Disclaimer:
But I know the neighborhood, and talk is cheap if the story is good, and
the tales grow taller on down the line. SO I'm tellin' you babe, that I
don't think it's true, babe, but, even if it is keep this in mind... I
don't believe it, not for a minute. (Take it on the Run ~ REO Speedwagon) I
don't believe it and you shouldn't either. Sometimes talk is cheap when the
story isn't so good, don't you agree JK? HaHA!
.
Last time on LGG:
"Oh yes, I totally agree, Draco. A blinding white room is much worse than this drippy cell you've claimed. It reminds me of the dungeons..." she said and shuddered. "Creepy."
"Yes, but I can make my room whatever you make yours, without the loss of my eyesight." Draco's room was composed entirely of grey; the walls were a smooth shale, the floor a hard, cold, concrete. The bed dressings and furniture were grey as well, just to complete the décor. Hermione shrugged one shoulder.
"I suppose that's true, but I still think I made the best choice," she said and turned away, moving back to the luggage pile to collect her remaining bags. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Women."
~*~*~*~
CHAPTER FIVE: Always Seek Council From an Unlikely Source
"I heard that," Hermione called as she walked to her room, dropping the bags on the floor and turning back around.
"So?" Draco said irritably, but the phase passed quickly as Hermione moved back into his doorway, leaning on the frame with a smirk on her pretty face.
"You know we do it on purpose, don't you?" she asked and Draco pricked up an eyebrow.
"Who's we and what do you do?" Hermione's smirk grew.
"Us women-folk. We act all weird and mysterious just to piss you off; it's like an unspoken agreement. Don't let those good for nothing men know the true workings of our minds; we must keep our power over them. You may think you have power over women, Draco, but you don't. It's just an act. Some of us have taken to pretending we melt for you, but it's all planned and played out beforehand. Although, I'm not saying we don't love you guys or anything as preposterous, only that we enjoy playing with you like little string puppets," she said smartly and Draco brought his chin down and his eyebrows up, staring at her in disbelief. Hermione said nothing more; just kept her smirk and nodded. Draco rolled his eyes.
"But I'm not a puppet; I'm a real boy," he said in a mocking voice and Hermione smiled.
"That, Mr. Malfoy, is one thing I'm sure you are," she said and turned away from his door again.
"You know, even with this new knowledge of the worldwide feminine conspiracy; I still have no idea what it is with you people," he said and shook his head. Hermione huffed and smiled at him.
"You didn't think I'd give away THAT much information, did you? I'm not stupid; just... 'misunderstood.'" she said, using air quotes, watched as Draco groaned and fell back on his bed, hands covering his face, then shook her head and returned to her room; planning on decorating and unpacking.
S~S~S~S~S~S~ ( S = snake, ~ = tongue. See now? Hehe)
"Hermione? Do you plan on coming out of there any time soon?" Draco called, knocking softly on the bathroom door in his room. He heard a very-girlish- for-Granger giggle from the other side and looked confusedly at the dark orange door, which he had charmed to match the walls of his newly decorated room.
"Actually, no. Sorry, Draco. You can come in if you want, as long as you're not planning on doing anything weird. I can't exactly run away," she called back and Draco looked shocked. He hesitated before opening the door, and did so cautiously, not exactly sure what he could expect to find inside. What he saw was almost as surprising as what he expected to see.
Hermione was sitting in the quite large and quite empty bathtub, her feet against the wall, wearing her black jeans and a black towel to cover her upper assets. She had her hair confined in a sickeningly contrasting flowered shower cap, her face covered in a pasty greenish white goop, and was reading a book, seeming to not particularly care that Draco had entered.
"What the fuck are you doing, Granger?" he asked, somewhat in shock, somewhat in horror. Hermione giggled again, in that freakishly girly way, then her face dropped to a look of slightly scared indifference.
"Okay, these giggles are not happening; I think it has something to do with this face cleanser stuff; they should really warn you on the bottle or something."
"I didn't ask why you were giggling, although I admit it was a little weird, I asked what the fuck you were doing," Draco said, slightly impatient.
"Somebody's grouchy this evening," Hermione said and extravagantly turned the page of her book.
"Well you've been in here for almost an hour reading in the bathtub with a pasty face," Draco defended himself and Hermione snickered.
"I can't believe Ron called you a pasty concubine; that really was quite funny," she said, shaking her head amusedly. Draco sighed.
"Stop avoiding the question, Hermione. Please?" She looked up at him and smiled slightly.
"I'm dying my hair, Draco; I told you I was going to," she told him and he nodded, mouth opening in an 'o' of realization. "I have to keep it in for forty-five minutes and it keeps dripping down my back so I thought I'd save on clean-up by sitting here. This face stuff I just tried because I was bored; I don't think I like it; it's itchy." Draco shrugged and turned toward the sink to wet and paste his toothbrush.
"Take it off," he suggested before poking the bristled stick into his mouth. Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded.
"Yeah, good idea," she said, closing her book and placing it on the tiled floor, then sitting up. She crossed her legs Indian-style and moved back before turning on the faucet which had moments before been her footrest.
Draco leaned against the sink and watched, while he brushed his teeth, as Hermione rubbed the gritty mess from her face. As she leaned forward, he could see the dirty rivers which ran down her neck from her blackening bonnet.
"Ah," she sighed and said, "That IS better." Then leaned back against the wall, not seeming to care that she had just gotten her jeans a bit damp. Draco continued to watch her with interest, although she wasn't doing anything. Then, the same beep he had heard on the train sounded from the shelf above the sink. "Finally!" Hermione nearly shouted and stood up, holding the back of her head to attempt at keeping the water in her cap. Draco swallowed his toothpaste and rinsed off his brush, then crossed his arms and watched as she stepped out of the bathtub and turned off the watch, then turned to him. "Would you mind terribly leaving again? I have to wash it out and it'll be easier to just take a shower; I'll be out in ten minutes, I promise. And hey, if you need to, you can always go down to the winery and scare Mandy and Morag into letting you use their bathroom," she said with a smile and Draco smirked.
"So THAT'S what their names are. I was going to ask you that earlier, but I forgot all about it; ha, Morag... and people thought 'Draco' was a funny name," he shook his head and shifted to stand straight.
"If I remember correctly, Ron was the only person to ever laugh at your name," Hermione corrected with a smirk and Draco tilted his head a bit.
"Actually, I think you're right. Oh well, doesn't matter now, anyway. Nobody laughs anymore; mwa.... ha ha.... ha ha," he said, his mock evil- laugh very sarcastic and Hermione giggled her girlish giggle again.
"Dammit! That better go away soon or..." Hermione said and picked up the bottle next to her watch on the shelf. "Or the Smile-Bright Home Facial company is going to get a very nasty little surprise in their next request- for-free-samples letter," she said irritably and threw the bottle through the open doorway and into her room, quite forcefully. Draco faked a wince.
