Tah-Dah! Chapter 7 has finally arrived! Sorry, but delays should now be
expected not that school has begun once again. But they do grow better with
age, I admit. Thanks to my lovely reviewers, LadySpirit and ChicaBlue, you
ladies rock! I really like this chapter, but I admit it does get a tad
fluffy at one point near the end, but everyone's allowed to contribute a
little fluffage now and then, and if you don't, well, you're boring, so
there. :P Catch ya guys later! *Frost*
Hermione awoke, but did not open her eyes. She was in complete bliss beneath the blanket. It was the perfect warmth and she felt Draco's presence beside her and his breath was a soft breeze off the top of her hair. Her fingers fell across something smooth and cool beneath her pillow, it was the book they had looked at last night. She carefully shifted over and pulled the book out and looked at it as she lay on her side. The bookmark she noticed last night was still sticking out the bottom. Grasping it, she opened the book to the page it held. It was in the very last chapter of the book and almost the last page. She squinted till her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and read.
"Immortal," was in large blood red lettering at the top. She gasped, but quickly regained herself when she felt Draco shift in his sleep. He groaned and moved closer to her. He stopped when he came to rest against her back. Hermione froze. He made no sound and said nothing. A moment later, she slowly turned her head and saw he was still fast asleep. A wave of relief spread through her and she continued to read. "Immortality; the only magical gift to have died. No wizard has had the gift of immortality in over 5,000 years and is thus considered to be dead. All magical peoples once held the gift until the muggle and wizard world merged when it completely disappeared. Immortality is the gift of being unbreakable. This gift does not entitle eternal life, but is tied to another life force, be it another wizard, animal, or plant. The receiver of the gift cannot die or be harmed unless their "Guardian" is harmed in some way. Any damage inflicted on the Guardian is also suffered by the Immortal tied to them. Whoever holds the gift of Immortality and their Guardian is chosen at conception to birth fate. The second the Immortal opens their eyes after birth, the next living thing conceived becomes their Guardian. The power of Immortality then does not come into effect until that life form is born. Because of this, the power of Immortality is untraceable to infants born with it. Many questions about Immortality are still unanswered, leaving it the most mysterious of all magical gifts; however, they shall probably never be answered due to the belief that Immortality is dead. No one knows how the gift is given, not being genetic, astrological, or coincidental; but it is believed to be somehow related to the balance of magic at the time of conception for the Immortal and forces attempting to create a surge in either positive or negative magical balance on earth. The Prophecies of Hulstuus hold the most insight into the rise and fall of Immortality and predicts that Immortality will return to the wizarding world. These prophecies were long ago lost into circulation because they were taken into control by Dark Wizards trying to bring about the religious idea of Return to Eden."
Hermione stared at the last sentence. "Dark Wizards?" she whispered, "Return to Eden?" She was so angry. "I should have known!" she thought as tears of rage formed in her eyes, "The Malfoy's being nice and pretending like they are the new heroes, saving us all from the horrible muggle war and their weapons, when it is only some plot to bring back some dead cult idea." Realization crossed her face. "I know why they're doing it. They become heroes, and Draco's father will be guaranteed some key position in the Ministry once our world is separate from the muggle's. He'll use it to gain power, to become the new Minister of Magic, then..." Hermione thought. "Voldemort," she whispered. Her soft whisper echoed off the walls. She glanced up when she heard one the fire die. The dim room went completely black. Hermione gulped. She looked at where the fire once was and saw that the fireplace was changing. The bricks clinked as they twisted and rearranged themselves to reveal a new passageway. Torches from the hidden corridor lit the room even more dimly than before. Hermione gasped and began to push herself backwards. "I have to get out of here, I have to get away," Hermione thought insanely as she became tangled in the blanket. She realized Draco was no longer sleeping peacefully against her back.
"Draco?" she asked herself as she realized his presence was not where she last remembered. She felt his hand close around her mouth, muffling her scream. He pulled her back against his stomach and she stared into the eerie passageway.
"Sh... calm down," he whispered harshly, "Don't make any sound!" She glanced up at his face, expecting him to have an evil grin on his face, knowing she knew his family's evil plan. But that is not what she saw. His face was full with fear, like hers. He stared into the corridor, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Hermione felt how his breath had quickened. He swallowed hard and whispered, horrified, "Salvation."
