Okay! Sorry for a long delay but this chapter is much, much longer and it's actually not bad. As usual, down at the bottom are replies. Quite disappointed I didn't get more reviews than usual :x but okay, fine. I shall be content.
Chapter 12: The Phone Speaks
Did I disappoint you or let you down?
Should I be feeling guilty or let the judges frown?
Goodbye My Lover, James Blunt
Draco looked at the dead phone curiously. He shrugged and put down the phone. Must be another prank call. "What happened?" a voice called out from behind. Draco turned to see Ben with tomato sauce stains and crumbs of bread on his shirt. "Ben! It's ten! What are you doing still dressed like that? Where's Granger?" Draco said exasperatedly and grabbed Ben's hand. "But Uncle Draco, it's not ten. It's seven fifty," Ben informed him and pointed to the grandfather clock in front of Draco.
Draco frowned at the clock. "Seven fifty?" Draco repeated vaguely. No wonder Ben looked like that: he just had dinner. He must have mixed up the long and short hands of the clock. Draco mentally slapped himself. How could he be so dumb?
"Ben?" Hermione called from the kitchen. She poked her head out from behind the kitchen door to see a delighted Ben dragging Draco and telling him about fish and chips and bread for dinner. "So who called?" Hermione asked as she mixed the batter to fry the fish. "I'll tell you later," Draco muttered as he sat down and was served with bread and chips slathered unceremoniously all over with tomato sauce and mustard. "Eat!" Ben said eagerly, both of his large eyes transfixed on his uncle's face. Draco gave a wry smile and swallowed a yellow and red chip whole. "Ah, very nice," Draco eventually choked out. The chip was lodged in his throat and was refusing to budge. He needed water.
Hermione looked at Draco's face and took pity on him. "Here," Hermione passed over a glass of water, "you'll be needing that for your dinner." Draco raised his eyebrow at the passing remark and watched Hermione skilfully flip the piece of sizzling fish. "And what would you need for your dinner?" Draco answered cheekily, knowing Hermione might as well throw a whole pan in his face.
"I'll be taking the young man for takeaway, please," Hermione replied and pointed the fork at Ben who was happily sloshing mustard on his chips. Draco snorted into his chips and Hermione smiled. If that was how he was going to apologise then so be it.
Five minutes after entering the kitchen, Draco had lost his appetite. The chip that refused to budge was still lodged in his throat, Ben was squirting mounds of yellow and red sauces onto his already soggy plate of chips, Hermione was battling with a burnt piece of fish, which she promptly gave to him, and his throat, no matter how much water he drank, was dry. It wasn't hard for him to lose his appetite in this case.
Ben disappeared from the kitchen a little while after the fun of squirting bottles had faded to his room to change and sleep, followed by Hermione who promised to read a story to him. Seeing that nobody was around, Draco picked up his plate, complete with soggy fries and burnt fish and threw it into the garbage bin. When he heard the glass crack, a smile of satisfaction lit his face.
And just then, the phone rang again. Draco punched the table and regretted soon after. His knuckles hurt. All he could do now was answer the phone and then disconnect it as soon as he found out how to. The ring was growing more and more persistent and it was beginning to bug him. Taking the steps three at a time he grumbled under his breath about irritating muggle contraptions.
"Hello?" Draco snapped into the phone. "…Granger." Came the reply. Draco looked at the phone curiously. Hermione Granger? "I can get Granger for you, if you want," Draco replied. Why did Granger give the phone number away? Draco growled. "Mum…hit," The voice continued, disconnected and distant. "Truck, Hermione, and the car!" It was soon followed by a long interference and a dead tone.
Draco felt like hexing the person on the other side very much. "You do know how to use a telephone, don't you? You're supposed to speak in clear sentences so that the receiver can receive it clearly," Draco snapped again, enunciating his words slowly, until he realised that no one was going to reply. Draco slammed the phone down and heard a click of a door behind him.
"You might want to keep it down, Malfoy," Hermione hushed Draco and pointed at the room she just came out of, "It's not easy making him sleep eight." Draco rolled his eyes and walked up to Hermione. "Did you give the phone number away?" Draco stated frankly, looking at Hermione in her eye. Hermione averted her gaze and replied as she looked at the door handle. "No."
"Then I must be imagining things when somebody just called asking for a Granger. Boyfriend troubles, Granger?"
"I didn't give away the number!"