"Y-ouch... remind me to never get you angry... or happy, because the latter seems to lead to the former," he said honestly and fled to his room, closing the door behind him. Hermione smiled and closed the door to her room, just because it felt safer, then proceeded to undress and wash the potion from her hair. As promised, she was out in well under ten minutes and opened the door which led to Draco's room a bit, to let him know he could come in again, then walked across the bathroom and into her room.
"Eglamour!" she sang, looking around for her kitten, who was no where to be found. "Eglamour? Are you still mad at me? I said I was sorry! Don't you want dinner, baby?" she called, looking around almost frantically; searching through her bed, underneath all the furniture, and in the closet. No Eglamour. "Oh dear..." Hermione whispered, then started toward the door to the mini-common room. "Draco? Have you seen Eglamour?" she yelled and was about to open the door when someone else beat her to it.
"No, but he's seen me," Draco said from the doorway and Hermione smiled. There was her little Eglamour, sitting on Draco's shoulder, his tail curled around the Slytherin's neck.
"There you are!" she said happily, lifting the kitten from her dorm mate's shoulder. She huffed. "Must all my animals be traitors?" she asked rhetorically and hugged her Eglamour, who purred happily in return. "Sorry Draco; I guess he likes you," she said softly and Draco smirked.
"He liked Sebastian first," he said, hinting that there had been some bird to cat relationship problems. Hermione smiled apologetically, but said nothing more. Draco was staring again, and she looked down at the kitten in her arms, feeling uncomfortable making eye contact while he was looking at her that way, although she didn't quite mind him looking. "I don't know why you dyed your hair; it was just as pretty before," he said finally and Hermione looked up at him, then shrugged.
"Figured I'd go back to my natural, now that I have a good reason," she said and he raised an eyebrow. "I begged my mother to let me get it dyed before first year; I wanted a whole new identity so I could start out fresh in a place where nobody knew me yet. She finally agreed, but said I had to keep it that way if I was going to get it done. I was happy to comply and made the potion at home, using one of the textbooks. Surprisingly, it worked and was permanent; but now I've changed it back. Don't like it?"
"Oh no, I do; but I liked it before too," Draco said, smiling. It really wasn't that bad now; because of variations made to the potion, Hermione had configured it to give her natural looking highlights, and it did look as if it were her natural hair color. It caused her skin to seem fairer than it had before, and she really was very pretty this way. Hermione smiled at his compliment and squeezed Eglamour.
"The bathroom's free; I changed half the towels black, but the rest are still white, but you can change them if you want. I personally think white is overrated in all departments," she told him quietly and Draco nodded. He stood there silently for a moment, then swiftly leaned in and kissed her softly on the cheek.
"Goodnight, Hermione," he said and walked back to his room, leaving Hermione to stare after him. She then looked down at Eglamour.
"I don't know about that one, baby; he's rather confusing, don't you think?" The cat said nothing, of course, and simply wiggled in her arms. Hermione let the tiny thing hop down, then rummaged through her luggage for his bag. Eglamour sat in the middle of the coppery-red carpet and watched patiently as Hermione searched for his dinner.
The walls of Hermione's room had been changed from black to a dark smoky grey with a bright red border at the top and bottom. The ceiling, curtains, bed spread, and pillow cases remained black, but the sheets had been made a silky red, and a red accent pillow sat between the two ebony ones. All the furniture had been left black as well, but changed from a painted look to a stained wood treatment. Both Hermione and Eglamour seemed to like the new design just fine.
"Here we go, come Eglamour; din din," Hermione cooed as she found the cat's dish and opened a can of soft food. The little black kitten was happy to step forward and claim his meal. Hermione smiled and petted him for a few moments before standing and finishing the chore of unpacking all her materials.
S~S~S~S~S~S~
"I am such an idiot," Hermione said to herself as she lay in the middle of her bed, Eglamour curled and sleeping near her feet. "I can't believe I forgot it." She sighed and crossed her arms, then closed her eyes and tried once again to go to sleep. Frustrated, she hit the bed with a balled fist, causing her kitten to perk up its ears. Hermione sighed once again and crawled back out of bed. "It's worth a shot, I suppose."
It was almost eleven o'clock and quite dark outside the stained glass window in the mini-common room. Hermione crept quietly through her door and past the bathroom to Draco's, then knocked softly.
"Draco? Are you sleeping?" she called quietly and heard Draco say, quite consciously,
"No." Hermione opened the door slowly and peeked inside, Happy to see that Draco was in no indecent position; he was wearing a black t-shirt and dark green boxers, and was lying on the far side of his bed looking somewhat annoyed. Thinking it was because of her intrusion, Hermione bit her lip.
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if by some off chance miracle you might have some dreamless sleeping potion? I can't sleep alone without it," she said and Draco turned to her, his annoyance gone and a slight look of surprise on his features. Hermione shook her head. "Yeah, I didn't think so... sorry," she said and started to walk off, but Draco stopped her.
"No, wait," he called, and Hermione turned back, raising an eyebrow. "I may not have any sleeping potion, but I have something better," he said smartly and Hermione lifted her head.
"Oh, really? And that would be?"
"Me," he said as if it were obvious. Hermione dropped her jaw.
"Malfoy, I am not going to sleep with you," she said calm and dispassionately, almost sounding sad.
"I'm not asking you to sleep with me Hermione; I'm asking you to sleep next to me," he said, but she didn't look convinced. "Hey, I was just offering. If you don't want to, you're the one not getting any sleep," he reminded her and smirked. Hermione was surprised at herself as well as with Draco. She DID want to take him up on his offer, but now that he had thrown in her face the consequences, she couldn't let him win and jump into the sack with him.
"Are you sure? You don't even know me," Hermione asked, just to delay her decision making. Draco laughed.
"What are you going to do, rape me? Yeah, I can see that happening. Come on, please?" he asked, sticking out his bottom lip and laying an arm over the other side of the bed, inviting her to join him. Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment; he was asking. There was just something incredibly strange about Draco Malfoy asking a woman to 'sleep with him' and having her think about it before complying. In the end, Hermione rolled her eyes and agreed, walking into the room and crawling into bed beside him. Draco smiled triumphantly and wet the wick of the candle on the bedside table him, making the room as dark as the night sky. He closed his arm around the shoulders of the small girl beside him and she cuddled up to his chest and closed her eyes.
"Thank you, Draco. I've missed this," she said quietly, enjoying his warmth and comfort. Draco smiled.
"Missed what?"
"Being loved," she said with a sad sigh, then smiled. Draco, however, lost his smile.
"I'm sorry Hermione, but I don't love you," he told her sadly, but Hermione didn't lose her happy expression.
"I know, but it's nice to pretend," she said, then stopped talking and drifted into sleep. Draco stayed awake a few minutes longer, pondering the mechanics of the phenomenal creature beside him. She was like a rubix cube; very, very, few people could solve her without a miracle. As he felt Hermione's light puffs of warm breath on his chest grow even lighter and more even, Draco sighed and placed a hand on her side, then closed his eyes, inviting sleep.
