Dazed and Dumbfounded 10

Author's Note: My writing should hopefully improve on this story as on Saturday I found my Joseph LoDuca CD that I always write to… the soundtrack from "Young Hercules". Don't ask why … just works that way. Oh, and I'm adding a tad of mystery to the humor. Someone said they were a bit confused by chapter 8. That'll be explained soon. Mainly Hermoine thinks the Malfoys are pretending to be evil wizards, similar to what Snape is doing but not as open. Like double agents. OK?

"POTTER!"

The angry bellow rang throughout the house and Hermoine's brown eyes opened reluctantly, Draco's strong arms still wrapped around her waist. Their lips were still locked together and at this close range all she could really see was the pale blur of his skin and the even paler fringe of his platinum hair. Reluctantly, she started to pull away from the Slytherin. It was painfully obvious something had happened and it was her duty to Harry to go see what it was.

But Draco had other ideas…

"Ignore it." He mumbled against her ear as he started to gently nibble on her earlobe. Unlike most of the other girls at school, Hermoine's ears were not pierced and this left him free to nibble without worry of accidentally swallowing a piece of jewelry. Her hair smelled sweet from the citrus shampoo she had used earlier and he breathed the clean scent in deeply. He still couldn't believe how much he had come to care for her; even harder to believe was the fact that she loved him as well. And right now he felt like the luckiest wizard alive.

A pleasant tingling sensation raced through her and she giggled slightly. She still wasn't exactly used to his lips touching the too-sensitive area of her neck and ears. Whenever he did, she felt this warmth flood through her and if she wasn't careful, it would be all too easy to get carried away. Putting her hands on his shoulders, she shoved at him lightly. "Stop that."

"Ah, but I know you like it." Draco wiggled his dark brows suggestively, a wicked grin on his pale face. He pulled back slightly so he could see her better.

"But it tickles!" Hermoine protested weakly as she gazed into his gray eyes. Sometimes, in just the right light, his eyes looked a bit silver. Maybe Purebloods were a bit more magical than other folk for who ever heard of someone having silver eyes? But he was her Pureblood and that idea thrilled her. Of course, if anyone had told her that back in First Year she would have been shocked. But they had come a long way since then.

"Why else do you think I do it?" Draco asked. Over the years he had learned to enjoy pushing the Gryffindors' buttons, especially those of Hermoine and Harry. Yes, that had been fun but this was so much better! "Hermoine, I must have been a fool to fight with you all of those years…"

"POTTER!" The angry bellow was repeated.

"I think we should go see what's happened." Hermoine said as she shifted her brown eyes off Draco and to the open door of the study. "Your father sounds really angry…"

"But we almost never get any time alone with each other!" Draco protested.

"I bet you'd kiss me all day if you could!" Hermoine teased him lightly. Still, she knew they had to go see what problem their friend had gotten into this time. It was the proper thing to do.

"Could I?" he asked hopefully.

"No!"

"Well, you just wait until after we're married!" Draco threatened, his brows wiggling again. "I'll kiss you all I want then, without any interruptions. I mean, gee! Can't Harry stay out of trouble for a single day? Or even a couple of hours? And what trouble can he get into in the Manor anyway? This place is so boring!"

"Well," Hermoine paused as she thought about what he had just said. Malfoy Manor was without doubt one of the most beautiful homes she had ever seen. It was all glitz and glamour, polished floors and exquisite tapestries, Persian rugs and priceless antiques. But it had never occurred to her that the place could be boring. "I suppose it could be boring."

