Chapter Fifteen
Hermione lay on the bed, thinking, wondering whether she had done the right thing saying all those things to Draco. He hadn't followed her back to the room, and thankfully hadn't come back for the whole afternoon. She watched as the sun set, the beautiful blood-red-orange rays sparkling off the sea, thinking about what had happened.
She had so blatantly thrown his attempted explanation back in his face, and practically told him that she didn't care and that there was nothing between them…but really, who was she kidding? If she didn't care and he didn't care then why were they trying to explain their actions to each other?
But Hermione knew that there wasn't any future with them together in it. They could still be as chummy as they were before the incident, but once they got back to Hogwarts, they could never be together, not even as friends. Perhaps the way everything had worked out was for the better.
This way, she could try and forget about him and with reason too - he had gone and kissed another girl. And he…well he could deal with it in his own way. Hermione closed her eyes and pictured his face, with its fallen beauty and silver hair and eyes and willed herself to forget about him after this was all over.
Suddenly a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts.
She approached the door apprehensively - was it Draco? If it was, what was she going to say to him? 'Stay away from me?'
She opened the door and standing on the other side was the one person she never wanted to see again.
"Hello Marie."
Hermione screamed.
It was Xavier Malfoy.
Draco stood on the deck, leaning on the railing, watching the same sunset as Hermione was, though neither realised it. He did however, notice the women bustling past him, some of them occasionally stopping and whispering behind their hands. Draco guessed that Priscilla had told everyone about what had happened.
He sighed.
He wished that none of this had happened. And by that, he meant that he wished that he had never been transported back in time to France with Hermione. Before life had been so easy, so simple - he hated her and the rest of the Dream Team and they hated him too. End of story. But now…god…it was so complicated.
He didn't know what they were anymore. They had been through it all - from enemies, to acquaintances, to tentative friends, to something a little more than just that…and now they had just gone backwards. She had told him that everything between them was nothing. Nothing? How could she say that?
But he didn't know what he felt towards her anymore. He felt the chemistry between them and he was attracted to her, but that aside, did he actually like her?
Draco didn't know.
And he didn't know why he hadn't pushed Priscilla away when she had started kissing him. Perhaps it was because he felt that he needed get rid of his frustration from upsetting Hermione about their kiss from last night. He hadn't intended to hurt Hermione, he really didn't…but he could see that he had, no matter how much she tried to cover it up.
Damnit. He felt so guilty now. It was such an unfamiliar emotion to Draco…Malfoys didn't feel guilt. But then again, Malfoys weren't ever sorry either, and he had just proved that wrong when he had apologised to Hermione this morning. Argh. Maybe he should go back to their room, just to check up on her. Besides, they needed to talk…hopefully she had calmed down enough to let him explain.
He walked slowly back to their room, trying to delay the moment of confrontation for as long as he could. Then he knocked quietly on the door. For a split second he thought that she was refusing to let him in, but then the door opened.
"What in the bloody hell are you doing here!" asked Draco in complete shock upon seeing Xavier Malfoy answer the door.
"I'm here to claim my property." Xavier replied silkily, shutting the door in Draco's face, but Draco saw it coming, and jammed his leg into the opening to prevent the door from fully closing.
"I thought that I made it clear back at the chateau that you don't deserve her." Draco spat at Xavier.
"Well if I am not good enough for her, then you cant be either. I've always been the better one of us, Julien. You know that." Xavier shot back venomously.
Draco had nothing to say to that. He knew that he didn't deserve Hermione - but that didn't make Xavier a better man.
"Where is she?" demanded Draco, trying to push past his brother.
"On the bed." Xavier replied smugly. Draco grabbed him roughly by the collar.
"What did you do to her?" Draco hissed frantically.
"Nothing. She is a witch - I want nothing to do with her." Xavier replied angrily.
"Then what are you doing here? And how did you find us?" asked Draco suspiciously.
"I have my ways of finding you, Julien. That man at the travel office was most co-operative. You made quite an impression on him, showing off your wealth to him…he remembered exactly which ship you were on." responded Xavier haughtily.
"That still doesn't answer the question. You couldn't have caught up to us by ship - we were two days ahead of you!" Draco exclaimed.
"That's where you come in, Julien. I really must thank you for applying in that magical academy in England - if it weren't for that, I wouldn't have been able arrive here so quickly." Xavier smirked.
"What?"