"Then who phoned? Who was the person who said: Mum, truck, car?" Draco snarled, grabbing Hermione's hand. Hermione froze and looked up at Draco. "Don't play games, Malfoy. I did give the number but to my parents. Only my parents would call, and only in dire situations," Hermione said edgily. "I don't care who it is. It's just that the stupid man just kept on talking about weird stuff like a car, and a truck. And there were tons of weird blank pauses filled with scratchy sounds," Draco informed her, veering off course, "And he spoke so rapidly, at one time, he spoke softly, then all of a sudden his voice boomed."
"That must be my father then," Hermione replied, "What about a car and truck?" Draco shrugged and scratched his head, "Not much. About a mum and a hit. What's a hit? Is it some new fad that you muggles like to do? And this isn't a game. I swear, on scouts honour."
"You don't know what scouts are, Malfoy! What hit? Mum?" Hermione gabbled and shook Draco roughly. She was getting desperate, Draco could tell. "That's all the man said. About your mum and a hit. A car and a truck. With so many pauses in the speech I couldn't hear anything. Plus, these phones are pathetic," Draco patted Hermione's head and grinned.
"This isn't a time to fool around, Malfoy! I'm serious! Something could have happened to my mum," Hermione said with a cracked voice, willing herself not to cry. Already, the tears were welling up in her eyes. "My mum could have been hurt. She must have got into a car accident," Hermione said as she wiped hot tears from her eyes.
Draco felt pathetic. He didn't know what he could do. There was a girl crying in front of him; something that he had never faced before. He felt useless and pathetic. Pathetic to the point that one pat on her shoulder might cause her to cry even louder. But then again, the pat might calm her down. Caught in a dilemma, Draco decided against the pat. Instead, he opted for speaking to her, as gently as he could. "I didn't hear the voice clearly, Granger. It might not be such a big thing. Maybe her car broke down," Draco said softly.
Hermione on the other hand felt pathetic for crying in front of Draco. But she couldn't help it. Her parents might be a grave danger and here she was, crying in front of someone she disliked. When she heard Draco trying to comfort her, her tears starting flowing like a stream down her face and her nose was beginning to run. "Please don't cry," Draco pleaded as Hermione sank to the floor, outside Ben's room, "Ben might wake up and think I'd hit you or something. I can't deal with a crying person, so please don't cry." He too was kneeling on the floor, facing Hermione who was hiding her face with her hands.
"Granger, it can't be that bad, can it? Even with a broken message, nothing serious could have happened to either of your parents, right? You might find out that it was nothing serious. Maybe she just fell down or her car isn't working anymore. Your parents are fifty odd right? I'm sure they won't just drop and die," Draco stated, hoping that Hermione would stop crying. But instead of what he was hoping for, Hermione burst out in another round of tears and whispered through the cracks between her fingers, "Your father died when you were seventeen."
Draco waved it away with a hand and said flatly, "Father or not, he deserved to die. Nobody should get away lightly from killing so many innocent people, muggle or wizards. He had a heart of stone and when he died it was with no strings attached. All I did like him for was leaving a substantial inheritance so that I wouldn't be scrounging for coins in the mud."
Hermione sniffed and removed her hands from her face. "Malfoy, aren't you sad that your father passed away?" she said softly. Draco shook his head and stood up, offering a hand to Hermione. "Why should I? There isn't much to be sad about. I'm sure that if I died, nobody would care much, would they? But I do suggest that you should dry up your tears, get a stiff drink and go to bed. Tomorrow, we'll sort out this all out," Draco replied and gave a charming grin.
Hermione wiped away her tears and returned the grin with a weak smile. "Where do you keep the whisky?"
Hermione felt the rays of light poking through the gaps in the curtains and groaned. Her head was heavy and she felt woozy and slightly disorientated. Hermione massaged her temples and opened her eyes as she turned away from the light. When she did, she almost fell out of the bed. Next to her was a scruffy Draco Malfoy, with a small smile playing on his lips, sleeping.
Hermione felt her shoulders and legs under the thick duvet and heaved a sigh of relief, she was still fully clothed and so was Malfoy so all was safe. She crept out of the bed and turned her attention to something beyond Draco. The locked door which she saw the last time she came here was ajar. Curious, Hermione peeked into the room. Inside, she recognised it from last night. She was here drinking whisky on the rocks.
It was a small room, enough to fit in a black counter top bar with glass shelves holding different alcoholic drinks neatly and a few black leather beanbags on one end of the room. The walls were painted white, one having an abstract painting in green. Hermione closed the door behind her as she left, taking in the empty glasses and a half full bottle of alcohol.