Hermione watched, unblinking in fear as the bricks returned to their original positions and the fire burned merrily again, as if nothing had happened. Draco released her mouth and exhaled heavily. Hermione immediately began pushing herself away from him and towards the exit.
"Hermione," he said as he watched her stumble and crawl away in the faint lighting. He went after her, easily catching her because he knew where all the furniture was and didn't collide with it as she had. He grabbed her around the waist and held her. "Stop, Hermione stop! Just wait a second!" he said loudly.
"Let go of me!" Hermione screamed as she struggled against him. They continued to grapple until they were both completely exhausted. Draco pinned Hermione beneath him on the floor. Hermione breathed in the scent of the pelts as she turned her head to the side and rested her cheek against the floor. Draco pressed down on her back and she felt his breath on her neck.
"I know what you're planning," Hermione whispered.
"And what's that?" Draco said tartly.
"Return to Eden," Hermione said, "It's all a scheme, your family is trying to bring Vol... You-Know-Who back into power. Once we're in another world he'll try to come back into power and your family is going to help."
Draco chuckled and said, "Well, for once Ms. Granger, you are wrong. Guess we can't know all the answers."
"Then correct me," she said harshly.
"I can't," he said softly.
"Yes you can, I know you can. Besides, what can I do to stop it?" Hermione asked. Draco sighed and released her. She sat up quickly and gazed at him. He looked back at her and leaned in, close to her face.
"At Malfoy Manor even the walls have ears," he whispered. He leaned back and looked at her. Hermione nodded in understanding. "We leave tomorrow to go shopping in the city, we need to get some rest. We can get another hour of sleep between now and then," Draco said indifferently.
Hermione caught his drift and replied, "Okay, let's get some rest then." She knew what he really meant. He would tell her what she wanted to know tomorrow, when they were free of the possibility someone might be listening in to what they were saying. If these walls had ears, who knows who was listening. They returned to their place by the fire and lay back down. Draco threw the blanket over himself and Hermione as she situated herself into the pillows.
"How am I ever going to go back to sleep?" Hermione thought as she stared into the darkness, the heat from the fire at her side coming in waves, making her skin relax. She sighed and closed her eyes. Draco beside her was just as awake. She could feel him thinking. He was worried. He wanted to get away, and to get her away. He was ready to return to school. Hermione breathed deeply to put off the image that she had fallen asleep. Taking deep breathes, she felt Draco staring at her. She felt him put his arm around her stomach, and his fingers lightly met with the exposed flesh where her shirt had ridden up slightly around her midriff. She controlled the urge to flip around and bash him over the head. Draco was dreaming, or having some sort of flashback. She saw rubble, the rubble that used to be her house. Bricks, boards, and shingles littered the ground. Seeing through Draco's eyes, she saw him approach a pile of debris. He reached down and began pulling boards and bricks off the pile. She winced when she felt Draco cut his hand on a glass shard. He wiped it on his cloak and kicked the remaining trash off the mound. Then, she saw cloth. Ripped hunter green cloth. Draco reached down and pulled it aside. She saw a hand. Draco grasped it and began to pull. She saw herself emerge from the ruins. Draco peeled the crushed mink coat off her and threw it behind him. He ripped off his cloak and wrapped her in it. She was cut and bruised and bleeding. Blood poured from a large tear on the skin of her neck. Draco pressed the cloth of his cloak firmly upon the wound. The part he had wiped his cut hand on. The blood continued to come. With each heartbeat, blood pumped through her body, out of her neck and onto the tarnished soil below.
"Don't do this," she felt Draco whisper, "You're not ready to leave here Hermione, and neither am I. He pressed his hand harder against the wound as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a yellow glass ball. He shook it until the yellow turned into a golden glow. "She's badly wounded. I'm taking the closest floo straight to Nemdrand's," he said to the ball.
"No, take her to St. Mungo's. Dumbledore will want to know where she is every second and we can't risk Nemdrand's being revealed," a voice said back from the stone.
