Disclaimer: Not mine. Not yours. Only JK Rowling's.
A/N: Read and Review
You're Pretty
May 26, 1990
Hermione was combing her hair after she took a nice, long bath. She was now seen wearing a simple white blouse, simple light blue skirt that ended just a few inches below her knee and white sandals. She was now putting a light blue headband on her hair.
The brunette smiled once she was done dressing up. Today, she would just meet up with her new friend, the nine-year-old Draco Malfoy (together with Mr. Beady, of course). Chuckling to herself, Hermione stood up and opened her bedroom door, only to be surprised by Merlin who was just about to knock on her door. Hermione shrieked slightly, now clutching her hammering heart.
"Good Lord, you scared me, Merlin!" Hermione exclaimed. "Don't you ever do that again!"
Merlin looked at Hermione with amusement. 'She does look pretty today,' he mused, eyes sparkling. "I apologize, Miss Granger. I just want to ask if you want any help from me right now."
Hermione shook her head and smiled. "No, I think I can manage surviving this day without any help from you, Merlin."
"Ah, I see," he said, nodding. "Now, off you go. Mister Malfoy's already waiting for you."
The brunette groaned. "Why does he always arrive earlier than I do?"
The old wizard smiled. "I think Mister Malfoy arrived at exactly 12:10, Miss Granger."
Hermione's jaw dropped. "But we have a deal that we'll meet at 1 pm! Why did he arrive in our meeting place very early?"
"Well, I think Mister Malfoy is excited with your little meeting, Miss Granger," Merlin mused.
Hermione's brown knitted together, confused. "I don't understand," she said.
Merlin sighed. "I think it will be really best if you go now."
The brunette nodded. "Yes, you're right," she said. "See you later, Merlin. I'll call you if I need help."
"Goodbye," he said and watched as Hermione walked out of her room. Once Merlin had heard the main door of the house closing, he slightly smiled. "I can't help but watch what will happen between the two of them." So, with a soft pop, he disappeared.
Draco looked at his watch for the umpteenth time. It was still 12:50 in the afternoon so it meant Hermione wasn't late. The blond bit his bottom lip. He was waiting for her since 12:10 in the afternoon. Well, actually he planned to go here in their new meeting place at 12:50 pm but, surprisingly, his feet dragged him to their meeting place 40 minutes earlier than he had planned to.
The blond sighed as he looked at the teddy bear on his lap. His parents had no idea that their son owned a teddy bear and Draco knew it was best for them not to know at all. Fortunately, they wouldn't be home for three days so they still didn't know that he owned one. Draco frowned. If ever his parents knew he owned a teddy bear, they might confiscate Mr. Beady from him and throw him away from him. Draco hugged his teddy bear tighter. There was no way his parents would know about Mr. Beady. He wouldn't let that happen.
"Hermione's not yet here, Mr. Beady," Draco said, talking to his teddy bear. He sighed as he opened another Chocolate Frog. He had brought quite a lot to share with Hermione and now, he had already eaten 10 Chocolate Frogs. It was really a good idea that he brought a lot.
"Draco!" her familiar voice called out.
The blond snapped his head into her direction and bit back a smile. She was wearing a simple blouse and simple blue skirt. He noticed that she wasn't carrying her body bag today. Unable to restrain his smile anymore, Draco grinned widely. Hermione did look positively lovely today.
Hermione beamed brighter when she saw that he smiled back. Draco was wearing a simple white shirt and khaki pants. Mr. Beady was seen seated on his lap. A pile of Chocolate Frogs was also seen on his side.
The brunette then sat down beside him, shoving the pile of Chocolate Frogs a little to the middle so she could sit down.
"Want some Chocolate Frogs?" Draco offered, opening another wrapper of the chocolate. "I brought a lot, you know."
Hermione smiled as she picked one of the Chocolate Frogs and opened the wrapper. And then, breaking the silence, she casually asked, "So you were waiting for me since 12:10 in the afternoon?" At the corner of her eyes, she noticed that Draco stiffened and a faint blush appeared on both of his pale cheeks.
"I just didn't know what to do at home so I decided to go here early," Draco answered, slightly pouting. His brows then knitted together. "Wait," he said and then looked at Hermione, "how did you know I arrived here at exactly 12:10 in the afternoon?"
Shoot.
"Oh, umm, ha ha ha," Hermione said, nervously laughing. "You fell for that! I was… only joking, you know."
