Chapter 5-

An-I don't have much to say…my life has been really tiring lately…I work everyday (I am a lifeguard at Oceans of Fun) and I play 5 softball games a week. I played on Monday and I sprained my ankle really bad…tears…

Well, enough oh my rambling…on with the story….enjoy!!!!

Last Time on Getting Through

"Oh, by the way, it is a very long walk." Hermione said with a smile.

"How long?" Draco asked.

"Long enough. I don't suppose that you are up to jogging?"

"Well, it depends on how far away it is."

"I thought that you were back to your 'old self.'" Hermione said in a mocking tone.

"Very funny. Fine, let's see if you can keep up." Draco said as he took off in a sprint down the street.

Hermione smirked at him and started her steady pace towards the store.

On with the story…

After about a mile of running, Draco was totally exhausted. He hadn't run as fast as he could, but it was a long distance to do a constant run. He slowed to a slow jog (a very slow jog) and looked around him. Hermione was nowhere in site. He had left her in the dust after just a few seconds of sprinting. 'Where is this stupid store!?' he wondered. 'It can't be that far away!!'

Then he saw Hermione closing in on him from behind. 'Where did she come from?' he wondered as he noticed that she wasn't breathing hard at all. She was also still going at her slow, steady pace.

Draco, not wanting to lose to his former enemy and a girl, sped up again. After just a few minutes, he had lost site of Hermione and was totally out of breath. He slowed down so much that he was almost walking. As the sun beat down on him, he thought that he was going to die from either the heat or the exhaustion of running. He has never been this tired in his entire life. Then, a bench on the side of the road caught his attention. He just couldn't resist the temptation to take a breather. He sat down and put his head between his knees.

Less than a minute later, Draco heard laughter. He looked up just in time to see Hermione disappear over the hill. 'What?!' he wondered as she passed him so easily. 'She didn't even look tired!' he thought. 'Fine, I will let her win. I am going to walk the rest of the way!' he thought stubbornly as he continued his journey to the grocery store.

'Ha ha ha… I told him that is was far.' Hermione thought as she walked up to the store. She paused to catch her breath for a second before entering the store.

"Hi Mr. Carnal!" she said to the elderly man behind the checkout desk.

"Good Afternoon, Miss. Black." he said with a smile. "nice to see you, but I thought that I would be seeing you earlier."

"I was…I just forgot." Hermione replied.

"Forgot? That doesn't sound like my Katie." he said in a slightly worried tone.

"Well, I slept in this morning…I had a late night with my brother last night." she said easily keeping up the lie that Draco was her brother.

"Well, it is good that you slept in, but what's wrong with your brother? Is he getting worse?" he asked in a half curious half worried tone.

"No, actually he is getting better. He came here with me today, but he kinda got behind. He should be here soon." Hermione replied.

"Oh. Well it will be nice to finally meet this boy who you seem to admire so very much." Hermione blushed.

"Well, he is a great guy. I am really lucky to have a brother like him." Hermione said, faking enthusiasm.

"I am glad that you are able to have someone in your life that you are able to look up to." he said as he bent down and grabbed a brown paper bag full of food. "Here is the stuff you ordered. Will there be anything else?"

"Actually, yeah. I think that I will make my brother something special since he is finally strong again." she said as she began heading towards a near aisle of food.

"What did you say happened to him again?" Mr. Carnal asked.

"He fell when he was rock climbing." she replied as she scowered the aisle for something to fix Draco.

"Oh, yes. I remember now. Sorry, the memory is not what it used to be." he said with a smile as he watched her in her search. "I am glad that he is finally feeling better."

"Me too." Hermione said as she picked up the final item she needed and approached the counter where Mr. Carnal was standing. "I think that is everything I will need." she said and he began ringing the items up.

"I will just be putting this on your tab--" He started, but was cut off when he heard the bell above the door ring.

Both of them turned their heads as an exhausted looking Draco walked through the door.

"Henry! Where have you been?" Hermione said as she ran over to him and embraced him tightly. "Play along." she whispered in his ear so that only he could hear. She grabbed Draco's wrist and pulled him towards her friend. "Now Henry, this is Mr. Carnal. Mr. Carnal, this is my dear brother Henry Black." she said enthusiastically.

"It is very nice to meet you Henry Black. I have heard a lot about you." the elderly man said a she offered a hand to Draco.

Draco, confused, nodded and said, "My pleasure. I have heard a ton about you also."

"Well, I believe that we better get back. Mum and Dad might get worried." Hermione said as she handed the new bag to Draco and went and picked the other, heavier one up herself.

Draco, who had finally caught on, stopped her. "No way, sis. Let me carry that for you." he said as he tired lifting the heavy sack from her arms. When he finally adjusted to the unexpected addition of weight, he headed to the door.

"Why thank you, Henry." Hermione said before turning back to the other man. "Bye Mr. Carnal." she said with a wave.

"Come back soon. You two kids have a great afternoon! Bye Katie, bye Henry!" he hollered after them as they stepped out of the door.

When they were out of earshot, Draco stopped Hermione. "What was that all about and who is Henry and Katie Black?"

"That was my imaginary life and you are Henry and I am Katie." she replied and began walking again.

"Ok, why Henry?"

"I would come in every day and buy two of everything and he was wondering who else I was serving." she started. "One day, he asked. I told him that it was my brother, Henry. Henry just happened to be the first name that I could think of, and Black was Sirius' last name. I was thinking of him at the time." she replied honestly.

"Black is also my mum's maiden name." he provided.

"I know."

"You do?"

"Yep."

"Oh. Ok, next question." Hermione nodded in approval and he continued. "Why did you talk about our 'Mum and Dad'?" he asked.

"I told you. It is my imaginary world, and in my world I would have a mum and a dad that love me and so would you. So, I made them up."

"Ok, one more thing." Hermione stopped and turned to him. "How the hell did you constantly run all the way here and never get tired?!" Hermione laughed

"Draco, I have a little bit of an advantage."

"and what might that be?" he asked

"I have ran all the way here every day since we first got here."

"Oh."

"So, are you ready to race again? I'll give you a head start?" she asked.

"How about we just walk." he suggested.

"no, that won't work. Here let me hold these bags for a second." she said as she grabbed the bags from Draco. "Okay. I am going to run back to the house and start dinner."

"You can't possibly carry both of those sacks all the way backa nd run at the same time!" he said as he tried to grab the bag.

"Watch me." she said before turning and running away.

"Wait--" he yelled, but it was no use. He was still tired from the run to the store, so he gave up and walked back to the cabin.

AN-That's all for now. Sorry so short. I have to get up early tomorrow for work yeah….not!!! Bye…