Day Nineteen - Evening
Malfoy takes my hand and shakes it. Nice and firm. And warm. His silver eyes are looking right into mine, and I almost wish that I could take this moment and tuck it away for safekeeping. We're not fighting, we're not even speaking. In our colorful history we've barely ever touched, and never in a friendly manner. There are no snide remarks, no cruel insults. Just a handsome man giving me a genuine smile. Sure, it's put on for the cameras. But it certainly looks nice.
"A pleasure to meet you." Wah! I was so entranced, he got in the first words. Shake it off, girl!
I lick my lips slowly. "Oh, the pleasure's all mine." Bingo! A raised eyebrow, and I've caught up.
Marcus instructs us to go to my camp, so I can give my pal Draco the grand tour. As we break off, I hear Marcus tell the other tribe members that they'll all be allowed to socialize over a tropical feast. Great. They all get to dine and dish, and I'm going to have to cook rice for Malfoy.
He breaks the silence again as we trudge through the trees. "Draco Malfoy."
"Hermione Granger."
"That's a lovely name." I stumble over a root, and he grabs my arm before I fall. I look at him with a questioning look, and he answers with a glance toward the cameraman to our right. Charming. He's able to unnerve me and act natural for the cameras at the same time.
"So, where are you from?" Two can play at this game.
"London."
"Oh, me too! What school did you attend?"
He waves his hand casually. "You've never heard of it, it's a small private school." Damn.
"So, why choose the scarlet and gold for your colors? I figured you more for a green and silver man."
His mouth briefly twists into The Smirk, then settles back into a smile. "Nasty colors, those. Remind me of snakes. Bad associations." This from Draco 'You Can Take Away My Slytherin Pride When You Pry It From My Cold, Dead Fingers' Malfoy? Something's definitely not right here.
Our conversation remains a stilted tangle of lies scattered amongst stretches of silence until we reach the Miti Matai camp. At least now I can stop the banalities for a while and give him a tour around our camp. I show him our shelter, which he seems to inspect carefully. Granted, despite whatever is between the two of us, we're also playing this game. Right now our primary responsibility is to decide where ten people should live. I take pleasure in telling him to grab one of our water jugs, and he follows me down to the waterfall and pool.
"Wow." He seems genuinely impressed. "We only have a small stream over at our camp. This is much better." After filling the water jug, he sets it down then gives me a saucy wink.
"Fancy a dip?"
Without waiting for an answer, he takes off his necklace of flowers and his cape, kicks off his tennis shoes and leaps into the pool. He starts swimming toward the far side of the pool.
"What the hell, why not?" I shed my sarong, anklets and bracelets and jump in.
By the time I make it to the far side of the pool, Malfoy has already hoisted himself up onto the rocks. As I reach him, he offers me his hand. I look up into his eyes, but the shadows on this side of the pool make it hard to read his expression. I decide to take a chance, and grab his hand. He helps pull me out of the pool and onto the rock next to him.
"So, this is a really lovely camp you have here. I think I really prefer it to ours." He's speaking to me, but is watching the cameraman out of the corner of his eye.
"Well, I'll be interested to hear what Kiki thinks of your camp."
"Ah, the redhead. Reminds me a bit of someone I knew from school." He grins at me and arches an eyebrow. "I'll bet you two are quite chummy."
"You've got to make friends in this game to survive. But not too good of friends."
He goes back to watching the cameraman. "Very true. In fact, I'll bet you and I will get along just nicely, Celluloid Oblivate."
For a moment I don't understand what he's said. Then I look over at the cameraman, who's now inspecting the side of his camera and thumping it with his hand. Malfoy has somehow injured the camera by casually throwing a spell into conversation. After a few more moments of futile camera-thumping, the cameraman heads quickly back through the jungle, drawing out his walkie-talkie as he jogs.
"Smooth. I hope you don't do that every day."
Malfoy turns to me. "This is about as far as we can get from the rest of the camera crews, so we'll have a moment. But time is still short." He grabs my hand, startling me. "I swear to you, I didn't know you were going to be here. I took a guess at your colors so I could get you alone. I don't know why you're here -- your reasons may be similar to mine, for all I know. But I need you to understand, I absolutely have to win this money."