The blond seemed to buy what Hermione had answered him because he turned into a deeper shade of red.
The brunette slightly smirked. "So, you really arrived here early, huh?" she asked, her voice teasing.
Draco frowned. "I told you - ."
"All right, all right," Hermione said, laughing at his uneasiness. "Now, since we are here, what will we do then?"
The blond shrugged. "I honestly don't know."
Hermione grimaced. "I honestly don't know, too."
Draco chuckled. "I thought of a thing to do now," he said, patting Mr. Beady's head.
"And what is it?" the brunette asked.
"Can I ask you some things about your life?" the blond asked.
"Okay," Hermione slowly said. "But don't ask personal questions, all right?"
The blond nodded. "Okay," he answered. He then put a thoughtful look on his face. "Hmm… where do I start? Oh, okay." He then looked at Hermione. "What's your full name?"
Hermione bit her bottom lip. Would she tell him or not? If she did, Draco would be suspicious if one day he would meet a girl that looked exactly like her with an exact name. "Umm… Draco, I think it will be best if you won't know my real name."
Draco pouted. "Why not? It's nothing personal, right?" he innocently asked, biting the head of the Chocolate Frog.
The brunette sighed and closed her eyes. "Just… trust me, Draco. I really can't tell you," she whispered as she opened her eyes and stared at the confused boy.
He nodded, though, still confused. "Okay, I won't ask you anymore," he promised. "Anyway, back to my interrogation. How old are you?"
"Seventeen. You?"
"Nine. I'll almost turn ten," he answered. And then he frowned. "Seventeen? Shouldn't you be in Hogwarts? It's still early for summer break, you know."
Crap.
Hermione gulped. She hadn't thought about this fact. "We – well, Draco, Professor Mc – Dumbledore (she immediately remembered that Professor Dumbledore was still alive on this year) sent me into a… a secret task for three weeks. After that I'll… I'll go back to Hogwarts," she said, stammering for words.
"Oh," Draco said, nodding his head. "Why were you sent by Professor Dumbledore, then? There are many students in Hogwarts, you know. Why you?"
Hermione knew she could answer this. "Well, because I'm Head Girl, that's why."
The blond stared at her in awe. "Cool, you're Head Girl?" he asked as Hermione nodded. "I want to be Head Boy, too, when I grow up."
The brunette smiled – a smile meaning she knew something he didn't know. "Don't worry, Draco, I'm sure you'll become one."
Draco smiled. "So, it does mean you are intelligent" he said, staring at her in awe again. "Wow, I didn't know you are intelligent."
"Actually, I'm the most intelligent witch on my year," she proudly said, a big grin on her face.
Draco smiled back. "Show off."
Hermione frowned. "No, I'm not!" she exclaimed in protest. "My classmates and teachers tell me that I am indeed the most intelligent witch on my year."
Draco's smile grew. "Yeah, I believe you but still… show off."
"Show off," Hermione mimicked, making Draco laugh. "Look who's talking," she mumbled inaudibly.
"Excuse me?" Draco asked.
"I said, what's your next question?" Hermione grumbled.
"Well, I promise this isn't too personal," Draco said, mustering all of his innocence to show on his pale, handsome face, "but, do you have a boyfriend already?"
Hermione's jaw dropped. "But that's a personal question!" she exclaimed. "You promised me, you spoiled brat. No breaking of promises."
Draco chuckled. "No need to get so worked up, Hermione. I'm not serious," he explained. "You don't need to answer my question." Now, his last sentence was a lie. Draco really anticipated knowing if the beautiful young woman beside him had a boyfriend already. And… it would be shocking if she didn't have any.
"Next question, please," Hermione said, slightly feeling annoyed.
"All right," Draco said. He thought for a few minutes until his face lit up because of excitement. "You're seventeen, right?"
"Yeah?"
"Then, you can use magic anywhere without being scolded by the Ministry of Magic!" he exclaimed. "Can you show me some magic with your wand? And can you summon your patronus – if you can only. I want to see what the shape of your patronus is. My father's patronus is a bat, you know."
Darn.
'Oh my god, what will I do?' Hermione frantically asked herself. 'I don't have my wand, for crying out loud!'
"Umm… Hermione? Are you quite all right?" the blond asked, confused as to why the brunette beside him suddenly turned pale.
"I'm all right, Draco," she lied, now wringing her right wrist nervously. "Umm… Draco, I can't show you magic."
