A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! You guys are wonderful! I'm glad that you are enjoying everything and appreciate suggestions that you may have. :) Sorry I got this chapter up so late. I went on vacation before the chapter ended so couldn't post until now.
Starinthenight – you are so sweet! I am so glad that you have been such a good reviewer… and loyal one too!
bippity boppity BOO – Hehehe! That would be great for her to get hairy arm pits!
Serlene- yea, she had it coming. It's pretty pitiful, but I find that people like her usually are.
MIDNIGHT-PIXIE- Thanks so much for that great review! You and Starinthenight have been so wonderful about reviewing this story! Yea, Jo is probably a bit shocked (to say the least), but that's what happens! I was thinking when I was writing about her wand and ended up leaving it for you to figure out. I figure out there were two main situations: 1. she forgot her wand (I don't think this would have happened – she's a bit too smart for that) 2. She didn't move quickly enough and along with the shrinking, she was restricted from wand magic. Perhaps that was a bit weak, but I'm not that good with spells yet. :)
A BIG thanks to Tiarwen, samanthaaa, Jessica Halliwell Potter and DarkPrincessPyro99! I really appreciate all of your reviews and hope you continue to enjoy everything!
A few weeks later…
"Yes, mum… Yes, mum… I will be careful… Yes, I'll let Draco know… Ok… Ok… Love you too… Bye." Sighing, Hermione disconnected from her mother. She rubbed her temples and sat down next to the front window. Looking out on the street, Hermione saw people walking by, chatting and greeting one another cheerfully. Hermione sighed again and walk over to the fireplace. As she was about to throw the floo powder in, there was a knock at her door. Hermione looked up and walked over to the door.
"Draco!" Hermione smiled and he came into the room, giving her a kiss. "I was just about to floo you!"
"Well, I was thinking of you too." Draco said, putting his arms around her and kissing her neck. Hermione enjoyed his embrace for a moment before pulling away.
"My mum called me." Hermione sat down again the chair. "Apparently Josephine is going around town saying that I stole you from her and that she knows I have slept with several members of the Ministry to get my job." Hermione shook her head. "Really! Does she really think that anyone is going to believe that! I mean, I am the smartest witch that Hogwarts has had in over 400 years! To think, that I would actually have to prostitute myself for a job!"
Draco laughed, but stopped at Hermione's glare. "Sorry," he mumbled. "I just think it's funny that you have a bigger problem with her saying that you're not smart enough to get a job rather than that she telling everyone you're a slut."
"Right, like anyone is going to believe I'm a slut." Hermione scowled again. "I dated Ron, which took forever, and since I've been here, I have been working!"
"Ok, ok." Draco snuggled next to Hermione. "You are smart and not a slut." He kissed her nose. "So, if no one is going to believe anything she says, why do we have to worry?"
"I guess we don't." Hermione sighed. "It's just incredibly annoying!"
"Hmmm, well I know a great way to relieve stress…" Draco mumbled in her ear as his lips moved down the side of her neck. A gentle moan escaped Hermione's lips as he sucked gently on her neck. She moved her head and his lips met hers as they continued one kiss after the other.
Hermione's fingers ran through Draco's hair has he pulled her closer. His hand found her skin beneath her shirt and Hermione jumped at his cold hands. "Sorry," Draco smiled at Hermione, who smiled back and then continued their embrace. As their kisses became deeper and Draco's hands became bolder, he suddenly stopped.
"What?" Hermione asked, confused. Draco sat up.
"Look." He said pointing to the window. Hermione looked around and gasped. During their snuggling session a small crowd of kids had gathered at her window and were now doubling over with laughter.
"Well!" Hermione exclaimed and jumped up to close the curtains. Draco sat back in the chair, laughing. Hermione came back and sat next to him, snuggling close.
"Hermione?"
"Hmmm?"
"I actually stopped by because Blaise and I are going to have to leave town for a few days."
"What? Why?" Hermione exclaimed.
"We have some business that came up and need to go Dover for a bit."
"Dover?"
"Yeah," Draco looked a bit sheepish. "We had a shipment coming in from France and it got a bit out of control."
"What do you mean?" Draco hesitated.
"Well… it's a baby dragon."
"WHAT!" Hermione yelled. "Why are you bringing a French dragon into England?"
"It's actually Hungarian." Hermione shot him a glare. "Well, Blaise wanted to bring a present to Ginny and he knew that she liked unique animals and this one was such a cute baby…"
"And?"
"Well, apparently cute, Hungarian dragons get big very quickly." Draco finished quickly.
"So, now you have a big dragon terrorizing Dover?"
"Thankfully, they have been able to control her so far. But we need to get over there and explain the situation and clear up the mess with the Ministry."
"I can't believe you guys did that." Hermione groaned.
"Actually, I was going to tell them that I need the dragon for my estate." Hermione shot him a look of disbelief. "No, really! The estate used to have dragons as a protective 'watchdog' and I think it would be good to have one back again."
"Ok, you do what you need to do." Hermione stood up, a bit annoyed at Draco's illegal actions. It was more maddening to know that he was going to get away with it too.