"Well, you try growing up here where you're not allowed to touch anything because it might get broken." Draco informed her matter-of-factly. He thought of his childhood in the Manor and admitted it had been pretty good. In truth, his parents weren't the monsters that Harry took them for. At times, his father could be a real pushover. Lucius had bought Draco most of the things he had wanted and he did have his own Quidditch pitch out back. How many students at Hogwarts could make that claim? Still, one couldn't play the game by oneself and as an only child he had often felt lonely. Gregory and Vincent would often come over but the two plump boys weren't good at flying at all. They were more interested in eating anything their grubby little hands could latch onto to, especially if sugar was a main ingredient. So while they had been physically there, they hadn't done much to relieve Draco's boyhood boredom. There were only so many places in the Manor to explore and he had known every nook and cranny by the time he was five. Plus there had been a lot of rules. As one of England's noble wizarding families, there were certain standards to keep, so Draco had been raised as a young duke or other nobility would have been. This included no running in the house, so he had learned to walk fast with a long stride. There had been a lot of things to learn.

"But magic can repair broken things…" Hermoine pointed out.

'Yes, but one needs to learn respect for antiquities." Draco pointed out. "If you don't, how can you properly appreciate the fine things in life? Tell me, Hermoine. Would you know how to truly enjoy a bottle of exquisite vintage, say a wine over one hundred years old?"

Hermoine's face twisted up in disgust. Although she knew the older the wine the more expensive it was, but still! She really didn't think she'd want to actually drink something that old. The older food got the more poisons collected in it and she'd worry that the wine may be unsafe. There was a reason Muggles put expiration dates on food, after all. Every year so many people ended up in the hospital with food poisoning. Sure, most cases may be caused by improper food handling or under-cooking, but some were caused by old food as well. A can that sat on a shelf too long, the food going bad inside while it still looked OK. Bad food didn't always look bad or even taste bad. Yet it could kill you just as easily as something covered with black and green mold. But this subject only pointed out how different Draco's upbringing had been from her own. Her parents hardly ever touched liquor and only imbibed at the few seasonal parties they attended, like during Christmas. Most Muggles thought one needed to drink alcohol to have a good time but Hermoine knew that wasn't true. Alcohol could easily ruin your life if you were weak-willed. Sure, she drank butterbeer but that was a form of soda really. "I … I don't drink alcohol. You know that."

"Yeah, I know." Draco smiled at her. "But a little wine won't kill you. It's not fire-whiskey, you know."

"We really should go see what going on with your father…" Hermoine suggested. Dropping her arms from Draco's shoulders, she made her way around him and passed through the study's doorway.

Draco watched her leave and shook his head. She was such a Gryffindor, always running off to help people! Sighing quietly to himself, he went after her. Within moments he came upon a surprising sight: his father sitting on the floor in what could only be a puddle of food from dinner. In all his long years at the Manor he had never seen such a sight and he briefly wondered how Harry had orchestrated it. His keen eyes also spotted several bright candies in various locations, not to mention the mantrap looked in poor health as well. Surely Potter hadn't tried to feed it candy, had he? Draco nodded to himself. Potter would do an imbecile thing like that because he didn't know any better.

"Mr. Malfoy! Are you all right?" Hermoine dashed to his side and held out her hand to help him up. Gripping his hand, Hermoine hoisted him to his feet.

"He's trying to kill me!" Lucius accused angrily. "Look at this horrible mess he made! The floor is ruined, ruined! And look at my poor mantrap!"

Hermoine's brown eyes flickered to the large wilting flower that the elder Malfoy was pointing at, his arm trembling in rage. Recognition dawned in her eyes. She remembered reading about mantrap flowers! "But I thought they were purple…"

"There is a rare white variety … and Potter has ruined it!"

"Now calm down, Father." Draco added as he moved to his father's side, being careful not to step in the wet smear of food on the floor. "I'm sure your plant will be just fine. And the floor can be easily cleaned with a simple charm. You know that."

The mantrap emitted such a wonderful scent that all within a sixty-foot radius was drawn to the plant and consumed in its deadly jaws. It all was magic, of course. It really wasn't that the smell itself was irresistible but that the attraction charm the plant threw out was incredibly strong. Only those of exceptionally strong will escape it. Hermoine thought it all through and admitted she had never knew a weaker white variety even existed. "It's a relative of the Venus fly trap, isn't it?"

Lucius' brow rose in surprise, a bit of his anger fading. "So you are as clever as my son says. I'm quite impressed. Not very many people recognize the mantrap. And as I'm sure you ascertained, this variety possesses only a very weak charm."

