Chapter 20: Disappearing Act
(Draco's POV)
The next morning, I woke up late, I usually would've slept later, but I couldn't figure out what had awoken me. Then I heard that infernally persistent noise. Granger had set her alarm thing and was having a lie in. I walked into her room determined to drag her out of bed since her stupid alarm had gotten me up.
Entering her room, I saw a lump curled up on the bed. "Come on! Ger up wontcha!" I yelled, my speech blurred with sleep. She didn't move. I slipped over to the side of the bed and reached under the covers, "YEOOOOOOW!" I pulled my hand back quickly. Crookshanks had been kipping under the blankets. "Blasted cat," I muttered and walked into the common room.
After searching all of the couches and poufs, I realized that she wasn't there. I strode over to the bathroom door and yanked it open. She wasn't passed out in the tub, and she wasn't sleeping on the counter either.
The portrait hole opened. "Well there you a-" I stopped. It wasn't Granger, it was Dominic. "What are you doing in here? How do you know the password? You're not supposed to be here. Do you know what time it is?"
"She's not here," Dominic said, ignoring all of my questions.
"You don't happen to know where she is, do you?" I asked him.
He didn't say anything, he just turned and sat on the chair closest to the door. "Didn't she tell you to find me if she hadn't returned by morning?"
"Yeah…. So? I replied. This kid had no right to question my actions, or lack thereof.
I looked down, scratching the back of my neck and sighing. Where was she? Could she be in trouble? I stared for a while at the bunnies hopping around on my trousers.
Maybe some hot water would help. It was freezing in the dorms because Granger had insisted on opening all of the windows because we were supposed to "help the wind on its way through". I pulled off my white t-shirt and turned on the water. "Oh, wait," I said to myself. I reached over and pulled a freshly laundered towel off of the counter and hung it over the shower door. I stripped off my pants and boxers and stepped in, welcoming the warm steam.
As I let the water flow over my body, I thought about where Granger could be. Maybe she was still at the party, but do raves last that long? I was pretty sure some of them did. Was she lost or stuck somewhere? Had she been kidnapped? Now that was just ridiculous, she's seventeen. She could take care of herself.
I turned and reached for the towel, rubbing water out of my eyes with my other hand. It wasn't there. I stepped out of the shower, expecting it to have fallen on the floor. It wasn't there either. I turned to take one from the stack on the counter, but they seemed to have disappeared. "What the-" I walked to the bathroom door that lead into the common room. Pulling it open, I saw Granger sitting on a couch reading a magazine. The stack of towels lay next to her.
I looked down. I was standing behind a high-backed sofa, thank jupiter.
Her gaze drifted slowly upward to my face, her eyes lingering on my chest which was still covered in water droplets. "'ello. Nice day, isn't it?"
I shivered and tried to cover my bare chest with my arms. The heat from the shower had disappeared and all that was left was the chilly wind. "Give me a towel."
"Say please, Malfoy. Manners still count. Even with your worst enemy."
I laughed. She just kept looking at me, her gaze flicking once or twice back down to my bare chest.
"You never take that necklace off, do you?" she asked.
"No, I don't. Now give me a towel." She gave me a patronizing look. "You can't be serious, Granger!" She nodded. "Please," I said reluctantly.
She tossed me a towel, and as I was drying off, I said, "Dominic is here. He was looking for you. Why did you give him the password?"
"Just in case he needed me. Did he leave the boots?"
"No, he just came in, looked around, asked if you were here, and sat down. He seemed worried."
"Yeah, well he shouldn't be. I can take care of myself." Then she looked around and saw Dominic by the door. "You hear me? I can take care of myself," she shouted to him, almost angrily. He didn't seem phased.
He just looked at her for a second, stood up, then held up the pair of boots that Granger had been wearing the night before.
"Oh yeah. I'll go get 'em," said Hermione. She got up and moved into her room.
Dominic looked at me, his eyes sweeping up and down my body like Hermione's had done. His look flickered on my necklace and he moved closer. "No wonder she likes you," he commented, upon closer inspection of my necklace.
