Crabbe, "Will she not let you snog with her?"
"I didn't try," said Draco hastily.
"Why not?" spat Goyle, sounding shocked, "You can't be with any other chick."
"So?" Draco asked, "Sometimes none is better than some."
Goyle chuckled, "Yeah right Draco, like you can go a week without a shag."
"For Merlin's sake, its Hermione Granger," Draco stressed, angry he had the reputation of such a one-minded sex addict.
"Yeah, and she's hot," said Crabbe earnestly, "what's the matter? Too feisty?"
Goyle turned to Crabbe and they nodded to each other in agreement that that must be it.
"Maybe you can chain her down," Goyle suggested.
"Don't be an idiot;" said Draco, "She's not even that feisty really. Nothing funny will be happening between me and Granger."
Crabbe shook his head disapprovingly, "She's all you got mate…and I make that sound like a bad thing…but really, I wouldn't mind if she were made to be my wife, I'd just mute jinx the sexy little thing and then…"
Hermione stifled a retch and covered her ears; she didn't want to know what disgusting thing he was going to say. By the time she brought her hands back down she could hear Draco, his voice slightly raised,
"…Admit that she is, but nothing will happen and that's final! I'll play along in public but that's all."
Admit that she was what?
Wait, what did she care? 'I'm being stupid,' she thought as she got up, ashamed of herself for eavesdropping. She turned away from the door to find that she was in a large exercise room. Hermione smirked at the weightlifting equipment and then turned to leave the room out of its formal door, nearly tripping over a basketball.
She picked it up and observed it, thinking it odd that it would be in this house, she looked up to see the hoop. Absent-mindedly she took a shot and it bounced off the rim. She chuckled; she had never been a good shot.
She continued her self-tour down the hall, going away from the room where Draco and his cronies were. She came to large double doors at the end of the hall. Nothing could prepare her for what she was about to enter into.
Shelf after towering self of books consumed the vaulted vast room, overflowing with books. Hermione didn't know whether to curse the Malfoy's for having yet another undeserving feature of her dream house or to thank her luck that she had found a room that would help her keep her sanity while she was held captive.
In the end, she didn't think at all, but ran up to a shelf again and began to read the titles. All kinds of countless classic wizard literature and history… Hermione felt like she was a character in her favorite muggle Disney film, the library was certainly straight out of Beauty and the Beast.
"Oh jeez," she said out loud, overwhelmed at the selection and realizing it would take her forever to pick her first book…
… … …
"There you are!" yelled Draco, after barging into the library, discovering her sitting in the bay window, surrounded by bags of licorice and potato crisps house-elves had brought her throughout the day, her nose unsurprisingly in a book.
Hermione lowered her book and looked up at Draco with wide eyes. Suddenly she realized she had been in the library for hours, the sunlight she had sat in was lowered down to just over the hills about to disappear, it must have been well into the evening.
"Come on!" he roared, "We're supposed to be having dinner."
"I- I lost track of time," she tried to explain her honest mistake.
"No excuses, just hurry up!" he growled. Once again Hermione found herself trying to keep up with Draco's stride. He entered into the dining room just as Lucius was leaving, looking very fowl.
He leered at Hermione, "Dinner is at seven, too stupid to tell time muggle?"
Hermione said nothing, but no one could avoid the sting of being yelled at, or being called stupid. She looked down at the floor, these people would never be understanding to the fact that she had just made a mistake, that was obvious by they way that they so excitedly blew it out of proportion.
"The table has been cleared," Lucius said dully to Draco as he pushed past him and left.
"Thanks a lot, now he's pissed at me too," Draco sneered at Hermione.
"Why?" she asked, confused by the fact that he wasn't the one who had lost track of time.
"Because it took me all of dinner to bloody find you!"
"I'm sorry," she felt obligated to say even though she was peeved it was being made into such a big deal, "I had no idea you were all so obsessed with eating dinner together."
"Well we never used to be," Draco said, "we haven't eaten together if there wasn't a guest since I was four, until this whole wholesome family image bullshit came about."
"What?" asked Hermione.
"Nothing," said Draco dismissing it, "Are you hungry?"
"A little," Hermione confessed, having not eaten anything besides junk food since breakfast.
"Follow me then…" said Draco walking through the dining room and going out another door.
