Chapter 3
Hermione could barely contain her excitement the next morning, even though there was grumpiness all around her. Malfoy was just Malfoy and Clara was upset at being dragged out of bed before noon. Hermione didn't care, she was in Cuba, away from home, away from school, although a small part of it has followed her.
She had her khaki cargo pants, a white tank top and sturdy shoes. Clara wore her jeans shorts and a bright top. Draco was dressed in his typical black suit.
Hermione smiled to herself when she realised that he would likely cook in that suit and hopefully get sun burnt as well. It didn't seem like he brought anything else with him.
They spent the day exploring the old parts of Havana. The derelict buildings that had seen their hay day in the 1920s. Hermione felt like she was walking through a living museum. She saw the old cars that she'd seen in travel documentaries. Clara discovered the ice-cream wasn't half bad.
Draco walked behind them looking murderous, although Hermione suspected it was a look that he reserved specifically for her. He actually took an ice-cream that Clara offered him.
"Does he have to come with us?" Clara whined. "Its like we're being followed around by an undertaker."
"He'll get fed up." Hermione said without looking up from her Lonely Planet book.
"Couldn't he at least wear something else? Something a bit more normal." Clara continued.
"He doesn't do normal."
"Oh look, Espadrilles." Clara said and was gone.
"Still can't get your nose out of a book." Came the dry drawl that Hermione hated the most. "Why even bother going anywhere when you could have just spent the summer in the library."
Hermione lifted the book away from her face and looked him over.
"I still vote for the days when you were too good to talk to me." Hermione said with an exasperated sigh.
"Oh believe me, nothing has changed. If it wasn't for my father's case, I would have a million better things to do. But as it is, I must suffer through your inconsequential dribble."
"Hmm." Was all Hermione could say before turning away. He actually wasn't bothering her so much, or maybe it was just the flush building up on his cheeks that made her so tolerant. He must be getting pretty uncomfortable in that suit. Seeing him give up and leave might just be the sweetest sight.
"I'm going to the beach." Clara stated with the certainty that told she would consider no other options.
"Fine." Hermione said. She had anticipated that bit of beach languishing would be required, it would give her a chance to read through the guide book. After all, she wouldn't be the idiot sitting on a hot beach in a black suit. She couldn't keep the smile from her face.
Draco managed to find a shady spot in a bar and ordered himself a beer. Clara stripped off the instance she hit the sand and lay down to sun bath. It took a whole four minutes before stripping was necessary, another four and a dip was practically required.
Hermione stood in the cool water enjoying the sights and sounds. It wasn't Copacabana beach, but as a warm up, it was the Caribbean and it was awesome. She was still amazed she was here. Clara had found some boys to flirt with and Draco was a little black speck sitting in a bar. She wondered what they could do next, something that would really piss him off. Maybe they should go out with the Australian boys tonight. She figured Clara had plans in that direction anyway.
And it turned out that she wasn't wrong.
"I am not going to eat dinner with those morons." Draco spat.
"Then stay here. Find your own dinner. Whatever, I don't care." Hermione snapped back.
"It is completely intolerable that I have to sleep in the same room with other people." He continued.
"Why, you've done it since you were eleven."
"Yes, but they're magical."
Hermione raised an eyebrow.
"How can that possibly make a difference?"
"It always makes a difference."
"Then go home." She stated.
"No." He stated back.
Hermione just shook her head and left him. She'd had enough. Spending the day with him was intolerable and now she needed a break. Spending the evening with increasingly inebriated and touchy boys was her idea of fun. It wasn't how she wanted her holiday to go. But it was however, exactly how Clara wanted her holiday to go.
Hermione decided to walk back to the hostel on her own. Things didn't look quite so exciting and welcoming at night when walking home alone, but she had her wand if something happened.
Try as she might, she just couldn't shake the feeling that she was trying to hold onto a fantasy in regards to this perfect trip she was hoping for. She had some serious worries that this would turn into the trip from hell. Anyone could have told her that the second Malfoy decided to invite himself along.
She spotted him right away as she walked into the hostel. He was drinking and smoking a cigar at the bar.
