Draco opened his eyes to see Hermione Granger's face very close to his own. He shot upright. "What are you doing?"
"Shhh! Do you want the whole hotel to wake up?" she hissed angrily.
"Well, why not? That desk boy already thinks—"
"Shut up!" She turned away from his smirking face and grabbed a piece of paper off her bed. "Where do you live?"
"What?"
"Obviously you live somewhere, we'll just have to get there and then your father can take us to Hogwarts."
"Wha—No, Granger, that won't work." He put an arm over his eyes to block out the light of the bedside lamp. "What time is it?"
"Three a.m., and it's Hermione," she said brusquely. "Why won't it work?"
Draco was still trying to figure out what was going on. "My house is protected, stupid; you can't just see it from the road. I don't think I could find it without magic."
Her face fell. "Oh."
"Now go back to sleep—that light's driving me crazy."
Hermione muttered something and set the paper down on the bedside table, then climbed back into bed and turned off the light.
RRRRIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!
Draco's eyes flew open in time to see Hermione's hand slam down on the alarm clock, but the noise didn't stop. "What is that?" he demanded loudly. Let the other patrons wake up. He was tired and very annoyed.
Hermione's eyes were squinting in the early morning light that flooded the floor in yellow-gray panels. Her hair was mussed and she shoved it back with one hand as she picked up the telephone, which was blinking.
"Hello?" she croaked.
Draco could faintly hear a tinny voice. "Good morning, is Mrs. Malfoy there?"
"Who?" Hermione blinked groggily.
Draco grabbed for the phone. She pulled away from him. "Give it here! It's for me, they said..." He hissed, as the speaker repeated, "Mrs. Malfoy?"
"Oh, yes. Speaking." She glared at her roommate. Draco's mouth dropped open. What in the name of Merlin was she doing?
Hermione turned away from him so she was facing the window. The tinny voice rattled on, but she had muffled the sound, and all he could hear was, "Yes...yes...thank you...what! Thank you, I'll be down shortly. Good day to you, too." She turned back over, blankets rustling, and hung up the phone.
Draco was on his stomach now, staring at her. "Mrs. Malfoy!"
"What?" She looked offended. "It was the best way."
"To tell the hotel people we're married?"
"I don't like it, either, but it was a lot easier than having them check our ID's and call our parents." She held up a hand at his protest. "You can't call your parents by Muggle phone, and mine are on holiday, I can't exactly charge that kind of long-distance call to their phone bill, can I?"
Draco shut his mouth, but glared at her. "Fine. So what do we do? What was that call about?"
"Message in the lobby. From one A. D."
"Dumbledore?"
"Yes, I'm supposed to go pick it up." She pushed off the covers and swung her legs over the bed.
"You're going to wear the same clothes?"
"Do I have any others?"
Draco looked positively horrified. Hermione almost snorted. How vain could the little prat get? "You could change into your Hogwarts robes, Draco, but that might look a little...odd."
Draco turned away and muttered something about "stupid Muggles".
Hermione laughed as she went out the door. Draco made a face at her back and turned on the TV.
She was back in a couple of minutes, cheeks flushed. "I ran all the way back," she gasped. "It was Dumbledore! We've got to go. Grab your things."
"Now?"
"Yes, now. Hurry up." She reached over and yanked his blankets off, ignoring the fact that he was shirtless. "Get dressed." A grumbling Draco pulled on his Muggle shirt and, grabbing his things, followed her out into the hallway. She read the message aloud to him as they went.
"...and we're supposed to meet him...oh, I haven't read all of this yet, I guess...by NINE O'CLOCK?" She stopped dead in the middle of the hallway, and said, "SHI-SHOOT!"
Malfoy snorted. "Nice, Gra-Hermione."
"Shut it." She started running, dragging her trunk behind her. Draco followed, complaining loudly.
In the lobby, Hermione turned to Draco. "You said you had a credit card?"
"Yeah..."
"Give it here."
"What? Why? You already paid for the room."
"We need something that will get us there fast. I can't afford it."
"So you're using my money?"
Hermione glowered at him. "I'm not the only one missing school here, and we are, unfortunately, both Heads..." She sighed exasperatedly. "Just give it here, all right?"
"Okay, okay!" It was seven in the morning. Draco didn't want to argue with anyone right now, not even know-it-all Granger. He fished around for his wallet and handed her the credit card. "Thank you. Now go wait over there for me."
She was going to pay for treating him like this, Draco thought sourly as he slouched over and sat facing the fountain. He glanced back over his shoulder to see her at some kind of booth...TELEPHONE, read the blue letters over the top. He couldn't quite make out the conversation, but she was looking at the back of the credit card, which worked in both the wizarding and Muggle worlds, and appeared to be reading off the numbers. Draco shrugged and turned back to the fountain. He wondered what sort of vehicle would get them there in such a short amount of time...
Please, please review! (Puppy-dog eyes stolen from Dusty Brown :p)