I pull my hand out of his. "Why, so Voldemort's minions can rise up again? Face it, Malfoy. Your side lost, my side won. Good will always win over evil. This game will be no exception. Not only do I plan to win, I plan to stomp you into the ground in the process."
I can't read his face in the shadows. The sun has started to go down, and the waterfall is shrouded in the semi-dark of evening. After a pause that feels hours long, he sighs.
"I should have guessed you'd feel that way. I've never given you any reason to feel otherwise. But you have it all wrong."
"I've never been wrong about you, Malfoy." I'm ready to spout another tirade, but his hand is suddenly up against my lips. His shadowy head cocks toward the jungle. His warm hand slowly lowers from my lips, tracing a light path from my chin to the hollow at the base of my throat. Then he turns and jumps back into the pool. Just as he starts swimming back to the shore, a new cameraman emerges through the trees.
I close my eyes for a moment and try to get the goosebumps to retreat. Of course, I'm just cold from the pool water and the shadows of the evening. Of course.
* * * * *
We return to camp and find instructions to return to the same beach that we were at this morning. Conversation is nonexistent during this trek through the woods, as I'm sure we both have a lot to think about. Malfoy is obviously playing me, trying to gain my sympathy. He's also apparently trying to seduce me, or at least get me into a state of lustful stupidity. As far as the first, I don't trust him any further than I can throw him. But as far as seduction goes, two can play at that game.
Back at the clearing, there are two tents and a blazing fire. The huts from earlier are gone, as well as the rest of our teams. Kiki and her partner are already sitting in front of the fire, waiting for us to arrive. Kiki hops up as we approach and gives me a hug.
"Hermione, I hope you had as much fun as I did! This is Carla." I shake hands with the older woman, and turn to Malfoy.
"This is Draco. Draco, Kiki." He steps forward as if he were the most suave, debonair fellow in the world. He grasps Kiki's hand in both of his.
"Kiki, it is truly a pleasure to meet you." He gives her the ultra-handsome grin, and that damned adorable Kiki responds with a glowing smile. And I'm instantly filled with jealousy. Damn it, he's supposed to be flirting with me! Not that he's going to get anywhere, but still!
Their little lovefest is interrupted by Marcus, slinking out of the shadows pushing a cart covered with a cloth.
"So you four have, among you, inspected both campsites. Your teammates have gone home for the night, but you'll be spending the night here." He uncovers the cart to reveal not only a fantastic spread of food, but also many bottles of beer. "I know that brainstorming is tough work, so we're providing you dinner and drinks, as well as breakfast tomorrow. Your job is to decide what beach your new merged tribe will live on, as well as a name for the tribe. Here are paints and a flag, so that you can mark your beach with your new tribe's name and color." He hands us the supplies, as well as new blue headbands.
We sit around a small circular table and devour the feast. After a couple of bottles of beer apiece, the mood of the group is significantly lighter. We discuss the camps, and decide that although the Fetia Rai site has, to quote Kiki, "an awesomely gorgeous shelter," the pool and waterfall of Miti Matai's site are enough to tilt the vote our way. The new tribe will live at the old Miti Matai beach. Ideas for names are bandied about, including taking the first letters of everyone's name and rearranging them to form words.
"I don't know," I ponder. "Between our five, all we can make is PHECK." Kiki starts giggling at the sound of the word, and soon the rest of us are laughing too. Malfoy thinks about it, then announces that their team doesn't even have a vowel to offer.
Carla offers her wisdom. "There's always Miti Rai or Fetia Matai, we could just mix up the existing names." We veto that idea pretty quickly, then grab more cold beers.
All the while, Malfoy seems to be flirting with Kiki. I don't want him to see that it bothers me. After all, why wouldn't it bother me? Kiki is my friend, and Malfoy is... well, being Malfoy is enough. Every now and then he tries to catch my eye, but I avoid his gaze. I don't want him to rub his flirtations in my face.
