A/N: Hello, fellow readers! How ya doin? Good? Good. I just wanted to say that I love writing HP fanfiction, but what's the point in writing it if no one's reading it, right? So can you guys please review, just for constructive criticism if not anything else? I love to hear what you have to say! If you've gotten this far then you must be enjoying the story, so let me know! Happy reading :)
Serenity
"Now what?" Malfoy asked, impatiently placing both of his hands on his hips.
Hermione looked around. They had just Apparated to Serenity from Hogsmeade, and Hermione was delighted to see that the baby phoenix, which she had temporarily named Jox, was still happily perched atop Malfoy's shoulder, much to his utter dismay.
"Now we find Morris Everett." Hermione replied, as though this was the most obvious answer and Malfoy was thick for even asking.
"Why can't we just Apparate there?" Malfoy whined lazily.
Hermione stared at him with disgust. "Because," she said, "McGonagall said that it would make a better impression if we approached his home respectfully instead of just appearing out of nowhere. And besides, just because this town is mostly made up of witches and wizards doesn't mean that there aren't any muggles lying about. We must be cautious."
"We must be cautious." Malfoy mimicked childishly. "You're such a party pooper, Granger."
"Well, excuse me if I wasn't put on this earth to humor you." Hermione retorted. "Now, which way is Everett's house?"
"That way." Malfoy answered, pointing north. Then his hand switched eastern. "Or maybe it was that way. No, it wasn't that way. It must've been that way. But wait, that doesn't seem right…"
Hermione glared at him in annoyance. He knew perfectly well which way was the right direction, for McGonagall had explained the exact location to him one night when Hermione was not present. He was clearly trying to get under her skin; but no, she would not allow him. This was Malfoy, after all. If she could not beat him, then she would have to join him.
"Okay then, that way it is." Hermione agreed, heading westward without Malfoy trailing her.
"Wait, it's not that way." Malfoy called after her.
Hermione turned around; now it was her turn to place herhands on her hips. "Well? Which way is it? We don't have all day, you know."
Malfoy chose not to answer her; instead, he headed north, towards the center of Serenity.
"That's the right way, then?" Hermione asked, staying rooted to the spot.
Malfoy turned around. "See that little hill there?" he asked, pointing to a small hill on the other side of the town.
Hermione nodded.
"Well, that's it." he said, continuing to walk the journey to Everett's home.
Hermione was surprised; Malfoy did not usually cave so easily. Thinking that she had no other choice, she trotted up to him and continued walking beside him.
After ten minutes of walking, Hermione was bored. She began humming quietly under her breath; soon, the humming evolved into a karaoke version of a well-known muggle song.
"Can you shut up?" Malfoy finally asked, annoyed at her singing. "It's bad enough having to be seen walking with you without your abysmal singing."
"Abysmal?" Hermione asked, snorting. "What are you talking about? I have a beautiful voice."
"My cat sings better than you," Malfoy retorted. "And it screeches."
Regardless of the insult, Hermione smiled. Malfoy glanced at her and noticed the grin on her face. "What the hell are you smiling at, mudblood?"
The grin was instantly wiped off of her face. Not thinking, Hermione punched Malfoy's arm with her fist. "Stop calling me that!" She exclaimed, whining like a small child.
Malfoy stopped walking. His face suddenly grew serious. "Did you just hit me?"
Realizing that she had, Hermione took one step back from Malfoy, afraid of the darkness in his eyes. "Yes, yes I did." She replied with a feigned sense of bravery. "That's a horrible word and I'm sick of you saying it to me all the time. So just stop, okay?"
"Don't you ever touch me again," Malfoy warned. Then he smirked. "Mudblood."
Infuriated, Hermione raised a hand to slap Malfoy round the face like she had done in their third year; however, at that moment, a horse and carriage was coming up quickly behind them. Malfoy leapt to one side as Hermione leapt to the other, leaving room for the horse and carriage to pass them. It stopped in front of a grand building a few feet ahead of Hermione and Malfoy; that was when Hermione took notice of the 'Just Married' sign hanging off the back of the carriage. Sure enough, a man in a tuxedo and a woman in an elegant wedding dress emerged from the carriage. He scooped her up into his arms and carried her into the building, which was now discernible as a five-star hotel. In fact, it appeared to be the five-star hotel that Hermione and Malfoy were going to be staying at. The driver also stepped out of the carriage, heading towards a hot dog stand a few feet away.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Hermione asked, gazing at the carriage.