"Yes sir," Draco said frustrated as he returned the stone back into his pocket. He quickly picked up the bloodied Hermione and began to walk as fast as he could away from the desolated area. She heard more bombs whizzing off to the sides and explosions as they met the ground. People screaming. It hurt her ears. She was so sick of that sound. She couldn't stand to hear any more screaming, babies crying, wives sobbing. Voices yelled behind them and she heard bullets ricocheting off bricks and pavement a few hundred yards back.
"Freeze!" a voice yelled to the left. Draco whipped around and stared at the speaker. Hermione recognized it. It was a Swedish soldier. They had aided the UK and other Unified Forces once the rest of the world realized neutrality was not possible in a war this catastrophic. Draco began to walk again but the soldier persisted, "Take one more step and I will shoot."
Draco glared at him and snarled back, "Listen, she's dying, she needs to get to a hospital!"
"I don't care, you could have been the one to have hurt her in the first place and now you're taking her to a POW camp. Set the girl down, you're coming with me," the Swede yelled back.
"I don't have time for this," she felt Draco think.
"I said down!" the Soldier barked.
Before he could say another word, Draco had whipped out his wand and pointed it directly at the soldier. The soldier started to laugh.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked as he cocked his gun, "Do as I say and I'll try to get you off easy, maybe 20 years hard labor or so."
Draco smirked. The soldier took aim at Draco.
Draco pointed his wand directly at the man's heart and commanded passionately, "Avada Kedavra." The man hit the ground as the green light reflected off the pools of stagnant water on the ground. Hermione felt a feeling. Satisfaction.
Draco adjusted his grasp on Hermione and began to walk again. He quickly reached an old library, McBerry's library to Hermione's memory. She used to do her homework there when she went to muggle school.
"Sonicsortiamus," Draco said. The doors flew open, splinters and glass flying when the force of the spell hit.
He charged into the spacious library. Piles of books and overturned tables littered the floor. Luckily, Draco had no trouble with his path because the spell had cleared a straight line toward the fireplace at the end of the circular room. He reached the wooden fireplace of the library. Reaching into his pocket he took out a leather pouch of floo powder and tossed some into the unlit hearth.
"St. Mungo's!" he yelled as the green flames erupted around them.
"Come on sleepyhead, time to get up," Hermione heard Draco calling distantly. She groaned and pulled the blanket closer. "Will you get up already? It's almost time to go," Draco called annoyed. Hermione opened her eyes and found herself in Draco's bedroom once again; fire crackling enthusiastically. Hermione groaned again and sat up, itching her eyes. "Bout time," Draco said as he stood back up.
"Time's it?" Hermione grumbled.
"8:00" Draco responded as he went into his bedroom. Hermione scuffled up and followed him.
"I need a shower," Hermione yawned.
"Help yourself," Draco said, motioning to where the mirror originally was. The glass had disappeared and was now a huge doorway into a bathroom. Hermione entered and located the shower.
"Great," she thought, "Of all places in this mansion to be modern, it had to be the showers." The bathroom had all the modern conveniences, shower, sinks, even light bulbs.
"How do I shut this?" she said loudly.
"Try to touch the mirror and say 'reflectus distilus,'" Draco yelled back. Hermione approached the entrance and reached out to touch the invisible mirror.
"Reflectus Distilus," she groused. She blinked and instead of seeing into Draco's bedroom, she saw herself staring back. Fuzzy hair, unmanaged skin, wrinkled clothes and all.