He grabs my leg under the table, which startles me enough that I meet his eyes. By the firelight, I could almost swear that he looks apologetic, but there's no way that could be possible. Then he runs his hand up my leg, and raises an eyebrow in silent commentary of the clean-shaven feel. I raise my eyes to the sky in a look of innocence, and the seriousness of the moment is broken.
We finally decide that we're too drunk to make any decisions, and agree to choose a tribe name and decorate the flag in the morning. Kiki and I sling our arms around each other to keep steady, and move slowly toward one of the tents. Squinting, we see that one tent has blue and white flaps, and the other has scarlet and gold.
"Oh, don't tell me we have to share a tent with our new buddies." I get close to the red tent and manage to read a note on the side. The note has two names. One of them is mine. The other is not Kiki's. I close my eyes and put my head in my hands.
A warm arm separates me from Kiki, then wraps around my shoulders. I keep my eyes on the sand at my feet as I'm guided into the scarlet and gold tent. Fortunately, there are two mats on the floor, although they are a little too close together for my taste. A couple of candles in the corner lend just enough light to see.
Malfoy leaves me standing by the front of the tent, swaying slightly. Suddenly, I'm very tired. He pulls the blanket back on one of the mats, fluffs the pillow, then gently helps me lie down.
"This pillow isn't as nice as mine. I brought a pillow, did I tell you that?"
"Nope. Though I bet it's a very nice pillow, this one will have to do."
I'm not so drunk that I'm going to let anything slip, but I'm far too drunk to be able to come up with veiled references or subtle meanings. Malfoy blows out the candles and settles in next to me, a mere few feet away. I turn to look at him, but I can barely make out anything in the dark tent.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I think for a moment. "After all, we just met."
"Why not? You seem like a lovely girl."
"I bet you say that to all the girls. I bet you're a real heartbreaker."
There's a quiet rustling next to me, then a hand gently brushes my hair back from my forehead. I feel breathing right next to my ear, then a whisper so quiet no camera could ever pick it up.
"Hermione, I'd never break your heart."
I open my mouth to speak, but the warm hand is there again on my lips. "Sssshh," he breathes. "Go to sleep." After a few minutes, drunk and tired win out over confused and I drift off.
Malfoy takes my hand and shakes it. Nice and firm. And warm. His silver eyes are looking right into mine, and I almost wish that I could take this moment and tuck it away for safekeeping. We're not fighting, we're not even speaking. In our colorful history we've barely ever touched, and never in a friendly manner. There are no snide remarks, no cruel insults. Just a handsome man giving me a genuine smile. Sure, it's put on for the cameras. But it certainly looks nice.
"A pleasure to meet you." Wah! I was so entranced, he got in the first words. Shake it off, girl!
I lick my lips slowly. "Oh, the pleasure's all mine." Bingo! A raised eyebrow, and I've caught up.
Marcus instructs us to go to my camp, so I can give my pal Draco the grand tour. As we break off, I hear Marcus tell the other tribe members that they'll all be allowed to socialize over a tropical feast. Great. They all get to dine and dish, and I'm going to have to cook rice for Malfoy.
He breaks the silence again as we trudge through the trees. "Draco Malfoy."
"Hermione Granger."
"That's a lovely name." I stumble over a root, and he grabs my arm before I fall. I look at him with a questioning look, and he answers with a glance toward the cameraman to our right. Charming. He's able to unnerve me and act natural for the cameras at the same time.
"So, where are you from?" Two can play at this game.
"London."
"Oh, me too! What school did you attend?"
He waves his hand casually. "You've never heard of it, it's a small private school." Damn.
"So, why choose the scarlet and gold for your colors? I figured you more for a green and silver man."
His mouth briefly twists into The Smirk, then settles back into a smile. "Nasty colors, those. Remind me of snakes. Bad associations." This from Draco 'You Can Take Away My Slytherin Pride When You Pry It From My Cold, Dead Fingers' Malfoy? Something's definitely not right here.
Our conversation remains a stilted tangle of lies scattered amongst stretches of silence until we reach the Miti Matai camp. At least now I can stop the banalities for a while and give him a tour around our camp. I show him our shelter, which he seems to inspect carefully. Granted, despite whatever is between the two of us, we're also playing this game. Right now our primary responsibility is to decide where ten people should live. I take pleasure in telling him to grab one of our water jugs, and he follows me down to the waterfall and pool.
