Chapter Six

Hermione had just arrived at the dining hall and politely greeted Lord and Lady Malfoy. Neither Draco nor Xavier were down yet, and Hermione had to admit that she was a little bit disappointed by that. Soon afterwards Lord and Lady Malfoy finished their breakfasts and politely excused themselves from the table, explaining that they had engagements they had to get to.

Hermione didn't miss the subtle look that Lady Malfoy gave her as she left the room - the memories of her conversation with her last night were still fresh in her mind. She wasn't sure whether to believe her or not, as she felt as thought Lady Malfoy was just trying to break them up.

Before long, the doors to the hall swung open again and Draco and Xavier walked in with another man. Hermione felt her mouth twitching into a small smile when she saw Draco and Xavier, but she wasn't sure which one she was smiling at. It wasn't as though her and Draco were all buddy buddy now that they had a truce and its not like her and Xavier were really that good together...they barely even knew each other. Hermione wiped the smile off her face quickly.

"Good morning." Draco said as he sat down across from her.

Hermione nodded in response, and smiled at Xavier who had taken the seat next to her. After a brief introduction to his friend, Michel, they began to have breakfast. Xavier took her hand in his, entwining their fingers together. Hermione didn't have a problem with that, it was normal for fiancés to hold hands. But it was when he started to feed her bits of his breakfast that she felt that he was going overboard.

She felt so uncomfortable, feeling Draco and Michel's eyes on her as they watched the whole spectacle. She wanted to melt away on the spot and go back to Hogwarts and have breakfast at the Great Hall with Ron and Harry. She didn't want this...she really wanted to go home. She gently pushed Xavier's incoming spoon away and excused herself from the table.

"Marie, we are going to have a picnic today. I will meet you in the foyer in half an hour. Is that alright with you?" he said.

"Uh, that sounds good to me." she replied, heading out of the hall. She did not miss Draco's look of disgust as she and Xavier exchanged smiles.

Hermione decided to take a longer route to get back to her room. She wanted to explore more of the chateau - more specifically she wanted to find out where the library was. So she wandered around for short while, thinking mournfully about all the classes and events that she was missing out on back at Hogwarts when she stumbled upon a room that looked very much like a library.

She hesitantly checked around the half-closed door to see if anyone was in there already, and when she was satisfied that there wasn't anyone, she walked in. Almost immediately a pair of hands covered her mouth from behind preventing her from screaming out, though she did try to bite the person.

"Mmmphhhh!" she said angrily. The door closed and locked behind her and the hands were removed from her mouth. She spun around heatedly to face her attacker. It was Malfoy - not the annoying one, it was the prat that she had a truce with.

"What did you do that for?!" she yelled furiously.

"Shut up Granger!" he whispered back at her. She glared at him and lowered her voice.

"Fine. Why did you do that, you git?"

"Because I needed to talk to you?" he answered. She snorted.

"Yeah and you couldn't find a nicer way to do that apart from grabbing me from behind and covering up my mouth."

"Well it was the easiest way. Besides, that's not the point - the point is that we need to talk." he replied nonchalantly.

"Ok, so talk." she said bluntly.

"Well I was just thinking that we should meet here tonight and do some research on the potion. What do you think?" he asked.

"I think that's a good idea - except I don't know whether I'm free tonight." Hermione replied. Draco rolled his eyes.

"Oh yeah that's right, you're probably going for a sappy moonlit walk with my dear brother tonight." he deadpanned.

"Funnily enough, that's probably what's going to happen." she replied with a roll of her eyes.

"God you two make me sick." Draco said, pretending to gag. She slapped him lightly on the shoulder.

"Shut up. It's not my fault."

"Yeah whatever. Anyway, just try to come tonight. I'll wait for you and do some research myself first." he said, unlocking the door.

"Yeah I'll try. See you soon then." she answered, exiting the room.

