Chapter Twelve
Draco and Hermione were waiting patiently to board the Lady Madeline bound for England, wearing their new clothes and holding their supplies for the trip back to Hogwarts. They were dressed as an upper class British couple, in a fine silk dress and a nicely tailored suit and they blended in perfectly with the dozens of other couples travelling first class.
They weren't really talking much, partly because they were nervous about keeping up appearances, and also because Hermione felt awkward talking to Draco now. She was so angry at herself about letting her feelings get in the way of their friendship, but she couldn't help it…talking to him would make things worse because she would probably be blushing and then he would definitely suspect something.
The couples were getting impatient on the dock, and so they began to mingle. A young good-looking man approached Hermione and Draco.
"Why hello there. How do you do?" he asked.
"Very well thank you And you?" replied Draco.
"I'm feeling excellent. Pleased to make your acquaintance." said the man extending his hand. Draco looked at him for a moment before shaking it.
"The pleasure's all mine." he said courteously.
"My name's Thomas Griffith, I'm in the banking business. How about you?" asked Thomas.
"I'm Oscar Waterford, and this is my wife Lucinda. I'm in the import-export business." lied Draco smoothly. He put an arm around Hermione to reinforce his point. She nearly jumped at the sudden contact, but forced herself to stay calm.
"Nice to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Waterford. I'll just call my wife over so that she can have the pleasure of being introduced to you two." replied Thomas cordially, "Priscilla, darling come over here. I want you to meet my new friends."
Priscilla Griffith had been having an animated conversation with one of the other couples, but glided over gracefully when called by her husband. She was the typical trophy wife of a banker - blonde, slender, beautiful and possibly a bit ditzy.
"Darling, this charming young couple are the Waterfords." said Thomas to his wife. She smiled and extended her hand.
"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Griffith." said Draco politely, bending down to kiss it.
"And you, Mr. Waterford. There's no need to address me so formally, dear, Priscilla will suffice." she purred in an upper-class accent.
"Well, then its only fair that you call me Oscar ." said Draco. Priscilla laughed prettily, and then turned to Hermione.
"My, what a lovely wife you have, Oscar." she exclaimed.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Priscilla." Hermione said graciously.
"No, it's a pleasure to meet you…" Priscilla replied, inviting Hermione to introduce herself.
"Hermione." she answered. When Draco heard her reply, he tensed. She had just blown their cover! Hopefully Thomas Griffith wouldn't notice…
"What an unusual name." remarked Priscilla.
"Yes darling it is an usual name. But I thought that your name was Lucinda, Mrs. Waterford." Thomas commented, puzzled.
"Hermione is her middle name." Draco replied for her, giving her a look. She bit her lip and tried to smile at the Griffiths.
"Ah I see." said Thomas, smiling back at her.
Just then a whistle blew, signalling the start of the first class passengers boarding. So the 'Waterfords' said goodbye to the Griffiths and began to board the ship. They were directed to a cabin by the steward and Hermione was stunned by the opulence of the room.
It was just like an olden style hotel room complete with a magnificent looking four-poster bed with velvet drapes, a chaise lounge, wardrobe, dressing table and desk. There was a plush dark green carpet under their feet. It was very overwhelming for Hermione, but Draco just walked in without a second glance and settled himself on the chaise lounge.
"It's so beautiful, Draco." Hermione breathed.
"It's all the same to me. I take it that you've never travelled first class?" Draco replied nonchalantly. Hermione sensed that his old attitude was coming back now that he was in more familiar surroundings.
"So what if I haven't?" Hermione retorted.
"Hey, I'm not having a go at you. I'm just asking…" Draco said calmly, then he gestured to the spot next to him on the chaise lounge, "Come sit next to me, darrrling."
Hermione had to smile at his exaggerated accent. So she obliged him and sat herself down next to him on the lounge. She still felt a little increase in her heart rate when she realised just how close she was sitting to him, but it was becoming less and less of a shock to her.
"I'm sorry about slipping up in front of the Griffiths today." she said quietly.
"Don't worry about it. I'm sure they don't suspect anything. What I really want to say is that you should be more relaxed. You're so tense and stiff around me all the time…you have to let go if people are going to believe that we're husband and wife. As long we both know that it doesn't mean anything, it doesn't matter what I do with you in public, just as long as helps keep us undercover." Draco said seriously, "Are you ok with that?"
"Yeah I understand. Whatever happens outside this room is just for show right?" Hermione replied quietly.