"Wow." He seems genuinely impressed. "We only have a small stream over at our camp. This is much better." After filling the water jug, he sets it down then gives me a saucy wink.
"Fancy a dip?"
Without waiting for an answer, he takes off his necklace of flowers and his cape, kicks off his tennis shoes and leaps into the pool. He starts swimming toward the far side of the pool.
"What the hell, why not?" I shed my sarong, anklets and bracelets and jump in.
By the time I make it to the far side of the pool, Malfoy has already hoisted himself up onto the rocks. As I reach him, he offers me his hand. I look up into his eyes, but the shadows on this side of the pool make it hard to read his expression. I decide to take a chance, and grab his hand. He helps pull me out of the pool and onto the rock next to him.
"So, this is a really lovely camp you have here. I think I really prefer it to ours." He's speaking to me, but is watching the cameraman out of the corner of his eye.
"Well, I'll be interested to hear what Kiki thinks of your camp."
"Ah, the redhead. Reminds me a bit of someone I knew from school." He grins at me and arches an eyebrow. "I'll bet you two are quite chummy."
"You've got to make friends in this game to survive. But not too good of friends."
He goes back to watching the cameraman. "Very true. In fact, I'll bet you and I will get along just nicely, Celluloid Oblivate."
For a moment I don't understand what he's said. Then I look over at the cameraman, who's now inspecting the side of his camera and thumping it with his hand. Malfoy has somehow injured the camera by casually throwing a spell into conversation. After a few more moments of futile camera-thumping, the cameraman heads quickly back through the jungle, drawing out his walkie-talkie as he jogs.
"Smooth. I hope you don't do that every day."
Malfoy turns to me. "This is about as far as we can get from the rest of the camera crews, so we'll have a moment. But time is still short." He grabs my hand, startling me. "I swear to you, I didn't know you were going to be here. I took a guess at your colors so I could get you alone. I don't know why you're here -- your reasons may be similar to mine, for all I know. But I need you to understand, I absolutely have to win this money."
I pull my hand out of his. "Why, so Voldemort's minions can rise up again? Face it, Malfoy. Your side lost, my side won. Good will always win over evil. This game will be no exception. Not only do I plan to win, I plan to stomp you into the ground in the process."
I can't read his face in the shadows. The sun has started to go down, and the waterfall is shrouded in the semi-dark of evening. After a pause that feels hours long, he sighs.
"I should have guessed you'd feel that way. I've never given you any reason to feel otherwise. But you have it all wrong."
"I've never been wrong about you, Malfoy." I'm ready to spout another tirade, but his hand is suddenly up against my lips. His shadowy head cocks toward the jungle. His warm hand slowly lowers from my lips, tracing a light path from my chin to the hollow at the base of my throat. Then he turns and jumps back into the pool. Just as he starts swimming back to the shore, a new cameraman emerges through the trees.
I close my eyes for a moment and try to get the goosebumps to retreat. Of course, I'm just cold from the pool water and the shadows of the evening. Of course.
* * * * *
We return to camp and find instructions to return to the same beach that we were at this morning. Conversation is nonexistent during this trek through the woods, as I'm sure we both have a lot to think about. Malfoy is obviously playing me, trying to gain my sympathy. He's also apparently trying to seduce me, or at least get me into a state of lustful stupidity. As far as the first, I don't trust him any further than I can throw him. But as far as seduction goes, two can play at that game.
Back at the clearing, there are two tents and a blazing fire. The huts from earlier are gone, as well as the rest of our teams. Kiki and her partner are already sitting in front of the fire, waiting for us to arrive. Kiki hops up as we approach and gives me a hug.
"Hermione, I hope you had as much fun as I did! This is Carla." I shake hands with the older woman, and turn to Malfoy.
"This is Draco. Draco, Kiki." He steps forward as if he were the most suave, debonair fellow in the world. He grasps Kiki's hand in both of his.