"Come forward, Professor. This is my brother Julien." Xavier said, looking to the side of the room and motioning for someone to come to the door.
A moment later, the face of the man that Draco had so desperately wanted to see for the past few weeks appeared.
"Professor Snape?" Draco gasped.
"Hello Julien." Snape said stiffly. Then without warning, he turned and pointed his wand at Xavier and Stunned him.
As he crumpled to the floor, Snape pulled Draco into the room and shut the door firmly behind him. Draco cast a glance around the room, and found that Hermione was indeed tied to the bed and gagged too.
"Draco, we do not have much time. We must get back to Hogwarts as soon as possible - untie Miss Granger quickly, and I'll explain everything later." Snape ordered roughly in a low voice.
Draco nodded mutely, and went to where Hermione lay on the bed. Her eyes were watery, and she looked to be in pain. He quickly undid the knots, and gently untied the gag from her mouth, all the while avoiding eye contact with her. This was not the time for their feelings to get in the way of escape.
"Come over here now." Snape said quietly, and they silently obeyed him. He held out what looked like a silver Time Turner and looped the chain over all three of them. He adjusted the Time Turner to the right time and then both Hermione and Draco felt an odd, Portkey-like sensation of a hook behind their navels pulling them through time…
Dumbledore was reading the Daily Prophet when suddenly, three familiar faces appeared in his office from thin air. He surveyed them calmly from behind his half-moon glasses.
"Ah. Welcome back Mr. Malfoy and Miss Granger." he said softly with a smile, "Come, sit down."
They each took a seat, while Snape hovered near the fireplace.
"I assume that Professor Snape hasn't explained to you about everything?" Dumbledore stated quietly.
"No, he didn't have time to." Hermione agreed.
"Well, firstly, do you know why you two were transported back in time as well as to France?" asked Dumbledore.
"It was because Ron added the murkwood before the belladonna essence." Hermione answered quietly.
"Correct Miss Granger. Murkwood is also used in time travel potions." Snape affirmed.
"Thank you Severus. Professor Snape has been very worried about both of you since the accident - so much so that he enlisted the help of your friends in finding out where in time you were." Dumbledore explained, while Snape grimaced.
"How exactly did you find us, Professor?" asked Draco curiously.
"After finding out what year you were both in, I used the Time Placer and hurried to the Malfoy Chateau to find you." Snape answered, holding out the silver Time Placer to demonstrate his point.
"Hadn't we already left the chateau by the time you had gotten there, Professor?" asked Draco.
"Yes, but your kindly brother had uses for me…more specifically he had uses for my magic. He ordered me to Apparate with him to the ship that you were aboard." Snape answered.
"But he couldn't do any magic, so how did he Apparate with you?" Draco persisted.
"I had prepared a potion that has effects similar to Apparating just in case either you or Miss Granger needed it to escape, and so I gave him a bit." Snape replied.
"Professor, why couldn't Xavier do magic? The Malfoys are purebloods, yet when he found out that I was a witch, he was completely shocked." Hermione said worriedly.
"I presume that his father was a Squib, and didn't tell his family about his magical roots. He was also most likely disowned from the family." Snape answered thoughtfully.
"Then why were they living the Malfoy chateau? If they had been disowned -" Hermione continued.
"Because by that time, the other pureblood Malfoys had moved to England already." Snape snapped at Hermione.
"Ahem. I think that most of your questions have been answered, am I correct?" Dumbledore asked serenely.
"Yes, Professor." they both answered.
"Are you ready to go back to your lives?" he asked quietly. They both hesitated and then nodded.
"Well first, I understand that you have both missed out on a month's worth of school work and that it will be quite difficult for you to catch up. So we have assigned you both student tutors. Mr. Malfoy, you will be tutored by Parvati Patil and Miss Granger, you will be tutored by Blaise Zabini." Dumbledore informed them.
"What? Professor, I think that you have mixed up the tutors' names. Surely my tutor is Blaise, not Parvati." Draco spluttered.
"No, I have not, Draco. I have decided that more inter-House unity is needed, and I have assigned you tutors accordingly." Dumbledore replied calmly with a small smile.
"Oh."
"Draco, I would've thought that you would be more tolerant of Gryffindors now, considering you have spent one whole month with Miss Granger." Dumbledore remarked, his eyes sparkling with mirth.
At this comment, both Hermione and Draco flushed slightly, but refused to look at each other and remained silent.