S~S~S~S~S~S~S~
As Hermione had tried to avoid the night before, the blasted sun woke her promptly at 6:47. She fluttered her eyes open, but closed them instantly against the piercing light.
"Dammit," she muttered, bringing a hand to rub at them. At her voice, the arm around her shoulders tightened a tiny bit and Hermione felt a rise of panic in her stomach. Why was someone in her bed? Using her hand as a visor to block the light, Hermione braved opening her eyes once more to note the identity of her uninvited bedmate. As she recognized a sleeping Draco, the bubble came back. What the hell had she done last night? Then she remembered... last night, she couldn't sleep, asked for potion... ended up in bed with Malfoy? That didn't seem quite right, she had to have been forgetting something... but at least she knew that nothing had happened, and Hermione relaxed, surveying their position.
The two prefects were lying very close to one another, their legs entwined, Hermione's head against Draco's chest, and his arm around her shoulders. The Slytherin's other hand was slid up her shirt, quite far up her shirt, on her side.
"Someone's getting a little fresh with me this morning," she whispered smartly, not wanting to wake him, and moved her hand to shove his down. Hermione, however, found herself unable to move the pale appendage more than a tiny bit; his touch was so warm and inviting... it felt too good to purposely rid herself of, so she left the hand where it was and turned her head up to look at him again. Then, she remembered what he had said.
** "I don't love you."** Hermione sighed. She knew it was true, and it was no where near unexpected. They had just met not even twenty four hours ago, yet she still found herself lying awake, staring at Draco Malfoy while his hand remained up her shirt. At least this was a better position that waking up alone and staring at the wall wondering if anyone will ever be willing to touch you again. She smiled and snuggled back into his chest. Yes, this was much better.
Hermione cursed herself after she did this; she had woken him. Or at least substantially increased his awareness of his surroundings. Draco, at her movement, slid the hand on her side down her back and pulled her closer, moving his lips into her hair. He couldn't quite place who it was beside him, but Draco wasn't trying too hard to remember.
Whoever it was seemed to enjoy being there, which meant he could do whatever he pleased. He began to softly kiss the mysterious girl's head through her hair and held her shoulders close as he warmly rubbed her back. The girl did nothing, silently complying with everything he was doing. Draco smiled and took a deep breath, unavoidably breathing in the sweet scent of the girl in his bed. Spicy lemons and... pepper? Hermione? In his bed? What the...? But then he remembered, and he stopped his actions. All at once, like pulling a hand away from fire.
Hermione, who had held her eyes closed, unable to not enjoy Draco's gentle treatment, said nothing and didn't move. At first, Draco thought she might still be sleeping, and he hoped against hope that she was. The last thing he needed was for her to think he had true feelings for her; it would only hurt her more than she had already been. Noticing that the hot breath against his chest came in swift hot bursts, Draco knew this girl was awake, and he frowned. Hermione fluttered her eyes open and let herself sigh slowly, calming her quite rapid breathing. She pulled free from Draco, who then opened his eyes; perhaps it wasn't Hermione... perhaps he had dreamed she had come to him, and it was Parkinson, or that chick from the winery; Mindy, did she say? Anyone but Hermione.
Of course, he had no such luck. She didn't look upset in the least, however, and Draco was quite thankful for that.
"Thank you," she whispered, smiled slightly, and kissed his cheek, then moved away from him and stood from his bed, fixing herself a little and walking from the room, leaving Draco alone and awake at ten of seven on a damn Sunday morning. Such a thing didn't exactly please him. Draco sighed curled his arm, sliding the pillow she had used over it and burying his head into the soft down with a groan. He stopped his mediocre complaining when her scent entered his system again. The pillow; this pillow, smelled just like Hermione did. Draco inhaled deeply and smiled.
"Lord, you're most certainly welcome," he said quietly, although Hermione was long gone.
Two rooms over, Hermione sat in the middle of her bed, hugging herself and rocking back and forth. What had just happened? Was Draco unconsciously feeling her up? Is that still considered bad? Should it have felt that... incredible? Eglamour hopped up on the bed with her, taking a break from breakfast hunting to console his troubled master.
"He has good color sense, Eglamour," she told the cat, who sat down and listened, although he couldn't understand a word. Hermione thought back on the room she had just exited. Draco had chosen a burnt orange theme for his room, and she had to admit that she liked it. He had colored the walls, ceiling, and doors a dark orange, changed the trim to black, and added a pleasantly plush black carpet. Everything about the bed was ebony as well, from the sheets to the drapes to the frame. The furniture had been painted an almost cream-sickle orange, which contrasted with and looked surprisingly good next to the dark orange of the walls, and all fixtures and accents were black. "I don't know why I'm telling you this, but you know me, I just don't make sense."
Eglamour stood from his seated position and rubbed up against Hermione's knee, then jumped down and walked through the door to Merlin knows where, hoping to catch himself a nice juicy rat-ka-bob.
"Good idea, Eglamour. I'll just forget all about this and pretend it never happened. He doesn't love me, far from it I'm sure, and I definitely don't love him...yet. No, I did not say yet, I said yeck," she insisted, making a disgusted face, although she herself was the only one listening. "Ugh, maybe I AM going crazy..." Hermione groaned and rolled off her bed, moving quickly toward the bathroom and locking all three doors.
The bathroom was quite large, but not as extravagant as many rumored the prefect bathrooms to be. The room was not quite as large as her room, but more than half the size. The big black bathtub was to her right as she walked in from her room and the sink to her left. On the other side of the door to the mini-common room was the toilet, the floor in front of it trimmed with a small rug. There were quite lovely stained glass windows in contact with the ceiling above the bathtub, shedding beautiful light without the worry of peeping toms. Hermione smiled. Wouldn't it be nice to know some stranger was admiring you?
The sink, toilet, bathtub, and linen closet, which was against the wall next to the tub, were all black, the closet made of wood and the fixtures of porcelain. The walls and floor were tiled white, a sparkled white which reminded Hermione of the quarts in the common rooms. A large fluffy white rug was placed in front of the tub, and Hermione stepped lightly on it as she undressed. After retrieving a towel and hanging on the nearby rack, Hermione slipped into another lemon-scented shower; this time with all the products she could find.
S~S~S~S~S~S~ ( S= snake... ~= tongue... get it, Silver Dragon Goddess? Lol.)
Draco was about to pull himself away from his new favorite pillow and get out of bed when he heard the loud click of the bathroom door as Hermione locked it. He changed his mind and took another breath; face still buried in the pillow.
"God Granger, it really should be illegal for someone to smell that good," he said and groaned, then finally decided to get up. Draco rolled over and sat straight, rubbing his eyes and digging his fingers into his hair. He let out a deep sigh and heard the creak of a door. Draco turned his eyes to the only unlocked door in the room and watched as Eglamour cautiously crept into the room, remaining very quiet, obviously hunting. "Sorry sonny, I don't think you'll be finding breakfast in here," Draco said and the kitten looked up at him, startled. He laughed. "Wow, some hunter you are there, Eglamour. Didn't even notice an entire person happened to be in here? Good luck with finding any mice," he said and the cat was quick to run at the bed and jump up, then claw his way up the back of Draco's shirt and once again rest himself on the Slytherin shoulder, tail snaking around his neck. "Yeah, I know," he said and scratched behind the cat's ear as it rested himself comfortably and set into purring.