Hermione discovered Draco had led her into the kitchen where a few house elves were standing on stools doing dishes. Draco seemed to ignore them as he removed a few items from the fridge.
Apparently Draco had a few instances in the past, and had trained all the house elves to let him go about his business without trying to assist him. Although they were obedient, Hermione could see them look longingly at Draco out of the corner of their eyes, some gave little muffled squeaks, secretly wanting to do it for him. Hermione found it surprising that he would choose to take care of himself over letting a slave do it for him.
"What do you like on your sandwich?" he said, pulling out some bread.
Hermione had to make sure she heard his offer right, "Will you get in trouble for feeding me?" she asked.
"Well only if we get caught," he said, slicing a tomato, "but usually once Lucius goes to bed he's up there for the night,"
"Oh," she said, "Well then I'll have whatever you're having," she said, not wanting to be an inconvenience.
"I like sprouts on my sandwich…" he said clarifying, "with guacamole and turkey."
"That's fine," said Hermione, still a little uncomfortable but slightly shrugging her shoulders, "that sounds quite good actually…" she added after thinking about it.
Draco said nothing but continued to make the sandwiches in silence. Hermione looked about the stainless steal kitchen. It appeared as if it could prepare enough food for 200 guests if need be. He slid the sub sandwich across the counter on its plate to her.
"Milk?" he said.
"Ice water?" asked Hermione.
Draco vaguely nodded as Hermione tried her sandwich; it was so good. She wanted to tell him but felt awkward, so instead she just took more bites. He slid her water over to her as well and sat down, still not really talking. He pulled the Daily Prophet over to himself and shuffled through it. After pulling out the Quidditch scores he shoved the rest of the paper away from himself. Hermione very slowly reached for the rest of the paper and pulled it over to herself.
"Muggle Protection Act still sparking controversy, predictions of its passing still speculations" Hermione read… 'Damn traitors,' she thought, they being the only reason the act was taking so long to pass. Who would vote no on such a bill unless they were a death eater! The corruption and propaganda made her sick so she pulled the front page out, setting it on the counter, eyeing Draco who was still eating and reading himself.
Her attention was then drawn to the variety section of the Daily Prophet, more specifically the sleazy gossip column, where there was a picture of… HER? Instantly she realized this is what Crabbe or Goyle had been talking about and began to read the article.
"Draco Malfoy, heir to Lucius Malfoy, was spotted out with a very interesting date Friday evening at Cyrus's Circus hot spot Casa de Amore. The lucky lady was no other than Hermione Granger, who, like Draco, was a fellow former top student of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, only specifically more famous for her magical talents despite her muggle heritage. The sizzling duo truly prove that opposites do attract, having had attended rival houses (Gryffindor and of course Slytherin) while in school yet still romancing.
The couple was seen dining in style and while the date was very innocent and wholesome (at least in the public eye?) the two were seen engaged in very intense conversation with heads close, expressions serious and voices low.
And what does Lucius Malfoy (who, although nothing was proven, has a history of being pure-prejudice) think of his son's stunningly beautiful new muggle-born interest? It is unknown at this time if the prestigious papa is furious, but with such a public debut it can confidently be assumed that he is aware of the situation and may perhaps even be a muggle advocate? More to come on the hot twosome as well Lucius's political and personal stances next month during our thorough report of the Ministry State of the Union Convention."
Hermione's head swam with new information.
She was mentioned in the paper.
After not being heard from in nine months, now suddenly she was in the paper.
Not only would the Order see that she was alive, but also free (in a way) from Voldemort's prison. Surely if they wanted to find her they'd know right where to look. It really was only a matter of time before they would rescue her. Hermione could barely contain herself inside her skin. She was far too lost in her thoughts to feel Draco's eyes on her. He watched her for a long while, almost spacing out.
"I see you've found that article," He finally said suddenly.
Startled Hermione's face began to grow hot, as if she had just been caught stealing. "Yeah," she managed to say, quickly shoving the paper closed so he wouldn't think she was dwelling on it, "it's weird," she added, shrugging her shoulders, trying to control her heartbeat. Feeling his eyes still on her, she decided to act mellow, (which was so difficult since she was so unbelievably excited for the Order to see the article) and attempted to scan the other headlines….