"Well, lets get you both settled back in shall we? Don't look so nervous, nothing's changed since you've been gone." Dumbledore reassured them kindly as he led them out of his office with Snape trailing behind.
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to come to me." Dumbledore said, and then he disappeared back into his office.
"You two wait here, I'll go and get Professor McGonagall." Snape muttered, stalking off in the direction of Gryffindor Tower.
For a few moments, Draco and Hermione stood in silence, neither wanting to look at each other. They still hadn't spoken to each other directly since Hermione had found him kissing Priscilla. It felt so long ago to both of them already but really, it had only been half a day ago.
Hermione felt tired. She was worn out from the time travel and even though the burden had been lifted from her, and she was finally back at Hogwarts, she still had one last obstacle to overcome - Draco.
"So is this how its going to end?" asked Draco suddenly, breaking the ice.
"I guess." Hermione answered, glancing at him. He seemed cold and removed again now that he was back at Hogwarts.
On the surface, it seemed as though nothing had changed between them, but when you looked more closely, you saw how Draco was clenching his fists so tightly that they were turning white, and Hermione was biting on her lower lip.
"Hermione, I want to apologise for what happened with Priscilla." Draco said softly.
"You already have. I told you, it doesn't matter to me. And…please don't call me Hermione anymore." she answered tensely.
Draco frowned.
She really wasn't making it any easier for him to be nice to her. And god knows when the next time they talked to each other like this would be. He really didn't want it all to end like this. Even if they couldn't be friends at Hogwarts anymore, at least they could remember their little adventure together fondly if they ended it more amicably.
"Fine. Granger, I don't want it to end like this. Please -"
"Please what, Malfoy? Please, lets be friends? Malfoy, we can't be friends. Don't you understand?" Hermione exclaimed.
"I know we cant be friends, but -"
"But what? There are no buts. We're back at Hogwarts, and now we have nothing to do with each other anymore. Lets just go back to the way we were. Lets pretend this never happened." Hermione said firmly, looking him straight in the eye.
"What? Pretend this never happened? Geez Granger, I thought you were smarter than that. You know that its not the same between us anymore, I don't hate you anymore and I'm pretty sure you don't hate me, so why act like you do?" Draco shot back angrily.
"That's where you're wrong, Malfoy. I'm not acting." Hermione murmured. Draco's face fell for a split second, but then he recovered.
"Ok. If that's the way you want it to be, Granger. Don't say I never offered." Draco drawled.
Hermione opened her mouth to retort but was cut off by Professor McGonagall.
"Miss Granger! Oh, I'm so glad that you're back!" she greeted warmly.
"Hello Professor McGonagall." Hermione answered mildly.
"Its been an absolute nightmare trying to find a proper Head Girl replacement for the past month - we've been through Pansy Parkinson, Hannah Abbott, Lavender Brown, Parvati and Padma Patil, and now we've just got Millicent Bulstrode!" McGonagall exclaimed.
"Millicent!" Hermione and Draco burst out in disgust.
"I'm afraid so. Now Miss Granger, I shall escort you back to your dormitory and Professor Snape will do the same with you, Mr. Malfoy. Welcome back to Hogwarts, we've missed you both." she said cordially, patting Hermione on the shoulder fondly.
"See you around, Granger." Draco said quietly, as he turned to walk away with Snape.
"Bye Malfoy." Hermione answered softly, watching them go.
"Are you alright, Hermione?" asked McGonagall concernedly.
"I'm fine thanks, Professor." Hermione replied.
But as she walked back towards Gryffindor Tower, back to towards her life, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had just made a big mistake.
A/N: There you have it - the big homecoming chapter! It really wasn't that much of a big deal I guess, but damn its so sad how it all ended eh? Well hope you guys all enjoyed that and thanks a million for your great reviews!
Special Thanks to my lovely reviewers: Prchick, starlight-heart, Monday Mornings, Hali (for your THREE reviews wow!) Lady-Delphinea, Merurikku, The ConductorsLEASTfavorite, Gone-Goonie, Redrose013, Hgbookworm, Fairy Secrets, Chalindra.
broken flower: you're right! I'm so sorry, I really did get the eras mixed up, the ship that I've been describing would've been a 1900's ocean liner, like Titanic. I don't know, but about the plumbing, I'm not too sure about that. I did a little bit of research into that, but it didn't really turn up much results, so just assume that the bathroom is a room with a tub, but no plumbing, just a jug of water or something ok? Thanks for your review and alerting me to my mistake!