Draco leaned back against the headboard, continuing to pet the tiny kitten. He really didn't mind Hermione's cat... and the cat didn't seem to mind him either. He sighed and listened to Eglamour purr, thinking about just about everything that had happened the previous day. It was amazing; he really did care about Hermione, in a semi-platonic way. Draco tried to convince himself that that was what made him ask her to 'sleep next to him', but he couldn't say that was entirely true. A tiny part of him said it had something to do with her hair. He closed his eyes and groaned.
"How did this happen, Eglamour? Yesterday I was alone, mean, and selfish... but now I'm standing up for people, letting them sleep with me, and petting their cats. Am I going soft? You don't think I am, do you?" Eglamour didn't say much in return, but did manage a gallant yawn. "Yeah, you're right. I am. But that's not necessarily bad, is it? I mean, it's only toward Hermione. I had a pretty nice rush with Mork and Mindy downstairs. I actually don't think that's their names, but you know who I mean. They're still scared of me. Hm, maybe that's it. Granger's not scared, is she? Confused and depressed maybe, but she doesn't seem scared of anything, including me. Did she say anything to you?"
Again, Eglamour seemed to be ignoring Draco's questions and actually looked to be sleeping.
"Yeah, I don't blame you for not telling me; I wouldn't tell me either." Draco and Eglamour sat in silence for a few more minutes, with the exception of a very loud purring from the latter, then they heard a loud click come from the bathroom door. The pricked up his ears and lifted his head simultaneously with Draco turning toward the door. He looked down at the cat. "You should go, she'll be looking for you," he said and lifted the cat from his shoulder, placing him down on the floor. Knowing he was supposed to leave, Eglamour started for the door. "But hey," Draco stopped him and the cat actually turned back, much to Draco's amusement. "Anything said in this room, stays in this room. Agreed?" But the cat simply started walking back toward the partially opened door. Draco laughed. "I'll assume that's a yes."
S~S~S~S~S~S~
Draco showered, much quicker than Hermione had, dressed, and, after taking a deep breath, ventured into the mini-common room. Hermione was there, smiling as she stood beside one of the desks, caldron over a burner, bubbling and steaming. She was wearing black again; it seemed her entire wardrobe had been charmed or replaced since the beginning of the abandonment phase, and her hair was pulled into a bun. Draco frowned a little at this notation; that would restrict the wafting scent.
"What are you doing, Granger? Classes haven't even started yet," he asked, walking up to look in her caldron. Hermione seemed a little startled at his sudden appearance but shrugged her shoulders and turned back to her stirring. She had acquired her dispassionate and dead-toned voice again as she answered him.
"Sleeping potion," she said and Draco's frown increased. He nodded once to hide his feelings of guilt, but gave himself away in his tone when he spoke.
"Are you mad at me?" he asked cautiously, and Hermione looked only from her book to her caldron and back as she answered.
"Not unless you've done something I don't know about yet," she said, continued to stir, then stopped and looked up at him. "Wait... where's Eglamour?" she asked suspiciously and Draco looked excited. He held up a finger to silently ask her to wait, then snapped his fingers and patted his shoulder. Almost instantly, Eglamour popped up next to his head and Draco smirked triumphantly as he began to pet the tiny kitten. Hermione couldn't help but smile and turned back to her stirring. "You're lucky he's just a kitten, or that might have hurt a little bit. Any particular reason why I should be mad at you?"
"Ha, as if I'd tell you if you didn't know," Draco said and shook his head, then took a step backward. "I'm going to breakfast; are you coming?" Hermione bit her lip and hesitated a moment before shaking her head. Draco shook his cat-less shoulder. "Okay. Looks like I'm taking you cat; I'll bring him back, don't worry."
"That's fine," Hermione said, still smiling at the thought of the cute trick she had just been shown. Draco smiled back and started down the stairs toward the main common room, silently hoping to see the winery dwellers. Sadly, Morag and Mandy were still snoozing, so no torment was to befuddle them until later that day.
.
A/N: Did you ever wonder if JKR reads fanfiction? If I were her, I wouldn't, because then you'd never have any creative ideas... you get going alright, then you think of something which you THINK is creative, but it was in reality stolen from someone else. Anyway...
PRF:
Hasapi: Thank you. Awesome is a nice adjective... hehe. And yeah, but I'm neglecting Flames terribly and I feel very bad about it... this is why I didn't want to start a new fic, but what to I do? Start two or three... lol... must go write Flames now... clear conscience!
Starry Skies: I think I might like it better, but only because it's more than just fluff and a poor excuse for a plotline.... lol, but the sequel I planning will be better. I just want flames to end! But good news! The end is in sight! I estimate 50chappys at the MOST.
Jamie: That's good. If you cried, I would be worried. I'm sorry I killed him! I didn't mean to! I had to, the song said so! I'm really sorry ::sob, sob:: I love him so much!
Chaos Personified: Haha, awesome penname. Lol, cynical... morbid... that's me! I am Morbid Dulcitude. Pleasure to meet you. Lol.
F75: I hate them, so I made them hate her, so that she can hate them... good plan, huh? Yeah!
Crystalline Lily: Yes they did kiss, and I'll leave it up to you to decide how friendly it was. Remember: Purple button is your FRIEND.... lol Yes, Harry and Ron ARE bastards... but I've always kinda hated them. They get all the glory and what not. I mean, Ron fell of a freaking horse, and was knocked out. What a dumbass... and I know, they just can't have their peace, can they? Oh well... does this count as a cliff hanger?
Silver Dragon Goddess: Lol... thanx. Guilly comes from Guillotine... lol, yeah. I like your whole 'My Favorite Line' thing... it's fun and stuff... but for chapter two, I'd have to say my favorite line was "Oh, I'm sorry. I misplaced 'Sadistic Rituals and the Rules Involved' before I could get to the chapter on blood scripture." Lol, I just thought that was funny... and it took me like five minutes to figure out that sentence! Lol. I wanna join the HARH! And EGLAMOUR RULES THE ENTIRE WORLD, MWA HAHAHAHA!
Mooniala: EVERYONE loves D/Hr fics! If you don't, you should! Lol, THANX!
Beloved Pencil: Thanx, lol... I've never been told my writing was 'scrumptious' before.... first time for everything, my beloved pencil!
Prissy: Thanx! I like this one better than Flames, I think, but I still like Flames. It was good for my first fic ;o)
Tainted Black: If I made them all in character, it would be incredibly boring... I mean, think about it... all they would ever do is read, do their homework, and fight Moldie Voldie. I mean, making them share a stare across the Great Hall would be OOC... making them talk civilly to each other, just once, would be OOC... having ANYone bump into ANYone would make them OOC... being OOC is not bad, it's fun and exciting! Yeah! I'm glad you agree!
