Chapter 3- Ludicrous

Draco rubbed his scar once again, and suddenly, his heart began to pound. He didn't know why, but it began to pound loudly.

Some one was coming, and it would change his life forever.

Hermione was in a rush, and she didn't know why. She also didn't know why she didn't just magically put all of her clothes in her suitcase, but packed them the muggle way. Every trip she made back and forth between her dresser and her suitcase made her even more excited. Hermione had no idea why she chose to go see Draco, considering they hadn't seen each other for seven years.

She then ran to the vegetable cabinet, and grabbed the front page of the news paper that had Draco's photograph on it. She folded it, and placed it in her suitcase. She also placed every little trinket that Draco had ever given her, from every love note to every necklace.

She suddenly stopped when she looked at her ring finger once again. What am I doing? she thought. I'm supposed to be getting married, and I'm running off to see Draco!

Hermione sat down on her bed for a moment, and stared at her suitcase, half packed, and then looked around her bedroom. Photographs of herself, Ron, and Harry dawned the walls. There was nothing in this room that really reminded her of Hogwarts.

Hermione thought that maybe Ron had done this on purpose. Maybe to help Hermione forget Draco, and she felt that he had done a pretty good job in helping her forget.

Hermione lifted up the article again, and stared. Jasper came flying through the window, and stared at his owner for a moment. Jasper knew Hermione was about to do something odd, and he knew that he felt that whatever she was doing, wasn't the right thing. Jasper nibbled on Hermione's index finger, and looked deeply into her eyes.

"I have to do this, Jasper. It's the only way I can know for sure if I'm really ready to marry Ron," said Hermione as she patted her owl on the head. She carried Jasper to his cage, and put it next to her suitcase.

"I heard about that plantation he built a few years ago from Hannah at the hospital…" said Hermione as she closed Jasper's cage door. "Hopefully, we'll be able to find it, right Jasper?"

The owl gave a small hoot, and closed his eyes. Hermione gave one quick glance at her owl, and continued to pack.

Draco had become board of sitting down on his couch, but he knew he couldn't run off to the pub just yet, it was only eleven thirty in the morning.

Something did seam to keep Draco in his home. After all, it was a reasonably nice day, he could be outside doing anything in all honesty. He could be flying around on his old Nimbus, he hadn't given that a go since his school days, he could apparate to London simply to buy an ice cream, and come right back, but Draco sat in his house, and read. He read books that reminded him of Hermione. Poems and Sonnets about love, and friendship, and beauty.

Draco then heard a sudden tapping on his window, and it was his eagle-owl, Octave.

Draco opened the window and let his owl flutter in to the room. Draco grabbed the letter out of his owl's beak, and allowed the owl to sit on his shoulder as he read the letter.

The message was short, and seamed not to give much information, but Draco was hoping it meant what he thought it meant.

Ghosts are not what many of us think, Mister Malfoy. They don't always haunt us, they just come for a visit once in a while.

So does your past.

Draco grinned, and imagined that it meant that she would come back. That Hermione would come running to his doorstep, and tell him she still loved him no matter what…

But Draco realized how stupid he sounded, and threw the note in the trash along with the newspaper, assuming it was junk mail.

Hermione checked, re-checked, and checked again that she had everything she would need. She grabbed on to her owl cage, her suitcase, and made sure she was braced for the trip.

Hermione thought to herself over and over again.

Malfoy Plantation, Malfoy Plantation…

And in the middle of the large plantation she landed.

Hermione slowly walked on to his porch, having no idea what to expect. Before she knocked on the door, she took a step back and examined the house.

It was very large, and Hermione thought this was quite odd. After all, you'd think after living in a huge mansion all of your life, you would likely be sick of living in large places, but Hermione chose to ignore this and examine the house's beauty. The house was a light green with white shutters, and it looked as if it had many rooms, considering the number of windows there were.

Hermione ultimately decided to stop procrastinating, and made a knocking motion toward the white door.

But something stopped Hermione. She was shocked to see that there was a strange emblem on the door. It had a snake, of course, but the snake, was red and gold.

Hermione grinned to herself, and almost knocked on the door once again.

Draco threw his book down, and breathed heavily.

No way… he thought. No way, she'll never come back to you. You screwed it up, Malfoy. You screwed it up, and she gave up on you. She's in love with Weasley now, and there's nothing you can do about it. You can't change it, even if you go and find her yourself.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

Ugh, bill collectors… thought Draco. Maybe if I pretend I'm not here, they'll go away…

They knocked again, and Draco sat where he was, silent.

The knocking persisted.

"Jesus bloody Christ, I'm coming!" yelled Draco. He slammed his fresh mug of coffee on the coffee table, and walked toward the door.

Draco put on his business face, and opened the door to the last person he expected.

Hermione.