"I really need a shower," she groaned to herself. She slipped off her clothes and walked into the shower. It was more of a room than a shower, with several showerheads. Crystal clear walls surrounded the whole side she entered from, allowing the light to pour in. She tried to find the hot and cold levers, but there were none. She grumpily humphed at the whole shower idea, but realized if she was going into the city she best look at her best. She touched one of the black ovals on the wall and water immediately began showering her. She sputtered as she coughed out the water, it had caught her off guard, but it was the perfect temperature. The water back at her house was always shifting, hot to ice cold, then no hot water at all. This was certainly a nice surprise. She touched a few more ovals till water was flowing on her from several angles. "Well, where's the shampoo?" she asked herself out loud. Instantly, a strawberry colada scent filled her nose. She realized that the water directed at her hair was filled with pink bubbles. She laughed out loud in girlish glee. She let the bubbles envelop her hair and happily rubbed it in. She hummed the tune to "She's got the urge (to herbal)" in happiness. When she finished this, water came again and the shampoo easily rinsed out. Conditioner followed as well as coconut body wash, which somehow managed to dissolve the unshaved hairs off her legs as well as her armpits. "Awesome, no razor burn!" she said laughing. Finally, regular water came again and rinsed everything away. She stepped out of the shower completely awake and refreshed, although she wished she could have stayed there a few hours. It was nice to be happy for once, even if it was simple pleasures in life like an exquisite shower. She quickly located a towel and dried herself off and began drying her hair. It seemed some wonderful servant had taken the trouble to bring her necessities from her chambers. She pulled out her brush and quickly untangled her hair and began blow-drying once she realized she didn't need outlets, just to simply flick it on and it magically worked, as did her straightening iron. She looked around and found that a set of her clothes had also been freshly washed, pressed, and folded neatly beside her bags. She put on the warm sunshine scented clothes; a pair of fade washed jeans and a royal purple floral print halter-top. "It's summer after all," Hermione thought to herself. She clasped a seashell hemp chocker on and rhinestone earrings. She changed the hoop through her cartilage piercing and quickly applied her make-up. She felt great. Completely refreshed and ready for a day out in the sunshine. She slipped on a pair or plain purple flip-flops (Laguna $2.99 at Wal-Mart, can't beat that!!) and was ready to go. She smiled at herself, bubble gum lips sparkling back at her. She tossed her used towels into the laundry chute and put everything back into her bags, slipping a lip-gloss into her purse and checking to see if she had any wizard money, luckily, she did. "I don't know what I'd have done if someone hadn't brought me all my stuff, imagine having to go out there in a towel and asking Draco to get it for me!" Hermione thought with a chuckle.
She slipped her purse over her shoulder and walked over to the mirror. It disappeared upon her approach and she stepped back out into Draco's room. She went into the den-are and saw Draco sitting on a couch, sipping coffee.
"Ready?" she asked as she stood in the doorway.
"MMm?" He said as he turned to look at her. He coughed a bit and wiped the spit out bit of coffee on his sleeve and took another sip to regain himself.
Hermione laughed and said, "Well, I guess I don't have to ask if I look okay."
"You're wearing that?" he asked shocked as he stood up.
"Yeah, something wrong?" Hermione asked sarcastically.
"Well, that shirt, there's no sleeves! And it doesn't really have a back!" He said as he stared at her.
"Yeah... soo..." Hermione said, "That's how we dress in the muggle world. Most girls dress like this in the summer. I'm actually quite conservative."
"Well, I guess, but just... most witches don't dress like that," Draco said as he led her up the stairs to leave.
"Well, I'm not most witches am I?" Hermione asked with a devilish grin as they reached the hallway. She followed him past the snake, poised to attack down a few flights of stairs and down winding corridors. Eventually, they reached the edge of a floor, looking out once again into the open hallway, about eight stories up. A magic carpet quickly came up to meet them and lowered them down into the grand hall.
"So, is it just us going?" Hermione asked as she stared around the vacant hall.
"Yes. Father's working and mother is having brunch with the Hulmits in a few hours, so it's just you and I," Draco answered, looking around for something.
"So, where do all the trendy wizards shop these days? Diagon Alley?" Hermione asked.
Draco scoffed, "No, that's just for school robes and such, we're going someplace respectable."
"What are you looking for?" Hermione asked as she watched Draco searching for something.
"This," he said as he picked up what looked like a stapler off a table in the corner.
"Why do you need a stapler?" Hermione asked.
"A what? This is our portkey," Draco said knowingly, "See, look." He ran his finger over a small etching on the bottom. It was a small engraving of a pointed wizard's hat. "That means it is a portkey," he said as Hermione ran her finger over the marking.
"What time does it leave?" Hermione asked.
"9" Draco answered.
"What time is it now?" Hermione asked, getting annoyed.
"8:59," Draco said with a grin.
