Message in a Bottle
Chapter 9
Her eyes drifted open, sitting up slowly and taking in her surroundings. Across from her sat a ball of red flames. Wait no. It was a boy. Her eyes finally began to focus and she recognized the boy as one of her two best friends. "Hello, Ron," she said while resting her head against the head rest and leaning back. Looking to her right, she saw the boy who had not too long ago saved her from one of the cruelest men in the world. "Harry," she said sounding grateful.
"MIONE!" the said once they both realized that she was awake. "How are you feeling?" Harry asked. "Better?"
She smiled numbly at him and replied, "Thanks to you." Suddenly she noticed that her clothes were torn and she felt too exposed to be around any member of the male population. "Would you two mind leaving for just a moment while I get changed? I'm a mess. I really need to get out of these icky clothes."
"Yeah, sure 'Mione," Ron said. "Anything for you. We'll be back in a few." They stood up and left, walking through the corridors looking for a bunch of their friends. They found Neville, Seamus, Dean and a few other boys in a compartment close by.
"Hey guys," Harry said.
"Hey, Harry," Neville replied. "Hey, Ron. How are you guys doing? What'd you do over the summer?"
"Not much," Ron responded dully sounding very bored. "Stayed at the Burrow with Fred and George pestering me and so I helped them a little bit with the store."
"That sounds good. What about you, Harry?"
"Well there was some weird stuff going on this summer but I want to talk to Hermione first. I'm not quite sure what it all meant and I want her to analyze it first before I tell anyone else about it."
"Okay," Neville said with a slight frown, disappointed to be left out.
"Well where is Hermione anyway? I haven't seen her yet!" Seamus nearly shouted.
Harry and Ron both sighed and looked at each other, trying to think of something to say. "She um... wanted to get changed a little early," Ron said.
"Why?" Dean asked.
"She was tired and so she was sleeping. She just woke up about five minutes ago and I don't know. All of a sudden she asked us to leave so she could change!"
"We'd better get back now," Harry sighed. "We told her we'd be right back." They said their goodbyes and went back to their usual compartment where they found Hermione staring out the window, wearing her school robes.
"Hermione? Are you ready to talk now?" Ron asked.
She snapped her head around and looked at them, a lonely tear trickled down her cheek. "He...he... it wasn't always like this. He used to be like... like a father to me. I...I...I just don't get it. I don't understand what happened to him."
"Who?" Harry asked. "Hermione, who was that man?"
"I...I...I don't know where to start..." but she knew she had to. She had to tell him everything now. He had saved her. He deserved to know and so she would have to explain what he saw. And so she began. "Well this is going to be hard to explain so please bare with me." The boys both took a seat on the bench across from her and she stared at the door, not wanting to see their faces as she explained her summer to them.
"I got homeafter school ended last year and my... well I was informed that my mother was...gone. It happened right after I had gone away to school for sixth year and he didn't want to tell me in a letter so he waited 'til I came home. And then I started noticing changes in him. He drank a lot. A WHOLE lot. He seemed to be always getting smashed. And he told me that I was adopted and it turned out to be the truth but I'm not quite ready to tell everyone who my real parents are yet but anyway...I knew he was depressed over my mum but I never knew the extent of his sadness until... Well one day I left the house to go and see one of my muggle friends and I kind of forgot to ask him if I could and so... he was angry. He came after me while I was sleeping the next evening. And it's been like that almost every day since the summer started and so I snuck out this morning but he followed after me and I think he was going to try to hurt me again but you, Harry... you save me from that so I thank you."
She looked at her two best friends to watch as they stood up, getting out of their seats, and came to give her a huge group hug, lifting her from her sitting position and up so she was standing and they could embrace. "It was me who called," Harry said shamefully. "He told me that you weren't allowed to talk, especially not to boys. I'd assume that got you in a lot of trouble so I'm real sorry."
Tears poured out now at random not caring if anyone saw her crying. "It's okay, Harry. He would have found ANY excuse. What did you call about anyway?"
He shook his head. "No. Right now, it's all about you. We'll talk about me later. Right now, you need our help!"
And so the three Gryffindor's were reunited after a summer apart.
Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was busy getting rid of Pansy.
"Get your chubby hands off of me, you stupid cow!" he screamed. "You're such a whore! Why on earth would you ever think that I would want you? You're foul and dirty and that doesn't arouse me at all!"
With that, he ran out of the Head Compartment and to a place where he knew she would never look for him. The Golden Trio's compartment.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Malfoy?" Harry asked. "You're not welcome."