Padding across the room quietly, Hermione left the room, hoping that Draco wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. As Hermione walked pass the empty rooms to hers she passed by the telephone, pristine white in all its ringing glory and Hermione was tempted. Just as she was going to pick up the phone to call her father, the phone rang.
Back in the room, Draco opened his eyes and looked up at the white ceiling and gave it a goofy grin. He was awoken by the gasp Hermione gave as she found out who was next to her. Draco had watched Hermione peep curiously to the adjoined bar in his room as he rested, trying to overcome the shock that she shared his bed with him for the night.
After Hermione left, he had padded into the washroom and rinsed his face. After that, he brushed his teeth, thinking about what had happened last evening. Draco remembered making Hermione stop crying and after that, he had brought her to the bar. What made him do it, he didn't know. And as she drank her whisky on the rocks, she started telling him all about her parents, and that she blamed herself for not being filial. And she talked about how she felt so terrible and it was her fault that her mum or dad got into such a case. If her mum or dad were to die, she would go to their house and look after the remaining living one, for as long as she lived.
When Draco had tried to explain that it wasn't her fault, Hermione had stared, rather tipsily at him and asked, "You don't know anything about filial piety do you? I being here is an unforgivable act!" She started shouting at the top of her voice with occasional hiccups, " I should be at home looking after my mum and dad! I should be cooking the meals for them when they go out to work! I don't have to work; I just have to stay at home and tidy the place! WHY WAS I SO STUPID? I should have just stayed at home and not come out to London where I do a stupid job looking after stupid children and getting paid so little. Why? Why?"
Soon after, she had fallen asleep like before. Too tired to argue with her, Draco laid her on the bed and covered her up. Knackered even to brush his teeth, Draco fell asleep next to her, dreaming about his mother being attacked by a band of evil goblins.
Draco snapped out of gazing at the wall and pulled out a random set of home clothes from his wardrobe and pulled it on. Just as he was about to pull up his trousers he heard a scream echo down the hallway. Hurriedly zipping his trousers, Draco raced his way towards the source of the noise, hoping that nobody had gotten hurt.
When he eventually located the source of the scream, he found that it was Hermione, staring furiously at the mouthpiece of the phone. "WHAT?" Hermione screamed again. Draco heard a few mumblings from the phone before Hermione yelled. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT." Draco snatched the phone away and nudged the livid Hermione aside. "Sir, Hermione will call you back as soon as she clams, I mean calms down," Draco informed the other party and placed the receiver down before Hermione had a chance to snatch it out of his hands.
"As I said last night, we'll sort it out today. So what happened?" Draco asked as he pulled Hermione to the kitchen. Hermione shook his hand away and pointed furiously at the phone. "Dad, Dad called. And do you know what he said? He said that he called yesterday, twice to inform me that mum was driving and it was raining. She needed to top up on the fuel and when she did she slipped and injured her hip and twisted her foot. So, a truck driver at the petrol station was kind enough to give her a lift to the hospital. And do you know where Dad was? I expect you don't, so I'll tell you. He was on the stupid Tube on his way down to the hospital and when he went into tunnels there was no reception to call the Manor! HE DIDN'T HAVE RECEPTION! SHE FELL, SHE DIDN'T DIE," Hermione exploded.
Draco felt numb. Hermione Granger, the girl who rarely blew up and was the genius because she always kept her cool had just exploded, and worst, it was on him. Draco gave a faint smile, "There, see? She didn't die, did your mum? And it was just a mistake." Hermione slapped her cheek and hit her head against the wall. "Then all those tears were wasted and all the things that I told you about them yesterday was all useless information. AGH," Hermione hit the wall on every syllable. Draco pulled her away from the wall to prevent a concussion and he felt her stiffen in his grip.
When she eventually relaxed, Draco let her go and patted her head. "I'm not a dog, you know," Hermione said bitingly. "I know but I'm just trying to say that you did a good job. All you have to do know is to figure out what you want to do next," Draco retorted and walked towards the stairs. After a few steps, Draco heard Hermione ask in a small voice," Do you think I should visit them?" Draco grinned and turned around, walking backwards. "We'll just have to talk about it over breakfast," He said and promptly tripped over the stairs.
When they entered the kitchen, they found Ben eating cornflakes calmly as he watched a bee buzzing around the vase in the centre of the table. "Did uncle Draco trip down the stairs again?" Ben asked curiously. Hermione smiled and gave the small boy a hug. "And why are you in yesterday's clothes, Herb?" Ben prodded further, through a mouthful of cornflakes. Draco patted Hermione's head and whispered loudly to Ben," Because she's a dirty girl who is too lazy to bathe." Ben giggled and snorted into his cornflakes whilst Hermione tried to find her wand to throw a hex at Draco who was calmly finding eggs to boil.