"Ugh." Was all she could manage.
"What's the matter, mudblood? What's got your knickers in a twist? Or more accurately did the 'Aussies' fail to untwist your knickers?"
"Just eff off Malfoy." She snapped and got another infuriating sneer back.
Hermione went up to the room and went to bed. She managed to just get to sleep when the Australian boys and Clara returned. They were all drunk and trying to whisper, which was actually louder than talking normally. Then someone would stumble and they all broke out into a chorus of laughing.
Once they were all in bed and snoring, Malfoy entered.
"Oh lovely." He said sarcastically. "I've never slept in a sty but this would be just how I'd image it."
"Then go home Malfoy."
"In your dreams Granger."
Malfoy had learned the next day, he left the jacket at the hostel and stuck to his white shirt. Hermione dragged them to one of the Revolution museums. Clara wasn't interested and made that known each and every second. Malfoy was just there, being his typical ray of sunshine. Hermione was starting to think of way to get rid of both of them.
Not that it was necessary because later that evening, Clara declared that she was going to Thailand with the Australian boys. Hermione was so shocked she didn't know what to say and nothing she said would change Clara's mind.
The next afternoon she had traded in her tickets around South America for a ticket to Thailand.
"I'm eighteen, Hermione, I can do whatever I want."
"You just don't dump someone on the other side of the world!" Hermione yelled at her.
"You've got him." Clara said and pointed at Malfoy. "You two can visit cemeteries or something else incredibly boring. I'm sorry but I'm not going to spend my trip walking around old piles of rocks."
Nothing would change her mind and Hermione could only watch as Clara packed and got into a van with the Australians. She gave Hermione a hug and a kiss on the cheek as she said goodbye like they had just met up while shopping.
"Unfucking believable." Hermione said.
"Not even your family can stand you." Malfoy said. "Interesting."
"Fuck off Malfoy." She said again like she had pretty much every time she'd seen him.
She wasn't go to spend the evening with him so she snuck out the other entrance and spent the rest of the day in Havana on her own. It was perfect. It was just dusk and the retreating sun painted the whole city in golden colours.
She ate at a cheap restaurant and the food was dreadful, but she didn't care. After she walked around the city for a whil; it seemed to be teeming with life after dark. She wished Harry and Ginny were here. She would have so much fun with them, exploring some of the local establishments.
When she got back to the hostel she was met with a furious Malfoy.
"I'm starving." He stated.
"For God's sake, Malfoy, you actually an adult now, you need to learn to feed yourself."
"Dutch people have moved into our room and they have rearranged our sleeping situation. Who does that, decides to move your bed?"
"Dutch people obviously."
"And people do that in the muggle world, just decide to change things without asking?"
"No, its pretty rude, even in the muggle world." Hermione sighed.
"Why are we staying in this dump?"
"Because that's what this kind of travel is all about." Hermione said stubbornly.
"There are tons of nice hotels."
"We can't afford them."
"I'm fucking loaded Granger."
"Yeah, you and your what, ten pounds? There is no wizard bank here Malfoy."
"I can pay you back." He said with an exasperated look.
Two backpackers of some European variety walked in the door and pushed past them as they stood by the reception.
"Sorry kids, no room." The hostel man said. "But I do have a small one bed apartment that is really cheap."
"We'll take it." Draco said.
"What? No!" Hermione said.
"We'll take it." He repeated to the hostel man's shrug.
"I'm not ..."
"I'll fucking put you over my shoulder and carry you Granger. I'm not staying in this dump sharing a room with muggles."
"And you don't think someone would object if you forced me out the foor?" Hermione said with her arms crossed. "This trip was about staying in hostels."
"He said it was cheap, so you will still be slumming it as you're so damn keen on it."
"Now go pack or I swear I will carry you. This is a Latin country, Granger, they're not going to object."
"My wife is concerned for our finances." He said to the hostel man and the staring backpackers.
"It is very cheap." The man said.
"See, wifie. Cheap." Malfoy said with a challenge in his eye and the infuriating sneer.