He scanned the compartment and took in everything that he saw. Potter was standing up facing him, reaching inside his pocket for his wand. Weasley was sitting on the bench, holding Hermione tightly as if trying to protect her from Malfoy's words. Her face was tear stained and for a moment he thought about Stranded and what she was doing at that exact moment. He couldn't wait to get to school so that he could go find Damion and send the note to her.
"Relax, Scarhead," Draco hissed. "I'll be gone shortly. I just needed a place to hide from Parkinson. As soon as she loses my scent, I'll be going back to the head cabin. No worries. I certainly wouldn't want to stay in here with the likes of you, Potter."
Harry scoffed at what Draco said. "And what makes you think that we won't just go out in the hallway and scream to Pansy that you're right here?"
"Because then I'll tell the whole school that I found Granger crying, and of course I'll make up some rumor about WHY she was crying and I know you wouldn't want that now would you?"
They all glared at him and then Harry took a seat across from Ron and Hermione making sure to take up the whole bench intentionally to piss Malfoy off. "That's all right," Draco said. "Granger's so close to Weasley that she left half the bench for me to sit." And so he took a seat right next to Hermione. As he sat down, he noticed bite marks on her neck. He didn't bother to ask where she got them figuring she'd had an 'adventurous' night.
The cabin was silent for an overly long period of time. He sat in there for at least a half hour. Finally, Malfoy got up and walked over to the door. "I'm leaving now. Pansy is sure to have forgotten about me by now. I'm going to go to the Head's Compartment. Head Boy and Girl are supposed to go up there for the last half hour of the ride to discuss duties so let's go, Granger."
"HUH?" Hermione said. "I didn't... I'm not... Head Girl?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "Stop playing dumb, Granger. You had to have gotten the letter. You're Head Girl and I'm Head Boy and we have to go to our cabin now."
With that, he walked out and waited in the doorway as she said goodbye to her friends. She stood up slowly and whispered into Potter's ear. It sounded like, "He must've confiscated all my mail," and then she left, Malfoy following right behind her.
A/N...hehehe... Things are now being set in motion! Enjoy! Thanks for your reviews...your my muses.
Chapter 9
Her eyes drifted open, sitting up slowly and taking in her surroundings. Across from her sat a ball of red flames. Wait no. It was a boy. Her eyes finally began to focus and she recognized the boy as one of her two best friends. "Hello, Ron," she said while resting her head against the head rest and leaning back. Looking to her right, she saw the boy who had not too long ago saved her from one of the cruelest men in the world. "Harry," she said sounding grateful.
"MIONE!" the said once they both realized that she was awake. "How are you feeling?" Harry asked. "Better?"
She smiled numbly at him and replied, "Thanks to you." Suddenly she noticed that her clothes were torn and she felt too exposed to be around any member of the male population. "Would you two mind leaving for just a moment while I get changed? I'm a mess. I really need to get out of these icky clothes."
"Yeah, sure 'Mione," Ron said. "Anything for you. We'll be back in a few." They stood up and left, walking through the corridors looking for a bunch of their friends. They found Neville, Seamus, Dean and a few other boys in a compartment close by.
"Hey guys," Harry said.
"Hey, Harry," Neville replied. "Hey, Ron. How are you guys doing? What'd you do over the summer?"
"Not much," Ron responded dully sounding very bored. "Stayed at the Burrow with Fred and George pestering me and so I helped them a little bit with the store."
"That sounds good. What about you, Harry?"
"Well there was some weird stuff going on this summer but I want to talk to Hermione first. I'm not quite sure what it all meant and I want her to analyze it first before I tell anyone else about it."
"Okay," Neville said with a slight frown, disappointed to be left out.
"Well where is Hermione anyway? I haven't seen her yet!" Seamus nearly shouted.
Harry and Ron both sighed and looked at each other, trying to think of something to say. "She um... wanted to get changed a little early," Ron said.
"Why?" Dean asked.
"She was tired and so she was sleeping. She just woke up about five minutes ago and I don't know. All of a sudden she asked us to leave so she could change!"
"We'd better get back now," Harry sighed. "We told her we'd be right back." They said their goodbyes and went back to their usual compartment where they found Hermione staring out the window, wearing her school robes.
"Hermione? Are you ready to talk now?" Ron asked.