A shock look crossed on Draco's face. "You're… you're not a witch?" he nervously asked. If Hermione wasn't a witch then… he made friends with a Muggle! And worse, he liked this Muggle! Oh the horror! What would his father do to him… to Hermione if he discovered that his one and only Pureblood son had a stupid (who really was intelligent), filthy (who really looked clean right now), stinky (who really smelled wonderful today), and ugly (bleh, she was so beautiful, all right) Muggle friend?
"No!" Hermione immediately exclaimed abruptly. "I'm a witch, a proud one. I know many spells and all… but, I don't have my wand right now," she confessed. "I can't show you magic today, I'm sorry."
Draco released a sigh of relief. "I thought you were a Muggle for a minute, you know," the blond said, eating another Chocolate Frog. "My dad will be furious if he discovered that I have a Muggle friend or… a Muggle-born."
The brunette nervously gulped.
"So, what's the reason why you don't have your wand right now?" Draco asked.
Hermione sighed. 'Might as well tell the partial truth,' she thought. "Well, my loathed ('and liked') enemy broke it," she said.
The blond gasped in horror. "He didn't?"
"Yes, he did," the brunette said, nodding.
"That's awful," he said, making a face. "The person who broke your wand is really, really bad."
Hermione couldn't help but smirk. 'If only you know who you are describing, Draco,' she said as she picked a Chocolate Frog from the decreasing pile and opened the wrapper.
"So, you can't really show me magic," he grumbled, frowning. He then looked at Hermione. "Do you promise to show me one day once you have your wand back?"
Curses.
"Umm… I can't promise," Hermione slowly said as she watched the blond frowning deeper. "I'm sorry."
"Why? Will you go somewhere?" he asked, making Hermione gulp. Maybe his interrogation was not a good thing to do after all.
"I… don't know," Hermione whispered, staring into space.
"Oh," he said, disappointed.
"Draco," she asked, not looking at her friend beside her, "will you cry if I go?"
"No, of course not," the blond abruptly said, stroking Mr. Beady's head. "Malfoys don't cry."
"Right," Hermione said.
An uncomfortable silence was heard between the two. Draco was busying himself by stroking Mr. Beady's head while Hermione nibbled with her Chocolate Frog.
"Wow," Draco suddenly said, breaking the silence, "this is uncomfortable."
Hermione nervously chuckled. "Yeah."
"Bloody hell," Draco muttered. Hermione gasped and looked at Draco with wide, surprised eyes. The blond stared back, confused as to why the brunette was looking at him like that. "What?"
"Draco Malfoy, take that back," the brunette ordered, her voice suddenly stern and serious. Her eyes were wide ('adorably wide,' Draco thought) and her lips were formed into a thin line.
"What did I say?" the blond innocently asked, still confused.
"Don't play innocent with me, Mister Malfoy," Hermione said. Draco thought that she oddly (and admiringly) sounded like a mother to him. "You know what you have said. Now take it back."
"What? Bloody hell?" he asked and watched in amusement when Hermione flinched. "Bloody hell?"
"Stop it, you spoiled brat!" Hermione scolded. "That's a bad word. And you are still nine, for heaven's sake! A boy like you shouldn't say… say those words!"
"Bloody hell?" Draco asked again, now teasing the brunette.
"One more, Mister Malfoy, or I swear to Merlin I'll cut your tongue," the brunette threatened, her voice dangerously low. The blond had to admit, Hermione looked really scary when she was angry but at the same time, she was also very, very pretty.
"I still don't understand," he said, a taunting smirk on his face. "Are you talking about 'Bloody hell'?"
"That's it, Draco Malfoy, show me your tongue," Hermione said, now feeling irritated. He was still young, for crying out loud! He shouldn't say bad words – kids shouldn't say bad words. It was very, very bad.
"What if I don't want to," Draco said, feigning stubbornness. "My father shouts that to me almost everyday, you know, so I thought it isn't bad at all."
Hermione frowned. Lucius Malfoy cursed in front of his nine-year-old son. She shook her head. That was not a very good thing a good parent should do. Oh yeah, she forgot. Lucius Malfoy was bad. "But you still shouldn't say those bad words, Draco. That's not good. Now, show me your tongue so I can teach you a lesson," Hermione said, her right hand rummaging inside her pocket. The brunette sighed. Of course, she didn't have her wand.
Draco smirked. "Too bad you don't have your wand, Hermione," he said. "Now, I can keep my tongue."