"Five more arrested for muggle attacks", she absent-mindedly read, "Azkaban prisoner Karkaroff makes parole" "Fudge to attend united magical nations conference with determination to stop muggle terrorism"….
Wait.
'Karkaroff to be released?' she thought, her stomach turning at the sound of the name as she frantically re-read the headline.
"You finished then?" asked Draco, looking at the heel of Hermione's sandwich, which she hadn't touched in over five minutes. Hermione looked at Draco's plate, which was just crumbs, and realized he was ready to leave.
"Uh, yes…" she stammered, now stark white in the face, "Thank you," she added as she tried to slyly put the paper under her arm, as if she was going to return to her room with it on accident.
"Well we better go to bed then, we've got stuff we're supposed to do tomorrow."
"Okay…" said Hermione, nervous and not really listening to what he just said.
As they walked back to the south wing it turns out Hermione was much more paranoid than necessary, Draco paid no mind to the newspaper under Hermione's arm, because he too was lost in thought.
Once again they said nothing to each other as they went into their rooms.
She shut her door and ran to her bed. After flopping herself down she hastily unfolded the paper to the article.
"Brusto Karkaroff made his parole meeting earlier this week, and is scheduled to be released sometime next month. This controversial release was approved by the Ministry of Magic Wizemganot. Karkaroff, brother of former Durmstrang headmaster Igor Karkaroff (who is still missing), was arrested for manslaughter which was a bargain down from first degree murder with the use of magic after Kararoff's attorney successfully convinced the jury the gruesome act was out of self defense and temporary insanity.
"The man came across an intruder in his house and thought his only son to be dead," his attorney stated, "What would you have done?"
There are still some uncertain ministry officials who feel Karkaroff, who has a history of: unproven death eating conspiracy, affiliation with the Russian Magical Mafia, assault, forgery, identity theft, and money laundering, is dangerous and being let out too early.
"He has only served half of his sentence; he clearly has not paid back his full debt to society after murdering an otherwise innocent man. With the suspicion of bribery that should've have been further investigated the case should've never been closed!" said a frantic Author Weasley, ministry worker, "Especially since there is clear evidence of other persons still unknown being at the scene of the crime and the motives of Podmore still not certain. There's just too many unnerving loose ends to let this man back out into the wizarding world, I do not care how charismatic he was to his parole hearers."
The horrendous incident in question took place nearly nine months ago during one of Kararoff's famous business parties when Karkaroff said he was investigating a ruckus in his son's quarters, only to discover Sturgis Podmore standing over his passed out son, where Karkaroff used an unforgivable curse against him. Kararoff's son, Ivan, was not dead, but merely knocked out with no recollection of what happened. He is now a permanent dimwit due to an intense stupefying. The persons unknown speculated to be at the scene of the crime have never been discovered nor come forward and there have been rumors of evidence gone missing.
Three months prior to his conviction of magical manslaughter Brusto spent one evening in jail after being suspected of espionage involving a Ministry of Magic employee. Clyde Baggins, a Counter for the ministry, was suspected as passing confidential information to Brusto Karkaroff and was thereby fired despite proof while Brusto was released without further charges.
"It was all a horrible misunderstanding," a remorseful Karkaroff was quoted to say after his release was announced, "Now I just want to put it behind me, and return home to be with my son.""
Hermione dropped the paper from her hand, letting it fall from the side of the bed and flutter to the floor. She tilted her head back and tightly closed her eyes, but the silent tears escaped anyway.
The mention of that pig Ivan made her skin crawl and she was almost glad she had rendered him nearly brain-dead after what he tried to do to her. Overcome with sick mourning, she cried for poor dead Order member Sturgis Podmore, who was the first to try and save her, only to die in the stand off the rest of the wizarding world knew nothing about.
Then the tears kept coming, because she just didn't know what to think anymore. Why hadn't Harry been there? And why hasn't she heard from him since?
All things she'd have to find out later when they would rescue her, she painfully accepted, not wanting to wait any longer to find out what really happened.
… … …
………"I will NOT argue with you anymore Harry," Hermione heard Lupin declare loudly and firmly, despite the fighting going on a whole floor beneath her, "They are not apart of this particular mission and that is final!"
