Day Twenty
This is not the worst hangover I've ever had, but it's up there in the top ten.
My memories of last night are sketchy, to say the least. I know we discussed team names and camp locations, and I know I drank more beer than I should have. And upon waking, I remember that I had to share a tent with Malfoy. It wasn't too bad a reminder, though; I woke up to find his sleeping form facing away from me, so I had a chance to check out his smooth, tanned back. Very nice. I know we talked about some things last night, but I can't really remember what.
I sneak a hand out from under my blanket and tap him gently on the shoulder. With a sigh, he rolls over and opens his eyes to look at me.
"Hermione, what would you say if I told you you talk in your sleep?" He gives me a broad grin.
"I'd tell you you were full of it, Draco." It feels strange using his first name, after all these years. I bet he feels just as weird. But in this situation, it wouldn't do to start calling each other 'Malfoy' and 'Granger,' much less any of our other more colorful terms for each other.
"Even if I told you that you called out my name all night long?" He gives me a smile and a wink, then stands and stretches his arms high above his head.
"Nice try." I scratch my head. I slept in my braids last night, and they haven't held up too well. I get to my feet and start unraveling my hair. "I'd be more willing to believe I cried out 'Shampoo!' all night long."
"Once we merge, you can use some of ours. I know it takes effort to stay beautiful." Before I can react to his remark, he ducks out of the tent. I take a deep breath and head out as well. The sunlight seems much brighter than usual, but I'm sure that's because of the hangover. At least it's relatively quiet. Malfoy is already halfway down the beach, running toward the surf. Looking around the area, I see that all of our dishes and empty bottles from dinner have been cleared away, and the table is set with plates of fruit and breakfast pastries. I settle into one of the chairs next to the table and observe the Malfoy Morning Ritual while munching on a wedge of melon. As I watch, he splashes out into the water until about chest-deep, then turns and swims a few laps back and forth, parallel to the beach.
I'm startled by a noise next to me, and turn my head to find Kiki settling in at the table across from me. She looks a bit green around the gills, leaving me to wonder just how hung over I look. However, she immediately grabs a piece of pastry and digs in.
"Ugh. Don't let me drink like that again." She shields her eyes from the sun to look out at Malfoy. "Looks like your friend is quite the peppy one. Even after all the drinking last night, he's got a bit of stamina." She gives me a lopsided grin.
"He's not exactly my friend, dear. We were merely thrust together by the Fates." I roll my eyes at her.
"Hmm, well, the Fates have a way of knowing what they're doing, pet." I open my mouth to respond, but she quickly puts up a hand to stop me. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much," she smiles. "Besides, even if you don't consider him a friend, I think he's taken a fancy to you. Last night he looked at you a few times like he wanted to jump you right then and there."
"I don't think so, Kiki." I shake my head gently, minding my headache.
"Disagreement, ladies? Anything I can help solve?" A shadow falls over the table, and we look to find a dripping wet Malfoy standing over us. Why, oh why couldn't he be ugly? Bare chest, bare legs, baggy shorts, gleaming blond hair, and it's all glistening with water. Due to the combination of hangover, hot sun and Malfoy, I decide that I'm officially spending the morning in hell. Malfoy plops down into a chair, smiling widely. He grabs some grapes from the plate of fruit, tosses one up in the air and catches it in his mouth. Then he gives me a broad wink. A glance at Kiki shows that she is also smiling at me. I almost feel like I'm being double-teamed here. I groan, frown and cover my eyes with my hand.
I hear Kiki shift in her seat. "Hey, Carla. Good morning!" Then the creak of the fourth chair as Carla sits down.
"I'm sure you kids can handle all that alcohol, but this old lady is definitely feeling it." I uncover my eyes and turn to smile at her. She looks at the food, selects some orange slices, then takes on the motherly role of the group. "All right, time is short. We need to come up with a group name. Let's start brainstorming."
"Team Starvation."
"Ten Little Indians."
"Nine Losers and a Millionaire."
"The Beach Bunch."