As Draco sat down waiting for his eggs, Hermione announced loudly over a cup of coffee, " I have decided to take leave." Ben munched his soggy cornflakes and looked at Draco. "Uncle Draco, what is 'take leave'? Is Herb going to search for leaves?" Ben asked. Draco who was reading his newspapers that Pippin had sent in said over them, "No Ben. It means that she wants to go away from the Manor for a while." Ben, stunned, had his mouth wide-open, half chewed cornflakes mixed with milk visible. Hermione smiled kindly at Ben and explained as simply as she could, " Ben, my mum is sick so I need to go and look after her. I'll be gone for a while but I'm sure that your uncle will be able to look after you."
Ben dropped his spoon and swallowed the food in his mouth quickly. "But uncle Draco can't cook. If you're going away for an infinite time then I'm going to grow old beast," Ben replied. Hermione, delighted as she was for Ben to learn new words, smile sadly, " It's indefinite time and obese. And no, you won't grow fat. If you eat healthy food like what I cook for you, with small amounts of chocolate and sweets, and if you run and jump around a lot, you're not going to grow fat."
All of a sudden, Draco slammed his papers down, the two words hitting him. "Granger, the reason I pay for you to look after Ben is mainly because I can't take care of him, you can't just take leave," Draco stated as Hermione jumped from the shock. "Yes, Malfoy, but I need to look after my parents. They're important too." Just then, the phone rang again and Draco groaned, "I have got to remove the phone."
Draco trudged up the stairs, but before he could reach the phone, Hermione had raced to the phone and had picked it up. "Hello?" Hermione said breathlessly. There was a long muted silence before Hermione replied again. "Dad, since Mum is 'jolly good' as you put it, I'll come over next weekend to check up on Mum okay? No, dad, it isn't out of the way. In fact, I was discussing with the parent of the child just now. Dad, if you're going to insist that I don't come I will apparate there and yell at you," Hermione said, apparently meaning what she said. There was another silence filled with utters of approval and grunts. Eventually, Hermione said happily into the phone, "See you next week, don't forget to pick me up."
Hermione replaced the phone and looked at the disapproving Draco standing in front of her. "And what did the parent say?" He asked dangerously. "He said that he will not pay me for the time spent away for the two days and that he would gladly let me go," Hermione stated and grinned mischievously, "There isn't much you can do now, can you? I'm seeing my dad on Saturday afternoon at the train station."
"Who's going to look after Ben? Can you take him with you?"
"Malfoy! I'm going there to see that my parents are fine!"
"Who's going to look after Ben?"
"I don't know! I know I sound very irresponsible but the truth is, I haven't seen my mum and dad for two years and more and I am very much hoping to see them now."
"Who's going to look after Ben?"
"Tell you what, would you like to come to my home with Ben?"
"What? Who's going to look after Ben?"
"That's just what I suggested! Come down to Niblet upon Avon with Ben and I'll look after him and you can help too! I'm sure you won't be missing much right? We leave on Saturday and return on Sunday evening."
"What? Where is Niblet upon Avon? But—"
"Malfoy, you don't have to pay me. I'll be in my home, you'll be in my home, and Ben will be in my home. My parents won't mind having extra guests, especially if they're wizards. It's nice. And this is an offer."
"I use weekends to catch up on work!"
" FINE. You can use your weekend to catch up on your work with Ben!" Hermione practically yelled into Draco's ear, making Draco think twice. Without Hermione, there was no way that Draco could complete any work with Ben making a ruckus. Plus, he had been complaining about taking a day or two off from work hadn't he?
And just as Hermione stomped into her room to change, a voice came from behind. "Granger, I would be delighted to accept your offer. It would be a good chance to let Ben see something out of London once in a while and it would be a great opportunity for me to take some work off," Draco said and walked in the opposite direction towards the stairs.
As he reached the foot of the stairs, Draco heard a frantic Hermione talking to somebody. "Dad, the parent and child will be coming over. Yes, he's a wizard, Dad. You can remove the boxes of toothbrushes and floss from the guest room, can't you?"
"Mum! Why are you up! Sit in the wheelchair like what the doctors said!" Hermione shouted as she entered the cottage with a bag slung over her shoulder. Draco followed after her with a duffel bag containing his and Ben's clothes for the next two days.