BlueEyedHeadhunter: I'd like to keep my head if it's not too much to ask, lol... thanx!
Last time on LGG:
"Oh yes, I totally agree, Draco. A blinding white room is much worse than this drippy cell you've claimed. It reminds me of the dungeons..." she said and shuddered. "Creepy."
"Yes, but I can make my room whatever you make yours, without the loss of my eyesight." Draco's room was composed entirely of grey; the walls were a smooth shale, the floor a hard, cold, concrete. The bed dressings and furniture were grey as well, just to complete the décor. Hermione shrugged one shoulder.
"I suppose that's true, but I still think I made the best choice," she said and turned away, moving back to the luggage pile to collect her remaining bags. Draco rolled his eyes.
"Women."
~*~*~*~
CHAPTER FIVE: Always Seek Council From an Unlikely Source
"I heard that," Hermione called as she walked to her room, dropping the bags on the floor and turning back around.
"So?" Draco said irritably, but the phase passed quickly as Hermione moved back into his doorway, leaning on the frame with a smirk on her pretty face.
"You know we do it on purpose, don't you?" she asked and Draco pricked up an eyebrow.
"Who's we and what do you do?" Hermione's smirk grew.
"Us women-folk. We act all weird and mysterious just to piss you off; it's like an unspoken agreement. Don't let those good for nothing men know the true workings of our minds; we must keep our power over them. You may think you have power over women, Draco, but you don't. It's just an act. Some of us have taken to pretending we melt for you, but it's all planned and played out beforehand. Although, I'm not saying we don't love you guys or anything as preposterous, only that we enjoy playing with you like little string puppets," she said smartly and Draco brought his chin down and his eyebrows up, staring at her in disbelief. Hermione said nothing more; just kept her smirk and nodded. Draco rolled his eyes.
"But I'm not a puppet; I'm a real boy," he said in a mocking voice and Hermione smiled.
"That, Mr. Malfoy, is one thing I'm sure you are," she said and turned away from his door again.
"You know, even with this new knowledge of the worldwide feminine conspiracy; I still have no idea what it is with you people," he said and shook his head. Hermione huffed and smiled at him.
"You didn't think I'd give away THAT much information, did you? I'm not stupid; just... 'misunderstood.'" she said, using air quotes, watched as Draco groaned and fell back on his bed, hands covering his face, then shook her head and returned to her room; planning on decorating and unpacking.
S~S~S~S~S~S~ ( S = snake, ~ = tongue. See now? Hehe)
"Hermione? Do you plan on coming out of there any time soon?" Draco called, knocking softly on the bathroom door in his room. He heard a very-girlish- for-Granger giggle from the other side and looked confusedly at the dark orange door, which he had charmed to match the walls of his newly decorated room.
"Actually, no. Sorry, Draco. You can come in if you want, as long as you're not planning on doing anything weird. I can't exactly run away," she called back and Draco looked shocked. He hesitated before opening the door, and did so cautiously, not exactly sure what he could expect to find inside. What he saw was almost as surprising as what he expected to see.
Hermione was sitting in the quite large and quite empty bathtub, her feet against the wall, wearing her black jeans and a black towel to cover her upper assets. She had her hair confined in a sickeningly contrasting flowered shower cap, her face covered in a pasty greenish white goop, and was reading a book, seeming to not particularly care that Draco had entered.
"What the fuck are you doing, Granger?" he asked, somewhat in shock, somewhat in horror. Hermione giggled again, in that freakishly girly way, then her face dropped to a look of slightly scared indifference.
"Okay, these giggles are not happening; I think it has something to do with this face cleanser stuff; they should really warn you on the bottle or something."
"I didn't ask why you were giggling, although I admit it was a little weird, I asked what the fuck you were doing," Draco said, slightly impatient.
"Somebody's grouchy this evening," Hermione said and extravagantly turned the page of her book.
"Well you've been in here for almost an hour reading in the bathtub with a pasty face," Draco defended himself and Hermione snickered.
"I can't believe Ron called you a pasty concubine; that really was quite funny," she said, shaking her head amusedly. Draco sighed.
"Stop avoiding the question, Hermione. Please?" She looked up at him and smiled slightly.
"I'm dying my hair, Draco; I told you I was going to," she told him and he nodded, mouth opening in an 'o' of realization. "I have to keep it in for forty-five minutes and it keeps dripping down my back so I thought I'd save on clean-up by sitting here. This face stuff I just tried because I was bored; I don't think I like it; it's itchy." Draco shrugged and turned toward the sink to wet and paste his toothbrush.
"Take it off," he suggested before poking the bristled stick into his mouth. Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded.
"Yeah, good idea," she said, closing her book and placing it on the tiled floor, then sitting up. She crossed her legs Indian-style and moved back before turning on the faucet which had moments before been her footrest.
Draco leaned against the sink and watched, while he brushed his teeth, as Hermione rubbed the gritty mess from her face. As she leaned forward, he could see the dirty rivers which ran down her neck from her blackening bonnet.
"Ah," she sighed and said, "That IS better." Then leaned back against the wall, not seeming to care that she had just gotten her jeans a bit damp. Draco continued to watch her with interest, although she wasn't doing anything. Then, the same beep he had heard on the train sounded from the shelf above the sink. "Finally!" Hermione nearly shouted and stood up, holding the back of her head to attempt at keeping the water in her cap. Draco swallowed his toothpaste and rinsed off his brush, then crossed his arms and watched as she stepped out of the bathtub and turned off the watch, then turned to him. "Would you mind terribly leaving again? I have to wash it out and it'll be easier to just take a shower; I'll be out in ten minutes, I promise. And hey, if you need to, you can always go down to the winery and scare Mandy and Morag into letting you use their bathroom," she said with a smile and Draco smirked.
"So THAT'S what their names are. I was going to ask you that earlier, but I forgot all about it; ha, Morag... and people thought 'Draco' was a funny name," he shook his head and shifted to stand straight.
"If I remember correctly, Ron was the only person to ever laugh at your name," Hermione corrected with a smirk and Draco tilted his head a bit.
"Actually, I think you're right. Oh well, doesn't matter now, anyway. Nobody laughs anymore; mwa.... ha ha.... ha ha," he said, his mock evil- laugh very sarcastic and Hermione giggled her girlish giggle again.
"Dammit! That better go away soon or..." Hermione said and picked up the bottle next to her watch on the shelf. "Or the Smile-Bright Home Facial company is going to get a very nasty little surprise in their next request- for-free-samples letter," she said irritably and threw the bottle through the open doorway and into her room, quite forcefully. Draco faked a wince.
"Y-ouch... remind me to never get you angry... or happy, because the latter seems to lead to the former," he said honestly and fled to his room, closing the door behind him. Hermione smiled and closed the door to her room, just because it felt safer, then proceeded to undress and wash the potion from her hair. As promised, she was out in well under ten minutes and opened the door which led to Draco's room a bit, to let him know he could come in again, then walked across the bathroom and into her room.