"Does anyone know any words in Tahitian, besides Miti Matai and Fetia Rai?" We all shake our heads at Carla. "How about anything tropical? Hawaiian? Anything?" Again, a round of head shakes. "Let's see... OK, how about the initials from the old teams? Two words that start with F.M. or M.F.?"
We think for a moment, then Malfoy quips, "Sorry, I've got one thing that's M.F. stuck in my head. But I don't think the rest of the team would find it appropriate." I can't help but giggle.
"What about anagrams?" Kiki taps her chin in thought. "Rearrange the letters of our teams. Or of the name of the game." We each grab a sheet of paper and a pencil and try to assemble new words. Kiki and Carla go to work on the letters in our former team names. Malfoy and I are both trying to rearrange the letters in 'Sole Survivor,' which is a challenge because the letters V and U are used too much. Malfoy moves his paper toward me, and I see that he's managed to mix French and lechery to produce 'vous - i - r - lovers.' Charming. I scribble on my paper, then show him a much more simple anagram: 'lose survivor.' He lets out a hiccup of a laugh, then tells the group, "I don't think we're going to come up with anything this way."
Carla thinks for a moment then says, "amicizia. Vincitori."
We all stare at her. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she just cast a spell of some kind, but like no spell I've ever heard. She blushes and shakes her head. "It's Italian. Amicizia means 'friendship,' and vincitori means 'winners.' But that's taxing the limits of my knowledge."
After a round of discussion, we decide that we like the sound of Vincitori, signifying that we're all already winners for making it to the merge. I'm sure we could come up with a better name given more time and a dictionary, but the morning is quickly getting away from us. We turn to the flag and make quick work of it. The production guys must have passed along that we were nearly done, because just as we're putting the finishing touches on the flag, Marcus wanders into the clearing.
"So, you now have a new team name and flag. It's time to get your team together. Which beach will be your new home base?"
Kiki steps forward. "We've decided to live at the old Miti Matai beach."
"All right then, here's what's going to happen. You will all go to the old Fetia Rai beach to get the remaining three people there. Once there, you will have ten minutes to gather everything you can and load it into their fishing boat. Then you will proceed around the island to rejoin the rest of your tribe. Carla, Draco, you two know the way. It's time to go."
We head into the jungle, with Malfoy and Carla taking the lead. Kiki and I drop back a bit to have a quiet conversation.
"Carla told me about the people left in their tribe. I told her a little bit about the rest of us, but not too much. I don't think she's terribly happy with a couple of them, though she seemed to like your friend Draco." I shoot her a glare. "I'm just saying, I don't think their people are as friendly with each other as we are. If we stick together as the old Miti Matai tribe, I think we have a fair chance of getting the upper hand."
Soon we emerge from the trees, and I get my first and last chance to see the Fetia Rai camp. Kiki was right, their shelter is fantastic. There's a cliff along one side of their beach with an indentation in it, and they've extended that to create a kind of combination hut and cave. There's not much time to see the rest of the camp, however. We tell the remaining three about our ten minute time limit, then hurry to gather as many supplies as we can. We manage to get all of the cookware and rice, as well as everyone's personal items. We leave behind the shower they'd won as a reward -- besides our having a natural shower at the waterfall, it's an enormous structure of metal and wood that we could never hope to load onto the tiny boat. We do grab the soaps and shampoo that came along with that reward, as well as their fishing supplies. After ten minutes, the camp is a hollow shell of its former self. The boat is completely full, so we tie the fishing net over the top and push it out. Only two people need to swim while pushing the boat, so we take turns letting two push while five leisurely paddle alongside.
Kiki and I take advantage of the downtime to get to know the other three members of Fetia Rai. Along with Malfoy and Carla, there's a woman named Sheryl and two men, Franklin and Toby. The names are vaguely familiar because we've heard them called out during the various challenges. I remember Franklin, a genial middle-aged guy, from our pairing during a puzzle challenge. Sheryl turns out to be older than me and Malfoy by a few years, but she's so short she looks younger. Toby is another twentysomething, but very shy and quiet. He's a little overweight and wears glasses. From the few words I'm able to coax out of him, he seems like a very nice fellow. After a couple of rotations, it's my turn to help guide the boat. We make it around the tip of the island and see a stretch of beach far ahead with a tiny green flag. Seeing our destination helps motivate everyone to swim a little faster, and by the time we're able to touch bottom, Chet, Ellen and Pete have come out to meet us and help bring in the boat.