Draco stared at her until her retreating back had disappeared from view. Hm, the Mudblood really wasn't too bad after all, he thought to himself. She was relatively civil now and his only source of company here at the chateau, sadly enough. He really needed to get out and find himself some more ahem, company.

Bearing that thought in mind, he exited the room too and made his way out of the chateau.

--

Hermione met Xavier in the foyer at the assigned time and looked apprehensively at the basket of food that he clutched in his hand. She didn't know what she would do if he decided that he wanted to feed her lunch as well.

"Shall we go now, Marie?" Xavier asked, interrupting her thoughts. She nodded, and they climbed aboard a carriage which took them to the assigned picnic spot somewhere near the chateau.

Hermione and Xavier didn't say anything to each other at all during the carriage ride there, and she was relieved to get out of the carriage when it finally reached its destination. She was beginning to feel quite uncomfortable around him.

Hermione surveyed her surroundings - a grassy area, shaded by leafy trees set next to a duck pond. The whole place was really picturesque and she swore that she had seen the exact same place on a postcard somewhere before. Xavier caught up with her and took her hand. Again, she did not protest, at least this was normal relationship behaviour.

He led her to a shady area near the pond and laid out a rug which they sat on. Hermione glanced up in surprise when she saw that Xavier's friend Michel had joined them with his girlfriend. She was relieved to see that she wouldn't be alone with Xavier for the picnic, she wouldn't know what to do if he tried to make any moves on her.

Of course she found the attention flattering, but even though he was so handsome, Hermione didn't feel any connection with him. She had not been lusting after him ever since their kiss last night even though it was her first in a very long time, so that was really saying something.

Michel introduced his girlfriend Claire to her, she was a very pretty petite girl. They settled themselves comfortably onto the picnic rug and began to eat the delicious gourmet sandwiches that the kitchen had packed for them.

"So, Marie how do you find Xavier?" asked Claire quietly while Xavier and Michel were having an animated conversation about ships.

"Oh, he's really kind. And sweet, and thoughtful and nice and..." Hermione trailed off, seeing the surprised expression on Claire's face. She laughed nervously, "Well as you can see I'm completely overwhelmed by his affection."

"Ah of course. I have heard all about you from Michel and Xavier, he is absolutely infatuated with you." she answered knowingly. Again Hermione laughed awkwardly...she didn't know what to say to that.

"Ladies, what do you say to a lovely stroll around the grounds?" said Xavier gallantly, offering Hermione his arm. Michel did the same to Claire. They both accepted graciously, though Hermione was once again apprehensive about the stroll. She relaxed however, upon seeing that they would be walking with Michel and Claire instead of alone.

They walked along the banks of the pond behind the other pair and made small talk with each other. Hermione was again struck by how little chemistry she and Xavier had. How could 'Marie' have ever liked this guy? But then again they were betrothed, so maybe she had no say in the matter from the start anyway.

"Xavier, how long have we been betrothed for?" she asked quietly. He gave her a strange look.

"Don't you remember, Marie? It's only been a month." he replied suspiciously. He stopped and held her face in his hands, "Are you feeling unwell?"

"No, no I'm fine. I just cant remember, that's all." she said meekly. He gave her a concerned look and pulled her close to him. Hermione was completely caught off guard by the gesture and had to restrain herself from pulling away. Being with him had been just so wrong ever since their kiss.

"I'm worried about you, Marie. You don't seem yourself."

Haha. You don't know how right you are. Hermione thought sardonically to herself.

"Michel, Claire I'm going to take Marie back to the chateau. She's not feeling well." He called out to the couple. They nodded and waved goodbye to them, shouting that they would see them later.

Xavier walked Hermione back to the picnic spot and proceeded to pack everything back into the basket. Then he escorted her to the carriage, which had been sitting there waiting for them ever since they had arrived.

"Xavier, I'm fine. You don't need to end the picnic just because of me. I can get back to the chateau myself." Hermione protested. They argued a bit more about it, until Xavier finally gave in to Hermione and let her ride back to the chateau herself.