"Oh, Hermione said, "well, what happens when," she began, but suddenly felt a small pull on her belly-button.
Draco looked at her sheepishly and asked, "Is that a tattoo?"
The pull became much stronger and Hermione felt herself tugged away, towards their destination.
Hermione awoke, but did not open her eyes. She was in complete bliss beneath the blanket. It was the perfect warmth and she felt Draco's presence beside her and his breath was a soft breeze off the top of her hair. Her fingers fell across something smooth and cool beneath her pillow, it was the book they had looked at last night. She carefully shifted over and pulled the book out and looked at it as she lay on her side. The bookmark she noticed last night was still sticking out the bottom. Grasping it, she opened the book to the page it held. It was in the very last chapter of the book and almost the last page. She squinted till her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting and read.
"Immortal," was in large blood red lettering at the top. She gasped, but quickly regained herself when she felt Draco shift in his sleep. He groaned and moved closer to her. He stopped when he came to rest against her back. Hermione froze. He made no sound and said nothing. A moment later, she slowly turned her head and saw he was still fast asleep. A wave of relief spread through her and she continued to read. "Immortality; the only magical gift to have died. No wizard has had the gift of immortality in over 5,000 years and is thus considered to be dead. All magical peoples once held the gift until the muggle and wizard world merged when it completely disappeared. Immortality is the gift of being unbreakable. This gift does not entitle eternal life, but is tied to another life force, be it another wizard, animal, or plant. The receiver of the gift cannot die or be harmed unless their "Guardian" is harmed in some way. Any damage inflicted on the Guardian is also suffered by the Immortal tied to them. Whoever holds the gift of Immortality and their Guardian is chosen at conception to birth fate. The second the Immortal opens their eyes after birth, the next living thing conceived becomes their Guardian. The power of Immortality then does not come into effect until that life form is born. Because of this, the power of Immortality is untraceable to infants born with it. Many questions about Immortality are still unanswered, leaving it the most mysterious of all magical gifts; however, they shall probably never be answered due to the belief that Immortality is dead. No one knows how the gift is given, not being genetic, astrological, or coincidental; but it is believed to be somehow related to the balance of magic at the time of conception for the Immortal and forces attempting to create a surge in either positive or negative magical balance on earth. The Prophecies of Hulstuus hold the most insight into the rise and fall of Immortality and predicts that Immortality will return to the wizarding world. These prophecies were long ago lost into circulation because they were taken into control by Dark Wizards trying to bring about the religious idea of Return to Eden."
Hermione stared at the last sentence. "Dark Wizards?" she whispered, "Return to Eden?" She was so angry. "I should have known!" she thought as tears of rage formed in her eyes, "The Malfoy's being nice and pretending like they are the new heroes, saving us all from the horrible muggle war and their weapons, when it is only some plot to bring back some dead cult idea." Realization crossed her face. "I know why they're doing it. They become heroes, and Draco's father will be guaranteed some key position in the Ministry once our world is separate from the muggle's. He'll use it to gain power, to become the new Minister of Magic, then..." Hermione thought. "Voldemort," she whispered. Her soft whisper echoed off the walls. She glanced up when she heard one the fire die. The dim room went completely black. Hermione gulped. She looked at where the fire once was and saw that the fireplace was changing. The bricks clinked as they twisted and rearranged themselves to reveal a new passageway. Torches from the hidden corridor lit the room even more dimly than before. Hermione gasped and began to push herself backwards. "I have to get out of here, I have to get away," Hermione thought insanely as she became tangled in the blanket. She realized Draco was no longer sleeping peacefully against her back.
"Draco?" she asked herself as she realized his presence was not where she last remembered. She felt his hand close around her mouth, muffling her scream. He pulled her back against his stomach and she stared into the eerie passageway.
"Sh... calm down," he whispered harshly, "Don't make any sound!" She glanced up at his face, expecting him to have an evil grin on his face, knowing she knew his family's evil plan. But that is not what she saw. His face was full with fear, like hers. He stared into the corridor, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. Hermione felt how his breath had quickened. He swallowed hard and whispered, horrified, "Salvation."