Introductions are made as we wade up to the beach. We help unpack all of the belongings from the boat and stow things away at camp. Pete and Toby take down the old Miti Matai flag and replace it with the new blue Vincitori flag. Ellen takes Carla and Sheryl under her wing, showing them where all of our cooking supplies are kept and starting to prepare dinner. Chet steps in to help Ellen, and Kiki and I guide our new campmates down to the pool and waterfall. Everyone is impressed, and the former members of Fetia Rai all agree that we made the right decision.
Dinner is a loud and friendly affair, with everyone getting to know everyone else. Malfoy is asked about his occupation, and he smoothly declares that he's a "freelance artist." A nice choice -- nothing specifically Muggle about it, and just vague enough to avoid details. I wonder if Malfoy made it up completely, or if he actually has some artistic talent. I never thought about Slytherins having talent for anything other than evil or deception.
We stay around the fire until well after dark. Most of us have had a taxing day of swimming around half the island, but we manage to push fatigue away to find out more about our new tribemates. The game is completely different now, supposedly an every-man-for-himself individual challenge. But when tomorrow's first Vincitori vote comes, I won't be surprised at all if we end up with a 5-5 tie. I've spent the last twenty days with these people. Even though our new tribe members seem like nice people, for some reason I feel an allegiance to my former tribe. And if we manage to win tomorrow's vote, we're all guaranteed a spot in the top five.
Finally, we decide that it's time to go to bed. Our shelter was built for eight, but we'd become accustomed to having only five sleeping in it. Plus, I'm stone cold sober and Malfoy is laying a scant three feet away from me. Suddenly it seems very crowded.
This is not the worst hangover I've ever had, but it's up there in the top ten.
My memories of last night are sketchy, to say the least. I know we discussed team names and camp locations, and I know I drank more beer than I should have. And upon waking, I remember that I had to share a tent with Malfoy. It wasn't too bad a reminder, though; I woke up to find his sleeping form facing away from me, so I had a chance to check out his smooth, tanned back. Very nice. I know we talked about some things last night, but I can't really remember what.
I sneak a hand out from under my blanket and tap him gently on the shoulder. With a sigh, he rolls over and opens his eyes to look at me.
"Hermione, what would you say if I told you you talk in your sleep?" He gives me a broad grin.
"I'd tell you you were full of it, Draco." It feels strange using his first name, after all these years. I bet he feels just as weird. But in this situation, it wouldn't do to start calling each other 'Malfoy' and 'Granger,' much less any of our other more colorful terms for each other.
"Even if I told you that you called out my name all night long?" He gives me a smile and a wink, then stands and stretches his arms high above his head.
"Nice try." I scratch my head. I slept in my braids last night, and they haven't held up too well. I get to my feet and start unraveling my hair. "I'd be more willing to believe I cried out 'Shampoo!' all night long."
"Once we merge, you can use some of ours. I know it takes effort to stay beautiful." Before I can react to his remark, he ducks out of the tent. I take a deep breath and head out as well. The sunlight seems much brighter than usual, but I'm sure that's because of the hangover. At least it's relatively quiet. Malfoy is already halfway down the beach, running toward the surf. Looking around the area, I see that all of our dishes and empty bottles from dinner have been cleared away, and the table is set with plates of fruit and breakfast pastries. I settle into one of the chairs next to the table and observe the Malfoy Morning Ritual while munching on a wedge of melon. As I watch, he splashes out into the water until about chest-deep, then turns and swims a few laps back and forth, parallel to the beach.
I'm startled by a noise next to me, and turn my head to find Kiki settling in at the table across from me. She looks a bit green around the gills, leaving me to wonder just how hung over I look. However, she immediately grabs a piece of pastry and digs in.