"Oh, come on. Don't be too mad. I'll explain everything when we return." Draco took Hermione's face in his hands and smiled at her. "Can I get a smile?"
"Hmph." Hermione said. She still let Draco kiss her, however.
"I'll see you soon." Draco said, exiting her flat.
"Bye." Hermione frowned. A dragon! That was too dangerous and not a good idea. Going back to her research, Hermione took out an old map of the Carney estate – one of the oldest known. She had found it in an old diary that Draco gave her from his private library. She was going through various maps, trying to find the passage under the stairs that she followed the night of Draco's party. She was very excited when she found this map, but there seemed to be gaps to the estate in it. The ground floor had rooms that were on the first floor and the gardens seemed to be apart of the second floor rooms. Hermione had even gone to the estate to check out some of the rooms and they were where she thought they were (on the first and ground floor respectively), but the map said otherwise. Hermione leaned back and sighed.
Getting up, Hermione went into her kitchen and pulled out the kettle. Filling it up with water, Hermione watched the children play in the street outside her window. They were playing with magic (where are their parents? Hermione thought) and making each other's hair turn green, orange, stand up, etc. Hermione smiled and made herself a cup of tea. Sitting down, Hermione began to finger a charm that she found in her room at the Carney estate. She had put it on after a few days and forgot to return it. Taking it off, Hermione looked down at the cool, red stone. Around the stone was the inscription: audaces fortuna iuvat.
"Fortune favours the bold," Hermione mumbled. That certainly applied to the Malfoy family, she thought. They are very bold and it has brought them a dark fortune. Hermione stared longer at the charm. It looked familiar, she thought. Racking her brain, Hermione tried to figure out where she had seen the charm before. She went back to her research and began to go through books and articles about the Carney estate and its history. Every Malfoy shown had the characteristic green emeralds on their hands and none with an inscription. "Where have I seen this before?" Hermione wondered out loud. Suddenly she knew. Not bothering to clean up her books, Hermione grabbed her charm and raced out of the room. At the door, she apparated to the Carney Estate.
Meanwhile, a fight was brewing at The Jolly Bog. Josephine had been going around town, trying to get people to 1. choose sides between her and Hermione 2. have them understand why Hermione was bad 3. tell Draco that he should go back to his fiancé. She was not having much luck. Furthermore, although Hermione didn't have many close friends in town, the bashing by Josephine was making a lot of people loyal to her.
"Josephine, you need to stop bugging Hermione, Draco and the entire town before we run you out!" Ginny shouted at Josephine, who had just 'accidentally' spilt her drink on her. Josephine opened her eyes in mock surprise.
"Why, I don't know what you are talking about! I am just enjoying all the town has to offer and my new friends," she added, nodding to the two men across the table from her.
"They're only hanging out with you because you have lowered yourself to the occasional blow job to have people on your side." Ginny calmly stated matter-of-factly. Josephine jumped up, her eyes blazing.
"That is a lie!" She roared, glaring at the people around her laughing.
"Is it?" Ginny smiled, knowing the crowd was with her. "Then why was Drake Gustor bragging that you gave him great satisfaction only after he agreed to agree with you about Hermione?"
"How would I know," Josephine snapped. "Drake is a crazy old goon who wouldn't know if he was getting pleasure from a women or a goat."
"So, you give bad head… Good to know."
"You bitch!" Josephine screamed, lunging at Ginny. Thankfully Ginny saw it coming and sidestepped her quite easily. Josephine fell onto the floor and at the feet of Drake Gustor.
"I don't know a woman from a goat, eh?" Drake looked down at Josephine. "Well, you may be pretty, but no one is worth your trouble," he added. Taking a drink from his mug, Drake looked down again at Josephine at his feet. "But," Josephine looked up, "Ginny is right about something. You suck at giving any pleasure." And with that he emptied his mug over Josephine. Josephine screamed as the thick, gooey Butterbeer poured into her hair and face. Getting up, she sputtered.
"What… Who do you people think you are?"
"Who are we? Who do you think you are?" Ginny questioned back. "You came here because no one else in London will have you. You are a low-life gold-digger and Draco, the once shallowest man in English, dumped you and you are no good to anyone else. If I were you, I would start looking for a blind, deaf man now – Because no one else will ever have you!"
"We'll see about that!" Josephine began to leave the bar.
"Oh Josephine," Ginny called to her. She stopped and turned around.
"What?"
"You can't go back to London looking like that."
"I know! What's it to you? You get to stay here, looking like crap and rolling in crap. At least I'll have some fashion."
"Hmmm, rolling in crap, huh? I think that's an excellent idea." Ginny took out her wand and pointed at Josephine. "Fecesius Regunviatus!" Josephine ran screaming from the bar. "That ought to take care of that." She bowed to the laughter and applause around her.
Next morning's Daily Prophet:
Josephine Baker, the Socialite that tried to steal Draco Malfoy's heart and estate, was committed yesterday due to a children's spell with an interesting twist. No matter how much the young lady may wash or change robes, she will be covered with manure until the spell wears off.
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