Malfoy glanced at the carriage, then at the horses, then at Hermione. "No, evidently I'm not, nor do I really give a care what you're thinking."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Maybe we can get the driver to take us to Everett's residence!"
Malfoy once again glanced at the carriage, but this time, his eyes drifted towards the 'Just Married' sign. "No," he answered immediately. "Not going to happen."
"Do you really want to walk all the way to Everett's?" Hermione challenged as she watched the driver squeeze ketchup onto his foot-long hot dog.
Malfoy contemplated this. "No … but there must be another way! I refuse to ride in some marriage carriage with you!"
Hermione refrained from pointing out Malfoy's rhyme. Instead, she said, "Well this is the way that we have right now, Malfoy!"
He looked unconvinced. Hermione sighed exasperatedly. "You know what? I don't even care if you want to. Better for me if you don't. You can find your own way to Everett's, but I'm taking the carriage."
Leaving Malfoy to look bewildered, Hermione hurried towards the driver, who was just about to set foot into the carriage.
"Sir!" She exclaimed hastily. He turned around. He was an older man dressed in formal attire, including his driver's hat; he did not, however, look like a man to be bargained with. "Sir, I was wondering whether or not it would be possible for you to give me a ride to that hill right over there." She said, pointing to Everett's dwelling quite a distance away.
He looked at her as though she were a cockroach; obviously, he was not a fan of teenagers. "No," He replied, turning to step into the carriage.
"But sir!" Hermione exclaimed. "It's really important, I'm on a tight schedule-" Just as the man was about to step inside, his coat shifted and a wand could be seen. "Hey, you're a wizard!"
The man turned around immediately and angrily shushed Hermione. "There are muggles about, young lady!" He hissed, looking in both directions for any possible muggles. "You mustn't shout things like that!"
"I'm sorry." Hermione whispered. "I'm a witch though, and I've been sent here on very urgent business from Albus Dumbledore. Is it safe to assume that you've heard of him?"
"Heard of him? Dumbledore and I used to play golf together!" The man exclaimed, a smile finally creeping across his old, wrinkled face.
Hermione fought back the urge to chortle; the thought of Dumbledore doing something so 'mugglish' was laughable.
"Well, I suppose I can spare a favor for a student of Dumbledore's." He said. "Hop on in."
Hermione grinned. "Thank you very much, sir."
"Hold up one moment!" A voice cried. Hermione turned around to see Malfoy running towards the carriage; she smirked, much to his displeasure.
"Can I help you?" Hermione asked innocently, not allowing Malfoy entrance into the cart.
"I've changed my mind." Malfoy replied coolly. "Now let me in."
Hermione rolled her eyes, but allowed Malfoy entrance nonetheless. He took a seat opposite of her and finally took a good look at Serenity as the driver pulled away in the direction of Everett's abode. Hermione took this opportunity to also take in the sights. Serenity was not like the muggle city that Hermione had grew up in; the buildings were all old and in disrepair, but the people all seemed to know each other as they stopped on sidewalks to chat. Hermione noticed a cute, middle-aged couple conversing at a stoplight, but was shocked as the woman suddenly pointed to Hermione and muttered something disapprovingly to her significant other.
Before she could ask, Malfoy said, "They think we've just gotten hitched."
"Ooh," Hermione replied, suddenly comprehending.
"This is why I didn't want to do this." Malfoy retorted, angrily. "You think those of them who are actual witches and wizards can't smell a dirty little half-blood? They'll see the great Draco Malfoy sitting with a vile little mudblood and my reputation will be-"
"Tarnished?" Hermione supplied. "I wouldn't worry about that, Malfoy. Your reputation was ruined the day that your poor excuse for a father was sent to Azkaban."