"Ugh. Don't let me drink like that again." She shields her eyes from the sun to look out at Malfoy. "Looks like your friend is quite the peppy one. Even after all the drinking last night, he's got a bit of stamina." She gives me a lopsided grin.
"He's not exactly my friend, dear. We were merely thrust together by the Fates." I roll my eyes at her.
"Hmm, well, the Fates have a way of knowing what they're doing, pet." I open my mouth to respond, but she quickly puts up a hand to stop me. "Methinks the lady doth protest too much," she smiles. "Besides, even if you don't consider him a friend, I think he's taken a fancy to you. Last night he looked at you a few times like he wanted to jump you right then and there."
"I don't think so, Kiki." I shake my head gently, minding my headache.
"Disagreement, ladies? Anything I can help solve?" A shadow falls over the table, and we look to find a dripping wet Malfoy standing over us. Why, oh why couldn't he be ugly? Bare chest, bare legs, baggy shorts, gleaming blond hair, and it's all glistening with water. Due to the combination of hangover, hot sun and Malfoy, I decide that I'm officially spending the morning in hell. Malfoy plops down into a chair, smiling widely. He grabs some grapes from the plate of fruit, tosses one up in the air and catches it in his mouth. Then he gives me a broad wink. A glance at Kiki shows that she is also smiling at me. I almost feel like I'm being double-teamed here. I groan, frown and cover my eyes with my hand.
I hear Kiki shift in her seat. "Hey, Carla. Good morning!" Then the creak of the fourth chair as Carla sits down.
"I'm sure you kids can handle all that alcohol, but this old lady is definitely feeling it." I uncover my eyes and turn to smile at her. She looks at the food, selects some orange slices, then takes on the motherly role of the group. "All right, time is short. We need to come up with a group name. Let's start brainstorming."
"Team Starvation."
"Ten Little Indians."
"Nine Losers and a Millionaire."
"The Beach Bunch."
"Does anyone know any words in Tahitian, besides Miti Matai and Fetia Rai?" We all shake our heads at Carla. "How about anything tropical? Hawaiian? Anything?" Again, a round of head shakes. "Let's see... OK, how about the initials from the old teams? Two words that start with F.M. or M.F.?"
We think for a moment, then Malfoy quips, "Sorry, I've got one thing that's M.F. stuck in my head. But I don't think the rest of the team would find it appropriate." I can't help but giggle.
"What about anagrams?" Kiki taps her chin in thought. "Rearrange the letters of our teams. Or of the name of the game." We each grab a sheet of paper and a pencil and try to assemble new words. Kiki and Carla go to work on the letters in our former team names. Malfoy and I are both trying to rearrange the letters in 'Sole Survivor,' which is a challenge because the letters V and U are used too much. Malfoy moves his paper toward me, and I see that he's managed to mix French and lechery to produce 'vous - i - r - lovers.' Charming. I scribble on my paper, then show him a much more simple anagram: 'lose survivor.' He lets out a hiccup of a laugh, then tells the group, "I don't think we're going to come up with anything this way."
Carla thinks for a moment then says, "amicizia. Vincitori."
We all stare at her. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she just cast a spell of some kind, but like no spell I've ever heard. She blushes and shakes her head. "It's Italian. Amicizia means 'friendship,' and vincitori means 'winners.' But that's taxing the limits of my knowledge."
After a round of discussion, we decide that we like the sound of Vincitori, signifying that we're all already winners for making it to the merge. I'm sure we could come up with a better name given more time and a dictionary, but the morning is quickly getting away from us. We turn to the flag and make quick work of it. The production guys must have passed along that we were nearly done, because just as we're putting the finishing touches on the flag, Marcus wanders into the clearing.
"So, you now have a new team name and flag. It's time to get your team together. Which beach will be your new home base?"
Kiki steps forward. "We've decided to live at the old Miti Matai beach."