"Kiki, it is truly a pleasure to meet you." He gives her the ultra-handsome grin, and that damned adorable Kiki responds with a glowing smile. And I'm instantly filled with jealousy. Damn it, he's supposed to be flirting with me! Not that he's going to get anywhere, but still!
Their little lovefest is interrupted by Marcus, slinking out of the shadows pushing a cart covered with a cloth.
"So you four have, among you, inspected both campsites. Your teammates have gone home for the night, but you'll be spending the night here." He uncovers the cart to reveal not only a fantastic spread of food, but also many bottles of beer. "I know that brainstorming is tough work, so we're providing you dinner and drinks, as well as breakfast tomorrow. Your job is to decide what beach your new merged tribe will live on, as well as a name for the tribe. Here are paints and a flag, so that you can mark your beach with your new tribe's name and color." He hands us the supplies, as well as new blue headbands.
We sit around a small circular table and devour the feast. After a couple of bottles of beer apiece, the mood of the group is significantly lighter. We discuss the camps, and decide that although the Fetia Rai site has, to quote Kiki, "an awesomely gorgeous shelter," the pool and waterfall of Miti Matai's site are enough to tilt the vote our way. The new tribe will live at the old Miti Matai beach. Ideas for names are bandied about, including taking the first letters of everyone's name and rearranging them to form words.
"I don't know," I ponder. "Between our five, all we can make is PHECK." Kiki starts giggling at the sound of the word, and soon the rest of us are laughing too. Malfoy thinks about it, then announces that their team doesn't even have a vowel to offer.
Carla offers her wisdom. "There's always Miti Rai or Fetia Matai, we could just mix up the existing names." We veto that idea pretty quickly, then grab more cold beers.
All the while, Malfoy seems to be flirting with Kiki. I don't want him to see that it bothers me. After all, why wouldn't it bother me? Kiki is my friend, and Malfoy is... well, being Malfoy is enough. Every now and then he tries to catch my eye, but I avoid his gaze. I don't want him to rub his flirtations in my face.
He grabs my leg under the table, which startles me enough that I meet his eyes. By the firelight, I could almost swear that he looks apologetic, but there's no way that could be possible. Then he runs his hand up my leg, and raises an eyebrow in silent commentary of the clean-shaven feel. I raise my eyes to the sky in a look of innocence, and the seriousness of the moment is broken.
We finally decide that we're too drunk to make any decisions, and agree to choose a tribe name and decorate the flag in the morning. Kiki and I sling our arms around each other to keep steady, and move slowly toward one of the tents. Squinting, we see that one tent has blue and white flaps, and the other has scarlet and gold.
"Oh, don't tell me we have to share a tent with our new buddies." I get close to the red tent and manage to read a note on the side. The note has two names. One of them is mine. The other is not Kiki's. I close my eyes and put my head in my hands.
A warm arm separates me from Kiki, then wraps around my shoulders. I keep my eyes on the sand at my feet as I'm guided into the scarlet and gold tent. Fortunately, there are two mats on the floor, although they are a little too close together for my taste. A couple of candles in the corner lend just enough light to see.
Malfoy leaves me standing by the front of the tent, swaying slightly. Suddenly, I'm very tired. He pulls the blanket back on one of the mats, fluffs the pillow, then gently helps me lie down.
"This pillow isn't as nice as mine. I brought a pillow, did I tell you that?"
"Nope. Though I bet it's a very nice pillow, this one will have to do."
I'm not so drunk that I'm going to let anything slip, but I'm far too drunk to be able to come up with veiled references or subtle meanings. Malfoy blows out the candles and settles in next to me, a mere few feet away. I turn to look at him, but I can barely make out anything in the dark tent.
"Why are you being so nice to me?" I think for a moment. "After all, we just met."
"Why not? You seem like a lovely girl."
"I bet you say that to all the girls. I bet you're a real heartbreaker."
There's a quiet rustling next to me, then a hand gently brushes my hair back from my forehead. I feel breathing right next to my ear, then a whisper so quiet no camera could ever pick it up.
"Hermione, I'd never break your heart."
I open my mouth to speak, but the warm hand is there again on my lips. "Sssshh," he breathes. "Go to sleep." After a few minutes, drunk and tired win out over confused and I drift off.