"Ha ha ha, lucky you," Hermione said sarcastically while rolling her eyes.
"Bloody hell," Draco said again and smirked as Hermione glared at him. He laughed.
"Draco Malfoy - ."
"You know, you're prettier when you are angry, Hermione," Draco said, still laughing. Hermione stared at him, shocked as a blush slowly crept on both of her pale cheeks. Yes, complimented by a nine-year-old boy couldn't make Hermione blush but we were talking about the younger version of her crush here.
Draco stopped laughing when he realized what he had just said. He blushed too and looked at Mr. Beady, refusing to look at the young woman beside him.
"Err… why thank you, Draco," Hermione said as she watched in amusement the fidgeting boy. She caught sight of the blush on both of his cheeks. The brunette smiled. He was embarrassed, too.
The blond just nodded his head, still embarrassed.
"You… you really think so?" Hermione whispered.
"What?" Draco asked, drawing circles on Mr. Beady's head, still refusing to look at Hermione's eyes.
"Do you really think I'm prettier when I'm angry?" she asked. She still couldn't believe that Draco "Jerk" Malfoy thought that she was pretty when she was angry.
"Umm… yeah," he said, slowly looking at Hermione. He still had faint red patches on both of his cheek as he embarrassedly admitted what he had thought of her ever since he had met her. "You're pretty, you know. Prettier when you're angry."
Hermione smiled. "Thank you, Draco," she said again and watched as he turned into a deeper shade of red. "Boy, Draco, this is embarrassing to you, isn't it?"
Draco mutely nodded while Hermione softly laughed. She patted his blond hair while saying, "You're so cute."
"Can we talk about other things?" he slightly pleaded, more embarrassed when the brunette told him he was cute.
Hermione laughed again. "Do whatever you want, Draco, it's all right," the brunette said.
And so, the two talked about this and that. Draco thankfully recovered from his embarrassment and told Hermione about things he liked, disliked, and whatsoever. Hermione then had discovered that Draco Malfoy was really a sweet child when he was in his years before Hogwarts. She just presumed that it was the entire King of Jerks' (Lucius Malfoy. Draco was the Prince of Jerks) fault that's why Draco Malfoy was… well… like that in school.
"So, you mean to say you had Muggle friends before?" Hermione inquired, picking one Chocolate Frog. The pile of it was obviously decreasing because the two continued to eat them.
Draco nodded. "Yeah, but…" he frowned, "I don't know why they all suddenly disappear. I always suspect my father was behind all of these mysterious disappearances." The blond sighed. "That's the reason why I don't have many friends. My father's the one who chooses who I should be with. No Muggles. No Muggle-borns."
"Why?"
The blond shrugged. "Father says they are all filthy. He says they shouldn't exist in this world. He says they are the threat to all the Purebloods in the Wizarding World," Draco answered. "Father always tells me they aren't nice."
"That's not true," Hermione blurted out. Draco stared at her with wide eyes.
"Really?" he asked. "Well, Father tells me all he says are the truth."
"Stupid Lucius Malfoy," Hermione mumbled inaudibly. She then stared straight at Draco's eyes. "Do you think all Muggles and Muggle-borns are bad?"
Draco frowned and thought for a moment. And then, he answered slowly, "No, I don't think so. Like what I've told you a while ago, I had Muggle friends before and… they seemed rather nice. One even discovered that I'm a wizard and he was fascinated and all." He pouted and looked at Mr. Beady. "It's really… sad I don't see him anymore. I considered him as my best friend, you know. But Father became outrageous when he discovered I'm mingling with Muggles so… I don't know what he did." The blond made a face. "And I don't want to know what he did. I just heard one day from his mother that he was in the hospital because of severe bruises and a big bump on his head. I also heard that he lost a lot of blood." He sighed. "Since that day, he didn't show up anymore and so, I lost my one and only best friend."
"Ever since that happened, I tried to avoid Muggles as much as possible," Draco said. "I don't want them to get hurt, too, because they are nice to me." He then looked at Hermione with a smile on his handsome face. "That's why I'm glad you are not a Muggle or a Muggle-born, Hermione. Father won't have the reason to hurt you because you befriended me."
Hermione gulped. 'Cruel Lucius Malfoy! Cruel!' she thought. She didn't know how Draco would react if she told him that she couldn't stay because… she didn't belong here. She was from the future, anyway. Hermione sighed. She almost forgot that there was a reason why she went back into time. Hermione took a deep breath and sneaked a glance at the little boy at the corner of her eyes. "Umm… Draco, promise me that you won't get angry at the question I'm going to ask you."