For the past week, Hermione had been anxious to get home, talking rapidly about how thick her dad could be when it came to looking after people, even if he was a doctor. She was overcome with fear that her mother would die from taking the wrong pills, or stood up to walk when the doctors insisted on her being kept in the wheelchair for safety reasons.
On Saturday morning, Hermione had rushed everyone out of the house and to the train station so that she could get them at the Bristol train station as soon as possible. Upon arriving, she had walked straight to the car park where her father was waiting. After short introductions, Draco learned his name. He was Evan Granger and his wife was Emily. They were both dentists (you pull teeth out and get paid?) and ran a small practice.
Draco had been doubtful in the mode of transportation when Evan, instead of reversing the car out of the lot, made the car move forward and hit the curb. But after a few minutes, being in a car was pretty nice. Hermione was sitting up front with her father, making small talk as Draco took in the muggle world. Ben, tired from jumping on the train seats had fallen asleep on his lap.
When they got out about half an hour later, Hermione had rushed out with her bag slung haphazardly around her body and with the spare key from the flowerpot, opened the door. And now here he was, looking into a corridor with flower motif wallpapers and paintings of boats hung on the wall. The living room was as big as his bathroom. There was a small fire and pictures above the hearth. The French windows opened up to the neat garden next to the driveway where the car was park. Comfortable couches and chairs were placed around a short coffee table, which held varying types of beautiful flowers.
Draco went further into the house and found himself in a warm kitchen where Hermione and an older lady were bickering. When he entered, the voices stopped and the older lady stared at him. "Don't mind me, I'll just be finding the guest room," Draco said, slightly nervously. But the lady stood up, albeit rather stiffly and walked up to him slowly, with a cane. "You must be Draco Malfoy. Hermione was just telling me about you. And you don't seem the least rude at all," she said delightedly. Draco looked at the lady in front of him. She was thin and had her frizzy brown hair tied up into a messy bundle. She wore half moon glasses in front of her friendly brown eyes.
Looking at her, Draco thought he had just seen an older version of Hermione. Except for the nose and the lips, that is. Hermione had a sharper nose and slightly thinner lips. Draco soon realised that there was an awkward silence as he observed Hermione's mother. He cleared his throat and gave a short bow. "I thank you, Mrs Granger, for having my nephew and I over for the weekend," Draco said graciously. Emily laughed and patted Draco's shoulder before pulling him into a warm hug. "No need for formalities, m'dear. Just make yourself at home, and please, call me Emily." Draco gave a genial smile when they broke apart and surveyed the kitchen. It was mostly in earthen colours a pot of dried flowers in the centre of the wooden round table. The chairs too were wooden.
Draco left the kitchen soon after when Hermione dragged him out and up to the guest room. When she reached there, she groaned and hit her head on the wall. "You have got to be kidding me," Hermione moaned. Draco peeled Hermione away from the wall and looked into the room. Inside, were boxes upon boxes of toothbrushes, floss, teeth and jaw models, posters and magnets. "I thought I asked you to clear it out!" Hermione yelled down the stairs. "Sorry dear! Mum took up more time!" Her father yelled back up, " Draco will just have to lodge in your room. We'll take care of Ben!"
"Can't you take Malfoy instead?"
"No, darling. There isn't room for a grown man. At least for Ben we still have a small mattress and extra pillows. You're going to get the sleeping bag out for Draco. Sorry, dear." Draco grinned at the Hermione who was feeling nauseous. "Guess I won't be sleeping on the couch tonight." Hermione refused to speak in case she vomited. Instead, she pulled Draco through a door and closed the door behind her.
"Okay, we're grown ups right? We'll just sort this out in a grown up way. I'll get you a duvet and a sleeping bag, and you'll be sleeping on the floor. I will take the bed and we'll share the bathroom. You will not, I repeat, will not walk around this room without any clothes," Hermione stated. Draco nodded and placed the duffle bag on the floor and nudged it to the side. "So this is where you lived?" Draco asked as he looked around the room. It was painted in a light pastel purple with a neat desk and a simple single mattress on the floor. There was a large wardrobe on one end of the room whilst the other had shelves which held many awards and certificates next to the windows.
"Is there anything wrong with it?" Hermione asked edgily. Draco shook his head and gave a grin. "Nope, absolutely nothing wrong. It's a comfortable place to live." This time, Hermione grinned and pulled his hand and walked out of the room. "Now I'll show you my neighbourhood." And somehow, Draco felt something tremble in the pits of his stomach.