"What do you mean? Who likes me?" I asked.
"Hermione. She's always had a thing for the darker side. At the moment, she's really into 'bad boys' and things like that, I think. So has she seen this necklace?" he said in a low voice.
"Yeah. She had a glimpse of it," I said slowly.
"Good luck, then, mate," he laughed softly.
"What's so funny?" Hermione had come back into the room carrying a pair of boots.
"Nothing," I commented. Now that I thought about it, she really did seem kind of interested in me. I mean, who wouldn't be? I'm Draco Malfoy! Anyone who isn't attracted to me is out of their bleeding mind!
"I always thought you were a bit demented, Malfoy. I mean," she handed Dominic the boots and a piece of parchment, "talking to yourself and laughing about nothing should be warning signs of insanity."
"It's probably from being around you. You can't call me insane when you're the one that talks about 'funk shay' all the time. Are you going to buy me a new toothbrush because it will compliment the colour of my boxers?" I ranted.
"You're not wearing boxers, Malfoy. But I am, and they are quite comfortable. Where did you find silk boxers monogrammed with the Malfoy family crest, anyways?" she asked.
"You're wearing my boxers?"
"That's what I just said. Mine are all in the wash," she smiled.
Dominic sniggered, "She did the same thing to me, mate."
"Shut up," I shot at him. "Take them off right now!"
"If you insist," she started to pull off her trousers.
"Granger! I don't want to go blind this young! Keep the boxers you wretched mud blood!" I yelled.
Dominic made a move towards me, but Hermione took his arm and pulled him towards the door. She opened the portrait hole and whispered something in Dominic's ear. He responded quietly, shot a glaring look at me, and departed.
Granger settled back down with the magazine. I realized that I had not moved from behind the couch. I moved into my room and pulled on some boxers and a pair of black cargo pants I found on my bed. Putting on a t-shirt, yellow with blue stripes on the sleeves, I moved back into the common room.
I sat on the couch opposite Granger and stared intently at the cover of the magazine, The Quibbler, until she sighed and put it down.
"What were you telling Dominic?"
"At the door?" she asked.
"Yes. At the door."
"It doesn't matter. Why are you so bloody paranoid, Malfoy?"
"I'm not paranoid. What did that note say?"
"It was just the information on the next rave we're having. They need someone to do tattoos at this one 'cos it's a special one for Halloween. He's one of the few that knows how to work the ink."
"Are you going to get a tattoo?"
"I'm thinking about it," she replied, smirking at me. It wasn't a good smirk, either. I'm the only one who can pull of a really brilliant smirk.
I noticed that her eyes kept flicking down to my shirt. "You like it?" I asked.
She laughed out loud. "It looks ridiculous!"
"Fine. I'll go change, if it will make you happy, your highness."
"Thank you. I'll try to recover from the overdose of ugly. I mean, you look horrible enough without that shirt to add to the nastiness."
"Ha ha," I said, walking back into my room.
I pulled off the shirt and threw it onto the bed. Turning to look in my trunk, I saw Granger leaning on the doorframe.
"Granger! I'm not wearing a shirt!" I shouted.
"Well, it's not like you have boobs or anything, is it?" she laughed.
I couldn't believe Granger had become so bold over the summer. She moved over to my trunk and pulled out a simple white t-shirt.
"Here," she said, and pulled it over my head. I didn't move. "C'mon 'ittle Drakee-poo! Put your arms through," she cooed as though I was three years old.
"Shut up," I said and pushed my arms through.
She pulled the shirt the rest of the way down, her fingers lightly brushing my torso. The tingling feeling stayed long after she had gone back into the common room, leaving me there in a kind of stunned silence.
(Hermione's POV)
As I walked into the common room, I looked behind me. Malfoy wasn't following. I turned and looked at him. "C'mon!" I said sweetly, as though speaking to a dog. He didn't move. He just stood there looking at the window. "What's up with you?" I asked, going back into his room and standing next to him.
He turned away, but not quickly enough. He was crying….