"Otherwise you'd walk willingly into its deadly jaws." Hermoine agreed with a nod of her head, understanding clear in her eyes. She frowned at the mess someone had made all over the polished hardwood floor. She found it hard to believe Harry would do such a thing. It just wasn't like him. "I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for this…"

Upstairs in the Manor, Harry slowly sat up and cautiously touched the back of his head. He had struck it against something and then he had fallen here, wherever here was. Dust tickled at his nose and he sneezed. Moaning, he slowly sat up and blinked his eyes. It was totally dark and he couldn't see anything. He had been in the brightly lit hall one moment and now he wasn't. Moving slowly, Harry felt the ground around where he sat. Rough unfinished boards meet his questing hands along with piles and piles of dust. "Great, just great! I must have triggered some secret passage…"

Hogwarts was filled with secret passageways and he had traveled through most of them. Of course, he had his wand then. Now he wasn't so lucky. How was he going to get out of here if he couldn't see anything? Worst, there could be stairs or holes he could fall into. He had been on the second floor after all. He imagined a gaping maw that went all the way to the deep dungeons and a shiver went through his body. Such a fall could easily kill him. Sighing, Harry realized he had only one option: wandless magic. The lumos spell wasn't that complex and maybe if he concentrated really hard he'd be able to produce a faint ball of light. It certainly wouldn't hurt to try…

Closing his green eyes, Harry concentrated with all his might and then whispered the word. "Lumos maxima!"

When he opened them a moment later, he was relieved to see a faint ball of white light hovering in the air before him. Glancing around, he saw that he was indeed trapped between walls. The dusty area was just wide enough for his body and thick cobwebs were everywhere. Pushing himself to his feet, he sneezed again and went in search for an exit. Heading in a random direction, he soon came to a pair of dust-covered stairs and headed down them in a hurry. He was unsure how long the light spell would last and he desired to be out of here before it faded. His shoe slipped on one of the steps and he tumbled the rest of the way, a huge cloud of dust billowing up around him. Coughing, Harry vainly tried to wave the dust away from his face but that only stirred it up even more. It was obvious no one had been back here for years. Maybe the Malfoys didn't even know this place existed. The Manor was ancient. Rubbing an aching shin that had roughly collided with the hard edge of the stairs, Harry noticed a sharp corner of some object poking up from a thick pile of dust. Curious, he reached for it. Pulling it free, he saw that he had found what appeared to be a square piece of paper. Wiping most of the dust off with his hand, he was rewarded with a wizard photograph…

If he wasn't a mess before, he certainly was now. His food-smeared clothing was gray with thick layers of dust and cobwebs hung on his shoulders and hair. Holding the photo up before his eyes, he tried to make it out but couldn't. Too much dirt was smeared on the lenses of his glasses to see properly. He pondered wiping them on his sleeve but realized that wouldn't do any good. If anything, his sleeve was dirtier than his glasses. Tucking the photo into his shirt for safekeeping, the Boy That Lived got to his feet once again. The way was level from there and after just a few more minutes, he spotted a device poking from the wall. Realizing it was a trigger to open the door, Harry gave it a pull. With an almost silent CLICK, the door slide open on invisible hinges and Harry exited.

Back in the Manor again, he sighed in relief. Taking his glasses off, he glanced around for something to wipe them on, a rag or something. But to his dismay, everything looked so expensive and he didn't want to get it dirty. Perhaps he could find a house elf…

Harry trudged through the room, leaving a trail of dirty footprints on the red and gold Persian carpet without knowing it. He entered the next room, not seeing Narcissa resting upon a luxurious armchair working on her needlepoint. Not that she actually touched the needle, no. It was all done by magic, of course. Her eyes lifted from her hobby and landed on the dust-covered teenager.

"AAAAHHHHHHHIIIIIII!" Narcissa shrieked in utter fear and clutched at her chest with a pale hand, emerald rings flashing in the light from the wide bay window behind her. It was some horrid thing!