Draco frowned and shrugged. "It depends."
Hermione sighed. "Just say you promise, Draco," she said. "Please?"
The blond slowly nodded, staring at Hermione curiously. "All right, I promise."
"Okay, you promised," Hermione said. She took another deep breath. "Draco," she started, "is… is your father… a… err… umm…" She was stuttering and Draco looked at her oddly. 'Dammit, Hermione,' she scolded herself. "… a… Death Eater?" she finished in a whisper. She watched as Draco stiffened, his jaw tightened, and his eyes darkened.
"Where did you get that?" he asked, his tone very cold making Hermione flinch.
"Umm… I…"
"I said where did you get that?" Draco demanded, staring at Hermione with wide eyes because of fury.
"You promised!" Hermione blurted out and watched as Draco gritted his teeth, now trying to calm himself.
"Where did you get that?" the blond asked for the third time, this time in a whisper.
"So – someone told me," Hermione answered, this time in a whisper, too.
"No," Draco answered curtly, trying to sound nice. But Hermione caught the anger in his eyes. "My father's not a... a you-know-what."
Hermione nodded her head even though she knew that the blond was lying. What provoked Hermione to ask that question was to know if Draco Malfoy really knew that his father was a Death Eater, a most loyal one, actually, like what Merlin had told her. His sudden anger made Hermione think that maybe he already knew the evilness of his father. The brunette sighed when she noticed that Draco was still angry. "I'm sorry," she said softly, "I shouldn't have asked that question." She watched as the blond slightly flinched. Hermione looked at him curiously as he turned his head to stare at her.
"I'm sorry, too," he said with remorse. "I promised you I won't get angry but I did. Forgive me, Hermione."
The brunette smiled and patted his head. "You didn't do anything wrong," she whispered. Draco looked at her and smiled.
Suddenly, a great rumble was heard above the sky. The two looked up in unison and saw the graying clouds covering the sun. Hermione frowned.
"I think it's going to rain," she said. As if on cue, big, heavy rain drops poured down the earth. The rain drenched all of the things below within just a few minutes. "Draco, go home now!" Hermione shouted through the rain. The stupid weather was making it impossible for Hermione to hear anything.
Draco looked at her and nodded. The brunette noticed the big grin on the blond's face. "I love the rain!" he shouted.
"Well, I hate the rain!" Hermione shouted back. "Go home, Draco! You'll get sick!"
"All right, Hermione! See you tomorrow!" he said, shielding Mr. Beady so he didn't get too wet. "I'll meet you here tomorrow at 8:00 am! Is that all right?!"
"Yeah, now go!" Hermione said as she started to run back to her temporary home. Hermione ran, slipping a lot (she was sometimes a clumsy person, actually). She tried to cover her head with her hands but the attempt was a failure. The brunette sighed. 'Curse the rain,' she grumbled as she arrived at the door of her temporary house. She opened the door and was greeted by a blazing fireplace with Merlin seated on one of the armchairs.
"I'm surprised you didn't call for help, Miss Granger," Merlin said as he stood up to look Hermione from head to toe. "You're drenched from the rain."
Hermione snorted and shivered. "O – obviously," she stuttered a little because of the cold. "I – I forgot to call you, Merlin. My m - mind's preoccupied," she explained.
Merlin just nodded his head. "Now, go upstairs and change your clothes before you get sick."
The brunette softly groaned as she trudged towards her bedroom. She had a great feeling she would get sick tomorrow. Hermione knew she had a low immune system so just slight rain could make her sick already. She shivered as she reached her cold bedroom. She changed into warm and comfortable pajamas. It was still 6:00 pm but Hermione felt tired already (a symptom of an upcoming fever) so she just wanted to skip dinner and sleep.
Downstairs, Merlin was gazing up the stairs. "Good Lord, Miss Granger, I think this task will have unpredictable results," he thought aloud. Merlin then chuckled. "Hmm… Mister Malfoy telling Miss Granger she's pretty? Now, that's interesting," he said and with a dull pop, he apparated, presuming that Hermione wouldn't eat dinner anymore.
A/N: Hope you liked it! I'll update PiD soon. Just wait patiently. Remember, patience is a virtue... lol... xoxoxoxoxo 2booklover4.