Hermione watched, unblinking in fear as the bricks returned to their original positions and the fire burned merrily again, as if nothing had happened. Draco released her mouth and exhaled heavily. Hermione immediately began pushing herself away from him and towards the exit.
"Hermione," he said as he watched her stumble and crawl away in the faint lighting. He went after her, easily catching her because he knew where all the furniture was and didn't collide with it as she had. He grabbed her around the waist and held her. "Stop, Hermione stop! Just wait a second!" he said loudly.
"Let go of me!" Hermione screamed as she struggled against him. They continued to grapple until they were both completely exhausted. Draco pinned Hermione beneath him on the floor. Hermione breathed in the scent of the pelts as she turned her head to the side and rested her cheek against the floor. Draco pressed down on her back and she felt his breath on her neck.
"I know what you're planning," Hermione whispered.
"And what's that?" Draco said tartly.
"Return to Eden," Hermione said, "It's all a scheme, your family is trying to bring Vol... You-Know-Who back into power. Once we're in another world he'll try to come back into power and your family is going to help."
Draco chuckled and said, "Well, for once Ms. Granger, you are wrong. Guess we can't know all the answers."
"Then correct me," she said harshly.
"I can't," he said softly.
"Yes you can, I know you can. Besides, what can I do to stop it?" Hermione asked. Draco sighed and released her. She sat up quickly and gazed at him. He looked back at her and leaned in, close to her face.
"At Malfoy Manor even the walls have ears," he whispered. He leaned back and looked at her. Hermione nodded in understanding. "We leave tomorrow to go shopping in the city, we need to get some rest. We can get another hour of sleep between now and then," Draco said indifferently.
Hermione caught his drift and replied, "Okay, let's get some rest then." She knew what he really meant. He would tell her what she wanted to know tomorrow, when they were free of the possibility someone might be listening in to what they were saying. If these walls had ears, who knows who was listening. They returned to their place by the fire and lay back down. Draco threw the blanket over himself and Hermione as she situated herself into the pillows.
"How am I ever going to go back to sleep?" Hermione thought as she stared into the darkness, the heat from the fire at her side coming in waves, making her skin relax. She sighed and closed her eyes. Draco beside her was just as awake. She could feel him thinking. He was worried. He wanted to get away, and to get her away. He was ready to return to school. Hermione breathed deeply to put off the image that she had fallen asleep. Taking deep breathes, she felt Draco staring at her. She felt him put his arm around her stomach, and his fingers lightly met with the exposed flesh where her shirt had ridden up slightly around her midriff. She controlled the urge to flip around and bash him over the head. Draco was dreaming, or having some sort of flashback. She saw rubble, the rubble that used to be her house. Bricks, boards, and shingles littered the ground. Seeing through Draco's eyes, she saw him approach a pile of debris. He reached down and began pulling boards and bricks off the pile. She winced when she felt Draco cut his hand on a glass shard. He wiped it on his cloak and kicked the remaining trash off the mound. Then, she saw cloth. Ripped hunter green cloth. Draco reached down and pulled it aside. She saw a hand. Draco grasped it and began to pull. She saw herself emerge from the ruins. Draco peeled the crushed mink coat off her and threw it behind him. He ripped off his cloak and wrapped her in it. She was cut and bruised and bleeding. Blood poured from a large tear on the skin of her neck. Draco pressed the cloth of his cloak firmly upon the wound. The part he had wiped his cut hand on. The blood continued to come. With each heartbeat, blood pumped through her body, out of her neck and onto the tarnished soil below.
"Don't do this," she felt Draco whisper, "You're not ready to leave here Hermione, and neither am I. He pressed his hand harder against the wound as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a yellow glass ball. He shook it until the yellow turned into a golden glow. "She's badly wounded. I'm taking the closest floo straight to Nemdrand's," he said to the ball.
"No, take her to St. Mungo's. Dumbledore will want to know where she is every second and we can't risk Nemdrand's being revealed," a voice said back from the stone.
"Yes sir," Draco said frustrated as he returned the stone back into his pocket. He quickly picked up the bloodied Hermione and began to walk as fast as he could away from the desolated area. She heard more bombs whizzing off to the sides and explosions as they met the ground. People screaming. It hurt her ears. She was so sick of that sound. She couldn't stand to hear any more screaming, babies crying, wives sobbing. Voices yelled behind them and she heard bullets ricocheting off bricks and pavement a few hundred yards back.