Hermione pulled Draco out of the house and stuffed her hands into her hands. She looked from left to right and eventually pointed at a random direction. Draco just followed her lead. Eventually they ended up on a long street with shops, the movie theatre and a pub. All of a sudden there was a loud scream of shock from a young woman as she pulled the man next to her and pointed at Hermione and Draco. Soon there was a huge crowd circled around the two of them. Draco just looked at the scene in front of him. Hermione was hugging practically the entire village. And everyone just couldn't wait to hug her either. There were screams and shouts as she met familiar faces.
Hermione was squealing people's names at the top of her voice, a red flush creeping up on her face, "Dan! Chris! James! Edward! Sophie! Lizzy! Ginger!" And the list went on. After hugging almost everybody, Hermione was breathless. "Guys, I would like you to meet Draco Malfoy, he's a um… acquaintance of mine from school. And Malfoy, these are all my friends from around here, and Sophie, Ezra, Charlie and Josh are my best friends from school before I joined Hogwarts."
Draco stuck out his hand to greet them but instead was pulled into a large group hug as the rest of the crowd dissipated. There was a lot of back thumping and loud cheers. After the hug, Draco's back hurt and he just wanted to sit down. Instead, he was standing in the middle of the street with a bunch of raucous people.
"So! Draco! Good friends with Hermione?" A girl with black hair with shocking pink and purple highlights asked Draco. "Well, you could say that we have a working relationship," Draco muttered, slightly uncomfortable. There was a round of 'ooh' and 'ah' and giggles from the girls and sniggers from the men. Hermione batted her best friend on the back. "We'll be going to the pub to celebrate the return of Hermione Granger!" One of the men yelled at the top of his voice and was greeted with loud, lengthy applause.
At the pub, the television was blaring with the latest football news and burly men sat round the small tables smoking, thick smoke rising from their cigarettes. "You're telling me that –hic- that Hermione works for you?" Josh said, drunk. Draco nodded and grinned at the company. He had eventually differentiated all the four of them. Charlie was the girl with black hair; Sophie had orange hair and freckles; Ezra was the skinny one with floppy hair and boyish looks; and Josh was the handsome one with sandy hair and big brown eyes, plus a PhD under his belt, and couldn't hold his liquor.
Draco downed his fifth screwdriver and looked at Hermione struggling not to fall asleep over her untouched tequila. It was seven in the evening and she was tired, Draco sniggered. Yet, Draco had a niggling feeling that bugged him when he saw her. She looked out of place next to her friends. They were all paired up, the red head with the skinny one, and the Goth girl with the doctor. And Hermione looked like an extra on the set of Happy Family. She was the odd one out and the more Draco saw her like that, the more he hated it. And eventually he announced that they would be heading home. The announcement was met with roars of disapproval but Draco smiled, left a fifty pound note on the counter and nudged Hermione out.
Hermione gratefully walked out of the bar and thanked Draco. "It's not easy meeting with couples, huh?" Draco grinned at her. "Yeah, after two years and they're still the same. Probably another reason not to come back," Hermione mumbled. "So what's for dinner?" Draco asked, his stomach grumbling for some real food besides peanuts. "Depends," Hermione shrugged.
"On?"
"Huh?"
"Depends on?"
"Depends on who cooks it. If it's Dad then it'll probably be pasta. It's the only thing he can cook. It it's Mum, and with guests at home, she'll probably do a roast and pudding. So keep your fingers crossed for Mum and her reluctance of staying in a wheelchair."
Draco laughed and took off his coat, gently placing it on Hermione's bare, shivering shoulders. "Thanks," Hermione mumbled again and pulled it tighter around her body. Draco grinned at her and patted her head. "But I'm not a dog," Hermione growled. "Ah, but looking at how you're standing with your legs so far apart and hands at a ready, I say you are the bull," Draco teased, a mischievous glint in his eyes. Hermione yelled and chased Draco down the quiet streets, joyful laughter ringing.
Back in the pub, Ezra swirled the ice in his glass and looked down the counter at his three best friends. "You think they'll get together?" He asked no one in particular. "I bet he'll sleep with her tonight," Charlie grinned. "You're on," Josh slapped her hand, "Fifty quid. He may be good, but not that good."
LadyJaye You've hit home on this one (:
frostlily Ben has frequent appearances in some chapters I guess, but mostly, it's all about Hermione and Draco plus their relationship with him.
And to dragoneyes5000 and mysticpam, thank you too.