Hermione felt relieved immediately as the carriage pulled away from the picnic spot. She couldn't explain it - it was as though a burden had been lifted from her. She no longer had to pretend to be someone that she was not. She had a nagging thought in the back of her head - she suspected that Marie had not liked Xavier before.

Soon the carriage arrived at the chateau and Hermione alighted and went back into the foyer. From there she decided to go to the library and do some preparation research, just in case she couldn't get much done tonight.

--

On the other side of the chateau Draco had just awoken from a nap. He rolled over and discovered that he had indeed found some company - in the form of an astonishingly blonde nymph he had found at the club he found out that he belonged to. She stirred as Draco rolled over and smiled sleepily at him.

"Bonjour, mon cherie." he said, eliciting a giggle from the girl.

"Bonjour Monsieur Malfoy...quelle heure est il?" (hello mister Malfoy, what time is it?)

"Quinze heures." (3 pm) he replied.

"Oh la la! Je suis en retard." (Oh no, I'm late!) she gasped, practically jumping out of the bed and getting dressed.

"Pourquoi?" (Why?)

"Parce que j'ai un rendezvous avec mon amie." (Because I have an appointment with a friend.)

"Bien sur. Alors, au revoir, ma belle." (Of course, so good bye my beautiful.) He said with a wink as she left the room, calling out a thank you to him.

Draco yawned and stretched, feeling somewhat refreshed after that bit of exercise. He figured that he still had a few hours until dinner was served, and that was ample time for a bath. He needed to clean himself up.

Three hours later, Draco emerged from his room at the sound of a gong signalling the start of dinner. He hurried down the hallway and coincidentally met Hermione at the head of the stairs. Her hair had turned into a giant frizz ball once again and she looked quite tired.

"Whoa what happened to you, Granger?" he sneered.

"Shut up Malfoy. For your information I've been in the library researching. Anyway what happened to you, Malfoy? You're positively glowing." she shot back, giving him a suspicious glare.

"Er...well...lets just say I got -"

"Lucky?" Hermione quipped.

"Bingo." he answered with a smirk.

"Oh my god I can not believe you! We're stuck back in time and you go and get yourself laid. Can't you at least hang on until we're back at Hogwarts? You're not going to die just because you didn't shag someone for a month you know." she burst out wildly.

"Granger, has it occurred to you that a man's needs and a woman's needs are different? All you might need is friendship and sympathy, but a guy needs a whole lot more than just that - we need the whole package." he replied smoothly. Hermione glared at him.

"I don't care. You're such a pig, Malfoy." she spat angrily.

"Ok, fine I'll admit I'm a pig. But at least I'm a good looking pig." he smirked, "Now lets not hold up dinner for the family, Granger. Let's get going."

Hermione opened her mouth to protest to the 'good looking pig' comment, but then shut it abruptly, realising that he was right - about holding up the dinner of course. They hurried down the stairs and strode into the dining hall. But just before they entered the hall, Draco whispered to Hermione.

"Don't forget to meet me in the library at eight o'clock tonight." She nodded and walked over to where Xavier sat, taking a seat next to him.

"Good evening." She greeted them politely.

"Marie, are you feeling better now?" asked Xavier kindly. He seemed unfazed by her abrupt exit from the picnic.

"Oh yes." she answered with a smile.

"Why did you enter with my brother?" he inquired with an edge to his voice.

"Uh, well we just happened to be in the foyer at the same time, so we entered together." she replied, a bit unnerved by the way he asked her about it. There was almost a predator-like gleam in his eyes.

"Is that so? Alright then. Have a bite of this dish, its absolutely delicious." he said after a pause, dismissing the issue.

Hermione relaxed, Xavier was back to normal, as evidenced by the way he was again spoon feeding her bits of dinner. Hermione mentally rolled her eyes, it was going to be another long meal.

A/N: well there you have it, chapter six : ) thanks to my reviewers - emikae, mir, Lady Delphinia and Meg, you guys rock. Now...I want more reviews or else I'm not updating!