Narcissa's loud shriek startled Harry and he yelped as well, leaping a few inches off the floor. "EEEEEE!"

Hearing his wife's scream for help, Lucius came charging into the room, which just happened to be the Lady's Parlor. He skidded to a halt, his startled blue eyes on Harry. Hermoine and Draco appeared just behind him, their eyes also wide in surprise.

"POTTER!" Lucius screamed in outrage. "Where did you get all that DIRT?"

Harry blinked his green eyes. Truth be told, he was having a hard time seeing anything. "What dirt?"

"What dirt? What dirt? The dirt that's all over you! That dirt!" Lucius shrieked in a panic. Then he noticed the trail of dark gray footprints leading away from Harry into the next room. "MY RUG!"

Harry removed his glasses and yanked up his outer dinner jacket. The old wizard photo tumbled to the floor and Harry wiped his glasses clean on the shirt underneath. Satisfied he had cleaned them the best he could, he replaced them on his face. Bending, he picked up the photo without looking at it and held it in his hand.

"MY RUG! MY RUG!" Lucius hurried past Potter and shrieked when he saw how long the trail of footprints were. The boy was an utter menace! Spinning on his heel, he glared at Harry. "Why did you throw food on my floor, boy?"

"It wasn't me, Mr. Malfoy. Honest!" Harry replied. "It must have been someone else."

"Who?" Lucius demanded to know.

"It could have been anyone…" Harry shrugged, big clumps of cobwebs falling off his shoulders to float down until they landed on the expensive carpet.

Horrified, the Death Eater stared at the new dirt on the carpet. Through force of will, he managed to control the impulse to strangle the boy or to shriek out loud. Lifting his eyes back to Harry's face, he glared angrily. "Are you suggesting my wife or son threw food on the floor? You are the new person in the house…"

"And that makes me guilty, does it?" Harry coolly replied.

"You're saying you're innocent when you're covered from head to toe in filth? Where exactly did you find that filth?"

Harry stared dagger at the Death Eater. "In your house! It's obvious you never clean! Just look at you! You're a slob! There's food all over your clothes!"

Lucius remembered he hadn't gotten the chance to scourify his clothes yet. "How dare you!"

"Harry, please!" Hermoine interrupted as she hurried to her friend's side. She glanced nervously from one person to the other. The two were like cats and dogs. "It's not worth fighting over! It's just dust really. The house elves can clean it. I'm sure it's all just an accident. Isn't it, Harry?"

The teen grumbled something under his breath that Hermoine couldn't quite make out and then nodded. "Yeah, I guess so…"

"Well, that's settled then. Isn't it?" She turned to stare at the elder Malfoy.

"Zunno!" Lucius called.

"Yes, Master?" Zunno the house elf appeared immediately wearing a towel.

"Clean up this mess! And the mess in the other room as well! And prepare a bath for Mr. Potter." Lucius ordered, his intense gaze still on Harry. He knew the house elves cleaned the entire house from top to bottom daily, so where did he find all that dust and grime? It just seemed impossible!

While Lucius had been giving orders to the house elf, Harry remembered the photo he still held in his hand. Moving closer to the light from the window, he scraped more grime off it. To his surprise, it showed a family of three. A young blonde woman sat in a regal looking armchair, two tiny children on her lap. Both were very young and had the characteristic whitish-blonde hair of the Malfoys. One child was clearly older than the other, although by how much Harry wasn't certain. He wasn't very good at guessing the age of babies or toddlers and that's clearly what the moving photo showed. The younger child, a mere baby, waved its tiny fists in the air while the slightly older one laughed gleefully up at him. He was deep in thought, pondering exactly what the photo meant when a voice interrupted him.

"What is that you have there?" Narcissa demanded to know as she leaned forward, concern in her eyes.

Harry's emerald gaze lifted from the photo to Narcissa and back to the photo. The similarities were amazing, even the chair was the same. Holding his dust-covered arm out, he boldly stared into her eyes.

"Care to explain this?"

To be continued…