"Freeze!" a voice yelled to the left. Draco whipped around and stared at the speaker. Hermione recognized it. It was a Swedish soldier. They had aided the UK and other Unified Forces once the rest of the world realized neutrality was not possible in a war this catastrophic. Draco began to walk again but the soldier persisted, "Take one more step and I will shoot."
Draco glared at him and snarled back, "Listen, she's dying, she needs to get to a hospital!"
"I don't care, you could have been the one to have hurt her in the first place and now you're taking her to a POW camp. Set the girl down, you're coming with me," the Swede yelled back.
"I don't have time for this," she felt Draco think.
"I said down!" the Soldier barked.
Before he could say another word, Draco had whipped out his wand and pointed it directly at the soldier. The soldier started to laugh.
"What the hell are you doing?" he asked as he cocked his gun, "Do as I say and I'll try to get you off easy, maybe 20 years hard labor or so."
Draco smirked. The soldier took aim at Draco.
Draco pointed his wand directly at the man's heart and commanded passionately, "Avada Kedavra." The man hit the ground as the green light reflected off the pools of stagnant water on the ground. Hermione felt a feeling. Satisfaction.
Draco adjusted his grasp on Hermione and began to walk again. He quickly reached an old library, McBerry's library to Hermione's memory. She used to do her homework there when she went to muggle school.
"Sonicsortiamus," Draco said. The doors flew open, splinters and glass flying when the force of the spell hit.
He charged into the spacious library. Piles of books and overturned tables littered the floor. Luckily, Draco had no trouble with his path because the spell had cleared a straight line toward the fireplace at the end of the circular room. He reached the wooden fireplace of the library. Reaching into his pocket he took out a leather pouch of floo powder and tossed some into the unlit hearth.
"St. Mungo's!" he yelled as the green flames erupted around them.
"Come on sleepyhead, time to get up," Hermione heard Draco calling distantly. She groaned and pulled the blanket closer. "Will you get up already? It's almost time to go," Draco called annoyed. Hermione opened her eyes and found herself in Draco's bedroom once again; fire crackling enthusiastically. Hermione groaned again and sat up, itching her eyes. "Bout time," Draco said as he stood back up.
"Time's it?" Hermione grumbled.
"8:00" Draco responded as he went into his bedroom. Hermione scuffled up and followed him.
"I need a shower," Hermione yawned.
"Help yourself," Draco said, motioning to where the mirror originally was. The glass had disappeared and was now a huge doorway into a bathroom. Hermione entered and located the shower.
"Great," she thought, "Of all places in this mansion to be modern, it had to be the showers." The bathroom had all the modern conveniences, shower, sinks, even light bulbs.
"How do I shut this?" she said loudly.
"Try to touch the mirror and say 'reflectus distilus,'" Draco yelled back. Hermione approached the entrance and reached out to touch the invisible mirror.
"Reflectus Distilus," she groused. She blinked and instead of seeing into Draco's bedroom, she saw herself staring back. Fuzzy hair, unmanaged skin, wrinkled clothes and all.