"Eglamour!" she sang, looking around for her kitten, who was no where to be found. "Eglamour? Are you still mad at me? I said I was sorry! Don't you want dinner, baby?" she called, looking around almost frantically; searching through her bed, underneath all the furniture, and in the closet. No Eglamour. "Oh dear..." Hermione whispered, then started toward the door to the mini-common room. "Draco? Have you seen Eglamour?" she yelled and was about to open the door when someone else beat her to it.
"No, but he's seen me," Draco said from the doorway and Hermione smiled. There was her little Eglamour, sitting on Draco's shoulder, his tail curled around the Slytherin's neck.
"There you are!" she said happily, lifting the kitten from her dorm mate's shoulder. She huffed. "Must all my animals be traitors?" she asked rhetorically and hugged her Eglamour, who purred happily in return. "Sorry Draco; I guess he likes you," she said softly and Draco smirked.
"He liked Sebastian first," he said, hinting that there had been some bird to cat relationship problems. Hermione smiled apologetically, but said nothing more. Draco was staring again, and she looked down at the kitten in her arms, feeling uncomfortable making eye contact while he was looking at her that way, although she didn't quite mind him looking. "I don't know why you dyed your hair; it was just as pretty before," he said finally and Hermione looked up at him, then shrugged.
"Figured I'd go back to my natural, now that I have a good reason," she said and he raised an eyebrow. "I begged my mother to let me get it dyed before first year; I wanted a whole new identity so I could start out fresh in a place where nobody knew me yet. She finally agreed, but said I had to keep it that way if I was going to get it done. I was happy to comply and made the potion at home, using one of the textbooks. Surprisingly, it worked and was permanent; but now I've changed it back. Don't like it?"
"Oh no, I do; but I liked it before too," Draco said, smiling. It really wasn't that bad now; because of variations made to the potion, Hermione had configured it to give her natural looking highlights, and it did look as if it were her natural hair color. It caused her skin to seem fairer than it had before, and she really was very pretty this way. Hermione smiled at his compliment and squeezed Eglamour.
"The bathroom's free; I changed half the towels black, but the rest are still white, but you can change them if you want. I personally think white is overrated in all departments," she told him quietly and Draco nodded. He stood there silently for a moment, then swiftly leaned in and kissed her softly on the cheek.
"Goodnight, Hermione," he said and walked back to his room, leaving Hermione to stare after him. She then looked down at Eglamour.
"I don't know about that one, baby; he's rather confusing, don't you think?" The cat said nothing, of course, and simply wiggled in her arms. Hermione let the tiny thing hop down, then rummaged through her luggage for his bag. Eglamour sat in the middle of the coppery-red carpet and watched patiently as Hermione searched for his dinner.
The walls of Hermione's room had been changed from black to a dark smoky grey with a bright red border at the top and bottom. The ceiling, curtains, bed spread, and pillow cases remained black, but the sheets had been made a silky red, and a red accent pillow sat between the two ebony ones. All the furniture had been left black as well, but changed from a painted look to a stained wood treatment. Both Hermione and Eglamour seemed to like the new design just fine.
"Here we go, come Eglamour; din din," Hermione cooed as she found the cat's dish and opened a can of soft food. The little black kitten was happy to step forward and claim his meal. Hermione smiled and petted him for a few moments before standing and finishing the chore of unpacking all her materials.
S~S~S~S~S~S~
"I am such an idiot," Hermione said to herself as she lay in the middle of her bed, Eglamour curled and sleeping near her feet. "I can't believe I forgot it." She sighed and crossed her arms, then closed her eyes and tried once again to go to sleep. Frustrated, she hit the bed with a balled fist, causing her kitten to perk up its ears. Hermione sighed once again and crawled back out of bed. "It's worth a shot, I suppose."
It was almost eleven o'clock and quite dark outside the stained glass window in the mini-common room. Hermione crept quietly through her door and past the bathroom to Draco's, then knocked softly.
"Draco? Are you sleeping?" she called quietly and heard Draco say, quite consciously,
"No." Hermione opened the door slowly and peeked inside, Happy to see that Draco was in no indecent position; he was wearing a black t-shirt and dark green boxers, and was lying on the far side of his bed looking somewhat annoyed. Thinking it was because of her intrusion, Hermione bit her lip.
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I was wondering if by some off chance miracle you might have some dreamless sleeping potion? I can't sleep alone without it," she said and Draco turned to her, his annoyance gone and a slight look of surprise on his features. Hermione shook her head. "Yeah, I didn't think so... sorry," she said and started to walk off, but Draco stopped her.
"No, wait," he called, and Hermione turned back, raising an eyebrow. "I may not have any sleeping potion, but I have something better," he said smartly and Hermione lifted her head.
"Oh, really? And that would be?"
"Me," he said as if it were obvious. Hermione dropped her jaw.
"Malfoy, I am not going to sleep with you," she said calm and dispassionately, almost sounding sad.
"I'm not asking you to sleep with me Hermione; I'm asking you to sleep next to me," he said, but she didn't look convinced. "Hey, I was just offering. If you don't want to, you're the one not getting any sleep," he reminded her and smirked. Hermione was surprised at herself as well as with Draco. She DID want to take him up on his offer, but now that he had thrown in her face the consequences, she couldn't let him win and jump into the sack with him.
"Are you sure? You don't even know me," Hermione asked, just to delay her decision making. Draco laughed.
"What are you going to do, rape me? Yeah, I can see that happening. Come on, please?" he asked, sticking out his bottom lip and laying an arm over the other side of the bed, inviting her to join him. Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment; he was asking. There was just something incredibly strange about Draco Malfoy asking a woman to 'sleep with him' and having her think about it before complying. In the end, Hermione rolled her eyes and agreed, walking into the room and crawling into bed beside him. Draco smiled triumphantly and wet the wick of the candle on the bedside table him, making the room as dark as the night sky. He closed his arm around the shoulders of the small girl beside him and she cuddled up to his chest and closed her eyes.
"Thank you, Draco. I've missed this," she said quietly, enjoying his warmth and comfort. Draco smiled.
"Missed what?"
"Being loved," she said with a sad sigh, then smiled. Draco, however, lost his smile.
"I'm sorry Hermione, but I don't love you," he told her sadly, but Hermione didn't lose her happy expression.
"I know, but it's nice to pretend," she said, then stopped talking and drifted into sleep. Draco stayed awake a few minutes longer, pondering the mechanics of the phenomenal creature beside him. She was like a rubix cube; very, very, few people could solve her without a miracle. As he felt Hermione's light puffs of warm breath on his chest grow even lighter and more even, Draco sighed and placed a hand on her side, then closed his eyes, inviting sleep.
S~S~S~S~S~S~S~
As Hermione had tried to avoid the night before, the blasted sun woke her promptly at 6:47. She fluttered her eyes open, but closed them instantly against the piercing light.