She snapped her head around and looked at them, a lonely tear trickled down her cheek. "He...he... it wasn't always like this. He used to be like... like a father to me. I...I...I just don't get it. I don't understand what happened to him."
"Who?" Harry asked. "Hermione, who was that man?"
"I...I...I don't know where to start..." but she knew she had to. She had to tell him everything now. He had saved her. He deserved to know and so she would have to explain what he saw. And so she began. "Well this is going to be hard to explain so please bare with me." The boys both took a seat on the bench across from her and she stared at the door, not wanting to see their faces as she explained her summer to them.
"I got homeafter school ended last year and my... well I was informed that my mother was...gone. It happened right after I had gone away to school for sixth year and he didn't want to tell me in a letter so he waited 'til I came home. And then I started noticing changes in him. He drank a lot. A WHOLE lot. He seemed to be always getting smashed. And he told me that I was adopted and it turned out to be the truth but I'm not quite ready to tell everyone who my real parents are yet but anyway...I knew he was depressed over my mum but I never knew the extent of his sadness until... Well one day I left the house to go and see one of my muggle friends and I kind of forgot to ask him if I could and so... he was angry. He came after me while I was sleeping the next evening. And it's been like that almost every day since the summer started and so I snuck out this morning but he followed after me and I think he was going to try to hurt me again but you, Harry... you save me from that so I thank you."
She looked at her two best friends to watch as they stood up, getting out of their seats, and came to give her a huge group hug, lifting her from her sitting position and up so she was standing and they could embrace. "It was me who called," Harry said shamefully. "He told me that you weren't allowed to talk, especially not to boys. I'd assume that got you in a lot of trouble so I'm real sorry."
Tears poured out now at random not caring if anyone saw her crying. "It's okay, Harry. He would have found ANY excuse. What did you call about anyway?"
He shook his head. "No. Right now, it's all about you. We'll talk about me later. Right now, you need our help!"
And so the three Gryffindor's were reunited after a summer apart.
Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy was busy getting rid of Pansy.
"Get your chubby hands off of me, you stupid cow!" he screamed. "You're such a whore! Why on earth would you ever think that I would want you? You're foul and dirty and that doesn't arouse me at all!"
With that, he ran out of the Head Compartment and to a place where he knew she would never look for him. The Golden Trio's compartment.
"What the fuck are you doing here, Malfoy?" Harry asked. "You're not welcome."
He scanned the compartment and took in everything that he saw. Potter was standing up facing him, reaching inside his pocket for his wand. Weasley was sitting on the bench, holding Hermione tightly as if trying to protect her from Malfoy's words. Her face was tear stained and for a moment he thought about Stranded and what she was doing at that exact moment. He couldn't wait to get to school so that he could go find Damion and send the note to her.
"Relax, Scarhead," Draco hissed. "I'll be gone shortly. I just needed a place to hide from Parkinson. As soon as she loses my scent, I'll be going back to the head cabin. No worries. I certainly wouldn't want to stay in here with the likes of you, Potter."
Harry scoffed at what Draco said. "And what makes you think that we won't just go out in the hallway and scream to Pansy that you're right here?"
"Because then I'll tell the whole school that I found Granger crying, and of course I'll make up some rumor about WHY she was crying and I know you wouldn't want that now would you?"
They all glared at him and then Harry took a seat across from Ron and Hermione making sure to take up the whole bench intentionally to piss Malfoy off. "That's all right," Draco said. "Granger's so close to Weasley that she left half the bench for me to sit." And so he took a seat right next to Hermione. As he sat down, he noticed bite marks on her neck. He didn't bother to ask where she got them figuring she'd had an 'adventurous' night.
The cabin was silent for an overly long period of time. He sat in there for at least a half hour. Finally, Malfoy got up and walked over to the door. "I'm leaving now. Pansy is sure to have forgotten about me by now. I'm going to go to the Head's Compartment. Head Boy and Girl are supposed to go up there for the last half hour of the ride to discuss duties so let's go, Granger."
"HUH?" Hermione said. "I didn't... I'm not... Head Girl?"
Draco rolled his eyes. "Stop playing dumb, Granger. You had to have gotten the letter. You're Head Girl and I'm Head Boy and we have to go to our cabin now."
With that, he walked out and waited in the doorway as she said goodbye to her friends. She stood up slowly and whispered into Potter's ear. It sounded like, "He must've confiscated all my mail," and then she left, Malfoy following right behind her.
A/N...hehehe... Things are now being set in motion! Enjoy! Thanks for your reviews...your my muses.