"I really need a shower," she groaned to herself. She slipped off her clothes and walked into the shower. It was more of a room than a shower, with several showerheads. Crystal clear walls surrounded the whole side she entered from, allowing the light to pour in. She tried to find the hot and cold levers, but there were none. She grumpily humphed at the whole shower idea, but realized if she was going into the city she best look at her best. She touched one of the black ovals on the wall and water immediately began showering her. She sputtered as she coughed out the water, it had caught her off guard, but it was the perfect temperature. The water back at her house was always shifting, hot to ice cold, then no hot water at all. This was certainly a nice surprise. She touched a few more ovals till water was flowing on her from several angles. "Well, where's the shampoo?" she asked herself out loud. Instantly, a strawberry colada scent filled her nose. She realized that the water directed at her hair was filled with pink bubbles. She laughed out loud in girlish glee. She let the bubbles envelop her hair and happily rubbed it in. She hummed the tune to "She's got the urge (to herbal)" in happiness. When she finished this, water came again and the shampoo easily rinsed out. Conditioner followed as well as coconut body wash, which somehow managed to dissolve the unshaved hairs off her legs as well as her armpits. "Awesome, no razor burn!" she said laughing. Finally, regular water came again and rinsed everything away. She stepped out of the shower completely awake and refreshed, although she wished she could have stayed there a few hours. It was nice to be happy for once, even if it was simple pleasures in life like an exquisite shower. She quickly located a towel and dried herself off and began drying her hair. It seemed some wonderful servant had taken the trouble to bring her necessities from her chambers. She pulled out her brush and quickly untangled her hair and began blow-drying once she realized she didn't need outlets, just to simply flick it on and it magically worked, as did her straightening iron. She looked around and found that a set of her clothes had also been freshly washed, pressed, and folded neatly beside her bags. She put on the warm sunshine scented clothes; a pair of fade washed jeans and a royal purple floral print halter-top. "It's summer after all," Hermione thought to herself. She clasped a seashell hemp chocker on and rhinestone earrings. She changed the hoop through her cartilage piercing and quickly applied her make-up. She felt great. Completely refreshed and ready for a day out in the sunshine. She slipped on a pair or plain purple flip-flops (Laguna $2.99 at Wal-Mart, can't beat that!!) and was ready to go. She smiled at herself, bubble gum lips sparkling back at her. She tossed her used towels into the laundry chute and put everything back into her bags, slipping a lip-gloss into her purse and checking to see if she had any wizard money, luckily, she did. "I don't know what I'd have done if someone hadn't brought me all my stuff, imagine having to go out there in a towel and asking Draco to get it for me!" Hermione thought with a chuckle.
She slipped her purse over her shoulder and walked over to the mirror. It disappeared upon her approach and she stepped back out into Draco's room. She went into the den-are and saw Draco sitting on a couch, sipping coffee.
"Ready?" she asked as she stood in the doorway.
"MMm?" He said as he turned to look at her. He coughed a bit and wiped the spit out bit of coffee on his sleeve and took another sip to regain himself.
Hermione laughed and said, "Well, I guess I don't have to ask if I look okay."
"You're wearing that?" he asked shocked as he stood up.
"Yeah, something wrong?" Hermione asked sarcastically.
"Well, that shirt, there's no sleeves! And it doesn't really have a back!" He said as he stared at her.
"Yeah... soo..." Hermione said, "That's how we dress in the muggle world. Most girls dress like this in the summer. I'm actually quite conservative."
"Well, I guess, but just... most witches don't dress like that," Draco said as he led her up the stairs to leave.
"Well, I'm not most witches am I?" Hermione asked with a devilish grin as they reached the hallway. She followed him past the snake, poised to attack down a few flights of stairs and down winding corridors. Eventually, they reached the edge of a floor, looking out once again into the open hallway, about eight stories up. A magic carpet quickly came up to meet them and lowered them down into the grand hall.
"So, is it just us going?" Hermione asked as she stared around the vacant hall.
"Yes. Father's working and mother is having brunch with the Hulmits in a few hours, so it's just you and I," Draco answered, looking around for something.
"So, where do all the trendy wizards shop these days? Diagon Alley?" Hermione asked.
Draco scoffed, "No, that's just for school robes and such, we're going someplace respectable."
"What are you looking for?" Hermione asked as she watched Draco searching for something.
"This," he said as he picked up what looked like a stapler off a table in the corner.
"Why do you need a stapler?" Hermione asked.
"A what? This is our portkey," Draco said knowingly, "See, look." He ran his finger over a small etching on the bottom. It was a small engraving of a pointed wizard's hat. "That means it is a portkey," he said as Hermione ran her finger over the marking.
"What time does it leave?" Hermione asked.
"9" Draco answered.
"What time is it now?" Hermione asked, getting annoyed.
"8:59," Draco said with a grin.
"Oh, Hermione said, "well, what happens when," she began, but suddenly felt a small pull on her belly-button.
Draco looked at her sheepishly and asked, "Is that a tattoo?"
The pull became much stronger and Hermione felt herself tugged away, towards their destination.