"All right then, here's what's going to happen. You will all go to the old Fetia Rai beach to get the remaining three people there. Once there, you will have ten minutes to gather everything you can and load it into their fishing boat. Then you will proceed around the island to rejoin the rest of your tribe. Carla, Draco, you two know the way. It's time to go."
We head into the jungle, with Malfoy and Carla taking the lead. Kiki and I drop back a bit to have a quiet conversation.
"Carla told me about the people left in their tribe. I told her a little bit about the rest of us, but not too much. I don't think she's terribly happy with a couple of them, though she seemed to like your friend Draco." I shoot her a glare. "I'm just saying, I don't think their people are as friendly with each other as we are. If we stick together as the old Miti Matai tribe, I think we have a fair chance of getting the upper hand."
Soon we emerge from the trees, and I get my first and last chance to see the Fetia Rai camp. Kiki was right, their shelter is fantastic. There's a cliff along one side of their beach with an indentation in it, and they've extended that to create a kind of combination hut and cave. There's not much time to see the rest of the camp, however. We tell the remaining three about our ten minute time limit, then hurry to gather as many supplies as we can. We manage to get all of the cookware and rice, as well as everyone's personal items. We leave behind the shower they'd won as a reward -- besides our having a natural shower at the waterfall, it's an enormous structure of metal and wood that we could never hope to load onto the tiny boat. We do grab the soaps and shampoo that came along with that reward, as well as their fishing supplies. After ten minutes, the camp is a hollow shell of its former self. The boat is completely full, so we tie the fishing net over the top and push it out. Only two people need to swim while pushing the boat, so we take turns letting two push while five leisurely paddle alongside.
Kiki and I take advantage of the downtime to get to know the other three members of Fetia Rai. Along with Malfoy and Carla, there's a woman named Sheryl and two men, Franklin and Toby. The names are vaguely familiar because we've heard them called out during the various challenges. I remember Franklin, a genial middle-aged guy, from our pairing during a puzzle challenge. Sheryl turns out to be older than me and Malfoy by a few years, but she's so short she looks younger. Toby is another twentysomething, but very shy and quiet. He's a little overweight and wears glasses. From the few words I'm able to coax out of him, he seems like a very nice fellow. After a couple of rotations, it's my turn to help guide the boat. We make it around the tip of the island and see a stretch of beach far ahead with a tiny green flag. Seeing our destination helps motivate everyone to swim a little faster, and by the time we're able to touch bottom, Chet, Ellen and Pete have come out to meet us and help bring in the boat.
Introductions are made as we wade up to the beach. We help unpack all of the belongings from the boat and stow things away at camp. Pete and Toby take down the old Miti Matai flag and replace it with the new blue Vincitori flag. Ellen takes Carla and Sheryl under her wing, showing them where all of our cooking supplies are kept and starting to prepare dinner. Chet steps in to help Ellen, and Kiki and I guide our new campmates down to the pool and waterfall. Everyone is impressed, and the former members of Fetia Rai all agree that we made the right decision.
Dinner is a loud and friendly affair, with everyone getting to know everyone else. Malfoy is asked about his occupation, and he smoothly declares that he's a "freelance artist." A nice choice -- nothing specifically Muggle about it, and just vague enough to avoid details. I wonder if Malfoy made it up completely, or if he actually has some artistic talent. I never thought about Slytherins having talent for anything other than evil or deception.
We stay around the fire until well after dark. Most of us have had a taxing day of swimming around half the island, but we manage to push fatigue away to find out more about our new tribemates. The game is completely different now, supposedly an every-man-for-himself individual challenge. But when tomorrow's first Vincitori vote comes, I won't be surprised at all if we end up with a 5-5 tie. I've spent the last twenty days with these people. Even though our new tribe members seem like nice people, for some reason I feel an allegiance to my former tribe. And if we manage to win tomorrow's vote, we're all guaranteed a spot in the top five.
Finally, we decide that it's time to go to bed. Our shelter was built for eight, but we'd become accustomed to having only five sleeping in it. Plus, I'm stone cold sober and Malfoy is laying a scant three feet away from me. Suddenly it seems very crowded.