"Dammit," she muttered, bringing a hand to rub at them. At her voice, the arm around her shoulders tightened a tiny bit and Hermione felt a rise of panic in her stomach. Why was someone in her bed? Using her hand as a visor to block the light, Hermione braved opening her eyes once more to note the identity of her uninvited bedmate. As she recognized a sleeping Draco, the bubble came back. What the hell had she done last night? Then she remembered... last night, she couldn't sleep, asked for potion... ended up in bed with Malfoy? That didn't seem quite right, she had to have been forgetting something... but at least she knew that nothing had happened, and Hermione relaxed, surveying their position.
The two prefects were lying very close to one another, their legs entwined, Hermione's head against Draco's chest, and his arm around her shoulders. The Slytherin's other hand was slid up her shirt, quite far up her shirt, on her side.
"Someone's getting a little fresh with me this morning," she whispered smartly, not wanting to wake him, and moved her hand to shove his down. Hermione, however, found herself unable to move the pale appendage more than a tiny bit; his touch was so warm and inviting... it felt too good to purposely rid herself of, so she left the hand where it was and turned her head up to look at him again. Then, she remembered what he had said.
** "I don't love you."** Hermione sighed. She knew it was true, and it was no where near unexpected. They had just met not even twenty four hours ago, yet she still found herself lying awake, staring at Draco Malfoy while his hand remained up her shirt. At least this was a better position that waking up alone and staring at the wall wondering if anyone will ever be willing to touch you again. She smiled and snuggled back into his chest. Yes, this was much better.
Hermione cursed herself after she did this; she had woken him. Or at least substantially increased his awareness of his surroundings. Draco, at her movement, slid the hand on her side down her back and pulled her closer, moving his lips into her hair. He couldn't quite place who it was beside him, but Draco wasn't trying too hard to remember.
Whoever it was seemed to enjoy being there, which meant he could do whatever he pleased. He began to softly kiss the mysterious girl's head through her hair and held her shoulders close as he warmly rubbed her back. The girl did nothing, silently complying with everything he was doing. Draco smiled and took a deep breath, unavoidably breathing in the sweet scent of the girl in his bed. Spicy lemons and... pepper? Hermione? In his bed? What the...? But then he remembered, and he stopped his actions. All at once, like pulling a hand away from fire.
Hermione, who had held her eyes closed, unable to not enjoy Draco's gentle treatment, said nothing and didn't move. At first, Draco thought she might still be sleeping, and he hoped against hope that she was. The last thing he needed was for her to think he had true feelings for her; it would only hurt her more than she had already been. Noticing that the hot breath against his chest came in swift hot bursts, Draco knew this girl was awake, and he frowned. Hermione fluttered her eyes open and let herself sigh slowly, calming her quite rapid breathing. She pulled free from Draco, who then opened his eyes; perhaps it wasn't Hermione... perhaps he had dreamed she had come to him, and it was Parkinson, or that chick from the winery; Mindy, did she say? Anyone but Hermione.
Of course, he had no such luck. She didn't look upset in the least, however, and Draco was quite thankful for that.
"Thank you," she whispered, smiled slightly, and kissed his cheek, then moved away from him and stood from his bed, fixing herself a little and walking from the room, leaving Draco alone and awake at ten of seven on a damn Sunday morning. Such a thing didn't exactly please him. Draco sighed curled his arm, sliding the pillow she had used over it and burying his head into the soft down with a groan. He stopped his mediocre complaining when her scent entered his system again. The pillow; this pillow, smelled just like Hermione did. Draco inhaled deeply and smiled.
"Lord, you're most certainly welcome," he said quietly, although Hermione was long gone.
Two rooms over, Hermione sat in the middle of her bed, hugging herself and rocking back and forth. What had just happened? Was Draco unconsciously feeling her up? Is that still considered bad? Should it have felt that... incredible? Eglamour hopped up on the bed with her, taking a break from breakfast hunting to console his troubled master.
"He has good color sense, Eglamour," she told the cat, who sat down and listened, although he couldn't understand a word. Hermione thought back on the room she had just exited. Draco had chosen a burnt orange theme for his room, and she had to admit that she liked it. He had colored the walls, ceiling, and doors a dark orange, changed the trim to black, and added a pleasantly plush black carpet. Everything about the bed was ebony as well, from the sheets to the drapes to the frame. The furniture had been painted an almost cream-sickle orange, which contrasted with and looked surprisingly good next to the dark orange of the walls, and all fixtures and accents were black. "I don't know why I'm telling you this, but you know me, I just don't make sense."
Eglamour stood from his seated position and rubbed up against Hermione's knee, then jumped down and walked through the door to Merlin knows where, hoping to catch himself a nice juicy rat-ka-bob.
"Good idea, Eglamour. I'll just forget all about this and pretend it never happened. He doesn't love me, far from it I'm sure, and I definitely don't love him...yet. No, I did not say yet, I said yeck," she insisted, making a disgusted face, although she herself was the only one listening. "Ugh, maybe I AM going crazy..." Hermione groaned and rolled off her bed, moving quickly toward the bathroom and locking all three doors.
The bathroom was quite large, but not as extravagant as many rumored the prefect bathrooms to be. The room was not quite as large as her room, but more than half the size. The big black bathtub was to her right as she walked in from her room and the sink to her left. On the other side of the door to the mini-common room was the toilet, the floor in front of it trimmed with a small rug. There were quite lovely stained glass windows in contact with the ceiling above the bathtub, shedding beautiful light without the worry of peeping toms. Hermione smiled. Wouldn't it be nice to know some stranger was admiring you?
The sink, toilet, bathtub, and linen closet, which was against the wall next to the tub, were all black, the closet made of wood and the fixtures of porcelain. The walls and floor were tiled white, a sparkled white which reminded Hermione of the quarts in the common rooms. A large fluffy white rug was placed in front of the tub, and Hermione stepped lightly on it as she undressed. After retrieving a towel and hanging on the nearby rack, Hermione slipped into another lemon-scented shower; this time with all the products she could find.
S~S~S~S~S~S~ ( S= snake... ~= tongue... get it, Silver Dragon Goddess? Lol.)
Draco was about to pull himself away from his new favorite pillow and get out of bed when he heard the loud click of the bathroom door as Hermione locked it. He changed his mind and took another breath; face still buried in the pillow.
"God Granger, it really should be illegal for someone to smell that good," he said and groaned, then finally decided to get up. Draco rolled over and sat straight, rubbing his eyes and digging his fingers into his hair. He let out a deep sigh and heard the creak of a door. Draco turned his eyes to the only unlocked door in the room and watched as Eglamour cautiously crept into the room, remaining very quiet, obviously hunting. "Sorry sonny, I don't think you'll be finding breakfast in here," Draco said and the kitten looked up at him, startled. He laughed. "Wow, some hunter you are there, Eglamour. Didn't even notice an entire person happened to be in here? Good luck with finding any mice," he said and the cat was quick to run at the bed and jump up, then claw his way up the back of Draco's shirt and once again rest himself on the Slytherin shoulder, tail snaking around his neck. "Yeah, I know," he said and scratched behind the cat's ear as it rested himself comfortably and set into purring.