"BUT WE'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR THEM TOO!" Harry yelled.
"I am AWARE of our goals young Potter, but we are not prepared at this juncture to go after both, its dangerous enough as it is and finding out what Brusto is up to is a higher priority!"
Hermione could only imagine the look that must have come over Harry's face upon hearing that. Surely Lupin must have felt terrible about it too; telling Harry Potter finding the murderer of his Godfather wasn't the Order's highest priority. Their argument had been going all day, it was well into the evening, everyone else had gone to bed but the fight was still going on strong. It seemed to Hermione that it was about to reach it's worse. She was surprised then, by Harry's quieter volume.
"We don't even know if Brusto has done anything," Harry said in an eerie firm yet shaky voice, "but we do know the Lestranges' ARE guilty."
"Harry," said Lupin, the discomfort in his voice obvious, "please trust me, I have an overwhelming feeling that if we get Brusto, we get them all. You just have to be patient."
"I've been waiting since I was a baby," he answered back.
"I know Harry, you know I know that." Lupin was quiet for a moment before speaking again, "Perhaps Professor Snape should take your place on this mission, I don't think this particular one is for you."
Silence followed. Hermione pressed more firmly against the extendable ear on the floor. Harry must've been at a loss of words to Lupin's statement.
Suddenly, there was noise outside of her door instead of below her. She quickly dived back into her bed and closed her eyes just as it creaked open.
"Hermione?" said a soft feminine voice, one she hadn't heard call for her in days now.
"Ginny," said Hermione, turning to see her.
Her eyes were large and glassy. It made Hermione sick with guilt and remorse, feelings that had followed her since Harry had first kissed her a few weeks ago. As Ginny's best friend she knew perfectly well that even though Ginny told everyone else she didn't like Harry in that way anymore and even tried to prove it by dating other boys that deep down she still did.
Ginny herself had confided in Hermione many times, fretting over her inability to get over him. She'd always say just when she had finally stopped thinking about him he'd do something flirty towards her again and trick her into thinking there were possibilities. But, being Harry's best friend as well she knew Harry only flirted with her out of harmless boredom, not realizing his full affect.
If anything he considered her too much of a child, rendering her crush on him childish and harmless. He never met to hurt Ginny by making a move on Hermione, he didn't even think it would bother her as much as it did. But even after he was aware of it, it surprised Hermione how it didn't stop him from wanting to be with her again. She didn't mean for it happen after all, it just did. If only Hermione could tell Ginny how sorry she was and have Ginny feel how much she meant it… she had to at least try to convey it to her…
"Ginny I'm-", Hermione started.
"Oh shhh," interrupted Ginny, "It's going to be-" she tried to say but paused, swallowing what would've been a sob, "I think it's going to be alright…" she stifled awkwardly again. She was determined to say what she had to say without going to pieces. "I want it to be alright between us," she clearly concluded.
"Oh Ginny," said Hermione, biting her lip from crying as Ginny kneeled at her bed and the two old friends hugged in the dark bedroom ………
… … …
A disgruntled looking young man stepped into a dingy small diner just off an outskirted cobblestone alley of Hogsmeade as the sun was dipping down into the hills. He ruffled his long untidy stoplight yellow hair, pushing it down against his forehead in vain as he hastily took a seat at a barstool.
"You need to charm your hair again," said Cleo, the young waitress who worked there, "your dark roots are showing."
The young man rolled his green eyes at her in response.
"So will Gandalf the Grey be joining you anytime soon?" asked the sarcastic server.
"Yeah," answered the boy, "He just has to have a few words with McGonagall up at the castle, he should be here any minute."
"Two specials then." Cleo said, not even waiting for a nod of agreement and walked back into the kitchen.
Alone in the quiet dining area, he reached down the bar for a newspaper. It was a day old, like always, and all the good sections were missing.
Agitated, like he always was lately, he ruffled the paper and began to read, pulling a cup of coffee up to his lips.
"Dang nab it!" cried Cleo from the back when she heard the coffee cup shatter loudly on the floor.
"I don't go breaking all your dishes do I Pot-", Cleo stopped when she saw how wide Harry's eyes were.
Mouth gaping, Harry Potter was looking at a picture of Hermione Granger sitting at a restaurant table with Draco Malfoy.