Malfoy's disgusted expression rapidly changed from repugnance to pure malevolence. It seemed as though deadly little flames were dancing within his cold, grey eyes, and it frightened Hermione. "What did you just say to me?" He asked, his voice low and dangerous.
Hermione puffed out her chest, acting much braver than she actually felt. "You heard me. And I don't sympathize with you at all. Your father deserved to be thrown into Azkaban, and I'd be willing to bet you that you couldn't find one soul on earth that would support him being released. He should rot in his cold, filthy cell for eternity as punishment for what he's done-"
Malfoy rapidly withdrew his wand and Hermione matched his speed by extracting hers just as quickly, completely disregarding the hoards of people wishing them a long and happy marriage as they walked by.
The driver swiftly turned around in his seat. "Put those away!" He hissed, heatedly. "Didn't I just tell you about the muggles? Huh? Didn't I?"
Hermione glared at Malfoy, loathing him with every fiber in her being; but, she chose to respect the driver by lowering her wand, though still holding eye contact with Malfoy. He, in turn, did the same. The driver turned back around to face the road, muttering something that sounded much like 'Kids'.
"Malfoy, if we're going to be together this entire weekend, then I suggest that we at least try to get along-" Hermione began.
"We?" Malfoy interrupted unbelievably. "You're the one who insulted my father!"
Hermione sighed. "You're right, I crossed the line." She extended a hand towards him. "Truce?"
Malfoy glared at her hand with disgust. "I refuse to succumb to your level, Granger. Superiority is one of the few things that I cherish most about myself, and I will not level myself with a half-blood."
"I'm not asking you to be my friend!" Hermione cried as the carriage began to take them out of Serenity. "I'm just asking for a truce. Just this one weekend."
Malfoy thought about it. "I don't like you, you know."
Hermione smiled, despite herself. "I know."
"And once we're back in Hogwarts, things are going back to normal."
Hermione put on her fake serious face. "Yes, sir."
He sighed. "Well, I can't promise I'll try. But I'll try to try. Good enough?"
She smiled. "Definitely."
Suddenly, the carriage hit a rock, causing Hermione to fly forwards into Malfoy's chest.
"When you mentioned a truce, I didn't know that this was what you had in mind." Malfoy said as Hermione quickly lifted herself up and hurried to sit in the seat furthest from him.
"Oh, shut up. It was the carriage." She retorted, her cheeks flushing of embarrassment.
"We're here!" The driver exclaimed as the horses pulled up into a rocky patch of land.
"Excellent." Malfoy replied; he did not spare a second before leaping out of the carriage, as though afraid that he'd been contaminated enough by sitting so close to a muggleborn.
"Would you like me to magic your bags anywhere?" The driver asked kindly.
"Actually, we're staying in the same hotel that you dropped that married couple off at, so if you could just send them there, that would be fantastic." Hermione replied.
The driver smiled. "Say hello to Dumbledore for me."
"I will." Hermione grinned as the man took off back towards Serenity, his majestic horses leading the way.
"Well? Shall we?" Hermione asked, indicating the grand veranda of Everett's quaint little home.
Malfoy ignored her question and instead walked past her, sauntering up the wooden porch steps and wasting no time to rap three times quickly on the main door. Hermione rolled her eyes. She was tired of his superior attitude. Now was not the time, though; she would voice her thoughts later, in the privacy of their hotel room.
Suddenly, Hermione could hear footsteps from the inside of the house. They grew louder and louder as they went to investigate the visitors on the other side of the wall. And then, the door swung open. Standing in the frame was an old, dumpy man; he was plump round the midsection but still looked larger than he actually was because of his rather short height. He looked like he had begun balding years ago, and his cheeks shone red as though he had just been running a great deal.
"Er …" Malfoy stammered. He had no idea what to say; Hermione could tell that he hadn't given it any thought since McGonagall informed them of their task.
Hermione smiled brightly; she, at least, had been prepared. "Hello sir, I'm-"
SLAM!
She and Malfoy both looked stunned; Everett had just slammed the door in their faces! After recovering from the initial shock, they exchanged a mutual look that clearly said, this is going to be much more difficult than I thought.