Draco leaned back against the headboard, continuing to pet the tiny kitten. He really didn't mind Hermione's cat... and the cat didn't seem to mind him either. He sighed and listened to Eglamour purr, thinking about just about everything that had happened the previous day. It was amazing; he really did care about Hermione, in a semi-platonic way. Draco tried to convince himself that that was what made him ask her to 'sleep next to him', but he couldn't say that was entirely true. A tiny part of him said it had something to do with her hair. He closed his eyes and groaned.
"How did this happen, Eglamour? Yesterday I was alone, mean, and selfish... but now I'm standing up for people, letting them sleep with me, and petting their cats. Am I going soft? You don't think I am, do you?" Eglamour didn't say much in return, but did manage a gallant yawn. "Yeah, you're right. I am. But that's not necessarily bad, is it? I mean, it's only toward Hermione. I had a pretty nice rush with Mork and Mindy downstairs. I actually don't think that's their names, but you know who I mean. They're still scared of me. Hm, maybe that's it. Granger's not scared, is she? Confused and depressed maybe, but she doesn't seem scared of anything, including me. Did she say anything to you?"
Again, Eglamour seemed to be ignoring Draco's questions and actually looked to be sleeping.
"Yeah, I don't blame you for not telling me; I wouldn't tell me either." Draco and Eglamour sat in silence for a few more minutes, with the exception of a very loud purring from the latter, then they heard a loud click come from the bathroom door. The pricked up his ears and lifted his head simultaneously with Draco turning toward the door. He looked down at the cat. "You should go, she'll be looking for you," he said and lifted the cat from his shoulder, placing him down on the floor. Knowing he was supposed to leave, Eglamour started for the door. "But hey," Draco stopped him and the cat actually turned back, much to Draco's amusement. "Anything said in this room, stays in this room. Agreed?" But the cat simply started walking back toward the partially opened door. Draco laughed. "I'll assume that's a yes."
S~S~S~S~S~S~
Draco showered, much quicker than Hermione had, dressed, and, after taking a deep breath, ventured into the mini-common room. Hermione was there, smiling as she stood beside one of the desks, caldron over a burner, bubbling and steaming. She was wearing black again; it seemed her entire wardrobe had been charmed or replaced since the beginning of the abandonment phase, and her hair was pulled into a bun. Draco frowned a little at this notation; that would restrict the wafting scent.
"What are you doing, Granger? Classes haven't even started yet," he asked, walking up to look in her caldron. Hermione seemed a little startled at his sudden appearance but shrugged her shoulders and turned back to her stirring. She had acquired her dispassionate and dead-toned voice again as she answered him.
"Sleeping potion," she said and Draco's frown increased. He nodded once to hide his feelings of guilt, but gave himself away in his tone when he spoke.
"Are you mad at me?" he asked cautiously, and Hermione looked only from her book to her caldron and back as she answered.
"Not unless you've done something I don't know about yet," she said, continued to stir, then stopped and looked up at him. "Wait... where's Eglamour?" she asked suspiciously and Draco looked excited. He held up a finger to silently ask her to wait, then snapped his fingers and patted his shoulder. Almost instantly, Eglamour popped up next to his head and Draco smirked triumphantly as he began to pet the tiny kitten. Hermione couldn't help but smile and turned back to her stirring. "You're lucky he's just a kitten, or that might have hurt a little bit. Any particular reason why I should be mad at you?"
"Ha, as if I'd tell you if you didn't know," Draco said and shook his head, then took a step backward. "I'm going to breakfast; are you coming?" Hermione bit her lip and hesitated a moment before shaking her head. Draco shook his cat-less shoulder. "Okay. Looks like I'm taking you cat; I'll bring him back, don't worry."
"That's fine," Hermione said, still smiling at the thought of the cute trick she had just been shown. Draco smiled back and started down the stairs toward the main common room, silently hoping to see the winery dwellers. Sadly, Morag and Mandy were still snoozing, so no torment was to befuddle them until later that day.
.
A/N: Did you ever wonder if JKR reads fanfiction? If I were her, I wouldn't, because then you'd never have any creative ideas... you get going alright, then you think of something which you THINK is creative, but it was in reality stolen from someone else. Anyway...
PRF:
Hasapi: Thank you. Awesome is a nice adjective... hehe. And yeah, but I'm neglecting Flames terribly and I feel very bad about it... this is why I didn't want to start a new fic, but what to I do? Start two or three... lol... must go write Flames now... clear conscience!
Starry Skies: I think I might like it better, but only because it's more than just fluff and a poor excuse for a plotline.... lol, but the sequel I planning will be better. I just want flames to end! But good news! The end is in sight! I estimate 50chappys at the MOST.
Jamie: That's good. If you cried, I would be worried. I'm sorry I killed him! I didn't mean to! I had to, the song said so! I'm really sorry ::sob, sob:: I love him so much!
Chaos Personified: Haha, awesome penname. Lol, cynical... morbid... that's me! I am Morbid Dulcitude. Pleasure to meet you. Lol.
F75: I hate them, so I made them hate her, so that she can hate them... good plan, huh? Yeah!
Crystalline Lily: Yes they did kiss, and I'll leave it up to you to decide how friendly it was. Remember: Purple button is your FRIEND.... lol Yes, Harry and Ron ARE bastards... but I've always kinda hated them. They get all the glory and what not. I mean, Ron fell of a freaking horse, and was knocked out. What a dumbass... and I know, they just can't have their peace, can they? Oh well... does this count as a cliff hanger?
Silver Dragon Goddess: Lol... thanx. Guilly comes from Guillotine... lol, yeah. I like your whole 'My Favorite Line' thing... it's fun and stuff... but for chapter two, I'd have to say my favorite line was "Oh, I'm sorry. I misplaced 'Sadistic Rituals and the Rules Involved' before I could get to the chapter on blood scripture." Lol, I just thought that was funny... and it took me like five minutes to figure out that sentence! Lol. I wanna join the HARH! And EGLAMOUR RULES THE ENTIRE WORLD, MWA HAHAHAHA!
Mooniala: EVERYONE loves D/Hr fics! If you don't, you should! Lol, THANX!
Beloved Pencil: Thanx, lol... I've never been told my writing was 'scrumptious' before.... first time for everything, my beloved pencil!
Prissy: Thanx! I like this one better than Flames, I think, but I still like Flames. It was good for my first fic ;o)
Tainted Black: If I made them all in character, it would be incredibly boring... I mean, think about it... all they would ever do is read, do their homework, and fight Moldie Voldie. I mean, making them share a stare across the Great Hall would be OOC... making them talk civilly to each other, just once, would be OOC... having ANYone bump into ANYone would make them OOC... being OOC is not bad, it's fun and exciting! Yeah! I'm glad you agree!
BlueEyedHeadhunter: I'd like to keep my head if it's not too much to ask, lol... thanx!