"Well it doesn't have to be outside the room if that's the way you want it." Draco joked, putting his arm around Hermione again. She laughed and shrugged his arm off.
"You know what I mean…"
"So it's settled? You're my wife Lucinda Hermione and I'm Oscar the import-exporter from England." Draco said with a grin.
"Do we need to work out more background for our story?" asked Hermione.
"Hmm…how about this? We're from London, we've just gotten married and we went to France for our honeymoon." Draco suggested.
"Sure, that sounds good." Hermione answered with a smile.
"So you don't mind playing the submissive new wife?" Draco asked with a hint of a smirk.
"Like I said before, if that's necessary to keep us safe, then I'll do it." Hermione replied resolutely.
"It's not that bad being my wife is it?" Draco asked softly.
"How would I know? I've only been your wife three times in public." Hermione answered with a small smile which Draco returned.
He was feeling a bit strange around Hermione now. She didn't seem to want to talk to him, she had basically closed herself off to him. Before they could joke around with each other…but now something had happened to make things awkward between them. It could've been sharing a bed, or his random hugs but Draco honestly didn't think too much about those incidents anymore. He didn't want to think too much about them because he would start to imagine that their relationship wasn't just as simple as a friendship anymore - and he couldn't afford to do that, because by the time they got back to Hogwarts, everything would go back to normal…and they'd go back to being enemies.
He didn't want to know what it would be like to lose Hermione, so he figured that if he never had her in the first place, he wouldn't have to feel the pain. But he definitely felt the chemistry between them. He wasn't sure if she felt it too, but if she did, she was hiding it pretty well. Draco was dealing with it by making serious comments, but then pretending that he was joking. But she didn't seem to be getting the hint, so he doubted that she felt the attraction - if she did, she would've done something about it…pointed it out or something.
He shook his head.
He was thinking too much again.
"Draco?" Hermione said, waving a hand in front of his eyes.
"Yeah sorry I just drifted off for a moment." he replied.
"Ok, do you think that we should explore the ship?" asked Hermione.
"Sure, if you want." Draco answered calmly.
"Are you going to come with me?" asked Hermione, a bit tentatively. Draco raised an eyebrow at her.
"Of course I am! Mrs. Waterford will arouse suspicion if she explores the ship unaccompanied by her husband." replied Draco in an upper-class drawl.
"Point taken. Let's go." Hermione said, opening the door.
To her surprise, the door directly across from their room was also opening - and a familiar blonde head came into view.
"Why hello Lucinda!" said Priscilla delightedly.
"Priscilla…" Hermione replied slightly less enthusiastically. Truth be told, she didn't really like her…she reminded her too much of Pansy.
"What a coincidence that we're living so close to each other!" Priscilla gushed.
"Priscilla?" said Draco as he joined his 'wife' at the door.
"Oscar! Isn't it marvellous that we're neighbours for the trip?" Priscilla beamed.
"It's absolutely fabulous." Draco replied dryly. Priscilla didn't seem to catch the hint of sarcasm in his answer. She continued to chatter but Draco cut her off.
"Sorry Priscilla, but my wife and I were just about to go and take a walk. We'll see you later."
And with that he took Hermione's arm and marched her off down the corridor before Priscilla could react.
"That woman!" he burst out as soon as they were out of listening range.
"She's not that bad…I'll bet Pansy's worse than her." Hermione reasoned.
"Pansy can be decent when she wants to be - but that woman, she doesn't know when to stop! She's beautiful though, I'll grant you that." Draco muttered.
"Appearances can be deceiving." Hermione replied with a smirk.
"Shut up." Draco shot back playfully.
Then he took her arm and they proceeded to explore the ship together.
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A/N: well that was a very fast and boring chapter! But its just an introduction to their shipmates and the ship itself…so yeah sorry if there's not many interesting bits in this chapter! Hope you guys enjoyed it anyway.
To my lovely reviewers:
Shimmering Evil, marauderbabe289, vote-larry4prez, Lady Mariel, pure-undead-pyra, ILoveOrli-27, Lady-Delphinea, who cares?
Thank you all so much for your positive reviews!
Meg: About Snape…you'll find out where he finds them next chapter ok? Thanks heaps for your continued support!
Heatherbug: What was it that you didn't understand in the second chapter? And the story's not going to be over when they get back to Hogwarts, so don't worry! Hope this update was fast enough for you to keep your hair! Thanks for your great review!